The Innkeeper

“Ah, Heidi. You’re here. I have wonderful news, the Williams family is finally letting me out of this hellhole of a planet. Today is going to be a good day.”

Heidi almost stumbled when she heard the news! Even with her best effort to maintain a smiling face, she could not stop her jaw from dropping as she continued to stare at her father.

Heidi, along with all of her other siblings, were born on Earth over the past few decades, but they all knew that their father had a prestigious position somewhere out in the universe. They knew, because their father was very vocal about how disgusting it was to be stuck as a political prisoner.

For an unknown amount of time, considering the severe lack of spiritual energy in his region of space, Earth had been used as a planet where the Williams family hosted their political prisoners. They were given free reign, as well as all the luxury Earth had to offer during their stay, but they could just never leave. At least until their purpose in keeping them prisoner was fulfilled.

Heidi’s father was being held because the ‘Williams’ family he had heard so much about was pressuring the organization he worked for into giving them a good deal on something they were working on. Officially, Heidi’s father was a guest of the Williams family, but unofficially he had been dumped on this planet until further notice. Considering his own personal worth, after a long, exhaustive negotiation, they had finally come to an agreement and he was allowed to leave.

For him, this was excellent news. For Heidi and her siblings, not so much. This was because on Earth they had free reign to do whatever they wanted as long as they refrain from things like murder and kidnapping. Out in the universe though… Heidi at least had no idea how she would fare.

Her father was not a traditional father figure. Not only did he not raise them personally, his severe detachment from everything related to Earth made her pretty sure he did not truly care for them either.

Noticing her faltering expression, he asked, “what is it child? Something the matter?”

Heidi took a deep breath and then explained in great detail what had happened to her. She did not bother exaggerating or lying, she had never seen anyone successfully lie to her father. She was observing his face to see if his expression changed, but he continued to smile and hum. She did not know whether to be afraid or relieved.

When she finished, her father pointed to an urn in the side of his room.

“You see that dear? You know what that is?”

Heidi looked at it, but had never seen it before, so she shook her head.

“That urn is full of all the ashes of your siblings,” the man said nonchalantly as he continued to pack. Heidi’s face drained of color and she struggled to keep standing.

“You’ve all had good lives, I don’t see any reason for you to complain about it being cut short. You see, I can’t afford any liability, and you kids honestly… you’ve probably never done a single hard thing in your lives. Well, your siblings, not you. I’m proud of you for not quitting the match, and apologizing without being beaten into it. For that, I think I’ll let you live. You can maintain whatever bank balance you have in your account, but from now on, you’ll have to depend on yourself for everything else. Good luck, Heidi. I’m sure you’ll make me proud.”

The girl finally couldn’t hold it together anymore, and fainted, though that never stopped her father from continuing to pack. Once he was done, he simply took his luggage and left the room with only an urn full of ashes, and an unconscious girl still lying in it.

*****

Xeon could not suppress his laughter as he felt the wind blow over its scaly body. He was lying flat over the roof of the golf cart encased in silver light, spreading its limbs like it was flying around.

Gerard had to reinforce the roof of the golf cart with his bloodline power, which drastically affected how much he could speed up the cart, but he was determined to fulfill the guests request.

He had interrupted his retreat so that he could watch Z’s match, and just as he was done, he ran into this new scaly guest that oozed endless enthusiasm.

Pulling a handbrake made of silver light, Gerard abruptly brought the golf cart into a drift, the sudden change in direction launching Xeon off the roof of the cart and straight into the lazy river.

“That was excellent,” the Drake roared as it climbed out, the drops of wate on its body causing it to shine.

“I’m glad I could fulfill your request, guest. Hopefully in the near future we will be able to upgrade my vehicle, which will allow me to launch you even further.”

“Oh? You want to upgrade your vehicle? How so?”

“A few changes to increase the power, and make its drive more flexible. I cannot promise when we will get our hands on the upgrades, but I assure you the ride will be even more excellent then.”

“Do you mind if I take a crack at it?” Xeon asked as he observed Gerards noble chariot with renewed interest. He had never seen anything like it, and it stroked his once exhausted curiosity.

Gerard hesitated, wondering if he should consult the Innkeeper on the matter first, but it was too late. The Drake was breathing fire out of his nose to heat up its claws, and then began dismantling it.

Gerard shrugged. Since he had already begun there was no harm in investigating.

*****

Things at the Inn were running smoothly, and though Lex had connected to a new planet, since he didn’t leave behind any golden keys, he was not expecting a surge in guests any time soon. This was perfect, as X-142 was the most ideal planet for him to send invitations to the expo in a few months, but one planet was not enough.

Which is exactly why, after Lex renewed his gear, and took care of all issues, he was ready to connect to a new planet again. The wooden ticket had served him well so, hoping for the best, he spent another 100,000 MP on it, before crushing it to activate it.

He was looking forward to a new selection of planets, but this time, the menu looked different.

Planets Available:

Planet: –

Planet Rating: –

Planet Distance: –

Planet Environment: –

Realms available:

Realm: 7 Nation Crystal realm

Realm Rating: 2 Stars

Realm Environment: A single crack in an otherwise perfect existence

Lex was extremely confused, but before he had the chance to ask Mary any questions, he disappeared in a flash of light.

When he reappeared, Lex found himself facing a wall in the dark. He looked around, and found himself in a large hall that looked like it had been ransacked. There was nothing there except broken furniture and a dim, depressing mood.

It was raining heavily outside, with the occasional flash of lightning and clap of thunder, echoing endlessly in the hall. In the brief moments of light, Lex realized that he wasn’t the only one in this hall. There were nearly a dozen others, all seemingly young, and all of them covered in dirt. A few of them even looked like they were crying.

The situation here wasn’t normal, but Lex wasn’t sure how to start a conversation with any of them to ask the situation. What he did realize was that unlike the rest, he was completely dry and completely clean, and would stand out in case anyone paid any attention to him.

Not willing to take any chances, Lex slowly exited the hall and stepped into the rain. As he reluctantly covered his clothes with a little bit of mud, he tried to get a sense for his location but visibility was poor. As best as he could tell, the hall seemed to be located on a hill, far away from any other kind of manmade structure.

Just as he was pondering on how to proceed, he saw movement in the rain. He looked up to see four men, flying in the air, quickly approaching the hall.

“Get inside, young one,” one of them spoke directly in Lex’s mind using their spirit sense. “Otherwise you will get sick.”

Lex obeyed since he was still not sure of the situation, but it was quite fortunate he had taken the time to alter his appearance, for as soon as the men entered the hall, they summoned a ball of light, illuminating the area.

The kids in the hall looked at the four men, and they likewise looked at the kids. There were a few moments where the hall was filled with silence and, Lex assumed, some kind of sorrow.

Finally, letting out a painful sigh, one of the men said, “Gristol has fallen, the armies of Mendelay are retreating. We don’t have much time, the Kraven will find this place soon, so as much as I want to wait for more survivors… we can’t. But you, at least, don’t need to worry. From now on, the Academy will take care of you. Remember the pain you feel today in the days ahead, it will help you in your training.”

Just as Lex was trying to make sense of everything he just heard, he felt an invisible force wrap around him, and lift him up in the air. The next thing he knew, he, along with all the other survivors in the hall, were lifted into the air and pulled along as the four men escaped whatever catastrophe that was heading their way.

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