The result of Shaco’s case ended with him being pardoned, leaving things on a fortunate note for him. However, the townsfolk that had mistreated Shaco when he was once a kid received an abundance of hostility from the people Shaco had trapped as his shadow friends. Had the townsfolk simply left Shaco alone and not killed Ophen or his dog, this whole mess would not have happened in the first place. It was a surprise to everyone how Barry was able to turn things around when all seemed impossible.
As Shaco and his team were sharing their success together during the conclusion of the event, Barry suddenly felt off. His instincts urged him to look at a specific section within the audience and when he did, he was shocked to see the same phantom that kept appearing every now and then. It was the ‘True Barry’, the lone swordsman who always showed up when Barry least expected him to. ‘What? Are you trying to tell me I did the right thing by standing up for Shaco? I mean, he deserves better after what he’s been through. And it felt good putting these arrogant assholes in their place. So stop staring at me, will ya…’
Suddenly, Barry felt a faint bit of warmth course through his body. He could only assume that it must have been from the phantasmal swordsman, meaning his thoughts had to have been received by him. “Barry!” He heard his name being called out by Basil, gesturing him to come join the others. “We still have much more to discuss in regards to the gods game now that this is over. Shall we take this elsewhere?”
Barry gave a quick glance back at where he last saw the True Barry, noticing that the lone swordsman had vanished before responding back in acceptance. “Yeah…sounds good, let’s get that out of the way.”
The council members Kaiya and Jhord; along with Barry, his party, and Shaco, were moved to a different room connected to the court house which was now being emptied. Inside they conversed about the gods' game and the elves' plan for convincing the rest of their people across the land to join forces in order to cement their victory in winning the main quest. Speaking of which, the green prism that they had won during their challenge against Lady Iris was obtained by Anna who had handed it off to Abe for safe keeping inside his spectral carriage. And with four prisms obtained amongst the contestants, there were only four more needing to be collected.
Thinking back on his fight against Lady Iris, Barry wondered what had happened to her arm that he cut off and asked his party. “Hey, so…what happened to Lady Iris’s arm I took? I only recall holding onto it right before passing out. Did any of you take it by chance?”
“Oh yeah!” Luna took the opportunity to explain what had happened. “As we were taking you back here, we were weirded out on what to do with it. At first we thought about burning it but Kat made a suggestion about bringing it to Sherry to see if maybe she can make something useful out of it. So we locked it in a secured box inside Abe’s carriage. I thought it was going to become alive or something like a zombie arm in movies that’s why we did that. Also, our inventories wouldn’t accept storing it, so there was that too.”
It never occurred to Barry about the possibility of it coming alive or maybe turning it into a weapon of some sort. In any case, Barry liked the idea of weaponizing it if possible once they returned back to base. “That’s a good idea Kat, I never intended on making something out of it when I was hacking the villain’s arm off. It’d be interesting to see if Sherry can do anything to it.”
His praise made Kat produce a shy smile, thankful that he thought so. “U-Uh, no problem. I-I was only thinking about the team and how we can make ourselves stronger.”
From that point on, their meeting wrapped up, ending with Barry telling everyone that he and his group were going to head back to their base. Barry’s group offered Shaco if he would like to join them, informing him about their base that was run by people of the night, such as vampires, witches, and werewolves. Shaco happily agreed, ecstatic to see what this place was about and promised to use his powers for the betterment of the game they were in and to build onto their base. However, there were a couple more things that needed to be resolved before they could leave.
Barry asked Shaco to speak to him in private about a sensitive piece of information that only Shaco knew at the moment. The two moved away to another separate room where no one could hear them. “Shaco, do you remember when you tried converting me into one of your shadow friends. About how you said I lied about telling my real name?”
“Ah yes. I do remember saying something like that. My powers only work if the person in effect is really who they say they are. So…yeah…” Shaco was no longer offended by Barry anymore for giving him a false name, but he was curious why he called himself ‘Barry’ to everyone. “...why…do you call yourself Barry if you don’t mind me asking? Is your real name embarrassing and Barry is just a cover-up name or-”
“W-What? N-No- Well- No and yes?” Barry denied, mainly the former. “Listen, I never meant to lie to anyone so what I’m about to tell you is the truth. And you can’t tell anyone, I mean it Shaco. It’s not that I don’t trust the others but I’d rather not have them make a big deal of it when I’m trying to figure it out myself. Can you promise me that you won’t say anything?”
“After everything you’ve done for me, defending my life and changing it for the better, I would do anything for you. I will tell not a soul about your secrets and hold them to my grave. That is my promise to you, friend.” Shaco pretended to seal his lips like it was a zipper, swiping a finger across his mask.
Taking a deep breath, Barry trusted Shaco and went ahead, revealing to him the truth about himself. He explained how he didn’t know who he was, that his past was basically nonexistent to himself. The reason why he calls himself Barry is because it was the first name he decided on calling himself after envisioning a lone swordsman who calls himself that. Shaco now understood that he wasn’t really lying to him and everyone else, he was simply borrowing the name because he had no clue of who he once was. Now knowing this, Shaco reassured Barry that he wouldn’t share this with the others unless he said so. He also hoped that Barry would be able to discover more of his past soon, and that it didn’t matter what he called himself. Because to Shaco, it was the actions that made him who he was, and he was sure that his team would agree as well.
Barry thanked him for his trust, but was curious himself about whether to call Shaco by his current name or by his true name, Melvin. Shaco preferred to be called as he was at the moment, since he didn’t feel comfortable switching back to his old name.
Acknowledging what was discussed, the two left and returned to the others who were chatting back at the main court room when Barry spotted Noldric conversing with some elves about his opinions concerning what went on recently. A grin formed on Barry’s face when he thought back on the bet he had made with Noldric. “Hey guys, we still have to put our names down in their book of honorable people before we take off. So let’s go bother old stink-eye there.”
The crew approached Noldric, catching his attention when they came close. Barry stopped in front of the old geezer who locked sights with him, giving a mean look of confusion. “W-What is it!? Is there something you have to say to me? Because I was just-”
“Have you forgotten the bet we made?” Barry reminded; it took Noldric a couple of seconds to figure out what he was talking about, now expressing a face of shock. “Yup, so you do remember the bet. And you’re going to uphold your end or you know what’ll happen if you don’t. Right?”
Noldric hesitated to tell him outright no, but then received multiple notifications from the gods watching; all informing him that if he didn’t do what they agreed upon, that his own life would be taken. Bitter and seething inside, Noldric struggled to speak for a moment until he caved in. “F-Fine! But we don’t have a book dedicated for writing names of notable people outside our race so-”
“That’s okay!” Kaiya, Basil’s gracious mother, spoke energetically as she presented a fresh, clean and exquisite book in hand. “I took the liberty of having one crafted while Barry and his party were out accomplishing their task. This should do just fine, yes?”
Stunned and at a loss for words, Noldric did not speak when he mindlessly held onto the book when it was passed to him. Barry gave a fiendish grin, tapping on the front cover. “Yeah, this will do quite well. And no fucking up our names, I’m sure the gods can agree that’d be rather insulting to us. Especially if you screw up mine.”
Together, they watched Noldric sit down in frustration and jot down the names of Barry’s group one by one. The callous elder did not try any funny business, believing that he’d be utterly screwed if he even attempted to make a purposeful error out of spite. However, even despite his caution, Barry would tease him at times, pointing out false mistakes and looking over his handwriting. It was so anxiety-inducing to Noldric the entire time that he actually began sweating; Barry even made a comment about not staining the paper. When Noldric was finished, they examined the page over, with Luna, Kat, and Anna sketching mini-drawings or a few touch-ups right beside their names before accepting it. The old man looked like he was about to pass out before Barry and his crew decided to take their leave from the court house.
“Well that was entertaining.” Anna enjoyed the show provided to them. “But now that that's over, we still have the situation with Ron to handle. I remember seeing him and his guardian in the court house but they were- Oh, speak of the devil.” She pointed them out by Abe who was standing a couple of buildings away. Ron seemed to be talking to Abe, while his guardian was observing them just now stepping out. “Do you think he’s going to really take Ron away from us, Barry?” She asked.
Barry shook his head, recalling what she told him before. “You said he was interested in the prisms right? Given that he chose to stay rather than running off with Ron, he probably has some intention to either watch us…or take them from us. Either way, we’re about to find out.”
Upon arrival, Ron and Abe greeted them happily, though the mysterious mage had already set the mood to be eerie and awkward. Abe tipped his ghostly hat to Barry, glad to see he was better. “Rising back from the dead I see; and looking very eager to get back out there aren’t cha?” Barry couldn’t deny that. “I think everyone already told you, but I made sure to put your trophy in a tightly secured box. Though I wasn’t expecting it to be a dryad’s arm...”
“That bitch deserved it, but yeah, I wasn’t planning on taking it along with me; it just happened I guess.” Barry replied in a half-joking manner. He glanced between Ron and the cosmic person, wondering how to bring up their situation for a moment till deciding to just get to the bottom of it. “So…” He spoke to Ron in a nonchalant manner. “...care to introduce your friend here and why he wants to take you?”
Ron had prepared the entire time to explain his circumstance to Barry and responded the best he could. “W-Well, it’s not his real name, but he prefers to go by ‘Arcades’ and for the reason why he wants me by his side-”
“The reason is of no concern to you all.” Arcades chimed in, his voice being serious and firm. Barry looked at the mage, questioning why it wasn’t of any importance to them whether they knew or not. “I’ve searched far and wide to find him for a long time. Longer than when this atrocious game of the gods started. So he will not be leaving me at all.”
“And I’m just supposed to take your word from someone who's been stalking us the entire time we’ve been travelling out here. Not even a bit of detail as to why you’ve been out scouring for Ron?” Barry talked back, matching his energy. “Oh, and the prisms; you could have just taken off with Ron but you instead chose to stay probably because you want the prism we got for yourself. Is that really the truth or is there another secret you're trying to hide?”
The tension between the two was stirring up, both contestants glaring at one another fiercely while the rest wondered how this was going to result in. Arcades spoke again; this time, everyone could sense a hint of his magic being purposefully released. “I can not share what I know to just anyone. Especially from someone who is not from this world, it would be just as foolish for me to tell you as it was for you to nearly kill yourself over some mere Kobold.”
What Arcades had just said definitely struck a nerve to Barry, as it took every ounce in his very being to hold back from starting what could have been a nasty fight. “His name is Puck, and if it hadn’t been for us distracting that damn villain, we wouldn’t have gotten another win in our favor. So you have us to thank for securing another one of these prisms. Your. Fucking. Welcome.”
Something or someone needed to intervene at the time because even without any more exchanges of words, the hostility between Arcades and Barry was growing. “H-Hey! Hey!” Abe nervously volunteered to jump in, though the two continued to lock eyes on each other. “We best be leaving right now before it gets dark, we’re taking Shaco and Fae along with us so we can’t really teleport back to homebase without leaving them behind. They need to receive Calista’s tattoo in order to properly use it. Hehe…”
Barry was the first to pull his focus away from Arcades, walking away in an aggravated manner towards Abe’s carriage. “You all heard the ranger. It’s about time we kick off on the road again…” Everyone followed along, except for Ron who was unsure of what to do since he felt held down by Arcades own intimidating presence. “The hell are you doing Ron?” Barry called back, knowing that Arcades was likely not going to approve what he was going to say next. “Get over here, if the guy wants to keep eyes on you at all times, he can tag along with us. Besides, he’s interested in the prisms, right?”
From the tone of Barry’s voice, it was as if he was taunting Arcades like he had no other choice but to let Ron go with them. Ron glanced at Arcades, who couldn’t help but agree that Barry was right and felt annoyed himself. “Go.” Arcades ordered Ron, surprisingly giving him the pass. “I will tag along for now. But only until I say otherwise.”
Ron was relieved that he was not going to be separated from his group and hurried to join the others inside Abe’s carriage. But when Arcades was about to walk up the steps inside, Barry was there blocking the doorway, a hand on the doorhandle ready to shut it. “Sorry, only the cool kids get to enter. Tough luck bud.” Barry mocked before slamming the door on Arcades face.
Abe witnessed what had just happened, he sensed Arcades becoming frustrated, the first sign being the pressure of his aura reaching him from the coachbox. “So…uh…you don’t need to be a cool kid to ride by me. Would you want to?” Abe offered in a kind, yet slightly nervous manner.
The mage walked over to one of the horse stables nearby, it appeared to Abe that he was trying to get a ride of his own without relying on him. “This is going to be an interesting trip back home…” Abe sighed, hoping that no more trouble would occur anytime soon.
Their trip began once Arcades was able to get his own horse; Abe took the lead back to base without needing any of the team's help with navigating since he knew the way back already. It was a bit packed now that they had Fae and Shaco joining them inside the carriage, especially since Barry now had to share his favorite couch in order for everyone to have proper seating. Barry’s denial of entry for Arcades had set the mood back to a calm setting, which everyone was thankful for.
While inside, everyone asked Ron what he knew about the mage and what they had been doing the whole time since the two of them had been staying at a lodge for Barry’s awakening. He explained that Arcades had been asking hard questions about his own actions: such as where he had gone to, if Ron had caused any trouble, or if he recalled any of his own history when he was younger. Ron simply told him the truth and it seemed to Ron that the mage wasn’t satisfied with his answers; almost as if Arcades was expecting him to say something else. But one thing that Ron knew Arcades didn’t like, was about his newly obtained magic that he got during their recent challenge.
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“So you got some new sorcery or power during the whole challenge?” Barry questioned Ron, curious what it was. “And it’s apparently identified as another Class like your illusion magic?”
“Exactly, it’s referred to as ‘Conduit of the Magium’. Here, I’ll show you.” Ron then conjured up a ball of light blue magic different from his typical usage and fired a sample beam at a cup, knocking it over. He then layered some of it around the cup and attempted to lift it like telekinesis but struggled to do so. “Crude, I’m still trying to get better at moving objects with it. But I’m sure there’s more to what this new magic is capable of. The only thing is…Arcades told me never to use it.”
This made everyone even more puzzled about what Arcades deal was. “That’s right!” Luna vouched. “Ron vaporized a whole hydra one time or else we’d get crushed, but the dude came up to us and demanded Ron to never use it like it was some curse. Why does he have to act like such a hardass to you? Did he tell you anything about himself while you were away from us?”
Ron thought back but shook his head. “Nope, the guy was pretty tight lipped about his whole backstory. Nothing about where he’s from, how old he is, or why I’m important to keep around. He makes me anxious every time I’m near him, Arcades clearly knows something about me and the prisms but what exactly!” It bothered Ron, as well as everyone, what Arcades was trying to hide.
“I don’t care what that guy says about you not using your new ability.” Barry commented. “If it’s what can make you stronger, then I’d say use it. Why hold yourself back from wielding it all because some random person tells you not too. If this power is some sort of curse, or ends up being something bad, then he has no choice but to tell us. Fuck him, it’s you that makes your decisions, not some stranger who won’t even share what his favorite color is.”
No one could deny what Barry was saying was true, if Arcades had a problem with Ron utilizing his new magic, then he should say something. “I’ll…I’ll keep practicing with it when Arcades is not around me.” Ron replied, though he was appreciative of Barry’s encouragement. “I’m just grateful I’m able to stick with you guys until this whole quest is over. I’ve really grown attached to the group…it would suck if I really did leave. And I would especially never be able to see Sherry again…”
Anna clasped a hand on his shoulder, patting him a few times out of support while smiling faintly. “We’d hate to lose you too; and that’s right, it would suck if we returned without you. Because I’m sure Sherry would panic if she heard that her boyfriend was snatched away by some space wizard.” Her joke made everyone laugh a bit, while it had a different effect on Ron.
“Haha, yeah, maybe Sherry would- W-Wait!? B-Boyfriend!?” Ron was taken aback by Anna’s tease, thinking that it could never be true. “N-No, no, she’d never think of me like that! S-She’s probably more interested in someone who’s stronger and more-”
A slap on his back from Anna stopped him from rambling. “Quiet being such a worry wart and have more confidence in yourself. You are getting stronger by the day, but I’m sure that’s not what she really cares about in a guy. Just keep being you.” Her support lifted his spirits, accepting her advice and pushing away his negative thoughts.
After their conversation, everyone did their own thing to pass the time. Puck, Ron, Kat, Anna, and Luna went off inside Abe’s biome expansion room to train, Shaco and Fae joined them to help provide insight on what they could improve on. Barry wanted to be alone for a while, mainly so he could sleep and train inside his dream world without any distractions. Luna did show him the locked box where Lady Iris’s arm was put in before they left. When he looked inside, he examined the cold lifeless limb.
“Yeah, I don’t doubt your belief that this thing might come alive to strangle either one of us.” Barry agreed to Luna’s possibility, deriving from all the media she had watched in the past. The dryad’s arm felt smooth, yet soft and mossy, some treebark remained on it with some vibrant flowers. He sensed a bit of the villain’s lingering power still residing inside. “If Sherry is able to make something out of this. The next time we see Lady Iris, it’s going to be hilarious to see her reaction.”
“I’m sure she’d be very pissed. Haha…” Luna sided. Though she was still worried about the lifeless arm until then. “Just uh…make sure to keep it locked inside the box please…it weirds me out…” She reminded, prior to leaving him alone to join up with the others in a rush to get away from the arm.
From what Barry could understand based on his eyes, was that the arm was simply referred to as ‘Lady Iris’s Lost Arm’ by text. The color of the title was purple, meaning it had to be of Unique rarity. Barry didn’t mess with it any longer and returned it back to where it was, ensuring it was locked tightly. And seeing that no one else was around in the room besides him, Barry dove back onto his lovely couch and snoozed. From there, he continued his own personal training alongside Claude and Thalia.
A couple hours passed; the rest of the party chatted amongst each other during their downtime about trivial things until Fae and Shaco wondered if Abe ever made any stops while travelling on the road. They were informed that since Abe and his horses were spirits, they didn’t require any rest themselves but also that they rarely ever stopped because Barry preferred to keep trucking onwards. Anna wondered if Barry would make a fuss this time if they stopped off the side of the road for at least an hour just so they could get some fresh air, maybe even have lunch.
Anna knew how much Barry liked sleeping, so she checked in on him occasionally to see if he was still out cold and was not surprised every time she saw him unconscious. ‘Maybe we can get away with taking a pit stop…’ She walked up to him, his face laying sideways on a pillow cushion. “Hey Barry…Barry…” Anna whispered to him, even tapping on his shoulders to see how deep asleep he was. Yet still, no reaction.
She sighed for a moment, considered her idea and whispered to him once more. “If you can even hear me, I’m going to have everyone take a breather outside. So don’t be too angry if you happen to wake up and see. But I promise it won't be long.” Anna thought it was silly of her to even speak to what was a dense log; still, she could at least tell him that she told him in case he was mad.
However, in truth, Thalia was able to hear Anna the entire time she had been talking to Barry in his sleep. Thalia knew that if she passed on what was said to Barry, that he’d probably wake up immediately and shut down her plan, so she chose to keep it to herself and enforce harsher training methods on Barry to keep him occupied as long as possible.
Abe was informed by Anna to pull over for a break and the whole group walked out to set up a short camp. Shaco’s wondrous powers came in handy, allowing them to set up cooking supplies for Anna and set up furniture to use; all in a minimal time span. Fae helped Anna prepare lunch while the others did whatever they felt. Abe did feel somewhat skeptical of the animals around them, afraid that there may be some malicious animals lurking about so he kept watch of the perimeter.
Arcades observed the entire group as he stood menacingly by a tree, studying each member intently, but more importantly how Ron interacted with the team he had stuck around with. He questioned why Barry wasn’t outside, thinking of what he must be doing still inside Abe’s carriage all this time. His gaze shifted to Puck, the Kobold who Barry was willing to sever Lady Iris’s arm for, out of revenge. ‘Is there anything even remotely unique about this Kobold? I’ve heard he can use pyromancy but even so; that shouldn’t-’
He then watched Puck fan a short flame to light up a grill for Anna and Fae, his golden flames dancing in the charcoal as Puck received a thanks and a pat on the head before taking off. ‘What is that? That’s no ordinary flame, I can feel it being similar to a dragon but not exactly. How can this type of sorcery be wielded by something so…so…’
Puck was playing with Luna and Shaco when he noticed Arcades staring at him in particular. This made him curious, wondering if he had something to say to him, or maybe if he wanted to join in on the fun but was acting too cool to admit it. “H-Hi, space person.” Puck greeted nicely upon approaching Arcades. The mage felt a bit annoyed by what he was called but let it slide. “D-Do you wanna play with Puck and friends? Puck couldn’t help but see you be interested so-”
“No.” Arcades denied without hesitation; though it was short and to the point, Puck was slightly hoping he’d say yes. “But tell me, Kobold…” Puck lifted his head up to the mysterious cosmic being. “Where does your magic derive from? I’m more interested in how your magic works compared to others.”
Despite his words being spoken to Puck like he was being pressured, the Kobold reacted ecstatically to his question, happy to share what he knew. “O-Oh! Was that why you were looking at Puck? Well, Puck doesn’t call it magic, Puck calls it mojo.” The term was odd to Arcades but omitted from saying anything. “But how does it work, mmmmm…Puck just thinks about fun times and poof, Puck can use fire!”
His answer didn’t seem satisfactory to him, Arcades moved his question to Puck’s place of origin. “Ron told me that you were with him when he took shelter within your treehouse. Did you obtain this…mojo, from back then or from the game’s system when it started?”
The mage’s query made Puck think all the way back to his past, but it was strange to him; Puck could only remember fuzzy bits of his memory before meeting Barry. “Um…Puck don’t remember much. Puck also doesn’t see the thing called ‘system’ like everyone, so Puck doesn’t think he gained mojo from it…” This information surprised Arcades, it was a first for him to meet a Kobold able to cast magic at all. Puck rubbed his neck and smiled faintly. “Puck thinks that mojo has always been with him. That much Puck at least believes!”
“Puck!” Anna called over to him, the two shifting their attention to her and Fae, who seemed to be done making grilled chicken sandwiches for lunch. “Come eat before the food gets cold.” She then glanced at Arcades, politely offering him the same despite his brooding appearance. “You can join us too if you would like.”
Everyone sat down in a circle on some furniture, making it seem like a family gathering eating in peace out in the woods. The sandwiches were beyond expectations, Fae hoped to learn more about cooking from Anna since she had worked as a chef before everything happened. Shaco’s mask didn’t get in the way of him eating his delectable meal and no one questioned how it was possible for him to eat normally without seeing his face; their reason being it was just magic stuff. However, Arcades never took off his hood and mask either, basically eating the same way Shaco did and that was when everyone started becoming curious how they were able to do this.
Arcades listened to the group get chatty, his thoughts about Puck’s unusual magic lingered in his mind for a bit until he heard Luna make a remark to Ron about that one morning he stepped out of Sherry’s house. “Ron, are you ever going to tell me what you and Sherry were doing the day we left the base? I know you were trying to hide something but my sister came in to save you from embarrassment. So are ya?”
“Luna.” Anna interjected out of protection for poor Ron. She knew how nosy her sister can be at times. “Let him be. He’ll tell us if he wants to-”
“I-It’s okay, Anna.” Ron waved his hands, assuring her that he was comfortable talking about the subject. “I’ll tell you all what happened that day but please don’t make it a big deal, especially when we get back.”
The crowd listened in on his story, Ron also explained a bit about Sherry to Fae and Shaco since they didn’t know who she was; Arcades also had no clue as well, Ron had never brought her up when he was being questioned by him a while back. Ron didn’t make his story dramatic but it didn’t matter because to everyone else, it really seemed like it must have been a wonderful interaction between Sherry and Ron that one morning. How he pledged to prove that he could be reliable to everyone, but most of all to Sherry as someone to lean on. And to make his party feel all warm and fuzzy inside, he presented the crystal butterfly figure given from Sherry.
“This is what she gave me. I promised her that I’d take care of it until I returned. I’ve only ever taken it out a few times since we’ve left because I was scared I’d break it.” Ron gently passed it onto the others, they all admired the iridescent figure and took great care when handling it before giving it back. “But yeah, that’s what happened that day. Nothing crazy.”
“N-Nothing crazy!?” Luna exclaimed, she was sure the group could agree that Ron was being oblivious to the message behind what Sherry was hinting at. “Dude! She likes you! How did you not see any of the signs!” Everybody inputted their own opinion on the story, trying to convince Ron that it was very possible Sherry did like him more than he thought.
Ron sort of nervously laughed off all his friends' encouragement; still finding it hard to believe that it could maybe, in the slightest, conceivably, be true. “Haha…thanks guys…but I won’t know for sure unless she tells me. And frankly…I’m kinda scared to find out the truth myself. So for now…I’ll keep focusing on improving myself for everyone’s sake.”
There was disappointment in the group’s eyes when they essentially heard Ron shut himself down, but also felt understanding that he decided to work on himself at the moment. However, Arcades had a rather different viewpoint of Ron’s personal love life.
“Good. Keep it that way.” Arcades voiced coldly. The mood had now shifted from being light-hearted and cheerful, to now a gloomy and sullied atmosphere. Everyone’s eyes moved to him, wondering why he would say such a thing.
Ron didn’t say anything in response to his rude opinion, he simply took it to the face and kept to himself. Anna on the other hand felt indifferent about what Arcades said and pressed him for a clear answer with slight annoyance in her tone. “And why should he?” Ron was surprised to see Anna support him by talking back. “Is it dangerous for him to love someone?”
Arcades set his plate down, laced his hands together as if thinking about how to respond before fixating onto Anna. “Potentially, it can cause detrimental effects to the world in the long run if he does. And I will not let something like that happen so long as I am here with him. No more questions. That is my answer.”
What he said sounded so cryptic to them all, and so stupid that Anna was not going to take that as his final say. “Detrimental effects to the world? What the hell do you mean by that? Is love in this world apparently hazardous? I’m sorry I can’t comprehend the puzzling words that come out of your mouth. Maybe if you stop being so secretive, we wouldn’t be so damn curious as to what your deal is.”
Profound tension was rising between the two, Arcades stood tall, looming over the rest of the group right before speaking in a serious manner. “I will not say anything more than what is required; because as I’ve said before. It is of no concern to you all.” Arcades gazed at Ron, who was avoiding him. “I know you’ve been practicing what you think are new gifts. And I know your friends must have encouraged you to ignore my order to not use them. So if you still think you can disobey my order, I’ll make it so that you don’t.”
The air around Ron whirled, he felt a strong gust of wind brush him as he and everyone else witnessed the crystal butterfly being lifted off the ground and fly into Arcades hand. “W-What are you doing!?” Ron panicked. “Give it back!”
Everyone stood up, thinking about confronting Arcades to try and reclaim Sherry’s butterfly, but all were unsure of what he was going to do if they did. “That’s not yours, asshole!” Anna snapped at the mage. “It already fucking low of you to tell Ron to forget about Sherry, but it’s even lower if you’re going so far as to control him with fear. Why the hell is it so important for him not to use his new ability!? Just tell us!”
“I thought I was being considerate already by letting Ron stay with you all for a bit, and see how this group functions.” Arcades remarked, his one hand cradling the butterfly delicately while also making everyone feel uneasy. “But now I realize that it just might have been a mistake since you all can’t respect my need to maintain confidentiality. I never planned on harming either of you, my end goal is the same as everyone here; to finish this game made from the gods. Yet even still, I believe that’s not enough for you all to trust me.”
“No shit it’s not enough.” Anna replied, unsatisfied. She wanted things to cool down because she knew that starting a fight with this mysterious mage was going to end poorly, no matter if they outnumbered him. And it didn’t help that she was conscious of Sherry’s crystal butterfly breaking in his clutches. “Okay, listen, let’s just drop the hostility right now and get back on the road. We won’t question you anymore, but I don’t like how you’re treating Ron right now.”
Arcades pondered about her settlement, then looked back at Ron who was still focused on the crystal figure more than anything at the moment. He believed that whoever this woman, Sherry, was to Ron, that it was going to have a bad influence on him in the future. And that went for everyone else here, Arcades could see how much Ron cared about these people and knew what he should have done. “Ron, you’re not really going to obey me at all. Are you?”
His question seemed to Ron like there was no right or wrong answer; no matter what he told Arcades, he had a gut feeling that Arcades was going to do what he wanted in the end. That being said, even though he was afraid of the man wanting to control his actions, Ron brought forth all his confidence and responded in total truth. “No, I’m not. You know something I don’t, and that makes me nervous; but no matter how many times you tell me not to use my gifts, I’m still going to use them anyway. That’s my freedom of choice, and you’re just a nobody who walked into my life. But you don’t care what I say, do you?”
Suddenly, everyone began to experience an unknown pressure being enforced on their bodies; almost as if the gravity was being intensified. “You’re very perceptive, Ron.” Arcades complimented, his cosmic cloak bellowing in the air, upholding an intimidating stance. His hands slowly pressed tightly on the crystal butterfly, worry shot through Ron even though he knew the outcome. “You care a lot about this woman, I can tell. But what you wish can only be a fantasy, not your reality. I shall clear your head of those thoughts and do what I should have done.” Cracks began to form around the butterfly, everyone struggled to do anything to stop him but couldn’t. “Let this be the first consequence of your freedom that you claim to have. And say goodbye to this merry party of yours. Ron.”
And just when things were looking grisly, when the unthinkable was about to happen, the door to Abe’s carriage opened up, revealing the man of the hour at a time when they least expected. “Just as I thought, everyone wanted to have a small picnic-” Barry stopped talking when he noticed the eerie sight of just what the hell was going on. “Um…what the fuck is happening right now?”
