RoR3 -Ch12- (Patreon)

“Oh, hello,” Daria said in a wheeze as Warner continued to hug her. “I can see you were rather worried. Looking backward I can see a few hints and glimpses at what might have come to pass.

“I’m very grateful, Warner. Seems I owe you my life yet again. Thank you, I’m not sure what I could have done in your situation if the roles were reversed.”

Daria then pressed her face into Warner’s neck and just let herself be held by him.

“We did what we must,” Warner said in a rough voice. “And in the end, I guess War got what she wanted. War with War, just likely not in the way she’s expecting.”

“Mm. Exactly,” Daria said, hanging onto him now. “I like your idea. From what I can see, it has the best chances for success we could have ever expected.”

“You didn’t say what those odds are,” Ylva said.

“No, you decidedly left that part out, Seidhr,” agreed Inger.

“There’s no point in that,” said Dayine before Daria could respond. She sounded frustrated thought determined. “We know the odds are against us. What’s the point in discussing them? We can tell ourselves placating half-truths or whatever else we like, but that’s just how it is.

“When the truth offends, we lie. So let’s just say the odds aren’t with us, and move forward. Warner already bought us our chance. Daria said so herself. The end.”

Warner was still hanging onto Daria. His hands were hard pressed to her back and shoulders. He’d truly thought he’d lost her in this. That he wouldn’t be able to retrieve her or see her again.

He honestly hadn’t considered how much he was dependent on her anymore. How much her very presence was part of his life and world.

“Alright, uh… so… I’m just a dumb brute,” Dayine said in the silence that followed her previous words. “How are we fighting War? Cause it sounds like you two get it but the rest of us are still in the dark.”

Warner once again noticed that Dayine sounded incredibly frustrated. Frustrated and perhaps even sulky. Like something was bothering her on a personal level now.

A sudden thought blasted through his mind and he realized what it was.

She was envious and hurt at the same time. He was holding onto Daria for dear life and it was causing Dayine distress.

I can show my dear Tarja my affection later.

Disentangling himself from Daria, Warner gently moved her over to the couch and sat her down. No sooner then her bottom hit the cushion than Warner turned to Dayine directly.

“It’s actually going to be rather strange,” confessed Warner. “Simple to explain, extremely difficult to pull off and execute.”

“Uh huh. You’re not saying anything new. You’re just… it’s… you’re just flirtin’ around and pawing at me without doing anything. You just wanna get to it already? Foreplay sucks ya know.” Dayine said in a low voice. She didn’t sound hurt anymore, though clearly still frustrated.

“Right, sorry, got it,” Warner said and nodded his head. “War is the embodiment of war. Going to war with War only strengthens her. We know that.

“On top of that the whole world is at war. With itself and others all at the same time. There’s really no way to say it otherwise, it’s just the way it is.”

“Alright, that makes sense, I’m following,” Ylva said, shifting around on the couch.

“We’ll go to war with her. Just like she wanted. But not directly. Not head to head,” said Warner. “That’d just be the end of us. She’s… War. She’s overpowered.

“What we’ll do is go to war with her ability to make war. She doesn’t need resources or food. She doesn’t need bullets or guns. All she really needs… is war.”

“Oh!” Inger said and then let out a slow breath. “I get it.”

“Well I don’t. Care to just go in for the kiss already?” Dayine grumbled.

She’s using that turn of phrase on purpose. Is that her hinting at the fact that she wants me to make a move on her.

Though that might be the right answer, even if this feels like the worst possible timing.

Is this the moment that I go for it to throw Dayine that far off balance and secure her in my sphere of influence? Because I can be honest, I need her.

I need Dayine with me for this to work.

Glancing at Daria he caught her nodding her head fractionally. As if agreeing to a question that might have been asked of her.

“Sure, but later, when we’re alone,” Warner said with a shake of his head. “I’d rather not let our first kiss be a show for other people. You’re okay with that, right?”

Dayine’s eyes were rounded now. Staring at him with equal parts anger, dislike, and desire. He was reminded of the fact that someone told him that Dayine wasn’t human. That her psyche was far more animalistic at times.

“Unless you want it to be a show for others?” asked Warner. “I guess we could do that right now, it’s just weird. Promise me you won’t turn into an exhibitionist?”

Warner went to stand in front of Dayine and then started to lean down and in toward her. Angling his face straight toward hers.

Dayine froze up for a second before her wings shot out to either side. She turned her face up toward him and looked at him in a strange way. Her entire body angling toward him as if wanting this right now more than anything else.

Just as suddenly she jerked her head to one side, grabbed Warner by the back of the head with one hand, and held him back from herself.

“Not…not right now. Later,” she said in a soft voice. “Get to… get to the point.”

Standing up he caught Daria, Ylva, and Inger, all grinning ear to ear. It was obvious that this was more or less expected to them.

“We go for War’s ability to make war. That means active wars,” Warner explained as he stood up. Dayine’s hand fell away from him but landed on his side. Right atop his waist. He ignored it as if nothing were amiss. “We go for those nations actively at war. War with other countries, wars with ideals, wars with companies.”

“Like… the war on drugs?” asked Ylva.

“That’s a very good example,” Warner agreed, looking to the redhead. “Or the civil war in the middle-east. Or the ever ongoing conflicts in that area. Its time to shut all that down. Bring it all to a close.”

“I get it,” mumbled Dayine, her hand not having let go of him. Her fingers curled into his clothes now. “That makes sense. We… we should also go for the Judge’s war. If we can get her to give up her war on the Silent One, that’d be big, right?”

“Exactly,” Warner said, laying his hand atop Dayine’s. He wormed his fingers into hers and then splayed them apart. Interlocking his fingers to hers and holding her hand. “We target all these ‘wars’ and eliminate them. One by one. Her power set is entirely dependent on those ongoing wars. Literal or figurative. If we can eliminate them, bring them to peace, we attack her power. Once a lot of that is over, we can simply end our own war and claim victory. To go to war with War, and never having gone up against her head to head.”

“I like it,” Daria offered, nodding her head quickly. “I like it a lot. It’s a great way to really attack her power-base and string her along while doing it. She gets the war she wanted, all the while we’re bringing her to a point where we can tackle her directly if we need to.

“It really is our best chance. The best odds for us. There isn’t another situation or plan that we come up with that works out as often by a factor of thirty to one. Fighting her directly just isn’t an option.”

“Uhm, but it’s still possible to win fighting her directly?” Inger asked. “How… does that happen? How does that work?”

“Warner starts bedding War,” Daria said with a shrug of her shoulders. “She has a strange affection for him. If he goes after her as a person, trying to romance her, there’s a chance that she simply joins him. Us, I guess.

“Except she’s very much a loose cannon. There’s quite a few times where Warner beds her and she just turns around and goes insane. Killing him, then us, then herself.

“That and Warner is very much not attracted to her. Even if he gets her to join us she doesn’t really… get any better. She remains exactly who and what she is, which makes Warner feel rather miserable.”

“Yeah, no,” Dayine said, squeezing Warner’s hand tightly. “Operation Gigolo is a no go. I’d rather go the route we were just talking about. I’ve had enough of her. More than enough of her.

“My entire life is fucked up because— whatever, nevermind. I don’t care enough to talk about that. But no… no on operation Gigolo.”

“Agreed,” Inger and Ylva said at the same time.

“Alright,” Warner said and then let out a rough breath. “Then our first stop is the one we’re most likely to be able to talk down from this. Aunt Eugenia.

“From there… she might be able to put pressure on other people and we can keep moving from there.”

“After her I think you should talk to Mark,” Daria suggested.

“That was my thought as well,” Ylva added. “He would be able to direct us or give us the inside track on how to stop all the ‘wars’ here.”

That one doesn’t sound like a great deal of fun.

Nor do I think Mark could really help us solve it but… it would be good to talk to him. Let him know about what’s happening. Give him a heads up of sorts.

“Alright, first… Aunt Eugenia,” Warner said.

***

Warner felt rather odd. He’d been hoping to talk to Aunt Eugenia face to face, but that wasn’t going to happen. After attempting to get ahold of most of his aunts, and his uncle Sam, he’d finally gotten someone to pick up.

Auntie Erv had been the only person to actually answer his call.

Apparently there was a great deal of “problems” on other planes at the moment. She’d advised him to not leave the plane he was on for any reason. That there was quite literally the possibility of being on a plane as it collapsed into nothing, which would convert him to nothing as well.

His phone started to ring suddenly in his hand, forcing him to look down to it.

Aunt Eugenia was calling him.

Flicking the accept button he put it to his ear.

“Hey Auntie, thanks for making time for me,” Warner said right off the bat. He was thankful, and he knew he’d be asking her for a considerable favor in this.

“I… of course, Mitch,” Eugenia said on the other line. It sounded like she’d immediately gone from up-tight to relaxed in a single breath. “Erv said it was important so I managed to carve out some time for you.”

“Well, I’m glad you did. I have news from the Architect,” Warner said. He’d decided to subvert the truth a bit, but to incorporate most of the truth as well.

“You have— you have news? From the architect? How?” demanded Eugenia, her tone changing once again.

“He made me. Along with the Originator. Made me for this time and place,” said Warner. “I was made specifically to be here if Warin failed. If Warin went rogue.

“My purpose was for that and he left information for me. I also… also regained all my memories of him and the Originator. Of the room where they made everything. Their couch. The chairs. The tv. I remember your own chair, Aunt Eugenia.

“I was there after you’d all been put into the world though and we didn’t stay. It was more part of a tour that Ryker was giving me.”

“No. That’s not, no. No. Do… really?” Eugenia asked, sounding more and more confused.

“Yeah… and I spoke with him. Not long ago,” continued Warner. “He… pulled me out of the world. To somewhere else. Told me the truth about this world. About what’s really going on.

“And… actually, before I continue, is uncle Sam around?”

“He pulled you out of the world!?” asked Eugenia.

“Yeah, but, is uncle Sam there? I’m going to use him as proof for this,” Warner tried again.

“Yeah, he’s here, yeah,” Eugenia said and then sighed. It sounded like she wanted to talk more about him leaving the world. “Husband, Mitch is on the phone. He said he wants to use you as proof, do you mind giving me a minute?”

There was a response Warner couldn’t hear.

“Thanks dear,” Eugenia said. There was a tapping noise and then the noise coming from the other end of the line changed. “You’re on speaker phone hon.”

“Thanks Auntie. By the way, how are you? You doing alright?” asked Warner.

“I’m just fine, hon. Thank you for asking. We’ll need to do a family get together soon. Now that Maya knows the truth it’ll be a lot easier to see you more often,” Eugenia said with genuine warmth. “Ah, he’s here now.”

“Heya, Mitch,” said uncle Sam.

“Hey uncle Sam. So, I spoke with the Architect. Ryker,” Warner started. “He said you found something you weren’t ever supposed to find. A button that was never meant to be pressed that would ‘fix everything’. That you did the right thing and left it alone so that it could continue to fall apart. Is that right?”

There was a deathly silence in response. Not even the sound of breathing. Just stillness.

“Husband?” Eugenia prompted.

“He told me,” said Warner when Sam didn’t respond. “He told me the truth of the world. He said it would soon be time for it to all come to an end and that he and the Originator were just waiting.

“That the… goal… was almost done here. He told me all of it.”

“Did he,” Sam murmured, then grunted. “Yes. That’s true. I did exactly what you said. I confirm that. And I’ve never told anyone about it. Ever. Not in any way.

“The only one who would know is myself and the Architect and he wasn’t actually sure which way I would go. So… yes, I suppose… yeah, you’ve clearly spoken to the Architect.”

“Great. Then this is simple,” Warner said and hesitated for a moment. “We need to stop fighting the Silent One. We need to end the war with him. Not immediately, but soon.

“When I give you the word, you need to declare the war is over and that hostilities are over. Until then, just declare a cease fire and start getting everyone ready. We need to build up everything possible and get ready for the final advance.”

“You want us to… surrender?” Eugenia asked in an incredulous tone.

“No, I want you to declare the war is over. But not yet, just a cease fire for now,” said Warner. “When the Originator arrives, he’ll declare the new war. For now, we need to pull back, reorganize, and ready ourselves.”

There was no immediate response on the phone. Warner waited. He knew it was going to be a lot to process but this was his chance to make this work. He was leveraging what he’d learned from Ryker to the best of his ability.

“I guess that lines up with what Alex has told us from the start,” complained Eugenia. “I just… I just didn’t want to believe him, I guess. Ugh. That’s not going to be a plate of crow I want to eat. At all.”

Sam only laughed at that and then coughed once, as if someone had jammed an elbow into his side.

“Fine, I’ll take care of that, Mitch,” said Eugenia.

“Great. One of the reasons we’re doing this, by the way, is to hurt War,” explained Warner. “The fewer wars that are ongoing, the less power she’ll have. We’ll need to be able to eliminate her just as the Originator and the Architect return. We can’t let her run around. She’ll get far too powerful otherwise.”

“I… hadn’t considered that. Yes, that makes a lot more sense now. Yes,” said Eugenia in trailing voice. Her words shrinking in volume as if she were thinking on what he’d just said.

“Great, then I’m going to see what other wars I can end. Can you talk to Miles for me and bring him into the fold?” asked Warner. He didn’t want to be around Miles if he didn’t have to. Not for any reason.

“Hm? Oh, no. I can’t,” Eugenia said in an almost offhand way. “I haven’t been able to get ahold of him for a while. He fell off the grind and went dark. Not sure why. He’ll resurface again at some point. He always does.”

“Alright, then I’d ask if you can put pressure on whoever you can to end whatever hostilities you can,” requested Warner. “Anything that could be considered a ‘war’ is something we need to end. I’m going to reach out to Gus friend Mark and see what I can learn from him. Then… then I think I’m going to need to go on the news. Yellow-Eyes is going to have to make some proclamations. Any support you can give me in that would be greatly appreciated.”

“We can do that,” Sam said. “Alright, we have to go, but it was good to hear your voice, Mitch. We’ll have to meet up soon. Anna keeps asking about seeing you and having a family vacation together. You’re one of the few people she gives a crap about, you know.”

“I do know. Believe me, I do know,” said Warner with a smirk. He remembered a wide-eyed and somewhat terrifying little girl that only ever wanted to be near Alex. Warner long held suspicions that Anna wasn’t what she claimed to be. “See you later then. Be safe. We’re almost out of this, according to Ryker.”

“Yeah, you too,” said Sam, followed by the click of the line going dead.

One down. Quite a few more to go.

But hey… it’s working.

Warner let his phone drop from his ear and looked to the screen. Flicking it open he immediately froze.

War was laid out nude in all her beautiful glory on the screen. He’d forgotten to close the text program after telling her she had an amazing body and a personality that was like a steaming turd.

She’d responded by sending a great many more nude photos.

Closing his eyes, Warner winced and looked away.

This was a strange battle he was in.