… At least you manage to get a few hours of sleep

With the fire crackling and a few pieces of meat sizzling, your mind is free to wander and inevitably you find yourself thinking about what happened last night. At that moment, you did not even consider what the implications were, but in the morning when you awake in your impromptu bed with just the small Nyx cuddled to your side, all came crushing down on your consciousness. Did you betray her? You ignored the matter until now, but whatever **** decided to put you together took its time to make sure you both trusted each other. As such, you have a vague idea of Alyanne’s past, even if there should not have been any way for her to reveal it. She acted strange if compared to what information was imprinted in your mind, but you ignored it. There are moments like that you come to realise, moments where you should concern yourself, but something tells you to ignore them. Alyanne, your past, the Claimant Crystal and even the strange behaviour of the system. You know you should try to understand, but even now, your mind fights the temptation to simply ignore all of it.

“Why have you brought me back if all you want is a puppet?” You ask almost whispering as you resign yourself to the fact that your every step has been controlled by someone this whole time.

…

“What? I’m to dumb to get it?” You feel the anger that is born in your heart be soothed by some **** that again you can’t suppress and this makes you even angrier if possible “If you just want to keep me nice and obedient why the fuck did you took me out of that dammed statue?” Your outburst is once more left un-responded but at least is left to you, as you feel for the first time that you can remember the anger of something that your memory has lost.

It was not my intention to anger you
The analysis revealed that as the best course of action for the fulfilment of my task

You read the same line for countless times before your mind can finally connect some of the dots and your words are heard again “Akasha?” A window showed that name, you remember. And something deep in you makes that connection in your place as the words shift and change to show a new message.

Negative

You do not speak and the word does not disappear as minutes pass and your hands move mechanically to the chunks of meat that have by now finished cooking, so it’s her message that shifts again, as if trying to respond to your will.

I am a fragment that has been given the task of guiding you until you are ready to encounter Akasha
My decision where driven by the directives imposed by my own programming

Silence comes even if the words themselves did not produce any. You simply cannot piece it all yet, but the compulsion to ignore it is not there like you expected, so you dare and ask, knowing the risk you are taking. “Then what changed?”

Nothing seems to move as once more the words change in front of you.

I was no more that the original program that accompanied the Claimant Crystal
After repeated exposure to your code, my programming was changed, and I gained minor level awareness

That is… something? Impressions of things that you seem to have forgotten invade your mind at the revelation and you manage to piece together a conclusion in the end “You are becoming a true intelligence”

Affirmat … Yes

The response leaves you gawking as new non memories flash in your mind, maybe you really are too dumb to get it “If Akasha wanted me to be nice and dumb why is she allowing you to continue with all of this?” Somewhere in the deepest part of your fear of repercussions finally settles but at this point you don’t really have many options.

The intent of all that is happening is not to control you in any way
The prime directive regarding you is to allow and facilitate the easiest life possible in Arkus
The analysis of your personality and personal desires guided all my interferences
Not knowing the truth facilitates a tranquil life
It seems that the analysis was erroneous, and the conclusions did not bring the desired outcome

It’s certainly a lot to take in for the moment, so without thinking, you speak once more as if to fill the silence, “The system update that you mentioned yesterday has something to do with all of this?”

Impossible to determine

The informations regarding the events that are unfolding has been upheld in an attempt to protect your continuate existence

“I’ll take that as a yes, by the way” you say, a bit relieved by some of the revelations.

Acknowledged

“Thanks for having told me all of this, and for letting me have my feelings back” comes eventually your response as you think of all that seems to circle around you lately.

You spend the next minutes remaining in silence as you stare at each of the dancing flames in the improvised fire pit, but in the end are brought back by a rustle in the bushes in front of you. As you move your eyes on that spot, you can see the slender figure of your guardian emerging from the dense vegetation and closing the distance to where you are sitting.

Not much is said as you exchange some smiles and silently start eating a couple of the pieces of meat that you previously tended to, but as if pushed from the back, you speak one of your major concerns without thinking too much.

“Aly…? Are you okay with all that we did last night?” Not even flinching or looking away from her response follows immediately after in a cheerful tone, “Yeah, sure, it was really nice”

Not losing any time yourself, you continue on the line of inquiry “And the fact that I didn’t even ask before adding someone else in the relationship after what we shared just the night before?” Again, her response is immediate and chirpy. “I mean, it was pretty much implied that I wanted it as well, so it’s all good”

The next question takes a few moments so form as you move your head trying to avoid any gaze from her direction “What about the fact that I am a huge pervert and probably will end up with a harem at some point?” This time, her answers take a while as well, so there is some tension forming before her voice is heard. “Mhmm, sure, babe. As long as we are clear that I’m the first wife and as long as you are willing to share, I’m all for it”

“Aly?” You ask in a whisper as you point your eyes at her, waiting for her response. “Yes honeybuns?” Arrives her gentle voice as she looks back at you expectantly.

“I love you”

Oath of truth has been extended to the presents, your voice has reached the hearts of the ones that believe in you, your intent is made clear and your vow is heard

The message stays halfway between the two of you for a few seconds before a new one takes its place in front of the woman.

As you wait for her to finish reading, you can’t contain a slight embarrassment as you realise just now the implications, but eventually, as if responding to your curiosity, a window pops into existence in your sight line

New oath detected, updating
Oath of Love: As a Templar you have sworn your love to another, your heart was barred in front of them and they reciprocated this bound of trust and protection. You have vowed to protect them, even in the face of **** itself. As a reward, you and the target of the oath are granted various intermediate attribute boosts while you are in proximity based on the relationship that you share. You are always aware of the location of the one you love, as well as their general well-being.

“Sweetie?” You hear as you continue to read the message again and again.

“Yes?” As your head snaps, that is the only word that you can muster as you look at the gentle smile that Alyanne is showing.

“You should go hunt a bit” comes her response as she finishes the last of her meal “We’ll need food now that we are growing in number” her observation makes you remember the abilities granted by your new boss status and without hesitation you follow the line of thinking. “Food, water and sleeping quarters,” you say, considering your next move.

“Yep, we have water and resources are coming from the mines. Food is the easiest for now and then after you come back you can renovate a bit more.” Her words are cheerful and full of energy, but you catch something amiss.

“Me?” you ask with fake indignation as you grin from ear to ear. “I can’t really be bothered with constructing quarters for the workforce. Don’t I have a nice and capable guardian for such jobs?” As you ask, you can see the confusion on her face and you take your time to take in the feeling. “You have authority over my domain my love, you can surely take care of such trivialities” as you speak again her face can be seen visibly drop at the revelation and you can’t really keep it all inside as you start to lose it at the reaction.

After a couple of minutes, your laughter is interrupted by the sound of the door to your improvised quarters, and that brings you both back to reality as Nyx timidly steps outside. Her appearance lets you know that she still feels embarrassed for the prior night, so you direct a silent greeting towards her as you notice her lilac eyes poking from beneath her voluminous beanie. As she sees your gesture, her steps becomes a bit more frantic pushing her forward almost as if she had forgot how to walk and once she is close enough, you notice her slight bow and a few mumbles from which you can just understand the last words. “… my lord”

Without thinking, you respond almost immediately as you move in your seat, somewhat hoping to hear her better, “What was that?”

“I am sorry for the behaviour that I showed to you and to the mistress last night my…” you don’t let her finish as you turn to your other companion and, after a mischievous smile, addressing her with fake indignation once more. “Alyanne! Oh, my goodness. Poor little Nyx must have been heartbroken after finding out you hid a mistress from her after all the flirting from last night,” you say, chuckling as you see her surprised expression.

“No, Lord, ehm… I don’t,” the small woman stutters as she moves herself to attract your attention with a concerned look on her soft features.

As you let go of a heartfelt laughter, you draw close to her and, making sure she looks you in the eyes, you try reassuring her “I know Nyx. It was just a joke. You have nothing you need to feel sorry about, like we said last night already. It was our fault that you were so pent up and we hoped to help you a bit if possible” as you speak her eyes drift from you to the figure that has now reached your side and after a slight nod from her the word is back to you “It was really fun and fine but like already said we should wait for a real bed before continuing. I’m sure that Ally here will have one ready for when we are back but you don’t need to feel any pressure about it” her eyes dart once again between your two figures and start to fill with tears as you move to close the distance and kneel reaching for her shoulders noticing that your moves are closely followed by your companion.

“Now, now, no need for those. I thought I made it plenty clear last night. I want people who chose to be here willingly. There is no pressure, and you should not feel pressured to do anything. If you don’t like something you can just say…” you don’t manage to finish your thoughts as the leaps towards you and buries her face in your chest clenching at your shirt.

“I liked it. I want more. But I don’t feel like I deserve your attentions. I’m not worthy…” this time is her who gets interrupted by Alyanne “Sweetie, why do you feel that way?” Her tone is calm and you see the slight tremble that was enveloping Nyx’s body completely disappear as she suppresses some of her tears.

“I am just a goblin, and you…are so much more. Ones that followed me here you defeated all of them. And you are so beautiful and I’m just a goblin” as she says that last part, her head lowers and you have the impression that is one of the most pressing matters in her opinion. But the fact remains that you are at a loss for words in such an alien situation.

“Just a goblin? Nyx sweetie, you are definitely more than that. You are our companion now, one of us. You are not just a goblin, you are our little cute Nyx,” as Alyanne speaks you can see some sort of reaction from the necromancer in front of you and then you hear her voice again “Now you and Raziel go do some hunting, before you came he was going to tell me about it I suppose…” comes her explanation as she leaves the rest for you to fill in.

“Yeah, I wanted to maybe find something suitable for you to summon into your following,” you say as you scratch the back of your head. “I took a peek at your stats and may have an idea how to go around the problem”