Beast

Roko, Corissa and Varis were all crammed into Treesa's carriage as they clattered through the dark forest. There was a lantern hanging at the front of the carriage to provide some light though the more pressing concern was how little room there was among the collection of foodstuffs and ingredients that took up the majority of the carriage. Roko was sitting on top of his luggage, across from Corissa and Varis who were sitting on the floor, Klaus napping contently on Corissa's lap. One sharp shake though and Roko would go flying into Corissa's bosom. Something Roko was preparing himself not to do should it come to that.

 "Ummm..."

 Corissa's voice drew Roko out of his thoughts as he turned to the princess, "Yes?"

 "Are you getting enough sleep?" She asked with a smile, "You can go to sleep now if you want. We'll wake you if something happens."

 "I'm fine." Roko sighed, "I can only sleep for so long."

 "You were awake for four days."

 "And I've been sleeping for two days straight and then two more nights of normal sleep. What more do you want?"

 "I want you to take better care of yourself." Corissa pouted, "Or at least let us help more often."

 "This again?" Roko sighed.

 "Roko, think about it." Corissa sighed, "Ever since we came here, if you weren't endangering yourself, you were isolating yourself in your research. We all respect your work but we also want to talk to you sometimes. It's honestly a miracle the dark elves still like you after you ditched them for like a month to do research on your own."

 "...Alright..." Roko grumbled, "What do you want me to do about it?"

 "Just talk to us." Corissa smiled, "From triumphs to tribulations, we want to know more about how you're doing."

 "...Okay..." Roko said, "So what do you want to talk about?"

 "No no. This all depends on you. What do you want to talk about?"

 Roko sighed, "Alright...well...there is one thing I said I would ask you about."

 "What is it?"

 "It's a bit personal."

 "That's fine."

 "What kind of men are you into?"

 "Oh that. Well..." Corissa paused as Roko's question sank in. And once it did, Corissa's face became a luminescent red as she stuttered, "W-W-Wh-W-W-W-What?!"

 "It's relevant information if we ever have to deal with people hitting on you again." Roko explained as he did his best to hide his own embarrassment, "The more detail we know, the more we can use to repel potential suitors."

 "I-I see." Corissa said as she began to calm down a little, "I guess that might be helpful."

 "Yeah..."

 …

 …

 …

 "So what's your type?" Roko asked again.

 "I-I don't know..." Corissa squeaked, her face growing red again, "I've never really thought about it."

 "Really?"

 "Yeah." Corissa sighed, "I didn't even have any friends until I met you and Helena so I never had to think of having a boyfriend yet."

 "But surely you've seen men approach you. Were there not parts of them that attracted you even if you didn't find the whole to be attractive?"

 "I-I don't know."

 "Do you not dream of one day having a husband or starting a family?"

 "I-I do but..." Corissa covered her blushing cheeks, "I never really thought about what they'd look like. It's usually something like...waking up with them, eating with them, hugging them...c-cuddling with them..."

 "That's pretty normal."

 "I just want a normal romance." Corissa sniffed, "I never wanted all this attention."

 "So you really don't care what your potential boyfriend might look like?"

 "No. Not really."

 "...Do you like abs?"

 "Eh? I mean..." Corissa blinked, "I think it'd be nice if my lover was healthy. But I don't need them to be like...overly muscular."

 "RIP Roland." Roko muttered.

 "Huh?"

 "Nevermind." Roko sighed, "That said, this doesn't really help dissuade any potential suitors from you. If anything it might embolden some people."

 "Oh...is it really that bad?"

 "I mean in someways it's great that you're not picky. Though maybe you should have some sort of standard when it comes to something like love."

 "I mean...I'd like for them to be kind..."

 "Basic human decency is not a standard."

 "Uuu..."

 A sharp whinny cut their conversation short as the carriage came to a sudden halt, throwing Roko forward towards Corissa from the recoil. Having anticipated this, Roko quickly brought his arm up and slammed it into the crate behind Corissa, pushing himself back until he stopped inches from Corissa's own face.

 "Dammit, what's going on now?" Roko scowled as he pushed himself back up and began to climb out of the carriage, "Varis! With me!"

 The black knight stood up and followed Roko out of the carriage, leaving a stunned and flustered Corissa behind.

 The problem was immediately apparent the moment Roko stepped outside. There was at least three owlbears approaching them from behind. Treesa's anxious stammering drew Roko's attention around to the front of the carriage where another group of owlbears were surrounding them. The cart in front of them had already stopped not far from them and everyone was already piling out to address the situation.

 "That's a lot of owlbears." Kaguya said as she, Mikado and Brook approached the beasts from behind.

 "Owlbears don't usually hunt in groups this large though." Brook frowned as she drew her daggers.

 "They're frenzied." Romer stated as his and Momo's group arrived from further down the path, "This is unusual."

 "Were they attracted by the food?" Treesa yelped.

 "Roko, you good over there?" Helena called.

 "We're surrounded in this side too." Roko replied as a growling Klaus appeared next to him as he drew his sword.

 "HIYAH!"

 A figure fell out of the sky, landing on one of the owlbears with a frightening thud. The owlbears turned to snarl at Momo as she pulled herself up after punching one of the owlbear's head into the ground, "Well, all we can do now is get rid of them!"

 "There isn't that many of them." Helena said, "Maybe at least eight or nine of them?"

 "Don't underestimate them." Romer said as he readied his spear, "They're absurdly strong and equally resilient."

 "And to be clear, our priority is not getting rid of the owlbears." Roko called, "It's to protect Treesa and the cargo."

 "Right!" Drift nodded, "Let's go!"

 And with that, their group of 11 people (plus two blink dogs) began their chaotic fight against the now eight owlbears. For some it was easy to fight one versus one against an owlbear. Varis and Momo obviously but Roland wasn't doing that bad against one either. Mikado was teaming up with Brook to combat another while the three dark elves were dealing with two more at once. Helena was running interference with her ice spells, keeping the remaining owlbears from overwhelming any particular person. Roko was facing one too and he was sorely outmatched. Without the Intellect Coronet, Roko's archeomancy had seriously downgraded. Mana moved noticeably sluggishly in response to Roko's will. It was practically impossible now for him to enchant his sword anymore. All he could do now was rely on Momo's reinforcement magic to attack around the owlbear, keeping himself safe but not dealing any sort of significant damage to the beast. Its hide was just too thick for his sword to penetrate deep enough. Perhaps a more percussive weapon would fare better but there was no such weapon to spare. Both scan and analyze informed him of no abnormalities that he could take advantage of either so he needed something else. Something fundamental that he could abuse. So Roko began thinking.

 The owlbear was not a creature in his original world so there were properties that he couldn't possibly comprehend but it was no eldritch being that defied reason. It was just as strong as a bear from his world if not stronger. It's hide was tougher as well, covered with thick fur and large feathers. When Roko went to slash at the bear, the edge would run across these feathers, dealing almost no damage to the beast. Same went with the fur. It was a much smaller effect but stacked over and over again made it no less effective. If he wanted to deal damage he'd have to cut through these defenses...or...slip his blade underneath it.

 Roko gritted his teeth and pulled his sword scabbard from his hip, using it to whack the owlbear over the head with it repeatedly. This dealt practically no damage but it certainly made the owlbear angrier as it pulled back before stretching forward with a nerve destroying roar. Exactly what Roko was waiting for. Swinging his scabbard around, Roko shoved it width wise into the monster's beak. As the owlbear tried to pull back as it was gagging, Roko grabbed it by the head and slammed his knee into its jaw. The beast began to reel around as the pain of being forced to bite hard into such an object scrambled its concentration. Roko took this opportunity to jump onto the owlbear's back. Drawing his sword back, he found the part where the beast's fur transitioned into feathers near his neck. And after carefully sliding it underneath the fur and feathers, Roko plunged it into the soft flesh underneath.

 The owlbear roared in genuine pain as blood splatter onto Roko's sword and hand. Dropping the scabbard, the owlbear began to rampage around, trying to throw Roko off. Roko held onto the bear, trying to stay on and keep his sword embedded in the monster. Anatomically he probably had stabbed close to its collarbone equivalent. He needed a more substantial hit to bring it down. But when it began running around in a frenzy, all Roko could do was continue to hold on. Until the owlbear suddenly jump and slammed its entire body weight against a tree with Roko in between. And immediately, Roko fell to the ground unconscious.

 "Roko!" Corissa yelped as she gently shook him, "Roko, wake up!"

 Blinking his eyes open, Roko felt like only a few moments had passed since he fell unconscious but it was clear that the fighting had long since ended since everyone else had gathered around him. A few owlbear corpses laid on the ground around them though Roko couldn't account for all of their attackers. Perhaps they were out of his line of sight or maybe they ran away.

 "I'm okay." Roko grunted as he pushed himself up.

 "Sorry Roko!" Momo cried, "I should've cast a protection spell on you guys too! I thought you could handle it!"

 "What happened to your magic, Roko?" Helena frowned, "Can you not use it anymore?"

 "Turns out that crown's effect was a bit more than a small non-zero amount." Roko grimaced.

 "Why didn't you tell us?" Kaguya asked.

 "It wasn't really relevant at any point. Plus I didn't know myself until now. Didn't really have the chance to practice since taking the cursed thing off either."

 "Honestly, you didn't do that bad." Reaumur smiled, "I don't think I've seen someone try to mount on owlbear before."

 "I don't know what you were thinking but it worked! Which is more than what I can say for some people who've fought owlbears before." Ohm laughed.

 "Cargo's been protected." Romer said, "We should get going before more beasts shows up. You can take a break in the carriage."

 "Wait, my sword..." Roko grimaced as he tried looking around.

 "The owlbear you fought is over there." Drift pointed to one of the corpses, "We already tried removing it but it's pretty stuck in there. I don't know if we can remove it that easily."

 "Then it's fine." Roko sighed, "Let's just get going before anything else attacks us."

 "Everyone back to your carriages!" Romer ordered, "We move out in 20 seconds."

 Corissa helped Roko limp back over to Treesa's carriage where their elf companion was waiting anxiously.

 "Are you okay Roko?" She asked.

 "I'm fine." Roko grunted, "Getting better by the minute. How's the carriage?"

 "Not a scratch." Treesa smiled, "Thanks to you all."

 "I'm glad." Roko sighed.

 "You wanna go to sleep now?" Corissa giggled as she leaned Roko against a crate.

 "Maybe for a minute or two."

 "Go ahead." Treesa said, "We'll be at the village before you know it."

 When next Roko would wake up, it was when the carriage stopped rocking once more. Feeling much better, Roko climbed out of the carriage with Corissa and found themselves in front of a large wooden gate. Unlike the orc camp though, the construction was much cleaner and Roko could even see recon towers built behind the walls with dark elves armed with bows watching them more curiously than aggressively. He could hear Romer speaking with the dark elves in front of the gate and before long, he turned back to the carriages and signaled for them to head on in. With not much distance left for them to travel, Roko, Corissa and Varis all simply walked alongside their carriage as they finally entered the dark elf village.

 This part of the forest was darker than any other part of the forest. The tops of the tree had lowered down to normal tree heights but the foliage was so thickly intertwined that no light could be seen underneath it. The luminescent blue orbs that used to light up Arbrea, albeit dimly, was now scarily scarce. The only lights left now were the lanterns and torches that lit up the village and its surroundings, bathing the area in warm orange light. The trees that surrounded the village was a dark blue like the rest of the trees in Arbrea but the wood that made up the dark elves' structures were of a black color. These structures were also of quite superior build compared to the orcs but also more utilitarian compared to the elves. There was little flair to much of their surroundings, a modest quiet compared to the loud beauty of Granreveria. There wasn't much of a variety of material either. There were a few stone plates and such, even some iron chains and other such features but they were used sparingly, the rest and the majority of everything was this black wood. This shadowy village was hiding well its shadowy residents who, even as they were staring at them from the sides of the road in broad torchlight, felt like there were more that they weren't seeing watching from the shadows.

 "Welcome!" Romer bellowed as the rest of Roko's group climbed out of their carriages, "To Duskwald!"

 The dark elves began to clap and cheer, though only a few of them looked welcoming, the majority of them seeming just the slightest bit cautious.

 "We're here! Reaumur cried happily as Penny ran circles around her, "What do you think of our village?"

 "It's certainly charming." Kaguya smiled as she looked around, "I can see quite a bit of things I'm curious about already."

 "You flatter us princess."

 A wizened voice drew Roko's attention to a collection of five old looking dark elves approaching them from the village center.

 "Welcome humans and elves." One of these dark elves nodded, "I am Fulminous. One of the elders of this village. We welcome you with open arms to our humble home."

 "Thank you for extending an invitation to us." Momo replied, "We're honored to be given this opportunity to learn more about each other."

 "You owe most of those thanks to Polaris." Fulminous chuckled, "Some of us were against your visit but Polaris was quite keen on seeing you all."

 "We've heard of this Polaris person before." Helena noted, "Is this person part of the council?"

 "Oh no. He's not even a dark elf."

 "A non-dark elf has enough power to sway the council?!" Helena said, surprised, "Who is he?!"

 "Well, here he comes now."

 The council turned around and Roko's group looked up as a figure cloaked in a large gray cloak approached them. As this person approached them, he began to float up, the legs of his cloak that he was dragging on the ground lifted up into the air. As this being towered above the group, it spoke,

 "Welcome. I..."

 The sleeve of the cloak reached up, revealing a skeletal hand that pulled back its hood revealing a black skull with blue lights for eyes.

 "...am Polaris."

 Momo, Varis and Mikado's arms immediately reached for their weapons as Momo exclaimed, "A lich?!"

 "A-A lich?!" Roland cried as he drew his swords.

 Momo, Varis and Mikado's hands hovered over their weapons cautiously as they watched the skeletal monster for any signs of attack. Roko quickly fired off his scan and analyze spell just in case but he didn't sense any sort of hostility from the skeleton. And from what they've heard of this Polaris, it didn't sound like he was dangerous. It was then that Roko noticed something peculiar in the data that was being presented in his mind.

 "Your caution is understandable." Polaris said as he floated back down, his cloak shrinking down to a more manageable size, "Rest assured, I have no quarrel with you. I've been anticipating your arrival here. I'm glad to see you've all accepted my invitation. And you in particular...elven princess."

 Everyone's eyes turned to Brook who simply stood there with her face hidden behind her mask. Upon being signaled out, Brook opened her hands, her knives sliding out of her sleeves as she armed herself in response.

 "Who are you?"

 "Of course, you would not recognize me in this form. Allow me to change into something more...familiar."

 And with that flesh began to grow over the bones. First muscles, then nerves and finally even skin and hair. In a short but disgusting time, the skeleton had transformed into a human...that Roko did not recognize.

 "Who...is that?" Helena asked to more confused faces that seemed to have no answer. Except for Brook who dropped her knives in shock, "Gareth?"

 "Gareth?" Kaguya frowned, "Isn't that the human that Brook supposedly fell in love with?"

 "Roko?" Helena turned to him, "Is it really him?"

 Everyone turned to look at Roko for an answer.

 "...His name came up as Gareth Lyonguard when I scanned him." Roko replied, "If that's the same Gareth from the stories then it's likely to be the same person."

 Everyone turned back to look at Brook who had not stopped staring at the man in front of her. With a quivering hand, she reached up and removed her mask, revealed her still stunned face as she continued to look upon what should've been an impossibility in front of her.

 "It's true." Gareth said somberly, "I just couldn't forget you and move on. I tried multiple times to see you again but your mother wouldn't let me anywhere near you. I tried really hard, I did but before I knew it, I was getting old. I wasn't even sure you'd recognize me. So I turned to dark magic. I sought out an evil ritual to make me...close to immortal. I just wanted to see you again. To apologize for warping your life so wildly. I don't know why you turned into a dark elf and I tried to find out. Tried to find a way to return you to normal but I had no luck. N-Not that you're still perfect as you are it's just...I couldn't stop thinking about all the ways your life must have gone so...so wrong. So when I regained my youth, I came back but...well your mother wasn't letting a human in again so she certainly wasn't going to let a lich in. So instead, I found the dark elves. They were kind to me, even supported me in my quest for love even as they retained disdain for elves. So I stayed here, hoping that by mending relations between the two races I could see you again. And now, out of nowhere...here we are."

 Brook didn't respond, the story of her former lover laying another layer of shock over her, keeping her body and face even stiller than an untouched pond.

 "O-Of course..." Gareth braced himself, "If this is all too much for you and you cannot bring yourself to accept a...a lich as a lover or even as a friend, I completely understand and-"

 Brook's mask dropped to the ground as she finally moved, rushing forward to finally embrace Gareth, pressing her lips against his as the two long lost lovers finally found each other again. The dark elves burst into a loud cheering and clapping as they witnessed what must have been several hundred years worth of effort.

 "Ah, I'm so glad to see your dearest wish finally fulfilled, Polaris." Fulminous said as he wiped some tears from his eyes, "Everyone! Tonight, we're having a grand party to celebrate! To love reborn and to welcome our newest friends!"

 The entire village let out one more resounding cheer before they began to move around to prepare for the festivities.

 "Aw, isn't that cute." Helena nodded as she watched Brook and Gareth, "I'm so glad they're together again. Right, Treesa?"

 "I guess." Treesa said, trying not to look too disgusted, "Maybe I'd feel better if we were back at the city."

 "Is there a problem, lady elf?" Fulminous said as he broke away from the council of elders to approach Treesa.

 "N...no..." Treesa replied, "I'm fi-"

 "She hates dark elves."

 "ROKO!"

 "You wanted to be tossed into the deep end. So I'm tossing you into the deep end." Roko replied.

 "Hoho, I'm glad I'm the one to have approached you first then." Fulminous nodded, "Had it been Glacier, he might've started a whole uproar."

 "And I still might." Another one of the elderly dark elves walked over with a scowl, "What's an elf doing here?"

 "Glacier, be nice now." Fulminous sighed.

 "I haven't done anything yet." Glacier snapped, "This girl is the one who got everyone attacked by owlbears from what I hear."

 "Oh, like that's supposed to be my fault." Treesa scowled, "I come here trying to be nice and I'm getting attacked already."

 "I know your kind." Glacier smirked, "Give elves an inch and they take a mile! That's how the archdruid Brea ended up with you guys infesting her forest!"

 "Don't you dare bring up the great Brea herself! We were accepted into her forest willingly! You were the ones who arrived later! And without us, you would've ruined the forest already!"

 "HA! Pray tell, how did we, the dark elves, ruin the forest made by a dark elf?!"

 "You're all bloodthirsty and only know how to kill!"

 "We're just doing the job you elves are too prissy to do! And I don't even know where you even got that impression of us from! We only kill what's bad for the forest!"

 "Is that why you killed my husband?!"

 Glacier and Fulminous stopped and turned to each other with a mix of confusion and curiosity.

 "Um...do tell." Fulminous said, "Who exactly did you claim we killed?"

 "My husband!"

 "There must be some mistake." Fulminous coughed, "Ever since Polaris joined us, he's expressly forbidden us from killing elves and we've done well to hold true to it. So if it's from the recent 500 years we-"

 "Don't you lie to me!" Treesa cried with tears in her eyes, "I saw you dark elves shoot my husband in the chest!"

 "Shot in the chest you say?" Fulminous said, eyes darting about nervously, "Well maybe...perhaps...he survived?"

 "What are you talking about?! If he's alive then where is he? Why didn't he come back to me?!"

 "Maybe...perhaps..."

 "He turned into a dark elf." Glacier smirked.

 "WHAT?!" Treesa gasped, "What do you mean he turned into a dark elf?!"

 "We do...recall an incident similar to what you've described." Fulminous coughed anxiously, "And indeed, we did take in the young elf and revive him but uh...during his stay here he..."

 "Is he still alive?! Is he here?!" Treesa cried as she looked around, "Root? Root?!"

 "H-H-Hello there..."

 A young dark elf waved at her awkwardly from the side of the road.

 "Root!" Treesa ran over immediately, looked the elf over from every angle she could, "Oh my god is that you?!"

 "Y-Yeah..." 'Root' said awkwardly, "My name is Spark now."

 "What do you mean 'your name is Spark now'?!" Treesa cried, "Where have you been?! Why didn't you come home?!"

 "Hey there." Another female dark elf besides Spark waved at her with a pleasant smile.

 "Who is this?" Treesa frowned.

 "This uh..." Spark coughed anxiously, "This is uh...this is my wife."

 "Wi-wh-...what..." Treesa took a few steps back, her mind reeling from what she was seeing and learning, "Root...dark elf...Spark...survived...wife..."

 Treesa collapsed onto the ground, her brain overloaded and her mouth foaming.

 "Treesa!" Spark cried.

 "It's okay." The dark elf next to him said, "I'm a doctor."

 And with that, Spark's wife picked up Root's wife and carried her off towards the medical tent.