“What are you doing here?”
“That’s a strange way of saying thank you.” Clarissa walks over to stand in front of me, giving a brief glance past to the tree behind me. “Burn off all your excess yet?”
“Yeah, but how’d you know about that anyway?”
She shrugs. “A girl’s gotta have her secrets.”
“If you say so.” I watch her size me up, her hand resting on her hilt. “How’d you get so strong?”
“Strong is relative. Against these things, I’m sure it looks that way to you,” she says as she starts circling me. “But I’d wager you’re stronger than I am. Makes me wonder what cookie jar you’ve been sticking your hands into.”
“A man’s gotta have her secrets,” I echo with a grin.
“Fair enough. I won’t pry.” She smiles mischievously. “Can’t say I haven’t done some digging into you since coming to town, and a certain barista is a little unhappy with you, Wyatt.”
“Yeah, about that. Why are you here?”
She looks up to the sky and sighs. “It’s so nice in these Towers, don’t you think? They come with interesting opportunities.” Her gaze lands on me. “Do you know what happens when a Numberless kills a Numbered?”
“No clue,” I say, adjusting my stance and lifting my greatsword to rest on my shoulder. “Can’t say I want to find out either.”
“I’m not going to attack you. I don’t need to anymore,” she says, reaching into her cleavage and pulling out a black card—an EID. She throws it to me, and I snag it from the air. “I’ve already learned the answer.”
Curious, I look over her status.
Name: Gaian Twelve
Race: Enlightened
Local Ranking: 273405
Racial Trait 1: Adaptable Genealogy
Racial Trait 2: ?
Innate: ?
Level: 2 (12)
Class: Blade Dancer
Party Role: Blitzer
Stamina: 35/43 | Arcana: 24/25
Strength: 6
Endurance: 7
Dexterity: 10
Intellect: 5
Wisdom: 5
Available Attributes: 0
Active: Quickdraw (E), Slash (F), Flurry (E), Dash (F), ?, ?
Passive: Swordsmanship (E), Combo Attack (C), ?, ?
Equipped Items: Katana (F), Beginner’s Leather Armor (F), ?
Merit: 0
World Coin(s): 1237
What are all these question marks? Wasn’t aware hiding different things was even an option until seeing her status, but now that I know, I’ll have to look more into it. Putting aside the things she doesn’t want me to know, I can’t help but stare at her ranking.
It’s so low.
It also begs the question of how many Numbered there are.
Once I finish perusing her details, I toss the EID back to her. “What’s the point of showing me your status?”
“Pay attention,” she commands, her playful demeanor shifting fast enough to give me whiplash. She waves the EID at me. “I started out Numberless. Use your brain a bit. I know you can.”
She started out Numberless? But she’s Numbered now, clearly. Otherwise her status would show her as a dependent, not to mention the system recognized her as Gaian Twelve when she offered the party invitation.
What she said a moment before registers, piecing things together. “You killed the original Gaian Twelve?”
“Correct,” she says, nodding.
“Why?”
Shrugging, she puts her EID back into her cleavage and smiles. “Does the reason really matter?”
I nod. “If you ever want me to trust you, then yes.”
“Who said I want you to trust me?” She gives me a feral grin, as if a predator eyeing prey. “Whether you trust me or not is irrelevant, Wyatt. And you already don’t trust me,” she says, shrugging again. “Too much history there, as we both know.” She quits circling me and saunters forward. “You’ve seen how this world operates.”
“I have, and there’s no reason we can’t use it to our advantage.”
Her piercing laugh hurts my ears, but I don’t give her the satisfaction of a reaction. “Don’t lie to me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You know what I mean,” she says as she stops walking. Close enough to feel her breath on my arms, she leans forward to rest her head against my chest. “I’ve missed you, Wyatt. It’s been so long.”
“Please get off,” I deadpan.
“Hurtful, but I understand.” She steps back away, though is still too close for me to be comfortable. Especially after seeing her status. “We both know how people work, have seen it ourselves when we were younger. The world is going to shit. Eat or be eaten, kill or be killed.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way!” I growl.
“But it will be!” she shouts back, cackling. “It will be, Wyatt, and there’s nothing you, I, or anybody else can do about it!”
“I want to,” I say, though it feels half-hearted even to my own ears. “I don’t want to sit back and watch it all happen again, and I thought you’d understand that.”
“Oh, I understand it.” She shrugs. “I just don’t delude myself into thinking people are worthy of redemption.”
“Cynical as always, it seems,” I mutter, beginning to wonder why I’m even entertaining her. “Why did you come find me?”
This question perks her up. She taps her jaw while contemplating an answer, but when I see her eyes set in that dangerously devious, I give up on getting a rational answer from her. “You.”
“Of course.” I turn around to leave, taking a whole two steps before she’s in front of me and blocking my path. I try to go around her, but she keeps getting in the way. “Move aside, Clarissa. I’m done here.”
“Hear me out.” Again, her face shifts, settling on a more serious note. “You have no reason to care after all this time, I know that, but I’m serious. You’re why I’m back after so many years. I went looking for the others, and they’re all dead. It has me worried. Something is out there and gunning for us and our old crew. I thought if we stick together…”
A raw flood of emotion rips open a part of me that I thought sealed long ago. As much as I want to tell Clarissa to get lost and stay lost, I can’t. If I’m being honest with myself, I don’t want to either.
And if the others from our old crew are all dead, then that’s all the more reason to keep her close. But damn, does she make it hard. That’s all part of what made her fit in with the others in a way I never did.
“Damn you, Clarissa,” I growl, pushing past her.
“I didn’t hear a no,” she calls after me.
Damn.
In my haste to leave, preoccupied by the nuclear bomb Clarissa dropped, I forget to double check on Sammy and Matthew. I don’t see them after leaving out of the forest or passing by through the marketplace. I could give her a call, but after the whole Matthew debacle, I don’t care enough.
She’s a big girl and can handle herself.
When I pass through the long hall from the marketplace out to the Tower front, there’s a second bike next to mine. Likely Clarissa’s. How she managed to find me out here, I’ll likely never know. A quick sweep of my bike doesn’t reveal any GPS tracking, but given the existence of the Towers, Devil God, and literal magic, I doubt I’ll be able to find anything she may be using.
Doesn’t matter.
Once on my bike and kicking up dust in my wake, I start cataloguing the old crew and preparing myself to take a trip down memory lane.
For better or worse, they’re still my crew. That includes Clarissa. If something is after us, then I’ll make them regret hurting the others.
I promised them that much.
Numberless Retainer update: Jimmy Morgan (DR) is no longer your dependent.
*
Several hours prior, after Wyatt leaves his home…
“Big Bird has left the nest,” sounded over a walkie talkie, loud and clear.
Hearing the message, all eyes turned toward one man.
“The local enforcers are already assembled to move at the first light of dawn. Today, they’ll barricade the Towers. Follow the plan I’ve laid out, and remember, we have just a few hours, everyone,” the man at the head of a large, round business table started, standing with a cigar in his mouth. “That means there better be no mistakes. We won’t get another opportunity as perfect as this to move the goods.” All eyes were glued to him and his every action, hanging on each syllable to every word he spoke. “Now, everyone… get going.”
“Yes, King!” they all shout in unison.
In but a few moments, all those gathered before him stood and dispersed. Once the room was cleared, a figure stepped out from behind the large backed chair.
“Go, Shadow, and make sure to keep Big Bird busy for a little while.” The figure disappeared without a sound, leaving the man by himself in a conference room made for two dozen. He stood and walked to the high rise view over the whole town. “This will all be mine soon, and it’s all thanks to this Devil God. An existence worthy of respect.”
