Chapter 28

Blood was thicker than sweat. Stickier too. The small drop that ran from the nick at the sword’s neck left a palpable layer of blood behind it as it oozed slowly down his skin. It itched as it dried. The sword scratched at the side of his neck, he might dislike itching more than he disliked pain. It was, at least, something to think about, instead of what had just happened.

What did blood do, anyway? The sword didn’t really know. People died without it, so it was clearly important. Why was it red? He didn’t know that either.

He was sitting against the gym wall. Mei was sitting next to him. Arthur was having an intense argument with the laughing girl, the sword couldn’t be bothered to listen.

The rest of the class was back to their usual talking amongst themselves, though many of them glanced at the sword, then away as soon as they realized the sword had seen them.

The sword wished that Mei would join the others. At least she wasn’t talking, just sitting, her back perfectly straight, legs crossed in front of her.

“I did try to warn you about Layla,” Mei said softly. “She may be a [Knight], but I’m afraid those can come in several varieties. At least, where I’m from, anyway.”

The sword didn’t say anything. This was because he wanted her to stop talking.

“There are the [Knights] who view their vows as ideals to live up to, and then there are the ones who view them as legalisms, to be worked around. Layla seems like more the first than the second.”

A drawback of his usual strategy of not talking, it seemed, was that it was hard for other people to understand what he wanted. He scratched at his neck again, which started the little cut to bleed again.

“I don’t want you here,” the sword said.

Mei ignored him. She did that to people a lot, the sword had noticed. Perhaps it was a technique of [Monarchs], if you ignored what people had to say for long enough, eventually they just had to do whatever it was you wanted to do.

“Still,” Mei said, “it was ill done. I have met many poor [Knights], it seems it is our misfortune that so many of them happen to be our classmates. ”

The sword, annoyed, said, “I agreed to the terms.” That was the worst part. He’d agreed. And now he’d lost another wielder candidate. Somehow his mind kept shifting between two mutually distinct fears, either he’d never find a wielder candidate, or he would, and it would turn out like it had with Francois, and it would never be right.

Losing to the laughing girl had made both fears sharper inside him. And sitting next to the other person who had rejected him was not making him feel any better. Quite the opposite.

He tried to focus again on the itch at his neck, but Mei just kept talking.

“She challenged a boy with a broken arm to fight. It’s not really a question of whether you accepted or not,” she said with a kind of quiet disdain in her voice that made the sword sit up, made the skin on his arms prickle for no reason he could discern. “And none of the rest of the class will challenge her on it, either. It’s like because they dont’ have to be [Heroes] anymore, they’ve decided its good not to be one. At least Arthur has an excuse for being a horrible person.”

“Yeah, it’s super fun,” Arthur said, ambling over and dropping down to the other side of the sword. The sword shifted so that there was as much space as possible on either side of him. It wasn’t much.

“Sorry for the delay, that Layla is kind of feral. I’ve already fought her once today and she’s still going for me. I tell you what, I’m not even sure this is worth cookies with frosting at this point, it’s like they’re out there grinding dailies and I’m the mob with infinite respawns.”

He burped, causing the sword to wrinkle his nose. “How you feeling Nick? That must’ve sucked.”

“I don’t like itching,” the sword said.

“Yeah, maybe next time don’t get hit by a stupid piece of wood from some sociopathic knife lady. It was really uncool to watch, sorry to say. Although I don’t blame you if you want to complain about the mosquitoes, I asked Cad if I could just kill them all and he told me he would have to think about it, which means I’ll probably hear back from him in like a thousand years. You know, in my Castle its so hot that all the bugs died out before I took it over. It’s amazing. I miss it all the time. So, having any existential spirals about finding a wielder or anything like that?”

The sword didn’t respond.

“Why don’t we just go get Alice. I’ve had some more time to consider the matter, and I think she’s actually the hottest of your choices anyway.” He glanced across the sword at Mei from the corner of his eyes, “On further consideration, you’re a bit inaccessible, no offense.”

Mei sniffed in response.

The sword said, “No, she would not be a good wielder.”

“So what?” Arthur asked. “Isn’t it better to have some wielder, rather than none? It’s not like it’s an exclusive thing, right? She can be your wielder until something better comes along.”

“Alice,” Mei said drily, “Might object to being discussed in such terms.”

“Nahhhh, she’s a practical girl,” Arthur said approvingly. “And she really is grateful for you saving her back in the dining hall.”

The sword didn’t want to talk anymore. He didn’t really want to be under the bright lights of the gym anymore either. He tucked his knees under his chin, closed his eyes. He would just stay like this until everyone else went away. They would do so eventually.

The third alarm went off.

There was a very short silence, which the sword enjoyed, and then a lot of yelling and the sounds of shoving and falling and general chaos that suggested that the evacuation was not going to be orderly at all.

The sword didn’t move.

“Nick, we gotta go,” Arthur was saying his ear. “That was the evacuation bell. They’ve dropped the ball.”

Mei was in his other ear. “It’s the third bell,” she said, “the rule is we leave now. Wait for the rabble to clear, yes, but you should stand.”

The room was emptying rapidly, despite the shoving and the falling and tripping going on. “Will it really be safer in an evacuation zone than down here? It is less crowded down here.”

No one looked back at them as they left. None of them.

“Look, he’s light, we could just pick him up and carry him,” Arthur said. They were both standing in front of him now.

“What if he refuses to go?” The sword was slightly surprised Mei was still here. Or rather, that none of her friends had stayed for her either.

“I dunno, let’s just knock him out and figure that out later.”

“We can’t do that!”

“He faints at the drop of a hat, I’m pretty sure we could do it no problem. And it’s not like he eats anything. Besides, you work out. Between the two of us it’ll be easy.”

“No, I’m saying that would be wrong.”

“Honestly I think it would be an improvement on how he usually gets moved around.”

“There has to be another way.”

“Which would be?”

Mei turned towards the sword, looking down at him. “Please?” She asked him. “It would be a great favor to me.”

The sword met her gaze. “I have not enjoyed doing you favors,” he said truthfully, “People keep talking to me, and expecting things of me I can’t give them. I think I’m done being used by you, since you will not be what I need.”

Mei stepped back a pace.

“Yeah, so I don’t think that went too well,” Arthur said.

“So you try,” Mei said, enunciating each word.

“Why would I do that? You think I want to go and hang out with the rest of the sheep?”

“Because Cadmarius will be pissed with you if you don’t even try.”

“And how would he know whether I try or not?”

“…”

“I don’t like you,” Arthur said pleasantly.

Now it was his turn to block the sword’s view of the now entirely empty gym. They’d left all the wooden sticks on the ground instead of putting them on the racks as they were supposed to.

The boy raised an eyebrow at the sword, scratched at the collar around his neck.

“You sure I can’t just knock him out?” He called out to Mei, who now also moved into the sword’s view, shaking her head vigorously.

“Absolutely not!”

Arthur rolled his eyes.

“If we stay, Cadmarius is gonna be pretty pissed,” he said to the sword. “Dude gets worried about us, thinks we can die or whatever. Personally I think its ridiculous.”

“Why don’t you just go without me?” The sword asked. He liked Cadmarius, but the thought of Cadmarius being upset with him didn’t really bother him either.

Of course, he could just do what Arthur wanted him to do.

But it was much easier just to stay here and not move.

Arthur shrugged. “Back to the knockout plan I think.”

“No,” Mei said flatly. “We just have to keep talking, we can get through to him. Try coming up with a better reason than your own personal self interest.”

“Self interest is all I’ve got,” Arthur said.

“That much was obvious,” Mei muttered.

“If you care so much just tell him to do it,” Arthur said. “He won’t even mind.”

“That makes it worse not better,” Mei said, “you realize that right?”

“You realize you’d have died on your other world if you’d thought like that, right princess?” Arthur asked.

“That’s the whole point,” Mei said, her voice frigid. “I’m not there any more. I don’t have to be that person any more.”

“Right, and a school full of a bunch of kids taught that violence will get them treats is a safe place to disarm.” Arthur said. “These are definitely the sorts of rational people you can trust, that’s why they want to literally kill me because Status sends them an annoying push notification every time I walk by.”

“Obviously,” Mei said. “Of course I can’t trust them, if they know what I can do, they’ll want me to do it for them. And then I’m a target.”

Arthur paused.

“Huh,” he said. “That’s…not not true. Are you actually not incredibly stupid?”

“Why do you two argue so much?” The sword asked. “I don’t think you’re that different from each other. Do you actually like it?”

This made them both stop talking, which the sword didn’t mind although it had not been his intent.

He watched them exchange several glances, raise eyebrows, shrug, all those wordless means of communication that the sword could vaguely decode when he tried, but still didn’t quite understand.

Arthur sighed. “Look man, can we just go? I’m not leaving you, and I don’t really want to get kidnapped by the green bois again. They don’t have a sense of humor.”

The sword blinked.

It was true they wanted Arthur. The sword didn’t want the lizardmen to take Arthur either. After a moment, he nodded.

Stood up.

“Phew,” Arthur said. “You know that was the first time you’d blinked in like ten minutes? It was really freaking me out. Now come on lets get out of here before anything really stupid happens.”

The sword grunted, which he was finding was a useful way to communicate agreement without having to use words or express any enthusiasm as he did so.

“I doubt it’s worth going to the evacuation zone at this point,” Mei said quietly as they walked to the door of the gym. “They’ve probably activated the protection spells. At this point, we might just want to go to the kitchens. I think Cadmarius has them warded pretty heavily.”

“He does,” Arthur said, “Nearly burned my hair right off when I first got here. Quiet now, time for some sneaking.”

He opened the door, poked his head out, looking one way then the other.

“I think the coast is clear,” he whispered, motioning them to follow him into the corridor.

They did so, the sword in between Arthur and Mei. Mei closed the door behind them, silently so that it didn’t even click as the latch shut.

“Nice,” Arthur said.

Blue light flooded the hall, as four portals, each as the size of a narrow doorway, opened at the other end of the hall.

“…Less nice,” said Arthur.