Carry Me Like a Princess (V)

I took a couple of deep breaths, happy that the rancid smell was gone. Even though the scent lingered, it was enough for all of us to breathe.

"The Titan states that Coco's at the borders of Dragon and the Titan Kingdom on the open plains of Kakatona. He wants me to come join him, or he'll kill her."

The maids gasped in horror; they suddenly blew up into a frenzy of chatter as they tried to outvote each other of their concern. It got to the point where my ears were starting to ring from their shouting match.

"Enough!" As his magical power around him, Phil shouted angrily, swirled around him, causing everyone to freeze in fear. "All of you guys shouting at one another will not get this situation solved. Instead, it's giving me a worse headache!"

I knew what Phil meant. The constant loud chatter gave me an annoying headache, making me want to find a quiet place to be.

"B-b-but, what about Coco?" One of the maids voiced out their concerns, stepping forward to challenge Phil's threatening demeanor. She was an elderly lady that I knew by the name Rasba, short for Raspberry. I don't know why all the maids and butlers chose food names, but they did, following Coco, Tart, and Moca. Her hair was tightly put in a bun, her figure was quite plump, giving off a motherly feeling about her. If I remember correctly, she's a Cerberus type dog monster, which doesn't fit her whole image at all.

"Young mistress, please forgive me for speaking out of turn." Raspa took a bow, stepping forward from the crowd as she gazed up towards me with a soft but stern expression. "She has been with us for many years and even served you diligently. Would you not go and save her? For us?"

I came over, clasped her hand, and stared into her eyes. "Raspa, I was going to do that from the start." Reassuring her with a smile, there was no way that I was going to leave Coco with the stinky Titan. The thought of her possibly dying from that horrible smell made me want to puke all over again. "She's family. All of you guys are."

Raspa started to tremble, and tears started to form down her face. "Thank you." She whispered, she reached over and gave me a hug. The feeling of her hug was warm and comforting, almost like a mother's that I had long forgotten. Then she pulled apart, grinning at me from ear-to-ear. She then snapped forward towards the other maids and started to yell out orders.

"Get the food ready for the young mistress! We gotta get her traveling attires ready for the long trip!" Raspa clapped her hands a couple of times, ushering everyone to move. The maids all quickly, but gracefully, scattered away to do their chores. Even she went out of the room right behind them and gave me a final bow.

I wanted to stay in her arms a little longer, but I knew she was right. There was no time to be lounging around. I had to get ready to go as quickly as possible. Just when I was about to turn around and leave, I was stopped by Phil. His hand grabbed onto mine.

"Wait, Berry," Phil called out towards me; I could see a flash of concern written all over his face, which made me a bit happy.

"Yes?"

"Are you sure you want to go through with this? Fighting against a Titan isn't your job."

I reassured him, "that's why we're bringing Stryd along."

Phil wasn't too happy with the thought of bringing Stryd. He didn't seem confident enough to take on something that was considered legendary. Just because he had the legendary weapon didn't mean anything, and we all knew this very well.

"I don't think he's ready."

"I know," I replied again, but at the same time, it had become Stryd's fate to fight against the Titan. He was the hero, and there was no stopping that.

"It can kill him." Phil was trying to reason with me.

"I'll go ask him if he wants to come along. I won't force him, you know." I frowned at him, crossing my hand in front of me. "I'm not that evil, you know."

"I'm just saying," said Phil, throwing up his hand in front of him.

Turning away from him, I exited the room still in my yesterday's clothes. I didn't care and knew that finding Stryd was important. There just wasn't enough time to dilly dally when time was of the essence.

It took a while for me to look for Stryd, running through the hallways, even opening every door. Phil and I broke apart, searching for him in different directions. I had to ask around to find Stryd, and in this big castle, finding him wasn't easy. There was a time when I thought I opened the same door twice, but the doors all look the same but lead to so many different places that I could barely count the number of doors I had opened.

Finally, I found him in one of the smaller rooms tucked away near the library. It was considered one of the most peaceful rooms out of the whole castle because of its own little garden and a small waterfall that streamed down the walls' side. What was even more pleasing about this room was the trickle of sunlight from the top down to the large flat boulder that sat in the middle of the room.

It was like a large sandbox with the sand drawn out in a Japanese Zen style. I have seen it many times on the internet back at home. They were even green grass decorated around the outskirts of the sandbox. It was a square with small but pretty plants decorating near the walls.

Stryd was sitting in the middle of the boulder underneath the sunlight reading as he moved his feet back and forth in a slow kicking motion. For an Orc hybrid, the image of a studious being looked strange, especially because Orcs aren't known to be reading.

When I came bursting in, Styrd fumbled with his book, trying to hide but failed miserably. He fell off the side of the boulder and onto sand, gazing up at me, embarrassed as if he was caught doing something bad.

"Stryd?" I asked, confused, wondering why he was on the sandy floor. "You alright?"

"Yea." Stryd got up bashfully, straightening himself up as he brushed away the sand away from clothes. "Were you looking for me?"

Realizing why I came here, I nodded furiously. "I need you to come with me."

"Where?" He asked slowly.

I took a deep breath, knowing full well that he won't like the thought of going out to fight the Titan if it was necessary. Honestly, I hoped that he wouldn't run away and say yes. This was Coco we are talking about, my family.

"I want you to come with me to save Coco." I watched Stryd's reaction, gripping the hem of my shirt as the next sentence, I would say. "She's captured by the Titan."

Stryd flinched on the word Titan. He realized what I was asking for as he trembled. I could tell that he was fighting with himself, trying hard not to get too scared. This was a huge decision to make, especially because he was just dubbed a Hero a few days ago and barely has any experience in using the Legendary gauntlets Asphalt at all.

I don't even remember if he ever saw him use the weapon at all since the last time I saw him.