STORY

STORY

ALL IN THE NAME OF LOVE
[Ghost Trick - Welcome to My Parlor]
"Good evening, James Drakken. I welcome you to my study. Is there anything I can assist you with today?"
"I am only here to view the queer oddities you have obtained! Ignore me. Act like I am not even here."
Edger hopes James means the books and objects he has collected, and not his family......
"I see....enjoy yourself, and ask about anything you wish to know about. I have gathered curiosities from across this planet, and even the stars."
"Even if most of them were actually imposed upon me....." Edger Drakken looks towards a collection of jars filled with small fey skeletons. He hated them with a passion, and especially the way it felt like they still twitched every so often.
Edger Drakken
2025-09-21 18:42:05
Edger Drakken Profile
Posted by ID #103
Last edit: 2025-11-16 19:44:14
Edger approaches his wife and mother who sat by the window. "Ah, sorry about that interruption, all is well. James is only here to gawk. He says to ignore his presence." Though Edger adds in a whisper, "It is quite hard to ignore a giant in the room though."
"It is quite alright. He comes and goes as he pleases." Lillith swirls a glass in her hand, eyes distant from the looming figure staring around.

"Better to let such things happen, it is no mind to me."
Lucetta lounges in her seat, eyes trained on only her husband as he approaches, "Then gawk he shall! So long as he's no bother to you, my sweetest cherry pie."
Edger Drakken
2025-09-21 18:46:25
Edger Drakken Profile
Posted by ID #103
Last edit: 2025-11-16 19:44:43
"Thank you, my dearest Lady Lucetta. I'm sure he'll be of no bother. Giant he may be, but he is quite timid."
Edger Drakken
2025-09-21 18:48:10
Edger Drakken Profile
Posted by ID #103
Last edit: 2025-11-16 19:45:18
"As long as he is not on the battlefield anyway." Edger gathers papers, taking a seat with the other two. "I am still sorting through all this paperwork from the events of one month ago. I'm glad that the rest of the family seems to be joyful that I have succeeded with my task, but....."
Edger Drakken
2025-09-21 18:49:56
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Posted by ID #103
Last edit: 2025-11-16 19:46:41
"They believe I, and the Mad Knight, can talk to dragons because of "What we are," and I am not quite sure that is the case. I mean, for sure, the dragons seemed to react positively to us, but I think it was a fluke at most! I am not sure how to let the family down gently about this without ruining their merry mood about it."
Edger Drakken
2025-09-21 18:51:48
Edger Drakken Profile
Posted by ID #103
Last edit: 2025-11-16 19:47:06
"Especially because they have such a positive reaction to it. I mean, I don't think getting called "Edger the Woman turned Man Dragon speaker" is an "exciting" title, but it is better than what I've been called for....well, years."
Lady Lucetta
2025-09-21 18:53:42
Lady Lucetta Profile
Posted by ID #103
Last edit: 2025-11-16 19:47:32
"Oh, allow yourself more credit, my darling! You've fallen into the family's good graces, and you were capable of succeeding in your mission handsomely."
"And I do mean handsomely." She offers a hand to Edger, "What's a mere name when you have your accomplishments?"
"The point still stands that you are not quite sure of it, though you aren't sure it isn't true either."
She sets down her glass, looking at the pair.

"I understand wishing to create room for disappointment, especially with how reactive certain family may be should one fail to measure up. But, perhaps this is simply a chance latent in your blood that has finally come to fruition."
"Though should it come out to be mere chance that has warmed the dragons to your nature, we will adapt should they begin becoming ... unruly. We will figure out something."
Edger Drakken
2025-09-21 18:59:29
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Posted by ID #103
Last edit: 2025-11-16 19:48:43
While his wonderful wife, Lucetta, raises his spirits, he is sombered by his mother, Lillith. "Of course. The dragons are unexpected, I'm sure that all of them will understand."
Edger Drakken
2025-09-21 19:01:49
Edger Drakken Profile
Posted by ID #103
Last edit: 2025-11-16 19:50:08
"I just wish that I did not have to be anchored to Gretel, the blind and deaf.... I, of course, am joyful to have been given a nichtendrakk as all highborn men should in the drakken family, but she is....I fear close to death, maybe?" Edger says, as if he is trying to convince himself more than the others. "If I could have her swapped for another, that would be best, but our lord, Boris, refuses me this."
"Shouldn't a man who is believed to talk to dragons be given one of the better dragons of the house? At least, one that can see and hear?"
"Forgive my tone, love, but he's foolish for this. Refusing his supposed dragon-speaker a capable companion?"
"He thinks of you so little. But I feel if there's anybody who can impress Boris with the pittance he's offering, it would be you. It's as you said. A nichtendrakk is still a nichtendrakk"
Lillith turns to eye James from the corner, head merely tilting a few degrees to catch him in her peripheral, before she reclines back in her seat.

"...I do wish that there could be more done. Lord Boris has had much on his mind with setting this recent betrothal into play for James. This is no excuse to undermine the efforts you've so curated, though."
"Perhaps when he is in high spirits, you may bring it up in a manner that seeks to praise the abilities of all within the house Drakken. A seeking of passing on the mantle of Gretel to ... Some now more 'deserving' recipient for one of her disposition."
James picks up and exams a large spear, ancient, James is sure Boris had thrown the weapons of his disowned son in Edger's study under the guise of historical keepsakes. "Why not get the kin slayer nichtendrakk? The thing has been on "punishment" duty for so long, when the kin slayer left with only one of two of his pets."
Edger Drakken
2025-09-21 19:13:27
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Posted by ID #103
Last edit: 2025-11-16 19:53:43
"I will not swap Gretel for the nichtendrakk of the kin slayer!" Edger barks back. "Everyone will think I want to claim the throne, or kill my father!"
"Everyone except for Lord Boris, and that is the only one who matters. Lord Boris misses his son so much, I see him sometimes feeding the kin slayer's nichtendrakk in the early morning. Why do you think it has yet to die, tied up in the rain and sun?"
"I am sure you all have seen how much he misses his kin slaying son. Many years he tried to hide it, but now he just speaks openly about it. Kind of disrespectful to the house, but aye, he is Lord."
Lady Lucetta
2025-09-21 19:21:06
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Posted by ID #7
Last edit: 2025-09-21 19:25:25
Lady Lucetta's focus breaks from her husband, peering over at the hulking Drakken, "...What are you trying to suggest, James? Filling the murderous-son-shaped hole in that old geezer's heart with my dear Edger?"
"Of course! We already know that Lord Boris does not mind if the hole is filled by a woman who has turned man. The Mad Knight already acts as his son, and he is not even Drakken! Edger could be in that place, yes? Higher status, and all Edger needs to do is not become a kin slaying monster, and in a few years, no one would care anymore."
Lucetta glances at Lilith, and then back at James, "...You're awfully spirited for a man who asked to be ignored."
"Haha! That is why I stand by the Lord's left hand, so I can tell him my thoughts without being the one he points to first."
Lillith V.Drakken
2025-09-21 19:25:57
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Posted by ID #103
Last edit: 2025-11-16 20:08:08
Lady Lillith clutches at her dress's skirt as she turns, more pointedly, to face James.

"If you suggest such a path, are you willing to act as a protector to Edger, should he undertake it? You know how the family will react. He will need supporters, guaranteed supporters, should this truly be something considered. I will not have you fill my child's head with such thoughts should you be sending Edger to a death."
"So many promises asked of me today.......No one is willing to listen, and maybe remember James Drakken's name when they gain a bit more money in their purse?"
Edger Drakken
2025-09-21 19:29:03
Edger Drakken Profile
Posted by ID #103
Last edit: 2025-11-16 20:08:33
"You're asking the castellan of House Drakken to adopt a beast who carries the weight of sin upon it!"
"Yes!"
"Much better than that Gretel, the blind and deaf...except, she is not so blind and deaf anymore!"
"You've seen Gretel recently? What were you doing in the stables?"
"Oh no, no no, not me! James would never be in the stables. But James is a friend to everyone. Friend to Boris. Friend to Edger. Friend to Timothy Drakken. Stable boy who refuses to talk to most people who are tall!"
"Poor Timothy. The Dread Knight injuries him while trying to show off to Lady Bellodonna. His future knighthood ruined. Tossed to the stables, a lame man now."
"But Timothy likes James, because James told him, one day, he will bother the metalworkers, tell them to build dear Timothy a wheelchair, so he can stop using sticks! When a man is helpful to another man in need, that man is willing to tell him many things."
"So, what do you think Edger? Swapping nichtendrakks solves all your issues."
"Plus......that nichtendrakk is in good health. Very powerful. Could say, overpower all the others, should it got out one day. I wouldn't want that to happen, but what if a man who mourns his son lets it out, that'd be terrible!"
"You're well out of line, James. Skulking your way into my husband's study with your teeth bared... what do you stand to gain from this nonsense? I'm sure it's not just Timothy's good graces."
"You love your husband so dearly.......why?" James asks honestly.
"Most wives would stand to the side and watch their husband be ripped apart." James looks to Lillith. "Like you, Lillith. I saw that meeting."
Lillith V.Drakken
2025-09-21 19:46:23
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Posted by ID #103
Last edit: 2025-11-16 20:09:48
A snarl rises in Lillith's throat against the Giant, but is quelled down to a more hissed tone.

"... Christoff was not in danger of being truly ripped apart. I would not allow him to be harmed in a manner so grievous. Should one have raised their sword to him, I would do the same to them. I would not let someone hurt him dearly."
Lillith V.Drakken
2025-09-21 19:48:25
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Posted by ID #103
Last edit: 2025-11-16 20:10:19
"But one must please the Lord of the house before their husband, should the situation demand it. for your sake and for his life. I love him. But I must trust him to do as he will; he is busy, smart. He knows what he is doing. I would not ... I would not forsake him. I could never. He is my husband. I will die one day, and I only hope it is before him so that I may know I did all I could for him. "
"Merely love my husband? Don't insult me. I would die by his side, James." Lucetta takes one of Edger's hands with both her own, holding it tight.
"Perhaps you don't know if you've never felt it, James. What it means to be devoted to the only other person in the universe who you truly understand, and understands you back."
"Mmmmmm. Lady Lucetta, you speak true.....I cannot ever have such a thing at this rate."
And in that moment, James gets a wicked smile across his face.
"You....are so wise! I look to Lady Lillith. She is willing to do anything for her husband, but look how she talks. She unlike you does not have passion. Oooh....how interesting. Yes, thank you deeply for your knowledge Lady Lucetta and Lillith."
"Why, that's hardly fair to say about Lady Lilith, James." Lady Lucetta tries her best to dampen the clear smile on her face.
"...You are alright, lady Lucetta. I am not a woman of many warm expressions, I've long since learned this. I am simply glad my child has a happy marriage with someone so spirited." She sits back down, still.
"I think your wife and mother have done good for you today Edger Drakken. I will remember this, for the boons a wife provides is considered boons the husband has, and if all goes well, then you need not adopt the kin slayer's beast."
"And Timothy Drakken? Well. He is a lame stall boy. I mean, who would blame dear Timothy if he fell, and could not close the gate in time? You don't want Gretel anymore, yes?"
"What do you want, James?"
"Oh well, you see. I believe that your mother, wise as she is, has asked this question once. A man needs supporters."
"A castellan, despite his many keys should not worry himself over what happens behind some of them. Yes?"
"Or shall dear Timothy, once a quiet stable boy run to the courts, speaking of what he has seen?"
"You will keep the stable boy's mouth shut, and you will keep me out of whatever you are doing...."
"Long as your keys stay in your pocket and do not mind if they go missing for a few hours, then there is nothing to be worried about. Stay in your study, drink with your wife and your mum, and do not worry about what happens. You are castellan. No need to worry about the courts."
"I do have one more request though......."
"Do you know where to find a fey-touched woman?"
Edger Drakken
2025-09-21 20:08:08
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Posted by ID #103
Last edit: 2025-11-16 20:11:40
"You threaten me and my family, and then you ask a question like this!?!"
"Would you rather I bother you now, and leave, or bother you now, and then bother you in a few hours with this same question?"
"Have you checked the woods, you daft lunatic?"
"Not ready to die, yet. Also the woman who go into the woods, they are only slightly fey-touched. I am looking for something a little bit more long term."
Edger Drakken
2025-09-21 20:11:12
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Posted by ID #103
Last edit: 2025-11-16 20:12:15
Edger rubs his forehead. He had a point. He would rather not see the giant of House Drakken in his study again. "I was going to say, I wouldn't know where to find such a thing, but I was told recently where one could find them...."
"Speak with the Mad Knight. He....."protects" fey-women parties in the dungeon. He will know where to find what you're looking for."
Lucetta releases her husband's hand, speaking just under her breath, "Maybe you should check a bit deeper next time..."
"Yes. Maybe next time look a bit deeper in the woods!"
"Your anger is understandable! I hope you and your wife and mother gossip about me like feys once I exit. Enjoy your night, castellan Edger!" The giant of house Drakken grabs the spear of the kin slayer and leaves the room.
He had someone else he needed to speak with.
[Limbus Company OST - Wuthering Opus 2]
James Drakken
2025-09-21 20:24:28
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Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2025-09-21 20:26:42
James enters the room of Eliza Elzenstein, the woman promised to him. Her door was carefully watched by guards. She was a flight risk, being kidnapped from her home after all. "Good night future wife of mine! How do you do? Did you like the pomegranates that I brought for you earlier?"
Eliza had been staring out her window when James walked into the room. Long had passed since she determined it to be firmly locked and set in place, and she dared not attempt to break the furniture on it, lest it not open, and she be punished.
She would stand up and turn to look at james.

"...Surprisingly yes. I don't know how you figured out I like pomegranates, but it was a welcome change of pace. All things considered there's benefits to being locked up once you get past not being able to breathe."
"I mean, you don't know how awkward it was asking for blood outside this planet. Atleast I can rest assured knowing the Drakkens of all people would have copious amounts."
James takes a deep breath. "Seems to be enough air in here. It's a nice room too. You should have seen the room they wanted to put you in."
"You'd have to deal with the Mad Knight, night and day in the dungeon, but I told them, I'd like my wife to look nice for our wedding day, and the dungeon is not a place for a woman of quality."
Eliza would stiffle a shudder at the mention of the Drakken's dungeon, having never had the chance to know what it would be like to be under the so called "Mad Knight"'s care.
"...Well yes, I suppose that's true."
"It's a considerably fairer treatment than I expected."
"Though, maybe you would have liked it in the Mad Knight's dungeon. He seems to lose women especially, rather quickly."
Eliza Elzenstein
2025-09-21 20:36:58
Eliza Elzenstein Profile
Posted by ID #27
Last edit: 2025-09-21 20:38:43
Eliza's mind went through multiple interpretations of that sentence, before she sighed and decided to cut the charade short.
"...Let's be frank here, James."
"What are you here for, exactly? The marriage is still a ways away."
"If you needed an escort, you could have had the guards bring me, like last time."
James pauses in thought.
"Jealousy has brought me here. I wanted to see if you would love me. But I am a fool for thinking this."
"...L-love?"
"I saw today, a woman happy with joy. Loved and held the hand of her husband while he was threatened."
"And I saw another women, one who sat there while her husband was berated."
James Drakken
2025-09-21 20:40:36
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Posted by ID #2
Last edit: 2025-09-21 20:40:48
"I just wanted a wife that wasn't my cousin before, but I have become a greedy man recently."
"Have you heard of Edger Drakken? He is a woman that turned man. His wife the opposite. They love each other so much, that Edger has bore babes for his wife. Three of them! Imagine a man giving birth for his wife out a love! Disgusting, but also I wish I had a romance so in love like that."
"...Heh."
"...That's, that's surprisingly cute of you."
"So you're jealous. I thought you the type that sees what they want and stops at nothing to get it."
"Oh, trust me, I am that type. Maybe you will learn that soon, yes."
"But you cannot force a woman to love you. She will only hate you more, and yet she would lie every night, and tell you how much love she has for you."
"I am a GIANT! I am DISGUSTING! Any wife I wed, would lie to me!"
"But, when I saw Edger, a man who no one should love with such a caring wife, I continued my greed, and realized maybe out there, there is someone who would look at me, and call me handsome, and not lie."
"But I know that person is not going to be you, and you know that as well, I am sure."
"...I'll tell you the truth, James. Be painfully frank with you, because you've been painfully frank with me, and if nothing else, I appreciate that sort of honesty."
Eliza Elzenstein
2025-09-21 20:52:18
Eliza Elzenstein Profile
Posted by ID #27
Last edit: 2025-09-21 21:49:29
"I don't consider myself an easy mark, and I definitely don't think the experience of being made to eat concrete helps in that regard. That being said, I couldn't care less about you being a giant. I've spent far too much time with aliens and outside of this tradition riddled planet to think of something as objectively minor as that, as disgusting."
"I mean blue hell, outside of here, I'd argue most people are into the tall ones."
"So let me give you some advice. You want to know why it is I won't be that person for you?"
"Oh, don't need to tell me! It is because you were kidnapped!"
"Oh, I mean, it definitely doesn't help, don't worry about that, but that's not where I was going."
"Oh? More than that? Do tell."
"You want to know why it is women lie every night? What the castellan has that I believe you don't, and possibly never will? The painfully small detail that I think vampwelves as a whole hold that make it impossible to for them to really, genuinely connect, to really and TRULY love each other?"
"What is it that you actually know about me?"
"And I don't mean tiny little details like me enjoying pomegranates~!"
"When the Castellan looks at their partner, they see them for who they truly are. They aren't calculating when or how to use their faithful piece as if it were some game."
"You are an object, and you feel like an object. That is it. That is what I saw in Lillith Drakken's eyes. More an object than a person. Torn apart by her husband. Not physically, but mentally I'm sure."
"When I look at you, I see someone who sees right through people. Take that as a compliment if you may, but I also think of that as a failing."
"Give me one moment before we continue." James opens the door, and waves away the guards. "Please, take about 30 minutes break. It's going to get a bit....loud in here. I am a giant after all, and I would like my privacy." The guards do not argue with James, and leave their duty.
"I am letting you go, but you have to do something for me." James spins the kin slayer spear.
"It is wrong for a man to kill his kin. That's kin slaying."
"But we are not married. So, this wouldn't be kin slaying."
"You want out? To see the sea again? You will see no seas if you stay here."
"..."
"...You really ARE good at seeing right through others, huh."
"...When you people forced this ring on me, a part of me felt like it fit uncomfortably well."
"I'm a so-called Dame of Wealth you know? From the second my parent died I was prepared to be married off, to help pass the riches around the family. I was bitter, angry, distraught, sure."
"But what I was furious about was never that."
"I spent years of my life, decades, sharpening my blade, whetting my bloodthirst, preparing myself to bear a title no vampwelf would ever want."
"And just when I was about to rename myself to Kin Slayer, the old man croaked on his own. And everything was over. And my life too, was over."
"Where fucking else was I supposed to point that blade? To point that anger? YEARS of suffering endured FOR NO FUCKING REWARD OTHER THAN TO CONTINUE TO BE A PLAYTHING."
"So you know what? I'm tired of being the little bird in a cage, helpless to do anything but brood and plan things that will never come to be."
"Maybe this time, for the first time, for the ONLY TIME IN MY LIFE, I'll make a decision of my own? Sure, I'll step unto your board. I'll be your piece. I'll brandish your blade and carry your banner."
Eliza Elzenstein
2025-09-21 21:14:58
Eliza Elzenstein Profile
Posted by ID #27
Last edit: 2025-09-21 21:41:26
"You open my tiny little cage, and you ask me to be your canary?"
"Point me to what mine it is I should be dying in."
"Good lady. But do not worry. You won't be dying. The man I need you to kill is weak, he's feeble, and his mind is almost gone, though he refuses to admit it. It is a better mercy he dies now, then dies in 20 years, rotting in his sleep, a maid at his side to remove his waste into the bed pan."
"You will be giving me a wedding gift most kind. Instead of getting married, and being suck here in the drakken household, you will kill the Lord Boris, and you will be rewarded most handsomely."
"Do not worry about escape. I have a man who will point you to the Federation. A stable boy by the name of Timothy. He'll provide you with a steed you can "steal." You reach the federation and tell them you are a kidnapped woman, and you will be whisked away from this land that keeps trying to drag you back in."
"But try to wrong me. And there will be no escape. And. Oh so much worse after that."
"...Shinier a ring than any vampwelf could ever ask for."
"I pity whatever soul you end up happy with. If you weren't such a full blooded Drakken, I might've even considered you a catch."
The heart beats. The veins constrict. The blood flows, nearer and dearer than ever.
Freedom is on the horizon, ready to be taken......

Eliza Elzenstein hopes.
No one is typing.