Chapter 846: Weird little moments
*Bing-Bong!*
We interrupt this chapter to inform the reader that instead of doing an entire chapter in Zhen Liu acting like a spaz over something like a new spiritual brain buddy, the writer has opted to sprinkle his thoughts into more interesting scenes elsewhere in the library.
It’ll make sense later.
Thank you.
*Bing-Bong!*
________________________________________
“And darling’s cousins are…out of here! I was fairly certain that they’d have to be rendered them unconscious before they’d leave, thankfully that didn’t happen.”
“Eh. I was kind of hoping to see them get their butts kicked. I don’t dislike them, but… it’d be kind of interesting to watch.”
“Fair.”
In the private Kaijin Consort room, Rianna, Jin Fang and Jinju Ren had managed to convince Logos and Pathos to modify the place to include the ability to check out other parts of the library other than the interrogation theater.
They were rather curious as to what the Zhen Clan scions would get up to when they had unmitigated access to a literal archive of forbidden knowledge that had been updated to include some rather questionable pieces of literature from unknown sources.Good or ill, it would’ve been interesting to see.
Unfortunately, they played it safe.
Boringly safe.
None of the scions picked out anything other than aether art scrolls or some random ass skill books…mostly. Some of them did pick out some works of entertaining fiction, but nothing too scandalous.
All the being said, it was only Jinju Ren and Rianna who were watching the Zhen Clan scions with some level of interest.
As for Jin Fang, she was still watching Zhen Liu…despite the fact that the man was basically doing nothing.
Literally, jack shit.
“Jin Fang, has darling moved from his spot like…at all?”
“Nope.”
“Is it driving you nuts?”
“A little.”
“Mind if we join you?”
“Go right ahead.”
Shortly after Lady Daria had left Zhen Liu to his own devices, he opted to dismiss Spring Brawler from the room as well. There was a small argument, namely about it being unwise for Zhen Liu to be by himself while technically injured, but Spring Brawler relented.
For the past hour or so though after this aforementioned disagreement, Zhen Liu had spend that entire time simply sitting like a philosopher in the empty theater room.
With his head firmly supported by his hand and leg, Zhen Liu looked as if he was incredibly lost in thought.
The girls had no idea what to make of this moment of what they hoped was deep introspection and nothing else. Especially since Logos and Pathos informed them that Zhen Liu’s connection with all of the other kaijin and them was being muted for the time being.
Of course, this eventually led to the trip doing what everybody did while watching someone deep in thought.
Play the guessing game.
“I think he’s thinking about what to eat for dinner,” Rianna stated confidently.
“Seriously?,” Jinju Ren asked with a skeptical raise of her brow.
“It’s a simple question, sure, but it’s one of those questions you can get lost in.”
“Huh…personally, I think he’s trying to figure out who to take to bed with first,” Jinju Ren speculated with a dirty mind.”I mean, none of us have exactly been very subtle with our interests, but he hasn’t acted on any of our advances? I think he’s finally taking the time to think who he wants to lose his cherry to.”
It was now Rianna’s turn to be skeptical, but that’s because she figured that that particular moment would be big and simultaneous. After all, Zhen Liu had an absurd amount of strength, he probably had an absurd amount of stamina as well. Right?
“What about you, big sis? Any ideas?”
Jin Fang was quiet as she kept staring at the display, trying to align her thoughts with how Zhen Liu would normally formulate his own thoughts. It wasn’t easy, but she settled on one answer that seemed to make the most sense.
“I think..he’s trying to come terms.”
“With…?”
“With having to spill one of biggest secrets.”
“Ah.”
Evidently, they were all wrong.
…
‘Vices…virtues…judge? Judgement? Hmmm…’
________________________________________
[Well…that was a special kind of stressful,] Nepherage admitted.
[Yup…,] Frosttusk agreed.
[It wasn’t that bad,] Razorstella offhandedly commented.
[Says the bladed ballerina who bailed early because of social awkwardness,] Hurricroak retorted.
[Screw off.]
[You…you doing okay, Spring?,] Screamira asked with concern in regards to the proto-kaijin laying facedown on the ground.
[Physically, yes. Emotionally, unknown…]
In one of the lounge areas of the Library, Nepherage, Frosttusk, Hurricroak, Razorstella, Spring Brawler and Screamira had opted to perform one of the oldest rituals that can be done after being forced to put on a literal mask all day.
Couch crashing.
Despite their varied builds, and the fact that some of them were made of volatile elemental energies, the couches that Logos and Pathos had whipped up were able to accommodate everybody.
The fact that they could also provide some small infusions of [Chaos] and aether to the kaijin as they sit was also very therapeutic. There was, however, a shared stressor among the kaijin that had to be addressed now rather than later.
A stressor that Hurricroak decided to address point blank.
[Alright, how much longer are we going to have to wait until we can contact the maestro again via the link? It’s been almost a full day and I’m starting to get weirdly antsy about the whole thing. Especially after learning about what happened to Meteor Horn.]
[I know what you mean,] Spring Brawler agreed. This magger was actually serious for the slinky-esque kaijin that he actually picked himself up the ground with enough force to stare at Hurricroak face to face. [It was…weird, being exposed to all that raw emotion from Lady Daria, but not being able to know how it affected the ringmaster. It was like trying to get read on normal people and I hated it.]
[Wait…Spring Brawler, is that why you readily agree to regroup with us instead of sticking around our lord? Discomfort?]
[Well…he was also uncharacteristically curt with me, but I think that had to do with whatever is going on with Paralust or whatever she is now.]
[Ah.]
Once the name Paralust was mentioned, Spring Brawler and Nepherage couldn’t help but to direct their gazes at Screamira, much to her annoyance.
Screamira left this feeling unaddressed for all of five seconds.
[Before you all ask, no. I cannot provide any insight into Paralust’s behavior anymore than any of you can.]
[But like what she did was technically a form of possession, right?,] Nepherage pointed out. [That usually leave things behind in both directions.]
[I can vouch for that,] Hurricroak added. [After being shark boy’s brain, I can understand why he’s so smitten on that poison clan girl.]
[I think we established that the Zhen Clan have a thing for strong women,] Razorstella commented, unaware of the ammunition she had just provided.
[Like you?]
[MOTHER-]
[Okay!,] Screamira interjected before things got violent. [That might be the case if it was us in a mortal soul, but we technically don’t have those…but I think I might know what you mean…]
[Really…?,] Frosttusk asked, now intrigued.
[Yeah… y’all know we have that compulsion to act up on the desire that make up our cores sometimes?]
[Yeah…]*5
[No.]
[They’re like that feeling…times a thousand.]
[Oh…]
[Well, she was. I have no idea how things are panning out now that she’s back inside the manager. Hell, I’m not even sure if she’ll still be a “she”…]
…
‘Judge girl…wait, they might not have the same pronouns anymore…Judgeman? Just Judge? Dammit! My naming sense is usually better than this…’
________________________________________
=To be fair, the past lords didn’t have people that ever thought to check anything out. After all, if the rest of the world ever found out about these books…=
=Regardless, now that everything has calmed down, we can finally just relax and…wait a minute…what the fuck is that?=
=I’m not sure, but…all of the zakos that Paralust hijacked have been sent into hibernation mode, right?=
=Because I’m picking up three of those signatures walking through the Library’s back passageways.=
=No…it looks like they’re…heading to the prison cells=
=I…don’t know…=
________________________________________
[~On the rocks! Hit me up with another brandy! Don’t stop! Give me space, I’m feeling ran-]
[Girl, what are you singing? Actually, when did you learn how to sing?]
[I don’t know, girl. It just felt sort of right, you know? Also, I feel like calling each other “girl” is going to get real confusing, real fast. We need to figure out names.]
[Names…for, like, each other or as a collective?]
[Both?]
[Oh…hmm…]
