"I say again, what the hell does that mean?" August growled, more annoyed than confused now.
With a wave of her hand, Kadria summoned an image on the floor between the two of them.
August saw the space between him and Kadria become farther apart, saw her face become smaller, but the room somehow didn't seem larger.
Kadria was distorting space itself on a level he had trouble comprehending.
Closing his eyes, August realized he was in well over his head.
He reopened them and stared at Kadria, who pointed at the image between them.
Sen's face appeared there, from the battle earlier today.
Every pore on her face was visible, the sheen of her lips, flecks of dirt, the slight whiteness of a scar that must have recently healed.
And terror.
Raw terror was evident in her eyes and her expression.
August looked away with a scowl. He couldn't stand to look at Sen's face like that any longer. The memory was too fresh.
"Let me ask again. Does being such a talented Bastion usually hurt you so much?" Kadria asked.
She wasn't taunting him, he thought. "This 'Sen' girl of yours is terrified of you. Terrified of your power. Wasn't she one of your precious Champions from your world?"
"I'm a Bastion. She's a bandit. Of course she's scared," August said.
"She knew you were a Bastion the moment she saw your adorable little catgirl run up and try to cut her arms off.
It wasn't until you started throwing around complicated sorcery like it was child's play that she became genuinely frightened." Kadria crossed her arms.
"All I need is the chance to talk to her, and make her realize that I can help her," August said, looking over the image at Kadria.
He did his best not to let his eyes drift down to the only other colorful thing in the room.
"Oh, yes. I'm sure she'll be keen to listen to the man who killed all her friends." Kadria sighed.
"I am trying to help you here, if you'd stop being so defensive."
"Help me?" August resisted the urge to scoff, if only because he realized he had no reason to doubt Kadria.
She had been true to her word so far. "Why? Haven't you already gotten what you wanted from me?"
She raised an eyebrow and changed position on her cushion.
Her lithe legs shifted about until they crossed at the ankles, which only drew August's eyes further in, to the tiny strip of cloth covering Kadria's nether regions.
Her panties were far too thin, he felt. His imagination didn't need to try very hard to create an image of what she looked like without her underwear.
"Neither of us have gotten what we wanted yet," Kadria said, a broad grin crossing her face.
"The fact you can't bear to tear your eyes away from my crotch is proof of that."
"You're tempting me," August said, raising his eyes.
"I am a Messenger." Kadria wagged a finger at him. "But that's not even my point here, as much as I adore your attention."
She took a deep breath and schooled her expression. "I sent you to this world to prevent it from turning into a wasteland. We both agreed that's what we wanted.
And while it's not a wasteland right now, it still has a shockingly high likelihood of becoming exactly the ruin that I collected you from.
So, no, I don't have what I want. And neither do you."
Kadria's violet eyes bore into his, and he felt her red pupils were ablaze.
"We're still partners. You need to claim binding stones, empower Champions, and prevent the world from falling apart.
I'll help you overcome any seals, enjoy the women you want to turn into Champions, and find what's going to be the next problem.
Sound like a good deal?"
Something about her end of the deal didn't sound right to August's ears.
"You'll what?" he said.
"Too crass? I figured you'd like that given how badly you're lusting after your catgirl and me," Kadria said.
"Champions don't just stick to their Bastions, they become sticky." She gave him a lewd smile.
"So yes, my part of the deal is to help you with problems such as this 'Sen' girl."
"And to stop other Messengers? Or is that too much work," August asked, trying to avoid the topic of Sen.
"You need to stop the Messengers, but I'm more than happy to point out when they're coming and give helpful tips."
Kadria ran a finger along her belly idly. "I don't want them horning in on my territory."
August let that slide, as much as he disliked the way it sounded.
"How exactly do you plan to help with Sen?" he asked.
"Your problem with her—with all of your former Champions from your world—is that she doesn't have a reason to trust you.
Those years where they built up trust in you, and were filled with trust by you, are gone. But not to me."
Kadria waved her hand and the image between the two of them changed to that of the older Sen, with red eyes and white hair.
"I can make the Sen in this world remember you in the same way that your Sen did."
August's eyes widened. 'She could bring Sen back? His Sen?'
"Wait," he muttered. "You're going to implant memories from the Sen in my timeline into the Sen in this timeline?"
"Is there a problem?"
"You did that to me. And it completely changed me," August said, enunciating every syllable clearly as he thought through something that had been bothering him since he arrived.
The disquiet he had felt when exploring his implanted past in Anna's manor grew.
"I'm August Straub in name and remember that past, but I only feel and care about the memories and things that August Martel does.
When I look at my memories from this timeline, it's like I'm reading a book. It's fascinating, but it's not my life.
August Straub has been overwritten with the existence of August Martel."
Kadria stared at August, her eyebrows almost vanishing into her black bangs.
"Oh my. And here I thought you were completely lost on the ship of Theseus. I really have underestimated you. No wonder you're terrifying those around you."