Chapter Eleven - You Give and you Get

Caleb took his seat close to the foot of the table, sitting down next to one of the twins.

“Sorry I took so long” he said sheepishly.

[It’s ok] Avanessa said with a smile. [Now we can get started.]

“With what exactly?” Ryan said curtly. Everybody looked to him. “Sorry that came out wrong. I’m just a bit confused on why you called us here”

[We came here to discuss matters of ascension] Nessaiea said smiling.

[Ascension?] Markus said.

[Yes. Based on our texts, we believe the tutorial will be over soon] the old woman said. [When it ends, you may be asked by the arbiters about our aid. We know we did not serve you completely to the best ability, but would like to know if there’s anything we could provide with in your final hours here that would… improve that sentiment]

Oh. It’s about that. They’re asking us to put a good word in basically.

“Uh… wait what do you want us to do exactly?” Sierra asked.

[In return for gifts we would like a promise of good will. You speak well of us to the arbiters and we will give you what we can] Lady Avanessa said. [I know this may feel very forward, but it’s an important matter. One that could mean everything to the future of my people. It doesn’t look like it, but we’re dying out. Our water reserves run lower and lower every year as the recycler relies on a magic we cannot comprehend or alter. So, while my life may not be affected, this is a matter of life and death for my people's future. As their sovereign it's my duty to ensure it.]

Caleb glanced around the rest of the room, frowning as he looked over the other’s faces. Nobody said a word, all just as uncertain as each other.

[I can see there's some uncertainty on this matter. We’ll leave you to discuss amongst yourselves] Avanessa said. And with that she and Nessaiea stood, exiting the room quickly with all the other reverends.

The large wooden doors closed with a heavy thud and everyone stared at them for a moment before looking to each other.

[Uh… well that was a lot] Elena muttered.

“Tell me about it” Sierra said. “They don’t seem the best at informing us properly of things beforehand”

The room went silent for a second

“So, what do we do?” Ryan asked.

[Well, they’ve been nice. If it’s not hard to do then we can do it] Kana said.

“That’s fair” Ryan said as Sierra nodded. Then he looked to the new trio. “What do you guys think?”

[Don’t care] Markus said, putting his feet up on the table as he glared at his brother.

[Uh…sorry about him] Elena said. [We don’t really know these people, so we’ll leave any decision up to you. Right Jakob?]

[Sure] the other twin mumbled, solemn.

“Caleb?” Sierra said.

“I don’t know. It’s weird. I don’t know if they even understand what they’re asking”

[What do you mean?] Kana asked.

“Well they haven’t had anything to do with the arbiters for hundreds of years. What if they’re misunderstanding something that was written by someone ages ago?” he said.

“That’s a good point actually” Sierra said. “If we say yes, we could end up promising something we can’t give”

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“Well, they won’t exactly know that” Ryan said. “We could just say yeah, and give them hope there not all just going to fucking die in a hundred years or something. It seems better than telling them to fuck off because we're uncertain about the whole thing”

“No, it’s probably worse” Sierra said.

“What? How?” Ryan said back.

“It’s just cruel. They could change their whole way of life based on our promise. I mean what if they start using their water recklessly because they think they’re about to get magic?” Sierra said.

“… alright then. Jesus. I didn’t think about that” Ryan mumbled back. The room went silent again.

[So, what do we do?] Kana asked.

“Probably just tell them we’ve got no clue how any of this works” Caleb said.

“We have to give them more than just that" Sierra said. "I mean they’re dying out. We can’t just say sorry we don’t understand this anymore than you do and then disappear into the aether. They’re human beings, we have to at least try and help”

“Well…” Caleb mumbled.

“Well? What’d you mean well?” Sierra said, furrowing her brow, a note of anger in her voice.

“Wait, I didn’t mean it like that. I just… they’re... they’re different somehow. Not… people? No, human's a better term. They’re not human in the same way we are.”

“Uh… where the fuck is this coming from?” Sierra said, instantly stand-offish.

“I’ve been watching them for a while, thinking about things here and there. The way they reacted to light, the way they react to sound, how it is they have trained soldiers dying but we’re completely untrained and apart from the orc we were fine. I mean, even with the orc, it barely crushed my leg when it grabbed it, and it only managed to crush Kana’s arm with practically all its strength, but these guys were getting liquefied easily.

"They’re shorter on average, lighter too, they barely make a sound. You can tell if you watch the way Lady Avanessa moves, or the way the Reverends climbed the ladders. Plus, it seems like only the higher ups wash, but nobody here smells at all even though there’s barely any ventilation. They’re weaker than us physically too, I think. I mean when the twins were fighting, they couldn’t even separate them, Ryan and Sierra had to do it. When they first captured us, I don’t think they could even lift me. I’m small and they had to drag me along” Caleb said.

Everyone stared at him in silence, mouths agape. “I… I don’t know what any of it means and I’m not saying we shouldn’t help. But I think it’s probably all in service of the tutorial. There’s a lot of things like that here. The idea that they expect us to fight, how easy the weapons are to use, all the soldiers that can fight with us who’re weaker and a kind of mentor who’s stronger than us but not perfect, so still forces us to fight. And that’s not even including the fact they have tech that healed our broken bones in less than a day.

"It’s… I don’t know… it’s like too perfect, like their culture was custom made for the tutorial. Like the NPCs that help guide you through the tutorial for a videogame. I don’t think the arbiters will just let them die.”

“Holy shit” Sierra mumbled.

“I- I could be wrong though” he muttered sheepishly.

“Doesn’t sound like it. You’ve given this a ton of thought man” Ryan said.

“N-no, I was just watching. I’m probably wrong”

[I think he’s right] Kana said, nodding.

“Wait a second guys-“

[I agree] Elena said. [I know I’m new here, but it sounds like he’s put a lot of thought into it]

“Wait. Stop, just forget what I said. I didn’t say anything”

“It’s ok Caleb, we’re not going to just tell them no just because they’ll probably be ok” Sierra said.

“Oh, thank god” he said, letting out a breath as he leant back in his chair.

“So… we say we’ll see what we can do but no promises? Also, that they’ll probably be ok?” Ryan said.

[That seems ok] Kana responded.

“What about what we want in return?” Ryan said. “Maybe they have magic or something that they could give us?”

“I don’t think so. All the magic is in items and stuff. I don’t think they can use any magic you see in the movies and stuff” Sierra said.

[So we ask for items?] Kana asked.

“If we can take them with us to the first phase then the sleeves would be pretty nice” Caleb said.

“So, just the sleeves then?” Sierra said.

“Maybe some food too. If we get caught in the middle of nowhere again I want to have something to eat” Ryan added. Sierra nodded, then looked around the table.

“Anything else?” she said. Nobody said anything. “Ok then. I guess we let them back in”

They all turned to him and Caleb hesitated a moment, wondering if he should ask for more, then shrugged stood to open the doors. The reverends, Nessaiea and Lady Avanessa came back inside and took their spots around the room, and in their seats.

[So, you’ve come to a decision] Nessaiea said, her smile slightly forced. The anxiety was practically written on her face.

“Yeah.” Sierra said. “We don’t exactly know if we’ll be able to do what you’re asking, but if we can, we’ll make sure we do. But there’s a few conditions”

[What conditions?] Avanessa asked.

“We get to keep the weapon sleeves and we get some food to take with us”

[Is that all?] Nessaiea said.

“Uh… yeah”

[We can arrange that] Lady Avanessa said smiling uncharacteristically. [Thank you for your benevolence. Really. It’ll be appreciated for generations to come]

[Now, let’s get you everything you need. Then you can join us in the halls. It’s time to celebrate] Nessaiea said clapping her hands together.