The Realm of Austur Episode 2: New Consequences

Vincent smiled contentedly and closed his eyes, allowing himself to enjoy the feeling of her pressed up against him, her arms around him. "I was able to contact my uncle Raizel and he agreed to marry us. He even volunteered to bring us the Sun Cord we need for your dress. He also wants to meet you. Are you alright with that, Elia?"

Talia noticed something odd waving low to the ground behind that one that was sniffing the air. Something silver and... furry? She stays craning her neck, trying to get a better look.

Talia finally manages to make out the tail sweeping back and forth attached to the young woman.  She stares, transfixed, for a short time.  Talia drains the last of her ale, then stands up and walks over to the group at the table, no longer able to focus on eavesdropping.

"Excuse me, miss?" Talia asks the lady with the tail.  "I know it is an improper question for a total stranger, but how old are you?"

"Ah, sorry..." Talia tells the one with the tail, completely ignoring the other. "I thought you might be someone else. An old friend. But you are - pardon my saying so - quite a bit older than you look. Though I suppose most women would kill to be able to say that, hm?" Talia gives a forced laugh, then turns and starts walking toward the door. "Sorry to bother you."

"SO-sorry about that, folks! We got rudely interrupted by a very bad group of computers. But don't worry, the Super Monkeys took care of it!" A certain pony-tailed, money loving redhead announced from the comfort of her plush beanbag chair. She pointed to the back of the room, behind the audience, where a small squad of really buff looking, glowing monkeys with golden hair, green eyes, and angel wings carried off five or six computers. But the Super Monkeys weren't the oddest sight; That honor belonged to the troublesome 'computers'. Each had two long spindly blue legs and arms, with small white gloves and white boots, very bushy black eyebrows, and thin black mustaches. They were very noisy with their protest, beeping about discrimination against artificial intelligence and Illegal Monitors. One of the computers actually produced what appeared to be a small green card, though it did the computer little good.

Once all the computers had been carried off, Anna shook her head. "Darn Spyware. They just never give up. But A-a-aaaaanyway, welcome back ladies, gents, and others, to the third edition of the Realm of Austur's Mailbag, starring the one, the only, the sexy, Viiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnncent Ooooooooodaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! Let's have a round of applause for our favorite Man-Lich-beast!"

A symphony of thunderous applause echoed from the audience, while Vincent sat back in his own beanbag chair(That Anna had been generous enough to provide in order to placate his wrath about being kept there while she hunted down every last spec of Spyware), thinking happy thoughts and wishing he was home in bed with his wife. Once Anna deemed the applause had gone on long enough, she raised her hand to silence everyone.

"Alright, alright, settle down, settle down! Let's not keep our guest here any longer than he has to be! Lights, please!"

The room went dark right on cue, and when the dim stage lights came on, Tengu Warrior and Divine Priestess were already circling Vincent like hungry sharks, both apparently having recovered from before. Vincent groaned. Amazingly enough, he managed to resist the sudden impulse to turn them both into dancing skeletons... Albeit barely.

"We shall..." Tengu said.
"Judge whether..." Priestess said.
"Or not..." Tengu said.
"You are worthy." Priestess said.
"Prepare-"

Vincent's eyes flashed red, and Anna, realizing her guest's patience had just evaporated, quickly shooed the unfortunately-not-dancing-skeletons away. They both exited Stage Right in proper comical fashion. Anna opened her mouth to say something, but Vincent quickly cut her off with a very scary growl. "Lady, if the next sentence out of your mouth isn't a question, then so help me, I am going to completely lose my s***. And trust me, you do NOT want that."

Anna swallowed what she was about to say, and nodded.

How much do you know about Elia's past?

"Everything," he answers, calming down a bit. His voice returned to normal. "Though, that was not always so. Perhaps because of her link to Kryla, she is exceedingly difficult for me to read. Always has been. Most of what I know about her I learned from her."

Do you have any concerns about the health and nature of your relationship caused by Elia's youth and your not-youth? You may look young for your real age, but to others you appear nearly ten years older and you act and have the knowledge of someone hundreds of years older. And does it bother you at all that you could be her many times great grandfather?

"That's... a difficult question to answer. Do I have any concerns our relationship won't be healthy? No, not at all. Our age difference has bothered me sometimes, but our love for each other is real, and I'd like to think it goes beyond such things as biological age. And if I have my way, she will be a goddess soon and just as immortal as I, and that will ease any worries I do have."

Have you ever been caught up on the possibility that her affection for you has more to do with a need for protection and attention than love, or are you able to tell based on your years of observing others that what she feels for you is true, pure and deep love?

"You answered your own question," Vincent states, smiling. "It's as clear to me as a sunny spring day that her love for me is true and pure. Not once have I questioned her feelings for me, and I never will. She is the best part of my life. Elia is... Everything to me."

Numerous "Daaaawwwws" rippled through the audience, and one random guy in the far back row even held up a handwritten sign that read, "~I want to Raichu a looooove sooooong~." He then proceeded to do exactly that, singing in a very awesome Tom Jones voice and stringing mad chords on his air guitar. However, despite his masterful Guitar Hero 3 skills, he was escorted out by security(A Super Monkey). Vincent watched in amusement as one of the Nymphs crouched down between the seats. A few seconds later, a pair of rogue panties went flying after the musician.

Anna cleared her throat and proceeded to ask the next question as if nothing happened.

Is Elia the love of your life? If something ever happened to her, would you look to find love again, or could nothing else compare to the love you share?

Vincent closes his eyes, and remains silent for a very long moment. Finally, he says, "She isn't just the love of my life. I just told you, she's my everything. In all the possible futures, timelines, realities, worlds, universes... There is only one constant, and that's my love for Elia. In every existence I have met her, I have fallen deeply and hopelessly in love with her. If I lost Elia, despite everything... I... I honestly don't know if I could go on living. That may sound like hyperbole to you, but you must understand... Elia gave me a reason to live again. Before her, I was lost in despair and darkness, without even a flicker of hope for a way out. Elia, she... She showed me the way home, assured me I could come home again, told me, that despite all of my many mistakes, I was worth saving... For the first time, I saw the Sun, and I knew what Heaven was truly like. I can't... I can't go back to the darkness again... I just can't..."

A single tear trickled down his cheek, and the audience erupted like a convention of fangirls who just watched their idol get his heart broken on stage. Anna tried desperately to get things under control, at least until the chairs started flying, and an angry mob of sobbing fangirls swarmed her, demanding she let the poor man go home to his wife. Vincent merely grinned knowingly as he vanished in a flash of light. The last thing he heard was Anna screaming loudly, although oddly enough, it didn't seem to be his name she was cursing.

"DAAAAAAAMMMMM YOOOOOOOOOU, SPAAAARRRTAAACUS!!!!!!"

Talia steps out of the inn to think about her next move.  "Well, I managed to hide my scent once, but now I smell like low-quality booze. So... What am I going to do about that? Do I have time to wash up? No, I can't risk it."

Talia starts looking around. A few market stalls are already set up, and she manages to find one that has a few flowers for sale. Still in her disguise, she walks up to the stall. "You have flowers for sale, right? I had a bit of a fight with my girl, so I would like to buy... um... just give me a lot of your strongest-smelling flowers, and a basket, please." She puts some money on the stall.

"Oh? What'd you do?" the guy behind the stand asks.

"Er... came home late and drunk," Talia tells him.

"...I don't think I've seen you around town before."

"I'm not from around here, just passing through. We're staying at the inn," Talia explains.

"I see. So what brings you out this way?"

"Ah, sorry, not to be rude, but I am in a bit of a hurry..." Talia rushes him. She slides an extra few coins onto the stall.

"Right, right, fair enough. Here you go, all sorted."

"Thank you!" Talia says with a grin. With that, she slinks off to find a secluded spot.

She checks through her pouches. Still has all her knives, a bit light on money... Only two mana potions left. Transforming doesn't take much effort after all her experience, but it's been a long night. She drains one of the potions. She double-checks the pocket hidden in her sleeve. Yep, the thumb's still there. It would be a shame to lose her paycheck.

She transforms into a young woman in a plain white sundress with a wide-brimmed sunhat, carrying a large basket of flowers. She strolls daintily back towards the inn and watches the door from a distance. They... probably haven't left yet. As soon as they do, Talia plans to follow them at a distance.

Talia notices the group leaving the bar. She starts to follow them as innocently as possible, making sure to stay at a long distance.

Arcturus walked into a town in the desert, covering his face with a shawl of some sort as he neared the closest inn.