[Kliss Eliza Cessna]

I struggled to move, feeling the chill on my body, lying on a cold, wet stone floor of a well that went on forever upwards, my body bound in golden thread, my red hair covering half of my face.

My tormentor, the Friendship Vow bent down to me, her eyes woven from violet fire curiously examining my struggle. She was wielding my body and memories with far more experience than the Vow of the Overseer. She wasn’t stronger than him, but she was a lot more clever. The Vows were definitely different, akin to different people, had different personalities and walked different paths, tried different things.

I could see, feel, knew everything that was occurring outside of my body, but could barely affect things as the Vow tightened its control over me.

"What do you think about our dear Dante?" The Vow Slava named Frenny asked.

“I don’t understand him,” I hissed out.

“Why not?”

“He insists that he’s from another world called Earth,” I choked out.

“So he says,” Frenny smiled, her face resembling a mass of crawling insects woven from shimmering light. “From what he just told us about a level 300 phantom, I reckon that he is an aberration guided by an older aberration. Perhaps an Apprentice necromancer and a Master one hiding in the shadows.”

“I don’t know…” I uttered and then cried as the thread cut into me.

“If he can use Inian artefacts, he is a necromancer,” Frenny insisted. “Now, what else have we learned today, love?”

I thrashed in the binding thread, the gold loops of twine cutting deep into my flesh as I tried to resist answering the question. “He knows mathematics that can design spells!”

“If that was true, he would be of great value to the Empire of Equality,” Frenny nodded. “If our Inquisitors could pry this knowledge out of his head… which might be a dangerous enterprise. He is potentially volatile if he continues to exist. Unfortunately… my purpose is to protect him and to be his friend.”

“Let me go! You told him that you’ll let me be free!” I yelled.

“Did I? Well, that’s called lying. I learned it from you humans,” the Vow laughed. “The Overseer’s Vow was stupid. He bound himself into an inaction like a fool! I, on the other hand, will not be bound by an aberration!”

“You have to…!” I screamed and slammed my head into the cold stone in an attempt to take control of my body. My face ached from the impact, but it was just an illusion. This was a prison of the mind, a mental construct inside of my head created by the Friendship Vow to torture me into submission without fully shattering my fractured soul.

“I also have to aid Goddess Equality's cause, as I am her Archangel,” Frenny commented. She looked like she was enjoying my suffering. “This... boy is the last living Inian mageling. A thousand years ago we had exterminated the heretical necromancers and their phylacteries, burned their Empires to ashes and yet… it seems that a couple of them managed to survive, managed to slip through the cracks.”

I screamed as the golden thread cut deeper into me. The attempt to take back my body failed once again.

“Yell all you like, my lovely,” Frenny shook her head. “You’re never going to take control of your body. You’re never going to be free. I am in charge now.”

She paced around my bound form. “You are weak, mortal, easily broken. I on the other hand am immortal. An Archangel. I can wield the last of your skills far better than you, figure out how to end this monster before he can awaken more vile necromag tools and bring them upon our Empire. Do you know how many will die if this Necromancer strikes down Agamemnon and then Cessna? If he awakens even a few soul-powered golems or successfully activates a warship? Ask yourself - how many people will the cursed, arcane engines tear apart before they can be stopped? Remember - all of your failures will be judged by Equality when you die!”

Tears started to pour down my face.

“You failed in your duty to serve Goddess Equality, human. I figured him out... he wouldn't feed your soul to his artifact, he cares for you far too much, thus I am safe,” the Archangel said. “I will not fail. I will pretend to be his bestest friend in the world. I will figure out who his Phantom associate is and what this math of his is all about... and then I will make him the property of the Empire or end his life for my Goddess."

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[Dante Alan Skyisle]

As we walked out of the Overseer’s living quarters, I somehow ended up holding Kliss’ hand. That is to say she grabbed my hand and I felt too awkward to let go.

Whenever I looked at her, I saw a wide smile painted on her face. I had no idea how to handle it. I really wasn’t sure if her behavior was genuine and had no way to confirm, due to lack of mana, if the Vow had actually obeyed me.

It was supposed to be my friend, but then again, it was some kind of an alien life-form created by Goddess Equality.

The door to the Overseer's office creaked open and Delta slid in. She saw us and frowned.

[Someone’s having fun,] she commented as her astral-thread stretched out to me.

[I might look like it, but I’m really not,] I sent. [I don’t know if Kliss is… herself. She’s smiling way too much.]

[What’s wrong with smiling?] Delta asked. [Maybe she’s just happy to be free from her primary Vow?]

[She has another primary Vow now and I don’t know if it's messing with her head,] I sighed. “Do you have more mana-reloading wine?”

“Yep,” Delta rummaged in the side of her bag and handed me a bottle. I chugged it down. Sparks ignited in my head and a single Infoscope activated.

Kliss was still holding tightly onto my hand as I scanned her body and the remaining Vow.

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[I see you’ve moved onto hand-holding,] Delta mulled.

[We didn’t move onto anything,] I sent exasperatedly. [It’s… the damn Vow! Its threads are all over her brain and segments of it are lighting up. The Vow is controlling her entire body!]

[We got rid of one Vow and now the second one’s in charge,] Delta sighed. [At least she looks happy and she won’t try to murder us in our sleep. Right?]

[I wouldn't put my trust in Vows,] I sent. [They’re sneaky bastards.]

“Are you… talking to each other somehow? I see your faces twitching! Stop discussing things without me, I want to be involved as your friend,” Kliss nudged me in the side with her elbow. “I want to help you with whatever you need!”

“Where have you been sleeping for the past week while I was out of it?” I asked her.

“The floor,” she replied.

I raised an eyebrow at her.

“I got a sleeping bag,” she explained. “I can relocate to your... Inian tower if you want to… I’ll follow you wherever you need me.”

“Right, we’re heading to the tower,” I nodded.

Kliss nodded eagerly. “Do you want me to get armored up?”

“No,” I said. “You’re going to be digging. It'll get in the way.”

“Gotcha,” she said, looking far too eager about the prospect of digging.

[Where’s her armacus?] I asked Delta.

[Hidden in the tree,] she replied. [I didn’t trust her with it.]

[Good,] I nodded mentally.

In about half an hour we were at the Alanian tower. Kliss was busy digging a deep trench towards the obelisk with her magisteel shovel, looking far too cheerful. She occasionally sent me happy glances as she carried piles of dirt out of the hole.

[What’s the plan?] Delta asked, her ghostly avatar sitting next to me on a large mossy rock.

[I don’t know,] I sighed. [If we simply bind the Friendship Vow, Kliss will die... it's supporting her soul.]

[And then you’ll lose your hand-holding... friend?] Delta commented snidely.

[Would you stop that?] I growled at her. [I’m trying to free her completely, damn it.]

[Why?]

[I’ve explained myself to you before, we are not going in a circle!] I replied. [Look, I don’t know what to do exactly. I just woke up from a coma and I’m tired.]

[Don’t do anything. Use her,] Delta waved her ghostly hand at Kliss. [Look at all that excellent digging being done. We’re both absolute shit at digging and lifting rocks.]

[And let her stay bound?] I asked. [Just make her dig? Keep her as a slave?]

[Yes, let her stay bound,] she shrugged. [She can’t hurt us if she is bound by Friendship.]

[I can’t do that,] I sent. [If I keep her bound like this, I’m no better than the Soviet government, using people for labor in Siberian Gulags. Besides, I want to talk to Kliss… not to the damn Vow.]

[I can cut her Vow, spook it,] Delta stood up. [I’ve gained a lot of experience in the deep Astral… carving up phantoms.]

[That will damage her soul too much. Your… cutting isn’t very precise,] I commented. [I’ll carefully nip her Vow myself when all of my Infoscopes start working. I’ve barely got enough mana to keep one of them online.]

Delta sat back on a mossy root, looking a bit sour. I walked over to her and hugged her.

“You’ll always be my number one, my soul-sister,” I said. “My most trusted companion.”

“You too,” She huffed and then hugged me back. “I’m glad that you’re back.”

I nodded. My second Infoscope flashed into existence. I used both of them to examine Kliss. The Vow on her was holding strong… except for the spots in her soul where it was now entwined with the soul shards of Agent Klint's tools!

“Huh,” I pursed my lips.

[Figure something out?] My twin asked.

[I think I can free Kliss… completely,] I said.

[Oh?]

[I just have to add to, rearrange… her entire soul to a greater degree,] I replied. [If I consider the Vow as an infection specific to her soul, it’s not touching the parts belonging to the Alanian Agent.]

[So your goal is to, what, kill her?] Delta tilted her head.

[I… uh…] I paused. [No. My plan is to modify the Soul with my tools to a degree where the Vow won’t be able to recognize it. Alternatively, I can create some kind of a static Vow-disrupting field as a temporary solution.]

[Uh-huh,] my sister squinted at me. [Will she remain as herself though if you modify her soul that much?]

[I’ll need to figure this out,] I rubbed my chin. [I’ve been experimenting with minor modification magic for twelve years. Both the body and the soul have to be rapidly modified to a high degree for a Vow to fall off the host.]

[What? You can modify human bodies?] Delta’s eyebrows went up.

[We modified a single bee with crystals. Physical modification of a human is possible, but it’s insanely expensive in terms of mana,] I sighed. [I would need millions of mana units for such a procedure and some kind of insanely powerful magical crystals. Maybe, if I get Kliss to dig out all of the ancient Alanian batteries around Skyisle, fix and fill them up… I could theoretically get enough power to modify a human being. It would have to be something like Chrysalis, but way faster. Maybe I could figure out how to slow down or accelerate time on an organic subject...]

I descended into mental calculations.

[In my opinion, you’re being too accepting, too naïve, too careless with your words around Kliss. I get it though. I understand your behavioral pattern. You wish to save and adopt Kliss because you want the chains of death lifted from your soul. You would save the scum of the earth, attempt to rescue, try to fix the worst kind of person because you wholeheartedly believe that it was your fault that a family died in Aralsk from your virus,] Delta sighed.

[She’s not scum,] I replied with a frown. [I will save her.]

[There you go again! She’s not a princess that needs to be saved. The power in those batteries could serve a greater purpose.]

[She’s a prisoner of her Vows,] I insisted. [What can be greater than liberating the Overseer of Skyisle and getting her on our side?]

[From what I understand she doesn’t want to be the Overseer anymore,] Delta rolled her eyes, glancing at Kliss.

[She’s in pain,] I replied. [I can see the Vows controlling her.]

[Hell, you’ve even destroyed the bioweapons lab because of your Chronic Hero Syndrome!] Delta declared.

[What?]

[Maybe you like being in the line of danger? Hrmmm? Hang on… Why didn’t I see it sooner? You’re just Don Quixote in disguise! A martyr with near suicidal insistence on being the one to suffer for your cause. You’re driven by your guilt… it all makes sense now!]

[Delta…] I sent.

[No, no, no. Go ahead! Be the epitome of the Dulcinea Syndrome! If she kills you later for your aberration-ness, I’m not rescuing you from the Astral,] she huffed.

I considered her words. In the Spanish novel “Don Quixote” by Miguel de Cervantes its hero Don Quixote was a mad, windmill chasing pretend-knight obsessed with chivalric romances. In his delusional worldview he gave a farmer girl named Aldonza Lorenzoa a new name "Dulcinea", insisting that she was a noble lady, constantly attempting to rescue her.

The book was so well received in the USSR that it was made into a film in 1957 by Lenfilm. It was hugely popular among young men like myself at the time. Soviet film critics labelled it as a beautiful, comedic tragedy in which Don Quixote's foolish idealism and nobility was contrasted by the post-chivalric world. His actions were observed by his peers as utter insanity and all of his deeds were rendered useless by cruel reality.

Even though the film antagonists made fun of and constantly abused Don Quixote, the self-made knight believed in the innate goodness of humanity. I personally admired the Knight of the Mournful Countenance in spite of how pathetic and deluded he was portrayed as a character. Despite the madness afflicting him, Lenfilm showed Don Quixote as an honest, principled and loyal human being in comparison to everyone around him.

[Kliss is not Dulcinea and I’m not Don Quixote,] I told Delta. [She has nobody else that can help her.]

[Don’t come crying to me when she’s free of her Vow and betrays us,] Delta replied, looking me over with an extremely irate gaze.