Now we are at the climax. She has nowhere to run, nowhere to hide and no hope for survival. Come on, fight in vain, I need new bodies to create a super Root to wreak havoc in the Root Town.
“Please wait…”
Dear Void, does she only know how to talk? We are beyond talking. You know too much and I will not let you leave Leaf.
“What is it? I need to hurry up with your killing to stop things invading from those rifts”
{Truth}
{All Soldiers! Disarm yourself!}
And like an oiled machine, they threw away their blades and bows.
“Seeking quick death?”
“No, I seek a bargain! One, that will benefit all of us, and this time I will bet my life on it to get through as fast as possible.”
{Truth}
Huh… Nah, it is easier to kill them, but right now I need a bit attention on the slime rift, as it might spew another one and this thing is really annoying. It was reforming and molding over and over. Now it starts to just stay liquid and mixes itself to stop the takeover from happening too fast. I will need a month for this one. Another one and it would not add but multiply the agony.
“I am listening. Maybe we can find a way to bury the hatchet.”
{Lie}
“Fuck, I forgot your Lie-detector! Well I am still listening, as I am already occupied with closing that rift, where the Slime came from, to stop another invasion. I do not think, there is much of a chance for successful negotiations, but you can try.”
{Truth}
With that truth seeker it will not be possible to tell lies. Also I can bide my time as even if they would grow a tree to speak to the others, the roots have to touch the Forest for it to work. If there is no connection they can not talk with tree whisper over long distances. So whatever.
“And try I will. We misunderstood each other on such fundamental levels, there needs to be a way out, before everything is too late.”
{Truth}
What ‘fundamental levels’ is she talking about? I know their language, culture, behavior and even their whole philosophy. Well, let her talk.
“You say, you learned about us from Eastern Redwind, yes?”
“Yeah, I did. I have taken him over and scoured his brain for everything he knew about you People.”
{Truth}
That made her flinch. I think it would be horrible for someone to hear their whole brain is searched for Information.
“Then you only know the perspective of Eastern Redwind and not all of us.”
{Truth}
Well, it is reasonable to think, some things might be still not clear, but I have a majority of insights, as he lived a long life, albeit short for an elf.
“I have seen your City, your People and your agenda to outsiders. I know how you despise everything non Root and I know how you rather eliminate everything, that might threaten the Forest, even if it is not.”
{Truth}
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“And there lays the misunderstanding, as not all of us think in this radical ways.”
{Truth}
“Well, whatever. You already tried to destroy my place with a borrowed knife, so the obvious thing to do for me is retaliation.”
{Truth}
“We did not try to kill you with a borrowed knife.”
{Truth}
Again, truths where I do not know what to think.
“All this happened by my misguided trust in Dancing Wind.”
{Truth}
Now it is the fault of her inferior. Well to try to sacrifice her subordinate to save all Root-kind makes sense. Still I do not buy it.
“So all of this, the attack on me, the rifts appearing in my Domain, the injured Forest, all will be blamed on Dancing Wind?”
That took her for a spin for now hopefully, as I am right now really busy preventing another of those slimes pressing into this World… Argh! Tentacle from another rift, this one has teeth!
The Root reposition themselves to be out of harms way, seems like they understand how useless they are in that fight. Just hold your heads high, I chop them off right after I am able to relax a bit.
“You are wrong. It is the fault of me. I should have taken Dancing Wind from the north-eastern position, as it was too close to your domicile.”
{Truth}
“What has anything to do with this?”
“She was the one, who ordered your Wolf killed. Also she let the Mages through. Her statement sounded reasonable, as she did not see danger for the Forest, but still let them travel without our permission was stretching her Order to protect the north eastern position rather thin.”
{Truth}
Well it definitely makes sense. This shows how it was not really their intention, but that ship already sailed.
“Nice to know why you will all die. A disgruntled Youth made a lapse in reasoning. Quite sad, as this all could have been prevented.”
I made my villainous speech already, would be a bummer not to fill my body storage with more sapient creatures.
“For this I would like to apologize. It was our lapse, that made all this happen.”
{Truth}
“And what? Now you are here with an army to fight me to the death. But instead of fighting, you just talk and try to backpedal.”
“We do not need to kill each other, or you killing us. We came, as we thought this Miasma as an attack on us.”
{Truth}
“So, you would have been going back, right after finding out it was a misunderstanding?”
“…”
No answer is also an answer Leafy. You should know that.
“Let me get your story straight, you came here with a truth seeker to find out the truth. After finding out it was a misunderstanding you would have left me alone. You would not have asked me if I am the one who holds the Miasma out of the Forest, and you would have been going back, even if you knew, I was not necessary for me to exist in upholding the miasmic bubble, right?”
“… No, we would have attacked and tried to kill you, if we knew, you are not needed to stay safe. We even interrogated the Human for the whole three days to find out everything. That is the reason I am here with the Artifact, that repels Miasma. We would at least use it to ward the hole.”
{Truth}
“Well at least you are truthful in your last moments.”
“I will not eschew from my Sins and will die. I just want to negotiate to not attack the Forest in false rage.”
{Truth}
Huh. She wants to sacrifice herself to stop my lashing out. The question is…
“Why should I stop now, as we already are on such bad terms? If you do not get back, there will be a next attack. A first strike on my part would be more reasonable.”
“I will write a letter of apology and explain the faulty understanding between us.”
“And what would that bring?”
“Let me ask you a question. What do you seek?”
“Going back to my former World. Gaining enough Power to shake their corrupt kingdom. Punch a God in the face.”
{Truth}
She is a bit aghast, but recovers fast. Is it that shocking?
“And to do this, you would stay here for a while and protect us from… Whatever wants to breach into our World?”
“Well not only protecting. The thing has the capability to send a beacon to create a stable path. I want to dig that thing up and use it for my own reasoning. Right now I have not enough Information for traveling through Dimensions, not to speak about traveling through the Void.”
{Truth}
“Then we have aligned ways…”
Finally I have crushed this darn rift. No slimes for now. The Tentacle is not that dangerous, so I have a bit time to do something else. My attention is now directed way more on the Roots and they feel my Presence.