Chapter 66: Chapter Sixty Five: Begin Stage Two

Qube was a Companion approved by a Prophecy which she was now reasonably certain had been written by a group of beings who didn’t know what they were doing. She wouldn’t go so far as to call them idiots, not even within the confines of her own head, because she wasn’t sure if they could read her thoughts. Given they’d had to steal the body of her best friend in order to ask her what she wanted out of life, it was a pretty safe bet they couldn’t read minds, but it was always better to be safe than sorry.

 

Especially when dealing with creatures capable of destroying all of creation.

 

Qube was uneasily aware that she had very limited information as to the capabilities of “the devs”. It seemed like they were just as confused by her as she was by them. They had called her “special,” whatever that meant, and turned her loose with the vaguely worded directive to “be herself” so they could study her.

 

And if they didn’t like what they saw they would destroy the world.

 

All in all, it had not been the greatest first meeting with one of her creators. Qube had heard enough stories to know that traditionally meeting the ones who made everything was supposed to end in power and prestige, not questioning how said creators even got their hands on the power to make you in the first place, or a strong desire to not trust any furniture they summoned.

 

On the other hand, she felt like she understood her childhood friend a lot better now. The Chosen One had been dealing with the whimsy of these slightly-awkward yet all-powerful beings for the entire adventure — no wonder he sometimes seemed mildly insane. Given their interest in her relatively minor breaking of existence, they probably strongly encouraged his excesses.

 

And these were the beings she was supposed to impress enough to save the entire world. A large part of Qube wanted to lie down on the ground, curl up, and turn into something simple. A mushroom, perhaps. Something that no one would expect to have to deal with the fate of the world. But the small, determined core of her kept her standing.

 

She was a Companion! She was (allegedly) close to being Chosen-One-like! How could she crumple into a fungus when she expected him to keep going with just as much pressure on his shoulders? Sure, she didn’t have a Golden Prophecy giving her explicit directions, nor did she have any real idea of what these devs would like, but she had gotten their attention by being the best guiding light ever, so, By the Words, she was going to keep being herself as hard as she could!

 

And she would learn, and grow, and help the Chosen One, and together they would save the world from Evil and Devs!

 

Just as soon as he stopped trying to capture the Mermaid Princess’s hair.

 

Almost as soon as his possession had finished, the Chosen One had started marching off towards the Fishing Village, Qube calling after him to slow down and explain. He’d idly reached out to grab at the Mermaid Princess’s hair, then stopped when it twisted away from his grasp.

 

Now he was crouched next to the Mermaid Princess, trying to trap her long, flowing hair. The Mermaid Princess would shuffle back a bit, trying to maintain both a respectful distance and eye contact, causing him to bunny hop forward to grab at her red locks. The Mermaid Princess’s hair seemed almost to have a life of its own, twisting and writhing in a non-existent breeze. He kept trying to snatch at her tresses and keep it held, but each time he seemed to catch hold of a lock it would tweak out of his grasp.

 

For some reason this seemed to fascinate the Saviour of All Human and Human Adjacent Beings. As Qube watched, he held one hand behind a stray lock and then quickly slammed his palms together, only to have it once again pull itself away just in time.

 

He had been doing this for nearly ten minutes.

 

“Chosen One, what are you doing?” she asked the person charged with saving the kingdom.

 

He paused from annoying the Royal magical being whose people they had just saved from annihilation to look at Qube.

 

“Trying to catch her hair,” he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Qube closed her eyes for a moment.

 

“Yes, Chosen One, I can tell that. But why are you trying to catch her hair?”

 

“Because I can’t catch it,” he replied.

 

Qube had been trained her entire life to be patient and accommodating. So, instead of smacking her palm into her face, she just gave a small sigh and flashed her childhood friend her best Understanding Smile. 

 

“Is it very important?” she asked, with only a thread of impatience in her tone. “Or should we continue with our quest?”

 

After a few more grabs the Chosen One gave up, giving the Mermaid Princess’s hair a dirty look. It continued peacefully swaying. He scowled, and started to pull his Sacred Sword out of its scabbard.

 

“Chosen One,” Qube said warningly.

 

“It’s mocking me,” he muttered, but nevertheless sheathed his sword and stood up. The Mermaid Princess watched as he started to leave, her large, dark seal-like eyes glistening. Qube couldn’t tell if the Mermaid Princess had been annoyed by or indifferent to the Hero’s antics; either way she had certainly been too Royal to allow any comment regarding his behaviour to escape her lips.

 

“I request of you, please make sure to return when we have settled, to try our shops,” she called sweetly after him, her voice like softly chiming bells.

 

Ignoring her, the Chosen One turned to Qube.

 

“So…” he started. He paused, seeming to ruminate. The experience with the devs hung between them. Qube wanted so desperately to start talking about all the theories swirling in her head but held back. She remembered the Chosen One’s trembling, just before he touched the Save Point and was possessed. He had been afraid. Of what, she still wasn’t sure, but given his much vaster experience with the devs, she wanted to let him speak first.

 

The Chosen One grimaced.

 

“They don’t actually want me talking about them until after they’ve decided what they’re gonna do,” he said as he walked towards the rim of the turtle’s shell. “They said that my theory was right, but they needed to ‘do things by the book, not cause rogue issues, see how things play out, blah blah blah’.” The Chosen One snorted derisively at the proclamations by the creatures that had shaped the world they lived in.

 

Sometimes Qube wondered if the devs’ direct attention may have driven the Chosen One a bit mad.

 

“To be honest, they were heaps worried you were gonna go insane from meeting them, but I told them you would be able to handle it.” Standing at the tip of the shell, he looked at her and gave her a crooked smile. He reached out, and patted the top of her head.

 

“I’m glad I was right,” he said, and jumped into Lake Fear.

 

“Chosen One!” Qube shouted. “Chosen One! That’s not how you finish a conversation!” She sighed and turned to Sewer Bard. “Can I please —”

 

“Nothing would bring me greater pleasure, fair Healer,” Sewer Bard said with a sweeping bow. As always, his movements were the very picture of grace and elegance. It was certainly a stark contrast to Sexy Screamy Spider Lady’s flailing limbs, and she didn’t know how she felt about mounting Definitely Bad Guy, given his… passionate declaration towards her, when they had first met.

 

So instead she piggy backed across the lake on Sewer Bard’s back. According to the Bard, the Mermaid Princess had spent most of the time the Chosen One had been possessed explaining that the whirlpool had been fixed by the city’s restoration. She’d followed it up with vowing to make sure her people worked together with the turtle to ensure its good health, before lapsing into expectant silence. Apparently her entire speech had required no input from the Chosen One. Which was good, given he’d been possessed during it.

 

“So she was talking to just you?” Qube asked, as she dismounted Sewer Bard. His outfit instantly dried. The blonde man frowned as they fell into step behind the Chosen One. 

 

The Chosen One started his steady jog back towards Cobbletown. His eyes glazed over, and the unchanging rhythm signified that he had started his “make the travel seem to go faster” meditations.

 

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The rest of them found their stride, although Qube was never quite as smooth as the other party members. Sexy Screamy Spider Lady and Definitely Bad Guy immediately sank into their own meditations, while Squiggles’s tentacles worked overtime to keep up with her larger companions. Sewer Bard’s eyes started to glaze over before he snapped out of it, refocusing on Qube. 

 

“No, she was still talking to the Chosen One,” Sewer Bard continued, as if there had been no interruption. “Just from a distance. And without pausing.” He seemed to catch himself, and gave a charming smile. “Naturally I attempted to tell her the stunning impact of her great beauty, but her modesty forbade her from acknowledging it.”

 

Qube licked her suddenly dry lips. Something about him staying perfectly in step with the others while still looking at her was somewhat unsettling. But this seemed as good a time as any to have a private conversation with him.

 

“I noticed that you seem upset by how others treat you,” she started. 

 

“So ‘the devs’ took over Noble Patron’s body?” Sewer Bard asked at the same time.

 

“No, a dev,” Qube said.

 

“My apologies,” Sewer Bard said, once again in sync.

 

They laughed.

 

“I shall not say another word until you signal that you have finished,” Sewer Bard gallantly declared. Qube smiled, a quick quirk of the lips. Silence stretched between them as she thought about how best to phrase this.

 

“When I was younger, I used to struggle with how to be the best Childhood Companion,” she said slowly. Sewer Bard blinked but, true to his word, said nothing. “There was so much I wanted to know, wanted to do, and it was hard to remember my place in the order of things. To remember what my purpose was.” She took a deep breath, and glanced at the Bard out of the corner of her eye.

 

He said nothing.

 

“And even now, I still have to fight, to try and figure out what the right thing to do is, and how I can be the best Companion. And that’s with a whole lifetime of training! So… if you ever need help, learning how not to get mad at being ignored, or being passed over, just let me know and I’ll always be happy to help!”

 

Sewer Bard remained silent.

 

“Oh, I’m done for now,” she quickly added. “You can talk.”

 

“Thank you, fair Healer,” Sewer Bard said. “Your concern for my well-being touches me deeply, though not as deeply as the joy I feel that I can now refresh myself by gazing upon your everlasting beauty, rather than being forced to imagine you.”

 

Qube kept her friendly smile firmly pinned to her lips.

 

“But though I know that the curse of invisibility troubles you, you appear to be discounting that you are acknowledged by our Noble Patron, above any of his other companions. That while Royalty may not be able to pierce the spell that surrounds you, a being from another world came and spoke to you. Only you.” Still locked in his loping jog, Sewer Bard could make none of his usual graceful flourishes, but he dipped his eyelashes dramatically. “I must beg your pardon for eavesdropping on a private conversation, but unfortunately control over my body was forcibly taken from me by said being.”

 

“Y-yes,” she said hesitantly, suddenly realising that she would probably need to talk to everyone else in the group too. “Did you hear everything it said?”

 

Again he dipped his eyelids.

 

“Enough, my secretive flower,” he confessed.

 

“Would you like to have that pressure on you?” Qube asked bluntly. Sewer Bard went quiet. After a few more minutes of jogging, he slowly replied.

 

“I see your point, fair Healer,” he said. “While I may claim that I would thrive under the attention of the important, I had not considered the toll it would take upon a more delicate psyche.”

 

Qube did not think her psyche was particularly delicate, but she also didn’t want to interrupt him when he was somewhat agreeing with her.

 

“You are right to chastise me so,” he continued mournfully. “Even the Noble Patron must feel the strain of such great expectations.” Sewer Bard fell silent again, and Qube was reasonably certain he was making the same calculations she had. “In a way it would explain…”

 

“At least some of it, I think,” Qube agreed. “Although I’m sure part of it is just that we don’t always have as much information as he has, considering he talks to the devs via the Save Points all the time,” she added loyally. 

 

Sewer Bard couldn’t avert his face from hers, but he did look down, watching his feet flashing by in their unchanging rhythm. It was honestly extremely impressive, how he never broke step. 

 

“Yes,” he said, with none of his trademark flair. “I must confess, the Save Points and the devs are…” he struggled to find the right words. “Not something I had been expecting. A Hero being able to communicate with a higher power is nothing new in epic sagas, but normally the higher powers are a little more mystical and a little less worried about mere mortals’ feelings.”

 

He continued thoughtfully: “But then, they admit they are not the ones who made the original mana that made us. I suspect we have not met the true power behind the devs. We have merely met the shapers, not the creators.” He looked at Qube, his expression softening. 

 

“I do not envy you, fair Healer, the weight of their gaze. That they have laid such expectations upon your shoulders without any guidance is cruel. It is just that it has been difficult, for me, to be so overlooked.”

 

Impulsively, Qube reached out and slipped her hand into his. The swinging arm stopped, and his whole body shuddered. He broke step. 

 

“If I am special, you are too,” Qube said earnestly. “You can see the Save Points and could hear me while I was invisible. I didn’t even need to [Heal] you! But we are the Chosen One’s companions and, even though it’s hard, we have to remember that at the end of the day, he is the one who was selected to save the world. We have our own roles to play, which are just as vital. Like the dev said, even a Companion like me can be special.”

 

Sewer Bard’s fingers clamped around hers suddenly. She hid the wince of pain. 

 

“My role,” the Bard said thoughtfully. “Yes. I must figure out exactly what my role is.”

 

Qube beamed. She has really gotten through to him! Hopefully he would be a lot happier and their team cohesion would be better than ever!

 

“And when you do, I will support you!” she declared happily. “We companions have to stick together, after all!”

 

“Of course, fair Healer,” he said. And on they ran, hand in hand. 

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