Chương 122: 122

Mark woke up with a start, because a strange vector was in the hous— Oh. It was Sally. Mark chuckled as he buried his head into the pillow, all comfortable in the warmth of the bed. He stretched, and then he whipped the covers off and hopped out, putting on a shirt fast. He already had a smile on his face as he walked out of his bedroom, making his way to the kitchen fast, cleaning himself up with a breath of purity/impurity on the way.

The meaty scent of bacon and the bitter warmth of coffee filled the air, while snow held into the corners of the windows and the world outside was deep and white, glittering under the first rays of the day. Sally was cooking in her pajamas, looking giant in front of the perfectly normal-sized stove. She turned and said with a smile, "Morning!"" Morning," Mark said back.

"What do you want to do first today?" Sally nodded as she moved eggs around in the pan, saying, "I have a storage unit I rented that has stuff I need to get, including my weapons. Those things were too big to bring in last night. That's your car out there, yeah? Can we take it and get my stuff?"" Sure, we can take the car," Mark said, "But if you got a lot of stuff then there are Slayer services to transport weapon containers around for you. How big are your swords? … Er. And you might not fit in the car."

It was not a small car, but it wasn't overly large, either. It was a beater that Mark had bought for cheap, just because he wanted his own car. Sally raised an eyebrow at that.

"… They're just three meters long…" She paused. She shrugged.

"Cars are hard to ride in these days, anyway, so maybe I will do that service. I made breakfast! You want toast, though?"" Yes, I will take toast." Mark opened up the fridge and got out some flavored creamer to put into his coffee, saying, "Thanks for cooking."" Well it's your food and you told me to make myself at home—" She grinned at him, saying, "So I took you up on the offer."" And I'm glad you did!" As Mark poured a cup, he continued, "So as for the daaayyy...

We can do a bunch of paperwork, if that's good with you? Slayer signup first? And then you can use their transport service for the weapons— Oh! I need to tell you how the house works, too." Sally paused.

"I want to sign up for the Slayers, yeah, and for that on-call thing you talked about last night. What do you mean 'how the house works'?" She had something else to say, but she looked at Mark's practically tan-colored coffee and laughed.

"How much creamer did you put in that!" Mark scoffed.

"Enough to cover the bottom of the cup and a bit more than that." Mark sat down at the table with his perfectly good cup of coffee, saying, "I prefer good things in life, thank you very much."" But not good cars or clothes. That thing out there is a beater." Mark laughed.

"Hey now! It was a good price! And food is different." Sally huffed. It was almost a laugh. Then she asked, "First thing's first: what about money arrangements? As in, am I paying you to rent the house, or is this a government assistance thing, or what's going on there? That sort of stuff. Who bought this food and how do I repay them, etcetera."" Uhh…" So they were talking about finances? Okay, sure.

"Well the house is in my name, and you and Isoko and Eliot are staying here until we move on to Daihoon in a few weeks— or 10 days from now. Might not even be a full two weeks— Anyway. I own the house outright. At the settlement, Eliot is going to be constructing much of the place, so no one is paying for anything right away, and we'll probably be in fortress housing for a month, since he's going to make a fortress to start and we spread out from there."

We're each getting individual lots of property to have in our names, in perpetuity, which means forever, but only as long as we retain status as settlers, which is a whole big thing. Eliot will be making houses for everyone who wants one. Some of the nobles are not taking him up on the offer at all because people want to make their own things, by themselves, but Eliot is pretty much the reason why this settlement is happening like it is, and most people are partaking.

None of that is costing us money at all, except in taxes, which is some convoluted thing… Anyway. Uh…" Mark wasn't sure what to say next." Money in the party," Sally contributed.

"How about that? Who pays for food and stuff?"" Ah! Well… As of right now, we've been handing off cooking nights in a rotation and I think I've been paying for most of the food. It's cheap enough at only 125 goldleaf a week. Isoko buys what she makes, though, and Eliot doesn't pay for anything right now because he's in training and he's not getting paid and, like, if that guy has to pay for anything for the rest of his life at the settlement then some people are in for a rude time.

I think he's getting a 100% lifetime discount on normal services, but really, I think the city will be giving him a charge card without a limit, and the city will pay for whatever he wants." Isoko and I are the ones bringing in most of the money for the party… But there is no 'the money', I guess, because we all keep our finances separate. We have been talking about a party fund, though… Which is something we need to revisit." As Mark spoke, Sally finished cooking the eggs.

She started plating the meals and then she handed Mark a plate overloaded with bacon, eggs, and a few pieces of toast, while she got a pile three times as large. Sally sat down, and asked, "There's no accountant, then? No party fund manager?"" Uh. No? Do we need one?" Sally seemed like she had expected that sort of answer. She asked, "You said last night that the house is warded from casual conversation, yeah?"" Yes," Mark said, seeming more concerned by the second.

"I fully expect Addavein and any other high powered people to be able to pierce it, though. If they want. Eliot can do some good baseline stuff with his Castellan, but he doesn't have the full suite of powers of the original Hearthswell. He can basically just tier up stuff to tier 3 right now and do a few other tricks." Sally nodded.

"Okay." She said, "You're fucking rich as fuck, Mark. Eliot is, too, by the look of it. You need an accountant and he does too. But mostly, the party needs an accountant." Mark had been prepared for this conversation.

"I am not rich at all, actually. I am never going to sell the adamantium. I don't want to get into that life."" Yeah, that sounds like you." Sally took a moment, then she said, "You and I both grew up poor. We don't know what to do with real money except hoard it, I guess. That's your current plan, yeah? Well that is, quite honestly, dumb. You can do a lot with money." Sally stuck a fork in her eggs, saying, "Artifacts, enchanted junk, high tech. Weapons. And that's just the personal stuff.

You can use that money to make more money, too, and that's not even mentioning the benefits. Money means you can buy or make a restaurant and go there for lunch and they'll have exactly what you want on the menu. Of course you have to manage the place all well so it can float on its own, but that's what it means to be rich. From what I see around me, I don't think you're doing enough with what you have." Mark sat dumbfounded. Sally started eating breakfast. Mark started eating, too.

Eventually, a few bites in, he asked, "Where's all this coming from?"" My eyes were opened on Daihoon." Tarek, one of my former teammates, spent all of the money from his stuff on making an apartment complex in Harbordock and a restaurant across the way. His Skill— They call them Skills on Daihoon, not 'Power'. His Skill was Pathfinder. He was our scout, and he was a damned good scout, but he wanted multiple backup systems in case his team dissolved… which… you know. Happened.

He wanted to become a noble, so he spent all of his money on expanding Harbordock, and that turned out to be prudent." Sally said, "I think I really liked that whole idea, because the party dissolved hard and yet Tarek has a backup. So I'm going to do that with the money I make from this venture, and I think you should consider doing the same thing." Sally finished with, "I want to land on soft ground when the world turns to a storm." Mark went back to eating, as he thought. Sally went back to eating, too.

"… There's a lot there," Mark started off with, just because he didn't know what to say after hearing Sally's pitch. She seemed to feel strongly about this whole… thing, she was talking about. And there was a certain appeal to becoming rich enough to know that you'd land on soft ground no matter what the future held, but Mark wanted to kill monsters, not manage apartment complexes. And yet, Mark deflected.

"There's a lot there and I'm not sure how I feel about that… stuff, but I do know that Eliot is going to be doing a lot of building. I'll get you two together— You want to be a noble?" Mark latched on to that one word in Sally's talk of her former teammate, and continued, "Like, to rule over people?"" Some nobles are like that, yes, but most nobles are just in charge of properties and they make sure that the people living there can live their lives and work together well."

Sally smirked as she added, "Think of a good noble as the head of a union. We talk to the city based on the needs of our people, and stuff like that." Mark extrapolated a few things, and asked, "Do you want to be in charge of a party fund?"" Oh gods no. Never." Sally shook her head, the mirth leaving her face.

"You're going to be dealing with millions of goldleaf right away, Mark. I am not qualified for that. You need a real accountant. Someone who you can trust who has done this for years. Maybe even someone in the adamantium business who can sell the stuff for you. If you just…

just make adamantium, like some sort of mithrilkinetic, then you're probably going to get classified as a protected resource by the settlement and they might just force an accountant on you so that they can keep track of monies flowing however they flow." Mark frowned a little. He repeated, "I'm not selling it. It's weaponry. If I'm doing anything with it except using it, I'm trading it for favors. I have one favor system set up with Archmage Blackthorn, like I said last night…"

Mark paused, because Sally's face turned to a stone mask. Anger bubbled up in her vector, but she remained quiet. Warily, Mark continued, "I expect that someone high up will find out what I can do and then ask me or coerce me into giving them metals, too." Sally controlled her features for as long as she could, which was not long at all. And then her face contorted into fury, her vector turning into something hateful. She opened her mouth to say something, but she cut herself off.

She got up and walked away, saying, "I need a moment." Her food sat steaming on her plate. Mark remained seated, the entirety of his world in disarray. He had told Sally a little bit about Blackthorn last night and she had gotten a weird look on her face back then, but she hadn't said anything. And yet today, she was furious? What had happened? … Did she not want to start a fight last night? Oh. That was exactly it, wasn't it. She hadn't wanted to start a fight at night.

But today was okay for a fight— Oh gods, she was being political around Mark, wasn't she. Mark didn't want that! What the fuck! They used to talk about everything and get mad at each other all the time, and then they went right back to being best friends. But this… This seemed different. Worse than the time they tried dating and kissing and neither of them liked it so they lashed out at each other, wondering why it wasn't some magical, beautiful moment for either of them to kiss each other.

Their spars got vicious for a whole month— Sally came right back and sat down, her countenance solid, her face calm. After yet another tense moment, she asked, "Why are you dealing with another archmage? Did the first one not ruin —" Some anger slipped through her mask. She started over.

"Mages are full of demons and they're dangerous to be around. They're always on the precipice of Falling. Every single one of them. You should not talk to archmages, or even mages, for that matter." … The fuck was she on about? Yes, Mark knew that. Of course he knew that. Did Sally think he was stupid? Sally's family was completely fine! What the FUCK does she have to be mad about! Mark was the one with the dead parents! FUCK HER— Mark felt outside of himself.

In an offhand way, he felt black veins crawl out of his body, into the air, beating in time to his heart. Sally noticed most of Mark's anger; Mark was sure. Mark said nothing. Sally spoke with a stronger voice, "The only truth in life is that it's humans against the world, and sometimes some of those humans are a danger to the rest. Mages are among those who are a danger to us all. In the past, we needed their power to protect civilization, but that magic was always a demon's bargain and it always ended badly."

Archmages don't die. They Fall at the end of their life. That is chief among the reasons why demons grant them immortality, for when they die, they Fall, Mark. But that's just the archmages. Normal mages are a problem too." Monsterization, Falling to demons through pure stupidity and no real Contract, unintended accidents in classrooms when someone blows off the head of a friend when all they were trying to do was show off a cleaning spell. And that's not even getting into the magic itself.

Mind Control, erasure, horror upon horror!" Magic and magery was a tool humanity used for a long time, and it should be respected for that reason alone, but we have better tools now. The System, taken in hand by a caring god, Malaqua. Paladins. Superheroes and yes, even supervillains." Sally stared.

"But you're being tempted to learn magic, aren't you." It had become a very serious breakfast, with Sally saying serious things as though she had practiced them for a while. Maybe she had been practicing. Mark took a moment, then said, "I have an avalanche of responsibility, Sally. I need to know everything that was denied to me —to us — under Curtain Protocol. And yes, that includes magic." Sally couldn't contain her fury. She roared, "Demon contractors are bombs waiting to go off, and you already set one off!

You destroyed half of Orange City!" Sally spat, "Why not just go suck Thrashtalon off for gains, too!" And that was too much. Mark walked away and went to his room. He shut the door, sat down, and then he questioned his entire life, his friendship with Sally, and everything between. Sally sat out there at the breakfast table for a long while— She walked this way. Knock knock." You took a moment!" Mark yelled, "So I'm taking a moment, too!" Sally remained outside but her voice did not.

"What is your opinion on demons?" Mark was slamming open the door before he realized he had done that. It dented the wall. He glared up at Sally, saying, "I don't need to defend my actions to you, or anyone. I was used. I got a lot out of it, but I was used. And so help me all the gods of the entire Pantheon…" He breathed.

"I need you to take a step back with whatever anger you have over archmages and me."" I am not angry at you, Mark." Sally took a breath, too, then said, "And I'm not just an acolyte of Drakarok. I'm on the paladin track to become a killer of demon mages, so—"" Good!" This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Sally stared for a moment, her face scrunching a little, as though she was surprised to hear Mark say that.

Mark scoffed, and then he laughed.

"Holy fuck. I was hurt a lot more than you. Of course I'm damned angry at archmages! And at Addavein! And at a lot of what happened! Of course the only way an archmage dies is through Falling! I know that now..." Mark was not in the proper place to talk about this like this, so the words just tumbled.

"I'm furious about all of that! And about being a strategic resource and—"" You're rich as gods, Mark. You came out—"" If you dare say that I came out of that well off then I will hate you forever." Did Mark mean that? Did he mean any of this? Did Sally? Was Sally just mad, too? Sally stared.

"You know what they're saying about you on Daihoon? That you bargained with demons and came out one of the best examples of what is required to make the world a better place. That more people should try to do what you did. That they can't wait until you make a Contract with Leash—"" FUCK. YOU." Black veins vibrated out of Mark, into the world, like a thousand black tendrils, the world seeming to thrum with Mark as center of power. His heart beat the world. Thump. Thump. Thump.

They had moved into the hallway in the last however-long. Had Mark pushed Sally back? Had Sally retreated? Mark didn't know. Mark's veins crackled into the wood of the floor and the walls. Sally stood, daring. And then Mark noticed that her hands were fists, her stance set. She was ready for a fight, and Mark hated her for that. What the fuck happened to her? Mark had thought that they were good. That they had finally gotten back together and everything was going to be great from now on. But no.

That's not what happened at all. Her vector was pointed at Mark with sorrow, though. Pain. Fury. Loss of hope. Mark's voice cracked, his veins pulling back, "I will never Contract with a demon. But I need power because I have big goals." Sally did not relax. She said, "I heard everything the demon told you. Everyone has, Mark. And what I heard on Daihoon was a lot worse than what I heard when I came here to Memphi and found out the truth. I heard of the temptations of Leash.

And just now you talked about actually going after that shit, that resurrection magic. I was so surprised when you talked about it! You know what I thought when I heard that story of you and Leash? And Mary Getty, the woman you destroyed?" I thought that her involvement with Thrashtalon and the demons mirrored your own journey to Addashield. Both of you went to the powers you knew about, looking for power, and both of you got power. Both of those stories ended up in tragedies."

And just now, you talked about meeting with Blackthorn. Another archmage. Another connection to the demons. You talked about him last night, but I let it go. But I can't let it go anymore." Don't you see? Every single step you take down that path is one more step toward you making a Contract. How many of those steps did you take yourself? How many were taken for you? You're outside of direct observation right now, but you still meet with the paladins that were charged with killing you if you stepped out of line.

You think they truly stopped judging you? You told me last night that you still met with Inquisitor Lola and David and that other one. Orissa. You're still under observation, because you need to be under observation." You know who I met with before Christmas?" High Priestess Kendrai Redwolf, in Wolf Bayou. It was at the behest of Drakarok. Redwolf had a lot to say about you, about how close you are to Falling yourself." Sally teared up, even though she was still furious.

Mark was still furious, too, but at seeing tears in Sally's eyes and hearing 'Redwolf', Mark's own anger broke. His anger turned to worry. Sally shuddered as she said, "You're being pushed into darkness and you don't have enough connections to the light." Sally stood resolute, as though she knew all the answers to everything. Mark stood dumbfounded that Sally would think this poorly of him. Mark began, "Do you think I can't navigate all this shit, Sally? Beca—"" No one can, Mark.

No one can navigate the War for Life on their own."

"… Because I can't, and I know that. So I have friends! I tell them what's happening in my life and they talk to me, too. You're the only person in my life who hasn't…" Mark took a breath.

"You're angry at me because you're scared, but you haven't been here, so everything is new to you, and I'm pretty sure that you've been lying to me about a WHOLE FUCKING LOT, SALLY. So take a fucking step back and reevaluate your approach. Some fucking 'savior high dragon' claimed me as his fucking brother, and it's been hard adjusting—" Mark cut himself off there, his throat tensing. No more words would come out. Sally shuddered again, tears freely flowing.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here. I'm sorry—" Her words cut off, too. She stepped back. She went into the dining room. After a moment of breathing out miasma, Mark followed. Sally was back at the table, eating.

"Better eat it before it gets cold." … Mark sat down and started eating. The eggs were mush in his mouth and the bacon got chewed, tasteless, and then swallowed. The coffee was too bitter, even with all the cream in it, and now it was cold. Everything was cold—" You're right. I wasn't here," Sally said." Why didn't you show up anywhere, Sally? Not at Citadel, which I can kinda understand why, but not here at Memphi, either. We talked, but weeks went by sometimes between the messages I sent you.

I know they were received either right after I sent them, or within a day, but you didn't respond for weeks." Mark asked the question he didn't want to ask, "Do you hate me?" Sally didn't say 'no' right away. Mark's heart sunk— Sally softly said, "I have always been jealous of you, and loved you, and I have never hated you, and if you were straight and I was too, then that one time we tried dating in middle school never would have ended. So no, I don't hate you, Mark. I love you, and… I don't hate you."

Sally said, "But I am furious that you're still interacting with archmages and… and I can see why you would want to do that. But in a much deeper way I… I'm mad that you're not planning on using your adamantium in the best way possible. You should be overseeing an economic empire, Mark. You should become a high noble, at least! FUCK HUNTING. You could be a billionaire within a year. Do you realize how much a billion actually is? You could do so much more than hunting!

And you need to do more than hunting, Mark, because if you're not economically strong then you're going to be used by the nobles of Daihoon… But you're right. I wasn't here. I'm… I'm sorry." Sally said, "I'm sorry I… I took so long to answer your letters, too. I just got… A lot happened, Mark. Always. Stuff happened all the time. I've… I've lied to you about so much. I'm sorry." Mark looked at Sally, and saw hurt. He saw a lot." I love you, too," Mark said. Moments passed…

Mark tried not to think about how Sally had been lying to him about her entire time on Daihoon. Maybe not the smaller parts, about how she went hunting with her team and how her friends all moved on when Arana was killed by… by something Sally had not said, yet, which was concerning... And all the major parts of her story were lies. Just now she had claimed to be a paladin of Drakarok. Mark had thought she was just an acolyte, and she had said as much days ago. And she had met with Redwolf?

Holy shit, she was in deep, wasn't she. She was going to be an Inquisitor, too. That's what she meant by 'killer of demon mages'— No. Not just an Inquisitor. Sometimes Inquisitors were just paper pushers and investigators and they didn't carry out the declarations of the gods themselves. There was another category of Chosen that Mark hadn't heard of very much, because they were illegal on Earth, because they were the main arm of the Church of Drakarok. The Executioners.

Sally was going to become an Executioner of Drakarok. That's what she wanted. Why would she ever want that? Slowly, carefully, Mark asked, "What happened to you out there, Sally? Not the lies you told me… all of the last year. I had thought you were in a team that was doing well. I get that Arana died, but…" Another thought occurred. A paranoid thought, for sure, but Mark was sure that Sally had a reason for doing what she had done, and how it had all gone down.

Mark said, "I had thought that I would need to work hard to convince you to come here and be a part of my team, our team, as a part of the settlement project… But you came fast. And then you talked about money like we're both not going to be incredibly wealthy hunting monsters, as long as we don't die, and now I'm wondering why. Why did you come here so quickly? What is chasing you, Sally?" Sally held herself still. Silent. She looked to the side, not willing to meet Mark's gaze.

Mark repeated, "What happened out there? And don't lie to me anymore. Please." Sally went back to eating breakfast. Mark finished off his food before she did, but Sally finished soon enough. The two of them sat at the table for a while longer. With a sudden nonchalance that was completely out of place, and an unremarked tear falling from an eye, Sally said, "To make a long horror story short, about four months ago, while you were at Citadel, a mage noble at Harbordock found out that I was connected to you.

I had thought I had kept myself rather quiet, and no one on my team spilled my connections to anyone else. I certainly didn't look the same as Sally Wuthers of the previous year. I eventually found out how he discovered me and targeted me, but at the time… I was hidden, as much as a person could be hidden." I did not discover the noble's subterfuge until three months later, well after the mage noble had dug us deep into some predatory loans for gear…

He was the enchanter I was hiring to make my armor that never happened. It was complicated and I fucked up on agreeing to contracts that I thought I could manage, but I couldn't manage them at all because the work dried up, which is something that happens. I found that out the hard way, too. Work dries up sometimes. Tarek knew that, though. When you have money and work, you have to build a stable house with the money you have while you can, and then let it get you through the lean times… But anyway."

The noble had been summoning demons in secret his whole life to find out the secrets of magic. He was not an archmage and he wasn't willing to do that, but he was trading demons for secrets. He did spying, and he gave them information, and they gave him spellwork in return. But he had racked up debts, because the demons had tricked him into predatory loans, too. He had racked up debts of his own, and some demons sold his debt to another demon." You know the demon that bought his debts." The demon Leash."

The mage guy…" Sally glared at nothing. Her voice was solid as she named, "Alonkai Firesteel of House Firehearth. Alonkai finished my armor and called us in to celebrate the finish, even though I couldn't afford it anymore. He was going to loan it to me on credit and more contracts. I was going to say no, but we were his retainers, so we went to the party anyway… It was all so slick, Mark. The guy acted nice all the time. He wanted to do nice things for us, which was normal for him. He was… he was slick, Mark.

But of course he was." The armor was gorgeous." I tried it on at Alonkai's insistent request. The demon Leash had been imbued into the armor. He showed when I was fully encased and turned the armor into a spike-filled shell, trying to force me to tell him things about you. He was limited in what he could do in the armor and… and it was still not pretty." Arana saved me by damning herself. Somehow she got Leash to leave me by taking a Contract with the demon… and…

And I killed her, and Shane, a pyrokinetic, destroyed the body while Leash was still reforming, and I killed the noble, next. Leash went away, somehow. Upon hearing what he did in Wolf Bayou, I think I better understand what happened back then. I think I manifested Drakarok in that moment, or he descended to me. I became a full paladin… And Drakarok killed the demon, the mage, and destroyed most of the manor." It was not a good day for a lot of people."

I spent a week in a holding cell before Drakarok's clergy cleared me of wrongdoing. And then I came back to Orange City. That was three weeks ago." I was in Orange City the last two weeks, checking out the former homestead and catching up with some cousins who lived at the north end, and..." Sally wiped away the tears flowing down her face. She ended the story there. Quietly, unsure of anything at all, Mark said, "I'm sorry that happened to you." Sally nervously chuckled and her chuckle turned into a cry.

"I loved her so much, Mark." She held her hands up.

"I still feel her blood on my hands sometimes." She started sobbing. Mark went to Sally and held her and she cried onto his chest, and Mark wasn't sure what else happened for the next hour, except they ended up sitting on the couch while Sally told stories of Daihoon, and of her former team. She had only been with them for 8 months, but that was more than enough to truly care about them. Mark was pretty sure she was still lying about small things, and maybe some big things, too, but that didn't really matter.

After the tears were done, came silence. Sally said, "I don't want to be sad anymore."" That's a pretty lofty goal, Sally. All I want to do is resurrect people." Sally stared for a moment, and then she burst out laughing. Mark smiled. Sally laughed more, and something hurtful broke, releasing a flood of joy, for some reason. Pain turned to past-tense, at least for a little while, and Mark chuckled, too. Soon, Sally asked, "Popcorn and funny movies?" Mark breathlessly said, " Yes."

Sally sat up and grabbed the remote. They didn't get a damned thing done all day long, and that was just fine by both of them.