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CYRUS
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“Then it's time to what—Scram?” Cy cherished the fear on her face. Her expression shifted from shock to terror to rage to the threat of violence, which humored Cy.
“You little shit." Patty clutched her fake pearl necklace. "They’ll catch you.”
“Unfortunately, for you, that is, I caught you first. Juuust like the little rat you are. All it took was a little cheese.”
> « Ensnare » [₹6,800 // ₹10,000]
Just like she’d done to him a few times over the years, Cy used a Script to rip the threads of some of the bedsheets into ropes that tied her down on a chair. She spat in his face. Cy wiped it off, then dramatically dragged a chair toward her. It screeched shrilly, and he made sure to do it slowly, to showcase he didn’t care about any escaping sounds.
“I would love for you to make this harder for yourself, I really would, but I’m short on time, as well as patience.”
“Go to Hell.”
Cy glanced around the room. “Already been there, but I decided to come back, anyway. You know, I’ve always wanted to understand, why were you so terrible to us?”
“Kill me and get it over with. Just don’t eat me alive.”
“Ha! You actually eat your own horseshit? You never cease to amaze me. Why did you take it out on the kids, though?”
“The hell are you hollering about?”
“The kids, Patty,” Cy shouted. “Why’d you take out your anger on them after I…left?”
Patty spat at him a second time. “Monster.”
“No, you are the monster. I want to be an Alter because of people like you, to change the world for the better."
“Hahaha. And how’s that going for you?”
Cy cracked his knuckles and neck. “Pretty good, if I’m telling the truth. But I didn’t come to brag. I want to know, where am I from?”
“What?” Cy became extremely annoyed at how dumb she was acting. Or how dumb she just…is.
“As in, where was I born? Where are my parents from? Are the lights on in there?” He snapped in her face.
“Like I’d tell you anything, Sin-worshiper."
“I know you have at least an idea, so please, just tell me, because right now," Cy squeezed his hand, and the restraints tugged on her, "I’m asking nicely.”
“Ngh—Your parents didn’t drop you off. They had someone else drop you off, without a message, even. No one has ever loved you, you—”
“I don’t have time for this.” It took everything in him to not smack her.
> « Truth » [₹5,000 // ₹10,000]
Patricia’s eyes glazed over. A mist formed around her head. “That’s illegal,” she mumbled.
“You think I care? What’s a few more broken laws on my reputation? Who are my parents, and where are they from?”
“Yes. The more you break, the more you slide, just look at me. Your parents, they were people who didn’t love you, and I don’t know.” Blast it. That’s the weakness of using just the Truth Rune. It tells her version of the truth. If only I knew that Truth Serum Tome, but that's locked up tight. Divert her attention, then return to it.
“What happened to Isolda?”
“She got what she deserved.”
“Which is…?”
“Prison.”
Cy muttered to himself. “Which prison is she in?”
“Here, dumbass. Right under your nose.”
"Literally?"
"No, but you can literally go fuck yourself." Damn Rune.
“OK, thanks. Was that so hard?
"Not for me, no."
"Think I’ve asked all the questions I’ve got.”
“Ha! Giving up so easily. I always knew you were weak.” Patty flashed her beautiful, crooked, under bite smile.
“Oh, I’m not done. I’m just done asking.” Here goes another illegal Rune.
> « Memory » [₹3,200 // ₹10,000]
Patricia convulsed in her restraints. Her eyes lit up and projected scattered images of her memories. Though he was an arm’s length away, when he looked in her eyes, he could see them playing as if they had happened to him.
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“Salvos-damned Prophets,” she shouted at all the kids in the room. “Scaring all us hardworking folk, making us join their congregation for protection. Damn racket, what it is.”
Cy recognized a few children, all older than him today, but all much younger than he remembered them.
“They say tonight’s the night it’s supposed to happen, though,” a child said innocently enough.
“I wasn’t speaking to you, so shut up. Nothing’s going to happen tonight. Get back to your chores. Dinner won’t serve itself."
Three figures appeared in a doorway.
The memory blurs here, Cy thought. She must have been emotional. That's unlike Patty…
“You can’t expect me to take on another child. Not tonight. It’s a bad omen.”
You flip-flopping bitch. And smoking a cigarette right in front of the children!?
“You must take him,” one of the men said. “This is where his parents said he should be.”
“Fuck his parents, and fuck you, telling me what to—”
The man’s eyes lit up
Memory went fuzzy again…
“Take this Ryoku as compensation,” the man said. He walked away.
Patty looked down, and through her eyes, Cy saw a baby, around one-year-old.
“Wait.” The man faced her. A hazy Faction crest rested on his chest. “What’s the brat’s name?”
“Who cares?”
“...Cyrus. His name will be Cyrus, then.” Patricia raised her hand to stroke his cheek, but hesitated and abandoned the notion. The mysterious man frowned, then he walked out. He wore the same crest on the back of his cloak, but it too was fuzzy. He was gone.
Blurred out by a Script? Or did she just forget?
“Boy,” Patty ordered. “Come take this brat. Give him a bath and change his diaper.” Baby Cyrus wailed. “Shut up, kid. This stint will end in seventeen years. Try to enjoy yourself until then.”
Patty sat there, alone, for a minute. She grabbed pen and paper and drew out the crest.
For her own memories…?
When she finished, Cy saw it clearly for the first time: the Faction crest of The Etherealists.
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Cy pulled back from the memory and released his spell. Patricia’s eyes watered.
> [New Reward Available for SSoaSS: Familial knowledge.]
>
> [SSoaSS — Quest Objective ADDED: Investigate the Etherealists.]
Cy breathed heavily. All along, this Quest was…for my family?
“Now that you know I was right, what next?” she asked. Cy released the Ensnare Rune. She clutched and rubbed her wrists' tension marks. She gave him a certain look, one he’d seen before, but amplified. As soon as I turn my back, she’d kill me. Or try to, anyway. “It’s a good thing they blacklisted you.”
“What?" The Etherealists? "Who?”
“Heh. The Scholars struck your name out. Permanently.” Cy despised that toothy grin. “Tell ya what, Cyrus. After this little stunt, let’s just call it even.”
No.
> « Memory » [₹1,400 // ₹10,000]
Patricia’s head jerked back again. "Oh, ho! Gonna erase this from my mind?"
Cy searched for the worst moments of her life.
> « Repeat » [₹800 // ₹10,000]
Patricia crashed to the floor and scooted back to the wall. She wrapped her arms around her knees and rocked herself, muttering. Cy removed all the alcohol in his Inventory and left it beside her.
“Shut up, Patty. This stint will end in seventeen hours. Try to enjoy yourself until then.”
Cy took one last look around his old bedroom, then left her and walked outside.
Envy still played with the kids. She even smiled and laughed.
“Cy… If you wanna talk about it…”
Cy paused. He looked off at the horizon.
“No, Rukia. I don’t think I will.” She’d been quietly refrained in his backpack for some time. “I’d appreciate if you didn’t mention this to anyone, but I won’t blame you if you do. I crossed a line in there. A few, hard lines. But I don’t regret it. Just look at how happy those kids are that someone is actually caring for them.”
Rukia remained silent.
Cy joined up with Envy. She stared at him and failed to catch a ball one of the boys had thrown at her.
“What did you do?” she asked. You can read my face that easily, huh? Cy knelt down again.
“Hey, kids. Better go and play somewhere else, and leave Old Batty to herself.” The kids giggled at their house-mother’s new nickname, and scrammed. Cy rose to answer Envy. “Something highly illegal.”
“Cy, you didn’t…”
“Of course not. She’ll come around. I got what I needed, let’s go. We’ve got one more stop to make.”
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“Psst, Isolda,” Cy whispered. No answer. “Hey, Isolda!” He threw a rock in the dark cell.
“Who the hell’s there?” Her voice was groggy, disoriented.
“I brought you food.” A hand swiped the food from his own, and he heard the chomping sounds of someone who’d been starving. She finally came into view.
Her hair was disheveled, eyes empty, face gaunt, skin loosely clinging to bone. But it's Isolda, alright.
“More. Do you have more? Real food?” She backed up quickly, terrorized by his face. “A trap! Please, Salvos, no!”
Salvos? Cy narrowed his eyes. “How long have you been here?”
“W-who are you?”
“It’s me, Cy. Your favorite student.”
“Cy… The Cyrus?” Something’s off. “Help, Guards, Cyrus is here!”
“They can’t hear you,” Cy said, no longer whispering. “I used a Silence Rune.” Turns out I really needed it for you. She’s insane. “We met him.”
“W-who?”
“Your old teacher.”
“From my schooldays?” Her voice was shaky now, shrill and fragile.
“No, The Painter.”
“Who?”
This isn’t going anywhere. I could use those illegal Runes again, but… Isolda didn’t really do anything wrong. To me, to us, at least.
“Isolda, how’d they catch you? I thought you were the one freezing everyone.”
“Yes, I… I did. That was me. That’s what they told me…” She shivered and crossed her arms like some drug addict.
“Do you remember anything about that day, the Sack?” Isolda crawled away from him like a demon. She put her hands to her face.
“Stop, stop! I don’t know anything, anything, I already told them all.”
Gone bat shit crazy.
Cy stuck his face between the jail cell bars. “Try to remember. You told me and Jules to go meet someone. You knew him more than you let on, plus someone else you were friends with—”
“I don’t know, it wasn’t me, I told them, again and again, but they left me here, the Inquisitors, they visited me and oh Salvos please please help me I told them everything…”
Inquisitors? No way…
> « Reveal » [₹3,800 // ₹10,000]
The cell block lit up with Cy's blinding white light. The features of Isolda’s face faded away and were replaced by another woman entirely. I was right. This isn’t Isolda. The woman looked at her hands and felt her face and much shorter hair. She was amazed. She was terrified. She was exonerated.
“I believe you," he said.
“Thank you, oh thank you, please please—Will they believe me now?”
Shit. I've said too much to her. Will she remember? I can’t leave her here, but I can’t take her with me, either. The Guards will find her, but what will she say to them then?
> « Memor— »
Cy recalled the Rune immediately.
I don’t want to use that Rune on her. I won’t. She’s already been wronged enough.
Her cries for help surmounted, but Cy and his friends were on a mission, a dangerous one. He needed a temporary solution, one that could resolve itself by the time Coralhaven was far behind them. He thought about The Painter, and how'd he'd saved Cy many times, at the edge of death.
> « Rest and Heal » [₹1,200 // ₹10,000]
Her desperate pleas and cries stopped.
> [Corporeal Punishment — Quest Objective ADDED: Find Isolda.]
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69
nice!
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