“Where are you trying to go with this?” The Camerlengo’s mouth set in a frown. She didn’t seem to mind Chase pulling herself free, so the halven kept at it.
“I’m saying that maybe they couldn’t make the world better. Maybe they don’t know how. I’m thinking... I’m thinking they made us like them because it was all they knew how to do.”
“Ridiculous!” She sneered. “I know evil when I see it. Why not simply just leave it out?”
“Because most evil comes about from mistakes! People get stupid, and don’t catch themselves in time, and don’t see how they’ve done wrong!” Chase insisted, giving one final jerk, and tearing herself free. Her chest armor hung, useless, and she hurriedly pulled the torn blouse back over her left breast. “To get rid of evil entirely you’d have to get rid of any chance to make mistakes! You’d have to get rid of free will. And what would that leave us as?”
Zenobia hesitated. “Even if that’s so, they still put evil in this world. Goblins! Goblins eat children. Werewolves murder every time the full moon rises. Undead are twisted, tormented things that exist in pain and misery—”
Chase thought about pointing out that not all undead were bad, but she knew she’d lose momentum if she did that. “They put them in there to keep us good!” she blurted out. “Players fight them and grow stronger! And so can we. Don’t you see? That’s proof that they love us!”
“What? How can you even say that?” Zenobia narrowed her eyes. “We’re disposable to them! We’re toys, nothing more!”
“Then why do we level?” Chase roared at the top of her lungs.
Zenobia paused.
“Twelve levels! Twelve levels from cutting your father’s throat because you chose to, and he was evil! The world THEY made gives US the same opportunities they have!” She stood and shook her finger at the Camerlengo.
And the woman took a step back.
“They gave us the biggest gift they had,” Chase said. “Not extra lives, because ultimately that gift failed them. Not the chance to leave this world at will, because wherever they went? It was probably not as good as this one. No. They gave us the chance to level and become as powerful as they were. They gave us the chance to grow... which is what every good parent should give their child,” Chase said, her voice soft now. “Even if some of them went bad, even if they turned out to be weak... no. They’re just people, as we are. They made us in their own image... but they made us well. And for that, I can’t blame them.”
CHA+1
Zenobia dropped the mace. It clunked to the floor as she sat down, hands opening and closing. The human’s mouth worked, but no noise came out.
And Chase saw the chance, the fleeting chance. The chance to maybe solve this without a fight, solve the whole problem without death.
“Let me help. Let’s fix this together. Come with me, and we’ll find the crystal. If Thomasi or Pwner has it, we’ll get it out of them, neither of them wants to end the world. We don’t need the dragon, or anymore destruction, or anything. Whatever’s going on here we can stop it. By ourselves.”
A moment passed.
The Camerlengo’s breath sounded loud in the silence.
Another moment...
Then she shook. Her shoulders heaved, and Chase thought for a moment that she was crying.
But no.
Her heart sank as she realized that the human was laughing.
Dry, bitter gasps shook the woman’s body, as she looked up.
Her spectacles were fogged, and the tears still slicked her cheeks, but her face was full of naught but scorn.
“I...” Chase hesitated, and her voice caught in her throat. “Please.”
“Oh, you foolish, naive child,” the Camerlengo breathed. “They would end our world in a heartbeat if it wouldn’t destroy every player in here. This world you grew up in? That you praise so much? You only got that chance because we trapped and imprisoned them, because we harried and persecuted them and kept them from finding a way home. We hold them captive not to punish them...” she paused. “Although I do enjoy that; it’s a perk of the job but it’s not the point. It doesn’t matter whether they’re evil or not. We must keep them from finding ways to leave because if all of them do, then nothing stops them from destroying our world.”
“They wouldn’t,” Chase whispered. “There would be no need.”
“Need? Bah!” The Camerlengo stood, picking her mace up from the ground as she did so. Then with three quick strides she was towering over Chase.
The halven flinched back as her hand shot down, but Zenobia grabbed the hilt of the sword instead, pulling it free from the floor with a grinding, sawing noise. “They don’t need a reason to destroy. My father proved that to me, long ago. He didn’t need to kill us; he didn’t need to burn down the stables or wreck his happy dream home. All he needed to do was stop coming here. But what did he choose? He chose evil.” The woman’s eyes bored into Chase’s soul. “If they don’t have a reason to keep us in existence, then sooner or later they will destroy us. They’ll claim that we’re a threat, that we trapped their souls before. But the truth of it will be that one of them will be evil, one of them will, as you put it, choose wrong at exactly the wrong time. And then that will be it. Poof. Gone.”
Chase watched her resolve come back to her, filling her like the tide returning. She’d almost had her. She’d almost won.
Then Zenobia’s eyes unfocused, and she sheathed the sword. Her hand shot up to her earring. “What? Who’s attacking? South squad, answer me! South squad?”
Chase smiled.
Fire flared outside the windows, and the Camerlengo dove for cover as glass burst inward. “What? Dragonfire? What have you done, child?”
“I told you,” Chase said, as leathery wings beat the air, and a dragon’s shadow loomed, silhouetted in the flames.
A dragon’s shadow, with the shadow of a plush fox on its back. “We called for reinforcements,” Chase finished, smugly.
CHAPTER 23: DOUBLE AND TRIPLECROSS
“Is this the one, fawxy?” an unfamiliar voice asked.
The dragon, Chase realized. Not Theris-whatever, but Renny’s friend, the one that they’d been hoping was still around the city.
Lucky that she’d come in response to the signal.
But then, Chase had built her own luck, forged it level by level. And even so...
“A toy,” Zenobia sneered, losing her fear as the flames faded.
A small wooden dragon flapped leather wings, hovering in midair. Renny sat on its back, hanging on for dear life. He freed up a hand and pointed at the Camerlengo. “Oh yeah! She needs a burning!”
“Raht! Get down and do what you gotta!” The dragon said, doing a neat barrel roll and swooping to the Camerlengo’s side...
...and nearly catching a mace in the face as the Camerlengo did her level best to pound the interloper to splinters. “Agh! Yah fahst!”
“And you’re inconsequential,” Zenobia said, moving to keep herself between Chase and the others. “I still have an army. And all we have to do is keep you here until the true dragon arrives.”
The wooden toy cursed her out, with language that made Chase’s ears burn. She finished with “—witch, I AM a true dragon. Says so raht on my status screen.”
“Then he’ll thank me for destroying another blasphemy!” Zenobia shrieked. “Camouflage!”
Then she was gone, just like that.
“Oh no! Um...” Renny said.
“Illusions won’t work on her, remember!” Chase said. “Air! Air works!”
“Right!”
Then he was ducking, as the dragon went flying, slamming into the wall with a clatter. A red ‘256’ rose from her, and she fell to the ground, shaking her head.
For a split-second Zenobia was visible, chain mail glistening in the light, mace at her back from the wide swing she’d used to dent the dragon.
“Manipulate Air!” Renny cried.
“Camouflage,” Zenobia sneered, and faded away as w
ind roared through the hall, blowing out windows and sweeping the three allies away.
“Not what I meant, Renny!” Chase said, tucking herself into a ball—
—and coming up short as a thin hand grabbed her ankle in a deathgrip.
She looked back to see the Camerlengo bracing herself against the ground, digging the spikes of the mace in while she held Chase against the wind with her free hand.
“No. No running. No escape,” The Camerlengo purred, voice just audible over the howling wind. “You’re the key to this, and I’m not. Letting. You. Go.”
Chase’s mind flashed back to the queen that the Camerlengo had ground under her heel.
I’m in checkmate. But..
She needs me alive. Still, alive doesn’t mean conscious. Or without broken bones. I have to step carefully.
The wind died, and Chase fell to the floor with a cry. Zenobia staggered back a second, then straightened up.
“You’re not leaving here.” The Camerlengo said. And it wasn’t a threat, or even in the least bit hostile. Just a simple statement of fact.
Then she touched her earring again and frowned. She turned, looking around the empty hall, past the pile of rubble that the Wizaard’s entrance had made. “We’re being attacked by Mercenaries,” she said, glaring back at Chase. “How many are there?”
“I don’t know,” Chase shrugged. “I didn’t hire them.”
“Then who did?”
Chase didn’t reply. She hadn’t seen where Renny and Madeline had gotten to, but stalling would only help them.
The Camerlengo bent down and picked Chase up by her ankle. Skirts spilling around her head, Chase fought to try and keep her torn clothing out of her face. “Who. Did?” The Inquisitor ground out.
Chase let out a cry. She couldn’t help it; the fear had her now.
She wanted to stay silent, but courage could only take her so far. Her willpower was still far, far too low for this sort of pressure. But as she opened her mouth to confess, nothing came out but heaving sobs.
“Weak! Useless!” The Camerlengo whipped her around so fast her neck twitched. “I know you can see me now!” the woman bellowed. “This is who you chose to follow! This is your leader!”
Then she lowered her voice. “I have quite a few levels of Chiropractor. If you don’t tell me who hired those Mercenaries, I’ll start with your ankle and work my way up.”
Chase sobbed harder... but the fear was starting to fade, now.
Halvens, above all, had cool. Poor willpower meant that they could be scared, even startled...
...but their high cool meant that it never lasted for long.
With the departure of fear came rational thought and control, and Chase weighed her options... and kept crying.
The tears were false this time, but they were better than giving Zenobia the answer. And the woman’s skills would cut through any lie she tried. Thomasi himself had told her that Inquisitors were built to counter Grifters. No, lies wouldn’t work here.
Better to stall. Better to be seen as weak. Better to be underestimated.
All those thoughts fled as pain exploded in her ankle.
You have been afflicted with the broken leg condition!
It took Chase a fair amount of screaming before she calmed down enough to make sense of the words in front of her face.
A condition! She tried to raise her hand, tried to slap Zenobia—
“Yes, I know you can transfer that. Do it, and I’ll remove it. Then I’ll punish you more.” Zenobia said, absently.
Chase let her hand drop. The pain throbbed and grew in her leg, and she gasped as the woman let her go, and she bounced off the floor. Knocking her broken ankle against the ground didn’t help any, and she shrieked her pain to the world.
But even through her distraction, through the haze in her brain, her ears were still sharp.
PER+1
“Come on,” she heard Zenobia whisper. “Come on you vermin...”
Cold clarity came over Chase.
She’s doing two things at once. She’s interrogating me and trying to lure them out.
“Wait!” Chase shouted.
Zenobia paused. “Who hired the Mercenaries?” She turned, reached toward Chase’s other leg.
She thought I was talking to her? Okay, okay, good. The Camerlengo could see through lies, yes. But she was still capable of making mistakes. Still mortal, whatever the source of her strength might be.
And she thought that time was on her side.
To be fair, it was. When the dragon came, Chase and all her friends would be lost.
But they had a few cards heading toward the table now, too.
The trick was to stall just enough. But not too long.
This was a gamble. If she did it right, it would probably net her another level. But all the levels in the world didn’t mean a thing if Zenobia crushed her skull.
“The Mercenaries...” Chase let her voice trail off into a groan.
The Camerlengo’s gloved fingers grabbed her other foot.
“They... no! Please don’t!”
“Talk!”
“Wait! You understand me? Wait!”
She hoped they understood her, because she knew what was coming in about thirty seconds. Thirty long, horrible seconds. Chase filled it with sobbing.
Then new pain exploded, and she screamed, not having to fake the sobs, not with that pain added on to the new one. Two broken ankles, and she could barely see, red flaring in her vision.
You have been afflicted with the broken legs condition!
“Speranza!” Chase howled. “Speranza hired the Mercenaries!”
“Speranza.” The Camerlengo gasped. “Oh, you little fool. Remove Condition.”
Zenobia Bigutanku has removed your broken legs condition!
You have been afflicted with the broken leg condition!
Chase gasped, as the pain lessened... mostly. She wiggled her right foot, found it fine. She wiggled her left foot—
—nope. Nope, that was a mistake.
It was some consolation that the howling bought her more precious seconds.
“What the hells were you thinking? You trust that snake?”
Chase blinked as she realized Zenobia was speaking again. “No, not really,” Chase said, when she could talk again. Her voice sounded ragged, her throat raw from screaming. “We’ve taken steps to keep from being her slaves. They might be enough to stop her. I don’t know.”
“She’s another reason we emptied the city,” the Camerlengo said, flatly. “We couldn’t risk her getting to a fully-occupied major city. So, in essence, Gnome burned because of your actions, you little worm. You drove us to this point. Their blood, the ashes of the fallen... they’re all your fault.”
“Like...” Chase gasped. “Like your father beating you was your fault? That’s nonsense and you know it.”
“Shut up!” The Camerlengo’s arm blurred, and stone cracked, right next to Chase’s head. Feather-light caresses, and Chase shrieked as a red ‘41’ floated up above her.
Shrapnel from the cracked floor, Chase knew. Just lucky she hadn’t lost an eye.
“Wait!” Chase shouted again.
The Camerlengo scowled... then paused, looking around her warily, scanning the hall. “You’re not talking to me! You’re telling them to wait! You little...”
“Little. Little. You keep coming back to that,” Chase said, struggling up on her elbows. Her dress slipped, and the Camerlengo averted her eyes, just for a second.
Something I can use? Maybe, Chase thought. This was war, this was far out of her control, and anything she could use as a weapon was fair. This wasn’t a glorious fight like the adventures she’d read. This situation was a psychotic, damaged human with far too much power who could literally murder her with one good swing... and was rapidly running out of reasons not to murder her.
All Chase could do was stall her, and trust her friends to figure out something that would work.
So natur
ally, knowing it was risking far too much, Chase decided to taunt her torturer.
“What does my size matter?” Chase asked, glaring at Zenobia. “You’re twice my height, and you don’t have even a fraction of my friends.”
The woman’s eyes went wide.
And then the light changed.
Both women paused and looked around. The dragonfire had died outside, and the broken glass windows were dark.
“The signals have stopped,” Zenobia said, tapping her ear again. “Wait. Dolls?” She glared down at Chase. “You have an Animator on your side now?”
“Nope,” Chase said, perfectly truthful.
“Well someone’s swarming us with dolls. Not that it’ll do much good. Your friends are as useless as you are.”
“Useless,” Chase said, massaging her ankle. “Ahh... Ow. Useless. Right. That’s why you went to so much effort to trap me. Sure. Useless.”
A glint of light from above, and Chase didn’t dare look. The rafters had been exposed when The Wizaard’s crashed through the wall, earlier. Someone was moving up there; she was sure of it.
For a miracle, Zenobia didn’t notice.
“You don’t know where the crystal is. That lowers your utility to me. You’re a bargaining chip to get Thomasi to come in quietly, but we know where he is, and once Barriano is committed, he can’t stop us from retrieving him. And Pwner... well. You’re nothing to him.”
“Then why not kill me now?” Chase asked. She swallowed. Her throat was dry, dry, dry. All the screaming had taken a toll.
“Perhaps I WILL!” the Camerlengo roared! She raised her mace up...
PER+1
WILL+1
...but Chase saw the bluff.
And pushed past her fear.
“Do it!” she screamed, pushing up to her knees, ignoring the tearing pain, and pointing straight up at the woman’s sneering face. “Do it then! Get it over with! Do it!”
And Zenobia’s eyes widened as she realized that once more, Chase wasn’t actually talking to her.
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