Heretical Fishing
Author: Haylock
Book 5: Chapter 51: Change
I had wanted to show the god-empress an expression of feigned indifference when I finally revealed Snips, the spiked and reliable ace up my sleeve. Instead of feigned indifference, I gaped in genuine amazement as Snips tore her way free of my jacket.
It shouldn’t have been possible. The material had parted like tissue paper. The only way she could have done it—
“Is if I had more faith in you than everyone else combined,” hissed Snips in my mind.
She was the actual target of Teddy’s aura transfer earlier, and he’d clearly succeeded. His red and white power glowed from every inch of her carapace. Even without that visual proof though, it was obvious his power surrounded her—Snips was neutralizing the tip of the god-empress’s spear with a single claw.
Snips had absorbed her hundreds of bonded crustaceans into her core earlier. She’d timed it with Cal’s reawakening, hiding it from the god-empress. The god-empress certainly knew they were in there now, though. Their power was unmistakable, even if it was being wielded by Snips.
If this were a movie, Snips and the god-empress would have had a back and forth battle, in which Snips only triumphed after someone—probably Rocky—sacrificed themself. If it was a movie by a particularly sadistic director, they might even have Snips win by sacrificing herself, turning the trauma of her death into a ‘flaw’ the main character has to overcome in the next installment.
But this wasn’t a movie. Nor was it that kind of story.
Snips’s mighty clacker slammed together. The twin blades of foaming water that shot from her claws were two-meters wide, thicker than a fantasy epic, and wreathed in Teddy’s red-and-white aura. They sliced through the god-empress’s divine spear like it was nothing, leaving only harmless light in their wake.
The god-empress herself would have been slapped ten ways to Sunday if the the blades hit her, so I made sure I got there first. I separated my reduced chi between all four of my partitions and pressed down on the god-empress with all my might.
***
End scene: Eustace and Anius have a vision again. Point to Fischer. Aletheia is the divine bridge to… point at Fischer.
When Aletheia woke, she was on a sandy shore, the expansive ocean stretching out before her. She tugged on her limbs, but they didn’t budge. Her wrists and ankles were bound by tendrils of pure-white chi. Someone spoke. A man. His words, quiet and excited, were unintelligible at first. Slowly, Aletheia grasped their meaning. She shifted, rising to her knees.
“Yeah! That’s it!” the man was saying. “Now put your other hand here, see? That one on the reel, this one further up the rod so you can rest your finger on the line. That way, if I fishy comes along to nibble your bait, you’ll feel it.”
“I see…” a woman replied, her tone suggesting that she absolutely didn’t.
Eustace. It was
That made Aletheia smile. The Seer would surely help her out of this bind. A slew of fond memories flashed by. All the times Eustace had played with her as a child. All the secrets and laughs they’d shared atop the castle’s roof. All the plans they’d made to improve the Kingdom of Light. But then reality beamed down, revealing the wicked truth.
hissed the mask in Aletheia mind.
The moment it returned, the mask immediately vied for control. It shoved her down, plunging her back into that dark pit, flinging her into the deepest corners of…
The pit was no more. It was riddled with holes and cavities large enough for Aletheia to stride through. Golden light steamed in, illuminating the abyss. The mask froze.
She remembered now. Wielded by the mask, Aletheia’s own divine chi had perforated the prison and torn it apart. It had done the same to her body. She stared down at her arms—they were whole, but they shouldn’t be.
Aletheia shouldn’t even be alive.
She had tried to steal back control of her own mind and body, and when the mask discovered the attempt, it had tried to kill her. She shivered, remembering the agony of her own divine essence burning her to a crisp. Seeking a distraction, she inspected her core. The mask had absorbed far too much power, causing her core to get ripped to shreds. But just like the rest of Aletheia, her core was also whole.
“Mornin’!” came the voice of a strangely accented man.
The mask was shocked into action. It tried to cast Aletheia aside, but there was nowhere to put her. Every single corner of Aletheia’s soul was now illuminated by the light of the heavens.
Aletheia and the mask both looked up at the god-king on whose shores they sat.
“You’ve been out cold for most of the day. Your ‘Forty Hands’ or whatever you call them will be out cold for a few days until my wife fixes the damage you did to their channels, but she already fixed the Prime Cadre and Anius. They healed up stupid quick. Crazy how much vitality you divine cultivators have.” Fischer rubbed his neck with one hand. He wasn’t wearing his jacket anymore. “Anius and that still have to take it easy, though. Lucky for you guys, Tropica are
of relaxation. I’ve been spreading my heretical ways by teaching them to fish.” He nodded towards the coastline. “Evan is a natural.”
“What’s that?” Evan asked. He wore a relaxed smile that made Aletheia want to weep with joy.
When he saw her, though, his smile died.
The mixed look of fear and regret on his face made the mask want to tear his eyes out.
“
” it scream with her mouth.
They all looked her way. There was Sven. And the other mages of the Prime Cadre. Even Seer Anius, who sat on a familiar-looking bench with Eustace and Fern. Seeing them together made tears swell in Aletheia’s eyes. It made the mask claw and scratch for control. How could Anius sit with those deserters? Worse, the three of them were
as was everyone else on the shore.
Evan rushed forward, so lost in the enemy’s spell that he didn’t discard his fishing contraption. “Please. You have to hear them out, Aletheia. It’s—”
“God-empress!” roared the mask. “I am your god-empress,
!”
His expression shifted again, hopelessness and anger flashing across his gace. It resonated within Aletheia, breaking her heart despite the mask’s potent outrage.
“Damn, the evil you is still holding on, huh?” Fischer frowned and rubbed his chin. “Okay, time for Plan B. Hit it, Claws!”
Lightning struck the shore. Aletheia flinched back, remembering its kiss all too well. It would hurt even more with her core so ravaged. Instead of wordless agony, however, all that hit Aletheia was a light spray of sand. It tickled her skin. She tentatively opened her eyes.
The creature—an elemental otter whose ideal was
—had struck the shore. It wiggled its butt at her and scooched backward, nodding its head encouragingly. Its familiar, that damned thieving raccoon, climbed out of a pocket and started rubbing its master’s furry behind with both forelimbs, gesturing with its head that Aletheia should do the same.
She felt a line form between her eyebrows. These were the mask’s memories, not hers. She hadn’t even been conscious when these two elementals had joined the battle, yet she was reacting so viscerally… Didn’t that make sense, though? Why were her friends and followers being so friendly with God-King Fischer? These people weren’t of the heavens.
“You have it all wrong, Aletheia,” Fischer said. The mask was still seething internally over the otter and raccoon, so it didn’t notice that he’d used her first name. “Spirit beasts, the water gods, even the divine pantheon. Most of it was a lie. You sensed what Corporal Claws is, right?” Fischer bent to scratch the creature behind its ear. It cooed in delight. “Claws is a spirit beast and a cultivator. Her aspect is lightning and her ideal is
. If she can happily co-exist with us, a whole damned village of humans, does that not prove how wrong you…” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Claws,
You’re
helping.”
The otter was now aggressively shaking her rump at Aletheia, giving her a fierce scowl.
“You can’t force people into butt scritches,” Fischer continued, bending down to scoop the otter up and rub her all over. He looked down at Aletheia. “Do you really Claws here is a threat to humanity?”
The little beast trilled and cooed in adoration. Small arcs of electricity crawled harmlessly over Fischer’s hand as she leaned into his touch. Aletheia had already started questioning the threat presented by spirit beasts. She could ‘remember’ the battle as if she’d been there, and every single one of the beasts had put themselves at risk for Fischer and the rest of Tropica’s humans. They were far from the mindless, bloodthirsty creatures described in the royal library. Even the hellhound was quite cute sometimes. If not for the hellfire spewing from his mouth, that spinning move he did on Bob the Boat would have been adorable.
But it wasn’t Aletheia that needed convincing. The mask seethed, forcing her down, doing everything it could to take control. Aletheia shoved it away. She wouldn’t let it take over. It couldn’t make her surrender.
Or so she’d thought. She gasped as it pulled a stream of divine chi from her core. It pierced the pink membrane and left a hole behind. Sensing her weakness, the mask repeated this a half-dozen times. The ecstasy of divine chi warred with the agony of the damage being done. Both sensations weakened Aletheia’s hold, letting the mask wrest more and more control.
“Plan C it is,” Fischer said. His will pressed down on her, somehow forcing her essence back into her core.
Even through the pain, Aletheia questioned it. How was he using pure chi to suppress the divine? The mask remembered the feeling of Fischer exerting his will. He’d knocked her out cold in an instant at the end of the battle. Not matter how strong his willpower, he shouldn’t be able to control her essence.
“Nothing?” Fischer asked. “How about this?”
Aletheia gasped, and the mask took a step back, radiating fear.
“By the iron chains of Hephaestus…” Anius said. “Why didn’t you show us this power from the beginning?” He turned to the side. “I might have joined your flight, hag.”
Eustace snorted. “I didn’t know toads could fly.”
“Show you…?” Fischer asked. Oh. You thought Plan C was to swing my will around? Nah. I’m trying to share some memories with you, but all the divine chi filling your bodies is making it hard. That was a fifth my will… I think. It’s kinda hard to tell—pretty sure I’m only back to like fifty-percent capacity. It’s taking a while to recover after the whole surrender-my-power-to-my-friends thing.”
Anius’s expression had been getting more and more dubious with each word. “You already won, God-King Fischer. You do not need to exaggerate your power—it only makes you come across as weak.”
“Terrible time to taunt me, mate. I’m on a bit of a time crunch, so I’m just gonna cast aside my morals and show you. Actually, this might even make things quicker.” He looked at the elemental otter. “Claws, finger-guns on three, okay? One, two, three.”
Fischer and the elemental otter both pointed at Anius, making odd gestures with their forefingers and thumbs. Whatever Fischer did, it was quick. A regular human would have missed it. To Aletheia’s enhanced senses, it looked like an invisible hand had pressed down on the Seer, making his eyes bulge and skin flush white.
She hadn’t sensed a thing, though. Neither had the mask. Just who was this man…?
“Sorry about that, Anius,” Fischer said. “I promise I had a good reason.”
Aletheia leaned closer, her brow furrowing. She had felt Fischer’s emotions when he appologized. She could still feel them now. He was genuinely remorseful for what he’d done to Anius. But he was also excited.
Memories suddenly flashed by. They were Fischer’s, and they started with…
“Traveler…” Anius croaked, his fan falling from a limp hand.
More memories came. Fischer's discovery of Tropica. His small act of kindness which led to the awakening of Sergeant Snips. All the friends he made, human and spirit beast and tree spirit. Gormona’s prince, Trent, attacking the village. The hellhound’s arrival. Tropica creating a church. Breakthroughs, awakenings. The hellhound, Borks, returning to join the pack.
Laughter bellowed from Sven when Fischer showed Tropica’s attack on Gormona. His mirth was a balm to Aletheia’s frazzled soul.
More memories. Gormona’s assault against Tropica. Fischer’s acceptance of leadership. More breakthroughs and awakenings—too many to count. Elementals. The arrival of an amalgamation of earth elementals. And his abyssal brother, both thousands of years old. Knowledge. Realization. The truth of the war between the water and divine gods. The justified unmaking of Dolos and Apate. The divine betrayal.
The divine betrayal.
Fischer only showed it once, yet Aletheia replayed it over and over, ignoring the rest of the memories as she sought a flaw—anything that would prove the vision false. Thin cracks started to form on the mask.
She might have been watching the hundredth loop by the time Fischer finally spoke again. “You’ll find nothing, Aletheia. No matter how hard you try, you already know I’m telling the truth. I showed your followers that memory earlier while my wife patched up your core. Took her over an hour, by the way. Bit rude of you to rip it back open.”
“I forgive her.” There was a flash of light, and God-Queen Maria appeared at Fischer’s side. She gazed down at Aletheia. “You’re as much a victim of the bertrayal as anyone else is, Aletheia. Maybe more-so. Try not to be too hard on yourself.” She squeezed Fischer’s hand. “Call me if you need me.” As fast as she’d appeared, the God-Queen vanished in a flash of white brilliance.
Maria was right. Aletheia’s entire life—the lives of her ancestors—had been based on a lie. She felt numb. The mask’s cracks became fissures, its surface crumbling as its influence receded. She had wanted to be free of it for so long. Had wanted to escape its confines. Yet now she feared losing its certainty.
Who was she without the mask? It had done horrible,
things, but its intentions had been pure. Even if some of the divine gods had betrayed this world, the heavens could still be trusted, couldn’t they?
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The heavens had been the one to set her on this path. The heavens had told her what to do.
The heavens had given her a
Her ideal, silent thus far, came boiling out. It latched onto the broken mask, using golden light to connect the gaping chasms in its surface. That same golden light shone within her, filling the gaps in Aletheia’s core, creating something entirely new from the pieces.
With her blessing, the repaired mask slipped back into place.
“How?” asked both Aletheia and her mask. “How can I possibly believe you?”
Her light beamed out, creating bridges from her to anyone with a divine core, subjugating them under the heavens. Damaged cores were ripped back open, the invisible sutures splitting one by one. Even Eustace and Fern were drawn in, though they resisted more than the others. Thin needles of light connected them all.
“I wish I could trust you.” Aletheia stood, her chi cutting through the tendrils of unaspected essence binding her wrists and ankles. “Really, I do. But your tale is
perfect. Too enticing. And no matter what you say, no matter what proof you present, I cannot believe your words.”
Fischer schooled his expression. “I showed you what happened to the king who didn’t let me cleanse away his corruption. You know I’ll have to destroy you, right?”
She took a step forward, ignoring the agony in her soul as she channelled a divine spear into her hand. Her core wasn’t as repaired as she had hoped. “I know you’ll have to try.”
“Uhhh, I can tell the
Aletheia is helping man the fort right now. You’re not the mindless force-of-nature that screeches like a banshee whenever something goes wrong.”
“So?” she spat.
“So you’re not an idiot. I don’t know why you seem to have two personalities kicking around in there, but I can tell you’re the kind one.
the smart one. You know how powerful I am.” He pointed at Maria. “You know how powerful she is. And you know that you don’t stand a chance, especially with the state of your core.”
He was right, of course. She could only stand right now because he was letting her. “Yet I have to try. It is my duty.”
A sliver of despair wormed its way onto Fischer’s face. “I can’t save you if you unleash that spear, Aletheia. I’m
powerful, but even I have my limits.” He pointed at her abdomen. “Any more chi leaves that, and there won’t even be ribbons left to weave back together.”
Again, he was right.
a small, pathetic part of herself wondered.
Her ideal called out then, bubbling up from within. She hated it. How long had she dreamed of finding one? She’d found it, all right. And it had led her down a path that ended up hurting everyone around her. Yet it gave her the strength to do what needed to be done. For that, at least, she could be thankful.
“If something does not serve me or humanity,” she quoted, “it is my obligation to burn it away.”
She drew back the bridges of chi from her followers, leaving them whole. It had been the mask’s doing, and it had been a mistake. There was no need for them to join her. They dropped to their knees in the sand.
Doing her best to ignore the searing pain in her own abdomen, Aletheia reabsorbed the bridges. Some strands escaped through the wounds in her core, but she pushed them back in and willed them to remain.
“Aletheia…” Fischer tried. He took a step forward, dismay and regret leaking from him, just as golden light leaked from her. “I’m sorry I let things go this far. “There has to be
I can do. I’ll make an oath if that’s what it takes. On my own unmaking. Would that convince you?”
“Don’t,” she grunted. “If you
telling the truth, I need you to take care of my friends…”
Fear and guilt radiated out alongside his regret. “This isn’t the answer, Aletheia. Please.”
“Ah, but it is.” She forced a smile onto her face. “Either you are lying, and the heavens will assist me in your destruction… Or you are telling the truth, and I will have been burned away.”
she recited in her mind, seeking strength. She could do this.
Someone fell against her her back. Aletheia almost launched her spear, assuming it was an enemy come to stop her, but then he spoke.
“Please, Your Holiness.” Evan tried to wrap his arms around her. His pain brought him up short, so he leaned against her back, clutching his own torso. “Don’t.”
Despite the mask’s comforting certainty, a soft whine escaped her. She wanted to tell him she was sorry. Wanted to demand that he call her
. Instead, she snarled. “Get away, Head Mage.” Her lip quivered. She thanked the heavens he couldn’t see it. “That is an
Get away from me before—”
Somebody fell against her left side, followed by another.
“God-Empress…” Grace groaned.
“... Empress,” Esmond grunted. It was all he could get out.
Eustace embraced her from the right, having ambled over from the bench. Fern was there too, hugging Eustace from behind, glaring at Aletheia with baleful eyes. Anius growled like a cornered wolf, arms against his knees as he forced himself upright, only to collapse into the sand. He lifted his head and clenched his jaw, then started clawing at the ground, dragging himself closer.
“Please…” Aletheia took deep breaths to keep the sobs at bay. “I love you all.” A single whimper made its way out. “But you need to get away from me. Your chi…” Even now it was streaming from their perforated cores. Her ideal and the mask were sucking it in, pulling the holes in their cores wider.
None spoke. They were in too much pain to utter a word. Yet they all shook their heads, refusing her.
She glowered up at the blurry shape of Fischer. “Why?” she demanded, wiping her eyes. He tried to answer, but she barrelled over his reply. “Why did you let them come to me? You could have stopped them. Now I
you were lying about everything, you cruel, spiteful, heretical—”
“Okay,” he interrupted. “Things are getting heated, and there are some big feelings going on. Before any of us say something we regret, let me…
”
He’d not moved a muscle, but the chi from her friends had stopped flowing into her. Aletheia blinked. It wasn’t just their chi that had frozen. He was exerting his will over the entire shore. Even her spear of divine chi was affected, feeling lighter, sapping less of her essence over time. It was a staggering show of strength. And he claimed to only be at half his usual capacity…
“Sorry for letting them get close. I thought you might be able to hug it out. You know—the power of friendship, and all that. As far as I’m concerned, you’re my allies, so I won’t coddle you. I mean, unless you want me to?” He rubbed his chin in thought. “Actually, now that you mention it, I probably should have asked you beforehand. My bad. Would you prefer I just save you, or do you wanna work for it?”
Aletheia wasn’t sure if she wanted to slap or thank him. The mask wanted her to launch the spear in her hand. “What are you talking about?”
“You’re right. Now is hardly the time to make such a decision. I’ll just save you this time, okay? Then, when you’re not all evil or whatever, we can dicuss it properly.”
She focused on the golden speer in her hand. Why hadn’t she launched it? The mask was screaming for her to let it fly, and her ideal agreed. She held them at arm’s length for now. The mask had tried to drag her followers along on her suicide mission—it couldn’t be trusted. Not completely.
“Silence means you agree, by the way,” Fischer said. “Them’s the rules. That’s reasonable, isn’t it, Claws?”
The otter was perched on the sand beside them. She nodded vigorously.
“Wonderful, in that case, let’s…” Fischer trailed off, his head drifting towards the otter. “I shouldn’t be using you as a moral touchstone, should I?”
She shook her head with even more vigor, a grin splitting her face.
Fischer sighed and cupped his hands to his mouth. “Sniiiiips!”
Aletheia felt something shift on her leg. She looked down to see a crab crawl out of her pocket.
“Yes, Master?” hissed the crab as it hopped down onto the sand.
“Oh. I forgot I asked you to keep an eye on the god-empress. You heard all that?”
“I did.”
“Thoughts?”
“I trust your judgement, Master. If you deemed the god-empress a threat and decided to remove her head, I would assume you knew best.”
“That’s…” Fischer pouted, considering how to reply, and decided to change the subject entirely. “Initiate Plan D!”
Corporal Claws reached into her pocket, rummaged around, and removed a jacket with a large rip. She raced over and helped her master put it on.
“Well?” Fischer asked. “You’ve seen my memories, and now my sweet threads let you know my genuine feelings. Is it working? Have you realized that I really am…” He trailed off, looking behind Aletheia. “Uhhh, Fern?”
“What?”
“I kinda forgot that this jacket lets me know how others feel about me too—why am I getting the vibe that you want to throw me off the edge of a cliff?”
Fern gave him a look of unbridled disgust. “Because you’re a terrible person. You’re acting like this is all a game. There’s no love lost between the god-empress and I, but there’s no reason for you to be so cruel. She’s one second away from launching her spear and ending herself.”
Fischer rubbed the back of his head. “Okay, I get that this might look bad, but I promise there’s a method to the madness. I’ll cut the shit for a second. I have a mate, Ellis—you haven’t met him yet, which might be a good thing, because he can be a real prick—but he’s the one who’s kinda been running the show around here. He’s an Archivist, and one of his abilities is a personal library that nobody else can access. I finished this massive string of quests to defend Tropica, right, and the reward was a whole bunch of history books. Before I could even touch them, he stole the books and put them in his personal library—like I said, bit of a prick.
“Anyway, because he yoinked the books, he has access to all this ancient knowledge or whatever, and he gave us this big, vague speech about an ominous threat on the distant horizon. We weren’t fighting you guys for shits and giggles—he told us that if we don’t get stronger, we’re basically doomed. We’re desperately trying to get stronger, and you should be doing the same. If I robbed you of a chance to ascend, how would you feel, Aletheia? If the end of the world came, and you were one breakthrough away from saving everyone you loved, would you be glad I didn’t make you feel like… five minutes of discomfort?”
Aletheia barely heard the question. She’d barely heard him since he mentioned completing quests. “The System gave you quests?” she asked. “And you completed them?”
“Uhhh, yeah. I’m guessing I completed all of them, because it didn’t give me any more. Why?”
“I… I have a quest. It’s the reason I came here.”
“It is? Wait… when did you get it?”
“A couple of months ago.”
Fischer groaned. “That explains why I didn’t get any more. That’s when I completed my last one. With power returning to the world, it probably only has enough energy to hand out a few at a…
Aletheia glanced to the side, following his gaze towards Eustace and Anius, the last two Seers of Phostheia.
Their eyes were glowing.
Even Fischer stopped talking as the wisdom of the heavens flowed into the Seers, granting them a vision. Not even ten seconds later, the golden light faded. Eustace and Anius looked at Fischer, then at Aletheia, then at Fischer again.
“What…” Aletheia licked her lips. Only the mask stopped her from immediately dismissing her spear. “What were you shown.”
Eustace met her eyes. “Dear… We were right all along. You
the divine bridge between Kallis and the heavens.”
“That—You’re lying. This has to be a trick. You’re just saying that so I don’t release this spear.”
Anius’s stomach started shaking. It took Aletheia a moment to realize he was laughing. His amusement dragged on for a long moment, the Seer chuckling silently. “If you think that bit was too convenient, you’re going to hate this next bit.”
“No kidding,” Eustace agreed, shaking her head.
“Tell me, Anius,” Aletheia said. “Please.”
Anius sighed. “You’re the divine bridge, god-empress—the one who will connect Kallis to the heavens.” His amusement returned, and he grinned as he turned back towards Fischer, pointing a single finger at the god-king. “And you, Fischer… you’re the heavens.”
“Uhhh, come again.”
Eustace shrugged. “That’s all there is to it. The vision told us that Aletheia is ‘the divine bridge’, and that you’re ‘the heavens’.”
“No thanks,” Fischer said. “I’m good.”
Anius gave him a sly smile. “I understand you might have some reservations, but that’s not how it works, I’m afraid.”
“Sure it is. I decline. I refuse. Unsubscribe me from the mailing list.”
Sergeant Snips scuttled forward, patting his thigh with one mighty claw. “This is to be expected, Master. The universe has acknowledged your might.”
Corporal Claws crept up to join the Snips. Aletheia didn’t like the way the otter’s eyes were sparkling. She looked like she was scheming.
“This is my karma for dragging this out.” Fischer stood and brushed off his pants. “You said you had a quest, Aletheia? What’s the requirement?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“Because I’m about to call in the spirit beast who will help save you from yourself. I already have an idea of the angle she’ll take, but you said the quest is the reason you came here. It will help.”
“It’s… It’s not—”
“Doesn’t matter,” he interrupted. “Hit me with it. You want to be able to trust me, right? Or would you rather throw that spear, and die for no reason?” He gestured to either side of her. “You’re surrounded by friends. We both know you’re not gonna let them see you die before you at least try to do it my way. Chop-chop, god-empress. Share the quest description.”
She fought down her doubt, gathered he will, and ordered the System to share it with him.
Sweat sprouted on her brow as his gaze went distant, the quest appearing in his field of view. After only a few seconds, he shook his head to dismiss the words, then slowly turned to look at her.
In his defense, she was fairly sure he tried to hide his amusement. His damned jacket gave it away, though.
“What’s so funny?” Aletheia demanded. “You don’t think you’re a severe threat?”
“This bloody jacket, I swear… I was trying not to be a dick, but yeah, it’s pretty damn funny. I’m honestly surprised you haven’t worked it out yourself.”
She felt her face flush. “Haven’t worked what out?”
He was still amused, but stronger emotions were piling overtop of it, beaming out into the world. “I take back everything bad I ever said about this jacket. Wondering why I’m so happy? It’s because I know for a fact that you can fix yourself.” He cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled at the top of his lungs. “Plan S!”
“Plan S…? You really had that many different plans prepared?”
“What? No, I literally used all of them. Plan S is the final one. Don’t worry about it not being sequential. You’ll understand soon.” He turned to look at her again. “The ideal. Say it again for me.”
“What are you—”
“Come on. Indulge me. It’s important.”
Aletheia lifted her chin, refusing to be embarrassed.
“And the other bit?”
“Kill the few, save the many.”
“Right. So your ideal is about remaining dynamic. It’s about shifting your perspective and rapidly letting go of things that don’t serve you. Perhaps even killing them, if such a thing is possible.”
“Yes, but I don’t really see what you’re…”
Fischer’s grin was almost as devious as the elemental otter’s. “It just clicked, didn’t it?”
“It can’t be…”
“Can’t be what? That simple?”
“Yes.”
“Well, it is.” He raised one finger. “You have an ideal about letting go of things that don’t serve you.” He raised a second one. “Your quest is to identify and eliminate a ‘severe’ threat to your kingdom, and humanity as a whole.” A third finger went up, but he waved this one around, not letting it sit still. “Now, if only there were something that no longer served you, that was also a severe threat to your Kingdom, and humanity as a whole…” He raised his other hand and stroked his chin histrionically. “Say, I don’t know, a second personality in that divine noggin of yours? A personality that is literally driving the Kingdom of Light’s god-empress to annihilate herself, which would leave the kingdom—and humanity as a whole—without one of its strongest cultivators when some vague, looming threat eventually comes to Kallis.”
Everyone was staring at Aletheia. She could see the hope on their faces. She dared to let her own hope flare, but before it could burn out of control, she doused the flames. “What if it doesn’t work, Fischer?”
“It will.”
She clenched her fists. “You can’t know that, though. What if it
work? What then? I’ll still throw the spear, Fischer. I’m still not convinced.”
“You know, I’ve learned so many lessons from my friends in Tropica. I’m a
good learner, you see. I’m so good at learning that I sometimes learn the same lesson over and over. Today, I learned to trust my friends again. You should try it sometime.”
“Trust, you mean?”
“Yep.” He leaned towards the ocean, shielding his eyes from the sun as he looked at something. “Any other questions?”
“Do you always babble this much?”
Fischer laughed. “Only when I’m trying to stall for time.”
A massive shadow approached the shore. Aletheia watched as a giant lobster exited the waves and scuttled up onto shore. There was a smaller, more reasonably sized lobster on its back.
“You’ve not been introduced yet, but this is Pistachio.” Fischer bumped the ghost lobster’s claw. “And this is Shelly. Can you guess which one of them is Plan S?”
Aletheia gave the lobster an assessing look. How was a sea creature supposed to…
“Shelly had her breakthrough not long ago,” Fischer said. “I find her ideal super fascinating. It’s so broad that no matter what I ask her to do, I feel like I’m wasting her potential, you know? Just once, I’d like to be able to point her at someone and say, ‘Off ya go, Shelly! This person needs help with
’”
His grin was just as devious as before.
“How about it, Aletheia? Can you think of anyone like that?”
It shouldn’t have been possible. The material had parted like tissue paper. The only way she could have done it—
“Is if I had more faith in you than everyone else combined,” hissed Snips in my mind.
She was the actual target of Teddy’s aura transfer earlier, and he’d clearly succeeded. His red and white power glowed from every inch of her carapace. Even without that visual proof though, it was obvious his power surrounded her—Snips was neutralizing the tip of the god-empress’s spear with a single claw.
Snips had absorbed her hundreds of bonded crustaceans into her core earlier. She’d timed it with Cal’s reawakening, hiding it from the god-empress. The god-empress certainly knew they were in there now, though. Their power was unmistakable, even if it was being wielded by Snips.
If this were a movie, Snips and the god-empress would have had a back and forth battle, in which Snips only triumphed after someone—probably Rocky—sacrificed themself. If it was a movie by a particularly sadistic director, they might even have Snips win by sacrificing herself, turning the trauma of her death into a ‘flaw’ the main character has to overcome in the next installment.
But this wasn’t a movie. Nor was it that kind of story.
Snips’s mighty clacker slammed together. The twin blades of foaming water that shot from her claws were two-meters wide, thicker than a fantasy epic, and wreathed in Teddy’s red-and-white aura. They sliced through the god-empress’s divine spear like it was nothing, leaving only harmless light in their wake.
The god-empress herself would have been slapped ten ways to Sunday if the the blades hit her, so I made sure I got there first. I separated my reduced chi between all four of my partitions and pressed down on the god-empress with all my might.
***
End scene: Eustace and Anius have a vision again. Point to Fischer. Aletheia is the divine bridge to… point at Fischer.
When Aletheia woke, she was on a sandy shore, the expansive ocean stretching out before her. She tugged on her limbs, but they didn’t budge. Her wrists and ankles were bound by tendrils of pure-white chi. Someone spoke. A man. His words, quiet and excited, were unintelligible at first. Slowly, Aletheia grasped their meaning. She shifted, rising to her knees.
“Yeah! That’s it!” the man was saying. “Now put your other hand here, see? That one on the reel, this one further up the rod so you can rest your finger on the line. That way, if I fishy comes along to nibble your bait, you’ll feel it.”
“I see…” a woman replied, her tone suggesting that she absolutely didn’t.
Eustace. It was
That made Aletheia smile. The Seer would surely help her out of this bind. A slew of fond memories flashed by. All the times Eustace had played with her as a child. All the secrets and laughs they’d shared atop the castle’s roof. All the plans they’d made to improve the Kingdom of Light. But then reality beamed down, revealing the wicked truth.
hissed the mask in Aletheia mind.
The moment it returned, the mask immediately vied for control. It shoved her down, plunging her back into that dark pit, flinging her into the deepest corners of…
The pit was no more. It was riddled with holes and cavities large enough for Aletheia to stride through. Golden light steamed in, illuminating the abyss. The mask froze.
She remembered now. Wielded by the mask, Aletheia’s own divine chi had perforated the prison and torn it apart. It had done the same to her body. She stared down at her arms—they were whole, but they shouldn’t be.
Aletheia shouldn’t even be alive.
She had tried to steal back control of her own mind and body, and when the mask discovered the attempt, it had tried to kill her. She shivered, remembering the agony of her own divine essence burning her to a crisp. Seeking a distraction, she inspected her core. The mask had absorbed far too much power, causing her core to get ripped to shreds. But just like the rest of Aletheia, her core was also whole.
“Mornin’!” came the voice of a strangely accented man.
The mask was shocked into action. It tried to cast Aletheia aside, but there was nowhere to put her. Every single corner of Aletheia’s soul was now illuminated by the light of the heavens.
Aletheia and the mask both looked up at the god-king on whose shores they sat.
“You’ve been out cold for most of the day. Your ‘Forty Hands’ or whatever you call them will be out cold for a few days until my wife fixes the damage you did to their channels, but she already fixed the Prime Cadre and Anius. They healed up stupid quick. Crazy how much vitality you divine cultivators have.” Fischer rubbed his neck with one hand. He wasn’t wearing his jacket anymore. “Anius and that still have to take it easy, though. Lucky for you guys, Tropica are
of relaxation. I’ve been spreading my heretical ways by teaching them to fish.” He nodded towards the coastline. “Evan is a natural.”
“What’s that?” Evan asked. He wore a relaxed smile that made Aletheia want to weep with joy.
When he saw her, though, his smile died.
The mixed look of fear and regret on his face made the mask want to tear his eyes out.
“
” it scream with her mouth.
They all looked her way. There was Sven. And the other mages of the Prime Cadre. Even Seer Anius, who sat on a familiar-looking bench with Eustace and Fern. Seeing them together made tears swell in Aletheia’s eyes. It made the mask claw and scratch for control. How could Anius sit with those deserters? Worse, the three of them were
as was everyone else on the shore.
Evan rushed forward, so lost in the enemy’s spell that he didn’t discard his fishing contraption. “Please. You have to hear them out, Aletheia. It’s—”
“God-empress!” roared the mask. “I am your god-empress,
!”
His expression shifted again, hopelessness and anger flashing across his gace. It resonated within Aletheia, breaking her heart despite the mask’s potent outrage.
“Damn, the evil you is still holding on, huh?” Fischer frowned and rubbed his chin. “Okay, time for Plan B. Hit it, Claws!”
Lightning struck the shore. Aletheia flinched back, remembering its kiss all too well. It would hurt even more with her core so ravaged. Instead of wordless agony, however, all that hit Aletheia was a light spray of sand. It tickled her skin. She tentatively opened her eyes.
The creature—an elemental otter whose ideal was
—had struck the shore. It wiggled its butt at her and scooched backward, nodding its head encouragingly. Its familiar, that damned thieving raccoon, climbed out of a pocket and started rubbing its master’s furry behind with both forelimbs, gesturing with its head that Aletheia should do the same.
She felt a line form between her eyebrows. These were the mask’s memories, not hers. She hadn’t even been conscious when these two elementals had joined the battle, yet she was reacting so viscerally… Didn’t that make sense, though? Why were her friends and followers being so friendly with God-King Fischer? These people weren’t of the heavens.
“You have it all wrong, Aletheia,” Fischer said. The mask was still seething internally over the otter and raccoon, so it didn’t notice that he’d used her first name. “Spirit beasts, the water gods, even the divine pantheon. Most of it was a lie. You sensed what Corporal Claws is, right?” Fischer bent to scratch the creature behind its ear. It cooed in delight. “Claws is a spirit beast and a cultivator. Her aspect is lightning and her ideal is
. If she can happily co-exist with us, a whole damned village of humans, does that not prove how wrong you…” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Claws,
You’re
helping.”
The otter was now aggressively shaking her rump at Aletheia, giving her a fierce scowl.
“You can’t force people into butt scritches,” Fischer continued, bending down to scoop the otter up and rub her all over. He looked down at Aletheia. “Do you really Claws here is a threat to humanity?”
The little beast trilled and cooed in adoration. Small arcs of electricity crawled harmlessly over Fischer’s hand as she leaned into his touch. Aletheia had already started questioning the threat presented by spirit beasts. She could ‘remember’ the battle as if she’d been there, and every single one of the beasts had put themselves at risk for Fischer and the rest of Tropica’s humans. They were far from the mindless, bloodthirsty creatures described in the royal library. Even the hellhound was quite cute sometimes. If not for the hellfire spewing from his mouth, that spinning move he did on Bob the Boat would have been adorable.
But it wasn’t Aletheia that needed convincing. The mask seethed, forcing her down, doing everything it could to take control. Aletheia shoved it away. She wouldn’t let it take over. It couldn’t make her surrender.
Or so she’d thought. She gasped as it pulled a stream of divine chi from her core. It pierced the pink membrane and left a hole behind. Sensing her weakness, the mask repeated this a half-dozen times. The ecstasy of divine chi warred with the agony of the damage being done. Both sensations weakened Aletheia’s hold, letting the mask wrest more and more control.
“Plan C it is,” Fischer said. His will pressed down on her, somehow forcing her essence back into her core.
Even through the pain, Aletheia questioned it. How was he using pure chi to suppress the divine? The mask remembered the feeling of Fischer exerting his will. He’d knocked her out cold in an instant at the end of the battle. Not matter how strong his willpower, he shouldn’t be able to control her essence.
“Nothing?” Fischer asked. “How about this?”
Aletheia gasped, and the mask took a step back, radiating fear.
“By the iron chains of Hephaestus…” Anius said. “Why didn’t you show us this power from the beginning?” He turned to the side. “I might have joined your flight, hag.”
Eustace snorted. “I didn’t know toads could fly.”
“Show you…?” Fischer asked. Oh. You thought Plan C was to swing my will around? Nah. I’m trying to share some memories with you, but all the divine chi filling your bodies is making it hard. That was a fifth my will… I think. It’s kinda hard to tell—pretty sure I’m only back to like fifty-percent capacity. It’s taking a while to recover after the whole surrender-my-power-to-my-friends thing.”
Anius’s expression had been getting more and more dubious with each word. “You already won, God-King Fischer. You do not need to exaggerate your power—it only makes you come across as weak.”
“Terrible time to taunt me, mate. I’m on a bit of a time crunch, so I’m just gonna cast aside my morals and show you. Actually, this might even make things quicker.” He looked at the elemental otter. “Claws, finger-guns on three, okay? One, two, three.”
Fischer and the elemental otter both pointed at Anius, making odd gestures with their forefingers and thumbs. Whatever Fischer did, it was quick. A regular human would have missed it. To Aletheia’s enhanced senses, it looked like an invisible hand had pressed down on the Seer, making his eyes bulge and skin flush white.
She hadn’t sensed a thing, though. Neither had the mask. Just who was this man…?
“Sorry about that, Anius,” Fischer said. “I promise I had a good reason.”
Aletheia leaned closer, her brow furrowing. She had felt Fischer’s emotions when he appologized. She could still feel them now. He was genuinely remorseful for what he’d done to Anius. But he was also excited.
Memories suddenly flashed by. They were Fischer’s, and they started with…
“Traveler…” Anius croaked, his fan falling from a limp hand.
More memories came. Fischer's discovery of Tropica. His small act of kindness which led to the awakening of Sergeant Snips. All the friends he made, human and spirit beast and tree spirit. Gormona’s prince, Trent, attacking the village. The hellhound’s arrival. Tropica creating a church. Breakthroughs, awakenings. The hellhound, Borks, returning to join the pack.
Laughter bellowed from Sven when Fischer showed Tropica’s attack on Gormona. His mirth was a balm to Aletheia’s frazzled soul.
More memories. Gormona’s assault against Tropica. Fischer’s acceptance of leadership. More breakthroughs and awakenings—too many to count. Elementals. The arrival of an amalgamation of earth elementals. And his abyssal brother, both thousands of years old. Knowledge. Realization. The truth of the war between the water and divine gods. The justified unmaking of Dolos and Apate. The divine betrayal.
The divine betrayal.
Fischer only showed it once, yet Aletheia replayed it over and over, ignoring the rest of the memories as she sought a flaw—anything that would prove the vision false. Thin cracks started to form on the mask.
She might have been watching the hundredth loop by the time Fischer finally spoke again. “You’ll find nothing, Aletheia. No matter how hard you try, you already know I’m telling the truth. I showed your followers that memory earlier while my wife patched up your core. Took her over an hour, by the way. Bit rude of you to rip it back open.”
“I forgive her.” There was a flash of light, and God-Queen Maria appeared at Fischer’s side. She gazed down at Aletheia. “You’re as much a victim of the bertrayal as anyone else is, Aletheia. Maybe more-so. Try not to be too hard on yourself.” She squeezed Fischer’s hand. “Call me if you need me.” As fast as she’d appeared, the God-Queen vanished in a flash of white brilliance.
Maria was right. Aletheia’s entire life—the lives of her ancestors—had been based on a lie. She felt numb. The mask’s cracks became fissures, its surface crumbling as its influence receded. She had wanted to be free of it for so long. Had wanted to escape its confines. Yet now she feared losing its certainty.
Who was she without the mask? It had done horrible,
things, but its intentions had been pure. Even if some of the divine gods had betrayed this world, the heavens could still be trusted, couldn’t they?
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The heavens had been the one to set her on this path. The heavens had told her what to do.
The heavens had given her a
Her ideal, silent thus far, came boiling out. It latched onto the broken mask, using golden light to connect the gaping chasms in its surface. That same golden light shone within her, filling the gaps in Aletheia’s core, creating something entirely new from the pieces.
With her blessing, the repaired mask slipped back into place.
“How?” asked both Aletheia and her mask. “How can I possibly believe you?”
Her light beamed out, creating bridges from her to anyone with a divine core, subjugating them under the heavens. Damaged cores were ripped back open, the invisible sutures splitting one by one. Even Eustace and Fern were drawn in, though they resisted more than the others. Thin needles of light connected them all.
“I wish I could trust you.” Aletheia stood, her chi cutting through the tendrils of unaspected essence binding her wrists and ankles. “Really, I do. But your tale is
perfect. Too enticing. And no matter what you say, no matter what proof you present, I cannot believe your words.”
Fischer schooled his expression. “I showed you what happened to the king who didn’t let me cleanse away his corruption. You know I’ll have to destroy you, right?”
She took a step forward, ignoring the agony in her soul as she channelled a divine spear into her hand. Her core wasn’t as repaired as she had hoped. “I know you’ll have to try.”
“Uhhh, I can tell the
Aletheia is helping man the fort right now. You’re not the mindless force-of-nature that screeches like a banshee whenever something goes wrong.”
“So?” she spat.
“So you’re not an idiot. I don’t know why you seem to have two personalities kicking around in there, but I can tell you’re the kind one.
the smart one. You know how powerful I am.” He pointed at Maria. “You know how powerful she is. And you know that you don’t stand a chance, especially with the state of your core.”
He was right, of course. She could only stand right now because he was letting her. “Yet I have to try. It is my duty.”
A sliver of despair wormed its way onto Fischer’s face. “I can’t save you if you unleash that spear, Aletheia. I’m
powerful, but even I have my limits.” He pointed at her abdomen. “Any more chi leaves that, and there won’t even be ribbons left to weave back together.”
Again, he was right.
a small, pathetic part of herself wondered.
Her ideal called out then, bubbling up from within. She hated it. How long had she dreamed of finding one? She’d found it, all right. And it had led her down a path that ended up hurting everyone around her. Yet it gave her the strength to do what needed to be done. For that, at least, she could be thankful.
“If something does not serve me or humanity,” she quoted, “it is my obligation to burn it away.”
She drew back the bridges of chi from her followers, leaving them whole. It had been the mask’s doing, and it had been a mistake. There was no need for them to join her. They dropped to their knees in the sand.
Doing her best to ignore the searing pain in her own abdomen, Aletheia reabsorbed the bridges. Some strands escaped through the wounds in her core, but she pushed them back in and willed them to remain.
“Aletheia…” Fischer tried. He took a step forward, dismay and regret leaking from him, just as golden light leaked from her. “I’m sorry I let things go this far. “There has to be
I can do. I’ll make an oath if that’s what it takes. On my own unmaking. Would that convince you?”
“Don’t,” she grunted. “If you
telling the truth, I need you to take care of my friends…”
Fear and guilt radiated out alongside his regret. “This isn’t the answer, Aletheia. Please.”
“Ah, but it is.” She forced a smile onto her face. “Either you are lying, and the heavens will assist me in your destruction… Or you are telling the truth, and I will have been burned away.”
she recited in her mind, seeking strength. She could do this.
Someone fell against her her back. Aletheia almost launched her spear, assuming it was an enemy come to stop her, but then he spoke.
“Please, Your Holiness.” Evan tried to wrap his arms around her. His pain brought him up short, so he leaned against her back, clutching his own torso. “Don’t.”
Despite the mask’s comforting certainty, a soft whine escaped her. She wanted to tell him she was sorry. Wanted to demand that he call her
. Instead, she snarled. “Get away, Head Mage.” Her lip quivered. She thanked the heavens he couldn’t see it. “That is an
Get away from me before—”
Somebody fell against her left side, followed by another.
“God-Empress…” Grace groaned.
“... Empress,” Esmond grunted. It was all he could get out.
Eustace embraced her from the right, having ambled over from the bench. Fern was there too, hugging Eustace from behind, glaring at Aletheia with baleful eyes. Anius growled like a cornered wolf, arms against his knees as he forced himself upright, only to collapse into the sand. He lifted his head and clenched his jaw, then started clawing at the ground, dragging himself closer.
“Please…” Aletheia took deep breaths to keep the sobs at bay. “I love you all.” A single whimper made its way out. “But you need to get away from me. Your chi…” Even now it was streaming from their perforated cores. Her ideal and the mask were sucking it in, pulling the holes in their cores wider.
None spoke. They were in too much pain to utter a word. Yet they all shook their heads, refusing her.
She glowered up at the blurry shape of Fischer. “Why?” she demanded, wiping her eyes. He tried to answer, but she barrelled over his reply. “Why did you let them come to me? You could have stopped them. Now I
you were lying about everything, you cruel, spiteful, heretical—”
“Okay,” he interrupted. “Things are getting heated, and there are some big feelings going on. Before any of us say something we regret, let me…
”
He’d not moved a muscle, but the chi from her friends had stopped flowing into her. Aletheia blinked. It wasn’t just their chi that had frozen. He was exerting his will over the entire shore. Even her spear of divine chi was affected, feeling lighter, sapping less of her essence over time. It was a staggering show of strength. And he claimed to only be at half his usual capacity…
“Sorry for letting them get close. I thought you might be able to hug it out. You know—the power of friendship, and all that. As far as I’m concerned, you’re my allies, so I won’t coddle you. I mean, unless you want me to?” He rubbed his chin in thought. “Actually, now that you mention it, I probably should have asked you beforehand. My bad. Would you prefer I just save you, or do you wanna work for it?”
Aletheia wasn’t sure if she wanted to slap or thank him. The mask wanted her to launch the spear in her hand. “What are you talking about?”
“You’re right. Now is hardly the time to make such a decision. I’ll just save you this time, okay? Then, when you’re not all evil or whatever, we can dicuss it properly.”
She focused on the golden speer in her hand. Why hadn’t she launched it? The mask was screaming for her to let it fly, and her ideal agreed. She held them at arm’s length for now. The mask had tried to drag her followers along on her suicide mission—it couldn’t be trusted. Not completely.
“Silence means you agree, by the way,” Fischer said. “Them’s the rules. That’s reasonable, isn’t it, Claws?”
The otter was perched on the sand beside them. She nodded vigorously.
“Wonderful, in that case, let’s…” Fischer trailed off, his head drifting towards the otter. “I shouldn’t be using you as a moral touchstone, should I?”
She shook her head with even more vigor, a grin splitting her face.
Fischer sighed and cupped his hands to his mouth. “Sniiiiips!”
Aletheia felt something shift on her leg. She looked down to see a crab crawl out of her pocket.
“Yes, Master?” hissed the crab as it hopped down onto the sand.
“Oh. I forgot I asked you to keep an eye on the god-empress. You heard all that?”
“I did.”
“Thoughts?”
“I trust your judgement, Master. If you deemed the god-empress a threat and decided to remove her head, I would assume you knew best.”
“That’s…” Fischer pouted, considering how to reply, and decided to change the subject entirely. “Initiate Plan D!”
Corporal Claws reached into her pocket, rummaged around, and removed a jacket with a large rip. She raced over and helped her master put it on.
“Well?” Fischer asked. “You’ve seen my memories, and now my sweet threads let you know my genuine feelings. Is it working? Have you realized that I really am…” He trailed off, looking behind Aletheia. “Uhhh, Fern?”
“What?”
“I kinda forgot that this jacket lets me know how others feel about me too—why am I getting the vibe that you want to throw me off the edge of a cliff?”
Fern gave him a look of unbridled disgust. “Because you’re a terrible person. You’re acting like this is all a game. There’s no love lost between the god-empress and I, but there’s no reason for you to be so cruel. She’s one second away from launching her spear and ending herself.”
Fischer rubbed the back of his head. “Okay, I get that this might look bad, but I promise there’s a method to the madness. I’ll cut the shit for a second. I have a mate, Ellis—you haven’t met him yet, which might be a good thing, because he can be a real prick—but he’s the one who’s kinda been running the show around here. He’s an Archivist, and one of his abilities is a personal library that nobody else can access. I finished this massive string of quests to defend Tropica, right, and the reward was a whole bunch of history books. Before I could even touch them, he stole the books and put them in his personal library—like I said, bit of a prick.
“Anyway, because he yoinked the books, he has access to all this ancient knowledge or whatever, and he gave us this big, vague speech about an ominous threat on the distant horizon. We weren’t fighting you guys for shits and giggles—he told us that if we don’t get stronger, we’re basically doomed. We’re desperately trying to get stronger, and you should be doing the same. If I robbed you of a chance to ascend, how would you feel, Aletheia? If the end of the world came, and you were one breakthrough away from saving everyone you loved, would you be glad I didn’t make you feel like… five minutes of discomfort?”
Aletheia barely heard the question. She’d barely heard him since he mentioned completing quests. “The System gave you quests?” she asked. “And you completed them?”
“Uhhh, yeah. I’m guessing I completed all of them, because it didn’t give me any more. Why?”
“I… I have a quest. It’s the reason I came here.”
“It is? Wait… when did you get it?”
“A couple of months ago.”
Fischer groaned. “That explains why I didn’t get any more. That’s when I completed my last one. With power returning to the world, it probably only has enough energy to hand out a few at a…
Aletheia glanced to the side, following his gaze towards Eustace and Anius, the last two Seers of Phostheia.
Their eyes were glowing.
Even Fischer stopped talking as the wisdom of the heavens flowed into the Seers, granting them a vision. Not even ten seconds later, the golden light faded. Eustace and Anius looked at Fischer, then at Aletheia, then at Fischer again.
“What…” Aletheia licked her lips. Only the mask stopped her from immediately dismissing her spear. “What were you shown.”
Eustace met her eyes. “Dear… We were right all along. You
the divine bridge between Kallis and the heavens.”
“That—You’re lying. This has to be a trick. You’re just saying that so I don’t release this spear.”
Anius’s stomach started shaking. It took Aletheia a moment to realize he was laughing. His amusement dragged on for a long moment, the Seer chuckling silently. “If you think that bit was too convenient, you’re going to hate this next bit.”
“No kidding,” Eustace agreed, shaking her head.
“Tell me, Anius,” Aletheia said. “Please.”
Anius sighed. “You’re the divine bridge, god-empress—the one who will connect Kallis to the heavens.” His amusement returned, and he grinned as he turned back towards Fischer, pointing a single finger at the god-king. “And you, Fischer… you’re the heavens.”
“Uhhh, come again.”
Eustace shrugged. “That’s all there is to it. The vision told us that Aletheia is ‘the divine bridge’, and that you’re ‘the heavens’.”
“No thanks,” Fischer said. “I’m good.”
Anius gave him a sly smile. “I understand you might have some reservations, but that’s not how it works, I’m afraid.”
“Sure it is. I decline. I refuse. Unsubscribe me from the mailing list.”
Sergeant Snips scuttled forward, patting his thigh with one mighty claw. “This is to be expected, Master. The universe has acknowledged your might.”
Corporal Claws crept up to join the Snips. Aletheia didn’t like the way the otter’s eyes were sparkling. She looked like she was scheming.
“This is my karma for dragging this out.” Fischer stood and brushed off his pants. “You said you had a quest, Aletheia? What’s the requirement?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“Because I’m about to call in the spirit beast who will help save you from yourself. I already have an idea of the angle she’ll take, but you said the quest is the reason you came here. It will help.”
“It’s… It’s not—”
“Doesn’t matter,” he interrupted. “Hit me with it. You want to be able to trust me, right? Or would you rather throw that spear, and die for no reason?” He gestured to either side of her. “You’re surrounded by friends. We both know you’re not gonna let them see you die before you at least try to do it my way. Chop-chop, god-empress. Share the quest description.”
She fought down her doubt, gathered he will, and ordered the System to share it with him.
Sweat sprouted on her brow as his gaze went distant, the quest appearing in his field of view. After only a few seconds, he shook his head to dismiss the words, then slowly turned to look at her.
In his defense, she was fairly sure he tried to hide his amusement. His damned jacket gave it away, though.
“What’s so funny?” Aletheia demanded. “You don’t think you’re a severe threat?”
“This bloody jacket, I swear… I was trying not to be a dick, but yeah, it’s pretty damn funny. I’m honestly surprised you haven’t worked it out yourself.”
She felt her face flush. “Haven’t worked what out?”
He was still amused, but stronger emotions were piling overtop of it, beaming out into the world. “I take back everything bad I ever said about this jacket. Wondering why I’m so happy? It’s because I know for a fact that you can fix yourself.” He cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled at the top of his lungs. “Plan S!”
“Plan S…? You really had that many different plans prepared?”
“What? No, I literally used all of them. Plan S is the final one. Don’t worry about it not being sequential. You’ll understand soon.” He turned to look at her again. “The ideal. Say it again for me.”
“What are you—”
“Come on. Indulge me. It’s important.”
Aletheia lifted her chin, refusing to be embarrassed.
“And the other bit?”
“Kill the few, save the many.”
“Right. So your ideal is about remaining dynamic. It’s about shifting your perspective and rapidly letting go of things that don’t serve you. Perhaps even killing them, if such a thing is possible.”
“Yes, but I don’t really see what you’re…”
Fischer’s grin was almost as devious as the elemental otter’s. “It just clicked, didn’t it?”
“It can’t be…”
“Can’t be what? That simple?”
“Yes.”
“Well, it is.” He raised one finger. “You have an ideal about letting go of things that don’t serve you.” He raised a second one. “Your quest is to identify and eliminate a ‘severe’ threat to your kingdom, and humanity as a whole.” A third finger went up, but he waved this one around, not letting it sit still. “Now, if only there were something that no longer served you, that was also a severe threat to your Kingdom, and humanity as a whole…” He raised his other hand and stroked his chin histrionically. “Say, I don’t know, a second personality in that divine noggin of yours? A personality that is literally driving the Kingdom of Light’s god-empress to annihilate herself, which would leave the kingdom—and humanity as a whole—without one of its strongest cultivators when some vague, looming threat eventually comes to Kallis.”
Everyone was staring at Aletheia. She could see the hope on their faces. She dared to let her own hope flare, but before it could burn out of control, she doused the flames. “What if it doesn’t work, Fischer?”
“It will.”
She clenched her fists. “You can’t know that, though. What if it
work? What then? I’ll still throw the spear, Fischer. I’m still not convinced.”
“You know, I’ve learned so many lessons from my friends in Tropica. I’m a
good learner, you see. I’m so good at learning that I sometimes learn the same lesson over and over. Today, I learned to trust my friends again. You should try it sometime.”
“Trust, you mean?”
“Yep.” He leaned towards the ocean, shielding his eyes from the sun as he looked at something. “Any other questions?”
“Do you always babble this much?”
Fischer laughed. “Only when I’m trying to stall for time.”
A massive shadow approached the shore. Aletheia watched as a giant lobster exited the waves and scuttled up onto shore. There was a smaller, more reasonably sized lobster on its back.
“You’ve not been introduced yet, but this is Pistachio.” Fischer bumped the ghost lobster’s claw. “And this is Shelly. Can you guess which one of them is Plan S?”
Aletheia gave the lobster an assessing look. How was a sea creature supposed to…
“Shelly had her breakthrough not long ago,” Fischer said. “I find her ideal super fascinating. It’s so broad that no matter what I ask her to do, I feel like I’m wasting her potential, you know? Just once, I’d like to be able to point her at someone and say, ‘Off ya go, Shelly! This person needs help with
’”
His grin was just as devious as before.
“How about it, Aletheia? Can you think of anyone like that?”