Chapter 167 3-66. The War That Never Was

It took Juala two hours to do the calculations to do the teleport to Pruana Isle. writing in a small notebook with a piece of charcoal. The entire time, Otter switched from staring listlessly into the horizon, feeling dead inside, wanting to grieve, but unable to summon the tears for a monster like Sureya, and pacing impatiently. She could sense that Rua and Vex were alive and well, though they’d both been injured recently. And the online list confirmed both Sami and Everett as alive.

But a part of Otter worried.

The rational part of her brain knew there was an easy way to check. All she had to do was send a message. Call up Sami, Rua, anyone who went to Pruana Isle.

But then she’d have to face them. Explain what had happened. How she’d been connected intimately with a woman she hated, and then…

Otter’s heart clenched. She just couldn’t talk about it now.

Juala seemed to understand something was up, but she said nothing. Otter didn’t know if it was because they weren’t that close yet, or if Juala sensed that Otter didn’t want to talk about it. Or if she was just bad at people. That one made more sense. 

Soorong was busy being a leader. Barking orders, getting everyone in Sureya’s fleet to break up and head their separate ways. A lot of Silayans looked frustrated, but they obeyed. Otter heard mutters of Oloawei from many who passed by her. There would likely be a whole new season of Silayan raiding on other nations in the coming weeks, the warriors present looking for a way to work out their blue-boxed warrior lust. 

It would have to be someone else’s headache to deal with. Otter didn’t have it in her to babysit these islands her entire life. 

In between giving orders and seeing people off, Soorong would stop and stare at Juala. In all the confusion, Otter had forgotten that Juala was in Reyna’s body, and that Reyna had been Soorong’s daughter. She must have been relieved that Reyna had survived the attack from Il-Su, even if it had cost the Islands Juala. Now that the truth was out…. That her daughter was the one who was actually dead…

It explained some of Soorong’s reactions. The fact she hadn’t tossed them off the ship, or forced a confrontation… 

Otter didn’t know what to do with that. 

She knew she should talk to Soorong. Try to explain. But she just couldn’t summon up the energy. So she continued to sit on the edge of the ship, her feet dangling off the side.

Eventually, Soorong came to her instead. She sat beside her, and pressed her hand into Otter’s, forcing something into her palm.

She looked down. It was a soul crystal.

Seeing it there, the last bit of Sureya, made Otter feel sick. She wanted to throw it into the ocean. Cast it away and never think about it again.

“I’m sorry about your daughter,” Otter said. “I didn’t know until recently.”

Soorong was silent for a moment. “Did you know when you came onto my ship?”

“Yes.”

Soorong nodded. “The things we do when we’re put in command.”

“It’s… I’ve never wanted it. I’ve always avoided leadership positions in the past. And now everyone’s pushing me to lead. And I don’t know what to do with that.”

“You’re good at it. You cornered Sureya. Outsmarted her and broke her power in a public setting. Took on the responsibility of fighting her yourself. Put yourself in danger before throwing it on others. That’s the mark of a good leader in Silayan culture.”

“I’ll deal with the Mikovians. With their Wayfaring station. I think… I think Old Grey’s been dealt with, one way or another.”

Soorong didn’t ask for an explanation. They just sat and watched the sun come up for a while.

“My daughter was a difficult person,” Soorong finally said. “How is Juala… does she just look like her, or…”

“Her soul crystal is inside Reyna’s body. Reyna was stabbed by Il-Su, and left to bleed out. She was healed by a Fleshcrafter, but apparently she’d died. So, her body was fixed, but her soul had fled to wherever it is souls go.”

“The Flow,” Soorong said. She looked at Otter a little oddly, as if that was supposed to be basic knowledge. It probably was. “In a way, it’s appropriate that Juala is in her body. Because Juala is also a difficult person. But they’re difficult in different ways. You’ll need to keep an eye on Juala. My daughter… she had troubles with strong drink.”

Otter closed her eyes for a second. Even in the wake of all this, Soorong was still doing her duty to a former Seat. She was worried that Reyna’s body’s dependency on alcohol would transfer to Juala. That could very well be true.

“I’ll keep an eye on her,” Otter said, though the promise felt like another weight on her shoulders. Another responsibility. Still, this was the kind she could deal with. 

Soorong clapped Otter on the shoulder, and then stood, leaving her alone. Otter stared down at the soul crystal in her hand. She could feel Sureya’s rage, her anger, still burning in her heart, as if Sureya was still alive. 

She didn’t want another piece of Sureya inside of her. 

Leilynn sat down next to her, and Otter flinched, not having heard her coming.

“You’re not going to swallow it,” Leilynn said. It wasn’t an accusation so much as a statement of fact.

“No,” Otter said. “I’m not.”

“You will. Eventually. When you need it. And it will hurt you more than you can know.”

Otter sighed. “Do you have spiders in this world?”

Leilynn blinked, as if unsure of what to make of the sudden change of topics.

“They’re insects. Well, arachnids, but that’s a pedantic distinction,” Otter continued. “They weave webs, to ensnare their prey.”

“We have something similar, I think. Soona.”

“Great. Well, I don’t know about your soona, but in my world, spiders are predators. They’re patient. They lay traps. And they just… wait. Why hunt, when you can plan for the future?”

There was a long pause. “You think I am a spider.”

“Leilynn, I know you’re a fucking spider. I’ve been thinking a lot about you recently. You sent Rua to that cabin. But you didn’t do it to help her, did you?”

“No. I did it so she’d meet you. And that by meeting you, the two of you would meet Vex, and then bring her to me. I have… incomplete understanding of the various timelines surrounding you. But in most, you wove Fate around both Rua and Vex.”

“And what happened in the timelines where I didn’t?”

“Timeline, singular. But it’s the prime timeline. The one most Dream-touched see. She died in that timeline. By her own hand. But I suspect she would have died regardless. Kir and Juala were tearing her apart. And now, all three are healing. I saved not just one of my sisters, but all three.”

“But you didn’t do it to save any of them.”

Leilynn nodded her head in acknowledgement. “No. I did not. I did it for you to save Vex. Not even to have her meet me. For a chance for our relationship to begin. No. I did it because… I saw her in so many of my possible futures. And sometimes she terrified me. But I learned to love her before I ever met her. And the thought of her being forever entombed alive, buried in that fucking armor… I would have gone to Ashborne’s island myself with a shovel if I’d thought I’d had any chance of success.”

“You’re not here to talk to me about Sureya’s soul crystal, are you?”

“No. You’re going to go to Pruana Isle, and when you do, you’re going to do something foolish. Something foolish but wonderful. I’m not going to stop you, because it needs to be done.”

That was just what Otter needed to hear. More drama on her horizon. She just wanted to be left alone.

“And?” she said bluntly.

“And you can’t include Vex in your plans.”

“And there it is. The thing that always seems to motivate everything you do.”

“I mean it,” Leilynn said sharply, that normally dreamy-like quality to her voice gone. “If you do, she will die. Sometimes, her fate is even worse than that. In every single timeline, if you… It doesn’t end well for her.”

Otter paused. This was the most genuine Leilynn had ever sounded.

“And what am I going to do?”

“I can’t tell you that. But you’ll know the choice you’re going to make as soon as you see. I just ask for you to not include Vex. Please.”

Otter didn’t answer her. After a moment, Leilynn stood and retreated. Otter put the soul crystal into her pocket and stood, stretching her legs. It looked like Juala was finished with her notebook scribbles, and she honestly wanted whatever this was done with. She just wanted to rest.

“Do you need me to check your work?”

Juala scowled. “It’s fine. Come here. We need a shadow to do the teleport.”

“What? Why?”

“We just do. It has to do with my element. Ask that thing.” She pointed at Cheep, who was pretending to sleep, all while floating in the air behind Juala’s head.

“Fine, let’s just do this.”

“Oh, don’t be so grumpy, if everything went according to plan, then you’re probably going to get laid. And if it didn’t, we’ll all die, so you won’t have to stay miserable for long.”

“Is sex all you think about?”

“Since about three minutes after the last time I had it, yeah. And I haven’t had it in a while, and I’m getting kind of backed up, and I have no idea how that even works since I don’t even have a cock anymore. You think your little Fleshcrafter will attach one to me if I ask nicely?”

“Juala?”

“Yeah?”

“Just… shut up. Please.”

Juala smirked, and then put a hand around Otter’s hip as they stepped into a shadow on the ship. There was a weird lurching sensation, and Otter felt like throwing up for a second, and then they were suddenly in a clearing, green grass all around them.

“Is this Pruana?”

“Probably.”

“Probably?”

“I’ve only been here a few times. This island stinks of unwashed Mikovians. And while Sureya’s – or whoever’s, now that she’s dead – ship was at anchor, it’s not like I knew exactly where we were. I had to make some guess work based on–”

“You mean you could have put us in the ocean?”

“Probably not. It was some pretty good guess work.”

Otter suddenly understood how Sami must have always felt talking to her. She shut her mouth, and then focused on her bond with Rua. She was close. Very close. Otter felt like she could just close her eyes and be able to point in the direction she was.

She headed in the direction where she felt Rua’s pull. They hiked through the wilderness for a good twenty minutes, and not long after, came across the party in the distance.

“You know, when you said that limpdick was alive, I thought you were joking,” Juala said sourly.

“What is Il-Su doing here?” Otter muttered to herself.

The whole party looked fairly roughed up, some worse than others. Vex looked in a harried panic, moving from one person’s side to the next, patching up wounds. Everett in particular looked extremely rough, with dozens of small lacerations all over his body. Il-Su hovered over him, but neither were talking. Or even really looking at one another. 

In her haste to get to them, Otter nearly tripped over a body. She looked down, and saw the hulking form of who she could only assume was Old Grey, a massive bear of a man with grey-patched skin and long, greasy hair. There was blood all over him, but no wounds. Parts of him looked as if there was a sheen of steel over them, and–

He breathed. His chest rose and fell. Otter let out a startled noise, and drew one of her knives, but he didn’t move otherwise. His eyes were closed.

“Uh, guys, did you mean to leave this guy alive?” she said.

Kir was sitting over the prone form of Rua, and her eyes looked haggard. “He’s my father.”

“He has some sort of healing ability,” Sami said. “His wounds sealed over with metal after Kir, well, royally fucked him up. And now he seems to be in a hibernation state. No one has wanted to stab him in his sleep to finish him off.”

“I kind of do,” Il-Su said.

“Luckily, no one asked you.”

“Fuck off, Sami.”

Otter rounded on Il-Su, “Why are you here? I needed you for Sureya.”

“You really didn’t. As evidenced by how you’re here, and everyone here nearly wasn’t.”

“The plan–”

“Stop.”

Otter was brought short by the rumble from Everett. He struggled to sit up, but couldn’t quite on his own. He winced in pain, and laid back down. Otter moved to his side.

“No more of this in-fighting,” Everett said. “Please. He’s an asshole. But he’s our asshole. We need all the allies we can get.”

“I wouldn’t call us ‘allies,’” Il-Su grumbled.

“Not helping, Su.”

“I wasn’t trying to. Listen, we used to be a family once. But we’re not that anymore. I… made mistakes.” Sami looked about to make a remark at that, but a glare from Il-Su silenced her. “From now on, we’re officially even. I don’t owe anyone here anything. We’re not friends. I’m going to form up my own team, and we’re going to figure out how to kill Holt and get free from this place. Without you.”

“If you kill Holt–” Sami began, but Otter motioned her to silence. Il-Su didn’t know about Otter’s condition, and quite frankly, she didn’t want him to. Killing Holt would guarantee everyone’s freedom, but it would doom her. Assuming, of course, Holt hadn’t lied about that.

“Su,” Everett said. “You can’t. I mean… at least let me–”

“We’re nothing to each other anymore, Ev,” Il-Su said. “I burned that bridge. You should move on.”

Otter could hear it, the slightest hint of regret in Il-Su’s voice. It was probably the only really selfless thing she’d ever seen him do. 

Il-Su turned from them, his dramatic black cape swirling behind him, and then he vanished from sight.

“I can still see where you are,” Sami said. 

“Fuck off, Sami,” came Il-Su’s voice from seemingly nowhere.

“Drama queen,” she muttered.

“She’s dead, right?” Rua asked Otter.

Otter felt a little sick, but tried to smile. “Yeah. Sureya’s dead.”

“What happened?”

“Nothing import–” She didn’t even get to finish the sentence before Rua was up, in her face, and flicking her nose.

“No lies. What happened?”

“They dueled, and Otter here kicked Sureya’s ass,” Juala said. She quickly recounted the story, exaggerating it a fair bit – which earned her a few flicks – but when she got to the part where Sureya had copied Otter’s Thread of Fate, Rua sucked in a breath.

“She bonded you?” Rua asked.

“Yeah,” Otter said. She felt dirty just for admitting it. The bond was supposed to be special. Something she and Rua and Vex shared, like a family. It had been beautiful. And now Sureya had sullied it by intruding where she hadn’t belonged. And now the whole thing felt tainted to Otter. “I’m sorry.”

“For what? You didn’t do anything wrong. If I could kill her myself, I would, just for that.”

“Oh, you don’t need to,” Juala crowed. “You should have seen it. Otter made it rain, and then drowned Sureya. Right in front of everyone.”

Rua gasped. “You didn’t.”

“She did! Put a big blob of water on Sureya’s head and drowned her!”

Otter shuddered. She could still remember the panic in Sureya in her final moments. It was almost like she herself had died at that moment. In some ways, it felt like it. 

Rua’s hand clasped Otter’s shoulder. “It’s going to be okay. It’ll fade.”

Rua was cheating again, sensing at Otter’s emotions through their bond. Still, Otter was grateful for it. It meant she didn’t have to explain. 

“We have another problem,” Sami said. 

Otter knew it was coming. Leilynn had basically told her as much, and she’d been braced for it.

“What is it?” she asked wearily. 

“The people who’ve been coming through the Wayfaring station. They’re not soldiers. At least, not all of them are. They’re farmers. Carpenters.”

“So, they’re building a new home, and getting the infrastructure ready first?”

“No, they’re refugees. I went down to talk to some of them after…” she pointed to the unconscious Old Grey. “None of them want to talk, not even to Kir. They won’t give details, but they’re running from something. Something has them scared.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Kir said. “We still need to destroy the gate. Keep an invading army from getting through.”

“You’re not curious?” Rua asked. “They’re your people. We could help.”

“And we need to protect your home. Our home,” Kir said, though the worry in her voice was clear.

Otter looked down to the town. She’d promised Soorong they’d deal with that Wayfaring station. If they didn’t, it’d be war for real. One the Silayans would inevitably lose, according to Leilynn.

“We go then,” Otter said.

Kir’s attention snapped to her. “What?”

“We go,” Otter said, feeling the words out. They sounded right. More, her resolve seemed to be coming back as she said them. They felt right. “We Wayfare to the other side. Help whoever’s there. Do what we can. Fight whoever needs to be fought.”

“But–”

“Everett,” Otter said. “I have a job for you. And… one for you, Vex.”

“Me?” Vex squeaked.

“We’re going to rest up,” Otter said. “You’re going to fix everyone who needs fixing. When noon hits, everyone’s Will resets. Ev, I know you don’t want to fight.”

He looked about to protest, like he wanted to prove he still could, but then hung his head.

“He is a gardener! He is my gardener!”

Otter had to look about for the source of the voice, and then realized it was the tiny Ashborne, now standing on Ev’s shoulder. 

“Yeah,” Otter agreed. “He’s a gardener. Ev, you don’t need to keep fighting. And I have an important job for you.”

“What is it?”

“You need to destroy the Wayfaring station after we use it.”

Everyone all at once seemed like they suddenly had an opinion on the issue, everyone trying to talk at once. Everyone except Rua, whose hand was still on Otter’s shoulder. She said nothing, but she squeezed once. 

“Anyone who doesn’t want to come is welcome to stay,” Otter said. 

“I’m going,” Kir said immediately.

“If you’re going, I’m going,” Sami added. “I still owe you my life. Sua’noa.”

Rua said nothing, but laid her head on Otter’s shoulder.

“Ugh, fine, I guess I’ll go along with you,” Juala muttered. “Don’t have anything better to do anyway.”

“I guess I’m going, too,” Vex said.

“No,” Otter said. “I need you to stay here, with Everett.”

“What?”

“It’s important,” Otter said. “I need you to look after the Islands in our absence. We need someone here with Everett to make sure things don’t fly apart again.”

Vex looked from Otter to Rua, her eyes wide with panic. “But… I can’t. I… are you trying to get rid of me?”

“No! No, of course not. Leilynn… she gave me a warning. Said if you went with us, you’d die. Maybe worse than die.” 

“She’s lying. She’s just trying to protect me because she wants us…” Vex blushed furiously, looking studiously at the ground. 

“She might be. I don’t trust her. And that’s also another reason why I need you here. I need you to watch her. Make sure she isn’t trying to manipulate things in a bad way.”

“But…”

“Do as she says,” Rua said gently.

“But I–”

“Sunny,” Rua said a little more sternly. “If Leilynn said you’re in danger if you go with us, then you’re staying here.”

Vex’s eyes widened, panicked, and they started to brim with tears. “I can’t stay here, Mama. I can’t do this without you.”

Rua hugged her. “I never asked for you. And I won’t deny you’re weird, and in need of more dunking in the ocean. But I guess I love you. And if you come with us, or try to sail to Mikovia after we leave, and not stay here like you’re told, I will never, ever forgive you.”

Vex quietly sobbed into Rua’s chest. Rua awkwardly held her, making noises that were somewhat soothing, but Rua’s inexperience in offering solace to someone was clear. 

“You’re really intent on running face-first into danger, aren’t you?” Sami asked.

“I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t do something stupidly dangerous on the regular.”

Sami snorted. “I’ll scout around. Make sure no one comes up on us while we get ready.”

After Vex got the last of her cry out, she went back to patching everyone up. Wounds were sealed, bones reset. Rua was worse off than she looked, needing a prolonged healing sensation. 

“I’m sorry I… I’m sorry I’m not a better killer,” Everett said as they got ready to leave, everyone but he and Vex gathering on the Wayfaring platform. Kir busied herself lighting incense and activating glyphs.

“I’m not,” Otter said. “I like you just the way you are. Look after my kid, will you?”

Everett hugged Vex, who looked uncomfortable and still a little distraught. 

“Oh, and Everett? There’s this guy. Akai. Juala’s brother. He’s on the Sunset Council right now.”

“You want me to look after him?”

“No, he’s a total twink. Definitely your type. You should see if he likes dragon men.”

Everett’s nostrils flared. “Twink detected. Locking in.”

“Akai likes pentillians,” Juala said. “They’re flowers that grow on the ocean’s surface. They come in with the tide. Tiny little blue things.”

“Blue ocean flowers, got it,” Everett said with a grin.

Vex moved, her whole body tensing to throw herself onto the platform. Everett caught her without even looking and hugged her to his side. 

“I love you, Vex,” Otter said.

“Don’t leave, please,” she pleaded.

“I’ll call you every day,” Otter promised, and Sami let out a bark of laughter at that. Otter swatted her. 

“We’re ready,” Kir said, holding up a glyph-emblazoned brazier. 

“Alright, let’s go do something stupid,” Otter said.

Kir set the brazier down on a sconce, and then trotted onto the platform. Everything blurred, and there was a lurching sensation as they were pulled off the platform and beyond.

End of Arc III