"A distant light shone in the skies that day, rising ever upwards towards the pale blue above our heads, people cheered across the duchy as the monumental effort and collaboration of the entire realm born fruit that day"
Anonymous Journal.
Another snowstorm blessed the Academy's students and staff as Lucrezia made her way to the cafeteria with a smile on her face, The cold made her fingers tingle with delight and her cheeks were red with excitement, Saa'ryu was cursing by her side as the maid had to wear her winter gear "Bloody Winter Spirits, this is the south and they still manage to knock the temperature down this hard"
"Worry not dear, a few more days and the weather will clear up" Lucrezia had a grim on her face, the negotiations with the Summer and Autumn spirits who came to petition that their season would be more enforced were a good time, it felt like a big family reunion for the Spirits, with many of them visiting the Ancient in the Academy to pay respects to the woman.
"I can feel the extra mana you have now you know? it is almost like a mage shield" Saa'ryu said after a while "A very unique thing to counter in my line of work, We had to dispatch a few individuals with powers similar to it, not on the same level of course thank the bloody gods but still, there's more than a mana boost and better control of the arcane to it, you would be wise to learn it"
The maid nodded with a solemn look on her face to make sure Lucrezia understood, With a smile the young duchess made sure she got the message across to her dependable maid as they breached the threshold of the cafeteria.
Noise, laughter, and cheers all around the two women as life went on for the many students of the Academy, Lucrezia got into the food line and made her plate full to the brim with plenty of bread, cheese, and a bowl of hot soup, Coffee and Orange juice, and an actual pint of mead which earned her a curious look from Saa'ryu. "It's been a while" Lucrezia explained as she found her usual table deserted.
"Hope, Richard, and Arthur went to the Orc's capital can you believe it?" Lucrezia said as the two started eating "I got the news from him last night, he sounded excited about it, I do wonder though, how Arthur and Hope will deal with the many cultural quicks the Orcs have, I hope they heeded our Prince's lessons..." Saa'ryu nodded as she ate shellfish that looked to be made out of pure magma.
"...Now I wouldn't worry, given our man has their Goddess's blessing but Hope is also there, I don't wanna see a mad orc priest getting upset if she does get the blessing via her powers" The maid took a big swig of cold water "Ack these are too mild, should've taken more spice bottles from the kitchen...anyway there's no need to worry Lu, let them enjoy this short vacation"
As Lucrezia ate her food she was greeted by friends and students alike, one of her classmates decided to plop her plate on the table, a small greeting escaping her lips as Lucrezia smiled with mirth in her lips, Ah Raffa Ironheart was back! no doubt feeling incredibly tired from having to deal with her little band of heretics, Lucrezia pushed her coffee toward the young woman "Looks like you need it"
Ironheart scowled "Your vile drink is the most vexing thing I have consumed in a while, no matter how much sugar and milk I pour it tastes as bitter as the fish from the Dynasty and yet one can't deny its perks, once I had half a pint of the stuff and while I wanted to leap into the long queue due to the taste, I was awake enough for the test that this Hellish Academy imposed at the time"
She drank the cup and her face went from red, to green all the way to yellow and back "Devils and Demons curse you, do you drink this raw? what is wrong with you woman, Gods I hope Richard puts some sense in you when you two marry" Saa'ryu stared the woman down "What? you know the two of them will do it, bah whatever, if your Lady isn't ready to be honest with her feelings I will not be the one to prod her"
Raffa coughed "Lucrezia, I heard our star woman drilled a hole through a mountain range the size of a small country with some of your dwarves and technology, a more robust version of the one that was used in the Fields" The young woman looked like she was just talking idly gossip but Lucrezia could see she was trying her best to hide the fact she was very uncomfortable with this line of conversation.
"Aye, she did my friend" Lucrezia spoke "On a quest by the Hivemind if you can believe it, she even won a powerful weapon out of the whole ordeal, I gotta spend a month on research and development to get something that can graze gods and she wins a spear that kills the bastards outright, I'd call it unfair but then again she is no God hating heretic or lunatic"
Raffa nodded "When I was younger I often wanted to talk with one of its partitions, to learn more about the cosmos and the stars...Then I read the book one of them wrote about it and I was glad I never acted on those feelings" Lucrezia nodded, ah yes "Travel on the Seas of Dead Suns and Husk of Stars" penned by one of the Partitions was a favorite among mothers for horror stories.
"One day I will take on such a voyage" Lucrezia spoke, her voice barely a whisper "To avenge the Spirits" Raffa got serious as she felt the conviction behind the words "Then I wish you good luck my friend, and that the All-Father bless your blade for the bloodletting that will follow"
"Alas, Deicide" the word felt strong on Raffa's lips "Is not the topic I wish to talk with you about on this fine day, I wanted to know more about the Magi-Tech apparatus you and Hope Used, the driller. I believe that was the name of it" she finished her cup of water to wash the butter taste of coffee down "I have interest in mining operations along the Grannariu's border you see, winnings from the war and I wish to modernize the venture, my workers deserve the very best after all"
Lucrezia nodded "Ironheart look after their own, kin or not" she spoke and Raffa's face blossomed into a smile "Aye I can do that and more dear, as you know we also have an impressive mining operation going on at my home, Literally" Saa'ryu laughed "so a great number of our Magi-Tech research and Development goes to it, to the point some of the old-guard have started complaining the job got too easy"
Raffa nodded "Aye we do, We have generations working there, people who the founding members of the clan saw and worked with as well" She made a gesture towards the ears as she ate more"
"Elven and Dwarves both those old living bastards, I hope they don't moan too much about the new gear, we really need to modernize the whole operation there to make it safer..."
The women ate in silence for a while before Raffa spoke again "Still can't believe you actually happed the Academy's staff in the kitchen, Not many nobles would do that you know? Even if you got some divine piece of meat out of it" she laughed "Bloody hell it is cold today, you must be loving this weather I reckon, tell me do you miss your home Lucrezia? rumor around the Academy is that you are often fond of staring longly towards the north"
Lucrezia cocked her head "Really? Gods I never noticed..." to which her maid smiled and said "Aye the little Lady misses her home something fierce, I told her people would notice the fact she was on the rooftops mid hail taking in the sights but she didn't listen, now we have this"
Lucrezia made a gesture "Oh shush you Saa, let the people say what they want it is no mystery I miss the cold of the north or my subjects and comrades in arms that are ruling the land in my stead, we went through fire and steel together, that as I am sure you know dear Raffa makes for strong bonds, friendships that will have your back at the direst of hours and moments"
"And the cold, focus on the cold," Saa'ryu said and both she and Raffa laughed "Yes you bloody maid, I do miss the godsdamned cold, this muggy heat can get itself into a black hole for all I care, even if the Summer Spirits would give me grief for a month for saying this" Lucrezia huffed and puffed like a spoiled brat which made the two laugh more, one Student from another table spoke to them out loud "I agree with the Duchess, I don't know how you southerners deal with this hellish heat and I have Demons in my family tree!"
A debate ensued as Lucrezia basked in the weird glow of a debate about seasons and temperatures, A flashback from her better half took the wind out of her sails as she remembered the sister who often would stick up for her whenever the parents would...what did they do again? she sighed to shake off the dread that crept slowly through her back, to see her in those memories was still weird, wrong.
Somedays she wondered what would've happened had William decided to take over, would he then see her memories like this? would he become more like her in the same way she was becoming more like him in some sort of soul balance?
"I should get better in necromancy," Lucrezia thought to herself trying to shake her head out of this maze she often found herself in most of these days due to her feelings and urges she kept repressed and contained...
Stolen novel; please report.
"Richard was right, you do look like you are in another world when you retreat to yourself like that" Raffa spoke as Lucrezia was shaken from her reverie "A most fascinating thing to witness let me tell you, how you frown and dart your eyes around while being totally ignorant of your surroundings, now returning to our-" a blur went by as Raffa nearly dunked her head into the bowl of soup in the table, a small girl with dark hairs nearly running towards the center of the Cafeteria "Hey! you! Watch where the fuck you are going or gods help me I will challenge you to single combat! Hey!" Raffa's cries went unheard as the small girl was already lost in the middle of the sea of people.
"What the bloody hells was that?" Raffa asked, Then Lucrezia heard a very particular sound, one she had hoped she would never ever hear ever since she had melded with William's soul and memories.
"Shit" Lucrezia said as she bolted toward the noise, there was a crowd forming as people started laughing or making surprised noises, the cleaning staff was moving together with Lucrezia as she shot an alarmed look towards them, the message was understood immediately as one of the cleaning ladies raised her hand to her ear and spoke "We have a potential situation on the Cafeteria" she waited for Lucrezia to explain as someone shouted from the crowd "Gods above she's glowing!"
Lucrezia felt her very soul quiver as she blasted every single blessing she had at full throttle, heads snapped towards her as she bellowed out "GET AS FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE FROM IT, THAT IS A WEAPONIZED HEALING SPELL OF THE HIGHEST ORDER, YOU CALL THE DEAN TELL HIM WE HAVE DEMON'S SMILE ON OUR HANDS"
Gasps of terror were heard as the cleaning staff halted their march, the woman who had her hand on her ear immediately relaying the information to the dean and the rest of the staff, Lucrezia turned to the one in charge of the team "Was the biological warfare protocol updated last summer yes or no?" the woman nodded gravely "Yes, but the..." Lucrezia shook her head, it was best that the previous incident was not spoken out loud.
The small girl was floating in the middle of the pandemonium, her eyes glowing purple and red as she pointed her finger straight at Lucrezia "You whore! today will be the day I enact my vengeance upon you and this place, for stealing my beloved Arthur, for giving him away to that peasant girl! oh, how she will rue the day when she learns all that she loves dear will die an agonizing death! for this-"
Amber shields flared across the entire section of the Academy that housed the cafeteria and beyond, A thunderous choir was heard as the Dean's voice explained the situation to the panicked masses, anyone alive in the mortal coil knew how bad things got whenever weaponized healing magic or miracles were deployed, Lucrezia on the other hand was panicking for another reason.
"This is a scrapped DLC scenario! god fucking damn it Jesus Joseph and fucking Mary! how did they even fix it ahh!" the sound of wailing and cursing filled the room as Lucrezias mind went into overdrive "Think you goddamn cunt, think! someone or something had the key for it I remember reading the fucking announcement and forum posts think!"
The perpetrator was the daughter of a minor noble, Lady Amra Thesalor of House Thesalor, elven in the majority and with a knack for Healing magic and Finances, In the scrapped scenario she started as a serial killer before doing the big attack in the cafeteria, with the gimmick being getting a cure from someone who was fast dying in the place while keeping her at bay, as the woman had made sure she had nothing on her that could help the cure effort, the longer the player took, the more people fell to the sickness that would kill them the day afterward, with a game over being the total spread across the country
Lucrezia didn't wait, with an incantation that burned half the mana reserves she managed to piece the woman with a lance of crimson lighting, leaping towards her limp body that still floated, below the alchemical components that enabled her to spread the Demon's Smile, one of the plagues employed against the their invasion a long time ago, now who had the cure...
Another flex of her entire Blessing arsenal as she outright screamed to everyone in the room "Reclaimers! To me!" She heard shouts of agreement as half the place looked towards her "Clear the entire left wing of the Cafeteria, Drag whoever's showing signs of the sickness towards it, and employ whatever pain-dampening spells and miracles you have, we will NOT die today" she shot a look towards Saa'ryu who immediately grabbed the dimensional storage she had and dumped two dozen spell rods on a table "Spell Rods for middle level healing magic and miracles, grab them!"
"Ooh!" panic was replaced by militaristic order and zeal as Lucrezia's and Richard's army brought a volatile sense of security to the place, the staff personnel that was on site started following the orders as well, with the Dean's voice blooming in their ears "If the woman can fix this mess then by all means" Lucrezia sucked in air as she saw Raffa and Saa'ryu cough blood, her own lungs also itching as she spilled a speck of blood into her hand.
She felt a warm wind blow behind her back as Raffa aimed one of the rods at her "Lucrezia please tell me you can fix this mess" she spoke as more eyes were on her now that the woman who cursed them was dead, Lucrezia felt time slow down as she did her best to recall the memories, names and inane arguments on the game's forum flying past her as she felt the sweat on her back grow cold.
Sea, waves crashing upon the ancient shores of the Imperium, a pact forged in blood and soul with the rulers of the hellish realms down below in the spiritual world, the frontlines healers of the Kingdom of Vermilion and the Imperium when it came to sickness being used against their countries, a house as ancient as the stones of the capital palace of the Imperium.
She felt the memory click, a huge blog post about the scrapped DLC's storyline and mechanics, Her eyes shone with raw divine power as she rose up and said "Lord Mihaly of House Fairtide, to me!"
A shout of surprise came from the entrance of the left wing, a young man barely 19 years old of age panicked as he felt the power coming from that shout, he nearly kneeled out of reflex as the power of the gods washed over him.
Mihaly was not feeling good today, nevermind the fact a plague had just started mid-breakfast for him, The past week had him being hounded by feverish nightmares and odd warnings from his grandfather, of course, the family knew the old man was nearly delirious but this time, this time the man spoke with clarity and focus unheard by him in years, his voice a whisper on his mind as Lady Lucrezia floated towards him.
"Evil comes boy, and it shall test you, and the entire house" Mihaly was not the strongest healer of his line, nor the best demon summoner but at least for him and his friends he was a well-meaning and hard-working man of House Fairtide.
Lady Lucrezia landed and stared him down with an odd mixture of kindness and...curiosity in her eyes, it was like she was trying to puzzle him together in some esoteric way "Yes! Gods above that's me" he spoke feeling the shakes in his arms.
"IF Hope was here we could've fixed this the easy way" she spoke to him "With her blessing it would take a few minutes to learn the proper magical and holy rites to purge this without having to summon the High Demon bond to your House" his eyes went wide, the rumor was that Lady Lucrezia had an impeccable spy network, but this was something else, she waved him off "What I will ask of you today is no small thing, Mihaly I am prepared to pay in gold, technology, land, and even body if need be" he nodded, having a feeling where this was going.
Evil came grandfather, and now we will be tested once again Mihaly thought to himself, he wasn't the best, and the very best of the Academy was far far away to aid them now, and yet.
Duty in Sacrifice, Honor in aiding those who in their direst hour will turn to us were the words his mom told him when he asked about the war against the elves, would he die today? he didn't know.
He did know he had to do something.
"We can't cure this" the woman looked almost panicked herself "But High Queen Calca'UR can" he froze up when he heard the name, shivers up and down his entire body as his mind went back to the day he made the pact with the High Demoness in what had to be the scariest moment in his life.
"Yet we need proper tithe for the High Queen, the blood of the rarest kind, Royal, Elder, Dragon" She paced around her voice rising up and down in a fever-like state as Mihaly saw her trying to work out the biggest issue at hand and also divulge House Secrets to anyone who was near, which as he looked around and saw no one within earshot calmed him if only a little.
Then he coughed more blood.
"Fuck, I am taking too long" Lucrezia hit herself in the thighs "Focus woman Focus, there's only one kind that cunt will take..." Mihaly did not know what else the High Queen would take in tithe, after all, what was rarer than a dragon? a god? no, she didn't like their life force, it was too bright for her and her minions, The sound of coughing and moaning washed over him as he saw Lucrezia take a deep breath to steady herself.
"Mine it is then"
Mihaly nearly screamed "You will die!" he looked around "I will not ask you how you know of this but she will demand every last drop of blood you have! Gods know I nearly died and we have a godsdamned pact with her!"
There was a shadow on top of Lucrezia, endless as the abyss and bright as the night stars, Mihaly saw only a glimpse of it as the woman spoke, voice as cold as the snows of the north and as strong as the iron of a sword "Not today Mihaly, no one dies today"
It was like seeing his parents talk about the war, or his grandfather when he was lucid "Duty in Sacrifice" he said to himself and heard her repeat the words "Yes, and Honor in aiding those in their direst hour" She smiled "Can you remember the chants and proper arcane formations ?"
"Aye, Aye I can" She gave him a nod and summoned an iron rod, its tip pure ice, grabbing it she slashed her hand "Tithe, bound in blood and Iron, Ice and snow from my forefathers"
Sounds and noise filtered away as the young scion of House Fairtide started doing his bloody work, Whenever blood would thin out she granted more slashes, the formation done he saw Lady Lucrezia looking pale as wrath.
And so he chanted, the mad last-ditch effort to save them all from the Demon's Smile, the moaning and coughing growing in noise as a crimson portal birthed itself upon the material plane, Screaming and shouting started before Lucrezia calmed the people down, one magical surprise was already enough for the fragile peace she had bought them with hard military discipline.
Upon the very recess of his mind, he heard a familiar laugh, fear and adrenaline shooting up once again as the voice that nearly crushed him not too long ago spoke "My what a wonderful surprise for me, I can feel it in my lips already the blood from beyond the cosmos"
A giant woman, horns on top of her head as a halo of magenta fire blossomed upon her entrance, the wailing and cries of her subjects drowning the entire cafeteria as this red demoness of power reviling the very gods walked towards Lucrezia.
She kneeled and sniffed the Duchess "Ah what succor, what feast, a shame I cannot partake further" She looked at Mihaly and bowed "Oathkeeper, To honor the pact that binds us I came, and this Sickness"
Rage in her eyes, the fire halo burning into wings of pure rancor
"Will be purged"