Rokalla was on a bed in a local hospital. His legs were gone, and his eye and ear were missing, thanks to Yamta\u2019s torture. His other eye was closed, and he was breathing shallowly. Arsha was sitting near his other ear, trying to get him to wake up. \u201cAdmiral?\u201d she asked. \u201c\u2026Sir, it\u2019s me. It\u2019s Arsha.\u201d It was taking every scrap of willpower she had not to shake him awake after the doctors told her not to. \u201c\u2026Sir, we won.\u201d No response. She then tried a real stretch of an attempt. \u201cThat fruitcake you gave me didn\u2019t have enough gravel in it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026G\u2026l,\u201d mumbled Rokalla. Arsha arched an eyebrow, then pressed on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah, and it didn\u2019t have any tomatoes in it either.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cT\u2026mato\u2026hey, wait a minute!\u201d His eye shot open, and he sat bolt upright. \u201cI don\u2019t put tomatoes OR gravel in my fruitOW!\u201d He clutched his head as he became dizzy. \u201cOh\u2026ONES! My head!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAdmiral!\u201d yelped Arsha as she handed him the painkiller potion. He drank it and gagged at the taste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMordek! Couldn\u2019t they make these things sweeter?!\u201d He then realized something. \u201c\u2026Something\u2019s wrong with my eyes! Speak up! What\u2019s happened?! He turned to see Arsha. \u201c\u2026Captain Royana?!\u201d he asked. \u201c\u2026Was that you doing the whole fruitcake thing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSorry, Sir, but I had to try something to get you out of it,\u201d explained Arsha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, it got me out of that coma Yamta put me into\u2026Yamta.\u201d He then remembered what happened to his vision. \u201cThat\u2019s right! She took my eye and legs! She-!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCan\u2019t hurt you anymore, Sir.\u201d Rokalla arched an eyebrow. Arsha smiled. \u201cIt\u2019s over, Sir. The Final War\u2026is over. We won.\u201d Rokalla goggled in surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026No fooling?!\u201d Arsha showed him the back of her hand as proof, as it no longer held her signature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t dare make that joke around you, Sir. Oyed, Dr. Borg, and the Realm Trinity Imperial Council are dead!\u201d Rokalla cheered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSTICK THAT IN YOUR PIPE AND SMOKE IT, YAMTA! YOU FAILED IN BREAKING MY SPIRIT!\u201d He then fell back onto the bed, letting the tears finally come and chuckling softly. \u201c\u2026She tried to break me! She wanted me to scream! \u2026I stayed silent!\u201d Arsha said nothing. Rokalla looked down at the stumps where his legs were. \u201c\u2026I hope she enjoyed taking my legs in that moment! It proved to be nothing more than a small, fleeting moment!\u201d They stayed there in silence. \u201c\u2026I\u2019m gonna need prosthetic limbs soon\u2026though I don\u2019t know how comfortable I\u2019ll be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you need help, the Divine Ones are there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Divine Ones were drained, hardly as great as losing limbs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe draining made them as mortal and susceptible as the rest of us. Some of them lost their extremities when we rescued them from Frigandor\u2019s elements.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo, they went back down the evolutionary ladder, hm?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNot how Mordek sees it, at least.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026He\u2019s fine with being mortal?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe called it the best step as it meant he\u2019s no longer running the risk of staying stagnant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut he\u2019s gonna die now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe doesn\u2019t care. He believes it\u2019s his chance to finally live.\u201d Rokalla smiled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf it wasn\u2019t coming from you, your Highness, I\u2019d say someone replaced Lord Mordek with a more optimistic clone.\u201d Arsha grinned as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe\u2019s asked us to just call him Mordek now. Mr. Mordek, at most.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s gonna take some time to get used to. So, how did we win?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBy the skin of our teeth, truth be told.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo, nothing out of the ordinary.\u201d Arsha chuckled before she told him the story of how Realmfleet won. Rokalla DID arch an eyebrow in a slight bit of pain at the mention of a certain slime suit wearing woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhile I AM glad that the war is over and that you and your lovers are all the Champions,\u201d he admitted, \u201cI can\u2019t say as I fully agree with you telling Reb it was okay to poison someone. \u2026Speaking of which, what happened to her after our victory?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe resigned her Protectorate Pirate Commission,\u201d explained Arsha. She pulled out a letter and read it aloud, mimicking Reb\u2019s usual style of speech. \u201c\u2018My DEAR Captain Royana, it was a pleasure to hand you the means of victory. But, alas, our time together must SIMPLY conclude, as must my time as a Protectorate Pirate. I took the liberty of relieving you of that ELUSIVE Royal Map you and your fellows kept a secret, thus your ancestors\u2019 buried treasure will be ours! So, if I ever catch you or any ship belonging to that DRATTED Realmfleet of yours, my new Scarlet Stream Pirate fleet will blow you out of the sky and you will ALL perish, no chance of returning as a HORRID Revenant! Lovingly yours, the newly reinstated Admiral Rebarisal \u2018Reb\u2019 Rojam of the Scarlet Stream Pirate Fleet.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh, perfect!\u201d groaned Rokalla. \u201cNow we have to get to those spots and guard the treasure! You know, the rulers of the past had them hidden away so pirates WON\u2019T find them! Now that they have the map-!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou mean THIS map?\u201d Arsha pulled out a rolled-up map from the pockets of her dress. The map was kept in a rolled state by a ribbon and a wax seal with the Realmfleet symbol on it. Rokalla grinned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cArsha, what did you do?\u201d he asked. Arsha giggled as she anticipated what would befall Reb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Back at Plunder Island Stronghold, Reb, Melgem, and the rest of the pirates under their command burned their Protectorate Pirate jackets. She then held up her Protectorate Pirate Commission letter. \u201cLadies and Gentlemen!\u201d she called, \u201cthe All-realm Royals have served us well! But now, by the now mortal Divine Ones, we\u2019re free once more!\u201d Everyone cheered. \u201cCome, my DARLING pirates! Let us show those stuffy, pompous fools how REAL people make money!\u201d Her crew cheered. After that speech, she and Melgem retired to their room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBy the now mortal Ones, it\u2019s been too long!\u201d sighed Melgem. He then pulled out a cylinder. \u201cAnd the treasures the previous rulers left behind, oh, we\u2019ll all retire early!\u201d He then hugged her from behind. \u201cYou\u2019re wicked, my crimson beauty!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhy, thank you, my DARLING husband!\u201d purred Reb. She then took the cylinder. \u201cNow, let\u2019s see where-!\u201d The instant she opened the cylinder\u2019s top, laughing worms sprung out, like the kind of worms you\u2019d get from a joke shop. Reb yelped and Melgem turned her away from the can, putting himself between his wife and the worms. Once the worms fell to the ground, still laughing, Reb\u2019s suit gingerly extended a tendril from the main mass touching the floor and picked one of the worms up. The worm was a green one with black spots, but it had a head on one end sticking its tongue out. The head looked like a certain Kitsune\/Human Blender the two pirates knew. Reb rolled her eyes. \u201cArsha!\u201d she hissed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rokalla was on a bed in a local hospital. His legs were gone, and his eye and ear were missing, thanks to Yamta\u2019s torture. His other eye was closed, and he was breathing shallowly. Arsha was sitting near his other ear, trying to get him to wake up. \u201cAdmiral?\u201d she asked. \u201c\u2026Sir, it\u2019s me. It\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97,239],"tags":[482],"class_list":["post-5333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-three-realms","category-the-three-realms-book-6-the-eternal-age-of-unity","tag-fantasy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5333"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5334,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5333\/revisions\/5334"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}