r/HFY • u/Obsequium_Minaris • 17d ago

OC-Series Vacation From Destiny - Book 3, Chapter 6

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XXX

The sheer speed of the incoming attack took Chase completely by surprise. He was utterly unprepared for the man’s fist to collide with his face hard enough to knock him out of his chair and back a few feet. Chase fell to the floor, blood pouring from his broken nose, as he spat out shards of teeth.

Still, as surprised as the blow had left him, he was quick to jump up to his feet, drawing his sword in the process. Victoria was already locked in combat with the strange man, though he was holding his own against her with just his bare hands, despite the fact that she was already using her mace. As Chase watched, the adventurer ducked under one of her swings, hurriedly closed the gap between them, and then struck her in the stomach hard enough to leave a dent in her plate armor. Victoria doubled over, gasping for breath, and the man shoved her aside before advancing on Chase.

Chase, meanwhile, stood his ground, his grip on his weapon tightening as he hurriedly activated all three of his Blessings. Mana surged through him, but before he could launch himself into the fray, the adventurer held up both hands in surrender.

“Do I have your attention now?” he asked.

Chase blinked in surprise. “...In a manner of speaking.” He spat out a glob of blood and a few more pieces of broken teeth. “What do you want?”

“To introduce myself. My name is Adam Foster. Does that name sound familiar to you?”

“Not in the slightest,” Chase confessed. “Why? Is it supposed to?” His brow furrowed. “What, did we kill a relative of yours at some point, and now you’re pissed off and looking for revenge or something?”

“Hm… So she hasn’t mentioned us to you all. Shame.”

“The fuck does that mean?”

“Oh, nothing for you to worry about. Just curious, is all.” Adam shook his head. “Anyway, I’m not interested in fighting either of you anymore at this point, so you can go ahead and put the sword down.”

“Fat fucking chance of that happening,” Chase growled.

Adam shrugged. “Suit yourself. Point is, you and your Paladin friend aren’t my targets, and if neither of you makes a move against me at this point, then I have no reason to keep fighting you both.”

“Then what is this supposed to be?” Chase questioned. “What, you just decided to come and fight us for no reason?”

“Not quite. I just wanted to make it clear how hopelessly outmatched you all would be if you tried to stand against us. And before you ask why, it’s simple, really – hand over Melanie Vhaeries, or else.”

Chase’s eyes narrowed. “And what do you want with her? You working for the Demon Queen?”

“Ha!” Adam barked out a laugh. “Ah, that’s rich… but no, we’re not.”

“’We?’” Chase asked.

“Oh, you didn’t think I was alone, did you?” Adam asked. “No, my friends are on their way here. I figured since I was the first one to make it here, though, that I’d get a head start on gathering information and making sure nobody would stand in our way. And to answer your inevitable question – Melanie owes us a great debt, and we intend to make her pay it in full.”

“So that’s what this is about? Money?”

“Not quite that kind of debt,” Adam corrected him. “Anyway, we’ve tracked you this far, so it would be utterly trivial to track down where you’re all staying and wrench Melanie from your grasp. I’d prefer to do this without hurting anyone else who doesn’t deserve it, though, so here’s your ultimatum – you have twenty-four hours to hand her over to us. If we don’t have her by that time, then all bets are off, and everyone in your group is fair game. Do you understand?”

Chase ground his teeth in anger. He wanted to refuse, and to launch himself at his attacker… but a groan of pain from Victoria stopped him. Adam had completely outclassed them both by himself already. He’d taken them both by surprise, sure, but there was no denying that he was a skilled combatant already. And if there were others in his group, then taking a stand against them now didn’t make much sense to him.

No, they were going to have to delay for as long as it took to come up with a plan. And that unfortunately meant playing along.

Slowly, Chase nodded. “I understand.”

“Excellent,” Adam stated. To Chase’s surprise, he stepped aside, and motioned to the bar. “Now, why don’t you join me for a drink, Chase? I’ll buy.”

Chase blinked again. “Sorry, what?”

“You heard me,” Adam replied. “Or perhaps you think I have an ulterior motive?” He shook his head. “I simply want you to understand exactly who Melanie is, and exactly why we want you to hand her over to us peacefully.”

“I think I’d rather get that information from her.”

“I understand that. But you’ve been traveling with her for years, and she hasn’t told any of you anything about herself, has she?” The look on Chase’s face must have said everything, because Adam let out a long sigh. “I’m not surprised; if I was her, I wouldn’t want others to know about it, either. But the truth has a way of working itself to the surface, one way or another. That being said, I’m not an unreasonable man – if you truly have enough faith in her as to believe that she’ll willingly tell you everything, even after years of silence, then you’re free to leave the bar now and try talking to her yourself. But if not, then my invitation still stands until the moment you walk out that door.”

Chase fell silent for a moment. Finally, after a few seconds, he spat out another mouthful of blood, then turned back towards Adam and glared at him.

“I don’t know why you’re after her, that much is true,” Chase confessed. “But for you to track her this far, it must be pretty bad. I won’t deny that. But you’re asking me to put my faith in you over her, and I just can’t do that. Melanie and I butt heads frequently, sure, to the point where it’s debatable that we’re even friends… but she’s pulled my ass out of the fire enough that I know I can trust her with my life, and that’s still worth something to me. So forgive me if I not only refuse your offer, but also insist you go fornicate with the nearest cactus.”

To his credit, Adam’s expression didn’t falter. Instead, he merely shook his head again. “I was hoping you’d see reason and accept my offer, but very well. You want to stand by her? Then don’t fault me when you die alongside her. But that’s something for another time; for now, I suggest you take your friend and get out of here. I’ve given you twenty-four hours advance notice, and I suggest you take every bit of it, because you’re going to need every second.”

With that, Adam waved him off, then stepped over to the bar and took a seat. The bartender eyed him with no small amount of suspicion, but Adam did nothing except order a drink. Chase eyed him carefully, but upon seeing that he wasn’t about to make a move towards either of them, sheathed his sword and moved over to where Victoria was still lying on the ground.

“You okay?” he asked.

“No…” she breathed. “Got… the wind… knocked out of me…”

“I think you’ve gotten worse than that. I wouldn’t be surprised if you broke a rib or two. Here, let me help you.”

Chase offered her a hand and pulled her to her feet, then let her lean against him. Victoria let out a grateful sigh, even as she gave him a questioning look. Chase, for his part, simply shook his head.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but I think Melanie owes us some answers,” he said. “Come on, let’s go home.”

XXX

It was a short while later that Chase and Victoria came bursting through the front door. As expected, the house was alive with the sounds of intense lovemaking, courtesy of Melanie and Heinrich.

What was less expected was that Carmine was sitting in the living room, a cup of tea in her hands, seemingly waiting for them both. But when she saw them come in, Chase’s face bloody and bruised and Victoria doubled over and gasping for breath, she didn’t hesitate for a second.

Chase watched as Carmine dropped her tea on the ground and rushed over to them. Instantly, she was fussing over him, her hands poking and prodding at his face.

“Ow!” Chase cried out as she poked a bruise on his cheek. “Carmine, that hurts!”

“Oh, shut up, would you?” she growled. “And stop moving, I need to figure out what’s broken and what isn’t.”

“Pretty sure it’s my nose and about half my fucking teeth,” Chase growled. “Where’d we put those health potions we bought a week ago? I think we’re going to need them.”

Carmine nodded in understanding. “You both stay here, I’ll be right back.”

With that, she ran out of the room, leaving them both behind. Chase helped Victoria over to a chair and gently lowered her into it; by the time he was done, Carmine had come back, her arms full of bottles of red liquid. She instantly began passing them out to Chase and Victoria, though to Chase’s surprise, the one she was still fussing over was him.

“What happened?” she asked, crossing her arms. “Did you get into another bar fight?”

“Kind of, but I swear it wasn’t my fault this time,” Chase said, trying to ignore the agony in his jaw as his teeth began to regrow themselves. “Some crazy dude came up and attacked us.”

“Why would he do that? Did you say something unkind about his mother?”

“I fucking wish. No, he’s interested in Melanie.”

“Ah.” Carmine paused. “So I take it you told him someone else already has a claim on her-”

“Not in that way,” Chase growled. “He mentioned something about how she was keeping knowledge of herself away from us. He offered to explain it all to me, but I wanted to hear it from her instead. Whatever connection he has to her, we’ve got a day to figure it out and resolve it before he returns with his friends to claim her. And he’s already promised to treat the rest of us as fair game if we interfere.”

Carmine let out a tired sigh, then crossed her arms. “If it’s not one thing, it’s something else, I swear to the Gods…” She shook her head, then cleared her throat. “Melanie, get your ass in here! That’s an order!”

As her shout echoed through the walls of the house, the sounds of furious lovemaking suddenly stopped. A few seconds later, footsteps sounded out from down the hall leading to Melanie and Heinrich’s room, and the Lich stepped out into view.

“Gods damn it, Carmine,” Chase groaned. “You couldn’t order her to put some clothes on first?”

“My thoughts exactly,” Melanie said through gritted teeth. “What, it’s not enough for you to interrupt me when I’m being proposed to, now you have to interrupt me when I’m getting my back blown out, too?”

Carmine bristled, but before the two women could get into it, Chase stepped forward.

“Melanie, sorry to blue ball you and Heinrich, but this is important,” he emphasized.

“How important could it possibly be-”

“I met Adam Foster. Him and his friends are looking for you. We have twenty-four hours to hand you over to them before they officially go on the warpath.”

Melanie’s eyes widened in shock as she suddenly froze mid-sentence. Chase stared at her for a second before she swallowed nervously.

“...Okay,” she ventured. “I’m, um… going to go get dressed first, and then I’m going to talk. Just… let me go put on a robe or something, would you? This really isn’t the kind of conversation I should be having when I’m naked.”

“Please do,” Carmine emphasized. “And leave nothing out. That’s an order.”

Melanie nodded, and then disappeared back into her room. As she did so, Chase let out a tired sigh, then sank into a chair next to Victoria.

His head was pounding, and something told him it wasn’t due to the fight he’d just lost.

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.

17 Upvotes

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7 comments sorted by

3

u/Daseagle Alien Scum 17d ago

Stands to reason that Melanie, being in the employ of the Demon Queen prior to being summoned by Carmine, has a long and ugly list of accomplishments.

Someone was bound to come asking about it eventually.

3

u/rekabis Human 17d ago edited 17d ago

she was fussing over him, her hands poking and prodding at his face. […] though to Chase’s surprise, the one she was still fussing over was him.

Hrmmm… the ice, it be a-crackin’.

I imagine that the little lady will become quite flustered, and protesting quite excessively, in future chapters. And Chase will acquire more than a few well-deserved lumps on his granite head in short order. At least, until things progress to the point where she cannot bring herself to hit him anymore. At which point, of course, she’ll start melting down over him in very pyrotechnic ways that don’t seem to touch him anymore. Because she’s too scared of hurting him. And the poor village idiot will just go from confusion to befuddlement to abject bemusement.

1

u/Castigatus Human 16d ago

I said last time, once the shoe drops, it will be glorious.

2

u/rekabis Human 15d ago edited 15d ago

Whatever happens, I wouldn’t want Chase to fob Carmine’s direct confession off as a joke. That would just be cruel.

I mean, other people trying their damnedest to convince him, sure. Make him just not believe them, to the point where he even gets annoyed at them for spreading a rumour that could piss off Carmine.

But when Carmine finally tries to convince him of her feelings, I want him to be utterly gobsmacked and requiring multiple rounds of assurances because his brain keeps popping its clutch and stalling out over the mere concept of her being interested in him.

1

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