Ch 28: Corruption

Jack Richter joins the group after the battle, and while contemplating whether the Guild is secretly manipulated by Altera Veritas, everyone finishes training and plans their next destination.

            Returning to Mythra’s house, Grey and the others arrived well after nightfall. Mythra hurried off to find more chairs for the table on the porch as Alexander and Amy came to greet them. Relieved at their safe return, Amy beamed at them all as she said, “You did it! Thank goodness!” Grinning, Grey replied, “We almost made it by dinner, but hey, we got things done!” Struggling a little as he walked over to the group, Alexander said, “It’s good to see everyone’s alright. You had us worried Schmitt.” With his hearty laugh, Schmitt replied, “Yeah, I have to admit I was more than a lil worried myself! Those anomaly thingies just showed up and turned the place to hell! I was more concerned for the little ones here though. Say hi to everyone kids, these guys are all grandpa’s good friends! Good folks I tell ya!” The two children clung tightly to their grandfather as they looked at the others, and while the girl was too nervous to speak, the boy nervously said, “Hello…” Smiling at them, Amy said, “Oh they’re so cute! What are their names?” Schmitt laughed again and said, “Oh right! His name’s Jacob and she’s Emily.” Coming out of the house with a chair, Mythra said to Schmitt, “About the kids, I’ve got some games and stuff for them to play with while we chat out here.” Placing the chair at the table, she smiled and said to Jacob and Emily, “The grownups are gonna have a boring discussion. I’ve got some fun stuff it the house for you guys to play with! You guys like video games right?” Their faces brightening, they nodded and followed Mythra back into the house. 

Now noticing Richter hanging back behind the others, Alexander said, “Well, I wasn’t expecting to see you Colonel. Just why are you here?” Stepping forward, Richter replied, “I’m certain you’re thrilled, but I assure you I come in peace.” As Mythra returned hefting another chair, she placed it at the table, and as she sat herself into it she said, “He showed up out of nowhere just in time to save our butts. I don’t know what the story is between you guys, but we owe him.” With a sigh, the Colonel took a seat and said, “It pains me to say it, but my career in the Special Forces is most likely over. As you can imagine, letting you go in Aerennis had its ramifications. The Lieutenant Colonel reported my actions, in less than flattering words. Were it not for Catherine’s defense, I would surely have been court-martialed. After what just happened though, I’d say the higher ups are trying to get rid of me.” Crossing his hands in his lap, Richter continued, “We received an emergency call from the watch post near Lamis, and when contact was lost soon after, I was sent to investigate the watch post as well as the town. I was assigned a small force with my division, mostly of the lowest class soldiers in the Special Forces. I’ve sent them all back to the airship for now. After what happened in Lamis, I feel certain my superiors knew what we’d find. It would have been a suicide mission even if we had only faced a fraction of the number of anomalies there. So in truth, you all saved my butt…” Scott took a seat next to him saying, “Yeah, considering what the Professor said, it may be a bad time to be involved with the Guild. For all we know, they’re controlled by Altera Veritas as well!” Leaning forward, Alexander said, “Oh? Just what have you all found out?” Schmitt, Amy, Serius, and Grey took seats as Grey said, “The Professor was actually a high up member of the Guild as well as part of Altera Veritas! Said he was just one of many…” Looking at him in disbelief, Amy exclaimed, “What?!” With a serious expression, Alexander said, “Hmm. This is disturbing. Would you all mind filling me in on everything that happened?”

            After they finished explaining to Alexander, it was silent for a moment as he took this in. Finally, Alexander said, “This is certainly not good news. However it explains quite a bit. I had wondered how Alastor was running his operation, and if he’s embezzling funding and equipment from the Guild…” Trailing off, Alexander seemed to be thinking to himself. Remembering something, Grey said, “Oh yeah, Alexander. There’s something else I found out from the Professor after I got cut off from the others.” Putting his thoughts aside, Alexander turned his attention to Grey as he continued, “He said Alastor has taken control of the Nameless One, and they’re all doing this on their own without being influenced at all.” Alexander removed his shades to look at him in disbelief, quietly he said, “What? That’s not possible! How could he-” Interrupting, Serius said, “Alexander, while I must admit it’s an unlikely scenario, it isn’t impossible. The Nameless One exerts control over others through his powerful will, but if his will is overpowered, he becomes the one who is controlled.” Leaning back and looking up at the stars, Alexander thought to himself, “Alastor… After everything we’ve been through, is this really the path you have chosen yourself? Don’t we already bear the weight of enough sins upon our shoulders?!” Suddenly, Richter said, “I’m sorry to interrupt the discussion, but I’m afraid I’m a little lost. First I hear that that man over there…” He pointed at Serius and continued, “Is supposed to be Serius the Unbound, and now you’re talking about someone called the Nameless One? You all don’t seriously mean to tell me you’re referring to the ancient legends of Angelorum Lux, do you?” Grinning in amusement, Schmitt said, “I felt the same way myself at first Colonel! But like I said to Scott here, if you think about it, up until thirty years ago it woulda been just as crazy if folks said they could do the things all you energists are able to do these days! Depends on how open minded ya are.” 

Richter turned to look at Scott questioningly, saying, “Do you honestly buy all of this Matthews?” Laughing nervously, Scott said, “To be honest, it’d be hard to say it can’t be possible, and if you take into account Mythra…” Confused, the Colonel looked over at Mythra, who had not worn her hat at all today, and said, “What about her?” With a sigh, Mythra muttered, “My ears… Yes, a girl with cat ears. Indisputable proof of a parallel world and a battle against the forces of darkness. Right…”As some of the others chuckled at Mythra’s sense of humor, Schmitt and Richter still looked confused, and Schmitt said, “Uh, what’s so special ‘bout fake cat ears?” Grumbling Mythra looked over at Alexander, who nodded, his mischievous grin in full force. As Mythra twitched her ears, the Colonel’s eyes went wide as he said, “What in the…” Schmitt only laughed and said, “Well now, that IS somethin special!” Leaning upon the table with her elbows, Mythra rested her head in her hands and muttered, “Yeah, aren’t I so lucky to be special?” Coming to her rescue, Amy said, “Um, guys let’s not make a big deal out of this. She’s our friend and a person just like anyone else!” Looking rather apologetic, Schmitt stammered slightly as he said, “R-right. Sorry miss, I didn’t mean nothin by it…” Still staring at her, Richter slowly said, “It’s a bit difficult not to make a big deal of this. What manner of being is she?” Unable to tolerate his insensitivity, Grey shouted, “What the hell’s your problem?! Shouldn’t an energist understand what it’s like to be treated as less than a person better than anyone?!” Startled by Grey’s sudden outburst, Richter’s surprised expression soon gave way to a look of shame as he quietly said, “Yes of course. Forgive me…” Meanwhile Mythra had turned her gaze toward Grey, her face flushed as she looked at him with gratitude. Breaking the silence, Alexander donned his shades again and said, “Let me fill you in on the whole story Colonel. I’m sure by now you must be rather confused…”

            Having explained the situation to Colonel Richter, Alexander said, “There you have it Colonel. Whether you believe me or not is your choice, but that is nevertheless how things stand.” Leaning back in his chair, the Colonel clutched his head with one hand as though he had a headache and said, “Matthews, I’m begging you, tell me I’m dreaming. This can’t be happening…” With a slight laugh, Scott said, “Sorry Jack, I’m afraid it is.” Letting out a sigh, Colonel Ricther said, “This is… No one in my division would buy this. I had hoped I could at least provide you with more support than just myself, but if this is what we’re up against, perhaps it wouldn’t be right of me to get them involved anyway.” Staring at the Colonel appraisingly, Grey said, “Richter… If you really want to join us, I won’t stop you, but lately I don’t understand you. I’m the one you wanted revenge against, aren’t I? Didn’t I nearly kill you back in Castrum? Why did you suddenly have such a change of heart?” Scott looked back and forth between Grey and Richter nervously, while Amy, sitting next to Grey, leaned over and said, “Grey, why are you bringing this up?!” Then Alexander said, “I actually intended to ask that as well, if you’d intended to join us. I assume it had something to do with what Scott said in Aerennis?” 

After a moment, Richter said, “Yes. I realized then that I had let myself be consumed by thoughts of revenge. I arrested a man who had considered me his friend and even attacked a civilian. Despite hating the Guild all these years, I had become their lapdog, convinced being part of their Special Forces was the only freedom for people like me. Looking back, I was never free at all.” He looked straight at Grey as he continued, “You are not the man who killed my family. It was the Black Knight and Altera Veritas who took Grace and Maria from me, not Grey. I let you go back in Aerennis because I believed in Matthews, because he believes in you. It’s a choice I made because I felt it was right, and now I feel like the right choice is to fight at your side. So would it be alright if I joined your cause?” With a smile, Grey nodded and said, “Welcome to the group, Jack!” Embarrased, Richter gave a slight laugh and said, “Just call me Richter, no offense. Everyone but Matthews here does, and it seems I’ve gotten rather used to it.”

            As the others gave their respective welcomes to Richter, Alexander said, “Well, now that that’s settled, before we have dinner I have one more matter to discuss with everyone. Specifically Grey.” Giving Alexander his attention, Grey said, “What’s up?” Shooting a glance at Mythra, Alexander said, “I’m sure you remember recently Mythra has had to extract Corrupted EDE from you. It is imperative that we remove the source of it. As Serius suggested, our next destination will be the gateway between worlds, where we will find an artifact that is most likely our best bet to accomplish that. The Mirror of Souls…” Staring at Alexander for a moment, Grey raised a hand before him to look down at it as he said, “The Nameless One…” Nodding, Alexander said, “Yes. It is dormant within you, but the Nameless One’s essence remains. While I don’t think you have anything to worry about for the moment, nothing good can come from leaving it be. As I am still recovering from my injuries, we won’t set out right away. For now you all can train some more here for a while.”

            Timeless Caverns. Friday June 8, 520NA. Sitting to rest after training against Mythra in combat, Scott and Richter breathed heavily as Mythra called out from up in the air, “Very good, both of you! I have to admit you’ve come a long way. The limited training you had with the Special Forces would hardly have been enough to go up against a Revenant, but after honing your skills a bit more on your own, I think you may almost be ready.” Catching his breath, Richter muttered, “If we’re just ’almost’ ready, I’m beginning to see why it is the Special Forces isn’t making much progress.” Having been observing, Grey said, “Yeah, Altera Veritas seems to have much stronger members than the Special Forces. It kinda makes me wonder why they haven’t gone all out.” Landing and walking over to them, Mythra said, “Alastor is still greatly weakened. He may have his anomalies, but his forces are still no doubt few in number compared to the Special Forces. Rather than take any risk, working from the shadows and manipulating The Guild is more his style.” Scott nodded and said, “Yeah, and the High General of the Special Forces, Roy Pendragon, is pretty strong compared to the rest of the S Class soldiers. He’s only seen combat once against Altera Veritas, but in that battle he wiped out more than a hundred anomalies all on his own. Alastor’s sure to be worried about him.” As they continued to discuss things, Richter was lost in thought, thinking to himself, “If Grey and Amy are so intricate to their plans and they have at least some level of control over the Guild, why didn’t they take the two of them after I arrested them in Abnoct? Or could it be that they tried to after all? Conwell… That snake who tried to get him to join the Special Forces! Could that all have just been a trap to get them out of Castrum without raising any suspicion?!” His thoughts were interrupted as Amy opened the door back to the house and called out, “You guys done? I’ve got lunch ready!”

            Sitting eating lunch with the others out on the porch, Grey asked Alexander, “So we’re really heading out tomorrow?” After taking a sip of tea, Alexander replied, “Yes, it’s about time. It’s been a week now and I’m feeling quite recovered, and honestly I think all of you have trained here long enough for now. This trip should be a good break, I don’t expect we’ll run into any real danger.” Schmitt glanced over at his grandchildren, for whom Mythra had found a smaller table and some small chairs, and said, “Well if it’s alright with ya’ll, I want to get these kids somewhere safe before we go off tryin’ to save the world again. I know it’s a bit outta the way, but the closest relatives of theirs are in Silens, a town way over by Silen Lake in the Kingdom of Gaian.” Looking over at the children as well, Alexander said, “Well, that shouldn’t be much of a problem with the Audentia. In fact, you could probably make the trip now and be back tomorrow if you’re worried about it.” Seeming to think about this for a moment, Schmitt said, “Nah, I’m sure the Admiral here would like to stick around and train some more before tomorrow. Besides, who knows when I’ll see them again? I wouldn’t mind one more night spending time with them.” Finishing his lunch, Scott said, “Schmitt, we may be unable to pilot the Audentia without you, but are you sure you want to come along on this whole thing? You’ve already seen how dangerous it is.” Laughing heartily, Schmitt replied, “Tryin’ to get rid of me already eh? Nah, I told ya’ll, I got business with Altera Veritas! Whatever help I can be to the heroes fighting against those b******s, I’m gonna give it my all and see this through to the end!” 

Reminded of something, Alexander turned to Mythra and said, “Speaking of which Mythra, do you really plan to go along with us? It has been something of a policy of yours to refrain from getting involved-” Interrupting, Mythra haughtily replied, “Honestly Alexander, what kind of question is that? Of course I’m going, I’m Mythra the Spellweaver after all! What would you all do without me?” Chuckling to himself, Alexander looked over at Amy and thought, “To have talked Mythra, of all people, into finally coming out of her shell… I can only wonder whether it’s some power of the Sage of Memories at work here, or if Amy simply has some unique ability to connect with the feelings of others.” Looking around a moment as though he were searching for something, Grey suddenly said, “Hey Amy, it’s been awhile since I’ve seen Lei. Did he wander off to the pond again?” Nodding, Amy said, “Yeah, he really seems to like it here. I’ve been thinking I might let him stay here, it’d be a lot safer for him anyways.” Pouring himself some tea, Richter said, “I used to dabble in monstrology before joining the Special Forces. Frogpoles are fascinating creatures, and it’s very unusual to see one so tame and friendly. However it would probably be better off in a pond rather than running around with us. They’re territorial creatures, so I’m sure if you left him here you could always come back and visit.”

Author's Note

Originally titled "True Colors". Felt like it didn't fit as well.

Reviews

[Ryan Henderson]

I like this chapter! they ALMOST made it back in time for dinner. almost. Lol and I was kinda surprised to know that Mythra has video games! I wonder is she plays Dragons Nest...

Wonderful flow in this piece. Adding Ritcher to the group was a good move.

“Honestly Alexander, what kind of question is that? Of course I’m going, I’m Mythra the Spellweaver after all! What would you all do without me?” I love this quote! Mythra certainly is full of herself but I think that its just an act to enhance her character. well done!

[KeithKVH]

Thank you for the review! Mythra was actually caught playing an adventure game by Alexander near the end of Ch 22: Mythra the Spellweaver. I also had tried not to foreshadow it too much, but Richter had always been intended to be part of the group.

Whether it's being true to herself and her ideals or denying her feelings to protect her own weaknesses, Mythra is all about the philosophy "go big or go home". Even the sheer recklessness and destructiveness of her magic reflects that.