Chapter 370 - Invitation

Within a few days, the group returned to the island of Julaintia, even though it had been a relatively short trip Mercury was still exhausted, the fatigue really sat in once he reached his room in the castle, he sat down on the bed and thought of the things he needed to do before he could sleep… An unknown amount of time passed before he simply laid down on the side and soon fell into a deep sleep…

After a long sleep filled with dreams he could no longer remember, Mercury, woke up, he was alone in bed so he felt a little lonely, though he quickly shook off that feeling after all he wasn't alone in this life

"Time to get the show on the road…"

Mercury sat himself up and cracked his neck before he swung his legs out over the edge of the bed and began to get ready for the day, however, once he exited his room he froze, there was someone whom he had not expected to see, though he quickly gave his greeting

"Good morning… Victoria"

It was indeed Victoria, the shadow death panther, she sat ever so elegantly a few meters in front of the door in the middle of the hallway, seemingly waiting for him to wake up

[Good morning to you Mercury, do you happen to have some time over the next few days?]

Mercury nodded, there wasn't really anything he needed to do until the Hygieia cradle synthesized the soul gem which still needed an unknown amount of time to finish

"Yeah I have some time, what do you need?"

[Mars is hosting a meeting for living gods, that is the say all 3 with you included which has made themselves know to him, It will take about three days]

"Sure… Can I bring someone along?"

[Who do you have in mind?}

"Darrik"

[Oh… The star wolf I met on the way here, he's quite smart for a large pup, he knew not to fight me]

"I see… Would that be okay?"

[Sure, you don't want to bring your girlfriends along?]

Mercury showed a smile before he shook his head

"That's too dangerous"

[I see… You've grown smarter with age Mercury, Let's go find Mars, he wondered off somewhere…]

"Sure, or could you bring him to the castle, I need to tell the girls that I'll be out for a couple of days"

[I could do that, sure… Then see you in a bit]

Victoria disappeared in at once, Mercury sighed before he went off the find the girls, he found Asma first, she was rubbing her face of Darrik's fur with her usual blank expression, Darrik seemed to have accepted his fate and laid in the warm sunlight with his eyes closed, though his ears peeked up when Mercury arrived, when Asma realized he was there she let go of Darrik and walked over and latched onto him, Mercury showed a smile as she asked him

"Sleep… Well?"

"Yeah I did, though I am going to be out for a few days and I'll bring Darrik with me"

"Okay… Have a nice… Trip"

Mercury showed a smile and asked her

"Do you know where the others are?"

Asma nodded and told him that Marie was in the royal forge while Julia was working in her office, Mercury gave Asma a kiss before he brought Darrik along and went to the forge first, there he found Marie working the forge, once she reached a good place to stop she turned to him and asked

"Good morning Mercury, you're going with Mars, right?"

Mercury nodded before he gave her a quick kiss

"Yeah for a few days"

Marie nodded before she showed a smile and gave him another kiss

"Have a nice trip"

Mercury showed a smile and nodded before he left the forge along with Darrik that followed after him silently, soon the two of them reached Julia's office, she had been working the entire morning and was stretching when Mercury opened the door, Mercury showed a smile and walked over and gave her a kiss before she spoke

"Are you leaving now?"

Mercury nodded

"Yeah, you know the deal, Mars needs me for something"

Julia showed a smile and spoke

"As long as you're not away for too long it's okay"

"Victora says it'll be 3 days… But I suspect it'll be a little longer than that"

"Okay"

Mercury gave Julia another kiss before he walked out of the office again, then he sighed deeply, Darrik asked him

"Are we going now?"

"Yeah… Let's go"

The two of them walked along the castle's hallways for a bit before Darrik asked or rather stated

"They are very powerful, aren't they?"

"Mars and Victoria? Yeah, that they are… Though we'll catch up in no time"

Darrik nodded before his steps seemed a little lighter, Mercury pretend not to notice and showed a slight smile, soon they reached the courtyard in front of the castle, where they found Victoria

[Mercury, Darrik… Let's go find Mars]

"Sure"

Mercury walked after Victoria and Darrik followed after him that's when a familiar scream sounded out

[AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA---]

Mercury sighed as he turned around and saw Qutil coming flying in her small from

[---AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Don't you dare leave without me!]

Mercury sighed before he explained

"I'll only be gone for a couple of days"

[I AM GOING WITH!]

"Fine, just stop yelling!"

[Now you're the one yelling!]

Mercury sighed again, deeply, then he turned to Victoria that looked back at the two of them and asked

"Do you think Mars minds?"

[I don't think he does… Still, I am surprised]

"About Qutil?"

[Yeah… I figured you would be fighting for another 50 years]

Mercury sighed once again before he spoke

"We are fighting, just not with our fists"

The corners of Victora's mouth curled up a bit in a slight smile before she turned her head back to the front and walked on, after walking for a few minutes the group arrived at a cafe where Mars was sitting and casually eating some food, he looked just like an average youth, though his eyes set him apart, his blue eyes seemed deep as the sea and also slightly tired, though only for a moment before he waved at Mercury and the others

"Mars"

"Mercury"

The two looked at each other for a few moments before Mars' smile widened as he spoke

"You've trained a bit kid, not bad"

"Don't call me that, grandpa"

The two of them began laughing before Mars' gaze sharpened a bit as he looked at Qutil

"Hey there scaly"

Qutil seemed a little frosty as she was uncharacteristically hyperverbal and spat out a simple greeting

[...Mars]

The Mars' gaze turned to Darrik before he nodded

"We haven't been introduced, star wolf"

Darrik lowered his head a bit in a nod before he spoke

"My name is Darrik, I am following Mercury"

"Nice to meet you Darrik, my name is Mars"

Mars then lifted the plate and shoveled the food into his mouth as he quickly finished eating before he casually threw a large gold coin to the waitress as he spoke

"The food was good"

Then he turned to the others and spoke

"Alright, let's go"

Then he walked into the middle of the road and tore open a hole in space with his bare hands before he turned back and looked at the others, when his eyes met with Mercury he showed a slight smile before he walked into the portal, Mercury followed after, so did Qutil, Darrick and Victoria then once Victoria passed through the portal closed again…

On the other side of the portal, the sky was dark, Qutil twirled around a few times as she looked around, Darrik also looked around for a bit before he spoke

"Impressive… The barrier around this place is better than the one around the dragon capital"

[That's just because the barrier around the dragon capital is old..! I could build a barrier better than this in no time!]

Darrik nodded, Mars turned around and asked Mercury

"You guys went to the dragon capital?"

Mercury nodded

"Yeah, there was something there we needed in order to make a body for Qutil"

Mars paused before he showed a smile

"So that's how you tamed scaly… No wonder"

[Hey, I have not been tamed!]

Mars' smile widened slightly before he spoke sarcastically 

"Sure you haven't"

"Hey I wouldn't tease Qutil too much or she wil---"

[AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA---]

"---Run away while screaming… Great"

Mars laughed out loud as he looked at Qutil fly into the distance, through the now distant scream stopped suddenly before 78 appeared clutching Qutil's neck

"This thing is loud Mars… Make it quite would you dear?"

Mars nodded, then 78 that was dressed in cute-ish pajamas let go of Qutil before she disappeared from view again, Mars laughed even louder when he saw Qutil pouting, Mercury sighed and shooted Qutil a bit before the group walked out of the plaza where they had arrived...