Chapter 1380 (1/2)

Before he could get too deep into his reminiscing, Randidly sensed Tatiana floating up on a platform to speak with him. Humming lightly to himself as he considered what he would tell her, he walked to the edge of the island to greet her.

His steps were slow and heavy. He breathed after each third step as he crossed his island shrouded with moonlight spirits. Between returning to Earth to encourage image development… finding the Creature’s Tomb… the challenge of the Corrupted Invaders… Kaan Swacc and his Aether Mines… and finally, all the Zones connecting to Earth, Randidly had been gearing up for one fight after another but none of them had actually happened.

With all the occurrences, it had been hard to get his bearings but honestly, that had felt simple. Randidly could feel how the world around him was transforming into a vast and complex place. Because now he had the luxury of ‘choice’.

Perhaps he had always had that luxury, but it was now that he was finally admitting it to himself. Which begged the question: what did Randidly Ghosthound want?

“Are we getting involved in the search for the Runic Tablet to name the Earth?” Tatiana asked as soon as they made eye contact. She took a sharp step forward, off of her platform and onto the island. It seemed that she didn’t intend to give Randidly much time to warm up to the hard conversation he would likely be about to have.

For a second, he hesitated. Then Randidly shook his head. “...no, both myself, Kharon, and the Order Ducis will stay neutral. Just so you are prepared to deal with the consequences, I found the site of the Runic Tablet, as I investigated earlier. It’s quite a bit South of the Zones, near old Mexico City. But my image… and the Order Ducis by extension… should begin to withdraw from being so proscriptive to the Earth’s actions. Even during the lead up to the First Calamity… in preparation to let them handle the Second Calamity.”

Tatiana gave Randidly a long look. It seemed several questions were fighting to make their way out of their mouth. She settled on, “Are you sure? Setting aside the issue of the Calamities, the different Zones will fight each other for the prestige of naming the Earth. Blood will be spilled. Such fighting will likely create grudges that will last a long time.”

“So we even stop the fools from learning regret…?” As Randidly closed his eyes, he felt the sensation of those thousands of people being killed at the stadium once again. His own, private regret that sat in his chest. What sort of crown do I wear…? What sort of responsibility do I have toward the people of Earth…?

Tatiana perhaps understood that Randidly needed this moment to think, so she did not speak. Perhaps more than he realized, Tatiana had excellent insight.

There was no secret answer that he found in his chest as the silence dragged onward. Yggdrasil, the Grim Chimera, and the Stillborn Phoenix all sat in silence as he asked what responsibility he had to Earth. None of carried with them any moral imperatives. They were just forces, each with their own desires. Yggdrasil desired steady expansion and growth, the Grim Chimera wanted to survive, and the Stillborn Phoenix possessed a twisted sort of vengeance for the storm of emotions it housed. Feeling them now, remaining neutral on the issue of Earth, Randidly could see the way that these images truly were who he was.

He could see why he was so torn and frustrated by all his decisions regarding the Earth in the past. All of the core drives that defined who he was… didn’t relate well to leading the planet.

This was Randidly Ghosthound. A leader born of necessity. Someone who preferred demonstrating to teaching.

At one point a Crown had been an important part of Yggdrasil’s image. At that time, he had focused on his role as King and the way that he would lead the Earth. But gradually, that Crown had transformed only into awe in the eye of the viewer. Randidly became more focused on inspiring growth than truly leading or teaching. And his images reflected that.

Releasing a breath, Randidly pushed his reflections to the side and spoke to Tatiana. “I know that they will fight each other if we leave it up for grabs. But… that’s fine. I cannot protect them from everything. I just want to make sure… the normal System problems are the foes they can focus on.”

“We just asserted our dominance with your birthday and the task forces for the Corrupted Invaders. Centralizing power and then creating a void is dangerous.” Tatiana said fiercely. “Early reports say that we’ve already identified a dozen bubble cities in the newly opened up territory. And that’ll be that’s just the tip of the iceberg. If there isn’t a central force watching the Zones, this will just be the rise of a new era of colonialism as the various-”

“Do you truly believe the only thing stopping the people of Earth from returning to the horrors of colonialism is the opportunity?” Randidly asked, somewhat incredulous.

The look that Tatiana gave him in return was just as shocked. “Do you truly think they won’t? It’s already been happening. And Randidly, on the old Earth money only gave the illusion of power. An individual who monopolizes resources can now cultivate genuine power. The sort of power that can easily corrupt even a good person.”

“The Order Ducis will still keep a watch and intervene in cases of excess, but we simply aren’t large enough to keep tabs on everything. It’s better to transition now to a more observational form. It might be awkward at first, but it’s the best choice.” Randidly countered. Perhaps he even agreed with Tatiana that some of the mistakes the people of Earth made were disturbing. But what choice did he have?

I suppose I could stay. Randidly thought rather tiredly. But… Staying on Earth will make it that much harder to understand the true threat of the Nexus. And with the quality of foes here… my rate of improvement… Heh, Alana, Hank, and the Dragons went after the Nether invader that split off from the larger wave by Franksburg and were all exhausted after dueling three Nether Beasts… Three Nether Beasts who were poisoned and weakened by the dense Aether of Earth… Even Helen was the same. This just isn’t a place that I can...

Tatiana shook her head firmly. If he hadn’t known better, Randidly would have guessed that there were tears at the corner of her eyes. “That won’t be enough. There will be a war if the Order Ducis doesn’t control the situation. And once the war starts, our forces won’t be enough to pacify the different groups. We will just need to wait until everything is over… and we will bury the dead. We… we cannot abandon them now.”

Finally, it clicked in Randidly’s mind. He wasn’t a particularly emotionally sensitive person, but Grim Intuition let him read physical cues that generally led him to emotional revelations. His expression softened as he looked at the woman who had accomplished every task he had given her in the past year and a half. The woman who had dragged Kharon, kicking and screaming, into relevance. “Tatiana… why don’t you say what you are really thinking?”

“Why do you-!” Tatiana began, but then she looked as though she physically bit back the words she had about to release. After taking several breaths, she spoke in a quiet voice. “When are you leaving?”

Randidly had suspected it for a while, but this confirmed it; Tatiana had a Skill that gave her some insight into his actions. It made sense that she had perhaps been able to vaguely intuit the directions his thoughts had been wandering over the last hour. Even if it was just his sadness from when he examined Donnyton, his image might have contained traces of those emotions. An average person might not have noticed, but Tatiana was not average.