Before Seth could open his cache, he found himself back in a familiar dark room.
Glancing downward, he confirmed his surroundings had truly changed, as he was no longer standing atop the frozen sludge surface of Rulik’s lair. Seth didn’t bother looking around, and instead he let out a sigh of slight relief.
“You don’t waste time.” He called out to the seemingly empty room.
A snigger from his left confirmed Seth’s suspicions.
“You don’t seem surprised to see me.” A shrill voice said with obvious disappointment.
The young shaper turned around to address the floating white smile that was suspended in midair. It seemed that in a blink, Seth had truly been transported back to Folly’s domain. He wasn’t afraid though, as Seth had been waiting for this exact scenario. Without hesitation, he began striding over to stand in front of the chained figure.
“I guess you can still kidnap me while I’m awake then.” He said.
The impossibly wide grin parted for a moment to let a spear like black tongue slide across its stark white teeth.
“Not usually, but I just couldn’t wait to have a chat with you.” Folly paused for a moment before its head cocked slightly to the right. “So you really did lose your hand again. Such a waste! You’d think you would have learned the first time not to put your hand in a monster’s mouth!”
The chains rattled as the Umbra shook with laughter, causing Seth to frown. He could tell the figure was attempting to annoy him by pointing out the lost appendage, but he didn’t want to waste the time he had talking about something Folly already knew.
“What’s the point in acting like it was a monster? You know damn well Gaia did this, so let’s get to business rather than beating a dead horse.” He commanded. Seth had been waiting until after killing Rulik to talk to Folly, so he had planned what to discuss with his Umbra weeks ago. Therefore he wanted to circumvent any useless chatter like the chained being was attempting to start now.
“Don’t jest little one, your sense of humor is dry indeed. What? Did Lic himself also drop by for lunch?” The pale creature cackled with mirth.
Unfortunately, it seemed Folly was not going to let the topic drop just yet.
“Don’t act like you aren’t aware of the entire encounter. I know you are as respectful to privacy as she is to rules. Let us move on.” Seth said more forcefully this time.
It’s going to be quickly exhausting if he keeps acting so oblivious. The whole reason I wanted to speak with him is to gain some sort of retribution in the face of Gaia’s gross overstep.
Seth was about to continue on given Folly’s silence, but instead he clammed up as he watched the figure’s grin turn into a deep frown.
“What did I just say about jesting? I do not like being openly lied too especially when done so poorly. Do you not remember our last meeting? Or would you rather I expand on your lesson?” He grunted with growing anger.
Seth instinctively placed a hand over his lower ribs with a wince. What is his problem? Why is he acting like I’m lying? He was about to offer a retort but bit back his words. Finally, realization dawned on him like a blow to the head and Seth sucked in a gasp.
“I’m not lying.” He slowly stated while reaching his arms up in a gesture of surrender. His hand pointed toward Folly and then back at his own head.
“I thought you could read my mind, see for yourself.” Seth offered cautiously.
For a moment, it seemed like Folly was about to act out again, but after seemingly inspecting the shaper’s face, the figure stayed silent. Seth took this as a good sign and also closed his mouth, waiting for the Umbra to finish combing his mind. Minutes passed, but he continued to stay quiet.
Finally, Seth watched the figure shift in his chains signaling that he was finished. Suddenly though, a bout of vertigo hit him like a truck, leaving Seth reeling. But just as it had appeared, the feeling passed and he was back to normal.
What the hell was that? He thought as his eyes adjusted back to reality.
Seth attempted to turn his attention back to the chained figure, only to find an empty space in his wake. Something twinged at the end of his vision though, and Seth whirled around to find a completely different scene then the normal swath of black chains and white grin.
Before him was a dark glass table, and sitting languidly on the other side was Folly, although now his body was free of chains and instead wrapped in what looked like an opal white suit. His face was still mostly imperceptible though, as if Seth’s vision worked everywhere but directly above the jet black lips of the Umbra.
“I think it’s about time we had a talk.”
********
Suddenly finding himself seated across from his now unrestrained Umbra, Seth’s face was the picture of confusion.
“I see now why you were expecting a visit, and I can’t blame you. Why, if I were in your shoes, and was forced to observe as an Umbra not only stole what was rightfully mine, but also punished me for finding ire in the act… Well let’s just say my revenge would be neither swift nor merciful.” Folly stated diplomatically and without any hint of humor.
Seth was thrown by the new demeanor of his Umbra. The previous animalistic and downright mad behavior of the pale being seemed to be completely absent. But even with his surprise, he wasn’t about to let this opportunity go to waste.
“So you see now why I need your assistance? Gaia broke the rules, she directly aided her follower, and she attacked me! I researched some of the laws that Umbra’s must abide by, and I know for a fact that they are not allowed to put forth such a show of power to change events like that! Why didn’t the Foundation punish her? Or to that extent, why didn’t it help me?” He asked incredulously.
This was just a taste of the thoughts and questions Seth had been struggling with over the last couple weeks after the group challenge race. Now that he finally had someone pointing out the error that had been torturing him nonstop, Seth couldn’t help but let his rage surface. He ranted for multiple minutes while Folly sat with an undiscernible expression, just listening to his tirade.
Eventually, the Umbra held a pale six fingered hand up to silence Seth. And begrudgingly, he did.
“I have already said that I would have reacted in a similar fashion to yourself if I had been in your place. Despite this, I must also recognize that the situation as it stands is beyond my power to fix.” He claimed bluntly.
Seth’s mouth gaped open and closed like a fish, finding Folly’s statement completely unexpected given his previous description to how he felt about the event. Seeing Seth’s disbelief and anger growing rapidly, the pale man cast a hand downward to halt any response he might offer.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“You are correct that Umbras are bound by certain rules, but these laws are much more complex than one would imagine. This is especially true in the circumstances you find yourself in right now.” He paused before continuing.
“The Incubator as you call it is held within an area that is… unavailable to Umbras under normal rules. But if an Umbra has a strong enough link to their followers, then they can use them as a sort of entrance. As far as I am aware, this is an ability that is rarely if ever used because to take such a direct act in the mortal realm is to almost certainly break the law. But, it seems that given the elements at play, there was just enough wiggle room in the law for her to act. In truth, she only aided her follower using a Wisp of Fate that he had already acquired, therefore allowing her to strengthen the power in a way that staying within the boundaries of the rules.”
Seth was about to jut in, as Gaia had done a lot more than boost a preexisting fate treasure during her visit. But one finger held up by Folly stopped him from spitting out more curses about the woman.
“As for her actions against you, that was permissible, might I add incredibly loosely, as revenge for acting against her direct will. I would guess that if you were in a public dimension under the eyes of other Umbras, she would never have done such a thing. Unfortunately for you, not only is there no one there to witness her actions, but all of you lowly shapers will also have your memories erased per the contract you agreed to, so there will be no evidence of her debatable overstep.”
“But what about the people running The Incubator? They saw it. Why don’t they report it? Or better yet, why didn’t they stop her?” Seth sputtered, fearful of where the conversation was going.
“That information will do you no good, as it all will be erased as I said before. Just think of them as a neutral organization that doesn’t intertwine themselves with Umbral issues. Furthermore, because of their disposition, they will not act against Gaia nor will they aid you in any way as to not draw her ire. They have a mutually beneficial relationship with Umbras, and they will not throw that away for one nameless shaper.” Folly admonished.
Seth’s blank stare was the only thing he could offer back to Folly’s explanation. There were hundreds of other arguments he wanted to throw at the emotionless being in front of him, but in the end, he knew it would be for nothing. With his fears realized, Seth slumped back in his chair with a hopeless sigh.
“So that’s it. I just have to take that shit with a grin and move on is what you are saying.” He mumbled.
Silence followed, and Seth closed his eyes and the bloodlust that had been streaming through his veins for the last couple weeks drained away as he realized that there was truly no one that could contest an Umbra’s will.
Only seconds later, his pouting was interrupted by a series of muffled sniggers. He cracked an eye open to find Folly sitting across from him with both of his pale hands covering the impossibly wide grin that marred his face once more.
“Something funny, asshole?” He growled, any fear that he harbored about his Umbra completely gone along with his patience.
Folly did not answer, and instead, the figure began shaking in its fit of apparent mirth. Seth’s anger sparked back up, but before he could throttle the creature that seemed to find so much humor in his helplessness, a loud crackling interrupted his thoughts. Looking down, it seemed that the glass table they sat at was slowly being wrought with a web of cracks.
As rage gave rise to tired confusion, Seth watched as Folly tore one of his hands away to motion for him to wait. Then, after banging the table beneath his fist a couple of times, Folly was able to restrain his tantrum to an extent without breaking the glass. In fact, it almost looked to Seth like the web had receded somewhat.
“Don’t get all pouty like that. I never said I wouldn’t help you, little one.” The suited being claimed after regaining his breath. As Folly folded his hands back onto the table, Seth couldn’t help but notice the thin stream of red-black liquid that dribbled from his mouth. He also noticed that the businesslike demeanor Folly had been displaying was showing slight cracks, just like the table.
“So does that mean you will fix the damage she did to my abilities?” He asked, perking up ever so slightly.
“No. I can’t do anything about that.”
“Then can you give me an Umbral Blessing to make up for it?”
“No.”
“What about a shaper transcript that works without an Umbral Blessing?”
“No, but those exist already, you can buy your own.”
This was especially annoying for Seth, as he had learned a week ago that he couldn't use shaper transcripts without Umbral Blessings. It was a definite setback for him as he had bought a fairly expensive one during the group challenge and was less than delighted to find that it was useless. Hearing that others without the Umbral Blessing prerequisite were a thing was nice, but it did little to douse Seth's rage at the wasted challenge points as well as the blatant willful neglect of his Umbra.
“Well then what the hell can you do?!” He growled.
“You know how this works. Open up your cache so I can see what I’m working with.” Folly grinned. Seth glared at him with suspicion but wordlessly commanded his cache to open in his mind.
“If you can’t give me any of the stuff I just said, I don’t know what you’re going to make that would help me.” He seethed while Folly began sorting through his rather extensive amount of loot.
“Well for one, I can do this.”
The suited being grabbed a fistful of Rulik’s flesh that Seth had harvested, and quickly shoved them into his mouth. Then after a few chews, Folly opened his mouth once again and extracted a fresh lump of pale flesh, free of any sores or decay that used to mar the surface. Then, he played around with the lump, and moments later, a familiar looking right hand was placed on the table before him.
“Go ahead.” Folly shrugged before sifting anew through some of the other items.
Seth reached forward with wide eyes, snatching the hand off of the table. After a short inspection, he found that it looked identical to his old hand that he hadn’t seen in almost a year. It was even the same color and texture as his left hand.
Did he seriously just make me a new hand that easily? Why didn’t he do this the first time I lost it? Seth wondered.
Instead of dwelling on it any longer, Seth quickly tried to attach the new hand by placing it on his exposed wrist. Unfortunately, after a couple attempts, the hand just bumped against his skin, doing nothing. After his third try though, Seth realized with a groan that the reattachment was probably not supposed to be so painless.
When is anything painless with this asshole? Seth grumbled with an annoyed glance at the suited being still messing with his loot.
Biting his lip, Seth moved the black substance down his forearm to expose the pale stub at the end of his wrist. With a loud exhale through his nose, Seth turned his nails into the razor sharp claws of Anar before bringing his hand down in a quick chopping motion. He only winced briefly before grabbing the new hand and bringing it carefully toward his wrist, making sure it is positioned correctly.
Without preamble, the hand instantly latched onto Seth’s now bloodied stump. With a sigh, he watched as the flesh molded back into his wrist, finishing the transplant with little to no effort on Seth’s part. Pins and needles started to settle into the new hand, and he could feel as the blood in his arm began circulating through his new appendage. Seconds later, Seth was moving the hand around without issue, leaving both of his arms finally identical once more.
He could barely contain his excitement and relief at finally having his hand back. But before he addressed Folly again, Seth quickly brought the black tar up his arm and configured it to rest on his fingernails just as his left hand had it. There was still a small surplus of the black substance left over, but for the time being, he ignored it and left it covering the surface of his wrist like a bracelet.
“Satisfied?” Folly said with his trademark disturbing grin.
Seth still couldn’t see the rest of his face, but he could tell the Umbra’s eyes were probably gloating. “I might be able to properly wring that bitch’s neck now, but one extra hand isn’t going to be enough to make up for her actions.”
“I’m happy to hear that. One should have the greed to reap every benefit out of a fallen enemy… But I don’t have to tell you that, do I?” He said with a knowing tone.
Next, Folly grabbed Seth’s travel cache that he had picked off of one of the girl’s in the cave. In a flash of purple fire, the cache disappeared, and a new screen appeared before Seth.
-Congratulations! Your Cache (Class D) ability has evolved into Cache (Class C). Your cache has increased by fifty slots!
Seth welcomed the new increase in slots with a grin big enough to match Folly’s. Lately, he had been worried about his fast filling storage space, so the extra fifty slots would be incredibly useful, especially now since he didn’t have to carry the large cylinder of the Travel Cache.
“Now with those out of the way, lets move on to a few other matters.” Folly said while setting aside a few other piles of loot, making it clear he was not done with them just yet.
“It seems you attained the Concept of Resonance after you used the reward I gave you for fulfilling Fool’s Errand, right? Before we do anything else, I need you to know that you must find a way to infuse your concept with the abilities that come from your left eye. Do not bother with your other abilities for the time being, make it your priority to work with the Eye of Opposition first. Do you understand?” He questioned along with the familiar dangerous edge that was commonly used when Seth didn’t have a choice.
As he nodded in quiet acceptance, Folly continued by grabbing another item off the table. It seemed to be a disk-shaped tablet with the small emblem of a wickedly curved claw along with a featureless woman’s face. Seth wasn’t familiar with the item, so he assumed it was one of the pieces of loot gained from using Plunder on Rulik.
“Are you aware of what this is?” Folly asked lackadaisically.
“It’s what we in the game like to call an Umbral Heritage. And I’m almost positive someone at your level shouldn’t have it.”