Anything ~ 32!

Taylor’s eyes fluttered open as the dirt coating her was peeled open, then her passive Spells came into play and cleaned the muck out of her eyes, nose, and mouth. She was tense as the person in front of her came into focus, and she sucked in fresh air as she realized that she was staring into her Druid’s eyes.

Realizing that she had thought of Andre as ‘her’ Druid made her freeze in horror. When had that intrusive thought started worming through her brain? Andre grabbed her shoulders and shook her hard enough to send loose earth scattering, “What’s wrong with you? Do you want to die? Is that why you keep sacrificing yourself for absolutely no reason?”

The Mage stared at Andre in confusion, and spoke without thinking. “I had no intention of sacrificing myself! I knew you’d be able to save me.”

Andre’s anger drained away, and his face went red for a completely different reason. “That’s… you had no idea that I could… Taylor.”

His disgruntlement made the Mage’s heart race, but she shifted her mindset into work mode. “Did you get Edward?”

“I did…” Andre hesitated before continuing reluctantly with this new line of conversation. “He’s too strong for me to put in stasis. He blasted his way out of the Lotus Coffin, and even managed to burn the mana-scatterer flower out of himself at the same time. I’m really not sure what we can do beyond killing him. If we don’t put him down for good, there’s a really good chance that he’ll escape.”

Taylor agreed with him, but she already had a plan in mind. “I have two options we could try. We might have to use both, but let’s try it like this…”

As she outlined her plan for the Knight, the admiration in Andre’s eyes turned to shock and horror. It pained her to see him look at her like this, but it was for the good of the team. She couldn’t let her personal feelings get in the way of proper team management. “I can see that you are unhappy with this. I’m sorry. Can you do it?”

The Druid swallowed and looked away, not able to meet her eyes as he agreed to sink deeper into a path he didn’t want to follow. “Give me enough time, and I can do anything.”

“I know.” Taylor let out a deep sigh as the Druid stalked away from her. It took every ounce of control she had not to let her tears flow down her cheeks as she watched him walk away to follow her orders. But change was never easy. Change was only ever accepted by the majority of people when the need became so great, so noticeable, that the pain of change was less than the pain of staying as they were. She shook off the last few bits of stone, and stood tall.

Taylor was clean, her hair and skin as perfect as her unblemished clothing. She only wished that she could feel as spotless on the inside, but she had a duty. If she let Edward go free, or escape, he would return with an actual army as well as real authority. She strode into the room where Luke was watching the Knight, and spoke directly to the Murderhobo. “Break his arms and legs. If you don’t want to do it, I’ll do so, but I don’t know if I have the strength properly-”

*Crunch.*

The meaty sound rang out four times in rapid succession, and Taylor winced as Edward howled in pain. Luke gave her a thumbs-up, “I feel better, thanks.”

“Why…?” Taylor shook her head and reminded herself to stop asking him so many questions she didn’t want a circumlocutions answer for. “Would you please carry him and follow me?”

“Why not.” Luke sighed as he lifted the Knight and held him away from his body like a particularly rancid bag of garbage. “All the fun to be had in this area is already over with. The next few weeks are going to be nothing but testing, prodding, and plant junk. Probably not even a good assassination attempt… I have needs, Taylor!”

“Right… anyway…” The Mage looked at the hole in the remains of the sandstone building that he had created by swinging his arm to emphasize his point. After another moment of pondering if she should insist on being reassigned, she led the way out of the shaded oasis and across the desert sands. At the speed they could move, they travelled a good distance before Taylor realized that she shouldn’t be leading the way. “Luke, where’s the Descender Scar?

“The what?” Edward bellowed as he began to struggle more ferociously. It was clear from the vigor of his movements that his limbs were already almost healed. Luke had an ‘ah-ha’ moment and altered their course slightly. He also reached over and snapped Sir Edwards arms once more.

“Yikes.” Luke winced as the bones broke with just… no effort. “Tell me something so I don’t make the same mistake you did. Is it because you used so much bottled Potentia? Is that why you seem like a brick, but fall over like straw?”

“What is this, a children’s tale?” Edward gasped out as Luke tried to shake the answer out of him. “What are you even talking about?”

“You.” Luke demanded as he pressed a finger into the Knight’s rigid abs, only for them to bend away as his finger pressed against them. “How much of your Potentia did you get from your world, and how much came from bottles?”

“I have had the best training, the highest honors bestowed, the-” Edward’s tirade was cut off with a crisp slap from Luke, and he spat out a mouthful of blood the next time he parted his lips.

“Even with all that, you were beat down by some random hobo who was given nothing but nightmares and an order to flee by the Kingdom. Someone multiple levels and with lower-tiered Skills.” Luke’s words were as cold as his eyes were heated. “How much? How many bottles have you downed to get to where you are? How much came from your world?”

Taylor wanted to stop the strange interrogation, but something about it felt… important. Edward sputtered blood and refused to answer until Luke grabbed his hand and squeezed. The Knight screamed and began to thrash, “Ah-haow! Stop! Almost all of it! It doesn’t matter though! All of the great scholars of the Kingdom have concluded that it’s completely safe! There’s no difference between what we take, and what we would earn!”

“Fancy words.” Luke scoffed at the idea of listening to people that likely couldn’t even use Potentia. “What’s stronger? A coconut, or a fruit smoothie? Both are fruit.”

“Are you saying that even though the Potentia fulfills the same purpose, meeting someone with Potentia that they have specifically earned feels different to you, somehow?” Taylor really wanted to know the answer to this question, because it would answer a whole host of questions she had about the Kingdom. “I wonder if this is why… hmm.”

“Stop looking at me like that!” Sir Edward screamed at the two that appeared to be dissecting him with pitying gazes. “I did earn this Potentia! I worked hard for it!”

“We aren’t saying you didn’t, Sir Edward.” Taylor’s formal tone halted the Knight’s complaints. “I will point out that we’ve now beaten you twice. This time we didn’t even need to have the rest of our team. Why do you think that might be?”

Sir Edward stared at the Mage in consternation, sweat beading his brow from both pain and fear. “I think… frankly, I think you’re all monsters. You - whaah!”

There was a small energy discharge as Luke threw the Knight through the Scar. Taylor tried to glare at the Murderhobo, but couldn’t hold in a snort of laughter. “Okay, that was pretty funny. He was also a total scum-”

“Not a nice person at all.” Luke finished his statement right before Taylor, and blinked at her. “Oh. Go on.”

“No, no… that was better than what I was going to say.” Taylor sighed and started walking away. The Knight had broken arms and legs, it was going to take him at least a few minutes to come back through the Scar. When he did, they would be ready.

Taylor felt a terrible surge of guilt at that moment for what she had asked Andre to do. She hoped that someday he would be able to forgive her.