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57. Inquisition
🕑 Added 2022-03-04 06:04:13 +0000 UTCIt was the midday of the 48th day of Temminus and and we were having lunch inside the Inian tower. I was really enjoying Blood-elk sandwiches purchased from the Fox pub. The overpriced meat of LV 20 elks practically melted in my mouth.
“An Imperial skyship has docked to the church tower!” Kliss suddenly declared, tapping her armacus to deactivate a flashing rune on it. “It must be the Inquisitor!”
“Here, I have a gift for you, for being such a great friend,” I said and handed her a necklace.
“Aw, thank you, Dante,” Frenny grinned, putting the necklace over Kliss’ head.
I led her to the broken, fern covered entryway at the front of the tower and asked her to put on a bag that was sitting in one of the corners. She complied with a smile, as she always did, grunting at the weight only a little as she put the heavy backpack over her shoulders.
We quickly left our home base, briskly walking to the Church of Equality.
[All systems go?] I sent mentally.
[More or less,] Delta replied. [The device… is ready-ish.]
[Why is there an “ish” in there?] I asked.
[Because like always… we were a tad short on time,] Delta rolled her eyes, her ghost walking next to me. [Just pray that it works. It's untested.]
[Soviet Academics don’t pray,] I rebutted. [I know that it works. The spell worked just fine.]
In about half an hour we were there. A ship made from gleaming steel and dark wood hovered over the old Ishikarian church. A steel, unfolded stairwell connected from the ship to a balcony at the top of the building.
We went into the church and there our paths split.
“You know what to tell him, yes?” I asked the Overseer.
“I do,” she nodded with an ever-present, fake smile. “I will make sure you and Skyisle are safe.”
I went into the Overseer's office and closed the door behind me. Kliss went up to the warship, climbing the spiral stone stairwell to reach the balcony.
Delta followed Kliss invisibly with her Infoscope form, silver threads flowing behind her homomagicus body. I sat down on the Overseer’s chair, dove into my Mindspace and started to watch the action unfolding through Delta’s eyes.
A man in a white cloak, wearing gleaming silver-white armor and a reflective convex-shaped, face-covering helmet descended from the warship a minute after Kliss had emerged out onto the church balcony.
“Welcome to Skyisle, Inquisitor Jubz.” Kliss said.
The Imperial Inquisitor stepped onto the church's balcony, his polished magisteel boots clanking on the old stones.
“Password,” he said.
“Beta nine five seven two eagle eleven,” Kliss said. “Password?”
“Seventeen lion nineteen two five zeta,” the Inquisitor replied in a cold, stale tone.
“Confirmed,” Kliss nodded.
“Confirmed,” the Inquisitor nodded with his mirror-mask helmet.
He aimed his armacus’ bearing hand at Kliss, the truth-sensing rune shimmering on the magitek device. “Do you serve the Empire? Have you taken good care of this village? Have you obeyed the laws of Equality?”
“Yes. I have. I serve the Empire with all of my will,” Frenny replied with a deep bow. “I am a child of Equality and I kept Skyisle under her wings as the laws demand of me.”
“Any problems to report?” The Inquisitor asked.
[She’s on script so far, maybe we won’t have to…] Delta said.
“Just one,” Frenny's face twitched, suddenly going off script. “And, it’s a big one too! A local…”
One of Delta’s threads reached out to the necklace and flicked a rune. The Vow-Breaker hexagram within the necklace activated, permanently cutting Frenny off from the mind of Kliss.
The large hexagonal battery keystone in the backpack that Kliss was carrying was continuously feeding power to the rune necklace, disrupting the Vow’s control over Kliss.
Kliss swallowed her words with a choke.
“Yes?” Inquisitor Jubz asked. “Local what? What’s the matter, Overseer?”
“Forgive me, Inquisitor.” Kliss exhaled. “I do have a big local… problem… I don’t want to be the Overseer of Skyisle anymore.”
“Oh?” Jubz paused. “What made you change your mind? What about your… friends?”
“My soul is decaying. If I stay here any longer… I’ll die,” Kliss said, her voice trembling. “The magogenic fault is disrupting my health, dropping the levels of my skills. I can’t stay in this valley anymore.”
She went down on her knees, her entire body trembling. “Please forgive me, Inquisitor.”
“My child.” The Inquisitor put a steel-covered hand on Kliss’ shoulder. “You are free to leave Skyisle as you always have been. We will find you another, better position once you are healed. You have my blessings to return to Cessna healers to restore your health. A skyship will come for you in a few days time. It will take you from Skyisle to Cessna and bring in another, young Overseer to replace you. Is that sufficient time for you to finish your affairs here?”
“Thank you, Inquisitor,” Kliss whispered with a nod.
“Thank you for serving the Empire, my child,” the Inquisitor said. “You have bravely endured the cursed fault for twelve years and for this you will be granted the emerald Triumvirate of Equality pin as recognition of your heroism and dedication. You are hereby permitted to own Level 110 magitek tools and armor. You are hereby permitted to buy and manage a large swath of Land in our Empire. In the name of Goddess Equality, I hereby enoble you and grant you the rank of High-Legionnaire of the Empire!”
Kliss nodded again, tears running down her cheeks.
“Equality steady your heart, Overseer.” The Inquisitor bowed his head.
“Equality steady your heart, Inquisitor,” Kliss whispered back.
Inquisitor Jubz turned and walked back to the metal staircase, ascending back to the sky-ship.
Kliss rose from her knees, wiping tears from her face. The metal, circular door of the ship creaked shut and the ship took off into the sky, its engines humming noisily. In moments it vanished in the rolling, thick, white clouds overhead.
Kliss continued to stare at the blue sky.
I stood up from the chair, walked out of the office and up the stone stairwell and stepped onto the balcony behind her.
She turned towards me. “It’s over. I… did my part. I’m… done.”
“You did,” I nodded. “Well done. We were but a thread from being exposed, but you pulled us through.”
“Thanks… for um, everything,” Kliss said. “I’m permanently free of the Vows now… right? How long is this battery going to last?”
“Sixty years, maybe more.” I replied. “Just beware - the tether between it and the Vow-disrupting necklace can go only 30 Imperial elbows at most. Never take off the necklace.”
“Stay in the same room as the bag, wear the necklace, got it.” Kliss nodded. She took the heavy bag off her shoulders and put it down on the balcony next to herself with a grunt.
“So, you’re leaving?” I asked. “To Cessna?”
Kliss nodded. “I hope that the new Overseer won’t be too diligent. Skyisle will be out of my hands very soon. Just… try to keep out of trouble, Dante.”
“No promises on that front,” I smiled. “So… what are your plans for the future?”
“I’ll try to find a private skilled healer in Cessna to repair my soul, mind and body,” she sighed. “It’ll have to be someone who won’t pry too hard into why I’m carrying this… large backpack with me.”
“What about after?”
“I don’t know,” she said, not looking at me. “I can sell my armacus and my other equipment to another Overseer at a discount. Maybe… I’ll buy a plot of land and retire. Now that I’m a High-Legionnaire… I qualify for owning land anywhere in the Empire.”
“If that’s what you want,” I said. “I wish you to find happiness.”
Kliss nodded with a deeper sigh, rubbing her elbow. “I don’t know if I will ever be happy.”
I looked at her waiting for her to continue.
“Everything.... that I had believed in once was a lie.” She made a somber pause. “I know that sooner or later I will die. And when I do… I would rather sink into the void of the Astral Ocean and get grounded into nothing by the All-consuming Wheel… rather than accept a place in heaven filled with Angels like Frenny and monsters like myself, people who let themselves be guided to nightmarish deeds in the name of Equality."
“Welcome to the club of being an atheist,” I said.
“Atheist…” She sampled the word foreign to her.
“Someone who does not believe in gods,” I said. “It’s a word from Earth. The Nation of the USSR where I was born, went as far as to outlaw all religion.”
"That... sounds pretty unbelievable," Kliss nodded.
“So, the Empire knows of the Wheel of Life?” I asked.
“The Wheel… of Death devours all sinners,” Kliss said. “It hungers… for their life’s experience. It’s all stories of course, I don’t know if any of it is real anymore. I stopped believing in the words of the Equality priests a long time ago.”
“I’ve seen it,” I said. “The Wheel. A Novazem god named Omniscience pulled me away from it.”
“Really?” Kliss blinked.
I nodded.
We quietly stood over the balcony looking over Skyisle.
“I’m… going to my room to rest.” Kliss said.
“I’m going back to work on the tower,” I said. “If… you need me, you know where to find me.”
Kliss went down the stairwell first, her red hair vanishing under the gothic arch in a few moments.
Delta shimmered into her human form next to me with a smile. [Just going to be the two of us then… brother and sister against the world?]
[Seems like it,] I said. [What should we do about the new Overseer?]
[We could break them like we broke Kliss,] Delta shrugged, leaning against the stone parapet, her long silver hair flowing in non-existent wind. [Or we can ignore them if they don’t give us trouble. We have a lot of work ahead of us, bringing all of Skyisle together magically and politically.]
[Yeah,] I muttered.
[You look… disappointed?] Delta raised an eyebrow.
[I’m going to miss Kliss, that’s all.] I sighed.
[We could have bound her again, maybe…] Delta mulled.
[No, no more Vows,] I shook my head. [She’s free to go. She’s done enough for us.]
[I disagree, but whatever,] the silver-haired ghost shrugged. [I just hope she keeps mum about us in Cessna. I do not trust her.]
[I do,] I said. [I think that she’s a good person. She’s been bound for a long time.]
[Maybe,] Delta flickered to my side. [Shall we return to our projects then? I do believe that it’s time to bind your Vows before they manifest too.]
[Let's go,] I nodded, turning away from the balcony.
We went down the stairwell and left the Church of Equality, leaving the now retired Overseer of Skyisle in her office atop of the church. I didn’t really expect to see her again. After all, I was the one who put Frenny on her. I was the one to blame for twelve years of her suffering. She, just like everyone else on Novazem, deserved to be free of the gods.
__________________________________________________
[Kliss Eliza Cessna]
I couldn't believe it. I was free… I was completely, fully free to make my own decisions for the first time since I was ten. It felt strange not to have a Vow hovering over me, making choices for me. It felt strange not to be bound to a path or to a cause. It felt strange not to have someone whispering at me constantly, telling me what to do next. My future was completely… open.
I wanted to follow Dante to his Alanian tower, wanted to talk to him, wanted to learn more… but I knew that if I did… I would simply be bound to another path from which there would be no turning back. As much as the mystery of a man who had seen the Wheel and broke Vows for lunch taunted me, I knew that I had to conserve my remaining soul, to meditate, to relax and to finally rest… rest for the first time in my life and not be haunted by nightmarish dreams that portrayed the consequences of my betrayal of the Laws.
I knew that I was a sinner in the eyes of Equality, a traitor to the Empire… and yet… I didn’t feel bad about it.
Nobody was judging my actions anymore.
I was unbound.
“I’ll be back,” I looked through the stained glass to the forest which hid the ruins of the Alanian tower. “I’ll be back… someday... and then I’ll figure you out. Someday... I’ll repay this debt.”
I yawned, laid down on my bed, curled up and for the first time in my life, I relaxed fully and completely.
For the first time in what felt like forever, I fell asleep without an angel watching over me.
