No they are not (Varrick POV)

“Ugh. I love Champ, but I wish he’d at least tell us what kind of attack we should be expecting.” Belsach complained, the aged hobgoblin idly sharpening his weapon in preparation for what was to come. In front of him was a beastly weapon that embodied the very culture of goblins, the blade a twisted anathema to every human craftsman’s sense of aesthetic. It was a two handed sword 8 feet in length and laden with scratches, dents, and uneven patches of black where the iron had become discolored. There were no runes, ornaments, or anything that gave it any notoriety, the absurd size alone enough to distinguish it from any other blade. To see such a beastly blade next to Belsach’s diminutive stature almost looked humorous, the blade nearly triple his height. Varrick was sitting in a table next to him, copying the hobgoblin’s actions as he sharpened his own sword. There was no real reason for either of them to sharpen their blades, the weapons enchanted for both resilience and self sharpening. Despite that, the two of them felt at ease doing repetitive tasks.

“For once, I’m with Belsach. Just telling us something is gonna attack us in 2 days is too vague.” Daria complained as she watched Bell quietly chisel a piece of marble into some ungodly abomination. As for Evangeline, she was busy picking at her fingernails, pulling them off with a wince, the flesh sticking to her fingernail before a new one grew back.

“You kids are so spoiled. Love is usually spontaneous and intense. Having two days' warning is a luxury.” Evangeline said, coming to Verdi’s defense without hesitation as Bell sighed.

“For all we know, it might not even happen. I don’t think he was lying to us, but he did say he expected to die, and that things were not going according to plan.” She chimed in as Varrick inspected the pommel of his sword for any cracks.

“Let’s just trust him and wait. Worst case scenario, we’ll have more time to prepare.” Varrick said as he too tried to hide his discontent with the alchemist. He didn’t want to admit it aloud, but he and everyone else felt a little hurt that Verdi did not trust them enough to let them in on his great plan to save Eren from whatever was happening. All of them had a vested interest in Eren’s health. Evangeline and Bell had some rather depraved reasons for wanting Eren’s health, but they had interests nonetheless. As if hearing Varrick’s mental criticisms, they heard a high pitched whine from upstairs as several skittering footsteps could be heard on the roof.

“Sir! The thingy is, uh, doing a noise!” One of Belsach’s minions screeched, the dungeon spawned life form a crude, barely sentient thing. It was a mystery even to the owner of a dungeon and its residents where exactly these things were born, each minion just spawning and blindly obedient to Belsach. They were strange things, capable of basic logic yet lacking emotion and having a strange, off putting aura to them. Leaving his sword on the table, he marched up the stairs with Varrick hot on his heels. His head bumped into the ceiling as he cursed, squatting and following the hobgoblin while watching his head. Reaching the door at the end of the stairs, they threw it open to display Verdi’s creation with Belsach’s minions fiddling around with it.

The large antennae with the dish attached to it was no longer rotating, the dish pointed northeast while the strange box next to it let out a constant continuous tone. Varrick listened closely, waiting for the noise to stop and send a code, yet it was a single long screech of vibrating metal that responded.

“Is it broken or is this normal?” Belsach asked, genuinely confused as they heard footsteps in the bar.

“Guys, I’m back! Where the fuck-oh, you’re on the roof.” Verdi’s cheery voice shouted, the alchemist’s detection ability as effective as ever.

“Champ, perfect timing, your machine’s on the fritz!” Belsach shouted as Verdi ran up with Fenri and Citrinas behind him. Upon reaching the radio, Verdi and Citrinas ran towards their contraption, the pair inspecting it and exchanging minor technical questions to each other.

“Oh shit, did we leave one of the transmitters out?” Verdi asked, referring to the test transmitters he had built to test out the radars.

“No, Fenri stuffed it into her inventory because she got jealous, remember?” Citrinas reminded as the hero clicked her tongue.

“You’re fucking lucky I didn’t destroy the damn things!” Fenri snapped, still irritated by Citrinas’ odd fascination for the gadget. Verdi, on the other hand, looked incredibly excited as he pressed his hand against the ground and closed his eyes.

“Good news, we lucked the fuck out. Looks like Tristiana’s just testing her transmitter out. If we’re lucky we can catch her before she sends her message.” He said, keeping his eyes closed as everyone stared at him.

“What are you doing?” Bell asked, tilting her head and looking for whatever he was doing.

“Trying to find her before Belsach’s minions get here. Now don’t bother me, I need to focus. Citrinas, if we hear a code, record it.” He commanded as Daria made a choked noise and stomped over to him.

“You can just find people by touching the ground!? Why didn’t you do this from the start!?” Daria blurted out as Verdi growled in response.

“I have limits to my ability. You try identifying one person in a fucking city of millions.” Verdi said indignantly.

“It’s a kitsune, how hard can it be!?” Daria snapped.

“There’s thousands of kitsune in a city that’s roughly 200 miles in radius with an underground black market! Very fucking hard!” He countered angrily.

“Excuses.” Fenri chimed in as Verdi threw her a sour look.

“I’m sorry, can I search for Tristiana, or do you want me to explain that I do not, in fact, have the all seeing eye of GOD!?” Verdi snapped angrily while gesturing to the area with his free hand.”

“You tried searching on the first day, and said it was impossible. How come you’re searching now? Can you pick up these weird signals now?” Fenri asked as Verdi stood up, giving up entirely on searching in silence. Before he could answer, Citrinas chimed in.

“We know my sister is northeast of us, in a tall building, and standing next to a transmitter, so it’ll be easier to spot her.” She answered before Verdi could open his mouth, the arch-imago serving as the only person who could keep up with him. Belsach raised his hand, beckoning to the rest of the group as he descended the stairs back to the bar.

“Alright, let’s give Champ some privacy. Worst case scenario, we’ll have to wait an hour or two for my minions to let us triangulate the position.” He said, leaving Fenri and Citrinas to sit next to Verdi as he scanned the area. Returning to the main bar, Varrick and Belsach returned to sharpening their swords while Daria sat next to them, ogling Varrick.

“So, here’s the plan. Evangeline and I will be the vanguard. Daria, Bell, you’re on support. Varrick, you’re watching our flank. We’ll probably be fighting Pelrin, so if you mess up, we’re all dead or lubricated.” Belsach said as Daria rolled her eyes.

“If this is gonna end like the time Eren fought the Lamia lord, I’m leaving.” She said as Varrick shivered, still remembering Eren’s fight with the Lamia lord. Pelrin tended to recycle effective strategies, and that accursed strategy was as effective as it was traumatic.

“Ah, I heard about that fight. Blood, guts, screams, and Eren wearing nothing but a layer of pig lard. Wish I could have been there.” Evangeline said as Varrick groaned, not wanting to relive that cursed fight. It was so slippery. And the smell! They spent a month scrubbing everything before giving up and burning everything.

“Let's just assume Pelrin is going to just kill us instead of dousing us in-”

Knock knock knock.

As Varrick spoke, someone outside knocked on the door, the abrupt noise causing everyone to go silent and grab their weapons. Bell muttered inventory, pulling her hammer and stakes out while Evangeline bit her forearm, tearing flesh out with her teeth as her wounds regenerated and healed over in a heartbeat. Bone formed over her arm’s skin reinforcing it into a solid hammer as the muscle underneath swelled in size.

“Bar’s closed.”

Knock knock knock.

“Bar is closed!” Belsach shouted, the knocking significantly louder now, each thump resonating throughout their very bones.

KNOCK KNOCK CRASH

The door was shattered, thousands of wooden splinters filling the air as a hooded figure kicked it down. A second later Belsach thrusted his sword forward up the stairs, the sheer girth of his blade taking up the entirety of the stairway. Despite standing on one foot and in an awkward position, the hooded figure didn’t lose composure as they calmly reached into their pocket. With a flick of their wrist, several blurs shot forward from their hand as Belsach cursed, twisting his sword to deflect the attack. Taking a step forward, the hooded figure threw a front kick into Belsach’s sword, sending him flying backwards as his newly replaced furniture was decimated.

Belsach dusted himself off, the hobgoblin unharmed despite the attack as everyone braced themselves, the hooded figure slowly descending the stairs. They were a towering giant, standing at six and a half feet with a wide muscular build. Their face was hidden with a cloth, a common enough sight in the Olskroya desert leaving only their brown hair and eyes visible. The most notable thing, however, were their hands.

One hand was covered in callouses and scars, a patchwork of combat and **** known only to a few in the world. On their other hand was a leather glove one would commonly see on a weaponsmith with a small gem built into the base of it. In a single moment, Varrick instantly recognized it as one of the Gloves of Purification, one of the artifacts Tristiana had smuggled into the city.

Verdi had made a mistake.

The attack was coming 2 days earlier than he expected.

“Fucking cunt.” Belsach spat as the hooded figure threw his hood back and tore the veil on his face away, the mysterious stranger identifying himself without hesitation. As they saw his face, theri shock turned to abject hatred and bloodlust, everyone in the room ready to slaughter the person before them.

“Yeah, that’s what I came here for, you bastard.” He said as Varrick felt the grip on his sword loosen as he fought to resist the urge to walk forward and kill this man, the logical parts of his brain commanding the emotional parts to interrogate their enemy before killing them. “You promised me that I’d always have a warm beer on my dick and a cold cunt in my mouth whenever I visited. You forget that promise cause you’re getting older, drunker, or uglier?” Eren asked, the hero still the same as ever. His style of talking, his body mannerisms, even his little habit of moving his hands while he talked was all there. Despite seeing his friend for the first time in a decade, Belsach looked to be ready to decapitate Eren then and there.

“You got balls pretending to be my buddy. I’ll make sure they get shoved down your throat for that.” Belsach spat, knowing full well that there were artifacts and spells that could modify appearance. As for the style of talking and mannerisms, Eren was famous across the world for his eccentric style of talking. Mimicking his body gestures and vocabulary would be simple with enough practice. “Everyone back off. I’m killing this chump.” He snarled as the fake Eren sighed.

“For the love of-” He said, rolling his eyes before clearing his throat. Belsach swung his sword once more with reckless abandon, the air around dented blade screaming from the sheer speed as the false Eren continued talking without a care in the world.

“Fear-” He began, the word like a spell as Belsach’s blade stopped mere millimeters away from the false Eren’s throat. Rather than dodge or deflect the blow like a normal person, the false Eren continued talking without a care in the world.

“-The false light that leads sheep astray.” Belsach’s face twisted as he lowered his sword, the simple phrase causing him to scrunch his face up as though he’d been struck.

“How do you know that phrase?” He asked icily as the false Eren groaned.

“I told it to you 100 years ago to confirm my identity in case we ever had someone using Humanity pretending to be-oh shit, you’re a random guy using Humanity to pretend to be Belsach.” He said, crossing his arms and inspecting Belsach closely. “Work on your disguise. I don’t remember Belsach being this ugly or smelly.” he added as Belsach exposed his rotted teeth, grinning from ear to ear at the insult.

“You’re just jealous I age like wine while you age like milk.” He said, the rest of the bar remaining on their guard against “Eren” while Belsach lowered his sword. Varrick tensed up, still unconvinced by the fake Eren’s display as he clenched his sword tighter.

“Belsach could’ve let the phrase slip while he was drunk.” Daria said, doing her best to hide her excitement. Logically, they should be on their guard, but the prospect of this being the real Eren was too much for them to stay calm. Rather than be discouraged, Eren tilted his head to and fro, deep in thought before snapping his fingers.

“You and Varrick used to sleep in the same cot even during the summer until you turned 12 because you were both scared of the Night Beast eating your feet at night.” He said as Varrick and Daria’s faces blushed as Bell and Evangeline cracked a smirk at the knowledge.

“Sh-shut up. I didn’t-I wasn’t scared of the Night Beast. It’s just a story you and Belsach made up to scare me.” Varrick said, only to have his sword vibrate as the lie detection built into it activated.

“Do you remember that growling noise you heard at night and feeling something lick your toes under the blanket?” Eren asked as Daria stiffened.

“I never told a soul about the licking. How do you know that?” She asked as Belsach slowly walked away from them. Rather than repositioning to attack Eren, it looked like he was inching towards the stairs leading to the exit.

“That was Belsach.” Eren answered as Bell made a choked noise and looked to Belsach, raising her hammer and stake while redirecting her hostility.

“... You snuck into a 12 year old child's bed to lick her feet?” She asked coldly, the “false” Eren successfully turning everyone against Belsach in a matter of moments. For Belsach’s sake, Varrick prayed that this was a fake Eren making up lies.

“I did not lick their feet!” Belsach exclaimed as Varrick clutched his sword. To his immense relief, the sword’s lie detection enchantment remained dormant.

“Of course not. You cut the tongue off whatever monster we killed that day, wet it, and poked their feet with it.” Eren clarified, Varrick’s sword confirming this was the truth as everyone stared at Belsach like hunters eyeing their prey.

“I am not a kiddy diddler!” Belsach exclaimed. Despite the sword confirming he was telling the truth, that did nothing to alleviate the killing intent Varrick and Daria directed at him.

“WHY!?” Varrick shouted.

“Because diddling children is like plucking an unripe fruit! It’s just disgusting! Older women are better! A woman is most beautiful after living half a lifetime!” Belsach countered as Varrick groaned, hearing the disgusting goblin’s taste in women still being as repulsive as ever.

“YOU KNOW WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT YOU LIME COLORED SACK OF SHIT!” Daria exclaimed as Eren gave answers to questions they didn’t even know they had.

“At the time, me and Belsach had a bet going on. Belsach bet 3 gold coins that you’d wet the bed if he messed with you enough.” He explained casually as Varrick and Daria returned to glaring at Eren, ready to kill him along with Belsach. “Don’t look at me like that. I bet 3 coins that you two would find out and kill him. I was on YOUR side.” Eren said as Evangeline looked at Belsach, the angel for once in sync with Bell as she let out a wave of bloodlust at him.

“You tried to make children pee for money?” Evangeline asked, her eyes filled with disgust as she stared at Belsach like he was garbage. Belsach opened his mouth, ready to explain that it was a prank and it was funny. Varrick knew quite well that the hobgoblin would state as such, and it was the truth. He closed his mouth, knowing that explaining himself would just make the situation worse. So instead he pointed his sword at Eren and screamed.

“… He’s a fake! Kill him! He speaks nothing but lies!” He shouted as Varrick’ sat down, sheathing his sword as it vibrated upon hearing every lie that spewed out of Belsach’s grubby throat. Everyone else in the bar copied him save for Belsach, who kept his sword raised and was now standing as far away from Daria as possible. This was really Eren. There were a million questions he wanted to ask, he wanted to know what was happening, why Eren stayed silent, and how they could help. Yet, his mouth felt dry as Varrick tried to muster the strength to speak. He knew what he wanted to say, he’d rehearsed it for years on the day they reunited. He decided it was now or never that he’d tell Eren what he wanted to say for nearly 8 years.

“You bastard! You beat the monster lord, then you disappear on us without a word! What the hell happened?” He was unused to such crude talk, but he couldn’t handle himself. They loved Eren like a father and would have happily joined in whatever plans he had, no matter the danger. They’d all proven they were capable of defending themselves after slaying Belpan, yet Eren still didn’t trust them. Eren frowned, looking away from them as he clenched his fist, as though Varrick’s words had truly cut him.

“I’m sorry. The person I’m fighting is a master at manipulation. I wasn’t sure who I could trust and who was on that thing’s side.” Eren said, his words cutting like daggers as Daria and Varrick winced. He’d raised them like his own children, trained them, and changed their very fates. Nothing could ever hope to sway their loyalty to him.

“Come on Eren. You think this guy could bribe, manipulate, or threaten us?” He asked jokingly as Eren looked at him. The air grew stiff as he stared Belsach down before looking down at the table.

“Yes. I do. Do not underestimate what this thing is capable of.” He warned, his tone dead serious as the mood shifted. Eren always had a mutual respect with Belsach, the hobgoblin serving as his sole confidante for nearly a century. Belsach had killed people for saying less, yet to hear such words from Eren of all people sent chills down his spine.

“What do you need help with?” Daria asked, cutting straight to the point as Eren nodded.

“I'm looking for the princess of Cheran. I need to get to her before anyone else does.” Eren said as Varrick felt his hands begin sweating. The princess of Cheran? Before he could speak, Bell sighed while rubbing her temples.

“Citrinas again? Why is everyone after that girl?” Bell asked in exasperation, literally taking the words out of everyone’s mouth. First she found Verdi on the mountain, then her sister had been revived and attempting to abduct her in Kolderia. Now Eren had come for her to protect her. It felt like the world itself was after her. Eren merely shrugged at the question, as though he himself had no understanding why he was after her either.

“I don’t know what this thing is planning. All I know is that they need a Glove of Purification.” Eren said while raising his right hand to show off his artifact. It was still a strange artifact to be after, being a mere crafting artifact to purify materials. “And that he was looking at Bonds’ party, Rael, the Carnation Seneschal-”

“The Hornet Empress and Leraje.” Varrick interrupted as Eren raised an eyebrow in surprise.

“How do you know that list?” He asked, visibly worried.

“It was Verdi's list of targets he was supposed to capture.” Varrick answered, thinking back to the alchemist's strange ramblings. He had been commanded to capture and violate this list of women, but his intel was spotty and he seemed woefully unprepared to fight any of them.

“Verdi?” Eren asked.

“We found an amnesiac on a mountain that might be tied to this mess we named Verdi. Somebody told him to attack those people, but he’s proven that he’s on our side.” Varrick explained, not wanting the two of them to fight over a miscommunication. Verdi had proven that he was harmless, and had personally guided them to Tristiana’s location. There was no doubt he was just another victim to whoever was running around causing havoc.

“I see. And where is this Verdi?” Eren asked cautiously.

“He’s upstairs if you wanna chat. We’re in the middle of tracking down Tristiana.” Daria chimed in as they heard an excited shout from upstairs, the alchemist’s timing impeccable as ever.

“Guys, guys, I found her!” Verdi shouted excitedly as they heard him stomping down the stairs.

“Speak of the devil, here he comes.” Belsach said as Eren stood up, recognizing the voice as he looked at the stairs leading to the roof.

“You’re not gonna fucking believe it. She put the transmitter on the fucking-what the hell?” Verdi’s excitement turned to disbelief as he and Eren stared at each other. The room went silent as Verdi stared at Eren like how one would look at a new species. He swallowed as Eren returned the stare, as though he couldn’t believe his eyes either. It almost looked like the two of them would just stand there staring at each other, only for Eren to break the silence as he raised his left hand.

“Inventory!” He shouted as a smooth metallic object formed in his left hand. It was a small handheld device that had no visible distortions or dents on the surface despite being more than 40,000 years old. There was a small button on the front of it made from some unknown material while the front of it had a metal rod sticking out of it near identical to the antennae for Verdi's radio. Citrinas and Fenri suddenly appeared behind Verdi, the pair following him down and going pale the second they saw what Eren was holding.

Every world had different monsters and technological levels, yet there were always some minor things that were shared between them. One of those constants were Apollyon Gate Keys, the appearance of the nigh indestructible artifacts shared between worlds. A single push of a button, and they could banish anyone into another realm where time flows differently. A punishment worthy of only the worst criminals who ever lived.

And Eren intended to banish Verdi into that hellscape.

Author's note: Sorry for the delay. I kinda fucked up pacing for the past 3 chapters since they got posted out of order, spent a longass time trying to find the right way to fix it. I'm just gonna brute **** my way forward.