Chapter 899

Chapter 899: HCF

“The HCF is ready for battle,” intervened Yean, “-time is of the essence. We’re the voice and heart of the people, we need to take back what is rightfully ours. In the final battle; our benefactors have lined many villages – the elders and leaders are adamantly positive. If it comes to war, then war it shall.”

‘Humanitarian Celestial Faction,’ paused Igna, “-Yean, you realize tis a tall order?”

“Who are we kidding,” laughed Jae, “-my lord Igna, thou art the Devil. Marinda has witnessed what the devil does when times are rough.”

“Another massacre,” puffed the holder of the infamous title. He looked at the faces, no use employing deeper probes or deception to find the answer in between the lines, there was but a simple and great goal before them, the destruction of Marinda, dismantlement of the oppressing society, and the birth of a new age of equal opportunities and expansion, “-before we go to war,” he smothered the cigar and rose a tight sneer at those seated, “-there’s a truth about Marinda that you need to know. Marinda’s mana supply is finite, lack of resources stunts a populous growth. In layman’s terms, consider famine as an understated similar situation. Our Guardian Deity, Cthulhu, is an entity equal to gods and demons. I won’t go into much detail about his origin, the stories are far stretched, and honestly, there’s no point in reliving the despair he might have felt. For the years now, I’ve personally attended to his hunger and limited the impact of the enormous mana the guardian needs to stay sane and in control of the powers. In a time of sheer hunger, Marinda goes under into a lost domain of nothingness. Tis his place of respace, a place where the mana consumption stops and recovery begins. We’ve all experienced it, and the truth isn’t far out of the ordinary. Celestials and I refer to the Committee; was and perhaps is aware of the dangers presented before us. An increase in population strains the mana supply, similarly, the use of magic, even if tis a small fraction of the available supply; has an effect. Time ticks upon a doom’s day clock; we’re running on unrenewable power. On an instance of the second-hand snapping at 12, the backlash might rupture the careful balance of realms Cthulhu’s linked.”

“Wait?” they took a collective to inhale, the air waved confusedly. Yean, representative of the HCF’s military faction, threw his hand on the table, “-are you saying?” he thrust himself up, “-the fight for freedom was a lost cause? All we did was aggravate the situation?”

Elliana, the spokesperson of the Revolutionist faction, rose a saddened but determined crinkled upon the table, “-how long will it take to recover the mana needed for a one-blow victory?” They knew what she meant, and in a fit of anger, Marianne, first contact and a great help in humanitarian efforts in aiding the weak, fired her signature side-stare.

“Seriously, thee wish to cut the growing population?” her pitch heightened.

.....

“Don’t talk down to me,” rebutted Elliana, “-the economic strain of growth is one we can’t handle at the moment.”

“Then what, shall we slay in the thousands to gather enough mana for an all-out attack?” delivery of the unspoken idea placed the truth into perspective. ‘-We’ll be doing far worse than the prior regime,’ said the brief painful silence.

“We could always pass a decree of no mana usage?” narrowed Jae.

“Impossible,” throttled Elliana, “-without magic, many of the fundamental projects necessary for a mild glimpse at Nordway will be stopped. Mine’s stunted activity has harmed us more than them. We’re definitely tittering on the edge.”

“What then?” shrugged Yean, “-shall I order my men to slaughter countless lives?”

“If it lowers the mana consumption, then I’m for it,” said a woeful Elliana, “-Mariane, we need to look at the future. Natives reproduce quickly – coupled by Lord Haggard’s gracious donations of food and supplies to the weak; the battle against famine’s slowly coming at a manageable pace.”

“So, we sacrifice the lives we fought so hard to protect?”

“Would have been better to take the castle before going against Zeus.”

Gustv and Igna waited patiently; in where such decisions ought to be made – a strong voice would generally dictate the course of action. There was good and bad in both situations – and it favored the genocide of many. On a chessboard – ‘twould simply be a matter of sacrificing a pawn to take on a bigger fish.

“Move to a vote,” fired Yean.

Gustv looked at Igna, saw but an empty expression, returned at the table and rose his hand, “-if it really comes to a genocide; I strongly recommend sending them out of Marinda. If they brave the ocean and reach Hidros, there may yet be a home for them. Sadly, I see no reason why the rudimentary ships ought to be sufficient.”

“Such a childish point of view,” rebutted Yean, “-false hope. Seriously? That’d be worse than what the Danio’s did.”

Marianne gnarled at the statement; her arms nearly flung for the man’s visage. Djen, watchful and understanding air, grabbed her thigh and squeezed her into a non-violent approach.

“How would a man react if one said; the revival of a family member or the safety of an entire tribe?”

“Pardon?” all rose a confused look at Igna.

“Answer my question,” he sipped.

“And we presume picking one is the loss of the other?”

“Correct.”

Yean instantly picked the first option. Marianne, Elliana, and Jae picked the second. After much self-deliberation, Gustv joined the fray and picked the first. *Crash,* “-I’d pick the third option,” added a beautifully annoying voice. Shades of blue on her head, lighter hue in her eyes, pinkly rose lips, and a palpable aura of dread and salty scent. Kuthl walked, pulled a seat beside Igna, and dropped her bottom, the room echoed in her unrestricted motions, “-am I wrong?” she placed her hair behind the ears and kindly smiled at Igna.

“Third option?” Djen’s eyes opened, “-she’s right. There was nothing that said we ought to pick either choice. The question was open-ended from the start. Tis assumptions and restrictions we added to make sense of the situation which eventually limited the thought process. And when Elliana asked, ‘-picking one is the loss of the other?’ Lord Igna simply replied, ‘-correct,’ which in no way meant an ultimatum.”

“What’s the point of the question?” wondered the intense Yean, “-am I just to make a decision without knowing the whole story?”

“Yes,” said Igna, “-that’s the point I was trying to make. We make a decision based on the limited information available. Sometimes, the choices present themselves and we can’t think outside the placed limitations. A sad but honest truth, a sentiment of staying to oneself, conforming to values placed on us by others; the very nature placed on us by birth. Here’s what the answer revealed. Yean’s straightforward and doesn’t much care for balancing the choices – he picked the best option available to him at that given moment. Fast decision-making is good for a leader, a general, a man responsible for the lives of many. And for argument’s sake, either choice meant nothing. Tis, not the answer I was looking at, but the process of coming to a said answer. Marianne, Elliana, and Jae gave their answers a few seconds apart from each other. Jae and Elliana are a single piece, I admire Jae’s some time-out-of-the-box approach, however, here, when placed in a difficult situation, as not to be placed behind a backlash, opted for the majority. Self-preservation, if things went wrong, they’d share the blame equally. Djen waited out the ultimatum and was first to realize what the last participant, Kuthl, had to say. All and all, such is how our council stands. Now,” he looked at all around, “-what will it be?”

“Do pardon the rude tone,” gulped a strong-headed Yean, “-we didn’t come here to be told the truth of why we make decisions. I want to know what Marinda’s going to do, how the people are going to be killed or saved. Nothing more, nothing less, simply, I need answers,” on said point, everyone else rallied and nodded affirmingly.

“Poor ol’ fellows,” said a click of the tongue, “-why the hurry? If Marinda was going to end in an hour, I’d used 59 minutes to think of an answer, not rush into the fold like an idiot. Haste isn’t always the answer, Yean, thee should realize, I mean, the battle of Carth was a blunder of military misdirection and impatience.”

“The battle of Carth,” the persistence aura dropped magically, “-I guess there’s truth in what you say.”

“Anyway,” said Igna, “-we’re finally gathered to pass judgment on what should happen next. Make no mistake, today’s the last meeting before Marinda’s thrown into another age.” Kuthl rose from her seat, shuffled to Igna’s back, and suddenly gave an affectionate and tender embrace. She leaned and gave a peck on his cheek, “-everyone, I have something to announce. The changing times forced our hands; therefore, to truly contain Cthulhu’s hunger, Kuthl and I have tied the knot. She’s a direct medium to his power, through the influence of my wings, we’ll make sure mana around Marinda is made available for everyone to use during the final battle. We picked the third option, the option in where only one has to suffer, an option in where an immortal is killed, and when thee looks at it, not a major loss as latter revives.”

“And, can we have more information?” the curious Djen.

“You sure?” allured Kuthl.

Before the mouth formed, ‘-yes,’ Djen tasted his own medicine; Marianne’s sharp nails dug into his tight, he yelped and shut his mouth.

“Right,” said Gustv, “-what’s the ritual about, and is there something we can do?”

“Nothing. Kuthl and I shall handle the other lesser dignified details in private. Yean, how quickly can the army be dispatched?”

“Two days for a force of three hundred to arrive and make camp. Another week or two for the reserves to make the trip.”

“And if Rehn takes on the duty of homebase?”

“Three to four days for the entire army to march into the castle. Another day for the trip to Nordway.”

“Xinfe will provide with air-support,” proclaimed Djen loudly.

“The Azian Familia will gather supplies.”

“Danio’s will call on the branch families and pulled together a reserve force in case of a counter-attack.”

“I’ll join the assault team,” smiled Jae, “-Lord Haggard?”

“The Shadow Realm Army will provide logistical and ground support. A unit of fifty men should suffice; Tania will command them.”

“We’re going to war?” blinked Gustv, “-I’ll ask for support from the neutral factions. If it comes to the last resort, I’m willing to conjure the phoenix and rain hell upon the castle.”

“We have an understanding,” sipped Igna, “-coordinate with one another. On arrival of Rehn, start preparation immediately. Before we go into battle, at least three hours before we arrive – send a warning to inhabitants of Nordway. The locals are good assets in post-war. Take in prisoners if they surrender – be on guard, if surrender is a ploy, kill them, no mercy,” back to Yean, “-how long until we besiege Einheim?”

“A week if not a month. It all depends on how we lower their defenses.”

Djen watched Igna, “-speak,” said the devil.

“The special unit’s still at the capital. Shall I order them to sabotage the castle?”

A great idea; lights flickered in the collective dread, “-poison the castle well – should have a water system. Cut of food supply and send conflicting reports to the guards. Any advantage we have, we take.” Thus, the council ended their discussions. Things looked great for the present – to their blissful ignorance – the toll said operation would take on Igna was one dangerous, painful, and tiring. The location swapped for a hidden chamber within the volcano, there, Kuthl sat with revealing lingerie. Countless spells conjured around the room, symbols written in blood, grimoires stacked on an empty desk.

She bit her red lips coyly, “-tis time,” she smiled and rolled into bed; a deadly portal opened, “-give me the mana the guardian requires,” she laughed, “-show me what the devil can do.”