by Ryan Tang
Gallant didn't like the sound of that, and neither did her Intuition and Adrienne. She shook her head.
"Things aren't that fun with stakes. The problem is, if she's making you fight, those are stakes too!"
Reader laughed but didn't respond.
Come to think of it, nothing was fun with stakes. Back in the days of The Tooth Man, fighting him hadn't been very fun. If they lost, they'd die. The last fun fight Gallant had fought was against the Surgeon. Before that, it was battling against her big brother on the simulator.
Even this visit wasn't fun. There were stakes to this too. She had to be polite to the Surgeon; otherwise, it might cause problems for her brother.
Adrienne knew what to say.
"Man. The Constellation is so stupid."
Her Intuition laughed.
"You can say that again."
The three of them had been having that thought a lot lately. They had all the Sinsworn they wanted now, but things could still suck. It wasn't about the Sinsworn. As long as they had each other and Lonely, everything would be alright.
Before Gallant lost herself talking to her friends, Reader reminded her again to work on the Eternium rods.
"You want something before she gets back. She's going to get mad if you don't have anything. And make sure it's at least somewhat interesting."
Gallant sighed and stared at the rods. She wondered how Lonely would do it. Her big brother was good at puzzles. Lonely would have entertained the Surgeon for sure, but the Surgeon had gotten rid of him.
Lonely would think about what sort of weapons the Surgeon hadn't seen before. The game wasn't about knowing weapons. It was really about knowing the Surgeon.
"Oh, I like that thought! That sounds like something Lonely would say!"
Gallant beamed at the compliment from her Intuition. Comparing her to her big brother was the nicest thing anyone could say about her.
She thought and thought.
She'd watched many videos of the Surgeon's fights, and she'd even gotten the chance to fight the legendary swordswoman outside the Nursery. Gallant carefully began replaying the fight in her mind, and then she shook her head.
That was useless. The fight told her about the Surgeon's skills, but it told her nothing about the weapons the veteran pilot knew about.
One beat later, the inspiration struck her.
Gallant shook her head.
"Man. You are the worst Intuition ever. Why do I come up with all the good ideas myself?"
She pulled her left hand out of her pocket and grabbed the Eternium rods. The holy metal bent before her will, transforming into the revolvers she'd used during the House battle against The Tooth Man. The Surgeon wouldn't know about ranged weapons. Most of the Constellation wouldn't. Ranged weapons weren't useful in Ransom battles.
First came a round part in the middle for the bullets, then the rotation device that turned it whenever the trigger was pulled. That was her favorite part about the gun, how it could reload itself. She put four holes in it and created the bullets as well. She used the second rod to craft the handle and barrel.
Reader tsked.
"She hasn't seen that one before, but she's not going to like it."
"What do you mean?"
Reader sighed.
"It'll remind her about House battles."
Due to the strength and speed of machines empowered by Liquid State Eternium, guns weren't very useful in single combat duels. It took a full barrage to slow down an empowered Paragon, and that could only happen in House battles.
Gallant frowned. The Surgeon had hinted at not liking House battles a few times now, but Gallant hadn't quite noticed it until Reader said so.
"Why doesn't she like House battles?"
"Well, under a Ransom battle, every battle is a battle for fun once you have as many Sinsworn as the Surgeon. She worked her whole life to create this buffer, but if you lose once, it's all gone. I think that's why she's been working so hard to create this alliance."
Adrienne and her Intuition mused to themselves.
"Huh."
"Who cares?"
"Yeah, she has too many Sinsworn anyways."
Adrienne and her Intuition had a good point. After all, under the Ransom battles, it was Gallant and Lonely who'd been the ones in trouble. It all went back to their earlier conversation. Things just weren't fun when there were stakes involved.
There was a knock on the door. Reader stood before Gallant got a chance.
"You should try to create another weapon."
The pregnant woman cried out in delight.
"All Range! Earlier than usual!"
The woman on the other side sighed.
"Did she already make Tall go?"
"Yeah."
"Ugh. I'm so sorry. Some jackass challenged me on my way here."
A woman about Lonely's age stepped into the room.
Her face was young and energetic, and she wore her hair all on one side in a style similar to the Surgeon. She had on a dress rather than a suit, a short one that glowed red and orange. Long orange tendrils curled around to all of the corners, splayed out like the tip of flames. Her dress had a thin belt at the waist and at the very end hung a glowing orange flask. Although she wasn't touching it, it shone brighter than any Paragon's key. The beams of light showed that The Surgeon's quarters were even messier than Gallant had initially thought. She had wrappings and used bottles lying all around it, as well as scratched pieces of notepaper.
Gallant immediately knew who the girl was.
The girl chuckled and reached out a hand that Gallant wished she could take. She stupidly had to stick her left out instead. All Range chuckled, then took it.
Gallant instinctively found herself imitating the tone Lonely used when he named the strength of every House. Gallant couldn't do that. She wasn't as smart as her brother. But she knew everything about All Range. Everyone said that the two of them were going to be rivals - even the Namer who'd tested her.
"All Range, age 15, an only child and the Head of her House. Graduated from the nursery two years ago at the top of her class, accomplishing feats that nobody had seen before. Bent a training machine to her will at age 10, receiving her first Paragon. Won her first ransom battle at age 13, the very day she graduated from the nursery. Continued fighting Lords – both accepting and making challenges – until the break of dawn the next day. Her Aspect is Chaos, the strongest of all, and her Familiar is a massive Hydra. She is known for her proficiency attacking from multiple ranges and directions."
All Range looked at her funnily, then burst into laughter.
"Man, I'm not even sure I remember all that stuff."
Gallant giggled. In hindsight, it was kind of weird just to rattle it all out. But she'd heard about it all the time growing up, especially from the Namer who tested her.
"It's the only thing they tell me about at school. All day it was - 'All Range! All Range! Can you beat her?' Whenever they weren't talking about you, it was just boring useless stuff."
Well, boring useless stuff and trying to ambush her in an illegal House battle, but it didn't seem right to complain to Reader and All Range about that.
The girl giggled.
"Stuff like how long Thel stayed in bed, right!"
"Yeah! Exactly!"
Gallant laughed. She was glad that someone else hated it.
The woman in the flaming dress laughed.
"We're supposed to be rivals, right? I used to get messages too, telling me to watch out for you!"
Gallant paused.
"I'm not sure."
She didn't see the point of becoming rivals with All Range.
"That's what they said, but maybe I just want to be friends."
Her jellyfish nodded fervently.
"Friends sounds nice."
Intuition agreed.
"Yeah! Friends!"
All Range smiled.
"Yeah. You know, it's weird all the stuff they teach us in school. How we have to
battle to be the best. And how they set us up against each other. And then now, with your brother starting up the House battles, it kind of feels like all the stuff we learned went out the window, didn't it?"
That last comment rankled Gallant. Lonely had started the House battles so they could survive. It annoyed Adrienne and her Intuition too.
"You should tell her that he had to do it."
"Yeah, a friend would tell her that. Otherwise you'll be a fake friend, like The Tall Tale is for the Surgeon."
Gallant raised her hand.
"Excuse me, but my brother started the House battles because he had to. Nobody would accept his challenges, and The Tooth Man was starving us out."
All Range looked at her funny again. Gallant thought All Range might get angry at her for disagreeing, but her new friend just nodded.
"Yeah. I guess the Ransom battles could be life or death if you didn't have a Familiar. They were easy to me."
She trailed off.
"It's so stupid, really. I just want to be back home chilling with my Familiar and friends. I don't see the point of battles. Like I said, I had some people ambush me on the way here. Partnering up with the Surgeon seems like the only way to just live, you know?"
When put that way, it made since why The Tall Tale and Reader would fight the Surgeon. Fighting for fun - even if it wasn't actually for fun - was better than fighting for your life.
All Range shook her head and grimaced.
Reader was quick to try and brighten things up.
"Hey, why don't you show her your Familiar?"
Gallant frowned.
All Range's hydra was massive. Her Paragon was built with a bulbous tank just to accommodate it, and it was still growing. Soon, it might be big enough to fly into battle alongside her machine. That was how the Lost Lords fought alongside their Familiars during the desperate struggle for control of Old Earth. Back then, the mythical creatures had been considered gods rather than just companions.
The enormous serpent wasn't the sort of thing that could hide.
"You don't have your Familiar."
All Range's eyes danced with glee.
"Oh, but I do."
She pulled out her flask and uncorked it. She tipped it over, spilling a torrent of blood all over the ground.
The blood was thick and black with spots of shining scarlet dotted liberally all around it. Rather than making a splashing noise, it thunked noisily to the floor.
All Range continued pouring and pouring until the flask was empty. She tipped the side of it, and it made an echoing hollow sound as she squeezed the very last drops out. The blood formed a huge black slick on the ground.
Then All Ranged waved her hand.
"Rise."
It started with a ripple. The circle went across the pool once, then twice. Then the entire black slick erupted outwards, splashing black and red high into the air. The black blood twisted together and formed. The black shimmered then turned into red. Before Gallant could even comprehend everything that had happened, a massive snake – blood red with black spots and piercing orange eyes – was staring back at them. A long tongue made of flames flickered in then out, in then out.
Not a single spot of the black blood remained on the floor.
All Range took the snake by the head and purred.
"My Familiar spawns new heads from blood. There must be nearly a hundred of them by now, but they all have the same mind."
The snake jerked forwards then back, forwards then back. The tongue curled in and out. The flames tickled Gallant's face and bounced harmlessly against Adrienne's bubble.
"Tell her I said nice to meet you too!"
Gallant smiled.
"Adrienne says she's happy to meet you."
All Range looked at her funny again.
"That's your Familiar, right? You named your Familiar?"
"Yeah, I named my Familiar."
Adrienne groaned. Actually, she'd named herself, but by now Gallant knew that most people didn't talk to their Familiars. Most people didn't have an Intuition who could tell them what their partners were trying to say.
The hydra head hissed happily and licked Gallant's cheek. The slithering tongue filled her face with warmth. It almost felt like blushing.
Gallant smiled.
This was nice.
This was like being in Brightwalls with Lonely.
A rough pair of hands banged on the door. Reader instinctively pushed herself up, but All Range shook her head.
"I'll get it."
The banging grew louder and angrier.
"I wonder who it could be."
"Maybe the Surgeon forgot her keys. She always gets annoyed when she gets locked out."
The door opened, and All Range let out a cry of surprise.
"You! What the hell are you doing here? What are you doing?"
Then, a beat later.
"Who are these people?"
The voice on the other end laughed in a way Gallant didn't like. Adrienne and her Intuition shivered.
Gallant acted instinctively. She pocketed the revolver she'd made and ran to the door. The cool black metal fit perfectly into her hand.
____
Gallant wished she had Lonely's abilities. She wished she knew every Noble just like her brother did.
She could rattle off everything about All Range, but she had no idea who the bulky woman standing at the door was. Just like All Range, the new woman wore a dress instead of a suit. The short lacy dress only went down to her thighs. Her muscular arms and legs were visible for everyone to see. Her hair was carefully and elegantly braided, curling first around her head before dropping down straight behind her back. The massive war hammer was strapped behind her should have looked discordant next to her fine gown. But instead, the big hammer - which Gallant doubted she'd ever be able to lift – looked perfectly in place because of the ease with which she carried it. The woman's face was set in a strange expression that Gallant could not quite place. The woman's painted eyes and lips were undoubtedly mocking, but there was something else there as well.
Behind her stood row upon row of men and women in suits and dark Eternium masks. The masks were roughly carved in the shapes of possible Familiars. Gallant saw sharks and squids, eels and orcas. The Lords shifted back and forth at agitating speeds that made it difficult for Gallant to count their numbers.
The woman stood with both her feet pointedly over the threshold of the Surgeon's quarters. It was a rude statement. A direct challenge. It wasn't proper to barge into another Lord's private quarters. If the Surgeon were here, she'd be incensed.
Her Intuition cut in.
"She shouldn't even be here."
Adrienne agreed.
"How did she find this place? Even Lonely got lost in the crowd."
That was a good point. She would never have discovered the Surgeon's quarters had the tall woman not brought her here. The rooms were hidden behind endlessly winding halls - it was how the Surgeon had gotten rid of Lonely, and now that Gallant thought about it, it was probably how the Surgeon always got rid of Gale too.
Then the followers bobbed and weaved again, and Gallant realized how they'd found this place. There were a lot of people with her. One of the woman's followers must have been able to scry. Gallant's frown grew deeper. The big woman had built a team. It was just like when Lonely tried to bring down The Tooth Man.
All Range repeated herself.
"What are you doing here? She's not going to be happy to see you here. She told you to never step foot here again."
Her new friend's eyes were bright with fear and anger.
"Why do you have all these people with you? You guys should leave."
But they all knew. There was only one reason why this muscular woman could be here, and only one reason why she'd brought so many masked allies. It was just like the kids in school. She was here to start a House battle.
The woman with the hammer ignored All Range's question. She craned her head around and
stared into the room.
"Where is she? Why isn't she here?"
By then, Reader had pushed up from her chair.
"What is the meaning of this? Pure Force, why are you here?"
Gallant blinked. She'd heard of Pure Force before. The woman with the hammer was a very powerful warrior. Gallant just hadn't put the woman's face to the profile she'd studied.
Pure Force's face twisted in a strange combination of pity and mockery.
"Ah, Reader. Just wanted to let you know this wasn't personal. We just wanted to annoy the Surgeon, and this was the fastest way possible."
"What do you mean?"
Pure Force stepped forward and again peered around inside.
"Where is she? This won't be any fun if she isn't here."
Reader repeated All Range's request.
"You guys should leave. She's not going to be happy to see you."
Pure Force ignored her. She took another look at Gallant, and then blinked. Her eyes narrowed.
"You! You sided with her?"
The Lords behind her murmured.
"She announced it. The Surgeon shouted it out in front of everyone."
"Yeah, before you arrived."
"Yeah, we saw her when you were killing him. She said Gallant was the crown jewel of her collection."
She sighed.
"I sent your brother an invitation. He didn't just ignore me. He sided with my enemy?"
Adrienne and her Intuition were quick to protest their innocence.
"We don't even want to be here!"
"What is she talking about?"
Of course, nobody else could hear them. Gallant was about to repeat their words aloud when Pure Force sighed and stepped completely into the room.
"Well, I had hoped on making a dramatic entrance, but we'll just have to do it for you guys. We found Gale outside and decided to bring him here. I think he was always a little upset that the Surgeon kept getting rid of him."
She gestured, and two men holding a sack stepped forward. One had the mask of a frog. The other was wearing a barracuda mask. They dumped the contents on the floor, and the three women in the room screamed.
They'd cut Gale into pieces. His head had been hacked off. There was a look of surprise on his face rather than fear. Not even death could hide how handsome Gale had been, with his bright eyes and long hair – white with a black fringe, just like the feathers of his seagull Familiar.