Chapter 27: Relit Flas
John walked up the stairs and into Albert’s office. His nose wrinkled as he slled the cigar smoke, but he dealt with it and pulled up a chair. Prota sat in the corner, clearly unwilling to participate in the discussion. She pulled her hood over her head, leaving only a few bits of hair to stick out. If you didn’t look closely, one might’ve assud she was just a large doll.
“Hey. Fate said you wanted to see us or sothing?”
“Well, I didn’t tell him to tell you that, but yes. I heard you got into a fight?”
“Sothing like that, yeah.”
“Figures. Let’s talk, boy,” Albert grunted, emphasizing the “boy” part.
John just stared, visibly bored.
“I’ve been monitoring you for a while.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“You- I’m not gonna question it. This is Bren. He’s second in command ‘round here. For lack of a better word, he’s been trailing you for a while.”
The man appeared from the shadows, giving John his first good look at the man.
Thin, pale, but sharp and attentive, dressed in a fine suit with two wicked knives hanging at his side. He had a neutral look on his face, and his eyes were always flickering here and there, looking, observing. One might easily mistake him for a weakling. He was frail, thin, and didn’t exude any kind of powerful aura. He looked old, too. Bren almost looked like a distinguished butler of so noble family, perhaps one who had served for many years, but John knew.
This was a professional. One who shouldn’t be underestimated.
But then again, if he was such a professional, then why hadn’t he helped earlier? He didn’t feel like asking now. No point.
“We’ve t already, boss. Continue as planned.”
Bren nodded and moved to the corner, leaving Albert to continue the discussion.
“Boy. Do you know why I had you trailed?”
“Cause I’m suspicious?”
“You’re-” Albert shook his head. “Yes. That, and a bit more than that.”
Albert took his cigar out of his mouth and rubbed it in an ashtray, putting the thing out. He looked at John, his piercing grey eyes shining.
“Have you ever seen the slaves around town?”
“Oh, yeah, of course it’s the slaves,” John muttered. He continued in a louder voice. “Yeah, I’ve seen them. What about it?”
“Those slaves, to everyone’s knowledge, are criminals that are undergoing rehabilitation. Great system, right?”
“What, but they’re not really, and half of them are mind washed citizens or sothing like that?”
John was being half sarcastic, but Albert reacted in a way John hadn’t expected at all.
“What the- how do you know about that?”
“You’ve gotta be fuckin…” John buried his face in his hands. “I guessed.”
Inwardly, John was desperately hoping that his guess wouldn’t be correct, but it truly did seem that the [Author] was scraping at the bottom of the barrel here. Not a single original idea.
“There’s no way soone like you would guess sothing like that. No one knows. No one.”
“I don’t know what to say. Dude, you can’t say sothing like “a bit more than that” and expect not to guess. There’s only so many things that could an.”
“You- that’s not the point here! You do realize the position you’ve just put yourself in here, right?”
“I told you. I guessed. Not even. I wasn’t really being serious, but seeing you react like that…”
Albert looked at Bren, who ever so slightly shook his head. John was telling the truth as far as he could tell.
“Gah… well, doesn’t matter. Listen. You’re correct. Or, at least, that’s what we think.”
“I’m sorry, you what? You think? Not know?”
Albert shook his head, visibly frustrated.
“Listen up, and listen well. Initially, I thought the whole rehabilitation thing was suspicious, but there was nothing of it. That was until I saw a child working a fruit stand while the owner was taking a break. I approached the child. No response. No nothing. The kid must’ve been six, seven. That’s strange, ain’t it? A kid shouldn’t be put through a system like that, that young. Still, not enough. It was just a hunch, a feeling, nothing truly suspicious. Still, I didn’t like it.”
“Uh huh,” John nodded. He wasn’t impressed.
“So I did so more digging. There’s a more secret slave market. Sa system. Sa cover. But others are sold. Won and children are popular with rich bastards for reasons I don’t even want to think about,” Albert shuddered. “I know one of em, and his tastes are… never mind. My point is that the more I ask around, the more I realize no one knows about this whole thing. No one knows where the slaves co from.”
John stiffled a yawn, scratching his ear. He took a look at his pinky and blew on it.
“So you found so kind of facility?”
“Bingo. Well, not really. We found a group of n kidnapping so F rank adventurers out doing a collection quest. We stopped ‘em, but they died before we could question ‘em. So we’ve been investigating for the past two months.”
“What’s that got to do with ?” John sighed.
He knew what was coming next, but the question was needed to progress.
“Your sister is quite the prodigy. On top of that, neither of you are, well, important. No records. Nothing of importance. We run background checks, of course, and nothing cos up on either of you.”
John nodded at that. It seed that his request regarding the cultist incident had been fulfilled. He hadn’t exactly kept himself on the down low for that, so he was grateful that the incident had been wiped from the records.
“So, given that your sister is quite the mage, it was suspicious. Where did your training co from? Where did you learn how to fight? If you hadn’t been trained by anyone we know of, then what if soone else trained you?”
“And?”
“We don’t think you’re the enemy. And if you’re not the enemy, then why not stick with us?”
“What’s in it for ?”
In reality, John was going to take the offer no matter what. He wanted to stay as close to Fate as possible, and following up with the [Plot] was the best way to do that. So even if Albert had nothing to offer, John was going to join the team. But if he could get sothing out of it, then why not? You miss the shots you don’t take, after all.
“Twenty gold.”
“...that’s it?”
“That’s it? What are you, so kinda punk noble? I oughta…”
John laughed. “I’m kidding. Sounds good.”
Albert stood up, towering over John. “You sure know how to push soone’s buttons.”
He stuck out his hand, and John grabbed it, shaking firmly to close the deal.
“Oh, by the way, who’s the fourth?” John said on his way out.
“Fourth?”
“You, Bren, Fate, and…”
“Ah. You’ve t him already, actually. Do you rember Elfin?”
“...yeah, I’ll keep that in mind.”
John motioned for Prota to follow him and left. Things were being set in motion, but he still had to do one thing. He’d just crossed quite a few to-do things off his list, and there was only one loose end to wrap up.
~~~
“They failed? Why didn’t you tell about it first?”
“Would you have let them go?”
Breaker and Doctor were standing in a room, looking at an empty tube. It was a strange sight, the large, nacing man standing in a position of respect towards the frail, ssy man. Regardless, the hierarchy was clear, and it wouldn’t be changed.
“...you’re right. It’s not like we needed those idiots anyway.”
“Our man updated us, by the way. The boy and girl from before, the ones we warned you about. They are no longer just objects of interest. They are direct threats.”
“Um… Jas and Proter.”
“John and Prota. The boy isn’t exceptional, but the girl…”
“Yes, yes, the candidate. Why does any of that matter? Two more, two less, who cares? If an ant brings two friends, just squish them. They’re easy to dispose of. Should a god care when mortals gather up an army?”
Doctor giggled with glee. His words were sothing between those of a psychopath and a philosopher, but his tone was like that of a gleeful child.
“Ahem.” Breaker coughed awkwardly, unsure of how to respond. “Regardless, it seems that we, too, must start moving.”
Doctor whirled around, a light in his eyes.
“Ah, then the plan can be set in motion soon.”
Breaker nodded. “Yes.”
“In a year… no, less. We’ll be able to do it.”
Doctor turned around and flung open a door, revealing dark, dank corridors full of caged cells, humans, elves and dwarves locked inside, chained to the wall like livestock. Cries of pain, moans of anguish, pleas and cries for help, all echoing into Doctor’s ears.
“Shut the door,” Breaker growled.
“But what a symphony! Does a celebration not call for music?”
“No one likes it.”
“You’re a spoilsport,” Doctor pouted, slamming the door shut. “You should try the process on one of them soti. It’s quite fun.”
“I’ll stick to fighting.”
“Suit yourself,” Doctor grinned.
He rubbed his hands together with glee.
“One year… After all this waiting, what’s a little more?”
~~~
“John.”
Fate’s voice rang out in the forest. The sun was setting, and a calm wind blew through the trees.
“Yeah, I’m here. What do you want?”
The boy erged from the shadows, not that it made much of a difference. With the mask and the cloak, it was as if the boy was a part of the shadows themselves. He faced John, golden eyes blazing.
“I think you know what I’m going to ask. Who are you?”
“I’m John. Did I not tell you my na? Sorry.”
“Don’t ss with .”
“ss with you? I would never.”
The sarcasm was practically dripping from his words.
John knew what Fate was asking. Was he from Earth? Or was he just another stranger? Another person wandering through life, clueless to Fate’s true identity? The [Protagonist’s] golden eyes bored into John. He would draw out the truth, no matter how much interrogation or ti it took. Eventually, he would find out-
“Ah, you’re talking about Earth, right? If that’s where I’m from?”
No need to complicate things.
“That’s what you’re curious about, right?” John grinned.
It would be better for the [Plot] if he hid the truth. More tension. More misunderstandings. A ga of cat and mouse, one searching, the other hiding. But John had no plans of playing along to make things more interesting. Sure, things like building tension and suspense were fun elents of a story. But they also made life more complicated. Why hide a secret when there was no downside to telling the truth? There was no need to overthink it. He had enough secrets as it was.
And besides. This was fun.
“Y-yes…” Fate stamred, stunned at how honestly John was responding.
“Then why not just ask that? I’m John. Where I ca from doesn’t change who I am.”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not ant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“You know that this isn’t Earth, right?”
“Obviously.”
“Then this isn’t normal! Our situation is definitely not normal!”
“Says who?”
“What do you an, says who?” Fate exclaid. “This is a different world! A place with magic, elves and dwarves! This is normal?”
He was starting to get upset. It was clear John knew sothing he didn’t, but he was being deliberately dense. Fate wanted answers, John had information, and yet no progress was being made.
“Sure,” John shrugged. “For you, maybe it’s not. But if you’d known travelling to other worlds was possible beforehand, then wouldn’t it be normal? I an, phones are probably normal to us, but show one to a Victorian child and you’d probably be burned at the stake.”
In a flash, John found himself at the end of a sharp blade. The threat was clear. Wrong answers ant death. Fate wasn’t playing around anymore.
“What’s your motive?”
“My motive?”
John’s eyes seed livelier than ever despite the sword at his throat. He was really enjoying himself here.
“My motive for what?”
“You seem to know that’s where I’m from, too. So what do you want? What are you trying to get at here? Are you really from Earth?”
“Mm… maybe?” John smiled.
“What the hell does that an?”
“It ans I’m not from your Earth. But I’m from an Earth, nonetheless.”
Fate’s blade dropped just a bit. John could practically see the frown underneath the mask. Well, that was to be expected. Most people weren’t used to this.
“That doesn’t make any sense at all.”
“That’s true.”
“Then explain things so it does.”
“Can’t do that,” John shrugged.
“I’ll make you.”
“By doing what? Killing ? Yeah, good one.”
“Tch!”
Fate closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
John didn’t give the boy ti to ntally recover. “What are you concerned about? That I’m gonna tell everyone your secret?”
The masked boy flinched.
“Why would I do sothing like that?” John frowned, pretending to be offended.
“Why else would you be provoking right now?”
“Because it’s fun?”
…seriously? Was this guy insane?
“Say that again.” Fate said slowly.
“What?”
“Why are you provoking ? For what reason?”
“It’s fun, dude.”
“...wow. You’re a special kind of asshole,” Fate muttered, turning around. There was no point to this anymore.
“Hm… so, a truth telling ability, huh? That’s gonna be a pain in the ass to get around.”
Fate whirled back around. “How did you-”
He couldn’t stop himself. The panic that surged through his body instinctively brought his blade to John’s throat, almost slicing it, but in that instant, the sword was coated with ice, throwing the trajectory off and ultimately preventing a disaster.
He looked around. John was manaless, so it wasn’t he who’d cast the spell— his sister. Fate’s eyes panned over to Prota, whose arms were extended. She was panting, clearly panicked at what had just transpired.
He looked back at John, intending to apologize, but then found that the man was completely unfazed.
“How did you know that?” he demanded.
“I guessed.”
“No, seriously, how did you-“
“Not that hard, dude. I’m spewing a lot of bullshit right now. Most people wouldn’t believe . Then why did you believe ? Answer: because you know I’m telling the truth. And how did you know I was telling the truth?”
The question hung in the air like a mine, as if the next person to speak would trigger it and die. Fate took a minute to process the whole thing, but as soon as he did, his gaze sharpened, eyes glaring at John.
“Hey. I’m gonna ask again. Just who the hell are you?”
“I told you. I’m John Quarta. I an, technically that’s not my whole first na, but I’m not telling you that.” He shrugged as he looked Fate right in the eyes. “What, you want to know where I’m getting this information from?”
Fate’s eyes continued to glow, but he didn’t say anything. John sighed and continued anyway.
“I’m not a mind reader or anything. I’m just guessing.”
“...guessing?”
“Call it an educated guess. I’m not, like, literally saying random things. But whenever I throw sothing out, there’s always a chance I’m wrong.”
“Then what do you want with ? Why are you so interested in ?”
John nodded. This was it. He’d been fishing for a while, and the fish had taken the bait. This was now the hardest part.
Ti to reel it in.
“Help .”
“Help you with what?”
“Well. As you can tell, I’m not really good at fighting.” John ignored the look Prota was giving him. “That sucks, because Prota’s family was killed by the Demon King and we’re kinda on a revenge mission.”
“So you aren’t blood related.”
“We don’t need to be.”
“...I understand.”
John sighed in relief. Thank god Fate wasn’t one of those idiots that didn’t understand what family ant.
“I want to help her. But it’s not like I can kill the demon king myself, right? So how about this? I can help you. You can help . You’re strong. I’m… moral support.”
He didn’t need to reveal his guess about Fate being the hero. If John was wrong about that, it could ruin everything. Better to have a hidden card, anyways, because it was ti to finish things up.
This was it. The last line. He’d picked out the bait, fastened it to the hook, and all that was left was to cast the line out to the water and hope the fish took the bait.
“Fate. Let’s be comrades. Even if it’s just for a bit.”
There was a mont of silence, but it felt like an eternity.
“You’ve got quite the tricky tongue. You remind of soone,” Fate sighed.
“Thanks.”
“It wasn’t a complint. I still can’t trust you.”
“That’s true,” John nodded. “So you don’t have to answer right now. Hell, it’s not like you have to answer at all. Just think about it, ok?”
“...sure.”
~~~
For John, that was more than enough. However, there was one thing he’d still failed to consider.
Prota.
As usual, she was taking the role of the silent one during the conversation, but just because she wasn’t involved in it didn’t an she wasn’t paying attention. Fate? John’s comrade? It made sense. After all, John had already explained why he wanted Fate on his side.
But sohow, it felt as if she was being replaced.
She thought about it.
The dream from last night haunted her. She felt responsible, sohow. All of the people she’d lost. All of the people who’d died. Wasn’t it her fault?
So maybe…
Maybe John had a good reason to leave her.
Sothing inside her stirred. She didn’t know what. It wasn’t rational, but she left. It was a quiet exit, so silent that John nor Fate noticed, but she started walking away. Her mind was clear enough that she knew to seek shelter. Sowhere hidden but safe. After a few minutes of walking, she found sothing perfect—a small cave surrounded by trees in the lush forest. Soone was standing nearby, but it was probably nothing. She walked in unnoticed and sat down.
Her mind was still spinning. Was this the right choice? Was John better off without her?
Suddenly, a portal lit the cave up. The cave she was in was relatively small, just a bit of an empty space with a high-ish ceiling and a dirt floor, but at the end was a blue spinning doorway, seemingly made of pure energy.
“...?”
Slowly, she reached out towards it.
~~~
“Alright, one more thing,” John said.
“Don’t you think you’re getting a little greedy?”
“Oh, co on, it’s not for ,” John sighed. “Not really. Well, Prota over here-”
He turned, but Prota wasn’t there. What? How had she vanished in the few minutes they’d been talking? He didn’t keep a tight eye on her, but there was never a need to. It wasn’t like she wandered off or anything.
“Uh… did you see a little girl right here? What the-”
John started spinning around, but his little sister was nowhere to be found.
“Prota?” he called out.
No response.
Fate started helping out, but there was no sign of the little girl.
“She couldn’t have gotten far. She’s not that fast,” John frowned.
[Wanna check your system? You know, the one that shows Prota’s location?]
John clenched his teeth to stop himself from replying.
He quickly checked the map, but sothing wasn’t right.
“...missing? Hey, Fate, is there anything around here… uh, like a portal or sothing? Sothing that would move soone a far distance away? To another space, maybe?”
“Did you just say portal?”
“Yeah, like, so kind of device to take you sowhere else?”
“Kh… the Cave of Trials, dammit!”
“The what of what?”
“Just follow ! Hopefully we’re not too late!”
“Too late for what?”
Fate turned to stare at John.
“If your sister went into the Cave of Trials… you’d better pray that she’s still alive.”
~~~
“Hello?” Prota called out.
She’d stepped through the portal, but sohow, she’d ended up in the exact sa cave she’d been in before. That, except in this cave, there was no exit.
She spun around, but the portal was no longer there. The cave was being lit up by so unknown light source, which was comforting yet disturbing at the sa ti.
For a bit, it wasn’t too bad. However, an hour passed, then another, then what felt like an eternity went by, and with nothing to keep Prota busy, mories began flooding her mind whether she wanted them to or not.
Jinae. John. Her parents. Her sister, Anta.
Their dead faces stared at her accusingly, blaming her for their deaths.
“If only you hadn’t been born.”
“If only you’d never existed.”
“If only you were stronger.”
“If only I’d never t you.”
Reality and imagination started to blur. She was seeing faces that were maybe there, maybe not. She closed her eyes, but the darkness didn’t provide her with the relief she so desperately sought. Sohow, she fell asleep, but in this state, her dreams and reality had no difference. The sa dream as before haunted her.
Prota gasped, sitting up straight. Her vision was a little blurry, but it wasn’t like there was anything to see anyways. Or was there? Sitting in a dark corner of the cave was a figure. Prota couldn’t quite make it out, but it seed familiar, else she would’ve panicked.
“...John?” she called out hesitantly. Had he co to look for her?
Upon hearing Prota’s voice, the figure stood up and walked out of the shadows.
“John?” Prota called out again, although there was less hesitation in her voice.
John? What was he doing here? How had he gotten in when there was no portal behind her? And where was this feeling of intense bloodlust coming from?
“You’re quite clueless, aren’t you?” John called out.
He slowly pulled his revolver out from his pocket and pulled the hamr down. The click echoed through the cave, crisp and sharp.
“What are you doing?”
There was no reply.
“John?”
The thing standing in front of her didn’t respond. She couldn’t tell if it was John or not. What if John had co here to kill her? Was that it? Was she being discarded? She was half relieved. While there was a pain pulsing in her heart, she no longer felt the burden of trying to keep up, trying to be perfect. She could rest.
“You don’t have the luxury of closing your eyes here.”
A click rang out, followed by a deafening crack. Prota winced as a bullet grazed past her cheek, drawing blood.
“I won’t miss next ti.”
Prota slowly reached up and wiped her face. She looked at her hand, stained red with blood. Despite her high tolerance to pain, the wound stung like crazy. It was numbed, but the ssage was getting through.
She really would die.
Her body was shaking. Despite all the [Resets] she’d been through, Prota still instinctively had a fear of death. On top of that, John was the source of all these [Reset], couldn’t he sohow stop her from coming back? She didn’t know, but she couldn’t ignore the possibility.
The sudden surge of adrenaline caused Prota’s vision to quickly swim into focus, and she saw the “John” in front of her. His eyes. There was a violent light in them. Emotion. Violence, greed, so kind of sick and twisted joy.
This wasn’t John, was it? She could tell. Not because of how evil he looked. Sure, seeing a sadistic and terrible expression on his face didn’t feel right, but that wasn’t enough to convince her that this wasn’t her brother. No, it was that smile. That smile that, despite being twisted, was still excited about sothing.
The John she knew never truly looked happy about anything.
John raised his gun and fired again. Prota’s mind was telling her to stop and give up, but sohow, her body reacted without her trying to and ford a wall of ice. It was a bit slow, so the bullet wasn’t stopped entirely, but it was enough to cause the piece of tal to bounce off Prota’s chest harmlessly.
“...?” Prota frowned ever so slightly. She hadn’t cast that spell.
Then who?
“There’s no point in fighting back!” John yelled. “Just die!”
Once again, John fired, and again, Prota dodged, this ti using accelerated wind magic.
“...?!”
The shock was enough to snap Prota out of her depressed state. What was going on? It was as if soone else was controlling her body. She tried to resist it. As much as the pain hurt, she was ok with dying here, and even if it was a fake John, she felt more comfortable dying to his hands than anyone else.
But sothing wouldn’t let her die.
Spell after spell was cast, barely saving Prota from death. She couldn’t stop it. She could stop her body from moving, but she couldn’t stop magic from keeping her alive.
“Why?” she cried out. “Just… let die!”
She closed her eyes and opened her arms. This ti, surely-
“Wake up, dummy!”
Prota’s eyes shot open as she heard a voice. She’d never heard this voice before. It was female in tone, soft, yet aggressive at the sa ti. Where was it coming from?
“You can’t die here! What kind of idiot wants to die? You have to fight! Keep fighting, even if it costs you everything!”
What?
“Fight! Back! Now!”
Prota’s hands trembled as she raised them, firing off a fireball. This ti, though, the spell had been cast entirely of her own volition.
A new fla had been lit in her empty heart. It wasn’t strong. It was more like ashes in a fire, sputtering out. But she was desperately clinging on.
John might not need . But I… need John.
Everything about protecting, everything she had told herself about being John’s protector, it was all an excuse, and she knew it. She knew John didn’t need protection. She knew she wasn’t strong. She’d been struggling with that ever since they’d first gotten into a fight. But she needed an excuse, sothing to cling onto, sothing to tell her that she was needed, that she could fulfill a purpose.
She still didn’t know why John was keeping her around. But right now, all she knew was that John had saved her, and she wouldn’t go until he told her to go.
“N… no.” She staggered to her feet, facing down her cackling opponent. “I… I want to live.”
Survive. She wouldn’t die here.
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