Neia bent over the scraps of paper and cursed herself. "How are you going to do this?! You're a squire, one step removed from a peasant?! How can you write for a god?!" She groused aloud and stared down at the worthless ink her worthless hands had made at the behest of her worthless brain.
"How can I be good enough for this? How?" She asked the uncaring landscape around her. She snapped her quill in frustration and threw it aside. Idly she looked back over her shoulder to the horizon she was leaving in the distance. Down on the dirt road there lay at least twenty quills that she could see. "I swear… I'll have to have scouts go back and collect those, or I'll be discoverable just by following the trail of broken quills." She managed a bitter, frustrated laugh at her own foibles and took out another from a barrel full of them.
She touched it to her tongue, crossed her legs, dipped it into the ink and tried again.
"What would the Sorcerer King say about children? He did… kill that one. But… he treated the body with such kindness. This isn't an act of someone who… who would…" Neia clenched her eyes.
'Never say that again!' The furious voice echoed in her head, and she felt the crack across her face that sent her toppling back to the door frame. It was all like it had happened just the other day, and not ten years or more ago. The blows of her mother's hands had stung all the more, not because the beating itself hurt. But because it was her mother doing it. "How do I put this… 'A betrayer of trust, and of the heart, is the mother who beats her daughter, is the father who beats their son. Guide with gentleness, reason, and kindness of heart when they are small, that when you are old and weak, their hands lay gently on you in turn.'
Neia gritted her teeth. "Would he say that? Something like that? Probably better." She frantically scribbled and lined through her embarrassing failure.
"How do I write a book for a god, without the wisdom of one…?" She asked the question of the horse in front of her.
She stared at the scrunched up paper around her, all wadded up and worthless, 'Like my efforts so far.' She groused, but took up another blank piece of paper to give it another go.
Four hours later, she didn't have one word that she didn't consider to be an inferior wasted effort… as was evidenced by the pile of paper around her… and the trail of broken quills leading back down the road for the previous dozen miles.
It was in the fifth hour that she noticed someone staring at her. She glanced up from her paper and looked over to the auburn haired rider beside her cart. "Skana, why are you staring at me?" Neia asked with a raised eyebrow. Discomfort welled up at the focused look from eyes as green as spring grass.
"It's… nothing. I'm just impressed, ma'am." The frontliner replied as she looked at the way her leader sat… half buried under failed efforts.
"Failure isn't impressive." Neia murmured and looked down at the failure that surrounded her. "Anyone can fail."
Skana sat on her horse and looked ahead, riding beside the one who died and returned as the voice of their god. The silence was, to Neia's surprise, less awkward and more 'comforting'. Like the woman didn't mind it. It helped the stressed out pope relax.
Finally, Skana said something, "It's true. Anyone can fail. But not just anyone could do that." She cavalierly waved her hand over the mass of crumpled papers and broken quills that occasionally rolled or slid out of the back of the wagon.
"What? Fail a lot?" Neia asked sarcastically.
Skana gave her a winsome smile, "No, ma'am. Continuing to try after so many failures. No wonder you made a name for yourself, and won the favor of a god. Most people would have given up quickly, some would have tried a few times. But you'll outwrite scholars to get a single page perfect. I just wanted to say, we're proud to follow you, ma'am."
Neia gave a small, rare smile at the charming, pleasant rider. "Kind of you to say, soldier. But you know… I'd rather eventually get it right, and I'm not having much luck. Any suggestions?"
Skana threw back her head so far she almost fell from her horse. "Ma'am, I'm good at a few things. I can dance, I can swing a sword, I'm a passable singer, I can drink, I can ride, hide, and screw. You want advice on writing what a god wants written? Ask someone else. I can't help you with that." She managed a self deprecating smile and then snapped to a more professional air when a whistle pierced the air. "Forgive me ma'am, but I'd better get to the front and see what they need, good luck."
Neia sat, dumbstruck for a moment. "That's brilliant!" She exclaimed and hopped down from the cart and rushed to the front where CZ was filling in for her while she wrote. "CZ, can you call for Lord Sebas! I'm in need of some help with an assignment from His Majesty!"
CZ looked down at the diminutive squire, and gave a tiny nod that indicated to Neia the great depth of her enthusiasm.
Neia was alone. The night covered her like a blanket, and it made her happy. As happy as she'd been capable of most of the time. She sat beneath the shadow of a tree as if pulling another blanket of darkness over herself, and watched her soldiers laughing and drinking among the flames, most of them with other mercenaries or merchants.
That, that made her happy. Because it meant she'd worked well. 'They are safe. They are happy. They are strong. How do I tell all the things that must be told, in the words that would make my god, my lord, the only king I need or want… proud of my work?' She felt like she was looking at some mysterious artifact and had no words to describe it, and yet she knew those words needed to exist for the world she was part of to have a future.
'I must bring out his wisdom, or we'll just live nightmares over and over again, sooner or later.' She bit her lip and felt her feet twitch beneath her crossed legs. Part of her wanted to join them, but… they weren't her friends. They were 'comrades' after a fashion, but there was always a distance that could never be crossed between commander and commanded, a gap no bridge could stretch over without destroying itself.
It was that ache for more, and for what she couldn't have with them, if they were going to have what they did right now, that she felt quite keenly when the gate opened, and CZ returned.
Neia shot to her feet as fast as she could move, and impulsively hugged the only friend she had. "Cute." CZ said, and put a sticker on Neia's forehead. She put her back to the flames and followed her companion, her comrade, through the gate, and missed the distant look from shining green eyes beyond the flames.
When Neia arrived on the other side she found herself in paradise. Richly upholstered furniture with vibrant shades of green and blue. Ornate dark wood furniture that made the palace of Hoburns look like a peasant's crudely decorated shack in the woods.
On the wall, paintings by otherworldly masters decorated the farthest reaches of his quarters, and displayed human potential at its very finest. "How wondrous is the home of a god." Neia said with breathless admiration.
Sebas extended a friendly hand, keeping the other behind his back as he customarily did. Neia hesitated for only a moment, then took it in her own and shook it firmly. "Sebas, my teacher, and if I could have the honor of the word… my friend." She gazed upward at that dignified, gentlemanly expression, and as their hands shook and the butler of steel held hers, it was clear to her that he was holding back his well of strength to protect her.
"That is a word not used lightly, Neia Baraja… but it is one I believe, after a year of training and your selfless devotion to my lord, that I am pleased to use." He inclined his head to her politely and for a moment, Neia felt it.
A flash of envy for Tuare. 'Not exactly my type… but… still.' Neia kept back the bemused smile from her face as Sebas greeted CZ and waved his arm to an open door to the right.
"Come, join me, my wife will be out momentarily, she's almost done cooking." Sebas said as he led the way.
They found themselves at a comfortably sizable table suitable for eight to ten people, beautifully varnished to a shine, and decorated with a silver candelabra that held three tall spire shaped white candles that burned with faint blue flames.
Neia and CZ sat , as did Sebas, and Neia immediately spoke up. "I'm having trouble, Sebas… you know His Majesty's order, don't you?"
"Yes." He stroked his beard as he spoke, "A great honor for anyone, particularly a human."
Neia bowed her head humbly. "It is. And by the same token, to fail him, I couldn't bear the shame of such a thing. Especially with this. And yet all my work… I look at it and see it as a pile of musty straw."
"You're comparing yourself to our Lord. That would create disappointment for anyone." Sebas replied with his customary confidence just as Tuare emerged holding a large tray of silver with an abundance of stew and bread for everyone.
"Forgive the simple fare, my husband likes to pretend my efforts have merit. However I've done my best to not make him a liar today." She gave a self deprecating smile as the tray was placed between them.
"I'm a simple woman, Tuare, if I have food, and it isn't being eaten while on the run from demons, I'm happy." She flashed the most charming smile she could, but Tuare barely met her eyes.
The familiar sting was barely noticeable in CZ's company, as her friend pointed out, "She works hard. Eats hard. It will be good."
"No more business for now, first we eat this wonderful meal, then we drink, then… we work. My creator, he always said working during a meal spoils both, and she's worked too wonderfully to let that happen." Sebas said sagely as Tuare stood beside him and poured the wine. It was hard not hard to feel the warmth that grew between them at his gentle praise.
The sweet sloshing of the dark liquid made Neia as thirsty as the savory scent of fresh cooked meat in thick dark broth made her hungry. For the next hour, she was happy. Sebas proved around the dinner table that he was more than a merely polite and perfect butler, but an engaging and charming host. His wife, though she rarely met Neia's eye for more than a moment, revealed a sly, understated kind of humor that made her pair well with the dryness of CZ and contrast well with Neia's own brashness.
But the candles told the passage of time, and even Neia's copious appetite had its limits in how much bread, stew, and wine she could hold. And when it was done, Tuare rose to clear the table.
"Dear I'll…" Sebas began only for the hand of his wife to fall onto his shoulder. "You've got work to do."
Accepting the tender affection therein, he turned to his guests.
"You wanted help understanding divine wisdom, didn't you?" Sebas asked rhetorically, to be met by Neia's vigorous nod.
"Yes… I don't much care for asking for help, it's not something I've ever done much of. But this is different, this is important." As she finished speaking, Neia leaned over the table with wide eyed urgency and folded her hands together as if in prayer in front of her.
"You knew one of the supreme beings, Lord Ainz's best and finest friends, your creator. Surely you must have learned 'something' from him that… that I can understand."
The desperate urgency of her eyes was almost captivating. 'So this is what it is, to see devotion 'grown' rather than made. No wonder my Lord values it so. It pounds like a war drum, I wonder how far she'll push herself in the end.' It was a point of mild curiosity, and significant pride in his Lord, to find what sat opposite him. And it was that which drove him to speak of his maker.
Sebas cracked a wry, rare smile, at ease within his home and with the present company and folded his own hands together, interlacing his fingers as Neia did, and prayed to his maker for wisdom before answering her. "The fathomless wisdom of the one who stayed, who embodied all of the forty-one, I can't begin to touch. But I listened often to Lord Touch Me when he and Ulbert talked, or more often, argued. I can tell you something about that. If it will help, I could arrange for the others to speak with you, if you wish."
"Please do. I'll do anything to succeed." Neia replied with the calm resolve of a gladiator entering an arena determined to either walk out, or be dragged out.
"Very well. Lord Touch Me, actually is the one who brought Lord Ainz together with his comrades, he had a saying, 'Helping the weak is common sense.' He valued justice, friendship, and wisdom. He created me to embody these qualities, though I can only be a shadow to his mountain. Still, I do my best. Lord Touch Me emphasized fairness. Once, he saw a man engaged in a fight against five, and so he intervened, turning it into five against two. But when it was down to one opponent alone, Lord Touch me stepped aside. 'Now it is fair.' Was all he would say, and he let the fight go on."
"Did… did the one he helped, win the fight?" Neia asked curiously as she furiously scribbled notes.
"I don't know." Sebas shook his head slowly, "Lord Touch Me wouldn't say, he was arguing with Lord Ulbert at the time and when that question was asked, my creator only said that 'that was missing the point of the story'."
Neia pouted. "I suppose it would be, but still."
"My sentiments exactly." Sebas kept his little grandfatherly smile, "I wonder how it turned out as well. But as I look back on it now, I think there was a deeper point, that sometimes we just have to live without knowing just what we want, or maybe getting what we want, as long as we get what we need."
Neia's face was flushed red with excitement, her eyes alight with unfettered confidence and happiness, she slapped down her quill. "I've got it! I finally understand! Each of the forty one beings embody some aspect of divinity under the one god! So to properly serve his intended will, I must learn from the fragments of their wisdom left behind in you, their creations! Maybe…" She lowered her eyes.
"Lord Sebas, may I propose something, begging your forgiveness for it if it wounds you?" Neia asked gently.
Sebas lost his smile and his eyes became focused on the small human in front of him. "Go on." He said tentatively, shifting slightly in his seat, savoring the sweet distraction of the sound of his wife cleaning the dishes behind him.
"Maybe… maybe that's why they're gone. They came to create you, to embody their wisdom in a way that we… mere mortals, mere unworthy beings who can never be as good, can understand. Maybe that is why they left. Because they did what they were supposed to do! They created you to show us the way in all their various aspects, so that we could live under their leader and thrive!" Neia's voice was excited, loud, and tears wet her eyes.
Nor was she alone. Sebas shut his eyes slowly as if he were going to sleep. 'Lord Touch me… could she have stumbled on the truth… is it possible? Is that why we were made, not 'just' to serve you, but to represent you, could even you have foreseen this?' He wondered, it was such a beautiful poetic answer. 'Yes… they could, he could have.' Resolve to do more than help, crystalized in his heart, and a supreme gratitude to the little squire welled up in his heart.
"Yes. That has a ring of truth to it… one that I had never imagined. Perhaps that is why they left. Not because we failed. But because they had succeeded." It was only a whisper, a tiny whisper past his lips, but it was the most beautiful thought he'd had in the years since coming to the New World.
He stood up, and bowed deeply to the watery eyed human. "I can never thank you enough for that, Neia Baraja."
"I did nothing that you should thank me for. You saved my life against Remedios, you helped me become stronger. You helped me build my feeble innovation into something… amazing." Neia stood, and bowed deeply in turn.
"There are worse things to have a disagreement about, than which of us must be more grateful to the other." Sebas remarked gently as they straightened up. "Now, I have already informed the others of your request, and the other guardians have agreed to speak with you in their own areas. Go to them in any order you like, but… let me keep what you've said, to myself. Just for a little while, I want to savor it before I share it. And I take it you want their unfiltered words, not ones guided by any influence of your own."
"Yes… of course, thank you, Lord Sebas. But who should I visit next?" Neia asked as she turned to go.
"CZ, take her to Demiurge." Sebas said confidently and without hesitation.
"As you say." She replied as she stood up.
"Anything I should know?" Neia asked thoughtfully.
"He doesn't like humans much. But you he tolerates, because you passed his test of loyalty." Sebas replied, and Neia bowed her head at the unspoken warning that, in her mind, was not needed. 'No human can possibly see him as I have seen him… not yet, but one day, I will make them see. I will make them all see. Even if I have to drag them to his greatness.' Neia thought, and headed for the door.
A few minutes later she was knocking on the door of Demiurge's office.
"Enter." Demiurge replied from within.
Neia entered, and before he could say anything, she bowed to him. "My tester. Thank you."
"Thank you?" Demiurge said, caught, for once, off guard.
"For what you did… recently." Neia replied, still bent forward.
"Oh that? All I did was tell you to kill yourself. Do you want to know the truth, Neia Baraja?" Demiurge said from behind his desk with his hands flat and open on the smooth dark surface.
"What is the truth?" Neia asked with sudden interest.
"I expected you to fail. In fact, the other guardians were all watching you, and there wasn't a single guardian who expected you to attempt to go through with it. The betting pool had some for a fake attempt, some for trying to defend yourself in fear, others for just running. But none of us could imagine you would drive yourself to hysterics 'trying' to take your own life that way."
That stung. Neia held back the wince. "So… they simply did believe in me."
"No. But you did something humans don't often do. You surprised all of us, including me. That put my attention on you, human. That has only redoubled since your recent assignment." Demiurge folded his hands together and rested his face at the fingers.
"Thank you." Neia said sincerely and slowly straightened up.
"That may not work out in your favor, you know." Demiurge remarked in passing, his crystalline eyes focused intently on her expression.
"If it works out in the favor of my Lord, that is sufficient." Neia remarked offhandedly.
'So that hasn't changed.' Demiurge mentally noted. "But down to business, you wanted to know about Lord Ulbert."
Neia's voice was full of passion, but she kept her tone as even as she could as she took out papers and approached the desk where Demiurge still sat. "If, yes, if I can apprehend a fragment of what you learned from your maker, perhaps I can make it into something all those like me can come to understand. Then his holy words might shape the world into something worthy of belonging to the divine."
"Ambitious. But what makes you think you're up to it." Demiurge demanded with a sudden ferocity to his voice.
"I'm not." Neia said and stood squarely in front of his desk. She slammed the blank paper down in front of him and leaned toward the guardian that had tested her. "I'm… not… good enough. I never will be, I could live for ten thousand years, read through the entire library a hundred times, and never… ever be good enough. You don't have to tell me that, Lord Demiurge. I'll never measure up in power or strength or speed or wisdom to even the weakest of Lord Ainz's divinely created guardians. But evidently that is 'why' it has to be me. Your scorn for my race is well placed. I've seen what we do, what we are. We're weak, we betray, my late Queen died because of our weakness. Weakness 'we' were responsible for. No sooner than she was dead and while still struggling against the invasion, then there were already people wondering who would get to rule the ashes. I know how you feel about us, and any human who hasn't felt the same way, died before they met another person." She clenched her small hands into fists as Demiurge listened with pleasure to her self condemning words.
"But we are capable of more. We are capable of loyalty, even you admit that. We are capable of learning, and growing, it may be that we are never able to approach the divine. But we will try, and fail, and try again, and again, and again. We'll die, be born, and try again. Maybe we'll never be good enough, you don't have to tell me I won't be… but that is 'why' my god has chosen this worthless orphan. Because I can at least talk to my own." She went down then, slowly, to her knees.
Neia kept her head bowed before the sadistic guardian, even being near him, she felt the malice like a fire one did not wish to get too close to. "I beg you, Lord Demiurge… help me, not for me, not for humanity, not for you. But at least… help me for the sake of your creator, so that a fragment of his knowledge spreads among us all. So that we can take one tiny step closer to the summit."
"Very well. I did agree, for Lord Ainz's cause, but as you ask in my creator's name as well…" Demiurge pushed his glasses against his eyes and leaned back in his chair.
"Sit, write, and let me tell you of my maker." Demiurge sat back and formed a pyramid with his hands. "You've already spoken with Sebas and the views of Lord Touch me. If he was an agent of good, then my creator was his opposite. They were the best of friends, the greatest of enemies, and above all, true comrades. They would argue, even feud, but never did I see any sign that they hated one another. I always found that astonishing, until I understood something." Demiurge let a smile slip across his neutral face and leaned forward over the desk, so far that he was inches from where Neia was scribbling. He went quiet until she looked up, and stared to see he had removed his glasses, letting her see the fractured reflections in vast numbers around his crystal eyes.
"What was that, Lord Demiurge?" She asked, biting her tongue as the hairs stood up on her skin.
"That it was necessity. There are no lines but needs. Lord Ulbert and Lord Touch Me coexisted so well because Lord Ulbert was driven by what he saw as 'necessity'. If something had to be done, there were no lines." Neia wrote, but didn't answer otherwise, and feeling her doubt, Demiurge sat back again.
"What happened was, one of the forty one had been tricked by a group of lesser gods, there were many mighty beings in second world, and when in a group, some of them felt that they could challenge the unstoppable forty-one." Demiurge stopped when Neia began to laugh.
"Someone… thought they could challenge Lord Ainz and his friends… were these lesser gods the gods of stupidity or bad luck?!" She slapped the desk and it took several minutes for her to calm down, during which Demiurge could only smirk.
"Maybe, but they tried, and by chance, one of the forty-one was led away, and they threatened to kill her until she chose to cease to exist, if their demands were not met." Demiurge watched the confounded look, the furrowed brow. And when her quill snapped in her hand, she looked down at it embarrassed.
'Somehow, I cannot think of a better response.' Demiurge thought, and drawing out a quill from his desk, he laid it in front of her.
"My sentiments precisely, evidently they could at least inflict pain on the forty-one. The response to this from the others was outrage, Lord Touch Me chose the path one would expect of one like himself. And he led the raid… this was before Lord Ainz took command. But Lord Ulbert did not, instead, he did something no other would do. He…" Demiurge scratched his head, "This is difficult to explain, he left the second world, and did something in first world, that disrupted the ability of the hostile lessers to come to second world. He said something about 'hacking' but… he didn't use an ax as his weapon, so I have no idea if he meant something else. Regardless, the result was that they were outnumbered, and the forty-one smashed them utterly. Lord Touch Me wished to spare them with a warning. But Lord Ainz instead, killed the lesser beings over and over again, weakening their already inferior forms until they grew so weak they didn't wish to exist in the second world anymore, and left, never to return."
"Amazing." Neia said proudly, a savage smile mirroring that of the guardian in front of her.
"Very. Lord Ainz was the bridge those two could cross to join hands, if it was beneficial to Nazarick, if it was necessary, , there were no lines. That is what I learned from him, I simply count myself lucky that my Lord chose to ensure I enjoyed the nature I was endowed with." Demiurge savored the recent memory of screams, and went silent.
Neia bowed deeply as she stood. "That… that I can understand. Thank you, Lord Demiurge. I'll make sure I always keep my affairs in order, so that if necessity ever demands my life, I am prepared for Lord Ulbert's will to fall on me."
"A sensible plan." Demiurge said and waved her toward the door. "Now, I have work to complete, our talk is done." He said, already starting to ignore her as he bent over his notes. 'Let's see, maybe six months before she dies...again. Lucky of her, to get to twice sacrifice herself for our master.' he thought as the door shut behind her.
Neia let herself fall against the wall beside the door and put her left hand to her head. "That… was intense."
"Yes." CZ agreed with a tiny nod that even Neia could barely detect.
"I don't want to be on his bad side." Neia said breathlessly, and turned a glance toward the dark wooden door.
"Beyond Nazarick for him, there is no other side." CZ said succinctly.
"I see. Well, where next?" Neia asked dryly.
"Lady Albedo." CZ replied in her common monotone while they walked the long hall.
"Anything I should know?" Neia asked hesitantly, "Like say, does she hate humans or…?"
"Typically. However, particularly you." CZ answered, and did not look at Neia as the squire stared at her companion in open mouthed surprise.
"Me? What did I do?" Neia asked, aghast, and louder than she intended when they reached her quarters.
"I'll answer that for myself. Wait outside, CZ." Albedo said from within her room.
CZ gave Neia a long look, and waited beside the door as Neia reached for the handle, turned it, and entered.
The door that closed behind her, felt like a prison, and a few feet away at a table worth more than some kingdoms, sat a demoness of impossible beauty.
Neia bowed deeply, "Lady Albedo." She said, keeping a tremble from her voice and body as best she could, and not with total success on either front.
"Sit." The beauty said and pointed to a chair. There was no warmth in the voice, and glancing into the catlike yellow eyes, Neia felt her dislike, focused and narrowed on her specifically.
'If Demiurge is generalized, she is focused. Forget not wanting to be on her bad side, I'm already there. Well, there's no help for it, she does what she does and thinks what she thinks, all I can do is serve His Majesty and hope for the best.' The quiet resolve as she contemplated the idea of him telling her she'd done well, brought a smile to her face that caused a frown on Albedo's own.
"Why are you smiling?" Albedo asked, or rather, demanded to know, her hand's tense around a teacup worth more than two king's ransoms.
Neia couldn't contain the happiness at the thought, and it glowed out of her like a flame atop a candle in the dark. "It's nothing Lady Albedo. I was just terrified of you for a moment, and then I remembered something. That… maybe if I do this task well, Lord Ainz will praise me. It's a beautiful thought, and just having it, made me happy."
Albedo shook with rage for a half a minute of silence. 'You'll never have him. How dare you even approach him, you unworthy insect! How dare you take up his precious time, and take his company from me! How dare you?!' Albedo kept the outrage in her head as she forced, and kept a smile on her face to replace her visible rage.
Albedo's voice was warm as tundra ice in winter. Her golden eyes never blinked, and seemed to grow to swallow the small human woman who sat across from her. "So… you want to know what my creator would offer in terms of wisdom. Fine. But before I begin, understand this. Lord Ainz decided 'I' should be the one to love him. He made that part of who I am, as much as my wings or my heart or my eyes or my breasts. I and I alone, was worthy of a touch that changed me into the one who will one day be his wife. If you ever think to challenge that, you'll live long enough to know you failed, and then wish to die for a thousand years before I let you."
Neia shuddered, and inside, her heart quailed, all she could say in return was, "Lady Albedo… I am only his servant. I doubt I can ever be more than that, but just to be that, to have a good king to serve, is dream enough for a mere squire. Just to have this task, is more of an honor than I'd ever imagined. Please, just help me not to fail him."
Albedo folded her arms in front of herself, and drew her wings in around her like a blanket. "Details." She said succinctly. "That was what my creator knew best. He was obsessed with the tiny things that shaped larger things. I remember once, the supreme beings were teasing him about what difference it made to Nazarick if there was just 'one' more tiny piece of detail added to some scrap of clothing or to the personality of a servant. He laughed along with them, but took from out of his hidden space, a scale."
"A scale?" Neia pursed her lips as she wrote, her inflection curious, but in a way, she was equally fascinated by this beauty in front of her, powerful, lovely to behold… but also savage. What she appeared to be and what Neia recognized her true nature to be, were impossibly at odds. 'What must he be like, the one who created her?' Neia wondered with ever greater fascination.
"Yes. He set it down, and began counting out grains of sand which he put into one of the bowls. He then did the same with the opposite bowl. When he finished, he then held up a single grain of sand on one finger and said to the others, 'This grain of sand is nothing, I can flick it away into some corner of the tomb and it will never be noticed, never be missed, never impact us in any way. It will be present, but not matter. However, watch what happens when I put it here." Albedo gave a proud expression, and whether she meant to or not, she reached out with one hand as if she were her creator, as if there was a scale for her to work from. And then she turned her finger to one side, as if she were dropping a grain of sand into place.
"The grain hit the pile, and the scale began to tilt, slightly, yes, but it did move. He added more, and more, and more, one grain at a time, and each time the scale moved more." She folded her hands together on the table in front of herself.
"Do you see, little human? He understood better than almost anyone, that it is the details that make the difference. A single thing that appears as nothing, gathered together with many others like it and placed into the right conditions? That can change everything. Perhaps that is why he made me as he did. Because the difference between appearance and reality can be so very vast, and yet can exist in the same space. Questions?" Albedo inquired as she kept her seething from the surface while looking down at the scribbling bitch of a tool.
"Yes… no, I understand… it's so clear now. Even we who are nothing, mortals, humans… weak as we are… can matter and make changes… work wonders, gathered together. Such as if we were gathered under the wisdom of one guiding god. We're the details in the divine work of our Lord's tapestry!" Neia clapped her hand to her face with a loud smack. "I was right to come here. Lady Albedo, you truly are a genius, and the creation of the divine." She jumped to her feet and bowed as deeply as she had to Lord Demiurge.
'Wait… 'that' is what she got from it… what just happened?' Albedo's genius worked overtime to catch up with the wild assumptions out of the diminutive human, so much so that it didn't occur to her to stop the girl as Neia backed out without turning around.
When she was alone, Albedo dismissed the entire matter except for one small thing. 'One detail, that's all he changed… just one small sentence and I became his forever…' She couldn't really feel good for the rest of the day.
Neia practically fell into CZ's arms when the door closed heavily behind her. Her arm draped over her companion's shoulder, and she felt limp as a wet noodle. Her head drooped and she exhaled, hard. "Thanks, CZ… she's scarier than Demiurge. Or maybe it's just because she doesn't like me."
"Was it worth it?" CZ asked as she pulled Neia a few feet away.
"By Lord Ainz, and the whole of the forty-one… yes." Neia grinned enormously. Like she'd won a marathon but paid a steep physical price. Sweat ran like raindrops down her face as her body shook and shed the fear of her last two encounters. "But… I need a bath. I can't go to see the next guardian smelling like sweat and filth!"
CZ pondered it as Neia straightened up. "The baths are being cleaned. The lake. Swim."
"That would be a wonderful pleasure." Neia said eagerly, and she began to follow beside CZ, "When I was a little girl, there was a lake, more of a pond really, that I liked to go to. At the time I thought it had all the water in the world. Today I know that isn't the case. But I found something interesting out about it. After things went wrong with my mother, I used to go there more often. Just to get away, you know. The waters were very peaceful, I stopped swimming as much, just because I enjoyed the tranquility of the still waters. It turned out, it was too far away for me to hear anyone. I kind of lost myself in those, I didn't really think at the time about why I never saw anyone else out there. But now? I probably went twice as far away from the village as everybody else. Story of my life." She snorted with a little mockery of herself and they walked in silence until CZ took out a sticker shaped like a small rainbow, stuck it to Neia's left cheek and simply said a decisive "Cute."
Neia felt good all the way to the lake.
When they reached it, all she could do was restrain her urge to fling open her arms and run to the water. 'Silly, but I'm still young, I'm 'allowed' to be a little silly sometimes, especially in times like these.' Neia both reprimanded herself and reprimanded herself for her desires until she reached the waters edge.
She peeled off her armor and clothing and stepped toward the familiar lake. "I love this place." She whispered as she felt the warmth of the water rising over her body and washing away the sweat.
"Do you?" CZ asked as she crouched on the shore.
"I do. I love the water, the plants, the breeze, the night sky overhead. It's all amazing, Lord Ainz must have had some wonderful and amazing companions." Neia said as she let herself slip backwards and float with her face up and ripples moved outward from her.
"The power to create all this, his servants, even the scary ones. It's like no other power in all the world. Just to be here feels blasphemous." Neia floated along.
She closed her eyes and splashed water into her eyes and felt the fear fall away with the grime. "I wonder if there is any place in the world I can find like this one." She sighed heavily.
"Bet not." Aura replied from where she stood at the shore. Neia's eyes flew open with surprise and she twisted herself around in the water to find Aura Bella Fiora standing there behind her brother, covering his eyes… while already had his eyes covered by his own hands, and blushing faintly.
Neia scrambled to the shore as the young elven male stood there as animated as a statue. She covered her sex and breasts and reached for her clothing, only to find both them and CZ gone.
"Ah… CZ? My clothes?" Neia stared at Aura uncomprehendingly and looking around frantically.
"I sent her away to have your clothes cleaned, she'll be back shortly." Aura replied with the playful voice she always used. "You should see your face!"
Neia blushed deeply, "Ah, it's just, Lord Mare is here and…"
Aura laughed and looked the blushing Neia up and down several times. 'I guess she's not bad as far as humans go, but I'll grow up far more beautiful than that eventually.' Having considered herself the victor in the battle of women, she reached into her pocket dimension and removed a robe. It was a bright black shade that seemed to somehow 'catch' the starlight so that the stars moved around over the fabric.
Neia reached for it gingerly, only for it to be pulled back. She froze. 'Did I do something wrong?' Neia wondered anxiously.
Aura spoke firmly, "I'm letting you use this because I don't want my innocent brother getting any wrong ideas! But this belonged to Lady Bukubukuchagama! You will treat it with the utmost respect!"
Neia bowed her head and extended both hands. "The relic of a supreme being… I will remember my unworthiness."
Seemingly satisfied with Neia's answer, Aura handed it to her slowly, hesitating just a moment before laying it reverentially in the squire's hands.
"Sister, that's rude." Mare reproached his sister while Neia put on and secured the robe shut.
Aura tugged on his ear, "Hush, little brother! I'm already being nice enough to let her wear anything at all! I'm being a good big sister and keeping you from growing up to be a pervert!"
Neia blushed a little at the way the little guardian spoke, "Ah, it's fine, Lord Mare. The Lady Aura is right, she's already letting me touch something that is… just wonderful." She grabbed the front near the top and held it up to her nose and took a deep breath.
"Oh. Pervert girl?" Mare asked when he saw Neia smell Lady Bukubukuchagama's robe..
"Yes, little brother, pervert girl." Aura gave a slow, sage nod at her little brother, causingNeia to blush all over again.
"I'm not a pervert…" She looked down, embarrassed.
"Uh huh, because non perverts normally sniff strangers' clothing." Aura put her hands on her hips and gave Neia a stink eyed skeptical look.
"Ahhh… sorry, it's just… it feels good, it smells good, most of my clothing smells like…" She scratched her head, "Ah, never mind." Neia trailed off as she looked down at the little elf guardians. 'Great, if I keep going like this, I'll be acting like the pervert she thinks I am.'
"Whatever." Aura replied with a dismissive wave, "Come over to our house, we can talk there, and don't forget your papers."
Neia scurried over and snatched up the pack she'd left behind, and followed behind the two dark elf children to the large tree home. The great wide trunk was easily as big around as any six or more normal homes that Neia recalled from her village. The trunk stretched up toward the night sky, and from it sprang great branches side to side, two in particular, made her think of a grandmother's embrace. It gave the young squire pause.
A pause that Aura and Mare noticed after only a few steps and looked over their shoulders. "What?" Aura brashly asked. "Impressed?"
Neia nodded, the flowing branches and great high top, from one to the other and the twins lived within. A small, fragile look briefly overcame a Neia who was touched enough to cover her lips to still all noise.
"Neia?" Mare asked gingerly, briefly bobbing his head slightly toward her.
The tree swayed slightly at the top and at the branches farthest ends, and for a full minute she practically ignored the guardians. When she spoke, all she said was, "Lady Bukubukuchagama… she put a lot of love into this place, she must have cared very deeply for whoever was going to live here. The branches, they are open like arms, they sway as if coming in for an embrace, and rock whoever is within them to sleep at night, like a mother with a sleepy infant."
They stared right back at her enigmatically, like they'd watched a rock sprout legs and start walking. Neia however, saw none of that, she cast off the thought and gave a weak smile, "Sorry, sentiment. Forgive my rudeness." She bowed politely, and followed after them into the tree through a large door that seemed to have been grown from the tree itself.
Neia walked through the wide round entryway and looked around at the marvels that had been grown out of the wood itself, the tables, the bookshelves, nearly everything. 'Yet somehow I'm not worried about getting splinters.' She suppressed a snicker, but her blue eyes danced with amusement at her own joke as the twins sat, motioned for Neia to do likewise, and pulled a green vine dangling nearby.
A moment later a servant appeared, a dark elf woman of slender frame and bright purple eyes. "Lady Aura, Lord Mare, how may I serve you and.. Your… guest...?" She asked demurely until she saw the human with them, and 'that' she was human. She stepped away from Neia by a foot before she caught herself.
Aura seemed not to have noticed. "Tea, and some lemon bars."
"My Lady." The elf woman bowed, and departed over rushing feet.
"Is she… always that quick?" Neia looked in the direction of her departure.
"Yes, wh-when humans are around." Mare answered.
"She doesn't like humans. At all." Aura remarked, "Still, she's never tried to get away from one as fast as she has from you, weird."
"Story of my life." Neia waved it away. "But is she not one of the created beings of this place?"
"N-No. Sh-She was one of three slaves to be brought into Nazarick by a thief." Mare answered with an uncomfortable, nervous face and darting eyes while he fiddled with his staff.
Neia kept her eyes in the direction of the departed elf. "I see. I've heard elves are used as slaves elsewhere, like the Empire and the Slane Theocracy. Supposedly there's even a big city in the Southern Holy Kingdom that has some. Wen… something or other. But I've never seen what that looks like. I guess it doesn't sound like a great life, but it probably isn't too bad for most of them, right? I mean guaranteed food, shelter, clothing? Lots of peasants I've known would have been relieved to have that much."
Aura shrugged indifferently, "I wouldn't know but it was bad enough that the three elves that were permitted to live, preferred to live as our servants rather than ever go back out there."
"A-And m-monsters live here." Mare pointed out.
Neia pursed her lips. "I see. Well, when I go South, I'll pay close attention to how elves are treated."
A moment later, the elven woman returned with a plate of small long oval yellow bars, and a tray of wood with cups and a teapot shaped as if from a set of leaves.
The woman poured for the twins, then for Neia, though it was not lost on Neia that the woman trembled visibly when close to her. Neia tried to smile, but the shapely woman only turned her face away, and practically ran from the room.
"Like I said. Life." Neia shrugged it off and for a few minutes they enjoyed a quiet cup of tea with milk and some sweet flavored lemony toasted bread bars.
When there was nothing but crumbs remaining, Neia let out a tiny forlorn whimper. "Awww…" Then blushed and looked down. "Sorry, that was rude, but it was soooo good."
"Yes it was, but you didn't come here for lemon bars and tea, that was just a bonus, right?" Aura asked, propping her head up in her hand with her elbow on the table.
Neia looked across the table and bowed her head, "You're right. You know what I'm doing. And I can't possibly succeed unless, well, unless I can learn from you who learned from them. I know how most of the tomb feels about my kind. So all I ask is that you help me for the sake of Lord Ainz's mission to me."
"Fine, Lady Bukubukuchagama was a voice actress, her job was to give souls to things, she loved creative work and her little brother, Lord Peroroncino." Aura spoke proudly of her maker, keeping her head tilted so that her nose was in the air and her chin up, she boasted about how her maker 'almost' kissed Lord Ainz, and Neia couldn't help but stare.
"L-Lord Ainz…" She squeaked out.
"Y-Yes, Lord Ainz and she w-were close." Mare said with a faint blush.
"She loved nature and the wide open world, and believed that little brothers should always listen to their big sisters. She also loved pranks, I remember this one time, she found out it was going to be Lord Ainz's birthday, so she borrowed what she called 'ecchi' wrapping paper, and covered the entire throne room before Lord Ainz arrived!"
"It was w-weird, there were naked people everywhere. But b-bits of them were all blurry." Mare wrung the staff in his hands.
"Yes, but, everybody laughed. So it was funny. She always said that a day not laughed on, was a day wasted." Neia spent the next little while listening to stories of the pranks of Lady Bukubukuchagama.
Finally, after Neia and Aura had both laughed themselves to tears three times over, the young guardian's stories were interrupted by the return of CZ, holding the now dried and cleaned clothing.
"Well, that's it then, you can go ahead and change, then be on your way to see Lady Shalltear. But… if they're not done with the bath, after she's done with you, well you can use our lake to clean up again." Aura giggled, while Mare seemed a bit more confused. Neia, could only blush.
"Well, if… if you insist, Lady Aura." Neia said and began to untie her robe.
Aura's hand darted out in front of Mare's eyes, "What are you doing, pervert girl!"
Neia wore a look of brief confusion, "If a guardian orders a lesser servant, should she not obey?"
Aura's mouth opened and closed several times, until she saw the crack of a smile on Neia's face, and then slowly, she began to laugh, until it was full and rich and filled the tree house.
Neia bowed excessively low. "Forgive me, Lady Aura. After so many prank stories, I couldn't resist."
"Just… go in there to change." Aura said and reluctantly withdrew her hand from in front of her brother's eyes, she folded her arms together and crossed her legs one over the other and grumbled, 'Barely anything there anyway, mine'll get bigger eventually. Pervert archer.'
After changing and heading for the exit, Mare stood and headed to the door. "I-I'll see them out."
"Fine, whatever." Aura said as she got to her feet and headed for her room.
When the three of them were well away after a brief silent stroll, Mare reached up to Neia and took her arm, she stopped and looked down into his sensitive, soulful eyes.
"I love my sister." He said quietly.
Neia noticed immediately that in that moment, the stutter was gone, and so was the nervousness that seemed ever present. In its place was not an adult. But rather a young boy who knew he had something important to say. She bent forward and rested her hands on her knees and replied sincerely. "I can tell, and she feels the same, that's obvious."
Mare nodded. "Very much. Which is why I didn't say this there. Aura loves the good memories of our creator so much, she forgets other ones, or pretends she does."
Neia pursed her lips in silence.
Mare's grip became painfully tight, but Neia kept from pulling back. "I don't want this in your book, but… I read a lot, I know that writing can influence writing, so do that with what I say next. Lady Bukubukuchagama, it's true she loved laughter and everything else. But one time, we were alone with her, and she was dressing us up, she liked to do that, and she said, out of nowhere, 'when sadness rules, death is revolution.' I think my maker had more to her than what she showed even to us. And maybe, maybe if Lord Ainz had known, or been told, or she'd asked, maybe things would be different. Find some way to work that in, that's part of her, too."
"Thank you, Mare, I will. And… this secret is safe with me, and CZ, right, CZ?" Neia asked rhetorically.
"Knowledge deleted." CZ responded affirmatively.
"Good, and Neia, if you tell her…" Mare only stared through empty eyes into Neia's blue.
"I won't, I swear it on His Majesty." Neia answered solidly, and then the nervous boy was back.
"B-Bye!" He said ecstatically as he rushed back to his home.
"Well… now off to Shalltear." Neia said as she stretched out with her arms high over her head and hands together with palms skyward. "Anything I should know?"
"True pervert." CZ said abruptly and without hesitation.
"Oh my." Neia said as she was guided to the guardian.
As soon as she knocked, Neia's sensitive nose knew something was amiss. The victory, or at least survivor, of numerous battles, the smell of blood was now a primal part of her mind, and there was blood beyond that door.
Still, despite the fact that her heart skipped a beat, she held firm and waited until she was called to enter, and then she cracked it open.
Inside there were two pale women, naked but for the collars that had been placed on them, puncture wounds were interspersed at various parts of their bodies that could only be vampire fangs. The pair, which might well have been twins, were very much alive, and were quite animated in their play with one another, until the cause of all their activity raised a hand and said, "Stop. I have work to do."
'I don't know what I was expecting, but the voice of a child wasn't it.' Neia thought to herself as a beautiful, elegant girl with a dainty face in a black and red dress approached with tiny steps that clicked over a floor of stone.
"So, you're her." Shalltear said with a kind of curious interest. "Come closer, I'm not going to bite you." She looked Neia up and down as the slightly taller squire approached. "Don't worry, you belong to Lord Ainz, there's no need to be afraid of this cute little monster." Shalltear gave a demure smile.
But every hair on Neia's body stood on end, the beautiful monster reeked of blood, and Neia bowed politely. "Yes, I do." She answered Shalltear sincerely.
"I was watching, you know. The day of your test." Shalltear said as she came close enough that she didn't even have to extend her arm out to touch the woman in front of her.
"Were you?" Neia asked as she met the blood red eyes.
"Yes, if you'd failed, I would have asked you to be given me as a plaything. I liked those eyes, you see. I wondered what such ferocity of gaze, what natural wrath made those, would look like filled with a mingling of lust and fear. But you passed, against all expectations. Would you indulge this sweet little monster and let me guess why you succeeded where others haven't?" Shalltear made it a request, but it wasn't a request.
Neia however, knew how this game was played, "Please, go on, Lady Shalltear." Neia replied politely and stood erect with her feet shoulder width apart and her arms folded behind her back.
Shalltear approached a small table for two and sat down. "Sit." She ordered, and Neia approached to take her place across from the guardian.
When Neia had sat and brought out her papers and ink, Shalltear held out her arm towards her 'toys' and with a single finger curling towards herself, summoned them. They scurried to obey and sat at her feet.
From her hidden space she drew a pair of bowls filled with blood and laid them on the floor. The pair waited until she gave a nod and said, "Drink." Only then did they lower their lips to consume, and Shalltear turned to one side and propped her feet up on the back of the one nearest to her. The drinking 'toy' paused only to turn a joyful face up to her mistress, before resuming her meal.
Neia watched with morbid fascination as a scene that was obviously so rote that it must have happened a thousand times. She barely noticed that Shalltear had been watching her face the whole time.
"The answer, is right here." Shalltear pointed down at the lapping slaves.
"I'm sorry?" Neia asked, taken aback.
"Love. They love me, they belong to me, they will do anything for me. There are no lengths to which they will not go to see me pleased, no matter how it hurts them. That is why you passed. I should have foreseen it." Shalltear looked a little embarrassed for herself for a moment. "The others, I don't think they do, at least not the same way. That's why I agreed to meet with you, because you're doing this to make my Lord happy. Not because it will gain you anything. Though if it earns you a head pat, I suppose I can't blame you for wanting one." She let out a small titter as Neia blushed.
"I-" Neia started to say, only for Shalltear to reach over and take her hand.
"I'll be watching what you do, so do your best. There is no worse feeling in all the world, than failing Lord Ainz. Even though he is forgiving, failing so worthy a Lord, it isn't something you ever forget. So be careful out there." Shalltear said it in a whimsical voice, from breath that smelled of blood in a room that smelled of blood and sex. But beneath all that, the warning felt truthfully intended.
"I, well thank you. Lady Shalltear, I'll do my best. That's all anyone can do." Neia replied with a mildly uncomfortable shifting in her seat.
"Alright then, down to business. Lord Peroroncino, well you've almost certainly heard me described of as a pervert?" She asked Neia, only for Neia to keep her face politely neutral and say nothing.
"I'll take that as a yes, and I'll wear the label proudly. Lord Peroroncino believed in pleasure, he was what you might recall reading about as a hedonist. He was Lady Bukubukuchagama's little brother. So it's unsurprising that he'd be a bit indulgent, as is his right as a god. But more importantly, he believed in their pursuit. Of course as you look around here…" She smiled enough to display her fangs and waved her arm out to encompass her room… the various 'toys' used on her servants, the chains, the whips, the bed in disarray…
'CZ was right, I want another bath.' Neia mused, but let the guardian go on.
"You see one aspect of that. But he was also wise. I recall the story of the shill." Shalltear paused at the sudden cock of Neia's head to one side.
"Shill?" Neia asked and pursed her lips.
"A kind of mouthpiece for a cause that pretends not to be. One of these in first world made their way to Second World and publicly supported the destruction of a certain place in First World. Lord Peroroncino ended up making a passionate argument that so humiliated his opponent that the shill fled the scene. He apparently loved to debate as much as he loved…" She looked around her room again and gave a sly smile.
"Oh my… you've never done any of this… have you?" "Shalltear looked Neia up and down again with greater interest.
"Ah, well, no." Neia stammered for a moment, caught off guard.
"Why not, shy?" Shalltear asked and leaned in a little more closely.
Neia's nervousness vanished and she stared down at the Vampire guardian. "Do you have to mock me that way, Lady Shalltear?"
Shalltear blinked in surprise at the unexpected question. "Who's mocking?"
Silence stretched between them. "You were being serious?" Neia asked gingerly.
"Of course, is it something else?" Shalltear asked with a now genuine curiosity.
"Look into my eyes, Lady Shalltear." Neia said humbly.
"That's usually the vampire's line." Shalltear teased, but when Neia didn't laugh, she shrugged. "I've already seen them, my question still stands."
Neia spat it out as brutally as she knew how, "Because I'm not attractive to most humans. Nobody wants a woman who looks at them like this, and I can't look any other way." She snorted derisively, "You want the truth," Neia said with bitterness, "I've caught reflections sometimes, seen men look at me from behind, seen their faces, but as soon as I turn around and they see this face, they turn away. That's why. And I don't like being reminded of it… so please… please don't ask anything more."
Shalltear took that bitter rant in stride and simply said, "You should try it with a girl then. You might be surprised."
Neia's blush returned, "Thank you for the advice, Lady Shalltear, but I doubt that very much. Better for me to just serve the only King worth having and forget all that. Now, may we please?" She tapped her quill on the paper in front of her on the table and Shalltear rolled her eyes.
"Well, my creator is my favorite subject, alright, these are some of the things Lord Peroroncino has said and done within these walls…"
When they were done and Neia walked out of Shalltear's room, she found CZ leaning against the wall with her arms folded in front of her chest. "You were right. I feel dirty. But… she's a cute little monster, that's true. And at least I don't get the feeling that she hates me or wants to kill me. Other things… that's why I want a bath. But, I kind of like her."
CZ put a sticker on Neia's cheek in place of the one that had washed off before. "I still came first." She said, and Neia impulsively hugged her.
"And I couldn't have asked for a better start." Neia said passionately, "Now where do we go?"
"Lord Cocytus." CZ stated, and began to walk.
They found the guardian in the arena dueling against a monster that towered over him, at least thirty feet tall and made of fire itself, or so it seemed, the clawed creature slashed and hacked at the icy insectoid guardian, steam hissed, and Cocytus, wielding four blades, fought like a master.
Neia watched in silent awe as a being that could have destroyed the combined might of humanity by itself, failed to so much as scratch the guardian, and forced to howl in pain as it was cut down to nothing. At last the final spark of life in the thing, flickered and died away, and it vanished.
When he saw them, Cocytus raised a sword up in greeting, and they approached.
Neia bowed. "You are as impressive as ever, Lord Cocytus."
Cocytus sheathed his blade and inclined his head slightly toward his former student. "You are still working hard. I have seen it."
Neia beamed at the praise, "Thank you." She said shortly. "You know why I am here. Is there somewhere we can talk?"
Cocytus responded by reaching into his pocket dimension, drawing out a bow, and tossing it to her, then reaching in, and drawing out a sword, and throwing that to her as well.
"First." He replied as she caught the two items.
Neia put on the items and caught the quiver he threw to her, and instinctively took position a few yards away.
"I really should have seen this coming." Neia chuckled as CZ took position between the two.
Cocytus put away three of his swords, but Neia felt not the slightest bit insulted. 'I am not worthy of two… perhaps by the end of my life, he will use two. But not yet. No, not yet.'
"Begin." CZ said and stepped out of the way.
Cocytus prepared himself in a battle stance to receive the charge. "Come. Lord Ainz's sword awaits."
Neia did not keep him waiting, she went straight for the bow and came running at him firing arrows that couldn't possibly have hurt him, but which he deflected nonetheless, only for Neia to drop the priceless bow like garbage and go for the sword as she came in.
His sword flashed out, and she ducked beneath to attempt to cut him across his body, only for his other limbs to deflect the blade at the flat and his tail to come around and strike her in the ribs, sending her flying.
"Good. Aggression is your virtue, Neia Baraja. Attack, attack strong. Never let them take control." Cocytus remarked as Neia sprang back up to her feet. [Agility Boost] She uttered a martial art and managed to avoid another blow of his tail, and jumped onto it, kicking off, she tried to land a blow with her knee to his head, only to find he caught her shin and he flung her away again.
Neia snarled when she hit the ground, she felt her blood going up, racing through her veins, telling her to fight. She landed near her bow, took it up, and flung her sword at Cocytus's chest while she charged forward, drawing arrows and loosing them again. Four arrows were in the air before he knocked her sword away. To his surprise, she dropped the bow, and while he nocked away the arrows, she caught the blade… badly. It severed a finger on her hand before she could snatch the hilt and thrust it against him at close range.
His lower right arm caught the tip, and in the eyes of the little squire, he saw the willingness to bear any pain to land a single blow. 'She learned this from Zaryusu… using her own blood to slick the blade to make it harder to stop.'
He lowered his sword to her hard blue eyes.
"Hold." he said, and she relaxed her body and started breathing hard.
"Well done. My student." Cocytus praised her genuinely, and she managed a grimace like grin as she looked around for the severed finger.
"Thank you, but may I ask for a healing potion, I don't think I can just stick that finger back on again." She managed a pained laugh as one was drawn out of his pocket dimension and casually dumped over her head.
"Now that we've had a little fun, can I ask you to help me?" Neia asked while she picked up the arrows, and bow to return them.
"You may not need it." Cocytus remarked as he drew a small table and a chair out between them for her to sit and write.
"Why not?" Neia asked curiously.
Cocytus was normally succinct, if not as much as CZ, still of few words. Yet his answer that followed surprised Neia by its length, if not by its sincerity. "The contempt held for your race by most of Nazarick's denizens, I do not always share. I have seen humans with a warrior spirit. I have seen you sacrifice for one another, resolve to die together, and die to keep given oaths. Your race is capable of what my creator honored and what he created me to be. True, many are not that way. But it is true often enough, that I can only conclude that your ways have not lent themselves to it. Under the right rule? With the right beliefs, your people may one day be better than they are."
Neia thought it over, 'It's oddly comforting to hear him say that. Still, it's hard to credit that as more than kindness. I can't understand how destructive some of my fellow humans are. Picturing all of humanity being… different? Dreams, but isn't that the point? To make a dream real under my Lord? Maybe he's right.'
Cocytus, surprisingly enough, chose to go on, even leaning closer to her as she wrote. "Still, if you want to know about my maker, he was of warrior temperament, and above all, he loved the contest, a rivalry. Where will struggled against will, he said that both could become stronger. A rival you revere enough to try harder against, is a worthy ally. They may make you stronger. Yes, some of them you must kill, but even enemies can be worthy of respect. You can acknowledge their strengths, their virtues, and know that in another life, you might have been as siblings. You may reflect the best and worst of one another, and even be almost like friends. These are things I spent a year teaching you already, Neia Baraja. You just didn't know it at the time, that this was the way of my maker. That is why I say there is little I can add."
"Then… why did you agree to see me?" Neia asked, flabbergasted.
"Simple." Cocytus said as he straightened up.
Neia looked up at him expectantly.
He sheathed his final sword and answered. "I wanted to see my student, and see how you've grown in the short time since you left."
Neia felt her heart quiver in her breast. 'Not a single person to teach me as a child, ever asked how I was doing after I left their instruction. Yet here in a den of monsters, are not one, but several beings who ask after my progress and wellbeing. What a strange thing, it's like having close comrades.' She thought, and as she thought, inspiration that might have come from Cocytus's own maker struck, and she scribbled down the thoughts that came to her as fast as her fingers could sweep over the page.
"It's… good to see you also, Lord Cocytus. I'm moved by your desire to see me, and I promise, when time allows, I'll pay you a friendly visit, and we'll do this again. One day, before I die, I will be worthy of your second sword." Neia said it with the utmost warmth in her words as she stood up.
"Good. I look forward to that day, Neia Baraja." Cocytus replied.
'If Lord Ainz asked me right now to shed my humanity to come here and remain a servant of this place… I'd do it without hesitation.' Neia realized as she bowed to her teacher and CZ approached.
'I wonder if he'd have me wear a maid outfit, or what I'd become?' Neia pondered that as she saw CZ draw near, and pictured herself briefly in a maid outfit, 'OK first thought is, ridiculous but… second thought, aside from my face, I wouldn't look half bad in that.' It prompted a laugh she couldn't quite contain as Cocytus drew out an item to summon another impossible monster for him to practice with and the two women withdrew.
CZ looked at her inquiringly, "Just a silly thought of mine, it's nothing." Neia chuckled again, "Where to now?"
"Pandora's Actor, but he will meet with you in the bar." CZ replied, and guided Neia to a place that, in truth she needed no guidance for.
"Just remember, I don't drink that much." Neia replied, "I'm not really familiar with him, so… familiarity with the bar aside, if he wants a drinking contest or something, I'm afraid I'm at a disadvantage."
CZ shook her head, "It's simply easier."
"Alright then. Is there anything I should know?" Neia said dismissively when they eventually reached the door of the bar and pushed it open.
"His creator is your master, the Sorcerer King." CZ said, and Neia's arm dropped suddenly and so quickly that the door came back and would have struck her face if CZ had not stuck her foot in front to stop it.
"What…? No… of course it makes sense, it would be strange if all the others made a servant, but not the greatest of them all…" Neia ran her hand through her hair anxiously. "What should I know, should I go to my knees like I would for his maker? Should I wear something more formal ah, he's like a Prince, right? So…" Neia suddenly became quite fidgety.
"None of that is necessary! Come in mein frau! Come in!" She heard the shout from within and pressed the door open to see the nearly faceless figure waving her over to a table.
Just as she remembered, the bar was opulent but tasteful, with tables abound and booths aplenty. It was nearly empty but for the mushroom headed man behind the bar and a few idle servants, and a patron in the form of a penguin that was idly taking sips from a straw stuck into a large glass.
Neia came in and sat down at the table where the nearly faceless man waited for her.
Pandora's Actor spoke with a grandiose voice and made wild, dramatic gestures that sent his arms out as if to embrace the world with every word. "No need to be formal with me mein gut frau, I am but an area guardian, protecting the treasury alone. But I am mein vater's son and so contain some fragment of his wisdom as he chose to put into me."
Neia liked him immediately. Everything about him screamed 'loud, open, expressive, honest, and above all 'performative'. As someone accustomed to being before the crowds, she recognized a kindred spirit immediately.
She chose to imitate him, she thrust out her arm in a grand gesture, "I am pleased to meet you, son of the greatest of all kings and god of gods. This humble servant of your father is deeply honored by your willingness to indulge her selfish wish for aid."
He didn't respond right away, 'Oh, did I go too far?' She wondered anxiously.
He liked her immediately. "Oh servant of the most high, you are wiser than you know!" He clasped her extended hand in both of his own, "For you know the limits of your wisdom, knowing you know nothing, is the beginning of all knowledge! I am humbled by your humility and long to help the servant who defied the expectations of mein comrades and myself!"
She covered his left hand with her right and responded just as gregariously, "Your humility at my humility humbles me, as does your willingness to enlighten my ignorant self! Proud am I to meet one who is the crystallization of our common master's will and desire!"
'If I don't stop this, they'll go on all night.' CZ thought to herself, and touched Neia's shoulder. "Business." She said succinctly.
It seemed to bring them both up short and they withdrew their hands and pulled back their performer's enthusiasm.
"Ahem, ah, well yes. You know the nature of my visit. I don't want to fail, and before coming, I ran through so much paper and so many quills… I just want to do well." Neia said with quiet sincerity. "Please… help me understand him better, what he wants for this world, what he wants for the ones who follow him."
"Mein vater has spoken to us of 'Project Utopia' the plan being for ze perfect world. A world where true happiness can be had for all beings. He spoke once of First World, and the divide between the different beings that led them to kill one another, and how the push for power often destroyed both in the end. A story comes to mind. There was a ship that wrecked itself on a small island, and there were over a hundred survivors. A handful of the crew took power quickly, they killed anyone who opposed them, kept the women as sexual playthings, and exploited the rest. In the end, infighting broke out, and out of over a hundred to survive initially, there were fewer survivors than fingers on your hands. And out of those, none would have survived if rescue had not come. By contrast, on another wreck, the crew acted cooperatively with the passengers, and they worked together in common trust, and all survived on an island where they were rescued in good health months later."
"I see… so… division destroyed, but unity prospered." Neia concluded, and began to reframe what she understood of her nation's history. The high cost of the wall and wars with the demihumans, the money not spent on building up the kingdom because of the constant fear of war… "Yes… I see." Neia replied as her eyes opened to his meaning.
"What if hands holding swords against one another, held tools to build together? What if all races could truly exist under one banner? Did not your nation triumph because a demihuman army fought beside you against Jaldabaoth? As the Sorcerer King took him down, were not your combined forces stronger together?" Pandora's Actor asked the question rhetorically.
"Like E-Rantel." Neia answered in hushed awe. "Or Carne Village."
"Yes. True peace. True unity. What brings that and puts all together under one law, one social contract, that is what is good in his eyes, that is what frees his people from fear, and that is why all people, must be his people. If they are not, in the end one will destroy the other or they will destroy each other." Pandora's Actor said and when a pair of mugs were brought over, he slid one to Neia and took one for himself.
"To his Utopia." Neia said enthusiastically.
They clashed their mugs together and drank deeply. "I'll engrave this wisdom on my inner heart, and never forget it. The world must be his, or it will destroy itself.." Neia said passionately, and enjoyed another hour of drinking and casual talk while Pandora's Actor regaled her with stories of past battles and whimsical engagements he heard of or bore witness to.
Finally, Neia stood and bowed with a dramatic flourish, "Pandora's Actor, son of the greatest of all beings, bearer of his will, your generousity to this mere human girl, but a pebble before his mountain, will not be forgotten! If ever I can be of use, even if it be as a pebble of to be crushed as I compel an enemy to stumble in your path or the path of your almighty father, I beg you to call upon me!"
She found it hard not to smile to much as Pandora's Actor jumped to his feet and rendered a sharp, crisp salute. "Mein guten frau, you alone have understood the true value of performance and presence, and for that I am grateful! Therefore it was both pleasure and privilege to pass my master's noble words on to you, that this humble fragment of his wisdom guides you, is pleasing beyond words. Go forth, go forth and do great things in father's name, and I will be proud and glad to see you once again someday, and hopefully, that day will be soon!"
He hadn't a mouth of the sort that allowed him to grin, but she felt the pleasure coming off of him nonetheless as they slowly relaxed their postures after CZ touched Neia's shoulder again.
"Come, it is time to return." She said in her monotone.
Neia nodded, "Yes, it's been as wonderful and fascinating as it has been scary, but tomorrow will be a long, long day on the road."
"Then come." CZ said softly, and when the gate opened, Neia stepped through it and found herself standing in the darkness once again, at the tree where she'd been sitting before. The fire was lower now, the drinking and music were done, only guards patrolled, while all others slept.
Neia stared over at them all, men and women lay side by side, guards, merchants, the few passengers they'd taken on, Tinamoc's mercenaries, and yet she couldn't bring herself to take a step closer to them.
She looked behind her, wishing the gate was still open. CZ touched her bicep. "Alright?"
Neia shook her head, "It's alright but… I felt better there, even scared, than I do here, where I lead. Strange as it may seem, it's true. I was looking back because I wanted the gate to open, I wanted Lord Ainz to tell me to come in, and I wanted to not leave. But I know that isn't my place. But is this my place either? I have followers and enemies. But the only friends I have, come from a divine realm." She cracked a smile, "Don't worry, I'm not sad. I know the uniqueness of my position. It just creates questions and whims I can't quite answer or satisfy. Most of all, all servants of Lord Ainz are 'something'. Lord Sebas is a Head Butler. Lord Cocytus is his sword. Lady Albedo, well what she wants to be is clear, but she's like an inner brain to Lord Demiurge's outer one. Each of them 'is' something. They could say, "I am the Sorcerer King's 'blank'" and any would know what they mean. But what am I? I would be content just to be a tool if that is all I can be. But?"
Neia simply stopped speaking.
"But?" CZ pushed, drawing a little closer to her companion.
Neia scratched her head, "I don't know, I just feel like there's something else, maybe not 'more' but like I'm supposed to be something other than just a random generic 'tool'. I guess time will tell what role I'll play, whatever it is, I hope I'm good at playing it. And… I hope it gives him everything he should have."
"And you?" CZ asked, only giving away her own fondness by the tiniest of inflections and the tiniest change in her hold on Neia's arm.
Neia shook her head, "That is what I want. In the end, I'm just a human woman, an orphan with no family left and none likely ahead of me. Giving him the best I can, that will be my happiness, and it will bring about great things one day, if I work hard enough. This was a very helpful evening, and for interceding on my behalf, I thank you. I really couldn't ask for a better friend than you, CZ." Neia patted CZ's arm sweetly and went to lean her back against the tree that cast a shadow which deepened the darkness around them.
"My friend." CZ said succinctly and let Neia go slowly.
Neia yawned, "I'd rather not bother to sleep at all, I swear I'm not tired. But… a little shut eye should help me process everything, and with the fire dying, there's not much light to work with anyway. Are you going to keep watch?"
CZ nodded. "Yes." She said sharply, 'Someone has to watch over you, you're not especially good at doing that for yourself.' She thought as Neia stretched out her legs and promptly fell asleep, giving lie to her previous statement about not being at all tired.
...Many, many miles away…
Illyana walked the long opulent hallway of her living hell, the bells that dangled around her body tinkled and rang with every step of her living death march before she knocked on the door. "Enter." A voice said with eagerness that sickened her.
Within, a human in fine clothing, pimply faced and gangly, not entirely grown to manhood and really rather scrawny, sloshed some wine as he gestured for her to come in.
"Welcome to the Golden Roan, my master. I am assigned to your room, and will serve you in all ways." She said with the voice she'd been well trained to use.
"Y-Yeah yeah, hurry up and get over here, get on your knees, father paid for this room for me for the next few days and I don't want to waste a minute!" he said with a cocky, arrogant grin.
'Oh, he's going to be one of the mean ones…' Illyana cursed as she closed the door and hurried to obey. As she sank down to her knees in front of him, one thought came to her mind as he began giving her orders on how to please him…
'One of these days… someone is going to bring you fuckers down… I don't care how, I don't care if I live to see it, but if there is any god in this world that doesn't hate my race… I pray that it hears me now as I beg. Please… destroy it all, send a demon, send wrath and fire, even if it burns me up with it, just… anything. Please.' She ended the prayer as she worked the belt of the spoiled rich kid, and waited desperately for the end that some tiny core of herself told her was coming to Wenmark.
-END-