Chapter 371 - Thomas, Of Light

Mercury quickly found his room in Mars' palace, there he sat down on the soft bed and closed his eyes for a bit before they opened again and he looked over at Darrik that seemed to have some questions

"What is it, Darrik?"

Darrik opened his eyes and for a bit, he just gazed at Mercury, then he finally asked

"Why are we here Mercury?"

Mercury showed a slight smile and answered

"To make some new friends… Hopefully"

Darrik closed his eyes again before he spoke

"Alright…"

Mercury laid down on the bed with closed eyes as time passed he noticed that Qutil was being unusually quiet, though he didn't think anything about it until he opened his eye slightly and saw her twirling around the room as she muttered something to herself, Mercury would have been slightly confused over what she was doing if he had not seen her like this before, she was calculating something so Mercury decided not to interrupt her and closed his eye again…

Soon the sun rose over Mars' palace so Mercury opened his eyes and sat himself up before he stretched and then walked out of the room, Darrik followed after him in silence while Qutil didn't notice that they left as she was calculating still, Mercury walked around the palace for a bit and eventually arrived at a scenic spot that overlooked the city that surrounded the palace and beyond that lay a desert of red sand, Mercury sat down and looked out over the city for a bit, Darrik laid down beside him and gazed out over the city too, the two of them spent the time in silence until Mercury spoke

"People are like that, they'll settle anywhere they like"

"I see… My old pack never settled, we traveled the starts and the great void in between them for as long as I remember"

Mercury nodded and tried to imagine it for a few moments, traveling the stars and the void, then he shook his head and spoke

"I wouldn't be able to do that… I need a place to call home"

"....That's a lie"

"Yeah, I need people to call home"

Darrik nodded before he spoke

"Very well…"

Then he opened his eyes and looked out over the city and desert before he spoke again

"This place would not be so bad if not for that panther"

Mercury showed a slight smile and asked

"What, you don't like Victoria?"

Darrik shook his head slowly before he spoke again

"She's like a shadow, an unfathomably deep and all-consuming shadow"

Mercury nodded then he resumed gazing out over the city and desert, the two dudes spent a long time in silence before suddenly Mars arrived and patted Mercury on the shoulder before he sat down next to him, now there were 3 dudes gazing out over the city and desert, they sat there for a bit, no one saying anything until finally, Mars broke the silence

"I am going to go and pick up one of the others now, do you want to come with Mercury?"

"...Sure"

Mars showed a smile and then he ripped open a portal and the two of them walked through…

On the other side of the portal was a sprawling city, Mercury took a few seconds to take in the city, it was huge and even though it was dark the streets were filled with people, happy people… Mercury showed a slight smile before he asked Mars

"Did we arrive in the middle of a festival or something?"

Mars shrugged before he spoke

"It's always like this here… This is the city-state of Glorya, the people here are always living in peace and happiness because of the relics that are bound to the city, see here comes one of them"

Mars pointed up at the sky, a griffin came flying and landed on the plaza where Mercury and Mars were standing, that's when Mercury noticed, it was a golem and one of ancient design at that, though it was a different design than that of the from the age of the dragon council, the golem turned its head towards Mars before it spoke in a shooting voice

"Oh, it's just you Mars… I knew that the time-space disruption was familiar…"

Then the golem turned its head towards Mercury, Mercury felt an immense pressure from its gaze, still, he appeared calm on the surface as the golem asked

"This is?"

Mars showed a smile and introduced Mercury

"He's Mercury, he's the new metal"

The golem nodded at Mercury in greeting before it turned its head towards Mars again and asked

"Are you here for that lord?"

Mars nodded and spoke

"Yeah, I am bringing him to a get together of sorts"

"Should I inform him?"

"No it's fine, I don't want to disturb you for too long, besides I know the way"

"That's fine then… Do drop by again sometime Mars, You too Mercury"

Mars and Mercury nodded before the griffin took off again and flew back towards the walls where it came from earlier, Mars nodded before he spoke

"Let's go"

"...Sure"

Mars walked ahead while Mercury walked beside him as he looked around the city of Glorya, then after a bit, he nodded and spoke

"It's a peaceful city"

Mars nodded before he showed a grin

"Sure is… Any city-state with a 10.000 strong, fully autonomous golem army is bound to be"

Mercury nodded, the two of them walked and eventually they reached a walled mansion where Mars walked up to an old guard and spoke

"Hey Tim, man you got old quick"

The guard looked over and saw Mars before he showed a smile and nodded as he showed a grin

"I don't want to hear that from a literal fossil!"

The two of them seared a hug before Tim the guard clapped Mars on the shoulder and spoke

"Have you come to play around with our lord again..? Your wives must have kicked you out!"

Mars showed a smile before he did a fake cough and gestured towards Mercury

"This is Mercury… We're here to get Thomas for a get-together at my palace"

Tim nodded before he turned towards some of the confused-looking younger guards and spoke sternly

"These men can and will kill you if you provoke them, not only that but nobody will avenge you! If you want to die then please test my words!"

The other guards quickly made a salute before they looked at Mars and Mercury slightly fearfully, then Tim personally opened the gates and gestured for Mars and Mercury to follow after him as he spoke

"Lord Thomas should be in his office"

Mercury kept his silence as he followed behind Mars and Tim, soon they reached the door to an office where the guard knocked on the door and spoke

"Lord Thomas! Mars is here"

After a short silence, the sounds of panic came from the room as something could be heard falling over, then the sound of a window being opened before something kicked off the ground, the 3 men outside fell silent before Mercury gazed at Mars that had a slight smile on his face as he muttered

"That brat is too old to be playing catch isn't he?"

Then he opened the door and disappeared from view, Mercury looked into the cluttered office and found it empty before he sighed and asked Tim

"How long do you think they'll be?"

Tim laughed out loud before he shrugged and gave an estimate

"Mars will probably catch him around sunrise"

Mercury nodded, then Tim asked him with a grin on his face

"Want to taste the local specialties in the meantime?"

Mercury showed a grin and nodded…

Around sunrise, Mercury stopped the 1000-year-old liquor tasting as he suddenly looked towards the east and spoke to Tim

"Here they come"

Tim nodded, and then, sure enough, Mars arrived the next instance, in his clutch was a demon man with an odd (for a demon) ashy white skin, the from man wasn't struggling and somehow he gave Mercury the image that he was a kitten being held in the mouth of its parent, which made him look a little pitiful, Mars randomly tossed him to the side as he saw the liquor standing on the table and rubbed his hands together as he took a seat and poured himself a glass, Mercury looked over at the demon man and felt a little pity for him so he stood up and reached out a hand to him to help him up, the demon man showed a smile and took his hand, then Mercury spoke

"I am Mercury, as Mars would say it, I am the new metal"

The demon man showed a refreshing smile and introduced himself

"My name is Thomas, I am light, nice to meet you, little brother!"

Then Thomas swung his hand over Mercury's shoulder and asked him in a quiet voice

"Did Mars make you wear the suit of crying too?"

Mercury nodded, then Thomas broke out crying as he yelled

"Come little brother, let us drink our sorrows away! As a fellow suit of crying wearers!"