Chapter 148: Book 7 Chapter 9

Joan rocked back and forth on her heels. How much longer were they going to be? She glanced up at the sky, but the sun was still pretty low. The clouds that were already forming made her nervous, though. She did not like the idea of trying to give a big grand tour of the city in the middle of the rain.

Finally, however, she could hear footsteps making their way towards her. “Took your time, didn’t you?” Joan asked.

“Joan, it is too early for you to be this awake,” Bauteut said.

“It’s not natural for people to be awake at this time,” Qakog said before giving a light yawn.

Joan blinked a few times and eyed him. So he wasn’t a morning person. She never would have guessed. “Come on. You two have to be excited, we’re going to see the city! Besides, the Chosen left hours ago.”

“The Chosen are effectively demigods,” Bauteut said before giving a yawn of her own. “I, on the other hand, am a mere mortal who had only a light breakfast.”

Joan sighed and shook her head. “You two just need to go to bed sooner. You can’t spend all day sleeping, you know.”

“Wouldn’t kill you to sleep a bit more,” Bauteut said. “I’m considering doing it to you myself.”

“I thought you were a morning person?” Joan asked.

“Whoever told you that was a liar,” Bauteut said before giving a light yawn. “Besides, I was up late.”

“You were? Why?” Joan asked.

“Because I… no reason,” Bauteut said quickly before glancing away.

Joan just stared at her before sighing. “Fine, I won’t ask any questions. Okay? That way you don’t need to lie to me. How about you, Qakog?”

“I just don’t like morning,” Qakog said softly. “It is unnatural. The sun has not yet warmed the air and so it is too cold. But then it is hot later and it is just misery. Existence in the morning is suffering.”

“At least we’re not in the sea, right? Come on. You’ll wake up, it’ll be fun. Really! Trust me,” Joan said with a happy grin.

“Fine, fine,” Bauteut said before motioning for her to go. “We’re following you, oh great and grand leader.”

Joan nodded before turning. Oh, there were so many things she wanted to show them.

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Joan blinked a few times, staring at the middle of the courtyard and the fountain within it. Though no water came out from it.

“Uhhhh…” Qakog said softly.

“It’s a nice enough fountain,” Bauteut said. “Though I’m not sure it functions anymore.”

“It… right,” Joan said softly. How silly of her. She couldn’t believe that she forgot the statue wouldn’t be made for at least a decade, possibly. It wasn’t until after the merfolk had saved the city from its famine that they made the unity commemoration statue. “I guess it is getting pretty late, but well, okay, the next thing is sure to be amazing.”

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“Oh,” Joan said. Ah, right. The ‘Grand Unity’, one of the greatest galleons that had ever been created and a pivotal vessel in the fight against the demonic assault from the sea that wouldn’t likely occur for many, many years. At least the Great Unity was kind of here. In a few years it might even be sea worthy. She gave a sheepish grin back to the annoyed looking healer and demon who were following her.

“Okay, right, the next one is sure to be impressive. Trust me,” Joan said.

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Oh, right, they wouldn’t fix it for a year or two.

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The tomb was still buried deep underground and it wouldn’t show up for at least five more years. If then.

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Ehhhhh. The pastries weren’t bad, but they weren’t nearly the mind blowing, mouth watering deliciousness that they’d one day become.

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Why.

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Did everything.

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Have.

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To be.

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BORING?!

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Joan sighed and just sat on the edge of the fountain, crossing her arms and staring down at the ground. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. She was sulking, as much as she hated to admit it. But it wasn’t FAIR. She’d been excited to show them around the city. It wasn’t her fault that all the coolest stuff wasn’t here yet.

“Joan,” Bauteut said softly. “How often did you come here?”

“Here? Not very often,” Joan said softly. “Usually because some majors things happened here. Hearth was usually able to handle its own problems. So we just never really had to focus here. I just wanted to have some fun and show you around.”

Bauteut gave a light sigh before reaching out to pat her on the head. Joan wished she wouldn’t, though. She didn’t deserve head pats. “It’s fine,” Bauteut said.

“Does this mean I can go back to bed?” Qakog asked, though he urked when Bauteut glared at him.

“Don’t, it’s fine,” Joan said with a shrug. “I just wasted your time. I should have just let you two run off and see the city already rather than trying to build it up to something it wasn’t.”

“Joan,” Bauteut said with a small smile. “It’s okay. Just because things didn’t turn out the way you hoped doesn’t mean you did poorly. You meant well and that matters.”

Joan gave a soft sigh before nodding. “Thank you. We should probably head back before… before…” Okay. No. No. Absolutely NOT. There was no reason HE’D be here. Okay, there were plenty of reasons for him to be here. But there was no reason why he would be here now. Was there?

“Joan? Joan, what’s wrong?” Bauteut asked before looking over towards her focus. “Uhhhh, friend of yours? Another mercenary?”

“Something like that,” Joan said softly.

Francis. The fake hero. The man who, in many of her lives, would one day grow up to become the man who claimed to be the Hero, wielding a strange magic sword that none save he could wield. At first. In many lives he had even made the Hero question himself, but in the end it was all just a trick. The sword he’d wielded was powerful, special and could only be wielded by the one who bore the mark. But the Star had nearly destroyed it in the end and he was revealed for being a, while talented, mundane adventurer. One who had earned the gift of a djinn.

He didn’t have the sword with him now, though. She’d know if he did, it had been something unique. But she’d recognize that annoying grin of his anywhere and even if his hair was a bit longer than normal, it was just as blond and breezy as she remembered. But why was he--

She shook her head. No. It was probably her imagination. There was no way it was actually him. “I’m sorry,” Joan said. “It’s noth--”

“Francis!” a voice called out behind her and he froze before looking right at her. Joan felt her heart skip a beat. Crud. Did he know? Was the recognition obvious? A moment later a young woman ran past her and she could see he was focused on that woman. “Where have you been? I’ve been all over the city.”

“You’re making a scene, people are staring,” Francis said. “Don’t yell.”

“Joan?” Bauteut asked before glancing back towards the pair, then back to her.

Joan shook her head. “Nothing. It’s nothing.” The fates, possibly? Coincidence? Was he well on his way to becoming that fake? There wasn’t a hero now, right? So what did it matter if he wanted to pretend to be one?

“Joan, I know that look,” Bauteut said.

“It’s not that bad a look,” Joan said before watching Francis and the woman turn to walk away.

“You’re planning something,” Bauteut said.

“Nothing too bad,” Joan said sheepishly. “It’s going to be okay, I promise.”

“I don’t believe you,” Bauteut said.

Qakog gave a small, light yawn. “I don’t either.”

“If you two want to go off without me,” Joan said before walking after Francis. “You’re more than welcome to. I just want to check one thing.”

Bauteut gave a soft sigh before following after her. “Fine. Who was that?”

“Francis,” Joan said. “He’s… kind of… important? Ish? But not? I mean, he’s dangerous, kind of. Later. But not right now. It’s a whole big thing.”

“What?” Qakog asked.

“Just trust me, please?” Joan said. “I just want to see where he goes. He’s the fake Hero.”

“That explains even less,” Bauteut said with a small sigh.

Joan rolled her eyes and kept walking after the pair.

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“You’ll take her over my dead body,” Francis said, his sword clasped tightly in both hands, the girl hiding behind him.

“Well, if you insist,” the man blocking his way said before snapping his fingers. Dark, hooded figures seemed to materialize out from the dark nooks and crannies of the street, surrounding the pair.

“Francis,” the woman said. “They’ve got us surrounded.”

“It’s okay,” Francis said before giving the kind of smile the Hero would have. “I’ll keep you safe. I promise.”

Joan wanted to gag. Not that it wasn’t the kind of thing she’d normally do, but it felt so much cheesier when he did it. Also, she wondered who in the world those people were. She didn’t recognize them. Possibly a part of the cult? Maybe. But their dark cloaks hid their features.

“Joan? Should we help?” Bauteut asked. “This looks like trouble.”

“A bit,” Joan said before narrowing her eyes. The street was almost empty, aside from the pair and their attackers. Whoever the man was, he must have had quite a bit of authority. So why did he care about Francis? Just what in the world was he going to do here?

The first of the cloaked figures charged forward and Francis raised his sword.

Well, it looked like she was about to find out.