Talyn: Rebirth Ch. 14

Here's Chapter 14 of Talyn: Rebirth. Well, the draft of it, anyway.

***

Chapter 14

A couple of hours later, Talyn was bathed, fed, and back in her room, her head swimming from all the things she’d learned over the meal.

The baths had been decent enough, fed by a boiler and piped into a few plaster-lined metal tubs, with cold water available to dilute them to the desired temperature. There was even some soap, which Elda had indicated wasn’t common. The chance to clean up had left Talyn feeling marginally more… well, not human, but less like a monster emerged from the catacombs. Melody had taken a surprising amount of delight from the experience.

Delight that had promptly changed when Talyn plopped into a chair and had her eyes cross in pain. She had not accounted for having a tail, and pinning it firmly against the chair’s back had been unpleasant. Extremely unpleasant. Which had led to Elda, of all people, giving Talyn a shockingly long lecture on the proper way to care for a tail, along with a firm admonishment that she did not want to get it caught in a door. Or anywhere near a moving wagon wheel. Just the thought was enough to make Talyn shudder in horror.

Now she was back in her room, looking out the window at the stars above. They were incredibly vivid, moreso than she could remember having seen in her previous life. That memory was surprisingly clear, compared to so many others. So she let out a sigh, glancing back at Melody, who’d just finished locking the door.

“How was your meal?” Talyn asked simply, her emotions feeling… odd. She didn’t know how else to put it.

“Interesting. I liked the flavors, mostly, though the wine wasn’t something I especially liked. I can’t place the word that’s appropriate… I suspect it’s why people say a wine is more vinegar in some cases.” Melody said, tapping her lips thoughtfully. “I ate before, on occasion, but there’s something distinctly different about this. Same with the bath, some degree of… immediacy to the experience.”

“If you say so. I’m glad that you enjoyed it.” Talyn said, smiling slightly. She paused, then asked. “So, are you ready?”

“But of course. I’ll be waiting when you wake, Talyn.” Melody said, bowing deeply, which prompted a laugh to burst from Talyn’s lips unprompted.

“As you say. I’ll have figured out what I’m doing by that point. I hope, anyway.” Talyn said, willing the skill summoning Melody to end.

The goddess simply… faded, dissolving into motes of light that looked like soap bubbles, but those bubbles split into smaller and smaller ones, vanishing with a startling rapidity, and in moments there was nothing where she’d been standing. And Talyn was alone.

That hit her hard, shockingly hard. Talyn stared at the spot where Melody had been, then out the window again, at the alien sky above and the strange shadows of buildings so different than her vague memories. The loneliness was… gut-wrenching, and Talyn blinked as the sight began to waver. Not because of anything outside, but because of the tears welling up in her eyes.

She didn’t make any sound, though. Talyn simply stood there, looking at the sky as tears began to trickle down her face. Showing weakness was a good way to be targeted. She remembered that lesson from her previous life. So she just, stood there, allowing the salty tears to hit her shirt. Then she turned to the straw-filled bed and laid down, feeling heartsick.

The only person she had to rely on was herself and Melody. The conversation she’d had with the others had reminded her of that forcefully, when she’d learned about the Guildmaster. She’d hoped that wouldn’t be the case in a new world, but… she’d do what she could.

Maybe this time she’d even survive.

***

Aslith stared at the ceiling, chewing over the events of the day unhappily. She didn’t know how she’d expected the day to go, but the difference from the morning to that evening… it was so huge that she couldn’t begin to process it. It was like the entire experience in the cultist base had been a dream. It wasn’t, she knew that, but it still seemed faintly surreal. Especially Talyn, who was the main reason she was still awake.

She nearly jumped when she heard the sigh from the lower bunk, and Elda’s voice was soft. Clearly audible, with how quiet the inn was, but quiet. “What is it? You’re still awake.”

After a moment of hesitation, Aslith peeked over the edge of the bunk to see that the animus’s eyes were glittering in the dim light, like they always did. The woman had her arms folded behind her head, and it was like she’d been expecting Aslith to look down at her. Which she might have been doing.

“It’s Talyn.” Aslith admitted, not saying anything more.

“Of course. Why?” Elda asked patiently.

“It’s…” Aslith paused, struggling for a moment, then sighed. “Did you notice? How she reacted when Gordon told her about the Guildmaster?”

Elda didn’t reply immediately. That wasn’t unusual, not with the laconic animus. Sometimes people seemed to think that meant that she wasn’t intelligent, or didn’t care about others. Aslith knew better, and knew that she was affectionate in her own sort of way. Elda chose to act on her own terms, much like any cat.

“Yes. Her expression flickered. Caution, fear, worry. Only for a moment.” Elda said at last, with a tiny amount of weariness in her voice.

“Mmhm. And afterward, it wasn’t that obvious but I noticed that she was slightly more distant than she had been before.” Aslith said, frowning a little deeper. “It just… bothers me. I wonder if she was betrayed? In her previous life.”

“Possible. She is… odd. Only to be expected.” Elda replied softly, then paused for a few seconds. It was a couple more moments before she let out a soft sigh and added. “Nothing we can do. What is done is done. Future is in her hands.”

“True enough. Maybe we can do something if she takes the offer. Or maybe not… I don’t know.” Aslith said, smiling slightly as she shook her head slowly. “I’ll try to sleep, since we are going to have to leave tomorrow.”

“Good.” Elda replied firmly. The next moment there was a telltale shifting as the animus rolled over.

Aslith smiled, shaking her head gently. It’d helped to say something aloud, and hopefully things would be better in the morning. So she shut her eyes, trying to get to sleep.

***

Reagan could feel the faint vibration of Gordon’s sleeping. The man had once snored, but they’d managed to stop that when he became a mercenary. Sure, it was an enchanted item, but the noise would be dangerous if they were in the field. The vibration wasn’t good, but at least it was less likely to be noticed than his snores.

It also was a slight distraction from mulling over the situation with Talyn, which was welcome, he admitted privately. Reagan wasn’t entirely sure she trusted the woman, even if she’d saved their lives. She’d also been saving herself, so it wasn’t completely altruistic, and the description of what her species was classically known for was enough to unnerve Reagan. It wasn’t enough to make him think she was a threat, but he also wasn’t going to take her motives at face value.

On the other hand, acting on mere suspicions and ignoring what she’d done for him would be against his god’s teachings. That was enough to make him think harder about things, and he regretted how he’d reacted to Gordon telling Talyn about the Guildmaster’s request, especially since Gordon hadn’t explained everything, just given a vague overview. It had been a mistake, and Reagan was willing to admit that.

So he laid there, wondering how he should handle things in the coming days, assuming Talyn came with them. Yes, he needed to keep an eye on her, but that didn’t mean that he should treat her like a threat. If she was benign, she needed to know more about their world… and maybe he could even convert her to his faith. That made him slightly hopeful.

The situation was complicated.

***

“You do love to give people headaches, don’t you?” a man asked, and Melody’s head jerked upward in surprise, quickly followed by delight.

“Estavan! I didn’t know you could visit me here!” Melody said, springing to her feet.

The space she was in was strange and almost featureless. Not completely so, as there were the faint outlines of furniture around her, but it was all strangely out of focus. Melody knew that most guardian spirits would be effectively half asleep when not summoned, so the surroundings wouldn’t much matter to them. That wasn’t the case with her, so she’d been working on bringing the room back into focus, which was quite possible. The edge of the table in the middle of the room was almost normal after the work she’d put into it. But now she had a visitor.

Estavan was a short man with pale skin, brown hair, and brown eyes, but he was incredibly handsome, with a face that would turn people in virtually any world. Which only made sense, as he was a deity. He was looking at her, a helpless smile on his face as he shook his head slowly.

“Why not? It isn’t like this world is completely severed from the Celestial Bureaucracy, you know.” He replied, a hint of exasperation in his voice. “You caused a bit of a furor with what you did. Even if you’ll find it simple to step back to the exact point in the timestream that you left, it’s going to cause a mess if other deities decide to follow your example.”

“Ah, but the nature of what happens to our memories when we step into a world this way means that it won’t cause many problems. Anything that would is going to get fuzzy, or be entirely missing. It’s amazing.” Melody said, grinning broadly as she walked over to give Estavan a hug. “How’re you doing?”

“You would enjoy losing the majority of your existence. It’s almost like you don’t like having clear knowledge of not only your creation, but also your ultimate destruction.” Estavan replied dryly, though her returned the hug with a warm smile. “I’m doing pretty well, though. I’m not sure if you remember, but the primals were starting to create another world under the auspices of the Celestial Bureaucracy, so I’ve been caught up in that. I just wanted to check on you, since you decided to send the rumor mill into overdrive.”

“Well, thanks. I’ve only experienced a single day so far, but I’m happy with how things are going.” Melody said, deciding not to ask about the new world. Her deific senses told her that it was distinctly not her business at the moment, and she didn’t want part of the conversation erased from her memories. “With what I remember, the trip is either going to be very short, or should take a while. I’m not sure which, though. I like Marie, who’s going by Talyn.”

“Oh, do you? I never would have guessed. You always did like forbidden romances. Like the one with Hella.” Estavan teased. “Do you remember the fallout from that?”

“Vaguely? I remember her, though. That… wasn’t the best decision.” Melody admitted, blushing as vague memories of the Goddess of Spite ran through her head. “I remember enjoying it, but it didn’t really have potential for anything more than that. Our relationship went significantly better.”

“It did, but it wasn’t meant to be.” Estavan said, shrugging. “You’ll figure it out eventually. We both know that you have children at some point, even if the details are obscured.”

“True enough.” Melody agreed, pausing for a moment, then asked a little more seriously. “What about my situation? It isn’t going to cause problems, is it? I’m sure that if necessary, Talyn’s skill could be replaced, or I could be. I don’t remember any issues cropping up when I looked at it before descending, but parts of that are blocked.”

“Um… I don’t know. I haven’t heard anything major, but that doesn’t mean that there won’t be problems.” Estavan said, frowning a little as he thought, then shrugged. “I mean, you’re obviously doing something unusual. You’ve got Kari’s attention.”

Melody winced, glancing around the room warily, as even through her fuzzy memories she knew that could be dangerous. “I… see. Well, we’ll find out what happens, I guess. I’m not thrilled about having her attention, but there’s nothing to be done about it.”

“Not at all. Anyway, I’ve got some work to tend to, but I hope you’re doing well. I wouldn’t be surprised if you get some visits from other people as you meander around the world, too. Just keep it from the mortals, and you should be fine.” Estavan said, giving Melody another quick hug.

“I can do that. Be well!” Melody replied, smiling warmly at him, then watched him go.

It was nice to know that other people cared about her.