225. Deerie in the Middle

  By the time Serac rose to her feet, Poise-mended, she’d seen all she needed to see.

  First and foremost was the all-important confirmation of a ‘mechanic’ she’d already suspected. Namely that being [Paradox Incarnate] was never a permanent arrangement.

  She remembered well (how could she not?) the worlds-straddling, floors-jumping battle against Gladiolus ere’Branagh, one in which the man-tiger hybrid had switched and re-switched labels like trying on different outfits for a dinner party. The ‘Aberrant race’ he’d eventually settled on had been but one possible state of an [Oathbound] being, as flexible as one’s relationship to his [Oath].

  And therein lay the strange yet crucial lesson of a Realm that claimed to demand its resident souls be one way and one way only. At the end of the day, we’re all just ourselves. And ‘ourselves’ is something that can and ought to be changeable.

  It all made sense once you accepted a truth long hidden behind veils. That Tidereign was never meant to be separate. That, once upon a time, the Realm had accommodated two halves of a complete whole—where even to breach one’s [Oath] was merely a temporary state of being, rather than the death sentence it’d since become.

  The proof of it had unfolded right before Serac’s eyes. A lone Night-side stalker, one who’d clumsily yet doggedly followed the party through thick and thin, had finally revealed herself. Or rather, presented a whiff of her marmalade breath for a nose-forward soul to follow. And that moment of desperate yet sincere affirmation had been enough to cancel Oriole out of his Paradox state. Which meant the same could be done for Zacko and Renna. Which also meant…

  There might still be hope for Travertine.

  Serac put away the notion for now, to be revisited in due course. And as tempted as she was to listen to Oriole’s and Caraway’s aggressive purring for the rest of eternity, she tore her eyes (and ears) away from them too. She had a new wacky theory to test and no time to waste.

  The first priority was also the simplest step. Serac took a calculated risk and ignored Travertine, letting him stew a moment longer in his impotent rage. She instead dashed across the arena and swung a fist at Zacko.

  Double right jab, followed by a left uppercut. A classic southpaw combo taught by the NINEFOLD master himself. And even in the midst of his Paradoxical angst, Zacko reacted exactly as Serac had hoped—exactly according to his own creed. A firm forearm to block the first two jabs, followed by a pullback to dodge the uppercut.

  “That’s right!” Serac threw some verbal encouragement into the mix. “Be water, mi amigo!”

  Contrived as it was, Serac had just given Zacko a few punches to roll with. Nowhere near as potent as a childhood friend’s distinctive scent, but it got the ball rolling. The masked man swayed in place, not quite all the way himself, but hands raised and readied for a fight rather than clawing at his own face.

  That was when a flash of golden light forced Serac’s attention back onto the boss. Evidently, the hunter was determined to see his tantrum through to the bitter end, as he sent another slingshot the Upheavers’ way. Zacko, partially ‘activated’ by the earlier exchange, dodged the attack with a deft backward leap. Serac, on the other hand (literally), saw it as the opportunity it was.

  [381!]

  Serac blocked the slingshot with LOUDSPEAKER, whereupon the golden vortex broke off into more shrapnel. LOUDSPEAKER’s mitigation wasn’t anything to write home about, and the ensuing damage turned out to be too close a shave to have been worth the risk. But what was done was done. Serac didn’t hesitate, not even for one Ksana, as she bent and picked up a piece of the burning shrapnel.

  Hot, hot, hot! The broken piece of rock retained the heat if not the pretty aura of Travertine’s magic. Serac juggled it in her hands like a hot potato as she made her way over to Renna. Once there, she promptly placed it upon the blade of DREDGER.

  “There!” she proclaimed with as much pep and vigor as she could muster—her tried and tested method of getting through to a dispirited pink frog. “I’ma let you in on a new discovery, Renna, but not before you turn over that stone!”

  Get the ball rolling. For now, that was all she could manage. The boss came for her again, intent on putting a stop to the shenanigans, whatever the goal might be. This time, Travertine stepped closer with CROZIER raised high, bringing Serac into the range of:

  [CROZIER Spell: HUNTER’S SIGHT]

  A flash from a golden mirror. Serac had no chance to avoid it, nor were any of her allies ready to intervene on her behalf. Her only option was to face the light head on, staring straight into the mirror. There, she saw a familiar reflection. As cinnabar, onyx, and ashen as the day she was born. Herself and her contradict—

  No. Herself and only herself.

  [Hunter’s Sight] didn’t work on her. How could it? No contradictions to be found here. Not after all the Rites she’d Passed, all the hide-and-seek she’d played with her self and her third entity. Not when Serac Edin already was a paradox unto herself. The hunter’s mirror couldn’t show her anything she didn’t already know and hadn’t internalized.

  Travertine’s face widened and softened in genuine surprise. Something had broken through his dark rage, tugging at a thread of the man he’d striven to be all his [Oathbound] life. Serac needed to grab that thread and pull on it some more, but for that, she needed all her Upheaving hands on deck. To that end…

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  “Wake up, sleepyheads!” she commanded via LOUDSPEAKER, wincing slightly at the high-pitched feedback. No magic, no Mana spend. Just plain ol’ crazy lady shouting into a megaphone. “This has been fun, warts and all, but I’m ready to try something new!”

  If the balls had been rolling before, they now hurtled downhill at top speed. First Zacko then Renna straightened, purged of the darkness that had taken them hostage. All they needed to come back to themselves was to be reminded of who they were, warts and all.

  Oriole was nowhere to be seen, retreated from the arena along with his Anchored friend. Sound, multicellular decision, Serac praised inwardly. Good on you for keeping your temper in check, not like this deer idiot! The deer idiot needed an extra nudge. Serac was more than happy to provide it.

  “Let’s play a new game!” Another LOUDSPOKEN instruction. “I call it… ‘Deerie in the Middle’!”

  Not for nothing were Zacko and Renna numbers one and two in the cult of Serac Edin. They intuited what she wanted from them, the assignment’s wacky nature notwithstanding. The Upheavers spread out in a matter of Ksanas, forming a perfect triangle with their deer-man opponent—quite literally—in the middle.

  They got to work right away. Zacko with his [Dreamer]’s [Blade]. Renna by shoveling up the molten debris all around and [Surge]-ing them back at the source. Ranged attacks in sequence, with the aim to draw out the boss’s automated defense system.

  Serac, down to just 41 HP, took a more cautious approach. Taking advantage of the arena being ‘field’ rather than ‘dungeon’, she summoned Ash and camped upon its battlement. She then played javelineer instead of gunslinger, timing her throws so as to offset them against [Blade] and [Surge]. In other words, keeping Travertine and his one-bullet-away HP under a continuous barrage.

  At first, Travertine held to his [Hunter’s Stand], dodging all projectiles as he looked for a window to counter. But the seasoned trio and their coordinated attacks had shut that window tight. Soon, just as Serac had hoped, a pair of familiars forced their way back into the playing field, intent on evening the odds.

  [ORD Technique: STALWART BRACE]

  [DLEE Technique: UNERRING DART]

  Big Stag to parry, Little Doe to counter. Even as Serac ducked behind the ramparts to let Ash tank an incoming [Dart], she allowed herself a celebratory fist pump. Travertine’s deer were back to assist him, even though the Oathkeeper had clearly meant to fight on alone. A fracture in the fusion. The contradicting sides of Travertine aft’Nankervis fighting for coin supremacy.

  The Upheavers kept up their rhythmic barrage, even as DLEE and ORD fought to turn them away. The hunter himself went back to being a shepherd, but he looked none too pleased about it. He had his [Stalwart] and [Unerring] companions back by his side, but at a detriment to his own powers. ‘Paradox’ incarnate, in more ways than one.

  In between throwing javelins and ducking for cover, Serac studied Travertine’s body language. Despite the helping antlers around him, the man looked more and more haggard with every exchange. DLEE’s and ORD’s dogged devotion was taking a toll on their own Oathkeeper—just as much a trade-off as any other form of Wayfaring magic. And in this particular case, Serac had her reasons to suspect, said toll couldn’t be fully measured by Pathsight.

  A war of attrition. The Upheavers’ combined resources against Travertine’s well of magic and resolve. Something was bound to give out first. And when it did, it did so with a resonant baritone.

  “Enough.”

  Another clack of CROZIER against a lotus-white floor. But the sound was much subdued, not unlike the force behind the command. Well, perhaps not so much command as an appeal to better natures.

  “Enough,” Travertine repeated, reaching out as if to restrain his deer familiars. “You’ve already done enough for me. Followed me to the end of the earth and the height of folly. I can’t… I can’t in good conscience let you go on like this.”

  For one fraught Ksana, golden flames roared anew. One last gasp of anger that had only itself to feed on.

  The shadows departed, but the physical selves stayed. Big Stag ORD, shrunken down to his normal, bristling size—[the Mark of the Oathward] digging into his muscular neck. Little Doe DLEE, ever fleet of foot, ever graceful in the face of strife both without and within—adorned by [the Mark of the Oathless].

  Serac had LOUDSPEAKER next to her lips, ready to yell out more affirmations for all in the arena to hear. She saw there was no need. She lowered her hand and channeled off [Metabolic Shift], letting her left arm restore its truest self. In the other two points of the triangle, Zacko and Renna allowed themselves a breather, having performed their wacky tasks to perfection.

  As for the Deerie in the Middle, he was still in the middle but no longer alone. Had never been alone, and would do well never to forget it. DLEE bounded to Travertine’s side and nuzzled his hand. The man knelt to stroke her neck. Even surly ORD trudged over, head lowered and ready for pats.

  The darkness had departed, leaving a self-serious if somewhat apologetic scowl. Trav—for he was back to the Trav Serac knew—glanced up at the castle ramparts to offer said apology. But only briefly. For it was his deer companions that demanded most of his attention, as they had every right to.

  After all, here was a shepherd who hunted for and only for the herd.

  [Designation: TRAVERTINE aft’NANKERVIS]

  [Wayfarer Race: MRIGA]

  [PRIMAL Instrument: CROZIER]

  [Oathborn: DLEE and ORD]

  Serac smiled wide as she noted the status restoration. She then raised a fist above the castle ramparts. A celebration shared with friends both old and new. And a challenge to the heavenly beings who seemed hell-bent on tormenting them.

  Just you wait, Devas. Just you wait until me and my friends are strong enough to take on the lot of you. Then you’ll be sorry you ever tried to mess with us.

  Then, almost as if in response, Pathsight offered a coda—to a boss fight that had ended without a single smite.

  [EXALTED FEAT accomplished: Reconcile an Oathbound Paradox.]

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