Ria's Adventures
patreon
Godslayer Lysette: Chapter 244
🕑 Added 2024-10-20 13:19:20 +0000 UTCChapter 244: Debrief
Lysette took Mirae’s hand as the couple and Solanna touched down upon the surface. What had been a battlefield moments earlier was now more akin to a morgue. Thousands of soldiers lay wounded and dying, and with Alan now dead, the Elithrian will collapsed. Domarian or Elithrian no longer mattered, as the still-healthy soldiers rallied together on both sides to bring their wounded inside to the relative safety of Ft. James to be stabilized and healed.
Solanna’s false sun faded above the sky just as Asterion’s unnatural eclipse came to an end, and the stars went out as the sun again filled the skies with the teal of a cloudless afternoon. From a god’s eye view, Aimarion itself was little changed from the battle. No borders had changed, no continents had been leveled, trees and birds continued on without a care in the world. And the system which governed it all remained untouched.
And yet, in what might have been considered a military victory for Domaria, thousands of soldiers on both sides paid the ultimate price. And tens of thousands more would know the pain of loss and wounds which would never fully heal. Wounds Lysette knew all too well.
Mirae and Lysette looked at one another, sharing an unspoken understanding between the two. Neither had much strength left after their fight, but what they did have, they would give to ensure as many soldiers as possible would survive the aftermath.
Lysette spread out her aura and observed the surroundings, clutching Mirae’s hand tightly. Hundreds of soldiers were in critical condition. Thousands more would need moderate to extensive medical attention to pull through their injuries. And just on the periphery of her aura’s range, she saw what she had previously felt within her Cultivation realm but dared to hope might not be true. Kristil’s body lay cold and lifeless, the victim of Alan’s final Lunar bolt puncturing her heart.
Lysette wailed and dropped to both knees at the loss of her friend. The loss of a young, promising woman of twenty-two years of age. Nearly two years younger than she, and with a full lifetime ahead of her. A friend, a fierce ally, a supporter of her fellow student, one who Devoted her life and time at the Academy to building solidarity and fostering resiliency and Reciprocity among her fellow students. Who no doubt was working to do the same here at Ft. James before her slaying.
She pulsed her regenerative aura through the area, concentrating on those soldiers closest to death’s door, not looking or caring at which side they had once been on. Her body grew weak and her vision grew blurry, but she pulsed it again, stitching up as many wounds as she could. She continued pouring her strength into her healing, using every bit of the Divine Essence she could muster and all that continued to flow into her to further her techniques. Only when her body refused to move, her techniques refused to function further, and her vision went dark did she finally stop her ceaseless healing.
***
“Glad to see you weren’t out too long,” a concerned voice said. “I heard what happened from the others.”
Lysette looked up from her bed to see Saffron standing to her right, while Mirae was clutched onto her left hand with both of theirs. She tried to sit up, to stand up and head back to healing the others, but Mirae stopped them, pulling her back to the bed and burying themself in her chest.
“Mirae, I know you want to stay and cuddle, but I need to go. People are going to die if I don’t–”
“No,” Saffron said. “We have things to discuss.” She softened a bit. “And you needn’t worry about rushing to heal everyone. Although you weren’t able to save everyone yourself, I put the most injured among the soldiers under a powerful Stasis technique. It will keep them alive, suspended outside of the reach of their bodies’ deterioration, until they can receive proper medical attention.”
Lysette shook her head. “It’s not fair, Saffron. This is a war between us gods, and yet all three of us, plus Solanna, are alive and well. And meanwhile, thousands of soldiers who just want to make the most of the limited time they have in this world? They all died. Died because of what should be our fight!”
“Lyse, I understand your fury. I feel your anger. And I also want you to understand that because of you making the decision to fly out here to join in the war effort, against my instructions, mind you, and then summoning Mirae and Solanna to join in this battle today? You undoubtedly saved the lives of tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of Domarians. You rallied our defenses and ensured that our entire world did not fall into ruin. And for that, I am grateful.”
Lysette nodded. She looked down at her avatar, then at Saffron, then at Mirae, then back at Saffron. “This is awkward.”
“Mirae explained everything while you were out. I’m not going to support your decision, and I’m not going to lie and say I’m not a little uncomfortable looking at you when you look like that. But it’s not that big of a deal. Now then, if you’re feeling well enough to walk, I think the four of us have some things to discuss.”
“I suppose the two of us will need to mediate things between you two?”
“Is she still not happy with me after all this time?”
“I would prefer not to repeat some of the things she’s called you.”
Saffron shook her head. “I’ll manage.”
The three made their way out of the infirmary and into the command headquarters, finding their way toward a large conference room in the center of the compound. The Central Command was one of the few places among the garrison that was neither damaged nor converted into temporary medical facilities. But with so many officers and so few able-bodied enlistees to handle the massive workload, those who remained were in a constant state of uproar, scurrying about with all the urgency the situation demanded.
Solanna was already there waiting, and when the two centuries-old demigoddesses made eye contact, the sparks immediately flew.
“If it isn’t our oh so gracious, magnanimous overlord,” Solanna said. “With all due respect,” she continued, with enough sarcasm to imply the amount of respect due was zero, “what in the Infernal realm is so important that you couldn’t just let me leave after we shared our mutual unpleasantries?”
“I see even a century of isolation has failed to quell your childish attitude, Solanna. Or teach you the virtues of patience.”
“What you call patience— your Stability— I see as stagnation. Passion is all about change, about the individual moments and people that make life worth living.”
“So then why do you go hide away only to show up now?”
“I hid away, as you put it, because it hurt to watch the town and country I grew up in and came to love over my long life stagnate and wither. Specifically because the immortal power behind the throne is choking off the prospects of some very necessary changes that need to happen to Domaria, and to Aimarion as a whole. And I have come back for two reasons. First, because the Raesh clan looks after our family, all the way. And secondly, because things are changing and I am excited to see where those winds are going to blow.”
“It’s not about not changing at all,” Saffron said. “It’s about being deliberate and incremental with change, to make sure that people aren’t hurt during the transitory periods.”
“Oh, puh-leeze, My Lady.” Solanna stood up and gave Saffron a comically exaggerated curtsy. “What you call ‘deliberate and incremental’ is just a fancy way of saying ‘I’ll give you the reforms you’re asking for, after watering them down enough that the pricks in power aren’t inconvenienced in the slightest.”
“I told you back then, Solanna. We cannot have infighting among our people. If we can’t reach a consensus–”
“Then we just decide to do nothing whatsoever? Give in to the status quo because change is hard and some privileged people with more power and wealth than they know what to do with are going to be mildly inconvenienced? Is that what you were going to say?” Solanna glared at Saffron.
“Did I not accede to all those reforms you requested two hundred years ago?”
“If by ‘accede’, you mean ‘permit a series of so-called ‘reforms’ which were so watered down as to be the next-door neighbor of useless. Just look at what two alleged ‘commoners’ accomplished for you not even six hours ago. Two commoners who wouldn’t have even been at the Academy had I not pulled your head out of your stubborn ass long enough to get you to do that much.”
“I will admit that, in the longer-term, these reforms, tepid though I may have had to make them, did Domaria a lot of good.”
“Though you may have had to make them, my ass! Saffron, I know your stubbornness puts literal asses to shame, but maybe now is the time to admit that you screwed up and there were better ways forward. My divinity help me, but it’s not like I’m incapable of admitting that my own great-granddaughter was the one who had to convince me that maybe it’s worth not giving up the fight, no matter how bleak the situation might appear.”
“Fine. I’ll… look into it.”
“Cut the crap, Saffron! You’ll look into it? You might be four hundred years older than I am and far more skilled at playing games of doublespeak with the nobility, but I know damned well that ‘I’ll look into it’ is a diplomatic way of telling me to go eat shit.”
Saffron shook her head. “In any case, all three of you have my gratitude. With Asterion’s Godslayer slain and Elithria’s strongest attack to date blunted, I suspect the war will simmer down for a bit. Though, as much as I would like Elithria to use this opportunity to sue for peace, there are plenty of military and theological reasons to suggest that the war will not end anytime soon. Not least of which is the literal demoness in the literal room.”
“So,” Lysette said, “What Alan said in his dying words is true. That as long as I live, all of Aimarion will be my enemy.”
“I’m afraid so,” Saffron said. “Rumors have certainly been circulating about your existence for months, but we can assume that just about every deity in the Celestial realm is aware of you and has informed their Godslayers and other priests and subordinates.”
“So, do we have to fight now?”
“That would certainly be one course of action I could take. Although I might be able to defeat all three of you in your weakened states, that doesn’t change the fact that, for one, Lyse isn’t even here with us in person right now. And two, it would shift the balance of power on Aimarion in a direction that is unfavorable to Domaria’s continued Stability. Not to mention such infighting would only embolden Domaria’s internal enemies and encourage the tenuous peace among the various nobles all jockeying for power and influence.”
“I still think you should abolish the nobility and be done with the whole lot of them,” Solanna said. “But I know what you’ll say. Some shit about how we can’t predict the consequences, and so we should leave things exactly as they are.” She rolled her eyes.
“Ignoring the volatile nature of your words,” Saffron said, “I’m afraid we need to be as unified as possible in preparation for what is to come.”
“If I may interject,” Lysette said. “I would like to take the body of Kristil Rosari with me back to Ciricu. Her brother and his girlfriend are there, and I think the both of them should have a chance to mourn her passing. I request this as her friend as well.”
Mirae nodded.
“So be it. I’ve heard from Mirae and Solanna that Terea will likely attack upon the first day of the third month or very shortly thereafter. May fortune smile upon you both as Aimarion’s times grow interesting indeed.”
Chapter 243: https://www.patreon.com/posts/114317895
Table of Contents: https://www.patreon.com/posts/101896170
Chapter 245: https://www.patreon.com/posts/114418248
Comments
Bielna
Maybe, but even if that did happen (and you'll still need quite a few scenes for that !), I don't really care about Aimarion's rules, I can be polytheistic =p
Ria Corvidiva
I figured you'd like Solanna's take on this, and appreciate how she chewed out her elder demigoddess. Passion necessarily invites change, or at least accepting the inevitability of change. Honestly, I give Solanna a few more scenes like this and I might convince you to commit to her instead of Serrena! :p Well, maybe.
Bielna
Aside from my sadness as Kristil's death, I must say that I do really, really enjoy seeing more of Solanna, especially as she's facing Saffron. And I mean, beyond just how... direct she is as she speaks (but that certainly factors in). But more than that, I love how she's embracing change so much. It's one of the aspects why I would devote myself to Ambition - the willingness to seek something ever different, ever better. Passion is similar, less directed, but also seeking to find new things, following your heart towards what you find best. And with that talk about abolishing the nobility, about the Academy reforms, she shows that Passion is also about being constructive. In a way, it makes Solanna's arrival at Mirae's side that more symbolic, because of the link between following Passion to see things get better, and being Devoted to improving the world. Incidentally, it may lower Saffron's standing, if she had to be literally pulled off her chair (and I can imagine Solanna doing that) to make those changes that were brought before. Stability might not be entirely opposed to change, but she might have been lying a bit, to Lysette or to herself, in hiding how it is quite reluctant to them anyway.
Ria Corvidiva
Such are the consequences of war. People die, both those who deserve death and those who very much didn't. And it wouldn't have made sense for the story if a named character didn't die in the fight. And of them, sadly, Kristil's was the one that I thought made the most sense for there the story was going to go. (Especially considering the revelation from next chapter.)
Bielna
Fuck. Kristil... I kinda wanted to add a long "no", but I'm feeling a bit too morose for that. It's not just that I really liked her, even though I did. Do. Where Silver's death was sad because of their unique story, their potential, Kristil was someone who had bonds, achievements, for whom the continuation of her actions was something I'd hoped (fuck you, Alan) to see. But it's not just about losing a character I like. Much as that would hold true, it would also demean the deaths of the thousands other soldiers on that battlefield, who also got their future cut from them. No, more than that, it's what she represented in the world that is painful to lose. The one who could lead others not through power, not through her position, but through popularity, by uniting people together. I've said bad things about every other leader we've met - Lysette, Saffron, the Chancellor and Asterion - but Kristil, who was also a leader, is one I only looked up to. That's the real message of a loss of hope I'm getting from her death. Loss of hope for a bright future free of the grasp of established powers.
Ria Corvidiva
oops. :sweatdrops: Got it
Jessica
"But the system which governed it all remained untouched." The "but" is a bit odd here. I don't see a contrast to what comes before. "not even six hours hours ago." "hours" doubled. “Mirae nodded.” is in quotes as if someone is saying it.
Ria Corvidiva
I've been ramping up the losses and making them a bit more personal with each volume. In Volume 1, all we see dying are unnamed characters. In Volume 2, I kill off a named character, but one introduced before we get a chance to know and get attached to them all too well. But now, in Volume 3, as the series gets a bit darker and the consequences hit harder for all involved, I have to show that even the characters we've known for hundreds of chapters aren't safe. The war raging on is becoming more and more personal, and the stakes more direct, for Lysette and for the reader.
Jessica
I understand why it was necessary to let us readers feel the losses in a way we wouldn't if it were just unnamed characters. And again you managed to lighten the mood with just enough humour that it didn't become trite.
