Level 25: The Hunt for Redemption
A/N: Sorry for the long wait. A million life problems came together to make me nearly take a break altogether, but fortunately I have rebounded after writing quite a lot for a not Fimfiction story (the first in a long time) taking place in the Gundam universe. Writing something different for once, something that was all just fun and nostalgia for me, has helped bring my spirit back and you can expect regular updates again.
I hope I didn't lose you all while I was rejuvenating my writing spirit, and I hope to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
"Trixie, a princess must always do what is best for their people. Not what is best for them."
"But if you're in charge, shouldn't you be able to do what you want?"
"Yes, in theory, but what happens when you neglect your country in favor of your whims? The country crumbles beneath you, and the crown you once abused comes crashing down on you. So in the end it is in your own interest to serve the nation, so that in turn you may escape that fate."
"The ponies all hate and fear you though, Princess...even though you did so much for them, they did not appreciate you at all."
"Trixie, you are my student, but you are not to follow in those footsteps. Understood?"
"Yes, Princess."
"Good...I do not know what I would do if I lost you the same way my sister and mother once lost me."
Silvermoon City had fallen. Bodies lay in the street. Once proudly ornate buildings were reduced to rubble if fire had not consumed them entirely.
The streets fared worse, as the dead piled up to form a river of decay. Those not ripped to pieces before had been torn after by the ravaging, cannibalistic ghouls who had laid siege to the city. The lucky ones were those to have fallen quickly, while more abominable fates had fallen those unlucky enough to still live at the end of the conflict.
On his knees, Kael’thas Sunstrider was left weeping as the body of his father rest in his arms.
Sitting by herself on the ground floor of the inn, Trixie was trapped in thought. She had been the first to wake up and while she was no longer the only one to be up, she had kept to herself because of what she had seen during her sleep.
She was quite sure at this point that what she was seeing did not solely belong to her...while some dreams surely were from her own memory, others felt different. Like she was looking in on someone else's thoughts...only through their dreams. How could such a thing be possible? How could she see the dreams of others? Such a thing should be impossible...shouldn't it?
Trixie was also sure that the man with her was the true Kael’thas…his memories were too vivid to be anything but the Prince who had lost his people to the Scourge.
What she did not know, what she could not even begin to make sense of at that time, was why she was able to see the nightmares he had. Why she could feel his pain as if it was her own. Was it unique to Kael, or could she sense the dreams of others?
What she also had trouble reconciling with herself was how she did not want to let Kael go when she got out of bed. He was her partner and she cared for his well being, but she was unfamiliar with this whole “friendship” thing. Feeling his pain brought out an empathy in Trixie she did not know she had possessed.
Left on her own, Trixie felt like she was selfish…but also felt like she had learned to be better than that. Her own vague memories led her to this conclusion, though a selfish part of her ironically wanted to believe that some of it was just her base nature to be kind.
Even when she had tried to help Vanessa it had felt selfish to Trixie, for she was helping for reasons beyond merely wishing others well: seeing a young child harbor such pains brought out Trixie’s own hidden wounds, and it hit her deeply by driving through cracks Trixie did not know she possessed in her façade.
She hated children. Annoying little things that would do anything ranging from ruining a show to rounding up an Ursa and bringing it to her to face off against.
The Saldean orphans though…and Vanessa…they weren’t like that. They could become annoying brats, or monsters, but they weren’t there yet. Even Vanessa had acted out of fear and rage brought on by her tragic background rather than inborn malice. She would lash out against the world, but it was from paranoia and anger that had been forced upon someone too young to handle them.
Trixie had actually tried not to think about the younger girl given her fate…Lavitz had tried to save her, but she had died in a vain attempt to kill those fighting her.
Wherever Vanessa was, Trixie hoped that she was able to find peace—
A tap on the shoulder and Trixie spun from her seat at a table to punch the offending person straight in the face. Having been on edge due to her thoughts intermixed with the stress of being constantly chased by one threat or another, Trixie overreacted to the unfamiliar touch.
She noticed only a moment too late that she had just struck her new employee, Karl, across the face. The blonde man who looked similar to a Human Kael was caught completely off guard by the sudden strike and Trixie’s hit knocked him back across the entire room with enough force to kill a regular person.
“Woah, don’t scare me like that!” Trixie gasped as Karl crashed into the far wall. She was grateful he hadn’t damaged the structure or anything, lest she have to pay for the damages in the Inn.
Karl’s brother Tony approached the completely immobile man, moving to pick him up as Trixie realized what she just did.
“Oh Luna, did I kill him?”
Tony laughed as he finished pulling his brother to his feet, “He’ll be fine,” Karl did not stir from his unconscious state as Tony began to shake the man to stir him from the unfortunate slumber he was in, “Karl, vake up.
Trixie rushed over to assist, though by the time she reached them Karl was beginning to regain consciousness, “I’m so sorry. I can throw quite the punch…strength of a horse, really.”
Karl wiped some blood from his mouth as his first act upon awakening, then looked up to Trixie with an amused smirk, “Pony, maybe.”
Now that his brother could stand on his own, Tony let go of Karl and pointed him in the direction of the door leading outside of the inn, “Valk it off.”
Karl grabbed his crossbow without a word from where he had left it resting, then began to stalk towards the doorway as if he had purpose. Trixie sheepishly waved at the man as he stormed off, likely mad because he had been so easily caught off guard and defeated in a single strike. The fact that he had taken such a powerful blow without any anticipation of being hit amazed Trixie, as she doubted many others in their crew could take a full blow to the head and get up moments later like it didn’t happen.
Tony cleared his throat as he pulled out a bag’s contents to show Trixie, “Now, vhat he was going to tell you was that ve are ready. Here are ze devices you helped me build last night. I am impressed how quickly you took to them.”
Trixie nodded in approval of the gadgets they would be utilizing on the mission, “A stage performer also must be their own technician if they are to succeed,” realizing she had not been the most gracious about her compliment, Trixie bowed her head to the man who helped teach her more about engineering, “But thank you.”
They went over the details of the devices for a few minutes before a disturbance outside made them each fall quiet. It was the early hours of the morning, before everyone was awake, so the sound of a crowd approaching the inn and voices were quite suspicious.
“Bushy brows! Man wearing his girlfriend’s dress! Crack Elf and Crack Elfette! Come out, come out wherever you are Kael’thas and mistress!”
From upstairs where he had been sleeping, Kael’thas stumbled down and rubbed his eyes. Trixie had not made a move for the door, hoping to learn more about whoever was looking for them before actually confronting them, and neither had Tony. The only other ones awake at the time were Lavitz, who had been groggily sitting at the closest seat to the door, and the innkeeper, who was outside doing some yard work and gardening.
“Light be damned, what the hell is going on out there?” Kael cursed as he tried to drag himself across the room one step at a time, though his weakness born of poison was making itself apparent. Trixie mimicked Tony’s actions with Karl and helped Kael stand up, but neither made a move for the door. Just who was looking for them this time?
Outside the loud voice from before could be heard speaking to the innkeeper, and Trixie thought she could recognize the voice as being like that of the Defias member Helix…the real short one called a Goblin.
“We are looking for a man with long, blonde hair, ridiculous eyebrows, and the glowing eyes of an Elf,” the Goblin paused as if remembering something, “He’s also got a curved, bottom heavy gal pal. Tell us where they are and we’ll pay you!”
“Sorry, I don’t know anyone of that sort—”
The sound of a gun being drawn and prepared to fire cut the kind innkeeper off from his lie.
“We know they came this way, so start talking geezer!”
Trixie felt Kael push past her and start towards the door. Despite the incredible pain he was in, he was not going to hide and let them torture a man. Lavitz picked up on Kael’s action and quickly grabbed his spear for battle as well as Kael’s sword, which he had sharpened just recently for the Prince since the man was too sickly to attend to such matters himself.
“Kael…” Trixie whispered as he forced himself towards the door, took the sword from Lavitz, and made his way outside. Not about to let him go out alone, Trixie followed right after him, prompting Tony to come with them as well.
Outside was a team of six Goblins surrounding the Innkeeper, who was not seemingly used to having weapons drawn at him. The door of the inn being pushed open drew attention away from the man and to Kael instead, who forced a grin on his face when he truly wanted to grimace in pain.
“I assume you’re here for the bounty on my head?”
“Them, and us, little pretty boy. Why don’t you give up now and make this easy?”
The Goblins were not the only ones after Kael’s head it seemed. A mixed group of three Humans and two Night Elves stood at the edge of the forest clearing by the inn. They must have followed the same path as the Goblins and just arrived moments later as a separate force.
Kael sighed at the sight of them…and nearly fell over as yet another group of Human mercenaries came out of the woods to join in on the stand off. Whatever information they had gathered back at Stormwind, they likely all had just found out and rushed with haste to be here.
“And yet more join the party. Does anyone else want my hide? I normally am a one woman kind of man, so this will be my first time sharing.”
Fortunately for Kael, the third group was not able to say much as a figure leapt off the second floor of the inn through a window and cut them down swiftly, their attention having been focused on the enemies before them, not the possible enemies from above.
The perpetrator, Bronn, nodded to Trixie and Kael, obviously having woken up because of the ruckus. Realizing that the timing for the plan she laid last night required this particular member of their crew to leave immediately, Trixie gestured to him to leave in the direction the mercenaries he killed came from.
“Bronn, go now. You have your part of the invasion plan. Be quick!”
Bronn paused, seeing the danger the others were in, but quickly relented and retreated from the scene. He had his orders to follow, and was glad he had already grabbed the bag he had been told to bring with him before he made his jump. The most important thing inside it was not an item, but rather something alive: Nana.
Seeing Bronn retreat actually amused the Goblins, who cared little about their competition being viciously torn apart, though one with a good eye could see that they all were still breathing, “Oh, one less for us to kill. No matter! Fifty thousand gold pieces in total for you and the girl,” the leader of the Goblins leveled his gun at Kael, who stood about fifteen feet away, “With a bonus based on how many of your co-conspirators we round up. We’ve got a whole crew in the trees and area around here, so don’t try anything funny!”
Kael narrowed his eyes and steeled himself for the new pain he was about to feel. All he could hope to do was stall until an opening showed itself, as he was too weak at the moment to cast magic and Lavitz could not possibly stop every ranged attack or occupy the attention of every enemy, “Do you know the man you are working on the behalf of?”
The Goblin shrugged as his men snickered beside him and from the bushes and trees around the area, “Yeah, Kael’thas Sunstrider, the lord you decided to impersonate. I don’t know if you’re some Faceless One or what, but the real Kael wants you dealt with. And your little girlfriend whose been making a name for herself. I wonder what he’d pay to bring her back alive…”
The feeling of weakness in Kael began to die down as he felt a fire in his chest. A burning of both body and emotion washed over him as he fought then not to stand, but to not show the anger rising through him.
“That man is not Kael’thas Sunstrider.”
A man who killed his own people on a whim, a man who cared for his own selfish ambitions and needs over those of the people…that was not someone Kael could consider the lord of the Blood Elves.
He had only come this far out of a desire to protect Trixie, but the dreams he had woken from had instilled in him a sense of unalienable pain, of loss. He had been selfish in his own way since he first woke up on Sunstrider Isle, but he had been selfless even then by devoting himself to protecting someone he had come to love.
The idea that someone with his face would commit atrocities against his people, would drive their dying race even closer to the brink, was it for Kael. The other man had caused that Hunter to murder the Defias Brotherhood members. That man who called himself Prince of the Blood Elves had caused the deaths of all those people at Westfall, all to try and wipe out two amnesiac Elves.
Kael no longer felt the pain of the poison. It remained, but was insignificant against the other pain he felt.
Kael lifted his blade and pointed it at each of the mercenary groups, who seemed anxious about attacking when the other could swoop in and steal the kill, “If you disbelieve I am who I claim to be, then so be it. But I hereby denounce that man as the Lord of the Blood Elves! Every step of the way I have seen what his agents would do, and I am sickened by his barbaric ways!”
Beside him, Trixie felt herself grow a little faint. As Kael stood strong, she felt herself begin to feel fatigued. Curious about this, Trixie looked between them and could see a faint outline of mana streaming from herself to Kael. No similar mana trail was between the others present, and Trixie found herself confused by the faint sight of the magic leaving her.
Kael was not actively stealing her magic…so what was this?
His fury empowering him, Kael channeled the fiery aura growing within him to his sword, the blade becoming overwhelmed with flame as Kael took a bold step forward, “I have come too far to be stopped. You may surrender now and join my ranks, for which I will reward you, or you may perish like every other fool who has crossed my path! The last bounty hunter was lucky to escape with her life as she wallows away in prison, so do not test me!”
One of the Humans snorted as they drew their own blade, “Why impersonate someone you hate so much?”
Speaking not from rational thought but from sheer passion, Kael both spoke and learned as he lashed out verbally.
“That man, the insane wretch, will bring my kind to ruin! I could not save our people from the Scourge, I could not stop Arthas, but I can stop a man who carries my face and whose actions will ruin everything that was sacrificed for with the blood of many!”
Lavitz offered a hand to steady Trixie as she suddenly grew weak in the knees. Whatever had awakened in Kael, it needed to be fed, and Trixie was the power source.
Still unaware, Kael closed his eyes as memories he had seen in his dreams flashed before him. He could no longer forget who he was, and he was not about to let things end here.
“Yes, I remember now…Arthas slew my father Anasterion, he defeated that foolish and incompetent Ranger-General Sylvanas Windrunner, he nearly slaughtered all of my kind!” Kael snarled as he prepared himself for a mad dash at the nearby Goblins, “If you think I am going to sit back and let this new monster destroy so many more, you are wrong!”
Trixie fell to one knee despite Lavitz’s help and fumbled with one arm as she tried to grab Kael. She could feel immense power radiating from him, but the stronger he felt the weaker Trixie did.
“Kael, you—”
The Goblin leader snickered as he prepared his rifle to fire at Kael along with his many lackeys.
“I applaud your little speech, but we’ll be taking the fraudulent Prince. A few holes may need to be added to the merchandise though—”
Before he could fire the Goblin’s arm was pinned to the frame of the inn, a metal rod having gone through it. Still standing many feet away from the Inn was the Goblin leader, who gaped as he looked at his torn off arm.
Before he could verbalize his complaint Lavitz had closed the distance between them and hacked off his other arm with a directed stab at the skinny limb. This done, Lavitz spun in place and swept his spear around at the group of Goblins. He knocked them off their small feet by connecting his weapon with their faces, and after repeating the motion a few times the crowd had all fallen.
Unfortunately, they were not the only Goblins present, and from twenty different positions in the forest a hail of gunfire and arrows came flying down on the man. He brought his arms in front of him to guard himself, and his enchanted armor gave him the strength to weather their assault, though he could make no further movement as he tried to brace himself.
The Humans and Night Elves had looked to seize this opportunity of defeated Goblins to rush at Kael and take him down, but a sweep of Kael’s sword parried all three Humans and knocked them off their feet. He was feeling stronger, but his condition left him unable to follow up his attack, for his movement was still crippled.
The Night Elves took aim once their Human allies were knocked down, each Elf holding a wooden bow…or at least were, as their hands frosted over and ice from the ground forced its way up their bodies to entangle them.
Kael glanced aside at a panting Trixie, who had used what little power she had at her beck and call to cast that spell, “I don’t intend to share you with them. I’m a one man kind of woman, though minions are fine.”
Her call back to what he said before made Kael smirk, but he quickly noticed how poorly she was faring and knelt down to check on her. He did not understand the situation, having not seen the magic link, but the fact Trixie was in pain for some reason worried him.
The Goblins opening fire on the Human who had so easily tore down their allies stopped their attack when one of them fell out of a tree with a scream. He landed on his head, knocking him out, with a metal bolt sticking out of his shoulder.
“Who dares—” one Goblin called out, only to next be seen blasted from out of a bush by another bolt.
Having been hiding by the doorway the whole time, Tony took this moment to smirk, “I apologize, mercenaries. I forgot to mention that my brother vas off on his own. If you give up now, I promise I von’t hurt you.”
The Goblins began to look not at Lavitz and the others, but at the woods around them. In the dawn it was slightly difficult to see, but they eventually caught sight of the former SI-7 agent dashing into cover.
Lavitz began to move to help, but Tony called out to him in an amused tone, “Don’t vorry, Karl can handle this.”
Two more Goblin screams echoed in the forest as a tree bound Goblin was blasted with the power of a crossbow out of his perch and onto another Goblin below. Not content with just this, Karl shot another bolt at them to pin them to the ground by having it go through them both on an angle into the ground.
He then dove into cover as the remaining Goblins took fire at him again, furious that a single man was defeating them.
It took a few minutes of methodical attack, but there was no further action required by Trixie, Kael, or Lavitz other than to tie up those already wounded as Karl brutally took out the other mercenaries. The Humans had gotten up, only to find themselves looking at Lavitz’s shining spear, and promptly surrendered, leaving just the assorted Goblins Karl was taking down.
“I am glad we hired him,” Trixie whispered to Kael, having regained some of her strength as Kael’s anger faded and his sickness began to re-emerge. He wordlessly agreed as he took a seat on the ground, suddenly winded by his previous exertion.
Once all the Goblins were tied up and otherwise handled, Karl kicked the leader across the face and began to crush him beneath a boot, prompting the now armless Goblin to cry, “You said you wouldn’t hurt us!”
“I said I vould not hurt you,” Tony shrugged, “Karl has different plans. You interrupted him while he was hunting, and you attacked us.”
Trixie knew she had hired brute force, but she was not going to let this brutality continue, “Enough. We’re not murderers, remember.”
Karl grumbled something about that’s why they were all still alive, but left it at that.
Later that day they would be invading a fortress: this would end up being their warm up.
“These tracks indicate three separate groups of individuals, as well as a single man trailing behind them. It stands to reason that we are not the only ones looking for the Elves, so we must make haste.”
The man who had asked Jaina Proudmoore to join him in finding Kael’thas was irritated by how by delaying until morning he had allowed other groups to get ahead of him. Jaina had needed the rest given her mauling by Kargath, so it could not be helped, but the inefficiency of their travel was not something he would come to enjoy.
He finished observing the tracks made by a group of Goblins, a group of Humans and Night Elves, and a group filled entirely with Humans. Having tasked one of his subordinates with impersonating a Night Elf at some kind of drinking festival, given her purple complexion, he had learned much about their kind through research, and he knew quite well what a Human was like given his own species. The Goblins were some of the first beings he encountered in this land, and he was not all too fond of their excessive greed and propensity for unnecessary explosive. Fortunately, the latter made them easy to track given the smell of various explosive ingredients they left behind them wherever they went.
“Agent Two, you will—”
The man paused as he heard rustling about thirty feet to the left of him in the forest. He turned to see a crew of ragtag Humans gathering together, and they did not take long to notice him as well.
“Who are you, old man?”
He smirked, feeling confident even though he was no stronger than an average man of his age and size. Rabble, and nothing more stood before him.
“I once was an old man, but I can see how a backwards society such as this would see my younger age of about thirty five as old.”
He raised a hand and dismissively waved it at the Humans, who had drawn their weapons at the sight of his gold purse.
“Agent Two, deal with them.”
From behind him his purple skinned ally stepped forward. The movement made her even darker purple hair tied into two long, cascading pigtails wave in the every brightening air, but as the Humans showed confusion about some woman stepping out to face them alone she took a moment to glance back at her leader and complain.
“Is it that hard to just call me by my name?” she noticed that he was already back to following the trail they were to follow, and knowing him he would not like her to delay them. So she sighed and prepared her voice for a melody, her spoken words coming out smoothly as she prepared herself to sing, “Makes me miss Adagio, even if I have to share her with that mark in Silvermoon.”
“Your little master is abandoning you. Now things don’t have to end poorly, lady, you—”
The woman cut him off with a curt voice, now feeling ready to sing after having done some vocal warm ups all to the confusion of her enemies, “That bastard may be many things, but he is by no means abandoning me. And if you think he’s an old geezer, you’ll be surprised to hear I’m over a thousand now.”
The Humans shrugged, not all that surprised, though they rose their weapons as they noticed her walking towards them, “Not that old for a Night Elf.”
“I’m a Siren, but okay, just how many Elves are there? There’s the Elves who get High or whatever, the emo ones who are into Blood, and now there are Luna worshippers?” the Siren known as Aria groaned as she tried to wrap her head around all these foreign names she was not used to yet.
“Elune,” one of the Humans replied, but he felt himself beginning to have his energy sapped as Aria drew nearer. Trails of mana were leaving the Humans and rushing towards Aria, who was just barely exerting herself with occasional vocalizations followed by her harsh complaints.
“Same thing. Fucking moon goddess,” she got close enough to grab one of her opponents by the face, her power having completely paralyzed them at this proximity. Without even truly singing she had enthralled this crowd, “Why can’t all you Humans be as smart as my boss or that Stark idiot from Earth?”
Lifting the man up by his neck, Aria began to squeeze as she drained every last ounce of energy she could from him. He did not react at all, having become a zombie in a fashion as her powerful magic forced him under her control.
Done with him, Aria tossed him at the others, irritated further by how little they were able to feed her, “Morons, making me fucking miss Sonata. Even that blue bimbo would know not to stand still and let someone feed off you until you die.”
She found her boss quickly enough given that he had stopped to inspect something of note. Not sure what the cloth he was holding meant, but sensing magic off of it, Aria decided to question it as she took her place beside him and stuffed her hands in her pockets.
“Yo, you find anything? I’m done.”
The auburn haired man stood up and handed the small piece of cloth to her, “This torn cloth belongs to the Illidari in the region known as Outlands, formerly Draenor,” once Aria gave it a passing glance and promptly showed that she did not care at all, he took it back and continued to study it, “I do not see instances of Fel magic, so the chance that they are traveling en masse is unlikely.”
“They aren’t known for subtlety either.”
The two turned around to find Jaina now with them again. Aria felt irritated that this girl was slowing them down
“Oh, where did you go when I was off killing a horde of your kind who wanted us dead?”
Aria hadn’t counted, but it had been a group of about twenty in total. All nicely grouped together for her to absorb energy from like a buffet…or rather a salad bar given how filling it was.
“The Horde wants the entirety of my kind dead,” Jaina joked, deliberately misinterpreting what Aria meant, “Except for maybe Thrall and Vol’jin,
Before Aria could physically assault Jaina for lagging behind them their leader spoke up, “Where I come from, Humans rule and oppress their fellow species because they are the ones who have seized power,” he frowned and turned away from the other two as he looked on at the direction their objective would have gone, “It may be difficult for me to aid the Princess and her partner if racial tensions dictate this world’s politics like those of my own.”
Jaina stepped forward to touch his shoulder, shocked by the mention of royalty, “Did you say Princess?”
He turned back to face her calmly, “An honorary term, I assure you. She does not possess the blood of royalty, only the favor.”
“For a cold man, you certainly are undergoing a dangerous task on behalf of others. Do you even know the man we are looking for? He can slay demons and some of the land’s strongest warriors as if it were nothing. I should know, I studied with him. So why are you going to chase someone so dangerous if this is not your own quest?”
“I have served the princess’s family for years now, and undergo this task, under the promise that I will one day return to my own place,” he paused and contemplated how much he should tell her before he decided that some information would be needed to have her not distrust him and act to sabotage him later, “Worlds beyond this are undergoing strange phenomena. Displaced beings, such as myself, are not as uncommon as they once were.”
He brushed her hand away and continued on their path, displeased that they had wasted so much time already, even if it came with the knowledge that one of the Illidari was participating in this hunt as well. Once his pace was set he spoke sharply as the other two fell into line behind him.
“Remember though, I owe you no explanation for my actions. I only grant you this information as a method of information exchange. I expect your expertise with the land and with the people will be useful.”
At the Scarlet Monastery a hooded woman found someone unfamiliar crawling towards the altar. The fortress had multiple areas of prayer, but the main one was where the hooded woman was assigned to do her work as a healer of the temple.
The crawling person was a teenager with raven hair and red clothing. She had likely rode a horse or similar animal to reach the Monastery, but the members inside let the obviously wounded child crawl all the way to the deepest section of the Monastery. She was bleeding from where her skin had chafed, and she seemed to be in pain beyond what damage was done to her legs.
Not about to ignore her pain like the others, the hooded woman approached her and sat next to the young girl.
“You are new to our congregation.”
The child bowed their head even as they lay wounded on the floor, bringing their nose into contact with the ground, “I have come for healing and repentance, my lady.”
The Scarlet Crusade member gave a sad laugh before raising a hand and casting healing magic on the young girl, “You need not be so formal with a wretch such as myself.”
One healing spell should have fixed her wounds, but the child appeared barely any better off. Surprised, the Scarlet Crusader realized that perhaps some of the red on the girl’s clothes was dyed from blood rather than more normal dyes. She was nearly mortally wounded, and it was a miracle that she had managed to come this far in her condition. This child had a strong will to live, one that reminded the Crusader of someone they knew, causing her to have an instant connection with the child.
Reaching into her own bag, the woman removed bread she kept with her for the less fortunate and gave it to the child, who appeared completely starved on top of her wounds.
“Here, you appear malnourished.”
Now healed, though still in pain, the teenager sat up and took the bread. She began to wolf it down at a rapid pace, displaying a seeming fondness for it that made the Scarlet Crusader smile…up until the child nearly choked from a bite too large.
“Slow down or you will choke,” the older woman scolded softly.
The teenager averted their gaze, seemingly averse to being reprimanded, “I’m sorry…”
Realizing that the girl must not be used to parental reprimands, the hooded woman placed a hand gently on the top of her head and gave a soft pat, “Don’t apologize. You remind me in some ways of my daughter.”
Having already finished off the bread, the girl continued to look away from the person treating her so kindly, unlike all the other Crusaders, “I killed my own mother…” she sniffed as tears began to well up in her eyes, “I thought I was going to die. I thought I had to do it…”
Not knowing their story but suddenly shocked by the girl’s admission, the Crusader took a moment to think. She closed her eyes and sighed as she thought back to why she was at this place herself.
“You came to a good place if you want to find redemption. I too am here for crimes against my family, devoting my life to serving others to make up for the wrongs I have committed.”
The teenager looked up to see that the Crusader had turned away, their hood obscuring their face as they reminisced silently. After a moment, the woman spoke up again, though it was with pain in her voice.
“I punished my daughter for the actions of her father. I won’t burden you with the details, but having a daughter at an age younger than you drove me to foolishness,” she paused before sighing, “A child should not have to bear the crimes of their forefathers. Nor should a mother blame them for things outside of their own control, such as their father.”
The teenager moved still with pain, and the Crusader could see that the girl’s leg was still partially damaged. Whatever had torn into it had done its job terrifically, so she began to heal the girl again.
As she did so, the younger girl decided to take the time to speak.
“Fortunately for any possible offspring, I have no intentions of ever reproducing. People as damaged as I am do not have the capability of raising others without inflicting our wounds onto them,” she sighed as the feeling of eternal loneliness sprung upon her, “I don’t have any family left…and I never will.”
She paused and reflected on her own words, quickly deciding that she had misspoken.
Her family was dead…her adoptive family was dead…everyone she knew was dead…but there was someone who had shown care for her.
“Well…there is someone who cares about me still,” she blushed as she thought about the woman who had shown her kindness, who had in fact inspired her to come here, “I could be wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time…but she…”
“You should not take them for granted then,” the older woman smiled down at the other, glad that at least she had one glimmer of hope, “I wish there was someone for me back when I lost everything…and the only one I had, who loved me unconditionally, I hurt.”
She sighed as she finished her healing. If only there was healing magic for a broken heart and mind.
“There, your leg should be healed now,” given that she had an obligation as a Scarlet Crusader to take some sort of toll for the services rendered, “Now, if you are to stay with us, we will expect you to contribute in some way. Do you have any trades or
“I am skilled at cooking…can I work in your kitchens?”
“Of course. We can always use more hands in our kitchens.”
Cooking was a form of chemistry…just like poisons were. A nice coincidence, since cooking also was a great way of introducing someone to poisons.
Vanessa almost felt bad for manipulating the woman, but then again the Scarlet Crusade were murdering zealots, even if this one in particular was kind-hearted.
Vanessa had come here to save her soul, as she led the Scarlet Crusade to believe, but she would do it by repaying a debt she owed someone already. Someone she had learned was headed to this specific location.
‘Miss Trixie…please be safe.’
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Looks like V is up to her old tricks again. At least this time she's on the side of our protagonists.
So we have Aria Dazzling (who apparently has had contact with an intelligent idiot of a human by the name of Stark, presumably Tony), Jaina Proudmoore, and an unknown male coming after our protagonists on a seemingly peaceful mission. Not sure how that's going to turn out.
I personally don't like the appearance of Adagio and Aria...It makes things needlessly complicate and somehow cheap.
cascading pigtails wave in the every brightening air
Aria felt irritated that this girl was slowing them down
“Except for maybe Thrall and Vol’jin,
Do you have any trades or
1. Ever.
2. Forgot your full stop.
3. Forgot your closing quotation mark.
4. Forgot to finish your sentence there bud.
So... I think I'm seeing a sort of pattern here. Aria and Adagio is now present which leads me to belive that those that weren't in Equestria or were dead have now been transplanted into Azeroth. Even if Aria wasn't technically dead, she wasn't quite in Equestria either. Still no idea who the man is yet but eventually I'll get it.
So, Nana is part of a grand scheme. Suddenly the Mana Wyrm swallows so much magic that she grows into a Mana Dragon... Nah, even I don't think that's quite possible from my limited knowledge of Warcraft. Let's hope Jaina keeps her head up and not do anything too hasty when they eventually meet.
6825324 Vanessa is indeed back up to her old tricks.
She owes the protagonists one, in a way, so she's going to get that burden off!
And possibly deal with her feeling of attachment to Trixie in the meantime.Aria Blaze is in town! And yes, that was a reference to Tony Stark
She spent time in the Human world (Earth) after all. As for seemingly peaceful, they are peaceful towards the people they are looking for...anyone else is not really a concern for them 
We'll have to wait and see how it all comes together.
6825756 It has already been established that somehow Equestria and Azeroth had a crossover of sorts by the fact that Trixie is in Azeroth. Then having two more Equestria related characters appear and look for Trixie is "complicate"? I'm confued why that's complicated.
6826030 So you don't chase any rabbit holes that are incorrect, I will confirm that the characters do not have the relation you are thinking.
That's not to say you're wholly wrong, you just aren't going down the right path as of yet and I don't want you to be mistaken!
As for Nana's part of the grand scheme, it's much simpler than that
However, I DO intend at some point to have Nana absorb a lot of magic and transform...though how and into what I'll leave for your imagination 
I've already hinted at it though, I'll say that much.
As for Jaina, hopefully she doesn't do anything stupid. Can't confirm. She goes from smart to dumb on a whim in Warcraft, so we'll have to see!
6827680 Having played both faction before, I'm really just going off memory for the Alliance stuff and what I can find online
No way I would pay that much just to do character swaps!
6827786 I was making a joke that you stopped hostilities with the Alliance by swapping to them, and what happens? An Orc attacks Trixie. Fucking called it. Also,
That could be taken as a meta joke for Fimfiction as a whole right now.
Edit, like two seconds after: I read this story in around 4 hours.
6828402 That was actually SUPPOSED to be a meta joke about Fimfiction and fanfiction as a whole. Most of what I write now is crossovers, so I decided to poke fun at myself and the community as a whole for it. I don't mind it at all, it just is a thing
In-universe though it's a comment on how this story is not only related to We Remember Everything, where Loki ends up in Equestria from the Marvel Universe, but also is taking Warcraft's tendency to reference things/characters/series and running with it with examples such as Reuenthal/Mitter'meyer and Lavitz. I decided to not just ignore how this would reflect in-universe, and so I lampshaded it and made it a plot point.
Glad you enjoyed it enough to binge in 4 hours!
I actually was part of the Displaced craze, I even have a story to prove it but I've lost interest in it.There arestill good stories in it, but mine sucked and got over 100 likes.Disregard that, I went on a rant/tangent.
Anyways, I cracked up when I saw that.
We Remember Everything was good. I see what you mean.
i.imgur.com/IW0coYV.jpg Jk
It was a good story, and I don't even like WoW that much.
6828790 I hope you'll continue to enjoy as well now that you're caught up. Anything in particular you liked/want to see more of?
6828917 The Trixael(maybe?) ship. It's good.
Also the dream sequences.
6829041 Glad you like the ship! It was one of the founding principles of the fic, as people reacted really well to it in WRE and I found it fun since normally Kael is a large ham who speaks in a magnificent manner...but put him next to Trixie and he has to be the more grounded one
That, and the reference image I used for an Elven Trixie looked a lot like Kael's old flame Jaina. Trixie for the most part is just oblivious to the whole shipping thing and is doing as she pleases, which makes life incredibly difficult for Kael since she likes sleeping next to him and being really close to him which can obviously be distracting for someone falling in love with her. So yay for Trixael 
And the dream sequences were a must since I'm referencing a bond between Trixie and Luna...whose powers involve dreams. An irony of sorts to remember her through them!
6829912 Yay for ponies with little modesty!... Wait, that doesn't sound right...
True. Most of the people on this site have one of two views on Trixie. Yours is a nice third that I like.
6830871 Kael wishes Trixie were more "modest"
Not in the "she's full of herself way", as that is who Trixie is...more so the "she is used to not wearing clothes, so doesn't wear much" way. At least she understands she needs to wear them in her current form, so there's that...but still difficult for poor Kael who has to deal with it 24/7 
I try not to read other people's stories because they may influence me, so I'm glad you think my Trixie is unique. I just try to have her act like how I see/interpret her in the show, and then added a backstory to her that could explain how she got to that point. It's been fun seeing Trixie haters in We Remember Everything end up as ardent Trixie fans because of how I wrote her there
That's successful writing if I've ever done it.
Yes yes yes, Vanessa is back. And is up to no good i guess, cant wait to see the reaktion when meeting trixie again.
And i thank all the great old one's (or just our beloved autor) that Aria is in the 'game' now.
Since i am currently at work i have to make this short i insert something that jumped me right away when i read it.
"Damn Kael is tapping Trixies 'Moonwell'.... if you know what i mean."
Freya 2016
But uncouth jokes aside i realy enjoyed reading another chapter, i wish fun and good luck with gundam and fevery wait for more Chapters.
6832107 Yup, Vanessa is back, and is up to no good...to do good. Yes, odd, I know, but criminals will do as criminals will do! She's definitely gonna have an interesting second encounter with Trixie, since she's there for her.
Aria is fun to write for, especially since I don't have to censor how a bitchy demigod would probably be like.
You may pray to me though.
Kael wants Trixie pretty bad, but he ain't got her yet. She thinks everything is completely platonic right now, and doesn't seem to grasp that sleeping half naked on top of a man who is attracted to you is kind of stressful for him. (Though she's unaware about him being in love with her)
Thanks for the well wishes with Gundam. Just uploaded another chapter and am really happy about the story so far. Gundam is one of my favorite series after all, so writing for it for once is nice.
Thanks for reading and enjoying!
So, I am a few days late to the party. So, who wants to put money on the guy following Trixie being either Asgardian in nature, or one of the few actual soldiers of Equestria? Adagio is just unlucky enough to wind up stuck with him. Any way, it seems Trixie is the only one who can dream between the original duo, so of course she would be who Kael drew from when he was angry.
6833291 I can confirm that he is a part of the Equestrian military
Which, in this universe, makes him also loyal to Asgard, but whether he's Asgardian or not will be known at a later time.
Adagio and Aria are working for him (as Aria implied in the chapter), so the fact that he can hold their leash is meaningful.
Trixie is experiencing what Kael is dreaming in addition to her own dreams, so it's not like Kael isn't dreaming.
He's just not dreamwalking like her. As for the power source/battery that is known as Trixie, that has another cause entirely.
6830887
Hey man, I wouldn't mind... no, I would totally mind. I can't wait until the Trixael becomes a reality but I like the humorous occasions as well. Keep doing what you're doing.Please! For the sake of our reading entertainment!What I'm talking about though is... the main two are either almost 1 dimensional characters who are antagonistic because of... shit if I know!- or benevolent can do no wrong Trixies that don't follow canon. Yours is really refreshing. It is kind of funny when haters like a single version of a character but not the original.
What's your favourite part of writing this story as well as WRE and Nothing Lasts Forever?
6833721 I actually usually take my time with gradual romances. Took me fifty chapters once to even have two characters kiss: in a story with chapters much shorter than this one, to the point we've already passed it in word count. That being said, Trixie's going to be the one holding things up in this story since she's the clueless one, and I can't make any promises on a kissy-kissy romance happening anytime soon. Do expect basically everything but them admitting anything though, since this is Trixie we're talking about: even after she realizes her own feelings she'll go in denial.
I have left some small bits though for those who want to believe that Trixie is actually doing some of her "accidental" teasing on purpose, especially when she uses innuendo. Still, just one possible interpretation!
Ahhh, I see what you mean about the other Trixies. Yeah, I wouldn't like those either. I like the selfish-dork with an inferiority superiority complex the show gave us, and that's what I try to write.
My favorite part? Writing a good story that I can share with people and talk to them about. Being able to take characters and evolve them throughout a prolonged story, gradually developing them in a way that mimics real life growth rather than "villain becomes a good guy at the end of the episode" like what happens a lot and similar instances of that.
6833821
50? Damn. I like it.
Not.I realize this, it's usually better if the romance takes its time. It lets us turn in our seats hoping for it. It says that she has a crush on him in her thoughts though, did you mean for that to happen? I try to follow the interpretation that the author thought of, sometimes it's too difficult though.
True.
You have a mindset that I like. A lot of people I talk to about this/like this say something like popularity.
I like slice of life and adventure. I like stories with them both actually. I wish they weren't conflicting tags. A lot of stories/shows/fanfics do that. Your stories that I've read are good. Better than most/all I've read for char. development.
6834139 Yeah, 50, so don't expect anything too soon
I think of Moonlighting the 80's TV series that was heavy on the romantic tease, and then crashed and burned once it finally had the characters get together. There's something interesting about the path to getting together that isn't the same as when the characters actually are. I find relationships such as the one Trixie and Kael are in interesting because they are basically married in many regards except in name. As for the Trixie thoughts, mind pointing the section out to me? She's clueless about Kael's interest in her, but she's slightly aware of her own feelings so far as she feels a bit funny around him, but can't place an exact word on it. The "Things are good as they are, why complicate things by going down that path?" type of reasoning to deflect emotion.
My mindset has a downside though, in that if people aren't letting me know what they think I lose interest since it's a give and take relationship: I give a story for readers to take and read, but my expectation is that they'll give me their thoughts back so that I can fulfill my enjoyment of interacting with readers on top of just giving them something to look at. I like the discussion part more than the rest honestly, so it is disheartening when I don't hear from anyone. Glad you like my mindset, even if it has that admitted flaw. If I wanted to write for popular things I wouldn't be doing random crossover type things or writing for Gundam on fanfiction.net: I'd be writing clop fics starring Twilight Sparkle and whoever else is popular at the given moment. I refuse to do such pandering though even though it correlates to success/popularity.
I like slice of life and adventure, and I find the conflicting tags thing ridiculous. Some series are ABOUT a conflict between say adventure and everyday life. The main show is a great example of that! Pleased you enjoy my character development. It's something I work on a lot.
6834266
... NUUUUUUU!!!!! (I'm not stupid, I swear.)
Yeah. It can be good when they are together and while they're not. The little something is called
sexual tensionamusing ignorance. I looked through but I must have been mistaken. There was something close but I think I messed up. No biggie.I want to see your take on a Princess Twilight X Sunset Shimmer clopfic now.It may have a flaw, but it leads to better quality writing for those who read, and a better sense of joy for yourself. Those who do things for enjoyment and community have more joy in their life than others.It shows.
6834858 Don't worry though, part of the reason I chose to use Lavitz as the tank instead of any other tank like person is that he is a shipper on deck for the main characters from the series he is from. AKA, he'll be doing his best to make Trixael happen! Wish him luck.
Fortunately Kael will be less ignorant than Trixie, but that's not saying much given how all of this stuff goes right over her head. And I'm glad I didn't make a mistake with Trixie thinking something she shouldn't have been thinking. Oh well.
Seeing as how I don't like Sunset Shimmer, and hate clopfics, I don't think that'd go all too well
As for why I enjoy writing, so long as people continue to show their interest I continue writing. An everyone wins scenario so long as everyone keeps feeding into it.
6834939 Lavitz! I'm putting my trust in you! Don't fail me!
Less, but not none. Trixael ftw!
Everyone! Comment on this story! We need more chapters!
It was then that Kael realized that without quite knowing when it happened, that he had become a quest objective. A quick glance toward the sky confirmed the giant blue circle that surrounded the entire area of the inn.
"A curse upon thee Questhelper!" He cried.
6835111 I was kind of hoping someone would pick up on that without me explicitly saying it
6835099 Lavitz is very persuasive. He'll get them together if its the last thing he does
Trixael should be a sitewide OTP.
I won't object to more comments
SubtleLilo and Stitch there.I would love to see more Trixael stories.
Hey man... if we get more chapters out of it, I am fine with delving into other places to get people to comment on this story.
6835869 Lilo and Stitch is one of my favorite movies, so I had to
If only I was not the only Trixael writer in existence.
It's kind of the definition of "crack pairing", though at least I've done it in a way that has their respective personalities play off one another in a believeable fashion. When writing WRE I planned on making Trixie and Kael a non-romantic duo to mirror the Luna/Loki relationship, but then people started shipping the two and here we are 
I could have chosen any of many fallen heroes to do the mirror crossover pairing, but I felt Kael would have the right chemistry with Trixie and I would be able to use the best. That, and he really deserved a shot at redeeming himself after World of Warcraft wasted him.
If you can find anyone who would be interested, I'd more than welcome you sharing the story. Don't force it upon anyone of course, but anyone who could be interested, go ahead!
6835917 It's a good movie.
So what? Crack pairings are usually the best pairings.
It probably wouldn't have ended up as well with another villain, besides maybe Arthas.
He really did.
I have quite a few brony friends.
6838189 Arthas could have worked, but I hate him too much personally to ever write him as the protagonist
As evidenced by me liking Kael, who despises Arthas and who really ought to have undergone a character redemption arc to help bring down the Lich King given their rivalry, but alas Kael got wasted and Arthas was taken down by random travelers. My aims in this story are basically to fix some of what I see as problems in Warcraft within reason. Trixie can't just wave a magic wand and fix everything, as much as she wants to.
As is, Trixael is fun and I really like it. Trixie's basically making herself a family where she didn't have one before, which will be especially prominent after this arc. In any case, she is going to continue bumbling about in terms of her affection for Kael...part of her plan to get into the Scarlet Monastery will basically be a subconscious admission of her attachment to him. You'll see what I mean.
Well I hope your Brony friends will enjoy the story if you share it with them
6838286 like both. I don't like all of what they did, but I like them both.
Once she's level 70, maybe.
Can't wait.
I think they will.
6838388 I can't wait until she's level 70 since that's when you get to do the Burning Crusade Raids...including Tempest Keep
6838429 Yay! I meant because if that unknown power is level 70 now, how strong will it be then?
6838486 Good thinking
Trixie will basically be like a Raid boss herself.
6838496 I'd pay for that expansion.
6838695 If Kael and Trixie succeed in their journey, they'll actually be faction leaders instead of simple raid bosses
That is, if Kael can get Trixie to ever admit her feelings.
6838828
Couldn't find one with the actual clip from Kung Pow
6838976 I'm confused. What?
6839216 It was a voice clip from a movie called Kung Pow! Enter the Fist. I was saying that Trixie and Kael would never make it.
6839225 Ahhh, okay.
As for them not making it, they've got all the odds against them right now, but have faith
They have some good companions who'll help them reach the top.
6839376 I know, I was joking. Any topics you wanna talk about? I'm running blanks.
6839388 Hmmm...well since I just mentioned companions, perhaps your thoughts on the many people Trixie and Kael have managed to acquire?
6839407 Lavitz is cool, I don't know about the merc though,
6839686 Glad you like Lavitz.
Give Bronn some time 
Reuenthal? Mitter'meyer? Vanessa now?
6839823 Okay.
I like the 'two' elves(one is a half-elf but you know that) but when push comes to shove their loyalty could be tested.
You just spoiled that Vanessa was alive. You monster! Yeah, I like her. She's been put through too much.
6840827 Well, the Elves owe Kael and Trixie a lot (for saving Mitter'meyer), in addition to basic loyalty to their leader. While Reuenthal has a mess of a mind, Mitter'meyer is a straight up loyal guy
Even then Reuenthal is an honorable man...though in terms of psychology he could probably be best compared to the disturbed Vanessa.
Oh come now, not only was it kind of obvious, its revealed in the chapter you're on, and nobody really reads the comments, and if they do they can expect to see spoilers.
So yeah, glad you like Vanessa. She's been through a lot, but she's survived this far/long...she really needs a hug, but she'd probably cut anyone who tried. Perhaps when she manages to find her father's "killer" (really just the person who defeated him, not the one who finished him off) she'll start recover?