Things were bad.

Brand, Aiko and I were stuck in the realm of the dead. Angelica seemed to be losing the fight with a horde of demons. Also I was egregiously hurt. Between the Mana Bleed Condition, having my throat torn to literal shreds, and being unable to heal I had to fight to urge to panic

Expend Free action? Yes/No

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

I selected 1 second. The tell tale thrum of time stopping brought silence but no reprieve from the pain.

Treat this like everything else. I thought desperately trying to drive back the panic and think through the pain. Define goals. I needed to get Angelica help. I needed to get us out of the land of the dead. This realm didn’t seem supportive of life, but it wasn’t actively trying to kill us. That set the priority. I needed to help Angelica first.

Please select an action…

I looked over to Angelica. Her spear was a blazing pillar of light, but she was nowhere near it. I found her near what seemed to be a pyre of demonic fire. Seven of the demons were ganging up on her. Two were holding each arm. One struggling to hold each leg, and a seventh was raising its barbed club to strike.

Why hadn’t Celeste stepped in? How much time had we spent together? It was less than a minute.

Please select an action…

In absence of information. I need to assume a worst case scenario. Celeste wasn’t going to show up, and Angelica wasn’t going to break free. What could I do? Attack the demons? I doubted that was possible. Everything felt slightly out of step. Several stray fireballs from the demons had come very close to us, and I felt neither nor even a disturbance of the air. I could see and hear the land of the living, But I seemed to not be able to directly interact with it. …not directly.

Please select an action…

What indirect options did I have? This entire situation was meant to mitigate all of my physical capacities. One of the demons I could see was clearly looking around confused. They had heard me when I had used Voice of the Titan. Voice of the Titan wasn’t an option because I was Muted. In the timeless moment I tried to speak but no noise came out. Nothing even rattled. I think I obliterated my voice box. That is probably why I had the Muted Condition… wait.

Ignored Conditions:

Frozen

Extreme Agony

Gore Soaked

Stop ignoring Frozen Condition and ignore Muted Condition? Yes/No

I hesitated. That was a desperate last measure. Even If I could reactive voice of the Titan and could say something to the demons, would they actually listen? Also would that put a second stack of Mana Bleed on me? Would that do 300 more damage?

This had to be something else I could do.

Please select an action…

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

I was trying to do everything myself again. That was the trap. It wasn’t perfect but there was an option. Ask for help.

Comune Check… Successful

You are now communicating with Followers Rachel Blum and Chino Minoru

Rachel: Doug? Why can’t I move?

Minoru: Time is stopped. Try and relax. Struggling too hard can actually cause something to tear when time starts.

It Worked! I had time.

Please select an action…

Warning: Continued Delay will result in free action being lost. Last chance!

Kinda had time. It would seem a god could exploit time stops to speak more freely with their followers.

Doug: Demons are outside the camp. Some are heading toward both the Goblin camp and the Mandir. Minoru, raise the alarm. Rachel, I need you to come here*. Angelica needs help.

I was able to send the image where we were.

Minoru: It will be done. Do you want me to send assistance?

Rachel: Oh that is what the noise is… Doug. Why would I help a psychotic mass murder?

Doug: Minoru, Only if you know the people you send will be able to handle the fight AND are steady enough to not pick attack anyone other than demons. Rachel, Now is not the time for this. There are enemies at the door.

Minoru: I will tell Sunit. His hatred of demons is profound and righteous.

Rachel: That sounds like a good argument to hang back and take care of my people.

I about lost my shit. Part of it was the pain, and part of it was frustration with Rachel, but most of it was just pure panic. Reality hit before I could do something unfortunate.

Free Action Lost.

Time will resume.

Everything sped back up.

Brand jammed a bundle of cloth to the bleeding hole in my neck.

Aiko poured some strange liquid on my face. A prompt pointing out healing was not possible flashed in my vision.

The demon struck with the club. The crack of wood on bone almost sounded like the noise a baseball bat makes when it knocks one out of the park. Angelica jerked and her right arm almost pulled free. She was alive.

Expend Free action? Yes/No

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

I selected another second. Yeah, stalling for time was just that, a stall, but I needed the breathing room. I took a breath. I needed to get Rachel moving to help. That meant I needed to convince her. That meant anger, frustration, and stress were counterproductive. I took another breath…

What did she want?

Please select an action…

I hate those blue boxes. Rachel wanted to kill Seth. That was off the table. I was not going to trade lives. Not like that anyways.

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Where was Celeste?

Focus. Rachel cared about her people, and her mission. I needed to leverage the mission against her hatred of Angelica.

Commune Check… Successful

Your are now communicating with Rachel Blum

Doug: Don’t just wait. The majority of the demons are gathered in one location. A preemptive strike now will protect your people.

Rachel: Why don’t you help her?

Doug: I am stuck in the Land of the Dead

Rachel: Oh… that’s not good.

Doug: No it isn’t. When time starts you need to move.

Rachel: or what?

This didn’t feel like I was making ground.

Please select an action…

Oh good. More pressure to act.

Doug: What do you want?

Rachel: What?

Doug: What do you mean what? What is it going to take to get you to go fight the demons?

Rachel: You’re not going to threaten me?

I nearly tried to scream in frustration. We didn’t have time for this.

Please select an action…

Focus on what matters.

Doug: No, Rachel, I am not going to threaten you.

Rachel: If I let De Leon die you won’t stop the instability rolls for me and my squad?

That actually gave me pause. …no, I wouldn’t do that. I understood part of the tension between Rachel and me. Technically, due to the nature of our relationship every interaction had a looming threat of coercion. That instability roll had crippled her arm. If I simply stopped loaning them my scale the Chimera Soldier would warp and twist until… I don’t know. Death? Something worse?

I needed to make Rachel understand.

Doug: No. I promise to never do that.

Rachel: What if we end up at crossed purposes like war with the Fantasy Kingdom

Doug: I am not saying I won’t physically stop you, if I have to. I am saying I will never just let Instability kill you. That is off the table so long as I am alive. Now tell me what it will take to get you to move?

I took another breath. Don’t hurry. If I pushed her she would just fight me.

Please select an action…

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

I could swear those were pressing closer together.

Rachel: I want you to come with my team to clear a dungeon, but we have to keep the loot.

Doug: Will you go to the dungeon after we clear the tower?

Rachel: No. I can’t risk the mission by sending people to the demon tower. We have to get back to the Technacoast and we are on time limit. Honestly we have already wasted more time than I am comfortable with.

Richard said he needed four weeks to do something. He said was trying to save the world. Despite my desire to trust him, my gut told me I had to stop him and time was a factor.

Doug: I can’t promise to go with you. The tower needs to fall. Would you accept a pact?

Rachel: What are the terms?

Doug: You use the power granted by the pact to act in all good faith to save Angelica and kill the demons. You get the power of the pact until you complete your mission.

Rachel: That’s it? What’s the catch?

Doug: Rachel, I have no interest in subordinates or followers, or minions, or whatever. I am not trying to control you.

Rachel: Then what are you trying to do?

Doug: Be friends.

That while true didn’t sound as I hoped. I was aiming for ernest but reading the message again it felt hokey. I glanced at the demons. The one with the club was still frozen ready to swing again. Where was Celeste?

Please select an action…

Warning: Continued Delay will result in free action being lost. Last chance!

Dammit! This may have been a bad Idea. I hadn’t reached out to Seth, because his apotheosis had left him relatively weak. Also I didn’t want to lure him out of the Mandir protection with Rachel around.

Rachel: I’ll Take the Pact.

I frantically went through the prompts to create a pact. I selected Titanic Toughness 2 and Titanic Speed.

Rachel took the pact.

Time started again.

Crack!

Angelica kicked loose for a moment but she wasn’t able to break free.

Expend Free action? Yes/No

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

I select 5 seconds. I pulled the bow out of my inventory and nocked an arrow. I wasn’t some great hunter, but I had spent my youth in an area where hunting was common. I had been in shooting sports. Plucking away with a bb gun and third hand compound bow. I aim, drew the string and let loose the arrow. It flew straight and true. It would have punched right into the chest of the demon with the club, but phased right through

Rachel: Why is time stopped?

Doug: Can you still move through it? Does the Demigod equivalent of Titanic Speed let you move when I stop time?

Rachel: Let me try. …yes

Doug: Sprint, use the time! How much do you have?

Rachel: Twenty actions

Doug: Okay how far out are you.

Rachel: Not sure. At the pace I am going maybe 30 seconds?

Doug: You have four more of this time stop. Then I can give you the remain 16 the next

Rachel: Fifteen. I burnt through one already.

There had to be something else I could do. My eyes drifted to the spear. In this muted place it seemed more real. The light radiating off of it hurt my eyes. I walked toward it. My skin prickled from the intensity of the spear’s corona of energy. I hesitated a moment. If I could touch this would it hurt me? Yeah, I wanted to help, and I certainly was desperate, but crippling myself pointlessly wouldn’t save anyone.

Please select an action…

That spurred me into trying. My hand phased right through the spear. Maybe there was the slightest resistance but it was nothing useful.

This. This being locked away and unable to help, was hell. I actually felt empathy for the titan. I looked up at the impossibly vast figure. He was still there gazing down at me.

I stopped ignoring the frozen condition and ignored the muted condition. That moved the world down a tick. Three left.

“Please help?” I begged. My voice echoed like it was in an empty room with nothing on the walls.

The Titan simply kept watching me impassively. The weight of Contempt had vanished with the devils, but he still terrified me.

“Go ahead! Take control! Wrath of the Titan! Rip a hole in the veil so I can help!” I screamed. When this provoked no response I all but sobbed, “Please help.”

The Titan faded away.

I collapsed to my knees. There had to be something I could do. What was I missing?

My mind was in a spiral. Prompts trying to goad me into action were flashing. I was coming up empty.

Time surged forward again. The demon bludgeoned Angelica again. She screamed in pain. The only time I heard her make a noise like that was when the Cait Sith had inflicted the Extreme Agony Condition on her.

“Doug?” Brand called. From his perspective I had vanished. He locked eyes on me as I got the prompt open again.

Expend Free action? Yes/No

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

I selected fifteen seconds. I was so useless. Wasn’t I supposed to be powerful? Why did everything lead to me watching people suffer?

The answer hit me.

The moment of insight rendered me strangely calm. The Titan’s worst memories all related to seeing women suffer and die. Here I was, forced by the Narrators exploiting the system to force me to watch yet another woman suffer. Mina, Rebecca, Brunhilda, Rachel, and Angelica, all of them suffered for crossing my path. Well, because some narrator decided them suffering would be entertaining.

This was done to us… for entertainment.

I could make it stop. I could swat the Narrator's hands away from the controls for an hour. Lindsey and Wilson had planned for this. Hell they probably were controlling Angelica’s dice rolls to break free, ensuring she couldn’t quite make it.

Activate “Empowered Critical”? Yes/No

I nearly hit yes. At the last second though I paused. Narrator meddling had brought us here, but could possibly carry us through. Who wanted to hear the story about a great demon slaying hero, who immediately before a big climatic battle, died being clubbed by a nameless goon. It would be bad storytelling. Wilson claimed he wouldn’t put his thumb on the scale, but he had also said he didn’t do retcons and here we were.

The system wanted us to take nine seconds, probably more, of abuse and offered the faintest illusion of hope that she would survive. Turning off the Narrator's control meant letting the dice roll. Giving it all to chance.

Basically it came down to did I trust Wilson, and Lindsey or did I trust Angelica and Celeste. That wasn’t even a competition.

I hit yes.

Eventually time started again

Crack!

Angelica didn’t break free.

Crack!

Angelica shrieked in agony.

Crack!