With my two captives still in hand I entered the dining hall of the castle and walked over to the large table. Everything here was sized up for my goddess height obviously, making it overwhelmingly immense to anyone else that visited. These two undead however I felt would need the visual environmental reminder of who was in charge here which is why I didn't choose my tiny house.
Somewhat gently I deposited both of them on the tabletop and summoned a smaller table and chairs in human scale for them sit at. I then prepared to sit down myself and talk to them when a thought popped into my head, it coming from Sub-chan no doubt. The thought was this: because I'd already shown my utter dominance as a goddess continuing to do so might be counterproductive to my plans of showing them that I wasn't like other goddesses.
Thus in contrary to my previous plan I decided to change into human size and join them on the top of the table. With a very stern expression on my face I walked over to one side of the tiny table and sat down, adjusting its height for my child body. Then I gestured to the two chairs opposite me.
“Well sit.” I commanded.
With some hesitation Barthenor finally walked over to the table and sat down in the chair on my left. Neske followed him like an obedient puppy and sat down next to him on my right. Neither of them looked very comfortable and it wasn't just due to the larger than life surroundings. This entire situation was likely extremely new and frightening for them. Not to mention the way this goddess was acting flew in the face of probably everything they knew about them, and they had met the goddess of old.
I let out a small sigh and leaned forward into the table, my elbows being put down on the wood so that my hands could be folded together to support my chin. Then I looked slowly between the two of them while I gathered my own thoughts. They sat in silence waiting for me to make the first move.
“So...” I said. “Here we are.”
Barthenor had his hands on his lap stared right back at me with his pinlight eyes in those empty sockets. He was displaying a high level of bravery. Either that or his existence as a lich had simply made him lose his ability to feel fear. For some reason though I had a feeling he was very afraid right now, its just his lack of skin made it impossible to tell from his face.
“You've demonstrated your abnormality compared to others of your kind.” He said in his hallow voice. “You seem want to talk. So let us talk.”
With a small yet unhappy smile I dropped my hands down onto the table and sat up in my chair a bit more. I then flipped my hair back behind my shoulders before speaking.
“Lets start with what your big bad evil plan is huh? You're a lich I know you have one. You weren't collecting all that army for nothing.” I then smirked. “And don't bother lying to me. You know that won't end well for you.”
Barthenor's gaze stayed locked onto me. Perhaps he had already gone through the possible outcomes with his cold logic and decided that there was nothing more to lose. Regardless of what he was thinking he spoke in a manner appearing quite honest. So much so that the shocked expressions from his vampire minion gave away the truth to his words.
“You speak truth.” He started his reply by saying. “The undead I was collecting were indeed to serve as an army in my conquest of the surrounding area.”
I lifted my left hand and looked at my fingernails for a moment before returning my hand back down to the table.
“And how many people did you kill to get that army?” I asked in a serious tone. “You tried to wipe out at least one village. The werewolves.”
The lich gave his vampire pet a look which made her shrink down into her chair in what appeared to be shame of some kind. He then turned back to me and bowed his head respectfully.
“The village of lycanthropes was not part of my plans. It was the impassioned attempt of my subordinate that led to that attack. My plan was to collect skeletons and corpses from old battlefields surrounding the mountains to build my forces, thus remaining undetected as well as preventing unnecessary death.”
A huff of disbelief came out of me as I crossed my arms over my chest and gave the lich an incredulous look.
“A lich with a conscious? You know that's unheard of.” I then looked to the side for a moment before back at him. “Well ultra rare.”
Barthenor looked at me with what might be considered a hint of curiosity.
“I'll not denounce my having a conscious.” He replied. “Though I feel you ascribe more to me than my undead nature allows. The prevention of unnecessary death is simply a measure to ensure more are alive to be ruled over. It it not my intention to rule a land of mindless husks.” He then looked more directly at me. “Have you seen many liches in your time? You can't have with your age unless you've been to other lands.”
I leaned forward into the table again with my elbows upon it and smiled slyly at him.
“More like other worlds.” I said with now a full on smirk. “I suppose you haven't heard but I'm not from around here. As in I'm here from another world.” Then I sat back up in my chair. “I've seen more worlds than you can imagine and have read about even more. This place is child's play compared to other places and you're a pissy little lich compared to most. You have no idea how old I am or if I even adhere to what you think a goddess is.”
Although my knowledge of other worlds really only consisted of my own world and the various fictional ones I learned about there that wasn't something he had to know about. Besides with this completely other world existing it was pretty clear there was some kind of multiverse thing going on and for all I knew all the fictional worlds I'd learned about were in fact real somewhere.
Both Barthenor and Neske were quite shocked to hear my claims. Though of course it was more easily visible on the face of the one who had skin still attached.
"I don't believe you!" Neske cried with a hint of anger in her voice.
Barthenor on the other hand had shifted his sitting position to one that made him appear more reflective. His hands were clasped together on the table in front of him and he spent several moments thinking. Just when I was about to say something however he spoke with measured words.
“An incredible claim.” He said calmly. “Though not one without its merits. You speak with the conviction of one who says the truth and your strange behavior lends further credibility to the claim.” He then looked directly in my eyes again and it seemed he was actually impressed or being respectful. “I'll still not accept you as a goddess. From my perspective all your kind likely came from other worlds and are simply powerful invaders to our lands.”
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest again, flopping back slightly in my chair.
“From your perspective I and likely the other goddesses are powerful enough to be considered divinities from a mortal's standpoint.” I said with a slightly annoyed tone. “Even if we were simply extremely powerful beings we have the might to be called goddesses and therefore deserve the respect of the title.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “You don't have to worship me and call me your personal goddess but I still expected to be called one.”
“Very well.” Barthenor replied. “I'll concede that fact Jenna the goddess. Until a more fitting term be discovered anyway.”
All this time Neske was sitting there in silence with a look of fear on her face. She was watching her master match wits with a goddess and she definitely thought it would end badly for him. Its not like she was wrong either, though she didn't know what I did. Her master was clearly more intelligent than me and that was something I had to be careful to not let slip.
Barthenor seemed less likely to notice his higher intelligence due to the fact he clearly already respected me a great deal and thus would likely be blind to it for quite a long time. Neske on the other hand was a third perspective and her awareness of her master's intellect would make it easier for her to compare his to mine. It would probably be best if she wasn't here for the rest of the conversation.
I uncrossed my arms and turned to the vampiress.
“I'd like to talk to your master in privacy. Nothing personal its just there are some things you don't deserve to hear about.”
Barthenor looked to her and actually nodded in agreement.
“I agree with her on this.” He then turned to me. “Where will she go?”
With a smile I stood up from my seat.
“Oh this will only take a moment.”
Then I lifted my arms out at my sides and floated quickly up into the air, a pair of large spectral hands made of light appearing in front of me. These hands then shot out and grasped Neske around the waist causing the woman to shriek in surprise and panic. In the span of only a few seconds the hands whisked through the air and to the edge of the giant table we were all on. There a wooden sarcophagus appeared out of thin air and opened to receive her. She was tossed inside and it slammed shut with the click of a lock.
Barthenor looked on and said nothing. It was clear he wasn't entirely indifferent to the existence of this particular minion as she wouldn't have been kept so close to him otherwise. But in the face of a goddess he had to be very careful and avoid her or him type situations. He regarded the pounding and screaming from inside the box with a look that almost seemed sad if the color of his soul meant anything.
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“Be silent Neske!” He shouted over to the sarcophagus.
As I floated back down to settle in my chair the sounds stopped and I nodded in approval. It was clear these two shared some kind of bond and now that we were alone it was possible to speak more freely on it. So after I adjusted my butt on my chair I folded my hands in front of my chest and addressed the lich.
“So are you two lovers or something?” I asked. “I've not heard about your past and I'll hear it now.”
Barthenor looked back at me and seemed caught off guard by my questions.
“No we are not.” He replied very firmly. “As for our pasts I suppose its not strange for one as strange as you to be interested in it. Might I ask why you are?”
I frowned slightly and put my clasped hands down on the table.
“I am. That's all you need to know. Now tell me.” I then relaxed some. “A brief history anyway I don't need your whole life story. How you became a lich and known as the demon mage would be a good start. As well as why you had to rebuild your undead army when normally liches have those around.”
Thus encouraged Barthenor began to tell me about both his own history and that of his primary minion, starting with her as it was a shorter tale. According to him she had been a rather well of town person of higher class over seven hundred years ago. She had been turned into a vampire long before meeting him and from what she had told him had wandered the world for many years before meeting one of the lich's other minions. From then on she had been a lower ranking sentient minion until they had all gone into stasis. Upon awakening however she was the only sentient minion left and so he felt some deal of attachment to her, a human weakness he was not entirely free from.
This little story was very informative to me. It showed that he had some matter of humanity left in him despite being an undead abomination. According to what I remembered it wasn't entirely unheard of for liches to retain their humanity either, as that was something they lost due to either extreme time or loss of will. This also explained what he had been up to for all this time as apparently it was spent in some kind of magical sleep.
As for his history he went into that next as I listened intently with the occasional question. He seemed quite impressed with my attention to detail and curiosity. During this history our conversation briefly slid into such things as science or magic. He found himself quite impressed of my knowledge on such topics as I did in his. While my own knowledge of science and alchemy was much greater than his it was his knowledge of magic that trumped mine. Not that I'd let him really know that of course and thankfully my haughty dismissals got me out of a few jams regarding the specifics of this world's system.
Barthenor had been a great and powerful mage almost a thousand years ago according to him. He lived in this very castle in the then Korchok Mountains, the castle owned by his rich and powerful family of mages. It overlooked a city at the base of the mountains known as Henjuk in which many scholars and mages lived. Apparently like many a story of the past it seemed conflict got involved and everything went wrong. Due to the nature of the cities inhabitants they were called upon in times of war to provide support in both magical and strategical means and this war was no different.
Unfortunately this war was particularly nasty and due to some sad situations Barthenor's entire family was killed. The grief was too much for him to bear and so he started delving into the forbidden art of necromancy, an offshoot of vitality magic, in order to bring them back. This however brought the ire of all his colleagues and the public as well down upon him. Eventually he became an enemy of the state and he was harried by would be assassins on a regular basis.
This generally unwelcoming attitude of his neighbors combined with his ever growing grief resulted in him losing it mentally. We went coo-coo crazy. Plain mad. He eventually turned himself into a lich for greater power and the ability to live longer and learn everything possible in regards to magic. The end result of this was him casting a spell that wiped out the entire city of Henjuk, some kind of necromancy that killed everyone like a chemical weapon and then raised them as undead. This act resulted in his title of “The Demon Mage of Henjuk” and the entire mountain range was renamed in order to honor those killed in this horrific tragedy.
As for what happened immediately after it seemed a goddess got involved. It was one named Hala, the Goddess of Dreams, and likely the same one that visited me. She had been overseeing this area of land at the time and when she found out about the mass death she stepped in and put Barthenor and his entire entourage into a deep sleep, down to the last skeleton. This was near the end of the age of goddesses according to the history books and so he had no idea what happened to her afterwards. All he knows now is that when he awoke his minions were all but wiped out, likely due to mages coming to destroy them combined with the passage of time.
When questioned why a goddess had put him to sleep instead of destroying him Barthenor could only tell me what Hala had said to him. Apparently she told him it was because by putting them all to sleep it would deny him the afterlife he would have gone to had he been killed. This seemed like a particularly cruel punishment to me but it sort of fell in line with how those goddesses were known to act. I mean it could've been a blessing too I suppose as I'm not sure if he would've gone to a hell of some kind. Maybe he has a chance to redeem himself now?
Once we had reached this part of the conversation we had been talking for over an hour, possibly two, and it let me know everything I felt I needed to know. Over the course of this history lesson it seemed the two of us had connected on some level. We both loved knowledge and had an unquenchable thirst for it, as well as overwhelming curiosity. Basically we were a pair of turbo nerds, one a goddess and the other a lich. This didn't absolve him of his bloody past though it did seem the madness had long been replaced with apathy. There was a good man in there and I really wanted to bring it out again. Thus I formulated a deal.
The conversation winded down and I sat back in my chair. My hands were down on my lap and I took a deep breath followed by a deep sigh. I looked across the table to Barthenor and then tented my fingers while resting my hands on the table.
“You've certainly satisfied my curiosity of you.” I said calmly. “I've done some thinking and have decided what I'm gunna do with you. At least for now.”
Barthenor shook his head and looked down looking quite defeated.
“I knew that hearing my history would only make your view of me worse. I've suffered for hundreds of years in a hell of my own making. I only ask that my punishment be release from this world into whatever hell awaits me.”
A small smile crept upon my face and I even let out a little giggle. This once again caught him off guard and he looked at me in confusion as I shook my head before looking at him right in the eye.
“No nothing like that!” I said in a jovial tone. “In fact I'm keeping you around!” I paused for a moment for him to ask why and just when he was about to speak I cut him off. “Because honestly you're more useful alive than dead. I think your knowledge and skills can be used to make the world a much better place if you're willing to give up your evil ways and not kill ever again.”
Barthenor looked at me in confusion.
“But you know very well that my phylactery requires sacrifices to continue my existence.”
In response I shrugged and smiled wider.
“It requires living mana actually doesn't it?” I replied. “You said so yourself.” I then crossed my arms across my chest in with a smug look. “Therefore I'll just feed you some of my own mana every once in a while. It replenishes after all. This will not only keep you alive to pay back your debt to society but also make you entirely dependent on me!”
Barthenor looked down at the table and chuckled dryly.
“That sounds more like the goddesses I've known. It seems you leave me no choice however so I accept your proposal.” He then looked up at me again. “What then will happen to Neske?”
I tapped my fingers on my arms and looked over at the sarcophagus.
“Oh she can keep living, or unliving I suppose, as long as you keep her on a tight leash.” I looked back at the lich. “She has a mean streak and will need to learn to be a nicer person. Also you wont be making more undead unless with my explicit permission understand?”
He nodded. “Understood. Shall I call you my own master?”
I shrugged. “Well for now just call me Goddess Jenna as my title. Later we'll see about calling me other things.” I smirked again. “I like making you call me goddess at least for now. Seems like a punishment you deserve.”
This brought a frown to Barthenor's voice as he couldn't do it on his face. He couldn't deny he deserved something like this however.
“Very well Goddess Jenna...”
A light laugh escaped me with its crystal sound echoing around the immense castle room. The very air seemed brighter and it seemed to elevate even the lich's mood somewhat. Once I had gotten control of myself again I sat forward in my chair and put my hands together.
“The first thing I'll ask of you as my minion is for you to answer a question of mine.”
Barthenor looked at me and nodded his head.
“Of course. What is it?”
I let out a soft sigh.
“Well I want to ask if you ever discovered a way to resurrect the dead. It doesn't seem like such a thing exists in this world but if you can bring back the dead I'd like to know.”
The lich paused for a moment before answering. It was clear he was worried I would be disappointed with the answer.
“There is no way to bring back the dead.”
Much to his relief I didn't react negatively, instead just shaking my head slightly and letting out a shallow sigh.
“I figured as much.” I replied. “That leads into a short explanation of the problem. You see I know someone who died and I accidentally sucked their soul up into myself.”
This revelation got a gasp of shock out of Barthenor.
“Y-You mean to say her soul is inside of your body?”
I nodded and shrugged.
“I guess it kinda makes me a living phylactery.” I paused a moment before continuing. “Anyway this means she isn't entirely dead just like you aren't. Her body is currently preserved somewhere safe and what I'm trying to do is put her soul back into her body. Its sort of bringing her back to life but its also sorta like you reversing your lichdom.” I looked him in the eye. “Is it possible?”
Barthenor lifted his skeletal right hand to his bony chin and scratched it clearly deep in thought. After several moments he lowered his hand and looked across the table to me.
“It's certainly possible in theory.” He replied. “The transference of souls is only possible with a human sacrifice which does perhaps reveal to me a less than benevolent act in your past.” He waited for my reaction and continued after seeing I was stone silent. “If her body is preserved it would simply a matter of transferring her soul into her body like one would into a phylactery, thus requiring one more human sacrifice.”
I crossed my arms and frowned in disappointment.
“I'd rather not do something like that.” I said sternly. “But if its the truly the only option I'll have to think on it for a while.” I then stood up from the chair and stepped away from the table. “In the mean time you and Neske are my prisoners here in my domain. You're free to wander around but don't try to escape, its not possible and I'd sense any attempts you make. Its not like I suddenly trust you after one conversation.”
Barthenor remained sitting and nodded as he replied.
“Indeed. Thank you for your merciful judgment. For some reason the future you've set in place for me seems worthwhile. Perhaps its the positive aura of this place that fills me with hope long since forgotten.”
A small grin appeared on my face as I turned away from him. I then lifted my left hand and waved at the sarcophagus. It broke apart and vanished into thin air allowing the woman within to tumble onto the floor in a heap. Then ignoring her profanities I started walking away from the two of them.
“Enjoy your stay as my prisoners.” I said with a wave of my hand. “I'll be seeing you sooner rather than later.”
With the undead secured in my goddess domain with no way of escape to plague the world for now I would finally be able to relax somewhat. The undead crisis was sorted out and a powerful potential ally brought into my possession. Right now I need to go someplace and think hard about what to do now. Miya had heard the conversation and was already protesting such an idea of sacrificing someone to bring her back and so I needed to find an alternative way.
There were a few mages I knew that might be helpful in this endeavor and I wanted to speak to Miya's parents about all this besides. There was also the report I'll need to make to both Quarely and the king to let them know the undead threat was over. The Demon Mage of Henjuk had turned out to be much more human than I think anyone might have imagined and it reminded me a great deal of my own situation. Just some regular person possessed of ultimate power and unsure how to truly handle it.