Rune Seeker

Hiral turned from the two Shapers – maybe he shouldn’t have been so hard on them, they’d fought on his side, after all. And he’d meant it when he said they’d helped save the island. Just… the thought of how his sisters had been treated.

Yup, anger issues over that.

“So, first,” a new voice said, and Hiral looked up to find his father standing at a doorway behind Yanna. “I feel a pulse of solar energy strong enough to knock me off my seat. Then my quill gets so heavy, I almost inked through my client’s arm – we’re lucky she’s B-Rank and pretty sturdy – and finally, I come out here to find my son threatening my clients?

“My,” Elezad looked at the two Shapers. “My repeat, B-Rank clients.”

Then the Artist smiled like he was the proudest parent in the world, and Hiral simultaneously wanted to roll his eyes and blush from head to toe.

“He wasn’t threatening us,” Dole said quickly.

“Just… clearing something up,” the other Shaper said, and from the looks on their faces, they were being sincere. “We overstepped. I hope he – and you – will accept our apology.”

Hiral waved a hand like it hardly mattered. “Already accepted.”

But, the two men were watching Elezad.

Elezad, likewise, dismissed the concern with a wave. “My son is a grown man now – just look at him! Them. Whatever. He doesn’t need his father stepping in and being overprotective.”

Relief passed over both Shapers’ faces.

“Though, I am curious why you’re here,” Elezad said to Hiral. “Where are the girls? Are they okay?” His voice hitched slightly at that last part – he knew they’d gone down to the dungeon together.

“They’re fine,” Hiral quickly said. “Probably back at the house right now fighting over who gets the first bath. Trust me, they’re both going to need it…”

Now, it was his father’s turn to look relieved. “Oh, good. Good. Since you were here, I was worried… never mind that. Why are you here then?”

“I was hoping we could talk about something, if you had time,” Hiral said. Sure, he could tell his father he was going back down to the surface out in front of the others, but he just didn’t want to.

“Of course, come on in,” Elezad said, waving for Hiral and his doubles to come back into his studio.

“Sir,” Yanna’s voice cut in sharply. “You have clients waiting, not to mention the one you are currently working on.”

“She’s already in the recovery room, giving her new tattoo time to – what are they calling it now? – to connect with her pimple,” Elezad said.

“PIM,” Hiral corrected. “Connect with her PIM.”

“Ah, yes, that’s it,” Elezad said. “I really should read that dungeon guide Nat gave me. Just haven’t had the time between work and the council and…” he trailed off as he looked at Hiral. “Look at me going on like this. Come in, come in.”

“Sir,” Yanna said again. “That still leaves two clients waiting.”

Elezad turned to Dole and the other, unnamed Shaper. “You’ll humor a father a few minutes with a son he’d thought dead, won’t you?”

“Of course,” Dole said quickly. “Take all the time you need. We’re in no rush today.”

“Thank you very much for your generosity,” Elezad said. “As you can see Yanna, we have a few minutes. I’ll be back out for them shortly.”

With that, he truly waved Hiral out of the waiting room and back into his large studio. While many of the Artists boasted studios with multiple chairs – to allow work by more than one Artist at a time – Elezad’s just had the one. He was sought after enough, he didn’t need to share space. Plenty of people would’ve loved the opportunity to work with him – and paid for the chance – but when the man worked, he gave his all to his clients. Other people in the room would just be a distraction.

Even his wife.

Then again, Hiral thought as he looked at the display case in the corner of the room. The one dedicated to Hiral and his sisters. Accomplishments, sketched images of them by the dozens, it was almost altar-like. And Hiral’s mother was noticeably absent except for one small sketch Hiral had done when he was four.

He loves her, I know he does. But, after what he told me about the glyph, maybe this place is his escape from all that. It must be hard to be caught between me and her…

An arm settled on Hiral’s shoulders. “I’m glad you’re here, of course, but is something wrong? It’s not usual for you to stop by my studio.”

“I know you’re busy,” Hiral started.

“Never too busy to not see my son,” Elezad responded quickly. “Though,” he quirked a smile, “things are a bit hectic now with everything that happened. All kinds of new discoveries – some good, others… not so good – have made things complicated with the council. Not to mention all the Shapers asking for new tattoos now that these dungeons have been discovered.”

Elezad stopped and turned to face Hiral head on, then lifted both his hands to put them on his son’s shoulders. “Do you know how much you’ve changed Fallen Reach? Hah, if anybody ever told me my son would be responsible for the biggest upheaval in the island’s history, I would’ve… well, honestly, I wouldn’t have really been surprised. I always knew you were destined for great things.”

“Dad, that was just because the Measure said I had S-Rank…” Hiral trailed off at his father already shaking his head.

“Nothing to do with that,” Elezad. “I’ve watched you, Hiral, and this is what you’ve been working towards. You didn’t just luck into changing our small part of the world. I’m proud of you. So, so proud.”

“I… thanks, Dad,” Hiral said.

Then Elezad winked at him – and suddenly Hiral knew where Right got it.

“The best part?” his dad asked him. “Now we can watch all those fools who looked down on you eat their words!”

“We’ll have tickets to the Amphitheatre of the Sun ready soon,” Right said.

“I’ll make sure you have the best seat,” Left added, and Elezad looked past Hiral at the doubles.

“I’m looking forward to it!” Elezad said, and seemed to look Left up and down from toe to top. Then he shook his head and frowned. “They’re too perfect.”

That caught Hiral by surprise. “Too perfect? Is there a problem with Right and Left? They are supposed to be exact copies of me…”

“Hrm?” Elezad asked, still staring hard at Left, then at Right. “Oh, not that. And they aren’t exact copies. Right carries himself very differently than you do – much more confident. Left? His facial expressions are different. Not exactly more thoughtful – you were always an inquisitive child – but more natural. You were always pretending to be happy so we wouldn’t worry.

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“Left is just showing how he feels, or what he thinks of things as they happen. No filter. Hah, see!” Elezad said, actually pointing at the raised eyebrow on Left’s face.

“You knew I was pretending?” Hiral asked quietly.

His father patted him on the shoulder. “Give your father some credit. I’m… just sorry I couldn’t make you actually happy. It’s a hard thing for a parent to watch their child suffer like that…” he trailed off, but a glance at the sketch of his wife back in the display case had him shaking his head. “I’m sure that’s not what you came here to talk about though. Why don’t we…?”

“Before that,” Hiral said, forcing himself not to let his mixed emotions at his father’s words – and the lack of them from his absent mother – cloud his thinking. “You said Left and Right were too perfect. What did you mean?”

“Ah, as I said, not them,” Elezad said. “Their tattoos and Meridian Lines. I can’t tell the difference between them and the ones I inked on you. It’s uncanny.”

“Would you even be able to tell the difference?” Left asked, holding up his tattooed left arm to look at the Dagger of Sath.”

“Absolutely,” Elezad said without hesitation. “Show me just the tattoo on anybody I’ve inked, and I can tell you who it is and when I did it. There are small differences that go into each of them to define rank, and to fit the user’s personality.”

“Personality?” Hiral asked. “First I’ve heard of that.”

“That’s understandable, I’ve only recently begun to make sense of it,” Elezad said, but stepped back from Hiral. “Why don’t we sit down to talk about it. Tea? I’ve got that minty one you like so much.”

“That would be nice,” Hiral said, and his father turned towards a small kitchen area in another corner of the studio. Despite the chair where Elezad did most of his work dominating the room – and the altar to his kids – that wasn’t all there was. Considering the amount of time he spent in the studio, the little kitchen was a necessity, as was the small area Hiral went to with Left and Right.

A trio of couches flanked a small coffee table, where Elezad would often discuss what his clients were looking for. To say Hiral had taken more than a few naps there when he was much younger wasn’t an understatement, and a comforting sense of deja-vu wrapped around him as he sat down. Running his fingers across the well-loved leather, he couldn’t stop the small smile.

No matter how bad things got on Fallen Reach – or at home – with his struggles as the Everfail, this had always been his safe place. And that was all thanks to his father. How did I even consider going back to the surface without telling him what I was doing.

“And… here we go,” Elezad said, gently putting a tray down on the table, four cups and a steaming teapot on it. “I assumed you had the same preferences as Hiral, but I should’ve asked…” he said to Left and Right sitting on either side of Hiral.

“No, this is perfect,” Left said, reaching out to begin pouring the tea for everybody.

“If you have any of those little fruit-filled…” Right started, then cut off when Left paused to look at him with Hiral. “You know what, never mind. The tea is perfect.”

Elezad chuckled at the exchange and sat down opposite Hiral. “I never expected our family to suddenly grow by two more members like this.”

“I don’t think anybody did,” Hiral admitted. “But, back to what you were saying about tattoos. Something about fitting their personalities?”

“Ah, yes,” Elezad said, taking a cup of tea from Left with a nod of thanks. “It was something I’ve always been kind of aware of, like a gut feeling. Where having the tattoo in sharp lines would better fit one person, soft, curving lines would be better on another. Small changes that wouldn’t affect the nature or use of the tattoo, but somehow just felt correct.”

“Something changed?”

“We learned about the… the PIM?”

Hiral nodded.

“Now that know about that, I think it’s what I was feeling before,” Elezad said, sipping his tea. “Without knowing it, I’ve been inking people with tattoos that align with their PIMs, and it’s one of the things that set me – and your mother – apart from many of the other Artists. We’ve been doing it instinctively, and they’ll need to learn how to do it.

“Though, before you ask, Nat is doing it as well. That kid, she’s going to make us all look like amateurs when she gets older. How did they do, anyway? Down in the dungeon I mean. You said they’re okay, but…”

“Really, they’re fine,” Hiral said, taking a sip of his own tea – so good. “And, look, before you ask – or possibly see the bloody clothes I know Milly will leave in the bathroom – they got hurt. Getting hurt is part of being in the dungeon. It needed to happen, though we made sure it wasn’t bad, and Milly healed them right back up.”

Elezad winced slightly at the thought of his girls getting injured, then blew out a breath like he was trying not to go into overprotective-papa mode. “I don’t really like the thought of them going down into these dungeons, but I also know I won’t be able to stop them. That’s the way the world is going now. Thank you for taking them on their first – what are they calling it? Their first dungeon run. And keeping them safe.”

“I was surprised you said yes,” Hiral admitted.

Elezad groaned. “You know how those two get when they want something. I only agreed to it because I knew you wouldn’t let anything happen to them.”

“None of us would,” Right said. “They’re as much our sisters as Hiral’s.”

“That’s more reassuring to hear than you might think,” Hiral’s father said. “And… I have to ask,” the man sat forward in his chair. “Milly’s Fool…?”

“Worked like a charm,” Hiral said, legitimately impressed by his little sister. “The two of you chose the other tattoos for her Medium so well. She’ll be a great addition to any party. Nat will too. They’ve both got plenty to learn, but if we both know anything about those two, learning was never a challenge.”

“Oh, that’s good,” Elezad sat back in his seat. “One less thing for me to worry about.”

“You said something about the council?” Hiral asked. “Everything okay there?

“Politics,” Elezad practically hissed. “We’ve actually got a few members on the council trying to spin everything that happened. To bend the truth to fit their agendas.”

“What? On purpose?” Hiral asked.

“Yes and no,” Elezad sighed. “None of us were there for the battle at Vorinal’s Tower, so all our info is second-hand…”

“Ilrolik was there! She fought right beside us. So was Loan.”

“And their word is why this particular political spin hasn’t taken root. Not for lack of trying.”

“What are they saying? And, why? What’s the point of trying to lie about what happened?”

“Shapers – and many Makers in general, I’ve learned recently – are very prideful people. To have been saved by Growers and…” he trailed off, frowning at Hiral.

“And the Everfail,” Hiral finished for him.

“Fools,” Elezad nearly spat. “But, yes. That you came along with a group of Growers and not only rescued many of us from being hostages, but then went a step further and saved us from the storm, it doesn’t fit well with the way they see themselves.”

Hiral ran a hand along his bare scalp. “Is it going to cause problems with the Growers? We need each other to run dungeons, not to mention the whole quill thing.”

“Oh, you don’t have to tell me. But, this isn’t something for you to worry about. We’ve got it in hand,” Elezad said. “I don’t think this particular seed will grow into much. It’s just extra stress we don’t need right now.”

“I guess,” Hiral said. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Elezad laughed. “Anything you can do to help after literally saving the entire island from destruction? I think you’ve done your part. Let me do mine, at least for a little bit.”

“Can’t think of anybody better for the job,” Hiral said.

“While I appreciate the flattery, there actually is one thing you could do for me. Not as a member of the council, but as a father.”

“What?” Hiral asked. If his father asked him not to go back to the dungeons – or to stop his sisters from going – how would he…?

“Nat and Milly will want to do more dungeons,” Elezad said. Here it comes. “And with the politicking right now, I want to make sure they’re safe.”

“Dad, I…”

“Can you suggest some Growers who will protect them? Well, maybe not protect them, but keep them safe?”

“I… what?”

“We both know they’ll go if they want to,” Elezad said. “So I want to make sure they’re with the best people they can be. Not to coddle them, they won’t accept that. But, can you make sure they… uh… what’s it called? That they party with good people? Strong people.”

“You’re letting them go?”

“Like I could stop them,” Elezad said. “Just so you know, for when you get older, being the ‘man of the house’ just means you take out the garbage and do what your wife and children need. It doesn’t mean you get to make any decisions.”

“So, like his current relationship?” Right volunteered, and Hiral’s head snapped around to his mischievous double. Then he looked very slowly back to his father in the hopes that…

Nope. Damage done.

“His current relationship?” Elezad asked, leaning forward once again. “Do tell me more.”

Hiral groaned. Forget it, he never should’ve come here. Now he’d have to explain things with Seena, then tell his father he was going to the surface.

So, he took a deep breath and got started.