The Achievement Junkie

"Hurry up. Enter."

Daliea grabbed Jack's arm and dragged him into her room. She quickly locked the door and dropped the illusion, revealing her true self. "What brings you here? Are you ready to give me your child?"

"HMMPH!" A spastic cough erupted from Jack, who wasn't expecting such a welcome.

"Are you alright? Do you need something to drink?" asked Daliea.

"No, I'm fine. You just… you caught me off guard, that's all." Jack straightened his and grew more serious-looking. "I'm here to ask for your help."

"My help? Or the help of my people?"

"Well, both actually. We know that more cetuses will be coming and possibly a cetus pride lord as well. With such a threat, we want to ask for your support. It will prove that you're willing to be peaceable with Reinolt and can work together with them," explained Jack.

"So, that's all?" asked Daliea, still maintaining her emotionless stare. "And if I refuse?"

"Why would you refuse?"

"Because you still haven't agreed to help me, even when I'm offering you everything I own," rebutted the goblin queen. "You only delay and push off my advances. Don't think I'm stupid, I understand your intentions."

"But--"

"But what? Am I not beautiful enough? Am I disgusting to you?" Some emotion was finally seen in her eyes, disappointment. She's was mocking herself. "Without you, I can't fulfill my promise to my people… my promise to my parents."

Jack tensed up. He was at a loss for words and didn't dare trap himself with empty promises.

"You're speechless? So I was right…"

"Queen--"

"Daliea! My name is Daliea." The shine in her eyes began to dull as she noticed Jack's continued resistance to her advances. "Why not? I don't understand…"

"Daliea… It's not you, it's me," said Jack.

"Really? And why's that?" retorted Daliea with a note of anger in her voice.

"I'm already in a relationship, with Slivia."

"The prison girl?" Daliea blinked, looking less disappointed. "Really? That's the only reason why?"

"Yes, that's why," clarified Jack as he took a deep breath. "You're actually very beautiful, especially for a goblin."

Daliea's grey cheeks flushed red, showing that she wasn't expecting Jack to speak so sweetly to her. "You… you really mean that?"

"Of course, you're very beautiful. I'm just lucky to already be with Slivia," repeated Jack. He had to admit that even though Daliea was a goblin, she really was very attractive, and her tenderness toward him only added to the allure.

"So, will you help us?"

"Fine… We'll help you and your association," answered Daliea. "But I'm not giving up on you. I'm determined to get your help. You're the only one good enough for my children."

Jack buried his face in his palm, hiding the slight blush on his cheeks as he turned to the door. "Well, I've got to go. With everything going on, I'm needed elsewhere."

"One last question!"

Glancing back at her Jack asked, "What?"

"Why not have more than one woman?"

That question was like an atomic bomb in his mind. Unable to answer or get a word out, Jack coughed and fled the room.

As he exited, Daliea had a slight smile. "I do have a chance."

*****

Time passed slowly for everyone in the association building as everyone was waiting for the autopsy results to find possible weaknesses. The rumor was that more cetuses may come; that was the only way to explain the chief's efforts.

Jack informed Zariff about Daliea's cooperation and they decided to send Rydel with Daliea to gather goblin reinforcements. After that, he went back to the infirmary to lay down and rest.

As evening came there was a light knock at the door. Jack smiled, expecting Slivia to come back with Bowzer. "Come in!"

"Excuse me."

That solemn voice shocked Jack because he immediately recognized it, but it wasn't anyone who should've been inside the association building.

"Are you surprised to see me, Jack? Am I not welcome?"

"Leo… I'm very surprised to see you," answered Jack. "What brings you here, and why did they let you in?"

The king smiled and took a seat. "Zariff is an old friend, believe it or not."

"Seems like I'm meeting a lot of his old friends lately."

"Are you talking about old Tomas? He's a great asset and I'm glad he decided to side with you," said Leodoro. "As far as my reasons to be here, it was to learn the truth of what happened last night. Mind filling me in?"

"You're telling me that no one has told you anything?" asked Jack sarcastically.

"Well, I already know that you all slaughtered over a dozen cetuses and got in a dispute with the court about who would keep the corpses. I've also learned that Tridon is now involved and I haven't seen him so motivated in a long time."

"Then why are you here with me when you've already learned everything?"

Leodoro smiled and replied, "I've learned what happened the other night, but I've yet to learn about what we should be doing to prevent what comes next."

Jack squinted for a moment but quickly returned to normal.

Catching Jack's small change in expression was enough to confirm his guess. "What do you think will happen next? Also, don't tell me that nothing is coming when the entire building is rushing to prepare for something. I came to you because I think you're the key to all of this."

Jack laughed, "Really? You think I'm the one pulling the strings? I haven't been in this world for very long and you think I've got enough influence to affect the entire association."

"Yes."

The simple answer kept Jack from immediately replying. Jack thought for a moment and said, "What makes you think that I'm so important? If I am, you should've tried better to keep me earlier."

"I already told you, Jack, I had my reasons for not bringing you into the Royal Court. If those issues didn't exist, I would've fought to keep you. But you should at least admit that you're way too stubborn at times, though that doesn't mean much coming from me."

"And why should I believe you?" asked Jack.

King Leodoro shook his head. "I can't say, you already know that."

"Then have a nice day," said Jack as he motioned for the door.

The king didn't move. He sat there in silence for a minute before he sighed and raised his hand. Golden energy spread throughout the room and disappeared within moments.

Recognizing the Silence spell, Jack was confused.

"What I'm about to say is for your ears only, not even the branch chief may know of this," stated the king. His glare was ice-cold, startling Jack. "Understood?"

Jack took a deep breath and nodded, letting the king keep speaking.

"Have you ever lived your life day-to-day knowing that each moment could be your last?"

"Umm…" Jack had no response. He could only imagine such a thing as horrible.

"That's how I've been living for the past few months. Every since I investigated the death of my eldest son, I've uncovered far more than I ever should have. I know that my days are numbered if nothing changes and, according to my contacts, that number is far lower than I'd expected. I'm convinced that Arnole will make his move within the month and try to silence me forever. That way he'd have my son as a puppet who's far easier to control," explained Leodoro.

"And what does that have to do with me?" asked Jack.

"Let me finish," King Leodoro added politely. "I'm coming to you as a desperate man trying to save his life and his people. If you don't help me, I'm afraid for everyone living in the Reinolt Kingdom."

Jack flinched, blown away by how serious the king was with him. "That bad? The entire kingdom?"

"Yeah, that bad…"

"And you still won't tell me who's behind Arnole?" asked Jack. "I know you're not afraid of him, but his backer, right?"

A nod from the king confirmed Jack's suspicions, but the young hero continued to wait for the king to speak. Seeing Jack's insistence, King Leodoro sighed, "How much do you know about the Chaos Syndicate?"

Jack froze. He wasn't expecting such a powerful, secretive organization to appear within the king's court. The most shocking thing was that the king had already lost his own influence over the kingdom; what a scary thought.

"You mean… he's with the syndicate?" Another silent nod came from the king before Jack continued, "No wonder you're desperate, and no wonder you won't tell anyone… And you pushed me away from the Royal Court in order to keep me away from Arnole and the syndicate, right?"

"Right."

"That would explain a lot…" Jack's mind was working overtime. He connected the dots between the original crown prince losing his life, Zariff's fight with Yellow Jacket, and the Royal Court's support of the goblins and trolls. Everything started to make sense. "How certain are you that he's a member of the syndicate?"

"100% because he admitted it to me himself," stated Leodoro.

"That's some confidence… How long do you think you have, Leo?"

"I've got a week left at most."

"A week!" Jack laughed, unable to process such an answer easily. He couldn't help but connect the dots again, assuming that the syndicate had something to do with the cetus infestation. "If you've got a week, then reinforcements will never make it in time…"