Having had her fill of the stew Rosie made for her, Anastacia stumbled to her room and fell on her bed. Her head was still aching but she was far too exhausted for that to stop her from falling asleep as soon as she closed her eyes. After what felt like a second Anastacia flinched awake and immediately felt the presence of another necromancer very near.
“Having a nap there?” Coquelicot asked. “You know you really should take off the muddy clothes before laying down. You’re causing unnecessary trouble for miss Rosie.”
The high inquisitor was sitting on the bed next to Anastacia’s feet.
“I… I wash the sheets myself… How long have you been there?” Anastacia asked and quickly retreated into the other end of the bed.
“Around three hours. I figured I’d want you in a somewhat lucid state for our little talk, so I let you rest a bit.” Coquelicot explained and tried her best to remain as calm as possible. Usually being intimidating was part of her profession, but for once she felt like she shouldn’t drive Anastacia into a corner. “Just to be clear, I do not blame you for what happened to Alice. She was working under MY commands and your… condition was caused by ME forcing the bracelet on you. I do not believe you would have killed her under normal circumstances. My apprentices however, might not be so forgiving.”
“I can’t believe I killed her… What will I say to everyone?” Anastacia worried and buried her face into her pillow.
“I can’t help you with your conscience, but I can tell your friends that Alice fell on duty somewhere else. The spriggan knows the truth, but I believe she blames me as well.” The high inquisitor suggested. “But do not think I have forgiven you for what you have done before. I was merely reminded that taking my anger out on you will not further my goals. We will deal with that matter on a later date.”
Anastacia was barely able to concentrate on what Coquelicot was saying and instead went through every terrible thing she had done in the last two days, over and over again. Her distress didn’t go unnoticed by Coquelicot, who was somewhat used to giving people pep talks. She got up and cleared her throat.
“Anastacia, stand up!” She ordered with as much authority as she could muster without her arms by her side.
Anastacia stood up slowly. She had no idea what was happening and was worried that Coquelicot had gone back on her decision to not blame her for Alice’s death.
“Take a deep breath and listen to me. In Mournvalley, every capable necromancer is conditioned to feel nothing but pride for killing. This is usually done by the age of thirteen, meaning that you have gone through the training just like everyone else. Auburn, Crimson, Carmine, Cerise, Alice, me... we all went through this training and became what you, and most of the world, consider monsters.” The high inquisitor took a few steps around the room while going through her speech. Suddenly she turned to face Anastacia and continued. “But you! You feel bad after killing a person who had been tasked to take you down, and would have done so without a second thought. Do you not understand what this means?”
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“T…that I’m not evil?” Anastacia uttered without much confidence.
Coquelicot smiled and stepped closer. “Subjective, but not too far off. You, Anastacia, remain unbroken. A training system developed over multiple lifetimes utterly failed to turn you into one of us! You may feel bad right now, but that is something to be proud of.”
Anastacia immediately broke into tears and hugged Coquelicot for an uncomfortably long time. The inquisitor tried to shake her off gently but failed to do so.
“Please let go, you’re getting mud on me.” She said and stepped away. “But that’s enough for now, I have business with the blacksmith. I’ll send someone up with a glass of water.”
Coquelicot escaped Anastacia’s room and headed downstairs. She found Dammar and his party discussing something with Gilbert. It didn’t seem to concern her, so she went straight into the kitchen, where Rosie, Emilia and King were doing some cleaning.
“Hope you weren’t too cruel to her.” Rosie said and pointed a kitchen knife at Coquelicot.
“I merely told her what she needed to hear. Say, priestess, you seem like you’d be good with upset people. Can you take some water to Anastacia and make sure she gets back to sleep?” Coquelicot asked while she continued to stare down Rosie.
The tigress agreed and gestured for Emilia to go. Rosie put down the knife and returned to cleaning and was planning on ignoring the necromancer in her kitchen. Who peeked out from the room to make sure no one was within earshot and took a deep breath.
“I have to thank you for what you said earlier. I had not realized how much I let my personal feelings cloud my judgement.” Coquelicot admitted. “In case you need someone killed, you know where to find me.” Having said that, the necromancer left the room before Rosie would have a chance to answer.
Sylvia dipped her feet into the pool of water created by Anastacia’s wish. Anastacia expected for the water to boil immediately, but nothing seemed to happen.
“You got pretty beaten up while fighting Alabaster, do you think you could have beaten him in the end?” Anastacia asked and sat down on the edge of the pool, next to the Goddess.
Sylvia touched the crack in her mask. “The king would have vanquished me for a second time if you had not interfered. Neither of us wished to harm you, so the scale of the battle remained small, but in the end, he would have bested me. While killing my physical form is but a temporary setback, I am truly thankful to you.”
The water was nice and cool, just like in the real forest. The only real difference was the lack of ambient animal noises and constant presence of goblins. Goblins that were apparently now fueling Anastacia’s power on this plane.
“Am I technically a god now?” Anastacia asked and lied down on her back.
Sylvia chuckled. “No, dear child, it is not that simple to become one of us. Gods are able to provide something for their followers on the mortal plane. If enough gods accept you as one, this ability can be given to you. But you should not be in contact with them, for they do not look kindly on your kind.”
“Necromancers? What’d we do?” Anastacia asked but then realized she knew the answer already. “It’s about Alabaster, isn’t it?”
“That man was a… problem. The extinction of my kind was just a single feat among many.” The goddess said with a sad tone in her voice.
Anastacia would have pressed the matter of reconnecting her with her earthly body, but she figured that it was in good hands for now. So instead she decided to take a well-earned rest and closed her eyes. As she started to drift off to sleep, Sylvia began singing about the defeat of the great necromancer king.