so, about our ____

As Lucian passed Zane a bundle of clothes, Zane’s face pinched from the sheer level of impatience he suffered from. “It’s your turn for story time, now. You’re gonna explain all the weird shit you brought up back there.”

“Uh—what did I say again…?”

Zane groaned. “First, go somewhere else so I can change. Then try and jog your memory so we can actually be on the same page about this. Unless you love gallivanting in the woods with a wanted criminal and guards on our tails, though personally I’d just say you have weird tastes in hobbies.”

“You don’t always need to make those jokes…” Lucian said before doing as asked. Zane put on his clothes in record time (loose fitting, but with a small cloak for coverage, traveling boots and a belt for weapons) before calling Lucian back over.

In the meantime, he admired the gloves of his new clothes. Sturdy and capable of handling a good punch, much better than his bare fists. Now he could fight off a small group of soldiers with ease. The smooth fabric betrayed a light shimmer of enchantment, making unassuming fabric tough as a rock when meeting with someone’s face.

Yep, this was it. At least Lucian had a good eye for weapons.

“So—um…” Lucian shuffled like a shy schoolgirl waiting for her mother, “I should probably start with the, uh—‘everything is a lie’ part…”

“I mean, I get it, the system sucks.”

“That’s not what I meant. It’s… well, before I explain, I don’t know how much of it is completely true. The magic, I’m fuzzy on the specifics, but the doctrine and the church are—the secret, the… it’s—the planet’s core—it has to do with that.”

Zane stepped ahead of Lucian, the backdrop of the village filtered through a blue haze, looming far ahead. “Sooooo, you wanna write it down or are we gonna stutter through it all day?”

“Ahm, I—maybe I do need time to gather my thoughts…”

Yeah. Zane figured. He followed the river without another word, Lucian on his heels.

“We’ll get breakfast and figure out our next move. It seems quiet around here, so it can’t be too hard finding a little hole in the wall tavern or somethin’.”

Bearing no complaints, Lucian stuck to Zane the entire way down, past gentle meadows and nigh-harmless monsters until they stepped into the tiny strip that made up the village shops. From there, Zane tracked down a tavern run by a half-asleep old map who whipped them up breakfast and let them be.

Zane downed his plate of eggs first, only speaking after scarfing half of it down. “Good job swiping some cash before making your escape attempt. You’ve been thinking of running away for a while? Never would’ve figured…”

“Aha—something like that.” Lucian frowned. He barely touched his breakfast, and after a point, gave up entirely and sat up. “It’s a terribly long story, too long—but it leads into where we need to go, so I suppose I’ll start with… the legends.”

Zane had shoveled up another mouthful of eggs. “Whuh?”

“The god Vitam isn’t a deity the church abides by. It’s the opposite—they use Vitam, and Their pain manifests as the chaos in the planet’s core.”

…Huh.

What?

Zane blinked. “Run that by me again.”

Lucian laughed, as if anticipating Zane’s confusion. “Vitam, as we know Him, is an incredibly powerful deity—I, ah, recently learned, and kind of sort of saw for myself, that while they do exist, the church… keeps them sealed away. So we can harness their power and… allow the land to flourish, channeling the emotions and will They granted us thousands of years ago. But they’re… not really happy with that arrangement, so They lash out through the chaos in the planet’s core. It’s a balancing act—using Their power against them.”

Zane leaned back in his seat, staring out the window. He’d never cared much about Vitam as a deity, moreso joining the church for the financial security they provided him. That, and helping people occasionally felt like a good use of his life.

But he did that with or without a god around.

Lucian, though…

“So, this is why you left?”

“Yes!” Lucian froze, and Zane followed his stare towards a annoyed couple sitting across the room. “…Yes, sorry. I’ll keep my voice down… but, as you’re probably guessing, I can’t abide by abusing Their power to fuel the continent’s prosperity. Happiness shouldn’t come at the expense of another.”

“And you figured that’d be enough to get my help?”

“Um, sort of… but! I also thought, well, you might be—with the the nigh-universal belief in Vitam fueling the church’s influence… since they’re keeping Vitam sealed, if, in theory, we managed to free Them… that might serve as a public good for everyone. Especially the good people that never followed Vitam.”

Zane didn’t feel the need to say it when Lucian seemed so eager to talk, but he’d already come to a similar conclusion. Their goals aligned. Zane didn’t have a reason to refuse unless he was too scared to die sooner rather than later.

Which—he wasn’t.

“Free them—but then it’s just gonna rage against humanity, right? We’ve been draining it for ages, doubt it’s gonna be all sunshine and rainbows after that. You sure we aren’t dooming the world?”

“No!” The couple glared again, and Lucian coughed. “Sorry, sorry. I… I have a plan. As Vitam’s Avatar, I occupy a special place among the rank of the clergy. But it’s not only because of, ah, magical talent… it’s hard to explain, but I know exactly how to make peace with Vitam. But we have to show Them that we’re on Their side by freeing them. And, of course, allies with good intentions are—most appreciated.”

Zane finished the last scraps of his breakfast.

What a world. Just a day ago, he slaved away using all his energy keeping some mysterious force suppressed waiting for the day he’d keel over for good. And now here Zane was, armed and dangerous, handed a mission to take down the organization that’d been controlling his life since childhood, ruining countless others.

His grasp over the magic of Rage came from, unsurprisingly, the same frustration boiling within him as he picked through Lucian’s story.

This simple idea.

A stray thought.

This isn’t right. It wasn’t right then, and it sure as hell wasn’t right today.

“If you’re telling the truth, then you’ve got me on board.” Zane jabbed a thumb into his chest. “But two rules—I help navigate, you direct and follow, and if I get the feeling you’re lying to me, I’m out.”

Lucian grinned, beaming with the force of the sun as he stuck a hand out. “Does that make us a party?”

“Party of two, huh…” Zane laughed, and took his hand. “Sure. So, where to?”