Transcendence?

by Andur

  “Those are his emergency provisions! Just in case that you stop making chocolate for him. He stamped all of them with a date to eat. Up until now he stored away enough for about a hundred years. That's if he eats just one piece a month, like planned.” I hand the little box to Celestial and she sighs. “He won't manage to do that. He is a glutton.”

  Next I fish a piece of cloth out of the box.

  Celestial's eyes widen and she snatches the panty out of my hands. “Why does he have women's underwear inside there!?”

  I dive into the box and fish for the stuff which fills up almost the entire space. Panties, bras, sport dresses, swimming suits …

  “Th... th... THOSE ARE MY SILKEN PANTIES FROM SECOND GRADE!” Celestial roars. “And my bra from when I changed for graduation!? It disappeared and I never knew where it had gone!”

  I nod. “Actually all this stuff belongs to you. Your name is on most of the items.”

  Celestial jumps up with a red face. “I will teach him!! To steal my underwear! That pervert!”

  I get up and hug her left leg with all my might. “No! No! That's a completely wrong reaction!”

  My mother stops in her tracks. “Huh?”

  “Don't you see? Despite everything you did to him, he still yearned for you deep in his heart! Look at all this stuff! Didn't he steal your underwear even long after the failed confession.” I point at the stuff on the ground.

  Celestial snarls as she looks around. “And even long before that as I see now!”

  “Doesn't that show his determination towards you? And if you still don't believe it, look here.” I run up to the box and get a torn and worn book. “Those are his old research notes!”

  I open the book carefully and browse to a certain date and start to read. “Today I saw an angel. She has the most beautiful smile I ever saw in all my lives. My heart was smitten immediately.”

  A later date has another short mention of my mother. “This year we got into the same class! And I finally learned her name! I can't hide it any longer. If I don't confess, she will probably find it out anyway. I stare at her like a lovestruck idiot, which I probably am.”

  Next. “She threw me out of the window when I confessed and I broke some bones. It hurt like hell! But I didn't know that her family is an enemy of mine. I curse my fate, probably I have no chance with her at all!”

  Celestial's expression turns guilty.

  I smile. “Today she played another bad trick on me! I hate that bitch! But I love her at the same time! Even if her attention hurts, I am still happy about it. At least she acknowledges my existence. That makes me somehow happy. Why does it still feel good to be hurt by the one you love. I am the worst. I am dirt.”

  Another page is turned. “She cursed me! I was in bed for two weeks and couldn't move! The doctor started to write a death certificate when Kane summoned one to the dorm! But thinking about her still made me happy. How can you love and hate someone at the same time? I may have to face it. Am I a masochist? Am I deriving pleasure from being hurt by those whom I love? But I absolutely hate my parents for abandoning me! Shouldn't I have the same feelings for them? I have to explore this mental state!”

  I smile and close the book. Mother is on her knees, crying. “I never wanted to hurt someone like that. Probably killing him outright would have been the better choice.”

  “You... you can still make up for it mom!” I walk to her and pat her shoulder.

  “How? How can you make up for eight years of pain?” Celestial hugs me and sniffs into my shoulders.

  “M... Maybe eight years of ~pleasure and love~ would be a good start?” I point at a certain set of panties with a bra.

  “~He said in his journal that he especially likes that type.~”

  ***

  Haah... dealing with mom was troublesome. I had to console her for two hours after my little revelation. I didn't think that reading dad's journal to her would be that effective. I even read some more passages afterwards to change her opinion of him.

  Of course some of them were completely faked by me. I got a little creative and added some short sentences to dad's research journal. His habit to doodle down short notes made this very easy. Hopefully I didn't lay it on too thick.

  Anyway. I managed to clean everything up before dad came back. And I managed to get the promise from mom to not reveal anything to him.

  Right now he is in the kitchen and eating some cold food. He was out till late at night to work on a new project.

  And mom is already sleeping in their sleeping quarters. The perfect chance! I walk around the corner while staggering a little.

  “Sera! What are you doing here at this hour? It's not good if you treat yourself like that at such a young age.” He looks at me with a concerned expression.

  I smile and nod. “You are right, but I simply couldn't sleep. Mom was very worried about you, always looking outside till late in the evening. I guess her worries rubbed off on me.”

  Ascathon huffs. “Somehow I don't believe this. You are playing one of your games again, aren’t you?”

  “No! You don't have to become angry. I will prove it!” I run up to him and use my puppy eyes, this time I won't fail like with Celestial.

  “Err... whatever. You should go to sleep.” He looks at his food with tired eyes and doesn't even spare me a glance!

  NOOO! My puppy eyes failed again!

  “I will show you. Come!” I grab his arm and start to pull until he finally decides to move.

  Five minutes later we are sneaking through Celestial's office like a couple of burglars.

  “Please explain something to me.” Ascathon grumbles behind me. “Why do I have to crawl?”

  I wave upwards with my light spell and point at several hooks on the walls. “Mom installed a trap against thieves and to protect her private notes. She spanned a very thin thread between those hooks. It's running through the entire room and just touching it is enough to activate the trap!”

  “And why should a thread alone be a trap?” Ascathon is dumbfounded.

  “It's spanned with so much force, even mom has to apply it with both hands! Just touch it and it goes *snap* and you will come apart like slaughtered cattle! Ever seen a tense wire rip?” I crawl further to a plank at the left wall of the room and hit it.

  The plank loosens and I pull it off. Then I reach inside and pull a notebook out. “Those are her personal files!” I drop myself on Ascathon's lap and open the notebook while he lights the sheets with a light spell.

  I open it on a certain date and start reading.

  “I feel so guilty about everything! But I can't take back neither my words, nor my actions. I guess remembering so many lives has a price. I feel like an old senile hag, who isn't able to deal with changing circumstances. I already tried many different approaches to improve my relationship with Ascathon. But every time I try, I run into a wall or something else unfortunate happens. Can't we just become a normal happy family?”

  I turn the page of the small book.

  “Today I made some chocolate for him and he smiled at me. My heart jumped! I wish he would always smile like that. But when he stole a glance at Natasha, I wanted to pluck his eyes out of his head! Sometimes I wish he would put just a little effort into this, otherwise I am on the verge of giving up. There is only so much I can take.”

  I turn to the last page.

  “Ok! That's it! That's my last serious try on making up! I will try to be a good wife, I will get into my best dress and give him the night of all his lives when he comes home! He will even get a full bowl of chocolate. And if he tells me just a single nice word, that's enough! I don't need more. Just one earnest nice word. Haah, I hope he won't be too late tonight. What if he is taking his time in some brothel? I don't want to think about it.”

  I stop reading. “Ohohohoho...” Seems like my like excursion into the basement was a success.

  Ascathon sets me down on the ground and crawls towards the entrance. In the middle of the roo
m he stops and turns around to whisper. “If you'll excuse me. It was nice and all, but I am needed somewhere.”

  “Hey. We aren't done yet!” I didn't even get to the part which was completely made up by me!

  But he doesn't turn and escapes... great! And what about me? You just left a little child alone in a room with a deadly trap! Where is your common sense!

  Hmpf. Well. No helping it.

  I guess all that's left to do is cleaning up and covering my tracks. That means removing all the made up parts of his journal and her notebook.

  Oh, hell. This will be a looong night.

  60 - It's all a game.

  Arcane Academy, Eastern Planes

  Jazira, The Immortal Empress

  “~Hmmhmmhmm.~~Yes... that's the right spot!~~Ahn...~”

  “Stop it! You are doing this on purpose to humiliate me! Isn't it enough that I have to massage your shoulders!?” Sagittarius calls out from behind me.

  “Shut up. Prisoners shouldn't complain.” I sigh with pleasure and take a look at the city under me. After having conquered the Academy, I took residence in the Inquisition's headquarters. The building is basically a big tower which is looming over the city.

  My private quarters are at the highest floor of the tower from where I have a very good view on the city. Right now I am taking a sunbath on my balcony, while Sagittarius is taking care of my well-being.

  Iced fruit juice and a ventilator from Sarn are completing my bliss.

  “I have to thank this Norent Grant for removing his military forces. I would have never imagined to get control over the Academy that easily!” I cross my legs in my deckchair and smile at the sun.

  “The forces of the inquisition are still fighting somewhere else. They will return after dealing with Sarn. And everything you captured here are civilians and a city with almost no economic value.” Sagittarius points out that the Academy doesn't have any mentionable trade or resources of its own. They are buying almost everything they have from others. The importation of goods has to be managed through the Gates.

  “The prestige alone is important, Sagittarius! The knowledge that I hold one of the most famous cities is enough. What does the Inquisition intend to do? Counter invade through a Gate? My people are alert and we don't underestimate the threat from the Gates.” I take my glass with cold fruit juice and hold it to my cheek.

  “Besides, I don't think that they can take Sarn. I confirmed recently that there isn't just one immortal there, but three in fact!” I take a sip and smile.

  Sagittarius stops massaging me. “Are you sure? That doesn't fit the pattern at all …” He pauses and starts to mumble something.

  I turn and look up at him. “The pattern?”

  “Ah … nothing. Just a stray thought.” The old man looks away and continues with the massage.

  “~Sagittarius, whenever you are lying, you look away and put on a fake smile! So tell me everything you know on the matter, or I will rip the knowledge out of your brain.~”

  “No violence! And I don't know anything for certain. It's just a … theory … of mine.” Sagittarius starts to stammer.

  “~I have time.~”

  “It's about this mysterious force you were talking about from time to time, while we were still together. I didn't like the thought of a super secret organization messing with my Academy.” Sagittarius grumbles a little.

  I nod. “Go on.”

  “I researched everything and everyone. The Academy has access to much more information than any single nation. But I concentrated my research purely on historic events and political relations. And I think I found out why the actions of this mysterious organization seem so erratic.” Sagittarius pauses for a moment and I sit straighter.

  “It's not like I don't believe that you found out something important, but I researched the matter for several years already.” I try to sound professional, but I would bite into my ass if he found something I didn't.

  “Well, you hadn't access to the headmaster's personal records. The whole problem lies with assuming that there is only one force at work. If you take a closer look at the incidents and sort them according to their outcome, you get four piles.” Sagittarius sounds very happy.

  I fold my arms while I think. “You want to tell me that there are four super secret organizations with different goals fighting each other? And all that for hundreds of years without anyone finding out? Without any rumour that they even exist!?” That theory is even more hilarious than the version with one secret enemy.

  “They aren't organizations. They are trying to assist in the creation of certain belief systems. And they obviously follow a tight set of rules while trying to do so. It's almost as if they are playing a game.” Sagittarius whispers.

  I sit up and look at him. “A game!?”

  “Sccchh! I think that the four forces are the four original gods of this world. You know, the current belief systems are manifold. Every Nation has it's own set of gods. On the other hand all those dozens of gods can be traced back to the four original gods. And I think that they are the ones who are manipulating us!” Sagittarius continues to whisper with a hunted expression. He really seems to believe in his words.

  “Pfff! There are no gods. Believe me. I know it. I have seen the void between the worlds. And there is nothing besides the dead there.” I lean back again.

  “Hoh, but I think that you are here because of them. You were brought here by Lidith, the child goddess of peace. Then there is Aneth, the god of war. Wynne is the goddess of life and Charon, the god of death. If I am right, those four powers are playing a never ending game of influence on this world. Each of them is allowed to take measures to influence normal people in subtle ways. But once in a while they can do something with real impact. Like summoning an immortal to this world, or choosing a hero, endowing incredible powers onto him or her. So far I have identified you and Ascathon as two of their main chess pieces.” He stops talking and steals the fruit juice from the table beside me.

  I keep silent while thinking about everything I know. Gods, hmmm. Somehow I don't like the feeling of being used as a tool. “If that's true then they either fucked up while playing their game, or they entered the endgame.”

  Sagittarius stops moving and looks at me. “S... Sorry?”

  “Just for your information. After meeting Ascathon, I formed a very firm opinion of him.” I smile at the sky. “And my opinion is that if we would go all out against each other, we could destroy this world several times over.”

  The old man goes pale.

  “On top there is his daughter, who is an immortal too. And I think that his wife is the same. With this we already have four immortals we know of on this world. Three of them are on the same side. So this was either an unintended fuck up by the gods, or they changed their rules.” I purse my lips and look at Sagittarius.

  “Indeed, this doesn't fit at all.” He looks at the ground while being in thought.

  Tjena enters the balcony and bows to me. “My Empress. There are disturbing news from the north.”

  I face her and signal to continue.

  “The combined forces of the Inquisition and Mislow were defeated at Sarn's borders. The remaining troops of about twenty thousand are currently in retreat back to the next city with a Gate. Sarn employed flying ships to accomplish this.” Tjena takes a deep breath.

  “And the Jarl, Ibrahim the Great and two of his wives were murdered during an audience by Norent Grant. The Inquisitor escaped afterwards. His whereabouts are uncertain. We also don't know where the main body of his remaining forces went.” Tjena bows to me again.

  “The last issue is that Norfolk has already chosen a new Jarl. Celestial Asceron was announced to be the new leader of the nation. Apparently she killed a competitor to achieve this, the other nobles were forced to sign magical contracts to keep them under control.”

  I don't answer for several seconds. Then I smile and look at Sagittarius.

  “~So how does this fit into your theo
ry?~”

  61 - Just as planned?

  Norfolk, Sarn-Valley

  Ascathon

  “~Do you want another piece of cake honey?~”

  “Ah, sure?”

  “~Say *Aaa*.~”

  I am sitting at our kitchen table with Celestial directly beside me. Her personality changed completely from yesterday to tomorrow. She is even feeding pieces of chocolate cake to me.

  It can't be that the little insight into her plans was everything that was needed? Sera just spilled ten sentences about her thoughts to me! Can it really be that Celestial is the type who completely forgets the past just over one successful night?

  My eyes stroll into Sera's direction, who is grinning at us. I know that she pulled some strings! I simply know it! But should I really pry into the matter? To be honest, I like the meek, nice and loving Celestial. My instincts tell me that I could either be happy about the situation, or lose something important to me.

  On the other hand, having her sitting right beside me instead at the opposite side of the table feels strange. Her parents and the kids are looking at us like they have a ghost right in front of them.

  Just my mother is oblivious to Celestial's changed attitude. She isn't in my house for long enough to be aware of how unusual the current situation is.

  I used the time during the few weeks to talk to her a little more. From her point of view, she was just the obeying wife to my father. It wasn't like she liked his actions, but she also never stood up to him. Unfortunately there are plenty of people like her.

  If you never stand up for yourself in your life, you will never find happiness. At least she seems to be a good influence on Violetta. Sera is also widening her influence on the other two youngsters in the house.

  Though that may be a little more troublesome than she anticipated. Violetta and Liandra dove into life threatening training exercises when they started to fear for their positions. That's what they are telling everyone who asks them about their training.

  I am afraid to send them to a real school by now. They would probably be disappointed with their teachers and realize how far ahead of their own generation they are. Then they would surely become delinquents and establish a gang or something like that.