Vaile could hear the sounds of weapons impacting flesh and bone from the carriage. Obviously, the fact that his performance did not go over well with the Trelawney Kingdom soldiers did not sit well with the Red Mountain Bandits. His altered rendition of a four decades old song from an adult show (now relatively tame for modern standards) had caused the soldiers to froth at the mouth and fall unconscious, while at the same time heavily buffing the Red Mountain Bandits that heard it. Not that such a powerful buff was needed with their enemies trapped in a comatose state.

Vaile secretly prayed that whoever the crazy lady who had screamed earlier was, that they would not come over here. His prayers were in vain, however, as the door to the carriage he was in was ripped off its hinges and a woman stared at him with a demented grin on her face.

“!!!”

Vaile was startled by the sudden exposure, but the woman did not seem to pay his emotional state any mind. She first started a weak laugh that quickly grew in intensity until she was cackling like a witch. The deranged look that covered her face combined with the psychotic laughter was not something Vaile wanted to see, and he hurriedly opened the door on the other side and tried to get out.

Just as he got the door open and stepped outside, he was tackled from behind with enough force to send him and the woman who tackled him flying several meters. Vaile tried to squeeze out of the vice-like grip that held him, but the crazy lady had wrapped her arms around both his body and his own arms. Escape was impossible and resistance was futile, but that did not stop Vaile from desperately struggling like a caterpillar caught by a mantis.

The crazed woman rubbed herself all over Vaile’s back while giggling like a loon and mumbling things that Vaile could not hear. Vaile had endured enough and looked over to Seivalt who just seemed to beam at the two of them like they were fated lovers exchanging kisses beneath a moonlit sky.

“Seivalt, help me!”

Vaile’s cries fell on deaf ears as Seivalt seemed to ignore his distress. To make matters worse, the crazed woman who had him in a vice-grip seemed to believe that Seivalt was, in fact, going to remove her from Vaile’s presence.

“Hey, you shitty old man! Don’t you fucking dare touch us!”

Seivalt ignored both of them and walked back to the carriage with the aid of his cane.

“Ah, to be young again.”

…

Vaile was very uncomfortable. As if the constant rumbling from the carriage going over uneven terrain wasn’t bad enough, he now had the crazy lady from before holding him way too tight. Both doors to the carriage had been either ripped or blown off their hinges by said person, and said person was rapidly switching between rubbing her face on him and giving malicious glares at Seivalt.

“Seriously, what the fuck is this?” Vaile mumbled.

“Honey? Is something wrong?” The woman responded.

Seivalt merely chuckled at the two of them.

“Seivalt, who is this person?” Vaile asked.

Before Seivalt could respond, the woman interrupted.

“Oh, of course you wouldn’t tell my honey about me, you damn crusty bastard! I’m…”

“She is my descendant.” Seivalt repaid the disfavor the woman showed him. “She is the one who I told you about; How you were perfect for each other.”

The overly attached bandit lady clicked her tongue and stole a harsh glance at Seivalt.

"Darling, I am Nora Vandel Trelawney. Don’t pay that old fart any mind, you only need to concern yourself with me, and I you.”

“Yeah,” Vaile retorted in his mind, “I need to be concerned that you might try and kill me, you mad woman!”

A man on horseback trotted up to the doorless carriage.

“Sir! We are reaching the foot of Red Mountain! Shall I send some to go ahead and announce our return?”

Seivalt nodded and was about to speak, but Nora interrupted him.

“Yes, yes! Go on ahead and tell them to prepare for my wedding with darling!”

The horseman did not budge or pay heed to her words, which seemed to anger Nora to no end.

“Go on ahead and announce our arrival.” Seivalt said while smirking at Nora. “And you won’t need to prepare for a wedding just yet.”

The horseman nodded and replied, “Understood.” before riding off ahead of the convoy.

“You damn geezer! Why?! Why are you ruining our moment?!”

Seivalt smiled.

“Because, dear Nora, wouldn’t you rather have a royal wedding?”

Nora’s face contorted with anger before switching to confusion and then one of realization.

“Wait a Vaile-damned minute! Are you seriously saying that we have, as you so eloquently put it, reached ‘The End Game’? It is seriously almost time for all out war? I thought that…”

Seivalt’s smile grew wider and even though his face looked kind and grandfatherly, there seemed to be a hidden malice behind his old eyes and grin.

“All the pieces are nearly in place, my dear. All we needed was to get our Lord in position, and now he is. I do believe it is time to take the final moves in this several thousand years old game I have been playing. Soon, the line of my brother will end in fire and blood, and you, my dear child of my children, will ascend to the throne alongside our Lord.”

Seivalt rubbed the crimson gem that was the handle of his cane.

“We just need to make sure the last few obstacles are eliminated…”

Seivalt coughed into a handkerchief and quickly stowed it away, but not fast enough for Vaile to not see that it was stained with blood.

“Hey, Seivalt… Are you okay?” Vaile asked of one of his Tamed Beings with serious concern.

“Ah, I’ve still got a while in me left. More than enough to see this through!”

Seivalt flexed one of his old arms to make a show of his health, but deep in his heart of hearts Vaile knew that Seivalt was on his last legs.

“I guess the only reason he lasted this long was to see me. Like Odysseus’ dog, he waited for me to come back, even beyond what his body could reasonably endure.” Vaile mused sadly. He did not want to see one of his Tamed Beings die in front of him. Despite the fact that they were merely bits of code before, now they were real people, with real ambitions and motives.

He had never cared when it was a game, for it was all ones and zeroes. This had allowed him to act in whatever way he wanted. None of it was real, so why would it matter if he was a dick or not? But, in the reality outside of the game, Vaile had been a softie. Now he was feeling something he had not ever expected to feel. He was a forever-single virgin, he never even had a chance at being a father nor the desire to be one. Yet, when he looked at Seivalt he felt something tighten.

Years of power leveling his Tamed Beings gave him intimate knowledge of their abilities, and Seivalt had seen him through an entire expansion before being ‘retired’ for others. For a split second, as he looked at Seivalt, memories that were not his own flooded him.

Vaile was glad he had his mask on, because the emotions from these memories combined with his own and sent tears down his checks. Seivalt wasn’t dead yet, but he could not evade the reaper forever, and Vaile would have the displeasure of watching someone he cared for pass on before him.