Save State Hero 2 -ch 4- (Patreon)

“-after that point it was something akin to six-hundred save-state uses. It was degraded after that,” Edmund finished with a nod of his head.

“That’s when I helped with spells and Runner and I worked to stabilize it. Did we?” Claire asked.

“Yes. So I went back in to try and save Ryker again. But uh… it broke… again,” Edmund admitted.

“Because of me. My spells. My spells… distort reality. Right?” asked Claire.

“Yes. Your spells are the primary reason of why everything starts to fall apart,” confirmed Edmund. “Especially in regards to the save-state. Your spells always puts holes through them and I can’t use them anymore.”

Claire huffed, groaned, and began squirming around in her seat. Looking pained and frustrated.

With what, Edmund had no clue.

“I understand. I suppose we’ll need to solve me attacking Ryker immediate,” mumbled Claire. Then she nodded her head once and looked to Edmund with a smile. “Are you seeing anyone? Is the Dryad next to you, yours?”

Edmund remembered last time when Claire had asked a similar question. He really didn’t want her to think that he was single.

“I’m seeing someone, yes,” Edmund apologized with a smile.

Claire smiled wider, looked at Ellie, and put a bolt of lightning through her head. Causing it to explode and splatter apart in every direction.

“There! Now you’re single,” said Claire with a wave of her hand and a chuckle. “Since we’re discussing end of the war type of things, I think you should meet my nieces. I’m sure I have a few now from my sister and I think it would be a good thing for my family to become your family.”

Starting at Ellie’s twitching corpse, Edmund could barely control his mind. Or more accurately, the echoes from his lives with her.

Quivering from head to toe, Edmund battled down the desperate need to attack Claire.

“Oh… oh dear. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize she was your Ryker,” apologized Claire quickly. “Just… ah… reload to that save-state you made earlier on the couch when we’re done. Sorry, sorry. I got ahead of myself.

“Or would it be easier to reload now? Here, I’ll just put a note on you for myself. I’ll make sure I remove it when you come back.”

“A note?” Edmund asked through grit teeth.

“Mmmhmm. A note. For myself, to myself. Since you’re going back you’ll just end up carrying it with you,” Claire offered up by means of explanation. She made several movements with her fingers and a spell flared to life between her hands.

It shot forward, struck Edmund, and vanished.

Wait… is that all it takes?

Is this the answer to that issue?

“Could you write a note to yourself to not go crazy at Ryker when you see him later?” Edmund asked. His rage freezing in place yet not dissipating. “Is it possible to make a note that would see you out and explain everything to you the moment I re-entered a save? Like… could it seek you out and tell you what was going on?”

“I… I-that… yes? Yes. I could. I could do that! That’d probably help quite a bit. I could even start preparing for what comes after!” Claire said excitedly. All the while her hands began flicking back and forth, her fingers moving around and between one another. Between her hands a spell was being built. “What a grand idea. A grand idea! You’re a very smart man, Edmund.

“I really am sorry about the Dryad. I just… well… you’re such a unique man. I feel like I should try to get you into the family. Since you’re with a Dryad, do you have a Harem?”

Edmund ignored the question and instead focused on Claire’s spell-work.

“From what I can tell, Lady Claire, he does,” answered Iren. “Though it’s a bit fragmented and still forming.”

“Ahh, ahhh, thank you, Miss,” Claire replied, her fingers stiffening and locking around her spell. Only to relax and resume their manipulations.

Then she flicked the spell off at him.

“This will follow you where-ever you go. Any save-state you enter will result in this spell leaving and informing me of everything,” Claire said. “Why don’t you try it and —”

Edmund loaded the save-state before she could even finish speaking.

No sooner than he was in than he looked to Ellie.

She was perfectly fine, sitting on the couch with raised eyebrows. Edmund had already forgotten where they were in the conversation but it must have been something provocative.

Claire’s spell leapt out of Edmund and shot toward Claire.

Who sat upright as soon as it happened, frozen in place.

It slammed into her forehead and caused her to lock up.

Ellie’s face took on a confused look and then she turned to look at him.

“What just happened?” she asked.

“Nothing,” Edmund replied, looking to Claire now. “Doing testing with Claire.”

“Ahhh? Ah. Ah! I see,” Claire mumbled, then returned her gaze to Edmund. “That worked rather well! Okay. Saving Ryker. What do we start with?”

“First, I need to be able to find a lost soul. Do you know who Andrea is?” Edmund asked.

“Yes. I do.”

“Andrea dies in every save-state I enter. Her soul is missing. I need to find it so I can go backward to save Ryker,” Edmund explained. “Oz, Srit, Runner, and anyone else I ask tells me it’s impossible to recover it.

“I figure you’re different than everyone else. You see the world for what it is. Who better to help me find Andrea?

“Especially if my web is working on you. Last time you said you felt more clear headed than you ever had been before.”

Claire’s eyebrows shot up and remained there.

“Well… I do feel rather… clear-headed at the moment. Hm. Andrea’s soul is missing,” said Claire. “Well. Given my spell work, what I’ve done in the past, and how we’re going at this, I could probably add more alterations to what I’ve done.

“But it’s likely going to cause you a number of problems. I’m sure… ah… I’m sure things won’t go as smoothly in ways you never thought of.”

“That’s fine. I’m at an impasse,” Edmund answered. “It’s why I’m here to see you, Lady Claire.”

“Please, just Claire is fine,” she said, sighed, then stood up. “Well! I’ll need to go fetch my daughter. I’ll need some help with this.

“This isn’t… going forward, right? This is what you had called a dead branch?”

“Yes,” agreed Edmund.

“Mm. Alright. This’ll take a bit and I won’t be here,” Claire advised. “So… go do whatever it is you need to do. You’ll know when I cast the spell.”

“How long are we talking?” Iren asked. “Ah… how long might that be, Lady Claire?”

The amended portion came quickly when Claire turned to look at the Dragon.

“A week. Maybe two. Depends on how much I can talk my daughter into helping,” Claire admitted. “I wish I could go see Ryker but… that’d just cause Zeus to move forward instead of Runner as you described it in the future.”

“Two weeks. Alright,” Edmund said.

“Your sister,” Ellie quickly interjected, grabbing Edmund’s knee. “We should look into that.”

The suggestion smashed through his thoughts and broke open an avenue he really wanted to look into.

Especially since this would be a lead-up to her being arrested.

I need a list.

A checklist.

Earline, Andrea, Ryker, Vince.

Those are the big four at the moment. Dot would be five, but she kinda bleeds into Ryker.

Okay.

Off we go home then.

“Then I’ll send you off. It sounds like you have something to investigate at the same time,” Claire said, snapped her fingers with a smile, and the three of them were suddenly sitting in what felt a lot like a cafe.

Looking around, Edmund had no idea where they were, but there were three menu’s in front of them and the sun was high above.

“Oh, hi,” said a waitress coming over to them. “Welcome in today to Baron’s. Can I get you started with some drinks or apetizers?”

“Uh,” Iren murmured and looked down to the menu. Then she smiled. “Can I have a lemonade and these beef empanadas?”

“Oh! They have a great selection of salads,” Ellie said. She’d picked up the menu and was looking through it.

Errr… alright.

Lunch it is I guess.

These two adapt real quick. Makes it easier to have them around.

Then off to find Earline.

***

Edmund had decided there was no reason to risk altering what would happen. This whole save-state was just to see what Claire came up with to help him find Andrea.

Once she was done with her spell he planned on running her down to figure out what exactly she had come up with, as well as how they might use it to run down Andrea.

“That was a cute little high-school,” said Ellie, leaning forward in the passenger seat and peering out the window as they drove back to the trailer park. “Did you go there?”

“Mostly,” Edmund replied quietly. “Spent a lot of it hiding in the bathroom. Waiting for class to end. Just… hoping the day would end so I could get older and move on.”

“That doesn’t sound very fun at all. My high-school life was pretty boring. I lived it as a normal person would. I didn’t really even realize I was that different until my late teens,” said Ellie followed by a laugh. “Then my boobs came in, I suddenly had a seed I needed to plant, and my mom explaining to me that she was a Dryad as well.

“From awkward and ‘cute at best’ to what I am now in a year. It was a real big culture shock.”

“Get asked out constantly I take it?”

“Yes. Constantly. To the point that I just stopped talking to boys. It was easier that way. Much easier. It just… didn’t… well, you know how I look. They were mostly interested in one thing.

“What’s your sister like, by the way?”

“Gaslit to hell and back, kind, sensitive, and socially trained to do anything our parents tell her, really. Going to need to get her a lot of personality development courses and the like, I guess.

“That and a whole lotta therapy.”

“Though at school she’s a model student as you heard from the principal. I’m glad Felix had already invested so heavily into me that the school was Legion owned.

“Made that a lot easier to get into and understand how the situation was. Still not really sure how she ends up in prison though.”

“Attempted murder is a pretty far cry from where she is now. Though the lawyer did mention it was something else, didn’t he?”

“Yeah,” confirmed Edmund with a shake of his head as he turned into the trailer park’s entrance.

“It was aiding and abetting I think,” Ellie supplied when Edmund didn’t continue.

“Yeah, that’s… yeah. That’s it,” he grumbled as he drove ever deeper. As ever, he had a strange feeling whenever he came here.

“Smells like drugs, sex, and violence,” Iren offered from the backseat. “Kinda reminds me of my home. I’m from Vince’s planet, you know. I grew up in the Trilliance territory. Moved over with my parents.

“Got put into Goldie’s training class almost immediately. Along with all the other young maidens. The boys were all separated immediately and sent to a different school.”

“That’s fascinating. You mentioned you were also told specifically to find a mate that wasn’t a Dragon?” Ellie asked as Edmund navigated them into a generalized set of parking spots.

“Yep! I’m supposed to find someone without any Dragon blood. We’re trying to spread out our genetic whatever-it-is with my generation.

“All of Vince’s kids, and Felix I guess, are going to end up being sent to other planes and planets. They’re not allowed to have a partner from Legion or Yosemite.”

“You know, I always felt like it was a mistake to consolidate so many Dragon maidens with the Campbells,” Ellie admitted. “I’m glad that I was just being silly. Meliae and Faith clearly have gotten everyone’s head on straight.”

“Haha, yeah. The only exception is Eddy. Apparently there’s an entire class dedicated to Dragon maidens that are going to make an attempt on him,” Iren confessed with a loud laugh. “Goldie didn’t want him to escape.”

“That’s… neat, I suppose,” Ellie grumbled.

“Oz, is there a Dryad version of that? Is Faith or… uh… Meli… Melissa… Vince’s Dryad wife… doing something similar?” Edmund asked.

“Yes,” answered Oz matter-of-factly. “The class size for Dragons is only six and the class size for the Dryad’s is seven. There is also an Elf class being formed.

“The Dragons are ahead in this and the Dryads and Elves only now moving. They only recently became fully aware of how powerful you are.”

Blowing a raspberry, Edmund leaned back in his seat.

“Edmund’s likelihood of entering a Harem has increased exponentially since the classes began,” Oz continued. “The current chance is well over eighty-out-of a hundred.

“A good footnote to add considering the echoes of previous lives only ever consisted of Edmund, Romina, and Ellie at the highest count. Though that was only when Edmund did nothing and fled with Romina.”

Fled?

I… suppose that’s true.

Romina only sticks around if I don’t go on the mission, or come back from the mission and quit Legion immediately.

Then we run off together.

She’s always been a bit of a coward, hasn’t she?

Afraid to lose what she thinks she already has in favor of something else.

“— somewhat surprising, Oz,” Ellie remarked, causing Edmund’s head to snap to the side and look at her. Oz had spoken in a way that Ellie could hear him. Looking to the back he saw that Iren looked interested as well.  As if she’d heard him, too. “What’re the odds that it becomes a full Harem? With a Dryad, Dragon, and an Elf, like the Campbells?”

“Oh, oh, and will I and Ellie be in it?” Iren pitched in.

“It’s nearly a guarantee that there will be all three, given his life expectancy,” Oz answered. “Ellie is… Ellie will always be in a Harem with Edmund.

“You have a good chance Iren, but it isn’t as likely. The White Dragon Goldie is working with is likely going to be the chosen one.

“The Elves are a tossup, but there’s a rather cynical Snow Elf that seems likely.”

“I… what? And how do you even know all this?” Edmund demanded.

“Because I’m able to generate scenarios based on what I know of Edmund and extrapolate likely outcomes,” answered Oz quickly. “Given your personality and how you trend, these are the likely outcomes.”

“Aww, how do I increase my odds?” Iren asked.

“I’m afraid I can’t answer that as it would likely skew how he perceives you in the future. It’s best to be yourself around him and pursue him earnestly.”

“Then why’d you tell him about the White Dragon or the Snow Elf?” Iren comlained.

“Telling him of the others changes nothing, as it’s likely he has already heard of them,” Oz declared. “In fact, it’s quite likely he’s already experienced lives with them.”

Edmund had been only partially listening to the follow up response.

He did mentally note the last bit of it though as he had never actually had never had such an encounter with Dragons or Elves.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, this wasn’t the heart of his current dilemma.

As was the case for this trailer-park in particular, it didn’t have very many redeeming qualities.

Not all trailer-parks were created equal, and they could be quite nice Edmund had found after looking into it, but this one, his home, was nasty.

Nasty, disreputable, crime ridden, and a place where police knew most of the residents.

The problem was Edmund had spotted a group of men drinking on the backside of a trailer.

They were all staring at Ellie with undisguised interest. Most of them probably in their late thirties and looked as if they’d worked in physical labor for most of their life.

Clicking his tongue, Edmund realized that this would probably be an issue. He had only wanted to come back here to see if he could find any clues about his sister out in her room.

His parents wouldn’t be home right now and it’d be a good opportunity to snoop through her room.

“Haha, look at those silly meat-bags,” Iren said, leaning between the seats and staring back at the men. “It’s like they don’t understand what it means to actually be stared at.

“That I used to eat people like them for meals. My mom would break their legs and drop them in front of me to teach me to hunt.”

Laughing, Iren seemed to be hyper-focusing in on the men. To the point that Edmund felt as if he were looking at a cat getting ready to pounce.

“Can I kill them and eat them? It’s not like this world matters. It’s going to be reset,” growled Iren, her voice dropping a number of octaves till it had the deep rumble he expected from a Dragon. “It’d be fun… besides, they shouldn’t be staring at us. They should know better. Know their place.

“Legion First… and they’re not Legion. Hehehe.”

“Fine,” Edmund allowed after a long pause. “Do whatever you want. Try not to kill them if you don’t have to.

“We need to make sure we do it in a way that doesn’t draw the police over. We need the park to be moving along normally so I can figure out what happens to Earline.

“You got it, Iren? I need you to do it in a way that won’t attract the police. That’s what I need you to promise me if you’re going to do this.”

“Oh that’s not a problem. Goldie’s been teaching us lots of ways to dispose of people quietly. This world is plenty easy to get rid of evidence so long as no one notices it to begin with,” Iren said while chuckling.

Then she opened the back door and clambered out.

No sooner than she stood up to her full height, which was easily somewhere in the six-foot four realm, the men seemed to reconsider what they were doing.

All eyes dropped to the grass in front of them, and the one facing the car, picked up their chair, moved to the other side of the cooler they were sitting around, and put his back to the car.

“Awww, what, I don’t get to play after all?” remarked Iren in a voice loud enough to carry. “I thought I’d be digging holes for bodies tonight. Maybe they’re smarter than they look?”

Another man who was partially facing the car deliberately shifted his chair around till it faced part-way away.

Clicking her tongue, Iren instead went to the side view mirror, got down, and leaned up against the car next to Edmund’s window.

Which was rolled down.

“Hey, going my way? I don’t have any cash, but I’m sure we could figure out other ways for me to pay,” Iren deadpanned and then smiled at him. It felt so normal and flirty that he forgot she was a Dragon in that moment. “Could you find it in your… pants… to help a girl out?”

Without realizing it, he smiled back at her.

Edmund loved people with a sense of humor.

His good mood was shattered an hour later though.

Because they’d found absolutely nothing to work with in the trailer.

“Nothing in your parents home. Nothing at school,” Ellie said as the three of them sat around a small coffee table. She shook her head and sighed. “It almost feels like whatever it is that causes the problem, is… a surprise.

“Something that no one expected. Which, given what you’ve said about her, really fits. She didn’t sound like the type of person that would let herself get pulled into an attempted murder.”

They were at the closest possible place to get a bite to eat from the trailer park to go over what they knew.

Which was nothing at all in the current save-state.

Everything and anything they knew, was from what Edmund could tell them of the previous.

“I think we should just let this save-state play out,” Iren suggested. “Let it play out, take notes, then come back after Claire finishes up her whats’it. See if we can’t find out more then.

“Which means most of this save-state is for funsies. Wanna have some funsies with me that I won’t even remember we had?”

Iren had said the last while leaning towards Edmund and giving him a good view down the dress Claire had put her in.

Edmund chuckled, shook his head, then sighed.

“I think you’re right. I think this is somewhat of a wash. Just need to figure out what the heck is going on and go from there, because right now… we’re stuck in neutral,” he summarized. “I can’t work on Dot because with Andrea dead it all went to crap and Felix isn’t doing anything anymore. Not to mention he’s aware nothing matters.

“Ryker is busy as could be and hasn’t responded to me at all. As has Runner.

“I’m… still stuck. Stuck. In mud.”

“Let’s hope you get unstuck soon,” Ellie said apologetically.