Later that night, Richard, Sinder, and Bernard sit in their room. As they talk, the topic shifts from future adventures to the state of their party.
Bernard looks at Richard. "What is the plan for Bianca?"
Richard leans back against the bed. "She hopes to hear from the Holy Order soon... As for after that, she would like to travel with us."
Sinder smirks. "Really? You must have made a good impression."
Richard shakes his head. "I do not think I had anything to do with it, she is looking for someone."
"So, how about our party?" Sinder asks.
Richard shrugs. "Why change a good thing?"
"Exactly my thoughts, even Sanya agrees with me." Sinder exclaims.
"That is unusual." Bernard chuckles.
Sinder rolls his eyes. "We are not constantly at each other's throats... it's just... I don't know...."
"You do not know why she gets onto you so much?" Richard asks.
Sinder shrugs. "I have my suspicions, but nothing can be done for it."
"So we are agreed, the party stays together for now?" Bernard asks.
"It would seem that way." Richard smiles.
"Great, Org would have cried like a baby if you had said otherwise. He took a major liking to you." Bernard smiles.
"Me? Why?" Richard asks, surprised.
"Respect. You beat him in a test of strength, and ogers are known for their strength." Bernard answers.
"The big guy is a loyal ally once you gain his respect." Sinder smiles.
"I assume that includes all of us?" Richard asks.
"Bernard bested him, as have I, Sanya... did something... no clue what, and Bianca is just too cute not to like." Sinder waves his hand.
"Six-party members, a ranger, bear, oger, knight, mage, and priestess... That is an odd group, but it also sounds very well balanced." Richard thinks to himself, as he yawns. "Why did you choose the Knight class?"
"Knights get the girls!" Sinder smiles.
"Right! And that is exactly why you are still single!" Bernard says, sarcastically.
"That reminds me, I meet her in a similar way you and Bianca met." Sinder leans forward to Richard.
"Really?!" Richard asks.
"She was taking a wagon back from the Germainian Empire. I was tasked to meet the wagon at the border and escort them the rest of the way, into Frihane. Along the way, she took interest and approached me, asking a lot of questions about me and my adventures. After a few days of travel and many conversations, she decided to join me as a supporter. Many adventures and two years later, we talked about our feelings...." Sinder stops and smiles at the ceiling. "The longest walk was that day I escorted her back to this very town, to put in her request to the order. I still remember the smile on her face when her request got approved, she threw her arms around me and we shared our first real kiss." Sinder looks back at Richard. "We got married, right here, by the church. Mother Superior was... overjoyed."
"I bet she was!" Bernard laughs.
"It was everything I could do not to laugh in her face!" Sinder laughs.
Richard sits silently listening to the story.
Sinder stares at the wall. "We are actually excepting."
"No shit!!! Congratulations!" Bernard smiles wide.
"That answers my question." Richard says.
"What would that have been?" Sinder asks.
"I was going to ask why she wasn't out adventuring with us. And, now I know." Richard lays on the bed.
"Even now she wanted to be, but I insisted she take it easy. She, of course, gave me the cold shoulder for a few days, just before we left. She still gave me a kiss and made me promise to come back safe." Sinder lays on his bed. "Despite all the arguments, she always comes back to me with a smile, in the end."
Bernard smiles and lays on the floor. "Sounds like my exs."
Richard and Sinder both turn to look at Bernard at the same time.
"You had a wife?!" Sinder asks.
"Did you have any cubs?" Richard asks.
Bernard glances at Sinder. "Dude, I'm a bear, a very large, strong bear. I get all the girls." He then glances at Richard. "A lot of cubs." Bernard lays his head back down and smirks.
Richard and Sinder look at each other with a smile and lay back again.
Meanwhile, In Sanya and Bianca's room, they sit up talking about the current events..... Girl talk... It was girl talk.
"So, how about that Richard?" Sanya asks.
Bianca brushes her hair. "He is okay."
"Okay? You are practically two steps from chaining him to your wrist!" Sanya giggles.
Bianca sighs, putting down her brush. "As much as I want to... I have someone I have to locate and.. settle things with before I can move on."
"Oh? Anyone I know?" Sanya asks.
"No." Bianca looks at the floor.
Sanya sits quietly for a moment, sensing the emotional tension the conversation had stirred up. "Uh.. So, what are you doing after the order releases you?"
Bianca looks up nervously. "Join the party, permanently."
Sanya's eyes lighten up. "ME TOO!"
"What?! But.. I thought you and Sinder didn't get along!" Bianca says, excitedly.
Sanya leans back with a sigh. "It is not that we don't get along..." Sanya rolls over on her side. "In fact, that is all my fault. I... He..."
"You can tell me, I will not tell anyone else, I promise." Bianca leans forward.
Sanya sits up and looks Bianca in the eyes. "Promise."
"I promise." Bianca does a boy scout style crossing her heart.
"Okay... I... love him... Loved him... When he met Gretchen... he... he just ignored me. I had ventured with him everywhere, saved his life multiple times, and he had done the same for me. I thought... I wanted that to be me." Sanya looks at the floor, tears slowly forming in her eyes. "I wanted to be his wife, bare his children, hold him, protect him, argue with him, kiss him goodnight....." Sanya breaks down into full tears, cupping her hands over her face. "Have you ever... loved someone so much... but you knew you could not be there when they needed you?"
Bianca nods silently, but Sanya does not notice.
"I... can't break them up. I would NEVER stand... in the way... of his happiness." Sanya begins to cry loudly, looking up with tears flooding her eyes. "But I hate her!! I hate her so much for taking him.. from me!!"
Sanya begins to fall forward as Bianca catches her. "I.. may not be able to understand, fully. But I will be here to be the shoulder you cry on, if you will do the same for me."
Sanya nods as she cries into Bianca's shoulder, as Bianca pats her on the back and stares thoughtfully at the wall.
The next day, the six of them wait impatiently in the church, for word from the order. Just as they are about to leave for the day, a bolt of lightning hits the road, outside of the church, as a young courier runs inside.
"Was that him, that did that?" Richard whispers to Sinder.
"Yes, that is how the couriers travel, it is a spell called god's speed." Sinder whispers back.
Richard looks at Sanya and smiles. She shrugs and looks back as the courier hurries to the front desk. The woman at the desk takes the letter and looks it over.
"Miss Bianca Flamish?" The woman calls out.
Bianca walks slowly up to the counter and takes the letter with a bow, she then turns and opens it quickly, reading it very carefully. After a moment, she lowers the letter. Her arms go limp by her sides.
Everyone nods to Sanya, who sighs and steps forward. Bianca hands her the letter. "Miss Bianca Flamish, We will grant your request for release from the Holy Order, if........." Sanya stops, and her eyes go wide. She turns to the woman at the counter. "This is absolute madness!! How could they ask this of her?!!"
The woman waves her hands and flinches. "I never read the letter, I know nothing!"
"What is it?!!" Sinder asks, impatiently.
Sanya whips around quickly. "The Demon King!! They want her to banish the mother fucking Demon King!!"
Richard looks at Bianca, tears run down her cheeks. Richard steps forward and takes her hand. "Can you?" He whispers.
"I.. I don't know!" Bianca whimpers. "I think... if I had long enough to prepare the spell, but I.. I could never do it alone.." She hangs her head
Richard kneels down and looks up at her. "I will help you." He says.
Bianca looks at him, tears in her eyes. "I could never ask you... any of you, to help me."
"Good thing you are not asking us, then." Sinder steps forward.
Sanya gets in his face instantly. "This is a suicide mission, Sinder!! There is no way in hell I will let you go!!"
Sinder glare back at her. "If it had been Gretchen asked to do this, do you think you could have stopped me then?"
They stare at each other angerly for a moment.
"I am going. Gretchen would want me to protect her." Sinder walks past Sanya as she hangs her head and glitches her fists.
Bernard laughs. "You are all insane, but you are my kind of crazy. I am in!"
Org and Richard look at each other for a moment. "I follow Dragon Heart."
Sanya turns quickly. "Fine!! Someone has to be there to keep all you crazy idiots alive!!!"
Richard lifts Bianca's head. "We are going, there is nothing you can do to stop us. We WILL protect you."
Bianca begins to cry heavily, as Sanya embraces her. "Thank you!!! Thank ALL of you!!!" Bianca sobs.
The woman behind the desk moves slowly away, uncomfortably, around a corner.
Later that day, they begin packing supplies into a large wagon, pulled by four horses. As the others load up, Richard, Sinder, and Bianca plan out the route to the far south, past Frihane, turning west towards Jite, then south again to the dark mountains of Helvetia.
"Once we get to those mountains, we will have to abandon the wagon." Sinder points out.
"Yes." Bianca points to the map. "We will have to climb. The Demon King's Castle is on the westernmost ridge of that mountain."
"Is there anyway we could draw him out?" Richard asks.
Sinder shakes his head. "Not unless you want to fight your way through his army... the last time anyone tried that, the war raged for ten years, with no sign of an end."
Richard laughs nervously. "Shit, that sounds seriously bad."
"It was a campaign marked as the largest undertaking in world history. A force of one hundred thousand men, demi-humans, and sub-humans marched on the Demon King's Castle, but they never made it up the mountain. After ten years and much bloodshed on both sides, they retreated." Sinder shakes his head, laughing. "We are about to try what one hundred thousand men could not accomplish."
Sanya puts her hand on his should. "That is why you bring a woman."
Org walks up laughing. "Sanya mean demon!"
Bianca can not help but laugh, then she stops and stares at Richard. "How can we even do this?"
Richard shrugs. "Maybe Fate will be on our side."
Bianca looks surprised, for a split second, and then smiles more confidently. "I hope so."
A few hours later, they mount up and leave, heading south.