Godslayer Lysette: Chapter 258

Chapter 258: Final Departure

Midnight arrived far sooner than it felt like it should’ve, and with it, Lysette felt waves of cooling vitality rushing over her.  She stretched and let the recesses of her mind return to Cultivating and supporting the growth of her adherents, and she felt neither pain nor odd feeling as she did so.

The twinkle of myriad stars glistened through the window of the former Chancellor’s bedroom, and Lysette walked over to gaze out at the Academy for what would be the final time.  At least, for a long while.  At least, until the clash that neither she nor Saffron wanted, and both had agreed to delay for as long as was practical.

She thought back to the promise she’d asked Saffron to make her shortly after her first meeting.  That if she should ever succumb to her demonic urges and lose her way on her quest for vengeance against Asterion and his supporters, that Saffron was to slay her.  She remembered the tale of Lilit, who did succumb, and in doing so nearly ended all life on Aimarion.  And she remembered that moment when Terean soldiers, led by her now-friends Jules and Katie, attacked Ciricu.  How close she had been to completely losing control and slaying every last one of them.  How she actually had taken four lives needlessly before pulling herself back from the brink.

She wondered if Saffron was wrong to let her go.  The world would surely be a far more Stable, more secure, more static place if not for her.  Possibly one due for the ultimate stasis of Asterion’s eternal rule if not for Zarielle’s timely intervention.

Lysette wondered if Saffron’s stability would abide by the unassailable rule of Asterion, or any other god who wasn’t Domar.  She would fight, would oppose whoever tried to supplant him, for she was absolutely loyal to Domar.  But her goals had always been to ensure the continuity of Domaria and its people.  And the rule of one was certainly better for Stability and unity than the rule of hundreds or thousands.  Better than the messy rule of humanity that Lysette envisioned for Aimarion, one without need of any gods or demons.

Lysette left the bedroom and waved toward Aurella, who was lounging about the next room over, playing some sort of card game and growing more frustrated with each flip.  She continued on toward the suite’s exit, stopping only to put on her shoes before stepping into the hallway.  Aurella followed after her, though neither said a word to the other, Lysette still deep in thought, reminiscing of her time at the Academy before her final departure.

It was only her second time inside the Central Administration Building, the first being on her first day at the Academy.  And even then, only during the Chancellor’s convocation welcoming her and the other thousand or so students who’d been admitted in the year’s class.  But with her divine aura stretching so wide, through every nook and cranny, inside every room and hallway of the building, it was all too easy to navigate a path out of the front door and outside into the commons.

“Are you leaving already, Cousin Lysettie?” Aurella asked.  “I thought we’d at least stay until morning.  Have one final meal here before we depart?”

“I’d like that, Aurella.”  Lysette paused.  “May I call you Aura for short?”

“Aurie, please.”

“When I was a student here, I’d go up to the dorm rooftop on most evenings.  Sometimes I’d Cultivate, sometimes I would gaze up at the beauty of the cosmos.  And sometimes I just needed to clear my head and do nothing for a bit.  As I do now.”  Lysette sprouted her wings upon the building’s outer steps and extended her hand toward Aurie.  “I’d love for you to join me.”

Aurie sprouted her wings as she took Lysette’s hand.  Hers were radiant, shaped like those of a golden butterfly, thin and wispy, translucent almost as if made out of the dawn’s glow itself.  This in contrast to Lysette’s thick, crystalline teal wings made of hundreds of long crystals all arranged like the ruffle of an open curtain.  And the two took their short flight of perhaps half a minute, landing atop the flat roof of a building not far from the edge of the airborne city.

“It really is beautiful, Lysettie.”

“It is, but I’d always found it tainted.  I used to think this place was so… sinful.  How the nobility lived large in the sky while so many people struggled with such hardship down on the surface below.”  Lysette held out her palms.  “But I’m no better.  These hands have taken plenty of lives.  Ruined those of countless families.  And worst of all, I enjoyed it.”

“You had your reasons, right?”

“I did.  But does it matter?  I realized it after the battle of Ft. James.  After Mirette killed Alan and his last attack killed my friend, Kristil.  After seeing soldiers on both sides come together to tend to their injured without regard for who had previously been fighting whom.  After pushing right up to my limits and exhausting my Divine Essence to heal them all until I passed out to prevent myself from dying.  And even then, I tried to fight that failsafe, hoping that I could save one more life and not caring in the moment about the consequences.”

“Speaking of Mirette, how is Mirae?”

“Suffice it to say that I’m currently being chewed out for my recklessness and for making them worry.  And I expect that to only continue once we arrive back tomorrow afternoon.  I do and will deserve such castigation.  But I know they do so only out of love and concern in equal measure.”

“I’m a bit envious of you, Lysettie.  The love you two have for each other.”  Aurie smiled.  “After the conversations from earlier, now I wonder.  Does my mother really see me as her daughter, as someone to be loved, or just an heir and a tool to be used?”

Aurie collapsed into tears, falling into Lysette’s arms and wailed into her blouse.  And Lysette held Aurie just as she would have held Celica had it been her sister standing next to her instead of a fellow demigoddess.  For several minutes, the two just held one another.  Silence was broken up only by the occasional whistle of the wind or Aurie’s soft sniffles as she wiped her tears.  Only when the Whimsical demigoddess had returned to some semblance of her usually jovial self did Lysette attempt an answer.

“I’m sure she loves you, in her own way.  I think she’s a lot like Saffron.  She cares about you, but she takes her responsibilities seriously.  Responsibilities that she, as a primordial goddess, cannot always directly address.”

“So I’m just a tool–”

“No.  I think she really does love you, Aurie.  My mother, back when I was growing up and she was still alive, always talked about how I’d one day meet a man, settle down, and raise a family of my own.  But I never had any interest in that sort of thing.  I’d been introduced to a few suitors, but I’d turned them all down.”

“What about Mirae?”

“They came later, after my parents were slain.  The point I’m trying to make is that not once did my mother ever show any signs of shame with the life I chose for myself.  Even though that life wasn’t the same one she had envisioned, she still loved me and supported me to the best of her abilities.  And I think it’s the same for you and Luminia.  She may have her own ideas for what sort of life you’ll end up having.  But a mother doesn’t stop loving her child when they choose a different path.  At least, a good mother doesn’t.”

“I–  I hope you’re right, Lysettie.”  Aurie pulled back a bit from Lysette, looking out to the forests that covered most of the interior of eastern Domaria.

Lysette followed her and the two shared another moment of silence before she spoke.  “To change the subject a bit, where’s Solanna?  I was expecting she’d be here…  Or at least somewhere.”

“She’s off with Miss Stick-Up-Her-Bum one last time, trying to get her to see reason.  I don’t know why she’s trying— I could see it in Saffron’s eyes that she had absolutely no chance of ever backing down.  Auntie Solanna should be here having fun tonight instead!”

“I don’t think Solanna is trying to get Saffron to rescind my expulsion.  She’s off negotiating.  As for what she wants or has to offer, your guess is as good as mine.”

Aurie giggled.  “Solanna is pretty strong.  Maybe Saffron wants some help finally removing her stick!  I mean, maybe she’s used to it after five hundred years but there’s a first time for everything!”

Lysette laughed.  “Yeah, maybe so.”

The two talked about everything that was nothing of import all the way until sunrise.  Though unlike most mornings, on this occasion, a pair of blazing suns approached.  One from the far eastern horizon, and another far closer, touching down on the rooftops a few yards away with the characteristic grin of the Raesh lineage.

“I figured you’d not be content to rest all night,” Solanna said.  “Reminiscing?”

“Something like that.  What about you?  Do you have any memories of just coming up here at night and enjoying the stars?”

“Can’t say the night is my favorite time of day.  My divinity is descended from the sun’s Passionate flames.  Hers from its scouring Light.  I guess for you, descended from the Night’s reach, you would enjoy the stillness of midnight.  Me?  Give me the warmth of a cloudless high noon any day.”

“Me too,” Aurie added.

“I guess we take after our parents more than I thought.  On the topic, I was talking about my parents with Aurie earlier.  My birth parents, mind you.  I wonder what my mother would have done had it been her reborn as a goddess after the death of her husband and two daughters.  Would she have chosen the same path that I did?  Would she have chosen a kinder, more merciful one instead?”

“If anything, I think she would have been even harsher than you,” Solanna said.  “As a mother myself, I know little could spark my ire more than knowing my daughter was imperiled.  Were she to be killed, I’m sure I would stop at nothing to see justice done unto her killer.  I feel the same way about Sara and Serrena.

“I remember telling Alan back before I fought him that the Raesh family goes all the way to defend their family.  And I absolutely meant it.  Even though I wasn’t strong enough to defeat him in single combat, I was absolutely prepared to fight to the death that day.  I’m glad I didn’t have to, but I would have.  For Serrena, who certainly would have been his next target.

“I still remember holding Serrena in my arms twenty years ago.  She was a rambunctious one even then, snarling and grasping about, never content, always seeking more even before she could comprehend the very concept of ‘more’.  I knew back then that she’d pursue the path of divinity— our lineage’s birthright— as I did two centuries ago.  And though I’d not seen her in the past eighteen years as I isolated myself out of disgust for what Domaria has become, when I did see her, I again saw my baby great-granddaughter.

Solanna sighed.  “Forgive a mother for indulging stories of her love for her children and their children’s children.  In any event, I think we should head down and get breakfast while everything is still hot and fresh.”

Lysette followed Solanna’s lead as the three dove down to the surface and made their way into the dining hall one final time.  At least, for the foreseeable future.  Lysette took a pair of her custard delights along with a hearty, heaping plate of anything and everything from fruit salad to sausage and bacon to biscuits and marmalade to eggy toast and even a half a waffle drizzled in strawberry-infused syrup.  Everything was as delicious as it should have been on the one hand, but each of the foods was still embittered by the knowledge of her impending banishment from the land she had fought so hard to defend, time and time again.

It wasn’t fair.  Despite Lysette’s understanding, despite Saffron’s words, it was still infuriating knowing that she was being judged not for her deeds, but for what she was and the potential threat she represented.  But though her existence had been the catalyst, Aimarion was now at the precipice of a great change.  The battle lines between the myriad gods were being drawn, and even should she fall, war in the cosmos was inevitable.  All she could do is everything she could to guide that war toward an outcome favorable for humanity.  Favorable for a future finally free of the disgusting stench and rotting sickness that was divine war.

Chapter 257: https://www.patreon.com/posts/115165982

Table of Contents: https://www.patreon.com/posts/101896170

Chapter 259: https://www.patreon.com/posts/115284826