While Katarin and Lucy sat in rapt silence, Gaia proceeded to tell them how she had first met the Necromancer known as Jacob. And what a story it was. From the very start, when she mentioned following a star vessel to a cave, only to find out that an innocent man had been abducted, Ulysses thought he knew where it was going. Obviously, the vessel was Jacob’s, and he had abducted this innocent man to carry out all manner of filthy and torturous experiments. The very idea of that bastard taking an innocent person and subjecting him to only the gods knew what sort of horrific pain and suffering made the man tighten his fist so much his knuckles cracked. It made him even more determined to find a way to actually put a stop to him for good.
But then she continued, and Ulysses couldn't have guessed where her story would go. Not in a thousand years. According to the baroness, Jacob wasn't the one who had abducted that man. Instead, he had shown up looking to find him as a favor to the man's wife. That left Ulysses reeling already, and the story was just getting started. As soon as Gaia mentioned that part, he immediately began to insist that it had been some sort of trick, that he had simply been playing the woman to get help dealing with a rival. That made sense, didn’t it? It wasn’t as though a Necromancer employing lies and deceit to get a Heretic to help them do even more damage would be anything new. They absolutely could not be trusted, ever, in anything. That fact had been drilled into his mind through all his years at Crossroads Academy under the tutelage of Gabriel Ruthers, and it had only been reinforced with every other interaction he’d had with any Necromancer. They were liars.
But no sooner had the first few words left his mouth than he was flatly interrupted by the baroness herself. Her voice was sharp. “I would thank you to allow me to continue my own story and tell it properly before you decide to inform me that I am a clueless fool and explain what my own experiences truly mean, thank you, Mister Katarin.” Despite the brusqueness of her retort, there was an underlying softness in her voice that made it clear she needed to get through this. She was firm in her retort, but understood his reaction.
Even then, he might have objected. He might have even left rather than continue to listen to what amounted to the Crossroads equivalent of complete blasphemy. Years upon years of instruction and training made it very difficult for him to restrain that urge. But beside him, Lucy put her hand on his back. It was that feeling, the reassuring touch of this woman he had grown to care about so quickly and easily, that convinced Ulysses Katarin to stay where he was rather than storm off.
So, despite his powerful and deeply ingrained urge not to ever listen to this sort of thing, he stopped himself and gave a single, short nod. He didn’t trust his voice to actually say anything useful at that moment. It truly took all he had right then simply to remain motionless and silent.
So, Gaia continued. She told them about working with Jacob to track down that star vessel, and about the resulting battle. Not only a battle to save that one man, but others who had been abducted, Natives from America. There were details she was leaving out, the woman made that clear from the start. She outright told them that there were parts of the story she wouldn't get into. There were things that weren’t actually hers to tell. But everything she did tell them was the truth. Jacob had gone with her to save that man from an army on a star vessel. And after the army and their leader were killed, Jacob had taken the vessel for his own. That despite the fact that Gaia very easily could have taken it from him with her own gift. No, worse, she had actively helped him gain control of it. Even though the entire story was about how she had worked willingly with the infamous Necromancer, that part of the story still left Ulysses physically reeling. Everything Jacob had done since then with that vessel was only possible because the Baroness of Desoto had willingly allowed him to take it as his own. Ulysses had come here to see if she could help take the ship away from that man, only to find out through her own words that she was the reason he even had it at all to begin with. She had basically just handed it over to him.
He was still processing all that when Lucy spoke. She was watching the other woman intently, but with a different sort of emotion behind her eyes than what Ulysses was feeling right then. “That man you rescued, the one who was abducted by the… pirates. There's something else very important about him, isn't there?” She glanced over at the tall man beside her, that soft hand rubbing his back reassuringly. “Please, this is your best chance to say it to him. If you don't do it now, I don't think he’ll ever be in the right mindset to hear it. Not in a way that will actually matter.”
Ulysses had no idea what that was supposed to mean, or how Lucy would know something about the man in question that Gaia hadn’t told them yet. A noise of uncertainty escaped him, but he stopped himself from actually interrupting. Whatever Lucy knew, whatever she had somehow realized, he needed Gaia to explain. And that meant resisting every Crossroads-ingrained urge he had. Nothing he said or did right then would help, he knew that much. So he bit his tongue.
Gaia, meanwhile, seemed to exchange a quick yet meaningful conversation with the other woman purely through their eyes. Neither of them said anything loud in those brief seconds, yet Ulysses could tell that they had communicated quite a bit with those silent looks. Finally, she took a deep breath before looking back at the man himself. “Yes, one rather important thing you should know is that Millersby was not a human. He was really what you would call a Stranger, though they call themselves Alters.”
Well that was a lot. Ulysses had thought learning that Gaia had willingly worked alongside Jacob to save a person and had intentionally given him control of that star vessel would be as surprised as he could possibly be in this conversation. But hearing that the man they had worked together to save was a… was a Stranger? That left him making choked noises of disbelief. He couldn’t have interrupted just then even if he’d wanted to. He was too shocked. It was one thing to hear that the baroness, one of the most important people in the Crossroads hierarchy, had once, centuries ago, accepted help from a dangerous Necromancer to save a human. This? This was more than he’d ever expected. He came here to get help from her, and now she was just flat out telling him that she had aided the Necromancer to save a Stranger, then handed him a star vessel! What was he--how was he--what could he even say to that? What could he do with it?
Another thought came into his screaming head, and he slowly turned to Lucy. His mouth opened and a couple of times before he actually managed to find his voice. Even then, it was weak and strained. “You knew about that. You figured it out. You realized she was helping a monster--she was helping a monster save a monster. How did you--does that mean that--are… are you just--”
Lucy, for her part, winced just a little. Her voice was gentle, yet very firm. “You were lied to, Ulysses. You’ve been manipulated every moment you’ve been part of Crossroads. I need you to think about that. I need you to listen, please. Listen to what she tells you. Hear what she says, really hear it. I--I know it’s difficult to hear. You want to walk away. There’s that voice deep inside you screaming right now to take off, to run and go back to what is actually familiar and console yourself with that, because it’s easy. I’m asking you, I’m pleading with you, don’t. Do the hard thing. Stay and listen, please. Give her a chance to explain all of it.”
For her part, Gaia seemed to be content to wait and watch. She was giving him the chance to decide what to do. And what would happen if he did leave right then? What would either of them do if he told them he was going straight to the Crossroads leadership? Would Gaia stop him? He was certain it was well within her power to do so. And if she didn’t, he’d be able to bring the Committee here. They would strip her of her authority, at the very least. They’d probably kill her for being a traitor. she had admitted that much right to his face. If they found out any of what she had told Ulysses in just these few minutes, the Committee wouldn't rest until she was put down.
And… and they wouldn’t rest until Lucy was put down either. He realized that belatedly as well. It was clear that she held the same beliefs as Gaia, and she was basically helpless. The baroness was one thing, she could defend herself. She might not stand a chance against the full Committee, of course, but she was still one of the strongest individual Crossroads Heretics out there. Lucy? She would die in an instant. The Committee would incinerate her like a feather in a furnace. This woman, this wonderful, brave, brilliant, incredible woman would be killed without any trial just because she believed something the Committee--that Crossroads itself--didn’t like.
It shouldn’t have mattered. They were wrong. They were both wrong. They were saying things that were absolutely and unquestionably dangerous. Gaia had admitted to aiding Strangers, to giving one particularly nasty Stranger a star vessel he had subsequently used to do who even knew how much damage. And Lucy--Lucy was outright telling him that Crossroads lied.
Even after the repeated shocking revelations from these past few minutes, it was that realization, that thought, that truly shook Ulysses Katarin straight to his core. After all those years of Crossroads training, after a lifetime spent learning how to deal with someone who didn’t yet understand just how evil Strangers could be, it all vanished in that single instant. It vanished because of a single realization that was both staggeringly simple, and profoundly powerful.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
He didn’t want Lucy to die. Nothing else mattered. His training, his lessons, his past experiences, none of it mattered. Lucy mattered. He had only known her for these short few weeks, but they were quite honestly the best of his life. This time with Lucy Culpepper was more important to him than everything else that had ever happened in his life. If she wanted him to hear this, if she wanted him to listen to blasphemy, he would do it. He would stay silent, and hear Gaia’s words.
Both of them were waiting to see what he did, how he reacted. They gave him all the time he needed to work that through in his head, neither interrupting or making any motions. The baroness stayed right where she was, while Lucy kept her hand on his back. She had stopped rubbing, but still kept her hand there, letting him know through that contact that she was still with him.
In the end, Ulysses did the only thing that made any amount of sense right then. He reached back, taking Lucy’s hand to pull it off his back. Yet not to push her away. That look of vulnerability filled her eyes, as the thought that he might actually reject her clearly crossed her mind. But Ulysses simply took her hand, squeezing it. Their fingers interlocked, and he slowly turned back to Gaia. “Tell me.” His voice was so strained it was barely comprehensible. Despite that, she knew what he was saying. Possibly before he’d even said the words. “Tell me the truth.”
Instead of simply staying there and talking more, Gaia seemed to consider for a moment before extending her hand. A flask appeared there with a cork in it. “Drink this,” she instructed. “It is an invisibility potion, of sorts. And it does other things I will explain as we go, but none are at all hazardous to you. I give my word on that. If you are going to understand, you need to see. And you can only see properly if they don’t know you’re there. You have a way of… drawing attention. Both because of your Crossroads aura and--well, you would stand out regardless of being a Heretic or not.” A very small smile played across her face as she added, “You are a tall and impressive man, after all. We need a bit of magic to help you blend in a bit more.”
Ulysses, for his part, squinted down at the flask consideringly. Being asked to drink what was supposed to be an invisibility potion so he could be taken somewhere else was quite a lot at this point, especially with everything else the baroness had said. But he’d already decided that losing Lucy wasn’t worth it. He… wanted to be convinced that somehow, against all odds and in spite of everything he’d ever been taught in this life, that they might have some sort of point. He wanted to hear their reasoning. After choosing to at least listen to more of this blasphemy, knowing how much it went against every single one of Crossroads’ teachings, simply drinking what could very well be poison wasn’t actually that big of a deal. After weighing that thought back and forth in his mind, the man exhaled before making a toasting motion with the flask. Then he drained it quickly.
As promised, his form faded quickly. Soon, he was completely transparent. Yet Gaia seemed to be able to see him just fine, given how easily she met his gaze. “Come,” she urged while turning to head back through the building. “It’s time for you to see precisely what you’ve been trying so hard to destroy.” Despite the harsh words, there was sadness in her voice rather than actual reprimand. Sadness and regret. This wasn’t about pinning blame. It was about teaching him.
Lucy came along beside him, keeping her fingers interlaced with his own invisible ones. Together, they followed Gaia out into the city, then through a maze of streets. Ulysses attempted to keep track of where they were going (in between carefully avoiding walking into anything or anyone), but it somehow seemed impossible. Only belatedly did he realize it was some sort of active effect, magic or… or something that was preventing him from remembering or keeping track of their route. One street led into another and that into yet another until he was utterly lost.
Only then, once he had no chance of finding where they were again, did Gaia stop in front of what looked like a simple wooden gate set in the middle of a tall stone wall. As she reached for the handle, several runes glowed brightly along it before fading when matching runes appeared on the woman’s arm. Then she opened the gate and gestured for both of them to step through.
On the other side of that wall was… not the single building Ulysses expected. There was an entire neighborhood there, hidden behind that stone barrier. They were standing on a narrow street that stretched out ahead of them, with a dozen different shops and other buildings lining both sides of it. The street eventually led to a wide circular area lined with multi-story houses and a few much taller buildings that had rope and wood bridges stretched between them at various levels. Those were clearly meant to house dozens of different families. This entire area was set up as its own separate mini-village. They had their own homes, their own shops, their own doctor’s office, even a sheriff’s place judging by one of the signs over a nearby doorway.
Yes, looking around this area was just like being in any of a hundred different small towns across the country. Except for one small difference: the people here were all Strangers. Everywhere Ulysses looked, everywhere he turned, he saw figures who were very much not human. They were every size and color. He saw tiny winged pixies flittering about, taller orcs, even bigger trolls, cat-like figures, reptilians, and more. He saw all of them moving around together, going about their daily lives just like any human society. And… and he didn’t feel that familiar danger sense, the rush of anger and fear, the Heretic sense screaming at him to fight for survival. He didn’t feel any of that. Sure, there might have been a few who were immune to the Heretic sense, especially in a group this size. That happened sometimes. But all of them? Either this was an illusion, or-- “The potion,” he murmured very softly, his voice only barely audible.
“Yes,” Gaia confirmed. “It temporarily dulls the Crossroads Alter sense. Don’t worry, it’s not permanent. But it was always going to be easier to help you see this without that screaming in your mind. A fact that is very much not a coincidence. Come, let’s take a little walk. There are some people I would like you to meet.”
Something in his stomach was twisting uncomfortably, but Ulysses continued to follow anyway. He walked with Gaia and Lucy, the latter still surreptitiously holding his hand as they moved down the street. Several of the Strangers going through their days called out greetings to the baroness. They knew her. They weren’t afraid of her, despite being the local leader of Crossroads Heretics. They knew they were safe around her. This… this wasn’t anything new. They were here, this village within a city existed, because they were safe in her presence.
Gradually leading him through the village, past all those Strangers, Gaia finally went right in through the door of one of the multi-home buildings. Several young figures, a mix of species, were hanging around the old wooden stairs, and all of them greeted her by name. One, a much smaller, yellow-skinned female, offered Gaia and Lucy each a bright blue flower. Ulysses felt a slight rush of anxiety when the young Stranger reached out toward Lucy, but the woman simply squeezed his hand reassuringly before accepting the flower. She gushed over how beautiful it was, making the… the child blush and giggle. Then a boy, who from appearances was probably an older brother, called for the child and they ran off together. Not in fear, in excitement. They were going out to play games with their friends. Play… with their… friends.
He was still processing that as Gaia proceeded up the stairs, leading them to a small, unassuming door around the middle of the building. She knocked politely, before it opened to reveal… a human woman. Well, as far as Ulysses could tell she was human. She pulled the door open the rest of the way after seeing who was there, eagerly inviting them inside. Only then, once they were in the cozy little living room, did Gaia use the counterspell to make Ulysses visible once more. After, of course, explaining the situation. Which made him introduce himself to the woman, whose name was Hadlee.
It turned out Hadlee wasn’t the only human in the small home. There was an entire family there, and they were human. What’s more, this family in general had apparently lived in this place since its inception. First the colony when it was established, then the town as it grew, and then this building in this secret village. The family had always been here, through generations leading back to its founding a couple hundred years earlier.
Once everyone was introduced, Gaia spoke quietly. “I believe, if you direct your attention to the painting there, you may see a couple of familiar figures.”
Ulysses did so, his gaze centering on the indicated painting. And then a gasp escaped him. He couldn’t help it. The figures were familiar. That painting was of Jacob himself, standing with both hands on the shoulders of a much smaller girl. The same girl whose dead, puppeted body had attacked him back in London while snarling and spitting like an animal.
“Penny,” Hadlee explained. “She was my great-great-great… something great-aunt. “She got sick and she passed away, a couple hundred years ago. Then Jacob came. He brought her ghost back to give her parents a chance to have closure. He helped her say goodbye for as long as they needed. He kept visiting them so they could be with their daughter, every chance he had.”
“So he could use her,” Ulysses put in sharply. “You should see what he’s turned her into now, the monster that--”
“She volunteered,” Hadlee explained, the sentiment echoed by several other members of the family. “She offered both her ghost and her… body. She enjoys it, being able to help Jacob with his work. She still visits at times, with him. We’ve all met Jacob, and seen Penny. The body is a golem, possessed by her ghost or others at times. She’s happy this way. Happier than she could have been if she had simply died of disease and… disappeared forever. That’s what Jacob did for her, for our family.”
Rather than respond at first, Ulysses slowly turned and walked to the window nearby. He stood there, staring out at the bustling secret village below. No one else spoke. Lucy and Gaia were as silent as Hadlee and the rest of her family. They all sat quietly, staring at his back while he gazed at the Alters below.
At the Alters below.
At the Alters.
The Alters.
The people.
They were people.
“I believe…” he began slowly, voice unnaturally loud in the silence that had filled the room, “that I need to do some thinking.
“An awful lot of thinking.”