Rise Of The Godking 26 Decision

Silence arrived in the large cavern, broken only by the sniffling of the children who were too hungry to notice even if the world collapsed around them.

Then, Sebastian got up and ran forward, and Daneel moved back, wondering whether he was in for another fight.

Instead, the man heaved the woman's body off of Daneel. Dropping it on the ground beside him, he ran his hands through his long hair and caught his chin before starting to walk to and fro, like someone with a lot on his mind.

Meanwhile, Daneel checked his body and realized that there was an additional spot of pain. Turning to his fist, he saw a broken finger and skin flaking off. As if seeing it had magnified the pain, it came upon him all of a sudden, making him exclaim, "f.u.c.k!"

Sebastian turned to him, his eyes livid.

"f.u.c.k? You killed my wife… and you're the one cursing?!"

The development made Daneel look up, taken by surprise.

"Your… wife?" He repeated dumbly, while Sebastian took another round and stopped in front of him.

"Yes! My lawfully wedded wife! We were… a happy couple. And then we turned into slaves… and everything went wrong. Well, none of that matters now…cos she's dead!"

With a scream of anguish, Sebastian clutched the headless body to his chest, but as Daneel observed the man, he saw no tears appear. The body dropped to the floor again a second later, and after burying his face in his hands, Sebastian said, "No… my wife died the moment we became slaves. She wouldn't have enslaved children and made them starve. She wouldn't have followed that brute just so that she could eat well. She wouldn't have looked at me with scorn just because I tried to follow the rules…"

He shook his head, and Daneel wondered whether he should comfort the man.

Yet, there was no possible way for him to do so. His leg ached, one of his arms was useless, and the other was dislocated. He was a cripple, basically, and he was at the mercy of anyone who arrived now.

As if the world was playing a sick joke on him, he heard the sound of footsteps from the corridor outside the cavern. Sucking in a breath, he tried to turn in that direction so that he could at least face this new enemy with his hands up, but the attempt failed, leaving him in even more pain.

Thankfully… the new voice that appeared in the room was a familiar one.

"Sebastian? Is that you? And… Daniel? What the h.e.l.l happened here? Wait… the rumors were true?!"

Reese shouted the last line, and after that, Daneel heard him hurry in the direction of the smallest child in the cavern. That brought him into his vision, and as he watched the man, he knew, right away, that he wasn't faking it.

His face was filled with so much pity and sadness that Daneel felt the same emotions kindled in him, again. His rage had been satiated, so only they remained.

Cradling the small child in his hands, Reese looked around, his eyes darting between everything else in the cavern.

When he finally spotted the headless body… he set down the child carefully and walked in its direction, his steps hesitant for the first time.

"Daneel? How did you… wait, no, it's not important! Do you know what you've done? You killed a slave!"

At first, his tone was filled with amazement, but then, when it turned into worry, Daneel was frankly… puzzled.

He knew that, essentially, that was what he had done… but how was that any more important than how he had done it?

When he had been studying Reese, he had also been thinking about how the two of them were the new weak links that he had just sworn he would avoid. Even though they didn't know the details, they knew now that he had a secret… because it simply wasn't possible for someone like him to do such a feat.

In fact, it wasn't impossible for anyone in Graiton, either, except for, perhaps, the succubus. But she was an exception, as she had killed thousands over the course of centuries to obtain her power.

What about him? What was his secret? Weren't they wondering about this, and in the future, wouldn't they betray him if it meant that would help them?

'But what can I do? Should I… kill them?'

The thought made him freeze. He knew that it was a logical conclusion that would be reached by anyone who wanted to perfectly cover their tracks… but just thinking about it made him feel uneasy.

'Besides… I'm not killing anyone, the way I am now.'

He used it as an excuse. He knew he was doing so… but he just wasn't ready to answer the question regarding whether he was capable of such a task.

So, leaving it for another e day, he glanced at Reese and said, "Yes… but slaves die all the time, right?"

The brothers both looked at him as if he was the stupidest child in a cla.s.s.

Sebastian began laughing, then, clearly exhibiting the signs of a breakdown, while Reese bent down and began to examine his hand.

As the man did his job, all sorts of questions fought in Daneel's mind, and he wondered whether he should accept the answers that he knew, or dig deeper.

It looked like Reese had nothing to do with what had been happening here until now, but could he believe it?

'Well, it's not really like I have a choice…'

His thoughts stopped when the man moved to his shoulder. As if he had done it many times, he simply… pushed, and with a scream, Daneel regained full control.

"That's all I can do, right here. Come on. Let's get to my cave, first. I'll have the others clean this up. Do you mind being painted as a bloodthirsty madman? Because that seems to be the only option we have…"

He spoke while helping Daneel up. With the adrenaline leaving him, the pain radiating throughout his body was becoming too difficult to handle, but still, he tried to put it aside to answer.

"No problem. After all, they probably whisper something like that behind my back, anyway. You haven't told me the punishment for killing a slave, yet, by the way…"

Reese ignored him again. Together, they began to walk in the direction of the exit. When they reached it, the old healer turned around and said, "Sebastian! You see the proof all around you. She is not the woman you remember. Keep whatever happened here a secret. For all the love you say you bear me… please do this. Please."

After saying the final plea, he sighed and turned around while his brother continued to chuckle to himself behind him.

"Uh… did he even hear you?"

The answer came with a shrug. "I don't know. But if I have to repeat myself, I will. Come on. We don't have much time."

The pain was annoyingly insistent by then, so Daneel gave up and occupied himself with handling it while they made their way to Reese's cavern. It wasn't too far away… but it felt like it was on the other end of the world. Every step was torture, every second one that he wished he could sit down and rest for an eternity. Even every breath he drew in made him hurt, and when they finally arrive at their destination, Daneel collapsed onto Reese's mattress with a comfortable sigh.

The healer went to work, then, taking out poultices and ointments that he applied to Daneel's body with a deft hand. He worked quickly, and in barely a few minutes, he was done. His finger was bound with a wooden stick so that it would heal, and the rest of his wounds already felt much better.

He looked up, then, to find the old healer walking to and fro in a manner that was remarkably similar to what he had seen his brother just do. With his chin in one hand and the other folded in front of his waist, he was thinking seriously about something… And after turning to Daneel and meeting his gaze, it looked like he had come to a decision.

"There's no other way around it. The punishment for killing a slave is the redoubling of one's work. You will be worked day and night, with no rest whatsoever just so that you can make up for the missing slave's output. You would have no time for yourself to fulfill the promise you made us. This can't happen…so I've come to a decision. I've identified a way in which I can send you to the layer above ours. We will hide the body, and make it a case that needs to be investigated, but if you're here…it would be solved all too quickly. So, you must leave. Pack your things. You're going to the Refinery."