Wizard's House

[wizardseason]

"Hey"

The Wizard greets the evil-allured knights the same way every night, with the same word, while casually sitting on the steps of the porch outside of her little home. The building looks handmade, like it was built by people who cared about the place they were going to live. Surrounding it on all sides are fields as far as the eye can see. Vegetables of all kinds, with fruit trees and bushes placed throughout the landscape. Closer to the home are bigger trees, willows and others, providing shade from the strange three suns above. Wherever this is, it isn't the world that the knights know.

Plunged into the ground a mere few feet away from the steps leading up to the home is a handwritten sign that states the following:

Knight Rules:
- Tell others if you want
- You can't reveal others
- The world ends this year

Comments

[wizardseason]

"Our actions in this game will, yes." She gives a slight smirk, curious what the best way to answer this would be.

"It was not always a game, but it is easier to comprehend as one."

[tropicalstorm]

"What do we need to do in this, uh, not-game then to make the world end?" She specifically asks for the negative outcome since she's pretty sure that's what the wizard wants, so maybe she'll be straight with her?

And then Haizea can just. Do the opposite of whatever she says.

[wizardseason]

Clever thinking, Haizea. The wizard would have some interesting opinions if she knew that was the line of thinking she was going with here. Always the clever one, dragon knights.

"Kill the Protector."

[tropicalstorm]

That's simpler than she expected. Protect the Protector, then. But she'll continue on this line of questioning. Always best to case the joint beforehand.

"If we kill the Protector, what happens to the Princess? Will he be okay?"

[wizardseason]

She's been grilled by evil knights determined to be good, and based on Haizea's determination and thoughts so far she's not surprised that she'd be leaning in this direction. She won't hide the truth from her, though.

"He will be unharmed." Her smirk remains as she locks eyes with Haizea one more time before starting to walk away from her.

"I would prefer him left alive."

[tropicalstorm]

Ugh, Haizea doesn't really want to run after the Wizard like this, but she's got more questions still!

"That makes two of us. How do we kill the Protector? He doesn't quite just walk around or show up at ramen shops like you do."

[wizardseason]

Conveniently the Wizard isn't moving very quickly, instead just walking at a casual pace around the fields and flowers she's growing.

"At the end." She starts, reaching out to a flower to run her fingers along its petals.

"I drag him into the planet's center as it collapses."

[tropicalstorm]

Damn, that's pretty metal. If Haizea knew much about music she'd say so.

"Well, uh, it sounds like you got it on lock then? What do you even need us for?"

[wizardseason]

If someone called the Wizard metal, she'd frame the quote and put it on her wall. What a compliment.

"Everything has to go perfectly or he's immune." Her deadpan expression cracks just slightly, her smirk going away for a moment.

"It isn't hard to mess it up."

[tropicalstorm]

"What's 'perfect', then? Is it about killing the monsters, or something else?" She tilts her head to the side.

At this point, she's honestly curious about the Wizard's plan.

[wizardseason]

"Defeat all twelve monsters" She answers, simply, her smirk coming back a moment later as she moves on towards a patch of vegetables with numerous hanging yellow orbs.

"And side with me."

[tropicalstorm]

"Defeat monsters, that I can do," she says. She's a little distracted by the orb veggies, but she doesn't miss the Wizard's second requirement.

"What does that mean, exactly? Do the four of us just gotta say 'we side with the Wizard' or is there something else involved? An initiation? Membership cards?" She says this flippantly.

[wizardseason]

"Not just the four of you." She answers as she reaches down to touch a particularly vibrant yellow vegetable. Not quite ripe yet.

"All twelve knights, and the princess." She answers, turning slowly to look at Haizea's eyes to see what she says to that.

[tropicalstorm]

Haizea keeps her gaze steady. This was interesting, and it sounds like if she wants to prevent the world from ending all she has to do is kill the monsters and not join the wizard? Even if somehow the other knights and the Princess did, she could be the combo breaker on her own. Better make sure though.

"And what happens if even one of us doesn't join you?"

[wizardseason]

"Year forty-one, twelve new knights, one new princess."

As she says it, she shuffles off of the path and into the fields, starting to roam through and look through the various vegetables. She turns an eye to look up towards Haizea, seeing how she took the news.

"Just like last year."

[tropicalstorm]

She keeps her cool, but she feels triumphant. She doesn't care if the world was meant to end or anything like that, from the start her goal was always to get through this alive and get back to her kids and her gang; her family. Things live, things die, this is the nature of the world. But she won't let anyone who she's vowed to protect die by her own hand.

But again, she better make sure.

"Then what's the deal with the sign saying the world ends this year if it doesn't have to? Or do you just put that sign up every year and hope it'll be true this time?"

[wizardseason]

Perhaps soon the Wizard would share the things that could put Haizea's life at risk. But she seemed so determined to be good that maybe it wouldn't be an issue.

"I haven't changed it in forty years." She answers simply, turning back to the vegetables and plucking one that has some golden marks along the sides of its yellow surface.

[tropicalstorm]

She's satisfied with all the information she's managed to get so far, she feels like her path is pretty clear. Who cares if she got picked as an evil knight? Her goals are unchanged, she still plans to fight the monsters, kill them all, keep everyone else alive and get home. Then things can go back to normal and she can ignore all this shit all over again.

"Well, I guess there's something to be said for persistence. Maybe one of these years it'll happen," she says lightly.

[wizardseason]

The Wizard slowly moves back over to Haizea, offering the yellow vegetable out. Its gold sides glint appealingly in the sun.

"Maybe." She echoes the word, but her voice sounds hollow. Like she's exhausted.

"Forty years is so many. Too many."

[tropicalstorm]

To her utter frustration, she feels a pang of sympathy. She's heard that tone of voice before and it makes her want to get the Wizard somewhere safe and make her rest.

"It is," she says softly as she takes the vegetable. She turns it over in her hand once or twice. "What is this?" Honestly, Haizea doesn't know a whole lot about plants, but she's never seen anything like this at the little corner store market she frequents.

[wizardseason]

Rest would be nice, but it wasn't possible. It hadn't been possible thirty nine years ago, and it wasn't possible now.

"A grindyen." She answers, slowly moving past Haizea now that she's taken it. "Take a bite."

If Haizea dares to take a bite, she'll find that the texture inside is like that of a nectarine/plum. Incredibly juicy just below the skin of it, but the flavor is somewhere between a carrot and a sweet potato. Strangely sweet but savory, but very, very soft. Honestly it was probably a fruit, but there's no seed in the middle.

[tropicalstorm]

It's maybe her sudden unwelcome sympathy for the Wizard that gets her to first sniff it, and then gingerly take a small bite. Fuck, it was good.

"Mmm," Haizea says as she chews, then swallows. "It's good. I don't think I've ever tasted anything quite like it."

[wizardseason]

"They're a favorite of mine. They never spoil, either." As she says it, she's stepping back up on the path and looking around.

"What do you want in all this, dragon knight?" She turns the tables, turning to look into Haizea's eyes again.

"Only survival?"

[tropicalstorm]

She continues to eat the grindyen, only stopping to lick the juice off her hands. When the Wizard asks her question, she pauses, one finger still in her mouth as she thinks.

"What else could I want?" she finally replies.

[wizardseason]

Benefits of a seedless treat: No part of the grindyen was inedible, so there'll be nothing left when Haizea's done with it. For now, the Wizard shakes her head in response.

"Knights have wanted for many things." She glances up towards the sky, remembering the ones she'd heard.

"Some possible. Some impossible."