Book 4: Chapter 73: Patch 13.0: Operation: Operation

Tabitha is sitting on a crate as Nell stands behind her. This whole night was sparked by Nell wanting to try and give Tabitha some cute new looks, and that is exactly what Nell plans on doing! Only, she continues to get distracted by looking out toward the open waters now that The Shoebill has stopped.

“Somethin’ wrong?” Tabitha asks. “Ya keep lookin’ out there.”

“Nothing is wrong. It is just that… the serpent’s presence feels stronger than usual,” Nell explains.

“Ya could always invite her over. She’s a girl, so there’s no harm in her joinin’ us.”

“I am not sure that she would be interested.”

“Eh. Anyways, there’s one girl here that we know even less about than that serpent!”

“And who would that be?” Nell asks as she tries pulling Tabitha’s hair into a short ponytail.

“You,” Tabitha says, pointing at Azalabulia.

“M-me?” Azalabulia asks.

Tabitha nods her head. “That’s right. Tell us about yourself! Somethin’ new, that is. We already know you’re a teacher and that you’re into the dog boy.”

“Well,” Azalabulia pauses, tapping one of her fingers against her chin as she tries to think of something interesting that won’t make her sound pathetic. She fails to, of course, so she goes with something awesome instead. “I learned my magic from a dragon! A fearsome dragon of darkness spared my life and taught me everything that I know, and now it is my duty to take over the world in his honor! A wave of horrible and cruel darkness shall wash over this wor—”

“Anyways,” Tabitha says, “how’s the new house?” she asks Serra and Cassiel as Azalabulia slumps her shoulders. “I’m just kiddin’,” she tells Azalabulia. “Ya seriously learned magic from a dragon, or is that just you playin’ around some more?”

“We-well, it’s kind of true…”

“Go on! Come on, we want to hear about this.”

“Yeah, I’m interested,” Cassiel says.

“Dragons are cool,” Serra says.

Meanwhile, Nell is content with trying to braid Tabitha’s hair now.

“So… there was this dragon I went with a raid group to go hunt near the mountains. He was stronger than any of us thought he would be, so he killed most of the group, and… I kind of got distracted watching all of his really awesome attacks. They were cool! Dark flames, explosions, and fire everywhere! It was then that I, Azalabulia, decided to watch and learn from him so that I could become his disciple!”

“So, what I just gathered from that, is that ya let the rest of the raid get wiped while you watching the dragon since ya thought it was cool?” Tabitha asks.

Azalabulia excitedly nods her head with her hands held up in front of her.

“And what’s goin’ to happen if we ever get into a fight with another monster that you think is cool?” Tabitha asks.

“Then I shall use the Cursed Flame of Bahamut to annihilate our enemy, regardless of who or what it is! There is only one ultimate magic in this world, and it is mine and I shall never bow before another’s might!” Azalabulia declares.

“I’m guessin’ that you not helpin’ out at all while everybody else died is part of why ya weren’t havin’ any luck with groups anymore.”

“I – I… maybe. But they should be honored that they perished by the dragon’s dark flames!”

“Yeah? Then why didn’t ya sacrifice yourself to the flames?”

“Because I would have died,” Azalabulia says with a completely serious face and voice, answering Tabitha in a way that makes her sound as if she was just asked one of the most obvious, common sense questions in the world.

“You’re too much.”

“There!” Nell says. “What do you all think?” she asks, presenting Tabitha to the other girls.

The short, orange-haired girl who usually has hair that is just as short and messy as the rest of her now has her hair tied into a couple of short pigtails hanging down her back.

“Cute,” Serra says.

“Doesn’t really fit her, but it looks nice,” Cassiel answers.

“Dye it black?” Azalabulia suggests.

“Heck no,” Tabitha says. “Tried that once in real life when I was younger. Was horrible.”

“Oh? I sense a story,” Nell says.

“It ain’t much of a story. Had a crush in high school and they were into the whole goth thing, so I tried it out. Then I found out she was already datin’ our teacher in secret. Let me tell ya, there was a lot of drama around the school after that. Regretted dyin’ my hair within a day.”

“Ah, a forbidden teacher and student relationship. I have always been fond of such stories,” Nell says. “I am sorry to hear that you had to be rejected in such a manner, though.”

“It’s alright. She ended up getting’ into some dark things outside my comfort zone, so things worked out for the best. Gotta look at the bright side of things. Besides, I spent more time workin’ on some of my projects after findin’ out about her, and I ended up really gettin’ absorbed into them. I found out that buildin’ things is way more fun than girls. No offense.”

“None taken. I know the feeling,” Cassiel says. “I gave up on guys after all the shitheads I dated, then I met Fen. Before him, I was just absorbed into work and playing this game. Work sucked, and my situation in the game sucked, but they were better than wasting time on men.”

“Now then! What else do ya girls want to talk about?” Tabitha asks them.

“Sex,” Serra answers.

“Denied.”

While Serra pouts, Nell suggests, “Erotic fantasies?”

“Rejected.”

“Dr-dragons and darkness?” Azalabulia tries.

“Refused.”

“There’s not really much to talk about,” Cassiel says. “Unless you just want us to talk more about our real lives. You already know everything going on with our real lives right now, so… I don’t know what else to talk about.”

“We should’ve brought some games or somethin’. Well, I suppose we can get to learnin’ about self-defense!” Tabitha announces.

While the other girls found the previous conversation enjoyable, now they find themselves internally groaning at the thought of trying to learn self-defense techniques on a night meant for relaxing and hanging out.

At least their night is about to get more exciting.