Chapter 469: Untangling The Yarn
As Linkle Arrived at Lantherem, she was quickly aided by Erika and Mel to handle the unconscious body of the Djinn sisters–both of whom were burned on their back but not as much as their brother. Jahandeer was dead, he'd drowned in vomit and then burned with a belly full of live fish roasted inside of him. None of the sisters knew of the fact as of yet, but soon enough they had to face reality.
Sensing the teleportation, everyone including Raven had gathered inside the room that their leader had just healed in. Their eyes were focused on the Djinn sisters as Erika healed their burned back, unsure what to make of the situation.
"Aren't we supposed to kill them?" Asked Aria, her eyes glancing across the many faces present.
"I would prefer the same but if we can use them for something important then why not?" Having already sent the prisoners from the Aranuvian fleet to Shamisha, Linkle had begun considering doing the same for the girls even though she'd just saved them only so she could get them killed for sure. "She'd need their hearts beating while extracting their souls for an automaton, I mean just imagine what a subservient Djinn spirit inside an automaton could do."
Aching for even more power, every bit that she could squeeze out before facing Tariyaan, Linkle wanted to use the sisters or whatever she could to ensure that her body was returned to her.
"So we didn't learn a thing by fighting Avarice then?" Kicking herself off the wall, Aria crossed her arms and looked right at the witch. Through squinted eyes, she stared at her and reminded herself that Linkle wasn't present to see what they'd gone through trying to deal with that menace. "There's just too many things that can go wrong with this idea."
"Yeah, consider me on Aria's side because no way am I taking that risk," walking up beside Aria, Mel stood by her in more ways than one.
After a moment of silence and everyone looking at the witch, the group turned to their leader expecting him to set things straight. However, still thinking about what he'd seen in his nightmare, Raven couldn't bring himself to make a sound decision at the moment.
"They killed their brother themselves, right?" He asked and turned his head to Linkle.
Visible confusion took over the witch for a moment, but giving him a hesitant nod she confirmed his doubts about Jahandeer's death. Looking back at the girls laying side by side on the bed and being healed by Aria, he wondered how much of their unexpected defiance towards their brother was thanks to Raven's brainwashing.
"Then we tell them they killed him and see how they react, act supporting and coax them into the group for now and we'll see whether they can be an asset to the group or need to be killed, after all." As opposed to the idea the group was initially, hearing Raven's plan to get the Djinn into the group as a natural addition, made them reconsider or at least made them doubt their initial ideas about the girls.
"One controls fire that can burn even under water and the other commands water, the merfolk and possibly many other sea creatures," convinced herself over the idea, Linkle placed a finger under her chin and tried to sell it to the others as well. "If we're traveling by sea, these two are the best assets we could hope for."
There were still some doubts lingering in the air, but not concrete enough to be voiced just yet. Thus, although reluctant initially, Aria, Mel and the others agreed to the plan and to play their part in making the girls feel welcomed into the group and support them through whatever grief they might go through from the death of their brother.
'They shouldn't be able to use their magic here anyways so there's not much to worry about on this island for now.'
Settling one of the problems that was plaguing the group, Raven moved on to something else that had him worried.
"Now for the girl in the jewel, Choux was her name, right?" Looking around he was met with uncertain expressions on everyone's face not because they didn't know the girl's name but because none of them knew what they were supposed to do with her now. Raven was in a similar situation as well, and having heard from Athenia herself that she was the daughter of someone from the hero's party who had defeated the demon lord, the last thing he wanted was to kill her like the rest of the fleet. "We're gonna talk to her tonight by the church and in the open, until then, I have a lot to tell you guys."
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Speaking of revealing the truths, Linkle and Mino both decided that it was perhaps the best time to unveil what they'd been hiding as well. However, letting Raven go first, the duo gave him time to explain, add, and tie the loose ends in his explanation. But at the end of it, they had to wait a bit longer since every single member of the party–them included, was stunned to know what kind of person they were dealing with while handling the fox-girl.
"The great-granddaughter of whom exactly?" That question roamed in the mind of everyone present and yet only Liliyana was oblivious enough about the heroes of the past to ask that question, and even then she couldn't help but feel threatened just asking.
Looking at the fae, Raven didn't know what to say. Athenia never told him much and had shrugged him off, but if he were to reveal that information the party was bound to be sprung into chaos–something he couldn't afford at the moment as the leader.
"I don't know, but maybe we can talk to her about it later? I saw through her memory but did not see any names so let's not get our hopes up," once done with that explanation, Linkle swiftly moved in between Raven and the rest of the party with the necklaces already held in her hands.
"I have something to confess as well," she said.
"Me too…" Mino murmured, walking up beside the witch.
Just from a glance at their faces, Raven already knew more headache was coming his way, but with the girls already determined it was time to talk it all out and untangle that yarn of confusion and and for all!