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Devils didn't love existence, or so was the intent. Scholars could waste hours on debating whether concepts existed in the same way as matter, and whether attachment to concepts constituted a love for the subjects of the concepts. Devils did prefer certain concepts, they had to if they wanted to keep an identity.
Preference was the first step on the spectrum of enjoyment, a spectrum known as having a positive opinion of something.
To Xelloss, theorizing about that was long in the past. He and the Beast Monarch had gone beyond concepts and now liked actual things. Trivial ones even. For Xelloss, the most prized triviality was tea. This should have fit the court of Deep Sea Dalphin. Dalphin's home was built in the stately old countess style. Pearls were dominant and there were as perspectively much fountains here as hidden pockets in Lina's cape. The chairs were made of coral, cups consisted of shells and the curtains were made of seaweed. Sometimes, a shark floated through the rooms.
Xelloss might have appreciated the aesthetic of the place purely on base of its absurdity, if not for her choice to exchange air for water.
When the other guests had remarked on his foul mood, he resort to word tricks to justify it without dropping inconvenient truths such as "because I enjoy the existence of tea and this interior decoration interferes with this". To be contrary, he sat on a cabinet and feigned discontent miasma was Grau, simply by having his eyes open in his direction.
Grau, ever the pumped up pope with gold mitre and over-jeweled crozier, coped by pretending his mass of robes needed constant adjustments. He had so much of them the chair he was on would need a map to escape. Hating Grau was easy, he looked like he wanted to be as opposite as Xelloss as possible.
Sometimes the fool cast a pleading look to his left, but Dynast Grauscherrer ignored him. He was basking in the quiet reverence he got from being the sole retainer in the room, which obligated the generals and priests that had gathered to bow their heads.
Dynast came as the same man with long black hair and royal armor as the former Dils king, he had never bothered with a unique projection, copycat that he was. The shallow moron hadn't even realized copying the Lei Magnus situation would not work on Luke, while failing to notice the power Milina was. His denseness was Xelloss's main reason for hating him.
In comparison, Raltaak and Rashat were just uninteresting. Garv's leftovers now served Deep Sea Dalphin, each standing on one side of the door she was expected to enter through. They still held their manly Garv approved projections, but Raltaak had added fisherman's clothing and Rashat's armor had taken on a shell motif and marine colors.
The miserable lot waited for the Beast Monarch and Dalphin, who had called them here for court. Social relationships carried no pleasure to devils, so they only bothered if need prescribed. They didn't do chit chat or catching up. So, Xelloss was more than a little worried what Dalphin and his liege were doing.
When they finally arrived, the brought along a tense atmosphere. Dalphin entered first, her true form writhing on the astral plane while her humanoid projection whisked by lightly. She took the seat on the richest sofa on the other end of the room, her new general and priest taking position by her sides. Folding her hands on her lap, she smiled at those already present.
The Beast Monarch was in her travel form, and discarded all ceremony. She plopped down on the sofa next to Xelloss's cabinet and draped a leg over the edge. The contrast brought Xelloss some amusement. Dalphin floated through the world, just gently there, while the Beast Monarch demanded attention.
"Let's start already," the Beast Monarch said as she snagged a little fish out of her hair.
"Let us," Dalphin said sweetly. She whirled her hand to conjure up four (waterproof) pages, which she let loose in the current.
The Beast Monarch snatched hers before it had halted, narrowing her eyes at it.
"What are we supposed to do with this?" Dynast but Grau gave him a longsuffering look; the content of the papers were very easy to grasp.
Dalphin folded her hands across her lap and took the friendly expression humans used to be patient with slow children. If she'd done such a thing before Fibrizo's likes she would have been in a world of pain, but Dynast didn't notice the condescending intent.
"These are an analysis of full power Dragon Slaves that indicate a third piece of our lord Shabranigdu has been destroyed, followed by an analysis of Lina Inverse and her average ability as a sorcerer. Then we have an analysis of the power of the Black Deities and others defeated by Lina Inverse. They do not add up."
"Yes ..."
The Beast Monarch growled, a sneer drawing her face up. "What she is trying to say, lord Dynast, is that ever since lady Lina Inverse started walking the world, big names have been dropping like flies. Fibrizo, Garv, Hylaker, Rixfalt, Dugradigdu, Volphied, Scherrer, and two, possibly three pieces of Shabranigdu. Poof."
Xelloss felt she wouldn't mind an elaboration, and he just had to add it, "That's 4 big top tiers in thousands of years, and then Lina's ten years offs 9 top tiers. We're an endangered species, lord Dynast."
"Who gave you permission to speak out of turn?" Dynast snapped.
He bowed his head in false apologetics and stole a look at his liege. She flicked her hand and looked at a random painting that depicted a kraken devouring a ship, obviously disinterested in correcting the behavior of Xelloss. His spectacular skill at being annoying came from her, after all.
"Oh dear Dynast, there is no point calling our Zelas out, she has always been the wild child." Dalphin sighed theatrically. "Now, let us return to our dire topic. It is certainly noticeable that around the same time as Lina Inverse goes underground, dragons start moving all over the world. We even have rumor that in the Kataart mountains they managed to create fusion magic vessels. These are hard to verify because they have excellent Zenaffa armor and cooperation, and even mid ranked devils have gone missing there. All in all, I believe there is an organized effort to strike against us, Lina Inverse and her unusual qualities being a key ingredient."
Xelloss's curiosity was peeked. Lina was obviously not dead, but it would not be logical for him to know that, so he said, "Perhaps she simply died and they became nervous?"
"Would one like lady Lina Inverse simply die?" Zelas said, cutting off the need for anyone else to point out the obvious.
Xelloss scratched his head in embarrassment. Yeah, that was not his best cover. "From what I have seen, no."
"Lina Inverse has unusual qualities," Dalphin said. "I myself had a taste of it when she snatched the Knight of the Aqualord right out of my hands. I learned from this what perhaps might be why Lina Inverse holds such strange influence over the world. I suspect the woman is akin to the Knight of our great Mother."
There was a tense silence in the room and Xelloss itched to stop himself from confirming it, let alone pointing out this meant Lina Inverse deserved their respect.
"It might be a coincidence. Most of these events were sought out by us in response to her defeat of Rezo Shabranigdu," the Beast Monarch said. "Hellmaster targeted her as a result, which was followed by the gods creating a prophecy that harnessed her against Dugradigdu. Dalphin then decided to, against reason, attempt to wield Lina's good fortune in her own favor. Her encounter with Luke is the only true coincidence that we know of. If she did destroy a third piece, we don't know enough to base judgment on it."
"Indeed," Dalphin said. "But such things are exactly what I mean with special, dear Zelas. She always survives. Is it such a stretch to assume the gods might want to use her again?"
The Beast Monarch blew out a puff of smoke, not impressed, but Dynast became uneasy. His emotions betrayed it as much as his body language, he twitched and looked at random walls. The sound of his armor was forgotten again. "She's weak. She can't be that much of a threat. She needed a trick to defeat me."
"Yet survive you she has, dear Dynast, by some providence and her own mind. We cannot wield her. I say we train ourselves to regard her as no mere human, so we may attack her across the astral plane," Dalphin said gently. "Won't that be a useful option?"
"Then what?" Dynast asked.
"We track her down. For this purpose, I was hoping our Zelas would order her priest to trace her down. He is most familiar with Lina Inverse's magic, after all."
The Beast Monarch snorted. "It happens to be so I hate lending people my priest, Sea Monarch. As much as any of us, might I add."
"Oh? That certainly would explain your sour mood, though I retain some wonder at your shock about my little surprise," she chuckled. She twisted her wrist, unfolding it to reveal a red shard. She held it out for all those present to see.
Well now, a demonsblood talisman.
Xelloss knew at once, seeing as it was the very same one he had lost last month.
"Hmmm ... our Zelas nearly panicked when I revealed this, yet the beast priest tastes ... ah, let me see ... confusion, surprise, ... is that shame? ... no ... hmmm ... I do wonder why it's so startling that I would have this."
"I told you, I panicked because if there are demonsblood talismen just lying around your ocean, someone might be trying to bait us. There's always a chance one day Lei Magnus will become a chimera and suspicious things have been going on in Kataart," his liege said impatiently. She didn't need to feign disgust.
"So it has," Dalphin said with a hollow gentleness. "So it has indeed. You certainly are a quick thinker, Zelas."
Xelloss knew his role : now he had heard this, it should shock him too. He couldn't fake shock, but he had shame to work with. "Oh, so that's why my liege was worked up. I should have realized."
"Hmmhmm," Dalphin said. With those pitch black eyes, he couldn't tell whether it had the desired effect. Her emotions remained even.
Deep Sea Dalphin was testing them, not unlike Fibrizo when he had called the Beast Monarch out for Seigram defecting. Fibrizo had been confident Xelloss couldn't possible backstab him even if there was a treacherous bone in the Beast Court (he had been so wrong), but Deep Sea Dalphin's power was not as vast and she exercised greater caution.
Xelloss tilted his head, giving his liege a quizzical look. She didn't give him the go ahead yet.
"What possibly could refrain you from acting on what we have established is a common threat?" Dalphin asked.
"Lord Dalphin, I have only one priest and no desire to lose him to a trap," she said coldly. "Your explanation for where you found that talisman is severely lacking."
"Alas, since your priest has worn out the word secret, what else was I to say than that a little bird told me?"
"No," Dynast grumbled. "That actually won't do. Tell us where you got that thing. Rangort's taken over Megiddo, you can't have gone there to get the Ragna to make a talisman. There is no other place where the walls of the world are brittle enough and it shouldn't be in your ocean."
The subtlest smirk played on the face of his liege and creator. She had effectively used Dynast to turn the suspicion from herself to Dalphin. To cement it in, she feigned compliance, "Sea Monarch, Xelloss will seek her out, but should anything happen that impairs my servant, you will pay me back."
"I suppose if it must be," Dalphin said wistfully, without actually feeling wistful.
His liege gave him a nod. Xelloss took a knee before Deep Sea Dalphin.
Lina had destroyed the demonblood talismen in her battle against Luke Shabranigdu, which had been Xelloss's primary method of tracking her. He was certain he had informed the other lords of this. Maybe he could pretend not to find a trace of her.
"Descend into deepest layers of the astral plane by using this as your anchor. If she is indeed the chosen of our Mother, then you should be able to find her footsteps in the purity that layer. We will keep an eye from you from up here."
Cancel that plan, he most likely would find such a thing.
"It is my honor," Xelloss said as he took the stone. He managed to drag up some feeling on honor by thinking very hard about the favor the Lord of Nightmares had bestowed on him eight years ago, and what Lina might mean to Her.
Honor, another one of those emotions that fell on the long winded branch of positive yet intangible concepts in existence, a particular branch of appreciation. None of the devils ever commented on its positive nature when experiencing it. Think too hard about it, realize the paradox too deeply, and they might just suffer for it. Not him, however.
Slayer, enemy of all alive, bandit killer, dragon spooker, and to Xelloss one of the most appealing humans in the world. She was easy to understand, uncomplicated, but she was smart and her raw chaos was wonderful. He could only guess the broad strokes of her, but he was good enough to steer her where he wanted without dying. He was the only one who had survived playing with her.
He'd be working to hide her even if she wasn't involved in his liege's plot.
As he touched the stone, he let go of his projection and slipped into the channels of worldly energy. Through this dark anchor, he could travel the world's flow of energy even across the astral plane, allowing him to move as fast as if a human had created a summoning circle. Flow movement was otherwise off limits to devils, since the flow was a part of the order of nature.
The astral world had twenty eight subtle layers. As a realm of thought, this was less like landscape as it was a space of projection of will and thought.
On the purest planes the murkiness of the top levels was replaced by what could be called a golden glow. There wasn't truly light or darkness here, but those who saw the world through the mind's eye, largely determined by the physical world, it was gold to them. Devils went mad with agony and longing as they touched Ragnarok, the horizon of the world. A doubtful border without true definition, just like the shore of the sea isn't built of anything but sea and land.
Xelloss could think of himself in his human form and would 'see' it. A golden whirling mass below his feet, its movement solely the property of the world that lay upon it. There was a two dimensional layer stretched in all directions, a thin black only visible in the distance. Xelloss smiled, or at least projected the sentiment at their Mother. He didn't actually know how much she could observe here. Had she made her presence known he would have paid respect, but otherwise he did not : it'd mean he would never stop bowing, as did the mad ones clawing as Ragnarok did.
Ragnarok was where Siephied had passed into the Sea of Chaos. Wasn't it hilarious that gods could pass it at will, while devils needed convoluted schemes and mental fortitude to deal with it? It was a cruel irony that the way to suffer least was to indulge the most in that which caused their personal hell : turn to existence. Fortunately, Xelloss had a healthy appreciation for irony.
Xelloss remained in the layer above Ragnarok and indulged in the suffering of the withering astral beings. It gave him a good fill while wandering across the world. In the meantime, he delighted in the clarity while traveling on the talisman's power.
Logically, a fully ignorant Xelloss would have sought out her home at one point. In Zephyria he found he couldn't fake not noticing a trail : footsteps burning in golden flames stood out sharply even on the deepest levels.
"Xelloss, I receive the scent of Chaos. You have passed by something quite similar to what Luke Shabranigdu used for the distorted space in Sairaag. It is without doubt our Mother's power. Follow it."
Dalphin's voice jarred him into alert. "I understand."
Carefully, he hadn't said he would. He'd follow it, but couldn't be held accountable for how he did it.
Other traces followed Lina Inverse, visibly only because she reflected on them. One of them was constantly lit, he suspected it belonged to Gourry. The other was less familiar, but then he recognized the bouncy outline up front. Ah, that would be Naga the White Serpent.
The golden trail never weakened with time, it only grew stronger at times when Lina did something that affected the flow of the world on a larger scale. In other words, when she affected destiny.
He took care never to stray close to the valley of the Ancients. Filia had teleported them all there and away again, Lina had left no traces going there. Any trace would remain hidden as long as he stayed out of the area. Her presence there would raise too much questions, there would be traces of Shabranigdu's third piece.
When he found an unfamiliar trail, he followed it. It led to a fork, one leading to the Demons Sea and the other in the opposite direction, north-west. He followed the latter, suspecting she might just have revisited the Ruby Eye System. Whatever the case, if Lina had anything destiny changing to do in the direction of the Demon Sea he didn't want Dalphin to know. It could be harmless, or it could be related to his liege's plot. The Ruby Eye System he knew was of no interest to the devils.
He had nearly reached it when Dalphin ordered, "Follow the other trail."
"If I may ask, lord Dalphin, why?"
"She is approaching the Temple of Chronos. We know she has employed it before, whatever trail led her there is old."
That ... didn't make any sense. What was Dalphin after?
"Perhaps she returned to use it again? The trail is very strong here," he suggested tentatively.
"No. Go back," Dalphin drawled, just the first edge of irritation in her voice. "It is strong because she went there shortly after casting the Giga Slave against Fibrizo."
He disagreed, but arguing about it might look too desperate.
"Should I have your lord give the command, beast priest?" she said.
"No," he said quickly. "I will go. I am merely hesitant to stray into a zone of the gods, should her trail lead away from the land."
She didn't bother replying, and so he went.
The stronger the trail went, the more clearly he caught an human outline burned irrevocably into the astral plane. The reflective light on her companions became stronger too.
As he passed into the astral side correspondent to the Demons Sea, he became aware of a pinch of light, a pillar that lined up with the staff of the world, but only within the mind through which he approached this. It was the scar of Dark Star's gate. Here, the reflection of Lina became so strong that he could see her. It was golden like in the Kataart Mountains, but still just another scar on the world. She was laughing as she looked over her shoulder as the intangible Gourry and ...
There was an old echo of something she told him, "... will be alright ... trust me ..." and then Gourry smiled and Naga laughed.
She laughed eleven times.
What?
The Lina outline had considerably more sore expressions after this. Only the original Naga had a real reflection, but the other Nagas were undeniable : they caused exactly the same lashing from Lina as the core Naga did. In the physical world, this place corresponded to an island in the Demons Sea, they might have met up ... but for what?
Xelloss stopped here, watching the echoes of the past play out again and again as he tried to understand what was going on. Just how much was he jeopardizing his liege's plan and Lina's safety?
"Keep going," Dalphin ordered. He had no choice. Someone ignorant of any plot wouldn't object to finding out more, especially not one as notoriously curious as he was.
In the demons sea, the trails died abruptly. There didn't turn back, but that wasn't something he felt like reporting.
"It appears I found another dead end," he simply said.
"Stay there. We will come soon."
Xelloss took this as excuse to let go of the talisman's power and project into the physical realm. It was time to investigate and foolproof what was likely an emergency.
The cold dark sea rushed below him, and the black night sky whistled with wind above. There was no moon, but the stars were so clear he could still see with human eyes. This was the island where the gods of the Black World had built their machine.
The floating constructions had collapsed into a little island amidst the crater. Xelloss floated over to it, finding it constructed of the remainder of the bottom of the machine. Someone had brought it down here and submerged it, concealing it as a normal extension. As he walked over it, he could tell it was hollow inside. It was slightly hotter than it should be, but the energy wasn't magical.
He poked around the island, stopped projecting for a while and reappeared inside. It had the same levels as before, but he could also see trace remnants of the walls from the center piece of the device. In the center of the largest hall, the glassy field from the bottom piece lay. The two pieces had been combined roughly, like scraps thrown together. The giant needle extensions were cramped against the walls, the biomechanic matter weakly reflecting the green glow from the center.
Xelloss ran his hands across the walls, probing and waiting. He was curious at the source of the energy, but what he found first was startling.
There, a trace of magic, embedded in the walls to keep astral resonance in. It was a shield against scrying, the same that the devil lords used on their homes to keep the eyes of the gods out. This particular shield was all too familiar to Xelloss : after all, his liege had cast it.
No longer bothering to understand the machine, the sped across the entire interior till he found the anchor. It was a cursed object, a simple stone of sealing that lay amidst the rubble. He only noticed due to familiarity. Without hesitation, he destroyed it. After that, he could only hope the other devils hadn't detected it from the outside, should they have already arrived.
He sat down just above the glowing green. There was a pentagram engraved on the surface, combining the idea of first and second constructions. Curiously, he also noticed the outline of a hexagram. The symbols of the gods and devils, combined?
There was no question his liege was involved in the reconstruction of this thing. There was plenty of question of why, and Xelloss allowed himself to loosely dwell on this without any concrete speculation. He had never doubted his liege's goals, and had ample evidence to assume they were carrying out the will of the Lord of Nightmares. But he certainly could ask whether they were doing it the right way.
The defeat of Fibrizo had caused a stir in the devil ranks. What if the Lord of Nightmares did not want to end all of existence? Beyond fear of punishment, for She had ways to make destruction a fear for devils, what did it mean to what they were created as? Xelloss had tasted the fear of everyone he told what he'd seen.
"This isn't what I wanted."
For Xelloss, all had come and passed. But to the others, it was a very frightening story not only because of the world being spared — they could blame this perhaps on Lina — but because of Gourry. The human who had changed the mind of the Lord of Nightmares herself. A simple mind like Gourry had no complex reasoning or challenge to pose to the Mother Of All Things. He just loved Lina a lot, and this had mattered to the Lord of Nightmares.
A true horror story for any devil.
The Lord of Nightmares had spoken to him too. He had received a wish granted as all others had, he had learned Her capricious nature. She had personality. So he didn't worry too much about the Beast Monarch's intentions. When he had told his liege what he had witnessed that day, she had broken out in laughter. Not a mocking sort, but that of a person who understood better. That had been when she had started acting on their beliefs. Little aid to the Dark Star prophecy, strange orders to encourage Sailoon to promote chimeraism.
So enraptured in this sudden mystery, he didn't notice Deep Sea Dalphin until she manifested right at his side. She almost had him jump.
"I must agree, this is a curious discovery," she said in a sugary sweet tone. "Anything you can tell me?"
Hmm, what did he have to work with to explain why he felt impressed and somewhat giddy? He couldn't lie outright, it was contrary enough to his chosen persona that it would be unpleasant to do, and someone as sharp as Dalphin would notice. Good thing he was a master of misleading truths.
"I believe I saw outlines of Lina Inverse and her protector head this way, accompanied by a group of about twelve people. I suspect they were sorcerers, given their actions. Dragons might be able to recraft this place."
Dalphin didn't need to know all those others had been Naga The Serpent, who perhaps had a thing for golems and needed no dragons to build anything. But let Dalphin assume there was a team of highly skilled dragon magicians at work.
"Ah," she said.
She held out her hand, the talisman in it. There were black scorch marks across her arm, she had injured herself by using it to travel. He feared she might wonder why he wasn't affected, but she never brought it up.
She recreated the anchor she had in her home, now a pathway to bring the others here. They arrived without injury, but she suffered more. Not to say the rest enjoyed the trip. Too flow compatible. It occurred to Xelloss he needed to feign discomfort, or do something to cheer himself up.
Grau, weakest of the group, sailed out of the flow and slammed face first into the green field. This might have been because Xelloss had tripped him. Maybe.
While the others gave Grau a look, Xelloss rushed to stand by his liege's side, who had a discriminating lack of curiosity and surprise. He himself was brimming with the required emotions. Hopefully, the rest didn't come close enough to detect there was only one source.
No worry, Dalphin had other interests. Forming a droplet of magic between her hands, she blew it into the air. It expanded into a cloud of dim blue light, illuminating the subterranean space to its ceiling.
Xelloss started to recognize things. Broad patterns and structures that came straight from drawings Val had made. He cracked on eye open at his liege, who rewarded him with a slightly smug look.
For her and Lina to have gotten this far in rebuilding it based on concepts alone ... or perhaps she had been leaving the child clues to inspire ... or Rangort could have entered his dreams to inspire the boy in the required ways ...
His liege narrowed her eyes just slightly, not looking at him. He tasted of light displeasure.
Oh, right. Xelloss had been busy building up amazement. That emotion was off limits to devils. Ditto for entertainment at anything that wasn't a plan working out or a full stomach. He was going to have to think very hard about something that wouldn't thrill him like this nifty rebellion machine did.
He decided to mentally categorize the many ways Filia could say garbage with just a look, and while he was at it he analyzed whether there were different expressions for sewer priest and cockroach. Perfect memory made this a time consuming enough a task that he could build up sufficient displeasure.
This was just as well, because Dalphin returned from her inspection and declared she had found traces of godly magic.
And somehow, she was positively thrilled.
Oh shit. His liege shared the sentiment, and it was only covered by Raltaak and Rashat doing the same.
"It appears the gods themselves are plotting something with Lina Inverse, hand in hand. They learned from the gods of the Black World. To their misfortune, we are about to claim their hard work while they are busy elsewhere," Dalphin said.
"What exactly would this hard work be?" Dynast asked as he knocked a metallic hand on the nearest construct.
"This is an artificial Megiddo," Dalphin whispered, enthralled. She stood on her toes, gravity neglected as she twirled around. "A force that summons not the souls of mortals, but the very essence that ties all devils and gods. I thought the knowledge was lost when the gods of the Black World left, but off course, Lina Inverse is special." That last she spoke with a soft viciousness, like a snake under the grass. Xelloss exploited his closed lids to roll his eyes at her. Lina was unique, but there was a point her abilities were prone to exageration.
Dynast blinked. The Beast Monarch puffed out smoke. Grau fiddled his thumbs. Rashat and Raltaak exchanged a look.
"Oh, such dull responses," Dalphin said. "Do you not realize? We have at hand a method to find the pieces of our lord and summon them to us!"
The Beast Monarch yawned. "Nice as that would be, may I remind you the absolute damage to our ego that we suffer if we must rely on tools? Look at your arms, merely from using the talisman."
Dalphin clasped her hands together eagerly. "Oh, no concern. I shall bring in those poor souls who started me a cult. I do so like to string along hapless fools who believe me an angel. They have been eagerly waiting to be of use to me. All we must do is ascertain how to activate this machine."
"We may certainly try," the Beast Monarch said lazily. She flicked her cigarette away. "Just hope Lina won't check in on her Har Megiddo."
· · · · · · ·
In the bloodiest crevices of Wolfpack Island, Zelas howled. Xelloss was about to return with news that might make it worse, or not. Carefully, the priest stepped around the writhing devils who hadn't escaped her outbursts. The trees flowed with the blood of broken wombs. His liege was wasteful tonight.
She projected her true form in the physical world, minus the armor she reserved for combat. With only her claws, she tore open the fleshy trees and relished in the physical destruction and pain she caused. Sort of. She was too frustrated to truly relish. The miasma of pure devils was not as nutritious as astral beings, but no less readable. So strong was their bloodlust, even mortal could detect it. What he tasted here was enough to send every animal fleeing; it felt suicidal approaching her in this state.
Xelloss barely stood out amidst the gore, but there would be no world where his liege wasn't aware of his presence. He took a knee as sharp eyes settled on him.
"Report," she growled.
"As I gather, Deep Sea Dalphin has stored the talisman within her island."
For unfathomable reasons, this calmed his liege a little. The fur that stood up flattered and her ears shot to the front. "Has she sealed it?"
"I believe so."
"Good. That means she does not plan to use it in investigating how the machine works. Xelloss, the talisman should not come near Har Megiddo without our supervision. You may stand."
He nodded, stood and said, "Doesn't this put us in a bind, though?"
"We can craft a new one, though it will take time," she said. "My concern for the talisman is that others could use it. The damn thing is, there is no credible way I can reclaim it from her without being suspicious."
She ruffled her bloody feathers like an owl, then folded them on her back. Hunching down before him, she tapped a giant claw on his head.
"As for you, ensure you fail a non-relevant but important mission soon, so I can pretend to Dalphin I'm pissed off about that. I'm not likely to lose this mood any time soon. Too much unknown factors. Someone must have planted that talisman in the sea for her to find, someone who can go unnoticed by both you and Ragradia."
"I understand. I have a few Claire Bible manuscripts I might let some humans get away with. Would that do?"
"For all I care, you let them find out about Zenaffa armors. The more wedges as we can put in a potential war, the better." She spoke all this through gritted teeth. Xelloss was grateful he wasn't at the receiving end of her rage. For all her versatile emotions, she was always tempered by blasphemous little things such as reason and meaning. That was why the least significant devils died as she vented.
So, he wasn't too unnerved to ask, "My liege, is this construction the Tel al-Metaliom that miss Lina asked me about?"
She growled, "Yes. The name was a safeguard that was unfortunate necessary. Faking emotions is difficult enough as it is, but your reputation for not telling outright lies comes in handy and so it comes down to that. We have Dalphin convinced we don't know about any of this and we need to keep it that way. As long as you don't know what I, Lina and Ragradia are doing, you can be my shield of curiosity and confusion."
"Will I be doing so any of these days?"
"For now, I am avoiding the others ..." She took a deep, needless breath and dug a claw in the dirt. "Sometimes I dare wish I had a choice on how my mind functions. I envy the gods for what they get to decide over themselves."
He didn't understand that wish. If one wasn't oneself anymore, they wouldn't really be there to have that wish, which rendered it moot. But she did not explain, and he did not press.
She stood up abruptly and set a tree on fire. The oversized fetuses that grew on it writhed and shrieked, Xelloss nearly got a high from the nutritious agony.
"Eat up. You shall need it. In the morning, you will go to Sailoon and protect lord Ragradia's remnant in case the machine activates. It will do ... something. You must use fusion magic for a shield."
"As you wish," Xelloss muttered, trying to keep his mind coherent in the sudden influx of yummy. "I shall inform lord Ragradia of the developments. May I tell miss Filia as well?"
"No. Only true players of our effort may know all, so keep the knowledge to lord Ragradia."
He nodded, not thinking twice of the order, but there was a tingle in the back of his mind that told him Filia wouldn't take it well once she realized her position. That same part said this was to be prevented. Nice people who break might just grown horns.
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