PART III - YOU ARE HERE
Yulayla shook her head as the Truthseeking spell came to an abrupt end. There were large beads of sweat on her forehead and she was breathing deeper than normal. “Sorry, I held it as long as I could. I’d started to tap Stamina and had to stop.” She wiped across her forehead with the back of her arm, before falling back in her chair.
Quickly, Tasi rose from her seat to check on the Scryer.
“Is she alright?” Xera asked, a concerned tone in their voice.
“She should be, she didn’t dip too far,” the Healer said, holding the Elf’s face and looking into her eyes. With a lecturing laugh, she handed a purple potion to her impromptu patient. “You shouldn’t have done that, you fool. Drink this and try to avoid any casting until at least noon, tomorrow. Come see me if you have any issues. You know how this goes.”
“Thanks, Tasi,” Yulayla responded, patting the Fairy’s arm. “I should know better.”
“Scryer, I need your assessment,” Xera asked directly. “You said very little while the recruit was relaying her experience.”
Yulayla shook her head as if still trying to clear it, a scowl from the foul-tasting elixir on her face. “Yes. Of course. My read on her is that she was being truthful. There was no significant sign of deception. Some elements seemed to be lacking specifics or details, but she was pressed for time, so that was likely what I was seeing. It was very similar to when I asked her to further explain her answers to your questions at the end.”
Galin grunted, and ran his hands down his face, as if he was trying to come to grips with everything. Two seats away, Thorn did something similar, his whiskers twitching as he tried to absorb what he’d been hearing.
“What are you scared of, Little One?” Xera asked, turning her attention to Callie.
Callie shrugged, almost feeling ashamed. Xera and all the others had been quite honestly very nice to her. In fact, nearly everyone here, in general, had been nice to her, Reynard’s initial reaction really being the only exception. Even he seemed to be warming to her, especially given his apology after the Druid reveals. “I’m worried you’ll turn me over to people that will hurt me. Lock me away. Dissect me. Like I told Vanis, in all the stories I know, it never goes well for the person from another world. I really don’t know what happened or how or why, and that’s not the kind of answer people may want to hear.”
“Why did you tell us, then?”
“Because you have a right to know, and sooner or later my memory loss story wasn’t going to work any more. You yourself already thought something weird was going on.”
“Let me rephrase the question,” Xera said. “What made you believe we were trustworthy? Recruit Vanis indicated that something changed and you felt comfortable coming to us.”
Callie paused, glancing briefly at both Vanis and Yulayla. Neither had been part of the conversation about Juniper, nor overheard what the officers had spoken of privately.
“Go ahead,” Xera said, sensing Callie’s reluctance. “It’s fine if they hear.”
“Lots of things, I guess, and some of them probably seem minor, but they actually said a lot to me.” Callie said, shrugging. “For one, all five of you have been really nice to me, despite all the trouble I’ve caused.”
Major Celeste let out a brief laugh, quickly holding up a hand to her mouth and mumbling a quick, “Sorry.”
Trying to ignore the Major, Callie continued, gesturing towards Xera. “You were super helpful in the shower with that skill reveal and didn’t care you got wet; that showed empathy. I still feel bad about your wing, though. Sorry.”
Xera held up a hand dismissively as the other four officers looked to her, wondering what Callie was talking about. “Details are unimportant for right now,” they said. “What else, Recruit?”
Callie shrugged again. “Juniper said you were a good person, when she had looked into you with her Scry ability; I think that means a lot, because I’m not sure she knows how to lie. She also said that you wanted to build the camp here so that your superiors ‘didn’t meddle’ in what you were doing, which implies you do your own thing.”
You could see a wave of uncomfortableness cross over the faces of the five officers, and Callie glanced at Vanis to see if he had any reaction. His face was diplomatically blank, of course.
“And finally, I guess, when I overheard your conversation discussing what to do about Juniper to justify giving her a Symbiote, and how we came up with a solution together.” Callie looked up from her lap, glancing at Legate Galin. “Oh, also, seeing how much the Legate really cared about people when he … cried and hugged me.”
As all eyes shifted to Galin, he seemed to shrink slightly. He cleared his throat trying to maintain his bearing, but it didn’t work very well and he finally said, “Well, Juniper’s help changes things. I just wanted … aw hell, I had an emotional moment, we’ll leave it at that. You were all there. You know what it means.”
Celeste reached over and patted Galin’s arm in a patronizing ‘there, there’ pat, but beyond that, nobody showed any sign of giving him serious grief. At least not yet.
“So really, the question is what do we do now that we know this,” Xera said, addressing the entire room. “Thoughts? Around the table please, starting with you, Legate.”
Callie quickly raised her hand, saying, “Wait, please.”
Quietly, Vanis cleared his throat in a subtle warning to his ward.
The Legate stopped what he was about to say and looked at the Gnome. “What is it, Recruit?” he asked rather brusquely.
Callie swallowed, her throat dry and her hands fidgeting again. She knew what she wanted to say. She had mentally practiced it in some form all day. In fact, she’d said these same words, or something close to them, more than a few times in her life, most-recently two nights before. Yet, the words were struggling to get out, and she had to concentrate to get past the anxiety. She took a deep breath and looked at the five officers. “I have a lot of flaws, but I have one really big one,” she said quietly, seeing a knowing smile come over the face of Vanis as he recognized the words. “That flaw is that I believe what people tell me. You can imagine how many times I’ve been hurt because of that; by friends, by people close to me, by people I’ve loved. So I simply ask that whatever you decide, good or bad, don’t lie to me about it, because I will believe you. But know you only ever get to lie to me once, and after that, I will never believe you again.”
The silence hung in the air as Vanis reached under the table to squeeze Callie’s hand in support, showing no sign he had heard nearly the same words from her that first day. Unbidden, a tear leaked down Callie’s cheek, and she quickly wiped it away with her free fingers, trying to give Xera and the rest a smile, but knowing it was a weak one at best.
“We understand, Recruit,” Xera finally said quietly, genuine care in their voice. “You have my promise, no matter what, no lies to you on this matter will pass my lips.”
“Thanks,” was all Callie could mutter in return.
“Legate, if you would. Your thoughts please,” Xera said, gesturing to the Elf.
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Galin glanced at Callie, and in a low, almost apologetic voice, he said, “One could argue we have a duty to report this up the chain.”
“So, let’s play that out,” Xera said. “I inform the District Commander. What does she do next?”
“She would likely take Callie into custody and inform the High Commander,” Galin said.
“And what does he do?” Xera asked, pressing the scenario.
“He’d order Callie brought to the Capital,” Celeste added, a tiny hint of anger in her voice. “Hell, he’d probably tell the King, since ultimately King Feldwin is the head of the military, even if it’s largely ceremonial.” She gestured to Vanis, “Right?”
“Absolutely,” the Warlock replied. “In addition to my father ostensibly being the Supreme Commander, the two are quite good friends. My father would be made aware, if only for the advice he might provide. If I were still there, even no longer being in the line of succession, I likely would have been informed as well, in my own role as advisor to my father.”
“After that? What would happen next once Callie is in Imor?” Xera asked Vanis.
The Warlock pondered for a moment. “Either she’d remain in the military's care, or be put under the care of the head Scholars in The Nexus. It depends on whether the High Commander would consider it a military matter. However, she’d have to remain around someone with an active Command Aura, because of her Curse, so she'd be held at minimum at some active fort or camp like this one for … ongoing discussions, whether with the military or the Scholars.”
“Interrogation is more like it,” Galin mumbled.
“I want her training.” Thorn announced flatly, having come out of a deep thought, and not even waiting for his turn. “However she got here, she’s an anomaly, and we need to see what happens. We learned so much from the Goblin last term. We can’t pass up the opportunity. It’s that simple.”
Turning to Major Celeste, Xera asked, “Your thoughts, Major?”
“Well, if we stuck her in Logistics, she'd be a lot less trouble, that’s for sure,” Celeste said, a laugh in her eyes. “But, so far she seems like a pretty good Ranger. I’ll figure out how to deal with her mischief. We should keep her here.”
Xera laughed lightly at the Major’s evaluation of Callie as a troublemaker, before they looked at Tasi. Before the Healer could respond, though, Xera held up a hand to forestall her response. “I’m curious,” the Commandant said to Yulayla. “What would you choose to do?”
“Me?” the Scryer responded with a shocked tone. “I don’t know. It’s not my decision. I’m not even in the military any more.”
Xera gestured towards Callie, who had become quite nervous and ashen-faced with all the talk of sending her away and what might happen. “Yes, but your opinion is as valid as anyone else here, given your class and the insights you have into her.”
The Scryer scrunched up her face for a moment in thought. Shrugging her shoulders, she finally said, “Does it really matter? You are all thinking this is a big deal, when in the end we simply have a Cursed Ranger with a Symbiote who doesn’t know much of this world. Callie’s origin is of interest, sure, but she said herself, on her world she was a nobody. Maybe with her construction and plumbing perks, she knows a few different techniques for building things. I also suppose the void where her class should be is odd, and I’m not sure what to make of it. I’d suspect it’s a remnant of the fact her world doesn’t have classes, though. But, I don’t care about either of those things, right? We have Demons to defeat. That’s what we’re here for. Everything else can be looked into after the war is over, or at least when her Curse has faded and her tour on the lines has finished.”
Xera cocked her head. “We’ve never really talked, have we? Tell me, why did you leave the service? Your way of thinking is most insightful, and I’d think we’d want to keep you.”
Yulayla shrugged again. “I don’t take stupid orders well, and had a habit of punching those that gave them. Let’s just say I was non-politely asked to voluntarily find other work. This was before the war, of course. Once the war started, I chose to come back because I can help the war effort, but as a civilian. No offense, but I’ve done my time in uniform. You all seem like good officers, so I’d hate to have to punch one of you.”
“Oh, I like her,” Callie heard Galin say quietly to Celeste. “She has spirit.”
Xera smiled at Yulayla’s forthright words. “I appreciate your honesty. In many ways, I’m actually quite envious, Scryer Yulayla. Thank you.”
Xera gestured towards the Master Healer. “What of you, Tasi?”
“Honestly, I think the best thing to come out of this would be to see how she performs as an anomaly, just like Thorn said. We’d learn more from Callie going through training than from dozens, maybe hundreds, of people asking her the same questions about how she got here over and over again. When she’s out of her Curse, others can decide what happens, and she’ll have enough knowledge of the world to be part of that decision.”
Xera stood, stepping away from their chair. Seeming deep in thought, they started to pace, before looking up to Vanis. “What of you? What would you do?”
“I am too entwined and biased to be objective,” Vanis said. “But excellent points have been raised as to the value of Callie seeing her training through.”
“A very diplomatic answer,” Xera said with a light laugh as they returned to pacing. “What about you?” they finally asked, looking at Callie.
Callie jumped, having honestly not expected to be asked her opinion. “Um…” she said, buying a moment to think, before continuing. “I don’t even know if I’ll be here in the morning,” she said with a shrug. “For all I know, whatever brought me here could send me back home, or send me somewhere else. All I can do is go with what I actually know and can see, and that says I need to learn what I can, so I can survive this Curse, and maybe ultimately survive in this world. Sending me off to be studied doesn’t sound like a good option for my well-being.”
“I see,” Xera said somewhat glumly as they returned to pacing. They stopped in front of the map, lightly touching it. Stepping aside, Xera pointed to a small, blue flag, east and slightly south of the large city in the center. “Just so you know, this is where you are now, and it is about twelve days by trade caravan to the capital of this kingdom, called Imor. Roughly three hundred fifty kilometers. We are well secluded, with the nearest town about thirty kilometers away, where we retrieve supplies and pick up new staff.”
Xera pointed to the city in the center of the map. “There are three capital cities, large enough these days to touch each other, one for each kingdom, which are separated by these rivers. They surround an independent and neutral city-state called The Nexus, which is where many Scholars make their homes, and is home to the Great Library, the Parliament, and many halls of research. The Nexus is the heart of knowledge and government for all three kingdoms.” The Commandant looked at Callie and smiled. Gesturing once again to the lower-right section of the map which surrounded the camp, they said “This is where you live now. Welcome to Imoria.”
Callie quickly tried to drink in as much of the map and Xera’s geography lesson as she could, knowing she could get specific details from Vanis when she needed to. Maybe she could ask Xin to draw her a map? Or copy this one?
“Recruit, I am having difficulty,” Xera said, walking from the map and resting on the back of their chair. “I support the consensus that we simply allow you to keep training. The problem is that something of this … strangeness … is something I am duty-bound to report to my superiors. If I didn’t, and I was found out, I would certainly be stripped of my command and rank.” They gestured at the other officers. “Possibly them as well.”
Those words made Callie’s heart sink. Up until now, the support within the room had seemed unanimous, and she supposed it still was. But that would put Xera and the others at risk, and Callie was having a hard time with that, feeling ultimately that she would be responsible if something were to happen to them. Sure, it would be their choice to essentially harbor her here, but the pit of guilt in her stomach would be something that would never heal if it came to pass. There had to be another way.
While Callie was pondering inward, the beginnings of an argument began to form between Xera and the other four officers. Xera was defiant that they would need to report this up through their District Commander, while the other four were throwing nearly every idea and excuse they could come up with to do exactly not that. Of course, Xera pointed out that doing as the officers wanted wasn’t going to help Callie’s situation any, and could even make it worse. It wasn’t that Xera didn’t want to follow the recommendation of her officers, it was that they were boxed in by military protocol.
As the argument intensified, Callie found herself at first disturbed by it, and soon after she actually began to feel a sense of panic from all the yelling. Galin had actually risen to pound the table a couple times to make his point, his voice growing louder as Celeste tried to calm him. Instinctively, Callie began to count numbers, trying to shut out the noise and officers’ anger in an effort to control her own growing anxiety. 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17…
Vanis could sense that Callie wasn’t doing well, seeing her eyes closed tightly and hearing her quietly calling out numbers, and he put his hand on her arm trying to comfort her. Concerned, he was just about to speak up in an attempt to use a little diplomacy to lower the temperature in the room.
Callie’s voice suddenly rose from a whisper, though, growing louder with each new number, her anxiety suddenly evaporating. “One thirty-seven, one thirty-nine, one forty-nine … I’ve got it!” she almost screamed towards the end, instantly seeming to quiet everyone. Slowly all eyes turned to look at her, the little Gnome’s eyes glinting.
“I know that look …” Celeste said quietly, her voice quietly trailing off and a grin forming on her face.
“What is it, Recruit,” Xera asked calmly, realizing what a shouting match things had become and trying to recompose themself.
“I know how to make it so you don’t get into trouble!”