Wraithwood Botanist

Alyan huffed and looked at him in confusion. "Are you serious?"

Brexton lifted his index to tell her to wait, then tapped his temple twice. Then, he put his hand onto an array painted on a wall to check if it was activated. It was an interference array designed to prevent cross-neara interference, ensuring that no one could tap into the top layer of his subconscious.

"You’re serious," Alyan huffed, turning away. "Unbelievable."

Brexton sighed. Alyan had grown tired of the late nights and constant work, and while she wasn’t—and could never be—a long-term partner, he still cared about the people let into his life. So he promised to give her attention that night—and now he was breaking it. At least they were still clothed—otherwise, it would be bad.

I’m here, Brexton said to Caragon as Alyna fixed her hair in a mirror furiously.

I got a message from the Patriarch, Caragon said.

Then send it to Roken. Roken was his uncle and the apparent head of the Claustra in the first domain. He did handle all the major family affairs, even if he didn’t make choices.

Not Trochaio, the Patriarch… Romulan.

Brexton took two steps back and fell onto the couch. Alyan turned to him to sneer before adding lipstick but saw his face and held back. She continued.

Why didn’t he just tell me? Brexton asked. He was one of the few people in the multiverse who had a direct line to Romulan, as the god was his patron, a rarity for someone with tens of thousands of distant grandchildren. It was part of that reason that Brexton was able to rise so quickly in the ranks, but it was also concerning in moments like this when Romulan didn’t send him a request.

’Cause he needs you to take a message on your Skievan Oath.

Brexton shivered. Skievan Oaths were a special type of "kill switch" that activated if people disclosed information they shouldn’t. Usually, it would just kill a person, but the Claustra were held to a higher standard. If they broke their Skievan Oath, it would shred their soul in strange and terrifying ways.

That meant it was serious.

But don’t worry, Caragon said. This’s a good thing. Play your cards right, and you’re ascending your uncle.

No. Not a problem. I’ll hit the train in a couple of hours. We’ll do the oath tonight.

In a couple of hours?

Unless there’s value in having it sooner.

No. It’s just strange. Do you have something important going on?

Brexton turned to Alyan, who was finishing fixing her makeup. Yeah. It’s important.

Alright. See you then.

Brexton stood and mixed himself a drink at the bar. Then he watched his partner put on makeup.

"This’s getting old," she said.

"Family’s first," he said. "Always has been—always will be."

"No. You promised to put me first for once. Just this once. Tonight. Ten fucking minutes ago."

"I didn’t forget. You were first… then second for two minutes, now… first." He walked over to her.

"Don’t you dare," she said, slapping his hands weakly.

"You have no idea what I’ve put you before," he said.

She turned to him with a sharp expression. "It’s serious?"

"Let’s just say… we’re either gonna celebrate in a few days, or everything is going to melt down and fucking explode."

She swallowed nervously and took a deep breath and looked at him deeply. "How exciting."

Brexton flashed her a charming smile. Then he nudged his head toward the bedroom in the back.

Alyan looked into the mirror and saw that she had just finished fixing her hair and makeup. "Asshole."

Aiden, Kline, and I threaded cores after dinner and then slept a few hours. We woke before morning’s light, loading up on Sina and Keal, both of which seemed more energetic. Their soul force felt different under me, and Kline’s ethereal form was almost visible.

The morning felt calm, but we were attacked as the sun peeked through the branches. The lurvines flew forward, weaving between trees to avoid them as I grabbed tufts of "fur." I thought I would die from a fall, but before I knew it, we were free from our pursuers, healing our chafing legs under a tree.

We rode on.

Things were calm after that until we were ambushed by a pack of brivelts, the bat-werewolves that ambushed Kline and me during the first week. I recoiled in fear, but I pushed out of that fear.

I had grown since the last time we fought.

I slowed time and lifted my machete, and one jumped at me. I dodged its attack by an inch and swung down in one motion, cutting off a leg. It hit a tree and fell into a patch of poisonous groundcover. It cried out in horror, scrambling to a tree and flying through the forest away.

It was the lucky one.

The one that attacked Kline hit the ground in three pieces, and the ones that clung to the lurvines burst into flames from their blue fire shielding.

Sina brought the only survivor to Aiden, half crippled and twitching. He said, "Wooooooow. Life’s full of opportunities to get stronger," before accepting his fate and swinging the executioner’s axe.

We rode on.

Beasts became more frequent, and we found some fighting and left them to kill each other. Some stopped fighting to attack us, and we killed them. Aiden racked up a dozen kills in a few hours, and soon, we were sitting in a patch of deadfall, demoralized with the timeline.

Over two days had passed, and we had five. Aiden thought we had four, and I warned him that I potentially couldn’t even learn the elixir spell, so it would’ve been natural to give up. Yet there was something… amazing about Aiden.

Or perhaps strange.

No… maybe terrible is the word…

It’s hard to put into words, but for whatever reason, he never dropped the grim positivity persona. It could have been because he wanted to change. Or, it could have been that he was clutching to it like a shield. But when he turned to everyone with a bright smile after an hour of sheer despair and said—

"Well, at least we haven’t been attacked in the last five minutes."

—I genuinely couldn’t tell whether he was being positive or not.

He was molding himself into a new person in real-time—and if I had to choose an emotion to describe my reaction, I would say envy. It was strange.

We rode on.

It took another six battles that got increasingly intense before we made it to the wandering reaper site. I stared at the ground warily for a long time until Aiden asked, "What’re you looking for."

My reply: "My sense of indignation.

It was strange.

I should’ve hated the Oracle, the gods, and this entire fucked up system. But… I liked who I had become. I enjoyed being in nature and living life how I wanted to. I loved knowing that I didn’t have to work some finance internship that a family connection lined up for me, only to spend the next thirty years of my life coming home bone tired after happy hour to water my plants. Or, conversely, walking up to people and never having anything to talk about.

My life here wasn’t easy—

—but it felt like my life.

I loved that.

We rode on.

Things were suspiciously quiet around the Divide. The barrier was gone, but I didn’t see any beasts moving into the alchemy camp.

That would usually be a good thing—unless you lived a life like mine.

Then, it became terrifying.

So I kept watch, but to my surprise, we made it to the alchemy station without issue—only to feel extremely disheartened.

The entire place was trashed. The tables were flipped, jars with ingredients were shattered and thrown upon the ground, ingredients mixed—assuming they didn’t blow away.

If there were any air-sensitive ingredients, they were neutralized.

It was as if we had stumbled upon an abandoned drug lab searching for an abducted child.

"Fuck."

Aiden watched Mira separate ingredients into different containers with telekinesis, skillfully moving white from black grains and putting them into normal bowls. It was hypnotizing to watch her separating things with her mind and magic alone, but… it also felt worthless.

Right?

She didn’t know which was which.

Then it hit him:

She’s using an information request…

He was wrong again. As he remembered, an hour later, Mira had an alchemy god teaching her. So his guess was that a Guide projection would come out like Elle or Killian did and help her sort it. He admired her dedication—

—and she really didn’t give up.

Aiden sat on the one log that didn’t highlight purple somewhere or another and stared at the artificial pond next to the alchemy station.

I wonder what that’s for… Doubt it’s for bathing… I hope.

Mira was a strange woman. She gave off a vibe that she didn’t care what she wore, and she constantly grabbed the fabric around her thighs, mumbling things like, "I’ll find a spell to tame you," but at the same time, she did her hair every day. No… he kept ignoring what she had said the first time he caught her doing it.

This isn’t for you, kay? She scratched a cowlick in frustration and then looked at him, sensing his unease about getting "called out" for something he didn’t do. If it makes you feel better, it’s not for me, either.

Then who’s it… he stopped himself.

The Harvesters, Mira answered. I’m trading supplies with ’em durin’ the Harvest, and there’s a ten-to-one chance some idiot’s gonna try to rob me. The solution? Show up lookin’ like a maiden. Heh. She chuckled breathlessly. ’Magine it. Four months in Areswood Forest, and I show up lookin’ like I just finished a spa trip. That’s terrifying.

Aiden returned to the present, watching Mira work—wondering if she had always been like that. She was… strong. Genuinely strong. Confident… content. He envied that a lot, so… when she gave him advice, he rolled with it, lying and being positive.

It helped.

Now, he had grown attached to her. Not romantically. God knows he didn’t even consider dating anyone. Unless it was for work, speaking to people gave him anxiety he had to fight through. He could handle it—but he didn’t want to volunteer for it.

No, he wasn’t attached to her romantically. But for the first time, he felt like he could have a friend. The word was could because Mira knew his secret.

Look, Aiden, she had said one night after he cut off a question. It’s okay. You mentioned getting held at gunpoint to get you into this forest, and I doubt they just wanted a delivery. My guess is that… my guess is my guess. And so long as you keep doin’ what you’re doin’, we’re cool.

Mira said that—but he knew there was a serious wall between them that he couldn’t patch. She was right. He had to spill her secrets—but. There were limitations.

If she asks me to keep a secret, you can go fuck yourself, Aiden had said Brexton on the night of the negotiations.

Brexton rocked back a glass until it was just ice and then said, That’s pretty admirable—for a snitch.

Look… I’ve yet to meet someone who kept a secret. If she thinks I’ll keep mum by default… she’s stupid. But if she asks for secrecy… you can go fuck yourself.

Brexton grinned. Fine. But you can’t tell her shit about that rule. Or even allude to it.

I’m not gonna ask her questions. She’ll figure it out.

So? Brexton mixed himself another drink. It was just hard spirits with a squeeze of a purple fruit, but he made it look like an art somehow. If people were good at keeping mum, I wouldn’t have a job.

Aiden returned to the present with a bitter smile as he watched Mira put cabinets back together and organize them before adding ingredient jars.

Mira said she understood, and Aiden didn’t have a choice—without a core, he wouldn’t have made it to the Bramble, and he and Halten would have been picked off by some family or another. Still—he still felt it was a betrayal to someone who he genuinely wanted to be friends with, and he surrendered any right to call her one.

But.

But what Aiden could do, the one thing that he could fight for with or without Brexton’s help, was to make the most of the information he had about Mira.

Hey Elle. Come out here.

His colorful little pixie flew out of his chest and did one circle before landing on his left shoulder. "Howdy, stranger. What can your cute little pixie partner do for ya?"

I want you to remind me of an information request.

"Oooh. This sounds juicy."

Aiden smirked. Maybe. I want you to tell me how I can use my knowledge of Mira to protect her on the outside… and fuck over some people while we’re at it. But only if her Guide approves. I don’t wanna fuck her over by helping. You know?

Ooooh. Wrong shoulder. Elle flew to his right shoulder and put up devil horns with her index fingers. Tell me more.

3.

Reality check. Half my heating arrays had been stomped, kicked, and clawed into unworkable conditions. I lost probably seventy percent of the ingredients outright, likely more once I figured out what was air-sensitive, and the ones I managed to separate and save were mixed. My counter was wrecked, and if I needed much glassware, I could forget it. I had an apparatus and some other gear.

Despite that—

—it wasn’t a complete bust. Aiden brought a backpack and my gear held another bag that we stuffed with preservation containers outright, and after some digging, I pulled more elixirs from underground that I had buried. There were powerful ingredients Kline and I had bundled and put into a tree somewhere (which could still be there), and there were a lot more heating arrays than I had.

Most importantly, there was still oil and alcohol in five-gallon tubs, and needed a lot of it for animals of that size.

It would have to be enough. I had done what I could, and it was time to finally make the call.

I went into my Guide and went to Brindle’s on-demand lecture. I hit request.