Dunstan shifted in his seat. He wasn’t sure how they’d ended up on this topic all of a sudden. He never liked talking about his family, even with Reza. “The truth is, sir... I ran away from home when I was fifteen.”
“I see. And why did you run away?”
He hesitated again, impulsively pulling his eyes away from the battlefield in order to glance at Miles. A mistake, Dunstan immediately knew. Miles didn’t seem to notice or care, but Dunstan was kicking himself for his unprofessionalism as he refocused on observing.
It was odd, though. Like a faint pressure in his chest. And around his head. His whole body, even. And as much as he would have preferred not to answer that question, remaining silent seemed somehow untenable, nor could he come up with an appropriate lie in time. “My family is full of criminals. If I didn’t leave, I probably would’ve ended up like them.”
“And your reaper didn’t have a problem with that?”
“I didn’t meet her until I was seventeen. She doesn’t have any ties to my family. I doubt they even know reapers exist.”
“I wouldn’t be too certain of that.”
Dunstan’s gaze flickered again, and he had to concentrate in order to keep his eyes where they needed to be. “What do you mean, sir?”
But instead of answering, Cpt. General Miles chose to ask a different question. “Where was your family living when you left?”
And there it was again--that unexplained pressure, pushing him onward, compelling him to speak. “Dante. I think we had some cousins in Atreya, too. Why?”
“What is your grandfather’s name?”
“Damian. Why, sir?”
“Ha. No reason.”
“Sir, please stop being so mysterious. Do you know my grandfather?”
“I don’t know anyone named Damian Rofal, no.”
“Then...?”
“But you do remind me of someone I once knew. You have the same eyebrows he had.”
‘Same eyes, chin, and hair color, too,’ added Overra.
“It’s really the eyebrows, though,” said Miles. “Very distinctive, those things. You could probably pull them off your face and use them as weapons.”
‘They’re like angry boomerangs,’ said Overra.
Dunstan tried to take that as a compliment. “Apart from his name, I don’t remember much else about my grandfather. He only visited a few times when I was a child. I don’t think he got along well with my parents.”
A dark serial novel. Set in a modern fantasy world called Eleg. Mature language. Updates every night at midnight PST by ~400 words.
Well, whatever Miles is doing to Dunstan I find it ominous as FUCK.
ReplyDeleteHis ability has something to do with wind. I think he's using some subtle trick with air pressure to make Dunstan more pliable. Not sure how that works exactly, but I know higher altitudes and lower levels of oxygen can influence people.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds to me like Miles is releasing some kind of gaseous truth serum and using air pressure to press it against Dunstan.
ReplyDeleteMan, the more I read this story, the more I love the reaper-servant relationship and everything that can be done with it.
ReplyDeleteSo we learned damian was collecting family members by force, does that mean he will be showing up? because that guy is terrifying
ReplyDeleteOr that high-level soul techniques allow physical force to exert metaphysical force as a corollary - so, pressure makes people nervous and talkative, destruction can unmake memories, a mutation user who shapes themselves into an angel will cause minor miracles unrelated to direct power usages, creating cold elements to cool someone will calm their emotions, etc. This is probably false, but a neat idea.
ReplyDeleteMiles was the guy who initiated the Aberrations-for-the-Vanguard-thing, right? And we know that Geoffrey wasn't created by Abolish either. And we also know that Damian "Rofal" wasn't exactly a member of Abolish, but very much feared by them. Makes sense that Miles and Damian would know each other.
ReplyDeleteTypo:
"Dunstan['s] gaze flickered again"
Fixed, thanks.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that he's taken some time and possibly experimentation to learn how to create subtle psychological pressures by creating specific sensations using pressure control. Mind is the plaything of the body, and he's had a lot of time to learn.
ReplyDeleteMight not even be all that complicated, just making his target feel vaguely uncomfortable/uneasy when they aren't doing what he wants.
Just to be clear, how many times do you up date a month?
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid that's just not a clear thing, right now. I try to update at least once for every day in that month, but as you can see from the Page Links list on the right side of the site, I haven't always achieved that.
ReplyDeleteI see but a lest you try.
ReplyDelete...Dunstan and Geoffrey are brothers, aren't they?
ReplyDeleteAlso, eyebrows like angry boomerangs. I love this image.
Probably just cousins.
ReplyDelete