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 :)
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