南瓜影院

"So… Are you better now?" Henry asked at the Medical bay doorway. His deep black eyes bore into Yelena\'s green orbs.

Yelena kept his stare and smiled,

"I\'m better," she said gently, "Thank you."

Henry dipped his head for a bow as he said,

"I\'ll see you later."

"Hurry back," Yelena said and played it off with a chuckle like it was a joke but truly, she was hoping Henry would come back again soon.

She closed the door and Henry walked down the corridor. He got just past the bodies of the three dead Langlots, turned a corner, and grabbed the handle of the sword the Shadow Vyker had dropped (he had hung it off his gun belt by its wide hilt) and Elminster\'s brand burned bright with an urgency.

"Relax," Henry mumbled and walked into his room. Once his door was closed behind him, he activated the brand and was sucked into the familiar portal that took him into Elminster\'s workshop.

"Back again?" Elminster said immediately with his hand roaming an armor plate he had been working on before Henry\'s arrival,

"I hope you have something for me this time."

"I do," Henry said as he pulled the sword from his gun belt like he was unsheathing it.

Elminster paused, slowly looked up, and then he smiled as he beckoned Henry closer with a finger.

Henry stepped forward and held out the sword. Elminster reached out for the sword and took it from Henry\'s hand. The moment the weapon was reunited with its creator\'s touch, a brand glowed at its hilt. Henry could have sworn it hadn\'t been there before.

"Mmm, \'Hunter\'s Fang\'," Elminster said as he cradled the sword blade and held it up as though to observe it in a better light, and then he frowned,

"By the gods, what have those bastards done to you!"

Elminster placed the sword on an anvil and produced a hammer from god-knows-where and started hammering away.

*Clang!*

*Clang!*

*Clang!*

The first sound of metal hitting metal hit Henry\'s ears hard but the subsequent sounds were quite easy to bear as he just watched a Master at work repairing a weapon that already looked perfect.

Eventually, Elminster stopped his hammering and held the sword up again and the difference was impossible to miss; The sword\'s blade gave off a luminescent glow and its edge appeared at least five times sharper than it was before. An impressive weapon for a swordsman.

Elminster looked at the repaired \'Hunter\'s Fang\' with delight,

"Those thieves were just having their ways with it. Disgusting!

But you made good on our deal and got it back to me. I appreciate that but I hasten to point out that there are many more of them out there…"

"… And I will get them back for you whenever I find them," Henry said gracefully.

Elminster let out a sharp breath,

"Good."

[Elminster\'s approval of you has improved]

[You have received 100 Exp]

Henry smiled at that. More Exp was always welcome. Even then though, he urged Elminster,

"Would you be open to showing your appreciation with some \'Hydra\'s Tongue bullets\'?" Henry asked.

After their most recent battle against Vykers, he was down to just three and was more than happy to secure more. Even better if he could get them for free.

"You still owe me, boy," Elminster said with a sneer.

"Here," Henry said and with a wave of his hand, he took out 75 gold coins from his inventory and dumped them directly on Elminster\'s anvil.

Elminster eyed the gold and it was clear he had done a quick and accurate count because he swiped them away and said,

"You were only acting according to our contract. But, I suppose some thanks ARE in order. For incentive, at the very least," he said,

"Come on."

They went through the door and on the other side, Elminster placed an ammo box on a slab. Henry opened it and there were the magical bullets that helped cut his Mana usage of \'The Hydra\'s Sting\' by half; The \'Hydra\'s Tongue\' bullets.

"At a discount. Not for free," Elminster said, "At 15 gold apiece, those bullets cost 135 gold together but you can pay me 50."

"30."

"40," Elminster said with a tone of finality, "Because I\'m in a good mood."

"Fine," Henry said and paid the 40 gold.

Elminster still felt generous and offered Henry a discount on Healing and Mana Potions which allowed Henry to put down the rest of his gold and almost all the Verlans in his Inventory for six bottles to refill his low stock.

Two Mana Potions but Four Healing Potions because they were the ones he consumed the most.

•••

*Knock* *Knock*

As she heard a rapt knock on the medical bay door, Yelena pulled it open with a smile,

"Back so soon?" She asked and stopped short when she saw the one at the door was Angus and not Henry,

"Oh. Hello, Angus."

"Can I come in?" Angus asked with a kind smile.

"Of course," Yelena said and stood aside to let him in.

Angus walked in while looking around. He was hardly ever here. Even on the rare chance the enemies on a job managed to strike him, he was always just fine enough to not seek treatment from Yelena which made his presence all the more… Strange? Surreal?

"You were not expecting me?" Angus asked.

"Well-" Yelena started but Angus held up a hand.

"That\'s alright," he said, "I just needed to speak with you."

"About what?" Yelena asked, innocently.

Angus paused for a few seconds with his eyes on her forehead. The forehead Joe had claimed she got shot at and survived.

"Joe says you saved his life," Angus said, "I thank you."

"You don\'t have to."

"Perhaps," Angus said gently, "But it would be rude of me to ask something of you without showing appreciation for what you\'ve already done."

"You- want something from me?" Yelena asked confused, "What?"

Angus smiled,

"Joe had quite a bit to say about how you saved him. His claims involve incredible feats that seem almost unbelievable…"

"Then you shouldn\'t believe it," Yelena interrupted to say.

Angus chuckled,

"Where I\'m from… The things I\'ve seen, Miss Yelena, make it impossible for me to discount anything as impossible. But you don\'t have to worry. I\'m not here to interrogate you. I\'m here to seek a partnership."

Yelena said nothing and just stared.

Angus stepped closer to her,

"When we arrived here, you were already here. You\'d made this your home and we never questioned it. When you offered to heal our wounds, we still never questioned it."

"And you\'re questioning it now?" Yelena asked with pursed lips.

"Gods no!" Angus said quickly,

"If you wanted us dead, we would be dead.

But, Joe did have me looking at you more clearly than ever and now that I truly see you and what you can be, I believe my proposed partnership can work;

When our enemies come, I\'ll need you to do to them, exactly what you did to those three Langlot fools I passed on my way here."

Yelena\'s eyes went wide,

"You want me to kill?" She asked with her voice hiked up a few octaves.

Angus looked confused at her reaction,

"You\'ve done it three times already. That I know of, at least."

"Those three were the first," Yelena said through gritted teeth, "I don\'t make a habit of it."

"Well, you should," Angus said, "And dare I say, you will."

Yelena looked taken aback and then she laughed,

"You\'ll make me?"

"Yes," Angus said and a hand went to his gun by his waist. His purple eyes flashed while he kept an easy-going smile on his face.

Yelena laughed again,

"You\'ve heard of what I can do but you\'re threatening me?"

Dark crackling tendrils of magical energy appeared around Yelena\'s body simply waiting for the order to converge and strike their target.

Angus faced it with his expression unshaken. Unchanged.

"Yes, I know shooting you won\'t kill you. But I do know a thing or two about bonds," Angus said and stepped even closer to Yelena. Only about two inches separated him from her tendrils,

"You know what I see when I see you? I see the tether tying you to this Mansion."

Yelena\'s eyes widened in shock,

"How—?"

"How do I know? The item on my Chest is Vinculum: The Bond Breaker. It broke my bond to my creator, freeing me to face evolution but it can do much more than that.

With it empowering me (points to his purple eyes), I can truly see you. You\'re a prisoner. Your power, your life, you owe it all to the strange bond that ties you to this Mansion.

You know what that makes you? Vulnerable."

While Yelena was frozen in place, Angus pulled out his gun but he didn\'t point it at Yelena but at one of the medical bay\'s walls,

"You are so ingrained with the mansion that you even share its senses. If I shoot the wall, you will feel it. If I tear down this Mansion brick by brick, I also tear you down.

But rather than go through all that, I can simply cut your connection to the Mansion. Break the bond that keeps you alive. Keeps you strong. End it all here and now."

Yelena\'s shocked expression recovered and she frowned as the energy in her tendrils intensified.

Angus put his gun back in its holster,

"But it doesn\'t have to be that way. I don\'t want it to be that way.

The enemy coming after this item will not stop and I expect they\'ll be back. They\'ll tear down this Mansion because they\'ll think of it as no more than a hideout.

Help us defend it. When they come, strike them down. That\'s all I ask."

Yelena remained in place for a minute and then the energy in her tendrils fizzled out even though her glare at Angus did not lessen.

And yet, as much as she was starting to hate this purple-eyed bastard, she considered his proposal.

She had to.