Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

A glimmering nail, transparent at some angles and opaque at others. A dead part of a god–it now lay in Linkle's hands. She knew little about the thing but had decided to keep her lips sealed until she could figure out exactly what the item was capable of. But to do that, her return to Athenia was inevitable and thus, the moment everyone had awakened she approached Raven.

Trying not to let her true intentions be known, Linkle casually leaned on her sides before starting to talk.

"I think I'll be heading back to Athenia," she told him, and everyone instantly turned to look at her in shock.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"That's the first thing you're gonna say in the morning?" Being the only one beyond getting shocked after recent events, Raven tried to keep a straight head as he understood why Linkle would try to leave them for now. "We'll let you know when we find that flower or get to the middle of the ocean from here to another mainland."

Nodding back, Linkle kept the secret about the peculiar nail to herself. She had her doubts about it being divine but didn't wanna tell anyone about it just yet. Raven too was holding a secret by not letting his intention of allowing Linkle to part be apparent.

'It's better for Maine and the rest of us for Linkle to stay away until this demon thing is resolved.'

He thought while extending his hand forward to shake the witch's hand.

Meanwhile, watching from a distance with heavy eye bags, Erika was holding a secret that neither of them was aware of. The book she'd gotten her hands on last night; she hadn't had the time to read through it since her attention was solely focused on the mimics once she'd gotten back from the church.

'I might need to tell him about that spirit teleporting too…'

She thought, watching the two shaking hands before Linkle took a few steps away and teleported back to her shop in Athenia.

Keeping a close eye on the whole thing, Athenia tried to look at the Djinn to check on them, but the rune that kept her out only worked where the magic for the party worked at the moment. And so, instead of stalking her chosen, she decided to look back to the island of Lantherem. Quiet with nothing really going on, the place was in serious need of commerce, especially since the only patrons–the pirates had just been to the party a few days ago.

'I guess that's the game we're playing, huh? Wait and see if the Djinn are worth it and whether they can help Raven and his companions defeat the Aran fleet.'

Back again to her chosen, she kept a close eye on their every move, but eventually the party left for the mansion to check on whatever decision the queen had made after a night of contemplation.

'Some days are slow as sin while others are a chaotic mess. I knew the god of time was dead but maybe he took the sanity of our lives with him.'

Unable to follow the chosen to the mansion, Athenia was left behind to wait for their return. All the while Raven and his party were headed back to meet the queen. The journey this time, however, was extremely short and the moment they stepped inside the mansion the queen teleported them right to the councilroom.

Struggling to find a way to get rid of her siblings once their contribution to the situation was over, Elana simply sat at the edge of her bed while the party stared at her from just inside her doorway. As finally turned to look at the group, she had one thought and one thought alone.

"My brother shouldn't be here until the afternoon," with a snap of her fingers, she conjured chairs next to everyone. "Him and my sisters aren't usually up at this hour."

Gesturing the group to ease into the seats, she leaned back, took a deep breath and heaved a heavy sigh while looking at the ceiling. Her legs paddled from the edge of the bed as she delved into her childish nature to escape the creeping reality.

"I'd prefer if you do it outside this island," slowly lowering her head, she looked right at Raven–knowing that he was planning to kill them already. Staring into his eyes, she peered into his thoughts, but the sight of something back at her from the darkness made her pull herself out in an instant. "K-killing them I mean, I'm sure you have a plan and if it's for my freedom in return for their deaths and one wish that I've promised you, I'll take my freedom over nasty blood all day.."

Her words lingered for a while as they settled inside everyone's head. Raven was the first to catch up as he was already thinking of ways to kill the siblings. With a deep nasal breath, he leaned forward and nodded at the queen–sealing between the two without having to say much else.

"Wait a second!" But not everyone was convinced just yet, and the one to voice his thoughts first was Amedith. As heads turned towards him, the warrior kept glancing between Raven and Elana. He had a question for them both and he demanded an answer. "We don't know anything about the strengths of her brothers and sisters, not to mention if we're doing this after handling the fleets, no way in the nine hells would we have enough energy to handle even one of them!"

Nodding his head along, Raven let the warrior speak his piece. Once he was done, however, he gave him a swift and conclusive response.

"They'll be tired too, and if push comes to shove we can teleport away or if we really need to end things then and there…" Turning his attention to the Djinn in the front, Raven asked a question of his own before completing his sentence. "Are your siblings demis or just you?"

For a moment the queen looked bewildered by his question but quickly decided to answer it.

"Yes, we're all demis. It helps to keep us alive for longer if we have a physical form, Djinns usually die off quickly if their magic has no flesh host."

Turning his head around again, Raven looked not at Amedith but at the priestess Erika and said but one word, yet it conveyed everything about his plans.

"Ostheriopryroprosis." The same rune that had helped them in the centuarian colosseum.

Note: This fucking name, I have to search it from a 450k words document to make sure I spelt it right lol