“Uses it to her advantage. Am I any different? I use everything I can to build myself and my people up. To the point that we find ourselves here, today.”
“Yes, yes you are.”
Lily jabbed a finger into his side and dug it in. Felix grunted and brought his elbow down to fend her off.
“You know how Skipper empowers her people? Hm? Those she can’t corrupt to her side of things?” Lily asked, getting her finger into his side again despite his efforts. “She uses her power to view every instance of what it would take to power them up, make them stronger, more powerful, more anything, so long as it isn’t something she can’t handle, and then does it. Regardless of what it might do to them, the problems it’d cause, she does it.”
“Quit it,” Felix complained, turning sideways on the couch to face Lily. “And how do you even know that? There’s no way you could.”
“Kit and her people have been filtering in to active roles on missions when they can. Scanning minds when the possibility presents itself. Buried in those wiped minds, those empty thoughts cleaned of personalities, is a story of broken men and women forced to endure.
“She’s filled me in on the situation. I was curious about it, since the rings and crowns clearly serve a purpose, but wouldn’t empower these people as they have. I’ve seen a few people I recognize with powers I don’t remember them having, or strength they didn’t.”
“Great. And? I’m not exactly any different. You’ll remember I’ve been forcing powers on people for a while now.”
“No. You haven’t. In fact, you seem to go out of your way to make sure the powers you do hand out match personalities or existing powers. You’re not turning people into living bombs either, which I get the impression Skipper would do.”
Felix snorted at that, eying the sorceress warily.
“Ok, you want a more clear-cut example?”
“Sure, why not,” Felix said, the sarcasm dripping from his voice.
“Miu.”
“What about her?”
“Miu is insane. Clinically so. She murders the Andreas and Adrianas that sleep with you. She paints her walls in their blood and dyes her sheets in it. That isn’t a normal thing. The only thing holding her in check is you, your commands, and her contract with you.”
“I’m aware,” Felix said dryly. He’d gotten the biggest helpings of Miu’s personality that anyone had.
Other than the Andreas she killed.
“Why not fix her?” Lily asked.
“Huh?”
“Why not just… remove that part of her personality. Eliminate the insanity. You could. Easily.”
“I…”
“Go ahead. Try. Pull it up. Tell me how many points it would cost.”
“I don’t think—”
“Do it, Felix. I want to know. Humor me.”
Annoyed, tired, and frustrated, Felix felt like arguing. He had no intention of doing what she wanted. Gritting his teeth he lifted up his hand.
“Please?” Lily asked. Her voice was soft and there was an entire undercurrent he’d never heard from her before in it.
Deflating, Felix hung his head. His anger cooled instantly and his will to battle fled.
“Alright.”
Felix focused on the simple concept of making Miu’s power a positive thing. To remove the negative aspect that drove her towards insanity. Or at least, controlling that aspect so she could be free of it.
Status Correction: Insufficient Control -> Sufficient Control
Correct Status? (11,150 points.)
“Well?” Lily prompted when it was clear Felix wasn’t going to immediately offer the information.
“Eleven thousand. That’s all it’d cost to give her control over it.”
“What about removing that aspect entirely?”
Chewing at his lip, Felix tried again. Simply wanting to eliminate the negative aspect to Miu’s power.
Power Upgrade: Multiplicative Base-Positive aspect only
Required Primary Power: 70 (Met)
Required Wisdom: 60 (Unmet)
Upgrade?(35,000)
“Thirty-five thousand. With a few point changes in another category,” Felix admitted.
“In short, you could make Miu into a better person.”
“Sure could.”
“And why haven’t you? Or changed my luck? As far as I know, you haven’t modified anyone without them asking you to.”
“I changed Andrea’s intelligence a few times.”
“If I remember correct, she complained to you about it, and you modified it. That’s the way she tells it, at least.”
Felix thought back on that. He could vaguely remember Andrea complaining that she’d been taken advantage of.
The more he wracked his mind, the more he felt like Lily might be right. His modifications and changes were always in his interest. Always.
But they were never counter to the person’s wishes either, or at the very worst, they were neutral.
“The single defining character trait that you have, that makes you so different from Skipper, is you genuinely care about your people. It shows,” Lily said, leaning in closer to him. “Everyone sees it. From the lowest, dirtiest job, to the highest heights of your inner circle. No one would ever mistake you for not caring for your people. Sometimes you say or do dumb things, like wanting to put people who don’t belong into the sausage machine.”
Felix mentally winced at the memory of that. He’d thought on that one a number of times. His reaction had been dismissive and not at all thoughtful.
“Kit tells me you berate yourself for that one. And I’m glad to hear that.”
Meeting her eyes, he didn’t look away. “And why’s that?”
“It makes it so much easier to care for you. Knowing that you’re just as human as the rest of us,” Lily said with a grin.
She laid a hand to his jaw, leaned in, and kissed him tenderly.
When she finally pulled away, Felix felt like the world was spinning around him.
“Now. How about you treat me to a meal, and we try not to think about all this for a bit,” Lily whispered.
Chapter 26 - Taking Stock -
Stepping out into the sunshine of Legion world, Felix took in a deep breath. The clean smell of grass and the fresh air washed over him.
It’d been an entire day since he’d seen the outdoors, let alone sunlight. The battle for Tilen was ongoing and had fallen into a lull of sorts.
Felix didn’t dare step outside for the simple memory of the last time a sniper took a shot at him. They had been quite far away, and had nearly ended him. The lack of security in the city meant that everywhere that wasn’t under direct Legion control had the potential for an ambush.
Looking around, he found the camp that he remembered was long gone. The portal led out onto a platform that was similar to a landing pad for a helicopter.
All around him was the interior of a place that looked more like a gigantic military camp than anything else. It was massive in size, and all along the perimeter were stone walls.
Sitting at the center of the entire complex was a gigantic stone keep. Something that looked like it belonged in a medieval story with knights and catapults.
Decorating the keep, the walls, and randomly spaced throughout were large metal poles that stuck straight up into the sky for at least twenty feet.
Something very odd going on here.
“Felix,” Andrea said at his side. “I’m… I want to—” Andrea paused, her hands opening and closing. She looked torn.
“Want to go run around?” Felix asked, smiling. He knew what she wanted, even if she couldn’t bring herself to quite ask for it.
It was a normal Beastkin reaction to this world.
“Nn!” Andrea said. She leaned in close to him, her tail trembling behind her.