NOVEL WEB Episode 010: Aftermath
I was sitting at the telescope, looking at the screen anxiously. I was just trying to get a view of the destruction the girls left behind. It was a small miracle that the telescope was still pointed at that world. I was also waiting for Svilran to see the results.
“Fainn... This is—they—“
“Yup.” I opened the Report Screen again.
***
After-Mission Report
Hero: Elma
Completion: 50
Overtime Bonus: 50
Rest Days Earned: 5 days.
Penalty:
Reckless Endangerment: -25
Hero: Dothaunzee
Completion: 50
Overtime Bonus: 50
Rest Days Earned: 5 days.
Penalty:
Innocent Death (3): -45
Hero Hub
Hero Multiplier: 2x
D-Rank Mission Reward: 75
Bonus: 0
Total: 145
***
“This... They had Hero Merit deducted... For the death of innocents?” Svilran said with a whimper. “Dorthaunzee... She... There was a child in one of the buildings near where she first used her tentacles. The child was buried alive. Then the second one... The third one—two women at that party were crushed by the tentacles.”
“And then Elma lost 25 points for ‘Reckless Endangerment.’”
“And that refers to her decision to allow Dorthaunzee to use a weapon she couldn’t control where innocents were ultimately killed... We’ll have to—“
“We’re not telling them,” I sniped.
“Fainn?! Why not? They deserve to know!”
“Not now!” I yelled, my eyes glued to the points breakdown. “Not now... You can convince me to tell Elma in a few days, but I am not telling Dorthaunzee.” I held the space between my eyes. “At least not right away?”
“Why not?” Svilran repeated, having been taken to the verge of tears.
“Dorthaunzee—she’s doing her best. I don’t want to ruin that for her right now. She’s trying to learn how to control those tentacles, too. She’s trying to turn her curse into something that can help others.” I shook my head as I wore an empty smile. “We are not going to set that girl back. We do not know how fragile they are right now, either. They need to know they’re doing okay.”
“But we can’t just let them think this was okay—“
“And we won’t!” I banged the console with a fist. “We’ll tell Elma in a few days, okay? We’ll explain it to her, and she—“ I cut myself short and rubbed my temples. I had to get the image of her breaking down out of my head. “She... she can probably handle it. And she’ll probably know how to improve... I trust Elma to be capable of that much.” I glanced at Svilran, who was shaking, and got up. “Svilran,” I said as I reached for her.
She backed away by one step and looked down as she held her trembling hands to her chest. I... must have scared her.
I stepped closer and gently wrapped my hands around her.
“Svilran, I’m sorry. It’s not that I don’t care about your opinion... It’s just... I’m scared of hurting those girls. They’re Heroes who had their potential cut short once. Heroes who only get to live because of us. I’m terrified of screwing up these fragile existences that we’re being handed.”
“I... I can understand that,” Svilran whispered. “I just... I really don’t think we should keep this from them for long. Can you imagine how Dorthaunzee will feel if she finds out a year from now? I understand we should be careful, but there’s more we have to consider...”
I thought about it—a year from now. Just the thought of hiding something for a year—damn it. Even I could see the betrayal of trust.
“She trusts us!” Svilran said, almost as if she knew what I was thinking. “They trust us. That’s a precious thing. We can’t betray it... Even if we’re trying to spare their feelings.”
“But I can’t have Dorthaunzee second-guessing herself on the field. I know that can get someone killed.”
Svilran sniffled and hit her forehead against my chest. “This is hard.”
I took a deep breath. “I’m scared of how hurt Dorthaunzee might be.”
“I know...”
“She didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”
“I know, Fainn.”
“But we need to raise strong heroes too...” I shook my head. “We’ll let them rest. Then we’ll speak with Elma. We’ll make sure Elma is okay. Once we’ve ensured that, the three of us will work out how to communicate it to Dorthaunzee. There’s nothing wrong with broaching the topic with caution, is there?”
“No, I don’t think so. We just can’t let it sit for too long.” She looked at me and wore a tired smile. “They deserve to know everything—the good and the bad. They’re going to be fighting the bad—they can’t be blind to the bad they cause.”
I took my turn to say, “I know...”
We both took some time to calm down. We looked through our possible builds, but honestly, we weren’t in the mood to really talk about anything... I did have a structure to build in mind, but the timing wasn’t good. I felt guilty even thinking about the structure... Yeah, we turned in for the night. It had been a long day.
***
“What a miserable time.”
I was on my bed, throwing a wad of socks into the air and catching it. Svilran had turned in an hour ago—I hoped she was sleeping—and I had gone to my room soon after. No sleep for me, though. No, I was too preoccupied with figuring out what to do.
If I stripped the emotion from it, the answer was simple. Tell Elma and Dorthaunzee and deal with it together, but it was just that...
“I don’t want her to be scared of her powers.”
One of the unfortunate aspects of +Nightmares ARE Fiction+ was that it required that I be extremely aware of the target’s fears... Whenever the power would be used, I was forced to parse it as if it was my own fear. In other words, I felt the same fear Dorthaunzee did... It was maddening. I just didn’t want to make it worst. Her life was hard enough,
I threw the wad of socks into the air. “Fear can paralyze people. Not everyone can overcome it quickly.” I caught the wad. “I don’t want to hide it only for her to find out later, though.” I let out a sigh. “Elma, I hope you can give me some insight... Maybe even just putting it to a vote can help...” I closed my eyes. “There’s three of us after all...”
