“You what?!” Nil exclaimed, bewildered, as his eyes shot between Udit and Emily. After welcoming him home and celebrating his good health with dinner together, they sent Sam away for a sleepover. The Forge’s in-house doctor had twin boys of the same age, and they had become good friends. The family didn’t mind welcoming Sam on short notice. “How did this happen? How can you be this stupid, Emmy?”
Emily shrugged, eyes on the floor. “Baba and I got separated when we were running away, and I stayed to help evacuate.”
“Why? You’re seventeen and a civilian, for fuck sake. Why would you risk yourself like that?”
Udit didn’t reprimand Nil when he swore. The older of the two Roy men appeared as frustrated as Nil felt. Given the dark circles and disheveled hair, it seemed Udit hadn’t slept in days, and Nil now knew that Emily was partially responsible.
“It just happened. Okay?” Emily frowned, switching from guilt to defiance. “There were these two girls about Sammy’s age. One of them twisted her ankle, and I stayed with them until Hati returned. Then, I saw Andrew struggling with your old chef, and I had to help.”
“You didn’t have to, Emmy.” Nil sighed. Even though Summoned weren’t allowed in the Forge’s civilian quarters, he had let himself in. No automated system or magic stopped him. He had claimed what was usually Udit’s armchair and now sat, massaging his temple. “Then what happened?”
“Andrew yelled at me to run,” Emily answered. “He said it was going to blow, and if I didn’t get away I’d die.” Her voice quivered. “When I refused, Andrew told me that I’d die for nothing if I got caught in the blast. Then it happened.”
“Tell him what it said,” Baba ordered, his voice cold.
“The Schema said that I’d earned its attention for my bravery and helping those in need during an emergency situation. It said that I had proven that I was beyond my years—whatever that means—and wished to give me the chance to save the multiverse like you were.”
“It mentioned me?” Nil asked, surprised.
Emily nodded.
“Why did you have to say yes?” Nil sighed. “Don’t you realize that I’m doing all of this to protect you three? So you don’t get sucked into this madness and all the fucked up shit in this world? Why would you accept the Summoning?”
“I thought you were going to die!” She yelled, her pitching sharply rising. “I thought I was going to die too. Besides, you turned my life upside down once already. Why shouldn’t I become a Summoned? It gives me freedom and control to decide my own future. I don’t want to live the rest of my life as a liability or responsibility. This gives me the chance to be more.”
“You were always enough for all of us already, Emmy.” Nil moved to the couch, sitting next to his sister, and put an arm around her. “You didn’t have to do this. I’m working for the Nexus and doing all the Apocalypse Arena stuff so we can all eventually move to a Control World.”
“Maybe I don’t want to wait that long and be a dependent,” Emily whispered, leaning against Nil. She put her arms around her brother and cried. “I’m happy for you, Nil. You’re achieving great things and doing good for the world and the Nexus. But because of you, we’re trapped. Baba won’t let me have a life outside of the Nexus, and someone will follow me to school and back. This lets me be my own person.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that it's stupid,” Udit said, sounding defeated. “I already barely sleep at night when Nil’s due to fight in the arena or away on a quest. Now I have to worry about you as well. I’m old and it's my dream to see the pair of you independent, healthy, and successful. But not like this.”
“I told you, Baba. I’m a support summoner. My ability is meant to help and protect, not fight. Layla said—”
“Layla is your caseworker?” Nil asked as relief washed over him.
“She wasn’t happy about me becoming a Summoned either and said she had to pull strings to ensure I didn’t end up with someone else. Layla said that for your sake, she’ll ensure I get quests in stable population centers, which are mostly support or protection jobs. She seemed worried. Layla claimed you’d get mad and quit your job if I didn’t agree to her terms and did as told.”
“She knows me well.” Nil turned his attention to his father. “Don’t worry, Baba. Layla is trustworthy. I’ll talk to her and confirm it, but Emily won’t go anywhere dangerous or take on anything involving actual combat?”
“And are you sure this isn’t the same bullshit you sold me?”
“It’s not,” Nil admitted. “I’ll ensure she sticks to support quests.” He returned his attention to his sister. “What’s the ability? Is it like Susan’s dogs?”
“Elemental Summoning,” Emily answered, shaking her head. “They’re expendable instead of Susan’s big ones. I have access to Wind, Water, and Earth, and can either summon them individually or combine two for something more powerful.”
“Single or multiple summons?”
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“Three of the basic or two of the combined. Water and Earth together give me a plant thing with healing magic. It helped me save lives on my first quest.” Emily smiled, wiping away her tears. “It was nice to help people. They respected me and listened to me even though I’m only seventeen.”
“The people of Beacon Worlds usually respect the Summoned. We’re risking ourselves to help them, after all.”
Still frustrated, Udit stormed off to his room. Nil was famished and took his sister down to the cafeteria for dinner. He checked on his father on the way out, and it seemed the man needed some time to stew. Nil understood Udit’s frustration as he also felt it, but he thought it was important to support his sister and listen. The recent changes hadn’t been easy for her, and the last thing he wanted was for her to use her new freedom to leave or find a loophole and disappear into the multiverse. Nil planned to talk to Layla and ensure that she only took on short-term quests. The Forge didn’t have any Summoned who were minor, and he hoped to arrange some special training sessions for Emily that worked around her school schedule.
Emily calmed down once they were seated, and she had a few mouthfuls of food. When asked, she gladly detailed her power and also explained each elemental's abilities. Afterward, she also put on a demonstration in a training room.
All her summons had an aura, and Emily’s sub-ability helped her choose who it affected. Air was a grey bird with a white pattern. It flew swiftly, and its wing flaps released a strong enough gust to push people back and make the punching bag nearby swing wildly. When she added water to the mix, the bird grew bigger, adopting a kingfisher-like appearance. The long beak appeared capable of piercing powerful armor, and the claw swipes shot crescent water blades. The first’s aura granted speed, while the latter added a calming aura to the vicinity.
Wind and Earth together created a lizard with wings made of sand. It appeared more of a glider than a flier and also whipped up a miniature sandstorm. The swirling sands blinded Nil and left his skin itchy. The aura apparently eroded armor, but Emily had no means of demonstrating the ability.
Earth, on its own, also summoned a lizard that appeared perfect for protection. It had no special abilities besides dense armor. Its appearance reminded Nil of the Cursed One from his fight against Jaqueline. Its aura also improved allies’ defence. Adding water to the mix created the plant Emily had mentioned. It looked like a lizard woman but made entirely of foliage. The aura soothed fatigue, and Nil felt ready to get back to training.
Finally, there was water. Nil expected another bird but got an otter instead. It radiated cold and created little aquatic prisons like the woman who knocked Nil out of the Gauntlet of Ten. None of the offensive abilities seemed particularly potent and reminded Nil of Carmen’s meager attack spells. He guessed the little offense Emily had was more meant for self defense.
“It’s a diverse power set,” Nil stated. “There is a lot of room for offense and growth if you ever need it.”
“I liked helping the girls back then,” Emily replied. “I don’t think I want to fight. There was a moment when an assassin got into the backlines. I wasn’t the target, but it was scary. Helping, healing, and protecting is more to my liking.”
“That’s excellent,” Nil stated, making plans to invest in his sister and start her on the path of cultivation and arcane development straight away. Layla would most likely keep her from picking up anything too dangerous. However, he didn’t trust the Schema not to throw emergency quests at her. “Promise me you’ll stick to that. No arena bullshit for you.”
“I promise.” Emily grinned, and her summons appeared to do the same, flashing bestial smiles at her older brother.
The Forge’s other residents and workers welcomed Nil home as he passed them. Some paused to share their concern and happiness about his return. More than one stated that they were worried about him not returning to take care of ‘Pietro the dickhead.’ Adam, being the charming that he was, had befriended many of the other Summoned and staff. Some also knew his other targets and victims. Many reiterated that they understood the threats of the Death Gauntlet, but it was still difficult when one of their own fell to someone so vile.
Multiple screens around the ludus played channels with the news, arena feeds or played recordings of their residents’ matches. Nil couldn’t tell whether a staff member, another ludus member, or a construct controlled them, but many switched to reports of the Misdirection incident and the chaos afterward. The restaurant hadn’t opened since, and the chef was taken for questioning. Apparently, he hadn’t yet recovered from the effects of Mind Magic.
The channels also spoke of Nil and Shawn heroically saving one of the most popular and busy sections of the city. Apparently, several important people wanted to talk to them, but the ludus had turned most of them away and refused to share any information. Many questioned why the police hadn’t made a statement regarding the people who prevented the disaster. The authorities, of course, didn’t reveal that the Nexus ran the ludus in question. It wasn’t that they didn’t have any comments to make on the ‘heroes’; they just couldn’t.
Nil contacted Bunty.
“You’re alive!” The content creator exclaimed over the phone. “My inbox is full of fans, haters, and sponsors asking about your status. You and Shieldmaster Shawn are heroes now, you know?”
“So, I’ve heard. Do you want a promotion?”
“What do you have in mind?” Bunty asked.
“Spokesperson and media manager. Make statements for me. Write scripts. I read them out.” Nil’s chest tightened. “This shit happened because I made the mistake of talking more than necessary. Pietro or whoever it was tried to kill everyone, and love knew I’d be at Misdirection because I opened my big fat mouth.”
“Nil. Man. You can’t take the blame for this. Seriously. It’s not your fault. But if you really want me to do this, I’m more than happy to.” Bunty paused. Nil heard the tapping of fingers on a glass surface. “This could be good, actually. Gives me more freedom, and you just need to record little bits for me to stitch together. There are already a bunch of people who want to talk to you, represent their product, wear their logo in the arena, and a lot more. I’m going to make you rich.”
“That’s not important here. Get a message out for me. Tell your audience that I’m alive and well. Pietro and his cowardly friends tried to have me killed, but it didn’t work. He’s still going down in the arena. There was no Jaqueline fanatic or terrorist involved.”
“Are you sure about that? Pissing all of these people off is probably not the best idea.”
“If you’re worried, we can put together a script, and I could read it out on video,” Nil said. “That way, you’re just sharing my statement and not making one for me.”
“Aren’t you worried about getting sued or genuine trouble with the police?”
“Between you and me, I don’t live in their jurisdiction. These bastards tried to fuck with me and my family. Let's light a fire under their asses.”
“You got it, buddy. I hope you know what you’re doing.”