The bright rays of a midday sun shone down on the clearing, clashing with the dark thoughts rushing through Talia’s mind as she stared at the person she hated more than anyone else in the world. She was shorter than Talia. Stouter, too. In terms of appearance, Talia had taken after her father, and to the point where she sometimes wondered – even before everything had changed – if she was truly her mother’s daughter. She’d moved past such questions, though. Now, there was only room for hatred.
“Talia. Talk to me. Please.”
That’s when she realized that she’d been standing there and staring at her mother – or the dungeon’s recreation of her – for almost an entire minute. She hadn’t said a word, instead opting for a glare as she clutched her hands into tight fists. Her claws dug into the palms of her hands so firmly that a trickle of green blood oozed between her fingers.
“What do you want me to say?” she asked. “It is not real.”
“I know. It can still hurt, though,” Zeke said. “I saw my dad in one of these dungeons, and even though I knew it wasn’t really him, I couldn’t help but react emotionally to it.”
“Perhaps I can kill her again,” Talia mused, imagining ripping her mother’s head off. It had certainly felt cathartic the first time. “That would make me feel better.”
“We need her. The quest wants us to free the prisoner,” Zeke pointed out.
Talia cocked her head. “That makes sense. I can’t kill her while she’s inside that cage,” she reasoned.
The cage in question was a rough-hewn thing of wood and twine, with thick, sturdy bars. However, despite its primitive appearance, the thing radiated a shockingly powerful aura of mana. As for Constance Nightingale – her mother and, in her time, the most powerful woman in the Radiant Isles – she looked mostly the same as always. A little dirtier, perhaps, and wearing a burlap sack for a dress, but with the same haughty expression that had been burned into Talia’s memories.
But it was the flicker behind her eyes that truly inflamed Talia’s hate. For most of her childhood, she’d ignored it, but after her mother’s crimes had been revealed to her, Talia had come to recognize what it meant. The woman was insane. Detached from reality in a way that Talia couldn’t quite comprehend. But even more than that was the absolute loathing with which she beheld the world. She didn’t just think she was better than everyone else. Rather, she believed herself tantamount to a god, and all others were mere insects. Ants to be ignored or trod upon.
It was disgusting.
“We can’t kill her until after the quest,” Zeke said. “You know that, right?”
Talia sighed. She didn’t need to breathe, so it was only for effect. Then, she said, “I am aware. I am not so impulsive that I would doom our chances of conquering this dungeon.”
He massaged the back of his neck, saying, “Yeah. Of the two of us, I should probably worry more about myself when it comes to losing control.”
“Shall we approach?” she asked, her eyes never wavering from the cage. Or rather, the woman inside.
Zeke agreed, and the two crossed the fifty yards of open space to the cage at the center. When they reached it, the dirty and disheveled woman inside stood a little straighter and then raised her nose in an imperious glare. “So, the disappointment has arrived. It took you long enough. Though I should not be surprised. You were ever a source of frustration for me,” the woman said, looking Talia up and down. “And in so many ways.”
“Hello, mother. I enjoyed killing you the first time, and I am certain that it will be the same this time around. I intend to savor it,” Talia stated.
“Always so dramatic,” she said. Then, to Zeke, she said in a conspiratorial whisper, “You should have seen her in the palace, pining over every pretty boy she could find. She never actually chased them. Oh, no. She was far too cowardly for that. But everyone knew just how obsessive she could be. Quite a source of embarrassment. If I wasn’t planning on sacrificing her for the great undertaking, I might have cared a little more. It’s a good thing she was only ever intended as fuel for my path.”
Talia seethed. Even with her emotions muted by the lack of vitality flowing through her, she was so angry that she wanted to rip her mother to pieces and damn the consequences. However, she had enough self-control to force those feelings deep down. Instead, she gave a cold smile, saying, “I tore your head off, there in the end. You were insane, but that was not why I did it. I killed you because I hated you. All of your plans were for nothing. You died just like everyone else. Your little kingdom fell, too. You are nothing to me. You left no mark. Your path was cut short before it ever really began. You never even took the first step because you were too afraid of being weak. And you were so, so weak. A pitiful woman who never realized how small she was. No one will remember you. No one ever loved you. You are less than a speck of dust.”
Constance threw herself against the cage, snarling with fury. Yet, despite the cage’s design, which situated the bars far enough apart that she should have bene capable of squeezing between them, she was rebuffed and thrown backwards to land on her backside. Talia laughed at that.
Before the conversation could go on any longer, Zeke said, “Enough. We’re supposed to free her. That’s what the quest says. But if you want to leave her here, then I’m fine with that. I’m sure we can bull our way through whatever obstacles we find.”
Talia considered it. She truly did. The thought of her mother – even if she was just a copy – rotting in that cage was enough to make her feel alive. But after only a moment, she shook her head, saying, “No. We must not make this any more difficult than it has to be. We should free her.”
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“I don’t need your help, you ungrateful child,” growled Constance. “If you free me, I will –”
“You will do nothing,” Zeke said. “Or I’ll let her do whatever she wants to you. I can sense your power. You’re no stronger than you were the last time we killed you. So, I can guarantee that you have no chance against us.”
For a second, it looked as if Constance would refuse to cooperate. But then, she adopted what appeared to be a pleasant expression and said, “Very well. Free me, and I shall guide you to your destination.”
Anyone who didn’t know the woman would have taken that at face value, but Talia had seen that expression often enough that she knew what it meant. She was planning something. That wasn’t so surprising, really. She was a conniving monster who had tried to kill her own daughter – and had actually succeeded in killing many of her other children – so she was not to be trusted. The only reason Talia chose not to make a big deal out of it was because Zeke was correct. She wasn’t strong enough to pose a threat.
“Just let her out,” Talia said.
Zeke nodded, then stepped forward. The cage was bound shut by a large, iron padlock that practically glowed with mana. However, when Zeke inserted the key, all the magic fled, and it popped open. Then, Zeke released the woman inside.
Talia half expected Constance to immediately attack, but to her surprise, the woman simply stepped free and threw her arms wide in a long stretch. “Ah, that feels better.”
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only change. In addition to clearly being more comfortable with her freedom, her apparently level of power skyrocketed. Talia used [Eyes of the Revenant] to inspect the copy of her mother:
Constance Nightingale – Level 76
She wasn’t as powerful as some of the creatures they’d fought, but she was still nearly ten levels Talia’s senior. Yet, she came in quite a bit shy of Zeke’s power, which was the only reason Talia didn’t immediately attack. He could handle her, she was certain.
“You have grown, dear girl,” Constance said, cutting her eyes at Talia. “But you still have a long way to go. You won’t always have this strapping young man to protect you.”
“He’s not my protector. We support one another.”
“Whatever you need to tell yourself so you feel useful,” Constance said dismissively. “In any case, we should move. The way will be dangerous, so try to keep up.”
Without further ado, she took off at a light jog, her bare feet slapping against the rocky surface of the clearing. Soon enough, she’d crossed the ground to the path on the other side. Talia and Zeke followed, though they both kept a few feet behind, just in case the woman chose to attack.
As it turned out, she did not.
Instead, the woman kept going, looking back only periodically until they reached a fork. She paused before three paths, and when Talia and Zeke joined her, she said, “Before you lie three options. The path on the right will force you to confront the past. The middle represents the present. And the left concerns the future. You may ask one question concerning the options, and I shall answer it to the best of my ability.”
“What happens if I kill you right now?” asked Talia.
Zeke groaned at her impulsiveness.
“That is not a valid question,” the woman said. “Though that is not unexpected. You were always terrible at following directions. You wanted to follow your own path, did you not? You could not be bothered to trust my guidance.”
“You were trying to fatten me up for slaughter!” Talia hissed. Indeed, her development was in service of only one goal – to force her to become as much like her father as possible so that the necromancer could use her as fuel for the man’s resurrection.
“You didn’t know that at the time. You resisted my guidance because you were a spoiled child who thought she knew better,” Constance stated. “In any case, if you wish to try your hand at killing me…again, then so be it. I am ready when you are.”
Talia’s claws once again dug into her palms, but she didn’t move. Instead, she turned to Zeke and asked, “How do you wish to handle this?”
“Be aware that you each must choose a separate path. Past, present, or future.”
“One question each, right?” Zeke asked.
“One question total. But I will be a good custodian and not count one. My gift to you both, because I am a wise and benevolent guide.”
“You choose,” Talia spat through gritted teeth. “It will not go well if I speak to this thing.”
“It’s not real,” Zeke said. “It’s not her.”
“I know.”
And she did. Talia remembered all too well how it felt to kill her mother. The look in the severed head’s lifeless eyes. The surge relief when the rest of her body fell to the ground. The regret that she couldn’t make the woman suffer as she had been made to suffer. Those memories would never fade.
“Ask,” she mumbled. “Please.”
Zeke sighed, then faced the woman. “Which path will be easiest to survive?” he asked.
“The middle path.”
“Just like that? No riddles or anything?” asked Zeke.
“Of course not. You asked a question, and I answered truthfully. The middle path will be easiest to survive. Now, you have four minutes to choose your route before I kill you both.”
“What? You think you can?” Zeke asked.
“Try it,” Talia said at the same time.
But just then, Talia felt the woman’s power grow. After only a moment, she once again used [Eyes of the Revenant]:
Constance Nightingale – Level 100
“You see? Do you still wish to attack me, child? I will rip your limbs off and make you eat them,” Constance stated with a smirk.
Talia stepped forward, but Zeke placed his hand on her shoulder. “No,” he said. “You’ll just be throwing your life away.”
“We can kill her,” she said, her every muscle tense with unspent fury. “Together, we can –”
“You know we can’t. You feel that, right? She’s too strong,” Zeke said. “We need to pick a path. I think you should go into the middle. I’ll choose one of the others.”
Talia knew better than to argue with his apparent logic. Zeke was far tougher than her, with the endurance to mitigate untold amounts of damage. She’d seen him take hits that would have destroyed her completely. And yet, she hated being relegated to the easier path. It made her feel like all of her progress had been for nothing. She still lacked the strength to stand beside her companion.
Never before had she so thoroughly understood what drove Abby to do the things she’d done. However, Talia’s reaction to a similar situation was not envy. Or to betray her friends. She chose to be grateful that Zeke was her friend and to look past the fact that he was – and probably always would be – more powerful than her. So, swallowing her pride, she said, “Very well. Which path will you take?”
“The future. I’ve had enough of my past to last two lifetimes,” he said.
Constance clapped her hands, then said, “Tick tock. The clock waits for no one. Unless you want to die, in which case, I am very eager to accommodate.”
Talia sighed.
Then, after exchanging nods, Zeke went toward the left-most path. It twisted up and away, disappearing into the mist. The same was true of the middle path, though it followed a straighter line. Talia passed her mother’s overleveled doppelganger, and the moment she stepped upon the path, everything else disappeared. There was only a long, straight staircase leading straight toward the summit.
Talia straightened her back and began to climb.