“Everyone else too mangled? Or lost for now?”

“Correct.”

Four out of thirty. People came and went, not all lived with us anymore either.

“How do you know who I’m after anyway?” Has he explained already? Was I too stunned to pay attention? “Do you need… names, maybe?”

“Information unique to individuals might aid. I’m examining areas of burnt-out nerves and deducing what could be lost there. I found a group of people of similar circumstance to yours who know each other. Some are irretrievable. Some could be remade without memory, or partial memory borrowed from the group.”

“So… you recall my circumstances,” I put forward warily. He remembered hell of a lot for someone claiming to have memory issues.

“I started making a lot of copies the moment I’ve realised what my progeny is doing. Even so, very little remains.”

I remained sceptical, but he was in full control of his mental facilities.

This room had a flush carpet as well and I threaded it. “If… If I didn’t go to it. And you’ve found me. And your brain – and my friends – were fine. Would you still… restore them?” I mumbled out my innermost worries. Swirling thoughts could not be contained any longer.

“Most of their damage was inexplicably caused by me,” monster pinpointed heart of the matter and told me one thing I desired to hear the most. Straightforward as always. It didn’t endear him to me, but it sure as hell eased my guilt of complicity in it.

“Fuck,” I mouthed, but not with anger.

“If you hadn’t gone to find Spreading Eyes, you might also be dead somewhere and there would be nobody to advocate for them either.”

“The other me would have,” I argued, staring down a splotch on the back of my hand.

Monster hadn’t replied, but it felt like he was thinking. He didn’t breathe, but I got that same impression when people inhaled to say something but didn’t. Monster radiated tension, even though he was always strung up. Less today, but still. I looked at him, this time purposefully trying to force an answer out.

“They didn’t know. There were other concerns to be addressed first,” he had eventually shared.

I snorted loudly with indignation. “That’s mildly put,” I replied with wonky imitation of a smile, imagining the horrors. This asshole didn’t even tell my copies they inhabited murderer of our family, and he chose to be dead anyway. Understandable, really. Would it have changed things had he known the entire band of misfits was just around the corner? Yeah, probably. For the worse.

“This is all so messed up,” I whispered to myself. My entire existence has always felt somewhat off-kilter, but these days it’s been completely upside-down.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Can you… restore everyone, from the city? If we get back there,” I dared to ask.

“Some. Less than half. And we’d need to hurry if that’s your intention.”

Right, right. This demon was holding in a sea-sized likely-sentient puke.

“Need some antacids? I’ve seen some here somewhere,” I spoke and lazily crawled towards little nightstand.

“I’d need to consume another city to restore that one to capacity at leisure.”

“Oh,” I sat back down full of disappointment and then frowned some more. “Didn’t you say you already overate? How would more help?”

“It’s a lot of mass to be shoving back and forth. It gets lost or deformed in transit. A lot simpler to reshape the material that’s already on this plane.”

I shook my head to dismiss grotesque information I idly sought out. None of this was helpful or necessary. I was already too tired and had more important problems to solve.

“You think I should wait ‘til everyone’s out, then just sit all of them down in a circle and tell what’s happened?”

Yeah, there still was no scenario I foresaw in which such conference went down in an orderly manner.

“It will be a while yet,” monster cautioned. “Days.”

Right, most of them were still lost to time and space. And monster guts. I had four unlucky contenders to distress ahead of the crowd. I felt so tired, but got myself on my feet.

“Gimme a minute,” I said rummaging through rest of the cabinets and pulling out various garments and depositing them at the feet of my slumbering friends. There wasn’t much, especially for this weather, so I repeated the search in room opposite and then upstairs.

“Okay, wake them up,” I tossed down the final handful and felt winded. Perhaps a little too much darting about for so little blood I carried. I was extremely thirsty, too, but was not about to wander out to shovel the snow.

The trio’s eyelids twitched and began opening one by one. Dentist was first one to jump up, the blind man and the juvenile stared wide-eyed and mouths agape. I was ready for tumult and tried to appease from a distance with open palms.

“There’s been an accident. You’re all okay. Please, get dressed and I’ll explain everything,” I said instead of lapsing into some terribly unbefitting joke and getting socked in the face.

“Why’re we all naked in first place, old man?” surly brat demanded with fists at the ready. Not a terrible first question. Also, not something to jump right into.

“Who you callin’ old man, old man?” I pointed at his broad chest. Dentist clearly hadn’t noticed yet. However, I’ve forgotten the irritable child was only subdued with friends and that I wasn’t one in his eyes anymore. A young man built sturdier than me, advanced with intent to hurt. I winced just thinking about it.

“I can see!” the guy behind Dentist exclaimed with such overflowing happiness that the latter stopped as if forgetting why. Looked back at Tom and their gazes locked.

“Denti?”

“Ya,” it was brat’s time to gape.

Tom grinned like a madman. “Didn’t realise you’ve grown so much! Oh my god! I can see.”

The little girl shared in on the unreserved excitement and bounced up sitting down. “Yay! Finally! Your turn to read to me now,” she clapped. “And he has grown! A lot! Was so small just earlier today.”

“How?” Dentist wondered to himself. Then turned back to glare at me and demanded, “How.”

Keeping my traitorous trap shut, I just pointed at the pile of scavenged goods. It was still dreadfully cold in this room and perhaps that’s what really prompted the dress up. Tom and Isla were chattering between themselves, whilst the one with self-preservation kept glaring at the outsiders.

I was an outsider.

Didn’t think I cared enough what anyone besides Ruby thought and wouldn’t have bothered to return to this group if its key element was missing. However, this unexpectedly stung. People I knew were no more. Life I had was thoroughly gone.

“Whuchu starin’ at?” crabby new adult barked. I wasn’t impressed. If he spent all this time dressing instead of giving me a stink eye, there would be nothing to stare at.

“Don’t worry, your precious virtue is safe with me,” I winked to add promptness to his moves and was obliged. Dentist might have tried to act tough, but beneath all that hid skittishness.

After everybody was bundled up and I waved towards the door, petulant child acted up again, “No. We’re not going anywhere. What do you want and who even are you, asshole?”

I bowed in an introductory manner, “I’m Asshole. Friends lovingly call me Ass, but I’m just Hole to everyone else.”

Too much on the nose? Stunned hush told me they didn’t know how to take it. In another life they would have laughed.

Just as a snarling face was about to take it as some sort of insult, Tom clasped overgrown child’s shoulders to calm him. “He said he’d explain. Let’s just go.”

“He can do it here!” problem child insisted.

“I can, but there’s fireplace out there and Citrine would be really disappointed if we left her out,” I enticed.

Isla wasn’t high on tension and nefarious plots and just pattered out to seek out other friends. I didn’t think it was healthy to run face-firsts into potential danger either, but she’d eventually learn. Dentist’s cautiousness – albeit utterly pointless in most situations including this one - was the correct approach.

Tom confidently strode out too, glad to be able to navigate without touch. The brat kept scowling rooted in place. “I knew you just wanted to stay with me,” I gave him a suggestive grin in return. Perhaps it wasn’t wise to tease him so much, but I just couldn’t resist. I would need to discontinue the effort if the expression would keep on signalling horror instead of annoyance.

However, it was best way to get him moving.

“Did you wake her?” I whispered to the quietly following demon.

“Yes.”