12 Pact

This was the moment Aurora had been waiting for, it was her turn to question him thoroughly. She had to start by the most important thing, identifying the lie.

(I heard the record of what you said to the police on the phone. What did you mean when you said you only had to survive ten years?)

Since she knew about the so called show, she knew that the answer was that he would be gone from this world in ten years. It was the goal of the game after all. Anything else would be a lie.

Blaze wasn't expecting this at all. He thought it would a be question about him, or his analyse or his plan or even just a way to prove his good intentions but no. It was about a thing he had let slip out of his mouth while she wasn't even there. How was he supposed to answer that? It was a repeat of the Chinese cookie!

There was no way he could just tell her the truth, he would look like an idiot, a crazy person who thinks he came from another world! The music in his mind got suddenly tense. He had to find something clever to say that would distract her enough he would be able push her a random lie. Knowing how bad he was at lying, Gilly immediately tensed up too. It ended up as usual, he said the most ridiculous things that came to his mind.

"Oh yes, that, of course... It's just that I made a bet with a guy who raise tail-fishers in his garden. He told me that for sure, I wouldn't be able to live on my own for ten years straight because I'm too much like one of those tail-fishers. If I do live for ten years, I win a pair of earrings shaped like tail-fishers that I wish to give to Gilly."

"What? That's the dumbest thing, it's even more stupid than usual." Gilly commented.

"I know, they are terrible but still, if not that, he was only willing to give me four blenders that he ordered by accident with his microwave."

What the fuck are you even saying? Was screaming Gilly in her head. On her side, Aurora was also very confused. Of course, it was clearly a lie, but it was such an horrible and obvious one at that. Gilly was right, he was absolutely terrible at improvising. His voice was normal but his face stopped showing anything, as if he put on a mask. His story could in theory be possible but it felt so dumb it couldn't possibly be, like his earlier story to the emergency receptionist. Moreover, his aura had turned yellow once again, it felt like it was shaking and chaotic as he fumbled to find an answer.

Was this the answer she was looking for? When he lied his aura crumbled in a chaotic mess and turned in a shade of yellow? This would mean that everything else he had said since the start was true. Could she just accept that so easily? Maybe she needed to ask a second verification question then. That answer was too horrible, she couldn't really use it as reference. But what could she possibly ask him about to be sure of the answer beforehand?

As Blaze was waiting for what she would ask, fearing he had made himself look even more ridiculous instead, she simply asked. (That was a lie, wasn't it?) Busted, so easily. Should he stick to his story or admit it was false and create a new one? What could he possibly find as an excuse for that? Would she think he was hiding some kind of evil plot all along if he persisted in his lie?

"Yes, it was a lie, I'm sorry I can't tell you the truth."

That wasn't what he was supposed to answer! He was supposed to tell her some kind of lie. Damn it. Maybe she could make him lie on something stupid then, she just had to surprise him with something unexpected. Something he absolutely did not want to reveal even if she already knew. Nothing came to her mind, she knew nothing at all about him beside that he was a jumper. Then, one of the things her father had told her came to her mind. To bust him she needed to understand him, she needed to put herself in his shoes. Sometimes, you have to peek at the drawers. (Can I check what is in your bag?) She was pretty sure this wasn't exactly what her father meant but it was still her best option.

"Sure, Go ahead."

Blaze had nothing to hide, and his gun was still on his back too, there was nothing valuable in there. He tossed her the bag to let her look. If she could see he wasn't trying to hide anything from her, it would be a good thing.

Aurora opened it up and rummaged through it, searching what to ask more than for anything interesting that could be there. Determining if Blaze was a good or bad guy now was a very important thing to her. The outcome of this could decide an enormous part of her future. Not only was he a participant, he was also an important figure in events that were currently shaking the whole world. Ally or enemy could change everything. She needed a question that could not fail. She needed to know without a doubt where that boy was standing.

As she moved the random items in the bag left and right, she tried to imagine what it would be like to be him. She couldn't do it. She did not understand his actions at all. How was she supposed to put herself in his place if she did not know what he was doing? It was easy to put herself in the cook's shoes but for Blaze, she couldn't even guess what he was viewing her as. Was he seeing her as a small girl, a victim, a prize, a hostage or even just a stranger? That shoe thing was much harder to do than she expected. Hopefully, something in the bag would let her make some progress. If he really was a bad guy, the longer she stayed there the more she was putting herself in danger.

Her hands then touched something, hidden all the way at the bottom of his bag, it felt like paper.

As she touched the paper, something flashed in front of her eyes and light blue text appeared hovering in front of her. She was so surprised she jerked her hand backwards and the text disappeared. She shot a look toward him but he seemed to not have realised something had happened. Good things she had no voice, her surprised cry would have gotten his attention for sure. What did she just see? If he had not noticed it, it meant that she was the only one to have seen it, no? She sent her hand back to the paper and touched it again. Once again, a flash and the text appeared in front of her. This time, she wasn't as surprised and kept her hand there to read the message.

<You received an invitation to join Blaze Sherwood's jumpchain party. Would you like to accept?

Yes/No - Details>

What was this! She released the paper and the message disappeared again. Such a thing existed? She didn't know that! Did that mean that it wasn't a last man standing? Maybe a last team standing? Maybe just a coop survival. Back in her other life, she had played a game called "don't starve" a little. It was really hard, she couldn't get past winter. But then, she played with her friends at the multiplayer version, she had a great time. She missed her friends very much. Was this the same kind of thing? A paper to change from a adventure to an adventure together?

Just to be sure, she touched again and saw once more the message. There was a yes button, a no button and a details button. She wondered how to press them. Just as she was wishing to see the details, the message changed to show it to her. It meant that she only needed to will it to chose an option, how convenient. She read the new text.

<Party members will share participation points, reward points, companion limit, quests and adventures. Participation and reward shop purchase will not be shared, safehouses will be merged. This choice is permanent and can only be undone by death. You need approval of every other party members to join a party. Invitation can only be given to other participants and is only valid to enter the party led by participant Blaze Sherwood. Ownership of the invitation cannot be transferred. Completion of objectives gives reward for the party not individual members. Participation point are given in proportion to number of party members in a party. Difficulty of tasks are scaled according to party."

An idea sprouted in her mind, formed by her desire to have friends and to know the truth of what was going on. She got her hands out from the bag and turned to the once again calm boy to ask him something. (Would you be willing to swear on her life) She pointed at Gilly (that, you absolutely won't lie to the next thing I will ask you?) He looked disturbed by such a question and looked at Gilly who looked back at him. She just shrugged and urged him on.

"Sure do it, it's just a question, you have no reason to lie anyway." She said.

Since he did not intend to lie to her anyway and was absolutely sure there was nothing in his bag that could prompt such a serious vow, he followed Gilly's suggestion.

"Fine, okay, I swear I won't tell a lie, what is it you think you found in my bag?"

Aurora had an evil smirk on her face as she once again dug her hands in the bag and gripped the paper. She disregarded the text and brought it back out of the bag before placing it down in front of her. In the end, It was an envelope with <Party invitation> written on it.

A shiver ran through Blaze. He didn't think she would notice this at all! It was just an envelope, she had no reason to pick it up!

Aurora looked at the chaos surging in his aura and asked. (Is this very precious? Can you get any more?) A very innocent question, not revealing a thing. He was forced to say the truth too. If she was right, he would answer:

"Yes, that thing is very precious, I only have this one and I can't have any more."

Perfect.

Blaze only felt minor relief hearing her seemingly innocent question. He was getting very confused, what was happening, what kind of question was it? What did she think this was? (Since it is so precious, you definitely wouldn't waste it. Are you willing to let me join your party?) What? Was she thinking along the line of Gilly and thought it could be used on anyone as a normal invitation? He couldn't tell her it wouldn't work on anyone but another participant since he couldn't tell her he was a participant of what. (If everything else you said is the truth and you are not my enemy you will surely accept this proposal, if you don't, it means you were trying to manipulate me into something for your own gain. You wouldn't waste this on a tool. This is the only way for me to truly believe you.)

"This invitation is something very special, it only works on a very specific kind of people. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't give it to you." Tried to explain Blaze.

Aurora just touched the envelope once again and wished to select "yes". Immediately, a confirmation message appeared in front of Blaze.

"What the fuck is this?"

<Are you sure you want to add participant Aurora Stardust to your party? Party members will share participation points, reward points, companion limit, quests and adventures. Participation and reward shop purchase will not be shared, Safehouses will be merged. This choice is permanent and can only be undone by death. You need approval of every other party members to let someone join your party. Completion of objectives gives reward for the party not individual members, participation point are given in proportion to number of party members in a party. Difficulty of tasks are scaled according to party. Yes/No>

That girl was a participant too! What were the odds?

"What is it Blaze?" Asked Gilly confused of what was happening.

"That girl is the same as me! She is stuck in that show too! This means there is no doubt that I am not crazy anymore!"

"You mean... She had another life too?"

(Yes, I did. I come from the same place too, I understood when he spoke about china and I was the only one to get it.) Aurora clarified. (I too need to survive for ten years.)

"Do you understand what you are doing? I cannot reverse that choice once it is done. "

(There is no other way for me to guess if you are lying or not.)

"You are nuts. Your logic is gravely flawed too. If I really was a bad guy, not only would I not include you in my party but I would kill you instantly to stop you from revealing that secret to anyone. If I am a good guy, it doesn't mean I will use this on a small girl I don't know anything about. On top of that, you gave away the advantage of information for this! This is such a strange move!"

"Blaze, calm down. It's not worth it to yell at her. Let her explain instead. Tell me, why do you want to join our team?"

(I already said it, to know if he his lying or not.)

"But there must be other ways to determine that no? There has to be more to it than just that."

Aurora was reluctant to admit that she was terrified to go on alone. Since she had revealed the biggest secret anyway, might as well answer truthfully what Gilly asked her.

(When I was in the white space, I didn't pay attention to what the voice was saying at all. I don't know the rules or what is going on. Before I heard him say he had to survive ten years in the recording, I thought I was alone and I wasn't even sure if those things had really happened or not. I am scarred that it will all turn out to be something like in the hunger games and I don't want him to shoot at me with his gun.)

"What are the hunger games?" Gilly asked turning to Blaze.

"It's a trilogy of book telling the story of a girl who is chosen to go in a giant arena with nineteen other people. The goal is to be the last one surviving at the end. The concept was snatched from battle royal."

"That sounds dreadful, how many years did they stay there?"

"What do you mean how many years? It lasted just a couple of days."

"What? How? Where were they sent that they all died so easily?" She asked in shock.

"No, you don't get it, the goal is not to survive against the environment, it's to survive against the nineteen others. They throw twenty teenager picked at random and throw them in an arena full of weapons to see them kill each other until the last one stands alone in the blood of the others."

"That's horrible! Those poor kids."

Blaze decided to skip the part were he reminds her that's it's just a work of fiction and went straight to the important part.

"This just make your idea even worse." Blaze said to Aurora. "You thought that maybe we had to kill every other participant to win and instead of keeping the fact that you were one to yourself, you decided to reveal it to one of your possible opponents."

(I did because I probably won't ever see another one of those.) She tapped on the letter twice. (What are my choices? Die alone because I have no idea what are the rules or take this chance to gain an ally! Look at my face, it took only one man to beat me completely. How many more of those will come at me? You said it yourself, it's a challenge, of course it won't be easy. I have nothing! When I was in the white space, I just thought I would have fun. It's been so long but I still remember it, since I have to spend ten years there, let's take money so I will have all the games I want. I will have fun and play every day. I didn't think people would kidnap me or would try to kill me! Now I'm just a mute girl with a lot of money! If you kill me now then I'm dead of course but if you don't, I will still end up dead. I have to live ten years but after only two days I was already completely defeated!) She was making signs really quickly and sharply, Gilly had a hard time following.

"What is she saying?"

Blaze explained his thoughts to Gilly. He wanted to explain as much as possible to her so she would be able to help him make a choice.

"Considering that both her and me made the news on the first day of the challenge. I will guess that it would be the same for every other participants. We haven't seen more of that kind of region shaking news so the chances of finding another participant must be extremely low. She says that she will probably die if we do not add her in our party but adding her would mean that all our stuff would be shared including points and reward we might get later. Also, we can't change our minds if I do use the invitation on her. She will be in our party until either she or I die and follow us from world to world. The truth is, she has no real value in a pure survival standpoint and we may find another participant later or in another world who we would love to add to our party too. But I only have this one invite and I do not know how to get more, like how I don't know yet how to bring you with me. What do you think we should do? It is clearly not worth it to use the invitation on her just to prove we aren't the bad guys."

Gilly stayed silent for a while, often shifting her gaze from Aurora to Blaze. None of the two knew what she was thinking and both awaited anxiously her opinion. Finally she opened her mouth and spoke of what she was thinking.

"Until death tear you apart, it sounds like wedding vows. Are you trying to steal my boyfriend?"

What? Both of them couldn't believe what they just heard. This was what she was thinking about? Aurora blushed from the thought and put her hands in front of her to defend herself. (Of course not! Why would I do that! I still don't even know if he is a good guy or not. And he is scary too!)

"Could you please be serious for a second Gilly, you are speaking to a ten years old girl here."

"I don't really mind sharing but I won't give him up without a fight."

How could they even share a boyfriend! Thought Aurora. She had never heard of such a thing before. If not for her bruised face, it would have been so red it wouldn't have been weird for steam to rise up from it.

"Okay stop, I don't even know what you are saying anymore, she isn't trying to kiss me, she is trying to get me to protect her without bringing anything to the table. Get it together, focus on the real question and understand that I love you much more than an invitation. I can rip it in half right now if you want."

Aurora quickly slapped both her hands down on the envelope as if to protect it. Gilly made some sort of pout and thought for a bit more.

"If I let you in, do you promise to help? I don't want you to be a burden to Blaze."

Aurora nodded, almost desperate. Gilly closed her eyes for a second, taking her decision. Once she opened them again, she had chosen what she wanted.

"We have to help her."

Aurora half smiled at this small victory. She was hurting too much to make a full smile, the day wasn't won yet and she was stressed that she had made the wrong decision. Maybe joining him was a bad choice from the start? Who knew? In all her life, she had never been this stressed before. She was trying to bind her life forever, to a boy she didn't know a couple of hours earlier. Even if he was scary, even if he was maybe evil, even if she didn't understand him. For her, this was the only path she could see.

Gilly continued.

"However, I think that the three of us should make an unbreakable pact beforehand."

"A pact? What Kind of pact?"

"We will swear on our own blood, our very lives. There will be no lie or walls between us. Nothing hidden and nothing unsaid. We share absolutely everything and always do our very best for us and the group because as of now we are one being that cannot be divided and this for the rest of all times. We live and die together."

Gilly was surrounded by a halo of swirling bright green light. Her aura was expressing her will and determination but also her uneasiness and her uncertainty about what she was asking. Her aura was revealing anxiety about the future yes but mostly her resolve and honesty about what she had just said. Aurora felt that Gilly was convinced of her own words and would not back down from them.

"Is it not exaggerated?" Asked Blaze unsure on how to react.

"Just shut up and bring me the invite and a knife."

He nodded and went to pick up the invitation but Aurora would not let it go. In her mind, this was her lifeline, she would not let him take it from her. Maybe all the stress, fear and pain she had been constantly exposed too since her morning was eating at her young mind and eroding her sanity. Maybe this explained her hasty and irrational decisions. Or maybe she was just too young still to feel the weight of the eternity she was trying to bind herself in.

"Then bring it to her yourself." Said Blaze, oblivious to her crumbling state of mind.

He got his pocket knife and handed it to Gilly as Aurora joined them and presented the letter.

"What are you going to do with this?"

"I'm taking the oath." She said.

Trembling, she made a shallow cut on her left palm with the knife and let a hiss of pain escape her. Letting her Blood slowly drip on the invitation Aurora was holding, she spoke her oath. Her aura was still in chaos, and through the Bright and powerful green, Aurora could see a core of pink, feeding the green all its power. Blaze's aura jerked like his expression when she ran the knife on her hand, as if he felt her pain, a profound compassionate blue.

"I swear on my blood and life, I will stay ever truthful and faithful to the group however large or small it may be or become. I will leave nothing unsaid or hidden and let no wall rise between us. Everything I am and everything I have now belong to this group for I take the oath today to be part of it. I swear to do my very best for this group as I know the group will do the same for me. I am now part of the group. I am one with it and cannot be divided from it for as long as I will live. I wish and will live and die with it. By my blood, this promise won't be undone."

Aurora just watched frozen in place as blood slowly rolled on the envelope all the way to her fingers.

"Your turn now." she said as she gave the knife to Blaze with utmost seriousness.

Aurora saw his aura in chaos, she could see it churn in frenzy and tint itself in fearful yellow. Still, He took the knife and drove it through is palm, splashing blood on his clothes, all over the envelope and even the arms of Aurora. If the cut from Gilly had been careful and solemn, his was decisive and powerful. Aurora could feel his statement, all in or nothing at all.

"And then you dare say I say cheesy things."

He planted his gaze all the way into the depths of Gilly's eyes, ignoring the glasses shielding them and repeated word for word what she had just said. Once done, Gilly extended her cut hand towards him and he took it in his own cut hand. He knew it was the best way to get all kinds of horrible blood disease but he didn't care at all.

"You are now part of us, you are ours as we are yours for ever more."

Then Gilly turned her eyes like a falling guillotine's blade toward the young girl and asked.

"It is now your turn. This is my only condition for letting you join. It is still time to change your mind."

Gilly closed her hands on the invitation as she continued to talk to the shivering girl.

"You can either take the knife or sit back down and wait for dinner."

Was this a test? Thought Blaze. She wanted to make sure the girl had enough resolve to do it. Make a promise is easy for a kid but make yourself bleed is much harder. If she can't even do that for them, how could they later trust her with their lives? He did not need to ask her, he knew it was so. Of course, he also knew she really did feel and believe in the vow she had just made. This was why he had followed after her and done the same. The thing was, she knew that they both felt this way from long ago already, they didn't need to say it, much less in such an extravagant way. Aurora was the only reason they were doing it, they needed to show her how far she was trying to push herself.

Aurora slowly let go of the envelope. She was shaking from head to toe, utterly terrified of what was happening. She felt like she was making a deal with the devil. Still, somehow, their aura felt reassuring to her. Them too felt unsure and scared, them too asked themselves if it was the right thing to do. Because they trusted each other so much, it had been easy to make such a pact between them.

Her on the other hand, was a stranger, an outsider. She wasn't supposed to be here with them. What her father had told her came back to her mind. "You would never betray a friend would you? If you need help, who do you ask? Friends of course, or family, both are really similar in this matter. You never truly control them but that is not relevant because they always walk beside you, share your goals and always help out when they can. With friends, you always receive but you also always have to give back, like how you reward the cook with a tank you and a smile. You both feel happy for each other and share sadness too. You can share absolutely anything with the greatest of friends.

That form of power does not work on many people, there is a limit on how many real friends you can have because it is impossible to give so many people the time they deserve.

A friend can grow distant if you don't make efforts too and some will hurt you because they have a different point of view from you but those few true friends you have will never go against you willingly. This is true power, hard to get and very useful.

The thing you have to remember with this is that those you "control" with this will sometimes have as much, if not more control over you than you do over them. If you choose your friends well, you don't have to be scared of this. For the first method, you sit on other peoples back while for the second method, you stand together with others. Do you understand?"

Was this friendship too? A friendship so strong that it would last across worlds and time? She did not have many friends. The cooks were her friends but she did not even know their names. Her budding-saurian was her friend, but he was a plant lizard. She had friends in her previous life but couldn't reach them anymore.Those two where offering her friendship, a very hard to get one but a very powerful one too, like her father had said.

She extended her shaking right hand to the knife and took it before slowly approaching the blade towards her left hand. She was barely seeing them as tears were blocking her view and streaming down her face. Still she could vaguely see, the envelope she desperately wanted, now grotesquely painted in dark red.

"Wait. said Blaze, your hand is dainty, be very careful where you cut or you could injure a tendon. That would hinder you from moving your fingers and you need them to talk."

The knife froze just before the skin of her small delicate hand. He was right, her hands were the most precious part of her body, risking them for some blood was definitely insane. Blood was almost the only thing she could see now, it was everywhere, on the floor and even on her arms. She hesitated above the invitation for a while before slowly parting the knife from her shaking hand.

"That's okay, we won't hurt you anyway, we will let you leave soon to see your parents." Said Gilly to appease her.

But Aurora wasn't done, after distancing the knife from her palm, she suddenly drove it across her arm. A crazed cut, made from fear, hope, desperation and courage, all in equal values. Pain shot through her small body as her blood mixed with the other's on the envelope. She saw care and distress in their aura as they were about to rush to close the wound. She let go of the knife which bounced on the floor with a shrill metallic note and started making signs through the pain. It wasn't the worse she had felt, her face had endured worse. She recited the same as they did, freezing their attempt to help her.

They were shocked by her actions. Blaze had never thought she would actually do it, he was so sure he had managed to scare her off with his warning about her hands.

When she was done at last, she extended her hand once again above the envelope. Since it was Gilly that was holding it, Blaze was the one who extended his hand to take hers. Her hand was so small compared to his, he felt like he could have held them both in only one of his. It felt really fragile to him, he got scared that he would hurt her if he put any strength at all in his fingers. He just held her as softly as he could and spoke the words in tandem with Gilly.

"You are now part of us, you are ours as we are yours for ever more."

Now, what should he do first? Should he get rid of the text hovering in his face first or immediately try to fix the arm of the girl. How did he even accept the message and add her to his party? As he asked himself this, the yes button was automatically selected and Aurora was added to his party. Of course, he thought, just by will, how convenient.

<Aurora Stardust has been added to the party of Blaze Sherwood, Safehouses have been merged. Combining Participation points pool, total remaining PP 1,250.

Combining Reward points pool, total remaining RP 0.>

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