Canvas Town, Tseludia Station, Pantheonic Territory, Fifthmonth, 1634 PTS

“One convenient aspect of not having a body in this space-time is how quickly I can get ready,” said Rachel.

A quick glance at her form told me that she had made up her face with what appeared to be lip paint and other make-up.

“I suppose that would make sense,” I replied.

I myself had not even changed my clothing. The red robes that had been specially tailored for me as the sect leader could already be considered formal wear, and to wear anything else to this sort of meeting would reflect negatively on the sect’s face. Similarly, Rachel was wearing the white robe with red accents that represented the Vice-Sect Leader position.

“Are you ready?” she asked.

“Ready enough. Have you chartered the aero?

“They’ll be waiting by the time you get there.”

I nodded at her, and we made our way out. On the streets, passersby split to either side, gawking and whispering to one another. In this neighborhood, everyone knew who we were, if not by appearance, by the robes we were wearing. Nobody would dare to impersonate us, not so near to our abode. We quickly made our way to the top of the stack, where the skydock awaited. I glanced at the wide empty space at the highest layer that we had used for the entrance ceremony before filing into the comfortable seats of the aero.

We had been quiet as we walked upwards, and I found myself reflecting on my time in the station. I seemed calm, but it was as if I was the heart of the storm, or the tip of an iceberg. Beneath my surface, the currents ran wild.

“By the way,” she said, ending the silence as the aero lifted off, “your conversation with Kein seems to have really helped him. I was quite surprised.”

I gave her a blank look, but she continued talking as if she hadn’t noticed.

“I had expected you to just glower at him and order him to get back to work on threat of death.”

I frowned.

“Is that how you see me?”

She shrugged.

“You’ve been a bit more congenial since your advancement.” She paused, delivering a smirk. “Relatively speaking, anyway. Though I’m sure you kept that option in your back pocket in case he didn’t cheer up.”

I didn’t bother refuting her claim, in part because it was true. Still, I had one gripe about the way she had phrased it.

“Aren’t you the same?” I asked, slightly annoyed.

Her smile flickered slightly, but her expression was maintained.

“What do you mean?”

I met her gaze, the amber of our eyes locked tightly together, and words spilled out from my mouth. I wasn’t quite sure what caused it. Perhaps it was merely the result of a remnant unstable mentality from my previous bouts with insanity, or perhaps it was simply something I had been holding back for all this time, unnoticeable to even myself. Or perhaps my honesty with Kein had made me feel inclined to be more honest in general.

“If Kein had refused,” I explained, my tone harsh. “ I would have forced him to comply. And you… would have wanted me to do so. You would even have supported me in that if you felt it was necessary. Kein and the rest, even me. We’re all no different from that Celan you forced to serve your whims.”

I chuckled, though it felt hard for me to determine just why. It was not out of a real sense of humor at the topic. Instead, perhaps it was something of a regret about having brought the matter up, even if I did believe it to be true.

“Perhaps you’re more worthy of the title of demon than I am.” I said.

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The words hung for a long moment, after which she sighed, breaking eye contact. Just a moment later she locked eyes with me once more. I got the sense that now, she too was speaking without putting sufficient thought into her words. Of all Rachel’s traits, this was the one I felt that humanized her the most. Despite her ability to have all the time she needed to formulate responses, she still had a tendency to speak her initial thoughts heedlessly.

“The difference between us,” she said, “is that I have a goal I’m working towards. One I’ll give anything to accomplish. My people should not need to live like rats hiding from the house’s occupants. You… I find it hard to tell. At times you seem self-sacrificially hell-bent on revenge, while at others, all you care about is extending your own life span. Your ultimate goals are nothing but vague notions, aren’t they?”

I found myself unable to respond. It was not because I was stung by her words. They were true, but didn’t particularly hurt me to hear. I could simply not think up any ways to respond that would be productive. I had a vague desire for revenge against Sunlit Hall, but I regularly allowed my other goals and desires to get in the way. Perhaps it was the influence of my miasma’s nature, but my goals tended to be formless themselves, altering to fit my current situation.

Ultimately, I realized that my goals and Rachel’s had never been entirely in line with one another. Somewhere along the line I had lost track of that fact. Did I really wish to turn this sect that I had created into the enemy of all the galaxy’s most powerful factions? One day, I thought, I might need to either sacrifice the clan or break my agreements with Rachel. This path that I had stumbled onto was truly dangerous, far more than any of the issues we had run into so far.

I wondered what he would have done if he were in this situation. Perhaps he would have refused Rachel’s offer from the start, and sold her off to the Sheneth-Ari for the bounty money. It was hard to say.

We spent the rest of the ride in silence, a rift having abruptly formed between us. It was funny, I thought, how quickly such disputes could arise. I felt some shame for the abrupt confrontation, but in the end I was glad we had that short confrontation. It had helped me come to certain understandings about myself, and about where the two of us stood. Having a fight right before a very important meeting was an issue, but I felt that the both of us were more than professional enough to comport ourselves properly. After all, Rachel had nothing if not enough time to cool herself down.

During the time I had spent in Tseludia, I had never actually been near the headquarters of the Hadal Clan. I had felt that the region it was located inside might be unwise to approach. They were an orthodox clan, after all. There was no telling whether another of the more zealous clan members might attack me purely on principle. In fact, had they delivered such an invite to me when I was in the core formation stage, I might have found an excuse to avoid it. As a spirit refiner, however, I felt more than confident enough in my ability to escape. For genesis practitioners, it would take a pinnacle stage spirit refiner or even an immortal to catch me.

The building itself was roughly as I had anticipated. A gargantuan structure of wood and metal with a very elegant design, the Hadal Clan’s headquarters was everything that ours was not. They were certainly a great force that had entrenched themselves within Tseludia for many decades. Even if the Redwater Sect came to exceed them in military power after the upcoming war, we would still certainly not be able to compete with them in grandiosity.

From the Skydock, we only had to walk down a few flights of stairs to reach the level of the stack where the headquarter’s entrance resided. The entire structure was three entire levels tall, comprising a ludicrous amount of buildings. One could probably spend their entire life within without too many issues.

At our approach, the tall wooden doors opened, and we were greeted by the aged figure of Wei Hadal. His long hair and thin beard were both expertly groomed, much better than his appearance on some of the other occasions we had met. He bowed respectfully towards me.

“Sect Leader Yu, Vice-Sect Leader Rachel, this humble servant welcomes you to the Hadal Clan. The Matriarch is awaiting you.”

I nodded respectfully to the man, noting his greeting. Unlike the previous time we had met, my title was used, and he was following the etiquette expected towards the leaders of a force with similar standing. I smiled. The background for this meeting truly was not simple. Perhaps tonight I would be finally forced to choose a side in what was to come.

I motioned him forwards.

“Please lead the way.”

He bowed again, and then released the heavy door, turning back into the building. As I passed the threshold, I realized just how thick and heavy the door was. Wei had pushed it outwards effortlessly, but I would have found it difficult to move. A spirit refiner of the genesis path truly was strong, I mused to myself. These doors must have been purposefully designed to impress visiting guests with the Clan’s power.

Led by Wei, the two of us entered the heart of the Hadal Clan’s influence, and the doors quietly closed behind without even a sound. The click of three sets of footsteps on the tile flooring echoed through the hallway, and I couldn’t help but feel pressured by the air of the magnificent palace.

Staiven Station Atmospheres: [As much as most life in Telles which developed naturally tends to be very unique, the races who were created by gods conversely tend to share very distinct similarities. The most obvious of these are the ‘humanoid’ races, such as the Celans Seiyal and Reth, or the Staiven, who have obvious similarities in appearance to humanoids despite being vastly different on physiological and morphological scales. Most of these races, too, breathe in similar atmospheres. In fact, Staiven space stations only feature the unique combination of gases that such races prefer to breathe, having little interest in building structures where Staiven cannot live. This has had a vast impact on the demographics of the Pantheonic Territory, where immigrants and refugees from races who cannot breath in such atmospheres are only able to wear environment suits or lease habitable planets which suit their needs.]