Chapter 10: Definitely Drugs

            The aroma of sweet herbs and spices, earth, flowers and smoke all filled the air in the cramped, dark front room. At first it was quite a pleasant smell, but it quickly became invasive and intoxicating and there was no way to escape it.

“See. I knew they were gonna try and drug us.”

“Shut up. … Aunty Dina! It’s me! Ellie!”

Nothing. No response. No sound at all. Nothing. Until out of nowhere a head popped up from around one of the shelving units with a blank smile. It looked like a tall woman with her hair tied back in a bun but lots of strands that hadn’t been caught shooting out all over the place. She also had on a pair of round glasses with a big frame and lenses so thick they could be mistaken for binoculars. She took the mad scientist look to a new level.

“Ellie? Is that you?” She croaked then cleared her voice, “Oh my, you’ve grown so much look at you!” The woman stumbled over crashing into the shelf a few times before kissing Ellie a bunch then holding onto her for support. “Oh my, who’s this handsome young man? Is he your boyfriend?”

“Something like that.”

“No. I’m not.”

“He’s a bit shy sometimes.”

“Oh my,” She stumbled again, “welcome to the family then.”

“Did you drag me here just to try and introduce me to your family?”

“… Not just for that. I also came to tell you, aunty Dina, I’m gonna be travelling again so it might be a while before we come back.”

“Oh. A long honeymoon is it?”

“With a bit of work in between.”

“You two are insane.”

“Oh, well if you two are going to be travelling, would you mind taking a delivery to Occidignus for me? Of course, I’ll pay you a little.”

“How much?” Austin abruptly asked.

“Oh my, you’re quicker than our Ellie. How about… 700. That should cover all expenses, right?”

“Make it 750.”

“Don’t try and haggle with my aunt! …We’ll take 700. Thank you.”

“Oh good. I’ll let them know you’ll be on your way tomorrow and you’ll be meeting them in the town centre. Here you go then.”

            Dina turned and picked all small box off the shelf next to her and handed it to Austin before stumbling once again. A toxic, earthy odour seeped out of the box and straight up Austin’s nose and filled his lungs. They turned to leave and suddenly he lost all sense of balance for a second and stumbled back slightly before coming back to his senses and following Ellie out.

“Alright! Let’s go get that room!”

“Ellie… what does your aunt do in there?”

“You know, the usual, healing ointments, perfumes, medication. That sort of stuff.”

“Well, I hate to break it to you… but this is definitely drugs.” Austin stumbled slightly again.

“Oh yeah, it’s probably pain killing medication for someone.”

“Right… damn strong pain killers.”

“Must be in a lot of pain then.”

            Austin decided it wasn’t worth trying to explain to Ellie exactly what kind of pain killers were inside the box, and even if he did try to, this place didn’t seem to have any laws or law enforcers, or anything like that at all. It was more like, people just lived normal, ethical lives without anyone telling them to. There was no one to tell people not to steal, but that didn’t mean they did. And if there’s no one to tell you not to steal, there’s no to tell the person you might have stolen from not to hunt you down and beat you to within an inch of your life and take back what you stole. People just did what was expected of them, without anyone expecting it from them. If someone wanted to take drugs, as long as that person didn’t interfere or endanger anyone else, nobody would mind.

            Eventually Ellie and Austin rocked up at their usual inn and booked a single room with a double bed and bath as usual. There was nothing out of the ordinary, except the toxic smelling box Austin was holding out at arm’s length and grimacing at. Until:

“Ellie… don’t take this the wrong way… But I really hope that’s your hand on my ass.”

“It’s not.”

“Oh… hm… … WHAT THE FUCK!” Austin jumped forwards and spun around as quickly as he could to see a tall hunchback man in a back penguin suit and a black top hat. “WHY YOU TOUCHIN MY ASS DUDE?”

“Please keep it down sir.”

“Oh, my sincerest apologies, I was under the impression you were a mercenary, so I was sizing you up to see how big of a coffin you would need.”

“That still doesn’t explain why you were touching my ass! Why not hers?”

“Don’t try pass him on to me!”

“Again, please keep it down.”

“A girl?... Ew. No thank you.”

“Excuse me!?”

“Daaaaamn! He just said ‘ew’!”

“Shut up!”

“Please keep it down guys!”

“Wait a minute! A COFFIN?”

“Well, I am an undertaker, what else would I be sizing you up for?”

“I don’t know! My death suit?”

“Why would you need cloths when you’re dead?”

“I- WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!?!”

“ALL OF YOU! SHUT UP OR GET OUT!”

            The group went silent in shock and looked at the very irritated receptionist as if they only just remembered she was there. She stood there with her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised waiting for them to make a decision.

“Well I’m going for a bath. Do not follow us.”

“The names Dylan Grinder.”

“I don’t remember asking.” ‘HAHAHA THE FIRST GAY GUY I MEET HAS A LAST NAME LIKE GRINDER!!!’

‘Why is it funny for a homosexual male human to have a name like Grinder?’

‘Ahhhh… You wouldn’t get it. But it’s funny to me. … Wait, do you hear all of my thoughts?’

‘Yes.’

‘Oh…’

‘“oh” indeed.’

‘Yeah, I have quite a vivid imagination sometimes… my bad.’

‘Yes, that’s one way to put it. But it does also help me out quite a lot.’

‘It does? Never mind. I don’t want to know.’

‘Only when we’re fighting!’

‘We?’

‘Yes. We do fight as one. I do share my power with you, though not much at the moment since you can’t handle that much of it.’

‘Wait, wait, wait. Back up a second. We fight as one? And I use your power?’

‘I did just say that. You didn’t really think some of the moves you’ve been pulling off were really all you, did you?’

‘I knew it! I knew that sort of power I had back then was inhuman.’

‘Exactly. Like I said, you were using some of my power. I send my power through your body and use it to enhance you. And I can use the thoughts you are having to help manipulate your body better.’

‘So basically, you’re controlling me?’

‘Somewhat. And only to what you’re imagining.’

‘Oh. So how do I get to use more of your power?’

‘Time.’

‘Damn. Here I was hoping you would say something like, “take me out for a drink first” or something like that.’

‘No. The more your body develops and improves and the more you get used to having my power flow through you, the more you’ll be able to handle.’

‘So how do I develop my body?’

‘What a stupid question… Exercise. Work out. I thought that was obvious enough even for you.’

‘Okay! Okay. I don’t need the voice inside my head insulting me as well. … Speaking of voices in head, do you know if Ellie and old what’s his teeth have been talking.’

‘They have not. It seems she fears him too much to try. And she is right to fear him. Even among the other Dragon Gods Larax was known to be quite unkind.’

‘Jesus, if even a Dragon God thinks he’s unkind, then god only knows what Ellie will think of him.’

‘She should try though. He can’t undo the bond, and I’m sure it will come in handy have our powers available to you.’

‘What if, even then, he decides not to give her his power? And why do you let me use your power?’

‘There should be no reason for Larax to not let the girl use his power. As for you, I’m dead, so I can’t use my powers myself and I find you rather interesting, so I wanted to see what you’d do with my powers.’

‘Right… Imma take that as a compliment.’

“Do you want to bath first, or can I? … Austin?”

“Oh! Sorry. You can, I guess.”

“You alright? You’re spacing out again.”

“Yeah. I was just thinking-

‘Don’t tell her.’

‘I know!’                                 - how cool would it be if we could talk to our weapons again.”

“Cool?... I’m not sure if I would want to… I’m not sure if I could…”

“Well, I’m sure it wouldn’t mind talking to someone like you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, I’m sure it’d definitely rather talk to you than that gay Grinder bloke.” ‘HAHA! Gay Grinder bloke. God I’m funny sometimes.’

“How do you know he’s gay?”

“He looked at you and said “Ew”.”

“…So does that mean you think I look good?”

“I- … I’ll go get us some drinks.”

“Yeah... You do that...”

‘HAHAHA! You were so close to saying she’s good looking! Why did you run away after that?’

‘Because it would have been awkward! Besides, I’m terrible at giving compliments so she wouldn’t have believed me anyway.’

‘Didn’t look like that to me. She was hanging on the edge of her seat waiting for you to say it.’

“What can I get for you sir?”

“Three beers please.”

‘Three? But there’s only the two of you drinking.’

‘Yeah. But I’m gonna need one before I head up.’

‘Alchi.’

‘Do you even know what that means?’

‘Yes. It is an abbreviation for the noun alcoholic. Meaning I just called you an alcoholic.’

‘So, you’ve gone from calling a gay guy a “homosexual male human” to calling me an “alchi”?’

‘Indeed.’

‘Indee?- I- I just- I need a drink.’

‘Alchi.’

‘Shut up.’

“Here you are sir.”

“Thanks, just pop the bill on our tab.”

            Austin downed one of the beers and prepared himself for the onslaught of insults and humiliation he was about to receive from Ellie and the self-satisfied “Told you so” from Giddenavya. He kicked the door open and tried to brighten the mood and change the subject from whatever the it was going to be before anything even started:

“I BRING BEER!”

            The two of them looked at each other in silence and shock for a moment. This was the first time ever that Austin had come back to the room and Ellie had not been dressed and sat on the bed waiting for him. This time however, she hadn’t even made it out of the bath.

‘You’re so dead.’

‘Thanks for the pep talk.’    “I’m sorry. I’ll uh… wait outside or something.”

“Wait…” ‘AHHH! WHAT’S HAPPENING! WHY DID I TELL HIM TO WAIT!’ “…Could you wash my back?...” ‘WHAT AM I SAYING?!’

“Did they not give you one of those long brushes?”

“They must’ve forgotten.”

‘Do it!’

“Okay then. But as the master of scrubbing backs, you gotta tell me how you like it. And you gotta do mine in return.”

‘Oh wow. Going all out I see.’

‘AHHHH! I DIDN’T MEAN TO SAY THAT!’

“Deal.” ‘AHHH! WHY DID I AGREE TO THAT!’

            30 minutes later the two had finally finished washing each other and getting changed. But more alcohol was necessary for there to be any further conversation between them.

‘Well, I’m sure your neighbours enjoyed that.’

‘So did I…’

‘HA! I wasn’t expecting you to just come out and say it if I’m honest.’

‘Even if I didn’t, I’m sure you knew.’

“I’ll go get a table if you wanna grab some drinks?”

“Sounds good.”

“Are you finished with your food guys?”

“Yeah thanks, could we have two more beers please?” Even talking to the waiter Ellie seemed quite shy and polite compared to usual.

‘Ugh. Fine I’ll help you out. Change the subject and ask her where Occidignus is.’

“Soo, uh… Where abouts is this Occidignus place then?”

“Oh yeah! I didn’t even tell you anything about it. It’s literally the opposite side of the content.”

“How long will it take for us to get there?!”

“46 hours nonstop by cart, but we would have to take a rest stop at Claralux on the way there.”

“Oh fuck. That’s just perfect.”

“Haha. Well at least on the plus side, Claralux is a really pretty town and, even more importantly, Occidignus is well known for making the best alcohol in the continent.”

“Oh. I guess it’ll be worth it then! Only for the alcohol though.”

“And you get to spend even more time with me on the way there.”

“I’d still be with you even if we weren’t going anywhere.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet.”

“That was so patronising.”

“Anyway. It’s easy money and if we get to fight anything on the way, it’ll be good experience for you.”

“Or I’ll die.”

“Again, if you don’t think my training was enough, I’ll take back the gifts.”

“You just want to see me naked again, don’t you?”

“… We’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow so we should call it a night.”

“Yeah, otherwise you won’t get up in time like before.”