"I need to go check on the egg," he told her, and then turned to leave.
"You want some company?" Athios asked softly, following in his wake. "You did promise to tell me what happened last night..."
Chapter Six – Let it Go
Garath began receiving private messages from people hoping to join his Dungeon team the second he left the building with Athios. He dismissed the notifications as they came in, planning to go over them all when he was alone. Ideally, in the presence of the egg on the cliff where his mind would be clearer.
The drooping sun sent weak beams of light through small gaps in the clouds. Vibrant shades of yellow and orange danced across the ocean waves as Garath and Athios neared Garath’s clifftop. Knowing she’d be on the Dungeon team without even asking, Garath sent his very first Guild invitation.
Would you like to invite Athios to join The Band of the Hawk?
Yes or No
Garath chose 'Yes' and a few seconds later received another prompt.
Athios has joined The Band of the Hawk.
Now at two members strong, Garath decided it would be a good time to send some Guild invitations to the group heading west from Wyoming. Short minutes later, Garath received and dismissed a handful of additional prompts.
Auto has joined The Band of the Hawk.
Obawon has joined The Band of the Hawk.
Jebawon has joined The Band of the Hawk.
Maimon has joined The Band of the Hawk.
Eventually, Garath did tell Athios what happened with Leviathan the night before, leaving out the fact that she was a seventeen-year-old girl. He told her about the fight in great detail in order to avoid having to give details about Leviathan herself. As soon as they were within a few of where he planted the tiny silver egg the night before, Garath felt a wave of relief wash over him.
He hadn't told anyone about the effects of tainted soul for fear that they would not understand or worse, lose trust in him. Garath couldn't even imagine the response from the already jumpy community if they learned that the Necrologist Class was responsible, at least partially, for twisting Leviathan into the monster that she became. Now though, with the comforting presence of the egg to give him strength, he felt like it may do him some good to finally get it off his chest. He knew that he could trust Athios to keep it to herself, but felt as though he couldn't ask her to share the burden. He wanted to tell her, but didn’t even know where to start. What would he even say?
Anyways… I’ve been wanting to tell someone that I sometimes get urges to murder everyone in our group just to make myself stronger. And that other times, when I see wild animals looking for their lunch, I just massacre them and then feed their organs to these demons I summoned from hell to serve me.
That’d go over well.
"I know that face," Athios told him, her voice gentle and understanding. Garath looked up from his self-loathing to see concern on her delicate features. "You don't have to tell me about whatever it is that’s on your mind if you don't want to, but if you do, I'll listen."
Athios summoned a small red box from her Items panel and pulled a lighter out of her pocket. She took out a cigarette for each of them and handed one to the Necrologist, who accepted it happily. Garath hadn't been a regular smoker before the apocalypse, but it felt like a rare luxury at that point. Athios had found that when someone needs to unload something they were uncomfortable with sharing, oftentimes just doing something simple with their hands can make it a little easier.
"You find these at the mall?" he asked, hoping to redirect the conversation away from himself.
Athios nodded, lit her cigarette, and handed the lighter to Garath.
"Nice," he said dumbly.
Athios looked at him expectantly with her oversized, walnut-shaped eyes looking through him like he was a window. She waited patiently, inhaling and releasing tendrils of grey smoke from her thin lips. He could see that he wasn’t going to be able to hide anything from her, and more importantly he was unsure if he even wanted to. He lit his own cigarette and inhaled deeply. "Can I tell you something?" he asked with little puffs of smoke exiting his mouth with each syllable.
She nodded encouragingly and wrapped her arms around her knees. "Tell me."
"I haven't told anyone this." At first the words got stuck in his throat, unsure how to explain what he was going through, but after a few seconds, the floodgates dropped. He spilled everything. Even things he didn't know he needed to get off his chest, like being identified by the Earth as a Leader of Man, the raccoon massacre earlier that day, and the exultation he felt after killing Leviathan. He told her that he had never been a leader, and that he felt unsure of his ability to step into that role. He told her about the urges to kill that stemmed from his growing lust for greater power, the same lust that drove Leviathan to kill so many people. Athios listened to all of it without interruption. She just puffed away at her cigarette as she took in everything he was saying. She didn't give him advice or talk down to him for having murderous and psychopathic urges. She just listened.
The sky had darkened slightly and the night’s first handful of stars were winking into existence above when Garath finally stopped talking. Then Athios did something completely unexpected. She stood up and nervously approached him, then turned her head and placed it softly
