“...Every time I entered a universe, I’d use the mark to contact the local Champion, who would quickly get into contact with me. I’ve got this care package for the Quarantine Champion, but he’s the first that hasn’t responded, so I guess my question is: do you know why?”
“Hmm, I cannot say for sure, but I believe it may not be able to parse through the… static of his battle. The sun is under a constant bombardment of demon-kin, all of which hold the demon affinity and are antithetical to all energies. I suspect the message is getting lost once it passes through too many of their swarms, shredded by their internal mana.”
“Oh… How do I get into contact with him then? This seems kind of important.”
“I’m sure it is. I’d approach one of the churches on the surface dedicated to The Champion, they may have a way to contact him in emergencies.”
“Okay, good. Now then, the important part… how is my family? And the situation with Gem-Dwellers in general?”
Aloran chuckled, “I am surprised it took you so long to ask. They’re… better. They were ostracized for a long time after your escape, and still are, but Justin gives them frequent updates on Oura’s trial, which makes them feel better each day. I’ve made it my Pope’s duty to keep an eye on them as they are the family of a Supreme Inquisitor. Once his trial is over, it will be announced that they were victims to repair their reputation. As for Oura’s trial itself? Very good. There were a few bumps, but it is slated to end any day now. It’s quite the coincidence you arrived at such a time. His punishment is likely to become a unique artifact called a libraric hollow staff, a weapon that allows Oura to keep his memories but not Identity, allowing for the Shamans to access his knowledge in the future while still effectively killing him.”
Dei nodded, “That’s about as horrifying as I thought it was going to be.”
“It is one of their most charming practices, their willingness to turn on their own. Aside from Oura, Fendrascora and Clever have spent most of the time with your family, telling them stories about you and generally living together.”
Dei winced, “They… know about Fendrascora?”
“Yep, and your mother was quite irritated that you hadn’t trusted her enough to tell her about Fendrascora in your messages. I believe she asked me to convey to you: ‘I am willing to kill a Shaman myself to protect you, what do I care that one of your friends made a mistake in her youth? Fendrascora is a lovely girl, and quite cute too,’ while making a ‘hint hint’ facial expression.”
Dei facepalmed, ‘BOTH my moms are trying to set me up with my OWN friends.’
“I’m not interested in Fendrascora. Not only is she like a little sister to me, she wouldn’t even be my type if she wasn’t.”
Aloran sighed, “Yes, the catastrophe sitting next to you is?”
Perumah’s face twitched but she said nothing.
“Maybe. Just trust me here Aloran, I’ll handle it. We already have a way to stop it from devouring the other emotions within her.”
“I do not believe you’re lying to me, Dei, but you are naive in many ways still, despite all you’ve gone through. You have always held a blind spot for your friends, I believe you need to consider talking her out of going through whatever plan she intends. There are other, safer paths. Becoming a Progenitor is something to be very proud of, accepting corruption into your soul is ridiculously moronic, no matter how well-caged it is.”
Perumah hissed in Dei’s mind, “He could not convince me if he tried, and neither can you. I will become the greatest version of myself I can, or I will become nothing at all. I lived much of my life content to be still. No more.”
Aloran clicked his tongue, “Then you are a horrible person, and he should not take you on as a spouse anyway. You would not listen to your closest compatriot? To the one person who loves you above all else? Despicable if that were true, but I don’t believe it is. If Dei put forth a concerted effort, I know it could shake your resolve, but he is too jaded to do so. He trusts you too much, so I will in his stead, as his God, attempt to protect him.
“This will not go how you think it will. Not because your attempts to limit its influence will fail, but because even if it’s as powerful as regular Love, it will still overwhelm you. You’ve lived an eventful life that has left you with many bonds, and when care turns to love, you will be torn in half by how difficult it is to express the weight of your emotion. People will not understand the way you wish to care for them, and this will cause you grief.
“If you fail to contain it, you die. If you succeed, you’ll be crippled anyway. There is a good reason most don’t give everything in pursuit of power, because it will leave you broken.
“I say this not to declare you are objectively wrong, merely that you consider the alternative and be aware of the risks. I did something very similar, permanently weakening myself and becoming more reliant on my friends so that I could take them with me on my path, but I knew what I was getting into. I knew I would be tied to them forevermore, and I accepted that. You must be as well. Twisted Love will guarantee power, regular Love will guarantee happiness. Both results can be earned by the other, but may not be as complete.”
Dei felt frustration and confusion emanate from Perumah as she dropped into a thoughtful silence. She wanted to know the right answer, but there wasn’t one.
* * *
While the break to get updated on the situation was beneficial, Dei couldn’t delay any longer, nor did he want to.
It was time to return to his family. He briefly explained to Jacob and Thadria who he was going to kill and why, and both appeared sick at Iora’s previous behavior, making no attempt to influence him away from his decision, though not wanting to see the aftermath either. Aloran said one of his priests would meet up with them once they were in the Gem-Dweller village to guide them to somewhere safe.
Dei briefly considered whether to meet with his parents first or to go for Iora, but he had no way to sneak around, so he’d have to face Iora before his family, though Aloran’s input changed that.
“They are moving towards the Red Wilderness now, and if you move, I can set up a meeting.”
While he wanted to see his parents and, yes, perhaps meet his “Older” siblings, he briefly still considered going after Iora so that he could delay their meeting just a bit longer.
He didn’t feel ready, but that was the nature of life. He would never be perfectly ready, and nothing would ever go absolutely right, but the underlying desire to see his parents again was still there.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Six months with a family but more than one and a half years away meant he’d been gone for longer than he’d known them, but it didn’t feel like it. It might’ve been the instinctual bond he shared with his parents at birth, but it felt like he’d known them for a lifetime, and spent equally as long away, missing them.
“Alright,” he told his God, “Where do I go?”
Walking around the red forest grown from the Wilderness Convergence was an utterly surreal experience.
After teleporting to the entrance, Aloran guided him along one of the game trails his parents supposedly used quite frequently to meet up with Fendrascora outside of their town.
He was reminded again by all the shades of the forest, and he idly wondered why they grew red instead of green. Based on his very basic knowledge of light and plants, he guessed that the crystals embedded into the ceiling would emit significantly more green light, so the plants would choose to absorb that instead, reflecting a red coloration rather than what was typical.
The calls felt familiar and distant at the same time, bringing him back to memories he’d long forgotten.
Perumah loved it. Dressed in a slightly oversized red pair of jeans and dark boots with a black T-shirt, she was clearly dressed more for convenience than anything, and she admired each of the red plants, staring at them fondly.
He almost wanted to laugh at how obviously she preferred them to typical plants, but he understood it.
Now that he had a better perception, he also had a better frame of reference for how strong everything was here, and he had to say he was surprised.
So close to the surface, Dei expected the forest to be incredibly weak, but it seemed the Convergence changed that. Most obvious souls in his detection range were at the one to two hundred range, though several were long-past three hundred.
This Convergence was massive, and old. So old it’d expanded further than its own borders, as I couldn’t even detect where the actual Convergence began.
Outside of Quarantine, I’d only run into weak creatures or those trained specifically to become as powerful as possible, such as in Gate City. A level four hundred monster outside would be unfathomable.
Here? I had no doubt there could be something that surpassed level five hundred guarding the center of this Convergence. There could be- no, there definitely was a God-level monster, just a few miles away.
Life in this doomed bubble was very different indeed.
While he and Perumah studied the life, Thadria and Jacob were awestruck at the sky.
“How does it provide warmth…?” Thadria asked in relation to the crystals, “I feel the sun on my skin, but I know we are deep, deep underground.”
“And the waterfalls,” Jacob threw in, “They just… drop from the sky. It’s incredible.”
“I want to kill and taste the blood of the creatures here, but the plants warn me that the king of the forest does not like anything that spreads itself wide,” Perumah said quietly, “I will have to face the meals I want to kill in single combat, directly. If I try to send roots out, I’ll attract the attention of something I don’t think even I could handle alone. How? I’ve ventured the multiverse and earned countless Achievements, and this thing is just… a random animal;” she didn’t say so condescendingly, but in awe, and Dei felt the same. They weren’t the biggest, baddest things around, not anymore.
He wondered, would the creature in the center have a Legendary Race?
Was that simply the new baseline for anything holding authority?
They arrived at the location before an answer, and each of them chose to sit down on a rock surrounding the miniscule pond, keeping alert.
* * *
During the wait, Dei sensed many primitive scans on him, the creatures around assessing whether he was predator or prey, and luckily deeming him too difficult a meal to chase; though several were tempted by Thadria and Jacob, none drew close enough that he had to act.
For some reason, the persistent active attempts at calculating whether to attack or not comforted him; these were threats he knew, what he was comfortable with. He’d grown up facing danger every single day, and at some point he’d started to miss it, losing his edge and dropping his guard when he shouldn’t have.
He certainly wasn’t at risk of that anymore, perpetually being reminded that he was not safe could only be called the best training for remaining vigilant.
It was through this careful observation that he spotted the first thing he recognized, a shifting mass below the pond, where it connected with the Great River. He felt the resonance between their two souls, and it seemed she did as well.
The water exploded in a cloud of mist, surprising Jacob and Thadria as Fendrascora’s main spiritual body lunged for Dei, wrapping him in a hug while her peripheral body stayed below,
He laughed, hugging her back and seeing that she’d managed to keep the ruby-red hue his blood gave her.
She suddenly pushed him back, holding him at an arms length and studying his face. “When did you get back?! And why have you been gone for so long!? You said you’d be gone for two months! It’s been more than four! You missed your birthday! Your mom was so sad! Who are these people? Where’s Perumah?”
The words flowed out of her spell and into their minds, translating them. He’d forgotten she had some kind of AoE telepathy, but it wasn’t unpleasant.
He smiled at the rapidfire questions, answering them each in turn. “I got back around an hour ago, a lot of stuff needed fixing outside, I’m sorry for missing my B-day and I’ll make it up to mom, and these are my friends- as well as Perumah right there,” he said, pointing to her.
“Perumah!” she shouted, pushing off Dei and pulling her into a hug, “You’re so different! I didn’t even recognize your flow! You’re a Matriarch now? Does that mean you’re not mean anymore?”
Perumah’s eyebrow quirked, “Not a Matriarch, but I am very close, I just need Wrath; in what manner was I ‘Mean’ before?”
“Hmmm, maybe best if Clever talks to you about it, I think he’s still a bit irritated by your alternate selves, so talk it out with him.”
Dei knew she was talking about how Clever saw many timelines where Perumah betrayed them, but Fendrascora was right, that was something between.
“What?” Perumah said in his head, “When was this?”
“Oh yea, you’re in here too,” he thought, then waved her off. “Talk to Clever about it.”
She grumbled, but didn’t delve further into his memories.
* * *
Fendrascora chattered away while they listened, barely asking about what happened on their journey, much to Dei’s amusement.
She seemed… lighter. Happier. She felt fragile before, but she’d become very well-rounded in his absence, even if the core of her personality hadn’t changed.
She talked about her internal garden and village, saying that it’d become a paradise for Aloran’s followers and how proud she was of what she’d done so far.
Not only that, but she’d passively learned more about the beetles, and why they needed to be protected so badly: they were an ingredient in the Elixir of Life, meaning people would want to harvest them to become immortal if they found out. The beetles were, however, utterly impossible to grow under artificial circumstances for a multitude of reasons.
Dei’s expression darkened briefly at the epiphany, and he knew he would never let anyone touch them. He was the Supreme Inquisitor of Aloran, a religious soldier, and these were his people.
Oblivious to his personal vow, she continued to ramble about this and that until he heard a crack and looked up.
He hadn’t let his guard down, yet she’d still somehow snuck up on him. A mere ten feet away, his mom stood gaping in shock, staring at Dei.
He opened his mouth to say something, maybe “Hey mom,” or “Do you recognize me?” but he never got the chance. She blurred across the clearing and tackled him in a hug, hoisting him up and into her arms.
She squeezed him as tightly as she could, afraid he’d disappear.
“You’re okay…” she whispered, and he felt himself tear up, overwhelmed.
‘She really remembers me. She still loves me.’
