(Vol 2) Chapter 69: Kissing the Sky

Immediately when Sammy’s lips touched Azure’s, she felt the Gate click like it had been unlocked. She opened the door, though the Fortuneteller was screaming at her not to.

‘I will not sacrifice Azure! Not for anything, you bitch! Fuck it all if I turn into you!’

Azure’s body awakened in a flash to wrap arms around, to kiss back, to relish that moment… and then eyes opened… It was like looking into the sun. Everyone else around exclaimed and turned away, as just the resonant glow of it in the area was blinding bright. And there was heat… heat to envelop and swallow, to burn…

It was not exactly Azure behind those eyes, nor Azure passionately enjoying that kiss. Which made it quite weird and probably wrong.

The energy that was quickly becoming swelteringly hot, grew exponentially from that moment — out, out, out, expanding gloriously-

Sammy had a little thought right then: maybe close the door. But she was instead not even holding onto the handle any more, in a mental sense. It was more like she was being bathed in the energetic fire exploding out from it, the Gate thrown open.

At this point, she felt the Fortuneteller move. She seemed to fold herself in and expand through Sammy’s mental form of herself, making a new ‘mental body’ separating away, formed of thousands of iterations mostly in the same spot, moving around with the hint of layers.

The effect was not pleasant, and it also had the effect of force-projecting Sammy completely into her mental form, standing there in the midst of blinding white-yellow energy, watching ‘herself’ walk away from her. In an additional petty maneuver, the Fortuneteller also pushed Sammy with a dismissive elbow, to fall back on her rear.

“Fft! Hey!”

The Fortuneteller ignored her, hurrying to somehow find the Gate, grab the door, and with some sort of herculean effort of will, push it entirely shut, though not without effort. The energy was all gone just like that. There was only the vaguest sense of some persona beyond, and there wasn’t any strong regret or resistance to the closing — just a little sigh.

Until that point, the Fortunteller’s eyes had never directly looked at her. Now they did. Thousands and thousands of eyes, all in the same spot, all glowering at her in one or another form. Some were amused or neutral, but a large number were angry and annoyed. The sheer number made it slightly blurry on the edges, but right in the middle was the most concentrated authoritative animus imaginable.

Having that many powerful goddess entities all bore their eyes into you at once was its own special kind of terror.

“Samantha Elizabeth Reine,” the amalgamation declared harmoniously like a choir, “you are a fool.”

Sammy, sitting there on her ass, stared and held her breath, sure at any moment she was going to get smote or something.

“We knew you’d do stupid things, but annihilating — or triggering the annihilation protocols of — the universe that we put so much hope upon in one great flash exceeds our expectations.”

Samantha forced herself to say something. “S-sorry…”

Some of the amalgamate scoffed or mocked, and some laughed in hysteria or irony. The great mass flickered. Some of them even winked out. “We cannot do this with impunity, even in the psychic realms. Don’t tax us for your childish anxieties.”

The great mass of them turned into numerous reflections, seeming like they were arguing, but Sammy could not understand the warped words. A moment later they refocused back as they were, hundreds of them having winked out.

She got the sense the Fortuneteller wouldn’t be hanging around very long, so she cut to the chase. “What is this gate? How do I help Azure?”

“It is to the Hall of Reflections. This is the means by which we cheat reality. You’ve come upon it too early, but this is accounted for. There are other paths leading to knowledge. Don’t fuck with the Main Gate. It is for expansion. Creation. With a crack. We tried using it for destruction, but it never worked out correctly. Don’t open it from the outside until you’ve left it from the inside.”

“How do I get inside, then?”

“Other openings.” A large smattering of the entities spooled out, a bunch of Hers snickering, snorting, laughing behind a hand, or making… suggestive gestures. Being gremlins, basically.

The core entity facepalmed and there was an altercation of yelling and admonition. When the amalgamation finally settled, it was noticeably thinner in layering. “This corruption is only going to get worse… Save your dirty-minded thoughts for your private affairs! There is no correlation! All experience creates a potential link or a key. Much like past life visions triggering. But these are more rewarding.”

“Hey, that was them, not m-... never mind. Will this help Azure? Otherwise, how do I?”

The Fortuneteller glared at her. “Are you certain she needs your help? Is she still a damsel? You can either accept that not everything is on your spacetime-table to control, or you can gnash your teeth, despair, and do stupid things. The choice is yours. Remember all that rides on you. Remember always that the wrong choice at any point could spell doom.”

With that, the great amalgamate compacted into a pinpoint then folded back through Samantha into infinity, dispersed. Once again, it was a disturbing, disorienting sensation.

“Ugh! But no pressure, Sammy, no pressure at all, you’re doing great, here, have a pat on the back…”

When she returned to her body, she was staring up at the dark sky, her Followers likely pulling her off of Azure after she’d flopped onto her. Bast and Canmore were kneeling down with concern in their eyes for her.

Everyone seemed... sunburnt/energyburnt, including her.

Sammy blinked a few times. Swallowed. “I’m good now. We’re good. Let’s get everyone out of here.”

With sighs of relief, they readily agreed.

Bamm was carrying Azure already, but Sammy took her up instead, the burden being far easier for her. When she looked at Azure’s face, her mind went back to that strange kiss.

Was it Blue? No. The Lover. The greater personification, given access from behind that Gate. Did she know what she was doing? Would she really risk destroying a universe to kiss me? Wow. Really getting a big head, Sammy. Has to be something more to it than that. Unless she’s insane. Wouldn’t that be fun…

But at least she had not really had a first kiss with Azure while she was unconscious. At least, that’s what she told herself to not wince so hard about it.

Instructions about loot were unnecessary — many of her men had already taken what seemed the most valuable and interesting stuff off of what bodies lay in the debris and the street. It was absolutely a reflection of her subconscious will. They knew how she operated.

But she has some other interests there. Particularly in the gear of the one her giant stomped. Because it might be a Sympathetic connection to the other one that was geared very similar to him. It was potentially true of all the loot — that it might be a link to those who ran away...

Samantha used her illusions to screen their exit, as there were some bystanders once again looking on. At a distance, anyway. The sheer number of people who must’ve seen things she would’ve rather they not see was worrisome. Many things would remain unbelievable, but it was all more dots to connect at the very least.

She instructed Orswyth to split off the staff into a few Masks of Masquerade, which removed access to the relic ‘use’ but allowed everything else, including the Disguise function. She had them distributed to men and sent them to the scene in disguise, to claim false things about the incident and create doubt about certain of the more far-fetched and concerning elements. Such as a 14-meter-tall giant golem squishing someone like a bug.

It was… not exactly something easy to hide across a wide radius of a busy area when she had wanted it to be seen, but at least it had been dark. And relatively brief.

And then there were the assassins. Perhaps they’d fade away after the incident, but they were a big problem. She also wanted them dead.  At least any that weren’t simply hired goons. Or perhaps Mazed… which she supposed was similar.

Feeling her anger growing as she stalked down the street with Azure in her arms, she sent to her leaders, “Whoever is responsible for this must pay. For what they’ve done to us, what they did to innocent people… and because it is my duty.”

Orswyth gave a kind of weary sigh. “They were after me. So, one is Count Ambrose, who Zadkiel captured. Which seems punishment enough. The other is Baron Gerehart, who has hated me for decades. Apparently it wasn’t enough for me to be exiled out of my own lands, but it is hardly surprising. Exiles can return triumphantly, after all.”

Bast chimed in. “It’s surprising this level of power and destruction exerted.”

Galynth cleared a mental throat. “Lord Orswyth, formerly Baron Orswyth, has a reputation. That’s why the King of Murder’s band was sent after him and his skeleton crew at the fortress. I’m not even sure this was equivalent.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Samantha sent dismissively. “This was a rabid dog, a madman unleashed, and now he’s been put down. The one that unleashed him is next. Before he finds a way to hire another assassin.”

Bast readily agreed. “He deserves death for this. And in this city, an assassin would be an actual assassin.”

“I have equal capability.” Samantha scowled. She felt zero mercy for Gerehart. He’d tempted fate not once but twice. He could’ve had the sense and intuition to let it go after the first. He likely had no sense at all, from even having that psychopath on his payroll. She was not going to let him try again.

He probably has a fucking quest. If the rewards are tantalizing, what are the odds he just gives up?

No doubt someone or another had helped the group in the city, too. She wasn’t sure how mercenary that was but it seemed likely to be about coin with all the hired killers. Gerehart had hired an expensive band to hit Lowbarrow — which had failed. He probably had plenty of gold to spare.

They made for some locale of a pre-existing arrangement — a mid-sized home rented out only hours prior that they had planned to switch to as an abode in the morning, before eventually tackling the new hideout. It had four private bedrooms, so Sammy took the master and laid Azure down into it.

She made her as comfortable as possible. Removed her shoes and outer coat, as well as any heavy jewelry. She did love her jewelry. She noticed a necklace with a few charms on it. An eye symbol — representing her goddess and her order, of course. And a silver oval with a sapphire inset… which she realized was a tiny locket.

When she opened it, it was soft white stone, with an expertly blue-painted, simplified runic etching on it. The first meaning she saw in the sharp lines was ‘union of like and like.’ Right on the heels of that, she realized another, more specific meaning in the inner space. It made her eyes widen and her mouth open.

Azure!

‘Woman becoming one with woman; entwining; intimate.’ The implication was obvious.

She laughed almost immediately after, shaking her head and closing the locket, while gazing over at the face of her unconscious… priestess. “Scandalous, Azure! Scandalous. When did you get this witchery? Who’s the lucky gal?”

It was entirely teasing. Which was easy when the other couldn’t respond, naturally.

Azure was breathing in a deep sleep pattern, at least. It gave Sammy quite hopeful feelings to see how peaceful she was, which she used to fight against her dread and anxiety… to mixed success.

Sammy sat down on the edge of the bed, taking the necklace and wrapping it around her wrist where the locket and eye were in her palm. Then she took Azure’s hand and held it for a long, long while. Tears intermittently fell from her eyes.

From her mouth and from her mind Sammy whispered, “Any wish you would make, I’ll grant you. Because I don’t want to resist anymore or deny you a single thing… but you have to come back to me. Just wake up, Azure. I’ll be yours. I am yours. Just wake up. Please…”

“Tell me your smile will begin my morning once more. How could the day live without it?”

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« (Vol 2) Chapter 68 | Table of Contents | *Gotta lose it to really want it* »

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Samantha, Virgin Goddess of Mirrors & Illusion
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Goddess Level 3 [29/30]; Minor Deity

Domains (4/4): Mirrors, Illusion, Fate, Light
Faith Energy: 1057/3500
FE (Mirrors): 11 ; FE (Illusion): 21 ; FE (Fate): 0 ; FE (Light): 27
Followers: 48 (Daily FE Gain: 68 [74])

Devout: 13
Priests: 6+1

Brute: 0
Rogue: 0 [2/10]
Wizard: 2 [19/30]
Bard: 1 [9/20]

MP: 40/40

Special Skills: First Aid, Tarot Reading, Meditation, Comprehension, Sympathetic Targeting, Priestly Ordination, Holy Relic Investiture, Create Servitor, Read Runes, Spell Construction, Detect Magic, Ritual Cast, Draw Mana (1/1), Inspire Ally (2/2), Musical Talent

Special Traits: Token User, Immortal, Demiplane Domain, Conceptual Body, Fueled By Faith, Detection Ward, Split Prediction, Perfect Vision, Light Absorption, Avatar (Samantha; Core, Mental Res 1, Magic Res 1, PFE: 34/70)

Spells: Identify (5 MP), Icebolt (3 MP)

Powers: Faith Energy Utilization, Grant Prayer (Illusion, Fate, Light), Mirror: (Sense, Communication, Maze, Walk, Other), Intuition, Alter Fate, Create Illusion, Grant Invisibility, Dazzling Spectrum, False Auras, Mirroring Duplicates, Reflect Force, Light Manipulation, The Dawn Will Rise, Removal, Channel Domain

Status: Token User Promotional Bonus (12/30), Free Priestly Ordination (1 use)

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Note: She'll deeeefinitely be level 4 in Volume 3, folks! I hope everyone doesn't mind a 9 day fast forward to Vol 3. I simulated it pretty carefully over the last couple of days. Next time you see a sheet, some numbers will bloat! I think it empowers the story to not focus so much on, essentially, the micromanagement of the religion. I was slowly getting there already, but now we drop the axe, hehe.

A few things don't get seen in full res, but a number of things are still 'saved' for a later time, such as going to Lake Yura.

I will update Quests between now and the next chapter. The next one is more in a epilogue style than the last chapter 70.