Chapter 90: Chapter 89: Unwitting Spy
"While Aegis is gone, does Sophie know about my plan for that one?"
"Yeah, she does. Isn’t convinced, but we are talking about the boogeyman vampires tried to forget existed."
[ PRIVATE MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM CARL: YELL, HIT ME, DO WHAT YOU WANT. I’LL EXPLAIN PROPERLY BACK ON HAVEN. TRUST ME. ]
"Sophie, what I didn’t tell anyone else the other day is that you’re going to help with that one."
"What!? How can I help? Even the ones who can actually fight him aren’t looking forward to it."
"Simple, I’m going to use you as bait and if you don’t like it, well you can plead your case at the next dinner."
Blanc pulled Sophie’s chair back. "Carl, I want to trust you mate, but no. Not her, not anyone, no sacrificing our friends and what the hell is wrong with you!?"
[ PRIVATE MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM CARL: SERIOUSLY, SO SORRY ABOUT THIS, I’M PROBABLY GONNA CROSS A LINE, DON’T HOLD BACK IF I DO. ]
"Friend? Look I took her in because I don’t like people making race an issue, that doesn’t make us friends. Now I know the law of Chaos, I know that acting unpredictable is the best thing to do for someone as rigid as me. Look, I’m not gonna let the big bad king vamp get her, just dangle her out where he can find her."
[ PRIVATE MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM BLANC: YOU WEREN’T JOKING, YOU BETTER HAVE A DAMN GOOD REASON FOR THIS. ]
Blanc didn’t hold back as he punched him, unfortunately they had forgotten that Blanc’s strength was nowhere near Carl’s defence so the only one to suffer was Blanc.
"Screw it! Come on Sophie, let’s go see if Klaire and everyone have lost their minds too, you make your own way back there and I’ll believe you’re actually you."
"Fine, but this can wait until morn-"
"No! Now!" Carl raised his hands then stared at them as they left, struggling to maintain his straight face as he saw tears streaming down her face.
Carl opened a portal back home, stepping through as he sent a message through to Aegis that he was returning home and that Aegis should stay with Blaine and or Noah.
After that came the difficult bit, having to summon everyone to their home for an emergency meeting, as well as warn Klaire, Sis and the kids what he had done.
"Carl, I mean this, you better have a damn good reason for behaving like that." Klaire spoke with a coldness she never used towards him, even when she spoke about the "big chat" it was grounded in concern.
"I do, but please wait until Blanc and Sophie get here and just play along if I start acting like a jerk." Carl knew it was a lot to ask, but Klaire also knew he wouldn’t if it wasn’t important.
When everyone arrived, Blanc and Sophie were with him.
"Ah, sorry for waking everyone, I tried to ask them to wait until mor-"
"Carl! Explain yourself!" Leanna demanded, furious at what her son had done.
Carl approached Sophie, who was hiding behind Blanc and yanked her away by the arm, then stared at her as coldly as he could manage. Tension grew and he could feel rage bubbling in the audience behind him.
"Shit... Okay everyone, it’s safe now, but seriously... Fuck. Dracula’s watching her."
Lillim’s arms split and Kyubi’s fur started to grow. "Carl. Explain, now."
"First, did you mention what law I really have to Sophie? If you did, we’re screwed, if not we have a chance."
"What? No, we didn’t talk about that stuff, we only just met up before you joined us."
"Good, Sophie, my real law is the law of Divinity. One of the skills that granted me, is "Divinity Sense", which lets me see divinity. Sorry for dragging you like that, those two were making it hard to see since it’s new."
"No, it’s fine..."
"It’s not, I feel awful. Everyone in this faction is like family to me, I feel sick for talking like that."
Sophie smiled tightly, then sank to the floor with relief and broke down, feeling guilty beyond words. "So I am a traitor then... I’m so sorry everyone."
Klaire and Alysse moved to console her.
"Not for certain, I can tell that everyone’s divinity looks different, but I have no way to know for sure. Lillim, Kyubi, is there any others that could be looking in on her?"
They looked at one another as they recomposed themselves. "We don’t know, the vampires are very insular and the stronger they are, the more reclusive they become. In all honesty, neither of us have met a vampire with more than three stars in centuries."
"Guess we have to assume the worst. Now, I know I haven’t earned that second favour yet, but I-"
"Carl, don’t be stupid, you discovered the truth behind the origin law and deciphered their passages in a single evening. You have earned more than two favours, even by my measure, we will get you all you need to enact your plan." Kyubi said, gripping Lillim’s shoulder when she started to argue and ignoring the eyeroll that Lillim gave.
"You heard the fox..." She went on to mumble something else just loud enough for Kyubi and no one else to hear. "Damn vixen in heat."
Carl smiled at Kyubi’s words, then outlined his plan.
It was simple and solved another glaring issue in the process, unfortunately it was a gamble every step of the way.
"Sophie, unfortunately you are in immediate danger. No one can change that, so I need you to make a choice; Have your memories of this conversation erased and stay on Haven indefinitely, or you can be more aggressive about it and make him regret using you."
"Dude, can you not send her out on a suicide mission."
"I’m not, we already know that the system gives contracts the power to alter memory. I’m saying we sign a new contract, where she is implanted with memories of being a real traitor and me pushing her into Dracula’s arms and her revealing our entire plan."
"Ha! I have no doubt he would walk headlong into a trap with no hope of success."
"Yeah I got that feeling from his smug brand of divinity. We send Sophie off with the memory of us planning to hit him with the world tree stake and Klaire Sunlight packed comet but really I’m going to create planet Killaten."
Everyone looked at him with pity and dashed expectations. "Sorry mate, for a minute we forgot you suck at naming stuff. Please go on, what is "planet Killaten"?"
"Planet Killaten is my plan to make the creature we discussed, but with a twist, thanks to my new skills. It will be made of the wood from Yggdrasil, traitor’s ice, Klaire’s starlight, Bahamut’s flame, Levi’s glare, the beasts I mentioned before, a whole lot of divinity and the law of Divinity."
"That certainly sounds like a rather aggressive option to go with. Making something like that will draw attention from every realm, in every way and both good and bad. With your past beasts strength, I’d approximate it at a level equal to every member of the committee you can name put together and maybe even all that you have met..." Lillim was clearly torn, having a weapon like that was an obvious boon, but she worried it might inspire immediate retaliation.
"Really? Hmm, I really don’t want to make anything quite that powerful yet. I want a weapon that is ultimately lethal to Dracula, but not actually a massive danger in general."
"Maybe you don’t need a weapon that can actually kill him..." Klaire suggested with uncharacteristic pacifism. "...Maybe we just need to be more trouble than he’s willing to face."
"Okay, what are you thinking? I was on that path in the beginning but just couldn’t get past the insane regeneration and physical ability." Carl was scratching his head, he didn’t want to kill Dracula as strange as it sounded.
In his mind, all the "villains" of the game were actually just victims of it. To complicate matters even further, killing him might agitate the variants into hostile action.
"What if we don’t? What if we just claim a piece of him and make a pet out of him? Mix in the traitor’s ice and world tree and my sunlight and you can make a mirror to keep him occupied and deter him."
"Carl, you are jumping the gun, you need to deal with the variants first... I can stay on house arrest during the day." Sophie added.
"Sophie, can you please be selfish for this, tell us what you want us to do. Forget about our safety and plans, tell us what you want." Carl’s words made it clear to everyone that he didn’t know what the right call was, none of them did.
"Honestly, I hate feeling like some monster can control me whenever he feels like it, I just want to be free of that."
"Sophie, you’re a genius and Blanc doesn’t deserve you!"
"Hey!"
"I think that might be possible, but I need three things for it... Tiamutael, can you grab Aegis real quick?"
Tiamutael yawned as he and Kitsunoko leant against each other drowsily. "Sure, but I want cookies when I get back..."
He didn’t wait for an answer, he didn’t even fully leave, he just blinked his eyes and looked wide-eyed to one side as he pulled apart the space between him and Aegis. "Dad wants you. Return."
Aegis stepped through cautiously. "Master, have I displeased you?"
"No, I simply need to know if I have any compatibility with the hand of judgement skill."
"I don’t think so."
Carl explained his idea, which was essentially to use a new skill which gave him the ability to obstruct or guide the flow of divinity in someone he was touching, mixed with a skill that let him extend that effect.
"Not an easy solution, but I suppose it suits your merciful personality."
Aegis reevaluated for a bit, then Sis suddenly blurted out that she had a body now and made Aegis apologise for insulting her.
"Focus for now, but I want to know why you’re so nervous." The moment he spoke both Sis and Tiamutael squinted with one eye and Klaire laughed when she noticed the weird coincidence that almost seemed like a family trait.
"What If you didn’t need to implement the skill yourself? Can you mix in a skill of your own?" Aegis asked as the riddle started to cause frustration.
Carl was so busy hesitating Lillim pointed out it was unlikely since the power isn’t actually the individual’s, they simply act as a node for the power of the law it came from. Though in place of blunt criticism, she offered a different solution.
"What if there was more than one Carl and we can simply make him touch the other."
"I’d rather my husband remained unmolested."
"Klaire... Children. Kids, you can go sleep with Squidge and Levi if you want, we’ll try to be quiet. You can think of an excuse to explain Aegis’ nerves Tiamutael."