(TPOR) Chapter 119: VHF Space Ship (Patreon)

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Zed said. “Why are we in a VHF spaceship?”

Oliver rubbed the back of his neck nervously, looking away.

“A lot has happened since we last saw,” he muttered.

“Don’t tell me I went and fainted and now it’s been three months since I woke up and you’ve just been here, by my side, alone, pining over me, praying and waiting for the day when I wake up while you bathed me and kept me clean and protected. Then when everyone gave up on me ever waking up and chose to abandon me, you took my body and ran to the only other people that might be willing the help. Ergo,” Zed gestured around, “the VHF.”

Oliver stared at him, confused.

“Nope,” Zed said, popping the word. “I guess that’s not what happened.”

He looked around, apprehensive. He was in a VHF spaceship and all he could see was white. He remembered the first time he had seen a VHF spaceship a few months back not long after he’d met Oliver and the others. When it had opened up to release Ven, everything on the inside had been white.

“Wait,” he said suddenly, his attention back on Oliver. “Are we in a VHF spaceship or theVHF spaceship?”

“The VHF spaceship,” Oliver confirmed.

Zed nodded slowly.

“So… we’ve been captured,” he said.

“No,” Oliver said.

“We’re friends with the VHF now?”

“No.”

“We’re playing double agent and secretly spying and getting their schematics back to Heimdall.”

Oliver opened his mouth to answer when a whizzing sound echoed through the room. Off to one side of the room Zed couldn’t currently see, a door opened. Zed turned to it without worry. There, standing casually in a simple jacket and pants was a large man. His skin was on the bronze side and he had hooded eyes hidden beneath massive brows. He looked like a man who had seen enough things to snuff out the life of any emotions he had once had.

He looked dangerous.

Zed waved cheerily. “Hi! Wanna join us?”

The man remained motionless. Arms folded across his chest, his hooded eyes moved from Zed to Oliver.

“I take it he’s fine now,” he said. His voice was a deep rumble.

Zed checked himself dramatically, like a man who had just taken a nasty fall but couldn’t believe he’d come out of it unscathed.

Rather than answer the hulking man, Oliver turned his attention back to Zed.

“You good?” he asked.

The worry Zed had seen on Oliver’s face when he’d woken up was back. He had done much to make Oliver forget those worries but a simple statement from whoever stood watching them had sufficed to bring it back.

Zed smiled at Oliver and lied.

“Never been better.”

Oliver turned back to the man at the door.

“He’s good, Daniel,” he said.

“Daniel?” Zed exclaimed, surprised. “Wait, are only large guys allowed to wear the large armors, because, dude, you look like you and your armor are literally the same size.”

Daniel didn’t even twitch. His expression remained stoic. There was neither a frown nor a smile. There was no emotion to be noted. Zed had a feeling the man could stand before the devil and wouldn’t even tremble at the knees.

“I have a few questions for him,” the man said.

Oliver tensed up at Daniel’s words.

“I’m not going to like these questions, am I?” Zed asked in a conspiratorial whisper. Louder, he added: “Did you guys ever watch that movie where that guy tells the other guy about the girl who took that other guy to the rink to ask him a question about the first guy?”

Oliver’s eyes slid slowly to Zed but it was Daniel that answered.

“No.” The word was short and straight to the point. It gave room for nothing else.

“Ah,” Zed mused. “Well, I think you should.”

“So I was right,” Oliver said. There was a touch of resignation in his voice.

Zed turned to him. “About what?”

“Your memories,” Oliver said, gesturing at him. “You got them back.”

“A few,” Zed shrugged. “Not everything, but enough.”

“Which means you’re leaving.”

Zed smiled sadly.

“I would say yes,” he began, slowly, “but I don’t think big-foot over here would be inclined to letting me walk out that door without a fight.” He paused, then wrapped his hand around the handle of [Titan’s Axe]. “You know, if this was a video game with you here and the weapon, and Daniel standing there looking all menacing, I’d say this would be a really good boss fight setting.”

Oliver chuckled at that.

“I can’t say so,” he disagreed.

“Why not?” Zed asked. All the while Daniel stood as silent as a hill, watching.

“Because He’s just a Rukh,” Oliver answered. “If he was in his armor, that would be a completely different conversation and maybe we can call him a boss monster.” He turned to Daniel. “No offense.”

Daniel confirmed there was none taken with a simple shake of his head.

“I had younger brothers, nephews, too,” he said, simply. “They chattered a lot about my size, too. I know you guys mean no harm. However,” he continued, “you are delaying the inevitable.”

He stepped deeper into the room. Eight steps, silent even in the vast room, sufficed to place him right next to them.

“The questions will be asked,” he said. “And the mage will answer.”

Zed looked between Daniel and Oliver. He’d downplayed the entire situation long enough and had hoped that Daniel would budge. In the presence of the current situation, it seemed play time was over.

“Am I in trouble?” he asked, looking up at Daniel.

Daniel met his gaze with uneven eyes. Up close, Zed could see the color of the Olympian’s eyes. They were blue with specks of grey.

“That depends on the outcome of our conversation.”

Zed nodded. “I guess I can live with that.”

“Would you like to have your friend around while I ask you these questions?”

Zed looked at Oliver, then back to Daniel. “As long as you aren’t sharing any secrets I think we’ll be fine.”

“And your other friends?”

It took Zed only the briefest moment to know who Daniel spoke off. A few days ago his answer would have been simple. It would have been a yes or a no. Now, with the memories he had and the life experience that came with them, his answer was different.

“We’ll be fine,” he said simply. “I’ve only got one friend for now.”

Oliver gave him an odd look. Zed flashed him a smile but Oliver’s eye slid away. He was unable to meet his gaze.

Zed wasn’t sure he could hold it against him. He would like to feel bad that Oliver had done nothing while the others had been mean to him for whatever reason they liked to crack up, but he knew better. It was easy to ask someone to stand up to society. It was easy to tell people that their job wasn’t to be moved by the world but to move the world. It was the thing about motivational speeches: they were easy. It takes an entirely different kind of courage to actively stand against what you don’t like. The good stand up against the bad, but not all of them do. There are some good with no courage, fear guides them and keeps them weak. They do not stand against the bad, rather, they fall into a different kind of sin. The sin of silence.

It would be easy to ask Oliver why he never truly stood up for him, but it would be unfair. He had been the outsider. The visitor. Asking Oliver to oppose the community he was a part of would be asking too much. As much as people would not like to admit it, the good that stand up to bad aren’t the rule, they are the exception.

It was unreasonable to expect everyone to be capable of it. If everyone was, it would not be the exception.

Zed’s lips twitched in a half-smile as he considered it.

“Y’know,” he said to Oliver but loud enough for Daniel to hear, “I think I might’ve been really smart before I met you guys. Like,” he tapped the side of his head, “brain smart not book smart.”

Daniel grunted. “I don’t see it.”

Zed sighed. “Alright, big guy. Let’s get this questioning over with.”

………………

On the other side of the room that held Zed, Oliver and Daniel, Festus stood quietly, watching through what seemed like a one-way mirror. Beside him, Ash and Chris were silent companions. Festus had no doubt the girl who’d ventured into the forest with Zed would’ve loved to be here for this but she remained unconscious. The VHF Olympian called Ronda had her kept in an infirmary where they’d hooked her up to different things.

He had also seen a few other Olympians since their arrival at their spaceship. Together, they numbered almost sixteen in all. Festus had seen his fair share of VHF spaceships since the second awakening but he hadn’t ever been in one. It wasn’t as if he was on their radar or anything of the sort.

On the other side of the wall, within the other room, Daniel asked Zed questions. Festus knew the tricks. He knew the questions as well. It was a way of discovering just how long Zed had been a blood mage or if he was a mind mage.

Festus had used a few of them before he’d made his way to the middle of nowhere for relative peace and quiet.

He kept his arms folded in front of him as the conversation within took place. While it happened, he wondered what he would do with the mage, Eitri.

The man had come to him to learn more on the nature of runes, and while Festus was happy for the enthusiasm, he wasn’t willing to split his attention. It did not mean he would not test Eitri. It simply meant he might not afford the man much attention. He was always happy for a mage that was smart enough to see the beauty of runes, but in this moment, there were only two things that would make him teach Eitri runes. He was staring at one and hoping he was not a blood mage. The second was if Zed turned out to not be a blood mage. In that instance, Eitri would have to display as much potential as Zed.

Festus kept his face in a placid expression as he mused on the idea of being a master to two rune mages.

It didn’t seem so bad.