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Book 2: Chapter 22: Handling Breena and Exploratory Teaching

"How has Kyuubi been?" Lone asked Breena to cure the growing silence between them as they ate dinner.

Carefully nibbling on her food, Breena answered, "Um, good? She\'s very soft... and, em, nice? She\'s a lot more docile than most pets."

\'Good, good, she isn\'t stuttering anymore... Man, that\'s twice now that I\'ve scared her needlessly. I need to apologise today. The longer I let the wound fester, the larger it\'ll get and the harder it\'ll be to mend.\' He had learned that with his father.

The man wasn\'t always an abusive sack of shit. He was actually a decent person until his company started collapsing around him. Slowly, blow after blow had worn down his father\'s mind to the point of abusing his own son and later killing himself.

Of course, this was not apples to apples but Lone could still see the similarities between then and now.

Getting the guilt off his chest would help both him and Breena. He needed to move past this hesitation of his.

"Is she being easy to care for? Soph always loved how self-sufficient she was," Lone noted with a kind smile.

Breena nodded. "Mhm. She eats and drinks exactly when I put her food and water in her bowls. Um, I only do it at the times you specified. I, um, I don\'t know why she\'s still so round... It\'s a bit weird, though she\'s very cute and... like I said a moment ago, soft. She also uses the litterbox you gave me by herself with ease and suspiciously quietly. I thought a big fox like her would be a bit noisier."

\'That\'s the most I\'ve ever heard her speak. Period. What a killer opening conversation topic, huh? You\'re finally getting the hang of this social stuff, aren\'t ya, Lone?\' he praised himself jokingly. "Yeah, it is strange. I can only assume it has something to do with her species... or maybe she\'s a magic fox."

He reached over and stroked Kyuubi\'s head as she slept atop the empty end of their table. "Well, are you a magic fox?"

"Kyuu..." she purred in her sleep.

"I, uh, don\'t think she\'ll answer you..." Breena said while a hint of a smile crept up on her face.

"Maybe she will one day. Who knows what magic foxes are capable of?" Lone asked cheerily.

A few minutes passed with the mood at the table now being much friendlier and warmer. Breena even opened up a little bit and spoke about her job and how she was enjoying it a lot more than she\'d expected.

Soon though, Lone decided to address the elephant in the room. He needed to do so before he got lost in the fun and casual talks they were having. That was all too convenient of an excuse to fall upon as a way to avoid owning up to being a not so nice person to her of late.

"Breena," Lone said in a more sombre tone.

"Y-Yes?" caught off-guard a bit by his sudden seriousness, Breena fumbled.

Lone put down his fork and knife and stared right into her eyes. "I\'m sorry. I lashed out at you in the Farwinds and scared you at the library. The library incident wasn\'t intentional but that doesn\'t excuse it. As for the Farwinds... I don\'t know how I could have ever acted like that to you. It was disgraceful of me and I can\'t apologise enough."

Breena started to panic a bit. "Uh, um, y-you d-don\'t need to say s-sorry at all! It w-wasn\'t your fault. And, I, um, I st-startled you in the l-library so it\'s okay..."

Lone shook his head. "No, it isn\'t."

He reached over the table and lightly grabbed Breena\'s hand. "I\'m an adult and you\'re just a child. No adult should ever, and I mean ever, raise their voice at a child, whether justified or not."

"I, uh, em..." Breena didn\'t know what to say.

"It\'s okay, you don\'t need to say anything, just listen, okay?" Lone requested softly.

Breena lightly nodded her head.

"You were absolutely right when you told me it wasn\'t Four-twelve\'s fault and you were also right when you tried to convince me to stop... acting like a madman banging on doors in the middle of the night. You\'re far more mature than a girl your age should be," Lone chuckled faintly.

"I know life hasn\'t been kind to you. You were ripped from your home at a young age and were forced to do unspeakable things no child should ever have to do..." A cloud hung over Lone\'s expression for a moment before he continued, "but Soph, Sophie, and I, we all see you as an equal. No equal should be shouted out or snapped at. Again, Breena, I was wrong. I apologise and I hope you can find it within yourself to forgive me."

Breena moved to speak but was immediately interrupted by Lone. "No. Don\'t answer me right now. I don\'t want you to forgive me out of a feeling of obligation. Think through your emotions. We may just be your escorts back to the Crimson Foxkin Clan, but we truly treasure you, Breena. I don\'t want your forgiveness to be an empty one. If you come to a decision and think you don\'t want to give any to me, that\'s fine too. You have no duties or responsiblities here, okay?"

Breena mutely nodded her head with slightly wet eyes.

Lone smiled and pulled his hand away from hers. "Good. You\'re like a little sister to me so if you can\'t ever come to forgive me, at least don\'t start hating me, okay? One sister whose feelings I\'m lost on is more than enough."

Breena raised a sleeve to wipe her eyes before she quietly asked, "Y-You have a sister?"

Lone smirked. "Yeah. An annoying girl, that Hazel. I never could figure out what she was thinking ever since things got... fractured in my old family."

"Old family?" Breena\'s curiosity was piqued.

"Keep eating your dinner. Maybe one day I\'ll tell you all about the story of a man named Darren McCullen," Lone said mysteriously.

"Hi, Mister Morstone," Lone said as he shook the dwarf\'s hand and took a seat across from him. "I know you\'re busy so I\'m thankful you could make time to see me tonight."

The councilman nodded. "The council has put a great deal of priority on you, Mister Immortus. You\'re a valuable lead to solving the odd cases in the krieg, after all. Tea or coffee?"

"Ah, tea, please," Lone answered.

Felix smiled and got to work making him a cup. "Since you arranged this meeting, Mister Immortus, I can only assume you had another... experience, correct?"

Lone nodded. "That\'s right, sadly. While I was hoping it\'d be a one-time thing, Darkness seems to have other ideas. Silver-lining though is that I got a much better look at the dwarven buildings in that mysterious slice of the Farwinds."

"That\'s excellent news," Felix said as he finished up brewing Lone some authentic Stone Dwarven tea. "Have you any clues about where to find this... krieg?"

"I think it\'s an urd if anything. Too small to be a krieg, honestly," Lone replied, "But no, sadly. I am working on that though. I can only assume Darkness intends to summon me more and when it does I\'ll keep probing."

Felix slid Lone\'s cup of tea across the desk and said, "That\'s unfortunate. What do you assume the creature wants of you? For full transparency, the council does not believe you that it is a Primal we\'re dealing with, though we have no doubts Darkness is involved in some regard."

\'That\'s fair if not a bit discouraging,\' Lone thought as he sipped on his tea and noted that it was quite to his liking. "I think it wants to make me its avatar and then assume control over my body. I can only theorise as to what summoning me accomplishes. Maybe it\'s softening me up somehow? Making it easier for me to receive it?"

"Forgive me, but I don\'t know much about the topsider gods beyond what is factual and practical. What would a Primal want of you, specifically?" Felix asked.

Lone shrugged. "I have no idea. I\'m just a simple D-ranker... who admittedly is a member of an extinct-slash-recently missing race of foxkin and I have nine racial traits, which is almost unheard of for a beastkin. Maybe I\'m just a perfect avatar? I\'m fumbling about in the dark just as much as you and yours are, sadly," he said before thinking, \'Well, Darkness knows for a fact I can host entire Primals free of risk since it can sense Void and Sky. I really need this dealt with as soon as possible... it\'s a fucking Primal. Sooner or later, it\'ll find a way to do what it wants...\'

Lone had an idea or two in mind to fix everything if things went tits up, but if he could rely on the local authorities and powers that be, then he would.

While his hunger for knowledge and answers was insatiable, he was still new to this world in relation to everything around him, more or less.

"I see. I\'ll have to brush up my knowledge on these matters some other time then. Anyway, what can you tell us of the structures you studied, if you don\'t mind?" Felix requested.

Lone nodded and happily explained everything he saw in as much detail as he was capable of.

Once he was done, Felix nodded his head. "That\'ll do. I\'ll have this investigated to see if anything matches up with the disappearance cases. Have you seen any signs of the missing persons or perhaps learned why the ones who return after leaving seem... changed?"

Lone shook his head. "I\'m afraid not. I am trying to probe for that information but I doubt you\'d find it useful if I told you Darkness stores its dwarves under the kitchen sink, would you? Specifically next to the detergent."

Felix gave Lone a funny look. "No, no I wouldn\'t. Did it say that to you?"

Lone smiled awkwardly. "It\'s very.. playful. And not in a good way. More in a \'fuck me this guy is annoying and quite possibly very dangerous\' kind of way."

"I see... Well, that\'s all for now, Mister Immortus. Thank you for keeping me updated," Felix said as he reached over to shake Lone\'s hand.

"It was my pleasure, Mister Morstone," Lone replied.

When he had returned to the Rusty Sprocket, he sighed deeply upon entering his and Soph\'s room. "No Persuasion level up again and, if anything, he believes me even less than yesterday... That\'s hardly ideal..."

He sat down at the room\'s wooden and partially copper desk. He then reached into his Dimensional Storage and withdrew a large leather-bound tome. Opening it, he revealed it was empty. Next, he retrieved a quill and inkpot.

"I\'ve never written a diary before, but now seems as good a time as any," he mumbled before he started writing.

A few hours passed and Lone had only just finished noting down his first few weeks on Altros in his new diary.

The plan was to detail everything he could remember as aptly as he able until he reached the present day where he could slowly note down what happened day-to-day.

It seemed like a wise idea in his mind since he was now in a world of magic and myths. Who knew when he might need to rely on his journal to verify his own memories?

Regardless, a knock at his door disturbed him.

"Come in," Lone answered. "The door\'s unlocked."

Only one person could be coming to his room so late. Matching his expectations, Lone saw Breena carefully enter the room as she closed the door behind her. She was trying her best to do both that and not drop the fluffball snoozing in her arms.

"What brings you here so late?" Lone asked in a friendly, almost fatherly, manner.

Breena slowly approached his and Soph\'s bed before placing Kyuubi on it. She then said, "Um, I thought it would be smart if I stayed in here tonight. I, uh... I was wondering if your body got taken too when you, y\'know..."

Lone did nothing but praise her courage internally. \'She\'s got a strong fear of men and she clearly is very timid, so making a decision like that without being prompted... Her growth is astounding.\'

"I\'d love that. I was curious too if my body disappeared as well or not and I obviously had no real way to verify that. I\'d be honoured if you\'d stay here and watch over me," Lone said with a smile. "Will you be okay though, not sleeping?"

Breena nodded. "I\'ve, em, done it before. Going days without sleeping. I can handle one or two days without it being to-too much of a problem."

Lone nodded then asked, "What do you want to do while you\'re in here? Play with Kyuubi?"

Breena looked unsure. "I, uh, don\'t mind doing nothing..."

Lone shook his head then summoned a chair next to him. He patted it then said, "Come. I\'ll teach you something interesting. It\'s a language not of this world, English. You\'re a clever girl and it\'ll be interesting to try teaching a subject so foreign to me; language."

A hint of cautious excitement entered Breena\'s eyes. "I\'ve never heard of English before..."

"Well, like I said, it\'s not of this world. I hear it came from a hero, but no one\'s really sure," Lone lied.

It most certainly wasn\'t the right time to inform the girl of his and Soph\'s origins, double so considering her past experience with a hero.

Kyuubi slowly opened her eyes and glanced around. She got up, stretched like a cat and stared at Lone\'s back for a moment. Her gaze lingered on Breena\'s too for a moment before she seemed to sigh and then slump down again, returning to sleep.

She was, after all, a very busy fox.