Meetings

The party looked at one-another. You eyed the strange red-haired woman and identified that she was mostly just being protective of Lad. You did not really understand, but decided not to give any more reasons for her to not trust you. You smiled and raised your hands, directing everyone to lower their weapons.

“Relax. Everyone. I don’t think either of us want a fight at this point.” Cautiously, the Hero tore himself from the Beastfolk. Even if he was not completely giving himself over to her assumptions, you could tell that he also did not trust you completely either. It was fairly understandable. You sighed.

“Look, it feels kind of strange to come here alone only to be this overly wary. If you were this worried you should’ve come with a bit more power, right?” You cocked your head to one side.

“That’s right.” Lad admitted, giving Kara a look. Your ears twitched as he whispered something to her.

“I haven’t decided. Trust me, okay?”

She nodded reluctantly. “Okay.”

“Hmm.” You crossed your arms, watching as the two relaxed their posture. Everyone else settled down after that. You approached the Beastfolk. She was still cautious of you.

“Why are you so jumpy?” You eyed her familiar tail and ears.

“Also… Are you like me?”

The woman nodded slowly. “I am. Do you really not remember anything?”

“I remember lots of things, but you aren’t one of those things.” You state flatly. That bit of info seems to offer her conflicting feelings.

“I’m Kara. I’m a Fox. How… Did you get to be like this?” She asked.

You lifted your arms while looking down. “Like this? Haha… It’s confusing but I guess I’ve always been like this. At some point I had a ‘layer’ over me that made me look more like my sister. But… Now I look different.”

“Like an older brother?”

“Sort of. But we’re supposed to be twins.” You explained.

“Are you?”

“Mhm? Is that strange? We were born at the same time, trained together, all that.”

“You’re BOTH heroes?” Kara lifted a brow.

“I don’t get why that’s surprising. Also, you seem to be talking like you know me. Know us, but also, you don’t actually seem to know anything about us. It’s weird.”

Kara looked down awkwardly. “I don’t know what I should and shouldn’t say at this point. Lad is the one who’s in charge right now.”

You reached out with a warm smile, trying to touch her. “Are you sure? Feels kind of like I’m the one who’s in charge. You came here to negotiate with us, no? Are we in a position of being told what to do? It feels more like you both need to explain to us why we should listen to anything you say.”

Kara leaned back, avoiding your touch. Lad moved to her side and rescued her by placing himself between you and her, though it seemed to be less of an aggressive move and more of a mediating one.

“I already said I’m not trying to get you all to do anything. I just want to know what you want… Once you know what this actually is.”

You crossed your arms, tail swishing back and forth behind you idly. “Right… Something about this being an afterlife and me being dead. It’s an answer to some things, but without evidence I don’t think it’s a better explanation than anything else that someone could tell me.”

“Huh?” Lad looked at you.

“Think about it. You’re giving me a fantastic explanation for things I’ve been experiencing, but if I think about it, you could have said anything else that sounds convincing to the same effect. I’m not just going to listen to you just because you offered some form of explanation. I need a bit more. Something like… Evidence.”

“How do we provide evidence?” Lad looked at Kara. She stared back at him blankly.

“Uhh. Maybe if he and I talk it can trigger something like it did for Young.”

“Are you okay with that?” Lad asked Kara. He then looked at you.

“And are you okay with that? It can be painful remembering things in this way. I’ve seen it.”

“Emotionally. For… Both parties.” She clarified.

“I don’t necessarily mind if it’s just talking.” You look at her.

“But what could you say?”

Kara looked at you with big, gold eyes. “Fin, I’m really sorry for what I did to you.”

You lifted a brow. It was a good apology, but you were not sure what deserved such heartfelt words.

“I don’t know what you did, but it sounds bad.”

“It was bad. I’m the reason you’re like this.” Kara motioned to your general appearance.

“Oh. Like… This?” You pointed up to your ears, wiggling them cutely.

“Yes. My kind… And I guess now your kind are naturally parasitic. Even if we seem like normal Beastfolk our true nature is far more complicated. You were a Human. A Hero. You grew up in a town called Cheshiridge with your mother and sister. Then, when you came of age you left to become an adventurer and I went through the process of grooming you, breaking you down, building you up, back and forth like that for a long time while manipulating your Core irreversibly until you were… Like me. I did so many bad things. Too many to count. I didn’t do them for good reasons. I was malicious and-”

Halfway through her speaking your pupils dilated and you began to feel something like an out of body experience. An echo. You were sitting around a table with a hooded figure at the end. Male voice. Jeane was with you, as was Lauda. You spoke.

“I think… For this to work for me it should be good for Fiona and my Mother, as well. I want them to live a life where they get to feel powerful. Feel like they get to perform the actions of the…” You searched for the right terms.

The figure was smiling as he said. “Main character?”

“Yes.”

Jeane interjected. “I- I do not care what happens with my life so long as I can be with Fin. Is that alright?” She looked at you anxiously, dark circles under her weary eyes.

“Is it?” You looked at the figure.

“You’re the ones with the special privilege. This isn’t an option I give to anyone else. For your cooperation, we’re prepared to give you whatever life you want. You want your sister to be as powerful as you? Fine. We will take your power and split it up between you and her. You want Marrien to have more leverage? We can alter the history for this Trysk clone we’ve developed.”

You looked down, hands folded in front of you. “Just like that, huh?”

“It’s startlingly easy. It all takes an exceptional amount of power, but to bring you all in willingly, it is something where we are willing to ‘invest.’”

“Why?” Lauda questioned.

The figure shrugged. “We can pull powerful individuals like yourselves after you’ve died, but we can’t actually force you to do anything in our Odyssey. It would cost more input than the output it produces. To top it off, the power our Hero holds is worth sustaining any deficit, so I will legitimately change the continents or go back to square one with this world if it’s to accommodate you and your wants.”

“That’s promising.” You sighed.

“But I don’t need that. Let’s… Yeah, let’s just go with what we talked about. Fiona and my Mother. I want them to have another chance. It’s kind of annoying that you reserved their souls here as some bargaining chip.” You gritted your teeth.

“But… If it lets them live a better life, maybe I should be thanking you.”

Lauda chimed in, adjusting her hair as she leaned back comfortably. “I am going to want my cute child to stay out of politics this time around. I have lived too long. It is annoying that the first little egg I planned to raise turned into such a corrupted little brat. I’ll have a cuter child this time around and pamper him with sweets and snacks.”

You chuckled. “That’s surprisingly humble for you, Lauda. What happened to unifying the planet against the angels?”

“Someone else took that torch and came up with a… Good enough plan.” She nodded towards the figure.

“Traveller? Is that still accurate?”

He smiled, removing his hood. “I even had some sense diffusing arrays around my appearance and you still saw through it.” Georgius leaned forward onto the table.

“I am flattered.”

“Dragon slayer?” She eyed him closely.

“I promise… I only killed one Dragon on Earth and it wasn’t really the last. Some stories are overblown, haha…” He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully.

“I hope he was a mean one.” Lauda lifted a brow.

“Wasn’t one of yours. I swear.” He smiled at her with his eyes.

“I will keep my senses in this thing. I want to keep my eye on things. Plus, it is not actually as sweet for me if I can not experience things through my own context.” Lauda stated. She was not asking.

Georgius shrugged. “I actually have no issue with that. It’s good to have a few people on the inside. Enjoy yourself in the Odyssey.”

“I don’t want to remember.” You said sadly.

“I understand. In our current iteration the echoes are still present, but they are less frequent. Harder to trigger. Interference takes a LOT of power, so if the echoes shape things we can’t exactly shift them back on track.”

“Can I ask you one more thing…” You gulped.

“Of course.”

“Is it true you worked with my Father on this?” You looked at him closely. Georgius opened his mouth and smiled widely. He was about to speak but you only heard the breath before the first word. Before anything could be heard the echo stopped. Your eyes refocused. Your heart was beating out of your chest from the sudden memory.

“Guh… Uugh…” You threw up.

“Fin!” Your party rushed to your side.

“W-we didn’t do anything!” Lad and Kara stepped back.

“They didn’t.” You spat.

“I’m fine. I’m-” You exhaled, looking up at Fiona and your Mom in particular. Your lip quivered and your eyes became misty. You looked at Lad. He claimed to be on your side. He claimed to only want to do what you wanted… but was he being genuine? He spoke like someone who existed outside whatever this… Thing was. If he planned to shut it down it would interfere with your ability to give Fiona and Marrien a better life. Even if he was being honest, was there a situation where trusting Lad would not lead to the shaking of everything you had built so far?

“What’s wrong?” Lad asked in a concerned tone.

“Nothing.” You lied, wiping your mouth while periodically spitting bile to clear your throat and nose. You had to decide.