|Mianite| The Missing Woman

[Chapter 39] Past

[Alva's Perspective]

We were woken the next morning by Champwan knocking on the door to the room we were in. He looked nervous when he saw both of us sitting on the couch together.

"A-Al wanted to talk to you, Dec," he said. Alister stepped out from behind Champwan and waved slightly.

"Oh, Alva," he said, noticing me. "I didn't know you were here too."

"Mhm," I said.

"What did you want to talk about?" Declan asked Alister.

"Well, about Guard Tom," he said. He stepped into the room to face Declan. "Some of the others wanted to me to find him, but his trail leads to The Nether."

"Interesting," Declan said, "so why do you need me?"

"I just..." he seemed to struggle to find the right words. "Every time I go near where the trail dissapears... I get this really weird feeling. I don't understand what's going on. I thought maybe there was something Mianite might be... doing... That he might be doing something to me."

"Ah," Declan said shortly. Alister thought that Mianite might be cursing him, likely either because of his failure to stop the prison break or for talking to us after it. As far as I knew, Declan was the only one with any experience with the god's curses, and Declan seemed to understand this as well, given the sad look on his face.

I hugged him tighter so that he was almost in my lap and kissed his cheek in an effort to comfort him. Champwan shifted nervously in the doorway.

"D-Dec," Champwan said, "could I speak to you in private?"

Declan looked confused but stood up. I let go of his hand and gave him a look to see if he was alright. He smiled back at me. "Sure." He walked out the door behind Champwan.

"So you are looking for Guard Tom?" I asked Alister when they had left the room.

"Yeah..." he said awkwardly. He sat down on the other end of the couch but did not make eye contact with me. "You lost all of you memories?"

"Yes," I said, "but I got some of them back from before I died."

"Interesting," he said, finally looking my way. "Do you remember me?"

"Yes," I said. "I remember you playing with Andor when you were younger. That time you stole his boomerang. The day you first started school and were upset that we did not have to go."

Alister sighed. "I was a brat, wasn't I?"

"Eh, you were not that bad." He smiled, glad that I did not think so poorly of him. It made me think about the dream I had had on one of my first nights here. The dream of Andor in the prison cell. "When you worked at The Inertia..."

His face fell immediatly. "I was an idiot. Mianite promised me so much. He had me turn on my friends, my home... And then he made me drag you int-" He stopped himself, slightly wide eyed. I felt as if the air in the room suddenly got very thick, making it harder to breathe.

"Made you drag me into what?" I said almost threateningly.

"H-he's trying to u-use you Alva. I-It worked before but... You're too strong now." He met my worried eyes. "I don't know everything, but he had you on his side. You trusted him and he had you help me..." He looked away again. "He had you help me do terrible things for us to both prove our loyalty to him. When he was satisfied he left me and your father in charge of The Inertia and took you away again. T-The next time I saw you was when you and the others broke into The Inertia to rescue Andor and Steve. You looked much different before Mianite took you away. Now you look like your regular old self."