Entoma looked down at the broken remnant of a golem. She felt her lungs fill with air, whether it was to cry out in anger, or frustration, or what...
Nothing happened. She exhaled and hopped down from the tree. She landed seconds later and loomed over the bejeweled eyes. Harold's body had a crack that ran at an angle through his face, the tip of his stubby little nose was broken, the rich purple stone caught the light through the trees and the inside of him glittered.
There was no blood, no viscera or gore... just... solid.
"Harold? Can you speak?" Entoma asked the golem, yet it said nothing.
She crouched and with trembling hands she grasped the side of his head at the crack and gave the smallest pull. She felt the weight in her hands when she did, and found herself holding half his head, taking up one eye and part of his nose. "I'm sorry… I'm really sorry." Entoma said to the little thing, "I wanted you to be what you weren't, alive. It's not your fault you weren't what I searched for." Every eye of hers blinked, knowing what she now knew, it was no different than talking to herself, but as her heart fluttered in spite of herself, there was a tiny sense of loss that she could not truly put away.
So she talked on to it. "I thought if I could control it all… if I could be the one to… well… it turns out that I was wrong. You could obey, but couldn't 'be'. No feeling, no personality but my momentary whims… you did your best, I didn't mean to break you for it."
Harold said nothing back.
Entoma didn't expect that he would. She removed her mask and pressed her head to the large hunk of his own. "I'll take you back now."
All her eyes shut as she made her goodbye, then with her message spell activated, she called for a gate before sliding her mask back into place.
It appeared at her back, a whorling void through which to carry the remnants of the experimental golem. The energy and magic circled the void, crackling with power that her gods alone, and their chosen creations, could wield, and it was the way home.
She picked up the body with an audible grunt of effort and passed through to the other side.
When she appeared it was within the lab of one of the three great geniuses and his paramor and assistant.
The only one to be present was the assistant herself wearing a white lab coat that had slits on the back out of which her demonic wings fluttered in time with the way she scribbled her quill over a document.
The scratching noise was steady, constant, and confident. On the table there were five glowing crystal fragments bound together at equal distances from one another and connected by various strands of different metals. Just what the bronze skinned demoness was doing, Entoma couldn't guess.
But her eyes snapped up a moment later as soon as the gate vanished. Vanysa was about to speak when her mouth froze in the open position, baring her fangs. "Harold? Whad'ja do with Harold?" She gasped and one taloned hand came up to cover her mouth.
Entoma's many eyes blinked in sync with one another.
"It was an accident… I got upset with hi- with it, and it fell, it fell." Entoma answered.
Vanysa approached and took the pieces gingerly away from her, stacking them on a nearby table, the purple stone still radiant even in the dim light.
"What did it do wrong?" Vanysa asked while she sorted the fragments of limbs, torso, and head.
The little tink noise of stone being shuffled about on the metal table made Entoma turn away from both that scene and the unpleasant thoughts that came with it.
"I wanted… this is personal… I wasn't… I don't know how to say it." Entoma answered, clenching her hands in the sleeves of her outfit.
"Oh. I understand." Vanysa replied and laid a hand on the shattered face. She turned her bright and shining eyes on the maid and the familiar madness that marked her life was briefly gone from them.
"Harold was only a construct. Advanced, yes. He could do more complicated tasks and answer more complicated questions than any golem ever made. However," Vanysa's talon tapped on the crystal eye of the broken construct, "he couldn't feel anything, he could tell what you wanted to hear, but never be his own being. I'm the resurrected and transformed scraps of a dead girl, I don't know how much of myself is 'me' and how much is the will of my god or even what he knew about me. But I have parts of me that are 'me'. Harold didn't, and he couldn't. If what you wanted was more than a tool… I'm sorry to disappoint you. A machine bird may make the notes, but never feel the music."
"I know… I know that now. Thank you anyway." Entoma answered with a low bow of her head.
"Welcome!" Vanysa said with a perky, folksy voice, "I gotta get back to work… an I'll have ta go an fix Harold here… maybe make some improvements against fallin damage too… kinda disappointed he broke that easy."
"Alright ah, again, thank you." Entoma answered.
Vanysa nodded, "Maybe pay a visit ta Lord Cocytus, he's kinda the same as you, maybe he can tell yah somethin. He had a big hand in some'a the younguns comin up, an they think he's real wise bout some stuff."
Entoma inclined her head, "I'll do that." The maid answered and left the room, hearing a faint sound of scribbling beyond the door a moment before it closed and she left the demoness behind.
Finding Cocytus was easy, it was always easy because he had only four key jobs that took place in predictable places and one of them he hardly had to be present for. 'Chief Zaryusu hasn't asked for the guidance of Nazarick lately that I know of, so he won't be at Harmony Village… There are no major parades or gatherings of soldiers going on right now, so he won't be near the Plains. There is no arena tournament taking place now in the off-season, so he won't be visiting any of those. Which means he is here. And if he is here, then there is only one place I'm likely to find him in the middle of the day.' Entoma reasoned, and made her way down to the great colosseum of Nazarick.
The walk there wasn't that long, but she still took her time with slow, steady steps, enjoying the comforting feeling of being where she truly felt at home. It perked up her mood enough that she developed almost a spring to her step as she moved through the hall of the One Who Stayed, the great tomb of the mighty gods that created them all.
But because it was a short walk, it didn't take long, even when she went slowly, before she emerged beneath the portcullis and onto the sands where, true to her expectation, the insectoid warrior guardian was in the middle of battle.
Entoma stood and watched as the children of rival houses cooperated together to fight against the guardian. The younger Baraja children were pressing hard against Cocytus, fighting in the style of their mothers with a mix of bow, short sword, and an open palm.
By contrast the Emmot-Bareare children were using a mix of one handed blunt weapons, throwing knives, and magic. 'Lupusregina's influence.' Entoma recognized. Regardless, the guardian was humoring them with his long ice blue bardiche weapons, one in each hand, fending off arrows and batting aside knives while twirling them to send a child flying a moment later.
The Baraja children were there and gone as fast as could be, pressing hard against their 'uncle' and their 'teacher'. Ophelia, a dark haired girl launched herself off the shoulders of her younger brother, attempting to strike Cocytus from above, at the same moment, Askandar, a blonde young man of Enri's lineage tumbled in close and attempted to roll in to strike an overhead blow with a short blunt mace.
The two bardiches of the guardian sent both of them tumbling away.
"Good. Cooperate. Never give time for a counter." Cocytus gave the advice, then lowered the tips of his weapons in an indication that they should stop.
The young ones obeyed, none of them was over the age of twelve, but as they were not even breathing hard, their future skills were clear. 'Godkin young are especially formidable.' Entoma reflected while she waited for Cocytus.
The little group lined up in two rows, "Go, eat, rest, and we will resume later."
"Yes, Teacher." The children said in unison, bowed, and went off chattering amiably.
They bowed politely as they passed Entoma, and left the maid alone with the guardian. She approached him and opened by casually saying, "They get along better than their parents."
"Yes. That is the point. They fight together now, so they will not fight each other later." Cocytus said, then added, "They will fight well, when they are grown."
Entoma inclined her head as she wanted to speak, and he looked down at her expectantly, his mandibles clicked together, encouraging her to go on.
"I need your advice." She said, and began to explain.