The Long Game

(Two years after the end of the Demon King War.)

Meinz slowly walked up the path up the hill to the manor. More of an elegantly constructed fortress, really. It and the vast lands around had been part of Elric's reward for his part in winning the war; the family who'd owned it had been wiped out during the conflict, and few wanted a territory so remote. 

Why Elric had not only wanted it, but eagerly sought it out was a question that had puzzled Meinz. If he wanted land for his reward, he could have asked for it from anywhere.

Rewards. They were never-ending. Money, goods, services, land, whatever they wanted. Meinz didn't think he'd paid for anything since that first night in an inn after he and Elric finally reached a town. 

But there was one thing no power on Tas would grant.

The door was already open when he got there. He handed his cloak to the elven butler and cast a Clean spell on his shoes -it would be rude to dirty his host's home. "Is he available?"

"Yes sir. He cordially invites you to dinner after you finish refreshing yourself."

*******

The meal was tasty, solid fare with a subtly elegant presentation. Meinz liked it better than many fancier spreads with rarer foods he'd been served in his journeys. The conversation was better as well; Elric was firm that no business would be discussed during meals, so the talk was of his improvements to the land and what the Summoned had been up to in their daily life.

"So I think that we'll be able to use magical communication and storage to substitute for the 'infrastructure' Earth has," Meinz said as dessert was served. "All the guilds are excited by the idea of being able to communicate between branches and store information on members -and for the Watch, criminals as well."

"For a priest, you're really getting into the magic side of things, aren't you?" Elric's grin showed he was teasing. 

"One thing I learned out of this whole mess," Meinz poked at his pudding, "is that 'divine' power and magic come from the same mana source. I've run into a lot of priests and mages who will expound on the supposed differences endlessly, but it all comes down to opinion and tradition. Both forms rely on mana. I've yet to see a difference between 'divine' mana and mages' mana."

"Mmm," Elric debated with himself whether western pudding or Japanese pudding was better. Although neither was really good without chocolate. "Any luck getting some government's support? Did you finally get to see Merridan?"

"No luck for the first. The second, that's actually what took so long." The pudding was better than last time he'd been here; this cherry flavor was especially good. "Merridan agreed to go to the citadel site with me."

"But she decided not to help?"

"Sort of. When we got there, some of those guys who think the Summoned were gods' messengers or something were trying to break the spell."

"Oh for fuck's sake. What happened? Chester isn't rampaging, so I assume it was good."

"Merridan's guards quickly took care of them. She refused to cancel the spell after studying it. It's apparently unstable enough that trying to cancel it could destroy the surrounding countryside."

"So all we can do is wait for it to decay‽ While various screwballs chip at it yet?"

Meinz smiled, but it was a humorless, exhausted smile. "Merridan used her powers to tuck it into a subdimensional space, with only a small door connecting it to our world. It's not a permanent solution; it'll eventually become unstable unless it's cancelled or the area is completely cut off from our world.

"So she tied it -carefully- to the time spell; it'll begin to disperse shortly before the time spell starts to expire. It's structured so that parts that are freed or being freed from the spell will be in this world, while parts still completely under the time spell will remain in the sub-dimension. There was some more explanation, but it made my head hurt. It sounded like when Terrans go on about radio wavelengths or whatnot."

"Mmm. Then you came straight here?"

"I said a blessing for the living and the dead, then came straight here." Meinz looked at Elric suspiciously. "Did you know this estate was almost a direct journey south from the citadel when you took it? It'd only take a month if you didn't have to go around the Lusan range."

"Hmmm." Elric was very interested in the ceiling. "I knew that it was more or less close to the same longitude, but I didn't expect it to be an almost straight line."

Meinz remembered the explanation of longitude and latitude he'd received from several Terrans. "You're too vulnerable if Chester gets loose, you know."

"I'm prepared." He looked at the timepiece on the mantel. "It's almost time for my other guest to arrive."

"Then I'll-"

"Oh, you'll want to meet him." He motioned to the butler waiting by the door. "We'll take coffee -sorry, mela- in the parlor."

Meinz really didn't get the Terrans' obsession with coffee. But if the red seeds from the south were similar enough in preparation and taste to give them a sense of home, so be it. 

He felt the anger rising inside him. The kingdoms summoned children to fight their battles, yet never thought that the children might want to go home. 

"Meinz?" Elric was looking back at him worriedly. 

"Sorry. Just memories." He hurried to follow Elric.

Elric remained standing after entering the parlor. "Hey Meinz, did I ever say thank you?"

"For what?"

"For being there." Elric turned. "The royals and nobles were only interested in their own agendas and how they could exploit the Summoned, but you were one person who was there for us. Most of us were just kids! You looked out for us, you used your authority as an Esteemed priest to travel all over the place so you could support us." He smiled at the memory, quite unlike his usual grin. "That's probably why you got stuck training and travelling with us… but I don't think we'd have ever made it out of the kingdoms in the first place without your support."

"Just… what do you call it? Paying it forward?" Meinz twisted a strand of hair around his finger. "The villagers of Acorath took me in when I was orphaned and treated me with kindness. They always refused to take payment for it when I became a priest, so I try to help others out."

"Still, thank you." Elric turned as the butler entered the room bearing a tray. "Is he here?"

"Sir Kenneth has reached the bottom of the hill and will be here shortly."

"Good, good, just leave the tray on the table." Elric sat down. "Here Meinz, I'll pour you some. Lots of sugar, right?"

Meinz refrained from making a face. Mela was harmless to him and Elric was trying to be a good host. Meinz just didn't like the taste. 

A few minutes later, a tall man with an achingly familiar appearance arrived. Kenneth Edwards was the older brother of Theo and Teria; he'd been trying hard to be a parental figure to them and the other family members and friends summoned with them. Meinz had no doubt Kenneth keenly felt the loss of his siblings.

He rose and bowed. "Sir Edwards, I'm pleased to meet you again. I deeply apologize for-"

Kenneth raised a hand to cut him off. "It's okay, Meinz." He reached out and grasped Meinz's right hand in the manner of the Terrans. "You always fought for us. If you could bring them back, you would have."

Meinz felt the guilt rising again. If he'd realized Chester's plans even a second earlier-

"Sit down, sit down, both of you. How do you take your coffee, Kenneth?"

"Sugar, cream, and do you have -awesome, you have almond cookies!"

"I can get anything I want out here," Elric said smugly. "Merchants will bring whatever I ask for, just for them to be able to say I met them for five minutes."

"Speaking of the merchants, I'm working with the guild. We're going to start a bank."

"A bank?" Elric said in surprise. Meinz tasted his drink and decided it could wait.

"It's what I was studying when this whole shit happened. How banks are structured, how they work. I wanted to go into banking so much. I was attending Oxford, studying finance, for pete's sake." Kenneth blew on his cup and took a drink. "But I've been talking with the merchants, and they love the idea of what a bank can do. It's going to take a bit, but we should be able to do it, at least the basic form. And as a founding member and the brother of two lost heroes-" Kenneth grinned evilly "-I am going to be filthy rich."

Meinz decided to ask what a bank and 'Oxford' were later -if the merchants' guild had okayed the idea, it couldn't be that bad. "That's good. You'll be able to provide your family with the best care."

"It's more than that." Kenneth put his cup down. "The idea is to get rich, make the family rich, start a merchant clan of our own, and stay rich until that fucking Chester shows up again. When it's time to beat his ass, the Edwards Clan will be the one funding those doing the beating."

"Wait wait wait," Elric said. "Are you saying you believe us?"

"Even after Merridan saw the condition of the spell, she refused to say anything," Meinz added. "The kingdoms say that the Demon Kings are dead, and their fortress sealed. They won't listen that-" he teared up in frustration "-we are on borrowed time!"

"You have no reason to lie," Kenneth said quietly. "I'm also being selfish; the spell expiring is the option that means one day Theo and Teria will come home, even if I'm long dead." He bit his thumb. "The hard part is going to be maintaining this goal for centuries. One generation screwing around will be all it takes to fuck it up."

Elric looked over at Meinz, who realized what he was likely thinking. A questioning tilt of his head and a firm nod from Elric confirmed it. 

"Kenneth."

"Hmm?" Kenneth looked up.

"I was cursed by Chester. It can only be removed by killing him. The curse-"

Kenneth's eyes grew wider as Meinz detailed the nature of the curse. "Wow. I can see why that ticks you off. But it's useful for us."

"And."

This time Elric as well as Kenneth looked questioningly at him.

"Most people know I have two Birth Talents, but keep the second hidden. The second-" he took a deep breath "-is Regression. It activates when I get killed, and the time can vary from moments to years. But-" Meinz's robe bunched as he clenched his hands on his knees "-Chester did something. I've tried, but now I can't go back past the moment he cursed me. I can't-" he leaned forward, hiding the pain on his face "-I can't change things to save them."

Elric whistled. "The fucker created a save point."

"Don't." Kenneth stood, his hands fisted so tight the knuckles were white. "Don't kill yourself, trying to get things perfect. How often did you do that?"

"It wasn't me for most of it, it was Chester." Meinz rubbed his left hand over his eye. "I don't know how, but he figured or found out. If a battle wasn't going our way, he'd just stab me in the back. Even the times where I went back to before he found out, he found out again, even though I tried to keep it from him. He kept getting through my defenses, which-" He brought his fist down on the cushion of the couch "-which pisses me off!"

Elric understood it all now, why the gentle and loving priest had become unpredictably harsher and sharper as the journey wore on… at times, almost cruel.

At that moment, he really wanted to get his hands around Chester's throat.

"How do you end regressing?" he asked. "It'd suck to die of old age and wind up having to do your life again."

"Ah, dying of old age is the one way I won't regress. It says, anyway." Meinz stood up, leaving his nearly full cup. "I'm going to rest now. Is my usual room ready?"

Elric nodded. Kenneth spoke up. "Meinz, I'm serious. Don't destroy yourself trying to get things perfect. Find another way." 

Disturbingly, Meinz left without answering.

"Come on, Kenneth." Kenneth looked over his shoulder at Elric, who grinned at him, but grimly. "We have plans to make."

*******

People mentioned:

Elric Imahara

Meinz: Birth Talents: Mental Stability. Rank: Mid-Intermediate. Regression. Rank: N/A.

Kenneth Edwards: Theo and Theria's older brother, the oldest of the Edwards family members and friends summoned. He became their parental figure and did his best to care for them. Often overlooked by the kingdoms due to having a non-combat Blessing.

Blessing: Golden Hand. He will be successful in any financial endeavor he tries.

Elric's unnamed butler

Merridan

Birth Talents:

Regression: If the person with this birth talent dies for any reason other than old age, they will regress a variable amount of time, though the time cannot go past the moment of their birth. Extremely rare; people with it tend to go mad, and are seen as crazy babblers speaking of futures that never happen, or that they bring on by being bad luck to be around. A birth talent or skill that supports mental stability helps.

In Meinz's case, Chester used the energy of the Bolat crystal and his own will to force a second "birth moment" into the Talent's format, creating a new point that Meinz cannot go past.

Spells:

Subdimensional pocket: Pokes into a partially formed or very small dimension (small as dimensions go) and creates an opening between the dimension and the home dimension, bringing part of the other dimension into the home dimension. The mana cost is tremendous. Theoretically, it should be possible to stabilize these openings; in practice, it may take decades or centuries, but they all eventually collapse. 

Foods:

Mela: A drink made from a red seed from a round yellow fruit. The fruit doesn't have much flesh, being mostly seeds. It comes from a tree in the south, called serina by the local people. When dried and ground, the seeds produce a drink that tastes like unusually bitter Earth coffee. Since the trees take a long time to grow (but live for a long time), breeding sweeter varieties takes a lot of time. Mela has considerably less caffeine than coffee.