Gate: Thus the Brotherhood of Steel Lyon's Pride Fought in Their Land

Chapter Thirty - Three - Rory Mercury

There was a building respect for the adventurer named Kazuma. She respected that he was able to use his skills to get into places undetected. She more respected that he seemed to be willing to put himself into harm's way to protect those he cared about. That included the useless goddess that followed him. Even though he complained the loudest about her there was something akin to a friendship there. She felt that the same was happening between her and Adam.

She felt he was a friend, and while he was centuries younger than her it was nice to be able to respect someone for being a warrior. Sentinel Reeder was different. She respected him, and while again she was much older than he was, there was something closer to a peer than simply respecting as a warrior. Reeder was more like a soldier, but one that fought for the morals and codes that he held close to his heart. She deeply respected that.

She looked at Lelei who remained close to Adam. The sage hadn't put it into words, but she understood all too well. She felt safe around him. She felt comfortable, and she was likely wondering if he would be interested in her. Part of her wished her well, and part of her wanted to demand that she get into line. A very small part of her wanted to say that she had seen him first. She had a little over seventy years in this form before she became a being of pure spirit. At that point she could take whatever form she wanted, but she would never again desire the pleasures of the flesh. A small blush crossed her cheeks. She wanted, so badly, to be taken. It wasn't against her order to do so.

In truth, Emroy actively wanted his apostles to take lovers. The reason was that death was not at all scary. It was merely part of life. And Emroy believed that all that served death needed to be engaged in life. That included being mated. There were others that had taken the steps forward to take a mate. Some had lived with a single person for that person's entire life. They had watched them grow old, took care of them, and when their time came they reaped them gently.

It was their final gift to their various beloved. Did Rory have a few fantasies which involved Adam? Absolutely. She imagined him, Sentinel Sarah Lyons, Princess Piña Co Lada, and Knight Bozes Co Palesti taking her to bed. They would strip the ceremonial dress from her, lay her bare before them, and each take turns ravishing her. The event would last the night, and she would awaken completely sated.

It was a fantasy she had lost herself to a few times, and one that she actively knew would end with her reaping each of them. Likely it would be either Adam or Sarah that was taken first. They were warriors born. They actively protected those weaker than themselves, and they went out of their way to ensure that safety was to be had for those that asked for it. They were the kind of people that were the true avatars of Emroy. They were exactly what battle and war were meant to be for.

It was not to merely conquer a people, but to right wrongs. She had never fully explained it to Adam, but that was the problem with Grognak. He had the ability, the skill, and the knowledge to do so much. Instead, he had squandered all of it. He had done so, and then he began conquering the smaller groups around him. His actions led to the creation of the empire. Not that there was anything specifically wrong with it now, but in its early days it was more than a mess.

She had considered, countless times, of simply ending it before it could grow, but the fact that people were somewhat protected she decided to leave it be. Since some good came of it she felt the end had certainly justified the means, but it didn't mean that she liked Grognak any better. He was still a waste of potential, and certainly a waste of time. The one good thing that had come out of him was Princess Piña Co Lada. Mostly she believed that because the princess was now connected to Adam.

Still, her mind stopped its wandering as she watched Kazuma return to them. Once he was close enough to the door it opened and he stepped inside, "Okay, he said as he neared them, "There's a ton of traps that I disabled, and most of them feel like they were set up by kids."

He stopped for a moment and then shook his head, "Look, those kids, whoever they were," he said as he looked at them all, "They're still locked up here. They're inside of some kind of status pods. According to what I found on the terminals in there it seems like the status pods haven't let them age."

He closed his eyes, "They're still children, locked away, and completely driven insane," he said the last part as he opened his eyes, and she noticed that he was looking past them and directly at who was obviously his lover, "They're insane, and they were left to rot."

She watched as his lover didn't waste time. She neared him, hugged him close, and he returned the favor. The two of them held one another for a few moments before he finally looked at the rest of them, "I don't know what you want to do, but my vote is to find a way to get out of this alive, and maybe, just maybe, find some help for them."

There was a moment of quiet, "Are the status pods connected to the power here?" Sentinel Reeder asked, "Or do you know how they're connected?"

She watched as he shook his head, "The terminals I could get to mostly had journal entries from the nurse that stayed until she died. They're all about how the children were affected by the sedatives anymore," he replied, "It didn't go over the technical aspects of it."

There was a moment of silence before Adam walked up toward the terminal in the small room they were in. She watched as he opened his power armor and stepped out and then crawled under the desk. There was a few moments of silence, "Yeah, they're all networked in together," he said after a moment, "It's a direct network, just like in Vault 101. I'm guessing that there's a larger computer here, something pretty state of the art, and I bet that they were hooked up to it keep track of their pods."

There was a moment of silence, "And the moment they were no longer sedated they began being able to access it," Sentinel Reeder replied, "Yeah, that checks. So, we have to find a way to limit their connection without disabling it completely. That's not going to be easy."

Children. It wasn't uncommon for children to die, but it was something that wasn't seen as a victory to Emroy. Children were the future. They were legacies in flesh, the ability to carry on the traditions of families, and the way for stories of old to continue. The fact that children had been left here in a place between life and death bothered her. At the very least they should have been allowed to find the sacred rest promised to all at the end of their time. Instead, from what they heard on the terminal, and from what Kazuma had said there were multiple children all stuck here.

She looked toward the door he had come from. Part of her screamed to go through it. To find their prisons, and to release them. Even death would be preferred to being trapped inside of a hellish nightmare. She watched as Kazuma finally seemed to regain some composure, "Aqua, you can heal anything, right?"

There was a moment of silence, and she was wondering if this idiot goddess actually had the power. She was surprised to see her nod, "Yeah," she said after a moment, "I mean I can heal all kinds of wounds and sickness. It's part of my abilities. Did you forget or something?"

He shook his head, "So, if we find these kids, and we free them, can you heal them, all of them?"

There was a moment of silence before she opened her mouth and then closed it again. She tried to form the words, to state her opinions, and then finally she shook her head, "Not at once," she replied, "In my current form I can heal two or three at once, and then I can move on. I don't know how bad of condition they're in though."

"I can cast healing magic," Lelei said after a moment, "It's not difficult, and my healing magic can heal most injuries that aren't life threatening."

He nodded and then looked between the two of them, "If we can find out how many there are, and where they are, can you both work through them? Get to all of them, and make sure to cure them all?"

Rory understood what he was getting at. He wanted to save them. He wanted to give them a chance to live their lives before they were reaped. She could respect that. She looked at the others there, "What about the golems, the protectrons? Can they help them?"

There was a moment of quiet before Adam shook his head, "Most medical protectrons aren't able to perform high functioning surgeries or assist in that way. They're mainly used for first aid and for attempting to resuscitate someone. Maybe Sawbones could help, but I'm not sure that his technical expertise would really be that much of a help."

There were a few moments of quiet, "There are a few wandering doctors in the wasteland. It's possible that one of them could help, but I'd almost bet the best help they could get would be Doctor Barrows," he said as he looked at them, "I mean, he's been a surgeon and doctor for over two hundred years. If there's a cure or surgery to be had he'd be the one that would know the most about it."

She nodded. At least there could be some hope, "I doubt that Doctor Barrows would be much use," Sentinel Reeder said, "Not that I doubt his skill, but if these children were put into stasis pods, then their lives were beyond the help of medical science at the time. Since then, there hasn't been a whole lot of work toward improving medical science. Doctor Barrows has mostly been looking at what causes ghoulification and super mutants. His research has been very specific. Unless the children in those pods are suffering from FEV I doubt that he will be much help beyond what normal medical science had before the great war."

Rory looked at him, and she felt her heart sink. She then looked back at the two with them that was these children's hope. Currently their hope resided in an idiot goddess, and a very talented sage. Lelei was incredibly talented. She could undoubtedly cure several of non life threatening injuries, but if they were at the brink of death their one hope was the idiot.

"Can you help them?" Rory asked her, her voice not baring its normal edge, "Can you save these souls, or should we resign ourselves to end their suffering?"

Aqua stood there, and she watched as she looked back at her. The brilliant blue eyes of the goddess looked determined. It was almost as if something had lit inside of her. As if she realized that this was important, "I can try," she said with as much confidence as she could muster, "I can try to save as many of them as I can."

It wasn't a guarantee, but it was far better than what they had a few moments ago. It was a better chance, and she could work with that. Once they were saved she would suggest that they be taken back to their world. Give them a chance to grow up in a world that was still beautiful. Not that this world wasn't beautiful, but it was far too dangerous for children that hadn't been born here. They wouldn't understand the dangers, and she would want them to have a true chance.

She would make the suggestion, but only after they had saved them. Of course, she would point them in service of Emroy, although she would not deny Aqua the chance to gain a few followers. It would only be right for her to do so. She would be saving them, and she understood that in this form she likely was limited. She still didn't know why she chose to take a mortal form, but regardless of the reason she at least seemed willing to help. It was a step in the right direction.

With the suggestion made the only issue was moving forward. For Rory the decision was an immensely easy one. She would happily lead the way to where they needed to go. While death was truly the great equalizer she had no desire to reap children. She preferred that they live the full lives each of them deserved. In that regard, she was much like Kazuma. She felt that they deserved their chance to live. She felt they deserved their chance to see the world for the beautiful place it was. It was Adam that got her attention when he cleared his throat.

"I found a layout of the medical center," he said after a moment, "I've got it downloaded into my Pip Boy, and I've got an idea where the main connection and power is. Once we get there if we're lucky we should be able to find a way to divert the power without completely shutting it down."

She felt excited that he had found a possible solution. Still, if the worst was to happen then Aqua and Lelei would do all that they could. She couldn't ask for more than that. Hopefully it would be enough to ensure that they all survived. She watched as Adam looked at them, "Okay, Kazuma, you said that the floor you went down had the traps removed, right?"

Kazuma nodded, "I made sure of it, but that doesn't mean that they won't have access to any of the robots."

The robots were a problem only in their potential numbers. If they were anything like the protectrons then there was no reason to worry about their maneuverability. Of course, that robot that had been inside of the girl was different. It was quick, and it had been what ended up being a decently placed shot that gave them the chance to deal with it. She understood what could happen at this point.

"I say we move on," Rory said as she looked at them, "If the traps are dealt with it is merely dealing with the robots. If we cannot divert the power then it will be up to Aqua to heal them where they are."

Aqua swallowed, "I'll do my best, I promise that I will," she said as she looked at them, "But I really don't want to go deeper. I'm a healer mostly, and not really a fighter."

The reasoning sat there, and none seemed to oppose it, "I suppose that we can ensure that you're inside the group," Sentinel Reeder replied, "It makes sense. That's what we would do when escorting medics from one place to another."

The reasoning was sound, although she didn't know why Aqua would want to be protected. If she lost this vessel would she not simply return to her goddess form? Perhaps in this form she could enjoy things. She complained about not getting the food and drink she believed she deserved, so it was possible that she was enjoying experiencing things as a human. She couldn't fault her too much there. She wanted to enjoy things as a demigoddess until she finally left her physical form behind and transformed completely.

The day it happened she would no longer get to enjoy anything. Perhaps the exception would be if she bound herself to a mortal. Even then it was questionable if it would happen in the same way as it did for Aqua. She looked at them, "Then if everyone is ready?"

The door opened, and Sentinel Reeder stepped through. He was followed by Adam, and the both of them used their power armored covered bodies as the shields for everyone else. She was proud of the two potential avatars of Emroy. They were presenting themselves as the physical being of war. They were moving toward the battle that had not yet taken place, and they were prepared for it. Their works were worthy of the songs of praise the bards would sing. That was something she had sorely missed in the later years.

The bards rarely sung anymore. It was rare to find a bard in a small village singing the story of a hero. It was far more rare to hear of the great deeds done in the name of goodwill. She had hoped that the bards would return and sing the songs of the Brotherhood. That they would raise their voices to the heavens and proclaim the good deeds done for the sake of goodness only.

It was sentimental to miss them, and she knew it. The last time she heard the songs sung were about a hero sometime before. It was songs about a hero that slayed goblins, mostly goblins. He went after them with what could be considered a religious fever. He didn't stop, but instead he focused on eliminating all of them. She had heard his songs for a few years, but then it died down.

Since then she had not heard songs of other heroes. Maybe it was the empire slowly quieting the voices of the bards, but instead she believed it was because there hadn't been true heroes in so long. The heroes that lived to ensure that the people would survive, and that would help to promote a life worth living. It was something that she was sure was further away than it should be. Yet a very real part of her hoped that the songs would begin again. Perhaps they would, and perhaps soon.

Stepping through, she considered the songs about this place, and she shivered. The songs would be dark, they would be foreboding, and the one known as Doctor Braun would be known as the villain. She personally wanted to visit and reap him. His decision had led to the suffering of so many. Once they were done here she planned on asking Adam where he was located. He had spoken about him before, briefly, and it sounded as if he was still alive. Perhaps it was time to change that.

It could be that it would be a mercy, but then she doubted that he would see it as such. Instead she was certain that he would see it as a crime. To know that his desires were withheld, and he was forced to face the judgment that awaited him. The option was certainly there. No, it was more than an option. It was an action that had to be done. Without doubt she needed to deal with this Doctor Braun. She would need to ensure that he was no longer able to threaten those who were too weak to fight back against him.

But first she would help to save his victims that were here. She wanted to see these children set free. She wanted to give them the chance to live. And following Sentinel Reeder and Adam was the best option of ensuring that they would get that chance. As they entered the next hall she could hear something. The speakers began to slowly sound around them. The soft voices of children began to echo through them.

"Don't ever laugh as a hearse goes by," they sung in unison, "For you might be the next to die!"

The music that filled the hall sounded like a broken music box. The way it was discorded, the unsettling sound washed over them all, and Rory could understand why it felt so wrong. This wasn't just the insanity of the children. She felt the other god. Its presence was strong here. It seemed like it purposefully wanted to push these children deeper into insanity. The song they were singing was certainly child-like, but it was more than that.

It was something dark and twisted. It was informing them what awaited after death, but it wasn't the full story. She knew that souls traveled onward to something else. Instead the god that was torturing these children led them to believe that there was nothing else. It was making it apparent that once they were gone there would be nothing else. She didn't close her eyes, but instead she allowed her feelings to reach out and touch the other god.

"Leave them alone," she said, her voice baring no quarter, "They are innocents, and they are not yours."

She knew the others were certainly going to question what it was that she was doing when the entire medical center seemed to flash. For a moment there were hundreds of people around them. It was as if they were back in the past before the war. Then they saw the people all scream and begin to burn into ash. All of them fell to the ground breaking apart. It wasn't just Rory that was seeing it. She knew that.

"You dare to make a demand of me little one?"

The voice came from the speakers, and it wasn't the children, "You dare to believe that you have power here?"

"I know that we do," Aqua answered, "I am Aqua, the goddess of water, and we have more power than you can believe."

There was quiet, and then it wasn't just the speakers sounding. They could see what looked like small dolls sitting in the other rooms. The dolls began to look up. Their eyes glowing a dull green. The dolls began to move, laughter escaping from their lips. The laughter spread through the hall, and it felt truly wrong. It was the sound of insanity. It was the sound of complete madness, and it echoed through the hall.

Rory felt it wash over it, and it was Emroy's blessing that kept her from falling to it. She looked at the others and watched as they stood against it. Whatever blessing Aqua had given Kazuma seemed to be protecting him. Their crusader seemed to be withstanding it. Both Adam and Sentinel Reeder looked as if they were pushing forward through pure will. Lelei and Tuka were facing it, but the glow of their own magic was surrounding them.

Kazuma's lover was holding onto him, and he was keeping her in the moment. She considered how they would break what was happening before Aqua growled and lifted her hands, "Sacred Madness Protection!" she shouted, and no sooner had she done so then a purple energy washed over them. It then spread throughout the hall, and all of the dolls fell to the floor. In that moment she had completely removed the power of the other god.

She had to admit that while she certainly seemed useless most of the time Aqua was actually powerful in her own way. She did wonder how much more power she would have if she wasn't bound to the mortal form she was currently stuck in. It made far more sense for her to want to experience things that she couldn't in her goddess form. Rory understood that, but at the same time she knew that if Aqua could let go of the mortal form she was currently in then she could do so much more.

There was no doubt in her mind that she could easily face all that was down here. Perhaps that was just her thinking more along the lines of herself. When she finally abandoned her physical form she would become something far more powerful. She would become something nearly unstoppable. It would mean that she would no longer have the desires that filled her currently. There would be no need to ensure a good meal, to long for the touch of another, or to experience the beauty and pain that was life.

All of it would be little more than distractions, and it would be distractions that she would be able to turn off. Maybe that was the reason. Maybe Aqua couldn't make herself go back to that kind of existence. If she was to have the choice herself she would remain in the mortal form. In a way it made her just a little jealous of the other goddess. Not that it mattered at the moment. They stepped forward, and when they did something sounded around them again. It was the same music, but this wasn't filled with the feeling of the other god anymore. It was just madness. It was the tortured sound of the children as they song their broken song.

She felt her heart go out to them, "Let's free them," she said as she followed Sentinel Reeder and Adam, "We need to free them."

The question of how to free them wasn't important. She understood now that regardless if it was through death or life didn't matter. These children needed to be freed from the corruptive presence of this other god.