Legends of a Fallen King: Zara [Chapter 10: Good Morning Ghost]

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Devoue Inc., a weapons manufacturer that creates practical weapons that could be used in large scale wars. It wasn't hard at all to find, since news of the organization is plastered everywhere here. Zaun sure loves weaponry, especially chemically enhanced ones. Perhaps it's by force of habit since Zaun is a toxic place in a literal sense. More importantly, I saw the widow discussing with their associates while investigating.

I would just waltz in there and ask her about the situation, but apparently people fear me since I am not as alive as they are. It's a pain in the rear to do anything around here.

"Sir."

I turn around to see the waitress calling to me.

"What?"

"You can't stay here if you aren't going to order anything."

Damn, I can't even loiter around to get more intel. I continue observing the Devoue Inc. as I reply, "Well I don't have any money, so there is a problem there."

Tilting her head, she suggests, "You could always just order water."

"I can't drink either." I tap my finger on the desk and continue, "My head hurts just thinking about it. Oh wait, I don't have one. You get the point? Now run along."

Pouting she puts her hands on her hips and complains, "Well, no need to be rude about it."

I shrug and ask, "Well what did you expect? That I was your neighborhood friendly revenant?"

"Well, yeah."

Wait- I turn around and look at her. Her face is blushing even more. Is this really happening?

Fidgeting she explains, "I mean, I only hear of ghosts in horror stories of the Shadow Isles."

"Really? To be honest that's all I care about." I turn towards the company saying, "This is only a means to figuring that out."

The waitress steps forward and gazes at Devoue Inc. "Oh, I see." Turning towards me, with a quizzical look on her face, she asks, "Why in the world would you turn to them to figure out about the Shadow Isles?"

"Well, it's not them. You know Evelynn?"

She freezes. The waitress still stares at the company for a while. "You mean The Widowmaker?"

"I guess. I mean, that's what I've heard."

Relaxing a bit, she asks me, "What business do you have with her?"

"Well I am planning on stalking one of her victims. So I can catch her."

The waitress tenses up again. "Then what?"

"Well," I mull over it a bit and answer, "I guess I'd have a friendly chat with her."

The waitress freezes again, with a stupefied look on her face this time. She shakes her head and asks, "A friendly chat?"

"Well of course. She's a fellow ghost like me right? All I need to know is how to get to the Shadow Isles and what it's like over there."

Wincing her eyes at me she implores me to confirm, "You know she's a serial killer right?"

"Well, I heard she doesn't do women. Goes to show she got morals. I got to make a good impression if I don't want to get killed again."

Covering her face with her hands, her reaction reminded me of the disappointment a parent feels when they found out their kid is an utter failure.

"Come on, I know I don't got an arm and a head on my shoulders, but at least I'm trying." The waitress starts chuckling in response. Waves of despair fill my soul as my eerie flames are reduced to wisps. "Who am I kidding. Everyone here is afraid of me and..."

The waitress waves me off saying, "No it's not that. I'm sorry if I laughed at you, it's just you're too cute Mr. Ghost~!"

I flare up alongside my wispy flames. "Eh-Wh-What are you saying all of a sudden?! I'm a revenant! REVENANT!"

"BAHAHAH! You're adorable, getting worked up over nothing!" the waitress chortles as she slaps her knees excessively. "You're nice for someone who looks so terrifying."

"OYE!" someone yells from behind the cafe counter. "What are you doing out there so long!"

"Oh! I'm sorry, I gotta take care of this." The waitress swiftly exits the balcony.

Despite the cool breeze that wafted by the balcony I swung by, I felt warm. Out of all the Zaunites who have encountered me here thus far, she was the first to see me in a positive light. It may have just been etiquette for being a waitress, but it served as a reminder to me of how people are in this place. In what is discarded as junk, Zaun finds treasure. That perseverance is something to admire. Before I could think about it anymore, she returned to the balcony.

"I'm back! I just went on break so I could chat with you." She explains as she rests her tush in the seat on the other side of the table.

"I'm honored, but you didn't need to go out of your way for me."

"Out of my way? Hah! It's no trouble at all." She leans forward, resting her head in the palm of her hand. "Even so, I felt obliged to stick around."

"Obliged?" I ask as I believed this was just small talk.

The waitress extended her right hand to me and, with a big smile, stated, "I'm Evangeline. I don't think I caught your name."

I awkwardly clasp her hand with my left hand and respond, "Zara, it's nice to meet you."

Brimming with happiness she shakes my hand, as if to tease me with how awkward this handshake was. "You're so silly." Evangeline gazes towards the factory and finally answers me with, "Devoue Inc., we know quite a bit about the place already. The cafe is right next to it after all. Their accomplishments come on the news every now and then. Heck, some of the workers even come here for their coffee break."

"Coffee? They come here to break coffee?"

"Hah! Seriously? You came to a cafe and don't even know what coffee is? You're a bigger dunce than I thought." Evangeline picks up her cup and takes a sip. "What I'm drinking here, this is coffee."

I take a hard look at the cup of piping hot darkness. "Lady, what is this black magic?"

"Geez, I told you already. It's coffee." Eyes cast downwards and blushing, she continues, "You can try some, if you'd like."

I audibly sigh responding, "I would if I could," waving my hand through the flames where my head should be. "In any case, what is it that you know about Devoue Inc.?"

Visibly disappointed, Evangeline shrugs stating, "Well, they are weapons manufacturers for one. However, the engineers also work within the same factory. It's not strange over in Piltover, but down in Zaun it's one and only."

"Oh? What makes them so special?" I press on.

Evangeline circles the cup with her finger as she mulls over it. "Nothing I guess. If anything, it's just that the head engineer insists on hanging around this dump. The mechanics who frequent this place don't really talk or even care about it. However, the few engineers that do come around here complains about the guy all the time."

"I don't know what engineers do, but I guess I'd be mad if I had to stick around this toxic place just because of someone's preference," I comment while wondering why anyone would want to even hang around here purposely.

"It's not just that. While some can tolerate the environment here, they all complain about his standing as head engineer. They go on and on about how incompetent he is."

"Who is?" I ask for clarification.

"Well Devoue obviously. Gabriel Devoue, the guy who runs the place."

Ah, so that's where Devoue comes from. Though something doesn't quite sit right with me. "Hold on. If this Devoue guy is incompetent, how the hell did he get a place named after him?"

"Pfft," Evangeline scoffs. "That'd be cause he's a one-hit wonder."

"He can knock someone out in one hit?"

Evangeline leers at me, "Seriously? Did you die under a rock or something? How do you not know lingo that simple?"

Oh, that was slang? "Heh, I'm sorry about that. Even I'd like to know if I died under a rock."

"Sigh," the waitress vocally exhales as her tone of disappointment is wiped away with a smug grin. "It's okay baby. Just joking that's all."

What did she just call me?

"What I mean by that is he made a single amazing invention: the Hextech Revolver." She points behind her with a thumb at a rugged fellow reading a tome. The fellow seems to have a contraption that looks like a metal rod with a rotating mechanism and a rubber handle strapped to a leather belt. "That gun he has on his belt is what I'm talking about."

"Gun?"

Evangeline gives me a stupefied look before declaring, "Holy hell, you really are ancient." Scratching her head to mull over her explanation, she states, "Well, I guess all you need to know is that it shoots things fast."

"Shoots what?"

"Bullets, they are like metal pebbles."

Pebbles? "You mean like the little stones on the side of a road?"

"Yeah, a gun can shoot those things real good."

"HAH! Is that it?" I scoff, "Isn't that just a glorified slingshot?"

Leering at me again, she points towards the skyscrapers, standing gloriously high in Piltover. "See those things?"

"Yeah? What about it?"

She gestures to the "gun" the man has and continues saying, "That glorified slingshot can shoot someone standing at the top of those towers. In fact, it can hit a guy on the top in a mere second."

I lay my hand down, since I cannot gesture with my face, "Are you serious?"

She nods in response.

"By the gods, no wonder he is famous."

"No no no! Gabriel didn't invent the gun." Evangeline quickly waves me off to correct my thoughts. "He made the Hextech Revolver."

"Right, what's so special about this one then?"

"Imagine a gun that not only shoots people down, but it also heals your deepest wounds." Evangeline states emphatically as she waves her hand, resting at her heart. Snapping her fingers, she continues "Like magic! Well, that's what it used to do anyways. It was replaced with revolvers that just blast magic bursts every now and then."

"Oh, that's lame. Why did they make a change like that?" Slinging magic pebbles at hyperspeed seems spooky.

She shrugs and explains, "I guess people would rather have more 'bang' for their buck."

"Hmm, explosive impact is pretty nice."

"Mmm..." the waitress purrs softly with the smugest smile on her face. "I must admit, explosive impact sure is nice."

I tap all of my fingers on the desk as I ponder on a crucial piece of Gabriel's situation. "So, despite his accomplishments he's on a hit list. You have any idea why?"

"Why?" Evangeline perks up quizzically. "What do you mean why?"

"Well," If I've heard correctly, "All you have stated were good accomplishments. I don't see why anyone would go as far as to try and kill the guy."

"Don't you think she would just kill him cause she wanted to? Does there really need to be a reason?" The waitress shakes off the question with her words. However, even so...

"Of course, there doesn't need to be a reason. However, he's quite an odd target for someone who would kill without reason. I'd sooner believe she cull all of Zaun instead of just singling him out." I shrug to emphasize that, "It just doesn't seem all that worthwhile."

Evangeline stirs her spoon in contemplation and then suggests, "Maybe an employee, business partner, or whatever hired her to get rid of him? He did give his employees bad work conditions after all."

"I guess that's more plausible, but wouldn't they just quit?"

"That's true, some have already. There are plenty of better places to work, that even pays better apparently."

"As for a business partner, you said it yourself. He kind of just sucks. He's most likely not even well respected if he had to open up his factory here."

"Yeah, that's also true," Evangeline agrees as she taps her spoon on her coffee cup. Looking up at the roof as she leans back on her chair, cupping the back of her head with both arms, she finally comes to a conclusion. "To be honest, she might not even be paying it much mind. I mean it is a hit list, it's not strange at all if she's just doing it for business."

For business. Killing for business. Not strange at all. "Business settled by blood."

"Mhmm, that's what I mean," she confirms glancing towards me.

"Such conflicts are better solved honorably." I am no stranger to such conflict. It happened quite often for me with what memory I have left. Yet every death I dealt brought great despair for my foes, and for me as well. Such despair is fine for barbarians and monks, but it is toxic for those the evolutionary progress of Zaun and Piltover. Thus, "If that were the case then, I would be very..."

Zara froze as the world got a little bit darker. The voices in the air faded. Zara's index finger was stuck in the air mid-tap. Yet time flowed as normal. His flames crackled in the ambiance. Waiters moved around unfazed by the mist. Evangeline grew unsettled.

"Disappointed," I concluded as I continued to tap on the coffee table.

If everyone is complaining, but some are still working in this hell hole regardless, then there must also be a compelling reason to stick around. "I bet whatever's going on in that factory lies the reason he's got his head marked for death. I'm going to investigate."

I get up from the coffee table to leave the porch, but before I can even start walking, Evangeline stops me by clasping my hand. "Wait, you shouldn't-"

"Sneak in? Don't worry, I was planning on going through the front door. I know I'm not the sneakiest nor the friendliest face around here."

"That's not what I mean-"

"Heck, I don't even have a face. So the least I can do is greet them."

She tugs harder and firmly commands, "Just stop."

The woman looks me dead in the fires of my soul. She's serious. I exhale a puff of soul fire and then let her know, "I'm listening."

Letting go of my hand, she sternly asks for confirmation. "You don't have any connection with this guy. You only want to talk with the Widowmaker right?"

"That's right."

"There are ways to get in touch with her without resorting to such complicated matters. I could let you in on some ways."

"Evangeline," I pause in my suspicions, then continue when she eggs me on with a nod. "How exactly do you know these things?"

She props her head back in confusion. "What do you mean how? It's no secret. She's just one of the many assassins to hire."

Upon getting hit with that piece of info, I need to massage my aching shoulder. "Jeez, this place is worse off than I thought." I bring out my palm to gaze at my ethereal hand, glowing in my worn down leather gloves with an eerie hues of mana. The mana seeping out of my gloves reminds me of my ephemeral existence. "It's all the more reason that I need to confront him."

"What the hell are you talking about? If you just meet with her before she does anything, don't you think you could prevent the matter altogether?"

"No," I'm fortunate not to be able to show the grimace after this line of thought. "The undead are monsters. I am no exception, nor is Evelynn." I stare down the cup of black magic in my bitterness of the lack of control I have at times and express to the lady, "I've thought about this for the extensive time I've lived thus far. I thought of why I am still here. Was it just to suffer? Honestly, it could have been." With all the fish I had to deal with, that'd be no surprise. However, "Even if it could have been, I deny that destiny ferociously. Why?" I press my thumb to my heart and say, "Cause that's who I am."

"What? How does this have anything to do with that assassin?"

"Simple," I lay my hand down and lay the concrete foundation of how, "Assassin is who she is." Raising a finger I continue declaring, "There is only one thing that takes higher importance than everything to the undead: identity. So tell me," I point to Evangeline. "How would you feel if you lost your identity?"

She is frozen since she is put on the spot, so I conclude, "Exactly, you don't know what to feel. Yet even so, you could always build another identity for yourself." I quickly tap my finger on the table rhythmically as I assert, "Yet it's not, so, easy, for: The Undead. The undead have already lived their life. The bet of life has a debt set to death."

"That's a dark way to look at life."

"Well, life's a gamble and everyone bets their soul on it. Souls are judged solely by soul identity. So long as souls must be judged, soul identity cannot change. That's where problems settle in." I lean on the desk to rest my body so I can focus on my theory. "The undead are vessels that simulate life, yet not truly alive at all. So what's the difference between live souls and undead souls? A live soul can change, and all its changes become a part of its soul identity. The undead soul cannot change and only has one sole identity."

"But people can change, right?"

"The vessel can change while the soul cannot. When that happens," I take a moment to remember the vengeful rage at the mountain and the cataclysmic wrath in the seas. "The undead soul loses itself to madness."

No response. A silence cuts through our conversation as the ambient breeze, creaking wood, and flapping pages can be heard throughout the cafe. It's about time I make my exit, but before I do so, I rustle Evangeline's hair a bit.

"Tch. Hey, what are you doing?" She slaps my arm away and shimmies back in her seat. The waitress feels her hair and groans excessively, "Guh! It took me ages to do my hair like this. Do you know how much effort a lady puts in her hair? Jeez!"

"I sure do," I haughtily snicker at her dismay. "I guess you got your hands full now, so I'll be off now. Sorry about the lecture, I know your only used to light banter as a waitress."

"No, no, I learned a lot," Evangeline waves off the concern and assures me, "No reason to be sorry about that. Apologize for this catastrophe instead!"

I gesture in apology with my one hand as a step out of the balcony.

"Zara."

"Hmm?" I respond to her final interruption, yet she suddenly grows silent. She quickly nods and sends me off with a smile, "Good morning."

Hah, is she new or something? Anyways, I redress her statement with before completely leaving the cafe "I think you meant goodbye." It's about time I figure out just what's going on in this factory.

When Evangeline lost sight of Zara, her work smile falls into dismay. "No, that's not quite right. You'll only have a good morning for now."

Another one. BOOM! And another one. This is chapter 10 for Zara, The Cryptic King. To think Zara didn't know what a gun was. xD Just goes to show just how old he is. If you think it's mighty suspicious that a waitress is charming the spooky ghost revenant on the block. Heh... [sg-jinx] Yeah, it is mighty suspicious. [sg-lux-2] This chapter is a slew of foreshadowing waiting to strike when you most expect it. As such, it may be a while until the next chapter for two reasons:

1. Evelynn's new lore needs to be out in the open for me to confidently move forward.
2. Shit's going to go down and it's going to be epic. Literally, as in I'm going to be putting a significant portion of it in a literary epic format.

Things are about to take a nosedive as the first battle comes in the next chapter: Knight of the Full Noon. Confrontation time! [darius-angry]

You know I got to say it: Don't spoil anything that comes after this chapter in this chapter. Keep the content from here to the stuff that happened in the very first chapter. I'm not a real stickler about this, but there are two very good reasons to not do this. One, it's disrespectful to those who are sticklers about this, churning through the story. Two, it's obvious to talk about stuff that's going on in the chapter that it actually happens.

As always thanks for reading. Get ready for round 1 in: Knight of the Full Noon. [draven-pose]

Arc 1: Our King Returns

1. A Distant Memory
2. Conquering the Abyss
3. Runic Affinity
4. Yearn to Learn
5. Forged from Sand and Runes
6. The Blue Sea
7. Pain and Pride
8. Lost Homelands

Arc 2: Method to the Madness 9. Dawn upon Zaun 10. Good Morning Ghost 11. Knight of the Full Noon 12. Madness of Man 13. Worries of Women 19. Echoes in the Deep