Chương 191: 15. The Feeling Is Clearly Mutual

Lady Talla Goa Baanu's life has taken a strange direction since the ill-fated expedition to the unnamed convergence point in the ringward mountains that form the de facto border between the Stebaa Empire and the former colonies of the Blessed Lands. Though her correspondences from home are fairly sparse, she's confirmed that she is not currently considered a fugitive of the empire, unlike the ones in her company.

However, her mother and sister both agree that it would be best if she stayed in exile for a time, as her association with said fugitives is still a matter of some contention, and it's easier for them to handle such matters while she isn't actually present to interrogate. So, for the first time in her life, she finds herself entirely free to journey and explore the world at her leisure, like one of the [Adventurers] of old.

Or Fargo, she supposes, but she's always felt like his tales of adventure are mostly just an excuse to keep his hosts entertained while freeloading. She's had to reconsider, lately, but her image of him as a layabout and braggart hasn't quite disappeared. It could be worse, of course, most freeloaders don't come with adorable furry companions like Taaka.

Once, the Order of Rangers were little more than a loosely associated guild of adventurers themselves, before becoming the more specialized organization they are now. In that way, perhaps it could be considered a return to the roots of her profession. Somehow, though, she suspects that her ancient predecessors probably didn't have to trudge through mud and rain inside the dream of a friend whose multiple egos cannot stop bickering with each other.

"Are you even going in the right direction?" Maggie complains.

"I swear we've been walking for fucking hours."

"It's only been twenty minutes," Vi sighs.

"And be quiet, we're supposed to be trying to track down a monster."

"Nothing can hear us, dipshit! We're not actually here, we're in a dream."

"And I can't hear anything over your constant whining!" Talla knew that they didn't get along—they've always had a tendency to snipe at each other in conversations when Talla listened in with the [Message] trick that Maggie taught her—but until now it never occurred to her just how much Violet and Maggie hate each other. It's more than just a difference in opinion—there's some fundamental incompatibility there that makes each of them perceive the other's every action in the worst light possible.

It's as if Violet could offend Maggie by drinking water, and vice versa. Fascinating to watch, but incredibly frustrating to work with. Made all the more frustrating that Maggie's shyness has apparently gotten even worse since Talla made the decision to more seriously consider the potential of Chaos magic—as a potential domain supported by the [World Engine], if nothing else. Technically, the [Message] trick is already a foray into the forbidden, by many dogmatic standards.

It never particularly bothered Talla, since in principle it's not much different from overdrawing a skill or twisting one into a purpose beyond that which is intended. Then again, even those are considered sins by some sects—albeit unenforceable ones.

"Why are you two always butting heads, anyway?" Talla asks. She doubts that she'll be able to resolve whatever conflicts exist between the two, especially if Allie hasn't been able to do so already, but maybe getting them to talk about it will be enough for them to stop fighting for a minute. The two glance back at her as if they'd forgotten she was even there, and Talla is struck by how different they are despite looking like twins.

Magdalena's expression is harsh, at first, but then she looks away immediately, her skin flushing red as it does sometimes when they are angry or embarrassed. Violet, on the other hand, keeps her expression flat. When they first met, Talla thought that Vi had more muted emotions, but after getting to know her better she now knows it to be an intentional affectation. The stronger she feels about something, the more Vi tries to hide her expressions. Within the dream, they even look slightly different.

Violet's hair is almost as short as it was when they first met, and tied up into a ponytail, while her clothes are a mix of the strange outfit they first wore and some of the newer clothes they've obtained since, all more worn than their real-life counterparts. By contrast, Maggie's hair is exactly the same as their real body, unbrushed and lazily tied together in a low ponytail to keep it out of her face.

Her clothes are unrecognizable—a strange hooded shirt made of a thick fabric, and simple loose pants made of the same.

"Have we ever told you what happened the first time Maggie woke up?" Vi asks impassively.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Maggie mutters darkly, staring at the ground.

"You're still on about that?"

"She shut Allie and I out," Vi goes on, ignoring her.

"Then ran off, nearly got us eaten by worms, and lost most of the food we had just risked our life to earn." Maggie turns away even further, crossing her arms.

"That was an accident! And I was fucked up from getting thrown face-first into the magical cosmos against my will. I apologized, didn't I?" Talla winces. Magical initiation is often quite traumatizing, and a lot of her own apprenticeship involved mentally preparing her for that. Given Maggie's positive expression of magical strain, some erratic behavior would be the least of her concerns, and it explains much of what happened at the convergence point when they met.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"Did you?" Violet asks.

"I mean really? Do you even remember? That's the problem, Maggie! Even if you did apologize, would you have meant it? Do you ever? You only cooperate when you have no other choice, because the only person you care about is yourself!" Talla can only watch in fascinated horror as Maggie's body language completely reverses. She had been hunching her shoulders and turning away guiltily, but all at once she straightens her back and whirls on Violet with absolute conviction.

"Me?!" she hisses furiously.

"I'm not the one who got Saban killed by refusing to heal him!" Oh. Oh no.

"Wait..." Talla tries to step in, realizing her mistake too late. Violet's face is an expressionless mask, and her voice cold as ice, but the white-knuckled grip on her spear gives away her true emotions as she responds.

"I made the best decision I could for our survival," she says.

"For all of us. What happened to him was tragic, but I won't apologize for it."

"See?!" Maggie scoffs, addressing Talla hysterically without actually meeting her eyes.

"He was your friend, wasn't he? And she—!"

"Yes!" Talla snaps.

"He was. And I don't appreciate you dragging out his corpse to win an argument." It breaks her heart a little to see how quickly Maggie shrinks back in on herself at the rebuke, but the smug satisfaction on Violet's face raises her ire even further.

"That goes for both of you!" she adds, turning her attention on Vi.

"You know first hand how bad magical initiation is. I'm not saying it's a valid excuse, and I won't pretend to understand how you felt at the time, but to hold a grudge over it, even now? I thought you said you weren't children." Vi's grip on her spear tightens even as the neutral mask on her face holds. She stays silent for a long moment, matching Talla's gaze, then turns away.

"This is a waste of time," she declares.

"We should get back to work."

"No," Talla insists.

"We're not finished here." Violet turns back to her, an expression of wide-eyed surprise slipping through her mask, as if she didn't even consider the possibility that Talla wouldn't just let her change the subject.

"That little trick might work on Allie," Talla scolds her.

"But I'm not afraid of getting anybody mad at me. You still think you're completely blameless in the animosity between the two of you, don't you?" Vi blinks.

"What? No, of course not. I'm not always as patient with her as I could be, but—""That!" Talla interrupts.

"Right there! That's exactly what I'm talking about. If your only fault is reacting to her barbs, then you don't really think there's any fault at all."

"You can't seriously be taking her side," Violet says.

"The fact that you think there's a side to be taken is precisely the problem, Violet," she insists.

"You've drawn a line between yourself and Maggie, such that your relationship can only ever be defined by degrees of conflict. Maybe she started the fight, or maybe she didn't—I can't say. But to me, it's very clear that you are the one keeping that fire lit." Violet crosses her arms defensively, still holding the spear in the crook of her elbow.

"I have been perfectly willing to mend that bridge," she says.

"Yet Maggie remains as rude, selfish, and mean-spirited as ever."

"That's just who she is, Vi."" Hey!" Maggie protests weakly.

"And I'm not saying you have to like her," Talla continues, ignoring the protest.

"But I think you do, anyway. I don't think you actually mean to keep picking this fight, but you're not going to be able to stop without acknowledging that you're doing it in the first place."

"Wait, what?" Maggie interjects, baffled enough by Talla's words to briefly forget her nerves.

"Have you not been paying attention? She clearly hates me."

"And the feeling is clearly mutual," Violet adds. Talla shakes her head and chuckles. It's almost too close to some of the arguments her brothers have gotten into—literally butting heads and sometimes even drawing blood over mutual misunderstandings.

"Violet, you wouldn't have confronted me before if you didn't care about Maggie," Talla reminds her.

"And Maggie, I know for a fact that you went easy on Violet after her initiation."

"I mean, yeah," Maggie admits, awkwardly scuffing the ground with a foot.

"Even I'm not that much of a bitch."

"The problem, as I've said, is that you defined Maggie as an adversary during your first encounter, and you've been too stubborn to reconsider it since."

"That's not true," Violet argues.

"I did the same with Evelyn, but I've reconsidered in the time since." Talla sighs.

"That's because underneath all the stress and confusion of your first encounters with each other, Evelyn is a sweetheart—if a little stubborn. Maggie is..." She trails off, trying to find a polite way to describe the abrasive mask Maggie wears with the people around her.

"A huge fuckin' bitch!" Maggie declares proudly.

"Yes, that," Talla agrees, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Maggie makes it hard to like her. And she does it on purpose, which I can only assume you already know."

"And how is that supposed to be my fault?" Violet asks.

"It isn't. Maggie brandishing her horns at everyone around her isn't your choice," she explains.

"But meeting them is." Vi huffs, unable to hide her frustration.

"So then my only fault is reacting to her? You're contradicting yourself, Talla." Maggie snorts.

"Holy fuck, Vi. You're not that stupid. Don't make her spell it out for you."

"You're not helping," Talla groans.

"I'm not trying to," Maggie replies defiantly. At least she's not acting shy anymore.

"I suppose you're trying to say that I rise to Maggie's provocations because of how I frame our relationship," Violet answers slowly.

"I'm not sure that I agree, but I can at least see the logic in it. Even if you're right, though, that's not something that can change overnight."

"I'm not saying it is," Talla agrees.

"Nor that it's your responsibility alone. Just remember that you're not enemies. You're... sisters? Or something like it. You owe it to each other to at least try to reach an understanding." Both of them fall into quiet contemplation, then jerk their heads in such a perfectly synchronized expression of shock that Talla can almost see the common foundation that they were both born from.

Reverie's translucent form shimmers into being between them, still wearing that silly helmet, the effect lessened slightly by her grave expression.

"We found the monster," she says.

"Time to wake up."