Book 9 Chapter 11

“Ohhhh I missed this!” Joan said excitedly before starting to dash off. She barely took two steps before her arm was grabbed. She sighed and glanced back towards Chase. “What?”

“You promised,” Chase said firmly.

“Fine, fine,” Joan said before stopping and instead walking SLOWLY besides him. She glanced to the side opposite him, where Breeze was walking. She’d have questioned the wisdom in having a small girl walking around in just a mask and cloak… except she wasn’t the only one.

Seasrest was, technically, a neutral city. While it had once, long ago, been a part of the Human Empire its population was only a little over half human. There were demons, dwarves, a few merfolk, the occasional goblin, orcs, a few fae, she wasn’t entirely sure but she thought she might have even seen a kobold before they fixed their cloak and hid properly from eyes. About the only race that seemed to truly avoid the city were elves. Likely because of how sensitive their immune systems could be. People wearing cloaks and masks were pretty common here, if just to avoid causing more tension. She wondered what that meant Breeze was. She looked human without the mask, but maybe she was just human adjacent. Or maybe she was some kind of shifter, if not a changeling. Or maybe it was all just a disguise. If she was friends with Chase then there were likely very few limits on what kind of magic he could use to disguise her.

She’d only come here a handful of times during her lives as the Hero, but there was one thing she absolutely adored. The market. All kinds of weird magical items seemed to find there way here and while the Hero rarely had too much use for most of them, now the world was saved. She didn’t need to worry about what was most important to help her save the world. She could just look at things and find weird magic or anything she wanted, really. It didn’t matter. It legitimately didn’t MATTER if she had fun.

Joan could look through all of the strange sights and smells and not worry about wasting her time or ensuring everything worked perfectly or wonder if some tool would end up being pivotal for saving everything. Sure, Ifrit and Francis were stressed out and with all the guards in the embassy, but they chose that. Something about not wanting to go into a busy market with the person who tried to kidnap Ifrit before. He needed to learn to let that kind of stuff go, people tried to kidnap and/or murder her all the time and she didn’t hold it against them.

Heck, Breeze’s elemental friends had kidnapped her and nearly killed her and she let it go. He was just way too touchy. They had a few days before the prince arrived and they could really get started on things again, she was going to enjoy them.

“This way,” Joan said, tugging on Chase’s hand.

Chase just gave a long suffering sigh, but he followed her.

Down into a dark, narrow alleyway. Filled with strange, shady looking figures. She could see their weapons at their sides, sheathed but on full display. Dangerous. Deadly. Mysterious.

Eeeee!

“We shouldn’t go this way,” Breeze said softly.

“Huh? Why?” Joan asked.

“Dangerous,” Breeze said.

“You always get the best stuff from dangerous people,” Joan said.

“No, I mean their work,” Breeze said. “Not well made. Damaged. They’ll get you killed.”

“Breeze? Oh damn it,” a voice called from down the alley. Joan managed to just see someone disappear into one of the buildings before slamming the door shut behind themselves.

“… That bad?” Joan asked.

Breeze just gave a nod.

“Fine,” Joan said before glancing to Chase. That smug smirk on his face just filled her with annoyance. “What?”

“Oh, nothing,” Chase said. “Did we do a lot of shopping like this?”

“Nope,” Joan said. “Sometimes, but nope. We should see if we can find a dimly lit shop with a weird old lady who talks in riddles.”

“A fae?” Chase asked.

“That’s what I said, isn’t it?” Joan asked. “They always have the best stuff.”

“You know,” Chase said. “You seem pretty keen on running head first into dangerous situations after nearly dying just yesterday. Maybe we take it slow? Go shopping in the places with lots of light, people and no entities trying to trick you into terrible destinies?”

“Just a liiiiiittle danger?” Joan asked softly.

“Fine, just a little,” Chase said before shaking his head.

------

“OUT!” the woman yelled, pointing at the door.

“W-what?” Joan asked before glancing back at Chase and Breeze. What’d they do? “We just got here.”

“I don’t care, get out,” the woman said. It took Joan a moment to realize the woman was glaring at HER.

“What? I haven’t done anything yet,” Joan objected. It wasn’t a dimly lit shop by any means, but the woman behind the counter with the cauldron besides her certainly looked a bit strange and mystical. Although right now she mostly looked annoyed. “I think you have me confused with someone else.”

“Oh, I can feel it off you,” she said, her eyes narrowed. “Joan.”

“Uhhhh…” Joan said softly. “Have we met?”

“Oh? You don’t recognize me?” the woman asked, glaring at her and crossing her arms.

“Should… I?” Joan asked before glancing back at Chase. He just shrugged. “Fae of some kind, right?”

“Oh, so now you don’t recognize me,” the woman snapped.

Joan just blinked and tried to remember how many fae she knew. Far, far more than she should have. “So… I don’t know what spell you have on you right now but ummmm… you look human. I mean, you’re obviously not, I can practically feel the magic in the--”

“VANILLAMIST!” the woman snapped, slamming her hands on the counter.

“Ohhhh!” Joan said. “Wow. Um. You got… taller. And your hair is less green.”

“Humans rarely have green hair,” Vanillamist snapped.

“Friend of yours?” Chase asked.

“Kiiiiind of?” Joan said sheepishly. “How, uhhh. How’s Ripple?”

“She is wonderful and a joy to be around when I get to see her, she’s taken up glowflies,” Vanillamist said, her eyes still narrowed on her. “Out of my shop.”

“But I haven’t done anything!” Joan said. “Yet.”

“EXACTLY,” Vanillamist yelled. “And you’re not going to do it here. Don’t think I haven’t been hearing things, ‘Joan’. You have quite the reputation back home. Little trouble maker.”

“I do?” Joan asked, unable to keep the pride out of her voice. “What are they saying?”

“Joan,” Chase said, his tone exhausted now.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Come on, I don’t usually have a reputation,” Joan said. “Well, not a good one. Usually it’s all ‘lets kill her before she does something’ or ‘that girl with the Chosen’. I wanna know what the fae are saying about me.”

“Not to make any deals with you,” Vanillamist said bitterly. “Apparently a few have already tried and you threw everything they did into chaos.”

“Flickerpuff? Or Neverdale? Cause either way, that was fun,” Joan said. “But come on, I just want to do some shopping for cool magic stuff. I’m a customer, don’t you have to-- OH! Wait, this IS a fae shop then! I bet you have all kinds of things!” She reached out to grab a red sword hanging on the wall.

“Don’t touch that!” Vanillamist yelled.

“Oh, is it cursed?” Joan asked.

“No, it’s expensive,” Vanillamist said before lifting a hand to her forehead and rubbing it. “Please. Just leave. I don’t want whatever you’re a part of this time.”

“Nothing,” Joan said. “I’m a part of nothing! Oh, right, except maybe a cult that--”

“Not! Involved!” Vanillamist said. “I’m just doing my task to fulfill a deal. Go away.”

“Come on, are you really going to just kick me out?” Joan asked. “But I--”

She wasn’t even sure what happened, but a few moments later she was standing outside the shop with Chase and Breeze.

“That was… rude,” Joan said softly.

“What does taking up glowflies mean?” Breeze asked.

“I have no idea,” Joan said. “Why is it whenever I try to do exciting things these kind of stuff happens?”

“Maybe you just invite too much danger,” Chase said. “Its learning to be wary of you.”

“I didn’t even know the fae could be wary of someone,” Joan mumbled. “I wonder if this means the Nameless One has mentioned me to others.”

“Possibly Flickerpuff,” Chase offered.

“Ohhhh. Or the Forgotten One,” Joan said.

“Is she raising glowflies?” Breeze asked.

“Maybe,” Joan said. “Fine, I guess we can just look at normal things. Boring things. Nothing cursed or haunted or anything.”

“Lucky us,” Chase said with a light snicker.

“Are glowflies like fireflies? Or are they something else entirely?” Breeze asked.

“Way bigger,” Joan said. “Bitey, too.”

------

Joan groaned and leaned against the railing on the pier. The sea spread out before her, forever. Despite her best efforts, she hadn’t managed to find anything that really fit what she wanted. Sure, she managed to get a bracelet that would apparently make her grow fins and breathe underwater when she was entirely submerged, but that wasn’t nearly as cool as an old cursed mirror or a blade that had served as a long dead god’s letter opener or a polished stone that once choked an ancient wyrm and gained mystical powers of wyrm slaying. Okay, admittedly the last one had been there and likely had been talked up by the man selling it.

“Are you okay?” Chase asked.

“I crave adventure,” Joan said. “I wanna go around and do things. Not wait for the prince to get here. Like, I know where we probably need to go. Well, where the cultists are. So all we need to do is find their little hideout, fight through their hordes, open the prison thing, show that the thing inside is dead and bam. We’re done.”

“And you don’t know where their hideout is?” Chase asked.

“I mean, I vaguely know,” Joan said with a shrug.

“Vaguely,” Chase said.

“It’s a really big city,” Joan said. “Also, it was years in the future. Also, it was dark at the time. Also, on fire.”

“The city?” Chase asked.

“A lot of things,” Joan said. “It wasn’t supposed to be for a while. Wait, should we talk about this around her?” She pointed towards Breeze.

“Breeze is fine,” Chase said.

“Good enough for me,” Joan said before glancing back out at the sea. “Ohhhh. That’s a pretty ship.”

“You’re trying to distract me,” Chase said. “So what were you actually looking for today?”

“Fancy things,” Joan said. “You know, cool magic things, old stuff, maybe something so if I fall into the water later and you’re not around to save me I don’t die? I found that, at least.”

“And what else? What specifically?”

Joan groaned and leaned against the railing and stared out over the water. “Is it that obvious?”

“You’re always up to something, Joan,” Chase said. “Even Breeze can tell and she just met you.”

“No I can’t,” Breeze said.

“You can’t?” Chase asked.

“I just thought she was a bit crazy,” Breeze said.

“Both can be true,” Joan said with a shrug. “But fine. I was looking for the Silver Beetle, which will lead us to the underwater resting place of Captain Flamehawk, who held the Jar of Time, with which we can age the Silver Beetle outside of its current lock and then use to find the base of the cultists.”

Chase just stared at her for a few moments before sighing. “And you didn’t tell me this because…?”

“You know, I can’t just have you solve everything,” Joan mumbled. “I already have to have you get the Jar of Time, I’d like to do some of this myself. It’s no fun to just be the support for the Chosen all the time.”

“I’ll be honest, sometimes us Chosen just feel like we’re your support,” Chase said before reaching over and tapping her head. “So, the Silver Beetle? Is it actually a bug?”

“No, it’s just the name for a weird, silver artifact that looks like a beetle,” Joan said. “It had a lot of owners before we got a hold of it, since it was supposed to lead to that treasure. We were the only ones to actually get to it.”

“Well, weren’t we lucky?” Chase asked. “Fine, I’ll see what I can find. Breeze?”

“It shouldn’t be difficult,” Breeze said softly.

“Huh?” Joan asked. “Wait, she’s going to help you?”

“Of course,” Breeze said.

“She’d be more aware of the goings on here,” Chase said. “I’ve been gone for a little bit.”

“You said you’d be back soon,” Breeze said softly.

“It hasn’t been that long,” Chase said sheepishly.

“Its been months,” Breeze said.

“You could have come with me,” Chase said.

“No,” Breeze said.

Chase just gave a soft, exhausted sigh. “There’s really no winning here, is there?”

“No,” Breeze said.

Joan glared at the other girl before looking to Chase. “You know, she’s probably been causing a lot of trouble while you were gone. She might end up making this harder.”

“You didn’t seem to think that when you first brought her to us,” Chase said.

“That’s because I thought she’d be my connection to those two elementals,” Joan said, unable to keep the grumbling out of her voice. It just wasn’t fair. Since Chase was here she thought she’d be able to have a fun little adventure with him. Instead she felt more like she was the backup who was following him on HIS adventure. Even if he was a Chosen it didn’t mean she always wanted to be the one in the shadows.

“Do you want me to disappear?” Breeze asked softly.

“No she doesn’t,” Chase said, his tone turning harsh. Far harsher than she ever remembered him sounding. “Breeze, don’t.”

Joan blinked and looked between the two of them, struggling to keep the confusion away. Failing utterly. “Okay… then. So, can you find the Silver Beetle?”

“Yes,” Breeze said. “I’ll return as soon as I’ve found it.”

“Breeze,” Chase said, reaching out for her, before pausing and pulling his hand back. “Just… be careful.”

“I always am,” Breeze said before walking away.

Joan glanced between the two of them before sighing. “You know, you never DID tell me about her. So…. How? Why? When?”

“Joan, can we not?” Chase asked. “Please don’t be jealous.”

“I-I’m not jealous!” Joan said quickly, her cheeks glowing scarlet now. “Okay fine, I’m a little jealous. Do you like her more than me?”

“There is literally no way I can answer that question safely,” Chase said in a flat tone.

“Is she snarkier than me? Is that it?” Joan asked.

Chase just stared at her. “You are a very self conscious little hero, aren’t you?”

“Maybe a little,” Joan said sheepishly. “You never told me about her.”

“It’s personal and not something I like talking about,” Chase said.

“Why?” Joan asked. He just gave her a look. “Fine. So… what now? How long will she take?”

“No idea,” Chase said. “But she’ll find it. Trust her. You have my word.”

Joan nodded, though she couldn’t help feeling a little uncertain. Was she another thing that the Hero just never knew about? Or was she new to this life? What other things about Chase didn’t she know?