For The Paycheck
'Just as the master makes up for the Familiar's weaknesses, so too will the Familiar protect the master from his or her flaws' Yntok continued. 'Kravoss has found in you someone brave, selfless, someone who succeeds in fights because of willpower and quick thinking.
'These three trials you have undertaken have proven to me that you have these traits.
'The trial of the Malignant Chimera, a chimera that has merged with its fellows, showed me your bravery. A Malignant Chimera's screech, even one at Tier II, is capable of freezing all but the hardiest of Embodiments, even Personifications, in place through fear and dread.
'I later learned this was because of your experience with this Lord Bosina, but it is an impressive feat all the same.
'The second trial of the Seven Cycles showed me your will to live and your ceaseless drive to victory, even when your body is falling apart and your comrades die in droves.
'The last trial of fire showed me your selflessness, your unwillingness to put others in harm's way just to save yourself pain. An odd trait for an assassin, but then again, none of your marks could be considered innocent.
'Though the false memories I planted in you made you tell yourself it was out of spite, your words and thoughts revealed your worry, your unwillingness to kill Seri Vedavo.
'It also once again displayed your willpower, your drive. If you are capable of doing these things for a total stranger, even with all of the circumstances I put forth, then I find it guaranteed that you will treat Kravoss with the respect he deserves.'
"How do you know about my marks?" Fate asked.
'Before I placed false memories in your mind for the third trial, I reviewed your base ones to see what I was working with. In doing so, I found the research you poured into each target before accepting the job.
'Wife beaters, drug dealers or users, corrupt businessmen, murderers. You and your family claim you only do it for the paycheck, but I see your true motivations.'
"Getting rid of bad people is just a perk of the job," Fate replied. "'Murderer' and 'good person' don't exactly go together."
"Regardless, you have proven yourself tonight. Now, when I send you back, your memories of all that has happened here, as well as your first life, shall be sealed.
"Normally, I would remove the memories of these trials altogether due to an agreement with the ruler of Ziobrun, but since you already know of the existence of other planets, I have no need to do so. Make sure to visit, will you?"
"Wait," Fate said suddenly as Divine Energy started to form a tempest around him.
The energy paused, the Dracok looking up from its half-eaten meal to peer down at Fate from above.
"What, human?" the Dracok spoke aloud questioningly.
"What do you mean, visit? This is all a dream, isn't it?"
"When did I ever say that?" the Dracok asked. "Did I not say that the clouds above are real, that the cold is lethal without the scales that even now protect you? Why would I bother to cloak in you the defenses of my kind between trials if it didn't matter?
"The form you have here is not real in your sense of the word, but it is a tangible thing that is capable of affecting this world you stand in. It is not 'you,' but it is indeed real. You are still asleep on your bed, and yet you are here."
Fate had to agree with the Dragon Chicken. Though he didn't pay as much attention to it after the second trial, he remembered that he did, in fact, have scales after being recalled from the Seven Cycles. He was more interested in the fact he was fully healed to register the scales that he had long since gotten used to, but they were there then and they were still here now.
If he wasn't a living, breathing person, why would the cold matter to him?
"So, everything that happened… Was all of this real, or some illusion?" he asked the Magical Beast.
"It was all real. The Pleyth continent is to the west of this landmass, and north of Crexya. Seri Vedavo, Joka, all are as real as you and I. The events you experienced were going to happen with or without you; I merely wrote you into the narrative."
"I…" Fate frowned as he processed the fact that he had just gone through what he had. It didn't take him long to do so, but it was still a shock that all of this was even possible.
He cleared his throat. "Alright. Do all Dracoks' masters have to go through trials as I did?"
"I cannot speak for other Elements, but I keep a watchful eye on my Water Dracok descendants," the Dracok replied. "Those who fail, die, and those who pass have all recollection of their trials wiped from their memory, as I said earlier.
"Now if that's all, I'd like to get back to my meal before the cold of this mountain robs it of its warmth."
"That's all I had," Fate said respectfully.
"Then farewell, and be gone."
The Divine Energy resumed its swirling pattern, water forming and drawing shapes and symbols in the air around Fate until everything turned white.
Fate opened his eyes, rubbing them tiredly as he yawned. The enchanted window informed him it was still night, and the clock said it was a little after three A.M.
Unaware of exactly why he woke up, he tossed and turned to get comfortable and closed his eyes, drifting back off to sleep. This new sleep was peaceful and dreamless, a perfect void devoid of stimuli that made his rest all the more fulfilling.
As he slept possibly the best sleep he had had in his life, he was unaware of the drama unfolding in the Grendeven estate.
An expensive vase shattered against the wall, the woman who threw it fuming and red in the face as a nicely dressed butler waited patiently beside her, carefully avoiding his eyes from his mistress' face.
"That ungrateful brat!" the woman roared, throwing another vase. Unlike the first, it was made sturdily and bounced against the wall without suffering any damage. That only enraged the woman even more, and she dashed it to pieces with her Divine Reach.