206 – A Deal For Answers
Helene managed to wrench herself from Elise’s control, reaching for something at her hip, but another word and she was once again frozen.
“Stop.”
Each command drained her aether more than she would have liked. Helene was not on her level, but she wasn’t a pushover either. She doubted she’d get more than half a dozen more commands before she ran out.
“Telvir, Sophie, please restrain her.”
Telvir nodded and wordlessly started conjuring roots to wrap up Helene’s arms and legs, but Sophie stayed rooted in place.
“H– Helene?” she asked.
Helene did not respond, gritting her teeth and looking away. Elise sensed anger, fear and guilt coming from her, and confusion and betrayal from Sophie. She herself was feeling similarly, wondering what she could have done to the other changeling to make her feel that way.
Soon, Helene was subdued, leaning against a wall with nearly her entire body encased in roots. No one else had said a word, and thankfully, Hannah and Frank were still fast asleep down the corridor.
“Helene, why are you trying to kill me?” Elise asked again.
“Why ask when you already know the answer?”
“Because I don’t know the answer? I thought we were friends.”
“We were,” said Helene. “You traitor.”
She spat at Elise’s feet.
“Traitor?” asked Elise, now thoroughly confused. “When did I betray you?”
“Stop playing dumb.”
“I’m not! I am extremely confused right now. When did I betray you? What did I do?”
Helene was silent for a moment, and Elise sensed her anger subside slightly as doubt and confusion began to grow.
“You didn’t betray me. You betrayed Ostra.”
“…I’m pretty sure I didn’t do that. Who told you I did that? Was it Freddy?”
Was Freddy betraying me? But then what was the point of the bracelet?
“Why should I tell you?” asked Helene.
“Why not? I know I’m not the most loyal member, but I definitely would never betray Ostra. I’m trying to figure out who told you I did, and how they convinced you so thoroughly that you decided you had to kill me.”
Helene’s anger was largely gone, replaced almost entirely by confusion and doubt.
“Why don’t we make a deal?” asked Elise. “A trade of questions, one at a time from each of us. You can ask me anything about my relationship with Ostra, and I can ask anything about who told you what to do, and both of us have to answer truthfully.”
At the offer of a deal, Helene seemed to regain some of her composure, narrowing her eyes at Elise.
“No,” she said. “I gain nothing out of this. You can just kill me afterward, and whatever truths you share die with me.”
“Okay, then let’s add that to the deal. We trade questions, and at the end, I promise not to kill, maim, or otherwise harm or torture you. But I make no promises to free you. That will depend on how the conversation goes. Also, at the end, you can’t try to kill, maim, or otherwise harm or torture me or the others here either.”
“Add that they can’t harm me either,” said Helene, glancing at Sophie and Telvir.
“I’ll make sure they don’t,” said Elise. “And I get to ask the first question.”
“Done. But you have to make them leave, because I’m contractually bound. I won’t be able to give you answers with them listening.”
Elise was confused for a moment until she remembered that Ostra members were supposed to have signed contracts of secrecy. She turned to Telvir and Sophie, nodding at both of them in reassurance. Telvir left without a word, but Sophie tried to protest. Elise soothed her with a silent {Whisper}, then sent her on her way before turning back to Helene.
“So, who told you I betrayed Ostra?”
“Firona. Did you betray Ostra?”
“No.”
Helene frowned, and Elise mirrored it. It was Firona again. She was Freddy’s assistant, which implied that she acted under his command, but there were too many things that didn’t make sense, the bracelet being the most obvious one. Why give her a protection bracelet and also send an assassin? If she didn’t have the bracelet, not only would she have died earlier, she wouldn’t have even been aware of the possibility of an assassin. It was so contradictory that she was immediately sure that the two orders had come from different people. Yet both came through Firona.
So either Freddy was trying to kill her, or he was trying to save her, and whatever he was doing, Firona was doing the opposite. Or perhaps there was someone else behind Firona. Either way, there was some kind of disconnect between the two demons.
“How did Firona convince you that I had actually betrayed Ostra?” she asked.
“She had evidence,” said Helene. “Lots of it. You spoke with Emmett, and the Jelorian spy network moved. You spoke with Jessie and the church moved. They had information that they shouldn’t have had. Information that you could have had. There was no direct evidence of you sharing evidence or colluding, but there was enough circumstantial evidence that it was impossible to deny. And she also mentioned that you aren’t bound by the Ostra contract. Is that true?”
“Is that your question?”
“Is that yours?”
“Only if that’s your next one.”
“Alright sure,” said Helene, a hint of amusement creeping into her mind.
“Yes, it’s true. There was some strangeness when I signed the contract, and I’m not actually bound to it in any way. I could have betrayed Ostra if I wanted to. But I didn’t. Did Firona tell you to kill me, or is that something you chose to do on your own?”
Helene hesitated. “…She didn’t order me to kill you. But she said that someone would have to do it, and then I… volunteered… I was feeling betrayed, and my Skills were suited for the task, and I’ve done things like this for Ostra in the past, sooo…”
Elise nodded, then narrowed her eyes, suddenly distracted by something Helene had said. She was so lost in thought that she almost didn’t notice Helene’s next question.
“...betray Ostra?”
“Sorry, what?”
“If you were offered enough, would you betray Ostra?”
“I don’t think so,” said Elise, scratching her chin. “Not for any kind of material reward, at least. I know I’m not loyal, and I don’t trust the leadership, but I don’t have anything against everyone else there. I wouldn’t want to ruin their lives or anything. Also, what Skill did you use to sneak up on me?”
“It’s called {Don’t Look At Me!}.”
Elise waited for her to finish the Skill name for a full second before realizing that was it.
“Oh, that makes sense.”
She had been confused at how Helene managed to avoid her senses when Elise should have outranked her by the System’s rules, but if she had a generic stealth ability not related to social status, that would make sense. How she had gotten it was still a mystery, but at least it wasn’t that Elise’s status had been somehow revoked or something.
“Did you do any of those things that Firona said you did?”
“I did not. Did Firona tell anyone else I did those things?”
“I don’t know. She told me in private, but she could have told others privately as well. What did you mean about not trusting the leadership?” asked Helene.
“It’s kinda hard to explain. I haven’t been super trusting of them ever since Emilia—did you hear what happened with Emilia?”
“Yes.”
“There was that, and then it was just… strange how much trust Freddy kept giving me. And then I learned something else that I’m contractually obligated not to share, and that made me even less keen on them, so… Well, I just don’t trust them.”
“If I knew that information, would I also choose not to trust them?”
Elise mentally noted that it was Helene’s second question in a row, but given that the worst of it seemed to have been defused, she decided to just mentally call for the end of the deal. Since she had been the first to ask the question, they had fulfilled the conditions already, so simply willing the exchange to end was enough.
“I don’t think so,” said Elise. “It was something unique to me. But I don’t think it would make you trust them any more either. Did Firona mention Freddy at all when she was talking with you?”
“She did not.”
The two both fell silent for a minute, lost in thought. Elise was trying to come up with a reason for anything that was going on, but was coming up blank. Since Firona had mentioned Freddy to her, but not Helene, that might have implied that the bracelet actually was from Freddy, and the assassination was from her, but it wasn’t a certainty. And the fact that there had been so much “evidence” of her betrayal was troubling. That meant that someone had been preparing to betray her for quite a long time, and was setting her up from the beginning. Either that, or Firona had been lying about the “evidence.”
“So…” said Helene. “What now, then?”
“I don’t know,” said Elise. “Do you still want to kill me?”
“No. Are you going to free me?”
“...No. Not yet, at least.”
While the misunderstanding had been resolved, Elise definitely couldn’t say that she was thrilled about letting Helene go consequence free. Firona may have manipulated her, but she still volunteered for an assassination mission. An assassination mission that would have succeeded if not for Freddy’s gift.
She hadn’t been that close to Helene, and she could understand where the other changeling was coming from… but that didn’t make it feel any better. Especially knowing what would have happened if she managed to pull off the assassination. Sophie was already in shock just from the reveal of the betrayal. What would she be like if Elise had died right under her nose?
“If I do let you go, what are you going to do?”
“Disappear,” said Helene. “This is clearly bigger than I care to be involved in. I’ll find somewhere to lay low for a while until I figure out what’s going on and how best to handle it.”
“And?”
“...And?”
“What else? Are you just going to pretend this never happened?”
“...No. I’m– I’m sincerely sorry. I shouldn’t have done this. I should have– I should have tried to talk to you first. Firona said it was time sensitive, because Jelor was planning something, but I still should have checked myself. I had the time. I was just– I was angry, and irrational. I’m sorry.”
“And Sophie?”
“I’ll apologize to her too. I never wanted to hurt her…”
“Well, killing me would have hurt her more than just about anything else you could have done besides killing her brother.”
“I know…”
“I’m going to call her over. I’ll decide what to do with you when you’re done.”
“I’m fine with that.”
Elise had an idea of what to do, but she needed more time to think it through, which calling Sophie over would give her time for. She focused on Sophie’s aether signature in the distance and used {Whisper} to call her back. The half-elf looked apprehensive as she returned, eyeing Helene with naked suspicion, stopping a few feet away and refusing to get closer. The two began to talk, and while they did, Elise sank deeper into her own mind.
If Firona had sent Helene down here, she wanted Elise dead. And if she wanted Elise dead, she would likely make sure it happened. Firona was Ostra’s chief strategist, and wouldn’t have a single-layered plan that only involved Helene. There had to be contingencies. Especially since Firona knew about the bracelet.
Suddenly paranoid, she closed her eyes and felt for her soul. Soul meditation while standing was not something she was normally able to do, but perhaps because she had spent nearly 24 hours in her soul while controlling her body, she found it came easily to her this time. She immediately disconnected from the System again, and thankfully, there were no more hidden assassins around, and no signs of foreign aether in her soul.
Remaining in her soul, she opened her eyes again, looking back at Helene. Elise hadn’t been paying attention to her apology or explanation, but whatever she said, it seemed to have largely convinced Sophie. Sophie was not pleased with Helene, but no longer looked quite as nervous or apprehensive. Elise caught the tail end of their conversation, which involved Helene apologizing again, and Sophie saying that it was ‘fine.’ It was clearly not fine, and Sophie was not happy, but she didn’t make a fuss about it. And with that handled, Elise jumped back in.
“Alright, here’s what’s going to happen. Helene, we’re going to release you, but you’re not free to go just yet.”
“Alright,” said the other changeling immediately.
“I find it hard to believe that you would be sent to kill me and for there not to be a backup plan. Firona’s not that sloppy. Right now, I can’t sense anything, but who knows if that will stay true? So, I want you to help us.”
“Anything,” said Helene. “I can scout around, or protect you from the shadows.”
“No,” said Elise. “I don’t think that will be necessary. Anything that you detect, I can also detect, and we’re stronger than you, so we can handle any threats you can. If there’s something strong enough to beat you, you’ll have died for nothing, and if it’s not, it’s nothing we couldn’t have taken care of ourselves.
“Instead, I want you to go back up to the surface and scout ahead up there. Figure out what’s going on. You said that Firona mentioned Jelor was planning something? Figure out what that is. See if there’s anyone waiting for us on the surface. If you find anything urgent, come back and report to me immediately. Otherwise, wait there for us to emerge, and fill me in when we get there.”
She reconnected to the System to activate {Fey Bargaining} as she gave Helene a serious look.
“Okay,” said Helene. “I’ll do it.”
The binding took hold, and Elise watched in fascination as the Skill seemed to skip the System. The aetheric connection formed, and Elise saw hers flow out, and Helene’s flow in, but it rushed right past the System web, gathering in the center of her soul before slowly dissipating. Elise could tell that it wasn’t gone, but it ceased to be visible.
Given the circumstances, she unfortunately didn’t have time to study it further, though, and instead turned her attention to Telvir, calling him back over so he could free Helene.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” said Elise. “We’ve come to an agreement.”
“I see.”
He waved his hand, and the roots wrapped around Helene’s body unraveled and withered, allowing her to get back to her feet. She gave the elf a nervous look, then nodded to Elise before walking off.
“Is the problem handled?” asked Telvir once she was gone.
“Probably not entirely,” said Elise. “But I think we should be done with assassins while we’re in the Dungeon.”
“What about when we get out?”
“That’s what she’s going to find out.”
“I see.”
“For now, though…” Elise glanced over at Sophie. “We have one day left, and a Dungeon Competition to win. And I’m done holding back. I’m going to go all out. I’ll have to if we want to beat Attalaya at this point. Screw secrecy. I’m going to be leaving once this competition is over anyway, so maintaining my cover doesn’t even matter anymore. I might as well help us get a win before we go.”
“We should still stay cautious, though,” said Telvir.
“I agree,” said Elise. “But I’ve got my senses peeled for anything else that might try to ambush us. Nothing should be able to get past me anymore, and if it does, well, we were dead anyway.”
“Alright, then,” said Telvir with a shrug. “Should we go wake the others, then?”
“Yes, let’s.” Elise turned to Sophie. “Are you ready to win the Dungeon Competition?”
“Are you sure we’re gonna be safe?” asked Sophie, glancing down the tunnel where Helene had run off.
“Not at all,” said Elise. “But this is the last time we’ll be seeing each other and working together like this for a while. Let’s make it count. Let me worry about any other assassins. You just worry about the Dungeon Competition. Got it?”
Sophie hesitated, then nodded.
“Let’s go.”
Soon, Frank and Hannah were awake and confused. They all scarfed down a quick breakfast, and gave the other two a brief explanation. It was lacking in many details, including who exactly Elise was, and why there was an assassin, but they got the main points across. Most of them, at least.
“We’re going to be going faster?” asked Hannah. “But how? We’ve already been going as fast as our mana regeneration will let us.”
“You’ll see,” replied Elise.
And they did. Just a quarter of an hour later, they arrived at a cave filled with young Greater Earth Wyrms. Hannah and Frank prepared for battle, but Elise simply strode out into the center of the cavern. She connected to the System and located all the wyrms with {Aether Sense}, used {Charm} on them, and created {Whisper} connections. The wyrms turned toward her as soon as they sensed her, rising up like giant, angry cobras and moving their mana to prepare to attack, but they never got the chance.
She double checked all her connections, then snapped her fingers and activated {Power Word Kill}, and immediately, she heard a half dozen pings from the System, and there were crashes all around as the enormous earthen serpents went limp. The stunt even earned her a level, which was fascinating to watch from within.
The soul fog flowed into the System, making it glow brighter and brighter until it suddenly burst out, filling her entire soul like a smoke bomb before dissipating. She felt her soul get stronger as this happened, smiling to herself as it did. So the System wasn’t necessarily stealing her soul fog, but it was, at the very least, storing it away for sudden bursts of growth, instead of the more gradual, natural version. It might have siphoned some off in the process, but it was really impossible to tell. She would have to study it more later.
For now, she just turned back to the others with a smile and walked back. Frank and Hannah wore expressions of absolute shock and fear, which Elise secretly laughed at. She was actually enjoying piloting her body from her soul, because her face only moved when she wanted it to, while she could laugh aloud in her soul.
The rest of the day consisted of an intense session of total monster extermination. They already had a route mapped out by Hannah, but at every opportunity, they took detours into monster-filled rooms, killing as many as possible. With Elise going all out with {Power Word Kill}, their battles were shorter and more efficient. It still cost her quite a bit of aether, but her aether regenerated quickly enough as they walked from cave to cave that they hardly needed to rest. And with the others able to save on mana, they didn’t need to rest as often either.
By the end of the day, they had killed more monsters than in the first three days combined. Hannah and Frank were utterly terrified of Elise now, but she could hardly care less. She didn’t want to ruin her relationship with them, but she was going to be disappearing after this anyway. What was the point of hiding?
Telvir was also a bit more fearful around her than he had been. It reminded her of the days when he thought she was a dragon, which was kind of funny, though she also felt a bit bad for him. He had finally realized he didn’t need to be terrified of her as if she were a dragon, only to find out that she could kill monsters—and probably people—with just a thought.
While she didn’t necessarily want to be feared, she couldn’t deny that it at least felt good to get recognized like this. Even if hiding her abilities hadn’t been that annoying, finally being able to let loose and seeing the reactions of others was a little bit exhilarating. It was almost addicting, even, which made her go mildly introspective as she reminded herself that she couldn’t let the power get to her head.
When they emerged, they were greeted by a pair of University guards, and Helene was nowhere in sight or sense. That was either a good sign if she had found nothing, or a very bad one if she had been caught. They had no way of knowing, so Elise surreptitiously summoned a teleportation scroll from Astrid’s Star and slipped it into her pocket.
The guards ushered them to a small, temporary teleportation platform that had been set up nearby, and explained that it would take them to a rest area where they could spend some time before the final results would be announced and awards would be handed out. It was supposed to be a grand ceremony, though not quite as grand as the official Dungeon Competition’s would be. As rookies, they garnered a fair amount of attention, but not as much as the more practiced, professional teams competing in the main competition.
As they stepped onto the platform, Elise wondered if this might have been a trap too. She had briefly reconnected to the System and used {Inspect} on the guards to make sure they were who they said they were, but that didn’t really prove anything. Still, as dangerous as she knew it might have been to stay out in the open and close to Sophie, she wasn’t quite ready to leave. Disappearing right then and fleeing before things could get any worse might have been the wiser option, but she didn’t care. She was going to finish the Dungeon Competition and give Sophie a proper goodbye.
Try and stop me, Firona, said Elise. I dare you.
The guards verified that they were all ready to go, then activated the platform, which started rapidly gathering mana from the air.
Actually, just kidding, she thought. Please don’t try and stop me, Firona. Just let me have this.