What's yours...Is Mine [Erik x Oc]

Chapter 5 | To the Manglegrove

It took no time at all for Amara and Erik to sneak their way into the upper-class part of Heliodor. It took even less time to identify the house of Erik's new traitor. They marched right in—well Erik did— and walked up to the man with his back turned to the teens.

"Wow. Nice place you got here..." Erik says, almost sarcastically. This makes the man in front of them start speaking, not realizing his once-compadre was behind him.

"Welcome, welcome! Feel free to browse! You'll find we only stock the very finest wares!" The man, named Derk, says in his prideful voice. This made Erik over-dramatically roll his eyes.

"That's good, because I'm looking for something very special indeed. Happen to have any orbs in stock?" He sneers, and Amara feels the anger buried deep within that very sentence. The man now decides to turn around, after the unique wording that Erik had. Upon seeing Erik, Derk's eyes light up.

"E-Erik!" He says with a smile that made Amara want to smile back. Almost. Not until he explained himself properly.

"Long time no see, old pal!" He says sarcastically, readying a fist to punch Derk.

"E-E-Erik! My b-brother... my compadre... my partner in crime! It's really—Urgh!—you, large as life and—Ouch!—fightin' fit! I'm so—Ngh!— 'appy to see you!" Derk says whilst trying his complete hardest to hug Erik. Although the taller man stopped him, his face morphing into one of disgust.

"You have no shame, huh? Get your back-stabbing hands off of me! You always were full of it, Derk, but this really takes the cake." Erik growls, which elicits a confused expression from Derk. "Admit it—you sold me out and sold the Orb so you could by this place, didn't you?" He snarls, getting angrier and angrier by the second.

"I never! I promise you, I never sold you out! I was worried sick about you! I only opened this place to try an' 'elp you!" Derk starts bumbling, trying to get Erik to stop aiming punches at him.

"Oh yeah, and how does that work, exactly? How does you opening this place and lining your pockets while I rot in jail, help me?" Erik snarls once again, aiming another fist at him.

"Look Erik, listen to Derk please. Violence isn't the option." Amara says, grabbing Erik's fist from the air and moving it down to his side. They share a look for a second before Derk thanks her profusely for her kind words. Then he proceeds to explain everything... in what felt like a speech.

"Look, I was never much of a thief—you know that. But it turns out I know 'ow to sell stuff. I got the gift, even if I do say so meself. When you got nabbed, I spent months rackin' me brains for ways of bustin' you out. I couldn't stand the thought of you bein' in there. In the end, I realised I'd 'ave to give up the Orb. I took it to the King, told 'I'm I found it somewhere and pocketed the reward. Then I used the cash to open up the shop 'ere, and poured all me profits into bribin' the guards up at the castle so they'd let you escape." Derk finishes, and his explanation drastically changes both Amara's and Erik's expressions.

Erik shared a look with Amara before turning back to Derk. "Now that you mention it, I did think it was weird they never tossed my cell the whole time I was digging that hole..." He mumbles, half to himself and half to those who were listening to him.

"Exactly! I was payin' 'em to turn a blind eye, weren't I!" Derk says, clapping his hands together for a short moment. He was happy enough now that Erik saw the light at the end of the tunnel and had finally seen there was no betrayal. Amara was also grateful, as this changed Erik's mood a lot, and positively to.

"...Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I doubted you... partner." Erik musters a smile for what seems like the first time in days, and it lit both Amara's and Derk's hearts up.