The footsteps slowed on the stairs becoming lighter still, hesitant even. The noise stopped. No one stood in the doorway. Whoever was there was staying out of sight.

Angelica and I exchanged another quick look. She held her spear ready and I manifested a layer of Ablative Shell

No horror came out of the church’s basement.

I listened and heard the breathing of something small. It was the uneven, and slightly hitched breathing of someone about to cry. I heard the shuffling of little feet.

“Is someone there?” I called over. I tried to keep my voice gentle. Every sign pointed toward this being a horror show in the making. Hell, the Narrators confirmed it was.

…But they were manipulative assholes. Had they told me about cancelation just to goad me into a more proactive and violent line of thinking. I was ready to fight but I wasn’t committed just yet.

Whatever was on the stairs moved back a few steps.

Angelica seemed less convinced this was an imminent conflict. She still held her spear, but in a lower way rather than ready.

I shrugged and called again, “We can hear you. Please come out. We just want to talk.”

Everything was very quiet for a long moment, then a tiny voice asked almost desperately, “You promise?”

“If you don’t try to hurt us, we won’t try and hurt you,” Angelica said loudly.

I was just gonna say yes. Probably need to be more aware of that. I can make pacts. Other stuff probably could too.

After another brief pause the little voice managed, “Okay… I’m gonna come up the stairs.”

I didn’t hear any other whispers. So I don’t think whoever was down there was communicating with others. Not out loud at least. They absolutely could have exchanged meaningful looks.

I know because Angelica and I used the time to do that. It was a look where we agreed no immediate murder, and we should probably hold off on any murder for the next minute or so. We weren’t completely committed to no murder at all in this encounter, but the drive simply wasn’t there in that moment. Believe it or not, none of this involved murderous looks.

Tiny steps started again. In the doorway a small child appeared. It was a little boy, maybe five or six, probably younger. They were in their Sunday best, black dress shoes, with matching pants, a white button up shirt and smart blue suit jacket. All of the kid’s clothes were rumpled, dirty and tattered. The kid's face was pale. Not naturally pale, but instead the child’s skin was paper white. His hair was charcoal black but dusty. The hands were bruised and the nails torn.

All of those details were big ole red flags that this wasn’t a normal human kid. For me though what truly gave this thing away was the eyes. They were green and perfectly human looking. Most of the time they were wide and scared. They watered slightly like the kid was trying to hold back tears. That was most of the time. For a brief instant when this thing first ascended the stairs they were clear, sharp, and scrutinizing. This thing read us like a book. That level of calculation was simply beyond any kid this young.

I didn’t know what this was, but it wasn’t a child.

Angelica pulled her spear into her inventory. She crouched down slightly as she watched the child. When she spoke her voice was calm and overly friendly, “Hey. I’m Angelica. What’s your name?’

I looked at her. Was she playing along with this thing? Was this a double trap?

The ‘little boy’ sniffed, “I’m Elijah.” he rubbed his eyes trying to wipe tears away. Over his hand he watched me carefully.

Angelica saw that but instead of standing up or getting her spear again she said, “That’s Doug. I know he looks big and scary but he is a teddy bear.”

I manifested a second layer of Ablative Shell, “Angelica, what do you see?”

She frowned at me, “It’s a kid, Doug.”

“I’m scared,” Elijah added.

“He’s scared,” Angelica repeated.

“Do you remember when we first met Brand,” I said. I watched the not kid. Our eyes met and I felt Mental Resistance stir. When it dealt with Adora influence, the Trait was a territorial creature hunting and killing interloping external thoughts. This was different. Now my mind felt like a boat at sea. Mental Resistance was like the navigator dealing with an unexpected current. The current wasn’t trying to stop the ship, just change the course a few degrees, alter the destination.

This thing wasn’t as powerful as Adora’s mind effects, but it was infinitely better at using them. It felt older than Adora. Not just more mature, older. The implication of that was trouble, and not just because of what it was doing to Angelica.

“What does that have to do with anything,” Angelica asked. She stood up and blinked at me.

“Is the dragon gone?” Elijah asked.

Angelica turned back to him, “Yeah. Giants in a cloud city chased it off. If we hurry we should be able to get you out of here before it could even come back.” She took a step toward the kid.

I grabbed her shoulder, “Angelica! Listen to me! That isn’t a kid! It looks like it is from the world that was! No kid could survive out here alone that long.”

Angelica almost shrugged out of my grip. She stopped mid attempt. “No… more mind effects.”

The fear slid off of Elijah's features. The creature pretending to be a little boy stood before us straight backed and proud. When it spoke, its voice took on a calm almost familiar cadence of a salesman, “Had to take the shot. I don’t want to fight you. I simply wish to leave here.”

Angelica pulled her spear from her inventory, “I really hate mind effects!” The thing is though she didn’t attack.

Elijah held up his hands not quite in surrender but to show he was unarmed, “Look at it from my perspective. I was trapped here, and then a dragon appeared. After that you show up.” He pointed at me, “That one flexed through my pheromones like they were nothing. You have a Divine Scale weapon. You scared me.”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“And you fucked with my head,” Angelica said flatly. She didn’t seem as angry as she had been a second ago.

“To get away,” Elijah said again. “Let me go, and I promise you will never see me again. Hell, take what you want from here. Just leave me be, and I won’t bother you.”

“What do you think, Doug?” Angelica asked. She was still eyeing Elijah but she was also sweating bullets.

She didn’t trust her thoughts.

I still felt the shift of currents that Mental Resistance navigated. “What are you?”

“That is a very complicated question. The best way to explain that you would understand is, I am a wounded creature. I am missing part of me. It reduces me to,” Elijah gestured toward himself, “A small child.”

“I’m pretty sure you are older than most things on this planet,” I told him. I manifested another layer of Ablative Shell.

“There are more ancient things around than you would guess,” He said before looking up at the sky meaningfully.

Did he mean Narrators?

“You know what I mean,” Elijah confirmed.

That gave me pause. Wilson and Grace had insisted that I was going to do something wrong with apocalyptic consequences. They claimed the Mystic Troopers would be key and they had to be part of this. What was it Gisele said? Waiting for some skyfall? I really should have asked more follow up questions.

Expend Free action? Yes/No

Note: you must select the total number of seconds spent before activating.

I paused… well everything else. I selected one second and hit yes.

I needed to treat this like everything. Understand the situation, define goals, come up with a plan, and then act. This thing was dangerous, but that didn’t mean it was a threat. Wilson and Grace implied I was going to mess this up and that would cause everyone on earth to suffer. This thing was throwing out mind effects. Angelica was immune to them. This creature Elijah hadn’t attacked us, but that seemed to be a matter of convenience rather than real intent.

Please select an action…

This all still translated to needing to get out of this without letting my friends die, or letting the world be put on a long term path to annihilation.

Yep defining the goal sure was easy. Doing was the hard part.

I felt the nail on my pinky finger. I was not the Titan. A lot of the uncertainty in the current situation all hinged on Grace and Wilson’s interference. Their warning hid the implication that I shouldn’t act like I normally would. This would be troubling if both weren’t actively trying to force me to act against my nature. In most situations I would try to de-escalate. I would keep people talking until I understood what was happening. Gisele and her friends were good people, but they were young and impulsive. That meant that Wilson and Grace wanted this to escalate immediately.

Please select an action…

Elijah knew about the Narrators.

Wait!

It knew about the Narrators. That was its manipulation. It was implying we had a shared enemy, but it never said that. This thing was a threat. It was pulling the whole enemy of my enemy con. However it was also an opportunity. It knew about the Narrators. They didn’t want me talking to it.

That changed things. The goals were: survive, protect my friends, get information from Elijah… and stop the world from dying. Technically that last point was really high up the list but it was also a hyper nebulous thing. I was almost certainly going to have to revisit that one as things progressed.

Please select an action…

Okay that made the plan a lot easier. Talk to Elijah, get the info I can, and if this thing tried anything, kill it dead.

I looked at Angelica. She was here with me. That was a comfort, but also a responsibility. Elijah was able to affect her mind. Could I justify leaving her in this situation?

Celeste’s light flashed in Angelica’s eyes, “What’s the plan Doug?”

“I think I need to talk to it,” I said. I wiped my face. I was sweating now too.

Please select an action…

Warring: Continued delay will result in free action being lost.

Celeste nodded.

“Will Angelica be okay with me taking the time?” I asked. If Celeste said no, I would use this time to create an Ablative Weapon and hit Elijah with a cheap shot.

“She trusts you, Doug. She handed you the lead as soon as she realized her perceptions were compromised. If something is wrong, talk directly to her, but call my name if things get out of hand.” She answered immediately.

I nodded. Celeste’s light faded and Angelica went still.

No sense wasting the opportunity

Analyze Check… Successful.

This is the corpse of a dead human male. The body has been altered to preserve the flesh and nervous system. Due to alterations this body is Rare Scale

Time started. Elijah opened his mouth wide like he was yawning or trying to make his ears pop. He stuck a finger in one ear and wiggled it, “You guys feel that?”

“Who are you?” I asked.

“Call me Elijah,” He said flatly.

“Elijah, who are you?” I pressed.

He frowned. His face almost looked sad, “I don’t think you are going to believe me, the closest thing to the truth is a lost child in a far away land looking for their parents.”

“You’re not selling this well,” I pointed out.

Elijah shrugged.

“What can you tell me about them,” I said, nodding toward the sky.

Elijah sighed, “Not a lot. All of this,” He gestured around broadly, “It doesn’t matter. None of the fighting is important.”

“What is important then?” I asked.

“Getting everything and anything you can, while you can,” Elijah explained.

“That doesn’t exactly make me think letting you go is a good idea,” I told him.

“Hey Doug, ease off,” Angelica said.

“You’re still doing mind effects?” I all but growled at Elijah.

“I am telling you that fighting is a waste of time. Let me go, just walk away with your friend and the rest of your people and we all benefit.” The thing insisted. That sounded less like a soft sales pitch and more like a threat.

“Stop using mind effects now,” I told him. The knuckles in my hand cracked loudly as it curled into a fist.

“Doug, maybe you should calm down. You’re scaring Elijah.” Angelica said. She turned her back on the monster. She seemed baffled by my actions.

“Angelica, Elijah isn’t real. It is something controlling the dead body of a child,” I told her gently.

Angelica shook her head. An instant a fear jolted through her features. She spun around and gazed at Elijah, “Fuck! … Fuck you.”

“Stop it, Elijah,” I said again. Something very close to hate crept into my voice.

“Let me go!” Something rumbled from the basement.

What a shock? This didn’t go well. Part of me felt that Elijah learned more than I did. All said and done though. I was convinced this thing had to die. I shook my head, “No.”

The ground shook, “This place was where you’re kind went for shelter. Their,” it said the next word mockingly, “faith shielded them from the undead. It did nothing against me.” The thing’s laughter caused the ice to crack as the wood structure heaved. “You’re not special. You are a commodity, and your lives are cheap.” The windows darkened. Not just from the setting sun but because something was out there.

“Is this a demon?” I asked Angelica.

“No,” She said. “I don’t know what this is.”