12 Miles Below

I woke up to rustling in my room.

Problem with that is that there shouldn’t be any rustling inside a very much locked room.

Reflexes and paranoia immediately woke me up the rest of the way, hand reaching for the hilt of an occult dagger under my pillow while the rest of me leapt out of the bed, aiming the knife straight into the gloom of my room.

The blue glow of occult illuminated the area, licking the floors and walls around me and revealing who’d snuck into my room unannounced.

She was sitting on my desk chair nearby, looking about as guilty as a kid caught with snow in their hands, hovering right over someone’s unguarded boots. At the same moment, her pale hand shot out in a near blur of speed, slapping down the few pieces of paper still fluttering in the wind, down into the desk where they belonged.

With the papers all secured back on the desk, she gave a polite cough, and then sat primly in the seat.

“Wrath.” I said. “You’re up early.”

“Keith.” She replied in a perfectly calm voice, the other hand now brushing her loose metal feathers out of the way of my chair. “I do not require sleep.” Bits of foam were showing through the thin slices where said feathers must have accidentally cut through. Her hair also looked a little disheveled, which she quickly groomed back into position next.

“So, mind telling me why you’re sneaking into my room at the crack of dawn?” I asked, turning off the occult blade and groping around in the dark again until I could hit the lights.

She shook her head at that. “I did not sneak into the room. The door was unlocked.”

I gave my door a look. Sturdy wall of metal, with a deadbolt on it. “Uh huh.” It had absolutely been locked when I climbed into bed.

Well, Wrath had been taking gaslighting lessons from a certain engram with a messed up sense of humor. “Wrath, what’s your definition of unlocked?”

The Feather outright squirmed in her chair for a moment, looking left and right, which meant I’d nailed the question dead on.

“Define. Unlocked.” I pressed.

“There is a door. And I am able to open it.”

I took a moment to process that answer. Then stood straight up to take a closer look at my door, checking if it had unlocked itself somehow. Destructively I mean. “So, by your definition - every single door in the clan colony is unlocked?” I said, tapping at the deadbolt, half expecting it to fall straight off. “Even, let’s say, the very much locked up and bolted winterscar vault? I mean, it would take you only a few seconds to turn the wheel right?”

“Nonsense.” She protested. “My shell is far superior in terms of strength. I can easily shear it off the hinges within a matter of milliseconds.”

I twisted the deadbolt on and off, testing if the whole thing still worked. Miraculously, she really hadn’t outright ripped the door handle here. It looked more like she’d picked the lock, which gave me a whole new set of worries.

“You have added additional fractals to that occult dagger.” Wrath said, trying to change the subject, eyes locked at the new dagger I was sporting.

“Emergency dagger, has a soul fractal, shield fractal, and a few others that I could slap on. Spending time as a disembodied soul inside a dagger isn’t exactly my idea of a vacation, but if I end up stabbed through the chest again for the third time, I’ll take what I can get. And talking about problems, what are you doing here exactly?”

“I wished to speak to you about your experiences with the warlock.” She said, “You were asleep, I did not want to disturb your sleep.”

“How long have you been in my room for?”

“Three hours, twenty two minutes, seven--”

“Wrath.”

“Keith.”

“Humans do not sneak into someone’s room, and then watch them sleep.”

“I did not sneak into the room.” Wrath doubled down, puffing up once more, now personally offended. “I simply calculated the optimal time for our conversation based on your sleep cycle, personal schedule, and minimizing discovery by staff.”

“‘Minimizing discovery by staff’ is sneaking with extra steps. And more importantly - the watching me sleep part?”

“I did not spend the entire time watching you sleep. I also observed your current workstation and your notes.”

I crossed my hands over my chest, giving her a pointed look. “You’re trying your best fish impression here with my questions and it’s not fooling anyone, no slipping away.”

“I learned from Cathida that when caught doing anything with questionable intent, I am to double down and continue to protest innocence.”

“Of course she’d give you that wise advice. Thank the gods she’s getting pampered with the House servants right now instead of being here. All right, what’s the real reason you came in here? Spill.”

Abraxas shouldn't be back yet, unless he knew some seriously good shortcuts. The pirates and Undersiders were behaving out there, and the slavers were in no shape to do anything other than peacefully surrender their armors. So what was the emergency?

She stayed quiet for a bit, then looked down and tapped her index fingers together a few times. “I felt… lonely. And wanted to be around you.” She eventually said.

I took a breath to start running my mouth again, but the sincerity of her words actually got to me.

We used to have a pretty good schedule going back in Capra’nor, going out to eat at different places or exploring the city whenever I wasn’t frantically building stuff. Watching the lakeside waves on the beach from a comfortable nook while she explained the physics behind those waves and all the different city projects she was currently administrating to keep the lake clean. I’d been shuffled around a lot since I arrived in the clan, and hadn't had the time to really wind down with her since.

It’s not like there was a wall between us or anything, only that the duties here had us split up nearly all the time. She’d spent her time healing every single soul in the clan colony, from those who had been permanently crippled, to those with minor scars and cuts.

Meanwhile, I’d been dragged off by Father for training, and if I wasn’t being tossed around by him, I’d be training the knights on using the occult. Or tinkering with occult weapons, like the dagger I’d had under my pillow. Now with Hexis in the picture, it was going to be even more complicated.

I’m used to a schedule like that. Ever since I started really digging into the occult, the clan has needed me for just about every big project that involved it. Knightbreakers, occult blades, winterblossom training along with worrying of the Chosen and later the raiders at the doorstep. It’s been busy busy busy, with occasional bouts of violence and near death experiences.

On her end, she’d been used to having far more free time. Administration within her city was all done digitally. Wrath could be having a leisurely walk down the central lakeside road chatting with me about birds, while her sub processes were ironing out budgets, spending resources and sending commands out.

She came from a different lifestyle and culture, and now was surrounded by a completely different one.

So I took a deep breath and went back to sitting on my bed. “It would be tough for me too if I were in a strange city without any friends, while also being tossed around left and right as some celebrity healer and no access to what I used to do or a place to really feel at home.” With a sigh, I waved her earlier antics off. “I’ll let you off the interrogation hook, just this once. But next time, knock louder. And if Cathida ever offers you advice on anything other than fighting, the answer is ‘Don’t do it.’ Sound good?”

She nodded, giving a small smile back.

“So, what have your days been like up here? Made some new friends? Let’s catch up.”

We did. She had plenty of questions about everything, right down to caste names. Retainers came from our caste being direct servants to the clan lord. Reachers for researchers, Logi for logistics, and so on down the line. Some were far more obvious, like Argifarmers for agricultural farmers, even though they dealt with more than just farming, especially with their prized fish and aquaponics along with breeding insects and animals for food. Caretakers were the ones that had been most interested in Wrath, they were the doctors, dentists, first aid responders, basically anything that had to do with keeping people healthy right down to studying diets, that’s the caretakers.

Wrath being able to heal anyone of almost anything was something that had them frothing at the mouth to work with last I heard. The only reason they hadn’t outright kidnapped and dragged her down into their dungeons was because she was Deathless. That and she could shape steel bars into animal shapes. Also did a great job at convincing people she wasn’t someone to be rude to.

Unless they happen to have a history of being a pain in her butt across her two lives.

Her time in the clan had been pretty productive, and she even found time to visit Ellie directly.

Wish I could have been a fly on that wall to hear what kind of chaos Ellie had dragged her down into. But knowing the girl, she can be serious and give good advice when the moment needed it. Wrath grew more reserved about that, so I figured it was a more private talk and I shouldn’t stick my nose into it.

The early morning bell eventually chimed and we were still talking just about everything that came up in our heads. She looked far more relaxed and comfortable compared to the mild panic and confusion she had when I’d woken up.

With the bell came company however.

“Hear that noise?” I asked, pointing at the doorway. Where knocks were coming from. “That’s how it’s done. You knock on the door and then ask to come in.”

“Master Keith,” A rather high pitched voice said from the other side, proving my point exactly. That would be Igrette, the maid who was assigned this section of the compound. “The kitchen sends your breakfast meal.”

I got up and slid the door open, revealing a pair of servants. The girl held a tray with all the food prepared, while the man next to her presented a cloth towel and began a well prepared speech. Alef didn’t actually need to tag along with her, but the two were good friends as far as I’d heard.

“Today’s breakfast is grilled rokasutō marinated in a reduction of heirloom tomatoes and sweet peppers, garnished with microgreens. A side dish of…” He stopped, staring behind me. In fact, both the servants had gone still, with the girl hiding a short gasp under quick hands.

I turned to check what they were looking at, but all I saw behind me was my room, and what they’d seen every day since I’d gotten back: A mess of papers and, well, everything in there could be described as a mess so that wasn’t narrowin-

Wrath gave me a friendly wave, and then inclined her head to the servants. “Greetings Alef. Igrette.”

“Lady Hecate!” The girl said first, “It is a pleasure to see you returned to the house, although we hadn’t been informed yet. We would have prepared a meal for you too, had we known!”

“That is understandable. I sneaked into the room.” She said, magnanimously waving away the concern. “I am highly skilled at subterfuge. No human could have had a chance at detecting my arrival.”

I could tell what she meant. I’d grilled her earlier about her sneaking, and listening to Cathida’s advice. So naturally, she’s patched those up. And then went the full other direction with it.

“Would the young master wish for us to return at another time?” Alef diplomatically said, while Igrette bounced her gaze between the two of us back and forth.

“It’s fine,” I said. “Food would be great. If possible, can you bring a second serving here?”

They both gave a polite bow. Then Alef gave a followup cough and continued the traditional delivery. “And for the side dish, an omelet infused with buttery shiruku-worm larvae, topped with a delicate sprinkling of herbs and edible flowers, courtesy of House Everspring who have provided enough for the entire estate. To be paired with a cup of orange juice, as your stated preference.”

Two claps, and the girl walked into the room, delivering the steaming plates and glass. They both took large steps back out the corridor, bowed lower than normal, and immediately turned right back to the kitchen’s direction.

I heard no whispers, no discussions, nothing. Which meant the absolute worst.

“All right, jump in the snow.” I said with a sigh, waving at the food. “The second serving will be mine.”

Rokasutō was basically giant locust, with these massive green legs, each thicker than the main body. Hilariously, they weren’t even functional for their purpose. Rokasutō couldn’t jump, only skitter on the ground, though some part of their tiny insect brain was still wired to try jumping. The result was an insect breed that wouldn’t have survived anything if we weren’t there to farm them up. The drumsticks were great to eat, but the connected leg after was this thin near meatless twig, filled with spikes. Normally those would be set aside as discard for the compost heaps.

Wrath didn’t need to be told twice, already lifting up the main dish and cataloging everything about it, and then eating the whole things up in a few bites. Twig parts of the leg included. She gave happy Wrath noises while munching, along with a few quick head nods with each bite.

“That’s going to start some gossip in the house, you know that right?” I said, going back to my table and finding a seat.

“Yes.” Wrath said in between mouthfuls. “I am aware of the optics.”

“So finding you here una- wait, you caught what I meant?”

Well, that wasn’t very Wrath like.

“I never miss anything.” She said with a tut, chin imperiously raised up. “My reflexes are far too fast.”

Ah. There’s the Wrath. Got worried for a moment there. “What I meant was that those two would come to the wrong conclusions… hmm, give me a moment to think of a better way to word it.”

“They may possibly conclude that we are engaged.” Wrath said, nodding. Then frowned while I just gaped at her. “As I mentioned prior, I understood the first time.”

Back to upside down land, where Wrath somehow understood social nuances. And possibly even banking on it? Almost sounded premeditated. That really wasn’t Wrath like at all. Which meant this was someone else’s plot.

And who else but the one person Wrath had gone talking to? Probably laughing from her throne of lies.

“Ellie.” I hissed. Seems I’ll have to go visit her again at some point and come up with a suitable prank.

Somewhere deep in the bowels of the clan colony, a not-so-innocent platinum blond had better be sneezing.