Chapter Twenty-Six
Vester watched Kora shoot him a knowing look, her blind eyes seeming to gleam with approval. She winked, then vanished into her tent with a flutter of tails… which was when Vester realized she now had five of them.
Li Ra passed him, though she paused to claim a kiss and a promise she could get some attention later, then ducked into her own stalagmite. Krysta was curled up in a puddle of blankets, furry body wrapped around a pillow, releasing little red-panda snores.
He glanced at their… prisoners? Guests? He wasn’t sure what the right word for Denny’s group was, but he looked their way to see that they all appeared to be sleeping.
Kimmy was cradling the illusory radio he’d made her like a teddy bear.
Vester could see lines on her cheeks from how hard she’d been crying.
Okay, let’s make sure Skylar doesn’t work herself to death, he decided. She’s not going to quit until she’s got Woody back in a body, and she’ll make herself sick if she keeps working this hard… But only mentally, since Krysta keeps our bodies regenerating.
It took him a moment to locate Skylar. She’d set up on the other side of one of the columns they’d dropped to pile on top of Jack.
The empty stone around her was covered in a mound of complex golem parts.
Most of the pieces looked like bones, and Vester saw skeins of mithril thread waiting to be woven into muscle.
When Vester sat down next to her, she handed him a shoulder joint and a long bundle of metal string.
The holes for the mithril threading were incredibly small, and yet he found he had no trouble seeing them.
He slid the metal strands through easily and began weaving the fibers into muscle strands with nimble fingers.
In fact, he went so fast with the process that Skylar stopped working to stare. “How are you doing that?” she asked, blinking in shock. “Did your dexterity really go up that much?”
“It did,” Vester said. “I have no idea how the System calculated it, but my dexterity gained an extra fifty points. Same with my wisdom and intelligence, actually. I’m still getting used to my enhanced senses. But at least I can help you do this faster.”
She nodded happily, taking a second to lean into him so her head rested on his shoulder. “What are you going to say to Denny?” she asked in a gentle voice. “I can’t imagine that conversation is going to be a fun one.”
“No idea,” he replied honestly. “I think a lot will depend on if he can remember me or not. If Peace’s manipulation is so powerful that Denny doesn’t recognize me… well, there’s not much I can do. From what his Party has said, there’s a solid chance that even if he remembers me it’ll fade in time.”
Skylar let out an unhappy sound, kissing his shoulder before she straightened to resume shaping the bone in her hand.
“I don’t have the words…” she began, then paused.
The djinn took several deep breaths and let them out in a huff.
“It’s not fair!” she finally burst out. “It’s not fair what the gods have done to you and your brother! ”
She looked ready to cry, and Vester halted his weaving to reach around and hug her close.
He turned his head, kissing each of her eyelids and then resting his forehead against hers.
“It’s not,” he agreed. “But I’ve rarely found the world is fair…
and I wouldn’t trade the things I’ve gained here for anything.
There’s no way I’d have found amazing people like all of you back on Earth. ”
Skylar sniffled, grumbling something blasphemous under her breath, then went back to work.
Vester sat next to her, fixing the muscles to two more joints, before he finally nudged her with an elbow.
“Go to bed,” he said firmly. When she looked like she was going to protest, he silenced her with a kiss.
“You’re exhausted. Seriously. Go to sleep.
We can finish assembling Woody after you’ve rested.
Your work is going to suffer if you can’t focus, and Woody deserves better. ”
“That…” Skylar stopped, stared at him, and then shot him a grumpy look.
“That’s cheating and manipulation, but you’re not wrong.
I’ll go to sleep, but you can’t make me like it!
” she added. Before she started to leave, Skylar took a moment to simply kiss him, relaxing against him before she reluctantly complied with his request.
Vester just chuckled and helped her pick up everything to slip into her storage. Once they were sure every piece had been put away, he walked her to her tent and gave her one final kiss. That done, he took up a position to watch over the camp.
Krysta’s Sanctuary was still going, so he wasn’t as concerned with monsters attacking as he was with what Denny would do when his twin finally woke—which turned out to be bellowing like an enraged bull and surging to his feet so fast and hard he sent his own Party sprawling.
Vester used Decoy Swap, suddenly appearing in the cage right in front of Denny. He touched Trickster’s Cane to his brother’s chest. “Calm down, Denny, or you’re taking a nap,” he bluffed. Vester couldn’t actually knock him unconscious, but he could use Deprivation Cage to steal the Hero’s senses.
Denny huffed, breathing hard, his eyes wide and his nostrils flaring. Vester studied his twin and saw that his brother was so upset he had literal foam at the corners of his lips. But despite that, the Hero managed to calm himself. Denny glanced around and took in his knocked-down group.
“What is going on?” Denny rasped, his voice hoarse and raw. “Why are we in a cage?”
“Because you were trying to kill me before Jack shoved daggers through your lungs and tried to turn you into an undead,” Vester said bluntly. “And until we know if you’re going to stay cool… we’re not taking chances.”
Denny’s eyes widened and he looked like he was going to protest, though before he could say anything, Rachel spoke up.
“He’s right.” She pushed herself up to her feet from where she’d lay sprawled, dusting herself off.
“Jack’s some kind of immortal skeleton dude now.
He tried to kill you, then turned all the monsters we’d killed into abominations and tried to kill the rest of us. ”
“He’s the Avatar of Death,” Emma said. She was nursing her arm, clutching it to her chest, and Davis moved to her side to channel some healing into her. The frail girl gave him a look of thanks before turning her focus back to Denny. “The Avatar of Chaos saved us… for his own benefit, I’m sure.”
Vester resisted the temptation to roll his eyes at the venom in her accusation, then shrugged.
“Yes, I’d have to say that saving my twin brother’s life was a selfish act,” he admitted.
“I could have just retreated into the Sanctuary and let Krysta’s protections keep us alive.
Selfishly, I chose to preserve your lives… and I beat Jack to keep you all safe.”
Emma looked ready to argue, but Rachel sighed. “He’s telling the truth, Denny, he did save us. He also helped Kimmy.”
Denny’s eyes went to the felid. The snow-leopard catgirl was still hugging the illusory radio Vester had created, her ears flat against her skull, tears on her cheeks, and her tail swishing behind her.
She looked completely checked out of the conversation.
She was the only one Denny hadn’t toppled when he leaped to his feet.
“His Party also helped keep you from turning,” Davis added. “If they hadn’t dragged you into the Safe Zone and started cleansing Jack’s curse, you’d have been an undead before I could have purified you.”
Vester watched his brother, seeing the struggle on Denny’s face. His twin’s fists kept clenching and relaxing, and the muscles in his jaw were visibly flexing. The Hero looked ready to lash out, yet after several long, silent moments, Denny started to relax.
“Then I guess I owe you a thanks,” Denny finally admitted.
He held out a hand and Vester cautiously extended his own to shake it.
Then Denny tried to punch him in the face and Vester rocked backward to let the swing pass harmlessly over his face.
“How could you not tell me you were my brother!” Denny shouted.
Vester pulled back, but Denny had a firm grip on his hand, and despite his higher dexterity, his strength was no match for the Hero’s.
That left Vester rolling his shoulder, ducking under Denny’s arm, and coming around behind the man.
Vester’s kick caught Denny in the back of the knee and forced the larger man to the ground.
Glad grappling isn’t technically attempting to harm someone, he thought with relief.
“What the hell, Denny?” Vester complained.
The surprise at having his leg kicked out from under him caused Denny to let go of Vester’s hand, so the Trickster used Decoy Swap to move outside the bars.
“I didn’t even change my name, dumbass! Don’t blame me because your goddess fucked you in the head and turned your memory into soup! ”
Okay, probably not the most diplomatic way to make my case…
but in my defense, he started it, Vester considered.
He took several deep breaths to calm down, dusting himself off at the same time.
“I know what Peace did to your brain wasn’t your fault, so I’m working hard not to take the repeated murder attempts personally, but that was your last free punch,” Vester warned.
Denny grabbed the iron beams the cage was made from and the metal audibly groaned—but he didn’t break out. He just stood there, chest heaving, eyes wild. “What, you, that, ARG!” Denny let go of the bars and stomped back to the other side of the cage.
Vester watched Denny run his fingers through his hair, a frown on his face; the man trembled with the desire to move and do something, but he didn’t lose control. Denny closed his eyes and began taking long, slow inhalations in a calming technique Vester recognized as their mother’s.
“Okay,” Denny managed, “that’s… fair. If something is wrong with my head, I can’t blame you. But is there something wrong with my head? I only have your word for it.”
“There is,” Rachel confirmed without missing a beat.
“Absolutely,” Davis said at the same time.
“You’ve all been stupid as fuck since we got here,” Kimmy whispered bitterly.
The three confirmations had come back-to-back-to-back. Vester blinked in surprise. For a second he was tempted to stick a finger in his ear and wiggle it. If they’d spoken any faster they’d each have drowned out the other’s words.
Denny was clearly flummoxed. His mouth dropped open and no words came out.
He opened and closed his mouth twice, then looked at Emma.
The girl just shrugged at him, not offering her own opinion.
Somehow it didn’t surprise Vester that she wasn’t supporting the claim Peace was altering people’s thoughts.
“Alright,” Denny said slowly, a frown crossing his face. “Something has been making it hard for me to remember you, is that right?” His eyes rose, and Denny stared into Vester’s gaze without flinching. “And I’ve wronged you.”
Vester bit the inside of his cheek while he tried to figure out how to phrase exactly what he wanted to say.
“Some of the gods Blessings and Curses can be double-edged swords,” he began, “and have unforeseen consequences. I am lucky that the goddess who blessed me is a strong believer in free will. That… isn’t the case with all of them. ”
It was the most diplomatic answer Vester could manage.
“Right,” Denny muttered. He sat down slowly, crossing his legs underneath him, and rested his hands on the back of his thighs. “What do we do now?”
It was Vester’s turn to stare. What the hell do you mean “What do we do now?” you… jackass! Vester screamed mentally. I just told you a goddess was messing with your brain and your friends confirmed it! Gah… Denny…
He felt his hand tighten around the knob of his cane, so he forced himself to relax his grip.
“I guess that depends on you,” Vester said.
“I have no interest in keeping you and your Party prisoner. My group has business deeper in the dungeon, but if we can’t trust you, then we’re not going to bring you with us. ”
It was blunt, and not exactly polite, but Vester wanted to put all his cards on the table.
“Jack’s buried under that pile of stone over there,” he added while tilting his head toward the broken columns they’d dropped on the skeleton.
“He’s not dead, and I don’t think he can be killed.
Not without divine intervention. But now he’s tried to eliminate both of us. ”
The Hero’s eyes went toward the rocks, then came back to Vester. “Jack’s not my problem anymore,” Denny said with a shake of his head. “I won’t let him hurt my Party, but the man I knew is dead and gone. Whatever that is, it’s a monster created by Death.”
Wow… that is cold, Vester thought. Denny’s always been black and white when it comes to morality, but I don’t think I’d have believed someone if they told me he’d drop a friend that quickly. Vester wondered if that was more of Peace’s tampering.
The Hero’s Party seemed even more surprised than Vester. Rachel was staring at Denny in shock; Davis looked ready to comment, but held his tongue at the last minute; Emma simply nodded along in agreement… and Kimmy just looked like she’d been told something she’d known to be true from the start.
“What about me?” Vester asked after a brief moment of silence. “Do I need to keep looking over my shoulder for you?”
“Maybe,” Denny admitted. “I know you’re my brother—I can hear it in your voice, and see it in your body language… but a big part of me still wants to kill you. I can’t explain it. It’s like a compulsion pushing me to want to destroy you.”
“Ah,” Vester sighed, “that would probably be Peace’s Curse. She ensured that none of her followers could stand me. The more devoted they are, the more they hate me on sight. Friendly sort, your goddess.”
Denny’s hand clenched into a fist again when Vester criticized Peace, but he forced it to spread out across his knee. “That makes sense,” he growled. “But if that is the case, what do we do? You’re still my brother.”
“I am,” Vester agreed, “and I always will be.” He tapped his cane on the ground a few times, the click-click-click soothing to him.
“But if you can’t shake the compulsion then it might be better for you to head back to the surface.
I’ll always love you, Denny, but I don’t want you around if you’re a danger to me and my people. ”
The brothers stared, neither knowing exactly where to go from there.