"What is your Lineage?"
Rain meets Bright's gaze in silence for several moments, as though he's surprised by her question about his Lineage and hesitant to answer. In truth, he's been planning for this question. With all the strange, totally unique runic descriptions he has already admitted to possessing, and the others he still wants her help interpreting, he knew it was only a matter of time before his Lineage was the subject of Bright's curiosity. That's the main reason he brought up his information about Death, though it also helped his other goal of placating her.
His plan was to steer her towards suspecting him of a Death Lineage, which would track with the novelty of his information. It would also explain why he's been worried about his attribute descriptions being exposed, since Death is negatively associated with the Fel.
Originally, he was going to hint that he has a patronage Relic made by Death, to serve as greater evidence for her suspicions. But given what she's told him, his possession of novel runic descriptions related to Death is damning enough. Based on the timing of her question about his Lineage, she's already suspecting him of what he wants. He just needs to ingrain her suspicions.
Rain lets out a sigh under the weight of Bright's expectant gaze, then tries to imitate a nervous expression.
"My Lineage...is not something I'm willing to share with you right now, Bright. I hope you'll respect that. Besides, the only thing you really care about is the information I can provide, right? So, my Lineage shouldn't matter."
She studies at him for a moment, her eyes conflicted.
"After what I just said, you have to know what I'm thinking, Rain. Something like your Lineage could matter a great deal, and you're not even denying my suspicions."
Without hesitating, he shrugs and levels a calm gaze back at her.
"Think what you want...suspicions and knowledge are entirely different. I'm not necessarily abstaining from an answer because you're correct, I'm just unwilling to discuss my Lineage with you...yet. Now, would you like to discuss what I promised, or continue fruitlessly asking me about my attributes?"
Bright's lips purse in frustration, but the rest of her expression is heavily conflicted. She's obviously unhappy that he's blatantly shutting down her burning question about his Lineage. However, she's also clearly curious about the other information he's offering, but that means abandoning her other point of interest. Eventually, she clicks her tongue with an agitated expression, but nods her acknowledgement.
"Yeah, let's hear it. Tell me as much as you're willing, with as little omission and paraphrasing as possible, please."
He flashes her a wry grin in response.
"Wonderful, I'm glad we're on the same page. Essentially, I'm in possession of a runic description that tells the story of a Demigod of Fate traveling through Nether. It's implied that his soul is in peril by merely being there. At first, I assumed it was some kind of soul damage, which could also be true, but..."
Rain pauses, trying to decide the least problematic way to convey the rest. However, Bright is already leaning forward, her eyes alight with impatient curiosity.
"But what? Come on, spit it out Rain!"
He directs a bewildered expression at her in response, but she doesn't seem the least bit apologetic. She just stares at him more aggressively. He lets out a sigh.
"...but...I think it's something more nuanced...more sinister. Another part of the description, when referring to the peril the Demigod's soul was in, used the phrase, quote, 'Fall by Death's hand', end quote. Fall was capitalized like Death, as though it was someone or something specific, not just a turn of phrase. Consistent with that idea, I've seen another description that mentions soul damage alongside something called Falling, capitalized, as though they are two different types of effects on the soul. I've never heard of it, but do you know about anything like that?"
Bright listens intently as he conveys the information, but her eyes are a flurry of activity, her mind obviously racing. As she listens and thinks, Rain sees her begin biting on her fingernail pensively. When he's finished, and his question lingers in the air, she merely shakes her head and responds absentmindedly.
"I've never heard evidence of their being some kind of constant soul attack present in Nether, but it makes sense. That would explain why so many powerful Marked have ventured there and never returned. I've never heard of 'Falling', but..."
Bright trails off, continuing her thousand-meter stare and pensive fingernail biting as she seems to fall deeper into thought. After several moments, however, all her movements freeze at once. She seems to go pale, and she looks at him hesitantly.
"...I don't know anything, but I have...a theory...about what Falling may be..."
Rain raises his eyebrows at her expectantly.
"Great...care to share? You look pretty spooked."
She nods solemnly.
"Well, we think that the creatures called Fel come from Nether, and we know the lowest ranked of them are called Fallen. Those naming similarities seem relevant. It's also speculated that the Trial is some kind of an internal soul battle, where losing turns you into a Fel. You could look at it as a kind of soul effect, in fact. What if...what if that's what Falling is? Some kind of soul corruption that turns you into a Fel? If the phenomenon is a constant effect in Nether, then that would explain why the Fel seem associated with it, and why nobody has ever returned."
Rain feels a cold chill run up his spine. It's not just because he thinks that Bright is correct, and the thought of such a realm-wide effect is terrifying, though that's true as well. It's because he realized something else, more personally horrible. Bright said she's never heard the term Falling before, which suggests that his Ego's Brace may be the only known Relic to offer protection against it, much less immunity.
That might make him the only one capable of exploring Nether...the place that's the reason for Fel slowly devouring Earth, and that might hold a solution. He could always give it to someone else to use for that purpose, which is appealing, but he has a sinking feeling that might not be the future in store for him.
He got that Relic from the Curse he killed, which seemed to be unavoidably guarding his exit from the Labyrinth. If Relics received are truly like deliberate inheritance from a patron deity, and the Trial is an intentional, carefully controlled test, then that's...telling. In addition, all of his runic descriptions seem to be making a concerted effort to educate Rain about Death and Nether, and to highlight his own supposed affinity towards Fate, impactful events, and important people. It's almost as though Chaos is charging Rain with a mission...
'I don't like that idea...not one fucking bit...'
He takes a deep breath, trying to steady himself. He needs to take his life one step at a time...he has far too many more pressing dangers looming ahead of him. He can't worry about the possibility of some unwanted mission handed down from a primordial that may or may not even be alive anymore. After all, the gods are dead, so maybe the primordials are, too. It seems reasonable that human's would have seen modern evidence of them in Asphodel and the other realms if they were still around.
Rain returns his attention to Bright, who was just watching him with concern as he silently contemplated her theory. She seems to be waiting to hear his thoughts. He gives her a disapproving look.
"I don't have any more hard evidence than you do this time, but I'm scared that your instincts may once again prove to be impeccable, Bright. From everything we know, it at least seems very likely that the Falling is some kind of soul attack that turns normal beings into Fel. It's also probable that it's a phenomenon permeating all of Nether."
Hearing that he agrees with her, she suddenly nods like she's pleased to hear so, and her expression becomes deathly serious.
"Rain...I need to share this with people...as many researchers as possible, at the very least. Nether is probably the root of the horrors facing Earth, and until now it's been seemingly inaccessible. But now, for the first time we have information that could help us overcome that. We can't keep this to ourselves."
Rain grits his teeth in frustration. He figured she'd feel this way about something he told her, he just didn't expect to agree with her reasoning when the time came. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he sat on information so potentially critical to humanity's survival. So, he's going to suggest a way to do as she asks, while minimizing the attention to himself. But first...
'This is probably the best chance I'm going to get to test how much I can rely on her assurances from before. After all, I'll need to trust her quite a bit to solicit her help in investigating Chaos.'
He directs a sympathetic gaze at her, and shakes his head.
"Sorry, Bright, but I'm going to have to ask you to keep your word to me. I don't want you sharing anything that you've learned from me with anyone. Not yet, at least."
Her face twists into one of bewilderment.
"Rain...you can't honestly expect me to do that..."
He keeps his gaze calm and his tone even, responding without hesitation. This is the part he really needs to sell. It's harsh, but...he needs to put a fine point on the fact that he's serious about her keeping her word to him.
"So, to be clear, you're telling me that your prior assurances were worthless, and I can never trust you with anything else? Please keep in mind – I'll be able to tell if you're lying."
A look of shock – hurt, even – washes over her face, then her expression becomes conflicted. Over the next several moments, she looks like she's about to speak on occasion, before closing her mouth and looking away again. Eventually, she turns to him with an expression that looks almost...pleading.
"At least tell me why I can't share the information about Death and Nether...please? Make me understand why you'd ask me to bury one of humanity's most important potential breakthroughs in decades."
Rain feels the first pang of guilt over what he's doing...this is by far the most vulnerable and deferential that the fearsome Master Bright has ever acted around him. He also knows that what he's asking of her would be unreasonable, if he meant it. Especially so, given how long they've known one another. However, he really wants to know how much he can trust her – he needs someone like her in his corner – and he'll never get a better chance than this to test her. So, premature or not, unreasonable or not, heartless or not, it's worth rolling the dice.
He looks her in the eyes evenly, trying to appear sympathetic but resolute as he answers.
"I'm sorry, Bright, but I've told you as much as I'm willing to for now. I'd hope it's obvious from the little time we've spent together, or at least common sense, that I don't want humanity to fall to the Fel either. However, I'm against disclosing any of this information for now. I do have my reasons, ones that I think are valid, but I'm not ready to share them yet.
"I put my trust in you, someone I've known a day and who spent most of that time manipulating me, and I told you what I know. I did that because you guaranteed me that you wouldn't share what you learned from me without my blessing, no matter what it was or how you felt about it. So, you have a decision to make. Keep your word and return some of that trust, or do what you think is right and cut ties with me right here. What's it going to be?"
Over the span of several minutes, Bright's eyes fluctuate between frustration, anger, and sadness as the conflict of the decision plays out on her face. Eventually, though, all she looks is...tired. She turns towards Rain, her normally stormy grey eyes seemingly dulled by a great burden. When she speaks, her tone is heavy.
"Okay...Rain...a year. I'm sorry, you were right not to trust me and I can't fully keep my word. But I'll wait one year before mentioning any of this against your wishes. Then, if you still haven't addressed it yourself, I'll tell people what I think they need to know, hopefully with as little fallout for you as possible. That's my decision."