Save State Hero 2 -ch 14-

Chapter 14

Edmund looked around as he followed Dot out of the portal.

In the end, he hadn’t been able to figure out a way to save Ryker.

He just wasn’t fast enough to make it happen, or change the end result.

Talking to Runner or Ryker often ended with them calling off the mission, ending the conversation, or kicking him out of the mission.

It was as if Runner and Ryker were not willing to consider anything that didn’t involve them ending up in that fight, at that point in time, in that exact moment.

Nor would they discuss it with him when he brought that up.

For all intents and purposes, he was being forcibly made to act without knowledge of the inner workings of their plan.

Even when he told them Ryker’s life was on the line, they’d only nodded their heads and carried on.

Edmund felt emotionally cold about it, as if he was missing some critical piece of information only to realize now it wasn’t something that would be told to him.

He would need to find it out or never know it at all.

Almost missing a step, Edmund knocked himself out of his own thoughts and back to the present.

Right now, he was running along behind Dot.

Edmund could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing up and his skin covered in goosebumps.

There was a feeling as if he was covered in sweat as well.

Given that he was surrounded by Zeus’ troops, all of whom were staring at him, he figured no one would blame him for it.

Doubly so since more than a few of these individuals had lifted their weapons and shot, or struck out at, Edmund and Dot.

The only thing that’d saved him from that was the shield Dot had erected around herself. All those attacks just stopped or bounced off of it.

He wanted to believe she’d made it big enough to cover him on purpose, but he wasn’t going to fall behind to test out that theory.

Given that she was endlessly shouting “Zeus!” at the top of her lungs, it wasn’t like he could ask her, either.

Dot didn’t look like herself either, and she was hard to look at.

Drawing his attention back to his surroundings, which were bare for the most part.

Other than the horde of soldiers, their location looked a lot like just a normal everyday field.

An open field that ran out in every direction with green grass, shrubs, and not much else. In fact, he was damn near certain it was the same field he had seen when he went through with Ryker to go on this whole mission.

“That’s far enough,” called a voice that Edmund didn’t want to hear.

Skipper.

Fucking hell.

I don’t even know if I have that forward-walking power anymore. The last thing I need is for her to be here.

I mean, fuck, can I even take her down anymore?

I have no idea what I can even do now!

Stepping out from amongst a large number of people was Skipper. She was dressed in very normal-looking clothes and, as ever, looked as stunningly average as could be.

A face that could be looked over and forgotten within seconds and a body to match it. From what he learned from others, the only unique or noteworthy thing about her was her nasty disposition and personality.

“And what is it you want, hm? We’re a bit busy at the moment, little girl. Lots of things to do and—”

Dot answered the question with a massive detonation of magic power. Holding her hands a scant few inches apart from one another, she had let a lightning bolt cross from one palm to the other.

“You will not address me in that manner,” Dot hissed after the boom rolled into nothing. “I’m your new Claire. Your Ryker. I will serve Zeus directly and you… you… you insignificant bug, you will serve me, or I’ll kill you.”

She makes it sound like she’s already spoken to Zeus.

But… as far as I know, she’s never even met him until just now in the battle. I think I would’ve heard about it if she had.

“Little girl, you have no idea what kind of world you’re stepping into. Do you think I’ll casually let you step all over me?” shouted Skipper. “I stood up to Seville! I handled Claire and her devilish spawn! I battled Runner and his goof-troop to a standstill!

“Why on earth would I ever be your minion? Why would I ever even give you the time of day? Tell me that! Why would—”

A shell of crackling static appeared around Skipper. As if she were suddenly the center of a snow globe and the entirety of the inside of it was made out of a TV scanning for a channel to latch onto.

“Serve,” demanded a screeching, halting voice. One that was unmistakably Zeus, but also, as if he were having a rough time at the moment.

He was likely being chased by Shirley and Claire working together. Runner and the rest would be moving on to the next section of the plan to eliminate Zeus.

This was all unknown territory for him.

For all he knew, they’d destroy Zeus, and he and Dot would be running a guerrilla operation.

“I-will-serve,” wheezed out Skipper, who had fallen to her hands and knees. Her head hung low, and she looked bowed and broken.

Right… Zeus.

Demanding Skipper serve Dot.

Dot acting as if she had spoken to Zeus, yet she didn’t.

There’s something going on here. Something very different.

Something wrong.

I’ll need to talk to Claire about it.

Talk to Felix and the others.

Maybe even Runner or Ryker.

I’ve been meaning to force a conversation with Ryker. Maybe it’s time to make that happen.

Just have to tell him upfront about the save state being a dead end. He’ll probably be willing to talk to me at that point.

Dot clapped her hands together and then put her hands on her hips. Her head was lifted up, and she looked rather imperious.

He got the impression that she wanted to look over her shoulder. As if to make sure he was there behind her.

Throughout her entire run, from when she took off to this moment, she hadn’t turned and looked at him.

To confirm he was there.

Given what he had told her just moments before, he imagined her mind might have gone over it a time or two. He knew he would’ve if he were her.

Well.

If I was a young woman, and the man I’d been pursuing had just given me so much attention that I probably couldn’t talk, what would I be hoping for in this situation?

I just abandoned my team.

My faction.

The man I more or less viewed as my father is dead.

Except the person who killed them is the one I just joined.

Am I here for revenge?

Actually, that doesn’t matter.

That’s a thought for later.

What would I hope for, from the man who might be right behind me?

Edmund let his left hand fall away from where he held his rifle and let the weapon swing down to his side.

Then he wrapped his left arm around Dot’s middle and put his shoulder up to her spine. As if he were there to support and keep her upright.

“I don’t think I’m quite ready to serve, but I’ll definitely help,” he murmured after he moved his mouth down next to Dot’s ear. “I did say I’d chase after you, didn’t I? Pretty sure I did.

“This seems pretty fucked, I’m not really sure what the hell is happening, but… I’m not going to lose you.”

Dot quivered against him.

The only reason he had noticed it was he was quite literally touching her. He wasn’t sure anyone else would have realized it otherwise.

She said nothing, though.

Yet she didn’t push him away or remove his arm.

She stood there just as she had been, surveying all the soldiers around her as well as the kneeling Skipper.

With Edmund’s arm around her.

***

Walking into the apartment, Edmund let out a long breath.

One he felt like he’d been holding for far too long.

Hours.

Anxiously listening to Skipper giving Dot an entire rundown of their forces’ disposition, where everything was, and what they had available to wage war against Runner.

As if she were indeed the new commander of Zeus’ forces and beholden to no one but Zeus.

“Have a good evening, Commander Edmund,” said the woman behind him. She had been appointed as his aide. “If there’s anything at all you need, just let me know, and I’ll make it happen.”

“Yeah,” Edmund said noncommittally.

She could have been offering him life-altering, mind-bending blow jobs every thirty minutes until he died, and he would’ve responded the same way.

He was genuinely confused about how everything had gone down and felt like he was mentally reeling. That all the information he desperately wanted was out of reach, and the information he had made no sense at all.

The aide closed the door, and Edmund was left alone in the apartment.

Shaking his head, Edmund moved out of the entry area and saw it was a somewhat spacious looking area. The furniture was richer than anything he had ever owned and the whole of it was tastefully decorated.

He was now standing in the kitchen and dining area. Across from him was the living room.

Turning his head to the left, he saw that there were two doorways down the hall on the right, but he couldn’t see the left side.

Walking into the hall, he saw that there was a linen closet, a regular closet, and a small nook that had a washer and dryer in it on the left.

At the end of the hall looked to be a bathroom with a shower.

Peeking into the two doorways, he saw that they were both bedrooms.

One had a bathroom and shower attached to it.

“Kinda overkill for me. Never needed much for me and Dog,” Edmund whispered to himself.

At the thought of Dog, he was glad that he had enlisted Andrea to help him out.

Given that most of the people he would normally ask to watch his place would likely be scurrying about or busy, only Andrea would be available and willing to help him.

Doubly so after they figure out that I’m helping Dot work against them.

Shit.

I’m kind of all alone again.

Unless Oz is back?

“Oz?” Edmund asked aloud.

There was no response.

For whatever reason, the moment he had crossed through the portal, Oz had gone absolutely silent.

There was no response from him in any way.

“Oz, could use a hand, buddy. You alright?” Edmund tried, walking back into the living room. “Oz?”

Shaking his head while gnawing at his lower lip, Edmund moved over to the large window. Looking out of it, he could see a lake, a number of trees, a mountain in the distance, and a whole lot of grass that looked to be very well taken care of.

“Shit,” he said as he took in the rather scenic view. His eyes moved across it from left to right.

Reaching out, he unlatched the window and swung it open.

A cool wind blew in quickly, and the smell of the water hit him, along with a gentle lapping noise. As if the lake had a slight movement to it.

Only for Ellie to suddenly appear in the window along with Iren in a flash of movement.

“Oh! You were so dead on. It’s just like you said,” Iren said with a laugh. She had one hand clasped to the windowsill above his window and was dangling there.

Her other arm was holding Ellie underneath her rear end like one might a child.

“Damnit, my boobs are all smushed, too. If I knew he’d have been right here, I’d have worn a tank top. I would’ve nearly popped out of it, I bet,” Iren continued as Ellie quickly began working at the screen.

She got it removed rather quickly and then pushed it forward to Edmund.

Who took it without saying anything and set it to one side.

Along with the battle rifle he was still carrying.

“I already told her everything that’s going on,” Ellie explained as she stepped into the apartment. “Dragons can be sensitive to these kinds of things if they’re close enough to the center of the events.

“She was asking me some really strange questions, so it was easier just to tell her the truth.”

“Damn right, it was,” Iren said, clambering into the apartment next. She then shut the window and then stretched herself out one way, then the other. The wings on her back fluttered briefly and stuck out to her sides.

One of them touched the wall and recoiled quickly.

“Mm! Worth it, though. I’m glad to be included in this. It feels right to be here,” Iren said and then smacked her lips several times. She quickly went over to the fridge. “Got any beer or something? My wings hurt from dodging all that fire. I need a beer, a steak, and a nap.”

Edmund snorted, then started to laugh.

Without thinking about it, he grabbed Ellie and crushed her against himself.

Originally, he didn’t like that Ellie was aware of him so intimately that he could hide nothing from her. That his entire alter-ego life with Alina had been known to her with exacting detail.

Now, at this moment, he was incredibly thankful.

While he no longer had the deep and unending wave of emotions and thoughts about her, there was no escaping the fact that he couldn’t help but view her in a romantic way. Similar to how he had often thought about Romina.

This was two-fold when he knew that she was there for him. In his corner, doing anything she could, and doing her best at all times for him.

“I wouldn’t have given up my seed to you if I didn’t know what it was going to do,” she whispered, grasping him with both arms and holding tight to him. “I knew from the very beginning I would be dragged along with you. Dragged along without the guarantee that I’d be the one you chose.”

“Yeah, you’re a real romantic, Aenor. Edmund’s a lucky man to have you. I’m not sure I could have done the same for him. I’m not sure many women could or would,” Iren said from the fridge, clearly hearing her. She was head down and peering into it. “I’m just glad I’m at least the side-chick. I wasn’t really interested in anyone up until Edmund. I don’t really want to be dominated or have my Dragon subdued.

“I like being laid back about it and just seeing where it takes me. There’s other Dragons who are taking a similar approach, you know.”

Edmund felt his mind come to a screeching halt at Iren’s words, as well as Ellie’s.

The idea that Ellie willingly gave up her seed while knowing full well what it entailed, then hiding it all from him, was a deep and profound thing to reveal now.

As far as he knew, she had never revealed this fact to him in any other echo. He couldn’t check it anymore, but he was fairly certain of that.

That meant she had witnessed him with countless other women.

Countless other lifetimes and lives where he had kids with other women.

Only to gladly accept him back every other time he went to her.

“Did you lose your echoed lives, too?” he asked, holding her gaze while staring down into her upturned face.

“Yes,” she whispered. “When you closed it, all my memories from our other lives, left. I can’t… grasp any of it. I know they existed. I have bits and pieces of things, things I had looked into and now are part of my current memory.

“But I can’t… access isn’t the right word, but it fits the best. I can’t access any of it now.”

“Same for me,” murmured Edmund, his arms tightening around the Dryad. “You never told me about the fact you were with me, by the way. In our other lives. You never revealed to me that you knew everything. That you saw me with Alina, Romina, and anyone else I ended up with.”

Ellie smiled, shrugged her shoulders, and shook her head.

“I’m just your Dryad. I’m here for you. I’m your giving tree, I guess,” Ellie answered.

“To fucking hell with that. That little boy was a damn monster. The giving tree was also really stupid,” Edmund growled, his eyebrows coming down in tight over his eyes as he glared at Ellie. “If you’re my giving tree, I’m going to give you a damn piece of my mind.

“That story was nothing but a bunch of horrible to try and promote people being awful to one another and accepting it.”

Ellie laughed at that, her eyes widening as she stared up at him. Slowly, her eyes took on a faint glow deep within them.

“You were… gonna tell me what else I can give you, aren’t you?” he said when she said nothing else after she stopped laughing.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ellie lied, her eyes slowly growing stronger in brightness as she watched him. Her pupils constricting down to pinpricks.

“Wow, you both smell so much like sex,” Iren said and flopped down onto the couch next to them. She picked up the remote after setting down her beer bottle and bowl of what looked like fried rice, and then hit a button. “When you’re done with one another, can I get a go? Or shit, let me finish this beer, and we’ll see if we can work out a three-way.”

“Haaaa… no,” Edmund said, quickly smothering the yes that wanted to jump out of his mouth. “My dear Aenor Yew here and I are most certainly not getting into a bed.

“In fact, I should be putting down a save state just to make sure we don’t get caught here. Dot could come back at any time and the last thing I need is her going into a jealous rage because I’m with someone else.”

“Oh shit. Does that make you the princess in the tower?” Iren asked, taking a long swig of her beer. She threw an arm over the back of the couch. “That means you should tell me as soon as the save state gets put down. That way, I can carry you to the bedroom and have my way with you.

“You can call out for Ellie if you want, but I guarantee she won’t be able to stop me.

“Oh! Since we’re using true names and all that shit, I’m Irena Ellaine. Don’t make me do anything too crazy, alright? Otherwise, I’ll beat the crap out of you at some point down the road.”

Iren stopped talking suddenly as if she had more to say.

Then she leaned over, put her left hand on Edmund’s hip, and he felt a strong influx of magic. So thick and deep was the magic that it felt as if it immediately tried to blow out the spells that Claire and Dot had put into him.

“There, now you really can’t hide from me,” Iren said and moved back to her spot on the couch. “Make sure you’re nice to me; I’ll know if you’re not.”

“What’d you do?” Ellie asked, turning to look at the Dragon.

“I made him my owner,” Iren admitted with a shrug of her shoulders. “Given that he continues to remain who he is despite moving into different save states, it’ll go with him.

“I won’t understand it or know what the hell is going on, but he can’t escape me anymore. I’ll probably try to run him down in any save state he goes to.”

Iren nodded her head, took another drink from her beer, and then started flipping through the TV settings.

“Well, you’re really not alone now,” Ellie said, looking back up to Edmund. Her eyes were glowing even more so than previously. “Maybe you should put down that save state, hm?”

Errr… she wants to go to the bedroom since it won’t matter after I put down a save, doesn’t she?

“Hurry up, please,” she pleaded in a throaty tone. “Irena Ellaine and Aenor Yew are waiting.”

The way the Dryad said it made the Dragon’s head snap around and stare at her and Edmund.

You know what?

Fuck it.

Romina ran away.

Alina doesn’t treat me much better than a stranger.

Dot went crazy, and the woman I’m trying to woo isn’t even her anymore.

Fuck it.

Fuck worrying over it.

Let’s just… they want this, I’m lonely, this situation is fucked, whatever.

“Yeah,” he said after a pause as he came to a resolution.

He was going to enjoy himself with them because right now, he needed comfort. He had lost a lot recently and felt wrung out.