[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/rJicBem.png[/img][/center][center][h1][color=2E8B57]M[/color]anfred [color=2E8B57]H[/color]ohenfelter von [color=2E8B57]M[/color]eckelin-[color=2E8B57]T[/color]handau[/h1][/center][hr]

Manfred had made it no more than a handful of yards, when he paused at the top of the steps. The ship's towering twin stacks let out a mighty puff of white smoke and then it died down to a trickle. From below came the sounds of shouting and clamour. 

[color=2E8B57][i]Dami damn it![/i][/color] He shouted inwardly. [color=2E8B57][b]"Scheiße, Scheiße, Scheiße"[/b][/color] he muttered under his breath. The Kerreman gritted his teeth and turned on his heel, marching back towards where he could get a better view. He could hear breaking glass and see the glow of fire reflected on the water's surface. This was why you didn't send children to do the work of soldiers, even if they were talented children. Manfred knew himself for half a child as well and even he was not so unwise. [color=2E8B57][i]Either the old man has lost it or else he is doing this for a reason.[/i][/color]

Making it to the forward railing, not so far from where the second mate, helmsman, and an unfortunate seaman slept by the pilothouse, Manfred peered over. Their plans had called for a measure of order and teamwork. Instead, there was naught but chaos and Dorothea was in the midst of it. With a growing panic that he tamped down on with the practiced mindset of a soldier, he scanned the scene below for her. Of Carmillia, he saw nothing. She had either pitched overboard or else abandoned Dorothea at her first sign of need. Zarra, too, had gone gallivanting off on his own self-appointed errand. [color=2E8B57][i]Perrench schwein-hunde![/i][/color] he cursed at them. [color=2E8B57][i]Dami-damned slimy, unreliable people![/i][/color] 

His eyes found her: lost, scared, and alone in the surging mob. That vile agent of the Traveler's had outmaneuvered her. Under pressure, she'd consumed an aberration. [color=2E8B57][i]Dory...[/i][/color] He knew how much his had meant to her. He knew about her dreams but now she was part of a nightmare. She was giving it her best, though. He saw a flash erupt from Dory's hands and then she clubbed her disoriented foe on the temple and he spilled into the water. Manfred rushed to the side railing, closest to where she was, grabbed it, and checked that nothing would fall from him as he leapt over.

[color=000000][b]"Not proceeding as you'd expected?"[/b][/color] inquired a voice. The former soldier froze. He had just swept the area there was nobody -

Everything was still. It was... like somebody had stopped the forward march of time itself. It was not only people; it was everything: the flash of Dory's magic, the flicker of the fires, the lapping of the waves. But not him. Manfred whirled in the direction of the speaker, eyes wide, hands going instinctively for his weapons. [color=2E8B57][b]"What are you?"[/b][/color] he asked.

The figure was a woman in a dark, hooded cloak. She was seated on a bollard. [color=000000][b]"Nobody you know,"[/b][/color] she assured him, her voice not the least bit assuring. He could feel the pinch of chemical magic in his mind. He had trained to recognize it but he also knew that someone capable of time-stopping magic could easily have hidden her deed. She [i]wanted [/i]him to know. [color=2E8B57][b]"You hide your true face,"[/b][/color] he growled.

[color=000000][b]"A necessary precaution,"[/b][/color] said the mysterious woman, [color=000000][b]"for my enemies are many."[/b][/color]

A cold prickle worked its way up and down Manfred's body. [color=2E8B57][i]Such power and secrecy, many enemies...[/i][/color] His mind did not want to accept its own conclusions. [color=2E8B57][b]"And you recognize me for one, Traveler."[/b][/color]

He could not see her eyes, but he could see the soft smile on her lips. [color=000000][b]"I recognize you for many things, Manfred Hohenfelter: lost but too afraid to admit it, dutiful but with no one to serve, good but unable or perhaps unwilling to see the path to justice."[/b][/color]

[color=2E8B57][b]"You are the archdemon Zathra here to tempt me, like Dami in the wilderness!"[/b][/color]

She regarded him steadily and said nothing for a moment. [color=000000][b]"I do not need to tempt what I could kill. Not that I shall do such a thing. There has been far too much death already; far too much of those with power misusing it against those without."[/b][/color]

He was about to issue an angry retort but it would've done him no good. His way out of this was not to oppose the monster, but to appease it. He remained silent and nodded slightly.

[color=000000][b]"I know you for a good man: one who has seen the senseless slaughter that results when one person holds the effortless power of life and death over a great many others. How can he resist when he knows himself better? How can there be equality when, in truth, there is not?"[/b][/color] She shook her head sadly and he listened. After a moment he replied. [color=2E8B57][b]"There cannot,"[/b][/color] he admitted quietly.

[color=000000][b]"And yet [i]I [/i]am a villain for trying to share the power that was placed within this world for us? For trying to empower the common people so that they might not be mere fodder for those who hoard the Gods' Gift?"[/b][/color] Her voice rose and she unknitted her fingers. 

[color=2E8B57][b]"That power is unholy,"[/b][/color] Manfred retorted, finding his conviction once more. [color=2E8B57][b]"[i]Unnatural![/i] It is not of this world and it turns people mad when they touch it!"[/b][/color]

[color=000000][b]"Does it now?"[/b][/color]

[color=2E8B57][b]"One need only look below,"[/b][/color] he snarled, twisting to regard the frozen scenes of violence below. [color=2E8B57][b]"That is madness!"[/b][/color] he finished, twisting back to regard her but, instead of a grown woman, he was now face to face with a young boy. He recognized that boy from somewhere. Where, he could not precisely say.

The boy frowned. [color=000000][b]"That is the problem. As things stand now, most people cannot cleanly handle the power that comes from without. Its effects are temporary, yet dangerous nonetheless."[/b][/color] His feet dangled as he talked and, momentarily, he hopped off of the bollard and half-turned. [color=000000][b]"I... wanna change that,"[/b][/color] he continued. [color=000000][b]"You don't know how much the church lies."[/b][/color] He shook his head in annoyance and his eyes met Manfred's again. [color=000000][b]"The things that they say about 'aberrations'."[/b][/color] He made his fingers into air quotes. 

[color=2E8B57][b]"The church is the word of the gods,"[/b][/color] Manfred replied with a coldness more certain than he felt. [color=2E8B57][b]"Are you questioning the gods?"[/b][/color]

[color=000000][b]"No, for the love of Shune,"[/b][/color] retorted the boy. [color=000000][b]"I'm questioning the people who make up that church. Did not Ahn-Dami give us free will? Do not we have choice? Who is to say that same choice does not corrupt the will of the gods? Who's to say your beloved priests and bishops - users of the Gift all, from families of wealth and privilege all - are telling you the truth?"[/b][/color]

That gave Manfred pause, for he had long known that people in positions of power lied. His own family lied. Jurgen lied about the woman he had raped. Father had lied to his soldiers about the war. Mother had lied to him about Nina - dear Nina - and then his sister had disappeared. [color=2E8B57][b]"Then what are they lying about?"[/b][/color] he challenged.

[color=000000][b]"Everything,"[/b][/color] the boy snorted derisively, [color=000000][b]"but most of all, the 'threat' that their 'aberrations' present."[/b][/color] He walked right up to Manfred and gazed up at him, expression implacable. [color=000000][b]"What we're doing down there -"[/b][/color] he gestured [color=000000][b]"- it's imperfect, though your friends have made it look worse, but you can absorb that power safely: in small amounts, weeks apart, and it will work. It'll make you stronger."[/b][/color] The boy turned abruptly and skipped away, leaning against the rail on his tiptoes. For a moment, he seemed so like a boy and so little like The Traveler that Manfred nearly forgot who he was. [color=000000][b]"But the real solution,"[/b][/color] he continued, [color=000000][b]"is in the hold of this ship or... one part of it, I guess."[/b][/color]

[color=2E8B57][b]"The Lyre?"[/b][/color]

The boy grinned mischievously. [color=000000][b]"Old Hugo didn't tell you [i]why [/i]it was so important,"[/b][/color] he teased, [color=000000][b]"and unlike those Rednitz fools who just want it for status, he knows what it can do."[/b][/color]

[color=2E8B57][b]"And I suppose you'll tell me?"[/b][/color]

[color=000000][b]"Yup!"[/b][/color] the boy replied, and Manfred waited. The Traveler's expression grew impish for a moment before he relented. [color=000000][b]"You see how just that tiny bit's affected them down there?"[/b][/color]

Manfred glanced that way again and when he looked back and opened his mouth to speak, he was speaking to Nina. [color=2E8B57][b]"You are not her!"[/b][/color] he roared. [color=2E8B57][b]"Don't take her face! You have [i]no[/i] right to!"[/b][/color]

He blinked and the Traveler was an old man with a long beard. [color=000000][b]"Apologies if that was jarring, but I have met her and she believes me. Search your feelings. You know your sister. You know her heart."[/b][/color]

[color=2E8B57][b]"Say your piece, sorcerer."[/b][/color]

The old man let out a snort. [color=000000][b]"I cannot let you and your group succeed."[/b][/color] He shook his head regretfully. [color=000000][b]"That artifact can reconcile the without and the within. In layman's terms, it and its peers can remove the taint of madness from aberrations. With those, we can change this world for the better. We can bring The Gift to all of those who deserve it."[/b][/color]

[color=2E8B57][b]"And each holy artifact can do this? How do you know?"[/b][/color]

[color=000000][b]"I have already said enough. I do not like to kill but, for such a greater good, I would scarce hesitate. That is why I need to know whether I must risk my loyal friends or whether I can trust you and your people to make the right decisions."[/b][/color] 

Manfred's heart was hammering. He could feel it within his chest. This truly [i]was [/i]the Traveler. There truly [i]was [/i]something to the artifacts, or so it appeared. He would test that later. [color=2E8B57][b]"I cannot speak for others,"[/b][/color] he warned.

[color=000000][b]"I will speak with them in time,"[/b][/color] replied the old man.

[color=2E8B57][b]"The artifact is safe so long as it is in my hands,"[/b][/color] Manfred promised, though he truly had no other viable choice. [color=2E8B57][b]"I will put your theory to the test,"[/b][/color] he amended, [color=2E8B57][b]"and if it should turn out not to be -"[/b][/color]

[color=000000][b]"I would expect nothing less,"[/b][/color] the old man interrupted. [color=000000][b]"In fact, I would encourage it. Just... be careful who you call an ally or a friend."[/b][/color] He nodded sagely. [color=000000][b]"Now, I believe, you were in the middle of being a hero,"[/b][/color] he concluded. [color=000000][b]"I would rescue the girl and head for the hold as quickly as possible. There's a hidden access near one of the wheels, not far from where she's standing. It'll take you to the engine room."[/b][/color]

[color=2E8B57][i][b]How[/b] can he know all these things?[/i][/color] Manfred wondered, his sense of unreality ebbing and flowing with each sentence in their exchange. Now, he understood, the unsettling encounter was about to be over. He would be left with much to think about and little time to think. [color=2E8B57][b]"One last question..."[/b][/color] he began, and the Traveler twisted and nodded. In truth, Manfred felt stupid asking it, but he had come this far down the rabbit hole of reality and it was now burning in his mind. [color=2E8B57][b]"Are you... a God?"[/b][/color]

The old man merely chuckled. [color=000000][b]"Only to some,"[/b][/color] he replied. Then, there was a flash of darkness and Manfred found himself standing not one yard from Dorothea. She turned and regarded him, startled. [color=2E8B57][b]"Yes, I snuck up on you,"[/b][/color] he assured her. [color=2E8B57][b]"Easy to lose me in the press of this madness."[/b][/color]

[color=86608E][b]"It [i]is [/i]madness!"[/b][/color] she near-shouted, [color=86608E][b]"[i]total [/i]madness! Dami, I should've [i]never [/i]touched that gods-damned aberration!"[/b][/color] He kept his newfound perspective to himself for the time being, for it wouldn't help. Instead, he knew something that would. Manfred took Dorothea by the hand and pulled. [color=2E8B57][b]"I'm very glad you're alright,"[/b][/color] he said simply. [color=2E8B57][b]"Come with me. I know a way out of this."[/b][/color]
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