" Is it just me or is walking around in wet clothes the latest fashion?"
Dr Storm sleepily questioned as Amon and Philomel made their entrance while Storm did his best not to nod off.
" Aiii!! Sque!! "
Little One suddenly squealed as he reached out to Philomel. Gale see this place Little One down, and Little One ran up to hug Philomel's legs.
" Did you miss us?"
Philomel smiled as she pat Little One's head, feeling him nuzzle again her dress before looking up with huge worried eyes.
" Did you all fall in a lake? Even Joey came back wet but not dripping obvious like the two of you. "
Aella questioned as she hurried out from the kitchen and handed them both a hand towel.
" I gotten the baths ready but you should check on your friend Joey first, he wasn't looking too good."
Aella informed with a gesturing wave towards the staircase.
" Yeah! Two swing of a drink and he was a stumbling mess."
Gale added with much colourful tones. Aella awkwardly stared at her feet with a guilty expression. Knowing full well Joey wouldn't be able to wake up from that sleeping drugs anything soon. Dr Storm had been drinking such a mixture on a daily basis to the point his body had built a high immunity against it, which resulted in the dose being increased. Joey having just a glass of it would be out cold for probably 2 to 3 days.
"Sounds serious, we best hurry then."
Amon urged with a glance at Philomel, she nodded in reply before picking up Little One and they both made their way up the stairs.
They found Darzirak coming out of the shared room Philomel and Amon were using.
" Oh, you two finally made it."
Darzirak commented when he noticed them and stopped in his tracks.
" How's Joey?"
Philomel questioned as she moved past the demon and entered Joey's room. A dark shadow loomed over Joey, her figure eating away at the light of the candle on the dresser. The shadow jolted like it was shocked at the sight of Philomel.
" Darzirak ?! What is that?!!"
Philomel backed away from the door and shielded Little One as she asked. Amon lean toward Philomel to peek into the room. Scarlet, feeling nervous started to run her fingers through the ends of her long hair before twirling a lock between her hands.
" Oh, right, right. Team this is Scarlett, hidden team member, this is the rest of the team Philomel, Amon and Little One. "
Darzirak introduce with a waving paw. Scarlett awkwardly waves to greet them.
" Ah! So you're Scarlett! I heard a bit about you from Joey. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Amon chimed as he reached to shake her hand but her shadow hand just went through Amon's hand. Even so, Amon pretended to grab her hand with his and give it a friendly shake. Scarlett feeling touched at the gesture smiled and played along, shaking her hand along with his.
" That night when you team up with Darzirak it was truly madness. I couldn't tell who was who at all."
Amon laughed as he rubbed his neck. Scarlett soon became excited as her body gestured to indicate that she had a good time as well.
" Why is there another shadow here? Darzirak, is she part of you or another shadow demon like you?"
Philomel questioned as she narrowed her eyes at the demon. Knowing that he was definitely up to no good but unfortunately made Scarlett feel unwelcomed with the question.
" She's Joey's shadow. I asked for her help that time when you told me to steal his armour. She was a wonderful distraction till she caught feelings for Joey and now she's an enchanting distraction. One that Joey would jump through hoops for."
Darzirak describe with a huge teasing smile as he watched Scarlett. Scarlett feeling extremely shy, hid her face in her hands.
" She's also a great helper and has been taking care of Joey while I was looking for Little One's rocks to cheer the toddler up. Which reminds me, now that you're here, I guess I won't be need these. "
Darzirak says as the rocks he absorb into his body came out from his paw, laying each one onto the bed. Little One squealed and clap his hands at the sight of them before reaching out to take one. Amon passed a white smooth rock to Little One before pocketing the rest.
" It nice to meet you and wonderful to have you on our team. Sorry about before, you know how sneaky Darzirak is."
Philomel smiled before reaching to shake Scarlett's hand. Scarlett laugh with a nod before shaking Philomel's hand.
" So how Joey? Is he going to be okay?"
Philomel questioned with a business tone as her gaze turned to Joey. Joey looked almost like a mummy wearing tight clothes. Amon silently wondered how Darzirak managed to squeeze Joey into Amon's clothes when it was obviously a size small for Joey.
" Well he has bruises in many areas. It was like looking at a panda. Also since he hung around in wet clothes for a long time worryingly looking for the two of you before heading back to the village. He has like a slight fever that may have gone down since I helped him with a hot bath and dried him up pretty good. As you can see, he's doing good. "
Darzirak proudly announced as he pats Joey's arm. Scarlett suddenly started gesturing in an extremely panicked way.
" What she's saying?"
Philomel turned to Amon who was studying Scarlett's hand gestures.
"Hmmm... No clue."
Amon hummed before shaking his head.
" If Joey has a fever though...does a hot bath help? It doesn't sound that helpful."
Philomel wondered out loud and instantly Scarlett started pointing at her and nodding.
" Oh, She's agreeing with you. So it's probably not helpful."
Amon informed as he turned back to Philomel. Philomel instantly snacks Darzirak on the back of his head.
" OW! What was that for?!!"
Darzirak whined.
" You fool! Joey's fever is worst! Hot bath and fever is a bad mix!"
Philomel scolded, Little One hearing her tone was pulled out of his entertaining curiosity of the white rock and back to reality. The toddler started glancing back and forth, trying to assess the situation.
" Ah... So what now? What is our situation anyway? Your plan failed. We don't have the Messiah and Joey is sick."
Darzirak questioned as he rubbed the area Philomel hit.
" And the elders sent that Orc to kill us and probably sent a new person to take over the role of the Messiah's assassin. Oh and our tribe probably thinks we're dead. "
Amon added just to fill Darzirak in on the situation.
" Ah, so that explains the suddenly appearance of the Orc. "
Darzirak mused the idea before agreeing that it was logical.
" We need to keep moving, currently we are ahead of the Holy Knight's team thanks to the rapid river. I do not know who the tribe would send next but there's a chance that the Elder of War might teleport them close to the Holy Knight's team. We do not have any plan of saving the Messiah or taking the tribe's glory for saving them but that doesn't matter at this point. Our main focus should be getting the baby before our replacement does. Our best move is to move out at first light and head to the Kingdom Ranrion. We would be two steps ahead of our replacement and one step ahead of the Holy Knight. Scouting the situation and terrine before coming up with another plan to nab that baby will become a major advantage.
Joey is in no condition to help us, I'll pay Aella to take care of him. Darzirak since you can shadow teleport, you'll keep Scarlett shadow form actived and be able to keep Amon updated on Joey's status.
As for Little One.... "
Philomel paused to study Little One's expression. Little One gaze up at her with huge eyes as he tug at her clothes. Philomel originally planned to leave Little One here under Aella's and Gale's care before coming back since the Kingdom Ranrion is the last destination on Lenny's map. (The map Philomel stole from him a couple months back.) The Holy Knight's team would have to travel through this village on their way back to the Holy City, Luxtorious. But now looking at Little One, Philomel didn't want to admit it but she didn't want to leave him behind.
" Little One will come with us to Kingdom Ranrion, I'm sure he would make a big fuss if we left him."
Philomel smiled before blowing a raspberry on Little One's cheek causing the toddler to squeal. Amon, Darzirak and Scralett nodded in agreement of that plan and the party broke up soon after. Philomel and Amon left to have a bath, Scarlett stayed with Joey, Darzirak babysit Little One in Amon's and Philomel's shared room.
With that the day came to a normal close, all oblivious to the fact that this night would be the last peaceful night for the rest of their quest.
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