"Fucking coward. Dying isn't so bad, you know?" the alternate's voice came out. "That was uncalled for," Irun said, smacking him upside the head. "It's fine. Bernar says much worse and more frequently than I think most people know," I said with a shrug, brushing off the insult.
"Oh, what's he like?" Athar asked, leaning on his forearms at the edge of the table. "Would he make a blood pact with me?" he asked, getting a hearty laugh out of all of us, including a soft chuckle from Kalia herself. Irun and I spent the rest of dinner sharing stories about my brother while Ysevel chimed in with some of her own that he hadn't even told me.
That bastard. I knew he went back to that dawn nymph, I sent her and Kalia, recalling him swearing up and down that he would never go back for a second round. I figured he would, Ysevel sent back with a pained smile.
Why would anyone, let alone a half-elf, want to mate with a dawn nymph? Kalia asked as a feeling of genuine confusion surged in my core. I'm not gonna answer that, I sent her, getting a nod of vicious agreement from Ysevel and an indifferent shrug from Kalia.
"So, what are we calling our little group?" Athar asked, causing Kalia to nearly choke on her last bite of food. "I know it's not as deep as a blood pact, but I think we should at least call ourselves something," he added. "I, uh, I don't know," Ysevel replied as she tried to help Kalia dislodge whatever food was in her throat. "Why don't you pick a name?" I asked, accidentally worsening Kalia's choking situation.
Athar, not really taking note of her discomfort, put a finger to his chin pensively. "How about The Blade of Awkward Fuckers?" he said, his voice changing halfway through to the alternate's, prompting him to flinch at the incoming strike from Irun. "Hmm, no, I don't think that would sit well with any high-ranking officials. What about The Vanguard of the Night?" Ysevel asked, giving Kalia a final, firm smack on her armored back, successfully dislodging the food.
"Do I not get a say in this? I'm the one who even brought you all here, to begin with," Kalia said through an extra cough. "Of course you do, Lady Kalia, though I'm not sure I can tell whether you agree with the idea entirely," Irun said awkwardly. "See what I mean? Awkward fucker," Athar's alternate voice muttered out of the corner of his mouth.
"I don't, but since you all seem to enjoy the idea, why not something along the lines of Tason'Gareshe Ha," she said awkwardly. "Awkward fu-..." the alternate's voice cut out as Irun immediately put his hand over Athar's mouth just as Kalia began to glare at him. "What does that mean?" I asked, trying to redirect her attention away from Athar.
"It means Nightfall's Blade," she replied after a heavy, relenting sigh. "That's not bad," Ysevel said encouragingly. "What about The Order of Nightfall's Blade as the official title, and we can just call it Nightfall's Blade or The Order for short?" I asked the others.
After a few pensive moments from the others, Kalia surprised me by being the first to answer. "I think that name has… potential," Kalia said, prompting Athar to emit a muffled grunt as Irun continued to hold his hand over Athar's mouth.
"I think it will sit well with both the common folk and high-ranking officials," Ysevel said after a moment to think about the name. "Yes, I like it. All in favor, say aye," she said, putting a balled fist into an upturned palm. "Aye," I said in unison with Irun. "Amm!" Athar said through the small gap in Irun's daemonic hand against his face. "Lady Kalia?" Irun asked with a raised eyebrow.
Glancing at the others, she let out another reluctant sigh and shook her head. "Aye," she said, obviously tired of our antics. "From this day forth, we here will be known as The Order of Nightfall's Blade," she said with finality, getting a small cheer from those of us without a daemonic arm covering our mouths.
"You can release him now, Irun," she said, noticing Athar was itching to chime in. "Paah!The power of friendship prevails!" the alternate voice said, getting a raised eyebrow from Kalia. "Wh-what I mean to say is that I'm glad we could agree on the matter, Lady Kalia," Athar said awkwardly. "Awkward fucker number three right here," the voice came out again.
Kalia, who probably thought it was directed at her, rematerialized behind him before I could even register what was happening. "You were saying?" she said, allowing her aura of pure mana to engulf him. "I-I think he was talking about himself, my lady!" Irun called out, already knowing what was most likely going to happen.
Please, don't kill him, Ysevel sent in a half-serious tone. I agree with Irun! I think he was talking about himself, I chimed in quickly, feeling her crushing aura beginning to envelop me, too.
Kalia looked at us inquisitively for a moment, then turned to look at Irun with a desperate look on his face. "Don't worry, Athar. We'll just have to fix that," she said, reappearing in her seat like nothing had happened. "Wh-what do you mean, my lady?" he asked, feeling the color flee his features again. "I mean that from the next cycle forward, The Order will train as one," she said, lathing her words with malicious excitement.
Oh, yeah. He's fucked, I sent Ysevel, who nodded in agreement with closed eyes.