Chapter 40: Problems

“What did you need to talk about?” asked Damien.

After Animus left them alone, Damien and Krista found a high sand dune to stand underneath. At this point, it was still too early to retreat to their tent, so this was the next most private place.

“Your behavior, mostly,” Krista replied sternly. “Animus just told me that you’ve tried to well, assassinate Dante six times since we left Aurora. That was only two weeks ago! Did you try every other day?”

“Are you saying I should have tried more?”

“No, you dolt! Damien, what’s going on with you? First, you reveal your animosity towards the group, and even though you tried to explain it away, I bet you were lying through your teeth. Then, you go around antagonizing them for no real reason. Now, I hear you’ve actually been trying to kill their boss!”

“It’s fine, there’s less than a week’s worth of travel until we reach Soaring Sun, and like I said before, since we started out with Shining Twilight knowing that I hate them, I can pretty much get away with doing anything. Especially if we keep showing off our capabilities, only makes them want to recruit us more even with the danger.”

“Do you even hear yourself? I mean, what if you’re wrong? How much more of this do you think they could take before Raven or Animus puts a knife to someone’s throat?”

“If worse comes to worse, I’d figure something out, I always do.”

“Idiot, it’s not you who I’m worried about! Can you get that through your thick skull? Your actions are also putting us in danger. I don’t even care if it was just me, but we have Amelia, Fierce, Terra, Nightshade, even Matilda. We are supposed to be a team, but it really feels like you’re just throwing a tantrum here.”

“A tantrum!” Damien exploded ready to defend himself when he really took a hard look at Krista. Her words, although quiet to maintain privacy, were stern and full of furry, but Damien already knew they came from a place of love. Instead of lashing out, he retreated inward and turned away from her. “You… you just don’t understand what these people have put me through, and I hope you never will have to.”

“No, I’d like to know, so please try to tell me if you can,” Her words were calm, devoid of any of the fire from before. She knew what it felt like to feel alone, and she could see it in his body language that this is what he felt.

It took him a bit, but finally Damien spoke out, “Shining Twilight… I think… I think that they were the best thing that could have happened for me.”

“The best?” Krista questioned, puzzled at what he just said. “You told me that they were invading onto your land. That your parents died in a war against them. Was that a lie?!”

Damien slumped down his hands meekly covering his head, “That’s the worst part, all of that is true, yet I still feel the same.”

Krista could tell that there was far more to this story, so she sat down next to him, “I’m here.”

Damien sighed heavily, “You’d think being the prince of the most powerful nation in Journey would be enough for someone. Sometimes I amaze myself just how greedy I can be.”

“You’re the same as me, aren’t you? You didn’t want the life that was planned out for you. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“That’s just it, and it’s going to sound like I’m insulting you, but I don’t think I would have been able to drop everything and leave like you did. See, I do think there was something wrong with running from my responsibilities.”

“Not really an answer I’d expect from you. Why is it so wrong anyway? It’s not like you could have chosen who you were born to, but you’re human, shouldn’t you be allowed to try and find your own happiness.”

“See, we had two very different upbringings. You had the right to leave because your parents held you in captivity. I was giving everything I could want and more.”

“You still have the right to find your own happiness!”

Damien could only smile at her resoluteness, “Krista, you must have noticed that a lot of my skills are less than savory.”

“Animus also mentioned that Raven and Cleo were missing some jewelry.”

“Guilty,” he said with a laugh. “After Shining Twilight, all I had was my grandfather, and to protect ourselves from the turmoil due by the power vacuum left by my parent, we left the country. We even kept our identities hidden for the added security, though that did cause problems once we got to Sheildon.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“That’s where you became a common thief?”

“No, more than that, I wasn’t common at all. I was pretty good at what I did, probably one of the best. Sheildon wasn’t so accommodating to immigrants, and a man has to find some way to eat. Life was also pretty garbage, my boss might have been the scummiest person on earth, my home looked like Jhandis’s house, only messier, and I lived through each day being chased by a man who wants nothing more to see me beheaded.”

“Yet, Shining Twilight was the best thing to ever happen to you?”

“Yes, they were because I hated the peacefulness of my life until then. When I was five or six, I ran into a gang of child criminals and due to some confusion, ended up joining with them for nearly three years. Everyday was something new, some new danger, some new person to steal from, or some rival gang to crush.”

“You liked the life.”

“I loved the life!”

“I think I’m seeing a pattern, danger and an enemy. Those rival gangs, your scummy boss, and now Dante. You want, no, I think you need an enemy; is that why you keep antagonizing them?”

“What are you, a shrink?”

“No, just a person with two working ears and eyes,” Krista spoke frankly, “and I’m also your friend.”

“An enemy, huh?” Damien thought back over his life and could see that there might have been some validity in what she said. “I’ve been doing something stupid, haven’t I?”

“We all do, you found me trying to hunt a griffin all by myself. In hindsight, not my best moment.”

“Speaking of you, since we’ve talked so much about me, not too long ago, you told me that you could use wattiez, why haven’t we done more about that?”

Krista smiled about that and closed her eyes, when she opened them back up the whites of her eyes were an intense black, but her pupil remained a familiar hazel brown. She reached out her arm and touched Damien. He felt an intense discomfort and yanked his arm away from Krista.

Damien rubbed his arm in pain and cried out, “What was that for?!”

“This,” Krista said as a small, black hatchet appeared in her hand. “I’ve been practicing in secret.”

“Whoa!” Damien took out the dagger Krista gave to him and compared them. “Fascinating, they look like they’re made of the same material, and just like the dagger the hatchet feels weightless. What would happen if you hit them against one another?”

Krista took both tools away and quickly wacked them against each other even though Damien was mostly kidding. Like a hot knife through butter, the dagger cleanly cut through the hatchet as if it wasn’t even there, before it disappeared.

“That happens,” said Krista simply.

“Looks like you already knew that was going to happen, mind telling me why?”

“So, it turns out the reason it’s impossible to distinguish a person with Anomalous Wattiez from an untethered person is because they both don’t produce any wattiez. In the Anomalous user’s case, however, we can absorb it from others.”

“The sucking.”

“I’d prefer absorbing or anything other than sucking but yes, so the more I absorb from someone, the more I can make, the more elaborate the weapon, and the better the quality.”

“Is there a limit to how many you can make?”

“I’m not too sure about that, but I learned that my weapons don’t last forever. This is actually the third blade I’ve made. Unfortunately, it’s not as high quality as the first.”

“Is that why I sometimes woke up and found myself unable to move? Whatever, what about the dagger? How long does it have?”

“No idea. I had my first blade for more than six months. I’m pretty sure it’s related to the amount of wattiez used to make it and how much you use it. Oh! That reminds me, try using one of your syntheses.”

“Without a staff?” Krista nodded, so Damien tried to do as he was told. He found himself surprised when a cloud of smoke appeared around them with no problems. In fact, it felt easier to do so then when he had a staff. “Just how much practice have you gotten with this ability?”

“Enough, at least enough to have the basics of it down, why?”

Damien looked around and saw that night was falling, they had spent a considerable amount of time on their discussion, and everyone else was already setting up camp. His gaze wavered to a large formation of rocks about a mile away, far and well hidden from any prying eyes that could see them.

He smirked and felt a strong aura wash over him, “Some fun.”