Palworld; Rhea's Odyssey

Chapter 05: Lady Zoey

Zoey Rayne, the leader of the Rayne Syndicate was an eccentric young lady. She wore a knitted cap with cat ears and a few accessories attached to them, and sprouting out of either side were pigtails; one black and the other pink. It was as if she couldn't decide which color to go with and so she chose both.

Her outfit had a punkish rock style to it as she wore a black jacket and a pink skirt. On her legs, you could see a ripped legging, and on the other was a belt.

In the confines of the Rayne Tower, Zoey paced around the battle chamber trying hard to not lose her mind.

On most days, she was bored out of her mind. She had been tasked with guarding the Rayne Tower years ago, and ever since, she hadn't set foot outside the tower walls. As leader of the Syndicate, she led the organization with the help of trusted advisors and capable field officers due to her inability to leave the tower.

This way of life caused her a great deal of stress, especially when things didn't go as planned.

"I have never been so humiliated in my entire life! Who would dare interfere with our plans?!" Zoey screamed while punching a giant pillar of stone.

Zoey had been waiting for the arrival of a an order of slaves she had purchased, but the order was days late. She'd sent one of her most trusted subordinates, Aims; the official treasurer of the Rayne Syndicate, to handle the purchase from Mr. Black.

Not only had the order not arrived, but Aims had gone missing along with all the coin her organization had accumulated at their gold farm. Too many things had happened and too fast. She had to get to the bottom of what was going on.

And so, she arranged a meeting with the crew who were responsible for hunting the slaves she wanted.

Just then, her assistant, Lamont,walked briskly into the chamber with the news she was waiting for. He had a gangly figure and was often made fun of because of it, but he was one of the Syndicate's oldest members.

"Lady Zoey, the Slavers you summoned have arrived. They're standing outside waiting for you. Should I let them in?"

"Of course! What are we waiting for? Bring them in!"

The large door of the tower opened letting in strong winds and rays of sunlight for a brief period of time. Due to its size, it creaked open as three individuals walked into the large room. Once they were in the clear, the door slammed shut with a loud thud welcoming silence into the atmosphere.

"Chloe? I didn't know your crew was involved in this?"

"Involved in what?"

"Oh, I'll get to that in a second. How have you been, girl? Long time no see!"

Zoey walked up to Chloe with open arms and embraced her. Although, Chloe wasn't the type to hug anyone back, and so she just stood there awkwardly accepting the unwarranted affection.

"I've been good." Chloe said while visibly rejecting Zoey's touch. "Works been picking up recently. There's more people washing up on the shores every day now. We're staying as busy as our bodies will allow."

"Well, that's good to hear. You must be eating good these days. Sounds like you might be needing to expand a little, huh?"

Chloe wondered how Zoey knew that she was thinking about expanding her crew.

"...That's right. There's only so much I can do with the crew being this small, but it's hard to find capable people to trust out there...You know how it is."

"Not really. I've been going crazy in this tower. I feel so disconnected with what's happening on the island and I'm a bit paranoid about a few things, if I'm being honest. I feel like it's hard to trust people in here..." Zoey stared at Chloe with her head cocked to the side for a while. "So, help me understand something, won't ya? Almost a week ago, a young woman washed ashore and the intelligence I received told me she had a Paldeck. You know anything about that?"