Chapter 14: Unhelpful front desk
Now that the three of them had gone through all the powers and related things, one would have thought that they were done but no. Aurora still had some questions. He already did answer a few but some things remained a mystery. For example, was it or was it not in the end a thing like in the hunger games?
"No, not at all, he answered, there were no special rules here and he said nothing about other participants. Maybe in some other world we will have to fight someone else but for now, we will be safe from attacks by other participants for at least ten years."
Another weight was removed from her chest. She felt so relieved to know this.
"The only real rule the god voice told me about was that if we ever brought something to a world that wasn't supposed to be there, the world would try to reject it and us causing everything to get much harder than it should. We shouldn't have to worry too much about this since everything from the choice shop at the start of an adventure is taken from the world to which it is linked. (1)
"Since it's both your first adventure-world thingy, it means that it's impossible for you to have something that doesn't belong here right?"
"Yes, you got it Gilly. The only thing that could break the balance is the small magic of Aurora but if we just refrain from using it too much, we should be alright."
Got it, don't bring stuff that isn't supposed to be there, that's easy enough. Thought Aurora.
(Then, what about quests, the party invitation mention those, and reward points.)
"I do not know at all, The objective the voice gave us both was to survive ten years but maybe there are some quest or things to do at the same time like in an rpg."
Aurora had not played many rpg in her life but she still understood what he meant.
(Do you think there are quest givers?)
"Maybe, who knows? We will know how quests work only when we get one. As for the reward points, I'm pretty sure they have to do with the quests."
(That would make sense. What about the companion limit.)
"I have absolutely no idea but I need to find out. Maybe the answer for Gilly is there."
"You mean how to bring me after those ten years?"
A light of hope flashed in her eyes.
"Yes, maybe this is what companions are referring to, it could also be just pets like a battle monster for example. I have no way of finding out for now. It's my best bet thought."
"I know you will do your best. She said while embracing him."
"Of course I will do my best! Next."
(What and where is the safehouse?)
"I have no idea, the god said we wouldn't be able to access it until the end of the first adventure so you will have to wait ten more years to access it. Anything else you want to ask?"
There was still one last question that was really bothering her.
(Are the anime characters in this world or not?)
"Great question!" Exclaimed Blaze, impressed by it. "I have no clue at all, I didn't think about it before. I was too focused on just trying to escape."
"What anime characters?" Asked Gilly. She had no way to know after all.
"I told you before that this world had a series of games on it in the world I came from right? There was a animated show too."
"Then, since there was a game and a show that were pretty much the same as here, she is asking if the characters are here too?"
(Yes. Maybe they can help?)
"Maybe, or maybe they will be against us if they are here. We are criminals after all and those are the good guys."
(We aren't really the bad guys though, we are just stuck.)
"Maybe, there is no way to know aside from taking the risk of calling them, if they are here at all. Even if they do exist, maybe they are long dead or aren't born yet. There are some differences with the games and animated show too, mainly the violence and complexity of this whole thing. If they are here, they might not be like the show or games presented them at all."
"Hey, I got a sudden thought." Interrupted Gilly with a serious face.
"What?"
"You keep saying you are here because you were dragged into a show to entertain that one god right? Could the character from the animated show you both watched also have been like you?"
That was a very interesting idea.
"I don't know but if he was like us, he may have had the same as Aurora and it would explain why he stayed ten years old for so fucking long."
If that was true, it would imply that the show that was based on the games was based on this world instead and that consequently, the games as well. It would make sense then that a bunch of ten years old would crush criminal teams whole. It was part of their challenge.
"We should definitely check if all those guys do exist or not. It might change our course of action drastically."
There were some of those character he really didn't want to come across.
"We'll do that later though because for now, we have more important things to do. Do you have any other question?" (2)
(I think that is all I need for now. This is all much simpler than I thought it was.)
It was true that since she had took that blood oath, she had felt extremely relieved, like she was floating on some kind of mind numbing mushy pillows. She happily went along with all that was going on but somewhere in her head, something was whispering to her that she had done something she didn't need to at all. Why did she do it? She pushed the thought away with a question.
(What happened to the invitation?)
"I don't know, It just vanished after our oaths while you were both spacing out." Answered Gilly.
"What do you mean vanished?"
It was a rater strange turn of event, was it not? Why would that thing vanish?
"I don't know, it just did, one moment it was in my hands, and then, there wasn't a thing anymore, it was just gone with all our blood."
"That's strange..."
Aurora didn't like that kind of strange. She doubted it had any real significance but it still scarred her a little. It was like a ghost letter. She didn't like ghosts.
"Well it did work as intended anyway so I guess it doesn't really matter."
"I would've loved to keep it as a souvenir. There is our blood all over it after all, I feel like it's precious to me. It's like a proof of our love for each other."
Gilly looked a little downhearted but Blaze was there to put her back up like usual.
"You don't need that for a proof of our love, I have a hole in my hand to prove it, and soon, a ring on your finger too. Even if the blood itself is lost, the mark of how I gave it is still there and of course, my feelings aren't vanishing anywhere."
"Hooon, Thanks blaze."
As Gilly gave him another kiss in that pink haze of an aura that covered them. Aurora thought that they were cute. She loved the way they loved each other, it was adorable, like a small puppy. Still, it would be better to move on already.
After they were done, they put everything back in the bags. Blaze took the time to pick up all of Gilly's belongings and stored them in his bag like he said he would. They then went back to the computer and searched for the news.
Everything had went as Blaze hoped it would.
<The police force of Hitawar city assaulted an office building today after an anonymous call from a nearby concerned citizen. The events took place at the 7872 Gladrock street. On site, the HCPD arrested no less than twenty five members of Dragonlaw and confiscated a number of their equipment including weapons, stolen goods and three vehicles. Five officers of the HCPD were injured in the assault and two members of Dragonlaw were killed. None of them have told the police department of Hitawar city what they were planning yet but one let slip that they had seen their leader this very day. Governmental agencies are on their way to interrogate the arrested members and officials are claiming that they are very close on catching the elusive leader of Dragonlaw, Blaze sherwood.>
"This is great! Quick, go taunt the government on our page, tell them we almost got caught." Said Blaze.
"Yeah, said Gilly, having fun. Here: Ouff, What a day, we had to deal with dumb spaceman scrubs and then almost walked in on a police raid. We still got everything we needed, maybe if the cops had their eyes open we would be dead by now. ; )"
"Good, post that, we will get a good laugh out of it."
(Is it not a bad idea to anger the police?")
Aurora thought that if it was her, she would try to hide herself as much as possible and try to calm them down slowly.
"Well, it doesn't matter much what we tell them anyway. Might as well get some fun out of it. Also, there is a very slim chance that they might think we are already far away since we dare laugh at them. We didn't need it anymore but you can now see, I really did call the cops to those Dagonlaw guys."
(You did do as you said you would in the end. I'm glad, now that I am stuck with you, I appreciate that you are not a bad person.)
"Yes, let's partake in jolly cooperation from now on. You only have to praise me as you praise the sun!"
He had his arms raised in the air like an idiot waiting for applause but neither of the girls understood what he meant.
"Sometimes, I don't understand your jokes."
"I understand that you haven't seen the world from my other life so it's fine for you to not get it but what is hurting me is that even Aurora doesn't get it. Not even a chuckle, How old were you when you got forcibly reincarnated?"
(Ten)
"I see, too small to get it."
(I am not small! I just don't grow fast!)
"I was twenty five when the white light god got me."
(This means you are more than thirty years old! Forty even! You are an old man!)
Gilly started laughing again.
"A dirty old man who goes out with a chick not even twenty."
"That's obviously not how it works! You can't say I'm forty, I'm barely seventeen. Those are two completely different lives! If we followed your logic, you would be older than Gilly which is obviously not the case."
Blaze had taught about it a lot and had decided. He would consider himself a seventeen years old of mind and body with forty years of experience. He had felt confused before but now no so much. His first life was another life after all. Remembering it didn't make him any older, just more knowledgeable. He still had the mind of a seventeen years old guy, that was what he was after all. Maybe he would have got some comments about his maturity if he had led a normal life from then on but that was the extent of the influence of his past life over this one.
Aurora disagreed, she had read many stories in which the character was reborn remembering his past life but acted like the old him even when he was a kid, giving him a head start over everyone else. She was sure that she would have done the same if she had been able to remember her other life earlier. She didn't feel like she was older than Gilly but it was really the case anyway. For her, it was more like a continuation than a restart but since there was no real point into disagreeing with him now, she just moved on.
(Ok then, What do we do next?) She could always go back to it later.
Blaze was happy to brush over the subject and Gilly had nothing decent to say so she let the subject go too.
"I had a hard time thinking of how we would get in and back out of the city without getting caught. We laugh at them a lot but we aren't invisible. the moment we walk somewhere where there are people, the cops will be right on us. Now that you are here though, that's a completely different story."
"What do you mean? How would her presence change anything?"
Yeah, he wouldn't sacrifice her right away would he? He wouldn't ask her to fight the police right?
"We can use her as cover."
He would! He wanted to use her as a shield!
"Everyone knows who she is. With the chaos all around here, it wouldn't be surprising to see her with bodyguards. If we can just find a way to hide our identities, we can pretend to be her bodyguards as she goes on her journey.
Thank god, not the white light one, any other god, he didn't want to use her as a shield. He just meant he wanted to hide in her shadow.
"Are you sure this would work?"
Gilly didn't seem convinced at all, her face was full of concern.
"If we have an amazing disguise then yes. Who would suspect a ten years old of hiding two of the most wanted terrorist?"
"But most people aren't so dumb, If even only one recognize us we're fucked. Did you think a pair of big sunglasses would do the trick?"
"I'm sure you can come up with something, you are the good one with clothes and disguises. We just need some kind of mask. They could still identify you with your hair but you aren't the only redhead in existence. I don't think the mind of anyone would ever leap from 'the guard of this girl has red hair' to 'she must be Gilly Linton'."
"I still think this is unsafe, only one mistake and we are dead."
"Anything we do would be unsafe, there are no perfectly safe plan. The only way to fuck this up incredibly is if Dragonlaw announces that they have kidnapped Aurora. If that was the case, her two bodyguards would quickly become her captors in the eyes of everyone."
"That seems like a pretty big flaw since we have no idea what they are doing.
"Yes, I don't wish to live below the sword of Damocles either but there is a pretty easy way to make sure this wouldn't happen."
"What is this way?"
"We just have to get her father on our side. If they say they have her, he can just go on TV and say the opposite."
(You said to not call my parents earlier.) He was already contradicting himself and they had barely begun. Maybe he wasn't as reliable as she hoped.
"I said until we know what we are doing. This is what we are talking about right now, we are making a plan. In the end, we do not have that many choices. We could pretend that you are our hostage and reinforce the impression that we are leaders of Dragonlaw or we could do the opposite and say we saved you from them. In a truly ideal world, Dragonlaw would have to think that keeping you is part of the plan and your father would have to pretend that you really are captured by them while still acting as if you were safe.
"Your last sentence made absolutely no sense."
Blaze wasn't fazed by this and explained once more.
"Look, if Dragonlaw truly did capture Aurora, her father would notice at some point and try to do something about it right?"
"That would make a lot of sense."
"But we need him to say his daughter is fine, to be able to walk around freely. If we contact him first and he somehow accept to do that, when Dragonlaw will try to do whatever, he will laugh in their face and we will be revealed to be not on their side. If Her father acted as if we were truly from Dragonlaw but still said Aurora was fine, we could still pretend that we are part of Dragonlaw in front of the minions."
"It's not worth it at all though, in this scenario, her father would be at the beck and call of Dragonlaw. Plus, it doesn't matter at all what we look like to Dragonlaw since if it's exposed you aren't working with them, it just proves that you were framed for everything. I think that whatever we do, your dad will try to make it appear as if it was part of the plan to quiet rumors. We should just tell him she's safe without all the confusing stuff."
(I don't want my parents to worry about me all the time.) Added Aurrora.
"Alright, those are all valid points. I will side with you, we should get Aurora's father on our side."
He didn't really mind conceding on this, the advantages of that play were too small for the trouble, he could probably find anther way.
"What about our mean to get everything we need from town? What are your thoughts?"
(Could we not just ask father to give us all we need?)
"We could, but it just goes around the problem instead of fixing it. If we have to go into town for something, like for example, so you can challenge a gym for your rite of adulthood, you would have to go alone."
Aurora had forgot about the badges. She was way too scared to go alone, what if more guys from Dragonlaw were waiting there.
"Is it not pointless to get them though? Since you will be gone from this world in ten years?" Asked Gilly.
That was true, she didn't need them really. She could just go back home and wait the ten years out.
"We still need to go in town eventually for our wedding."
"Oh..."
A wedding? Aurora knew they were really a close couple but she had thought that the time when Gilly had called him her husband had been a joke.
"If we have to go for sure at least once, might as well fix this situation properly."
"Yeah."
"Then I only need to worry about rings and find the right place, the right time and the right priest."
"And so you will put all our lives on my shoulders and ask me to find an inconspicuous way to hide our faces."
"If I have to, yes, I believe in you. We need something to hide our identities and a good reason to do so."
"I cannot create a good reason to hide our faces from nothing, no one would believe it without a good proof."
(The only way they would believe it without a doubt would be for my father to announce it himself.) If she was to explain it herself, people wouldn't believe it. Even more so if the two supposed guards were the one translating what she was saying.
"Then we would need him to design some kind of mask or helmet and present it to the press saying that those wearing it are his trusted guards and only them are allowed to wear it. Two of those guards being dispatched to protect his daughter. As public knowledge, it wouldn't be surprising to see us with her."
"But for this to work, we need to convince him somehow that we are on the same side as his daughter and that this whole complicated plan is to his advantage."
"Do you think we can do it? Is this possible?" He asked Aurora.
Her father would usually go for the path with the largest profit but this was about her safety. She had no idea how he would react. Maybe he would just do it if she asked nicely? More likely he would say it's too dangerous and have her go back home.
(He would agree if this was the safest way for me but I think he will ask me to go back home instead. Walking around with two wanted criminal isn't safe at all.)
"What cards do we have to play?" Asked Gilly wondering.
"We don't have many. We can possibly be used as shields against Dragonlaw. I can teach her combat technique and the oath as well as the party will keep us from ever betraying her, making us the safest group for her. Besides that, we have nothing."
"It would be much easier if we just knew what he wanted."
(Father is a businessman, we could just ask him what he wants and negotiate. I could also just tell him that I will stay with you no matter what, it may make him angry but in the end he will have no choice but to accept because he can't reach me.)
"Okay then, does anyone have a better idea?"
Blaze looked at them both for a moment, waiting to see if one of the two would be struck by a sudden brilliant idea. None came. Blaze didn't like uncertain things. He never made a move unless he was certain of the outcome or at least that had been the case until recently. Everything that happened since this morning was not going as planned and it was annoying him.
His only choices right now were to either rely on Aurora's father to hide himself in plain sight or go in and out as fast as possible and disappear for a while until people forgot what he looked like. The second option was incredibly dangerous. One policeman was sufficient to screw everything up and even if everything went smoothly, he probably wouldn't be able to follow his promise to Gilly. He would have to hope that everything fixed itself or hope that he could find some kind of better plan.
On the other hand, he could try his luck with Mr. Stardust and hope that all would go well. For now, because of all the advantages it offered him, it seemed like the best plan but, who knew if a better one would come up in a couple of days, or weeks. Maybe waiting for a safer option to show itself was better than gambling everything right at the start. Waiting felt like the best strategy here but it could seriously damage his options later on if Dragonlaw made a move against Aurora's family first.
"Alright, since it's the best we got, we will go with that."
He took his p-gear out and asked Aurora to give him her father's phone number. He had to do it himself since she had been locked out anyway.
"What are you even going to tell him?"
"The truth, at this point, there is not much else I can offer him."
Once he had the number, he used the video call option to contact Mr. Stardust. He did not have to wait long before someone unexpected answered. The video call was refused and only a feminine voice came in.
"This is the Starfuel main office desk what can I do for you?"
Had his call been transferred?
"Yes hello, did I not call the right number? I thought I composed Mr. Stardust personal phone number?"
"Every unrecognized calls are transferred here. Mr. Stardust is a busy man, he doesn't have the time to answer every random person that calls him. Tell me, what could I do for you."
She was polite enough but this wasn't helpful to him at all.
"This is really important, I really need to talk to him. Forward my call to him. That is the only thing I need from you."
"I'm sorry sir but I can't do that, I'm being very polite to you but you don't seem to understand that Mr. Stardust doesn't answer for just anyone. Tell me your name and the reason of your call, I will forward this to him later and he will call you back in the coming week if he deems it necessary."
Blaze scratched his previous opinion of her, he found her pretty irritating. He understood that she was just doing her job and he understood that she probably received dozens of calls like this every day but his call was a legit one.
Blaze may have felt irritated but Aurora felt really angry, how was it this hard to get in touch with her own father!
"Giving you those information would put the lives of many people in danger, I cannot do it."
"Then I am sorry but I can't transfer your call."
Aurora was furious and made sharp gestures to him. (Ask for her name.)
"What is your name miss?"
"I have no obligation to give you my name."
She had even dropped the sir now. She was clearly treating him as a garbage prank call. Aurora was furious. (I will get her fired, all of them if I have to.)
"Well then, I will find another way to contact him, just know that you will probably lose your job when I do find a way to reach him."
"Yes of course, good night punk."
There was a click and the line was cut. His brow twitched of annoyance and he snorted before asking Aurora the number of her mother. He really didn't give a damn about that annoying B-hole.
His new companion, just as annoyed as he was, gave him the new number and he once again made the call. It rang again and again but no one picked up.
What was going on with the those phone calls right now? When it stopped, he called again. He would make it ring as long as it took. That call was very important, whatever she was doing could wait. At some point Aurora started grinding her teeth out of frustration. At least, he wasn't the only one frustrated by this whole thing. What could she possibly be doing that stopped her from picking up?
The third time he called, at last, the phone got picked up. Once again he was thrown off by the voice who answered, it was a man.
"Look, Aurelia is busy right now, she will call back later."
Blaze didn't even have the time to say anything before the line was cut. His brow twitched in anger harder than before and Gilly had to bite her lips to not laugh at his trouble.
He took a big breath through his teeth and composed the number again. Aurora thought she had recognized the voice but she wasn't quite sure.
(I think it's Hergis but I'm not sure.) After all, what would he be doing with her mother's phone?
The call was picked up again but this time, it was blaze who didn't give him the chance to talk.
"Hergis, if you dare hang up that phone again I will personally come over to rip you in half."
How long were they all planning on keeping him running phone calls! He had enough already! He still had other things to do today! How could it be so hard to call someone? It shouldn't take half an hour just to speak to someone.
"Yeah? Who are you?" Presumed Hergis answered.
Blaze could hear the mockery in his tone but also some strange sloppy noises quietly happening in the background.
"Your boss, Blaze. What the fuck are you doing with that phone and what's the noise in the background?"
If he truly worked for Dragonlaw, he would understand what he meant.
"Oh... I... I see... Could it, ohhhh, wait just a couple of minutes?"
Blaze finally recognized the sounds and had no idea how to answer that. In the most unexpected turn of event, that bastard was having sex with Aurora's mother. He breathed a huge amount of air from his nose but still couldn't keep his voice down when he answered. Blaze had quite enough stupidity for the day already. He was about to blow his top.
"STOP FUCKING HER AND GIVE HER THE DAMN PHONE!" (3)
***
(1) Should I or should I not just revert back to calling them jumps? Let me know down bellow.
(2) This would be the first time I request your help! Since I have no patrons it all falls unto you. I will make a poll public on my Patreon. The question is: Do the cannon characters exist? The choices are:
A. Yes, in the past.
B. Yes they are here right now.
C. They never existed and never will
D. The main characters were participants/jumpers and are now gone, the others are still here.
E. It never was the same universe in the first place.
If you don't want to go all the way to my Patreon to answer that, you can just leave a comment bellow with your opinion, that's fine too. Whatever you all choose, be aware that the names will not be the same to keep with the theme of "I changed all the names".
(3) By all the gods, everyone is so rude and crude here.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
RedSambrood
RedSambrood I thought we were about to get the big fight next chapter but this whole bit was longer than I expected and I cut it in halves. So next time they have a talk with Richard Stardust and then we get the fight. This time I swear, everything is calculated and in place now, I just need to hit publish.
Chapter 15: Richard Stardust
Blaze had been very clear in his last order. Aurora was not the most knowledgeable in this kind of matters but this she understood perfectly well what was happening and felt utterly disgusted.
They really were making babies together! It was horrible! How could her mother betray her father and herself like that! What was revolting her the most wasn't as much the betrayal itself as the person she was with.
"Hey, stop for a second." Said Hergis. "This is really important it seems, it cannot wait."
They heard some rustling noises and finally Aurora's mom picked up the phone.
"What is it?"
She seemed annoyed. Blaze went straight to the point so that he would not be cut off again.
"I have your daughter with me."
"WHAT?"
"I need you to bring this phone all the way to your husband and start the video communication. By the way, I am really sorry she had to hear that."
He really was, he was just frustrated, he didn't think this through before he screamed at Hergis.
There was a short pause before they heard her yell.
"Hergis, get out!"
"Yes, right away."
Half a minute later, they heard a door closing and she spoke again.
"Who are you, what do you want?"
"I really don't want to explain all of this more than once. I will wait for everyone to be there. I can tell you though that aside from the disgusted look on her face, she seems to be alright."
Gilly had changed place and was trying to calm Aurora down by gently stroking her hair. It was mostly not working.
"I'll do it, I'll do it." Aurora's mother said in a hurry to comply to the kidnappers.
"Alright, I will call back in a minute to give you some time."
Blaze hung up and felt so refreshed. At last, he was the one to hang up first. No more fooling around! Now the hard part was going to start but first, he needed to calm Aurora down.
She was once again shaking all over from shame, fear and anger. Her parents were married! Why was her mother doing such a thing with that guy! She couldn't stop crying on Gilly's shoulder. She wasn't upset, she was devastated. This was very wrong. One of the person she was loving the most with the person she hated the most, the very monster who beat her.
"You could have been a little less blunt Blaze, look at her." Harshly accused Gilly.
"Well I was pretty angry too. I couldn't help it. Also, we just swore to never lie nor hide the truth like an hour ago. I think the truth is hard to hear but it can only make her stronger."
"How does that kind of truth make her any stronger? It's just disgusting and sad."
"Aye but it's a valuable lesson. Do you want to hear it?"
Aurora felt like she was breaking apart and had a hard time to focus her mind on him but something in his voice and tone reminded her of her father and his important advises. Maybe what he was about to say would help her somehow. She forced herself to look at him through her tears and awaited his words.
Blaze did have something he felt was important to make her understand but as he was saying it, he felt like some kind of cult leader trying to force her to follow him. It felt pretty strange even if he truly did believe in what he was saying.
"She had taken a vow too, a marriage vow. She broke it and it broke your heart. To her, it was only a little inconsequential thing, probably a thing she was doing on a whim fueled by lust. To you it is clearly terrible. Sometimes, it seems really easy to break a vow or a promise but even if you feel like it doesn't matter, you should never break it willingly. You never know what impact it's going to have on the people near your heart."
"And don't cheat on the person you love, love is much more important than lust but much more fragile too. Don't break your happiness for something that will only last you a night." Added Gilly.
"Yes, that's a good one too. Both are very similar and both apply to this situation. Trust and love is hard to get, it takes a long time to gather, don't waste it."
It sounded kind of awkward but she could understand what they meant to say. Someday she would have a boyfriend too and now that she knew how it felt to have her love betrayed, she had to remember to not cause the same feeling to someone else by mistake or accident later. Maybe love was more complicated than she thought it was. Was it not supposed to be something like, the prince charming comes, a couple of special kisses to make babies and everyone lives happily ever after? Maybe her father wasn't the prince charming her mother wanted? Still, how could Hergis ever be mistaken for a prince charming, who would kiss him?
Blaze had also reminded her of the oath they took earlier. Like her father, when Blaze made a deal, it seemed he wanted every party involved to respect it. Also, he invested a lot of points in her, if she betrayed him now, it would be disastrous for him. Using this opportunity, the cunning old/young man wanted her to feel empathy like her father had earlier said. He wanted her to imagine him in her place and her in her mother's place. This is what he would feel like if she broke her promise.
Even a tiny thing for her could be huge for someone else. She had to think about her actions, like her father used to encourage her to do. She was really bad at this kind of thing. Why couldn't things be simple? She understood what they were saying but it didn't make her feel better at all.
(I don't want sisters from him.)
"I don't think it's going to happen, they were probably just seeking pleasure, they don't want babies either I'm sure." Said Gilly.
(I don't understand.)
"That's because-"
"Stop Gilly, don't teach her something weird now, she is only ten!" Blaze interrupted her. "I promise you Aurora, you won't get any siblings from him but you need to be older to learn those things and your parents should be the ones teaching you that not us."
"You just said you wouldn't hide anything from her."
"I am not hiding anything, I am protecting what remains of that girl purity as long as I can. You are the one acting weird here."
Gilly stuck her tongue out to him with a smile and continued to soothe her small friend.
Knowing she wouldn't get any siblings made it a little more bearable for her. Once her biggest fear was cleared, she was left with confusion, worry and disappointment. She couldn't understand what was going on in her mother's head even if she tried. She was worried about what would happen next. Worried about her father's reaction and the place Hergis would have in her future.
They let her cry for a little while longer, Gilly rubbing her back and encouraging her to take deep breaths. After a couple of minutes had passed since his call, Blaze got his p-gear again and notified them he was calling back. Aurora had stopped sobbing now but her tears were still rolling down her cheeks and on Gilly's shoulders where she was resting her head. He understood that a lot of things had happened to her on this day and that she was only ten but he did not have the time to wait for her tears to dry. Anything could happen at any moments.
He first took care in placing himself in a way that the camera for the video call would catch all three of them in the frame. Then, just before imputing the numbers he revised himself and turned himself ninety degree. Exposing their wounded and crying daughter to them was probably a really bad way of introducing himself. That first impression could really damage his chances of getting what they needed.
He dialed the number and he heard the ring tone once, twice, trice before the screen flashed and a man appeared before him. Aside from the color of his eyes and his general facial structure, Mr. Stardust didn't look like his daughter at all. Blaze was only able to recognize him because he had seen him on television before.
The man had sharp brows, perfectly polished black hair, wrinkle at the corner of his eyes and a very angry look accentuated by the deep creases on his forehead. His straight nose distorted by his emotions, nostrils flared and his mouth twisted in a grimace gave the overall feel that he was about to destroy every single piece of furniture in the room he was in.
Behind the man, his wife was standing in worries. Contrary to her husband, Blaze recognized her by her resemblance with her daughter. Long wavy blond hair, delicate nose and heart shaped face, not that tall of a woman either. She was gripping the front of her shirt and peeking at the screen from over the shoulder of her husband. The husband in question didn't waste any time and asked questions in a commanding tone as soon as he picked up the line.
"Who are you and where is my daughter?"
"Hi, good afternoon Mr. Stardust, my name is Blaze Sherwood."
"Sherwood!"
Miss Stardust made a gasp of surprise and fear as the frown of her husband deepened even more.
"Yes, I guess this means you heard of me?"
"What have you done to my princess?"
"Nothing at all, I swear."
Somehow, this really sounded like the line of a movie antagonist.
"I promise you right now, if you touch even a hair on her head there will be nowhere on this planet where you will be able to hide your pathetic existence!"
"Wow, I am not the monster they make me out to be! I rescued her from a bunch of Dragonlaw grunts earlier today."
"Is that how you call kidnapping? Rescue?"
"I wasn't the one who kidnapped her. Anyway, you won't believe me, I should let her explain everything to you."
"You are willing to let us see her?" The stardust father seemed skeptical.
"Of course, that's why I asked for a video call after all. Though I will warn you before you panic, she was injured before we got her, we bandaged her head but it's still swelling a lot."
Blaze turned the phone towards the girls as Aurora wiped her remaining tears with the back of her hand.
"Aurora! What have they done to you! Are you alright?"
She nodded to answer the last question.
"Sherwood! You will pay for that."
Aurora quickly gestured an answer.
(It's not them! I'm sorry, my parents don't understand signs. I cannot talk to them if I cannot write to them.)
"What? Seriously? They can't speak the sign language?"
"You have no rights to judge us Sherwood! Send her back here right now and I may forgive you and your father."
"I really don't care if you forgive my father or not. Still, I need to talk to you and your daughter wants to tell you many things I'm sure. I could translate if you want."
"I'm not about to trust any words you'll say! Give her back her phone so she can talk to us."
Blaze was very sure he was trying to trick him into giving her phone back to her but, he didn't need to. Aurora got her phone out of her pocket to show them she still had it as Blaze told them what he knew.
"I didn't take her phone from her but someone blocked her from contacting you somehow. If you could please check the list of blocked numbers or whatever it is you use to filter out people trying to contact you and unlock her that would make things much easier for everyone."
"What are you talking about?"
"She said she tried to text you already but a guy named Hergis laughed at her saying that he had cut her off."
"Hergis?"
The poor father seemed absolutely confused.
"Yeah, the guy who betrayed you before beating up your daughter and giving her to Dragonlaw."
"This can't be!" Exclaimed her mother while twisting her shirt with her clenched fists.
"All of this is easy to verify, all you need to do is unlock her." Said Blaze. Leaving it at that should be more than enough for them to understand.
Aurora's father turned his head to his computer and slowly navigated to his security files, skeptical. After a small amount of time, he found what he was looking for. Indeed, the p-gear number of his own daughter had been blacklisted from his system, intercepting any messages sent to him, his computer or his wife.
"How is this possible?"
He removed her from the blacklist and instantly his phone vibrated. He checked his messages, his wife was just as glued to the screen as he was while he read.
<Hergis is lying! I chose the F. of Vanta not Gleanne! He is a liar!>
Her mother continued to look at the message for a while with an empty look as her father gazed back at the camera.
"I... I white listed your number again now, you can speak."
Aurora started furiously typing her heart out. Throwing all her emotions at him even though he had not much to do with anything that had happened to her. A torrent of messages assaulted his phone while Blaze and Gilly stayed silent to let her unwind.
<Why did you not turn around! It wasn't a secret you were crying, I could see your aura trough the chair! If you had turned around you could have stopped him! Hergis laughed at me and he hit me!>
She was furiously hitting the screen with her small fingers, not leaving time for her father to answer.
<I bit his hand but then he hit me so hard I couldn't think anymore! Gilly says he dislocated my jaw and I have to eat with a straw for weeks! And He strangled me and made me wipe my face with my dress and gave me to a dozen big man in black and they laughed at me too! I was so scared, I hate him so much!>
Richard Stardust could hardly deny the messages came from her as he could see her type right in front of him. The only possible trick would be to let her type to oblivion while someone had her real phone and sent those messages outside of the camera's view but in that case, his daughter would notify him from the screen. Those few thoughts passed through his mind as he tried to keep up with her messages.
Aurora interrupted her typing when she heard her mother throw up. She looked up at the screen just as her father turned around to see what was going on, concerned.
"Aurelia? Are you all right? Here, a tissue."
He would have done more but there was nothing close by that could help unless he used his own suit as a towel.
Aurelia was panting, crying too. She could hardly speak her answer.
"This... He said it was an animal."
"What?" Richard could not understand what she was talking about.
"Hergis... I asked about the wound on his hand. He said a small monster who didn't know it's place bit him and he had to correct it."
"That bastard!" Said her father while grinding his teeth and clenching his fists. "Still, calm yourself a little, I know this is hard to see her like that but you should take care of yourself. It's not revolting enough for you to throw up."
Aurora was about to tell him what her mother had done but seeing her like that, she wasn't sure she wanted to do it anymore. She did not need to see her aura to know that she was utterly disgusted of herself and what she had done. She was clearly regretting her choices. She continued to complain about Hergis though.
<When I couldn't breathe, I was so scared of dying. I would have done anything for only a little bit of air. When it came back, it felt like thousands of ants were crawling in my head and my throat was burning. We ate some soup earlier and it was super painful. My mouth felt so bad I wished it wasn't there and my throat felt like a million needles were stabbed in it as I swallowed. Even now, I am not touching anything and it's the most pain I ever felt aside from everything else that happened today.>
She had still a lot more to complain about but her father interrupted her frantic writing with a question.
"I am very sorry that you had to endure this, this isn't supposed to be part of your trial. Those responsible will pay I guaranty you but for now, could you tell me what is going on. What happened after those men took custody of you?"
Of course, he would have listened to his daughter plight for hours if need be but he really felt like some things were more urgent at the moment. For example, why was she not scared of those two terrorist and why were they not stopping her from writing anything she wanted. The girl was just behind his daughter, gently holding her and reading what she was writing from above her while Sherwood just held the phone's camera in place.
<I was so scared, stuck in a car with many big scary man. I was very lucky that Blaze and Gilly found me and rescued me, they aren't at all like everyone says they are. They tricked the scary men, sent the police on their hideout and checked my face to see if I needed to go to a hospital. They gave me back all my things and took the time to answer all my questions. I feel safer now. I can tell they mean me no harm by their aura's.>
Her mother had a very pale face and couldn't seem to get better as she read her daughter story. In her dispirited state, she didn't notice her daughter mention of aura. She had told her to not reveal that power to anyone but in light of what had happened, it all seemed to go through her. When Aurelia confirmed that she was safe, her guilt and feeling of sickness took the lead over her will to protect and save her daughter. She weakly called her husband from her position over the trashcan and told him she was leaving.
"I... I need to go... I'm sorry..."
"It's alright, take your time in the bathroom. I will fix everything, don't worry."
She shot a hollow look at the camera and told Aurora "Be safe". Before shambling out of the room. Mr. stardust looked back at his daughter and asked her.
"Are you sure about their motives? What is their objective? Why are they keeping you in such a dark place if they really intended to rescue you?"
<I am absolutely sure I am safe here.> She answered. <As for their objective, do you mean right now or the long term one?>
"I just want to know what is going on. Did Sherwood have a misunderstanding with his son?"
"Misunderstanding isn't the way I would put it. That asshole of a wife beater tricked me into giving him nuclear launch codes and then used me as a scapegoat. We never had an understanding of each other in the first place."
<Truth> Aurora told her father. As crazy as it sounded, this was what had happened.
"Then why are you keeping my Daughter? What does she have to do with you?"
"At first, we just ran into her by chance and tricked..."
"She already explained all that." Interrupted Gilly who had read her messages.
"Oh... The conclusion is, we wanted to let her go but we had to make sure first she was safe and also that she wouldn't instantly call the cops on us."
"You are saying you will just let her go?"
<He is still saying the truth.>
"At first, this was what we intended. The only reason she is still here is that we reached a much better agreement in the mean time."
"What kind of agreement? What did you put in her head?"
His frown had not receded yet. His daughter had probably been manipulated into a very inconvenient deal.
"Let's be honest, neither I nor Gilly can go into town. We will die. Your daughter also has a problem being that for some unknown reason, my father wants her. We came to the conclusion that we could shield each other. Gilly and me will pose as her bodyguards and protect her as she goes around, in exchange, she will hide us from the eyes of everyone."
"Why would I agree to that? I could hire professionals to do the same." He did not see any benefit in that but his daughter didn't feel the same.
<Father, people hired by money are unreliable, you said it yourself. I do not want another Hergis, those two I trust. Also, people from Dragonlaw think they really are their leader so it would be even easier to get rid of them.>
"Aside from my lack of powerful battle monsters, I do have a gun and I have mastered Newone's marines hand to hand combat. I will even teach her self-defense, survival techniques and train her. I will be able to keep Dragonlaw away easily and it should keep them from your back too since the only way to come at you for my father is to have her and he can't get her back without revealing I am not really the leader. On top of that, I do understand the sign language, you'll have a hard time finding someone more qualified than me I think."
"And what would be required of Aurora in this deal of yours?"
"She would need to stay with us of course but aside from that, I need you to tell people you hired two bodyguards for her and provide us masks to hide our faces."
"That's it?"
"Yes, that alone is already extremely risky for you. If we are discovered, even if you deny that you knew it was us or say that you had no choice since we had your daughter, your business and credibility will probably take a hard hit. I feel like asking for more would be exaggerated."
Her father seemed to ponder for a while before he decided to deepen his understanding of Blaze through a series of questions. He didn't trust the man in front of him at all, that much was obvious.
He needed to understand why his daughter decided to believe them. On top of that, he needed to uncover the true motives behind his actions.
After all, how could he have guessed that the only motive of the man keeping his daughter was that he was coaxed by this very same daughter into protecting her.
"I still can't just entrust my daughter to a wanted criminal now, can I? If you are willing to answer some questions for me, I may consider something."
He would consider how to get rid of them safely.
"I see that the way you phrased it doesn't seem to be related to leaving her to us at all but alright, go ahead. What do you want to know?"
"First of all, do you know what your father is doing or why?"
"No, not at all."
<Truth>
Having his daughter by his side was very practical in this situation but he really would have preferred if she was on his side of the screen right now.
"Since you have not reacted yet, I guess you already know about her?"
"You mean the Aura thing? Yes we know, that and the other powers too. If it can appease you, I have some strange ones myself that she knows about."
<Truth>
"Is that so? would you be willing to share them with me too?"
"No."
He looked toward his daughter but the answer wasn't to his satisfaction.
<You don't need to know. It's secret.>
Now wasn't the time to keep petty secrets from him! He yelled in his head.
"Fine then. Let me ask you this instead. What is the definition of power to you?"
Blaze wondered how he was supposed to answer that. What a strange question. Was it knowledge, money, raw strength? After a moment of thinking, he came up with an answer.
"I think it is a combination of many things. If you have only knowledge, you will end up being used by others, money can be lost easily, strength alone goes nowhere. I think power is the combination of every advantage at the disposition of someone, be it companions, physical strength, knowledge, money, strange abilities or anything else.
"And how would you proceed to rule over the world? What would be your plan to get to the very top?"
"I wouldn't try, it seems bothersome, dangerous and pointless."
<Truth.>
Looking at him, Blaze thought that Mr. Stardust seemed perplexed by the answer. After thinking for a moment he got to the next question he wanted to ask, seemingly entirely dropping the first line of inquiries.
"What do you view my daughter as?"
The first thing that came to his mind was "A part of us" because of the pact they had just made. Of course, he couldn't answer that or her father would likely rip his head off. How should he answer without lying or upsetting anyone?
"I feel like she is one of my two very important companions."
Aurora saw it wasn't quite right but she understood that the pact would freak out her father so she just wrote <Truth>.
"Since you plan to be her bodyguard. How far are you willing to go to protect her?"
"I would put my life on the line."
That was the truth, he intended to follow his previous words. Aurora confirmed but Mr. Stardust was still unconvinced.
"I won't believe you would risk your life for someone you just met."
"Why not? It is only natural to do so if I expect her to do the same, plus, I can't stand a kid getting hurt in front of me."
Aurora kicked him in the shin with her heel to express her hanger about being called a kid but still typed <Truth>.
On the other side of the screen, her father still seemed unconvinced by that answer. Blaze had to tell him more or he would never understand.
"Look, let me explain it this way. There are only three types of people for me, those that are my enemies, those I don't care about and those I do care about. The moment someone gets into the group I care about, I will do whatever is in my power to help and protect them, including putting my life on the line and even sacrificing unrelated peoples. Aurora is in the very few I do care about."
That sentence about sacrificing innocent peoples felt really scary but.
<Truth>
"I see, everything is very clear cut in your mind, only black and white."
"No, mostly grey, but I don't like grey, it can't choose if it's black or white and it pisses me off."
Gilly explosive laughter ringed in the darkness.
"Again! Why are you always complaining about grey? It's a very useful color that matches with many things."
"I don't care, go with white instead, or black, not both at the same time."
Aurora wasn't quite sure what to tell her father now, they both looked really silly.
<I know they are saying nonsense but there are no lies.>
"But that doesn't explain why you care."
"Do I need a reason?"
"Of course you need a reason, everything has a reason!"
"Would you believe me if I told you Aurora is very persuasive and extremely bold in her requests. It is very hard to go against her. I was almost coerced into it."
Aurora kicked him two more times while her father gave him an understanding look and a half smile. That was something he could believe. His daughter was usually very kind but when she really wanted something, there was not much you could do to stop her aside from physically restraining her.
Gilly attempted to cool her down to stop her from kicking Blaze even though she couldn't put enough strength in them to hurt him.
"It's true you felt a little forceful in your demands but I understand you felt you were in a very difficult situation."
"This does indeed sound like her. When things don't go the way she wants them to, she can be a little... excessive."
<Father!> Aurora typed furiously.
<I don't believe myself to be excessive at all! I would like to ask you to retract your statement and tell that big meanie that it's all because he is way too scary! Also, all my questions were fair! And tell him I'm not a kid too! Almost not I mean.>
Her father let out another sigh. He understood now that it was mostly his daughter being bossy even with worldwide wanted criminals rather than said criminal trying to get something out of her. Did she perhaps misunderstood his lesson about authority? He didn't know what she had told them but they now seemed pretty much under her control.
Alright then, he would try to play along with her plot for now. It would be a valuable lesson for her, he hoped. He could just remove them latter, somehow, if they proved more troublesome than helpful. He ignored the plea of his daughter and went on to his next question. Now that he felt that at least, they didn't mean her harm, he was a little more inclined to help out.
"Then, if you are not helping your father and aren't interested in power, what is it you are after? What is the end goal here?"
"Survive, fix the misunderstanding about me, stop whatever my father is trying to do in order to get revenge for what he dropped on me and then, take it easy."
<Truth.>
"That is a pretty lackluster goal."
"What do you mean?"
Blaze really felt like surviving against the entire world and defeating the leader of some world class criminal organisation were high goals to have.
"I mean what I said, nothing more. I feel like... Maybe I shouldn't say that. I guess I will play along for now, since my Aurora seems adamant about it and I couldn't find any fault in your reasoning up until now. Just don't kill random civilians to protect her, that would put me in a bad spot."
"I will try but in the end, I will do what I have to do."
"Blaze! We talked about this already."
Gilly seemed to disagree.
"All right, I will try really hard is this okay? You know it would be easier if they didn't all hate me to the bone right?"
He decided to make up an example to have her understand what he meant.
"Have you ever heard about the mental test where they ask you what you would do in some random situation deciding the life and death of people? If there was a train for example that was about to hit you or Aurora but there was a lever in front of me letting me switch it on a different track were a hundred people are tied up, I would pull the lever ten times over if I had to. I would never let that train reach you."
Gilly didn't seem to know what to answer to that but Mr. Stardust took the bait.
"What if the miss over there is on one of those tracks and Aurora on the other?"
All three people on their side thought the same thing: What a wicked question! Blaze wasn't quite sure how to answer that. Logically speaking, he should aim the train towards Aurora, he cared about Gilly way too much. But, on the other hand, a second jumper was an enormous advantage and long term investment, he would deeply regret letting her die in a hundred years, missing out on thousands of points. On top of that, he had just promised to treat them the same as a part of him. Making a choice here was akin to choosing between cutting his left arm or his right arm. He absolutely needed to save them both, there must be a way to trick the question.
"I would trust that Aurora has many a trick up her sleeves so I would first turn the train towards her. She would have a chance at living even if left on her own, Gilly would not. Then, I would try to destroy the train before it ever reached her, getting on the track myself if I had to."
The girls were impressed by his answer. It may not have been the most realistic possible but still.
<He is saying the truth, he really feel like he would do something so stupid.> Aurora wrote to her father.
"Fine, I will left you off the hook for now. I will do something about finding you both a uniform and something to hide your faces and send them over to Gleanne. I'll call back for the details of the delivery later. Do you still have something you need to talk about?"
Aurora jumped on the occasion.
<Yes, about the staff. The pilot of the plane is a traitor, I want Hergis to be punished and the secretary in the main office of Starfuel is terrible. She refused to transfer our call even if we clearly told her it was a private matter and that it would be dangerous to tell her the reason of our call. I said she would be fired if she didn't transfer us to you but she just laughed and insulted us before hanging up so we had to call mother. I want you to kick her out!>
Her father made a difficult face.
"Sweetheart, I can't fire someone just because she couldn't recognize the voice of my mute daughter over the phone. It's her job after all to hang up on suspect peoples."
Aurora pouted but gave up easily, she wasn't the one she was the most angry at after all. She was about to ask what he planned to do with Hergis when a loud explosive sound was heard from his side, followed by a rumble and the room shaking.
<What was that?> she asked instead.
"I'm not sure, I should/"
"I WILL KILL YOU!" Interrupted an incredibly loud Aurelia somewhere in the mansion.
"I will call back later."
With a pale face, Mr. stardust cut the line. Aurora was surprised by what she had just heard, who was her mother screaming at?
"Probably Hergis." Guessed Blaze seeing the look of Aurora.
"Maybe she is as violent as my mom when something happen to her girl?"
<What do you mean?>
"Once, a guy hit me by accident in the park, I fell and scrapped my knee hard enough to bleed. Do you remember Blaze?"
"Yeah, you went crying to your mom and she broke the arm of the guy."
Aurora shivered.
"Sometimes, mothers are very scary when you hurt their kids."
"No, I think it's just yours, there's something weird about her."
"Don't say that! It's going to be your mother in law soon."
Blaze just shook his head as an answer and Aurora asked <Then you think my mother is fighting against Hergis?>
"Yes, I think it's a winning bet. I don't know who else lives there but I don't think anyone else can anger someone that much."
<I hope she will make him hurt as much as he made me.>
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
RedSambrood
RedSambrood
Next time, Aurelia's chapter.
This means that I spent all my reserves. I had all this written before I even began publishing it. It went up to just after next week chap.
This means that I have to work again and I can't use this to gain some time for BFDG.
This also means that comments I receive will become much more useful. Not that I received a lot of them but still.
Also, no one gave an opinion on the canon characters except ketch117 who wants me to use them. There's still time to answer.
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