Jackal Among Snakes

“You asked me if it was worth it, what I’ve done.” Dario exhaled. “It was never about it being ‘worth it.’ I knew the truth, and all the misery it brought. Things fell apart around me, and all my joy died. It was a buzzing in the back of my mind. It was as though I knew a poisonous spider lurked near my bed, yet not where. I had to act.”

“I suppose I know what you mean.” Melanie kept her eyes focused on Dario—even with him broken and battered, she didn’t underestimate this man for a second. “Knew a happy couple, married for twenty years. Then, the husband confessed he cheated when they were engaged. Twenty years of a good bond fell apart all because someone learned something they couldn’t forget. I always did wonder if ignorance would’ve served that woman best.”

“Hm. Hard to say.”

A silence stretched out between the two of them. Melanie sighed after a while. “You’re a lot like Argrave, in a way. Lots of self-importance.”

“Self-importance?”

“Well, yeah. Thinking that you’re the only one who can save the world, that sort of thing. You both have your reasons, I guess, but you took drastically different paths with your savior complex. Difference between you… Argrave has people backing him up. Your only ally abandoned you the moment it became problematic for them. Castro trusted Argrave enough to give his life for his cause. Do you see the difference?”

Dario didn’t dispute that.

“If know them, here’s what’ll happen. Argrave and Anneliese will try and convince you to come to their side, spill the beans. I’d advise that you do. If you’re honest, if you try and turn a new leaf… if you rely on someone besides some bastards that’d ruin your life and then abandon you, the royal couple might have your back, too,” Melanie ended hopefully.

“If not?”

“If not, I’m pretty sure they’ll give you to the Alchemist.” Melanie crossed her legs as the idea made her uncomfortable. “He’ll think of half a thousand measures to get what he needs from you. Even if they don’t work like you seem to think, I can guarantee they’ll be a lot worse than whatever secrets made you depressed enough to hurt yourself this badly.”

“I would never—”

“We’ve got Sophia. I’m not entirely sure what that means, but given the lengths you went through to stop that, it has to mean something. You want to know why your patron—if you can call them that—walked away? Because it doesn’t matter even if you don’t stay silent. We’re near the truth. If you’re so tickled about the fate of the universe, or whatever stupid reason you’d hurt yourself like this, then work with us!” Melanie’s last words were emotional, causing Dario to lift his head to look her in the eyes.

They had a long stare-off—her green eyes meeting his bloodshot red. Dario was the first to break his gaze to lay his head upon the cavern floor, and Melanie shook her head in disappointment. Then, his voice came again, muffled.

“Mostly right, but wrong in one pivotal point. I was abandoned to divide your forces. They suspected Anneliese, or perhaps the Alchemist, would chase after me while Argrave returned as quickly as he could. And now that you’re divided, Mozzahr is going to try something.”

“Mozzahr?” Melanie looked at Dario with focus. “What are you talking about?”

“We know Blackgard is your sanctuary. Mozzahr… they had me talk to him days prior, give him some information to position himself to take Sophia upon Argrave’s return with her in tow. The ordeal still sickens me, but their judgment was that it would be easier to recover Sophia from Mozzahr than it would Argrave, regardless of how many people that lunatic would kill.”

“I’m sure Argrave will be pretty flattered they thought him tougher than Mozzahr,” Melanie said, urgency making her speak quickly. “Please, give me more information. Everything you know.”

Dario opened his eyes again, fixed Melanie with eyes filled with bitter resolve. “Listen closely. I can’t say if we’re too late.”

#####

Argrave walked with Sophia beneath the underground tunnel leading to Blackgard. He could’ve teleported straight to the parliament hall to speak with Elenore, but he wanted to show Sophia the city as anyone else might’ve entered it. He held her hand as they walked. Here, at least, he was certain the people could be trusted. He sent Orion ahead to speak to Elenore, and the Alchemist had returned to his abode atop the mountain. It was them alone.

As sunlight came into sight, Sophia seemed to hasten a little. They came out of the tunnel, and Sophia looked around at the city in wonder.

“Here we are, Sophia. Home. New for the both of us.”

Her reaction was muted, but her eyes did wander curiously. He could not blame her for not possessing the carefree inquisitiveness of children. She had endured Good King Norman’s tyrannical dictation over his household and kingdom. That sort of scar, made so young, was likely to leave its mark on her for a long while yet… if not her whole life. And that was not even mentioning the traumatic flight she’d just had to endure. Argrave wished that he could show her nothing but kindness henceforth, but the dark shadow of what she really was hung over that. Hers had not been a normal childhood, and given her connection to Gerechtigkeit, Argrave could not promise to give one to her now. This would be complicated.

“No one will hurt you here again. You have my word on that. We can work out all the details later,” Argrave told her, half to suppress his own thoughts and half to assure her.

“What about other people?” Sophia asked. “I don’t want anybody to get hurt.”

Normally, he’d just agree to that and move on, but that little thing that made people feel bad about lying pricked at Argrave—he thought it was called a ‘conscience,’ but he was certain he’d killed that a long time ago. In the time loop, he’d been a lying machine. Now, perhaps he was over-adjusting after having returned to reality where consequences were actually consequences.

“Nobody is going to get hurt because of you,” Argrave answered as they walked across the bridge spanning the river.

“Mister Castro did,” Sophia countered meekly and sadly.

“Castro…” Argrave paused, then sighed. “Until the end, he never got hurt, Sophia. What he did, he did because he wanted to. And he actually went to a better place.”

“Daddy said… daddy said there’s nothing after death. That you die, and you get buried, and then worms eat your face.”

“How would Norman know?” Argrave asked. “Has he ever died? Well, before he said that,” he added, then looked at the girl a little guiltily. The fact remained he had killed her father, despite everything.

Sophia looked up at Argrave, deep in thought, and then shook her head. To his relief, she didn’t seem to take his words badly.

“Me, I’ve died.” Argrave nodded. “I could tell you exactly what happens.”

“But dead people can’t talk. I’ve seen them.”

Argrave paused in the middle of the bridge and kneeled down. “When you die, you wake up in someone else’s body. It might seem a little bad at first, but in time, you help a lot of people, you make a lot of friends, and you realize that it might just be the best thing that could’ve happened to you.” Argrave tousled her hair. “After all, because I died, I saved you.”

“Mister Castro…” she grappled with the idea of reincarnation, but her clever mind grasped it quickly. “…is gonna wake up as somebody else?”

“That’s right. He’ll be…” Argrave’s creative mind worked hard. “He’ll wake up as a handsome guy, just like me. And just like me, he’ll be able to save just about anybody. He’ll meet a nice lady who makes him smile, and then he’ll go around saving people, making them happy. It might be that he saves someone just like you. And then, knowing Castro, he’ll make that person’s life a whole lot better. He’ll make them happy, just like you’ll be.”

Sophia smiled brightly for perhaps the first time Argrave had seen. Tears were in her eyes as she asked, “Really?”

“Really, really.” Argrave returned her smile, then stood with her hand held in his own. “So, don’t worry, Sophia.”

Argrave walked with a significantly more heartened Sophia. She looked up at him and said optimistically, “Dying sounds awesome.”

Argrave’s panic flared, and he looked down at a bright-eyed Sophia. Oh, hell… did I oversell it? He was pleased to see some of that sadness and guilt gone, but now there was a different problem. What if she goes around saying, ‘I want to die?’ People are going to look at me like I’m a monster. Good lord, I need Anneliese here…

“Argrave,” Elenore’s voice cut into Argrave’s head. “I need you to listen to me without overreacting. Give no strong indicators to anyone who might be watching.”

By instinct, Argrave picked up Sophia. She calmy accepted this.

“I’m listening,” Argrave responded to Elenore. “Go.”

“The Castellan of the Empty is in the city,” Elenore said simply. “I don’t know where. But I do know Mozzahr is after Sophia.”

“Are you alright?” He inquired at once.

“I’m fine. Orion is with me. I’ve informed all others. But this is a very delicate situation, not just for you, but for the whole city. We must behave surgically.”

A swell of nervousness consumed Argrave, yet it was soon drowned by a newfound confidence… and something else. A fierce protectiveness. Mozzahr wanted Sophia? He made a mental note in his mind: Mozzahr would lose some limbs, today, if not his whole life.

“Quite the coincidence,” Argrave answered Elenore with a furious calm. “I’ve just had a great deal of practice fighting against monstrous psychopaths with strength enough to crush my skull with their fingers.”