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The Big Oof! Chapter 36: Enhanced Interrogation
🕑 Added 2023-04-13 03:41:49 +0000 UTCRushing up the stairs after the series of deafening explosions, Mara stumbled back onto her rear to see a pile of bodies stacked on top of each other. But that was soon interrupted by the sight of Azeline pulling a battered and bruised soul out by their hair, followed by Elijah who was being harassed by his fairy.
“Why is it every time I nap, you all start being loud!” Yana complained. Her mouth opened to give another round of verbal abuse, but she and the rest of the crew stopped to see Mara sat at the end of the hallway.
Elijah ran a hand through his hair and started huffing in amusement as he stepped over the bodies and walked towards the dog eared woman. “So this was the ‘something’ you had prepared for us in the back?” He asked with a sarcastic mirth in his voice while looking back at the bodies and pooling blood.
“I… I-I… They-” Mara stammered creeping back as far as she could against the wall.
A smile crept across his face as he bent down on his knees with a playful bounce. “Well, it was certainly a surprise.” He said softly and put a hand to her cheek. “But I have to wonder…” He said, glancing towards the small group of Ferfolk who were staring at him with terrified eyes at the bottom of the stairs.
“Why?”
Mara’s mouth started to flap as tears started to stream down her face. “T-they, they threatened to k-kill me and my girls!” She said with fear in her eyes. “They own us, I… I didn’t want to, I swear!”
A laugh escaped Elijah’s mouth as he looked down at the ground, before his hand suddenly shot out and wrapped around her neck. "IS THAT SO!?" he bellowed, his voice dripping with malice and venom. The action was as fast as it was violent and Mara couldn’t help but feel disoriented. She tried to gasp for air, but only the sounds of desperate gurgling filled the room as she kicked her legs and clutched at the ironclad grip around her neck.
More tears were flooding out of the beastkin woman’s eyes as he saw the angry snarl across Elijah’s face. “You were going to lead me and my friend, MY FAMILY TO DEATH!” He sneered, pulling the pistol from its holster and pressed it to her cheek. “And you have the fucking AUDACITY to claim innocence!?”
The rest of the crew stopped what they were doing and watched in tense silence as Elijah strangled the life out of the woman while holding her at gunpoint. They knew better than interfering when it came to dealing with rats. It was best to handle it swiftly and ruthlessly, lest they get bit again.
Yana however, didn’t have such inclinations and didn’t have the social awareness to understand that it was an awkward time to start cackling like an idiot.
“AHAHAHAHAHAHA! Look at her face!” She chuckled while pointing at Mara. “She looks so stupid!”
Elijah furrowed her brow and looked over to the little fairy as if she was an alien.
“Oh heavens…” Yana wiped the nonexistent tear from her eyes. “First you tell me to not be rude to the piece of meat and now here you are! Strangling the life out of it!” She said, erupting into another bout of laughter.
A difficult expression spread across Elijah's face as he turned his head back to the woman who was growing weaker in his grip. He knew all too well the feeling of being helpless and unable to resist. Mara wasn't in a position to refuse a heavily armed gang, nor did he expect her to stick her neck out to protect him. But the thought of someone betraying him and his crew and leading them to danger, made his blood boil.
With a deep breath, Elijah loosened his grip which caused the beastkin to collapse to the ground with a thud as she gasped for air. “Consider this repayment for your favorable treatment and services.” He said coldly, staring down at her.
Mara looked up, gasping for air and feeling a sharp pain in her chest. "P-Please… Forgive me." She managed to choke out between coughs with a sorrowful look.
With his upper lip curling in disgust, Elijah turned around and marched back to this room with Yana floating behind him with a bewildered expression.
“Wait! You’re not going to kill her!?” She grabbed her head in dismay as she watched Elijah walk away without a response.
Elijah didn't dignify that with a response as anger and disappointment consumed his mind. “It seems no matter where we go, we’re surrounded by pieces of shit.” He said hatefully before passing the sole surviving gang member they found in his room. “Bring this fucking idiot back inside!” He shouted after giving him another kick in the stomach.
Bennett and Azeline looked at each other, shrugged, and proceeded to drag the still groaning man back into their Captain's room.
Yana glanced back at the still sobbing barmaid, a wicked thought crossing her mind, but ultimately decided against it. Her servant would most likely react terribly and put her in another one of those dreaded ‘timeouts’ that she loathed so much. So instead, the goddess simply floated off and followed after the group to see what plans they had for this other mortal.
As she floated inside, she saw the crew gathered around their uninvited guest, who sat trembling and terrified, his eyes darting around at the faces that glared at him.
“I’m sure you saw your friends out there when she dragged you out.” Elijah gestured towards the door. ““You fucked up.” he continued with a deadpan tone.
The intruder looked up nervously. “Y-Ye dun know who you’re messin with, my boss- ARGHH!” He tried to say, but was interrupted by Elijah, hitting him in the liver. The man buckled over with wide eyes after letting out a yelp of pain.
“I know who your boss is, and all of them will be dead by the morning.” Elijah countered, grabbing his hair. “Now I’m going to ask you a few questions and if you lie to me… I hurt you. You try to deflect the conversation, I hurt you. If you try to get smart with me. I. Hurt. You.” Elijah said menacingly as he stared into the thief’s eyes.
A quiet came over the room as the man looked down anxiously with labored breath and ultimately nodded in compliance. Elijah smiled and let go of the thug;s. "Is there anyone else outside waiting for you?" Elijah asked, with a calm voice.
The man hesitated for a moment before finally answering in a shaky voice, “Y-ya! I have a 30 brother outside ready to- '' Elijah gave another vicious blow to the man's liver.
“I Fucking told you.” He hissed in anger. “I’d hurt you.”
Looking back at the amused fairy, Elijah gave an evil grin. “Yana! It’s your turn, make him regret lying to YOU.” He said evilly.
That seemed to get the small goddess’ attention as she immediately crossed the gap and put both hands on the man's head. However, she hesitated as she looked at Elijah with a curious expression. "There’s so many options… What should I do?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Whatever you want, just make sure he survives." He said dismissively.
Yana floated there for a brief moment, looking up in contemplation while she still held her two tiny hands on the nervous intruder's head. Suddenly her expression brightened as if a lightbulb went off in her head and let loose a bright flash of violet light from her eyes.
A shrill scream escaped the intruder's lips as his hands immediately flew to his body, patting himself all over as if he was trying to put out invisible flames.
An unhinged and gleeful cackle came out of Yana as the screaming and flailing grew louder. The rest of the crew didn’t quite share her delight as they slowly backed away, watching the man writhe in agony.
“What the fuck?” Elijah commented with a perplexed expression on his face. “Is he on fire or something?” He turned to the cackling Fairy who flooded just above the thug that was rolling on the ground.
A distorted voice came out of Yana's mouth as she buzzed around her victim in excitement. "Yep! He thinks he's on fire!" she exclaimed in a sing-song voice, relishing the terror she was inflicting on the intruder. "Right now, he feels like every inch of his skin is hovering over a slow-burning candle!"
“Jesus Christ…” Bennett muttered in half disgust and half horror.
Azeline stood there with crossed arms, staring at the scene as if this was to be expected. “You see this? This is why we’re all afraid of Vanir and their ilk.” she said, narrowing her eyes. “And it’s all just a game to those tiny sadistic monsters...”
Elijah’s Expression faltered for a minute as he glanced at Azeline, but resumed his steely expression as the screaming died down. “Didn’t feel good, did it?.” He then turned his attention back to the intruder. "Now, let this be a lesson learned. Don’t lie to us or she’ll have another bout of fun.” Elijahh nodded towards Yana, who buzzed around in excitement.
The thug on the ground whimpered in fear, his body trembling with residual pain and shock. “Y-yes sir! No lies sir!” He said, shaking violently.
Elijah's expression became complicated as he turned his gaze to the little fairy buzzing with sadistic delight. Her motivations were a massive unknown and he reckoned that he possibly even couldn't fathom the extent of Yana's capabilities. Witnessing her make someone think and FEEL that they were burning alive sounded like a demented fever dream and the fact that power existed sent a shiver down his spine.
"Good, now answer my question," he ordered as he looked back at the groveling thug who attempted to kill him and his crew. Elijah couldn't deny the thought that if he were a better man, he might feel a twinge of guilt, but unfortunately, he wasn't that kind of man. He was a survivor, and he would do whatever it took to protect himself and those he cared about.
"Nonono, it was just us!" The thug's gaze anxiously shifted between the Fairy and his captors. "T-the boss told us to come git yer stuff while you were out, but you were theres when we arrived!" He explained, his words broken by fear. "But the boss said that if we'd ever catch you unawares, we should gut ya'll! So they had Mara set ya'll up while I go and grab yer stuff!" He finished with his eyes fixed on the fiendishly grinning fairy.
Rubbing his beard, Elijah paced back and forth in the Tavern room thinking about the implication of how these dumb sacks of shit managed to know where they were. He admitted it wasn’t that hard to figure out seeing how different they were, but that begged a simple question… What else did they know?
“What do you know about us?” Elijah stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the man.
Unsure how to answer the question, The thug shifted nervously. “W-what? I-I dunno…?” He fumbled, fear building up within him.
Leaning in close, Elijah's expression turned dangerous as his face contorted in anger. "Tell me what the FUCK you know about us or I let the fucking fairy light you on fire again! PERMANENTLY!” He growled.
The thug yelped in terror. "I know yous came down here with the girl we’re supposed to kill from the northern village with a bunch of magical items! That’s it I swear!" he pleaded, his voice shaking.
Elijah’s eyes widened at the information as his head snapped towards Bennett. “We need to get to the stables! NOW!” He said rushing over to their belongings pulled into the center of the room. “Aze, bring him with us!”
Azeline wore a quizzical look as she saw the two men immediately bolt out of the room with their longer magical weapons. She couldn’t understand why the two were startled, but she did as she was told and quickly grabbed the thug by the arm to drag him along. As She reached the front door with the stumbling intruder in hand, she couldn't help but marvel at the speed of her companions. The two were already at the end of the road in a dead sprint.
The pits of her stomach sank a little bit as she rushed along in order to catch up. “Something must have truly gone wrong for them to be this spooked…” she muttered to herself.
When she finally managed to catch up, Azeline could see that both Elijah and Bennett were frantically searching the stables for something. "What's going on?" Azeline asked as she approached them, still dragging the thug along.
None of them answered, but Bennett turned around and immediately beelined it towards the thug. "Where the FUCK is it!?” He bellowed in fury before delivering a powerful punch which sent the thug to the ground. “Answer me you fucking bitch! Where the fuck is it!?” Bennett straddled his victim and pounded his victim's head into the ground.
Startled by Bennett's sudden outburst of violence, Azeline started to back up and looked towards Elijah in the hopes that he would explain what was happening. However, Elijah seemed just as troubled, walking around with his hands on his head, clearly distressed. But just as she opened her mouth to vocalize her worries, she finally noticed what was wrong.
Their cart was gone.
The cart that had been parked in the stables, the one that carried all of their magical items and worldly possessions, was nowhere to be seen. Panic set in as she realized the gravity of the situation.
Bennett suddenly stopped his assault on the thug and pulled out his knife. “You better start fucking talking REAL fucking fast, shit for brains, or else you’re going to find your own god damn dick in your mouth.” He hissed venomously, hovering the void like blade millimeters from the thugs eye.
The thug started to whimper and plead for mercy, but Bennett's threat seemed to jolt him into action. "Okay, okay! I'll talk, just please don't hurt me anymore!" he begged. "The boss wanted to shake ye for everything ye had! I dunno nuffin about the cart, that was Jini’s job! That’s all I know, I swear!" He shouted in between sobs.
Elijah's eyes narrowed at the mention of the name Jini. "You mean that green haired loser?" He snapped his head around and marched over to him. "Where is he?"
A shudder fear ran through the thug as Elijah approached him. "I-I dunno, last I saws he was by the stable office!" he stammered out. “We was supposed to meet at the docks after we got everything, but me and the boys took longer than expected!”
Azeline wore a pensive look as the mention of green hair slightly jogged her memory. She couldn't quite place it, but there was something familiar about that hair color and location that they were ini. As she tried to recall where she had heard it before, Elijah turned to her with an intense look.
"Let’s go to the office, maybe they’ll know something." he asked, his voice laced with urgency. “Ben, Yana, watch him.” He ordered as he took off in a brisk walk.
Giving the man a nod, Azeline proceeded to follow him as she felt the weight of the situation on her shoulders. Her memory couldn’t quite place where she had seen someone with green hair other than the tavern, but she knew she had definitely seen him lingering here with two other fellows.
At the recollection of two other individuals speaking with the green hair man, Azeline came to an immediate stop. “ELI!” She shouted, with a face full of disappointment and shame.
Elijah spun around with confusion etched on his face. "What? What's wrong?" he asked, sensing the urgency in her voice.
Azeline hesitated for a moment before finally speaking up. "I’m sorry… I completely forgot to tell you." she said, her voice trembling with guilt. "The night we raided the cabin, I saw the guy with green hair talking with that kid Afton and our coachmen."
With a face twisted in anger and frustration, Elijah glared daggers at her. "Why the HELL didn’t you tell me this sooner?" he snapped. “That's a bit of critical information don’t ya think!?” He shouted, gesturing his hand in a chopping motion towards her.
“I-’m sorry! I saw them for just a split moment and there was so much going on and…” The woman flinched and replied looking down.
Still shaking with unbridled fury, Elijah’s knife hand clenched into a fist before he shouted, “FUCK!!” in frustration.
A few moments passed as Elijah stood there, pinching the bridge of his nose and trying to process the new information. He let out a heavy sigh and looked back at Azeline, his expression softening slightly. He then turned around and began walking again. "Come on, let's go check the office," he said, his voice still carrying a hint of frustration but with a more composed tone.
Tilting her head up, Azeline nodded before scampering forth to catch up after the man Elijah. “This is all my fault and with Harda as my witness, I swear to help find every single one of your possessions.” She said genuinely, her voice laced with determination as she followed him behind him.
Elijah looked back with an exhausted look and let out a sigh. "Good, I want to make those shitheads pay," he replied, accepting her oath, quickening his pace towards the office. “Everything in there is worth more than every life in this town and I WILL get it back.” He said resolutely.
But as they arrived at the office, an iron-like smell filled their nostrils as the door lay slightly ajar. Narrowing his eyes, Elijah lifted his rifle and softly pushed open the door to the small building and saw the body of a young teenage boy, laying in a pool of his own blood.
Pushing his thumb against the bridge of his nose to suppress the now growing headache, Elijah let out a sigh of exasperation. “God damnit…” He sighed to himself as he stepped inside.
The boy had a horrified and pained look on his face as he lay slump against the wall. With one brief look, Elijah noticed that the boy had stab wounds of varying sizes all over his torso and from the look of things, it was a fresh kill.
Azeline clenched her hand over her still-sheathed dagger and gave a pained look. "What now? Should we try to find that one guy at the docks?" she asked, looking over at Elijah. But as she spoke, another piece of memory flooded back. "Wait... there was a ship being loaded at the docks! I didn't get a good look, but some of the stuff looked somewhat familiar!" She exclaimed, her eyes widening with realization.
Elijah's head snapped towards Azeline before sprinting out of the office and towards the rest of the crew. “COME ON, LETS GO! WE GOT A LEAD!” He shouted as Azeline followed behind him.
