Chapter 11 (An Offer They Can’t Refuse)
“That really isn’t necessary.”
The words slammed into us, coming from nowhere, everywhere, and directly behind me all at the same time. I knew who the voice was from, and I could sense where she was. I spun and with a sharp flick of my wrist, I launched a tungsten spike directly at her chest. There was a sharp crack as my projectile went super sonic and tracked unerringly to my target. Where it promptly bounced and clattered to the floor without leaving so much as a scratch.
I scowled. “Oh, fuck off, Fereday. We win. I found Alex, and we ripped off the parasitic goop you slapped on her soul. We’re ascending together this time and there's not a fucking thing you can do now to stop it.”
Fereday was sitting there, leaning back in what looked like a leather arm chair, one leg draped across the other, fingers pressed together into a triangle in front of her face. Her clothing was a white three piece suit with a black button down shirt under the vest, looking very much like a cliché spy film villain. “Ada, please, do you really think I'd go to all this trouble if I didn’t have a good reason? I have an offer you can’t refuse.”
I raised a finger to point at her, and prepared to go into a flurry of a curse-laden rant at the witch, but sadly, I realized she was correct. I had disabled the ability that was shunting all my excess experience gains into reinforcing my soul, expecting that the system would force us to level up and start the ascension process, but that hadn’t happened. What was worse was that my [Debug] was still showing the bond link at 99% synchronization. Something was wrong, and the smug look on her face suggested that she knew what that something was.
“Ugh, fine.” I pulled a couple chairs from my [Hammerspace], sat, crossed one leg over the other, gave Fereday the customary double one-finger salute, crossed my arms under my chest, and slouched.
Alex followed after, but before taking her seat, she walked straight up to Fereday and slapped the avatar across the face. “You know what that’s for,” she said. Then, she turned and sat next to me, giving Fereday the same salute that I had. She did not, however, slouch. I guessed she was still used to having an actual spine. “You caught us,” I growled, “so what the fuck do you want? Obviously, we were in your fucking trap as soon as we walked in here.”
“Yes, well, I have a problem that you are uniquely suited to dealing with, and I need you to listen to reason. So yes, I orchestrated your reunion. Satisfied?”
I waved my hand noncommittally, and Alex said, “No, but go on. Explain this big problem that you needed help from us specifically to handle.”
“There is a Kalkydra on the northern continent attempting something that no mortal mind should understand, and as a result, will soon be infected with the corrupting energies of the Void. I know you have the ability to destroy the source and repair whatever damage has resulted.”
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That was not what I expected. If this was serious enough that Fereday was looking to me to assist, then the situation had to be dire. I could only think of a couple things that would stop her from sending her own minions and orchestrate this elaborate entrapment instead. The big one that immediately came to mind was... “Fuck no,” I said, “there’s no fucking way I’m touching Abyssal corruption. Come on, Alex, we’re leaving.”
“Ada, you haven’t even listened to my proposal.”
“And I don’t need to. Fuck you, and fuck your problems. I have to deal with enough of the Abyss while I’m dead, no thanks to you. There’s no fucking way I’m touching any of that when I actually have something to lose. You can figure out how to fix your own shit.”
“The two of you are missing another piece of your original gestalt.”
Alex and I spoke at the same time. “Fucking what.” “What are you talking about?”
“The single soul that existed before you became that mess. That dragon shredded it into several dozen pieces before the other gods decided he needed to be stopped. Thanatos and Aion collected as much as they could, and reassembled the shards into a pair of vaguely functional souls, but one piece was overlooked. Seira recovered the piece and I held onto it for safekeeping. Kill the corrupted Kalkydra, and I’ll introduce you. What happens from there is up to the three of you.”
In that moment, molten rage suffused me. As much as I wanted to break Fereday’s avatar into a fine powder with my bare hands, I managed to restrain myself. Acting on that rage in this moment would not change what happened in the past. With the understanding that the information Fereday had just given us affected more than only me, I instead turned to Alex. “I can’t make a rational decision just now. I’m certain that however powerful this thing is, I can kill it as long as you’re close enough that our vow stays active. Whatever you decide is what I’ll do.”
Alex sat in her seat and looked at Fereday for a while, considering what we had just been told. After a minute or two, I managed to regain control of myself, Alex turned to me and said, “I think we have to do it. If she’s asking us for help, I don’t think she has any other options available. If what she’s told us about missing another piece of our original soul is true, then we don't have a choice if we want that back. Do we want to restore our soul back to being a single gestalt? It feels like that's what I want, but I can't put words to what is making me feel that way.”
“Alright,” I said, “we can figure that part out later.” I turned back to Fereday. “Fine, we'll do it. I'll be your attack dog this one time. I only need to know what the restrictions on collateral damage are going to be.”
“You cannot leave anything behind that is hazardous to life that would normally inhabit the region, or cause long term damage to the Pallosian reality. Anything else is permitted as long as the corruption is excised.”
“Right, so no nuclear weapons or tears in space... You know you're really limiting my heavy hitter options for handling Abyssal entities here. Do I have your magnanimous permission to use [Godslayer]?”
“Fucking hell, Ada, why do you still have that atrocity?”
“Simple, I haven't had the opportunity to use it on you.”
