Splinter Angel Chapter 25 (Patreon)

“Well,” Sendra said, almost dreamily, as they got back to the street. “I doubt anyone will believe that you’re a Companion for much longer.”

Ana shrugged. “Maybe, but I doubt they’ll tell anyone what just happened. I don’t know if it matters that I’m a woman, but I’m half Waller’s size. And I don’t even have a combat class, right?”

“Right…”

“So he’s not going to want it getting out that I just put him down without breaking a sweat. I know his type. He’s all pride. That's what this was about in the first place. The money was just an excuse. He might come after me, but he’s not going to want this to get around.”

“Was it true?” Deni asked timidly from behind them. “About that Rankan guy? Is that his sword you’ve got?”

“Yeah.” Ana didn’t like the turn the conversation was taking, but she wasn't going to lie about it.

“He tried to rob you?”

“Him and his buddy, yeah.”

Deni started to say something, hesitated, then pushed through. “Where are they now?”

“Not coming back,” Ana said curtly, and opened the door to Touanne’s shop.

* * *

Touanne was in turns happy to see Ana, congratulatory about the new levels, concerned at the four women’s demeanour, and then horrified to the point of being near tears when they described Jancia’s affliction.

She turned off some heating items and locked the shop, but that was all the delay Touanne would allow herself. She couldn’t run quite as fast as Ana, but she had some legs on her, Ana couldn’t deny that. Probably specifically for cases like this, where she needed to get to a wounded person quickly. The two easily pulled ahead of Deni, Dilmik and Sendra, who followed at the best pace they could manage.

Fifteen minutes later Touanne slumped back, now actually in tears. “I can’t do it,” she whispered, turning her red eyes on Kaira. “Everything I’ve tried, every erg of mana I channel, no matter how subtly, it’s like something’s absorbing it. It never gets a chance to do anything for her.”

Ana looked at the exposed wound on Jancia’s belly. It looked shallow. The crystals, of course, were pretty nasty, but there didn’t seem to be any sign of infection or anything like that.

“Do you think she’ll heal on her own?” she asked Touanne.

“With rest, yes. And potions may help. But whatever this affliction is, there’s nothing I can do,” Touanne replied helplessly. She began shaking softly with smothered sobs, unable to take her eyes off the woman she had failed to help, and Ana could have sworn that she herself could feel Touanne’s helplessness.

She didn't like it.

Jancia was still sleeping, or unconscious. It was hard to say which. Her breathing had grown less laboured since her rescue, but no one had managed to wake her up. And there was still the matter of the mages, even Touanne, being unable to feel her, which terrified everyone who understood how significant that was.

Some kind of damage to the soul. That’s what they said, but Ana didn’t really feel it. She wasn’t convinced that souls were a thing, no matter what anyone else believed. She’d certainly never been religious. Oh, she’d gone through the motions. Her piece of shit foster father, the second and last one, he’d been a pastor. She didn't know who might have saved her if she didn’t play at being a good little Christian, because there was no loving God in that house, she knew that much. There was a reason she’d lived on the street for years rather than risk going back.

She shook her head, trying to get rid of the poison thoughts. The less she thought about that part of her life, the better. Wherever he was, live or dead, he didn’t deserve to be remembered.

“Hey, Ana?” Kaira said. Her voice was gentle. Concerned. Touanne was looking at her with worry, too. Ana wondered what she’d been showing, then remembered what Touanne had told her about having a high Connection. It was up to 16 now. Could they tell what she was feeling, if it was strong enough?

“Yeah?” She answered, and was horrified to find her voice unsteady and her nose a little runny. Aw, shit. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and it came away wet. She didn’t acknowledge it. “What?”

“I was gonna… are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine.” She would, in a few minutes.

“Alright. Let us know if you wanna talk, yeah? For now, can you help with the stretcher?”

Something to do. That was good. She needed to do something. “Love to,” she said, getting to her feet. “Petra, front or back?”

“Back, if that’s alright,” the stocky woman answered. “Hate carrying stuff behind me.”

All the short walk back into the outpost, and then to Touanne’s shop – which doubled as a clinic – Ana felt more than saw Messy hovering just beside her. The elfin woman never spoke, but she was always there. Ana knew, logically, that Messy was probably just worried. She’d probably seen Ana crying. But that just annoyed Ana. She hated feeling vulnerable, but more than that she hated others seeing her that way. And now Messy was there, a silent reminder of how Ana had let herself slip, and what had caused it.

Ana had to fight the impulse to tell Messy to fuck off and leave her alone. We’re trying to be friends, she told herself. Friends worry about each other. That’s all she's doing. She has no idea about what it’s doing to me. All she knows is that some bad shit happened, and then I started crying out of nowhere. She doesn’t know about that piece of–

She stomped the thought down.

They left Jancia with Touanne, as well as those of the plants and monster parts they’d harvested for the Healer, then soberly made their way to the square. While their Delve had been an unqualified success, finding Jancia in the state she was in had spoiled the celebratory mood. They broke up unceremoniously. Kaira said a few words about a job well done and how impressed she was, but it was clear that her mind was elsewhere. Then Petra dissolved the Party, and that was it, other than a pair of notifications.

[You have left your Party.]

[You have joined the party of Anastasia Cole, Human Companion (6).]

Afterwards Messy stepped in close to Ana. “Most of us will be going to the baths, once we’ve stowed our equipment and all,” she said, the invitation implicit in her tone.

Ana’s first impulse was to decline offhand. Old, dark memories played on repeat, and she wanted to do what she’d always done when that happened: exhaust herself completely, then cry herself to sleep, alone in her room. It wasn’t the most constructive approach, but she’d usually wake up feeling better.

But that wouldn’t work this time, for the dual reason that Ana wasn’t sure she could exhaust herself without making it painfully obvious to anyone watching that she wasn’t what she said she was, and that she knew that she wouldn't be able to sleep. She wasn’t sure if it was even noon, yet.

So, instead of running away, she steadied herself the best she could, turned to Messy, and said, “I’d love to join you, if that’s alright?”

Messy smiled brightly, then quickly turned away as she stifled a giggle. “They’re public baths,” she said, “but yeah, we’d love that. It’s just what we usually do after a Delve. Good for group cohesion, and all.”

“I bet,” Ana said, trying to sound anything except flat.

“Before that,” Messy continued, a little pensively, “would you come with me to the temple? I–”

“No,” Ana almost snarled. Her voice cut savagely through Messy’s, harsh enough that Messy flinched. “Sorry,” Ana said, forcing herself to speak more softly. This was not upstate New York, she reminded herself. The temple was not her foster father’s church. “I didn’t mean to–”

“No, no, I get it,” Messy said, not looking at her. She hadn’t been entirely her normal, forward self, but now she sounded almost ashamed, and Ana hated it. “We just met and some of her followers can be… a lot. Forget I asked. I’ll see you–”

She’d been trying to be nice. Ana could tell that much. And Ana liked Messy. Not in the way that she suspected Messy liked her, which she’d have to make clear at some point. But besides Kaira, Messy was the person she’d been most comfortable around so far, and she hated seeing how badly her harsh refusal had affected her.

And she hated that she still, half a lifetime later, let that bastard have power over her.

From nowhere, Ana found herself saying, “I’ll go with you!”

“What?” Messy said, looking up in surprise.

“Let me drop off my borrowed gear, and I’ll join you,” she said, while mentally asking herself what the hell she was doing. Was she that desperate for another friend?

Maybe she was.

“Oh,” Messy said, then brightened. “Okay! If you’re sure? I’ll drop my stuff and meet you here! And I’m not one of crazies, I promise! I just like to give thanks after a Delve, that's all.”

“I said I’m coming,” Ana told her. “You don't need to sell it.”

She joined Deni, and Kaira who’d been waiting to take them to drop off the borrowed gear. Everything went smoothly, no fuss from the clerk, and they got their deposits back.

“So, I saw you talking to Messy,” Kaira said, an unspoken question in her voice.

“Yeah,” Ana said. “I’m… going to the temple with her.”

Kaira smirked. “Yeah? Not a bad idea to have the Wayfarer on your side. I usually go after Tor and Om and me get back. Didn't figure you’d be interested though.”

“Well, she asked.”

“And you just couldn't say no?”

“I figured it’d make her happy, and I needed to take my mind off… something.” Not that going to what was basically a church was the best way to do that, she added to herself.

“Alright, great,” Kaira said, her smirk widening into a toothy grin. “I’m sure you’ll have a great time together!”

Ana looked at her for a moment until it clicked, and rolled her eyes. “Not the way you’re thinking, we won’t.”

The grin didn’t falter the slightest. “Sure, sure, whatever you say,” Kaira said as she turned towards her home. “See you at the baths!”

“I’m not…” Ana said to Kaira’s retreating back. She’d definitely have to talk to Messy.

Messy was waiting at the Waystone. Ana thought that she must be living nearby and been quick about dropping off her things, because Ana hadn’t been away that long. “Hey Ana!” the elfin woman said when they saw each other, and there was just a hint of excitement in her voice.

“Hey, Mess,” Ana said. “Let’s go.”

“Just ‘Mess’, now, huh? Was ‘Messy’ too long?”

“Nah,” Ana said. “You’re not messy. But you are a mess.”

Messy giggled, and Ana silently rebuked herself. That is way too close to flirting, she thought. I really shouldn’t give her the wrong idea.

The temple wasn’t a huge building, but it was the second largest in the outpost by a small margin, the baths only just beating it. The doors stood open, as they had each time Ana had walked past. Next to them she saw Messy’s pack and gear stacked against the wall. She hadn’t even gone home, Ana realised.

“May the Wayfarer bless you on your travels,” said a smiling woman in hard-wearing clothes who waited at the entrance. “Can I help you?”

“Thank you, Sahna,” Messy said. “We’re just here to say a prayer and make an offering.”

“How lovely! Well, Miss Mestendi, you know what to do. And you, Miss…?” The woman, Sahna, turned to Ana. “Oh! You’re the newcomer we’ve heard of! And you’re a Companion! How auspicious!”

“Yeah…” Ana said doubtfully. Auspicious? What the hell? “Anastasia. I’m with her.”

“In that case, Miss Anastasia, I’m sure that Miss Mestendi can show you what to do. But if you need any help, or if you would like to learn anything about the Wayfarer or our sacred mission here, please don’t hesitate to ask!”

“Sure. Messy?”

“Thank you, Sahna,” Messy said, and led Ana across the threshold. “Come on, Ana. It’s right–”

* * *

One second Ana was stepping past the tall wooden doors of the temple, Messy’s hand gently on her back, and the next she was alone on a forest path. The sun was blinding where it pierced the canopy, and a breeze danced in the tall trees while birds sang and insects buzzed all around her.

“What the–?” Ana’s hand went to the sword at her belt, but she wasn’t wearing it. Her sword and shield were both gone, as was the pouch where she kept her gun. She was still wearing her armour, though.

“Ugh, finally!” said a voice behind her, and Ana whirled to face whoever had spoken. “Took you long enough,” said the woman standing before her. She was tall, with a lean, angular face of a warm, reddish brown, and was wearing worn, dirty clothes, a long cloak, and a serious pair of boots.

“Where–” Ana began, but the woman cut her off.

“You haven’t gone anywhere. This is all in your head, and you’re still on the threshold of my temple. Think of it as a space between moments. Once we’ve had this little talk you’ll be right back, and no one else the wiser.”

“Your temple?” Ana said, seizing the opportunity the moment the woman paused. “Are you the… high priestess, or whatever? How are you doing this? And why?”

“No,” the woman said impatiently. “I understand that this may have come rather suddenly, but I really have been waiting for an opportunity. To answer your first question, I am not a high priestess. I am the goddess called the Wayfarer. For your second question, again, I am a goddess. And for your third… I’d like to apologise?”

Ana’s bullshit detector went off on principle, but the woman sounded completely relaxed and serious. “The Wayfarer?” she asked. “The goddess? That’s one hell of a claim. Why should I believe you?”

The woman shrugged. “You probably shouldn’t. Not taking everything at face value is a good survival trait, and we both know that if there’s one thing you do well, it’s surviving. But humour me, please. As I said, I want to apologise.”

“For what?”

The woman took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “For… well, not for bringing you here. I didn’t do that. But it’s partially my fault, because I made it possible in the first place. I didn’t put in enough safeguards. Nicola being summoned, well… Sorry to say, but that was part of the deal I had to make when I set this all up. The Splinters and the Delves, I mean. Not Nicola specifically, but the possibility of summoning someone against their will. So that’s on me.”

Ana stared for a moment, then scoffed. “You ‘set this all up’? Again, one hell of a claim. And you’re saying it’s your fault Nic’s dead? Why shouldn’t I beat the shit out of you, if I believe you?”

The woman responded with a warm, friendly laugh, as though Ana had just told her something terribly funny. “Well, for one, I was much stronger than you are now before my apotheosis. So you can try, but you won’t like the outcome. And yes, I set this all up. You have no idea how boring it was, back when I was mortal! One finite plane, and most of that explored already? Bullshit, that’s what I said so, the moment I reached apotheosis and got the power, I… made some changes. And I had to make some deals with the other divinities in the process. Anyway, I’m not claiming responsibility for his death. That’s on the shithead that summoned him. But you… you shouldn’t be here. You got my message, right? You’re wearing the armour I sent you, so you should have seen the message.”

“…I shouldn’t be here,” Ana said softly. That was just what the message had said when she put on the armour.

“No, you shouldn’t,” the Wayfarer, if that was who she was, confirmed. Her whole demeanour softened. “The truth is, I fucked something up. I’m not even sure what triggered it, if it was the momentary connection of a kiss or the fact that he was holding you or something else, but when Nicola was summoned he dragged you along. And that should not be possible, so I must’ve fucked something up. And for that, I apologise. I did what I could to help you two, but I didn’t have much time, and I’ve got some pretty serious restrictions when interacting with mortals, and then Nicola died, and… yeah. It’s a mess.”

“Help us?” Ana asked, then made the connection. “The Class. You gave me this Class, didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” the Wayfarer said sheepishly. “Like I said, I didn’t have much time. The first impressions I got from you were that you were completely focused on Nicola’s safety, so I grabbed the strongest, most appropriate Class I could think of for you. Had something fun lined up for Nicola, too, but… yeah. Of course, now that I’ve watched you a little longer I’m thinking that it was maybe not the best choice to tie you to one person like that. I dunno. But, hey, that part worked out, at least! With Nicola dead when you got your first level the System tied you to the one person you care about the most!”

“Myself,” Ana said, a little bitterly.

“Hey, don’t feel bad. I’m certainly not judging. Looking out for yourself first? Again, a very good survival trait. A woman after my own heart. I wouldn’t be where I am if I wasn’t the same way. Can’t help anyone if you’re dead, right?”

“What about the party thing?” Ana said. “A bunch of my Abilities mention my Party now, and I’m sure that wasn’t there the first time I looked. Did you do something?”

“Yeah, right, so about that. When you went into the mana sink – the Delve, as you all call it nowadays – I had a chance to interact with you again. And I could tell that you cared about the people in your Party, and I totally approve. Look out for number one, yeah, but look out for your Party, too! So I figured I’d help you with that. And that mage girl is still alive, so I’d say I did a good job! Don’t you agree?”

Ana scowled, but she had to agree. Deni would not be alive if Ana hadn’t been able to absorb the damage dealt to her. “Maybe. But you know how much this is going to mess with my head, right? I literally can’t choose not to take a hit for someone else if I’m in a Party with them.”

“It’s not that bad,” the Wayfarer said defensively. “It’s not like you absorbed every little scrape for them. You only ate that one lethal blow, and you can take it way better than most people. You’re tough! But, anyway. That’s about all we have time for. I just wanted a chance to tell you that I’m sorry. I can’t do much more to help you without the others getting suspicious, but I think that I’ve given you the best shot at a life here that I could. Keep levelling, stay out of politics, and you should be able to have a long, happy life.”

“I don’t care so much about ‘happy’ as long as it’s my own.”

The Wayfarer cocked her head. “Aren’t those the same thing? Anyway, once you hit 50 – and I bet you will – you’ll be untouchable, practically a demi-goddess, so… But I really do have to go. Right now, in fact. Pray at any of my temples or at a Waystone if you need to talk. No promises, but I’ll make time if I can. Farewell for now!”

“Wait!” Ana said, as something occurred to her. “Jancia–”

The Wayfarer raised her hand–

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It's pretty much mandatory for Isekai protagonists to meet a god, right?