108 CVIII. | 'Thy ancient likeness...'

It had taken a while for the hostilities to finally end. Informing everyone of the ceasefire had been proven quite the undertaking. Without any working phones or coms, they had to search Marshrock for their allies and inform them in person, and they encountered a few Blackburns along the way who had definitely not gotten the news yet. Not that it was too big a problem. Hector and Emiliana didn't have to do anything other than carry their unconscious friends, while Asad participated in a series of civilized discussions that definitely didn't end with anyone being splattered against the ceiling like a bag full of chicken bones and a very old curry.

In time, they found a platoon of Sebolts with working coms, and from there, word of the ceasefire began to spread much more quickly.

Not long into their venture, however, Chergoa realized that one of the unconscious reapers in Hector's grasp was her brother. But Hector's thoughts had been so preoccupied with the new aberration he'd seen that he'd nearly forgotten about Garovel's sister, and when she started bombarding him with questions, the young Lord Goffe found himself settling into old habits and falling painfully silent.

She didn't seem to appreciate that much.

Thankfully, though, after only three hours of awkwardness, Garovel began to stir.

'Hey!' Chergoa yelled. 'Are you finally awake, you big doofus?!'

Garovel gave a weak laugh, still sounding exhausted. 'Good to see you, baby sister.'

Chergoa snorted and nodded to Hector and Emiliana. 'Told you, didn't I?'

'What did you tell them?' said Garovel.

'That the first thing you'd do would be reassert your status as the older sibling.'

'Agh. Gimme a break. I'm tired, and I was expressing how pleased I am to finally see you again. And you ARE my little sister, aren't you?'

'Yeah, by like one year! One out of--' She hesitated. 'How old are we again?'

'Three thousand something, I think.'

'See? You don't even know.'

'Don't need to. Even if you were infinity years old, I'd still be infinity plus one.'

'What the hell are you doing here, anyway?'

'Did Hector not tell you?'

'No, he didn't. Great servant you got here, by the way. Can't even answer a simple question.'

'Hey. Don't make fun of Hector. I didn't make fun of your freaky-lookin' mutant girl.'

'Whoa! Take that back, you asshole!'

'Or what?'

"Garovel," said Hector, realizing he should intervene before this escalated into another four hundred years of them not seeing each other. "Apologize."

Garovel required a moment of reluctance before granting an admissive nod and turning to Emiliana. 'Ah... I'm sorry, young lady. You aren't a freaky-looking mutant. In fact, you actually look kind of badass with that mask on. I was just upset because your reaper is a terrible person who eats babies and steals from the poor.'

'Alright, that's enough,' said Chergoa. 'Tell me what you're doing here, already.'

'We're here for YOU, you dingus. We ran into Axiolis in Kuros, and he informed us of the monumental shitstorm you've gotten yourself involved in. And naturally, being the wonderful, selfless people we are, we decided to--'

'Okay, okay. Hector, thank you for all your help. Garovel, go fuck yourself.'

'Wow, watch your language. There are young people present, you know.'

'You literally just said "shitstorm."'

'Yeah, but when I swear, it's funny and endearing. When you do it, it's inappropriate and childish.'

She glanced at Emiliana. 'See this? See what I have to put up with?'

But Emiliana seemed more interested in something else Garovel had said. "You met with Axiolis? Do you know where he is?"

'We parted ways with Axiolis at Rheinhal,' said Garovel. 'He said he wanted to be there when your father and brother were freed. But Asad and Qorvass could've told you that much. You should've asked them.'

Emiliana gave a muffled sigh. "If only I'd thought to."

Chergoa looked around. 'Where'd those two go, anyway?'

'Don't ask me,' said Garovel. 'You're the ones who've been awake this whole time.'

Hector knew the answer to that one and knew that he should probably make more of an effort to contribute after the less-than-stellar first impression he'd made. "Er--uh... Asad said he was going to, ah... t-to see about retrieving the other hostages."

'Oh,' said Chergoa. 'Let's go find him again, then.'

They started moving through the Sebolt encampment as a small group, which meant leaving the hotel lobby they'd been waiting in. As ever, it was raining outside, and the thunder had returned as well, but before they even made it five steps, a familiar man descended from the heavens with folded arms.

"...Why are you leaving the hotel?" asked the Lord Dimas Sebolt.

'Dimas, that was way too imposing,' said Iziol, clinging to the man's back. 'You have to sound friendlier, or they'll get the wrong idea about us.'

"...I am here to ensure the young Lady Elroy's safety. If there is something you require, I will send someone to fetch it for you."

'Okay, that was a little better, but, eh...'

Chergoa decided to chime in. 'We were just wondering when we would be able to see Marcos, Ramira, and Shenado again. Do you know? It's been a couple hours since the ceasefire began, and Ismael said he would release them.'

"They will be brought to you as soon as we have them," said Dimas.

'Eh, let's just go with them,' said Iziol. 'We might be able to see Diego sooner, too. Besides, with Melchor down for the count, there's no one here who can really threaten you.'

'Lord Asad might argue that point,' said Garovel.

Iziol returned a laugh. 'Thankfully, he's on our side. But you know, if it came down to it, I bet Dimas could take him.'

'Well, I admire your confidence,' said Garovel.

That made Iziol laugh again, and with the two added members, their party of six proceeded onward together. Emiliana tried to share her umbrella with Dimas, but he was so much taller than her that she almost poked his eye out. The man chose to hold the umbrella for the both of them, instead.

Luzo had a strange charm to it, Hector felt. When he'd first arrived, the place had seemed kind of ominous and horrible to him, perhaps because the thunder had been so loud before, but now that it had mellowed out into a series of faint rumblings, he was beginning to enjoy himself. Combined with the constant drumming of rain and the moderate temperature, Hector found this place actually quite relaxing. Though, the ceasefire had surely contributed to that feeling as well.

Still, he was beginning to understand why people might choose to live here, despite the threat of floods and lightning. At least a third of the buildings on this street had been crowned with huge metal spires, and the road didn't seem to have any trouble draining all the water. Hector could only imagine how insanely efficient a Rainlord sewage system needed to be.

'So why were you in Kuros?' Chergoa asked. 'And how in the world did you end up crossing paths with Axiolis?'

'We were escorting Atreyan royalty,' said Garovel.

Chergoa paused. 'Are you joking?'

'Nope. Prince Meriwether of House Lumenbel. We're on pretty good terms with his sister, the Queen, so she asked us for a favor.'

'Huh.' Chergoa allowed a beat to pass. 'There must not be very many servants in Atreya.'

'Rude. You don't know how strong Hector is.' Garovel also allowed a beat to pass. 'You're right, though. I only know of like three others.'

'Ha. So this prince didn't mind you just abandoning your duty to come help us?'

'He had another bodyguard to rely on, and we were only doing it as a favor, anyway. Also, I don't think he was particularly worried for his safety once he made it inside the Golden Fort. He's married to one of the Saqqaf women, after all.'

'Ah,' said Chergoa. 'Woulda been nice to have those folks on our side. Are the Saqqafs as impressive as their reputation suggests?'

'We didn't meet any of them personally. The Lord Abbas Saqqaf, though--we saw him speak during a meeting, and his soul was strong enough that Hector could actually feel his presence a little bit, which suggests to me that he's even older than Melchor and Xuan. So just from that, I would have to say, yes, Hahl Saqqaf was quite impressive.'

Hector's memory of that meeting was foggy at best. Garovel had translated it for him, since they had been speaking in Valgan, but Hector did recall that odd feeling Garovel was talking about now, like the air was slightly thicker. It wasn't until later that Garovel had explained how very powerful souls could affect the physical atmosphere. And while he was certainly grateful that Lord Abbas had permanently soul-strengthened Haqq's shield, Hector was not in any hurry to encounter someone like that a second time--especially now, after witnessing what Xuan and Melchor could do.

Chergoa and Garovel continued speaking, but Garovel spared a private moment for Hector. 'You should express your gratitude to Dimas for saving our asses.'

Much as he would have liked to remain silent, Hector knew the reaper was right, so after taking a moment to gather his courage, he went for it. "Uh, um, Lord Dimas, uh... thank you for your help earlier. Darktide would've definitely, er... I mean, if you hadn't... uh... Y-you and Lord Salvador saved us. So... er..."

The man's expression was as unreadable as ever. "...Think nothing of it. Rather, I should be thanking you for protecting Duvoss and my idiot uncle."

"Ah, uh... heh..." Hector thought better of wading into that territory and instead chose to change the subject. "Are you, um... aren't you tired? From using pan-forma, I mean?"

"I use pan-moc," Dimas corrected.

"Oh. Right."

"...But yes, I am exhausted."

"You... uh... you don't really look like it."

"I will not be sleeping until Xuan is awake."

'I will, though,' said Iziol. 'In fact, I think I'll do that right now. Pardon my snoring.'

Hector exchanged looks with Dimas. "Can reapers actually snore?"

"No. Iziol was attempting to tell a joke. He is not very good at them."

'Hey. I... I'm... I'm mediocre at them, at least.'

Dimas met Hector's gaze and just shook his head with silent honesty.

'Here, let me tell a real joke,' said Iziol.

And for the first time, Hector saw Dimas lose composure as a haggard expression flashed across his face.

'Two clowns walk into a bar. The bartender says to them, "Hey, none of your funny business in here!"'

Then there was dead silence. Even Chergoa and Garovel had stopped bickering.

'Well?' said Iziol. 'What did you think?'

Hector had still been waiting for the punchline. "Uh--er, that was... um. Wow."

Dimas was less kind. "That was possibly the worst joke I've ever heard in my life."

'Bah,' said Iziol. 'Dimas just doesn't know anything about comedy. He and I have been together for more than twenty years, and I've only heard him laugh four times. Four! Can you believe that?!'

Hector could.

Dimas made no retort.

Chergoa spoke up for the man, though. 'He's not wrong, Iziol. That joke was horrendous. In fact, if comedy were a human being, you would have just committed murder.'

Iziol hesitated a moment. 'Darn it... Ah! I'm sorry. Please excuse my language. I'm just frustrated.'

Hector saw the other two reapers exchange looks.

'Don't feel bad,' said Garovel. 'Chergoa and I will share our secrets with you.'

'Better just leave it to me,' said Chergoa. 'Garovel will only teach you how to insult people.'

'That's not even remotely true. Hector, tell her how hilarious I am.'

Hector opened his mouth but no words came out.

'Buddy, c'mon!'

"G-Garovel is... very funny..."

Chergoa busted into a laugh. 'What an endorsement! Clearly, you've awed him with your comedic genius!'

'That's just Hector's personality! You already know he has trouble speaking!'

'Oh, sure, blame it on Hector.'

'Alright, fine. Hey, Emiliana, how funny is Chergoa?'

'Oh god no. Em, you know that I--'

"She is quite awful."

'Agh! How could you?!'

'Thank you for your honesty,' said Garovel.

'I just haven't had enough time to win her over!' said Chergoa. 'She'll appreciate my humor eventually!'

'I'm sure that's it,' said Garovel.

'Em, we are gonna have a long talk about this later.'

"I will look forward to it."

As they walked, Chergoa and Garovel soon returned to their bickering, and Garovel had to privately remind Hector to be sociable again. 'Talk to Emiliana.'

Hector racked his brain in search of a topic. When nothing immediately sprung forth, he tried taking a step back and thinking about everything that had happened, and then the most pressing question in the world smacked him in the face. "Emiliana," said Hector, abruptly sterner, "please tell me more about this... aberration that you were with."

That grabbed Garovel's attention. 'Wait a minute, what? You were with an aberration?'

'Oh yeah,' said Chergoa. But she didn't elaborate, perhaps wanting to let Emiliana participate more.

"Yes," the young woman said. "Lord Ibai Blackburn. He is... quite different."

"Go on," urged Hector.

"Ah... perhaps I am not the best person to consult," said Emiliana. "I have never met any other aberrations."

"But you know of them," said Hector.

"Yes... I know they are supposed to be vicious creatures without humanity. And I have hardly spent any time with him, so I cannot claim to know him very well. But Lord Ibai--he had an opportunity to kill several reapers and consume their souls, yet he chose to spare them. He even had assurances that no one would ever find out. His own men were encouraging him to eat them so that he would grow more powerful. But he did not do it."

'It's true,' Chergoa confirmed. 'If I hadn't seen it myself, I probably wouldn't believe it.'

Hector's brow lowered. "Could it have been a trick?"

Emiliana bobbed her head to the side. "I suppose so... but to my mind, that was a genuine display of mercy. And if aberrations are truly all inhuman monsters, then I cannot imagine one of them doing what Lord Ibai did."

'He had the opportunity to kill me as well,' said Chergoa.

'What?!' said Garovel.

'I had nowhere to run or hide. I was completely at his mercy. But he didn't hurt me. And when his father asked him to, he let me go.'

For a time, no one said anything further, perhaps needing a moment to digest that information.

Hector didn't know what to think. He'd been told that all aberrations were violent and dangerous, but maybe that was wrong. He'd only met one other aberration before, so how could he presume to know what the rest of them were like?

But it wasn't that simple, either. As much as Hector tried to separate his own feelings from the subject at hand, his memories wouldn't be ignored. Memories of Geoffrey Rofal. So much had happened since Hector killed that son of a bitch, but not much actual time had passed. Only a few months. Those old wounds, they hadn't healed. They'd barely begun to feel like scars in his mind.

Still, it wasn't up to Hector to decide what to do with Ibai, and for that, he was glad; but he also wondered how the Rainlords would handle the situation. When it came to aberrations, he doubted he was the only one who'd had bad experiences.

After a fashion, the chatter among their group began to return, but something else cut through it before long.

'Oh.' Chergoa abruptly stopped moving, which made everyone else do the same. Her skeletal grin widened, and she looked to Emiliana, then nodded down an adjacent side street.

They all turned in time to see a little girl rush up to Emiliana and hug her.

Hector recognized Ramira Elroy from her photograph, along with Marcos Elroy following not far behind. Asad and Qorvass were there, too, as was an unfamiliar reaper.

Chergoa handled introductions. 'Garovel, Shenado. Shenado, Garovel.'

'The brother?' said Shenado. 'What an unexpected pleasure.'

'It is very nice to meet you,' said Garovel. 'I was sorry to hear about everything your family has had to endure. Axiolis told me all about it.'

'I see, thank you,' said Shenado. 'Ah, and this is Marcos Elroy. Say hello, Marcos.'

The boy looked exhausted. "H-hello..."

'Hello there,' said Garovel. 'This is Hector Goffe.'

Hector offered him a handshake, and Marcos took it. "It's, ah... nice to meet you," said Hector.

Marcos just returned a polite nod. When Dimas offered him a handshake, however, the boy dove in for a hug, instead. "You came back for us," he mumbled into Dimas' torso. "You kept your promise..."

Dimas was slow to return the hug, but after a moment, Hector saw the man's face soften.

Next up for introduction was Ramira, and Hector stiltedly made his way through it. But soon afterward, the adults and the reapers began conversing, and Hector and Ramira were left standing there with nothing to do. He didn't mind being excluded himself, but he felt a bit bad for Ramira. She didn't appear to have a reaper of her own, which meant she couldn't even hear half of what was being said.

After a period of deliberation and brainstorming, Hector knelt down next to her and with effort, forced himself to ask, "...What's your favorite animal?"

She stared at him with big gray eyes, perhaps wondering what he was getting at. But then she smirked and said, "A trapdoor spider!"

Hector's expression faltered. "Uh... really? Not, like, a giraffe or something?"

"Psh. Can a giraffe camouflage itself to take its prey by surprise, and then eat them by liquefying their body with its venom? Because a trapdoor spider can."

"Ah..." Hector had to laugh a little. "Okay, then, tell me what a trapdoor spider looks like..." He materialized a generic spider figurine in the palm of his hand.

"That's way too skinny," said Ramira. "The abdomen has to be fatter."

"Abdomen?" said Hector.

"You don't know what an abdomen is? It's the butt!"

"Ah, okay..." He annihilated his work and tried again. "Is this closer?"

"Better. But the legs are too long. And there aren't enough eyes. And can you add some hair?"

He gave it another shot. "How about now?"

"Agh, here, just give me your phone. I'll find you a picture on the internet."

Hector did as he was told.

The group continued on together, and Hector just kind of followed mindlessly along as he and Ramira became absorbed with creating the perfect spider for her. She found multiple pictures for him to work from, but they were all different species and so bore variations that kept tripping him up. At length, though, he came up with something quite realistic-looking, even down to the fine hairs on its back like Ramira had asked for.

"Wow, there you go!" she said. "You're really good at this! It's perfect!"

He handed it to her. "You sure? It's not too heavy? I can make it smaller, if you want."

"No, no, it's cooler this way! I can beat people with it!"

"Ah..."

"Just kidding." She prodded him in the stomach, pretending the spider was biting him. "Bragh! I like it a lot! Thank you!"

"Ha... you're welcome."

She turned it over in her hands. "You know, it's kind of like a Melchor action figure."

Hector blinked at that. "You've seen him fight?"

"Yep. It was really scary."

"Oh. I'm sorry..."

"It was really cool, too." She frowned, though. "But I don't think I want to see it again..." She made the spider bite him on the arm this time.

Hector wondered how many terrible things she'd seen already. She didn't look traumatized, but who could say what effect everything actually had upon her?

What an unfair world it was. He'd known that all along, of course, but it seemed different now, maybe because he felt so powerless again. For a long time now, he'd felt strong, like he at least stood a chance against the problems he saw before him. If someone was in danger, he could just save them. Simple enough. But this little girl here was caught up in a conflict so far out of his reach that he couldn't even imagine how he might genuinely help her. She and Marcos and Emiliana--they needed more than some stupid lump of iron.

In time, they arrived at their destination. It was a modest building overlooking a muddy river with Marshrock standing in the distance. And since he hadn't been paying attention to what everyone had been saying, Hector wasn't sure why they were here.

Once they were inside, Asad stopped to address everyone.

"Before we go any farther," the Sandlord said, "there is something I must tell you all."

His audience gave him their attention.

"Earlier, I received word that the siege in Rheinhal has failed." Asad let the murmurs pass before continuing. "I'm afraid the details are still unclear, but at the moment, everyone there is being presumed captured or killed. I'm very sorry. I felt you should know now, because I'm sure it will come up during negotiations."

'None escaped?' said Shenado.

'We don't know,' said Qorvass. 'It's possible, but unlikely. There were a handful of messages that came in at once, all saying that Sanko was attacking the Rainlords. And since then, we've received no further contact from anyone.'

There were no other questions after that. Everyone seemed to need time to process what they'd just heard. Hector was tempted to ask what they planned to do now, but then he realized that was why they had come here. He saw the Lord Ismael in the front lobby with an entourage of Blackburns around him. Ibai was there, as well.