· · · · · · ·
Luna liked a rhythm to things. A certain neatness, a definite order, a balanced social hierarchy. Okay, so the last one had become a mess, but that was exactly why the latest problem needed addressing. It reminded her own mess.
Hence, she had invited Xelloss and Filia for tea.
"I don't get it," Luna said as she leaned on Filia's shoulder. "Not that I'm complaining, but I don't get it. You ditched your temple when you learned they committed genocide. You forsook the gods when you learned heaven was a lie. You cut into gods when you figured out they used mortals as pawns, though I guess I nudged you a bit on that one. Whatever the case, your damn principles are taller than the hallowed itself. Where'd they go in the way of him?"
"Miss Luna, given the circumstances of how you arranged this conversation, I don't find you a reliable ear," she said.
"Desperate times, ditto measures. You're avoiding me. Can't even get into your dreams anymore. Gods know I tried, Rangort's snooping around my head and that needs to stop. Yet when I try to ask you for helping kicking them out, you're always unavailable."
"I decided I value my privacy," Filia said.
"I'm told Rangort learning e's are going to die is a problem. You can bear to help me, if you can deal with whatever shit you do with him for the greater good."
"I feel like the greater good has become very complicated as of late, but not the kind of complicated that justifies this. You tied us up for this?"
Luna brushed her bangs aside and stared wide eyed at the magic rope she'd used to tie Filia to the chair. "Oh my goodness! I did tie you up! Wow, I learn something new every day."
"Aren't you a little possessive?" Xelloss asked. He too had been tied up in a chair, but for him she'd used Zelas's chain, so it worked on both planes.
"Yes. Yes, I am. You two are the only powerful people in this scheme who do not hate my guts. I'm a wee bit short on allies, you see. Can't have you two ruin each other."
"My apologies, but you are very wrong. I may not hate your guts, but I strongly disagree with the angle of your left little toe," Xelloss said.
"Xelloss, you're intolerable," Filia snapped. "She can't help the angle of her little toe! If there's anything deserving of hatred it's her abuse of the priest hairstyle. Straight cut should remain the indication of a reliable helper of the needing, it is already bad enough you go round looking like a priest."
"At least I actually am a priest and fully intend to be perceived as such. Miss Luna's hairstyle is a passive aggressive spiting of the system."
"Pfffft. You don't really pull that off, clown. None the least bit mysterious," Luna said. "I'm having a hard time believing you actually seduced Filia."
"What do you mean? I'm very mysterious! Only one person without astral senses ever figured out my identity!" Xelloss said, affronted as a little kid.
"Kin isn't fooled by kin, or was that person something other than Gourry Gabriev, infamous jellyfish brain?"
"Ehm, anyway, who said anything about seduction? She asked for it," Xelloss said. "You know, you're unusually attentive late, miss Luna. I didn't expect that."
"It's the liquor. I can't afford for you to ruin each other."
"You're beginning to sound like miss Lina," Xelloss said. "Always covering up her heroic acts under the guise of vices."
"Don't be ridiculous. Those go hand in hand perfectly well," Luna said.
"This is not heroic at all," Filia said.
"Aww, and here I hoped an intervention was a step in the right direction."
"Honestly, miss Luna, I can choose my relationships on my own."
Luna rapped a knuckle on her head. "Sans your fancy list of criminals you're friendly with, there's also the fact that I have you tied a chair and we're no less friends for it. I'm the last person whom you can convince you have sound judgment, miss Martyr."
"I'm quite happy like this, thank you very much," Filia huffed.
"Happy with the relationship or the chair?" she asked, mocking when she really wanted to say Dilgear had been happy too. That's how he ignored the pain and humiliation.
She wasn't even sure whether what she felt was guilt — there was nothing to measure it by. Maybe it was just fear, now she understood she could lose something she wanted to keep if she handled it badly.
"Well, if you really want to know, Xelloss killed me. Several times. Given those circumstances I'm wonderful," Filia said.
"Ah hah," Luna said. "Killed you. Right. That's why I'm worried. Prude little you using bizarre euphemisms like that. That and the you're needing euphenisms at all. Really, Filia, what are you doing? You're not in love or I'd be having a feast." She rapped Xelloss on the head. "This guy isn't either."
"Well, we're not, I guess," Xelloss said. "But I'm under orders to keep fusion magic functional so I just play along with miss Filia. She seems content."
"That's liberal. It's the highlights of the game that make it worth it. Sadly, they're sparse," Filia said through gritted teeth. "Xelloss isn't the best. He only cares about his own enjoyment."
"Now you're just stretching the truth, miss Filia," Xelloss said, sincerely offended.
Luna was at a loss for words. Something had changed between them, but it didn't taste like a fling. They were ... cautious, somehow.
Not that Filia going bonkers was unusual given her breaking, but Luna had been convinced it'd involve Filia throwing herself at Valgaav in a desperate bid to play bandaid on his feels and redeem him that way. Make his woes go away. Xelloss was the opposite, being so happy with existence he had quit natural devil instincts.
Wait ...
"Filia, please tell me you're not thinking you can redeem Xelloss."
"That would explain a lot," Xelloss said. "A lot of people want me dead, I'm certain you can hand me in to redeem a hefty cash prize. Miss Filia, you disappoint me! You are already filthy rich, you have to resort to such low brow tactics like selling out your allies?"
"Low brow? There is a war and I have not been in touch with my corporate executives for too long! There is no telling what has become of my business! I need all the money I can get!"
Luna turned a chair around and plopped down before them, leaning her hands on the back.
"You're not answering, Filia," Luna said. "He's not going to be a better person."
"You got better. I heard you call mister Dilgear by his real name."
"He also left because the shit I did hasn't magically vanished from the past. I'm betting big bucks you're going to regret this just as hard as he did sticking with me. You're going to wake up, if this doesn't kill you."
The sad look on Filia's face belonged to someone who had already woken up, so why did she act like this? Anger was something Luna didn't lose to her powers, normally, but this time it snuffed out very quickly. Perhaps it wasn't anger, but helpless frustration. She could drag her away from Valgaav, but she had no idea how to handle this.
"Wake up or die, is that really the end of the story?" Xelloss asked. "What about compromises? Aren't you looking for that by trying to contact mister Dilgear?"
Luna bit her lip. She wasn't sure whether she actually wanted Dilgear back. Did she even miss him?
Did she miss Lina?
"Can you untie us now?" Filia asked. "Preferably before Xelloss and I start agreeing that you need an intervention."
They probably could do that. Ugh.
Just to needle them, she feigned to give this suggestion deep thought, while aggressively shoving away questions about hybrids and little sisters to the back of her mind.
"Miss Luna!"
"Yeah, yeah," she said. Without getting up, she commanded the chains to loosen. Xelloss shot away instantly, but Filia stood up calmly. With an odd spark of curiosity, she picked up the chains.
"Would you mind if we keep these?" Filia asked.
"Sure, but why?" Luna asked.
"It's just the kind of thing we were looking for. I intended to use light threads, but this will be far, far better," Filia said, handing her back one of the chains. The other she wrapped around her arm.
Luna waved her off. "Have fun."
· · · · · · ·
Ragrairyos was usually up north to ward off the chaos, directing dragons and protecting cities. Every so now and then she returned to the island. During these times, she sent power to Liliane, who could adequately give the impression the god was still up north, should anyone care to risk an invasion of Zephyria or Dills.
Luna could think of a dozen ways her presence would help along the effort to restore order, but they wouldn't let her leave. Everyone she nagged about it paid lip service to her being a potential target, but she got the idea nobody trusted her.
Rangort's itchiness about her she understood; her constant refusal to let the god into her mind stood out, especially now Orun had opened up to Valwin. Not so with Ragrairyos, who could make Rangort's curiosity a non-issue by just moving Luna up north, away from Rangort's very limited probing range. Maybe that would make Rangort suspicious, but if that was so someone could be arsed to explain it to her.
Too much liquor and too little to do meant she couldn't get rid of the pest of introspection. She would have loved to go north and beat the shit out of the devils that wreaked havoc, but they wouldn't let her do that, or anything else of use.
As her astral body began to render the effect of alcohol poisoning a moot point, she spent more time walking around and watching people. She made a weak effort to only eat positive emotions, but often she didn't bother and sometimes, she ate the wrong thing intentionally. Words like addiction floated around in her head, meaningless in the chaos.
She noticed she tended to circle the talisman storage, and cursed herself for it.
On the other end of the line was her sister, locked in some distant world, married to two hot people and holding down the steady job of being Chaos's favorite pet. She couldn't tell why her thoughts kept going there, because she didn't feel anything. Envy? Remorse? Guilt? Curiosity, that one she could feel. It stood out for being so unnatural to her. Luna had no drive to learn more of magic or travel the world, she liked staying home and have control. What was Lina doing now, what would she do once she returned? Without fear or anger or envy, she couldn't tell what really underscored it.
How would she even break this whole story to their parents? That's assuming they survived. Word had it they were safe in Zephyria, but that was a week ago. She didn't know whether she worried enough, but she should probably be a good daughter and send a letter. Writing it took a while, since there was no easy way to have it make sense even if she kept it to the bare facts.
Hi, folks, turns out my little sister also hosts some deity and we're now at odds. She's going to make souls for all devils in the world and she actually doesn't like me. I made her act like she did, but I'm not not sure I can do that anymore without pissing off the creator of everything. Yeah, there is a sapient force behind everything. Oh, and Spot left. His real name is Dilgear and he now is a half devil chimera. Zelas offered him a spot in her pack. Also, Lina's married to two people at the same time. Can you imagine?
I died when I was so young that I cannot remember, and what walks around behind this face hasn't been really human for its entire life, either in body or mind. Behind my adherence to the law you might not have seen it, but I am a monster in such a way that I cannot even feel bad about it. Thought you should know.
Now rinse and refine until that was acceptable.
She ended up cutting a lot.
· · · · · · ·
Getting someone to deliver the letter wasn't so simple. The platform that connected to the station on the shore had to be activated by either Zelas or Ragrairyos, which only happened every few days. During these, in came people who had been cursed in such a way she could not heal quickly, as well as broken or emptied fusion vessels that needed refilling. The leaders of the dragon clans also sometimes came along to hold council over strategy, which was safest here; there had been a few incidents with spies.
Her best chance would be to get a dragon to do it, so on the day they arrived she went to their part of the island.
What with the astrally enforced matter, she couldn't see ahead far and the entrance was hard to find, so she just made a door — she started to really like being able to project giant claws.
Dragon quarters were rather quiet and she almost got lost, so she followed the echoing noise. From what turned out to be the council hall, an absurd amount of chattering came, all in human voices. Luna peaked through the half open door to get an idea what went down, without being seen.
A few of the monks were there, as well as Milgazia; not Azonge, he spent far more time up north.
The noise for the most part came from Ospirias and his ruby dragon bodyguard, who were leading an impassioned plea about ... proving that Dolphin's cult had more freedom that needed? Ospirias claimed they targeted him because they understood he was the greatest of the dragons.
Load of bullshit, most of the cult had been moved to the outer area and they couldn't break down walls; ordinary spells didn't work on this earth due to astral enforcing.
The monks and Milgazia seemed to just suffer through it, having given up counter arguing. When Luna threw open the door, they almost sighed in relief : finally a break.
"What's going on here?" Luna asked, and because she was Luna, everybody turned. That was usual, less so the sheer amount of attention she got. They all fell silent, even Ospirias. Waiting. Expecting.
Yikes. She knew that being holy had an effect on dragons, but this was absurd.
"You can keep talking, I just want one of you to help me deliver a letter."
To her surprise, Milgazia stood up at once and came over. You'd think one of the leaders had better things to do.
While they went outside, Luna told the group, "You can resume talking now."
"Please don't," Milgazia said. "They've been going on for three hours about this alleged poisoning attempt. Ospirias just won't let it go."
"Poisoning?"
"There's thread in all of Ospirias's food, he choked on it once and now is convinced it's a murder attempt."
Luna shrugged, and said, "Talk about anything except the threads," into the hall before slamming the door shut.
"Bet you didn't come out here just for my letter. Spill."
"Do you know what is going on between Xelloss and Filia Ul Copt? Are they actually involved or is this some sort of elaborate prank?"
"That's what Zelas thought when she heard you dragons talk about it," Luna said. "Grabbed one of her pack, he said she laughed her ass off at first. Then it kept happening without Xelloss telling her about it and she started asking questions. Could be she's in on it, I thought, so I asked them myself the other day. They, eh, ... they're doing it."
"I see. This worries me very much. Filia Ul Copt had assured me she had a handle on this situation, but I fear she no longer has. Can you not do something about it?"
Luna could think up a dozen ways, but they all involved the kind of thing she'd promised not to do anymore. That and some of them would piss of Zelas or the gods.
"Tried an intervention. She thinks he's changing and Xelloss sorta maybe seems to be trying ... look, I don't know. Xelloss has always been a little off, and it's worse since he and Filia reconciled. Anyway, can you deliver this letter?"
He took the letter, but felt a rather icky kind of dissatisfaction.
"It will go wrong. How can you be so unaffected? We are speaking of Xelloss. First he attacks us during the war a thousand years ago, then he helps us with the vessels on a god's command, then he attacks during the attempt to free Lei Magnus, then helps us in the torrents, then he attacks us again, and then he brings in Sailoon to save us, then the Aqualord's remnant says we should not work with them except then they show up to help us take over Elmegiddo and reincarnate a god. He's on our side, but why would that last? When his inevitable betrayal comes next, Filia Ul Copt will be the first to feel it."
Luna whistled. "And you guys are arguing about threads in food when you've got all this lovely theocratic whiplash?"
"Will you please take this serious?"
"Filia's as fine as she can be so far," Luna said. "Now, this letters needs to go—"
"A few days ago, Xelloss phased into our quarters, grabbed Sylphiel Nels Lahda without a word and took her along. We couldn't find her for nearly an hour; not even the Earthlord Rangort knew. Then she appeared when the Aqualord returned, tending to injured dragons as if nothing were wrong. She says that Filia Ul Copt had just needed to talk about Valgaav and we should not worry. It's very suspicious, if you ask me. Perhaps he injured her and needed a healer, and somehow threatened Sylphiel Nels Lahda into being silent about it."
Luna shrugged. "They're into kinky stuff and maybe that got out of hand. Sylphiel seems to know it's not her business, take a hint. So this letters needs to go to Zephyria, to the ... hmm, my city might be under siege. Make it the capital, to the quarters of the Siephied Knights."
"Perhaps Xelloss has both of them convinced that is what is going on."
Gods, this dragon was annoying. She almost tore at his astral form just to make him pay attention obey.
"You just worry about the war, okay?" she said with a icy smirk. "Get this letter to my parents, the Inverses. With the war going on, they shouldn't be hard to find."
"We have a correspondence managers for this," he said.
"And this person is?"
Inside the hall, the arguing over the imaginary assassination attempt had resumed.
"I'll show you."
Around the platform, army segments rummaged with the ill and the cargo. A few Sailoon soldiers were around with vessels, or as victims, but most afflicted were civilians. Quite a few elves with Zenaffa armors were around, apparently the black world's transport machine functioned despite their magical resonance.
Milgazia had to look around a little before finding their correspondent, a scruffy humanoid who was either a weird elf or an even weirder dragon in human form. Before Luna could order or intimidate him, she got a trunk shoved in her face, then a bundle of mail. For Filia and Jillas, he said, correspondence of a certain board of the factories and one Elena. She tried again, but now got a letter from her parents carefully laid on the stack in her claws.
Damn, now she had to rewrite her letter to account for whatever they said. She dared to bet that Liliane had already informed them of things, that would be just like her.
"This guy's rude," Luna said to Milgazia, but the dragon didn't respond. He stared across the hall, eyes a little wide and anxiety rising.
Following his gaze, Luna sat a group of people in Zenaffa armors, nothing unusual. Blond, black, brown ... a long black ponytail. His eyes and ears were hidden under a helmet.
"Weird, but not enough to justify your emotions," Luna whispered to Milgazia. "Spill."
"It's the way he moves. I know him," Milgazia said. "Lei Magnus."
The distortion and magic of this area made seeing across the astral plane difficult, but she should be seeing him if he had Shabranigdu attached. On the other hand, she knew Zelas could conceal herself by spreading her power out. Tricks existed to be less noticeable.
In the way some people sense when they are watched, the soldier looked back at them. Eyes still unseen, but the didn't need to : he vanished into the nearest corridor.
"Right," she said. Luna sank a little through her legs, added holy power to her movement and jumped clean across the room, right after him.
She ran after him, but Zenaffa flight was very quick and very quiet with the right kind of spell. By the first fork already, she had lost him.
Milgazia lingered at the
"One side, can't see Shabby. On the other side, that was very suspicious behavior of someone who definitely has Lei's pretty black hair. I say it's worth chasing him even if we're just gonna talk about hair care."
"But why would he be here?"
Right, that would be ... . "Change of plans, let's get Xelloss and Filia to cast a barrier around the talisman first."
"The talisman? Why does he want it now?"
"Later, later ... go tell your people to hole up. We don't want them in the way."
· · · · · · ·
Xelloss and Filia were in charge of fixing any broken fusion magic vessels, for which the wielders came to the island. Sometimes they made new ones from scratch, but most of the time they just fixed and refilled them.
They didn't meet anyone on the way there, oddly enough, but that made sense soon enough : Valwin was down here.
Their chosen room was a circular pit full of strange coral structures and water channels, with a kiln stuffed in a corner.
Valwin sat cross legged on the floor, Orun behind him with her hands on his shoulders. All around them were elegant pots and vases; typical to Filia's fusion vessel style.
Being near them unnerved Luna, because even in this state she caught some resonance from the god. More so, it was the ease with which Orun just shared minds; Luna had the odd impression of seeing her soul gates stand open in two directions, one for the god and one for the output for the vessels.
She shot Orun fierce look. So much racket over the other gods not being allowed to know of the deicide and she still took this risk?
"Miss Luna, is there something you wanted?" Orun said with an even voice, and no fear.
"Yeah. Where's the lovebirds?"
Valwin pointed to another room, apparently where the newly made vessels were put to dry.
Only Filia was there, fussing over arrangement plucking little devil fish away from sensitive material.
"Hello, miss Luna What's the emergency?" Filia asked.
"Nothing big. Just Lei Magnus," Luna said.
"That's all? If he has those Zenaffa armors, the gods can just control him," Filia said.
Filia wasn't surprised in the slightest, in sharp contrast to Orun, who only avoided a yelp by covering her mouth. Even Valwin felt something like alarm.
Luna tilted her head, her bangs falling aside so she could get a clearer look at Filia's face. Where was the easily panicked dragoness? Nothing but impassiveness here. A little nervosity in her emotions, but overall, too little a response.
"Filia, are you on mushrooms? If there is a demon king on the island, we have to do something!" Orun said.
"Of course! Maybe this is a good chance to train your holy powers and see how far mister Valwin can work," she said.
Orun started to object, but Valwin said, "Sure, I suppose we can," with a shrug.
"Yeah, let's treat this like an exercise routine," Luna said. "We should let Rangort or Ragrairyos deal with it."
"I believe the phrase for our powers meeting is that they will go sparkly boom," Valwin said.
Beat.
"Don't listen to Xelloss," Luna said. "Anyway, where's the clown?"
"He's—"
The door swung open and Jillas burst into the room. "Gunmoll, we have a problem! That Lei guy ran across Zelas and now she's on his side."
Now Filia panicked.
Orun closed her eyes and focused, the next moment Filia grabbed Luna by the arm and dragged her out of the room. The moment she grabbed Jillas, she teleported off.
In between the flashes of teleportation bursts, Luna put together that Orun had used godly farsight to track and sent that to Filia, but mostly she felt very dizzy from the jumps.
Luna didn't recognize the passage they finally stopped in, but she did recognize the voices that came from somewhere far around the corner.
Zelas spoke, "Hui moez tas tu."
"What?" Xelloss said.
"Oh my. Unfortunately, it appears my priest does not speak that language. How deeply regrettable, it is the most swift sounding language that I know."
"Tell him in a language he speaks, in the normal speed of the lang—" Lei ordered, but right then Filia teleported ahead, alone. Within a flash she returned, Xelloss by the hand.
Sight and sense drowned in Filia's golden teleportation for longer than before, then whoom, they were in ... the kitchen?
"Don't wanna argue with leaving, but what are we doing here?" Luna asked while trying to gain her footing. Jillas and Xelloss also were shaky; what was going on?
"I just went to the first thing I could tune into," Filia said.
"And you're intricately familiar with the kitchen's energetic environment because ... ugh, never mind." Xelloss had just started feeling peculiar glee.
"That was close, thank you," Xelloss said. "This wasn't exactly as we expected, did we?"
"What did you expect then?" Luna asked.
"Ehm, it is that I was thinking that lord Beastmaster might want me to talk about my latest, ehm, games again? She called me away just before and—"
"Yeah yeah," Luna said. "You stay away from Zelas. Got any tips we can use to jar her out of command mode?"
And up the finger went. "She knows some tricks herself, but a change of scenario usually is very helpful. Much depends on how smart Lei is with the orders he gives."
Filia nodded, and Xelloss handed her his staff. "Here, perhaps we can do some remote fusion magic if it comes down to it."
Luna doubted that could work, but somehow the top of the staff flickered alight in white and black. Tapping it with a projected claw, Luna found it real : the claw dissolved.
"Remote fusion magic, neat. Something you invented to make hiding your closet adventures more easy?"
"Oh my gods, miss Luna, no!" Filia yelled, flustered at once.
"Absolutely not! Get your mind out of that gutter!" Xelloss snapped at the same time.
"But you're having so much fun in the gutter."
"Eh, yes, well, this really isn't the time, is it, miss Luna? We need to save lord Beastmaster," Xelloss said while Filia just went red as a beet and muttered to herself.
Like virgins from the village of piety, except for Jillas, who tried not to laugh.
Luna shoved Xelloss in the magical fridge, which had extra fortification of the magical cold kind. With any luck, if Lei was interested in obtaining Xelloss, he'd ask Zelas for reasonable hiding places.
Barely had they done that, or Ragrairyos projected into the kitchen ... wearing the form of Lyos, but without the matching liveliness or fierce expression. It disturbed Luna for moment, before she cut that emotion away too. That just left her somewhat unsettled.
"Valwin and Orun had gone ahead to block the way to the talisman's storage, but Lei Magnus has diverted direction. His armor is not activated and he had found a way to block my messages to it. Come help me stop him," the Aqualord said.
"Ahem," Xelloss said from the other side of the fridge door.
"And subtract Zelas Metaliom," the Aqualord added, just a little impatient.
She engulfed them in her golden glow and transported them across various passages, the jumps only a little further than Filia could manage. They still went with a hundred meters at a time, but it felt slow in this maze.
Zelas had somehow left a trail of beige fur and feathers, simulacrums kept together with magic rather than actual projection. It amused Luna to imagine the grand lord had taken the time to learn this trivial skill.
Less amusing was that Lei had already found the way to the talisman's storage — of course, he could just order Zelas to tell him where it was.
Lei stood one level above it on the other side of the entrance, casting some spell while Zelas clawed at the physical floor. Pieces of shell and coral flew around, sometimes hitting Lei in the head until he told her top quit that. She stopped doing anything at all, and he had to clarify he meant she should keep working, but not hit him anymore.
Luna and Filia crouched behind one of the seaferns as quiet as they could be.
"What's he doing?" Luna mouthed.
The Aqualord answered by writing in the air. "It appears he's casting holy magic and giving the energy to the armors. If he'll add in his own darkness, he'll have fusion magic of his own. He's preparing more than he needs to, a waste of time. If I come close, I should be able to compel the armors back to me."
Lyos acting this calculated and stoic was ten degrees of wrong. She couldn't not notice it.
"Is he not gonna notice you before he gets close?" Luna asked.
"I've loaded power the equivalent to four times you onto the soul of Lyos and control it from a distance. More I will not take lest it risks damaging the island's support structure. I want him to underestimate me, so Luna, you lead the attack. Filia, use fusion to cover for us, if you can."
Filia and Luna nodded.
Just as Lei ordered the armors to loosen and holiness gathered in his hands, they moved.
The hall where Lei worked was a enough to hold a dragon, so Luna used to space for a show. Wings out and tentacles wide, she burst out a whirl of white fire.
"Hey Lei, coming in uninvited again?" she said.
"Zelas, attack them," Lei said, eyes never leaving his work.
"Yes, my lord," she said with a strained voice. She drew both her swords and moved to attack, and in the same motion tossed one sword to Luna, who caught it easily.
Now Lei looked over his shoulder. "You are not to do anything that would assist them! Summon it back!"
"Yeeeeeeessssssssssss, mmmmyyyyy—"
Taking a hint from Filia, Luna infused the sword with her holy power. The hilt sprang into darkness first, then whirling white flames licked free.
"Not her sword anymore," she said with a smirk.
"yyyy lord, it appears I do not own any devil swords that I can summon back."
Lei Magnus cursed — how human — and ran for the nearest passage. Luna shot after him, but Zelas blocked her effortlessly. And harmlessly. Whether sword of cast energy, whatever they threw at each other just ... absorbed.
At least until Zelas physically threw her against a wall, following Lei's command to get a move on it already.
This time Luna hadn't been prepared well enough, letting the full brunt of spiky, coral littered walls scrape her open. Herself dammit. She grit her teeth and refused even a squeak. Still too human.
Filia was at her side at once, carefully pulled her off the walls. Her words of healing drifted off, the effecting in almost without it. Strength returned to Luna's numb limbs and the wounds closed. As the blur of pain faded, it hit her.
She held a fusion magic sword.
"Damnit!" Luna groaned.
"What's the matter? Did I hurt you?"
"No! This! This is the matter!" she said, holding up the sword to show the fusion. "It means I don't hate her as much as I ought to."
"That's all? One just needs a shared goal, I managed it on flimsier reasons with Xelloss." Filia finished her healing and pulled her to her feet.
"You're an foolish freak of compassion who would feel sorry for Shabranigdu if he looked at you sad."
"Foolish? There's nothing wrong with my being willing to help everyone!"
They glared at each other for five seconds, then Luna snorted. "We're both foolish. My goal apparently wasn't 'let's hurt Zelas while I have the chance'."
"Begging your pardon, that's not a bad thing," Filia said. "Maybe it's just a side effect of your general decision not to hurt people on a whim."
"I hope so," Luna said. She flexed her arms, found them functional and looked at the passage where Lei had gone. Crazy dragon. Crazy me. Come on, let's go save our devils."
"Again," Filia said with a sigh. "They better pay us back triple."
"Do we have a plan?" the fake Lyos asked, impatient. "Lei spotted me too soon."
Luna ignored it and said to Filia, "Let's not rely too much on that thing there. When we find him again, throw out a load of Siephied's magic to blind him on both planes. "
"That should be possible," Filia said. Luna almost told her she'd gotten the idea from her first meeting with Zelas, planning to crack a dry word about bad starts. She didn't. This all left a sour taste in her mouth.
The fake Lyos led them again, until they found a hole left by Lei and Zelas. They'd circled around and gone to the entrance, where Valwin still was.
They jumped after them, just barely catching up.
Valwin was impervious to most that Lei could throw out on a small scale, but Orun wasn't immune to being hurt or blinded. That was exactly the risk Lei meant to take, throwing himself right at the god and hoping to land a blow.
No time to waste.
Filia spread Siephied's power out. The moment Orun realized what they did, she joined in with her own holy power, or perhaps Valwin's. Right then, the shield turned opaque.
Luna dealt by projecting multiple physical eyes, while Lei only had his own human two.
He felt a little awe at that, but not enough to distract him.
With all of Shabranigdu's power at his disposal and no need to hide, Luna stood no chance, but she could dodge and he hardly knew where to aim.
He was still human, and Luna not quite. And Filia wasn't human at all.
She teleported right behind Lei Magnus and rammed a fusion staff right through the armor around his chest. For one moment, Filia had more of Valgaav and his lances and that cold look. Then Lei staggered and convulsed, and the armors cried out, and now she hesitated.
Didn't matter, this opening was all Luna needed. She struck her own fusion sword in the front craft, right where the staff had come through.
Unlike Filia, she had no qualms in making it a physical attack as much as it was astral. She bore in the sword and twisted it before pulling out.
Blood gushed over his robes, and he hated it. Her. Shabranigdu moved on the astral plane, but only in tandem with Lei's emotions.
Lei fell forward, losing blood more than a human could manage. Not human enough.
"Zelas, stop fusing magic with her!" he gurgled.
"I cannot," Zelas said. "I would have to stop agreeing with taking you down."
"Then be silent," he said, sounding more tired than anything.
Luna relaxed, if only a little. "Now that you're here, why not answer some things to make us like you better? Why did you seek us out on Wolfpack Island?"
He cast a look around, at the impassive demigods and the one dragon, who wasn't quite moved enough to heal him just like that.
First he had to force magic into himself to get a working windpipe again. After a few tries, he could talk normally again.
"Xelloss acted suspicious during my release, so I was curious. And to my surprise, there was a talisman. I imagined I could use an angelsblood talisman to repress Shabranigdu," Lei said.
The sympathy Filia felt had to be snubbed, so Luna said, "He's lying. He could have told me that right away when he arrived, he didn't."
Filia nodded. In truth, Luna wasn't so sure, but she didn't need a hesitant Filia right now.
"This is how it'll be, Luna? Too bad. I meant it when I said I would have liked you as my ally."
"Y'know. Gambling on the devil I know and all that."
"Is that why you never left Zephyria?" Lei asked.
Ah, they were going for mind games now? Luna knew this shit from the job market already; never used on her but once. Always on the weaker. What an insult!
"Nah, I just didn't feel like it. My little sister already does her job keeping the world steady, doesn't need me too."
"Really? Tell me, what was it like, finding out you were the knight of Siephied?"
She'd always been aware of her unusual powers, but its source had been obscured for the first years. Always taught to honor the gods, even though most of Zephyria knew the barrier prevented any prayer from being heard and Ragradia was dead. And then it proved that the supreme god was dead too, and she had part of his power at her command. The world looked like a crowded mess and she was the only one who lived it, but if Lei was angling for misery based on theocratic crisis ...
"T'was funky."
Lei stared, Filia stared, the Aqualord made a face and Zelas was clearly not forbidden to grin.
"Funky?" Lei asked.
Luna pressed her lips together in a mock serious face, nodding solemnly.
"Stop that, Zelas," Lei snapped.
"Nah, I'm deeply impressed with your attempt to unbalance a stranger."
"Don't play me for a fool. You are not without conflict over your situation, and a stranger no longer."
"Well, I have some sort of epiphany. It turns out I wouldn't trust myself with my life, if I were someone else. If we're alike, I better not trust you."
Lei sighed, and he felt regret. "Then we are nothing to each other."
"Bad postman, that's yesterday's paper."
Like the Aqualord had waited for a silly punchline, her construct broke through the floor. Its hands brushed across the Zenaffa, closed around the hostile tendrils and ripped them off within seconds.
It destroyed them, rather than subdue.
Shit. Lei would have nothing to lose.
"Wait!" Luna called, but it was too late.
The moment the armors were off, Lei pushed his full power out.
Filia spread out fusion around them, while Luna projected everything she could, gathering the organic close to her. With her wings, she shielded against the collapsing ceiling.
As rock and coral piled up around them, only the noise of the fight reached them. It went on for a few minutes, but grew lesser along with the diminishing devil radiance.
Gathered under their shield wasn't just Orun and Valwin, but also Jillas. Huh, had he been around the entire time?
"I think we gotta dig," Jillas said.
"Yes, and before the air runs out," Filia added. "Heavens, how did the day go to this?"
"I can tell you how in fine detail, but it's not gonna help us get out," Luna said. "Get to pushing and burning, miss dragon."
Filia did most of the heavy lifting, while Orun directed Valwin on incinerating smaller rock areas without blowing up all of them.
Once the first of the top rocks were shoved aside, a ray of sunlight fell in. Damn it, the fight had taken several levels down. Luna pushed Jillas and Orun out, let the cavity collapse and remanifested her sword.
No enemy to be found, though.
"Where did he go?" Jillas asked.
"Who knows? He got away with the talisman," Filia said.
Wait, what?
"She's right," Orun said. "There used to be this flow from the storage, it's gone now."
Great. They'd played right into Lei's hand. They fight had broken down the walls for him, and the Airlord had been put on hold to avoid clashing with the Aqualord.
"Just the news I hoped to hear," Luna said, and it wasn't entirely sarcasm. Whatever happened now, talking to Lina was off the table for a while. No chance of accidentally doing it. "So, where did our devils go?"
They climbed up from the wrecked halls right into a cloud of hatred. Not for Lei, he was nowhere to be seen or sensed.
Dust and fog clouded physical sight, but across the astral plane Zelas could be seen clear enough. Looming over her was Rangort, tall in the sky, and Ragrairyos just a little lower. They spoke in dragon languages, all grunts and whalish tones.
"Hey, Filia, get up here. Wanna know what they're saying."
"Just a minute!" Filia called up. "I need to heal a little."
Luna didn't feel like waiting a minute, so she grabbed the nearest dragon, using a projected claw to pull his neck down. "You. What's the duo up there arguing about?"
"Eh ... whether to kill Zelas. She is a huge liability if both our enemies can just waltz in and control her. Earthlord Rangort is in favor of killing them, Aqualord Ragradia is not."
"Good boy," she said, patting the dragon on the snout before tossing him away.
Lei had apparently forced her to fight again. Zelas's injuries were too severe for her to even move right, half her physical body lay to shambles and hung loose from her astral self. She tried drawing back entirely onto the astral plane, but could not. Xelloss was close to her side, but Luna could hardly tell him apart from the whirling darkness of his mother.
Dragons had lined around the crater, anxious, fearful and reverent to their gods. Hopeful, even, to see their ancient enemies die.
She rocked back and forth on the ball of her heals, ignoring tickling speculation about what she might be cutting off herself.
Now she wasn't in the middle of a battle, she could think. Right now, helping Zelas was not imperative to survival. Rangort could without a doubt wipe her out. Ragrairyos could control the machine, now she was whole. Maybe not as well as Zelas, but she could learn. Probably.
However, killing Zelas would make it personal to Xelloss, and he was necessary. Xelloss was the eternally obedient pet of Zelas. Unlike Dilgear or herself, he'd been made to obey and love it. He was capable of loyalty and so he was capable of loss. Luna could not feel loss, not at its full weight. She'd known its dread for seconds, maybe. He couldn't cut it. Was he human, or wolf, enough for that to matter?
Meh, she had different payback in mind anyway.
Luna climbed up the ridge where Zelas hung and whistled. She put a sharp astral sting on the sound.
Rangort deemed it fit to have a head with eyes and mouth today, which e looked down with on Luna.
"Hey, if you want any of my dogs, you gotta ask nicely," she said.
"It's not your dog, as you are aware. What are you playing at?" Rangort said in classic monotone.
Luna leaned on Zelas's head and reveled in the anger that its source could not act on. Zelas wasn't stupid, she knew a card in her favor.
"You don't know, worm? Tis my dog now, right, Poodlywoo?"
Had Zelas been anyone less sharp for survival, that would have gotten Luna her head bitten off, but all Zelas did was growl in irritation. Xelloss stood by, both eyes open and full of anxiety. He had a little holy magic at the ready for teleportation, but Luna doubted it'd get them far in this area.
"Deal's like this, who ever's got the most power is the owner. I bore the chains before, but now she's on my turf. Seeing as I'm your best shot at brewing a new angelsblood talisman, I dare say I hold a lot of power right now. And I want my dogs, a good delivery of fine wine, and no lizards in part of the island unless I permit them."
"The talisman is gone?" Rangort asked.
Ragrairyos shifted a little, then confirmed it.
Rangort still had to argue, of course. "Zelas is a liability that we cannot afford, whether it be what the voice of Shabranigdu can do, or whatever game she plays with you. I can tell what you cannot about yourself. It is sick."
Now that got Luna riled up. Rangort had been poking in her emotions all the way to its roots. Not to help her figure out, but for leverage.
Luna wished she could get her subconscious to cut away anger on command, because Rangort wasn't someone she could live it out on. With a sneer, she continued.
"I'm a liability too. Sure you noticed. Guess what? I'm gonna be very sure I cannot trust you if you off my dog over a possibility."
Rangort peered down at her, feeling little but confusion. Ragrairyos spoke again in their inhuman tongue.
Rangort hesitated, produced some doubt, and then just poof, gone. The surrounding dragons murmured in disappointment, but Xelloss let go a breath of relief (literary and figuratively). Only Zelas didn't feel much different.
Luna leaned down on Zelas a little harder. "You owe me for a third time, Poodlywoo."
"I am well aware, Lady Corpse, but we shall see whether Rangort remains in this position," Zelas said, shoving Luna away with a wing.
Zelas shook out her wings and drew them close. With some effort, she managed to stand. Xelloss offered to support her, but she denied. Without another word, she staggered into the nearest cave. Xelloss stayed at the entrance and turned.
"Ehm ... thank you, miss Luna."
"Don't sweat it, I'm sure you'll repay me royally."
"Of course," he said with a smile.
· · · · · · ·
Luna hung around doing nothing, again, until she got a hold of Orun and ranted at her for staying linked to Valwin despite the risk. Orun had a decent reason, actually : she had Valwin convinced that the incident of Luna cutting off some of his power was an accident. Rangort thought Luna and Orun had invented it on intention, but Valwin wouldn't let Rangort snoop in Orun's mind. E wasn't interested in probing Orun's mind for secrets, so far, but her suddenly denying the god help might just inspire that kind of research.
Not really a good cause to be angry at, unless she wanted to draw attention.
Luna spent the rest of the day kicking people out of he destroyed area. To her surprise, this was easy : most people had already been grouped away during the attack. That would explain why Lei had gotten around so easily, but the lack of casualties was still interesting. Did that mean Lei avoided killing people?
Xelloss and Filia could be found in the kitchen, again. Filia did an unusual amount of eating lately, though she didn't use magic much. Luna considered tasteless ways to comment on that.
"No Life Law, you promised. Try chocolate," Xelloss said just as Luna walked in. Judging from Filia's emotional cloud, the topic was guilt. Huh.
Xelloss held up a can of chocolate chip cookies. A little suspicious, not half as much as the ought to be, Filia took one.
"Why do you object to Life Law purification but not chocolate?" she asked.
"I suppose because chocolate works from the other end. The spell takes away something you already are, while tampering with brain chemistry just means you avoid developing something."
Filia rolled her eyes. "We are never going to agree on this."
Luna walked by and snatched the can, claimed three cookies and tossed it back.
"That's a bit rude, miss Luna. You could have asked."
"This was quicker. So, where's Poodlywoo?"
"Please stop calling lord Beastmaster that!"
"Poodlywoo Muffykins may file an official complaint at the court of Zephyria on behalf of regulation 42, regarding misconduct of Zephyrian Knights. After the complaint is processed, I shall formally proceed to not give a shit."
"Ah, the wolf pack is irritated by cutesy names as well?" Filia said, most mischievously. "How very excellent to know."
"Miss Filia!"
"Don't worry, Xelloss. It'll be a last resort. Anyway, why do you need to talk to the slimy hairball, miss Luna?"
"Duh, we're gonna brew a new angelsblood talisman, right? Gotta talk to her about the incubation method," she said while twirling the chain magic around her fingers. "Chain aside, last time they had me dance on a magic seal. We're not gonna do that again. Got all these ancient memories in my head."
"A flow dance? Are you sure? They're the most easy and efficient way for this kind of magic," Filia said.
"Maybe, but I'm gonna look for something that doesn't put me on display."
"Lord Beastmaster is down in the mesh hall," Xelloss said. "I really recommend you drop the nickname before approaching her."
Luna waved it off. "I survived doing worse to her."
Leaving Xelloss puzzled over that, Luna walked off without a hurry. She experimented a little with her projection on the way. Ideally she wanted to hover the way astral beings could, but she hadn't quite figured out how to just ignore gravity.
Near the central cavity, Dolphin had designed a diner hall for her cult. Coral lined the walls and long rows of chairs circled into a spiral towards a shell platform; there was no easy way to get seated without a long walk. The wall had holes to the kitchens and dim, eerie light came from a marine chandelier. It had been meant to impress and the imprison.
Zelas sat alone near the walls, the sole occupant of the hall. When Luna closed the door, she looked up.
"Hey, Poodlywoo! I figured I'd come to celebrate my storkhelm syndrome. Got any wine to spare?"
Astrally, Zelas bared her wings and flattered her ears, but her human face stayed impassive. "No."
"Sure?" Luna said as she sauntered closer. "Storkhelm syndrome not nutritious enough to you?"
"Go away, lady corpse."
"How about no? We have to talk, Poodlywoo. I hear it's good for getting along."
"Also excellent for getting along is calling people by their name."
"Fine. Zelas Metaliom, talk to me. Who knows, you might catch something unexpected before it happens to you."
"Is that a threat, Luna Inverse?" Zelas ran her finger over the edge of her glass, creating a sharp noise.
"No, just an invitation."
"Ah. What would we even talk about?"
"Plenty. What's it like for your mind to be controlled? I know you hate it, yeah, but not what happens to your thinking."
Zelas sat back. "You are unusually inquisitive. What is up?"
"Nothing really. Figured I should try to understand people a little better."
That got Zelas's smirk out. "Ah yes, the why is what comes to blindside even the most observant. Why would I give my enemy insight in myself?"
"It's gonna matter for the future. Do you know why Filia let in Gravos and Jillas despite their past crimes? She always said that what's important is that they won't repeat it in the future. I kept suggesting she put them to trial because they deserve it, but maybe I'm thinking too much in the past.
Now, I kinda agree with her, even if for different reasons. If I hurt the people who misbehave, I made sure they won't do it again in the future. I never cared for law because of justice, but it was useful to me. But now ... maybe I can get my own security in another way.
You are not the kind of person to start a war on a whim and what you pulled one me isn't something routine for you. If I get you, it may be easier for me to deal with you."
"Are you trying to forgive me?"
"Don't be ridiculous. I just accept that for now, I have to live with you and that I can do without losing myself."
Zelas gave her a blank look for several seconds, which might just be a mask that concealed deep thinking.
"Well then, pay attention. Motivation has nothing to do with a devil's command," Zelas said at last. "Have you ever heard of conation, Luna Inverse?"
"Nah. Sounds fancy."
"It is a term used in the study of the mind. While cognition pertains to knowledge and affect to the emotional, conation is the part that acts and drives. Instinct is part of it, and it becomes will in the process. Under normal circumstances, conation's form is the product of the former two.
With mortals, conation can be manipulated only indirectly by placing pressure on affection or cognition. You must do this to get that result, it says. Hand over that or you will never get what you want, it says. This is persuasion, deep down.
For devils below their creator, no such persuasion is needed. A command supplants conation entirely.
In other words, it makes us driven to perform the actions we are told to as if we want to, despite not being a product of our own minds. The link between conation and the other facets of our mind is severed. Cognition and affection still exist, but they do not matter on the new conation palced by the command.
You see, this forms quite the conundrum. My affect is such that I strive to exist and my cognition sees reason in serving the Lord of Nightmares rather than Shabranigdu, yet that does not matter. Free will is less free than we believe for all creatures, for both astral and organic a mere product of anatomy.
The only reprieve is that once a command has been carried out, my whole self exists unaffected. Meanwhile, it may be harder to supplant conation in a mortal mind, but once it is done, there is no recovery for them."
Luna didn't like how she said that. For them. As if there were no humans in her presence right now.
Worse yet, she started to get an idea why Zelas had flipped out after Luna tried cutting her emotions. Luna saw emotional alteration as soothing or riling, rather than a healing or mutilation matter. To Luna, emotions were something you had, rather than something you were.
"Did this make any difference for you, Luna?" Zelas asked.
"You didn't really talk about what it is like to live with, but it's good enough. I guess I hurt you first, back on your island."
"So you did."
"Could've explained it better, though. Anyway, why don't you tell this to the dragons? With one frilly exception, these suckers are under the impression you and Xelloss gleefully slaughtered the lot because you wanted to."
Zelas put down her glass hard. "No. They see the world by the dogma of sinners and saints. Should I claim to have acted against my will, they will frame me as a victim and expect repentance. I do not mourn the deaths we caused and I cannot experience guilt or remorse. Telling them this truth would make them believe something more untrue than they do now."
"It's not just about that. Most laws systems, save the most corrupt, would not hold you accountable for possession. Cause that's pretty much what it is. Let's say we all survive this, but you don't get to rule the world. You're gonna have to live in it and that'll be easier if people don't fear you."
"Now you speak of yourself," Zelas said. "It is no universal truth that a reign of terror makes life harder. It is only so for your person and your life. What does it have to do with mine? Perhaps it would suit me to harvest more fear than I am worth."
"Fear inspires complacency, but also revolt," Luna said. "It's something I've known, but not really cared to understand. Are you sure you're right about your position? Xelloss is already experimenting with what he wants out of the world. Got no ideas of your own, other than killing your dad?"
"Shabranigdu is not my father. We astral beings have no business with biology."
Luna laughed. "Really now? So says the woman who worries for her pack. You're already making biology your business."
"If this line of thought is your feeble attempt to understand us better, then let me ask you, do you understand your own kind at all? Does your sister talk with you? How about your friends? Oh, indeed. You have only one left. Surely her recent behavior baffles you."
"She just broke very hard, but I get her better than anyone. I've been in her head."
"And this means you understand what you saw?"
"You have no clue what dreams are like, do you? There is feelings too and dragons dream with sound and smell even more than humans. Sharing dreams is a conversation in itself. Bet you never even did that with your pup. Priest. Whatever."
"It should be patently clear I have spoken with my priest at least a million times."
Luna shook her head. "Eye to eye? Like equals?"
Zelas gave that a silence topped with grabbing the next bottle of wine from the wall.
"I dare you to do it, Zelas. Everything changes, don't be left behind."
Still that silence.
"What did you order him anyway?"
"To restoreit what made them lose fusion magic."
"How does it feel for him to be ordered around? Or rather, how does he think about it?"
Zelas froze on both planes. For a few seconds, her forms flickered and her emotions were something Luna did not recognize. When she solidified, the feeling condensed into doubt and confusion.
"I didn't tell him how, it was his own choice. Now they can do fusion magic again and I do not know what is coming. He claims he developed a way to understand her. It might mean more than he understands."
"More than you understand, I bet. Here's that new thing I said I might tell : when Filia was in Kataart, he came to Wolfpack Island to ask you what to do, but I talked him out of it."
The glass cracked in Zelas's hand. "What?"
"Persuaded him you were unstable and it was best if you didn't cop out. Granted, I had to hold him down before he listened, threaten to kill him and bind him by word, but yeah ... can he break vows for you?"
Again that silence, but the spike in stress gave Luna a clue. He could.
"How much can devils decide what the personality of their creations is like anyway? The gods are all the same bland fools, but the devil clan ... everyone is unique."
"We have some control, but in the end it is the pass of chaos. I believed I was a little wiser and so I created Xelloss with a pack instinct. Up until very short ago, this meant he had absolute loyalty to me. It would not shift to Shabranigdu upon my death, for Shabranigdu had never been one of our kind. A wolf will not join the foxes or the deers when all their pack mates die. At the very least, he would have been free."
"Yet wolves have joined humanity by becoming dogs," Luna said. "Worried you're losing control over him?"
"What if we already are dogs, and goes back to the wild?"
Maybe it was the alcohol, but that had Luna laughing. "Don't be silly. Not him. Not ever."
It was only about his mind, though. Luna tasted nothing good from Xelloss. The subtle love he'd once felt for his mother was there, but with gaps. Faltering and accompanied by resentment. It tasted eerily like Spot as he was on the brink of betraying her, while still caring. Then again, what did she know? Not even herself.
Zelas didn't speak anymore, and for a while they just sat there. At one point Zelas just vanished, and Luna felt none the wiser.
· · · · · · ·
