Sabbatical – Chapter 210: Prelude to Apocalypse

GamingWolf

Hello, I am back. It's a day later than planned, but my vacation turned out to be less than relaxing. Was sick for most of it, and my PC broke itself once more. Not to mention, you know, that whole war thing that won't leave my mind. All around fun times. I hope this chapter can at least distract you all from the otherwise shitty world we find ourselves in, if only for a little while.

Aperio fell face first into the comforting nothing of her Void, her wings stretching out to their fullest extent behind her. Caethya sat herself down in front of the All-Mother and began to gently pat her head.

"Is what Merlin did really that bad?" her love asked.

"To herself? Not really, no," Aperio replied, shifting slightly as Caethya's finger brushed along one of her ears. "But the knowledge she had to have acquired in the process could lead her down the same road Epemirial and her ilk walked."

"Yeah, that wouldn't be good," the Demigoddess replied. "If she does that, you would remove her like you did those Gods, right?"

"I would," Aperio said. "Anyone who seeks to bind Souls to their will, will be erased." She let out a long sigh before sitting up, taking Caethya's hand into her own as her love began to pull it back. "I have to accept that mortals will force their will on others as long as I permit them to think for themselves. Should I make an edict enforced by the System — by myself — it would be doing exactly what I wish to prevent."

Caethya remained quiet for a moment, tapping at her chin with her free hand. "So you will leave the current directive as it is? A warning against slavery, with enforcement left up to the people themselves?"

Aperio gave a nod.

"And for the Souls… I guess I would draw the line there as well," her love continued. "It's akin to messing with existence itself. A broken Soul would be lost forever. A broken life, while tragic, still allows the Soul to try again.”

"In essence, yes," the All-Mother said. "Though I do have a few more changes in mind that I wish to impart on my creation." She gave a low chuckle. "It will be the first act of actual creation I have done in who knows how many millennia."

"And what do you plan to do?"

"Make use of my ever-growing strength." Aperio waved her hand, creating a small projection of Earth. A thought caused the world to shift, multiple copies of it appearing in every direction, all of them slightly faded when compared with the first. "At the moment, there is but a single world and countless possibilities. Any one of these worlds might become the one that we inhabit, but the one it will be cannot be ascertained until it has already happened.” For anyone but myself, at least.

"I was thinking of making every possible world a reality," she continued. "A more certain one, at any rate, and let every Soul that belongs to that world exist on all the ones it needs to. Once their life in the mortal world ends, they would rejoin in the river."

Caethya blinked a few times in reply before she shook her head. "So, what you are telling me is that there are countless versions of everything out there at the moment?"

"As far as I understand it, yes," Aperio replied. "I think this is how my creation works, but I will have to investigate more to be sure. In any case, allowing a world to create infinite instances of itself so that I can prune the ones that get out of hand feels like a better solution than simply tearing down what I have made to start anew."

The All-Mother twisted the armlet adorning her bicep slightly, the mana within clinging to her fingers as she pulled back again. "I have erased all of existence at least once before; likely many more times. Perhaps I never cared in the past, but I do now."

"Maybe, but I am still stuck at the part where there might be many versions of myself walking around, talking to versions of you." She hesitated for a moment. "Are there other versions of you?"

Aperio shook her head at the question. The words felt wrong to a fundamental degree, her very existence telling her that there could only ever be one of her and, for a reason she could not quite understand, only one of anything that came from Verenier.

"There is only one you and one me," she replied. "But Earth has other potentialities. Perhaps all the worlds that have languished without the System do." The All-Mother shrugged. "Like I said, it bears more investigation.

"Not that it matters much now, either," Aperio continued, moving her wings a little to sit more comfortably on the nothing of her Void. "For now, Earth needs the System, or, well, a version of it at least. As things stand, I am not sure I can weave it into the world like on Verenier."

Caethya pinched the bridge of her nose for a long moment before she focused back on Aperio, a slightly defeated-looking smile on her face. "You should really figure out how to deliver news about altering all of existence a bit more subtly."

"I had thought you would appreciate the bluntness," Aperio replied, tilting her head slightly.

"I do," Caethya replied, "but you also have to realise that all of this makes little sense to me. I do not see the world as you do and neither do I know what needs to be done to change it."

The All-Mother gave a hesitant nod in reply as a part of her mind busied itself with weaving ever more of her mana into Adam's home planet. "Perhaps I should show you what I am doing with Earth?"

///

Caethya rubbed both of her temples when her view — both physical and magical — of Aperio's Void was replaced with an ever-shifting weave of colours, shapes, and even smells; all of it unmistakably powered by the mana of her love.

Looking at the mess did not exactly hurt, but it wasn't comfortable either. "How is any of this supposed to make sense? I can't even see Earth anymore."

"Well, this," Aperio began, a section of the mess somehow growing clearer in Caethya's mind, "is what will govern the most basic flows of mana in the reality Earth finds itself in."

A pulse of her love's mana flowed through the construct, causing a network of what Caethya would call veins to flare to life in the otherwise incomprehensible mess of shapes and sensations. As far as the Demigoddess could tell, there wasn't even a world in there; just a giant glob of maybe-magic. The more she looked at the strange mass, the less certain she felt that whatever her love was conjuring up was even magic at all.

"From there," the All-Mother continued, guiding yet more of her mana through the ever-expanding network, "I simply let the System itself figure out what it needs to do. Every time I tried to guide it myself, it felt wrong in a way I do not find acceptable."

"But isn't the System also you?" Caethya asked, trying not to focus too much on the escalating weirdness her love was showing her. "Kind of, at least?"

Aperio hesitated for a moment. The vision of her work vanished, replaced by the by-now normal sight of her endless Void.. Her love opened her mouth to speak before she frowned and lowered her head slightly, folding her wings around herself.

"Yes, it is me," she eventually said. "But you have to think of it as a directed version of my subconsciousness. While I cannot be certain yet, I am fairly sure I made it this way to stop reality from bending to my slightest whims. The universe is still malleable for me, but it does require at least a passing thought now. Imagine what would have happened if my dislike of someone could lead to them being removed from existence.

"The important part, however, is that the System can fix what I cannot," Aperio continued. "I obviously do not remember everything I used to know, but I am also not really eager to change that. A part of me can already do what is needed and I am happy to let it fix what I cannot do consciously. For now, that is good enough for me."

"So, you will let the System sort itself out, and then what? Earth gets thrust into chaos as everyone gains access to magic?"

"Not quite," Aperio replied with a shake of her head. "I will let the System manifest itself just enough for the already magically-inclined to notice. Perhaps a few mortals will awaken to a Class, but I do not expect too many new magically-gifted mortals. I would like to make sure that they can be trusted with the potential the System brings."

Caethya gave a nod at the words of her love. "Probably best to keep an eye on them. I'm sure that at least a few will do something stupid, thinking that you would not notice, or aren't what you said you are." She shook her head. "It really is always the same with mortals."

"As sad as it is, they seem to be incapable of understanding something without a proper demonstration, and even then, it's not guaranteed they will believe me." Aperio shrugged. "I do not particularly care anymore. I will do what I have come here for; what they think about that does not matter."

"I guess all we have to do is wait, then."

"Yes," Aperio replied with a nod, a wing tentatively extending towards Caethya. "The calm before the storm, if you will."

"I like the idea of a bit of peace and quiet," the Demigoddess replied, moving herself next to the All-Mother and pulling the offered wing around herself. "Have a little nap, perhaps."

"Perhaps," Aperio echoed, pulling Caethya a little closer. "Perhaps."

///

Adelita squinted at the guards standing in front of the Vinmaier estate. It would be a little while longer before her distraction would come and she could slip inside, but that did not stop her from glaring at the people that stayed to protect the Human scum that called itself Jester.

It was a time of change, she could feel it. Things beyond her comprehension were in motion, but she did not care. Her part in the great clockwork of life was a simple stab of the knife; a small push that would rid the world of her former master.

If she had been able to trust people, Adelita might have gathered more people for the mission, but as it stood, she would do it by herself. Not counting the paper boy. He just needs the money.

"Are you sure that you haven't gone mad?" Lita asked, her voice barely a whisper. "Jester is a good man!"

"He is not," Adelita hissed in reply. "All he has ever done is use people to further whatever fucked up goal he had."

She ignored the next whisper of the enchantment's personality, instead focusing on the boy running past the estate, throwing stones at the guards. Her plan worked exactly as intended. One of the guards shouted for the boy to stop, and when the lad's pace didn't slow he left his post to pursue.

A moment later, Adelita appeared behind the remaining guard and embedded her dagger in his neck, her hand reaching out at the same time to cover his attempt at a scream. The very shadow her victim cast on the ground rose up to wrap around the two of them, stealing them away from sight.

She lowered the body to the ground, pulling off one of the gloves the man wore to hold it against the stone pillar behind him. With a loud click, the gate unlocked, opening just enough for Adelita's shadow to slip through.

The corpse would be discovered soon enough, but the ensuing chaos was what she was counting on to make her escape. It was a bold strategy, to be sure, but one she was sure would pay off in the end. And it's not like that will be the only dead guard for them to find…

All those who had chosen to stick with her former master would pay the price of their decision today. Trapped in her own body, she had waited decades to get her revenge. She had watched the construct in charge of her actions happily do whatever Jester wanted, and watched as the people around him played along with his little games and schemes.

A few more dashes through the abundant shadows of the estate, and a few well-deserved minor bouts of revenge, brought Adelita into a room she knew all too well. She wrinkled her nose at the smell; there were seemingly no maids left to clean after the master’s escapades.

She stepped up to the desk that stood in the corner of the room, and deliberately forced open the drawer that she knew would hold what she wanted. Adelita was well aware that the action would trigger some sort of alarm, but it was one that only Jester would hear.

Why someone would write down all their dirty little secrets was beyond her, but the little book would most certainly help her future plans. She slid it into her pocket, then waited patiently for her former master to return. He didn't trust anyone but himself with the book's contents, and he would undoubtedly come to see who had dared tamper with his things. When he did, she had a few gifts to give him.

It only took a few minutes for the door to open and Jester to step inside. While he was without guards, he did have the presence of mind to put on some armour. Adelita had expected that, though she had hoped his arrogance would have caused him to come unarmed and unarmoured.

"Show yourself," he said, closing the door with his foot. As soon as it had completely shut, an enchantment flickered to life, sealing the door.

"I can feel your presence," Jester continued, raising his arms as a sword and shield appeared on them. "As soon as you set foot in this room, I knew you were here. Who dares to break into my estate?"

"I do," Adelita whispered, her voice coming from a shadow on the opposite site of her current location.

"Lita?" Jester asked, lowering his hands slightly. "Have you finally come to your senses?"

"I have," she replied, ignoring the insistent whispers of Lita in her mind. "I was trapped for so long, I needed time to come to terms with my freedom. Before I can start to truly live my life, though, I have to take care of you."

"Take care of me?" Jester’s eyes narrowed as he began to scan every shadow in the room. "That doesn't sound like something Lita would say. Not in that tone, at least."

"No, she wouldn't," Adelita replied, moving herself to Jester’s shadow. "But I would."

GamingWolf

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