Four Hundred And Eighty

Four Hundred And Eighty

The prison hospital was sparsely furnished, the walls bare and covered in peeling grey paint. The soft beeping of medical equipment was the only noise in the room, now that the nurses had left us, and the still, almost oppressive quiet was finally broken by hoarse, barely audible words from the woman on the bed. Mary Stuart. She’s... not looking well. No, that’s a major understatement. Her once youthful and beautiful features had shrivelled up, her body shrunken and her skin sallow and wrinkled. She looked more like a woman in her late eighties or early nineties now, and her vivid green eyes were now a muddy grey, and her blonde hair now like bleached straw, brittle and pallid. And of course there’s the burns and scars on her body from the backlash too... she looks like a skeleton, more dead than alive...

“Don’t you... pity me. Heretics.” She whispered, cracked, desiccated lips shedding a trace of blood, which was thin and watery. She was in a tangle of wires, with sensors, drips and other devices attached to her body or sunk in with needles. “I cannot abide... false sympathy.”

David snorted sourly. “You think we feel sorry for you, nun bitch? Truly, you’re delusional until the end. No, you’re just a damn fright, ugly enough to make any man look away.”

“Mr Reckless! I know she has committed grave offenses, but there is still no need to be rude!” Mrs Mary-Jane countered. “I’m sorry for his attitude.” She apologised to Mary Stuart. “Although... I certainly understand it.” She clenched her fist, remembering the betrayal that had cost her so much.

“There’s no need for courtesy. That only applies to humans... and I guess human-like beings.” David amended, glancing at me. “But betrayers and backstabbers aren’t human, so they deserve nothing but scorn.”

“I don’t... disagree.” Eleanor said calmly, looking at Mary Stuart as she merely smiled blandly, her withered lips and gums showing yellowing teeth, the grin only reinforcing her skeletal image. “But there is no point in unpleasantness, not now. After all...” She met Mary’s gaze, unyielding. “You failed, you lost. And... without a miracle, it looks like death is near.” Eleanor glanced at me, her eyes questioning, and I let my Eye shine, peering into the woman before us.

“Such a... filthy... gaze. Have you no shame, laying bare a woman’s secrets...?” Mary managed bitterly, and I rolled my eyes, as it wasn’t dissimilar to what Sarah had said.

“You lost any moral high ground when you let Donovan loose on the Princess. Fighting for Territory and power I can understand, even if I in no way condone it, but... such heartless cruelty appals me. Besides...” I pursed my lips, shocked at the frightful mess of her physical form and spiritual body. “...I don’t even know how you are awake, or even alive right now.”

Her Chakra network is in ruins, only her crown and to a lesser extent her heart are intact, the rest have shattered, and the flow of aether is wild, attacking her own body, degrading it. Perhaps that’s why she’s aged? I’m not experienced enough to tell... the Favour by her heart, Metatron’s Words Of The Lord, seems to have kept the heart functioning to an extent... and the Linked Seraphim replacing her crown is pulsing out adherence. That must be it. Adherence can be used to perform miracles, if employed properly...

“Suffering... if she is truly ... worthy of the Lord, then her sacrifices will all... be rewarded in... the Ninth Heaven.” Mary said piously. “Questioning... the grand plan... is hubris, pride is a deadly... deadly sin.”

I clenched my fist, still carefully examining Mary. If it came to repairing her body, I wasn’t sure I could do it, even with my prodigious skills in Chirurgery, and excellent ones in Ether Healing. But observing her current state was giving me a few insights which would allow me to improve once I had analysed and internalised them. “I thought God was supposed to be omnipotent.” I said witheringly. “If so, why should he need good people to suffer? If he can prevent it and doesn’t, isn’t he not God, but a Devil?” Beside me, David nodded approvingly, and Mary managed to raise one feeble hand, the effort nearly breaking her frail, stick-like arm.

“I have... heard it all... before. I... even threw such words at my... grandmother long ago. I was a wretched, impious... insolent... child.” There was a series of rattling, coughing noises, and after a moment I realised it was her attempts at laughter. “It is so... easy... to disparage faith, the truth. After all... God cannot... speak to us. For he is beyond... our understanding. Just as the... ant... cannot judge us, and may consider our actions... evil... when we destroy the nest that... encroaches...” It seemed to be torment for her to speak, but we all listened patiently as she laboured out her words. It gave me more time to observe her, and Eleanor... it seemed that despite everything, seeing Mary in such a state was evoking her sympathy. She really is a kind girl. But then I knew that when she offered to help Motoko and Natsumi, fearing I was exploiting and abusing them. She may not always be right, and leaps to conclusions far too fast, and can be irritatingly stubborn but... I can’t deny she’s good at heart.

“... to protect ... our environment. But... God is good, despite... your sins, it is... not too late. Although...” her face was now set in a sneer. “My death... is tolerable. But the loss of... the Anulus Fortunae...” Even despite her hoarse, throaty whispers, we could hear the malice in her tone. “...taken by that creature... who should have... died in the ... purges... long ago... we shall not rest until... it is back in... our hands. Artefacts of the Throne... belong to... us.” She slumped, exhausted, her arm giving out a horrible cracking noise as it fell back to the bed, limp.

I think I want another viewpoint... My Astral body formed, and now I could inspect Mary Stuart in the Boundary as well. There wasn’t much difference in what I could see, but even a small nuance or insight might be enough for a breakthrough. “I still don’t get it, why you’re so insistent on your God being the only way.” I shook my head, bothered by it. “You know there are other Gods and Goddesses out there. And it’s clear that your God didn’t create the Universe, maybe not even Earth. Otherwise things don’t make sense.”

She took a number of long, shuddering breaths, her eyes sliding shut, and for a moment we all thought she had fallen asleep, before more soft words fell from her lips, laced with venomous disgust. “In... my Father’s house... there are many, many mansions... yet many... have been... overrun by monsters... false Gods and... Demons. Worse... perhaps. No, God is not omnipotent. I am... not a fool.” A faint tear trickled down her withered cheek. “True omnipotence... can never... be.”

“Can a God create a stone they cannot themselves lift? Can a spear that can be stopped by nothing pierce a shield that defends against everything? Can God create a married bachelor?” Mrs Mary-Jane said, understanding. “Omnipotence is paradoxical. While there are solutions and workarounds to come up with an accepted, workable definition, that means it isn’t truly able to accomplish anything.”

“Trust you to come up with the explanation. You truly are a teacher.” David joked, through his expression was grim, perhaps not enjoying being in the company of Mary Stuart. Maybe he blames her for leading Sarah astray?

“My children are young, yet I never hesitate to answer any questions they have. Even if they don’t understand the answer, you should never lie or dissemble with them. Tell the truth, and one day they’ll grasp it.” Mrs Mary-Jane looked at me then. “You should remember that advice. You will be needing it.”

I laughed. “I sure will. Honestly, being a father seems scarier than facing down deadly foes. But my father managed to raise me and my sis... so I guess I’ll manage. Besides, they’ll have a lot of mothers.”

Eleanor grimaced at that. “So it seems. Well, I have learned my lesson. So long as your children grow up happy and healthy, an unorthodox family is nothing to fret over.” She paused, looking at Mary meaningfully. “But I believe we have more weighty matters at hand.”

[My Heart Shall Stop, My Spirit Quieten And I Shall... Be... By... The... Right Hand... Of... The Lord...]

Blood gouted from her mouth, scattering down her frail, wasted body, and the soft beeps of the medical machines around us were now just long, quiet hums. A doctor and several nurses burst in, and they pushed us aside, heedless of our status. I let them do it, as the Favours were no longer mine to take. At least I’m observing what happens when a Chosen dies...

It was fortunate I had decided to be present in the Boundary as well, as Metatron’s Favour released a surge of what looked like violet spatial element, tearing free, the heart Chakra collapsing. It then vanished, leaving behind a small hole which was leaking in a higher ether density. Not entirely dissimilar to the usage of Saionji Gin-san’s Favour. Linked Seraphim reacted differently though, sucking in all the aether, adherence and elemental essence around it, becoming diffuse and starting to fray apart, even as fragments of it were drawn into itself, being passed elsewhere, as far as I could tell. Not wanting to miss my chance, I struck out with as many blades and scalpels of aether as I could, wrapped in adherence, and the Favour tried to repel me, as if it was alive, unlike others which reacted passively as I harvested them.

Seeing my strained expression on the Material, Eleanor asked me if I was all right, and I nodded, even as I was rocked by a surge of adherence, containing a ferocious, searing light and flame component. It hurt, but I was able to shrug it off, trusting to my Ether Healing, and as the Favour collapsed in on itself, the remains vanishing, I had carved off quite a chunk, which rapidly broke down and I absorbed.

You have gained in strength. Your Level has...

Another Level up. Nice. Not a total waste then, But... the main benefit was a surge of adherence, refilling my dwindling stocks. Perhaps I wouldn’t have to beg Tan for a handout after all. Looking at Mary’s sad, shrunken corpse, the Doctor giving up on resuscitation and checking his watch to make the death pronouncement, I slipped quietly out, the others following me.

“A fitting end for her. Hypocritical to the finish. I thought suicide was a sin?” David scoffed, only for Eleanor to criticise him.

“That’s rather crass, David. And it wasn’t exactly... suicide. She just didn’t want us to take away her Favours, did she? It’s more... like dying to protect a secret. Spies and secret agents would see it as an honour. And I daresay she sees it as Martyrdom. Poor, pitiable idiot.”

“That’s rather charitable of you. I won’t shed a tear for the bitch.” David wasn’t moved by Eleanor’s words. “How about you?” he asked me, and I seriously considered it.

“I’m not a heartless person. I’m sorry it had to come to this. But... she reaped what she sowed, as I think they also say in the bible, don’t they? There are many unfortunate people such as those who were caught between the siblings in South Korea that deserve my sympathy. So I’ll just count this as the conclusion to her misguided story. Though it’s not the end.”

“Yeah, I don’t think that her organisation will let it go.” David agreed. “Vengeance is mine, sayeth the lord, right?”

“That is worrisome.” Mrs Mary-Jane fretted. “Do you think they’ll come after us all?”

“Maybe not specifically, but they still likely want what the Tower holds.” Eleanor sighed. “And since Akio here plundered a ring to give to Shaeula... no, we surely haven’t seen the last of them. I wonder...” she looked at me searchingly. “Do you think that the ominous feeling you have might have to do with the Church of True Revelation?”

“Maybe. No, it’s likely. Judging by the dream vision Tsukiko had...” I explained about the white dragon and its feathers of light. “It does seem a little... biblical, in terms of imagery.”

“We should be on high alert then.” Eleanor agreed. “Well, this was disappointing. We gained little. Perhaps we should have dealt with her when we had the chance.”

“Plans don’t always work out as we hoped.” I consoled her. “Besides, it was also that you tried to be compassionate and follow the law as well. And in the end... perhaps that power wasn’t meant for us. Besides, it wasn’t a total loss.”

“Oh?” she raised an eyebrow questioningly, and I elaborated.

“I got a much better insight into how the Linked Favours function. It’s still well beyond my full understanding, even with my Eye and my Chirurgery, but I can tell it’s a sort of bond and also a transmitter, in a way. It can absorb and emit adherence, aether and likely other things. Huh.” I paused, having a sudden thought. Isn’t that a lot like Lovers’ Link, at least the Rank eleven version Eri has? That can transmit aether and adherence, though it’s far cruder. That might be an area for study... “In any case...” I finished. “It likely has a lot of uses we don’t know, such as strengthening and healing. From what Sarah told you back then, it seems it can also devour captured Favours as well. That Pantheon really doesn’t play fair. But then, the biggest fists are the last word.” Rather than anarchy, it seems that the Pantheons have an agreement, but it clearly favours the One True Throne, judging by what we’ve learned. But that’s no different to how it works here on Earth. The stronger, richer party makes the advantageous rules to maintain the status quo. Well, we’ll see. We’ll definitely see, as I don’t plan to just let that happen here...

“No shit.” David agreed, ignoring Mrs Mary-Jane as she told him to mind his language again. “So, the mess is cleaned up. To an extent. There are still several other traitors who turned on the Princess. Shouldn’t we deal with them as well, while we’re at it?”

Eleanor shook her head. “Not yet. We would still like to get our laws updated first. We were behind Japan in that. And our Parliament isn’t as keen on working together as your Diet was.” Eleanor tutted, irritated. “But before that... we were rather distracted by the competition you proposed. We still have to sort out the matter of the returned citizens...”

Yes, we do. And Christina Bakker is still hanging around like a ticking timebomb. There’s so much to do. And tomorrow I am due to go to Kyoto with Tsukiko and Yasuhide-san. I think maybe Yukiko-san might be coming as well. But before that... I wonder how everyone is getting on with raising their affinity with Jumong’s Favour?