Before going anywhere with Ehn, or explaining anything about that whole Ruthers thing, I took another look out at the beautiful mountains in the distance while bracing myself for the discussion I was about to get into. This could be a problem, but it was necessary. Facing away from the man, I spoke quietly, yet clearly. “We need to get one thing straight before anything else happens. The tower and everything in it is mine. I think we're on the same side, especially when it comes to this whole Fomorian situation. But if push comes to shove, the tower is mine. The artifacts we found and may still find in it are mine. Well, mine and those I choose to give them to. Which very well could be you or your people, in some cases. It’s just not automatic. We're allies, but you can't just walk in and take over. It's my project. You're not the boss of it, and you're not the boss of us. You want something from us, you ask for it.” That all said, I finally turned to face him, my gaze meeting his evenly. “If that's something you can't handle, we might as well have it out right now.”
At first the man gave no reaction. He just stood there and stared at me as though carefully evaluating everything I was saying, turning it over in his mind several times before deciding how to respond. Finally, after a few long seconds like that, he offered a very faint smile. “I was right, you are a very brave person. Something you have already very thoroughly proven, and yet, it is worth noting now. You are very aware that any actual conflict between us would likely go against you, and yet, you don't hesitate to make your position clear. You don't beat around the bush, as they say. I do like that.”
“At least you didn't say you’d miss it,” I replied with a weak smile despite myself. “And, to be entirely fair, you may be a lot stronger than me in basically every way, but I have an advantage in this specific case. You're strong, but even you can't control Reaper technology. The tower only listens to me, and the people I designate. It’s the one that decided I was in charge of it.” I pointed a finger at my own face. “Remember, part-Reaper in here now. In a different way than Boschers. I’m not a Heretic. I’m Fae. Ankou-Fae. Reaper-Fae. I can say that the tower is mine, that I'm in charge of it, because the tower agrees. Like I said, a little bit of an advantage in this case.” Obviously, I didn’t get into the fact that Ehn could probably damn well force me to give him access if he really wanted to. Or do his best, anyway. A lot of strong people had tried to force me to do things over these past couple years. It had a way of backfiring.
To his credit, Ehn didn't get into that idea either. Whether that was because we both knew it went without saying, or he was just being polite, or what, I wasn’t sure. But he didn’t say it out loud. He simply inclined his head slightly. “I understand. Believe it or not, I do have ample experience allying myself with those who retain their own assets. They share what they are willing to. You're right, the tower, and anything you may find within it, belong to you. For what it's worth, I give you my word that I will not attempt to take any of that away from you against your will. I may attempt to verbally convince you that providing it would be in everyone's best interest, but the ultimate decision will remain yours.” He offered his hand to me with a raised eyebrow. “I hope that will suffice?”
Yeah, I probably wasn't going to get any better than that. And I had planned on showing him the tower and that anyway, considering how important this whole thing was. If we were going to stop the Fomorians, we really did need to work together. Whether I liked the man that much or not was irrelevant. Well, basically irrelevant. So, I accepted his hand and shook it. “Sure thing. I’ll keep all that in mind. For now, I’ll tell you what happened with Ruthers.” So I did, going through the whole situation about that man and his little band of mixed Heretics and wannabes. He listened intently to every word, especially when I got into what we’d done to make sure Laramie Falls wouldn’t be endangered anymore. Well, not for awhile anyway.
“You had no idea those guys would show up there?” I finished with narrowed eyes.
“I assure you, Ms. Chambers,” he replied evenly, “much as I might wish to prove myself all-knowing and all-prepared, it is a height which I have not yet achieved. I am very glad that you were able to handle such an issue. With every part of your tale I learn, it seems ever-more clear that the correct person gained Fossor’s gift.”
There was a lot I wanted to say to that. Oh boy was there ever. But I pushed it down and simply replied, “Right, well let's go meet back up with Percy so we can see the school. Well, I guess it's not really much of a school yet, we need students for that. But it will be. Once I do some recruiting of people who aren’t already dead.”
“I may have a few suggestions for you on that front, eventually,” Ehn murmured. “But yes, in the meantime, I would quite like to meet the Revenant once more. And hear the rest of the story you promised me.” He added that last bit with a soft chuckle.
Normally, I couldn't jump straight to the Cryptseeker. Not when it was high enough up, or even in space. My teleportation was limited to the Earth, after all. And I needed to know exactly where a place was. It was hard to know where an air or spacecraft was, and to get a good mental image of its exact location. But in this case, I had an advantage. Well, a couple of them. First, Percy brought the ship on the way down to the ground. That was obviously going to be somewhat more difficult to do in the future, when there would be a lot more people and buildings around to get in the way. But for now, there was plenty of open space all over. She simply chose a spot a couple miles south from that lumber camp.
My other advantage was that she sent me a mental image of the surrounding area, as well as the actual details of how far they were from the camp and all that, through that partial-recall connection. I knew where it was, and had an image of it in my head. So, all I had to do was focus. And just like that, we were standing on the bridge of the ship. Percy, Eurso, and Cerberus were all lined up like officers, though only Percy was saluting. Cerberus was capable of doing so. Percy had taught him and Eurso both to do it, and the sight when they did was positively adorable. I was pretty sure Cerberus was pointedly not saluting the man, and Eurso was following his lead.
“Ehn,” I started while gesturing that way, “welcome to the Cryptseeker.” Belatedly, I wondered if I should have made it clear that he wasn’t allowed to commandeer this ship either, after everything I went through to get it. But I was going to choose to hope that he understood the overall point that I wouldn’t react well to him yoinking my stuff.
“Dragon-Bonded,” Percy greeted him while lowering her hand from the salute motion. “I’m glad to know you haven’t managed to get yourself lost while you were gone.” A brief pause followed, before she offered a cheeky grin. “Although maybe you have. You could have vanished for a thousand years, disappearing on hundreds of adventures. Perhaps you were lost in another universe after being drawn through a black hole. Or any number of things. Time travel mixed with immortality is funny that way. We might have to cut your arm off and check the rings to see how old you actually are.”
Ehn’s voice was dry. “I would appreciate it if you refrain from trying that sort of thing.”
Percy, for her part, responded with a silent smile. She didn't say anything else. Not to him, anyway. Instead, she turned to me. “Captain Flick, are we set to return to the school, or do we need to make another stop somewhere else first?”
“We’re going back home,” I confirmed. “I thought Ehn might like to see what we’re setting up before we do anything else. Unless he has other ideas?” My gaze slid that way, watching the man himself curiously. “I’m sure you have plenty of your own spaceships, but if you’d like to take a quick joyride…”
“Perhaps later,” he murmured, glancing around. “You’ve redecorated this place, inside and out.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
I wasn’t exactly sure how he knew that from here, but really I shouldn’t have been at all surprised that he had some way of getting a view of the exterior of the ship. He wasn’t a Boscher who could stack dozens of different powers, but he did have a lot of magic. And technology, no doubt. Who the hell knew what else he could do that had nothing to do with his dragon gifts?
Either way, I nodded. “Yeah, our new little Necromancer friend thought it could use an upgrade in style. Speaking of whom, she's kind of… intense. And very into the superiority of Necromancers, violent claims, lots of talk about people bowing before us and all that. It’s just the way she is. Don’t take it personally. And don’t threaten her.”
Ehn raised an eyebrow. His tone was mild. “Instructing me on how to behave?”
“Just telling you how to get along with all of us the best,” I replied simply. “And not just you. I already told her to tone it down a bit with you, but it's kind of a reflex and defense mechanism for her. She’s with me. So if you have a problem with her, tell me and I'll handle it.” I tried to keep my voice flat and not give away how anxious I felt about straight up telling this gods-knew how old Dragon Heretic what to do.
For his part, Ehn just studied me for a moment before agreeing. “She is under your protection and guidance. Of course I will go to you with any complaints about her behavior.” He paused briefly, then added, “But I am fairly certain I'll be able to handle it. I've heard much worse. Being so easily taunted or drawn to conflict by a few boastful words would be rather poor showing from any leader, let alone one who aspires to such great heights.”
“Well, I think that was a lot of words to say ‘bring it on,’” I noted. “So, I think we should do that. Uh, Percy, let’s move out. And call ahead to let Laein know we’re coming.”
While she was working on that, I looked back to the man in question. “I wasn’t sure if you were going to do that thing where you jump us through time without any warning again.”
He actually smiled faintly. “I believe one lecture on that was enough for a lifetime. You have my word I will warn you before such actions from now on. And ensure that you are actually prepared for them. Though our next jump will not be nearly so dramatic. Less than a year, actually.”
That made me blink. “Less than a year? When exactly are we going to? And where?”
The man, who clearly kept things incredibly close to his vest, seemed to consider how much to say right then for a moment before replying, “There is an important ghost who will appear just outside of the village where Professor Virginia Dare is born. I believe it would be best for you to acquire this ghost before anything else can happen to it. I will give you more details on that subject when the time comes so that you are as prepared as possible.”
Dare? Right, yeah, he knew she was my grandmother and that Maestro had been sending monsters after her forever. Or would be sending. But what did any of that have to do with some special ghost that would rise up around her village after she was born? “Wait, is this another relative? Is that even possible?”
“He is not a relative, so far as I know,” he assured me with a smile. “But he will be useful for various reasons, including one… quite major benefit which I will explain when the time comes. We’ll have another major trip to make once we collect the relevant information from him, before we take a few more… hops for bits and pieces which I believe will also be helpful for your training. And now, since you seem to wish to teach Necromancers, I believe I may be able to provide suggestions of where you might find them. So that you might be able to fill up this school of yours.”
Okay, well at least he wasn't trying to forbid me from going with this plan. That had always been a possibility. One I wasn't sure how I would have dealt with. But I could deal with this version. I might instinctively not like the man very much (although was it really just instinctive when he had actually allowed horrific monsters like Fossor to exist as part of his long term plan?), but it really would be easier to at least be cordial with him, especially for the time being.
Speaking of which, it wasn't long before we were back at the Roundabout. Percy put the ship down nearby, and we all walked off together, with Eurso and Cerberus bringing up the rear. As expected, Laein was right at the front gate, with a swarm of zombies around her while a couple dozen ghosts floated in the air over her head. She was clearly making a show of the power she could wield. Not that I expected it to intimidate someone like Ehn, but still. Maybe it was the thought that counted.
As soon as she saw us come down the ramp, Laein started to run. Then she seemed to think better of it and held her hand out for one of the zombies to hoist her up onto his shoulders. She made the zombie give her a piggyback ride all the way up to us. “Felicity Chambers! You’ve returned!” Her voice was intensely relieved.
Yeah, I’d let her know my real name, my real face, all of it. I didn’t really want to spend every waking moment around her in disguise. If she was going to be part of this school thing, she needed to be in on all of it. I still wasn't sure what I was going to do when it came to the other students we were supposed to recruit at some point, but I figured we'd cross that bridge when we came to it.
“Hey, Laein, yeah turns out we didn’t need to have you watch over things for nearly as long as we thought.” I offered her an easy smile. “Hope you don’t mind not getting to be in charge quite yet.”
She gave me an almost feral, toothy grin in response. “Well, in that case, perhaps I'll just have to take the authority by force, if you're unwilling to hand it over peacefully.”
“Oh, I’d love to see you try.” My own grin matched hers. I even used my facial-shifting power to give myself the same sort of small fangs she had. We both stared like that for a few seconds before snickering together. Then I turned to gesture. “Laein, this is Ehn. Ehn, Laein.”
With that, Laein finally turned her attention to him and looked him up and down critically. Going by her expression, she didn't find much special about what she was seeing. “Hm. You’re the big, powerful Dragon-bonded who thinks he can lead the universe to a glorious new age? With the help from enough powerful Necromancers to make sure the Fomorians don’t kill everyone first.” She didn’t outright say that he was weak if he couldn’t do that himself and needed our help, which was an improvement from the times we’d talked about his plan in private.
Ehn, for his part, gave her a slight bow of his head. “Lady Laein, such a pleasure and privilege to meet you. And how fortunate that your encounter with Felicity here failed to become quite as lethal as I believed it would. She is full of surprises.”
Okay, was that a veiled threat? I wasn’t even sure anymore. Maybe I was reading too far into everything he said. The point was, nothing had turned violent or even directly insulting yet. I was taking that as a win and moving on. “Well,” I quickly put in, “let’s show you around a bit. Maybe you can give us some ideas about what to do with this place when we do that time travel thing. Unless you can move the entire facility with us.” I laughed at that, but also double-checked with a glance that way just in case. He was a super-old, super-boosted Dragon-Heretic, who the hell knew how much he could do? Maybe he could bring this entire tower with us after all.
Ehn, however, simply replied, “I believe I do have some thoughts that could aid with that. Particularly if this structure is still capable of moving to a place where it can remain indefinitely secret.”
“Oh, it can definitely move,” I confirmed. “And change shape. This is the regular town layout we settled on for now, but it’s not hard to add more buildings and stuff. There’s a hell of a lot more of it underground right now. You know, cuz in tower form, the whole thing was fifteen goddamn miles tall. This is nothing. We figure we’ll add more to it as we need to. No reason to stretch out the whole thing all the time when we’re trying not to be noticed, even if we are out here in the middle of nowhere.”
He offered me a nod. “Very astute. And yes, I would love a tour of your school. It sounds positively educational.”
Now that was definitely an intentional pun. But I still didn’t think Shiori would like him. It took more than that.
As we were walking to the gate, I decided to go with the next bit of information I’d been holding back for the right time. “And while we’re doing that, we can discuss a few other things.
“Like what you know about Liam Mason using some sort of magic to try to boot me and everyone I care about into another universe.”