There was a long silence between Hoalt’s proposal and Prisoner’s answer, filled with a large amount of glances and nervous shifting on Hoalt and Paui’s parts.
“... You really are different, ain’t you?” Prisoner sighed, and blew a silver breath towards Hoalt, who appeared out of the shadows with both of his limbs. The tyrant seemed to be the one surprised by this revelation by the way he looked down at his hands. “Sit down, you old alligator. You’ve got multiple centuries of explainin’ to do.”
“What did you do to me?” Hoalt asked bewilderedly. “I felt my arm being severed.”
“Temporarily severed ain’t permanently removed.” Prisoner waved his hand. “You don’t got that dark curtain of Issi the old you had, and I needed to get you riled up enough to make sure you didn’t just get better at hidin’ it. And sorry for scarin’ you, Paui. had to make it look realistic.”
“Oh, no problem.” Paui muttered between quick, short breaths. “I totally won’t need therapy after that.”
“Dark curtain?” Hoalt asked with confusion. “I don’t understand.”
“Your fang, genius. It taints your Issi for a century whenever it ends someone.” Prisoner held out the vial between two fingers, then it appeared on Hoalt’s desk. “A vial that ain’t been opened in five centuries was almost good enough, but I needed to feel your Issi to make sure you didn’t manage to make more of that.”
“There will never be more of this.” Hoalt said with finality. “But it must be kept as a reminder.”
“Mmhm. Now, how’d you manage to turn this place from a cutthroat competitive merchant capital to the city you’ve got here today?” Prisoner asked in a casual tone that did not match the display of moments ago. “Glasrime’s still neck deep in their old ways, so what spurred the change of heart? And how’d you convince the crew to go along with it?”
“They did not ‘go along with it’.” Hoalt sighed. “They fought tooth and claw, ripping into my newfound desires at every step to keep the old ways in place. They profited from them, and losing profit was akin to the end for them. Multiple horrendous acts of violence on their parts, and one swift and final retaliation on mine later, and Hoalt’s fang was sealed for the last time and change was free to take hold.”
“You murdered all six of your yes men?” Prisoner let out a low whistle. “That’s mighty violent for a turn to peace.”
“Change does not come without sacrifice.” Hoalt said seriously. “If six prevented the flourishing of thousands, what would you do?”
Prisoner shot Sechen a small smile. “Fair point. So how’d you come to that change of heart?”
“It isn’t anything virtuous, if that’s what you’re wondering.” Hoalt chuckled. “It was a mathematical decision that spiraled out of control until my entire view on existence had shattered; I shifted from short-term to long-term growth.”
Prisoner laughed and slapped his knee. “Y’know, that makes way too much sense to be a lie.”
Hoalt returned a smirk. “My inner circle at that time might have been long-lived, but they were still very much mortal. They made decisions that would cripple their great-grandchildren, but would bring them great wealth during their lifetimes. I, however, realized that I would be living alongside those great-grandchildren while my advisors were feeding the worms. They opposed every single proposition I put forward that might hamper growth; not profits, mind you, but growth.”
“What, you hit a critical mass of coin that spurred on that revelation?”
“Yes, actually. And the funny thing is that I still have more coin than I did on that day, even though I’ve invested so much into the growth of the city and its people.” Hoalt sighed wistfully, then shook his head. “Sometimes I find myself wishing it hadn’t come to that, but then I look out over the city from the pillar, and everything feels right. As if this is how it was meant to be. Except for one major pain point.”
“The wolf downstairs.” Prisoner said with a nod. “We’ve met.”
Hoalt snarled and went to spit, but coughed and recomposed himself when he saw the room looking at him. “The stain on everything I’ve worked towards. The Gilded Night was a haven from the Eternals’ influence, where families could live together with their loved ones even after they’d been split by the veil. Now the remnants are the lack of a snapping back and nothing else.”
“I feel for you. Honestly, I do.” Prisoner started to say, but Hoalt wasn’t finished.
“They built an entire school based on devouring wisps. Which I’d worked so damn hard to rid my city of over the centuries.” Hoalt trembled with rage as he spoke, raising his hands from his desk and clamping them together. “Everything good I’ve done up here has been countered by something equally awful down there. Open up trade routes and reduce taxes? They send out pirates, now making coin from protection and the increased taxation. Give my citizens a haven where they don’t have to rush to bond their children with wisps? They send out monsters to sabotage other cities’ bonding trials.”
“You’re ramblin’, so I’m gonna have to cut you off.” Prisoner said as two purple lines ran down Hoalt’s cheeks. “We need your help callin’ one of us back from the between.”
Hoalt grumbled silently and took a deep breath, as if he was centering himself. He then went to speak, but nothing came out.
“Oop, sorry.” Prisoner waved his hand and the purple lines disappeared. “There ya go.”
“You need a tetherbrand.” Hoalt stated. “I can gather the ingredients, but I cannot ask for my citizens to give them up for nothing.”
“And I don’t expect them to.” Prisoner said. “We’ve already gathered four of the ingredients, with a fifth due in two days, but that leaves two unfound along with someone to make and apply the thing. And I know you fit the bill for application.”
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“Six ingredients?” Sechen asked incredulously. “That list had like fifteen things on it!”
“Interchangeable ingredients.” Hoalt answered. “There are only two necessary constants, while the other four only have to meet specific parameters.”
“Oh. Gotcha.” Sechen said. “Sorry for butting in.”
“Nah, my fault for not explainin’ earlier.” Prisoner said. “So, what are we lookin’ at for you to gather those two ingredients, find someone to make the tetherbrand, then apply it yourself?”
Paui let out an exasperated half-screech, drawing the attention of the room. “Am I the only one that’s a little on edge about the fact that that guy,” She thrust a finger at Prisoner accusingly, “just threatened to kill all my friends? And cut off your arm? And you’re just… letting it go!? What the hells!?”
“Seeing it through his eyes, his actions were… understandable.” Hoalt admitted. “Last he remembered, I was a monster. A true monster, Paui. He simply acted in the way he needed to to prevent what he remembered from coming to a boil. I will explain to you fully later, if you truly wish, but it is not a kind story. I am the villain, through and through, and the aftershocks of my actions had rumbled for centuries after.”
“If it’s any consolation, I wasn’t gonna hurt Temmy and the rest of ‘em.” Prisoner said. “They ain’t done nothin’ wrong. I was gonna sever Hoalt’s long-range connections to make him think I’d murdered ‘em, but that was a last resort.”
“Ah yes, such a reassuring sentiment.” Hoalt sighed. “Back to the price; for the ingredients, it will be exactly what my merchants would sell them for. The creation process is something I would trust only to a very select group, so I will have to charge extra for the secrecy that I require to be put in place. That is non-negotiable.”
“I get it.” Prisoner nodded. “Go on.”
“As for the application, that is something I cannot determine until I meet the person who you will be tethering. The process is long and arduous, and could run multiple treasures dry if their Issi type is difficult to work around.” Hoalt gestured at Elach, who was still sprawled over Sechen’s lap. “If you will allow me to study the young man, I can give you an estimate before you leave for the night.”
“Works for me.” Prisoner made a sweeping gesture, and Elach’s body was suddenly lying on Hoalt’s desk. “I ain’t leavin’, though. Just because you ain’t a murderous bastard no more, don’t mean I trust you.”
“A reasonable request.” Hoalt nodded, and Sechen could swear she saw the beginnings of a smile on Hoalt’s face as he studied Elach. “This will take a long moment, if the two of you would prefer to wait somewhere more enjoyable. Runner Paui?”
Paui snapped to attention, “Yes, Emperor Hoalt?”
“You are cleared for leave. Report back once you have decided what form that leave will take.”
“Yes, sir.” Paui said, giving Hoalt a small bow before standing. “Come on, Sechen. Let’s go somewhere we can…” Paui glanced back at Prisoner and shuddered. “Somewhere private.”
----------------------------------------
“So, why’d you want me to keep quiet up until now?” Sechen asked as Paui gingerly closed the door behind her. “You kept shushing me every time I tried to say anything. What’s up?”
“What’s up? What’s up?!” Paui gestured wildly as she searched for words, settling on grabbing onto her short hair in frustration. “I don’t know what’s up! That was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen, and you didn’t even bat an eye! Is that normal for you two?!”
Sechen settled down in a lounge chair next to the indoor pool. The smell of clean water overtook her senses, and she took in a deep breath before she spoke. “I kinda went into defense mode there. Prisoner warned me this might happen, and that I needed to protect sleepy if it went south. So I didn’t really have the space in my brain for fear to press through.”
“Eternals, you’re cracked in the head.” Paui grumbled as she flopped down next to Sechen. She shrugged off her overcoat as she stared wistfully at the waters spilling out of the Issi marked pipes. “But Prisoner… he’s way too strong. Terrifyingly strong. If he decided he was going to follow through on his threats, I’d be dead. And so would all of my friends.”
“He said he was bluffing.” Sechen pointed out.
“A practitioner’s only as good as their word. That applies to their threats, too.” Paui shivered. “I didn’t doubt for one second that he was going to kill all of us if Hoalt couldn’t prove he’d changed.”
A short pause, filled with tense emotion elongated the space between words. Sechen looked back at those few minutes, and she felt something stirring in her memories. But like water without a guiding pipe, those volatile memories sprayed out and evaporated into nothing before they could be shaped into anything significant. Raindrops falling over ruins.
“I didn’t either. And believe me, that helpless feeling goes both ways.” Sechen examined the back of her manifested hand. “I’m weak. Absurdly weak. The only thing I’ve got going for me is manipulating my base Issi, and now this manifestation. I barely have any focii, my container and headspace are pretty much the same size as the day I became a practitioner, and up until about a week ago I would’ve died if I had to go without Issi for two hours.”
Paui nodded in sympathy, looking like she wanted to say something. Sechen waited a moment to see if she would speak, and with a nervous chuckle Paui did.
“I’m not a fighter. Fluidity Issi’s good for running and dodging, but it doesn’t have any power behind it. Everyone else uses weapons, but the last time I touched a spear I managed to impale my own leg. And I would be missing three fingers if our stitcher wasn’t there from my last run in with a sword.” Paui raised her left hand and wiggled her pinky, ring finger, and middle finger, each of which had a white ring around them close to the palm. “They called me clumsy.”
“I thought it’d be impossible to be clumsy with fluidity Issi.” Sechen said.
“I thought so too. But lo and behold, after trying to train with each and every weapon in our mobile armory, I couldn’t make use of any of them. So here I am.” Paui sighed and leaned back. “Taken off the front lines so I can try and get another bond.”
“Don’t most people get their second bond in their, like, late twenties at the absolute earliest? I thought you were only here for a little bit.”
“I didn’t want to look like a failure.” Paui admitted. “But I figured, what’s the point of trying to look good any more? I’m going to be stuck here for the next decade, and we probably won’t ever see each other again after this, so why not vent a little?”
“Ah, a fellow failure.” Sechen smirked. “If I had a drink, I’d offer a toast.”
“You know what?” Paui reached around the back of her chair and fumbled around for something. “Not there, not there, which pocket did I put this thing in… ah. Here we go.” Paui turned to Sechen and smiled, a single coin in her hand that was the inverse of the colours of a normal Gilded Night coin. She stepped up to the wall and pressed the coin into an indent Sechen hadn’t noticed, a projected screen popping up over it. “This is probably the only night I’ll get to have fun like this, so why not? What’s your favorite wine?”
“I’m more of a mead girl, if you’ve got it. Anything sweet, really.”
“I can do that.” Paui said, putting her finger into the projected light and writing a name. “Someone’ll be here in a second, but if we start drinking in here they’ll shut down the pool. Want to move to the hot springs?”
“Oh, yeah.” Sechen said with a smile, swinging her legs out to the side. “I would like that very much.”