+> Sara <+
Barry put an elbow into Sara's spine and pressed as hard as he could. It cracked under the strain, and Sara let out a sigh of relief. The man's smile practically glowed, framed by beautiful brown curls.
Her most recent fight, against another upstart, had honestly been a fun one. The woman even managed to send her rocketing into the ground. The impact would've been fine, If Sara hadn't hit a mana crystal deposit. The material was still too hard for her body, and it had wrenched her back at a wrong angle.
The unexpected injury set Sara off, and she'd unintentionally transitioned into taking the fight seriously. Queen's edge split the woman's skull at the ear, crossed through her chest like a sash, and removed both legs below the knee in a flash so fast and forceful, the woman's body parts had scattered like leaves.
It was the fourth - or fifth? - leader that she'd killed recently, and the nicknames had once again started to roll in. Most of them were terrible, but she had gotten "Bloody Queen" sewn into a set of red, F-grade silk pajamas by a talented crafter. It was just good fun.
Really, none of the violence and death had needed to happen. Just because some 'congress' in what used to be the Eastern USA set themselves around a table and had conversations didn't mean they had a single iota of real power. The 'leaders' and 'rulers' they decided on meant jack shit, and there was no 'probationary head of state' or whatever the hell they'd tried to make up. Sara would rather be killing beasts.
Marlene had counseled diplomacy, and Sara did try it. It didn't end well, but she tried. The woman had been more outspoken with Sara recently, and actually pushed back when she brought forward half-baked ideas or messy solutions. That had been exactly what Sara wanted when she removed most of the restrictions from Marlene's contract. She needed the woman's abilities unleashed - and Marlene had shown herself to be not just loyal to Sara, but loving. Like a powerful, web-spinning aunt.
It was just so troublesome for Sara to deal with people that wanted to squabble instead of grow.
None of them understood. She wasn't going to rule her local area, or the Eastern half of the continent, or North America. She was going to rule Earth - and not because it was her goal but because it was the bottom rung on a much larger ladder. She was the only one with real dreams, and the rest of them were ready to fight and die over table scraps.
Eventually, they'd all understand. Until then, she'd continue putting pretenders in the ground - and using the fights with them as an excuse to visit her favorite handsome chiropractor.
#
#
A massive bear-chimera slapped down a paw and mashed a troop of 20 soldiers.
Sara had warned them not to interfere. She'd told them exactly what would happen if they sent an army of goldfish against this type of threat, and they hadn't listened. Instead, she'd shown up to the fight only to find a small army already engaged with the beast.
Was this it? Was it necessary for these fools to see their troops dead and their homes burn before they'd finally accept her words as truth?
The death spreading out below her was so... unnecessary. With the fodder there, she couldn't fight effectively. If she let loose, she'd end up felling some of them with her blows, and then it would become another incident. Marlene had already spent the majority of the past two months quelling the concerns of future allies that were worried about Sara's increasingly violent style of battle.
So instead of helping them, and potentially putting more rocks in her path - Sara watched the Southern American Alliance's elite forces learn a terminal lesson.
----------------------------------------
Bergen, Norway - (Otto)
Otto's ears rang, and bled. The arc of lightning hadn't even hit him, but the explosion it created had blown him off his feet and left him with a ringing in his ears.
The boss monster they faced was a twisted version of a deer, six stories tall. At a staggering level 27, the thing was an F grade monster - the likes of which they'd never seen before. Its fur was matted with burns and other scars of magic, and its hooves and antlers were dyed red in the blood of Otto's countrymen. His people were two days into the fight, and still had a long way to go. There simply weren't enough powerful fighters, and each bit of progress they earned also set them back in the warriors they lost to gain it.
The leaders around them had spent the last few days whispering of help and heroes. Otto hoped they would arrive before the rest of his city was destroyed.
#
A figure raced in overhead and slammed the beast in its side, interrupting a swipe of its antlers that would've leveled another apartment complex. The massive creature stumbled backwards under the force of the impact.
The figure responsible for the blow hovered in place, still and unmoving.
Otto had heard stories. Fighters too tired or injured or too outmatched to go on had been saved by a flying Valkyrie with golden hair and a white sword. She took on the visage of a young girl, but she was a demigod sent to save them from the horrors of this new world.
The Valkyrie scanned the battlefield, and drew her weapon. Thankful cries erupted out of parched and exhausted mouths.
She streamed forward - straight at the head of the deer.
Its antlers glowed and crackled with lightning, but the Valkyrie slipped through the attempted attack like she was the air itself. Her grace and motion were sublime.
The Valkyrie reached the beast and drove her weapon - and herself - between the monster's eyes. She emerged out the back moments later, stained in blood and gore.
The Domain Quest for Bergen chimed complete, and the massive body of the deer titled and fell into a mostly-already-destroyed section of the city. There may have been survivors there, killed by the fall - but such was luck, and life. Without the Valkyrie's entry into the battle, many more would have been lost in a slower, costly fight.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Otto raised his voice and joined the raucous cheers and chants.
It was days later that he found out the 'true' identity of the Valkyrie. The Pathfinder.
Those in charge wanted Otto and others to call her Sara. They claimed she was just a person from America, and that she was simply a young girl.
Otto knew better. He had seen it with his own two eyes.
And when gods descended to Earth, they should be honored, and worshipped.
----------------------------------------
+> Sara <+
Sara sipped on a cup of terrible coffee, surrounded by snakes and weasels. Not actual snakes and weasels - those hadn't developed any sort of sapience on Earth, at least not yet.
Her fellow tablemates were worse than animals - schemers and politicians and 'religious figureheads'. Marlene had assured her that some of the people belonged to her faction, but it really didn't matter. The entire meeting was a farce. It had been billed as a foundational summit to solidify the fresh and tepid alliances that came about in the wake of the domain wars. Thousands of settlements and billions of people had fought pitched battles against weak foes, and finally started to understand just how behind the curve they all were.
She was there as the 'head' of the summit, a showcase of her power as a warrior and leader. Sara had been instrumental in putting down many of the more powerful beasts that plagued the 'nations' of people sitting around this table. They thanked her in the open, and plotted behind closed doors. Sara would've preferred an open fight - but she understood the need for cloak and dagger.
The meeting wasn't a summit, but an invitation for those around her to try to enact whatever schemes they had on her life. Marlene had found no credible threats to her person, and sweetened the offer by 'being indisposed back on the American continents' for the duration of the session. Sara hadn't brought a single person for her entourage, which meant she was technically outnumbered.
She sipped the coffee again, and watched which eyes in the room focused on her, and which sought the cup. Two people were looking at her throat, and one was trying to discreetly watch the inside corners of her eyes. She stopped herself from chuckling. Marlene had been getting progressively better at her own predictions and theories, and she was right again. The three people at the table that expected Sara to choke on the poisoned coffee were the same ones she'd identified as the most likely to make a move as a group. Their attempt was as weak as the poison - at least against someone of her level.
Pathfinder pulled at her instincts, as it always did. Sara followed the threads of possibility and fed it her thoughts and desires.
For so long, she'd hated her skill. Despised what it had done to her, and her father.
It took so many long conversations and moments of reflection for her to gain real understanding that let her open herself up to it again.
Pathfinder wasn't all-powerful. Overpowered in a universal sense, sure. But knowing the way up a mountain didn't mean you could skip the climb. You still had to reach the summit yourself - Pathfinder just reduced your risk of falling off the side.
She'd expected too much of it, to somehow save her father from his fate. What it did do was give him a meaningful death, and one that propelled Sara forward in all of her ventures.
Her eyes scanned over each of the three co-conspirators, looking for the twitches and tells in their faces and hands. She knew from sight alone which one would break the best even before Pathfinder guided her to the same answer. Sara slowly rose from her seat, which gathered the attention of everyone in the room.
Her hands delicately lifted the saucer and cup off the table, and she glided across the room. She put the saucer down on the table between a man and a weasel. One hand still held the cup, and with the other, she grabbed the weasel's shoulder with an iron grip. He winced, and craned his neck back to meet her eyes. He'd already started to wither, and sputtered softly with apologies.
Sara ignored his efforts, and gave the entire room a pointed, predatory smile.
"Greg. You simply must try my coffee."
#
#
"So, she won't physically be here for the dedication ceremony? That's a shame."
The orange alien nodded solemnly. "Yes, great-aunt Fin.. I mean, Executive Finola is still unable to visit your planet, and will be for some time. System backlash, you know - very difficult and not to be taken lightly. She will be projected in real-time, though, so you'll be able to converse with her, if she has any availability."
Sara silently bristled. This pomp and circumstance was the first real chance she'd gotten at gathering information on the people responsible for putting them in this situation. Blasdej had been the ones to awaken Earth and kick off the events that killed so many of her friends and her family. This girl, this intern, was a potential fountain of knowledge so long as she could build up a good rapport with her.
"Speaking of, I thank you for the personal tour, Lord Calderwall." She closed her three eyes and bowed. "It is an honor to receive such treatment from the Pathfinder Progenitor. I'm certain you must have more important matters to attend to."
Sara smiled softly. Her rank and titles made her famous - or infamous, depending on the members in the conversation. They were massive achievements. But they'd always just been a means to an end. In three days, she would have her 'sponsored' Planetary Lord Crowning Ceremony, alongside the dedication of Sanctuary's original location as a protected heritage site. It granted her more opportunities to wear a mask and pretend to be the good little lordling they wanted, while gathering information. She wasn't powerful enough yet to be a real threat to these people. But she would be, in time.
"Nonsense Julia - this is my first time meeting someone from Blasdej in person, and you are just wonderful. I know - why don't we go relax in my building? It'll have a wonderful view of the sunset, and you absolutely have to try some of Earth's wine."
Six hours later, the young woman was giving another heated and half-slurred rant about her employer.
"And that Vrin'zit never even said thank you to me, not once! Do you know, I once pretended to faint - in front of the MANGNATE - for her? Not a single apology!"
Sara chuckled warmly and covered her mouth with the tips of her fingers. "Oh my goodness - why in the heavens would you do such a thing?"
Julia took a long sip from her glass. "Stupidity. I thought I could get into Finola's confidence by supporting her. But- I don't think she even knows my name. She thinks we're all stupid. And then - she has us checking her work or doing things she should do herself. Pick one! Right? Either I'm smart enough to edit your super secret speeches, or I'm too dumb to trust."
Sara resisted the urge to lean forward on her seat. "You seem like a good speech writer to me. What did she have you work on?"
"Oh, I shouldn't..."
It took real effort to keep her voice light and happy. "Come on, Julia - I want to see! If you show me, we can work on my speech for the ceremony together - and I'll give you the credit you deserve."
The girl's three eyes twinkled. "Credit on a Progenitor's Inaugural Crowning Ceremony..." She longingly stared at the glass-domed ceiling, then moved her fingers, almost rhythmically against an invisible screen. "The actual final version is 'super secret', but... I do have a draft. It's a little rough, but I'll tell you what I added." Her smile filled her face.
Sara's personal messages dinged, and she opened the file.
----------------------------------------
Message Received from [Julia]
Addressing_Anomalies_and_Self_Affixation_V4_Julia-Edits.MSIDP
***
Addressing Anomalies and Self-Affixation, a Study by Finola of the Blasdej Interplanetary Consortium
Contents:
1. Patented (patent pending) Anomaly Detection Method (For interlopers and self-affixers)
2. Beacon Modification and Anticipated Results (Technically compliant and grey area options)
3. Options for Planetary Pacification (Expense tables and revenue loss numbers added!)
4. Using corrupted skill events to suppress or outlaw self-affixation, and bolster the reputation of Consortium-Contracted Awakenings (Section title too long, need to re-work)
----------------------------------------
As Sara read, she stood and walked to the window so Julia couldn't see her. Sara's face contorted into a scowl and her fists were clenched.
The consortium that had awakened Earth wasn't just complicit in the deaths of millions - they'd actively worked to create the situation that killed her father.
Sara's quest for revenge had gained a face, and a name.
She'd grow powerful enough to kill Finola, no matter how many hundreds or thousands of years it might take.
But first, she needed to go back to playing her part as the good little lordling.
Sara forced her face back into a warm smile, and relaxed her fists. She practically skipped back over to Julia.
"This is lovely work - let me show you what I have planned for my ceremony."