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Sleeping Carp was wordless as he led Abdel toward the water. The others had split off in their different directions and one of the Twins had walked up close to Jocasta and taken the seat beside her. Then, as they neared the pond's edge and Abdel might've thought that they would stop, the Black Guard just kept on moving. His feet left ripples in the water, but these spread outwards with unnatural slowness. He twisted at that same speed and looked back at the youth with expressionless expectation. 


Of all the Black Guard, Abdel had to end up with the stoic and infamous Sleeping Carp. There were rumors of his near-divine strength, with many jokes also coming at his expense with how slow he was said to be. All the teen truly knew for syre was that this was a Sanguinaire and was more than capable of killing him on the spot. He was visibly nervous, as evidence with his right hand clenching his left wrist. The quietude was the worst. Like waiting for the inevitable slap from an angry parent. Abdel froze when Carp finally acknowledged him, audibly gulping and constantly hesitating between making eye contact or looking down out of humility. [color=9e0039]“Uh, hehe,”[/color] he did not know why he tittered there, it just came out. [color=9e0039]“greetings. Errr, I'm Abdel Varga of Torragon?”[/color]


The large, stocky man smiled softly and the water rippled around the boy's feet. It became an image: Torragon on a map, and a place in the desert. The water raced. A path led back to Virang and disappeared in the haze. Sleeping Carp shot him an expectant look the same as he had a minute ago.


Abdel blinked and recognized the desert. Well, it could be any desert, but something about it just felt like Torragon. He smiled back at the man and nodded. [color=9e0039]“Yeah. Lots of sand. Have you ever been?”[/color] already he felt a bit more at ease with his hands moving to his sides.


Sleeping Carp nodded, and they continued walking, past an island where a drunk and a masked woman postured. Next, he stopped beside a large rock that rose just high enough to be visible in the bluish-green murk and the water formed something: a question mark.


Abdel nodded again and pursed his lips, unsure of where to lead this subject. He followed and stepped closer to the water to acknowledge the shape. [color=9e0039]“Questions? Uhm.”[/color] he mused for a moment. [color=9e0039]“What do you want from me? Help you? Just step aside? Say something to my friends?”[/color] he was beginning to overthink, especially as the only actual voice in this conversation. [color=9e0039]“If you want me to tell you the truth, I don't really know how to feel about any of this. I'm just-”[/color] he continued to walk, head sunken a little. [color=9e0039]“some kid with big lizards that finds people. This is ... So much.”[/color]


The big man reached out then, and it was... was it slow or was it fast? His hand was simply there. It was on Abdel's shoulder and it squeezed gently. There were pictures of lizards in the water and they grew and grew. He shook his head. There were images of Abdel and his skuggvars fighting various members of the Black Guard. In each case, they died in horrible and sometimes darkly comical ways. Sleeping Carp grimaced, albeit very slightly. An emphatic cross was put through the images of fighting. The Black Guard continued walking and Abdel knew what to do by now.


Abdel flinched when he felt the hand before he could even see it. His eyes widened and his forehead accumulated droplets of sweat. [color=9e0039]“Facing you is certain death.”[/color] he interpreted, tittering at the more absurd variations. His pace matched the bald man's. [color=9e0039]“But letting this rule continue isn't right either. I-”[/color] he thought about it. It wasn't right but said who? The being that never showed its true form? The Sanguinaire keen on bloody conquest? Wu Long ... [color=9e0039]“Wu Long.”[/color] he mumbled to himself. [color=9e0039]“The only one to claim rulership should the empire fall is Wu Long. A man I hardly know.”[/color] he rubbed his shoulder, head sunken again. He scoffed. [color=9e0039]“I don't know what future can be brought to his land by such a man. But I resent what's been done with it. All your people, rendered dumb and helpless, relying solely on you, the rulers, to be protected. I lived in a place like that.”[/color] deep breaths, if he was to meet a comically bad end, it wouldn't be as a pussy. [color=9e0039]“It was awful. And I'm sure more than a few feel that way.”[/color]


Wu Long. Sleeping Carp went still at the name. After a moment, he shook his head. [color=8FBC8F]"He is an ancient evil, reawakened,"[/color] rumbled the Black Guard. His face was stoic, his brow furrowed. He had not spoken in nearly a dozen years. [color=8FBC8F]"I will show you all, if you let me."[/color] Abdel was motioned forward.


Abdel flinched even harder when he heard the man's voice. The carp spoke? The rumors of his adamant silence were exaggerated. Or this was the real deal. [color=9e0039]“An ancient evil? The dragon?”[/color] it was a strange thing to hear, a Sanguinaire calling something ancient and evil in the same phrase. But it made sense. [color=9e0039]“But he works for something. Many somethings.”[/color] he wagged his finger at the direction of Carp and then brought it to his chin. [color=9e0039]“According to Ash, anyway. But why would he lie when he was about to die?”[/color] he looked at Carp inquisitively, as if they were both cracking a case together. The shared look awakened Abdel from his moment. [color=9e0039]“Ah, uhm. Yes. I'd like that.”[/color] he awkwardly stepped forward, ready to be shared some wisdom.


A heavy hand came down upon his head: not deliberately rough, but heavy nonetheless. [color=8FBC8F]"You will see,"[/color] the sanguinaire rumbled, and 'see' Abdel did. He saw moments in a life stretching back thousands of years. He saw neolithic, copper, and bronze age Retan under the dragons: how they had bred and crafted the mana slimes to redistribute energy to where they saw fit. Certainly, they had allowed magic and it had flourished under them. Certainly, it - and other sapients - had existed to serve their ends.


That was not all, however. Abdel saw the many peoples that had passed through this land: the hegelans, who had been driven away; the ogauraq and humans, who had been made into servants; the yasoi who were incorrigible and suffered for it. Once upon a time, Sleeping Carp himself had fought the dragons when men had risen up against them. He had ruled, briefly, as an emperor named Cheng. 


Then, had come his fellow sanguinaires, including one whom he called 'brother'. That brother had struck him down and he had nearly died. The face of that man was unmistakable. It was the Progenitor. He was here. There were years in quiet exile, as a monk, a village leader, a fisherman. There were wives and sons and daughters, but he had watched them all die before him. If the dragons no longer ruled openly, they came to rule again, from the shadows. Retan was a land of harmony instead of choice, that way of thinking woven indelibly into its cultural fabric. Still, the energies of magic flowed inward to the dragons and outward to the people like controlling tendrils, and the great beasts remained indolent and arrogant instead of wise. 


This, then, was one of the reasons why magic had been so strictly regulated: the dragons could drain it. They could use it. The more that there was, the stronger they became. The stronger they became, the more tyrannical. Yet, there was more. Some seven hundred years ago, his brother had returned to him. He was now unquestionably the greater between them, and any ill-will had faded. It was the prerogative of humans to stand on their own, he had insisted, to establish and maintain their own order. Those above him had decreed it so, for the dragons were poor servants of order. In the background, hovering in the shadows behind the world of Sipenta, behind the many thrones and crowns of men and gods, was the shape of a great being with many arms.


Sleeping Carp had not wanted to serve, but his brother had reconciled with him and bid him to do so. It was the only way that men might stand tall, and sanguinaires were their most potent weapons against the forces of such monsters as existed beyond the light of their science and knowledge. Besides, if there was one thing that he and the Progenitor had both craved, it was an end to the rule of dragons, brazen or secretive. 


So, he had groomed and watched over two of the Sanguine Council's chosen: another pair of brothers, and had determined that it would be different for them. He had come to know them and their hearts. He had come to share a dream with them, to make difficult decisions. The power of the Knowers - that was a word that was impressed upon Abdel, then - was overwhelming, and the Progenitor, as their servant. So, he and the twins, as they had grown in their determination that things might change, had begun to make compromises. 


They had played the roles allotted to them. They had taken on others, over time, until they had seized the throne. One bad emperor, one slip from the dragons, and they had done it. Yet, the work of governing was onerous. The requirements of the Sanguine Council kept them bound. Sleeping Carp had stepped away from such machinations, for he was weak, despite his strength, and they disgusted him. Now, the Twins had pushed against good faith and driven to anger those who stood against them, so that they might finally act and be revealed. That was the crossroads at which they now stood. The man lifted his hand away.

Abdel lived through countless lifetimes in the span of a few moments. It was far too much for his developing, human brain. At least he could understand Ismette to an extent now, not that he knew her all that much. When Carp let go, Abdel fell onto his backside, numb and changed. He had seen what no human was supposed to see, and it hurt so much on a mental level. Most alarming was the unfathomable form of the cosmic monstrosity that stood above it all. He kept picturing that image over and over, and each time cause him to recoil and clench his skull with one hand. [color=9e0039]“Why did you show me this?”[/color] he inquired, although it was more accusatory than curious. 


[color=9e0039]“Why would you ever show me all of this?!”[/color] he fell to his back over the perfectly cut grass, facing the sky and both hands now pressed to his skull. The Twins were not the evildoers, Wu Long was a slave to a horrible thing and this terrifying Black Guard had the power to match Gods. But that wasn't what tormented Abdel so much. Now the choice was impossible. It didn't even matter who he believed, every path was leading to something terrible for someone, especially himself and his friends. They oppose the Emperors, they die, they oppose Wu Long, they are noped by that disgusting monster, they oppose Nikan and they face the wrath of all the bloodsuckers. And all of this because he took a slightly bigger job than his usual hunts. His meek desire for a promotion in his side gig and getting Maura her cute trade deals led him into this rabbit hole of pure Hell. He began to giggle, almost meniacally so as he looked to Carp. And then he screamed. [color=9e0039]“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”[/color] arms flailing and bashing the ground behind him while still on his back. His hands gripped his hair and tugged without actually ripping anything off. The screaming lasted a good ten seconds until his throat gave in. He just needed to let it all out. He needed to scream since the Nikanese attack, but now there was no need to bottle things up. He was FUCKED in any case. Eventually, he did calm, his chest heaving from his outburst. 


[color=9e0039]“Cheng.”[/color] he called out with the raspiest of voices. [color=9e0039]“I don't want to die.”[/color] he uttered meekly, eyes to the sky again. [color=9e0039]“I don't want any of them to die either. My classmates. Even if they take the most vapid of deals. I don't want them to die. They didn't ask for any of this.”[/color] he hardly blinked, causing his eyes to get teary, but he wasn't crying. No, he had no idea how to feel after this massive existential terror he experienced. [color=9e0039]“What's stopping those dragons, and that [i]thing[/i], from just killing us all if we oppose? Or that ... Brother of yours. Or anything.”[/color] both his tanned hands covered his face. [color=9e0039]“I want to just leave. I don't want anything. No riches or greater powers. I ... want to go home. But I can't.”[/color] his hands slid down a tad to reveal only his eyes. [color=9e0039]“I can't just leave them. I wasn't left behind by people who risked a lot for me and my family.”[/color] his eyes peered to Carp again. [color=9e0039]“What do I do? What CAN I do?”[/color]


Sleeping Carp just watched the boy. If he felt remorse, he did not openly show it. Then, he sunk into a crouch. [color=8FBC8F]"What's stopping them is our power,"[/color] he replied simply. [color=8FBC8F]"Ours, and the sirrahi's. You've heard of them?"[/color] He shook his head. [color=8FBC8F]"Don't worry, Abdel. You're still a boy and there's no shame in that, but you're strong, you're only going to get stronger, and I promise you that you're not alone. Nearly every one of your friends has accepted our offers. I will also fight beside you."[/color] The monk smiled and say cross-legged on the water beside the boy. [color=8FBC8F]"To not fight when you have the power is to lose regardless."[/color] 


It was then that something strange happened. Sleeping Carp touched the water's surface and, as far as Abdel could see and sense, he saw not only space and the things in it, but time as well. He could sense it. He could [i]feel[/i] it as if it were a tangible thing. Every person, every [i]thing[/i] was multiple images: past, present, and possible futures. They branched. [color=8FBC8F]"Besides,"[/color] the Black Guard concluded. [color=8FBC8F]"We have monsters of our own. In time, this is a power that you might hold as well."[/color] That was when Abdel turned his attention to himself. For a split second, he could see some of his futures, and it was true, what Sleeping Carp had said, or at least, it [i]could[/i] be.


Words and reassurances, all did little to pacify Abdel. It could all be an elaborate lie, they were all obscenely powerful after all. He looked up to Sleeping Carp, having sat up to match the crouching man. For a time he had felt on edge around this man, and this feeling got worse after knowing what he was, but to see and hear him talk changed something. The teen did not feel in danger. He should, these people could so easily kill him and they'd have some justification for it. But not now. There was a total lack of hostility in the Black Guard that disarmed Abdel, if only slightly. He was about to talk, but nothing came out of his mouth. Something else was shown that had him forget what he wanted to say. He saw the past, his past, from before he was even from the Refuge. Familiar faces he had long since forgotten the names of, and a city he had enjoyed adventuring in. The present, all the events that led him to this pond. Wu Long in particular, the hindsight he was given made every interaction with the dragon-avatar appear more and more convenient. The group was at the right place at the right time. It was ... Suspicious. Then finally came the future. Many futures. Deaths. Happiness. So many paths. But there was one that really took his attention. It was never clear, only 'glimpses' and feelings. One branch showed him, a few years from now, still on his two feet and his magic intact. For all intents and purposes, he looked cured of the malady that he hated so much. [color=9e0039]“I-I can walk. I'd be rid of it ...!”[/color] he muttered as he shot Carp a look with restrained excitement in his eyes. [color=9e0039]“How can this be done? How is this even possible?!”[/color] deep down he knew the answer. He now believed Carp's words, that his friends sided with the Empire, but he wanted one final reassurance - a final gesture to put his worries at ease. 


Sleeping Carp rose, but his arm reached down, hand open in front of Abdel. He spoke only a single word: [color=8FBC8F]"Together."[/color]