The real reason I wanted alone time with the twins was because I needed to ask them a question.
"What do you two think of this...Hero Party?" I asked.
"I do not trust them," Isabella said simply.
"Neither do I! The Artificer is acting suspicious! What if this Hero Party wants to set a trap for us? He has hated our methods for as long as we have employed them!" Cassandra said.
"Precisely what I was thinking. Very well. We won't meet with them. Instead, we'll instruct their leader to come to the Cursebreaker alone. That way, we can meet on our terms and not theirs."
"An excellent idea, darling!" Cassandra said with a smile.
Isabella narrowed her eyes at Cassandra before turning back to me.
"My love, would it not be safer to disregard them entirely?" Isabella asked.
I genuinely wanted to put her thoughts into consideration...
After all, Isabella was highly intelligent. It would be a waste to ignore her advice.
Still...
"Do you believe we can win without their help?" I asked.
She seemed somewhat uncertain for a moment.
"There is no guarantee that victory will be assured for us without their help... But the same can be said for the opposite. Even if they help us, we could still lose. In my opinion, it would be better to go without them as soon as we are ready. That way, we can avoid a potential trap."
"Sister, why would you try to undermine his Majesty's decision?" Cassandra said.
I held up my hand.
"No, it's a good idea, actually. It's reasonable. I like it."
"Of course, darling! It's a wonderful idea!" Cassandra said.
By the gods...
"In the future, try not to simply agree with me for the same of agreeing, please. I prefer to have discussions..." I said.
Cassandra's eyes went wide and she bowed her head low.
"My apologies, darling! I will do my best to...discuss things... But how can I possibly go against your wishes? Ah...my darling has such wonderful ideas...haaah..."
Cassandra started squirming in place and her face turned red. She began breathing heavier all of a sudden.
"Isabella..." I said quietly.
She nodded and restrained Cassandra just before she could jump at me.
"Noooo! Let me go! I want to touch him! Let me cover myself on his scent!!! Sister! Let gooooo!!!" Cassandra cried.
"Not until you calm down! We aren't in our room right now! Stop making trouble for Mizik!!!" Isabella said angrily.
"I just need a few seconds! A few seconds!!! Let goooo!!!!"
"Haaah...she certainly keeps things interesting..." I said quietly.
"Darling!!! Heeeellllp!!!" Cassandra cried.
"Stop squirming!" Isabella shouted.
* * *
An hour or so later, we were back on the ship. Cassandra managed to calm down and we gave a full report to the crew. That we would not be accepting the help of the hero party.
Our plan was simple: we would go to Delvandal in a few days and confront Valtheim.
Our goal was to not only defeat her, but utilize her powers with my own to bring the Cursebreaker to the Abyss. There, we would slay Difar and put an end to everything.
I could tell everyone was nervous...but I did my best to reassure them.
With our new power, victory was all but assured.
That night, we went to bed as normal. And for the next couple of days, we continued getting everyone ready.
We spent the day preparing as usual. Tomorrow would be the beginning of the end for us.
Or rather...for Valtheim and Difar.
In the evening, we received a transmission.
I was standing on the bridge and having Virtus run another diagnostics check when we the incoming signal came in.
"Hmmm...Captain! This signal comes from an unknown source. Should I patch them though?" Virtus said.
"Go for it..." I said.
An image appeared on the front viewing window.
There was a man wearing a simple set of light armor. His hair was long and blonde. It was tired behind his head in a ponytail. His eyes were green.
Not like mine, of course. But they were a simple shade of green. His expression was very serious.
Next to him, stood a young girl who looked no older than sixteen. Her hair was also very long and black. Her eyes were red and she had a bubbly smile on her face. She had a petite body and looked rather small.
"Who might you people be?" I asked.
"I am Mako Takua," the man began. "I am the fourth seat member of the Hero Party. We have contacted you as representatives of our group."
"And I'm Mori Altair~! The cute little sister of Krow, our leader! Oh! I'm the third seat! But I'm doing my best to take Kesia's place, 'kay? She won't take the number two spot forever! Only I can stand next to big brother Krow!"
"And already, I think I'm going to listen to Isabella..." I said quietly.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a look of smug satisfaction on her face.
Still...
"Hm? Did you say something? Speak up! We can't hear you~!" Mori said.
"What do you want?" I asked.
I can at least try to discern their motives before I say no, right?
"An excellent question. But I believe you already know, Mizik Iratus. Our leader wishes to meet with you in person. This is not a request. It is a demand," Mako said.
"Yep yep! A demand! You gotta come here mister angry face! And come alone, or we'll get mad! You need more training, he says!" Mori said as she began swaying back and forth and grabbed onto Mako's sleeve.
"Mori! Let go of me!"
"Mmmm...no! Hehehehe! It's fun!"
"You two have to be out of your damn minds if you think I'll walk into a potential ambush by myself. If your leader wants to meet with us, he can do so on OUR terms. He will come HERE alone. Besides, isn't it pretty damn disrespectful for that bastard to send his subordinates to talk to me instead of calling me himself?," I said angrily.
"Huuuuh? That won't work. No no no... Big brother Krow said that you had to come here! So be a good doggie and come here! Krow is too busy to make calls like this himself!" Mori said.
I allowed a psychotic smile to cross my face.
"Really? And on what grounds would you make demands of the Destroyer of Worlds? Would you dare disrespect us in such a manner? Would you invite death and disaster for your little group?" I said.
Mako seemed to recoil slightly at my words, but Mori just smiled even wider.
"So it's war, huh? You won't play nice, so we won't either~!" She said cheerfully.
"Mori...that isn't someone you want to piss off..." Mako said hesitantly.
Hm. If they were trying to act tough, they failed. If even one of them is just the slightest bit afraid of me, we might stand a chance at taking them down. After all...we are Avatars now.
"Leave us alone. We will handle Valtheim and Difar on our own. Tell the Artificer that we no longer have need of his services," I said.
"You are making a mistake, Destroyer. Don't do this..." Mako said.
"I'll do whatever I please. Stop bothering me."
I reached over and tapped a button on Virtus' keyboard, ending the communication.
Virtus recoiled slightly and frowned at me.
"Great...now I need to clean and disinfect my work station otherwise I'll get pregnant from the Captain's fingerprints... Lewd captain..." Virtus said.
"Virtus, for the last time, androids can't get pregnant. You aren't even biologically capable of reproducing. Shut up."
"Humph! You can never be too careful around a lewd captain such as yourself! I might even get pregnant from proximity if I'm not careful!" She said angrily.
"You're an idiot, Virtus..." Rastair said.
"Shut up, lewd-giant-pilot! I might get pregnant from being too close to you as well!" Virtus said.
Rastair looked ready to strangle her.
"Stop it, Rastair. She doesn't understand. She's programmed to be stupid, apparently," I said.
"Ugh...yeah... Vakra is an asshole..." Rastair said.
"Meanies! All of you are meanies! Humph!" Virtus huffed.
Virtus seems to be in a more idiotic mood than usual... Maybe she's malfunctioning...? Eh, who cares...?
"My love, perhaps we should get some sleep?" Isabella said.
I could tell she was happy that I listened to her advice. It made me want to smile, seeing her this way.
"Yes! We can all cuddle and be warm in bed together!" Cassandra said happily.
"Sounds like a plan. Let's go," I said.
* * *
As I laid down to sleep, I had an odd feeling in my head. The twins cuddled up to my sides as usual and I held them in my arms.
They fell asleep quickly, but I remained awake.
Eventually, I managed to close my eyes despite the feeling I had...and...
I kept seeing something in my dreams.
In my dreams, I saw something like a medallion floating in front of me. Shining brightly.
This continued repeating until I awoke in a cold sweat.
My head was absolutely pounding...
I felt something pulling on me, so I used magic to figure out where it was coming from.
The threads were coming from my inventory, it seemed.
I opened my inventory and looked through it...following the threads until I came to a halt at a particular item.
What the...this thing...? I forgot this was even here...
The medallion that the man who saved us on Delvandal gave me.
I couldn't even remember his name...
I pulled it out of my inventory and somehow managed to free my arm from Isabella.
My other arm was being held by Cassandra. And well...I wasn't getting that back until morning.
I held the medallion in my hand and it began to glow dimly. Finally, I heard a quiet voice speak.
"Time to pay up, buddy."
"What...?" I said in a whisper.
There was a flash and I fell to the ground in an unknown location.
I was wearing only a shirt and some shorts. I immediately got to my feet and prepared to fight.
"Easy easy...we aren't gonna hurt you," A man said.
He had black hair and red eyes. He wore a set of dark body armor with red designs on it.
He smiled at me.
It was him...from so long ago on Delvandal.
"You...?"
"Kronos. The name is Kronos. I figured you'd forgotten since it's been so long. I'm the leader of the hero party," He said.
"Boss...you know this guy?" A large and imposing man with blue eyes and brown hair said.
He was taller than Rastair and had more muscles than Triglavikk. He wore a heavy set of steel armor with blue accents.
"We met on Delvandal, Garen. I was sent there by the Artificer to prevent a wildcard from causing a disaster," Kronos said.
"Awww! No fair! Big brother, you never told me that!" The girl from earlier, Mori, said as she clung to Kronos.
"Tch...is this really necessary, Krow?" A red haired woman said.
Her eyes were like fire. An orange color that blazed like flames. She wore a low cut crop-top that exposed her cleavage and navel. She had on long pair of pants with armor on her right leg. Her hair was fairly short, only going just past her ears with a tied braid on both sides.
"What is it now, Kesia?" Kronos said.
"You know why we wanted to speak to him privately. So why are we bothering with conversation? Can't we just kill him and get it over with?" Kesia said.
Kill? Oh, I see... Is this an execution...? Maybe I should strike while they're distracted.
"Relax, Kesia. We aren't gonna deal with him like that. Besides, I'm pretty sure some of us would die if we tried to take him in a straight up fight right now," Kronos said.
"But it's six against one! We can kill him easily!" Kesia protested.
"Kesia! Please stop! We don't have to kill him, you know?" Another woman said.
Her hair was long and black. Her eyes were a beautiful shade of blue as well. She wore a long robe like a kimono and had a kind expression on her face. She knelt down beside me and looked me over.
"Are you okay? You didn't get hurt when you fell, right?" She said.
"Dammit, Sumi..." Kesia growled.
"Nasumi, please be careful. The Destroyer is dangerous..." Mako said.
"Oh, hush you! Look at him! Can someone with such a kind expression truly be evil?" Nasumi said.
"He's killed trillions across creation and destroyed numerous worlds. He's pure evil!" Kesia said.
"Oh, don't act like you don't know why! Sure his crimes are steep...but I think we can help him atone, don't you think?" Nasumi said.
While this was happening, I considered taking her hostage.
"Nasumi. Back away from him now," Kronos said sternly.
"Yes sir..." She said.
"Now then... I'm sure you'd like to know why we brought you here, Mizik," Kronos said.
I slowly got to my feet and looked around. All of them save Kronos, Mori, and Nasumi seemed to shrink back a little.
They were afraid of me. This was good.
"You wanna kill me, right?" I said.
"Not exactly. We can't really accomplish that as you are. We need to prepare for it first," Kronos said.
"Ha. You act like I'm just going to stand here and accept that," I said.
Kronos smiled.
I felt something lock my arms and legs in place.
Idiots. I can break this magic easily!
I used my Archmage Aspect to tap onto the magic, but found nothing.
It...wasn't magic.
Somehow, I had been locked in place by something other than magic.
"Confused? I would understand. Well, I didn't use magic to prevent your movement. Call it...a power specific to us. A command."
"Ha. That was easy..." Kesia said as she rolled her eyes.
"Crisis averted...thank the Artificer... I wasn't convinced that would work..." Mako said quietly.
"Don't relax yet, everyone. He's still dangerous. We have to get rid of those troublesome powers of his before we can finish him off," Kronos said.
"What is the meaning of this...? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'RE DOING!? IF YOU KILL ME, CREATION IS DOOMED!!!" I yelled.
"Please lower your voice. All of us know very well who the Destroyer is as well as his purpose. You have been relieved of that duty. The power you gained will be siphoned to help us accomplish it in your stead," Kronos said.
"Bastard...when my crew hears about this-"
"When they hear? They won't. As far as they'll know, you are perfectly fine training with us. And after you die, I'll take your place with your identity. None of them will know the difference. I'll be sure to enjoy those two lovely ladies for you until we dispose of everyone later. They are a liability. A loose end."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
My rage was beginning to boil over. I couldn't remember the last time I felt so angry...
Any moment now, and I would lose control again...
"Boss, his power is increasing. If we don't do something-"
"I know, Mako. Mori, do it. We should start immediately. The Void Avatar will only wait so long..." Kronos said.
"By the Artificer this pressure is intense...I feel like I'm being crushed alive..." Garen said uneasily.
"Yaaay! Hey mister Destroyer! I'm gonna seal your memories, 'kay? When you wake up, we're gonna have lots of fun! It'll be just like a dream that you never have to wake up from!" Mori said as she came close to me.
"I'll...I'll tear you all to pieces... You'd better pray to whatever god you believe in that I don't survive this," I said in a low, menacing tone.
"Sure, whatever!" Mori said with a smile.
She placed her hand on my forehead and I felt my body go numb.
This was an interesting power...it was similar to magic, but entirely different.
I couldn't do anything to stop it or even sabotage it before it took effect.
Now...I was their prisoner...
Isabella...Cassandra...everyone... Please help me...!
Finally, my eyes grew heavy and I passed out.