Chapter 337 - Debts and Dues

Alfred Llarsse groaned as the puppet in his realm slowly came to life. It pushed itself off the ground and righted its spine with a series of disturbing snaps. A divine entity entered the doll after the process was complete, subsequently warping its face to match her own. It had been a year since they forged their alliance, but Flux was ever cautious. She refused to descend into his realm without a medium or means of escape.

Alfred could not fault the choice. He would not have hesitated to turn on her if given the chance, and though he had lost during their last encounter, he had prepared several contingencies that would ensure his victory the next time they fought. But even so, his criticism was unchanged. The goddess of the flow was far too cowardly. She was a full-fledged deity with an abhorrent amount of divinity and he was a confined celestial with no means of bolstering his following; he would have liked it if she were to give him more of a fighting chance.

“What is it this time?” he asked, as clothes formed around the puppet.

Normally, the goddess would have bitched and moaned in light of his disrespect, but the occasion was special enough that she couldn’t be bothered. “Kael’ahruus has already made his move.”

“I can’t imagine why you’re even the slightest bit surprised.” Alfred raised his pipe to his lips and ordered his wand to light it. Though mildly annoyed, the weapon—the mechanical spider leg in the shape of a magical stick—floated down from its shelf and reluctantly complied. “Did you really think he was going to miss it? She slammed the planet out of orbit.”

“I knew that he would notice,” said Flux, “but, even with his brain as dysfunctional as it is, I did not think he would miss all of the signs and warnings.”

Alfred laughed. “There is a reason we don’t call him the god of wisdom.”

“But neither is he the god of fools,” said Flux. “I suspect that there is something we missed. He may have stored more power than we had originally computed.”

“Bah, more power, less power. It’s all the same,” said the ancient human. “It doesn’t matter if he calls himself a hunter or dresses himself in fangs. A mindless beast is still a mindless beast. You’re worrying for nothing.”

Of course, the man believed otherwise, and he doubted that the goddess would take his words at face value. Their goals may have aligned, but trust was hardly in the cards.

“Stop with the games,” she said, in a commanding voice. “This isn’t the time.”

Alfred raised a brow. He was a bit reluctant to follow her orders, but he eventually yielded to the combination of the pressure and her unusual behaviour. He flipped open his console, scrolled through the logs, and checked his many filters, but he remained oblivious to the source of the goddess’ hysteria.

“I don’t see anything out of the ordinary.” When he looked up, he found a pair of dubious eyes.

“Are you stupid? Why would you check the logs? He’s obviously had them sanitized.”

“What else was I meant to check?”

“You were meant to follow.”

Flux snapped her fingers, and after a moment of delay, ripped open the space between the celestial’s jail and a certain rock’s domain. Alfred frowned. Had he only another hundred bottles of ether prepared, he would have been happy to march through the door and challenge the goddess of order. Alas, he was not quite that far along.

That, of course, was not the only wrench in his plans. Far more apparent was the cat’s presence. She was already there, sitting on a throne floating in space with her arms crossed and her lips an unhappy frown. There would have been no way for him to catch her off guard, even if everything was ready to go.

“You better have a good explanation for this,” said the most beautiful creature in the world. Her eyes were cold; it was like she was threatening to slay them all right on the spot.

Dozens of servants stood in file behind her, ready to engage if needed. Zercesse, celestial lord of kept time; Woodrow, demigod of historical records, and Altea, goddess of half-truths were only three of the sixty-seven divine entities that had answered Flitzegarde’s call.

“I was hoping that you would take part in the discussion. I would have called for you if this did not suffice,” said Flux.

Flitzegarde focused her golden eyes on the qilin’s own swirling depths. The glare felt like it lasted for an eternity, but eventually, she lowered her gaze and meowed.

“Explain quickly. I have business to take care of,” said the cat.

Nodding, Flux stepped through the portal with Alfred in tow and took a seat in front of a table that had suddenly manifested. The human and the cat immediately did the same, with the floating space rock itself joining soon thereafter. Flitzegarde’s retinue remained by her side until she dismissed them with a nod, sending each back to their various duties.

Flux snapped her fingers once the last of them disappeared and conjured a recording. It looked like nothing out of the ordinary, in and of itself. It was that of a man wandering through the forest. But looking through the man’s mind, and hearing the voice that the lion’s divinity had intentionally concealed, drove two of the three unknowing observers to press their faces into their hands.

There was going to be a war.

And his first target was none other than the goddess thereof.

___

The Vel’khanese party crossed the border from Moros to Sunakprathese without any further trouble. Though nearly twice the lunar nation’s total size, the frog-run kingdom took far less time to traverse. A part of it was because the roads were so well maintained. The Morosians had invested much into infrastructure to compensate for the short lives that their people experienced; there were hardly any blockers that got in the way of the people who wished to go from place to place.

Sunakprathese, on the other hand, was much less friendly to travellers. Most of the roads were effectively downtrodden animal trails with no paving or effort invested into their construction. The soil was still a little sandy, but the forests were much denser than they were in Vel’khagan, and though the land still bordered the ocean, it was also much drier. They had spent half a day travelling through the country, during which they had encountered exactly zero sources of fresh water.

Before parting from the group and noting his eventual return, Panda had warned them not to expect any hospitality from the locals. Surely enough, the first village they crossed had proven his claim to be true. The inhabitants panicked when the group drew near and refused any attempts at entry and negotiation. The two smaller towns that they encountered exhibited much the same reaction. Claire’s ability to conjure ice meant that the group was never really out of potable supplies, but it required time and heat to take a form that could be easily consumed, neither of which the party had been willing to spend.

Fortunately, the major cities were slightly less hostile. The people were still wary of outsiders, but the guards eventually let them through following a lengthy interrogation. The locals perked up when they drew near and quickly scuttled out of their way. The behaviour was still bizarre. None of the other foreigners were given any such treatment. They were allowed to walk around the town without any of the terrified looks cast upon the group and its members.

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It was an attitude that persisted throughout their stay. They were shooed away twice before they managed to procure the supplies they needed and even the cheapest inn’s keeper balked when they walked through the door.

“H-Hello.” She forced a smile and shrank behind her desk. “I’m sorry, but we’re full for the night.”

Similar rejections continued throughout the evening. The inns clearly had space; most of the accompanying stables were empty and few of the rooms had anyone in them. And yet, the party was denied wherever they went.

“I did not think that we would find ourselves rejected at every turn,” said Arciel. They were standing right outside of a luxury hotel. It was their last resort; the most expensive option was selected only after the cheaper alternatives were exhausted. And even then, they were turned away.

“What did I tell you?” said Panda. “This place isn’t exactly the friendliest. They’re so dense they don’t even want to talk business.” Again, Claire narrowed her eyes at his sudden appearance. She hadn’t the slightest clue as to where he had come from, and being on guard, she had been listening carefully for any footsteps that might have approached.

“Yeah, but this is just weird,” said Sylvia. “They’re basically avoiding us.”

Even more confusing than his inexplicable advent was the lack of surprise that came with his presence. Arciel had certainly eyed him curiously, but no one else seemed to be bothered by the way he had simply appeared.

“Sunaks are sensitive to mana,” said the raccoon. “And with this many mages, we basically have enough of it to completely crush their spirits.”

“I had hoped for the opportunity to bathe,” said Ciel, “but no matter, I suppose. Let us find an empty lot and make camp.”

Panda looked towards the city’s outer walls and raised a hand to the side of his head. “I’m not sure if that’s the best idea. It sounds like Ephesus’ men are moving faster than expected. My boys lost their exact positions too, so we’ve no idea how long it is until they reach us. Might be tonight, might be tomorrow. Either way, we’ll probably want to get out of the city.”

“So that we may avoid involving the sunaks and the prathesians? I suppose it would not help our image if we were to damage their city.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of the city having too much cover,” said Panda. “It isn’t worth it. You’re only cutting yourselves a raw deal by holding up here.”

“It’d be better if we stayed,” said Claire. “We can study the terrain and use it to our advantage.”

“Man, fuck you and your petty ass bullshit,” said Jules. “You’re really about to involve all these innocent people for a minor advantage? Are you fucking insane? How the fuck does the terrain even matter? It’ll be gone the moment a fight breaks out!”

“We’ll be up against Cadrian elites. We don’t have the luxury to think about civilians.”

“We’re leaving. That’s final,” snarled the clam.

Claire rolled her eyes. “Don’t come running to me when you die.”

“If anyone’s dying, it’s you,” he fired back.

“They’ll have killed you ten times over before they get past my scales.” Flapping her wings, the humanoid caldriess slowly rose above the buildings and faced the northern gate. “I’ll scout ahead.”

The rest of the evening went about as expected. Claire found a cave half a dozen kilometers north of the city and guided the rest of the brigade towards it. Perhaps because it wasn’t too far from the road, the site was one that they wound up sharing. There were two other groups in the open space. One was a squad of adventurers with a huskar, a dwarf, and two harpies, while the other was a party of merchants. The traders were all of the same species, albeit one that Claire had never seen before. They loosely resembled muskrats; their bodies were short and ovular, and they each had four stubby limbs. Their mammalian features ended there, however, as every member sported a set of sparkling butterfly wings growing out of their ankles. But strange as they were, they went largely ignored; each of the three parties occupied a different part of the cave and kept mainly to themselves.

Once settled in, Claire’s group sat by the fire, ate a hearty meal, and chatted idly with their associates and neighbours. With combat possible at a moment’s notice, not even the usual warmongers were interested in any exhausting training. Like Claire, who fiddled with her mana, they went about their evening routines and headed straight to bed. Panda, who had disappeared instead, was the only exception. Claire tried asking around, but no one seemed to know where the suspicious rat had gone, or even when he had vanished.

The caldriess wasn’t particularly tired even after investigating the ring-tailed rat, but she fell asleep almost as soon as she touched her bedroll. Of course, that was not to say that morning immediately came. Her mind did the usual and plopped itself into the void.

Claire took a moment to contemplate her choices. Rubia was likely still awake and studying something, which made visiting her an appealing option. The two could enjoy the evening together, as they so often did whenever the lyrkress found herself in a lazier mood. But at the same time, she wanted to visit the ghost in hopes of freely exploring his world again.

There was also always the option of experiencing a more standard dream and indulging herself in some delusion or other. It seemed like it would make for a relaxing time, a delightful way to blow off the stress accumulated over the course of the journey.

Her eyes snapped open in the midst of her deliberation. Slowly sitting up, not even thirty minutes after she first fell asleep, she raised a hand to her head, only to find her fingers see-through. Confused, she narrowed her eyes and looked down at her body. If it could really be considered her body at all.

Her everything was translucent.

Her flesh was still exactly where she had left it. She was hugging Sylvia tightly to her chest as Arciel did the same with the tip of her tail. It wasn’t as if she had lost control—ordering her body to twitch, she managed to lightly thwack the squid’s cheek and startle her awake—but at the same time, she could also manipulate the glob in which her consciousness remained.

It was the same behaviour that the phantom exhibited, as well as the same phenomenon that occurred each time a god spirited her up to their realm. She nearly thought that was exactly what had happened, but she sensed no divine presence; there was no pressure powerful enough to snap her soul in half.

Strangely enough, she soon found her abilities all perfectly intact. In fact, they were better off than they were in her flesh. It no longer hurt to cycle her divinity; she didn’t have to keep it locked in her chest just to minimize the pain. And it wasn’t as if she was simply hallucinating. She pulled up her blankets with her vectors and even felt the fabric’s fluff.

The lyrkress spun around and headed for the tent’s entrance, only to bash her head into its central support. She barely felt any pain, but the shock drove her to recoil. Blinking curiously, she stumbled a few steps back and fell onto her rear, with her hands touching the place where she had hit her head. She wasn’t without form. She still interacted normally with everything in her vicinity that wasn’t her own body, which she effortlessly phased through. Somehow, she knew that she could put her flesh back on, if that was what she desired.

At the same time, she wasn’t entirely corporeal. Focusing hard enough allowed her body to clip past the things in its path. She wanted to try to see if it would work on a person, but there was a chance that the inexplicable phenomenon would have lasting effects. That was why she picked Sophia; it was her or the tiny wolf, and being a backup in the first place, Sophia was far better suited for the lab rat position.

Her face perfectly blank and her hands perfectly steady, the phantom slowly reached over and stuck her fingers through the kelpfin’s body. She half expected a rush of information, perhaps even an access panel that would allow her to see the girl’s stats and secrets. But nothing happened. There wasn’t even an access denied message or anything else that might have indicated the potential for success. Her hands simply phased through the other girl’s frame, leaving her to sit around and stare without any recompense at all.

A bit of observation later, the lyrkress abandoned her guinea pig and returned to cycling her magic and divinity. She allowed both energies to course freely through her body, forging true ice and easily imbuing it with the power of chaos. Everything went perfectly smoothly. Until she felt a pair of eyes boring into her back.

She thought it was just her imagination at first—after all, she had become a spirit and her body was exactly where she left it—but the sensation continued to persist until she spun around. And found herself staring down a sleepy squid.

Arciel slowly looked between the tail she was hugging and the one hanging in front of her before grabbing both and going back to bed.

“What a peculiar dream,” she muttered.

Claire tried pulling her ghost tail away, but the squid held it firmly, and she wasn’t able to phase through the queen’s body immediately on demand. In fact, she wasn’t able to do it at all. It was the only part of her body that she couldn’t phase through the world.

And so the lyrkress was stuck. She was about to use force to break free, but then the phenomenon ended as quickly and suddenly as it began; for no clear reason at all, her spirit returned to her body of its own accord.