Chapter 11:
Saints & Sinners
“If you’re alone… if it’s just your life, you can use it however you please. Wear yourself out, get cut to ribbons, doesn’t matter. But when there’s two, the blade grows heavy. Fighting like death doesn’t concern you becomes a thing of the past. It’s no longer just you. I threw away my way of life, relied on the strength of others, and somehow pushed on.”
- Guts
"Well, come on! I am waiting for you!" I shuffle left and right, executing an elegant sashay, and gesture towards The Black Swordsman. I don't stop moving. "I don't have all day!" I twirl around his great sword to avoid it, and it hits the ground. The courtyard shakes like there is an earthquake.
"How exactly am I
supposed to hit you?" Guts was starting to get annoyed. Whenever he would miss? I would just move that much faster. He attempted to swat at me again, and that's when I disappear. "Wait, where did he go--"
"Dragon Slayer makes for quite the stepping stool." I was on the flat of the blade. When he had swung it? I merely jumped onto it instead of defending against the sloppy attack. That was the problem with people who taught themselves. They relied on brute force to make up for any lack of grace.
"Get off!" Guts swings Dragon Slayer again, but I remain unfazed by the motion. It was as if I had glued the soles of my shoes to it. That's when I stepped onto his face, and used it as a springboard to launch myself into the air. I somersault back to ground, and reach for my rapier. The moment I unsheathe it? The Black Swordsman pounces.
This time? I deign to block it. I adjust my footing to accommodate for the power granted to him by the Berserker Armor, and push the great sword aside. I could not deny it.
This crusader of mine was improving.
"I must admit you have gotten better, but it's
nowhere near where you need to be."
I notice a twitch. I knew what that meant. I was reminding him of Griffith, and that was the idea.
When The Falcon of Light was mortal? Guts could simply overwhelm him. That wasn't possible anymore. He couldn't expect a similar outcome. Griffith, as he was currently, had the power of a demon lord. What a near deity could accomplish only began at brute force. It then extended to magic.
"I haven't even relied on any magic. How do you expect to beat Griffith?" I shake my head. He had a long way to go.
"I am not done!" His great sword begins to change. I realize that what happened in the memory? It followed him all the way back, and it was more than I could hope for.
The flames burst forth from the blade, and they burned intensely. An ivory sort of inferno which burned hotter than the surface of the sun. It was not like the fire I had seen the hell hound make use of. This held a purity to it.
Dragon Slayer didn't just devour Grunbeld. He had exonerated him. I wasn't even sure where it had attained this power. It could incorporate any soul into it, and bless them with a holy property.
Grunbeld wasn't just part of it. The great sword had made him more powerful than ever.
Which is why I decided not to underestimate it. I cast
Dispel Magic but to my surprise? The flames do not disperse.
"That's different!"
I quickly imbue my rapier with an
axiomatic boon. It embodies order itself in that moment, and I swipe at the curtain of flames before they can land. It doesn't manage to stop all of them, but I survive. The rapier has melted, and along with it one of my hands. I ignore the pain, and quickly cast
Heal on myself. The hand I lost grows back, and when the next gout of fire approaches?
I cast
Dispel Magic, Greater and this time it works. The flames could not endure.
"That is much better!" I was not afraid. Instead I was
excited. "I want to see it again!"
"Just don't blame me if you lose another hand!" Guts swings Dragon Slayer, and another inferno is conjured into being. The fire scatters into a pack of wolves, and they leap towards me. They almost seem alive, and bare their fangs; before trying to bite at their prey.
I clap my hands together, and cast
Polar Midnight. I make sure to localize it, and prevent any collateral damage. I didn't want to destroy
Arlan's Way by accident. The beasts are frozen in midair. When temperatures drop to absolute zero around them.
I had crystalized the whole lot.
"A shame. I happen to like wolves." I tap one of them on the nose, and the creature collapses into a pile of icicles.
Guts looks
completely defeated.
"How in the world does somebody do that?" The Black Swordsman almost tears his hair out. "It has got to be cheating!"
"That is what it is going to feel like when you fight a demon lord!" I might as well be one myself. "They are capable of nearly anything! Which means you must never give them chance to do anything! When you see one? Just attack! They cannot be allowed to counterattack! They have to be on the defensive because if an opportunity for offense arises? The fight is over!
" I say that but I was just as dangerous.
"That is what you must do when you face Griffith. Overwhelm him with a relentless assault, and do not let him have a chance to even speak a word."
"..." Guts frowns. "What if that fails?"
"I will be there!" I smirk. "Just as always to save the damsel in distress!"
Hopefully.
"I am not a damsel!"
Casca couldn't help but laugh. The young woman had been watching. It felt almost like how things were before. When the
Band of the Hawk was still alive.
"He reminds you of Griffith... doesn't he?" The Inheritor was standing beside her. "Who you
thought Griffith was."
"Why did you have to
mention that? I thought you were supposed to be compassionate." Casca would have broken down days ago, if anyone had reminded her of that day. That was no longer the case. They didn't just confront that memory. A connection had been established, and the presence of a goddess now always protected her soul. Whenever it was too much to bear? There would be a
power that comforted her. "He is not like Griffith. Arlan Vorlesh does not have an ambition or a dream because he
already has what he wants." What if Griffith had chosen them? What if The Falcon of Light chose his family?
"He is
everything Griffith could have been. If he had rejected The Godhand." Iomedae agrees. "He is everything I could have been, if I had not become a deity."
"It is kind of narcissistic." Casca looks at her. "What sort of person falls in love with a projection of an idealized version of themselves?" The young woman looks disappointed. "He is Arlan Vorlesh, and that is who you love!"
"..." The goddess had a glare that could banish demon lords. "What exactly makes you think I am in love?"
"Oh, don't give me that look! What would your
herald think, if you blew a gasket?" The young woman shakes her head. "All of that
responsibility that comes with being divine, but you can't even tell him!" That's when the atmosphere changes completely. "I wouldn't be here, if not for him. Guts would just be The Black Swordsman, and The Godhand would have destroyed him!"
"What is your point?"
"Arlan Vorlesh is a hero, and he
deserves to be happy." Casca bites her lip. "I know it's not my place. What with you being a goddess, but why don't you make him happy the only way a woman can?"
The goddess was blushing. "I beg your pardon?"
"Well, it's not like you haven't done it before!" Casca murmurs. "Wait, have you
done it before?"
"..." Iomedae did not have an answer. "O-Of course I have!"
"I get stuck with the only goddess that is a virgin!
" Casca had difficulty wrapping her head around it. "Well, I guess it makes sense. It explains why you're a prude!"
"I am not a prude! I am
The Inheritor!" The goddess looks like she was about to explode. "I had my duty! That was all I needed! I wasn't just some loose sow who would spread their cheeks for anyone! I was on a mission!"
"That mission is over! The mantle has been inherited!" Casca was getting
annoyed because all of the preaching. Having to hear the whole story every day was grating on her nerves. "What is stopping you?"
"Arlan..." Iomedae frowns. "
The Knight Commander has someone."
"Who? I don't see her."
"They haven't seen each other for hundreds of years."
Casca nearly trips over herself. "They haven't seen each other for...
hundreds... of years?" The young woman couldn't believe this. "That means he is available!"
"I don't
know that." The goddess was trying to come up with any excuse. "If anything, he still has feelings for her--"
"No!" Casca reaches for her. "No more excuses like that!" The young woman looks her in the eyes. "He has been looking at Farnese! If you don't do something? What is going to happen? Is that he going to take that bird, and pluck her feathers! Farnese is not going to be able to say no! Have you
seen him? Arlan Vorlesh is quite the catch, and if you haven't forgotten he is now the ruler of an entire country!"
"That is not something he would do!" Iomedae's thoughts were racing. What if there was some
truth to Casca's words?
"The palace has a cellar, and there is nothing but wine in it. They both have been sneaking down there for a drink when nobody has been looking. What do you think will happen if they catch each other one day?" Casca whispers. "Oh, Lord Vorlesh! We can't! It would be improper! Oh, I seem to have
forgotten my undergarments! Please! Be gentle, my liege!" The young woman tries her best to sound like Farnese.
"The worst part is that you will see and hear everything, and you won't be able to do anything about it! This
connection doesn't allow for a lot of privacy! I hate having to have company in my head when I make love to somebody!"
Casca couldn't stop herself. When she had been healed? Guts realized just how much she
missed him when the young woman had pounced on him. The problem was that the whole time she was riding him like a bronco? Iomedae did not disappear.
The goddess was there!
Casca was uncomfortable about it to say the least.
"I
need some privacy, and it would help if you focus on him!" That would be solution. At least she hoped it would be. "It's either that, or be forced to watch the person you love deflower every pure and chaste maiden
except you."
"Casca... you have made your point." The goddess slumps at that. "I apologize for the voyeurism, but I can't control how the connection works." It would cause a lot of problems for her too. Iomedae had lost count of how many times she had to see one of her followers copulate like there was no tomorrow. When she was busy doing something else.
It was incredibly distracting.
"A price to pay for getting my sanity back? It was never going to be easy." Casca grumbles. "Just do it already. Go to his bedroom, and wait for him. Wear a dress instead of that armor, and just let it drop the moment he enters.
Slowly..." The young woman nods her head. "He will get the message."
"I don't have any dresses..."
Casca had to groan.
"I will let you
borrow one of mine."
<<X>>
The process of entering Elysium? It could sometimes be as simple as knowing a song. The problem was that
Starward Gaze was not working. I had rejected that path, and therefore I could not reach that plane of existence.
I needed to be someplace where the veil between realities was fickle. Where it was fragile enough for it to work. That, or I would need to find a way to weaken it.
I think I knew just the person to ask about it.
"If it isn't the Lich King of Avistan!" I greet The Skull Knight
. He looked the same as always, but he had gotten another horse. A replacement for the one he lost. This one seemed to be made out of thorns, and all of them were no doubt poisonous. It was a gift of sorts. One I had seen fit to grant him. I had made use of the incantation for
Summon Monster, and retrieved the beast of burden from a distant plane.
"That is not my name." The Skull Knight wasn't annoyed. He was just stating that as a matter of fact. "What is it, champion?"
"Do you happen to know any place where the Astral Plane is exceptionally powerful?"
"
Elfhelm, but it is nowhere near Arlan's Way."
I frown at that. "What about ways of weakening the veil between worlds?" There had to be some sort of solution. "That is all I need."
"I
may have something." The Skull Knight opened his mouth, and shoved his sword down his throat. When he pulls it out of his stomach? I had to resist the urge to gag. It was disgusting to look at.
"Why does it have eyes? Are those
mouths there?" I scrunch my face. "Keep that thing away! It smells!"
"This is the
Sword of Actuation!" The Skull Knight sounded like he was almost proud. "I had forged it from numerous Behelits I recovered from apostles that had died. It was meant to condemn The Godhand to the vortex of souls, but now the only use I can see that it has? Is that it can force open holes in the fabric of reality."
"That would probably do the trick." I was pinching my nose. No, that didn't help. I could still smell it. Why did it smell like rotten eggs? "Put it away for now! I will tell you where and when you need to use it."
"What is this about?" The wraith was looking at me with something akin to suspicion. "What have you planned?"
"I just need to meet a goddess.
Another goddess. She is not the one you already met. She is a good one, if a bit
unpredictable." Desna was an eccentric. Just like the rest of my merry band. "Elysium is the home of the azata, and fairies like Ivalera. It is the realm that is home to Desna. The Great Dreamer as my people refer to her."
"Just how
many are there?" The Skull Knight couldn't help but be curious. This was something he hadn't encountered in the thousands of years that he lived.
"Realms? Planes of existence? There are as many as there are grains of sand in the desert that surrounds us. The multiverse is vast..." I look towards the cosmos. Whether I used
True Seeing or
Foresight, even I couldn't map the whole thing. "A person could get lost in it. I have heard stories of people who spent eons trying to navigate it.
" I frown.
"There are worlds that are so beautiful? That you would not believe it! Then there are other worlds that would make your layer of the Abyss look
pleasant by comparison. I would avoid those."
"I find that hard to believe." The Skull Knight grimaces. Just the idea was enough to give him pause. "That there is a place worse than the Abyss."
"That is something they all say. Then they see it." There is something ominous about my words. "There are monsters that would make The Godhand tremble." Rovagug...
The Rough Beast.
A monster that would unmake the multiverse.
"Just count ourselves lucky that demon lords our only problem." At least I had experience with them. I could
deal with that. "I have been meaning to ask."
The more I learned of the history of this place? The more my curiosity grew.
"Do you prefer The Skull Knight or
Gaiseric?" I had a feeling, and they were usually there for a reason. "If one were to call you by name?" I grin. "I could also just stick to the Lich King of Avistan. It is the country I hail from, and I would consider it an honor if you carried that namesake."
"..." The wraith wasn't annoyed before but he was now. "That
foolish king died a long time ago."
"I see.
He died." That was the past. The Skull Knight was who he was now. "Very well, if you want to keep your secrets? You may have them."
It wasn't any of my business.
At least not for now.
<<X>>
"I am a hindrance. I know that much.
" The young woman looks frustrated, and that is precisely why she entered my bedchambers "Serpico is an expert duelist but what do I have? What do I bring to the table, Lord Vorlesh?"
"Well, besides the laundry list of psychological problems?
Nothing." I add.
"That assessment of yours is without any fault. What are you going to do about it, Farnese?"
"I wanted Schierke to teach me, but she is
still apprenticing under Flora." The young woman continues.
"Flora is too busy teaching Schierke to teach me." I
knew where this was going.
"There is no one else who could teach me except for the most
powerful witch I know."
"Flattery will get you everywhere!" I nod my head. "It would take years, Farnese. It is not simple. There will be a measure of dedication I will expect from you. If you don't meet my standards? I will end it." I sink into my chair. "It will be difficult. It will be demanding. Do you
want that?"
"I do." I could see the conviction, and I could hear it in her voice. "I will do whatever it takes!"
"Then it will start with a journey. When I leave for Elysium? I would have you by my side, and that is where your training will begin in earnest." I jump to my feet, and gaze into those cerulean orbs. "Also, do not forget any of your luggage. It may be for a while."
"I will start packing immediately!"
I had an apprentice.
This was going to be interesting.
<<X>>
Who else would it be? I couldn't leave
Arlan's Way undefended. Which means The Hand of the Inheritor had to stay, and along with the rest of his angels. Guts would obviously want to come, and Casca would follow. Shierke, because she would be interested in the magic. The fairies would come because it was home.
Serpico wouldn't leave Farnese, or leave me to face this alone.
I might as well bring Isidro while I am at it.
The Skull Knight would stay after he was done helping, and continue his vigil in my capital. Flora would be there with him. They would coordinate with the angels. Regill would remain to keep all of the troops prepared, and properly trained. After he was done reorganizing the city guard.
The gnome had a lot of work to do.
Iomedae would also stay, and do what she could within the constraints of cosmic bureaucracy. Which is to say not a lot but even a bit of healing can help.
When I finally went back to my bedroom to rest? After discussing everything with all the parties involved?
I saw something that no mortal could dream of.
"Arlan..." Iomedae let the transparent nightgown slip from her shoulders. "I have just one more thing to
discuss about the proceedings." Her body was left bare, and I bore witness. A goddess in all of her glory. Gesturing for me of all people to come hither, and taste of her.
I realize in that moment that I was not imagining anything at all.
I would not get any rest.
<<X>>
There were whispers of course. Rumors about what had happened. Her warmth as I held her. The taste of her lips. The smell of her. Which did not go away. The way she whispered my name. As I taught her what it meant to be mine. The way I would meet her eyes when a
crescendo was reached. I held nothing back, and even when she cried? I knew it was out of pleasure, and not pain. In that moment, I knew love.
"Well, well, well..." Casca looked just like a cat who had just caught her prey. "I see that you're at ease today! Did anything
interesting happen?"
"That was your nightgown." It was a statement of fact, and not a question. "I wonder... did you teach her that trick she did with her tongue?"
"Guts likes it a lot. I
thought you would too." Casca smirks. "Well, are we heading for Elysium?"
"Of course we are." I have a crooked grin. "I just need to say my goodbyes..."
"Another romp?"
"Iomedae did not know how enjoyable it could be! Let us just say her appetites have become
insatiable because of that."
Casca giggles.
"Just don't keep us waiting, Knight Commander!"
<<X>>
The Skull Knight was waiting
. The Sword of Actuation held tightly in his grip.
Those who would follow? They were in the courtyard of the palace. Guts, Casca, Serpico, Farnese, Shierke, El Puck, Ivarela, and Isidro.
"Do it!" I command, and the wraith who was once Gaiseric cuts the veil open with his blade. The barrier between worlds was weakened. Now was the time!
I begin to sing.
It is the song I remember. That is when a miracle is forged through an act of will. A memory of the past is given form. That moment when I felt
hope in the ruins of Kenabres. As I sat in the Church of Desna, and listened to this melody.
The hole in reality which had led to Abyss? It began to change! Thousands of realities flicker about within. As I continue to sing? The plants in the courtyard begin to grow. It was as if life itself was overflowing around us. An excess of it that allowed nature to overtake everything else.
"This music..." Farnese covers her mouth. It was unlike anything she heard before. When she was part of the Holy See? The gregorian chants could not even compare to this! What was this sound? The tears began to fall, and she was not the only one. The hearts of those in the courtyard would resonate to the hymn. "Another miracle?"
How many did I have in store for them?
"Danan..." The Skull Knight remembers her. This song! It was the
same one! How did the herald know it?
The door was opened.
Ahead lay the gates of Elysium. The realm of fantasy. A place of freedom.
Of love.
"It has been a while." I touch the rupture. I could see it again. I had cast it aside. When I chose
mortality above all else. "Onward, my crusaders!"
They would march into the breach. Those I now called brother and sister.
"Arueshalae..."
<<X>>
"Just who the hell are you, Arlan?" Guts fell, and he could not stand. What he saw was impossible. This was nothing like The Eclipse. The aches he felt disappeared. There was no pain. The hell hound lurking in the darkest recesses of his heart was shrieking and screaming. It was
frightened of someone or something. "This can't be real!"
"₮Ⱨł₴ ₣ɆɆⱠł₦₲! ł₮ ⱧɄⱤ₮₴! ł₮ Ɇ₳₮₴ ₳₮ MɆ! ł₮ ł₴ ₩ⱤØ₦₲!" The Beast of Darkness could not understand it. How could it when all it knew was not it?
As far as The Black Swordsman could see? There was the splendor of life. There were forests fashioned out of unknowable geometries. In them were flora and fauna of every sort. There were creatures he had heard of only in fairy tales.
In the distance, he could see dragons. There were sprites hovering over lakes. Fairies who would dance and sing, and frolic in the meadows. Dryads tending to their gardens. Mermaids swimming in rivers.
The Black Swordsman could see mountains whose peaks reached the sky, and beyond that rainbows that seemed to be alive.
There was a
drunkard riding atop what looked like both a bear and an owl!
"What is this I see? If isn't The Knight Commander!" Cayden Cailean. The Accidental God. "Are you here for a drink? I have got plenty!" The Lucky Drunk who had passed
The Test of the Starstone by chance.
"Absolutely not! The last time I woke up in a carnival, and thought I was a trapeze artist!" The drunkard caused a lot of problems that day. "Where is Desna? I would have an audience!"
"Oh, you know! Here and there!" He takes a swig from another tankard. "I am going to pass out!" He immediately collapsed on the back of the owlbear.
"He was no help." I frown. "How are all of you taking it--"
"It's beautiful!" El Puck was crying. "I never
imagined I would see this!"
"It feels like I belong here..." Ivarela could feel her heartbeat. The sound of the music. It would never leave her. What was this place?
Casca was at a loss for words. There was nothing that could describe what she was feeling. Once again, the young woman had seen the impossible. The power of this realm, and this feeling in her chest. The
Brand of Sacrifice on her neck felt like it was in pain for a change of pace. "What kind of life did you live before you met us?"
"Oh, it wasn't always like this! I had to deal with a lot of losses before I could grasp hold of a victory of any sort. However, the moment I did? It became
much easier, and then the victories became commonplace!" It was a struggle, but at the end of it I had earned a respite. A chance to
witness everything that made a life worth living. "It always gets easier, Casca."
"I am going to just head over there, and..." Isidro ogles the mermaids. The brat just noticed that they didn't wear any clothes. "...introduce myself to the locals."
"Their parents will eat you."
"That's a joke, right?" The young boy repeats. "Right?"
"Sure." I shrug. "If you are lucky."
He deflates at that.
"It is like the Astral Plane, but it is so much more!" Shierke was in awe. "I wish Flora had come." Her master would have loved this! "How many times have you been here, Arlan?"
"A few but that doesn't mean we should waste any time." I knew negotiating with Desna would take a fortnight. "I have to be careful about Calistria too." That goddess was as dangerous as Nocticula. "Elysium is home to many gods and goddesses. Do be careful about that, and treat them with respect. Except for Cayden Cailean. He actually
likes it when someone has the courage to disrespect him. He would be the drunkard..."
Almost as if on cue the deity began to snore.
"As you say, my liege." Serpico held his slyph blade tightly. There would be no telling what kind of dangers they would face. "Farnese? Stay close."
"Wait for me, Lord Vorlesh!" Farnese chases after her teacher. "Where shall we be setting camp?"
"Just ahead." I turn towards Guts. "Come on, Guts! This is not a vacation!" I grin. "If you trail behind I might have to grab The Belt of Discipline!"
"Y-Yeah..." Guts regains his composure. "Which way, Arlan?" He had no idea, and he was out of his depth.
"Just look for the butterflies!"
[] Our priority should be finding Desna. The easiest way would be tracking her movements by looking for her familiars. Desna expressed herself in the form of butterflies. Ones that almost seemed to glow.
[] Farnese wanted to start learning witchcraft. I could begin to teach her what cantrips I know, and then expand on that. This shouldn't be too much of a distraction. Since I can teach her at the camp.