Apocalypse Reset: My Crab Can Heal the World!

There's clamor and confusion as the boat pulls itself into Dimartino's harbor, but once the mighty King Crab emerges from the ocean, the people begin to cheer.

Clancy crosses his claw over his torso like a salute. The townspeople hesitantly follow suit, each one joining in the pincer salute. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Yunie joins the small crowd, spotting Barns helping the newly resurrected off the boat. He guides the first group down to the dock and beckons over Yunie.

"Just the girl I wanted to see!" he beams. "Can you help these people get acclimated and find a place to build their homes? They've all had a long day."

"Of course, Barnacles. Where exactly are these people from?"

He scratches the back of his head, a silly smile creeping onto his face. "Decompression Island. Clancy and I revived them!"

Barns breaks away from the commotion and reunites with Clancy as Yunie takes over the orientation. None of the other leaders are around, though it is getting late in the night.

"Ready to head home, King?" Barns yawns. The crab clicks his claws excitedly. "Mind if I steal a ride? I am EXHAUSTED!"

Barns climbs on top of Clancy's head and lays down, staring up at the starry sky. Clancy begins their scuttle home.

When Barns next wakes up, it's already morning and he's in his bed - he doesn't even remember arriving to the castle. He must have been more exhausted than he thought.

He makes his way to the throne room, and as he arrives, he sees many familiar faces already in attendance.

Behind the throne is a large 'war room' of sorts - a table with a detailed map of the Kingdom of Dimartino dominates the space. Clancy, Yunie, and Haima stand around it, pointing and discussing something privately.

"Heyo," Barns calls out as he enters the throne room. "What's goin' on?"

"Ah, Barnacles," Yunie smiles. "Come, come. We were just discussing something important. Godrick will be coming by soon as well."

Haima blushes slightly at the mention of Godrick's name, but continues her story.

"As I said, the vampire was just a scout - though it's good that I am the one who encountered it. A less seasoned Adventurer would likely have perished."

"We don't think that the vampire is the one who killed that person two days ago, do we?" Yunie questions. Haima adamantly shakes her head.

"There's no way. He didn't have any human blood in his veins."

Barns walks over right as the comment is made. He looks at Haima and raises an eyebrow.

"Er..." Haima tilts her face away. "Well, I had to check..."

"You fought a vampire? When? Where?" Barns' voice is full of alarm.

"Near the Dimartino gate. It was short-sighted of us - we should have security posted there. Yunie?"

Yunie agrees quickly. "I'll have no less than four Adventurers posted there every day. I can figure out funding with Underhill - don't worry. This won't happen again."

"It's a shame we weren't there to resurrect it. I guess there's no helping it," Barns sighs. Haima's eyes flicker as he talks. She did not exactly leave the vampire in a 'resurrectable' state.

"Well, that was all I had to report," Haima smiles. "Yunie, staffing might be difficult today. Why don't I keep watch at the gate for now? I feel confident I can hold the line."

The two agree, and Haima bows, giving a claw salute to Clancy before flitting away. Clancy returns the salute in kind.

"PROSPERITY." the crab says somewhat poetically.

Barns watches Haima as she leaves, staring at her backside. Knowing she took out a vampire by herself made Barns appreciate her even more.

'Focus, Barns.'

He looks back to his companions, Yunie and Clancy. Yunie is sticking out her bottom lip, shaking her head. She noticed Barns' lingering look at Haima.

"While we wait for Godrick," Yunie says, changing the subject. "There is something I wanted to speak with you both about, away from the others."

"SPEAK, ADVENTURE WOMAN."

Yunie leans over the table. Clancy's eyes zoom in on her chest. "You see," she says, her voice sweet, "One of the people you resurrected yesterday was my little brother. I never thought I'd see him again. I just wanted to say thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Come what may, you are both already heroes in the truest sense of the word."

"GRATEFUL WOMAN. INHIBITIONS LOWER?"

Yunie laughs. "Still shooting your shot, my King? I told you I prefer women, didn't I?"

"MULTIPLE WOMAN FINE WITH ME."

Yunie covers her face in embarrassment, while Barns taps his foot agitatedly. After this meeting, Barns was finally going to make a play. Seems like bro code with Clancy was still an effective blocker against Yunie.

The awkwardness is broken when the door to the throne room opens again. Maria strolls in, followed by Godrick. They're locked in quiet chatter until they reach the others.

"Hey mate. Suppose you and the King Crab are the only ones who haven't heard yet. Let me fill ya in."

Godrick informs them about his brief recon mission to Ordella, and the state of affairs there. He spares no expense detailing the dire situation - but Barns is particularly interested when he learns that the humans living in Ordella have retained their souls.

"When the time comes to fight those twin vampires, we could leverage this to our advantage," Maria proclaims. "If the humans join us in a revolt when we launch our attack, our odds of success are greatly increased."

Godrick nods. "My thoughts exactly, Princess."

"Maria," Barns says, turning toward his ally. "When I visited the Pale Court with Osmond, the master vampire there gave me a map."

She nods, not turning to face Barns but instead looking at the table they are gathered around. "I heard."

"The only problem is...I don't know how to look at it. It's in the System somewhere."

That was enough to pull Maria in. Her eyes light up and she swivels toward Barn, childlike wonder blossoming within her. "Let's take a look, shall we?"

Maria snaps her fingers. "Give me your hand." Barns reluctantly stretches his hand out. She grabs it in hers, wrapping her hand around his, and makes a swirling motion.

Immediately, a screen appears in front of Barns. Maria scoots close to see. She clicks around in the menu, navigating through strange symbols Barns was unfamiliar with. The System's inner-workings appeared to be in an ancient language.

A few more clicks and then a large three-dimensional map appears over the table, showing the Ordella region. All in attendance look to the map, fascinated.

Maria leans in and taps on a flashing red dot - one of the locations that Francois marked. When she does, an info page (one in readable text) appears before them. Maria reads it out loud.

"The Three Towers," she says, reading the label. "Each tower is guarded by a vampire of renowned skill. Within each tower is an item you will need to kill the Master Vampires."

She clicks again, opening up a new screen. Her mouth hangs open in surprise. "She's left you with detailed notes about the vampires' strengths and weaknesses," Maria confirms. "Perhaps she really does want you to kill them."

"RELAY INFORMATION!" Clancy demands, raising his claws in the air. He can't read.

"Eldrie guards the western tower. He is a hunter of renown, skilled with bow and blade, but bereft of magic. Incantra guards the northern tower. She possesses powerful attacks and uses blood as a weapon, but has little physical strength. The third vampire, Wilfort, guards the eastern tower. He is a magical swordsman, capable of all types of attacks. His only weakness is his speed - Wilfort is over a hundred years old and prefers drawn out, methodical battles. Blitzing him will be your best option."

"I WILL BLITZ OLD MAN VAMPIRE."

"Do you think we can trust the intel?" Barns questions, looking around the table to each person and crab in turn.

Maria ponders the question, but ultimately trusts her gut. "Yes," she says. "Whatever Francois is planning with us, she means to enact it after we've taken care of these three. Of that, I'm nearly certain."

"Alright. I trust your judgment, Maria. I've decided. Our next course of action is to attack the Three Towers."