“You have no idea what you’re suggesting,” Zyneth says, back on his feet. “Gillow is only out for themself. You can’t trust them.”
“I do not trust them,” I say. “But I do not need to trust them to buy their help.”
“Buy?” Zyneth repeats. “With what money?”
“It is my understanding they are interested in more than coins.”
Zyneth visibly pales. “What do you have in mind?”
“It does not matter,” I say. “All that matters is I can pay.”
“This is foolish.” Zyneth’s face hardens. “Gillow will take advantage of you the moment your back is turned. They’ll rope you into some debt you’ll never be able to pay off.”
“It is a good thing there is nothing they can leverage over me then,” I say. “Especially if I skip town to go back to Earth at the end of the trip.”
Zyneth goes still. “Trying to trick them is even more dangerous.”
I throw my hands in the air. “Then what would you suggest, Zyneth? Do you know of any other undersea captains who can take me to Emrox?” I pause for an answer. “No? I did not think so. But you know what? That is fine. You do not have to come with me. I do not need to be your charity case any longer. I can make this deal on my own.”
Zyneth looks stricken. “I don’t see you as a charity case.”
Regret stings my soul. I don’t know why I said that. “Even so, you may stay behind.”
“Is that what you want?” he asks sadly.
What the hell? Why’s he acting like a kicked puppy? I’m the one who should be upset here.
I make an irritated sign—it feels a lot more satisfying than this stupid monotone voice box—and sit down on a chair. I’m eager to reshape the glass I’m using as a head—or, eyeball, really—into something that doesn’t have omni-vision, but I still need to wait for my mana to recover, and I’ve more pressing matters to take care of first. I gently clasp my core and carefully slip it out of its leather pouch.
“Of course I would like your help,” I say as I examine my vial. Without the bag to restrict its vision, I’m looking up at myself at the same time I’m looking down. It’s disorienting, but necessary; I have to make sure I’m not about to break in half. Luckily, the gash in the bag is more severe than the cut in my glass. It’s an inch across and a hairsbreadth wide; enough to provide an exit for all the void that had been trapped there, but not something that seems immediately life threatening. If I can force a Level Up, it should heal the glass in my core like it has before.
“I just do not want you to feel obligated to,” I continue, slipping the core back in the bag and resting it back against my chest. “I know you have a bad history with Gillow.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” Zyneth mumbles. “But I’m not doing any of this out of obligation. And it’s not to tip some moral scale.”
I recall the conversation we’d had earlier in the week, about him helping people to try to atone for his past mistakes. If he can be believed, then that’s why he’d initially helped me back in Harrowood, but not why he’s still helping.
“Why then? I doubt it is due to the conversation.” I chuckle darkly, and the translator starts spitting out some horrific robot laugh. I quickly put a stop to that. “A handful of signs and broken sentences cannot have given you a good idea of my character.”
“Our conversation has been rather stunted,” he agrees, smiling weakly. “But actions speak louder than words.”
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“Actions?” I snort, Checking my Mana again. Still at 0. It definitely should have gone up by now. Even as I think it, I feel the predator shrink away from my mind, and I catch a hint of fear and evasiveness. It’s hiding something from me.
“Expletive.”
“What is it?” Zyneth asks.
“My mana is out,” I say. “I used it all up during that fight in the library, but it has been nearly an hour. It should have recovered some by now.”
Zyneth frowns. “You haven’t done any other magic?”
“No. But I think I know where it is going.” I dig into the predator’s mind, prying up the thoughts it’s trying to keep from me. Reluctantly, like a stone stuck in the mud, the information I’m searching for tumbles into my hands.
“Shit,” I sign, not wanting to risk another Expletive.
Zyneth catches the gesture. “The predator?”
I nod. “Do you remember when we were fighting it at Noli’s house, and it kept draining extra magic from the spells I used, making it stronger?”
“It’s hard to forget,” Zyneth says.
“I am pretty sure that is why it has not vanished back Between,” I say. “It is feeding on my magic.”
Sneaky bastard. Better than it trying to eat people’s souls at every opportunity, but I don’t like the idea that it’s learning. That it’s getting more clever and subtle.
Zyneth clearly doesn’t like this either. “Will that prevent you from Attuning it?”
“Maybe,” I admit. “Let me see.”
Echo, how much mana to Attune this volume of void? I ask
[Attunement cost: 125]
And how much mana has the predator absorbed? I ask Echo. If I keep it from absorbing anything more from me, when will it be weak enough that it’ll fall back Between?
[Predator Time Limit: 3 hours.]
Annoying. But I can probably keep it under my thumb that long. And if I can’t, then that’ll be enough time for me to save up enough mana to try to Attune at least part of it, chipping away at the predator one chunk at a time.
“I think I should be able to do it,” I tell Zyneth. “But I will need to suppress its mind while I recover my mana. That will take a while.”
“At least it seems contained for now,” Zyneth says with a sigh. “We can lay low as we wait. There’s no hurry.”
Easy for him to say. He’s not the one with a monster in his head. I grab the predator’s mind, even as it struggles in my grasp, and force it into quiet submission. It takes concentration, but at least I have some peace and quiet.
“If this works, we can get it taken care of tonight,” I tell him. “Either it will be starved of my mana, or I will have enough to start Attuning it.”
Zyneth nods uneasily. “Good. At least we have options.”
He looks ready to settle in, but I’m way too antsy to just spend the next couple hours waiting around. “In the meantime, we should address the Emrox issue. No sense in burning daylight.”
Zyneth grimaces. “I was worried you might say that.”
----------------------------------------
This time, when we walk through Gillow’s door, I’m the one leading the way while Zyneth is hanging reluctantly back. I told him again he didn’t have to come. And with his eyes he told me again he thought this was a bad idea, and followed anyway.
Gillow is at the counter, busy disassembling some sort of spear-gun and cleaning the parts. I can’t say why, but the guts of the weapon spread over the surface before them summons a faint unease in me.
“Ah, the prodigal lord returns!” they say, offering a pointed-tooth smile when they catch sight of Zyneth. “Couldn’t get enough of my business, eh?”
“Actually,” I say, and I’m satisfied to see them jump when I speak, “you have business with me.”
For a moment, Gillow’s eyes go as round as sand-dollars. “What is this?” They turn to Zyneth, recovering a moment later and settling back into their natural smirk. “Some kind of joke?”
“It is not,” I say. “Zyneth is only accompanying me. I am here to buy a service.”
Gillow’s smile is darkened by a slight frown, their eyebrows knotting in confusion. “I don’t understand,” they say, glancing between the two of us. “You bought it a speech box?”
I slap my hand on the counter, and Gillow and Zyneth both jump. Belatedly, I realize I should be more careful with my glass, but nothing broke at least. “I am a he, not an it,” I say, before my cool moment can wear off. “I have a name: it is Kanin. Great to meet you. I am not a homunculus, despite present appearances. And I am here to purchase passage to Emrox. Now. Are you going to work with me, or not?”
Gillow blinks. They look me over more closely this time, their gaze lingering on my core. It takes all my willpower to not put a hand over it. Instead I wait, perfectly still, as their maw splits into a shark-toothed grin.
“How fascinating,” Gillow says. “Kanin, was it? Forgive my rudeness—it’s not every day such an interesting specimen walks through my door. Yes, I think I would very much like to work with you.” They hold out their hand, delicate seafoam frills stretching between each of their perfectly sharp claws. “I hope this is the beginning of a fruitful business endeavor.”
I hesitantly take their hand. It’s cold to the touch. “Likewise.”
Behind me, Zyneth looks downright ill.
“Now,” Gillow says, letting go to lace their fingers together. They lean forward eagerly, a greedy glint in their eyes. “You. Emrox. Tell me everything.”