He's grown on you, hasn't he? Ysevel asked, regarding her curiously. Of course, he has. So has Irun, might I add, but I can't bring myself to admit that openly, especially not after knowing what he did to the Synners of Codrean, Kalia replied with a noncommittal shrug.
Well, if it's of any consolation, I still haven't fully forgiven him for that either, I began, watching the two as they approached us. But I can't fault someone for having an honest change of heart, just like how I can't fault them for being subjected to something they had no control over, I continued, hoping she would pick up on what I was getting at.
Kalia held a pensive glare, obviously feeling the same emotions I was due to our cores, but shook her head with a disbelieving chuckle after a few moments. I admire your kindness, Thoma, she said without continuing her sentence. "So, what's on the menu for tonight? More goblin ass?" Athar asked, smacking himself as the alternate's voice slipped out.
"You don't have to do that anymore, Athar," Kalia said, raising a hand to stop him. "I've gotten used to it already," she said, giving me a knowing look. I felt a warm smile come across my face, and I noticed that Ysevel felt the same thing I did. "Oh, th-thank you, Lady Kalia," Athar said with a bow. "It's been a while since you've been here with us, and while it might say some rather offensive things, I've recently learned to accept that it's not entirely your fault," she continued, lowering her hand.
Both Irun and Athar looked at her with stunned expressions. "Thoma, what the fuck did you do to her?" Irun whispered bluntly, jutting a finger in her direction from behind the hand that covered his mouth. "Me? Oh, nothing," I said, shrugging with an upturned lip as I feigned my ignorance. He raised an eyebrow at me momentarily but sighed when he couldn't seem to figure it out.
Ysevel stifled a giggle while Athar darted his eyes back and forth between us, his face filled with absolute confusion. "Alright, you two, enough of that. Let's get some food in our bellies and rest for the next cycle," Kalia sighed as she summoned the kataki table behind her without looking.
Infusing dark mana into the etched runes, a new tray of odd-looking meats, mushrooms, and soups were laid out before us alongside two bottles of bitter. "No goblin ass today. Perhaps your prayers have been answered, Athar," Kalia said wryly, giving him a shrug while getting a chuckle from Ysevel and I.
I could tell from the look on Irun's face that her attitude was unlike anything he'd ever seen. Wordlessly, he raised an eyebrow and jolted his head in her direction, but when I didn't answer any differently than last time, he simply shook his head and took his seat at the table.
It had become routine for all of us to eat together, exchanging stories of our pasts and other information we thought might be viable to the task ahead of us. Athar certainly had the most information to share about Nexis and his abilities since, over that year, his memories had returned in full.
In great detail, he told us how his core came to be in his alternate's body and I could feel Kalia try to hide a shudder through our connection. "That wretched bastard," Ysevel said, not bothering to hide her own discomfort. "Honestly, I feel like death might have been the better option at times," Athar said dejectedly as he played with a loose mushroom still on his plate.
"Maybe, but I think there's a reason you're still with us," I said, trying to lighten the mood. I was also feeling wildly uncomfortable with the story, but like I'd told Kalia earlier, it wasn't his fault, and I had to accept my own words. "What reason is that? To leave me unable to return to the Between? Or, maybe it was to make sure I wouldn't be welcome here in this realm, either?" he asked.
His tone wasn't one borne from anger. Rather, I felt it was more out of frustration than anything else.
But where is that frustration coming from? I thought to myself, trying to piece together the bits of his story that he told us.
When I finally managed to piece it together, it hit me like a carriage full of steel. As soon as the question had finished forming in my head, I realized that the frustration I could hear in his voice was borne from his own inability to do anything about it in the first place. He'd been trained to manipulate dark mana from Ardrin, the book in the library, and even went through multiple sparring sessions with Irun.
But no matter what he did or how much he trained, he wouldn't have been able to defend himself against Nexis.
That's it, I thought, finally able to put my finger on what was really eating at him.
"I don't think it was either of those things, Athar," I began, setting my oddly-shaped fork down. "It could just be that Fate has something else in store for you, but we won't know what that is until the time is right. For now, all we can do is our best because that's the only thing that matters," I said, hoping I'd spoken the right words.
"What the fuck do you know about that?" Athar's alternate voice spoke out. "You were practically raised with a silver spoon shoved up your ass, and yet here you are talking about something you've never had to struggle with," the voice continued. When I noticed Athar didn't slap himself, I immediately knew that, deep down, he agreed with what it said.
"I'm not saying that my story is more fucked up than yours, or even Irun's for that matter," I began, trying to de-escalate the situation as both Kalia and Ysevel regarded me silently. "All I'm trying to say is that none of what happened was your fault in any way. He's had thousands, if not millions, of cycles to hone his power, both here in this realm and in the Between," I continued, noticing his brow furrow a little more.
"But regardless of that, after everything you've been through in life, you learned something valuable, and it's something no one, not even Nexis or the gods themselves, can ever take away from you: Resilience," I said, matching his intense gaze with my own, mana infused eyes.
I noticed a minor shift in his expression, likely meaning that the alternate part of his body had either given up or simply decided to ignore whatever I said. "When did you become so wise?" Athar scoffed in his usual voice before taking another bite of food.
I haven't really thought about it until now, but I know that whatever I say next will make or break this opportunity to help both him and, just maybe, Kalia as well, I thought, choosing my next words carefully.
I took a deep breath and let it out as I brought as warm a smile as I could manage to my face. "Well, I sure as shit didn't become this way alone," I began, reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder. "Oh, the power of friendship," the alternate slipped in sarcastically, prompting me to chuckle a little.
"I've had my fair share of life lessons and hardships, too, though not many can compare to yours. But even if you never had anyone to rely on in the past, what's important now is that you do, and they're ones you can trust to want nothing more than what's best for you," I said, gesturing around the table.
As I did so, I immediately felt a resonance with Kalia's core and knew that I couldn't let it slip by unnoticed.
"I think it's also one of the reasons why Irun was able to convince Kalia to let you train here in the first place," I said, giving her a wry smile. Her eyes opened widely in response but settled soon after when she noticed my intentions. Athar looked at me with a confused look on his face when I said that, then immediately turned to Irun.
"Y-you did that for me? But, you knew she hated alternates," he asked with no small amount of humility in his tone. "You're my brother. I couldn't just idly watch you get thrown to the glicks without at least trying to help," Irun replied awkwardly. "I-I can't believe it," Athar said, gazing back down at his plate when he realized what Irun had done for him.
"Well, believe it or not, you're here with us, aren't you?" Ysevel asked. Athar looked up at her and immediately felt embarrassed by her smiling eyes. "Y-yes, and even though I still have at least some reservations about you, I can honestly say that the people sitting at this table have helped me to open my eyes," Kalia said awkwardly.
The sheer surprise on both Athar and Irun's faces was priceless.
Well said, I sent Kalia with a knowing nod. Shut up, she snapped back wryly.
Athar began to chuckle in disbelief before it gradually grew into a hearty laugh. "This is insane. If someone would have said that I'd be here a few years ago, I would have called them a madman," he said, putting a hand to his forehead to shield his eyes from us. "Thank you. All of you," he said with a bright, teary smile as he removed his hand.
I felt another resonance through my core, and saw that Ysevel was smiling brightly at Kalia. Even though Kalia had maintained her faceplate, there was no hiding the subtle warmth emanating from her core through our connection.
After a few breaths, Athar gently smacked both sides of his face to clear out his emotional outburst before turning to look at me. "Does that mean I can adopt you as a younger brother now, too?" he asked, catching me completely by surprise. "What brought that on?" I asked through a half-chuckle.
"Well, I've already made a blood pact with Irun, I figured it couldn't hurt to make one with you, too," he said with a smile, jutting his thumb over at Irun, who was obviously embarrassed. "I, uh, I already have an older brother," I replied awkwardly, rubbing the back of my neck. "Aw, what's one more?" he asked playfully.
"I appreciate the offer, but I think both my brother and my mother would take turns killing and reviving me already," I said, still unsure whether revealing the fact that I'd already made a bond with Kalia and Ysevel was alright to talk about since Kalia still hadn't fully acknowledged the other two as closely as she had Ysevel and I.
She'll probably keep that a secret until she's ready to lower her faceplate, I thought to myself.