Octophobia
patreon
Spire's Spite - Arc 2 - Chapter 52
🕑 Added 2024-11-03 02:00:02 +0000 UTC"What!?" Fritz, Toby and Bert cried in unison, staring at the young woman.
"I said: I'm with child," Jane repeated, blushing furiously and wrapping her arms around her stomach protectively.
Fritz and Bert looked to Toby incredulously, his face had gone as pale as a sheet and he started to stammer.
"Wa-wa-what!?" He finally enunciated.
"You heard," she said, getting redder by the second.
"You weren't taking precautions?" Lauren asked agitatedly. "The herbs are cheap, far cheaper than a child."
"Cheap or not we can't afford them," Jane protested.
"You went into a Spire in your condition, what if you got hurt?" Lauren fumed, apparently taking this obvious lie seriously.
"I didn't know. I wasn't sure until a couple of days ago," Jane admitted.
"If you didn't know for sure, that means you suspected earlier," Lauren insisted. "How long?"
"I was late, before I got my Path, a week or two before I'd even seen the inside of a Spire," Jane near whispered to Lauren. "At first I thought it was just from not being able to eat enough. And then, in the Spire, I thought it was all the fear and danger. But now I've started getting sick in the mornings, and that's one of them signs."
Lauren huffed out a supremely annoyed breath, obviously she thought the woman should know better and Fritz agreed. That, and it all fit too neatly.
"We were in the Well room only a day or two ago, we could have left," Toby said his sullen demeanour stripped away and replaced with a coat of worry and helpless anger. "Why didn't you say anything!?"
"Because it's a falsehood," Fritz stated, completely unconvinced, but letting his blade fall from Toby's neck and sheathing Quicksilver all the same. "A scheme to stir our sympathies."
"It's not, you bastard!" Jane spat. Fritz turned his eyes away, not wanting to look at the embarrassing outburst, not wanting to see the motes of truth hovering above her unkempt, mousy hair.
"Listen to me!"
"No, you're liars and traitors," Fritz stated for what seemed like the ninth time. "And we should be done with you. All things must come to an end."
Those words had dreadful finality to them that startled all around, even himself. Yet he held onto the bitter grudge as hard as he could, so he could do the safe thing, so he could protect himself and his team. If he slew the two here his secrets would stay secret.
It was logical, it was rational, it was callous and cruel.
It was brutal, it was bloody, it was needed to rule.
Bert tapped him on the shoulder and with a dark expression handed him Mortal Edge. He could see in his friend's eyes that this was his decision to make, that Bert would follow him wherever he went. Even to the Abyss. The bone dagger was cold in his hand, as it should be, and he wished he could be so as well. It would make this easier. Fritz searched his team's faces, their scowls, apprehension and fear, but none moved to block him. None would gainsay.
He wished they would.
"Fritz! Don't! At least look at me! I'm not lying!" Jane begged. And he did, tears streamed down her puffy face and Toby was by her side, terrified, vicious and full of fury. His daggers were drawn and he was ready to fight until the end. Around them truth and lies mingled, swirled, like the morning fog, obscuring the words' sincerity, rendering them unreadable.
He couldn't be sure. He could only trust the two to do what was good for themselves. And he knew what that felt like.
Dusksong spat and screeched for him to harm them, to rain vengeance upon them, but should he listen to that call, that beautifully bleak song? Was it to be more murder by his hands? More screaming faces in his dreams? More blood, an endless tide of red drowning him in both in his nightmares and in his waking.
No.
Something inside Fritz slipped, all his cold cruelty, all his righteous rage, fell away, suddenly filling him with a grave grief. The raw hurt of their betrayal finally burbling to the surface, finally needing to be addressed.
"Damn you two," Fritz sighed, sliding his bone blade back into its sheath and turning away, hiding his own streaming tears. Striding, he left the circle of people and hid in the shadow.
---
Bert stood by. He watched Toby and Jane collapse into each other's arms and rain each other with light kisses and soothing words. Now that the decision had been made and the danger had passed their sudden joy was infectious. Smiles spread from face to face and even though he felt nothing but annoyance at the two, he too soon began to grin in earnest.
With a shrug he embraced it. No use holding on to the past when there was some happiness to be had.
"Toby," Bert said slapping the man on the shoulder "Jane," he added putting a hand on her shoulder too.
"Congratulations!" He said pulling them both into a hug and laughing.
"Ah, get off," Toby said struggling against his indomitable strength for a moment before giving up and returning the gesture. "Thank you."
"Yes, thank you. I don't know how you did it, but thank you for convincing Fritz," Jane said with a small sniffle, wiping teary eyes into his vest.
Bert had done nothing of the sort, but these two wouldn't believe that Fritz was good, deep down. Deep, deep down. So he let them continue to believe that he himself was the 'good one.' They had to keep up their respective roles, even If Bert had to prod Fritz to live a life he wouldn't regret. That bone dagger had reminded Fritz of all the death they had inflicted, as Bert knew it would, and had stirred his brother's kind heart into beating.
That's where he and Fritz differed. Fritz would regret the killing, the suffering, he was sensitive. Bert wouldn't regret anything, he'd noticed that long ago. But that was who he was. No use complaining about that lack. Worry is waste.
"Hah! There's no way I could let you die, not when you're going to be a family," Bert said. "But if you'd like to thank me you could always name it after me."
They both smiled, but something about their faces told him it was forced.
"Of course," Jane said.
"We'll think about it," Toby added.
"Anyway, come join us for dinner," Bert said. "Cal, when's dinner?"
"Lunch," Cal corrected. "As soon as you want me to start making it."
"I'm pretty hungry after that battle, so now," Bert insisted.
"Give me five minutes and I'll start, I've got to align my Attributes anyway," Cal said.
"I should do the same," George said, taking off his helm and setting down his sword. Lauren and Rosie nodded, eager to align as well.
"Get to it, I'll keep an eye out," Bert allowed. "Toby, Jane, I'm watching you," he added jovially as if believing them no threat, which they weren't. But he was still watching them, Fritz was right about one thing; they couldn't be trusted.
Absently he wondered if he had been offered what he needed yet, the power he hadn't used was starting to strain his Sanctum. The crowd inside was roaring so loud, they wanted to see his next armaments and foes, having grown bored with the large quartz orb nestled in the sands. While they anticipated great things from the shining sphere he had brought into the arena, he too was frustrated he still hadn't been offered the power he waited for.
He hoped what he desired wasn't limited to a Trait as his current slots were filled. One of them was that latent faerie trait, Twilight Touched, the other, Blighted Blood, had been eaten by his Potent Blood, which was fitting considering they both had blood in the name. Maybe something similar would happen with the other latent Trait?
George surfaced from his Sanctum, a muted self-satisfied smile pulling at his lip. He caught Bert's gaze, and asked, "Want to check on your Sanctum?"
"You're a good man, George. I'll do that," Bert replied. "This is Toby and Jane. I don't think they'll make any more trouble, but keep an eye on them."
The armoured man nodded, swivelling his solid stare to the two still hugging and holding close each other.
Bert fell into the arena, the cheers greeted him, drowning the jeers and boos. Immediately he accessed his next choices. His previous offerings were terrible, Water Acclimation, Deep Lungs and Slick Skin. If pressed for power he might have taken the Slick Skin, but he didn't desire to be slimy all the time, no matter what he professed. So it was with some excitement and trepidation he looked over his choices.
---------
Passive Ability
Choose One
---------
Supple Muscles
Stretching fibres, will take and take. Springy, spongy, will bend not break.
Your muscles become more resistant to force, strain and snapping.
Alignment: Body, Primal.
Cost: None.
Duration: Passive.
Refresh: None.
---
You have been bruised many times.
You have recovered from bruises many times.
Influenced by Path.
Influenced by Sanctum.
Influenced by Body Aligned Abilities (Bull Rush, Tough Skin, Corrosive Conditioning).
---
Vital Bond
Help each other, to any lengths. Beast is brother, share your strengths.
You and one bonded beast share Health Recovery to a minor degree.
Alignment: Bond, Primal, Life.
Cost: None.
Duration: Passive.
Refresh: None.
---
You have cradled and protected an unbound beast for many days.
You have Climbed with an unbound beast for many Floors.
Influenced by Trait (Twilight Touched).
Influenced by Spire.
Influenced by Sanctum.
---
Slick Skin
Slipping, sliding, slimy skin. Glisten, gliding, snail's twin.
Your skin becomes slick with slime.
Alignment: Body, Primal, Water.
Cost: None.
Duration: Passive.
Refresh: None.
---
You have been submerged in water for many hours.
You have cradled and protected an unbound beast for many days.
Influenced by Spire.
Influenced by Sanctum.
Influenced by Body Aligned Abilities (Bull Rush, Tough Skin, Corrosive Conditioning).
---
---------
Let's see, Supple Muscles, Vital Bond and... Slick Skin, again! No way, not unless it was suppressible.
But the other two... interesting...
---
Fritz wiped his face clean with a patch of sirensilk, it took to tears just as well as any other water, the salty drops swiftly slipping through it and down to the carpet. He hadn't expected the outburst and terrible pain. He had thought that his anger at the betrayal had been one of besmirched honour, not honest hurt from being spurned by those he had, in some hidden corner of his heart, considered friends.
Now though, now he knew. He was better for it, even if it was awful in the moment, he felt like another of the weights cast about his shoulders had been lifted. He rolled his shoulders stretched his back and turned his mind to another pressing issue. Power. Cold energies circling his centre seeking to be incorporated into his Sanctum.
He wouldn't let it wait. He fell into his Sanctum. The rain felt lazy, dreary and drumming. It was likely due to his rung-out emotions, or so he suspected. He was in his pavilion, right by the eldritch flame. It crackled and cackled, having obviously enjoyed his turmoil.
Bastard. Maybe I should tighten its cage.
Fritz discarded the thought, he had a new Ability to choose, and with his slots all filled he didn't know exactly what was next. The books he had read suggested something about Ability Evolutions but he didn't remember reading anything about the process.
Nothing for it, let's see the offerings.
---------
Ability Evolution
Choose One
---------
---
Lethargy
---
Trap Sense
---
Danger Sense
---
---------
Three choices of Abilities, split over both Actives and Passives. He wondered what the criteria were for these specific offerings to be presented with Evolutions, and soon theorised that they were the powers that he had either used the most or found the most success with. How his Sanctum judged such things he didn't know, but with no real information on the subject he was forced to make his decisions in the dark. Something he was all too used to.
Fritz searched the Abilities within himself and considered which would be most useful to empower. Unfortunately, it seemed that he had to choose one to Evolve before he could see what changes could be wrought, which made the task of selecting one far harder. Especially since all the Abilities were ones he valued highly.
Lethargy was powerful and had aided him in many fights, going so far as to be instrumental in fighting the Raider. If the beast hadn't slowed due to his exhaustion it was likely that Fritz would have died within the first few clashes.
Trap Sense had saved his and his Team's lives many times over and any improvement would be be boon. Danger Sense was similar, it had also saved his life, over and over, and made him nearly untouchable when combined with his Grace and Agility. Though he did concede it was less needed now that he had Umbral Phase.
This was an important decision so he didn't intend to rush it, instead, he resolved to gather some knowledge about the next Doors. Perhaps that would help him make his choice.
He drifted from his Sanctum and plastered a smile across his face as he strode into the firelight. The team had taken to smashing a few of the desks for firewood, an ingenious use of the Well room's resources, and a pot lay on the flickering flame its contents bubbling away merrily.
Despite the team's victory, there was little in the way of celebration. In fact, the mood was muted, tense, around the two traitors, even as Bert attempted to build some kind of acceptance of their presence. He was joking and jovial, but nothing could cover the stares of naked mistrust sent their way.
It was good to see that they had some sense.
Fritz waved to the team and when they saw his light expression they relaxed somewhat.
"Well, I'm glad to see you're all settling in," he said.
"As well as may be," Jane said. "Considering the circumstances."
"There are indeed some circumstances to consider. Such as yours," Fritz said. "What are your intentions? You can't leave the Spire until you reach the precipice, and you're only two people. You're in quite the predicament."
"Do you really care, Fritz?" Jane asked dejectedly.
Strangely enough, Fritz did. He knew he could no longer wrap himself in apathy, not now.
"I do," he stated.
"We don't know what to do. We're stuck between the flood and the sea here," Toby said, looking as though he had given up.
"Chin up," Bert said, between mouthfuls of stew. "It might not be so bad, depending on the Doors up."
"With the spite it's all but certain we'd die," Toby grumbled.
"It's not," Lauren said offhandedly, taking a bowl from Cal. "It makes things harder, but not impossible."
Toby shrugged. "About the same for us."
Jane looked to Lauren who smiled gently, and then to Fritz. He could see the calculation in her grey eyes and hear the desperation in her voice when she spoke, "Take us with you."
Fritz expected his team to call out in incredulity, to tell her in no uncertain terms that they would not. But they were silent and staring down into empty or half-filled bowls.
"Please, if not for me, then for the child."
Fritz knew it was coming, knew she would say such manipulative words as soon as she had found his unwillingness to harm them. What he didn't expect was the audacity of her next argument.
"If you don't bring us, you'll be abandoning us to die," Jane said pitiably.
"Like you did to me and Bert," Fritz noted cuttingly.
"Exactly, you'll be just as bad as us," Toby countered.
Fritz nearly rolled his eyes at the accusation, there was no way he was as bad as these two, he dismissed that insult as what it was, as a desperate ploy.
"Hardly," Fritz drawled.
"We'll give you the stuff we've found so far," Jane offered, not mentioning that they'd looted it from their former crew's corpses.
"We could take it from you ourselves," Fritz said with a yawn.
"You would rob a mother-to-be, leaving us nothing to protect ourselves?" Jane said as if appalled, glancing around to judge how much sympathy she was seeding. Annoyingly it seemed both Lauren and George were taking the bait, they frowned at Fritz as if he were some cruel tyrant.
Fritz shook his head. You had to give it to her, she was cunning. It was impressive that despite their pitiful situation she was able to turn it to her advantage. You had to respect it. And in some small way, all her claims were correct, and it did feel wrong to leave them here or rob them, no matter what they had done before.
The longer the two were allowed to speak, allowed to mingle with the others, the more they would worm their way into his team's good graces. While they didn't have Fritz's raw charm, Toby reminded one of a kicked dog and Jane wasn't so bad once you got to know her. He couldn't let them sway his team further, though maybe it was already too late.
"We'll take a vote on it, once I've checked the doors, once we've had some time to consider," Fritz decided. "My team have as much right as I to accept or decline your request."
This route also had the added benefit of casting the blame on others rather than himself. It was an act not exactly befitting a gallant captain such as himself, but exceptions had to be made in such situations.
"Finish your bowls, and scurry off to some dark corner while we confer. I'll not have you undermine our council with your conniving and your whining."
Jane looked to the team, entreating them with wide teary eyes. They avoided her gaze, a sure sign that they had already started considering her an ally, or at least an acquaintance, rather than an enemy. The pregnancy ploy had been inspired, it really had shifted their view in mere moments. Still, if it were true, slaying someone in such a condition wouldn't sit well with him, not well at all, he didn't need a wailing child to be added to his nightmares.
Fritz shuddered, and when no one spoke up for the two turncoats they finished their food and fled to a dark corner. They even went so far as to leave their obvious weapons, though Fritz knew Toby would always be carrying a hidden knife, it was just who he was. With them split from the team, Fritz made his way to the doors, four doors.
The first thing he noticed was that the Hidden Door wasn't all that hidden. The second is that the Hidden Door was covered by those same steel double doors as the previous Floor. The Third was that it had three keyholes. Thrice locked and thrice blocked. He tried his lock picks and wasn't surprised when he was thoroughly thwarted by more tumbler protecting barriers.
"You two didn't find another of the keys did you?" Fritz shouted before he realised it didn't matter. He and Bert hadn't taken the two they used on the Stairway door.
"No," Toby yelled back.
Fritz shrugged like it didn't affect him, even if he was supremely annoyed at finding a locked, Hidden Door. He didn't even know they existed, his father had never bothered to mention it. With nothing to be done, he turned and strode to the leftmost Door and started his investigation. He pulled out the tattered chapter and pretended to read, as was usual, though he thought that maybe the game was up, as Lauren had taken a seat by the Doors and watched him suspiciously.
"Need something?" He asked the staring woman. "I'm afraid I'm courting another if that was your intention."
Lauren scoffed. "Woe to them, they'd have to be insane to reciprocate your affections."
"Harsh!" Fritz cried exaggeratedly. "However, I doubt you're the bastion of sanity you think you are and I didn't hear a no."
She smiled politely. "Also, you're a man."
"Ah, is that how it is," Fritz said.
"It is," she said.
Fritz nodded, then smirked. "Then why are you watching me if you care not for my dashing, handsome bearing?"
"You bearly read that thing and it's falling to pieces," Lauren said, pointing to the chapter in his hand.
"I've memorised most of it, and the Guides Guild are a bunch of cheap bastards. Not my fault they use such thin paper," he said, waving the paper so a page fell out. "See."
"Sure," Lauren said sceptically. "And there's no secret Spire?"
"No," Fritz said.
Lauren frowned.
"I see you are not convinced, however, you should remember that not all secrets are safe to hold," Fritz warned. "It would be best you dropped this line of enquiry if you value your freedom."
"I see," she replied. "And if I still want to know?"
"That's a conversation for later, for the precipice or even the outside," Fritz said.
"I'm not happy about this, but I'll trust you further," Lauren said. "You've earned that much."
"And here I thought bringing you great power and wealth would earn the undying loyalty I deserve," Fritz bemoaned.
Lauren laughed at that. "You know you may actually be close, even with all your lies and secrets. I know the others would likely throw themselves in front of an arrow meant for you."
"What? Even Cal?" Fritz said somewhat surprised.
"Even Cal. Bert would, no question, and you saved George's life, he'd want to repay that. He's that sort you know, honourable. Rosie already has taken a blade for you and I... well, I appreciate what you've done for us. Thank you."
Fritz was somewhat shocked by her observations and reflected that maybe he had been doing the right thing by them, even if he sometimes felt that he had tricked them into a Spire under false pretences. He had by all accounts lied to them, but hearing Lauren thank him was an odd feeling. An odd note of pride rang in his chest and a tone of righteous joy hummed through his body. Fritz smiled.
"You're welcome."
Lauren stood there for a moment longer, coughed, then excused herself, which left Fritz to his previous task. Checking the Doors.
The leftmost Door was an arch formed of twisted trees, with a ramp and tunnel made of thick muddy soil. The air that seeped down was sour and stank of rot. His Door Sense alighted on the entrance and he felt the impressions of a swamp, or rather a bog, in which tall man-alikes wearing hats of woven reed and wielding weapons of gnarled wood strode the waters. These creatures, he knew, were not friendly, they had an air of cruelty around them. That, and they wore the skins of their own kind as armour.
Must be the bog-man-alikes and therefore this is the persistent Floor that Lauren had mentioned.
He turned to the middle door in all its sandy glory. A ramp of fine, white grains with a chill breeze blowing over it. When he pressed his Awareness to the Door he was granted visions of cold atolls in a freezing sea and connected to one another by sand bridges. Beneath the waves, there were sharks and fish. Powerful, but not dangerous to their current group, as long as they didn't go swimming.
The last Door led to another beach, this one of harsh yellow stones beside an ocean of deep purple. Amongst the rocks, Fritz could feel the crabs and lobsters that blended into the landscape, their rocky shells nearly indistinguishable from the shore. Again, these beasts felt weak, or rather weaker than many of the other they had faced, maybe around the same strength as the leaping lobsters. Though there were more of them, he could tell that much.
With his scouting completed, he returned to his group only to find them laying out the loot they'd recovered, including, but not limited to the bronze chest they had found in the cage. He had completely forgotten about their fortune, the Treasures and Techniques they had found. He had been far too preoccupied with his thoughts and navigating the traitor situation to pay it much heed.
But now, smiling wide, he entered the circle of his friends and added his own forgotten spoils to the pile on the tea table. The fist-sized, multifaceted gem gleamed and glittered as it joined a silver chalice and a wide-brimmed, yellow hat adorned with a long, tapered feather of emerald green.
"Guess we didn't do so badly after all," Fritz noted.
"I doubt we were meant to sink the place," Lauren said. "Must have rewarded us."
"Rewarded us for doing something stupid?" Rosie asked.
"Something risky," Bert corrected.
"Stupidly risky," Cal summarised.
"It wasn't even us who did it," Rose said, though she licked her lips as she looked over the pile.
"I don't think the Spire cares," Fritz said. "Do you think any are Treasures?"
"Let's see," Lauren said, pulling out her lens, cleaning its cloudy glass on her robe and setting it to her eye.
"Oh, wow."
Comments
Kemizle
Before they leave that well room fritz needs to squeeze a fae promise from those too because they just can’t be trusted
Octophobia
Thanks for reading!
Octophobia
Good choices! Chapter 54 will have some talk about how the spite works and how pregnancy works in a spire.
Kemizle
Tftc
Malcolm Haynes
Tftc! Choice has to be lethargy or danger sense. Given nothing seems too dangerous in next room, got to go with lethargy. Would like to see Fritz add to his grace and somehow intuit the technique his father was teaching him. If Jane really is pregnant would that qualify as a third person so they would avoid the spite?
