04: Interview
Brewmasters, Carrum Valley, Unknown World
Kael tinkered away with his various brewing stations, keeping himself busy as he normally did late into his working afternoon when his attention was grabbed by the sound of his door-mounted bell ringing as someone entered the store letting in a chilled breeze with them. Putting down his tools and making his way to the front, he noticed the time. He’d gotten distracted again, and was supposed to close up half an hour ago. “Typical…” he smiled to himself. Kael reached and pulled back the curtain.
Eyes. A pair of them. Flickering briefly with a white and red glow, before settling to a deep purple. Before Kael stood an olive-skinned, striking man in a blood-red overcoat. His hair, both head and facial, were trimmed and stylized in a unique fashion that Kael had never seen before. Kael raised an eyebrow as he continued to greet the man. “Hey, welcome to Brewmasters, what can I do ya for?”
The man let out a chuckle, “I’ve gotta say, love the costume buddy.” That sort of comment was typical of the occasional city dwellers, the type who haven’t seen the old traditional Shaman clothing. Even some locals mistook it for an elaborate costume for the sake of business.
“Thank you my man”, replied Kael. “It’s custom made from my parents, nice right?”
“Indeed it is.” The man seemed genuinely enthused. “Look, I’ll try and keep this quick as I don’t have much time, but I saw your sign.” The man pointed to a piece of paper with “SHAMAN ADVENTURER LOOKING FOR WORK” written in what appeared to be an attempt at cursive, stuck to the inside of the window. Kael was an adventurer and nomad at heart, and his work gave him the chance to travel the world to help people. However, things have been pretty quiet recently, consisting of mainly blessing a newborn, or performing an exorcism for people not understanding the difference between a Shaman and Priest.
“Yeah, as you can see, it gets quiet during winter so pretty much anything, anywhere warmer than here. What’s the job?” Kael leaned on the shop counter at full attention.
The man smiled at Kael’s eagerness. “Firstly, I just want to make sure you’re the right person for the job, do you mind a quick interview?”
Kael smirked slightly and looked around the room. He held his hand out towards the plant resting on the other side of the counter, producing a golden glowing glyph from his palm. Vibrant light and a droning hum filled the storefront as Kael rotated his hand. As he did, the plant began to discolour and shrivel. “I’m a shaman and brewmaster, and my speciality is the energy of life, healing, and a really good drink.” He rotated his hand back the other way, and the plant began to restore and bloom in a lush life-filled green.
The man’s lips pursed as he nodded. “Alright, that answers most of my questions pretty much immediately. Would you say you have a goal and mission in life, Kael?”
“To help people, to understand the powers of nature, and to become the best version of me I can be while doing it all.” The man smiles, seemingly pleased with Kael’s answer.
“I should introduce myself and tell you a bit about the job then.” Kael nodded in affirmation to the man. “I go by Agent Coyle, and I’m looking for people to join my team, as we go and save existence itself. I feel like you’d be perfect, as one of the tasks requires your exact skillset. Also, I’ve been having these red flare-ups on my skin that you might also be able to help with hopefully. The pay is alright, but the real perk is the ability to travel to worlds and dimensions you’ve never heard of, with something new around every corner. Interested?”
Kael looked at Agent Coyle with slight scepticism. “Do you mind if I ask you some questions about… Well, all of that first?”
“Sure. I am on a bit of a tight schedule, but what’s on your mind?” Coyle leaned against the counter as Kael contemplated for a moment.
“Where are you from first of all, and what brought you to me specifically? Your clothing choice looks a bit too stylish to be a city dweller.” Coyle winced slightly at the question.
“Well….” Coyle lingered for a moment, searching for the most appropriate words. “I’m not from this world to say the very least, and I’m here due to a rift that sent me to your dimension. As for you specifically, I want to say… luck? Call it destiny or whatever, things just seem to work out like that sometimes.”
Kael looked at Coyle in disbelief. ”Are you… you’re serious?” Coyle smiles with one side of his lips and tilts his head clicking his tongue “You’re for real…” Kael stands in silence for a moment, before shaking himself out of his daze. He reached under the counter and pulled out a small cooler. “Well, I’m going to take a moment to come to terms with different dimensions existing, so here.”
Kael opens the cooler and offers Coyle an unlabelled, chilled Cider. Coyle’s eyes dart between Kael and the drink quizzically, before eventually shrugging and taking the drink. The two cheers their drinks and swig together. Coyle coughs and splutters a bit as he lowers his drink. “GhhHHM…. Wow…”.
Kael laughed slightly at the traveller as he struggles to hold his drink. “Well, interdimensional Agentman, what adventures bought you here?” Kael asks, taking another sip of his drink.
“I’ll try and keep this quick,” Coyle stated, drink still in hand. “Buckle up, very few know this story, but I’m feeling a bit of kinship here, so...” Coyle takes a deep breath, followed by a much longer swig of his drink as Kael leans in slightly.
“Before all this, I came from a world that we called Valhalla, sent by a Goddess Navi to stop a great evil that could end existence. I flew a dimensional ship through a cosmic rift before I eventually crash-landed in a different realm, on a planet called Talich. I became an engineer with this super high tech group Genesis Industries and, like any agent should, blended in with the new world as I expanded and explored my powers.”
“Powers?” Kael asked.
Coyle placed his drink on the counter and held his hand out to Kael, who looked quizzically for a moment, then smiling curiously as he placed his hand in Coyle’s. Agent Coyle raises his other arm towards the same plant on the counter as before and holds his palm out. He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath to focus. A golden glyph appeared, letting out a familiar hum. Coyle twisted his hand slightly as the same plant wilts and droops, about half as fast as it did before. He twisted back, and at this same slower pace, the plant restored some of its green leaves.
“Adaptability, and the ability to learn and recreate the magic and energy of those I come in contact with.” Kael nods, seemingly impressed. “I wasn’t sure about that first part, but when surrounded by scientific minds, I learned at a much faster pace than when I tried to study by myself.” Coyle grabs his drink once more before continuing, “Eventually, I joined this other group called the Flame Dawn Empire, infiltrating their ranks and rising quite quickly as a fierce front line soldier. I even grew flaming hair to stand out whilst fitting in.” He laughs reminiscing at what seems like a distant memory.
“Alright, hold on a moment. This is getting good, so let’s just get comfortable for a second.” Kael gestured to a table in the centre of the room. He then vaulted over the counter, taking his cooler with him as he locked the door and flipped the Open sign to Closed before joining Coyle at the table.
Coyle sips his drink, wincing slightly at the strength of the brew before continuing his story. “Ok so, these Flame Dawn peeps were at war with the Genesis guys, but then huge rifts opened up all over, linking their world to other worlds, and their little war suddenly became a lot less important. Oh, also I had a fling with a certain brilliant and quite fine commander of their army, but that stays a secret, she’ll kill me if she knows I told anyone.”
Kael laughed, “Don’t worry man, firstly your secret is safe, but also she’s not going t-”
Coyle interrupted Kael, “No, she will literally kill me. Your secrecy is very important here.” Kael traced his fingers over his lips to mimic a zip, smiling the whole time. “So anyway... the portals were opening, and we heard more about the other worlds we were now exposed to. We’ve got the Old World, which is full of animals and giants, overrun by nature. There’s also Talich, a world of monks, death cultists and demons.”
“Demons! Like actual demons?” Kael inquired.
“You heard me,” responded Coyle. “These death cultists, run by a matriarchy mind you, named the Cult of Verore, made a portal to a place called Torment, a demonic realm full of… well, demons. The land begins to corrupt, but they capture some demons, then the demons capture one of their leaders called Aleta, common name apparently, who it turns out is immortal, which is also common among those called Aleta, and the cult backs off a bit. Meanwhile, the monks I mentioned, who call themselves the Descendants of the Dragon were just being super chill, fighting off the demons and cultists trying to kill them. I went to hang out with the monks for a while, and learned to be all zen-like.”
Kael watched a very excited Coyle ramble away his story, taking in every word of it as he learned of an existence greater than he ever knew. “After that, I was with the animals being tribal and got a bit buff from swinging through trees and stuff. Then, another rift opens up in the Old World, the place with the animal society, and I kid you not, a bunch of Zombie Cyborgs called the Sleepers of Avarrach pour into the world by the millions, and infect the beasts with a rogue self-replicating nano-virus known as the sleeper virus and turn them in Zombie Cyborgs.”
“Zomborgs, as I like to call them, are bad enough, but Beastie Zomborgs? Good Lord; every man and his dog starts dying and becoming one of them, which becomes exponential and so most of the whole world of billions was doomed within weeks. While this was happening, I was helping an old Genesis mate named Tygris, who was experimenting on the portals to learn how to close them off and stop the Zomborgs coming to Talich. Zomborgs is a cool name yeah?” Kael looked grimacing back at Coyle. “Hrmm, so maybe that’s why the name didn’t take off…”
“Anyways, something went really wrong, or right... I’m unsure. He accidentally made a time portal to the past, forming right after my initial landing in Talich. A version of me from the past saw the current day version of me through the portal, and naturally jumped headlong into it.”
“Wait up…” interrupted Kael, “Wouldn’t that make, like a time paradox or something?”
“You’re a smart one…” Coyle winked avoiding the question, as his eyes and smiled widened like that of a court jester, giving Kael something to laugh about. “I was worn out and severely weakened from the sleeper war and thought allowing this younger version of me to simply copy all of my powers was a genius idea. Heh…” Coyle looked down at his drink, “Powers might be transferable, but sadly life experience isn’t. Having not experienced life amongst these people who’d honed their powers, and the wisdom I’d learned the painful way, this younger version of me was frankly an arrogant and cocky douche.
Against even my advice, he charged into battle with an enemy he had no bloody idea how to handle and shortly thereafter was of course bitten and infected. So, now we have ultimate adaptability in a high-tech-cyborg-zombie-magic-buff-younger version of me. I wonder if any of the zen-likeness made it in, but there was a metric tonne of that classic Flame Dawn aggression there for sure. Describing him as dangerous was beyond an understatement.”
“I’m…” Kael’s eyes looked up as if sorting through a myriad of his thoughts. “Alright, I think I’m keeping up, but keep going.”
Kael drank as Coyle continued, speaking quickly through his excitement and passion. “So due to some xeno-alien powers we possess, and that’s a whole other story for another time, he was able to keep most of his free will unlike most of the Zomborgs, but he became twisted and evil, and did things that were… between just us, freaking insane. Like attacking the super-powerful Exile demons, seeking to become possessed by a Shadow Demon, just for the ultra charged abilities and sheer fun of it. Meanwhile, I was forced to temporarily abandon the war and go into hiding to heal and somehow regain my strength.”
“So, hold on… these sleepers are the great evil you were supposed to stop, yeah?” asked Kael.
“Well…” Coyle thought, taking a moment to drink once more. “I thought so at the time, but I don’t think so now. In fact, I wasn’t given much to go on for this world-saving adventure, other than some vague overarching destiny or something. I’ve been making it up as I go in the meantime, being ever vigilant for when the threat made itself known.”
Kael laughed, raising his drink. “So the great evil could have been you from the past for all you know...”
Coyle’s eyes widened. “Exactly!” he exclaimed loudly. “I have no idea! So anyway, there’s this dimension called Solace, it’s filled with sleek tech angels who draw their power from humanity. They see everything going on with the worlds being potentially overrun by the Sleepers, and they get involved, coming down to our worlds through rifts they seemingly made.” Agent Coyle waved his hand dismissively, “I’m still not sure exactly how much power the Overseers of Solace have when it comes to rifts, but anyway they’re a part of this all now, and they’re doing what they can to keep the sleeper virus at bay. Meanwhile, the Flamedawn guys were using Genesis tech in this group called the Purifiers, who were able to eliminate the virus completely from those who were infected when they’re killed, slowing the spread of the virus.”
Kael finished his drink and placed the empty bottle on the table. “So, what happened to you whilst you were in hiding?” Kael then reached into the cooler for additional beverages.
“While the evil me was off augmenting his power with demonic energies, I was you know… casually selling my soul to Rita, another of the three Cult of Verore leaders, to try to regain my powers. In return for my power’s restoration, I reluctantly agreed to assassinate the third leader named Candit. I almost did too, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I felt like I was being manipulated by Rita, plus Candit had such… huge…” Coyle raised his hands to his chest area, accidentally spilling his drink slightly. “Heartfelt character traits, you know?”
Kael bellowed in laughter and placed another drink in front of Coyle. Raising his eyebrows Coyle dual-wields his drinks with a huge smile on his face and then polishes off the last of his drink, and places it to the side. “As thanks for not killing her, among other things, she released me from my soul debt to Rita, and teleported me to Solace, the angelic domain. Their leader, this genocidal maniac named Sol, but I didn’t know he was one at the time, saw what I was capable of and gave me Ascension, which is like these killer angel wings and strength far beyond what I could normally absorb. He gave it to a bunch of other heroes after it worked on me so well I soloed a legion of sleepers. Then, the evil version of me showed up, now fueled by all of my powers previously gained, the sleeper virus, and a shadow demon to boot.”
“Oh, shit dude.” Kael continued with his drink, still listening to every word Coyle spoke.
“Yeah, the most hectic battle I’ve ever had. His ruthlessness and that crazy ass demon inside him made it like a two on one. I reckon he would have won the battle, but the power of our clash caused an ethereal fusion, and our two bodies and minds merged into one.” Coyle took a moment to drink, seemingly reflecting on the moment himself.
Kael seemed slightly confused. “So, you like... fused? How?”
Coyle pointed his hand towards Kael, “Fusion? Ha! That’s a great term, yeah that’s what happened. Look, half of the things that I’ve seen I still can’t explain, all I know is that’s how it went down.” Coyle seemed strangely at peace with the idea and not knowing how. “There’s probably an explanation, but I’ve had to deal with far more troubling situations since, so the answer to “how” can wait.”
Kael nodded in understanding, before gesturing for Coyle to continue. “To be fair, at first, it was absolute chaos up here.” Coyle pointed to his own head for a moment. “Dual consciousnesses being pulled at by demonic corruption and the virus made it confusing and frustrating at the time, and the only thing my two minds could agree on is we wanted to separate again, and like immediately. We searched far and wide and in the end were lured in by Zuza, the Angelic Siren. She agreed to help us with a ritual that would help split our beings, however, the ritual was suspicious… she used words like sensual, and intimate, but I got duped.” Coyle’s posture shifted to a much less confident stance.
“Wait, lured, so she just wanted you?” asked Kael.
“Or… my kids? I don’t know, man. I barely understand angels or women when I’m not two minds fighting for control of a single body, so I was pretty clueless before then, and only think I’m beginning to get a handle now.” Coyle took a heavy swig before he continued. “Anyway, she had quintuplets, and I’d sworn off of connecting with women until I sorted out my problems. Then Sol decided to do a god damned genocide and stuff, so yeah... that happened...” Kael reacted with some shock, as Coyle sighed and took another drink.
“Just an everyday genocide eh? I mean, as you do, right?” Kael said sarcastically and went to drink, accidentally picking up his empty bottle at first, before correcting his mistake.
“Yeah, naturally. This sleeper virus was a threat to humanity, and the Warpath, the animals and creatures of the old world, weren’t humanity to them. So, they rained holy tech fire and killed almost everything that existed in the old world, not discriminating between virus, animals or the intelligent beastie humanoids before they closed the rifts to Avarrach.” Coyle’s tone was much more sombre as he spoke, slowly swaying his bottle from side to side. “I was only just able to escape death, as were some other magic users, but we were the outliers. Sol stopped almost all of the virus, but killed every poor soul in the way to do so...” The air was heavier now, as both took a drink.
“Overcome with anger, I began killing those sociopathic angels, including of all people Melosia, Sol’s Champion Of Despair, before I found out that not everybody agreed with Sol, and there was an uprising going on. I found this Angel called Cheryl that was the last to leave the Old World, she was using the last of her power to try and save the lives of some of the natives. She had a pure heart, and watching her almost sacrifice herself like that had me realise that there are good people out there in all of these worlds and that I didn’t have to do this on my own... So, she accepted an offer to be on my team as the first-ever Agent I’d trained since…” A single tear ran down Coyle’s face as his voice became softer than it had been the whole conversation. “Well, since before Valhalla.” Kael looked with confused compassion at Coyle.
“Frankly, I was ready to give up at that time, but she inspired me to press on, and now she’s become like a sister to me…”
Coyle smiled slightly, and Kael reciprocated in turn. “So… what about that Sol guy?”
“Ahh…” Coyle thought for a moment, before taking in a large breath. “He held my kids hostage to force their mother to mind control me who deliberately didn’t control the symbiote as she made me walk off a cliff into an abyss so the symbiote could secretly swing me to safety moments before being wiped from existence.”
Coyle’s comedically quick recap of events got a laugh out of Kael. “Wait… You never mentioned a symbiote!”
“Heh, yeah, even I’m starting to lose track of things. Things were far from perfect between Zuza and I after the breakup… heck, they weren’t anything, but that half angel half siren did care at the end of the day. And hey, that’s something right?” Kael politely nodded in response.
“Oh, so how was the rest of the world during all of this?” Kael asked, perking up slightly.
“Let’s see…” Coyle thought to himself, raising a hand to begin counting off. “Firstly, the legendary flame dawn warrior Bromich died to a dragon infected with the virus, the leader of Genesis named Orion died and was replaced by an artificial intelligence he created, the Cult of Verore was falling apart because the two leaders left both wanted the other one dead, and the Descendants of the Dragon were getting triple enlightenment or something… I don’t actually know what those guys were doing. Oh, and though Sol didn’t know I had survived, Zuza’s younglings were killed by Sol anyway, so there’s that…”
The sudden revelation caused Kael to choke on his drink slightly “Oh, shit bro, that’s…”
“Yeeaaahhh…” Coyle sighed, taking another hard drink before continuing. “That's still pretty fresh trauma too. So, I went into hiding yet again where this wonderful, selfless caregiver took me under her wing for a while. Eventually, I gained back my strength and will, being infinitely more harmonised and integrated with my two selves. Now, it’s become clear that I need to build a team to stand a chance against Sol, who I assume is the great evil I’m supposed to save the world from. So, I’m travelling the multiverse to find skilled and dedicated individuals to help save existence.” Coyle let out a satisfied sigh, having recapped most of his journey.
“Wow, bro…” Kael’s smile beamed, showcasing his genuine wonder. “Like, this is a lot to take in, but after everything… I just gotta say, that’s freaking awesome!”
Coyle laughed, complimented by Kael’s enthusiasm. “I’m glad you seem to think so.”
“Yeah man.” laughed Kael, “Angels, demons, time travel based clones, mind control virus, banging hotties, chill monks, death cultists, warriors, mechs, giants, your life has had like everything in it! It’s either the worst story ever told, or the greatest, but it’s not even a story!”
“Yeah, actually” interjected Coyle, “I was expecting a lot more disbelief, but you’ve just upfront accepted ev-”
“Truth elixir and very strong alcohol.” Interrupted Kael, raising his drink. “It’s also got chemicals that help tear down anxieties for much faster bonding. I save these for special occasions.”
“Oh, you bastard! Is that why I feel like you’re my best friend right now, even though we just met?” laughed Coyle.
“Yeah bro, it’s good shit right?” Kael drank, seemingly to toast his own skill.
“Fair call, I just assumed you’d gotten me something homebrewed so, yeah kudos to you for being thorough…” Coyle drank with him before looking down at his wrist once more. Coyle’s eyes went wide as he spat his drink out in shock, spluttering in a minor panic. “Holy hand grenade! I got completely distracted, I gotta cut straight to the point.”
“Lay it on me.” Kael leaned back in his chair.
“The rift between our worlds is closing soon, and we need to go. But, you need to know that this is a big deal. There’s a chance that if you come with me, you’ll never see this world ever again. Family, friends, there’s a good chance they’ll be nothing but a hazy memory in a few months, and in a worst-case scenario, they’re exposed to the rifts at a much larger scale and have to deal with everything I’ve just outlined.” Kael’s smile dimmed, as he began to look quite sternly at Coyle, evaluating the situation. “You now know about a world infinitely bigger than your own, and I’m giving you a chance to play a big part in it. But ONLY if you’re ready.”
The room was quiet as Kael thought deeply about the opportunity. He pondered for half a minute, Coyle began to look down impatiently and tap his foot before Kael finally spoke, “This is going to be crazy bro, but shit…” Kael planted his palm on the table before standing upright. “I’m in!”
Kael and Coyle both let out a celebratory “Ayyyy” as they gave each other an ultimate hug of camaraderie. Just like that, Coyle’s team had grown by one.
“Alright, you’ve got about two minutes to grab anything precious to you, and then we’re leaving.”
“Sweet, on it.” Kael vaulted the counter and into the backroom of Brewmasters, grabbing his travel bag and looking around the room for anything that looks like it’d come in handy. Ingredients, tools, and a tome of brewing recipes. Kael shouted out to Coyle still in the front room, “So, Mr Agent Coyle, where are we going first?”
“Well, Mr Agent Kael.” Yelled Coyle, “First off we’ve got to get you to the Old World, Agent Cheryl needs your help. Then I’ve got to go find an old Viking cyborg friend of mine, don’t worry, his whole being is like the opposite of the sleeper virus, I’ll see if he’s either free to join or point us in the direction of someone who is. Oh, and if you’ve got a favourite trench coat, bring it with you, it’s kinda official attire.”
Kael appeared with one of the finest fur coats Coyle had ever seen across the multiverse, complete with matching beast skull pauldrons and a huge skull for a hood, and a large duffel bag that lets out a light clinking sound as he jumps the counter again. “Sounds good to me. Lead on, boss.”
Coyle smiled, incredibly grateful for the new companion he’d made to join him on his journey. The two head out the door, and begin a swift jog down the suburban road with the sun setting behind them. “By the way, do people tell you that you have a sick accent?” asked Coyle.
“All the time my man.” smiled Kael.
Story by AgentCoyle, JasonOCE, Ladyvalour
Art by @SmarttCaitlin