The property Eik had found to keep the oracle until they figured out something better was not exactly secluded but it was conveniently nestled in a little encirclement of dense bushes and trees. Grass grew wildly in the small yard, further obscuring the place. Since there actually was quite a bit of traffic in the area it did not even really look particularly odd for a few people to hang around while the oracle was there.

Eik glanced at Andihar as they approached the property. "Are those people who I think they are?"

Andihar sighed. "Yeah, I'm afraid so."

Dressed in the garb of Nidafjeld Alliance officials, twelve individuals stood on the front step of the small, dilapidated building. It appeared to be ten warriors of quite high rank, judging alone by their movements and the way they held themselves. The two others seemed to be officials in roughly the same capacity as the council members who had refused to assist in the raid on Luna and simultaneously taken Vendekaabe into custody, thereby making the whole thing more difficult.

And now, after jamming a stick in the wheel of the entire operation, here they were, first thing after the oracle had been retrieved, sticking they long noses into business they had firmly rejected. Great…

"You didn't call them here, did you?" Eik asked Andihar.

"Obviously not," the elf replied. "I thought their previous behavior was as distasteful as you did. I would never call them here."

"Yeah, no, I know. Clan Leader Gul?" he asked as they walked up the overgrown garden path.

Andihar gave him a an expression filled with incredulity. "Are you really asking me that right now, Eik?"

Eik huffed a throaty laugh. "No, you're right. That sour old fart would rather piss in his own breakfast than help them after they screwed us like that."

"Yeah, you got that right."

The two officials were a comical pair. One was very tall and skinny, while the other was short and rotund. But the tall one had a wide, flat face while the short one had a long, narrow face with a chin that seemed to reach all the way down to the bottom rim of his barrel-like rib cage.

A very tense conversation with Olivia seemed to be taking place. The officials looked annoyed and stiff. Olivia was pissed as all hell. She knew all about what had happened at the meeting Eik, Andihar, and Oru had attended in order to apply for help.

The warriors were the first to notice that Eik and Andihar had arrived and they suddenly grew rigid as if they were expecting something to happen. Some of their hands went to their weapons, seemingly subconsciously. One of the warriors closest to the two officials got the round one's attention and pointed to the pair who had stopped when the armored troops stepped in front of them.

"What's going on here, everyone? A little crowded, would you not agree?" Eik called up at the two officials.

Both of them looked exceedingly dissatisfied with with their appearance. "So, I see you're both back in one piece," the tall, thin one said with a tone that rubbed Eik the wrong way.

"Yeah, suck to be you, huh?" Eik growled, showing teeth. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"They want to take away your oracle!" Olivia shouted, the expressions on the two officials' faces growing even sourer than they had already been.

"Oh yeah?" Eik asked.

"This doesn't have to be difficult for any of us," the round one said. "My name is Hjork and this is Hvork. We're here on behalf of the Nidafjeld Alliance to take the oracle of Moon Shall Swallow into our custody."

Eik narrowed his eyes. "Why are your names so similar?" he asked.

The short man appeared to have been taken completely by surprise by that question and it took him a couple of seconds to collect his thought and respond. "We're twins. But to get back on track, there is really no reason to feel sli—"

"No, you're fuckin' not!" Eik exclaimed. "No way, you literally could not be any more different. You're trying to bullshit me and it's making me want to cooperate even less than I already did."

The round man looked up at the tall man whom he claimed to have shared a womb with. When he looked back to Eik again he held his arms out, clearly frustrated. "Mr. Magnasen, I don't know what to tell you. Whether you believe me or not is not my concern and I'd prefer to not go any further into this matter."

"That's fine, mate," Eik nodded. "But I don't know what to tell you either. Whether you want to accept it or not is not my concern, but there's no way we're handing her over. Whether we're talking about your shared birth or the surrender of the oracle, both topics are equally pointless in my book."

"Mr. Magnasen, please…"

"You're not getting her and that's that," he said and pushed his way through the armored warriors. They tried to hold him back by force but no matter how much strength they put into holding him back, he simply kept walking, completely unbothered by their efforts. "If you had such great interest in her and the knowledge she possesses, then you should have helped us rescue her," Eik said.

"That m—" the tall one began but Eik's temper was starting to flare up.

"If you had helped us, you might have had a leg to stand on in this discussion! And if you had then maybe, just maybe, more of our lost friends could have come home today as well," he snarled.

The man shrunk just a little bit at that but he quickly regained his composure. "That is conjecture. But be that as it may, that doesn't change the fact that you have a responsibility to surrender her into the custody of the Alliance."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Nah, I'm not going to do that," he said and stood next to his sister, folding his arms across his chest.

"As a member civilization of the Nidafjeld Alliance, you're obligated to comply with direct orders in matters concerning the general welfare and safety of all member civ—"

"That's a load of hot shit and we both know it," Andihar suddenly broke in, displaying uncharacteristic outrage as he marched through the Alliance warriors who readily parted to let him pass.

"Mr. Dayarunar, please. If you would just see rea—"

"Reason?" Andihar spat. "Don't speak to me of reason! We sought the support of the Alliance before undertaking this operation on our own. We paid our people with our own money, lead them into battle ourselves, will take responsibility for the deaths ourselves, and bled for it ourselves. We gave you every opportunity to be a part of this undertaking, but not only did you refuse, you went for a blatant insult by essentially arresting a man with whom we had entered a cooperative relationship. You have no right to demand anything from us!"

"Mr. Dayarunar. That was a decision made by certain council members. Neither I, nor Hjork had anything to do with it."

"Oh, give it a break!" the elf exclaimed, face reddening slightly. "Don't talk to me like I'm a child! I've been active longer than you've been alive! Those council members represent the Alliance at large! You represent the Alliance at large! As far as this discussion is concerned you're all the same person!"

"Be that as it may, as member civilizations, you have a responsibility to comply with direct orders in matter concerning the general welfare and safety of all member civilizations," Hvork said, repeating the exact same argument he had spewed before.

Andihar exhaled deeply, massaging the bridge of his nose. The normally calm and collected man was clearly doing everything he could to not let his frustration get the better of him. This was the first time Eik had ever seen him this angry. Even when he had summoned an Apocalypse Canvas in the sky above Gimleh, the man hadn't shown ire as genuine as this.

"When member civilizations work with official Alliance forces that is certainly true. And even when the Alliance simply grants aid, you would have some say in what happens afterward. This, however, is no such situation. You clearly rejected any involvement before our success. And this was not a civilization-wide endeavor. It was a relatively small, private operation. Privately recruited, privately paid, privately carried out, and thus a private payoff."

The few A-rankers they had hired who had stayed around to temporarily look after the oracle nodded their agreement. They were on the side of their very generous employer.

"On the contrary, I would argue that the fact that Mr. Vendekaabe here was taken into custody implies a desire to investigate further on the part of the Alliance and as an extension the possibility of an operation similar to what you have carried out."

"Are you trying to convince me that the arrest of our ally and the refusal to cooperate with us is akin to an intention to eventually do something about an extremely urgent issue that concerns the safety of the entire Unified Mass?"

"I— Yes, that's is exactly what I'm saying. I believe it is a perfectly reasonable line of thought," the official muttered with a hint of hesitation. "The Alliance is far too large of an organization to make big decisions about such an important matter without some time to deliberate. You know that, Mr. Dayarunar."

"Isn't that why you have all of your many councils? To allocate the task of making decisions."

"When it comes to minor, everyday matters, yes. Not when it comes to engaging with an ancient enemy."

"Yeah, well, time was of the essence. They could have murdered the oracle at any time. She was only captured a little over a week ago. We had no idea when they would have killed her and if they did, we would have lost the only lead we have in fighting the cult. Delaying a decision is, in itself, the worst decision," Eik said, growing tired of the discussion.

"There are protocols—"

"Which I don't have to follow!" Eik growled. "After all, I am simply from a fresh world which, to this day, is still being invaded by Gohkamorian-bred monsters, is that not right?"

"I am not prepared to comment on that, but—"

"But nothing. If we're handling that on our own, then I am handling this matter with the oracle on my own."

"We will not be kept in the dark!" Hvork exclaimed.

Eik held up his hands. "Hey, I have no intention of keeping you in the dark. In fact, I hope we can work together on suppressing Moon Shall Swallow and stomping on their plans once we have more concrete information to go on."

"Then what…?"

"All I'm saying is that the oracle is first and foremost in my custody and contact with her goes through me first. I would never be crazy enough to jeopardize the safe future of us all over some dumb ego thing. I highly doubt this shit is going to be soloable."

The official's jaw worked as he listened.

"I have seen how slowly you work. I can't take the risk of time running out while the lot of you are farting it away in a meeting room, sipping lattes. You'll be involved to the degree it's necessary, but I will be spearheading this with Andihar, Gul, and the others. Urgently."

Both officials tried to get in another argument but Eik turned around before they could get the words out. It was about time he spoke to the oracle again.

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