Chapter 34 - Pilse Arc
The chief, doctor, and foreign affairs official arrive at the clinic about an hour after Sonny first wakes. It is still the middle of the night, and the exhaustion shows on all their faces.
The doctor enters Sonny’s room first. He approaches the bed and performs a quick examination, checking Sonny’s breathing, pulse, and overall condition. Everything feels stable, which only adds to his confusion.
After a moment, the doctor looks at him. “How do you feel?”
Sonny answers, “Honestly, best I’ve felt in a long time.”
“Do you know where you are?”
Sonny nods once. “Pilse. My nurse explained the situation.”
The doctor studies him for another second, then exhales.
“Good. Then I’ll be direct. The village chief and the director of foreign affairs are here. They want to speak with you.”
Sonny adjusts slightly in bed. “I’d like to speak with them as well.”
The doctor steps aside and gestures to the door. “I’ll send them in.”
Chief Calo enters first, followed closely by Zoa. Calo stands straight, his presence firm, eyes already analyzing Sonny like he is assessing a threat. Zoa, on the other hand, looks excited. Her gaze moves quickly, taking everything in, barely able to contain her curiosity.
Calo speaks first. “My name is Chief Calo. This is Zoa, the director of foreign affairs.”
Zoa smiles brightly. “Hello there.”
Sonny meets their gaze. “Sonny.”
The room shifts immediately. Calo steps forward, tone hardening as he unleashes a fury of sharp questions.
“Where are you from?”
“What were you doing in the mountains?”
“Can you use magic?”
“What are your intentions here?”
Zoa winces and lightly swats his arm. “Calo, relax. He just woke up. And he’s probably not associated with them.”
Sonny raises a hand slightly. “It’s fine.” He looks at Calo directly. “You have every right to be cautious. I’m an outsider in a place with seemingly strict rules.”
Calo doesn’t soften, but he does stop interrupting.
Sonny considers his words carefully. “I don’t know everything right now. My memory is… unclear. Still piecing things together.” He continues, measured and controlled. “I’m from the mountain where I was found. I was raised there. Trained there. I returned recently… with the expectation that I would die.”
The room goes quiet. Zoa’s expression shifts to slightly unsettled, but she says nothing.
“I’m an ether user,” Sonny adds. “I can’t use magic or energy.”
Calo looks at Sonny with skepticism. “Why go back just to die?”
Sonny’s gaze doesn’t waver. “I’m sorry, but I cannot answer that question.”
Calo stares at him for a long moment, then asks bluntly, “Are you a threat to Pilse?”
Sonny shakes his head once. “No. You have nothing to fear from me. If you want me gone, I’ll leave immediately.”
Calo looks ready to respond, but Zoa steps in again and talks in his ear.
“I want to speak with him alone,” she says. “To learn about him and to be sure he doesn’t pose a threat to Pilse.”
Calo hesitates, then nods. “Fine.”
He exits the room. Now it is just Sonny and Zoa. The room feels lighter immediately. Zoa sits down across from him, practically buzzing with energy.
She begins, “Let me start by saying please refrain from using your ether abilities in Pilse. We don’t get many outsiders, but we ask that you respect our rules.”
Sonny gives a small nod to Zoa.
“Okay,” she says, trying to contain herself and failing slightly. “Now I’ll get to it.” She leans forward. “My role as director of foreign affairs is new. Like… very new. The council only created it recently.”
Sonny listens quietly.
“And I’m young,” she continues. “So most people don’t take me or the position seriously yet.”
Sonny acknowledges her. “I see.”
Zoa nods. “Partly. The other reason is… we’ve had recent troubles.”
She glances toward the door, lowering her voice.
“About five or six months ago, people from the outside started showing up and causing issues for the village residents. They can use magic, and since we don’t, they see us as easy targets.”
Sonny’s gaze sharpens slightly. Before he can inquire about these issues, Zoa suddenly pivots topics, unable to hold back her curiosity any longer.
“So,” she says quickly, “your life. The mountain. How were you raised? Have you ever lived anywhere else? Why were you supposed to die? How does your ether even work? And those noises earlier, were you—”
Sonny signals to her gently. “Slow down.”
Zoa stops mid-sentence, then laughs awkwardly. “Right. Sorry. I’ve just… never had a chance like this to talk to a proper outsider.”
Sonny studies her for a second. Her excitement reminds him of someone. Ellie. The thought lingers longer than he expects. It feels… heavier now, after everything.
He looks away briefly before answering. “I lived on that mountain for most of my life. Around eighteen or nineteen years.”
“And? What was that like?” Zoa presses.
“It was hell,” Sonny says plainly. “We didn’t have much of a life. All we did every day was train ether. No enjoyment. No freedom.”
Zoa’s expression softens. “So you left.”
“Yes. I wanted something different.” He continues. “I enrolled at the Academy of Magic. Spent about nine months there.”
Zoa’s eyes light up again. “You actually a real magic college?”
“Yes.”
“What’s it like?”
Sonny pauses, thinking for a moment. “Busy. Competitive. People care about status. But… there are good parts too.” A vague, half true answer.
Zoa smiles unconsciously. Then she catches herself and straightens.
“Right. Focus,” she mutters to herself.
Her expression shifts back to serious. “Why did you return to that mountain?”
Sonny meets her eyes directly this time. ”I had unfinished business with the organization that raised me.”
The answer lands flat, but heavy.
“Those noises you heard… that was just us resolving an internal conflict.”
Zoa blinks, trying to process that.
“That’s… a small explanation for a very large commotion.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore. The organization has since folded,” Sonny replies quietly.
She studies him, then asks again, more carefully. “This organization… what were they?”
Sonny looks down at his hands and does not answer her.
Zoa pauses, then shifts tracks again attempting to pull more intel from Sonny and connect dots in her mind.
“There was an old man who used to come here,” she says. “Long white hair, long beard. Never spoke. Took supplies every couple weeks. He would come and go in the direction of the mountain you are from.”
Based on that description, Sonny knows exactly who she is talking about. Healer.
“I knew him,” Sonny says.
Zoa leans forward. “What happened to him?”
Sonny’s gaze lowers again. “He passed.”
Sonny spares her the gruesome details of his death by his hand.
Zoa nods slowly. “He did seem rather old, so that makes sense,” she says, though something about her tone suggests she isn’t fully convinced. “Around the time he stopped coming is when things started getting worse here. We saw an uptick in malicious outsider activity in the basin.”
Sonny doesn’t respond, but the realization clicks into place. The Omegas likely protected Pilse and the people of the basin. Indirectly, maybe without the village knowing. And now that protection is gone.
Zoa stands up and stretches lightly.
“It’s late,” she says. “We should both rest.” She turns toward the door, then looks back with a smile.
“Tomorrow, I’m showing you around. And you’re telling me everything about the outside world.”
She pauses. “And don’t worry. I’ll tell Calo you’re not a threat.”
She departs Sonny’s room.
The room falls silent again. Sonny sits alone. For the first time since waking, he turns his attention inward.
But before he closes his eyes, something catches his attention. His chest. He looks down. The familiar mark is gone. His breath stills. He really died. He knows it, and yet… he is here, alive. Sonny can’t help but wonder how Ellie felt when her mark left her body.
He clears his conscience, closes his eyes and enters his mind. Draco is already there.
Sonny doesn’t waste time. “Why am I alive? I died. What happened after the fight with One?”
Draco answers immediately, almost casually. “You’re welcome.”
Sonny’s expression doesn’t change. “This isn’t a joke.”
Draco sighs. “Do you remember asking me about wishes on the train?”
“I do.”
“I told you I might know someone who could grant them, so I called in a favor.”
Sonny waits.
“Wexel,” Draco says.
Sonny freezes for a moment. “Wexel is real?”
“Yes,” Draco replies. “And I had a contract with him. Emphasis on had.”
Sonny’s focus sharpens. “What did you do?”
Draco explains. “Our contract was that every 50 years, I could summon him for a wish. He hated me because of our contract, so I made a deal. Two wishes in exchange for ending the contract permanently.”
Sonny’s thoughts race. “What did you wish for?”
“I brought you back to life.” Draco says simply.
Sonny feels the weight of that immediately. “And the second wish?”
Draco pauses, then answers. “I removed the cost of my ether on your body. You can use it without it destroying yourself.”
The silence stretches.
Sonny doesn’t know what to say. “…Why?”
Draco’s voice softens, just slightly. “I spent many lifetimes chasing power. That path turned me from a human to a demon. Feared, but evil. You have power, but never got a real chance to be human. You reminded me of what I was before I turned.”
Sonny listens intently.
“I want you to have that life,” Draco continues. “The one I tossed aside.”
Sonny swallows. “Why not revive yourself?”
Draco lets out a small laugh. “For what? I have nothing left here. No home. No friends. No purpose.”
A pause. “It is your time now.”
Sonny feels something shift inside him. Not pain. Something deeper. A tear slides down his face.
“…Thank you.” He takes a breath. “What do I do now? This wasn’t the plan.”
Draco chuckles and answers without hesitation.“Then stop planning. Just live.”
Sonny thinks about Ellie. He could return to the Academy of Magic and reunite with her. But something weighs on his mind. His victim list. The 37 people he assassinated with the Omegas. He wants to make amends and bring some good to the world. That was always his next move if granted the opportunity.
He leaves the space and opens his eyes. For once, there is no immediate objective. No mission. No target.
He lies back down. And for the first time in a long time, he allows himself to rest.
