Chapter 82: Bakers United

‘They say William oh singlehandedly saved the city of Akul by wrestling four kaiju to the ground at once. There should be nose hairs, He had one nose hair in each arm-‘

‘That’s dumb, he rode a black dragon into battle and leashed the kaiju together, so he should be riding one and have a lasso-‘

‘No, it wasn’t singlehanded. He broke time and space to be there more than once. There were thousands of William Ohs, climbing over the kaiju, he should be rendered in a crystal that makes him look-“

‘SILENCE! The point is, the public outcry is such that we decided to make a statue, my Lord. We’ve already started levelling Seymour Hill on the islet. It had the perfect size and shape to create a base.’

‘…without my permission? Wait. Had?’

‘Well, you see, we started carving away the topsoil to make a flat base when we ran into granite. Which we were pretty happy about. It was also exceptionally flat, which was excellent…until we ran into some ankles.’

‘…Ankles?’

‘It seems like there was a statue there a long time ago, but it’d been buried by soil. There was a plaque, but it was so weathered, we couldn’t reach much of it. Just pieces of the word ‘saviour’ and ‘city’.’

‘…Interesting.’

-          Conversation between aristocrats and Luis, Baron of Akul

There was an inflection point. Will saw it.

A point where panic and desperation on the streets turned to determination and effort.  The point where the city of Akul realized they were going to win.

As the mercenary companies and kaiju corps cleaned out the last remaining Tangled and attempted to get the kaiju back under control, citizens of Akul stopped running and started pitching in, their eyes clear and stoic.

They were all Climbers, after all.

These four kaiju had been chosen specifically because they were (relatively) easy to subdue, and the people were taking full advantage of it. The question now was whether the kaiju would survive the night after being brutally savaged by the Tangled.

In any case, it was a logistics problem for the city, not something Will needed to involve himself in.

I think we’re done here.

They needed to start hiding their loot. More than one person must’ve seen them hauling loot out of the auction house, and it seemed like in the process of saving the city, Will had also preserved law and order.

Which meant that, through their own heroic efforts, they had ensured the heist would come back to haunt them.

Move on to the sixth floor until the heat dies down? Will considered for a day, before deciding that yes, they had overstayed their welcome on the Fifth Floor and should be moving on.

There were certain supplies they needed to go up to the next Floor. Namely an inflatable raft, food, a water de..de…

“De-what?” Will asked.

“Desalinator.” Loth said.

“That sounds made up.”

“All words are made up.” Loth replied.

I guess I can’t argue with that. Will thought with a shrug as another thought loomed over him.

What should I do about the Baker Girls?

They were Tangled, even if only one of them knew it. The city was probably going to be pretty paranoid about people with that Class for quite some time.

There were Classes that could tell what other people’s Classes were. The clerk who verified Will’s identity back when he’d completed his Establishing Quest was a prime example.

Will’s paranoid mind immediately assumed that the city would invest heavily in I.D. verification over the next few years, which was not ideal for the safety and freedom of the Baker Girls.

But would they believe me? Jean might, but she saw the whole picture…or most of it.

Bee might believe me. She can shapeshift and duplicate.

Ria and Anna…might be a problem. But I should at least try to warn them.

Will’s feet turned towards Jean’s Bakery.

“You want us to finish preparations?” Loth asked, following his gaze toward the opposite side of the city before giving a smirk and shaking her head.

“…If you don’t mind.” Will murmured.

“Go check on your bakers.” She said, waving a scaled hand.

Alicia frowned, glancing between Will and Loth before she leaned down to the kobold’s ear, whispering so low that even Will’s enhanced senses couldn’t pick it up.

Will decided it was none of his business and turned towards the west, following the main thoroughfare.

“Oh, I never thought of it that way.” He heard Alicia’s whisper which was quickly buried by the sound of the busy streets.

The bustling street had a harder edge than it’d had the day before. Everyone moved with a purpose, every conversation was focused on survival.

Strangely enough, he spotted the Ear Collector donating some of his opiates to surgeons keeping the injured calm and stable until healers could reach them.

Nothing brings out the best in people like shared adversity, I suppose.

Will wound his way down to Jean’s Bakery and stepped inside.

Ding!

The doorbell announced his presence, but he didn’t pay any attention to it.

The sheer state of the bakery was alarming, to say the least.

The wooden countertop was shattered, with splinters covering the floor. there was a hole punched through the wall, revealing parts of the back. The solid iron oven was dented. Splatters of blood dotted the walls and floor.

The floor was covered in glass and splinters, with cracks and divots in the floor where something or someone had hit the ground…hard.

“Oh, hi Will!” Anna said cheerfully as she emerged from the back of the shop, bearing a broom and dustpan.

“Are you…okay?” Will asked, peering past her where Jean was carefully bending the oven back into shape. Bee and Ria were nowhere to be seen.

“Oh, sure! Nobody’s hurt or anything. We all just got a little crazy there for a few minutes. You know how girls are sometimes!”

Even with Will’s staggering lack of experience with girls, that still sounded forced.

“What happened…exactly?” Will asked.

Well, you know, the four of us were prepping for the morning rush and all of a sudden we all just got so ANGRY. like girls do sometimes.”

“Uh-huh.” Will nodded.

She heaved a sigh and leaned on her broom. “Honestly, I can’t even remember what we were angry about. Anyway, it was over in a flash, and we all said we were sorry, Jean grew back her ear and Ria and Bee went out to help with the emergency outside.”

She cocked her head.

“Although I think Bee might be looting instead of helping.”

“That’s a decent guess. Can I talk to Jean?”

“Sure, lemme just clear the glass.” Anna said, swiftly clearing a glass-free path to enter the back room with her broom before taking the work outside the counter.

“I thought you agreed to stay away from us.” Jean said, wiping soot off her hands.

Sounds like you got caught up in the signal to go crazy and attack everyone.”

“I wasn’t expecting it to be indiscriminate. They had it worse than I did, though. I kept them inside, and they didn’t like it.”

Jean flicked her fresh ear, which looked out of place on her weathered face.

“Have you considered what happens next?” Will asked. “Frederick Wyrd failed to take the city, which is good, but they’re not going to forget about Tangle-“

“Frederick Wyrd is dead.” Jean interrupted him.

“Wait, what?”

“Yep, he died just a few hours ago. I could feel the last little bits of my Vassal relationship with him unravel suddenly.”

A few hours ago? That was so early in the battle! Mere minutes after Will had last seen him, the Wyrd patriarch was already dead.

Will opened his mouth to ask how he’d died, before realizing that Jean likely wouldn’t have any better idea than he did. She’d been in the bakery wrangling crazed Tangled who didn’t even know they were Tangled.

“Still. Are you and your girls going to be safe going forward? There’s gonna be a little…discontent directed towards them. To put it mildly.”

“We’ll be safe if they think they got them all.” Jean said, turning away from Will and putting her hands back on the iron stove, popping out a dent with her fist.

“They’re not gonna think that.” Will said. “People are going to want to be absolutely sure this doesn’t happen again.”

“I know.” Jean said with a sigh.

“You could leave the tower. You wouldn’t have any struggles outside of it.” They’d practically be demigods, given their outrageous physical stats.

“That’s part of the problem, isn’t it?” She asked.

“Eh?”

“The girls, they think they’re just a bit stronger and tougher than normal. It hasn’t sunk in that they’re comparing themselves to level twenty-five and above Climbers. They don’t feel like monsters.”

“And if you leave The Tower, they will.”

Jean nodded, her expression severe as she pulled the bend out of the oven’s opening.

“…Why can’t you tell them?”

“Because they don’t want to know. You saw Anna. I have never seen someone so strongly in denial.”

“…I’m going to be a Lord on the tenth Floor.” Will said.

“What happened to making it to the top?” Jean asked, glancing up at him.

“A waystation.” Will said. “Anyway, as I go higher, I’m going to need durable cooks, guardswomen and phantom thieves if I make it that far. Imagine how normal your girls will feel among level 50’s.”

Jean chuckled before her expression sobered, and she shook her head. “I can’t make their decisions for them.”

“…I think you might be able to.” Will said.

Jean’s brows furrowed.

“What do you mean?”

Will reached out and took her left hand, sliding his thumb up her ring finger, stopping when it came across a lump that was just a little too hard. The Ring of Total Freedom, still hiding itself.

The only viable reason she could’ve escaped the 7th Floor.

“I think…the other girls are just emotions that one person couldn’t process all at once without going mad…Brianna.”

Jean laughed, her face crumpling as tears began to well up in her eyes.

“You know Jean is my middle name? After my grandmother.”

“I thought it might be something like that. She was strong?”

“Oh yes,” Jean nodded. “A force of nature. I thought if anyone could…If anyone could survive that, it’d be her.”

“…You’re going to need to come back together at some point,” Will said.

“I’d really rather not.” She said, looking up at him.

“I know, but your ‘girls’ are weighed down by the pain that you pushed onto them. That pain is frozen in time.” Will said. “They won’t get over it until you do, and you won’t get better until you reunite your memories with how you feel about them.”

Wiping her eyes and drawing a shuddering breath, she nodded.

“Anna, can you come in here?”

…

“Anna?”

The two of them frowned, sharing a glance before they looked up.

Outside in the shopfront, Anna stood stock still, staring at a crimson light beaming from the finger of a slender man.

Beside him was the Graneshian Bishop.

The two locked eyes.

In the blink of an eye, a beam of red light caught Jean in the eyes, causing her body to go still.

“Oh, Come ON!” Will said. “We were making progress!”

Jean’s mind is stronger than an ordinary Tangled. She’ll slip out of that much faster than they’d expect due to the ring of total Freedom. I just need to buy time.

“You keep dangerous company, Deceiver.” The Bishop said, approaching the back.

“You know they’re not my doing, right? You people seem to think I’m responsible for a lot of shit that I had nothing to do with.” Will asked, backing up. There’s gotta be a service entrance in the back. They didn’t haul all their flour in through the front every day.

Will’s intention was to draw the bishop forward, distancing him from his backup and putting Jean closer to him, so that she had to cover less distance.

The Bishop didn’t take the bait, simply standing behind the bar and watching Will back away.

“I know. I know you aren’t even inherently evil. Just an obstacle to the greater good. I don’t want you to die thinking I hate you unreasonably or that I’m blinded by dogma.”

“Wow, that makes me feel so much better.”

Will heard clattering come from behind him as church operatives entered from the back door, standing shoulder-to-shoulder in the narrow hall, three deep.

Well shit.

“I watched every match in the arena.” The bishop said, raising his voice. “This team was hand-picked to neutralize every tactic you possess. Now, do you want to do this here and now, or would you be amenable to answering some questions at the church first?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean you’ll live longer if you cooperat-“

“No, what does ‘a-men-ibble’, mean?” Will asked, moving his Phantom Hand far outside the bounds of the shop. They couldn’t stop a distance shot.

“Take him down.”

Will ducked and released the cannonball at maximum speed from far outside the shopfront, causing it to blast through the stone walls, filling the entire shop with shrapnel and catching the Charm class in the chest, killing him instantly.

BOOM!

Or at least, it should’ve.

The Charmer flickered a bit, reappearing on the other side of the room, clutching a hand over a piece of shrapnel lodged in his stomach.

An illusion. Shrapnel still got him, though. Judging by how Jean and Anna were starting to recover, the Ability keeping them quiet had been broken.

The bishop nearly bowled over at the sudden explosive pressure wave behind him.

Why does no one ever suspect I’m going to hit them from behind? Will wondered, even as he tried to prevent himself from getting tagged from behind as well.

He was…mostly successful.

He rolled out of the way of a strike, but there wasn’t enough room in the tiny bakery to fully dodge, and he wound up sporting a thin cut along his back that burned like the Abyss.

Yep, that’s poisoned, Will thought as he ducked behind Jean, choosing to block the follow-up with something a bit sturdier.

Clunk!

The sword of his attacker was held in place by Jean’s shoulder, allowing Will to reach around and steal the guy’s side weapon.

Shouting and clanging began to ring from outside as Will dove over a table, scattering bowls and pans as he went.

Jean drew a swift breath, like someone who’d been startled awake. She scanned the surroundings, taking in the half dozen operatives watching her cautiously, weighing this new addition to the equation.

“Girls, can you come in here, please?” Jean asked, her voice wrought iron as she tugged the sword out of her shoulder. The wound sealed itself instantly.

Ooh, these guys are in some shit now, Will thought, ducking his head. Actually I might be in more trouble for bringing them here.

There was a cry of pain in the distance as Ria bulled her way through the surrounding Granesh operatives, squishing them against or through the wall in her rush to enter.

“What is it, Jean!? I got this weird feeling I should come back and-“

“I’m baaaack!” Bee cried, entering through the gaping hole in the front with a gilded box full of jewelry over her shoulder.

“Oh my gosh, is everyone okay!?” Anna asked, seemingly dismayed at the surrounding carnage as she shook off the Charm.

Suddenly, the Bishop was the one surrounded. Will could see it on his face.

Jean dropped the sword and held out her hands.

Ria seemed to listen to something, her gaze distant for an instant before she nodded, striding past the scatted operatives and taking Jean’s hand.

A moment later, Ria vanished, leaving behind her clothes and weapons.

Jean stood a little straighter, bearing righteous indignation.

“Sto-“ Bee kicked the bishop across the room before she and Anna sprinted up to Jean, taking her hands in their own.

Bee and Anna vanished a moment later, their effects dropping to the ground.

The righteous indignation on Jean’s face turned to fury. A moment later, she began to split, a flood of over a dozen angry young women stalking towards the people who had attacked her bakery, each one as strong as three of their opponents.

The following battle was brutal and swift. Will spent most of his time hiding under the table.

When the screaming stopped, he peeked his head out to spot Brianna sitting in the wreckage of her escapist fantasy, tears streaming down her face.

Will leapt up and grabbed the largest towel he could find, shaking the debris out of it and draping it over her shoulders.

“Feel any better?”

“Much, much worse.” Brianna shuddered, drawing the towel over her bare shoulders.

“Oh.” Will resolved not to speak again ever.

“But…myself.” Brianna said. “So that’s better. In a way.”

“We…I will come with you.” Brianna said, her voice catching as she stood. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need more time away from myself to heal. It hurts a lot to be one right now.”

She stood in the center of the room and extended her hand. In a matter of seconds, Bee, Ria, and Anna budded off her, forming in place, holding Brianna’s hand as they resolved into fully functioning bodies.

Jean’s hand, I suppose, Will thought at Brianna’s skin began to wrinkle and liver spot.

The four girls shared silent glances full of meaning, each now fully aware of who and what they were. Brianna had accepted it, so now they all knew why they hurt.

That’s a good thing. Means they can actually move forward.

It was the not knowing that had locked the four of them in the same caricatures of themselves. Now they could heal, and one day, Brianna would be able to be herself more than a few seconds at a time.

Ideally.

“Excuse me.” A voice came from the ruined shopfront, causing Will’s head to snap up in case there were still church operatives lingering.

Of course they wouldn’t say ‘excuse me’.

What Will saw was objectively worse.

Lord Bakton and Lord Ghoul, each capable of killing both of them with relative ease, carefully picked their way through the ruined shop as they approached, trying to avoid the larger blood splatters and disembodied limbs.

Are they here for me or her? Will wondered, his unspoken question answered nearly instantaneously.

“William Oh, we’d like to talk to you about the auction. And other things.”