Chapter 57- A Conversation With The Devil

Lucifer released Morpheus’s hand and walked over to a rock nearby. He motioned for the young chimera to sit on the one next to him.

Morpheus had so many questions for the man, especially his name.

He had multiple notifications from before but he didn’t bring them up. The last thing he would want to do was annoy the Scarecrow.

“Did Brevair send you?” He asked nervously.

“More or less, I owed the man a favour.” Lucifer said.

“Why are you here?” Morpheus asked hesitantly.

Lucifer put his elbows on his knees. “Brevair had told me he had found someone with a lot of potential. Someone who was naive and needed protection of sorts.” Lucifer said.

“But Brevair…”

Lucifer held up his hand.

“That old man is great at only fighting, nothing else.” He said quickly and firmly.

Lucifer carried on. “I was deep in the north at this point and had only received the message a few weeks ago. So I came back to Southcross and I heard that someone had already been assigned to your poi.”

“And then I heard about the draconian that had kidnapped you. I had also been informed that they wished to take away the shadow you have since you were too inexperienced to look after it.”

Morpheus’s heart sank when he heard that.

“Brevair had asked me to watch out for you, for he has a family to look after.”

Morpheus nodded as he absorbed the information.

“And now you’ve received a mark of madness.”

“A what?” Morpheus asked, completely oblivious to the fact he had just been marked again.

“You’ve reached divine madness.” Lucifer calmly said.

“What does that mean?” Morpheus asked.

Lucifer glanced to the back of his neck.

“You acted upon the madness.” He said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Morpheus quickly brought out the notification, and he ran a hand through his hair in shock.

“Fuck.” He said.

“Not the end of the world.” Lucifer said like it wasn’t a big deal.

“But Lyssa has marked me.” Morpheus said expecting a big reaction

“Ah, she gets a lot of people.” Lucifer calmly said, not reacting to his third god mark.

“Are you not shocked?” Morpheus asked.

Lucifer cracked a slight smile. “God marks are not as rare as you think.”

“Oh.” Morpheus said as he looked towards the ground in disappointment. Brevair and Sophia had always told him god marks were extremely rare.

Lucifer slapped his back and brought up his sanity stat.

“A lot of people hide them you see.” He said, trying to comfort Morpheus. It was a strange feeling but it was like speaking to a younger sibling of sorts.

“I do.” Morpheus said quietly.

Morpheus sat back upright on the rock.

“I’m still confused as to why you’re here. I’m sure you could have helped me from the shadows.”

“Unfortunately, since you know I’m a Scarecrow I’ll have to kill you.” He said without emotion.

Morpheus froze.

“I’m kidding.” Lucifer chuckled nervously, he was never the best at jokes. It was possibly because of his authoritarian personality.

“So why are you here then?” Morpheus asked.

Lucifer sat back upright as well and cleared his throat ready for a speech. “The most important tool a Scarecrow has is its eyes. In ancient times, a bird would notice the eyes of the scarecrow, henceforth scaring it off. The eye is to watch, to find, to examine and the result is to find the best course of action. With eyes you pick out the most desirable, you pick out the ripest fruit. And so, you pick out the best people.”

Morpheus was silent, deep in thought from the words Lucifer said.

“So when Brevair told me that he had found someone with potential I had to come and see for myself.”

“So you want to recruit me?” Morpheus asked.

Lucifer shook his head.

“Eventually, but your fruit has not ripened yet.”

“Wait hold on, what about Rose?” He asked.

“Rose?”

“Oh yes, lady Crownwell. She comes from a tree that is laced in gold, it’s roots intertwined with the others and always ripe, even from a seed.” Lucifer said.

‘Makes slightly more sense’ Morpheus thought.

“Do you want to ripen me?” He asked.

Lucifer raised an eyebrow at the wording of the question.

“You will become more ripe with time, except nurturing a fruit always helps with the presentation.”

“So training?” Morpheus asked.

Lucifer shook his head.

“Not just any training Morpheus, Scarecrow training.”

The young chimera was happy, but he struggled to show it. The roller coaster of emotions he had experienced was far too much for him.

“From here on out, you will eat, sleep, shit and train from where you stand until I see fit.”

“Wait hold on.” Morpheus said.

Lucifer held out his palm. “Morpheus, I’m doing this as a favour from Brevair and for the future of the Scarecrows. You have absolutely no right to decline.”

Morpheus sighed.

“I have friends in Kronos’s Keep that are probably worried about me.” Morpheus truthfully said. He had only spent two days with Big Sam and Hammer but he still thought of him as a friend.

Lucifer raised his hand.

“Taken care of already.” Lucifer said, but he was half doubting Mellissa would actually pull through on her end.

Morpheus put a hand on his head, but soon looked up to see Fuzz in bird form on his shoulder.

“I will also be training you on your familiar as well. Since you’ve not received your second secondary class I have an idea.” Lucifer said.

“Anyone else you want to train me on?” He asked sarcastically.

“Magic.”

“Magic?”

“Magic.”

——————————————————

Big Sam and Hammer were both at the Night Owl. The mood was rather glum because of the recent monster horde, many people had lost someone close to them because of the vultures. But the two were more preoccupied with what they both saw.

Hammer was extremely drunk and wasn’t even in the mood for any masochism.

“You reckon?” Hammer asked, slurring his words.

Big Sam turned to Hammer and nodded.

“Thee Baka, after a chimera. Ya gotta be kidding me.” Big Sam said to himself as he finished a glass of ale.

Hammer was staring into his cup of ale, his charming locks dangling by his nose.

Big Sam laughed.

“Ya wanted to fuck em too. Hahaha.” The dagi laughed but it ended in a coughing fit.

Hammer leaned in close to the dagi. “If Jak’s really thee chimera, you tink the Scarecrow’s wan him?”

Big Sam shrugged.

“I’ve never heard of someone surviving after attacking a Scarecrow.” Big Sam said back to him.

Big Sam looked at Hammer but his head was slumped on the hard wooden counter. The barmaid was sucking on a sweet with her arms folded as she looked at Hammer and then to Drunk’s Landing.

“It’s fine me lady, we’ll head off home.” Big Sam said.

He paid for his and Hammer’s tab and hooked the eccentric bard's arm over his shoulder. They lived together in a small shack over the poor side of Kronos’s Keep. Despite Hammer’s fluid sexuality they lived as friends, both very unique even in Arios.

Big Sam stumbled home with Hammer over his shoulder. He kept knocking into walls and houses as he walked through the alley ways towards their shack. Every time he did, he sent a shockwave into them, the fat on his enormous belly rippling with every bash.

“I need to lose some weight.” The dagi said to himself while looking down at his gut.

As he looked back up he saw a tall lady who was completely naked walking and towards them. Even her scent caused hearts to appear in his eyes.

“Excuse me, me lady but I think you need some clothes.” He said with a toothy grin, trying to add some sort of humour.

Mellissa carried on walking towards them, Big Sam taking a very detailed look at her body.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as the lady walked by, Ariel was the only lass for him.

He opened them, expecting to see an empty alleyway in front of him. But the lady was staring directly at him, Big Sam froze as she zoomed in closer to them.

“I heard a tale.” She whispered into their ears, the words coming out of her mouth.

Big Sam’s eyes bulged.

“That you didn’t see a chimera, and Jack is just on a job.” She said, the words literally came out of her mouth and invaded their ears very smoothly.

“I didn’t see a chimera and Jack is just on a job.” Big Sam said still with bulging eyes.

“I didn’t se a chimer and Jak is just on a joble.” Hammer said in his drunken state.

Mellissa leaned in closer and pecked Big Sam on the cheek.

“That’s a good boy, now run along home will you.” She said, again the words literally coming out of her mouth.

“Yes me lady.” Big Sam said with bulging eyes.

Mellissa then vanished into thin air like she had always done and Big Sam snapped out of the hypnosis. His eyes went back to their usual kind shape.

“C’mon Hammer, let’s get ya home.” He said as he realigned the eccentric bard over his shoulder.

“Joble, joble, joble.” Hammer slurred.

——————————————————

It was late at night and Rose finally reached Kronos’s Keep. She truly hated everything about the city, apart from its strategic position. The streets permanently smelled like a run down tavern and the local accent was barely comprehensible.

She shook her pretty long hair about with both hands as she approached the booth. She didn’t want to use her Scarecrow badge as the base in Kronos’s Keep would be notified.

“Fee’s two coppers missy.” A dwarf said with the accent she hated.

She shook her hair again and put on a fake smile, all while pushing out her chest.

“I heard pretty girls don’t pay fees.” She said with a finger on her lip. Even though her pockets were larger than a bankers she always tried to swindle money in any way possible.

“Ye right, they don’t.” He said while shaking the bucket and scrunching up his bushy eyebrows.

Rose rolled her sensual eyes and chucked two coppers in the bucket it a very un-lady like fashion. She pushed her chest back in and strutted off but soon remembered why she came to Kronos’s Keep.

“Mr dwarf, are there any good taverns around here?” She asked while bending her back.

The dwarf of course hated the name. “Missy, a tongue like yours round’ere won’t last long.”

“That’s the point.” She said with a fake smile.

The dwarf scrunched up his face again. “Night’s Owl, now be off wiv ya.”

“Thank you.” She said, she turned around and her face went neutral. People would soon learn her name like her fathers. Rose apparently had some severe daddy issues.

She knew if Morpheus headed South, he would most definitely end up here here or in Elusia. From her training she could study someone’s habitats. Morpheus enjoyed the forests but he was happy to arrive in Southcross, everyone had their limits from spending time outdoors. She didn’t know how long she would stay or if she would find any clues on his whereabouts.

All Rose could think about was getting her covert status back, something she excelled at more than others. Her low level compared to the stronger majority made her go under the radar and her targets rarely saw her as a threat.

She strolled through the dark streets scouring for an luxurious Inn, when it came to sleeping she was always willing to spend. Comfort is a must have for the fiery brunette.

She made her way up to the second level, the guards not even batting an eye.

The smell was not so bad on the second level, the streets were cleaner and even the drunks wore suits. She finally found a lavish looking Inn and asked for a room.