Chapter 169: Book Three Chapter Twenty Nine: Reload

Time wrapped around itself, as memories of shadows danced across Qube’s vision. The sensation was familiar, and she only staggered a little when she realised they were standing outside the inn.

 

That’s right. They’d come here to get the medallion to go into the Royal Library, and the Chosen One had idly swiped his hand through the Save Point before entering.

 

No, that wasn’t right. They’d already gone into the inn, and gotten the location to the next Temple, and then the Evil Emperor had attacked.

 

Qube pressed her hands against her forehead, trying to hold on to the memory of the Evil Emperor and …

 

Definitely Bad Guy. Treason. His face as he swore loyalty to her, and her alone.

 

She swung around and looked at the rest of the party. The Chosen One was rubbing his chin, but everyone else looked normal. Or, well, as normal as they ever did.

 

Did they not remember what had just happened?

 

The Chosen One had only used this ability a few times, as far as Qube was aware, and she, being a person with at least some social skills, had never pressed the Hero for details — it was something to do with the Golden Prophecy, and the Devs, and she’d been flattered that she was special enough, and close enough to the Chosen One, to even be aware of… whatever was happening.

 

But then, that had been before she’d gotten to know the Devs a bit better. Make no mistake, she was still in awe of them, and their mind-bending power, but the reverence she’d felt towards them had been tarnished enough she wasn’t as starstruck anymore.

 

Or maybe that had just been because she’d discovered just how low down the pecking order the Devs were compared to others in their realm. She’d probably still go weak at the knees for the Dev Royals. Qube knew herself well enough to know that her very logical love of Royalty would probably be extra powerful when dealing with beings who could end her entire world with a thought.

 

All of this flashed through her mind just long enough for her to reach out and grab the Chosen One’s bicep.

 

“We have to save him,” she pleaded. The rest of the group made various surprised noises, but she was completely focused on her not-childhood-friend. He gave her a look, as if he wasn’t quite sure what to make of her statement.

 

“I know,” he promised at last, “I’m trying to figure out how we can avoid that whole scenario.”

 

“Avoid what?” Definitely Bad Guy asked, eyeing where Qube was holding on to the Chosen One.

 

Yes. Qube had once had far too many social graces to ever ask about the inner workings of something as personal as a spell, and been far too trained to smooth things over to ever confront someone about their behaviour or an unpleasant truth.

 

That had been before she’d spent months with the Chosen One.

 

“I’m not the Evil Emperor’s concubine,” she said bluntly. Definitely Bad Guy went bright red, Sencha Bard made a strangled choking sound, and Sexy Screamy Spider Lady reared up on her legs.

 

“I’m not in love with him, I’ve never spoken to him, and the first time I ever saw him was when he—” she swallowed hard, and felt the icy rage of her other side trying to take control. She pushed it aside. There were two sides to each coin, yes, but this was her time in the forefront. “—when he destroyed my village,” she finished in a flat voice.

 

She’d never seen Definitely Bad Guy look so baffled before. The Mage snuck a glance at the Chosen One, who was frowning in concentration.

 

“Every time you mentioned a him, I thought you were talking about the Chosen One,” Qube said. “I never dreamed you meant anyone else.”

 

“You thought our sweet, innocent flower was in love with that monster?” Sexy Screamy Spider Lady asked Definitely Bad Guy, scorn dripping from every word.

 

“Why were you trying to talk to her about the Evil Emperor?” Sencha Bard asked, in much milder tones than the righteous outrage he’d displayed when Definitely Bad Guy had been revealed to be a traitor in the forgotten future.

 

The Mage didn’t speak for quite some time. Finally he licked his lips, and took a small step back from the group.

 

“You are not his… lover?” he asked in exactly the same way he had in the memory.

 

Perhaps this was why the Chosen One sometimes got so impatient with people. Who knew how many times he’d used this ability, and how many times he’d run through the same conversations over and over again. It would be like dealing with the automatons at Construct Crossroads.

 

Something sparked from that thought, but her mind was spiralling in a dozen different directions, and she needed to focus.

 

Yes, she needed to focus fully on her friend. Her friend who’d committed treason. Her friend who thought she’d committed treason.

 

Her friend who, on bended knee, had sworn his loyalty to her. And then died.

 

She was furious with both him and herself. She didn’t, at this particular moment in time, know in exactly how many different ways and for how many different reasons she was angry, but even with everything swirling around inside her, she didn’t want him to get hurt by the Evil Emperor. She didn’t want to watch someone she cared about die. She didn’t want to watch anyone die. Despite what she’d yelled at the Evil Emperor, she wasn’t sure she truly wanted even him to die.

 

“No,” she said and, because Definitely Bad Guy was, in spite of everything, still her friend, she added: “I know he’s held power over you for a long time. And that you feel… loyalty to him. But I can’t…” she trailed off, trying to think of how to express the massive jumble inside her. 

 

“I can’t be around him,” she said at last, “and I can’t be around anyone who supports him. Not without hurting myself.” Not without giving in to the rage that hovered at the edges of her consciousness, howling for revenge. Not without becoming the kind of person who truly did want to watch someone die for the pain they’d caused. Not without losing herself.

 

To her surprise the person who replied to her wasn’t Definitely Bad Guy, but Sencha Bard.

 

“What do you mean by supporting?” he asked her. Glad for the chance to clarify herself, she smiled at him and then realised she didn’t actually know.

 

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I don’t mean you have to want to hurt him, or anything, but anyone working with him while he continues killing and oppressing people is someone I’ll try to stop.”

 

Sencha Bard slowly nodded. He glanced quickly at Definitely Bad Guy and the Chosen One, before looking back at Qube.

 

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“So you would not be opposed to, say, if we managed to convince him to step down and repair the damage he did and, in penance for his dastardly deeds, he dedicated himself to the ultimate betterment of the kingdom under the wise guidance of her true rulers?” he asked very delicately.

 

Qube considered this. 

 

“As long as we were able to bring back the-the people he—” she choked slightly. She tightened her control of herself. “—he hurt, then yes.”

 

“Can those people be brought back?” Sencha Bard asked the Chosen One. The Hero hesitated, then nodded.

 

“Yes,” he said. Sencha Bard relaxed.

 

“You can understand why I would wish to clarify that,” he said to the group. Qube smiled again, the ice of her anger retreating further as she looked around at her friends. Even in the heat of discussion, they were all still trying to think of what was best for everyone.

 

“But why would Definitely Bad Guy think you were in love with such a beast?” the giant arachnid asked, refusing to be distracted.

 

Qube looked at the Mage. He looked back at her.

 

“I think he misunderstood something,” she said at last.

 

Sexy Screamy Spider Lady rested a claw on her chest, which heaved dramatically.

 

“I see,” she said in a throaty voice. “I see. So you thought she had a forbidden desire towards that monster that she, being a creature wholly composed of sweet Goodness, had to fight against. No wonder you seemed so conflicted in your feelings towards her! Oh, and I just thought you were emotionally repressed! I’m so sorry!”

 

Definitely Bad Guy didn’t look pleased by Sexy Screamy Spider Lady’s apology. Instead his face, which had slowly been draining from his usual bright red to an ashy white, once more flamed into crimson. 

 

“I see now that I did, indeed, misunderstand her feelings towards the Evil Emperor,” he said stiffly. “I shall require some time to think through this.”

 

Without the pressure of the Evil Emperor standing over them and Qube having one of her closest friends immediately unveiled as a traitor, and the party all primed to fight, the Mage was more cautious. A part of Qube was disappointed that he hadn’t immediately sworn his loyalty to the side of Good, either through declaring his loyalty to the Chosen One or her, the Chosen One’s Childhood Companion, but she felt that, having publicly outed him, she owed him some time to think.

 

“Will he have time to be able to think through it?” Qube asked, looking at the Chosen One. She didn’t want to outright ask if the Hero could think of how to avoid getting Definitely Bad Guy murdered, since that seemed rather tactless, but she didn’t know how much time they had to be standing around in front of the inn before the Evil Emperor showed up. She didn’t know if Definitely Bad Guy had sent a secret message while they were in the inn — she didn’t think he had, given he’d said he wanted to have that conversation with the Evil Emperor and her in private. 

 

Which meant that, even now, the Evil Emperor must be making his way from his castle with his troops, and Qube was suddenly horrified to realise that she’d been so busy being upset about being betrayed that she’d completely forgotten that Zakora and the rest of the people in the inn were in terrible danger!

 

“We need to evacuate the inn now,” she said urgently. She looked at the Chosen One, trying to communicate with only her eyes. The Chosen One looked surprised.

 

“But we haven’t gone in yet,” he said, then shook his head. “Right, yeah, I see what you mean,” he immediately countered himself.

 

Everything was hazy from the future, so Qube couldn’t remember how much time they’d spent in the inn before going outside. It hadn’t felt long, but it must have been much longer than she’d thought, given there was no sign of the Evil Emperor’s approach and, if her memories were accurate, the inn should already be a smouldering wreck.

 

The Hero looked at Definitely Bad Guy calculatingly. 

 

“Where would be safe for you?” he asked the Mage thoughtfully. “I don’t think any of the people inside were killed, but I never actually checked.” He looked at Qube, and rubbed his hand over his mouth.

 

“By the way, were you happy with how this conversation went?” he asked her. She blinked at him in confusion. “Yeah, I don’t think it’s one you’d like to have again,” he said and reached out to the Save Point. He cocked an eyebrow at her meaningfully.

 

“No, Chosen One, I wouldn’t like to have this conversation again,” Qube said tiredly. He thrust his hand into the Save Point, and pulled it out again.

 

“Right,” the Hero said, looking at Definitely Bad Guy, “now we’ve just got to figure out how to avoid you getting murdered by the Evil Emperor for betraying him.”

 

Definitely Bad Guy’s head snapped over to the Chosen One. Sencha Bard put his hand on the hilt of his rapier, and Sexy Screamy Spider Lady’s claws went to her crossbows.

 

“Betraying him?” Sencha Bard asked, a threat to his posture.

 

Qube wanted to be sick. She’d been so careful not to reveal to Definitely Bad Guy that he was about to die, while also leaving him space to tell the others about his shameful treason in his own time, and the Chosen One had just kicked it all out into the open!

 

“Well, yeah,” the Chosen One said casually. “Cuz he was the Mage Advisor, and the Evil Emperor would have assumed he was loyal. He’s probably placed some kind of curse on him and everyone who works closely with him so he can kill them if they work for the side of Good. We’re about to hit up the last Temple, so big baddie is probably gonna try and stop us.”

 

“Oh, of course!” Sexy Screamy Spider Lady said.

 

“That makes sense,” Sencha Bard agreed. “We’ll need to think of something.”

 

“A curse on me… I never thought to check myself for curses. I will need to go to my tower and look into this immediately,” Definitely Bad Guy mused.

 

Qube was astonished. Every single word the Hero had spoken was correct. And yet he’d managed to completely defuse the situation, while still conveying all the necessary information.

 

Was the Chosen One secretly some kind of social genius?!

 

No, Qube immediately answered her own question. But it was still very impressive! The Chosen One was really growing into a true Hero!

 

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