“Apologies for the many repeat trips and thanks for putting up with it,” Drim expressed his gratitude when they were finally brought back home late at night. “I’m still getting used to reading their intentions and translating that to what they’re actually doing. It’s not the easiest thing to figure out.”
“No apologies necessary,” Hand Guy insisted. “I do not feel exhaustion in this form, so if anything, the more requests you provide, the less chance I have of becoming bored. Otherwise, I am just an impartial observer.”
“Wait, if you don’t want to be bored then we can hang out and…” Eleen started to plead but then quickly realized, “He’s gone already, isn’t he?” This was only confirmed by the awkward silence that followed.
“So what do you think?” Drim brought life back to the conversation. His mother was surprised since he usually went back to ignoring her when any business they had was concluded.
“Well, I think he’s rude for just leaving like that,” she complained. “And I bet he could totally find a loophole to stick around. He’s just not very friendly.”
“No, not about Hand Guy,” her son shook his head. “What do you think about the performance reviews?”
“Oh, that.” Eleen pondered for a moment, trying to find the right words. “They’re eccentric and insane, the whole lot of them. They’re reckless, impatient, and seem to lack basic common sense. But with that out of the way… they’re efficient and well disciplined, creative and thorough. And strong. They’ve all become masters of their abilities. I would be proud to have any of them under my employ.”
“So I guess the question then becomes, my son, what are they all for?” Eleen looked at the boy with curious suspicion. “I know your end goal, but it shouldn’t require so much force. There will certainly be resistance, but no more than you and your sister alone could handle. Yet you’ve gathered so many strong individuals and have given them a path to strive and grow. You’re building an army, but I don’t quite understand why.”
“I wouldn’t call them an army,” Drim argued. “None of them are obligated to help me see this through to the end, but… it would be nice if they trusted us enough that they'd be willing to help deal with any problems that arise. I like to think I’ve given them good lives to live, ones they’d hope to keep and fight against anyone or anything that tries to take it away.”
The boy stopped talking abruptly for a moment, but then he had one final question. “If it came down to it, do you think they could beat her?”
“Her? Oh… her, her,” it took the mother a moment to realize. “Honestly, I’m not sure. What I saw of her power was only a fraction. Of that, I’m confident. She’s certainly stronger than a Fiend since she could ____________________________________.”
“Annoying,” Eleen lips twisted in frustration. “Even with all you know about her now, it seems she’s determined to keep our shared past a secret. She must not want you to _____________. Okay, I give up.”
“But back to your question. She is very strong, but so are they. Anything is possible… with the right person to lead them.” Drim didn’t have a response to that answer. He seemed to dwell on it for a bit but then went back to ignoring her as he usually did.
“Well, it’s been a long day. Think you’ll be heading to bed soon?” The ghost asked, trying to figure out if she should just go ahead and force herself unconscious or try and find a way to kill the time.
“No, not quite yet,” the boy’s eyes drifted over towards the blank spot on his wall. “There’s a few things I want to check on first.”
The woman made sure to watch closely this time as Drim performed the steps necessary to access the hidden panel. Since she was making progress at touching things, maybe someday soon she’d be able to get it open on her own. There were a few little secrets that she wouldn’t mind looking into when her son wasn’t around.
But the boy just did his usual boring routine of checking Fiend news and then looking into reports of certain ones he’d been tracking that weren’t part of his group. There was one in particular that he was lingering on for quite some time.
“Are you still fretting over her?” the woman frowned at Creti’s portrait. “Her power is bad news. You’re best ignoring her and not getting involved with her group. They’re beneath you anyways.”
“I know, it’s just—” Drim started but then Eleen cut him off.
“Yes, yes, her morality had taken a big dip the last time you saw her, so you’re concerned and are wondering how it’s fairing. And I’ll say, as I’ve said that every time it comes up, that this isn’t your concern. Frankly, what that girl does or her proclivities are none of your business.”
“She’s not one of your employees that you feel obligated to shepard, and she is not a friend you need to look out for. You and her have no real association other than that she is also a Fiend, and ultimately, being of the same species matters little. Creti is not your responsibility, and given the choice, she would see you led to ruin. So you need to stop being so hung up on her.”
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“Ugh, you’re right,” Drim sighed. “I know you’re right, but… If you knew that someone was going down the wrong path, and you had the power to stop them, shouldn’t you do something about it?”
“And what power is that, exactly?” Eleen’s tone turned more bitter and direct. “Just show up and say that ‘You’ve been a bad girl, Creti. Won’t you be good, pretty please?’ She despises you, so anything you say to her will have the opposite effect. She’ll start acting worse purely out of spite.”
“Unless you’re thinking about using my power to force her to change her ways. That I’d be down to see just for the amusement. You’d basically create a slave devoid of all free will who resents you more day by day, if that’s even possible. The point is, unless you’re willing to get your hands dirty, you can’t change someone’s very nature. That was proved perfectly when you killed me, wouldn’t you say?”
“But if you’re just going to obsess over it, then why don’t you have Hand Guy take you to see her for a quick gander? You can see how she’s doing, and if you don’t like the result, you can see where the moment takes you and try to convince her.” Despite her objections from the standpoint as a leader, the motherly side of Eleen still wanted to give helpful and actionable advice.
“That’s… not the worst idea,” Drim had to admit. “But she’s barely been leaving her bunker lately, and she’s rarely alone. I’d basically have to turn into a full time stalker to find the perfect time where we could talk in private. And I doubt the other members of Above would take kindly to me popping out of nowhere and spouting accusations about their leader. They’d probably attack me on sight, and even I’m not confident that I could take on all four of them. Well, without killing them anyways.”
“Then you should kill her.”
“W-what?!” Drim was clearly surprised, which Eleen actually found somewhat predictable. In the past, she used to try to get him to kill people quite often, leaking dark thoughts into his mind. It had worked once or twice during his most vulnerable moments, and in her opinion, had been rather necessary for his survival and growth.
But as she’d become more sentient, and she and her son had been forming a more symbiotic relationship, she’d toned back the ruthlessness a bit. Mostly, she’d seen the man he was growing into, and Eleen had been impressed with how he’d been able to solve things diplomatically without having to get his hands too dirty. But not everything could be solved that way—a hard lesson he still had to learn—and it was time to be practical.
“You should kill her,” Eleen repeated herself without missing a beat. “Just have Hand Guy deliver you there, cut her down, and make a clean escape. Over within seconds. It may sound heartless, or like a broken record coming from me, but this is my area of expertise. As the worldly power and influential leader that you are, it makes the most logistical sense.”
“This girl has become a problem. According to the reports you’ve been reading, she’s been up to some pretty zjik things, enough to get her well above a DoA warrant so taking her life would be legally justified. And you mentioned that you confirmed yourself that her morality had been deteriorating. I’m guessing the reason that you actually don’t want to see her is that you fear the worst and are afraid that your hand will be forced if she’s beyond redemption.”
“Not to mention that she is a negative influence on your business. Rivalry is fine to prevent monopolies, but she has actively slandered the Fiends For Hire even after you submitted official inquiries for her to cease and desist. Additionally, her conduct as the owner of a Fiend-run mercenary business could be seen as detrimental to the public's view of your group by extension and Fiends as a species. She is actively affecting your bottom-line and ability to operate.”
“And most importantly, she is an obstacle in your way of seeing your ambitions through. Project Fiendless may not have been my original goal or vision, but I believe in it. You fully have my support to bring that world to fruition as you see fit. But with that girl’s power, she is one of the few that could successfully prevent you from achieving your dream, and it wouldn’t even be that hard for her if she put her mind to it.”
“On top of just being a threat, she is clearly affecting your mental health. You’ve been spending a lot of time tracking her movements and thinking about her without doing any actions to alleviate the worry or cause. It’s not helping you or her, and it seems that her very existence is becoming a contentious point for you specifically.”
“So let me spin your question. If you see someone heading down the wrong path, and if you don’t stop them in time, the world will be far worse off because of it. Should you kill them before it’s too late? You’ve already answered that question before when you killed me, and I find it hard to believe that you’ve ever regretted it, and that you now wished you had done it sooner.”
“How is this any different? She is an upcoming tyrant who will ruin the world for her own amusement if she feels like it. If you don’t kill her, then why did I—who genuinely believed that I was doing the right thing and what was best for mankind—have to die? Doesn’t quite seem fair if you ask me. Rather hypocritical. Wanting to save the world, change it for the better, but only doing what must be done when you feel like it.”
“Listen to me, my son. Your goals are noble and your heart is pure. But mark my words. Before Project Fiendless is complete, you’ll have to commit truly unspeakable atrocities. When you come to accept that, then maybe you’ll finally be ready to actually save the world.”
Drim put his back to the wall and slumped to the ground. Eleen felt that maybe she’d overdone it a bit when she saw his distraught face. She also had to self-criticize for monologuing so much, fearing she may have diluted the point she was trying to make in the midst of all her rambling.
But her son surprised her. “You’re right,” he finally let loose from his lips. “You’re absolutely right. There’s not a single point you made that I don’t agree with. It’s just… I’m not as strong as you were. I don’t think I’m ready to give up that last little sliver of humanity. Not just yet. I know I’ll have to someday, to fully commit to this part. But… just a little bit longer.”
Eleen floated over and wrapped her icy arms around her son’s head. He didn’t seem to mind, didn’t recoil from the cold, just accepted it. “It’s perfectly fine. You grew up too fast in my opinion, and know that no one’s rushing you. When you’re ready, the world will still be there, waiting to accept their king with open arms.”