Kaldalis considered this a better negotiation position than he ever expected to be in. Of course, that was primarily because he expected to be the one either held at spearpoint or pinned to the ground, depending on which side won the conflict. The idea that he was the one on top hadn’t really entered his mind.

Of course, it was going to make things challenging in a new and interesting way. But that was the benefit to leaving room for improvisation.

“Kaldalis!” Dalgaard croaked. They were trying to bellow and be a commanding threat, but it was too big a challenge with Myrin pinning them down. Not only could they not get a full lungful of air, but the effect of a cheerfully smiling four foot nothing Suyon keeping them entirely neutralized any intimidation factor they tried to muster. “You can’t hold me forever! I’ll kill you! She dies first, and then you’re next!”

“See what I have to work with here?” Kaldalis asked Ara. She began to smirk, but Kaldalis quickly silenced her with a glare. “Between the two of you, I’m on their side. Don’t push your luck.”

“There’s nothing you can say that can change how this ends,” Dalgaard snarled.

“I thought we had a deal,” Kaldalis said, stepping over towards Dalgaard, though he didn’t take his eyes off of Ara. “I thought we were going to use a little diplomacy here.”

“Her life was never on the table,” Dalgaard snapped, twisting against Myrin’s grip to try and glare up at Kaldalis. “She dies. She dies in every possible outcome.”

“So, what’s the plan here, Kal?” Balrim asked, trying to keep an eye on all of the wounded mercenaries. “I’m not sure how sustainable our position is, long-term. Either a bunch of Jormongumo are coming in shortly, or a bunch of Dalgaard’s followers who aren’t in it for the money.”

Kaldalis looked over to Yosini. The Suyon mercenary had made his way over to the obliterated corpse of Voker, and was examining it - no doubt trying to determine if the man was going to be able to respawn.

“Yo, what are the odds that we can get the door covered, here?” Kaldalis asked.

“Hm?” Yosini said, looking up. He looked a bit out of sorts, no doubt upset about Voker’s apparent permadeath.

“Could you do me a personal favor?” Kaldalis asked. “You and Balrim take the rest of the mercs into the hallway. Get them healed up and ready to repel an attack if it comes before we’ve hashed this out.”

Yosini’s eyes seemed to clear at the order. With a gesture, the mercenaries started to move to obey - with a little grumbling. Kaldalis tried not to wince at the idea that the man was so eager to use Kaldalis to replace Voker. But he couldn’t argue with results. In order to make this a reasonable discussion, Dalgaard needed to know the truth. Getting everyone out of the room meant Kaldalis was only spilling the beans to one new person. And having Balrim watching the mercs meant he could be sure they weren’t going to be able to sneak back in.

Aaron Stevenson could send Kaldalis all the messages he wanted. If one person on the island deserved the truth, it was Dalgaard.

“Streams off,” Kaldalis said, once the mercenaries had vacated. He focused on his menus briefly to deactivate his own stream. “This is going to involve some information that the rest of the world isn’t supposed to have.”

“You got it,” Myrin chirped, eyes going distant briefly as she did so.

“Make me,” Dalgaard spat, still struggling against Myrin’s grip.

“You know what happened when you showed something Monsoon didn’t want people to experience,” Kaldalis said. “You want it to happen again?”

Dalgaard grimaced, but got a faraway look that told Kaldalis that they didn’t want that at all.

“Four unforgivable things happened here,” Kaldalis said, as soon as Dalgaard’s expression returned to a furious glare. “I mean, a lot more than that happened, but let me highlight the big ones.” He pointed back and forth between Dalgaard and Ara. “She wronged you by attacking you, putting you through a monstrously traumatic experience. I am not going to minimize that. And then you wronged her by unmaking her people’s immortality and murdering them one by one.”

“Two by two sometimes,” Dalgaard said with a smirk. “We were always happy to sacrifice some aplomb to rid the world of monsters.”

“See, that’s why it’s unforgivable,” Kaldalis said quickly, before Ara could snap something back. “You’re unrepentant. I explained to you that you were committing genocide. You were rendering a civilized and sapient people extinct. And you don’t even really regret it.”

“They’re not really-” Dalgaard began.

“And then,” Kaldalis interrupted, “Monsoon wronged you. They punished you for something you couldn’t help. They made you a scapegoat for their own crime.” He pointed between Dalgaard and the ceiling to indicate Monsoon. “I can’t really speak for what they’ve done or why they did it. But it was wrong. It put you on this path.”

“You’re telling them their own story,” Myrin muttered. “It’s not helping to tell them what they already know. Cut to the chase, man.”

“I’m setting the stage,” Kaldalis hissed back at her. “I’m getting to it.”

“So what is this fourth unforgivable thing?” Dalgaard snapped, trying to wriggle to look up at Kaldalis properly. “That I was a little mean to you? God forbid that anyone fail to fall at the feet of the golden boy!”

“This is the part where I say the thing I made you shut off your stream for,” Kaldalis said. He pointed up at the sky. “The fourth thing was what Monsoon did,” he began, before drawing his finger down and pointing at Ara. “To her. To her and her people.”

“What do you-” Dalgaard started.

“They existed before Project Rundas did. Before Monsoon reached into this world,” Kaldalis said, gesturing at the ballroom around them. “Everything was here already. The Jormongumo, the Lataxinans, the Vathon, everybody. The Ulun islands, as they are, and all the nations back on the mainland. Monsoon didn’t build it. It was already here and Monsoon broke in and claimed it. It caused an event that they call The Calamity. It imposed the videogame systems. It obliterated the Lataxinans and put the whole world at the mercy of Monsoon’s control over the universe.”

Dalgaard finally stopped struggling. They were trying to figure out if Kaldalis was full of shit or not. Considering the situation, Kaldalis hoped they’d come down on his side of that decision.

“They made the Jormongumo what they are.” Kaldalis gestured again at Ara. “They decided these people were monsters, and so did not give them the respect given to the player races. They took away their menfolk so they could be a sexy trope monster, and kept them isolated so that when we came, they would be forced to kill and eat us. Just like what happened to you. Monsoon made them what they are.

“What?” Ara hissed, eyes suddenly wide. “Someone… did this? It wasn’t cruel fate, or the threads of prophecy, but an entity? You know who did this to us?”

“They are real people, Dalgaard,” Kaldalis said quickly, though he returned his attention more tightly to Ara, brandishing his spear at her to keep her at arms’ reach. “Just like the NPCs you’ve met. They think and feel like real people. And deep down, you know that already. Think of how unsurprised you were when you conditioned their response to the raids, allowing you to capitalize on it and slip through their line.”

“What did you think I was?” Ara snapped, growing visibly agitated at being left out of this discussion.

“Ara is a person,” Kaldalis said, trying to push all the information through before Ara grew agitated enough to pull this into proper combat again. “She can think creatively. She adapts to shifting situations. She chose to do those things to you. But she did it because Monsoon forced her to. They made you into an outcast. But they made her into a monster. I would no more kill her for what Monsoon did to her than I would kill you for what they did to you.”

“Suppose I believe you,” Dalgaard said slowly. “What does that mean to me? It doesn’t change what I said before. This ends with her death.”

“Then maybe this changes it,” Kaldalis said, looking over at Dalgaard to meet their eyes. “She can help me fix it.”

Ara’s frustration suddenly vanished. She understood what he meant. But for Dalgaard’s benefit, Kaldalis kept talking.

“The Jormongumo were there,” Kaldalis said. “Thanks to their immortality, Ara herself was there. She witnessed the Calamity. With her knowledge, I can try and find the secrets of the Lataxinans. Uncover how they tried to fight against Monsoon. And with that, I might be able to make things right. This isn’t about who is and isn’t a monster. This isn’t about destroying the Infernal Horde forever. This is about un-fucking this universe. And she is the only being alive who can help.”

Dalgaard was visibly stunned. Even Myrin looked surprised at the revelation of his plan. Though when Dalgaard broke the silence, it was obviously for a different reason than he’d hoped.

“Are you an idiot?” Dalgaard snapped. “You believe her? You think she’ll help you for any longer than it takes to get me to stand down? I’ll tell you the first thing she’ll do once I toddle off, cowed into submission by your impassioned speech. She’s going to take you out into the woods alone, and fucking eat you. She will rip you open and make you watch. And trust me, you’ll have a whole different tune the next time I see you.”

“Not everyone is always out to betray you,” Kaldalis said carefully. He gestured to Myrin. “Let them up.”

“You sure?” Myrin asked, arching an eyebrow.

“I mean what I say. Let them up,” Kaldalis repeated.

Myrin let go and stepped back, and Dalgaard was on their feet in a flash, daggers drawn.

“I’m not here to betray you,” Kaldalis said, moving to stand between Dalgaard and Ara. “I never was. Just because Onirioago was a monster doesn’t mean everyone else is. And just because Ara is a monster doesn’t mean all her people are.”

“Get out of my way,” Dalgaard snapped, leveling their daggers at Kaldalis. “I won’t ask a second time.”

“I will,” Kaldalis said. “Just let me finish.”

“What?” Ara snapped, moving to jump to her feet as well. Before she could, Myrin was on top of her, the Suyon’s disproportionate strength twisting her two arms behind her back and keeping her on her knees.

“Ara is a monster,” Kaldalis said, “and more than that, she’s an asshole, too. I never intended to ask you to forgive and forget.” He sighed. “I think as soon as we made our deal, I knew how this was going to end. But it can - and should - end here. With her.”

“Traitor,” Ara spat. There was a crackling sound as she tried to transform, but she gasped as it re-opened her wounds that had begun to heal. “This isn’t what was supposed to happen! You were supposed to save me!”

“They’re monsters,” Dalgaard said, though their tone wasn’t quite so vicious now. “They went to Cotanaku and tortured people.”

“And you poisoned and were fixing to torture me,” Kaldalis said, “but that wasn’t you. That was Onirioago’s orders. Don’t reduce a whole group to their leader alone.”

Dalgaard took a deep breath. “This began as a quest of personal revenge. I turned it into something it’s not. You’re right. She’s the only one who needs to die. I’ll leave the others, so long as they can agree to be good neighbors.”

“You can’t do this,” Ara snapped. “The prophecy! This isn’t how it was supposed to be!”

“Nevertheless, it seems like this is how it unfolds,” Kaldalis said, stepping out from in between Dalgaard and Ara. “Maybe your interpretation was wrong again.”

“But the info,” Myrin protested, though they didn’t move to release Ara as Dalgaard approached. “Shouldn’t you be a lot less chill about losing her?”

“I don’t know much about the prophecy,” Kaldalis said, “but I know it involved a sacrifice. There has to be another way to learn what I need to know. But there’s not another way to make things right for Dalgaard.”

“Hold still, love,” Dalgaard said to Ara, dramatically scraping their dagger blades together. “This is going to take a while. But once it’s done, I promise, there will be a tomorrow for your people. Even if there won’t be one for you.”