Water Kanin: Chapter 50 - One Chance

“Kanin, enough!” Zyneth says, jerking the blade away and stuffing it back into its sheath as we release our hold on it. He jabs a finger into the back of our void. “Let go of me. It was a trick!”

Yeah, we’re starting to put that together.

We let go of Zyneth, still keeping close to him as we shrink back in on ourself. We set our core on his shoulder, and he puts a hand up to make sure we don’t fall off.

Ink is pissed. Tricked? Tricked? How dare she! We are not prey to be toyed with. Our void, clinging to Zyneth’s shoulders like a cloak, ripples angrily and pushes all the glass toward the edges in a row of thorny shards.

It takes some convincing to calm it down. The danger has passed. She isn’t going to hurt Zyneth—or us. I hope so, anyway.

Ink finds this reassurance completely unsatisfying. That she isn’t attacking is irrelevant! It is the deception that is insulting. Is she not taking us seriously? Does she not deem us a threat?

Probably not, but I try to keep Ink from hearing that part.

“That was dangerous,” I say to Blair.

She appears anything but concerned. “For who? Zyneth was in no danger from my light display. And do you really think your glass could have cut me? It couldn’t even pierce my ward.”

I have to stop Ink from getting angry again. “But… didn’t we break through your barrier?”

“Hah! No.” Blair’s eyes dance in amusement. “I introduced a fault in the field. And when that wasn’t enough of a weakness, I dispelled it to allow you through. The only way to test your claims was to see how you would react under pressure.”

None of this is making Ink any less offended. “I’m not sure how our reaction means we passed,” I admit.

“You protected me,” Zyneth says. “Instead of attacking her.”

Well, it’s not too late for that to still happen. I nervously glance at Ink, who is developing a deepening dislike for Blair.

The god inclines her head toward Zyneth in agreement.

“So, what does that mean for us?” I ask. “You’re not going to throw me in one of those sphere things and vanish me like Yedzaquib?”

“Until or unless you do something to indicate you have lost control of your remnant, no,” Blair says. “I will give you a chance to go free.”

Zyneth bows his head. “Thank you, my lord—”

“One chance,” Blair interrupts. “The moment I deem you a risk—the second your remnant steps out of line—I will be forced to take you into custody and hand you over to the heavens’ jurisdiction. They are unlikely to be as lenient as me. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” I say. One chance isn’t a lot. A single screw up could doom us, and god knows we’ve had our fair share of screw ups. But I’m not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. “Thank you. But if I’m allowed to ask, then I have to know… Why? What’s going on with these remnants? What are they? If you’re not supposed to let me go, why risk it? I just—I’ve got so many questions.”

Blair glances to the side, as if consulting someone we can’t see. “My window here is closing,” she says, turning back to us. “I will need to leave the mortal realm soon. However, I did promise some explanation. Walk with me, and I will tell you what I am able in the time that we have.”

Zyneth glances at me, and I gesture for him to follow.

Blair pauses when Zyneth steps toward her. “These words should only be for those involved. Few mortals are trusted with the knowledge I am about to impart.”

“Like Yedzaquib?” I ask.

She looks at me sharply. “Yes. Over his years of research, he had uncovered more information than most mortals should have access to. We allowed him to continue operating unrestricted on the condition that he did not disseminate what he learned to others. Clearly, we allotted him too much leniency.”

That explains why I couldn’t find anything about the predator in his library. “I won’t go spreading the information you’re about to tell me.” I point a glass leg at Zyneth. “Except to him. We agreed: no secrets.”

Blair snorts. “I appreciate your honesty, as unwise as it may be.” She looks at Zyneth for a moment, then turns away, stepping over the debris of the abandoned building. “Fine. Follow close.”

As Blair moves away, Ink notices something. The faintest pull in our soul. The sensation vanishes as Blair steps through one of the broken doors.

I don’t have much time to think about this before Zyneth follows. He wordlessly rests a hand on his shoulder next to me, and I tap it with a piece of glass. Together, we follow Blair through the door. The moment Zyneth’s foot passes over the threshold, the street outside changes.

Zyneth stops, and Ink tenses up. We’re back where we were minutes before: the street where we had been trapped in Blair’s domes, and where Yedzaquib had been dispatched. Now, all that remains is a crater in the road. Blair approaches this. She crouches down and touches the edge of the depression. A breeze picks up, brushing past us and toward Blair. Dust faintly hisses against my glass as it moves through the air and back toward the crater. A moment later, pebbles float by. Zyneth ducks around a cobblestone. Slowly, the explosion of Yedzaquib’s impact reverses, like a tape rewound.

“There is division in the heavens,” Blair says as she works her magic. “The appearance of Travelers has thrown disarray into a long-seated order. They all appear to have access to the System, which itself is troubling. But the real danger is that many seem to have uncovered dormant remnants. Your story of what transpired in Emrox, how your remnant interacted with all the displaced souls that arrived here, potentially explains why this correlation exists. Nonetheless, it has made many gods nervous. Remnants are violent, powerful, and indestructible entities, whose unchecked existence threatens life and the world at large.” She glances at me. “At least, that is what we’ve witnessed historically.”

The street finishes mending itself, and then it’s as if the fight there had never occurred at all. Blair stands and heads to another nearby building. She walks through the door, and Zyneth follows.

We step out onto a different street. There’s less damage here, and it takes me a moment to recognize where we are. A pile of broken glass clues me in: the place where I’d teleported away from Yedzaquib right after he destroyed half my body. I pull all the broken bits of Attuned glass back over to me as Blair repairs minor cracks in the street.

“Some of the gods believe all Travelers should be collected, to prevent any further chaos from spreading,” she continues. “Others believe they should be left to their own devices, so long as no remnants are stirred by their actions. Still more think it would be wise to watch these Travelers closely and use them to locate recently unearthed remnants—it would make our job easier to find and contain remnants that have previously escaped our notice.”

The cracks in the street repaired, Blair moves on once more. The next jump in scenery takes us to the warehouse. The building looks like it’s a light breeze away from collapsing. Burn marks cover the building floor. The rubble from missing walls is scattered over the surrounding streets. Yedzaquib’s broken spider constructs litter the ground. His two goons are still lying here as well. I quickly Check them both: unconscious, but very hurt.

And then there’s the body. The charred and now-empty husk that had once housed one of the lost souls and the remnant that had consumed it. I look at it sadly. I wish Blair could undo that, too.

The god raises a hand, and time begins to unwind the damage of the battlefield.

“So I’m guessing you fall in one of the latter camps?” I ask. “Leave Travelers be if they’re doing no harm?”

“Somewhat,” Blair says. “I am in favor of monitoring. But there are certain gods who haven’t stopped there, and are taking a more… active involvement in the affairs of Travelers.”

The burn mark on one spot of the floor shrinks in on itself, like ink absorbed by an invisible sponge.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“A handful of gods are sympathetic to your kind,” Blair admits. “Vocally, they speak out against remnant-less Travelers being restrained. Privately, some have risked sedition by actively hiding the presence of Travelers who have come in contact with a remnant, but have not yet been consumed by it. These Travelers are the most at-risk to be taken into celestial custody.”

“And by taken into custody, you mean imprisoned,” I say flatly.

Zyneth winces at my blunt language, but Blair says nothing.

“Is that why you’re telling me all this?” I ask. “You want me to help these lost souls? How? Where do I find them?”

“I am telling you, because I wish to be proven wrong.” Blair moves to a different section of the factory, restoring another wall. “I have always believed the remnant-less Travelers should be left alone. I thought those with remnants should be contained, for their own safety as much for the safety of others. However, I have recently met a Traveler who was using her remnant for good—who was not, at least on appearance, becoming corrupted. And now I have met you, and you’ve displayed similar traits. If there are more of you like this, then the containment of every Traveler who has had a close encounter with a remnant is a misinformed effort.”

“You’ve met another lost soul?” I ask, leaning forward. “Who? Can I meet them?”

She pauses her restoration to give me a considering look. “Perhaps. Bringing two remnants within close proximity is dangerous. There is the potential for them to merge and grow their power exponentially. If this happened, neither of your souls would survive, even if we ripped the entities apart once more.”

I’m reminded of the way Ink had felt drawn toward the fire remnant. I’m suddenly very glad it decided not to eat them. “We stopped ourself from doing that once,” I say.

Blair nods. “Your partner also indicated as much. But… yes, I will consider it. Should both parties consent, aware of the risk, I might be able to arrange a meeting. If you both survive such an affair, it would provide promising evidence I could bring before the heavens to argue in the favor of Traveler independence.”

“That seems like quite the risk,” Zyneth says to me. “Even if you and Ink could hold back, that doesn’t mean the same is true for the other party.”

“Indeed,” Blair agrees. “My opinion is that it would be best to continue monitoring Travelers first; time may reveal dangers not yet apparent. Or Travelers with remnants may naturally meet. These interactions can be observed, and the outcome might determine the most beneficial path forward.”

Something about her clinically indifferent, hands-off approach irks me. “So you think watching two unwitting people stumble upon each other to see if one eats the other is a better option than two consenting individuals meeting up, fully aware of the risks?”

She looks at me impassively. “It would produce a more organic result.” But then she stops, winces, and shakes her head. “No. No, I believe you are right. An arranged and controlled encounter would be the most humane option.”

Blair turns back to the warehouse and finishes rebuilding the last of the destroyed floor and wall. “I will pass on your message, though I can make no promises of reciprocation. In the meantime, I recommend you avoid drawing attention to yourself. We have been tasked to take you into custody if found. I have decided to leave your discovery out of my report. Most other gods will not. You have one advantage, at least.”

The warehouse is whole once more. The body of the lost soul and Yedzaquib’s spider constructs have mysteriously vanished. The two unconscious mercenaries lay on the floor of the warehouse. A pile of loose, broken glass has been gathered at Zyneth’s feet. If it weren’t for this handful of tells, there’d be no sign a battle had even taken place at all.

“Oh?” I ask. “What’s my advantage?”

Blair turns back to me. “The other gods are looking for a human. I have reason to believe I am the only one who knows your current form.”

It takes me a second to digest what she said. “What? How do they know I was human? How did you know I wasn’t?”

Blair approaches Zyneth and me once more. I can feel Zyneth faintly tense beneath me, and Ink likewise ripples with unease. All of this clearly has them on edge, and I can’t blame them. Given the ridiculous abilities she’s just displayed over the last few minutes, she could probably squish us like bugs without even meaning to.

But I’m not getting a “smite-happy” kind of vibe from her. There are moments where she feels scarily removed from mortal concerns and then other times she just feels like… a person.

Blair holds her hand out before me, extending one finger. Hesitantly, I reach out and touch it. At that moment, that faint, magnetic pull appears once more.

Two memories slam back into me. One is when I was first learning how to use my joints, not long after leaving Trenevalt’s cabin for the first time. Noli is helping me walk. The other is at her house. She and Rezira are helping me design my new glass body.

“You have my memories,” I say. She pulls her hand away, and the memories vanish. But I remember remembering them, at least. “How did… Emrox.”

She dips her head in acknowledgement. “The remnant we recovered from Emrox was split several ways in order to reduce its potency. Several gods took ownership of these pieces to ensure their containment. At that time, we also discovered many of these pieces contained memories. Your memories.”

“Holy shit,” I murmur.

Blair has a piece of the predator. That’s the distant magnetism we were feeling around her.

Ink roils at this revelation. These people have pieces of it! Its immediate reaction is offense, and an instinctive desire to reclaim what it had lost. Then, it pauses, lapsing into a contemplative state that surprises me. It lost those pieces many months ago. They have not shared the same experiences Ink has. Like the fire remnant, would reabsorbing them result in it becoming something else?

“Speaking with others, I learned their memories were of a human,” Blair continues, drawing my attention away from Ink. “One from a world very different from our own. However, mine were different. The memories all appeared to be grouped chronologically, and I believe the ones I inherited were the most recent. As such, the rest of the pantheon is in search of a human named Kanin. I was the only one in search of a homunculus.”

“Holy shit,” I say again, my mind spinning. “How many memories are we talking, here?”

“Around two dozen,” Blair says.

Two dozen. Over twenty memories I hadn’t even known were gone. What am I missing? Have I forgotten people? Values? Dreams?

I’ve already lost my body. If I lose pieces of my mind, too, what’s left to make me, me?

I guess in a way, this is the same concept Ink is currently chewing over.

Blair steps back. “I am afraid I have reached the end of my time here.”

“Wait,” I say, still trying to collect myself. “I still have so many questions.”

“They will have to be answered at a future date,” Blair says.

“When?” I ask. “How will I find you?”

Blair tilts her head.

[System privileges altered,] Echo says abruptly.

“Privileges?” I say, baffled. “What privileges? Wait—what can you tell me about the System? How come only some people have it? Why is my Role ‘Homunculus’?”

“Goodbye, Kanin,” Blair says. “I look forward to speaking with you again soon. I hope it will be in favorable circumstances.”

“Wait—”

And then she’s just gone. There’s no flash of light, no thunder or fanfare. She simply blinks out of existence, and Zyneth and I are left standing there in a quiet, abandoned warehouse.

Neither of us move or say anything for a long stretch of silence. Then, finally, Zyneth slumps against the nearest wall, leans heavily against it, and sinks to the ground.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

He holds up a hand, and I step off into it. He places me on his knees, instead, so we can face each other.

“I don’t know,” he admits. “I am still trying to understand everything that just transpired.”

“Well, you know what they say,” I say, trying to lighten the mood. “Don’t meet your gods.”

The joke flounders and goes belly-up. Zyneth shakes his head. “Are we sure she was… No. She had to have been.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

Zyneth frowns, worry tingeing his eyes. “I don’t know who she was, Kanin.”

“You don’t know one of your own gods?”

“I thought I did.” Zyneth leans back, running a hand through his hair as he raises his eyes to the ceiling. “There’s less than fifty of them. Learning about each was a core element of our schooling, growing up. Some gods are more or less involved in the affairs of mortals. Sometimes they might change their appearances. Very rarely, they’ll change their name. But I’ve never heard of one changing their domain before. Blair, God of Wards? I know of no such being.”

His words unsettle me. “Do you think she was a fake?” Echo had said she was a god. But Blair also clearly has some control over the System that I don’t. Could that allow her to impersonate one?

“Could that level of power be faked?” Zyneth counters. “Perhaps. But I don’t think so. What she said seemed sincere, if not incomplete.”

“So you think she was a god, but one you’ve never heard of.” I try to puzzle this over. “What does that mean?”

Zyneth can only shake his head. “I don’t know.”

Again we sit there in silence, stewing in our thoughts.

I got some answers. I know a bit more about Ink’s nature, even if what I learned is that it’s basically an immortal malicious parasite.

Or at least, that’s what Blair had thought, but even she seemed to be surprised by Ink. I guess these gods aren’t of the all-knowing variety, which frankly is a good thing for me.

And there’s more of these remnants out there. I guess that means Ink and I are going to have to tread carefully. The one that found us today was weaker than Ink. But what happens if we encounter one that’s stronger?

And what if it’s attached to another one of the lost souls? Or Travelers, as the gods call them. Blair made it seem like there’s nothing that can be done to help them if they’ve been consumed by a remnant. But I don’t know if I believe that. Ink learned to work with me. Why can’t others?

Assuming they don’t all get snatched up by the gods and put into a magically induced coma, first. Assuming the same doesn’t happen to me. Blair implied it will be hard for other gods to find me, since they’re looking for the wrong suspect, but I don’t expect that cover to last forever. Then what will I do?

“I guess I’ll need to get stronger,” I say, looking at the broken remains of my body. “A lot stronger. And make some strong allies.”

Zyneth’s distant gaze refocuses on me. He blows a laugh out his nose. “Do I want to know what you’re planning?”

“Not everything involves a plan, you know.”

He chuckles. “I think that might be worse.”

“I was just thinking that if some of the ‘less forgiving’ gods come around, I’ll need to be able to defend myself,” I say. “Blair was level 100. That’s pretty damn high, but it’s not insurmountable. If I get to be a high enough level, maybe I could hold my own in a fight against one. Or at least, become strong enough to slip away.”

Zyneth looks at me with a mix of amusement and disbelief. “You want to get strong enough to rival gods?”

“Well, it beats sitting on my hands and waiting for one to come throw me in a cell,” I say.

Zyneth rubs his hands down his face.

“I take it you think this is a great idea,” I tease.

Zyneth holds out another hand for me, and I step into his palm. He sighs, pushing himself to his feet. “At least this one involves self-preservation.”

“I’ll need to if I plan on helping the other Travelers,” I say.

Zyneth heads for the door, setting me back on his shoulder. I grab all my loose glass on the way out; the shattered pile of glass trails after us like a tiny pet cloud.

“How do you intend to do that?” Zyneth wonders. “We haven’t made any headway the last few months, and Blair didn’t offer any leads.”

“Actually, she did,” I say. “We know there’s a lot of souls out there flying under the radar or being concealed by gods. Those aren’t the ones I’m worried about.”

Zyneth frowns. “I’m not following.”

“Blair said there were more Travelers that had been picked up by the pantheon,” I say. “Some that didn’t have a connection to any remnants. She implied those ones were being wrongly confined.”

“Now I am starting to follow,” Zyneth says, “and I don’t like it.”

The image of Zyneth and Yedzaquib, frozen and imprisoned by Blair’s barrier, is something I’ll probably never be able to get out of my head. How many people from Earth are now imprisoned like that? Not living, not dead, just suspended for… well, forever, it sounds like.

I teasingly poke at Zyneth’s collar. “Come on, I’m not dumb enough to wage war on the gods. Give me some credit.”

He gives me a sideways, skeptical look.

“First I’m going to figure out which gods Blair mentioned are sympathetic to helping us,” I say, “and with their help, we’re going to sneak into heaven, jailbreak some Travelers, and sneak back out.”

“Of course you are,” Zyneth sighs.

“Not right away,” I add, just in case he thinks I’m not treating this seriously. “Like I said, first I need to get stronger. And do some research. And most importantly, assemble a crew.” That last part is really important in the movies.

“Mhm,” Zyneth says skeptically.

“I’m getting some noncommittal vibes from you right now,” I note. “What do you think about all this?”

I’m not sure why, after everything we just scraped through, I’m finding my spirits lifting. The world feels a lot bigger than it did just a few hours ago. A lot more daunting.

But it feels a lot less lonely, too. Now I know there’s other Travelers out there who are doing alright without me. Blair had mentioned one who was “doing good” with her newfound powers. There are even gods who are on our side and might be willing to lend a hand. And as for the Travelers who do need my help, I don’t have to find them on my own.

I tighten my grip on Zyneth’s shoulder. I don’t have to do anything on my own.

“What do I think about all this?” Zyneth abruptly laughs. “I think I need a drink.”

End

Kanin will return in Book 4: Kanin Fyre