“I’m not running a charity, girl.” Ophelia replied with mild disdain. “My time is valuable, and while this knowledge is publicly available, I have access to sources you wouldn’t.”
I couldn’t argue with her logic, which I hated. I leaned back in the folding chair and frowned, “How much? And how much of it will be relevant?”
The woman shrugged, “It’s on you what you do with the information. My fee is 2,000 PEC which will cover a pretty significant history lesson. If you have a name, I’ll even do a little looking to see if we have a profile of what kind of changes and memories you could expect.”
“Really?” I blinked in surprise, “Is it because it’s usually the same… what, ancestor? I doubt Alexei Drowlek is related to the Rosecrests.”
“That’s something I’ll tell you if you pay the fee.” Ophelia said, tapping the large book. “What do you say?”
I turned and looked at Deacon, “What do you think? Can you tell me more than her?”
He shook his head, “Maybe the broad strokes, but Ophelia is in a position to have more information and access to sources we couldn’t ask.”
Grumbling, I didn’t even bother reaching into my pocket to pull a PEC crystal out. I just pulled from my Experience Bank and summoned a single crystal to my hand. It was a bright violet and I set it on the desk. I held the sides of it to display a 2,000 in small text before sliding it over to her. “Here you go.”
She stared at the crystal, then looked up at me. She hesitated before asking, “Can you… split that please? Otherwise I’m going to need to go to a bank, and they’ll charge a processing fee.”
“Depends. On if the information is good.” I said with a malicious grin. Deacon tried to hide his laugh with a cough, but it wasn’t a good attempt.
Ophelia glared at me, trying to intimidate me with the weight of her years on this world. I felt a light screen of something press against me aura and my gaze sharpened. I didn’t let her through, and after a few minutes I cleared my throat. She flushed lightly in embarrassment and the pressure stopped. “Right, my apologies.”
After shifting in her seat, she laced her hands on top of the desk and looked me in the eyes. “First, death is not always the end of life. Some people, rarely, return to a separate realm where they are able to select a new person to inhabit. They can choose their race, gender, and a plethora of other things. Those people are often what we refer to when we talk about ancestral memories, though reincarnation is a more accurate term.”
“How do you know about that?” I asked.
“Because it’s a consistent tale across multiple instances of those who have cheated death at least once. Some don’t remember, but there are enough that the details have matched up.” She tapped on the book, “The book will even give details about the person who takes over the former deceased. Usually just a name and average level of power that they are able to carry over. Often it’s just a few skills, but sometimes there are higher level alerts. Alerts like the one that occurred for you.”
“If the alert level was so high, why wasn’t I monitored sooner?” I said, my brow furrowing in concern.
“Because I don’t have a lot of resources and when I dug into your name and realized who your father was I didn’t want to go near you with a three meter stick. Even if you were a mass murdering psychopath, I suspected your father would deal with you before I had to lift a finger.” She leaned back in her seat and sighed, “Then Deacon was injured and I was notified the Rosecrests were looking for a new bodyguard, so I just… took the opportunity.”
“So, I was really sent to spy on Dani?” Deacon asked, sounding betrayed.
Ophelia nodded slowly, “To an extent, yes. I was going to have Show or Blade meet you for drinks and ask about her before reporting back… but they’re stuck at the Grave Woods. With the swarm, they’ll likely need a resupply soon, and a crystal visit.”
I turned to look at Deacon and he looked hurt. Turning back, I made a hand motion for her to continue with her information.
“Right, where was I?” Ophelia asked herself. “The reincarnators, a better name than ancestors, usually either die right away or become forces in the world for good or ill. One is responsible for the slave crest system. Another made sweeping education reforms in another country. And some just… live a normal life. They don’t all have all of their memories, either. Something in the process changes them.”
“I wonder why that is?” I asked, frowning.
“Soul degradation.” Said the old woman, smiling. “I’ve a theory, but it’s mostly speculation.”
“What’s the theory?” I was curious, because one of my own was forming using concepts I wasn’t personally familiar with. I didn’t know what a computer was, after all.
“I suspect that they aren’t fully brought into this realm. Pieces of them are left behind and when the soul reintegrates, the new one takes over the space of the old one, destroying the fragments that were left behind. Do this hundreds, if not thousands, of times and eventually you don’t even have the same person.” She said, smiling slightly, “Though I’m going to guess that’s not what’s going on with you.”
“Why do you say that?” I hadn’t thought I’d given anything away.
“Deacon, do you have an idea of what I’m getting at?” Ophelia asked the bard. When I turned to look at him, he had a contemplative expression.
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
After a small amount of time had passed, he started nodding his head like he’d come up with something. “You’re too… raw, I suspect. From what I’ve seen, you’ve no memories from Danielle, and fragments from this other person. It’s almost like this one is starting over.”
Ophelia smiled, “Not quite what I was referring to, but a good start.”
“So, what? I’m one of these reincarnated people, but without direct access to any of the knowledge they’ve got?” I asked, annoyed and a little frustrated.
“Perhaps. I wouldn’t be able to know for certain. What I do know is that while the occurrences of this are uncommon, they are often enough reincarnators appearing that there is a portfolio of names and capabilities of a large number of them. Part of the job of the Fools in Black is to track and check in on these individuals. As members of Carrion’s clergy, they have a better idea of these processes than I do.”
There was a lull in the conversation as I digested the information. “So, who are the Fools in Black?”
Ophelia rolled her eyes, “I just said, they’re the clergy of Carrion, the goddess of Death and Comedy. No one knows who they are except Ringmasters and above.”
“Can I meet one?” I asked, curious.
“You don’t want to.” Ophelia said, firmly. “They’re all a little… unhinged.”
“Unhinged?” I said, looking at Ophelia and then Deacon. “What does she mean by that?”
“Crazy. Mad. Insane. A few cards short of a deck. Several pieces missing from the board. Five kilos of crazy in a ten kilo bag.” Deacon said, colorfully.
Ophelia frowned, but nodded. “A strange lot, but I suppose you’d have to be to directly worship someone like Carrion.”
There was a pause before I asked, “Isn’t that blasphemous from someone working for her?”
Ophelia laughed. “I don’t work for Carrion. I work for the theater. My job is to make sure services get performed and make enough money to keep the theater operating in positive margins.”
“Back on track.” She said, and cleared her throat again. “You wanted to know why you were listed as potentially dangerous in our books, and I think I’ve covered that pretty thoroughly. What else would you like to know?”
I considered it, “What do you know about a system structure that can revive someone from the dead? And has the name Melvin popped up in your book?”
“To answer the first, yes there are such structures. Some people use them, but most don’t.” She looked me straight in the eyes, “Dying is a rather traumatic experience for most people. Most don’t want to go through something like that a second time. Not to mention how expensive it is.”
I nodded, “And Melvin?”
She tapped her chin, considering my question. Ophelia then started to go through system menus again. “Do you have a surname or some other designation? It’ll make things go faster.”
I shook my head, “No, sorry. Any entries would be going back to about when mine was.”
“Narrows it down.” She muttered as she looked. “That’s odd…”
I leaned forward, “What?”
“There’s an entry, but it keeps repeating…” She scrolled on the screen, the frown deepening. “That’s strange. This should have been flagged, but it wasn’t. Still isn’t.”
“Multiple deaths?” I prompted.
Her eyes snapped up to me. They then turned to Deacon, “What’s she talking about?”
“There’s a guy trapped in a ruin, supposedly. Near one of the sources of the swarm. I saw the place with my own eyes before… setting everything off.” He sounded embarrassed, but I was focused on the master of ceremonies.
There was a complicated emotion on her face. I could practically hear gears turning in her head, “You recognize this counts as an emergency, correct?”
“I hadn’t.” Deacon said.
“No.” I replied, even though I wasn’t the target.
Ophelia’s gaze snapped to mine. “You left them there?”
“I wasn’t exactly equipped, and based on my information it wasn’t going to change.” I didn’t flinch under her stare, returning it without guilt. “I plan to make another attempt when Deacon has his hand back.”
“I’ve every intention of helping her.” I heard him say.
Ophelia drummed her fingers along the desk, considering us. She let out a soft hum as her eyes flicked between us. I didn’t know what was going on in her head, but clearly she wanted to put her own influence on the task. Maybe a watcher or lending aid.
Finally, she stopped drumming her fingers. “I have to report this now that it’s come to my attention, you realize this, right?”
I turned to look at Deacon, who shrugged. I looked back at Ophelia. “If it’s going to help the guy out, I’m fine with that. Are we still going to need to make an attempt?”
The woman nodded. “It may be for the best. Even for high priority notifications, this will take time to resolve. If it can be finished before a Fool can be involved then all the better.”
“Is a Fool getting involved a problem? Shouldn’t I just leave it to the people whose job it is?” I still didn’t have a good idea of what a Fool did or how strong they were.
Ophelia leaned back and stared up to the ceiling. She looked like she was debating on saying something, so I kept quiet. After a couple seconds, she let out a sigh before saying, “You could. They’re usually pretty strong, but still mortal.” She made a pointed at me. “However, if one shows up, you are going ot be one of the first visits. Followed by them going through your life with a fine comb.”
I shrugged, “I’m not worried about that. I’ve nothing to hide.” At least, nothing they can find without me telling them.
“Somehow, I doubt that.” She leaned forward again, “There was another name you wanted to look up?”
I shrugged, “Alexei Drowlek is the one that keeps coming up.”
“Can you spell that?” She asked, and I did. Then she put it into a search bar.
Then the whole screen went red with a giant exclamation in the middle.
“What the fu-” I started to say as I looked at it. I couldn’t read the warning, but Ophelia had started to poke at the screen in a panic, unable to get it to do anything.
Suddenly the alert cut out and floating red text appeared on her screen. The older women went pale, and then similar text flash across my vision.
Everyone had gone kind of pale, with Ophelia actually shaking. I turned to look at Deacon, “Did you get a message too?”
He nodded, “It said to keep an eye on you…” Despite how nonchalant he sounded, his face was white as a sheet and he looked unnerved. “Dani… I need to learn to just accept things you say as true.”
I barked out a laugh that sounded strange in the new atmosphere of the room. I was relaxed, though. Zeratus wasn’t a bad person, from what I could both feel, and from my few experiences with him. It actually brought me comfort hearing he was going to…
Wait… what he did mean he’d deal with Carrion?