"That's…" Wittral stared at the ceiling, his eyes moist, holding back tears, "Disappointing."
"I am sorry," Inala said in a voice brimming with sadness, "I was influenced by Loot. The Millingers destroyed my home. I had nothing! There was none I could count on. I wanted to at least gather the Free Humans here and hopefully rebuild the Ganrimb Kingdom. But I was extremely confused."
Inala stared at Wittral, "You confused me!"
"I did?" Wittral stared at Inala, "Did I?"
"In terms of strength, you stand extremely close to the pinnacle." Inala said, tearing up, "But despite that, when I had nothing, you treated me well. So, even when I had an opportunity, I couldn't bring myself to take the Free Humans with me."
"I did approach you with hidden intentions at the start, but that day, I was on the verge of death. If you hadn't saved me, I would have died." Inala patted his chest in regret, "It killed me to follow Loot's arrangements. So, when I heard you wanted to bring me to your headquarters, I was happy."
"I hoped that in the Cooter Clan's headquarters, I could finally be free from Loot. Maybe I could put all my past behind me and hopefully start a new life." Inala wiped his tears and spoke, his tone weak, "So, when I lost my Spirit Container, I was actually relieved."
"I lost my power, but it also meant Loot no longer had any reason to bother me anymore." Inala let out a smile, in pain, but one of relief, gently grabbing Wittral's hand, "The past three months, I have been able to do what I wanted."
"I could paint, learn a lot of things, and have fun researching."
"You…have been through a lot, Inala…no, Amita." Wittral exhaled slowly, feeling a lot of complex emotions broil in him. His gaze towards Inala was complicated, unable to determine whether he liked or disliked her.
"If not for my arrival, you could have been leading a happy life." Inala said, his tone firm, "So, I'll do everything in my power to restore you back to normalcy. I promise that you'll return to being an Empyrean Snapper sooner than later."
"If you're still dissatisfied by then, you can kill me." Inala smiled, "I am just happy to have lived a life of freedom, no matter how short."
"The time I spent with you will be my most cherished memory."
"You…can stay here for as long as you want. Nothing will happen to you as long as I'm alive." Wittral approached her in closeup and patted Inala's head gently. He then got up and exited the room, entering his room as he sat at a corner in silence.
He stared blankly, unable to process everything he had heard. Slowly, a smile formed on his face, 'She likes me.'
Immediately after, his face scrunched up, 'No, she's the reason I have to suffer like this.'
Two seconds later, his eyes were red, 'She…went through a lot. Her family is dead, her entire life she was imprisoned, and even now, guilt is eating through her.'
"How…should I treat her?" Wittral asked himself this question, failing to come up with an answer. He was an Empyrean Snapper while she was a Free Human. And though he was an Empyrean Snapper, in his current powerless state, he had no voice in the Cooter Clan.
He had no choice but to accept whatever the Clan decided for him. For the first time, he felt that living in the Cooter Clan was somewhat stifling. He was no different from Amita Brimgan except for the fact that his cage was bigger. 'I want to see the world out there.'
He needed to vent his emotions, feeling it hard to bottle up the bundle of emotions that he was experiencing for the first time in his life. In the end, he found the perfect outlet, 'Everything's the Boar King's fault.'
'I'll kill that bastard!'
Back in Inala's room, the person who had weaved such an elaborate lie wasn't feeling better about himself. He stared at his face in the mirror and instinctively punched. His fists bled but he didn't care, feeling revulsed at himself, 'I am the worst.'
Had he retained his powers, everything he did could be written off as a mere grind for survival. The Mammoth Clan's survival took priority. So, even causing mass slaughter wasn't an issue. That was in nature of a Mammoth Clansman.
It was why Zahaella and many masters had razed down Free Human Kingdoms in the past without experiencing any guilt. Only the lives of Mammoth Clansmen mattered. Rest all were fair game. This was the core psyche through which a Mammoth Clansman's mind operated.
And now, when Inala enacted the scheme he had prepared while retaining his powers, he felt disgusted. He currently was himself, thinking with an active empathy that extended beyond Mammoth Clansmen.
He lived alongside Wittral, experiencing the latter's humanity firsthand. With both being in a similar situation, they could relate to each other and found solace in the company. But Inala took advantage of such a situation to manipulate Wittral.
For the past three months, he painted realistic scenes of his supposed backstory, all with the intent to affect Wittral's emotions to the extreme. All along, even after knowing what he was doing wrong, he still went ahead.
And while actually recounting the tale, he felt disgusted. But irrespective of the disgust he felt, he still went ahead, portraying everything with acting so realistic that he felt he truly had lived as Amita Brimgan.
Only after Wittral left did he come to a realisation, 'I'm a fucking piece of shit!'
Remaining in a female form for extended durations made him more emotional, which also caused him to self-reflect harder. But in the end, he avoided the self-reflection and still went ahead with the lie, even going the extra mile to perfect it with art and tying everything to his previous actions.
Even with Wittral's intelligence as an Empyrean Snapper, he couldn't find any loopholes. Forget Wittral, even the Boar King believed it, for the picture of the Mudropper that Inala had drawn with realistic accuracy, the fact of him being able to mould Prana to unleash effects on the level of Iron Grade Primary Natures, with Inala receiving the Boar King's Prana a week after Loot's arrival, etc.
All these points were verified by the Boar King. And the Prana fed to Inala by Loot? That was the Boar King's, obtained when he arrived at the cave in the walls surrounding the Ropper Tribe's territory.
His Prana and Lifeforce were stolen back then. So, that detail too matched what Inala had said. And with the Boar King scouring through the Dralh Sea using a variety of Natures, he detected traces of multiple Prana signatures that all led to Inala.
It too tied to Inala's story of Loot making things through her after she had absorbed the Prana signatures of many people and Pranic Beasts alike.
'If Loot is in possession of Amita's Spirit Container, then when he invokes a Bolt of Transcendence, he'll become an Empyrean Boar King, just like me.' The Boar King focused on the most important point here. Somehow, Loot had gotten close to the truth.
'I need to prevent it from happening.' A second Empyrean Boar King would completely disrupt Sumatra's ecology. The Boar King was aware of that, but at present, all of his detection type Natures only pointed to Amita Brimgan and not Loot.
'The only way to break through this stalemate is through her.' He thought and touched the wall once, creating a door that mirrored his body, opening to allow his entry, 'I'll help this woman regain her strength.'