Confronting Fisco

After everyone has left, Haalfrin is the only one who stays behind.

Fisco looks up from his desk. "Need something?"

"If I ask about your Death Aura, will you answer?"

Commander Fisco's hand, which had been reaching for the drawer in his desk, pauses. Without looking up at Haalfrin, he says, "Shoot."

"It's been several years, and I've had plenty of time to think over your words from last time we met," Haalfrin asks, "Why did you bother to ask me where I lived and how long ago I got my Yiir Name? Do you know who I am...? Because I certainly know who you are."

"Oh?" Fisco chuckles, "So who am I?"

"I met you all those years ago," Haalfrin explains with an even voice. "I was a Kareen raider. When we went to raid your hometown (Greenstone, I think), you - a lone mage - killed off my entire clan."

Haalfrin then looks the commander in the eyes with his dead-looking expression, and he asks, "Tell me, do you really trust a man like me with such an important mission? I tried to raid, rob, and murder your hometown, as well as your family. On top of that, I lost everyone I loved to you. I'm a criminal who has reason to hate you."

Commander Fisco doesn't even get up from his desk. Instead, he gestures to the sword and shield on the wall. "Fine then. If you really want to stop being my soldier and become a revenge-driven raider, then I'll accept a duel from you anytime - to the death."

Haalfrin raises an eyebrow at this. "…Are you sure? You already know that I'm stronger than you. You'll die."

"So be it." In Fisco's mind, he couldn't stop Haalfrin from attacking even if he wanted to, so there's no point in quibbling about it.

The commander then begins scribbling on his paperwork again and continues to say, "So then, are you going to do something so pointless like getting revenge, or are you going to get to work? Please make your choice quickly; I'm a busy man."

Haalfrin's aggressive mask cracks, and he laughs heartily at this. "No, no, I haven't thought about revenge in centuries. I just thought you were pretty foolish for trusting me so easily when I have uncertain motives."

"Oh, that's an easy thing to answer," Fisco curtly responds. "I don't trust you. You're a dragon slayer, and you're far too useful to just toss aside. That's all."

"Oh, thank you," Haalfrin blurts out before looking at the ground awkwardly.

After a moment of silence, Haalfrin opens his mouth again. "I was serious when I asked about your Death Aura. Why do you have a power so similar to mine?"

Commander Fisco sighs, then he put away his paperwork again… and this time, he looks up with a serious look. "I'll tell you if you grant me a favor. Giving things away for free is never a good habit to have, you see."

As if he were prepared for Haalfrin's line of questioning, Fisco pulls out a paper from his stack of documents, and he slides it towards Haalfrin. "This is a mutual Contract I've drawn up. Ever since we couldn't come to an agreement when you first came into my castle, I've traded with one of the Owl clans for this special Contract paper here."

"I see you've had this prepared for a while," Haalfrin notes. "Anyway, what does it do?"

"It just ensures that the terms of the agreement are carried out. It uses spirit magic to link two spirits together. In the case one party breaks the oath, then the Contract will attack their spirit and kill them."

"…I see," Haalfrin mutters before stepping forward and putting his hand on Fisco's desk. "But why is this necessary?"

"Answering your question would involve me divulging precious information about my Names. I can't have you blabbering about that to others, or abusing it. This Contract will ensure that neither of us share what we learn from each other."

This sounds reasonable to Haalfrin, so he bends down and signs the Contract with his blood. He feels a golden thread connect his heart to the paper; then, the thread disappears completely from view.

With that out of the way, Fisco finally relaxes again. He leans back in his chair and goes on to explain, "I got my Yiir Name just a month after your Kareen clan raided my son's town. When I fell into my soul realm, my Yiir Name awakened. As this happened, my previously black soul changed color and became grey."

"…WHAT?!" Even Haalfrin can't remain calm. Neither Kalastros, nor (arguably) any mortal mage knows of grey-colored souls; they're all taught that there are only black and white souls. However, Freyya had mentioned grey souls sometime during their long life knowing each other.

Still, even the goddess herself doesn't know how Grey souls come to be; all she knows is that people with grey soul are mysterious existences that seem to appear out of nowhere and have no background.

Fisco nods sadly. "Yes, I had that same reaction when I saw my soul's color change. Anyway, given that I have good reason to investigate, I spent 500 years trying to find out why my Soul changed... or any information on grey souls, really."

Haalfrin nods to this, and Fisco continues, "I ended up learning something... rather terrible, actually. It was when talking to an elemental. Coincidentally, the elemental was the spirit inhabiting this very mountain. The creature is several billion years old, and it has a lot of strange knowledge."

Talking to Earth Elementals is extremely hard since those creatures sleep most of the time. Fisco was lucky to catch one awake.

The commander pulls out a pipe, lights it, and starts smoking it – almost as a reflex from thinking of something stressful. "The elemental taught me that there are 3 major... well, states of the universe. Up, down, middle. Left, right, center. Black, White, Grey."

He continues, "Black souls are Named after what they DO, or something that HAPPENS. This is why your death god friend certainly has a black soul - she's the goddess of an event – the event of someone dying. White souls are Named after what they ARE."

Haalfrin thinks about that for a moment. All his Names are about him being a good warrior. He is, indeed, a thing that IS, while Freyya is a thing that HAPPENS.

Fisco then leans forward and puts his hand over his mouth - appearing upset for the first time in Haalfrin's eyes. "I learned that Grey souls are pretty rare. They're grey because they... are missing a Name. They're Named after what they ARE NOT."

He continues, "Anyway, a part of a grey soul has been lost or taken away for whatever reason. What's left is an empty space that can be filled with anything."

Fisco elaborates further, "As I was getting my Yiir Name 1,000 years ago, something powerful completely destroyed my own Yiir - my fate - my time...."

Haalfrin sees Fisco's hands shaking in anger. "Do you realize what it's like to not have a Yiir – to be without a Fate? I lost my past, as well as my destined future."

"…What does that MEAN exactly?" Haalfrin asks in concern.

"Exactly what you think it means," Fisco answers. "I was completely removed from the world's timeline. I mean, my family forgot I even existed. I came home and found out that another man was living in my room. After being run out of my own house by my own children – calling me a trespasser, I heard them all addressing this man as 'grandfather'. They were throwing a party for him - thanking him for saving the town from your raiders. It's like I never even existed!"

After looking Haalfrin in the eyes again, he keeps talking, "And then, I finally had the courage to look at my soul realm again. I looked at where my Yiir Name was, and it was being written over with something else. It was a fate describing a warrior who fought against Drakavar - the literal goddess of power. I saw trillions of gods die in a vision... and I saw you shaking your fist at the sky and struggle before your complete annihilation."

Fisco leans forward, "I know we're not supposed to tell another person your own name... but my Yiir Name and yours is the same... isn't it?"

Haalfrin is so shocked by what he just heard that his words are caught in his throat. He nods, then keeps silent.

"Indeed," Fisco keeps talking, "that's the thing about Grey souls, I later learned. When there's a hole in your soul, it can be filled with anything. In other words, my empty Yiir Name got filled with yours."

"Did you ever learn why this happened to you?" Haalfrin asks with concern… Of course he's concerned! He has the feeling that this is his fault.

Fisco straightens his back. "Yes. I've been studying Fate for hundreds of years now. You see, I divined part of your fate a long time ago. You were originally supposed to die of old age. I had a chat with the death god Das, who personally helped educate me on all of this."

"Anyway, you were supposed to die as a sad old man without ever becoming more extraordinary than a Death god's contractor. However, when I killed your clan and set you on your path to perish in battle, I created the warrior god you'll eventually become."

Haalfrin continues for him, "And the thing about Fate is that it's most powerful at its own beginning, and its own end. The eventual destruction of the gods is the end of my Fate, but the beginning... was you."

"Indeed," Fisco concurs, "Your Fate was so strong in that moment of its birth that it completely eradicated my own Fate, then replaced my own destiny with one that shadows yours – hence, why my Yiir Name contains a shadow of your own power to use Death Aura."

Fisco looks around. "After I lost my own time, I wandered about, looking to die, but only growing stronger instead. After pissing off the previous emperor, I ended up here, where I eventually was placed in charge after the previous Commander retired and was crowned emperor. With how similar my life has been to yours, I suspect you'll wind up in charge of the Threshold one day."

This leads Haalfrin into deep thought…

Fisco interrupts Haalfrin's thoughts by putting his hand on the contract Haalfrin just signed. "Now, it's time to fulfill my demands. Form a Contract with me."

"…What? I thought only White and Black souls could Contract with each other?" Haalfrin protests.

"Like opposite forces balancing each other out, I know. However, Grey souls are neutral, so they can't affect the balance of souls at all." Fisco taps the paper again. "I've spilled my heart out. You can't back out now. Here. I want us to have a Dra, Yiir, and Syl Contract."

"What's that Contract called again?" Haalfrin asks. "I only know about romantic Contracts."

The commander laughs at this one. "Haha! Of course, you know THAT one."

He then lifts up his hand to express his body language. "Here. Dra means we'll lend our power to each other. Yiir so that we will share a fate together - to sink or swim together - to live or die. Syl, so that we'll share the same standards and be bound by one law. It's a Contract for allies."

There's nothing personal about this Contract; more like, it's an agreement of mutual benefits.

Haalfrin leans back and asks, "So what's the functional… function… of getting an ally Contract with you?"

"Obviously, with our souls bound together for such a purpose, we'll be able to help each other out whenever we want," Fisco teaches him. "We can lend our powers to each other, speak to each other through our souls, and when our Contract is firm enough, we can even exchange objects or mana to each other through our soul Realms."

This gets a raised eyebrow from Haalfrin. "That's… actually pretty useful."

"Indeed. So, is it a deal?"

Haalfrin sighs and runs his fingers through his hair. "It's the same as last time we talked. We can exchange Dra and Yiir names right now, but I don't have my Syl Name yet. We can complete the Contract later."

"Fair enough. So it's a deal?"

"It's a deal."

---------------------

Several minutes pass while Haalfrin and Fisco exchange Names. Since they already share the same Yiir Name, there's no need to share it. The problem is the Dra Name.

It is said that the shorter and more concise your Name is, the more potent your potential as a god is.

God-candidates, like Haalfrin, have Names only a few phrases long. Normal mortals, like Fisco, have Names that can take days to recite at worst, and minutes at best.

Luckily, Fisco's Dra name only takes about 10 minutes to recite aloud.

Once that is done, Fisco smiles, pauses, then adds at the last second, "Oh, since we've exchanged 2 Names, we'll have marginal contact through our souls. Once you get your Syl Name, just let me know through the soul link. Until then, don't use the soul link; it's far too fragile with only 2 Names to support it."

"Got it."

As Haalfrin is walking from Fisco's desk and towards his door, he feels that his soul seems... a lot thicker. His powers and magical potential had doubled from that Contract.

It's... truly ridiculous. No wonder the gods are so fussy about finding Contracts. One can only imagine how much your powers will multiply when you share a stable Contract at 3 Names instead of 2.

Still, Fisco and him literally already shared a Fate. If he didn't contract with Fisco, then who would he Contract with (besides Freyya)?