CHAPTER XXIV: PROMISE
"So besides being as smart as Lord Ainz gives you credit for, what brings you to my humble abode alone with so much noise and ruckus?" Pandora's Actor elaborates poetically as I sit across from him. I ponder for a moment but find nothing solid to give him. "I don't really know...Lord Ainz gave me this ring to get into the Treasury but...I'm not entirely sure why I'm here-"
"Lord Ainz expected as much!" Pandora's Actor shouts excitedly, his right hand extending towards the air as he rises from his seat swiftly and moves off into an open space. His long, brown coat flows around him as he does so and despite the frivolousness of his actions, his movements have a professional grace to them. "It is why he, in his infinite wisdom, tasked me to wait for you when he saw you leave for the Treasury! I knew you'd stumble into my home eventually and would so valiantly see through my efforts to misdirect you! None but a true follower of Lord Ainz would know the difference!"
I doubt his words but didn't say anything, too distracted and confused at the way he gestured with his hands and the strange movements he did with his cloak and hat to respond. His manner of dress is something I've never seen outside of Nazarick, a strange orange suit with silver medals and trinkets across the lower body and red trim on the edges of the material. He turns away from me suddenly and grabs the rim of his hat with his right hand, half turning his head towards me in a serious manner and speaking in a milder tone. "But Lord Ainz also gave me instructions and questions to ask of you should you get this far...are you ready for your test to enter the greatest collection of power in the world?"
"I...guess I am?" I say timidly in reply but Pandora's Actor laughs to himself as he lets go of his hat and turns back towards me with a flourish of his coat. "It is right and proper that you show timidity in the face of such an idea! To bask in the presence of such glory as the images of the supreme beings is not to be approached with arrogance and pride! You are truly a noble being!"
I'm unsure how much of his blandishment is genuine but I play along, for the time being, trying to match his formality in my next words. "Great gatekeeper of the Mausoleum...I do not know why I am here. My thoughts are conflicted on what to do next but Lord Ainz has given me the choice to make. Such a thing...frightens me..."
"And fear is what makes you noble! You know fear and indulge in it but never let it control you! Only those who are afraid can know what humility truly means!" he shouts while gesturing with sweeps of his arms, his cloak following his movements as he comes to rest again and lowers his voice. "And only those who are noble can be allowed into the presence of greatness. You have passed one of the tests presented but there are more for me to give you."
"I wasn't aware we started..." I whisper aloud and he laughs with his hands on his hips, his head pointing upwards as he laughs until he snaps his head back down to gaze at me. "All of life is a test that we will eventually fail! I cannot start what always is!" he shouts excitedly as he heroically leaps back towards the couches and lands rear first on a seat in a relaxed posture. His tone shifts back into serious as he leans forward, his elbows on his knees and his hands on his chin in contemplate. "But are you willing to take such a risk of failure? Are you willing to defy, even in the face of your lord and master, to do what is just and right?"
The question is so sudden that I don't have an answer, my body sitting back on the couch as I stare down at the table. Pandora's Actor continues onwards even though I didn't answer. "It is his will to defy him when a nobler path presents itself. His word gave us the privilege to stand against thee who we swore to serve. But how can we? How can we stand against the one who is all that we are and all that we strive to protect?"
"I'm a fallen knight..." I admit to him in a whisper, Pandora's Actor not responding and allowing me to keep talking. "I struck down Lord Ainz not from noble reason but from manipulation. I've already misused the privilege that he's given me...and in doing so, I've shamed myself and all of Nazarick-"
"Fallen but not defeated!" Pandora's Actor shouts as I hear him move to a stand again and I look up to see him raise his right hand to the air. "The greatest heights and the lowest depths are not unknown to us! It is where you decide to stay that matters! Do you choose, Basugul, to remain in the lowest depths, a cursed knight who struck his lord with villainy and hostile intent!?"
"Of course not!" I shout back in outrage, irritated that he misheard what I said and rising to my feet in anger. "Even though I was exiled and even though I'm scorned as a traitor to Nazarick, I will still serve Lord Ainz! Nothing save non-existence can take that away from me!" Pandora's Actor merely laughs again as he moves his hand to his hat rim, his head nodding as he ponders the words. "But is it for you that you stand for or the young dark elves that wish you well that you stand for? Can you say your choice to serve is uncorrupted by personal gain?"
My anger ignites as he mentions the others, my shields are drawn from my inventory to my arms as I shout at him to leave them out of this. He doesn't move and nods again as if confirming something and when he looks up, my arms lower slightly in shock. The face he's wearing is mine and his form changes rapidly to match mine, a mirror of my expression of rage on the copies face now snarling back at me. "Aura and Mare mean everything to me. I'll go to whatever lengths to be with them, even if it means going against Nazarick itself," he says in my voice calmly, my arms raising again as he starts to move forward. "Even if it means going against Lord Ainz and Lady Chagama, I will walk through hell itself to keep them safe."
"Get out of my head!" I shout in rage as I charge forward, swinging my right arm in a horizontal arc once I get in range. He has my agility because all it takes is a simple backstep to dodge the reckless blow. "I have the power to oppose Lord Ainz now and if I so willed it, I could overthrow him at a whim-"
"I said stop!" I shout again while continuing to swing but his movements are mine and he easily avoids every clumsy blow. "He took everything from me. My life, my humanity, my family, even my belief. I have every reason to hate him for what he did to me-"
"That's a lie!" I shout as I keep swinging but as the blows keep missing, he starts to laugh at me and my attempts. "But what does any of it matter? I have more power than any human ever could and all I have to do is obey. What is humanity worth compared to such gifts?" he states calmly and I dive forward to try and tackle him. His bodyside steps casually and I end up on the ground, my body meeting the carpeted floor as I roll over and rise to my feet. "When the time comes and I have everything I need, Lord Ainz's betrayal will be complete. I'll return to the Slane Theocracy a hero who took down their worst enemy-"
"No," I say finally, the shields dropping from my arms as the bindings come loose and my head lowering to the floor as I understand what he's trying to do. "I fear myself and what I'll do...and in that fear, I leave myself open to manipulation...just like so many others," I whisper as I look up slowly at my copy, thankful that Pandora's Actor is changing back to his original form and moving slowly towards me with an offered hand. I take the pale, clawed hand and shake it slowly, my body suddenly tired as I release the hand and move to a couch to sit. "The greatest enemy you will ever face is yourself, Basugul. Every other enemy pales in comparison. Now you understand what true courage is, the courage to fight and win against the one enemy you never want to face."
"How can I win...when the enemy is me?" I ask him sadly, Pandora's Actor nodding and sitting across from me in a relaxed posture. "You already have, Basugul, but the battle is not the war. You must never let fear and doubt plague you for all time. Learn from it, overcome it, and become better for the struggle. That is how you fight against the beast within your own flesh." He nods his head again and laughs lightly to himself, slowly rising from the couch and beckoning me to follow him with his hand.
"You've passed the final test...but this is far from over..."
Pandora's Actor opens the door to the Mausoleum, a single black door with the symbol of Ainz Ooal Gown engraved on it with a red gemstone. He tells me as we walk through the door that the main room of the Treasury with the mountains of valuables is supposed to connect directly to the Mausoleum but Lord Ainz willed the structure to rearrange itself so that he could ask me questions first. I start to understand that he's merely playing his part and empathise with him carrying out his orders to the letter.
My thoughts come back to the moment as we stand in front of Compliance with Law and Lord TouchMe's avatara, the armour now more intimidating given my current purpose. "Before you make any choices, I must tell you one last thing," Pandora's Actor states aloud, my head turning to look at him as he stares up at the alcove. "If you proceed with what you plan, Compliance with Law will no longer be able to keep its form. Without the will of a sentient being to keep it together, the material will age rapidly into dust. A relic of a lost time will be lost for good."
The information is staggering and I slowly look up at the armour suit in the alcove, my mind now more conflicted than ever. If I do this, Lord TouchMe can never come back...one of the items he needs to return will be lost...can I really make this choice? "Whatever you decide, it is for you to make the decision. That is Lord Ainz's decree. You were made for this moment and it has come at last," Pandora's Actor intones and as soon as he's done speaking, he turns to leave the way we came. I turn away from the alcove to watch him go and once the door seals him back in his chambers, I turn back grimly to the armour and fight with myself on what to do. All I can think of is the pleading of the spirit within the armour, wanting nothing more than to remain awake and not be forgotten. Would she know what surviving meant? Should I ask her?
My hands reach up and grab the edge to pull me up into the alcove, my body moving up and now standing next to the armour as I lift the helmet off the avatara. I place it gently on my head and let my magic mingle with the helm but it isn't enough and I know it. Slowly and grimly, I remove the pieces of armour and place them on my body until the entire suit is assembled, the plates heavy and cumbersome. Even fully assembled, the armour doesn't respond to my magic and I fear that I'm already too late until images start to fill my mind.
In front of me are other supreme beings, some of which I recognize. They're talking about abolishing an old group called Nine's Own Goal and forming everyone present into Ainz Ooal Goal. Arguments arise about who should lead and the being I'm seeing through suggest that Momongo be the one who leads. Others agree but the being apologises to Momongo for springing this on him suddenly. Though the being keeps speaking, a thought starts to overwrite the scene and I feel myself resonate with it.
Only when prestige is sacrificed is it worth something.
"You...you came back..." A weak voice says into my mind, a gasping breath escaping me as I find myself disoriented and brought back to the Mausoleum. "Why...why did you come back..." the voice project, my breathing starting to slow as my panic subsides slightly. "I said I would come back and here I am. I try to keep my word," I whisper aloud as strange ghost images start to play in front of my eyes that I'm unsure if they're real. The spirit's voice is very weak as it responds, "I feel...tired...I've never felt this tired before..."
"The magic that sustains you has been gone for a year now. Alfheim existed in Yggdrasil and this isn't Yggdrasil anymore." I didn't know how I knew that but I try to sound calm. This is in the face of the horrible idea that starts to form, the idea of nine worlds lost in a single moment. The spirit doesn't respond to my emotions and words for long moments but eventually asks me whispers, "Gone?...it truly is...I can't see the light anymore...so my time has finally come-"
"I can save you if you let me. I have an artefact that you can transfer into to survive but in doing so, the armour that you inhabit will fade away. Lord TouchMe won't be able to return to this world anymore." I didn't have time to explain the finer details and hoped that the spirit remembered enough to know what I'm talking about. I wait tensely for a reply and it takes far too long to come. "He said...to keep the armour alive...until he returns...but he never came back...he's not coming back now..."
The magic in the armour starts to fade and I act fast, focusing all of the magic within the gemstone on the chest into the ring on my finger. "Stay with me. We can't afford to lose you. Try and focus on moving into the ring I'm showing you," I say calmly but the ring starts to heat up on my finger, the metal now sizzling against the material of the glove it's on. There's too much magic...this won't work. "You can't...help me...the vessel is...too small..." the voice whispers as the magic continues to drain away and I try desperately to think of something I can do to stop the decay.
Defiance
I cry out in agony as I feel the familiar sensation of my body sacrificing its own essence, flesh and bones weakening as it transfers the power into the spirit of the armour. The spirit gasps in surprise and I feel her presence come alive as she exclaims, "What are you doing!? Why would you hurt yourself like that to help me!?"
"That's a...temporary fix...it won't...stop the decay...for long..." I gasp as I feel something run down my chin, my teeth gritted against the pain as I fall slowly to my knees. As much as I didn't want to and vowed not to, I know that there's only one power source that could sustain her until I found out what to do. "Enjeru...koru," I gasp as I call upon power I'd like to forget, new energy coursing through me as the pain subside. Without the Black Sword or the White Shield out, a calm clarity and certainty descend on me as I move to my feet and remove the armour on my left hand. "I need to use my power to transmute the armour and the ring into one item. That should be sufficient to contain your essence. I can do nothing for the power loss but we can recover from that. Your safety is the top priority."
"Who are you? Why are you helping me so much?" the voice asks but I have no time to explain, the angelic form already starting to fade since I'm not in combat with another being. "Class Skill: Transmutation," I intone aloud as I focus every bit of magic I have left on the ring on my left finger. The material of the armour shatters and expands outwards in a cloud of metal around me, the spirit screaming in fear as it finds its body now broken. My body tenses as the material flow rapidly onto the ring like a gale wind, the ring absorbing the armour's essence into itself along with the spirit within it. As soon as the wind starts, it stops its flow and the ring now shines with bright metal and several sapphires along its surface.
The pain kicks in moments later, the divine power of Enjerukoru no longer able to keep the pain back as I fall forwards out of the alcove towards the floor. Something stops my fall and turns me over, my half open eyes gazing upon glowing white figure of startling beauty carrying me in her arms. I don't know what to say and nothing needs to be said, a smile on the woman's face as she tells me gently to rest.
With a gentle smile and an inner peace, I close my eyes.
END OF SCENE II
"Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you're not really losing it. You're just passing it on to someone else."
-Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven
