U.S.S.A HellField

Chapter 18 Past things and ancient secrets

How did they know my name? That and they were also speaking English, was this another human? - "Who're you? And how do you know my name?"  I asked, ignoring their question. They stood more upright. - "I think that answers my question."  They said, tightening their fist. Was this the person who's been watching me? Why were they looking for me? The large crowd of people approached us slowly, the crowd had an air of apprehension to them. "Meet me in the market...after you're done here."  They said then turned around and walked into the crowd. One of the people came forward. - "Are...you the Violet crusader?"  He asked weakly. That name, I've heard it before, how did they hear of it? - "Uh not exactly, we're just from a different world."  I answered somewhat unconvincingly. - "As was the crusader, the hero who ended the war of exsanguination and saved the world during the collapse. You've returned, thank the Great one!" He said, sitting on his knees and bowing. The rest seemed confused but followed him regardless, they were all bowing and praying before me. This was not what I had in mind when saving BloodRust.

Alice looked at me just as confused as I was. - "Oh my god, they're worshiping you, that's pretty ironic." She said, chuckling. - "Hmm, no kidding."  I never thought in all my life anyone would worship at my feet, a simple bow would've sufficed. The sound of mumbled prayers was loud enough to make it challenging to get a word in.  "You're safe now, you should all return to your homes,"  I said holding my arms out, trying to get them to stop. They just stayed in place and continued praying, I looked at Alice and shrugged. "We should go, I'm curious to know more about our new "friend."  We walked around the newly formed congregation and made our way back into town, the gunned-down bodies of a few dozen people lay still in the sand. An all too familiar sight, unfortunately.

There didn't seem to be more than cosmetic damage to the town's walls and none of those things made it in, the guards didn't seem too eager to help, cowering behind their barriers. When we made our way in, those two guards from earlier met us at the bottom of the steps. - "Stop right there! One does not simply lay their hand on a BloodRust officer and not plan to lose it, what say you otherworlder?"  These guys were joking, right? - "Look outside and see if you want to try that."  I said in a mildly threatening undertone, they were in for quite a sight. They gestured to each other and said a few words I didn't hear, then one of them walked past me and went outside. - "Stay right here, my partner is going to see if your claim is true, but I highly doubt it. There were simply too many Mechites for any one man to face."  He said. - "Man and woman" Alice added. - "That's even more ridiculous, a woman would barely be able to fight one much less a small army."  He scoffed. - "Wanna bet officer?" She retorted. - "We'll see."  The guard grumbled.

A minute later and the other guard returned, his leathery skin looked a few shades paler. - "Let them go."  He said quietly. - "What? Why?"  He hissed with exasperation. Whispers were traded between the two. "By the great one. Alright...you two are free to go."  He said begrudgingly. I nodded then we took our leave. - "You saw the look on that Alsha's face right? He looked just as dead as those...mechites they called them?"  Alice said excitedly, she must've been holding that in the entire time. "You really enjoy doing that to people don't you?"  I stopped to take my helmet off, then turned around and looked at Alice with a little smirk. "Oh my god, you smiled. Why don't you do that more often?"  She asked, sounding flabbergasted that I could smile. I just shrugged and kept walking. The market was still filled with refugees, but now their weariness was replaced by breaths of relief. While there was little we could do for these people, we could at least deal with those responsible for the destruction of their homes.

And as our mystery person said, they were standing in the middle of the market next to a table. I saw that they were looking in the direction of a family seated at an outdoor restaurant. I wasn't sure if they just liked watching people or if there was something else to their habit, but being around them gave me a sense of unease. - "Well we're here, what do you want?"  I asked them. Their head came to attention, they seemed to have been off in la-la land. - "Oh sorry...I was distracted. Anyway, now that I've found you, I wanted to discuss getting you both back home." They said, regaining their serious composure. So the U.S.S.A was looking for us? I wondered how they found us so soon. - "Alright, how did you find us? We're in god knows what solar system, we could be in a different galaxy for all we know."  I asked, practically demanding the answer. They moved their hand to where their mouth would be and cleared their throat. - "Hey, before we continue this not awkward at-all conversation, how about we sit down over there? We could at least sit down and get something to eat."  Alice suggested. - "Hmm, fine. These benches are uncomfortable anyway."  They said, getting up.