Silver: Chapter 192

Book Three Chapter Fifty Six: CC_War Complete

The Chosen One had, aside from a few suggestions every now and then, been remarkably silent ever since Scissors had shown up and started a dance party. He’d mostly been standing back and watching as things unfolded before him.

In his defence, the dance party had become especially interesting. Several of both rock and metal constructs had managed to climb onto Scissors, and were watching Squiggles dance with rapt fascination. A few of the wild animals the giant scorpion had brought into the town had infiltrated some of the shops, and were now inspecting the goods with various levels of attention. For some reason, several of the wolves had become fascinated with a watermelon that’d fallen to the ground, and had formed a circle around it.

One of the wolves nudged the watermelon, causing it to roll over to another wolf, and within moments the wolves were furiously batting the watermelon back and forth across the circle, the fruit rapidly picking up speed as each wolf added power to it.

As soon as Qube finished telling Sencha Bard about how heroic the team was, she became aware that the Hero had managed to break away from the chaos and was looking at her. He raised an eyebrow at her inquisitively and she flushed, feeling vaguely guilty but unsure why. To her surprise, he didn’t move to join her and Sencha Bard, instead deliberately returning his attention to the now-swaying Constructor stuck between a fully-reared up Sexy Screamy Spider Briar and the overly-tall Definitely Bad Guy. The man’s cog-covered goggles had completely fogged up, and his forehead was glistening with giant beads of sweat.

“Why would I ever do such a thing?” the man asked, now looking very green indeed.

“Such a thing is not outside of the realm of possibility,” Definitely Bad Guy said sagely. “I myself have seen several cases of it.”

“I don’t think the Constructor would do such a thing,” Zincy said, the first construct to join the conversation about the future of Construct Crossroads. She and Slate hadn’t joined in the revelry, instead staying slightly apart from the mob. Their mothers, too, were focused on the conversation.

“Ye’ he’s a good guy,” Slate agreed. “He made us.”

“But, my innocent little constructs, do you trust him to lead you? He would have had the Chosen One here decide which side would win the civil war,” Sexy Screamy Spider Briar said, looking down from her elevated height.

“Well, I think all that stuff you was saying about having an ambassador was real good,” Slate continued. “The skin wearing I dunno so much about though. I guess if they like having spells in their hearts?”

“Yes, my Slate is right; I think we constructs have to stop relying on the Constructor so much,” Zincy said, even though that hadn’t been what the rockie had said at all.

“I nominate my daughter as the new ruler of Construct Crossroads!” Ms. Mags immediately declared. “She shall act as the voice of the constructs, and make sure to guide us all into a glorious and innovative future.”

“And I nominate my Slate as the new ruler of Construct Crossroads!” Slate’s mother instantly stepped forward. “He can be the voice of the constructs and make sure we don’t forget our traditions and who we are.”

“Perfect,” Qube said, stepping into the rapidly intensifying glare-off between the two mothers.

“Who are you?” Slate’s mother exclaimed.

“Are you with the Traveller?” Zincy’s mother narrowed her spring-laden eyes.

“I propose that both Zincy and Slate act as representatives of the constructs,” Qube continued, boldly plowing forward. “That way both sides are represented, just like in the Temples.”

“So the Constructor will have to listen to both of them, and I’ll send an ambassador to avoid any impropriety,” Sexy Screamy Spider Briar said. “Well done, my love. A very good plan indeed.”

“How are they gonna contact you if they need assistance?” the Chosen One asked.

“There are message runes,” Definitely Bad Guy said. “They connect to my tower. If they require assistance, I will notice the message.”

“That and the ambassador— or these two— can always send a messenger to me,” Sexy Screamy Spider Briar added.

“Amazing,” the Hero said, looking over the plaza filled with dancing constructs, and the new style of ruling that had just been invented in front of him. Over by one of the shops, several wolves were howling in misery around the exploded carcass of a watermelon. “This whole thing is… yeah, I can’t think of any other word for it than [fiddling] awesome.”

“That’s two words,” Qube corrected him before she could help herself.

“Ah, can’t get nothing past you,” the Chosen One said, giving her a lopsided grin. He glanced at Sencha Bard. “So this is something new for your saga, isn’t it? Governing by committee?”

“Well, this town never had a mayor to begin with, so I suppose it only makes sense that they ended up being mismanaged,” Qube said. “When the King and Queen are back in power, I suppose they’ll need to check in on all the places within their kingdom and make sure that everything’s being run as it should be.”

The Chosen One looked very much struck by this piece of wisdom.

“I suppose they will,” he said, once again looking out over the dance party. “Hey,” he said, and Qube felt herself stiffen at his tone of voice. It was his ‘I’m about to break something’ voice. “Do you actually want the king and queen to rule over the kingdom once you’ve gotten the Evil Emperor to stop being a baddie?”

Qube practically fainted as she tried to absorb the sheer absurdity of what he’d just asked her.

“Oh, Chosen One!” she said once she’d processed it. “What kind of question is that?” She laughed a little, not the dreaded teehee, but more like he’d suggested that after they saved the world everyone should try public nudity, or grow their heads to enormous sizes, or copy the Lava Slime and choose their own leader, or some other equally outrageous suggestion.

“I believe it is time for us to move on from this place,” Definitely Bad Guy suddenly appeared by Qube’s side, as if summoned by her laughter. “Everything necessary has been put in place to ensure this town’s survival.”

From the centre of the plaza, Scissors had finished his lap of the area, and was now approaching the group. A number of the wildlife he’d brought with him had joined the constructs on his back in watching Squiggles dance. The sharktopus had become so overwhelmed with the joy of attention that she’d started glowing gold, and zipping back and forth along Scissors’s back, patting everyone on the head as she danced. Several of the smaller woodland creatures hadn’t managed to brace themselves in time before the enthusiastic patting from the larger mascot, and were nearly knocked off their feet.

Qube had never seen Squiggles enjoy herself so much! She felt an uneasy twinge of guilt as she realised they were going to have to take Squiggles away from all her new (and old) friends to continue their quest.

“What do you think, Sing-Song?” the Chosen One, rather than being easily led away, as was his habit, instead looked at the Bard. “Was there anything you wanted to add?”

Sencha Bard jolted, as if startled at being addressed.

“Ah, no, Noble—Chosen One, I have nothing of any merit to add to the discussion,” he said. After a beat, he added: “My thanks, though, for asking.”

“You probably already figured it out, huh?” the Hero asked, glancing at Qube then back to the Bard. There was an edge there, one that Qube felt the urge to soothe. The Chosen One seemed to notice it in himself and shrugged, shook himself slightly, then shrugged again. “Man, it feels weird not being able to just know everything you guys are doing,” he said, by way of explanation. “I’m glad you guys are, like, having your own lives and conversations, but it just feels… odd.”

Sencha Bard once again looked startled.

“You feel left out,” he said, as if the concept of the Chosen One feeling excluded by his friends having a secret conversation that they didn’t want him to be a part of had never occurred to him.

“Nah,” the Hero said, waving the suggestion away. “That would be stupid.”

He definitely felt left out.

Qube remembered how hurt she’d felt when she’d first realised that the Hero might have secret conversations with Sexy Screamy Spider Lady (as she was known back then) that wouldn’t involve her.

“No matter what, we’re your friends, and you’re important to us,” she said, telling him what she’d wanted to hear when she’d felt that way.

“Yeah, I know,” the Chosen One said, shaking off the last of his mood and grinning at her. “I’m pretty much the best.”

Qube’s gentle smile of reassurance turned into an Understanding Smile.

“Ah! No!” the Hero cringed away from his companion’s face. “Not the smile! Not the smile! I’m sorry! I promise I believe in the strength of your friendship!”

“Good,” Qube said, smile still firmly in place. “Now, shall we return to saving the world? We’re wasting time.”

“You’re the one who wanted to come here! You’re the one delaying our— no! I promise I’ll behave!” the Chosen One cried, cringing away when she increased her Understanding Smile.

“Squiggles!” Qube called, summoning her pet sharktopus from the back of the giant dancing scorpion. “Time to stop playing with your friends and come save the kingdom.”

“So is the giant scorpion coming with us now or what?” the Chosen One, freed from the effect of the Understanding Smile directly pointed at him, grew bold.

“Scissors, would you like to come with us?” Qube asked the former Boss. The giant scorpion stopped dancing, and looked down from his height at the half-elf. He tilted first to one side, then another, contemplating the question. Finally, he reached out with a massive claw and gave Qube a very gentle pat on the head. Even with as careful as he was clearly being, Qube still staggered slightly under the sheer weight of his claw. Then he reached up onto his back and carefully nudged Squiggles. Squiggles instinctively wrapped her tentacles around the weaponised appendage, attempting to hug it to death.

Scissors, rather than being offended by this playful attempted murder, lifted up his claw and slowly carried the much smaller Squiggles off his back and deposited her onto the ground. Squiggles immediately tried to climb back up to continue playing, only for a giant claw to block her way.

“Squiggles, time to say goodbye to your friend,” Qube said, tugging on the sharktopus’s ribbon. The Healer looked up at the scorpion that had once threatened their lives.

“Thank you for helping us,” she said, then stepped forward and wrapped her arms around one of his front legs. “And I’m glad you got out safely. Please be careful.”

Scissors gently cupped her with his claw, applying the smallest amount of pressure possible, before stepping away.

“See,” the Chosen One said to the rest of the party quietly. “This is why I don’t want to go killing random monsters anymore.”

The Hero didn’t seem entirely happy with his proclamation of ethicalness, however. Instead he was scanning over the still-frolicking constructs and animals, his gaze lingering in particular on Zincy, Slate, and the Constructor. The two constructs were already talking to the Constructor, who had the demeanour of a man defeated.

“Time to go to the castle and defeat the Evil Emperor,” he said, still watching this new system of government they’d helped birth.

“We can finally restore the King and Queen to the throne!” Qube nearly squeaked with excitement at how close she was to finally getting to meet the most Royal of Royals. They just had to infiltrate a well-defended castle ruled by someone well aware they were coming, overthrow a man who had brought the most powerful kingdom she knew about to its knees, and fulfil a Golden Prophecy written by the Devs themselves.

“Restore them, yeah,” the Chosen One said absentmindedly, as the group gathered and set off for the last stage in their epic quest. “If you say so...”