Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

The once prosperous city of Aesteradia, the capital only housed by the prominent, now rests with gloom under the blanket of corruption. As viscous as a bottle of coagulated blood, it ran rancid in the air and feeling that corrosion traveling down his throat, Monty did well to cover his mouth for the city was for the baned not healthy individuals.

'What the fuck is wrong with this city?!' He yelled in his mind, moving from shadow to shadow and soaking everything that he saw.

Snarling like zombies and waddling like infants, the people of Aesteradia appeared to be in a constant daze. From uncertain footsteps to the sudden burst of intellect shown in their actions, not to mention the slurred speech and the strange ways they handled their youngs–witnessing it all, Monty–a boy much sheltered in his own city, was baffled beyond belief. He had never witnessed horrors, much less wander through a corrupted region, perhaps it was this lack of knowledge of such things that was keeping him more vigilant than he otherwise would've.

'And those bracelets…' Glaring at the people passing through the main city street, he noticed them all wearing the same dark bracelet emitting the same dark smoke by their wrists. 'Something's off about that thing, it almost feels like one of those items Mistress keeps in her personal stash.'

Lying in wait for the false heroes between two tall buildings, his mind raced and raced some more until he finally noticed the quadrant walking up the streets from a distance. Keeping his eyes fixed on them, he began following them around just as he'd been doing for a few days. It wasn't hard to find their group, after all the soldiers and their group were the only ones who appeared human and acted as such.

'That's it, I'm gonna find out more about them and finally leave this damned place!' Making himself that promise, he joined the zombified crowd in his tall cloak. Mimicking their movements with a flicker of logic in his action, he kept getting closer and closer to the group until Monty could listen in on their conversation.

"What's up with the queen? She'd had her panties in a knot for a while," said the orange-haired demi-cat, Felix–the only male of the group as well as its leader.

With a sarcastic smile, he glanced sideways at Jenna but the human girl, being reserved as she was, kept her staff clenched tight and simply continued to walk beside him with an anxious heart. Clicking his tongue at her lack of interest, he turned his gaze back to the front and that's when clinging to him from the other side came Astra.

"Forget her, M'kay? You can ask m'ehh instead!"

Her tail wagged about as she tugged him toward her, and with a wail of surprise, Felix nearly fell into his friend's arms.

"Drop it you two!" Moving in the middle, however, Hilma stepped between the duo and held them in place for a moment. Looking at them both with discontent written on her face, she squeezed their shoulders roughly as a warning. "I don't care why the queen is so worried about some false idol worshipers, but you two are not gonna act like fools in front of her."

An adventurer turned aunt, then a caretaker for the orphan male, Hilma's compassion knew no bounds but her anger was far greater. Thus giving a much harder squeeze to Felix than Astra, she looked him in the eye and warned.

"You're supposed to be the hero this world needs, act like it!" Instead of listening to her demand, Felix simply shrugged her hand off of his shoulder.

Hilma's emerald hair fluttered in the air as she was pushed back, and although the rash reaction angered her, she'd grown far too used to the bratty nature of her nephew to do anything about it anymore.

'Big words no thunder, eh?' Learning more about the dynamic of the group, Monty continued to follow them to Castle Aesteradia. On his way there, he learned even more about the group. For one, Jenna was the only person in the group who appeared like she didn't want to be there, Astra on the other hand, she was clinging to Felix, and Monty could've sworn he heard her complaining about being his childhood friend and yet he's been giving more attention to Jenna.

'That leaves Hilam, a mother figure perhaps? She acts as the group so there must be some way she's related to him.' Still unsure about her role in all of this, Monty wanted to listen some more, but as the group came closer to the grand castle surrounded by yet another range of mountains, he was forced to retreat in the shadows and follow them with caution.

Line with the fauna of all sorts, most of them flowers, the garden should've smelled much better than the rest of the city, but that, unfortunately, wasn't the case for the land, the animals, and even the greeny has been corrupted for so long they've forgotten what they used to be. Smelling of rot and blooming the bones of the diseased that had been pulled from the ground, the garden resembled a graveyard instead of something decorative at the doorsteps of a royal's house.

As the gates opened to the castle to reveal a handful of skeleton warriors stationed within, Monty's heart dropped for a moment, yet slipping in through the opening at the gate's hinges, he continued to follow the group while the skeletons were busy shutting the gates. As dark as a cave with crystal-like decor scattered throughout the halls, he was almost dazzled by their faint reflection hitting him right in the eyes.

Even so, powering through the daze, he came to a carpeted pathing that led directly to the queen's meeting hall. The heroes went in first and he did right after them. Hiding behind a pillar, he looked to the very front where a pale woman with a strange dark liquid circling her head was seated on the throne. Her eyes were painted dark and so were her lips, she was missing flesh of the jaws yet her eyes were dazzlingly beautiful. Charmed nearly instantly, the young boy watched the woman open her mouth, but what came through those lips was no serenade but a sharp sound of glass being rubbed against each other.

"AGHH!" He tried to cover his ears before they were damaged beyond repair, but to his horror, his body went limp, and the last thing he saw before slipping away was the sight of everyone turning their heads to face him.
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'S-shit…' He messed up and he knew it, for the next time, he would awaken it would be in a cell with the same bracelet around his neck that he'd seen everyone else wearing.