Chapter 68: Enclave XXXVIII

Chapter 68: Enclave XXXVIII

I had it all figured out.

Gods.

How long had it been since I could say that?

There were a few inconsistencies left, a few things that didnt quite mesh, but I felt such palpable relief at the idea of the end of the road being in sight that I couldnt bring myself to ponder them.

I held out a hand towards the chasm, fingers reaching out into the dark.

My friend. The first real friend Id made in such a long time. She was down there. Time would finally begin to move forward again, and I would finally, finally be able to see her.

Maya.

I didnt blame her for telling the wrong person. In many ways, that it was divulged at all might have saved my life in more ways than one. The fact that the enemy knew my ability likely caused them no end of logistical problems in getting rid of me, made the whole thing much more difficult and complex, required them to remove themselves from the picture entirely.

My chest tightened, and I forced myself to breathe. It was almost over. I just had to stay strong for a little longer. A memory nipped at my consciousness and my back and my arms flared uncomfortably, hot and itchy.

I pulled the aquamarine memory orb from my chest pocket and focused mana into it, feeling a dull suck on my forehead as the memory was copied. Id taken Erdoss advice. Viewing the more traumatic memories without relieving them helped me fight down the episodes.

I saw Ozra, vigilant in the background as a shadowy demon held a scalding brand against my cheek. There was no sound, only images.

It wasnt that bad, I told myself. Just a couple of burns. Theyd done far, far worse before that nightmare was over. Then I found my mind drifting to those worse things, and closed my eyes, trying to prevent the downward spiral that would lead to.

You are lucky. I said it to myself, over and over. You are lucky.

I would not let the things that happened to me change who I was.

My fist holding the memory orb slammed against the metal of the bench with a loud clang. Passing faces turned to look my way, then hurried along on theirs.

I was close now. So close.

There was no point in lying to myself. Things were going to get worse before they got better. But if I did it all perfectly, timed it all perfectly, this would finally be over soon, if not this time, in one more reset.

Just one more.

Drying the sudden moisture that dampened my gaze, I stood. There would be time for rest soon.

I went home. Ralakos had posted additional guards, and I was surprised to see a small group of Guemons green. Ralakos must have talked to him. I hugged Kilvius and Nethtari. They were relieved, I think. The way Id been acting lately, I probably seemed like an entirely different person.

For the first time in over two months, I volunteered to put Agarin to bed and told him a story. He giggled and cooed as the fairy cleverly outwitted Sir Gantry, and this time, he did not fall asleep until the end.

----

I sent a runner with an official invocation to Ephira the following morning, stating urgent matters. It was something I hadnt done since we hammered out our first deal in the early days of removing the blockade.

Bemusedly, I compared that meetingwhich had been all cookies and teawith the rather unsettling meeting from the previous restart. The woman knew how to treat her friends and her enemies, and I had to be one of the few people unlucky enough to have seen both sides.

I wondered, almost blandly, which version of Ephira I would meet.

The summons went unrecognized for a few days. I spent them relaxing and studying magic. My left hand was mostly bandaged and immobile, so I hadnt faced the reality of the loss yet. There was a tranquility to those days that was native to my earlier time in the Enclave, a time Id nearly forgotten.

I studied the asmodials in greater detail, learning as much about the hierarchy and culture as I could stomach.

The arch-fiends of a given legion were fiercely territorial amongst themselves. But rarely, a leader would emerge, one capable of aligning the infighting warlords towards a greater goal. This was almost always preceded a major uprising, not unlike the one stirring within the Enclave.

Gods, that was a close thing.

If Ralakos hadnt recognized me, hadnt tipped his hand, this whole thing might have gone very differently.

But he did.

That stumped me.

I ran through that scene a dozen times. Persephone, torn to pieces. Mifral, cut in half. Ralakos captured, and you your throat cut. Compared to the way the asmodials kill, something Ive witnessed first-hand dozens of times at this point, your death was almost civilized.

Only, your throat was cut. The blood should have been bright red, arterial. Not dark.

Nothing really came into focus beyond vague suspicions until I confirmed the missing piece with Nethtari: Maya. Maya went to you to beg for a method of saving my lifethough Im still foggy on the particulars of that conversationand knowing that, it all clicked. She told you then, I think. She told you that I had visions, that I could see the future. That I was worth saving.

And that changed everything.

You had to be careful, Ephira. You had to make sure that my killing couldnt be tied to you even from the grave. In fact, you had to go out of your way to mislead me, keep me tied up in circles chasing dead-ends until the timer ran out. First Guemon, then Ralakos, then Persephone.

Gods, you really did plan for every contingency.

But you made a mistake. You couldnt control Guemon, and he pushed far too hard at the trial. That tipped off Ralakos, who had men following me for my protection from that day onward. I suspect, without that misstep, it would have been much easier to kill me earlier on. I think that's why you had Erdos poison him. I've done some research in the interim. It's desperately tricky to poison someone with garrote cap. The slightest miscalculation in dose and you get an organ shredder instead. You didn't want him dead. You wanted him angry and scared of me, cornered and conveniently out of the way

In a classic mistake for a despot, you were prepared for everything but basic decency. Erdos was supposed to make sure I died during the ambush. But I saved his men trapped under the ice, after you sent them to die. With that, and the realization youd set them all up, Erdos chose to save me.

And Persephone. I dont know all the sordid history between the two of you, but I know enough from what I saw in the mining facility to know Persephones hate for you is not an act. I knew you had to have something on her, something big, to use her to get in touch with the asmodials and get Mifral to surrender the scepter in time to use it for the attack.

My guess? You threatened to expose her son.

Im not sure why she wanted him hidden, but she did. And as soon as he was threatened she folded. A hardened duchess of the underworld, undone by the love of her child. Then she told the story I asked her to tell:

The story you tried so desperately to make me believe.

The story of how Ralakos had turned on me.

Erdos listened in, as I expected he would. Then Ralakoss spies confirmed he took the story straight to you that very night.

And that brings us here. You, welcoming me into a neutral location, with open arms, alone, and practically unguarded. And I know almost everything. The only question left, is why?

I stopped, feeling spent, almost dizzy. Ephiras eyes unclouded, and she stared at me in momentary confusion.

Im sorry, I lost my train of thought, Ephira said.

You were telling me about the tea, I said.

Ah, right. She held it to her lips and took a long pull.

I drank from mine. There were no delusions. This wasnt over. It was probably too late to stop the attack. But Id learned to revel in the little victories, the small things.

And as Ralakoss men rushed in, pressed her down against the table and threw the manacles on; as she struggled, and shouted, and tried and failed to summon, I found myself smiling. Ephira was right.

The tea was exemplary.

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AN: This has been a long time coming and there's still more to reveal. Be careful not to spoil your fellow readers on RR and lower tiers :).