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“So tired, so thirsty, so… I’d say hot, but it’s honestly quite comfortable.” Kada had been whining like this since they set out on foot.

“It’s been two hours, will you shut up already?!” Phon yelled at her. “I swear, if she’s going to be like this the whole time, I’ll murder her. They’ll never find her body out here.”

“Just say the word, and I’ll make a hole to leave her body in,” Xard sided with Phon.

“Go easy on her,” Drim petitioned them. “Unless one of you wants to carry that thing.”

“If it was another situation I wouldn’t mind helping her, but it’s her fault that we’re in this mess,” Xard argued.

“For the dozenth time, how was I supposed to know it takes gas?” Kada disputed.

“It’s a car, of course it takes gas!” Drim snapped even though he had just been defending her. “As driver, it’s one of your jobs to make sure we don’t run out.”

“Well, it’s one of Nathym’s inventions so I figured it might not need it,” Kada tried to justify. “We went over a thousand lages without running out, so I assumed it must have a self-sustaining energy source or something. Turns out it was just super fuel efficient.” In the middle of the Kazji desert on their way to their next location, The Tourist had broken down. It hadn’t taken them long to figure out the cause, but they had no immediate solution to fix it.

Now the Fiends were traversing the harsh Kazji Desert, or it would be harsh if they weren’t Fiends. The heat didn’t really affect them at all, nor did the damage from exposure to the sun. Only Kada was more thirsty than the others, from the extra effort she was having to exert. The Tourist being her responsibility, she was forced to drag it along with them. She had morphed it down to its briefcase size, but it was still incredibly heavy since the weight didn’t decrease with it.

Kada would trade off physically dragging The Tourist, and using her curse. She’d melt it, and make it follow behind her as a giant tumbling blob of goop. Both were exhausting in different ways, so she’d change her method rather frequently. “Hey Drim, can I have another one?” Kada pleaded pitifully.

“Yeah sure, seems like a good time to stop for a break anyways,” Drim decided. Everyone but Drim immediately slumped down in the sand and groaned. Drim put his hand to the ground which started to glow. A palm tree sprouted up and Drim knocked off the coconuts that had formed.

He tossed one to Kada, and she rushed to poke a hole in both the top and bottom, put it to her lips, then chugged the entire contents. Once she finished, she laid back with a thump and sighed, “Ah, that hit the spot. I’m gonna take a powernap. Wake me when we’re leaving.”

Drim sliced the tops off of three more coconuts and passed them around. Both Xard and Phon took large swigs then looked at their coconuts, displeased. “It’s... tasteless…” Xard mentioned. “Like, there’s literally nothing, even water has at least some flavor because of minerals.”

“The lump over there didn’t seem to mind, but she was probably desperate to drink anything. Plus, her palette is super unrefined,” Phon added.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Drim apologized. “If I grow things instantly with my curse, they have no taste or any form of nutritional value. It’s essentially nothing, but it will at least make you less hungry or parched. I had Ahvra confirm this shortly after she arrived. If I let the plants grow a bit on their own, they quickly make up the difference. Unfortunately, I still haven’t found the right balance yet to make them seem like the real thing, while also having it be efficient. Ideally, I could have something that grows in months, only take days.”

They sat around for a while longer until Phon eventually put her hands to her eyes and vanished for about a minute. “Still nothing?” Drim asked upon her return.

“Yeah, nothing but sand in any direction,” Phon relayed, “But I did find a somewhat interesting rock formation that looked like a big sword. I took a picture, so I’ll show you later.”

Every so often Phon would teleport in a circle around them as far as her range would go to see if she could find any form of civilization. So far, she had no results, and didn’t want to risk going farther than a single jump at a time. If she went too far to where she couldn’t see the others, she feared that she wouldn’t be able to find them again.

The GPS on their phones also wasn’t working. Nathym’s technology was flawless, but there simply wasn’t a single satellite pointed at the middle of the desert. The compasses still worked, though, so they at least had a heading. “You’ve been to Zjiksa before, right Phon?” Xard asked her.

“Yes, and it’s not a place where we want to stay for long,” Phon scowled in discontent. “To give you an idea of how bad it is, the word Zjik is derived from it. When you say it, you’re essentially saying a situation or thing is akin to how awful Zjiksa is. I wanted us to get in and out as quickly as possible, but with how we’re looking, we’ll likely end up spending the night there, assuming we even make it there at this rate.”

The others wondered about Phon’s history with Zjiksa as they trudged onwards. Phon had never even told Drim the story of her time there, claiming she wanted to spare him the details. To her, Zjiksa had been a major turning point in her life, where she had earned the title of the world’s greatest bounty hunter.

◆◆◆

When Phon Drazah was 12 years old, she hadn’t been bounty hunting for very long. For most of her separation with Drim up until that point, she had been living a rogue’s life. She would steal what she needed, and did her best to survive. After she finally managed to get in touch with Drim, however, the desire to improve herself intensified over time. She tried many different avenues to achieve this, from working in manual labor, to sneaking into a private school to try and get properly educated. None of these lasted very long, however.

The only thing that resonated with her was bounty hunting. It wasn’t quite a year since she started, but she already had 30 captures under her belt. For someone her age, it was unheard of, and she had earned a bit of a reputation in the small town where she resided. On one hunt, however, she barely managed to escape with her life, and had killed the target in the process.

Phon didn’t really mind that the target had died, but felt it was a result of her lack of experience and training. Thankfully, the target had a DOA warrant and she wouldn’t be penalized, but it still left a bad taste. She needed to get better, but the small fry in her area just wasn’t cutting it. After confiding in some of the other bounty hunters, she was told to go to Zjiksa. There she would either find what she needed to improve, or die in the process.

Zjiksa was a proving ground for bounty hunters. No one would be considered top tier until they had snagged a few bounties from there. This was due to Zjiksa’s reputation. It was the trading hub of the world, even outlasting the Drazah takeover. Someone could find anything they wanted there, everything was traded. Everything. Of course, some of these items could only be procured in a less than legal sense, so Zjiksa was also well renowned as the most dangerous place in the world, filled to the brim with criminals.

Phon headed to Zjiksa with haste, and things went awry on her very first day. The big draw of Zjiksa, even to the point that tourists would take the risk to visit, was the Grand Bazaar. Streets endlessly lined with vendors from all over the world, a crowd so dense you’d be touching ten other people at any given moment, a world where merchants would gain vast riches or go broke in minutes; that was the place known as the Grand Bazaar.

Of course, being curious about the Bazaar, Phon went to explore it upon her arrival. She had taken all of the precautions, such as making sure her wallet was secured to her body. Being something of a pickpocket herself, she knew how easily they could vanish. She wandered around the bazaar for a while, or rather, was pushed around by the sea of bodies. It had been quite the experience, though there was little she was interested in buying.

While going with the flow, she had managed across a toy seller. Somehow in all the commotion, she had managed to buy a wooden yo-yo with an interesting pattern. She wasn’t sure if she had gotten ripped off or not, since trying to haggle with all the noise was almost impossible, but overall, she was satisfied. Then it happened, something she didn’t expect: her hat was stolen.

For most people visiting the bazaar, only losing their hat would be considered a blessing. Phon’s mask was still secured to her face, currently depicting a white tiger, so her identity was still safe, but that wasn’t what mattered. Her hair was exposed, her pure white hair, hair that didn’t exist in this world. Before she knew it, at least a dozen hands were on her, and she was swiftly dragged into a back alley and knocked unconscious. Everything was traded in Zjiksa, even people, and someone so exotic would fetch a high price.

Phon woke up sometime later, but at first, she wasn’t entirely convinced that she had. Everything was black, complete darkness like she had never experienced before. Her eyes didn’t adjust to it at all. In her panic, she had forgotten about her curse, and helplessly felt around. There were stone walls in every direction, and she was in a room no larger than an average closet.

Once she finally calmed down, Phon did her best to relax while sitting on the hard stone floor. She closed her eyes to let her vision take hold, but for some reason it was much blurrier than usual. It took a while, but she eventually figured out that she was somewhere underground, directly beneath the bazaar. The reason her sight was so fuzzy was due to the sheer mass of people in close proximity.

With some concentration, Phon managed to shrink the scope of her vision to exclude the ground above. Now she could see clearly around her, though she ultimately wished she couldn’t. There were so many other people in the exact same situation as she was, at least a hundred, maybe even a thousand. She didn’t have the energy to get an exact count.

Every one of them looked miserable and afraid. They were all in varying conditions. A few looked sick, having most likely been stuck here a while. Some were beaten, probably for misbehaving. There were some acting crazy, as if they were stuck in an asylum. Am I going to end up just like them… Phon started to wonder.

Not giving up hope quite yet, Phon scouted out the rest of the underground. They were in some form of multi-level structure. There were just as many criminals as there were captives, and it seemed slave trading wasn’t their only business. There was an entire drug making factory, an underground fighting ring for illegal melees, and a gambling den riddled with scum. The more Phon saw, the more she hated it.

These people are all loving life just because there’s no one to stop them. Meanwhile, they treat us like livestock. They think themselves so far above the rest of us, but if I get out of here, I’ll show them just how weak they are. That’s when Phon started to feel sad. She had no way to break free. If she could just get out of this cell, she could see the path she’d need to take to escape, but even with her enhanced strength, it wasn’t enough.

Phon stretched out her arm in front of her. “Damn it, if only I was stronger,” she muttered to herself and then looked at her hand. “I don’t know how, but I will escape with my own power. No one is going to save me, so I have to do it myself.” Just then, something was in her hand. “It’s… me…” It was indeed a small figurine version of herself, perfect in every detail.

She hadn’t realized it due to the complete darkness, but the air around her had changed. It no longer felt stuffy, but rather serene and peaceful. Something appeared before her when she looked down. It was a small stone box with the lid removed. Some instinct inside of Phon told her to put the figurine in the box. She did, and she felt the area around her body change.

Up until now, Phon had been leaning against a wall, but now she was sitting in the center of her stone cell. She picked the figurine back up and moved it closer to the wall. Now, Phon could feel the stone once again against her skin. “That’s not it… I know this isn’t all, it can’t be.” She touched her fingers to the side of the box and focused as hard as she could. Then, more boxes appeared, each containing their own figurine.

Phon checked again with her version, the figurines closely matched those around her. She didn’t want to try moving them, though, unsure of what would happen. I don’t want to move myself into their cells either, that would still leave me stuck and with a freaked out person. I need to escape, I need to get to the surface. Phon started straining her mind, focusing all she could into the area above her box. A few floors appeared, but it wasn’t what she wanted.

Finally it came, a floor lit up by the sun. Phon desperately moved her figurine to it, and the world around her changed. It was almost blinding at first. Phon almost always wore a mask when outside, so it wasn’t often that she saw the sun like this. When she could see clearly with her eyes, she found herself in alleyway, grateful that she wasn’t in another crowd where she’d just get taken again.

Phon was torn, part of her wanted to run away and forget about this life; to save herself, find her brother, and live peacefully. She then immediately disregarded that thought because it wasn’t who she was, and she wouldn’t entertain it any further. No, she was going to rise up from this ordeal and become better for it. First up, revenge. The bounties didn’t even matter to her at this point, she just wanted to make those bastards suffer, all of them.

Up until now, Phon had been slightly hesitant about killing, feeling that as long as the criminals were taken care of in one way or another, the problem would be solved. Things were different now, after seeing first hand how corrupt the world could be, and she could not suffer those beneath her feet to live any longer. Justice was a lie, if it existed in any capacity, this cesspool wouldn’t exist.

“Maybe it was because others were too scared or powerless to do anything about it. I’m not scared, though, and now that I’ve finally realized my curse, they won’t stand a chance.” It almost felt like a switch had been flipped inside of her, as she cackled for the first time in her life.

Phon checked her pockets. As expected, they had taken her knife. However, they had left her the yo-yo she had purchased earlier. Perhaps they thought it would keep her sane. Fools, you’ve sealed your deaths with this. Phon was skilled with a knife, and could use it effectively, but she was a master with a yo-yo. The majority of her captures up until now had been completed with blunt strikes using one.

Unfortunately, the yo-yo wasn’t exactly a killing object. Sure, with enough force she could bash their skulls or strangle them, but it wasn’t ideal. She needed something deadlier. Phon snuck around the alleys looking for something of use. Her wallet had been taken as well, but she would manage just fine without it. Eventually, she found a weapon merchant, but they were all strange weapons she hadn’t seen before. It didn’t matter, as long as it could kill.

Phon flung her yo-yo near a crate of weapons, and the string wound around the hilt of one. She pulled back, and found a strange looking shortsword which she’d find out later was called a keris dagger. The blade curved back and forth for the entire length, almost like a snake made of metal. Now armed, she needed to find her mask. She could probably find another mask, but she had come slightly attached to that one, and it fit her small face well.

Slinking back into an alley, she sat down and closed her eyes. It took a while to cut out the noise from the bazaar again, but she managed, and could now see the underground base properly. Today I am going to kill a lot of people, there’s no going back. After scanning around, eventually she found her mask. A brutish looking thug was wearing it on the side of his head. Clearly, it was too small for him.

The man was playing cards with an equally brutish looking woman in what looked like a treasure room. There’s a pile of luxuries next to you, but you put my mask on your disgusting body, Phon was bewildered, but let it go. Being emotional right now was the last thing she needed. Phon focused on that room, but no matter how hard she tried, a display would not appear in front of her like before.

She tried conjuring her figurine again but it would not come. No matter how hard she squeezed her eyes, she could not see that calm world again. What was different? Was it because I was in danger? No, I calmed down and didn’t feel afraid. Finally, it dawned on her, darkness. That was the first time she had experienced pure darkness.

Phon placed her hands against her eyes, and the world went calm once more. She found herself in a black void, with nothing beneath her feet, but she did not fall. That room, I need to see that room. Phon reimagined the treasure room, and a model of it appeared before her. Pieces for the two brutes were shown as well, sitting at the table.

Phon placed her piece behind the brute wearing the mask, moving there instantaneously. She stabbed him in the neck with the keris the moment she appeared. Blood squirted out and sprayed everywhere, a bit hitting Phon in the face. This briefly brought back a slightly unpleasant memory which she immediately buried again. Before the woman could react, Phon flung her yo-yo at her, and the string wrapped around the woman’s head. Phon pulled hard, and the woman’s head was forced down, bashing into the table. The force of it was too strong, clearly cracking her skull.

“Two down, so many more rats to exterminate,” Phon muttered as she pulled her mask off of the dead brute. Ugh, I’m going to need to decontaminate this later, she thought as she reluctantly put it on. Wait, now I can’t cover my eyes, hmm, that should work. Phon took off the bandana that wrapped around the female brute’s arm, and wrapped it around her eyes, then equipped the mask once more. Phon went and sat down on the treasure pile in the room and was unsurprised to find it rather uncomfortable, but it made her feel powerful.

A model of the hideout appeared before her, and much more of it was visible than the first time she used her curse. She felt she must be getting used to this new power. “Well then, I’ve tried moving myself, but let’s try moving someone to me.” Phon scouted around for someone whose presence wouldn’t immediately be missed. Eventually, she found someone taking a nap in the bunks.

Phon moved the man’s piece to the treasure room. He appeared at her feet, laying on the ground, still asleep, completely unaware of what had just happened to him. Phon took the keris and threw it at his head. The keris wedged into his forehead, and his audible snoring stopped as blood leaked. After pulling out the keris and cleaning it, she returned to her seat on the vast wealth.

A few minutes later, there were eight new fresh corpses around the treasure pile. Phon had teleported them all here, practicing with her curse, trying out various methods and discovering her limitations. At the moment, it was hard for her to move two people at once. It instantly gave her a headache, and their placement wasn’t ideal, but she felt she would improve with practice.

She confirmed that to teleport someone, she only needed to place someone’s piece on any solid surface through a few different trials. First, she had someone teleport onto the table. She found that their feet were automatically moved out of the way of the heads of the two corpses that were slumped over it. Then, she teleported someone to the roof. They appeared upside down, and fell immediately. Phon had the keris waiting for them, and they impaled themselves when they hit the floor.

Phon decided to move on from this room now, since she was running out of floor space, and teleporting people onto corpses was proving difficult at her current level. However, she was feeling confident now, and wanted to try something riskier. Her next plan was to infiltrate the arena where the underground fights were being held. She was going to try and appear behind the criminals in the back and assassinate them, then work her way down the crowd.

When she tried to place her piece, though, the model started to shake. It was most likely due to the high volume of occupants there, combined with her inexperience. Okay, I definitely need more practice, she berated herself when she spawned into the room. She had missed her mark entirely, aiming for the back of the bleachers. Instead, she had teleported into the middle of the ring, right between the two fighters.

Phon ducked out of reflex, as both of the fighters took swings at her, likely thinking she was some new opponent. She managed to evade both of their attacks and took advantage of their closeness to each other. She wrapped her yo-yo’s string around both of their heads and pulled. Their heads clonked together, and they were knocked unconscious. She wouldn’t kill these two, able to easily tell that they weren’t part of the enemy gang based on their condition.

There was a bigger issue now though, in that she had alerted everyone in the stands and had dozens of guns pointed at her. Panicking, Phon moved her piece as fast as she could. She only teleported a few feet away, but it was enough to disorient the enemies. Phon stabbed the closest one to her, and then teleported again. Once more, her placement wasn’t ideal, but it was good enough to suffice.

Thanks to this new power of her curse, she was essentially untouchable, just as long as she teleported again before anyone could fire at her. Phon worked her way around the room, teleporting randomly, stabbing someone, and teleporting again. Her curse got more accurate as the criminals started to die off, and she could focus a bit more. Once there were only a few left, they fled the arena into the rest of the base. She heard yelling, the escapees most likely alerting everyone else.

“Don’t think you can run from me. I’ve seen your auras, I can follow you wherever you go.” For the second time, Phon cackled as blood streamed down from the blade of the keris. The next hours were nonstop violence. She teleported around the underground base, slaughtering the criminals without mercy. Some tried to escape to the surface, but she would bring them back.

There was only one incident, where she tried to teleport herself into a room, but her hand froze. A moment later, a criminal she hadn’t noticed ran in, directly behind where she would have appeared. If it wasn’t for that slight hesitation, it would have been likely she’d have been injured or worse. Somehow, it felt like another person’s hand had wrapped around hers, preventing her from placing the piece. It kind of felt like her father’s grip.

Once she couldn’t see a single other criminal, Phon finally stopped. Her body felt heavy, and she slunk to the floor. She wanted to rest, but her attention was drawn elsewhere: all of the other captives. What am I doing, I should just leave, she thought. I have no obligation to these people. I can let someone else free them. I came here to kill criminals, train, and get revenge. I’ve done all of that so why am I hesitating… Damn, fine…

One by one, Phon teleported the captives up to the surface. She moved them just outside of town into an open dune of sand, not wanting to cause a panic by their sudden appearance. After the last person had been saved, she appeared in front of them. “I’ve saved you all this time, but there won’t be a next. Become able to set yourselves free.” Everyone was looking at her terrified, so Phon made her exit quick.

A few minutes later she realized why they had been so scared. Every inch of her was drenched in blood that was slowly dripping off of her. She was grateful to her mask, keeping the most important parts clean. The only part of her not covered in blood was her hair, it was clean and as pure as ever. It seemed the blood flowed right through it, as not to stain it. “Guess I’ll need to buy a new hat,” she said as she looked around for a bed, wanting to collapse.

◆◆◆

It was late afternoon when the Fiends finally made it to Zjiksa. As soon as Phon was able to confirm the location, she teleported all of them to the city’s border. There was a modest restaurant nearby, so they took a break there, all devouring their food after a long trek. Kada devoured portions for at least six people.

They couldn’t rest there for too long, however, since they still had a job to do. They were now planning to stay the night there, so there was no immediate rush, but everyone but Phon wanted to explore the bazaar. She made them come to an agreement that they’d wait until all of the banks were taken care of. “You know, this place doesn’t seem quite as bad as you made it out to be,” Xard remarked after they grouped up again, once they’d finished visiting the banks. “Everyone seems friendly, and the town seems to be running well. I couldn’t easily spot any criminals either.”

“I guess they’ve cleaned up their act a bit, but don’t let it deceive you,” Phon urged them. “Keep your guard up, the Zjiksa I remember was hell on Rathe.”

They hadn’t taken two steps into the bazaar when there were all sorts of rumblings around them. The word ‘vixen’ spiked in usage as everyone stared to stare. People started to move away from them, cramming up against the stalls and into alleys. Soon, there was a clear path right down the middle of the bazaar, something that most likely hadn’t happened since the bazaar’s creation.

“What the zjik is going on?!” Phon grumbled openly at the crowd.

“I uhh… think that might have something to do with it,” Drim answered as he pointed. At the opposite end of the street, at a junction which acted as a sort of center piece for the bazaar, a large statue was erected. It depicted a red spectral creature, with the face of a tiger and flowing white hair. When they got up close they read the inscription. ‘The Vivacious Vixen. A spirit who appeared before those in need. She freed them from the clutches of evil, and brought this great land back to life.’

Phon immediately began hacking at the ‘vivacious’ part with her knife, trying to scratch it out, as the others looked on with dumbfounded expressions. “Just what exactly did you do here?!” Kada demanded to know.

“Just my usual stuff, killed some bad people,” Phon didn’t stop trying to damage the plaque as she explained.

“You there, the one defacing the statue,” a new voice called from behind them. They turned around to see several guards crowded around them. “One of the merchant kings wants to have a word with you.”

◆◆◆

Each of the Fiends felt conflicted as they stood before the self-proclaimed merchant king and queen. They weren’t sure if they should feel mistified or disgusted. This was due to the thrones where the royalty were resting their bottoms. The king was sitting on a throne made of cash; currencies from all over the world, neatly stacked into a chair shape. The queen was sitting on a throne of jewelry, not quite as tidy as the money-throne, but much more splendorous. “Let me tell you, that is not comfortable,” Phon whispered to the other Fiends.

They were both adorned in lavish clothes and expensive trinkets. It was almost hard to notice their dark, sun-kissed skin under all those refinements. The queen was also wearing an elegant veil that covered her nose and mouth. “I am Ketam, and this is my wife Rishaki. Thank you for meeting with us,” the king introduced himself. His accent was quite thick, but they still could understand him. The Fiends had been brought to this villa by the guards. Phon had wanted to teleport them away, but Drim said he wanted to try and settle this matter peacefully.

“We’re sorry about the statue… aren’t we?” Drim apologized as he forced Phon’s head down. “We'll happily pay for any repairs.”

“Huh? I have no idea what you are talking about,” Ketam brushed off the topic. “I invited you all here, because we wanted to meet the Vixen in person.” Rishaki hopped off of her throne, walked over to Phon, lifted one of Phon’s hands, and clasped it between her own. Ketam joined her, putting his arm around Rishaki and smiled. “You see, Rishaki was one of those that the Vixen saved all those years ago. We had not met yet, but ever since I heard her story, I have always wanted to meet you.”

“Yes, thank you so much,” Rishaki gushed in as equally as thick of an accent as her husband. “If it weren’t for you, Vixen, my life… Well, I don’t want to think about it. I’m sorry I can not properly express my gratitude.”

“Err, you can just call me Phon,” she said as she pulled her hand away, slightly unnerved.

“Yes, Phon Drazah, correct?” Ketam noted. “Then this must be Drim Drazah, and you are all Fiends For Hire. Truly, you are all magnificent. Word of your exploits has not escaped our ears. It is our business to know where the money flows, and those who can obtain it. Speaking of, a whisper has reached me that you four have been seen around all of our banks. What have you been doing there, I wonder.” There was an awkward silence for a moment then Ketam let out a boisterous laugh. “Haha, no matter, if you will accompany me, there are other matters we wish to discuss.”

The Fiends followed them through the villa. There was no end to the expensive decorations filling the halls. There was undoubtedly more wealth in this building alone than the combined wealth of some nations. They reached a balcony where several exquisite platters of refreshments were waiting. Kada and Xard immediately began digging in despite having eaten just recently.

The king and queen ushered Drim and Phon over to the edge of the balcony, and Ketam waved his arms over the landscape. “You see that down there,” he gestured towards the bazaar. “That is the world of money. A never ending flow of money changes hands down there, and I want to get my hands on as much of it as possible. My job is to figure out how to get those people to give me their money, and I daresay I am very good at my job”

“Rishaki is a bit different, she is interested in rare and unique items. Though our outlooks are different, our goal is the same. Since we have different perspectives, we have combined our talents to build this glorious dynasty we hold. We want to be rich as can be, and we will do whatever it takes to achieve it. This might mean for instance, partnering with some interesting characters. I’m sure over your adventures, you have come across many items that would be quite valuable in the right hands.”

“We will not try to force you two into anything, but there is the possibility for some great wealth to be made together. You are criminals, yes? As such, it must be hard to liquidate some of the treasures you find. If you send those treasures to us, we will take care of it. Whether Rishaki keeps them, or if I sell them for all they’re worth, you will get paid no matter what. I always make sure we get the most out of anything we get our hands on.”

“There is one item in particular we would love to have,” Rishaki interjected. “Something we heard you possess.” She was leaning close to Drim now, and her voice sounded almost seductive. “The World’s Heart, the greatest gemstone in existence. You have it, don’t you?”

Drim cautiously backed away and slunk behind Kada and Xard who were still stuffing their faces. “Yes we have it, I think… Do you guys know where that thing is these days?”

“Well, let’s see,” Phon recounted. “We used it as a doorstop when we were moving, and I used it in the dryer once as an agitant. Oh, and there was the time we used it as an emergency tent stake when one broke on a really windy night.”

“I know Nathym examined it to see if it would be worth trying to turn into tool bits, but he decided against it,” Drim added. “Didn’t Pox try to eat it once?”

“He gave up when he couldn’t get his whole mouth around it,” Kada confirmed after swallowing down a big gulp of food. “I tried to change its shape into a blade, but it was way too stubborn and I could barely morph it, so I just returned it to normal”

“I find it hard to believe that creature who ate a bomb couldn’t fit that gaudy gem in his mouth,” Xard objected. “I know I used it for target practice once when I was testing out my rings, it was useful since it didn’t get damaged at all. Not sure what happened to it after that.”

“Oh, you know what, I think I know where it is actually,” Drim suddenly informed them. “I’m pretty sure Ahvra was running tests on it before we left, she seemed quite interested for some reason.” Now that the matter of the Heart’s whereabouts was settled, they all glanced back over at their two hosts. Somehow, both of their faces were pale, and Rishaki looked like she was about to pass out. This was likely due to the Fiend’s poor treatment of such a valuable item.

To get their blood flowing again, Drim made an offer. “There’s not much we can do about it now, but when we return from our trip in a few weeks, contact us, and we can maybe strike a deal.”

“Ah yes, thank you for being so flexible, young Drazah,” Ketam flashed a greedy smile.

“We will make a great profit together once it is sold, truly a fortune for both parties.”

“Ahem, I believe you mean we will be keeping it,” Rishaki angrily rebutted. “Such a priceless and unique item, there is no way we could let it leave our grasp.”

“No my dear, we will be selling it,” Ketam argued. “You know it is for the best. I am always right when it comes to money.”

“Oh, you’re always right you say?!” Rishaki raised her voice. “Then let me remind you of the time--” They broke out into a full on argument that seemed to last for hours, their marriage clearly not quite as happy as first put forward. The Fiends didn’t seem to mind and gorged themselves on delicious foods. Phon even teleported away at one point to grab her jar of Pox paste to try on some of them.

Eventually their argument wound down, and they finally seemed to realize they were still in front of guests. “I am sorry about that uncourteous display you just saw,” Ketam apologized. “Now then, you will all stay the night. I won’t hear otherwise. You will find no more comfortable beds in all of Zjiksa. I swear on my wealth. Rishaki, if you will please guide them to our guest chambers.”

Rishaki escorted them properly, but seemed to be muttering to herself the entire time. “Trouble in the homelife?” Kada pried in while the others glared at her rudeness.

“Ah, sorry about that,” Rishaki seemed to genuinely feel bad for a moment but then started to ramble. “My husband can be such a stubborn fool sometimes, or all the time. If I’m honest, if he didn’t have such a business sense, our marriage would have ended long ago. The flame of love we once had is now but small embers. I love my trinkets, but I wish he would give me children to dote on as well. If only he got half as passionate for me as he did for his money…” Rishaki continued to ramble the entire walk to the guest rooms.

Once there, Phon teleported away to get their items that they had left behind in a bank vault, since it was the safest location. Rishaki bid them goodnight and was about to leave when she asked if there was anything they needed. “Oh, we’re actually in desperate need of gas,” Kada mentioned. “I wouldn’t know where to start looking in this place, so if you could get some for us that would be a big help.”

“Certainly, that is no problem. I will have one of the guards procure it immediately. How many drums are we talking?” She seemed completely serious in her offer.

“Err, only a few gallons is fine, we just need to fill up our car,” Drim elaborated. “There is one more thing we could use, but I’ll admit it’s a bit personal. We could use some of your blood, about a vial’s worth.” Everyone, the other Fiends included, looked at Drim like he was a crazy person until he clarified, “Someone native to Zjiksa was on Ahvra’s list.” The Fiends then all seemed to simultaneously remember that absurd request.

“Yes, well you see…” Rishaki started to fidget a bit. “I can never repay the favor for saving my life, but ever since that incident… I am bad with blood and things like that…”

“Would you do it for this?” Phon pulled out the necklace she had stolen from the cache in Anoint and presented it.

Rishaki’s demeanor immediately changed, she shot out her arm and said sternly, “Take as much as you like.”

The Fiends prepared to depart early the next morning. After filling up The Tourist with gas, it was good to go, and everything was loaded into it. All that was left was to thank their hosts, but Drim had a few more words to add. “In exchange for your hospitality, I want to give you a warning. Soon, the entire economy of the world will change. The value of all that money you’re sitting on will alter drastically, and some of it may even become worthless. I suggest you invest it all into items that will retain their value no matter what, but if you want to keep it as raw money, then make sure it’s in a bank vault.”

Ketam seemed to nervously accept his words, confused by the warning, but still shook Drim’s hand nonetheless. As they grasped hands, Drim made sure to plant a sing nearby, behind the money throne with a stealthy thorn. After a few minutes of driving, Xard complained, “How in the hell did we end up purchasing a case of beet juice energy drinks? Man, that Ketam is one smooth talker.”

Drim’s eyes started to burn at the mention of his name. “We may have to do something about Ketam in the future, he’s definitely evil.”

 

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