[scene : Colt, Luna and Zeno are inside the HQ building of the elves, the three of them are sitting around a round table.]
Zeno : "I'm sorry, Maximillion took it too far, he's not evil per se."
Colt : "I know all about his story."
Zeno : "Still, I'm surprised. I thought you'd actually try to attack him."
Colt : "I'm even more surprised, I got triggered for much less before. I think it's because I react to arrogance more than hatred. Or is it because I can't see him as a threat…? Yet."
Zeno : "Please don't say something so ominous."
Colt : "How come I never ran into this guy before?"
Zeno : "Actually, he was the one who lead the opposition for your marriage."
Colt [with a smile] : "It's a good thing I never ran into him then."
Luna : "It's all in the past now."
Colt [serious] : "It's the future that concerns me, did you notice his last words?"
Zeno : "He mumbles like that all the time."
Colt : "And you saying that is another death flag, what I see is basically-"
[scene : A group of elves surround Colt with admirations in their eyes in a bright atmosphere while Maximillion looks at them from afar in the dark]
Colt : "He views you all as backstabbing traitors."
[scene : Maximillion pointing at Colt as a bunch of humans rush him]
Colt : "Whether out of pure spite or some warped sense of loyalty, he forms an alliance with humans to kill me."
[scene : Maximillion standing on a pedestal surrounded by elves.]
Colt : "Aaaand he takes over the village."
[back to the present]
*Luna and Zeno just look at Colt with stunned looks for a few moments*
Zeno : "Maximillion would never ally with humans, that's a fact. And what are you basing all of this on?"
Colt : "Oh no, that's just one possibility. And you can't imagine what pure hatred would do to your mind with time. Not convincing coming from me, I know."
Luna : "He had no such intentions."
Colt : "I'm honestly more surprised that no one betrayed us yet. I'll just ask. I can't "take care of him" just to be safe?"
Luna : "No."
Colt : "Didn't think so."
[scene : Five figures in cloaks approaching a wooden wall, circular wall made of pillars of wood and spikes implanted in the ground made of sharpened wood. The five figures are in a formation: one's in the lead, two follow behind him and the other two behind]
Colt [second row, on the left] : "This is getting boring, are all the villages designed the same way? How many does this one make? Five?"
Luna [second row, on the right] : "It's the last one dear."
*An arrow flies toward Zeno, who was in the lead, and before hitting the ground near his foot, it stops mid-air at 1 meter height*
*Colt walks three steps forward, holds the arrow, lifts it to take an indifferent look*
Colt : "What's with you people and aiming at your visitors' feet?"
Liam [third row on the right] : "At least they didn't shoot at us directly like the last two villages."
Colt : "They shouldn't attack at all damn it. If Luna wasn't here I'd-"
*Colt is interrupted by a loud voice*
The voice : "INTRUDERS!!!"
Colt [changing his voice] : "Ah, shit! Here we go again."
*No one gives any reaction.*
Colt [back to his original voice] : "Tough crowd. Edwin would've laughed."
*A bunch of elves appear on top of the wall, dozens of them aiming bows at the five*
Colt : "Threat. Kill. Threat. Survive…"
Levi : "What? How are they-"
Luna [gently touching his shoulder with one hand and slowly moving the other up and down] : "You know they can't hurt us. Like every other time. We're not here to spill blood."
Colt [takes a deep breath, lets it out] : "Fine."
*A female elf with green, long hair and purple eyes, seemingly young, walks through the tense archers, slowly taking center stage to face Zeno and the others.*
*Zeno pulls back the hood as do the rest of them.*
The elf : "Who are you and what are you doing here? With a human no less?"
Zeno : "I am Zeno. I am also a chief of my own village. We came here today to talk with you and-"
The elf : "You're in cahoots with humans. We've nothing to talk about."
*The elf raises her arm.*
Colt : "Screw it! Speed run time."
*Colt lets out his aura. The archers shoot. Colt widens the range of "static" freezing the arrows, the archers, and from a bird's eye view it's apparent that the entire village beyond this wall is in range.*
Levi : "Don't-"
*Colt then slowly flies up, uses fire to burn all the arrows to ash and lands in front of the elf.*
*He grabs her by the face, disables her motor nerves, exempts her from the effects of "static", throws her towards Zeno*
*The elf keeps screaming in horror before stopping mid-air right before hitting the ground, Luna then helps by straightening her up in a standing position.*
*Colt flies down and re-enables her motor nerves by touching the back of her head.*
Colt : "Liam, Levi, you know what to do if she tries something."
*Exempts her from "static" again and walks a few steps with Luna following behind. Meanwhile the elf falls to her knees, panting, her face as pale as paper as she looks at him with horror.*
*Colt sits on the ground, his back against a tree trunk, Luna sits next to him*
Luna : "You're on edge today."
Colt : "This is the fifth time. The. Fifth. Time. We try to save them, they attack us. We convince them somehow and no one dies."
Luna : "And...?"
Colt [frustrated] : "Why are we doing this? They're not from the same village. You don't know them. They keep attacking. We gain absolutely nothing from this. *speaks faster* It's a waste of a perfectly good time we could spend at home. Why do we care? What's the logic here? At least with the black death, people weren't trying to kill us."
I'm not the IUCN damn it.
Luna : "And?"
Colt : "OK, fine. I admit it. Genetic diversity is important and I hate to see people enslaved but they need to stop this crap or I'll seriously-"
Luna : "Gen- geneti-"
Colt : "You'll learn what that means once we get into biology in more depth."
Luna : "Then can I ask about the-"
*Luna stops talking and turns to face the same direction as Colt because the green-haired elf was coming towards them*
*The elf avoids looking at Colt altogether as she speaks, looking down*
The elf : "I know why you came here. Could you please release my people?"
Colt : "The nerve! Not even apologizing- *sighs* Listen up! We're gonna*points at the wall* fly to the top of that wall. You'll tell them to stand down because if a single arrow was shot… So help me, I'll make you all into my lab rats. I need bodies to experiment on!"
The elf [in a voice full of terror] : "A-As you command."
*Colt withdraws his aura and he, Luna and the elf start flying*
[scene : In a small room, barely enough to fit the people and the furniture in it, Colt and Luna sit on a bench, their backs to the wall, while Zeno, the twins, the green-haired elf and another male elf who shares the green hair and the violet eyes sit around a rectangular table. Seating arrangements: Zeno's next to the twins on one side, the two elves on the other. The two elves can see Colt and Luna from behind Zeno and the twins]
The female elf [trying to maintain her composure] : "I-I apologize for attacking you. I am Calia and this is my younger brother, Cale."
Zeno : "I am Zeno and these are Liam *Liam nods* and Levi *Levi nods* my grandsons. *turns slightly* the lady is Luna, my granddaughter and the human is Colt, her husband *Colt just raises his hand and puts it down again*"
*Calia and Cale exchange a glance of awe and they both nod*
Cale [trying to change the subject] : "And why have you come here?"
Zeno : "We really came in peace, it was never our intention to cause you harm."
Cale : "You say that after what *directs his gaze at Colt* he's done?"
Calia [nigh whispering] : "Cale, stop."
Cale : "On second thought, bringing that creature is an act of war."
Colt [looking at Luna, in a calm, amused tone] : "He called me a creature."
Colt [looks directly at Cale] : "Well, this creature can end you the moment he wants to *Suddenly stands up*"
Luna : "Wai-"
*Colt walks around the table, Cale stands up to face him. Colt looks him in the eyes. Calia starts subtly shaking in her seat*
Colt : "So why aren't you dead yet, huh? Think about that."
*Looks at the door, slowly walks towards it.*
Colt : "This whole deal will go easier if I'm not around to scare the crap out of you so… I'm outta here!"
Luna [as she stands and walks after him] : "Wait for me."
*As they both are at the door, Colt stops, turns around slightly. Cale and the rest see an eye and a part of the face*
Colt [with an intimidating glare] : "Not that they need protection, but you know what happens if a single scratch befalls them, right?"
*Looks forward, starts walking again*
*As soon as he leaves the room, Calia finally breathes in relief*
[scene : Colt and Luna walking a few steps outside a small building, it's only slightly bigger than a hut]
Luna : "You were a little too harsh in there."
Colt: "The dude pissed me off. Seriously, is he too brave or too stupid?"
*As he speaks, a very thin layer of his mana spreads around the whole village*
Colt : "Don't mess with someone more powerful than you. Seriously, survival 101. That means the very basics, so you know."
Luna : "But still, you're more hostile today than every other time."
Colt : "I want it to be done with. Besides, I'm following the same tactic I followed with you and Victor."
Luna : "Why do you love threatening people so much? That's not it. Why do you always choose this "tactic"?"
Colt : "When someone weaker or equal to you in strength comes offering peace, you always suspect ulterior motives. But when someone with overwhelming power, someone strong enough to end you instantly offers peace… well, he's got nothing to gain nor to lose. So you know it's genuine."
Luna : "Maybe to you it makes sense, but poor Calia was as scared as could be. I felt sorry for her."
Colt : "Then she should've apologized on the spot! Ill-mannered little-"
Luna [giggling] : "This is what's bothering you this time? Not everyone can have your logical mindset."
*Colt stares at Luna for a second*
Colt : "Say it again."
Luna [blushing slightly] : "Logical mindset."
Colt : "MMM… so cute."
Luna [suddenly getting serious] : "Colt."
Colt : "Yeah?"
Luna : "How come… we haven't seen a single person?"
Colt : "Oh, that… use search magic on the widest area possible… this place is small anyway."
Luna : "You're already using it?"
Colt : "Had to keep an eye on Cale the brave."
*Luna does as he said.*
Luna : "They're all… hiding in their houses. Did Calia order this?"
Colt : "Something else feels weird here but I can't point it…"
Luna : "Colt, why can't I sense… a single child in this whole village?"
*Colt and Luna exchange glances*
Luna : "This whole village, 70 elves…"
Colt : "… Will go extinct with time."