After collecting themselves and the Hag's corpse, Basil, Teto, the Bugbears, the fairy triplets, and Gossamer, all made their way through the swamp and back to Basil's property. As they traveled back home, Teto was being carried by one of the Bugbears while Basil rode on the back of Gossamer, a scene that was met with the flabbergasted stares of the fairies! To them, this was both amazing and sacrilegious!
While unicorns did look like animals, they most certainly weren't animals and shouldn't be treated as such. Especially for something as diminutive as being rode upon. Any unicorn ridden by anything would get stabbed or kicked in the head! But here was Gossamer of all unicorns, allowing a human he had met not five minutes ago to ride him like a standard horse. It was shocking, to say the least.
As they made their way through the treacherous swamp, they quickly noticed how far less scary it was than before. Sure, the water was still ankle deep, but the mud was more compact, and no roots lined the bottom, ready to break ankles. The fog had lifted so much it was nearly gone; the trees seemed to separate, and everything seemed to tone down the spooky atmosphere.
When asked about this, Basil was informed by Gossamer that it had to do with the Hag's death. When hags move into an area, they make it as vile and dangerous as they are. When they leave or die, the area returns to its original state. With that in mind, Basil almost wanted to get down and walk now that he wouldn't break something. But he was enjoying the ride on Gossamer's back as it was the first horse ride he had ever had!
Once they got back, it was well into the night, so Basil, Teto, and the Bugbears decided to call it in for the night. Basil wished the magical creatures a good night and placed the broken broomstick into his Magic Pocket to fix it tomorrow. So Basil took his spot amongst the other young Bugbears, wrapped himself in his cape, and fell asleep. When morning came again, Basil awoke and stepped outside the cave to see that the magic creatures had stayed and slept outside the cave. Deciding to bring the topic up later, he set out to fix the broom as the other Bugbears all woke up.
So he walked down to where the pile of rubble that was supposed to be his promised house sat and took a seat on a foundation stone while pulling out the broken broom. He looked it over and wondered just how he was to accomplish this. Then he came up with a crazy idea and looked for a Bugbear. Once he found one, he asked it to produce some of their honey without the explosion part. The Bugbear had no idea if it could do that but tried anyway.
So the Bugbear spat a large globular into its hands and held it out, causing Basil to jump away in panic in case it did explode. But after waiting and not getting the ka-boom, he finally rested in the thought that it wouldn't explode and sighed with relief. From there, he dipped both ends of the broom in the substance and stuck them together. After that, he held them together until it dried completely.
Before letting go, he thought about how the glue wouldn't hold forever, so he decided to find a way to bind the two halves more permanently. With nothing around, he decided to use the one thing he did have, his cape. Taking it off, he ripped it apart into pieces and began to wrap them tightly around the broom. For some reason, the broom decided to become alive again and began to struggle around! Basil held tight to the object as it tried to wiggle free, and he started to tightly wrap the cloth around its broken piece. By this point, he had gained a small crowd from the sight of him struggling to hold the broom still and ripping apart his cape. Soon, he had a small crowd of Bugbears, Teto, and his summons watching him work.
As soon as the broom became even more squirmy, Basil firmly told it, "Hold still, hold still! I can't fix you if you keep moving!", after a few more seconds, he tied off the last shred of cloth where he finally let the broom go free. "Aaaaaand there! Good as new, hopefully. I had to sacrifice my shoulder cape for you, so now I'll be sleeping with one less comfort than I should, so never say I don't do anything nice for you."
The broom shuffled about, standing on its bristles as if trying out movement all over again for the first time. After finding it could stand and move around like normal, it did something strange. It rushed up to Basil and pressed itself against him. The young man couldn't understand what the gesture meant, but when he tried to back away, it pushed into him while sweeping at the ground.
Sensing his confusion, Gossamer stepped in and informed him, "The broom has taken quite a liking to you. I believe it sees you as its new owner.", realization dawned on the man, and he smiled at the object while returning the action with a hug. Seeing this, Gossamer offered, "Perhaps you should name it."
"I'll just call him Broomy.", Basil said casually, giving no thought, making Gossamer snort in amusement at the simplicity. "Speaking of names, hey Slow, Moe, Flo. What should I call you three?", he asked the fairies flying around the unicorn's head.
The three fairies looked at one another in confusion before looking at Basil, where Slow asked him, "What do you mean?"
"Are you guys, girls? How should I refer to you?", Basil explained a bit further.
The fairies looked at one another before giggling to themselves, leaving Basil more confused than anything by their reaction. They all laughed until Moe commented, "You silly and simplistic humans. Always trying to make sense of everything when not everything needs to make sense."
This just made Basil give a slight unamused glare their way, and Slow explained to him, "But if you need to know, Flo and I are girls while Moe is a boy."
Sighing inwardly to himself, Basil retorted, "That sure puts my mind at rest. Speaking of resting. You know you guys don't have to stay here. You're more than welcome to leave at any time. Or am I keeping you here with that magical pact we made?"
"I see no reason to leave just yet. I quite enjoy your company.", Gossamer assured him while looking around the open area.
"We like following Gossamer around.", the fairy triplets confirmed in unison.
"You also mentioned how one of your comforts is gone due to using your clothing as bindings for Broomy. Why is that?", Gossamer inquired.
"I got this land for free after saving some wealthy merchants from a group of thieves. And that pile of rubble you see being burnt over there by the Bugbears is the dilapidated house that used to stand. So I've had to bunk with the Bugbears. In fact, I've been doing that for months now. I can't even remember what a bed looks like.", Basil explained while sighing with pure exhaustion and bodily pain in his voice, while the Bugbears controlled the huge fire destroying the remains of the broken house.
"Is there anything I can do to remedy the situation?", Gossamer offered.
Chuckling dryly, he replied, "Unless you can "magic me up" a house, then no. But the merchant did promise me some building material for a new house, but I have no idea when they're supposed to come."
Just then, Gossamer turned his head towards the sight of something and asked, "I wouldn't suppose that day would be today."
Turning his head to where Gossamer was looking, Basil saw a large caravan of horse-drawn carts pulling massive loads of building material to his home spot. In front of the caravan was Earnest, riding on the back of a majestic-looking golden horse. Relief and joy washed over him at seeing this sight, and he sprang to his feet excitedly!
"Oh finally!", he exclaimed while walking to meet the group halfway.
The caravan moved ahead of Earnest as he veered off to stop his horse. Once the horse was tethered off to the side and munching on some grass, he slid off its back and met up with Basil while holding his arms out in a friendly gesture.
"Basil!", Earnest proclaimed with a joyful tone.
"Earnest! It's about time you got back. I thought I'd have to spend another night on the hard ground.", Basil stated back while bowing to him.
The plump man rubbed the back of his head while awkwardly chuckling and explained as the two men walked over to the caravan and crew, "Sorry for the delay, my friend; I got here as soon as I could. You know how busy being a merchant is. But anyway, I have all the materials needed to build you a new home and a small workforce on top of it."
"Finally!", Basil exclaimed as the workers began to remove the many sheets covering the materials.
As Basil was going around and admiring the many different poles, planks, and beans of wood, foundation stones, bags of cement, windows, doors, railings, roof shingles, and many other things, Earnest came up and tapped his shoulder.
The older man smiled at him and asked out of the blue, "Now about the cost."
Basil snapped his neck in the man's direction and questioned, "Cost? What cost? You said you'd give me this stuff for free, remember?"
Earnest wagged his finger and explained in more detail, "I said I'd give you the materials for free, not the cost for shipping it and the labor force."
Basil's eyes go wide for a moment at being told this before he quickly shifts them to harsh and narrowed eyes. He had dealt with people like this as his clients in his past life and knew precisely how to handle it. Earnest was a bit off-put by not seeing Basil's concerned and confused expression and knew something was about to happen. Shown off more when the young man stood firm, crossed his arms, held his head, and looked the older man dead in the eye.
"Oh really!? Well then, how about you inform me all about the swamp, not six miles from my home, and the hag that lives there?", Basil firmly questioned the man.
Earnest knew he had been found out but didn't show it, so he instead feigned ignorance and replied, "There's a swamp and a hag!? Oh my goodness, I had no idea!"
"He's lying.", Gossamer said in the boy's head.
"I could tell.", Basil thought back in response.
"I hope she hasn't caused you any trouble.", Earnest still tried to play it off.
"Oh, she won't cause trouble for anyone.", Basil said back in a slightly sinister tone. Until some of the young Bugbears came running by while kicking something around. Seeing the kids play amid the business negotiations, Basil scolded them, yelling, "Wander, Flick, Throw, Bite! I told you four not to play skullball in the business area. Go take the hag skull elsewhere."
The kids groaned in disappointment before picking up a human-looking skull and walking off out of sight, but not before Earnest saw it in their disproportionate arms. He gulped and broke into a cold sweat, especially when Basil put his stern gaze back on him.
So he calmed himself down and persistently brought up again, "Now then, about the cost of-."
Basil sighs in exasperation, knowing too well he would be a demanding customer. But before Basil could start negotiations, a female voice and fast-approaching footsteps yelled out in the near distance, "You stupid old man!"
Suddenly, a dust cloud came barreling down the road towards the two men as anyone standing between the paths moved out. Then, a fast-moving and very angry-looking shape raced up to them and crashed into Earnest at top speed! The man was tackled to the ground as the now person-shaped object began to wrestle him around while quickly changing positions to pull or push Earnest into uncomfortable poses! Arm bars, head locks, leg twists, backbreakers, German duplexes, and so much more! The person who tackled him yelled all sorts of obscenities as they carried out their assault while Earnest tried to shout over their screams, giving off all kinds of apologies, begging, compliments, and so forth.
The workers all seemed amused or exasperated by this site, except for Basil. He wasn't laughing or rolling his eyes like the others. He was frozen stiff at watching this unfold! Like a deer in headlights, he stood there and began to shake violently with anger and fear! Seeing Earnest begging to be forgiven reactivated a set of memories he had tried to repress for a long, long time. Memories of his children in the past.
XxX
It had started small; it always did, and they got it from their mother, too. When they heard her call him names, scream, or yell. They would too. Whenever she would slap him, they would too, or at least try. But once his children got bigger, they got bolder and stronger. And before he knew it, he was being beaten by his children without any provocation. Days of taking blows and kicks, being tripped or restrained, or any other physical trauma. It was all done to him by his children. It was a godsend to him when they all finally moved out, and the only one he had to deal with was his wife's abuse. But she never went any farther than a slap.
XxX
Back to the present, Basil was shaking like a leaf, frozen still, breathing heavily, tears welling in his eyes, mind blank as the emotions connected to those memories flooded in like a grand torrent he had barely kept back this whole time. It was like watching the abuse he suffered in the third person. In his mindless state, the only thing he wanted to do was make it stop, so he did the one thing he could do whenever he was being beaten, and that was scream.
"Wait a minute. Wait a minute! WAIT A MINUTE!", he tried to yell to make it stop, only for it to not and for him to get even worse.
Tears ran from his face, he couldn't catch his breath, and he fell to his knees while clutching his throat! Quick as he was, Gossamer was next to him and holding the boy up, using his massive head and neck for him to hold himself upright and hug. The boy grabbed the unicorn's thick mane of hair, burying his face into it to stop watching the scene unfold, and grabbed the silky hair so tightly it nearly broke!
"Basil, just breathe.", Gossamer told Basil in a soothing voice while using his magic to cast a Calm Emotion spell.
His horn glowed a soft light, and Basil slowly began to come back. His grip loosened, his breathing slowed, his control returned, and he brought up his face, now red and full of tears.
"Better?", the unicorn asked.
Sniffing back his tears and rubbing his face while standing alone, he replied semi-normally yet shaky, "Yeah, thanks. Kinda had a horrible flashback."
They both looked back at the sight of the person assaulting but never hurting Earnest, where Basil felt his old feelings surface to make him want to puke in response. So he turned to the unicorn and asked vaguely, "Um, Gossamer, could you…?"
Wordlessly, Gossamer nods, and his horn glows brightly as an aura surrounds the attacking person, where they are suddenly lifted into the air. Leading to there and Earnest's confusion. The person was placed down a few yards away from Earnest while Basil helped the old man to his feet.
Once back up and rubbing his sore body, Basil asked him, "Earnest, who the heck is this person that just attacked you?"
Dusting himself off, Earnest introduced, "Ah yes. Basil, this is my fourth daughter and fifty oldest child, Marigold.", turning to the girl, the older man introduced, "Marigold, this is the young man who saved my life with his monster servants."
"How many times I gotta tell you they aren't my servants.", Basil lightly snapped at him in a grunt.
Marigold was a pretty girl around his age and much taller than him. She was skinny yet had a well-defined physique with long legs. Her hair was medium, messy, and golden in color with rich green eyes. Unlike her parents, who covered themselves in their wealth, she wore clothes that were reticent. She had tan traveling pants, black boots, a full white shirt with a breastplate, black gloves, and a brown cape with a hood.
Marigold looked Basil over before doing a curtsy and saying to him, "It's nice to meet you, sir. Thank you for saving my family.", she then stood up, turned to her father, pointed a finger in his face, and yelled, "And as for you! Don't give excuses or try to change the subject, greedy old man! He saved you and Mother's life, and to repay him, you gave a weed-infested dump with a house that fell in on itself and a Hag of all things as his neighbor! And on top of it, you wanted to charge him!?"
Earnest was backed into a metaphorical corner by his daughter, who was looming over and forcing him to arch backward from her, causing him to lift his hands in defense and stammer, "Well, I-."
But Marigold wasn't having it and cut him off, exclaiming, "No buts, old man! You should give them this stuff and the labor for free! You can absolutely spare the coin!"
Continuing her advancement on the older fat man, he finally relented and agreed, "Alright, alright, alright. No need to shout, my sweets. I'll give all the materials and labor for free to young Basil and his…u-u-u-u-u-u-u-unicorn!?", he chattered out in a mixture of shock and fear.
Hearing the word Unicorn, the workers followed their employer's gaze, and they finally took notice of the giant mythical creature standing beside the young man! Everything and everyone was still in shock and awe, with all eyes on the animal, which gave Basil a dreaded foreboding sense. Gossamer and Basil looked at one another, and without sharing any words, they began to back away from the encroaching and uncomfortable feeling coming from all the people staring at them.
But just before they could get two steps away, one of the workers yelled, "Grab it!"
Suddenly, the entirety of the workforce sprang into action like a pack of ravenous dogs and hounded down the Unicorn!
Surprised and shocked by this sudden and severe change in attitude, Basil stammered out, "Hey, wait! No! Gossamer, run!", without hesitation, the unicorn bolted.
The men ran past the gobstruck boy as he yelled for the unicorn to keep running! A task that wasn't hard for the creature as he ran just out of reach of the fastest man! Almost as if he were teasing them. Still caught off guard by the men's action, Basil just stood there and watched the scene unfold like some old chase scene in a cartoon. The Unicorn would run in one direction, followed closely by the men. Then they'd come down a different direction, and so on. If Basil weren't so flabbergasted by their boldness, he probably would've found this amusing.
Eventually, Gossamer gets tired of running away from the men and decides to end it. So he ran into a bush, followed by the men a few seconds later. Only for the men to come out of the same spot running and screaming like little girls. Then Brex came out of where the men did, baring her teeth at the men while holding a large boulder over her shoulder as Gossamer trails behind her heels.
Seeing the men give up, he walks over to the two monsters, pets Gossamer, and says to the Bugbear, "Thank you, Brex.", to which she nods while dropping the colossal stone at her foot and doing an "I'm watching you" gesture to the men.
Before anything else could unfold in this scenario, another person's voice yelled in excitement, "Guys! There are fairies here, too, and I caught one!"
The man had one of the three Fairy triplets grasped firmly in his hands, held up to show proof, while the other two hid in a nearby tree! As the man was jumping for joy, Basil's bafflement quickly turned into anger, and with a strange power taking over him, he made a slapping motion with his hand to the air! There was a large clump of wheat that the man was standing nearby; which suddenly reached out and slapped the man so hard on the face that it caused him to release the fairy, allowing it to fly away!
Realizing he was the one who did that, Basil said aloud, "Woah. That's new."
Hearing him say this, all eyes fell upon Basil, who felt the many gazes upon him when he looked up from his hand. So, trying to take a stance as Gossamer and the Fairies came by to hide behind or beside him, he announced, "Okay, listen up! No one touches the unicorns or fairies, understand!? They're mine! And why are you guys going crazy over them? Sure, I get they are cool and magical, but they are just a pretty horse and tiny bug people. No offense.", he apologized as the creatures gave him the stink eye or snorted in irritation.
None of the men dared to say or do anything apart from Earnest, who piped up and prompted, "I don't think you understand how big of a deal this is."
"Try me.", Basil challenged while crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes.
"Unicorns and fairies are magical creatures. Every part of them is filled with it.", Earnest began like a storyteller reciting an amazing old legend, hand motions, change in tone, and all.
"I'm aware.", Basil replied, not at all impressed by the display.
"And it's said if you drink the blood of a unicorn, you'll gain immortality!", Earnest exclaimed, getting straight to the point as all the men nodded in anticipation.
Sneakily looking to Gossamer for confirmation, the Unicorn spoke in his head and told him, "It's true, but don't confirm it."
"And fairies will grant you wishes if you catch them!", one of the men exclaimed as they all nodded to his statement.
"I'm at least 95% certain that's a genie.", Basil commented with an unamused expression, making all the men look at the ground in disappointment. "And besides that, why would anyone even want immortality? Sounds more like a curse to me. Living forever only to watch your friends and family die while the world burns around you, leaving you as the last living thing alive in a cruel, cold world. That doesn't sound like anything any sane person would want.", Basil ranted slightly in a dark tone, making all the men gain a look of second-guessing everything they knew or wanted. Some of them looked like they were having an existential crisis or crying.
Realizing what he said and the many dark implications of it, Basil tried to double back and say, "Anyway…um, so no one is going to be drinking, licking, wishing, or whatever else from my Unicorn or fairies, got it?!"
The men were silent and still didn't say anything; even the ordinarily talkative Earnest did not speak as he looked off into the void with a look of sheer fear and self-awareness. All except for Marigold, who yelled at them, "You heard the man! The next one to go after the unicorn to see if the legends are true is having dinner with the Bugbears!"
Hearing this, they all turned their heads to Brex, who licked her lips and teeth at the men, causing them to shiver and huddle together in fear! This relieved Basil as he smiled, and he mouthed to the young woman, "Thank you."
"Of course.", she mouthed back before taking a stand before the men and proclaiming with a fist raised in the air, "Now come on people! We've got work to do!", thus causing the men also to raise their fists to the air and cheer with her, but not out of excitement, just cause they wouldn't have to be near the Bugbears or get tempted to see if the old Unicorn Legend was true.
xXx
From there, the planning stage of the construction began. Taking out a table with several blueprints, Basil was shown several different home styles to choose from the available building materials. After a lot, and I mean a lot, of thorough looking, Basil finally decided on a small cottage-style house similar to the one that used to stand, only this time it was built to be more of a business and home.
The first floor had an open quadruple-door design with a wrap-around porch. The inside was designed like a storefront, with the other half in the back as storage and a kitchen off to the side of the store. The front was a staircase that led up to the second floor, which held a bedroom, bathroom, and small balcony with more storage space in a small crawl-in attic. To Basil, it was perfect, so he told the head worker he wanted that. He nodded and told his men what they had to do.
So the men started to unload the water tap lines, the poop shoot, foundation stones, and the support beam. They began by drawing out the edges of the house on the spot where it originally sat before digging in all the lines and beams. While drilling and hammering the supports, the Bugbears became enticed by the sounds and sight of the men working and approached out of curiosity. One of them went up to the drawing of the blueprint and began to read it, followed soon by many more who crowded around it.
Then, they all left individually and entered the worker's area. Frightened by the oncoming beastly goblins, they dropped their tools and fled. And without being told, they all started to build. They were slamming their massive hands into the beam to set them in or setting the foundation stones and sealing it with the premade concrete. All the men watch this scene unfold with interest, confusion, and awe. When Earnest asked what was happening, Basil told them that Bugbears are good at "building good."
So Basil told them it was okay to work with them since they knew something about it. When the men refused to return to work, Basil assured them they wouldn't get eaten since he had already fed them. So the men begrudgingly and cautiously joined the Bugbears, only to find the work far more manageable with many robust hands and longer arms to reach. In fact, it was going so well that the whole base was put up within an hour!
Basil had gotten bored by this time and decided to join the construction. Helping bring tools to people or just giving a second set of hands. Even Gossamer and the fairies helped with the Unicorn using its telekinesis to lift objects and put them into place while the fairies held boxes of nails for the men to grab at their leisure. In a short time, the whole frame, siding, floors, stairs, and roof were up in no time! Then came the insulation, which the men took charge of since dry grass was the only thing seen as insulation by the Bugbears.
When that was all in, next came the cleaning, which was done in a second by the magic broomstick, Broomy. When it swept an area, all the dust or unwanted particles would vanish. Where it went was up to debate. Once the whole interior was cleaned, all the furnishings came, all graciously given by Earnest…with a bit of prodding from his daughter. Soon, his kitchen, business area, bed, and bathroom were fully furnished.
Basil jumped for joy while clapping his hands as he saw the many furnishings being brought in one after and installed. His most anticipated installation was in the bedroom, with it being the bed.
xXx
As soon as it was set up, sheets, pillows and all, he jumped right on top of it and began to bounce around like a child as the men chuckled at his antics while bringing in more furniture: like a dresser, nightstand, wall mirror, and so forth. As the men worked with Basil acting like a child, Marigold stepped in, only to be stopped by the sight of the young man, which made her try hard not to laugh.
"Ah! A bed! I can't even remember the last time I slept in one!", Basil exclaimed with pure zeal.
But then Marigold wrinkles her nose and pinches it. Her face of laughter turns to disgust as she asks, "Are you really gonna lie in that?"
Basil, on his stomach, rolled to his back and commented, "What else would I do?"
"I mean, are you gonna lay in the nice clean bed…smelling like that?", she explained a bit further.
Giving her a curious tone, Basil asks, "Like what?"
"Like the Bugbears outside.", she answers.
A look of insult spreads across his face as he jumps to his knees and proclaims, "No, I don't."
"When was the last time you bathed?", she asked while crossing her arms, making Basil open his mouth to respond, only for no words to come out as his eyes opened in shock. Seeing him not answering and the expression on his face, Marigold asked again, "Seriously, when was it?", Basil put a finger to his chin, thought it over, and then a look of self-realization and horror spread across it. Marigold also expressed horror as she whispered, "By the gods."
"I've been traveling with them for so long I never had a chance to wash or bathe, and I guess I kinda got used to how they smell.", Basil quickly argued.
"Well, after the final touches are put in, you should make that a top priority.", she told him while quickly leaving the room, trailed closely by the other men who ran out with their noses pinched.
After they left, Basil sniffed his clothes and body, smelled nothing, and saw Teto enter his room. When he asked the Kenku if he smelled, the bird came up to him and took a small sniff. His eyes widened within a moment, and he fell to the floor like a stiff statue. Basil knew that a bird's sense of smell was their 12th most used sense; so he knew then and there that Marigold wasn't just joking. Then again, he had already planned to bathe when the house was finished. He really did miss the simple act of bathing and relaxing in nice hot water.
xXx
So the rest of the construction, from the shingles to the siding, the windows, and the massive sliding doors, went without a hitch! The only thing left was to paint it. Something that the Bugbears needed to be taught. The only form of painting they knew was their written history through cave paintings. So when they tried their hand at their usual cave paintings, the men had to stop them, show them how they should do it, and explain what they were doing and why they were doing it this way. The Bugbears caught on very quickly, and before anyone knew it, they were using their long arms to reach spots on the house that would otherwise require a ladder.
Sitting on top of one of his fences, Basil was happy seeing the workers far more relaxed with the Bugbears. It almost seemed like a funny memory when he thought about how jumpy they were towards the goblins, only to now be comfortable enough to speak and explain things to them. And to think this all took place in just under a few hours. After all, this was a new world full of new things, and maybe even the world around, just like him, could change with a fresh start and view on things. He smiled contently at the thought as he looked up into the early afternoon sky and saw the clouds roll by with a gentle breeze on his face. Getting to this point was a hard road to follow, but it was well worth it. And for once, he was happy with all his struggles.
Very quickly, though, he noticed he wasn't the only one sitting on the fence by his lonesome. Looking over, he saw the beautiful girl Marigold sitting just on the far end of him, looking out over the working men and monsters with a piece of wheat in her mouth. But he didn't mind her intrusion; he welcomed it. He liked the company of another person in the silence--simply the act of enjoying one another.
The silence held between them for a long while until Marigold finally spoke and said to him, "I gotta say this went far faster than even I expected."
Basil gave a light chuckle and replied, "Well, when the Bugbears said they build good, they really mean 'build good.' I couldn't have asked for anything better. Thanks, Marigold."
Looking over to him, she smiled with the piece of wheat in her mouth, saying back to him, "Of course, Basil. You save my family. I'm forever in your debt. And sorry about my father. Unfortunately, it is not always true when they say; one gets better with age.", she gave a dry laugh while looking over to where her father was lounging under a shaded tree with a bottle of expensive wine.
Basil waved her apology off and told her, "It's fine. I've known people like him in the past, and I know exactly how to deal with them.", this gained an inquisitive expression from the girl as she wondered what he meant. He was no older than her, so how could he have such a seemingly deep past? But she brushed it off for now as she was asked, "Say, Marigold, your dad said you were the fifth daughter and 8th child or something. Just how many siblings do you have?"
"It's the fourth daughter and fifth oldest child, as my father so eloquently puts it. But I have ten siblings.", she corrects him while giving off a dry laugh in her throat. She then put a finger to her chin and thought and told the young man, "I would've had twelve by this point, but two of them died. That's just life, I guess.", she said with an apathetic tone.
Basil wondered how she could be so calm about the death of her own siblings, but then realized that he was living in a world that was still in the Middle Ages. No doubt, plenty of people died due to plague, sickness, winter, childbirth, or all the above. Babies and children were probably on the top list for that, just like in the old days before more proper sanitation methods and medicine were available.
Deciding not to divulge into that topic, Basil mindlessly blabbered to change the subject, "I also noticed how you don't dress like your parents or even act like a regal lady."
Marigold jumped from her seat and stood before him with her hands on her hips and an angry scowl, demanding, "Is that a problem!?"
Nearly falling off the fence post, Basil held his hands up defensively and stammered back in reply, "No no! No problem at all! Just curious.", only for him to fall off his seat and land on the root vegetable patch he was growing!
Marigold quickly hopped the fence and helped him to his feet while trying not to laugh. "I'm just teasing. Truth be told, I want to be an adventurer!", she told him with a big smile. As Basil brushed himself off, she continued to reminisce, recounting, "The first time I read the journal of my great grandfather's past adventures, I fell in love with the thought of traveling all over and seeing all different things while kicking ass along the way. Fighting the undead, slaying dragons, and destroying goblins!", as she said the last part, a Bugbear, who was passing, heard this and growled at her. Realizing her mistake, Marigold held her hands and awkwardly tried to assure them, "Oh no! Not you guys, regular goblins."
However, this had the opposite effect as the Bugbear snarled at her, bearing its teeth while its hair stood up on ends in a threatening display. Marigold was slightly freaked out but backed away while hiding behind Basil, who whispered, "They see all species of goblins no differently from one another."
"Then I'll skip the 'destroying goblins' part.", she awkwardly backtracked.
Even though an angry expression still held on their faces, they became calmer and looked less likely to try and rip her face off. The only thing the Bugbear did in response was an "I'm watching you" gesture before walking off.
Once gone, Marigold huffed a sigh of relief as Basil informed her, "You gotta watch what you say around the Bugbears. They may not know many things, but they understand enough to make sense, and that sense will usually lead them to rip and tear."
Marigold shivered with fear at the thought and, in a grateful tone, replied, "Thanks for the advice.", after she calmed her nerves, the two of them jumped out of the vegetable patch, where Marigold suddenly asked him, "Say, how come you're not an adventurer? My dad tells me you have some wicked magic."
Basil made a wide-eyed expression before waving his hand and making a raspberry sound before answering, "Oh no, thanks. I think I've had my fill of traveling when walking aimlessly around the Empty Lands with the Bugbears."
Now it was Marigold's turn to take a wide-eyed expression and suddenly get into his face while asking him in an intense tone, "Hold on; you were just walking around the Empty Lands?"
Basil backed away until his back hit a fence post, where he replied cautiously, "Uh…yes? Is that a problem?"
An expression of stress and morbid curiosity went across her face as she asked him again, "How long was it before you actually met the Bugbears!?"
Basil hesitated to answer, but seeing her intense gaze that gave him no room to reject, he begrudgingly told her, "Like five days…I think."
Her mouth shot open, and she yelled at his face without warning, "Five days? Five days!? You wandered around the Empty Lands for five days and are still alive!"
Basil held his hand in defense before the overwhelming girl as he stammered in fear and confusion, "What's wrong? Seriously, Marigold, you're freaking me out."
Marigold took a step back, seeing she was getting too intense, breathed a bit, and then explained in a calmer but still severe tone, "The Empty Lands get their title from the fact that only monsters live here! Many humans, elves, and even dwarves tried to settle, but nothing lasted! It's so dangerous; the only safe haven is the path between the Mid Lands and Velamire!"
"Vela-who now?", Basil questions.
"Velamire. It's the name of the countryside and capital city at the furthest point of the Empty Lands.", she told him.
Basil still gave her an unsure expression, which she picked up on--causing her to roll her eyes in aggravation and pull a map from her satchel. Opening it up for him, she showed them their location between the Empty Lands and Mid Lands. She then pointed out a part marked off as Velamire.
Looking over the map, Basil comments, "I thought it would be at the end of the Empty Lands; why is it off to the far right?"
"Cause that's the only place it can be.", Marigold vaguely explains.
Confused, he points to the land on the southern border of the Empty Lands and asks, "Well, what's down this way?"
Marigold initially shivered when he pointed it out, then explained, "The Far Lands, home to the country of the Dark Emissary and ruled over by the Devil King."
Basil's eyes turn into pinpricks, and he repeats in a small but fearful tone, "D-Devil king?"
"Yeah, he's been one of the greatest forces of evil for longer than most High Elves have been around.", Marigold explained further as Basil began to turn pale. Only for her to add, "Luckily, he can't leave the Far Lands."
"That's…scary. Besides, I'm a baker, not a fighter.", Basil comments.
Marigold chuckles and compliments, "And I gotta say, you make the best food I've ever tasted.", referring to the few times that Basil would give the workers, Bugbears, and her refreshments from time to time from his Magic Pocket.
Basil smiled softly at her words, and looking away in a low tone, he said, "You have no idea how much that means to me."
Marigold briefly wondered why he was so happy by such minor and meaningless words but decided to figure it out for another time, keeping this in mind. So she asked the young man, "If my future party and I are ever in the area, will you grant us a hot meal?"
Basil smiled at the request and told her, "By that time, I'm sure this place will also be an inn, so I'll give you guys food and a place to sleep or just for you."
Looking up to the sky and measuring the sun, Marigold brushed herself off before looking towards the completed cottage where the workers and the Bugbears were finally taking a break.
"Well, I should be off before my father tries to make a sale with the Bugbears for some string.", she told Basil, who laughed at her dry humor.
"Even they aren't that stupid and will probably clonk him on the head.", Basil tells her as they both look over towards the home, only to actually see Earnest attempting this task and swiftly receiving a bonk on the head by one of the Bugbears.
Marigold sighes exasperated at seeing this and heads off to stop her father from doing anything stupid. Just before she leaves, something comes over Basil, and without thinking, his body acts as he reaches out, grabs her hand, and exclaims, "Wait a minute!", Marigold halts in her steps and turns around, taken aback by his sudden forwardness. Basil quickly returns to his senses while letting go of her hand and now standing in an awkward silence. His mind races to think of an excuse or something to say to her. It finally does when he blabbers, "I…know we haven't known each other for long, and I'm sorry if this comes out as being too forward, but…I really enjoyed spending time with you."
"Be-cause I'm human?", Marigold teasingly infers.
Basil's sweat drops while rubbing the back of his head as he admits, "I won't lie, that is a big reason. Talking to someone who primarily talks with grunts and roars is hard. But really, I just…feel comfortable around you."
A slight dusting of blush flushed the girl's face as she looked off and admitted, "I…feel the same."
The two stood by one another while acting bashful and fidgety, silent as neither knew what to say. Until Basil finally found his nerve and requested, "Hey, I know this might be brash, but…could I see you more often? For company or tea?"
"Yeah, I'd like that a lot.", Marigold agreed with a smile, hands clasped behind her back as she leaned to the side like a happy yet reserved schoolgirl.
Then, a strange thought hit his mind, and Basil inquired, "Hey before you go. Do you know what a Chosen Touched is?"
Marigold blinked at the question, completely caught off guard by how off-topic it was. Nevertheless, she answered and explained to him, "It's someone who's been touched, metaphorically, by a power higher than the gods themselves and gifted with power beyond belief and the ability to ascend to godhood. They could bring great prosperity or great destruction to the world! Why do you ask?", she asked back.
Basil tried to hide the nervousness in his face and voice as he replied with a closed-eyed expression, "I've just…heard it a few times and was wondering its meaning."
"I also heard that the Devil King has been on the prowl for Chosen Touched ever since the first one to appear in this world banished him to the Far Lands.", Marigold added out of nowhere, making Basil's eyes go wide, his skin turned sickly pale, and started to sweat bullets. A sight that Marigold noticed right away, she asked in concern, "Hey, you okay?"
"Yeah, totally fine.", he lied through his teeth. "But yeah, it was great getting to know you, and I hope to see you again.", he calmly changed the subject while smiling at her.
Marigold just shrugged at this, waved goodbye to him, and turned to leave with her father upon her midnight black horse. Basil couldn't help but be struck with an unusual feeling as she left. One of sadness and longing but also awe. He watched as she walked confidently and powerfully in every step, holding her body up high, with her cape and golden hair blowing in the light breeze. Was he…smitten with her? No, that couldn't be it. That couldn't be the reason for these weird emotions, right? After all, the last time he felt this way, it was one-sided, and before he knew it, he had married a demon wearing human skin. But…this was different. Everything was different. So maybe, just maybe, he should-.
But his train of thought was cut off when a whistling song hit his ears. It was close, from behind, and almost sounded like some kind of love song, a cheesy one. When he turned around, he saw Teto standing behind him and whistling the music while giving him a smug grin. Basil knew that Teto had seen everything that went on between him and Marigold, and since they were linked, he knew what he was thinking about. So, in typical childish fashion, Teto teased him about it and whistled that cheesy romantic tune.
Basil blushes with deep red and pouts while turning away from him, "Oh, be quiet, you!"