The trio of the elf, the sniper, and the bound announcer stopped some distance away from the skeleton and its mascot. The woman in the blue robe, placed a hand on the man’s shoulder, keeping him from moving any closer.
The elf moved forward, drawing attention towards her. “Does someone speak through you, undead?” she asked, abruptly beginning their exchange.
”No ma’am. I speak as my own being,” the skeleton bluntly said as a stump rose up from underneath him, putting him in a sitting position.
”Call me Bonesword. You?”“So you hold onto your own soul at death’s door. A rare feat. One that often comes at a cost. I am Pithy.” She gestured at the sniper Bonesword had already spoken with. “This one is Mountain Dew. Disregard anything he said prior to now.”
“Wow.” The man shot the elf a sullen look. “Rude.”
”Don’t worry. I already did.” Bonesword put his arm onto his knee as he looked at Pithy.
”What’s the deal with the other man that’s with you right now?”Before the man in question could answer, Pithy cut him off. “This is Oren, the Crucible’s announcer. Or Nero,” she amended, giving him a sidelong glance. The enmity in her expression was unmistakable. “As he introduced himself to me when I visited him in his tower. A mage from another world posing as a member of the College and seeking to put a stop to this ritual before it is complete.”
”Ritual? What sort of ritual?” Bonesword inquired as he thought about his idea of allegiance. Maybe it wasn’t so far off now that this new information had come into light.
“Just call it a tournament,” Dew chimed in. “I know you’re doing the wizard schtick, but you don’t need to make everything sound mystical.”
“Tournament, ritual.” Pithy clicked her tongue, frowning at the irreverent comment. “Should the Crucible be thought of in terms of defeating opponents to earn a prize, or in terms of collecting souls to power a wish-granting device? You would have to be terribly naive to hold to the former view after what we have seen.”
”... At least I gave Silverlocke her wish,” Bonesword thought as he paused a second to collect his thoughts. It all made sense to him now. Nothing comes without a price, and why would the College want for this low-life skeleton to win a free wish anyhow?
”I guess either of us killing the other would simply mean that we further the goal of the college even more.”“You may be able to think of it that way. That is, if you make the assumption that its members share a common goal.” Pithy gave the bound mage a knowing glance, crossing her arms under her cloak. “Is this the case, Nero?”
“Erm…” Narrowed eyebrows over squinted eyes made his expression of consternation a bit hammy. “It’s tough to say. Before the Crucible started, the given goal was to explore the City and learn about everything they could, especially the Artifacts. A bunch of ‘em didn’t even think that there a wishing machine would work. Some of ‘em, like the director, were pretty sincere about holding the tournament properly to see if the machine did what it was supposed to, with the wish as compensation for the winner. I know for a fact that a good few—maybe even a majority—didn’t think it was a good idea to risk some bozo making a dangerous wish, since if the Artifacts worked, why shouldn’t the machine? Anyway, they went with the plan of getting people like you all from different worlds because I don’t think they wanted to sacrifice any of their own. Anyway, Barnaby and his bunch supposedly want to stop any wish from happening, but that man… he’s clever, and ambitious. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he wanted to get the souls to make a wish himself.”
Nero’s face took on a darker tone. “Since I’m spilling the beans, though, there’s something you should know. None of this would be possible—at least, probably not—without help. In the College building there’s a Ledger with names on it: the names and titles of everyone in the tournament. All of us who used a lantern to find a competitor had to look at it to be able to go to you.”
Pithy sucked a breath, making a hissing sound. “You did not mention that before, when I asked you how they knew to find us. In fact, I recall you saying you did not know.”
For the first time in several minutes, the shadow of a smile reappeared on Nero’s face. “I mighta… withheld information. I was working, trying to get you off my back so you didn’t blow my cover. And, well ‘cause you pissed me off. But now I’ve got no other option. So let me finish what I was going to say: I learned a little more about the Ledger. The information on it was given by an outside source. ‘The Ghost Writer’—that’s what Hallow let slip. So what I’m thinkin’ is, a layer beneath all the different motivations and stuff in the College, there’s someone else pullin’ strings. Or something else.” Nero fell quiet at last, his lengthy explanation over with.
Pithy’s contemplative gaze rested on him for some time before she aimed it back at the skeleton. “So you see. This is why I agreed to speak with you, even as an enemy. As untrustworthy as I find this one to be, what he has to say concerns all of the participants, and this meeting gives me the chance to corroborate. What do you think, Bonesword? Have you had any contact with the College since they let us loose on this city? Have you heard anything that could support his claims?”
”I think I made contact once with them, where I discussed the zombie clowns roaming around in that circus ship.” Bonesword paused for a second as his eye lights darkened, before appearing once again as he talked, walking forward slowly as he did so.
”I agreed to this tournament in order to save the love of my life and resurrect her. If what you said is true, and this College is using us as a means to achieve some form of omnipotence… well, they’ve fucked with the wrong swordsman.””My home is a world of eternal battle and war, where death is meaningless and where I’ve met someone who can create literal black holes. I’ve managed to run through that world dying only once, as you can see from…” Bonesword waved a hand in front of his face.
”... this. So if this College wants to try and ruin that world, they’ve got another thing coming. It seems we share a common enemy, Pithy, and the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”” Bonesword was standing an arms length away from Pithy at this point as he extended a hand towards her, as if trying to shake hands.
”Shall we take down this College together?”Bonesword had been hopeful, but there was little acceptance in the woman’s furrowed expression. “I did not give you permission to approach. Do so again and this conversation is through.” Pithy took a step back, and he could tell by her posture that one of her hands was resting at her waist, likely gripping a weapon under her robes. Likely she had reached for it when he had moved closer. “I do not know what you just heard that implies that the College itself is trying to attain omnipotence, or interested in influencing worlds other than this one, if at all—”
“Sounds pretty hard to ruin a world of ‘eternal war’ anyway.”
“Quiet, Dew,” she snapped, though her attention remained trained on the warrior. “Is this why you reached out to me in the first place?”
”For allegiance? Yes. Also, I hold no ill intent towards you, Pithy.” Bonesword noticed her hand reaching below for a weapon.
”... I also wouldn’t dare have tried to fight you without the battle being as honorable as it could be. I gave that respect to Saria Silverlocke, and I’ll be more than happy to give that same respect to you. All I ask is for an alliance, at least until we can drive the College off this path of wishing and make this tournament as fair as it should be to the victor, whether it’s you or me.”“Drive them off, you say.” She gave him a mirthless smile. It was doubtful she realized how weary it made her look. “And pray tell, how do you intend to do this? Will you find any and all involved with this Crucible and kill them in turn, until only the participants are left? I am afraid intimidation may not be enough. Not anymore, at least.”
”That’s not what I intended.” Bonesword’s tone changed significantly as if he was starting to get annoyed.
”I actually intended on getting the contestants together. If there are people who come from crazier worlds, we can all stand together and take the fight to the College.”It was clear from the crease on her brow that Pithy was also growing irritated by the conversation. “Not only does that not answer my question, it makes me wonder whether you are mocking me. It is so baffling to me that you could expect such an allegiance to last long enough to ‘take the fight’ anywhere, that if I were to give an answer this very moment, we would have to end this conversation.”
There was a tense pause at that.
Pithy grumbled something under her breath. “So I won’t. Not without time to think it through.” Her eye shifted slightly away from the skeleton towards where Nero still stood. “There are two matters I still wish to discuss with this one, at least one of which would directly affect any move you make against the college. If you have any questions for him, this will be the time to ask them as well. Is that acceptable?”
”I have no questions.” Bonesword was calm as he sprouted a small bush over to the side, walking over to it and away from Pithy.
”In any case, I’m not gonna fight you until you’re healed a small bit. I want a fair fight. You’re free to sit by the fire with me as well.”Bonesword took his seat beside the bush as he took two pieces of wood out of his bag, rubbing them together until the bush caught on fire. He was done talking for now, as any more conversation would increase tensions. He didn’t need that. He needed an ally in this world.
“Is that willful ignorance and way of thinking a byproduct of your current state, I wonder.” He found Pithy’s gaze had taken on a curious glint. “Can you feel the heat?”
”Nope.”The elf let out a soft hum. She turned to Nero. “Well then, I did not mean to dance around the topic for so long. What did you do after we parted ways? How did it result in you being captured, and what was that thing I encountered?”
Nero, having been watching the exchange between Bonesword and Pithy like a hawk with closed eyes, reclined once again as he answered. “I took the arrow to Barnaby’s group.”
Pithy’s expression turned confused for a moment, as if she did not know what he was talking about, before recognition flitted through her features. Her jaw tensed and she looked away tightly, but Nero did not seem to care about her distress.
“We went over a few things, before he let on that he knew I was a double agent. I knew I couldn’t curse them all at once, so I went quietly, and Barnaby’s wife put me to sleep with some weird liquid-filled device. Next thing I knew, I was inside that restaurant. ‘Cause of this I didn’t get the chance to see exactly what happened, but I know that whatever that power is, it came from the arrow, and all of them were planning to use it, even little Emilia.” He shifted himself, uncomfortable. “I figure you’re gonna ask, but I don’t know where the arrow is.”
“Of course not,” she groused. She forced herself to face him. “I believe you when you claim they did not possess this power before you met with them. That voice, Barnaby, I assume, certainly treated it as something he had recently obtained. There must be something you can tell me about that power, however.”
Dew had leaned in closer, his expression betraying an interest that had not been present before. “Thought you said the college had been trying to get at something in that gallery for a bit.”
“Is this true?” Pithy seized on the comment, whirling on the sniper so suddenly he flinched.
“Uh… I think so?”
Pithy drew back, her brow creasing in thought. “So they were seeking it specifically? Could they have known what to expect from it before even obtaining it?” The question seemed almost rhetorical, but the way her eye focused on Nero after a moment made it clear she expected answers from him.
“They wanted it specifically, yeah. The reason we had an idea about its capabilities was because of Motley Crue, the Book Keeper. Another contestant. He’s got a ton of abilities, but most notably, he can directly control an entity he calls ‘Heavy Fuel’ just like Barnaby now does with Kno One, but the powers are totally different. I’m sure the arrow can awaken a power in someone, depending on the person. The only things I can say about the power, though admittedly this is mostly guessing based on what we’ve seen, is that it’s not like any kind of magic I’ve ever seen or heard of, that it’s different per person, and that it comes from within. It’s not like a summon, indepdendent spirit, or extraplanar being.” Nero’s teetering over the fence of rambling suggested his stores of information were beginning to bottom out.
“But how could they know the arrow… is there something you want to say, Dew?”
Halfway through her query, the man had let off a quiet snigger. “Eh? Nah, not really. It’s just ‘Heavy Fuel’ and ‘Kno One’ are song titles where I’m from. I just thought the two must have similar tastes.”
Pithy frowned in contemplation, but she must have thought it little more than a coincidence as she sighed and shrugged a moment later.
“If Barnaby’s aim was to stop the Crucible, it was in his power to do so. He held you as bait because he had caught wind that I was after you, but in the end he retreated with only a token effort to kill me.” Pithy grunted, giving Nero a frustrated look. “You were playing gofer for these people, Nero. You must have an idea what they were trying to do with this power.”
He shrugged. “Well, if he did kill ya, wouldn’t the souls in your phylactery be lost? Maybe he wants to drain ‘em later with another one’s needle. Maybe he’s playing the long game for the wish. Or maybe he thinks he’ll have a better chance to kill you later, if he really wants to stop any wish. Maybe he already has the power he wants and he was having fun with his experiment.”
“And the rest? You said ‘group’, Nero. Would they stand for one of their own to take a wish at the others’ expense? Or are they just seeking power for power’s sake?”
“Probably not that first one, though the second...maybe for a few. Some of them were not at all bad people. Barnaby might have convinced them that he wanted to stop the tournament for real. The twins, Emilia, Raleigh… they probably want to do the ‘right thing,’ though that means keeping you all from winning. But Hallow, Margaret, and Noseless strike me as being on board with whatever Barnaby has in mind. Hell, one of the first two might even be the actual brains behind the operation. Beats me.”
“So there may well be others on the loose, accosting the competitors as we speak.” Pithy brought a hand to her temple, balled it into a fist. “If you are wrong and Barnaby did not have plans beyond stopping the Crucible… if I was not removed despite being caught at such a disadvantage because…”
She did not have to finish her thought. The words hanged over the gathering as vividly as if they had been given voice.
Because it was no longer necessary. Would any of them know?
If the circle that had bound them together as foes had already been broken, would they know that all their efforts had been rendered futile? For the two that remained embroiled in the conflict, the only answer was the heartbeat of a fake heart. It would have to be enough.
“That was the first matter I wanted to discuss with you,” the elf said, quietly. The hand she had been holding to her head fell to her side. “The second, was that I wished to ask about your intentions once again. What would you do now, if we were to release you?”
Unusually withdrawn himself, Nero replied in a low tone, “Probably head to the College to try and figure stuff out. Now that the jig’s up, I don’t have to pretend I’m normal anymore. I’ll grill Wernicke and the others for all they’re worth. Maybe try and find a way home.” He chuckled, a grim smile on his face. “Well, to the world I’m from. Don’t really have a home.”
“Wernicke. Is that the director?” Some of the steel returned to Pithy’s voice. “Be careful around her. I do not believe someone in her position would be reckless enough to gift a wish to characters as dubious as ourselves without good reason.” The corner of her lips twisted into a wry, self-mocking smile. “That willingness may well hint she knows something the others do not.”
Judging by the slight relaxation of postures and the easing of his eyebrows, Nero did not miss the suggestion Pithy’s reply conveyed. “...Y’aren’t half bad. Guess I was wrong earlier.”
“I somehow doubt that.” Pithy snaked behind the man, a knife appearing in her hand. An almost-comical expression of annoyance betook him.
“Don’t squirm.” The rope binding Nero’s wrists fell away with a sigh. The elf stood back, the blade disappearing under her robes once again. “Go then. You’ve given me enough headaches as it is, might even have doomed me. Leave before my good sense returns.”
Standing, the mage straightened his clothes before walking off in silence, his gaze fixed on the sunset horizon.
The elf watched him go for a time, until a sound from nearby drew her attention. Pithy glanced at the conspicuously coughing Dew, “What is it?”
“Just wondering, really. You’re not gonna ask me to follow him and shoot him when he’s not looking, are ya?”
She gave him a half-lidded stare, then turned away, not bothering to respond. With her business concluded, her focus finally returned to the one who, silent as a grave, had watched the exchange from the sidelines.
“I’ve kept you waiting.”
The skeleton’s head flicked to Pithy and Dew before returning to watching the fire.
”Well, I’m not moving. I’m not going to fight, either, until we reach some form of understanding.” Bonesword took his swords and pushed them aside, still seated by the fire.
”Rest. I’m not fighting a weary warrior in any case.”“Spare me that nonsense.” She huffed with stung pride. “You must have gone without a proper body for long indeed if you think a few bruises are enough to keep me from battle. I would not be able to lower my guard to such a degree while you are near, in any case, and I am ready to give you an answer.”
Bonesword waited a few seconds before dropping the one question he really had.
”Do you think I’m a bad man?” As out of the blue as it sounded, he wanted to know how Pithy felt about him. It’d allow for him to judge her merit and honor better than a fight.
Dew made a quizzical expression from behind Pithy, mouthing the word ‘Man’ as though he found it strange.
She, of course, did not see it. “Have I insulted your honor, Bonesword? I suppose I have.” The woman paused, clearly considering whether answering the question was even worth the effort. For all of that, she never reached for a weapon. “I should not have to explain this. The truth is that your moral character does not matter to me. Good men will kill as readily for what they want as evil men. The only difference lies in just
what they want. Just as you came to this place with a wish and, If you mean to attain it, will have to point your blades at me eventually. So you see, I cannot trust someone on their word alone and, quite frankly, neither should you.”
”I never said I trusted you,” Bonesword said as he gazed into the fire, pulling a bottle of alcohol out of his bag as he sat there.
”I don’t trust people that quickly anymore. Not since Rhine.” Bonesword clenched his hand as a single green rose emerged from the ground, the skeleton picking it up and sighing.
”What was your wish going to be?”“
Was?” Pithy glowered, giving Bonesword ample time to review the wording of his last question. “Why, I see now. It was not a willingness to trust that allowed you to so readily speak of alliances, but an appalling overconfidence that you would be able to overpower me if I were to move against you. I throw the question back at you. What point is there in sharing another’s wish with one who thinks in those terms? Better to let it die unsaid than have it weigh on your conscience.”
”I didn’t mean it like that.” Bonesword corrected the woman before he told her his wish.
”I was going to revive the love of my life with my wish, for your information. Though, since there’s this new information about the College, I had my doubts that we were going to get any wishes. That was why I said was.”“She says she’s dying,” supplied Dew, prompting Pithy to throw an outraged glare his way. He gave her a bored look in turn. Perhaps he was of a mind that proceedings had begun to drag on. “Got a terminal illness or whatever since she was little. Says she wants to cure it.”
”Damn.” Boneword poured the alcohol down his gullet before he put the bottle down.
”My sincerest apologies.”“...for what? If you are apologizing because you would still choose to stand in my way, I would much rather you remain silent. I am done talking about this.” Pithy turned to regard the skeleton, frustration clearly visible in her sharp features. It seemed whatever despond had gripped her after hearing the former announcer’s news had turned to irritation in her short exchange with Bonesword. “There is still the matter of an alliance. As I said before, I cannot trust one who would directly benefit from slaying me. However…”
”However…?”“That is only if words of assurance are the only thing they can offer.”
”I assure you Pithy, my swordsmanship and plant manipulation are top notch.” Bonesword confidently said.
Pithy opened her mouth to answer, then faltered. “Are you mocking me?” She shook her head. “You misunderstand me, in any case. Such skills can easily be used to my detriment. What I am suggesting is creating a situation where one of us turning on the other is impossible, or at the very least, heavily discouraged. Which leads me to ask, do you know what happens when a participant’s phylactery is destroyed?”
”I assume they move on into nonexistence. At least, that’s what happened to any shred of Saria Silverlocke’s soul when she met her fate…” Bonesword looked at the torn fabric of his shirt, staring at his blackened arm. He was still bringing Saria along for the ride, it seemed.
“Nonexistence? What is the point of that? Phylacteries store souls, including those of our fallen foes. We were told this at the start.” Pithy’s eye narrowed slightly. “But the phylactery itself is not as important as the souls stored within. What would happen to them if their vessel was destroyed? Would they be absorbed into another phylactery? Would the owner drop dead from the shock? Or would the souls be lost to the ether, making it impossible to complete the Crucible? We can only assume we need our phylacteries to remain intact, but we cannot know what would happen if they were harmed. Not until too late.”
A light clinking of metal came from under Pithy’s robes, and in the next moment the phylactery that had been tied at her belt was drawn out, held from its chain like a pendulum. The subtle grinding of the gears spinning at its center played at the edge of hearing.
Dew shivered slightly as the device was produced.
“That kind of uncertainty makes them useful in this case. My proposal is thus, Bonesword. Let us trade phylacteries. Betrayal should not occur if we hold the other’s wish in our hands. That is my condition if you desire my cooperation.”
Bonesword pulled his phylactery out as he stared at it.
”This… this is the one thing keeping me alive. It contains my soul, it’s all I have left...” the skeleton clenched his tightly in his hand as he felt his soul within it move.
”... if you dare use it to kill me…” Bonesword stopped himself before he made matters worse.
”... are you sure this is a good idea?”“I have the same misgivings, so do not ask that of me. Whether you are more willing to kill another than to accept this trade is something you should decide for yourself.” Pithy’s adamant gaze bore into the skull’s pits. “Because that is what things will come to if you refuse. Given no reason to believe an alliance would last, the one truth I can guarantee is that only one of us would walk away from these streets.”
”... treat it with care, Pithy.” Bonesword held out his phylactery in his hand as he held the other out empty.
”Put yours in my other hand. We’ll let go of ours on three.””Pithy took a deep breath, stepping closer. Her visible eye flitted to his nearby blades, and then to the large form of Charlie behind him, as though expecting him to renege on his word. She had said she had doubts of her own, after all. Nonetheless, she reached out to the proffered object, even as she placed the one she held on Bonesword’s waiting grasp.
Her gaze returned the skeleton’s own. “One.”
”Two.””Thr”ee,” the two said in unison. Like that, the hearts switched hands.
Bonesword stepped back after taking Pithy’s phylactery, feeling the beating within it. After a few seconds, he had to chuckle.
”Heh, you know, I never actually stopped to hold these things. They’re incredibly weird.”“Indeed.” Pithy stepped back as well, her free hand going up to her neck. Perhaps a gesture of relie—
The thought was interrupted as she produced another phylactery from under her shirt. A look at the phylactery Bonesword held in his hand now revealed an inert sculpture, its beating now gone, the gears within still and silent. Moreover, the drone that had guided him there still pointed in Pithy’s direction even then. “I might have gotten it wrong.”
The needle on the new phylactery sunk into Bonesword’s.”FUCK N-” Charlie leapt forward and swung his tail directly at Pithy as Bonesword keeled over in pain.
”GRAAAAAAAAGH! YOU FUCKING BITCH! WHERE IS YOUR HONOR?!” The lights in Bonesword’s eyes began to flicker as the skeleton curled up into the fetal position.
”I HAVE NOTHING! THAT’S MY TRUE SOUL!”Before Charlie could land the hit, he stopped on the ground and turned back towards his master.
The empty sockets in Bonesword’s eyes meant only one thing.
The snake slithered back to his master and began to roar as he nudged the bones and skull, trying to get them to come back together. He tried, tried, and tried again, but it was ineffective as the body of the master simply laid there lifeless. Try as he might, Charlie couldn’t bring the skeleton back to life again.
He was dead.
Charlie curled up around the remains of his master as the fire behind him went out, the mighty beast closing his eyes and simply remaining there sulking.
