To form a contract is to form a connection. To form a connection is to form understanding.
To form understanding leads to fulfillment, life, and prosperity.
Vecro 3:12
--------------
Whisperer Soulseverance led everyone out of the King of Terror's domain.
Some of them expected the peaceful area he cultivated would suddenly be a desolate wasteland the moment they exited the cube. Alas, they were mistaken. It was still the quiet, peaceful place they had witnessed originally.
It was easier to dilute themselves from reality, to believe that this was all a myth, that the King of Terror was just that. Terror incarnate. But the sight of elven citizens, living safe, happy lives behind these walls, caused the Kosmairian's stomach to turn.
They exited the settlement without issue.
"See you around, twenty-fifth," Soulseverance said before he closed the gate.
"Asshole."
Gwyn huffed and took a deep breath, which she immediately regretted. The air was foul again.
Astrin looked up from the bug she was playing with.
Everyone approached them to ask how the visit went.
"I felt the contract expire. Was your mission successful?" Strangulation asked.
Everyone avoided her eyes, which made the General nervous.
Gwyn handed her the paper.
"Here."
"Man is on a whole 'nother level. We are lucky to be alive," Di 'Vinci said.
Strangulation looked toward Gwyn.
"Did our plan work?"
The Chosen One just shook her head.
"He knew about it. He shattered the ring before I ever had a chance to do anything with it."
The General frowned at this information, but she had expected it not to work.
"And what's this? Why do you have this?"
General Strangulation looked at the map but couldn't tell what it showed.
"It may contain the location of the wishes," Artero said, crestfallen.
"May?" Strangulation clarified. "I thought they knew where this ancient magic was?"
"They do," Elise said. "But if it did exist, it'd be at the end of a dungeon in which they themselves could not complete."
The General looked at those around them.
"So this could have all been for nothing."
"The map is to the kingdom to the South, where the Queen of the Moon resides," Gwyn said.
The General turned the map over and saw the twinned snake towers.
"If this map is correct, it suggests the dungeon is somewhere within the city?" Strangulation asked.
"That is correct," Artero said.
"The one place we didn't look," Elise said regretfully.
"Approaching the Queen of the Moon about anything is a pain in the ass and often not worth the effort," General Strangulation said. "We are just lucky she hasn't aligned herself with the King of Terror."
Everyone seemed to nod at this statement.
The hundreds of apparitions that were present when they arrived had been gone for quite some time. They all stood alone outside the gates of the King of Terror's domain.
"Is that our next plan of attack? Going to see the Queen of the Moon?" Astrin asked.
"Well, here it says, 'The first trial is trivial, the second requires teamwork, the third is impossible.' Wait. Am I reading this right? Impossible?" Strangulation looked up from the paper. "Did they elaborate on what that could mean?"
Gwyn shook her head.
"No. That's all they gave us."
When Gwyn uttered this statement, everyone present at the meeting seemed to glance in her direction, as if to say she was deliberately omitting something.
"Why is everyone staring at you, Gwynevere? Did you trade something for this?" Strangulation asked.
Teddy let out a chuckle.
"Gave away something, alright." Myria smacked him. "Hey! It's true."
"What do you mean?" Astrin asked.
"Regretfully, the most terrifying thing about the King of Terror is how attractive he is," Myria mused boredly.
"Wait, really? He's hot?"
"A smokeshow," Teddy said.
Astrin placed a consoling hand on her shoulder.
"Huh... well, at least you'll have a beautiful husband, Gwynevere."
Gwyn just slouched further and groaned.
"Ughhhhh, I hate him."
She most certainly didn't hate how he looked, however.
"Wait, what's going on? Husband? What do you mean by 'attractive'?" Strangulation looked around. "Is someone going to explain what's going on?"
"It seems Gwyn has agreed to marry the King of Terror for this information you are holding, currently," Einstein correctly surmised.
Strangulation just looked at the paper, then at Gwyn, then back at the paper. Her voice boomed.
"For this?! That's it?"
"Since we couldn't curse him, I figured this was our only chance," Gwyn said meekly. "I didn't know if we'd get another opportunity."
Artero interjected.
"The contract you made was worthless, Sister. They planned to risk Soulseverance's life. The King of Terror threatened our lives. Gwynevere had no choice."
"Gods," General Strangulation rubbed her temple as though a migraine was forming. "Tell me, there is something else."
"That is all, unfortunately," Gwyn said.
She thought that, up until this point, they had done a decent job of obtaining relevant information, but General Strangulation's reaction left the Chosen One feeling conflicted.
Strangulation frowned.
"Well, for your sake," Strangulation looked at Artero and Elise; they seemed just as crestfallen as the newest Chosen One. "And others. Those wishes better exist. Hopefully, they can purge this evil from our world."
"Is this all you need from us, General?" Einstein asked, standing, reading from the book in his hand.
"Yes, for now. I'll be in contact with you and Di 'Vinci. Take Gwynevere's friends and get them back to the Capital."
"Whoa, whoa. I didn't agree to this!" Teddy shouted.
Strangulation cast the silencing spell on the short elf again, and Teddy began frantically muffling again.
"Thanks for everything, General, sorry we couldn't be more help," Leo said.
"I didn't expect you to do anything to begin with."
"R-right, my apologies."
The ninth and twenty-third then took Gwyn's friends to safety, teleporting them one by one until they were all back at the Capital.
After that, Strangulation, Elise, Artero, Rodrick, and Gwyn were alone.
"Well, at least it wasn't for nothing," Rodrick said. "Wish I could've been there."
"You wouldn't have been able to do anything, I hate to report," Artero said.
The red-haired woman let out a long sigh, thinking of her next move.
Gwynevere Grim was beginning to feel her place in this world, but this situation was beyond her scope. It felt better when she was ignorant of the truths of Keceo. Now, the most dangerous person in the world had her backed into a corner.
"Rodrick," Strangulation finally said.
"Yes, General?"
"Take Elise and the twenty-fifth back to the Capital."
"Right away."
"Is that it then?" Gwyn asked.
"For now. I'll be in contact with you whenever I have something underway."
Artero's face fell; she hadn't mentioned him.
"Have the mages check that the King of Terror didn't place any uninvited magics on you. Rodrick, have the same be true for those who already left. Make sure her friends are inspected as well."
"I understand, General."
Rodrick enchanted his sword to fly. He grabbed Gwyn and Elise and put them underneath his arms and flew all the way back to the Capital with them.
The view of the King of Terror's domain from above looked destitute. That is, if you looked over the walls that surrounded the settlement. Yet inside couldn't have been more different.
The world looked a lot less beautiful than when she flew with Artero.
When they returned, several mages greeted them, and they all went through a screening process, during which more experienced mages then cleared them of anything that could be considered foreign magic or possession. Gwyn couldn't help but wish she had gone to someone like this earlier.
After all was said and done, Elise and Gwyn headed back to the Gilded Towers.
They immediately went straight to Elise's room.
Once inside, the Sylvian Princess closed the curtain. Barely any light was now present in the room.
"Are we going to lie down?"
Elise smiled, but did not answer.
She grabbed a peculiar-looking knife, almost shaped like an icicle. She tossed it into the ceiling. A thin icy veil spread across the room. Light snow began to fall from the ceiling, but vanished whenever it reached any surface, leaving no trace of its existence.
Next, she lit several candles, placing them in various spots that faintly glowed in the pitch black. The flames danced on the snow that fell. There was a slight chill in the room now.
Gwyn lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Snowflakes fell on her lenses, but didn't smudge or obstruct her vision.
The Sylvian Princess noticed the Chosen One's melancholy and hoped that preparing a unique setting would lift her spirits.
"Hey," Elise said softly. She wrapped one arm around Gwyn. "Everything will work out."
Gwyn turned to face Elise, her eyes dazzled in the orange glow as the snow particles fell around them. Gwyn just gazed longingly into her eyes. A feeling of warmth built within her as she stared. A little solace in a blizzard.
"Do you think this was all for nothing?" Gwyn asked softly, choking on her words a little.
"What was for nothing?" Elise looked confused. "Us? The mission?" Elise put her hand on Gwyn's cheek. "Everything has always been for you. Even if you entered a contract with… him… we will figure it out, together."
The women stared at one another, the desire to fulfill each other growing between them. Gwyn's eyes kept glancing between Elise's eyes and her soft lips. Elise accepted her invitation as they lost themselves in one another's embrace.
~
The General and Artero were now in an undisclosed location, known to very few. Strangulation placed several precautionary spells to make sure no one could hear what was about to be discussed between the two siblings.
"Did you succeed?" She stared intensely at Artero, the elf whose mission was disclosed to no one in his party, and nodded solemnly.
The General then stood tall and gave a curt smile.
"Perfect. Good work, little brother."