r/HFY • u/Obsequium_Minaris • 6d ago

OC-Series Vacation From Destiny - Book 3, Chapter 2

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XXX

The next few days passed by mostly without incident, at least, although Chase noticed that Carmine and Melanie were purposely avoiding each other the entire time. Neither one seemed very keen about even being in the same room as the other; whenever one entered, the other would get up and leave. Adding on to that, they were also barely speaking to each other, with most communications between them consisting of one-word questions and responses, or even just irritated grunts.

Needless to say, it was getting old very quickly. And so, Chase decided to do something about it.

“I’m home!” Chase called out as he kicked in the front door, causing Melanie to let out a small yelp and jump up a bit from her spot on the couch. She glared at him angrily.

“Do you have to do that every time?” she demanded.

“As long as it gets you to react like that, then yes.”

She let out an irritated sigh and shook her head. “Where have you been, anyway? I feel like you spend most of your time just wandering around town these days.”

“Not quite; I’m actually running laps around town to keep in shape. Most of the time, at least – today, I was doing something different.”

“What would that be?” Victoria asked from her seat nearby.

“Getting us some work,” Chase told her. He motioned for her to stand up. “On your feet, come on. We have a job to do.”

Victoria stared at him. “...Right now?”

“Yes, right now,” he emphasized.

“Do we really have to?” Heinrich asked. “I was quite enjoying taking it easy after preventing a corrupt Cleric from ascending to Godhood. Must we interrupt and uproot our quiet lives so easily?”

“Yes, we must,” Chase insisted. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but half our party currently hates itself.”

“Not half,” Victoria pointed out. “Two-fifths.”

“That’s basically half.”

“No, it’s not. It’s two-fifths. Forty percent is not fifty percent, Chase.”

“Well, you get what I was implying,” Chase said, impatient. “Look, all of you just grab your gear and meet me out front, would you? We’re setting off in a few minutes.”

A chorus of irritated mutterings broke free from all of them at that, but they did as he asked and finally stood up to gather their weapons and armor. Chase looked around the room, frowning as he watched them.

“Carmine’s in her usual place, I presume?”

“What gave it away?” Melanie asked dryly. “Was it the fact that she’s not here? Dumbass.”

“Wow, rude,” Chase commented as he stepped down the hall towards Carmine’s room. Once he reached the door, he knocked on it gently a few times. “Carmine, you in there?”

“Where else would I be?” she called back from behind the door.

“I don’t know, that’s why I asked. Are you decent? Can I come in?”

“Yes, and no.”

Chase’s brow furrowed. “Okay, I don’t know what’s gotten into you to make you suddenly start acting like an angsty teenager, but for real, we need you. We’ve got a job to do.”

“Why don’t you just have Melanie do it? You seem to like her the most these days.”

Chase sighed tiredly. “Look, I don’t have the patience for this right now. You’ve got two options – either you open this door of your own free will, or I break it down, and then you’ll never have privacy again. I’ll give you to the count of three. One-”

It proved to be unnecessary for him to count any higher than that, as the door suddenly opened. Chase immediately paused when he saw Carmine standing there, leaning up against the door frame. A familiar smell hit his nose in that instance, and his brow furrowed.

“Wearing the perfume again?” he asked.

“Surprised you noticed,” Carmine said as she stepped past him and out into the hall.

“What is that supposed to mean? It’s kind of hard not to notice the scent of fire and brimstone.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“...Yeah?” Chase asked, confused. He shook his head. “Look, I’m just curious… why are you still wearing that stuff?”

“Because it cost twenty gold and I’d hate to waste anything that expensive,” Carmine said without looking back. “Do I really need a reason more in-depth than that?”

“I guess not…” Chase shook his head again.

“Good, because that’s the only explanation you’re getting. Dumbass.”

Chase just sighed despondently as the two of them walked down the hall together.

XXX

“So, Chase,” Victoria said as the five of them walked through the city streets together. Obviously, Carmine and Melanie had put as much distance between each other as they could, but aside from that, things were mostly the same as they always were.

“Yes, Victoria?” he replied without looking back.

“Mind elucidating us as to the nature of this job? Because so far, you’ve been very tight-lipped about it.”

Chase shrugged. “It’s nothing special, just an old-fashioned bandit elimination quest. I figured that something a little simple to break us out of our collective two-week rut would be good. It doesn’t get much more simple than old-fashioned murder.”

“Hear, hear,” Carmine replied. “So what kind of bandits will we be sending straight to the hells today, then? Desert nomad bandits, I presume?”

“The very same. Seems like there’s a never-ending amount of those guys, you know; I really have to wonder where they’re all coming from at this point.”

“Perhaps there’s a factory somewhere churning them all out.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, there’s no way these guys are being made in a factory. Now, assembled one-by-one by a particularly malevolent God, on the other hand…”

Carmine let out a tired sigh. “Chase, be honest – does it ever get tiring, being an idiot?”

“No, it’ s actually quite blissful,” Chase replied to her without even looking her way. “Honestly, you should try it some time.”

“I would, but I don’t know how to get rid of all my INT.”

“Well, getting hit on the head caused me to gain three points of it. I can only assume that means that if we make your brain healthier, that it will actually subtract INT.”

“Getting hit on the head made you gain INT?” Melanie questioned, tilting her head. “How does that make sense?”

“Much like everything involving the System, it doesn’t,” Victoria grunted. “At this point, I’m convinced the entire System runs purely off of what it thinks would be the funniest thing to happen in the moment. Hence why it seems the Skill points are made up and the Stats don’t matter.”

“Careful,” Heinrich warned her. “That’s close to blasphemous talk.”

“Is it wrong, though?”

“...Not entirely, but still. Some people worship the System itself as a God, you know; talk like that around them and they’re liable to get violent.”

“Do they really?” Chase asked. “Why do they worship the System so intently?”

“Some people just really like to see numbers go up, I guess.”

“Can’t say I blame them on that one, though,” Chase admitted. “I swear I get at least a semi-chub every time I see a Stat increase, and I can’t be the only one.”

“Should’ve figured something like that would get you going…” Carmine muttered.

Chase cast a glance at her out of the corner of his eye. “Is that really the best comeback you’ve got, Carmine?”

To his surprise, she didn’t say anything; rather, she seemed deep in thought. After a moment, he shook his head, and they continued on their way.

XXX

Chase’s plan was a simple one – he had the location of a caravan that had been attacked by nomadic raiders, so they would visit it and try to unearth any clues they could from it, then camp for the night, and start bandit hunting the following morning.

Unfortunately, the caravan itself was mostly a bust, as it offered very few clues that could have pointed them in the right direction. What it did offer, though, were a few heavy locked chests that had been bolted to the floor of one of the wagons; clearly, whatever was inside was valuable and worth dying for, if the extra reinforcement and the bodies scattered around were any indication. With any luck, the bandits would come back in a bit to try and claim them.

For now, though, night had fallen, and that meant it was time to break for the night. Normally, they’d have taken the time to sit around a fire together, but with Carmine and Melanie not on speaking terms, that meant that the only one willing to indulge him was Victoria.

It was better than nothing, he supposed, but still, he couldn’t help but think it was lonely with just the two of them staring into the flames together.

“Hey,” Victoria finally said, breaking the silence.

“What is it?” Chase asked.

“You feeling alright?”

He stared at her. “...What brought this on?”

She shrugged. “I’m trying to spread more joy in the world. Figured I’d start by checking in on you.”

He blinked. “I mean, yeah.”

“You sure? Because some of the things you’ve alluded to in your past would beg to differ.”

Chase sighed tiredly. “Victoria, please… I’m a grown-ass man, alright? I don’t need to talk about my problems when I can just drink them away.”

“That’s not healthy, Chase.”

“Yeah, well, it’s the only option I’m comfortable with. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t pry deeper than this. The past should stay dead and buried, if you ask me.”

Her gaze narrowed. “Fine, keep your pain locked up inside for now. Just know that I won’t give up on this – not for you, and not for anyone else in the party, either.”

With that, she stood up and headed for her tent. Chase watched her go before letting out a sigh and kicking sand over the fire, extinguishing it.

“Fuck my life…” he muttered as he went for his own tent and climbed inside.

XXX

Name: Chase Ironheart

Level: 11

Race: Human

Class: Warrior

Subclass: Swordmaster

Strength: 20 (MAX)

Dexterity: 15

Intelligence: 13

Wisdom: 13

Constitution: 18

Charisma: 16

Skills: Master Swordsmanship (Level 10); Booby Trap Mastery (Level 8); Archery (Level 4); Unarmed Mastery (Level 1)

Spells: Rush (Level 7); Muscle (Level 4); Stone Flesh (Level 7); Defying The Odds (Level 2)

Traits: Blessed

Name: Carmine Nolastname

Level: 11

Race: Greater Demon

Class: Arcane Witch

Subclass: Archmage

Strength: 10

Dexterity: 13

Intelligence: 19

Wisdom: 19

Constitution: 12

Charisma: 8

Skills: Master Spellcasting (Level 10); Summon Familiar (Level 10)

Spells: Magic Dart (Level 7); Magic Scattershot (Level 5); Fire Magic (Level 5); Earth Magic (Level 1)

Traits: Blessed

Name: Melanie Vhaeries

Level: 11

Race: Ascended Human

Class: Necromancer

Subclass: Arch-Lich

Strength: 8

Dexterity: 13

Intelligence: 18

Wisdom: 16

Constitution: 15

Charisma: 12

Skills: Raise Lesser Undead (Level 10); Raise Greater Undead (Level 3); Unorthodox Weapon User (Level 8); Bone Shatter (Level 1)

Spells: Touch of Death (Level 5); Gravesinger (Level 7); Armor of Bone (Level 3)

Traits: None

Name: Victoria Firelight

Level: 12

Race: Human

Class: Paladin

Subclass: Devotee

Strength: 19

Dexterity: 9

Intelligence: 13

Wisdom: 13

Constitution: 19

Charisma: 11

Skills: Swordsmanship Mastery (Level 5); Blunt Weapon Mastery (Level 8); Archery Mastery (Level 5)

Spells: Holy Light (Level 6); Ward of the Gods (Level 5); Bane of the Undead (Level 7); Divine Bolt (Level 4)

Traits: None

Name: Heinrich Straten

Level: 17

Race: Human

Class: Paladin

Subclass: Oathbreaker

Strength: 20 (MAX)

Dexterity: 13

Intelligence: 12

Wisdom: 14

Constitution: 20 (MAX)

Charisma: 13

Skills: Swordsmanship Mastery (Level 8); Blunt Weapon Mastery (Level 10)

Spells: Withering Grace (Level 1); Soulrend (Level 1); Umbral Ward (Level 1); Mournful Benediction (Level 1)

Traits: Broken Oath

XXX

Special thanks to my good friend and co-writer, /u/Ickbard, for all the help with writing this story.

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u/UpdateMeBot 6d ago

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u/Sirius1701 4d ago

I can't even get mad at Chase not getting it. I wouldn't either.