God Rising

Chapter 122

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

AN: Kudos to the beta readers for some neat ideas along the way, i.e. the mandrake scene and giving Entoma some screen time, might have to increase her role a bit. Also, yeah I know it isn't back to the action yet, I need a day or two to review previous chapters before I get to them in earnest, so this is a little bit of entertaining filler, a little humor, a little perspective stuff, that kind of thing, before I get back to the meat of the story after reviewing the twenty chapters or so before the siege took place. Enjoy another double release day! Act III technically starts with this, but...really it might be better counted as the chapters after this, and their time in Nazarick will be fairly short, 1-3 chapters, just enough time for me to gather what I need to get Act III going in earnest. Quite frankly by the way, it is possible that God Rising will run for 300 chapters, I never get my estimates right, but 200 now seems FAR to short.

...Nazarick...the Music Room...

Vanysa sat in the chair and looked at her former tormentor. Her arms were resting on her thighs just where they met the knees, and bent upwards so that her chin was resting on her thumbs, and her fingers formed a pyramid in front of her lips. Astraka was chained naked to the wall, exactly the way she had been. He was unconscious now, he hadn't been awhile ago. She was in her human shape, she even wore her old clothing, or a facsimile of it. It was made to look just like what she'd worn the night he took her and ruined what had been left of her former life.

In short, she looked beautiful and sweet, the way she did before sadism and insanity had been grafted by fire and pain onto her nature. He was unconscious, he'd passed out after the chains had been affixed. She didn't mind that. It was for the best, it gave her time to think. That was why she'd chosen to look this way, she wanted him to remember everything, and she drew out every single detail that she could remember, from the way she'd worn her hair, to just the right shade of green and brown to her clothing. She wore earth tones, the things she'd loved, it reminded her of where she'd come from once upon a time, and they'd been the only decent clothes she still had before they'd been cut off her body and torn to shreds no matter how she'd kicked and screamed and fought.

He started to stir. "G'mornin, sunshine." She greeted sweetly, "Time to wake up and start the day, we've got ever so much time to play, so don't you sleep the day away!" She chirped in a cheerful, sing-song voice. His head stirred further and he gradually looked up.

"So it wasn't a dream, huh." Astraka mumbled groggily as he brought his arms up in front of him and looked at the chains that bound him.

"No, it was only the beginning of your nightmare, and you don't get to wake up from that." Vanysa's voice became sharp, watching the man before her finding his bearings.

Astraka looked around. "No, I suppose I won't. I'm now in your place, and you are in mine." A sigh came from Astraka as he realized what was happening.

"Correct, anything to say, now that our positions are reversed?" She challenged.

He shrugged, his chains making clinking sounds in the action, "Would anything I say make a difference?"

"Maybe." She replied, arching her eyebrow in a hint of curiosity.

He thought a moment, "You were in between me and saving my kingdom, what would you have done in my place?"

Her lip twitched at the left corner.

"Can you tell me one thing though, before we... well begin, I guess?" He requested, a bit resigned.

"Ask." She stated as she got up from the chair and went to the wall and selected a whip that had appeared in her nightmares over and over again.

"Before all this, I had nightmares, I saw everything through your eyes, was that really your doing?" He questioned.

"Yes, and everything you dreamt, was how it all felt to me." She answered as she cracked the whip a few times, testing it out without looking at him.

"I see. So when you were in the carriage, the things I thought..." He began.

"Yes, those were my thoughts, those were my feelings when you touched my beautiful hair... when your eyes moved over me, when..." Vanysa muttered and went very tense.

"Then all I can say to that," he answered, "is that the thoughts you believed were mine, were not. You misunderstood my intent." He explained as calmly as he could as she started walking over.

That gave her pause, however, "Do you think I'm stupid?" She quizzed incredulously, "After all the ways I've managed to utterly ruin you just by virtue of my own work, you still think I'm some stupid peasant who'll believe you just because you say so?"

He shook his head with a hint of vehemence, "No, I think it is abundantly clear that you were never stupid. But I think your experience colored your perception, I swear to you, I was not ever looking at you the way I did because I had intentions of violating you, I meant what I said about that at the time, and I mean it now." His voice was sincere at least, she granted him that much.

"Explain it then." She demanded as she set the whip down in the chair and approached, her erinyes strength forced him to stand as she pulled up the chains and forced him to his feet.

"You were an unknown quantity, a person closely tied to the most dangerous enemy my nation could ever have faced. I didn't know what you could do, what you were capable of. I didn't know what you might try or how effective it might be. I had to do everything I could to draw your knowledge from you, while at the same time making absolutely sure that you were secure and couldn't escape. You don't have to believe me, I'm sure you can extract the truth from me some other way. If you were horrified and disgusted by the thought that I might rape you, know that I was equally disgusted by the prospect of it happening. I did things that hurt you, I don't deny it, to save my kingdom from a repeat of disastrous rule, I'd do it again and I won't apologize for it. But I am not a monster, I didn't enjoy any of it, and the thing you feared I would do, I swear on my life, I would never have done."

She looked at him blankly.

"If I were going to do that, what do you think I was waiting for? Maybe you could believe I'd hold back while I was being nice and trying to bribe you, but once you were naked in the dungeon, if that were my intent, wouldn't I have done that first?" He expressed his thoughts, anticipating the answer from the woman of considerable intellect in front of him.

Vanysa thought it over, "I suppose that is true." She said thoughtfully after securing his chains and returning to pick the whip back up. "I'll believe you on that I guess, but... that doesn't change the rest, you felt it in nightmares, but trust me, the reality is worse." She remarked and the whip lashed out, "Oh and by the way," she continued as he screamed, "I do enjoy it now, thanks to you, and I'm very, very good at it."

"Get on with it then." He said with resignation.

"Don't tell me what to do." She replied, and started to laugh insanely as she wielded the whip.

It was hours before she was done and she skipped to the baths happily wearing the blood of her tormentor.

...Nazarick...Guest room...

Neia regretted not being able to see Blue Rose off, but people meet and people part, and that was the way it had to be. Although she did find herself hoping they would meet again soon as far apart, they tried to turn the wheel of the world further by pushing against its spokes.

It made her smirk as she remembered the suspicion and near hostility they had for one another when Lakyus had first sought her help. In a relatively short time they'd come to respect one another, even appreciate each other. Not long after that, with the reveal of Evileye's nature, Lakyus turned to her for advice, and when the great burning of Wenmark had been underway, Neia's gratitude towards Blue Rose as a whole had grown tenfold. Time and events had made them into good, perhaps even close, friends, as well as allies in the same cause. So leaving her behind without even a fare thee well had been unfortunate.

"What are you thinking about, dear?" Skana asked as they put on robes to go to the bath.

"Nothing important, just thinking it was a shame I couldn't see Lakyus off." Neia replied casually.

Jumping in shock, Skana clutched at her breast and stared at her wife wide-eyed, "You're thinking of another woman on our vacation!" For a moment Neia thought she was serious, but her wife could not keep a straight face much longer than it took to wink, and they both burst into laughter.

"Hey, I'm married, not dead, and I reserve the right to look, I'm fifty percent better at it than you are anyway." Neia smirked, and blinked both eyes at her.

Skana's mouth opened in surprise at the verbal riposte. "Uh huh, well just remember, I've still got this one on you." Skana said and pointed at the emerald green eye she still had, "Plus since you have two of them, you should be done looking twice as fast, while 'I' get to look for twice as long." She responded with a smug grin.

"Fair enough, but maybe 'don't' do that if we see the guardians bathe, I have no idea just how Lady Albedo would react to that, and I do not want to explain the mess that may result, to the Sorcerer King." Neia cautioned lightly, wagging her finger with great amusement.

"Yeah OK, fine." Skana relented with her hands up in the air with mock disappointment as they headed out the door. A short while later they were laying aside their robes and descending into the beautiful heated waters, only to find that they were not entirely alone.

Not far away was a very familiar blond girl scrubbing dried blood off of fair skin. She waved hello politely, but didn't approach or stop what she was doing for longer than it took to wave. "She looks familiar." Skana whispered.

Neia nodded, "Her name is Vanysa, you've met briefly, but I've met her several times." Neia whispered.

"You know I can hear you, right?" Vanysa voiced out with an amused laugh.

To make her point, she allowed her wings to emerge and the fair skin and blond hair became gold skin and black hair, and she sat before them as a demoness. "Yeah... demon senses, remember?"

"Oh... right." Mildly embarrassed, Skana apologized, "Sorry."

"No worries." Vanysa acknowledged warmly, "You've had a lot going on, and your wife has met me more times than you, and much more closely." She chuckled.

"Say what?" Skana asked, turning to Neia with an arched eyebrow.

"Damn it, Vanysa! Don't say it 'that' way!" Neia exclaimed, her voice having a hint of panic and exasperation.

Vanysa laughed, it rang like crystal bells and she shook her head. "Sorry, no Skana, your wife and I have definitely not had some torrid affair, as far as I know she's been completely faithful to you, despite countless opportunities otherwise..." She shrugged.

Neia was blushing beet red, "Vanysa, do me a favor, and don't be on my side anymore." She sighed heavily and rubbed her forehead at the bridge of her nose.

Skana chose to save what was left of her wife's dignity. "So ahh, can you explain the blood?" She asked casually, reminding herself to add that to the list of sentences she never expected to say casually in her entire life.

"Oh, it belongs to my special guest, the former King, Astraka. Today I stayed in my human shape, I even wore the clothes I had on when he kidnapped me, this is my first time with him for this kind of retribution, and I wanted it to be as memorable for him as it was for me." Vanysa replied contentedly.

"Oh. Sorry I asked." Skana muttered numbly.

Neia however, was interested. "Did he have a hand in taking Tinamoc?"

Vanysa nodded. "I'm certain of it." She said. Her voice took on a hard edge, "I suppose I owe both you and him a bit of an apology, as it was outside my mission scope. I didn't think to see if maybe he'd taken any prisoners. If the dopples encountered any hint of it, well I didn't think to ask. I was so focused on what I was trying to do that I didn't think of what else was going on." She lowered her gaze, "I'm sorry."

"You weren't his torturer," Neia replied empathetically, "nor were you responsible for his safety or his capture. Unfortunately as it was that you missed an opportunity, finding him would have been very unlikely unless you were specifically looking for him."

Neia's face held a hint of sadness, but she quickly shoved it aside, "I want to see that man." She stood up, her voice had a hateful edge to it.

"Neia, no. Not now, not today." Skana begged, "Please, I just want some 'us' time, without thinking of revenge, without thinking of war or goals or progress, just to 'be' for a little while, here, now, in the present." Skana reached her hand out, and gently flicked Neia's nose.

Neia sat back down into the heated water and leaned back into her wife's arms. "Fine. That's fair." She relented in a more relaxed manner. "He's not going anywhere anytime soon, is he?" She inquired with a smile.

"No, definitely not." Shaking her head, Vanysa reassured Neia, "Definitely not."

"Another time then, just promise not to kill him until I have gotten a visit." Neia said hopefully.

"Promise made." Vanysa responded, "In the meantime," she perked up happily as she clapped, her eyes sparkling, "His Majesty said you'd be here, and you'll have two maids and myself at your disposal."

"Two?" Neia asked.

"Yup, for this weekend, CZ will be at your service, as will Entoma. Me, I've got other work, but if yah want anything that the tomb doesn't have, it'll be my job to fetch it for yah." Vanysa said sweetly as she shifted into the shape of an erinyes and began to scrub her horns.

"Ah, well that is wonderful and all, but isn't three a bit much?" Skana asked.

Vanysa shook her head, "Nope, 'parently not. An' besides, the maids, even the battle maids, they don't leave the tomb much other than CZ or the others who have specific tasks. His Majesty gets real worried bout 'em, but ahm ok out there on account of I lived out there an know how things work." Vanysa started to scrub her wings.

"I see, are you as strong as they are though?" Skana asked curiously.

Vanysa's eyes went calculating for a moment as she thought the question over. "I don't know, probably not, but knowledge is its own power, I know how to blend, behave, and can adjust my behavior with greater versatility than they usually can. So if you want anyone or anything brought to you, I will see it done."

"Well, thank you." Skana said politely, quietly reminding herself that 'normal' took on an entirely new meaning when it came to Nazarick.

"Till then, lemme show you something really neat." She said, standing up and going to the water's edge, getting out, and beginning to dress. "You're done bathing, right?" She asked.

"Uh, yeah." Neia said cautiously. "What is it you want us to see?"

Vanysa had a cheshire grin on her face, and after walking for a short while, they were on the sixth floor looking down at a circle of plants.

"What's neat about these?" Skana asked dubiously.

Vanysa just kept looking down at them as Neia and Skana traded doubtful expressions.

"Just wait." She said softly. Then as she looked down at the plants, she recited, "Long live Ainz Ooal Gown."

Then up jumped the entire ring out of the ground and they began to bounce, shouting "Long live Ainz Ooal Gown." over and over again. They began to move in a circle while the couple watched, fascinated.

"Can they say anything else?" Neia asked, her eyes still glued to the chanting plants.

"According to Lady Aura, no, they can't. They're not very intelligent, but she taught them to say this much." Vanysa replied with a happy smile on her face.

Skana enjoyed watching the funny little things, their little brown wooden like appendages bouncing, their tiny little arms flailed, their faces some weird amalgam of cute and horrifying, their high pitched, almost childlike voices. But as she took her gaze away, her eyes fell to the demoness, she wore a joyful face, much like a little girl might if she found a kitten in need of a home and being told she could keep it. It was hard to square it with the woman calmly washing blood off her body after torturing someone.

If it seemed that Neia favored the woman, then Skana, in her heart's ledger, put a question mark beneath Vanysa's name. Whatever she was, entirely sane did not seem to be it.

After watching the little mandrake plants for awhile, Vanysa looked up, "Why doncha go change, ah believe they gots some clothes for yah as a lil present left in yer room, an if yah haven't yet, go to the Nazarick bar? Go have somethin ta eat, drink, and relax, if'n yah don't know the way, well CZ an Entoma are probably already atcher room waitin on yah." Vanysa gave them a big toothy grin that looked entirely absurd on a torturer or a demoness.

"Ah, I think that's a great idea." Skana nodded, and tugged at Neia's hands.

Neia reluctantly looked up, "Yes, that would be fun." She smiled with tranquil contentment and followed her wife, when they arrived at the suite that had been prepared for them, they found Entoma and CZ waiting for them just as Vanysa had said. Neia had never really gotten a close look at Entoma before, and though she'd spoken with CZ before about her sisters, Entoma in fact did not meet that expectation when looking at her from only a few feet away. She looked like an ordinary teenage girl, and when the couple entered the room, she and CZ both curtseyed in accordance with their current task as maids.

Neia took it in stride, Skana however, coming from a peasant background of lower social status than Neia, still found it in herself to be a little awkward in receiving such an honorific, and she gave a weak smile in return.

"So we'd like to head to the bar and have some breakfast, how about a change of clothes." Neia said happily, taking the initiative for her wife.

Skana chose to follow Neia's lead in this, and as Neia did not move from where she stood, neither did Skana. They simply waited as the maids replied, "Of course." And went to the wardrobes to remove a set of garments.

CZ approached Neia and gently began helping her friend out of her clothing, Neia took it in stride, allowing herself to be stripped. Though she looked with askance at the choice the maid demon had made for her. "Ah, is that really 'me'?" Neia asked, looking at a blue and white dress.

"Cute." CZ said emphatically.

Neia shrugged. "If you say so."

Skana though, spoke up as Entoma tried to undress her with, "Ah, I can take off my own clothing, it's quite alright." Entoma's face did not change its expression, but her step back was clearly unhappy.

Neia looked over to her wife, "This is how things work in these situations my love, let her do her job or you'll be disrespecting both the Sorcerer King and the effort she puts into her job." Her voice was mild, but carried a very slight hint of rebuke.

"You're right, sorry." She looked back at the girl in front of her, "Please proceed, I meant no disrespect, I'm just not used to being treated this way." Skana apologized, and though Entoma's expression did not change, there was a definitive air of relief about her.

"It's alright," she said in the airy voice of a teenage girl, "think nothing of my discomfort, it is only that years ago someone said nobody would want me to serve them and as a being born to serve, it was a hurtful thing to say to me, and I simply remembered it just now." Entoma explained.

Skana felt exceptionally bad just then, and gave a warm and sincere smile, "Please accept my double apology then." She stretched her arms back her so that the maid could pull her shirt off. "I'm sure you're an excellent maid, you're doing a fine, efficient job with me, and I'm happy to let you fulfill your place, any discomfort is due to my own past, not your performance and I ask your forgiveness for even the perception of rudeness." Skana spoke quickly, succinctly, and sincerely, and the maid attending to her clearly warmed up with what had been said.

"I will remember that." Entoma replied pleasantly.

"But, is this really me?" Skana asked as she looked at the blood red dress with green trim laid out on the bed.

"Cute." Neia, CZ, and Entoma responded in unison.

"Well, I guess I'll have to trust the experts on this one." Skana said patiently, "But it'll be strange to wear a dress again, I can't remember the last time I wore something that wasn't related to combat." She laughed a little bit at that, "I suppose I'll have to get used to it again sooner or later."

"You and me both." Neia agreed as the maids brought the dresses over their heads and pulled them down, as if in sync with one another, CZ and Entoma went behind them and pulled the laces tight at the back and secured them with a well-practiced motion.

"Done." CZ and Entoma said together.

Neia and Skana then went to the front of a mirror and looked at their reflections, "Yeah, not bad, good call." Neia said and rendered a thumbs up to the pair of maids.

"No kidding, I look great." Skana added and gave herself a twirl. The maids faces were neutral, but Neia did not miss the sense of a smug 'I told you so' satisfaction coming off of them in spirit.

"Now, to the bar!" Neia proclaimed, enthusiastically pointing in the direction they'd first come from.

"That is not the way to the bar." Entoma explained, slightly tilting her head.

"It doesn't matter! I'm pointing dramatically!" Neia insisted enthusiastically.

"Oh." CZ voiced. Skana rolled her good eye, but Neia stubbornly refused to change the direction in which she was pointing.

"Ah… which way 'is' the bar though? I do need that information." Neia added sheepishly, still not changing the direction in which she was pointing.

"You can stop pointing now." Skana said dryly, barely holding back further laughter.

"Please take us." Skana said, turning to the maids, "She'll point that way all day if you don't." Her lips started to crack as she tried with ever greater difficulty to restrain her own urge to laugh.

"Yes, this way." Entoma said and opened the door. As they exited, CZ fell in behind the pair, and within a few minutes, they found their way.

When they entered, much to their surprise, the Sorcerer King was seated at a large table with the other guardians, telling a story, as soon as they saw him, their immediate impulse, and that of their maid attendants, was to kneel, however the Sorcerer King saw them and waved them over, apparently in good spirits.

"Come, you are guests, take a seat and join us. I was just telling a story about some of my comrades, you might enjoy this one."

As fast as they moved, in none of their minds could it have been fast enough as they rushed over to hear a story like that for themselves.