Chapter 67: Book 2: Reunited (and it feels so bad)

Chapter 67: Book 2: Reunited (and it feels so bad)

"Ethan!" Tarin squawks at me, dusting himself off like he hasn't just been tossed like a cannonball directly into monsters that could kill him with a glance. I know he's strong, but I don't know that he's strong enough to survive a direct blow from any of these. "You here!"

"Where else would I be?" I ask. I honestly haven't fully processed the situation yet. Thankfully, the chimeras appear to be just as stunned by Tarin's appearance as I am, and they're looking at each other like they don't quite know what to do. It doesn't help that Mari is rapidly approaching and looks very intimidating.

I have so many questions.Ñøv€lRapture marked the initial hosting of this chapter on Ñôv€lß¡n.

"I have so many questions," I add, because it feels like I have to say the words out loud, and also because none of the chimeras are attacking and it gives me time to be as incredulous as I want to be.

"No time!" Tarin says. "Mari! Throw him!"

"Wha do not throw me!" I protest. Mari's already charging towards me, although compared to me she's not exactly fast. I Warpstep away just as she approaches, and she folds her arms, looking vaguely annoyed.

"This Trialgoer?" she asks. "How I throw him if he run?"

I wince.

I'll admit that I've been harboring something of a hope that Mari's somehow been able to remember. It was always a possibility that Tarin would remember, considering the circumstances surrounding his death and his retention of that first loop when he woke up. Mari, on the other hand...

I don't know. I guess when I saw her, I let myself think that she'd been able to figure something out. Maybe using a Firmament imbuement inspired by the skill shard I'd given her to study. I didn't know what she'd been doing while I was traveling with Rotar toward the Great Cities; there was every chance that she'd pulled off a miracle.

But her words paint the painful truth: she doesn't remember me at all. More likely than not Tarin's the one that dragged her here, asking for her help, and she went along with it. Because that's what she does. That's how much the two of them trust each other.

It was how much she'd chosen to trust me, for as little time as she'd known me.

Something must have shown in my expression, because Ahkelios hops down from my shoulder to look at me with concern. "Ethan" he begins.

"I'm fine," I say. My voice is a little rougher than I intend. I shouldn't have let myself hope that she'd remember. It would have solved so many problems. If she doesn't remember... This puts Tarin in a difficult position.

"Ethan!" the old crow in question squawks at me. "You let Mari throw you!"

"I do you want to explain why?" I ask. I have to throw myself out of the way of one of the chimeras, who have evidently gotten tired of waiting for us to finish talking to one another; whatever wariness they had at the introduction of two new combatants bleeds off, and they go back to circling us, Firmament radiating even more powerfully from them in what I assume is an attempt at intimidation.

"Too many! We run!" Tarin seems exasperated that he has to explain this at all. A part of me nearly instantly rebels at this suggestion I can kill at least one more of them with Ahkelios's help, and with both Tarin and Mari to help me out I'm sure we can take out the other two. Tarin glares at me as this thought enters my head, apparently able to read what I'm thinking. "No fight! Not just three!"

There's more. I narrow my eyes. I didn't see anything when I went up into the sky earlier. The canopy does obscure some of my vision, but I should have been able to sense anything else hiding with my Firmament sense, at least...

While I'm distracted and thinking, Mari picks me up in a single hand, making me yelp in consternation though this time I don't fight her. I feel a massive burst of Firmament, and only just manage to coalesce my Verdant Armor around my ribs before I'm tossed handily up through the forest canopy. Straight towards the crow village.

"You not worry!" Tarin tells me. "I explain to her already. She know!"

"Trialgoer in time loop," Mari grunts. "Now husband also in time loop. Yes?"

"Yeah," I agree. She opens her beak, and I speak up before she can, anticipating what she's about to ask. "Tarin only got into because of an accident where he died during what the Trial calls a Raid, and he almost died permanently. The Interface tried to make him stay dead. I don't... I don't know how to bring you into the loop as well."

Not without risking a permanent death on her part, anyway. I haven't triggered another Raid yet, but there's no guarantee that she'll be able to fight as long as Tarin did. I don't even know if the Phantom Root is still there, reset along with the loop. I should probably find out.

Mari closes her eyes and takes a breath. "Okay," she says simply.

"Why you tell her I die!" Tarin demands, the old crow putting his wings on his hips in a way that resembles a small child throwing a tantrum. "That not cool."

"I think your wife thinks you're plenty cool enough, Tarin," I say dryly.

I'm not sure he's realized the implications yet. That, or he has, and he's just forcing himself not to think about it. Mari, on the other hand, is doing a much poorer job of hiding her emotions.

"We should try to figure out what to do next," I say with a small sigh. I don't know how to broach this topic with her, and Mari doesn't seem to want to talk about it any further. "I was headed towards the Great Cities with Rotar..."

Tarin remembers why I headed north with Rotar, but Mari doesn't so I explain the situation with his pocket oracle again, and then continue on to explain the ambush by K'hkeri and the Voidsuit they were shoved into, their agreement to help us, and the way the Firmament slipstream had reacted to the Interface and the temporal Firmament intrinsically tied to me. While I speak, I feel my Firmament slowly recovering.

It's... significantly faster than it's recovered before. Related to the phase shift, perhaps.

When I'm done talking, there's a long silence. "That explain why you gone so long," Tarin says thoughtfully. "I worry something happen. Was going to find you. Went to Great Cities! Mari stayed back to look after village. But you not in Cities. No one see funny pink featherless biped. I sure if they see you they remember, so I thought you not reach Great Cities. I look around, but you hard to find."

I... don't know how to respond to that. The idea that Tarin actually came looking for me touches me unexpectedly, and I don't say anything.

"Mari worried too!" Tarin adds hurriedly, as if he's concerned that my takeaway is that Mari didn't care enough to come look for me. "She not remember, but she very worried. Keep telling me to go look for you."

I have a really hard time responding to this. I have to swallow a small lump that forms in my throat to find the words.

"Thanks," I say, my voice a little rougher than I want it to be. "I... appreciate that. We should let's go talk to Rotar, yeah?"

"Yes!" Tarin nods firmly. "We try again. But better, this time. Right, Mari?"

"We try again," Mari agrees. She sounds more somber than her husband does, and when she meets my eyes, I see the glimmer of pain in them.

I'm not sure Tarin realizes the implications of him being in the loop at all. I exchange glances with Ahkelios, who looks equally concerned, and I make a small note to myself I need to try to find a way to bring Mari into the loop.

The sooner, the better.