Wrathborne

by EsotericPhantasm

Chapter 4. Keep Calm and...

Quinoa briskly trotted into the room before the door closed again in the same manner as it had opened. I wish I could put our upcoming discussion on hold so I could see if I could copy opening the door with magic. Usually the best way to learn something is to copy someone. It’s how everyone learns at first from speaking to walking and progressing to writing and math.

That would have to wait as I was about to have an exchange of words with the one responsible for my current situation. Fortunately, I had had time to mentally prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Whether going home was possible or even on either side of the spectrum was up for debate.

As soon as our eyes met she got right to it.

“I trust you’ve had time to consider your situation,” Quinoa started before I had a chance to begin. I was glad since I was having a hard time coming up with what to say.

“Yes. However; I’m not even sure at this point what I should do or whether you can even send me back where I came from,” I calmly stated before my expression hardened a bit. “You do realize you snatched me from not only my country but also my home world? Or did you not consider that whoever you got from your little summoning would not be upset by something like that,” I questioned.

She had the decency to look a little a little self-conscious at my accusations before gaining a look of determination and continuing, “Let me explain. The magic we used to bring you here is experimental and incomplete. While we tried to account for every variable for what we needed we didn’t have time to divine exactly what we needed. In simple terms we tried to call a being capable of ending this war we find ourselves in and one who would be friendly and willing to help us.”

She paused for a moment looking off to the side as if considering something. I didn’t try to interject as she seemed like she had more to say.

Looking back at me Quinoa resumed her dialogue, “It appears that you may become friendly and willing to help us since I don’t see why that part of the spell would have failed completely, although it wasn’t taken into account that you wouldn’t be right off the bat. At least you’re being civil about this.”

I had to smirk at that. Sure, at least they hadn’t gotten some sort of raging monster that decided to tear through them and finish what the minotaurs started.

Quinoa then closed her eyes and breathed in deeply before saying, “I’m sorry for what we’ve done since it was without your consent.” She opened her eyes which now held slight concern within them. “You don’t know how desperate we are the moment. If it helps, you don’t have to worry about any kind of compulsion or mind control magic tied to your summoning. I actually did have to convince my colleagues not to incorporate anything like that into the summoning spell since it may make things worse. What with our enemies subverting many of our magicks it was foolish, and of course how would that endear you towards us on top of that. Plus, if we can’t at least retain some ethics I’m not sure if we deserve to win.”

I relaxed slightly and gave an actual smile with that last bit of information. I didn’t have to worry about my mind being hijacked somehow by arcane means, or at least from the summoning. The practical part of it convinced me more than the idealist part. While it would be great if idealism could always prevail it was often sacrificed in order to win. War was never pretty. It’s war after all. She was probably laying it all bare as much as possible since someone that could help them would be no fool.

My slight upturn in demeanor seemed to put a spark of hope into Quinoa’s eyes. I knew her whole goal here right now was to convince me to fight for them. It wouldn’t do for me to fall for any manipulations on her part, but for now she seemed sincere enough. Still, trust but verify.

“While I appreciate that I won’t have to worry about such things as direct mind control I still would like to know, if I asked you to would you send me back right now,” I queried. Let’s see if I can test that idealism of yours that you claim to have.

My question actually seem to make Quinoa appear conflicted. There was definitely a war raging in her head but what kind I couldn’t say. It was most likely she had an answer she knew I wouldn’t like and was trying to come up with a way to deliver it while trying to gain my good graces.

“Well,” she began a little hesitantly, “as I said before, the spell we used to bring you here was new and incomplete. Even if we could redevelop it to send you back where you came from we don’t have time for that. It took weeks of work that was built on decades of research and experimentation. We only have a few days or even less before our enemies break through the next layer of defenses. Even if we were given months there is still no guarantee.”

So that’s it then. I couldn’t think of a way to work around that. I was stuck. Whether she was lying or even just omitting information I had no way of telling. I was practically forced to give her the benefit of the doubt. At least for now. I could possibly try to call her bluff, but even in the likelihood of exposing her it wouldn’t get me anywhere since I still needed them to get me home.

If she was telling the truth I may be stuck here for possibly years at the least. It’s been my experience that everyone underestimates the time it will take to complete something. With the way she was talking about the spell they used it was highly likely they had cut corners or at least done patchwork in order to meet their deadline.

I couldn’t blame them for it, well I could, but it still meant there was no easy way out of this. Even if I decided to just sit here until the war was over I could likely get caught in the crossfire, and even barring that the other side would most likely take me as a prisoner.

That’s it then. My best course of action for the moment is to help them win a war. Perhaps I could learn to live here. It’s not like anything back home could compare to being able to use magic. At least, I most likely could since I can see it. Maybe I could eventually return to Earth and still use magic. I’ll cross that bridge if I ever get to it.

I resigned myself to the future and whatever greatness that had and may be thrust upon me. Then in both thought and disposition I grinned, “It seems I have almost no choice in the matter. Let’s go win that war.”

Both Sweet Dreams and Quinoa were elated at me saying that. It worried me that things were that bad for someone like me to give them hope. I’ll need them to explain the entire situation to me soon. That and getting something to eat, although I didn’t really feel hungry.

As I moved to stand up, Midna opened her eyes.

Comments

[EsotericPhantasm]

6569183 Your wish is granted.

Thanks for reading.

[EsotericPhantasm]

6376743 Your wait is over.

[EsotericPhantasm]

6363788 Nah it was a Jackalope. But good guess.

[EsotericPhantasm]

6362978

Thanks. I'm sure you will find things I will introduce to the community to be interesting. Please let me know if I mess up though. A story at least needs to be self-consistent.

6368965

I appreciate the vote of confidence. I guess I do have enough ideas in me to flesh out the past as a series than a side note like in most stories, which is kind of what I had in mind from the beginning.

[Phobos]

I LOVE IT!

[EsotericPhantasm]

6721001 I'm glad

[Effectivekill]

I eagerly await more

[Ephedianroyalty]

Dangit, it’s dead

[TearingNose24]

MMMORE!

[Gizmo Gear]

These are blatantly tortuous cliffhangers.........