Fantasy Files

Relocation III

He made it home after an elapsed time frame of 4 days, and 6 hours. He was utterly exhausted from sleeping on dirt for almost a week, fighting off a bounty hunter every handful of days. He didn't even know how the guy kept finding him.

Unsurprisingly, Astarte was welcomed home with a crowd. Her personal squadron, her doctors, the like. Surprisingly, a certain doctor came to talk to him, most likely about what happened and why Astarte looked like she was dragged by the foot for the whole week. This certain doctor, in particular, was actually one of the few he had great trust in, for. Whatever the reason.

Neorch: "..I can explain."

Hernaimia: "I'm sure you can sir. She's being taken into the ER now. Seems like there's. Quite a lot in her system."

Neorch: "Fucking cults, am I right?"

Hernaimia: "I'm sorry?"

Neorch: "..shit that's right, we need to get you caught up."

He strode off, to wash up, check on Astarte, and generally get some rest.

Hernaimia: "..Cult!?"

~

Later, a small meeting room. The room is generally clean cut, the single green stripe lower on the wall giving any indication of who owned it.

Audio recording begins.

Hernaimia: "This is Doctor Hernaimia. Captain, explain to me what exactly happened out there."

Neorch: "I only know the aftermath, but sure. When I found her, it was at this HUGE Aztec stylized temple. I felt lots of eyes watching me. I don't remember WHO they were sacrificing her too, but it wasn't anything good. She was clearly drugged, or something along those lines."

Hernaimia: "Lets see.."

Paper rustle.

Hernaimia:  "She was returned to us with.. 7 broken ribs. Only medication being pain medicine, and an unusually high alcohol content."

Neorch: "Ah."

Hernaimia: "She was also returned with general injuries caused by, what we can assume, to be walking long distances. Blisters along the feet, as well as varying smaller scratches."

Neorch: "Yeah. We had to walk the whole way back."

Hernaimia: "Reasoning?"

Neorch: "Car exploded."

Hernaimia: "..with her in it?"

Neorch: "What? Oh, no, no. On the way there."

Hernaimia: "You returned mostly unharmed."

Neorch: "Got launched. Coat proved itself."

Hernaimia: "Hm."

Neorch: "Look, is this interview really that necessary? You already know the important details."

Hernaimia: "You mentioned that she was recovered from a cult. Thats-"

Loud table slam. Clattering.

Neorch: "She was strapped to a goddamn crucifix. Being sacrificed. To a goddamn demon of sloth. She was referred to by the chieftain as a Sacrificial goddess. Don't make me have to remember seeing that. Don't make me remember the bloodshed it took to get her here."

Hernaimia: "..Noted. The interview concluded."

Neorch: "Thank you."

Chair creaks, a door opens. Door shuts.

Quiet sigh.

Hernaimia: "..By the moon.. This goes deeper than I thought. Who is this girl..?"

Audio end.

~

Neorch sat in the medbay, reading out of a PDA. On the bed, laid Astarte, bandages around her chest to help her ribs heal. They had gotten worse over the period it took to get her back. He sighed to himself, mentally ripping himself to shreds about crashing his car before getting to her. I should have been more careful. I should have had backup. Although he'd be damned before he put people in unnecessary danger.

He heard a quiet creak from the bed, looking up. He saw Astarte looking at him, wide awake. Despite her condition.

Astarte: "..You look like shit, Neorch."

He smirked. "Rich coming from you."

Astarte: "You're the one who thought carrying me the whole trip was a good idea."

Neorch: "You're the one that almost got your ribcage opened."

Astarte: "You know what, fair."

He quietly laughed, scooting the chair to be by her. "How do you feel?" He asked, his voice lowering. Surprising some people, he did have a softer, caring side somewhere under the jacket and firepower. Astarte knew it more often than any other ever would.

Astarte: "Like shit."

He chuckled. "..I mean, aside from that."

Astarte: "Ah. Aside from the ribs, I feel alright."

Neorch: "That's a relief to hear. How was being drunk?"

Astarte: "Can't remember. What the fuck happened during those hours?"

"Uhhh.." He looked down, the hat obscuring his now red face. How was he supposed to tell her what she said when she got around to speaking English again?

Neorch: "Uh.. You see, you.. Hm.."

Astarte: "Spit it out, before I reach down your throat and rip it out."

Neorch: "By the moon, okay." He looked up. "Let's see.. You said a lot in Latin."

Astarte: "Why does that keep happening?"

Neorch: "You casually mentioned to a bounty hunter that Satan was your father."

Astarte: "Weird flex from drunk me, but okay. Wait, hunter?"

Neorch: "Yeah."

Astarte: "After me?"

Neorch: "No, me."

Astarte: "Very odd. Usually, somebody is trying to stick a shotgun slug into MY ribs."

Neorch: "Yeah. And the weirdest thing was, not only did he use a sword, but the dude kept coming back. Just.. Refusing to die."

Astarte: ".. That's.. Odd."

Neorch: "Oh yeah."

Astarte: "..It sounds like you're hiding something from me. Was there anything else, anything else at all that I said?"

Neorch: "..Uhhh.. You uh.."

Astarte: "You know you can't lie to me.." She lowered her voice causing him to fold

Neorch: "You said that you loved me."

He stared at her in silence for a good, long time. There wasn't much a man like the Captain was afraid of. He'd fought it all. Punched the moon, even. Talked to goddesses and gods alike, for fun. He summoned deadly, eldritch beings for petty reasons, purely because he had been bored. He even spelunked in some of the most dangerous factions, from other realities, for something he referred to as grocery shopping.

A pissed-off Astarte was, oddly, one of these few things. Especially after he saw Dr. Hernaimia got her shit kicked in. Because he knew that, if she wanted, she'd send him flying through a window at mach Jesus.

The silence only lasted for a handful of seconds, before he realized what was about to happen.

Astarte: "..Oh shut the fuck up."

And she decked him, in such a way that the chair slid back, screeching, tapped against the wall, and Neorch slumped down,  And that was all he was aware of before he slumped into darkness.

Astarte: "Did.. Did I really?"