Chapter Two: Seeing Red And White
“What do you mean we still can’t leave?” Jane whined.
“I mean that I need more time to work things out,” I replied. “My initial plan failed so now I need to think of another one. That’s all.”
“We’ve been here over a week. Have you even talked to your boss yet? I can talk to him if you want. I can be quite convincing,” Jane said.
I ignored her offer.
“Yes, I’ve talked to him. He declined my initial proposition.”
“And? Anything else?” Jane asked.
“He offered to made a bet with impossible terms. Taking it would all but guarantee failure. I’ll need to think of something better.”
“What was the bet?” Evyrus asked, marking his first question in the entire exchange.
“He’s a former coordinator. He said he’ll let me go if I can win the contest on the eighteenth.”
“And why is that hard? Evyrus and I are going to have to crush gym leaders or frontier brains or whatever. Contests aren’t even real battling.”
“Just gym leaders,” I corrected. “Frontier is probably unviable right now.”
“Whatever,” she pouted.
“Anyway, it’s impossible because I don’t have any pokémon. Most of the people who enter Celestic contests aren’t even that good, but they’re certainly better than a girl who’s had her team for a little over a week. Losing the bet would effectively kill any chance I have of leaving. So, it looks like we’re back to the drawing board.”
“You don’t have any pokémon?” Jane asked.
“I’ve said that before.”
“Still sticking with that story?”
I looked at Evyrus. His expression didn’t make it clear if he knew why Jane was suddenly curious about this topic. “Yes, it’s the truth.”
She glared at me as her eyes flashed metallic. “People don’t lie on Ek. You’re one of the first liars I’ve met. I hate liars. I want the truth.”
I felt her mental offenses pressing against my safeguards and made a strong effort to fight back. If she was anywhere near as strong as her ralts it was hopeless. But symbolic defiance can be important when it’s the only kind you have.
“I thought we had rules about mental boundaries,” I said.
“Yes, yes we do,” Evyrus agreed. “Jane, if you’re attacking Aracai, please stop. We’re going to need trust if we can get through this.”
“I can’t trust liars,” she said. “I want the truth.”
We kept glaring at each other and she kept prodding my mind. But she never made a serious attempt to break in. She was putting up a symbolic offense at that point. Those could be important, too.
“If that’s settled,” Evyrus said, “let’s talk about some other options. I think Jane and I would like at least a little input on this, or at least would like to know what your thought processes are.”
“Alright,” I said, reluctantly. It was my choice to make. But I didn't want to fight both of them.
“Sounds good,” Jane agreed.
“Something I’ve been wondering, Aracai: why can’t we help? You might not like it but Jane could just do some psychic work and we could be done with the whole mess.”
“Because of the message it sends,” I replied without hesitation. “I don’t need some outsider to come in and swoop me out of the situation that the maori have conned me into taking. I want to do it myself. Need to do it myself. It’s how I operate and how I made my reputation.”
“I, um, I don’t really get it,” Evyrus replied.
I sighed in exasperation. “Were there systemically oppressed minority groups where you lived?” I asked.
“Dialga didn’t like the people trying to overthrow him. I think what he did qualified as oppression.”
“Were there people not actively trying to overthrow Dialga that Dialga persecuted anyway?” I clarified.
“Kind of everyone.”
“Well, you probably wouldn’t get it. Jane? Any reference point for you?”
She was silent and still. Both were unusual for her.
Yes, Jewel said for her.
She has a reference point.
I was now curious, but it was clear I wasn’t going to get an answer from her then. “So she gets it. I can’t just rely on outside help to get me out of it. It’s something I’ve got to do myself.”
“I need to get going. Bye,” Jane said before disappearing in a teleportation flash with Jewel.
I frowned. “She can teleport?”
“I just kind of assume that she can do everything a psychic type can do and then some,” Evyrus said.
“You still want to talk about options, or would you rather go and deal with her?”
“You scare me much less than she does. I think I’ll stay with you. Besides, who knows where she’s actually at now.”
“Alright, I don’t have much longer to talk, but we can talk about a few things. You wanted to know about options, right? Other things we can do if this spectacularly fails?”
“I actually wanted to know what your current plan—“
“I don’t have one.” I looked him straight in the eyes. “I don’t have one. I never really did. I figure I’ll come up with something eventually, but…” I trailed off and brushed my bangs aside as my gaze fell to the ground. “I don’t think I will right now. What’s probably going to happen is that you’ll have to go on with Jane and occasionally call back to me if you need to know something.”
“Please don’t do that,” Evyrus said. “Please don’t. I have no idea what I’m doing here and Jane, well, she thinks she knows things much better than she does. We’d probably both get hopelessly lost or violate every social taboo there is within a week"—I clamped my mouth shut instead of asking if that included public indecency—"Then we’d be arrested or mocked or something else that would keep us from ever saving the world. We need you. We’ll need you with us.”
I met his gaze. “I’m not letting Jane solve my problems for me.”
“What if it was that or the end of the universe?”
We sat in silence for nearly two minutes before I stood to leave. As I walked away, I finally answered.
“I’d think about it, maybe.”
--//|=
My father enjoyed his dinner far too much to provoke me about the promotion. Maybe he knew about the bet. Maybe he didn’t. Either way, for his stomach’s sake he didn’t confront me until it was almost impossible not to. I played nicely. The curry that night wasn’t even all that hot by my standards.
“Dinner’s good, Shastra,” my mother said. “Good job.”
Which likely meant: thank you for not doing that thing you did yesterday again.
“Very much so,” my sister Maya added. “I do like some of your spicier food though.”
“I don’t,” my father said between bites. “There’s a limit to how hot even Indian food should be. What’d you even use last night, ghost pepper?”
“Only a little,” I answered. “They aren’t cheap so I can’t use much. I still have a couple more stowed away if you want to try them again.”
That was about the end of complaints about my cooking. It’s how I learned soft power. You don’t have to be stronger than your opponent if they are utterly dependent on you for the essentials of life. Usually the people providing the essentials just don’t realize how much power they have.
“How was your day, dear?” My father asked my mother.
“Aadi’s doing well for the most part. I spent a few hours with him and Dhwani at their home. They’re almost settled in.” She paused. “There are a few legal issues for them. She might lose her job and since she’s from India and Aadi’s Guyanan there could be some problems. They hope everything will turn out alright.”
In case you didn’t pick it up there: Aadi is my oldest brother. Total straight edge, suck up, honor-your-parents-and-traditions-above-all-else type of guy. He is married to another more or less permanent vaira. Of course, since neither of them had citizenship or a easy pathway to legal residency in the other’s country things could get tricky if one of them got deported. Their employers knew it. Aadi might have been working for less than I was. Not that he would complain, of course.
My father nodded. If he had an emotional reply to give he would do so later in private, ideally when his children were away. The apartment we shared was really too small to get emotional in secret.
“And your day, Jayu?”
“Alright, I guess.”
“Good, good.” The conversation turned to cricket, which almost made me feel bad. He never asked Maya how her day was because he kind of hated her, so excluding me was definitely not a sign of endearment.
--//|=
“Anything bothering you?” Jayu asked as he finished setting up a chessboard.
We were in a run-down park near the apartment. It was usually deserted, largely because the swing set was rusty and would probably break if anyone actually tried to use it. The table was functional and it was a quiet place, so Jayu preferred to play chess here.
“You could say that,” I replied as I eyed the board. He challenged me to a game of chess every day. There’s a stereotype that intelligent people are very good at that game. Some probably are. I’m not. I couldn’t have been any fun to play, but for some reason he kept challenging me. I kept playing because I liked talking to him and it was the best way of doing so.
“Nan told me about the bet,” he said. “Why the hell did you take it?”
“I didn’t,” I blurted out. For a minute my mind shut down in shock. Was Nanakia not even letting me decline his deals? “It was stupid and impossible so I didn’t. Did he say otherwise?”
“No, he didn’t clarify. I just thought you’d take any challenge thrown at you.” He laughed to himself before his expression turned serious again. “Why the hell did you make it, then?”
“He did. Can we get to playing?”
Jayu shook his head. “Can we talk first? This is big.”
“Fine.”
“Why did you let him make it? Why do you want to leave?”
“Jayu, I…” Much to his credit, I contemplated telling him the truth. “It’s complicated. I have reasons that I really want to tell you about, but can’t?”
“You pregnant?” He asked. “****, you’re pregnant, aren’t you? That’s why you want to get away. I swear if that bastard—“
“No, no. Definitely not pregnant. Nothing like that,” I interjected. “I, uh, you know I wouldn’t let him do that, right?”
Jayu smiled a little. “Of course, sorry about that. But seriously, why do you want to leave?”
“It’s just something I have to do now,” I said. “Can we leave it at that?”
He moved his hand towards the board as if he wanted to motion for me to move. For a moment he held it there before he pulled it back.
“What do you want?” he asked.
“I thought we just went over that. It’s complicated.”
“No, bigger than that. What do you want out of life? What do you want to do here,” he motioned broadly upon saying the word ‘here.'
“My answer to a specific question is too complicated to tell you, so ask me a bigger question and expect an answer?”
He laughed. “Basically.”
I stared at the board and lifted a pawn after a minute of feigned consideration. I had no idea what I was doing.
“No, seriously. What do you want?”
“I don’t know, probably the same thing as everybody else,” I said.
“And that is?”
“To leave this place better than I found it.”
“And you think that everyone wants that?”
“Yes, yes I do.”
“Cyrus?”
“I think in his view of the world, he was trying to make the world better. That just happened to mean destroying it for him.”
“Hitler?”
“Why does everyone always invoke Hitler?” I complained.
“He’s a pretty well agreed upon definition of evil.”
“He didn’t kill puppies,” I said. “So if he’s the definition of evil, then killing puppies can’t be evil. And all vegetarians must be evil. He was vegetarian. So both of us are monsters.”
“You know you’re defending Hitler, right?”
“I’m not. I’m just objecting to your statement.”
“Alright, alright. But my question still stands. Did Hitler really just want to make the world better?”
I sighed. “Look, probably. He might have done some bad things to do it, but in his mind I think he wanted to make things better. He just wasn’t terribly good at it and his view of ‘the world’ was rather limited.”
“So which world do you want to make better?” Jayu asked.
I rolled my eyes. “This one. It will inevitably get better. It just needs people to guide it along.”
“So you want to leave to guide things along?”
“I, um, no. That’s not quite the whole reason.” I had forgotten that he was at least my equal in manipulating conversations and people. “It’s complicated and not that personal. But what do you want, anyway, while we're asking?
“Eh. I’m not sure I have some big want yet. I think too many people rush into it and by the time they find out that it doesn’t bring them happiness it’s too late. So I just want to talk to people. Figure out what they want and try to help them with it. Maybe when I’ve worked things out they’ll return the favor. I figured I might as well start with you.”
I nodded and looked back at the board, more out of courtesy than understanding.
“If we’re still going to play, it’s your turn.”
--//|=
By the end of the next school day I had been praying on and off for roughly eight hours and still had nothing close to an answer. I had prayed to Shiva, Saraswati, Kali, Murugan and many, many others. Just as the last bell rang and I had to make one final trip to my locker and then head off to work, a strange thought occurred to me:
Why not try Dialga?
It made sense. She was technically my patron, even if we’d had a rough history. Besides, she obviously had something of an interest in not letting Coronet get overrun again.
I didn't have any relevant prayers memorized, so I had to improvise. I am bad at improvised prayer. It ended up roughly like this:
Hey, Dialga. Look, I get that we’ve had some issues in the past. I’ll be the first to apologize. I’m sorry for blowing up your temple that one time. To my credit, I haven’t even done it yet! It was an accident anyway, more or less. There just happened to be people in there I needed to take care of and my orders got a little muddled. Point is, I’m sorry. Now, if you could give me some help with saving the world like I’m supposed to do, and more specifically getting me out of Celestic so I can save the world, it would be appreciated.
Thank you.
--//|=
Dialga must have hated me a lot more than I expected. She answered.
--//|=
When I walked out of school, I saw Evyrus standing near the entrance. He looked really uncomfortable. That was normal. I don’t think he had ever seen a settlement of humans nearly as large as Celestic City, which wasn’t even large by Sinnoh standards. He saw me walking towards him and smiled. His chatot fluttered off of his shoulder when he started to move and his infernape began to walk towards me on her knuckles.
“Hey,” I called. “Any reason you decided to meet me today?”
Especially at a place where we would be seen together. News traveled fast in vaira communities. I doubted it would be taken well if I was seen walking with a slightly older man that my parents didn’t know. If nothing else, I would have to add it to the increasingly long list of things I needed to explain.
“I just wanted to talk without Jane present,” he said. “I can talk to her without you a lot, and, no offense to her or anything, I need a break sometimes.”
“I can identify with that,” I said.
We walked into the tree line to go along my favorite path in the woods. I briefly considered if that would make the inevitable talk at home even worse, but figured that I was probably in for much worse when I had to break the news I was leaving anyway. I might as well get a preview.
“Has Jewel talked to you yet?” he asked.
“Ugh, yes. I thought her trainer was bad, but at least she isn’t psychotic magic hippy.”
“Is that what you call people like her?” Evyrus asked.
“It refers more to people like her who are way too high to bother with killing you.”
“High? Like, mountains?”
“Add it to the list of Earth-things I need to explain to you,” I replied.
“OK.” A pause settled in as we walked over the wet grass. It had rained earlier that day. It often rained in spring. “What did Jewel say to you?”
“She assumed I was hellbent on killing Jane and threatened to further de-age me, or just outright kill me. I don’t think ralts actually have time powers, so probably the latter.”
“Kirlia,” he said. “The damn thing evolved. Flaunts her body constantly to my partners. If she was smug before, you can’t even imagine her now.”
“Oh. Wow. Sorry you have to live with her.”
Evyrus’ chatot loudly screeched at a nearby pachirisu before flying after it, chattering incessantly.
“Chatot! You don’t have to pay back every insult,” Evyrus yelled.
As he rushed forward and alternated between lecturing his chatot and apologizing to the pachirisu, an interesting thought occurred to me.
“You can speak to all pokémon?” I asked. “Not just yours?”
“I spent long enough surrounded by the language to pick it up,” he said.
“So you can actually speak it?”
“A little. It’s hard to do with a human mouth. Most of the pokémon here seem to get the basics of the local human language as well, even though the species don’t seem to get along as well as they did at home.”
“It makes sense. The maori hunted pokémon for a long time here before, allegedly, the local legendaries took action against it. They probably learned as a survival tactic.”
Evyrus looked appalled as he stared at me with a half-open mouth, his hand almost clenching at his side.
“That was a very long time ago,” I clarified. “A couple hundred years before I was born. And it also wasn’t my ancestors, mind you. Indians had much more respect for the animals and pokémon of our lands.”
Another pause, this one far more awkward, filled the void in our conversation. Eventually Evyrus filled the gap with the aspect of the human experience most intricately linked to senseless violence:
“So, uh, in the past, future, whatever thing—“
“Just the future,” I corrected.
“Right, that. Anyway, in the future, were you married or anything?”
“Engaged,” I said. “Had been engaged for a few years. We wanted to put off the ceremony until the demon was defeated. By the time it became clear that wasn’t happening, well, it seemed altogether too depressing to actually get married and we had much bigger things to deal with.”
“Oh,” he said. “So, did he die?”
“I take it your culture is rather heteronormative,” I said.
“What?”
“It means that the cultural values reflect straight relationships. Huge problem here in Sinnoh, at least in the parts where the Brigadiers are popular. You just assumed I was dating a guy.”
Evyrus blinked. “You were engaged to another girl?”
“If I was what difference would it make? In any case, I was bleeding out when the world ended so I was actually more dead than my partner.”
“So you were dying?”
“If you want to be technical I still am. And so are you. But at that point I was dying a lot faster than I am now.”
He dropped the conversation. We were close enough to my workplace. He said goodbye and left. He didn’t shake hands or hug or anything like that. He didn’t seem to like touch very much at all. It made him even more uncomfortable than normal.
--//|=
Hey, you. I want to talk.
I looked around the laundry room to figure out where the voice was coming from.
I’m not there. I’m back at the Center.
“Jane?” I asked, mentally.
Yes, she replied.
I thought we had an agreement about mental privacy?
How is basic telepathy violating your privacy?
You knew I was looking around.
She didn’t reply for a moment.
Fine, I’ll stick to telepathy.
So, what do you want to talk about? I asked.
Evyrus is out and, while you’re still a liar and I might hate you, you’re the only person I can talk to outside of Jewel. I could talk to people in the lobby, I guess.
Don’t do that.
Alright, then I’m talking to you, liar.
Why am I a liar? I asked.
Because you lied to me, she responded.
About what?
You know what.
No, I really don’t. Please tell me.
You’re lying again.
I shifted my attention back to work. This was a pointless conversation. Then my hands stopped folding towels. Trying to do so just made my arm muscles strain against themselves until I felt like I might tear my body apart.
Jane, bodily possession is most definitely a violation of privacy and I suggest you drop it right now.
Then talk to me.
I have some serious psychological issues with possession. It would hurt our cause if I had a breakdown in the middle of work.
Why? How’d you get those?
I don’t like talking about it and if you probe my memory for it, I will kill you. No mercy. No regrets.
She was silent for a minute.
How would you do that?
I chose to ignore the question. I already had enough things I was dealing with that I needed to do and had no way of doing.
I’m starting to panic a little. Please let me go.
She complied, mercifully.
So are you going to tell your boss no today?
I already did. I don’t need to again.
Meet with him at all?
He might come down to check on me and/or check me out. That would be it.
I see.
She was silent for another hour and a half.
--//|=
I decided to eat lunch alone in a corner of the hotel’s basement that was old enough most people had never encountered it or didn’t give it much thought. The hotel was old, even by Sinnoh standards. Portions of the underground were still earthen, even as the rest was updated so that it only looked like a relic. Tourists liked the idea of old things, but they didn’t want to live in one.
Unfortunately, solitude can only be chosen if all other parties agree to respect it.
“Hello, Shastra. Odd seeing you down here.”
Nanakia strolled into the dank room, looking extremely out of place in his elaborate jacket surrounded by the smells and sights of the mud that humanity had used with before we found less natural, more desirable diversions.
“Just eating alone. Why are you here?” I asked.
I had left my pepper spray in my backpack in the laundry room. This was going to be resolved by talking alone.
As he began to reply, Nanakia’s glaceon walked into the room and the temperature instantly dropped. The fox grimaced as she stained her perfect white fur brown with an unfortunate brush against the wall.
He picked his pokémon up, letting some of the mud rub against his jacket, but didn’t seem to mind. For a moment I wondered if he might get frostbite.
“I had to inspect the facilities from time to time for the bureaucrat’s sake. The hotel’s older than their grandparents and they still question its safety.”
“I see,” I said. “They obviously don’t respect tradition."
“Not in the slightest, no one in government does. We’ve run this land our own way for centuries but the damn Enterprisers wonder how we ever survived without regulation and free trade. As long as they make a buck, well, to hell with Sinnoh.”
“I see.”
“As you should. So, you thought over the wager anymore?”
Yes, yes I had as a matter of fact. And I still wasn’t willing to take it. I’m sorry.
“Yes, yes I have as a matter of fact. And I’ve changed my mind.”
You can guess which one I meant to say.
JANE! It is possible to mentally yell. I was doing it.
“Really?” Nanakia asked.
“Yes,” my mouth said. “You’re on.”
I swear, if you don’t let me take back control of my body right now, I will rip you limb from limb and leave you for the staraptor.
You can try, she replied.
“Well, then, I suppose you won’t mind if Snowflake and I get into the action ourselves? Since you have agreed, and I have a vested interest in the outcome, it only makes sense that I be allowed to participate.”
Three thoughts popped into my head: 1) That was the absolute least original name I had ever heard for a glaceon. 2) Jane, please don’t make this any worse. 3) Dialga, if you are in any way responsible for this please know that I can now blow up your temple a second time, this time around for actual vengeance.
I wouldn’t threaten beings far more powerful than me if even I can do this to you, Jane said.
You are the single most despicable ***** I’ve ever met, and I have known more genocidal maniacs than any person ever should.
“Fine by me, if you’re fine returning to a loss.”
“Well, then. If you’re so cocky about it this should be a great match. I look forward to seeing what you bring next Saturday.”
Please renegotiate to the next Saturday, if at all possible. Please. Please. Please. Please.
Thanks for using the magic word.
“Wait, if you’re going to enter can we push back the contest a week?”
“Not quite so confident now, are you?”
“Well, I need something to beat ice types. I was more prepared for the usual trainers.”
Nanakia chuckled. “Fine, fine. But that’s as far as I’ll push it back. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have more of the hotel to inspect.”
He left me alone in the moist, earthy cavern. I found myself staring at his retreating form, watching as his immaculate clothes disappeared into the darkness.
Jane, I asked,
What could have possibly given you the impression that was a good idea?"
You have a pokémon.
I paused for a long time.
You think I’m a liar because of that?!
You do own one.
Only… no. I’m not having this argument now. Let me go. I need to be let go.
What’s the magic word?
I gave her two. They served their intended purposes.
--//|=
When I got out of work I ran to the Pokémon Centre, utterly oblivious to the misshapen paths and the Brigadiers and the pedestrians and the other vaira. They didn’t matter.
Long before I reached my destination my vision was already filled with red.
--//|=
When I got close to the Centre itself I saw Evyrus standing outside with his infernape. He saw me and moved to block my path. I didn’t slow down. He visibly sighed and started walking towards me, his infernape moving beside him. I tried changing paths a little, but his infernape easily outmaneuvered me. I came to a stop. There was going to be a confrontation and, while I might be able to overpower Evyrus despite his considerable size advantage, I knew from personal experience that a trained infernape was more than a match for any human.
“What do you want?” I called out to him as he finished walking to me.
“What happened with you and Jane? She didn’t say much about it when I got back.”
“She possessed me and made me take the bet. Can you step aside now?”
“I thought we had a ‘no possession’ agreement?”
“As did I.”
Evyrus exhaled and closed his eyes as he analyzed the situation. “I will definitely talk to Jane about that.”
“I don’t think she understands what privacy means, and at this point I doubt she’ll learn before she violates both of ours completely.”
“No, no she gets what privacy means. She just doesn’t get that most humans aren’t psychic.”
“What?”
“When I came in and talked to her about what she did, she justified herself by saying that you would have fought back if you were actually uncomfortable. She thought she was doing you a favor.”
“I was fighting back. I’m a black belt at two mental defense arts. I was fighting back as hard as nearly anyone can.”
“But it still barely even registered to her. Think about that. Barely registered.”
“I think I can make an impact that registers with her. Let me. Step aside.”
Evyrus raised a hand as if he was going to put it on my shoulder in some fraternal, condescending gesture. Then he withdrew at the last moment.
“If she can override your body, how do you plan on hurting her?”
“She caught me by surprise. I’m angry now. Very angry. I can take her.”
“Maybe so. But what about Jewel? If she sees you trying to kill her trainer… I wouldn’t want to be in Celestic. Mew knows what she would do. You can’t talk to her now, much less try to attack her.”
“And does that justify her actions? I spent almost two decades laboring in conditions far beneath me because I was afraid of people. Then I decided to fight back and my fears weren’t justified. They were reversed. I might be sixteen again, but I swear that I will not again be controlled by power alone.”
“Aracai, you’re yelling. You might want to quiet down if you want to avoid attention.”
“Do I look like I care?”
“No.”
“It was a rhetorical question.”
“I figured as much. What I’m trying to say is that if you really, really want to do it, I would wait. Just ride the journey out. You can't just let billions of people die because you two don't get along. We need her power and your knowledge to get through this.”
I grimaced. I didn’t like it. Jane needed to die painfully and soon. But he had a point.
“Fine. I’ll hold back for now. You still might not get to see me on the journey if, no, when I lose to Nanakia.”
“You think I’d let that happen? Or Jane, for that matter?”
“I expect you to respect my wishes and stay out of my business.”
Evyrus shrugged. “If you lose, I’m not sure I can stop Jane from pulling some strings. She’s already anxious to leave and now she’ll have to wait a few more days at best.”
“Weeks,” I corrected. “I got her to push it back a week.”
“Well, then, if you won’t be too busy training Friday night, there’s someone coming into town. He sounds like he’s stirring up unrest. Could be bad news for us.”
“Did you get a name?”
“Urayu.”
“Oh… no."
I smiled a little, rage lessening. Urayu... I'd never met the man. He'd died before I had gotten involved in revolutionary politics, but he was a legend still. As Sinnoh started to fall apart he had always been there, keeping the most vulnerable safe from the wrath of the demagogues. He had built them a safe haven in the Pacific and paid the ultimate price for it... huh. It hadn't occurred to me before that he, and others I had only heard honored as martyrs were still walking around with flesh and blood.
"Urayu's not a threat. He’s on our side.”
“OK then, I guess. I guess I can’t complain about being allied with troublemakers. It’s happened before.”
He sighed, off in some distant memory as a strange mix of sadness and happiness flowed from his person. He was content. I was tolerant. Jane would avoid her death for a little while longer. I saw clearly now the path ahead on that front. I would bide my time. Regrow my own powers and learn the limits of Jane's. And then, when the world was safe, I would watch her lifeless corpse fall down to Earth. I was damned anyway. What was one more body on the pile?
But Evyrus didn't need to know that. It made no difference to the safety of the planet and thus was none of his concern.
"Well, then, I still need supplies. I've got a vague plan on how to do this, if not a good one."
I stepped forward towards the center and Evyrus, perhaps noticing the shift in my mood or perhaps lost in his own reflections, stepped a little bit aside to let me pass. Our fingers just barely brushed as I moved.
Right as I stepped passed him, he fell to the ground unconscious.
