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“Then why are you bothering with all of this?” Emiliana asked. “Only because I have mutation? There must be thousands more like me.”

“I am not an Elroy,” Gohvis repeated, “but I did share a bond with House Elroy, once.”

Emiliana blinked. “What do you mean?”

“A man named Agam Elroy. He and I were linked. Our mutations tied us together in an anomalous way--a way which, to my knowledge, has never occurred again, either before or since.”

She wasn’t sure she understood.

“But it would seem that you have inherited his power,” said Gohvis.

Her head reared back. She was beginning to get the picture.

The Monster crouched down to look at her more closely, but he was still taller than her by a good meter or so. His red eyes seemed like they might burn holes into her. “I have been awaiting his successor for a very long time.”

“...Why?” was all Emiliana could think to ask.

Gohvis took his time with that one. “I must study our link. It possesses untold potential.”

That brought up other questions for her. “How much do you know about this link?”

And perhaps that was too far, because Gohvis stopped answering her.

Emiliana waited, but a long period of silence was all that followed.

Before it could get too long, however, Ibai chimed in.

“So where are you taking us?” the aberration asked. “Is it somewhere fun? Perhaps I’m being presumptuous, but I thought it might be somewhere very far east. Given your name and all. Will we get to see the Luthic Ocean? I have always wanted to go there. I heard there was a big resurgence in piracy there a few years ago. I would love to meet some real life pirates. Do you think we could do that? Oh! Or maybe you’ll take us all the way to Ardora! Maybe we could--!”

“Please be quiet,” Emiliana said, having grown increasingly worried that the Monster would snap the man’s neck if for no other reason than annoyance.

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Emiliana would have liked to protest, but she knew there was no point in it. Slowly, she removed her mask. The sunlight on her face was much more unsettling than she remembered. It felt almost irritating against her skin, but that was probably just psychological, she figured.

Gohvis’ crimson glare lingered on her.

She grew more uncomfortable by the second. “What do you want from me?” she said, sounding a bit angrier than even she’d anticipated. “Just tell me, already.”

The Monster spared a glance in Ibai’s direction before returning to Emiliana. “I am a collector of our kind.”

Emiliana didn’t buy that. “...So I am some sort of toy to you? You certainly went through a lot of trouble in order to collect me. Going against your own comrades.”

“Comrades is a strong word.”

She could feel the air growing heavier. The Monster’s doing? It didn’t matter. Right now, she only wanted answers. “I heard what Ivan said. Is it true? Are you and I related somehow?”

Gohvis just stared at her.

How annoying. “If you are, then just say so. Don’t play these games. I will find out one way or another. I promise you.” Her mind was far too calm, she was sure. Far too confident. This wasn’t how you were supposed to talk to someone like Gohvis.

But right now, she didn’t care. For some reason, she wasn’t afraid of him. Well, no, she was. She was very afraid of him. It was more like... the fear she felt couldn’t touch her thoughts, couldn’t hinder her concentration. If anything, it seemed to be helping her focus.

“Misinformation has all but destroyed your family,” said Gohvis. “You have the Vanguard to thank for that. I am not an Elroy. I am not a Rainlord. I never have been.”

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The giant black lizard man was still there, Emiliana saw. It hadn’t been a dream.

When he first arrived back at Dunehall, Emiliana had begun questioning her sanity again. It wasn’t until she was sure that everyone else could see him too that she started to think she might not have gone crazy.

But there was another reason why it was so surreal for her. Not only was this hallucination suddenly NOT a hallucination at all, but her brain had been disturbingly undisturbed by it. Every thought was so calm, so quiet, having no trouble assessing her circumstances despite the rest of her body being on the verge of panic.

By now, she’d attributed it to something being wrong with her fight-or-flight response. It was a natural biological process triggered by the brain’s perception of extreme danger. Her body had responded appropriately, but seemingly, her brain had not.

Or... perhaps it had responded, only differently. This calm did feel rather unnatural.

She could only imagine that it was Rasalased’s doing--though, whether or not the effects were temporary or permanent, she couldn’t say. If they were temporary, then they were taking a while to wear off, because she could still feel them even now, even with the Monster of the East looming over her as if he were the abyssal god of lakefire himself.

Emiliana stood and brushed herself off. She had plenty of questions she wanted to ask, but she decided to wait for Gohvis to say something first. It was obvious enough that he was the one in control here, and she would’ve only been repeating herself, anyway.

“How long ago did your power manifest?” the Monster asked.

Emiliana had to think about that. “A month or so.” She actually wasn’t sure. Too much had happened. Maybe it had only been a couple weeks. It felt more like a year, though. “Why do you want to know?”

Gohvis ignored the question. “Show me your face.”