Chapter 13: Old Friends, New Faces

I follow Cynthia mindlessly though the the busy streets of Aelia. Her hood is up to hide the blood in her hair. I should have never picked up this sword. Who the hells needs so much power you loose yourself anyway? I start to wonder if this is what Marcia thought of every time I brought home a new game console back in the day. You know, evil machine that totally seemed to corrupt me for hours at a time. Maybe I regret it a bit now, I could have spent so much more time with her.

"In here-" Cynthia mutters, pulling at my cloak to break me from my train of thought. I watch her disappear into another alleyway, this one more active than the last. Strings of sausages hang overhead followed by large cuts of meat both raw and dried. I duck to avoid hitting them. Cynthia beckons me to a small door along the side of the alleyway and we both slip inside seemingly unnoticed.

The wave of heat strikes me first, followed by the glistening coals in the oven behind the counter. The glistening of the weapons that hang on the walls paints this place out to be some sort of weapon shop.

"Lockehart?" Cynthia says loudly. Her voice resonates in the compact room. She approaches the counter cautiously, pulling her hood down.

"Miss Cynthia it's been decades!" A small, quirky voice responds. A large set of orange ears pop up from behind the counter. I blink as a small orange cat-like creature climbs up on a stool. It's tiny overalls and gloves filled with soot, so are it's glasses.

"What in the world is that thing?" I say.

"A hobgoblin to be precise." The orange thing replies.

"Aren't goblins supposed to be..."

"Uglier? Well, I'm not a goblin. I'm a hobgoblin. Just call me Locke."

"He's so cute isn't he?" Cynthia chuckles, raising her hands to pet Locke's fur.

"Oh goodness dear- Cynthia what happened to you?" Locke exclaims, practically jumping off his stool. He leaps down and scuttles around the counter, his orange ears bobbing around. He tugs on her coat.

"Let me get you fixed up. You can't walk around looking like you've been in a fight for your life!" He drags her towards the back room. I follow, somewhat amused by the tiny creature. The room we enter is small. Portraits of landscapes only grand enough to be from a world like Intercaeleus hang on the walls. A single bed is tucked in the corner along with a wooden dresser and nightstand. The fireplace along the wall is churning a tiny flame.

"I can't believe you disappear for so many years and come back looking like you lived in the woods all this time." He mumbles, propping her onto a small bench while he scampers around collecting supplies. "Please tell me you didn't live in the woods." He pauses, Cynthia laughs.

"No, I didn't live in the woods. It's been quite the opposite actually... I was taken in to be a hero attendant in the castle."

"Attendant? Oh gosh, I've heard quite a bit from the townsfolk about him." Locke nods, pulling Cynthia's hands down to his height and begins rinsing them off with a cloth.

"Also who is that weird guy in the corner?" He half whispers, wiping a paste on her cuts. Cynthia winces.

"That's the hero." She says between gritted teeth, Locke's face goes stiff.

"Him? Oh dear goodness I'm so sorry for my attitude mister hero-" He stammers.

"God it stings." She hisses as Locke wraps her hands in gauze carefully.

"It's fine really but I should apologize for not knowing what a hobgoblin is." I reply. Locke simply laughs.

"I shouldn't expect anyone from your world to know. Welcome to my weapon shop." He says as he carries the bloody cloth and supplies back out of view. He hobbles his way back over.

"So what brings you both here anyway? In all honesty I would have never expected Cynthia of all people to just appear in my shop."

"Well, we wanted to ask you about a weapon Darwin found..." Cynthia glances over at me wearily. I nod and pull out the sword. It's purple tint appearing even more threatening. Locke almost leaps out of his overalls.

"Goodness where did you find such a thing?" He scuttles up towards it. I lower it for him to examine. He wavers his strange little paws all over it, lost in thought.

"What an extraordinary pressure! You must be quite strong to tolerate this mister hero."

"Just Darwin's fine, and I really can't handle it."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, every so often I hear this voice and it tells me to kill and I'll become powerful. At first it wasn't very strong but since then it's only gotten more forceful." I gesture over to Cynthia's injuries. Locke darts his eyes between both of us and his ears flatten against his head.

"This is no normal sword..." He stops to think, tapping his little foot against the wooden floor.

"Tell me, where exactly did you find this?"

"I was training one day in the castle courtyard and I went through a door and down these stairs to what looked to be an abandoned jail cell. It was stuck in the ribcage of a skeleton." I explain.

"Surrender it to me and I'll take care of it. This thing is too dangerous to be wielded. I can smell the bad intentions infused in it."

"About that..." I lay out my palm to him, the eye mark still bold on my skin. Locke's ears droop.

"Oh Darwin, this is terrible. Simply terrible." He shakes his head and paces back and fourth.

"It asked for my blood and I gave it blood. It started glowing and it showed up on my hand."

"You made a blood pact with a dark weapon?!" He nearly faints. "I thought you heroes were smarter than this."

"Well, no one ever told me there was a difference between a normal weapon bond and a curse one." I sigh, trying to rub the mark off my hand. "Now that I think of it, every time its come in contact with blood it glows and the voices stop." I say.

"A weapon that thirsts for blood? How peculiar." Locke murmurs, tapping his chin.

"It's almost like it gets its energy from blood." I mumble. "Vampire blade?" I jest.

"No, no you have a point. If we can't separate you from it then you just need to make sure it doesn't possess you again."

"So you're suggesting I murder people every so often?"

"No! I was thinking more like monsters or animals."

"Hm, do you really think something like that would work?"

Locke nods. "I hope so at least, there's only really one way to find out."

"Fancy camping?" I say to Cynthia who perks her head up.

"What do you mean?" She asks dumbfoundedly.

"We're going on a little trip." I smile, "Perhaps we can look for your village while we're at it." I add.

"Oh yes, we should check the library here tomorrow then." She says wearily, clutching her hands to her lap.

"Ah, seeking out the elf village?" Locke butts in, "I haven't heard about it in ages. I may be centuries old but not nearly as old as miss Cynthia." He wipes his glasses off. "You two are welcome to stay here for the night or as long as you like really. I'll just be in the front room if you need anything." He yawns, dusting his paws off on his overalls.

"Let me see you off before you go at least. I'd feel better letting you leave that way." He grins, toddling out of the room with the tiny patters of his feet. The room falls silent with nothing but the crackling fire. I lumber down on the bed, it's been a long day.

"Master Darwin, we're going to need a lot of supplies if we are travelling outside of Aelia." Cynthia says quietly.

"I know, we still have some funds left right?" I sigh, rolling onto my back.

"We do but we will have to figure out a way to get more." She replies.

"Aw great, I leave one world centered on money and am thrown into another just like it." I groan sarcastically. "Are you feeling alright, Cynthia?"

"I am, don't worry about it."

"I feel terrible I did that. I could never bring myself to hurt anyone on purpose."

"I was just scared you weren't who I thought you were. But you were being controlled. I was just scared I lost you." She looks down at her bandaged hands. "It wouldn't make me a good attendant if something happened to you." She smiles woefully.

"You should wash that blood out of your hair and clothes." I yawn. Cynthia nods silently and stands up robotically before pulling out a large metal tub from the side of the room. The realization that showers don't exist sets in and I promptly shoot up in the bed.

"I'll go fetch some water from outside." She murmurs, sliding past me to the back door with a pail in her hand. I watch her go and return to toss water in the pot before the fireplace multiple times before it filled to the top. I watch her pace back into the room and start unbuttoning her coat, then her shirt. I blush lightly out of embarrassment.

"Sorry, I'll give you some privacy." I say gently and make my way past her into the shop room. I close the door quietly with a sigh.

"What are you doing up at this time of night hero?" Locke says while tending to his fire behind the counter.

"Cynthia is just taking a bath." I say, pacing around the store while glancing at the items on the wall.

"Hm, I see. You know me and her go way back." He says, running his paw through his ginger ears as he props his feet up on his stool. "Few hundred years ago she used to work with us, well me and the blacksmith that founded this place. Name was Lundy. Nice guy really, only one who trusted non-humans enough to work with him."

"So you learned this all from him?" I say, pulling a hammer off the wall and giving it a swing. It's quite light.

"Yes, I helped Lundy in the crafting and Cynthia would rate weapons." He chuckles. "Lundy kind of just showed up one day with her with no explanation. I'm not even sure he knew much about her since she was always quite closed off with that kind of conversation." He grumbles, poking the coals.

"I asked her a bit before but she claims to have no memory of a lot of things early in her life."

"If that's the case, I think finding out more about her race would be quite consoling. After all she was quite torn up after Lundy passed away." He sighs "I'd give anything to see her find peace."

"I'll do my best if it means that much to her." I nod, putting the hammer back in it's place. "Do you know anyone or anywhere that would have more information about the village?"

Locke nods, "There's an old man that might know something, he's a beggar in the market. Just look for Markil, though I'm not sure if he's kicked the bucket or not."

"Thanks, I'll see if I can find him when we head into town for supplies tomorrow." I say tiredly, propping down on the padded bench near the door. "It might sound ridiculous Locke but I have no idea how I'll ever kill the Demon King if I can barely fight without the sword."

The little hobgoblin furrows his brow at the comment, sitting up in his chair to face me.

"Just focus on learning about this world and helping the people in it, you have all the time in the world to become a better fighter. You should also train without that sword as much as you can." He says, ears perking up.

"On that note..." He reaches behind the counter and pulls up a well-polished silver sword and places it down. "Take this, it's one of my newest models." He goes back again and pulls out a long dagger. "Take this one and give it to Cynthia as well, if you're heading out of town she'll need it." He nods and taps his foot.

I pick up the sword in my hands and give it a gloss over. "Thank you Locke, I'll do my best." he grins and watches me slide the sword into my belt and take the dagger.

"I'll see if she's done yet, you have a goodnight." I say, walking over and pushing against the door to the back. Locke simply nods before laying back in his seat comfortably. I peek into the dimly lit bedroom and walk myself in quietly. I find Cynthia lying on the bed in her white undergown. I smile and take a seat on the bench, laying back to relax myself.

"Do you hate me, Master Darwin?" Cynthia whispers.

"Not at all, why would you say that?" I mumble.

"Nevermind, I'm just overthinking." She sighs, rolling over on her stomach.

"Goodnight Cynthie." I whisper then yawn before I tumble into a deep sleep.