4.8

The walk back to camp made him feel like a beaten dog retreating from a battle that hadn’t gone so well—he’d experienced it before, after getting his ass kicked by Eric’s teacher, and it never got any better. There was more pain than shame this time, but both times had ended with him feeling like shit and being quietly furious.

August slumped down next to the [A-Frame Hut], keeping the two distant Voithos in his line of sight in case Kalter decided to finish the job. He investigated his stomach with his hand, carefully pressing against the skin to find where the worst of it was located.

A glance at the sun told him that his healing bonus after sleeping would be long gone by now, which left him to deal with it at least until the next time he slept before it would kick in again. The pain was growing worse, slowly rising up as his body fully registered how much damage she had managed to do to him with that singular hit. There was no bruising yet, but he had enough experience with that to know it would come in the hours following.

August was more worried about the hit breaking something inside than he couldn’t see; if he was bleeding internally, there was nothing he could do to fix it. He’d need to sleep and hope the boosted healing could push through it, but that meant leaving himself exposed while Kalter had access to his unconscious body.

The level up he’d received for getting his ass beat hadn’t come with the customary heal that was so prevalent in games—Ladybug had levelled up as well, hadn’t she? That had to mean that the system considered the fight over and had rewarded some amount of [EXP] for its conclusion, a lot of [EXP] given how much he had to go to the next level.

He spent a moment wondering what would have happened if he’d summoned Kalter instead of Rittan and how quickly ‘August’s Island Adventure’ would have ended. Rittan had moved closer to Kalter, and at least some of the tension between them had fallen away—it kind of pissed him off, but it also meant that they were getting more comfortable with each other. Hopefully, that meant she wouldn’t be attacking him in his sleep.

When Rittan turned side-on and swept an arm out in the direction of the camp, August realised that they’d come to some kind of decision amongst themselves. Kalter stepped up beside him, and the two slowly began to approach the camp. August felt a rising urge to stand up, but the pain in his chest made him think that it wasn’t a good idea to move more than he needed to.

“August?” Rittan said hesitantly. “Are you alright?”

“No,” August said outright. “Is she a psycho who’s going to kill us in our sleep?”

Kalter crossed her arms at the comment but said nothing in response.

“Kalter has a better understanding of our current circumstance,” Rittan said, glancing between them both. “I believe we can all work together, yes?”

The last part had been directed at Kalter, clearly an attempt to get her to agree to it in some capacity.

“Yes,” Kalter said flatly, eyes locked on Ladybug. “But I have many questions.”

“Good for you,” August said, curling forward as the pain in his chest spiked. “Fuck me—did you have to hit me that hard?”

Kalter didn’t say anything instead of glancing away from them both.

“You are injured?” Rittan said, concerned. “How bad is it?”

“Yes, I’m injured,” August managed, trying to curb his annoyance. “Human’s can’t walk shit like this off, okay? We’re built like wizards, all Intelligence and nothing else worth noting—if you’d hit me any higher, I think I’d be dead already.”

Rittan looked like he understood the general idea.

“What is a wizard?” Kalter said.

August used his hand to twist himself around, carefully turning to lie down facing the [A-Frame-Hut].

“Because that’s the part you care about, figures,” August muttered, “I’m going to attempt to sleep so the healing boost kicks in—Rittan, can you wake me up in an hour?”

“I will do so, August,” Rittan said hesitantly. “Are you sure there is nothing I can do to assist you?”

“You want to help me?” August said, “Don’t waste the daylight—see you in an hour.”

“Of course, August,” Rittan said quietly. “Be well.”

Sleep was an ambitious goal, though, given the pain, but he was willing to try if it meant it might make it a little bit more bearable. Ladybug seemed to realise that he wasn’t doing too hot because it settled itself in against his shoulder with a sad trill. He heard the two Voithos move further into the camp, talking quietly amongst themselves.

“I have been here for twenty-four hours,” Rittan admitted. “But I assure you, this place is far more dangerous than appears at first glance.”

“Rittan, I’ve seen more maps than I can remember,” Kalter said, “There are no islands called ‘Devil’s Nest.’ Where are we in relation to Hekaton?”

“I do not know,” Rittan admitted. “August and I have discussed this already, but there are no landmarks visible—we used the local temperature to estimate the possible location, but even that left us without a real answer.”

“Temperature—that’s smart,” Kalter said, “Offshore of Cloudhall perhaps? There’s a string of islands along the southern coast that would be close to this temperature.”

“We arrived at that same conclusion, but the names do not match,” Rittan admitted. “I was unable to ascertain how much much time has passed since I was alive—it is possible that one of them was renamed in the intervening years.”

“How did you discover the name of this island?” Kalter asked.

“That is another complicated question that I’m not well equipped to answer,” Rittan said, “August would be able to explain it better, but the short version is that he has access to a visual overlay that provides information about the surroundings.”

“The PDI?” Kalter said, audibly frowning.

“He doesn’t have one because he is not a Child of Gaia,” Rittan said in response.

“Don’t call them that,” Kalter snapped for the second time since she’d arrived. “Whether he is or not is beside the point, you said he arrived here before you did—this may be just another experiment, and he may be the test body for some new Gaian technology.”

“It is possible,” Rittan said, “But whether or not that is the case, I believe August is a victim in this as well.”

“A ‘human’ who looks like a Gaian, who has access to advanced technology that only he can see, and he can revive the Voithos,” Kalter listed off, “You don’t find any of that suspicious in the least? Are you addled?”

“My faculties are perfectly intact,” Rittan said, voice tightening. “Your bias against our creators is clear, Kalter, and while it may be justified, you are making claims that you have no proof of. You could at least wait until I’ve explained the situation in full before devolving into conspiracy. For one, August is not the only one who can see or interact with that technology; I can as well.”