Chapter 20-12 Suzerainty (I)

Chapter 20-12 Suzerainty (I)

Yeah, yeah, keep crying. Do it louder. Do it more. Hold her closer to your chest and spray that snot all over her hairthatll bring her back. Hells. Why stop there? Shove her corpse back up your cunt and leave her there for nine months. See if you recycle your dead wife into being a daughter. Maybe spice things up with a little incest.

Not like you arent a stranger to that, judging from your parents and all.

Yeah

Theres the look I wanted to see.

Hello to you too, Sister Karakan. Been a while. Heard you actually got made a full Prophetess. Just in time for the end of the world.

Now look at you. Hiding on a farm again, killing slaves, and being ignored by your gods.

Hey. You wanna know why theyre not replying? You wanna know why the worlds coming apart around us? Why the sky is falling?

Have you tried communing with them recently?

Tell me: You feel them fall? Your gods, I mean. Did you feel them break? Because I did. I saw their bodies. And damn them fuckers are more screamers than expected.

Kinda like you, in a way.

Yeah. I know. Let it out. No sense in holding it in. Cry. Cry. Cry. I did it. Remember? Remember how you had me beaten till I stopped? How your flock took a hammer and chisel to my teeth. Well. Look at them now. White and pearly.

Im gonna let you in on a little secret: [REDACTED] was the one that saved me that day. Let me out. Turns out, you wasnt the only ladder-climber around. Turns out, gods can get plenty jealous too.

Oh. Oh, you hear that? Maru mustve found your boy.

[Laughter]

Screams just like you. Must be proud. Come on. Lets go. Lets go see him. Lets go see the world you lost.

Lets go see the world I took.

Sky isnt yours anymore, faither. And dont think of pulling that knife along your throat. You and I are going to be spending more quality time together, and if I lose you, well, Maru can share your boy with me.

Oh. There it is. There. That makes it all worth you.

You finally know what you are now.

Nothing. Not a godsdamned thing. You are whatever I use you for, and whatever you decide to feed you, whatever I fucking say. Less than a slave! Less than a fucking dog!

Im gonna do things to you, Karakan. You and I are going to come out of this different people. [Chuckle] Well. Im gonna come out of this at least.

Its up to me now. All up to me.

I hold the chains. Me. And no one else. I decide whos worthy. I decide what to do.

All you got to do now, is accept.

Accept whatever I give you. Or dont.

Im gonnawere gonna really learn from each other. Im gonna find myself in you. [Snarling; sound of arms snapping; womans shrieking] Im gonna find myself using you

-Samir Naeko toSister Karakanduring the scouring of Death Farm Skyglade

20-12

Suzerainty (I)

I do not like your plan, ghoul, it is loud. It draws attention. Worst of all, it draws attention to me. A waterfall of falling orange bathed the room in light and shadow, neon staining the crevices of the penthouse as Green River picked up her teacup.

She sat cross-legged on a seat made from emerald and bamboo, and steam obfuscated the view out her windows. What few articles of furniture were applied artistically and efficiently. Her bedand the den for her foxwas positioned next to the door leading to the living room. Oil and incense burned while she took another sip of green tea before placing it down.

Savoring the taste, she planted her cup down along the far left side of her desk, ensuring its decorated side was facing Avos projected form. On the right, another cup was filled to capacityany more and it would spill.

Both were quiet insults directed toward the creature for causing her so much trouble, but if it noticed or cared, it did not show. Instead, it simply continued glaring blankly at her, its simulated form woven into shape by the locus hanging from the ceiling, positioned between her bed and desk.

Outside, a voluminous koi began to swim up the waterfall, struggling every step of the way as it leaped into and out of the waters, splashing waves of ethereal brightness that tickled Green Rivers cognition.

Have another proposal then? Avo asked. The phantoms composing its shape shifted closer, choosing to loom over her from behind. Because Naekos going to be talking with you in a few hours. Not going to be good if all his attention is connected to you.

Green Rivers true form rolled its eyes and turned to glare at the ghoul. Her human shell painted, tracing the form of a ghoul using a scalpel, painting on a canvas of fast-healing skin.

Behind her, the exemplar of the wretched species peered down at her work, but its face didnt change.

She hated that. She hated how easily poise and inscrutability came to itthe armor she spent another lifetime building after her exile and humbling. Monsters were known to her in more likes than one, and the ghouls themselves typically presented little mystique beyond snarling madness.

Avo? It was too patient. Too perceptive as well. Its inner nature was too incongruous with its outer materialization, and for most, this would have been a dissonant thing. But ghouls were never natural beings, and this one was just another step down the steps of the abominable.

The waterfall shrouding distant edifices choked and halted. The koi, skimming across the waters, met open air and began to fall.

The problem, Green River said, is with your portrayal of events. I have reviewed the stageplay you composed in your mem-data. Aptly done in most cases, I would say, seeing as it is constructed of more truth than lies. Ox-Three was indeed attacked by the Low Masters. They were indeed involved in the Nether disruptions across Highflame territory. Chambers was indeed a guest in Xin Yunsha. But all these things compound on the same point of pain.

Prize?

Yes. The fox licked its lips and the woman spoke the words. Jhred Greatling was without a Frame. The casualties across Nu-Scarrowbur were missing their ghosts and deaths. Highflame is scouring the Warrens, and Uthred Greatling just resigned from his position and disbanded his House. Im not threatening you with these details. Nor will Naeko ever learn the truth behind these happenings from me. I have been protecting you from prying eyes. And I have been doing it at first for my own safety, and now for my own interest.

She stopped talking then, hoping the ghoul would put things together.

Only certain types of favors I can offer, Avo said, rasping voice sounding slower and colder. Snuffing. Nulling. Or Soul. Dont think you have trouble finding anyone to do the former two for you.

Godhood is a freedom few will ever learn, she said, unable to stop her lip from quivering. And it is a pain fewer survive losing. We both have wants from each other. We both have our uses. Let me serve mine. And in time, on the foundations of proper confidence I wish to discuss the deepening of our association.

The ghoul just stared. And stared. And stared.

Outside, the advertisement restarted as the waterfall splashed down. The koi began its climb once more.

Well make changes, Avo said. Want your memories. The moment you finish with Naeko. Send them. We want to know what happens.

That indignity she could endure. The fox yipped as Green River smothered the faint embers of promise rising from within her.

The monster said nothing about ensouling her. But this was more than expected. She wasnt dead. And it hadnt forced her hand about surrendering her mind.

Good, she finally exhaled, I will But Avo didnt wait for the conversation to end before it dissolved, the phantoms composing it playing the static of a dead channel in its place. Green River frowned at the blank spot and ordered the locus to end the session. Fucking ghoul.

What the creature was thinking, she didnt know. But things were not done, and there was a clearer path ahead.

She just needed to win more of its trust. Or gather more information about where it remained.

One way or another, through whatever means, light or dark, she would take back what she lost, and avenge herself on those that cast her down.

Once more did the koi fall.

Once more did the koi rise, climbing the skies on borrowed wings.

***

Fuck me, consangs, how did Avo spent a month around the sow without eating her, Chambers said, collapsing Avos avatar around himself. The only thing I hate worse than a person that speaks in essays is if the half-strands a snitchand this bitch is definitely going to snitch on us. I can feel it.

He had wanted to null her mind hollow using a trauma pattern the moment she started hinting at the information leaks that might happen but Tavers stopped him from following his satisfaction.

Not right now, Tavers said. And you really dont need to give Naeko a murder to follow and all that history to find. Better wait to see if Raldi can sneak his way into her Meta and burn whatever shes got on you guys first.

You know they encased me in this flesh sac-thing, right, Chambers said, trying to mask his shiver of arousal as a thing of disgust. Truth be told, he kinda enjoyed it in a fucked-up way. It was all grippy and warm. Sure, it had him bound in a weird flesh prison, but grippy and warm made him happy in ways that

Chambers, Tavers said, snapping at him. Focus.

Huh? Oh, I was just having a trauma flashback.

The squire squinted and the skin around her lips extended uncannily. Sure you were. She eyed him from an angle as he shuffled awkwardly atop the throne. So. Were going to make her look like a survivor instead of a victim. Is that it?

Yeah, Chambers said. Put the new mem-data in with the terrorist attack we have planned, new threats I recorded for the Highflame and Ori-Thaum, and we might just have a coherent enough series of fuckeries created for Naeko to follow.

Yeah, Tavers sighed. Ori-Thaum working with Chivalrics to assassinate one of their own. Only to also be working with the Low Masters to clean up the Golds in the end. Honestly, it sounds like bad spy shit.

Chambers chuckled. You know, the nasty thing is it's actually mostly true.

Sunrise vibrated, signaling another update for Naekos movements. {Chief Paladin Naeko has been spotted in the northwestern portion of the Xin Yunsha district in the Yuulden-Yang Sovereignty. Presently, he is eating dumplings outside a street market and commiserating about Stormjumpers with a few surrounding youths. Their hearts are beating at dangerous speeds.}

{Good job.} Chambers sent a digital thumbs-up to the swarm form. {Keep on his ass. I want to know when he takes a shit, how long the shit takes, and whats inside the shit.}

{From extrapolations conducted using known data and his current dietary habits, the answers are respectively: in eight hours and twenty-four minutes, within thirty seconds, and leftover corn from the dumplings. The Chief Paladin tends to swallow before he finishes chewing.}

{...I love you, flying bug thing.}

{I am returning to my task before you begin making thinly veiled sexual remarks. This has been predicted as well.}

Chambers frowned. Cant give anyone love these days.

As Naekos positional marker was updated in his Neurodeck, a wall of glass flashed in the corner of his left eye. Both Chambers and Tavers turned to see their reflection quivering, the sign of a passage coming active.

From out the polished sheen, Draus stepped back into the George Washington with a dozen or so scalps hanging from her hip and a bored expression on her face. Dark red blood dripped from her fists, elbows, and a broken bone-made sword she was holding.

Draus, Chambers said, grinning at the approaching Reg. She gave him a blank nod and his heart did a flip. No glare, no sneer, no shooting him in the head with the projectile launcher. He really was becoming part of this cadre. Back already! Hows the Sunderwilds? Wheres Avo and the juv? We got a new hidey-hole or what?

The Regular shrugged. Yeah. Sure. Filled with the shortest half-strands Ive ever seen. Shit at fighting too. Chambers pointed at the blood on her and she just grunted. Like hittin soft, wet sacks. Anyways. Avo and Dice are gonna be a while. Got some business to handle. Turns out, our little killers daughter to the Fallwalkers favorite whore.

Chambers blinked. What? Shes like a princess or something.

Draus sneered. Nah. Fucker got cucked by his own guard.

The half-strand nodded as if that explained everything. Then, the implications behind her words punched through him like a flechette. Chambers shuddered as his head whipped between Draus and the passage. Wait Cuck enclave They can fuck?

Ah shit, Draus muttered.