Chapter 33: Recovery
Marcus PoV:
I think I'm starting to get better at the whole ‘fighting giant monsters’ thing. I let my laughter peter out as I gazed down at the screens floating in my vision.
Congratulations!
You have defeated The Hidden Boss 'Ozymandias, The Hour of Greed and Chapter of Madness!
Level up x4
Level 10 Reached!
Professions Available!
As a reward for defeating a hidden boss you will be given a Rare item that matches your playstyle!
Time Until Reward Chosen: 11 Hours 59 Minutes
Boss Trophy Gained: The Mask of Ozymandias
That is a large wall of text, I glanced down at the gold mask by my hooves. I felt a shiver of revulsion go down my spine and quickly shoved it into my bag. I looked over at David and Morgana to see how they were doing, Morgana was looking David over and checking for any injuries. Thankfully he wasn’t burned or anything from the lightning that was circling him earlier. I took a deep breath and tried to relax fully, it was over. Another massive threat was gone and now we could move on, sadly though Ozymandias wasn’t even the largest problem I have right now.
My thoughts started to drift back to the deal I made. In the heat of the moment it didn’t seem that bad but… now that I'm thinking about it. The sound of loud cheering brought me out of my head, coming from outside the ruins of the manor was shouts of pure joy and glee. I pushed myself off of my haunches and was silently glad my stamina hadn’t bottomed out completely, though my horn was a bit tender at the moment.
“Is it just me or… do you hear singing?” David’s vaguely amused words made me pause and listen a bit harder. He was right… barely rising up over the sound of loud cheering and talking was a soft melody and the mumbling of lyrics. This is my first encounter with something that was blatantly ‘Cartoon-like’. I’ve never really sang in front of other ponies before so I really hope I don’t have to. My eyes flicked over to the two remaining floating prompts.
Level 10 Reached!
Professions Available!
Time Until Reward Chosen: 11 hours 56 Minutes
I really wanted to go relax somewhere and try to find out more about [Professions] and all that they entail. There’s also the whole thing with me merging with Calcifer and turning into some kind of Pony Harpy, then there’s the whole thing about maybe telling Morgana and David about my new inability to leave… then apologize about not telling them everything earlier. I sighed and slumped a bit lower, why does everything have to be so complicated…
“Hey Marcus, are you okay?” I jumped slightly when Morgana’s voice appeared so close to me, I really must have spaced out. Morgana was a bit roughed up and dirty from the whole ordeal but wasn’t worse for wear thankfully.
“I’m good, you fixed up everything earlier. I’m just tired, let’s get out there and try and help” The smile Morgana gave me helped inject a bit more energy in my attitude. She quickly turned away and galloped out to help the town leaving David and I alone. Looking over to David I saw that he was staring down forlorn at his now mostly melted sword, I winced slightly at the state of it. He was holding the sword by its now dull blade and was looking at the blob of melted metal that used to be its handle and guard.
“Dang, we really need to find you a new sword” Letting out a dejected sigh, David tossed the hunk of metal over his shoulder and shrugged before speaking.
“I really liked that kind of sword too… Oh well, I should get used to this until I get a sword that won’t melt from my lightning. Anyway, I want to apologize to you.” David’s sudden apology caught me off guard, what’s he apologizing for? I hadn’t even seen him until the actual battle against Monster Ozymandias and that was when he came streaking in like a living thunderstorm.
“I was the reason you were struck by lightning… “ I was silent at David’s confession… When did I get struck by lightning? David was looking at the ground in genuine guilt and I felt worse because I didn’t even know what he was talking about…
“I-It’s okay man, I forgive you… Let’s just go see what the town is up to” A smile returned to David’s face as I accepted his apology and happily fell into step with me as we exited the ruins. I felt a familiar and warm presence brush up against my mind, I was reminded of the repaired and improved bond between Calcifer and I and felt another surge of relief that the battle was over and everyone I cared about was okay. A flicker of thought and feelings told me that Calcifer was flying over and would be here soon.
Walking out into the open air with David by my side did nothing to prepare me for the surreal sight waiting for me. Townsfolk walking around moving debris and dragging bodies behind them all while humming a song under their breath while a melody played in the air. It was still just as unnerving as the villagers of Greenleaf cleaning up after the siege, there was one group that was making sure all the corpse guards were really dead. Every once in a while a body would start to twitch and would swiftly meet the business end of a spear or knife.
It was easy to spot Morgana as she was in the middle of dragging a mountain of stone rubble off to the side with the help of her [Earth Bending]. The townsfolk and merchants seem to be responding well to Morgana, looks of awe and respect were always sent her way. I looked up into the sky and tried to judge the time, the overcast clouds had been cleared away by all the blasts sent up into the sky. I was reminded that the sun doesn’t really move according to the time. My annoyance was blown away by the sound of Calcifer’s cry rapidly approaching. I let a smile grow on my face and projected my happiness at Calcifer which they quickly mirrored. A few of the townsponies nearby startled from the rapturous cry but calmed quickly when they saw David and I smiling at them as they swooped down to land on my back.
Expressing their happiness at me being safe with a quick nuzzle and a few happy feelings sent through our bond made me want to melt. I really think I'm getting better at this whole boss fight thing if this is the aftermath. I tried not to let the thought of my other problems ruin the sweet moment. More townsponies were starting to notice us and were keeping their distance out of respect, trotting up to Morgana’s side and watching her finish clearing the plaza I cleared my throat to get her attention.
“ We should head back to Keeper’s Tavern soon, we need to prepare for the next leg of our journey” At my words Morgana’s eyes opened wide, I think she momentarily forgot why we were traveling in the first place. Nodding in agreement Morgana made one more large stomp and created a deep round pit next to her, the townsponies wasted no time in dumping the bodies inside.
“Ehem” The sound of someone clearing their voice stole all three of our attention, standing there behind us was a large blue pegasus. He did not look happy, He was holding a bag of mason jars and was staring dead at David… This is vaguely concerning.
“You’re lucky that Storm Jar wasn’t too difficult or pricey to make… It was nice working with you Nimbus, I hope we meet again in the future” Then he abruptly about faced and started to trot away, David started at his quick exit and ran to catch up with him. I watched the two speak for a moment before an intrigued look appeared on the blue pegasus’ face. The two exchanged goodbyes once again and the blue pegasus took to the skies and David trotted back over to us.
“What was that all about?” Morgana was just as confused as I was.
“Oh! I was inviting him to join the guild, I was giving him directions and stuff” David’s initiative surprised me, our mission wasn’t recruitment but he still went out of his way to try. I respected that about David, he’s always willing to help.
“That’s a really good idea! We’ll bring it up with Keeper and maybe he can help everything move along fast. Having a spy network to post quests would make finding a job way easier” Morgana nodded along to my suggestion and David held himself a bit higher at my praise, the three of us turned and started on our way back to the tavern.
What happened next was a whirlwind of events. We returned to Keeper and were told in no uncertain terms “Thanks for the help, here’s your money, no beat it”. Though he was a bit nicer about it. He was running a bit ragged trying to coordinate the reconstruction efforts in the town so we weren’t that surprised when he just shoved a massive bag of bits our way before telling us to shove off. I was only able to catch him for a moment to tell him about our guild and to invite him. He grumbled something about “Dang foals doing all the ground work already” he accepted and said we might have made their jobs even easier. Now instead of just a spy network, they were a widely accepted spy network with near unlimited information resources.
Keeper said he would out his best ponies on it and told us to go take a rest, Morgana directed us to the house she had dragged me to while I was merged with Calcifer. For the first time in a while the three of us got a chance to really talk about everything. The first thing the two wanted to ask about was what happened while I was alone in there, I didn’t want to tell all the gritty details. Especially what happened in the reversed timeline as then I would have to explain everything, a flicker of disappointment from Calcifer was aimed at me and… I kind of agreed with him. I was still afraid… I didn’t want my friends to turn on me, especially now that I might be a permanent resident of this world. So first, I asked a question.
“Do you two trust me? I know that’s a horrible way to start any discussion but please answer truthfully… Do you?” David and Morgana were startled by the sudden gravity of the conversation but quickly schooled their expressions.
“After everything we’ve been through together, nothing you could say could change that” The amount of loyalty packed into that one sentenced actually made me choke up for a moment.
“You were there for me at my lowest, You showed me kindness and friendship when you didn’t have to. Sorry to break it to you Markus, but you’re stuck with us no matter what” The amount of just feelings I got from Morgana’s words erased any hesitation I had remaining, in fact I felt kind of silly for worrying so much about this.
“Thank you both so much. If I'm going to explain everything then I'm going to need to start at the beginning”