Of Ice, Death & Monsters-Chapter 68 : And What We Hold Close

'Huh… Why would I?'
'That’s… Honestly valid, why would I?'
“Because I’m not in danger of the giant monsters roaming around that try to eat me.”
Katya narrowed her eyes curiously as she grabbed a stone and tried to skip it, only making it halfway. “Did you not kill two powerful beasts on your own already? The Bes and the giant are quite formidable foes.”
I shrugged awkwardly. “Yeah, but there’s always going to be another day, another monster to fight. There’s always going to be some big bad that I need to strike down.”
“And that’s preferable to the life you were living in before?”
I stopped in my tracks for a bit. “Huh…” Was all I could say as I tapped my foot on the ground, rubbing a smooth stone between my fingers.
“I guess… Uhm…” Those two years, wasting away in that apartment. Rejection after rejection, it was a nightmare I wanted out of… And here I was out of it, tossing and turning, now wishing to be back.
“I guess the grass is greener when you’re on the other side. For a while, I thought that my life already sucked ass, but actually being hunted by monsters, suffering in the cold, and now being hunted by gods… Hah, whole new ballpark.”
“Tell me of your life. Of Phorash. Tell me what is the good in that world that you wish to come back to it?”
I looked up at her, now staring at her eyes as she seemed so focused on her reflection in the water. “Why? Do you plan to go there too?”
“…Perhaps, if it’s a wonderful place. A land where I can rest…”
“Well, there you’d be something of a model. People would flock to you, especially since you’d have Magick not trademarked by Epithet, although they would probably hunt you down and study you.”
“And if I refuse?”
A small laugh escaped my lips as she turned to me, confused. “Oh… Refuse, uhm, they don’t take no for an answer, and you’d probably be branded as an illegal immigrant and needed to be kicked or held by them.”
“I have no choice either way?”
I scratched my head awkwardly, trying to find a way to explain it. “Well… I guess, yeah. But it’s not so bad, like Godwin can probably get a good word in for you and the others if you want to come with.”
“But what’s so wrong with the Keepers that we would need to be kicked out of your home? We pose no immediate danger.”
“The situation will be massive.” I began explaining, grabbing a stick and making shitty stick figure art with arrows. “If people hear of you, they’ll try to grill everything from Galfania out of the Keepers and then also would try to run tests on you to see how different you are.”
“So, I’ll be treated more as a test subject and experiment?”
“Yeah, I mean, no one has ever returned from Galfania alive, ever, especially after the Thousand Night War. It’s a miracle to see someone like you out and about. You’d be a sensation, a marvel…”
“Thousand… Night War, I heard mention that’s what you outsiders called the war of Balthalem and Galfania. From what I heard of the tales, it is quite accurate.”
She turned to the sun. “I haven’t quite seen this brightness in quite a while; even now, it amazes me.”
I looked up with her and smiled. “Yeah… Hey, you know that in Phorash, they put cities underneath specialized domes where they could control the atmosphere. They brought in rain, breezes, and helped with noise and light pollution… It was like living in a snow globe.”
“…I do not quite know what noise and light pollution is, neither do I understand what a snow globe could be in this context, but it sounded like this Epithet are like gods, a pantheon of sorts with total control over your world.”
“Hah… You can say that.” They would like to think of themselves as gods, and for what it’s worth. They were gods. They had everything they ever wanted, could ever want. Power, wealth, fame, and glory.
“And that’s what Jane is trying to tear down, correct?”
“…Yeah, she uh, wants to burn it all down, start again from the ashes and whatnot.”
“Do you side with her? Do you think that cause is righteous?”
I picked up another stone and skipped it over the river; this time, it didn’t even skip once, sinking to the bottom of the current.
“I’m not really the type to wax philosophically. I don’t know whether it’s right or wrong, that’s why I never really got caught up in their antics.”
Kate watched my stone sink and threw another one, now skittering nearly to the end as she smiled with a satisfied look on her face. “I’m not asking you to be objective. I’m asking you, personally, as Peter Sai, do you think that cause is righteous?”
“Uhhhhh.” I kept my stone in my hands, unable to throw it as the question paralyzed me.
“I just… I don’t actually know… I mean I see it on forums, and whenever I open up any form of social media, I just find people talking about it but like, I distanced myself from the discussion because it never did me any good.”
“Well, the discussion now is important because it involves the future of what we want to do. Of who we should help, of what to do next. And I believe you, Peter Sai, should have the biggest say of all on what’s important, on what you think is right.”
“M-Me? Why?” Being put on the spot again, it didn’t feel right at all. I wasn’t really built to lead or decide. Following was what I did best, and what I did do best for the longest of times.
“You’re the Echo of the Original Spirit-“
“Well… No, not really-“
“You are the conduit for which the Echo can appear, and that Echo could become the real thing. You were chosen for it. What was the word you used? Destined?”
“Hah… No, it was a freak accident. On the boat trip here I-“
I realized what I was about to say… Did it matter if I said I killed someone to Katya? Would she care at all? Would she chastise me? Would she hate me? Maybe she would understand? She looked like the whole ‘Tough Lady General’ trope, but agh, I can’t stereotype people like that, this isn’t some shitty web novel.
“I died, and me becoming a candidate for the Echo was a complete and total accident. I wasn’t even chosen…” I threw the rock; this time, instead of dropping into the river and skipping over the water, I managed to send it all the way to the other side.
“You know. When I was asleep, like before Nawia, I had this talk with the Jester or Fox or whatever, and she talked about how I could actually give my powers. I had to become one of the spirits in my head and then choose someone. You were one of the candidates.”
She narrowed her eyes and instinctively brought her hand to her chest. “Why did you choose to keep it then?”
“Andrei actually was the reason why.”
Katya turned to me, and a look of surprise was all over her face. “Andrei? What did he have to do with it?”
“Well, Andrei and Robert. They both gave me a pep talk in my head. Helped a lot really, they made me realize no matter what this power was, that if it came from the fact that I was special or not, that even if I hurt someone with it, or whatever have you… That I had to bear with it, that I alone had to take on the burden.” I stared at my hand, laughing a little as I clenched my fist and smiled.
“Then, is it too much to ask if you can carry this burden too?”
It felt like it was too much. This kind of thing was not for someone like me to decide upon. The power may have come to me, but… Such a question like that, I still felt like I didn't know everything about it, which is what bugged me the most.
“Maybe… I don’t know, do you think anyone could give a proper answer? Epithet is… A whole can of worms, but that can of worms keeps us running and has made us essentially a powerhouse of trade, commerce, research, and more. Especially to the common folk. If it dies off, then something else either takes its place or anarchy follows.”
“Akin to killing a corrupt monarch or general? Someone worse might take their place?”
“Yeah. So Ephitet, because of how much it has permeated throughout the nation, has become one with our culture, with just how it functions… The only way I could see it ever being removed properly is if using some wonky form of Destined or maybe even True Magick… Hah, maybe the Sword of Broken Hopes and Dreams could fix it in one strike.”
Katya perked up at the mention of that. “The Sword exists?! Where?”
“Oh…Uh- I was making a joke.” I said, scrambling around for words, but my heart sank when I saw her face staring at the river, looking so dejected that I quickly explained myself.
“Well… There’s a legend in the City of Angelus that he left his sword there so that it may hold the broken hopes and dreams of people in place, overtime people just started calling in the City of Hopes and Dreams, but it’s all a legend anyway.”
I’ve always wanted to go there. I knew it was just a tourist trap, but it’s one of the biggest strip casinos in the world. The best hotels, food, girls, everything… But I also knew it was really where hopes go to die, and where dreams lay to ash and dust.
Fitting for the sword that embodies them all.
“Hmmm… Interesting, I would want to visit that city if I came to your land. When I was young, they told stories of its wielder, the King of Stars.” A small smile was on her face as she said that title, and she didn’t even hide it this time.
“Yeah… I loved that story when I was little, too. Hah, I wished to be a knight when I was younger, then everyone said that guns and missiles now would instantly eviscerate knights… Gods, they’re so stupid, we can’t even fight a dragon; those guys could literally bend the fabric of laws to their whims. Oh, look at me, I can throw rocks at Mach 25 hurrdurr.”
“…What?” Katya just stared at me, confused, as I scratched my head and laughed. I guess we got caught up in our little discussion.
“W-Well.” I gave a fake cough. “Back to the point… There are, I guess, the points against Ephitet. Even I know it’s complete ass. They’re corrupt and controlling. We can barely buy anything that’s not made by them anymore; they have a finger in every pie.-
When I said that, I felt my voice change, as if someone else was taking over, before I caught myself and grabbed my throat.
It was…
His
voice…
I gritted my teeth in annoyance. “Out of everyone… You’re the one who stayed huh.”
“Peter Sai, are you okay?” Katya stood up and walked to me as I nodded.
“Sorry…” My voice returned to normal as I sighed. “Just got a little carried away, now where-“
Suddenly, a flute was played, ringing a beautiful and haunting melody. We turned our heads to try and find where it came from, only to notice… A fat old man wearing a hat made of reeds, holding a stick flute to his mouth, drifted away from us.