The Backer

I put off the decision of whether or not to help Phantasm for a while. I don't trust him. Not one bit. But I do want the answers he promised. I decided to go for a walk earlier, to try and clear my head. That's when the voice started speaking to me.

“Diana,” it said.

“Who's there!” I demanded, a little startled.

“I am the Backer,” it told me. “You got my note, yes?”

“You're the one who helped us escape the City,” I said.

“That's right,” the Backer replied. I still couldn't see him, but his voice seemed to be everywhere.

“I suppose I owe you now?” I asked.

“I don't know,” he replied.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I do not hold you to any debt, unless you feel that I am owed one,” he said. “Really, pulling you two from the Empty City was nothing special for me. Coulda done it in my sleep.”

“So in other words, I don't have to pay you back unless I want to?” I asked.

“Correct,” he said.

I thought about that for a moment. The thought of getting out of a debt for free was tempting. But that City was literal hell. Maybe not fire and brimstone, but definitely Hell. I had come so close to dying there, and I would have if this guy hadn't pulled us out at the last moment. That might not have meant much to him, but it did to me.

“I think I might just accept your debt,” I said. “But first, I want to meet you. In person.”

“Okay then,” he replied.

He appeared before me. A man with short, curly hair, and a long black and purple longcoat.

“Um, wow,” I said. “That was fast.”

He nodded.

“So, how exactly can I-” I started to say.

“Hold that thought,” he said. “We're about to be attacked.”

Without any kind of warning, a large rift opened off to the side of us. I could see woods on the other side of it. A man stepped through and charged at us. Without hesitating, the Backer raised a hand and a spear of peach colored light shot from it, impaling the man through the chest. He shuddered for a while, and the Backer grabbed him by the throat and lifted him into the air. He twitched for a moment, before going limp. I looked at his chest, and retched. His blood was pitch black.

“You should close your eyes,” the Backer said. “I'd rather you didn't see this.”

I closed my eyes. All I could here was a long inhalation of breath.

“You may open your eyes now,” the Backer said.

I opened my eyes to see that the man's body had completely vanished.

“A Hallowed,” the Backer said “Absolutely pathetic.”

“What happened to him?” I asked.

“I can't tell you,” he replied. “Now, what were you saying before?”

“Um... how would I be able to pay you back?” I asked, still trying to comprehend what had just happened.

“I'll give it some thought,” he said. “Although, I do suppose I could have you look into something for me.”

“And what would that be?” I asked.

“You're friend from the City should be familiar with a place called Stirem Inc.,” he said. “It was once run by a man named Dr. Welric. However, he died a while back, and a new person has taken over. I don't know much about him, but his name does intrigue me.”

“You want me to find out more about him?” I asked.

“If you don't mind,” the Backer said. “I should be going now, but before I do, I want you to have this.”

He pulled a briefcase out of nowhere and handed it to me.

“Just a little gift,” he said. “Think nothing of it.”

He vanished into thin air. I took a look inside the briefcase and almost dropped it in shock. It was packed full of hundred dollar bills Loads of them.

I shut it and rushed back to Milla's. Phantasm was sitting at the kitchen table. I threw the briefcase into my guest room and went to talk to him.

“What are you, exactly?” I asked.

“Human,” he said. “More or less.”

“I don't understand your powers,” I said.

“I have multiple forms,” he said. “Each with a different power. This is form number three.”

“So what's with the weird energy you unleashed from your wings before?”

“This form has a failsafe that triggers upon impalement,” he said. “That's why I needed you to stab me.”

“I see,” I said. “So do you have any more human forms?”

“A couple,” he said. “One and Four are the most human I have.”

“So could you go back to number one?” I asked.

“No,” he said. “I don't know why, but I can't seem to revert to either of my previous two forms.”

“Can you go forward to Four?” I asked.

“I'd rather not,” he said. “I don't like that form.”

“Well,” I said. “If we're gonna work together, you need to blend in.”

He considered me for a moment.

“I guess I can try,” he said after a while.

Then he changed. Before me sat a teenage boy, about my age, with jet black hair. He looked... kinda hot. But I ignored those thoughts.

“You look good,” I said.

“Shut up,” he said. “I can't stand being a teenager.”

“Whatever,” I said. “We need-”

“To go to Stirem Inc.,” he said.

“Yes,” I said. “How did you know?”

“The organization is still in business,” he said. “Their old leader, my friend, was replaced by some child prodigy. This deserves looking into.”

“Yes it does,” I said. “The guy who saved us from the City wants to know more about him too.”

“The Backer,” Phantasm said. “You've seen him?”

“Yes,” I said. “I'm still not sure who he is, but he seems powerful.”

“I've never heard of him before recently,” Phantasm said. “I don't trust him.”

“And I don't trust you,” I said.

“As long as we're clear on that,” Phantasm said, getting up. “I'm going to get some rest.”

“You do that,” I said.

So yeah. I'm teaming up with Phantasm for now. I don't know much about the Backer, but for some reason I trusty him. He's saved my life twice, and he gave me a shitload of money for no apparent reason. Speaking of that, I'm not sure what to do with the money right now. I guess I should save most of it in case something expensive comes up, and keep myself fed in the meantime. We'll be going to Stirem soon, to see what we can find out about this “Child Prodigy”.