"The Imperium, under the rule of its 5th Empress spearheaded a revolution when it came to the care of their rank and file, from the lowest conscript to the mightiest of generals, Early in her rule she discovered an important weak link in the armed forces: That of Mental and Soul wellbeing, In this time we will learn her story, how she convinced the men and women under her rule and how the Silent Soldier aided her efforts..."
Story of the Imperium, 2nd volume, third edition.
Hope slept a dreamless sleep as the dull sounds of the drill droned over her, the workers worked, Idun barking orders every once in a while as her mind delved deep into itself, at the crossroads of this mental palace she had built together with Arthur she saw a splendid sun in the skies, a physical manifestation of the All-Father's power bestowed upon her, squinting her eyes she saw minor suns, vying for its attention.
Or its power.
Her feet sank into deep red sand, as a sea of purple and red water crashed against the beach, she had been deep into those waters once, it felt like a lifetime ago but she remembered as clearly as if it was yesterday.
Hope feared this encounter with the Partition would be one of wit instead of might, under the sun of the All-Father and the sea breeze of the Rage she meditated, Hoping this deep state she was in would clear her mind for the task ahead.
Her mind instead wandered around the Palace, feeling the Ties that bound her to the people she came to care, to love, another important piece of magic that Arthur taught to her mid-throes of love, the memory made her blush as his Tie flashed red, she could picture him smiling from the palace, no doubt busy with Royal nonsense.
She tried centering herself again, deep breaths to focus as the wanderlust died, she figured something must've worked because within seconds her mind was blank, and thus Hope stood in deep meditation for hours inside of her mind.
The riddle, she thought as soon as she woke up and saw the workers doing their tasks as the drill did its job, was not manageable but not insurmountable either, something must've done terrible damage to the sole point where the Hivemind's partition was weak.
It's a singular mind.
Mind magic, nasty and evil by most people had its uses on both sides of the moral coin, but surely something as ancient and powerful as the Hivemind, whose power was equal to the All-Father himself would make sure to set up contingencies for, fall back plans and such.
"Or maybe not" Hope spoke out loud and Idun threw her a questioning glance.
"Ah forgive me, Master Idun, I was trying to solve the "riddle" that is this entire endeavor, why did the Hivemind choose me I can safely say its because of my ties to the All-Father, but do I have the right skills for it? If this is indeed a self-imposed exile, would a mere mortal, powerful or otherwise get something out of it?"
Idun rubbed his beard "Ancient Dwarves tell tales of master forgers who after delivering their life works, or masterpieces would fall into a deeply reflective mood, at the best of times, or fall for the sickness of the mind and soul, forsake food and drink, care for their bodies and beard" he nodded "Soldiers who go through horrifying affairs, survivors of great catastrophes and the like also can suffer from it"
"Your friend, the Arch-Duke's daughter has that shadow over her, the dragon artifact worked its magic but the shadow remains" Idun continued "If this is not a contest of Might, then you can do something, maybe inspire, or embolden the Partition" he laughed "At the worst of cases, make it mad enough to come out of its imposed exile"
Hope sighed, her face letting it show the myriad of emotions and thoughts running through her head.
"Why would the Hivemind not equip its partition with the necessary defenses against it you wonder? maybe it wants to know that kind of existential nightmare only a mortal can suffer, maybe it didn't know about it, or maybe this is a horrible coincidence that somehow sidestepped all of its preparations" Idun finished and left Hope to ponder on the issue, the Partition had said others failed but had not died so she could hopefully rule out combat.
But what did she know about taking care of someone who's with such a malady of the mind and soul? could she muster the wit and words to shake the thing off its somber reverie? She might have bitten more than she could chew on this one...
Ack! If only Lucrezia was here! She would know, the woman knew everything under this godsdamned sun...Hope felt the emotions rise again, it had been a long while since she last felt this frustrated, but she focused again and recalled what her parents had said once.
"One step after the other, walk, listen, pay attention, then act"
And so she did, praying to whatever god could listen to her under an entire mountain range she wasn't about to unearth an apocalypse.
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They reached a threshold, where dull rock made way for an impressive display of architecture, alien in more than one way. Idun started to cast a spell as others joined him, the entire ground beneath their feet shone blue, then purple, and then black.
"Blessed the land is, Under Raa'Tyrius, Saal'Xhir, and Velkarius" Idun spoke in prayer and others replied "Blessed be the land" Hope joined in, she knew after all those 3 were the most vital pillars that helped Lucrezia retake her Duchy...
"Anyone wants to come with me?" She spoke and laughs erupted from the crew as one of the dwarven guards spoke "I am afraid Missy, that this is a Solo Endeavor" He spoke weirdly in an accent that Hope couldn't place anywhere.
"This was done with magic" Idun spoke to Hope as she prepared her gear, Sword and Shield strapped, and enough delving Magi-Tech devices to make sure she could tunnel her way back.
From the other side of the mountain range if need be.
"Yeah, I can sense it in the air, this must've been one of the readings you people picked up" Hope kneeled and sweep two fingers in the ground, not a speck of dust in them when she raised her hand "Clean too, the Partition is still deploying its mana for upkeep"
Idun nodded and called for another dwarf, who was carrying a series of triangle-shaped silvery objects "These are comm buoys, deploy them as you make your way towards the Partition and we should be able to hear anything you send, and deploy a rescue team if need be, assuming the damn thing doesn't cave us in"
Hope took the discs and placed them in her backpack, which itself was a dimensional storage device, shaped like a hiker's backpack because well because she liked th aesthetics of it. Something most of her friends was baffled at but not Lucrezia, the woman nodded with pride when Hope asked for it.
And then she was off, bidding farewells to Idun and the team, and setting up a deadline of 3 days, in case anything happened. Idun was happy to know Hope had been schooled in such matters by her parents, breaching the inner sanctum of the Partition Hope felt a pulse of energy coming from deep below and followed it, Hoping nothing bad would happen in the way.
The buoys worked wonders as she deployed them every hour, there was no need for light as bright purple flames illuminated the halls and tombs she went through, a theme the Hivemind seemed to enjoy from what she knew about it.
A few hours had gone by, Hope found a strange simulacrum of a forest, beasts, and birds flew past her like illusions, she sat down in a clearing, overlooking a great expanse of verdant woods, snow gently falling from the skies, a fantastic view and perfect place to take a rest.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
"...Contact...Established" the weird voice spoke from the Magi-Tech device "...Hope! it's been a few hours, we haven't detected anything on our end here, everything alright?" Idun's voice blared from the device.
"All clear so far, it's been mostly hallways and tombs, but I am now in some sort of Illusionary Forest, a colder climate as well" She looked up "No sun, I'll be taking a small break for food so I decided to give you an update"
Hope unpacked her rations, and brewed a pot of coffee as the unnatural forest went on, as she began eating she felt eyes on her, something or someone was watching her eat and drink.
The Partition? She couldn't be sure, so in a move that would be called dumb at the best of times she decided to call it out "Whoever or whatever is watching me, come out if you so wish, I mean no harm"
Nothing happened, Hope nearly dropped her guard when a voice spoke near her ear.
"Be gone, I do not wish to be disturbed"
And it was gone, there was no ill intent there, just a deep sense of tiredness and...nothing else, empty even. Hope got up and looked around, the food in her hand got cold as she warmed herself near the fire she had made beforehand.
"This will not be easy, I could feel its power by its voice alone..." she spoke to herself before smiling at the scene "Guess I am also losing it eh Lu?" eating the food was fast, no more ghostly voices in the wind to distract her after all.
Walking was not easy this time, the thing was making an effort to stall her as much as it could, yet no violence came from its efforts, tricks, and traps. plenty. puzzles and mazes? we got them too!
It was a very weird and well unique experience, Hope seldom met problems that couldn't be fixed with a strong swing of her sword, or depleting half her mana pool into it, violence as her parents said, made for a fast and effective hammer to life many nails.
"Easy to see everything as a nail," Hope said as she finished a 5-way puzzle where she had to slot tiles so that matches some sort of musical pattern, it felt good putting her brain to work like this, it felt like magic lessons from Kaine, except he wasn't here to tie it all together in a way it felt Hope was getting better at magic.
Out of everyone, Kaine was the one who taught her the most when the topic was the arcane, a natural extension of his and Arthur's in-depth research and studies of the magical forces that were around them, Lucrezia's teachings were more around how to maximize the usage of her blessing, but it was Kaine that gave depth to some of the insanely powerful magic Lucrezia threw at Hope like it was nothing.
Often Kaine would speak about those, calling Lucrezia reckless but always in a praising tone, his girlfriend had a glim in her eyes as all of them learned these spells, those memories made her smile as she walked through the maze she was currently in.
A gust of wind to her left side told her the Partition was nearby again, or whatever it used to watch her.
"Stop," the wind said and Hope did so, not wanting to piss the thing off more "Will you not cease? not go away?"
Hope shrugged "No, I have a mission and I will complete it, but I do not wish to use violence" The wind surged and danced around her "Yes, yes violence would do you naught here, powerful as you are I could just run away, others came and dispatching them was way easier, you on the other hand, not so easy"
The wind became fierce "A talk then if you complete this last puzzle"
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Hope was facing the spirits she had to talk down at the start of her journey in these cold lands, the sole natives of this world she was born were solitary and sad, at least the wintery ones.
What she did find out was that every single seasonal spirit felt that way, Winter was the one who were proud to show the world how sad they were, of course with the Returnal of the last Ancientt their mood had improved but the Spirits were hardly a cohesive unit of people, many in the Capital feared and resented Hope's professor.
3 Spirits of Winter sat down upon the road her drill needed to get past, their faces mimicking that of elves and Dragonkin, they stared at each other in silence until Hope neared them, feeling no ill intent from the group she sat down as well, and stared at the one facing her.
"Greetings daughter of Faal, inheritor of the world" It spoke, cold winds picking up as it did making Hope shiver "For what reason do you disturb us so? these forests and hills are silent, which pleases us much until your machine came" It pointed to the drill.
Another spirit spoke, a very feminine voice sung in Hope's ears "Seek not the one hiding in these hills, It does not want to be disturbed, it only seeks solitude and peace of mind" The others nodded in agreement.
Hope's mind was ablaze, then it snapped into place "This is a playback of my memories" She touched one of the spirits and her hand passed through its body "A puzzle out of my own mind? Arthur would've liked you, he is fond of these sorts of magics and plays"
Unsaid was the fact they were less than wholesome, or appropriate to a being who was clearly in emotional distress. Hope doubted their fantasies would do anything to aid in her quest now.
Focusing on the Drill she found the spell, or whatever the Partition had cast stopped working, so she focused on the Spirits, who in the real world only had asked what was going on and then gave her passage, not really caring about her quest.
"The Hivemind asked for me to reach out, and see what was happening with its missing part, I felt it was only right to help it" She spoke and the spirits laughed "Foolish child of Faal, what the Whole wants is anything but"
Ah yes, Lucrezia had told her of this, the Partition referred to its greater part as the Whole, nested in its bizarre country granted by the All-Father, Hope wanted to visit that place one day, and see its wonders.
Hope's vision went dark, and then an unfamiliar place appeared around her, a hall not unlike that of the Capital's palace, but adorned with pelts of animals from the north, in the middle of it a throne made out of ice and crystal.
"Lucrezia's throne room?" she was sure it didn't look this grand, and it was missing the Magi-Tech artifacts she knew the woman would put around. Yet someone sat upon that ghastly throne.
It was Lucrezia, but not the wise and charismatic woman Hope knew and loved, nor the dork who spent too much time cooking for Richard and was too much of a prude to act her feelings, this Lucrezia was evil, she had the stare Arthur often spoke about, that of a Noble who hated having to play pretend with peasants.
Cold, harsh, evil.
"It displeases you, this visage of the one you care for" the facsimile of Lucrezia spoke, her voice low and foreboding, but know this, this is mine -her- true nature! the evil humans hide deep inside their hearts"
"Once day you will face it, and be forced to commit the ultimate sacrifice!"
Darkness came once again, Hope was shaken by the Partition's words because something, something very deep inside of her knew it was true, one day she would face Lucrezia in a battle, or have a confrontation that would test their friendship, and she feared it.
She did not want to lose a dear friend, or a loved one, but something told her that Lucrezia also knew this, the way she spoke and acted, the intonation of her words, and the movement of her body.
And so Hope found herself staring at her old room, sat upon her bed was the Partition's version of her, eyes full of sadness and regret and slouched posture reminded her of her time before the Academy, of zero friendships and distancing herself from the world? or something like that.
Hope sat down beside her clone, her mind racing to snap the puzzle in place, then it clicked; change, this part of the Hivemind feared change, so much it went into exile instead of returning to the fold, a most primal of fear for regular people, for change brought much grief and worst of all, the possibility of being changed to its very core, learning, improving, failing.
"A pit of snakes Hope, dead snakes who came to this world to die, and yet they cling to life, as the Whole, as the Few" Her own voice sounded strange to her ears but the age behind those words made Hope get goosebumps.
"Damn Faal and his will to live! Damn him!" the Partition ran its fingers up its face and into the hairline. Hope then got the full picture of this bizarre and yet very human quest.
In walking the world and learning, thus growing and changing as its own person, this particular partition came to loath this will to live, the drive to strive as her mother once explained, that Faal as the God of Free Will instilled in its creations, as it was bestowed to him by his own Divine Parents, but unlike a blessing which demands an exchange, Faal was far more democratic with this Will.
"Free for everyone, to the lowest of slaves to the highest of Gods" Hope repeated the words her mother said and the Partition, still taking her image whimpered in defeat "A curse, we, I wanted to die!"
Hope felt at a loss for words, what could she say to something that was older than the stars of her planet? Then another click, she didn't need to actually say anything! but she could listen, she could empathize with it!"
Sometimes people just want to vent, to be heard, and to feel they matter Arthur's voice soothered her fears as Hope got closer to the Partition and held its hand, it felt like a normal human hand, warm to the touch.
It spoke at length, of its fears and hopes, of the travels across the cosmos and realities, and when it was done it smiled. Hope didn't know if she had succeeded in her mission, but the Partition did bestow her with a parting gift, a small cross-like totem "It will help in the trials to come, keep it on you at all times"
The workers and Idun cheered when she came back, and bar a debriefing at Lucrezia's castle (Where she went to check on the real throne room) the rest of the trip was uneventful, she was back to the capital before sundown and met with the Partition that gave her the quest.
"The Promised One returns, we would like to thank you for saving our lost sibling from itself, it has established contact again and...well that's that I'm afraid" Its smile no longer crept Hope "For you" the Partition materialized a spear made out of stranger rock like minerals "Made to kill Gods, may it help you in the future"