Nineteenth Oath -- Spies and Sparrows

Chapter Two Hundred Seven: ‘In a time of crossings...’

Hector's eyes were wide. 'What do you mean you've met him before?'

The reaper shrugged. 'What do you think I mean? I met him while I was working with the Vanguard. Him and his reaper both. Her name's Overra.'

'And you're only bringing this up NOW?'

'Like I said, there's been a lot of shit going on since that meeting in Luzo, and I've been trying to figure out what I should do with this information.'

'Well, you should probably tell the Rainlords,' said Hector.

'Yeah, I'm not sure it's that simple, buddy.'

'Why not?'

'Because I'm mildly concerned that they'll try to use me to lure Parson Miles into a trap so that they can kill him. And that's not the kind of heat we need, right now.'

Hector's face twisted a little, confused. 'Why would they try to do that? It's not like you have any way of getting in contact with him, right?

Garovel made no response.

Hector's jaw clenched. '...Right?'

The reaper's bony jaw opened, but it took him a few more moments to actually say anything. 'I might know of a way.'

Hector sighed and put his head in both of his hands.

'And there's another problem,' said Garovel. 'Parson and Overra, as I remember them, were pretty good people. So even though I understand the Rainlords' position, I'm not sure I want to help them ambush and murder the two of them. Assuming they even COULD, that is. Which is a whole other conversation, by the way.'

Hector still had no idea what to say.

'So, uh. As you can tell, I'm in a bit of an ethical pickle here. And maybe a philosophical one, as well.'

Hector raised his head a little. 'Philosophical? What do you mean?'

'It's an ethical pickle, because while I want to help the Rainlords get justice for their kin, I also don't want to betray someone whose misdeeds I've only heard about secondhand--someone I have no personal vendetta against, as well.' Garovel hovered across the center of the large bedroom. 'And it's a philosophical pickle, because even if we presume that telling the Rainlords the truth is the most "moral" thing to do, there's still the question of whether or not it is the "best" thing to do--in terms of achieving the most desirable long-term outcome, that is.'

Hector just groaned and lay back down on his bed.

'Hey, these are real problems that I'm grappling with right now, goddammit. Don't just lie there like a useless lump. Tell me what you think the right course of action is.'

'Didn't I already do that?'

'Really? So even after everything I just explained, you still think I should tell the Rainlords what I know?'

'Garovel... I don't fucking know.'

'Hector, I'm not expecting you to "know." I don't need you to tell me what to do. I just want you to give me your opinion. Help me make a decision. Y'know, like a friend would do?'

Hector took a long breath but didn't move. He tried to think. 'Okay, well, uh... I guess if we're talking broadly, then... yeah, I do think that the most "moral" thing is generally the "best" thing to do. Philosophically.'

'Yeah, sure, "generally," I can agree with that. But what about in this specific case?'

'Do you really think keeping this information from the Rainlords will help you achieve a "more desirable long-term outcome?"'

Garovel remained briefly quiet. 'Maybe.'

'And how would that work, exactly?'

'Well, I... I would tell them eventually. Just not right away.'

'Uh-huh...'

'I feel like you're not appreciating the nuance of this situation,' said Garovel. 'The Rainlords are very emotional and vulnerable, right now. I could very easily imagine them trying to use this--to use US--against our will in order to pursue their revenge against Parson Miles. Does that possibility not concern you at all?'

'...You think they would, what? Take you hostage? To use as bait or something for this Parson guy?'

'More or less, yeah. Does that sound so ridiculous to you?'

'A little. I mean, the Rainlords are all about honor 'n everything.'

'Yeah. And we also witnessed some of them taking children hostage. Don't tell me you've forgotten that whole shitstorm, already.'

'I think you're worrying too much, Garovel. If you tell them, they'll understand.'

'That's very trusting of you, Hector.'

'No, it isn't. They already feel hugely indebted to us. To an annoying degree, even. They wouldn't do anything like you're suggesting.'

'I wish I could share your certainty.'

Hector exhaled heavily and had to sit up another time to look at his reaper directly. 'Alright, well. This isn't getting us anywhere. Give me the details. How do you know this Parson guy?'

'I briefly worked under his command.'

'...How briefly?'

'About ten years or so.'

'That is NOT brief, Garovel.'

'Eh. In reaper terms, it is.'

'How long ago was this?'

'Oh, uh... sixty years, maybe? Tough to recall exactly.'

'And what was the, uh... nature of your work?'

'Espionage.'

Hector's gaze hardened. 'For real?'

'I hated it,' said Garovel, 'but it was important work. We prevented a lot of deaths.'

'Where were you, er, operating?'

'Mostly in the eastern half of Eloa, but there were a few occasions when we traveled all over the world.'

'Why did you hate it?'

'Lots of reasons, really, but the main one was probably the lack of transparency. Working in intelligence for one of the most powerful organizations on the planet, you might think you'd know a thing or two about the state of the world, the goings-on of nations. But we never really did. We knew what we were told and had to take a lot on faith.'

Hector found himself wondering something else--something he'd wondered on several previous occasions but never felt capable of asking about, for whatever reason. '...You had a servant, right?'

'Yeah.'

'Who were they? And what happened to them?'

Garovel took a moment to answer as he hovered back to the other side of the room. 'His name was Simon Karsh. He was another reason why I wanted to quit the Covert Intelligence Division.'

'What do you mean?'

'It's a long story.'

Hector crossed his legs and folded his arms, wanting to be at full attention now. 'Well, I'm interested.'

Garovel stared at him, then nodded. 'Alright, but you need to sleep soon. Tomorrow is a big day.'

'I haven't forgotten.'

The reaper took a second before continuing, perhaps considering where to begin. 'I met Simon through the Vanguard. I had been thinking about joining their ranks for many years, and I was already very well-acquainted with several reapers who were long-time members. I hadn't taken on a servant for over a century at that point, and it didn't really matter to me who they paired me with, so long as the person wasn't obviously a psychotic asshole. I wanted to keep an open mind. Foster a strong friendship. Build up to things slowly.

'Simon was about twenty-five when I revived him. He was the victim of a firebombing in Vantalay. And he was highly motivated to get revenge on those who were responsible for the attack that killed him. He was quite the soldier, you see. Very dutiful. Very serious. But it wasn't just that.

'In many ways, I feel as if he was what most reapers would consider to be an ideal servant. Already trained in combat. Well-educated. Quite knowledgeable of servants and reapers from the beginning. And incredibly charismatic--at least, when he wanted to be.'

An ideal servant? That just made Hector even more curious as to why Garovel would've released him. He held his tongue, though, figuring the reaper was getting to that.

'I had high hopes for Simon--and so did many of our superior officers, I think. Even before completing the standard four years of training, he was often chosen for real missions, apprenticing under various veterans.'

Hector couldn't help himself now. 'So what happened, then?'

The reaper broke for a sigh. 'Simon was... Well, I could say he simply grew too arrogant and dangerous, and that would not be a lie. But it would also strike me as too dismissive. There was more to it than that.

'It was about six years in when our spy work first began, and he was incredible at it. Right from the start. Had a real aptitude for it. TOO much so, perhaps. Looking back on it now, I think his string of early successes might have caused more problems for him in the long-term than I realized at the time. For the longest time, he never really tasted failure. He was just THAT good right out of the gate.

'But it didn't last forever. Eventually, we did suffer a major loss. And because he'd never experienced something like that before, it just hit him that much harder. I'm not sure he ever fully recovered from that.'

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Hector was reluctant to ask, but he felt compelled to. 'What exactly happened?'

'It was a mission in Palei. Infiltrating a weapons factory. Deep in Abolish territory. Extremely dangerous. I didn't want to take the mission, but that wasn't anything new. I'd tried to refuse many other missions previously, but he just went off and did them without me. And he'd succeeded every time previously, so why would he think this time would be any different? He had such confidence. It drove me crazy.'

'Why did the mission go badly?' said Hector.

'He went without me, so I don't know everything that happened, but my understanding of it was that his cover was blown from the very beginning. There was a huge information leak the previous day in a completely different country, and it compromised the identities of dozens of undercover operatives. So his whole team walked right into a trap.'

'Oh, man...'

'They were all captured, except for him. He just barely managed to destroy his own brain in time. Couple of their reapers were killed as well. I might've been one of them, had I been there.'

Hector's eyes went to the bed below him as he processed that.

'Oddly enough,' said Garovel, 'MY identity was never leaked, only his.'

Hector cocked an eyebrow. 'How could that be?'

'I think it was because of the way the Vanguard stores information. It's possible they do it differently now, but back then, they didn't keep records of servant-reaper pairings. They DID keep records of servants and reapers, but not together. Perhaps for this very reason. If one's identity is compromised, they didn't want the partner to automatically be compromised as well.'

'Huh.'

'It's particularly odd, because with undercover work, it's usually the reaper who presents the most risk of being outed. Our long lives make us much more likely to be recognized by enemy reapers. That was why he was able to go on so many missions without me. Bringing a reaper along was often considered an unnecessary risk, anyway.'

Hector supposed that made sense. If spy work was more about gathering information than combat, then reapers were probably a lot more valuable staying behind and relaying intel back to HQ as the servants discovered it.

That seemed pretty potent, now that he was imagining it. No need for coded letters or encrypted phone calls or anything like that. Just tell your reaper what you find as soon as you find it, and bam. Mission accomplished.

'If I'm being perfectly honest,' said Garovel, 'Simon was always a bit mysterious to me. He was such a remarkable actor that I could almost never be sure of how he truly felt about any given situation, but this was one of the few occasions when the facade dropped, and I think I was able to understand him.

'Simon liked to play it cool. Be aloof. Detached. For the good of the mission, seemingly. But when he lost his team that day, he was inconsolable. I'd never seen him so demoralized. I think, deep down, he really did care about them like they were his family.'

Hector wanted to say something, but he didn't have the words.

'Looking back on it all now,' the reaper went on, 'Simon really was a hero in the most "classic" sense of the term. He was strong, smart, adaptable, compassionate, and had a strong sense of justice. And he had no real weaknesses. He was kind of perfect. To an infuriating degree, sometimes.

'But that loss changed him. I think the worst part of it for him was the realization that... it didn't matter how perfect he was. He could do his job flawlessly. He could make the best possible decision every single time with the information at his disposal. And it still wouldn't guarantee success. Everything could still go to shit for reasons that were completely beyond his control.'

Hector knew a thing or two about feeling that way.

'When I finally convinced him to quit the spy life and return to normal duty, I thought things would be better for him, but they never were again. I think he just stopped seeing people as people. I think they just became "objectives" to him. Or "tools," even. Save this person. Cooperate with that person. It was all just mechanical to him. Where before he would only pretend not to get attached, now he genuinely never did.'

Hector could see the wisdom in not getting too attached to people, but he'd always considered it a complete impossibility. He'd never felt like he had any control over that sort of thing. Whether he grew to like or dislike someone--for him, that had always been something that just happened on its own.

And quite frankly, he had considered that to be a weakness within himself. An inability to control his emotions, to prevent himself from being vulnerable.

It was strange to imagine struggling with the complete opposite problem, but he supposed it made sense. Especially for a servant.

'It was a difficult decision to release him,' said Garovel. 'It always is, when it's a matter of mental instability. Even now, I wonder if perhaps I pulled the trigger too early, if perhaps I could have brought him back around.'

'W-was there a final straw?' asked Hector. 'Something unforgivable he did?'

Garovel's skeletal expression twisted a little. 'Not exactly. It was a combination of lots of little things. Overall callousness. The way he talked to me and his supposed comrades. I had seen it before, and I didn't want to wait until he went so far as to actually kill some innocent person.

'And I'll admit, releasing him without such obvious justification might've actually been too callous on MY part, not his. I had grown to hate him over the years.'

Hector didn't know what to say.

The reaper wasn't done, though. 'And while I'm being brutally honest here... My relationship with Simon--I do think it colored my decision to choose you as my next servant.'

That didn't exactly sound like a compliment, but Hector also felt like he kind of understood what the reaper meant.

'To say that you've exceeded all my expectations would be an understatement,' said Garovel, 'but I think you know that by now. Or at least, I hope you do.'

Hector scratched his cheek, thinking on all they'd been through together in about a year of servitude. It was crazy to imagine that Garovel had been doing this kind of thing for millennia.

And abruptly, he found himself wondering something anew.

'...How many servants have you had in total?' Hector asked.

'You are the twenty-second,' said Garovel.

Hector's gaze drifted away from the reaper as he tried to wrap his head around that number. On the one hand, that felt like a lot, but on the other, taking Garovel's three thousand years of life into consideration, maybe it wasn't at all. That was way less than one per century.

'Now you're wondering who they all were and why I released them,' said Garovel.

'Er. Well. Pretty much, yeah.'

'I'm sure I'll get around to it eventually, but to be very blunt with you, I don't generally like talking about them. It's painful.'

Hector frowned. 'Did ANY of them have a happy ending?'

'Happy endings are a myth. They don't exist.'

Hector's eyes bugged out a little. 'Fucking...! Wow, Garovel!'

'What?'

'That's... just... super fucked up. You really believe that?'

The reaper shrugged. 'I'm not trying to be a downer here. But what do you want from me? I'm a grim reaper, okay?'

'Emphasis on the "grim" part, I guess.'

'Hey, I can be plenty uplifting when I want to be.'

'Maybe you need religion, Garovel.'

'Oh, fuck you. We are NOT having this conversation, right now.'

'I'm just saying. If you really don't believe happy endings exist AT ALL, then there might be something wrong with you. I mean, fucking hell, man, that's dark as shit.'

'It's not like I don't believe goodness exists. I just think it's fleeting--and therefore, that much more in need of protection.'

'Uh-huh...'

'Whatever. I don't have to justify myself to you. I'm the boss in this relationship.'

'Yeah, okay.'

'Good, I'm glad you agree,' said Garovel with false pleasantness. 'Anyway, do you have any more questions about Simon specifically? Because we've kinda gotten off track.'

Hector thought about it. 'What was his ability?'

'Oh, that's actually a good way segue back to Parson Miles, because Simon's ability was oxygen transfiguration.'

'How does that make for a good segue?'

'Because Parson had the exact same ability. It was actually why Parson first took an interest in Simon, even though he wasn't who we reported to directly. Our actual boss was a man named Dominique Rohdri.'

'What was his rank?'

'General.'

'Hmm. What was YOUR rank?'

'The members of the CID didn't have proper ranks, really. Once we left, though, Simon was a captain.'

'So like Zeff?'

'Yeah.'

'Was he as powerful as Zeff?'

'I don't know,' said Garovel with a tinge of exasperation. 'We're getting sidetracked again.'

'Sorry. So this Parson guy went out of his way to spend time with you two?'

'Yeah. We got to know him and Overra decently well, I think. They seemed to like Simon.'

'Did they like you?'

'Hard to say. Especially after what I've heard about them from the Rainlords. Seems like they were a bit two-faced. Parson, for his part, always acted like a bit of a goober.'

That hadn't been the word Hector was expecting. 'A... goober?'

'A goofball? A silly billy? He was a weirdo. Had a thing for ice cream. Didn't seem to take his job too seriously and drove a lot of people nuts, including Overra.'

'Huh...'

'And yet he always seemed to get the job done. Toward the end of our working relationship, I got the feeling that he was more cunning than he let on. I never thought he was an evil son of a bitch, though, which is what the Rainlords make him sound like. In fact, despite not liking the CID itself, I actually kind of enjoyed working for him.'

'Hmm.'

'So do you still think I should tell the Rainlords what I know about Parson?' said Garovel.

'I don't know. Didn't you say you had a means of contacting him?'

'Heh, well, I'm not sure I should burden you with that knowledge, Hector.'

'Oh, but it's okay to burden me all this other shit?'

'Well, yeah. You're my servant. You're supposed to help me carry things. Physically and psychologically.'

Hector just shook his head and sighed.

'If I tell you how we might be able to contact Parson, then you could go behind my back and tell the Rainlords without my approval.'

'...I wouldn't do that, Garovel.'

'I believe you, but I still think it's better not to put you in that position in the first place.'

'I mean, I'm kind of in that position already, aren't I? I could still go to the Rainlords with what you've told me, and they'd be super pissed at you.'

'Yes, they would. They might even try to torture it out of me. Do you want them to torture me?'

'...How bad would this torture be, exactly?'

'Hector.'

'I'm kidding. Obviously, I don't want anyone to hurt you, Garovel. But I highly doubt that the Rainlords would do anything like that.'

'You really have a lot of faith in them, don't you?'

'You don't? I mean, we've... we've literally been through hell together.'

The reaper gave a mild laugh. 'You make a fair point.'

'And if they somehow end up finding out later that you had this information all along, they'll hate your fucking guts for it, Garovel. And mine, too, probably.'

'Tch, you might be right.'

Hector gave a fake gasp. 'Holy shit, are you actually listening to me for once?'

'Excuse me, but I listen to you all the time. In fact, that's probably why we keep getting mixed up in so much crazy shit.'

'No, that's definitely your fault.'

'Agree to disagree.'

Hector exhaled a small laugh and lay back down on his bed. 'So you're going to tell the Rainlords what you know, then?'

'Yeah, I guess so,' said Garovel.

'Good.'

'I think I'll leave out the part about having a method of contacting him, though.'

'Garovel...'

'I'll tell them about that when I feel the time is right. I don't want to run the risk of them trying to launch some half-cocked attack on Parson. In their current state, I'm quite sure he would obliterate them.'

'They'll be really mad if they find out later that you kept that information from them.'

'Yeah, well. I don't see how they would find that out, but even if they did, I'd rather they be angry at us than dead.'

Hector still didn't fully agree, but he could see where Garovel was coming from. 'Is he really powerful enough to take down Melchor and everyone else single-handedly?'

'Well, I doubt he would be alone, but even if he was, I'm not sure. Captain generals are nothing to fuck around with. They're among the most powerful servants in the world.'

Another question occurred to Hector, and he had to ask it. 'Do you think Leo could beat him?'

'Again, that's hard to say. At these levels of strength, it all becomes a bit muddled. I think once soul-synchronization reaches a certain point, you start getting diminishing returns.'

'What do you mean?'

'Like, for example, a servant who's fifty years old will have WAY stronger soul power than a servant who's only one. But a servant who's a hundred and fifty years old won't have as large of a gap in soul power compared to someone who's a hundred.'

'Hmm.'

'There's still a gap, of course, but the bigger issue is how much you've honed your ability. And your overall combat competency, of course.'

'And how old is Parson?' said Hector.

'From what I was able to tell, he was at least a hundred, and that was sixty-ish years ago, so... do the math.'

'I see...'

'Oh, wait, you're terrible at math, aren't you? Maybe that was me asking too much.'

'I can do simple addition!'

'You sure about that?'

'Yes! You're saying he's at least a hundred and sixty!'

'Wow, good job.' The reaper almost sounded genuinely impressed, no doubt trying to enhance the obnoxiousness. 'I'm really proud of you.'

'Shut up,' laughed Hector. 'I'm not THAT bad at math. Agh.'

'Mm, I dunno. I recall an instance several months ago where I was telling you about how many languages I knew. I said three hundred, and then you pointed out that it wasn't very impressive, because I was three thousand years old, so that worked out to "only like one new language every hundred years." Those were your exact words, by the way.'

Hector's brow lowered as he thought back. 'I don't remember this at all.'

'Mmhmm. Three thousand divided by three hundred is ten, not a hundred. You added a zero there, buddy.'

'I'm sure that never happened. You would've roasted me if it had, and then I would definitely remember it.'

'The reason I didn't say anything at the time was because we were still getting to know each other, and I didn't want to hurt your feelings. But that's not a concern anymore, as I've come to realize just how much doing that brings me joy.'

'Well, I don't even recall what you're talking about, so no hurt feelings for you.'

'Damn.'

'But anyway, if soul power doesn't grow as quickly for older servants, does that mean that Melchor could fight Parson on an even level?'

'That's a very good question. And one that I do not have the answer for.'

'Really? Not even a guess?'

'I can give you a hard maybe.'

'Hmm.'

'Oh, and regarding Parson vs. Leo,' said Garovel, 'I think even if Leo is a bit older--which I'm only ASSUMING that is he is--Parson would no doubt have a huge advantage over him as long as Leo isn't able to work with his reaper.'

'Oh, right.'

'But then again, Leo WAS able to capture Melchor and everyone else single-handedly, so it could be that he's got a few tricks up his sleeve that would net him a victory over Parson. The context of this hypothetical fight would play an enormous role.'

'Hmm.'

'In any case, you'd better get some sleep. All our preparations for tomorrow will be for nothing if you're too tired to think straight.'

'Okay.'