The Andros, Tesstess, and Pequod mainly traveled by night on their journey north. It was safer that way for a number of reasons, not the least of which being the extreme heat. Most of them were not accustomed to dealing with the blasting furnace that was the accelerated winds of the Wastes and so it fell to the minority to educate the majority on how to deal with it, something which the experienced wellermen took more than a little pleasure in doing. Many took the opprotunity, while they were travelling in daylight hours, to play little pranks on the, comparitively, pampered guards. Feeding them a bit of false information and watching the resulting blunders was as good for morale as it was bringing these strangers together.
Then there was, of course, the ever present threats of reauslers and reavers to deal with – something which only became more and more prevalent the further away from Mirage they got. The shield around the city wasn’t the only thing protecting it from the intelligent predators and those societal outcasts who chose to live on the furthest fringes of the farthest imperial continent. Its’ location was also key to its survival. Being situated at obstinsibly the center of the Wastes meant it was the furthest away from both food and supplies by either offending party. Their journey would see them stay in a mostly straight line through the center of the vast metallic desert, and so, hopefully, would avoid the majority of encounters with them. The threat of pupa would only be considered once they were a few more days into their journey.
For the first few days the journey was quite easy going. Although there was ever a slight bit of contention between the antics of the wellermen and the city guards, the fact of the matter was that many of them had scarcely gone beyond the boundaries of Mirage and so were seeing what lie beyond it for the first time. There had been a particularly exciting moment on the second day when a small herd of wild unicorns had been spotted, rushing majestically through the sands. It was rare to see them in the wild this far inland. Some had never seen them before. Even from this distance, as the herd of ten rose up over a peak, their sandy coat doing well to hide their presence against the dunes, the spiral horned equines were undeniably beautiful.
William saw them and thought they could be of use if push came to shove.
Teutna had all but entirely given over command of the Andros to William. Indeed, the captains of the Tesstess and the Pequod had also relinquished command to the raven haired eidolon, who was displaying a part of himself that the stout captain had never seen before! She’d only known him a little over a month, granted, but a month was plenty of time for a person to get a good idea of who another was if they were paying attention. William had towed the line, followed orders, kept quiet, and asked the occasional question. He was a fine, upstanding ningen by her estimation, if a bit shy and reserved. In all the time she’d known him, she’d yet to see her Songbird soar! That gave her the belief that he was incapable of doing so.
How wrong she’d been! The speech William had given was just the beginning. He was an entirely different bird with a dazzling new coat of feathers! Gone was her timid little Songbird, here was a stunning example of hyper-competency that she would never have suspected of anyone, let alone the timid William! He moved different. He strode where before he had pattered. His figure was straight and tall. He almost literally flew as he jumped from one sandsailor to the next – Jumped! Clear from one side to the other after instructing her to get closer! She’d assumed he was only going to shout something to the crew of the Tesstess, but nay! The mad lark had leapt onto the deck of the neighboring sandsailor and continued on as though nothing had happened, pointing to this person or that, giving orders, having talks, like he’d done this all a million times before…
She wasn’t the only one to notice William’s infectious charisma. The remaining original crew of the Andros, ten in total, had all taken notice and talked among themselves in not so hushed tones of William’s sudden shift in personality. William allowed them to. Joscur and Daniellex, too, had had more than a few words on the matter. Neither one had expected the quiet stranger to have been such a commanding presence as this. Then again, neither one had known what he was until recently either. Joscur was still grappling with the concept of a concept like Choice being made into flesh. The out-of-nowhere expertise in… well, seemingly everything, only gave credence to the story. It also made him distrust William all the more.
“Never would have thought him so brave as to leap from ship to ship like that!” Daniellex had said the first time William had displayed his athleticism, sitting back down beside Joscur slowly after having gotten up to try and stop him. “I mean, I knew he was brave, I suppose. He did save someone from the fire the…” A small bit of hesitation, a chance to choose his words carefully. “...the night it happened, and he faced down and survived those things – oleum – by himself. I guess I just assumed he was trying to be helpful! I did not think he could be… well, daring!”
“I do not think either of us know William very well at all,” Joscur replied simply, bitterly.
They left it at little more than that for the time being.
William was not being more active for the sake of showing off. His self-inserted rise to leader of this expedition was out of necessity for none but him had the full grasp on what they were doing and where they were going. He could explain it to them, but the majority would just treat him as though he were insane, and although he had the power to prove his claims, without exception, he had always found it was easier to live among and act as a person rather than lording over them. He couldn’t make a person choose to respect him after all. Nor would he want to.
Instead he employed his ability to manipulate Choice as sparingly as possible and lead by example and word rather than imperceptible action. He had and immense amount of practice in being a leader, after all. All Eidolons did. It was all too natural for him to slip into the role when circumstances demanded a touch of experience impossible for all others to grasp.
That didn’t mean that the others gave up their autonomy easily. Particularly the captain of the Tesstess, Vivicetti, a middle aged bloodling that had a shade of complexion between William and Joscur, amber colored eyes, and a set of bushy ginger hair streaked with white strands that she kept in a high pony tail. She wore a long blue coat with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, her wrists adorned with bangles. They, along with every other member of her crew, were a bloodling, which was, in no small way, part of the reason it was simply easier to travel at night. She’d watched as William jumped aboard her ship the first time and protested when he began speaking to people onboard her vessel as though it were his to command!
Yet, despite her protests, she, too, towed the line as she was put in her place. Exactly how it was done no one from the Andros was sure. They saw the bloodling captain and the Eidolon exchanging words but could hear nothing over the din of shifting sand and the dull roar of engines. All they knew was that words had been exchanged directly between the two, then William had continued on with his business, and even made the leap over to the Pequod, presumably to do the same sort of convincing he’d just done on the Tesstess.
So it went that William moved about freely on the three sandsailors while everyone else remained bound to their ship. No one else was as daring or foolhardy enough to attempt his feat, and no one ever seemed to have any objections to him passing from one vessel to the next. He always seemed to pick his moment to leap perfectly.
The trio of ships came to a stop each day shortly after dawn had broken over the horizon. The engines cut and given time to rest, the arms lowered to anchor them in place, the crews and volunteers were to take this time to rest up, get some sleep, socialize, but be ever vigilant of any reausler packs or distant reavers over the horizon. Most chose to sleep below deck where it was shaded and relatively cool – or at least attempt to sleep. For most of them, the hot desert air was so stifling that any thought of sleep was an impossibility, and so settled for a few hours of restless tossing and turning in the interior shade. Daylight lookouts took shifts, the ningen watching over their bloodling comrades who, unless strictly necessary, preferred to keep out of the harsh sun during the day. Their efforts were aided by the animunculi who took it upon themselves to deploy the ornithopters which had been brought along with them in order to monitor a much wider area.
It wasn’t all danger and caution, sleeping schedules and shelter. There was time for wonder as well. Most of them had never been this far north in the Wastes before. Most believed the Wastes to be an ever shifting topography of unforgiving sand. Many of them were excited to learn, that first day, of the existence of distant rock formations close to the horizon! They could just be made out with the naked eye and looked as dark specks against the haze of heat, but the ornithopters confirmed that they were, in fact, pillars tall enough to stand out among the gigantic dunes. The mere existence of such landmarks sparked discussions of further mapping the Wastes and curious ponders of just what was over the horizon. Something to look forward to. A much needed distraction.
Pillars on the horizon weren’t the only pleasant surprise to be found that first day. One of the volunteers happened to notice something amazing poking out from the sand right next to one of the anchors on the Pesuod – something small, something green if you looked at it close enough. It was a small, ball shaped plant that had thorny ridges rising and falling like waves in neat rows, converging together at a singular point at the top. There were other, smaller orbs growing beneath it that were uncovered by hand. It was dusty from all of the sand that had been covering it and, when moved, came up easily roots and all. It’s outer hide was thick and touch, pockmarked with divots and tiny punctures that didn’t go very deep. When cut open it revealed it was hollow, it’s flesh a lighter green color and moist. Excitedly its discoverer had shown it off to any who were awake and interested. Plants such as this were known to grown near the coasts of the continent but had never been documented this far inland. The curious and scientifically inclined shared theories with each other for days about how it had gotten there and what its purpose was. Some thought that it must have migrated from the coast, blown into the Wastes and buried beneath the sands, waiting to roll away with a strong enough wind. Others thought that it simply might have grown naturally and suggested that perhaps the unicorns or sand whales ate them to survive while this deep in the sands.
Whatever the case may be it, too, was a welcome discovery. The flesh of the plant was found to be edible and juicy, but slimy and bitter.
It was the dawn of the third day when Joscur and William spoke.
All three ships had come to a halt and people were bustling about preparing to rest. Some checked the engines, others divvied out supplied, others still were ducking below deck to attempt to rest for a few hours. Joscur sat above the beak of the Andros with his cloak wrapped around him like a blanket, staring down at the piece of deck between his feet and thinking of his daughter. He missed her dearly, of course he did, but he was driven by a need to protect the last member of his family at any cost. To that end he would hunt down Lucifer and end him. He had to. He had to…
Joscur didn’t notice when William had walked over towards him and taken a seat at his side so absorbed in his thoughts was he. He only noticed William’s presence when the Eidolon spoke up, and even then he didn’t catch his words. The reached his ears as distant and foggy noise, just enough to get him to look up and over at William. He’d taken off his shirt and was sat with his back turned to Joscur who stared blankly at him for a moment.
William looked over his shoulder at the man who blamed him for his son’s death. He saw the all too familiar death drive in his eyes. His facial hair was starting to become a bushy beard. He repeated himself: “Will you help me change my bandage?”
Joscur looked down at the cloth wrapped around William’s torso. He was hesitant to so much as touch him for several reasons. Blame. Distrust. Paranoia. Slowly, though, he did reach out and pluck at the bandages. William held up his arms as the father silently undid them. Once they were removed Joscur got to look at the wound across the left side of William’s back. It looked awful! It appeared extremely painful! The cut had not been a clean one. How little he knew that for how sharp obsidian was, its edge was anything but uniform.
“How’s it look?” William asked.
“Terrible,” Joscur croaked a reply. “No bleeding. Not infected.”
William nodded, reached down and passed a fresh roll of bandages to Joscur. “Wrap me back up?”
Joscur took the bandages from William and began to unwind them as Twilight held up his arms. “How did you come by this cut?” he asked curiously. It occurred to him that he hadn’t once asked about William’s condition since…
“By fighting Lucifer,” William replied candidly. The name caused Joscur to flinch in hesitation for a moment before he continued to bind the wound.
“You are very fortunate the wound was not more serious. A few more inches and it could have damaged your spine,” Joscur noted dryly.
“Luck had little to do with it,” William boasted. Joscur couldn’t help but scoff! William glanced back at him. He smiled softly, despite everything. “Well… not nothing, at any rate.”
“You are going to fight him again?”
“If I must,” William replied. “I’d like to try and get through to him again, if it’s possible… but if I can’t…”
“If you cannot, then we will kill him,” Joscur stated bluntly, yanking the bandages tightly around William’s ribs and causing the Eidolon to flinch. A small part of him felt satisfaction at causing him pain – only a minuscule part, though.
“Yes. We’ll kill him…” William agreed wistfully.
“You do not sound sure of yourself. Are you certain you can go through with it?” Joscur inquired bluntly, tearing the bandage and working to tie it tightly around William’s torso.
“Tell me about Syla,” William said suddenly.
The mention of his wife’s name caused Joscur to hesitate. It gave William time enough to ask, “That’s her name, right?”
“Why?” Joscur demanded to know.
“We haven’t really gotten to know each other very well, have we?” William posited without looking back at the disheveled father. “You saved me from the Wastes, opened your home to me, and for the past couple of months we’ve been a big part of each other’s lives. Out of obligation you did these things, yes. It was your job and the Seven bid you do it, but our lives touched none the less. In that time, I… observed you. And your family. Kept distant. Didn’t share much of myself.”
As William spoke, Joscur had returned to wrapping the bandages around his back. He remained silent and listened while accomplishing this task.
“I got to know you all superficially, but not intimately… despite your kindnesses. I kept myself to myself and away from you until only a few days ago. I do this because I believe that it is easier for me to go about my business if the majority of the world is in ignorance. I told you about myself because… because it only seemed fair.”
Joscur ripped the end of the bandage in half and used the two disparate pieces to tie them off good and tight. William let out a low, pained groan as they were pulled on, lowered his arms, and turned half way to look Joscur in the eye as he spoke next. “Where we’re going, we can’t afford not to trust each other. Having one, or both, or any of us with one arm held forward with a shield, and the other behind our back with a knife? We will die. Those we care about will be left behind, at the mercy of this evil or the next, and it will be because we chose to hold a knife behind us instead of a spear in front. Given our circumstances, I’ve been willing to drop my guard and let you in. Can you do the same?”
Joscur stared back at William with a hard, unblinking gaze. His jaw set, nostrils flared, the mistrust was easy to read in his expression. “And suppose I do not?” he put forth. “Would you simply make me open up to you? To say what you want me to say?”
William scowled at Joscur with a deep annoyance. This was precisely why he disliked letting people know he was an Eidolon: the paranoia and distrust were often impossible to separate once people learned he was Choice incarnate. He’d gone through this dog and pony show countless times before, and it was never fun, start to finish, buying the ticket to walking out of the tent. Trying to explain and rationalize himself was exhausting!
He attempted to now, anyways, because he meant what he’d said.
“If you chose to hold your tongue, I could instead have you wag it, yes. You’d be surprised at how little people actually choose their words, though. Language isn’t a series of calculated selections to convey meaning. You would have to go out of your way to choose what words you wanted to use for me to have any influence over them. So long as you speak to me freely, honestly, you won’t give me that chance.”
Again Joscur’s gaze considered William’s. Gauging the honesty in his words. Weighing the logic of talking to someone – something – he still found difficult to believe in. Could he trust William? Did he want to? He could see no lie in what he was saying, and assuming what he said was true, he had to again briefly grapple with the fact that he was in the company of one preternatural being on its way to confront another. Was he willing to accept such strange tidings for the sake of his daughter…?
Joscur broke his gaze from William’s and looked back down at the deck. The sun was cresting over a distant dune and bathing the tops of their heads in scalding morning light. William waited. The ningen spoke freely.
“Syla was the light of my life. My…” he said a phrase in Mirage-Tongue, quickly translating for himself, “My triplet smile. She was my everything, more than even my own children… I am ashamed to admit. At least there was a time that was true. When we first met, I was barely older than Marisia. Or perhaps I was younger. It has been so long now I can scarcely remember which is true. At times it feels like there was never a point when Syla was not a part of me. She was… exuberant. Wild. Passionate about life and its possibilities…” He let out a small chuckle that sounded like a hiss of pressurized air released from a valve. “She was stupid. Never thinking ahead for herself! Always on the move to the next, exciting thing! I felt I had to do the thinking for both of us much of the time. She was authentic, truly herself. She…” He chuckled some more, unable to stop himself from smiling at some private, specific memory he was reminiscing on as he shared. “She never missed a chance to laugh at a fart! She thought them hilarious! She cackled with her whole belly, always as hard as she could! She loved to laugh… She loved life… And I loved her more than that…”
Joscur fell quiet once more, his brief smile evaporating into a frown. “How was she with your children?” William encouraged.
“Oh, wonderful,” Joscur stated confidently, lifting his head up and staring off ahead at another distant recollection. “From the moment Marisia was born, no suta was more dedicated to the care of her child! Our daughter was born blind, as you know. Some might have seen this as a defect or a burden. Not Syla. She saw it as a way our daughter was unique. She helped Marisia learn to listen and know the world around her by touch. I found it difficult relating to a blind child at first, but Syla was there to help me, too. When Vamenco was born, she -”
He stopped. Hearing the name of his son in his own voice was as a splash of icy water to his face: a sudden, unexpected reminder that Vamenco was with him no more. His breath rattled in his throat as he tried to catch it to prevent himself from sobbing.
“Apologies,” William stated softly, not realizing he’d set Joscur up for an emotional landmine. “You loved her very much, I can tell. I wish I could have been in Mirage sooner to meet her, and you, during happier days.”
“Well, you were not. You fell into our lives just the same as you feel out of the sky!” Joscur replied bitterly, the statement another abrupt reminder that he knew next to nothing about William still! In all this time that he’d played host to him, invited him into his home, fed him, clothed him, how could he forget the most basic mystery of them all when it came to the pale stranger sat beside him: How? How are he survived falling from the sky like a falling star? Distrust wormed its way back into the forefront of his consciousness as he realized he’d never received an answer to this basic fact of William.
“I was supposed to be. Not like this, mind you,” William explained, moving his hand up and down in front of him as a vague gesture to his personhood, “and if things had turned out different I may not have been in Mirage… but then, maybe I could have been, because Lucifer was here, too. Sadly, we’ll never know…”
“How did you survive falling from the sky?” Joscur asked bluntly, turning to give William an incriminating look as he glossed over the strangeness of what the Eidolon had just said in favor of getting answers. He’d barely even heard what came out of his mouth. “You never gave any sort of indication, and the Elder Council never let on if they had an answer either.”
“Oh, that…” William said, glancing over at Joscur for a brief moment before looking off towards the rising sun. He sighed, shrugged his shoulders, and gave an honest answer. “I’m not sure. It wasn’t anything I personally did, at any rate. The fall or the landing. I’ve had a few thoughts on my grand introduction to the Wastes, and I think it might have been due to my temporal misalignment coinciding with a natural planetary movement as it orbited the sun over the course of three thousand years or so. Mr. Wink is Time, and while Time and Space are inextricably linked to one another, he doesn’t have precise control over the positioning of a thing in space irregardless of its position in time. My best guess is that he caught me before I fell, but, truthfully, I’m not certain.”
There was a brief moment of silence after which William looked to Joscur. He found that the latter’s expression was one of placid confusion. “I do not… believe I understood what you just said…” Joscur said slowly.
William smiled, shrugging his shoulders again and looking off into the Wastes. “Nah, you wouldn’t have. Why would you? You’ve no grasp on things like theoretical physics of metaphysical relativistic probability…” He trailed off for a few seconds. He could see a geist, thinly dancing in the distance through the blinding light of the sun. “Just think of my fall as some impossibility beyond your grasp, and leave it at that.”
It was a simple suggestion, but one that filled Joscur with a bubbling rage in his guts. Did William believe he was stupid or something? No, he didn’t believe so, but that… that dismissal made him feel like that was the truth for an instant! For one of the first times since me had met William, he could tell that he was being totally and completely honest with him, and the fact that he was doing so while revealing, in no uncertain terms, that there was more he knew and was refusing to tell for the sake of ‘accepting an impossibility’ felt… disrespectful! Joscur’s jaw set, and he readied himself to demand yet more answers and explanations for the strange things he’d just heard, when William interrupted his train of complaining thoughts.
“Thank you, for telling me about Syla. I sincerely wish I could have known her. Maybe next time.” William pushed himself up onto his feet and looked down at a disarmed Joscur. “Get some rest while you can. I’m going to keep watch for a couple of hours and talk with the captains about how we’ll proceed. We’ll talk some more later.”
Then he was gone, over the side of the Andros and off to do something else inexplicable. Joscur found, as he was walking away, that he had no energy to try to stop him, pursue him, or even get in a final word. He simply wrapped his cloak around him and stared back down between his feet, thinking on what had been said. Wondering how much of it was really him, or how much of it had been William without him realizing it…
***
It was the seventh day of the excursion that things began to go wrong.
The sixth night had passed entirely without incident, same as the previous five. It was as smooth sailing as was possible to have in the Wastes. The weather was holding out, there were no signs of any reauslers on their tail or in their path, and spirits were relatively high. Even with William micromanaging seemingly every decision being made, the three captains – Teutna, Vivicetti, and Luff, who captained the Pequod – their crews and the volunteers had all fallen into line, even if begrudgingly. It helped ease the tensions a bit that William knew exactly what he was doing at every turn, better than any of them would have.
As dawn of the seventh day broke everyone was resting up. The engines had been shut down so they could cool off for a few hours, food had been rationed out, sleep was being had where it could be got. The animunculi were hard at work, tirelessly ever vigilant as they were. No one had any reason to suspect that anything would go wrong on this particular day, and so a few hours passed in peace and relative serenity. Even William was able to lay himself down and get a bit of sleep.
Just past noon, that peace was disturbed by the sounds of gong-like clangs echoing out in rapid succession in triplicate. An ornithopter passed by the three anchored sandsailors while the animunculi clapped their metal hands together in a sonorous warning that did its job and woke many up, including William, Teutna, Joscur, Daniellex, and Vivicetti. All of them individually rose from where they were resting and looked out to find the animunculi signaling danger. Each of them sprang into action, Daniellex following after Joscur who, as a guard, knew an emergency when he heard one and went to rouse others. Vivicetti did the same within the hull of the Tesstess, shaking awake and shouting at the top of her lungs at anyone who wasn’t heeding the call, ningen or bloodling.
Teutna ran to the port side of the Andros on the deck while William was already on the ground, racing towards the clapping animunculi. “Oi! Rally-ho down there! What’s happening?” Teutna called down to William who did not halt his sprint towards the metal giants. As he approached one of the three turned to him and ceased clapping. By then the sounds of several questioning people were ringing out loud and clear.
“What’s happened?” William demanded to know.
“A reausler pack has been spotted within three miles west of our location by orbiting ornithopter and is headed in this direction,” the animunculi explained calmly, it’s airy, tinny vocal intonation not matching its bulk in the slightest.
“Rally-hooooooooo!” Teutna called down again, her voice strained from insistence and annoyance. Teutna had been content to let William take the reigns of this operation because it was amusing to her to see her Songbird acting so out of character. That didn’t mean that she liked being ignored, or disrespected. She was still captain of the Andros, after all, and his boss! Technically.
William turned and looked up at her, calling, “Reausler pack to the west! Get the Andros up and running, we’re moving out!” William ordered before turning and running off towards the Tesstess. He climbed aboard just as Vivicetti was emerging from below deck, her eyes squinted to near shut as she rose up into the daylight.
“Reausler pack inbound. Less than a mile away west. We need to get the ships sailing, fire up the engine!” William ordered, only giving Vivicetti the briefest of glances as he made his way over to the port side of the Tesstess to see how the Pequod was fairing.
Vivicetti scoffed as she pulled the pair of protective, tinted goggles up over her eyes from around her neck. “I have just about had my fill of taking orders from a ningen male,” she said none too quietly as she went to do as she’d been told. William chose to leave her in her ignorance. The Pequod looked as though it were well under way.
But would they be fast enough?
Orders were being barked, feet were scrambling, some over themselves as groggy minds worked to overcome the daze of near sleep. For many of them this sudden rush of excitement was all too familiar of recent history. Their minds were only slightly put at ease when they heard it was ‘only’ a pack of reauslers on their tail.
William made his way to the rear of the Tesstess just as the canvas over the engine was being raised, looking westward to see if he could spot their aggressors. It was no use though. The dunes made it impossible to tell. He had only had the one experience with reauslers so he couldn’t know how quickly they were capable of moving. He doubted that they could outpace a speeding sandsailor, but still. The memory of the winged blue ones troubled him. Their wings were capable of carrying them at least for short distances. This much he knew from asking questions. If it came to it, would the sandsailors be able to outpace them in the air?
A well trained crew of wellermen could get a sandsailor up and running in less than five minutes. Most of that time was spent dragging up the climbing nets and getting the engine warmed up and ready to run. With the bolstered numbers at their disposal, the three sandsailors were able to get moving in just over that time once people climbed back onboard, animunculi included. “Head to the east, we’ll avoid them and out maneuver them!” he called as he made his way towards the wheel, shouting over the roar of the engine.
Vivicetti gave Wililam a quick glare beneath her goggles before relaying the instructions to her crew. The Andros got moving first but the Tesstess was quick to follow. The Pequod picked up the rear and was right behind them. As they sailed away, William made his way back to the rear of the ship and watched as what looked like five of them crested a dune, stopping at the top and watching the ships go before beginning to give pursuit.
Something about this wasn’t setting right with him. Even as the Tesstess pulled further and further away from the approaching pack and cleaved the way forward for the others to follow, he couldn’t help but notice that they were merely doing just that: following. They didn’t seem to be doggedly pursuing them. Why?
Once they had passed out of his sight behind a dune he made his way back to the wheel beside Vivicetti. “Keep heading east for a while, then course correct to get back on track to north. We give it a couple of hours and we should be safe to stop again,” he instructed, their hair billowing in the hot air as he spoke.
“Mum,” Vivicetti huffed. William looked at her blankly and she returned the look with annoyance. “Teutna told me you called her ‘captain’ or ‘mum’ as she instructed. I deserve that same respect, and while you are on my ship you will give it to me,” the bloodling hissed irritably. “Mum will do just fine.”
“As you like, mum,” William said, turning away from the wheel and walking towards the front of the Tesstess, gently pushing his way past people. Vivicetti grit her fanged teeth as she watched him walking away, feeling disrespected even when he acquiesced to her demand.
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William looked up over head at the ornithopter that was flying high above and just behind the three sandsailors for a moment before approaching the animunculi which had taken it’s position at the head of the ship just as its counterparts had done on the Andros and Pequod. “How many reauslers did the ornithopter see?” he asked the metal giant.
“The ornithopter detected only a small pack of five reauslers approaching. I suspect you believe this to be unusual, and I concur. Reauslers are known to travel in packs of ten or more typically, in some mixture of their three varieties. We are monitoring the surroundings in the likelihood that they have chosen to split their pack apart tactically,” the animunculi explained calmly.
“What do you mean three varieties?” William questioned. He got an almost immediate answer as the cross shaped hole in the animunculi’s vizard flashed blue for an instant.
“A second pack of reauslers has been detected less than two miles from our position and closing. This one consists of the blue and red variety of reauslers,” it informed William helpfully.
Twilight silently cursed his own lack of foresight, having not thought to ask if those creatures only came in green and blue variants! He turned on the spot and shouted at the top of his lungs to Captain Vivicetti: “ANOTHER PACK INBOUND! ALTER COURSE TO THE NORTH!”
His message made it to the captain through the grapevine and she spun the wheel of the Tesstess vigorously to the left to have the path of her ship turn sharply into the path of the Pequod, whose Captain Luff altered his course in turn, followed by Teutna and the Andros. The Eidolon made his way to the starboard side of the ship and hung onto the railing to try and catch a glimpse of their pursuers. Reauslers were dangerously intelligent predators, but exactly how intelligent was difficult to say from the limited exposure he’d had with them. Capable of speaking and thus communicating, though how they’d learned to speak no one seemed to know. The best theory Joscur or anyone had had on the subject when he asked about it was that the rumors of reavers and reauslers coexisting had to be true and they were responsible for their speech. Whatever the case, he was quickly piecing together how intelligent these creatures were based on how they were hunting the three sandsailors. It occurred to him while he surveyed the sands that he wasn’t entirely certain of their origin. They hadn’t existed three thousand years ago, and they, like the oleum, were entirely new. Was that fact related?
It was less than two minutes before the reauslers emerged from behind a dune on the far side of the Andros. William could see there were four of them and two were enormous! As vivid a red as the others were blue and green, their forelimbs were longer and thicker than their smaller cousins and its head was covered in a mane of feathers that, unlike the other two varieties, trailed and completely covered their necks, shoulders, and the top of their chests in a menagerie of opalescent coloring. The two red ones were easily four times the size of its brethren but otherwise shared all of the same features. It looked prehistoric. Even over the roar of the engines and the hum of the wind he could hear, or rather feel, the reverberating bass of their bark-like vocalizations. They looked like they were being lead by a green and a blue one who ran ahead of their titanic steps.
“Monitor for any signs of a trap as well as other reausler packs. Have the ornithopters scanning the landscape ahead and relay any information about potential obstacles or encounters so that we can course correct before we run into them,” William instructed the animunculi after getting a good look at the two red reausler. “Make sure the other animunculi are doing the same. Keep communication constant between our sandsailors!”
“The ornithopters are operating at a limited capacity,” the animunculi warned in that soothing tone of voice. “At current they will only last for another five hours before needing to land to be recharged.”
“Then have them maintain their observations for as long as possible while we’re being pursued! Have one of them keep an eye on what all is behind us. I want no surprises about what we’re going to encounter for the rest of the day!” William barked before turning away and relaying similar instructions to the volunteers and crew aboard the Tesstess. Within moments, all three ships had a chain of communication leading from the animunculi to the captains at the wheel and one of the ornithopters began to fly backwards.
“What sort of predators are reauslers?” William asked Vivicetti after making his way back to her side. She didn’t answer at first, only doing so when William gave her a look and finished his sentence with a curt, “Mum.”
“They are ambush predators and scavangers,” the bloodling captain explained while keeping her hands tight on the wheel. “I do not know much of their behavior since I tend to never see them, but they hunt in packs so they can take down unicorns or maybe the odd sand whale together. There is not enough in the Wastes for them to survive out here for long. Unless they are migrating from coast to coast or stalking prey, it is rare to see them this far inland.”
Yet William had witnessed them twice so far in the middle of the blistering sands. Between that and the questionable intelligence, he wondered if they weren’t persistence predators instead. He had a sickening feeling that they would find out over the next few hours.
What followed was a game of cat and mouse between the expedition troupe and the reauslers hunting them. Just as William had feared, they were using their intelligence to their advantage. Communicating with one another in ways that they either were unable to pick up on, or simply taking advantage of how much distance was put between them in order to relay instructions of their own to one another. Over the course of the next several hours they would have repeated encounters with several packs, or perhaps it was the same pack that was split up into many different parts, or perhaps the same groups were simply making wide arcs and encountering the sandsailors again, and again, and again. No one could say for certain.
What was certain was that this was unusual behavior. That was plain to see to any of them. The sandsailors were consistently keeping a step ahead of the pack, the ornithopters made certain of that, and they had come across, or entirely avoided without noticing, any traps set up for them. Yet as the hours ticked by in the sweltering sun it was hard to shake the feeling that they were being lead. To what was the question. Were they simply trying to get the ships to circle in on themselves and be caught in a pincer attack, unwilling to become totally aggressive until the ships were completely surrounded? If that was the case, the question then became why they would go through so much trouble when there was undoubtedly easier game for them to catch, even in the harsh Wastes.
All were unsettled by this strange behavior, but none were as troubled by it as William. The Eidolon of choice was repeatedly grappling with the possibility that these reausler and the oleum were connected somehow. The possibility that they may have been being pursued by Lucifer in the form of oleum proxies was not lost on him. He’d tried influencing their choices a few times when he saw them, but animals were trickier to manipulate than conscious, sentient people. Even if these animals could talk, that wasn’t so much of an indication of if they operated mostly off of instinct or some reptilian rationality that he could coax and influence. It was always hard to tell what was and what wasn’t a choice with them, and even more so, in this case, to determine if his influence as Choice was having any effect when they always seemed to keep just a little bit out of reach. Was that intentional? Was it because of their observations and maneuvering? William agonized over the possibilities.
He wasn’t the only one quietly suffering throughout this ordeal either. Everyone was exhausted, physically and emotionally. They seemed to only be capable of going half an hour at the most before more reauslers were spotted and they had to adjust their course. Everyone was on edge because of this. The anticipation of an outright attack and potential slaughter was fraying nerves as much as the lack of sleep. Most were aware that the weapons they’d brought with them were not ideal for dealing with a pack of vicious predators on top of their limited supply. Everyone knew that it would be better to avoid these persistent pursuers if possible, but if it came down to it, would they be willing to reduce their strength against the oleum for the sake of getting to them?
Three hours into the chase they were outmaneuvered. It had been ten minutes since the last sighting of any reauslers behind them and none had been spotted up ahead. None the less everyone was maintaining their positions and keeping weary eyes open for anything out of the ordinary.
No one suspected that the dunes themselves they were sailing past would be a threat! Off the port side of the Pequod, out of nowhere, the sandy embankment erupted! From beneath it burst forth one of the red reauslers, jaws opened wide, flinging itself onto the deck of the ship! A trap! It’s gargantuan weight as it crashed down onto the deck caused the sandsailor to heave! People screamed! Sand cascaded like water over ship and crew alike, and before anyone realized it, two had been snatched up in the twin jaws of the predator who slipped off the side and was struck by a propeller as Luff aggressively corrected their course and got the Pequod and its surviving passengers back on track with the Tesstess and Andros!
William had been blindsided by this just as much as anyone. He’d felt the choice to jump out a split instant before it had happened, had reflexively turned to face the foe and alter its’ choice, but it was too late! His mortal reflexes had failed him and he was unable to prevent the attack from occurring! All he could do was alter their course going forward, making sure that the captains knew to avoid any dunes that rose up over the deck of their ships to prevent another surprise attack. The advise was accepted bitterly, and exhaustion gave way to bubbling rage in the hearts of nearly everyone present.
Wanting to get some advise on these creatures, William had Vivicetti get the Tesstess close enough to the Andros that he could jump over where he approached Joscur and asked him point blank, “Have you ever seen or heard of a reausler doing something like that? Lying in wait in ambush?”
“No,” Joscur stated coldly. “I did not think they were able to think and plan like that.”
“What about the rumors that reavers and reauslers work together? Is there any credibility to that claim? You’d know that sort of thing as a guard, right?”
Joscur thought for a moment. Daniellex stood quietly beside his friend, hammer in hand and tapping it against his open palm nervously. “Nothing credible,” Joscur concluded with a shake of his head. “Reausler packs and reavers have always been spotted separately, as far as I know. I have not done any serious digging on the matter through records or anything, but the belief that reauslers speaking Imperial being because of the reavers is… a logical assumption. Not anything based on fact.”
William sighed and began to pace, thinking. There wasn’t too much that they could do in this situation. The ornithopters only had a couple more hours of use before they would have to be recalled. There was only so much bobbing and weaving they could do while avoiding their pursuers and any dunes which were large enough to hide potential threats. Eventually they’d get cornered again, and if the reauslers were as smart as he was afraid they were they’d likely hide a bunch of the smaller ones in the next dune rather than a large one and jump on board, killing as many as they could, dragging them away. Potentially severing a third of their manpower. The Pequod was already lagging before a bit from the first attack. Probably because of damage to the propeller William would conclude. If the reauslers and reavers were working together and using their combined intellects to be so clever…
“Mum! Keep him steady!” William called out to Teutna, who nodded in reply. “You two make sure I stay on this ship,” William instructed Joscur and Daniellex before closing his eyes, taking a deep breath, and concentrating. He let the air out slowly between his lips, emptying himself and letting his very being expand outward. This would be easier for him to do at dawn or dusk, and he would have preferred to not do it at all, but given the circumstances…
He gave into being Choice itself rather than a mortal body that could manipulate it.
It was the sort of thing that all eidolons could do. Their mortal bodies acted as shells, or containers, that let the Ultimatums they represented actually have a direct influence in the world which fundamentally limited their capabilities as Ultimatums. If they concentrated, like William was doing now, allowed themselves to enter something akin to a state of ‘flow’, they could expand their abilities to be more in line with their fundamental capabilities. The pay off, of course, was that it often left them vulnerable. Sometimes, like now, it was the best thing that could be done in the pursuit of their goals.
As his being expanded beyond the confines of flesh and bone, William could see all. He was every choice that every one of the less than a hundred people were making, great or small. Joscur choosing to stare at William’s body as it stood still as a scarecrow with his hair whipping in the desert air. Daniellex’s multiple choices to switch his gaze back and forth between William and Joscur. Teutna’s choice to steer the Andros to port in order to follow the path of the Tesstess which was making this turn westward because Vivicetti had chosen to avoid a rising dust cloud she could see in their direct path north out of fear of another trap, or, perhaps worse yet, the beginning of a wind storm that was threatening to become a haboob. Every step taken, position maintained, conversation initiated and with whom – William was all of them at once.
And he needed to be more. He stretched his abilities as an Eidolon further and further, beyond the sandsailors, into the Wastes. Waiting to notice the choices of those beyond the confines of the three ships. In reality it only took an instant for him to be there, but to fully process it within the limited confines of a brain took a moment more.
William’s eyes opened and he knew that his suspicions were correct. There were other people several miles away from them in the sandy desert. Observing. Directing. Giving orders to reptilian predators and working to wear them down. They wanted to exhaust them, then take them for all they had for their own benefit. He knew what needed to be done now.
Giving Joscur and Daniellex a quick look and a nod of appreciation for their help, however small, he made his way to Teutna’s side. “Maintain your course and follow the Tesstess. Follow my lead and trust in me, whatever comes next, captain.”
The shorter woman gave her Songbird a weary smile and a curt nod. When instructed she pulled the Andros over to the Tesstess and it, in turn, moved to the Pequod so that William could personally relay their plan of action. Vivicetti and Luff were willing to follow along for now, but the bloodling captain was particularly perturbed by the idea of just… maintaining their actions as they had been for an unspecified amount of time. She pressed William for more information, challenged his self appointed authority. Her argument was founded on the fact that her vessel was taking point in this operation and so she and hers were taking on the most risk.
“We’re moving forward with the assumption that reavers and reauslers are working together,” he lied, knowing full well that it was fact. “We’re going to keep heading north as much as possible and wait until the ornithopters are in need of landing, then we’ll stop, draw them in toward us. Once they’re in the open, I’ll take care of them myself.”
“You?” Vivicetti scoffed. “With what? That sword you carry and pluck? Forgive me for being skeptical.”
“You’re just going to have to trust me. I’ll handle the reavers and reauslers both. Stay the course for as long as possible, mum, and I’ll take care of the rest.”
She didn’t like it, but there wasn’t much else that could be done.
Two hours came and went much faster than the three that had proceeded it. By the time the animunculi announced that the ornithopters were at the end of their usefulness and brought them fluttering and sputtering on to the decks of their respective sandsailors to be taken below deck, everyone was jittery and on edge. Exhaustion had given way to adrenaline fueled vigilance, and yet after five hours of none stop running and being dogged by hunters, the crew were as hot as the engines. They had reached the end of their rope and needed to stop or else risk stranding themselves. It had been said as much many times over these past five hours, and every time it was brought up in earnest whosoever put forth the notion was reminded of the last close encounter they had had with the reauslers. No one had had time to even begin to mourn the two they had lost as of yet.
It was at this breaking point that William bade the Tesstess, Andros, and Pequod to come to a halt. Their last brush up with the pack that had caused them to change directions had been half an hour prior and they were in a spot of the Wastes that was particularly flat, at least for the time being. It felt like the right spot to sit and wait. That didn’t mean that they were going to be passive, though. The moment that the Tesstess came to a stop William turned to Vivicetti. “Get everyone armed and ready to defend themselves, mum,” he said with all the casual authority of a parent to their child.
He was halfway to the starboard side of the ship to call his order out to the crew of the Andros when Vivicetti called after him. “Are we really about to fight for our lives? Here? The engines are steaming! We have nowhere left to run!”
“I didn’t say we were fighting, did I? Arm everyone, and keep them on the ships!” William shouted back before repeating himself to Teutna who, agreeably, echoed his sentiments to all else onboard.
Twilight was yet again halfway across the deck of the Tesstess when the captain grabbed his arm to halt him, looking him straight in his eyes with her goggled ambers. “What are we doing here really? We could have stopped and fought them off hours ago if that’s what we were going to do! Instead we have risked damaging the engines and run miles and miles off course while being pursued and for what? Some inconsequential terrain advantage!?”
“At some point you’re just going to have to learn to trust me,” William said, turning and pulling his arm away – but Vivicetti wasn’t finished with him yet! She dug her fingers into his triceps and forced him to look at her again.
“I do not trust anything with a horn between its’ legs until I am given a reason to,” she hissed, the frown she wore providing all the expression her eyes could have done by itself. “You want my trust? Explain to me why I just spent the last five hours in the sun if we were just going to arm ourselves anyway! I cannot believe I have to say it, but I am a bloodling! The sun hurts me and mine after a while, even with protection!” She aggressively tapped the left goggle lens she wore to emphasize her point.
William brought the blade of his sword to visible range to emphasize his. “If we had stopped any sooner than we have, we would have only faced a fight. We need them to believe that we are exhausted or this won’t work. In case you have been too caught up in the present, mum, we’re five hours further north than we were this morning, so this wasn’t for nothing. If you want to keep things productive and the rest of us alive, you’ve got two choices: Let go of my arm, do as I said, and let me tell captain Luff to do the same, or I can cut you out of my way and I’ll do it anyways!”
“You insubordinate little whelp! My crew would never let it stand! We are here -” Vivicetti chastised, only to get interrupted by the domineering voice of William.
“You’re here to get revenge for the city you lived in that was attacked! I’m here to prevent a potential apocalypse, and I don’t need you or your crew for that. Choose,” he demanded, pulling one of the oldest tricks he knew. Choice was so much easier to determine when it was made clear in front of you. Vivicetti released his arm and William lowered his sword.
Everyone who knew how to hold a spear and a few who didn’t had one at the ready. William had climbed down from the Tesstess and ordered the rope ladder be pulled back up. He stood waiting at the front of all three ships, sword in hand, waiting, feeling the many choices all around him. A harsh western wind blew, sand buffeting the sandsailors and whipping William’s hair around. They’d be there soon.
It was the reauslers that made their appearance known first and this was by far the most dangerous part of this gambit. As William heard people calling out in alarm at the approach of these predators from the rear he turned halfway to look behind. He saw how large the pack really was. With six of the greens parading ahead of the rest along the sides of each ship, accompanied by an entourage of nine of the winged blues who followed along and behind chirping and fluttering their wings as they gazed upward at the juicy morsels seemingly trapped on their wooden islands. Some even attempted to jump upwards and snap their jaws! Bringing up the rear were four of the larger red ones, who trod single file in between the three ships. Everyone crowded away from the sides as they passed by, their gigantic heads bobbing well past over the railings, their four eyes moving about independently as they, too, spied their meals and bellowed.
Yet they didn’t start feasting just yet! If they were going to, William knew, they would have simply run up and started to snatch people if they were going to. They were gathering around though, trying to be intimidating. A show of force. He let out a sigh of relief at this realization as the intelligent reptilians were not going to just give into the urges of ravenous hunger then and there as one of the red ones had before. Two people had already died that day. If he could help it, he’d prevent any others.
With a newfound confidence in the success of his gamble, William turned his back on the swarming reauslers who continued to circle and march around the sandsailors, the green ones standing furthest away at letting out barks and hisses while the blues raced excitedly and the reds took up stalking around slowly. He scanned the desert sands in front of him, felt the many tiny choices on how to move through its silt-like covering without being seen. He swung his blade his front of him to kick up some sand before bringing it up and around the back of his neck, the crescent indentation nestling evenly against his hair while his left arm slung over the back of the sword.
“You might as well come out from under there! Your hiding is cute, but I know where you are!” William called out loudly. Two of the green reauslers turned to look at him but did not move from their places. The Eidolon of Choice and Twilight began to pace back and forth in the sands. He felt the eyes of many a creature on him and the choices to remain hidden from his sight. He knew he could make them stand now, but he knew he needed to wait to exercise his tyranny just a little bit longer. He kicked a large curtain of sand up in front of him as he turned around in his pacing.
“Come on! What’re you waiting for? Your pets have the ships surrounded and there’s just one person in front of you! Don’t tell me you’re scared just because you’re outnumbered?” William cajoled. “I pretty much figured out that you aren’t trying to kill us. At least that isn’t the entire plan! So stand up! Before I lose my patience and make you!”
They emerged from the sand slowly. Bodies rising up seamlessly from under the cover of the nearly flat landscape the reavers did face William as he had goaded. Each of them was covered in a layer of dust brought on by the Wastes and were wearing clothing most would consider crude upon looking at them. William recognized the choice of wearing pelts which matched the shades of tawny the desert was made of was a pragmatic choice. They were likely those furs which had once belonged to unicorns. Most of them wore some sort of loose face covering, hoods, and even goggles. They carried weapons of their own that, while not matching the craftsmanship of what the volunteers had brought with them, none the less, perfectly suited for their banditry. Knifes and other weapons of close engagement held on their person beneath their slick fur coats, grappling hooks attached to long, slender ropes held in many of their hands. William counted fifteen reavers in total.
“That’s better,” the black haired eidolon said loudly, eyes scanning each of the reavers briefly as he swept his gaze over them. “Now that we’re all here and in the open, why don’t you tell me what it is you want?” he offered, giving them a chance to offer their predictable demands.
There was silence that rang out loudly from the reavers as the wind blew and kicked sand over their feet.
“Oh, come on! I really don’t have time for this!” William urged impatiently, kicking his feet through the sand as he continued to pace. “Look, I get it – you’re a bunch of bandits, just doing your jobs or doing what you have to to survive out here. I understand, I really, really do! What you don’t understand,” he continued, using his left hand to point in the reavers’ general direction, “is that all of us on these sandsailors are on our way to do something very important and very beneficial for not just Mirage and the Empire, but you as well! I know you reavers live on the fringes of the fringe of imperial society, but have you had any encounters with black blooded monsters within the past five years or so? Any of you? Anywhere?”
William gave them a second to answer if they so wished. He received none but the swinging of hooked ropes.
“Well, we’re going to take care of those things! So, how about you just let us pass with as little fuss as possible, and we’ll just call this whole exchange a speed bump in the road to victory, yeah?” Twilight offered, turning his head and looking to the group of over a dozen ningen, who began to fan out around him slowly.
He sighed in exasperated annoyance, rolling his head and shoulders as one and stomping in the sand. “Seriously, what do you want? Food? Water? We’ll give you some and we can all be on our ways. Everyone can win here! You get what you need to survive, we get to continue our very important life saving work! Come on, guys, doesn’t that sound like a good deal?” Choice pleaded, looking around to the covered, dirty faces and seeing nothing else but bloodlust in their eyes. He wondered, briefly, if these reavers had cannibalistic tendencies, or if the plan was simply to feed the crews to their reauslers and take all of the goods aboard for themselves. Either way, he felt their collective choice to remain silent and aggressive towards him and the others, and chose, himself, to give them one final chance.
“You know you’ve already killed two of us. One of those big reds back there snatched them off the deck of one of our ships. I’m prepared to call that collateral damage and continue on, because the work we’re doing is that important, but if you insist on keeping this up and not calling off your hounds, I’ll have to exact retribution.” William turned on the spot as he followed the group of reavers beginning to encircle his position, four of them likely about to throw their ropes and tie him down. His patience was growing exceedingly thin.
It ran out right as the first reaver chose to take a step that would have lead to them rushing William and beginning their attack in earnest. “Stop,” he ordered and, much to their bewilderment, they did. “Fall,” the eidolon uttered and all fifteen of the reavers dropped first to their knees and then onto their hands as they kowtowed towards him. It was only now that many of the reavers began to speak over each other, asking silly questions like ‘what are you doing?’ and ‘what is happening?’ William sighed and brought his sword from around his neck, turning back towards the pack of barking reauslers who were still threatening the sandsailor occupants.
He focused on the green ones who, he suspected, lead the packs, delving into their choices and had them choose to turn and bark and trill towards the others. This sparked a brief debate among the reptilian creatures that was ended quickly enough by the six green ones shrieking and cooing at the red and blue ones before turning and rushing off into the desert. The others fell in line and followed suit without complaint.
“I gave you all the choice to be civil and speak with me. I was even generous to offer you some precious supplies so that we could all walk away happy from this. Now you’re going to get nothing and be miserable about it, and, if you’re smart, you won’t try and follow us again, because, next time, I’m not going to be as kind as to let you walk away with your lives! Now lay down and be quiet,” William commanded as he left them to head back to the ships, a few of them having started to rise back up to their feet due to his lapse in concentration on their choices but laying down on their bellies now that his attention was more fully on them.
Climbing back on board of the Tesstess William was met with bewildered quiet. Everyone recognized the strangeness of what had just occurred, but none of them really understood it. Only a few of them had even a vague idea that William was to thank for their no longer being harried by the reavers and reauslers, but no one but Joscur really knew how it was he had pulled off this minor miracle. He was given space as he told Vivicetti to get the engines going again and for the Tesstess to slowly lead the way further north, where they would stop come night fall and let the engines and crew properly rest for a few hours before continuing onward. The Pequod and Andros followed the Tesstess’ lead forth. The reavers remained laying in the sand until the three ships were more than a mile away from them.
Slowly people started to relinquish their weapons and replace them down below once it became apparent they wouldn’t be needing them for the time being. All of the tension built up throughout the day seemed to have fizzled and, even though William had given instructions for them to be vigilant just in case the danger was not truly passed, what was left was but a numb buzz of prolonged exhaustion. It would still be a few hours before they could stop and sleep. Most needed the time to properly decompress. Those on the Pequod, especially, began to use this downtime to mourn the loss of the two who had been snatched away from them.
The excitement wasn’t over just yet, however.
“Stowaway!” the call came from the Andros, immediately getting the attention of all those on board both it and the Tesstess who could hear the cries now that they were traveling so slowly. William whipped his head to starboard as the cry rang out, “Spy! A reaver got on board! I found a reaver below deck!”
The eidolon made his way over to the railing along with several others, watching as the ningen majority crowded around the doors leading below deck as one of the guards was dragging and individual up the stairs, kicking and struggling against their grip. His gray eyes were fixed on what was happening as the crowd formed around and quickly became aggressive – but something was wrong! William hadn’t noticed anyone choosing to sneak on board at any point during the exchange with the reavers! With his focus on them, he should have known if one of them were trying to be stealthy and come aboard.
The truth was revealed as the stowaway was dragged up onto the deck and their covering removed from their person. William’s eyebrows shot up in surprise when he managed to see who it was, but he wasn’t the first to see.
Joscur and Daniellex both pushed their way throw the gathering aggressively, separating the stowaway from the ningen who’d discovered them and shouting out loudly for everyone to calm down, hands held up defensively as both of them protectively stood between the confused and fatigued crew of the Andros.
Marisia cowered against her dual father figures as people shouted all around her.
***
“Things are progressing quite nicely, are they not?” the Dandy Man asked of Ode, who flinched, startled by the sudden appearance of the tall man in white.
“You?” the eldest member of Mirage’s council gasped, pulse spiking at the sight of the smiling man, shocked to find him suddenly in his bedroom.
“Yes. Me, me, me,” the Dandy Man said cheerfully, giving his cane a festive twirl. “It has been some time, hasn’t it, Ode? What, nearly five years since last we spoke?”
The old ningen rose from where he’d been sitting at the edge of his bed. This was but the second time that he had had an encounter with this strange man, and between when they had last met and now, he had met three other beings who all felt eerily out of place in hindsight! But this man in white was by far the worst to Ode, his uncanny presence sending a shiver up the old ningen’s spine. He made his way over to the window, looking outside and confirming that everything else had slowed down just as it had the last time that the man in white had appeared before him. The Dandy Man stood patiently while Ode confirmed the obvious. Once he had, he turned to the Dandy Man and pointed and accusing finger at him. “What are you doing here? Have you not caused enough woe already!?” Ode accused.
“I have caused absolutely nothing of any consequence to happen in the time between our last meeting and now, just as I was not the cause of what had happened then,” the Dandy Man pointed out before his brow lifted and his posture straightened, hands moving to pat over his pockets. “Dear me, I nearly forgot my duty as a host! Would you care for some candy, Ode?”
“I am no child, nor am I a fool,” Ode rejected, keeping his finger pointed at the Dandy Man as though it could somehow hold him at bay. “You herald nothing but misfortune in your wake! Whenever you appear, misery follows! Who could deny that you are connected to such ill tidings!”
“Correlation does not equate to causation. You shouldn’t be so quick to shoot the messenger for delivering the news, which is what I am, in this case, for you,” the Dandy Man proclaimed, pulling out a strawberry hard candy from his pocket, wrapped in shining red foil and green plastic. “Are you sure you won’t partake? I’ll have you know that these are quite good.”
“What is it you want from me?” Ode demanded to know. The Dandy Man shrugged and undid the wrapper so he could take the hard candy for himself.
“I want of you nothing. I came only to see how it was you were faring since our mutual acquaintance, William, has departed from your city on his quest to destroy the oleum and their puppet master Lucifer,” the Dandy Man answered.
“Liar! I have had long to think about how what you said came to pass, and it seems to me impossible that you did not have a hand in it somehow!”
“Whatever could have possibly given you that impression?” the Dandy Man asked with a grin, hard candy tucked away in the right corner of his mouth.
“I am not a fool,” Ode growled defensively.
“You may not be a fool, but that doesn’t make you immune to being wrong. Your belief that I had a hand in the events that transpired with Oleum One, the nightly raids I believe you call them, is simply misplaced! I no more caused them to happen than I cause the sun to rise.”
“You were the one who convinced me to let Lucifer experiment on that thing,” Ode refuted. “If you had not come to me with your honeyed words and promises of advancement -”
“I was very particular about the words I chose to tell you back then,” the Dandy Man interrupted. “I promised there would be advancement, and there was! The fault lies with you for assuming that what I was referring to was the sort that Lucifer sought after. Really, a ningen as aged as you should have thought about it a bit more if you wanted to avoid the outcomes you got, but as it stands, events are progressing just as they are ordained. You have played your part well, and should be commended for that! Your choices thereafter our first meeting were entirely your own I’m afraid. Our William was not yet present in this time, so he could have no say in what it was you did. All those poor people you sacrificed in the name of progress...”
“Leave me!” Ode commanded, waving his hand towards the door and returning over to resume his seat on the bed, feeling very weary. “I have had more than enough of dealing with your sort in these past few years to last me my whole life!”
“What sort would that be, exactly?” asked the Dandy Man.
“You know perfectly well what I mean. You, William, Lucifer, Oleum One – I have been dealing with the supernatural for ages now! The longest years of my life by far! It is too much! I just want the madness to be over already! Why was I chosen to suffer through all of this at my age?”
“Oh, be assured, Ode, that your part in this story is almost run its course,” the Dandy Man said with an affirmative tap of his cane. “As to your being chosen, I am afraid to tell you that you have vastly overestimated your importance in all of this! You were not chosen for anything, I’m afraid I must admit. Apologies, I know that a guest usually appreciates feeling special, but I would be remiss in my duty as host if I was not candid with you and tell you bluntly: You were but a ningen at the wrong place at the wrong time. It could have been anyone in your proverbial shoes, they just happened to be yours this time around. There is really nothing more to it than that! Your part in all of this is quite incidental and unremarkable, unlike a certain someone that I have placed very carefully to be an active participant.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Ode asked suspiciously. “You wouldn’t be saying this unless there was something you wanted me to do with this information… who have you placed, and why?”
“The ‘who’ and ‘why’,” the Dandy Man repeated, swishing his cane to and fro in the air in front of him to physically illustrate his point, “are both very simple. She is to be a catalyst for our dear William’s path into the future, that’s the ‘why’ of course. As for the ‘who’, that would be a particularly charming young lady who has never once seen the sky, someone who has grown very fond of our William. I believe that should be enough information for you to guess of whom I speak! Even if it takes a while for you to grasp the answer, I believe you can do it!”
The Dandy Man looked at his immovable watch and replaced it into his pocket. “I’m afraid I must be going now. This will be the last time we ever speak to one another, are you certain you wouldn’t like some candy before I go?”
“Why tell me this?” Ode spoke up louder, leaning forward as the Dandy Man turned towards the bedroom door. The tall man in white tapped his cane thrice in rapid succession as he opened up the door.
“Because, my dear old Ode, while this may be our last meeting, it will not be your last with our mutual acquaintance, and it is important that he knows my part in this when the time comes. It is important he knows, but not now. When he returns. If he returns. It will be an important clue for Twilight to follow on his path towards the inevitable future!” Thus said, the Dandy Man gave Ode a bright smile, reached into his pocket, and pulled out another hard candy. He strode over to the end of Ode’s bed and sat the foil wrapped treat down on the corner of his mattress before nodding his head, walking out of the door, and vanishing from Ode’s life forever. The old ningen stared at the candy with a cold numbness that resembled the realization of one’s own insignificance wrapping itself around him like a blanket.
