Chapter 40: Two Meetings part 1
In the god realm Two gods met, one as a servant and the other as a queen. They met in her castle, made of a thick grey stone. The exterior had an elegance that even the most boorish of people could appreciate. The interior was more fit for a lord than a queen, but the owner never enjoyed gaudy appearances. She preferred being known as a queen of humble mind and made her castle to reflect that.
“What do you think Jin?” The women spoke with a kindness that could tame the cruelest of beasts. Her long white hair decorated the throne with a gentle grace that all who witnessed the scene would watchfully scorn the throne. Then their eyes would meet her fair skin and relish in its beauty but would shut them with great haste for they would feel unworthy. Her Vassal was knelt before her, on the third step closest to her throne. She stood on the top of the stairs and looked down on her vassal as she spoke her thoughts.
“I only got a glimpse of him, he seems to want to hide his personality, but as you know he is the one that created that odd patch of land in the neutral zone.” He referred to the land Scitus had created when he had first arrived. The neutral land had always created the image of the subconscious mind, but the conscious mind could supersede that and allowed a god to hide his true self. The Great gods did not ordinarily bother to hide their true selves for they deemed it trifles and a game that the weak played.
“Yes, he is too young to know how to change it intentionally, it was probably why he didn’t fight for the table like the others. ” Another peculiarity that vassal noted was his lack of ambition, not once did he impose his will on the other gods and not once did fight for dominance. Even new gods catch on quickly that they must show their strength, for if they chose to abstain it would be a sign of weakness and this perceived weakness would bring hell along with it. The vassal then concluded that there could only be two reasons for Scitus’s reluctances to fight, Arrogance, or lack of ambition. Scitus, the vassal noted, was not arrogant, he understood the ramifications of fighting Miar; more than likely, he also knew Miar wouldn’t be able to move against him so quickly.
In the end, the truth was far stranger than anything the two gods could have ever guessed. Scitus did not fight over dominance from lack ambition, no, he hated petty games that have no outcome. This was only quarter of the reason, the other, to hide his true power. Scitus knew that his head would be on chopping block faster than any other god known if it was discovered that he was highest ranked god in that meeting.
“though another reason could be that he was hiding his rank.” But they were very close to guessing the truth.
“That is probably for Mern, not us.” Mern was at war with Scitus, and among the weaker gods, hiding their power was commonplace.
“what will you have me do?” Still kneeling, Jin raised his chin to look upon his queen. His eyes told a story of a long overdue favor, a favor he wished to fulfill. Miar raised her gaze, her omnipotence penetrated the castle walls and it witnessed all that was in her domain. Her mind at that time fled deep into its memories, Searching for her mistakes and regrets. It found countless mistakes and each one worst then the last but the one she could never forget, for its magnitude could not be ignored, was that drow she had met so long ago.
She remembered that it was with a wonderful sunlight, it hid the darkness that lurked in the air. She ran as fast she could after hearing of the lies that convinced her. Her arrival came far too late, for when she did arrive all that lay before her were corpses whose expressions varied from anger to sorrow. They were bloodied, torn and maimed. At the center of the field, stood a single Drow who held his bloodied blade and turned it to her. He screamed a sound the reverberated in her ears and forever haunted and the man attacked. His feeble body had long been broken and then wrath was all the kept him standing. She didn't bother blocking for she knew the man was far too feeble to ever hurt her and as she predicted the blade broke in two. The Drow flung his half of the blade in a pathetic attempt to blind her and quickly moved to attack bare fists. Every fist that met her armor brought along with a knew fracture, but the Drow showed signs in stopping his attacks. His attacks quickly deteriorated into scratches, bites, and kicks, reminiscent of child's tantrum. Not a minute after, his legs betrayed him and knelt before, but his hands didn’t stop scratching at her armor. The finally on his dying breath he spoke intelligent thought. “Tell me…” his head no longer moved, “are you proud of this pile of corpses you’ve created.” She recalled a low chuckle for it haunted her ever since, “that’s my daughter and wife over there.” Miar looked but the Drow was too weak to even point to who he had meant. The air remaining his lungs expelled and signified his death.
Miar was unable to revive everyone should hurt for some had died the year prior. Those that were revived fled, many of which to Oasis. Once such colony followed Scitus.
Her eyes grew brighter showing Jin that she was back from her adventure in Memory lane. Her expression wasn’t one she normally made, and it made Jin worry for her.
“Keep an Eye on him, if he survives the war with Mern, Report back to me, we’ll go from there.”
“as you wish.” He took one last gaze at her Queen, bowed, and then promised to himself that he would protect her.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
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At the same time in Scitus’s kingdom sat Six people. Sia, The Red Witch, Scitus, the Demon King, Seresa The Queen, Robin, The Just, Hera The Trickster and Thoth The Merciful. Their titles would very soon appear in history books throughout the lands; for the years that followed would be anything but peaceful.
“You what!!!” Sia wanted to close her ears and say “NA-NA I CAN’T HEAR YOU!” She had just been informed of his meeting and his insults directed at Miar.
She composed herself and sat back down on her chair and rested her arms on the wooden table. She straightened her back and shot a glance at Scitus. “Do you understand what it means to fight Miar, Even I won’t be able to help you.” Her words were like a block of ice and contrast to her personality. Scitus stared back and showed no clear signs of unease, but whether that was from genuine confidence or his inability to make strong expressions; she didn't know.
“Calm down, from what you told me, she can’t just move her armies.” Scitus calculated that with separate armies it would be difficult to come to a consensus and attack the Oasis. Upon meeting Miar, this thought further strengthen for he noted that she felt incredible unease with leading armies. The incident of Dark elves damaged her heart greatly. It was so great that following the genocide, she split her kingdom into thirteen pieces, twelve of which gained independence.
“And I doubt, the other kingdoms will agree to a war with a small kingdom like mine, it’s a waste of resources.” The oasis was a hard place to travel too and only a fool would make a direct attack.
“But she can send Jin after you.” Jin, the new vassal was very loyal to Miar. Scitus noted that he respected her greatly and would fight to protect her honor and her word. Though Jin, unlike Mern, was intelligent and therefore…
“He is much less of a problem, and if he’s smart he won’t move so hastily.” Sia raised a brow, they asked: "how can you be sure?"
“Miar is fanatical, but it seems she has become more cautious with her actions because of a mistake she made in the past.”
“you mean the reason they call her the Benevolent tyrant.” Scitus nodded as he recalled her discomfort at the mention of Drows.
“has she made other mistakes like that.” Scitus planned to be informed every possible enemy and Sia was a great source of information for she had love of collecting even the smallest of secrets.
“She has, nothing as big as that drow incident though.” Scitus eyes Sia, He opens his mouth but didn't say a word. Silence hit the table and remained there for several seconds.
“Then on to Mern,” Scitus continued the conversation. Beside him was Robin and beside Robin was Seresa. Thoth sat beside Scitus and Hera beside him. Hera was also teaching a class with her copy.
“Mern probably plans to send a small army to deal with our kingdom, he was smiling every time he looked at me, he seems to think that it will be an easy victory.” Mern was overconfident a smelled of stupidity. Scitus knew Mern would be the type to feel shame if he used full force on a small kingdom like his.
“Did he forget about me?” The playful smile on her face was confident for it knew its master was deserving of such arrogance.
“I asked around.” Sia raised a brow. “about your reputation.” Her mouth lost glee and become icy cold with disappointment. Robin saw this and rested his hand on his blade for insurance against her.
“Mern plans to buy you. We’ll use this to our advantage.” Sia was only half paying attention, her other half was planning what to do when she would inevitably leave Scitus’s kingdom. “and what if I like what he is offering?” She felt a prick in her chest as she said those words, they were words everyone always expected her to say.
“I met Mern, he is too dumb to entertain you, let alone offer up useful information.” Sia doesn't say a word, choosing instead to look at the wind gently push the grass. Then Scitus said something that would change the very course of history, or at least that is what Sia said many of time. "And I trust you Sia, more than those gods I've met." It wasn't a calculation, nor an observation, he truly had come to semi-trust Sia, for he saw himself in her. Tragedy without a hope to fill the void. "I won't say I trust you completely, but I trust enough to be honest with me.” Sia smiled, unlike any time before it. She remembered her young years and the looks disgust people would see her with. The times that baseless accusations would land her in prison and times she was assaulted without aid and without a friend. She feared the trust that was just thrust upon her but with her heart, she wanted to meet his expectations.
“So her smile was coy. “if someone did offer better information and they told me to kill you, what would you do?” at this point, her playful way of looking things was clear, but Scitus did answer as if it was a joke.
"I asked the other gods about you a lot, for that purpose, I wanted to find a countermeasure against you in case someone did offer something you want more. I doubt you’d ever kill for someone with more knowledge but rather I fear someone may have something over you that just can’t overlooked” Sia felt a chill in her ever nerve, she hadn’t expected such a serious answer.
“after thinking of all the options, I currently have…” The others focused their gaze on Scitus, “I would ask you to spare my subjects. I am sure you would. You are destructive, but I can't recall you ever killing anyone you didn't need to. Just empty threats that often work because of your reputation" Scitus had seen her façade. She didn't have qualms with murder but even she had her odd sense of justice that forbade uninvolved people from being hurt. Only those that attempted to harm her would meet their fiery end.
“My liege…” Robin interrupted. He stood up from his chair, “are you saying you would give up and die.” Robin didn’t want to believe that his King would give up. He thought of Scitus as a person who could plan his way out of any situation.
"yes, my death would have the least casualties. I am talking about our current options, of course, in the future, I may be able to stop her another way. And of course, I wouldn’t without a fight,” Robin sat back down and Seresa shot a glance at him before returning to her notes. She too cared for Scitus, but unlike Robin, Seresa trusted Sia enough to hold her end of the bargain. Perhaps because she thought that Sia inherited the desire for Demons to complete contracts.
“Tell me, Sia, am I right about you?” Scitus had to know if his plan in that situation would work.” Unlike his words, his face was confident. This confidence announced the warm return of Sias smile.
“I’ll spare them, who knows maybe I’ll spare you.” She said chuckling. Scitus wanted to befriend her, but only ever speaking to his maid caused a great deal of quirks to emerge in his personality. Bluntness was one of them; unbeknownst to Scitus, this was Sias favorite trait.