Fates of Grenora: Return of the Night

Awakening to a new day, Aldrin still felt good. The lingering deed had refreshed his mind and body. Now he needed to figure out a way to get past magical locks, and he was in the perfect place to do so. While he was mapping out the city, he came across a shop called Rune-Keys that would hopefully have what wanted.

He also needed to hurry now that he had cut off the supply from the Slavers. His current plan of action was to find a Potion that would allow him to bypass the magical lock on Tanyth's study and whatever lies behind the vault-like doors beneath the library.

Taking his daily dose of blood, he headed down to begin his new plan. Coming down, he saw Pierre sitting next to Jared at their usual booth. With Pierre's new Profession, he had found a new joy as he experimented with different ingredients. Lately, he had been working on restocking essential Potions for the road ahead.

That same road looked bleak to Aldrin, since Pierre had yet to find any traces of a cure. However, he tracked down the Heilsdale Flower, saying that it comes from the swampy lands of Eliohend. It was both a stressor and a relief to Aldrin because he was happy to know that the only thing that could harm him came from the birthplace of most of the lethal poisons in the world. However, it also begged the question as to who would be crazy enough to venture into Eliohend for the flower.

But he was soon about to join the crazy list since the longer he spent here, the more it became a dead end. That would make them move to Plan B, the Progenitor Lands, which they would need to be drastically stronger for. What he envisioned was once they got to the coastal mercenary town of Ebira, they could take on Contract Quest, which were people handing out Quests rather than having it assigned to your Adventurer Guild Badge or by the System itself.

He was pulled from his thoughts when he approached the table that was filled with a pan of scrambled eggs, a stack of pancakes, a plate of bacon, and a bowl with fruit. There was a slight tug at his heart from not being able to enjoy bacon anymore when he looked at it. One plate was filled and untouched. Jared hovered over another plate of his own, shoveling food into his mouth like he hadn't eaten in weeks. Aldrin couldn't help the grin that crossed his face when Jared distracted him from falling deeper into an introspection when he cheerfully greeted him with a wave, flinging bits of egg off his fork and onto Pierre's journal. Aldrin could see Pierre give Jared a glare from the corner of his eye before flicking off the egg bit. Seeing Aldrin, Pierre gave him a nod as he focused on writing down potential ingredients and their combinations in a journal.

"How was last night?" Pierre asked, making room for Aldrin to sit down before going back to scribbling ideas down.

Aldrin groaned, running his hands down his face. "I probably put the city in a lot more danger, but on the plus side, I saved some people last night," he replied.

"Saved them how?" Jared skeptically asked.

"I gave them their freedom and some money," he answered.

Pierre closed the journal and put the pencil down. "And how do you feel?" he asked, pulling his untouched plate over to him.

Aldrin sat back against the cushioned booth. "Honestly, better than I have since becoming what I am," both of them smiled softly at him and continued to eat their food.

"How did you place the city in more danger though?" Jared asked.

Aldrin looked anywhere but at the two who looked at him. "Gave the Zombies down there a food source," he reluctantly replied, sinking a little into the booth.

"Wait!" Jared yelled before remembering where he was and waving off the onlookers who turned to see what was going on "There are Zombies underneath the city now?" he hissed the last part.

Aldrin nodded, realizing that eventually the people of the city would have to know.

"What do we do now then? I mean, your sister is on her way, so we can wait until she gets here to do something, right?" Jared asked after a few moments of silence.

Aldrin scratched the top of his head. "We just kick start it early," he suggested, earning incredulous looks from the both of them.

"What do you mean?" Pierre asked, his brows furrowed.

Aldrin filled them with the entire events of the cave, including the Homunculi being controlled by a Puppeteer, and the Death Gorger. "So today, I am going to see about a Potion that will help us get past the magical locks somehow. Then we storm the castle, so to speak," he said.

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Jared leaned in. "So we are siding with the Zombies then?" He quietly asked as he tried his best to look around discreetly to see if anyone heard him.

Aldrin gave him a sympathetic look. "Not necessarily. Not unless something crazy happens."

"A cure won't be uncovered here; not anymore because of whatever the Queen and her Court are doing. So we have to move to Plan B," he added.

"When did Adeline say she could be here?" He changed the subject.

"Counting yesterday; she should be here in about two more days. She had agreed to send half of her forces a day ahead to assess the situation; so expect shiny armored people tomorrow if you go out." Jared answered.

Pierre rubbed his chin, his eyes alighting with the plan Aldrin alluded to. "You want to break in the day Adeline gets here, don't you?"

"That's exactly it. You said we aren't city-toppling strong yet, but that doesn't mean we can't find out more with a little help. Half of her forces are already going to be here in case things get out of control, and with her arriving later, I am hoping they can contain it. Then we escape during the chaos and make our way to Folos for Jared's quest." Aldrin grinned, pleased with his idea.

"Best case, Adeline can at least hold the line too if she hasn't already called for reinforcements. Which I'm sure she has, judging that she knows firsthand how bad these can be. Worst case, the city is lost." Pierre simplified the plan.

Jared let out a heavy exhale of air, making the two look at him.

"I thought you were going to love this crazy idea, Jared," Aldrin teased.

"Oh no, it's not that! The plan is solid! I'm just thinking about the supplies we will need," Jared answered, forcing a smile.

Pierre laughed. "Don't worry, I already have the Potions ready to go, and I am making more to sell later on. We just gotta get food and traveling kits."

"I'll do that and stash the carriage outside of town somewhere so we can get to it," Jared added.

They chatted for the rest of their breakfast before parting ways, each with their own mission in mind. Moving through the throngs of people, Aldrin made his way to Rune-Keys. The shop matched the dreary decor of the rest of the city with its concrete foundation and brick walls. Two windows on the front of the store enabled Aldrin to see how busy it was. Hoping to find what he was looking for based on how busy it was, his hope skyrocketed.

Opening the entrance to the store, it was louder than he expected as people shouted for certain Potions, clamoring to be in the front. It was as drab on the inside, with concrete flooring and bare brick walls with nothing to show for them. Only the usual back room where the stores kept their supplies was the feature that made it feel bigger than what it was. Four clerks, three men and a woman all dressed in white long-sleeved button-up shirts were doing their best defending against the tide, but they were drowning. Aldrin weaved through the people to the front. They subtly shifted out of his way. Some eyes observed him carefully, noticing how unusually graceful he made his way to the front.

"Aldrin?" A dulcet cultured voice pierced through the noise.

Turning to see who had called him, he recognized her as Evie, the Giantess who was secretly with the Bugbear.

"Evie?" he shouted over the cacophony of noise inside the store.

She turned to the voice. "You heard me over this?" She confusedly asked as she saw Aldrin weave his way closer.

"Good hearing." He pointed at his ears, giving her a calm smile.

Evie nodded at the simple explanation. "Are you leaving town soon?"

"Yes, and you should too," Aldrin warned before a clerk came to greet him.

"Potion?" The clerk's powerful voice drew Aldrin's attention. His black hair was stylishly slicked back with grease, brown eyes conveyed friendliness that paired with his magnetic smile.

"I need something to get past magical locks," he said, watching the clerk nod his head and run to the back. Soon he came back carrying three flasks and placed them before Aldrin to Inspect.

"All of them. How much?" Aldrin said without hesitation.

"1 gold, 11 silver," the clerk said, focusing on something else in front of him.

Aldrin placed the amount on the counter, which lit up a green runic symbol underneath. The same symbol then copied itself underneath the Potions, allowing for Aldrin to swipe them into his Inventory.

He thanked the clerk and headed out, running into Evie, who stood waiting with her scarred arms crossed. Long lines interlaced with symbols in Giantese tattooed her light tawny skin from her head down. She was wearing her iron chainmail chest with leather gloves, pants, and fingerless gloves. Her brown hair braided in a wrap atop her head, steel-gray eyes assessed every movement around her, three claw marks ran diagonally across her features, her nose had looked like it had been broken and mended plenty of times, and thin pink lips were pursed into a thin line.

Her eyes zeroed in on Aldrin first, then she moved to intercept his path. Aldrin could only imagine what her true size would be like if she was already a few inches taller than his 6'0 self.

She sized him up as she looked him up and down first. "Your warning. What do you imply? What do you know about the kidnappings?" She asked, her soothing soft voice contradicting ‌her intimidating armored figure.

"All I can say is look into the Research District. I'm sure you'll find something there." Aldrin answered smoothly.

She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at him. "Something about you-"

"Evie!" a guttural voice barked.

Both turned to look at the Bugbear frantically pushing his way towards them. Concern formed on Evie. Her scrutinizing features turned into a scowl. He clutched a cut on his arm, ignoring the many stares as people walked by.

"What is it Khudar?" She asked once the Bugbear got close.

"Inkathu and Beltaine got captured!"

"How?"

"We found the kidnapper, and they sent me back to find you." He flicked his dull yellow eyes to Aldrin.

"Let's go," Evie said, sparing a glance at Aldrin before they disappeared among the crowd.