Edge Cases

94 - Book 2: Chapter 31: Past Traumas

94 - Book 2: Chapter 31: Past Traumas

"Fuck," Misa said, again.

It had been an hour. The four of them sat outside the barrier to Fendal, still. They'd tried everything they could think of to break through the barrier, to no success no amount of magic broke through it, and there was a weight to it that Derivan couldn't simply Shift through. They'd tried to dig underneath, but the barrier extended beneath the ground and up into the sky in a perfect sphere.

And it was visible. That was the worst part, Vex thought; it could call in people to see what was happening rather easily, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know how Helg would deal with new adventurers knocking at their door.

"We're going to have to leave, aren't we?" Misa scowled. "She got what she wanted. Fucker."

"I don't think we should stay," Sev said, sighing. He stared at the barrier, then beyond it, into Fendal; most of the people in the town hadn't even reacted to them being forced back. Charise, Volaro and Juni had all rushed out after them, of course, and stood on the other side of the barrier but they couldn't do anything to break through it, either.

Misa's connection to them via her skill was weakened, too. She couldn't dismiss them even if she wanted, which presented... a whole host of new problems, really.

"We don't have any way to get in," Sev elaborated when no one else spoke up. He was trying to justify it to himself, too. "We might be able to find another way in from somewhere else. But not if we stay here."

"I need to understand glyphs more," Vex said quietly. "I don't mind if we finish traveling to Elyra and deliver the food. I... I need to know how Helg was able to do this. This spell is nothing like any barrier spell I've seen before."

Because no spell he'd seen before had interacted with a fundamental facet of reality the way Shift did. And yet, here the barrier was, doing exactly that and doing it to such an extent that even Derivan couldn't break through it. Visit for the best novel reading experience

It meant there was something to learn. Something he could take, and make his own, and once he made it his own he could break it.

But he had to understand, first.

"I just can't believe Helg did this," Sev exhaled, clenching his fists slightly. "I was going to try to find her and talk to her again, before it was time for us to leave. She knows this is a bad idea. But she's throwing away the only lifeline she has, the people with a connection to the system I don't get it."

"I don't think Helg knows what she's doing." The words spilled out of him before he could really think them through; he sat curled up on the ground, his tail wrapped around himself so he could hug it close. "I've seen this before. I think she's just tricking herself into thinking everything will be fine. I think the system makes it easy for you to trick yourself, if you really want to; it tries to make it easy for you to pretend everything is fine, even if you know that's wrong."

"Sounds like she knows exactly what she's doing, to me." Misa didn't look particularly impressed.

"I mean, yes, but..." Vex looked down, hugging his tail closer to himself. "You don't understand. I've seen it before. My whole family, pretending nothing's wrong, pretending that what they're doing is fine, even though I was crying and screaming and begging for them to stop"

He had to stop talking there. Vex's breathing was shallower than he wanted it to be, and he was briefly aware that he was hyperventilating, sucking in air and not quite getting enough. He told himself to calm, but

Vex heaved out a sigh.

Right. Elyra. Home.

Sev gave him a sympathetic glance. "Not looking forward to it?"

"No," Vex said, and he hesitated for a moment. "And I think I should explain why. Just... it's going to be a long story. Let's talk about it once we get back in the caravan."

"Sure," Sev said. He looked like he wanted to say something else, too, but backed off after a moment, glancing back at the barrier instead and then sighing. "...Fuck. Feels a bit like losing, doesn't it."

"Feels a lot like losing," Misa said. "I don't like it."

"We have gained new tools," Derivan said. "I gained a new stat, too, in the fight against the Patchers, but it is... different from the others. It feels more dangerous to use. I would like to take the time to explore it."

"And I need to learn more about glyphs." Vex grimaced a little, watching the patterns of mana in the air; outside of Fendal and Teque, it all seemed a lot more lifeless. He wasn't even sure if glyphs would still work out here... He reached for his brush again, a small, almost automatic cast of [Splash of Mana] supplying him with the necessary paint, but he paused a moment before he would have drawn his glyph.

"I would like to help," Derivan said quietly, watching him. "There are many signs we do not know of, I am sure. We could learn some from Anton, but perhaps more crucially we should learn how they discover or create them in the first place."

"Right," Vex said. He put the brush away, letting the mana-paint fall to the ground and soak into the grass. "I... that'd be useful, yeah. I'd love your help. Oh! Especially if you can quantify how you were able to figure out our signs. I need to make some notes, and sketch them both out, and then maybe we can get Sev and Misa to figure out their own too..."

Vex trailed off a bit, trying not to get too lost in thought in the face of what just happened.

"Let's go," he said instead. Misa exchanged a quick goodbye with her mom, though Vex didn't miss the worried glances they shared with each other, even as Sev went to prepare it; their food, luckily, all seemed fine. There was one more stop they had to make before Elyra, but that quest was not a dangerous quest at all.

A small part of him knew it would be a good break; a way to rest and reset. But the larger part of Vex wanted to rush to Elyra and demand access to the dungeon, and resolve the Fendal problem as soon as possible.

He sighed.

But maybe, he thought, he needed to trust the people they were leaving in Fendal instead.

Now he just needed to gather the courage to talk about his family, and the reason he wanted so badly to get his brother out.