Snippet #2369754

The evolution of this particular assignment’s level of difficulty continued rapidly, not without the influence of the creature known as Xerxes whom Arto had yet to identify. With his attention mostly focused on the large Golem, it’s no wonder he missed the approach of something far smaller towards him. A sort of change of vector had occurred in the creature’s movement before it dashed through the grass and leapt into the air. Having an unknown furry creature jump right into his face would definitely startle Arto at least at first, a jump-scare of sorts. A much bigger problem was the resulting loss of balance. And then an even bigger problem was the flat surface of a rock, that just so happened to be squarely at the point where the back of Arto’s head ended up. What was the result of the impact? A convenient unconsciousness…

The time spent in a state of blackout had Arto miss a few events and passersby, the true events replaced by darkness that was not even generous enough to give him another dream of astonishing success. Following what must’ve been hours passing, the young man groaned and sat up. The Golem clearly wasn’t there by now, to which Arto was almost ready to say “good riddance” at the moment. The headache was still splitting, scratches stung on his cheeks and the benefit of returning to the waking world seemed questionable at best. There probably wasn’t any lasting damage though. With one hand on the back of his head and the other on the ground, he seemingly found something. Some kind soul had left him what seemed to be a vial with some sort of medicine. Why, that is almost as helpful as not forcing him to spend nobody knows how much time in the grass outside the city borders. Anyway, this was not the time to be capricious. For Arto the times of being capricious weren’t even that abundant in the first place.

Soon he was up, having applied the contents of the vial to the annoying scratches on his face. What now? He had little to no idea where the Golem was, had no plan, was running a little low on cash. One way or other, staying here was anything but productive, so he turned towards the city, causing another pulse of pain to pass through his head. Was it because he turned too fast, or was the thought of the city alone enough to give him a headache by now? No point finding out, so the rather sour-faced young man headed back towards the gates. No one asked questions, no one paused by him. He purposely chose to walk a different road from the one along which he’d followed the Golem. Maybe he could just go back to the bar. Maybe he still had a chance of enlisting for a REAL job. Maybe he could just forget about this whole “Sure, let’s go find a Golem, what could go wrong?” kind of job. Maybe he wouldn’t even have to hear anothe-…

"Xerxes. Aaaaaaaah. Xerxes. Fffffffffnyah."

Arto paused, standing still in the middle of the street as the already familiar chanting of the metallic voice reached his ears. He let out another groan similar to one he had uttered when rising from the tall grass he’d been left in earlier. Wouldn’t it be alright to just head on along? Couldn’t he just be on his way and not trying find the Golem? He was hesitant to say the least, far from eager to go looking for more sources of annoyance, more fuel for his headache. But perhaps this would go better this time? Perhaps he could work it out now? There were at least no thundering footsteps accompanying the Golem’s ridiculous banter. This much he could understand as he began moving to the source of the voice. Was the Golem still…?

As he soon found out – indeed it was. Still and trying to reach into an alleyway it was clearly not small enough to fit into. Thankfully it at least wasn’t trying to charge through the buildings. It had caused enough damage as it was. Onlookers were certainly here as well, including a couple of guards largely unprepared for such an event. The citizens were asking each other if the Golem was broken, what a Xerxes was, where the alchemists were looking and other such things. To be fair, the question concerning the alchemist was on Arto’s mind as well, albeit in slightly different terms and with emphasis on slightly more qualities of the alchemist. Most of them far from admirable.

“You, didn’t they hire you to…” Began one of the guards, but Arto stopped him.

“Yeah-yeah. Can’t you see I’ve got this under control? Just let me…” Arto paused since he didn’t quite know what exactly he needed the guards to let him do. Suspicious glances from said guards urged him to finish his phrase faster. “…talk to it or something. You go fetch that… alchemist.”

The guards glanced from the Golem and back to the boy, then back to the Golem. Well they certainly did need that alchemist, which was reason enough to move away from the scene, conveniently persuading most of the onlookers to disperse on their way. Yes, most convenient indeed for another awkward cross-species communication attempt by Arto.

“Shut up!” Such were the opening words of his negotiation. “Do you hear me? Be quiet for a few minutes and listen to me, Golem!” A pause followed. Arto needed to make sure the Golem was paying attention to him and not trying to run off elsewhere.

“Repair my house? Xerxes? What in the world are you even saying? What’s Xerxes? If it’s that thing that had jumped me it’s not even here anymore! Must’ve run off into the forest again while you were stuck here by this alleyway!” Another pause commenced, but this time not because he needed to confirm the Golem’s attention or lack of it. Perhaps he got a little carried away and said too much? Did it even understand the meaning of half of what he had said?

“Don’t. Even… Think. About. Moving from here.” He accentuated nearly every word, stepping away to avoid more possible injury. Still, him and his big mouth probably had an effect quite different from the desired one.