Chapter 360: 360. Unfinished Business

“Feeling any better?” Dallion asked as he and Veil made their way back to the inn.

“Can’t tell yet,” the blond replied. It had been a few minutes since he’d taken the cure. So far, the only thing that was for certain was that it didn’t contain poison. As for everything else, it would be at last half a day to tell whether the symptoms subsided or not.

Do you think he was telling the truth? Dallion asked Nil.

Even the Star wouldn’t lie when referring to the Moons, the echo replied. Your friends were indeed poisoned and these vials are indeed the cure. Interesting why he created five, though.

Maybe I wasn’t his only way out.

Possibly. Personally, I’d recommend keeping them safe. It’s possible that he bought them from someone, and if one could buy such poison, so could anyone else. Having a cure would be a good precaution to have.

“This really pisses me off.” Veil said. Rage was ringing through his entire body. If there were a means to convert it to strength, the blond would be unstoppable. Sadly, that was wishful thinking. Determination helped clear the focus, but raw rage only dulled the senses.

“Don’t think about that. We have the cure, that’s what counts. Where’s Gloria?”

“In our room. She tried to take him on. I came too late.”

Dallion felt his heart skip a beat.

“Is she alright?”

“She’s alive.” Veil looked away. “She won’t be going to any public events anytime soon. Don’t tell Hannah. We promised we won’t bring any trouble to her inn and…” He didn’t finish. “If I was stronger, this wouldn’t have happened. Beaten up by a crafter!”

As Dallion had experienced first-hand, all skills had a tendency of becoming dangerous when combined in combat. The tattooed man might well have started as a carpenter or crafter, but now his carving skills made him a fierce opponent, one far stronger than Dallion could take on at his current level. There was no telling how important he was in the mirror pool, but he gave off the vibes of middle management, relying on dozens of trinkets to remain alive. There were far more powerful awakened out there and sooner or later it was inevitable that they got involved in Dallion’s life as well.

“I’ll keep it between us,” Dallion promised. “Where’s Hannah? I didn’t see her in the inn.”

“She went off with Jiroh somewhere. She won’t be back till this evening.”

That gave Dallion some time, but it was weird that she’d leave her inn unattended. Normally she was all about profit, and yet she was turning down money like crazy. Most likely she had left Veil in charge, which explained how the tattooed man had made it in the inn undetected.

Upon returning to the inn, Dallion and Veil were greeted by an unexpected surprise. Not only was Hannah there, but she was pissed off, as always. One look at both of them was enough to convey all her thoughts and curses in very vocal fashion.

“Hannah.” Veil tensed up. “I didn’t think you’ll be back until—"

“Take care of the customers,” the woman said in a calm tone that foretold huge future pain. “I’d like to have a few words with Dal.”

The blond turned towards his friend.

“It’s fine,” Dallion whispered. “You take care of stuff. I’ll be with you in a bit.”

Despite everything, Dallion wasn’t worried, or at least not worried about being yelled at. Unlike everyone else, there was one thing he could clearly see—the barely visible glow surrounding the innkeeper’s body. That glow was an indication that the woman was from another world, and as Dallion knew perfectly well—she wasn’t.

Following Hannah’s cue, Dallion went into the kitchen. The moment he did, Hannah dissolved into nothing behind him.

“I thought you didn’t copy people anymore,” Dallion addressed one of the many Aspans in the kitchen.

“We have an arrangement. Every now and again, Hannah must go somewhere, and I back her up. It’s risky, especially during the festival, but that’s the risk both of us must pay.”

“What’s so risky to merit this?”

The copyette just smiled.

“It’s a good thing that she wasn’t, or she’d have kicked you and the Luors out on the spot. The last thing she wants is to attract attention to the inn, and you’re having mirror pool members walk in the place as if they own it.”

“He wasn’t part of the mirror pool. They think he’s dead.”

“Oh, so you’re having deceased mirror pool members walk in. Do you think that makes it better?”

Dallion didn’t reply.

“I’d like to believe you didn’t have anything to do with this, but given your history and tendency to poke the unknown, I find it difficult to believe. And if I don’t believe it, how do you think you’ll be able to convince Hannah?”

“It wasn’t my fault this time,” Dallion said. Hearing himself, he felt as if he were five years old, caught stealing cooking from the kitchen. “Not directly. There’s a Star cult in Nerosal that is planning to do something using Vermillion keys. The Order of the Seven Moons is hunting them down. The guy that was here, he just wanted to leave the city before it all went down.”

All Aspans stopped what they were doing and looked in Dallion’s direction.

“Tell me everything,” one of them said.

The next ten minutes passed in explanations. Feeling almost relieved to have someone to share it with, Dallion told the copyette everything relating to his relations with the mirror pool, the cults, and secret expeditions he’d been undertaking. The only thing he skipped was his relations with the Green Moon—that wasn’t relevant to the situation, and even if it were, there were secrets that weren’t meant for anyone.

Aspan listened to every word intently, then let all of his copies but one get back to work. It was clear that he didn’t approve of Dallion’s actions, but he didn’t fault him, either. As someone who had come from another world, he knew perfectly well how easy it was to go down one rabbit hole or another. He too had gone through the same ages ago.

“Do you think they’re searching for others like you?” Dallion asked once he had done explaining the situation.

“No.”

“The dryads, then? The shield told me that there are a lot of world swords in the area. If he can get any—"

“It isn’t dryads or nymphs either. No race that has been banished by the Star will be useful to him. We were all promised the world at one time or another and ended up like this. Do you think anyone would believe any other promise made by the Star?”

It sounded rather unlikely.

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“What is he searching for then?”

“Chainlings,” Aspan said. “I’m not talking about the insignificant wretches that hide in the city. I mean, the real deal that roam in the wilderness between settlement domains. The Moons' promise keeps them from entering a domain, but if the Star has enough Vermillion keys, he could bypass the domain barrier.”

So, it always went back to that. The creatures that were dread personified. It had taken a small army to hunt down one significantly wounded. If several were to enter the city during a festival, it would be carnage.

“Well, it was fun while it lasted,” the copyette sighed all of a sudden. “I’d say take the advice and leave the city as quickly as possible.”

“Just like that? You aren’t going to fight them?”

“I’m supposed to be banished. The Moons tolerate me because I’ve been keeping a low profile. If I’m to use any significant power, I’d be thrown back into the realms. And that’s if I survive the fight. The Star gave you some pretty nasty arrows to finish me off, who’s to say he doesn’t have more? Not to mention that there isn’t a person alive who’ll hesitate to kill me off.”

Dallion felt like punching something. If only a few months ago he’d know what he knew now. Maybe then things would have been different. Although, by the sound of it, the Star had been planning this for quite some time. Everything he’d done, from building up the black market for artifacts to infiltrating the Icepicker guild, had been for this purpose. Now that everything was in place, it didn’t seem like there was anything that could be done… or wasn’t there?

“What about the skill stones?” Dallion asked. “Arthurows was too eager to get his hands on those.”

“Something that caught his fancy.”

“What if it isn’t? What if that’s the key to bringing him down?”

One of the Aspans in the kitchen looked Dallion straight in the eyes.

“You’re really set on doing this, aren’t you?” the copyette asked.

“If the Star has everything, he needs to summon the chainlings, why hasn’t he done so? There’s still something he needs. If I get it first, maybe I can stop this?”

“Doubtful. But hey, it’s your life. Better go help your friends. I’ve been keeping you here long enough.”

“There’s no way you can help?”

“Believe me, I’d like to, but it’s all futile. I’ve seen enough losing battles to know when it’s not worth it. I wish you all the luck, though. Maybe the Moons will help you survive this one. Who knows?”

That marked the end of the conversation. Dallion remained half a minute longer, hoping that the copyette would change his mind, or at least share some words of wisdom. No such thing occurred. Apparently, if Dallion was to try and stop the Star he was going to do so on his own.

Whispering a thanks, Dallion left the kitchen. Veil was nowhere to be seen.

Anyone know where the blond one went? Dallion asked.

Straight to his room, one of the glasses said. He was in a hurry.

Yeah, he didn’t even take any orders, another said. Hannah will be mad when she finds out.

Thanks! Dallion rushed towards the Luor’s room as well. Once there, he opened the door without knocking and stepped inside.

The scene was pretty much as he imagined it. Veil was sitting on the floor next to the bed of his sister. Judging by the empty vial, he had probably already given her the cure. Although that didn’t make her appear any less miserable. Scars and gashes covered her body. Her opponent hadn’t been playing around, although considering the difference in levels, there was no reason for him to have gone this far.

“I have something that will help.” Dallion reached into his left boot and took out the kaleidervisto. “Might take a while, though.”

“What’s that?” Veil asked, moving slightly to the side.

“Lux’s home.” Dallion moved to the bed and placed the object on Gloria’s forehead. “It lets him heal in the real world as well.”

Blue flames spread along Gloria’s face. Slowly, the closest wounds diminished, as if they were paint dissolving in water.

“So, you have a healing artefact,” Veil noted. “And in the real world.”

“It takes a while, but yeah, it’s pretty useful.” There was a long moment of silence. “When she gets better, both of you are going to the awakening shrine. You can’t delay leveling up any longer. I have the money, so it won’t be an issue.”

“I can’t,” Veil whispered.

“What?”

“I said, I can’t!” Veil shouted. “Neither of us can! Why do you think we came to Nerosal in the first place?!”

Anger and shame resonated throughout the entire room, but that wasn’t all. Dallion could sense an emotion burring beneath them—a secret, along with a force guarding that secret. The vibrations of the force felt peculiarly familiar—the powers of a Moon.

“You completed your trial, didn’t you?” Dallion said. “You just decided to step through the gate.”

There was no response.

“Why?”

“Ever since we were children, grandfather kept telling us to fear the cities. That wasn’t all he told us. Every awakened of the family, no matter how untalented, was warned never to have anything to do with the Moons. He insisted that they would curse us. At the time, I thought it to be part of his crazy ramblings, but when the choice was presented to me, the fear returned.”

Damn it! Why do you have to ruin everything, old man! If it hadn’t been for his babble, both Gloria and Veil would have easily become double digit awakened. Now, they were stuck at being level ten. That was the reason they came up with constant excuses. It was never about time or money; it was all about admitting that the path was blocked for them.

“Keep the kaleidervisto on her until she’s fully healed,” Dallion stood up. “I’ll be back for it later.”

“Where are you going?” Veil asked.

“I need to take care of something.” Dallion left the room. Sadly, once again, the only ones he could rely on were the echoes, guardians, and familiars he had gathered along the way.

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