That morning, the twins woke up for the first time in an unfamiliar place. Ressi blinked her eyes open and looked around. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and stood up, yawning and stretching. Next to her, still sleeping, was Kiran. To the other side of her was Ardra's kids, Haylei, Bailey, and Arale. Ressi made her way to the dining table, stretching her legs as she walked. Most everyone was still fast asleep except for Reldin and Ikati, who were sat at the table, the latter chewing on some bread.
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"Good morning," Reldin said. He looked and sounded the same as he always did, without a hint of tiredness in his posture and voice.
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"Mornin'," Ressi greeted, stretching her arms as she approached, "Do you ever sleep, Reldin?"
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"No," Reldin answered succinctly. Ressi honestly could not tell if he was joking or not. The mage was either the best at deadpan humor or completely serious all the time.
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So Ressi just answered with a simple, "Okay."
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"If you're hungry, there's some bread over there," Ikati said as he pointed to bread on the counter.
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"Oh yeah, I'm hungry," Ressi grabbed some bread and sat herself down next to Reldin. "So is there anything we should know about this giant robot before we go get him?" She asked before taking a bite, remembering her manners.
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"Well, robots go down quickly when they're overheated, so it's lucky you have a mage with an affinity for fire. You'll have to rely mostly on your mage here as your weapons will barely scratch the thing. We know that little tidbit because we tried. This intellectual," Ikati nods his head toward the snoring figure of his wife, "Tried to take it on by herself but obviously that didn't work."
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"Whaat?!" Ressi's mouth hung agape, "So what are me and Kiran supposed to do?"
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"Well, I did tell you there was a guy on his shoulder," Ikati pointed out, "He didn't look all that metallic to me. He actually looked pretty squishy. His movements were very robotic, though. I've never seen anything like him before."
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"But wait," Ressi asked, "Weren't you the only one to see him? This… Oshura guy? How do we know he's real?"
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Reldin shook his head, "Ikati has no reason to lie to us."
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Ikati nodded, "Exactly. I hate it, being quarantined like this. The kids are getting anxious and restless, they've gotten bored of being inside all of the time. I don't blame them, they deserve to be out with their friends, you know? But to add insult to injury those who are panicking bought out the shops leaving the rest of us with nothing." He let out a long sigh, "So, that's really the biggest reason why you should take those guys down because from what I've seen? They haven't even done anything here. Even after Ardra attacked them, they barely retaliated."
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"Man… that sucks." Ressi stood up, "We will take down those guys! Then everyone in Riville will know they're safe!"
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Kiran appeared behind his twin and gave her a light smack on the back of her head, "Stop shouting, it's too early."
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Ressi turned to face her brother, "But we gotta defeat the robot!"
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"Okay," Kiran yawned, "After breakfast."
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Ressi huffed and sat back in her seat. "After breakfast," she mumbled.
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「◐」
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After breakfast, the company said bye to Ardra, Ikati, and their children and set off to the edge of town where they were told that the giant robot usually came from. Sure enough, soon after they arrived they heard the stomps of slow, heavy footsteps echoing around them. As they came into sight, they could hear the loud whirring of machinery.
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There was no exaggeration when Ardra said this robot was giant. It was much larger than any building in the village. Ressi squinted, "Is Oshura there?"
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"Yes," Reldin affirmed, "On the shoulder to our left."
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Ressi drew her sword, "Great! Then we know exactly what to do." Kiran nodded as he readied his spear.
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The robot drew closer and stopped near the three. It looked down and a disembodied yet silvery voice boomed, "Submit to the rule of Korzion, or else!" Nothing on the robot moved.
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"That's Oshura speaking," Reldin noted.
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"Or else what?" Ressi taunted.
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Oshura hesitated, "Or else… or else we'll attack!"
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"Bring it on, then!" Ressi called as she climbed the side of the automaton. Kiran did the same on the other side.
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Reldin set his hand on the robot's foot and started to heat the guy up. The robot stepped back, rocking the twins a bit but they held on.
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"Don't come up here! That's bad manners, you know!" Oshura shouted.
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"I don't have any good manners!" Ressi retorted as she continued climbing.
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"It's true!" Kiran agreed, also climbing, "She chews with her mouth open!"
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"Really? That's kind of gross, actually," Oshura said, looking down on the twins who were steadily approaching.
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"Shut up! Like you're one to talk! Threatening villagers is the worst manners!" As she got closer to the shoulder, Ressi could see Oshura's face staring down at her. Ikati's description matched what she saw, light blue skin, long, dark blue hair, hunter outfit, and mechanical movements. He was definitely not human, but he also was? Ressi didn't know, she wasn't the brightest.
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"Fair point," Oshura conceded as he prepared for his imminent face off with the twins.
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Ressi reached up to climb onto the shoulder. She grabbed on but her feet slipped, leaving her to hang onto the robot's shoulder with one hand. "Kiran!" She called, "A little help here!"
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"I'm climbing as fast as I can!" Kiran called back, "Climbing with metal boots is more difficult than it looks!"
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"Damn!" Ressi looked up and attempted to reach up with her other hand. She reallydid not want to fall from this height, "Hey, Oshura… can you help me up?"
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Oshura had a confused look on his face, "How do you know my name? I didn't tell it to you."
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"My friend Ikati overheard it. He's a laguelle so he has really good sight and hearing," Ressi bragged, despite being not too far from falling.
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"Laguelle?" Oshura looked even more confused, "Oh! You mean one of those, uh… demihumans, right? The humans with the animal ears and stuff?"
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"That's racist!" Ressi said, "The proper term is laguelle! And 'human' isn't good, too! You're supposed to say 'beole'!"
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"Huh? I've never heard those terms in my life! I can understand the…. 'lag well' thing but the 'bay old' makes no sense! Aren't you a human?" Oshura seemed genuinely curious.
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"Beole! And no, not really!" Ressi grunted as she struggled to hold on, "With 'humanoid' being some look that monsters hope to attain, people get really uppity about how they're human and that they're better because they were born humanoid and stuff! There's really a lot to the issue… can you help me up now?!"
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"Oh, sure," Oshura grabbed Ressi by the wrist, his strong arms lifting her with ease. "Man I never knew of that stuff. I was born and raised in Korzion, so I grew up mostly around robots. Though there is this thing where people call robots 'robot monsters'. As if we're monsters!"
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"Well," Ressi thought, "I can see where the assumption was made, Korzion is in Dynisoktion territory. But yeah, that sucks."
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"I know Korzion is in Dynisoktion territory! Everybody knows!" Oshura seemed to get heated about this, "The imperial royal family is comprised of slimes! The empire is where monsters live! Whatever!"
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Before Ressi could reply, Kiran finally caught up, "Oh, good I thought I'd be la-- wait a minute. Ressi, what are you doing?"
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"Discussing the racism we dealt with growing up?" Ressi replied sheepishly.
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Kiran let out a long sigh, "You do know Reldin is melting this robot as we speak and that Oshura has been terrorizing the citizens of Riville, right?"
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"Yeah I know," Ressi sighed, dejected, "Sorry Oshura, Kiran says we can't talk anymore."
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"Well. Ressi, is it?" Oshura asked. She nodded in confirmation, "Well, Ressi it was a pleasure to meet you. Since you don't want us to terrorize the citizens of Riville, we'll stop. Technically, I'm not allowed to do that but whatever, I don't care."
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"Really? You'll stop?" Ressi asked, hopeful.
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"Really," Oshura promised.
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"You're clearly lying," Kiran pointed out, "That was so flimsy, you didn't even apologize!"
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"Sorry for terrorizing the citizens. It was wrong and unfair of us to do so. We promise we won't do it again," Oshura apologized in a monotonous tone.
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"Okay, now I really don't believe you!"
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"How about this? One, I'm not even armed, how can I fight you? And two," Oshura moved to smack the giant robot on the side of the head and struck twice. The robot moved and sat down slowly and extended its arm so its hand was lying on the ground. "There. Now you don't even have to climb down."
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Kiran considered the scenario, "Okay," he conceded, "We'll let you go. But if you come back, we'll stop you."
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"Yep. Alright. Got it," Oshura definitely seemed to understand.
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The twins made their way down the giant robot's arm onto the stable earth. Ressi examined the damages. It really seemed like Reldin did a number on its legs, they were all bent up. The mage spoke up, "So, you tried diplomacy?"
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"Yeah, that was an accident," Ressi admitted, "But hey! It worked out!"
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The giant robot screeched as it stood up again, at an angle. "Goodbye!" Oshura's silvery voice called from above, "Thanks for not killing me!"
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"No problem!" Ressi called back, "Make good choices!"
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The giant robot made long movements away. Still Oshura confirmed, "I will!" as he disappeared off in the distance.
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Ressi turned to her company, "He was actually pretty nice!"
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Kiran rolled his eyes while Reldin spoke up, "Well, now that he's been dealt with, let's go on to the next town. We'll probably make it before nightfall if we leave now."
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Ressi grinned with excitement, "Well then, let's go!"
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