Chapter 66—There You Were |
Time moved a little strangely after Hiral and his friends spent an hour staring up at the sky and daydreaming about where their adventures would take them next. Yes, they knew they’d be spending more years on Genesis. The Enemy needed taking care of, and there were vast, unexplored areas that would need looking into. Not to mention the Progenitors still present on the world, and whether or not they would all be able to coexist.
There had also been the very pressing issue of Visionary, the Heart of the City, and whether or not a version of the Raze lay sleeping in crystal on Genesis. Hiral, his doubles, Seena, and Yanily had taken the trip to find out… or, more accurately, not find out. Visionary was much like they remembered it—both from the dungeon and their time on Terminus—complete with six crystal tombs around where Laapdoug had been fought.
Six empty tombs. These weren’t empty like something had broken out, but more like something had never been inside them at any point. Hiral sensed none of the lingering energy he’d come to associate with the Raze, meaning they had never been there on this version of Genesis. Even though the cycle had repeated, it—luckily—didn’t birth new versions of the Raze every time.
Which left them only with their next task to complete in Visionary: the Heart of the City. It was far too dangerous to leave in place. Hiral’s power, along with Seena’s and Yanily’s, proved more than up to the task of destroying the device. Of course, there was the possibility it could make them, or others, stronger—a possibility they completely squashed before it could manifest. The risk wasn’t worth it. The addiction stemming from connecting with the Heart would just create others like the Raze.
After confirming the Heart was completely destroyed, Hiral took a moment to dig a little deeper. Though he found the cavern where the Avatar of Time had been trapped on Terminus, it sat empty and unused on Genesis. The Avatar’s suffering, thankfully, wasn’t one that had been repeated across cycles.
The small group decided they would need to return to Visionary at a later date—with a full contingent of Academics—to study the city. As the pinnacle of the Fallen’s work, it would be a treasure trove of wonder and advancement. The fact it was smack-dab in the middle of an A-Rank zone would complicate things, but it wasn’t something they couldn’t overcome. If nothing else, maybe it would make a good staging point for B- and A-Rank groups, with at least one set of familiar roots leading to a dungeon interface in the basement of a large building.
There were dungeons there to complete. Tempting as it was for Hiral and the others to take a peek, they instead leapt back into the sky to return to Fallen Reach. Zipping over the landscape on their mounts, they passed zones and areas of the world they’d never explored. One of them even had the unmistakable feel of a certain Void-Venom Empress—Seeyela’s first sponsor—along with towering spiders stalking like mountains across the landscape. Yanily made it very clear he had no interest in entering that zone.
Even so, sensing one Progenitor led to the question of if—or when—more Progenitors would return. Genesis wasn’t in a dungeon anymore, but Hiral could feel lingering echoes of how the world was still connected to other times and places. There weren’t Black Gates constantly present around the world, per se, but it was like they were blinking in and out of existence.
In the days after things began to settle down, Gauto said a number of Academics were already studying what Hiral was feeling. The general consensus-slash-theory-slash-wild guess was that Hiral was correct.
He’d then gone on to tell Hiral it was likely only a matter of time before more uninvited guests showed up on Genesis. And since they weren’t in a dungeon anymore, which enforced a kind of time limit on how long people could stay through the Gray, these visitors could hang around significantly longer. That posed a risk, of course.
It also created another reason for the people of Genesis to get stronger while they could. Conflict would inevitably find them again.
Hiral had left his friend after the sobering conversation to slowly stroll down one of the streets of Fallen Reach. Without his Seeker’s Regalia—and general glowiness—he had a bit more luck passing himself off as just an average person. Sure, some people noticed who he was and offered a small nod of respect, but nobody stopped him or gave him trouble. Everybody was still generally busy with the changes to the islands and access to the greatly expanded surface.
Even the Growers had barely explored more than a few percent of the huge world.
All this meant there were, of course, also a ton of trade opportunities, and Arty was one of the busiest people on Fallen Reach. Since the man—Hiral’s previous boss, and forever friend—already had strong ties with the Growers, he was at the forefront of creating deeper ties with them. Along with connections to the Eidolons and Bonders, through the portals Hiral and Seeyela had built.
Hiral had helped out with a few things before going to see Gauto, but Arty had things well in hand. That left Hiral with some free time. Which was… odd.
He’d spent so much time running from one emergency to another, he wasn’t entirely sure what to do with himself. Seena was taking part in a kind of Grower council meeting, with Grandmother having suggested they needed something along those lines after her work with the Trust in the Cradle, and wouldn’t be free for a few hours yet. Maybe he could go find some of that wine and cheese she liked, so they could have a picnic later? With two brand-new islands, there were some new spots they could…
“Hiral?” a voice said through the crowd, and he turned to find Sera standing at a nearby shop, a basket over one arm. From the looks of things, she was grabbing… groceries?
“Sera,” Hiral said, weaving his way through the crowd to stand in front of her.
He hadn’t spoken with the woman much since everything had happened, with her and his father getting their school started. Like most things she did, she had fully committed to it, pushing the process forward like an avalanche down a steep mountain… which, of course, meant heaven help anybody who tried to get in her way.
Looking at Hiral, the direction he had come from, and then back to him, Sera nodded. “Visiting Gauto?”
“Yeah,” Hiral said. “The Academics have a lot going on. He isn’t in charge of most of it—thankfully—but his ties to me, and the work he did in Trevallen, has vaulted him up the ranks pretty quickly. He’s part of some very interesting projects.”
“And trying to get you involved in them as well, if he is behaving as he usually does,” Sera said.
“Exactly that,” Hiral laughed. “He’s not even being subtle about it. Straight to bribery.”
“Did you accept?”
“I’ll help where I can,” Hiral said. “Without the bribery. I’m actually interested in what he’s doing, and what it could mean. I’d probably have stuck around right now, but there were some meetings lined up that I didn’t want to sit through.”
“So…” Sera started, visibly swallowing before she continued. “You have some free time?”
With the clear implication in her words, Hiral almost lied and told her he had to rush to another appointment. That only lasted a heartbeat before he realized he didn’t feel that way anymore. He’d fought beside Sera long enough for a lot of his hatred to lessen. To vanish, in a lot of ways. Oh, he’d never forgive her for how she treated him, but he also didn’t need to be antagonistic anymore.
Seena had been right—no surprise there—when she said that telling her how he’d felt before, on his behalf, had helped a lot.
“I’ve got a bit of time,” he said carefully.
“Would you be interested in having dinner with your father and sisters?” Sera said. “And… me?”
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If it had been anybody other than Sera, the thinly veiled hope in her voice at that last part would’ve been a little heartbreaking. She had been good about giving him space and not forcing her role of mother on him. She’d been a professional the entire time she was part of the raid group. Despite that, it was clear she still held on to the possibility of repairing the damage she’d done.
It… wouldn’t happen. There was no repairing that. There wouldn’t be a mother-son relationship.
But maybe they could be friends. The thought had gone through Hiral’s mind dozens of times before, and he’d squashed it every time. This time, though, it lingered long enough for him to offer an olive branch.
“Depends what you’re making,” he said. “If I have to listen to Milly complain about broccoli… I’m one hundred percent in.”
“That’s not very nice,” Sera faux-scolded.
“What? That’s what big brothers are for.”
“Well, luckily for us, I did pick up some broccoli,” Sera said, pointing into her basket. “I just need one more thing, then some bread from down the street. Dinner should be ready in about an hour. Would you like to stop by the house then?”
“I can help you get the last things you need, then walk back to the house with you.” Hiral forced the words out instead of taking the easy escape she’d offered.
With the shocked look on Sera’s face, Hiral got to see something for the first time. Her… not knowing what to say.
“I…” she started, then stopped and focused on collecting herself. “Are you sure?”
“Unless you’d prefer to go by yourself?”
“No,” she said quickly. “No, I’d appreciate the help. Nat, Milly, and your father are already at the house. I’m sure you haven’t had much time to see them recently, so you can talk with them while I prepare dinner.”
“Sounds good,” Hiral said. “Where to next?”
“This way,” Sera said, leading him to get the last few things they needed.
As they walked, they didn’t talk. Sera’s face stayed stiffly locked forward, as if looking in Hiral’s direction would make him vanish. She was also very careful not to accidentally bump into him, even as they continued to weave through the busy street.
“How’s the school coming along?” Hiral finally asked after they’d picked up the bread and moved to a quieter path. “Got your first graduating class yet?”
Sera scoffed. “We’re not quite there yet,” she said. “We have selected people for our first class, and are in the process of finalizing our first wave of curricula. Of course, this will continually evolve as we progress and learn what our people need the most, but it is a promising start.”
“It’s too bad Loan isn’t still here for some of those classes,” Hiral said. “I’m sure he would’ve been a good teacher.”
“He agreed to do some guest lectures when he returns,” Sera said. “We have other Shapers, as well as Bonders and Growers, lined up to help with the combat portion of the classes, so the students will be in good hands.”
“The combat portion?” Hiral said. “There’s more than that?”
Sera scoffed again. “Of course there is. Significantly more. While combat skills will keep them alive, it’s the other skills that will help them thrive. Will help our cultures and communities grow and evolve. These classes will occupy a substantial amount of time, with only about a quarter of a student’s time being devoted to combat or field trips to places like the Cradle of Tomorrow.”
“The Cradle is for school trips?”
“Yes,” Sera said, turning a corner toward the family home. “For now, it still has some of the best crafting facilities available to us. Before you ask, each student will be required to take up at least one craft-type skill. While we were gone, an E-Rank trial was discovered that rewards a skill based on what kind of crafting the party members use to pass the trial.
“This will not only expand our overall options for skilled crafters, but also offer additional resources to groups in the field. For example, imagine each party with somebody like Jzak or Nivian who could provide food-related buffs, just for eating. Or somebody who could repair, create, or enhance weapons before a difficult battle. There are numerous possibilities we can pursue because of this.”
“Wow, you really have put a lot of thought into all this,” Hiral said.
“I want to make sure Nat and Milly are as prepared as possible for the dangers they will eventually face. As much as I’d like to think we shielded them from risk with our actions, the news of future visitors to Genesis has spread. We need to accept that the battles are far from over… and that you and your party won’t always be here to protect us.”
“Even after we leave Genesis, anybody we meet will know this world is under our protection,” Hiral said. It wasn’t a secret that they’d planned this. “Having Seeyela with us means we can get back quickly if need be. Probably. We’ll figure it out.”
“I’m sure you will,” Sera said. “You’ve already managed to accomplish so much. I hope you know how proud your father is of you.”
“How could I not?” Hiral said with a groan. “I’m going to have to put up with a solid five minutes of hugs when I walk into the house.”
“He hasn’t changed in that regard,” Sera said, a smile lighting up her face.
Hiral’s problems with the woman aside, she did love Elezad, Nat, and Milly more than anything else. And yet, she’d still been willing to jump in front of the Raze to save Hiral from that attack, even if it would’ve killed her.
“Sera,” Hiral said, a block away from their home, and stopped. Something about the tone of his voice made her back stiffen before she also stopped.
“Y-yes?” she said, only stuttering slightly.
“We need to talk about what you did back on Terminus,” he said. “You got between me and the Raze. Even though you had to know you couldn’t stop what was coming.”
“That is incorrect,” Sera said. “I calculated my chances of survival, and determined they were acceptable.”
“If you were wrong?”
“Even if I had not lived through the attack, you would have. There may have been possible, minor injuries for you, but…”
“You were willing to sacrifice yourself for me,” he interrupted.
“Of course,” Sera said. “What you were doing was the key to our victory at that stage. We weren’t going to be able to outright defeat the Raze as it was, so freeing Genesis and escaping became our victory condition. You had to live to continue your work.”
“That’s not why you did it,” Hiral said softly.
“It was…” She hesitated. “It was one of the reasons I did it.”
“And I appreciate it,” Hiral said. “I really do. But I also need to be clear about something. It doesn’t fix what happened between us before.”
“I didn’t expect it to,” Sera said quickly, standing up straighter. “Nothing will make up for the years I took from both of us. From you. However, as a member of the raid party—and more, as your mother—I was not going to stand by idly when I could protect my child, especially when I neglected it for so many years.
“Again,” she said, holding up a hand to stop Hiral from speaking, “I am not saying this to make up for past behavior. None of it changes how I treated you before. I am simply trying to be better, and to not make the same mistakes over and over.”
“If you’d died,” Hiral said, “do you know what it would have done to Dad? To Nat and Milly?”
“Yes,” she said, her jaw clenching, “and I also know you would’ve safely returned to help them pick up the pieces. They would have understood the choice I made, and while it would have hurt them, they would not have had to go through losing you a second time. I weighed the options—and the consequences—and decided on the best course of action for everybody. Besides, my calculations said…”
“Loan barely survived,” Hiral reminded her. “He is one of the toughest people I know, and he was a single breath away from death. You can’t honestly tell me you thought you had a better chance of blocking that blast.”
“The Raze, unfortunately, used a level of power we had not seen up until that point,” Sera admitted. “All of my calculations were based on the previous progression of their strength. It was not until the blast was released that I realized the flaws of my plan. Still, even with that, I am confident I would have been able to dimmish the blast enough to ensure your survival.”
“Could you have escaped when you figured that out?”
“Possibly,” Sera said. “I am not as fast as you—or some of the others—but I do have the Lesser Reaper Reset tattoo inscribed on one of my Mediums. I could have used that to return myself to any location I had occupied in the previous twenty seconds.”
“And yet you still chose to stand your ground.”
“As I mentioned, it was necessary. For several reasons.”
Hiral took a step closer to the woman, and she flinched slightly at him standing closer to her than he had in years.
“Sera,” Hiral said, taking a breath, “you’re Nat and Milly’s mother, but you’ll never be mine again. I told you that before, and this hasn’t changed. But,” he added, making sure she didn’t interrupt him, “I appreciate what you did, and why you did it. You’re trying to be better. I can respect that.
“I need you to stop trying, though. It’s not going to help either of us, or rebuild the relationship we lost. I was angry for too long to forget those years. Whenever I think about you as my mother, all I can think of is how you weren’t there when I needed you.”
“I…” Sera started.
“Not finished,” Hiral interrupted. “At my Shaper tests… when people called me the Everfail… you. Weren’t. There.”
Tears ran from Sera’s eyes at the sharpness of his words, cutting her deeper than Separation ever could.
“On Terminus,” Hiral said, his voice suddenly softer, “I didn’t need a mother. I needed a party member. A friend. And… there you were. We can’t go back and change the past, but we can go forward down a different path into the future. You, Seena, Seeyela, and Yan taught me that family isn’t defined by blood. It’s built on the bonds we make with the people we care about. It’s the true friends you make. The ones that have your back. What I’m saying, Sera, is… you aren’t my mother, but maybe you can be my friend?”
Almost as if in slow motion, Hiral bent his elbow and lifted one hand to hold it between them.
Sera’s tear-filled eyes went from Hiral’s face to the extended hand. If she took it, it meant she would never have the chance to be his mother again. It was an unspoken contract she understood right down to her soul.
“I… I…” She couldn’t get past the word, forcing herself to swallow. “I’ll have your back. I’ll be there.” Then she reached out and took his hand, banishing Sera-the-mother to the distant past.
Now, and for as long as they both lived, she would work on being his friend.
There was no guarantee Hiral would ever see her as family again, as he did with his party, but he would give her the chance.