{-Jacqueline-}
It was by what she was only comfortable calling the blessing of the gods themselves that she and Neville were able to convince Askel not to return to Kevabel. They’d parted ways at the end of the day, with Askel staying in the ruin they’d brought him to and the Messengers saying that they were going to check out another for him. What they actually did was quite simple: they headed back and tried to determine their next course of action.
Unfortunately, just making sure they had all the necessary information to even start deciding that course of action lasted until the sun rose again.
Verity let out a frustrated sigh. “Are we finally done? We’ve collected nearly all the information we could find in this place, along with everything else we might need to get rid of. Do we know enough that we can just burn it all already?”
Neville looked over some of the notes he’d made while they talked; he was able to borrow the supplies from Askel, so that they made sure that they left nothing out of consideration. “I believe we are able to make a thorough evaluation now, yes. Though I would like to point out that simply setting the place ablaze will not solve our problems—there are some things that will not burn. Even aside from that, there are curious mortals who will attempt to learn the truth if they have reason to believe it wasn’t natural. Thus, we have to make sure we’re careful.”
“What do you think we should do?” Jacqueline didn’t have any ideas herself; most of her time had been worrying about whether or not Askel would actually stay gone. A lot of their plan relied on the fact he stayed away, after all, and she didn’t like what they’d have to do in the alternatives.
“If we go about it the right way, we should be able to look like most of it was lost by natural means,” Neville explained. “Phoenixes, tornadoes—with some Fire and Wind magic, that shouldn’t be too difficult to replicate. But it will cause some damage to the surrounding areas, and it’s going to alert others to what we’re doing. Because of that, we need to make sure that no one is here when we do it, and that we leave as soon as possible again.”
“So let’s just do it now,” Verity said. “Simple as that. We destroy what we need to, get out, and return to Sanctuary.” She touched the charm again. “Unless Kiri has some input for us?”
There was just silence on the other side. Kiri must’ve still been busy—that was the only explanation any of them were going to let linger.
Not that they weren’t soon given something else to focus on.
“You… you plan to destroy this place?”
Jacqueline felt her heart sink when she heard that voice, and she dreaded looking to actually see its owner—Askel, right in front of them, and likely having heard a bit more than he was supposed to.
“Certainly, I heard you wrong?” he prompted. “I was under the impression that we were all people brought together by the lure of knowledge! Tell me that I misheard you now, and not that you had never meant anything else you said!”
The Messengers looked between each other. It was clear immediately what Verity wanted to do—the same thing she’d been encouraging them to do since the beginning. But Jacqueline hoped her own look could speak for her; gave all of the reasons why they couldn’t do that. This man has a family—a life. We can’t take that away from him.
The amount of time it took for any of them to answer Askel’s question must’ve been enough of an answer to him. Still, Neville eventually said, “We do strive to find out what we can about the world, but we are also aware of the things that are better left lost to time. As much as it pains me to say it, despite all that will be lost… we understand that this is one of those places.”
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Askel shook his head. “But what about all of this knowledge? How are we supposed to know that it should be gotten rid of, if we don’t even know what’s in it? Who gets to decide what stays and what goes, anyway? The whims of however people hope to forge their image into, so that their kin will remember them in only the way that they wanted them to?”
“I understand that it is hard, but it is something that must be done,” Neville maintained. “We know what is hidden here, and we know that it shouldn’t be uncovered by mortals. The extent of it is… something I’m afraid I can’t tell you. You’re simply going to have to believe in what we’re telling you.”
Verity sighed. She snapped her fingers and a flame emerged from them. “If we were able to get this done any other way, we would’ve done it by now. Let’s just kill this guy, get rid of what we need to, and get this whole thing done and over with.”
“No,” Neville and Jacqueline said in unison.
“Now, what would you want to kill me for?” Despite the situation at hand, Askel seemed to be taking it all rather well. Or, perhaps, he didn’t quite see the purpose behind it all. “Surely I didn’t do that much to get on your bad side? Or is there another reason you’re doing all of this..?”
“The simple answer is that, yes, we do have some ulterior motives,” Neville tried. “It was something we were trying to warn you about from the beginning. Unfortunately, we—“
“Should honestly just end things now because this is getting nowhere.” Verity flicked her hand and let the flame in it grow bigger. “I’m going to need you to drop your bag right there. Take out what you need to make it to the next town over, and leave.”
Askel cautiously raised a brow. “Or else..?”
“You’re not going to like what the alternative is, trust me. So just do it.”
Just as soon as Jacqueline thought of saying something, she caught the glances of Neville and Verity, and she had to admit… Verity was right. Perhaps this really was the only way that they were going to get him to stay away.
Askel seemed to be realizing that, too, as he looked between the three of them. Slowly, he nodded, and slid his bag off and onto the ground. Still, it didn’t keep him from muttering, “I truly did think that you were here for a good reason. To think I could’ve been deceived like this… that you likely didn’t mean so much of what you had told me…”
“This is for the best,” Jacqueline mumbled, if not just to reassure herself. When Verity stepped a bit closer to Askel’s bags, she asked, “What are you doing..? Isn’t letting him sort through his things enough?”
“We’ve got to make sure he doesn’t try to sneak anything out,” was Verity’s simple answer. She glared at Askel. “What do you think you’ll need to make it to the next town? I’ll make sure you get all of it. Then I’m burning the rest.”
Defeated, he said, “About two days of rations—they’re all labeled in that pocket there. And there’s… one more thing I’d like. I brought a trinket from one of my coworkers along with me. It’s in the pouch on the side. Could I have that, as well? It’s something like a good luck charm of mine. I’d hate to be without it.”
“We should be able to let him keep it,” Neville whispered to Verity. “I can’t see how something like that would do any harm.”
“You’re both too sentimental,” she grumbled. Thankfully, however, she still pulled out the charm and set it with the rations.
When she finished, she pulled the rest of the bag a little further away before setting it on fire. “Get going. We don’t want anything else to happen, now do we?”
“No,” Askel mumbled, “we don’t. I would like to say it was nice meeting the three of you but given the circumstances, well… I don’t think you can blame me for withholding that kind of pleasantry.”
“Just go.”
“I’m going.”
With a half-hearted wave, he gathered up what comparatively little he was allowed to keep and left.
“I hope that’s enough to keep him out of the way…” Jacqueline said, nervously shuffling. “I don’t want to see him get hurt.”
Verity turned around, back towards the center of the ruin. “If he tries despite all of this, the world might be better off with one less idiot in it. Let’s just do our part so we can be done here.”
Neville nodded. “Yes, let’s get to work.”