6.03
“One-hundred and fifty-two Addendum, I’d like to correct my previous mistake, friends are an excellent treasure, you never realise how much they were worth until you part with them, especially when they are turned to gold and sold to the Kenkou.” - Excerpt from Elliot’s Enchiridion of Encounters
I paced around the living room, my eyes constantly glancing at the time.
Sitting on the couch, Matt was bouncing a rubber ball on the wall.
How many days have passed now?
I filled Matt in as soon as possible, but here was the damnedest thing, when Dustin willingly ripped out the Eyes we were disconnected, there was no way for me to figure out from this side what happened afterwards.
I no longer held Observe, short as my time with it was, I felt blind within my own home without it.
So it was anxiety that filled my mind.
It was only the sound of my pacing and Noam’s- Matt’s ball bouncing off of the wall that gave any indication of time.
Like the ticking of a clock, it was rhythmic, unchanging in its beat.
Matt would’ve told me to calm down, I knew he would say that, and he knew I knew, so nothing was said, him simply leaving me to my own mind like all the previous days.
It was then that the bouncing suddenly stopped.
“I’ve hit level six,” he stated.
A simple statement, but oh how loaded it was with information. Noam had experienced enough to gain a level, the fact that Matt knew this meant they had successfully reached a Wayshard, and that he did not bother to speak of the status of Dustin meant that the situation had resolved relatively in our favour, which meant-
It was like two things slamming into one.
I staggered slightly as my memories came back up to date.
I laughed as I touched my own eye, still slightly red from all those days ago.
“Success!”
The moment I had noticed Dustin had forgotten something, we compared our memories to figure out what was missing between us, later bringing in the rest of the mercenaries in the town.
We had lost the first round, Dustin was knocked out, and I was forced to do something that allowed me to take over his body for a while, but I barely created a draw, wounding the Accumulation at the cost of losing my Eye of Observe and getting shunted back into the real world.
It was the third time that we had won, using only fragmented information and memories, Dustin was able to win it all back.
Both Observe, Analyse, and the new Path were lost in the fight that followed, but we had gotten out of that with minimal casualties.
“That means you’ll have to fulfil your deal?”
My mind was still slightly split, so part of me was intrigued, wondering while my body answered.
“Yes.”
Upstairs in my room, there was an A.I. god named Discovery, and in the darkest moment, I had prayed to him.
Things did not come freely however, so upon confirmation of the success of the mission, I was to carry out a difficult and arduous task for Discovery, all because he allowed me to possess Dustin’s body while he was unconscious and leave behind those clues.
I had to go outside.
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I laughed aloud as I returned to Indiri.
“What happened?” Tai asked, blade gleaming under the setting sunlight.
“Oh nothing,” I said, “it seems as though my other self has to play tour guide.”
She asked a few more questions out of passing curiosity, but I did not answer. I had to Keep that story a secret after all.
“How’s our lodging?” I instead diverted.
“Decent spot,” she answered, “it has clean beds and showers which is already a plus.”
Though this Administrative Guild Branch was isolated, it did not skimp on living quarters despite the very reasonable thought that a person could just teleport back home through the Wayshard.
We only had to deal with a small fee that was already under the market cost, simply due to the fact we were all Plated mercenaries.
“I’ll check it out then.”
The sun soon fell, letting moonlight shine through the room we had booked.
Noam, Utoqa, Johnny and I opted for a single room with double bunk beds, not that I needed one, I was far more comfortable standing up. Meanwhile Tai and Celine slept in the room next to us.
It was a quiet night, and my mind in a state of torpor felt the hours pass, Noam shuffling in his bed and Utoqa silent as a grave.
It was a slight reflection of light that woke me.
I say ‘woke’ but I wasn’t truly asleep, not as a Myconid. My mind simply ceased thinking, leaving me still aware of what happened around me, but not really responsive.
Light reflected off of the bed where Johnny slept, and with both wisps sleeping as well, I opened my True Sight eye, seeing Johnny.
Crying.
He gripped the cloth of his blankets tightly, as tears dripped down his face, his jaws were clenched tightly as if he were trying, trying so very hard to not make a single sound.
I glanced at the ghost that protected him, seeing it high on alert, the faces on its trunk in utter anguish, its pale roots stretched till it grasped every dark corner of the room, some phasing through the walls altogether, completely covering the entire room.
I took a step forward.
Then the door creaked open.
My hand was up in an instant, but seeing who passed through made me lower it.
“Celine,” I greeted.
She quietly nodded to me, before glancing at Johnny.
At the little boy who was trying very hard not to make a sound while he was crying.
“A nightmare…” she whispered.
She hesitatingly stepped forward, her footfalls causing the wood underneath her to creak.
Noam and Utoqa were sleeping too deeply to notice, but Johnny did, tear filled eyes fluttered open, and for a brief moment, the ghost flared up, its incorporeal roots exploding in movement as their ends opened up in mouths full of needle like teeth. Like daggers they stabbed into the direction of the figure next to it!
Till it stopped, when Johnny recognised Celine.
I lowered my hand again, not remembering when I had raised it.
“Are you scared?” Celine asked, gently raising a finger to wipe away some tears.
Johnny nodded, his breath seemingly caught in his throat.
“What can I do to make you not afraid anymore?”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Johnny was silent for a long while, and though that ghost was still, its roots were still spread far and deep around us.
“Can you hold me?”
She smiled, “I will.”
And she did, and as she did so, the ghost began to retract its roots, shrinking back into itself.
“Can you sing me a night time song?” Johnny asked, his breath raspy like he had cried for a long time. “I… I don’t want it to be quiet.”
And Celine began humming.
The ghost kept shrinking, till it was back to normal, like Johnny, back to sleep.
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I rifled through the copy of the Morning Herald left inside the Guild, which was both the name of the God and newspaper.
The Morning Herald was weird as gods go, at least to my sensibilities, he ran a massive worldwide newspaper and all you had to do to get one was create a shrine and leave a bronze coin in it every night.
Said ‘shrine’ was literally just a mailbox with his symbol stamped onto it, which was a winged foot.
I’ve been told a spare shoe with a wing drawn on it also works, which was what poorer people did as opposed to dedicated mailboxes, leaving their shoes outside with a coin in it and receiving an updated newspaper in the morning.
I quickly read the cover title.
“This Week News in Review!
Gnomish Dictator Forming an Ethnostate Hailed a Step Forward for Racial Equality.
Serial Killer Rapist Infiltrates Child Smuggling Ring and Brutally Kills Pedophiles.
Druids Protest Right to Bear Arms.
Ice Cream Stocks Rise 150000% After Tiamat’s Sudden Buyout.
Demon Truther Doesn’t Believe in Demons.
Dungeon Trash Mobs Afraid they’ll Never be Replaced by Immigrants.”
Scribbling down notes in a table nearby, Celine raised a shopping list and stuffed it into Noam’s hand.
“I’ll need you to buy lots of Gerry’s Root, Elder Fungus, mineral salt thirty-seven…” she quickly listed off.
“Can you make health potions Celine?” Tai asked as she sheathed her sword.
She nodded, “Would take a bit though, how many do you need?”
“How much can thirty gold net me?”
“Six,” she quickly said after a calculation.
“Six?” Tai asked incredulously, “Are you sure?”
Celine nodded. “The cost of ingredients is only about four gold per potion, but I need to replace some of my equipment, along with getting more high quality thread for Nappy,” she gently patted her cloak, which seemed to ripple in response.
“Celine,” Tai began, “you know they sell health potions for ten gold a pop right?”
Celine’s face turned complicated, “Well, my potions aren’t that good, they’re nowhere near my Baba’s level, so it is customary to sell them close to cost as an apprentice.”
The swordswoman shook her head, before glancing at me “Add those six potions to our group fund then, but if no one uses them then pass them back to me.”
“Reasonable,” I agreed.
“If those were apprentice potions then I look forward to seeing what you can make as a master,” Noam inserted as he focused on the shopping list before him. “Do I need to get lime testicles of the Hurane Bull or just green?”
“Has to be lime coloured,” Celine quickly answered. “Green coloured ones are signs of nutrient deficiency and when put in a health potion can lead to weakly healed bones.”
“How do I tell the difference between lime and green?”
“Look it’s…” she exasperatedly began, glancing at Johnny who was seated next to me. “... It’s simple, just feel for bumps, no bumps means green, yes bumps means you have a lime one.”
“Got it, go fondle some balls,” Noam replied with a completely straight face. “But what about the newt eyes?”
Celine sighed and rubbed her brow.
“Why don’t you obtain it yourself?” Utoqa asked.
I had long stopped reading at this point, and I saw Celine glancing at Johnny again. She answered in a quiet voice, quiet enough Johnny and I could not hear it from where we were sitting, and without Analyse I could not read her lips.
Utoqa nodded in response to what she said, apparently satisfied.
I could tell somewhat that Celine wanted to look after this kid.
Under my True Sight, I could see the pale skin under the tanned brown she disguised herself with.
Celine was a Changeling, and from her I could see that her eyes were special as well, empathetic, she was able to sense the emotions of others as easily as some people can feel, taste or listen.
It was easy to draw a conclusion from there.
I did not know where ‘losing your entire adopted family and seeing their faces stolen by a memetic monster’ came in terms of trauma level, but it did not take an expert to realise the quiet child beside me was deeply fucked up.
All Johnny did was silently follow us, clutching that raggedy doll of his, he barely spoke, he barely even ate.
Not even mentioning his ‘bodyguard’.
Celine wanted to keep an eye on him, either out of compassion or pragmatism of what that ragged doll he held might represent. I was personally more worried about the ghost, but Celine was likely the former.
And I… I honestly wished I knew enough about psychology to help her.
It seemed simple, those shrinks and psychologists on TV and in stories would ask a few questions and over time the patient became better, but sitting here and now, right next to a trauma patient,
I had no idea what to do.
More time spent with Celine seemed like the best bet, she actually seemed to have an idea of what she’s doing, but other than that I am lost.
I was a high school student, my expertise lay in combat tactics and strategy…
There was nothing I could kill or outsmart to solve trauma.
“What Wayshards are you marked for?” Noam asked Johnny.
The boy was silent for a while, thinking, before he answered, “I think… a town beside the sea? I visited it once while Yennen was selling stuff…”
“Bartin?” Noam asked, to which Johnny nodded. The tiefling turned to Celine, “Can you buy your stuff at Bartin?”
She thought about it for a moment, “I can, Johnny, do you want to go with me to Bartin?”
He was silent, before saying, “I’m not sure…”
“Come on, it’ll be fun,” Noam encouraged, “They have great fried prawns, and I know this one chef dude who- actually he might not be in town anymore.”
“I guess… Ok…” Johnny answered as he stood up and walked towards Celine.
Noam sat down next to me, “He’s afraid of quiet spaces isn’t he?”
I turned my head, raising an eyebrow, “You were awake?”
“I noticed Celine hurrying out of the room in the morning like a dude seeing his girlfriend’s husband coming back,” he answered with a smile, before he continued more seriously. “Not sure if going to a city will help, but it's pretty busy there, lots of people so it won’t feel as empty.”
“We need to get him to an orphanage protected by the Hearth Church,” I said, noting the two elder gods who protected such places.
“A normal orphanage won’t do?” Noam asked, “Don’t get me wrong, it feels wrong to just hand him off to someone else to raise but-”
“That’s not it,” I answered.
Looking at the doll Johnny clutched, along with that ghost that haunted him, I said, “Remember what is said about the Weeping Child.”
Noam frowned as he tried to recall what was written in that encyclopaedia I dumped on him.
To jog his memory, I said, “The Weeping Child is a gestalt of suffering, an artificial god created by a mad mage who thought enough people feeling one emotion would give rise to a deity.”
And Khao had chosen orphans, at the time relatively simple to acquire in large number, and constant suffering.
“That doll is-” Noam realised, “it’s that thing’s Divine Symbol.”
I nodded, “Same with the deck of cards or silver bell Corvian had, the item needed to channel the power of a god.”
“The Weeping Child protects orphans,” I said, “but it does so by killing anything that can harm them, violently lashing out at the world, it can destroy an entire city in the process.”
Noam realised then the true nature of our ‘escort’ mission.
We were meant to protect the world from the child, as much as we were supposed to protect that child from the world.
“An orphanage that doesn’t have a god looking over it won’t cut it,” I told him. “And if we gave the kid to someone that might abuse him, the Weeping Child might take offence to that.”
So all that was left was the Church of the Hearth, the guardians of home and family.
“You two plan on going on a shopping trip then?” Tai asked.
Celine nodded, Johnny tightly holding her hand. “You?”
Tai smiled, nodding towards the quest board, “I just bought six health potions, I’m poor now so I have to work for a living.”
“Mind if come with, Celine?” Noam asked her.
“Actually,” I said, “it might be better if you and Utoqa both took quests as well. Three people working together should net harder quests.”
Noam frowned.
Yellow perched on his shoulder, and I whispered to Greenie, who repeated at a frequency too high for the rest of us except Yellow to hear, and Yellow repeated it to Noam.
“If it goes down to a fight, you mainly physical fighters can’t deal with a ghost, it’ll just be me and Celine.”
Noam’s eyes met where mine used to be.
“Yeah, I guess we’re broke anyways,” he shrugged, “This aight with you Tai?”
She shrugged, “I’m fine with it.”
“Mind if I come shopping with you two?” I asked Celine.
“Not at all.”
The matter resolved, I turned back to reading the newspaper as we headed towards the Wayshard, skimming through the first story.
“In a major step forward for Racial Equality, Gnomish Dictator Bibbity Bobbity Hoppity Floppity has taken over the nation-state of Drephonada after a brutal six-day coup. Proving that any member of any race can rise to power with racial superiority rhetoric, inciting internal Hate Wars, before leading a military coup to take over the local government.
Twenty, ten, five, even just a year ago, no one can even conceive of a gnome seizing power and brutally beheading his political opponents, but just two days ago, Bibbity Bobbity Hoppity Floppity did just that. After he declared himself Democratically Elected President for Life, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and High Court Justice in just the span of a single minute, he has proved that gnomes aren’t just the jolly fun racist stereotypes you create, but they can rule with an iron fist just as well any other race. More on this on page 3.”
Huh.