RD 2 Ch 22 (Patreon)

Chapter 22

Simone had one of the communication stones and was walking on the beach while she talked to Gloria. “Yeah, he’ll be gone for at least another week.” She squeezed it like it was a walkie talkie.

“They say a week and he’ll do it in a day.” The rock laughed with Gloria’s voice like she was right there.

“If only. They said two weeks, and I’m shortening it.” Simone giggled. “At least his mother is starting to understand a few things. How’s his dad?”

“Uh…” Gloria hesitated. “I’m currently hiding in Bran’s mother’s apartment. Bran’s father threw me off a cliff yesterday!”

“Like a big cliff?”

“Eighty-five feet. I have no idea why he specifically looked for a drop of that height, but then he saw Bran’s apartment and mentioned that it was tall enough. I’m afraid to go back. He might ambush me and toss me. Also, the poison he found ate through the glass container,” Gloria whined.

Simone’s eyes went wide. “Maybe hold on until Bran gets out?”

“That man won’t care. He’d be like ‘so? Only eighty-five? I once in my past life jumped off a mile-high cliff to kill a demon god.” Gloria did her best Bran impression.

It wasn’t half bad. Though he never talked about demon gods, only generals and lords.

“You have a point. How are the Mul Branovas?”

“Jumping off cliffs headfirst when they are told it’s for them to get stronger for Bran.” Gloria’s voice went flat. “To be fair, Jenny snapped her neck, and it healed in like thirty seconds. I don’t have that sort of healing. They are all just as bad as Bran.”

“Bran said you can pick up regeneration by getting hurt over and over using health potions to heal yourself.” Simone tried to be helpful, but truth be told, she wouldn’t want to be thrown off cliffs either.

“Oh. That’s a good point. I should stock up and just chug them when he’s tortu—training me.” Gloria corrected herself, her voice suddenly sounding funny. “I wasn’t doing anything! How’d you find me here?!”

The rock suddenly went silent, and Simone stared at it for a moment before shaking her head. At least Gloria would be stronger when Bran got back. That, and Bran missed this side of her, which was probably for the best.

He liked to push people past their limits, but hearing Gloria so distraught would have made him hesitate in his current plans.

“Are you Simone Sweet?” A high-level Heros Clan member came up to her on the beach. He was the kind of man that looked cut straight from marble. That is to say, he was lacking in the rough edges she liked in Bran.

Simone didn’t like him one bit. “Yes, I am.” But she wasn’t afraid. “You’re from the Hercules branch?”

He blinked, pausing in his steps. With his bloodline and level, he could easily subdue her. She knew that, which was why she pulled a talisman from her spatial ring and kept it in her palm.

“Ah, Hyllus.” The wind picked up, and the sand danced like fairies on the wind as Circe stepped out of the storm. “I see you’ve met one of my new favorites, Simone.” She was beautiful in a blue wrap dress that went well with her hair. It looked particularly soft.

Where did she shop for that? Simone wouldn’t mind one. Bran would love to peel a piece like that off of her.

Simone glanced at the woman and slid the talisman back into her spatial ring. “Circe, pleasure to see you again. Hyllus… Don’t think I recall that name.”

“He’s one of Herc’s boys. Usually keeps people in line.” Circe tapped on her lips. “What could you be doing out here? Simone’s husband has said he will probably join Odyssey. I’d hate to see any trouble for his lovely woman here.” She sauntered up and leaned on Simone’s shoulder.

Hyllus growled. “I have business with her. Please step aside, Circe.”

“Elder Circe to you.” She sounded like she was flirting, but there was a subtle edge in her tone. “I also have business with Simone. Isn’t that right, dear?”

“Absolutely.” Simone’s intuition was screaming at her to go with Circe. “I was just going to go looking for you.”

“That’s good. Bran’s mother is already at my palace.” Circe smiled so hard it pinched her eyes.

“Circe. Please step aside.” Hyllus said, trying to get between Simone and her savior.

“Shoo. Fly.” Circe waved her hand, and the wind picked up into torrential gales, buffeting the big man. The sand under his feet gave way, and he had nothing to hold him down as he was blown far back. “Come now. He’s actually quite bothersome. If the Hercules Branch had a few braincells between them they’d already rule the clan.” She held her hand out to Simone.

Simone took the offered hand and was whisked away on the wind. “What’s going on?”

“I’m not entirely sure. Both the Olympus and Hercules branches went wild this morning. One of my old friends tipped me off that you and Elle were about to be scooped up. Do we need to be concerned about his people back at Vein City?” Circe asked as the wind set them down in front of her palace.

“Thorin is there,” Simone said. “That, and Gloria and Bobby have what Bran would call ‘assurances’ to protect them.”

“Thorin can handle more than he lets on. If anyone big enough to move him leaves, I’d know.” Circe nodded to herself. “I could beat them there if necessary.”

“Thank you for looking out for us. Bran is sort of a trouble magnet.” Simone paused. “Well, maybe he makes the trouble.”

“It seems he’s made plenty today.” Circe watched as Zeus descended from the mountain and landed lightly on her island. “To what do I owe the pleasure of so many visitors today?”

“Our clan is in danger, Circe.” Zeus eyed up Simone. “Bran Heros claims to have been given an ability by the ancestor who’s going into hibernation.”

Simone wondered what he’d been up to in order to create so much swirl. A quick thought about what he could have done and then she realized that he did have one way to take a skill from someone. Oh, Dear Bran, you ate your ancestor’s soul?

Well, it must have done something dastardly and probably deserved to die if he ate it.

“Do you know what’s happening?” Circe asked her.

“No. Not really.” Simone shook her head. “Bran, as a vampire, probably has some ability to manipulate blood, though. Also, this might give reasoning for the dungeon level rising?”

Both older players frowned in thought for a moment. “Apparently, there was some conflict between the initiates, started by a Katie Heros. Bran stripped her of her bloodline in front of everyone else,” Zeus continued.

Well, that was a little more important than the rising of the dungeon level.

Circe let out a small sigh. “It seems he’s really gotten himself into trouble.”

“Yes. Here he was hoping to keep his head down.” Simone shook hers, having known that was an impossible task from the start. Bran stuck out too much to ever hide in the background for long.

“He has summarily failed at that.” The beautiful sorceress was rubbing the bridge of her nose. “So, his claim is that he’s been given powers to replace the ancestor for the bloodline awakening?”

“That would appear to be the case. As you can imagine, my branch would very much like to secure his assistance now and going forward.” Zeus’ eyes slid back to Simone.

“Well, she’s got his child. How about we do our absolute best to make her comfortable rather than put her in a cage?” Circe stepped up between Simone and Zeus.

“If I could.” Simone raised a delicate finger. “Both of you aren’t very aware of Bran’s personality. He’s kind of a ‘get along or I’ll break heads’ kind of person. If that fails, he will start breaking heads. Otherwise, he’s big on returning kindness or returning enmity.”

“She would say that.” Zeus frowned.

“Not everyone is duplicitous.” Circe rolled her eyes. “I’ve extended him an offer, and he said he would likely join Odyssey. For that reason, I’ll take care of Simone and his mother while he’s out. At the very least, I’ll keep them out of Hercules’ hands.”

“Perhaps you should let me take care of Elle Heros. I’m understanding that she tried Odyssey once and didn’t have a taste for it.” Zeus’ smile made Simone feel dirty.

Both Bran and his mother likened the clan to a den of vipers. So far it had been fairly peaceful, yet it seemed those quieter times were about to end.

Circe put a hand on Simone’s shoulder. “Come along. Let’s go. I think Zeus is losing his hearing in his old age, and it’s getting frustrating talking to him.” She waved her fingers over her shoulder as she pointedly turned and ignored him.

“Is it alright to do that?” Simone could feel the anger coming off him.

“I need to do it every so often to remind him that he can’t control me.” Circe rolled her eyes. “After I turned him down when he was younger, I think he’s always been bitter anyway.”

“Are you married?” Simone asked.

“Me? No. I’ve always been a free spirit despite several men trying to chain me down. In the end, I’ve always slipped free.” Circe shrugged. “Like my branch, I go where I’m needed and don’t overstay my welcome.”

“Well, you are quite beautiful. I’m going to have to keep Bran on a leash around you.” Simone winked at her, somewhat hoping she could get a taste of the beautiful sorceress herself. Of course, that would be with Bran because she’d want to see Bran make a mess of the woman.

Circe gave her a hungry smile. “You are unflappable, aren’t you?”

“Just calm. Everything will turn out okay. Bran’s here.”

“That much faith in him?” Circe sighed dramatically. “It must be nice to know the full story rather than being lied to by him.”

“You probably wouldn’t believe the full story.” Simone smirked. “Just know Bran is capable of whatever he puts his mind to. I can only assume that there was more than minor conflict between the initiates for Bran to show that much strength and give away those abilities.”

“Zane and Galen probably used that girl as an excuse to go at it. Galen’s got a chip on his shoulder. All of Herc’s family does, they are older but never got their turn as a second Zeus came along. Not to mention they are a little dumb; some of their intelligence stat must have been handed over to their tempers.” Circe sighed. “I imagine Galen tried to kill Zane, but no one is going to say that, and instead, this girl has been made a scapegoat to protect both of them.”

Simone hummed. “If she didn’t have a decently large impact on it all, Bran wouldn’t have taken her bloodline. He would have just snuck in, broken all of Galen’s limbs and let a monster kill him before going through the rest of his people for any that would rat him out and do the same to them.”

Circe stopped and raised an eyebrow at her in the atrium of her palace. “Vicious.”

“Most certainly. When Bran starts a fight, he tends to finish it rather effectively. The first time he introduced me to the wider world of players, he took bullets to the chest and broke two guards over his knee before breaking the knees of their boss. He seemed disappointed that I didn’t want to kill them. Pretty sure they’d have never appeared in the world again if I hadn’t asked him to stop,” Simone said as they moved through the rows of white marble pillars.

Circe, however, seemed stuck on something else she’d said. “Bran introduced you to the player world? Given your level…” She trailed off, several sparks in her eyes as she tried to put together the pieces.

“I assume you’ve already looked into him and me. A rival for my brothel was apparently working for demons, collecting people with bloodlines,” Simone started.

“Yes, he went missing, and then you gave up the trade. Ah. So, you weren’t a player before that. Then… ah. Soul Absorption Arts. You said Bran saved you from a demon, but he saved you from being possessed?” Circe rapidly put the pieces together.

Simone had no problem nodding along. Bran needed some security, and Simone’s intuition was telling her to trust Circe. “It was a demon general. Bran entered my soul and defeated it before teaching me how to absorb it.”

Circe shook her head. “It’s not that I don’t believe you, but it is just still quite ridiculous.”

“He was level one when he entered your clan's instance. On that, I could stake my life,” Simone added, worried that Circe would blame Bran for the changes in the instance.

Circe waved that concern away. “Trust me, more than a few people have tried to enter that instance afterwards. I mean, if you could farm it, the instance would be an absolute gold mine. Besides, if it stabilizes at a high level, Zeus and Hercules might even thank Bran. The concern there is largely around everyone’s health and safety. Besides, the ancestor is in there. The few records we have of him showing himself to one of the clan put him at a strength that I’m not even sure if the whole clan could come to defeat it.”

“Have you met it?” Simone asked, a little curious.

“No. The blood dragon never showed itself to me. The story goes that it has been sealed in there since the birth of the world. However, the first person to enter that instance was the founder of the Heros Clan who made a pact with it for a bloodline. You see, several of the other Clans were already established and booming with the foundation of one or more powerful bloodlines flowing through them. As I understand it, the Blood Dragon grows stronger with each bloodline added to the Heros Clan and will give us stronger and stronger bloodlines as a reward.”

Simone smiled politely while remembering that Bran likely had already eaten this ancestor. “So, it was just a mutually beneficial relationship?”

“Yes, though many have started worshiping the Blood Dragon in hopes of better bloodlines over the years. It’s just an ancient beast with an agreement, though.” Circe led Simone to a steaming pool and dozens of ladies lounging in the water. “Elle, I’ve brought your daughter-in-law. She’s learned the reason why the waters are getting a little choppy. If you would, Simone, explain what you learned to Elle for me. I think I’m about to get busy.” Circe turned and walked away while whistling a song.

“Hi, Mother-in-law.” Simone dropped her dress before striding into the bath with confidence. “It seems that our Bran has caused a bit of a stir in the instance…”