...Arwintar...

Lakyus and CZ did not take long, they followed Captain Strega where he led them. The light of the day was gone, but the streets were safe for all. Lamps lit with continual light enchantments glowed a gentle blue hue. It was a distinctive trait of Arwintar, the faint blue lights kept the beauty of the night while still allowing people to see their way from place to place without additional need for things like torches or enchanted lights of their own. Under other conditions, this might have been very charming.

However, for Lakyus and CZ, there was only their goal to think about. Commander Strega guided them with ease through his city's streets, his body tense with anticipation, it was a stark contrast to the ease of the two women behind him, who though they were ready, exhibited no signs of tension… just focus.

Soon they arrived in the housing district where most of the upper tier laborers lived. These were the people who worked at the finest of establishments, or personally served nobility in a household capacity, or were fine craftsmen with unique skills, high class brothels with the finest courtesans. In short, it was a sort of upper middle class, just below the nobility. Lakyus didn't expect the waiter to have a house of his own, but a very nice connected residence was very likely. She was not the least bit surprised when she turned out to be correct. Captain Strega raised his arm and pointed to a door. "There." He said.

CZ looked around, scanning the area. "Multiple inside."

Lakyus frowned slightly. "Disappointing. Are they asleep?" She asked.

CZ shook her head. "No."

"What are they doing?" Lakyus asked as she wondered if she could steal the target out early.

"Indeterminate. They appear to be climbing all over each other." CZ said abruptly.

Lakyus blushed strawberry red as the stone faced CZ essentially explained that the waiter was in the middle of an orgy. She sighed heavily. "I don't want to go in there."

"Nor I." CZ said with a faint note of distaste.

"Ladies, shall I?" Captain Strega asked, stepping forward.

"No." The two women said, glaring at him in unison, driving him to take a step back as the tone of their 'no' was one of rebuke.

"We wait then," he said.

They waited awhile, finally one by one, his 'guests' left his home, various women who probably did not work cheaply, walked out with sacks of coins clutched in their hands. Lakyus could hear the clinking, and CZ could clearly see what they were holding, it wasn't hard to work out the details from that. Six women left, and Lakyus said softly, "Even the best waiter at the most expensive restaurant can't afford that."

"No, no they can not." Captain Strega said with a hint of envy in his voice.

"He is alone." CZ said.

"Then let's go." Lakyus said and she took off at a dead sprint with CZ close behind. Lakyus was not inclined to be subtle this time, she drew her sword and slashed it in the pattern of an X, then smashed her way through. The crash was loud, and their target shouted with surprise, he hadn't had a chance… or perhaps had not intended, to dress himself after the ladies had left. He tried to scramble away, but CZ kicked him hard in his back and sent him stumbling to the floor, she put her foot down on his chest just as he rolled over and lowered her spell gun to point at his head. Lakyus held her sword out and put the tip under his chin. She crinkled her nose at the smell of the place, she just wanted out of there.

"Hi there. You don't know us, but you've seen us before, haven't you?" She asked. As his eyes took in their faces, his expression paled.

"That is a yes." CZ said 'helpfully'.

Lakyus rested one of her hands on her hip while her sword lifted against his chin slightly, forcing him to move to look further up.

"Yes, you know us. That leaves only a few questions, doesn't it? Can you guess what the first one is?" She asked. A nervous shaking of his head ensued.

"That question would be, just what do you think is going to happen to you, if you start telling lies when you start talking?" She said grimly.

She might have said more, but CZ raised a hand to interrupt her, the naked man was trembling underfoot.

"My master wants him." CZ said, answering the unspoken question on Lakyus's face.

Lakyus sheathed her sword.

"I hope you enjoyed that playtime you just had, because your night is going to get a whole lot worse from here on out." Lakyus said darkly.

She looked over to CZ, "Alright, I concede the prisoner, inform his majesty that we have found the one he wants, and we need only the gate to send him."

A few moments later, a gate opened, and CZ let her foot up, then grabbed him by the hair as he tried to rise and threw him screaming into the portal.

It closed behind him, leaving the two alone. Lakyus began to look around as soon as the gate closed. "Search for a bottle." She said to CZ without looking.

Understanding what she meant, CZ began the search immediately. The place was a 'bit' of a mess due to the evident activity of the last few hours, but it was clear that the 'former' owner had been quite fastidious the rest of the time. There were nice enough objects scattered around, his cooking area was neat and well organized, he had books on a shelf that suggested he liked to read, the books were mostly just popular fictions, nothing especially expensive, but there were a few of the classics to be found. His bedroom was dominated by a bed that took up a third of the room just by itself, but it felt wrong somehow.

It was CZ who pointed out just why. As she came in from behind Lakyus, she immediately pointed to the bed and said, "It's made."

Lakyus froze, it was, why was this room the only one nobody was screwing in? She became suspicious, and CZ evidently shared that suspicion because they began tearing the room apart, pulling open drawers and rifling through a wardrobe, and that was where CZ found it, buried in the back corner behind shoes and hanging clothing, she reached down and picked up a small ornate glass bottle, pink with gold inlay in a spiral leaf design and a small pump spray top.

"Found it." CZ said simply and held it up.

"If that isn't full of poison, I'll eat my sword." Lakyus said confidently.

"Finished?" CZ asked.

"Not yet, let's see if we can find anything else." Lakyus said, and their persistence was rewarded a few minutes later, when in the trash they found a letter dated several days earlier, detailing a desire to 'ruin' the restaurant of his former employer, and how to do it.

"Shit." Lakyus said.

"What?" CZ asked.

"He was a dupe too. According to this letter, if it is to be believed, he couldn't have known that he was actually playing the role of an assassin. Perhaps he should have thought more carefully, but in the end, he is just a former employee who made a really bad decision." Lakyus rubbed her forehead. "I guess we've got more to find. For now, though, rest. Anything he knows, the Sorcerer King will find out for us." She said.

"Fine." CZ answered, and they went out to Captain Strega, who had gathered the rest of his men together.

"Thank you for all your help." Lakyus said, "I will commend you to the emperor when next I see him, the waiter was our assassin, however… we don't think he knew he was an assassin. I still do not envy his interrogation, but he is not the end of the line. Your part in this however, is done for now." Lakyus said authoritatively.

"Ma'am, it was an honor, ma'am. Please convey our gratitude for the opportunity to help, and our well wishes to Commander Skana for her swift recovery and the restoration of her strength." Captain Strega said with a swift formal salute, one immediately imitated by the formation of soldiers that had formed up behind him.

"I will, you are dismissed." Lakyus said in her command voice, and the soldiers dispersed.

"Now rest?" CZ asked.

"Now rest." Lakyus answered with a yawn, and together they walked back to the hotel, evidence in hand.

…Neia's Room…

Neia held the knife in front of her, she was so drunk she could smell the alcohol on her own breath. She was ashamed. Ashamed of having lost Gascon, Tiksin, Illyana, ashamed of what happened to Tinamoc and Queen Calca. She couldn't look at her hands without seeing on them, the blood of those who trusted and followed her. Because of who she was, Skana had died in front of her. Her angry drawing upon the aura of her god might well have confirmed the image of her as just another bloodthirsty savage. Everything felt like it was falling apart around her and there was no way out and no way to atone.

"Putting you as a ranger and a scout kept a lot of people safe from your poison." The shade said mockingly.

"Shut up, you're not real." Neia said softly, not looking up from the knife.

"So what? I'm still right." The judgmental voice of Remedios said behind her, whispering into her ear. "You want it on some level don't you, to see it all burn down, maybe you'll get lucky and kill a kid next time, you love death, that is why you follow 'him'. Secretly, you know you deserve all this, for all your sins…"

Neia flipped the knife in her palm and snapped her arm back at the elbow, trying to stab behind her, it struck nothing but her own ear, and that only slightly.

"How long do you think before Skana gets too close at the wrong moment? Before you put an arrow in her throat because you can't tell the difference between an enemy and your own wife? If you're lucky, you'll terrify her so much she'll leave you before you kill her, all their worrying… it's a pit they'll climb down and never come out, because you're at the bottom of it." The voice whispered sweetly, almost lovingly, its every vile word, it was hypnotic and Neia couldn't tune it out.

She put her hands to her ears to cover them, her fist still clutching the knife and went down to her knees, curling forward. "Stop it! Please stop it!" She mewled out.

Remedios stood and snorted and then she was in front of Neia's curled up body.

"The truth hurts, but every time they show you how much they care, they draw close to their deaths, because remember, you're poison. The Sorcerer King's aura is deadly, and you barely snapped out of it twice when you drew on it, and you didn't even mean to. Your wife is going to be turned into a red paste, I wonder who else you'll kill? In the end, you'll be just like me, only you'll die alone because you… you destroy what you love." She snickered.

"No… No more, you're not real!" Neia slurred out, her fingers tore at the side of her head as if to dig the voice out. Claw like red streaks appeared on her skin, and three of her fingernails tore back, sending a sharp pain through her body, but she couldn't stop, she was even glad of the physical pain as it provided a very brief distraction from her own thoughts.

"Then you're just listening to yourself." Remedios said smugly, and then the (hallucination?) disappeared, leaving Neia whimpering out and letting choked gasps come out of her mouth.

She dropped her hands in front of her and rose from her curled position to a kneeling one, she touched the knife to her wrist, she knew how to do this, she'd ended enough lives, what was one more?

She heard a noise then and froze. It was the creaking of the bed. She jumped to her feet, put the dagger away and rushed to the sink as fast as she could. She turned on the water and began to rinse her face as fast as she could. The door opened right at that moment, Skana stood in the door frame, naked and beautiful.

"Neia, love what are you doing at this hour?" She asked with concern.

"Nothing, it's nothing, everything is fine, I'm fine." She said hurriedly. "It was just… nothing." She finished lamely.

"Are you sure?" asked Skana with a worried look on her face.

"Bad dream, I'll be fine." Neia said, putting on the winning smile that had charmed hard hearts and given confidence to the broken.

"Well, come back to bed, there's a big day tomorrow and you need your rest."

"Yes, rest… tomorrow…" Neia said numbly and Skana took Neia's arm over her shoulder and helped her back to bed. "A big day tomorrow…" She whispered as she drifted off, her entire body feeling nothing but exhaustion. Skana lay next to her and wrapped her arms around Neia's chest and pulled her close, her face nuzzled into Neia's hair, she raised her head up just enough to whisper into what she did not know was Neia's wounded ear, "I love you." She cuddled close, and Neia, unwilling to let her voice betray her thoughts, simply pretended to be asleep, and she bit her lip hard enough to make it bleed, wondering how she was going to get Skana killed.

When she did finally fall asleep herself, it was only a completion of the numbness that had already set in. She awoke the next morning to a cry of alarm. Her eyes snapped open like a taut bowstring and she rolled out of bed and grabbed for her weapon, her eyes already filled with battle fury and her killing intent unleashed. When she popped up into a combat stance with her sword out, she saw Skana standing on the other side of the bed and looking at her with horror.

"Neia what the hell happened to you?!" Skana shouted, and she jumped onto the bed and down to the other side where her wife stood. Neia dropped the sword and Skana grabbed her wrist. "Your fingers, your head, your ear?! How?! God, doesn't it hurt?!" She said in alarm, and Neia looked numbly at her injuries as Skana rushed to their dresser and pulled out a healing potion.

"Nothing, nothing happened, OK?" Neia said, "It was just an accident."

Skana thrust the potion out at her. "Drink." She said forcefully. Neia sighed, then tilted her head back and chugged the potion down. A moment later her injuries were gone.

"That was not an accident." Skana said bluntly, "You tell me what happened."

"None of your damn business!" Neia shouted, startling Skana so much that her one good eye went wide and locked with Neia's own. "I'm sorry…" She said, and put on her most charming smile, "Look it was just a nightmare that got out of hand, I'm OK now." She said, "I shouldn't have snapped at you, forgive me?" She smiled sweetly and took Skana's hand.

"Always." Skana said softly and drew her wife in to an embrace.

"I'm telling the truth; it was just a nightmare that got out of hand." Even as she spoke, Neia wasn't sure if she was really lying as much as she thought she was. However, she resolved it didn't really matter, Skana didn't need to know. "Tell you what," Neia said with a broad smile as she leaned back, "The Synod is supposed to continue today, but I'm going to make a motion that everybody have a day off, they've got to be as tired as I am or nearly, we can all go have a great day together, and return refreshed the following morning."

Skana grinned, "I'd like that." She said.

"Then it is settled, and if they refuse, well I'll tell them they can have it without me today, that ought to sway the holdouts, today it's just me, my wife, and some of my best friends." Neia said, "I could really use this.

"I think we could all, all do with that. I'm sure Lakyus and CZ had no trouble snagging that waiter, and he's probably being interrogated right now anyway, if the Sorcerer King had already gotten information, I'm sure we'd have heard about it already." Skana added.

"We're up early, so why don't we all grab breakfast together. Lakyus and CZ can update us, if there is anything to update us on, just as well over eggs, bacon, and tea as they can over nothing." Neia suggested, holding that smile on her face.

"You're just full of good ideas today." Skana said, as she went and drew a bath.

"You say that like it is unusual." Neia called out in a teasing voice.

"No, not really, but this is a damn sight better than that restaurant. Worst… cheesecake… ever." Skana said with a laugh.

Neia forced herself to imitate a laugh in return, that Skana could laugh about it spoke to her strength, but for Neia it was still raw, and she felt a rebuke even knowing there wasn't one. "You're poison. See, she knows it." The thought rose unbidden to her mind and she thrust it away as if it were an unwelcome touch by a stranger. She went and got out their garments for the day while Skana used the bathroom. Unbeknownst to her however, when the door closed behind her, Skana's trained eye noticed something odd.

As soon as the door shut, she saw it. The belt hanging on the door held her knives, and one of them was out of place. Trained soldiers always kept their gear in uniform positions, always in the same place, always the same way, that way in an emergency you'd never be fumbling and searching for what you needed. This particular knife was a baselard, her weapon of choice in sentry removal because of the ease of concealing it, its lightness, and its practical design. Skana always kept it in the rear most pouch, now it was one further to the left, she knew exactly who kept their own dagger in that position, and that person was in the bedroom just beyond the door. Skana struggled to come up with some explanation for what Neia might have been doing with her knife in the middle of the night, there was no good answer.

She chose for the moment however, to say nothing. She eased herself into the morning bath and contemplated what she'd seen.

"I'll ring for breakfast and have a 'join me' request sent to Lakyus and CZ to meet us in the same room downstairs in an hour." Neia called out.

"Alright." Skana replied, keeping the concern out of her voice as she washed up.

A few minutes later, Neia entered the bathroom and looked at her with an arch smile, she was almost a different person who had woken up suddenly less than half an hour before. Skana returned that look with a wink of her own thrown in for good measure, and Neia slid herself into the hot water. "Let me wash your back." Neia said softly, and Skana repositioned herself, and sighed with comfort as Neia began to diligently scrub. There was silence between them, and a rare tension. After a few minutes of scrubbing, an act that, between the two had always been something of intimacy, the cloth dropped and splashed into the water and Neia wrapped her arms around Skana. Some water splashed over the side of the large tub with the force of her forward momentum, and Skana felt Neia's small breasts pressed against her back, she felt her wife lean in, and a gentle whisper, "I wouldn't have used it on you. I love you."

For a moment Skana thought Neia might have meant the knife. Then she realized, no, Neia didn't realize Skana had observed the difference and figured out she'd drawn it last night, she relaxed, Neia was talking about the sword she'd snatched up when Skana awakened her suddenly.

Skana's hand folded over Neia's arm and she let herself lean back, "I know, you were just surprised, but to be fair, so was I. Do you want to talk about it?" Skana asked with concern in her voice.

"No." Neia said with a shake of her head, "Today I just want to be happy; I just want to enjoy everything and everyone." She said, emphasizing her meaning with a gentle nip at Skana's ear.

"We can." Skana replied, but need I remind you that you set a one hour meeting time for breakfast with Lakyus and CZ and we're halfway to that now, plus you actually have to 'go' to the Synod to propose the day off.

"Fair enough." Neia said reluctantly and they swiftly cleaned up, dressed, and went down to breakfast. Lakyus and CZ were already waiting for them, and the server was just bringing in the food, piping hot plates in fact. They were laid in front of each of the four women and a server following behind that one walked around her and began pouring a cup of tea and a cup of juice for each of them.

When the attending servers made their way quietly out and the door was closed behind them, Neia raised her cup and said, "To safer tomorrows." They clinked their cups to hers and echoed the sentiment.

That out of the way, they began to eat, Neia seemed to be herself again. She smiled, she laughed, she told jokes… very badly. When Lakyus got to the part about the orgy they'd waited out, when telling the story of the waiter's capture, she snorted and said, "He thought he was coming, but it turned out he was also going."

"What?" She said with a grin as two and a half pairs of eyes rolled at her attempt at humor.

"I love you, but I wish I had both eyes so I could roll them twice as hard." Skana said with a laugh.

"That reminds me," Lakyus said, "have you considered trying to have your eye healed again? I seem to recall that the weapon used on you had its effect canceled by death, so if we use a strong enough healing spell, even if a low tier one isn't enough, it might come back."

Skana finished chewing the biscuit she'd just bitten into and set the remainder down on her plate before folding her hands one over the other. "I won't say it hasn't crossed my mind, but honestly… if I hadn't lost my eye, I might not have found my wife, so I haven't minded going without it. Plus, I'm so well known 'without' this one, that people might not even recognize me anymore. I guess you could say I'm happy how I am, so why change it? With the war over I don't have to worry about combat effectiveness the way I used to, and even if I did, well I'm still fine with my sword."

"I see." Lakyus said, using her biscuit to soak up some gravy. "Well, I'm not one to rain on other people's happiness."

"Nor I." Neia said, touching Skana's hand.

"Nor I." Said CZ. "Plus, cute." She said and put a sticker on Skana's eyepatch.

"And…I admit, I'd miss the stickers." Skana said with a grin.

While the meal seemed quite normal, and in many respects, it was, underlying the contented and positive mood was the watchful eye of the adamantite adventurer, she kept a careful eye on Neia, who seemed happier than she had in all the time Lakyus had known her. Their close association was born of conflict and serious situations, and the firm steel gaze that brought the violent to trembling was never far from even the cordial Neia's face. More than once she'd tried to imagine what she might have been, must have been, like in other situations, and she could never quite picture her differently than she appeared.

This was a glimpse at that, her eyes might still have their criminal appearance, that which helped to make her famous, but they had warmth in them at the moment. Her horrible jokes aside, well it was humor, and she seemed more 'her own size' which was short, rather than the towering figure she seemed to be when she called on the powers of her voice to sway or terrify.

The warning of the Sorcerer King loomed large in her mind. If she appears happy, tell him immediately. Skana knew of the warning too, but if she was concerned, she gave no sign. The nature of the order was still unclear, happiness was good, happiness was desirable, happiness meant things were getting better. Why then should she be concerned.

She turned the thought over and over in her mind until Neia wiped her mouth with a cloth and stood up. "I've got to go to the Synod, why don't you all wait here? I won't be long; I'm going to request a vote that everybody disperse for a day. I don't think they'll object. You saw the same thing, didn't you Lakyus? They're tired."

"Yes, I agree." Lakyus said, thinking more of Neia than the other priests and priestesses.

"Then this should be brief." Neia added.

"Well, I will need to be there to cast my vote, I know you could do it for me, but I should do it myself." Lakyus said, "It might raise questions if the pope of Black Justice is casting votes for a priestess of the water god, even if I am privately an apostate, that isn't exactly widely known."

"Fair enough." Neia said, "Will you walk with me, or do you wish to finish up first?"

Lakyus looked forlornly down at her tea, "I'll catch up, I just want to finish this cup."

"Alright." Neia said and walked out with a smile and a wave, "I'll walk slow, don't tire yourself out trying to catch me." She teased the powerful adventurer.

Lakyus chuckled and resumed drinking. When Neia was well and truly gone, Lakyus spoke her mind. "This is what he warned me about."

Skana frowned. "I just don't see a problem, I want my wife to be happy, OK she had a bad dream, she had a… very bad night while I slept, but she seems fine now."

"That is what concerns me." Lakyus said, "The Sorcerer King said to inform him if we saw Neia appear to be happy quite suddenly. So… this fits."

"He is never wrong." CZ repeated, her flat voice having the faintest emphasis on her words.

Skana looked down at her plate in thought, as if the answer lay in the remnants of the hearty breakfast. "Fine. I trust you, and I trust CZ, and I trust the will of my god. Perhaps I just can't see what he does. Go ahead, tell him."

The response was swift and Lakyus informed the pair of what the Sorcerer King had said. "An observer will be monitoring her for the day, for now, just make it a good one."

Lakyus was easily able to catch up to Neia, and they chatted idly about how to spend the nearly inevitable day off, it had been well and truly earned as far as both of them were concerned, and they were rightly confident that priests and priestesses who had traveled from across the land, from as far away as the Southern Holy Kingdom, would jump at the chance to experience Arwintar for themselves for a day.

When they reached the tower, things came to order in the usual way, and Neia laid out her proposal in simple, articulate terms. Lakyus marveled at the simplicity of the approach. Emotions had run high, this was the first such gathering in the history of service to the divine. Clear heads were needed and fevered minds were a disservice to any god. She remarked on her appreciation for their hearing her out, no matter their beliefs, and she threw in a remark that, for many, this would be the only time in their lives that they would see Arwintar. While the weather was fine and they still had the energy of the morning, they should take the day and see to their ease and relaxation and return refreshed the following day.

As many had felt the strain of such a prolonged academic exercise, this was not an unwelcome proposal, they even went one further, and proposed two days rest, the first for relaxation, the second for reflection. Neia looked up to where Lakyus sat and they shared a knowing look, they were not the only ones to do so, many shared the same thought, that some of these priests and priestesses of god did not want to attend the Synod with hangovers, and there were a lot of hangovers already planned at the notion of a day of rest.

Lakyus endorsed the notion, and a vote quickly passed, allowing them to filter out, and for the first time for the duration of the landmark event, Neia saw grateful expressions on the faces of those who had often grilled her the most harshly.

Neia and Lakyus were the last to file out, and when they did so, Lakyus asked her, "What did you want to do with the day?"

The happy expression on the diminutive pope seemed wholly out of place, yet it was clearly quite sincere, "I'd like to beg a favor from the Sorcerer King, that he allow us to visit Nazarick and enjoy a day there, and… I have not seen him in quite some time, I'd like to do so one more time."

Lakyus pretended very hard not to notice the odd way she said that, as if there was only one more chance, but endorsed the idea happily. "I couldn't imagine a better vacation spot. I'm sure he'll permit it, after all, he values you."

When they returned to the others, the proposal of a request to visit Nazarick was quickly accepted, dispatched, and accepted. A gate opened and through it stepped a pretty blond peasant girl. "Hiya, it's been awhile hasn't it?" She said with her big toothy smile.

"Vanysa, it's a pleasure." Lakyus said and held out her hand. Vanysa took it with her customary enthusiasm and shook it vigorously.

She smiled broadly at the rest of the group, who made their own greetings in turn. "His majesty says yah get the works, spa, baths, sauna, ocean, meals, and so on."

"CZ could take us through all this, couldn't she?" Neia asked curiously.

"Yeah, but he says since she's s'posed to have fun too, that someone else should do the leg work of takin' yah through stuff, so I volunteered." Vanysa said and gestured to the gate she'd stepped out of.

When they were through the gate and standing on a lake shore a few feet away from a laid out picnic spot, Lakyus asked, "Oh, why is that?"

"Cause yer doin' somethin great, this way I can say mah thanks, so ahm at yer service all day." Vanysa said and she gave an exaggerated kind of curtsy before giving a titter of laughter.

So the day went, with wine and treats and all manner of delights, a brief request of Vanysa and a few minutes later they had music to dance to, they sang various drinking songs…though in the case of CZ even with her intoxication protocol active, it was somewhat flat. They went from lake front picnic to the illusory artificial ocean to enjoy the waves, and from there to a theater to see the unimaginable, moving pictures that told a story, much of it was confusing, but something called 'The Lord of the Rings' resonated powerfully with the party. The meals were sumptuous and the desserts divine, and eventually Lakyus and Skana both passed out and CZ allowed her intoxication protocol to overload and she imitated the other two, leaving Neia alone with their volunteer attendant.

Neia was, in a word, drunk. In two words, she was quite drunk. Vanysa however, had not touched a drop. Alone together back by the lake where they'd begun, she asked the woman, "How do you keep it together?"

Vanysa lost her bubbly air and her eyes took on a serious expression. "I didn't." As quickly as it vanished, Vanysa's bubbly happy expression was restored.

The fury turned and began to skip away towards the water nearby, as Neia shouted out, "Can I ask to see… Ainz? I'm sure he's busy, but I want to give him my gratitude personally if possible."

"Aye! Of course, part'a his instruction was thatcha get to see him when yer ready, he said he'd be in the library mosta the day doin' some readin'."

"Can you guide me?" Neia asked, "I don't quite know the way, it's been awhile."

"Course ah can!" Vanysa said, "Ahm atcher service!"

A few minutes after walking through a [Gate] to reach the 10th floor, Neia fell to one knee in front of her god and lowered her head deferentially. Ainz set aside the thick book he was reading, marking the page and turning to her, he stood up and approached, he seemed so tall, so massive and powerful, he exuded royal power and presence, he was the incarnation of justice and divinity, and given permission to raise her head, she looked at him with eyes shining with happy tears.

"Your majesty." Neia said softly, "A… Ainz." She rarely called him that, despite having permission for years, she only felt right doing so when they were either alone, or very nearly so, it seemed disrespectful to her god to be so familiar, even if she did feel him to be as a father to her.

"Neia, I hope you've had a wonderful time here in my home." He said and touched her shoulder. She felt the warmth of his skeletal hand, how like a living being, how firm and strong, it was enchanting to her.

"I have, your… Ainz." She corrected herself and smiled. "I realize you must be very busy, but I wanted to come say thank you for everything, everything you've ever done to make our lives better, for your forgiveness for my failures, for my weaknesses, for giving everyone I love a future. You mean so much to me my lord, I couldn't let another day pass without having said it."

"Of course." He said quietly, "You have done a great deal for my cause, and while I know it has been very difficult, know that when you are ready, there is a place reserved for you to recover, taking all the time you need, even if it be the rest of your life."

Neia's eyes welled up, other than her wife, no one since her father had spoken to her with such concern, it wasn't the first time he had done so, but it meant every bit as much to her now, as it did then. It solidified her private decision, she could not become a liability to his cause, in her end, she might become a kind of martyr, a boon to him if the story was told well, alive, if she made another mistake, who knows what might happen, or to whom?

They spoke privately for a few minutes more, and the Sorcerer King sought details about her intentions for the future after the Synod, which Neia answered by talking about the world rather than herself. Finally, she felt it was time. "May I hug you, Ainz?" She asked softly.

"Of course." He said in the noble voice that awed her heart every time she heard it, she stood, approached, and wrapped her arms around him, feeling an almost parental warmth, and then she stepped back. "Thank you, thank you for everything." She said again, "I need to go back to the hotel for a bit, but could I ask something else, sire?"

"Go ahead." He replied curiously.

"If you don't want your bow back, could I ask that you give it to Skana later, it may be possible to heal her eye now, and I think she'll prove better at the bow than she thinks." Neia asked with a very happy grin on her face.

Alarm bells rang in Ainz's head as he gave a noncommittal answer and opened the gate for Neia to return to her room.

She bowed deeply and stepped through the gate and found herself at the hotel entry. She approached the front desk and asked that someone bring fresh towels to her bathroom in an hour. She felt bad for the person who would find her, but better it be someone to whom she meant nothing, than it be a loved one like Skana or one of her friends. She briefly stopped by their improvised investigative headquarters and snatched up the bottle containing the poison that had killed her wife. It was a very beautiful bottle, containing a very ugly death within it. It would serve her purposes. She tucked it away and headed to her quarters.

She entered the room she shared with her wife and looked around. There was a bottle of wine still out, she took it up and drank it down without letting the mouth of it leave her lips and then she set it aside. "Well," she said to the empty room, "I got what I wanted, one more good day, least I didn't poison it."

The back of her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, the voice telling her this was for the best, that if she were alive she'd be a burden at best and a danger at worst, thrummed loud as a war drum in her ears, she thought of the kid she'd knocked over in the street, she thought about having almost drawn her sword on Lakyus, she thought of Skana waking up to find how she'd mutilated herself the night before and the horror on her face, she struggled to think of one other option, and found none. She closed the bathroom door and took out the poison vial they'd retrieved from the waiter. If it went well, the world would assume she'd been assassinated successfully.

She held it up to her face, closed her eyes, opened her mouth, and prepared to spray it inside. Just as she was doing so, the thought ran through her mind, "I don't want to die." But it was too late, her fingers were already closing, and the poison thrust up through the pump, and the earthy flavor Skana described hit her tongue. In an almost humorous moment, she thought, "Probably better with cheesecake."

Her body began to spasm and seize up, she fell to the floor, thrashing, her mind was clear but had no control over any part of it. She felt her mouth start to foam and her feeling fade from her.

"No…" she thought, and that thought continued to run through her head as fast as the poison raced through her body. "Oh god, I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to die. What the hell did I just do..." She thought to herself as she set aside the perfume. She tried to leave the bathroom, but found the dose was too high, she was already seizing up, her body was shaking, she felt the foam forming at her mouth.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." She tried to say, unsure of who she should apologize to the most as her body flailed helplessly. She heard the door open and feminine footsteps fall on the floor, her eyes were closing, she wondered who it was, she fervently hoped it wasn't Skana.

Blackness. Inky, dark.

"So, this is what I did." She thought to herself as she remembered a phrase that would haunt her forever. "Aim for the kids..." She heard voices and saw a bright light. She'd heard stories about this, a long tunnel, a bright light, all she had to do was go towards it and she'd be at peace. The voices were obscured, she didn't know who it was. "Mother... Father...?" She tried to say, and her eyes started to open.

"I'm not your mother, little dead girl." Lupusregina said with a grin as the healing light of her magic faded from her hand. "But maybe this one can pass for a father?" She gestured her thumb towards CZ and started to laugh.

Neia looked up at them, profoundly confused, only to see CZ kneel down in front of her, yank her up, and hug her.

"Too close," she said.

AN: Well another chapter done, and a very close call for Neia. Now, a few things that need to be said here. Neia's behavior follows the signs and symptoms of the suicidal. Not just in her early sexual frenzy, not just in the alcohol consumption, but also a number of other features shown. Giving away dearly held goods, a sudden reversal of previous depression that has resulted from a decision to die, because they know their pain is about to end, everything she does, including the certitude that people would be better off without her, either safer or otherwise. So, again, if you know anyone behaving like this, ask how they are, see if you can get them to seek help, to many people suffer needlessly. Oh and incidentally, according to most studies, those who survive suicide attempts report that the last thought they had before it was to late to stop the attempt from going forward was, 'I don't want to die', so just something to keep in mind if you yourself are on the edge.

Now, another thing, writing these last few chapters has taken a bit of a mental toll on me, and I'm a bit drained, so I hope you'll forgive me if I take a break from the serious stuff for a little while and write some more humorous pieces, for example I'd like to get back to 'Bone Daddy's Daughters' and I had an Albedo/Shalltear comedy in mind that I wanted to try my hand at. I won't be long, I bounce back quickly, then it will be back to God Rising. (Though I 'might' slow that one down just a little bit just to piss off that one nasty little guest reviewer who keeps complaining, I know the rest of you are OK with a little wait, especially if it frustrates a choosing beggar who does nothing but complain). Unrelated note, my current outline for God Rising is 123 chapters long and…I underestimated, looks like it might actually need to be between 140 and 150. So you've got a lot to look forward to.

I've written a few sneak preview pieces for pending chapters, and if you wanted to get a look at those, you'll need to stop by my Discord server, invite is on the author page. Also if you'd like to support me on P atreon, you may do so at P atreon dot com slash godrising. Money goes to putting the story together as a free audiobook, any overage will go to charity.

That's all, thanks for reading!