Ransom Demand: Finale
Miller's Hook
Ashon watched the cornered Tarlonese agent seated in the chair before them.
“The mighty rescuers of young Jaxan now arrive near the end of their journey, faced by the dreaded Tarlonese agent kidnapper. A scion of Vyshta, with a taste for tiim’sucop blood, has drawn her energy as she threatens the plucky trio,” he narrated dramatically, acting out the noble scene.
He scratched his head awkwardly. “Well, I had hoped you would simply release him safe and sound, but it looks like we might have arrived too late for that.” He glanced at Johann and then back toward Abdel.
“Where is the boy, and what have you done with him?" He peered at her searchingly, "or was the bloodshed in Tanso not enough that you hunted down a Broa’soi Jexoff Hyc’oilan over in Mudville to sate it?”
The woman studied him for a moment, mostly too tired to see any mirth in the absurdity of the situation. Then, once Ashon's diatribe was over, she found it. "Well, you're about as smart as you look," she observed, "which is probably to be expected of the people who've bashed and burned their way through this town without much of a thought for its inhabitants."
"We've left those people behind," countered Johann and he, too, had drawn some.
She rose so quickly that they didn't even have time to be alarmed until after it happened. In contrast, she reached for her crutches almost languidly. "Almost like him, really." She shook her head. "He's a timewalker. He was feeding the addicts, begging for those forward-thinking Consoi to blind him." She let out a snort. "Leaving them to deal with the fallout, too, and me to try to heal them." She took a few steps, glancing over her shoulder at Ashon and Johann evaluatively. "Then he ran into his product - and the biggest one he'd made, quite fittingly - and went qarii duul pa tesh.* I knocked him out before he could tear anybody limb from limb." She glanced down at her stump ironically. "But, sure, you're the hero of the story." Her gaze levered back up to meet Ashon's, all but ignoring Johann. "Go bring him back to that plucky bunch of good guys calling themselves 'Resistance'." She all but rolled her eyes.
Ashon spread his arms wide. “Vyshta smiled on us in fortune after all. He is safe and sound, being returned to us,” he announced with a broad smile.
“We're here on behalf of his parents. Some opportunistic bandits severed a man's finger and sent it to them, demanding ransom money.” He shook his head. “Grisly business, I dare say.” He put his hands together and performed the 'missing finger' trick, then shock as he feigned an inability to return it, then shook it to normalcy.
“Though next time, instead of kidnapping. You knock him out and stick him in a hospital. They have these special hay-padded rooms for the frenzied ones. Then you can return to have your Ypti’saluuv.”
"Thanks for the advice, doctor." She motioned with her chin and began leading them towards the back of the home, where stairs waited. "But there aren't exactly a lot of places equipped to handle him here in Mudville, and the only one close enough is full of his victims." She turned to face them at the top of the stairs and shook her head tightly. "That brings us to his parents. You said you're working for them, right?"
It was about this time that Xiuyang burst through the open door, out of breath, leaving Oksana and Seviin to contend with their impromptu little tour guide, and Abdel to either approve of her intervention or not, consequences be damned. "...Jamboi, wait..!" she panted, her hand reaching out toward the pair of yasoi with drawn energies that had spurred her to quick and reckless action. "Jaxan... haa... was never kidnapped. He ran away on his own..!" she wheezed. Catching her breath, she tried on a reassuring look as her eyes met Thantra.
For Xiuyang, there was no escaping how the situation looked. Jaxan had been subdued—the evidence was all around her—and Jamboi, bless his soul, was about to follow a possibly hostile stranger into a basement. If this had been the Colas, she would have called out the situation for what it obviously was. Yet, she... wanted to believe that it wasn't. Thantra was a good person, if any shred of what she'd been told today was true. For the girl who always seemed to see the worst possible outcome first in any given situation, it felt unnatural, but... she would trust this woman.
To atone for the sin of denying what is good and beautiful in the world, and seeing only what is evil and wretched—she would try harder to see.
"Thantra has been looking after him, making sure he stays out of trouble." She looked at Ashon as she proposed her theory. Then, she looked at Thantra. "In fact, she's a bit of a missing person's case, herself. Saydii and the others were worried about you, too, you know?"
“They were concerned about their precious little Jaxan,” Ashon said, rocking his arms as if cradling a baby. “The boy had been swaddled up in their branches and never faced the dangers of the big bad world, especially the encircling predators who wanted an easy target. Another spoiled Broa’soi. Perhaps we should encourage Papa Osmax to stiip’posh him after the mess he caused.” As he made the appropriate gesture.
He then booped Xiuyang on the nose as she arrived after her dramatic revelation. “Thanks for the heads-up, Inquisitive Explorer,” he said with a wide, cheeky grin and a wink. “He wanted to stick it to the big bad Tarlonese and lost to the first one he came across. What a sad day indeed.”
Oksana followed after Xiuyang and Seviin into the building at a more measured pace. If there was going to be a brawl, it would have happened by now, and it would have stopped when the other two intervened.
As they approached Ashon and the other woman, Oksana stood next to Johann. She held the picture up beside Thantra, comparing the drawn red-headed girl to the one at the other side of the room, and pointed at it as she looked toward the man.
At Ashon's answer, Thantra was about to respond, but she paused, for there was now the sound of someone bustling in and, a moment later, shouting. Her eyes widened and she took a half-step back, nearly falling down the stairs before feeling nothing beneath her crutches and catching herself. Shaken and incredulous, she glanced between Ashon and the newly-arrived Xiuyang. Moments later, a second yasoi woman hurried through the door.
"I - Saydii. God...spax!" Thantra pursed her lips. "And Mother Gracie?" She looked pained, but she did not release the energy she'd drawn - not yet. "Tell them I'm sorry," she addressed Xiuyang. "He went jamspax and then both the Tarlonese and the Resistance were looking for a 'one-legged woman with red hair' and those aren't exactly on special at Volta's." Her eyes flicked between them once more. "You wanna come down? You wanna take a look?"
"Very much, suunei." Seviin glanced at Xiuyang and offered a small supportive smile. She sought out Ashon as well with her eyes.
"It's not a trap," Thantra promised. "I'm Tarlonese, but I'm no ensa'thriip." She paused. "Apple seller." She motioned with her chin, clearly antsy, and turned to take a step down the stairs.
Johann leaned in. His eyes flicked between the drawing and Thantra, and then over to Oksana. He pursed his lips as they completed their circuit a couple more times. He didn't nod. In fact, he seemed to give no reaction at first. Then, Oksana would see him raise a hand slowly and make an OK gesture.
He smiled. "Do we trust her?" he mouthed in Oksana's direction, saying not a word.
"Can we really be sure that he wanted to join the resistance? All we had last I knew were the words of some... street kids," Xiuyang chose a more polite term as she replied to Ashon.
Then, she addressed Thantra. "Mother Gracie too, yes. We're neither Tarlon or resistance, so please be at ease. I'm not here to take him away if he doesn't want to go. I just want to talk to him." She made to follow her down the stairs.
Oksana simply looked towards him and shrugged her shoulders at the comment. She gestured back out the door, referencing some of their missing members. "Trust anyone?" she queried, her brow furrowed.
It was late in the hours of Dorrad as they headed down the stairs, Thantra going first, the sound of her footsteps melding into the cacophony of the others, thumping and creaking as they hustled down.
They reached the bottom and there stood a door. Thantra raised a hand. "Be very careful," she warned, twisting to look their way. "There are aberrations everywhere." She shook her head. "It's one of the reasons I've had to keep him restrained. The couple time's he's woken up, he's also been saying outright crazy things." She pursed her lips and turned back, pushing open the door and raising her stump. "I think he must've taken one by accident." She conjured a soft beacon of light at the end of it and headed through. Seviin, also, conjured a flickering pulse in one of her palms and followed.
There, in the basement, on a mattress, lay Jaxan. He was about sixteen or seventeen, with shoulder-length brown hair and a bruise on one cheek. He'd been smart enough to ditch his fine clothes, at least, for he looked like any other urchin.
"Hold!" cried Thantra, as Johann nearly walked into an aberration, and he nodded gratefully her way and took a step to dodge it. The Tarlonesewoman came to a stop and crouched low beside him, leaning on the mattress and sliding into a sitting position at its corner after a moment. "They're coming for him," she said, "The Tarlonese, the Resistance, his parents - he's especially hostile to those, and nobody seems to care very much about what he needs."
She drew her single long leg up until her knee rested against her chest. Her right arm wrapped around it while her left reached out and fixed Jaxan's hair. "Listen, I know you have your orders and it's probably for the best, but this kid's lost. He's a privileged little prat who craves affirmation much too hard and doesn't understand the consequences of his actions on the little people." She regarded them all steadily. "He'll get it from anywhere and he's... vulnerable." She glanced down at him. "I say this as one myself, you know - or at least a recovering one."
"There's a girl there I don't know. Johann shrugged. "Abdel is... rough with people but useful. The others?" He paused, brow furrowed, as they started walking. "Well, we can trust them to fuck up, I think."
Then, they were down and he was nearly stumbling into an aberration. Where the others' lights were arcane things: soft and refined, his was a crackling conjuration of chemical magic, casting a flicking orange glow across the room. There were at least four other aberrations aside from the one that had nearly surprised him, and an unpleasant feeling in the air that was starting to give him a headache...
Ashon squatted down, looking at the figure. “Well, what he needed was the removal of a silver spoon from a young age,” he said, folding his arms as he gave the boy a once-over. “It’s clear he’s out of control. Last time I saw a scene like this, the occupant was blinded and put in a bird cage surrounded by the wretched,” he gestured towards the surrounding aberrations.
He looked at Thantra. “He wouldn’t have it as easy as you,” he said, scratching underneath his eye. “With the seers, you have the lapses, the flashbacks, the jumps, never mind the visions on top of that. They’re always a little bonkers as a result," he twirled a finger against his head. “And if they get addicted, they’ll lose their sanity completely. They’re their own dealer,” he gestured a gun shooting toward his own head.
“I’ve got some experience with their kind,” he continued. “They were raising me to be a handmaiden for one,” he waved the statement away. “Dereliction of duty, ran away, yadda yadda, but I can tell you this is one jam’spax of a situation.” He crossed his arms. “Unless he has a strong purpose and will, perhaps putting him in the care of another would be the best outcome for him.”
Thantra nodded along as Ashon spoke, but then she stopped. "You're one of us, aren't you?" she said, and it was more observation than question. She pulled her knee in tighter and offered a faint smile and a shrug. "Unlike him and basically anyone from down south, we, in Tarlon, are trained to harness our powers in the name of the Fatherland." She let out a snort, conjuring a tiny white aberration in the palm of her hand before closing it and snuffing the thing out.
"You're right about the situation. That's probably why he's gone to the Resistance." She narrowed her eyes. "But do you - " She let her other arm fall away from her knee, and her leg stretched out in front of her as she gestured towards the entire group. "All of you - think that's best based on what you know?"
Xiuyang was obviously unsettled by the presence of aberrations, but forced herself to follow. For a while she just listened, letting the yasoi speak on the matters they knew better than her. Instead, she occupied herself tending to Jaxan, looking for anything she could do to help him. She'd just healed the bruise on his face when Thantra posed her question.
"I don't think he hates his parents. I think he hates the silver spoon," she countered. "He wants to help the refugees, same as me, right? ...When I was a girl, there was an illness spreading near our family home in eastern Torragon. I grew up watching people get sick and die. I couldn't do anything for them, but I would sneak out sometimes and just... be there for them. I heard many awful deathbed confessions and regrets. When my father found out what I was doing, he was furious, of course."
She let the story settle for a moment before getting to the point. "I know what it's like to grow up surrounded by a purpose, a just cause, and be unable, forbidden, or unsupported by family in doing it. 'For our own good.' For people like me, that gilded cage of undeserved comfort and affection is miserable. The silver spoon of privilege is a sweet, well-intentioned poison that slowly kills us inside. ...but it is preferable to living in an actual cage, forced to make... those things." She scowled. "...Ideally, they should talk. My father and I spoke of many things we should have years ago, after I survived my own... kidnapping. ...For us, it took that for me to really know how precious I was to him." She frowned.
“You think I’d be here without my snazzy blindfold and robes?” Ashon scratched his nose, rolling up a booger as he looked back at her. “So, two renegade timewalkers on the run.” He wiped the booger on Jaxan’s tunic.
“What do you propose? To take him under your wing as your apprentice? Set up a Consoi Academy for gifted individuals, teaching them how to be responsible with their powers?” He pumped his fist into his hand. “You know, that idea isn’t terrible. The great Jamboi’Ismax strikes gold once again.”
Johann nodded along with much of what Xiuyang was saying. Momentarily, he twisted to... fix his tangled satchel and then investigate the shape of one of the aberrations.
"I've no desire to play the saviour." Thantra shook her head and she may have just been replying to both Xiuyang and Ashon. "It's a thankless fuckin' job." Her eyes shifted between the pair and she scowled when the latter went to wipe a loogie on Jaxan. She looked about to say something to Xiuyang, but then she shrugged as if to dismiss the thought. These people didn't seem bad, but they also didn't need to know her past.
"Thing is," she continued, "I don't know if he's safe anywhere. The resistance wanna use him." She ticked one item off on her fingers. "The hax'olop wanna stop them and will just view him as a tool or a worthless addict if they can't 'fix' him." She counted another and regarded Ashon and his antics with a snort. "I think you need to learn as much as you want to teach, and his parents..." She trailed off, tongue momentarily darting out to wet dry lips as she considered. Her hand fell back to her side. "Most of what he said was incoherent. It didn't make a lot of sense." She shook her head tightly. "But he seemed really adamant that his parents shouldn't find him."
It was at about that moment that Seviin interrupted. "He's coming back," she said simply, crouching by his bedside. "Should we help him? she suggested. "Or keep him down?" It was Johann, leaning over the scene with a pensively furrowed brow.
Xiuyang bit her lip, considering. "We can't afford to spend too much time deliberating on what's right or not. It isn't our decision to make in the end anyway, but it's more concerning that everyone and their half-cousin is looking for him and Thantra. We need to get him to the safety of the white walls and the Zenos. Then we can afford to talk."
Ashon moved his arm around Jaxan’s shoulders. “End of the day, the ‘choice’ needs to be his, doesn’t it?” He patted the boy as he looked at the others. “If he wants to be fixed by the hax’olop, sign up with the resistance, or get a good stiip’posh from his parents, it’s down to him. He may simply want to go on a journey and find his place in the world that way.” He shrugged his own shoulders. “He has the capability to make an unwise decision and face the consequences that come with it. Don’t you, Jaxan?” He licked his pinkie and twisted it against his ear to help wake the boy up.
"You might not want to be doing -"
Jaxan twitched and his eyes fluttered open. At the sound of Thantra's voice, they fixed upon her.
"- That."
A phenomenal burst of kinetic force slammed into the ginger-haired woman and she tumbled back, somehow absorbing it all without any serious injury. She was strong.
"Joith!" he shrieked. "Joith'a tox et!"
He scrabbled back, eyes wide and wild and, if he at least seemed lucid, he did not appear entirely right either. His gaze fluttered frantically between the people in the dim room and he took in the humans. "Who are you?" he demanded. "Why are you with this Tarlonese taca!?" He began trying to stand. Thantra rose as well, a weary sort of anger on her face.
"You're safe, Jaxan! We came because we were worried about you," Xiuyang replied simply at first, holding her hands up in a disarming gesture. "We were sent to protect you from the people who are after you," she calmly explained, leaving out the part about bringing him home for now to avoid making him panic. "We can prove it if you need us to." And they could. After all, they had the money his parents gave them.
Abdel did still have the money on him, didn't he?
Ashon simply shrugged as he sat back and let the others take the lead initially, and spoke up after they were done.
“Your parents are paying for your safe return, the Resistance is missing their newest recruit, the Hax’olops want to snatch you, and this one…” he jerked his thumb back toward Thantra, “wants you to stop being a poca and spreading your spax all over the place.” He pointed to the aberrations that surrounded them. “I would recommend you stop that at least, as it’s the fastest way to end up blinded, shoved in a cage, and singing for your dinner like a canary down a mineshaft.”
He gestured wide with his arms, in a reverent manner before Jaxan, “So, what is the path you see before you, young seer?”
Elsewhere...
Elsewhere, a young woman walked through a gate. She walked through it and disappeared on the other side. She had sensed what was happening elsewhere.
It had been frustrating. Dory might've been able to do something were it not for Lunara – were it not for Ashon, Seviin, Xiuyang, and all of the other bleeding hearts who consistently impeded her efforts. Their relentless moralizing had been a constant thorn in her side. Abdel and Johann had been weak-kneed too. Ethical conflicts when it came to disgusting criminals like that was laughable.. This was a thankless endeavour, after an attempt at questioning some locals had led precisely nowhere, Dory's patience had worn thin. She had decided she was done with it.
Dory had her own agendas and, while she had made some progress towards them during this mess,it hadn't been as much as she'd hoped. Each step forward had been met with resistance, stymied at nearly every turn by obstacles and the meddling of her so-called allies. Perhaps she could've taken Lunara, but she did not. Instead, another idea had occurred to her when she'd sensed what had to have been the final payoff.
After a little while the girl found the home she had arrived at her destination. A small part of her was still rather amused by the fact she was working with them, but when a task is at hand Dory is not above working with the scallywagging long-ears. She proudly reported to the couple the progress.
She soon after left accompanied with familiar faces. Talthan and his wife Emenii, along with two other yasoi that seemed to have joined them after hearing the parents’ their plea. As a group they marched towards the commotion, led by the girl they employed. Jaxan will be in secure hands soon.
Jaxan's eyes darted about, taking in the multiple figures in the room. "I...ugh." He sat up, nodding at Ashon and Xiuyang, but then his eyes came to rest on Thantra. A hand shot out, pointing angrily at her. "Her!" he shouted. "All I see is her!" He shook his head. "I was helping the wretched, on my way to join the Resistance when this Tarlonese taca attacked me and -"
"You were feeding addicts with aberrations and tweaking, you fucking loser!" Thantra cut in, rising with a huff. "You ran into your own shit and tried to blow a girl up and I stopped you. Then you attacked me when you woke up and said you'd call the Resistance here to kill me."
"You're lying!" Jaxan erupted, bolting to his feet. "You're a Tarlonese agent and a kidnapper. You think I'm stupid and soft!" he shouted, taking in all of them, "'Cause my parents are rich!" he shook his head, but Thantra spun on her heel, crutches flashing out and nearly striking a couple of people. "You know what? Good luck, all of you. You're a lying piece of shit, Jaxan, and I don't know you can even look yourself in the mirror." She put foot in front of crutches and started to stalk away. "You and the Resistance fucking deserve each other."
"You think I didn't talk to your apple seller?" he shouted at her back, having to be restrained by one of the visitors. "Didn't pretend to be interested?"
She paused for a second, midstep, but shook her head tightly and continued toward the stairs.
"You think he didn't tell me to find the one-legged woman?"
Xiuyang stood between them, caught in the crossfire of their heated argument. As far as she knew, Jaxan was lying—Mother Gracie's story backed up what Thantra was saying—but, would it be for the best, if Jaxan was in a paranoid state, to bring that up?
Then, she heard what might be a saving grace. "Wait a minute. There are several one-legged yasoi women running around. My sources tell me Thantra is a neutral. Are you sure you're not confusing her for someone else?" she tried. As the seconds ticked by, she fought away the urge to check her pocket watch, keeping her focus on Jaxan instead. "Regardless, we need to leave. We're sitting ducks in this basement and we need to get you somewhere safe. Is there some reason why you can't trust your parents?" she offered empathetically.
Johann gave Oksana a prompt, as if on cue, as the girl inched closer. She brought out her incredible drawing of not one, but two girls. She recalled what Seviin and Xiuyang had said to her earlier. Moving her finger from the red-haired girl to the one with brown hair, missing a leg on the opposite side, she explained, "She met with Yasoi with white hair.” She prodded firmly on the page at the brunette, emphasising her point.
Jaxan whirled. "So you're telling me there's a second one-legged bitch?" He looked incredulous, eyes darting towards Thantra's back, but then Johann was urging Oksana forward and she thrust her drawing into Jaxan's field of vision. "I..." He clicked his jaw shut, gaze flicking once more at Thantra, who'd turned at the foot of the stairs, barely visible. "Fuck," he hissed, clenching both his teeth and his fists. He looked Ashon's way as well. "I... listen. I'm sorry, okay. Fuck. I bet they knew. I bet they were setting me up, and you. They don't like dissenters."
"They try to bring us back in or, if not, they threaten our families back home," said Seviin, standing straight and stiff.
"But I'm not gonna end up in a cage - not if the Resistance needs me. I'll work on my abilities. I'll learn how to see through time. I... see myself doing it."
Thantra, who'd come tentatively back in, had stopped beside Oksana and was stifling a burst of laughter at the drawing that felt almost incongruous, so in contrast was it to the heightened tension in that basement.
"My parents," Jaxan continued, belatedly addressing both Ashon's and Xiuyang's questions, "I don't trust them because I've seen into the future: I've seen them fight against the Resistance, fight against me."
Then, Johann's voice cut in. "Xiuyang was right. I'm getting something from Abdel. Unknowns approaching: six, male, yasoi." He looked up just as Ashon began to receieve the same message. "I don't think we should be waiting here."
Xiuyang flashed Oksana a smile as she listened to Jaxan speak. "Okay, but... How far into the future? And why?" she prodded. She didn't seem to want to believe what she was hearing; she was dealing with complicated emotions of her own. All of those were put aside when she heard Johann's voice, though. Immediately, she made for the stairs, checking her hips for something hidden.
Ashon stood up and did a stretch, “Well, the boy can see the future and made up his mind.”
“Now tell me do ya, do ya have any money?”, he placed his hand around the boys shoulder. “All these yanii have been tearing up the place on your behalf to make sure you are nice and safe for a big handful of it.” He gestured a big filled coin purse in his hand, “If you want to do them a solid, as they want to do the right thing here, allow them to escort you back. Spin your folks a story, so they get their pats on their back and pockets full of silver. Then after that, you can find yourself Cryin’ in no time.”
"Or, you can trust the good will of the Welcoming Party heading this way."
Jaxan's eyes darted between Xiuyang, Ashon, and the others. "Cud!" he swore, "Spax spax spax!" He gritted his teeth and held his wrists out like a prisoner waiting to be cuffed, expression one of martyrdom. "Tuutuu, juup'ap." Pained, he squeezed his eyelids shut. (1)
"Ga!" groaned Thantra. "Vyshtii bubbex!" She grabbed him and began pulling him, pausing for a moment to push him into Seviin. "All of you, you're his saviours, luuca?" (2)
Seviin nodded. "Luuca, suunei."
"Liin." She hurried up the stairs, taking them two at a time. The students surrounded Jaxan, bringing him up amid them and, when they reached the top, where light streamed in through half-shuttered windows, they could feel the burgeoning energies of their semi-expected visitors just outside. Creeping up to one and pushing it a sliver open, Johann listened and observed, along with the others. (3)
"Okay, yeah, I get that you're here for Jaxan," Abdel was saying to a group of six yasoi men, "but who are you?" Just in case, Maribet was attempting to translate, looking intensely anxious.
It was at around that moment, from different directions, that Lunara slunk in with Miray, and Talthan'chal'doridax, Emenii'del'doridax, and a handful of escorts arrived... led by Dorothea.
Lunara on noticing Dory was escorting Jaxan's parents, she gave a slight nod, and continued to follow the group of yasoi's she was already following. after the six yasoi men, from a distance she noticed the group stop and talk to another yasoi outside of the building where the energy is emanating from.
Lunara decided to use this distraction to slowly make her way towards them closely followed by Miray, she hoped to hear what they were saying but wasn't sure if she would understand it.
Ashon tapped his chin. “Have you heard the tale of the Return of the Wayward Son?”
He looked between the others. “This is a tale where our boy Jaxan is kidnapped by the so-called Tarlonese Witch, who is actually a very pleasant lady, who is going to hop away with a menacing evil laugh after being thwarted by the heroes. She’ll get a really good head start, and Seviin can follow her in a ‘chase.’ Then, I go outside and have a chat with the nice Yasoi, and send them home Cryin’. The great heroes Johann and Xiuyang deliver Jaxan to his parents, who will sing loudly about how we saved him. They’ll be over the moon and pay us handsomely. Then everyone can go back to their lives with a job well done.”
“Any objections? Suggestions? Improvements?” His eyes scanned the room.
Thantra regarded Ashon through his entire little performance, arms crossed, stump resting on a crutch handle, eyebrow raised sardonically, but she nodded along agreeably enough. At the end, she had only four words to say: "Nan yr: liic nax." She sighed, gripped her crutches, and regarded him, eyes flicking Jaxan's way.
Ashon gave a thumbs up, and planted the big bag of bennies into the palm of her hand, "You can have my share once it is paid."
Seviin also chipped in, "I do not care for worldly things. I make the same offer, suunei."
Xiuyang emerged slowly, taking stock of the new arrivals. The six yasoi were suspicious but non-violent for the moment. Then there was Dory, with Jaxan's parents. Her reaction was mixed: it was a brilliant move, wasn't it? Hadn't she just salvaged this entire situation from the brink of combat? Yet there was a shred of doubt in the back of her mind: were they really Jaxan's parents?
She ducked back behind the door, addressing Jaxan. "They're here. Maybe it's arrogant of me, but I feel like I know what you're going through, in some ways. I used to think my own father didn't really love me. I tried so hard to earn his approval, to prove myself worthy. Please, talk to them—your parents. You can help others and make the world a better place without endangering yourself. Don't do anything reckless. Well... nothing irreversibly reckless, alright?" She caught herself in a bit of hypocrisy and smirked playfully.
Then, she regarded Ashon. "Uh, yeah. Are you going to catch the real one-legged Tarlonese agent and clear her name, or insist she live in hiding forever?" she replied skeptically. "If it were my own father, he wouldn't rest until my kidnapper was dead... barring a few notable exceptions," she added bitterly.
"My parents only care for their idea of me," Jaxan said, with a bitterness that, while bordering on the melodramatic, was also keenly felt, "not the real me - not what I want, not even what's best for the world." He set his jaw. "I'll play along, though."
Xiuyang moved on and Thantra nodded at her words. "Not gonna lie: that'd be nice. Tarlon doesn't exactly love me. Consoi want me dead." She shrugged. "I just wanna be a Tan-Zeno, you know?" Xiuyang smiled at Thantra. "Yeah, me too." She nodded her consent to her terms, and waited for her to execute the plan.
Ashon was offering her money, though, and making a plan that she had only some misgivings about, and time was not something they had. She regarded those around her. "I do want my name cleared," she declared, "And I want your word that, if they try to kill me, you'll step in."
Johann stepped forward. "I pledge the whole of my cash earnings and I will not let them harm you." He bowed chivalrously.
"Right, then." Thantra nodded. She glanced over at Jaxan. "Sorry if I was, uh... rough with you."
"Sorry if I thought you were evil."
The Tarlonese released a snort of mirth and waved him off, grasping her crutches tightly and stalking up to the door. "I'm kind of a tiims'archa here." She twisted about and twitched her stump for a moment, but then she set her jaw, took and deep breath, and focused. "I'll need about three seconds. Longer, and they go after me themselves. Shorter, and you'll catch me in no time."
Meanwhile, as a plan was hatched inside the row house, the two groups standing outside had noticed each other. "You!" shouted Emenii, Jaxan's mother, "Who are you and why are you here?"
The leader of the group of six ignored her and focused, instead, on her husband. "Doridax?" he asked tentatively. "Talthan'chal'doridax?"
"The same. Who's asking?"
"You've supported us in the past," the man answered nebulously, and husband and wife both shot each other looks. "Who's that with you?" His chin motioned at Dorothea, "and the other one who followed us." He jerked a thumb in Lunara's direction.
It was at about that very moment that the door burst open and a one-legged Tarlonese agent came barreling out, hurtling all four steps and landing in a crouch. She ran away with surprising speed - all that she could muster, shouting, "Nar spax, consoi!"
Inside the home, clustered about the door, waited the others. Johann held three fingers up and counted down.
Three.
Two.
One.
Seviin bolted through to sell the idea and Johann raised a hand once more.
Three.
Two.
One.
...
The Chase
Lunara on seeing that she was pointed at just gave them a smile and waved until the one-legged yasoi came bursting out of the door, quickly followed by Seviin. She noticed that Seviin was going alone and shouted to her. "Seviin do you want some help? Are you sure it's ok for you to follow her alone?"
Ahead of Niallus he sensed two people coming towards him. From a long distance, the first looked like they had a jolly hop in their step. The second, it felt familiar to him, but he wasn't too sure on why. He slowed his pace to that of a light jog, waiting to get a look at the two as they come past. However he was curious about the latter, and who that familiar energy belonged too.
Elsewhere, Thantra raced through the narrow streets at a breakneck pace... at least by her standards. Seviin gained slowly on her and Lunara even more so. She blew past Niallus and, when he spotted the other two, it was clear that they were chasing a bad guy who was trying to make her escape through the Seagate. In the distance, he could sense at least three more yasoi starting to give chase, but they were well back.
The one-legged woman was almost within his reach this very moment. She slowed momentarily at the foot of a apartment above a shop. A kinetically powered lunge would nab her! Otherwise, he'd fall behind as well.
Lunara, meanwhile had gained ground with surprising ease. Seviin was surprisingly slow, hardly even gaining on a monoped! Then, the yasoi reached an arm out. "She's on our side. It's a trick," she panted, still running. Meanwhile, Thantra leapt onto a low-lying awning, clambered onto a windowsill, and took off across the roof of a house.
Seeing the Yasoi run slash hop past him, she was remarkably agile. But his attention shifted to the second person, It was Seviin, then Lunara and her Goma Cat. Something was off, if she wanted to catch the other Yasoi why didn't she shout Niallus to help, unless she doesn't, he'll have to ask as she comes past.
As Seviin started to get closer to him, he matched both hers and Lunaras pace. "Funny running into you two like this. Are we trying to catch this person?" He asked Seviin as he watch Thantra climb to the rooftops.
Seviin, breathless, turned to Niallus, slipping her arm under his, for they were the exact same height. "Niallus, moila." She reached for Lunara's arm as well. "Lunii suunei." She slowed them both down. "It's all a trick. She's good people, trying to do the right thing, and I think we have, today."
Thantra bounded from one rooftop to the next, but all of her pursuit seemed to have fallen off. She slowed. She slid down an eavestrough, and dropped to the ground. There, she dusted herself off, rose, and walked over to the Seagate, finally free.
Niallus raised a brow a bit confused by this, but then again, he has been gone for a while. "Ok, I trust you." going along with what his friend has mentioned to him. "You'll have to catch me up on whats happened." He asked her, as the group slowly came to a stop.
Upon hearing what Seviin was saying Lunara nodded with it, she placed a finger and her thumb to her mouth and whistled.
In the direction where Thantra ran off to, a small head bobbed itself up, hearing the whistle. It was Miray, it seemed that even though her master and company slow down, Miray did not. She climbed down from the roof that she got onto ready to chase Thantra, upon coming down she stopped in front of Lunara "That’s enough chasing." she said, giving Miray head scratches. Miray began to purr, after Lunara finished petting her cat, it seemed that Miray was in an affectionate mood, rubbing herself on Lunara, Seviin and Niallus' legs, purring.
Resolution
Ashon came out shortly after and approached the group of Yasoi standing there. “Oh! Reinforcements! Great. I will need you all to come with me while we track her down. We think she is heading to the Seagate to get into Ersand’Enise.”
He nodded his head with a bow toward the parents and gestured firmly toward the merry band of Yasoi, leading them away with him.
Dory squinted her eyes. That was a one-legged yasoi, all right. Soon enough Seviin would follow the hopping one. She decided to let it go as protecting the parents took precedent. In fact, overhearing the group of six speak to the father grabbed her attention. The noble raised an eyebrow. ”Acquaintances of yours, Herr Doridax?”
Not that it truly mattered, Jaxan took priority over some random folks.
Xiuyang addressed Jaxan once more. "I thought the same of my father. He only seemed interested in having me take over the family company. It was only after I was rescued from my own kidnapping that I saw how wrong I was." She squeezed his shoulder. "I'm not going to dictate what I think is right or wrong to you. I'm just concerned, and not just because I'm getting paid. Whatever you decide to do, be certain of it. If you aren't, take some time to think it over. You can't make both an emotional decision and a smart one." With that, she led him out the door and toward the father, wary eyes on the six strangers.
"Ashon, Miret, Mycan," called the leader of the resistance, "Go with him. Bag her at any cost." He turned towards Ashon before the youth could depart and while Talthan and Emenii were being spoken to by Dory. "Juup joi muul juu lex?" he said in Hyparian. (1)
Jaxan's parents, meanwhile, twisted to regard the Feskan. "vorgetäuschte Bekanntschaften," said Emenii. "Sie sind diejenigen, die unseren Sohn mitnehmen. Wir müssen sie aus... offensichtlichen Gründen aufhalten," added Talthan, narrowing his eyes.
Jaxan seemed less than thrilled to go over to his parents, but he nodded, at least willing to consider Xiuyang's words. For a moment, he looked at her, an unspoken world passing between them. "Thanks, huh?" He collected himself. "I... probably look like a selfish prat," he murmured, at a volume none but she could likely hear, "but I'm not changing my mind either. Our people need to fight and my parents will never fight. They just hand over some money and smuggle a few things on their ships so they can stay in the know."
He reached out her hand to shake it and then he was smiling and grateful and everything his parents might've hoped for. The transformation was simply jarring. there was no other way to put it. "Aluu," he said to his father. "Aloi," he greeted his mother.
Xiuyang shook Jaxan's hand. "If you are, I suppose that makes two of us." There was both disappointment and empathy in her eyes. As she let go of him, she slipped something small into his pocket before stepping behind him to let him and his parents speak freely. She remained nearby in case her support was needed, but her focus seemed to shift to the chase leading toward the Seagate, as she once again checked her pocketwatch.
Ashon stuck his thumb up and winked as he commented further, “The Doridax pay good money. Their son is precious, so do well, and they might give you a bonus. The Hax’olop won’t wait for the saplings to sprout.” He clapped his hands with his palms cupped to get their attention.
He gestured encouragingly and insistently for them to come with him.
Dory nodded in response to Talthan's words. "Ah, das habe ich mir schon gedacht." She chuckled before looking over at the yasoi that addressed her employer. "Was sollen wir mit ihnen tun? Sie erst einmal gehen lassen? Oder Gewalt anwenden?" The cloak was slightly crooked, which caught the girl's eye and adjusted it right away. "Meine Güte, that was a little unladylike of me, huh?" She covered her mouth with her hand, trying to keep the mood as nonchalant as she could.
"Ashon, Miret, Mycan!" the Resistance leader - who Ashon knew as Aras - shouted again, and the trio, just starting to take off, halted abruptly. "You three stay here and keep an eye on things. Chasto, you join them!" The scrambled to make it so and he turned quickly, taking one more of his people, and made to follow Ashon.
Ashon raised an eyebrow as he wanted all of them out of there; however, he led Aras and his plus one aside so they could talk more privately. with appropriate measures.
“Nice that you sent the gang, but we need him to return to his parents, for now,” he said hurriedly. “The yanii want their payday. Once this is completed, it's a job well done, and they will be on their way. Jaxan will act the part and play along with being kidnapped and grateful for being returned home. Then, he will meet up with you all once the coast is clear. He has some big ideals about trying to make a difference in this world.”
“We do, however, have an Ensa’thriip, a yasoi with white hair. They seem to have been hiding in the cola territory. He is working with a yrash girl with brown hair. The red-haired one is a do gooder, she is putting on a performance. The real Tarlonese are after grabbing Jaxan for their own ends.”
Jaxan maintained his smile the entire way through and, when they were done, he reached into his pocket, ran his fingers over the gift, and looked back up at Xiuyang. "I wish we could've gotten to know each other better," he admitted, looking at her awkwardly as he shuffled past. "I think we would've had a lot to talk about."
"Es sieht so aus, als ob der dumme Affe sich für uns um sie kümmert," said Talthan. "Ich glaube, sie schmieden Pläne," added Emeni. "Wir sollten sie im Auge behalten." Her voice lowered. "Do you have any sonic magic?"
Then, however, Jaxan was passing into the arms of his parents, and they rushed forward to embrace him. "Son," said his father, offering a squeeze of the shoulder, even as his mother nearly tackled him. "I am more relieved at your safety than I could every express with words."
"Naxa semprii!" Emenii all-but attacked Jaxan with her love. "Naxa semprii! Joi ya doin! Doin." She breathed into his shoulder, shuddering with tears, not letting him move from her arms. "Elai el'juup joi yash patiir?" Elai el'juup joi juup pa juu luum?" (1)
The runners passed into the hazy edge of Xiuyang's sensing range and would be gone momentarily. Johann stood there with an awkward smile on his face and he suddenly seemed nothing so formidable as he had during yesterday's fight in the warehouse. Instead, he was merely a chubby boy who was lost for words. In any case, Talthan saved him. "You've done good work - all of you - better than we could've asked for." There weren't tears in his eyes, were there? "He's back, safe and sound."
"I'm right here, dad."
"Yes, son. Yes you are." He ruffled the seventeen-year-old's hair fondly, only to have his hand batted away.
"And there is just so much you've missed!" cried Emenii, pinching his ear in fond nagging. Jaxan's face seemed to say nothign so much as "you have consigned me to this hell. You've done this." Talthan nodded both in acknowledgement and in a businesslike manner. "Indeed, puuri." He smiled at his wife. "But first, a Doridax always pays his debts." He smiled at Xiuyang, Dory, and Johann, reaching into his satchel and pulling out four small jewelry boxes, and then five more. These, he somewhat clumsily handed over to the students, not quite sure what to do with his hands. He was going to shake theirs, but then they were full! "Do make sure everyone gets one!" Emenii chirped, eyes darting between the three and with special fondness, to Dorothea.
Aras pursed his lips. "And you couldn't have told me any of this earlier?" he hissed, two of his underlings continuing the chase while he spoke. Presently, he called their names - "Miret! Mycan!"
"Stop!" came the voice that had to be Miret's almost mockingly.
"Vyshtii bubbex," groaned Mycan, turning on his heel. Aras smirked, but then he turned to Ashon again, in seriousness.
“I am not the timewalker; it’s not like I could see this coming.” He smirked in a goofy manner at the comment, giving a light smack against the top of his own head for the terrible joke.
“But this is me telling you the plan as early as I could. Everyone wins, except the parents. Don’t need to see the future to know how pissed they will be.”
"You say that as if this is the last time I'll ever see you. Haven't you learned anything today?" Xiuyang replied with a wink. With that, she'd left him to his overbearing parents. She regarded the pocketwatch one final time before putting it away to receive their well-earned reward.
Jaxan eyed the group with silent loathing. Xiuyang just smirked at him and shrugged her shoulders. Hang in there, her eyes seemed to say. When Talthan approached, her face turned serious. "The ones who sought to profit from your heartbreak are no more," she assured him. "I hope the message we've sent to their ilk will be received clearly."
Aras furrowed his brow. He narrowed his eyes. He did not necessarily trust easily, but the parents had, somehow, managed to get here earlier and pip them at the line. It would've come down to a fight that would've cost both parties and, more importantly, would've meant the end of a potentially useful relationship. If the Doridaxes had always seemed somewhat lukewarm, the fervent belief of their son was nearly as valuable to the Resistance as a tool in winning them over as his... other uses would be more conventionally. "So be it," the elder magus allowed with a sigh. "Perhaps we might even win his parents over truly, and for more than just political posturing." He nodded, trying to digest it. "Thank you for this, moila. You are a true one."
Xiuyang, meanwhile, was receiving gratitude of her own. "Come forward," Talthan commanded. "Embrace me so that all might see my approval." He smiled. "I shall call upon you again soon, perhaps sooner than you think." Momentarily, his eyes flicked in the direction that Thantra had escaped from, but he did not press the matter. Why, this very moment, Seviin was filling Niallus in on all that had happened as they and Lunara walked, arm in arm, back to the others, Miray purring and weaving through their legs. All was - for the time being - well, and perhaps might yet be in the end.
Ransom Demand: Fin.
NOTICE:
On account of recent events, all ships entering and leaving port are subject to random search and inspection until further notice.
No exceptions.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Ransom Demand: Epilogue Zero
The Buona Impresa: one of the Sant'Agata Albignese Trading Company's three most famous ships. Symbolic of one third of the company motto, it was the polar opposite of the fearsome Torragonese Man of War, the Forte Impresa—it was flagship of a fleet of mobile hospital ships dedicated to reducing the spread and casualties of plague within the Ensollian Sea—a symbol of the Solari family's goodwill and desire to improve the lives of all the peoples of Constantia. It was the very ship that delivered Xiuyang to Ersand'Enise. She cast her first spell, a small kinetic wind burst upon its beautiful deck. It was in the lower decks that she shadowed the most renowned binders the Solari family could get their hands on—and in the belly of the ship, she watched sailors compete in mixed martial arts, picked up a few moves, and both won and lost coin betting on the outcomes of the fights. It was a hub for some of the most impactful memories of Xiuyang's childhood.
Now, she watched it burn.
It was not an act of terrorism by the Perrench, or sabotage by an agent of the Arslan-Mercador Trade Company or some other rival. No, it was a simple, tragic accident: improperly stored medical supplies. It was yet another incident in a string of events that served as one more example of the increasing incompetence of the Company, known to hire former prisoners, gangsters, and homeless urchins seeking a new lease on life. At least, that was to be the official story, anyway.
Xiuyang sat upon the nondescript Mudville roof, watching from a distance as her childhood went up in smoke, talented mages of Ersand'Enise struggling to get close and contain the blaze due to the toxic fumes. Exactly as she had planned, the blaze was sudden, violent, and precise. Such a famous ship would be given a wide berth of space, and no other ships would see any damage. Exactly as she had planned, it had acquired the attention of at least one nearby Zeno, whom she couldn't identify from this distance, but their incredible power could always be observed, even felt. Exactly as she had planned, no ships were permitted to leave until the blaze was stopped and investigated. After the revolution, the possibility that such a spectacle as this was an act of terrorism demanded a thorough investigation by some major authorities.
Xiuyang spat. Everything had gone according to plan, except for one aspect: the Colas had not been attempting to escape when the blaze went off. Rather than there being a possibility of apprehending them peacefully as she intended, they had all been killed—with at least one exception, who would now be a loose end that she had to worry about. Just karma, she supposed, not that she wasn't already used to watching her back for things she didn't do. "What a wasted effort. If I wasn't gonna accomplish anything else, I could have done this a week ago."
"You Solaris do so love to kill two birds with one stone," remarked a nearby voice. One which was expected. It was accompanied by the ringing of coins as the man dropped a sizeable sack of them next to Xiuyang, who didn't even turn to regard him. "Your share. Though, the boss extracted a small late fee. Kind of tactless, if you ask me, considering who he's working with. ...Then again, considering who he's working with..." His voice trailed off as he left Xiuyang, ostensibly to cope with the betrayal of her own family.
She continued to sit there on the roof, eyes locked on to the flames, contemplating recent events. Mentally, she tossed her worries and regrets atop the distant blaze. Everything she had confessed in tears to Seviin after the fact. All of her concerns regarding her relationship to her own family. All of her doubts about the world and her role in it. Two years of struggles, to find friends and a place of belonging at Ersand'Enise, to manage her reputation, even as the Perrench now slandered her name, and to ensure a future of lucrative employment and personal wealth that might soothe her fears about her future, and whether or not Ciro might commit to being a part of it. Two years of emotional baggage, all up in smoke in the aftermath of the execution of what was supposed to be her grand plan—but ended up being someone else's grand plan which was laid out for her instead. "...I'm tactless, is that it?" Xiuyang smirked as she pondered to herself. "Or is it that I'm soon to be no longer a Solari?" She cackled dryly at the idea. Salome Volta. It does roll off the tongue quite nicely, she thought privately.
"He's a fool, as are they all," commented another nearby voice as a sonic bubble dropped.
"Father," Xiuyang greeted stiffly, seeing through the facemimicry immediately.
"Did they take the bait?" he replied. Xiuyang lifted up the sack of coins in lieu of a reply. "Well done, Salome. You played your part well." Gingerly, he lowered himself next to his daughter, and stroked her hair. "I should apologize. The news you received in ReTan must have shocked you."
Xiuyang allowed the man to pet her head. It still felt unnatural to receive any manner of praise or apology from him. She never could tell if he was being sincere, or merely fulfilling his obligations as a parent. There were many things she wanted to say—many emotions she wanted to let out, and had done so privately to Ciro—but for now, she snuffed them out. "You're terrifying, you know that? Even the Twin Emperors seemed to think I was being disowned."
"I needed to verify the integrity of my channels," came the response Xiuyang expected. "—and weed out the spies among our shareholders. Giving a close member of the family cause to betray me seemed the best way to lower their guard," he explained.
Just 'a close member of the family?' I'm your fucking daughter! Your youngest flesh and blood! Xiuyang silently fumed. "...It is our ruthlessness that makes us strong, father. It's why we Solaris are on top." She forced the words from her mouth. "Right you are. I'm glad you're beginning to understand." He put an arm around her shoulder tenderly. Xiuyang leaned her head against his arm, trying her best not to show any discomfort. There they would remain, for "just long enough," whatever that might have been. Only, it continued to drag on a moment longer. "How are things between you and Ciro?" he suddenly inquired.
Ah, of course. Now, it was time to talk about marriage. It was nearly the year of Ipte, after all. Truthfully, there was nothing Xiuyang wanted to do less than discuss ways to "convince Ciro" to put a ring on her. "I actually wanted to speak with him as soon as possible. Our stock price is about to crash, and I'd like him to take the place of one of those men we just encouraged to leave." Cosimo nodded. "I think bringing him into the fold is a fine idea. Go. You must be eager to tell him of the success of your mission." His hand slid down her arm, letting her go and bringing her some much-needed relief.
Xiuyang wasted no time in leaping from the roof and slipping into the nearby alleys. In truth, she had brought her magic mirror with her, and hoped to speak with Ciro while she watched it all burn—but now, she was robbed of that opportunity. She had kept the mirror a secret from her family, and would continue to do so. In lieu of a view from the rooftops, a convenient dressing room would have to suffice. Or perhaps, he might conclude a business meeting soon, and meet her halfway? She chose to uplift her dour mood by considering the various places they might arrange a rendezvous. Cradling her bag, her eyes sparkled with increasingly rare joy. While she had been counting her misfortunes, the gods had been busy lining up blessings for her. From Ipte, a true love in Ciro. From Shune, the wisdom to know herself. From Oraff, a treasure of a friend in Seviin. From Eshiran, courage to confront her darker nature. From Dami, the freedom to start on a new path.
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