Chapter 2- Mysteries Abound

Riley could feel his meditative focus as she carefully climbed the stairs, all as an icon blinked in the upper right-hand corner of her vision.

It was not large, existing underneath her Health, Stamina, and Mana bar, occupying the same “field” as her buffs and debuffs.

Helpfully, a text box popped up just underneath it.

Entwined Souls

“Like the double helix didn’t give it away?” She whispered internally as another icon appeared next to it, that of a hare with wings.

Angel on my shoulder- The angelic construct woven into your being will begin to advise you at key moments.

“But what does that mean?” Riley worried.

The informational system was cool and helped her navigate the world, but when did the icons start to become voices in her head?

It all seemed wrong and disquieting. Her reality had already shifted; everything she had known about herself was gone. She wasn’t even oneself anymore but an amalgam, the remnants of beings ripped apart.

Riley, the human girl and the greater enemy of reality...

She sighed.

Human girl... No matter what happened, no matter how much she was reminded, the name never stuck, like it was coated in Teflon. Yet, her memories were among the most vivid and made up the core of what she knew of herself.

Riley was mostly just a name. Her name. The sense of identity was undeniable, but the same could be said of her connection to the human girl. The part of her that thought leaned toward her human experience, the part of her that was instinct leaned toward the hare, and the part of her that felt spanned all three.

Riley felt a chill as the Erkrandir sang distantly with the demons that haunted her soul, their eerie song rising from the depths of her subconscious.

The meditative focus, acting like a calming wind, suddenly snapped away, fanning the flames of her disquiet.

“Riley?” Tobias called out as she heard him stand, his boots moving towards the landing.

Quickly, she scurried up the last few stairs as his worry became as plain as her own, “I’m fine, nerd boy.”

“What’s this about voices in your head? I didn’t hear anything,” he asked, going down on one knee. Still, he towered over her as Riley rested her head against his chest.

“Geeze, you don’t read a girl’s diary. That’s why they come with locks,” she joked.

“Like I can give back my key,” Tobias replied with a half smile, “talk to me.”

“It’s the same old country song, I’m worried about going cuckoo. The prompt started off as something cool, but it’s spookier now, almost like it has a will.”

“I’ve noticed. It kind of volunteers information, and some parts of it are just part of my world now, but I don’t think it’s a voice, Riley, or alive; it’s more like a... Lanthorn,” he replied.

“Lanthorn? Lantern? Uh...” Her eyes snapped open, “A magical compendium of information consolidated into a golemic construct for the purposes of research and quick reference.”

Tobias grinned. “Exactly.”

“Great, now there are four voices in my head. Wait, four or five? Which one is me?” Riley’s eyes widened in fear.

Tobias gathered her into his arms and held her close, petting her ears back.

Riley took in a deep, centering breath, pressing against him, “I don’t want to be a value pack!”

“You aren’t. You’re you. Even if your soul is a patchwork, it’s yours now. Even the Abbot of Death acknowledges that. Riley, the one that got away, not the many, not the handful,” Tobias soothed.

Her ears perked in surprise, “That’s... That’s a pretty good point.”

Tobias set her down with a shrug, “Even with our connection, I’m still an outside observer.”

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“Yeah, it’s all upside for you, too,” Riley said, deep in thought.

“You say that like I haven’t had the song “Ghostbusters” stuck in my head for three hours,” he shot back with a groan.

“ And you don’t think I’m cuckoo?” She pressed.

“I have it on good authority that you’re a white-tailed jackrabbit. Aren’t hares seen as mad tricksters in your world?” Tobias asked.

“Maybe? You don’t happen to know if Iowa was in Canada, do you?” Riley cocked her head in confusion.

Tobias only shrugged, “That’s the thing about lanthrons; they take on elements of the personality of the person they interact with, and they only know what you load into them.”

“Comprehension crystals, like how we all learned magic,” Riley reasoned, knowing in an instant.

“Yes, you arrange them in a particular array and need a number of specific materials in order for the magic to animate properly... And you really don’t care, do you?” Tobias grinned.

“No, I cannot tell a lie, to you, at least,” Riley looked down, feeling sheepish.

“You should be able to pull yourself back. Was the noise any better today?” Tobias asked.

Riley’s ears perked up, “Now that you mention it, your muttering words to yourself didn’t dominate my every waking moment or interfere with my talking to Cid.”

“Wait, you talked to Cid?” Tobias boggled.

“Oooh, doors swing both ways,” Riley bounced excitedly, “teach me!”

“I just put myself back in my room at home and visualized shutting the door. You were still there, in the living room, but I was off in my own quiet space. You meditate, try it,” Tobias urged.

“Yet you still heard “Ghostbusters” on loop?” Riley cocked her head, confused.

“And Star Wars, and the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Manic... Monday? It bleeds through the walls, like when Granda cranked up the crystal and played his favorites. How do you think?” He wondered.

“Wha?” Riley cocked her head, giving her best blank stare.

“Very funny,” he sighed before pinching the skin between his eyes.

“Enough about me. Tea time? Your brain is full to bursting?” At the mention of tea, she felt something within him perk up.

“More concerned and confused. This material is dense and dry, but it’s an entirely new perspective on the Fae Wars. It’s also quite troubling,” Tobias’ forehead creased.

“Not so noble or pretty when it comes from the losing side, is it?” Riley opined.

“No, I can see why they did what they did, but I can’t put myself there. I’ve been desperate, and we’ve both laid our lives on the line. Still, a whole people making that kind of decision. What’s more, I think their ritual was always doomed to fail,” the color drained away from his face as he looked back towards the table he had been sitting at.

A particularly rough-hewn book, more like an unfinished proof, lay open on the table.

“Is that handwriting?” Riley asked, barely able to make out the boxy script that teased at her translation ability.

“It is one of the last records, written by one of the last survivors. The final few pages are soaked in blood. They were here when we took Ranger Central from them. That means this was one of the last places to fall,” for all of his discipline and “shutting the doors’ of his mind," Riley could feel the uneasiness like a fog drifting through the keyhole and seeping from underneath the door.

“Oh God...” Riley began, but the flood was only beginning.

“They tried to capture the “otherworlder” but failed. The great sacrifice was the second half of the plan and became their last ditch effort,” Tobias explained before pausing, “...a Hail Mary play.”

“That’s chillingly familiar, but Chadrick collected souls and powered up a lot,” she observed, finding the hole in his logic.

“That’s true, but Venosicipher also wanted you, Riley. One first-tier fae, even one as powerful as Chadrick had become, wouldn’t have meant much to the war, but a fully re-powered God? I dunno. They had to want this “otherworlder” for a reason, and it was reason enough that a type of ritual genocide was the second part of the plan to power the first,” Tobias replied, as Riley’s fur puffed up against the ethereal chill.

“But what’s so special about me? I’m not near that powerful. I was a second tier then. I stole his power; well, I got the souls to give me a boost, but...” Riley trailed off, trying to puzzle it out.

“You let them go. What would you have become if you intended to devour them? What if the power wasn't taken but offered in a sacrificial ritual?” Tobias asked as the hare’s eyes went wide.

“Oh, I don’t like that at all, but wait, why did the fae go through with it if they were missing a critical piece? We’re missing something,” Riley looked up towards Tobias as he shrugged.

”Well, we’ll have to ask Venosicipher before we take them down. They’re probably the only ones that know,” he said.

“I love the confidence. When do we get on the hunt to find this bastard?” Riley shivered as she spoke.

Tobias’ pocket watch flashed into his hand from their shared inventory, “Well, the hunt starts tomorrow, officially. Remember the meeting tomorrow morning with our little group?”

“Oh yeah, before we catch the dragon at high sun,” Riley said, stretching and shaking out her coat.

“Exactly. We’ll get caught up with the rest of the investigation, then we finish our evaluations under Ecbert and get on the hunt,” Tobias stifled a yawn, scanning around the room.

“And in the meantime, more study?” Riley knew what he was about almost as much as she knew what she was about.

“After tea and a snack,” They both said in unison.