Finding my Parents in Another World

It had been a tumultuous four days in Odania. On one hand Zack was tired of the stench of corpses and garbage spread throughout the town. On the other, he had rediscovered the joys of drinking again with Ginat.

After they had Raorka, Zoe had insisted that Zack minimize his alcohol intake and at that time he had agreed. And this five drinks a day turned into five drinks a month which turned into five drinks a year. It had made sense to Zack at the time, after all you cannot raise a child if you are always drunk.

However here in Odania, there were few sources of entertainment other than alcohol, resulting in Zack relapsing back to his pre-child drinking habits. Not to mention the drinks he had had here were some of the best he had ever had.

"If only everything in Odania was as good." He said in a drunken stupor to Ginat, who was similarly drunk.

"Ha! Alcohol can end wars. You know...." Here Ginat lowered his voice, "I heard Firmi Ja is a teetotaller. No wonder he is always pissed off!"

And both of them started laughing raucously. Over the past four days Zack had become fast friends with Ginat. It had started with being drinking buddies. Ginat frequently visited this bar, located in a shady part of Odania and surrounded by brothels. It was aptly named 'The Devil's Flask,' a place where secrets were drowned in cheap liquor and laughter echoed louder than reason. The first day that Ginat had brought Zack here, he had almost refused to come.

"Believe me friend, this is just a bar, not a whorehouse. The drinks these guys make is nothing short of ambrosia, just trust me."

Zack was not too inclined to trust the word of a stranger, but he was also extremely tired and under duress. It did not take too much cajoling for him to finally relent.

And thank god he had!

"You know my friend, I don't know if I could stay sane in this town without alcohol." He said.

Both of them were at The Devil's Flask, as had become their custom now.

"Indeed, alcohol is the only reason I even come to Odania anymore. Not like anyone here has the gold to buy my wares."

Zack had learned that Ginat was a travelling merchant from far west of Odania. He had explained that he once had family in Odania which is why he visits the place yearly.

"My daughter used to live here. She left for the Capital once the tyrant came into power." 

Zack grunted, "Wish I could leave this place as well."

Ginat looked at him curiously, "I thought you were a lost tourist?"

Zack cursed himself. He had let something slip in his drunken stupor that he definitely shouldn't have. Even if Ginat himself was also drunk, he still had his wits about him. He would definitely catch such an error.

"I-i-i meant only that I wished I were lost somewhere other than Odania, just that." He hastily stammered out.

Ginat didn't looked convinced at all by Zack's half hearted answer but he didn't press the point, and just stayed silent. Soon they were back to drinking and even Zack forgot about that little exchange.

They left Devil's Flask when the sun had already set and it was dark outside.

"Tomorrow my friend I have a surprise for you." Ginat said, unsteady on his feet and slurring his words.

"Whaaaaat surprisee?" Zack asked, similarly unsteady.

Ginat laughed and laughed, only interrupted by a burp. Then Zack began laughing as well and they set off back towards the Travelling Inn.

Later Zack would remember that Ginat hadnt actually answered his question.

.XX.

The streetlights were the only illumination in the night, as the moon was hidden behind clouds. As Zack and Ginat walked back unsteadily to the Traveller Inn, they heard some sort of commotion ahead of them.

"Whazz that?" Ginat slurred.

By this time Zack was more sober than Ginat, so he cautiously replied, "Maybe we should take a different route."

"Nonsense my dear friend. We'll take the path we always do."

Zack tried to convince Ginat some more but the merchant remained steadfast in his decision.

"Nothing Odania can throw can phase me anymore." He declared almost proudly.

Sighing, Zack relented and they made their way up the pavement towards the commotion. As they approached, Zack heard shouting voices and the clink of armor.

Turning the corner onto the street of Traveller's Inn, Zack and Ginat were greeted by a gruesome sight.

There was a man being dragged out of the Traveller's Inn by some soldiers. Evidently they were the Mayor Fermi Ja's soldiers for they wore orange cloaks with the eagle on them, which Zack had learnt was the symbol of the Ja House. The man's face was beaten bloody into such a mess that it was completely unrecognisable. His shirt had been torn apart and it seemed he had been whipped on his back. In fact with his injuries Zack wondered how the man was even alive.

There was a woman and a small boy wailing and pulling on the man's arms, even as he was being dragged away. Zack quickly surmised that they were his wife and child.

"Horrible sight eh?" Ginat asked grimly. It seemed this sight had completely sobered him up.

Zack nodded, speechless. Even though he had grown desensitised to the random acts of brutality in Odania, seeing someone being torn away like this really put things into perspective. His earlier jubilation had completely vanished.

I am in a different world, and so are my wife and son.

Zack felt himself empathizing with the man being carried away. What if it was him there and Zoe and Raorka were the ones crying?

"That's Odania for you. Can't even drink in peace here." Ginat grumbled, but Zack saw even he was affected by this potable sight.

The man was now dragged completely out of his wife and son's grasp. The wife ran out of his home and tried to catch him again but one of the soldiers just kicked her back.

"Stay away woman. You can't help him now. His execution has already been scheduled." The soldiers said and spat on the floor.

"Fermi Ja's Kingdom eh....." Ginat said once more wistfully. It became apparent to Zack as well how powerless they were to do anything about this.

"And yet you do nothing." A strong female voice came from behind them.

Zack turned around, as much as in surprise as in fear, to see a woman standing behind them. She was wearing a green armor leggings along with a green corset. Her face, except for her eyes, was covered by a black mask and she had a pitch black sword unsheathed at her side.

"Poison Bloom!" Ginat whispered in fear and almost fell back on the ground.

"W-what? Who.." Before Zack could finish his question, the woman in green had already vanished in front of them. He turned around and saw that she was now in front of the soldiers. With an efficient lop of her sword she decapitated the soldiers holding the man. She then took the man and threw him back to his wife.

"Take him inside and keep him there." She said to the wife who seemed more terrified of her than the soldiers. She nodded quickly, took her son by hand and took them inside.

"Who is she?" Zack asked with awe, and even a little admiration.

"Poison Bloom is what the people call her." Ginat said, his voice still tinged with fear.

"No one knows who she really is. She is a sort of vigilante in Odania. She fights against soldiers and other criminals alike. There's a legend that she once destroyed an entire regiment of Fermi Ja's army in one night. She is the most wanted criminal in Odania but none of the Mayor's men can defeat or capture her."

"Why are you so afraid of her? It seems like she only targets soldiers or criminals no?"

Ginat looked at him incredously. "Wouldn't you be afraid of a lunatic who hopes to defeat a Mayor by taking out his men one by one?"

The other three soldiers also seemed terrified of the woman Ginat called Poison Bloom. Zack saw that they had their swords drawn but their hands were shaking and all their earlier bravado had vanished.

"What? Afraid of a little fight back?" Poison Bloom with a twist of her head.

"It's three vs one criminal! Lay your arms down and you may yet experience a quick death." One of them called out.

Poison Bloom laughed, and then again without warning jumped at the soldiers brandishing her sword. The soldier put up his own sword too late and weakly deflected her first strike. She however slid her sword up his arm and cleanly cut it off. The soldier screamed in agony as blood erupted out of the hole where his hand used to be.

"Oh shut up." Poison Bloom said almost bored as she thrust her sword into the soldiers neck, instantly killing him.

"I'm not dying tonight!" One of the remaining soldiers said as he tried running away.

"Fool, don't..." The other tried to warn him but he was too late. Poison Bloom threw her sword like a boomerang and skewered the running soldiers legs with her sword. As the soldier fell screaming, Poison Bloom appeared beside him.

"What happened? I thought you were not going to die tonight?" She asked innocently as she crushed his skull with her foot.

Then she turned to face the final remaining soldier. This one seemed to have already made up his mind that there was no escape and steadied his sword.

"Inito." He whispered.

There was a burst of energy around him and soon his armor had changed to a golden one and he held a spear of what seemed like light in his hand.

"[[Golden Light Spear]]" He intoned, completing his Inito.

"Oooh scary." Poison Bloom said in a mocking tone as she carefreely walked towards him, swinging her sword.

The soldier raised his spear and threw it rapidly towards Poison Bloom. Almost effortlessly she glided to dodge it. However the spear seemed to be connected to the soldier's finger, and like a boomerang he made it turn around after it had gone sailing past Poison Bloom the first time. This time, she had to block the strike with her sword.

"Bingo." The soldier said with a smile. As soon as the light spear struck Poison Bloom's sword there was an explosion.

Zack and Ginat were standing some distance away but even they felt the heat of the explosion.

As the clouds from the explosion cleared though, they saw Poison Bloom standing unharmed in there, twirling her sword.

"That's it?" She said disappointedly.

"You monster!" The soldier said again charging her with his golden spear.

Poison Bloom sighed. "It's my turn I guess. Inito."

She extended her sword. As Zack watched, the sword wobbled and took on the shape of a snake. In addition her cloak expanded and there were multiple more snakes which shot out like bullets from the cover of her cloak. The snakes hit the golden soldier straight on and bit half his head off before he could even get close with his spear. With a dumbfounded expression on his face, the soldier dropped dead.

"[[Spirit of the Snake]]" Poison Bloom said anticlimactically and immediately dispelled her Inito.

She then turned her attention towards Zack and Ginat and cocked her head.

"Well are you friends of the Mayor?" She asked nonchalantly.

Ginat was too fearstruck to respond so Zack responded, "No we are just travellers."

"Hmmm." Poison Bloom looked like she was thinking, and then in an instant she was right in front of them.

"Better not be lying to me old man." She said in a low voice.

"W-we are not! We have nothing to do with the Mayor." Zack stammered out.

"Well that's great then!" She said with a smile.

Zack finally was able to appreciate Ginat's fear of Poison Bloom.

She's a lunatic.

She will kill anyone who she thinks is a friend of the Mayor no matter what their actual intentions might be.

"Have a great day gentlemen." She said brightly before bowing and leaving.

Zack stared at her retreating figure dumbfounded.

But it's nighttime.