Chapter 22: Angry Birds

Chapter 22: Angry Birds

Mari's standing outside her hut when I return, and from the look she gives me, I assume she's been waiting for me for a while. She doesn't seem angry at my absence, at least she just nods at me, all business-like, and gestures with a wing into her home.

"We talk," she tells me. "What your name? You know me, I not know you. And who that?"

She points at Ahkelios, sitting on my shoulder and looking incredibly nervous.

At least she's not trying to eat him.

"My name's Ethan," I say. I'd almost forgotten I hadn't introduced myself to her this loop; it's hard to keep them all straight, sometimes. There's a part of me that wants to act friendly with her, like I've already met her, and I have to remind myself that this version of her has never met me; the Mari that fought with me to protect the Cliffside is gone.

...Now is probably not the time to get existential. I nod towards the glowing mantis on my shoulder. "And he's Ahkelios. He used to be a Trialgoer, too."

Mari's gaze sharpens, and she looks at him with renewed interest, and no small amount of suspicion. "...Hestia only one Trial," she says, but she doesn't sound certain about it.

"We have a lot to talk about," I say, in lieu of a full response. She frowns at me, contemplative.

"Okay. We talk inside."

I have to be careful with what I say. Tarin had been careful, too, and it surprises me that Mari doesn't already know everything he does that he hadn't found some quiet moments to tell her about it. They're both frighteningly intelligent behind the strangely translated speech, I'm pretty certain; there's a quickness to the way Mari comes to conclusions that tells me she's an old hand in more ways than one.

But now I have to figure out what I can say. I decide to start with the most important information. I can see the worry in Mari's eyes; she wants to know what happened to her husband.

"My Trial is a time loop," I tell her. "I have to go through events again and again. Your village was attacked during one of those loops, and Tarin was killed during a loop. Right now, he has Interface Firmament inside him, and he's doing everything he can to fight it off."

Mari's face does... a complicated dance of emotions. Anger is prominent among them, and then fear, and then a furrow of determination; she settles on that last one. "You find fix?" she asks. Straight to the point. "Or I find?"

I appreciate that she doesn't immediately put the onus on me, although I feel guilty about Tarin's death. I still don't know what caused it. "I spoke to your doctor," I say. "She says Phantom Roots might help that Firmament herb? It's hard to find for you, but I can sense it; apparently humans or maybe just me are better at sensing Firmament."

"But," Mari says, and I wince a bit.

"But," I echo. "I found it. It's over down south, inside a Hotspot, which is like a Trial-specific challenge. The problem is that... there's a crow called Naru that attacked me while I was in there."

I watch Mari's face carefully when I say Naru's name. I'm expecting a look of recognition, of worry, or maybe confusion; maybe she doesn't know who Naru is at all.

What I'm not expecting is the look of pure rage, of utter contempt. The intensity of it is enough to make me take a step back, startled, and Ahkelios cowers behind a bit of my hair, as if it'll protect him. I almost put a hand over him protectively, but none of Mari's anger is directed at me.

"Naru," she says, and I swear there's a flicker of red in the air around her, like her Firmament is responding to her emotions.

...There's some family history here, clearly. Mari visibly forces herself to calm down, holding up a wing so that I'll give her a moment, and I gladly do; I have to help Ahkelios, anyway, who's on the verge of dissipating himself so he doesn't have to deal with the scary bird lady.

"She's nice, I promise," I murmur, keeping my voice low, and he gives me a look that's absolutely affronted.

"She could kill you by looking at you!" he hisses.

And yet... Naru had no idea how strong I was before he checked. He still needs answers from me he needs to know why the Hotspot is active. He doesn't seem to know about Ahkelios.

Something doesn't add up, and I'm thinking that in his own way, Tarin may have left me a hint.

"I know it dangerous," Mari said. "I not fool. But Naru my son. I not asking stranger to fight him. I not asking stranger to die to him. I not care if you in loop. This is job for me."

I can't change her mind.

The glint of determination in her eyes is fierce, and she isn't going to listen to anything I have to say. I don't even have a good argument, really. Mari's strong when she's not being suppressed stronger than I am, even with all the skills I've earned and while I don't think she can stand toe to toe with Naru, she'd last longer than I can.

There's one thing I can do. If I kill myself right now and restart the loop, she won't remember her plans; she won't go off on a mission that might get her killed.

I hesitate.

Like before, I have no real reason to be paranoid. No death outside of a raid has ever carried over, and I don't think it'll start now but I struggle to get myself to accept that. I've lost people before, even outside of the loops, and it's hard.

Mari makes the decision for me. "I go now," she declares, and I speak without thinking.

"I'll go with you," I say. "If you really have to go, then fine. But I'm not letting you go alone. I need to at least see what happens, or it's not going to matter in the next loop."

Mari stares at me, and her eyes narrow. "You hide first," she says. "If he find you, fine. If not, you watch. You no come out. No matter what Naru do. You understand?"

...That's ominous. What does she think her own son is going to do to her?

"Yes," I say.

I'm not sure I'm telling the truth.

As we approach the Hotspot, still on my shoulder, Ahkelios finally speaks up. "Do I get a choice in this?" he demands.

"I mean... sure?" I stare at him. "What do you want to do?"

"Stay behind and figure this moss out."

"Ahk..." I sigh. "I mean, sure, you're your own person."

"Yessss." He pumps a tiny mantis fist in the air, a remarkably human gesture. "It's moss time!"

I let him off my shoulder, but I've walked no further than ten meters away before he disappears and reappears right back on my shoulder. We have to walk back to grab the strip of bark for him, and I get the distinct sense he's pouting.

Mari seems amused, by contrast. But there's a tension in the air. The Hotspot looms ahead of us. I've already warned her what to expect with the colors and the Firmament. According to the Timeline Tracker, Naru will show up soon.

It just remains to be seen how he'll react to the meeting.