(II) Return

54 (II) Return

And Shiv was just about as lost as she was when it came to her future. “Now, well, I think… I think you get processed in Weave. They save a lot of slaves, and they help people like you. It’s not the same as the gate here. They don’t take people and use them as things. You’ll be safe, I think.”

“She will be,” Uva said, stepping away from her sisters. “What is your name, girl?”

Shiv felt the urge to smash himself in the head—he hadn’t even bothered asking the girl’s name this entire time. he thought.

“I’m Sarah,” the girl said. “Sarah Bradenton. I was—my mother was… We lived in the Pre-Umbral. We lived in Salslort. A mushroom farming town.” Her eyes grew distant. “It doesn’t exist anymore. Not since Compact decided to expand.”

Uva nodded. There was a look of sympathy on her face, but it was a practiced one. She was too used to this. “I’m sorry. We will have Psychomancers who might be able to deal with your trauma, and the Office of Acclamation will see that you are all given proper assignments during your time here.”

“Assignments?” she said.

“Correct. Weave is a place built on service, but we will not force you to be slaves. You will be given choices, and you will be settled into temporary housing.” Uva winced. “Although the rooms might not be that fine or spacious.”

“Rooms?” A slave breathed. “We all get our own rooms?”

Shiv was once again reminded how much worse his life could have been.

The girl nodded. “Thank you. Thank all of you.”

The door leading into the teleportation anchor opened, revealing a few white-robed Weaveresses along with a contingent of Umbrals. A good many slaves flinched back, their terror spiking. Shiv could feel it with his Dread Aura. They were no longer looking at him—no longer afraid of him. Many pointed at the Weaveresses as they backed away until they were pressed against the walls.

“Feral weavers! We’re gonna be eaten!”

“We’re gonna be sold!”

“They’re gonna use us for breeding!”

Uva winced. The Weaveresses flinched.

“No, no,” Shiv said. “Stop! Look at me!” Shiv used his Dread Aura to good effect this time. Everyone looked back to him, their fear and terror locking back onto him like a lightning rod. “They’re not going to eat you. These are Weaveresses. Not feral weavers. They’re going to see you taken care of. We did not bring you across the entire Umbral Wilderness just to feed you to monsters,” Shiv said. He gave the Weaveresses an apologetic look, but they seemed rather sanguine about the entire thing. “You’ll be fine. I will make sure of it. Okay? If you don’t believe me…” He patted Sarah on the shoulder, and the girl jumped. “Look at Sarah. Believe in Sarah. She’s real brave.”

Sarah paused and nodded. “W-we’re going to be fine, everyone. We’re safe! It’s okay.”

“Yeah,” Shiv said awkwardly. The slaves were all looking at him, wide-eyed, terrified. But ultimately, it quieted down.

“All right,” Shiv said. “You try to take care of them, okay? A lot of them are going to need a lot of help. You take care of yourself, too.” He nodded several times at her, but wasn’t sure what else to say. “I’m sorry. You deserved better. I wish I was stronger. I’ll see if I can get the others out too.”

He moved to walk away.

“Will I see you again?” the girl asked.

Shiv paused, considering that question. He wasn’t sure. “I don’t know,” Shiv said. “I’ll probably be around if I don’t end up dead for good. I’ll tell you what, though. Down the line…” His brow furrowed in contemplation. “Down the line, you know, I’m thinking about opening a restaurant here. So, if you ever want to look me up—maybe someday—you’ll see Shiv’s Restaurant or something like that,” he laughed. “I’m still working on a name, but you can probably find me there.”

“Shiv’s Restaurant?” Uva said, cocking her head to the side. “When did this idea come to you?”

“Just now,” Shiv said. “If I don’t end up dead and manage to deal with the shit upstairs, I think I’ll probably stick around for a while. I don’t know—explore the Abyss, meet new people, and see new sights.”

Uva’s expression told him she rather liked his plan.

“I’ll do it,” Sarah said, nodding vigorously. “If you open the restaurant, I’ll definitely come. Your food is… It’s almost the best I’ve ever had.”

“Almost?” Shiv said, raising an eyebrow.

“Best I ever had was the food my mother made,” Sarah said. “But I won’t ever get to have that again.”

And Shiv knew that there was no hope of winning anymore.

“Ah, well, hopefully I can give you a bunch of second best, then,” he said, slightly solemn. “Hopefully.”

She paused. “If you open a restaurant, you’re going to need to hire people, right?”

“Yeah,” Shiv said. “Usually that’s how it goes.”

“Well, I always wanted to be a chef.”

And Shiv had a funny feeling—a feeling that this interaction, this moment, was just one step in many to come. “Well, if you’re interested, I’ll teach. I won’t call myself a…” Shiv paused. He was technically a Master at Cooking. “I wouldn’t call myself a at cooking,” he said. “But I can show you a few things. It’ll be hard work, though. High pressure.”

She stared at him. “I was a slave until two days ago.”

Shiv hid a wince. “Yeah, uh,” he muttered, his mood souring again. “You're right. I think you'll do just fine in the kitchen.”

As the slaves were led out and guided to wherever they needed to go next, Shiv and the others followed Uva to another section of Passage. After arriving there, they debriefed a room full of Weaveresses and other Cherished Sisters about their most recent expedition. Shiv was asked about many things in detail, and he repeated what he knew about the insides of the gate.

The process, thankfully, wasn’t nearly as painful as the bureaucratic hellscape he had to endure after entering Gate Theborn. Within an hour, they were done and dismissed.

The Umbrals talked about departing to the showers to get cleaned up and to clock out for the day. The team invited Shiv and Uva to a card game, but Ikki interrupted.

“They got to be .” Ikki wiggled her eyebrows at Shiv and Uva, but the Psychomancer simply shook her head at the young Umbral.

“She is such a child,” Uva complained.

“Yeah, she’s got a lot of life in her,” Shiv replied, grinning at Ikki. The little Umbral gave him a thumbs up and then made a lewd gesture that nearly made him choke.

“Regardless, I must head to Elaboration first,” Uva said, doing her best to mentally crush Ikki without actually using her abilities.

“What’s that?” Shiv asked her.

“A hidden facility somewhere deep, deep down inside Weave.” She smiled. “Maybe you’ll get to come and see sometime. Depends on what the other Exalted Mothers and the Cherished Sisters decide. A good case can be made for you. You are a Psychomancer in training, and you did bring us the Jealousy we’re about to vivisect and examine.”

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

“Yeah, about that,” Shiv said. “Can you, like, I don’t know, leave one of its limbs or something? It’s still regenerating really fast, and I’d like a source of endless meat.”

At this, Uva couldn’t help it—she practically broke with laughter. Her voice was low, husky, and Shiv enjoyed the sound of it.

While he was drinking her in, Adam shook his head in disgust.

Tran raised both eyebrows at them. Heather also looked stupefied.

Adam guided the two Slayers—and Siggy, for that matter—away. “Let us give them space before they take our peace away again.”

“What do you mean, again?” Heather muttered.

“I mean the Omenborn has no sense of propriety, dignity, or public decency when night falls.”

“I expect the matter of the Jealousy to take some time,” Uva said, still looking at Shiv, “but, well, we’ll see what happens. This is, I will not exaggerate, a great gift offered to Weave. I suspect the Composer might wish to reward you again for this.”

“Well, I got to stop doing great deeds. I might bankrupt you guys,” Shiv joked.

Uva chuckled. “I have something for you, too.”

“Oh?” Shiv said. “What’s that?”

“I will show you. It’s at my sister’s store, best that you see for yourself.” Uva looked him up and down. He was clad in his adamantine bone armor now, but underneath, he had practically little more than tatters left. “It has to deal with your modesty.”

“My modesty?” Shiv said, his pitch climbing. “I’m glad you’re worried about my modesty. Or is it you’re worried about other people concerning themselves with my modesty?”

“I just want you to have something left to wear after every fight,” she replied, but there was a hint of amusement in her voice. “And I think I found the solution. I hope.”

“Oh, what’s that?”

“An Enchantment. Something I should have thought about the first few times you shredded your clothes.”

Shiv paused. “It sounds a little expensive.”

“Quite cheap compared to a mostly intact Jealousy,” Uva replied.

“Fair enough. Call it even?”

Before she could respond, he remembered something. “Oh, wait!” Shiv turned. “Heather!”

Heather froze mid-step, turning to him. Shiv pulled out another full set of bone armor and chucked it at the Jump Mage. “Hey, switch out of your armor. You can wear this instead.”

Heather stared at him in disbelief. “Seriously? Right now? Right now?”

Shiv shrugged. “I mean, later’s fine too. Uva?”

Uva slightly nudged Shiv on the shoulder. “Yes. Later. Patience, Shiv. Don’t bark at people to change their equipment in public.” She gave Heather a borderline apologetic stare.

“See? Even your girlfriend—” Heather paused. “Holy shit, you two are actually a thing, aren’t you?” Heather gestured at both of them.

Shiv folded his arms and remained impassive. Uva held her impressive poker face.

“Ah,” Heather sighed. “I can’t believe this. This place—giant spiders, the Omenborn’s a Master. And someone’s interested in him. Where the hells am I?”

“It will take some getting used to,” Adam said. “I’m still not used to it myself. We… we will need to get you two situated. There’s a lot for you to learn here. It is a fine place.”

As Adam began explaining things, they exited Passage and entered Weave proper. Suddenly, the scale of the massive city struck the Slayers—and Siggy, for that matter. Shiv had forgotten the goblin was still following them. Shiv thought.

“Whoa,” Tran said. “This is… this place…”

“It's quite the sight,” Adam answered smoothly. And then a set of melodies washed over them. Strings played from a divine harp.

“What is that?”, Tran asked, his eyes wide.

“That,” Adam said, breathing in, “is music being played by a glorious, beautiful, and generous goddess.” At that moment, a few of the melodies rose in note.

Foreshadowing: Within her Symposium, the Composer watched as a group of intrepid heroes returned and almost voyeuristically listened in on her praise. She giggled, and her harp giggled alongside her.

Shiv thought to himself.

“I will find you an inn or some manner of hotel for accommodations,” Adam said, speaking to the Slayers. “Perhaps I will move in as well, since the bedroom still hasn’t been replaced.”

“What do you mean, the bedroom being replaced?” Tran asked. “What happened to the bedroom?”

Adam glared at Shiv and Uva. Shiv folded his arms even harder, pretending to be a stone. Uva just looked away.

Uva said telepathically to Shiv.

“Then, I’m going to show you the city,” Shiv replied.

“ going to show the city?” Uva said, her eyes widening in curiosity. “How do you plan to do that?’

“Yeah—couldn’t fly before, couldn’t carry you, had to settle for a demon. And now? Well, now I still can’t fly very well, but I can fling us with my field. It’ll be like getting thrown. Repeatedly. Romantically.”

Silver Tongue > 13

“You sure know exactly what to say to a girl,” Uva said deadpan, but also rather touched.

As Uva and the Umbrals departed, that left only Shiv, Adam, the Slayers, and Siggy. They stood along the protective railings that encircled this Passage exit, and they saw demons flying through the air—massive manta-like forms carrying dozens of Umbrals and other races on their backs.

“Well, we’re definitely not on the surface anymore,” Tran said. “What are those?”

“Demons,” Shiv said.

“Demons?” Heather breathed.

“Yeah, things are not quite as the Republic interpreted,” Adam said, still running defense for his nation.

“Yeah, not really at all,” Shiv replied. “Especially with the Inquisition doing whatever the hell they’re doing.”

At that, all their moods soured.

“There is something rotten at the heart of our nation,” Adam said. “I will see justice done. I swear it, Slayers. I swear that the Inquisition will pay for what they inflicted on you. This is my word as Young Lord Adam Arrow. Heroic Pathbearer.”

Both of the Slayers looked encouraged, but Shiv could still feel something on their faces. Being mentally tortured after being physically tortured left wounds, and ultimately, not everyone was like him. Shiv recovered. He practically felt fully recovered from his fight with the Jealousy, even after his mind was torn apart.

Shiv thought.

“But first we should see Valor,” Adam said. That drew Shiv’s attention. “He told me to go find him the first chance I got when I returned. So. This is what we will do.”

“Yeah, Valor—what’s he working on? You said he was trying to solve something to do with the Animancy Core.”

“Correct. He’s in a place at the bottom of the city, somewhere called the Hallowed Depths. It is where Weave stores its most honored dead and those who are consecrated for Necromancy.”

“What? Necromancy?” Tran said, his eyes widening. He made a gesture invoking the Ascendants.

Adam shook his head. “There’s a lot to explain, but when you meet him, do not use the word undead, or any kind of common nomenclature we’ve been taught by the church.”

“Okay, and, like, who is this Valor?” Heather said.

Adam opened his mouth, but a series of awkward noises came out. “It’s hard to explain. He is a mentor of sorts, and… well, you’ll… you’ll see. You’ll get used to him.”

“Alright,” Heather said, as she looked down over the rails. “But how are we going to get there? This place is pretty high up, and you’re saying it’s all the way down. Don’t tell me we’re riding on one of those…” She bit her lip. “Demons.”

“No matter,” Adam said. “Shiv, I saw you shooting around the battlefield earlier. You seem to be able to fly now.”

There was a look of challenge in the Young Lord’s eyes. And Shiv knew exactly what to expect.

“Yeah,” Shiv said. “Well, flying’s not exactly what I think I’d call it. It’s more like flinging myself using my gravitic field—”

Adam casually unslung his bow and shot Shiv in the face with a frost arrow. The act was so random, Shiv didn’t even have time to react as a burst of ice enveloped his head. It didn’t even particularly hurt, but it did surprise him momentarily—long enough that by the time he shattered the frost coating his head, Adam was already flying off, holding Heather in tow.

“The first person to arrive is the greater Pathbearer,” Adam declared, his voice echoing through the air.

“That son of a bitch,” Shiv muttered. “All right, Tran. We’re not going to let this bastard beat us. You too, Siggy. Get ready to fly.”

“What?” Siggy said, but Shiv didn’t care. He immediately grabbed the goblin and flung her at Adam.

Siggy screamed as she barely missed the Young Lord’s back.

Shiv grunted.

“All right, well, looks like I’m going to have to grab her again. Hang on, Tran.”

Tran gawked in terror. “What?”

And then Shiv blasted off the edge of the passage with a flex of his Gravitic Wrestler, shooting over the railing with Tran in hand, diving to grab his “projectile goblin,” who screamed as she tumbled through the sky. Adam soared acrobatically and effectively through the air, doing twists and turns that Shiv found awkward to emulate. But the Deathless wasn’t so easily deterred anymore. He wasn’t limited by Momentum Core’s destruction. He could soar freely now too.

And if Adam was a hawk ascending, then Shiv was a falling hurricane.

“Let’s see how fast those little wings flap, Young Lord,” Shiv said with a chuckle, and he launched himself again, catching Siggy in his other hand.

Below, held like feathers in his hands, both Siggy and Tran screamed out in terror, their courage snapping like twigs.

Dread Aura > 70

Life was pretty good.