Finn left the city just in ti before his token expired for the day. He made it out of the city right when the gates were being closed and the curfew was reached. Though that wouldn’t have stopped him if he wanted to leave anyway.
The rest of the walk back through the Sprawl was straightforward enough. It passed by quickly as his mind churned through the implications of Thalia’s surprising move.
Within the blink of an eye he had arrived at his destination. He pushed through the gate and entered to find only Silvana and Ailin in the main room. The Mnemosyne sat perfectly still in a chair by the window, her black-abyss eyes reflecting lamplight in an unsettling way. Silvana was nearby, reading from one of the books they’d acquired.
"Where’s Thalia?" Finn asked.
Silvana looked up, about to respond, but Finn perked up suddenly and paused. His senses, sharpened by weeks of using his Error magic, [Null Perception], caught the sounds of light footsteps approaching.
Not long after, the door opened and Thalia walked in.
She noticed Finn imdiately and greeted him with a curt nod. "You’re back." Her voice was tired, exhausted even. Sweat matted her purple hair to her forehead, and her clothes bore the telltale signs of hard training. She’d been pushing herself again.
Finn greeted her in return, then cut straight to it. "I know what you’re up to."
Thalia, who’d been heading toward Ailin, paused for a mont, then she continued walking, settling into a chair beside the Mnemosyne.
"It’s a surprise you’re just finding out. Took you long enough."
Finn didn’t even know what to say in response. He’d known she said she would do whatever she wanted, but he’d never expected this. Not this specifically. Not inserting herself directly into the crew of the Tidebreaker through channels he hadn’t controlled.
With all that had happened up until now, the circumstances that brought the three of them here, he knew he shouldn’t even be that attached to them. The other Transcendents had destroyed all trust Finn had for anyone.
Although outwardly he seed to be normal, playful and jovial even, not at all like how he’d been when he first arrived in this tiline, inwardly he knew he was every bit as cold. No. Cold wasn’t the right word. Detached, perhaps? Nihilistic, maybe?
Outwardly he functioned as normal as anyone, smiling when appropriate, making jokes when the situation called for it. But on the inside, everyone around him felt like... ga characters. NPCs in a simulation he was navigating toward his objective.
All except two people.
Thalia and Ailin, the Mnemosyne.
Despite the cold part of him that wanted to believe nothing could be trusted to be real, a more instinctive part of him knew those two had suffered the sa fate as him. They’d been betrayed by people they’d trusted. They’d been thrust into circumstances beyond their control.
Not just that. But their current fates were tied to his existence in this tiline. A part of him believed he was the crucial factor that caused the Transcendents to turn on them. For what purpose? He didn’t know. And neither could he even prove this belief was true. Perhaps he was simply being egotistical. But he believed he wasn’t.
Thalia and Ailin were in a world different from their own, likely because of him, with no chance of ever returning in sight. And even if they could return, what awaited them was still more trouble. More danger.
Finn had accepted that as fact and truth. Except he gained a trendous amount of power, nothing would change that reality.
Naturally, gaining power was always the goal. Both for his own motives and to make sure Thalia and Ailin wouldn’t suffer because of him again.
But this was a path he’d intended to travel on his own. Yet Thalia was proving adamant. If she or Ailin ended up dying here in another world, in another ti, Finn would carry that guilt for the rest of his existence.
Why couldn’t she simply get that?
Finn opened his mouth to speak. To dissuade her one more ti. To explain the risks, the dangers, the absolute insanity of what she was attempting.
But then he caught himself.
What was he doing?
Did he really think Thalia would back down now that she’d made these moves? That she’d arranged herself into Vara’s crew without his knowledge? That she’d positioned herself so perfectly that removing her would raise more suspicion than keeping her?
She’d already made her choice. And arguing about it now would accomplish nothing except wasting ti they didn’t have.
Finn let out a breath and nodded. "Fine. Be careful on the voyage." He paused. "To my knowledge, Vara doesn’t know we’re related, though I suspect she already has an idea. But at least on the surface, we should both remain separate."
Thalia’s eyes sharpened with interest. She leaned forward slightly. "Go on."
Finn organized his thoughts, then began explaining thodically. "I’ve told Vara that I serve an Errant God. One who exists in contradiction, who walks between cracks in reality. I positioned myself as soone seeking to restore this forgotten deity to glory." He t Thalia’s eyes. "That’s the character I’m playing. A faithful servant on a sacred mission."
He continued, his tone becoming more serious. "If we outrightly co out from the start posing as acquaintances, or reveal that we know each other well, while that isn’t necessarily a damning thing, it will raise Vara’s vigilance toward us considerably." He gestured between them. "Not to ntion, anything might happen on that voyage. If people know we’re acquaintances, friends, or colleagues, however we might choose to reveal our familiarity, it could give anyone on the ship leverage over either one of us if things go wrong."
The logic was sound. Thalia could see it clearly.
"So what I’m saying," Finn said firmly, "is that we act like we don’t know each other at all. Complete strangers who happen to be on the sa crew."
He paused, glancing around the farmhouse. "In fact, my staying in this house is already pushing it. Vara knows you’re staying sowhere in the Sprawl. It’s not far-fetched to think she might want to know exactly where. Especially because you’re people who will journey with her on what is not just a dangerous voyage because of the destination, but also because of the knowledge of the destination itself."
He looked at Silvana, who’d been listening quietly the entire ti. "The fewer connections between us that can be traced, the better."
Thalia saw reason in Finn’s words, nodding slowly. "Alright. We’re strangers who happen to serve on the sa ship. I can work with that."
"Good." Finn turned toward his room. "I’ll find sowhere else to stay for the anti. It’ll also help us get used to being separate."
He didn’t bother to ask the obvious question of how Thalia had found out about the uniqueness of the Tidebreaker. Or about the Fog of No Return... He simply remained silent, choosing tacitly to ignore the obvious despite him sensing Thalia expecting the question.
He instead turned his attention to the next matter... or rather, the next person.
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