I sat with my knees folded and my head in my chin resting on top of my folded arms for quite some time.
The demon’s trap had sprung.
It was devious, and I could see no way out of it.
The target, just as I suspected, was my relationship with Tia. It wanted to sever our bond.
There was no doubt that was the target. Or at least, one of the targets. He had no other reason to show me Tia’s past.
Katelyn was back on Earth, either dead or a hostage. Most likely a hostage.
A hostage for what? Why? What does this bastard want from me, anyway?
It was his fault. He is the villain. I have to keep reminding myself of that. He is the villain. He is the villain. He is the one who set this all up. It’s not Tia… Tia… No. I can’t allow myself to think about her. About what she did. Keep my mind focused on that demon, and only the demon. It’s his fault.
At some point, I allowed myself to simply zone out. I let my mind go blank. It wasn’t until then that I noticed it. Everything was silent. The people who had been busily running about and setting up for their spirit… whatever celebration, none of them were anywhere even close to me. I could hear their voices some distance away, but they were really at quite the distance now.
This was… odd. My mind refused to even comprehend it.
It was just strange enough to snap me out of that mental swamp of emotions I had been drowning in only moments before.
Just… what is going on here?
It was a very strange and rather eerie sensation.
Where had they all gone?
Why?
It’s… probably something innocent, right? Like, maybe this celebration of theirs has started, and the site of the celebration is just on the other side of the camp site. Away from the tents. That would explain things. But… something about that explanation didn’t quite seem to fit.
I was sitting there, miffed about the sudden absence of people. I looked around in my bewildered cautious state for around five minutes, all my senses now on high alert, when I heard a single set of slow footsteps coming my way. And then, what should I see but that newest fairy man who had imposed himself into our group as an accessory to Sagle’s dirty little trick.
Rimir.
He walked over to me and stared down with an appraising look.
[Huhh… Well, I am glad it seems you have gotten ahold of yourself. You really managed to rile up the beasts. Gave my descendants quite the hand-full trying to calm them down. Not to mention that the kids seem pretty scared.] he said.
It took me a little while to process what he had just said. Even as I mentally broke down each word he said, the implications still did not quite make sense to me.
[You did not even realize what you were doing?] he asked. [I do not know how you normally control an aura that powerful, but it seemed like something had upset you and the control you normally hold over it slipped.]
The words he was saying still did not completely make sense to me, but I was starting to piece together some kind of meaning from it.
[You mean, everyone had to run away from me because I was angry?] I asked.
[Oh, yes. I realized you were powerful. I… am afraid I cannot really tell the two of you apart yet, but… whether it is awakening a living weapon, or healing spells so powerful it can even enhance the spirit energy of the one you use it on, either one takes a great deal of spirit energy to accomplish. An aura powerful enough to inflict fear upon humans though, that is on a level usually only seen among dragons.] The man said and then gave me an almost congratulatory looking smile.
Was that supposed to be praise? I guess so. Although, it seemed more like a compliment in order to hide his irritation.
[I see… I did not realize.] I said.
There was a long awkward silence between us. I was staring down at Rimir’s shins, while he was staring down at the top of my head. Finally, he was the one to break the silence.
[You got into a fight with the rest?] He asked.
I sighed. [No, not a fight.] I said. [I got some disturbing news from Mr. Adderson… the great fairy outworlder who joined us.]
A nasty notion passed through my mind, and I decided to capitalize on this opportunity. I looked up to see how he would react to what I’d just said. His face turned stony and harsh. There was definitely a touch of suspicion on his features.
[It was about something that happened on my home world. You see, I died back on my world a little before he did. He mentioned something about what happened afterward, and it upset me.] I told him, keeping my eyes locked on his face, doing my best to look vulnerable in order to hide my true intentions. The look of relief and the breath he let out after hearing what I said strongly backed the story Mr. Adderson had told me before. The one about what the queen had done to the other people from Earth.
I could hardly believe myself. Having the presence of mind to subtly probe someone, even while I am upset like this.
[I see.] He said, and got a far more tender look on his face. [Well, perhaps I am too new to you to trust with something like this, but is it something you wish to talk about? …If not, then perhaps I could retrieve one of the others.]
[It’s fine. I will not cause any more trouble.] I said, then stood up and walked passed him.
I could feel his gaze following me, and I was anticipating he might have something more to say. So, it came as no surprise when I heard a [Hey.] From behind me.
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I stopped and turned to hear whatever it was he wanted to add.
[I don’t know much about you sisters yet, but we will be travelling together. It would be good if you could learn to get along well with my descendants in this tribe. They will not hold this or what happened before when one of you were sick against you. I will make sure of that.]
I stared back at him, trying to piece together what he was saying once again. I could understand elven, but every word he said seemed strange to me.
His descendants… the tribe… he is talking about getting along with them.
It seemed like a little bit of a non-sequitur considering what I was just struggling with, but maybe participating in this celebration of theirs might be exactly what I needed right now.
[Thank you.] I said. [Do you… think you can introduce me? I am Asaren, by the way. The one who can make the living weapons.] I held up the wrist I had placed one of my last creations on in demonstration.
[I see… very well, Asaren. I am sure you remember though what you are required to do before them for the time being. I will have to have you bear with me.] He scooped me up into his arms after saying this, holding me in his arms like the baby I was supposed to be portraying myself as.
He took me through the deserted tents over to the area where they had the animals roaming about un-penned. Several of the adults, both men and women, were leading various creatures back toward the group and petting them affectionately.
[It is fine] Rimir said. [She was a little upset, but I have calmed her down.]
[Ah, that is good.] A woman said.
[You seem to do well with children even as a man, noble ancestor] Another woman complimented him.
[Yes. Well, the fey have a way of understanding one another.] He responded in a manner to try to brush off this praise. [This is Asaren, for you to know. I believe she is curious. This would be the time to meet her if you would like it.]
[Well, I would certainly like to see an elf child!]
[Noble ancestor, are you certain that you do not have to ask the mother of the child?]
[The child really caused some trouble. I have never felt anything like that. Is that normal, noble ancestor?]
A swarm of people slowly gathered around, all wanting to get a closer look at me now that they’d gotten permission to break that invisible line they’d all self-imposed.
As the adults were closing slowly though, soon the children caught on and took off running to cut in front of them.
[It’s the elf baby!]
[Hey, look over here baby!]
[Her name is Asaren! The ancestor just said so!]
[Ancestor, how strong is an elf? I heard they grow slowly. Hey, Asaren, how old are you?]
[Yeah, how old? I’m 6 cycles old, how old are you Asaren?]
Oh man. It is far worse than the elf children back home ever were. These kids are way extra excited.
[Hey! You are being rude to the fey! Back away!] An older woman suddenly yelled and pulled one of the children back.
[What!? But it’s the spirit “nimalune!” The ancestor said we could!]
[You are scaring the child! We cannot make her upset and scare all the animals again!] The woman criticized harshly. This seemed to snap all the other adults to attention, and they started following suit and also guiding the children away.
‘-sigh- What a horrible mess.’ I said in the spirit speech.
Rimir almost seemed surprised to hear my voice and looked down at me before responding. ‘Ah, yes. You really did cause a bit of trouble for them before.’
‘Please apologize to them for me. I did not mean to cause harm. I had no idea I could cause such trouble just by feeling emotionally disturbed.’
‘It is a burden of the powerful. This is the reason the powerful mostly become isolated among others of the same rank as them. It is only when interacting with those far below you that problems like these arise.’
What a disturbing and depressing thought. I wasn’t even entirely sure what to make of what Rimir had just said. On the one hand, it was understandable after what I was seeing now. On the other, something about it just felt wrong.
The story of the powerful separating themselves from the plebs is not unusual in the slightest. Only, it is usually because they simply prefer to be among their own. Among others who can relate to them. It’s not because they cause problems for the lower class around them simply by being there.
No, actually, that’s not true either. Back on Earth, you would hear stories about disaster relief workers who would always absolutely hate it when the President or other such powerful people came around. It would cause them to have to stop their work and accommodate all the cameras. In the meantime, people could not be helped as effectively, and if the search and rescue portion was still in effect then a visit from someone powerful could literally cause lives to be lost that could have otherwise been saved.
So, I suppose it really is not all that different from back on Earth after all. It is just a different flavor of the same idea.
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