(Wednesday, 27th of Dawnstar Moon)
"So this giant god damn t-rex was waiting for you?"
"Yep, Ebony Horse."
That's right, Jack was riding on top of a giant metal t-rex named Ebony Horse, which is another Artifact. Ebony Horse was the most unique artifact he's seen so far, taking the form of a giant metallic t-rex with multiple glowing parts. Jack was piloting the giant t-Rex towards the next mission in a small compartment that was inside the dinosaur's torso. On the dinosaur's back was a kind of hatch, similar to one that would be seen on a submarine. The hatch was open because Jack wasn't alone, he was driving Ebony Horse while his two teammates sat on the back of the mech. His first teammate was Molly, who was pretty much worshiping the mech. Molly was lying on her back with her torso hanging dangling into the cockpit with Jack. Meanwhile, Hero, yes, that kid who kicked Jack's ass, stood on the giant robot's head.
"Holy crap I want this!" Molly jumped down into the cockpit with Jack to begin examining the machinery inside the cockpit. Only problem is that the cockpit was pretty small, so now her waist was resting on Jack's shoulder. "Why did Ebony Horse have to choose you, it's unfair!"
"I'll let you examine it from time to time." Jack promised, and instantly he could hear Molly gasp before she hugged him.
"OH MY GODS THANK YOU SO MUCH I LOVE YOU SO MUCH I COULD FRENCH KISS YOU!"
"Don't."
"OKAY!"
We were riding through a plain desert, one that was nothing but sand as far as the eye could see. Lucky for them, the country of Deshret was nice enough to build a series of paths that led to its various cities. Right now, they were taking the largest path that led to the capital city of Deshret. It was a cool night, making it a lot more bearable for travel compared to a scorching afternoon. In the front of the cockpit were five screens, one big center screen and two smaller screens on each side. The large screen displayed everything from the robot's point of view. On the two screens to the left were a radar and thermal vision, on the opposite side were electromagnetic vision and night vision. Jack could switch which screens displayed which, so he could put night vision on the big screen. How is Ebony Horse powered? It appears that it can not absorb any form of light, but also magic energy to keep itself moving. Ebony Horse may be the strongest of the Artifacts.
"So, why are we going to Deshret?" Molly questioned as she sat on Jack's shoulder for no reason other than to look at the controls.
"Because we are going to properly alert the leader of Deshret and inform her that we will be going to the border to conduct the investigation." Jack answered, rolling his eyes. "We will be doing the same with the leader of Atitihad. That way they know what we look like and know that we're on neutral ground."
"Uuuggghhh, so we have to do diplomacy skills?" Molly groaned before resting her head against the hatch's frame and putting her knees to her chest and holding them up with her hands. "Man...hey does Ebony Horse have Metflix?"
"Don't try it, this thing is a gift from someone." Jack was referring to his father when he said this, but Molly still pouted.
"AAAAAAHHHH, BUT I'M BORED!" Molly was throwing a temper tantrum, and Jack was forced to put up with it while he piloted Ebony Horse.
"Hey Hero, how are you holding up?" Jack shouted at Hero, who poked his head into the hole of the cockpit.
"I am great, so I'm looking forward to this mission!" Hero shouted with enthusiasm, and despite his positivity being annoying to some people, Jack considered it something good to have.
"Hey, speaking of missions, who were you on a mission with last time?" Jack decided to spark a conversation between Hero and himself. "Like my first mission was with Eve, Damini, and Mifu."
"My first mission was with Angelo and Matt, they were nice!" Hero answered his question with child-like honesty.
If Jack was drinking something, he would have spat it out. Hero, Angelo, and Matt, the most overpowered team in existence according to what Alice told him. All Alice could say about Angelo and Matt is that they're easily the top strongest in the class. Molly plugged an earplug into one ear and plugged the other one into Jack's ear. Then an episode of 'How It's Created' began playing on the woman's phone.
This might actually be relaxing for Jack if it wasn't for the fact they weren't learning about buttplugs.
(Later)
(Thursday, 28th of Dawnstar Moon)
By the time dawn broke, they arrived at the capital city of Deshret, and it was bustling with people preparing for the day ahead. The bakery owners got their bread ready, the farmers were getting their harvests to the grocery store, and the builders were stretching to prepare for work. Jack noticed how most of the clothes were white and didn't really cover much. The men wore white skirts and sandals, showing off their chests to the world. Meanwhile the women wore dresses that covered from their shoulders to their calves. Of course there were some people who opted to wear regular clothes, but most of the people here wore the clothes just described in a multitude of colors. Of course, most of the people in Deshret were in awe of Ebony Horse, mainly because it's a goddamn metal t-rex!
"So who's the leader of Deshret?" Molly questioned as she jumped out of the cockpit to stand on the back of Ebony Horse, then she stretched.
"A woman by the name of Nehe." Jack answered while looking at his phone, totally not looking it up on the internet. "The leader of Atitihad is a man named Tala."
"Got it, so let's get this diplomacy business underway!" Molly shouted as Jack piloted Ebony Horse towards the capitol building of Deshret. "Woah, be careful I almost fell off!"
"My bad." Jack replied as we stepped towards the capitol building. "Guys, get your badges ready so we can convince the guards we aren't fakers."
"Okay!" Hero shouted over Ebony Horse's rather loud engine.
As they walked through the city, the sun rose higher and higher and Jack noticed something in Ebony Horse was with him thanks to the sunlight. A lengthy box that was wrapped in fossil and star wrapping paper on it. How did he not notice this thing sooner? I reached to grab the box and noticed a note on it. Jack tore off the note and read it, angling it so the light would catch it.
"Hey Jack, it's your old man. I know I always missed your birthdays and was never there for you, but don't think I never loved you. I've been busy these past years, gathering all the Slayer weapons I can and giving them to you. Why am I giving you these things? There's a war coming, a war that you will have to partake in. Besides, these weapons have taken a liking to you ever since you were a baby, so I know you'll use them well. In this box, it's two of the strongest Slayer weapons, Storyteller and Nursery Rhyme. These used to belong to me and your mother respectively, but they liked you back when we had you, so I figured you would use them better than we could.'
Dafuq???
Jack undid the wrapping paper to reveal a long, metallic box with clips holding the box shut. Jack undid the clips and looked inside the box. Jack noticed two objects inside the box, a sword and a book. The sword was a short sword, only being a meter long, if not shorter. The blade of the sword was wavy, reminding Jack of a serpent. The book on the other hand was a navy blue color, with a gold star design. The book had a sticky note on it reading 'Nursery Rhyme' and the sword had 'Storyteller' on it. Jack held the sword in one hand and examined it, this sensation...it felt familiar to him.
"Stop right there, show some identification!" A guard stopped the Guardians before they could enter the gates of the main palace. "Lady Nehe must not be bothered, she is expecting visiting Guardians!"
"We ARE the Guardians." Jack spoke into a microphone, causing his voice to come from Ebony Horse's mouth. "Do I need to come out of this thing to prove it or show any paperwork?"
"Just have someone bring out your badges, then we'll examine them to check if they're genuine." The guard looked into Ebony Horse's eye cameras while holding a spear.
"Hero, here." Jack handed his silver gear badge to Hero, and Molly reluctantly handed her white clover to Hero, who jumped down from the head of Ebony Horse to give the guard the badges.
"Thank you." The guard thanked before holding the badges up to the sun, examining them with one eye, carefully. "You all should clean these things more often, they're gonna be with you the rest of your life."
"Yes sir, can we just use water or is there a specific oil we need to use?" Molly asked the man, who handed the badges back to Hero, who jumped back onto Ebony Horse with ease.
"Both are okay, the material used for badges is unique in the sense that it never breaks or degrades no matter what you do to it." The guard looked at Molly. "By the way, please cover yourself ma'am. Lady Nehe has standards, even when it comes to Guardians."
"You heard the man, zip up your jumpsuit!" Jack ordered the blonde, who pouted before reluctantly zipping up her jumpsuit and groaning.
"But it's hoooooooot~!" Molly whined while she zipped up her bright yellow jumpsuit.
"We're in a desert, I'm now sure what you expected." The guard sweatdropped before moving out of the way. "Anyway, go on in. Just don't bring that thing into the palace."
"No promises boss."
Jack piloted Ebony Horse past the gate, and the gate closed behind them. Jack kept on piloting the thing until he came across a massive flight of stairs that was leading up to the center of a massive pyramid. Jack decided to park Ebony Horse beside the stairs. Jack made Ebony Horse squat until its torso was touching the ground. Jack pressed a button on the center console, and Ebony Horse's engine turned off, leaving them in silence. Molly was the first to leave Ebony Horse's cockpit, followed by her helping Jack out. Jack closed the mech's hatch to begin climbing down. Molly and Jack climbed down Ebony Horse's legs, while Hero just jumped down from the head. Molly, Hero, and Jack walked up the stairs until we came across a massive set of marble white doors. Molly and Jack were reluctant, but Hero wasted no time in knocking on the massive doors. There was silence before the doors opened themselves to reveal a lavish room. The room had a marble pathway that was 3 meters wide, with a luxurious red carpet going down the middle of the path. On the sides of the path, the room was filled with water like a pool. These pools had golden pillars emerging from them, extending all the way towards the ceiling. In these pools, numerous naked, muscular men were...washing and making out with each other.
"Wow, it's getting hot and steamy in here isn't it?" Molly did some finger guns at Jack, and Jack rolled his eyes before politely ignoring what she just said. "Yeah, that was made in bad taste."
Hero and Jack decided to ignore what Molly just said and decided to walk down the marble pathway. Their footsteps clacked against the marble floor, with every footstep attracting attention from the muscular men. They stopped making out and/or bathing and stared at the Guardians. All of the men gathered around one of the pillars, and Jack noticed how the golden pillars were lined with weapons. They didn't grab their weapons, but they were weary of the guardians. The three of them reached the main throne in a matter of minutes. The woman on the throne had dark hair that was curly and black, heavily decorated with gold accessories that seemed to show off her beauty. The woman's face was covered in make-up, make-up that seemed to show off her green eyes. This woman must be Nehe, Pharaoh of Deshret. And she was...making out with one of the muscular men.
"So you must be the guardians I hired." Nehe stopped kissing the man to look the heroes dead in the eyes. "I am Pharaoh Nehe Bkau, and welcome to my beautiful kingdom."
"Damn gurl you certainly got it going." Molly commented while examining the large number of men in the room.
"Why thank you my dear, I love all these fine fellows more than my own life." Nehe thanked the blonde haired girl. "But you didn't come here to examine my husbands, did you?
"Nah, we came to inform you we'll be going to the border, so please don't have your soldiers shoot us." Jack answered casually while wiping some sweat off his brow. "Say, it's kind of hot in here."
"Well the hot waters are emitting steam, so the steam tends to build up in here since there are little windows." Nehe then waved her hand. "Either way, you have my permission, Hor, here even has your papers to confirm I gave you permission."
"Here you guys go." The man Nehe was making out with earlier handed the Guardians a yellow folder. "Good luck, Atitihad soldiers are tenacious."
"Thank you." Jack thanked the man before taking the folders and pulling on his collar. "No offense, but I'm gonna head out now, it's hot in here."
"Osi is on the other side with some bottles of water if you need them." Nehe pointed to one of the muscular men, who was holding a tray of water bottles.
"Thank you Lady Nehe, now we have to visit Sultan Tala of Atitihad." As Jack left, he couldn't help but think Lady Nehe looked like Damini.
(Later, again)
The Trio arrived at Atitihad, which was also a desert, but not as sandy. The main palace of this place was a more simple castle. Molly, Hero, and Jack entered the castle's throne room to see...an army of female maids wearing skimpy outfits. Jack wasn't sure how many maids there were here, even though they were all lined up in the main throne room. Speaking of the main throne room, the floors looked to be made out of polished red stone, causing a clicking noise every time they stepped forward. There were spiraled pillars that looked to be holding up the dome ceiling that depicted a sun god or something blessing humanity. Jack wasn't sure though, he felt a wave of doubt whenever he looked at the image. At the end of the hallway, there sat a throne. On that throne a dark skinned man wearing a white robe was doing some paperwork while a maid stood nearby. The man had a lengthy black beard and piercing yellow eyes, at the top of his head was a red cloth. He looked up at the trio before speaking.
"So you must be the guardians, welcome to Atitihad." Tala greeted them before looking back down at the clipboard he was working on. "I would treat you all to a meal or something since Oneiro is quite the distance away, but I'm assuming you all would like to head back to Sanctuary as soon as possible."
"No offense, but I've got to study, I don't want to fail my tests." Jack answered honestly, and Tala handed the maid the clipboard.
"Okay, Ashi here will hand you the paperwork that confirms that you all are Guardians in training, so if my soldiers shoot or attack you in any way, there will be hell to pay."
"Thanks, we'll try to solve this border problem for you." Jack got the clipboard from the maid.