Chapter Text
Ishmael
I've been thinking a lot lately about my future. I'm not going to keep working for this company for my entire life. I'm not going back to being a fixer either, or back to working in an office, absolutely not. I can't just go adventuring without a pay, lest I die without money, and I'm not getting a job cooped up in an office, lest I go insane. My manager, Dante, might be of help deciding, they're the least crazy person in my department. Though they’d also be biased and might implore me to stay with Limbus Company. No loss in asking I suppose.
I get up from my seat and walk toward Dante. They’re sitting next to Faust looking dejected, at least I think so. It’s hard to tell what someone with a clock for a head feels. They turn towards me and begin ticking. “Hi Ishmael, what’s up? I hope you’re not here to make my life difficult.” Dante gestures towards Faust but she doesn’t seem bothered. “It is not Faust’s fault you are impatient. Your questions will be answered eventually.” She replies. Dante looks annoyed, I think. “No, I just want to ask a question. If I were to leave this company, what do you think I should do?” I ask. Dante thinks to themself then finally responds. “What about trying sailing again? Wait uh, that’s not a great idea considering last time when…” They trail off so I finish the sentence for them. “...When all my loved ones got swallowed by a whale.”
“Yeah. Sorry for bringing that up, it sounded better in my head. I was thinking maybe just to travel and I thought you have experience with ships so it’s a good idea. Obviously it’s not.”
“I could try again. The only reason my first voyage went so terribly is because of Ahab. If I were to be in charge then there wouldn’t be many issues. Plus I wouldn’t go after a whale I obviously can’t kill.” This was actually kind of useful, surprisingly. I should try this whole mariner thing again, it couldn’t be as bad as last time, I’m sure.
Abruptly, a blur of yellow zooms toward me. Don Quixote slams her hands on the table in front of me and exclaims “Ishmael, art thou really leaving Limbus Company? What wouldst we do without such a crucial hero to assist us in our journeys?!” Her shouting caught the attention of my other co-workers. “Are you seriously going to betray this company? Hmph, you’ll regret it.” Outis nags.
“What, Ishmael is leaving? No way, right?” Sinclair speaks up. Faust interjects “Ishmael won’t leave. We were simply talking about a theoretical situation.” quickly silencing any discussion. I will at some point, but I shouldn’t bring it up to the others until I actually leave.
I leave to go to my room. I’ll stay for now, I can think about my future plans later. Dante follows and taps my shoulder before I can touch my doorknob. “If you do leave, I’ll miss you, and I’m sure the others feel the same way. I won’t stop you though.” Dante remarks. I don’t respond but I think about it. I would let down a lot of people. But I also don’t want to be stuck in the same place forever.
Dante
I don’t quite know why I told Ishmael that, I guess I was just surprised she’d be thinking about leaving Limbus Company so soon. It makes sense she’d want to leave at some point, I don’t think that girl can feasibly be tied down to one job. I’m not even sure if she can leave the company. Despite my title, I don’t feel like an executive manager since I don’t even know what we can or can’t do. Faust is no help, she’s more like the manager than I am. I digress, the point is, it’s weird Ishmael would be thinking about leaving already. It could be her whole reason for joining the company being fulfilled with the whole whale dying with Ahab. I did think she would just want to go along with the company’s goal. Actually I don’t even really know what the company wants. Okay, it makes a whole lot more sense why Ishmael wants to leave now.