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PAT OF THE DUNES
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She resented her husband as she stood, that was as clear as the cloudless skies. Pat noticed a slight curve beneath her baggy dress as she stormed off and slammed the door behind her. So that’s it. I probably didn’t even have to make her fall.
Pat looked back at the husband, who hadn’t stopped staring at him. What malevolence. I can see how you’re the father of Wrath. The broad proved useless. Let’s see how resilient you are.
“You are not the first to come here,” Liam said.
“And I won’t be the last.” The web grew.
“But you will leave. Now.”
“No. No, I don’t think I will. I'm not some obedient housewife. And I have a reputation for completing my missions.” Pat crossed a leg over the other and leaned back in his chair. What, not going to defend her?
“You won’t get anything from us. We don’t know where he is.” Liam pulled his sleeves back and crossed his arms on the table. His forearms were covered in scars and tattoos. Pat studied him, really studied him, for the first time.
He looks way too old to be my father. Which direction will I go? Let’s start with the obvious choices. Charlotte continued to spin the final parts of her web, and Pat studied Liam’s face for the slightest change, the slightest hint of a tell.
“I know he went to Aquilantis.” No reaction. “And then I know he went to Marina Veridia.” A lie, but still nothing. The web was finished. Charlotte removed one of her six eyes and placed it down on the threads. Pat leaned in close. “I have heard that he’s killed more people in the last two years than he did that single day here. When it comes to your boy, you have much to be proud of.”
Just wait for him to trip up. A fly buzzed around the ivy trellis.
“Thing is,” Liam leaned in, too, “that wasn’t my boy that day.”
The fly approached the web and then backed off of it. Pat curled his lips into a smile, a real smile for him, wicked and cruel.
“Oh, really? Do you have another boy, then?” Pat looked at the house, toward Evelyn. Ah, there it is. The first sign of fear in you today. “Because from our standpoint, and I think you know of whom I speak, they’re one and the same.”
Liam grinned. He leaned in even further and gestured to Pat with his finger to follow suit. Pat obeyed. Just explode, already. I grow tired of waiting.
“Get the fuck," Liam uttered slowly, "out of my yard.” His eyes and tattoos turned black.
Pat stretched back in his chair and yawned. Dark magic, huh? Seems you're less boring than you appear. Explains why my trap didn't last.
“What is your greatest fear, Liam?”
The fly buzzed louder now and hovered closer to the web.
“Is it that something bad happens to your child?”
“We would both die for our son.” The buzzing grew louder.
“Somehow, I doubt that,” Pat mocked.
BUZZZZZZ.
“Or is it—your greatest fear, that is—something bad happening to your…children?”
Liam's eye twitched. The fly stuck to the web. It thrashed about and tried to escape.
Sweet, sweet leverage. Liam bolted to his feet, palms on the table.
“What I am most afraid of, is that I’ll go to prison for killing you, right here, right now.”
The world around them disappeared. The colors of the flowers vanished in an engulfing black void. Swords materialized all around them and floated in the air, pointed at Pat. He slowly rose from his chair and dusted some pollen off his elegant robes.
“Now, now, Liam. No need to resort to violence.”
Can’t take the risk of dying here, so close to my goal. And I may still need them later, so I can’t kill them, either…
“I came here for information, and it seems I got what I needed.”
He looked over at his tarantula, but he couldn’t see her through the darkness. Liam stepped closer to him. The swords closed in as well.
“You must know who my employers are, what they—”
“You fucking coward," Liam spat out. "You pathetic, little, yellow-bellied, spineless—running back to your mama’s tit for protection like the child you are?” The threats moved closer still. “They may have you dressed up nice, in an oversized robe to mask your frail little body, but shit wrapped in gold is still shit.”
Oversized robe!?
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“You would do well to back off—”
“I’ve been curious, since I sat down, how they could send someone as young as you. Most have been my age.”
Where are you going with this?
“No one suspects a child. Take your wife for—”
“Mention her again, and I stab you through the neck, seventeen times at once. And speaking of seventeen, you’re about the same age as my son—the exact same age, I'd wager."
How does he—No, he only suspects.
"I’d love to see how you manage to walk away from this, if you can. Maybe another pillar will turn black tonight." Each word dripped from Liam's mouth like acid.
How can I get out of this? Fight?
No, I’d lose and die. Talk my way out?
That ship has sailed.
The woman, how can I use her—
Patience’s entire body froze.
His eyes lit up, he felt a rush of power, and he convulsed as if he were having a seizure. He felt the sudden sensations of massive acceleration, followed by a blunt deceleration. He was so dizzy he could vomit, but the rush of adrenaline prevented him from disgracing himself in front of Wrath’s father.
Holy.
Fuck.
Patience gripped a chair before he could fall down.
What serendipity. We're done here, Charlotte.
He turned his head slowly back to Liam, who looked horrified. Must be double-thinking his choice, whether he can win or not. Seize the opportunity.
“If you seek to attack me, Liam, I wish you…”
> «« Salvos Speed »»
>
> [₹8,400 // ₹10,000]
He recited the last part of his sentence in Sylvan, the language of Scripts, and activated a Scroll. His Seal lit up, but it was perfectly hidden on his scalp, underneath his thick, long, and dark hair. He closed his eyes to hide the invocation.
Hopefully, he takes that as a threat and not an actual attack.
Evelyn shouted from beyond the black void. Liam dropped his spells to check his surroundings, as if he should expect a trap.
“You should take your dear Evelyn to her doctor,” Pat warned. "Wouldn't want her to have another premie."
Liam’s darkness faded away, and he rushed inside, but he stopped at the door.
“You better be gone when I come out,” Liam said over his shoulder. “Or I’ll show you what wrath truly looks like.”
Finally, alone again.
Pat walked over to the trellis. Charlotte dropped down from her trap onto his shoulder and burrowed into his robes. He looked east, to the city beyond the sea, darkened by the sun setting behind him. The bridges shifted, and the spires glimmered.
“Come, Charlotte. Our next stop is Aquilantis.”
> [Master of Puppets — Quest Objective FAILED: Interrogate the Tideshapers for information on Wrath.]
>
> [Master of Puppets — Quest Objective COMPLETED: Find a lead on Wrath.]
>
> [Master of Puppets — Quest Objective ADDED: Find Wrath in Aquilantis.]
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CYRUS
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Cy stretched his arms out and yawned on his bed. He cracked his neck, much thicker now than when he'd first arrived to the art studio, and braced himself for another day of hell. Cy glanced at his body in the mirror, now covered in dozens of tattoos. He left the living quarters and stepped out onto the endless tiled and white marble slab. Cy hated this setting more than any of the others.
I really don’t like wide open spaces.
Just like always, the spatial perspectives inside The Painter’s art supply store made absolutely no sense. Cy shut the door to his spacious room, which from the outside looked like a shed.
He had both gone to sleep and woken up in a solemn mood. Jules went out yesterday, which surely meant that Kaizen was planning a move. Don’t have much time left with The Painter.
Cy was also worried because, throughout the last few years, it had become painfully obvious that he had fallen behind in the group, though certainly not from a lack of commitment and effort. There was a large power gap between Cy and Envy, and an even larger gap between Envy and Jules.
Even with The Painter’s help, their Regeneration has taken them out of my league. But still, at least I don’t have to live with dying every day. Cy rounded the corner of their quarters to the kitchen—
Oh Salvos, Salvos please, no.
He groaned. Envy cooked breakfast, and Cy hated her food. Still, he grabbed a plate. She could tell he made a face, so she scooped him an extra helping of what Cy could only describe as slop.
“I expect you to eat it all to keep up your strength,” she said.
Envy had grown into a woman, or nearly so, as her birthday was days away. The way she and Jules looked at each other sometimes stirred a little more jealousy in him sometimes. Their relationship's growing, plus they have their Familiars, not to mention their powers and overall…specialness. Meanwhile, all I have is The Painter, and I’m just an accessory to him.
Cy sat down next to the Altar of the Alters. That Painter is always the humble one.
Reluctantly, he ate. The Painter sat across from him, reading some newspaper. Jules joined them and shoveled food in his face, like always. Cy rarely saw The Painter eat—only the occasional apple.
"Eh, looks like the Harbormasters of Lustris Haven are trying to cripple the Verdant Domain again." He wadded up the paper and tossed it aside, in Jules’ direction. Cy made a habit of watching The Painter, probably too often, so he caught the man pause when he looked at Jules. I haven't seen him hesitate since the night I met him.
An oblivious Jules ate with fewer manners than Rukia did. Cy pretended like he wasn’t observing The Painter’s every move and picked around the only edible pieces of food on his plate, which was being generous. The Painter looked away without saying anything, though Cy felt the tension. Maybe he needs a kick in the right direction.
“Nice jewelry, Jules,” Cy said.
“It’s unlike you to forego the opportunity to punish us with a miserable pun,” Whiskers said.
Jules looked awkwardly down his face, past crumbs, at the beaded necklace, and hid it inside his shirt. He unfolded the newspaper. Still, The Painter didn’t react.
“You look foolish,” Envy said. “Where’d that come from? Please tell me Cy’s not making you a walking model for his broke-ass trading company.”
“Hey! I only deal in staples that the people need.”
“That… And the finest of luxury goods,” Rukia said.
“You gotta make money somehow, eh?” The Painter remarked—a bit absently, Cy thought.
“It looks like it belonged to some destitute vagrant,” Envy said with a frown. The Painter shifted slightly. “Dull, worn, charred. Just the kind of product you’d push, actually.” Up yours. Quit distracting me.
“What do you make of your star pupil’s new style?” Cy asked The Painter.
Everyone was surprised to find The Painter too flustered to speak, not even bothering to hide his anger. Yeah, something’s definitely off here. The Alter stood, composed again. “Well, it would appear that today is our final day together.”
Still pretending to be absorbed by the newspaper, Jules turned a page. “So you have been watching me."
“Be ready in five." The Painter walked away without looking at any of them. Even Jules put down the newspaper, and the team of five all looked at each other, puzzled.
“Julessss….” Envy said. “Something to tell us?”
> [Paint It Black — QUEST COMPLETED]
>
> [Paint It Black — REWARD GRANTED: You have Leveled Up far surpassing other people your age.]
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