Chapter 11: Hit the dash

Narrator's Pov.

Ryan entered in his room and immediately walked to the bed and let himself fall on it, he suppressed a groan against the sheets but then calmed himself and turned around facing the ceiling.

He had helped 2 out of 6 people...he tried speaking with the writer but he instead ended up getting him even more anxious and guilty...

At least he helped the woman who lost her keys and Emma, something good happened at least....he did felt a small change when Emma left, probably he did something specific instead of her getting rid of her guilt...it was weird, he slowly pulled his phone out of his Kimono and messaged Herta.

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[Ryan]

"Herta"

[Herta]

"[Automatic Reply] Hi, I'm currently unavailable, and I won't be contacting you later."

[Ryan]

"It's something about my Aeon powers..."

[Herta]

"[Automatic Reply] Hi, I'm currently unavailable, and I won't be contacting you later."

[Ryan]

"I just got a new form that let's me destroy planets, don't you want to know about that?"

[Herta]

"[Automatic Reply] Hi, I'm currently unavailable, and I won't be contacting you later."

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She doesn't respond when he speaks about him and his Aeon powers?...weird...

He even lied to her about him getting a new form capable of destroying planets.

Wait...if Aeons could destroy planets, does that mean that he'd also be able to destroy entire worlds when he fully turns into an Aeon?

"I'll think about that later...I couldn't find Bronya, but well...I'll keep searching tomorrow, or I can just ask the Supreme Guardian to let me see her while we speak with her tomorrow..."

Ryan left the phone on the small table besides his bed, and then he sighed deeply as he got himself comfortable on the bed, he didn't need to sleep...but he pretty much appreciated a small rest, so after laying on bed, he closed his eyes, and eventually fell asleep...

Everything was on fire...

Screams and cries of help were the first thing he heard when he opened his eyes, a village was burning in front of his eyes, it was snowing, but said snow simply melted as it went down.

He saw people trying to run away, but a black and white blur quickly dashed past them, leaving their bodies mutilated and burnt on the ground, the bodies of men, women, children and elderly were spread across the ground of around Ryan.

He looked to the bodies starting to panic, sweat dripping down his forehead as some tears threatened to come out from his eyes, he looked in front of him and saw the blur stopping suddenly, the person seemed to be a man, holding a katana on his left hand, while on the right one he held the decapitated head of a girl that Ryan recognized very well...

It was Perla's head...

The person slowly turned around to look at Ryan.

He wore a black cape and hood that seemed to be made of shadows, he had long white hair under the hood, his bangs covering his right eye leaving the left one exposed, his eye had a silver color and he had a lighting shaped scar under his left eye, his skin tone was a pale tone of grey, as if he was a dead body...

The person with the black cape suddenly dashed at him and with a swift cut directly at his neck, everything went black...

Ryan suddenly sag on the bed inside of the Goethe Hotel room, breathing heavily as sweat fell from his forehead on the sheets of the bed, tears had already started to drop down his cheeks...he quickly tried to calm himself and wiped his tears away.

"You're right Ryan...you're in Belogo- ...Belobog...you're okay, nothing happened, just....stay strong, you HAVE to be strong...this is just my first time sleeping since I came here... it'll be better to not sleep for a while..."

He stood up from the bed and quickly tidied the sheets and the pillow, he grabbed his phone seeing the hour...it was barely 6 AM

"Herta hasn't replied to my messages yet...she must be really busy"

He sighed deeply and rubbed his forehead, still feeling himself a bit affected by the dream he had, he tried to look as calm as possible and then walked outside of the room, the others were probably still sleeping, so he decided to not bother them, he slowly walked down the hall and then into the reception of the hotel, seeing some people talking he simply shook his head and walked outside of the hotel.

"Walking around might distract me a bit..."

He started to walk without any real place in kind to visit...he could go to the Golden Theater, he could MAYBE sneak into the museum or he could see that Neverwinter Workshop the other visited yesterday...or he could search for Bronya again.

"No...I'm not in the best mood to help people right now..."

He frowned a bit at his own decision but then sighed and walked towards the Neverwinter Workshop, there was a girl basically glued to one of the windows of the workshop, muttering something about a certain 'Serval' being so beautiful and perfect...

She wasn't a stalker was she?

He simply walked past the girl and entered into the workshop, immediately feeling a bit overwhelmed by the amount of devices that were inside the workshop, he walked deeper into the workshop and a blonde young woman with blue eyes suddenly walked around the pillar in the middle of the workshop and seeing Ryan she smiled.

"Hello! Welcome to the Neverwinter Workshop" the woman mused with a little smile. "How can I help you?"

"U-uh... Hello, I won't bother, I'm just looking around..." He said as he smiled a bit nervously.

Serval slowly leaned onto him, seeing him from head to toes and then smiled a bit backing away. "Ah! You must be Ryan, your friends came by yesterday and told me they had come with someone else, I suppose that's you?"

"Yeah, it's a pleasure miss..."

"My name is Serval, your friends were quite helpful, they even helped me repair a radiator."

"What is a radiator?" Another word he should search on the internet later. "I see... they are indeed quite helpful"

"Yeah, though I think I saw that gray haired girl staring at the trashcan..." She looked to the trashcan in a corner of the workshop a bit weirdly.

"She'll make herself and Harem of trashcans..." He sighed and Serval immediately looked at him.

"What did you say?" She looked at him confused.

"Nothing..." He quickly tried to change the subject. "Serval...she's the woman that Emma spoke about, right?" he looked slightly down to the empty scabbard he had on his left hip and then looked back at Serval. "Do you...by any chance make weapons?"

Serval blinked a bit at his request but then chuckled a bit. "No, i'm sorry, I suppose I could repair one if I'm interested in it, but if you want to get a brand new one you might as well have to give up...most weapons are owned by the Silvermane Guards, and the little blacksmiths that can make weapons will dry you out of all your credits"

"I...I see." He sighed deeply. "And here I thought I could get a new katana..."

"By any chance...do you know a girl named Emma?" Serval asked crossing her arms above her chest.

"Uh...you saw us?" He tilted his head a bit nervous.

"Only for a few seconds...she's a good girl, good with the guitar, I would've asked her to join Mechanic Fever but...she has troubles with her family, and the stress of inconsistent schedule might make her feel bad..." She sighed a bit but then looked at Ryan a bit seriously. "I hope you're not trying to take advantage of a girl with family issues"

"It's only fair you think like that..." He sighed but then smiled towards Serval. "Don't worry, Serval, I just spoke with Emma, and from what I understand....she'll try to solve the problems with her family."

Serval looked at Ryan for a few seconds before smiling. "Fine...I'll believe you, but if she ends up worse I'll hit you with a guitar so hard a lighting will fall on you."

"H-how would that work?" He blinked a bit looking at Serval.

She chuckled a bit. "No need to overthink that, just remember that I'm saying the truth."

Ryan felt his phone vibrate inside of his Kimono and he grabbed it, seeing that it was a message from a group chat called 'Jarilo-IV expedition'.

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[Jarilo-VI expedition]

[March 7th]

"Ryan? Where are you?"

[Ryan]

"Neverwinter Workshop, I woke up a bit early and decided I wanted to take a walk and explore a bit."

[Dan Heng]

"Be careful, there's a group of Silvermane Guards escorting us outside of the Hotel, they don't seem friendly"

"You might be able to see us through the window of the workshop, we'll stop sending messages, be careful."

[Ryan]

"Yes, if something happens, tell me and I'll go help."

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Ryan frowned making Serval look at him a bit confused, he walked to one of the windows of the workshop and looked through it, seeing Stelle, March and Dan Heng walking outside of the Hotel, accompanied by a few Silvermane Guards, he narrowed his eyes a bit, seeing Bronya waiting for them outside of the Hotel besides more guards and a short girl with long blue hair and blue eyes.

"Ugh...and she appears now that I can't really talk to her, uh?"

"Ryan, is everything okay?" Serval asked while looking at him.

"Yes...I'll see you later Serval."

Without waiting for her to respond, he quickly walked outside of the workshop, immediately he hid in the narrow alley between the workshop and the building besides it, peeking over the corner, he saw his three companions speaking with Bronya before she started to escort them.

Ryan was about to go and help them, but Dan Heng quickly swept the guard's legs with his spear making them fall, Stelle knocked a few of them out and they started to run towards the alley that had gotten infected by the Fragmentum.

As he saw them disappear on the distance he frowned a bit, if they escaped then it meant that something had gone wrong, his phone vibrated and he checked it again.

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[Jarilo-VI expedition]

[Stelle]

"We've been bamboozled!!"

[Ryan]

"Bamboozled?"

[March]

"Don't pay attention to her Ryan! The Silvermane Guards tried to arrest us"

"They said that the Supreme Guardian ordered our arrest!"

[Dan Heng]

"Something already seemed off about her, but this is very weird, we escaped into the Backwater Alleyway, let's join and think of something."

"Don't let the Silvermane Guards catch you, Ryan"

[Ryan]

"Understood, don't worry about me guys"

[Stelle]

"Okay we won't."

[Ryan]

"You agreed to that quite quickly uh?"

"It looks like Bronya and a few guards are following you, be careful."

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He sighed deeply and rubbed his forehead, now speaking with Bronya will be a lot more harder than he initially thought.

Meh, maximum effort.

Seeing a few guards starting to patrol around, he narrowed his eyes a bit and walked deeper into the alley, he closed his eyes and a magic circle appeared under his feet...

His entire body covered with a few black sparks before dissipating completely, Ryan now had short brown hair and brown eyes, the mark under his left eye had disappeared and he now wore a white shirt with a long black coat, dark blue pants and a pair of boots besides having black gloves on his hands.

"The illusion will start draining my magic...I have to use it for as little time as possible."

He quickly walked out of the alley and then walked past the Silvermane Guards that didn't even glanced at him, he walked to the Backwater Alleyway but two guards were stationed there probably to stop others besides their own to enter.

"Hey! Stop right there, criminals and monster are beyond this point, stand back" one of the guards looked at him.

"Uh? Are those two trashcans having a wrestling match?" Ryan asked a bit amazed pointing to the side.

"What?!" Both guards turned to the side looking at two trashcans that were completely still...in a menacing way. "That wasn't- hey...where did he go?"

Both guards didn't see even a trace of the man they had just stopped, while behind them, Ryan turned on a corner and sighed a bit dissipating the illusion from his body, returning to his normal looks.

"Which way did they go?...I hate mazes, I hope this is not one"

With a small groan he started to run across the alley...not knowing where the hell his friends went.

A few minutes later...

Stelle, Dan Heng and March ran through an Alley, they had already evaded quite a few guards and took care of some monsters from the Fragmentum.

"Look out!" Dan Heng quickly stopped.

Stelle and March also stopped running barely dodging a few shots from some soldiers above them, a group of three got in front of them, while Bronya walked to them from.behind being followed by more guards.

"She really caught up to us?! She even set up an ambush!" March looked a bit irritated.

"You dare underestimate me? This place might have been corroded by the Fragmentum, but this is still Belobog, these soldiers know it like the back of their hands!" Bronya spoke while she frowned at them. "Drop your weapons and come with me"

"Ugh! What kind of crime did we even commit?!" Stelle asked clearly irritated by the situation. "I swear that the trashcan said it was 18!"

Bronya seemed a bit taken back by the girl's words but quickly replied. "My orders are just to arrest all of you, the adjudication panel is the one that will present you your alleged crimes!"

"You saw us yesterday, didn't you?" Dan Heng tried to reason with her. "We were invited as Madam Cocolia's honored guest, what could've caused such a drastic change in one night?"

"...Madam Cocolia investigated all your backgrounds, She summoned me last night to tell me that you had deceived her. Your identities and purpose here are counterfeit. You seek to overthrow the rule of the Architects" Brinya explained and March immediately growled quietly.

"That two-faced hag!" She blurt out.

"Publicly insulting the Supreme Guardian only aggravates your crimes! Drop your weapons and surrender" she frowned while grasping her sniper rifle.

"We're wasting out words, let's talk with violence!" Stelle quickly grabbed her bat.

Four guards ran towards the group of three, Two with halberds and the other two with guns, the ones with the guns shoot towards Stelle but she quickly dodged rolling to the side, Dan Heng quickly ran towards the four guards throwing a wide sweep with his spear, hitting one of the guards with a gun but the others dodged.

One of the guards with an halberd threw a swipe to Dan Heng but an arrow hit the halberd freezing it making it heavy enough for the guard to drop it and try to grab the boy, before Stelle approached quickly smacking the head of the guard with her bad.

"Dan Heng, I'll suplex one of them." Stelle spoke with a plain expression.

"E-Excuse me?" Dan Heng looked at the girl.

Stelle quickly ran to one of the guards with a gun, he tried to shoot her but Stelle quickly threw her bat at his face, making him recoil, giving her enough time to spin around him, hugging the man's hips, she lifted him up and bent backwards, suplexing the guard.

A collective 'Oofff' was heard...

Stelle quickly stood up and grabbed her bat pointing it at Bronya. "You are next!"

March sighed deeply and quickly shoot a few arrows at the guard with the halberd freezing his weapon and legs making him stumble before she froze his arms and torso letting him fall on the ground.

Dan Heng ran to the last guard that shoot twice at him but he quickly dodged to the sides and reaching the guard, he gave 3 quick pokes with his spear before sweeping at him, hitting him and throwing him towards Bronya.

"C-commander..."

"Hmph! I'll handle these evildoers myself!" She spoke and walked to them with her rifle in hand.

"Did she really called us 'evildoers'?..." Stelle cringed a bit at her words.

Bronya quickly pointed her rifle at March amd shoot once but the girl quickly dodged by ducking, Dan Heng tried to swipe her legs but Bronya quickly jumped out of the way dodging the attack, Stelle tried to grab her (probably to suplex her) but the silver haired girl turned around and attacked Stelle with the bayonet of her rifle, the racoon girl leaned back dodging the blade, Bronya immediatly aimed at her chest before shooting a wind bullet.

Stelle blocked the bullet with her bat but the strength still made her fly away rolling across the ground, Dan Heng ran to Bronya and threw a thrusting attack to the girl but she ducked quickly and kicked Dan Heng legs making him fall, still ducking she shoot at Dan Heng's chest with another wind bullet making him slide across the floor.

"Uh...she's kinda good..." March looked a bit nervous.

"I suppose that commander is not only a title..." Dan Heng grunted while standing up.

"I really am going to suplex her..."

Before they could continue fighting, various smoke bombs fell across the area, exploding and filling the place with a lot of smoke, all of them started to slowly fell dizzy.

"U-uh...what is...this?" March slowly fell on the floor.

"...delete my...search history" Stelle mumbled before also falling on the ground.

"Stelle, somehow...this is your fault" Dan Heng fell.

Bronya and all the other guards also fell completely unconscious to the ground, as Stelle slowly fell unconscious she saw the smoke dissipate seeing Sampo approaching with a smile.

"I have one thing to say, Sampo never lets friends who've helped him come to harm" he grinned innocently while looking at them. "I say what I mean... and I mean what I say."

Sampo smiled as he saw all of them finally loosing their consciousness, he cracked his fingers a bit and then counted them one by one.

"Now~...how do I take all of you with m-"

"Give me one reason...to not slit your throat right here"

An ethereal Katana appeared under his chin, threatening to cut his throat open, Ryan stood behind him, holding the katana against his neck, apparently just now getting to the place.

"A-ah! My white-haired friend! My snow colored bangs buddy! As you can see I just helped them! Why don't you help ME now? I would take them all to a safe place, but they are so many and I'm only one~" he smiled nervously as he lifted up his hands.

"If you try anything, you're dead." His voice seemed to be serious, he dissipated the ethereal katana and backed away a bit. "Where will you take them?"

"To the underworld of course~ I have a group of friends called 'Wildfire' that could help us, oh...and bring the princess too" he smiled and slowly walked to Dan Heng and March, putting the boy over his shoulder and the girl under his other arm before starting to walk.

Ryan narrowed his eyes a bit but then sighed and walked to Bronya, lifting her up and putting her on his back with some effort and then he walked to Stelle lifting her up in his arms and starting to follow Sampo.

"Ugh...well...At least I'll be able to speak with Bronya when she wakes up..."

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A/N: That's today's chapter! The Astral Express got bamboozled, Stelle suplexed someone (I really wanted her to suplex someone I don't know why)

I already thought of one of the girls Ryan will actually Rizz (somehow), I have an idea for a second girl but I'm still deciding.

But anyways! Hope you enjoyed.