“And that’s about it.” Sat inside a circle of mushrooms, I filled Noam in on the situation. Utoqa ate silently beside us, not interrupting for I didn’t miss a single detail. By the end, we were left in thoughtful silence, only the buzz of the night forest could be heard.
Noam eyes flitted from silent Utoqa, then to me. He realized something then, though he didn’t show it on his face. How odd that I could notice this now, looking back, even a few months ago I would’ve completely missed this. I knew so very little of my friend, willful ignorance had made me ignorant of other things as well.
Noam threaded his fingers, “So, what do you suggest?”
“I’d say this entire city isn’t worth it anymore.” Since he’s realized my disagreement with Utoqa, there was no harm in letting it be known. “Johnny wants to stay at the orphanage, but the situation has become untenable.”
“Where did that demon piece come from?” Noam asked, glancing towards the toad, who sadly also had no answer.
I shrugged, “It matters little to me, the presence of even a fragment makes me want to run for the hills. It appeared to be sealed, but that could go either way. It could be that it was done so to keep people safe, or to save it as a weapon to be used.”
Gripping my staff, I sighed. “We can deal with a guild of Travelers, but the problem is they’re not just that. We’ve killed guards and regular people now.” I glanced towards Utoqa, still speaking to Noam, I said, “At the tavern it was you who threw the first blow correct? We’ve escalated the conflict, I won’t be surprised if we have wanted posters now. Whatever move we take next, it must be with great consideration.”
Noam was silent, brow furrowed in thought. After a moment, he said, “We need to regroup.”
I nodded, glancing towards the stars. We rested the night, then traveled on foot towards the city. Once we were a certain distance away where Celine’s magic would not dissipate as easily, we started another conference.
We brought Celine and Tai up to date with our situation.
“… the primary offenders are me, Noam and Utoqa. Given the escalation, and the fact we’ve already killed several people, most of which are guards and militia men, we should be wanted. However you two should be relatively unknown or innocent, an investigation should link us together as a party, but neither of you directly participated in the battles.”
“That’s right, Yellow came by and told us the guards are searching for you three. Though we were mentioned, they don’t know what we look like beyond some vague descriptions,” Celine said.
“We are a new party, that is to our advantage, our composition is not common knowledge, though the Mercenary Guild should have our details, it should similarly be sparse, and show that we have not been together for more than a few weeks,” I nodded. “Despite things going south, you two are still capable of pulling out of this situation. Leaving is an option for you guys, in fact I suggest it, since you two can safely pull out Johnny while the three of us sort out this mess ourselves.”
Noam frowned, glimpsing what I was thinking.
“If they seek you out, you two can give us up. We are a new party formed out of traveling convenience. We do not know each very well and you certainly did not expect three of us to defy a local authority. These things are all true and should pass something like a Zone of Truth spell.”
“I… I can’t give you guys up!” Celine yelled. I felt her fingers tighten around the doll, as if shaking me in surprise.
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“Both Noam and I are Travelers, if worse comes we can discard our current bodies and return as new ones. As for Utoqa, he can just flee the continent. The ones at greatest risk are you two and Johnny. I would not ask you three to risk yourselves like this.”
“Tai! Tell him we can’t do that! We’re friends!”
There was a moment’s pause before Tai answered. “Dustin is right, he can’t expect us to fight with them. The punishment for killing a city guard is execution, but more than our lives, we’re risking our right to be in any city at all. Taebut’s governor will have us blacklisted from every city, township and backwater hovel they share connections with.”
They heard a table slam through the connection, “That being said! There is something extremely odd about the situation. Why would the governor Hye commit so many resources to retrieving a child? Why does she have a demon fragment locked in a basement? There are too many mysteries here, and I want to be able to see this through.”
“Yeah, same here,” Noam stroked his chin. “I have the feeling I just joined a bar fight and I don’t know the argument that started it or who threw the first punch.”
I couldn’t help but quip, “You should be well acquainted with that feeling.”
Noam helplessly threw up his arms, “Guilty, but all the same, I want to know this time. Dustin, you met Hye, what’s your take on her?”
“Careful,” I paused, “considerate and conservative in her actions. She’s working with Travelers, but she doesn’t have good control of them. I was able to rope the monk into a contract and seal his stats, I had the feeling she really didn’t want to start a fight. Either because she knew my capabilities as a mass chemical weapon or because of proximity to the Hearth Church. She seems to have a good grasp on law, perhaps because of her occupation, however she feared my contract magic was rigged.”
There was a potential link there, now that I knew there was a connection with the Hells. However devils were the ones who made contracts. Demons were a different matter.
You couldn’t exactly bargain with natural disasters. Though I suppose doomsday viruses hellbent on the destruction of the virtual world would be more accurate.
Noam tilted his head in thought, he raised an eyebrow, “Do you think she’s the type to shake down an orphanage?”
I raised an eyebrow as well, “What are you insinuating?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “But there are too many strange things happening in this city, and your description doesn’t seem to match. I was half expecting a cartoonishly evil dictator we can just beat up and be done with.”
“What’s a cartoon?” Celine asked.
Tai sighed, “You turn to violence a bit too quickly Noam.”
Noam mimed throwing a few punches, since they could see our dolls. “Like I said, bar fight.”
“And she very well could be,” I cut in, keeping us on track. “Both can be true. Not to mention my own grasp on people is biased and flawed.”
Utoqa was a silent testament to that.
I sighed, “If we’re all in favor of pursuing this, please be aware of the risks. Even if you disagree with my plan, I would like you two to keep the option of betraying us open for yourselves.”
Celine sputtered out a few words of disagreement, but quietened as Tai sighed, “Dustin, I am not that self serving. You had my back at Lake Bayt, so did Utoqa and Noam, that’s worth something.”
My brows deepened to a frown, “We remember Lake Bayt very differently. As far as I remember, I was prepared to leave all of you for dead and run.”
Noam slapped my cap, “And now you’re telling them to do the same thing to you in order to save their own hides. God you’re such an idiot sometimes.” He spoke to the girls, “Sorry for my friend, it really isn’t personal for him, he just expects everyone to think the same as him.”
“I can tell.”
What did they mean by that? I shrugged, “We’re getting off track again, since we’re all in favor of remaining, we need a plan of attack. Let me confirm again, is Johnny safe?”
“Melinda is an odd woman, but she didn’t seem malicious. Quite the opposite in fact.” Tai’s tone turned solemn, “That being said. I was the one who made the call to leave him with her.”
Meaning she’ll take responsibility if something went wrong. It was a risk certainly, however one I was inclined to leave be, not because I trusted this stranger, but because Johnny meeting a woman who shared his powers and deific blessing seemed too coincidental.
Given what I knew about the Scales and the balance of fortune and karma, Johnny should be due a good turn or twenty-seven. I would honestly be more worried about the people who went after him. Grim as they were, the Weeping Child too was a god of orphans.
… Despite its indiscriminate protection. Utoqa’s clone lacked his Path, but even it couldn’t have died easily without a trace. Worst case scenario the entire city gets leveled by a gestalt of ghosts, which Johnny would survive.
“Then let us make plans with peace of mind,” I said.