Tales of the Pearly City (Pearly Tales Vol.1) [Completed]

68. Half-breed massacre

Shayley couldn't believe all this had happened in her city either, just what had she been doing all these years that she had overlooked something so tragic? Her bloodlust built in her, squeezing her fists she wanted to find whoever was doing this and make them pay.

Cal stood up in the corner of her tunnel vision. He was erratic and unpredictable, not only did she wonder what he was feeling but just what he was going to do about it. The Elementals, as his summoned creatures, were all handcrafted by him. They were masterworks of individuality, they were practically his children.

He paced and finally ended up at Flamel's giant window looking over the city. She could see the bloodlust dripping from him even though his self control which was holding... for now.

Shayley knew she had to do something, she wanted to be someone he could rely on. He always seemed to know exactly what to do, he was so strong in her eyes. He was a storm that never abated but now she saw him quivering with emotion. This was his city almost more than it was hers, she couldn't imagine the shear turmoil he was going through. How could she stand by his side after such an oversight? But much worse, how could she meet his eyes on their wedding day if she didn't nothing now, when he needed her most?

"It would be easy, you know." Cal words held none of the flippant easy-going air they normally did.

Shayley approached him. She was the kind that wouldn't cower at a dragon, but Cal's heavy shoulders looked as if they might eclipse the very sun. She reached out to him but hesitated at his next words.

"To start over, wipe out everything and start with just the elementals. A new clean city."

Shayley paled he was proposing the genocide of the entire city. The city had just over 40,000 and he was talking about killing them all.

Over 200 years of history, gone.

"But that wouldn't stop any pain would it?" He touched the glass as if he were trying to comfort the entire city. "Shayley!" he spun around and nearly ran her over.

"Eyah!"

"Oh, there you are." He grabbed her arms to steady her. "Shayley, hit me."

"Huh?"

"Ya slap me, really hard."

She didn't hesitate, but she wasn't slapping her fiancé, she was destroying a demon. He was leaning on her now, she couldn't afford to hesitate.

SWACK!

The air pressure behind the force of her backhand nearly tore the curtains form the window.

Gisela and Flamel's attention was stolen by the noise.

Cal's face blanked for a second as if his entire being shut down and was booting back up. He blinked his eyes a few times like he was seeing the room for the first time.

Pain did not fix pain. Only love could fill the gap caused by despair... Right? It worked for him with Ophelia and Shayley. One kiss for Shayley would make his very being sore, and one hug from Ophelia...

"THAT'S IT!" Cal shouted loud enough to make everyone in the room jump. Especially Shayley who was hoping he didn't hate her, but her worries were unfounded. "You're the best babe!" He grabbed Shayley's face and kissed her so passionately her legs gave out, it didn't help that she was painfully weak to his advances.

(Critical hit! It's super effective!)

It was so disgustingly over the top for being in public that both Gisela and Flamel couldn't look at them.

When he finished, Shayley was in a pink sparkly bubble of bliss.

"Um?" Cal held the limp warrior princess. "Shit, is this my fault?"

Both the knight nodded in unison.

Cal sighed. "Ya, I was afraid of that, I may have gotten too excited."

"I'll say, it's just like Gisela when I- mhmnmh." Flamel tried to comment, but Gisela covered her mouth.

"How can you say those kinds of things so easily!" Gisela protested.

Cal couldn't move due to Shayley's limp form.

He contacted Kadoka over telepathy.

"Hey Kadoka!"

"Aah! Son-of-a-bitch! Don't scare me like that, Captain!"

"Listen, I don't have time for your short fuse. Where is Tiny?" he jabbed.

"Hmph, Loca is right her by me like she always is. Why, did you want to playdate today?"

"No, I'm just glad she's safe. How's Dakota?"

"He's probably just fine. I'm having his weird Girlfriend babysit him."

"Has there been a lot of weird things happening around you guys since Loca was born, and then again after Dakota's match with Joltiana?"

"We always expect a certain amount of trouble since we were once infamous pirates, plus I don't believe in all that half-breed back luck stuff."

"Hahaha, I guess they never expected the stubborn hardiness of my crew. Okay, but in seriousness; weird things, like accidents, more frequent brawls. Anything?"

"Loca's been somewhat of a klutz since she was born so I have to keep a constant eye on her so she doesn't get herself hurt, plus she's a little bit of a nut when it comes to scary things. But now that you mentioned it, that's the reason I sent My idiot brother over to Ana-big-boobs. Trouble just seems to follow him more now, I figure one of our competitors is scared of him, and is trying to harass him."

Cal sighed, only Kadoka and Dakota would think that repeated attempted assassinations were a harassment tactic of their competitors. And poor Loca, with her savant heredity she was probably incredibly skilled at avoiding those same assassinations, but her mom misunderstood and called her a klutz instead of a genius. Seems about par for the course as far as Kadoka was concerned. But at least their dangerous lifestyle prepared them for this. Classic Pirate vs Ninja, and right now they were in a deadlock because the pirate side didn't even know it was happening.

The crew of the Nightmare were hardened warrior-elementals who sharpened they're teeth on back-to-back raids as the aggressors instead of the defenders. Hardy, aggressively leveled, and designed to go against larger and much more powerful forces as the underdog. They were a different breed than the City elementals. It would be like comparing a pack of Dire wolves to a roost of dragons. Kadoka's fluffly dragons, but dragons nonetheless.

"Hey, Kadoka I have some news, but I need to give it to you and Loca in person. Also bring your husband, Gary. It's going to be a family matter."

"Gerald, you mean. Okay I'll set aside a room."

"And don't take your eyes off Tiny, that's an order."

"...A-aye aye captain. We look forward to your visit."

Shayley finally came around and Cal let her go.

He spoke out loud for the first time since he'd been talking to Kadoka.

"Okay class, get your shit together we're going on a field trip."

"""Huh?"""