“I’d appreciate that.”
Vermillion’s gaze went back to the first image and the pillar that reminded him of Gordon. Then he glanced at the first pillar of darkness and stars. His thoughts drifted back to Jason’s spectacular demolition of the Blood Riders and his startling appearance as he did so. If the first pillar represented Jason, then, and the third Gordon, Shade would fit the dark column at the end. That left the most horrifying of the four, with the mass of toothy leeches.
“Do you have a third mysterious companion?” Vermillion asked.
“Colin,” Jason said. “He took a hit when that category three came after me, so he’s resting up.”
Vermillion turned from the painting to look at Jason.
“Mind if I sit?”
The cloud bed shrank into an armchair and another one rose up under Vermillion.
“That’s handy,” Vermillion said, settling into the chair. “So, you fought a category-three essence magician.”
“Yeah, but he was crap. Last time I fought one, it took my whole team and we barely managed. I almost took this guy down solo. If he was even halfway decent, he would have kicked the snot out of me.”
“If you get the chance, will you kill him?”
“No,” Jason said. “As long as people come at me and not my family, I’m not going to hold grudges.”
“That’s good,” Vermillion said. “You killed the others, though. The ones that took you away.”
“I could have just gotten away. But as I warned my uncle, some secrets are dangerous to learn. They learned one of mine.”
“I see,” Vermillion said.
“What is it you’re working up to?”
Vermillion nodded to himself.
“I watched you handle those bikers. You would have done the same to the EOA muscle in my cafe, right?”
“They came after me.”
“And you would have killed them, just like the bikers. I haven’t known you long, Jason, but I’ve seen people like you before. I’ve been where you are.”
“You have not been where I’ve been.”
“No? Drenched in battle? Possessed of powers that make you a danger, yet people keep coming, no matter how many you put down. Sound familiar?”
“A little,” Jason conceded.
“I understand where you are, Jason, and I’d like to give you some advice. But I also understand that we don’t know each other well and it will probably come across as patronising.”
“You know what?” Jason said. “Last time I switched worlds and friends gave me good advice, I was stupid enough to think I knew better. If you have some words of wisdom, I’m willing to at least listen.”
“Alright,” Vermillion said. “You need to stop killing people.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t,” Vermillion said. “You tell yourself that you do, but there’s always a good reason to kill the next guy that comes along. Maybe you need to stop them from coming back for revenge later. Maybe they’re the kind of bad that the world is better off without. Maybe you need to keep a secret. There’s always a reason, but the real reason is that it’s just easier. Somewhere along the way, you lose that revulsion you had for taking a life. But you need that thing to be a person.”
“You’re saying I’m not a person?”
“I’m saying you won’t be, if you keep going down this road you’re on. Take it from someone who already walked it; the further down you go, the harder it is to come back. You need to start choosing not to kill people. Not just when killing them isn’t the right choice but even when leaving them alive is the wrong one. If you can get away with not killing them, even if that comes with a price, then let them live.”
“I’m not some wild killer who can’t stop myself.”
“No? Turn on the news, Jason. It’s been nothing but all the people you killed for days, and they aren’t even the latest people you killed.”
“I’m not good at leaving people alive,” Jason said. “Once the fight starts, my powers aren’t designed to leave survivors.”
“Then that’s all the more reason to avoid fighting altogether. I know hitting back is your instinctive reaction, but you’re not at war. You need to stop dealing with the world like you are.”
Vermillion got up from his chair.
“I’m going to leave you be,” he said. “I’m sorry if I crossed a line. It’s just something I wish someone had told me a long time ago.”
Jason sat staring at the four columns in the painting. His senses detected no magic, yet it felt like there was something hidden away, like the embedded image in a magic eye poster. He couldn’t shake the feeling that if he could look at it in just the right way, then secrets would be revealed.
Eventually, he gave up, although only for the moment. He rode the elevating platform up to the roof deck and looked out at the Pacific Ocean. The winter air was cold, but his bronze-rank body would not be uncomfortable even in almost any climate that Earth could offer. He would no longer need the bracelet in his inventory that had shielded him from the desert heat during his time in the other world. That said, he would certainly not throw it away, given the sentimental value.
Once again, his thoughts turned to the magical world and the friends left behind. He hoped they fared well and that they knew he was gone but not dead. He was troubled by the second painting, the one he had purchased after claiming the first under such odd conditions. The world it depicted was quite obviously the magical one on which his life and very nature had changed forever.
The symbolism was clear and the continents matched up with those on his map ability. Although he was no longer there, he was still able to call up the map of it. Even more, once he had two world maps to access, his inventory had labelled them. One, Earth, and the other Pallimustus, the name marked on the painting. He had never learned the name of the planet while he was there, as the inhabitants all just called it ‘the world.’
He would need to find the artist, Dawn. Whatever connection she had to the other world, it was the closest he had to a clue on how to get back. In the meantime, though, his own world had affairs that needed tending. He had once thought to come home and resolve old wounds of the heart before leaving again, perhaps forever. Inevitably, life had become more complicated.
He had no idea what the World-Phoenix wanted out of him, and for the moment, he didn’t care. The revelation that his world was full of magic, weak and thin though it may be, meant that he would not be satisfied leaving his family unprepared. If the revelation of magic to the wider world was truly inevitable, he wanted his family to be ready for the changes to come.