Bolt Action Serenade

The next day was a bit awkward, the need for clean sheets after making an absolute mess that night required an excuse and so the staff all thought I’d wet myself. But I could deal with the embarrassment to keep Jaina out of trouble.

Of course that caused me to have another thought. Was this wrong? I mean, she was my medical caretaker. This felt kind of unethical, at least on the surface. But I think that kinda of ethics issue is meant to keep a patient from being taken advantage of by someone with power over them and that was very much not what was happening. I also figured that Helanna would keep Jaina from getting into trouble over it if shit really hit the fan, especially if I asked the General too. Which I would, obviously.

On the matter of Helanna, she visited me two days later with news and apologies. Apparently someone else with at least her level of authority was unhappy enough about me not being stupid and easily manipulated that they were causing problems for her section. She had been called to the capital for an inquiry that took three days but managed to convince her superiors that I was in fact fond enough of her that replacing her with someone else could very easily backfire on their attempts to recruit me.

Somewhat hilariously, one of the only changes to her orders that resulted from all of that was that she was required to start taking crone’s root, despite her insistence that she was past the age to need it. Which I can imagine was a mortifying order to hear, though I’m certain she accepted it with dignity. Or maybe quiet scorn. I could see either one wit her.

Sadly, she couldn’t quite make use of being on the likely pointless birth control with me yet. Her people found evidence that whoever had gotten the inquiry called was still trying something to interfere in her work with me and she had to focus on that. Decades of experience gave her fine tuned instincts and they told her that this was something she seriously needed to worry about. Her mask being down with me let me see the fear in her eyes and I wondered just how bad this could get if she was that concerned.

She didn’t know who it was, they were good at covering their tracks. But she did say there was a very interesting detail about the inquiry. The panel questioning her was mostly utterly normal and forgettable. A person from intelligence, a person from the military, a person from the civilian government, and one odd choice. Someone that was not identified, but Helanna saw a ring he wore that was common among the leadership of the clergy of the old Uvtrayl gods.

“I don’t understand. I thought the Thundering Pantheon replaced them.”

She shook her head. “The Hegemony tore down the temples and took or destroyed all the old records they could find from them, but we had people worshiping and teaching in secret for centuries. There is a new temple to our gods in Delonandra, right across from the capitol building. They just finished it last year and have been training priests and sending people out to recover lost artifacts or knowledge.”

“Does this new temple have political power?”

“They aren’t supposed to. The government is meant to be secular and allow for people to worship whoever they want. Enough people are loyal to the Thundering Gods that trying to kick them out might cause a civil war and we have enough problems.” She sighed “But there are rumors that a small group of the clergy has the ear of several people high up. Potentially even the Prime Minister and High Marshal, our military’s commander in chief.”

“That complicates matters further.” I grumbled.

“True, though I don’t think we can say exactly how just yet. I will say that it is possible your changes are due to becoming the Champion of a god, but Saints look quite similar to the god who blessed them and I couldn’t find any god that matches a description like yours. Not even close.”

I snorted and gave a small smile, that may have been a dead end for her but it did give me some information. My night sky goddess was unknown. That would be something to tuck away for later. “Helanna, I do have a serious question for you. The whole point is to get me to defect and renounce my former nation. Why haven’t you asked me to do that? I mean, we’re beyond the games at this point. Or at least I hope we are. So why not just cut to the chase?”

“You would say no.” She smiled at me knowingly “Not as a refusal, but as a ‘sorry, but I’m far too ignorant about too many things to make a decision like that.’ sort of response. Or am I reading you all wrong?”

I grinned wide “Awww, you do know me!” and she laughed “But seriously, I do want to actually know things. About Uvtrayl, about Pitrak, about the Empire, hell about the Hegemony and smaller powers. I have giant holes where knowledge really should be if I’m getting dragged into politics like this.”

She hesitated “We have orders to keep you… distant from politics, the war, current events in general. It’s why they clear out radios from anywhere you go. Can’t risk you hearing some news broadcast and forming your own fucking opinions.” She grumbled that last part somewhat bitterly. I started to say something but she stopped me “I know, I know, that’s counterproductive with you. I’m fighting it but it’s one small detail on a long list of issues.”

“Actually…” I said quietly, my mind had pulled me somewhere else, somewhere softer. Somewhere were my heart trembled. I heard the word radio and I had a flash of a fragmented and broken memory. Music slow and smooth, the melody making me sway with a grin on my lips. One hand on someone’s shoulder, the other hand holding theirs, we laughed and danced, the scent of flowers on a spring breeze. I knew it was her, the girl I left to go to war. I felt that same ache in the memory as I had in the dream. “… can you bring me some music?”

A phonograph was playing a gentle song when I had my physical therapy, Jaina got to take more of a roll than usual as she was my dance partner. I stumbled a lot, nearly fell three times, stepped on her toes half a dozen more. But we were both all smiles the entire time. I felt like a clumsy fool but I couldn’t help but actually enjoy it.

Two more weeks went by and I realized I’d been wrong about something. Apparently a week was six days. I wasn’t sure why I was confused by this, but for some reason I thought I was seven. But, during the twelve, not fourteen, days the record playing in my room and in the therapy hall made so much more of a difference than I could have imagined. I still had the occasional breakdown. Sometimes I refused to put the prosthetic on. Sometimes I couldn’t do anything but lie in bed and cry for an hour. Sometimes I refused to let Jaina touch me at night, feeling hideous and deformed and unworthy of her. But there was still progress. I could walk unaided for decent stretches on flat ground and pretty good with a cane in most other situations. I could even climb stairs, slowly, while vice gripping a railing.

Oh! The cane! A gift from Helanna. Arcanicraft wonder that made me grin like a child on her birthday. It was a somewhat heavy metal ring with some kind of purple protective coating, about as wide as my hand with fingers splayed out. But if I pressed a rune on the side and channeled a point of Mana into it, half of it twisted aside and down and just kept going until it was a spiral shafted cane with a comfortable curved grip. The thing was very solid in either ring or cane form and I imagined it could put up with a hell of a beating. Or give one if it came down to it for that matter. It came with a leather holster meant to strap into a belt, so I could carry it around at all times. It was perfect, an emergency walking aid that wouldn’t feel obstructive when not needed. My dear General got a very nice kiss from that. Though sadly, didn’t have time for more that day either.

There was additional progress with Polyglot as well. I was practically fluent now, almost every sentence I overheard being easily understood fully, even subtext was starting to come across to me. Though, it didn’t make me as happy as I thought.

Far too many people clearly disliked if not outright hated me. Many because I was Pitrak, most because of my unusual appearance and rumors of being a Champion of some unknown patron. I talked to Jaina about it and she educated me on the subject as best she knew. Champions of the gods were a relatively known and understood thing, all known historical ones showing up, declaring their allegiance, and for the most part, helping people while advancing their god’s goals. But other beings could have Champions too.

Demigods, the children of true gods who had no divine calling or goals yet, very rarely made Champions as they were effectively kids or teenagers, just running around and having fun and exploring themselves. Champions were not something that would matter to them excepting in extremely strange cases.

Arch-Lords however, they liked making Champions. Incredibly powerful Mana-Infused beings could become an Arch-Lord and gain a touch of divinity without becoming true gods. Elementals, Demons, Angels, Fey, and a few other, rarer beings could do so but their goals were often at odds with the mortal races and their kingdoms. Not necessarily directly, intentionally antagonistic, but frequently at least incompatible. So their Champions tended to cause problems, even if they weren’t overtly hostile.

Since I hadn’t announced myself as serving some god and no-one knew of any gods that looked like me, assumptions and rumors were all over the place. The most common was apparently that the Empire was actually ruled by demon worshipers and I was a Champion of their Arch-Devil god king, here to corrupt Uvtrayl from within.

It seemed that it was only some very strict words from the military to the staff that kept folk civil. Which was a whole ass problem. That was not going to work for long. This was going to fester and rot and grow until it burst and put me and everyone near me in danger.

Thankfully Helanna came the next day in the early evening. She walked into the room with a briefcase and a grin, which died as soon as she shut the door and I spoke.

“You need to get us the hell out of here.”

She blinked and tilted her head. “Right this second or do I simply need to start making plans?”

“Who the hell do you have talking to the people here? At least a quarter of them think I’m a devil working for the Emperor.”

She looked confused “What are you talking about, the story I’ve had spreading is you got Championed by a Fae-Lord as a joke.”

“Well apparently that story isn’t making the rounds because that’s not in any of the rumors I’ve heard.”

She slid into the seat next to me with a slightly amused look “And who’s been relaying these rumors to you?”

I narrowed my eyes and said in oteva “I’ve just been listening to the people who think I can’t understand them.” Helenna’s eyes widened “My changes gave me Polyglot, I’ve been keeping it a secret. One I hope you’ll keep. But the point is that I’ve picked up that people are scared and it’s only vague threats from your people keeping them behaving.”

“I haven’t had my people threatening any-” She stiffened “Shit. They must have moles in my cell here. Gods damn it all to the abyss! This job is hard enough without my own fucking side sticking their dick in it!” She shouted, then took a breath to calm herself. “Okay, agreed. I’ll get us on a train tonight if I can, tomorrow at the latest. You’ll be less comfortable in my HQ, but safer and within an area I have far more control over.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. “Jaina comes with, assuming she wants to that is.”

[Itran, Emmit, and Vikkel should at least be observed as well. They are friendly with us and might be accused of collaboration or corruption even after we are gone.] Carmilla’s words brought up what I was about to, love that brilliant girl of mine.

“Itran is one of my people and will come with us, but the others I’ll make sure of.” She paused for a long moment. “About Jaina- No, no this isn’t the time.” She mutter more to herself than me “We can talk on the train.”

[I look forward to it my dear General.]

“As do I.” I echoed Carmilla, giving Helanna a warm smile that she returned after a moment.

“Don’t know how you do that. Been doing this work before you were born and somehow you slip right under my armor like no one has since I was a teenager.”

“Hey, I’m a Champion you know, along with a few extra surprises that can wait till we’re safer.”

And with that she was off. She worked fast and two hours later Jaina and Doctor Francova and Helanna and myself in a wheelchair were loading onto a train as the sun lowered to the horizon. Oranges and reds streaked through the sky and slowly darkened, as if the world itself was saying goodbye to this chapter of my life. Though what the next one held, I had no idea.

End of Arc 1 – Pain and Growth