Chapter 18 - Sudden Visitor
"Uh... Alara..." Lukas stammered, wondering how he could possibly get out of this mess.
'How the fuck does she know my name?'
Usually, he had no problem maintaining a stoic face. It was a very important skill to perfect when living in a world of deceit.
However... he knew that right now, his face clearly showed fear.
"Oh, come on!!" Alara screamed as she dramatically threw her arms in the air. "You can't be this boring! Not my hero!"
'Hero?'
"Alara... what are-"
"Ugh..." Alara suddenly dropped her arms back to the table, far too quick to be humanly possible. Then, just as quickly, she buried her face in her hands. After a few seconds of groaning, Alara droned, "Oh my gods!!!"
Then, a small chuckle escaped her lips.
Only it wasn't hers.
'What the fuck is going on?'
Lukas kept his eyes glued to the thing in front of him, the thing that was masquerading as Alara. Whatever it was, it knew a lot about him and he knew nothing about it.
All he knew was that it was cackling like some kind of demon right now.
"Ahh, that was funny." The thing said as it completely ceased its laughter in just a moment.
Opening its fingers so that a single eye was looking at Lukas, the thing groaned, "You don't even get the joke, do you?"
"It's quite simple, really." The thing said as its shape suddenly changed.
A fit, young man now replaced Alara. As if it was some kind of shapeshifter.
He flashed a mischievous grin at Lukas, his fox eyes sparkling under the candlelight.
"We both want to be gods, and yet we serve them. It's hilarious!" The man let loose a humorous sigh before shaking his head.
"But alas, there's work to do. Can't be goofing off, now can we?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Lukas demanded. "Who are you?"
"I'm talking about the quest, and my name is Fenrir. Servant of the Progenitor God of Tricks and Deceit, Loki." The man answered nonchalantly, seemingly bored by the questions.
"Why do you care about the chalice?"
Fenrir shrugged. "I don't. But Loki does. Same as the rest of the gods."
Pat.
Suddenly Fenrir had teleported behind Lukas and was now patting his head, like he was some kind of damned dog.
"You really screwed the pooch here!" Fenrir exclaimed with a giggle. "I mean, defying a god is cool and all. But someone of your caliber doing that? Then, to go ahead and masquerade as a True Immortal god..."
Fenrir clicked his teeth in amusement. "Tsk. Tsk."
'I was literally just trying to survive,' Lukas thought. 'I came to this world out of nowhere. What am I supposed to do? Lay back and die?'
"Maybe..." Lukas began slowly before forcing more authority into his voice. "Maybe if Physsus wasn't so dumb, he could've stopped me from taking his shit."
"Hah!" Fenrir immediately laughed, nodding his head in agreement.
"Ah, anyways. I don't care about any of that." Fenrir said as he walked back to his seat.
Lukas took careful note of that. It was quite possible that the only reason he walked back was due to theatrics. However, it was also quite possible his teleportation had a cooldown.
Either way, Fenrir slumped into the seat without a care in the world.
"Politics, especially god politics..."
"Puh." Fenrir made a gesture of spitting.
"Are so dreadfully BORING!! No, I just like to watch little heroes go and perform their quests as diligently as possible."
His face suddenly darkened. "Which you seem to be taking your grand old time, Ygroa."
Lukas furrowed his brows, returning Fenrir's stare with the same intensity. "I'm building up my strength. You think that I'm some kind of idiot who would just rush headfirst into danger?"
"Aren't you?" Fenrir countered as he lifted a finger.
From the finger came a sleuth of familiar scenes. Plenty from his old life, plenty from his new.
Close calls with gangs, close calls with his little brother finding out where they really got their money from. Defying Physsus even with the threat of an endless tortured existence. Stabbing himself on the offchance his crazy plan would actually work. Staring straight into the mountain just so he could convince those goblins.
Yeah, he apparently was quite reckless.
"You're fun to watch," Fenrir said as he lowered his finger, erasing the montage. "So I came here to warn you."
'Warn?'
"That chalice is the holy artifact of Physsus. Basically, the idiot lost the very item that creates his divinity." Fenrir shook his head, amusement evident on his face. "And then, because gods aren't supposed to interact with this plane..."
Fenrir winked at Lukas.
"Physsus needed a hero to retrieve it for him. Of course, when he chose you he expected blind obedience. Well, moreso he needed it."
"Because that chalice is powerful," Lukas stated, realizing Physsus had gotten himself into some of the deepest shit. "He had expected me to simply accept the quest."
"Obviously, " Fenrir said before continuing, ignoring Lukas's glare. "Anyways, what I'm basically trying to say is that you need to learn priorities. That chalice quite literally gives him his Divinity, you see."
Lukas's eyes widened, causing Fenrir to chuckle.
Then he stood and said, "I can't tell you exactly where the chalice is at. All I can tell you is that another hero has it. That's all I know."
Lukas was sure he was lying. Fenrir admitted it himself: he liked to watch heroes go on quests. What fun would it be for him if Lukas had all the answers?
"Anyway, Toodleloo!" Fenrir shouted before snapping his fingers, disappearing into a puff of green smoke.
"A servant of Loki..." Lukas mumbled as he noticed time return to the world.
That's why they had been uninterrupted. Whoever that was, he was quite a powerful being. He was quite a knowledgeable being.
Which meant that he could know of a way for Lukas to return home, to make sure his brother was safe.