[Arc] [Part 2] The Grave Robber - Trouble on the Countryside

After hours of mucky and arduous travel Doji finally made his way out of the marshes of Aube, despite his injuries he strode along the road towards Jewel’s border city at a rapid pace. Nightfall had come, and the chirping of crickets chimed from the bountiful province’s lush and verdant grass. The giant oni had been burned, stabbed, shot, and swamped, but he survived; hopefully, Jewel wouldn’t put up similarly fierce resistance.

From the heights of their den at the top of the towering Zénith de Saphir Luccia’s assassins, a group known as Les Dames Terribles, shifted into action; the Kuja woman and her four best killers equipped themselves with before filtering down to the building’s ground floor. The group of muscular and eclectic women cut an imposing silhouette against the bright and sparkling city of Sapphire’s streets.

The group quickly set out on the path leading towards Aube, a number pf provincials had seen the creature traveling this main road, and thus the Duchess had afforded her assassins several “amenities” along the path. Two wagons full of the tools that the women had asked for, and a staged camp for Luccia to oversee her ladies’ work.

It was not long before the blundering troll poked his red hair and horns over a nearby hillside. The huntresses looked out towards the creature excitedly, each eager to prove themselves and revel in the spoils of the bounty they intended to collect. Luccia had instructed each of the women to work in pairs, and then to regroup if their initial plans didn’t yield results.

Luccia giggled, her eyes widening with venomous intent as she laid eyes on the target. “Bisa-sa-sa!” Her bubbled gum blew larger and larger as she exhaled her laughter into it. “Bridgitte, Marcy, why don’t you lead things off for us dearies?” The tall woman leaned over and smiled proudly to her subordinates, in her eyes most any member of Les Dames Terribles was likely more than the monster’s match.

The burly, blonde, and broad-chested Bridgitte cracked her knuckles, she had wrestled bears before; but hadn’t had much practice with “giants” outside her bouts with the towering Luccia. If the incoming creature’s lankiness was anything to go off of she’d have more than a fighting chance.

Marcy was a little lady who loved and studied poisons with a passion. Though her stature was tiny compared to the other tall and muscular women of the group, the dusky-skinned woman’s intelligence and study of virulents made her an indispensable asset. As Bridgitte began stretching and readying herself for their assault the little assassin fetched a large sack of caltrops from one of the wagons.

“Ever taken down something like that?” Bridgitte asked her petit compatriot, sizing Doji up, she was obviously intimidated by the monster’s massive frame.

“I haven’t,” Marcy answered matter of factly, “However, I suspect I’ve come up with something that should do the trick,” A wicked grin stretched across her face.

Bridgitte’s ally was starting to excite her and scare her. “What do you have in mind?”

“Poi-sho-sho-shi!” The poisoner giggled. “Some horse tranquilizer…” She seemed giddy at the simplicity of her solution. “... and a bit of toad venom! Shi-shi-shi!” Marcy snickered menacingly as the two began walking the path down towards their target.

Doji had begun whimsically skipping and scampering along the cobbled road up to Sapphire, the sensation of the firm brick beneath his feet was a welcome reprieve from the uncertain ground of Aube.

The two women approached silently, the cover of night working in their favor as it often did. There’s no way it’ll see us coming. Marcy thought.

And the boy certainly didn’t see the assassins coming, how curious; he was however, quick to feel Bridgitte's heavy footsteps shake the earth as the two drew near.

“[ass=What made him realize the passer-by was a woman?]Hello, ma’am[/ass]!” The boy greeted the woman who had approached him so fearlessly, evidently missing the impact of Marcy’s lighter and more precise footsteps, “Could I ask you, am I headed the right way up to Jewel?”

The assassins did not respond. Marcy readied a syringe, and the hulking woman picked up her smaller ally in a single hand.

“Ma’am?” the oni inquired, confused as to why she was ignoring him.

As the monstrous traveler blabbered the burly Bridgitte hurled little Marcy towards him. The poisoner held her needle like a dagger as she flew toward the creature’s chest.

Doji felt the little woman hurtling through the wind just too late; with a swift motion, Marcy drove her payload into one of the oni’s major arteries. The tranquilizer was delivered. As the beast swatted for her, the pint-sized assassin lept back from his shoulder and scattered her toad-poisoned caltrops all across the cobble and surrounding grass.

“Yugh…” Doji’s vision had already started blurring, “... what did you do to me? Who are you?”

“Poi-shi-shi!” Marcy cackled madly, “Don’t worry about it too much, big fella…” The short mad woman cooed with a creepy sharpness, “...soon you’ll go to sleep, we’ll slit yer throat, and the nightmare will be over.”

The veins in Doji’s forehead and around his eyes bulged in fury as he understood what was going on. Hired killers were here for his head.

“The nightmare? Is that what you think of my life?” He fell to his hands and spoke through gritted teeth as he clung to consciousness.

“Whatever sick ambitions drove you to this land, they were the waking nightmare of your life, and now they’ll be the making of your deathbed!” Marcy spoke back callously, watching her poison take effect, and grinning as the creature attempted to claw its way towards her, slamming its hand down onto a pile of poison-laden caltrops.

“Ya…” Doji inhaled sharply the toad venom shot through his veins like a rush of adrenaline, “...HOO!” The giant oni shot back to its full height, throwing its arms up seemingly involuntarily, “Yo-ka-ka-ka-iii!” the monster cackled uproariously before speaking back to Marcy, “What a cruel little thing you are!”

A storm brewed within the rōnin’s pale and cloudy blue eyes, his fury washing across the field. His hair hung, flowing downwards like a waterfall of blood; from the shadow cast across his face a single evil-eye almost seemed to fixate itself down on the girls.

“To cull my dream like a deformed calf?” The rōnin oni drew his swords with a clumsy and uncontrolled motion. “So what if it is a nightmare?! This life is mine to live!” Now hallucinating the teenager lost all semblance of volume control, and thus his proclamation boomed across the hills leading up to Sapphire.

[ass=Good to see you building on top of this moral conflict!]Echoes of Stein’s poisonous gloating rang throughout Doji’s mind[/ass], Marcy’s toxic delight would bring a smile to that shadowy demon’s cold black heart. Tenebrous images of human-like silhouettes seemed to form before the creature’s vacant eyes; this venom had stimulated the blind oni’s visual centers, a new sensation that was utterly bizarre to him.

Though Bridgitte and Marcy tried their hardest to salvage their scheme the monster had not reacted to the poisoner’s mixture as she had expected. Any normal beast should have fallen into an incubus dream and begun to seize to death; this monstrous prey simply twitched as it rampaged deeper and deeper into its psychosis. There was no way the two assassins could stop Doji on their own.

“Bi-sa-sa! Look at ‘im go!” Luccia cackled in amusement with the modest fruits of her girls’ efforts, “That thing must be out of its fucking mind right now.”

It was true, Doji was out of his fucking mind right now.

The oni's ambitions wound in his mind's eye like the serpentine back of a dragon. Could he be the swordsman that his mother had dreamed of creating? Or was he fated to be no better than a wild beast?

The Kuja leader of the assassins popped another piece of gum into her mouth as she looked down towards the rampaging oni throwing himself about in dizzy circles with his swords. As she thought of her next course of action she blew a bubble until it popped.

“Got it!” The tall and statuesque woman wiped the pink bubble gum from her rosy lips, “Alright, you two. I think most of what you had in mind should still work.”

Luccia and her two undeployed allies huddled a moment before the three excitedly agreed. The amazonian kissed one of her allies on the forehead and patted the other encouragingly on the back. Though she was a young woman the Kuja always had a habit of behaving like a weird old Aunt.

Now it was Shi and Lucrezia’s turn to take their shot at the giant, delusional, and berserk monster. If toxins and fists weren’t enough to get the job done then perhaps it was time to give trapping and firearms their shot.

Shi was the member of the Dames most notable for her accuracy with a pistol. A tall, quiet, and raven-haired woman Shi was the picture of graceful beauty and had only been led to the industry of assassination by a stroke of familial misfortune. She never seemed to take joy in her work, she had seemed excited for this mission though; at least until she’d been paired up with her partner…

… Lucrezia served her role in the group as a trapper, adept in the construction and deployment of hunting and booby traps of all kinds. Her busty, slender, and elongated figure allowed the curly-haired lady to surveil the mayhem that her trickery could wreak upon her prey. The trapper was known as one of the most sadistic members of the company, perhaps second only to Luccia. By all accounts she was a bit annoying.

“Lalala~” Lucrezia sang a little melody to herself as she fetched rope, bear traps, and barrels of ball bearings from the wagons, “How exciting it must be down there! Those two are so lucky! I can’t believe mistress Luccia sent them down first.” The bizarre and buxom belle pouted to herself as she readied her offensive.

Shi looked back at her partner with a confused glare. The Dames as a whole was largely split between two contingencies:
Professional women who were forced into this line of work.
And wanton psychopathic sadists who used their job to express their dark fantasies.

Lucrezia fell into the latter camp. The exasperated Shi followed just behind the skipping and singing Lucrezia, following the madwoman to the fringes of the monster’s area of influence. “Think you can get a clear shot down there, Shi?” The curly-haired lady gestured down to a nearby dip in the hillside.

“I’d reckon so,” The professional lady spoke with an odd grit to her tone.

“Ladidadidaha,” Lucrezia giggled, “Pardon me then mister sheriff!” The woman winked to her companion before prancing into the field like a demonic doe. Here she began laying her bear traps, weaving netting, and soaking the area in oil.

Shi aimed her pistol down at her oblivious colleague before miming a shot, “Bang. All it would take.”

Once Lucrezia finished her trapping she called over to Marcy and Bridgitte who had thus far been able to avoid the brunt of the blind giant’s wrath. “Yoohoo! Hey girls I don’t suppose you’d be willing to let us give it a go would ya?”

The assassins quickly darted back towards their allies. Marcy, a kindred spirit to Lucrezia, was intrigued by what the trapper had in store for the beast, “Damn those are some big bear traps, Lucy.”

“Ladidi! Don’y make me blush Marcy!” The busty and curly-haired damsel looked down fawning at her small companion’s compliment. “They’re sharp too! I wonder if they’ll cleave his leg right off?” A malicious smile washed across Lucrezia’s face.

“Oh, giant boy!” The trapper called down the hillside to the hallucinating Doji, “We’re all up here! Plotting your demise!” She spoke her threatening words with a sing-song voice that made them sound almost friendly, if not for their overt saccharine sting.

While most people found Lucrezia’s voice coarse and grating, within his delusions her tone sounded pleasant and inviting. “Oh! Yo! Let me help!” The adrenaline had equalized within the oni’s veins, for the time being at least; he was now only subject to the euphoric delusional effects of the tranquilizer.

The giant scurried nimbly up to the hill just above clambering his way forwards and keeping his balance by hooking the ground below.

Snaps rang across the field as Lucrezia’s bear traps clamped onto Doji’s swords. The trap assassin’s teeth seemed sharp, her eyes white with rage at the failure of her weapons.

“Ladideeek! What’s wrong with you?!” The ostensibly proper lady feigned at fainting before snapping back into her vitriol, “My pretty little snap jaws were supposed to tear your legs clean off you piece of shit!” Lucrezia rarely used vulgar language, but when enraged there was little she would not resort to.

“Ugh, what’s wrong with me?...” The night that Stein deceived Doji into helping him assassinate Leonidas hung heavy in the giant’s delirious mind, “...what’s wrong with you?!” The brobdingnagian lazily swung one of his swords, more like a mace with the newfound attachment, down towards the crowd of dames.

Shi fired her shot towards the creature as it attacked, Bridgitte and Lucrezia attempted to pull the monster into the net that the trapper had set. Perhaps all would have gone to plan if the creature’s movements weren’t so violent and erratic.

Shi’s bullet shot past Doji’s ear, and through his flowing hair as he stumbled and scrambled up the hillside. Luccia looked down astonishedly towards the mammoth’s trampling beeline, in mere moments he was upon her, wrecking the wagons and campsite in its wake. The Kuja woman didn’t often have to look up to the targets of her assassinations.

“Biya! Where do you think you’re going, tough guy?” Luccia shouted as the monster charged past. The swift assassin leaped into the air, ready to bring her mace down on the oni’s skull, she was just too slow as the creature’s long legs carried it further and further out of her reach.

“I’m gonna get in there n' take the Jewel!” Doji shouted incoherently back over his shoulder.

Lustrous Rubies, Sparkling Emeralds, Glimmering Diamonds, Twinkling Sapphires, visages of these gems swirled in the oni’s mind as he crashed through the city’s gates.

Luccia roared in frustration as she chased after the creature and onto Sapphire's beautiful city streets. “We'll see about that buddy! You're already a dead man!"

Post Word Count: 2,414
Total Word Count: 12,956

Province of Jewel- City of Sapphire

Doji met little opposition upon entering the gates of Sapphire; most of the knights of the province were redirected towards the hunting effort, and thus little protection remained for the Duchess’ cities. It was a clever ploy by the crown to police the lesser noble’s impropriety at the war meeting and her suspected treachery.

Luccia and her assassins were quick to regroup after their opening gambit and begin pursuing the monster into the city. Marcy scrambled up to the front of the group, leading the chase; despite her short legs the little lady was the nimblest of the group.

“Ugh. I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this,” the towering Kuja spoke back to her posse as the women sprinted down the city streets towards the rampaging giant. “Marcy, have you been holding out on us?”

“I certainly wasn’t thinking of it like that,” The short woman shot an irritated glance up at her boss, “Did you want me to just jam him with every expensive poison I had?”

Luccia looked back expectantly before shrugging her shoulders. “Was that toad venom cheap?”

“Poi-shi-shi!” The little lady giggled as she replied, “Some party boy just gave it to me so I don’t know!” Marcy threw her hands into the air and flippantly shrugged her shoulders back at Luccia.

“Yeah, you're big on parties, Mars?” Luccia teased her nerdy compatriot.

“What just cause I’m smart? I’ll have you know that I have a rich and fulfilling personal life,” Marcy broke out into a full sprint towards the giant, the red-haired oni had started rollicking through a gathering of street-food carts, “Listen Lucc, drugs are just another type of poison…” As she charged for Doji the pint-sized assassin drew a fist full of small syringes from the inside of her cloak, “...Plus! What’s the point in doin’ all this if we don’t get a little cut of the high life? You don’t hear me bothering you about all your lady servants eh?”

Luccia looked flustered as her ally went on the offensive.

The sounds and smells of the district spirited Doji away from his darker hallucinations and conjured forth a whimsical dreamscape within his mind: stout toadlike men scurried around, frying and stewing salivating dishes, pigs gorged at the feast that was presented to them, the shadowy figures that plagued the oni’s mind donned masks and seemed to taunt him from within the cornucopia.

I’m gonna eat it all, the yokai thought, his stomach growling like a ravenous jackal.

Commonfolk fled from the rampaging monster as it sniffed out and gobbled up fluffy crêpes, succulent soups, glistening fries, bitter chocolates, and the country’s signature [ass=I like this nod to the Montblancs.]candied chestnuts[/ass]. To the street’s chef, this insatiable incubus was nightmare incarnate, to Marcy the gorging beast presented a perfect opportunity.

Or so it seemed. Marcy lept atop the giant’s back, and as Doji chewed and chowed down his neck tensed, providing just enough muscular resistance to prevent the woman from driving her syringes into the creature’s thick hide, “You thick piece of shit!” The furious nerd snarled down at her prey.

One of Marcy’s needles had snapped, pairing well with her fraying psyche. The thin needle of the nerd’s prized syringe, filled with the castor oil derivative ricin, had shattered against the creature’s neck. As the oblivious giant crawled through the streets shoveling food into his mouth, Marcy snapped needle after needle. Of course, these mini-disposable syringes were too good to be true; that stuporous jackass at the party had conned her!

As Marcy’s last needle snapped so too did she, Am I not good enough? The young lady had staken much of her self-worth on her superior intellect and ability, “How dare you! You impossible fucking thing! You fucking fairytale! I’ll fucking end you right here!” The tiny woman roared as she grabbed Doji’s neck and began strangling him.

Doji stood up and gulped down the last of his food before turning his head back, swatting Marcy off of himself with his left horn. The fall from the giant oni’s full height was a substantial one for the small woman, who in her distress, was unable break her fall. Marcy’s eyes went white as she thudded to the ground unconscious.

“Yeukh. Crazy little witch, there’s plenty of food for both of us,” the hallucinating creature spoke down to Marcy with an illucid and irritated expression. Within the depths of his dreams, Doji perceived Marcy as an acupuncturist sorceress from the depths of his stupor.

“Marcy!” Luccia cried from amongst the fleeing crowds. The assassins narrowly prevented their ally from being trampled to death as the huge blundering boy rampaged through Sapphire, and out towards one of Jewel’ other settlements.

Province of Jewel- City of Ruby: War

The city of Ruby stood proudly, dividing the fringes of Jewel from its center. Though the city’s fortifications were modest, its population consisted of Jewel’s craftiest gold and silver smiths. During the nighttime, the embers of the city’s forges caused it to glint red and orange like the gem of its namesake.

The giant oni had tripped across the countryside for days, losing himself amongst Jewel’s glistening wilds and pleasant townships, and being chased further and further into the province. Luccia and her assassins had been able to distantly tail their roving target, getting lost as often as he did in their attempts to follow after the blind creature.

By the time Doji reached the simple iron gates of Ruby, he looked scraggly and weathered by his psychedelic wanderings. A stout but powerfully built goldsmith was enjoying an evening walk about town, bidding good evening to the smithies finishing the last of their evening’s labor. “Hello Lucas, I see the Duke's coronet is coming along rather nicely! Those spinels are captivating.”

“You’re too kind Bryce. What…” the smith’s thoughts were interrupted, and his eyes widened as he saw the creature looming above, “... the hell is that?!”

Bryce whipped his head back to look at the monster. His eyes bulged out of his head as he and his fellow jewelry smith let out terrified screams.

“Is there war here?”

Just recently there had been, one that had brought tragedy to both men’s homes. The inebriated giant was merely mistaking the sounds of smithing for those of battle and was thus oblivious to the suffering that his question seemed to cause in the two scared men.

“Is that what you are?” Bryce spoke solemnly, choking down his fear. “Some specter of war?”

Though the insolent and intoxicated imp’s first impulse was to deny this insinuation, the idea sat with him, mutating and percolating within the recesses of his turbulent consciousness. Is that what it meant to be a warrior?

“Maybe. But not the one that haunts your lands,” in the distance lightning crackled in the sky.

“Why did you come here, monstrous one?” It was rare that a man was insightful enough to question the creature’s motives; more often assumptions were made, and conflict built upon them.

“I came here looking for my mentor,” he thought back to his mother, who had trained him to this point, “I’ve never met him. I think he’s dead.”

“How can a man you’ve never met be your mentor?” Bryce inquired.

Doji struggled to remain lucid, rubbing his temples in an attempt to sober up more. “He’s…” Amongst his stupor, the oni struggled even to describe his dream. Perhaps it was not even his dream that he was following, “... he’s the reason I came to be.”

Indeed. It was Mishima’s swordsmanship that had been handed down through the generations and tempered by Hanako’s ruthless training that had allowed the blind troll to bud into a swordsman in the first place.

“Your father?”

“Yo-ka!” Doji chuckled, “Doubtful! He’s an ordinary man just like you!” The creature jovially gestured with a pointed finger.

“Oh, and to answer your question…” The giant oni shot a friendly smirk down towards [dass]Pierre and Bryce[cmt]Who's Pierre? Wasn't it Lucas and Bryce? I'm confused.[/cmt][/dass], “…[ass=I see what you did there.]I’m no specter[/ass].” The heavens laughed at the irony of the crossbred-oni’s phrasing, “I’m all flesh and bone! Down to the heart! Yahoo!” The creature thumped its chest braggadociously.

The three laughed amongst themselves like old friends for a couple of minutes before the peculiar creature lurched over to the city’s cemetery, kicked off his shoes, read the tombstone’s inscriptions with his fingers, and left.

A little while later…

Just before Bryce set off to make his way back to his cottage for the evening, he was surprised and elated at the sight of his daughter.

“Bridgitte!” The goldsmith called over to his daughter and her fellow traveling companions, “Come over here! Lucas and I just met the most bizarre person!”

Bridgitte looked to Luccia, Lucrezia, and Shi before the four hesitantly approached the smithy’s porch. All the ladies except Bridgitte were nearly silent during the conversation between father and daughter, making simple introductions, and only replying when spoken to in passing.

“It’s been months sweetheart!” The short man hugged his tall daughter. “I wish you’d told me you were coming back home! I’d have wrangled up some of your mom’s cookbooks and made dinner!”

The two looked solemn at the mention of Bridgitte’s mother. Anne-Josèphe Méricourt had been a valiant opponent to the invaders of Lvneel before she met her end in battle.

“Don’t worry about it, dad,” the assassin held back tears as she spoke, “Seems like you two have been having a fun night.”

Bryce accepted his daughter’s offer not to dwell on the past, “Good god hon you should have seen this thing that just rolled through town.”

Luccia and Bridgitte raised their eyebrows.

“I thought it was gonna kill us,” Lucas muttered with an amused tune.

“Yes, I suppose it was a giant oni,” the goldsmith had heard tales of many tribes of people from his late wife, “Though what a ghastly sight to behold, I took him for a spirit at first.”

An awkward pause passed as the assassins held their composure.

“Nice enough fella I suppose,” Lucas chuckled at his peer’s naivete.

Luccia abruptly broke away from the conversation and began walking towards the far edge of town. Shi and Lucrezia quickly followed, leaving Bridgitte stuck with her confused father.

“I’ll meet up with you later!” Bridgitte called before turning back to her father. However that night Bridgitte would spend the night at her father’s cottage, wishing to keep the lonely aging man company.

The assassins chased after their bounty without hesitation.

“Wanna bet whether or not she’ll catch back up?” Luccia remarked snarkily.

Shi grimaced with a bit of amusement. Her mind was on something else.

“Oh, so cruel Luccia!” The gentlewoman trapper remarked with a bit of elation. “I hope the damn thing hasn’t gotten itself too lost,” Lucrezia was tired of chasing this beast through the lush forests of Jewel.

“I doubt it,” The group chased down the road leading out of town, “Even if this guy is headed for Diamond he’ll have to pass by Emerald, and I doubt he’ll be able to get himself lost out there.”

Indeed the rolling green fields of the province’s center would be difficult for anybody to get lost in. These plains would be an easy landscape to spot a giant along, and with a bit of good fortune, they could serve the assassins well as a staging ground.

Province of Jewel- Edge of the City Emerald

The beautiful expanse of Emerald, a city on the hill, the bastion that overlooked the sprawling fields surrounding Jewel’s capital city of Diamond. Emerald was the second most wealthy of Jewel’s cities, and had the infrastructure to prove it; the city’s towering walls and concrete aqueducts marked it as an impenetrable fortress for would-be invaders.

Doji, stumbling upon the city’s walls, picked up a rock and tossed it high against the wall.

A lone crack against the city’s pristine walls echoed out along the lush grasslands. The stone thudded pitifully to the ground. Doji stood in silence for a moment with an exhausted and frustrated expression on his face.

“Fuck!”

The monster’s exclamation rang out across the rolling fields and up to one of the city’s few active guardsmen patrolling the wall at the time.

[npc=misc]“Hey! You’re that monster! Fuck you buddy!”[/npc] The guard called down with impunity from atop his ivory tower, firing his crossbow down towards the oni.

Doji disgruntledly walked away from the wall as the bolt’s end sank into the ground nearby.

[npc=misc]“That’s right! Walk away!”[/npc] The guard taunted.

The boy shot a nasty expression back towards the man, snarling and furrowing his brow like a fledgling drake.

[npc=misc]“Bahaha! Am I supposed to be scared a’ that?”[/npc]

You would be if you came down from there. Doji thought to himself, dismissing the petty man and walking back towards the brick road he had broken from. He figured he’d get himself to Diamond, then be on to Nilf or the capital. This countryside had proved vexing and resilient in the face of the giants trifling.

The jaws of the bear trap snapped with mechanical swiftness, the interceptor was just fast enough to keep his leg.

“Ladidaha!” Lucrezia giggled gleefully as Doji attempted to pull the teeth of her trap out of his leg. “What a remarkable specimen you are!” The belle smiled cruelly, tenting her finger against a length of string attached to her pièce de résistance.

What a cruel mechanism the curly-haired woman had designed, the small mechanical box sat in the middle of the road, a pull-string running to its operator. Within the box’s recesses had been stashed a length of razor wire, shrapnel, and high explosives ready to detonate and rip a target to shreds.

The red-haired giant would be ripped apart, as though run through a blender, “Goodbye monster! Just like a beast! No matter how much you struggle, the huntress always wins!”

At least he would have been if a traitor hadn’t been amongst the assassin’s midsts. Shi couldn’t stand this bitch. Her shot punctuated Lucrezia’s monologuing perfectly, piercing the cruel dame through her chest.

“Oh god, not you guys again,” Doji spoke through gritted teeth, snapping the trap biting at his leg into pieces.

“Shi! What are you doing?” Luccia shouted at the demure apostate.

“I can’t stand this…” Shi spoke with a deathly calm,  “...all of these wanton psychopaths. These aren’t the people you hire for this sort of professional work Luccia.” The slender woman looked up towards Doji.

“This thing is no more wicked than I.”

Luccia looked astonished at her comrade’s betrayal and sympathy for the enemy.

“Only possessed of different circumstances.”

Luccia swung her morningstar down at her betrayer, missing by inches as the agile woman dashed away.

“Well, while you three settle this, I’m going to be on my way,” Doji spoke nonchalantly as Lucrezia clung to life.The giant began longstriding away as Luccia chased after the fleeing Shi.

Shortly after, in the City of Emerald

Within the agricultural and consumeristic splendor of Emerald needs and wants of the citizenry always seemed within reach, it was always safe here, almost like a little utopia.

If only things were so perfect. The black markets of Emerald were churning with gold, berri, and exotic goods, much of which was supplied by the pirate ally of Jewel’s royalty. That’s what the investigator had come to this country for, Shi sought the woman who had killed her father, the executioner Henrietta Sanson.

It seems the man had departed, called to the country’s capital city according to the letter sat upon his desk. Shi headed for Rose immediately, stealing a fine horse from one of the city’s stables.

Province of Jewel- City of Diamond

“Puru-puru-puru,” Luccia’s transponder, a fashionable and bubblegum-chewing snail, purred. The Kuja woman answered dutifully.

“Hello Duchess, I have no good news. There have been complications.”

“It seems the creature’s capabilities may be less than we anticipated. It wrecked some street vendors in Sapphire, but its rampage has been nothing compared to what it was able to accomplish against the yokels of Aube,” The composed Duchess spoke coldly and with a biting tone to her voice, “It may prove less costly to repair the street than to pay some exorbitant bounty on the thing’s head.”

After all this effort, the injury of her elites, and the treachery of Shi; now her pay was at risk?

“So you would gain no benefit from taking the creature in?” Luccia’s lips curled into a cunning smirk, “No use for a Royal Knight? It could work well as an olive branch to make amends with the queen you’ve spurned.”

“Hmm...” The prideful Duchess pondered from the depths of her chambers. “...and who would I promote amongst these brats?” She thought rather lowly of her knights.

“Perhaps I could help you,” Luccia had a terrible plan.

“What do you mean?” The duchess inquired with a confused, but interested tone.

“If we can bring this thing in…” Luccia smiled wildly, “... And seat me in a place where I can confer privately with the Queen.”

A moment of wicked silence passed between the transponding women.

“Then perhaps we’ll have a vacancy for the crown. Lest that Duke takes it.”

“That terrifying man...” the fearful Duchess was nervous even to speak against the disguised pirate lord, “...perhaps, we can discuss this further once you’ve captured the creature.”

“Very well my liege.”

“Ko-Cha,” Luccia hung up the call and traveled towards Diamond.

After a while she caught back up to Doji, having given up her chase on her elusive turncoat. The monster was at the edge of the lower district that surrounded the towering and prestigious inner sanctum of Diamond.

“Damn lady, you’re pretty persistent. I’m trying to stay lucid and ignore that you and the rest of your… uh, employees, were trying to assassinate me?” The red-haired oni muttered groggily back towards his pursuer.

“Then why not treat me as a warrior and face me?” Luccia challenged the rōnin , beckoning to the blind brobdingnagian with her bludgeon.

“The underhandedness of an assassin…” he recalled his night of shame. “...is a hard stain to wash from one’s honor.”

“You said you’d ignore it!” Luccia cried mockingly.

“Pshh, Shini-hi-hi.” Doji chuckled with a condescending smile, “Alright alright, beneath this Diamond let us dance!”

Luccia dashed towards the giant as he drew his swords.

The two oversized humans rampaged through the lower district, Luccia swung her mace relentlessly, as Doji dodged and parried away from his opponent. Finally, some real damage to the province’s property values. He remembered how he had reacted when Stein had tricked him, Luccia was in much the same state of rage.

“Fight back kid!” Luccia growled at her vexing opponent, swinging her mace once again for his head.

The boy ducked and sighed to himself, “If you insist, I suppose we’ll both keep playing pretend.”

The giant swung the blunt ends of his swords into the Kuja woman’s chest.

Luccia grunted as she stumbled backward, spitting out her bubble gum before speaking back to her opponent. “What do you mean? Is this some kind of game to you?”

“Not quite. More like a play.” Doji waved his mask in front of his face with a serene shit-eating grin sat upon his face. “Neither of us is at our best,” The boy gestured down towards the panting and disheveled Luccia, “What’s the point in keeping this up? As warriors I mean. If you’d like me to drop that pretense…”

He shot a menacing expression toward the Kuja woman.

“...then I can treat you as a common cutthroat.”

The massive warrior spun his body, kicking Luccia through a nearby building.

This damn thing. Who does that bastard think he is? I’m gonna catch you, you son of a bitch. Luccia’s final vindictive thought ran through her mind as she collapsed from exhaustion.

Doji breathed a sigh of relief, he was almost on the verge of collapsing himself. It was his iron will and giant constitution that allowed him to hold out. This would not be the last he’d see of Luccia of Les Dames Terribles.

With his pursuers defeated the oni terrorized and reveled in taunting the people of Diamond. Politely investigating their cemeteries before continuing his rampage. Between Diamond’s illustrious casinos, prestigious jewelry shops, wineries, and merchants of fine goods the blind man’s bleary blundering proved quite profitable as he stuffed item after item into his pouch.

The Duchess’ guards escorted her to the wall of Diamond’s upper district. Here, from atop her perch, the royal looked down on the monster plaguing her city.

“Keep it out of the upper district, no matter what,” She spoke to her lieutenant.

[npc=misc]“Yes ma’am,”[/npc] the man saw to it that the city’s remaining knights stationed themselves at the gates of the upper district’s walls.

Comically, as soon as the Duchess made her way down from the wall, she came upon the giant oni who had blown past the upper district’s guards and busted his way through its gates.

“Ayeeek!” The Duchess screamed, “Guards! Help me!”

“Eh? You have guards up here?” Doji was confused. He had faced almost no resistance in the lower district outside of Luccia. “Why don’t they have guards out there? You folks are rich enough that you’re willing to watch your whole city crumble around you?”

“Don’t you question me you damn mongrel! There are haves and have-nots in this world! The people of our stature are worth preserving! Begone from this place lest you incur further wrath from the crown!” The haughty royal blustered, moving backward to put distance between herself and the brute.

Doji quickly closed the distance, and hoisted the Duchess by her elaborate dress, scruffing her like an angry kitten.

“Hey. Here’s another question… ” The giant spoke nonchalantly, holding the woman in front of his face, demanding her attention. “... what did you do to earn your stature?”

The Duchess stammered before screaming, terrified by the curious creature that held her aloft. Doji dropped her to the ground in disgust, the duchess landing on her ass and collapsing into her fancy dress.

“I’m sure your great grandfather must have done something remarkable,” he remarked condescendingly.

The Duchess stared in horror with white eyes as the oni began heading for her manor.

“N-no…” She whimpered, fearing the property damage the oni would inflict upon her, “... this can’t be happening.” As the sounds of destruction and robbery echoed throughout the streets of Diamond’s upper district the Duchess fainted at the nightmarish fate that had befallen her precious city.

The Road out of Jewel

It was finally time for the giant to make his way onto the next province, having plundered the wealthiest city of Jewel for pearls, gemstones, jewelry, and other fine goods. Doji reveled in his spoils, feeling the finely crafted goods against his fingertips; in truth, the oni could appreciate little of their beauty, but their value wasn’t lost on him.

As he made his way to the crossing the giant heard the huffing and stomping of several horses. None of the mounted knights attacked the creature as it approached.

“Pardon me, do you fellows know the way to Nilf?” Doji asked in earnest.

A couple of the men chuckled.

[npc=misc]“We’ve no intention of letting you cross into Nilf. However, we’ve set a direct path to the Capital for you,”[/npc] a stern and wizened knight spoke bluntly to the monster he was ordered to contain.

“And what if I want to pass through, I was hoping to visit every province in the country.”

The sharp jab of a lance against Doji’s side made clear his situation, [npc=misc]“I’m afraid that we won't let you do that.”[/npc]

As the giant attempted to trample his way through the checkpoint he was met with several more lance strikes, dissuading him from further attempts.

“Jeez, I get it. Alright, so I’m heading to the capital? You all must have a lovely welcoming party planned for me.”

[npc=misc]“Something like that,”[/npc] the stern knight lied through his teeth, [npc=misc]“You’ll be heading down this road,”[/npc] The knight sent Doji off in such a way that he would head directly into Castor’s trap, “It’ll be hard to get lost. Bon voyage!”

Upon embarking the monster was dutifully herded by knights stationed on the outer wall of Rose.

Post Word Count: 4,050
Total Word Count: 17,006