James tugged at the chains wrapped around his limbs, holding him in place as he struggled in utter futility. It was the second time he had been incapacitated in the past 24 hours, and that was not a tidbit of information that he liked in the least.
He was currently being held in a dark and damp room, an utterly disgusting combination that made James' skin crawl in disgust. That wasn't the only thing crawling around though, various insects and other creepy crawlies moving around and having an absolute blast in his cell.
In short, James was currently in a very sticky situation. Quite literally, judging by how he felt his foot stuck on something gooey.
James adjusted his bindings, trying his best to get into a comfortable position while held captive in the least comfortable cell he had ever been in. An almost impossible feat, but he was nothing if not tenacious.
Holding back a gag as the room's putrid stench invaded his nostrils, James sighed in a confusing mix of disappointment, disgust, and anger.
"I really regret saving that panda girl."
His latest predicament had started when a panda burst into his room and pissed all over him. And no, as much as James wished it was, that was not a figure of speech.
James was getting ready to hit the hay when the door to his room shattered in a shower of wood and splinter hazards. In its place stood a three-foot-tall mass of black-and-white fur, shivering and trembling as it did its best to stay standing despite the abundant splattering of gouges and scratches all over it.
Apparently, it still had enough strength to leave James a lovely parting gift that went right into his gaping dumbfounded mouth.
Despite knowing that it was natural for animals to relieve themselves when scared shitless and on the brink of death, James was still pissed out of his mind.
In the short span of time it took for the panda to dissipate into mist, James was already bursting out of his room at full speed, practically frothing at the mouth as he sprinted towards Thena's quarters. Whether the foam dripping down his face was a product of his wrath or an aftereffect of the panda's tinkling, he had no clue.
By the time he got there, the room was empty and its inhabitant was nowhere to be found.
The room was completely trashed. Claw marks were on display on nearly every empty portion of the walls, the occupied parts that held paintings and such being slashed to bits as well. Feathers and fluff were scattered everywhere, the pillows they came from gutted and discarded on the floor, the bed said pillows were on previously now bent and folded like a piece of paper.
The only clue as to Thena's whereabouts was the broken window right next to her bed, the wind rushing through it and buffeting James' face with the chilly night air.
"Fuuuck."
It was the middle of the night, he was sore and severely injured, and he hadn't had a proper rest in days. To sum it up, it was his normal operating conditions.
With nothing left to lose, James rushed forward and vaulted out the window, forgetting the fact that Thena's room was located on the third floor of the infirmary building.
James landed on the ground in an awkward half-roll-half-splat that definitely cracked more than just a few of his still healing bones, James choosing to ignore the pain as he shakily got up and ran in what he hoped was the right direction.
He didn't manage to get too far though.
James stood frozen in place, gaping at the gargantuan humanoid figure that blocked his path. It was easily much taller than the igneel he had squared off against earlier in the day, and James wagered he wouldn't fare any better against it in combat either. It easily stood out in the dark streets of the city, towering over most, if not all, of the houses and buildings in the nearby vicinity.
One thing was for sure, unless the giant could magically shrink its body five times smaller, it was not the one that had kidnapped his recently made acquaintance.
The meager lighting of the moon above did little to help James identify the foe he was about to face. If anything, it was like its features sunk deeper into the shadows it cast in attempt to conceal its identity.
Contrary to what James was expecting from something its size, the figure slowly advanced on him in a surprising feat of stealth, its heavy footsteps not even making the tiniest of sounds as it drew closer.
James muttered a silent prayer to Pico before reaching behind him and pulling out his gun.
For the first time since he had gotten his trusty firearm, his enemy reacted before he could pull the trigger.
In a majestic stunt of acrobatics and agility that a creature its size shouldn't have been able to pull off, the figure lunged forward and thrust its hands out in front of it.
James' bullets bounced off the skin of its palms, leaving nothing more than red welts that healed up in the blink of an eye. The humanoid creature then used its outstretched hands like a springboard, vaulting over James' head and landing behind him with the grace of a panther.
James managed to turn his body halfway to face the enemy behind him before he felt a force the equivalent of a tree slamming into his side and hurtling him down the street.
For the first time in all of his lives, James experienced what it must have felt like for pebbles when they were skipped across water. His limp body bounced off the rough paved stone, the bandages wrapped around his body coming loose and flying out in all directions like festival tapestries.
After skipping a few more times and getting covered head-to-toe in road rashes, James finally skidded to a halt.
He was offered five seconds of rest before he spotted the figure running down the street and rushing towards him at full speed. The freak of nature would probably get to him before he could even stand up, that is if James could pump any energy in his broken body to move at all.
"This has got to be the unluckiest life I've ever been in. Why are all these powerful fuckers showing up out of the blue in the same day?"
James managed to muster up enough strength to slam his fist against the ground in frustration, disregarding the throbbing pain that coursed through his arm with each impact.
The twinkling stars shining above that seemed to mock his failure was the last things James saw before a fist the size of a boulder came down on his head and forced him into slumber.
He woke up in an all-too-familiar white space that he hated with a passion. Yet despite that, James somehow always managed to end up paying a visit at least once every life.
The space he was in was completely devoid of anything, just one singular color stretching out to infinity. It had confused the Deus out of him when he first ended up here, but he had quickly grown accustomed to it.
A small popping sound behind James signaled the arrival of the second person that always showed up right after he did whenever he ended up here.
"Quite the pickle you've gotten yourself into this time."
Sera stood in all of her divine glory, a wide smile plastered onto her pristine face as she spread her arms open in what James hoped was a welcoming gesture, as opposed to one where he was about to be smote and turned into a small pile of dust and ash.
"I must say, I think you're progressing quite well with your mission this time-"
James' eyes widened in surprise as he acknowledged her words. It was the first time she had ever said such a thing to him since he started his maddeningly tiresome quest, and he would be lying to himself if he said he wasn't positively giddy at the thought of finally finishing his exasperating chore.
With a newfound surge of hope and a twinkling gleam in his eye, James leaned forward and actually focused on the goddess' words for the first time in gods knew how long.
"-although the future I see going forward from here is less than desirable..." Sera clicked her tongue as her voice drifted off, glancing at her freshly polished fingernails with the least amount of worry and concern a disinterested divine being could possibly show.
Her foreboding statement and indifferent attitude put a damper on James' spirits, but not enough to keep him from speaking his mind.
"Some information on what I'm dealing with, and also what I just recently dealt with, would be very much appreciated too, Your Majesty."
Sera stared at her nails for a few more seconds before sending James a scathing look and sighing in resignation.
She held up her index finger, telling him she had one minute to answer all his questions before he would be evicted from the dreamscape and get sent back to his horrible waking reality.
James spent a few seconds mulling over what he needed to know in his head before nodding and firing off questions as fast as he could.
"Who kidnapped Thena?"
Sera shrugged.
"How did monsters get into the middle of the city?"
Sera shrugged again.
"Why are the monsters not dying?"
James let loose a guttural howl of rage as the goddess, once more, answered his question with a quick raise of her shoulders.
"IS THERE ANYTHING AT ALL THAT YOU DO KNOW?!" James growled as he clenched his fists and shook them at her.
Looking back on his actions, James was thankful Sera only chose to flare her aura and send him a godly death stare instead of snapping her fingers and turning him into an iguana.
"Just so you know," Sera huffed as she combed her fluffy curls with her fingers, "I do have a vital piece of information that could come in handy for you."
Sera got into an uncharacteristically serious pose, her rose eyes fixated on James' own as she tried to convey just how important her next words would be.
"The girl you seek. She is more important than you think she is. The cold that stands strong within the flames of-"
James never got to hear the rest of it as his vision collapsed in a kaleidoscope of colors, sucked back into reality by a vacuum of force that blocked out all sound and lulled him to sleep.