[TTIABAD] Chapter 114: The End of Secrecy

“Well, that’s them.”

We looked across, into a strange cliff face with plenty of dotted holes along the bottom. Being this close, I could sense a little further and tell that every hole expanded a good deal, before connecting into a wide area.

Going in and out of those holes were cavemen. Honest to god cavemen. They wore pelts of different kinds of animals or monsters, one even wearing what looked like the ‘classic’ cheetah kind. We’d have to watch out for that, I hadn’t seen any cheetahs yet with my power gauge. Speedy monsters sounded like a recipe for disaster if weren’t prepared.

The cavemen, well, were mostly men for starters but I saw the occasional woman. If it wasn’t for the words of Konohora and the distinct feeling of… oddity I felt with my Power Gauge, I’d believe I’d really stumbled back in time to some kind of village. A small thought crossed my mind, of what would it have been like if I’d somehow been summoned into a dungeon, every sentient person seemingly attacking me on sight. That would have been fucking terrible.

In addition to their loincloths and toga like clothes… they all carried a club. A big club, each and every one of them. Bigger than both my arms put together, bigger than my greatsword, absolutely comical really. Except that I could feel how strong they were, as if each and every one of them wanted to give Konohora a run for her money in that department.

“They’re really… not ‘aware’?” Tyler asked, seeming hesitant now that he was looking right at them.

Riary and Konohora opened their mouths but I answered first.

“Nope. I can feel it. Their power is… off.”

“Off?” Riary asked with a frown.

“Like… people are dangerous because of how they think. Even the dumbest person might put two and two together and pull out a cold sliver of a plan or blade of logic in the heat of the moment. They don’t have that. Like their…” I was about to say ‘Machines’ “Animals? Golems? Some cross between the two maybe? They feel more like monsters or animals than people, is what I’m getting at.”

“Your Ability is disturbing.” Riary suddenly said.

I turned to her, blinking in surprise.

“You should not be able to know they ‘think different’ simply based on Power. Your definition of the word is broad and I am positive it has grown incredibly quickly.”

“Well, we already talked about how it’s actually Analyze you know. I’m just-”

“It’s still disturbing. It’s like your omnipotent.” Riary said and I realized that this wasn’t just some comment. This was part of something that had been eating away at her.

I motioned for us to move back a bit away from the cavemen and looked directly at Riary, who stared at me with a frown on her face and a hard look in her eyes.

Konohora seemed surprised and Tyler seemed incredibly nervous, the way he always was when his girlfriend and only male friend talked.

“What is it?” I asked simply and Riary didn’t insult my intelligence by answering only half way.

“You are getting strong way too fast. You were a freshly summoned demon only a few months ago and you’re already this strong. I burned you. I saw you fight. And you’ve never told us about your past even once, yet you know all of ours.”

“Sure I have. I told you that I was never around any demons where I was from and-”

“Then what were you around? What are you hiding? You’re keeping secrets, you’re too strong too fast, you never talk about your past…”

I frowned, feeling actual anger hit me for once. I thought we were past this.

“Do you really not trust me? After everything we’ve all been through together? After I’ve stated my intentions multiple times in from Konohora? Honestly, what am I-”

“I do trust you.” Riary said, the fire not leaving her eyes for a second.

I stopped in shock. Utter shock, as the words reverberated through me. Tyler’s jaw actually dropped and Konohora looked like she’d been flash banged with words especially hard.

Riary’s frown became a hard grimace but she sighed and breathed out.

“You saved my life. All of our lives. You saved me from worse. I already grew suspicious once and… I’m sorry.”

My shock was reverberating against me. I quickly tried to recall if Riary had ever actually apologized for accusing me. I… couldn’t actually remember. I’d put it out of my mind. It had really been water under the bridge. It wasn’t like I ‘saved her and everyone’ alone. Without Riary literally blowing up Vanessa’s head, I’d be just as dead as everyone else. And she’d already apologized for that and the mean pranks she pulled. This was… it felt unnecessary to me but had clearly been on her mind for a long, long time.

“I just hate you.” Riary said simply. “I utterly hate you. It’s not you, it’s what you are. It’s… I can’t just let it go. But I do trust you. You’re… part of the team.”

The words seemed to come out of Riary’s mouth mixed by the get go. They weren’t exactly negative or positive, more just jam-packed with emotion. More than that was the lack of hesitance. This was Riary alright… but she wasn’t hesitating or unsure. She was fully confident with her words and direction. This was no inner turmoil, these were ironed out and known thoughts she had accepted.

“So… what then?”

“I’m tired of the secrets. Tell me. What are you hiding?”

I looked sharply at Konohora.

“She already knows about Tyler.” Riary said. “How much worse can it get?”

“Yes but who on earth would ask about Tyler’s secret?”

“You don’t think someone could ask ‘What is Tyler’s secret? Why is he so strong at such a young age?’” Riary immediately shot back.

“Konohora doesn’t have to answer that… right?” I shot a look at Konohora who immediately looked uncomfortable.

“...It depends. I would not have to answer but… the more direct the question, the harder it would be to refuse. Refusing to answer the truth about myself when prompted is almost impossible for me, mentally. It is similar to a compulsion but one cultivated due to how I was raised. Refusing to answer about others varies greatly depending on the question, intent, and specificity. I… am a Priestess of Truth. I was raised to not tell any lies. Refusing to answer was not taught to me until I was older.”

Well that’s just great and puts a few moments in perspective. Still, I’d had a heart to heart with Konohora. Telling her the full, actual truth… way too dangerous, despite her suspicions.

I stared back into Riary’s eyes, one full of literal fire, and hard as steel. Riary was a Genius, a prodigy, incredibly smart and well learned. Trained by some of the best a Kingdom could produce for at least a year and probably scouted out before even that. Now she wanted answers but…

“Why? We can all just keep moving along how we have been. There is no reason to push this so far. You trust me… but are demanding to know my secrets? Tell me your bust size then. Or whether you plan to have kids. How it felt the first time you had sex in detail? I also trust you, but you don’t see me pushing so far.”

Tyler gulped, looking shocked and suddenly backing away a little from Riary and me.

“It’s not the same.” Riary said, shaking her head, not even a hint of anger showing on her face from my questions. She was entirely calm, even more so than normal. That was scary. Really, really scary. Her anger would have been easier to deal with. “Your secrets are dangerous. Otherwise, you’d have already told them. We’re a team… you mentioned it earlier. That we’ll be spending a while down here. We may spend years together. I… Derek, I hate you. The desire to attack you burns inside me almost hotter than my flames. I see the same man who raped my father every time I see you. I see the same demons who killed my mother. Who ripped my people to pieces. That laughed while doing so, that made me watch.”

The tone in Riary’s voice rose, the air felt hotter, the fires in her eyes practically took up her entire eyes, but she visibly remained calm, by sheer force of will.

“I hate you, I will always hate you, I will always want to hurt you. Seeing you angers me on a primal level.” Riary took a deep, deep breath… and let it out. “And you’re my team mate. You saved all our lives. I will fight with you and kill our enemies with you. I trust you. Both of these feelings… I am strong enough to handle feeling both. Hate and… not hate.”

Tyler chimed in, at the worst possible moment.

“I think that’s called friendship.” He immediately shrank back as two sets of eyes glared at him, hard. Not the time Tyler.

Fuck. Fuck. I… don’t want to… This…

I stared into Riary’s eyes, eyes full of passion and determination, of hate and strong will, but mostly of a woman that was trying. I didn’t doubt her words for a moment, no hidden tsundere bullshit, no nonsense, she genuinely hated me.  I got it. I had always gotten it. But now she knew I was well and truly stuck together with her, for a long, long while, and she wanted to make things work.

“You said my secrets are dangerous. That’s why you want to know them?” I asked simply.

Riary nodded but followed up as well. “How would you feel if you traveled with Tyler without knowing his secret?”

That brought me up short. No matter the secrecy, there were leaks available. The king, whoever was around at the time, and most damning of all us was Konohora. But even without her, would I have wanted that kept from me? Yes. Absolutely. But only if no one else could know either.

So let’s turn that around. Was there any way for people to find out my major secrets? Selve was one potential link, there might be some way in the future to detect Gems since every one and their mother as the ruling level seemed to be looking for them, Konohora had enough suspicions that it could build into something horrible, and Xilvia already had figured out I had ‘True Hero level Potential’. And there was Happy. He knew about the damn Gem in my chest. My name from his lips alone would probably damn me back to hell, depending on who he talked to. How many more leaks would come out over time? This was not a secret that would remain intact forever. There was no way Riary knew ‘Nothing’. She just didn’t know what she was seeing.

My secrets couldn’t survive forever. People would find out. Just hopefully not before at least a hundreds years or something had passed…

I was grateful Konohora hadn’t brought up being out of the loop. That just felt wrong on a fundamental level. She was part of the team, her faith an obstacle most of the time but her healing was invaluable and due directly because of it. Hell, her truth telling abilities had come in handy more than once. I’d just have to… have a little faith and make sure she never got captured or anything.

“Fine.” I eventually said, feeling light headed. This may be the biggest mistake of my entire existence but I was set. “Fine, I have a few major secrets. You’re going to want sit down. Let’s find ourselves a safer area.”

Konohora looked shocked and Tyler bewildered. Sorry Konohora, I can’t just leave you with permanently unconfirmed suspicions it seems.

Soon, I began to talk.