“Hey, Amadeus.”

“What.”

“If you wanted to hold my hand, all you had to do was ask.”

“Shut up, Lauren.”

“Playing hard to get? Don’t you know girls hate that?”

“Be quiet or I’ll accidentally heal something backwards.”

“I doubt it. You wouldn’t dare place a flaw in my impeccable beauty.”

I almost laugh, but manage to turn it into a convincing cough.

“Something you’d like to add, dear Amadeus?” Ok, not that convincing.

“Ah, no. I choose life.”

“Wise man.”

A silence hangs between us while the others move around. The monster army already cleared out, and I’d reclaimed my sword from the gut of the werewolf and done my best to repair it. The system’s natural regeneration would handle any… mishaps. It’s alien biology, ok, the only reason I even know that certain things are injured is because of the Energy view telling me. Some of their organs are just jagged by nature. They look like they’ve exploded, but nope, that’s on purpose. Whatever.

“So… what are we going to do about… our new allies?”

“What do you mean? They’re not a threat anymore.”

“Yeah, but… well, two things: first, we need to finish the village founding quest, which requires that we, and I quote “eliminate the monsters from the valley”. Second: even if we’re allied with them, only the nine of us know that. Nine people, out of however many hundreds survived. We’re going to have to tell the others, then convince them to hold up the truce. Unless you really want to go around enforcing it the old fashioned way…”

I shake my head. “You’re right. Fuck, you’re right. I was so caught up in the success of not… ya know, dying in glorious battle, that I completely forgot I’m not the head of humanity.”

“You’re such a pompous little shi-”

“Anyway, I think we can work around the system’s definition of ‘eliminate’. I’ll talk to Cerberus and have him made aware that this could be a problem, and that he might need to move his army away for long enough for the quest to trigger as complete… or something. It fucking better. I absolutely refuse to be pigeon holed in this regard.”

“You really don’t want to kill them?”

“Lauren, it’s a literal army that we can use. I’d much rather keep them around, especially with our goals aligning like this. I doubt they’ll be much use when we assault the tower, but their numbers and speed would make them excellent scouts, and they’d probably be capable of keeping the town safe. Especially when combined with human guards… which we’ll have to figure out. I know Marie and Tom are likely going to stay, but I have no idea about anyone else. I’m not sticking around to lead this mess, and we’re going to be taking Cerberus with us, so we need a powerful figure on our side and on theirs to represent us. I think I know who theirs will be, but… which of us should remain behind to ensure things don’t fall apart?”

“Talk to Lynn about it.” Lauren replies suddenly, as if just struck by the idea.

“Lynn? I don’t know. We talked once, in private, about leadership, and she seemed really conflicted about it. Plus, she’d be really useful in the field...”

“She wants to lead, but she’s afraid. It’s not my specialty to talk people into things, but… I mean, you convinced me not to kill you, and a boss monster to join you, so you must have some talent for it.”

“Careful, for a moment there, you almost sounded impressed.”

“You’re insufferable. You know full well what I think, you just like to lord it over me.”

“A rare opportunity like that can’t just be wasted.”

“Mmm, of course. Just like, despite the fact that I’ve been healed for several minutes, you aren’t wasting the opportunity to keep holding my hand.”

“Ah, sorry, I got distracted.” I quickly pull my hand away, but she grips my hand back, continuing the contact for a few more seconds.

I feel a slight pressure on my cheek, and she stands up, flipping her hair. “Sure you did.” Smiling, she turns and walks away. Unthinkingly, my hand goes to my cheek… it’s just like her to kiss me and walk away.

---

“Lynn.”

“Well hello, Amadeus. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“You’ve already been healed?” I ask, stepping further into the forge room where she sits surrounded by wood shavings. She’s been hard at work, judging by the number of complete arrows that sit next next to her.

“I helped myself to a healing potion. I had no injury that required special healing. I appreciate the offer, however.”

“Fair enough. Lauren and I were talking about what happens now. We have a village to found.”

“Likely to be someone else’s work, for the most part. We will be gallivanting across the continent, will we not?”

“Yeah, that’s… part of what I wanted to talk about. I think… if you want, you could represent our ragtag group, in conjunction with whoever Cerberus leaves in charge, and uphold the treaty, build the town… you know, manage everything.”

“You… do not want me to accompany you?”

“I do, and if what you want is to do that, I’m happy to have more people I trust with me… but I’m not asking you because it’s what I want.”

“You think I wish to lead? We have spoken on this matter-”

“Yeah, and you were really weird the whole time. Like you were hiding something. That, and then you lost to me on purpose when we were competing for team lead.”

“I did no such thing.”

“Good, you already lie cleanly, just like a leader, but you can’t trick me. Not about this. You used different abilities when fighting Lauren, and you fought like you meant it. With me, it felt like you were trying to make it last long enough that I would think I earned the victory just through time spent.”

“... We spoke of this. You should have been the leader, and you were. It was very simple.”

“I’m not going to press you, and you should do what you feel is best, but there is something you’re not telling me. All I’m saying is that I’ll listen, if something’s bothering you.”

She says nothing in reply, but continues to carve away at sticks, slowly forming them into arrows, using green leaves as the fletching. I watch her work for several minutes, but realize I’m probably putting pressure on her to talk by just standing around, so I turn to leave.

“Remember Nate?”

I stop, partially turning back. “Yeah?”

“I was always amazed by the way he could use people. I hate- hated him, but I admired him all the same. He took layabouts and people with wildly different views and turned them into a well oiled machine. That… impressed me. What he did with that power was wrong, but what he could have done was… truly great. I think that the cruel irony of that rests in the fact that anyone with that power would succumb to it and become a monster. How could one resist absolute power?”

“Cerberus does.”

“E-excuse me?”

“Yeah. Cerberus talked to me a bit about how the command structure works for his kind. Turns out, the one in charge just happens to be the one with the greatest telepathic abilities and willpower. He decides everything, and his subordinates hear his will and obey. Of course, he isn’t the only one with those abilities, but his outweigh all others. He dominates the Werewolves, who dominate the Lieutenants, who dominate the Carnines. He rules absolutely, if he wants… but what he wants is what’s best for his race, so he pursues that with… exceptional vigor. Thousands of cycles of torment, and he still hasn’t lost that ideal. I think you could handle it, if you wanted.”

She says nothing again, but this time, she also stops carving. “Why?”

“Hmm?”

“Why do you think I could handle it?”

“Complicated question. You could say that I have a feeling it would work out, or that I think you understand the trappings of power and are more likely to avoid them, but neither will do the sentiment justice. You will do well if you choose to do it, and that’s what I believe. It’s up to you whether that will one day change from sentiment to concrete knowledge.”

“I… thank you. I will think on what you have said.”

“Good luck, Lynn.”