"Piercing thunder"
The spear went through the king of rats chest.
Aaron appeared on the other side of him. the sound of the attack followed.
BOOM!
The rat king took a strangled breath, blood dripping out as he dropped to his knees. Aaron turned to face the group that was watching him. As his aura dissipated around him, he grinned at them. "It's all clear, guys!" he shouted, waving his hand.
Amari was in shock. "I... have so many questions." Aaron blinked. "Why are you all staying there? Come on!" Sebastion's brow twitched. "I can't even move!" "Oh, oh yeah!" Milo blinked repeatedly. "...I need to sit down," he mumbled as Alex looked at him confused. "You're already sitting down." Milo looked down to see himself already sitting. "Oh,"
"Suproc...muut etnel..." Aaron turned around, there was the rat king on the floor, hand over his chest. "Te rethelod ruteylossid cenod lihin isin sinic te asso tire. Ceah tse oitcidelam aut..." Aaron blinked, grabbed his spear, pointed it downwards, and slammed it through the rat king's head. "Odd," Aaron muttered before shrugging and going to the rest of the group.
"Welp, let's head out!" "Still can move, boss," Sebastion muttered. "Ah, well, I'm sure someone can carry you!" Everyone turned towards him, then pointed at him. "Hey! I can't! I have to stay back and, uh, pick up the weapons and cool stuff!" Sebastion narrowed his eyes. "You just want to dodge Madam because you know she would kill you." Alex and Jamie nodded in the background. "Hey! Hey! No need to bring her up!" Aaron said, cackling nervously and waving his hands about. Amari scooted over to Milo. "Who is "madam"?" Milo shrugged. "I got no idea, he muttered back. Aaron clapped his hands. "Anyway, you guys head to Sabi. I'll take care of things here." Seeing Alex already supporting Jamie, he turned towards Amari and Milo "Can you two help Sebastion?" They looked at each other. "You get left, I get right?" Amari said, walking up to Sebastion. "Alright," Milo grunted, getting up from the ground.
As the group left, Amari glanced back at Aaron and saw him staring at the rat king's body. "Huh."
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They all walked to a house that, compared to the rest of the kingdom, looked slightly better than the rest, but not overly so. As they stopped at the door, Alex knocked, his grip on Jamie never leaving. Sebastion by this point, was completely knocked out, leaning on Milo and Amari completely.
The door opened, and a boy was standing there. He looked around 15 and was 5'2 (157 cm), with hazel-brown eyes and jet-black hair. "What do you—" He looked at the group's state and pinched his brow. "Why do you all look like you died, went to hell, and came back?" Alex hummed, "Sounds about right." The boy ran his hands through his hair. "God damn it—get in."
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"Ok, so you're all fine." The boy, who Amari found out was Sebi, turned and looked at the knocked-out Sebastion. "...mostly, look—" he turned back around. "Jamie, your nose was...odd, to say the least, so just don't move the bandage, and you should be fine." "Should?" Jamie raised a brow. "Don't worry about it. Anyway, Milo, you just got some scratches and maybe some trauma based on how you are looking right now, but hey, I'm not a specialist in that, so... good luck?" Milo gave a thumbs up. "Alex, bruises all over your back, and, uh, take it easy on your head, and, uh—Amari, was it?" Amari nodded. "You have the same but also scratches on your knees and forearms. Also poked at the bandage on your face I put there a bit, it might leave a scar there and should be ready to take off in a bit." "Alright"" And Sebastion... well, he—" The sheets in the bed Sebastion was in shifted, and he woke up. "Ugh, those are familiar ceilings..." Sebi leaned over him. "Yeah, I bet. Safe to say you're on bedrest for a month." Sebastion groaned "Yep, Madam is going to kill him." Just then a crash was heard outside.
"AHHHHHH!"
"There it is."
They opened the door only to find Aaron on the ground being yelled at by a 5'0 (152 cm) well-built woman. "Where the hell were you?!" Aaron shakily stood up. "H-Hey, wait, l-let me explain!" He said nervously. Amari blinked. Y... You know what? none of my business."
Sebastion stumbled outside, holding onto the railing. "Madam..." The woman paused before turning around quickly. "Sebastion!" The woman ran up to him, easily supporting his weight. "What happened? Are you ok?" "Ask boss." "H-Hey!" The woman gently let go of Sebastion, letting him lean on the railing before turning around and stomping up to Aaron. "What the heck, Aaron?! First Mya almost got killed, then you avoided me for 2 months, and now Sebastion's wrapped in bandages?!" "Wait—wait—babe!" The woman grabbed Aaron's arm and twisted him over her shoulder, throwing him to the ground.
Sebi clapped his hands. "My dose of entertainment is back—BEAT HIS ASS!" Amari and Milo slowly looked at each other in disbelief. "... He said babe," Milo muttered. "That's his..." Amari started
"Girlfriend?!" they both whispered, staring at the woman standing above a groaning Aaron.
"I didn't even get to meet the woman that saved Mya!" The woman shouted, causing Amari to freeze and a sweatdrop to form on her head as the woman kept shouting, "... And now it is my business" "She's... right there." Aaron wheezed, the woman turned to the direction Aaron was weakly pointing at, and just then it seemed like a switch flipped when she saw Amari. Suddenly the woman was right in inforunt of her, holding her hands in both of hers. "Hi, dear. I'm sorry you had to witness such a thing—had to knock some sense into him, you know?" Amari glanced around, stammering, "Uh-Y-Yeah, I get it." "Thank you for saving Mya, she just wouldn't stop talking about you. Not like I can blame her. Amari, was it?" "Yes mad—" "You don't have to call me that, I really don't know where Sebastion gets "Madam" from. Just call me Diana, ok?" Amari nodded. "Ok."
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As soon as they walked into the door to the gang house, they heard little footsteps running towards them as Mya came around the corner with a big grin on his face. She practically tackled Aaron. "Uncle!" Aaron patted her back. "Niece!" He greeted back excitedly as she looked around. "Why does Sebastion look wrong?" Shock ran through Sebastion's body as Jamie and Alex burst out laughing. "He, uh, got thrown around a bit." Amari turned her head away. "A bit is an understatement..." Sebastion glared at her. "Not funny." Amari held up her hands in defeat. Mya's eyes lit up as she joyfully climbed up around and jumped down and over to Amari. "I guarded your satchel thingy! I didn't even take a peek!" Amari's lips turned up a bit before she hastily patted Mya's head. "That means your mission is complete. Thank you." Mya's eyes sparkled as Diana gently grabbed Mya's hand. "Let's go get you something to eat, little guard. I'm sure the cook has something ready." As they walked off, Aaron turned towards the group. "As for you all. I've got a little surprise."
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"Ta da!" Multiple items sat on the table. "Uh... This is great, but what is it?" Jamie asked, "This?" Aaron began, "Was everything in the sewer! So take your pick!" Everyone slipped off, Milo muttering something about Arrows. "Ok..." Amari thought, looking around the table, "What to take, what to take.... I need to be quick, I need to check on the egg..." Just then something caught her eye, a book. Its leather looked torn up, and it had no title. "Hum...odd..." Just as Amari picked it up, Aaron appeared over her shoulder. "A book, eh? didn't take you as the reader type." "What's that supposed to mean—" "Anyways, I found it while I was down there." He took out a sword, one that looked familiar, and handed it to her. "The guy that slashed you? Yeah, that's his." Amari turned the sword left and right, examining it. "Well, isn't karma a bic—" Her thought process got interrupted by Aaron talking. "Oh, and everyone!" The group turned their heads. "The lair we were in? Yeah, well, one of us gets to have it." The group looked at each other.
"...yeah, I'm good."
"Nah, one of you can have it."
"That place smells like shi—"
"The lair... It's in bad shape, yeah, but... It does have space—a lot, actually—and I'm going to need that if I'm going to basically raise a drake. Not only that, but it's far enough from the main city where they'll be safe but not too far where it looks suspicious..." Amari raised her hand. "I'll take it."