Axel awoke to a sunbeam on his face and a surprisingly unsure body. Keeping his eyes closed, he decided to open his Journal to check his health status and was hit with a scrolling list of alerts.
User activated Berserker with Admin Hopes permission
User core overcharging from protocore
User removes foreign mental control
User corruption reaches 5%
Alert … User suffering serious damage throughout the body
Alert … Left arm is in a Critical state
Alert … Right hand had been pierced
User Regeneration (lesser) in overcharged state
User corruption reaches 10%
Alert … Lower back and ribcage in Critical condition
Alert … Lower back and ribcage is now in Serious condition
Alert … Left arm is now in Serious condition
Alert … Left arm taken more damage
Alert … User heart taken damage
Alert … Spine shattered all movement to the lower body is lost until the repair is complete.
User corruption reaches 20%.
User has lost consciousness from shock and blood loss.
Entering Emergency mode and activating all resources in the user’s body.
Foreign energy entering the body and Regeneration returning the body to a nominal state.
Berserker was deactivated as the user is no longer in critical condition.
User corruption reaches 22%.
Leaving the Emergency mode user lost 5% of cycle build-up and will need time to replenish nanite resources.
There were hundreds more minor alerts that his Journal was suppressing, but he was surprised that he was alive with what he was seeing. Then the realization that he still failed to save Lyra washed over him, but he was unable to find any better ways he could have handled that. It was a miracle of the Goddess that he was still alive even now. Knowing now was not the time to beat himself up, Axel chose to slowly open his eyes to see where he was. His sight showed a white-painted room with sets of curtains and beds. Axel slowly swept the room; there were around twenty sets of beds, but all were empty besides his. He could tell where he was immediately, as every Harmonizer patrol station was built the same.
Axel decided to try to move, and thankfully, from wiggling his toes to moving his fingers, everything was working fine. Spine damage was one of three locations that took a long time and was harder to heal. Axel slowly sat up and stretched out stiff and sore muscles. Sitting up must have alerted someone, as a human man in healer's clothing came into the room right after in a rush. The man was large, built like a Quake, with a large black bushy beard and a shiny bald head. Still holding a sandwich in his right hand, the man made it to Axel’s bed and began to look him over.
“Greetings,” the man’s deep voice rumbled. “I am healer Burk, and it is good to see you are already up and moving. Surprising, really, given the injuries you suffered last night, but the night shift healers must have gone all out on your treatment.”
Axel slowly sat up, which seemed to have alerted the staff. Even as he rose to a sitting position, a man in healer's robes was walking through the door, a bit of fruit sticking to his beard, looking at Axel with a professional gaze. At this point, the man noticed he still had a sandwich in hand as he was gesturing with that hand while he talked. The man looked around for somewhere to place it but did not seem to find one, so with a ‘one-moment’ gesture, he finished it in three big bites.
“Sorry, but as a healer, you never know when you can eat, so I always try to finish a meal when I can,” Burk said after struggling to swallow his meal.
“You could have eaten slower,” Axel commented with amusement. “I am unlikely to go anywhere for the moment as I seem to be in a patrol station, and I can guess after last night I will be questioned, so I am unlikely to be going anywhere anytime soon.”
“Yes, your companion Aria has been with the officers for the last few hours after her healing, answering questions.” Burk nodded and then looked at the door. “I should go tell the desk officer—I think it is Tide on duty this morning—that you are up and seem to be in a condition to talk unless you are showing damage or injuries that I cannot see?”
“Still minor things, but my body is taking care of them,” Axel replied with a shrug while his mind was still going over everything that had happened, trying in vain to find a way through.
Burk left the room to talk to the desk officer. Axel moved to stand, but a wave of weakness washed over him. Even with the Goddess’s blessings and his powers, Axel’s body seemed to be saying it needed time to recover from what he had just put it through. With no strength in his body, Axel sat back in his bed with nothing but his thoughts to accompany him. He began to look around the room.
As Axel looked around the room, he saw several boxes that held his gear nearby. He then saw several pieces of his halberd sitting in a box. Axel slowly sat up, reached into the box, and retrieved the hook, gently turning it over in his hand to inspect it. The metal held cracks from the force the attacker placed on it, leaving it mostly useless as a weapon as it would not hold up to even throwing it.
A short time later, the doors that Burk had left through were thrown open, and Sky rushed in, dragging a confused Burk who was trying to stop her. As Sky arrived, she began to look Axel over to see if there were any other wounds or anything visible. Axel let her and just stayed quiet until she was satisfied with what she saw.
“Axel, I heard what happened to Lyra and you were injured while I was out.” Sky’s voice was much smoother and not as pitchy as it was before. Axel was prepared for her to be in her high-pitched or loud voice with how high-energy she was currently, but Sky’s voice was around where she was at her calmest. “I wish I was there to help!”
“It’s okay, Sky,” Axel told her gently, “but you may need to fix the floor.”
Axel then pointed at the holes Sky had created to pull Burk across the floor as she had hardened the tips of her legs with created metal tips. Sky looked back, and her body shivered before Axel felt power radiate off her, and the holes in the floor began to repair themselves.
“Sky, it was likely better that you were not there as you would have been a target. The mental expert would have killed you before striking, or he had the strength to overpower you as you don’t have mental powers,” Axel said while leaning over to pat Sky on her carapace.
“Aria agrees,” came a voice from the door, and Aria walked in with measured steps and long strides that told Axel she was still very angry. “This is far from over, though, as Aria will retrieve her flock back.”
“I won’t allow anyone to damage our friend either,” Sky’s clear voice said, and Axel could see that Aria was hearing it also by the way she turned her head. “I will help however I can.”
Aria walked over to Sky, her steps lighter now and much more normal hugged the girl, and whispered in a voice too low for Axel to hear, but Sky wiggled in excitement from it. This was when Axel noticed a Harmonizer officer in full armor waiting at the door. The person was standing comfortably in his armor while watching the show in front of them before they walked into the room.
“Axel?” The strange voice of a Harmonizer came from their helmet. Axel nodded at the question before the officer continued. “I wish to talk to you about what happened last night. I have already questioned Aria here, and our seers have done a reconstruction through their powers, but I would like to make sure everything is documented.”
Axel sat up and moved to get off the bed but was stopped by the officer's hand before they pulled out a notepad.
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“No need to leave as you are still a patient. We can do this here as long as these two stay quiet.” At Sky and Aria’s nods, the officer then began to question Axel on all the events that had happened that night. Besides going into what happened with the Goddess and Crimson, Axel went through the events from his memory, only saying that he was lucky and broke the control to throw his weapon at the man with his full strength.
Axel could not make out how they took this, as all the officer did was write in their notepad without extra movement, and not being able to see anything made it harder for Axel to pick up any tells. The questioning lasted for about an hour before the officer flipped their notepad closed.
“You are free to go as this is a known underworld element that has done things like this for years. You are lucky to have survived, and we will be adding this to his case file while keeping the search.” The officer finished, then got up to leave and started walking to the door.
“That is their way of saying there is nothing they can or will do,” Aria said from the side with a venom in her voice Axel had never heard before. “If they had a lead or anything, it would not be added to the case file to be lost until the next time this man attacks.”
The officer paused in their movement to the door but continued a heartbeat later. When the door closed, Aria sat on the bed and lay back against Axel’s legs, looking up at him.
“Let’s get you checked out and into a different inn for now,” Aria said suddenly before getting up. “Roran is watching Jareth, for all that is worth, at his new inn. We need to talk to Jareth about what happened last night.”
After that, Aria and Sky helped Axel check out of the attached clinic, much to healer Burk’s protests, then moved across town. Axel was still weak from the likely overuse of his powers, but his body was slowly getting better. The trip was thankfully uneventful as the city seemed more subdued today, with the streets being less crowded than the day before. With Aria’s navigation, the group made it to the inn quickly, and Axel saw a familiar wagon sitting in a stall nearby.
Shortly later, the group met with Roran, who handed Sky and Aria room keys and then patted Axel on the shoulder before telling the group that Jareth was waiting in his room for them.
“Are we sure this is okay, Aria?” Axel had to ask at this point as feeling this weak was making him feel more vulnerable than normal.
“Yes,” came Aria’s reply before she decided to elaborate. “Jareth is unlikely to do anything as he is being investigated by the Harmonizers, and doing something dumb right now may get him arrested since I confirmed his nieces were under Weaver’s control.”
“Weaver?” Axel asked as a lot was found out while he was unconscious.
“That is what the man who attacked us is called in the Underworld,” Aria explained while they began to climb some stairs to the third floor. “Aria had heard rumors about him for years, but it was more of an ‘if you want information or a rival eliminated’ kind of thing. The man supposedly has a spy network in most of the western city-states.”
“That is concerning, and why am I only hearing about this now?” Axel had to ask while stopping on the second flight, being winded. Hopefully, this weakness would pass quickly; if even stairs were beating him, he stood no chance.
“Axel, you come from a small village in the jungle,” Aria said with a note of pride in her voice. “Aria grew up in Greenhaven around many unsavory types. Weaver is one of a dozen to a hundred names I have heard whispered about while growing up. Many of them are not real or are the same person just called different things. How Aria wishes she put the clues together after the attacks on the road, but hindsight can only guide her down the path she is on.”
“It’s fine, Aria,” Axel said while putting his hand on her cheek. “We will get her back even if I need to tear apart this Underworld you are talking about.”
“That would be harder than you would think,” came Jareth’s voice from the top of the stairs. “It has been tried many times before.”
“Come, there is much we need to talk about.” Jareth followed up and left the doorway of the stairs.
Axel looked straight into the older man’s eyes before he left, seeing nothing but calm in them before they continued to Jareth’s room. It was not that Axel didn’t want to say anything, but he knew the time to talk about anything critical was not in the stairway of an inn.
Everyone arrived at Jareth’s room to find it was a large room that took up a quarter of the floor. Jareth did not stop when he entered and moved through a hallway into a room with many couches and stuffed chairs. Axel heard Roran who was bringing up the rear close the door while Jareth took one of the seats in the room before motioning for Axel’s group to take seats.
Aria sat Axel on a smaller couch and sat with him while Sky took a chair meant for her kind. Roran did not seem to want to sit and stayed near the door while leaning on the frame. Jareth then pulled out several boxes and activated a beast gem in each before he leaned back into his chair. Silence held sway in the room for long moments after that as no one seemed to know where to start.
“I have much to confess, but this is only for your ears,” Jareth started reaching for his pipe but stopped himself. “First, it was never my goal to have any of you hurt, though I knew the risk was there from when I first met you, Aria and Axel. I did not realize he was after Lyra until it was too late and that he would activate my nieces in this.”
“You both were already being followed by an agent of Weaver when we first met, so I decided to see if I could take the chance to draw Weaver out as he kept sending covert watchers to keep an eye on one or both of you.” Jareth continued while looking at the ceiling. “You likely ran into my handy work several times in the city. Weaver was unexpectedly persistent with his agents though which is surprising to me.”
“Why are you going so far?” Axel asked as this seemed to have a story behind it to go so far.
“I guess I should start much further back than that though so you can better understand why I was willing to work with strangers like I did.” Jareth started his story.
“About ten years ago I was Weaver's best killer,” Jareth continued keeping his eyes on the ceiling. “This was before he perfected his technique for brainwashing. I was planned to be one of those first it was used on.”
The room took on a somber feeling as Jareth talked about his past. No one moved fearing breaking the normally jolly merchant out of his introspective state.
“Weaver trains all of his killers and field agents personally as his power set makes it easier to twist someone to his will.” Jareth’s voice seemed lost as he talked. “I don’t remember anything of the training and even my Journal has a blank spot during that time, but I can tell you how he cements it: You need to kill someone you love with your own hands.”
“Is that why he was going to keep Aria or Axel alive?” Aria asked, breaking the cadence of Jareth's reveal.
“Yes,” Jareth looked to Aria and nodded. “But like I said, he had not perfected it yet at that time, and I broke out of it only after he had me kill my wife and child with my own hands. The shock snapped his brainwashing at the time, and I took a shot at him right after coming back from that mission but missed my chance.”
“The fight left my core damaged, and Weaver injured, also with having to clean up his organization for years,” Jareth continued, sounding older than he looked. “I have been in a personal war with his agents ever since.”
“How long did you know that your nieces were involved?” Roran asked from his spot in the door.
“Since they found me two years ago after completing their second cycle,” Jareth said with a weary voice. “I have been looking for a way to free them but needed to keep them close so that Weaver would think they were useful. To be fair, they were useful to him as my options have been limited by the twins, as I did not want them hurt.”
“Anyway, while I did not pull you into this, I did use you and not warn you about the dangers,” Jareth then looked to Axel and Aria. “I was afraid if you knew, you would ruin my plans, but we can see how this all ended up.”
The room fell silent again while everyone was taking in what was said.
“With them being brainwashed, how would you free Pearl and Larimar?” Axel asked while thinking about how they would free Lyra.
“After a lot of time and research, to free someone we would need Weaver dead and find his code book to reverse their states. Weaver, until you kill that loved one, has everyone under two personalities: their normal state and the loyal agent. Under most circumstances, the normal state does not know about the other, but the other is always there, taking note of everything before they are released,” Jareth explained and finally took out his pipe to chew on but did not light it.
“That is before you kill your loved one and cement your training. After that point, there is no going back, though you can still be put in your normal state, the other personality has the ability without the key phrase to switch,” Jareth commented as if this was not what Lyra would be going through. “I have contacts with other mind masters, but I need his code book. We are both in luck as I was meant to be the finishing touch for my nieces while one of you was meant to be for Lyra, so we have time to work.”
“Do you have any way to find him?” Sky sent while taking in the mood of the room.
“I had placed tracking crystals on everyone, but they seemed to have been found and removed when Weaver attacked us while Lyra happened to not be wearing her clothing when she was taken. I am still trying to find his base, but very few agents know where it is, and I destroyed his original base years ago,” Jareth said to Sky.
“How was he able to attack?” Axel had to ask. “Isn't there normally a person paid to defend the inn?”
“Aria can answer that one,” Aria said and held Axel’s hand before saying, “The man was poisoned, then when he went after the person who poisoned him, he was ambushed away from the inn. He was found dead about three streets away this morning.”
Axel nodded but was still bothered by this, as one of the reasons people paid so much for a Flame Seeker inn was that protection from an Expert.
“So, my young friends, I have laid out all the main points of what is going on,” Jareth returned his gaze from the ceiling and looked at each of the people in the room. “I know it will likely be hard to trust me, but our goals are very much in alignment with stopping Weaver. Will you help me stop this sore on a crimson's ass from hurting more people? I wish to save my nieces and avenge my family, but I feel that your help will be needed before the end.”
The group was silent for a time after Jareth's plea, but Aria was the one who broke the silence first with a nod. “To save my missing flock, Aria will work with you, but trust will take some time to be rebuilt. If Aria knew what was going on, she could have taken more countermeasures.”
“I am in as I still owe Lyra for her healing of Star, and she is my friend,” Roran said while leaving the doorway to join everyone in the room.
Sky did not say anything but nodded while releasing an intense wave of determination from her thoughts. At that moment, everyone looked to Axel, but he stayed silent, going over everything that happened over the last few weeks.
“I agree, and I have a good idea where we could gather information, but before that, we need to push to get stronger,” Axel said while closing his fist and squeezing it. “Let’s start planning for our future and any way to get stronger faster.”
At that moment, the Goddess decided to update Axel, Aria, and Sky’s Journals with a new entry. It was an excerpt from Lyra’s Journal of the night of the attack. After reading the entry, this raised the group’s determination higher while giving Jareth his first solid clue on where Weaver’s base was. All from the fact that the Goddess was allowed to communicate with her people for the first time in over six hundred years.
