Author's notes: Soulstealer/Boone this time around. This chapter takes place where we left off with Boone last time. Could use some more polish, but figured I'd just kick this out there so I can move on. Next chapter BIG BIG things happen (conclusion of act 2 - may have to break it up if it gets too big). Hope everyone enjoys this and again, please excuse any spelling/grammar errors!
Act II, CHAPTER Eleven: Trial by Three
[Soulstealer]
He stands upon the ridge high above the Imperator slaver camp. Using his enchanted bow, he looks down and sees all the soldiers, all the prisoners...his wife. He watches her for a moment before taking the shot. When it is finally done, he lowers his weapon, and drops to his knees in exhaustion. His hardened face stares at the ground silently for a few moments as his heart races in his chest. As he focuses on catching his breath, he manages to whisper, "Never can I escape this place." And as if responding to his words, all goes quiet and the landscape fades completely to black. He is surrounded by a dark void with a single white light shining upon him. His breath quickens once again as he jumps to his feet and looks around vigilantly, remembering events not going in his favor last time he was here. And then...a solitary voice beside him says, "I see I am not the only one who wonders how they ended up here..."
He turns to see the emissary sitting on the ground next to him, a glass barrier that extends upwards farther than the eye can see is surrounding her. She stares forward, as if looking at something...but there is nothing there. He kneels down and puts his hand on the glass in an attempt to connect with her in some way. He asks desperately, "Where are you? Have they hurt you? What have they done to you?"
Her answer is detached, continuing to look into the shadow of the void. "Where am I? I am everywhere. Or am I nowhere? Have they hurt me? Or are they making me stronger? What have they done to me?... They made my will their will. I am the voice of the Imperium, it's message and it's messenger." Her eyes drift to him as she says, "Or am I?"
His stone face looks more grim than normal as he says, "Why are you speaking in riddles?"
She ignores the question and asks, "Why are you here and not with your wife and child? Did something happen? I hope her being with child did not cause problems between you...I assure you, it was something that she could not have helped."
Offended by her comment, he replies harshly, "I would have done the honorable thing and taken her new child as my own if it were actually my wife you freed." She turns her head sharply toward him, her attention totally on him now. He sees the shock in her eyes as she says, "What did you say?"
"The woman you freed was not my wife. It was a deception for reasons I do not fully understand...but my wife is dead. It was only her name that lived on with another."
Still stunned, she manages to stutter, "A deception?... I can't believe it, I...Why...why would that do such a thing?" And then as if realizing something, her face becomes more somber as she looks back at him and says," I'm truly sorry it was not her, Soulstealer."
He says, "I should have never let them seed doubt in my mind. You were only trying to help, and look at all the problems I have caused you. I have been traveling with Star and the wizard. We know you are trapped, and are trying to find a way to free you."
She looks stunned again, then starts frantically shaking her head as she says,"Wait...what? No. NO! You need to walk away from this, Soulstealer. Forget this. Forget me."
"I can't do that...I can't leave you to them."
"Of course you can. It's simple really... Turn around. Walk away."
"You honestly wish me to leave you to them?"
"And if I said yes...would you?"
"Of course not."
She looks away irritated, her eyes entranced by something in the distance again. She bites her thumb as she murmurs to herself as if talking to others, but he can not make out the words. After a few moments, she turns back toward him and says, "Of course you wouldn't." She stands up, places her hand where his is on the barrier, and says, "You walk this path with me, you will have to face truth and finally see events as they have happened, not as your mind has led you to believe. Are you ready to awaken and be free after all this time? To live your life in peace...finally?"
"What do you mean? Peace? I accepted a long time ago that there is no such thing as peace for men like me." His face of stone fades away as he looks upon her wistfully. "And I will awaken from this dream soon enough."
"No...I don't mean this dream, Soulstealer...but THE dream. The one that consumes your life right now. Do you remember this?" She pulls her hand down from his, and points to the ground in front of him. There is a scroll lying there. He picks it up and opens it. It's blank. He holds it up and sees the flashes of light that slowly form words. He recognizes the witch's incantation. He closes the scroll and says bitterly, "I remember..It is not a memory I'd like to be revisit."
"I know this is difficult, but please...reopen the scroll and let the light shine on it from above normally - so you may see it for what it really is." He stares at her for a moment before reluctantly looking upon the scroll again. To his surprise, this time it's changed. It's not blank. There is writing in black ink...a letter. He starts to read and his breath quickens, unbelieving the words. His face tries to change back to stone, but it flickers back to normal. He can't hide the emotional pain that's rushing through him. He can't breathe, can't move, and the scroll falls from his hand and turns to dust when it hits the ground. He manages to whisper, "Where did you get this?"
"It's been here all along. There was never an incantation, Soulstealer. It was always this. The witch found it that night, kept it safe until you were ready to accept the words...accept the truth. She was only trying to help..."
He says angrily, "No! She betrayed my wife! She wouldn't have..."
"I know this is hard to accept. But it is the truth."
He points to the pile of dust and says, "No, it isn't! *I* know what happened!"
The emissary has a solemn look in her eye as she says, "Of course you do... You went to your guard post that night, returned and found your wife was missing. You thought something bad had happened, and started desperately searching for her. After hours of tracking you finally found her, but...what you saw, you couldn't believe."
"The Imperium took her!"
"No, Soulstealer...she left you for another man."
He has the look of a man who's been punched in the stomach and is fighting for air. He shakes his head and says, "No! She would have never!"
"His cloth was of the Imperium, but he had escaped that life...arrived in your town just weeks before, but you hadn't noticed. Gained the affections of your wife while you slumbered during the day. It was too easy really... she wasn't happy."
"NO, she loved me, our life together!"
"That's true...but she hated that town. And the whole town knew it...for whatever reason, you chose not see it. She left with him to return to the City of Lights, so they could start a life together. She left you that note - telling you that she was sorry, that she didn't want to hurt you...but she wanted to be happy as well. It was her good-bye to you. But you never saw her words."
Doubt starts to sneak into his mind, but he pushes it aside and grasps at the truth he remembers. "No, there was no note. Our home was in disarray - there were signs of a struggle..."
"You ignored the note she left like you ignored the fact that all her belongings were also gone when you returned! But you couldn't ignore what you saw... the two of them together. She wasn't struggling was she? You figured out real quick what was happening...but you don't remember these details. It's because your mind broke that night and for a second...madness consumed you. You lost control."
Anger swells inside him now. "No! I know what happened that night! Don't you dare desecrate her death with lies!"
But the emissary shakes her head and yells, "I desecrate nothing! You drew your bow in rage and without thought you took the shot... killed them both. Not to save her out of love, but to make her feel your pain. You desecrated her yourself!"
"I loved my wife! I would have never..."
"What? You would have never killed her...unless you had to?" Soulstealer glares at her. He is full of fury and on the brink of losing all control now but the emissary keeps pushing him on. "If you won't believe me, then believe your own eyes. They can't hide the truth any longer. Not in this realm." The landscape changes to what it was before. He's standing on the ridge line again. He draws his bow and looks to the world below. He knows in his heart what he will see, but the Imperator slaver camp is gone now. There are no soldiers. He looks around frantically until he sees a man and a woman walking...holding hands. He sees they are laughing. She leans over and kisses him on the cheek, and they both smile at each other. It is his wife. The Soulstealer yells out in anguish as his bow drops from his hand and the landscape returns to shadow.
He stares at the ground as anger surrenders to doubt once again. Her voice is calm as she says, "Do you finally see? Accept it or not, Soulstealer - your mind was never the same after that. It started inventing things and changing events to help you deal with what happened, what you had done. You ran across a group of Imperator soldiers on your return home that night. You imposed your hate of the man who gained the heart of your wife on to them...on to all of them. You slayed them all. Their death's gave you purpose, gave you focus. But that wasn't enough, was it? You didn't know where to go after that and you were searching for a reason to leave...any reason. So your mind invented the catalyst you wanted - someone with a reason to travel to your town...an emissary. One without a past. A person seeking vendetta... just like you. But I wasn't real. I was the projection of your own need for vengeance, the representative your mind created to push you out of the town you once called home to walk into the world to keep feeding that fire within you. A way to get more Imperator soldier deaths under your belt - something to keep you taking one step in front of another while you made them all pay. But I was never real. I have always been a creation of your imagination."
"No, you are real - "
"Look at the situation itself - it makes no sense! What woman walks around with no name, no friends or ties of any kind? There is a reason you are the only person who really knows me!"
"All the places we traveled together. The people you helped didn't imagine you!"
"You mean the people YOU helped... most of which, coincidentally, were affiliated with the Militant king, your former cloth."
He stares at her unbelievably. "What of the wizard, Gannon? He traveled with you!"
"No. He knows you have an emissary friend, one that only *you* can see...he has always just played along...to gain your trust so he can help you. As for recent events, you couldn't go to the Imperium yourself. You gave the seal you took off a dead Imperator spy to the wizard so he may retrieve who you thought was your wife. He only follows you now because he's concerned for your safety and sanity."
"What of Star? She knows you, says you grew up together!"
"Oh yes...a woman who was a prisoner of war for several months in the Imperium, forced to fight for her life everyday in an arena like an animal. The woman is clearly delusional, you've seen the signs yourself. She latched onto you because you are familiar - of her old army. She'd say anything to feel safe, to keep from being alone again. And you are wrong for dragging her along into all of this. She needs help, Soulstealer...not a rescue mission for an imaginary messenger!"
He stares at her behind the glass wall, focusing on breathing while his mind is struggling with what is real and what is not. He manages to say, "These are lies...why are you playing mind games with me!"
She sighs and says, "I told you... I don't exist." The emissary's features begin to blur and when they regain focus, it is not her standing there...but his wife. His heart sinks upon seeing her. Has he been talking to her this whole time? She says, "I know you miss me. And I know your mind created her to deal with my loss. I have forgiven you for everything, my love. Everything. But I need you to accept the truth, reclaim your life and move on. Forgive yourself. I fear for you if you don't. That void within you - the one that cries out in pain and will only be quieted with blood - it will never be filled or satiated. You'll die doing this! Please...walk away from this dream you created and finally start living." She steps through the barrier and stands directly in front of him. She brushes his cheek gently with the back of her hand. He grasps it and holds it to his face, wanting to prolong her touch as long as possible. She looks deep into his eyes and says, "If not for yourself...please. Do it for me. " He is totally overcome with self-doubt now as he stares at her. Did he really do the unspeakable to her? Has his mind been broken all this time? He releases her hand and she leans toward him. They embrace and kiss deeply for one last time. When the kiss finally ends, she lays her head on his chest and he wraps his arms around her. He fights the tears as she says, "Forgive yourself so you may never come back to this place." She gently pulls free from him, and looks over his shoulder, giving a slight nod of the head for him to look behind him. He turns to see a lighted path that leads to a door has now appeared behind him. He turns back and his wife is behind the barrier again. He opens his mouth to speak, but the words won't come. He looks at her gentle, smiling face for a few moment before finally turning his back to her, and walking away.
Each step he takes away from her feels lighter and easier to take than the previous as the distance between them increases. When he is within a few steps of the doorway, he stops and surveys the void briefly. His eyes start to glow and he allows himself to look upon at her one final time before crossing the threshold. He sees her aura - a pulsating green light. His face is expressionless for a moment...and then his face turns back to stone. He draws his bow, turns around and starts walking back towards her. She looks startled and confused now. She says apprehensively, "What are you doing? You must cross the doorway in order to leave."
He asks, "Do you know why we are called soulstealers?"
She hesitates before saying, "I... admit that I do not."
He continues to walk toward her as he says loudly, "When a person takes their journey into death, their soul will either go to the heavens or to Hades. But when *I* make a kill - the soul of the fallen goes to neither place. It becomes mine. I can absorb it, adding it to my own strength. Or I can shatter it - forever destroying it. If minions of hell were to take a soul destined for heaven, they would be seen as stealing it. The same goes for angels taking a soul destined for hell. And the same goes for me - every kill I make, heaven and hell sees it as if I'm stealing from them. Hence the name. Neither place is happy with my kind. And we don't fear repercussions from either, because we deal with so many repercussions on a daily basis...anything they can deal out will just feel just like any other day. Do you know what happens to soulstealers when they die?" She swallows nervously as he gets closer to her barrier. She shakes her head 'no' in response. He says, "Do we go to the heavens or the underworld? It depends...depends on which side needs more soldiers that day...So you see, I don't fear death. It'll just be another day for me...Augusta. " The barrier disappears as he steps into it and his wife nervously starts backing up. A new barrier emerges between them, then disappears just as quickly as he takes another step towards her. She breathes uneasily as she continues to back away from him. He says, "I can see the soul of any man or woman. Yours matches the Key Emissary, except my emissary would never back up in fear from me. This is a dream, which means I make the rules. I made the barrier go away, and I'm sure I can do other things as well. So stop with the deceptions and reveal your true identity to me!"
The body of the woman blurs like before, then refocuses. The woman that emerges looks like the emissary...but not the same. She wears a gray hooded cloak now. Her skin has a pale glow to it, and the pupil's of her eyes are completely white. She frowns and falls to her knees in exhaustion. She cups her head in her hands and sighs deeply, "I wasted so much energy on that...I can't believe I failed... I never fail." She glances at the bow in his hand and then at his face and says angrily, "Of course it is I! Who the hell else would be here, protectorii? You don't even know where here is! This is no dream...more like a meeting place within a nightmare."
He says angrily, "Why did you do this to me today, Augusta? I demand to know!"
"Why did I do this? You're the one who came here uninvited! I needed to clear my mind, to think. No one was supposed to be here...then YOU showed up. That would only be true if you were following her path, which you confirmed yourself. The emissary will never forgive herself if something were to happen to you. And I can't afford her going down that path...I'll lose her. If she's lost, then I'm lost as well. So I did was I do best...I tried to trick you into doing what I wanted. Fates of Augusta are infiltrators and manipulators. As strong as a Belli is with fists, an Augusta is with words. We sow ideas. We can make men doubt their own mind, their own sanity...make them believe what we want them to believe. Once I convinced a man that his mother was a witch and a whore and that he fathered himself through a miscast spell." She sighs and shakes her head, "But you - I don't know if you're truly strong of mind or a just stubborn fool. Belli has probably told you too much...assumed you knew certain things about your role that you didn't. But it wasn't her fault...she didn't know about the blinding. Now she's drug into all of this as well." She looks at him and growls, "And if you can't take what your own Fati can throw at you, protectorii, then you'll never make it this journey! You'll lose your mind...and it won't be from lies, tricks or mind games. It will be from truth alone."
"You Fati love to speak in circles. Just tell me the truth that you speak of instead of dancing around it!"
"Oh, you mean like this?" She jumps to her feet and grabs him by the wrist, and the darkness drops away. The sky is clear and blue above, but then he notices that they are standing atop of a wall that stretches for miles in both directions. It's hundreds of feet tall and a sheer drop on both sides. He sees a shallow stream peppered with jagged rock and piles of bone. A black mist rolls across the terrain, revealing the occasional corpse. The base of the wall is covered in red hand prints and then he hears a hum that starts growing louder. People emerge from the mist and start pounding the wall, screaming and laughing as they stare up at the two of them. The wall is not that wide and their blows are making it shake. He feels himself squeezing her hand to steady himself. She squeezes back and says, "Now do you see? This is the path of the blinded! It is bad enough that she is walking it, but you're following that same path and that makes everything just that more worse." She points down into the valley and says, "They are the Lost. If you stray and end up down there, you go mad and join them. Only Fati can find there way out of that...IF they can find the way out. So you see...I would never walk this in a million years. This is a path will end badly for her no matter what. It's the path of vengeance...but one that leads to vengeance against me."
"Who would want vengeance against you? The circle? Mala?"
She sighs, "Damn that woman! She really does talk too much... The Circuli Fati was just one woman and a bunch of girls...we were a glorified nursery. But in the same breathe, unlike any other. No, the circle learned the hard way that I was not the worst First Regent that Fortuna Mala could have chosen. If they harbored hate towards me, it doesn't matter. All died except for three: you travel with one, you seek the second, and the third is holding the second one prisoner. But Mala...she thinks I cast against her circle, that *I* am the reason it fell. But that's the farthest thing from the truth. I cast nothing against them. I didn't have to. It fell because of her own incompetence, but she'd never believe it. Facts never stop that kind of hatred, though. Some things have become clear to me lately...this trap I walked straight into for instance. Mala took the Belli as bait. She knew I'd come - but when I didn't...she sought me out. Found me...started following you and the emissary. She's been watching and waiting for months."
"She is going to kill her then?"
"That is the last thing she will do. She spent far too much time trying to catch her for that. She is going to prolong the agony as long as possible - it's her way. I knew for years that she would come for me - and she will hurt or kill anyone that I care about. It is why I hid Star, and isolated myself. It is why I stand alone - why I have to stand alone. She knows you now- if you come for the emissary...if she doesn't kill you, she will just use you against her. This is why you need to walk away."
"I already told you...I don't fear death."
"Oh, I know you don't. But there are things out there worst than death, Soulstealer. Far worst, especially when it involves Mala and our kind."
He leans in and says, "I couldn't live with myself if I didn't do what I know in my heart is right. And what is right is helping her get out of a situation that I helped put her in. You have to stop working against me, Augusta. Work with me! Tell me what I can do to help her... to help you!" She stares at him briefly before releasing her grip, causing the world fall back to darkness. She looks at him sadly and says, "You really are a stubborn fool...but a good protectorii. Honestly, I am unsure how you can help. I..." She freezes in mid-sentence...her whole body stops moving in fact. She stands before him looking like a statue. He reaches out and puts his hand on her shoulder - she feels cold, the flesh of her arm turns to white marble for a second, but then returns to normal just as quickly. She coughs and gasps for air. He asks, "What is happening to you?" When she finally catches her breath, she says, "All sleep during the blinding. But we are granted the ability to awaken for brief periods if our bodies are in mortal peril. We can't take over, but we can send guidance and can get glimpses of details, to get an idea of what's going on. It takes all my concentration to stay awake in this form...and I have been awake far too long today."
"Why today? Did something happen?"
She looks at him solemnly. "I gave her an escape plan and convinced her to follow through. With all things fair, it should have worked - but all things were not fair...a regrettable miscalculation. She subdued three of her capturers, but the last one...the commanding officer that wears her enchanted gauntlet...was he who can break any will." She clenches her eyes and teeth in pain as parts of her body start turning to marble again. She says, "I have little time left. Quickly - where do you travel?"
"My home - Star wishes to meet with an oracle there." She looks surprised. "An oracle? Truly? She found one? That is good news actually...tell Star we must talk. The oracle can arrange the meeting. Tell her of the escape and that the emissary was marked like a Praetorian, trial by three. You will need proof that it was I you were speaking with, so she knows you weren't being deceived by another...ask her for my Imperator name. She will give an excuse and never give it - it's because she took an oath to never say it. Tell her to give the name or you'll say the name of her first love." She grins slyly, "Sounds trivial, but trust me. That will make her squirm. She'll say my name is Julii Caesaris, she who was named in honor of the Imperator King. She will believe all you say. Hopefully I should have a plan by then. And for what it is worth - I am sorry you got drug into all of this and for my deception earlier..." She winks at him, "But the kiss did made it all worth it. Until our next meeting, Soulstealer..."
He yells, "Wait!" But it is too late. Augusta turns entirely to marble as the dark dreamscape is consumed by white light, forcing him to the world of the waking.
[Boone - the next morning]
My head feels groggy as I come too. Damn it - I fell asleep. I open my eyes, but everything is bright and blurry from the sun...wait a minute. I touch my face and instantly notice something isn't right...where the fuck are my shades? I sit up and see Stella and Gannon eating breakfast. And Stella has some new eye wear. She looks over, smiles as she holds up a plate, and says, "Hungry?" I grit my teeth as I say, "I would really like my shades back, please."
She walks over with a plate and says, "Might want to get used to not wearing them so much." She holds out the plate, but I don't take it. We're staring each other down. After a few moments, she laughs, takes off the shades and hands them over. Everything is a game with her for some reason. As I put on my shades, she sits the plate down beside me and walks back over to Gannon.
I look down at breakfast and can't recognize a damn thing. I look over and see a hacked up radscorpion. No...it can't be. I look back at the plate and Gannon says, "Don't ask."
"You sure this won't kill us?" Gannon shakes his head yes, that's it's safe. Stella shakes her head yes, takes a bite, gives me a dead panned look and says, "No."
I say, "Fair enough," and take a bite. I've eaten my share of crazy, but this is surprisingly decent. Everyone continues to eat in silence as the events of my dream replay in my head. Was I really talking with Augusta? Or am I trying to convince myself of something else? There is only one way to find out. I stand up and motion for Stella to take a walk with me. She gets up and Gannon says as we walk away, "Oh yes, feel free to keep your secrets because I clearly won't feel left out...at all. Not one bit. Nope. Just keep walking away, I won't even notice..." Stella turns around, gives him a wink and a thumbs up and says, "Don't worry, Enclave - you and me can play some strip caravan later." He frowns, "That's OK - I'd rather surrender to the nearest Legion camp than burn that image in my mind.." Stella laughs loudly.
Once we get out of earshot, she asks, "What's on your mind," as she pulls out a beer she had hidden in her coat. Taking it she 'borrowed' that from Gannon without him knowing. She starts to take a sip and I ask, "What is Courier's real name," and she almost chokes. She manages to say, "We *cough* called her Augusta."
"You said that was a title. I asked for her name."
She blinks a lot, shrugs and says, "I'm sure I heard it when I was younger, but I can't remember it now. It was so long ago..."
"She said you took an oath to never say it."
She stops, turns and gives me a leery look. "And WHEN exactly did she tell you that?"
I open my mouth to tell her, but...what am I going to say? That I spoke to her in my dreams? That's crazy...but is it any less crazy than what I've seen lately? Before I can change my mind, I manage to blurt out, "Give me her name or... I'll tell you the name of your first love."
Stella goes pale, like someone just kicked a skeleton in her closet. She says,"Goddamn - you really did talk to her. Only Augusta would have you extort me as a sign of affection...the bitch. Her name is Julii. Like Julius. But she never went by it again after we escaped...She gave you a message for me then?"
I take a deep breath and say, "She did...Courier tried to escape yesterday, but failed. She didn't give me the name of the man wearing her pip-boy but described him as he who can break any will. She confirmed he's the commanding officer of the group she's with. She was marked like a Praetorian, trial by three. I told her we were traveling to Novac, and she asked that you have your adviser arrange a meeting with her. She needs to talk to you."
She looks troubled as she looks off into the distance, deep in thought. She says in a daze, "Things have changed. We need to go...now." I say, "What did she mean they marked her like a Praetorian?"
She snaps back too,takes a sip and says,"I cut letters into that prisoner last night. The Legion refers to that as marking. New Praetorians have their commanding officers mark them as an initiation rite. It's considered an honor...Praetorian marking involves covering the entire back in symbols. It's a tedious, time consuming process because the design reflects the commanding officers ability to lead. It is a very personal experience - a man cuts on you that long, you won't forget it especially when the day comes that he becomes too weak to lead. You'll have no problem slicing his throat and taking his command."
This type of thing is EXACTLY what I did NOT want to happen. I feel uneasy now, but mostly pissed off. They are going to fucking pay for this. With as much self control that I can muster, I ask, "What is this... trial by three."
"It's better if you don't ask me this..."
"Fuck that. It's better if you don't make me repeat the question...tell me, Stella."
She guzzles the rest of the bottle and throws it down, looks back at me sadly and says, "Three people travel to Novac with three different reasons to go there. Three is a lucky number for Fati. But trial by three...that is unlucky. A lesson you never want to live through. Two years ago I met a man who was taught it... a Ranger named Jeremy Roberts at Camp Tahoe in New Reno. He was getting discharged from the NCR because had an severe fear of fire. It was so bad he couldn't even be in the same room with a lit cigarette without trying to claw his way out the door to get away from it. He wasn't always like that though. Had an exemplary record of service and up to a few months prior he was looking at a promotion. But they sent him on this mission and he was never the same when he got back. You see, there are a lot of crime families in New Reno and NCR was trying to clean the place up. They started getting a lot of missing person reports from the locales. They investigated and sure enough there was a human trafficking ring going on, ran by a man named Joshua Bishop, formerly of the Bishop clan. The Bishops were actually pro-NCR, but Joshua Bishop had split off and was forming his own group. The NCR found out where Bishop stayed, so they sent Jeremy and a team of 7 other NCR rangers to go bring this guy in. Things went to hell and his whole team was killed. Jeremy was the only survivor...the others were mutilated, but he didn't have a scratch on him. Not a single cut or bruise or burn or anything. Jeremy wouldn't talk about what happened either...our doctors couldn't even get him to open up. He just kept mumbling over and over 'please don't burn me, please stop burning me.' "
"When I met him, he was sitting in the waiting area of the camp's medical clinic waiting for his discharge papers. A nurse at the reception area told me everything I just told you. She said it was such a mystery to everyone...except for me. I knew what happened...or at least suspected. I walked over to him and said, 'You were burned alive, weren't you?' For the first time in months, he stopped mumbling. I asked, 'How many times did they kill you?' He broke down into a shaking, crying mass at that point and told me the number I feared he'd say: three. He tells me how his whole the team died killing all of Bishop's men. It came down to just him and Bishop, and that Jeremy actually gets a lucky shot and gets a round into him. Bishop lay on the ground bleeding out, Jeremy walks over to him and the last words he hears from Bishop's lips were "remember"... and then his eyes were flooded with a white light...sound familiar?"
"You're telling me that Bishop was a fate? I thought Fates were only women..."
"You think that because you have only met daughters, but Fortuna does has sons. Bishop was a fate - Fortuno Equestris, the luck of knights and their steeds. Today we don't have knights, but we do have minions and henchmen. He gave his own men luck in carrying out his crimes. Like I said, he was building his own crime family, so you can imagine he was not pleased when all his men had died. Jeremy had no idea what he was up against and Bishop wanted to show him...teach him a lesson, so he knew exactly who he had fucked with. Bishop's reborn, but with the advantage of knowing where Jeremy exact position is, and while Jeremy is confused and trying to figure out what the fuck just happened, Bishop manages to subdue him. He chains him to a post and waits because he knows we get at least one new time meridian a day. The day passes and now he knows for a fact that when he's reborn, Jeremy will still be chained to that post. This is where the trial by three officially begins.
Bishop begins the trial by dousing Jeremy with gasoline and setting him on fire. When Jeremy is burned to death, Bishop kills himself so he can be reborn. Now Jeremy is alive and well again and still chained to that post, but this time he has full memory of being burned alive. So what does Bishop do? He burns him again...kills himself to be reborn, then burns Jeremy to death for the third and final time. The most times a Fate can stand to be reborn is three - anything after that, the pain is just too great. After Bishop is reborn for the third time, he sets Jeremy free and he runs for his life. He doesn't have a single mark on his body to corroborate what happened to him either. And Jeremy returns to the NCR a broken shell of a man. It wasn't fair - and I despise unfair.
So I cleansed Jeremy's memory of the evils that befell him that day, told him how Bishop killed his whole team, and he went from being broken to a man seeking a little payback. I gave him the luck to succeed, and together we tracked Bishop down. He wanted to kill him right away, but I wouldn't let him. Instead we tied him to a post and waited a day. Then I gave Jeremy his memories back and when he saw Bishop his mind broke again. I pulled my pistol on him, pointed at a gasoline can, and gave him an ultimatum: burn Bishop or I'll kill you and he'll burn anyways. Jeremy's hands shook while striking the first match and he cried watching him burn. Bishop's second burning, his hands got steadier and he regained his composure. By the end of this third burning, Jeremy got his mind back. But this time he was stronger. He was born again hard, felt nothing and we fucked while Bishop screamed. He was the one who was truly reborn that night...the fate had used his abilities against Jeremy, and I showed him how to use it against the fate. Bishop became the broken man and learned an important lesson - don't fuck with the NCR. But it was too late for him - Jeremy cut his head off when it was all said and done. You see - what happened to Jeremy is what happened to Courier yesterday. The squad leader was being nice though. He didn't kill her or let his men do what Legion men do to the disobedient, but she was marked over and over, three times in fact solely by him...he who can break any will. She suffered trial by three so she knew not to fuck with him again but it was more than that. This was intimate... he was breaking down and rebuilding your Courier much like what she who's will can not be broken did with Jeremy. It is what we Belli do, Boone."
"Are you saying the man who marked Courier is a Belli?"
"Yes. And if Augusta agreed to a meeting, that means she has far less time than we originally thought. We need to leave for Novac now."