Epilogue 2/5

  Ironheart Fortress slept soundly after a tumultuous day. Lives were uprooted or dramatically changed, especially thanks to what was being referred to colloquially as the “System Shuffle.” Artyom however experienced a metamorphosis beyond something as inconsequential as physical strength or magical potency; he was changed as a person. And in undergoing such a mental upheaval, he came to realize his mistakes. As he skulked through the deserted streets of Ironheart Fortress, he carried with him what he considered to be his biggest one yet, along with his intention to fix it.

  As he approached the gates to no man’s land, Artyom couldn’t help but feel relief at how security had laxed now that the town’s main threat was no more. It didn’t take much for him to access the gate controls and open the doors ever so slightly to make enough room for him to squeeze through.

  He slipped out to the world outside and made his way into the badlands beyond. Far away from Ironheart Fortress and its sleeping denizens, who could be woken up by what he was planning to do. Far away from Neitra.

  The trip was difficult under the new moon, with the only guide being the light of the barest waxing sliver. Thankfully, Artyom’s internal magical stores and batteries recharged just enough that he was able to keep up a basic darkvision spell the entire time through, and he was able to avoid any obstacles along the way. He didn’t want to do anything like trip over a cactus into a steep canyon, after all.

  After half an hour of walking, he finally came upon such a canyon. Artyom sighed to himself as he looked at Neitra’s bag, a testament to his lowest moment, and confirmed that there was nothing inside, save for the RDX he’d hidden around the seams. He tossed the bag into the pit with an underhand throw and began walking back. Once he put enough distance between him and the testament to his sins, he sent a weak magical signal towards it, detonating the bag as he braced against the shockwave. Artyom painfully sighed as he continued to walk back to town, intent on getting that good night’s rest, if he could manage it.

  “You know, I’m glad you didn’t do that while I was wearing it,” came a feminine voice from behind him.

  Artyom quickly turned around to see Neitra standing behind him, her right hand on her hip and a contemplative pout lining her face. Utter shock covered his own in contrast, and the TOAL agent wasn’t able to get out a single word from his lips, they simply stopped working.

  “You should probably leave stealth to the rogue, you know,” she continued. “I heard you leaving with my bag after emptying it and it was pretty obvious what you were planning.”

  “I-it was? You knew?” Artyom asked, the only thing he was capable of uttering.

  “Since we got back from laying the traps in the chapel,” replied Neitra with the same expression, regarding the man pensively. “My bag felt a little different than before, and [Detect Traps] showed the bomb you put inside of it clear as day.”

  Artyom cringed in response to realizing he had made an incredibly basic mistake. That was the only reaction he showed however, as again guilt still held on tight to his tongue.

  Neitra looked to her feet with a soft frown. “When I found out, it really hurt. I mean, why would you do such a thing? When have I ever made you think I was an enemy? But then you started sleep talking.” She looked back up at him with a wide-eyed gaze and her next word pierced his soul. “Cesen.”

  Artyom looked at her dumbfounded, the wound in his heart only growing as he once again remembered the tale.

  “I’ll be honest, when you first told me the story, the ending felt pretty rushed. Especially with all of the detail you went into for the rest of it. And when you started sleep talking, you mentioned all sorts of weird things about ‘protecting the kids’ and ‘becoming the Dark Lord’. That’s when it hit me; it was about Cesen. He betrayed you, didn’t he? After being declared the chosen one as a last-minute backup like us and letting the power of the holy weapon go to his head, he tried to do something terrible. He wanted to become the new Dark Lord and because the prophecy was in place, he had to kill the other chosen ones to protect himself. Kill the children you were here to rescue, like how you were here to rescue Tommy from the goddess.”

  “I-it was… the greatest betrayal I’d ever experienced,” said Artyom, finally able to let out a coherent sentence.

  “And you thought I’d do the same,” said Netira, completing his sentiment with a sigh. “With how tormented you sounded in your sleep and how similar our situations were, I can’t say I entirely blame you.”

  Artyom remained silent, surprised at her response but not feeling freed of any guilt. Empathy was not the same as forgiveness.

  “I wanted to do something about it, confront you or just leave,” continued Neitra, letting her left arm hang as she held it with her right. “But I’d known you for some time, long enough for me to see that you’re not the kind of guy who wouldn’t just kill me on a whim. We still had a mission to finish, so I decided to trust you not to kill me.”

  “Not like how I trusted you to stay true to that mission,” he replied with a pained grimace.

  “That’s the funny thing,” she said with a curious look. “When I saw you jump in the way of Xerica’s attack the way you did back then, sacrificing the rest of your magic and the other spell just to protect me, it really looked like you did trust me to keep to my duty. I had the Yamastra charging in my hands and I could’ve used it on you right after them, but you still risked your life for me even though you could’ve just picked it up afterwards and used it yourself. And seeing as how you got rid of those explosives now just proves it even further. You do believe in me.”

  “Y-yeah,” stuttered Artyom, having trouble speaking again. Not by fear and guilt alone, however, but by the tears beginning to form in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Neitra. I made the biggest mistake in my life by risking yours, and it’s been tearing me apart since we got back.” He let out a distraught smile as he sniffled back a line of mucus running down his nose. “But now I can at least apologize for it. I understand if you don’t want anything to do with me anymore, I’m sure I wouldn’t if you were my Cesen, because I’m certainly yours.”

  Neitra let out a frustrated sigh and crossed her arms. “Really Artyom, I figured we’ve been travelling together long enough that you’d know how I would feel about all of this. Of course I was torn over this at first, but then you redeemed yourself. You saved my life and risked everything for me in the end! Just have a little more faith in your friends after this, alright?”

  Artyom looked up with misty eyes, his contorted facsimile of a grin becoming less painful as he carefully digested Neitra’s words. “Y-yeah, I think I can do that,” he managed to spit out along with a renewed stream of tears. He stood that way for several moments longer, the muscles in his face relaxing into a frown as he began to let his tears, emotions, and mucus out in earnest.

  “Hey, it’s alright, dummy,” said Neitra as she walked up to Artyom and wrapped him in a tight hug. He sobbed into her shoulder as she continued. “You’re not my Cesen, alright? He was a selfish jerk, completely unlike you or me. As it stands, you’re my Artyom, and I’m your Neitra. Nothing more, nothing less.”

  “Ugh hugh,” sounded Artyom with his face buried in Neitra’s shoulder.

  “Next time you make a metaphor about your friends, I want you to reference me instead of him.”

  “Ygeah,” he replied again in between sobs. “I’ll make sure to do that.”

  “Good,” she said with a soft grin, gently patting his head. “And if you’re still so broken with that Cesen business, please try to get yourself fixed up. I’m sure you have plenty of friends back home who can help you, there are even healers here that specialize in that sort of thing, at least there still should be.”

  “Wghee have those too.”

  “Good. Speaking of broken, you owe me a new bag. The one you destroyed costs 5 gold coins.”

  “Wait, 5 gold?!” exclaimed Artyom as he lifted his head from her shoulder. “What kind of bag costs that much?!”

  “There we go, back to normal then!” joked Neitra. “After I joined Tommy and we cleared our first dungeon together, I thought I’d treat myself with a really nice bag. And now you owe me a new one.”

  Artyom stared into Neitra’s eyes for several seconds before they both broke out into a fit of raucous laughter. Artyom shed the last of his tears through his hearty cackles, and the worst of his guilt along with it, finally experiencing the salty taste of the absolution of his sins. It took the duo an entire minute before they calmed down enough to talk again.

  “But really, Artyom,” said Neitra, still embracing her friend. “Thank you for saving my life back there, along with the Kingdom and possibly the world from the goddess.”

  “No problem,” replied Artyom with a sincere smile. His tearstained face was beginning to dry off, leaving streaks of brine along it. “It’s my job after all. Well, it will be my job soon enough.” He let out a contented sigh. “But even after I go back tomorrow, you can be sure this won’t be the last time we meet. I’ll be back to check up on you all once in a while, and spend time with my friends.”

  “I’ll hold you accountable to that,” said Neitra with a serious look. She couldn’t hold it for long and burst into another fit of giggles. “But really, I will. And that includes spending time with Sae, Pireni, and Skeya too!”

  Artyom groaned in response, but also began to giggle soon after. “Yeah, I’ll be sure to visit them too. They were pretty low leveled so I don’t think they have too much to get used to.”

  “And Sae really needed that brain boost, he might actually be a little smart now!” retorted Neitra.

  The two broke out into another round of laughs as they let go of each other. Their faces were now strained with genuine smiles rather than pain, and they knew in that moment everything was going to be alright.

  “Come on, let’s head back to the hotel,” said Neitra as she began walking back towards town. “Prithvi said you have an important day tomorrow, so you’ll need your beauty sleep!”

  “Yeah, I sure do,” replied Artyom. “There’s a lot I’m going to have to take care of when I get back. Let’s go.”