Crow had known Unity would be displeased by the result of their vote. The boy had been one for caution since they’d met, and he wasn’t surprised to see that much remaining constant in the weeks since.
Still, he’d not been prepared for the exact extent of the artificial’s rejection.
For hours the boy lurked in the same rooms as Crow, hinting or outright suggesting that he allow his place to be taken by another, or else merely bringing poisonous doubt with his presence alone.
At first Crow tried to ignore him, but that quickly proved impossible. Unity was far too adept a needle.
Soon he tried reasoning with his teammate, aiming to change his mind and dissuade him from the issue. That was no more doable, for his mind was set to the task like steel.
By midday, Crow had come to accept that he’d find no peace from the boy. Resigned himself to simply grow used to ignoring his jabs and jibes, taking solace in the fact that, no matter what more happened, he was finally guaranteed a chance to compete for the Sieve’s remainder.
Still he found his own mind a torturous foe, dredging up regrets at not sharing the truth sooner as he wondered what more might have been done had he chosen to. Astra knew already, and she was certainly a better fighter than him.
The regret was like acid between his teeth, and Crow chewed away at it until the sun was farther west than east. It was then that Unity approached him again, carrying an altogether different bearing and wearing a joviality he’d been bereft of since the vote.
“Hello Crow.” The boy smiled, fingers dancing compulsively as he spoke. “Are you free for another drink tonight? I thought it might be good to have one more before you begin your tasks, there’ll likely be no time for it afterwards.”
Crow’s instincts wrestled at the question. He recalled the fun they’d had last time, recalled the joyous haze of drink even more, but it was clear to him why the boy asked.
To accept would be to subject himself to an evening of further protests and attempts at reason.
Just as he began to say no, Crow weighed the rest of Unity’s words. Mind turning ahead to the remaining tasks and worry striking him like a rockslide.
Somehow he’d gone almost an entire day without truly thinking about what it was he’d fought to do, and the worries came as if to make up for lost time.
“That sounds good.” He answered. Unity’s smile seemed wide and innocent, carrying not a trace of the usual twisted mischief that punctuated his every expression. It only made Crow distrust him all the more.
And yet he alone would fight two more tasks, bleed and break in the search of victory against foes far in excess of his abilities. He hadn’t the heart to deny his teammate a drink while he subjected him to watching.
“Excellent.” Unity beamed. “Are you free to leave now? I don’t have any plans for where we’ll head, can’t really be picky with the city as it is.”
Crow agreed, and after asking for only a few more minutes to get changed he was off through the Crux beside Unity, walking and talking as they used to.
To his surprise, the conversation stayed far from the Sieve. Turning instead to other matters, shared interests they’d learned of in their weeks of familiarity, famous figures Unity had met in person. Even politics, so much as Crow’s knowledge would allow. Before long, he found himself asking Unity to share more of what he’d seen across the world.
The boy agreed, and half the walk passed amid tales of sprawling lakes, towering cliffs and the thousand other natural wonders he’d seen throughout Mirandis.
Every fifty paces seemed to bring something new from the boy’s bottomless memory. Monuments, ruins, innovations, murels. Even natural things, shaped, rather than made, through the touch of mysticism.
Crow listened in fascination, his awe growing with every story as he realised just how travelled his teammate was. A few times Unity stopped, asking if he’d like to share something instead, uncharacteristically embarrassed to be speaking so much.
Each time Crow asked him to continue. He could think of nothing at all he might say that could compare to half the things Unity had seen.
They’d neared the Crux’s exit when something occurred to Crow, giving him pause as it flashed in his mind.
“Hold on a second, I’d like to go and bring Rajah and Amelia along if you don’t mind going back for it.”
The artificial stared at him, surprise wrenching eyebrows up and jaw down.
“Are you sure? We’re already nearly half there, it’s a damned long walk back.”
A half mile at most.” Crow shrugged. “And yes I am sure, I think I’d like to drink with them one last time before the action kicks off.” He paused, finding his words reluctant to leave. “And this might be the last chance we get. They’ll be fighting each other in the Sieve, for all I know one will kill the other. Besides, I said I’d visit Amelia. I’ve only been to see her once.”
That seemed to tip the scales in Unity’s face, a sigh making his reluctance clear.
“Fine then. Let’s go.”
Backtracking seemed to have taken what little remained of Unity’s interest in storytelling, and yet the boy had surprised Crow with questions about his own home. At first he’d assumed the artificial merely joked, but he insisted on hearing about it.
“Are you sure?” Crow asked. “It’s completely mundane, anyone who’s seen a tenth of what you have would be bored mindless by it.”
“Just start talking.” Unity answered in frustration. “Start with whatever you want, it’s your turn to share in any case.”
So Crow did. He spoke of the people in Selsis, their unerring friendliness. Spoke of the town’s meetings, where children would play on the green or sit for theatre before the great scrying slate. He spoke of the excitement journeying peddlers brought as they made the rare trips along its road, of the awe Crow himself had always taken to see such exotic men coming from perhaps half the distance he’d moved to reach Udrebam.
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Unity listened with what Crow assumed was patience, yet he soon realised the boy was genuinely interested in his account. And as Crow struggled to think of more details, the artificial directed him with questions.
Prompted by them, Crow described his upbringing. Rivalries with Astra, fights with the slower children of the village who’d thrown their weight around and not thought to stop when confronted by a mystic. Speaking at length, finding a smile growing on his own face as he revisited memories that had lain dormant for years.
Soon his account came to Galad, and Crow felt his voice weaken with emotion. He shook his head in silence after that, telling Unity with his eyes and face alone that he would say no more.
The pain was too much for him to revisit. Every memory of his stolen uncle still burned his heart like hot coals.
Luck was with him, for they found the other teams’ corridors soon after that. The walk inside gave Crow just enough time to bury the cocktail of thoughts threatening to overfill him.
Both Amerlia and Rajah were in their rooms, eager to join him. Surprisingly, however, the walk back through the Crux brought another as Deka caught up from behind, asking if she was welcome and accompanying them too.
The party travelled with a brisker pace and greater energy than Unity and Crow alone, and before long the melancholy of their reminiscence was buried by laughter.
It paused only as they came to the exit, halted by a line of fearsome looking men wielding blunderbusses in tight grips. The confrontation with them was brief, and headed by Unity alone. By its end they practically had to drag the boy away as the guards insisted, again, that they remain for their own safety.
Unity’s mood sweetened again once they were out of sight, though, and he took the lead with an oddly purposeful march.
Conversation was easy for the most part. Both Amelia and Rajah had plenty to speak with Crow about, though little with one another. Deka took an uncharacteristic activity in bridging the gap between them and Unity, however disinterested the boy seemed in crossing it.
By the time they were at their destination, the Sieve had still gone unmentioned. Crow recognised the silent agreement at work.
Cool air greeted Crow like early winter as they entered a sprawling stone chamber in Unity’s wake, and he was pleased to see the place empty besides themselves. It was a looming room with a high ceiling and many disused stools lining its corners, a storage room if he ever saw one. To his surprise Unity gestured at them before heading out.
“I’ll be back soon.” The boy explained, hurriedly. He was gone before any could question him, yet returned before their chairs could even warm. Hands bundled around a trove of food and wines, grin as triumphant as ever.
“Where did you get that?” Deka asked, suddenly on edge. Unity’s smile seemed to fatten on her concern.
“The organisers’ personal stores.” He cackled. “Not so heavily guarded, after the incident, and still well stocked for us all. Figured if the bastards were intent to lock us up, I might collect some payment for my trouble.”
“You know there are cafeterias free for us to access.” Rajah sighed. Unity stared at him like he was a great fool.
“Of course I do, but eating there wouldn’t fuck over the organisers, you see.”
He’d already begun tucking in before any could answer him, and the matter died at that. They sat eating for some time, food and wines good enough to leave little room for speech. It was only when the silence grew unpleasant that Crpw broke it with a question.
“Amelia, how are you feeling?” He asked. “About your fight with the alphoe and… what happened to your teammate.”
Crow eyed Unity as he asked the question, remembering only then that it was his own teammate who’d accidentally killed the boy. Suddenly worrying for the confrontation that might boil up.
His fears proved ill founded, for Amelia answered only with a shrug.
“Oh I’m fine. I’ve healed from that fight, and I barely knew Bim anyway so I don’t mind that much.”
She seemed oblivious to Crow’s stare, turning instead to Rajah and speaking as chirpily as ever.
“You’re really powerful.”
The Jyptian was without words, green eyes wide with uncertainty as he stared at her. Crow might have enjoyed the novelty of seeing Rajah speechless, had Amelia’s unnerving answer not still haunted him.
“Thank you.” The boy said at last, shifting uncomfortably as he spoke.
Amelia, blissfully unaware, pressed on.
“You’re more powerful than I am, I think. I’ll probably lose our fight.”
She spoke so matter of factly that Crow almost failed to notice the conversational door opening to the Sieve. If Amelia had intended for it, she gave no indication.
“I hope you’re right.” Rajah answered, uncertainty still evident on his face even through the glowing smile he affixed to it. The expression was bright enough that Crow almost missed its strain.
“Personally I hope you have a long and difficult fight.” Unity declared. “Filled with exciting back and forths, with both of you getting the chance to showcase every last scrap of your power as you drive one another to the edge.”
Turning her pitch-eyed gaze to the artificial, Amelia answered his words with a cheerful grin of her own.
“Thank you!” She beamed. Crow almost winced.
“He’s saying that he hopes both of you injure one another so that I have an advantage in the next task, Amelia.” He said, almost feeling guilty for spoiling the girl’s happiness.
“That doesn’t get rid of the nice part though.” She answered. Crow marvelled once again at the sheer peculiarity of her, wishing she’d been less tight-fisted about her homeland. He’d die to know whether her behaviour was the norm someplace else.
Frowning slightly, Amelia grew thoughtful for a moment.
“I would like a difficult fight.” She said, voice softer than before, somehow absent. Seemingly echoing behind a wall of thought. “I’d heard so many impressive things about Sieves, but so far this one’s been easy.”
A silence fell at that. Crow found himself without words, and he saw his mood mirrored in Deka. He guessed she was no more comfortable with the casual dismissal of Astra’s prowess than he. Even Unity appeared irked.
Only Rajah remained unaffected by the girl’s brazen declaration, meeting it like a challenge. Without fear or hostility.
“Well, I can promise you that our fight will be exciting to say the least. If you’re pessimistic because of the performance you saw me give in the last task, it’s a mistake.”
There was a conviction to Rajah’s words that left Crow suddenly wary, piercing the good natured atmosphere about the table. It was a certainty he’d seen mirrored only in Astra, tinged with a confidence that might have better fit Gem.
It was then that the tone lulled, picked up quickly by Unity. Crow noticed he’d downed half again as much wine as any of the others, apparently eager for a quick start into drunkenness.
Surprising Crow, the boy turned to Deka as he spoke.
“You’ve been quiet.” He noted. “As quiet as usual, which I for one think defeats the entire purpose of being here. Why exactly did you agree to accompany us if you’ve no interest in speaking?”
The slight girl tapped her fingers idly as she answered.
“I’m waiting for something worth saying to pop into my head, you might want to give that practice a try.”
She grinned scandalously as the group hooted, and though clearly the joke’s subject, Unity seemed more amused than any other by her response.
“Oh I see now.” He grinned. “You realised I’d be getting terribly drunk and decided to take the chance to get the better of me in a contest of wit. Admirably calculating of you, Xenus.”
Crow was surprised by how good natured the counter seemed, more surprised still to see it set the tone for the rest of their conversation. Tension he’d not even recognised began to leave him as he felt himself ease into the situation, and it wasn’t long before he was laughing more heartily than any other.
That their meal was free surely helped.