Vernam's POV:
The direction we all ran in was different, but beforehand we agreed to meet up in a specific spot while Dad took care of the bear. Speaking of which, he passed me a slip of paper just as I ran by him before. If there was any time to read such a letter, it would be while I was away from the others.
So I lifted the piece of paper and slowly unfurled it, careful not to ruin my Dad's delicate work in folding it. I slowly unfurled it, and as I suspected, it was a good idea not to open this up in front of the other Elders. It was a change in the orders that he gave me a couple of nights before.
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Dear Vernam,
I need you to do something for me. Once you come back to the bear (it will be dead by that point), and I give the code phrase, "attack strength", you will slowly, over the course of some emotional conversation, join my faction in front of the others. To make that seem natural I'm going to need you to "expose" the secret that you actually hold some reverence toward me because of some reason that you can figure out. Once you have officially joined my faction, the others should start pouring in, but just in case that doesn't happen and you get ostracized for some reason, we'll need to kill all of them. If that happens just follow my lead. Also during that little meeting of yours with the other Elders, make sure Onvima doesn't say anything that could mar my name, by any means necessary.
From yours truly, Quis.
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After I finished reading the letter, I put it in my mouth and swallowed it while I continued my walk to the area where we agreed to meet up. It didn't take long until I walked through the final barrier of leaves and bushes, exposing myself to a clear field and the rain. This field was made by the bear sucking in everything in a large radius, but the Spell was already over, so there was no danger in being here.
By the time I showed up, everyone else was already there. Upon seeing me walking towards the previously silent group, they all raised their heads in unison, before going back to the depressed atmosphere. Knowing that such a sad tone wouldn't work well with my goal, I decided to ask a question to change the mood, so in a quiet voice, I asked Fragitus, "Hey, Fragitus, how come you haven't switched out with Paxium yet? I thought all you ever wanted to do was fight."
With that string of words, I sat down in between her and Culdia and awaited an answer. Through an abnormally soft voice, Fragtus monotonously answered my question, "I decided to not let her take control yet. There's no guarantee that Igmor will be successful, so I'm just preparing... Plus Paxium likes Igmor a lot, so... Ugh, never mind."
I decided to ignore that last sentence of what seemed like a rare moment of empathy and focused on her first subject, "I believe he'll be able to do it."
All I said was this, yet it caused everyone to look at me questionably. It made sense because of how aversive I've been to Dad in front of others, so it might even seem suspicious, but this was the only way I could smoothly transition into the topic, so I had to roll with it. Just like Dad said, I had to make it seem natural. So instead of doing something stupid like getting defensive, I also acted confused, "Why are you all looking at me like that?"
Culdia realized how it looked and brought her expression back to something more neutral before expressing herself through words, "Well, I just feel like out of everyone... currently here, you disliked Igmor the most. With that basis, it's strange to me why you would defend his ability."
This caused me to raise my confusion as I said in wonder, "Is that how it looks?"
Seeing Culdia nod her head, I "made things clear", "I don't dislike him at all. In reality... I envy him somewhat. It seems like everything he does is with purpose, and like he always has a plan for anything that happens. It's like he's truly an incarnation of the lessons he gives us, which is, in all honesty, something that I want. That was why I put up with it at first... but I don't know. It feels like after everything that has happened... I almost feel reverence and respect instead of jealousy? I really don't know."
As I finished my sentence, I twisted it so that it felt as much as a discovery for myself as it was for the others. That way they wouldn't think, "How come I haven't seen anything that suggested this before?" as it was something that happened just now.
As I lowered my head, a hand was subtly placed on my shoulder, paired with Culdia's voice, "I think I understand what you mean a little. I mean, it should come as no secret to you all how I do respect Igmor. The way he does things just gives me a certain tinge of excitement... but that was all for the longest time. But after this... I can't help but feel like I'm feeling something more than just respect... though I can't place my finger on what that feeling is..."
This caused me to raise my head, and look at Culdia with eyes of comfort and understanding, though this time it was a real feeling. It made me excited to think that others could possibly see Dad as I did. Maybe if this all worked out, eventually I would be able to act like myself around both Dad and these Elders... maybe like this, I could actually make friends with them.
Then, without warning or subtlety, Fragitus spoke up, "Eh, I don't see it. He just seems like another person who's trying to change me even though I'm content with who I am. Though I guess he hasn't been fighting me on the topic of philosophy recently, so maybe he's given up on that. Tch, that just makes him a coward though."
I could feel my stomach drop as Fragitus bad-mouthed Dad, but I could keep it in. If I did something stupid it would be even worse, so instead I'll try to twist her perception a little and hopefully that'll help him some, "But doesn't that just make sense? I heard that he's tried many different methods to change your opinion, but you've held strong. In the face of intense wind, the sturdy oak tree snaps while the oak tree that can bend survives. Giving up on something isn't necessarily always the bad choice, sometimes it's what the situation calls for... but I doubt he's actually given up on changing your opinion."
My words probably infuriated her a bit because of how correct they were, but then my final sentence broke her out of the spiraling rage and into confusion as she asked me, "What do you mean?"
I raised my finger in the air, and explained myself to her, "Well, you remember that lesson Igmor gave on surrendering? He said that surrender is only used to recoup your losses and bide your time waiting for the chance to strike again. I think he's just waiting for the right opportunity to show you what he really means when he says fighting isn't always the right answer."
Maybe because it came from me instead of Igmor, but my words seemed to strike her deeply, which satisfied me. After we had that talk, everyone's head naturally drifted into Ovima's direction who was silent the whole time. His eyes were struck with fear as Culdia's gaze intensified and he gave an audible gulp. I could tell he was about to say something, and that was another thing I had to avoid. I readied myself to do something crazy, but just before I was about to do it, a loud roar of pain came from where the bear was.
This interrupted the train of conversation, and just at the right time too. We all looked at each other before nodding and running over to the bear's location.
As we walked, I wondered to myself, 'Did Dad plan that too?'
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Quis' POV:
"Hello everyone. Good things it's raining, otherwise I don't know how I'd get all of this blood off of me."
My words dumbfounded the people around me, causing, surprisingly enough, Fragitus to speak up, "What's wrong with you? Shouldn't you, you know, explain what the hell this is?!"
I just gave a calm smile to her and responded, "What can I say? Things happen when you're fighting a bear ten times your height. I'm just glad my attack strength was higher than the bear's."
Fragitus ground her teeth and exasperated to me, "You know that's not what I mean!-"
"Are you alright Igmor?"
Interrupting her anger was Vernam who was genuinely worried for my health, but was also working with the prompt I gave her. I smiled at her and said, "I'm perfectly fine. Surprisingly enough, all of this blood on me belongs solely to the bear... But I should probably also ask, are you all doing ok? I mean, not physically, but... judging by the one missing member..."
My words brought the situation at hand back to the Elders, and with my words, Culdia, Ovima, and Vernam showed a shade of depression while Fragitus' eyes dulled with pity. Despite his many downfalls, Iraspisit was able to make good friends. That was good for me because I could use this sadness, and direct it into anger, anger against Medisma. That way I could show that we all have a common enemy and use that to rope them into my faction.
Of course, I couldn't be the one to do this, that would be much too suspicious and drag too much attention to me. Instead, I would use a cat's-paw to reach into the fire for me. My cat's-paw would of course be Vernam. Having her do it would make it seem more natural and like the right thing to do. As they say, you might not jump off a bridge if your friend does, but you'll sure as hell jump onto a boat.
Vernam mumbled something. It was quiet, but in the silence, it was as apparent as a wrong note in a symphony, "How come Medisma isn't here?"
Her words were filled with sadness, anger, and even a bit of desperation; she was selling it well. Her words were soft, but the connotation behind them was filled with meaning. Her words began to make the others think, "What was Medisma doing?" It wasn't soon until Culdia also asked no one but the air, "Where even is she? Didn't she promise to help us? This shouldn't be out of her capabilities."
I looked into Culdia's eyes, she had that crazy look in them. Do doubt she was pushing all of the blame of this incident onto Medisma, which was perfect for me. I had to capitalize on this while it was still here. So I opened my mouth and decided to fan the fire, "... It sort of feels like she just abandoned you guys, though, I wouldn't doubt it. She practically did the same to me."
My words caused everyone, even Onvima who was practically shaking, to look up at me. I'd never mentioned anything to do with my past before, so my words were captivating to them. Not to mention the way I said them made it sound scandalous, which humans were naturally attracted to. But I didn't do anything else than look into the sky with a difficult expression on my face. To say what she did would rid me of the mysterious air around me, so I wouldn't elaborate. Plus, letting the imagination run wild was much better.
With what I said, suddenly, Vernam raised her voice, "You know what? I'm sick of this! Since school, we've been working for Medisma and heeding her every request. And what have we gotten out of it? Nothing! Nothing besides a dead friend!"
Her passionate words sparked Culdia and she raised her head, but she was still calm and collected on the surface, "You know what? If we were able to kill a bear that had access to a Spell, I bet that human wouldn't be much more difficult." With that, she stood up and began walking in a certain direction. But before she could get any further, I jumped off of the bear and grabbed her arm with my rain-washed hand.
She didn't turn around, instead just asking me in a dead tone, "What?"
I didn't falter in the face of her bloodthirsty aura, and said to her, "I know what you're trying to do, but it isn't the right way to go about it. Think. What would happen if you somehow succeeded? You and, more likely than not, your other friends would be put to death. That's just too selfish."
She turned around with a swoosh, and I could now see the tears that were falling from her face as she yelled at me in a broken voice, "Then what?! What can I do about this?! My friend has died due to someone else's stupidity, yet I can't do a thing!! It's sickening!"
I didn't bend to her sobs or her screams, keeping an entirely straight face. But then, my face broke out into a smile, not the same courier-like smile I had been giving everyone else, but a sweet and soothing smile I usually reserved for Vernam, "How about we figure that out together?... I'm gonna come clean Culdia. I've been working against Medisma for a while now, and have formed my own faction. So this goes out to you and everyone else here... A ruler who can't even protect the people who've sworn duty to her is no ruler at all... and that is the type of ruler that Medisma is. I despise that! So Culdia, Fragitus, Vernam, and Onvima! Join my faction, and we'll get rid of the suffering Medisma ignites in others once and for all!"
If you looked closely at my speech, you could notice a couple of faults, holes in logic, and skips in reason, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was that I used the heightened emotions of these people to rally them into my corner. Of course, it wouldn't be that easy. I could tell that when I mentioned joining my faction, hesitation sprung into the air. But luckily, my cat's-paw would fix that for me.
After I said those words, while others hesitated, Vernam stepped forward while saying confidently, "You know... At first Igmor, I envied you. I sought after what you had. I wished I could have the perfection that you seem to have... But now I realize, what I want more than anything, isn't to become you, but to be by your side and experience the things you will experience. I will go through thick and thin to help you complete your plans of beating Medisma and getting vengeance for all of us here, and everyone else she's hurt."
As she finished her words, she kneeled before me but made sure to look me in the eyes. It was better like that, otherwise, the deception could be exposed. After Vernam said this and swore her loyalty to me, Culdia spoke from behind me, "Igmor... I'm sorry but..." Suddenly I felt her stomp on the ground and clench her teeth in a bout of anger that was rare for her before she continued what she was saying, "Never mind! Screw it all, I'll join your faction! I'm done with these supposed "leaders" who can't seem to do anything but fight amongst themselves. Not to mention how they can only feed their own mouths. Igmor, you've shown me personally how great of a leader you can be, so I trust you won't make the same mistakes they did. And to prove that trust, I'll do anything I can to help you."
Culdia then kneeled next to Vernam and looked up at me with eyes radiating with defiance. After hearing what she and Vernam said, I turned to Fragitus, and she seemed a bit startled for a moment. She soon recovered and began to walk toward me, "Yeah, I don't necessarily have any real attachment to any of these things, but I know Medisma messed with Paxium, so I'll help you out."
When she said that, Vernam twisted her head and glared at Fragitus. I wasn't sure what it meant, but she wasn't dumb enough to mess up my plans, so I let her continue. After Fragitus met her gaze, she gave out a sigh and walked closer to me, "I guess... Fine! Alright I think it's impressive you were able to defeat the bear, and I also know that Paxium respects you a lot, and supposedly you have more plans to "work with me" and I'm curious to find out what that means... So... I swear that I'll help you out with what you need done, as long as I can get in the front lines, I'll be satisfied."
Along with her words, she lazily kneeled along with the others and stared at my face. With that, only Onvima was left. I stared at him and then lifted my arms before speaking to him in sign language, a language I taught him myself and one that came from my realm. What I said was simple. Only the two words: "I know."
He was smart enough to fill in the blanks and promptly, ran over to us and kneeled beside Vernam on her other side, and said in a convincing enough tone, "Igmor, ever since we've... properly met, you've been only the most patient and kind to me when teaching me. You've recommended me great books and imparted me with the gift of knowledge. And now you are going to get revenge for our friend... the least I can do is follow you with all of my heart."
He was the only one with his head down, but the message he got across was still the same. It was my plan all along to use his fear of death to push him into my faction. Of course, I know that isn't sustainable, which was why later I would tempt him with knowledge. For now though, I had to finalize this party of allegiance.
I looked at each of them and gave my speech in a cool confident voice, "Culdia, Fragitus, Vernam, and Ovima... the path will be arduous. It will be difficult. And I will work you to the bone. But I can promise you that the end result will be more gratifying than any other path you could have taken. I promise you that once we rise to the top of the sect, there will be change. I can guarantee you that you will never feel betrayed or unheard. And I can say that, without a doubt, we will purge this sect of all evil!"