“Sooooo,” Joan said softly, occasionally glancing at Ifrit. The girl looked as taut as an overpulled bowstring. She hadn’t touched the tea in front of her, only sitting and waiting. “How you two been?”

“Not well,” Ifrit said. “He is going to be okay, isn’t he?”

“He’ll be fine,” Joan said. “It’s just some blood loss. I lose a lot more than that all the time and I’m half his size.”

Ifrit gave another soft sigh before leaning back in the chair. “He shouldn’t have been hurt at all. It’s all my fault.”

“What happened?” Joan asked. “Why were they after you?”

“We don’t know,” Ifrit said. “They’ve been hunting me for so long. For a little bit it seemed they had finally stopped, after we left Hearth. But then… well…” She looked around for a moment before speaking in a soft, hushed tone. “When will the Chosen arrive? Your father is one, correct? This is his keep?”

“Hardwin won’t be coming, at least for a while,” Joan said. “He’s with most of the other Chosen working to put an end to the war between the demons and, well, I guess everyone else. You’re right, though. This is his keep.”

“You… call him by his name? Not father?” Ifrit asked, staring at her.

Joan gave a shrug. “I guess? It’s… he… him being my father is kind of… new. To both of us. We didn’t know that… it’s a long story. I usually just call him that when I want to weird him out.”

The look Ifrit gave her made her suspect that only made it more confusing.

“Don’t worry about it,” Joan said. “So you don’t have any idea who they are?”

“I… well…” Ifrit said nervously before looking around again. “You are a daughter of the Chosen. Not to mention you saved us that one time. If we can’t trust you, who can we trust?” Joan couldn’t help but feel the girl was telling herself that more than her. “We have one thing. This is why we came to meet with the Chosen. Before those… things ambushed us.” She reached into her bag and rummaged around in it. For a moment she looked panicked before letting out a sigh of relief and pulling out a small scroll. She opened it to reveal a lot of meaningless letters, likely a code of some sort. What was most important, however, was a small symbol at the end. A scorpion curled in a circle.

“Huh,” Joan said. “The Scorpion’s Venom. I didn’t think they’d pop up for another decade or two.”

“WHAT?!” Ifrit yelled so loud it made Joan’s ears ring. “Y-you know them? YOU KNOW WHO THEY ARE?!”

Joan cringed a moment before the door opened and Vivian came rushing inside. “I heard yelling. Is everything okay?” she asked, her eyes shifting to Joan. “Are you okay?”

“Ears ringing, but I’m fine,” Joan said. “I’m right here. No need to yell. Do you mind?” she asked, holding her hand out. Ifrit, grudgingly, handed it over. She looked it over for a moment before nodding. “Yeah. Probably them.”

“And who, exactly, is ‘them’?” Ifrit asked. “We’ve looked everywhere to find them! There’s been nothing! How do YOU know them?”

“Uhhhhh…” Joan said before giving a sheepish smile. “It’d be really hard to explain and it’s kind of… a Chosen thing. But don’t worry, they’re not that big a deal.”

“Oh Joan,” Vivian said with a sigh, lifting a hand up to her forehead and shaking it. “That fills me with very little comfort.”

“It’s fine,” Joan said before handing the scroll back to Ifrit. “They’re just a weird darkness obsessed cult who are worshiping a non-existent ‘servant’ of the Scorpion. A servant that, by the way, died centuries ago.” She’d know, they’d ended up entering its prison across so many of the Hero’s lives. Whatever that thing had been, it hadn’t been a servant of the Scorpion. Dead for ages, too.

Still, they shouldn’t have been active, certainly not this active, for a long time. More importantly she’d never seen them having any connection to Francis. She eyed Ifrit for a moment. This girl had to be the connection, so who--

‘Joan?’ Andreas voice suddenly filled her head, making her jump.

“GAH! Don’t do that without some warning!” Joan said.

“What? What’d I do?” Ifrit asked nervously.

“Nothing, not you, sorry,” Joan said before giving a sigh. “Voices in my head. Andreas. Chosen. Magic. It’s a magic thing. Stop looking at me like I’m crazy!”

“No,” Ifrit said.

‘Joan? Are you okay?’ Andreas asked.

‘Yeah, one second,’ Joan said over the bond.

‘Don’t one second us,’ Korgron’s voice came next.

“Oh by the stars,” Joan said before groaning. “I’ll be right back, I’ve got to go get yelled at. Did you tell them?” she asked, glaring at Vivian.

“Of course,” Vivian said.

‘Joan!’ Korgron’s voice yelled in her head now.

“You know, most grandmothers wouldn’t try and get their precious granddaughter yelled at by all of the Chosen,” Joan said before giving an annoyed sigh.

‘JOAN!’ Korgron’s voice echoed in her head. She had to give the demon credit, she didn’t know someone COULD be that loud over the bond.

“Most granddaughter’s wouldn’t try and fight a bunch of… whatever those were by themselves,” Vivian said.

“Fair,” Joan said before quickly leaving the room. ‘I’m here, calm down.’

‘I will not calm down,’ Korgron said. ‘You could have died.’

‘I’ve fought shades before,’ Joan said over the bond. ‘And while I haven’t fought them as Joan, I wouldn’t have fought the if I was in any real danger. I had most my equipment too. I was fine.’

‘I find that hard to believe,’ Hardwin’s voice said.

‘You know, I’ve been very well behaved,’ Joan said. ‘Besides, don’t you all have a war to worry about? A bit more important than if I get in a fight with a couple of shades. I can handle myself.’

‘Joan, it’s not that,’ Bauteut’s voice said next. ‘We’re just worried about you. We want to be sure you’re not being reckless.’

Joan gave a groan before leaning back against the wall. ‘Bauteut too? Is everyone here? All the Chosen? Even got the queen in here so she can scold me as well?’

Joan was greeted by silence. She waited a few moments before letting out another groan and sinking down to the ground. ‘Hello, Queen Emeline.’

‘Hello, Joan,’ Emeline’s voice came through next.

‘Anybody else?’ Joan asked.

‘I’m here,’ Zorn said. ‘Thalgren isn’t, though. He’s with my sister.’

‘Qakog?’ Joan asked.

‘No,’ Korgron said. ‘Neither is Myrin, Chase or Searle. How much danger are you in?’

‘Very little,’ Joan said. ‘And you’ll all be happy to know I likely won’t be in any. Apparently the Scorpion’s Venom are the ones after Francis.’

She was greeted by a long, long period of silence after that.

‘Aaaaand none of you have any idea who they are, do you?’ Joan asked.

‘Adding this to the list,’ Bauteut said.

‘How big a threat are they and where do we need to go?’ Hardwin asked.

‘Very little and nowhere,’ Joan said. ‘They were misguided. They were serving this weird shadow creature that died a while back. Not actually connected to the Scorpion at all. I’m surprised to see them active at all this early so I’m planning to look into it.’

‘No,’ Korgron’s voice echoed in her head, even if it wasn’t nearly as loud.

‘And I know exactly where to go,’ Joan continued. ‘Okay, Korgron? What’s wrong, why are you so testy?’

‘I am NOT testy!’ Korgron snapped.

‘Politics,’ Andreas said.

‘I’ve got this handled,’ Joan said. ‘Not taking any risks. You’ve got enough to deal with without worrying about things I actually can handle.’

‘No!’ Korgron said. ‘I’ll come down there and--’

‘Korgron,’ Hardwin said, cutting her off. ‘You know what’ll happen now if you leave.’

‘Ughhhhhhh. Bucket, then,’ Korgron said.

‘I can’t yet,’ Bauteut said. ‘We need all the healers here we can get.’

‘See?’ Joan said. ‘You’re needed there. I can handle this on my own.’

‘Joan, it’s not that we don’t trust you,’ Bauteut said. ‘But you have a talent. If there is no threat within three days travel, you will somehow manage to still find an apocalypse.’

‘Okay, while true that doesn’t change much,’ Joan said. ‘I’ll have Francis with me, and enough magical gear to level a kingdom.’

‘Wait, what?’ Emeline asked.

‘The belt,’ Joan said. ‘I’ll have the belt.’

‘You still have that?’ Emeline asked.

‘They didn’t want to leave me unattended,’ Joan said. She left off the fact she hadn’t been wearing it lately because she didn’t like the idea of having something so powerful around her waist when there wasn’t any actual threats around. ‘Listen, I just need to go to Seasrest, see if the--’

‘Seasrest?’ Emeline asked, this time her voice going frantic.

‘Seasrest? The demon city?’ Korgron asked.

‘First of all, it’s not a demon city,’ Emeline said firmly. ‘If anything, it’s one of ours.’

‘They’d disagree,’ Joan said before she could help herself. ‘Though I think technically they’re neutral. Ish.’

‘Damn it, Joan,’ Hardwin said.

‘It’s fine,’ Joan said. ‘I swear, I can handle this. Easily. I’ll just pop in, find their fake scorpion, then pop out. Done before you know it. Tracking them shouldn’t be that hard, especially if I can find the Silver Beetle.’

‘Joan, if you need our help you know we’ll come as soon as we can,’ Hardwin said.

‘If I needed your help I’d ask for it,’ Joan said. ‘I’m better about that. This isn’t… well. You have more important things to worry about. I can handle this. Okay? Just trust me?’

Korgron gave a grunt, but none of them raised objections. It seemed they did have some faith in her after all.

‘Thank you,’ Joan said. ‘Anything else?’

‘Actually…’ Emeline said.

‘What?’ Joan asked, thankful that her suspicion wouldn’t translate well over the bond.

‘If you are going to Seasrest, I’d like to have some people attend with you,’ Emeline said. ‘We do have some delegates there already, but increasing our presence could only be beneficial during these times.’

‘That’s it?’ Joan asked.

‘That’s it,’ Emeline said.

‘Sure. I ummm… I guess that’s fine. Just tell me who they are before you send them,’ Joan said.

‘I… suppose I can do that,’ Emeline said. ‘Is there anyone in particular you’d like to join you?’

‘Not really,’ Joan said. ‘I just want to make sure it isn’t anybody who tried to kill me in the past. It might make things… awkward.’

‘Joan, I swear, I would never…’ Emeline trailed off. They both knew it was a lie, after all. ‘I wouldn’t do that now.’

‘I know,’ Joan said. ‘And I’m mostly able to accept that. Doesn’t mean it wouldn’t still be awkward. Oh! That one woman, from before. Uhhhh… Wind? Something? Who was watching me when I was there?’

‘Wendalin?’ Emeline asked.

‘Yeah, her,’ Joan said. ‘She seemed nice.’

‘I’ll try, but I do not believe she is currently available,’ Emeline said. ‘I’ll send a small detachment when I’ve made my choices. It--’

‘This isn’t going to be an attempt to delay me, is it?’ Joan asked.

She was greeted by silence again.

‘You know, even if you did delay me it’s not like you all aren’t busy,’ Joan said. ‘I’ve been here for the… de-escalation of the war thing many, many times. I know it’s going to take a while. I can’t help with it, but you all can’t just expect me to sit in my room and wait for you to fix every little thing. So can you please just trust me a little bit?’

‘I’ll have them there within a week,’ Emeline said. ‘Would that be quick enough?’

‘Thank you,’ Joan said. ‘Also, one more thing. Next time a little more talking before all of you yell at me. It was just a few shades.’

‘Which you fought alone,’ Bauteut said.

‘Somebody had to,’ Joan said. ‘If I let them go, they might have brought back whoever summoned them to start with. Or worse, gone down to the village and attacked the people there. I was the best equipped to deal with the situation and I had the training. What would you have rather I done?’

‘Joan,’ Zorn said. ‘I don’t think any of us think you made the wrong choice. Nobody is happy that it was the right choice.’

‘I don’t think it was the right choice,’ Korgron said. ‘She’s a lot more important than--’

‘Just keep being careful,’ Andreas said, cutting the demon off. Joan couldn’t help grinning at that.

‘I will,’ Joan said. ‘Promise. And I’ll get a hold of you if I need you. I’ll make sure I take some of those stored spells to call for you if I need to. Try and keep your sister-in-law from causing too much trouble, okay? She’s usually way less tense about this kind of thing. The Demon Lord must have her really riled.’

‘You have no idea,’ Andreas said before sighing. ‘Things will get better, won’t they?’

‘This is the first time they can,’ Joan said. ‘But hey. This time they CAN get better. I trust you’ll all figure it out.’

‘This is all so much work…’ Andreas said.

‘Worth it though, isn’t it? After all, Isla made it this time,’ Joan said.

‘It’s definitely worth it,’ Andreas said without a moment’s hesitation.

‘Oh, right, one more thing!’ Joan said quickly.

‘Yes?’ Andreas asked.

‘If you can, see if you can talk to Chase,’ Joan said. ‘He’s from Seasrest, he might have some advice.’

There was a long moment of silence following that. She could practically feel the questions building. Finally, the storm broke.

‘The Chosen of the Gauntlets is from WHERE?’ Emeline asked.

‘Great talking to all of you,’ Joan said quickly. ‘Andreas?’

‘Bye, Joan,’ Andreas said. ‘Just try and stay out of trouble. And wear your belt.’

‘Fine, fine,’ Joan said. Well, if she was traveling she was hardly going to NOT wear it, now was she? Joan felt the bond end before she gave a soft sigh. Well, at least she kind of had the support of the Chosen. Ish. Maybe. Oh well, she’d figure it out.

It wasn’t the end of the world this time. She walked back into the room and then paused. “Where’s Ifrit?” Joan asked.

“She went to go check on Francis,” Vivian said. “Didn’t you see her leave?”

“I was a little distracted,” Joan said. “Getting yelled at. Korgron’s pretty tense up there. A little warning next time would be nice.”

“Please don’t run off like that,” Vivian said before giving a light sigh. “You could have been hurt, dear. You know how important you are. To all of us.”

“I know,” Joan said. “But I can’t just ignore someone in danger and I can’t just leave something out there to hurt people. You all know this. I wouldn’t be me if I did.”

“I know,” Vivian said before reaching out. Joan cringed for a moment before she realized the woman was going to give her a hug. She didn’t resist, letting herself get pulled into the embrace. “My sweet, dear little Joan. You truly are such a… special little child, aren’t you?”

“I try,” Joan said. “Sorry I made you worry, all of you. I just… I can’t not. You know?”

“I know,” Vivian said. “Please keep being safe when you can. If not for your sake, then for your dear old grandmother’s?”

Joan gave a light snicker before nodding. “Compared to things I’m used to facing, this is way easier. This is stuff normal people can deal with.”

“Just don’t get sloppy,” Vivian said. “You are a very talented young thing, but you are a lot more delicate than you realize.” The arms around her tightened. “Please.”

Joan nodded, giving the woman a tight hug of her own. “I’ll be careful, I promise.” Slowly she pulled back and the hug was released. “I’m going to go check on them, okay?” She quickly turned and walked away, leaving Vivian behind.

She had to reach up to wipe some of the moisture from her eyes and she couldn’t help but have a big, silly grin on her face. Yeah, maybe her family now was a bit over protective. But at least she knew they cared. There were certainly worse things.

MelodyAvant

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