Chapter 9: The Talk
A faint hum from the Hold's walls filled the quiet as Arbus stood before the Sentinel's desk. His gaze wandered over the shelves, taking in the thousands of books lining the room.
Bastian simply watched him from his chair, a faint smile on his face.
"I don't remember all this being here the last time you brought me to this room," Arbus said, breaking the silence. "I guess you've been busy."
Bastian chuckled, rising from his seat. "I'll be honest with you, Arbus. I haven't read even half of these. I just have a bad habit of collecting things I find interesting. I don't even have enough time to dig into the older ones, sadly." He said as his hand traced the spine of a worn out book as he paced along the shelf. "Quite unfortunate, really."
He turned, his gaze meeting Arbus's. "So, Arbus, how have you been?"
"Terrible," Arbus said simply, his voice flat.
Bastian tilted his head, waiting for him to continue, but Arbus simply looked away as he paced around the room.
"At some point, I started hating you for pushing me to become a Renegade," Arbus continued. "Things got worse than ever for me when I joined. My training batch despised me. The outpost I was sent to as a sentry? Even worse. They had to see me every day, and they made sure I knew how much they hated me."
"I got the worst missions, the worst chores," Arbus said, his voice rising. "Commander Mitz was the only reason I didn't lose it. He wasn't like the others—he treated me like I was an actual Renegade, at least a little."
"Sounds like Mitz was a good man," Bastian said quietly, his gaze steady.
Arbus nodded, then fell silent. "Every day, I wondered if any of it meant anything. I wasn't getting closer to my goal. I wasn't closer to killing a Reincarnator, and I wasn't closer to killing the Primordial."
Bastian's smile faded, as he sighed. "I did warn you it'd be rough at first, didn't I?"
Arbus stopped pacing, his jaw tight. "Rough doesn't begin to cover it."
....
....
"So.. how do you feel now?" Bastain asked finally.
For a moment, Arbus didn't answer. His gaze dropped to his hands, and he clenched them, his knuckles whitening. "Like my hatred's alive again. It never really left, it's why I kept going. But Ronan… he brought it back in full force."
"He made me remember why I despise Reincarnators."
Arbus said through gritted teeth as he remembered all the citizens of Terytl-b. Terytl-b was a planet filled with different races and cultures, blending together to create a place that felt like Paradise for most. Thanks to Ronan that was all gone.
Arbus had worn a helmet whenever he was sent out on a field mission, to avoid people panicking around him.
He remembered the little Mornan children that would run up to him during missions, and give him little presents as thanks for protecting them. He remembered the families that would invite him and the other renegades to eat with them.
"I saw Terytl-b die,"
"All those people, they're gone because of him." He looked up, his emerald eyes burning. "When I killed him, I felt nothing but satisfaction. I only wish I could've made him suffer more."
He paused, his breath uneven. "But I couldn't give him a second to think. If I did, he would have found a way to escape my grip, and all those deaths would've been for nothing."
Bastian nodded slowly, his expression unreadable.
"So, yeah," Arbus concluded, his voice steady now. "I don't regret becoming a Renegade."
"But I won't accept remaining a sentry and being sent to another pointless station position. I'm done with that for good"
"That's exactly what I wanted to hear." Bastian's lips curved into a satisfied smile. "The Council will no longer hold you back. Your reward for eliminating Ronan, is that you've been promoted to a knight."
Arbus blinked, momentarily stunned by news he'd believed was years away. A small smile broke through despite himself.
"Just like that? After how much they've fought against me?"
"I had plans to extract you from Terytl-b regardless, but this makes things simpler." Bastian leaned back, fingers steepled. "Last time I pushed your appointment through as Sentry, I made compromises, allowing them to suppress you these past few years. I couldn't force their hand twice without consequences, so your actions saved us both considerable trouble."
"So it's really over." The weight of relief was audible in Arbus's voice.
Another minute of silence descended upon the room.
"There's something else I need to ask," Arbus said, his voice losing its confidence.
"Of course, anything" Bastian said, pulling a bottle of Mornan liquor from his desk drawer, pouring himself a small glass.
"... How are my parents doing?" Arbus asked, his tone hesitant.
Despite how much Arbus had changed after all these years, he still couldn't bring himself to hate his mom for falling in love with a Reincarnator. In the same sense he couldn't bring himself to hate his dad either.
Bastian paused, the glass halfway to his lips, then set it down carefully. "Your mother, well, I suppose she's doing fine. She's still locked up in Tarok as punishment for her deeds. You should be thankful to your grandfather for that. He threw away his pride, begging the emperor for weeks with his head bowed, asking to spare his daughter and keep her in prison for life."
"That usually means nothing to the emperor," Bastian continued, his tone steady. "Anyone who willingly colludes with a Reincarnator is put to death. But for some reason, he felt lenient enough to let her live."
Arbus let out the breath he'd been holding, his shoulders easing slightly.
"As for your father," Bastian said, his expression turning somber, "no one knows for sure. Usually, any Reincarnator caught would be interrogated and killed."
"But Joren Kaelen cannot be killed"
"Most high-ranking Renegades believe he's being held in the Emperor's Base as its only prisoner."
He took a slow sip from his glass. "We're not sure why. The emperor himself isn't needed for such a task, not when the Pinnacles exist. Still, he's likely fine, I suppose."
Arbus stood still, his gaze distant. His love for his father was his most contradictory feeling. Especially after everything he had seen other Reincarnators do.
Bastian studied Arbus for a moment, his gaze steady. Then he sighed, leaning back in his chair.
"This isn't going to be easy for you, Arbus. The higher you climb, the worse things will get."
...
"I'm sure you've heard about Adam at least once," Bastian said, his tone growing somber.
"The only half-breed besides me to officially join the Renegades?" Arbus asked. "I've heard his name mentioned around me a few times. All I know is that he ended up betraying the Renegades."
Bastian's lips curved in a faint smile. "Well, not exactly betraying, but I can't tell you more for now."
"I knew him personally. He was a good mentor to me once."
Bastian fixed his gaze on Arbus. "He's also one of the reasons I'm putting my faith in you. As I told you years ago, you're different from me. Different from every other Renegade in this Universe."
"For the last twenty thousand years, the Renegades have been fighting a losing battle," he continued, his voice heavy. "It's sad, but it's the truth. We fight and fight and fight until we die. A new generation takes over, and the fight begins anew. The Primordial, on the other hand, brings in an endless stream of souls from other worlds to fight us. So far, its power seems limitless."
"I don't want this, Arbus. I don't want the status quo. Eventually, we will lose. There's no other way this ends if we continue down this path."
He leaned forward slightly. "Which is why I started putting my faith in you when we first met. I believe you're like me, tired of the endless fighting, the constant death and chaos the Reincarnators cause. Unlike me, though,"
"You are immortal."
"just like your father."
"You won't die, at least, not if you grow stronger—strong enough that no one can find a way around your immortality."
"And like I told you all those years ago.... I want you to be the final weapon against the Primordial."