Chương 106: 19 - JUST LIKE ME

The tour of Graceland was educational to say the least. The two nameless women did their best to act like stereotypical tour guides, saying, "If you look to your left," this, and "did you know" that. Well, mostly the new one. The other walked a pace or two behind them, staring holes in T'balt's back like he was going to pull a knife out of it and scream, 'It was a trap all along.' He forced himself to ignore her. After the first few introductions, it was easy to figure out what kept Graceland running. It was loot.

Almost all loot. Everything in the city, organic or otherwise, besides the people, was created or summoned with the power of someone's loot stack. The buildings, the doors, the furniture, the concrete, and the stones that laid out the paths they walked on. There was loot that could do it all. If they needed water, people would report to the water building where a water loot user was assigned to fill their buckets so they could take them home.

This was an essential building that would have at least one manager inside at all hours of the day. It was the same with food. Someone's loot stack specialized in vegetation growth, which meant they could farm their own crops in a matter of seconds. No need for seeds. Not even a need for dirt. Though that meant a mostly vegetarian diet. If they wanted meat, they'd have to go fishing and give their catch to the fire users in the cooking building.

The bottom line was that every person over the age of fourteen was given a job and the loot needed to complete it. Like how the telepathy loot was given to the policewoman so she could effectively serve as a lie detector. It wasn't too different from how T'balt ran the church once he figured out how everything worked. The main difference here was that they seemed to have every type of loot they could ever need.

Once T'balt found Genya and was able to track whatever loot he could think of, he was still limited to what was around town. So he had to build his walls with chunky mounds of earth instead of smooth stone. He had to scavenge the city for food and supplies. But in Graceland, everything was produced in-house. No wonder they never had to leave. But that still left a lot to be desired. The way the woman spoke made it seem like everything they could even need or want could be made in this city.

That didn't explain why so much of it looked rundown and abused.

"It usually looks nicer than this," the redheaded woman said as they walked down a path between buildings.

"But I guess Uriel isn't feeling it right now." T'balt remembered that name and the statue in the middle of town labeled the bestower.

"Is Uriel the one who built all this? Uriel Grace?" he asked.

"Pfft, everyone but him built the place. But if you're looking for the master finger pointer, that's your guy." Ellie perked her ears up, entering herself into the chat.

"Is it really THE Uriel Grace? From the books?" The woman shugged, letting her hands sink into her pockets.

"Uh-uh. I don't know jack about him. He could be made up for all I know." Ellie blew through her lips, again disappointed that no one had been able to answer her question.

"So if you don't know him, how did you even end up here?" T'balt asked.

"Don't you need his permission to be here?" She scoffed, "You don't have his permission. You have mine. And I have someone else's. Well, had at one point. Now we already know everyone, so we know exactly who to talk to get in. Perks of the job, ay, Redeemer." T'balt turned to the dark-haired woman.

"You've been here in other iterations."

"Yes," she said bluntly.

"What's it usually like? In fact, what do you usually do every life? How long have you been Redeeming? I've only been doing it for a little less than a hundred." Even though the tour was nice, he was most eager to finally have a conversation with another Redeemer. A normal one. He'd had hundreds of conversations with Ellie, Cannon, and Acelin, but there were so many things he wanted to say to someone who would actually understand. He wanted to learn what they knew. He wanted to compare notes.

He wanted to get to know someone, someone who understood, someone who he didn't have to repeatedly remind who he was… He paused. So did the woman who looked put off by his sudden excitement. In the end, she just walked past him like he hadn't said anything in the first place. He let his expression, feeling an odd crunch in his stomach. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Hey, you okay?" Acelin asked, looking up at him. T'balt couldn't help but think about the argument they had in that basement.

"Someone who understands…" he thought to himself.

"Yeah. I'm okay. Don't worry about it." He said. The redhead was looking at him strangely, like there was something she wanted to say, but the other came and whispered something in her ear. It immediately put a bad taste in her mouth, and her demeanor changed.

"Please don't be the sensitive type," the redhead said to T'balt.

"Vienna's just like that. And I am too, if you start getting all weirdo on me."

"Don't worry. I'm not sensitive."

"Yes, you are," said Ellie.

"No I'm not."

"Yes, you are," said Cannon.

"What?"

"Yes, you are," said Acelin.

"Et tu, Acelin?" T'balt dropped his head in some semblance of defeat, but picked it back up when he realized he would've been proving their point.

"Wait… Vienna?" The redhead laughed.

"Whoops. Sorry, I name-dropped you, Vienna. I guess they'll kill us all now." The other, Vienna, maintained a straight face that only briefly flickered with annoyance.

"It's alright. It's not my name I care about them knowing."

"Ughh… You're so overprotective, you know that."

"It's my job."

"A job you don't get paid for and never will again."

"Still my job." The redhead twisted her lips and rolled her eyes.

"I need to find a place to sit. I can't walk for another minute."

"Well, if you took better care of yourself, it'd be easier."

"What are you, my mom too? Bite me."

"Request denied. I do not wish to harm you."

"That was stupid the first time I heard it." She plopped herself down on a staircase, relaxing herself a little too hard on it. She slapped her hand on her protruding stomach with an eye on T'balt.

"I don't usually look like this, you know. But I'm a stress eater. And what's more stressful than the end of the fucking world?" She leaned forward, noticing Acelin.

"You mind if I curse in front of the kid?"

"I mean… a little," T'balt answered. She leaned back.

"They're right. You are sensitive. Who would've thought a Redeemer could be such a little baby? Fine, have it your way." From her coat pocket, she pulled out a carton of cigarettes and stuck one in her mouth.

"Something else I do when I'm stressed or otherwise peeved off. But I only started a few days ago. You want one?" She offered to T'balt.

"Uhh. No thanks," he answered.

"What, worried it'll kill ya?" She started laughing.

"Vienna, hand me a light." On command, Vienna found a fire loot in T'balt's bag and put it on the back of the redhead's neck so she could light her cigarette with her finger. She blew a thick cloud of grey smoke into the air, and her face became awash with relief. She then gestured for T'balt to sit next to her. He did, but the Cannon, Acelin, and Ellie kept standing, though not too close to avoid as much second-hand smoke as they could.

The woman looked satisfied at that, as if that were the whole reason she pulled out the cigarette in the first place. Vienna stood next to them both, hands behind her back. The redhead looked up at her.

"As you can probably tell, Vienna is my bodyguard." T'balt was surprised by that, but then realized he probably shouldn't have been based on the way they interacted.

"Must be weird, having a Redeemer as a bodyguard."

"Yeah… you don't know the half. Someone constantly commanding you, always knowing the rights and the wrongs. The dos and the don'ts. It's exhausting."

"That's not really what I meant. I mean… she's a Redeemer." T'balt paused, not exactly sure what he was trying to say, leaving the woman to finish for him.

"You mean she's not bound by a contract anymore. No… but if you ask me, I think it's romantic."

"Romantic?"

"Yeah. To be bound to someone in every life. Even though you know you could leave them behind just once, and they'll forget. But you'd know… because you made a promise and when you said forever… You really meant forever." She took a drag of the cigarette.

"I'd marry the shit of Vienna if I could. I tried once… according to her, of course. But it turned out neither of us were very… gay. So we just settled with the symbolic gesture. Isn't that right, Redeemer?" T'balt almost responded, forgetting he wasn't the only Redeemer here anymore.

"Yes, ma'am," Vienna said curtly.

"Don't call me ma'am in front of our new friend." She leaned to whisper to T'balt.

"She's really older than me, I swear." She smiled, almost teasingly. She didn't look any older than T'balt, a few years maybe. He would've guessed early thirties at most. T'balt smiled back.

"I know what you mean, though. There are people I wouldn't leave behind either." She took another drag.

"Maybe you should. I mean, a kid. And by the looks of you, he isn't yours. You should really consider finding him a daycare. I mean, Vienna wasn't above locking him in the basement for the rest of his life just for being associated with you. She's cold like that. And she's one of the nicer ones."

"I'm sorry, ma'am." T'balt raised his voice, carrying a tone of insult.

"I can worry about my people myself." She groaned.

"See Vienna, look what you started. You're gonna have the whole world calling me ma'am. I'm telling him my name now, whether you like it or not." Vienna stared.

"Don't." The redhead looked her dead in the eye.

"Tyene." And she smirked defiantly.

"Look at that. Now he knows… I don't know what you think he's going to do. He's about as intimidating as a pack of mild taco sauce." Vienna closed her eyes, sighing without sighing.

"He might try to find where you live in the next life."

"And if he does? Shoot him in the face. I don't care. It's not like he even knows my last name anyway."

"Umm…" T'balt meekly interrupted.

"Tyene Demue?" They both stared at him, dumbfounded. Then Tyene frowned.

"Like I said, shoot him in the face." Vienna suddenly reached into her back pocket as if the woman meant, shoot him in the face right now.

"Wait!" T'balt put his hands up, pleading innocence.

"I have a letter for you. A letter from German Casas."