Icarus Awakens

"No way," Shuni said, stepping in front of Daniel. She turned her head and spoke to him out of the side of her mouth. "No way, right? I mean, you're the one who's been to Aughal, you should know not to mess with something like that."

"What if I say no?" Daniel asked evenly, trying to not upset either Shuni or Khare. Festra's grinding of the ground under her staff showed she recognized how foolish that was.

"Then we have no accord. The gestalt aren't going to attack ye now, for one that pink scaled menace'd make 'em bleed for it. I'd like to think you'd let us leave. But you'd be spittin' on all they did for you." She pulled out a knife but did not make any threatening movements with it. "Simple promise, Artificer. Find a way to help 'em. No time on it, but it's a binding to your soul lest you forget one day. And it's not with me, but all of them."

No cages, Hunter thought to him.

I know. But if it's this or the earth gestalt can't trust us… wait. "What about the other elements? Or the Spiritualists as a whole?"

"The people of the earth can spread the message amongst themselves. Might not make it out of the Realm, or it may. Depends on who stands in the way, but the more honesty they see in yer actions, the more will stand with ye." Festra looked up, as if Zozar still stood above them. "Air, fire, water, all of them I can't say. Same for any other not closely tied to the earth like myself. You'll still have enemies. Ain't asking 'cause this will solve all your problems. It's the right thing to do."

It was something he'd want a month to think about, which was why they'd sprung this ultimatum now. Daniel tried not to wonder if Khare had advised them on how to approach this. Would they leave with the rest of their people if he said no? Am I going to have to fight them someday because of it?

The worst part was he saw the logic. Like it or not he had become a focal point in the wider war. Aberrant Spoke, controller of the Arcadian, links to the method for restoring spirits. The earth gestalt had bet big on opposing Zozar in an attempt to make sure he was on their side.

"I want a look at anything before we even think about going further with this," Zolyra called out. "I can assure everyone here that no one's being entangled into a two-faced contract under my watch."

"That's the beauty of it, Commander," Festra replied smugly. "We want you to write it. Make it as plain as sunshine and I'll offer my blood on behalf of all the gestalt gathered here."

"Then, to be clear, you are offering that all earth gestalt swear to abandon the Spiritualist cause and join us?"

Festra's smile slipped. "Can't speak for those not here. We'd agree to those terms, but the race as a whole? That's too tall an order."

"In exchange for saving all of them from their nature? Perhaps not. But you've forced our hand, haven't you?" Zolyra retrieved fresh scroll paper and began to write. "For the record, if anyone is considering this, Blood Contracts can only be made if both parties are fully aware and willing. My class doesn't have any input here, nor any of my powers."

"Tell me you aren't considering this, please," Shuni whispered to him. "I know the guys have to be in your head saying the same thing, but this is insane. After what Soraso and the oath put you through? I don't want to walk around worrying you'll do something to break the contract accidentally. It's like someone would be holding a knife to your throat forever, and I can't Blink behind a contact and stab it in the back."

Daniel looked at her and wanted to say he wasn't going to accept, but his Focus' new addition flashed through his mind. Octyrrum survival probability. They'd figured out pretty quickly that it was a live estimate, though only the hundredths place had changed so far. Saying things like 'let's go blow up the Arcadian' didn't shift it at all, so his Spoke probably only considered committed actions toward the estimation. Significant ones too, that would have an impact on the world at large. Like this contract.

Possibly converting an entire species to his cause in exchange for swearing something he was going to do anyway? Easy trade. Shuni would see that eventually, she was just vocally expressing the same shock everyone in the team was feeling. Outside of Hunter it was most personal for her.

"Isn't everything I've done for Khare enough to prove my intent?" Daniel asked, resolved to at the very least bargain before signing his soul away. "For people who want to ally, this is aggressive. Especially for those that sabotaged the Thormundz."

"Most here weren't a part of that. Me, I'll give you, but the only treachery those below have committed has been against Zozar," Festra replied smoothly. "They'd put forward no small amount of faith. This is how you repay it."

"A lesser contract, then. I know they don't have to be blood bound."

"Anything less than life ain't worth spit when it comes to this." The Druid's refusals weren't unkind, but they were clad in iron. "Not just me speaking. It's them, boy. This is their decision, their offer. Nothing less. Nothing more. All they ask is for you to keep looking til you find a solution. Not a thing you have to spend on your time on either, but it's a debt you can't ignore."

I have what Cloak told me, but I doubt 'make bonds with other races' is going to cut it, Daniel thought. And translation powers don't break Empathic Links. They want to be reborn wholecloth. I guess we could find some way to break them into spirits and reincarnate them. Yeah Daniel, that's a great pitch.

It bore reminding that this was a problem multiple gods had tried to solve alongside the Illustrious. He'd be bound to this cause for as long as he lived, which would be forever so long as a monster didn't finish him off. Daniel sighed, and lowered his voice.

"Shuni, I think I have to do this." She opened her beak to respond but he kept talking. "If you don't want me to do this, I won't. But I think it's the right thing to do. I'm not really giving anything up, assuming Zolyra doesn't screw me. If you think about it, me having a Spoke is something far more likely to get me killed. I'm already invested in helping the spirits, and this is a similar problem."

The Rogue looked around uncomfortably. Khare had retreated from the group when Festra made the offer, putting distance between them, though also not drawing close to where Festra was reviewing what Zolyra had written. Most of Wingcraft were as troubled as she was. Khiat's earlier joy from talking with Gtoll was gone.

They all knew it. Making this deal could have a tremendous impact down the line, the earth gestalt had shown their worth. Yet the uncertainty of how many across the world would join their cause made it difficult for any of them to voice support. There were also those who would have been more outspoken against it if not for the price they'd paid. "You agree with me, right Hunter?" Shuni asked one of them, unable to overrule Daniel based solely on her own opinion.

"I…" The ringcat grimaced, and Daniel could feel the conflict writhing within him as strongly as the time he'd overeaten. "They should be helped, but asking this way, it is a bad taste." He turned to Daniel. "I don't want you to do it, but I won't stop you."

Shuni winced. "Damn." She ran a hand through the feathers on her head, those on her arms beginning to stick up from anxiety. "Daniel, it doesn't feel right for this get put all on you. Haven't you done a lot for them already?"

"I would take it," Hunter offered, "But they'd say no."

"They would, yeah." Daniel activated his muffle sound enchantment and stood in front of the them. "Look, you both are two of the people I love most in this world. Nothing is going to change that. We'll still have our bond, Hunter, and one day…" he let that trail off hopefully, a smile on his face for Shuni. "I have some information that might satisfy them outright. If not, I keep looking, but I'm also still living my life. I'm still going on hunts and taking vacations with my girlfriend."

"Vacation?" Hunter asked, confused.

"We have something to talk about, once this is settled and we get Zolyra up to date on the Arcadian," Daniel explained. He knew putting it that way would stress Hunter but it was way better than partially opening the door now. "But first we're getting your ears pierced and I'm making the girliest jewelry imaginable."

Hunter grumbled and Shuni smiled. "I'd like to see that. Couldn't wear any myself, but I could use a necklace that doesn't look like I carved it straight from a wyvern's leg."

"So you're fine with this?"

"Fuck no!" Her head bobbed side to side. "But I can't take this decision from you. Gotta trust each other."

"That goes both ways. I'm serious, either of you say no and so do I." Both looked at Hunter as the final veto debated, then sighed.

"Can't. It's your choice. Tak says the same thing." Daniel realized he'd been discussing it with the Totem Warrior while Shuni had been haranguing him. "Also that we could kill you worst case once we found someone like Thomas, since it worked with the fish person."

"Silora? Huh." Daniel considered that angle but it was a nonstarter. "I doubt the contract bond would work if I go into it knowing I could undermine the terms. Could be wrong, but there's my Spoke to consider. If dying and coming back was a way to separate me from it then I'm sure someone would have mentioned that by now."

"Also that would involve killing you," Shuni pointed out.

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"Right. So, yeah. I'm going to do this. No weaseling out." Daniel broke the silencing effect and began to walk forward. Evalyn glanced at him but didn't stop him. She was the team leader, but this was outside her jurisdiction. If Hunter or Shuni hadn't changed his mind, she couldn't.

Zolyra stood between them with scroll in hand, two boxes drawn with shining ink toward the bottom. Festra already had a thorn growing out of her staff ready to prick, the knife from earlier having been for effect. "Well, boy? Her scribbling's fine with me."

"There's no tricks," Zolyra assured. "Or really any way to enforce their side of the contract. I've specified that those binding themselves can't assist the Origin Beasts in any way, and that they have to do their best to convince every other earth gestalt to do the same. On your end, the contract would only break if you willfully abandoned your search."

Daniel raised an eyebrow at Festra and she waved a hand. "Peh. Not asking for a slave but an ally. Putting any force in the words wouldn't help us."

"Neither is asking like this." Festra gave him a helpless half-shrug in reply. He was having a hard time pinning down how much she was invested in this option personally, if there was a chance to come to some different agreement, but that would no doubt come with its own consequences. He could handle it.

Daniel read over the wording himself, and the simple agreement was as advertised. "Like I said, I don't have any powers influencing this," Zolyra reminded. "All you have to do is apply blood to the parchment. If it fails to make a bond, or if you don't truly speak for the gestalt here," she added warningly to Festra, "then it won't take. Once the scroll is blooded by both it's binding, even if burned or torn later."

"No use waiting, then." Zolyra pricked her thumb and pressed it into one of the boxes, then held out her staff to Daniel. The point at the end taunted him for several seconds, but he was resolved. They needed every edge they could get when it had all almost ended by one powerful mage's whims.

Daniel hissed slightly as the blood began to flow, the thorn had hurt far more than he was expecting, though already Regeneration had begun closing the wound. Steeling himself, he applied his own mark next to Festra's thumbprint. Taking his hand away, he watched in complete shock as it ran off the page, refusing to be placed.

"I, I meant it," he stuttered to Festra's indignant glare. "I wasn't trying to trick you!" He reached his hand over and wounded himself again, applying more blood that dropped off the page. "It… is it because of my Spoke?"

Zolyra turned the page back to herself, frowning at the red drops falling off the bottom. "Huh. Well, I actually have seen this before. Didn't feel it worth mentioning, but there is a drawback with these kinds of contracts. You can only have one at a time."

"Oh." Daniel remembered Ashier being unable to bind Silora due to her promise to Thomas and immediately understood the issue.

"Not what I expected. Drat." Festra worked her staff into the earth so furiously it looked like she was trying to start a fire. "Could've mentioned you were already bound, boy."

"I used a blood bond when I was reviving Hunter," Daniel explained, both relief and a hollowness filling him. His brother was the source of one, Khare the other. "I'm sorry. That's not something I'll ever break. I will help you, I swear, but this isn't going to work."

"That's a shame, because they know your worth. Not even she'd do," Festra shot back, displeased in general. Zolyra only looked mildly offended in turn. "Ah. I could ask, but no… Rot and disease, this complicates things. I'll have to speak with them again and wish me luck, because the perfect solution just went out the window."

She turned, and as everyone else tried to figure out the next steps, one person was already taking action. He wasn't the smartest person, but he'd seen a simple solution. It might not have worked, he wouldn't know either way, and it was devious. No, it was a plan that might break all trust, and assure that it wouldn't matter.

Before anyone could but Zolyra could stop him, Tak rushed the contract and reached forward with a hand he'd cut with the talons of the other. The draconoid realized what he was doing instantly, considered her options, and let it happen. She'd grown familiar with some of those present recently, but she was still a level 6 Arcanist. The strongest in the region who had sent hundreds into possible death to stop madness. She hadn't protested or tried to stop Daniel from doing what had to be done, and she didn't avert this sacrifice either.

Tak's blood hit the page, and Karma heeded his willingness. The gestalt's chosen mouthpiece had been arrogant in her disguised desperation, unprepared for a world in which Daniel wanted to sign, but couldn't. She had already agreed to the terms of the contract which, as Zolyra had written them, did not specify any named individual on the assumption that Daniel would agree. The words were simple. Perhaps, overly so, but that didn't matter. A deal was struck, and woe be to the one who broke it.

Tak sheepishly rubbed at the back of his head, the wound on his hand unmirrored in Hunter's forepaw as he'd done what he could to hide his play. "I am sorry, but one surprise is worthy of another. Instead of asking the gestalt about your next plan, you can tell them we have one."

Festra stared at him for a long moment, the thought no doubt occurring to her that she could no longer sign a new blood contract. Not her, or those who had entrusted her with their will. Some on the mountain's peak began to consider what would happen if hundreds of gestalt rose to attack them, but the fear broke as the Druid threw back her head and cackled madly in disbelief.

Stupid, Hunter thought toward Tak, roping Daniel into the conversation in the hopes he'd tag team. Didn't have to do that. Could have found something else they wanted.

But now we don't have to, Tak answered succinctly. I heard what Daniel was saying, or most of it. Smart words. They work for other people too. It is not as if I am blind to what they want. This can be my punishment for being a Spiritualist.

You were already exiled for that, Tak, Daniel answered in pained tones. He was trying avoid looking at the updated number for the Octyrrum's survival, unsure what the most likely outcome was. Do you know what you just signed up for?

Would have to to sign. I am not that stupid, Tak replied brightly. As you said, this changes nothing. Or, well, he frowned. I will probably need to advance intelligence more if I am going to figure this out. Drat.

…

Tak buying himself a lecture on soul mechanics aside, his rather direct solution to the tableau brought an intermission as Festra communicated with the gestalt. Only Khare had come above the surface so far, and the Artillerist was distant. Regretful, worried, listening as below the sounds of arguing grew louder. This was not what their people had wanted, and many felt tricked. It was as it always had been, the 'true' mortals had found a way to take advantage of them.

They knew, of course, that their friends had been put under as much strain. One of them was still bound, and they had never wanted this! But their voice had been one among many, already given more weight than normal because of their history. Their progenitor. It felt the shadow of Kob standing above them was fading. Khare just wished they could tell if that was because they were growing out of it, or they were straying from the dream they'd shared.

If only their reunion wasn't clouded by this disaster. They had so much to celebrate. Hunter was alive! Their people were on the verge of taking back what would be a terrible mistake. Yet the discontent below grew, and after what they had caused, they doubted they would be welcome back to their old team. No, they should have been more careful, and pushed back when the Aurus sanctuary decided to seek a sure way to seal the bargain. In the end they had lacked the trust, and Khare the will to oppose them. They were still young, hampered by both the need to keep Kob's secrets and the disparity to their mental attributes that reaching level 3 had not helped.

It was all going wrong. Dread filled them when part of their former team started to walk their way. Not Daniel, who had started talking about the ruins with Zolyra and Gtoll as Festra failed to reappear. Those bonded to him, or rather those still bonded to him, weren't either. Khare had wounded them, perhaps to the point that even association was no longer possible.

No, it was Evalyn and Sigron. The Bard could sense their emotions, and she was kind enough to check on them. They didn't take that as a good sign as all it could be was a gentle goodbye. Even disregarding what they'd done, Khare's attributes were too lopsided now to be effective in combat. Their reactions slower, senses duller. They'd done it out of necessity to make use of Stone Form, fearing they would fall during the battle. Someone like Khare would only be a burden to the team now, especially given what they knew of the ruins.

Khare's eyes swiveled to meet Evalyn's while his head was turned down. The Bard spoke, and while they did not, most would understand the words as such, "Khare, I'm glad you survived the battle. We all are."

"Shame," they replied, feeling that down to their very soul, the emotion bleeding through their race's Empathic Link.

"You shouldn't… you should have told us," Evalyn sighed. "I can't help but think back to Aughal and wonder if we would have done something differently if you'd told us. You didn't run or betray us, but you didn't warn us either."

What could Khare say to that? Nothing. They hadn't known that would happen, Kob had only given them the barest hint of the situation when they were burning, a clue as to why Hunter was important. The full picture hadn't been given until they'd met with members of the sanctuary in Aurus. They hadn't known, but who would believe that?

"I understand. You had a duty, a promise to your parent," Sigron said when Khare did not respond.

The gestalt was astonished, staring now at the Knight. "Speech!?"

"Still improving, but I'm almost there." His real hand held his throat, feeling the vibrations as he spoke. "Sorry. Don't mean to taunt you."

"N-no," Khare stammered, still in shock. The last they'd seen him Sigron had barely said anything, managing a word or less in most circumstances. Jealousy didn't enter the picture at all, and that didn't escape Evalyn.

"We have some catching up to do, Khare, but that's fine. We were gone for a while too. I don't know what's going to happen with the rest of your people, but they aren't going to take you if you'd rather stay with us."

Khare's shoulders sagged and began to lose their shape as their excitement faded. "Irredeemable." They knew it was true. Tak's soul had a mark on it now because of them, a constant threat of death.

"No." Sigron reached for the gestalt, and both regenerated bond hands floated around his. "See for yourself."

His offer made Khare freeze in place, almost recoiling backward. They had seen this work once before. It was something they might understand better than most, though what would it show them? The only family they had left alive was below.

"I'm getting better with this, too," Sigron assured when Khare shook their head. "Trust me, please."

Tentatively, the Artillerist shook the hand, fearing what he'd find. Many ghostly hands began to manifest around them, and Sigron grunted in surprise and effort as he was faced with more than he would expect. The anger of Khare's people for the situation the found themselves in surrounded them, the bond magnifying what was hiding underneath the Empathic Link.

But before that pressure call fall upon them, a giant hand of stone aided the Knight in willing them away. Sigron's control of his power improved as the memory of Kob gave Khare shelter, allowing him to screen out all those that were unwanted.

Seven were left, the human, avianoid, dusker, and ringcat hands falling into place along Khare's arm as they began to pull. There was bitterness in some, regret in most to match that in Khare, but there was one thing in common. A welcoming warmth, beckoning Khare to return to friends they had abandoned. Acceptance.

Khare's Empathic Link cut both ways then, the experiences of the lone gestalt spreading to the massed others below. The afraid, the angered, the lonely, the grieving. The single drop of emotion would've been lost were it not for the reactions of those who felt it first. Khare's joy, still colored by their fears of inadequacy, began to burn in the minds of those gestalt. Like fire, it spread, the proof of good faith they had hoped to find in blood. Words, these did not mean much to the people of the earth, but a clever Bard and Knight had found a way to speak in their tongue superior to even Festra's.

The Druid listened to the whispers as they began to shift, began to wonder and hope, and she beamed.

…

Octyrrum Survival Probability: 11.74%