Dear Laughing Doubters

It came all too soon. Before I even knew it, the final day of the week had arrived and it was nearly time for me to leave. I was allowed to skip work in order to prepare for the battles ahead, and I hooked up with Coma to get some armor made. I financed it just fine, but having him and Hashelhuff both working on my shit? And having had time to read up on a few runes for myself? It was a fun time and a good distraction that lasted long enough to keep me calm. We essentially made a ballistic shirt and pants to go along with it out of the toughest clothes that money could buy on a short time frame. There were a lot of things I could do to protect myself further, but they were usually heavy and added more weight to my already impressive travel pack.

I’d made sure that I was well-prepared for the journey ahead of me, and my friends… I had talks with all of them one on one. Hasha and I actually got over our bad blood and hugged when we spoke, Li asked why he wasn’t allowed to do what I was doing and got hit for it, and Tara was all too happy to offer me a free trip to the spa when I came back with any perk I wanted, even if Alana said ‘no’. The last one struck me as odd, but she shrugged it off and explained that she just didn’t know what else I would want from her. When I told her that a smile and a friggin’ hug when I came home would do just fine, the woman had the nerve to ask if I had an ulterior motive. The thing was that Tara already had a good idea of who I was, or so I’d thought. I asked and she mentioned that she wanted to do something for me like I’d done for her, but she wouldn’t elaborate on what exactly it was. We talked for a good long while and she came to a conclusion that I approved of. When I made it back home, she was going to buy and subsequently cook the fattiest, heaviest steak she could find and eat it with me. Since we were the only ones with any real appreciation for correctly cooked meat, it would preferably just be the two of us and our lovers.

Aliss came by a couple days before I left and let me know that my Welcome Wagon was already set up and ready to go, asking if she could possibly entice me a roll of soma so we could talk. It wasn’t one of the more potent strains and it was supposed to be milder in flavor too, but the tradition of smoking soma instead of making drinks with it was still a little weird to me. The drink was odd in and of itself, but smoking the ruddy purple stuff was still a little too much like the stories I’d heard about fake weed. It hit like a truck and didn’t last very long like the killer crap from Earth, except Aliss promised that the strain she had was more fun than any she’d brought yet. That being said, knowing Aliss and her propensity for getting to the point I call ‘too fucked up’. I was a little more than hesitant to try the vividly purple herb. It turned out alright, but the only reason I imbibed was because it was as mild as promised. It also lasted longer and I assumed that it was more like marijuana than the rest of the soma strains I’d tried, meaning that Aliss and I had a very mellow, winding talk that ended with a hug and neither of us knowing what she really meant to say. However, she too mentioned that she owed me a lot and I had no idea what she was talking about. When I asked about it, she said that she was just really glad that I came when I did and I had to parse that out for myself. I couldn’t so I didn’t, but Aliss didn’t care and promised to make my welcoming party the best ever.

Li-O, and yes, I’ve been misspelling his name this entire time because that’s how it was on his uniform, ended up coming by with Beth a couple hours into my daily sit n’ soak. It was the time I’d started taking for myself to process and deal with everything on my plate, and it was usually well worth it. They interrupted it pretty good by just walking into my place and I ended up having to apologizing for having a gun pointed at both of them. Clockly and Mini Max (The derringer I got from Max way back when) got holstered, no one got shot, and Beth opted to steal my kitchen for a bit. Though she didn't say what it was for, I kinda hoped that she was going to cook something since Beth was said to be one of the best cooks in the area. She also put on my favorite runner, which was an odd omen I didn’t take into consideration. Li, however, sat me down in my living room and asked me once and for all why I was allowed to throw my life away and he wasn’t. He wanted to know why I thought I was more important than him.

I’d never laid my hands on Li-O before then, but that. The accusation that I thought I was worth more than my friend, the implication that I thought I was better than him, and the fucking gall of an untrained civilian to ask why a trained murderer was being sent to war…? Li earned that smack, earned the heated words I shouted at him, and heard me when I told him that I loved him like a brother and that the reasons I had for going were better than his ever had been. I wanted to defend my home, get revenge for my mentor, and save as many people as I could, but it took to that moment for Li to understand that he was truly being a fucking child about not getting to get himself killed and had been badgering me about being ‘lucky’ since the news had hit. Beth came in while I was going the fuck off on him and calmed me down before I could get started with everything and probably ruin our friendship. Li-O, as shocked as he was, still had the wherewithal to acknowledge that he was wrong. I apologized for blowing up and he shook his head, furrowing his brow before he just up and left.

Beth rode my ass like my legal name was Bojack Seabiscuit for a good ten minutes until she saw that my face had gone from remorse and concern to ‘no fucks found’ in the latter part of her argument. I won’t go into the nitty gritty, but Beth asked why I said what I said and I told her that it had been on my heart since Li asked what I thought of him becoming a Seeker. I could practically feel her running over the conversation in her head, trying to find something that I’d said that wasn’t true in one form or the other. She eventually gave up on trying to nag me, thanked me for saying some stuff she wanted to say, then got down to why she’d come. Beth brought me to the kitchen and showed me that she was making ‘Friendship Stew’. I was told that I was a very lucky man, so I rolled my eyes, gave her a hug, and told her that she was great. She accepted the compliment and asked if she could have Alana while I was away, but I had a retort prepared because I figured she’d joke about it. I told her if that she ever finished coming out that she would be welcome to join in with Allie and I from time to time. Bethany pretended to have no idea what I was talking about, but the worry in her eyes was evident when I said that I knew she was still in the closet and had made a hasty decision.

The woman in front of me was terrified, and I looked her in the eye and told her that I never thought she was greedy for a second. I never gave a damn that she thoughT I was cute too, or that she was just as likely to wait for me as Alana was. Despite knowing before she may have even landed on it, I’d waited to bring it up so that she wouldn’t feel half as antsy about me knowing, so I assured her that it would stay between us, though she hadn’t really said anything since she’d frozen. It was like I’d just told her that I was going to shank her with Beth paling like I’d told her best kept secret. She reacted carefully, asking what exactly I meant by what I said. When I told her that a lesbian wouldn’t have let a guy finger her, period, and that her looks towards Coma were more than cursory glances, she swallowed hard. In light her earlier vehemence about nothing being there, what I’d seen then told me that she wasn’t as opposed to being with a guy as she’d made out to be. I could see tears in her eyes when I pointed out that I too had been bisexual and wasn’t going to judge her for it, which opened up a discourse about why I couldn't tell anyone and got me a hug for being a good friend. Beth was quick to tell me that she wasn’t going to go after anyone in our circle and had just been kidding about Alana, but I let her in on a little secret;

Alana was by no means a lesbian to my knowledge, but she wanted to try with Beth since she had my permission to do so. Bethany took the info and held onto it loosely, not really concerned about her friend’s interest in her. I was glad for it since it could’ve complicated things even more than they already were, but even as we talked and the stew she made cooked, we found that there was a lot more we needed to talk about at another time. None of it was spoken on before we ate the delicious, nutritious super soup, but when we did talk about Tara’s interest in me, we kept it kosher for as long as we could. Beth knew more than I did, but she was vehement about Tara not wanting to steal me away from Alana. If Li and Coma were my brothers, then the Gals were sisters to each other and their loyalty had never once wavered in any of their times in the circle. It also came up as to how the friends started, but I only got a bit of the story and learned that it had really started with Beth, Alana, and Aliss.

Coma came by the day before I left town to bring over my armor and we had our talk then with him telling me to my face that he didn’t want to say goodbye. I accepted that and hugged my homie for a non-homo amount of time, both of us getting sweaty near the eyes. It had only been six months since we’d met, but… I’d grown as close to my friends as I had to Luce, and I was closer to them than I was to any of the Guild. My friends never stabbed me in the back either, and few of them wanted more from me than my company and maybe a feel of my sausage. Coma… He really was like the brother I never had. The guy was my drinking buddy and practically my partner in crime, both of us having played many minor pranks on each other and our own selected targets. The good times rolled for a little while and we shot the shit as we were wont to do, but all good things come to an end and all goods tides head back to see. When Coma left from my house, he said one more thing to make sure I knew the score between us. He told me, ‘If you don’t come back… I’m going to hunt you down in the next world and Imma fuck yo life up, ight?’. It was as close to ‘I love you’ as we got with each other.

My brother from an alternate vagoo had stopped by early, leaving me to greet Alana alone in the late morning when she woke up. She was heartbroken that she’d overslept and missed time with me as a result, which earned her a kiss for being sincere and got me some tender loving for being the usual me. However, as much as I wished to be happy with her, the moments were bittersweet and my heart grew heavier and heavier in her company, so I did what I could and huddled in her hugs, lost myself in her kisses, and gave myself over to Alana’s brand of love. She was keen to let me have as much of it as I could stomach, and I could never tire of her touch, the aura she permeated from deep within. There was always something about Alana that I couldn’t put my finger on, but it was a good mystery. It felt like there was always more to learn about her and how she would react, like how she cried when I told her that I was going to miss her more than I’d missed anything from Earth. I should’ve expected it, but the waterworks were there and I got cuddled extra tight for it.

We didn’t do very much with the little time we had together, just talking about our lives and getting a few more facts out in the open. By the time I was actually tired, Alana had convinced me to let her hold me throughout the night and I didn't have a problem with it. “... Gatian? Are you still up?”

It had been a few minutes since we last spoke. “Yeah, I’m awake.”

“What are you thinking about?”

“This.”

“... This?”

“This, yeah.” I squeezed her arm, holding it against me a little more firmly. “... I’m not going to get this for a while. Not til it’s all over.”

“You sound confident…”

“I’m not afraid of dying. I’m afraid of not making it back home.”

“... Gatian, I-”

“Alana, I’m going off to fight a war. Not just a skirmish or an assault on a town; a full scale war against an unforgiving, unrelenting enemy. If I don’t come back in-”

“You will.” She growled.

“If. If two years pass and you haven't seen my face, I want…” I took a deep breath and tried to continue.

“I won’t.” She murmured back. “It’s going to be a lot longer than two years, Gatian. You’ve ruined me.”

I knew what she was trying to do and wasn’t surprised that it had worked for her. “Ha, you say that, but-”

“You stole my maidenhood and now I can’t even feel my own fingers in there!” She wailed quietly, her horrible fake sobbing as awful as could be. “Oh, the travesty!”

“Like you didn’t enjoy it.” I chuckled.

“Maybe I did, but that doesn’t change much right now. I still wish it was me instead of you.”

“I don’t.”

“I know…”

“You’d better hope you don’t get drafted.”

“Then go win.”

“For you? I’d rope the moons.”

She pressed her lips against the nape of my neck, her soft breath lulling me further into a state of calm that just wouldn’t let me sleep. “... Gatian?”

“Yeah?”

“... Do you know anyone named… Y-Yuria?”

My heart skipped a beat. “No, not anymore.”

“Oh. I’m just being silly.” She sighed. “If Alana and Li are common names on Earth, why not others?”

“Yeah, Yuria was two-faced as hell. If I don’t have to think that far back, I won’t. What makes you ask, anyway?”

“W-Well… A Choret happened through the Center during your leave and she mentioned that…”

I rolled over. “A Choret? In this part of Thesuvia?”

“I know, right? I knew something was up since she wasn’t one of the Watchers, but she was just so cordial!”

“Did she have silver hair?”

“Yes, and she was definitely a Moon Woman.”

“Do your remember her eyes?”

“Um… Blue-ish? They were strange, I don’t think I’d ever seen a Choret with eyes like hers.”

“... I was really hoping that I left that shit in Avalesce.” I sighed.

“... Where did you know Yuria?”

“From the same place I knew Rozana.”

“... Gatian…” The look in her eyes…

“Alana, she took over my mind. She kidnapped me. I couldn’t even have left without the help of a couple do-gooders with better morals than Yuria. The woman wanted to make me into a superweapon… I… I don’t want to just be a tool to kill people…”

“You choose-”

“I couldn’t, Allie… I… You don’t understand what it was like…” My voice trembled as I spoke. “... It was... I couldn’t feel anything. I was numb all the time. I didn’t even care that I was alone in a sea of people. I didn't’ care that I was being groomed into a kiling machine. I barely even reacted when Stellara was taken from me and I…” I held back tears.

“They stole… You.”

“... Yuria deserved to die, Alana. I had to kill her. I had to make sure that she would never hurt someone else again…”

“And my Great Grnadmother was one of her allies?”

“Yeah, but… She freed me from the mind control. Helped me get free and let go of Stella… I owe Rozana a lot…”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Does that have anything to do with why you love me?”

“I don’t think so, no.” I chuckled. “You two are completely different people and I think she’d be upset if I went after you. At least, if she knew about it.”

Alana stroked my cheek. “... Gatian… Did you really?”

“I made it swift and painless when I killed her. I’ve never wanted someone to suffer, but I never wanted to be under her thumb again, Alana… that woman… She was too willing to use me for whatever she wanted. Too willing to collect on a debt I already paid. She wanted more from me than I was willing to give and wasn't afraid to take it.”

“So… You killed her to protect yourself?”

“Yeah.”

“... What about Stellara?”

“What about her?”

“Did you…?”

“I haven’t seen her since I left. Are you… Alana, I didn’t…”

“Okay, but… What’s stopping you?” She asked, something odd in her voice.

“... Stellara isn’t a threat to me.”

“I see…”

“Do you-”

“I’m just worried about you, Gatian.” She stroked my cheek. “... You don’t… You don't seem to have the heart for killing…”

“I try not to. Killing without remorse is a step toward being a monster in my eyes.”

“You’re not wrong, but I don't’ really think you’re cut out for being a Master of any kind. You have to kill people to climb through the ranks.”

“... Guess I could study some extra protection runes…”

“I know what you’re trying to do.”

“Is it working?”

“Gatian… I love you so much.” She brought my hand to her mouth. “... I love you, but I don’t think you should join the Muster… Why don’t… Why don’t we run away?”

My heart skipped a beat. “... We’re both-”

“Gatian, really? Why don’t we? Just us, taking on the world without either of us throwing our lives away. We could go to the Pony Islands and-”

“I’m still a wanted man with the Ponies, Alana…”

“And we can avoid them too! Just... “

“Alana… I’ll come back.”

“What if you don’t?”

“What if I do?”

“Then you’ll be different anyway…”

“And there’s no telling what could happen to our home. I’m sorry, my vaski.”

“... Gatian…?”

“Yes, Alana?”

“... Will you write to me?”

“Every night.”

“Thank you.”

“I love you, Alana.”

“I love you too, Gatian…”

She held me to her chest and I laid an arm across her for the sake of keeping her close as we faded off to sleep, but even then my heart was heavy. Morning came all too quickly and Alana left me with one last, long, meaningful kiss before she ran off to her house where the Gals were probably already waiting, knowing them. At least, I could’ve sworn I saw Beth in the doorway. I’d said my goodbyes and gotten all I needed to get done with in the time I’d had, but there was still the fact that Felix wasn’t coming with me. I didn’t want to take him into dangerous territory and there were worse places for him to be than with Alana.

My stuff was all gathered into a pack that I’d enchanted for protection and waterproofing, you being in that pack until I took you out to write this down, but that’s getting ahead of myself. Instead of doing just that, I’m going to carry on with me leaving my house with all of my shit packed, knowing that my friends and lover all felt some type of way about me leaving. I knew that I had to come back as soon as I could, but Alana’s words about Khroma were nothing to scoff at and there was more that I didn't really want to think about, but the longer I put it off, the worse off I was. Even before I got out of town I needed to play a song to calm my nerves, so I played one of my favorite songs of all time. Dear Laughing Doubters fit the bill, just not in the right way. People doubted that I was going to come back from my war and to a point, I doubted that I was going to be okay when I came back, but there was just too much for me to come back for. There was too much for me to live for once in my life, and even as I crossed the border out of Holloway Halter and creeped out back into the wide open world, I thought to myself.

I idly played some music to keep myself busy and to help me get along without thinking too hard, but even as I remembered that there was supposed to be a Onemaster on their way from the town, I wondered if I would meet them and subsequently came across them as they were picking up camp a little ways away. The woman was obviously Thesuvian and didn’t look like much of a warrior if her build was anything to go by. I wasn’t judging her or trying to profile someone, but the lady looked rather lean and seemed to be unused to camping out from the amount of time it was taking her to get all of her shit packed for the trip. I walked over to her and waited until she seemed a little more awake to make my presence known with a few notes from my guitar. The woman jolted and looked up, shouting at her tent as she raised her hands.

I raised a brow and waved. “Hey, I’m not here to-”

A gun got shoved out of the tent and in my direction as a familiar face poked out of the flaps. “Sis, why didn’t you take the- Gatian?” Gloss asked, looking confused.

I returned her look and furrowed my brow. Her hair was bright pink and looked like it matched her undies if what I could see was any indicator. “... Gloss?”

She lowered the gun. “Hey, Daddy.”

“Daddy?” The tall, clearly Thesuvian woman said carefully.

“Sis, it’s complicated. I think he disowned Max.”

“What!?”

I rubbed my neck. “I didn’t disown him, I just don’t like guys these days. It wasn’t really anything personal and we’re still on good terms.”

“Yeah, doesn’t he go visit you whenever he see’s me and Marissa?” Gloss asked.

I nodded toward her sister. “Hi, Marissa. Occasionally, but he never tells me what business he has in Holloway unless it’s related to Mastery one way or another. I thought you two lived together and he didn’t want me to visit because he thought-”

“Do you want to pick up where we left off?” She asked dubiously.

“Eh… I kind of have a woman for myself now and we’re exclusive.”

“So is she Thesuvian?” Gloss asked, starting to help with some of the camp related stuff.

I strummed up a tidy little work song I thought would help things move along for a bit. “Yeah, her name’s Alana-”

“Wolvram?” Marissa asked, smiling. “I love Lana! She’s such a dolly!”

Gloss packed up some random crap and nudged her sister. “Don’t tell me that’s your girl crush.”

“Oh, I only see her at the spa every once in a while in the mud baths-”

“Wait, Alana goes to the spa without me?” I asked incredulously.

“Ah, she goes to the beauty side with the girls. I never knew you were Gatian Gauner!” Marissa smiled at me while she and Gloss watched me tackle the tent, doing away with my song. “So you’re the Trademaster of Holloway?”

“That I am. I even beat Max with dirty tricks and dumb luck.”

“He told me he kicked your butt.” Gloss giggled.

“I’ll shock you like I shocked him. He landed more hits, mine just counted a lot more.”

“Mhmm~” She sang, my skills with the tent coming in handy.

We got them packed up the rest of the way and Marissa extended a hand. “I’m sorry we’ve never met before now, but I’m the Onemaster around Holloway Halter. Marissa La'Vene, at your service.”

“You already know me, but it’s nice to meet one of like, three people that outrank me in town.” I chuckled. “So what’s your specialty, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Ah, I’m an Arcan Themeal.”

“... What?” I asked, smiling blankly.

She sighed. “I make a lot of Arca rounds and themea from there.”

“The..mea.” My smile got blanker.

“Um… I shoot from far away?”

“Oh, a sniper!”

“What’s that mean?”

“Someone who uses a really long gun to shoot really far away.”

“Oh, yeah, then I’m a sniper.”

“So why do they call it an Arcan Themeal?”

“Because we use Arca rounds and you have to shoot a themee in flight to become a Themeal.”

“Ah, okay. So what Grantonid did you learn? Longinus?”

She stared at me blankly. “There aren’t exactly many masters of that around Thesuvia, Gatian. We generally specialize in Aquix here.”

“... Do you use a pistol?”

“That’s a Collic, right? Or is that an Ellic?”

I pulled out Clockly. “I think this pistol is a Collic.”

“Ah, no, I use a Coffing.”

I thought back to the Gauss Rifle I’d stopped using some time ago. “Ah, so a small rifle?”

She nodded. “Yeah. I can’t do any of the close range parts of Grata-non-Aquix, but I’ve modified my forms to help me shoot further more accurately.”

My brow raised. “I can teach you some Longinus if you want. My Mentor knew Longinus and Aquix pretty well, and I learned how to handle and Effing from a friend.”

“You- Oh, yeah, Trademaster. I forgot.” She smiled. “So what are some of your Trades?”

“Ah, I specialize in Tempestian Arca and Grata-non-Aquix, but I can use some Shadow and Ice Arca too.”

“Well, of course! The Moon Tempestian might be slow, but you guys hit hard!”

To explain, every Terru Arch could go two ways depending on if you were a Moon Man or a Day Dude. While I was a Sunswallowe4r Tempestian, a Storm Mage, Max was most likely some sort of Tempestian himself, but probably a ‘Daybreaker’ rather than a ‘Sunswallower’ like myself, which are types of storms to Septurns. A Daybreaker Tempestian, as opposed to a Sunswallower, would probably have access to Major Growth, Water, and Light Arcana, some Minor Ice and Shadow Arca, and go from there. I myself had Major Lightning, Wind, and Water Arcana with Minor Shadow and Ice Arca. We might have been two halves of the same coin, but our input and output couldn’t have been much more different.

Getting back to the conversation, I grinned and nodded. “Yeah, I’m pretty potent with what I can do, but I wouldn’t rather have too many others at my back than Max. Guy’s a madlad beyond the meaning.”

“Oh, you mean he’s really strong? You should see his brother.” Marissa purred, her tongue parting her lips for a second after.

Gloss huffed. “Garrison is an ass.”

“Ah, will we be meeting both of them at the Gathering in Flistis?” I asked.

“No, Garrison is staying behind since he’s the Fullmaster of Thesuvia.”

“Whoa, so Max is a Guildmaster and Onemaster and his brother is even higher than that?”

“Garrison is about half of why Max got made a Guildmaster early and no one really likes it. Max had the talent to do it naturally, but Garrison wanted to stick his nose in his little brother’s business.” Gloss made a face and kicked at the dirt.

“Ah, I’m sure he was just trying to look out for him.”

Marissa smiled. “He was, but that’s a part of why no one’s too happy about it. IF he’d done it because he thought Max was capable it’d be one thing, but he practically appointed Max as the Guildmaster in Hooversdum because he had the power and connections to do it. Life was really hard for Max for awhile.”

I shook my head. “If he can handle me at my hungriest, then he can handle whatever comes at him. Does anyone know exactly what we’re doing when we get to Ilpturn?”

Marissa grinned some more and patted the brassy plate on her hip. “Did you get a tablet?”

I fished it out of my back pocket, blued the silver was. “Yeah, but I can’t read it.”

“It’s in Flistian.” She said, suddenly sounding uneasy while Gloss looked a little confused.

“Hey, why’s his look like that?” Gloss asked. “I thought they were only gold, silver, and white?”

“...” Marissa stared at my plate-thing. “C-Can I see it f-for a… Well, can I see it?”

I tossed it to her. “No problem.”

She caught it and stared at me while Gloss just looked between us. “... Sis?”

Marissa shook her head and evidently read the plate. “... Oh… It was Paulo…”

Gloss snorted. “The guy that never-” Her eyes widened and she gave me the biggest, stupidest grin. “Holy shit!”

“Gatian…” Marissa asked shakily.

“You didn’t see what he did to those bandits, Marissa.” I growled. “I don’t give a damn if Grandmaster’s have immunity from shit like that on Septural, but this River Man don’t play that shit. I set the Op up so that we would have minimal bloodshed and maximum arrests.”

Marissa’s jaw dropped. “Wind’s-Wrath fell to you… And you weren’t the one…”

I stared at her. “... How many people thought I left that village looking like that…?”

“... Most of the Masters I’ve spoken to…” Her shame was written on her face. “... I thought it was… Well, I only said-”

“You spread rumors that I was a fucking monster.”

Alarm crossed her face until Gloss said, “Marissa doesn’t get taken seriously because of her Mastery. And she skittish like a jumoo.” A jumoo was a mouse-like creature that was good in stew and kind of hard to find since they were so fearful.

Marissa face fell. “I-It’s not that bad…”

“I’m the brave one, if that tells you anything,” The significantly shorter woman said flatly.”

Marissa sighed. “This is why Mom didn’t let you live with us.”

“So you could scare people and make them want to kill you?”

“Th-That’s not-”

“Oh, I was finna shootchu.” I barked out a laugh. “You think I’m just gonna up and let you talk about me behind my back and you don’t even really know the story? Yeah, fuck you.”

She handed my tablet back to me, looking down. “... I’m sorry… Sir…”

“Sir?”

“Your plate says…” She mumbled the rest.

Gloss rolled her eyes. “Do you know the Common-Spoken Ranks?”

“Only for the Masters.”

“Well, the Masters are extra-military, but there’s actually a rank you have right now. It’s probably higher than Marissa’s.”

Marissa sighed. “... You’re a Intron… I’m a Cenitron.”

“And that means…?”

“It goes Menitron, Cenitron, Denitron, then Intron. After that, you have Dematone, Hematone, Kematone, and the top two are the Menatrones. There’s only ever two or three Menatrones at a time for one country, but they don’t do much outside of squabbling with each other. At least, that’s what the word is.”

“How the fuck am I an Intron already?” I scratched my head.

“You killed a Grandmaster and got away with it for the most part. People are going to know as soon as they read your plate.”

“What’s my plate say?”

“It’s a list. It says you’ve fought the Char before and won, which got you to Cenitron. Then you cast a real, true-blue Arcana and that got you Denitron.” She thought for a moment, her little sister watching her expectantly. “And I think you’ve fulfilled two or three of the five requirements for a Dematone, so you’re an Intron.”

I handed my tablet back to her. “What were the requirements?”

Marissa looked at it and pursed her lips. “Blah-blah, Char, Arca thing, blah-blah… So you’ve taken down someone higher ranking than you and you… Overcame… Anima Manipulation…” She stared at it, rubbed it for a sec, then stared at me while Gloss looked like she’d just been slapped. “... You… You poor thing… Gatian, I’m so sorry, i-if I would’ve known…”

Gloss turned to me with tears in her eyes. “Who was it!? I’ll beat their ass like there’s no tomorrow, I-”

“The fuck is Anima Manipulation?” I asked blankly.

“... When someone rapes your mind…” Marissa answered softly, looking confused.

“Oh. That… That was probably the least painful buttfucking I’ve ever had, in that case. Don’t cry over that.”

“B-But… You were a prisoner in your own body! There’s no telling what all happened to you!”

I shrugged. “Not like I remember most of it, and I overcame it anyway with a little help. Stop crying and let’s start walking, aight?”

They nodded and Gloss hugged me briefly, but Marissa came over hand held onto one of my hands with both of hers. “... Gatian, we stopped here because we… We didn’t want to go.”

“... Then I’ll go to Ilpturn without you. Stay safe-”

“How can we leave a River Person to fight a battle for our country!?” Gloss shouted. “We’re going with you, no matter what!”

Marissa nodded firmly. “We can’t let more people like you fight a war for a place they weren’t born. If you’re going to fight, so will we.”

I pointed at Gloss. “Don’t tell me you’re a Trademaster.”

“Nope, I just really need to get ahold of Max so he can treat me like his sex sock.”

“That’s straightforward and I respect that.” I looked at my new companions, wondering how the journey was going to unfold. “Onward and upward then, ladies.”

And so we began the first steps on our way to the River so we could actually make it to Ilpturn in reasonable time. There was a town near the banks further south that I could remember from my initial trip to the region, and if I remember correctly, it’s called Wilting Halter. It was about half a day’s travel from where I met the girls and learned that people were going to know that I was a murderer if they read my tablet. That being said, I was understandably nervous about traveling down to the capital of another country with a death written in metal in my pocket, but there were witnesses and whatnot in Holloway that would probably back me up if need be. I tried not to worry about even more shit as I made my way south, but there was a lot on my heart and mind and none of it was getting shrugged off no matter how much I tried moving my shoulders. There was only one thing to do, and that was to keep walking toward fate. Even if Cosma/Khroma is waiting for me in Flistis, I can’t help but feel…

Booksy, I feel kinda ready… I mean… I escaped Ponydale. I escaped Chorell. I escaped Lahgo. I killed the Char that stood between me and life itself. I killed the man that stood between me and Stella. I killed the woman that stood between me and my freedom. I died, came back, and I’m stronger now than ever. Je’ Amournal, my steadfast friend… This time… This time, I have somewhere to go back to. I have a home waiting for me. It’s not the first step in some short trip, it’s just another stone in my long path to happiness, and I can’t help but want to crush it as it stands. Those Char-broiled flaming sacks of shit had better watch out. Hell, anyone in between me and returning to my home better steer fucking clear.

Gum-Gum Gauner’s gonna fuck it all up.