The Gang’s All Here

“So, explain again to me why in Helheim you agreed to work with the Order again?” Maivs asked whilst sharpening her arm in bladeform with a whetstone. “Because it still sounds like one of, if not the dumbest decision you have made in a long while.”

“Because Lifthrasir needs to be apprehended-”

“Yeah yeah, I get that. But my big question isn’t regarding that.” She turned her arm back to normal, slipping the stone into her pocket. “See, I could understand if we were going out to look for Lifthrasir the second you got out of prison if we were looking for him as the three of us. He stuck you with the metaphorical bill, left without a word, and the bastard needs to pay. My problem is the fact that you want to work with the PEOPLE WHO THREW YOU IN JAIL, JOHN!”

John winced. “Mavis, there’s no need to shout-”

“MAYBE IF YOU WEREN’T MAKING DUMBASS DECISIONS, I WOULDN’T HAVE TO!”

“Mavis, please don’t shout in the house,” John’s mom said as she came out of the kitchen to join them in the living room. “John does have some explaining to do, but yelling at him won’t fix anything.”

“Sorry, Brenda,” Mavis said sheepishly.

“Sorry, Mom,” John said as well.

“It’s fine, but I do think you owe all of us an explanation as to why you would work alongside them,” Brenda said calmly as she sat down on the couch with Mavis.

“And if you could so in a way that makes sense, because I agree with Mavis and your mom that this is a really dumb idea,” Talia said as she descended the stairs, her hair still damp from the shower she just took. “Because I love you, John, I really do. But taking the Order to Alfheim? You know there’s a reason they got banned in the first place.”

“I figured, but Moira didn’t go into the deepest of details as to why they got banned,” John said with a shrug.

Talia took a seat on the recliner next to John, then took out a hairbrush and got to work on brushing her hair. “Well, as far as what my parents have told me and from what I learned in school, the Order had been invited centuries ago to help deal with the skaven invasion.”

Mavis snorted. “And look how successful that was.”

Talia gave her a smile. “Well, that's the kicker. See, the Order was doing an amazing job at getting rid of the skaven influence. They would reinforce the various towns, cleanse them, consecrate ground so they couldn’t be corrupted by the skaven any further, and move on to the next place. They were slow at times, but they were efficient. However, they apparently became very evangelical about their beliefs, and started to get a touch… inquisition-y in some of the towns.”

“No one ever expects the Order’s Inquisition," John said, getting faint chuckles from the other three in the room.

“Well, when the Council confronted them about this, they got super defensive and gave the Council an ultimatum. Either the Council allowed the Order to work in the way they saw fit or they would have to deal with the skaven on their own. I guess they also said it in a super insulting manner or something, ‘cause the Order’s ultimatum was rejected and they were promptly banned from ever returning to Alfheim.”

“Since you three fought some skaven in the barrow, I am guessing that your people were unable to complete the Order’s job?” Brenda said, softly sipping on some tea.

Talia nodded. “We did pretty well, all things considered. We were able to keep the areas that had been cleansed free of skaven, and managed to get rid of any settlements that the skaven built above ground. Some cities ended up burnt to the ground to ensure the removal of any skaven warrens, but the first sign of them in hundreds of years was the barrow of Beowulf.”

Mavis turned to look at John and pointed an accusatory finger at him. “You see, John? This is why you can’t trust them! They don’t care about doing good, they just want to push their beliefs forward, and the second you stop letting them, they will drop you like hot iron.”

“But that doesn’t mean the job shouldn’t be done!” John yelled out. “In Alfheim’s case, the skaven still had to be removed and in our case Lifthrasir still has to be captured. Not accepting the Order’s help would be stupid!”

“But what happens if they betray you again?” Talia asked quietly. “The only reason that they were able to be banned from my home is because the council has a lot of power and a lot of powerful friends. The Order probably could have subjugated Alfheim, but all of Alfheim and our allies? They wouldn’t have stood a chance, and would be ostracised from the rest of the Abyssal community for such an action.” Talia then spread her arms out, gesturing to the four of them sitting in the room. “We are all we have. A gamer who got magic powers, his mundane mom, a magic sword who’s not nearly at full strength, and me: a Ljosalfr who was almost too rebellious for her own good and nearly got killed by a fat pig a month ago. We don’t exactly have the pull of the council.”

“What would the Order do to us if they chose to betray us?” Brenda asked, her voice full of fear.

Mavis shrugged. “John could probably tell you more about their current methods, but if they are anything like the Order of a few hundred years ago, they will probably capture John and drain him for mana to supply their own war efforts, kill or **** a conversion out of Talia, brainwash you to forget that you ever had a son, and try to melt me down.” She leaned back in her chair before pushing some of her bangs out of her eyes. “They can’t, unless they are using some god-tier level shit. But they would probably lock me in a vault and never let me out.”

A fearful silence settled amongst them all as the weight of the situation settled. They were completely at the Order’s mercy, and if things turned bad… a fate worse than **** awaited most of them.

“I... I know this isn’t a great situation," John said slowly. “I probably should have thought more about this when Moira made me the offer. I’m sorry-”

“Honey, you don’t have anything to apologize for," Brenda quickly said, pulling John into a hug. “You saw an opportunity to get free, and you took it. Sure, things look bad, but I’ve been in worse situations.”

Mavis raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been in worse situations than having to rely on the mercy of a mystical magical cult who can do only the worst of things to you if they so choose?”

Brenda gave her a smirk. “Remind me to tell you about the time I went to Mexico and had to convince a gang of cartel members I was actually their boss. Only had to step down because I got pregnant with John, and before I left I helped out the CIA with a sting operation to take down the rest of the gang.”

Mavis blinked a couple of times in shock and Talia gave out a short laugh. “Godsdamn, John,” Talia said. “Your mom is fucking awesome.”

Brenda gave her a smile before turning back to her son. “Now, while they do have the ability to betray us, you are a strong kid. You managed to meet a couple of very strong and beautiful girls, and I have no doubt that if push comes to shove, the three of you will be able to get out of any situation you find yourselves in.”

“But what about you, Mo-”

“Don’t worry about me," Brenda said with a smile. “I’ve handled myself fine for thirty-seven years before you managed to get magical powers, and I will be able to handle myself just fine now that you have powers. I just want you to make sure that you and your girlfriends stay safe.”

Just as John was about to voice more reasons why he most definitely had to worry about his mom, a loud knock sounded at the door. Instantly, Mavis lept from the sofa, turning her arm into a blood-red blade while Talia pulled a throwing dagger out from… somewhere. John didn’t even know Talia could throw daggers.

Brenda, meanwhile, calmly stood up and walked over to the door, peering through the peephole. “I am going to guess the young redhead at my door is Moira?” She turned to John and gave him a wink. “She’s quite the looker. Maybe adding a fourth to your little trifecta?”

John blushed slightly as Mavis was quick to shout out her disinterest in the idea. Sure, Moira was very cute and he had to admit, he had a thing for girls in armor who could kick his ass (Talia and him would sometimes practice sparring with wooden swords and no magic before his arrest, and she kicked his ass almost every single time). However, at this point Moira was still a bit of an unknown. Plus, he didn’t want to betray whatever friendship they had going.

Not to mention overcomplicate things if the Order ended up turning on all of them.

While he was thinking over the idea, his mom opened the door and stepped to the side. “Moira! Do come in, John was just telling me about you and your Order.”

“I can only hope that myself and the Order weren’t talked about in the same tone then. I would hope he has a higher opinion of me as compared to what he must think of my Order," Moira said as she stepped in. Her eyes went a bit wide as she saw Talia and Mavis, both of whom were still on edge. Talia had at least slipped her knife away into… somewhere, but Mavis was still standing with her arm ready to impale Moira at the first sign of trouble. “And you two must be John’s girlfriends.”

“And you must be the bitch who arrested him," Mavis said with a snarl.

“I… Yeah, I am," Moira said with a look of remorse. “And it was a mistake.”

“A mistake that cost John a month of his life and countless nights of sleep," Talia said, crossing her arms. “If even half of what he said you guys did to him is as bad as he said, then I can assure you that we are going to have some words about how you treat your prisoners.”

“Believe me, I’m on your side about that," Moira said, leaning up against the wall. “The Order of the Golden Rose is supposed to stand up for justice and safety, protecting those who cannot protect themselves and to uplift the meek out of the darkness. This isn’t the Order that arrested and abused John, and the more I learn about my fellow knights, the more I think that the Order I want to serve is more fantasy than reality.”

“So why should we work for said Order?” Mavis asked, her arm returning to its human form. “If they are so bad, and so corrupted from within, why should we stick our necks out to help you lot? Honestly, I think John should just stay here with us and take a few weeks to recuperate rather than help you fuckheads with your man-hunt.”

Moira sighed. “I… I don’t have a really great reason for you guys to help the Order, other than the fact that it’s the right thing to do.” She turned to look at John. “You are probably the only chance we have at finding a trail to track Lifthrasir by, and without your help we will probably lose him again. I know when we talked in the interrogation room, we made it a deal that you had to help if you wanted your freedom. But I want to rectify that.” She gestured to one of the chairs that sat across from where Mavis and John were sitting. “May I?”

John nodded, and Moira took a seat. “Look, I want you to help the Orde- No. I want you to help me, John.” She clasped her hands together and looked straight into John’s eyes. “You have the ability to help us track down Lifthrasir. He is one of the worst criminals we have ever dealt with, and his rep sheet is so long that we could probably TP half of the houses on the block with it and still have enough to write one of Enklemen’s essays on it.” John chuckled, and Moira gave him a soft smile. “Our original deal was that you got your freedom for helping us, and to my father I will still say that is the deal. But between you and me, we are gonna make a new deal. One that I swear I shall honor as the Paladin of the Golden Rose. What do you want in exchange for helping me?”

John was silent for a moment or two, before softly speaking up, “I want the Order to change. I want your promise that if I help you, you will change the Order into the organization that you actually want to serve. Additionally, I want your guarantee that if the Order tries to betray me and my family,” he gestured to his mom and his girlfriends, “you will side with us and help keep us safe. I don’t want to fight you, Moira, and I want to help. But I need that promise that if push comes to shove, you help me out as a friend and as a better person than your Order.”

Moira smiled, offering her hand. “I was going to change the Order either way, as it needs to be the moral center that it claims to be. And if it means holding the moral high ground in the face of such a corrupt Order,”