Things Can Get Problematic Sometimes

"Can't you just let me be upset and alone for one minute?" Jestro shouted. He knew he was a failure, if anything hadn't proven that before, it definitely did now. It was the perfect plan, split all the Knights up, capture them, and weaken them however they could. And it almost worked! Captured and surrounded by as many monsters as he could summon, they were all put at their lowest point. One even literally in the mud.

But of course, things couldn't go well for them for long. The Knights managed to escape, and even worse, used some kind of powerful magic spell to not only knock out every monster they had at their disposal. It also managed to blow them out into the far edge of the forest near the kingdom. At this point, they weren't exactly 'near' the kingdom anymore.

After all of that, Jestro wanted to be alone. But his magical partner wasn't having any of it, as usual. "No," Monstrox said, his voice devoid of any emotion.

The lack of tone in him voice put Jestro on edge. This couldn't be good. Maybe he had finally gotten sick of Jestro's attitude and constant failures and was finally going to end him, however a necromancer could. Maybe he'd feed him to one of the monsters. That would definitely suck, all the odd lava creatures were starting to grow on him. Even if ninety-nine percent of the time they were all hostile and destructive creatures. Or maybe Monstrox would kill him himself. Cleaning up the mess he made. Maybe for better or worse, he'd turn him into one of his monsters. Monstrox never explained how he came to possess so many of them in the first place.

Suddenly Monstrox let go of Jestro's cape. Since he wasn't paying attention to the movement of his unenthused partners, his head immediately hit the ground. Thankfully, the forest floor was rather soft.

Jestro kept his eyes shut tightly. This had to be it, this was where he died. At the hands of an old necromancer, alone, in a forest. He probably wouldn't be found for years too. No one ever really cared about him after all. And after everything he did to the people of Knighton, he wouldn't be surprised if they never bothered to find him at all. All he could hear was the occasional chirping of bugs and what sounded like a fire. Oh no. Jestro's mind began to travel even farther down the rabbit hole. What if he's going to cook me up and eat me! Jestro wasn't sure if he even ever saw Monstrox eat before now. Maybe necromancers ate the souls of the innocent! Then again, at this point, Jestro wasn't exactly innocent.

After his mind finally calmed down, nothing happened. There was only silence for an agonizingly long time. Was he teasing him? Waiting for Jestro to open his eyes so he could kill him? Maybe just to see the fear in his eyes, or to make him watch.

The silence was broken by Monstrox letting out a loud groan. "Will you stop throwing your stupid little pity party and just come over here!"

Okay, he wasn't going to die after all. Jestro crossed his arms. Alright then, if he wasn't dead, he was going to continue sulking. "No."

Jestro heard a muffled groan and a muttered "I swear- How did you humans even survive this long? You're all a bunch of half-witted-" Monstrox then trailed off into silence again.

After another minute Jestro heard feet drag themselves across the dirt floor. Hands took a hold of his back and legs and lifted him off the ground. "Why can't you just leave me alone?" Jestro asked weakly. He was completely limp in Monstrox's arms. "If I'm just some useless human then... then why don't you just leave me here to die alone? Wallowing in my own self-pity."

Monstrox sighs and sets Jestro gently down onto a fallen tree trunk. "Because I don't want you to die." He wraps his arm around Jestro's shoulder and tucks him under his chin. "You're too important."

Jestro finally opened his eyes. He looked at the violet colored fire in front of him. He was important? "Why? What have I done that means anything to a wizard?" He really didn't understand. Even if he had only spent a short time with Merlok, he knew wizards could be powerful. Especially given what Merlok did when he and the newly revived necromancer were trying to cause chaos in his library.

Monstrox lets out another sigh and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Listen Mr. Misery, without you I'd still be stuck in that book body inside a small prison for who knows how many more centuries." He lifted his chin off of Jestro. "Speaking of books." Monstrox places a hand on his chest where a large black wound was. "You've managed to capture most of the books on your own. Especially that stunt you pulled with the book of confusion. Now that was evil." He pulled Jestro into a tight hug, causing Jestro to let out a genuine laugh.

Jestro felt slightly brighter and darker by his remarks. For once, he actually felt valid. Even if it was for something like dark magic, he was actually good at it. But at the same time, it was dark magic. Something that had been purposely wiped out of history after Monstrox was supposedly defeated for good.

Monstrox weakened his grip on the jester. "Plus, you're one of the best tacticians I've ever seen. Seriously, I've been around them for so long and I have never seen someone who's so young come up with an almost foolproof plan like that." Monstrox gave him a gentle pat on the back.

"Almost," Jestro emphasized.

"Yeah, well, ya ain't perfect kid. But that's what I like." He let go of Jestro and reached behind him. He held up the book of monsters and looks at it. "I've always had a preference for imperfection. Makes things more interesting." He shrugs before turning back to Jestro and nudges him. "You're still learning, okay? Ya ain't gonna be perfect on your first try and you're probably going to fail a hundred times more."

Jestro looked back at the small fire. He really, really didn't like failure. It made him feel like a nuisance to everyone around him.

Monstrox nudged him in the arm again, bringing him out of his thought. "I'm still right beside you though. We're partners in this crime we've created together." He holds his hand out towards Jestro.

Jestro looks at his hand. Yeah, partners in crime, that's what they were now. And honestly, he didn't mind that anymore. He didn't mind anything anymore. He finally had someone who want's him by his side, despite all of his mess ups. Even the ever so kind hearted and beloved number one knight Clay Moorington couldn't handle him. He had to send Jestro off to someone else. He reached out and firmly grasped Monstrox's hand with both of his own hands. "Nothin's gonna stop us. Not now, not ever." He finally smiled. Yes. There were no more doubts in his mind now. He wanted the world. And he wanted it with Monstrox.

Monstrox laughed and placed his other hand on top of Jestro's. "Now that's what I'm talkin' about! We'll make this reached kingdom regret the days it looked down on you and the day it destroyed me!" He yelled proudly. Content with the outcome, Monstrox laid down and closed his eyes. One hand still being held by Jestro's. "You and me, goin' through thick and thin, huh? Never expected to have a partner like you in all of this. But now, I'm actually pretty excited."

Jestro laid down onto Monstrox's arm and closed his eyes again. "Yeah. So am I." He still held onto Monstrox's other hand.