Using Gwyndyr to contact Maria had been a bit of a gamble, as truthfully, Jake hadn’t even been confident the god was able to. There was still a bit of a veil between the ninety-third universe and the rest of the multiverse, but now it could at least be pierced a little. Doing so wasn’t that hard from inside the ninety-third universe, and Jake hoped that gods could poke through if they really needed to. Maybe they wouldn’t be able to communicate directly, but they should at least be able to send the divine version of a quick shoulder tap, right?
Jake didn’t know if it worked like that, and Villy hadn’t tried to reach out to Jake even once, but that wasn’t really a surprise as the god clearly preferred Jake being the one to establish contact. If it was because he couldn’t or because he respected Jake’s time and didn’t want to disturb him, Jake didn’t know, but he had a feeling that even if the god could contact Jake, he wouldn’t.
The only reason he ever contacted Jake normally was because he could literally see what Jake was up to and if he was busy, thus knowing if it was a good time. Now he couldn’t, meaning it was entirely possible Villy tried to reach out while Jake was in the middle of a fight or on the most important step of concocting his best poison yet.
Anyway, none of that overly mattered as clearly Gwyndyr and Maria had somehow made contact, and the fire archer was on her way back to Haven already. It would take a little while for her to arrive, but luckily, as Jake was heading back, he was informed that Carmen had also made her way to the quaint little forest town.
Only a single teleport later from what he’d dubbed Labyrinth City – Jake wasn’t sure if that name was actually official yet – he was back in Haven. Miranda informed him that Carmen would just head straight for his lodge for them to meet there. Jake just quickly confirmed as he returned home to his own little valley.
Arriving at the valley, he indeed found Carmen already there, having clearly just arrived. However, his smile quickly faded as he spotted her through his sphere and saw what she was doing. In her hand, she held a precious stolen artifact. What’s more, she was even consuming it with much vigor.
Jake walked into the valley and instantly made eye contact with the Runemaiden as she spoke in between bites. “Hey, Jake! Damn, these bananas are good, even tastier than the last time I had one.”
That’s right... she had stolen one of Jake’s bananas straight off the musa. He stared at her, holding back himself from yelling thief as he crossed his arms. “Are you even getting any Agility from consuming it?”
“Hm? No, all capped out in that department,” Carmen answered completely shamelessly, finishing off the poor banana that hadn’t even been allowed to fulfill its purpose of giving permanent stats.
“You do know that according to the law in Haven, you just committed grand larceny, stealing a valuable treasure like that,” Jake said.“As a representative of Valhal, am I not kind of a diplomatic and have immunity or something?” Carmen shot back. “Besides, you asked to meet me, only nice of you to offer a banana to a guest.”
“I didn’t offer one.”
“It’s your word against mine, and I explicitly remember you telling me that I could take as many bananas as I want,” Carmen said with a grin as she reached out to grab another.
Oh no, you don’t!
Jake instantly reacted by using One Step and teleporting over, gripping Carmen’s wrist before she had time to pluck the poor banana from the musa. The Runemaiden just stopped as she looked at Jake.
“You’re really protective of this tree, huh?”
“Not a tree,” Jake insisted.
“If it looks like a tree, smells like a tree, and acts like a tree, I’m gonna keep calling it a tree,” Carmen shrugged, though she did pull back her hand. “Anyway, why did you need me so urgently?”
“I don’t think I ever said it was urgent,” Jake said, a bit unsure.
“Well, I told others it was, which was why I had to sadly skip a big meeting with a bunch of City Leaders. You should know the sacrifices I’m making to be there and all the political talk I’m missing out on,” Carmen said, faking a sigh.
“Oh, woe is you. How about this, to make up for it, I’ll ask Miranda to host an even bigger and longer meeting just for you to take part and really feel part of the political arena,” Jake teased her back.
“I think I’ll pass. I prefer arenas that allow you to punch people,” Carmen shook her head.
“Hey, punching someone in the face is the number one way to instantly turn a political meeting at least five times as interesting,” Jake grinned before he finally got to the actual reason he’d called her over. “Have you heard what happened with Ell’Hakan and the Holy Church?”
“Only vaguely,” Carmen said, also focusing up as the mood got more serious. “I think they took his soul or something?”
“Yeah... they plan on using it to resurrect him for the Bloodline, and...“
Jake proceeded to explain what had gone down after he’d killed Ell’Hakan – while also going on a side tangent about his actual fight with the Usurper at the urging of Carmen. The explanation ended up being a lot longer than Jake had planned, but in the end, Carmen got the gist of it. For the most part, anyway.
“I’m still not sure... is the Augur an ally or not?” Carmen asked.
“Kind of neither? Maybe both? Something in between?” Jake said, still not entirely sure what Jacob actually wanted at the end of the day. Clearly, he wanted to enact some change in the Holy Church, but how that would look was yet to be seen. “All I do know is that, in this instance, he wants to see Ell’Hakan and his Bloodline gone from the multiverse for good. And we need to strike sooner rather than later before they get the chance to flee out of the universe and actually resurrect him and his damn Bloodline. No way getting to him if he ever reaches the Holy Church heartlands.”
“I’m with you that far, but do you really need my help? I doubt the Holy Church has anyone capable of fighting against you, and while they could try to stall you with numbers, won’t that just result in their planet going the way of Ell’Hakan’s?” Carmen voiced her thoughts.
“I don’t plan on making it a habit to blow up planets whenever I want to kill someone on it,” Jake muttered. Not that it wouldn’t be a great way to assure people wouldn’t mess with him...
“Fair enough,” Carmen shrugged. “But they should know the option is on the table if they try to start shit. Actually, why are they even allowing a scenario where fighting you is an option? Wouldn’t it be way smarter to teleport whoever is carrying the soul around all the time, just avoiding you until the universe opens back up?”
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“Jacob is carrying the soul,” Jake clarified.
“Oh... well, I guess that’s why,” Carmen muttered. “Still, why would that Bertram guy say it would be smart to keep me as a backup? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining and more than happy to have skipped out on a boring as fuck meeting; I just don’t get the reason.”
“I have a theory...” Jake said, proceeding to briefly share his thoughts, and after doing so, Carmen instantly understood.
“Very well, I’ll be ready to go in if you need me, then,” Carmen nodded. “I guess Arnold will teleport you there, and then I can just stay back and be ready to also be teleported should the need arise?”
“Exactly,” Jake nodded. “I plan on going by myself in the beginning. If I bring along an entire group of powerhouses, or even just a second person, it’s gonna look like an invasion even on the surface. However, if I go alone, I’m just responding to their call for negotiation Miranda informed me of. Well, I don’t think they like me visiting their planet for this negotiation, but no one ever said I couldn’t either.”
Jake had actually thought this through at least a little and would act with some measure of level-headedness.
He knew that despite everything, the Holy Church was not an easy enemy to have, and he wanted to at least leave the door open on both sides to reach a compromise down the line. If the upcoming scenario could be framed as just a fringe group from the Holy Church acting out of pocket while mostly cut off from the rest of the multiverse, it left a way for both Jake and the Holy Church to save face after Jake effectively kicked their asses and got rid of Ell’Hakan’s soul.
With Ell’Hakan gone for good, the Holy Church had no need to want to keep Jake an enemy either. As a mega faction, the Holy Church tended to be mega-pragmatic, and if they had nothing to make Jake an enemy over anymore, they just wouldn’t. As a faction all about unity and whatnot, they could be surprisingly quick, cutting off their members who proved too problematic... then again, what was more Holy Church than sacrificing the good of the few for the good of the many? Because keeping Jake as a long-time enemy would more likely than not result in many bad things happening.
However, all paths to any kind of short-term compromise would be cut off should Jake come barging in with an entire army. His intent to openly attack the largest faction in the multiverse would be evident to even the dumbest of observers. At that point, the Holy Church would need to respond with force to not appear weak, starting a far more drawn out feud.
Truthfully, Jake would prefer to fix this entire thing without having to kill a whole bunch of people he didn’t really want to kill. He had no desire to fight the Holy Church as they, quite frankly, didn’t have anyone among their ranks that Jake found worth fighting, and he’d never been a big fan of fighting larger groups, which was definitely what he was about to face should things go south.
Despite his apprehension, he didn’t have any doubt that no matter what, this would end with Ell’Hakan’s Truesoul sent back to the system to hopefully never by recycled again. There was no scenario it could end any other way.
“So when are you going?” Carmen asked.
“We’re currently waiting for Maria to get here,” Jake said, making Carmen look at him weirdly for a second before he clarified. “During my fight with Ell’Hakan, my bow began to really show that I got it before Nevermore and got really close to breaking. So I’m gonna need a new one for this upcoming planetary visit. One that can hopefully tide me over till the universe opens back up, and I can head to the Order for a full proper upgrade. I reckon Maria is my best hope to get a good one, considering she’s a bowyer.”
“Oh, I see,” Carmen nodded before smirking. “I couldn’t imagine having to rely on such a feeble thing as a weapon. Truly a horrible weakness.”
“Pretty sure you’re far more feeble than Eternal Hunger, even if you’re a Runemaiden of Valdemar,” Jake shot back, quickly taking out the katar as he spun it in his hands a few times before dismissing it again.
“That weapon can change shape, right? Can’t you just make it into a-“
“Tried it, doesn’t work,” Jake shook his head. Right as he said this, he realized Carmen had definitely already known as she grinned.
“More durable but definitely less flexible, it seems.”
Jake shook his head and was working on another comeback as he sensed a strong aura approach the valley. He stopped halfway through his headshake and looked toward the entrance as it got slightly warmer in the valley as the fire archer walked in, looking as if she’d really rushed her return. Her hair was a mess, her leather armor was in less than stellar condition, and she’d definitely burned through – pun intended - a lot of resources getting there.
That’s probably why she just stopped and stared a bit at Carmen and Jake, who just stood there rather casually. She took a second or two before she asked:
“What’s the emergency?”
Jake stared back at her for a moment before scratching the back of his head. “I wouldn’t really call it an emergency per-se...”
“Jake ruined his old bow and needs a new one, and since you’re a bowyer, he wanted to ask you for one,” Carmen instantly chimed in.
Maria looked back at Jake who really didn’t have a good answer as he just smiled meekly. “Was there some kind of miscommunication?”
“I got an emergency order to return to Haven immediately straight from my Patron,” Maria said, not returning Jake’s smile. “I left the dungeon with the final boss in my line of sight.”
“Okay, I see that I’m definitely in the wrong here, but in my defense, I do really need a new bow, and it is time-sensitive,” Jake said, knowing he didn’t have much ground to stand on. So, to escape the awkward situation, he tried to change the topic as quickly as possible.
“Also, how did Gwyndyr contact you? Are gods capable of piercing the limitations placed on our universe and send messages if they really want to? Or do you have some other kind of skill to communicate back and forth?” Jake asked.
Jake knew there were some skills gods had that allowed them to “contact” those they blessed, this contact often coming in the form of demands of some kind. In other cases, such as Valhal making offerings after a fight, that would also create a faint connection to the gods for them to then latch on to even if the connection was weak.
Luckily for Jake, Maria was willing to share despite clearly not being in a super good mood.
“The Crimson Flame is a mercenary group first and foremost. Just like your profession is about both alchemy and being a Chosen, my profession is about being a bowyer as well as a mercenary of the Crimson Flame. My Patron used one of my profession skills to give me an official assignment... they’re essentially quests that higher-level members of the mercenary company can give out,” Maria explained, Jake nodding along with genuine interest.
“That’s pretty damn neat,” Jake said, feeling like they had totally moved past the fact Jake may have fucked up a li-
“It was an assignment of the highest level. One that once granted, I must immediately act upon, or I will not only lose my Blessing but be branded a heretic and have a bounty put on my head for desertion,” Maria said, only making Jake feel more and more awkward about everything.
Fortunately, Maria soon sighed, but then she did something Jake hadn't seen coming. On her way over to sit down on the steps up to the porch of the lodge, she went by and plucked a banana right off the musa just like Carmen without even asking first... and this time, Jake didn't feel like he could call her out on her thievery as he just silently watched her eat it before she spoke again.
“I thought something bad had happened in Haven since I was told to return so urgently, so to find out nothing was wrong... at least I got a lot of merit points for completing the assignment.”
“I want to ask more about these merit points and whatnot, but I feel like you’re not super in the mood,” Jake began as Carmen again cut him off.
“So instead, he’s gonna ask you for a bow, and he definitely isn’t going to be satisfied unless it’s a really good one,” Carmen said.
“Well, I would more than gladly offer compensation,” Jake quickly corrected her. “But she isn’t wrong in that I need a bow, even if it does feel a bit shitty to ask for one now. I hope you can at least make it back to the dungeon in time for the Pioneer title.”
“I should,” Maria sighed. “Just give me a moment to catch my breath and I’ll go over what I have... hopefully one of them can be used for... what was that time-sensitive thing you need the bow for so urgently?”
“Pay the Holy Church a visit to snuff out the Truesoul of Ell’Hakan before they can flee from the universe,” Jake answered honestly.
“You know what? I’m not even gonna ask, and I’m gonna act as if I didn’t hear anything because that’s definitely not something I wanna get involved in,” Maria sighed yet again. “Now let’s see if there’s any of these you find useable...”
With those words, Maria summoned five bows in front of her; Jake finally at the final stage of his “obtain a new temporary bow” quest.