Unbreakable Fate

Artemis' body straightens up and she nods appreciatively, "I welcome the answers, Ophellia." She replies. Exiled? What on this world does she mean by exiled? What did I get myself into!?

Code:

 Ophellia Tepes has shared a waypoint.

Flashed on Artemis' UI, a red marker appearing on the map.
"That's where the entrance is," She said, "I'll be waiting!" She added, placing a hand on the amulet around her neck, seeming to glow, before she faded and vanished, teleporting.

Left with crowd of people looking extremely astonished, the only thing Artemis can give them is a quick bow before she follows the path Ophellia had given her. Audible yells of "cheater!" and "Kill the hacker" can be heard as she departs. It's not like I had anything to do with it you idiots. She thinks.

After numerous minutes pass, she finds herself approaching what seems to be an old broken down fort. The waypoint shines at the boundaries of the area and disappears from reality as she passes through it. She looks around and takes the whole thing in. The entrance appears to be guarded by a few skeletons and she wonders if she'd aggro them if she would make her approach. Overall, everything looks very drab. In fact, a hole in the ground would look more comely than this and she seriously doubts this is where Ophellia would live.

Ophellia strode out of the fort's destroyed gate, opening her arms to Artemis.
"Welcome!" She said enthusiastically, "What's wrong?" She asked, noting the drider's reaction to the fort, "Not what you were expecting?"

Artemis snaps to attention as she sees a new form coming from the entrance of the fort out from the corner of her eye. The voice that accompanies it doesn't necessarily shake her alertness considering the fight that had just happened, but regardless, she answers. "Not entirely. I figured you would be housed in something more... opulent." She says it bluntly as she walks up to Ophellia. Considering her words, she flashes an apologetic smile. "No disrespect, of course."

Ophellia waved her hand dismissively.
"This is just the entrance, it'd be silly for someone with as many enemies as me to just have my home out in the open, wouldn't it?" She asked, before gesturing for Artemis to enter the fort. "The skeletons won't attack you," She said, "I've given all of my minions orders to treat you with the utmost respect." She informed Artemis, which was a lie. All Ophellia had done was put Artemis into an exceptions list, which stopped the guards registering her as an enemy.

Artemis takes the lead apprehensively and enters the fort. "With so many enemies after your head, that begs the question on who you are. I've not been too involved with anything the guilds have been doing. So pardon my ignorance." She takes note on the way she calls the guards her minions. Looking deeper into this meaning, this reinforces the impression Artemis had gotten from her when she had first seen her.

"I am Ophellia Tepes, Queen of Velthas, as well as the founder, and former leader, of Noctis," Ophellia answered with an exagerated bow. "And you are?" She asked, straightening up.

Artemis offers a bow of her own and replies, "Artemis Descarta, a nobody drider who hails from Widow's Peak. It's a pleasure to be in such royal company." I'll take everything from her as a grain of salt. She thinks to herself before returning to her upright position. "I assume you know about what really happened to Exudar?" She continues.

"I know that he was defeated in a duel with you," Ophellia replied, "Though I don't expect him to pay his debt off. I have a feeling he'll say something along the lines of 'That drider bitch cheated' or 'I was ambushed by two black-clad rogues'. Honestly, he really is a sore loser."

Ophellia paused at a door, blocked by a collapsed ceiling, in the centre of the courtyard and placed her hand on her amulet, and a dark blue sheen appeared over it.
"After you," Ophellia said, gesturing towards the portal.

Artemis shifts her head from the portal to Ophellia before she finally decides to walk through it herself. A sore loser who would be correct when telling them about the two rogues. Hell, I was teleported around the arena mysteriously. The people already have the idea that I'm the cheater. Nothing will stop them from hunting my head now.

Ophellia stepped through behind Artemis, the two of them arriving in an exact copy of the outside fort, though this one wasn't ruined and its' guards carried better equipment. Walking through wordlessly, Ophellia led Artemis outside, into a dark, open plane. The sky was a deep, dark blue, which bathed the surrounding area in a dark blue light. Along the ground, were various plants, most of which were poisonous. To the west, was a still lake, and despite being completely unmoving, the water didn't seem stagnant. Some way away, atop a large hill, stood a grand looking castle, which Ophellia pointed to.
"That's my home." She said proudly, "This is Velthas." She added, gesturing around herself, "A plane of eternal night. Be careful of the plants, some of them can poison you just by touching your skin."

Artemis is visibly stunned by this change. If she had a need or a want to live in such a place, she would be jealous of Ophellia. "Such a beautiful place." Her usual tone and manner of speaking with a tinge of sarcasm is replaced by a genuine enjoyment of what is in front of her. She looks around the area before her eyes once again land on Ophellia. "I'm very impressed."

"Thank you," Ophellia said, "I built it myself." Ophellia started walking towards the castle, following a faint path in the foliage. "It was supposed to be like a panic room for Noctis, but they exiled me so I moved the entrance," She said, "Bastards, we'd almost wiped the Iron Champions out."

Once again, the world "exiled" rings in Artemis' ears for some time and she cannot help but ask, "Speaking of that, for what purpose were you exiled?"

"Because I was a competent leader," Ophellia answered, "I was willing to make sacrifices that the others weren't." She paused for a minute, before continuing. "I let sixteen level eighties get spawn killed down to twenty so that we could successfully attack the Iron Champions' citadel."

Artemis chews on this revelation for a bit. "Even though I've never set foot in a war, I know that losses are always to be expected. Of course, those sacrifices should lead to victory for it all to mean something." She places her hands behind her back. "That's how Veydavin took the lead of Noctis, then? What do you think about his leadership?"

"He doesn't take risks," Ophellia replied, "He won't snatch opportunities if there's a chance of losing. He took away Noctis' aggression."

She nods. "I see. So why did you choose me to be your champion back there? It's obviously not for my pretty face considering what Exudar did to it. Why bring me out here?" She says, trying to remove question after question that had popped up during the whole trip here.

"Because I'd already rigged the entire contest in my favour, having someone as weak as you, no offense, beat Exudar was just salt in the wound."

Artemis nods once again. "I figured as much, the teleporting was your doing as well, no doubt." She spots a flower that gets her attention and walks over to it. She bends down and looks at it, purple leaves with white splotches making it seem like a small Rorschach test. If she had a way of picking it, she could most likely make a stronger poison from it than her own body could create.

Ophellia, seeing Artemis eying the flower, crouched down beside her and picked it from the ground. She placed it in a small satchel, and held the satchel out to her.
"If you wanted it, all you had to do was ask," She said as she carried on walking.

Artemis takes the satchel and looks down into it with a pouty looking face and a slight blush appears as blood rushes to her cheeks. You bitch She shakes away any dark thoughts and puts the satchel away before following Opellia once more.

"Over there's graveyard," Ophellia said, pointing to an area covered with ruined tombstones, "One of the crypts has an entrance to the catacombs, you can get almost anywhere in Velthas using them."

Not having much to add to this tour, Artemis keeps quiet and just nods as they go while a fast travel location notification shines for Arthur to read.

Ophellia stopped at the entrance to the castle, turning to Artemis.
"You get to be the first living thing to enter this castle," She said, "I hope you understand what an honour this is."

Artemis tilts her head a bit to the side and replies, "Really? Well, I'm honored, I guess." How many skeletons does she have in her closet, let alone her entire castle? Wait, the first? Does that mean she isn't living herself? The more answers she seems to get, the more questions seem to pile on.

Ophellia walked forwards, the castle's doors swinging open as she approached. At the other end of the entrance hall, was a staircase leading to an open door. Six knights in red plate armour lined the entrance, completely unmoving, and through the door was the throne room. Ophellia didn't even look at the guards as she made a beeline for the grand looking throne at the end of the room.

Artemis stops at the guards, deciding to eye one of them up before it made a small movement and startled her enough that she left the guards behind and made her way to meet back up with Ophellia. It is a grand looking interior, she admits to herself. Almost makes me want to use my cut to by a place of my own. As she thinks of this, she asks, "So what happens with my reward? I assume I get a cut of it."

"You should be happy that you were allowed into my kingdom," Ophellia replied from her seat on the throne, "But I suppose a monetary reward would be fine." She opened the trade window with Artemis and placed 500,000 gold into it. "I hope this is sufficient," She said as she confirmed her offer, "Though it probably isn't enough to protect yourself from any assassination attempts Exudar makes; he's a sore loser."

Arthur looks at the trade menu and takes a pause. Half a mil? Only half a fucking mil? He shakes his head. Artemis, agreeing with Arthur, replies as a flabbergasted look develops on her face. "I realize you did most of the work with the whole rigging thing, but giving me half a mil out of that six is pretty much you slapping me in my face, which Exudar already had a hand in doing." Her arms cross over her chest.

"You aren't worth much more to me," Ophellia said, "As it stands, half a million is already more than I'd normally be willing to spend of a servant." Ophellia stood up, looking down at Artemis from the raised throne, "If you want more, I suggest you sell me out to one of my enemies, but I warn you, betrayal isn't something I allow."

"You speak as though you have me tucked in a corner with your hounds sniffing for me." She looks around. "As I see it, we haven't hit that part in our relationship yet. I'm not too sure we even have enough to go on if we're talking about betrayals. Though, I suspect no one will come through on that six million considering your rigging. So, I suppose the half mil will be the only pay I see." Arthur quickly confirms the trade and Artemis flashes her sweet smile. "It was nice fighting Exudar. Might as well go after the others, right?"

Ophellia nodded, smirking.
"Next time I hope my champion can grasp the situation before she speaks," She said, sitting back on her throne. "If you keep serving me, you'll be rewarded, as long as you don't fail."

"Well, I am in the market to learn how to properly fight. So I might as well side with the one who'll have more fights on her hands." Artemis replies slyly. "I hope I don't fail as well." she continues with a more serious tone. "What's next?"

"We wait," Ophellia said, "It's almost morning and I'm useless during the day."

"Well" Artemis says astonished. "I guess I should go and turn in these quests while I wait." she continues as she brings her journal up. Looking at the various quests she had to still turn in. "That and try to not get killed by the goons who are out for my head." She shifts her weight to her left side as she feels the conversation dry up.

"If you're scared, I can give you a bodyguard," Ophellia said condescendingly, "But that'll have to be an advance reward."

You. Bitch. Artemis thinks to herself once again. Once she purges the dark thoughts from her head once again, she waves her hand. "I'll be fine. I'll leave that bodyguard for you since your so useless right now." A sly grin forms on her face and she bows slightly, keeping eye contact with the vampire. "Until next time, fair Queen, call when you need your champion again." She turns and makes her way out of the throne room.

"You haven't been dismissed yet," Came a voice from the shadows next to the door. One of the assassins who killed Exudar stepped out, resting a hand on his dagger. From the throne, Ophellia smiled down on the two, gesturing towards a door to the side.
"Wouldn't you prefer to stay? I'm only concerned about your safety, after all."

Artemis jumps a bit from being startled by the new voice she turns to face him, seeing his dagger, she pulls her bow from her back and an arrow from her quiver and aims it at the newcomer. With her eyes trained on him, she speaks to Ophellia, "Honestly, I think I should be the one concerned for my safety at the present moment. Maybe I should have asked if you needed anything done while I was out." Like should I buy some pads?

"Really, I'm inviting you to stay in my castle, and you react like this," Ophellia said, "You know there are going to be assassins after you, why not stay and meet everyone?"

"I'm sorry for being rude, but when someone brandishes their blades and are intending me to be their target, its not like I'm not going to go for my own weapon. You see where I'm coming from? I'll be glad to meet people if they don't mean to spill my blood." Artemis replies with a tinge of venom to her voice.

"You''re forgiven," Ophellia said, waving her hand dismissively, "Time for introductions. Viktor, put your weapons away and introduce yourself."
Viktor bowed to Ophellia and sheathed his weapons immediately.
"Viktor Bathory," He said, offering his hand to Artemis.

Artemis takes a breath before putting her arrow away and slinging her bow behind her back once more. She bows in return to Viktor and takes his hand. "Artemis Descarta." She replies coldly. I guess my sarcasm won her over. Unless she doesn't know what sarcasm is. she thinks, after the quick forgiveness shown by Ophellia.

"The others aren't here right now, so I'll have to introduce you later," Ophellia said, "For now, I hope you'll stay. I'd rather know for certain that I didn't get you killed."

Artemis shrugs as she pulls her hand away from Viktor and looks to her new Queen. "Wouldn't want the weight of some nobody's death on your head? That's noble." and a load of shit "Alright, is there someplace I can rest? I'd like to rest my legs for a bit." She emphasizes this by bending her legs, showing how tired they are of standing.

"Viktor, please show her to the guest wing," Ophellia said as she walked towards a door to the side of her throne, "OOC, you're obviously free to go if you want."

Artemis looks to Viktor and with an annoyed voice says, "Please, lead the way." Noticing the tone in her voice she sighs, "Sorry. Tell me about yourself Viktor." She tries to put on a less annoyed voice.

Viktor started walking towards the 'guest wing' and speaks without looking at Artemis.
"As you know, my name is Viktor Bathory and I am one of Lady Tepes' most trusted, along with my sister, Aurelia." He stopped outside of a door, pushed it open, and turned to Artemis. "This is where you'll be staying. I should see if Lady Tepes requires anything of me."