3rd Task: Everleen's Peace (Part 4) Conclusion

3rd Task: Everleen's Peace
Part 4

Recap: In the last chapter the OC faced off against King Frederic's generals. Abraham blew Titus away with his mines. Mineko proved her strength when she slammed Phoenix on his head and knocked him unconscious with the hilt of her bokken. Gris met her match when she faced the surprisingly powerful maygus Nolan, but came up victorious when she summoned her wand and bound him to the earth forever. Nigel's fight against King Frederic's last guard began with him dodging the strike of her snake. Now for the conclusion of the battle and the end of the 3rd Task.


Nigel's luck saves him time and time again as the massive snake strikes repeatedly. Nigel falls flat on his face as the snake's fang nearly impale him. He looks up at Franc and the others and smiles, "You guys look bored."
"Kill him!" King Frederic shouts.
"Yes my king," she replies as she leaps from the snakes back. She snaps her fingers and the snakes head explodes and is replaced by twenty heads. Nigel's eye widens as the twenty head serpent lunges forward. Nigel moves out of the way, and Franc severs all of the snake's heads with one slash of his sword. The body of the snake collapses, and Nigel is breathing heavily in the center of all the heads unscathed.
"You interfered!" King Frederic shouts while pointing at Franc.
"The snake was coming my way, and my attack was but defense. I didn't strike Nigel's opponent," Franc says evenly.
Nigel chimes in, "Yeah!" and quickly dives out of the way as the woman cracks a whip at him.
"I'm into some BDSM, but I'd at least like to know your name," Nigel says rolling up onto his right hand into a handstand.
The woman doesn't respond. Instead, she cracks her whip, and Nigel flips towards her, she continues to swing her whip, but he dodges her attacks one at a time. He moves faster, and she continues to strike but before she realizes he's standing face to face with her.
He embraces her with his one arm and says, "If you're gonna whip me the least you can do is give me a hug."
The woman sheds her skin and Nigel is holding onto the husk that she left behind. She hisses and grabs him by the neck, "Thisss isss a battle of life and death. You want to play gamessss."
She tilts her head to the side looking into Nigel's eye with her snake like eyes.
"Oh, you need both eyes for your power to work?" Nigel asks lifting up his left eye patch, revealing a mirror marble in the socket."


The woman shrieks when she sees herself in the mirror, her face partially turns to stone, and she drops him. Nigel falls into Lefnard and says, "Your breath is atrocious," Nigel says gasping for air, something coils around his leg and yanks him toward the woman. Her face is scaly on one side like a snake and stone on the other. Her lower body is that of a giant snake, her torso is that of a human, and her long black hair comes to life like serpents.
"Are you a Gorgon?" Nigel asks.
The woman's snake eye widens with shock, and she asks, "How do you know of Gorgonsssss?"
"I read about one in a book. The most famous was Medusa. A warrior of the Gorgon people captured by humans and enslaved to protect their treasure."
"You sssssay Medusssssssa wasssss the mossssst famousss? Sssshe wasssss an outcassssst. Sssshe no longer has a home amongssssst my people. I Sssssakara banished her. I ssssssold her to humanssss in exchange they never return to our ssssshoresss."
"You sold one of your own into slavery?" Nigel asks with his head down.
"Do you feel sssssympathy for her?" Sakara asks circling him.
Mineko reaches for her bokken, but Abraham stops her.
"No living being should be a slave to another, no human, elf, fairy, or monster is superior. We live at the same time we should coexist and help one another. We should help others out where they are weak and improve them,"
Nigel says evenly.
"The weak belong beneath the foot of the ssssstrong," Sakara shouts before her hair turns to sharp snake teeth and she fires them at Nigel.
They seem to impale him from all angles, but Nigel throws Lefnard at Sakara's head from above and falls starting to spin. He bends his right knee, and his peg leg transforms into a wooden sword as he spins. Nigel flips over Sakara's head and cuts her in half. When he lands, he kicks the stone half of her face at King Frederic. The blue curtain drops in front of him and blocks the attack.
"Your warriors have fallen, do you concede your loss?" Franc asks.
"My warriors may all be dead, but you've still got to deal with me and my sword," King Frederic says drawing his jeweled sword, he looks to the woman and says, "Everleen, you better not let them touch me."
"Yes my King," Everleen says bowing her ankle is shackled to the throne.
King Frederic removes a pouch from his robes and pulls the string revealing three beans. He throws one of the beans in his mouth and when he swallows his body begins to swell with muscle. King Frederic takes off his robe and casts it aside.  He swallows another bean, and he grows three times his average height. His voice booms as he says, "Miracle Beans! During my last campaign, I  acquired this treasure. As long as I don't use all three the two, I'll get the two I used back."
"You plan on fighting all of us?" Franc asks.
"None of your attacks will hit me, don't fret, I'll make this quick," King Frederic says. In a blink of an eye, he's standing behind Mineko and Franc. The two of them draw their blades to deflect the attack, but they are both sent flying by the blue curtain that deflects their attacks. Nigel watches as Everleen cringes when Franc and Mineko touch the curtain. Gris and Abraham attack King Frederic from both sides the blue curtain drops around him, and they are both slammed to the ground. Everleen screams in agony as the curtain slams them to the ground.
King Frederic starts to laugh and says, "What do you think of my living shield Everleen? She can deflect, match, and redirect energies that come into contact with her curtain. Now it's my turn to be on offense."
Franc starts ticking, and Mineko rolls up her bandages as King Frederic makes his way towards them. He laughs as he raises his sword and brings it down. Mineko uses her bandages to wrap around the blade and pulls it from his hand. She leaps into the air and unleashes a barrage of kicks that are almost too fast to follow. King Frederic swats her down, and her body slams to the ground with a resounding thud. An obnoxious ring fills the battlefield and Franc suddenly appears behind King Frederic with his sword drawn. A second later Franc's body crumbles.
"Whatever you mean for me will only be deflected back at you, your attacks are futile!"
Nigel drops the Safety Bullets in Lefnard and a giant arm bursts from the bucket made of the blue liquid inside the bullets. King Frederic starts to laugh, "No matter what you do you can't hit me!"
Nigel runs towards King Frederic and leaps in the air, the blue curtain drops over him and Everleen holds herself anticipating the attack next to King Frederic's throne. Nigel pulls his attack, and Lefnard's fist soars towards Everleen. King Frederic shouts, "No!"
The massive fist seems to crush Everleen, and in an instant, she's gone. The blue curtain flickers and King Frederic is exposed. Gris, Abraham, Mineko, and Franc rise to their feet each of them cast in an eerie light.
"Nigel, I want to apologize for giving you such a hard time," Franc says.
"You've proven your Title today," Mineko says.
"It gives me chills to see you get serious," Abraham says tilting his hat.
"Hmph," Gris says turning away from him and putting her hair up and summoning her halberd.
King Frederic roars, and before he can say another word, he's attacked by the entire Outside Counsel at once. The remains of his body decorate the Nolan tree and Gris's giant badger chews on Sakara's body.
The Outside Counsel returns to the entrance of Camuji Fortress and pushes open its massive doors. Everleen is lying in the middle of the Fortress unconscious still chained to the throne. Mineko strikes the chain, and it breaks, Everleen snaps awake and begins to gasp. She can't catch her breath, and her body starts to convulse. Gris whistles and one of Fect's ears appear from a building's entrance.
"Come here," she shouts spotting him.
He hops toward her and immediately embraces Everleen's foot. Her body eases, and she falls into a deep sleep and starts to snore.
Goosebumps rise over Nigel's skin, and he turns to the wall and spots a doll-like girl with a bonnet and dark clothing.
"Nigel," Mineko says snapping her fingers in his face, "Did you hear what Franc said?"
"Huh? Did you see the girl?" Nigel asks confused as he turns to look where he had seen the girl only moments ago. To his surprise, no one is there.
Mineko chuckles and says, "Uh no, but Franc has to give Everleen peace."
"Ok, are we going to wait for her to wake up?"
Nigel asks.
"What for?" Franc asks, "I'll give her peace in her sleep."
"What about the kids? If we kill her now won't we return to the Outside?" Nigel asks.
"Nigel," Mineko begins, "We aren't heroes. We are here to serve as guardians. We are meant to avert particular people from harming BellCrone's five worlds. We shouldn't interfere with the governments or how the people operate. We each have assignments to complete, and that's it."
Nigel looks to Mineko and then at Everleen's still body. He starts to notice the dark purple bruises that cover every inch of her body. He touches her and her body tenses.
"I wonder if she's ever known loved," Nigel whispers, "How is this girl going to harm anyone? How old can she be? Twelve? Fourteen tops?"
Franc growls, and his clock turns to 6:06:06. He grabs Nigel by the throat and shouts "You insolent little pest. I've had it with your silly questions. We have a Task, I have an assignment, and I plan to see it through."
"What about Gris's Sanctuary Bunnies?" Nigel manages.
Franc roars and throws Nigel at the wall, suddenly a blue curtain catches him, and Nigel slides to the ground unaffected. Franc looks to Everleen who's sitting up holding onto Franc's pant leg. Her body glows, and the curtain starts to fade.
She smiles and says, "The voice of concern is the only hope I had during my time as a slave. I welcome my death, as that boys unrelenting concern for others is apparent and brings such peace to my soul."
With those words, Everleen's body goes limp, and she sighs her last breath clutching Franc's leg. Before anyone can say anything, the Outside Counsel disappears in a warm white light.

The Outside Counsel reappears side by side in the white room with no doors. The familiar grading voice says, "Welcome back. Most of you completed today's Task. Your grades are as follows:
Franc: B-
Mineko: A
Grisel: A
Abraham: F
Nigel: A+
However, no one received points for the death of the target Meander. Abraham, you did not stay true your assignment thus you've failed this TASK. Nigel, you showed your prowess on and off the battlefield. I look forward to your time as The Adventurer. You may leave."

A door appears on the adjacent wall and the OC file out of the room. Gris flies away the moment she crosses the threshold. Abraham and Franc are speaking to one another, but no one can hear what they say. The small out woman appears to collect Mineko's bandages, and the little Out girl from the library peeks from around a corner and stares at Nigel. He smiles and waves at her, and she quickly dashes out of sight.
"Nigel," Gris says suddenly appearing before him upside down, "Wanna come to my room?"
Everyone stops and watches them intently. Nigel shrugs and says, "Sure, where is it?"
Gris starts to giggle and grabs Nigel's hand, she drags him in the air and begins to zip through the Outside.


Hey guys, if you're reading this, I'm assuming you're a fan of my blog. Thank you, it means a lot to me. For the next few weeks, there will be a hiatus. When I return the next Task will begin, and I'll be delivering full bios on the entire Outside Counsel. I hope you all continue to be blessed and share this if you've enjoyed it. I'll be back soon, hopefully, better at than I am.

Thanks for Reading. I'll see you guys soon :)

3rd Task: Maygus Law (Part 3)

3rd Task: Maygus Law
Part 3

Recap:

In part 2 of the 3rd Task, the OC faced off against King Frederic's army. The army was resurrected by snakes, but Gris summoned a beast to assist them in defeating the army for the final time. Nigel managed to beat a group of giant suicide bombers and protected the walls of Camuji Fortress. Franc challenged King Frederic's main forces to a series of one on one fights. Without knowing what the OC wants from him, King Frederic laughed at Franc's proposal and accepted. Part 2 ended with the beginning of the first battle between Lawman Abraham and Titus, the jester. Now for the results...

A loud bang echoes across the battlefield and both Titus and Abraham lunge towards one another. Titus removes two daggers from his boots and swings them at Abraham, but he manages to dodge the attack. He pulls his Glock from his waist and fires three shots. To his surprise, Titus contorts his body avoiding the bullets. He folds his leg over his head and laughs, "You can't hit me."

Titus falls to the ground and rolls towards Abraham he uncoils to strike but isn't fast enough to catch Abraham. Abraham puts some distance between them and fires four shots in the ground, Titus laughs and taunts him, "Firing into the ground won't help."

Titus steps towards Abraham and the ground explodes, as the dirt falls Titus is still standing and unscathed.
Abraham raises his eyebrow, "How'd you survive a direct blast?"
"Who knows?" Titus asks shrugging, he pulls out a third dagger and begins to juggle them.

Abraham steps out of the way as a dagger grazes his cheek.
"You're fast no one has dodged my flying daggers before. Most people can't keep up with them," Titus says as he continues to juggle three knives, "Let's see how long you can last."

Titus's skill with his daggers is impressive, but not enough to match Abraham's quick draw. As Titus throws the knives, Abraham shoots each of them before they can find their mark. Titus tosses his last dagger at Abraham, as the dagger gets closer Abraham spins and fires three shots. The daggers trajectory changes and it's sent flying back towards Titus who dives out of the blades way. Abraham points his gun at Titus's head and says, "Get up!"
Titus rolls away from him and a spike fires from the tip of his shoe, Abraham jumps out of the way, and the spike explodes on contact with a rock.
"So, you're the one that rigged those giants with explosives?" Abraham asks.
"Explosions are fun," Titus says crouching down on all fours, "I'm going to make you go boom too."

Abraham chuckles and is caught off guard by Titus who moves at a different speed than before. He slams the palm of his hand on Abraham's cheek, sending him flying. He slams into the ground, and upon him getting back up, Titus is already behind him. Titus twists his body around Abraham's and puts him in some hold. Abraham is bent backward, and he drops his gun. Titus laughs as he squeezes tighter and watches as Abraham's face starts to turn colors.  Abraham's badge falls from his vest and hits the ground, in the center of the badge an eye opens up. No one notices the badges eye flick back and forth between Abraham and Titus.

Abraham chokes, and the eye glares at Titus, the badge sprouts tiny arms and legs and walks over to Abraham's revolver. It picks it up and pulls the trigger, the bullet pierces Titus's shoulder, and he lets go of Abraham. Titus kicks and screams and curses, "What the hell was that?"
Abraham gasps for air, the badge approaches him and kicks him in the head. He grabs his face and groans, "What was that for?"
"Letting me get dirty," the badge says surprisingly. It climbs onto Abraham's chest and fastens itself back on his vest, the eye closes, and the appendages disappear. Abraham gets up and picks up his hat and revolver off the ground. He brushes himself off and asks, "So you aren't bulletproof?"
A smile appears beneath Abraham's hat, and he points his gun at point blank range.
"Go ahead, it won't work," Titus says still writhing in agony.
Abraham pulls the trigger again, and Titus body contorts, and the bullet misses. He starts to laugh, Abraham pulls the trigger again and again and again and still the same results. Titus rolls back onto his feet and starts to approach him, he forgets about Abraham's mines and steps on one. It explodes blowing off his leg, he falls and triggers the other two mines, and his body is obliterated.
King Frederic grips his throne and shouts, "Phoneix! Crush them!"
The tallest man with the cleaver steps forward, and Abraham puts up his hands, "I'm all out of ammo. I'm going to tap out on this fight."
Franc nods to him and says, "That's fair enough. Mineko would you like to engage this behemoth?"
Mineko is sitting with her legs crossed deep in meditation, she opens her eye and gauges the enemy. She closes her eye and doesn't respond, Phoenix removes his clever and wields it like a katana. Mineko opens her eye and smirks at the sight of his stance.
"This should be interesting," She stands up and approaches Phoenix.
"No woman has ever stood before me as an opponent. Your swordsmanship is impeccable, but my skill is light years ahead of anything you can do," Phoenix says.
"We shall see," Mineko says taking her stance, leaving her bokken tucked away.
The loud boom signals the beginning of the second match. Phoenix doesn't waste a second, he lifts his cleaver and brings it down like a samurai, Mineko catches the blade between her hands and absorbs the momentum of the swing by squatting down. She kicks him in the chin with all her might, and to her surprise, he doesn't fall but staggers backward.
"You’re tough," she says.
"You’re strong," he replies rubbing his chin.
He takes his stance again never breaking eye contact with her, and he starts to circle her slowly.
"Your technique, it screams of sword buster," Mineko says watching her opponent.
Phoenix doesn't reply with words in a split second he dashes towards her and swings his cleaver. She takes a step backward and drops to her knee sweeping Phoenix off his feet. He slams to the ground and his murderous instinct doubles. Mineko kicks the ground soaring back putting distance between them immediately.
"Ha, there's no safe distance," King Frederic announces, "This is exciting!"
Mineko watches Phoenix as he lies perfectly still on the ground. The kill vibe emitting from him is intimidating enough to put Mineko on guard.
Suddenly, his body surges forward while spinning with his cleaver. Mineko braces for impact as he comes crashing towards her. Her bokken doesn't even splinter. Instead, the cleaver starts to crack, and he stumbles. He looks and roars at her as he begins to swing his weapon repeatedly. Mineko blocks his attacks with her bokken, and as he turns for the hundredth time, she avoids his attack steps into his massive body and wraps her arms around his waist.
"Phoenix is the heaviest man in my country, there's nothing you can do," King Frederic shouts.

Mineko's black bandages begin to unwind and fall to the floor. As the bandages fall to the ground, the sheer weight of them causes the ground to give. Phoenix tries to free himself from her grip, but it's impossible. Mineko takes a step backward, arching her back and lifting Phoenix off his feet. She spins and manages to slam him on his head, but she doesn't let go instead she goes into a series of suplexes using the momentum. On her ninth slam, she lets go, and Phoenix is rendered unconscious from the attack. Mineko's body is the epitome of muscular perfection, her core clearly being the center of her strength decorated with bulging muscle.

King Frederic sits back and smirks, "The thing about a Phoenix is they tend to rise from the ashes."
Mineko dives out of the way as Phoenix's twirling body hurls past her, unconscious cleaver in hand. He drags the clever mindlessly but wields it with tremendous skill and power. Mineko races towards her bokken but is cut off by Phoenix's cleaver. She pivots and slams her fist into his chest. She can hear the last bit of breath leave his lungs as she sends him flying. She dives for her bokken as he recovers and slams the clever down. The bokken absorbs the shock and bends but doesn't break. She squats down and strikes his chin with the hilt of her bokken. Phoenix's jaw is dislocated instantly and blood splatters from his mouth. The behemoth grabs Mineko by the arm but doesn't have the strength to yank her as he intended to. She jabs him in the chest with her bokken hitting pressure points paralyzingly him. He slumps against her body, his clever clatters to the ground.
"I win," Mineko says tossing Phoenix's body like a rag doll.

His body slides to King Frederic's throne, and he begins stomping on his unconscious body, "Stupid, stupid, stupid."
"My king, fear not. I shall avenge my allies and rid you of these pests," the man that initially approached Franc says.
"Nolan! Kill all of them!" King Frederic screams as his face flushes red and sweats beads beneath his crown.
"Nigel," Franc says, and Gris clears her throat.
"I don't think he'll be participating just yet," she says stepping forward and tying up her hair, "I'll defeat the lummox."
"Strong words from a little woman," Nolan says as he twirls the morning star between his fingers with ease.
"Don't dabble, get straight to the killing," King Frederic encourages as the battle is signaled to begin.
Gris doesn't even have a chance to summon her weapon before Nolan's morning star slams into her side crushing her ribs and sending her flying. Gris recovers in mid-air and does a quick dance as she falls, she flips and stops on a dime her three orbs burst from the ground and transform into three golden hatchets. Nolan appears behind her, and she dives out of the way as two of the hatchets clash with his shield. Gris grabs the third and straddles it like a broom and kicks into the sky. The other two blades fly towards her and transform as they soar past her elongating into spears. They change course and launch at Nolan who manages to deflect one of the spears, but the deflected spear begins to spin knocking him off his feet. As he falls, Gris hurls the hatchet from between her legs and is shocked to see Nolan float in midair and catch the hatchet between his fingers.
"How're you using magic?" Gris asks.
Nolan starts to laugh, "You noticed my subtle magic?"
"Subtle? Backdoor magic is something only a high-level teleporter maygus can do. Here you are precise in your step. The only reason you haven't used it is that I've kept my eyes on you," Gris says.
"You've been fighting a long time," Nolan says, he snaps his fingers and his heavy armor falls from his body, and he lifts higher off the ground, "No one has ever noticed my magic so quickly."

Mineko looks to Abraham and Franc and notices their calm but tense demeanor. She asks, "Why are you two so serious?"
"Gris doesn't do well against men with magic. The last time we faced a male maygus your predecessor was killed after he trapped Gris in a bottle. The battle waged on for almost two months after and we couldn't kill him. Gris managed to free herself and used some spell that made her hair white and sealed him away in her stead."
"Oh," Mineko says watching Gris, "Can a maygus kill a maygus?"

"The maygus community is based on thousand-year-old rules created by the first Supreme Council. No maygus shall take the life of another maygus unless their lives are deemed forfeit and are blacklisted. No maygus shall ever tamper with death, love, or creation unless given permission from the Supreme. No maygus can bestow magic on any non-magical being unless consulted with the Supreme. Those are the rules of Maygus," Nigel says approaching with his mop over his shoulder with Lefnard hanging from it.
"Why do you know so much?" Franc asks.
"You ask a lot of questions," Nigel says with a straight face, but starts to laugh and says, "Just kidding, my captain is one of the most powerful Maygus that have ever lived and cherishes the code of the Supreme Council. I'm familiar with it because of her."
"Interesting," Franc says, he turns back to the fight with Gris. Mineko shrugs, Nigel sits on Lefnard, and Abraham starts to disassemble his Glocks.

Gris and Nolan repeatedly clash with their big flashy weapons. Nigel yawns and asks, "Is this all they are going to do?"
"I couldn't agree more with the gimp," King Frederic says, "Kill her already Nolan!"
Gris blocks Nolan's attack and puts him in an armbar. She throws her hand in Frederic's direction, and a golden spear launches towards him. A girl steps in front of Frederic and manifests a blue wall that blocks the attack.
The OC glare at the girl and King Frederic's pompous laugh echoes.
"Throw whatever you want my way, it'll never reach me," he boasts, "As long as my lovely is by my side I'm invincible!"
"Gris, end this please," Franc shouts.
"You better not lose Nolan!"
King Frederic shouts.

Gris and Nolan clash one more time in midair before landing on the ground.
"It's time we end this," Nolan says panting and smiling, "I enjoyed this battle."
Gris doesn't respond. Instead she does a dance and bows with her hand opened to the sky. Her golden weapons rush to her side and transform into a thin golden wand. She smiles and waves her arm, chains burst from the tip of the wand and creep towards Nolan from all sides. He slams his morning star on the ground and the earth splits. The chains are swallowed by the ground, and Nolan laughs as he stomps and two boulders rise in the air. The rocks begin to take shape, something changes in Gris's demeanor and she roars. The chains multiply by the dozens and invade the walls of the trench Nolan created like creeping vines.
"I can't kill you, but I will bind you to the earth you stand on," Gris says.
Nolan laughs and begins to swing his morning star deflecting the chains, but doesn't notice the chains that coil behind him. He steps backward into the coiling chains, and they immediately seize his legs and work upward towards his torso. Gris approaches with her wand, twisting her wrist, and says, "The chains of Tartarus are at my command, and you have stepped into my snare. Life as you know it will forever be changed. These chains are meant to bind your soul to the earth and give you immortality in its grasp, every day you will be constricted every hour until your lungs are about to burst. Then you'll be revived at dawn to see another day, suffer another day, and do it again and again.”
"The chains of Tartarus are under no maygus control. When you toy with hell magic, you are sent on an express train when you die," Nolan spits as the chains continue to creep up his body covering him, except his face.
"Good thing I get to cheat death once," Gris responds as the chains cover his face and his body is twisted up like a tree. The chains stop moving, and Nolan's face reappears.
His bright green eyes are bloodshot red, and he stares into her silver eyes. He begins to speak in a language only maygus can understand.
"Save the girl. She's no maygus. She's something more. The King is a gross man, and I have only served to protect my family."
Gris responds in the same language, "Why not use your powers against the king?"
Nolan's lip begins to quiver and a tear forms in his eye, Gris reaches to touch his face when suddenly a stone blade tears through the ground and nearly impales her. Nolan starts to laugh, "Lucky, lucky, woman. You managed to dodge my last effort. I concede you win."
Gris begins to speak in the language again, and Nolan stops laughing immediately. She continues in the maygus language, and Nolan shouts, "You wouldn't dare!"
Gris's smile is wicked, and she licks her lips, she turns away from Nolan, and he roars, "You bitch! I hope you die a miserable death. I hope someone burns you at the stake."
Gris stops and whips back around, the tip of her wand unleash a beam of blue light. It slams into Nolan's face, and his eyes and mouth are sewn shut.
King Frederic begins to gag and ultimately vomits behind his chair. The tall, dark skinned woman standing next to him whispers in his ear. He waves her off, and she steps from the elephants back. When she lands the earth quakes, and she smiles, she glares at Gris and approaches the Nolan Chain Tree. She rubs her hands along the chains, and in the maygus language, she says, "These are truly from Tartarus, exquisite. Your magic is impressive, but nowhere near my level of expertise."
"I won't be your opponent," Gris says letting down her long white hair.
"I'll kill all your friends and save you for last," The woman responds.
"You won't see another day," Gris says turning away from the woman. She approaches Nigel and says to him, "Watch yourself, She's a powerful maygus. One wrong move and you will die."
"Got it," Nigel says standing up and walking towards the woman.
"Who do I get to kill first?" She asks.
"I'm Nigel, I don't think you can kill me," he responds.
"Words from half a man," she hisses.
"Fine. I'll give you three chances to kill me if that doesn't work you give up," Nigel says.
"Die!" The woman shouts as a giant snake bursts from the ground and strikes at Nigel.
"I don't wanna," Nigel says smiling as he trips over Lefnard and dodges the attack.

END!


The final contest for Camuji Fortress has begun. Who is this witch? What more can she do with snakes? Nigel's got his hand full on this one. Tune in for the conclusion of the 3rd Task.
Part 4 will be out Friday, March 31.

If you want to catch up with the full story, you can check out the Counsel Log at http://theoutsidecounselofbellcrone.blogspot.com/2017/02/2nd-task-replacements.html
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Release date: March 17, 2017, God Willing.

3rd Task: King Frederic's Army (Part 2)

3rd Task: King Frederic's Army
Part 2

The great sun, Bellcrone begins to peek from beneath the eastern mountains casting a shadow over Camuji Fortress. The fortress seems desolate on the surface as the only movement is what the wind blows. Gris is kicking her legs off the edge of the wall with a Sanctuary Bunny sitting in her lap the triangular window floats behind her.
"Bellcrone is coming up Gris," the bunny says looking up to her, "Are you guys sure about this plan?"
"Are you worried about me Perfect?" Gris asks playfully
"It's Fect, and of course I'm concerned about you. You'll be closing off our back home. If something were to happen to my swarm is abandoned here."
"Hm, well at least your honest," Gris says, "I'll be fine, how many of these have we made it through?
"Enough," Fect says rolling his eyes, his ears begin to twitch.
"What can you hear?" Gris asks excitedly, as she throws her arm in the air.
 Fect closes his eyes, his voice changes and he begins to say, "My soldiers, you have endured the cruelty of the Bazz Mountains. You have lost your brethren, even your children on this journey. Today, we stand before our goal, the treasure of Bazz Mountains, Camuji Fortress!" The soldiers respond with a roar, and the King continues, "Today, we will storm through the front doors of the fortress and declare the kingdom mine! Raid the Camuji Fortress kill all the men, take the women, and enslave the children! On this day, you will claim Camuji Fortress the territory of King Frederic XCVII."
Suddenly, the ground rumbles with the response of the army as King Frederic finishes his speech. Gris smiles and whispers, "It's show time!"
Almost instantaneously the rest of the Outside Counsel appear beside her standing on the wall. In the distance, a large blue tent glows at the armies flank.
Fect looks up at her, she hugs him, and he whistles. Thousands of Sanctuary bunnies of various colors pour from the triangle window and surge into the Fortress like a waterfall. Gris stands up and does a quick dance, the gold balls transform into a massive halberd. Nigel looks to her and clears his throat. Gris shrugs and replies, "I was inspired."
Together they step off the wall and land in front of the heavy metal doors of Camuji Fortress. In the distance, the army kicks up a dust cloud as they approach full of rage and excitement. The five members of the Outside Counsel calmly await their arrival. As the sun lifts higher in the sky the first soldier's approach, Mineko huffs, and with a quick thrust from her hip, a shockwave ensues obliterating them.
"I hate fodder," Abraham says, "Let's make a game of it."
"I'm listening," Gris says with an evil grin on her face.
"Good, whoever reaches the big blue tent first is the leader for the next Task."
Franc turns to him, and shrugs, "I think it's fair. Good luck everyone."
With that Franc disappears, and his voice booms over the cries of the soldiers, "Is anyone else going to participate?"
Gris's halberd splits in two and transforms into twin swords, and she joins the fray. Mineko seems to teleport, and Abraham looks to Nigel.
"Only way to win is to move forward," Abraham says, he takes out his revolver and points it towards the sky and pulls the trigger. There's a loud explosion and bullets rain down from the heavens stealing cutting down soldiers.
Abraham runs toward the nearest group of troops and engages them with a barrage of bullets that send them flying backward.

Nigel looks around and doesn't find anything to put in Lefnard, he drops his scarf in the bucket and uses it to climb over the wall again. He finds Abraham's safety bullets on the ground outside the remaining half of the castle. He puts them in his pocket when he sees Ian sneaking out of a building dragging a Gatling gun on wheels.
"What ya doing?" Nigel asks, and Ian nearly leaps out of his skin at the sound of his voice. He lets a sigh of relief out when he turns to find Nigel.
"I was going to support you guys. I know you said you guys could handle this, but I can't hide while someone else defends my home," Ian says tapping the gun.
"Where are the bullets?" Nigel asks pointing at the Gatling gun.
"Oh," Ian looks at the weapon and then smiles, "I don't know."
"I figured that. What else you got?"
Ian opens the door of the building to reveal an armory of discarded weapons, Nigel's eye's sparkle.
"This is going to be fun," Nigel says, as a mischevious smile etches across his lips.

Meanwhile, on the battlefield, the rest of the Outside Counsel engage several of the enemies troops. Gris's twin blades decapitate two giants, and she dives headfirst into the fray with the other soldiers. Her movements are deliberate and apparently lethal as soldiers who clash with her collapse almost instantly. A large round soldier charges towards her clad in armor too small for his body. He squeals with two swords raised over his head. Gris smiles and waves her hands in his direction. Her gold blades zig zag through the fodder soldiers and soar towards the fat man. She's impressed when he manages to deflect the blades. As he gets closer to her Gris sticks her tongue out and does another dance the gold swords swirl into the Halberd. She bows and the Halberd splits the man in half.  She sighs and looks for more opponents.

Franc stands as still as a statue as soldiers surround him, a giant approaches him clad in armor wielding a massive shield and a sword. The soldiers cheer as the giant bangs the shield with his sword, he takes his stance and dances around for a few seconds before launching at Franc. The giant unleashes a barrage of slashes on Franc kicking up a dust cloud around him. The giant stumbles backward out of breath, as the dust subsides Franc is erect, unscathed and ticking. He lifts his arm over his head, and everything stops, as time begins again Franc is standing behind the giant. The giant's arms are liberated from his body, and his knees buckle. Franc spins around and slashes the monster in half. The soldiers around charge as the giant's torso collapses, Franc sighs. He can see the tent in the distance and continues to make his way.

A campaign of 200 soldiers clad in armor from head to toe charge towards Abraham, his bullets ricochet off the armor, he sighs and empties all his clips. He can hear the soldiers booming footsteps as they approach like a battering ram. Abraham starts to laugh and presses a button on the bottom of his revolver, a black bullet falls out, and he loads it into the chamber and pulls the trigger. The shot soars into the air and begins to expand, it transforms into a rocket and begins to plummet back to the earth. As the soldiers clad in armor approach Abraham, he disappears, and the rocket falls directly over them exploding on impact.

Abraham grabs Mineko's face and kisses her cheek as she dashes out of the shockwaves reach with him in her arms. She throws him in the air and from her hip she unsheaths her bokken. She cuts down a group of soldiers while running between the legs of a giant. A giant catches Abraham's body and hurls him at the wall of Camuji Fortress. Abraham is , and he by Lefnard's bandanna arm and slides to the ground.
"Nice catch Nigel," Abraham shouts
"Yeah, whatever, you messed up my grand comeback," Nigel drops several weapons into Lefnard and a massive arm comprised of several weapons lifts in the air from the top of Camuji Fortress's wall.
Lefnard points his cannon index finger towards the blue tent, and Nigel shouts, "Fire!"
Bullets and cannonballs fire from every part of the arm, riddling the battlefield with holes and explosions. The tent unfolds and becomes a heavy blue curtain that absorbs the attack. A billow of smoke rises in the air from the arm, as the smoke clears on the battlefield three golden shields protect Gris, Franc, and Mineko. Nigel waves at them and shouts, "Sorry guys!"
Abraham looks up at Nigel and raises his thick eyebrow, starts to laugh and shake his head.  A rustling sound ripples through the bodies scattered across the field followed by a loud hiss. The soldiers and Giants bodies begin to stir as the hissing subsides. Nigel leaps off the wall and is caught by Lefnard and placed gently on the ground. Abraham tilts his head at Lefnard and the hand waves.
The soldiers begin to rise, riddled with holes, gashes, and other mortal wounds. The giant Franc severed in half stands again with a snake binding the two halves.
"Now that's interesting," Gris says to herself before she starts to dance and the shields launch into the air and transform into her giant golden sword. She cuts down the giant, and the snake pulls him back together, Gris raises her eyebrow and whistles the sword is at her side in a split second. Franc and Mineko begin to make their way towards Gris. They cut down the soldiers that stand before them, but only for them to rise again. Nigel and Abraham stand back to back mowing down the soldiers with bullets, but they continue to rise. Abraham grabs Nigel and says, "Throw us towards the others." Lefnard scoops them up and throws them towards Mineko and the others. When they land, the bucket soars over the battlefield dumping the contents out. It lands next to Nigel with a thud. The dead soldiers surround the O.C as they stand back to back.
"So, what do we do?" Nigel asks
"We need a plan," Franc says, everyone touches Franc as he stops time.
"This is cool, It's like a timeout," Nigel says poking pushing soldiers over.
"It looks like necromancy." Nigel says, "These guys are dead."
"No witch chances Anitabin," Gris says.
"What's Anitabin?" Nigel asks
"We don't have time for explanations," Gris says, "This isn't necromancy, the snakes are manipulating the bodies."
"You brought it up," Nigel says, and everyone just looks at him.
"How can we defeat the snakes?" Abraham asks.
"We'll scare them out," Franc says blood stains the clock mask.
"You're holding too long," Gris says slamming her hand into Franc's chest.
Time suddenly begins again, and the soldiers advance. Gris starts to dance in the middle of the members of the OC. Her gold swords melt, and the three balls burrow into the ground successively. As Gris continues to dance she claps her hands five times, does a front flip and the ground starts to rumble. The OC leap in unison as a giant honey badger, the size of a lion, burst from the soil. The honeybadger starts to shake, and a silver dust begins to fill the air. The silver dust covers the badger in a silver armor, and it roars.
It's massive claws glisten in the sunlight as it sniffs the air. It starts to hiss at the soldiers around it. A soldier approaches and the badger jabs him with his claw removing the snake instantly and slurping it like a noodle. The badger lunges into the crowd of snake driven soldiers and Giants and rips them to pieces. The OC land in front of the blue curtain, in the distance they see a group of giants run from the badger and race towards the wall of Camuji Fortress. The first giant slams into the wall and explodes on impact.
The wall cracks and a chunk falls off.
Nigel shouts, "I got it!"
He takes off his peg leg and drops it in Lefnard. A wooden arm erupts from the bucket, and Nigel grabs onto Lefnard's handle and rides his bucket towards the giants.  Nigel scoops his mop up from the battlefield and drops a thick mop string in Lefnard. The thick braided mop strings launch forward like tentacles tripping up the giants causing them to fall and explode. Nigel leaps off Lefnard and onto a giant's shoulder. He pulls the giant's ear, and it turns towards three other giants. He flips off his shoulder as the giants collide and explode. Nigel is caught by Lefnard and shielded from the blast. Only five giants remain, and they are all too far apart to attack at once. Nigel quickly scans the battlefield to figure out a way to stop the giant;s. He throws his arm up in frustration and Lefnard launches into the sky, dumping its contents out. Nigel watches as Lefnard lands upside down on top of the wall. There's a low grumbling coming from the wall, and Nigel gets closer to it pressing his ear against it. The Giants get closer, and Nigel turns around, five giant left arms made of stone bursts from the wall. Nigel opens and closes all 5 of his fists and punches all the giant's simultaneously causing a massive explosion that sends him flying into the wall. As the debris clears, the wall is still standing unscathed and without its five arms. Nigel is unconscious at the foot of the wall with Lefnard covering his head.

At the opposite end of the battlefield, the rest of the O.C watch Nigel's display of sheer awesomeness. The field is littered with the bodies of soldiers, on top of a mound, the honey badger lies on its back with a swollen belly in a comatose state. King Frederic applauds Nigel's ability and catches everyone's attention.
He smiles greedily at them and asks, "How much do they pay you for your services?"
Franc scoffs, and a large man steps forward equal in height to Frac, King Frederic clears his throat. The man stands down, and Franc says, "Our abilities happen to be in the favor of Camuji Fortress. They are not our employers, we have no allegiance to the people here."
King Frederic bursts into laughter and asks, "Then why? Why stand in my way?"
"You have something we want," Franc says approaching King Frederic's throne he stops time and has a chance to analyze the Kings guard. The largest man has a cleaver behind his back, the man that approached him is reaching for his morning star, a smaller man dressed as a jester has daggers, and the woman's eyes glow green. Time resumes, and Franc immediately bows, King Frederic's guards back down instantly.
"Ain't that something," King Frederic says, "You're standing in front of something I want."
"Let's make a wager," Franc says, King Frederic's eyebrows raise.
"What kind of wager?" He asks.
"A battle, my team versus your guard.," Franc replies.
The King bursts into laughter and says, "You want to face off against my personal guard? Do you have any idea who I am?"
"King Frederic," Gris chimes, the king's guard glares at her, and she smiles uneasily.
"I am King Frederic XCVII, of the Frederic Empire. My armies have conquered entire continents in Titanluxe, you all standing before me is naught but a hill to trample. You may have taken out my soldiers, my Giants, them revived as zombies even. But to say you can defeat my guard. That is insulting. I accept your challenge," King Frederic says.
"What about the wager?" Franc asks.
"I want Camuji Fortress, that's all that matters. My guard will decimate your team, and we'll use your long corpse to build a staircase," King Frederic says bursting into laughter. His guard laughs with him.
"One on one matches, you pick your fighter, and I'll pick my mine. The first one to submit or become immobile is the loser."
The king laughs even harder and says, "This guy is cracking me up, Titus rip 'em to pieces."
The jester with the daggers steps forward he licks his lips and glares at Mineko and Gris. His hair falls to his shoulders in greasy curls, and his outfit is unsightly ill-fitting.
"I'll make this quick for you, Abraham, you're up."
Abraham tilts his hat and steps forward, Titus sighs and asks, "Can I kill him sir? I want to play with the girls."
"Of course you can. I want to use the bodies to decorate the entrance  of Frederic Fortress."
Titus starts to laugh maniacally and turns to Abraham. He tilts his hat and smiles at Titus, he wiggles his fingers next to the hilt of his revolver. There's a loud bang signaling the beginning of the battle, Titus lunges, and Abraham pulls out his gun.

END!

The battle for Camuji Fortress is truly about to begin. Stay tuned for part 3 of the 3rd Task.

Release date: March 17, 2017, God Willing.

3rd Task: Camuji Fortress (Part 1)

Nigel is startled awake by a blaring alarm that rings throughout the Outside, he grabs his mop and Lefnard rises over him made of books. He looks around and remembers that he's still in the library, and he's made quite a mess in his search for answers. The alarm stops and he takes his time putting the books back, a small Out girl appears next to him, "Thank you," she says.

Nigel starts to smile, "I knew you guys could speak, and you're welcome."

She returns his smile as the door to the library opens and Mineko steps inside rolling the thick black bandages over her body.

"Morning Mineko," Nigel says as Lefnard lifts him in the air to replace a book.

"Good morning Nigel, did you hear the alarm?" she asks

"Yeah, it scared me awake," He responds chuckling, "What was that for anyway?"

"It's the prep alarm before a TASK is initiated the alarm tells everyone to get ready," she says as an Out man appears before her with her bokken raised over his head.

"I'm always ready," Nigel says shrugging, "how do we know when the mission starts?"

"Oh, you'll simply," Mineko starts to say but disappears in a flash of light.

"Ah," Nigel says as he takes the last book out of Lefnard making his arm of books disappear. The Out girl chuckles as Nigel turns to her then a warming light engulfs him.

"Your mission is about to begin, your assignment is as follows. Good luck!



Nigel Storm

Age: 18

Title: The Adventurer: Model: Pirate

Assignment:
Defeat all enemies.
Clear a path.
Defend the wall.
Crush your opponent.
TASK:
Give peace to Meander with "Total En" ability."



The 4th world of BellCrone is Titanluxe, the world where mythology and reality collide. Titanluxe has the largest population of different races in all of BellCrone's worlds. Gray skies in Titanluxe are rare and often the result of a war on the horizon. For a small country in the Bazz Mountains, the tumultuous skies spell a different story. The Kingdom is known as Camuji, which is surrounded by a 20-foot wall that protected its citizens from invasion from other countries. However, the wall did not prevent a disease from seeping into the water and killing everyone over the age of 16 four years ago. Today, the country is governed by children who have learned to farm the land and live off of all its natural resources. The 12 daughters and the 3 sons of the former King act as the leaders of the small country leading their people in light and love.

Approximately ten days ago a large bird landed on the wall, observed the country from various angles and left in the direction from which it came.  The 2nd oldest son of the Hawke family,  Ian notes the actions of the bird and reports it to his oldest brother Bryant, who dismisses it as a random act. Ian tells his other siblings of the bird's behaviors and no one listens to him. On the fourth day Mineko appeared in the middle of the fortress in a flash of light, she was disarmingly beautiful yet fierce at the same time. Bryant welcomed Mineko as a guest and over dinner she announced that the kingdom would be invaded in 8 days. Believing that Mineko was a bringer of Misfortune he had her locked her away in the dungeon of the castle. Mineko did not put up a fight against the untrained child guards and went to the cell quietly. Ian knew that Mineko was on to something and for the last 7 days he stood on watch in his tower with his telescope watching the horizon. On the 8th day, a large army marched towards the fortress. As Ian slept he was unaware of the danger that inched closer with every passing moment. By sheer luck, a light flashes and Nigel appears stumbling backward and slamming into the massive bell that hung low in the tower. The clanging of the bell rang through Comuji and all the citizens were jolted awake. Nigel looks over the edge of the tower and watches as the doors of the homes in the town fly open and children of all ages pour out into the street.

"What's that bell mean?" asks a small child

"I've never heard it," says one of the older children

The bell stops and Nigel turns to find Ian wrapped around the clapper.

He chuckles and addresses the children gathered below, "I'm sorry, I was sleep walking."

The children below all sigh and laugh and talk amongst themselves about how silly Prince Ian is. Ian turns to find Nigel shaking his head, "Why'd you lie? Your countries in danger and you sent a bunch of children back to bed."

"What are you talking about?" Ian asks not even thinking to ask who he is.

"I'm referring to the swarm of soldiers heading this way," Nigel says using his mop to point in the direction of the approaching army.

Ian scoffs and uses his telescope to look in the direction. As soon as he spots the soldiers he scans them quickly to find the bird perched on a man's shoulder in the middle of the army.

He can't help but watch and panic, "I've got to tell my brother, I've got to save everyone, where will we go?" He finally manages to pull his gaze away from the telescope and turns to Nigel who simply shrugs.

"Ian!" Bryant shouts from below, "Why did you ring the bell?" Ian looks over the edge his body rigid with fear.

"Say something," Nigel encouraged

"They're coming," Ian sputters, "An army is coming!"

Bryant pinches the bridge of his nose and he shouts in a surprisingly high pitched voice, "Get down her right now!"

Nigel pushes Ian off the tower and the children scream and gasp in shock. As he plummets Nigel drops his bandanna in Lefnard at his feet, a large cloth hand leaps from the bucket and catches Ian by the foot hanging him upside down in front of his brother.

Nigel leaps on the arm and slides down and lands on one foot. Lefnard places Ian next to him and Nigel tugs the bucket out of the tower and catches it with his mop, "I'm Nigel, you've got an army coming at you. What's your plan?"

"Guards!" Bryant shouts, to the top of his lungs, his face turning red and veins pulse on his forehead. In a moment Nigel and Ian are surrounded by guards wielding halberds, "Take them to the dungeon!"

"Brother, there really is an army," Ian insist and Bryant begins to scream and stomp his feet.

"Noooooooo! I refuse!" Bryant shouts, foaming at the mouth out of anger.


The door to a small cellar next to the castle swings open and Nigel and Ian are forced inside. As soon as the door closes a light turns on and the room is illuminated, despite it being a dungeon the decor is gorgeous. Mineko isn't the only one in the cellar, Franc, and Gris are there as well. Franc nods towards Nigel and when Nigel opens his mouth, he raises his hand and says, "Please no questions, I was sent here a day after Mineko and when I offered to teach that little wretch Bryant how to fight and protect his country he locked me in here. Gris came only hours after me and suffered the same treatment. I hope that answers any questions that you might have had."

"Where's Abraham?" Nigel asks laughing knowing he got Franc upset.

"Leave him be Franc, being inquisitive is his nature," Mineko says

"Hi Gris," Nigel says, she raises her eyebrow, scoffs and turns away from him.

"What was going on when you arrived?" Mineko asks

"An army was approaching from the West mountains at least 1,000 soldiers were heading towards Camuji," Ian says

"You wish kid, that was easily 3 to 5 thousand soldiers," Nigel says, "What kind of army is this kingdom working with?"

"Camuji no longer has an army, four years ago everyone over the age of 16 was killed by some disease. There are only kids and babies in this kingdom, my oldest brother Bryant is our leader, my 14 siblings and I were the youngest of the royal Hawke family and we care for those that remain," Ian says

"Such a burden for children to bear," Mineko says embracing Ian squeezing him against her hard body, "We'll protect you."

"So, what are we doing O.C?"

"Waiting for the signal," Franc replies

"What signal?" Nigel asks Franc sighs and moves so quickly that no one is able to follow him. The sound of crashing and screams rip through the air followed by a loud explosion. Time slows down as a boulder crashes through the roof of the cellar and in an instant everyone reappears outside unscathed. Franc sheaths his long sword and says, "That one."

"How did you do that?" Ian asks before Nigel can.

"My clock mask allows me to see seconds into the future and move whoever or whatever I please so that I'm always ahead," Franc replies before adjusting the time on his face to 12 am the witching hour.

A whistling sound can be heard overhead and a large boulder falls from the sky. Mineko reaches for her bokken, but Gris claps her hands and does a three step dance in an instant manifesting her three golden orbs. They transform into golden spikes and slam into the boulder shattering it instantly, Gris does another dance and the floating gold balls combine and transform into a massive golden blade.

"Showing off Gris?" Mineko teases

"My assignment is to go all out. I'm expecting this to be fun," Gris says floating in the air.

More boulders fall from overhead and Franc takes the lead, he leaps on the roof of a house and begins to cut the boulders to pieces before they can hit the ground. Mineko and the others watch as Franc cuts down boulder after boulder as if it were nothing more than paper.

"What about my family?" Ian asks after being brought back to reality when he's struck by a small rock.

There's a flash of light and Abraham appears, a shot rings out and another boulder is obliterated, he tilts his hat, holsters his gun and says, "I'll be taking care of them."

"Good, follow me," Ian says looking up at the chunk of the castle that was now missing.

"No," Abraham lifts his revolver and shoots Ian at point blank range. His body glows as he's lifted off his feet and takes a few steps backward, the glow wears off and he looks at the O.C.

"Why'd you shoot me?" Ian asks feeling for a hole in his chest

"That was a safety shot it was supposed to teleport you to the safest place within 100 miles," Abraham says shocked.

"Camuji Fortress is the safest place in all of the Bazz Mountains, we are the only humans for at least 3,000 miles around the wall. Isolation is its first defense," Ian says

Mineko chuckles, "Not gonna be so easy this time huh?"

"I noticed," Abraham says dumping all the safety bullets on the ground, "Where are your siblings?"

"Probably cowering in the castle, we don't have any evacuation protocol or any kind of defense measurements outside of the wall being 20 feet tall and being in an isolated location."

Abraham looks up to the castle and says, "I hope no one was crushed."

"No, they should be fine, our parent's old wing was destroyed, none of us ever went there. Everyone should be on the other side," Ian says heading towards the front of the castle. He bursts through the front doors with Mineko, Abraham, Gris, and Nigel. He shouts, "Hawke family!" Followed by an interesting whistle, a moment later the whistle is returned from several different areas of the castle.

"Everyone is safe," Ian says, "What do we do now?"

"What about all your people?" Nigel asks, "I saw a bunch of kids appear when I rang the bell. Where are they now?"

"Most likely in the tunnels beneath the fortress. The tunnels were built for easy travel in the winter months. There's an entire bazaar beneath our feet, I'm sure after the explosion they all must have fled to that area," Bryant says appearing at the top of the stairs, he throws back his shaggy hair and addresses the O.C, "I will speak with the leader of this army. I will offer him all of our treasure, we have no need for silks, fine metals, and precious gems."

Nigel wrinkles his brow, "Um, they catapulted boulders over your wall and destroyed part of your castle."

"I am aware, but once we wave our white flag of surrender we will give him the treasure and he will leave," Bryant says

"What if they don't leave?" Mineko asks

"What if they decide they want all the women and children?" Nigel asks

"What if they want this fortress and everyone in it as a slave?" Gris asks

Bryant has an appalled expression on his face and says, "No one turns down treasure. If I give it to them willingly they will leave."

"This kid is clueless," Abraham says

"Guards!" Bryant shouts, as a vein throbs in his forehead, a group of guards appears seemingly out of nowhere with halberds.

Abraham lifts his hat and looks around, the OC all have their hands up and he chuckles, "Ya see kid,"

He starts to say as he lets off a volley of shots hitting all the guards, "When dealing with people you don't know. You never know what they are capable of."

Bryant's face turns ash white and he is terrified by Abraham, "Did you just kill them?"

"No, I put them all to sleep with Sanctuary Bunny Bullets," Abraham says, he spins his gun on his finger and holsters it. Gris glares at him and tilts her head, she does a quick dance and the triangle window opens and the gray bunny appears. He looks up to Gris, and she squats down and whispers in his ear. The bunny leaps back in the window and returns a few seconds later, she smiles and says, "I didn't know if one of you were hurt. Just making sure."

The bunny disappears and the triangle window closes and the golden orbs return to their golden blade form. Abraham laughs and says, "I wouldn't hurt an innocent animal. I have a great appreciation for all that they do for us."

"Mhm, if you had, you wouldn't be alive," Gris says and she turns on her heel and storms out of the castle. From the door Gris launches into the air with her giant golden sword flying behind her.

Bryant is awed by Gris and seems to swoon, "Such a powerful presence."
Ian clears his throat and Bryant looks to him, "Ah, yes. Let's gather the treasure shall we?"

"This kid still doesn't get it," Abraham says, he takes off his hat and rubs his thick eyebrows.

Nigel sighs and says, "That army wasn't put together just for treasure. They are coming for more than that. A lot more than that and if you don't come up with a plan to stand your ground and fight then you're all as good as dead."

"Well said," Franc says appearing in the doorway, "I took the opportunity to gauge our enemy, they have 20 giants on their side, that's how those boulders were flying over the wall. They are still a few miles away, but they will be here before dawn. The risk of them attacking tonight is slim. Engaging a fortress at night is not ideal for any army no matter how formidable they think they are. It's not strategic."

"So, we basically have a few hours? I'm assuming they stopped throwing boulders because they ran out?" Mineko asks.

"Yeah," Franc replies, "There is a group in the midst of the army that seems to be the main bulk of the power. Everything else is intimidation, the 3,000 men are pawns. Not saying the soldiers and giants aren't formidable, but against Mineko, Gris, and I there is not many who can contend."

"What do they look like?" Nigel asks

"Who?" Franc asks

"The people in the middle of the army, what did they look like that made you say they are the power of the army?"

"They were surrounding a king," Gris hisses from the door, her golden blade is shaped like a large spyglass, "Franc's the leader, the strategist. Stop questioning him."

Mineko and Abraham keep quiet, but Franc says, "Thank you Gris," Franc says, "Now, back to what I was saying. They won't attack at night, but I'm sure they will try something to shake up the fortress. Abraham, I'm assuming you've been assigned to the safety of the citizens. Please take both the Princes of Camuji Fortress to their siblings. The rest of you know your assignments, complete them as the occasion calls. Until then we must wait."

I don't want to go," Ian says, "I want to fight for my kingdom."

"Come, brother, you are speaking nonsense. Let these beings sent from nowhere protect us. You heard them, they have assignments," Bryant says wiping his brow with a silk handkerchief. Ian scoffs and runs out of the doors and Nigel quickly races behind him.

"Hey, it's dangerous out here," Nigel says chasing him.

"My brother is a coward!" Ian shouts, "That boy is as spineless as a snake."

"Calm down," Nigel says catching up to him, "You're brother's a jerk, but you guys raised yourselves. Of course, you're all gonna have major character flaws."

They find themselves climbing up the tower steps and onto the 20-foot wall, in the distance the army continues to get closer. The giant's silhouettes can be made out amongst the smaller soldiers.

"How are you going to fight against them? This Fortress was designed to keep single monsters out one at a time. There used to be a tale told in the village about an evil horde of monsters that once swept over the village, but at the time the wall was only 10 feet tall and then they added the other 10 feet on top of that to keep the monsters out."

"Pretty cool story," Nigel says, "We're the Outside Counsel, we specialize in shit like this. Don't worry about your kingdom you're in good hands."

Ian looks up to Nigel and for the first time shows his true age and begins to cry.

"Thank you so much," he manages between sobs. They watch the sun begin to fade away behind the mountain.

"Let's get back inside," Nigel says, he drops his bandana in Lefnard. They retreat to the castle where the O.C remained. Gris is sitting in a massive golden throne in the middle of the room, Mineko is meditating in the corner and Franc is as still as a statue when Nigel and Ian walk in.

"You've been gone awhile," Gris says, "I know you're nothing like Pearl, so what have you been up too?"

"Why am I not like Pearl because I didn't leap off the wall and charge head first into enemy lines? Well, you're right I'm nothing like Pearl, but I've got an assignment and I've got a plan. Did I show you last time what I was capable of?" Nigel asks offended

"Yeah, cute water arm," Gris says laughing at herself, "Don't take me too seriously kid. I don't like people very much."

He uses his bandanna arm to giver her a thumbs up, Franc begins to move slowly as if he's ticking. He stops and says, "We're no longer alone."

12 seconds later on the dot, a swarm of goblins pour through the door wielding all manner of weapons. Gris cheers and gets up from her throne. As she begins to dance, the throne lifts over her head and slams into the closest goblins. She cackles as more goblins climb over their brethren. Gris continues to dance and the throne transforms into the golden blade and begins to cut down the goblins from behind.

Time stops and Franc cuts the wall of the castle to pieces. As time speeds up again the wall crumbles and goblins swarm the city like an ocean. They pour over the walls of Camuji Fortress as if it were a waterfall.

Mineko opens her eyes and gets up slowly. As she rises to her feet she swings her bokken from the hip creating a shockwave that mows down part of the goblin horde. Ian is wowed by the sheer awesomeness of the O.C and looks to Nigel.

"What are you going to do?" He asks

"Oh, I haven't decided what I want to use yet," he replies

"What do you mean?"

Nigel laughs and removes his bandanna from Lefnard and ties it over his mouth. A goblin wielding a goblin dagger rushes towards them, Nigel lifts his mop to defend but it gets snagged on lamp mounted on the wall. The goblin snickers and approaches them twisting the shiny blade between his clawed fingers. Nigel tugs the mop and pulls the lantern off the wall and it ends up falling onto the goblins head. Ian and Nigel cringe as the goblins dagger spins in the air and lands in Lefnard.

Nigel's eye flashes with stars and he shouts, "Goblin Metal Arm!" A giant's arm made of the white shiny goblin metal bursts from the bucket and waves. Nigel laughs as the goblins immediately begin to retreat, but he uses Lefnard to completely decimate the goblins around him.

"Whoa," Ian manages as Nigel holds on to the buckets handle and begins to rampage out of the castle and into the city.

Franc, Mineko, and Gris finish up the remaining goblins inside the castle before moving outside. Mineko sticks close to Ian making sure he's safe.

"I can fight you know," he says.

"Sure, just stay behind me so you won't have too," she replies, her orange eyes warm.

Gris spins and her sword stretches and gets larger, and turns into a shield as arrows rain down. The shield protects everyone and shrinks immediately.

Gris leaps towards the wall, but shots ring out and all the archers crumble from the wall.

Abraham appears and says, "I can't let you have all the fun."

"You said they wouldn't attack at night!" Bryant shouts from behind Abraham, "You said we would be safe until morning."

"I didn't know they had goblins and dark elves with them," Franc says removing the head of a goblin with ease.

"Well goblins never appear without an Ogre King," Gris says, "if the goblins are still coming around that means the Ogre King must be lurking nearby."

As soon as Gris finishes speaking a large ogre easily 9 feet tall falls over the wall and lands before the O.C. It roars and produces a massive goblin metal club with spikes. It slams the club and no one in the O.C even moves, they look up at the beast and it stares at them. It tilts his head and goblins surround him tilting their heads growling and sneering at them.

"The source!" Nigel shouts as he leaps off the roof of the castle followed by the giant goblin metal arm, Lefnard hits the ground first and the hand catches Nigel. He puts himself down and the metal arm slams down on the Ogre King. The goblins disperse immediately after the king is crushed. Nigel waves as they all scurry over the wall, "With no Ogre King goblins flee with no loyalty."

For the remainder of the night the O.C took turns to keep watch over the Camuji Fortress, Franc was on duty first and as the sky darkened, even more, two girls approach him on the wall with tea and biscuits.

"Hi, I'm Sammi Hawke," one of the girls says,

"And I'm Tammi Hawke, were twins," the other finishes.

"I can tell, why are you awake so late?" Franc asks taking the tea, from Sammi who has three braids.

"We are the night owls, were always up late at night and often wander the kingdom," Tammi replies

"The kingdom is in danger and our oldest brother Bryant is a coward," Sammi says.

"We sleep all day so that we can ignore him," Tammi finishes, "Ian told us that you are here to protect us."

Franc chuckles, "Something like that. You two should head back to the bazaar with the others. Although the walls are high the army of goblins was able to get over, and they've still got those giants. I don't want any citizens of the kingdom getting in the way."

The girls smile at Franc and embrace him at the same time, "thank you for saving us."

He lifts his arms and is careful not to spill his tea. The girls let go and leave the biscuits on the wall next to him. Silence falls as the kingdoms residents take cover in the tunnels beneath the kingdom. In the distance, Franc can see a large tent drawn up in the midst of the army, but what gets Franc's attention is the faint blue globe surrounding the tent. The soldiers begin to move, from the sound of clinking armor Franc can tell that they are ready for a full-scale invasion.

Pearl Ibi

Pearl Ibi

Name: Pearl Ibi Alias/Epithet: Ginger Snap DOB: 9/28 Age: 17	Ht: 5’3  Wt: 98 lbs. Eye Color: Brown Hair Color: Red World of Origin: Vapor Punk	Title: Adventurer Model: Super Hero Guardian Overall Grade: B
Attributes: Pearl is super strong, durable, and fast as long as she is paying attention. The moment she stops paying attention she becomes completely vulnerable.	Personality: Pearl is brave, and extremely happy. She has an immense willpower to overcome even the most terrifying obstacles. Distinguishing Features: Red Hair Freckles	Power Grid: Intelligence: 2 Normal Strength: 3 Peak Human Speed: 5 Supersonic Durability: 5 Bullet Proof Energy Projection: 1 None Fighting Ability: 4 Experienced Fighter

http://theoutsidecounselofbellcrone.blogspot.com/?m=1

2nd Task: Replacements

2nd Task: Replacements



"Welcome, Nigel Storm," says a disembodied voice in a dark room, "You've been selected to act as a guardian of the Outside Counsel. Due to your abilities and strengths, you will assume the role of The Adventurer: Model: Pirate.

Before you are tossed into the fray of battle you will learn and understand your duties as a member of the Outside Counsel.

The Outside Counsel was created to protect the 5 worlds of BellCrone from threats known as Meanders. The Outside Counsel is comprised of 5 or more selected individuals to act as guardians. The guardians are represented by the 5 titles

The Knight, The Rouge, The Adventurer, The Ranger, The Mage. Each of the titles is upheld by an individual who in their own way encompasses exactly what the titles demand or fall under a subcategory thereof. Once selected as a guardian there is no declining your duty. As a member of the Outside Counsel, you will gain knowledge, power, wealth, and embark on many adventures.

Every guardian has a role to play in every TASK that is given to The Outside Counsel. A TASK is a mission to save one of or all 5 of the worlds from a hostile living threat, better known as a Meander. Meanders are powerful individuals from other dimensions endowed with abilities unbeknownst to the 5 world of BellCrone. During each TASK every guardian is graded on their assignment completion as well as their ability to assist the team. If a guardian fails two consecutive missions or 5 total missions they will be deemed "Unfit" and forced to leave their title in shame. The consequences of being a guardian are severe and can even be brutal. A guardian serves their time until they are killed in the midst of a battle against a Meander. When a guardian is killed during battle they are immediately whisked back to their 'Life' and have no recollection of their time served, but live on until they are meant to end. Nigel Storm as The Adventurer your role is to leap into battle fearlessly and mow down any foes who stand before you.

Your first mission is about to begin, your assignment is as follows. Good luck!



Nigel Storm

Age: 18

Title: The Adventurer: Model: Pirate

Assignment:

Display your strengths and protect The Mage.

TASK:

Destroy Meander with "God Complex" ability

"Wait! What? I'm not a fighter!" shouts Nigel as he is enveloped by a warm light.

In a flash, he is transported to the current TASK.



In the 3rd world of BellCrone in a small kingdom by the ocean, a man was recently dubbed a God by the people due to an undeniable display of god-like powers. The man was praised by the people after he redirected the flow of an erupting volcano with his mind. He gained the attention of the Queen when he quelled the quaking earth with a simple touch. The King of the kingdom was ecstatic to have a man with such power in his domain and invited him to the castle. The man was tall, packed with muscle, and wore lavish silk garments. He indulged the kingdom's royal family with stories of grandeur and adventure. The King applauded the man's story and invited him to stay in the kingdom and serve as his advisor.

"You don't even know the man's name yet you offer him such a position?" The Queen boldly asks

The King's brow wrinkles, he opens his mouth to respond, but the Queen continues, "We don't even know what he is called."

She glares at him, her features are sharp like swords, her eyes cold like ice. The man doesn't falter, as the King opens his mouth to respond, he bows and says, "Please forgive me, I am a simple traveler. I explore the earth beneath my feet to see all that there is to see. You may call me Tiandrey Goodfellow, I have no home and I never look back. What lies behind me is forgotten."

The King applauds, "Tiandrey, you have such a way with words, in your travels, you should write, you can begin with our fountain."

The Queen glares at the King and all the soldiers in the room gasp.

"He saved us from Mt. Rex's molten wave," the King says standing from his throne. The king's features are more square than the Queens, and he's much taller than she is.

"I have no interests in treasure, or writing, my only wish is to see what lies before me and forget what's in my wake," Tiandrey says

"Nonsense, there is no sight like our fountain," The king says as he grabs Tiandrey by the arm and guides him down a long narrow corridor.

The King is followed by the Queen and twenty guards. Tiandrey is dragged through a series of corridors and finally, after only walking down 3 steps, they stop at a small wooden door.

"The Queen and I shall escort our guest beyond this point," The king announces as he places his hand on the door knob, the sound of chains falling, and bolts unlocking fills the small hallway and the door swings open. A vacuum sucks the King, Queen, and Tiandrey into the room, the sound of rushing water fills the air, the smell of wet permeates the air, and there is a moist taste to the air. Tiandrey finds himself standing on a platform surrounded by jagged stalagmites jutting upwards six feet in the air in some areas and in others only 3 feet. Beyond the stalagmite, wall water crashes from literal stone mouths on etched into the face of a jagged wall.

"This fountain is known as the 'Gossiping Gods'" the King says, his cheeks blushing red as he admires the beauty of his small kingdoms treasure. The Queen is at Tiandrey's side when and asks, "Have you ever seen anything so stunningly perfect before?"

"I have, in my travels," Tiandrey says, the Queens brow wrinkles and he continues, "of course this is one of the only marvels left. The others have been-"

Tiandrey is cut off by a flash of light and the sound of two gunshots. The King and Queen are sent flying through the door, the guards are sucked in and the door slams shut.

"Didn't know about the vacuum, sorry to have gotten you all involved in this," Abraham's calm voice says as the bright light fades.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?" One of the guards says drawing his sword. His fellows in arms join him and they stand shoulder to shoulder surrounding Tiandrey. He stands amongst the soldiers towering over each of them. Abraham chuckles, "Law Man Abraham of the Outside Counsel and I have my means."

"What did you do to the King and Queen?" The guard shouts

"Saved them, I hit them both with safety shots. They take whatever it hits to the safest place in 100 miles," Abraham says stepping forward with his hands up dangling his Glock 9mm's by their handles.

There is another flash of light and in the middle of the platform Gris appears, she doesn't say a word instead she begins to dance. The soldiers watch her confused by her sudden appearance, in an instant Abraham drops his guns in his holsters expertly and pulls out his Magnum Revolver, he aims at Tiandrey's head and pulls the trigger, the bullet cuts through the air the shell of the bullet explodes and the bullet begins to spin even faster. Tiandrey smirks and the bullet changes its direction and one of the soldier's head explodes. The guard closest to the fallen soldier drops to his knee removing the soldier's gauntlet from his wrist and tossing it in the air, a second later it explodes.

Abraham is shocked, and is caught off guard as a guard charges towards him with a battle ax raised over his head, "I shall avenge you, father!" He shouts.

Abraham pulls the trigger again and the soldier's leg is blown clean off. The soldier falls face forward and Abraham removes his hat, "Sorry Kid."

The other guards 18 remaining guards charge Abraham all at once while Tiandrey watches intently. As the guards closed the distance between them and Abraham two more flashes of light blind them momentarily. Both Franc and Mineko appear and charge forward. They engage the soldiers in an epic clash. Both Franc and Mineko's swordsmanship is unique and with ease, they overwhelm all 18 of the soldiers at once. Tiandrey begins to applaud, the soldiers retreat to his side. One of the soldiers shouts, "The God will protect us!"

They all begin to cheer and Tiandrey glares at them and chuckles. His voice is low and deep, "You are in my wake, none of you shall live beyond this day."

He looks to the soldiers, his eyes flash red and they all step forward. They lift their swords, charge forward blindly wielding the blades with deadly precision. Mineko leaps over the soldiers and with blinding speed races towards Tiandrey. She leaps in the air with her bokken overhead when she gets within striking distance he trades places with four guards. She pulls her attack but still manages to deflect each of theirs.

A volley of shots bounce off the walls and all the soldiers are slammed in the chest with large bullets.

"I just put them to sleep," Abraham says reloading his twin Glocks.

Tiandrey starts to laugh and asks, "Why do you mere humans stand before me with toys?"

"Aren't you human?" Franc asks

"I am superior to humans, unlike you. I have transcended all," Tiandrey says.

"If you're superior? What are you?"

"I am a God!" Tiandrey shouts laughing darkly with his arms at his sides, "Let me show you."

Tiandrey closes his eyes and starts to whisper the soldiers rise from the ground seemingly still unconscious, audibly he says "fight to the death until only four of you remain."

The soldiers begin to roar and in a matter of seconds, they begin a deadly battle. A soldier is stabbed through the heart and 3 seconds later his body explodes, setting off a chain of explosions. In an instant, only 7 soldiers are left standing.

Tiandrey applauds howls as blood splatters the platform, body parts littering the untouched stalagmite wall. He wipes the blood from his own face and licks his hand.

"Delightful isn't it? This king is so barbaric if his soldier's heart stops their bodies explode. You all must be used to the carnage of this caliber not one of you have looked away," Tiandrey says.

"You are no God," Franc shouts as he approaches Tiandrey with blinding speed, he turns the clock on his face to read 7:07 and jabs his sword in Tiandrey's direction. Tiandrey claps his hands, "This is where I show you how much of a God I am."

One of the soldiers leaps in front of Franc's attack and starts to slow down. Tiandrey pulls a small razor from his pocket and stabs the tip of his finger. He touches the guard affected by Franc's ability. The guard begins to transform into some kind of tick-tock beast.

"I'll call this one, Puzzle."

Puzzle's body is made up of cogs and gears, he begins to spin adjust to Franc's ability and charged towards him. Mineko dashes towards Puzzle to intercept, but is cut off by another soldier. Mineko swings her bokken and the guard guards against her attack, Tiandrey flicks blood towards the soldier, the blood splatters over the man's face and in an instant, the soldier's body is rippled with muscle and he grows twice his original size, his sword transforms into a metal club.

"I'll call this one Brawn." The soldier manages to push Mineko backward, the sheer force of the club forces her to make a hasty retreat. She flips backward away from the brute. Another soldier appears behind her and a shot rings out.

"I was hoping you'd do that," Tiandrey says as the bullet knocks the soldier off his feet, he spills blood on the soldier, and says, "This one will be called Bullseye." The soldiers get up and toss his sword at Abraham who shots at the sword. The bullet curves around the sword and slams into Bullseye's chest and he absorb it. The sword grazes Abraham.

 "What did he just do?" Abraham shouts

"He manipulated our attacks and enhanced the soldiers based on the elements of our strengths. He's no normal Meander," Franc says

"You are quite intelligent for a lesser being," Tiandrey says, standing over the fourth guard. He raises his hand snaps the man's neck then drips blood into his open mouth. The man begins to spin and his contorted body stops with the man in a handstand.

"I'll call this one, Boa," the man seems to coil around Tiandrey like a snake, "Go kill the dancing girl."

"Abraham! Gris needs cover," Franc shouts as he clashes over and over with Puzzle.

Abraham unleashes a barrage of shots in every direction, but they all redirect towards Bullseye.

"He's got me locked in," Abraham shouts reloading his guns, while Bullseye recovers from the bullet holes.

"If only Pearl were here," Franc says

"Not now Franc! Don't start your depression shit now," Mineko shouts

"Why not? If she were here we wouldn't be in this predicament," Franc says as he avoids Puzzle's attacks with ease.

Boa moves towards Gris on his stomach as she continues to dance unbeknownst to the danger that approaches. Mineko feigns an attack against the oversized soldier and leaps over him and races towards Boa. Brawn roars and in seconds he catches up to her and swings his massive club at her, she lifts her bokken, but only manages to redirect his attack with her sword slamming it the ground. The platform begins to split but holds strong. There is a flash of light as Boa gets up on two feet with claws for hands, he covers his eyes for a moment. A short thin man covered in tattoos with a bandana on his head, an eye patch over his left eye, with a missing left arm and a left peg leg appears with a mop over his shoulder and a bucket at his feet appears. Nigel stands before Boa and tilts his head, "Are you the Mage?"

"No, he's the enemy boy," Franc shouts, "Protect the girl behind you."

Nigel turns to see Gris dancing elegantly, Boa raises his hand to impale Nigel, but the bucket on

the ground springs to life and slams into Boa's chin knocking him backward. Boa begins to spin and lunges towards Nigel from a crouching position. Nigel turns just in time to fall backward evading the attack. Boa trips over Nigel's peg leg and falls face first into the bucket breaking his neck and killing him instantly. Tiandrey growls and asks menacingly, "Who are you?"

"Nigel," he says meekly, he squats next to Boa's body and pokes him with the mop, "I don't think he's going to be okay." He lifts Boa's dead arm it falls to the ground with a resounding thud.

"Neither are you!" Tiandrey shouts he switches places with Boa's body and stands before Nigel, whom

smiles uneasily.

Tiandrey swipes at Nigel with his blade, but Nigel ducks out of the way to tie his shoe. When Tiandrey twists the blade in his hands to bring it down, Nigel stands up with the mop in his hand slamming the handle between Tiandrey's legs on accident. Nigel cringes with him and says, "Sorry."



Brawn is pushed back towards the stalagmite wall by Mineko's savage attacks with her bokken. Brawn can't find any openings in Mineko's offense and can't let up his defense for a possible chance. Suddenly, Puzzle is sent flying towards them. At the last second, Mineko does a series of backflips evading the clockwork beast as it slams into Brawn knocking him through the blood stained wall and off the edge of the platform. Both of them fall into the abyss below. Franc and Mineko turn their attention to Bullseye, who continues to absorb Abraham's shots. Abraham stops firing and Bullseye punches the ground unleashing a ton of energy he absorbed. The crack in the ground gets wider and the platform starts to make a loud splitting sound. Bullseye smiles and lifts his arms to punch the ground again, but instead of being able to punch the ground his arms are cut off. Mineko removes Bullseye's head a second later with a simple swipe of her bokken. Bullseye's body collapses and blood pools around him.

 Abraham lifts his revolver,  points it at Tiandrey and pulls the trigger. The bullet slams into Tiandrey's head lifting him off his feet and tossing him across the platform. Franc and Mineko appear at Nigel's side a moment later and they both tower over him.

"You're the new Adventurer?" Franc asks

"I think so, but there's been a mistake," Nigel says

Tiandrey's roar interrupts their conversation, "Never strike a God!"

He claps his hands and a shockwave ensues, Franc leaps in front of the shockwave and slows it down with his sword, Mineko flips over his head and cuts the shock wave causing it to dissipate instantly. Tiandrey's eyes turn red and in a flash he disappears, he's standing behind Abraham with his blade raised over his head. Abraham turns blocks Tiandrey's thrust with his revolver and rolls away putting a few feet between them. As Abraham rolls up on one knee he fires both his Glocks and two fireballs slam into his chest consuming him in flames. Abraham dashes towards the rest of the Outside Counsel as Tiandrey's boisterous laughter fills the room and reverberates off the walls.

"You are the first group to ever piss me off, but I must admit I am enjoying myself," he shouts.

Tiandrey steps forward and a halo of fire decorates his head, his hands are abnormally large, and his skin turns crimson. His mouth is large and becomes a cyclops, "In my God mode, I'd like to see how long you'll last."

With the simple swing of his arm, a tremendous gust of wind is kicked up and forces the entire O.C towards the broken wall.

Gris continues her dance despite being blown back, Nigel tumbles towards the edge of the platform. There's a loud whooshing sound and the wind suddenly stops pushing them. Nigel looks to the other members as they deflect the gust of wind as a unit towards the ceiling of the cavern.

Tiandrey starts to laugh, you are indeed going to be a blast, ready?"

In a split second, Tiandrey moves towards them as he manifests a giant club with crystal spikes. Franc and Mineko clash with him in the middle of the platform and Abraham fires a volley of shots at the behemoth. Nigel swallows and says, "I don't know what to do."

"Attack kid," Abraham spits as he reloads and continues to fire at Tiandrey who laughs with mirth as he clashes over and over with Mineko or Franc.

"I'm not a fighter," Nigel says meekly

"Then you won't last long," Abraham says as he pushes Nigel out of the way of a fireball that Tiandrey produces from his mouth, "I suggest you figure out your niche then Mr. Adventurer."

Nigel watches Franc move with precision and power as he evades Tiandrey's club by ducking down. Mineko leaps over his body with her bokken overhead, she swings downward as Tiandrey blocks with his forearm. His arm is liberated from his body with the slash, and two more arms burst from his shoulder punching Mineko sending her flying across the platform. She lands and perches on the wall as Abraham fires a massive bullet that slams into Tiandrey's chest causing him to flip through the air. Tiandrey's body slams into the wall sending debris flying everywhere.
"Damn, your coordination is immaculate, your counters are divine, and your ability is impressive, but..." Tiandrey disappears and reappears over Nigel and Gris with his club raised, "These two are your weaknesses."
He brings his club down as Franc, Mineko, and Abraham move to intervene, but to everyone's surprise, a wave shaped like a hand rushes forward. Tiandrey is thrown backward and washed across the platform by the water. He stands quickly recovering from the attack, he looks to Mineko, Franc, and Abraham who are all shocked and follows their gaze to Nigel. He is standing in front of Gris with his mop clenched in his hand and the bucket is at his feet, what's most shocking is the giant arm made of water protruding from the bucket.
"What the?"Abraham says as the
The water hand clenches into a fist and as Nigel pivots his feet the fist rushes towards Tiandrey with tremendous force knocking him backward. Tiandrey's halo is extinguished by the punch and he roars, "NO!"
Horns begin to burst from his forehead and he grows even larger, less human-like and more like a beast. He rushes towards Nigel and is confronted by Mineko and Franc. Tiandrey's new form is powerful and they are both cast aside like nothing, Abraham continues his rain of bullets, but they bounce off Tiandrey's body. He charges Abraham and lowers his head to impale him, but Nigel's water arm pushes him out of the way.
Nigel runs towards Franc and trips over his mop as Tiandrey soars over him like a torpedo. Nigel grabs his chest and rolls out of Tiandrey's way as he drags his horns through the platform towards him.

Gris produces the three golden orbs that begin to orbit around her body. The sound of thunder booms through the cavern as the three orbs slam into one another. Tiandrey continues to chase Nigel around but is unable to land a hit for some reason or another, not because of Nigel's ability. Mineko and Franc are both unconscious on opposite sides of the platform. Abraham unleashes a barrage of shots towards Tiandrey giving Nigel an opportunity to escape him again. The orbs lift in the air and crash together over and over like crashing thunder until one splits and a thick white cloud begins to form over Gris's head. The cloud begins to twist upward and mold into the shape of a woman.
Tiandrey has Nigel cornered as a woman's voice booms through the room and bounces off the walls, "To summon me, you must be in tune with a higher class of celestial being."

Tiandrey whips around to see a massive woman standing amongst the clouds, in an all-white Victorian style gown accented by lace and ruffles, her golden hair falls in buoyant curls down her back. In one hand the woman holds the sun and in the other, she holds the moon.

"Oh Mother Kleo, I am but a humble Mage with the ability to summon beings greater than I, or any opponent that I may face to ask your assistance," Gris says bowing before Mother Kleo.

"The mother of the Gods assist a mere mortal?" Mother Kleo asks sarcastically, "I would never intervene in such trivial matters of mortals."

"Ha," Tiandrey blurts, "You protected that girl so that she could summon a Goddess she cannot even control? Foolish! No God can oppose me!"

Mother Kleo looks at Tiandrey and asks, "Who are you?"

Tiandrey doesn't reply instead he roars and exhumes a massive fireball towards her. Mother Kleo frowns and lifts the sun before the fireball, which swallows it whole, "You are bold mortal!"

"I'm no mortal! I'm a God like you. I am Tiandrey!"

Mother Kleo cringed as his name echoes through the room.

"Summoner," Mother Kleo begins, "What is your name?"

"I am Gris of the Outside Counsel, oh Mother Kleo, please lend us your power to smite this blasphemous perpetrator," she responds bowing.

Mother Kleo lifts Gris's tiny head with her massive finger and says, "Summoner, you are truly in tune with the stars. A man recently destroyed one of my temples in the west claiming to be a God. I promised to destroy that man if he ever stepped foot in another one of my temples, but you've given me an even greater opportunity. However, I cannot directly interfere with your battle. Instead, I will bestow upon you a gift. A weapon forged by the Gods, I expect it shall do as you see fit."

Lighting strikes the platform from the cloud and the platform begins to crack and stalagmite walls begin to crumble from the shifting of the platform. Where the lighting struck lies a massive golden crossbow, loaded with a bolt. Mother Kleo smiles, caresses Gris's face and the three golden orbs crash to the ground as she disappears.

The crossbow is twice the size of Franc and four times the size of Nigel. Tiandrey laughs as he approaches the tremendous firearm, "Which of you is going to wield this to smite me?"

Franc regains consciousness and tries to push himself up from the ground. Mineko is still sprawled on the floor, as Abraham rushes to her side.

Gris collapses to her knees breathing heavily, and Nigel watches as his bucket falls off the edge of the platform, he dives after shouting, "No!"

"Time for you all to be in my wake and never stand before me again," Tiandrey says as he manifests 5 fireballs overhead, they pulsate and start to grow.

"You're the new adventurer?" Gris asks between harsh breaths, she smiles as Nigel nods, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Nigel asks

"Making your time with us so short," Gris says

"I still think there was a mistake, I'm not a fighter, but I am always in the right place," Nigel smiles as a geyser of water fires into the air from the abyss below. The geyser transforms into a massive hand of water and grabs the crossbow.

"I'm Nigel Storm! Adventurer of the Outside Counsel and you Tiandrey are no God!"

Nigel's water hand pulls the trigger on the crossbow and the bolt strikes Tiandrey in the forehead. Tiandrey's body begins to glow and swell until he bursts.

"Holy shit," Abraham says as he looks to Nigel holding his bucket in his arm. There is a flash of light and the members of the Outside Counsel are whisked back to The Outside.



The Outside Counsel reappears in the white room, "Welcome back," says a disembodied female voice, "You all successfully completed today's task. Your grades are as follows:

Franc: B-

Mineko: B-

Grisel: A

Abraham: C

Nigel: A+Kill

Veteran members of the Outside Counsel, please take the opportunity to show Nigel around The Outside. Nigel the others will show you to your quarters, I'm sure you will find it to your liking."

"Who's that?" Nigel asks

"No one knows," Abraham says as he walks out of the white room and into the hallway. He doesn't say another word he throws up a peace sign and walks away. Franc places his hand on Nigel's shoulder.

"Don't worry about him, he'll come around once you've been around for awhile."

"Would you like to take a shower or get something to eat?" Mineko asks Nigel as she pulls on a large sweatshirt and starts to remove her bandages and roll them up. A small gray woman appears wearing all black clothes and takes the bandages from Mineko, but when she drops one of the rolls it crashes to the floor cracking the tile. Nigel tries to pick it up but finds the bandages to weigh a ton. Mineko picks it up with two fingers and chuckles. She hands the roll to the small woman who scurries away.

"I could have picked it up, but I've only got one arm," Nigel says tossing his mop in the air and balancing it on his left shoulder and waving his right hand. Gris chuckles, and begins to float and disappears into a door on the ceiling.

"Where'd she go?"

"Her room," Franc replies,

"None of us have been to Gris's quarters. She prefers not to interact with us," Mineko says, "Franc and I are

the more friendly of our little family, we'll show you the ropes and train you accordingly."

"Where are we?" Nigel asks

"We are Outside," Franc says, "Outside what you ask? Outside everything. It's pretty cool, we can't leave, but everything you could possibly imagine or want to do, to eat, to experience you can do it here."

"The little lady you saw before doesn't have a name, but we call them the Out," Mineko says, a male Out appears with an apple.

"Why do you call them the Out? What's your name buddy?" Nigel asks the Out boy, but he scurries off as Mineko's apple splits in perfect quarters. She chuckles, "they take care of us, but the don't speak to us."

Another Out appears with a cup of tea for Franc before disappearing again, "They'll learn your routine and will always deliver."

"This is all well and good," Nigel says looking side to side, "but why?"

Both Mineko and Franc stop in their tracks and look to one another and back to Nigel, they shrug and Mineko says, "Curiosity killed the cat. You ask a lot of questions, why not enjoy being absent from our lives and focus on what we have in this moment?"

"What do we have?" Nigel asks raising his eyebrow. Franc doesn't say another word, he pushes Nigel towards double sliding doors and presses the button on the wall. When the doors slide open Nigel is awestruck by the sunlight that pours in, the sound of the ocean crashing against the shore, and the smell of salt water permeates the air.

Nigel's eyes adjust to the sunlight and he finds himself staring at a black sand beach, with crystal clear water foaming on the shore, "What is this?"

"It's the Outside," Franc presses the button again and the doors close and open again, this time to a beautiful world of blistering cold and mountains, "You can explore any terrain you can possibly imagine and that's only behind this door. There are new doors added every day and we haven't been able to experience them all."

"Wow, so where do the doors come from?" Nigel asks

Franc sighs and places his hand on Nigel's shoulder, Mineko smiles and says, "Are you hungry?"

"I guess," Nigel says, Mineko beams, her big orange eyes shine, and her smile is perfect.



Together they travel to the kitchen, a massive hall filled with every food from all 5 worlds of BellCrone. Nigel begins to salivate the moment he enters the mess hall and travels to the baker's table. He licks his lips while staring at a sweet bun glazed with honey and topped with sugar. Mineko asks The Out for the bun and she hands it to her. Nigel watches with his lips quivering, as she hands him the sweet bun and smiles. Nigel bursts into tears and throws his arm around Mineko's waist.

"Thank you, thank you so much," Nigel sobs into her sweatshirt and realizes the density of her curvaceous body.
"No problem, while we are here serving as guardians there is no food we cannot eat, there is no amenity we cannot have, there is no language we cannot speak or understand, there is no need for money, there is no need for anything," Mineko says as an Out brings her a granola bar the size of book.

She catches Nigel staring and says, "I eat a lot, and I eat often."

They join Franc sitting at a table with the same glass of tea with a Newspaper in front of him.

"What do you think Nigel?" Franc asks with the paper between them.

"The room is pretty big for all of us. It doesn't have to be so big," Nigel responds, the room begins to shift and becomes much smaller and comfortable for them, Nigel stuffs his face and asks, "What just happened?"

"It's rude to speak with your mouth full," Franc says

"It's also rude to speak to someone without looking at them," Mineko says pushing Franc's paper down, "anyway, the room adjusted itself to our preferences, when someone new arrives the Outside seems big and spacious, but once it becomes accustomed to you it will always be perfect for you and anyone you're sharing the space with."

"Interesting, how does that work?" Nigel asks

"You ask a lot of questions kid," Franc says bluntly, "We don't know how it works. We showed up here, just like you, we've just been lucky enough to stick around for awhile."

"Oh, yeah," Nigel says lowering his head, he smiles and looks at them and asks, "Where are you guys from?"

Franc growls and starts to mutter profanities under his breath, he folds his paper and storms off. Mineko laughs and says, "Don't mind him, he's not used to so many questions. I'm from Luna Puff."

Nigel looks at her blankly and frowns, "No seriously, where are you from?"

"I just told you, I'm from the sky world Luna Puff, it's the 1st world of BellCrone," Mineko says furrowing her brow and looking at Nigel.

"What's BellCrone?" Nigel asks Mineko's jaw drops.

"How are you unaware of the 5 worlds of BellCrone?" She asks

"Well I joined a pirate crew by accident on my search for knowledge," Nigel says as he uses his mop handle to take a rope of linked sausage from a counter. Mineko stares at him in disbelief.

"What do you mean joined a crew by accident? Where are you from?"

"I'm from a small town called Rowboat literally right outside the walls of Vapor Punk capital city," Nigel says, "I met Captain Alistor Lockheart of the Royal Pirates in a library. She was there with Lily, a vampire princess, I spent a lot of time there reading books and learning everything I could about the different countries of Vapor Punk. I wanted so bad to venture into the world, but my family was poor. I offered my services as a cabin boy to Captain Alistor and in exchange for a place on her ship, I would do whatever she needed me to. For the first year, I earned my place by getting several tattoos and cleaning the ship. Over time I mastered my chores and the Duke, Captain Alistor's living ship never looked better. My second year I earned my first stripes when we were boarded by a Gil, people that live underwater with attributes of various animals and plant life. I'm not much of a fighter, so I got beaten pretty badly, but when I recovered Captain Alistor asked me to join her crew." Nigel smiles at the thought of his life.

"Is that how you lost your arm and your leg?" Mineko asks entranced by his story.

He shakes his head, "No, I gave up my lefts for infinite luck."

"What?" Mineko asks shocked

"Yeah, I gave up my left leg, left arm, and left eye. A left Trifecta in exchange for infinite luck. Since then I've been nothing but lucky. For instance," Nigel looks to the bucket on the floor and it starts to float, "The buckets name is, Lefnard, I saved a fairy and she enchanted it as my left arm. Whatever non-living material fills Lefnard, I can manifest a giant arm comprised of that material and control it as I would a regular appendage."

Nigel drops the rope of sausage in the bucket and an arm made of sausages rises from within and gives Mineko a thumbs up. Nigel laughs at Mineko's face.

"You're a strange man, Nigel Storm," Mineko says chuckling, "You've met a vampire princess, a Gil, a fairy, and a crew member aboard a living ship and you've never heard of the 5 worlds of BellCrone?"

"No," Nigel says eating the sausage link hand.

She stands up and grabs his hand, "You have to see this."

Mineko pulls Nigel through a series of corridors and stops at a golden door with 7 symbols on it, "I'm about to change your life, welcome to the Observatory and Library."

She presses a button and the door opens slowly, a crisp breeze caresses Nigel's face and he closes his eyes enjoying it.

The doors open to a room where books line the walls from floor to ceiling, with row upon row of books. In the center of the room, a massive model of a yellow sun burns brilliantly warming the room the sun has 6 unattached planets orbiting slowly, and all of the planets have smaller stars surrounding them. Nigel walks up to the model and reaches out to touch the sun, Mineko grabs his hand.

"You can't touch it, you'll be burned," she says.

"Is it real?" Nigel asks

"No silly, no one can have the sun in the middle of a room with no gravitational pull. This model is a living replica of everything that we are outside of. The sun is called BellCrone, the 5 planets orbiting are known as

the 5 worlds."

"There are 6 planets," Nigel says counting the planets again

Mineko points to the darkest planet on the model and says, "That's Nomore, it was a planet that was destroyed by meanders. What happened to Nomore is the reason why we, The Outside Counsel exist. The planets or worlds are numbered one through five. The first world is known as Luna Puff, the world that is said to have no solid earth, so everyone lives in the clouds. The 2nd is MytroClin. A modern world jam packed with people living on top of people and society is run by the media. The 3rd is Wraithlyn, pronounced Wraith Land, it's a futuristic world of holograms, gadgets, and gizmos. The 4th world is Titan Luxe, a world of kings, kingdoms, armies, and lots of metal. The final and 5th world is Vapor Punk, the smallest of all the worlds and where you come from."

Nigel stares at the model and walks around it a couple times, "Is there any literature on this?"

Mineko frowns, "Are you asking if there are any books on Bellcrone's 5 worlds?"

"Yes," Nigel says

"I'm not sure, you can take a look around," Mineko says, "I'm going to shower. If you want I can show you to your quarters."

Nigel shakes his head, he leans his mop against the wall and walks over to a wall of books, "I'm going to stay here for a bit. I guess I need to expand my world a bit."

"Sure," Mineko says leaving the room and closing the door behind her. Nigel spent several hours in the library reading book after book about anything that piqued his interest about one of the worlds. When he happened upon a section of handwritten journals from past members of the Outside Counsel he becomes immersed in the of content one. He falls in love with Pearl's journal recounting her adventures with the OC and when he reaches the final journal entry he realizes that he is her replacement. Nigel finds a pen and begins to write where Pearl left off.



Dear Pearl,

Hi, my names Nigel, um, you're probably never going to read this, but I just wanted to tell you that I've taken your place as The Adventurer in the Outside Counsel. I promise that I'll fulfill our position to the best of my ability and serve gallantly the same way you did. Do you know why we're here?

Love,
Nigel Storm
Nigel finishes writing in Pearl's journal and ends up falling asleep against the wall.


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