Point-of-View: Argent Stryker

———————————————————————————

"There’s still no sign of the two of them?" Frowned Ilex worriedly.

"Yeah, nothing at all...it’s almost been a full month at this point, Prysm and I have scoured the Dead Zone, but there’s no sign of them whatsoever. We did try questioning some of the residents, but they’re not exactly the most talkative bunch, they either just ignored us or told us to fuck off," I sighed in response.

"It’s so strange, where could they possibly have gone? I can’t imagine either of them being killed, so what happened?" Added Rosary in confusion.

"I wish I knew. I’m kind of at my wits’ end here," I shook my head with a grimace.

"I’m really, really worried...maybe they’re in the Light Continent somehow?" Suggested Prysm uncertainly.

"I doubt that’s the case, but I can’t think of any other explanations, so maybe," I replied skeptically.

Today’s the 8th of Maius, 2020, almost a full month has passed since Larrk and Izzy disappeared.

After the defeat of the True Nobility, Obsidian has become a lot more stable after a couple of weeks of picking up the pieces and hunting down the stragglers of that vile group.

And things have actually gotten better than they were before...having fought a common enemy, the divide between Commoners and Nobles has shrunk even further, with a lot less prejudice and discrimination than ever before.

The capital has offered a lot of help in rebuilding the towns, and the Nobles are now a lot more welcoming of Commoners in the capital, I never thought I’d see the day.

Of course, it’s not like the bad blood has completely disappeared, there are still those who are holding onto their resentment and hatred, but at the very least, it’s not as openly shown as it used to be.

With the way things are going, it may only be a matter of time before the line between Nobles and Commoners is blurred completely until it eventually starts to disappear.

And that’s great and all...but with my brother and girlfriend still missing, it’s been hard to appreciate the immense steps in the right direction that the nation has been taking.

On the flipside, things in Hematite have been getting even worse. The civil war here in Obsidian was thankfully short-lived, but despite that, the damage done was immense. I can only imagine how bad it is in a nation where a civil war has been raging for months on end, the amount of casualties must be astronomical. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Ilex has made a good connection with one of the Knight Captains, and he learnt from her that the current King, my uncle, Landis Dianus is planning to attack Hematite and occupy it under Obsidian’s control.

But that’s probably at least a few months away from happening, since our nation is still very much in the middle of recovering from the civil war that the True Nobility brought about.

"So, what do you plan to do now? Keep looking for them?" Ilex asked me.

"I don’t know...I’m at a complete loss, I have no idea where to-...," I began, before trailing off as the sound of a phone ringing interrupted me.

"Oh, sorry, I’m getting a call...looks like it’s from Phyurio," Remarked Gior, taking his phone out of his pocket and answering it, "Yes, hello? What’s up? Yeah. Yeah. Yes, I’m with him right now. Huh? Are you serious? Okay, I’ll let him know."

"Is everything okay?" Inquired Rosary, as he hung up and put his phone away.

"Yes, very much so. Argent, I’ve got some good news for you. He’s finally awake...your father, he’s regained consciousness," He informed me with a smile, placing a hand on my shoulder.

Huh? D-dad, he’s...he’s awake?

———————————————————————————

Point-of-View: Larrk Stryker

———————————————————————————

"Cheers...in all likelihood, this time tomorrow, we’ll finally be free," I grinned, clinking a bottle of beer with Lumena and Izzy.

"It’s about time...or we could just save some time if you let me bust through the ceiling," Suggested Izzy hopefully.

"Tempting, but no...we’ve made it this far on foot, I don’t see any reason to take a risk now," I replied with a wry smile.

"Agreed. Considering that we all very nearly died just under a month ago, I’m just glad to be alive, so I’m in no particular rush," Added Lumena in agreement.

"Aw, that’s too bad. I wanna see Argent again as soon as possible, so I think that risk is worth taking," Muttered Izzy with a disappointed pout.

"Yeah, well, you’re outvoted, so that’s that. Just stay patient for a little bit longer, okay?" I replied with a grin.

"Yeah, okay...," She relented sullenly, before suddenly standing up with a huff, "I’m feeling really restless, so I’m gonna go find some Monsters to kill. That might help me calm down a bit."

"Sure, knock yourself out. But don’t wander away too far, okay?" I called out after her as she took off.

"Yeah, yeah, I know!"

"She’s got so much energy. Where does it all come from?" Wondered Lumena in bemusement, as she chugged down the rest of her beer and tossed the bottle aside.

"Wish I knew, sometimes it’s exhausting just watching her."

"Yeah...on another note, looks like it’s just the two of us now," She mused, sliding over closer to me and bumping her shoulder against mine.

"Uh...yup, that does seem to be the case," I nodded, as I polished off the rest of my beer too.

"You know, I’ve never been intimate with someone on my terms, it was always forced on me as a slave...so I’ve developed a pretty negative view of sexual acts, it’s be weird if I didn’t. So, I never thought I’d desire it myself. But, you know what? I guess I was wrong...," She whispered into my ear seductively as she placed her hand on top of mine, tracing the back of my hand with her fingertips as she lightly blew into my ear, sending chills down my spine...

_____________________________________________

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this Chapter! Don’t forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

Also, check out my Insta account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.

Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming Chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:

https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP