"Do you think that the crystal hair of the entire chimera tribe will be enough to fix the dragonheart engine?" I asked Antoine who sat across me within the leather interior of Galissi Seven.
"Power-wise... maybe?" Antoine mulled. "The issue isn't just lack of power - too many hexagrams burned away to nothing."
"Sucks for us," I signed.
"Such is life," Antoine said. "Things break down and it's up to us to fix them and to make them better the second time around. I'm certain that I can make the heart of Lomb a lot stronger with this much crystalline-organic materia to experiment with and utilize. When you gave me a few of your crystals a while back, I did not expect to be absolutely buried in the stuff!"
The artificer laughed, looking a bit like a mad scientist.
I looked out the window at the passing clouds. The glider was flying quite slowly in comparison to its normal speed. We spearheaded a flock of eight hundred chimera hunters burdened with leather belts carrying their wives and children. Emerald and Lambert had stayed behind in Tokimorimïtul with the dragonheart engine, to shoot down any Chasm creatures that could potentially be attracted to the camp of the remaining five hundred women and children.
“That was quite a show,” Anniya said. “What did you tell them to make them all bow?”
I retold my speech to her with detailed explanations of my actions.
“Clever girl,” the new Inspector of Lomb mulled after I was done. “You might not be the All-Mother, but you’re definitely older than Andross. Did you actually have children back on Earth?”
“Not yet,” I said, rubbing the back of my head. “The thing is… I didn’t die after touching Chernobylite. I am still connected to my past, and can still dive into my past self. According to the System, that infinite mirror is still open. I’m still alive back there.”
“Extraordinary,” Antoine clicked his lenses. “I’ve never heard of magic that can do that sorta thing.”
“I don’t think it’s just... magic,” I said. “I think that our non-magical human civilization simply reached the singularity and unleashed machine life onto the world. Machine life that rewrote the laws of the universe, remodeled reality to accommodate for infinity and magic. The Earth I grew up on was quite boring, mundane… we wanted more. More power, more land, more abilities to change and reshape the world around us. The machines likely gave humanity exactly what it wanted - finite limitlessness. Either by accident or by design, I have a little bit more of this limitlessness in myself, carrying a piece of infinity in the core of my soul.”
“Machine life?” Antoine tilted his head.
“Golems without magic,” I said. “Dawn without a soul. Tools that could approximate people and creativity with greater and greater precision. We worked hard to create... golems that could write symphonies, paint and even write books. I saw the beginning of it all - lived in a time when humanity stood on the precipice of unleashing inhuman creativity onto the world, to make the finite into the infinite.”
“I’d love to hear more about it,” the artificer smiled. “It all seems like fervid fiction to me, but perhaps we can apply more methodology of the past to the present to push magitek forward.”
“I was thinking that too,” I nodded. “If magitek gliders can’t go down into the chasm then perhaps mundane airships would be able to.”
“Airships?” Antoine blinked.
I began to explain the basic principles of science to Antoine - how a sufficient amount of gas lighter than air could create buoyancy. He eagerly listened in, jotting notes in a little leather book. Agatha and Voltara listened in, occasionally asking questions. It was a good time for all and occupied the time while we transferred the chimera to Lomb going back and forth between the two locations and protecting my tribe against flying monsters with Galissi's thunderstrikes.
As I spoke, Voltara sat very close to me and I dedicated a part of my mind to attaching five of my Limitless Dominion Saplings onto her Vow. On the second trip, I made Arouetta sit next to me and performed the same operation on her Vow. Mentally controlling the Vow’s threads with my saplings had been a very odd experience, but not entirely new to me as I had plenty of practice controlling Alessi’s limbs.
On the third trip to Lomb, I practiced moving Voltara’s hands and feet around via her Vow and then attempted to attack and bind one Vow with the threads of another.
By the middle of the day we had left most of the tribe and Anniya in Lomb to deal with sorting chimera into various caverns below the town.
I called up a few contacts on my armacus, making plans with them.
. . .
At approximately one pm, my armacus started to vibrate. I glanced at the label which flashed in my right eye. Baroness Amadea was calling.
“Yes?” I asked.
[Are you ready for our meeting, my dear?] She inquired.
“I am,” I replied briskly as I descended down the stairwell from Diamondias.
[You are in Illatius, yes?] The overly-sweet voice of Baroness Amadea resonated in my head. [Shall we meet in a cafe?]
“No,” I said. “I have business under Diamondias. Feel free to follow me if you wish to bother me while I am working. The Diamondias Inspector and his assistant can lead you downstairs. They know the place pretty well.”
There was a deep sigh on the other end of the line.
[Must you make things complicated for me?] Amadea asked. [Can we not have lunch at one of the nice cafes upstairs that I own? I’ll cover the cost…]
“I believe it is you who is wanting this meeting,” I said. “Like I said, I’m very busy taking over Undertown and cleaning up human cults. Come downstairs if you want to see me in person.”
[Very well,] Amadea ground out. [I shall have to bring security down with me.]
“Whatever,” I replied, rushing to the spot where I had lost my soul in a doomed timeline. I didn’t use my cendai-sight as I remembered this place well enough. I instinctively felt the wrongness and the unnatural cold trying to reach out to me. My anti-phantom armor held. I knew that I had Barrie’s attention. After a bit of pacing through the shallow water, I saw a very large, worn out Barrier hexagram etched deep into the black stones beneath my feet.
“It’s um… very gloomy here,” Emerald said, looking around. “Smells pretty bad too.”
“The sewers are nearby,” I shrugged. “Remember what I said - do not use your magic-sight. You do not want to see Barrie.”
“Yeah, I got it boss,” the little Princess nodded. “So, why me and not just Agatha?”
“The same reason why I involved you in taking down the arch-cendai,” I said. “You’re my friend. Your contribution is important to make our friendship stronger, even if you can't help a whole lot magically.”
“Right,” Emerald nodded with a shudder.
She watched me as I walked around the ancient room, adding scratch-drawings to the walls with a ruby gem in my fingers. With each additional drawing of the same hexagram, the room became colder, felt more ominous. I was adding power to Barrie, giving him more eyes and fingers. Agatha and Emerald followed me, pushing a bit of their magic into the hexagrams, fueling the power of the arcane barrier, focusing Barrie's presence.
In about thirty minutes of this task, I heard distant footsteps from afar. The Baroness was here. We stopped what we were doing and walked to the center of the hall. I really felt the icy fingers caressing my soul now. Barrie was trying to figure out if I was his enemy.
I reached out to the wet floor and pushed nearly all of my mana into the hexagram beneath me, tying it to the hundreds of others I had drawn on the walls with my hair.
“Here,” I whispered. “Feed. I came here to give you power, Barrie. I swear that I will place ten thousand more eyes for you across Illatius. Please don’t bite me… let's be friends. Let's work together to kill the vile Astral Phantoms infesting the world.”
The feelers caressing my soul drew away. Perhaps the Barrier understood, perhaps it… he was smart enough to agree to the deal I offered, or perhaps the simple act of powering up the ancient hexagram made me into his ally.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Baroness Amadea emerged from the gloom, framed by ten maids covered in magisteel armor. She looked very annoyed and was wearing a fancy white dress which didn't match the murky, grimy catacombs. Inspector Pomegrad and Lambert walked by her side, their metal boots clinking on the water-covered stone floor.
“What is this disgusting place?” The Baroness looked at the arched ceiling. "Why is it so cold here?"
“The old catacombs beneath the city connecting to the sewers, your excellency,” Pomegrad replied. "There are no heating hexagrams here and we are deep underground, your excellency."
The bulky man seemed very nervous around Amadea.
“Why is there water everywhere?” Amadea huffed.
“Sometimes the sewer lines overflow,” Pomegrad tugged at his sleeve.
“You may go, Inspectors,” Amadea exhaled angrily.
Lambert and Pomegrad didn’t move. Amadea squinted at them.
“I said, you may go,” she repeated.
“No,” Lambert said. “We wish to stay.”
Amadea’s eye twitched. Her hand drew towards her necklace.
“Don’t even think about it Baroness,” I raised Endy into the air.
The old chimera’s perfect face snapped back to me. Her eye twitched again.
“What is this?” She hissed.
“It’s a test,” I smiled. “You wanted to test me, but instead I am testing you.”
“Voltara! What’s she planning?” Amadea barked at the maid standing next to me.
Voltara tilted her head.
“Answer me, maid!” Amadea growled.
“No,” Voltara shook her head.
Amadea’s mouth fell open. A maid bound by a Vow refused to answer her.
“W-what?” The high-cendai blinked, her silver-gold eyes filled with concern.
“As the Eighth archmage of the Prism Order,” I said. “I hereby charge you with crimes against humanity, Baroness Amadea.”
“Is this a joke?” Amadea growled.
“No,” I said.
“Are you threatening me?” Amadea hissed. "Me?!"
“I’m testing you,” I said. “If you pass and surrender you get to live. If you fail, you lose your soul. It’s as simple as that. Using magic is an automatic fail, by the way.”
Amadea sputtered angrily. The armored maids surrounded her, magisteel plates clinking.
Pomegrad looked a bit off. Lambert’s spectacles glinted.
“I have a confession to make, Inspectors,” Voltara said. “Baroness Amadea killed all of her lovers after getting them to sign their finances over to her. Also, she uses Necromancy!”
“WHAT?!” Amadea howled. “How dare you betray me in this manner, maid?!"
"That's a big claim to make," Pomegrad said. "We would need someone to..."
“It is true,” Emerald whispered.
“Its all true,” Agatha said firmly, staring at her mother’s eyes.
Amadea's look became that of disappointment.
“Baroness Amadea. You are hereby charged with treason against the Basq Empire,” Lambert said.
“Kill the Inspectors,” Amadea hissed out, her nostrils flaring.
The maids stepped forward, and immediately tripped over themselves, fumbling with their weapons, their feet not cooperating. Each of their Vows had been slowly bound by the threads controlled by the two vows under my command.
Arouetta gasped, staring at her former Mistress with horror.
Arrows flew from alcoves aimed by chimera hunters, hitting the maids in the exposed areas of their bodies.
Lambert and Pomegrad moved swiftly. The fire from their unfurled armaci put the surviving maids down before they could get organized.
“So its all true. Baroness Amadea is a Necromage agent,” Pomegrad exhaled, looking aghast. “Backup! Now!”
Constables of Diamondias that had been waiting for the order rushed out of the corridors, their armaci pointed at Amadea who now stood alone.
“What's going to be, Baroness?” I asked.
“What is it that you want from me, child?” Amadea gritted her teeth.
“I am much older than you,” I shook my head. “I’m done concealing my age and I'm done taking orders from Eunice. I suggest you do the same.”
“What?” Amadea stared at me.
“Our Master... exploded,” I said. “She brought her own doom by messing with the End-gate. I ended her reign of terror yesterday.”
“Are you mad?” Amadea whispered, her expression shifting from angry to worried.
I shook my head. “No,” I replied. “You lost. Surrender. Take off your artifact necklace nice and slow.”
“Do you think I won’t be able to break a few dozen human constables and some archers?” She hissed. “I’m two hundred years old! How could you possibly have bested Eunisii?!”
I snapped my fingers.
Hundreds of chimera hunters emerged from the hall, aiming their bows at Amadea. Their heads were shaved and covered in bandanas in a pirate-like fashion.
Amadea stared at the chimera tribesmen, then she looked back at me.
“It doesn’t matter how I did it. Eunice is gone,” I snapped. “Every Tokimorimïtul soul answers to me now. I'm the new arch-cendai. You can surrender or be shattered into a thousand fragments scattered to the wind.”
“So you really did it,” my enemy uttered, her face pale.
She pursed her lips, her brow furrowed, and then her entire face twitched, contorted, changed.
“Foolish girl," her lips spoke as her sharp teeth bared. "My Goddess cannot die. When she re-manifests in the physical she won't be pleased with this betrayal. I have no choice but to punish you for your sins."
"Do forgive me," Amadea added in a much less hostile voice. "I cannot help but resort to violence. I so hoped that we could be friends."
Her hand went up and her diamond necklace ignited, bathing the hall in brilliant gold coronas.
Amadea took a step forward. Then another.
“Stop!” Lambert ordered.
Amadea didn’t stop. Arrows bristling with paralyzing poison flew through the air toward her, but they did nothing to halt her progress. Amadea was oblivious to the spellfire hitting her body and shredding her dress. She calmly walked towards me as hundreds of arrows peppered her in seconds.
I gulped. The solution the hunters were using was supposed to put down Bonulich beetles! It didn't seem to bother Amadea one bit.
Magical resonance flared from her necklace and the nearest constables and chimera stopped firing, froze, fell to their knees in submission. Amadea’s hands grabbed at me, pushing me down into the water.
I struck at her with the knife. Endy slammed into the diamond-heart artifact and it cracked ever so slightly, the allure flickering. Amadea slapped the knife out of my hand. She winced as more arrows and spells hit her.
Her hands tore my skull helmet off me, sharp, gold-tipped claws ripping the belts.
She stared at my face, her hand wrapping around my neck not letting me take a single breath.
“Why is it so bloody cold here?” She asked suddenly, shuddering.
"Take a look in the Astral," I hissed out.
Amadea's eyes ignited with gold and silver fire from within. Her hold on me weakened as her mouth fell open.
“You're cold because you’re an Astral Phantom,” I said in Tokimorimïtul. “I too wish that we could have been friends, Amadea.”
“W-what is that… figure?” Amadea choked, staring at the manifestation of Barrie that I could not see. She had nearly let go of me then.
“She’s an Astral Phantom, Barrie,” I said simply, pushing a bit more mana into the Barrier hexagram beneath me. “End her.”
I did not see the ocean of silver-blue, ghostly fingers because I didn’t use my Astral sight, but I knew, felt that it was there. Barrie's vast limbs went through me, grabbed at the Baroness. Amadea screamed. Her hands flailed as she fought against her invisible assailants. The more she struggled and fought, the more Barrie determined that she was an enemy of Illatius and of humanity.
As the Baroness grappled against Barrie's fingers, I rushed to grab Endy from the water.
Amadea's diamond gemstone flashed, healing her soul as Barrie pulled her down, plunged her in the Astral Ocean. I slashed the diamond necklace with Endy again. Amadea Screamed, her body arching. I struck her necklace again and again, moving like lightning.
Amadea had not protected her artifact, had not put up any resistance to my attack. She probably saw Barrie, all of him, an abomination the size of Illatius and despaired, helplessly fought like a cornered beast in the Astral just as I had once.
I struck the damned necklace with Endy again and again as Amadea fell into the water, flailing. Whatever the necklace was, it was powerful. After the hundredth strike, the necklace cracked, parts of it detonating into a rain of colorful sparks.
“I just wanted to play with humans,” Amadea's lips whispered, tears of blood running down her face. “I… didn’t want to… I…”
The Baroness twitched one last time and stilled. I didn’t look at her in the Astral but I knew, felt that her soul was gone. Her face was turning gray and blood was pouring from her mouth, blooming in the shallow water beneath us.
Agatha had reached us, standing above us. I threw her armacus to her. Agatha caught it. The weapon twirled onto her wrist into its weaponized form.
“Goodnight Mother,” Agatha said.
The sleep and mind-erasing spell from her armacus struck Amadea in the head and the eyes of the Baroness closed.
I relaxed. We had won, defeated our main enemy in Illatius...
Amadea's hand snapped up into the air with a sonic boom as her eyes flashed a seething red, capillaries exploding. There was incredible power in her attack and Endy flew from my hand again. This time, my wrist snapped in two, the Nightcrawler-bone glove shattering as I was thrown to the ground with a scream.
Power surged from the gemstone, and a blinding, thunderous roar of magical firestorm knocked me further away, slamming me into one of the columns with an unhealthy crunch. I squeezed my eyes shut against the sudden brilliance of magic pouring from Amadea's necklace. There was power in the damned artifact, enough power to keep her alive and perfectly functional even without a soul!
"That was... fun," Amadea's mouth stretched into a rictus grin, full of sharp teeth and dripping gobbets of blood as if she had feasted on the beating heart of a freshly-killed animal. I saw that her flesh was decaying from within and immediately weaving itself back together.
The large crack on the diamond heart hanging from her neck repaired, fused itself back together. The true horror of the situation dawned on me then - her artifact could reanimate, repair itself even if damaged by the all-killing power of infinity!
Amadea barked a dry laugh.
My eyes filled with tears from the pain. Twenty one slow mirrors tried to rewind my broken wrist back together but the damage was far too great to heal quickly. I was nowhere close to Amadea in my healing abilities.
"I must admit, I didn't expect any of this," the chimera Baroness stood up to her full indomitable height.
She wiped the blood from her chin.
Agatha cowered in fear as Amadea's sharp, gold eyes pierced right through her. Tears streamed down Emerald's face as she struggled to move. I cried out, trying to get up but the sound was drowned out by the pounding of my heart. I looked at the scene before me in panic. Everyone in the enormous, underground hall had been knocked far, slammed into the walls or columns, completely paralyzed by Amadea's resonance. My chimera hunters, constables and our two maids simply laid on the floor, not moving. Nobody was coming to my aid.
The magisteel-covered maids of the Baroness stirred, rising from the water. The poisoned arrows and spellfire had done nothing against vitality maxers, only temporarily stopped them.
The Baroness moved towards her daughters, looking down at them.
"You two are... disowned," Amadea said simply after another moment of observing the downed Princesses.
She turned to me with a malicious smile. Her body moved faster than my eyes could track it. She was holding Endy in her pale fingers. Amadea turned the knife in her pale hand, examining it.
I gasped for breath as Amadea advanced to me and lifted the limp husk that was my body from the ground, grabbing me by the collar of my armor. Every breath burned, as if inhaling a thousand knives. I suspected that a few of my ribs were broken.
"As for you, arch-cendai Juni..." the words flowed out of her mouth with far too much sweetness.