jdhmnovel Chapter 232: Unfamiliar Faces
Chapter 232: Unfamiliar Faces
“Hey, old man. Yeah. Just thought I’d come back. I don’t think this is going to be doable.”Zuko flinched. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I can’t do it. There’s too much that I can’t control.”
“...I understand,” Zuko sighed.
He turned and walked upstairs. John waited in the doorway, looking around. Strangely, he didn’t react in the slightest to Anta, who was still in an Anta form. He did glance at her, but it was likely in the sense that he was seeing a person rather than an inanimate object. Otherwise, he just waited patiently.
Zuko returned carrying a simple katana. Despite the dimness of the room, it still shone, the metal polished to perfection.
“Not my greatest work,” Zuko said quietly. “But it is a good blade.”
John’s eyes shot up in surprise. “What? Wait, hold on, I didn’t finish-”
“You put in over four months' time. Please. I could not send away one who did work without pay. I received much from what you provided. This is the least I can do.”
“Uh. Sure. I won’t say not to free shit, I guess,” John said, taking the sword with two hands.
He checked it up and down, almost admiring the craftsmanship, then swung it around a few times. As always, his form was sloppy, but that wouldn’t stop him from fighting well.
“You… that sword will not slice well if you aren’t properly trained,” Zuko warned. “It is still a fine weapon, but-”
“Ah, don’t worry about that,” John reassured him. “It’s not like I’m planning on becoming a master swordsman.”
“...best of luck, young man,” Zuko said quietly. “In whatever endeavors you may take on.”
“Thanks. I think I’ll stick around the city, so maybe we’ll see each other around,” John said, waving.
Zuko turned back to Anta after closing the door.
“That was the man,” he said quietly. “Is everything alright?”
“Y-yes,” Anta stammered. “Sorry. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, child.”
Zuko headed upstairs, leaving Anta alone.
“Anta,” Prota said quietly. “Maybe… maybe John is nice-”
“No. Don’t confuse politeness for caring for [Characters]. You should’ve seen the difference. He didn’t see whoever he respected in Zuko this time around, because Zuko was just a [Character].”
“But… he wasn’t mean.”
“Was John ever mean? He’s not sadistic, Prota. Even in our last life, he made that very clear. He doesn’t just go around killing for the sake of doing so. He does it if it’s convenient. Don’t mistake it. His empty self was only bad to us because we hung around him. But to most, he’s an ordinary guy. How do you think he ran a bar for so long? He’s not a villain.”
“...villain?”
“Prota. None of this is real to him. It’s like a game, and he’s stuck in it. He’s just… trying to get home.”
“But-”
“It doesn’t excuse his actions. And it doesn’t mean we have to lie down and take whatever he does. But I’m saying to not mistake indifference for emotion. That’s just naturally how he is. Remember what he said? Killing is easier.”
“...John is lazy. Right.”
“Eaxctly,” Anta sighed. “If someone gets in his way, is it easier to talk them out of fighting? Or is it easier to just remove them from the equation entirely? I’m sure that, if he runs into an opponent too strong to fight, he’d rather run away.”
“Then… why not kill anyone here?”
“Did you hear what he said? It was a job. Zuko set a requirement for him, that being to keep everyone alive. If John kills someone, that job is invalid. It’s harder, but it technically wouldn’t fulfill the promise.”
“...[Zero]?”
“You think John’s gonna use [Zero] on something like that?” Anta laughed. “Please.”
Prota sighed. She’d gotten her hopes up. Hopes that, across timelines, across [Resets], the John she’d known was still there. That, perhaps even now, she just had to talk with him. Convince him to try something different.
But no.
This was how John originally was.
The fatigue he’d shown, the weakness…
He’s only changed because of her.
It was because he’d been tempted by the idea of a “companion.”
Without that, he was simply drifting. Wandering with a single goal in mind.
Nothing else mattered to him.
“Still, it was good to see him again, wasn’t it? Even if he had that dead look in his eyes,” Anta said, nestling her head in her arm. “After all that time. Well. We will have to be a little more careful, though.”
“...really?”
“Prota. When you died, John was… well, broken, I guess. Do you know how long he spent learning to care for [Characters]? Only to have that ripped away? Think about it. He lost one world. Lost everything to save it. Swore not to care for [Characters], only to end up doing exactly that, only to lose them. Again. Would you be ok after all that?”
Prota was silent.
“Well, that doesn’t matter. In the end, the solution is the same, isn’t it?”
Right. The plan had always been like that. Strategies like persuasion, philosophy and manipulation were fine and good, but in the end, it always came back to the basics.
Fighting.
It was hard to have a civilized debate when the other party was dead set on shoving a sword through your chest.
“But… well, something’s odd,” Anta muttered.
Prota suddenly felt a twinge of fear.
“John made Zero promise that we wouldn’t meet. I don’t know what that promise entails… but the fact that we met means it was out of Zero’s control. Or was it?”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that the conditions John set are ambiguous. Does meeting us entail meeting us early enough that he changes as a person? Or does it mean literally not meeting us at all?”
Prota understood.
If it were the former, then that condition had already been cleared. If it were the latter, then that meant Zero had no control over whether or not John met Prota at this point in time.
Regardless, it was a little concerning. Zero had always been a rather ambiguous being. He acted with John’s best interests in mind, but that, too, was a mystery.
Whether or not Zero had set this meeting up was what Anta was worried about.
“...no point worrying about something we can’t figure out,” Anta sighed. “Goodnight.”
~~~
“Hey, Zero. That girl.”
“Hm? What’s up?”
John was taking his time walking down the dirt path that led out of the little neighborhood. The sky above was perfectly clear. He’d already changed out of the suit provided by the Yakuza, and his scarf was fluttering in the soft breeze.
“She seemed a little interesting.”
“Oh, come on. You know that old guy has a granddaughter. It’s probably just a friend or something.”
“...there’s something you’re not telling me.”
Zero laughed. “Well, yeah. There’s a lot of things I’m not telling you.”
“No. I mean, there’s something fishy about how you’ve been acting. For years, you stay silent, and then all of a sudden, you start telling me where [Deus Ex Machina] is, and then you tell me it’s gone. How is that possible? This world shouldn’t even understand what that energy is. How can someone take it?”
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“Well, that’s not entirely true.”
“You’re telling me people have my memories?” John groaned. “Seriously, making me do all this work…”
“If you’re complaining about work, why’d you work with that old man?”
“I’m bored, Zero. There’s been nothing to do. It was something. Besides, I enjoyed gambling.”
“And yet you still have that dead look in your eyes.”
“Are you going to make fun of me, or are you going to help me? Piece of shit,” John grumbled. “At least tell me if she’s someone important or not.”
“...what do you define as important, John?”
“That’s more than enough of an answer. Thanks.”
Zero didn’t reply to that. But the silence wasn’t really a sign of nervousness. John knew his soul well. If he was nervous, he would express it.
But that silence was worse.
Zero was being smug.
“What’s so funny, huh?” John sighed. “What could you possibly be gloating about?”
“Nothing. John. Have you ever considered that… you know, maybe you’re not in control?”
“Always. You know that.”
“No. Not in terms of the [Author]. But in terms of another [Character].”
“Well, yeah,” John shrugged. “There’s a lot of [Characters] that can beat me in my current state. I’m not exactly strong at the moment or anything.”
“Is it possible another [Character] is more aware of things than you are?”
“Here?” John thought for a moment. “Probably not.”
“...interesting answer,” Zero said slowly. “John. Do you miss your old world?”
“No. Well. Maybe?” John kicked a rock, watching it tumble across the grass. “It’s a story to me, Zero. It was fun, I guess, but ultimately, it’s just a vague memory.”
“Hm. Interesting.”
“That’s all you have to say? Interesting?”
“Yeah. Is that a problem?”
“Yeah. But you’re not going to do anything about it, so piss off,” John muttered.
He took in a deep breath of the night air. The smell was surprisingly clean, despite the multitude of forges. Perhaps some kind of magic at work. John hadn’t bothered to learn the mechanics of this world’s powers, so he wasn’t sure, but this wasn’t enough to make him curious.
“Why the sword?” Zero said, changing the topic.
“You took away most of the weapons in the storage!” John exclaimed. “I can’t use anything!”
“You can use the [Infinity] swords-”
“My ass! [Determination] is barely working,” John sighed. “Even a multiplier of a hundred splits my head apart. I was only able to use it twice to save my ass. [Zero] is just way easier to use, but I can’t even use that very well.”
“That sword’s gonna break if you don’t use it right,” Zero warned.
“So what? I’m not going to use it anyway. It’s just for show. I need to at least look a little dangerous.”
“Why?”
“You know why.”
“Tell me.”
“You… seriously, this guy. The enemies are getting stronger. This stupid pistol’s gonna stop working soon, and you won’t let me use anything stronger. At a certain point, [Reset] spamming isn’t going to cut it.”
“Good answer.”
John looked up at the night sky.
“Well. It’ll be worth it to stick around a little longer. Just to see what’s going on.”
~~~
The next morning, Anta was ready to leave.
“Are you sure about this?” Zuko said worriedly. “This task-”
“I’ll handle it. I just wanted to make sure you were ok with it. Then… I likely won’t see you again for a while. Ah. And don’t tell Briar about this, all right?”
“But-”
“She’s going to worry about me. I… there’s no point in a gift if they pay you back for it, right?”
Anta grinned as she opened the door.
“Hm… that smile. I see why my daughter is good friends with you,” Zuko smiled. “Then, best of luck, child.”
Anta nodded, stepping out into the fresh outdoors. She glanced around, then let Prota back into the body. A full night of occupying it was enough for the soul.
“...to the casino?” Prota said quietly.
She was still a little shaken by having seen John so casually.
“Yeah. To be honest… I don’t really know what we’re going to do there,” Anta sighed. “The situation last time kinda just worked out, but weeding out the cultists will be a separate issue entirely.”
Prota continued to walk for a bit, churning ideas in her mind.
In the end, though, one particularly good one came to mind.
“Bait.”
“Wha- oh. I understand. Prota, that’s-”
“We said we would help,” Prota said quietly. “It’s not hard. Last time, John also did it. Bait. This time… I’ll do it.”
“Prota, no offense, but we’re both still kids. I can negotiate for you, but it’s just not going to carry the same weight.”
“Use [DEM]-”
“I’m going to stop you right there. Why are you so insistent on doing things the same way? John was weak back then, mind you. We took roundabout ways because John needed to compensate properly. We are different. Now that we’re just, I don’t know, ignoring the butterfly effect, we don’t need to be concerned about any of that. Ok?”
“Nn.”
The casino was their next destination. Since they’d received permission to stay out and miss classes, there was no point in temporarily returning to Scholaris.
“Hey.”
Prota nearly jumped out of her skin as a voice approached her from behind. That voice was incredibly familiar. Maybe a little more hollow than usual, but familiar nonetheless.
“You’re that girl that was in the old man’s house.”
John was standing there, holding a bottle of water in hand.
“...hello.”
Prota was dying to run up and hug him, but the urge had to be suppressed. Moreover, she was following Anta’s instructions directly, since she herself was too frazzled to keep herself calm.
“So. What’s your next move?” John said lazily.
“Um. Back to school. Just visiting a friend’s house.”
It was good that the house had been dark. Hopefully, he hadn’t seen Anta’s red hair and was assuming everything was the same. They hadn’t locked eyes, and he hadn’t looked at her for too long, so it was possible he hadn’t noticed much.
“Back to school, huh? Right, right. That’s a good excuse.”
Prota remained silent. There wasn’t anything for her to say.
“Look. Hero, right? That’s you?”
At that, Prota didn’t even flinch.
Suddenly, a sense of confidence welled up within her. John was playing a game. He was under the impression that he knew more than anyone. Normally, that should’ve been the case. While there were a few existences who could read him a little, like Sofya, he was typically the one holding all the cards.
But that wasn’t the case.
Prota knew of a future John did not. Prota knew the same truths John knew.
And with Anta’s accelerated thinking, they could easily outmaneuver John. If he was going to base his assumptions on the fact that this world was a [Story], then they just had to tell him something that would confirm their identity.
“Hero?” Prota said, tilting her head to the side. “No.”
“...look, you have some kind of special magic. There’s no point in hiding it.”
Anta cursed. John had seen their hair colour change.
“Prota,” Anta said slowly. “Stay calm. But John is going to pull his gun out. You can’t react, no matter what. Understood?”
“...why?”
“If we react… we know what it is. You have to stare at it like it’s just a piece of metal. Got it?”
“Nn.”
John sighed, staring at Prota. Thankfully, her poker face seemed to be incredibly helpful here. She was giving no reaction, which would make it harder for John to read the situation.
“Why were you in that house, then?” John said, his tone casual. “Come on, it’s not just a coincidence.”
“Briar asked me to deliver something,” Prota said calmly. “I had a lot of tokens. So I could leave. Briar said she didn’t do well, so she couldn’t go.”
If Prota had really been a [Protagonist], she would have explained things in such a way that would make it make sense to the [Readers] as well. Or, at least, that was the hope. But, by explaining things so matter-of-factly, as if it was obvious what she were saying, then that would seem less like a [Story] and more like an action an [Extra] would take.
“I… I see,” John said, looking just a little confused. “Hm. Sorry about that.”
“You’re mister Hi’s friend, right?” Prota said, stumbling over her words.
She wasn’t used to talking like that, but it was what Anta was telling her to say.
“Sure. Something like that, kid,” John sighed.
Then, he whipped out the pistol. Prota stared at it in wonder, almost as if she’d missed seeing the thing. She knew that death was near.
Yet, strangely, she didn’t particularly care.
“What is it?” Prota said, looking back up at John.
Her heart was pounding.
This whole situation had felt like a setup to a confrontation. She wouldn’t be surprised if a fight broke out here, and all of their progress ended here and now.
“I see. I’ll let you go.”
“Ok. Bye-bye.”
Prota walked off, trying to stabilize her breath. She didn’t look behind her, but based on the souls…
Zero was watching.
“We’ll have to fight him. Eventually.”
“Nn.”
“But we should probably stay away from this town for a few months.”
~~~
Prota had initially protested, but at the end of the day, that was exactly what she did.
She stayed in Scholaris for a few months.
During that time, the rest of the group was gathered. In addition to Briar, Arthur and Aurora joined, reminding Prota of the old days. Of course, Arthur’s situation was a little different. He seemed a lot more timid than usual. Anta told her it was because John had given the boy something, but she couldn’t replicate it, so they wouldn’t be helping him this time around.
Still, four months of fun was a welcome break. Prota had told Briar to tell her grandfather she wouldn’t be able to help for a bit, under the pretext of getting additional help, which wasn’t exactly untrue.
Well, it was actually entirely untrue. But nobody needed to know that.
Finally, the midterms came up. This time, Prota opted to go alone.
“Destiny,” Prota said quietly as they stood on the boat. “...cultists.”
“More of ‘em, huh?” the hero sighed. “Yeah. I’m not surprised.”
“It’s ok,” Prota nodded. “You are strong.”
“Coming from you, I don’t know how to take that,” Destiny laughed. “But thanks for the heads up.”
“Maybe no cultists, too,” Prota offered. “Things changed.”
“But they’re targeting you, aren’t they? So it’s safer to assume things might go wrong. Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
Prota nodded, but she wasn’t so sure. Last time, the two cultists she’d faced were quite strong, and that was before she’d displayed such open strength. Then again, they’d taken her lightly, and they had been rather strong.
Although she was wandering the castle, using her keen senses to gather points, it all felt strangely dull.
Meeting John still had a lasting impact on her.
All of these other goals. Fighting cultists. Helping Zuko. Confronting Hikari. Solving Kit’s problems. They all felt so very, very small.
Such was the scale of saving the world.
In retrospect, everything else felt insignificant.
“Bad mindset to get into,” Anta warned as Prota found herself in a long hallway.
Sunlight streamed through the cracked windows. Fresh cold air blew in, and Prota took a deep breath in.
“It’s how John sees things, you know. In perspective. You were almost thinking that other problems weren’t worth dealing with, right?”
Prota nodded.
Even though it’d been four months and a world of distraction later, Prota couldn’t help but be lost in that way of thinking.
“We’ll run into him eventually. But right now isn’t that time. Focus on what’s in front of you.”
Prota nodded. It was a shame that the incident with John had ended so anticlimactically, but such was life. Not everything had to blow up.
She hit another target with an icicle, immediately getting another reward. While she did enjoy the school life, she couldn’t help but find these exams incredibly dull.
“Prota! Snap out of it!”
Anta’s yelled startled her, enough to pull her out of her thoughts.
“Go. That way. Take a left… alright, keep going. Yeah. Alright, stop there.”
Prota followed her soul’s directions, leading her to a familiar courtyard.
She almost smiled as she remembered John nearly falling off the balcony. Looking around, it was still just as beautiful as before. Cracked stones, untouched snow, a sad yet romantic blend of grey and white.
“You can’t forget, Prota. You have to remember what you’re fighting for, or it’s not worth it.”
“Remember…?”
“What’s the point in saving the world if you’re not there for it? What’s the point in saving a world you don’t care for? If you can’t be bothered to help the people you call friends, then just don’t help them at all. Just because there’s a grander goal doesn’t mean the little things become irrelevant.”
Suddenly, a massive explosion knocked the balcony off the wall. Prota leapt up, senses on alert as she cushioned her fall with some wind. From the dust and rubble came two figures.
Thankfully, it seemed they hadn’t sent anybody new.
“Soul Steal, huh?”
“Leon. You could’ve been a little more graceful with your entry.”
“Bah, what’s the point? It’s better to make things go ka-boom!”
Prota stared at her opponents dismissively, then remembered what Anta was saying.
If she didn’t take this seriously…
Then there was no point in taking anything seriously at all.
To John, this was a [Story].
To Prota, this was life.
And she was fighting to prove that point.
Then, if this were life, a battle with one’s life on the life should be taken seriously.
“Hello, little girl,” Leon, the hulking man grinned.
Betty, the more graceful lady, smiled as she held a fan made of ice.
“We’ll be taking you in, now.”