Chapter XXVI

To Lilly’s surprise, Rista didn’t lead her toward where she remembered Eric’s house to be, rather they were in a neighborhood that was unfamiliar to her, a little further from the school than the other place. He had told her that he followed Scott Reiner to his home after running into him and had been able to gather that it was most likely where he lived so she trusted that they were going the right direction, but it only made her wonder why the man would have a different house in the erased realm. Her best guess was that he had bought a smaller place since there was only one resident instead of two, but when they arrived at their destination, she could only gape in confusion at the fact that it seemed no bigger than what she remembered. With that, she decided that if she wanted answers then she would simply have to speak to the man himself and see what she could learn.

But what the hell should I even expect? If Eric’s father is in the erased realm then he’s going to be like everybody else. He won’t have any memory of Eric and forgetting a son is a completely different matter than forgetting a friend. For all I know, he might not have met Abigail in this reality and might not know about magic. He could be a completely different person!

Yet, as she recalled the irritable and lazy Scott Reiner she had met all those months ago, she couldn’t help but realize that it might not be a bad thing. He could potentially be more cooperative with them in this state than in his old one.

Then again, that’s probably wishful thinking.

Lilly glanced to her left where Rista was standing, staring up at the building with a tense expression. Being a Child of Reiner, his thoughts were probably a jumbled mess of emotion at the prospect of meeting his adoptive mother’s husband. This would be the man she fell for—the one who she loved so much that it led to her departure from Ijiria.

I just hope he doesn’t get his hopes up. If Scott hasn’t changed then this could be a really hostile visit.

She then looked to her right where Brad and Evan were standing with her, the former staring back as if waiting for her signal and the latter scowling like he didn’t want to be there. The two boys had planned to stop by Rista’s apartment to help them look for the mana ports so when Rista finding Scott caused the plans to change, Brad opted to go with them and pressured Evan into doing the same.

“So are we heading up or are we just gonna fuckin stand here like a bunch of creeps?” Evan grunted.

“Shut up, dude,” Brad snapped back. “Give them a moment.”

Lilly took a deep breath, knowing that Evan was right and that they needed to get moving, before taking the lead and heading up the driveway and toward the porch, the three boys right behind her. With one last inhale, she reached up and knocked on the door then stepped back to wait. However, there was no response and, having seen the car in the driveway, she knocked again, then a third time before she finally heard shuffling on the other side right before the door swung open.

“The fuck do you want? I don’t want to buy any shit so if you’re here to sell me something then go fuck yourselves!”

Lilly took an involuntary step back as she gazed at the overweight man standing before her, his blue eyes staring back at her with utter irritation. He appeared somehow worse than she remembered him. His graying hair was sticking out at odd angles and his white tank top and boxers looked like they hadn’t been washed in weeks. His beard was barely trimmed and there was a beer bottle clutched in his right hand. To make it worse, the stench that permeated off of him caused her to visibly cringe.

Yeah…hoping he’d be easier to deal with really was wishful thinking…

“Er, no, we’re not selling anything, Mr. Reiner,” she managed to say.

He snorted. “I don’t want to join any fucking religion either.”

“N-no! That’s not…why we’re here. We just wanted to talk to you about something really important.”

Scott glared at her and she could feel his eyes sizing her up, which only managed to send a shiver down her spine. A brief glance at the others showed that all three of them were just gaping at the man, as if he was a far cry from what they expected out of Eric Reiner’s father.

“‘Bout what?” he muttered. “I don’t want to deal with anything stupid so if you could be quick about it…”

She paused for just a moment as she debated how blunt she should be before deciding that there was no point in beating around the bush.

“You’re Abigail Reiner’s husband, right?”

His sudden shift from furious to surprised was enough to confirm for her that he had met his wife in the erased realm’s version of Wilham, which she hoped would also mean that he knew about magic. Naturally, if Rista couldn’t give the club’s memories back then fixing Scott would be impossible, but she was hoping she could at least learn something from him. Back when she confronted him in the real world, he had claimed that he hadn’t been merely sitting on his ass while Nigreos and Album hunted the club. Scott had been allegedly planning something and whatever it was must have caused him to wind up trapped there, too.

So if he knows something... If he can tell us anything, it could be beneficial.

“How do you know Abi?’ he grumbled with suspicion. “Who the fuck are you?”

“I’m Lilly Harper,” she answered. “And who I am, well, it's hard to explain. We didn't know your wife personally, but he did.”

She motioned toward Rista, who seemed reluctant to interact with Scott, yet he stepped forward regardless. “It’s…nice to meet you, Mr. Reiner. My name is Rista Pine and I knew your wife when she returned to Ijiria.”

“Iji…” Scott's jaw hung open as he stared wide-eyed at Rista before his lips curled in a snarl. “So you’re a fuckin’ Ijirian, huh? You got magic and shit? Did Noctis send you to finally finish me off!?”

At the sudden namedrop, Lilly was quick to capitalize on it and try to turn the situation to her advantage. “No, Sir, we were not sent to hurt you! Nigreos and Album aren’t our friends! Far from it, actually! We’re trying to take them down and I was told that you might be able to help us!”

“You think I’m damn stupid?” he shouted. “You think you can just trick me like that?! Why would anybody think I could hurt that fuck of a man?! I know the truth and I won’t go down without a fight!”

The man lunged forward with the bottle raised, causing Brad and Evan to both grab Lilly and pull her back, but before either of the boys could take their own strike against him, Rista shouted out an incantation, causing the man to freeze in place the same way Damien had in the clubroom, his arm outstretched and his eyes wide. Rista just gazed at the man like he couldn’t believe his eyes.

“What did you…?”

“Please, Mr. Reiner,” Lilly quickly interrupted him, straightening herself back up. “We don’t want to hurt you! We’re friends of your son! We’re friends of Eric!”

Just like with Damien, Liz, and Vinny, Lilly hoped that using Eric’s name would cause a stir of emotions that would at least cause him to think, and to her relief, the man’s enraged expression softened as his eyes flickered toward her. There was recognition within them, as well as confusion, and she knew she had gotten through to him.

“I don’t…have a son…”

She shook her head. “You do. You just don’t remember him anymore because of what the erased realm’s magic is doing to you! It’s affected your memories but I know the feelings are intact! You know I’m not lying!”

“Girl…” he began softly. “Harper, was it? You just said erased realm? Do you mean to say we’re in the erased realm right now? As we speak?”

Having not expected that term to mean anything to him, she was thrown off by the understanding look he gave her. “Y-yeah. We’re in the erased realm. Do you know what that is?”

Scott’s lips tightened and she could tell that he was trying to process everything when he finally turned back to Rista. “Let me go, Pine. I won’t do anything to you. I want you guys to come inside and tell me everything you know. I’ll do the same.”

Lilly let out a breath of relief, having expected it to go a lot worse than it had, before motioning for Rista to cancel the spell. He obliged, if reluctantly, and flicked his wrist, allowing Scott to move freely.

“Come in. I’ll make tea,” he said then moved into the house, leaving them standing alone on the porch.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Evan grumbled. “That’s Reiner’s father? What a fucking nutjob. I mean, Reiner was crazy, too, but not like that.”

Ignoring Evan’s comment, Brad turned to Lilly and frowned. “Are you sure we can trust this? I-I mean, that man just tried to hit you with a beer bottle! He’s clearly not sane and I don’t want anything to happen to you! I know you said this was important, but…”

“Don’t worry, Brad,” she assured him with a smile. “His fear is justified. Ijiria took a lot from him so of course openly stating Rista’s got magic would agitate him, but I get the feeling we’re safe now.” She chuckled. “Though, if he does try anything then the three of you are allowed to do whatever you want. I’ll do the same. Now, let’s go…”

Brad and Evan still looked unconvinced and Rista only continued to stare at the ground. But when Lilly began making her way into the house, the three of them followed after her regardless, and she felt safer knowing she wasn’t alone.

***

Much like she had with every other erased victim, Lilly explained the realm and what brought them there to Scott Reiner, who sat in his old and tattered leather armchair with his hands over his face as he listened. After making them some tea, which Brad and Evan refused to touch, they gathered in his ridiculously cluttered living room to begin the conversation. There were empty pizza boxes, beer cans, and various other pieces of garbage lying around, making the smell from earlier even worse. Evan was antsy the whole time, his disgust at being there clear to all, which only seemed to piss Scott off, though he only interrupted Lilly to tell the boy off once. Otherwise, the man was silent until she finally finished and, when she did, he just stared blankly at the stained carpet.

“So…” he whispered. “Noctis came back for us, did he? I knew he fuckin’ would, but…I can’t believe it already happened. Harper, you said you don’t know how I got erased?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I wasn’t there and Eric never told me that anybody forgot you so unless he just kept it secret, you had to have been erased either right before I was or after I was. But you never touched our gem so…they went after you for different reasons.”

“Of course he did,” Scott growled. “And this son of mine? Eric? What was he like? Who was he? Who was he to you? In this world, Abi and I were never able to conceive so…I’m just curious.”

“Well, to me…” she began, her eyes briefly going distant as she thought back on all of the fond memories she shared with Eric. “He was my boyfriend, actually. He’s an amazing guy, always going out of his way to help everybody no matter who they were. When he got that gem, he only ever wanted to use it for good, and it was that personality of his that got through my…shall we say stubborn personality. He gave me a friendship I will treasure for the rest of my life, and I will do everything I can to get back to him.”

A very faint smile appeared on the corner of the man’s lips. “He sounds…like his mother.”

“From what I know about Abigail, I would agree,” she replied.

Scott closed his eyes and leaned back in the chair before clicking his tongue. “So I’m in the erased realm. I actually got here…” He furrowed his brow then muttered, “Those stuck here don’t know they need to be rescued, huh?” He then smirked and glanced back at her. “If this truly is the erased realm then how’d you get your memories back? The entire threat of this place is that it prevents the victims from knowing anything’s wrong. So how do you?”

Lilly considered the question, deciding whether to make something up or not. She didn’t know too many details about The Angel past that Eric had it on hand as a last resort. Would Scott have known about it? Would Abigail have consulted with him?

Well, if she told Eric then maybe she did tell Scott…

“Mr. Reiner,” she said. “Did Abigail ever tell you anything about an item called ‘The Angel’?”

He sat forward the moment she asked the question, a shocked look on his face. “The Angel? How do you know about that?”

“Your son, Eric, showed it to me,” Lilly quickly answered, encouraged by his obvious recognition. “He said his mother entrusted it to him as a way to protect him if he was ever in mortal danger. It was supposed to be a way to defend himself and perhaps even be used against Album’s erased realm. It was meant for him…but like I said, he was always more worried about us, and in the end, he used it on me to keep me safe.”

Scott’s eyes suddenly lit up and it felt as if he were now looking at her in a different light. “So you’re saying…that The Angel is inside you?”

“Y-yes, it is,” she confirmed. “Do you…know what it is?”

“No, I don’t. Abi only ever told me what you already know.” He frowned with intense thought, and for a moment, he seemed to fade out as he considered the implications of her words. “Even she didn’t really know what it was. It wasn’t even hers to begin with. Apparently it was entrusted to her by somebody else so she only knew how it could be used.” As he spoke, his smile grew wider and wider until he looked almost wild. “But if you're The Angel and that’s what helped with your memories, then we have hope! We might actually be able to destroy the erased realm!”

“That’s the plan, Sir,” Rista chimed in. “I know where one of the mana ports are so we just need to find the other and I’m hoping Harper’s power will be enough to break it down.”

Scott laughed to himself and slowly rose to his feet. “Yes… Yes, yes, yes, yes! This could be it! We could actually get out of here! There’s a way… Come with me!”

Before anybody could protest, Scott spun around and headed into the hall, muttering to himself all the while.

“Um, are we gonna follow him?” Brad asked hesitantly.

Without waiting for a response, Rista stalked around the garbage and went into the hallway. Curious about what he wanted to show them, Lilly also got to her feet and went after him, Brad and Evan once again reluctant but willing to follow. They headed into what appeared to have once been an office of sorts though, much like the main room, it was covered in boxes and trash, yet even with it in such a terrible state, Lilly still immediately noticed the desk on the opposite wall, a slew of pieces strewn about and a set of glass vials containing a red liquid right beside an old pair of goggles. Yet, what was most surprising was the pistol laying in the center that Scott walked straight toward and picked up. Brad, Evan, and Rista all tensed up, as if expecting him to suddenly shoot one of them, but Lilly remained calm. She knew that if he was a real threat to her well-being then The Angel would intervene.

“This,” he said in his raspy voice. “This is the key. Or at least could be. In this world, I’ve never known whether I succeeded or not but if I’m here, maybe the other me did.”

“Er, sorry, Mr. Reiner, but shooting them isn’t going to work,” Lilly told him, recalling Natalie’s account of how Damien attempted to fight Nigreos with a gun. “One of my friends already tried and it wasn’t enough. The shadows were too powerful.”

She wasn’t sure what sort of reaction she expected, but she hadn’t been ready when Scott began to laugh once more, vigorously shaking his head. “No, it’s not the gun that could be important. It’s what we put on the bullet that we shoot Noctis with that matters.”

“Did you not hear her?” Evan growled. “Who the fuck cares if we can’t shoot him to begin with.”

Wanting to avoid Evan and Scott getting into any argument, knowing they were both a bit aggressive, Lilly quickly stepped between the two and asked, “What do you mean? What would you put on a bullet that would make a difference?”

Scott stepped back and set the gun onto the desk before picking up one of the red vials and swirling it around in his hand. “Tell me if you already knew this but I used to work at a research facility,” he explained excitedly “I specialized in biological research and honestly, I’ve been fascinated by living things since I was young. I used to read books on evolution and physiology and cell behavior. I loved it.”

“I-I didn’t know that,” she admitted. “To be honest, we didn’t talk much back in our world and Eric never said much about you.”

Scott sighed as he clutched the vial. “Well, you know now. So, imagine my surprise when out of nowhere, two individuals barely older than me arrive in our quaint little town, pulling off feats that were supposed to be impossible outside of the movies. Healing wounds in a matter of seconds, zipping around the city like they could fly, and hurling balls of flame they produced in the palms of their hands. And a young, beautiful woman with flowers in her hair—the most gorgeous sight I ever and will ever see.”

“That was Abigail then,” Rista murmured. “And the other? I wasn’t aware anybody else had come here with her?”

Scott snorted. “Ah, the bastard rarely stuck around and I don’t think he liked me much, but he was Abi’s friend so I kinda had to like him. Caeli, his name was. Ryokumo Caeli.”

The name didn’t ring any bells for Lilly but she watched Rista’s expression and could tell he was trying to hold back his surprise. His voice was calm when he spoke next, but there was an edge to it he couldn’t hide.

“Ryokumo…Caeli? He knew about you?”

“He did,” Scott confirmed with obvious disinterest. “But anyway, he’s not fuckin important. My point is, I learned magic was real and it defied everything I thought I knew about our world. I fell in love with Abi and she fell for me. She came here often and after a while, she stopped leaving and we moved here, to this house.” He motioned to the room around him with a nostalgic yet pained smile. “And to satisfy my curiosity, she let me study magic and I learned just what mana is from blood samples she gave me.”

“Meaning what?” Brad inquired. “You experimented on your wife?”

Scott glared at him. “With her consent, Fischer. She was curious what Omaruan technology would find. It wasn’t some one-sided venture, that I assure you. Now, to reiterate what I meant, I learned what mana was by learning that its existence was impossible. It was a phase of matter that was produced by magical cells, though I never had the tech to see what happened within the cells themselves. All I knew was that this substance tapped into a power that was impossible for people like us to use.” He grinned darkly. “But it was biological. There was a process that created it so…what if I could create something to disrupt this process? What if I could stop mana from being produced? What then?”

Lilly and Rista both gaped in shock as the implications of what he meant processed within them and while Brad and Evan weren’t as knowledgeable about the Ijirian realm, even they seemed to understand the weight of Scott’s words.

“They wouldn’t be able to use magic,” Evan uttered. “They’d be powerless.”

Scott nodded. “Yes, powerless. If my research finally succeeded, then even a man as powerful as Nigreos Noctis would be no different than us. If we can’t become gods like them, why not drag them to our level and shove their heads in the mud?”

“And did it work?” Rista pressed. “Did you succeed in creating this substance? Is that what’s in the vial?”

The man held the red vial up again and gazed at it, his earlier excitement diminishing within a second. “Perhaps… Perhaps not. I never found out. My research was still ongoing when Abi was taken from me, but I had enough samples of her blood left to try again. I was close, I tell you. I know I was, but…I didn’t have a magical subject to test them on.” He shook his head. “This vial…could be the key to Noctis’s death, or just a vial of red shit.”

“So what’s the idea?” Evan asked. “You gonna coat some bullets in that stuff and shoot Noctis in the ass? Like we said earlier, it doesn’t matter how potent that shit is if he doesn’t get stuck with it!”

Scott scowled and glared at the boy. “You think I’m fuckin stupid, Wright? I designed these to kill the Master of Darkness, so I thought further than this. Yes, if it interacts with the bloodstream, it should theoretically cut off his connection to mana, but the substance only does that by reacting with mana particles. It should neutralize any power they create, so in theory, they should be able to cut through his shadows and get to him.”

“Cut through his shadows?” Lilly parroted. “You mean, if you coated a knife or something like that, we could cut the shadows down?”

“In theory,” Scott repeated once again. “That’s only if I succeeded…or if the other me succeeded. But I don’t have a test subject so…”

Evan rolled his eyes. “What are you talking about? Pine’s an Ijirian, right? Just shoot him in the fuckin’ leg and if it shuts his mana down, then you win, right? Then all you gotta do is mass produce that shit and we’re ready to go.”

It took a second for Evan’s suggestion to truly process for them all, but when it did, Scott and Rista’s reactions were complete opposites. While the older man suddenly began grinning as he eyed the Ijirian, Rista was vehemently shaking his head.

“Absolutely not!” he snapped. “I am not about to risk my mana circuits shutting down at a time like this! If we actually succeed in getting out of here then I’m going to need my powers to even have a shot of taking Nigreos and Album on!”

“Oh, don’t worry, Mr. Pine,” Scott intervened. “It’s not supposed to be permanent. After all, I don’t have the technology to completely shut the cells down if I don’t understand how mana is produced in the first place. These are only designed to inhibit magic production for an hour at best.”

Rista scowled. “Sure, they’re supposed to! But you don’t have a damn clue what the side effects would be! Or for all you know, it would permanently disrupt it!”

“Okay, then can’t it be tested without shooting him,” Brad asked before the argument could progress any further. “Like, is there another way or…?”

Scott shrugged. “Yeah, probably. I could take samples of his blood and test it on that, but that would take me at least a day or two. I have a personal office elsewhere in Wilham where my tools are, but I haven’t used them in a few years so it would take time to get it moving. If you’ve got the time to spare, we can do it that way.”

“Well we don’t have the time to spare,” Rista grunted. “We have to find this mana port now. We don’t have days…”

Lilly could see his impatience and knew how desperate Rista was to get back to the other Children of Reiner, yet at the same time, that desperation was getting in the way of rational thought.

“It might be worth it though,” Lilly pointed out. “If he can actually get something like this to work then combine a power like that with The Angel and we have twice the advantages against them. It might take a few days to get it ready, but in that time, I can search for the port. That way, when Scott finishes, we’ll be ready to move.”

“Yes, but—”

“Rista,” Lilly interrupted. “Please. I understand how you feel. I want to get back to Eric as soon as possible, too, but this…” She indicated Scott’s work station with a wave of her hands. “This is incredible, if it can work. I knew Scott Reiner was working on something but I didn’t realize it was to this scale. If your blood can help him create this, then maybe you can take some of the serum back to Ijiria. Wouldn’t that be an enormous help to the other Children?”

She knew that was what got through to him as his eyes went wide before darting around the room, telling her that he was now considering it.

“If that’s your price,” the older man grunted. “Then I’ll give you some to take back. Though, if you want it faster then I’m gonna need some help.”

“Oh, fuck yeah, I can help,” Evan quickly declared. “You’re telling me this stuff can pull those magic fucks to my level then you can bet your ass I want some. I’ll do whatever you need, old man, just tell me what.”

Brad nodded his agreement. “Same here. Whatever it takes to get us out of here, I’ll do it.”

“I’ll do what I can once I’ve found the mana port and dealt with some other issues,” Lilly said, her thoughts briefly flashing to the current predicament with Jay and Alice. “So Rista? Can you do this? Can you help him finish this research?”

The Ijirian clenched his teeth then glanced between the four of them once more before letting out a soft sigh. “Very well. If you promise that I can take some of this stuff back to Ijiria when we get out of here then I’m in. I’ll do what you need, Reiner.”

Scott’s grin widened in what was the first real joy she’d ever seen in the man. “Thank you, Mr. Pine. Let’s be off then.”