The Fusionist Book 4 -- Chapter 19

Chapter 19

“You can leave your bags here, if you want.”

Larek hesitated for a moment before he shrugged them off his shoulders and dropped them on the floor in the middle of the room. As he walked out, he threw the stone that held his Healing Shelter +8 Fusion on top of the packs, to the arched eyebrow of Maybelle. “Just in case anyone thinks to start looking through them,” he explained as they walked out the door, closing it behind him. “I have some important things in there, and while I’m appreciate of this opportunity to stay here, I don’t necessarily trust you enough to leave my valuables unguarded.”

The woman didn’t seem offended by his honest explanation, though she seemed skeptical, nonetheless. “With a rock? Won’t it just make light?”

He stopped his walk, causing Maybelle to stop as well. “No, it will horrifically kill anyone who gets within a certain distance,” he said earnestly, wanting to convey the danger to her in case she – or someone else in this underground refuge – took their curiosity a bit too far. “I don’t want anyone to die needlessly, so please let anyone who might be inclined to investigate my things without my permission.”

Now there was a reaction, as the woman shivered slightly as she stared into his eyes, and it wasn’t from the cold; the fear in them was plain to see, and the reaction wasn’t exactly what he was going for when he warned her.  He turned away, not wanting to scare her more than he already had, but satisfied that he got his point across. Maybelle began to say something, but out of the corner of his eye he saw her nod once before continuing on toward the door at the end of the hallway.

I guess the last month alone has changed me more than I thought.

His paranoia of being discovered and the extreme caution he took to protect himself while on his own had made him wary of almost everything, and that seemed to affect his social interactions with other people. He had been slightly concerned that he’d regressed to his former awkward state when it came to talking to others, but it seemed to have morphed into something that was tinged by his distrust and hyper-focused state of awareness he’d had to operate under while traveling in the untamed landscape of the Sealance Empire.

It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it probably wouldn’t make him many friends.

Thankfully for Larek, his return to the large, warm common room wasn’t met with stares from everyone inside, though there were certainly some. The still slightly shaken Maybelle led him toward and past the large central fire and toward where all of the women were seated in various states of comfort. Most of them seemed to drape themselves over the furniture as if extremely relaxed, settling into the soft cushions until they looked like they were being consumed by some sort of upholstery monster. The only ones that were sitting upright and rigid, especially as they saw him coming, were the ones that were dressed similarly to Yvette, and they seemed on edge and ready to either fight or flee at the slightest provocation.

Maybelle cleared her throat as she stepped into the middle of gathering with Larek in tow. “Ahem. I’m sure you’re wondering about this young man with me, and what he’s even doing here. In short, he’s staying with us for at least the night with a very generous donation to our society, and may even be willing to stay for a slightly extended time for additional payme—donation.”

“Why did you bring him here, Maybelle?” came the question in a stern voice that came from a slightly older woman than the rest of the group, wearing an ankle-length brown dress made of lightweight fabric and a loosely flowing white top – similar to many outfits he’d seen most of the people in the Empire wear. “You have rooms all over the city to ply your trade; why bring him back to the Sanctum?” She spoke with a definite feeling of authority, and Larek could only assume that this

Society? Donation? Sanctum? He was beginning to get some answers, but they just led to additional questions.

“I apologize for my admittedly rash decision, Seandra, but this seemed like an ample opportunity. He was looking to avoid attention from a certain type of person, and was willing to, uh, donate a significant amount in order to secure the privacy that the society enjoys. Knowing that we need—”

“We’ll be fine, Maybelle, whatever you think you know,” the older woman said, cutting the semi-clothed woman off. Maybelle shrunk back, clearly chastised, and Larek realized that bringing him to their “Sanctum” was something she probably shouldn’t have done. Turning her gaze toward him, Seandra attempted to turn the weight of her authority on Larek, but it didn’t really affect him as much as it would have even a year ago. Having faced Chinli, a Gergasi who used Dominion Magic to exert her control over people, this was nothing.

“So, who are you and what exactly are you running from?”

Knowing that it probably didn’t matter if he gave his name, Larek did just that – but didn’t elaborate on why he was hiding from Protectors. He still didn’t trust these people completely, and giving them that kind of information could be dangerous.

“Let’s just say that I ran afoul of a misunderstanding with some Protectors, and it would be best if I stay far away from their attention. They’re just doing their jobs, after all, and I would hate to have to kill them over some insignificant misunderstanding.”

There were some murmurs from the assembled woman at that, but nothing clear enough that Larek could make it out. “Fair enough, Larek. I must ask one question, though, considering that you’re talking about killing Protectors.” She paused for a second before asking, “Did you kill any Protectors before this? If so, then we’ll give you your donation back and ask that you leave; we don’t need that kind of attention knocking on our door.”

He shook his head. “No, I haven’t hurt or killed any Protectors. In fact, I have great respect for most of them, and even assisted some in the past. It is a shame that this whole situation came to be, but I have a goal to get home and I can’t let anything – or anyone– stope me.”

“That is good to hear, at least. Where is ‘home’, if I might ask?”

Again, that wasn’t that big of a secret, especially if anyone had seen someone from the Kingdom of Androthe before; while he wasn’t exactly similar in height and was different in a couple of his natural features, he would be recognizable. So, he told her, and she nodded without asking any other probing questions such as why he was even in the Empire and how he got there.  He was thankful for that, as he really didn’t want to have to get into all of that.

“You’re certainly a long way from home. I can see why you need someplace to stay while you wait for transportation over the Swiftwater. It is a sore point to all of us who live here, but especially to the Underworld Society.” She said the last of that with emphasis, clearly expecting him to react, and only looked confused when he didn’t show any sign of recognition. Suddenly uncomfortable herself, she shifted in her chair as she went on. “Anyway, I assume you have questions about why the Society is here and about our current state of personnel?”

He did, but the more she spoke, the less he realized he wanted to know. Their private business was their private business, just like his was his own.

Larek shrugged. “Sort of? It’s more that I want to know if I can trust you by this point, and that you aren’t a group of women that go around the city cutting the throats of innocent people or enslaving them against their will. If you can confirm that you’re not doing either of those things, which I oppose wholeheartedly, I don’t really care what you do.”

She spoke slowly, clearly confused. “No, we don’t do anything like that. You’ve never heard of the Underworld Society? Or just the Underworld? Or just ‘the Society’? We have branches all over the world, including in the Kingdom of Androthe.”

He shook his head. He had absolutely no idea what she was talking about.

“Hmm… well, we’re an organization of members who, to put it delicately, take a less than lawful route to our endeavors, but we never deal with killing any innocent people or slavery.”

Larek nodded, indicating that the explanation was good enough for him. It was as he expected, with how secretive they seemed and their living quarters underground. While it might have been a lie that they weren’t killing innocent people or enslaving them, he didn’t think so. The people he saw didn’t really seem the type, though the covered individuals and their shifty appearances told him that they were no strangers to killing people, though he doubted that their targets were innocent.

His assertion that he was satisfied with her explanation was apparently lost upon the older woman, as she began to go into a little more detail. As he listened, he began to put together that this was an international organization of criminals, dealing with everything from thievery, shady merchant practices, smuggling of illegal goods, extortion, assassination (of non-innocents), and even the regulation of carnal entrepreneurs. That last made his eyes go wide as the implication of Maybelle being one of these “carnal entrepreneurs” and the way she had propositioned him on the street hit him, and he saw the woman with a new light. He looked over at her with understanding of the way she was dressed, pity in his gaze, but she didn’t seem ashamed of her profession in the least. The way Seandra talked about it, there was a sense of pride of being one of these individuals, though it was honestly beyond his understanding.

“…as for why there are only women here, it’s because of the change. Every single member of the Underworld Society in Swiftwater acquired the ability to become a Mage or Martial, and they left one day to hunt down these Apertures in order to get stronger – only to never return after their third expedition. We’ve been stuck picking up the pieces after they disappeared, and with trade over the Swiftwater being cut off, many of our sources of income have been stifled. Therefore, your donation has come at an opportune time for us.”

Why is she telling me this? I thought she just reprimanded Maybelle for mentioning—wait. Is this my Dominion Magic reacting to her and making her tell me things?

If that was true, then he was still completely unaware of it happening or what to do to control it. He thought that he might be able to feel it now that he’d been exposed to it up close via Chinli, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Then again, the Seandra might simply be oversharing for some reason, but he didn’t think that was likely at this point; based on the information he’d been told, these people operated in secrecy and wouldn’t really appreciate their private matters being exposed. This was further confirmed as he surreptitiously glanced around at the other people around the room, who were looking at the speaker for the Underworld Society as if she was crazy.

“I understand,” he finally said after a few seconds of silence. “I can certainly make more… donations to your society in appreciation for being allowed to stay here. Otherwise, I figure that if I stay out of your way, then you’ll stay out of mine; I value privacy just as much as you all do, so I think this temporary accommodation will be beneficial to all of us.”

“That is good to hear and is perfectly acceptable,” Seandra said, clapping her hands once, which was loud in the suddenly quiet room. “I will certainly inform you of any information I gain on the resumption of ferry transportation, as it vital to all of us. In the meantime, dinner is being served, and it would be my honor to have you join us.”

The fact that the woman was speaking strangely and acting weird wasn’t lost on the rest of the assembled women of the Underworld Society, but none of them contradicted Seandra directly. Still, his Listening Skill picked up a lot of confused comments and questions murmured as everyone got up to move toward the other side of the room where the table was already set for a meal. Sitting down to a spot he was directed to at one head of the table, he watched as platters of grilled seafood, large bowls of leafy greens, and plates of breads and cheeses were brought out and placed on the table by even more women. These ones were dressed similarly to the majority of the other Society members, so he couldn’t tell of if they were actual members or simply employed by them.

Larek really didn’t want to talk more to the other diners at the table, and was fortunately saved from speaking with Seandra as she sat all the way on the head of the table. None of the women near him seemed inclined to start a conversation, either, contenting themselves with throwing furtive glances in his direction, which he ignored as he dug into the food with enthusiasm. It had been a while since he’d eaten something that wasn’t already prepared or had been cooked by himself, and the quality of the grilled fish that he scarfed up just went to show how poor his own Cooking Skill was in comparison.

When he was done, having eaten at least three times the amount as the next diner, he excused himself and headed back to his room. No one followed him with anything but their eyes as he left, and he got back to where he would be staying without incident. Once he opened the door, he half-expected there to be someone dead on the floor who decided to test their luck at getting to his packs, but the room was completely empty. After deactivating the Healing Shelter Fusion on the stone with a verbal command, he activated one of the Illuminate Fusions in his pocket for light, closed and locked the visible deadbolt on the door, and then picked his packs up and deposited them on his bed along with himself.

As soon as he sat down, all the stress of the day seemed to hit him with a flare of exhaustion, and all he wanted to do was sleep in the comfortable bed by that point. It was more than that, though, as there was a noticeable drain on his physical and mental energy that he couldn’t explain right away, but when he thought about inadvertently using his Dominion magic earlier, he considered if this might be a side effect.

Whatever it was, he did his best to shrug it off as he had some things that he wanted to do that night before it was too late. He’d love to bathe and wash off the filth of his travels, but he didn’t have the physical drive to get up out of the bed for much of anything by that point. Instead, he unpacked a few of his things from his bags, setting them out in front of him as he sat cross-legged on the bed and closed his eyes.

Even doing that made him even more tired, but he pushed it away as he centered himself and focused on the concentration needed for creating a Fusion. At first, it seemed as though his anxiety and paranoia had disappeared now that he found himself someplace relatively safe, but it wasn’t until he got up with a groan and placed the Healing Shelter stone on the floor near the door, where it would cover anyone or anything attempting to get inside – deadbolt or not. It was something he would have to think about better in the future, but for now, he hoped it would be good enough.

Fortunately, when he sat back down on his bed and attempted to focus once again, it worked. With a tired smile to himself, Larek opened his Status and really looked at it for the first time in weeks.