by Jeremy Dwyer
After many hours of searching, Daven came across interesting writings that, at first, startled him. He scoured through the writings which were marked on the stone walls that ran great lengths through the hall and climbed over one hundred fifty (150) feet high – he climbed steps to reach some of them, and Laurentius followed him tirelessly, while Przemek did so reluctantly.
“I think I know what to do – and how it can be done,” Daven said.
“How?” Laurentius asked.
“It may be dangerous – for me,” Daven said.
“What do you mean?” Laurentius asked.
“There are certain ways to create melodies and harmonies that are incredibly powerful, but they damage the instrument. When I sing, I am the instrument,” Daven said.
“Can’t you use a different instrument? A flute or harp?” Przemek asked.
“I’m not strong with those – I don’t have the potential to use them well,” Daven said.
“I don’t expect you to injure yourself. We’ll have to find another way,” Laurentius said.
“Alterations to crystal structures make the most sense – either as explanations for structural failure or as ways to prevent it. Music can only do so much, and less if you damage your voice,” Przemek said.
“I think that music can alter the crystals, in precise ways, actually. Now I have ideas for different vocal melodies that may have the same effect as the other instruments. I just need to think about how to structure and pace them,” Daven said.
“Think about it on the way,” Laurentius said.
“The way?” Przemek asked.
“We should go back, and try again, with his new ideas. We can’t keep our captain waiting too long, or we’re going to need to find another,” Laurentius said.
Laurentius led the way out of the Twelfth Hall and toward the docks, and Przemek and Daven followed.
~~~
Sebastian finished pleasing himself with the many ordinary women who now professed their love for him. Each was different, yet the same: many had husbands or children, but those obstacles had all been removed, and their hearts beat no more. The women each slept in the different bedrooms of his mansion, awaiting the return of Sebastian’s tender touch and words of love.
He walked the halls of his mansion, drinking anew of the waters of the Elanatin Ocean from his vial to be energized. He reached out telepathically to his useful servants – drinkers of the waters of the Zovvin Ocean – and sensed their thoughts. He knew about the swarm of angry spirits seeking to end him, but they could not approach. His thousands of spirit controllers each gave their report – actually, he took it – and was pleased that they were repelling the ghosts. They did so because he commanded them to, by controlling their thoughts and actions, all telepathically.
Sebastian remembered the strategies that made him wealthy – the emotional manipulations and deceptions he had used to lay waste to kingdoms, turning father against son, husband against wife, and even convincing the religious to renounce their faith and morals to give in to the pleasures and profits he could offer them if only they would betray their nations. He smiled at the thought of his many victories, and had no fear that the vengeful spirits could touch him. Instead, he looked forward to the challenge of an extraordinary woman, whom even he considered difficult to control.
He entered another room – the nursery where Persephone and their baby had once stayed. He remembered where he had disposed of their bodies, and why: she wanted his exclusive love, and he had no intention of committing to only one (1) woman, when she was a mere distraction among many more beautiful women. Her telepathic powers had proven far too pathetic to sense his deeply hidden intentions. The baby was of no use, and would have proven too burdensome, and possibly even moderately threatening if he later drank the Elanatin waters and discovered his mother’s killer.
In that nursery, Sebastian found his greatest test – Fantine lay there sleeping peacefully. He probed her thoughts and learned that she dreamt of towers and walls, of bridges and arches. There were no people in her dreams – only things, and the crystals and stones they were made of. She was ever the architect, and loved only architecture. Sebastian planned to change all of that. He used his telepathic powers and began to enter her thoughts, and suggested friendship…and more. What should have become a tantalizing dream of passion remained a dry dream of architecture, wherein she ignored his suggestions.
Fantine awoke and looked at Sebastian sitting at her bedside. “Is there something you need now? I can help you after I get some more sleep, if you don’t mind,” Fantine said.
“There’s nothing I need. It’s what you need – whom you need,” Sebastian said.
“You know me by now, don’t you? I’m an architect, and an alchemist. I help people who need these services, but I don’t need relationships with the people themselves,” Fantine said.
“You are a wonderful and extraordinary woman. You put love – immense love – into all that you do. That is why everything you design and build is magnificent: I admire all of it,” Sebastian said.
“I’m pleased to hear of your admiration for my work: it is what I love – both the effort and the results,” Fantine said.
“The works of architecture you create are nothing compared to you. Is the builder not greater than what she builds? How can I admire the creation and not the creator?” Sebastian asked.
Fantine found Sebastian’s probing to be annoying. She began to recall the dream, filled with astonishing structures and challenging arcs and angles, interrupted with the presence of a flirtatious man. She felt, as usual, not in the least bit aroused.
“If you admire me, then ask me to design and build something new for you. I look forward to a challenge,” Fantine said.
“I have a challenge – for both of us. To build something that might just be impossible for anyone else,” Sebastian said.
“I’m listening,” Fantine said, eagerly awaiting the request for an architectural feat.
“I want to build a relationship with you – and a family. I’ve grown to love you,” Sebastian said.
“It can’t be like that. I love the work of building and what I build. People are different. They change their minds without good cause. They age quickly, getting weaker and sicker. They fail for emotional reasons. They place their faith in mythical things that don’t exist, rather than in the waters, crystals and other material things that do. I can never love them,” Fantine said.
“But those things can never love you back,” Sebastian said.
“They do, in their own way: by existing as I designed and built them, according to the laws of nature they can never violate, they give me the only kind of love that matters,” Fantine said.
“That’s not love – love is a choice of the person who gives it, willingly. Things cannot choose to give love,” Sebastian said.
“The love that may never come, and may go away or change at any time, just isn’t worth having. A love that is what I shape it to be, and that will last as long as natural law is in place, has no equal or better,” Fantine said.
“I can prove that there’s something better,” Sebastian said.
“No one has ever convinced me of that. Everything that I’ve ever seen has convinced me that I’m right. Let me design something for you – something magnificent, and original, on the grandest scale you can imagine. Then, you will know what real love is, because it will be all around you,” Fantine said.
Sebastian used his telepathic powers and reached deep inside Fantine’s mind, seeking that place where her thoughts and emotions could be controlled. There was no sexual desire whatsoever to be found within her – she was outwardly a woman, but inwardly she had no conscious notion of gender or personal love. There was no romance – no desire to be held or befriended. There was no longing for children to love her or to be loved or taught by her. There was no search for parental love, or even a search for a creator deity to explain all things or to give her life beyond this one.
He did not have such a belief in a creator deity, either, but Fantine’s disbelief was quite different. Sebastian absolutely hated the idea of a deity, because then there would be a love and a passion greater than his, and that deity might judge him or steal away those whom he had convinced to love him. Fantine simply believed that all things simply came into being by a complex natural process, that people were complex things and that she existed to architect the shape of the things around her. To her, belief in a deity meant dependence on an outside power to act according to its own will, rather than taking personal responsibility to work intensely and cleverly to achieve her goals within her lifetime. Fantine felt that it was foolish and lazy for anyone to relinquish control of their own life in exchange for hope in the unknown and the unproven, and those who did so had no good reason to expect success.
Sebastian was a mixture of powerful love and hate, jealousy and lust, benevolence and vengeance, greed and generosity – he admitted as much to himself. Fantine had none of these things. He searched and searched within her, but he found only two (2) things: her curiosity to learn new technical methods of architecture and her pride – she took great pride in her accomplishments, and seeing how they were admired by the people around her, and how they exemplified her great skills at bending crystals. There was neither more nor less than curiosity and pride, and it grew and grew with each new structure she designed and built. She longed for the powers of the Kazofen Ocean waters to which she was waterbound, for they gave her the ability to shape the stones and crystals. She also longed for the powers of the Ursegan Ocean waters, which would give her many years during which to build. This second power was her one (1) desire that was out of reach, and Sebastian had no ability to fulfill it, because the laws of the ocean waters limited her to a single choice, which had already been made.
“I will give you everything I have, if only you will love me. That is how much I love you,” Sebastian said.
“Love is not real…but cooperation is. Show me your cooperation by giving me a challenge to design and build something extraordinary, to improve the world around us,” Fantine said.
Sebastian did not know how to play her emotions, because there weren’t any. Even in a desert, castles can be built with sand. Her emotional composition was more arid than a desert. He could, if he wished, simply control her like a puppet – at least, he believed that he could. But he wanted something else: he wanted to win her love, but it was impossible to win something that didn’t exist, so he had to find a way to build it within her.
He then turned to Fantine and said: “Before you build anything, there’s something I want to give you – something that I think you will enjoy.”
“Yes?” Fantine asked.
“Follow me,” Sebastian said, and he left the room and headed down the hallway.
Fantine followed Sebastian as he entered a far larger bedroom.
“I’m not going to love you – not like this,” Fantine said, annoyed at the thought that Sebastian was going to try to seduce her here.
Sebastian opened up a drawer in a cabinet, from which he took out a book, and he handed it to her, saying: “You may enjoy reading this.”
Fantine began paging through the book and said: “it’s a book of designs of castles, and of crystal manipulation techniques that I have never seen. This is fascinating.”
“Now, I want you to learn what you can from that book, and use it to build a far greater wall, standing taller and stronger, so that nothing whatsoever can break it down,” Sebastian said.
“That’s why I’m here,” Fantine said, as a wide smile appeared across her face.
Sebastian leaned in to kiss her, saying: “You do have such a beautiful smile.”
Fantine backed away, saying: “No. I’ve got work to do. That’s where the true beauty is.”
“Alright. Let’s get to work,” Sebastian said.
Sebastian did not admit defeat – only delay – and he led Fantine out of the bedroom, down the staircase and out of the mansion. They then walked onto the courtyard surrounding his estate.
“Imagine it, and then build it,” Sebastian said.
Fantine drank anew of the waters of the Kazofen Ocean from her vial and was energized. She paged through the book of castles and crystals once again, all the while calculating ways to improve the wall, by first improving the constructor.
CHAPTER 53: Plan for the Downfall of the Unfailing King
In the City of Emeth, Lady Onora and Desmond were once again in the Eleventh Hall, studying the historical writings inscribed into the many interior walls of the enormous stone building. Not only was the room lit by the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, but also by the light that poured in through the entrance from the recently restored suns of the sky.
“By the grace of the One True God, whatever the exact method, the darkness has ended and the light of the suns has been restored. Based on the information we have, can we now find this Tomb of the Ten (10) Kings, so that we can destroy it?” Lady Onora asked.
“Ships are always arriving in and departing from Emeth, so we should be able to hire someone to take us. Their navigator can follow the sounds of the stars to discover the place where the historical solar positions matched the sun configuration that was written as part of the records of the tomb,” Desmond said.
“Good, because I know who can – and will – destroy it,” Lady Onora said.
“I’m listening,” Desmond said.
“First, make copies of the star charts, so that we can show a navigator what to look for,” Lady Onora said.
“I’ll copy all of the relevant information, including information about the tomb itself,” Desmond said. He then took a small pen and booklet from his coat and began copying the diagrams of the Tomb of the Ten (10) Kings from the historical records at which he was looking. The diagrams also described the arrangement of stars in the sky.
“That should be enough,” Desmond said after making his transcription.
“We have little time to waste,” Lady Onora said, and she then led the way out of the Eleventh Hall, followed by Desmond.
“Well, who is going to help us to destroy it?” Desmond asked.
“They’ll be there when we need them. Just trust me,” Lady Onora said.
“Based on what information or line of reasoning?” Desmond asked.
“Faith,” Lady Onora said.
“Your faith. Not mine. Let’s not be unprepared when we arrive,” Desmond said.
~~~
In the mountains of the Road of Kovoxotu land bridge, Matoskah drank anew of the waters of the Trerada Ocean from his vial and was energized.
He stood before the thousands of people gathered around – people of every waterbinding and skill who had resisted the tyranny of King Xander – and spoke to them, saying: “The darkness has left us and the false lights of the king’s monuments are no longer the brightest lights around. Ihalik is his homeland, and that is where we must find him and destroy him. He seeks to find the unified ocean waters – those which give all powers to the people who drink of them. If these waters are a myth, then he will tear the world apart in his search. If these waters are real, however, he will use them to further his conquests. Now, while the people he has enslaved still search for those supposed unified waters, it is our time to strike.”
The many people gathered around spoke amongst themselves, not knowing how to approach the matter. One of them spoke up and asked: “Shall we sing, to break the enchantment of the false music?” Another spoke up and asked: “Shall we call upon the spirit powers to rid these people of the spirits who have taken control of them?” Yet another spoke up and asked: “Shall we use telepathic powers to free their minds?”
“All of these powers – and the varied waters that give them – shall be our tools against the king. Yet, we need a strategy, for their numbers are over a billion (1000000000) and ours are merely thousands. If you will listen, I will tell you mine, as we will have to position carefully, and be prepa
red to make sacrifices,” Matoskah said.
In the crowd were several recent additions to his resistance force. One (1) woman among them was Garland, the financial analyst, and she spoke up, saying: “If you all would hear me for a moment, I’d like to say something.” Many people around her were surprised that this young, plump woman – who seemed more at home with books than with people, and who appeared ill-equipped to be fighting a war – was speaking up. Her voice was not musical, so they did not think her to be a musician capable of breaking the enchantment.
“We will hear what you have to say,” Matoskah said.
“My name is Garland. I am a financial analyst for the central bank on Haza’Kedro’Maral Island in the Pirovalen Ocean. What I will tell you might be upsetting, but the banks do not always act kindly or justly. Prices of goods and services of all kinds are sometimes changed according to the desires of the bank governors, to create an impression of greater or lesser value. They do this to drive up demand, or to drive it down, using the changing price to suggest a change in value, even though the value remained the same. The traders who come to the banks for loans and exchanges of gems are given the updated prices, and they carry these out to other markets,” Garland said.
Counselor Daciana stood nearby and her heart nearly stopped at what Garland was admitting to – it was an accusation that the central bank had committed crimes, and would likely get them implicated later. She hadn’t been probing Garland’s thoughts lately, now that the young woman had calmed down. Now, she wished that she had been listening in. Daciana drank anew of the waters of the Elanatin Ocean from her vial and was energized. She peered into Garland’s thoughts and found what the financial analyst was actually planning.
“Are you confessing to committing a financial crime, or to witnessing one? When the time comes, the thieves of the banks will be made to pay, but this is not that time,” Matoskah said.
“No, what I am saying is that this price manipulation is a manipulation of perceptions We can use this idea – though it is ordinarily unjust – to our advantage, by making the king believe we have a water that is of far greater value. If we disseminate a message that we have a water that has many powers, and a way of safely combing the waters to add more powers, then the king will come to us, to learn of our power, and we can lead him where we wish. At the proper time, we can disclose to him that we have combined all the waters – the unified waters – and he will give anything to get it,” Garland said.
