"What about this..." Lucas continued. "If you ever try to interfere in my life again... And I won't harm your friends unless they were first to interrupt me in whatever I am planning."
Drake's eyes widened and he stared at Lucas with a shocked expression on his face. He had expected something like that from Lucas. 'So he simply wanted me to stop interfering?' he thought to himself. But now that Lucas had mentioned leaving his friends, he was a bit relieved. What would Lucas do? After all, if Lucas harmed his friends... Lucas would die for breaking the contract.
"Does that include indirectly harming?" Drake asked thinking that Lucas might ask Dorian to kill someone for him.
"Yes, I'm not planning on doing anything that would hurt them, however, I'm not assuming responsibility if it was unintentional," Lucas answered. "However, keep Thomas away from me and Dorian and my friends. No tricks." Lucas demanded with a frown. "Oh, if I ever needed one favor, you will help me."
Drake sighed as he nodded. He couldn't blame himself for this, but he was still disappointed. 'I can't believe that I have to betray Thomas for this.' he thought bitterly.
Drake didn't want to do this, but he had no other choice. 'These two know about her existence... While I probably could kill that angel... Dorian on the other hand is physically much stronger than me.' In his opinion, this deal was the only way to protect Jasmine.
"Alright, I will do that." Drake finally agreed. "However, what about your part of the deal? You must tell me where Jasmine is. Do not harm my friends as long as they don't attack you."
"Alright." Lucas smiled as he bowed his head slightly. "Also, you must not harm my friends as well," Lucas added the last part and Dorian nodded.
As the two creatures agreed, their hands burst into black flames symbolizing that the deal was fulfilled.
1-Drake must keep Thomas away from Dorian, Lucas, and their friends.
2-Lucas must give information on Jasmine's whereabouts.
3-Drake can't harm Lucas's friends unless provoked.
4-Lucas can't harm Drake's friends unless provoked.
5-Drake owes Lucas a favor.
Penalty for failure in completing conditions: DEATH.
Drake's transformation melted away, revealing a new outfit of pants, a shirt, and a coat. He scooped Thomas up in one arm and turned to Lucas, the silent third party in their deal. Drake's intense stare asked all the questions he didn't say out loud: Would Lucas die or would he have useful information about her? The face-off was tense and filled with confusion.
Lucas grinned wide as he approached Drake, thankful to have another influential ally on his side. He couldn't help but feel relieved, knowing that Thomas would now be off his back. "Glad to have you on board," he said, clasping Drake's arm in a friendly greeting. "Right now, she is in the Arcane empire. She was kidnapped while you were busy in the mountains," he explained.
"Mhm..." Drake fixed his gaze on Lucas, anticipating some type of punishment of death to fall on the man, though, after a few minutes, he realized that Lucas was telling the truth. He stared at him and asked his question. "How do you know?"
"Well... That question is not part of our deal." Lucas smirked. Why bother explaining when Drake wouldn't believe him anyways? "But as you can see, the deal did not kill me. Information is real."
"I guess..." Drake sighed as he lowered his head. "Alright, fine." he agreed reluctantly. "Do you have any more details?"
"Of course I do." Lucas nodded. "She left after you abandoned her for that piece of shit over there. " He pointed at Thomas. "Seriously, you exchanged the love of your life for him?" Lucas shook his head in disappointment
"I had no choice..." Drake muttered. He clenched his fist and tried hard not to let his hands tremble with anger. He didn't want to admit that he was wrong, but he knew that Lucas was right. He had believed that Thomas would fix the kingdom by adding laws, but now he could see that the kingdom was ruled by Thomas and the laws were just a way for Thomas to get whatever he wanted. He still believed that Thomas could succeed.
"Yeah, I bet you didn't have any choice." Lucas sighed.
"Hey..." Drake awkwardly scratched his cheek. "Why do you dislike Thomas?"
"Eh?" Lucas frowned. "Oh, I don't hate him. He just disappointed me," he exclaimed.
Drake's eyes widened as his jaw dropped in disbelief. He quickly regained his composure and his voice became serious again.
"Disappointed how?" he asked.
Lucas thought about the novel he was reading in the past; Thomas was one of the main cast and he was often acting as a vigilante who protected powerless people. That included punishing criminals with death. Even after becoming a king, he did everything to make people equal no matter what their magic levels were.
"Well..."
Yet, in this reality, Thomas's negligence was responsible for Dorian losing his last relative, as well as his classmate spending countless years in a psychiatric ward.
"I can't explain..." Lucas lowered his head, knowing full well that no one would believe him anyways "But... You should go and search for her. Do you have paper and pen?" Lucas asked while extending his hand.
"Mhm... One second." Lucas opened a portal, walked through it, and almost instantly returned with a pen. "Here you go."
Lucas held out his hand and closed his eyes, mumbling something under his breath. Almost immediately, Lucas returned with a pen in hand. "Here you go," he said.
Drake bent towards the paper and started to write down the address Lucas recited. "She lives there," Lucas said as they finished up.
Drake stood up straight, shifting his gaze between Lucas and Thomas. "Alright," he said gruffly. "I will try to find her."
Lucas nodded, satisfaction gleaming in his eyes. He pointed at Thomas one last time. "Make sure he doesn't bother me or my life in Elemental kingdom."
Drake's lips curved into a thin line as he looked at Thomas. He slowly nodded, sighing. "That can be arranged."
Dorian clapped his hand on Drake's shoulder, the corner of his lips tugging up into a smirk revealing a set of shark-like teeth. "So nobody will interrupt me or try to kidnap Elizabeth from now on?"
"Yes," Drake replied confidently. "As long as you stay no body else gets hurt." He paused for a second then added with a hint of vengeance in his tone: "Only those bastards who put you in a coma."
"Uh... I... Can't promise that." Dorian grinned maliciously.