Arc 3 | Chapter 116: Not My Brother

⸂It’s weird that he won’t tell us what we’re heading into. We could be heading into a magicstorm, or some nest of hostiles,⸃ Gale grumbled as their group walked behind the Risen Guard, the man having thought it wise to approach the homeless group on foot after moving everyone closer.

Emilia wasn’t sure where the teenager had learned to talk like that, given she didn’t seem the type to play soldier or… something? Did kids here play soldier? Risen Guard? Kids in her own world had played solider, going off to fight in the Colonial Wars, during her own childhood. She assumed some kids played at going to war with monsters now, or perhaps hunting down echoes. Some probably pretended to be SecOps, surging into buildings and using phrases they’d heard in a game or show. Most likely, no one pretended they were suddenly a member of The Black Knot.

Books, however, didn’t seem particularly common in this world. The lack of technology made movies and shows unlikely. Plays, maybe? Music? Oral history? Or perhaps she was reading too much into the girl’s choice of words.

Yeah, that was probably it.

Except, it wasn’t.

⸂Carne!⸃ Benny yelled as they circled the last corner and the homeless children came into view, a rather plain looking young man, with light-brown hair and skin, standing among them.

Benny bolted for the man, a small, tired smile spreading over the man’s face. Caro, who had woken and been talked out of running off again by the combined efforts of Miira and Miira translating for Emilia, tucked themself further behind her. To Emilia, it seemed as though they wanted to join Benny in body checking Carne, but were resisting the urge for whatever reason.

Gale, who had been stomping along just in front of Emilia, pulled to a halt. Miira stopped beside her, all the other homed children stopping as well, nervous energy swelling through them.

Emilia glanced over at the older girls as she too stopped, Astra perking up as she looked around their new surroundings, which were identical to every other alley they had wandered down. To her, Gale looked more expressive than she had probably ever seen the teenager, which was saying something. Half the time the girl looked unimpressed, bored, annoyed, the emotions written plainly over her face. Now, she looked a mix of irate and on the verge of tears.

Miira, on the other hand, looked shocked, and when she looked to Gale, hurt. ⸂Gale, why didn’t you tell me?⸃

⸂I…⸃ Gale began to see, her voice cracking.

Emilia wished she could reach over and comfort the girl—either of the girls, really—but something told her her support wouldn’t be appreciated by Gale, and Miira… Well, Miira would accept it, but it would drag a line between her and her friend that wouldn’t do anyone any good. Then again, Miira had been acting distant since they had regrouped, barely looking in Emilia’s direction and talking to her only when she had to. So, maybe she wouldn’t accept her comfort any more than Gale would.

⸂Gale…⸃ Carne said, stepping through the children surrounding him. It was creepy, the way they parted for him, like the ocean parting for the god of some ancient myth Emilia had heard some of the Free Coloniers mention occasionally.

It was… strange, and off-putting. Benny might have tackled the man, but the other children seemed to be pushed away by his energy, gently rebuffed in a way that Emilia could

feel.

The separation wasn’t an unheard-of skill in her world, especially among people who used their cores. What was unusual was the ease with which Carne seemed to be using the technique at a constant rate, the aether rippling to the constant wave of his existence.

A sort of protection, one that would probably have at least a few people in her world following him around like he was a god. Given the way the homeless children were watching him, their eyes lit up in worship, perhaps that was precisely what was happening here as well.

Gale, much to Emilia’s concern and amusement, let out a growl. ⸂Do

not

talk to me!⸃

Behind Carne, a few of the children bristled, their energy beginning to warble in words about to be spit out at her. A single raised hand from the man, however, and they fell silent. His energy spread to them, calm and soothing and snuffing their voices out, just like the energy that had silenced Benny and Caro—had sent Stephy running panicked through the streets.

⸂Sister—⸃ he tried again, a burble of chatter from all the children breaking out, neither the homed children’s nervous shock nor Carne’s energy suppression enough to keep them quiet.

⸂Shut up!⸃ Gale yelled, a rarity outside of fights with Sawyer. ⸂I’m

not

your sister anymore!⸃

⸂You will always be my sister.⸃

⸂You don’t even call yourself Ash anymore!⸃

Ah. Well, that explained why Miira looked hurt. Gale had obviously known that

Carne

was her brother—or former brother—and not told Miira.

Carne sighed slightly, that sad smile of his twisting into one of melancholy—into a smile that

begged

the person to understand.

Emilia didn’t like it.

Emilia didn’t like him.

It was the feeling of someone dogmatic. Thankfully, she’d met very few such people in her life, but the war had included all types. Every person willing to fight had been accepted into the military, and that meant some pretty intense people had crossed her path. They all felt like this: like they would die for their cause, religion, government, obsession, no matter what. Nothing would talk them out of their profound, unbending belief, and they would try to recruit every person they could along the way. They wouldn’t expect people to be converted—although there had certainly been others who practically

demanded

people convert—but there would be an undertone of failure on their part when they couldn’t convert someone.

Criticism turned inward in a way that asked their victim to feel compelled to help them be free of it.

“If you convert, I will be free of this guilt, but I would never ask that of you,”

it seemed to say. A strange flipping of the script that had resulted in a small exodus of Baalphorians following the war, their bodies following their leader, saviour, kidnapper, into the Free Colonies, never to be seen again.

⸂I was never

Ash

,⸃ Carne said, their face turning upwards as their eyes fluttered shut. Their energy rippled, and the universe moved with them, a more powerful version of Sawyer and Benny’s universe reading. ⸂I am sorry you cannot accept it, but I am now who I always was.⸃

⸂You—⸃ Gale began to say, her hands clenching into fists so tight her nails drew blood. It wasn’t enough that the blood escaped her fists, the system quickly healing her as best it could, but Emilia could feel the blood vibrating with the aether nonetheless.

So could her Risen Guard saviour, who had placed himself somewhat between Gale and Carne, given the way he did… something. Emilia wasn’t sure

what

he did, but something about the man changed, and she knew it was because he could sense the blood.

Carne noticed as well, his eyes flicking to Gale’s hands. ⸂You should be more careful with your precious blood, sister mine.⸃

Gale lurched towards Carne, the Risen Guard darting between them and catching her by the waist, hauling her off her feet. ⸂Let me go!⸃ she screamed, trying to pull the man’s arm off her, her legs kicking wildly.

⸂Ah,⸃ Carne sighed, ignoring the way Gale screamed in favour of turning his attention on the Risen Guard. ⸂Forgive me, I did not properly greet you. Hello, Boundary.⸃

The Risen Guard—Boundary, apparently—seemed to assess the other man for a moment. ⸂Carne,⸃ he finally greeted, turning his attention to the homeless children. ⸂You may choose to go with Carne or come with us. I will advise those who are injured to come with us, as you are unlikely to find adequate treatment where Carne is going.⸃

The way Boundary said it, Emilia knew he expected none of them to return to their side. A few had minor injuries, scuffs across their body that would heal with time. Only one likely had an injury that needed attending, a boy who had cracked his chest against the water slides and likely broken a few ribs. He didn’t move to come with them, and when Boundary translated Emilia’s concerns, he shook his head.

He was going with Carne, nothing would stop him.

The terrifying thing was, Emilia was sure he meant it. He could be slowly bleeding to death as they spoke, a rib spiked brutally into one organ or another. Even if they knew for certain he was, she was sure the boy would still choose to follow that man.

⸂Will you allow all the children to choose their path, or just these ones?⸃ Carne asked, head tilting in curiosity. An innocent question, packed with intent to disrupt their group.

⸂We wouldn’t want to go with you anyways!⸃ Stephy growled from her seat against a nearby wall. Boundary had been carrying her, but had set her down when he realized things between Gale and Carne were tense.

Actually, Emilia wasn’t positive he hadn’t set her down before the tension began. Hadn’t the man said he had heard good things about Gale? Had those things come from Carne? Yet, these two men certainly weren’t friendly, and Emilia was willing to bet anything Carne wasn’t a Risen Guard.

At least, not anymore.

Around them, most of the other homed kids mumbled in agreement, and Caro tucked themself back behind Emilia. They wanted to go, but they also wanted to stay.

Behind Carne, Sawyer looked resolute, his energy wrapping around the other homeless children and reassuring them they were making the right decision. It seemed unnecessary, all but one of the homeless children needing no encouragement to stay. All, except Benny.

“Can Carne hear us?” Emilia asked, hoping that Boundary would know the answer.

Carne’s eyes snapped to her, sliding over her with amusement and a healthy dose of hostility.

⸄No,⸅ Boundary assured her.

“How certain of that are you?”

⸄Positive.⸅

“Benny, do a better job of pretending you can’t hear us,” Emilia said, eyes still glued to the Risen Guard’s back.

Honestly, the boy had been doing a pretty good job of hiding his new ability to hear. Despite clearly knowing what ability the heartcore had given him, he hadn’t told anyone. It wasn’t hard for anyone to believe that, given many of the possible options didn’t reveal themselves until the right moment. She and V hadn’t realized they could read until shortly after they awoke, and it had been two days until she learned she could write. She still didn’t know what the last heartcore had given her.

Benny’s weight shifted slightly, his eyes flicking between everyone. No one was really watching him, but she wanted him to focus. If this was going to work, he needed to keep it between them and not freak.

“Okay, sweet little boy. Don’t move. Don’t speak. Don’t nod or shrug or anything else. I know this is a lot to ask, but I need you to choose now, whether you want to help us know what is happening wherever Carne is taking you. Not to be our spy—not if you don’t want to be that, anyways—but to keep everyone safe. I can

see

that you feel it too, that something is wrong.”

Benny tried not to move, but he couldn’t quite manage it, his eyes flickering in uneasy confirmation. He hadn’t been homeless long, and it was possible that whatever the other homeless children felt for Carne—whatever acceptance of his strangeness they had acquired over visits with the man—Benny wasn't quite there yet.

This was too much for him. Carne was taking him too soon.

“If you agree, do nothing. If you don’t… either come her—because you do not have to go with them—or just do something to tell us you don’t want to do this.”

When had she and Boundary become

us?

That was certainly an unexpected turn of events.

Benny did nothing, only blinking as calmly as he could as they all watched her speak, assuming she was talking to Boundary.

“Can you give him access to the Risen Guard system for longer?” she asked Boundary, hoping she hadn’t just wasted Benny’s courage for nothing. “More permanently, I mean.”

The Risen Guard huffed slightly, the smallest speck of amusement, even though when he spoke, his voice was strained. ⸄I understood what you meant. I can.⸅

“Does it have something like a way to message people? Anything that would be useful for him to have? Oh shit, he can’t read, though…”

Benny tensed slightly as Boundary presumably lit up another portion of the system within his head.

⸄The messages will go directly to Emilia and me. Simply think of telling us something, and we will receive it. The system will aid in translating what you receive; however, those translations may cause you headaches, especially if we send too much at once. Apologies, as you will be unable to deactivate it. Most trainees are not bestowed with system access until much later. I suggest you use it for messaging and nothing else. If you try to manipulate it, you may be unable to undo what you changed.⸅

Benny swallowed, looking as though he were doing everything in his power to not respond to what the man said.

Several more words and instructions were exchanged between them, before Boundary turned to speaking to Carne again. ⸂She disagreed with letting you take the children. I assured her that you will not hurt them. Do not make me a liar, Carne.⸃

The man’s smile barely changed. Still sad, manipulative, accepting, but something else entered it. ⸂I would never hurt the children,⸃ he lied, his army repeating his sentiment in a chorus of too much conviction. ⸂Can she hear us?⸃

⸂She can,⸃ Sawyer responded, ⸂but she can’t speak.⸃

Carne’s smile split into one of happiness, a wisp of his energy reaching back to wrap affectionately around Sawyer. ⸂The universe led me to you, it would not have done so were I a danger to its precious children.⸃

“Precious children who it leaves homeless orphans and tramples in stampedes,”

Emilia didn’t say. Instead, she simply nodded and waving goodbye to the children as they finally began to continue on their journey stars knew where. At the very least, most looked sad to be parted from her.

⸂Gale,⸃ Carne sighed, their fake ass smile finally falling away as they blinked at the teenager. ⸂One day, I hope you can accept the person I am, not the person our parents wanted me to be.⸃

⸂Don’t you dare talk about

my

mom and dad,⸃ Gale spit out from her position of prisoner in Boundary’s arms. ⸂You lost the right to talk about any of us when you fucked off and abandoned your responsibilities.⸃

The man’s frown dropped away, face becoming so blank it sent a shiver up Emilia’s back, her senses and intuition screaming for her to run. Get as far from this man as possible.

He is dangerous.

⸂Believe that as long as you wish. I will not stop you, and I will accept you with open arms when you accept the will of the universe.⸃

Gale tried to bite back at her former brother, but a bubble of Carne’s energy wrapped around them, silencing her words. To Emilia’s amazement, Boundary didn’t tackle the man and kill him for it, although she had a feeling he wanted to. Impressive, the amount of emotion she could feel from the man when she couldn’t see his face.

⸂Caro…⸃ Carne sighed, turning towards Emilia, although just like the other times he had looked her way, he barely seemed to see her. ⸂I knew you weren’t good enough for us.⸃

Caro tensed, and for a moment, Emilia considered launching herself at the horrible man. Then, he was gone, transporting himself down the street to lead the children stars knew where.

Across her vision, a message dialogue lit up.

[

Emilia:

be safe

]

[

Emilia:

let me know if you need anything

]

[

Emilia:

i will do everything in my power to get you out, when you want to leave

]

[

Benny:

I know

]

[

Benny:

I’ll be oka

y]

[

Benny:

Don’t worry

]

[

Benny:

And yeah, this kinda hurts my head…

]