So, on patreon, the arc has been completed. Along with an announcement.
Thank you to OdeToAKite, Michael, JewBot9000, Jonathan Newman, Kolonji Francois, Samuel Ochoa, taw, Nasior and Morgan for always being patient and supporting in what I do.
(I ALSO HOPE YOU ALL CAN CATCH MY REFERENCE/MEME REFERENCE OR I'LL BE SAD ;-;)
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Our last day in Arkwright till we leave for Onstatin. Time to hit the hay.
He got into bed beside Seraphina, Goodnight Ivy.
Ivy clone's looked at him stunned while she was eating,
[Huh? It's been a while since you wished me goodnight. What happened, Aric?]
He shrugged internally, It's umm, nothing. I felt bad for getting mad at you last night. And I miss the original Ivy. Is she doing okay?
[Vayne, is that you? Bring my Aric back this instance. And to answer your question, yeah, she's doing fine.]
Sooo funny, Ivy, you make me sound more pathetic than I already think I am.
[There he is, my sad, depressed boy. I knew you'd come back. Well, I am a perfect copy of Ivy, so I know you as well as she does. Well, not exactly, but you get the gist of it.]
It's just been so much with the dream and stuff that I forgot you're probably a person too and have feelings of neglect when I don't talk to you, so I'm sorry for that. Could you relay this to her, please?
I know I can't talk to her right now, but I hope she knows I care about her.
[Did you just call me a loner?]
Your words, not mine.
[I'll have you know I have plenty of friends, hmph! But I accept your apology and will relay your message. Goodnight Aric.]
Night Ivy.
Being laughed in the corner, "Ivy, he got you there, haha, this is so funny, he's not even wrong."
Ivy punched her shoulder, "Ha ha ha, laugh all you want, but you better not let anyone else know."
Being fixed a star and stretched her arms, "Why are you flustered though? He just said goodnight."
"Shut up, I'm not blushing."
Being patted her head, "How long are you going to keep doing this to yourself, Ivy? You're spectating your copy talk to Aric which feels very dystopian surprisingly." Being murmured.
Ivy pushed her hand away and walked towards the garden of life,
"He has Seraphina."
Being followed behind, "For now."
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"It's empty here."
Aric walked mindlessly in the white plane. He knew that he was in a dream again, but couldn't find a way out.
"These two days have been weird. It feels like the closer we have to go to Onastin, the weirder my dreams become."
He placed his hands behind his head and looked upwards. Seeing just white again, as if he was trapped in a box.
"It also feels as though I'm slowly losing control of my consciousness as well. I'm usually able to control my dreams and force myself to wake up, but I can't do that anymore."
A feminine voice echoed, "Maybe that's because you know you have no plan yet and you have no idea how to stop the new scenario."
Aric looked around for a source but saw nothing. He didn't feel annoyed, but he did feel tired,
"Oh yeah, let's see. I have a talking female voice in my head, so that's really showing my self-consciousness is totally in check. I have, Ivy, you know, the system that can drag me back to life, has said that my wife is the strongest current being in this world, but I think she might be talking about her full potential because Lira feels like an ocean that feels impossible to swim."
"Oh, why am I ranting? Oh, nothing, just the fact that Seraphina trusts me or us, the voice in my head TO STOP HER WHEN SHE IS UNSTOPPABLE. DO I LOOK LIKE BATMAN? DO I LOOK LIKE I CAN COME UP WITH A PLAN TO STOP A PERSON WHO CAN KILL ME IN HER SLEEP!?"
Aric panted as he yelled out those words. His voice echoed throughout the plane, and he slumped down.
"Just let me out. I want to wake up."
The voice chuckled rather seductively, "Oh my. Already making Seraphina yours?"
Aric was perplexed, "What the, what? No! She is just my 'wife' until she isn't. Besides, she'll get tired of me first."
The voice replied in the same tone again, "Hmm hmm. Suit yourself, delusional boy. I am not the inner voice in your head. I am, rather, someone who can access your thoughts, just like Ivy. Only you know, you won't remember this dream because I can snap my finger and poof, gone. You will just wake up with nothing remembered and think you had a good night's sleep."
She cleared her throat as if she had a physical body, "Ahem, anyways. I will say one thing, though: you are here because of me. I have something to show you, which you know will be remembered, so I did lie a little, but hey, where's the fun in always telling the truth?"
She took on a physical form now and looked dazzling. Pink long hair that touched the ground with starry pupils that were pink too. She had fair skin, and her tone made Aric remember the Aphrodite voice he had heard.
Aric thought to himself, Wow, you look like a princess.
She put her hand over her mouth, "Haha, see? You still can hear your own inner voice even in your dreams. Though, should you really be complimenting every woman you hear and see? The first time, you thought of me as this 'Aphrodite', and now you think I am some princess. How naughty."
She put her finger on his mouth as if knowing he was about to speak,
"Here's what you will remember, Aric. In Onastin, there's a church that worships a god named Lysandra. In that church, you will learn what will happen to your wife if she goes berserk and kills everyone. Is it evil like the typical manga and manhwa you have read on Earth? Uh, no. This is real life and it's a good church."
"But what you will see is the people there. That's your final message."
She caressed her jawline and felt rather…tingly, "You know what? I rather like you, so you can have one question that you can bring back to the present. I will let you remember it, of course. Remember, think wisely because any question or statement you speak, I will count it as such and wake you up immediately."
He looked at her finger that was still on his mouth and made a face that told her, 'How do I speak when you have your finger seductively on my lips?'
She let go of her fingers and looked sorry, "Apologies."
Aric spoke immediately as if he knew what to ask, "Seraphina. How do I stop her from going on a rampage without the use of violence?"
She looked rather impressed and smiled at him,
"Confess your feelings then. Have something genuine with her."
Aric narrowed his eyes, "Genui–"
SNAP.
*****************************************************
It was now 11 a.m. and the day for Seraphina and Aric to go to Onastin. Seraphina was busy preparing the documents and contracts while Aric was busy doing his daily spar with Lira. Lira and Thorin would ride with them back as their kingdoms were relatively close to Onastin. Thorin was learning the new blueprints Aric had given him. He paid, of course.
He was looking at several blueprints named "Vacuum", "Engine", and "Rifle."
Thorin's eyebrow raised with suspicion on the engine and rifle, but he was especially concerned about the rifle blueprint. It had a small note folded to the edge and Thorin unfolded it.
It read, If you can replicate this, make thousands of this. This is important for the safety of everyone. I trust you with this weapon, Thorin.
A weapon? This wand-looking thing a weapon?
He looked at the schematics closely and couldn't find any trace of magic. It was purely just raw mechanical engineering and gunpowder. Thorin read the recipe for the gunpowder,
"Sulphur, a bit rare but doable, we have plenty of charcoal and…potass…ium nitrate? What in hell is that! Did this boy seriously entrust me to figure this out on my own?"
He looked towards the window to see Aric sparring with Lira. Aric was even more aggressive now, while Lira had a maniacal smile towards him. Something caught his peripheral vision as he was about to turn back.
A butterfly fluttered across the window. It had a red and black colour and it stayed in front of the window as if staring at Thorin. Thorin stared at it back with the blueprint in hand.
"Strange," he said.
He turned back to see Alden waiting in front of the door while the butterfly had fluttered away.
"Your highness, our lady wants to confirm that you want to tag along for the journey to Onastin?"
He rolled the blueprint and chuckled a little, "Yes, yes. I want to accompany them a little longer since my kingdom is also en route with it. Killing two birds with one stone, you know?"
His face then changed into curiosity, "I know I shouldn't be asking this, but I have heard from the people of Ashwick that Aric has used strange weapons to fight against the demon. Just what were those weapons?"
Alden looked hesitant to answer, "Well…uh…your highness, I don't think it's my place to say things like that. Perhaps, I could ask our la-"
Alden felt a soft yet firm touch on his shoulder. It was Seraphina's tendril touching it.
"I think I'll take it from here, Alden. You can go ahead and ask Penelope and Evelyn to start preparing."
He bowed and left immediately, "Yes, my lady."
She closed the door and leaned back against the door, "What do you want to know?"
Thorin tucked the blueprint into the back of his trousers. "Well, I was wondering if you could tell me what kind of weapons Aric used in the fight? I am just asking this out of curiosity, of course."
She caressed her chin, "Hmmm, I think that is something you should ask him, but if I were to put it into magical terms, it's faster than most spells."
Thorin felt intrigued, "Just how fast exactly?"
She raised her hand, "You might want to step aside."
He stood aside and she shot a miniature ball from her hand that travelled as fast as a pistol bullet. It crushed the wood frame on impact but didn't penetrate through.
"It's that fast, plus it can penetrate through that frame."
Thorin felt the weight of responsibility he was given,
Why in the hell did you entrust me to make such a weapon? Don't he know how much power this would give to the average perso…
Ah. No wonder he trusts me with it. He knows this. He's preparing something big, but what? What could possibly be so important that it requires thousands of these 'rifles'?
No, never mind that. I should get started on creating this on my own. He trusted me with this.
He coughed, "I must say, I am impressed. He's new to magic, but he's capable of making things that powerful. How long will you be in Onastin anyway?"
Seraphina shrugged, "About 6-7 weeks. It really depends on how smoothly things will go there and how the people will treat Aric. I really hope they can open their hearts to him… Anyways,"
She turned around and opened the door, "See you downstairs. We will leave in an hour."
She closed the door, and Thorin sighed heavily, "Lad…just what kind of mess are you getting into? And seriously, how do you expect me to govern this weaponry…"
**************************************************
An hour later…
Aric shoved his luggage into the carrier and stepped back to look at the horse.
"Buddy, I swear to you, you won't have to work so hard anymore. I'll make the golden age of transportation, okay?"
The horse neighed at him while Junky stood beside Seraphina. She no longer panicked with him around, but she would still tense up.
"Ahem…so everyone got their stuff ready?"
Penelope and Evelyn were making sure everyone's luggage was in there,
"Yep, we are checking." They said in unison.
Aric patted Junky, "So, he's following us. Don't worry, he's not going to be in the same carriage as you, wife. But he will be guiding us. Do you object?"
She looked at Junky and saw that both of them were doing their cute puppy eyes. She facepalmed,
"Ugh, fine. He can come. He's been a good boy."
Everyone got onto their respective carriage. Well, almost everyone. Lira wanted to tag along with Seraphina, but Evelyn touched her shoulder with a cold smile that said,
'Let them have their peace. You can have yours too.'
Lira surprisingly complied with her and sat down with Thorin. Penelope was with Evelyn at the front carriage along with the drivers. Aric and Seraphina were in the middle while Thorin and Lira were at the back. As they left, they could hear the sounds of the piano being played.
Seraphina and Aric sat opposite each other. "I'm surprised you got everyone's wishes done."
Aric unfolded a blueprint, "Well, besides Claire's and Marguerite's, everyone else was easy. James wanted to see better, so I made him a pair of near-sighted glasses. Kim wanted her feet to feel better, so I made her a couple pairs of shoes and soap for her. Darius just wanted a better pot, and Jimmy wanted his own fridge. Actually, everyone just wanted something small, like jewelry, shirts, or suits. It wasn't difficult."
Seraphina noticed he didn't mention Marguerite's gift, "What did Marg want?"
Aric blinked at her as he contemplated, "Hmmm. Just, baby stuff."
Seraphina looked unsurprised and facepalmed, "That woman…she truly cares about her children more than herself. It won't hurt her to request something nice like jewelry from you or me."
Aric softened his eyes, "That's what being a parent does to you. You put the priorities of your child first, then yourself. Speaking of which, are you sure you're okay with Penelope being here? It took some time for you to calm down after what I said."
Seraphina fiddled with her fingers, "I mean…I am very much afraid of that dream happening, but as we said yesterday, it was just a dream and nothing is certain…Plus, I trust you, Aric. If you say that we can change it, I trust you."
Aric decided to change the topic, "Hmmm. I trust you, too. Anyway, how do I hide my face at Onastin? I mean, I am pretty sure they are ready to crucify me there the moment they even see a speck of my hair."
Seraphina giggled at him, "Well, there's also another reason why I brought Penelope. I have seen her makeup and…it's pretty good. So…you're going to have a makeover and wear makeup the entire time."
Aric was dumbfounded, "Huh?"
Ivy's clone, too, was dumbfounded, [Huh?]