Chapter 003: Undercurrents

Author: WolfSpatial

Co-Author: Lucifer

[In the movies they call this foreshadowing.]

•••••

The bed they had set me up with was fairly comfortable, though I did wake up with a headache. Whether that was due to rampant thoughts throughout the night, being away from home for the first time, or trying to find ways to deal with Aultcray and his insane daughter, I couldn't tell.

Maybe it was all three.

The room I had been given was spacious and overly luxurious, with tall ceilings and a mural of an endless prairie running along the Southern wall near an empty closet. A large, plush bed with a canopy of silky fabric sat against the center of the Northern wall surrounded by lavish furniture. Next to it were a carved wooden armoire and a comfortable armchair that I had sat in testing my skills before I went to sleep.

A tall window on the Eastern wall let in plenty of natural light during the day, and rich, velvet drapes could be drawn to block out the sunlight or provide privacy. I closed them, I hate the sun.

It was a well-appointed room for a Hero — other than me — with everything one might need, including a writing desk with a pen and ink pot, a bookshelf with maps and history tomes, and a wooden chest that could be filled with whatever I wanted.

A knock came to my door in the form of three small taps that somehow resounded into my room, "Mister Jayce…"

It was Itsuki. I hid under my blankets in the hopes he would leave me alone.

"It's time for us to receive our Parties and finances," He explained despite me mentally telling him to go away, "I told them I'd come get you since you didn't seem to want anything to do with the church… or the king… or Melromarc… or the other heroes… or anything… oh, does that include me??"

Yes! I wanted to scream, but I had given an air of confidence, deliberate actions, and well-thought-out responses. I groaned and pulled my blanket closer, lamenting that I had decided to give these people the idea that I was actually smart.

If I was so smart, would I have told them as such? No! I would have let them be stupid and fucked off into next week so they couldn't find me. Curse my life, I'm such a dumbass.

It didn't help that I had stayed up well past midnight testing my Magic until I was completely drained of Mana. And now I was running on, like, five hours of sleep maybe. It was much less than the ten to twelve I was used to and my body wasn't happy in the slightest.

"Mister Jayce?" Itsuki's voice resounded again, causing me to flip my blanket over my head and stare at the canopy of my bed.

"Itsuki," I spoke calmly, making sure he heard me.

"Yes, Mister Jayce?" He spoke too quickly, much too quickly. Too happily as well.

"Go away," I barely managed to groan out without sounding like an asshole, "Tell the others I'll be down to the Throne Room shortly."

"Okay. And, Mister Jayce…" He seemed to want to talk more. I wasn't a fan.

"What?" My voice turned gruff slightly, clearly wanting him to go die in a hole somewhere far, far away.

"You can call me Suki," He made me cringe. Me! Do you know how hard that is? It's hard. "…if you want to."

"Itsuki," I moved to sit on the edge of my bed, "Leave now. Before I blow that door up and strangle you."

I didn't get a response, only the sound of feet shuffling away quickly. I was left alone in the silence of my room, only it didn't feel like my room. It wasn't my room. It was given to me to use whilst I stayed in the castle.

I didn't like the castle. I didn't like the people in the castle. I didn't like the ruler of the castle, well, the current one. I'm sure the Queen was alright with a husband like that and a daughter who's a snake. Though, I didn't know what Melty was like.

Maybe the Queen and Melty were decent people. Probably not. I doubted their character after seeing Aultcray and Malty, both of which had poor personality traits.

"Young Lord," An older voice came to my door, "I'm here to fetch you at the request of the Princess."

"Goddamnit," I was cursing way too much for a fifteen-year-old. There was nothing in this world I hated more than being badgered about the same thing, much less by two different people.

Standing up, I slid on the black boots with silver buckles that I had worn to the convention and stretched out a hand to my staff which floated idly near my bed. I had discovered that if I wanted it to, the staff would respond to my thoughts and come to me.

That thought made me stop the staff in its tracks. I made a mental note to myself and began walking, the staff deciding to follow after me just to my right.

I couldn't explain how it worked, and I'm sure if I asked any Magic caster they'd give me the same 'it's magic' that I got from Father Maxus.

I opened my door to find an older butler with gray hair and slightly closed eyes. Despite that, his sheet showed him to be a force to be reckoned with. Sitting at level one-hundred-six, the butler was a martial artist with insanely high Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Defense, and Vitality. His Magic was the only thing below one hundred, and that sat at a staggering ninety-two.

"I understand," I shook myself from his sheet and gestured to the right of my door, "Lead the way."

"I was surprised to find you alone, Young Lord." He didn't look over his shoulder at me or even acknowledge that I was the one he was speaking to, "Young Lord Itsuki insisted he be the one to retrieve you. I thought maybe something was between the two of you…"

"A Magic Missile if he keeps up his act, Leofric." The butler's steps faltered for half a second before he continued, a testament to his composure.

"I see the rumors are true," Leofric smiled, finally turning his head just enough for me to see the tug of his lips, "You truly can see through a person. They have been circulating around the castle since you called out Father Maxus and Young Lord Ren Amaki."

"I don't mind such rumors," I waved it away, my staff bobbing up and down as I took each step, "They can't even compare to what I really am capable of."

"Is that so?" He seemed interested in what I had to say, "Why hide your strengths and talents?"

"And what of you, Leofric? You are hiding your own strength, are you not?" I smirked as he gave me another glance, "Being a Grand Chamberlain at such a high level… quite strange."

I was alright sharing some stuff with Leofric. His personality was good according to his sheet and he apparently reported directly to the Queen, — who I now knew to be named Mirellia — who actually ran the country and didn't know her husband went behind her back to do dumb shit, until now.

The man had no last name, which slightly confused me, but I didn't mind it too much.

"Perhaps, you see too much, Young Lord." His tone was grave, though I could tell he would wait to act for a while, "Perhaps losing one eye allowed for clearer vision? What, then, of the other?"

"You would be surprised to know just how much one eye has gained me," I set a hand on my eye patch, playing the victim as if it was truly gone. It was then that I realized that my hand blocked part of my vision. That meant I could see through my eye patch with my left eye, a neat thing to know.

I had gotten so used to wearing it that I didn't realize when it no longer affected me.

"Then, maybe we should abstain from that for now," Leofric's voice turned much more joyful, holding the temper of a grandpa speaking to his beloved grandson, "How are you finding your accommodations? Anything you require?"

"My room," Taking my hand from my left eye, I returned it to my side and let out a small chuckle, "It's too big. It feels lonely, you know?"

"How old are you, Young Lord?" Leofric seemed slightly worried, and I could see where he was coming from, but I just shifted the topic.

"You can just call me 'Jayce.'" He nodded to my words, leaving an empty silence for a few seconds.

And then he broke it, "How old are you, Jayce?"

"I'm fifteen," There was no need to lie. I hadn't even grown much in the way of chest hair or beard hair, so he could see I was young regardless of what I said.

"Only five years, huh?" He rubbed his chin in thought, and though I couldn't be sure of what was running across his mind, his sheet said 'thoughtful' and 'pensive.'

It was just as we reached the Throne Room that Leofric turned to me and blocked my path with his left arm, "Please take these words of advice to heart, Jayce."

I gave a quick nod, though the seriousness of his tone made me wonder if maybe I should find a chair, "What is it, Leofric?"

"Do not try to take Malty and Aultcray on at their own game," He shook his head as he spoke, signaling it was a bad idea, "Even with your strange eyes that peer through even power itself, you cannot be sure what they are plotting. Also, do not tell them I visited you. It was not Princess Malty that requested I come to you."

I got the message. It was the other Princess, Melty, who asked Grand Chamberlain Leofric to talk to me. I wasn't sure why the Grand Chamberlain had sent a letter about me in the first place — especially to the Princess instead of the Queen, unless he did send it to the Queen and she was too busy to reply — but I was somewhat grateful for the warning.

"Thank you, Leofric." He put down his arm and moved to the side for me to enter, though I didn't move from where I stood, "I have a question, if you don't mind."

He looked me straight in the eye, the sapphire color reflecting off of the brown in his, "I will answer as well as I can."

"Where is the Queen? If she was here, Aultcray would not have dared to summon the five heroes." He seemed caught off guard by my question, perhaps expecting something more childish.

"Are you sure you're only fifteen?" He gave a hearty smile and explained, "Her Majesty is currently in Sitvelt, she went to discuss the proper time and place to summon the four heroes. Oh, I say four because there is no record of a Mage-type hero, such as yourself."

"Thank you again," I moved forward and set a hand on the double doors to the Throne Room, "Do you think I will be able to meet her? Mirellia, I mean."

"I'm quite surprised you even know her name," Leofric turned away and began walking, "Perhaps you will, I cannot say."

His footsteps receded and I took a deep breath, "It's showtime…"

Stepping back, I got a small walk in before pushing the door open and gathering the attention of the plethora of people in the Throne Room. Itsuki smiled at me, ew. Naofumi nodded to me, acceptable. Ren ignored my presence, that was fine I guess — he was a background character anyway. And Motoyasu was ogling the females that stood ahead of the four of them.

"Welcome, Ma-Staf-hmm. Welcome, Hero!" The announcer spoke loudly to my right, gaining a glare as I popped my right eardrum from the sudden noise.

"Now that all the heroes are here," Father Maxus stood at the bottom of the raised Throne platform, smiling a toothy grin, "Let us proceed."

I gave an inward groan and walked up next to Naofumi, who stood the furthest to the right. Itsuki, who stood all the way in the left — as far away from me as currently possible yay — gave a sad sigh.

"Stand behind the hero you wish to be in the party of!" Father Maxus was way too happy to be here right now. If he suddenly shouted 'praise the sun' I wouldn't bat an eye and simply do it.

There were a lot of people joining the parties, most of them were female but I noticed three males joined Itsuki's party, one joined Ren's party, and none joined Motoyasu. I was expecting Itsuki to be happier about the constituency of his party, given his… proclivity for me.

Motoyasu was just as excited as I expected, barely holding his eyes from wandering the frames of his female companions. Ren didn't seem to care who he got paired up with.

My party members consisted of two females, probably the dregs that Malty sent over because she didn't like them. She stared at me strangely from Motoyasu's party, and I gave her a simple nod. Her eyes widened in realization at something as I looked away from her.

And then there was Naofumi. He didn't have a party. Nobody went to join him, not even a cockroach. It made me feel slightly bad for the twenty-year-old, seeing as his eyes died slightly more in response.

"Why doesn't Naofumi have any party members?" Itsuki spoke up before I could, giving me a proud grin.

"If they wanted to join him," Father Maxus gestured to Naofumi who looked like he couldn't care less if he died or not, "They would have. The Shield Hero is the weakest, it is not surprising that they chose as such."

"He can take my party members," I stepped forward, my staff loyally following closely behind me, "I was not supposed to be here in the first place. Given as such, it is only right he takes the party members that would go to him should I not be here."

"If you weren't here, Sir Mage," One of my party members spoke up, "I would go to Sir Sword Hero. I guess Sir Bow Hero is pretty cute too."

"I see," My gaze turned to Naofumi, giving him an apologetic look, "Then I don't want you either. You will not be a member of my party, either of you."

"Wait," The other female spoke up suddenly, "I would've gone to Sir Shield Hero if you weren't here."

"Then, by all means," I made a welcome gesture toward Naofumi, "Join him…"

Her tongue seemed to have gotten caught in her throat. She gripped the hem of her brown skirt and looked down, "…I'd rather not…"

"Then I don't want you," It wasn't up for debate. If these harlots didn't see the value of having someone with insane defense backing them up, they wouldn't see the value of having me backing them up either.

"You must take party members," Father Maxus cautioned me.

"Then where are Naofumi's?" Father Maxus didn't seem to know how to respond, a lump forming as he twisted his forked tongue behind his teeth.

"He's right," Ren stepped forward with a look of 'I am Justice' that one usually found from superheroes and newbie cops.

"I'll join Naofumi," Malty stepped away from Motoyasu's party, moving behind Naofumi.