Side Story: Nati, Xilly, Zallith, Afterword

Author's note

You would not believe that such a simple and boring title lead me to fifteen minutes of googling but here we are. I wasn't positive if I wanted afterword or afterward because I wasn't 100% I knew the difference, so for anyone else who's curious, afterword can be an epilogue, afterward is what comes next. Pretty sure either would have actually worked but I ultimately went with Afterword because if I didn't I would have had to make the choice on whether to write it as afterward or to be true to my Canadian roots and write it as afterwards instead. Gotta love a good ramble before a chapter right?

As soon as Ben left, each of the three was flooded with emotions. Regardless of however responsible they were for their own suffering, Nati, Xilly, and Zallith were freed from the madman who’d been holding their minds hostage for what felt like at least a year, even if any onlooker would have only seen a matter of days.

But that skew in perception was part of what made it such a moving moment for them all, even leaving tears running down Zallith’s cheeks the moment the mad apostle was out of their view. Another single day with him would have meant months of perceived time where they’d be doing nothing but learning whatever he felt like teaching them and practicing their connect, all while he experimented on their minds. The fact that they’d held out so long at all was a victory to them that they had no plans on taking for granted.

So what if they’d been told to befriend a young fairy? They’d show her all of the love in the world so long as it meant he’d never come back.

And so what if Nare had voiced his own punishment for them so soon after? Community service was better than the mad prison that was that insane summoned’s mind. They’d be seeing others and out interacting with the world as a whole still, and more than that, it would be different. Not just connecting, learning, and if they were really lucky, a bit of practice enchanting out in the real world. Be it cleaning, helping the citizens of the nation or providing some other service, it was going to be a change compared to the monotony that had become their existence until then, and with it not starting then and there while they were enjoying how good it felt to be free of their shackles, they went out for the night, off to eat, drink, and be merry as if yet another had risen to godhood before they’d need to return back to their work the next day.

---

Nati’s sleep was fitful despite the fun she’d had in her celebrating, her dreams assaulting her with chemical formulas and enchanting structures that had been pounded into her brain, with her mind trying to process that vast swath of information she’d had forced on her in her unconscious state, leaving her night a reminder of the hell she’d been so happy to have end, with waking up not even freeing her from it.

I think I feel sick.

Just trying to get dressed for the day, her hands were shaking at the thought of moving a few rooms down from where she’d slept to her workshop in the mansion, with her stomach in just as many knots. All she could do was sit down and breathe, waiting for it to pass as she tried to suppress the feeling, telling herself that she’d either drunk too much or something she’d eaten had been a bit off no matter how untrue she knew it was.

It was a similar reaction that she’d had in the last couple days of her lessons, a fear and dread of what was to come, a horror within her own home that she had no justification to stop.

After all, she couldn’t deny anything that had caused it, nor the effects it had in the end. She and the two others had spent a week mistreating the teacher that had been sent to her despite how accommodating he’d been, with it culminating in his near death, and their punishment for it had more than paid off, at least as far as results could go.

Before, she’d been able to make lower ultra-rare items on a semi-regular basis which was reasonable enough for someone with an awakened crafting and enchanting at their zeroth levels, but with the few things she’d been able to create since, she’d been hitting the middle of that range consistently instead. Not only that but as she held forth a hand, trying to force it to steady itself, she spent just a bit of mana, creating a bead of ice to cut a bit of the bite of the morning heat.

She’d been able to learn so much more than had been expected of her and had become more powerful for it too, it was likely she’d even see a level or two soon to go with it. By all accounts her improvement would be seen as a boon to the city as a whole when they’d come to know after getting the chance to examine whatever work she put out in the future, but that didn’t change her feelings. That much progress had come with a heavy toll, one she didn’t think she was comfortable with having paid given the deep-rooted fear it had left in her.

It’s fine. He’s gone, he’s not coming back so this is just a normal day. Go out, greet the other two like you always do, get your work done and then maybe make a potion to help with sleeping. It will pass after a couple days.

She didn’t really believe herself when she thought it but didn’t have much other choice than to pretend she did, so she threw on a smile, something far more positive than she’d ever normally wear around that would instantly reveal the fakeness of it to anyone who’d known her before going out to see the other two, finding both already there, neither looking good.

It was easiest to see with Zallith, the priest already on his hands and knees, looking empty as he waited for a set of legs to use him, but it was clear there was something wrong with Xilly as well, the other girl resting her wait against a table and staring blankly into the distance.

It was obvious that they weren’t doing well either, but given that it was her workshop and the two both technically worked under her, her own issues had yet another reason to be put on the back burner as she instead moved to deal with the more obvious problem first and approached the priest.

“Um, Zallith,” She started, coming off far more gentle than she’d usually be when talking to the man. “Ben’s gone now, you don’t need to keep doing this anymore you know?”

“I, oh, yes, hahaha,” He cackled with a worrying edge. “Must have slipped my mind. Just give me a second, I’ll get up and get to work.”

Even as he said it though, he didn’t immediately move, with Nati reflecting on how his treatment had compared to her and Xilly’s. While the two girls had taken the brute of the mental beating, it wasn’t like he’d taken none. Each time, Ben had pulled him into his mind as well, and every time he did, Zallith hadn’t been given lessons, but instead put in the same position his body had been in out in the real world, acting as a footstool for their teacher and being told off each time he tried to deny that as the nature of his existence, all while Ben experimented on his mind.

The lingering effect was obvious and not willing to wait, she grabbed his arms to force him to his feet, looking into his eyes as she did.

“Zallith, we have work to do, understood? For now, don’t think about anything else and get to it.”

“Don’t think about anything,” He muttered, his body trying to do what came naturally to it when he stopped thinking, wanting to curl down but stopping under her grip.

“I didn’t say don’t think about anything, I said don’t think about anything else. You’re on potions today. Go get started,” She told him firmly, before deciding to slip her own order in. “And add a few to aid in sleep as well. Come on and get to it.”

That finally managed to get some focus in him, and without her worrying about if he’d immediately get back to the ground she focused on the other one, looking at Xilly who still hadn’t seemed to have zoned back in, with the girl jumping the moment Nati reached out to place a hand on her arm.

“Oh, Nati,” She started, breathing a sigh of relief when she realized who it was. “How long have you been here?”

“A couple minutes. More importantly, how long have you been here?”

She didn’t get the impression the girl had simply shown up at her regular time and immediately zoned out, but she wasn’t prepared for the answer she got.

“I don’t know,” She said in a quiet voice.

“You don’t know?”

“...I woke up in here.”

“...”

Definitely making sleeping potions a priority.

She didn’t know what she was supposed to say to that though, so instead she drifted past it, telling herself it was just a one-off thing and if by some chance it happened to Xilly again then she’d try to come up with a solution later.

“Well, let’s just get our work done for the day, okay? We finish up here and then we’ll all go out for a nice dinner again, my treat.”

“...Okay, that sounds nice.”

She didn’t sound okay, her voice hinting at worry and hesitance that would never have been there in the past but they all told themselves they just needed a distraction, with the day’s normal work making the perfect one for them all to throw themselves into.

---

Nati threw herself into making talismans while Xilly enchanted them, both keeping up a constant workflow to pass the time, both of them losing themselves to the act of creation as a needed distraction, while at the same time practicing the many skills they’d learned.

Even as she did her best to throw herself into her work, the few times her mind slipped she noticed the improvement in herself as well and did her best to view it as a good thing, trying not to think about how her two companions had acted in the morning, trying to view it as a passing thing as she finally took a break.

Really, she would have gone on longer if she could of, she only stopped when she realized she was hungry, not just a little but terribly so, finally letting her eyes drift from her work to look at how her companions were doing.

Zallith was on the floor again. She couldn’t guess how long he’d been there, nor did she want to try, instead choosing to ignore it for the time being and send him home later so long as he’d finished the sleep potions.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Xilly was fully devoted to her work, enchanting the small mountain of talismans Nati had handed her that she hadn’t even realized she’d made, with the girl shaking her head.

I really did lose myself in my work. What time is it even? We should take a break for lunch… Or dinner. I have no clue how long I’ve been at this.

It was her intent at least, but as she went off to the side to peer out through the tarp that covered the giant hole in her wall, she got to see just how long she’d devoted to her tasks without a second thought.

Inside of Ben’s head, they’d been made to work for what felt like weeks straight at a time and didn’t need to eat, with the lingering psychological effects of that becoming even more blatantly obvious as she saw the slowly rising sun telling her that she’d worked for a straight day without a second thought, the only thing pulling her away from it being her biological functions getting to a point she could no longer ignore as the reality of what she and the others were going to be dealing with for a while continued to set in.

How long is it going to take to get back to normal from this? She asked herself as she stared into the distance before putting an end to things, grabbing the other two to make them eat before going off for another fitful sleep.

Author’s note 2

Over beside the days since Ben’s been hurt counter, the counter for the number of people he’s traumatized ticks up by three.