The Soul Engine Ch. 6 (Original Fantasy) (Patreon)

A/N: Back for Week Two everyone! Did ya miss it? Or not enough here yet? :D

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As he stands there, sword and dagger in hand, Mikael isn’t quite sure who he expects to come out of the pitch black corridor. Guards, maybe? But why? How? Did Tak have more men on his payroll? Were they coming to investigate their missing comrades already? Either way, Mikael is ready for a fight.

Or at least, that’s what he tells himself. And he even believes it right up until a familiar set of golden armor attached to a familiar female knight comes out of the shadows and steps into the basement proper. Wielding a familiar sword, her face concealed behind a familiar helmet, the Dame comes to an abrupt stop, freezing up at the sight of him standing over three bodies.

Mikael freezes up as well, his mind thrown back to the trauma of the arena pit, his eyes focusing on the sword in her hand. The last time he saw that sword, it had just come out of his chest and was coated in his life blood and the viscera left behind by his eviscerated heart. Needless to say, it does not provoke good feelings.

The Dame’s eyes sweep over the scene, from him to the bodies to Avina. After a moment, she takes a half step forward and Mikael tenses up, ready for a fight. He promised himself that this time would be different. This time he would not falter and he refused to die again at her hands. This time-!

But before she can fully close the distance, the Dame goes still again, her blue eyes widening behind her helmet as she finally get a proper look at his features, awash in the glow of the Soul Engine as they are.

“… Impossible. You should be dead. You’re supposed to be dead.”

What little he can see of her concealed face is clearly shocked. Feeling a little bit pleased to have put her on the backfoot, something that the foreign entities in his skull assure him is the first step to victory… Mikael lets a cocky grin spread across his face.

“It didn’t take.”

Neither the quip nor the grin are entirely him… but of all of the impulses he’s had since that bastard shoved these memories into his head, this has to be one of the tamest. So why not indulge a little, right? Besides, it feels good to have gotten the better of the woman who killed him, if only in a battle of words so far.

“How is that possible. Unless… necromancy?”

On the other hand, hearing her default to one of his own concerns about his current state did NOT make Mikael feel very good. He’d just begun to accept Avina’s explanations for his current situation, only to have the idea that he might be undead thrown right back in his face again. Didn’t feel good, to say the least.

However, Mikael doesn’t have to respond. Because Avina does it for him.

“It’s NOT necromancy! He’s NOT undead! The Soul Engine brought him back properly. Look at him! Does he look like he’s some unintelligent zombie? He’s a living, breathing person! His blood flows, his brain thinks. He’s just missing one measly little organ, which I’ve CLEARLY replaced with a far superior upgrade!”

Having already heard this rant once before, Mikael spends the time Avina is raving about his condition just watching the Dame very, very carefully. He knows nothing about the female knight except that she’s more than willing to partake in arena blood sport and kill a practically defenseless man for the amusement and entertainment of a crowd. He’s already decided he’s not going to let her kill him again.

That said, Mikael is well aware of how easily she killed him the first time around. Sure, he’d held his own until his sword broke, but once it did… it was over. He’d let that moment of surprise cost him his life. This time would be different though. He might not have any more armor on him than he did last time, but he doesn’t need it. He should have enough juice in the Soul Engine to heal from any wounds she might inflict on him, and she definitely wouldn’t be expecting it either.

Let her stab him in the gut just like Thug Three did and use that to get in close so he could stab his dagger right up under the edge of her helm and bury it in her skull so she choked on her own blood and- urgh. Fuck. There were the memories again. Though Mikael was feeling a bit more in line with the murderous urges this time around. He was facing down his very own murderer after all, and who the fuck could say that, really?

Still, he’s not in chains anymore. He can do this. He definitely gives himself half-decent odds… if it comes down to a fight. Turns out, the key word there is ‘if’ because the Dame makes no move to attack him. Instead, she tilts her head to the side and looks to Avina, soaking in her words and then eyeing Mikael up and down.

Suddenly, Mikael is very aware of the sweat beading on his brow and every breath coming from his slightly parted lips. He can see the way the Dame studies how he breathes and how he sweats. Her gaze all but burrows into his gaze, her icy blue eyes narrowing as she takes in every bit of him. She does linger on the Soul Engine for a moment longer than the rest, but in the end… the next words out of her mouth aren’t what Mikael expects.

“I cannot deny you’re telling the truth. He IS alive, somehow. I see none of the classic signs of undeath.”

Avina preens at this unintentional praise, looking pleased as all hell with herself. But the Dame isn’t done.

“Still… if you truly developed such a… a resurrection device, why would you waste it on him? Why waste it on some lowly criminal? A common brigand at that. I’ve seen the list of his crimes and it goes far beyond merely robbing people on the roadside. The things he’s done… why does HE deserve a second chance at life?”

Wait, what?! Mikael can’t help but bristle at that, his teeth grinding together and his grip on his stolen weapons tightening up.

“Excuse me?! I’m no criminal! And I’m certainly not a… a roadside bandit! This isn’t even my world!”

The Dame’s head whips back to him so fast Mikael blinks. Her eyes are suddenly caught on him, unable to move away. He’s not going to let her intimidate him though. He’s sick and tired of all the damn lies. If she wants to shut him up, she’s going to have to use force.

“My name is Mikael. I’m a University Student from a planet called Earth. Or Terra, whatever you want to call it. I might not remember everything I’m supposed to, but I know one thing for sure. This isn’t my world. This isn’t my planet. I was brought here by… by magic, presumably. And then right afterwards I was tossed into that damn arena pit where you stabbed me in the heart.”

To her credit, there’s a look of dawning horror in the Dame’s expressive eyes. Meanwhile, Avina leans in from the side with a wicked grin on her face and nods, backing him up.

“That’s right. Waste my Soul Engine on some common criminal? Pah, as if! Mikael isn’t a brigand or a thief or any of that. He’s a Summoned Hero.”

… Well, the summoned bit is definitely right, but where’s the ‘hero’ part coming from? And why does it feel like Mikael can hear the capitalization on those two words in Avina’s tone? Still, if nothing else, the effect that Avina’s statement has on the Dame is… powerful. The golden knight takes a step back, her sword arm faltering as she shakes her head in disbelief. Mikael’s instincts urge him to lunge forward and take advantage of her moment of weakness… but no. He’s not going to stoop to her level. Besides, now his own attention is grabbed by whatever this byplay is supposed to mean.

“That… that can’t be. He can’t be a Summoned Hero. It’s not possible.”

The Dame sounds faint as she tries to weakly deny it. But even Mikael can tell she doesn’t believe her own words. Avina, meanwhile, smells blood in the water and goes for the kill.

“Oh-ho, but he very much is. And why are you of all people denying it? That’s why you’re here in our fair city, isn’t it not? You’re here hunting for the people abusing the Hero Summoning Ritual.”

She is? What even is the Hero Summoning Ritual? And what does Avina mean by abusing it? Then again… looking at his own set of circumstances, Mikael doesn’t really have to ask, does he? If his experiences since arriving in this world don’t constitute a textbook case of abuse of both his personage and this ‘Hero Summoning Ritual’, then he doesn’t know what the fuck would.

The Dame looks stricken as she slowly nods. Then, she jerks suddenly and looks to Avina more closely.

“I… is it you? Are you who I’ve been hunting then? Did you summon this poor man to this world and make me kill him just so you could perform perverse experiments on him?”

The note of hope in the Dame’s voice is almost pitiable. It’s certainly pathetic. However, what’s not pathetic is the way that her sword comes back up… this time pointed at Avina. Mikael’s eyes narrow as the female knight seems to have found a new target to focus on. But if she thinks he’s just going to let her run Avina through like she ran him through, she has another thing coming.

Of course, if his self-titled Soul Mechanic is in any way concerned at having the Dame wave her sword in her direction, Avina doesn’t show it. Instead, she just crosses her arms over her chest and scoffs.

“Don’t be absurd. You’re grasping at straws now, Dame. Because deep down you already know the truth. You encountered the true culprit back when you first arrived in this city and met with its ruler. The man who’s been abusing the Hero Summoning Ritual and the man who welcomed you into the City of Alether… and the man who bid you to fight in his arena. They’re all one in the same.”

With every word Avina speaks, the Dame shrinks back, cringing in ever-growing shame and horror. Mikael, meanwhile, can tell that Avina is building up to one big proper bombshell. And he already suspects he knows exactly who she’s talking about.

“The one who’s been abusing the Hero Summoning Rituals and summoning heroes like Mikael here from other worlds… is none other than Lord Zadicus himself. The Lord of the City has been your culprit this entire time Dame, and you fell right into his trap. Imagine it. He must have laughed himself silly when you agreed to fight in the arena for him. He knew right then and there what he was going to do. How he was going to make you unknowingly complicit in his games. Summoning a Hero right under your nose and then forcing you to slaughter them without a clue in the world. What a fucking lark.”

Well damn. When Avina put it that way, Mikael almost felt bad for the Dame. Almost. It sounded like she was some sort of fantasy investigator of sorts. A traveling knight who was tasked with locking down the usage of this Hero Summoning Ritual that had brought him to this world in the first place. But of course, she and whoever else she worked with clearly wasn’t doing a very good job of things.

Not only had Mikael been summoned anyways, not only had he had his damn mind fucked with something fierce… but the Dame had been tricked into murdering him. Mikael’s jaw clenches, even as the female knight shakes her head, looking like she wants to deny Avina’s words even then. But she can’t even get a word out before Avina scoffs at her.

“Don’t try and deny it. You know I’m telling the truth. Do you think it’s easy to bring someone back to life? Do you think I haven’t tried the common criminal before now? None of them worked. The Soul Engine needs stronger stock than that… and what’s stronger than a Summoned Hero, right? Mikael IS a Summoned Hero. That much is beyond a shadow of a doubt. As for who summoned him… who do you think has the resources for such a thing? Someone like me, stuck in a basement, paying every copper I make to Zadicus to pay off my debts? Or the rich and powerful Lord of Alether himself?”

Obviously, Mikael is a little lost by this point. He’s been able to put some of what’s being discussed together through context clues, but much of this is flying right over his head. He’s only more lost when the Dame’s shoulders suddenly slump and she reaches up under her helm, before ripping it from her head and revealing her features.

He has to admit, his breath is taken away for a second by her beauty. Those icy blue eyes of hers are accompanied by flowing white hair that goes down to her chest, and a gorgeous face with a cute nose, a full pair of lips, and a pointed chin. Dropping her helmet, the Dame falls to one knee as it clatters there on the basement floor.

And then she holds her sword aloft in her outstretched palms towards him.

“Sir Hero. I have dishonored my oaths. I have strayed from all that was righteous and just and true. On my name as Dame Thayla Dawnguard, I must beg your forgiveness.”

His forgiveness? She fucking killed him! The fact that he’s even alive to be able to forgive her in the first place is a fucking miracle in and of itself! However, before Mikael can point that out, the self-identified Thayla Dawnguard does so for him.

“Unfortunately, as I took your life, there is no other way for me to make amends but to offer my own as recompense. Please, Sir Hero. Take my sword. End my existence as I so foolishly ended yours. My armor will not fit you, but it is of some value, you may sell it after if you so wish. My sword was forged at the Citadel of the Rose itself and will serve you for quite a long while if you let it. All… all I ask is that you make it quick.”

Mikael stares blankly down at the female knight for a moment. She was seriously trying to commit ‘Suicide by Mikael’ to make up for her fuck-up? Funnily enough, the foreign parts of his Swiss Cheese memories aren’t as unanimous in their desire to take her up on her offer as he might have expected. No, their ideas of what to do with her are as many and varied as the disparate memories shoved into his head.

But only one of those ideas actually appeals to him in this moment. Only one of them seems worth… exploring.

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A/N: Every answer he gets gives Mikael more questions. But hey, at least Thayla feels bad about what she did right?

Hmmm, more and more info coming out. This week of chapters has a lot of exposition to it, but it'll be up to me if I actually manage to keep it interesting until we get past all of that~

As always, be sure to let me know what you think! What do you think of Thayla now that she's not a faceless mook stabbing our MC in the heart? Is your opinion of Avina changing at all? Getting better? Getting worse?

Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated!