Sarah Quest
Lose and the world ends!
 
The following is a side/future story after Part 3, following Sara, the princess of Sabasa, and her adventures.
 
Cue Volcano (CV)
 
Deep within Salamander's Crater, very few life forms can live.
 
Humans stand no chance here due to the extreme heat, and will overheat in
minutes.  Some mineral-feeding monsters live here, but that's about it.
 
Even the feathers of lower Angels can catch fire here.  
 
This is, after all, the volcano where the mass that formed the continent came from.
 
Cue Granberia (CR)
 
"So.  You came after all.  Very foolish of you.  I was hoping I could leave without having to drag your corpse out."
 
The mightiest of the Monster Lord's Heavenly Knights, Granberia.  This crater is where she trained
with the primordial fire spirit, Salamander.
 
"Below you lies the Fires of Fate.  Even lies and uncertainties get burned away in the heat of this place.  
So, I want to hear you say what you have to say once more.
If you're serious, your intentions will survive even here.  If they don't, we'll know you weren't serious in the first place."
 
The Cursed Swordswoman speaks to the human standing a few paces away from her.  The human is female, and sweating profusely.  Her body is nearing dehydration
after only minutes of being in this place.  A few more minutes here, and she will pass out.  An hour here, and she will be dead.
 
"Well, say it!  Or have the fires of this mountain seared your nerves?"
 
"Gran...berry..uhhh...."
 
Granberia waits patiently, never flinching, though the woman is clearly suffering.
 
"Pl.... P..... p...."
 
There's no water in the woman's mouth to make the words with.  
 
Lacking the ability to speak, the woman reaches into her pack, and produces some vellum and a quill, quickly scribbles something,
and passes out.
 
"Hmm.  Perhaps this was a bit much."
 
Producing a small, cubic slab of pitch-black rock, Granberia lays it against the woman's chest and breathes on it.  
 
The stone wicks away the heat into itself, returning the woman to normal body temperature.
 
"Well, let's get you back and see what the Truth is."
 
Without reading it, Granberia folds the paper and stashes it in her pack, carrying the human and both their packs back to town.
 
Back in town...
 
"I'll try again...  What is the price for staying at this inn for the night?"
 
"I... Whatever you want!  No charge!"
 
Granberia is renowned, even among humans, for her titanic strength.
 
She is having trouble paying for a night at an inn, to let her companion recuperate.
 
"Old man, there is no reason to grant us special treatment.  I will not hurt you.  How much is it?"
 
Unfortunately, Granberia is intimidating even when she doesn't want to be.
 
The innkeeper is sobbing on the floor...
 
Granberia defeated the Innkeeper!
 
With her companion over her shoulder, Granberia lays a gold denari on the innkeeper's desk, and heads for the cellars of the inn to make camp.
 
"Looks like more sleeping on rocky floors for you."
 
Laying her companion down and perching her head on the leather pack, Granberia makes a makeshift bed for her companion.
 
"Now, let's see what you were so eager to tell me."
 
Granberia opens the letter.
 
Even though it's writer was passing out, the letter's content is clear.
 
"I WANNA HAVE YOUR BABIES GRANBERIA"
 
CUE SARA (CS)
 
The human companion in question is Sara, princess of Sabasa.
 
She is human, but has a tiny amount of Sphinx blood.
 
She also has a crush on Granberia.
 
A major crush.
 
It's rather spectacular.
 
Granberia had hoped to break her nerve in Salamander's Crater.  But Sara had managed, yet again, to profess her love (sort of) in that hostile environment.
 
Actually, Granberia had hoped she wouldn't come to the Crater at all.
 
...
 
The girl was moving in her sleep now that she was semi-hydrated.  The cool, damp cellar was a good choice of place to let her recuperate.
 
The Crater was just one in a long string of challenges Granberia had set before the princess, each one meant to intimidate her or simply
be impossible for her, so that Granberia could deny her marriage proposal based purely on being unworthy.
 
Yet somehow she kept enduring them.  It was both annoying and impressive.
 
But the letter couldn't be denied.  Even in the deadliest place on earth, Sara's intention was clear.  And she had even (somehow) passed the
Sphinx's trial, before all this business.  The spiral, dragon-shaped mark on her hand was evidence of that.
 
For all intents and purposes, Granberia was duty-bound to seriously answer Sara's proposal.
 
Looking at her as she sleeps, the Sabasan princess is a far cry from the cursed swordswoman.  She is far fairer, her body lacks the usual definition in the arms
and legs that would normally be part of a swordsman's body, and she has none of Granberia's bodily artwork or tattoos.  Or scales, for that matter.
 
Maybe she has potential.  Maybe she doesn't.  Her monster blood gives her a little more strength than she usually would have as a human, but not much more... unless it's awoken by powerful
sorcery, which she had gone through with but ultimately didn't want.
 
Then again, it was difficult to tell what "strong" meant in this day and age.  The Next Dolls and Heaven's Army had set a new standard for what strength
really meant.  It meant invincibility, absolute faith, incredible speed, crushing physical strength, and supernatural magic talent... everything humanity lacked.
 
Humanity and monster-kind had been given a taste of what omnipotence really meant during the Heaven war.  Only the intervention of... well... they were exceptional... had
saved them from annihilation.
 
Without the intervention of her monster blood, which might begin to sap her life force if it really kicked in, Sara was pitifully ordinary.  She lacked any magic talent,
had barely enough physical strength to best even the weakest of monsters.  She knew little about arsenals or armors, and wasn't any more intelligent than an average human.
 
Granberia had taken stock of Sara's skills.  Sara possesed some run-of-the-mill negotiation skills, average iron-scale armor, a steel sword of decent make and quality, and knew a few basic defenses and offenses.
 
In a way, she was a refreshing change for Granberia.  After facing The Gods and their chimeric travesties on a daily basis during the Heaven War, it felt humorously different
to be interacting with someone this painfully average.
 
"Your enemy is yourself.  When others challenge you, you in turn challenge yourself.  Conquer yourself, then your opponent, and you will emerge victorious."
 
So spoke Salamander.  Granberia had understood what it meant well.  When others challenge you, they set a new bar for how good you can be.
 
Now, in the same way, Sara was challenging Granberia.  Not with sword and axe, but with her... normalcy.
 
And it still bothered Granberia that she hadn't given an answer to Sara's marriage proposal.  Why did a nagging uncertainty claw at her?  
 
She felt little for Sara, little more than the fondness of a teacher doting on a struggling student.
 
Did her struggles remind Granberia of herself?  Did they disturb her at some deeper level?  Did something catch her eye subconsciously, that she took this stray pup in?
 
Had fate cast them together with its wise, infallible dice?
 
In any event, Granberia would have to respond to Sara's challenge, both to herself, and to Sara.
 
"Oh.  Hello..."
 
Sara had awoken.  Seeing the object of her affection upon awakening startled her.
 
"Good evening.  Remain still, You are not fully recovered."
 
"I... thank you."
 
"Please drink this.  It's warm water with a little bit of salt in it.  Try not to puke."
 
Sara grabbed the canteen and began to quaff the mixture, gagging on it and coughing profusely.
 
Granberia felt a strange instinct to comfort the swordsman somehow, but didn't know how, and wouldn't anyway, given her... propositions.
 
"Calm down, you're out of danger."
 
"I'm sorry."
 
"I am surprised that you even came to the Crater.  You could have easily perished."
 
"Sorry for making you carry me."
 
"And don't apologize."
 
"Sorry... I... thank you."
 
Awkward silence filled the chamber.  Moisture dripped down from the stone cieling, feeding mold colonies that the innkeeper sells to dress wounds... and uses to flavor his rotgut.
 
The stock of large, upright barrels surrounding them contain beer... booze... vine-ale... nothing that would appeal to Sara and nothing that Granberia's senses would be able to stand.
 
A drunkard stumbles into the cellar and retreats in wide-eyed terror upon seeing them.
 
"Hey, Granberia..."
 
"If you ask me to marry you, I shall not speak to you."
 
"Oh.  Okay..."
 
Opening her back, Granberia lays out several rations and begins to noisily eat them in front of Sara.
 
"I'm glad I get to see you like this."
 
"Whff do you mfean?"
 
"Though your life is eternal and everlasting, you chose to spend these moments with me.  No matter what happens between us, I'll treasure this forever."
 
Granberia sits with legs Akimbo and makes eye contact with Sara.  Sara blinks hard.
 
"That's flattering, Sara, but to be perfectly upfront, you don't even know who I am.  Hell, I don't know who you are."
 
"But... we can learn more about each other, right?  We can build our relationship and maybe one day..."
 
"I understand more than you think.  To you, I'm a strong, gallant, darkly handsome monster-knight.  To me, you're a lovesick maiden with little combat skill who likes getting in over her head.
But those descriptions, even if they're accurate, are one-dimensional.  "
 
"But surely..."
 
"I'm not sure how to say this.  If we marry now... in time, we would grow to hate each other with an enmity I can scarcely describe.  We would be doing little more than... "playing house""
 
"If I were to accept your proposal for marriage now, it would be doing both you and I a disservice.  That's my answer."
 
Sara has been rejected by Granberia before, though never in such a resolute manner.  She almost loses her nerve to press Granberia any further.  She is almost ready to pack up and go back to Sabasa.
 
Sara doesn't know it, but Granberia speaks from experience.  Young Dragons learn to abuse their immortality.  Aging dragons learn its consequences.  Then again, none
of... them... ever actually wanted to get married.
 
"Well then!"
 
Sara sits bolt-upright, renewed vigor suddenly appearing in her eyes and face.
 
"What's next?"
 
"Pardon?"
 
"What's the next challenge?"
 
"You honestly think any physical feat is going to make the Heavenly Knight Granberia suddenly swoon for you?"
 
Sara gave Granberia a quizzical look.
 
"Uhh... well... you put them before me... to test my worth..."
 
"They were designed to get you to go away."
 
"Oh."
 
"Sorry for the misunderstanding."
 
"That's okay."
 
"It is?"
 
"Of course.  I'd expect no less than the ultimate in struggle to achieve your love."
 
Granberia sighed.
 
"And You understand that I don't have any feelings for you, correct?"
 
"Yup."
 
"And you understand the logistical problems of falling in love with a warrior?"
 
"Uh huh."
 
"Then why..."
 
"Because!"
 
""Because" what?"
 
"Because!  It's a human's duty to persevere through something even if it seems unachievable!"
 
Grabbing the Cursed Swordswoman's scaled hand in both hands, and grasping it with all her might, Sara looked into Granberia's eyes.
 
"Granberia!  I will win over you heart!  In a way that satifies both of us!  I swear it!  I'm certain of it!"
 
"How dramatic.  And you draw this certainty from... where?"
 
"Here!"  Sara let go of Granberia and extended her arms to their span.
 
"Where?"
 
"Everywhere!  My supply of confidence is limitless!"
 
"Ah."  The Dragon chuckled slightly.  So the Sabasan princess was a bit one-dimensional.  Granberia didn't know why, but she found it within
herself to overlook that a bit.  Just this once.