Chapter 10 - A History of Holy Wars

Veil's caste promotion brought a number of notable changes with it. One major change was the quality of her opponents in the arena. Now that she was a Servant, she started seeing more Servants in the arena, ones who had been much better trained than the slaves she was used to facing. But after everything she had been through to beat Zahra, she was able to handle most of them with little trouble.

Another notable change in Veil's life was a change of living quarters. As a step up from the slave quarters she was used to living in, her new Servant's quarters bore considerably better furnishings. Among them were a fancier shrine to Serapis and a set of scroll racks that were partially stocked with her own supply of scrolls to read.

Conveniently, Veil's new quarters were also much closer to Nuha's, allowing more time for the natural-born Servant to teach her how to read. These new lessons in addition to what Veil had already been taught helped her considerably, and within a few weeks she was capable of reading a good amount without assistance.

In addition to those lessons, Nuha had approached her with the idea of getting Arc to teach her how to write as well, which she agreed to after only a little hesitation. These lessons were always carried out with the utmost secrecy, with Arc in particular stressing the importance of hiding them.

Veil sometimes wondered if Arc's insistence on secrecy had anything to do with his recent reassignment. Not even a full day after her party, Mistress Adelin announced that he was to serve under Veil personally, which he agreed to much more readily than anyone had expected. For a while afterward, Veil was at a loss for how she would make use of Arc, and whether she even wanted to impose anything on him to begin with.

After some time though, the two of them had come up with an arrangement. Arc's only real duties to Veil would consist of him serving as a sparring partner during her training sessions and helping out during her lessons with Nuha. In public, she would also ask simple menial tasks of him, though while they were on the estate she would handle those herself.

As the days passed and the two of them became more familiar with each other, Veil became more and more curious about Arc, as well as the strange city he came from. In time, her curiosity got the better of her, and she decided to find out everything she wanted to know during one of her lessons.

"Hey, Arc?" She asked, "I've been wondering, what was your life in Anduruna like, back when you lived there?"

"Anduruna? I haven't really thought about it too much since coming here. It was alright I guess, but to be honest, I wasn't really on good terms with the law back there."

"Oh? Why's that?" Nuha asked, turning away from the scroll rack she was looking through.

Arc rubbed his shoulder. "Well, me and Evan? We're power users, and using powers in Anduruna is illegal. After we awakened we couldn't really go out in public, so I used my power to steal things for us to live off of while Evan used his to keep the CCA's attention on him while I did it."

Veil blinked. "You were a thief? Wait, more importantly, Serapis's blessings are illegal there?"

"Yeah. To be fair, they don't really believe in Serapis in Anduruna, and besides that Anduruna hasn't had the best history with powers either. There was this one really brutal war involving them, for one. And just a few years before I was born there was an incident with someone using their power and killing a bunch of people in public!"

"Oh, I guess with a history like that, it would make sense for them to be afraid. So I'm guessing you had to leave Anduruna because the law caught you?"

"They caught Evan actually. Without powers of their own, I don't think they could've caught me using mine. I turned myself in so he didn't have to go out alone when he got exiled."

"And coming to Serapeum? Anduruna's pretty far away, so what made you come here?"

"Well, to be honest, we wanted to see if Serapeum was still around. A whole city full of power users, it just seemed like the kind of place worth seeing. So we managed to get a few people interested and made a caravan headed out west. We didn't really see anything for about half a year, up until we had our run-in with House Ardeo's Reapers…"

Arc paused, then let out a short laugh. Veil and Nuha both gave him confused looks in response.

"Was there something funny about that, Arc?"

"Oh, I was just thinking about how lucky we were that House Ardeo was the one that Reaped us. I mean, none of us could even speak your language before we came here, and I don't think many other Houses would have bothered teaching us. But in House Ardeo, they helped us through the basics, and now I'm having this whole conversation without having to think about it!"

"You couldn't even…" Nuha paused, then let out a laugh of her own. "I guess I thought there wasn't a difference in our languages, you were speaking it so well back then!"

"Honestly, I'm partly to blame for that mistake. After all, I was so occupied with getting it right, somehow having known another language completely slipped my mind!"

Veil gave Arc a smile. "Knowing another language though… That's pretty cool! How different are our languages, anyway?"

"Pretty different. Back then, I could barely even tell what some Serapeans were saying! But once I was told about the shared root language between them, I found it easier to focus on root words and work my way through it from there."

"A root language? I wonder if that was used back when Serapeum and Anduruna fought each other…"

Nuha turned back to the scroll rack and started rifling through it. Veil and Arc shared a look before turning their eyes back to her as she pulled a much older scroll out from the rack.

"Here it is," Nuha said, unfurling the scroll as she turned to face them, "it's a pretty old one that goes over the history of the war! If it's written based on that root language, maybe we could learn more about it!"

Arc nodded. "Hm, yeah. To be honest, I'm kind of curious about the war now. All I really know is that it was mostly over religion, but now I'm wondering how Serapeum remembers it…"

"Maybe that could be my lesson for the day, then! We could all learn more about the history between our cities, while also going over that older language!"

"That's exactly what I was thinking, Veil! So, let's get right to it! Arc, could you help Veil with any words she has trouble with?"

Arc nodded, and with that, Nuha smiled and settled the scroll on the ground between the three of them. Together, they started looking over the ancient text, taking the next few hours to absorb the information.

—

For seven hundred years, Anduruna, the sole surviving city of the East, was reigned over by a False God, wreathed in might stolen from the accursed nightmares themselves. This False God, who by decree of Serapis shall go unnamed in this record, forced all those within his city's walls to kneel before him, dreamkeeper and nightmare alike.

He stood defiant when we, the Truly Faithful bowed, and spoke Grand Blasphemies, claiming himself the Author of All Things, and claiming the One True Goddess Serapis as his lesser. But when She rejected and denounced his lies and took pity on his subjects, he was filled with fury towards Her, and conspired to see Her downfall.

In his bid for domination, the False God had taken craven steps to place himself beyond the reach of death. Knowing this, Serapis orchestrated a plan to end his tyranny in another way. Through secret meetings with the False God's architects and stonemasons, Serapis gave the dreamkeepers of Anduruna the means to be free from his rule - not through death, but through eternal imprisonment.

In the heart of Anduruna, the trap was laid. Upon each stone of the False God's palace there was inscribed a Holy Ward by which he would be bound, losing his access to the Gifts he had stolen from the Goddess. In addition, false passages were created and devious traps were set in the manor to confound and torture the False God for the duration of his existence.

Once the False God had entered his manor turned oubliette, the Andurunan called Dayraider triggered the Holy Wards given by Serapis and sealed the prison from the outside, catching the False God by surprise. Then, Serapis Herself commanded each and every stone of the structure to sink into the furthest depths of the earth, burying the False God in an inescapable tomb.

For Her assistance in removing the False God from power, Serapis requested little more than the worship and servitude of the Andurunans, that they may remain under Her protection should their former ruler ever return.

But the memory of misrule rankled in the minds of the newly freed Andurunans. They chose to reject the Goddess's warmth, for they had known only the cold grasp of the False God for so many centuries.

To that end, we, Her Truly Faithful, endeavored to show compassion to them. A generous offer was made, and the example of our enriched lives was presented, that the Andurunans would see the Truth of Serapis and join us in Her Worship.

But the Andurunans responded with barbed words and misuse of Serapis's Gifts, driving us out from the False God's former kingdom. Even the traitorous Dayraider, who had once petitioned Serapis for aid, turned against Her, eager to take power for himself.

With a heavy heart and no other recourse, Serapis set us on the path of war. The following decade of conflicts showed us the heathenistic ferocity of the Andurunans. Using the few Gifts Serapis gave them to test our worthiness, as well as the fortifications left from the False God's reign, Anduruna held fast against our Holy Crusade.

With the city holding its own over many years, we had little choice but to regroup and rearm ourselves for further conflict. Some of us, whose memories shame Serapis, had proven to have been Faithless, defecting to the Heresy of the Spirits worshiped by some of the Andurunans.

Anduruna meanwhile, saw an opportunity to strike out against Serapeum. Their spite-filled raids caused great devastation to the lands of the Goddess over the next few years. In time, an accord had to be reached, as Serapis would have surely destroyed the Andurunans upon reaching Her Holiest Capitol, and they would have defiantly marched towards destruction in refusing Her Truth.

Before the Andurunans could reach the Capitol, we, the Truly Faithful, set forth one final show of force. With a Great Blessing from Serapis Herself, the field of battle was laid bare, and our army caught the invaders by surprise in one final clash.

The final result was plain to see from the carnage wrought in a single day of fighting. The Andurunans' attempted siege of Serapeum would be their undoing. Against the might of the One True Goddess and Her Truly Faithful, only devastation could arise.

It was at this moment that Serapis offered the Andurunans a generous and benevolent choice: Return to their city to be Unseen by Her, free to worship whatever idols they chose, or continue the war and face total destruction at Her hands.

The choice was clear, and the Andurunans negotiated a treaty with Serapeum and departed. To this day, any of the Unseen from that city who venture into the lands of the Goddess are forfeit to the Holy Order of Reaping, and face the choice their ancestors made for them: Worship, or Death.

—

For a while after they finished reading, the group sat silent in thought. In time, Arc was the first one to speak up.

"That… Well, that's definitely not the version of the story I learned about…"

"I think I get why neither of our cities interacted with each other after that," Veil said. "I mean, with that False God ruling over them, now I can see why the Andurunans wouldn't accept Serapis…"

"That's… actually part of what I mean. This is the first I've ever even heard of some ruler who claimed to be a god, and especially one who ruled before Dayraider!"

Nuha looked up from the scroll at Arc. "Do you think that maybe your history was incomplete? It might be that he was erased from history if he was as bad as the scroll says."

"Well, actually, that seven hundred years part is strange. That's the same amount of time as…"

Arc paused. A moment later, his eyes went wide.

"The Silent Centuries… Could the scroll be referring to that?"

"The Silent Centuries? What do you mean by that?"

"There was a whole period of Andurunan history where, well, there wasn't any history at all! No inscriptions, no written records, nothing! It was about seven hundred years, right before the reign of King Dayraider!"

"So does that mean that Dayraider got rid of that history? Maybe so that no one could connect his rule to his broken deal with Serapis?"

"Or maybe he did it to avoid being connected with the False God!"

"Whoa, hold on now! Even if he was the king, I don't think he could have pulled off anything as big as the Silent Centuries! Besides that, I'm having trouble even believing the false god was real. I think the whole idea of him is kind of suspicious to be honest!"

Veil blinked. "Suspicious?"

"I mean, not to be unfaithful or anything, but he just sounds like a caricature for Serapis to defeat, an evil figure to use as an excuse for the war." Arc pointed at the scroll's first paragraph. "Like right here. It says that he was wreathed in power stolen from nightmares. That's kind of ridiculous, don't you think? I mean, seriously, nightmares?"

"What's wrong with the scroll saying something about nightmares?"

"Besides the fact that they don't exist? Honestly, they could've just-"

Nuha grabbed Arc's shoulder, silencing him. "Arc… do you really believe that?"

"I," Arc paused and turned to look at Veil, who was giving him a pained look. "Th-they aren't real, right? After all, didn't we read a bunch of fairy tales about them a few weeks back?"

"Arc… Nightmares are real. All those stories we read… they actually happened."

"But… that doesn't make sense though… in all of Anduruna's history, there's never been a real-"

"You said it yourself, didn't you? Anduruna is missing a lot of its history. And it's further from the nightmares' source, too! Here in Serapeum, we're much closer to where they come from."

"Bralgu…" Veil's voice fell to a whisper as she spoke, "the forbidden city in the west… Even slaves are taught about it."

"The Precepts tell us to always be wary of them, that the only reason Serapis hasn't killed them all is because the sins of the unfaithful keep bringing them back. Didn't they tell you any of this in House Ardeo?"

Arc was shuddering. "I… I thought they were just an allegory for sins, like they are in Sacrare…"

"They're real, Arc. Nuha and I, we've seen them… My mother… She…"

Nuha spoke up as Veil trailed off. "Ten years ago, Master Kamal's farm was attacked by nightmares. One of them got away with some of the farm's slaves in its grasp. We were only children back then, and we have Serapis to thank that we got away with our lives. But Veil's mother was one of the slaves that got taken… There's a chance that they're still alive, but with nightmares, that's almost always worse…"

"Veil… I… I'm sorry, I didn't know…"

"It… it's okay. You didn't know they existed until now… and Serapis knows I wish they didn't…"

Nuha moved closer to Veil and gave her a hug. Arc looked down at the scroll as the girls held each other close.

"Nightmares… I guess that would be another reason powers are legal here. Anything you can use to fight back against them, right?"

Nuha looked at Arc and nodded. "Yeah. And that's part of why we have arenas too, so power users can master their powers in combat."

"Then… there must also be scrolls all about nightmares, right? Things like the kinds that have been seen, and how best to kill them?"

"Y-yeah, I think the Mistress has a few of those at least… Um, why are you asking?"

"I, well…"

Veil and Nuha parted from their hug and both gave Arc a long look. He returned it before speaking again.

"We never even thought nightmares were real in Anduruna, but here in Serapeum, you've been dealing with them for… Serapis only knows how long! It might be a little selfish of me, but I want to know more about them. Since they're real, it would be better if we knew how to deal with them, right?"

"I… yeah, I think you have a point, Arc." Veil said with a nod. "And if there's anything that could help me find the nightmare that took my mother, now that I have a power, I owe it to her to find out about it!"

Nuha nodded. "That's right, now you have a way to fight back! Serapis blessed you, so the next time we see that… that monster…"

"I'll kill it. And if it comes back after that, I'll keep killing it until I make it afraid of me!"

"So, do we have a plan? Besides just heading to Mistress Adelin and asking for every scroll she has on nightmares?"

"I think maybe you should ask Master Sef first. He's the one who would have more use for that sort of thing."

"Hm… Yeah! That's a great idea, Nuha! In fact, I think we could go ahead and do it now! I think it's about time for my training session, anyway!"

Arc took a quick peek outside of Nuha's hut. Once he did, he returned to the girls, nodding as he did.

"Veil's right, it's past noon already. I guess we spent longer than we thought looking through that scroll."

"Then you two should get going, I'll try to find some more about nightmares from what I have in here. And maybe, there'll be something in Veil's scrolls too!"

Veil smiled and gave Nuha a quick hug. "Thanks, Nuha. We'll be sure to let you know what Master Sef has to say!"

Veil shared a final smile with Nuha before she headed out of the hut with Arc. Once she was alone, Nuha turned to her shrine to Serapis and kneeled before it, beginning her midday prayer.

"Serapis, thank you for your blessings. I, a mere Servant to your Divine Will, pray for your guidance in the days to come. Please help me and Veil find everything we need to serve you in Serapeum's eternal war against the nightmares…"

—

Following their own midday prayers and a simple meal, Veil and Arc made their way to House Tenebri's training grounds. Master Sef was already hard at work sparring with Evan, but he paused their fight as soon as he noticed the two of them approaching.

"Tenebri Veil," he said as stoically as ever, "it's unlike you to arrive even slightly late to your training sessions. I imagine you have a good reason for doing so?"

Veil bowed before responding. "Yes, Master. Arc and I were busy studying with Nuha when we realized we don't know very much about fighting nightmares."

"Nightmares?" Evan asked. "You mean like the ones from fairy tales and scary stories?"

"Come on, Evan, you should know by now that they're actually real!" Asma said, walking up to the group. "But to be fair, we haven't actually seen any since we got here…"

Arc blinked. "Wait, you already knew they're real, Asma?"

"Yeah, the guards have some wild stories about them! I didn't believe them at first, but I've seen how they talk about them, and I can tell that's not the kind of thing they joke around about."

"Slave Asma is right. Nightmares are a serious threat, not only to House Tenebri, but to Serapeum as a whole. But getting back to the point, Veil. I take it that you want to know more about them?"

Veil nodded. "Yes, Master. I want to be ready if I ever need to face them. Especially if there's any chance that they could attack the House again, like that time…"

"Ten years ago, on Walker Kamal's farm? Yes… Adelin mentioned that to me not too long ago. You have my sympathies, Veil. I have no doubt that was a difficult experience for you."

"Then, you know why I want to be able to fight them. Do you have some scrolls that we could borrow to help with that?"

"I do indeed, but as it turns out, your timing asking about nightmares is excellent. I could simply give you the scrolls to study, but I think it would be best for you to speak with Adelin first."

"The Mistress? Pardon me for asking, Master, but why her? And what do you mean by Veil's timing?"

"Patience, Slave Arc. It would be easier for my wife to explain everything."

Master Sef turned to face the rest of the training group. His jackal Hand was quick to notice, and bowed before his Master could even begin speaking.

"Hand Mahir. I'm going to speak with Adelin. Take care of training the guards while I'm gone."

"Yes, Master Sef." The Hand replied, only lifting his head once the Master had turned back to the group.

"Servant Tenebri Veil, Slaves Asma, Evan, and Arc. Come with me. You will all need to hear what your Mistress has to say."

"Yes, Master," the group responded in unison.

With a nod, Master Sef headed back toward the estate. Veil and the Andurunan slaves followed close behind, and eventually the group arrived at the Mistress's manor house. A few minutes after he went inside, the Master came out following behind Mistress Adelin. The group bowed towards her, as was appropriate.

"Raise your heads, my dears. Now, Tenebri Veil, Slave Arc. Sef tells me that you two want to learn more about fighting nightmares, is that correct?"

"Yes Mistress. We'd like to know whatever information House Tenebri has on them."

"Um, Master Sef mentioned that Veil had excellent timing asking about it. What did he mean by that, Mistress?"

The Mistress smiled. "Well, as it turns out, I have actually been working on something involving nightmares. A special contract between many Houses that has been a few months in the making."

Veil's frills lifted. "A contract between Houses, about nightmares… Are we going to hunt them?"

"Indeed we are. I had been planning to speak with all of House Tenebri's power users about it once more of the details had been figured out, but it seems that your curiosity has aligned more with my plans than I had considered."

"Huh, Kamal said something about that back at Veil's party… So this is what you were needing power users for?"

"But of course, Slave Evan. Nightmares are dangerous, after all. Any advantage we can get against them, any blessing that Serapis has granted us, is something that we will need to take full advantage of to succeed in this."

Master Sef nodded. "And even the abilities of those without powers may very well come in handy. In particular, Slave Asma, I believe yours could be of great help. I've seen your Four Walls technique quite extensively now, and I can tell that there is more to that style that you've been holding back in training."

"U-um, the thing is, Master, there's something about that… It's the kind of thing that, well…"

Asma walked up to Master Sef, who leaned in as she whispered to him. He nodded along as she spoke, and gave her a look once she finished.

"I understand your hesitation. Rest assured, so long as you limit those techniques to being used against nightmares, Serapis will take no offense, and at the very least I will take no offense to you using them."

"Really, Master? Well, in that case…"

Asma continued whispering to the Master, who continued nodding and whispering to her in turn. Evan chuckled to himself and muttered something about how he "won't be the only one anymore," which confused Veil. As her husband and his slave continued to talk, Mistress Adelin turned to face the remaining group.

"Well, it seems like Slave Asma is in agreement, even lacking a blessing from Serapis as she is. But as for the rest of you: Tenebri Veil, Slaves Arc and Evan, can I trust you all to use your powers to help with this contract?"

Veil nodded emphatically. "Yes Mistress. If it's killing nightmares, then it's our duty to do it in the name of Serapis."

"I'm with Veil, Mistress," Arc said after a moment of hesitation. "Even if I'm not sure my power will be much good for that…"

"Sure, why not?" Evan said with a smile. "We'll get to see just what these nightmares are all about! Hell, killing them could even be a good way to let off some steam!"

The Mistress smiled. "Excellent. With your help, we will surely succeed. Not only for the glory of House Tenebri, but for all of the Houses involved in the contract, as well as the glory of Serapis Herself! But for now, there is still much to be done. I bid you all to return to your duties in the coming days, and prepare yourselves for the contract as best as you can."

After nodding and bowing to her, the group did as Mistress Adelin ordered. Once Veil and Arc returned to the training grounds, they activated their powers and started sparring with each other. As she got immersed in the flow of the fight, dodging Arc's various attacks while attempting to land a few of her own, Veil focused her thoughts on the upcoming contract.

Nightmares… Ten years ago I never thought I could stand up against them. But now, I've been blessed by Serapis. With the power She gave me, I'll take as many of them as I can down…

For the glory of Serapis…

For the glory of Serapeum…

For the glory of House Tenebri…

And… For the memory of my mother…