Mid afternoon was always pleasant in Emelka, usually warm and mild with a light breeze. It was Chibi's favorite time to play outside for just that reason, and this afternoon was just as nice as the others. He'd even managed to coerce Grougal into giving up on his quest to harass Qilby for the time being so the two could play together.
It was hide and seek this time, and it was Chibi's turn to seek. "...seven, eight, nine, and ten!" he whirled to face the yard and contemplated the most likely place Grougal would have hidden himself.
Something flickered on the edge of his awareness, in the space behind his eyes. It wasn't such a shocking thing anymore when it happened. He'd noticed it around a year ago, but had never found the right words to share his experience with Alibert and the others. Every time he tried, the words just failed to come. Grougal was the only one who seemed to understand, without Chibi having to say a word. Somehow he just knew. This flicker seemed to be leading him toward the sky, and Chibi looked up to find the typical blue expanse dotted with a few scattered clouds.
Chibi waited—sometimes the flickers happened a minute or so before whatever followed showed up. A large creature swooped into view, one that Chibi immediately recognized. "Adamaï!" Chibi called, a happy grin on his face as he half-ran, half-skipped after the dragon. Emotional attachment was something that came easily to Chibi, as it did to his big brother Yugo. As a result, every time any member of his immediate family went on a trip a small ember of worry always turned up to smolder in the back of his mind; it made him unbelievably happy to see Adamaï home and safe, and to snuff that ember out yet again.
Adamaï came to land in the open field behind the inn, and a figure dressed in a grey travel coat fell off his back immediately after he came to a stop. Adamaï looked down at the woman, a sympathetic expression on his face. "You alright, Dr. Korden?"
"J-just leg cramps," Dr. Korden muttered, her voice slightly muffled from how close her face was to the grass.
"Who's this?" Chibi asked as he came to a stop beside the newcomer.
"A little help for the task at hand," the gruff, familiar voice came from the space between Adamaï's furled wings, one that Chibi new very well.
"Uncle Jori!" Chibi's voice became so high and excited that it cracked as he straightened and hopped up and down with happiness.
Joris stood carefully on Adamaï's back and hopped down to land beside where Dr. Korden still knelt on the grass. He braced himself, and as if on cue Chibi leaped onto him. Joris caught the young Eliatrope, spun once from the momentum, and set him down on the grass in a single smooth movement. "It's good to see you too, Chibi," he laughed, giving Chibi a genuine smile.
Grougal caught up as Chibi threw himself into Adamaï's arms next, having been lured out of his hiding place by the commotion. "Uncle Jori," the dragonet sidled over, pretending to be only half-interested in the fact that they had a visitor. "Are you... Gonna maybe tell some of your stories later?" Grougal watched Joris from the corner of his eye, his face pointed at an upturned forepaw as if he were inspecting it for some speck of dirt or flaw.
"If I have time," Joris replied. Grougal was proud even as dragons went, but he had grown used to the dragonet's odd ways of showing favor years ago. "I might be staying a few days, so it's a definite maybe."
The small smile that came to the dragonet's face would have gone unnoticed had Joris not been watching for it, and Grougal lowered the forepaw as Chibi wandered back over to them.
"Hey Grougaaal," Chibi half-sang his brother's name as he sidestepped in, a mischievous little smile on his face as he leaned close. "Guess whaaat?"
"What?" Grougal looked at his brother, suspicious of his smile but curious about what he had to say.
"I'm still it," Chibi's smile widened into a grin as he extended a hand to tag Grougal with.
"Hey no fair!" Grougal darted out of Chibi's reach before he could be tagged and stopped a few feet away. "Time out! We got interrupted!"
"I'm gonna getcha, Grougal!" Chibi barrelled after his brother, arms held out in front of him ready to tag Grougal once he got in range.
"You'll never catch me anyway!" Grougal called over his shoulder as he galloped down the yard on all fours. "Slowpoke!"
Joris turned back to Dr. Korden as the happy din of the brothers' play faded in the distance. "Will you need a few more minutes to collect yourself, doctor?" he asked quietly.
"No I—I think I've about got it," Korden's voice was steadier this time, though she still sounded out of breath.
"I never knew you to be so opposed to flying, Korden," the speaker articulated each word with the utmost care, as if he were dropping them into place one by one.
"So sorry I don't have such a wide range of experience as you have, Pirwit," Korden snapped as she pushed herself to her feet. "Not all of us have been adventurers before," she straightened and readjusted her haven bag, which had slid to her front when she dropped off of Adamaï's back.
Dr. Pirwit gave her a dry laugh in reply. "Uh-hah, true enough. It has been a long time since you even left the city limits, has it not?" the brief grin he directed at her gave his gaunt face the appearance of a skull, a lasting mark of his former devotion to the god Sram.
"Not since I was a kid," Korden ran the fingers of her right hand through her short brown hair in an attempt to bring some order to it after the windy ride on dragonback.
A zaap appeared next to Adamaï, causing the two doctors to jump with surprise. Yugo hopped through a moment later and flung his arms around Adamaï's thick neck, happy to have his brother home. "How was the trip, Ad?" he asked as he let go and slid to the ground.
"Faster than I thought. I hope nothing happened while I was away," Adamaï watched Yugo's face for any expression that might betray the presence of serious trouble and failed to find any.
"Just Grougal," Yugo sighed. "I haven't been able to get him to stop."
"Hasn't even been a week yet, it's too soon for someone like him to stop."
"Something the matter?" Joris asked as he joined the two of them.
"Later. We need to talk anyway," Adamaï replied, glancing at the two doctors. "We haven't had lunch yet, why don't we take them to the common room and talk in the back?"
"So where's that eccentric genius we heard about?" Korden peered around the yard as she spoke, as if said genius might suddenly appear from behind a tree or the back of the inn. "Do we get to meet him soon?"
"All in good time, Dr. Korden," Joris assured her. "For now let's get you settled with some lunch, it's been a long journey."
"Now, on to business," Joris settled himself in one of the cozy family room chairs with Yugo and Adamaï seated in two others just across from him, the dragon having assumed his humanoid form. "I appreciate your trying to help with the Red Plague, Yugo, but I'm afraid I must question your judgement in deciding to bring Qilby back to the World of Twelve."
"It wasn't Yugo who came up with the idea," Adamaï cut in, before Yugo could express his confusion over being saddled with the blame. "It was me."
For a few moments Joris was too stunned for words. He'd been thinking on the lecture he was going to give Yugo throughout the entire trip back to Emelka, and to think it was actually Adamaï who suggested this in the first place. That really said something. Adamaï was the more logical of the two, he wouldn't risk the World of Twelve needlessly... "I'm still not entirely convinced," Joris said finally.
"That's fine," Adamaï gave Joris a polite nod of acknowledgement. "It's up to us to get you to change your mind."
"What did you tell him already?" Yugo sat forward in his chair, eyes on his brother as he waited for the answer.
"Just that you'd taken precautions," Joris replied. "I would like to see them in person, if you don't mind."
"Sure, Qilby's in the room right now," Yugo said, getting to his feet.
Adamaï stood and led the way to Qilby's room. "Baltazar created a special collar that prevents him from lying and restricts his ability to channel Wakfu," he explained as they made their way down the hall. "We're also fully aware of what he is now, he won't be able to surprise us again."
"Have you tested it?" Joris's question had not occurred to the two before, and they both stopped to look at him.
"Well," Yugo's face began to flush with embarrassment. "No, we trusted that Baltazar was able to do a good job. And we know the collar is restricting Qilby's Wakfu."
"Would you mind if I were to test the truth telling portion?"
"What would you ask him?" Adamaï turned to face Joris as he spoke, genuinely curious. Though he believed that Baltazar had managed to do as he said he had with the collar—and with the help of the Eliacube, no less—you could never be too careful. It would be interesting to see regardless.
"Something that he would want to deny," Joris looked down at the floor as he thought, the fingers of one hand pressed against his chin. "Perhaps his involvement in the fall of the Eliatrope race?" he looked up at Adamaï.
The dragon looked as if he was about to laugh, but stopped himself before the sound managed to leave his throat. A distant expression filled his eyes as he thought about it, having encountered second thoughts over the apparent ridiculousness of such a suggestion.
"I think that should work," Yugo said finally, having returned from his own musings on the matter.
Adamaï nodded. "Seems the best we can do anyway," he turned back down the hall and continued to lead the little group along.
Qilby was seated on the bed and reading through one of his books when they entered the room. He looked up at the sound of their footsteps, and was surprised to find Joris standing before him with Yugo and Adamaï. After a moment's pause Qilby closed the book and placed it on the bedspread at his side, out of the way but within easy reach once the group left again.
"You remember Joris, Qilby," Adamaï nodded to Joris as he spoke. "He has a question for you."
Joris locked eyes with Qilby for a moment, before the old Eliatrope looked away. There seemed to be an air of hopelessness that hung around Qilby now, far different from the quiet, confident Eliatrope King that Joris had met back in Sadida years ago. The king part was a ruse of course but the confidence seemed long gone as well. In fact, there was nothing more than Joris's memory of Qilby from Sadida Kingdom to tell him that the man seated before him was anything other than a normal human; he was certainly dressed for the part, without even a hint of the typical Eliatrope fashion to claim otherwise. To Joris it seemed that Qilby's spirit had broken somewhere along the way as well, perhaps in the very moment he was stripped of the proper Eliatrope identity, or even while trapped in the Blank Dimension a second time.
This could all be a ruse, Joris reminded himself. "So, Qilby. Tell me of the downfall of the Eliatrope race. Exactly who is to blame?"
The look Qilby gave Joris was filled with fear and despair, like a cornered prey animal that had run out of places to hide. He looked down at the floor and slowly dragged his hand up to his thigh, where his fingers curled around the thick, loose fabric of the new pants he'd been given. The fabric creaked from how tightly his fist clenched around it, and his mouth tightened into a thin, tense line. His eyes drifted toward one of the desk legs, farther away from Joris, and his mouth opened slightly as if to speak. No words came at first, even as his lips moved without making a sound.
"I... I am," Qilby said finally, his voice almost too quiet to hear. His hand was now clenched so tight that the veins and tendons stood out like cords, complement to the stark whiteness of his knuckles.
"And what reason did you have for doing such a thing?" Joris persisted, all too aware of the pity that was beginning to creep in. If this was an act, it was a very convincing one.
Another period of uncomfortable silence followed. "Myself," was the weary admission. "I was afraid of staying still... Had to keep moving."
Joris gave Qilby a nod to acknowledge that he had heard and accepted the reply and turned to leave. He looked up at Yugo and Adamaï in turn as he passed them, and they followed him out into the hallway.
They stopped once they reached the family room again. "Convincing," Joris closed his eyes for a moment as he thought on what he'd seen. "But we will still have to keep a very close eye on him."
"Of course," Adamaï leaned against the doorframe that led to the hallway, arms crossed over his chest. "We weren't planning on doing otherwise."
"And as for the matter of curing the plague, the Dean of the Institute of Medical Science has extended the very courteous offer of allowing Qilby to work in their facilities. I would like to recommend that we take him to Bonta immediately so he can begin work with every possible resource," Joris clasped his hands behind his back and turned to Yugo and Adamaï as he spoke.
"Really?" Yugo looked surprised at the suggestion. "You're okay with taking Qilby to Bonta?"
"We should be able to keep things under control if security is tight and you two stay close by."
"How will the King and Nobles react to this?" Adamaï added.
"The Council doesn't hold as much power anymore, and I can convince the King," Joris replied. "With so much at stake, he'll be willing to take the risk as long as we're careful."
"Sounds alright to me." Yugo glanced over his shoulder at Adamaï, "What do you think, Ad?"
"I don't like the thought of allowing Qilby to be around strangers," Adamaï grumbled as he pushed off the doorframe. "You're right, Bonta is a better place for him to work from, especially if they have things set up before we get there." He glanced down the hallway behind him, then turned back to Yugo and Joris. "But I still can't agree to that. I can't just leave Grougal here unattended, he's too much for Alibert to handle by himself and he still needs to maintain his training."
"Perhaps we could bring them with us?" Joris suggested.
Adamaï started shaking his head immediately after the words finished leaving Joris's mouth. "And take two kids into an active plague zone?" he gave Joris a look that suggested the answer should have been obvious.
"You have a point," Joris said with a nod and a sigh. He looked up at Adamaï and knew by the stubborn set of his jaw that the dragon would not budge on this matter. It was not surprising given how agitated Adamaï had become the longer they took to get back to Emelka; he had been worried over not being able to watch Qilby himself, and would doubtless resist any attempt to get him to leave Yugo alone with him again. "I can get the Institute to send additional resources since he will be working here, but it will take some time for them to get all the way out here."
"I think Qilby will still be able to make progress until they arrive," Yugo said. "He's been working nonstop ever since Adamaï left, and the stuff you brought should help him a lot, the assistants too."
"Speaking of which, how much do we want to tell them?"
"Good question," Adamaï's foot tapped against the hardwood floor as he weighed their options. "Part of our defense against Qilby's treachery is knowledge of what he is, and it's not like we can constantly babysit them while they work, we'll just slow them down."
"I think they have a right to know since they're going to be working with him," Yugo added.
"Very well, and what do you intend to tell them?" Joris asked, raising his eyebrows at the two of them.
"Well, we could start from the beginning..." Yugo glanced at Adamaï as if seeking approval for the suggestion, and continued when the dragon offered no protest. "Just tell them what happened in Sadida and at the Crimson Claws."
"They'll need to keep it to themselves," Adamaï added. "But if they know that then they'll be well aware of the danger he can present."
"Then let's get it done as soon as possible," Joris said. "I want to be around to help explain as much as a I can, but I need to get back to Bonta to arrange for the equipment delivery."
In the end Adamaï decided to have Qilby sit in on the discussion as well, with Yugo remaining strangely silent on the matter. Joris wanted to protest, but could find no worthy reason for doing so; after all Qilby had done it was far from a harsh enough punishment for someone like him. Still, whether it was to make a point or for mere petty revenge, it worried Joris to see that Adamaï was willing to do something so cruel.
The doctors listened with a mix of surprise and dull horror as the story took a darker turn, as Adamaï recounted what happened between himself and Qilby in the Zinit. Qilby stared silently at the floor throughout the whole thing, and Joris noticed that Yugo became restless and agitated whenever he looked at the older Eliatrope. Finally the story reached its end, and the doctors were excused, feeling tired and ready for an early night. Qilby got to his feet and left as well once the doctors had disappeared into the common room, bound for his room and new research material to bury himself in.
Joris got to his feet and turned to the two brothers. "I'm going to start my return journey tonight," he said as Yugo and Adamaï left their chairs as well. "Hopefully I will see you both again by next week."
[Eliatrope boy and dragon are up to something. Subject to remain in Emelka, Joris returning to Bonta. More information to follow.]
"Something is bothering you, brother."
"Hmm?" Yugo looked over his shoulder at Adamaï, a pair of partially-folded pants still in his hands. "What makes you say that?"
Adamaï leaned forward from his seat on the second bed and rested his elbows on his knees. "You keep letting me decide everything, instead of speaking up the way you normally do," he replied. "So tell me what's wrong."
Yugo remained silent as he finished folding the pants and added them to the neat little pile of laundry on his bed. He then turned and took a seat on it himself, letting out a long sigh as he did so. "I dunno..." his gaze wandered off to a corner of the room, next to the foot of Adamaï's bed. "I still feel really bad about what happened to Qilby," his hand crept up and slowly clasped at his shirt front, as if his chest was hurting him. "I'm worried, Ad. I'm too soft. I don't feel like I can make the right decisions with this," he looked up at his brother, eyes wide and eyebrows drawn together and upward with worry. "I don't want people to get hurt because of me."
The reply hit Adamaï like a bucket of cold water to the face. "Yugo—" he began, but the proper words just refused to form. A mix of emotions bubbled up to the surface: worry over Yugo's lack of confidence, a bit of happiness at being allowed to take the lead for once. For a moment he wanted to tell Yugo to leave it to him, that he had everything under control. Reason stopped him.
In the end no one was perfect. Adamaï's fingers curled slightly as he struggled to put the right words into place. He was regarded as the more logical of the two brothers, that was true, but even he could overlook details, allow emotion to cloud his mind. He needed someone to watch him, a second pair of eyes to help make sure that he didn't slip up. "I still need you, Yugo. I can't make these decisions on my own either, so don't hesitate when you want to speak up," he got to his feet and walked over to Yugo's bed, where he dropped down beside his brother. The Eliatrope's gaze had since drifted to the rug before his bed, worried and unfocused as he listened to what Adamaï had to say.
"Come on," Adamaï put on a reassuring smile and gave Yugo a playful bump with his shoulder when the Eliatrope remained silent. "We're in this together, so you gotta do your part too."
"Heh," a small smile began to tug at the corners of Yugo's mouth as Adamaï's words rekindled a little confidence, but the Eliatrope's eyes remained on the rug at his feet.
It still wasn't enough. Adamaï could see it in how Yugo held himself, feel it in the energy of the air around his brother; it wasn't just the situation with Qilby that he was thinking about. Yugo was starting to see his kind heart as a weakness. Adamaï's own heart seemed to jerk sideways at the notion, and a vein of sadness flared cold and painful before beginning to spread. His smile faded.
A big heart, as long as it could be kept in check by reason, should not be seen as a weakness. At times Adamaï himself even wished he had been gifted with one as well, to be able to love and forgive so freely as Yugo did, to be able to win the loyalty of others as easily as he could. It was true that Yugo had made many mistakes because of that heart over the years, but he had also gained many allies because of it.
Adamaï put his hand on Yugo's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, prompting the Eliatrope to finally look up at his brother. "A kind heart is not a sign of weakness, Yugo," their eyes met and held as Adamaï spoke. "You're strong enough to move past the wrongs others have done to you and the pain they caused, to bear the pain that others feel. You can connect with other people and understand them," the dragon kept his hand on Yugo's shoulder despite already having his brother's attention. "So don't be afraid of making the wrong decision because of your heart. Just remember to think things through, and that I'll always be here to help you with that."
This time Yugo's smile was genuine enough to reach his eyes. "Thanks, Ad," Yugo pulled his brother into a tight hug as he spoke. "I won't let you down."
"I know you won't," Adamaï smiled again and returned the hug.
Good. Yugo was getting his confidence back, and there would be someone watching to make sure Adamaï didn't go down the darkened path. He wouldn't have so much to worry about now.
Qilby stared down at the carpet from his seat on the bed, temporarily unable to muster the will to get working again. He'd finally stopped running from the fact that he acted selfishly in everything he did years ago in the Blank Dimension, but being forced to admit it aloud, in the presence of others made it more... Real. What had once only inhabited his head had now been freed from its confines to cast its immovable weight upon reality, and there was no taking it back.
He looked down at where his hand rested on the bedspread and rubbed a fold of fabric between his thumb and index finger. Real... Tactile sensations were nonexistent in the Blank Dimension, it was another method of torment written into the very existence of the place. Even something as simple as fabric between his fingers felt good after his stay there. It felt so much better to feel real again.
But you don't deserve to feel real again, the persistent, nagging little voice in the back of his head reminded him. It was an odd paradox, the conditions of the Blank Dimension: the inhabitant felt as though they were no longer real, and yet they still existed in order to experience that misery firsthand. A fitting punishment for someone who didn't deserve to exist in the first place, after what he did to his own people, his own brothers and sisters.
And yet, here he was. In the real world again. Real, and filled with pain. Qilby released the bedspread and reached up to touch his hair, near where his wings should have been. They'd taken his wings away, the most shameful punishment you could possibly bestow upon an Eliatrope. Such fallen individuals had been outcasts of their society, viewed with a mix of suspicion and disdain by the rest of the population. It was fitting, after all... He no longer deserved to share the same species with them, let alone the same image.
He'd been trying to avoid this discussion with himself, working constantly in an attempt to stay ahead of it, to avoid thinking about it. Keep moving, keep moving... That had been his method for outpacing the shame and guilt thus far, until the events of the day managed to stop him dead. Master Joris's questions were painful enough, but sitting in on the retelling of what happened between himself, Yugo, and Adamaï had only compounded that pain and made it worse. It was humiliating to watch the emotions pass over the doctors' faces as they were told about what Qilby did, ranging from shock to anger to horror. They knew what he was, not that he would be able to lie to them if asked directly about it anyway.
That was something impressive. He had tried to bend the truth earlier while talking to Joris if only for the sake of avoiding having to hear himself admit what he did, and found that the collar restricted that as well. Only the truth was allowed. Yes, impressive. Such anti-flow collars were only designed to slow the flow of Wakfu while having no other effects, to think that Baltazar had been able to find a way to work in another functionality... He must have used the Eliacube to do it, its computational capabilities would be more than enough to accomplish such a thing if applied in the right way.
There was no escaping the truth anymore. No escaping the fact that everything he'd done had been for nothing, that he'd only made everything worse.
Painful yes, but pain in the real world was still better than pain in the Blank Dimension. Would they really keep him here after he finished this task? He hoped so, despite that same disappointed voice that told him it was what he deserved, to be locked away in that tiny, empty space for all eternity. The chances of him staying out might be promising since Yugo could probably be taken at his word when he said he'd prefer that Qilby not be shut away in the Blank Dimension anymore, but then there was Adamaï... Qilby didn't know what Adamaï would want to do—especially with what happened between them in the Zinit and after—or how much influence the dragon would hold in the eventual decision. All he knew for sure was that he never wanted to go back.
Exhaustion began to weigh on him. Ah, so the fact that he'd woken up long before dawn with insomnia was finally catching up. Sleep was another thing he'd been deprived of in that empty hell, another thing he dearly missed. Dreams were one of the few places that actually entertained him these days, where imagination was unbound and things even beyond imagining could occur. Yet the still-bitter truth was that despite the boundless creativity of dreams they still weren't real; ideas and conclusions could become apparent within them, but only a small percentage of that was actually workable in the real world. And then there were the nightmares. Those had come to haunt him ever since he left the Blank Dimension and had yet to leave, lurking in the depths of his subconscious until given the chance to rise to the surface when he slept.
There would be no more work for today, he was simply too tired. He would need to sleep or his work would suffer for it, and he was sure that the quality of said work would help determine whether he stayed in the real world or not. Qilby would have to do the best he could and hope that Adamaï chose to show mercy. Or that he would have a use beyond finding a cure. Either way, sleep was essential.
Qilby crawled into bed without bothering to change his clothes and began to drift off as soon as he lay still. As he descended, the nightmares rose to meet him.