Chapter 164 - 160: Alliance in the Medical Wing

Chapter 164: Chapter 160: Alliance in the Medical Wing

Potions and medicine smell far too strong no matter what world you’re in. At least the medicine and herbs smell like healing right now. Especially for Gussie.

Lying on a crystalline healing bed, Gussie looks perkier than you’d expect for someone who got clobbered by a python’s tail. Lamant fluffs up her wings, knowing how particular she is about her feathers looking shiny and neat and full.

Zuba, in the bed next to her, peers around a white privacy curtain. He almost looks...respectful. [Should have stayed away from Ophion’s tail. Foolish bird.]

Dag squawks indignantly. [What you say, furball?]

Zuba pulls a gummy baboon smirk. [I was just being sympathetic.]

Dag blows the bird equivalent of a raspberry. [Quiet. Gussie hurt.]

Lightning growls. [HONESTLY, you two.]

Lobo woofs and Demos growls. All of us discourage their feuding. After all, Zuba’s intentions seemed good even if his delivery could use work.

Sulking, Dag retreats to Kasz’s shoulder. [No hurt Gussie.]

Terrah Bottomsley peers out from behind the curtain as well. "Is the bird doing well?"

"She’s tougher than many beasts a hundred times her size," Lamant assures her. "Zuba seems no worse for wear."

A relieved smile spreads across Terry’s aristocratic face. "Yes. I’m grateful."

With a loud cough, Martyn Bottomsley approaches, Ophion in tow. "Dreadfully sorry about that unfortunate affair at the party. Our beasts behaved badly and it was our responsibility to set a better example."

Minette takes the high road. "Thank you for saying that."

Meanwhile, Maartenwitz and Niall regard Martyn and Terrah with grudging respect. "Yes, most mannerly," Maartenwitz drawls.

Ophion floats over to Gussie and bows his head. [It was just combat. You fought well.]

Fluffing out her feathers, Gussie fixes him with her bright parrot eyes. [Are you feeling guilty?]

Ophion hisses. He smells faintly embarrassed. [Not for fighting but that you got hurt. You are so much smaller. More delicate.]

Gussie sniffs. [I don’t make my size an excuse. Not when I see so many mammoth beasts eliminated. If size were the only factor, I would have lost long ago.]

Bowing his head once more, Ophion hisses appreciatively.

Kaline coos. "Look at that. Ophion is being gallant."

Even Peridot wanders over and wriggles in sympathy. For a fleeting moment, her tail twines with Ophion’s. He stiffens at first, then allows her to touch him for a moment before wriggling away. But he can’t evade the smiles breaking out around him.

Clearing his throat, Lamant says to Martyn and Terrah, "It would seem we’re accidental teammates in the final bout. This is good, because the hippogriff is supposed to be nearly unstoppable. Four beasts are better than two."

With a regal nod, Terrah takes the first step, reaching out to pat Kaline on the arm. "Our village is the strongest in the realm because we are in the final round of the tournament! And I wish we had daughters like yours."

"Or a son like Hans," Martyn adds, smelling wistful.

We were never blessed with children." Terrah’s face is full of quiet dignity.

With an ache of sympathy, I realize that these NPCs aren’t as nasty as they seem. It was just the game that pitted us against each other.

Lamant and Minette exchange sympathetic glances, while Elandior has elven compassion. "So, you put all your energy in your beasts," Minette concludes. "Well...they appear to be thriving."

"Thriving," Gussie echoes, with a look of wary respect.

Terrah and Martyn puff out their chests. Ophion and Zuba have regained their vigor and their pride. "We’re strong," Martyn declares. "That strength married to the might of your house will be unstoppable. Let’s do it!"

The mood shifts from tense rivalry to blossoming alliance. From the way Lobo wags his tail, he approves. Of course, he knows the team behind Ophion and Zuba in real life. He knows that we need this alliance. And honestly, I’d rather not fight more enemies than necessary. Just in case we face System as the Final Boss in the game. Which is looking like a strong possibility. System is the Final Boss.

We need all the help we can get, so I’m calling Ophion and Zuba brothers.

The healers shoo us away so that they can poke and prod a squawking Gussie, who allows them to poke and prod until they mess up her feathers. She clicks her beak in the way that signals "can we leave now?"

The healers clear us all to leave. Riding on Lamant’s shoulder, Gussie waves royally to all the patients as we leave.

Finally, we scoot out of the realm of sickness and potential beast death. I wish it was the human hospital and not the beast hospital, but with any luck, I will wake up in an antiseptic-and-medicine-smelling human ICU room any moment now and start to heal as a human. I’m even looking forward to pudding and juice.

Once in our beast suites, we can’t exactly kick the Bottomsleys and the Bottomsley beasts out, so a truce reigns. We all gather in Lamant’s and Minette’s room.

[Gussie, did they say you could eat?] Peridot is unexpectedly fussy. [Watch out for our guests.]

Ophion and Zuba respond in unison. [We heard that.]

Lobo woofs. [Good. I trust that you’ve learned your lesson about hogging food.]

Ophion and Zuba grumble for five minutes about how unreasonable we are being, reminding them of their bad behavior a few nights ago. For once, I decide to be smart, and I insist to everyone that we should let bygones be bygones.

[We’ll have plenty of food for everyone.] I play the perfect host. [You’ll see. No fighting needed.]

I’m proven right by the truckload (an exaggeration but not by much) of food that arrives moments later. Food for Ophion and Zuba and all of the beasts. Food for the humans, the elf, the halfling, and the goblin. It’s a ridiculous amount of food. The phrase "last meal" nags at me, and I shove it out of my mind.

Chowing down together is vital to this new alliance and brotherhood. I guess, if you were so inclined, you could say that we are now family. A stretch, in my opinion. But there is a definite bond between us now. Although in its infancy, it has potential.

Ophion inhales small game and morsels and eggs like there’s no tomorrow, while Zuba is a bottomless pit. But no blocking us from the food this time. A vast improvement over our last shared feast.

[System is dangerous.]

The words from Ophion nearly make me choke on my dinner. [What did you just say?]

Lobo wags his tail. [I told you. I told you that they’d switched sides.]

[So you did. But this...] I pause, seeking the words. [This is a game-changer. You’re aware of System and what it is doing?]

Zuba flashes his teeth in a grimace. [We feel so foolish. We can’t imagine what we were thinking. Just assuming that it was friendly.]

I offer a little "mrrrp" of sympathy. [You couldn’t know. None of us could.]

Ophion hisses. [Talk about being tempted by a false idol.]

Lightning corrects him. [More like a false mentor. A bad influence. A guide with a dark agenda.]

After thinking about it for a moment, Ophion agrees. [The advice seemed so friendly. So familiar. Almost like...home.]

[It knows us. Or thinks it does.] Lobo’s eyes glitter.

Sensing our conversation, Demos lifts his head and gives us a bear stare. [What is it?]

[Nothing.] I nuzzle Lightning. [Just a moment between mates.]

Meanwhile, Finn and Leonie play with Zuba’s coils. Naturally, Zuba is as big a hit as Peridot because of all those coils and curves to get lost in. Our cubs are having the time of their young lives, making Ophion into their very own obstacle course and getting in pouncing practice.

A nice warm glow spreads through me. This is a bonding day. Out of battle, we forged this. Looking around at our beast family, I realize that we are stronger for the battles and the struggle.

Ophion hides from Finn and Leonie. [No more. Please. I am not a plaything.] But the protest seems less than fervent.

Meanwhile, Terrah and Martyn have bonded quickly with Lamant, Minette, and Elandior. Hans, Vedette, and Minette watch their parents with pride.

"It has been terrible fighting everyone else," Terrah confides, her voice elegant but a little raw with emotion. "I don’t know why the contest seems so brutal this year."

Kaline shrugs, relaxed the way a tween girl can be. "It’s only a game."

Vedette elbows her. "Listen to you! As if you weren’t screaming for Blaze to crush his opponents. every time!"

With complete candor, Kaline admits, "Just because I wanted him to live. I didn’t care about winning. But winning was how Blaze would be safe."

That makes sense to me. I know why she rooted for us so hard. And she was right. In this case, winning was and is everything. But with this new alliance, victory is in our grasp, and so is home!