The Synod: The Book of Black Justice
By AtheistBasementDragon
Edited by The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots
Chapter 22: Change & Reunion
...Hoburns...
Calca set the document down with an enormous smile on her face. "They did it."
Robel looked over to her with a question in his eyes. She didn't wait for him to ask, she simply handed him the document. "I always knew it would happen, but... never this way." He remarked in a youthful and vigorous voice. "Gilcrest, Gascon... everyone... it's done." He whispered to the ghosts of the years gone by, recalling the first time he saw the future pope stand before her betters and declare a god to be, that was not of the Six, to declare him justice. 'A short life and a shallow grave, that's what I thought she'd have, now... here we are. I hope you're happy out there, my Pope.' He thought to himself, and then he solemnly set the paper back into the hands of the Holy Queen and wiped his eyes clear again.
"Holiday, this deserves a holiday spread throughout the kingdom, have the magic casters start sending out messages, priority one, and break out the wine, break open the storehouses, I want the whole city celebrating within the hour, and the whole kingdom before noon!" Calca said as she shot to her feet and announced it to the entirety of the court. About her hall, nobles and commoners ran like mad to carry out her will, and as Robel watched, he saw for himself, countless other ecstatic faces that mirrored his own. 'This... this is going to be fun.' he thought, and went to play his part.
...Re-Estize...
Princess Renner... the Outer Guardian and the power behind the throne, stood a few feet away from her older brother as he sat behind the desk in what was once their father's private office. "We knew it was inevitable, sister of mine, must you treat me as an imbecile when you tell me this?" King Zanac asked with a hint of annoyance.
Renner's smile was smug, "Maybe, but I knew it, 'first' brother of mine. I spent my life having to hide the fact that I was smarter than the rest of you, show some patience and let me indulge myself without complaint when I'm finally able to revel in it openly."
King Zanac sighed and rubbed his face, "Well, if it helps, a lot of people who didn't think much of your intelligence are feeling very stupid right now."
"It does." She nodded sharply and the wings that wrapped around her body quivered a little. "But you don't seem happy about his elevation, brother. Not harboring any disloyal thoughts, are we now?" She smirked at him, and he barely kept the shudder he felt, from coming out.
"No. No nothing like that." Zanac reassured her, with wide eyes, and a firm shake of his head. "Speaking frankly I'm not one to doubt this decision, after everything, I just can't disbelieve. But... I'm no religious leader, and I never paid much attention to the priests either, except when politics demanded it, so what really changes?"
Renner's pure white eyes returned to their natural blue, "Not for nothing were you my favorite brother, Barbro was an ignorant blowhard. You were right not to listen to those prattling fools before, but brother, not for nothing am 'I' the equivalent of a guardian, while you are not. I see things you don't see, and I see opportunity."
She watched the spark spring to life in his eyes, 'At least I have one relative who is not a complete idiot, he might have made for a passably good king, even without all that has happened.' She pondered for a moment as she watched him rethink the declaration.
"Yes... I see, their temples integrate themselves thoroughly into society, the merchant class is favoring them and their guards, the farmers hire their undead labor, the need for their priests will grow, we can establish a school for their theology, build it into the planned school for the arts and tie our skilled classes inextricably to His Majesty so that our province becomes like his right hand, close enough to rival Baharuth, and our people will benefit enormously from that." He reasoned out as he rubbed his chin and looked down in thought under Outer Guardian Renner's watchful eye.
Renner raised a single finger in front of herself, prompting him to look up as she sought his eyes and ears. "All that will do for... a start. But for now, brother, I suggest you announce a holiday, be seen publicly celebrating the decision of the Synod, show everyone that you're with him in every way. The old gods have been dead for a long time, they never cared where you stood or what you did, but this one, this one is as alive as any undead being can be, and his many servants, care very much how leaders portray themselves and how they behave."
"That, sister, is some of the best advice you could possibly give, come, let's go celebrate, and bring your, ahem..." he coughed uncomfortably, "future husband, let's go as a family." Zanac said and rose to his feet and went out from behind his desk.
"You may not be as sharp as I am brother, but you're no idiot at least." Renner said as she extended her arm to allow him to take it.
"That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me." Zanac remarked unironically, and went out the door of his office, as Renner laughed a laugh that was as beautiful as it was chilling.
...Draconic Kingdom...Palace...
When word reached Queen Draudillon of the Synod vote, she could only smirk. Not a word passed her lips. None were needed. General Oma took her head off, set it in hand, and held it out in front of where the Queen sat looking out over her buzzing court. "You never tire of that little party trick, do you?" Draudillon asked the head.
"No, I don't." Oma's head was smiling enormously, "I'm finding that being a dullahan is a great deal of fun. Not least for the consternation it creates." Her head laughed hard enough to bounce her dark hair behind her as it hung free in the air. "Of course we all knew this was coming, but I have to ask... you had a hand in the way our priests voted, didn't you?"
Musan chuckled before the Queen could answer. "Actually, I took care of a fair part of that before she even gave the order." The Queen and Oma looked over to him in surprise.
"You can't be all that surprised? Our divine lord saved our country from being eaten alive, when all I could do was send young men and women to their deaths. I started getting rid of priests who were critical of the Sorcerer King, about five years ago. Nothing 'nefarious' just making sure they were 'retired' or got dangerous postings that made 'retirement' highly likely." His smug look went very dark.
Vermillion, who stood opposite the two leaders at her left hand, nodded, "I confess I was about the same business in the areas I had influence." His slender features, more care worn than Queen Draudillon remembered, looked suddenly very tired and worn.
"I see, so when I ordered only those 'loyal' to be sent?" She asked.
"There were only loyal ones left." Musan and Vermillion remarked in unison.
Queen Draudillon threw back her head and laughed on her throne, "That's the kind of initiative that will either break, or make, a nation, and this time, I think it will make us great beyond measure."
...Crescent Lake...
"So he's now officially a god, recognized by the humans as the seventh to be added to the pantheon." General Thirg reported casually.
His sister, councilor Tefl, shrugged it off. "Took them long enough, and it doesn't matter anyway."
"About that, Tefl is right, good to keep up with the goings on of other provinces but... while the humans may have seven... we elves have only One. The one to set us free." Zesshi said from the throne that was feeling far more comfortable under her than it once had. "Still, we should celebrate with our sister provinces. If for no other reason than those thick headed humans finally caught on to what they should have all known immediately." Zesshi said and pointed to a servant. "You, go have word dispatched to every bar, tavern, restaurant, and winery that for one day only, we will cover the cost of every drink that toasts His Majesty's divinity."
She stood up from her throne, and the twins stepped aside for her to descend. "Majesty, where are you going?" Thirg asked as he looked over to a nearby guard, who moved to leave his post.
Zesshi raised her hand to stop him, "No, no guards, I just want to take a walk, by myself today. I hear it's a good thing for rulers to do now and then, so I might as well get used to it."
They bowed lightly and she walked out through the buzzing court by herself, down the great palace, out the door, and into the streets. While she was often bowed to, she was little approached, her black and white hair danced freely behind her, and her piercing heterochromatic eyes shone brightly as they caught the light. The great waters of Crescent Lake were visible from this upper part of the elven city, and seemed still as a looking glass on their own, broken only by the many boats that went back and forth ferrying goods and passengers from one side to the other.
As Zesshi walked, waving in passing to her people, her royal armor of green and black, a gift of His Majesty after her post war official coronation, caught countless eyes. 'I wonder how she's taking it, probably over the moon.' Zesshi thought to herself as she recalled the diminutive pope that had done so much, not only to free her people, but to soften the elven hatred and contempt for humans that would surely have sprung up at the war's end had she not been... herself.
In idle thought the half elf Queen walked the streets without direction, until she saw a book shop and thought of the elf boy who had utterly crushed her. 'Yes, a present, I should buy something for him to commemorate the day, maybe send something for his sister too. Couldn't hurt. He likes books, she likes rare beasts, perhaps a book on what rare monsters live in my province for her, and something adventurous for him.' She mused as she pushed the light tan colored door open and entered the shop.
A small bell rang as the Queen entered and looked around the shop, shelves lined the walls and were split into long rows, she raised an eyebrow at the plentiful nature of the place's supply. 'This is an astute owner to have amassed so many for sale. A little help might be needed here.' Zesshi said to herself and approached the counter, a woman was behind it, looking down at a book of her own.
"I need a few books." Queen Zesshi remarked, and the woman looked up, and her mouth dropped open.
"Zesshi?!" She said, agog.
Zesshi frowned slightly, "It's 'Queen Zesshi' I realize I'm not the most formal monarch but..." She stopped, she stared long and hard at the open mouthed woman, the recognition in her eyes was clear and obvious. "You know me, how? Something about you is vaguely familiar as well..."
'I sense no hostility, only recognition and... regret?' Zesshi didn't reach for the sword at her side that she carried in lieu of her traditionally preferred scythe.
The woman's face fell. "I owe you a very deep, very great apology. Can I... ask for a moment of you, My Queen?" The book seller asked.
Zesshi tilted her head toward the door, and the elven woman rushed to lock it and put up the closed sign. "Tea?" She asked, and Zesshi quietly nodded.
The proprietor led her to the back, and a few minutes of rushing later, there were two cups poured as they sat on small ornate wooden furniture. "I'll be expanding this shop to include a place to drink tea, it seems like a good idea, people can relax, read, drink, and have a few light snacks to idle away the day. What do you think, Your Majesty?" The proprietor said as she laid a small plate of long sugar dusted bread crusts between the two of them.
"I think it'll make you rich, but what I really want to know is how you know me...?" Zesshi began with a furrowed brow.
"Bertra, that's the name I go by now. It means 'to carry between' sort of, in a dead language of..." She dropped her voice to very low, "First World." Bertra said and held Zesshi's eyes.
The eyes of the Queen narrowed instantly. "And before your name was 'Bertra' what was it?"
The woman calling herself Bertra, hung her head in a gesture of shame. "I'm so sorry... please know that, I am not saying this because you're here, or because I'm afraid of what you'll do to me, I truly wish things had gone differently, that I'd listened to you. That I'd heard you and seen what was going on... back when my name was 'Berenice' and I was a Cardinal of the Six."
Zesshi's narrowed eyes went wide. "You're alive... you're really she... I thought... how?"
Bertra lowered her gaze, "A bargain gone very wrong, or very right, depending on how you look at it. After he rescued me, the Sorcerer King let me stay in Nazarick for a few weeks, and let me see some of his domain, I was very well treated there. When the Forton conference began, I asked to observe. He made a bargain with me, if I would allow an experiment in transformation to be done on me, to turn me into an elf to work as a servant, he would allow me to go. I was... there, I served you tea once, I saw it all. But the experiment went wrong, and I couldn't return to being human. So... His Majesty rewarded me with a handful of valuable coins and chose to let me live out my life elsewhere. I chose here. Opened a book shop, and now here you are."
Berenice summed up in a hushed voice which told Queen Zesshi that the former Cardinal's sense of awe over it all had yet to fade.
"Now... you know who I am, and I am your subject, in your power, to do with as you want." Bertra lowered her eyes humbly. "I won't blame you, if you end my life, as Raymond said once, a few weeks of decency doesn't erase a lifetime of wrong."
Zesshi didn't respond right away, she instead sipped the tea and dipped the baked bread into it, stirring it for a bit before she took a bite. "If I overlook the fact that you live, and are here, what will you do with your life?" She asked.
"You've changed. A few years ago, my head would already be on the floor." Berenice said, but then continued, "I will try to understand more of the different flesh I find myself in... try to make a life for myself, but also try to build bridges... to break the past. I have a whole set of shelves for elves to write the narratives of their lives, so that the wrongs endured under the Theocracy will indict it forever, and I'm exporting those to the human kingdoms, it isn't much, but it is what I can do." Her head still hung, but sincerity dripped from her every word.
Zesshi nodded slightly, "I won't take your head, former Cardinal. But I will be ordering some of those books to have them copied and distributed to the lending libraries all over the Sorcerous Empire. You were wrong, but your death for that won't fix anything, and the name he gave you, I think he gave you for a reason. Put your new life to use, making up for the old. Nobody will know who you were, not from my lips. But I have to ask, you've probably heard, given the buzz about the city before I'd even gone fifty yards from the palace, about the Synod vote, how do you feel about that?"
Bertra slowly raised her head, "It was the right decision. Maybe a new god is what this world needs, not just to follow, but to set an example. Maybe Neia was right all along. I may mourn some things of the past that were part of my life, but something new is starting, and I want to see what that is. I keep a candle lit for my friends so I don't forget but... we'll make tomorrow better with One or Seven, than we ever did with just those Six."
"Good outlook, now, I need a few books, perhaps you can help me." Queen Zesshi said as she drained her cup and stood.
Bertra was only a hair behind her and led the way back out to the many shelves, "Of course, Your Majesty, what are you looking for?" She said in a professional tone as she began to point out various sections, a smile on her face reflected in the glass window at the front of the shop.
...Illyana's House...
"So... that is what happened. That is what I did, and that is why I did it." The young man said in a hollow voice, "And that is why I haven't had a good night's sleep since."
Neia looked around at the others in the room, a half a dozen veterans like her, two other women, she saw her face in each one of them, the face she had when she wasn't wearing a mask. The room was mostly empty, distraction free.
"Neia, your turn." The group counselor said to her after thanking the previous speaker.
She swallowed. "I don't know what to say. Everybody knows who I am, most of my deeds... what can I tell you that you haven't heard already?" She asked, without even a hint of pride.
"Tell us what we don't know, but that gets to you nonetheless." The counselor urged her.
She rubbed the back of her left hand with the palm of her right and met no eyes for a long moment. "I wear a mask because I think I have to. I can't show anybody the things I'm thinking, so I'm always hiding it behind either politeness, if for no other reason so they don't see how angry I really am, how hopeless I really feel. I feel like a turtle who can't poke its head out of its own shell. I don't even know why I wear the mask anymore except that I'm used to it, and I don't know how not to anymore. I'm outwardly the impossibly strong... but inwardly I'm dying, my own mind is tearing me apart worse than my torturer ever did. Remedios... the things she did... the things I saw, the things I ordered done... the things I did myself. I'm twisted up in so many knots that I don't even know how to untangle them anymore. But I want to... that's why I'm here. After I tried to take my life, all I thought about was wanting to live, and when I knew I would... well, here I am. Maybe I can't be who I was, but I can still find a life with who I am. At least, I'll try to."
...Illyana's House...Weeks Later...
"She is alive, if you want to confront her." Ainz said as he stood in Neia's room.
"Alive? Remedios is alive...?! But father, I took her head?!" Neia sat on the bed and stared at him with eyes that seemed to have lost the power to blink.
She sat mute as Ainz explained the 'head' project and that Remedios's head was now the last living part of her, and that every time a nonhuman approached her, she would burst into flames. Neia sat, and listened, at first a look of hurt and betrayal crossed her face as she learned he'd restored her enemy to life, but hot on its heels was a peaceful smile of vindictiveness. "That... seems fitting, given her fondness for burning my followers. But why... confront her?"
"Because of what she did to you. Because of what she'd done to you before, because you have questions that nobody else alive can answer, all the others are gone." Ainz replied from where he sat.
The quiet stretched between them, before he went on, "I am a god. I can do much, but for you, who I think of as if you were one of my own children, who I cannot see any other way, I can do nothing. Your recovery is in your hands and your hands alone, I will not order this, but if you wish to get answers, to things before the war itself, before you were enemies, she is your best chance."
"Father... can you open the gate, please? And... may I have privacy with her?" Neia asked after pondering what he'd had to say, she stood up from the bed, the gate opened, and she was gone.
...Somewhere in the Elf Kingdom...
"You look like shit." Neia said as she looked down at the head of Remedios, before pulling large rock over and sitting at eye level with the remnants of her former rival. Her head was sitting on a long tubelike object that ran into a small black box, and several more tubes ran up from within which were in turn secured to the tube her head sat centered on.
Remedios looked at her silently, as if trying to tell if she was seeing something real, or if it was a delusion.
"Neia... Neia Baraja... you... here? Undead loving bitch, have you come to watch me burn...?" Remedios asked defiantly.
"No. Not that." Neia replied benignly. "Nobody will interrupt us, and you won't suffer while I'm here. I've just come with a question, maybe more than one." Neia's face was almost gentle, and Remedios felt a profound discomfort stir in her at the difference between this and the monster she recalled.
"Is this a trick?" She asked with a furrowed brow.
"There's nothing left of you but a head, no reason to trick you." Neia said with a dismissive snort.
"Ask your question then." Remedios grumbled.
"I... want to know something, way back then, before the war, when we were all desperate and in the same boat... you'd already decided you despised me. That much was clear. But... why all the rest? Out of all of you, the only one to say two words of decency to me before His Majesty was Gustav. I want to know why? What did I do to deserve that?"
Remedios narrowed her eyes. "You really have no idea? No, this is a trick, isn't it?" Her voice began to fill with panic as the facade of courage started to fade. "No... you're here to torture me, aren't you... you have to hate me more than anyone else alive... you're here to... what are you going to do to me?! What else do you want from me?! I'm nothing but a head now! Isn't it enough that I feel flames peel my flesh off every day whenever an elf or a demihuman walks past me on this cursed road?!"
Neia let the woman rant, the brown hair and proud face were both no more, and she felt something very unexpected as she looked at the head shake as if trying to dislodge herself and escape. Nothing. She felt nothing. Not even the satisfaction she expected.
"How about if I tell you when your suffering is going to end." Neia proposed, and Remedios went silent as the tomb.
"Really?" Remedios asked hopefully, her face was desperate beyond measure.
"Yes." Neia folded her arms in front of herself. "Really."
"Fine, you got what you got because you weren't one of us. You wore the uniform, sure. You did your job, but out of all of us... you were the only one to not object to seeking help from the Sorcerer King. You didn't even think about what the gods thought about it... it is true we went along for it, but though you came from us, you weren't one of us. You were unrighteous, how could we have anything to do with you?!" Remedios spat the last words out with unrepentant hatred.
"Oh." Neia whispered as she thought back. "I see now... Gods over comrades, how did I not notice that before?"
Remedios could not really nod, but Neia could see the condemnation in her eyes. "If you'd been one of us, you'd have known that, they come first, before friends, before family, before comrades, before everything else, everything you ever got from us, you got because we knew you weren't really one of us at heart, and you went and proved that better than I ever imagined. I was right to hurt you, I was only wrong in that I didn't kill you. If I could have hurt you worse... you know how I pass the time between burnings..." Hate and vindictiveness filled Remedios's voice, and when Neia didn't answer, she went on, "I fill it with fantasies of all the ways I'd torture you if I got the chance again. Sometimes it's petty, like how I could have said harsher words as we went to E-Rantel, maybe belittled you more... other times I think of how I cut you up in Hoburns, and imagine cutting you more you undead loving bitch." Remedios spat vindictively.
"My hate for you is my favorite entertainment." Remedios glared, "Now tell me, how does this nightmare end!" She screeched into the silent area around them.
Neia reached out to the hateful remains of Remedios, and stroked her head slowly, Remedios trembled with rage until Neia drew her hand back and let it fall at her side. "Your suffering will end when as much of you has burned as your victims. My lord is just, you endure what you inflict, depending on how many you burned, you may be here for a year, or a thousand years, that I don't know. But I know this... that it will end. Let that knowledge be my parting gift to you. I got what I wanted, in more ways than one, and I can do something quite unexpected because of it."
Remedios frowned. "Unexpected?" She asked.
"Yes, I can let go, I realize how small you all were now, how petty, how... weak, you're like the six, dead, but inside. I don't want to be 'you' anymore, so I'm going to let go, and if I'm lucky, I'll think of you only rarely, and if I can manage it, I'll never think of you again, but if I do... it will be with pity." Neia said and touched Remedios's face as the head shook with anger at the tranquil response of the former squire.
"Oh, one more thing." Neia said as she turned away, "The Synod voted to include the Sorcerer King into the canon, there are now 'Seven' gods, not six. It was two hundred and eighteen to two."
When the gate opened, she heard Remedios howl at her back as she stepped away and left the woman alone, and to her redoubled surprise, she felt no real satisfaction at the woman's agony, instead she thought, 'What a waste.' And remembered the hanging of the priest who tried to assassinate her, and that she'd thought the same thing the day he died.
"Getting there." She thought with relief as she went to her room and laid on the bed and fell into a blessed, dreamless sleep.