Altered Fate (Inscryption Fanfic)

Chapter 2 ~ Something New

A day had passed... a day since you both befriended and gained the trust and respect of the scrybe of beasts, Leshy. Knowing you'd have to go, sooner or later, he sent you off with some extra supplies... just in case. You went to the next scrybe... the kindest, most caring of the three...

Grimora, scrybe of the dead. You go southeast to the fairly small crypt. You hear her voice from behind the tombstones... "You're here! Marvelous! I'm-"

You, as usual, at this point, cut her off. "Grimora, scrybe of the dead." You can see her expression go from joy to shock... and continue, "I know, don't worry. You were disgraced, recently, but you were brought back to your former glory with some help from some friends... one of them being right here, heh." She stares, a moment, not knowing what to say...

"Did you talk to Magnificus, before you came here...?" You shake your head, no. She just seems even more speechless... she opens her mouth, as if to ask a question, but you quickly speak before she can. "It's a long story, I'd rather not get into it, now. Let's get you out from behind there, kay?" She just silently nods...

You go to the three lost souls, finding out who they are and how they died... despite already knowing. Sawyer, who was eaten by a hungry dog, yet holds no grudge. Royal, who was brought down by scurvy, due to there being no cure. And, of course, Kaycee... hit by a fallen piece of ice and was dealt in thanks to their defibrilator failing.

You do it so quickly with such ease that Grimora is left in complete disbelief... but you can also see a hint of... fear in her eyes. You remember why... you remember, very well, why she's scared, but you do your best to hide the guilt you feel for having to scare her... In an attempt to purge her anxieties, the kind woman speaks, again. "Marvelous! I believe you have proven your wits adequately. Are you prepared? You will not defeat me..." her voice quivered, as she said that last part, and you felt more guilty... For now, there was nothing you could do about it, so you just checked your deck, one last time... before, finally, going to battle the kindest of the four scrybes.

You defeat her, with ease... for the first time ever, she does not speak, after her battle. She tries to open her mouth to say something, to even get just one word out, but... she's terrified. And she has reason to be... at this rate, you could replace all the scrybes. At this point, finally, you can do something to try to comfort her... for the first time ever, you go up to her, and reach out to shake her hand, before you even get close to act 3... "Good game," you say as you reach your hand towards her, making her snap out of her paranoia and look at you.

"... Good game," she sighs, smiling softly. You can tell she's still scared... so you decide to speak up. "I won't replace you, Grimora..." She tilts her head slightly, in surprise. "How did you...?"

"I've... heard some stuff," you mutter, chuckling, awkwardly. "You don't know what I've gone through, to get here... and now that I'm here, I won't replace any of you, if I can help it." You give her a warm, welcoming, comforting smile, and it calms her, quickly... "I apologize, I just... can't help but feel a bit worrisome. You defeated Leshy quickly, and you... defeated me even quicker... I mean, I didn't doubt that you were experienced, but... it's like you've done this, thousands of times..."

"Oh, if only you knew," you said, half-jokingly... this just made Grimora worried. "I've only heard people speak like that if the subject brought them great pain... an attempt to make light of the situation... Leshy once spoke like that." You try to seem serious... but can't help but wonder, "What do you mean...?"

She sighs, and pinches the bridge of her nose. "He didn't tell you...? Oh, dear, you have a lot to hear about the other scrybes... but right now, that's besides the point."

"Well... I don't wanna talk too much about me. I'm honestly not that interesting... but," you continue, with a goofy look on your face, "maybe we can talk about the other scrybes over some tea... Leshy gave me some, before I came here. He did say tea was good for calming the nerves..."

Grimora smiles. "That sounds lovely." You make the tea, and the two of you talk about the other scrybes, Grimora bringing up stuff you did and did not know, the thing that surprises you the most being the fact that Leshy and P03 are divorced. It makes you nearly choke, when she says it... the two of you talk and joke for hours...

You feel relaxed, you and Grimora having gained each others' trust... It made you happy, knowing she now knew she could likely be vulnerable to you. That... and you were more hopeful than ever... finally, things were beginning to look up, for you.

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TG's Side note - P03 and Leshy are canonically divorced. I'm dead serious. I am integrating this into the story and nobody is going to stop me cfewgrbgfdn