Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

Griar sat on a boulder protruding from the ground in the forest near his home- His home in the Peaceful Realm.

He had discussed with basically everyone he knew, and even people he had only ever talked to a few times before, and somehow, instead of receiving good insights about his problem, he kept on learning other things, some of which he would have preferred not to know as it really was making him think about things that would certainly haunt him for a little while, as well as other things that would make the day out of a gossiper.

Such as the fact that William, the otherworlder with an affinity for light magic, who was known to have come up with rather wondrous spell to calm the mind, and heal mental scars, had actually invented it for himself as he wallowed in a depressive state after being separated from his lover, blaming himself for not staying behind with her.

Ilona had a personal vendetta against whoever was the undead that had slain Pierre-Ornée, a man Griar had only ever heard about as he had sadly fallen during the invasion of Tamaris, and frankly, Griar had not known that the female otherworlder was so obsessed with this, he had only heard a little bit about it before, but upon speaking with her directly, he realised that it wasn't just a vendetta, it her entire goal, she just refused to focus on anything else until she had her revenge, or died trying.

The holy practitioners were fine overall, though, he found that they had strangely good advice in matters of love for a bunch of clerics and paladins, in fact, he uncovered, without even trying to, multiple things that made him wonder about the actual rules of their respective faiths…

For example, Archbishop Mealt, follower of Nike, the goddess of victory, and who had supposedly taken a vow of celibacy, was actually the father of Emina, the paladin that was always following him around.

Also, the sisters, Muspuella, the arch-paladin, and Ilimine, the priestess, both had a crush on Crusader Thomas.

And Archbishop Joala, follower of Phanes, was actually the childhood sweetheart of Quideos Audit, and apparently, there was still some affection in the air from that…

Griar truly had no idea why they told him all of this, he did not ask them that, was he being treated as a walking confessional or something?

The, the two brothers, Zola and Saul, they tried to give good advice, they really did, but whilst doing so, they revealed something that Griar had never suspected, after the Divine Dancing Priestesses, it was the Emerald Heralds whose image was irrevocably changed for him due to the awful things his mind was imagining without his approval.

Let's just say, that the brothers had a certain relationship to one of the Emerald Heralds, guessing which one wasn't complicated since they spent their time mostly around one, but Griar wanted to bleach that memory, this was definitely not something he wanted to think about.

'I wish I could erase memories…'

At least, the quartet composed of Tahnee, Eppie, Cassi and Lynn did not reveal anything horrendous to him, although their pieces of advice were truly awful, he was grateful that they didn't unexpectedly unload a mind-numbing truth out of nowhere.

The death hunters were also relatively fine, Abraham spoke in length about his dead wife and children, wishing that Griar wouldn't have to experience the same thing, which was a bit grim, but he appreciated the sentiment.

Rummy did indeed mess with him as Antieeld had guessed that she would, but was surprisingly insightful once she was done messing around.

Tappduur was also earnest, unfortunately, it seemed like romance in the demon clan he came from was quite different from how others did it, apparently, when two demons from his clans wanted to get together, they had to duel one another, and demonstrate that they were relatively close in strength and combat acuity, otherwise, they wouldn't be allowed together.

Échalas and Latir-e-se acted like they knew nothing, but it was all too obvious that there was a certain tension between them, and not the kind that can result into a fight, one could only wonder how long that tension had been brewing between those two…

Then, there were the talent holders, Mamiel and Spula were indeed somewhat useful to Griar's quest, but for some reason, when he asked for help from Minli, the petite healer looked at him weirdly.

"You should go speak to her, in private" she said, acting like she knew something that he didn't.

In terms of trustworthiness however, Minli was probably just behind his own mother, the healer had often acted as their babysitter in the past, and would often come to check up on their health, even if it was unlikely for any of them to get sick considering their natural physiques and their mastery of energy manipulation.

Soon enough, someone emerged from amongst the trees and sat down beside him on the boulder.

Flor cleared her throat, looking nervous.

"Is everything alright?" he asked.

"Yes, of course! I am fine… Huh… It's just… I have something that I think I should tell you"

"May I speak first?" Griar asked, and Flor nodded.

It was Griar's turn to clear his throat as he got off the boulder and stood in front of Flor.

"I have to tell you, ever since the first time I saw you, all of those years ago, I have been unable to think about anyone else… So I was wondering…" he felt himself being suddenly covered in cold sweat, that was more difficult to say than he imagined.

He got down to one knee.

"...Will you marry me?"

Flor blinked.

She had expected something, but an immediate marriage proposal? That took her by surprise.

"Yes" she replied "But only after you eighteenth birthday passes, it wouldn't feel right otherwise"

Griar tilted his head, he did not quite get why one more year would change much, wasn't he already well past marriageable age already? But he assumed that this was just how it was from where she was from, and he honestly did not mind waiting for a little while longer, he waited years before seeing her again, that was nothing in comparison.

"There… There is something you must know however" she added with a serious expression.

"What is it?"

Flor breathed in and out, and then locked her gaze into Griar's, focusing to rid herself of the nervousness.

Her stare was rather intense, making Griar wonder what it could be that she wanted to say… Surely, it couldn't be too serious?

"Griar"

"Yes?"

"I am pregnant"

"I see- Wait what?"