Bolton recalled many things, however, his punishments when caught sneaking out from the Primarian Royale stood above all else. It's all Bolton cared to want to remember anyway; the punishments were brutal but they were lessons all the same.
Bolton wasn't very good at sneaking at first, in-fact he had long been called Primarian Fodder Trainer due to the frequency of disappearances and his prompt retrievals by the Primarian Arc; New Dwarden's specialized task force for the retrieval of missing persons and subjugation of dangerous personnel. The Primaric Arc is a force of nature depicted by the people of New Dwarden as the "Electrecutionars", only dispensed by the lips of the Royal Council and of course King Woltwork himself. Despite the Primarian Arc's elite status, Bolten's inadvertent trial and error had gotten him better at avoiding them until eventually, he'd secure multiple routes out from Quadrant One; otherwise known to Bolton as the Iron Circle. The Iron Circle was where the most expensive entertainment, extravagant foods, politicians large and small, and of course, royalty resided. However, to Bolton, Quadrant One was simply an obstacle blocking him from the rest of the twelve other quadrants.
Still, Bolton's knowledge of the back streets hadn't made him immune to danger as he often scraped with the locals to and from his destinations. New Dwarden long had issues with violent theft and muggers however with the mass disappearance of jobs requiring manual labor due to recent innovations of machinery and the relatively recent discovery of a new combustible energy source dubbed "Glisten", crime overall continues to rise exponentially requiring a proposal from the council detailing a mandatory curfew in the city to lessen its criminal potency; a rule Bolton has recently publicly advocated for.
Violence was no stranger to Quadrant One either. The violence that transpired within the Primarian Royale's many floors was always going to sit in the back of Bolton's mind like a pestering earworm, especially in regard to recent times. However, today Bolton wore his experience with a smile as today was the day King Woltwork would finally face fate. According to Witch Copper, Bolton had to merely leave the gem in the King's possession, and in one week's time he would fall into a temporary deep sleep, curing him of his disease, and allowing Bolton to take the throne -at least for the moment; certainly enough time to follow through with some promises he had made during his adventures in New Dwarden but not so long as to remain in a position of power. Still, Bolton could recall the old woman echoing the words "But who knows? Right? Spirits are a strange concept?" after almost every sentence - or at least a variant of that. The chances of the gem not working at all was described to be high and as such the "Journey" Bolton had mentioned to King Woltwork was simply a plan B. If all else fails, he can step away from royalty permanently and solve things on his own accord.
Just as Bolton reached the door handle King Woltwork called for him with a loud "Oi!". Bolton turned around hesitantly. Hoping he hadn't changed his mind or had fallen into a fit of emotions as he was known to do.
"The world outside these walls wants to know why I'm giving up the throne so early. Do you want to be the first to know?" Asked King Woltwork.
"I'll know when everyone else knows. Take care, brother." Responded Bolton quickly. Shutting the door promptly.
Bolton sighed heavily as the door behind him closed with a thundering woosh. The air around him immediately felt lighter and the smell of exotic food, the sound of bombastic music, and the call for liquor roared louder than ever before. "One last meal and drink before I go." Muttered Bolton with a smile.
Galvin appeared confused by Bolton's demeanor as she could hear the shouting from the King earlier. She didn't quite make out the words from within the King's Study but rarely do people leave the King's presence with a smile, especially recently. Galvin resisted the urge to ask Bolton what had transpired in the room and simply moved aside like a sliding statue.
"Galvin right? Strange name for a woman." Blurted Bolton as he stepped past Galvin.
"Do people normally call you Idiot or do you prefer Moron?" Blurted Galvin with a snarky smile.
"I like twit but I prefer drunk." Returned Bolton with an equally snarky smile.
"Wish we could've spoken some more. You seem less boring when you don't pretend to be a weaponized statue." Chuckled Bolton.
"Bo-" Said Galvin before being interrupted.
Without warning came a loud thundering crash from within the King's Study and then a focused splash. Before Bolton could even turn around or even run away from the source of the noise Galvin had already redirected his weight into a slam against the double doors with enough force to splinter the wood.
"What did you do!?" Howled Galvin.
She looked up at Bolton like how a predator would look at their prey before their final moments. Her eyes fixed on Bolton's, her nose crinkled upwards in a rage, and her teeth grinding at the thought of danger.
"I-" Tried speaking Bolton.
"Aeugh!" Screamed Galvin. Her metal gloves seemingly appeared on her hands as electricity arced between them and Bolton's chest yet again in a boom and a flash. This time the explosion from the gloves was enough to blow down the double doors and skip Bolton's body straight to the King's desk.
Bolton lost consciousness for a moment before awakening to a massive gasp of air and opening his eyes once more. Once again, he heard the zipping arc of Galvin's gloves being charged before falling out of consciousness yet again.
Galvin frantically rushed into the King's Study hoping to find the source of the explosion or at least the King himself. Despite her best efforts to traverse the room quickly she became bogged down by the sheer volume of blue slime that littered the King's study in almost all directions.
"King Woltwork! King Woltwork! I'm here!" Called Galvin to no response.
Instead, a loud wet popping sound exploded from behind the King's desk and from that noise rose a creature made of the very blue slime that littered the room.
"What the hell are you?" Mumbled Galvin, watching as the creature manifested into the rough shape of a child.
"Galvin!? Bolton!? What's happening!? What's happening!?" Warbled the creature.
Galvin watched in horror as the creature formed into the shape of a child and back into a blob over and over again. Its mouth and eyes appeared to be molded from a white void. It had big white hollowed spheres for the eyes and a void-like gash for a mouth. Again and again, it tried it's best to morph into the shape of a human but to no avail. It simply mashed back into a pile.
Bolton awoke again to Galvin standing across from the creature. He scanned the room as his vision blurred back into normalcy and jumped back onto his two feet.
"Bolton!? What the hell did you do!?" Shouted Galvin once again.
Before Bolton could speak the creature gave a warbling scream before collapsing behind the desk into a pile of pulsating goo -only slightly more vibrant than the rest of the mess scattered about the King's Study.
"This isn't me! At l-least it's not supposed to be!" Confessed Bolton, gathering his composure.
"Wh-What!?" Replied Galvin.
Galvin rushed behind the desk to see what became of the creature only to find the King's lifeless body limp and face down and covered in the mysterious slime.
"You murdered him!? You turned him into some creature and murdered him!" Muttered Galvin. "You have approximately 3 breaths of air before I activate the Primarian Arc to hang you for dead." Threatened Galvin, scouring the room for any additional creatures.
"Bolton. Galvin. Help me. I can feel myself slipping…" Pleaded the creature desperately.
The creature's bright white holes for eyes and gash for mouth appeared to be the only shape consistent in its constantly morphing body.
Bolton, almost instinctively, dashed to the side opposite of Galvin grabbed the large empty jar from atop the King's desk, and scooped the creature inside of it using a makeshift scoop made of bunched-up paperwork.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Fumed Galvin in horror.
"What else can I do!? Alright! I don't know! This thing obviously knows our name and it probably knows what happened so I'm gettin' this and gettin' the hell outta here. I already know the Arc is on it's way upstairs and I'm not waitin' til' they get here!"
"And you think I'm letting you leave?" Challenged Galvin.
Galvin activated her gloves with a clap of her hands once again in anticipation of a fight. Her armor creaked as if pistons activated from deep within it and blasts of steams bursted from small vents behind her.
"Yes. Because you're covered in slime and so am I! As far as they know, we murdered the King!" Explained Bolton.
"Oh yeah, say that last part louder!" Mocked Galvin. Her teeth gritted in anger.
"And before you say anything, they are not the reasonable type. I know more than anyone else." Explained Bolton in a frenzy. "So either you follow me or you don't."
"Follow you where?" Asked Galvin reluctantly.
"Far away." Replied Bolton.