A Frantastic Time

“BULLSHIT!” cried Miho as she heard John speak. She completely and utterly refused to accept what she had been told.

“Miho, just because you refuse to accept it, does not make it any less true,” chimed in Mikuru, much to Miho’s dismay.

“How can you agree to this, nii-san, she tried to kill us and John!” argued Miho, her cheeks puffed out and her arms crossed over her chest. Gali moved up behind the young girl and wrapped her arms around Miho, her large breasts pressing into Miho’s back. Miho moved her head back and laid it on Gali’s shoulders.

“It’s ok, sweetie, John knows what he is doing, don’t you, my lord?” Gali asked, a soft smile on her face.

“I do,” answered John, confidence clear in his voice. “Fran is a great asset to our team. She knows the inner workings of the Order, their battle plans, everything! She can help us prepare for the upcoming battle in a way nobody else could,” John informed his faithful followers and friends.

“And what does she get in return?” asked Idena, weary to trust this enemy turned allied.

“What I get,” started Fran as she moved from leaning against the wall to the table where the others were standing, “is control of the Order! My step-sister, Moira, is not fit to lead that Order, nor is my step-father. While far more competent than his daughter, the **** of his wife has driven him mad, though nobody would dare say it or even admit it. His beloved Warden was murdered by Abyssal filth, as far as he is concerned. Anybody who is not part of, works for, or bows down to, the Order, are enemies that must be destroyed. Even the two other branches are corrupt in his mind, if the whispers are to be believed,” finished Fran. The rest stood silent, shocked at what their new ally had told them. If what she said was true, then Lord Brighton leading the Order is a literal threat to everybody. John’s mind was made up completely now.

“Then we’ll stop him. We have to stop him. If not for ourselves, then for every person and creature in the Abyss! The tyranny of Lord Brighton’s branch of the Order must come to an end! And when it does, Fran will take over, allied with us, and together we’ll usher in a new era of the Order to ensure a safe and secure society! With our alliance, once more we shall have peace!” John finished his speech with pride in his chest. He felt good saying those words, full conviction in each one he spoke. John believed in each word he said, as they just felt right.

The silence after John’s speech was ended with a clap. Then another and another. Idena, with tears in her eyes, clapped for her master’s speech, which was beautiful in her mind. The other girls, save Fran, quickly followed suit, each one clapped loudly in response to John’s words. John’s smile stretched cheek to cheek as he took in the applause he was given. He felt validated for everything he’s done so far in the name of his kingdom and for his friends. He moved forward and hugged each one of them, whispered in their ear how much he cared for each of them. Every girl smiled at hearing his kind words and were fully committed to his cause.

“If you are all done with your little lovefest and ego stroking, we do have serious business to get down to,” Fran said in a cold voice. Fran did not and had no intention to become friendly with John and his group of whores, as far as Fran was concerned. She saw them all as a means to an end, with that end being leader of the Order. “There’s still my two other Inquisitors and the portal I used to get here. The portal the Order knows about,” she said, to which everyone listened.

“Show me,” said John. “Idena and Mikuru will come with us. Miho and Gali, begin checking on everyone. See if we have casualties or injuries, and get a damage assessment. It’s not gonna be fun rebuilding this place,” finished John as he left the room with Fran quick on his heels. Mikuru and Idena nodded to each other, then the other two, before they followed their king and new ally out of the room.

“I still don’t like her...” frowned Miho, her face still puffed out about their new ally, Gali patted her head in an attempt to placate the angry asian.

As the four made their way through the Warden’s Woods, the name of which rather amused Fran, they made a quick stop at the Warden Forward Command Center from John’s earlier trek into these woods.

“So this was a Warden base, eh?” asked Fran as she walked around, her eyes scanned everything that remained of the ancient camp. “Sadly I don’t even know what happened here. The information of this is event is highly classified. I suspect that only Lord Brighton knows what happened here. Only Wardens are allowed to read the full report. All that’s declassified is the location of the portal to this permanent barrier. Even then, only high ranking Order officials can access it,” Fran told them as she finished her look around.

“Right, let’s go do something about this cave,” said John as the four continued their trek into the deeper parts of Warden’s Woods where the cave was located. A few mysterious creatures caught John’s eye, who made a mental note to come back to these woods at some point later and explore these woods. It wasn’t long before the group reached the cave entrance.

“I’ll go first and talk to them. With them by our side we can-”

“No,” John said bluntly as he cut Fran off.

“What? What do you mean no?” asked Fran, confused by John’s sudden interruption.

“What I mean is I invited you to join us, not your team. You need to get rid of them,” John told her coldly as he stared directly into her eyes.

“But they are great potential assets for us!” argued Fran, who’d rather keep her team than kill them.

“No. Consider this a loyalty test of sorts. Prove you are committed to our cause, the cause of ending the reign of terror of Lord Brighton and make the Order a respectable organization again!” John said in an attempt to convince Fran to do what she needed to do. Fran sighed and nodded to John, resigned to do what she had to do.

Fran drew her sword as she entered the cave, a determined look on her face. She ran into Fifth Inquisitor first, who set up a sort of defensive perimeter inside the cave. Once he saw it was Fran, he quickly moved from his cover and saluted his superior, with no suspicions that she had been turned by the enemy. So when Fran drove her sword through his gut, he was thoroughly surprised.

“But...why?” he asked, a mix of shock and pain was written across his face.

“I do what I must to stop Moira and her father,” was all Fran could say as she pushed Fifth Inquisitor off her sword. Fifth Inquisitor stumbled backwards, his hands on his gut in an attempt to keep his organs from falling out of him.

“So...you joined them?” he asked, already sure of the answer.

“He and his allies have proven stronger than you all. It was the best chance for me to reach my goals. I am sorry, but I will not let anything prevent me from fulfilling my destiny!” she said as she raised her sword above her head but hesitated to strike her former comrade down.

Unbeknownst to Fran, Third Inquisitor had listened in on their conversations thanks to one of her spy mics. Upon hearing that her boss and mentor had turned on her and her friends and comrades, she quickly devised a plan to save Fifth Inquisitor. Third Inquisitor took a deep breath and then let out a scream into her nearby microphone, her magic manifesting the sound waves similar to how they are seen in cartoons. She put her full **** into this attack, which made the sound waves appear rather large. Fran, not suspecting a thing, took the full brunt of the sound waves from every mic they came out of.

“Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!” screamed Fran, as her head rang from the blast of the sound waves that ran into her. Idena and Mikuru, upon hearing Fran’s cries of pain, attempted to assist her but was stopped by John.

“No. She must do this herself. She must prove she’s with us. I know you both don’t trust her, maybe this will help you to,” he said as the two nodded and moved back near him at the mouth of the cave.

“You were supposed to destroy the warlock, not join him!” yelled Third Inquisitor, tears ran down her face. “You were to bring balance to the Order, not leave it in darkness!” continued Third Inquisitor, not able to fully process that Fran had betrayed the Order, the team, and her.

“And that is what I’m doing, sweetie, just not following the original plan,” Fran said as she got up and looked around to spot the microphones that Third had placed around the cave. Fran quickly threw her sword at the wall to take out one while she kicked a large rock to destroy a second. She quickly grabbed a rock and tossed it at a third mic. Third Inquisitor, upon realizing what Fran was doing, acted quickly and sent another acoustic blast at Fran. Fran dove behind a rock that, while cracking a bit, held together and absorbed the blast now that there were three less microphones to project Third’s voice.

Fran knew that Third had a short recovery period before she could use that attack again, so she used that refrain wisely. Fran rushed over to retrieve her sword that was stuck in the wall. With a strong pull, she was able to free her sword just in time to see Third attempting to pull Fifth to safety.

“No!” yelled Fran as she poured some of her Holy energy into the sword and let loose her own wave of energy from her sword which connected with Third Inquisitor. The **** of the blast knocked Third Inquisitor into the very rocks she was attempting to put Fifth Inquisitor behind. Third heaved, having trouble breathing as a large gash appeared across her chest.

Fran, tightly gripping her sword, moved forward, towards her two former comrades. Each step was heavy as she knew what she had to do. The memories of her fighting with, eating with, and sleeping with these people flooded her mind. Tears began to form in her eyes as she stood over her Third and Fifth Inquisitors.

“Kill them. Kill them now,” John said as he reached the same area as Fran and her Inquisitors. Fran lifted her blade above her head while she stared into Third Inquisitor’s eyes, a scared and shocked look on her face. “DO IT!” commanded John, to which Fran complied and brought her blade down.