He knew he was in sickbay even before he was fully awake. He hadn't forgotten that overwhelming comfort, that sensation of being hugged and all of his problems just being very, very far away… But he also knew he was not alone.

Nar opened his eyes, and found Kur sitting by his side with a deep frown marring his features.

"Did you get a report?" Nar asked, his voice dry and scratchy.

His party leader blinked and looked up to find him awake, then he nodded.

"I did," Kur said.

The silence stretched in between them, but Nar felt no need or rush to end it. His mind was finally at peace, and by all the Radiants out there, how glorious that silence was!

"It's gone, now," Nar whispered. "I'm fine now. I'm sorry, I haven't been…"

"No!" Kur shouted. "This… This was not your fault! This was done to you, Nar!"

Nar frowned at him. "What are you talking about?"

Kur winced and hesitated. "How much do you remember?"

"I-I finally got my damned [Aura Blade] to work…" Nar said, his eyes lost in the jumble of memories that he failed to fully recall. "And the master chastised me, as he should. I was downright being a weakling, and feeling sorry of my…"

"Wait! Before you go on, just hear me out!" Kur said.

Nar stared at him. "What's… Going on?"

Kur passed a trembling hand over his pale hair, and Nar noticed that it was starting to get longer.

"Look, this is a bit of a mindfuck… Well, a bit of an insanity, but do you remember the Abyssals?" Kur asked, and Nar noticed how his voice quivered with barely contained rage.

"Not where I thought this was going to go, but… Sure. Of course?" he said, frowning. "Are-are you okay?"

"Just-just hang on, it will make sense," Kur grunted. "Alright, something you might not know is that… Well, there's no real way to put it, so I'll just say it. There are people out there that apparently worship them."

Again, Nar stared at him in complete befuddlement.

"You mean…"

"Yes, like we pray to the Crystal and the Radiants, they do it to the Abyssals."

"But… What happened to all of that eternal torture and playthings, and all of that?" Nar asked.

"Well, these people believe that they will be rewarded somehow if they help the Abyssals destroy the Radiants."

"Rewarded with fucking what?" Nar asked him. "Don't those things want to destroy everything?"

Kur shrugged. "I don't know, man, your master didn't go into details in his message. He couldn't even if he wanted to. You know, all the blasphemy and knowledge of the Abyssals being forbidden and all that."

"Right… But what does all of this have to do with me?"

Kur squirmed in his seat. "Well… Apparently we ex-Climbers have a bit of a history of… Joining up."

"Joining up with what?" Nar asked. "Crystal! Just say it, man!"

Kur sighed. "Ex-Climbers have a history of joining up with the Abyssals, and join up and become some kind of crazy cultists or whatever. It's our resentment that the Abyssals target with their temptations, apparently, and some of us, they… Well, switch sides. Of course, it's a very small percentage! Like, in the low, low single digits, but… It's enough that every priest that deals with auramancers on the regular has the duty and authority to investigate us and look for signs of… Changing sides."

Nar was quiet for a moment, while he processed the words, and his face slowly went blank.

"Nar… Try-Try to calm down," Kur said, placing a hand over his forearm. "Alright? I was angry too, I swear, but there's nothing we can do! I already checked!"

"She did this to me…" he whispered. "That day, I went there… She… What did she do to me?"

Kur pursed his lips.

"Some kind of skill, apparently, with the authority of the Church and the power of her patron, it was strong enough to get through your [Ego]... More! It kept all of us from even thinking about how strange you were acting. That's why none of us really asked anything… Though Jul seemed to sense something was off."

"I do remember avoiding her… I think," Nar said. "Crystal. I barely even remember the last few days."

"Yeah… Memory loss is a big thing apparently. But the good news is, you passed her test or whatever it was, and you're good to keep going."

Nar didn't even know what to say to that.

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"Well, anyway, there you have it," Kur said, shrugging miserably. "She wanted to see if you would… I don't know, man. Do something blasphemous or something."

"What was I supposed to do? Jump ship and somehow get to the Deep Deep and offer myself up to some evil god?" Nar asked.

"... I guess, yes?"

Nar closed his eyes. "I don't even know if I'm supposed to be pissed off or-or… Crystal. What the fuck? All this because I harbor some fucking resentment? Am I not in the right to do it for fuck's sakes?"

"Your master said that there's not much use in getting angry, unfortunately," Kur said. "The priestess acted within and according to her orders and role. She saw something concerning and she acted on it. I'm sorry…"

"And that's it? She went screwing around in my head and I need to be okay with it?"

"Yeah… Pretty much. She's just doing her job. Nothing wrong there…"

The blond, buff altei sighed, and leaned back on his stool.

"I'm not saying that any of this is right, mind you! Fucking pile, man. It took me all I got to keep Viy and Jul from marching into that chapel as we became aware of what had happened, and Mul kept asking me to find a way to remove his suppressor in that really weird voice he gets when that thing is keeping him from blowing up… I-I was half tempted to actually look for a way! Luckily, I don't think I can, and Gad and Cen just about managed to keep us all in line."

Nar snorted despite himself, and it warmed his heart to know the others were ready to fight for him.

"You should've seen it, man… I think when the skill broke, we all woke up from it. Viy came running into our room, shouting like a mad person about the stuff you told her a few days ago, and how you'd been behaving weird but she hadn't said anything for some crazy reason! And it was kind of the same for the rest of us!" Kur said, shaking his head. "I think we were all sleep walking for most of this week… And while I remember everything that happened over the last few days, everything I learned and studied, and prepared for our dungeon, at the same time, it's like those memories aren't mine. Not really…."

Kur pinched his nose bridge and leaned forward, his elbows coming to rest over his knees.

"Everything is so… So crazy out here, and the damned Church? The more I learn about it, the less I like them," he said. "The Nexus is filled with Offices, hierarchies, and entities and what not, but if the Church comes in and says jump, people jump first and then they ask how high!"

He joined his hands and rubbed his eyes over his knuckles. "It's like… It's like everyone and everything is dangerous out here. Like what in the Pile are we even supposed to do to stay safe?"

"Get stronger," Nar said, immediately.

"That's good for the criminals, maybe even for the nobles too… But the Church is infinite, Nar! And their authority is absolute! It's the authority of the gods!"

Nar took a deep breath. "I don't know, man… Maybe we just need to keep the Pile away from them, then?"

"That's a start for sure! And you, and everyone else is staying the fuck away from that damned chapel!"

"Wasn't planning on heading back…"

Kur sighed.

"I know… Just-Just don't go in there anymore," Kur said. "We've got nothing to do with the Crystal or the Radiants anyway, and you were tested and everything was good. Like you said, it was that whole Unclean stuff, and anyway, not judging you or anything… But that needs to be gone. Forgotten! We're out, we're forgiven, and we're going to live our lives, and we're not going to do anything wrong to deserve the Church's attention ever again. And we don't need the Crystal, or any of the other twenty-four, to live our lives either!"

Nar nodded. "And Rel? She seems to be getting a bit… Churchy. I-I don't know if you've noticed?"

Kur grimaced.

"She got really angry with that priestess once she found out what had actually happened," Kur said, then he shrugged. "But that alfin is the only one that can help her though, so it's not like I can tell Rel not to go see her anymore, Or to stay away from the Source… Besides, it's her life. Her path. She will do whatever she wants, and we will do our best to support her, even as she might have to get closer to the Church…"

"Yeah…" Nar said and sighed. "I'll just stay away from that chapel, then. And don't worry, I don't blame Rel for anything. I don't think she expected the priestess to… You know."

"Force you to relieve all of your most traumatic memories in an endless loop over the course of several days?" Kur asked. "Effectively trapping you in a walking nightmare?"

"Yeah. That."

Kur shook his head, his shoulders sagging. "You know… You're taking this a whole lot better than I thought you would."

Nar snorted and shook his head. "I'm just tired, man. It's like I'm finally awake… And the last few days are all just a blur. And like you said, what am I going to do? Attack some priestess that could trap me in that kind of thing, and with the full authority of the Church and the gods behind her? And Rel says that her order has Named Few as well, ready to do whatever it takes to protect the Source, so who knows what they would do if I attacked a priestess that oversees…"

He groaned. "This is just stupid. A waste of talking! I'm a little speck of dust in a Creation of much more powerful beings than me, delvers and gods and what else. I just want to save my dad, and keep us all safe and happy. That's all that matters."

"I know, man. I know…" Kur deflated on his stool, eliciting a squeaking protest from it, and a moment of exhausted silence passed in between them.

"Finally got your [Aura Blade], at least," Kur said, managing a shadow of a smile. "And word on the ship is that some apprentice tore apart the private training hall of the Master of Blades."

Nar snorted. "It's just a thin line… But yeah, I got it to work in the end, though I don't really remember much of it. Of course, it was only once, and this is just the start. I still need to work on it, and a lot, I'm guessing, before I can actually use it and unlock the skill."

"Of course," Kur said. "But don't worry too much about it, okay? Whatever we got going into that dungeon, then that's what we have. No use stressing ourselves raw and going in all bent out of shape."

Nar nodded. "I guess so."

Kur slapped his leg and got up.

"It's morning now. The Seventh. The healer's going to come check on you first, so come whenever you're ready. Just make sure you make it in time for Dungeons 101, yeah?"

"Yup. Don't worry."

"Alright, I'll see you later," Kur said. "Oh, and make sure you talk with Rel and clear out the air between you two. I know it wasn't your fault, but I don't want anything festering in the party. Those days of not talking to each other better be long behind us!"

"I will," Nar said. "Don't worry. Nothing's going to fester."

And with a last wave, Kur was gone, leaving Nar in that dark, dimly yellow lit room, alone with his thoughts.

DING!

Ding?

 

You have gained:

Ego 36 -> 54

 

I… Wait? What? He stared at the unexpected gains through half-lidded eyes. Is this because of what the priestess did to me?

And if so, was he supposed to celebrate it? A 18-point increase to [Ego] was nothing to sneeze at… Especially given what he had just gone through, and the existence of mind and psychic damage.

"Ugh."

Nar rubbed his eyes, and sighed, willing the window to turn off. He was too tired to think about it. About anything, really, and the damned day was just starting.

It's one thing after another… Crystal. Abyssal worshipers now? Is there anything this Creation does not have?

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