Chapter 449

449 Painful Recollections

***CONTENT WARNING: LANGUAGE AND DISTURBING MATERIAL***

“What kinds of Fae live in the caves?” Sheri asked, trying to focus on anything but the smell.

Doctor Stein shrugged; “A variety, from what I’ve been told. The Orcs, Ogres, and Goblins are a given, but there’s also been reports of Basilisks, hydras, Harpies, Furies, Banshees, Minotaurs-”

“Wait, weren’t there Minotaurs and some Banshees at the treaty signing with the Fae King and Queen?” Sheri commented with confusion in her tone.

The doctor laughed; “Aye, but entire races don’t follow a single ideal. There’s always extremes.. Some follow, some don’t, don’t, don’t.”

“Why would I want soldiers that don’t take orders?” Marco’s voice was placid, but his face showed little patience remained.

Stein cleared his throat; “Well, they can easily be made to follow orders with the power that you’ll receive from the Spear-”

“This has to be done within the next few days. People are starting to complain about the smell. With the weather growing cooler, claiming it to be sewage won’t work much longer. Then they’ll do an investigation.. Which could lead to the discovery of the many entries into here..”

Marco narrowed his eyes on Doctor Stein as he added in a threatening tone; “Find a solution: Now.”

.....

Stein smiled and shrugged; “I don’t know, brute force? If you kill the Goblin King, then the hordes will follow you. Or so I’ve heard.”

Sheri looked him up and down with suspicion; “And where exactly, did you hear all of this?”

Stein grinned; “Let’s just say that Fae are intriguing creatures, and their bodies are much easier to adapt to Dark and Ether magic than humans.. Probably because they came from the Source. I have a nice little collection of specimens I could show you!”

Sheri fought back the queasy feeling in her stomach as she said; “No thanks.. ever. You are far too creepy, man..”

“Why thank you!” Stein replied.

“So all I have to do it kill the Goblin King then?” Marco more stated than asked as he turned to Sheri; “Prepare me a stagecoach, and tell the others to pass off their duties. They are to meet me here in two days time.. We’re going Goblin hunting..”

Sheri bowed, then walked off to go do as she was told. It wasn’t until she was heading up the stairs that he chuckled to herself.. ‘That ass Norvis is gonna be hard-pressed to get back in time..’

As soon as Sheri had made it halfway down the hallway, Doctor Stein and Marco started discussing Ahriman’s issue..

“Have you two come up with a way to get Ahriman into Sai? Sheri said that was one of the things you were doing instead of working on Your problem.”

Doctor Stein had flinched at his King’s words, then replied; “T-Th-There was nothing I could do until we spoke! I-I needed to know your thoughts about the Folly Caves before I could-”

“Come up with another plan? What had you’ve done if I had rejected it? Not had a backup to offer me?”

“I’m So Sorry, My King! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!” Stein repeated over and over as he hit himself in sync with his words.

Marco let him go for several seconds before he told the doctor to stop. It always intrigued him to watch Stein’s episodes, but since he was smacking his head this time, he had to stop him.. ‘It’s the only part of him that’s worth anything..’

“Make it up to me by telling me how I’m going to beat the Goblin King,” Marco said as he motioned to Stein to get up.

Once on his feet again, Doctor Stein took a deep breath before starting; “Thank you for your mercy, My King.. The Goblin King isn’t the problem, but the hordes that lay between you two. The Orges aren’t susceptible to Dark and Ether magic, and the Goblins are only weak against Water magic, as far as I know. The others I’m unsure of as well.”

Marco smirked; “Everything is vulnerable to physical attacks to a point. Is there anything special about the Goblin King that I should be aware of?”

Stein walked over to his tray of instruments, and picked up a scalpel as he replied; “I was told that he’s the only Elemental mage among them.. A Fire mage.”

Marco nodded; “I can handle that with Sheri by my side. Is there anything else that you’d like to add or ask?”

The doctor stopped in his tracks, and grinned in a way that would make most cringe as he replied; “Oh aye! Will you take this one with you? I’m trying a new bonding method based on their bone marrow compatibility. I want to know if it helps with what I call the ‘Banana Effect’ problem.”

When Marco didn’t speak, Stein added; “Sometimes after moving around so much they just kind of...split, after a bit. Haha! That rhymes..”

Marco’s patience was wearing thin as he spoke in a hard voice; “What about the others?”

“Oh, the ones I showed you were the tested ones. They’ll be fine, but there’s nearly two for every one that didn’t work. Thankfully, you’ve been providing me with excellent specimens lately...Extremely fresh.”

Marco smirked; “Well, the homeless problem is so small now that people are starting to notice the ones missing. You need to cut back on your experiments for the time being, understand doctor? I cannot afford any fuck-ups right now..”

The jovial expression that had been on the doctor’s face vanished, and was replaced with fear as he replied; “A-Aye, My King. I swear I won’t fail you..”

The two talked about the details of Folly Caves until Sheri came back. She reported that she’d sent out the summons to her counterparts, and that they should all be back within two days. The only one that she didn’t send a message to was Draco, who was in the palace with Karena.

As she finished her report, Marco asked; “And what about the sealing collars? Did you order them to be made?”

Sheri hesitated a moment; “Not yet, sire. I thought I should get a necklace from Skye, so they know what size to make. If she breaks free, we’re all fucked.”

Marco smiled at her and nodded; “Amazing, Sheri. Excellent forethought.”

“...Suckup..” Doctor Stein muttered.

Sheri looked at him and grinned; “Don’t get pissy just because you’re not the only smart person in the room.”

“Smarter than you.. You’re like a monkey compared to me,” Stein retorted.

“What did I miss? What are you two bickering about?” Draco asked as he walked up to them.

Marco nodded at Draco as he bowed, then told him about what they had discussed since coming down to the lab. He nodded along as he listened, then asked; “So we’re going to take over the Folly Caves, enslave or kill the Fae there, then come back in time for King Lawrence’s wedding? Sounds fun! It’s been awhile since I’ve let loose.”

Draco’s smile shined with murderous intent as he talked about how excited he was for their ‘hunting trip’. Doctor Stein was excited about getting new test subjects, but Sheri just stood off to the side with her nose buried in her handkerchief. As Marco watched her, he thought about how she the an uncertain factor..

Marco knew every time that she thought about betraying him, although he didn’t actually know what the thoughts were. Any time one of his pawns thought, said, or did something that could be interpreted at betrayal; he knew. As he walked over to her, Marco wondered if she was a loose knot, or end..

“Don’t share in your companion’s enthusiasm?”

Sheri kept her eyes on the floor as she spoke; “No, I don’t.. I don’t like killing people. Human or Fae.”

“Do you regret agreeing to be a guard for me?”

Sheri took in a deep breath, then looked up at her King; “No.. Sometimes, but you promised me that you were going to save Skye from dying. So I kinda have to go along with you, don’t I?”

Marco grinned at Sheri in a way that made her look at the floor again as he said; “Yes you do.. The Catalyst is supposed to die at the end of the prophecy, but I know a way how to make it so she won’t.. I may be an evil bastard, but you know how I feel about her. If you believe anything: believe that.”

“But you don’t actually love her.. You just want to save her to get her magic, right?” Sheri asked a little too boldly.

“...I like you, Sheri, but do not upset me. I would hate for you to go into a dangerous fight already injured.”

Sheri swallowed hard as she nodded in understanding. The shard of Marco’s amulet felt like it was on fire, causing her to wince and yelp. Stein and Draco glanced at her, then went back to their conversation like it was nothing. As she went to her knees in pain, Marco asked; “Will you ge a good little lass now?”

Sheri cried out in pain once before replying; “Yes! Yes, I swear, My King! Just....Please?! S-Stop..!”

Marco smiled sadistically as he watched her fall over, and twist around in pain. When he saw tears in her eyes, he stopped and said; “Remember this pain the next time bad thoughts start to pop up in your head..”

As Sheri laid on the floor in a crumbled mess, Marco walked back over to Doctor Stein and Draco. He wanted to make multiple plans for when they went hunting, and started to discuss it right away. Leaving Sheri to pick herself up, and join them once she had composed herself.

As she coughed and sputtered, she made a mental note to figure out when exactly during the process of deciding to do something did the shard notify Marco of it.. ‘I know that he’ll be the one to kill me someday, so I’m gonna take the bastard with me when he does..’

‘I don’t doubt that he wants to save Skye, but why? He keeps calling her ‘his future wife’: is he serious? Skye would never willingly marry him.. But if he was the seated King, then he could force her after Tidas was dead.. Poor guy.. Got stuck with a bat-crap-crazy brother..’

After Sheri had collected herself and her thoughts, she walked over to join in on the discussion of their Hunting Trip...

************

“You don’t have to hold my hand like a child, you know.. I’m not going to run away,” Genie stated as Skye dragged him along down the hallway towards her and Tidas’ quarters.

Skye glanced back at him with a disbelieving expression, then said; “Ima not takin’ any chances wit you! And it’s not so much as you runnin’ away, but rather ya just poofin’ away..”

“She’s not wrong, Genie,” Tidas added with a cheeky grin as he walked next to them.

As they stopped outside of their small hallway leading to their rooms, Skye locked eyes with Genie; “Ya said that ya couldna talk before, but ya can in here. And yer gonna talk, Genie.. Or it’s gonna get really violent, really fast..”