He had his Goddess' undivided attention, Lenneth's unwavering gaze on his face as she waited near breathless for him to speak. He didn't rush the story, leaning back in his chair as he slowly removed his glasses. They, like much of his face, was soaked. A condition to be blamed on Lenneth, the Goddess dousing him with water. It had been an unpleasant way to awaken, unexpected and jarring.
It wasn't the only unexpected thing, Lezard not thinking Lenneth would go so far as to force her way into the one room he kept locked from her. He was more put out than angry about her intrusion into the room that housed her sister, Lezard knowing that sooner or later he would have had to reveal just what had happened to Silmeria. Especially if he wanted his relationship with Lenneth to progress, something that would have been impossible if she continued to believe he had killed her younger sister.
Lenneth seemed to vibrate with impatience, watching as he took out a handkerchief, and began to dry off his glasses. He used that all too brief reprieve to gather his thoughts, Lezard trying to decide just when and where for the story to begin. Of course there was some things he couldn't tell her, Lezard being careful to leave off any mention of time travel. He might never enlighten her on that aspect of his nature, Lezard sure Lenneth would look down on him for trying to alter her future.
Glasses dried, he used the handkerchief to wipe the moisture off his face, before setting the spectacles in place. "The telling may take some time." He said at last, Lezard gesturing for Lenneth to take the chair besides his. She looked ready to protest, but at the last second sat. But she didn't relax in her seat, leaning forward, eyes intent on his face.
"I can't claim to have all the answers either." Lezard warned her, holding up a hand to ward off her protests. "Some things are beyond my knowledge. I can only tell you what I bore personal witness to."
"And just what did you witness then?" Lenneth asked, and a faint glimmer of a smile crossed his face.
"The struggles of Silmeria, the rebellion she tried to form, and the downfall of a great Kingdom." A frown was on Lenneth's face. "The story begins just over eighteen years ago..." He paused, then shook his head. "I suppose it started even later than that...but I suspect only Odin, Silmeria, and perhaps the vampire Lord Brahms would know about that."
"What does the undead King have to do with my sister?" Lenneth demanded.
Lezard gave her words their due consideration, trying to piece together what he knew. "Silmeria saw fit to...shield Brahms from Odin." Lenneth's eyes went wide, she made a protesting noise at that.
"Why would she do such a thing?" Lenneth wanted to know, and Lezard gave a shrug.
"Her motivation is her own, a mysterious secret she kept from many. I do not know why she sought to help him when he was injured, but she did. That alone should have been enough to earn her Odin's animosity." Lezard did not know much about Silmeria and Brahms' dealings, her reasons for helping the vampire unknown. It had not been something Silmeria had been forthcoming about, the young Valkyrie going so far as to never mention the undead king to any of her small band of followers. Lezard wondered if even Alicia, her human host had known.
"I suppose Silmeria could have earned her Lord's forgiveness if she had handed Brahms over." Continued Lezard out loud. "But something about her encounter with the undead King changed her...enough for her to want to question Odin's rule, and the callous way the divine acted towards the mortals of Midgard."
Lenneth looked shocked at that, she didn't even think to protest what he had said about the Gods being callous towards the humans.
"You can understand, can't you?" Lezard asked her. "Why Odin would not be quick to reveal what had dissatisfied Silmeria so? For if she, one of his most loyal of creations found a reason to find disfavor with his rule, would others follow if they learned what Silmeria had learnt?"
"I cannot believe this..." Lenneth said in response. "Silmeria was surely tainted by her encounter with Brahms! That undead fiend corrupted her!"
"Maybe, maybe not." Lezard replied. "Whatever the case, Odin knew he had to act. Silmeria's disobedience could not go unpunished. If she would no longer obey his command, then he had no use for her. As Valkyrie she had to be replaced, a more suitable Goddess being called forth."
"Hrist." Lenneth named the eldest of the three Valkyrie Goddesses. "He called Hrist."
"The sovereign's rite was performed, and Silmeria was forced into her human host, to sleep...perhaps for forever." Lezard knew the chances of Odin awakening the disobedient Valkyrie was slim, especially when he had one as loyal as Hrist. The eldest Valkyrie sister was his most fanatical follower, the Goddess willing to go to extremes that her younger sisters were not.
"But something went wrong, didn't it?" Lenneth asked, and Lezard nodded slowly.
"The ritual of the Sovereign's rite, something disrupted it." Lezard had his suspicions on that, wondering if the added presence of Brahms had been what had allowed Silmeria to remain conscious. "Silmeria was cast aside, but she did not sleep. She awoke, aware of everything, inside the body of her human host." He paused, letting that tidbit gestate between them. "I'm sure it had to be difficult for her. Trapped in a baby's body..."
Lenneth looked horrified at that. "She was conscious as a mortal?"
"Yes. I don't know how she survived those early years. It had to be dreadfully boring...even if her host had been mortal royalty. I'm sure you've heard of the kingdom of Dipan. It's thrived for decades...and Silmeria's host was the princess of that kingdom." Lenneth hardly look mollified by the thought of the pampering Silmeria might have received in that case.
"There was complications, there always is when magic goes awry." Lezard sighed, knowing only too well the folly of failed spells. "Silmeria began to speak to the young princess. It seemed harmless at first, the humans willing to write it off as a child's imaginings. But all too soon, they realized the child had to be cursed, possessed by a spirit."
Lenneth took offense at that. "They should have been honored to house a Valkyrie, even one who had fallen out of favor as my sister did!"
"Dipan did not see it as a blessing...they sent the young princess away, and declared her dead to the population. Silmeria was not idle during that time, preparing the princess in the way of the sword. And do you know why she did this?" Lenneth shook her head no. "She knew Odin would discover the error he had made. And when that happened, Odin would send assassins after them."
"It took eighteen years, which I'm sure is a blink of the eye to ones who have eternity to spend." Lezard continued. "But sure enough, he realized what had happened, and Odin immediately took measures to correct that error. Hrist was dispatched."
"Hrist?" Lenneth shook her head. "But she wouldn't dare harm one of her own sisters!"
"Not even for their own good?" Lezard questioned her. She hesitated. "I'm sure Odin told her his own version of what happened." He tried to be soothing for Lenneth's sake. "Hrist probably believed she was to save her sister in the act of killing her human host..."
"And did she kill her?" Lenneth wondered, her relief showing at Lezard's head shake. "Then how?"
"It's not a story to be rushed." Lezard told her, smirking at her impatience. "Hrist tried several times, and failed each and every time to harm Silmeria's human host." He paused a moment, trying to settle his thoughts. "By the time I first encountered Silmeria, she had added several companions to her struggles."
"You MET my sister during this time?" Lenneth interrupted, furrowed brow complementing the troubled look in her eyes.
"Oh yes." Lezard answered breezily. "I was a long term companion to her party. Along with Rufus a half elf, and Dylan an einherjar she had manifested from within her." The memories were coming, though it wasn't fondness that colored his experiences with Silmeria's party. He had gotten along just fine with the group, but Lezard had always been aware he hadn't belong. Nor had he been interested in forming attachments to those who would be soon dead.
Of course he himself hadn't been responsible for those deaths. No, their fates had been set in stone long before he had come along, Lezard merely helping them along to survive long enough to get into position. Each had had a purpose to serve, each one bringing him that much closer to becoming a God.
Lenneth knew what Rufus' half elf heritage signified, the Goddess breathing out a word almost reverently. "A vessel of the Gods..."
"He was meant to be Odin's." Lezard explained. "To be his spare body in case something should happen." He almost laughed then, thinking how Odin's vessel had been instrumental in his demise. "Of course Rufus was trying to hide his half elf heritage when I first met him in Dipan."
"Dipan?"
"That kingdom was a background setting to much of what happened." Lezard explained. "I was part of the castle's court, an apprentice under the three mages." That had been his cover, Lezard arriving several months before Silmeria would come to the castle. He had spent weeks ingratiating himself to the court, and the mages, sucking up to them and down playing his powers. If the mages had suspected how powerful he really was, they would have taken steps to prevent him from securing a place at the court. It had been a tricky balance to maintain, Lezard needing to feign enough magic to be deemed competent to learn at their feet.
It had been worse than his years at Flenceburg's magic academy, the three mages even more strict than Lorenta. He had to toil with beginner's spells, pretending not to know how to mix the most basic of potions to keep them from suspecting his true intellect and power. He had nearly keeled over in boredom by the time Silmeria and her companions had arrived.
"You are from Dipan?" Lenneth asked, drawing him out of his memories.
"Oh no, I come from much farther than that." But that was all he would say about that. "I was only a recent arrival to the court myself...Silmeria came to the castle with a mission." Lezard watched Lenneth carefully, and her reaction did not disappoint. "She wanted to rally Dipan to prepare to fight against the Gods."
"Just how far gone was my sister to even contemplate such a thing?" Lenneth exclaimed, aghast.
"She was desperate." Lezard answered. "And Barbarossa was hardly willing to listen. Not even to his own daughter. He ordered them to be arrested, and I dare say Silmeria would have rotted in the dungeons until Hrist or some other God put her out of her misery. If not for the interference I offered." He smiled widely, proud of himself. "I used my magic to teleport us away...and thus the true journey began."
He had gotten straight to the point when speaking to Silmeria, explaining to her of Dipan's plans, watching as the Valkyrie took the bait. "Dipan had been planning to meddle with the very laws of time, all to create an enclosed world that would give them independence from the Gods." Lenneth let out a gasp at that, seeming as shocked as she was outraged by the very notion.
"To do that..." continued Lezard smoothly. "They would need the power of one of the four divine treasures. Naturally they had only one choice...I'm sure you can surmise which one they would go after."
"The Dragon Orb."
"Yes. Silmeria intended to go after it too. And to make her human host it's guardian. If anything, it made Odin even more determined to fell Silmeria, since he too had designs on the Orb. Attacks would come in many ways, the most insidious perhaps in the guise of a woman named Leone. She turned out to be your sister Hrist in disguise, the Goddess abandoning her role of assassin to play spy and eventual betrayer..."
"This is not the first time you've made mention that Odin had interest in the Orb." Noted Lenneth.
"No...he has coveted it for a long time, and it was not just the mortals that the orb's previous protectors hid it from. They wanted to keep it from those who would misuse it, and the Gods who would cast Midgard into ruin through it's theft. Unfortunately for Midgard, Hrist played the part of saboteur all too well, retrieving the orb for Odin's collection."
Lenneth didn't look like she believed him, leaving Lezard to wonder if he would have to personally take her to Odin's treasure vault and show her the orb. "Of course Silmeria's story didn't end there...there was a great show down at Dipan between the two sisters." That had been vital to his plans, Lezard having endured so much for the moment when the three mages of Dipan sprung their trap.
"But before that, Hrist and her einherjar ran rampant in Dipan, destroying the city, and executing many of it's leaders. We arrived too late to stop them...Dipan, for all it's preparations had not been able to stand up to the wrath of the Gods. However...the three mages had managed to work out the Sovereign's rite...and it was during Hrist and Silmeria's fight that they cast it."
Lezard knew, thanks to the knowledge of the Philosopher's Stone, that the spell would have been interrupted by the arrival of Freya. The Goddess would appear just seconds after Dylan was destroyed, his body melting away to reveal the undead King, Brahms having hidden inside the mortal. The vampire Lord had been trying to save Silmeria from the Sovereign's rite when Freya went on the offensive.
Silmeria should have been frozen by Freya's ether, helpless to do anything. Brahms should have then carried her off to safety, leaving Rufus and Alicia alone in Dipan. But that was without Lezard's interference, the mage casting a spell to steal Silmeria's soul for his own. Instead of Silmeria being frozen in crystal, Brahms had been trapped, the vampire carted off by Freya.
Rufus and Alicia had still ended up alone, Lezard leaving with his prize. But that hadn't been the end, the two so foolish as to decide to challenge Odin by themselves. They would pay for the price of their folly at the top of Yggsdrasil.
"It should have been impossible for anyone but Lord Odin to cast that spell." Lenneth was visibly disturbed.
"Nothing is impossible...nothing Lenneth." Lezard retorted. "My victory over Odin is proof of that." An annoyed look was his reward for that comment, Lezard sighing. "Silmeria's soul was not returned to the heavens...I used some of my own magic to secure her for my own purposes."
"You?" She sneered then. "You used Silmeria to help you kill Odin, didn't you?"
"She gave me an added boost to my powers, yes." Lezard acknowledged. "As for her host and the half elf, the fools were determined to fight Odin, to reclaim the Dragon Orb for Midgard's sake. It was precisely why they traveled to the top of Yggsdrasil, their intent to make Rufus a God that could rival Odin. Unfortunately for them, Odin was not on board with this idea. Nor did he show any mercy to Silmeria's human host."
The pair had already been dying when Lezard made his appearance, and even if healing magic had been among his repertoire of spells, he wouldn't have been able to save them. All he could do was use the power and knowledge that he did have, to shift Odin's soul into Rufus' dying body. "Soul transfusion." Lezard mused out loud. "What had once been a convenience of Odin, was now the end of him. He didn't last long in the half elf's body...a victim of internal injuries."
Lenneth had stood up, looking horrified. "You cast him into a mortal's body?" She sneered then. "That is low..."
"But practical." Lezard replied. "Odin engineered his own downfall in keeping that vessel alive. I merely took the opportunity it presented me." He tried not to smirk then. "The Gods were due for a shake up at any rate. Things had gone stale under Odin's rule. Predictable even."
"That doesn't give you the right..." Lenneth began, and Lezard interrupted.
"It's the survival of the fittest Lenneth." Lezard said. "Those who can, do, and those who can't, die. It's no different for the Gods." She didn't like hearing that, he could read that dislike on her face. "Odin wouldn't have ruled forever..." He knew that from his own time, Odin dying at Loki's hands during Ragnarok. Lezard had just expedited Odin's demise, causing little suffering to the rest of the realms.
"That shouldn't have been up to you to decide!" Lenneth snapped.
"Oh? Then who?" Lezard demanded. "One of the other divine? Surt maybe?" He laughed then. "The Gods needed new blood. At the very least, they needed someone to keep them on their toes. They had grown stagnant in their compliance, just waiting around for Ragnarok to happen."
"You know nothing." Lenneth hissed. "What can a mortal understand of the Gods' affairs?"
"More than you think." Lezard retorted. "I'm sorry you don't like what I have done, and what I have told you. But I can't help but wonder, just who you would sympathize with if you knew the reasons behind Silmeria's actions."
"Silmeria was poisoned by her interaction with Brahms." Lenneth was haughty then. "I doubt very much my sister could sway me to understand her reasoning for this rebellion of hers!"
"Perhaps someday you will find out how wrong you are about that." Lezard said.
"What do you mean?" Lenneth demanded, suspicion in her eyes. He merely shook his head, mind mulling over the problem of what to do with Silmeria's soul. She had no human host to return to, and he wouldn't allow her to take over Lenneth's body. It was a puzzle to ponder, but one he was sure he'd figure out the answer to, if given enough time. He just hoped the answer would be the right one for all involved!
To Be Continued of course!
I wasn't gonna post so soon, but figure this one might be boring since it's going over what happened in the game. So hence you get two chapters tonight, to make up for this!
Michelle
Alpha Huntress, glad Silmeria's appearance made you so happy! She'll have much more of a presence later on too, but that's a potential spoiler to say any more! XD
