Chapter Twenty-eight
Truth
Robert wasn’t entirely sure what was really going on anymore. It seemed as though his life was spiraling out of control, and he didn’t really have any say in what was going on. It started out simple enough, with this quest he decided to take because no one else wanted to do anything about this horrible situation. He didn’t even know if he believed in the gods when he started out, and yet, he was the only one really worried about the future of the kingdoms, it seemed. Granted, he was more worried for his people, since they all believed, and he wanted answers for them. But then again, he was always the curious type, searching for answers in general. It was an information quest, and he was completely down for something like that. There was nothing physical about it, and if it did turn out to be involve fighting, he’d just turn the quest over to Clover, or his father, who would delight in the combat portion of the quest.
Or at least he had thought his father would be up for that. But as soon as the danger came to Acerbus, his father freaked out and hid. It wasn’t because his advisers thought it best for the king to be protested that he was in hiding, but rather because he had fled there himself at the first sign of danger. The first fire, and he was more worried about his own hide rather than the fate of his own people. And not just any people, but the people in his capital, the place he grew up himself. Robert had always suspected that his father was a terrible king, but this just proved it. Hell, he had absolutely no combat skills to speak of, not way of defending himself, and yet, he was still throwing himself in the fray. Granted, his idea of running out after speaking with his father had gone fine up until he reached the Temple.
He had been surprised at how easy it was. The fairies posed hardly any problem at all, since they were so small. All he really had to do was smack them away for the most part, and he was so tall anyway that they seemed more frightened of him than anything else. They still posed a danger, of course, but the damage they caused was hardly anything he had to worry about. Once he met with the peasants, he got a little worried, since he thought he would have to attempt to fight them, and maybe even hurt them accidentally. But they didn’t even bother with him. He could tell they were possessed, but the idea that he was a terrible fighter was so engrained in them that they knew instantly he wasn’t a threat at all to them. So he continued on his way, smacking aside fairies as he went.
It really wasn’t until he actually reached the Temple that they seemed to realize what he was up to. That’s when they started to converge on him. He had struggled to get through to the top of the stairs, using all the evading techniques he had figured out over the years, but he didn’t think he was actually going to make it inside with the effort they were making. They were slowly making progress keeping him at bay, but it was also clear that it was a little easier than he expected to actually get up the stairs.
He admitted wasn’t all that surprised when Buttercup appeared at his side, disarming the man attacking him with ease. He had hoped that he’d make it to the Temple around the same time as everyone else, and he somehow managed to time it perfectly so they managed to pretty much arrived at the same time. He was relieved to see her alive and well, her dress torn and a little tattered, but otherwise in one piece. But he was embarrassed that the girl he had feelings for was saving him, basically. He knew it was inevitable, given her skill level, but he was the guy; he should be her white knight, not the other way around.
He wasn’t surprised to see Ignatius among them, either. He had agreed to help them, after all, and this was clearly something they needed help with. They didn’t know what they were going to find in the Temple, but it certainly something that Ignatius was probably going to have to handle on his own. They were there to support him, he figured.
Robert grabbed Buttercup’s hand as Ignatius strolled with purpose into the Temple itself. He felt he needed something to ground him as they faced whatever. He knew it was going to rock the very foundations of his beliefs, just as everything else in this quest had done. Having something to ground him would help immensely in the long run. He knew having her there when Ignatius appeared. And now…well, maybe he just really wanted to hold her hand at the moment.
The group followed the god into the Temple, expecting the worst. Maybe she somehow had gotten to the priests, although he hadn’t seen any as he traveled towards the Temple, but that didn’t really mean anything. That could just mean that she had them holed up in the Temple, for all he knew. They were probably performing some perverted ritual to help her or something. He wouldn’t put it past her. After all, she was possessing the village people somehow. Getting a hold of the priests would probably be a piece of cake for her. And it would make things a hell of a lot harder for them. They were probably making her more powerful, actually.
And they had no way of making Ignatius any more powerful than he actually was. Not unless Buttercup knew something, and he doubted that, actually. She might be a Fire Mage, and the granddaughter of a Diabolus Dei priestess, but that seemed like something only a god or a goddess would know, anyway. Why would a priest or priestess want to increase the power of their god? Its not like they’ve ever warred with the other gods before.
They marched into the Temple, finding it fairly deserted, which was surprising. He expected there to be more people there to protect whoever was in there creating the destruction that was occurring around them. It was so strange to see the place so empty, since it was always full of people coming in to worship, and the priests praying and performing their daily ceremonies and rituals.
There was a strange light coming from the main sanctuary, which Ignatius seemed to recognize instantly. He let out a curse that Robert didn’t recognize, which suggested that it wasn’t a good light. “This is between me and her,” he informed them. “Don’t get involved.”
“This is between all of us,” Robert declared. “She’s attacking my kingdom, possessing my people. Do you really think I’d sit idly by and just let her get away with this?”
“I’ll make sure to get revenge for you,” Ignatius said. “But you won’t be able to handle it. You’re a mere mortal, after all. What can you do against a goddess? You can’t even fight!”
“I can try, can’t I?”
“Robert,” Buttercup said. “Leave it be. He’s right. You can’t do anything against her. Let him take care of her.”
“But…”
“No,” Clover said, taking a swing at another peasant. “I’m not saving your ass from a goddess. Listen to him. You’ll find a way to get revenge in your own way, but for now, we need to take care of the problem.”
He pouted a little, although he knew he was acting a little childish. She had a point, after all. First, they needed to take care of whoever was attacking the capital. Then they would worry about royal justice to the goddess of purity and light. “Fine, fine,” he grumbled, hurrying after them. What could he do, anyway? He certainly couldn’t fight anything they came across. Certainly not a goddess.
He just didn’t want to admit it out loud, it all. He hated appearing weak.
They hurried into the sanctuary, into the strange light, praying to anyone who would listen that it only appeared bad. But, of course, the only person they could pray to was leading the charge, so it wasn’t like he could change things.
They walked into a scene they didn’t exactly expect. Aria stood in the middle of the chamber, looking half asleep. The light was, obviously, coming from her eerily, lighting up the room in a sort of yellowish glow. She didn’t seem to notice them as they barreled into the room, but her eyes opened slightly, emitting the same odd glow. Ignatius didn’t seem to think this was a very good thing, since he backed up almost immediately at the sight.
“About time,” she said, her voice sounding so far away. “You’ve kept me waiting forever.”
“Aria, what are you doing?” he demanded to know of his sister. She didn’t respond right away, but rather just sort of glanced at him with her eerie eyes that seemed to cause the hair on the back of Robert’s hair to stand on end. There was just something completely off about what he was looking at, and he couldn’t really put a finger on it. Other than the fact that she was glowing, of course. She was a goddess, and the goddess of light on top of that, she it wasn’t like she wasn’t allowed to glow. She had wings. She was superhuman anyway. But her mannerisms just didn’t seem to connect right in his head, like he knew this wasn’t how she was supposed to act.
He figured it was just something hard coded into humans, and the races in general, how the gods were supposed to act. Sure, they thought Ignatius was the personification of everything evil, but deep down, he realized that the people knew that wasn’t the case. They were just rationalizing his cynical behaviors, since if they did consider him evil, they would have rejected the idea that he was their creator. They would have said it was only Aria. But they did accept the idea, and they never shunned it, which struck Robert as odd even at a young age. But it was something he was also taught not to question. The ultimate evil being created humans, and that was that.
“I told you,” she stated. “I’m going to destroy humanity. I’m starting with the biggest capital in their kingdoms, severing the biggest artery before attacking it as a whole. It’ll be easier this way. Your humans are terribly easy to manipulate, Ignatius. You might want to consider that when you create your next race. But then, you were always a little dimwitted, so I guess that’s just a hallmark of your creations, is it not?”
“Are you calling dragons dimwitted?” Odessa demanded to know, completely ignoring the fact that she had just called her dimwitted as well.
“Compared to my fairies, of course,” she preened. “Nothing’s as smart as my fairies, and nothing as wise as my elves. Rejoice, Nature Elf, for you shall be spared the destruction.”
“Bring in, bitch,” Clover growled. “You might as well lump me in with the humans. You’re planning on destroying my friends on top of the entire world. I’d rather prevent that, thank you very much.”
“You used the mold I created when you made the elves, so sadly, some of my dimwittedness might have carried over,” Ignatius said dryly. “You might as well wipe them out as well.”
She frowned, looking directly at Clover. She seemed to realize that she was under scrutiny, since she squared her shoulders and gave her a challenging look. “Perhaps,” she mused. “If you get in my way, it’ll certainly be the case. Do you not want to spare your people? Step down.”
This time Clover raised her sword. “These are my people. You want to destroy them, you’ll have to go through me first.”
“That can certainly be arranged,” Aria said, taking a step towards Clover. The elf didn’t flinch at all, completely prepared to take on the goddess if she had to. And Robert was fairly certain that she could hold her own against her. But obviously, Ignatius stopped her.
“Aria, this is between you and me,” Ignatius proclaimed, stepping between his sister and Clover.
“Not at all, big brother,” she sneered. “This is between me and the humans. You have absolutely nothing to do with any of this. Maybe you should step down and let me deal with these pests. It’d just be easier in the long run.”
“Aria, think about what you’re doing. Do you really want to rid the world of a race, one that you helped create? Mama and Papa won’t be very happy with you.”
“To hell with them,” she said, giving her brother a nasty look. “Mama and Papa are as foolish as you are, Ignatius. You look past all their flaws, which is what defines them in the first place. You liked imperfection. You don’t want to go back and correct your mistakes. I’m quite willing to do that. In fact, I’m doing that for you. You should have just given up and gotten rid of them after creating them. Then they wouldn’t have created as much trouble in the world.”
“I created them to be exactly like us, so yeah, they did turn out perfectly,” Ignatius snapped. “Perfection doesn’t make anything interesting, Aria. You’re hardly perfect yourself.”
She outright laughed at that. “I am perfect,” she declared. “I’m the most perfect being in the entire world. That’s why I was second born, because Mama and Papa had you, and knew they could do much better. Everyone knows I’m best! That’s why they all worship me instead of you.”
“Not everyone,” he snorted. “The Alterians seem to have it right, don’t they?”
This time she turned to Buttercup, and Robert pretty much jumped between the two girls although he wasn’t sure what he was hoping to accomplish with the act. All he was really doing was giving her a better target. It wasn’t like he could fight off a goddess or anything, but he felt protective of the small girl now behind her. Never mind that she would probably better fit to handle whatever Aria decided to throw at her.
Aria laughed again. “Fools. I should have started with them, but they wouldn’t be as easy to manipulate. These Lumentians are so simple minded that I can create an entire army out of them, and then march unopposed against all the other capitals, and watch the human’s civilization fall to ruin. And from there, I can watch them tear themselves apart. It will be glorious.”
“And they say I’m the god of chaos,” Ignatius muttered under his breath.
“It’s true, then,” Robert said. “Aria’s disappearance disrupted the balance of the world, and now it’s causing it to fall into chaos. Chaos that’s created by the Angelus Dei, not the Diabolus Dei like we all thought. I don’t believe it.”
“Believe it. It’s what I’ve been saying this whole time, and no one wanted to listen to me,” Clover said, rolling her eyes. “Well, now you know, listen to the gods damned elf.”
“I was saying it as well,” Buttercup pointed out. “It was just a natural conclusion. I just thought the chaos would happen on it’s own, not because the person who disappeared was going to go out of her way to create is. I didn’t think you’d destroy humanity from the inside.”
“Why should I take the effort to do it myself?” she asked, flipping her hair over her shoulders, very much the same way Selene did. “You humans are all too willing to do so yourself. You’re self destructive. You as an Alterian should know best. You pushed the humans out of their own territory, and then fought back when them came back to claim their ancestral lands, despite the fact that it was theirs to begin with. And then get mad about the fact that they shoved you back where you belonged.”
“What?” Buttercup asked.
Ignatius shrugged. “It’s true,” he said. “You act like the victim, but really, you brought it on yourselves. I mean, seriously, you thought there were people outside the Five Kingdoms who believed in the same gods you did? How selfish. There’re many gods in this world, and many religions, and many ways the different races and species were created. But I had figured that wasn’t something important right now. It was something you humans were going to have to work out on your own.”
Buttercup glanced at Robert, and he could tell she was very confused, but Ignatius was right – that was something they could research later, and present to the Alterian king. If there was a way to mend the rift between the two kingdoms, Robert was all for it, actually. His mind was already churning for ideas on where to find something like that, although he tried to force his mind to focus on what was happening in front of him.
“The point is that humans are out to destroy each other anyway, so I’m just exploiting that fact to my advantage. And why shouldn’t I? I’m a goddess. I’m not really supposed to be dealing with you humans anyway. We agreed that we’d leave our races alone, but Ignatius here didn’t seem to get the memo.”
“I can do whatever the hell I want,” he proclaimed. “It’s my own choice is I want to involve myself with the mortals. Mama and Papa don’t seem to care. Why do you?”
“Because it’s wrong, Ignatius, and see what comes of it? You know have three humans and an elf thinking that they can challenge me. Me! A goddess. They’re an arrogant race, no thanks to your meddling with their mold, and you’re just fueling their arrogance.”
“No, I’m fueling the fact that you’re completely wrong, Aria! Think about what you’re doing. You created the elves, and you’re going to hurt them in the process. You’re going to hurt the fairies! Do you really want that?”
“If that’s what it takes. I don’t even know why you’re bothering, brother. You’re not nearly powerful enough to defeat me.”
“We’ll just have to see about that,” he growled before outright tackling his sister.
She just barely managed to shift before he plowed into her, but she was still too slow, since all her concentration was on the spell she was using to control the fairies and the possessed peasants. They slammed to the ground, and the epic immortal fight Robert was expected was reduced to Robert trying his hardest to actually punch his sister, but her struggling enough that he couldn’t land his fist on any part of her body.
Robert couldn’t imagine being so mad at Caroline that he wanted to punch her, but then, he was no god. Things seemed to work a little differently where they were concerned.
Of course, Aria, being a goddess, could actually focus her attention on two things at once. While she was fighting with her brother, she sent out the command for more of her ‘soldiers’ to come and take care of the humans and Clover so Ignatius wouldn’t have an unfair advantage through them. Buttercup’s fairy let out a tiny squeak, having hidden herself well in her hair such that Aria never noticed her, warning them of her kins’ approach. The fairies were easy, and the others seemed to think so as well. Buttercup whirled around and immediately let out one of her flaming arrows at a swarm of them, separating them and taking out about five in the center in the process. Clover and Odessa took care of the rest, Clover slashing at them with her sword, and Odessa unleashing Metallica on them.
But behind the fairies were more peasants, looking madder than ever. After all, they were invading their Temple, a sacred place, and they needed to pay for the injustice. Buttercup kept herself in front of Robert, protecting him unconsciously, although he was a clearer target. It wasn’t like she could protect him with her body the way he could for her. It was still embarrassing, but he was glad to see that she cared about his safety as much as he cared for hers. If he could fight, and if it wasn’t for the fact that she could certainly defend herself, he’d be doing the same for her.
Aria was causing the entire Temple to shake as she fought off her brother, whom she managed to knock off her. Ignatius was mad enough that he was resorting to simple fist fight moves, punching as his sister as she easily dodged them. She was moving slower than he would have expected thanks to her controlling more people in the room, but she was moving fast enough to avoid being hit by her brother. Every now and then, a punch would connect, but she was also kicking at him from time to time, and she managed to strike him just as much. They paced each other, moving almost in a blur, and Robert could barely keep up with their fight.
He expected some sort of magical fight between the two of them, not a gods dammed fist fight. He was almost disappointed, or he would be if he didn’t need to focus his attention elsewhere to keep Buttercup from getting hurt.
He wasn’t entirely sure how they managed to keep the fight maintained for the most part. Between the three girls, the peasants were no match for their little group, and he just found that a little sad. The peasants and the fairies kept coming, and he made it a point to deal with the fairies so he could at least feel a little useful. He used to wonder what the point was for a prince to learn combat, especially one that clearly had to skill in it. But now he was getting the picture. Granted, this only applied to the fact that he had a cause that he was willing to fight for.
Looking at his father, he did question the entire practice. His father was hiding rather than fighting, and Robert knew he had more skill fighting in his little finger than Robert had in his entire body. So why wasn’t he out here, combating the peasants in an attempt to keep them safe? Why was his son, who he viewed as a disappointment because he couldn’t fight, out here instead? It made the whole prince-needing-to-learn-to-fight thing a little more ridiculous. Because clearly, all the king needed to do was find just reason, and he didn’t have to fight. He could just save his own damn hide.
He used to look up to his father, viewed him as a great man, but he was starting to think his father was a horrible king who just relied on others to make decisions, and enjoyed the power being a king brought. He could have anything he wanted, and he didn’t even need to make any hard decisions! He just needed to go with that one choice that everyone around him seemed to be going for, and considering he had his Angelus Dei priests around him constantly, of course those decisions were going to favor them in some fashion. It was sick, and Robert vowed never to be like that when he was king.
Still, it was embarrassing to be standing there had have three females be able to fight far better than he ever could. If it were three males, it wouldn’t be as embarrassing, although he wasn’t saying that females couldn’t fight just as well as males. But at least then, he wouldn’t have to say he was saved by a bunch of women. People wouldn’t look down on him quite as much. He also vowed, should they get out of this alive, that he was going to find some way to learn to fight at least a little, so at least he could contribute a little if something like this were to ever happen again.
The peasants become a little more muddled as Aria got a little more distracted with the fight with her brother. The fairies, though, seemed to function only on their goddess’ will, since they seemed to get more daring as Aria got a little more annoyed. The light started to fade ever so slightly, and the light died completely out of her eyes. But that didn’t make her any more dangerous. The peasants just kept coming, and the girls kept up their strikes. But they were tiring, and Robert was a little worried how long this was going to last. The gods would go on for days, and Aria had a new endless supply of peasants to possess. This was going to end badly soon.
He wondered if he should go out and attempt to get some help. Maybe some fresh bodies would help matters. He was the prince, so he should be able to mobilize the army fairly quickly. That is, if they’ll listen to him. He was, after all, only the moron prince, and they might view this situation as the king did. It was something to hid from, not to fight. But then again, they were trained to take on threats, and they haven’t had need to mobilize in quite some time. They might be begging for action.
Unfortunately, just as he was about to leave, things started to get a little hairy. The influx of peasants and fairies increased, such that the girls had to fight harder, despite the fact they were getting tired. He knew this wasn’t a good sign, and it seemed as though Aria was starting to overpower Ignatius. It seemed as though this really was a lost cause, and Robert started to fear for the fate of the Five Kingdoms. He hoped, briefly, that even though they weren’t able to stop them, one of the other kingdoms would send out a quest that could. He didn’t care for his own life, but he didn’t want innocent peasants who had nothing to do with this whatsoever to have to suffer for any reason. Granted, none of this was his fault, contrary to what the priests had to say, but still – he didn’t want people hurt from this. He didn’t want people hurt period.
It made it so much more worse to watch Buttercup start to pick up injures. She was able to fend off a good majority of the fairies with her arrows, scattering them a little when she shot at them and causing them to spiral out of control. It made things a lot easier for him in the long run, since he didn’t have to deal with too many focused fairies. Most of them were dazed. But she wasn’t nearly as skilled with her dagger, and the peasants were able to get a few good hits in on her before Clover could dispatch them. Or else Buttercup would gain the advantage somehow. Watching Buttercup bleed had to be the hardest thing he ever had to do in his life, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it.
At least he didn’t think so. He was angry enough about the situation that, when he saw one peasant bearing down on Buttercup, something snapped in him, and he actually lashed out despite the fact that he had no clue what the hell he was doing. He fist managed to connect with his temple, and he was moving fast enough that he was actually able to lay the man out. No one around him, himself included, actually expected that to happen, so they paused briefly and stared at him. He managed to put on what he thought was a determined and brave face, but all he could think of was the pain in his knuckles. But he didn’t want to show Buttercup his weakness.
But the moment he displayed fighting capacity, even if it was just dumb luck and anger that had caused it, he was perceived as a threat. They started coming at him as well, and he wasn’t exactly all that lucky to begin with. Otherwise, his flailing about in combat training would have meant something. Instead, he hastily grabbed the first object his hand made contact with, which turned out to be a pole of some sort that the man he decked had been carrying, and smashed it into the first person who got close enough to him.
“Robert,” Buttercup said. “I figured out why it’s so difficult for you to fight. You’re too clumsy, like when you were dancing. Don’t think about what you’re doing, because that might make it worse.”
He shrugged, since he had been told he was too uncoordinated to fight before, although no one had done anything about it. But it seemed like solid advice, for the most part. If he could not think about it, which of course that’s all he did now that she mentioned it. But with the pole in his hand, he was able to flail about well enough that he was able to make contact with peasants before they got too close, and luckily, he didn’t do too much damage to them. They were going to wake up with a nasty headache, sure, but they were probably going to do that anyway just from the possession.
Things were sort of starting to look up, at least from his perspective. At least he didn’t need to be protected by a bunch of females. He hoped that part, at least, made it out. The prince was actually fighting! Well, sort of…
But instead, things were actually going sort of bad, which was evidenced when Aria somehow managed to actually knock Ignatius into Robert, throwing them both off balance. “Brother, you have lost,” Aria declared, arching her wings to their full length, and holding a glowing silvery sword that she hadn’t had when they entered. Ignatius had a sword of his own, which seemed to be made of flame, and was currently resting about twenty feet away from them.
“I’ve lost nothing,” he declared. “Don’t count me out yet, sister.”
She stood over him while Robert tried to crawl out from under him. “How can you even say that? Clearly have the advantage.” She made her point by placing the point of her sword against his throat. “You no longer have a weapon, and your little pets are outnumbered. They’re getting tired, and I have an endless supply of monkeys at my command. Did you really think you could stop me? You’re a fool, Ignatius. You’ve always been a fool. Mama and Papa, they’re fools as well. I am the true goddess in this world, and I shall reign as such. Say good-bye to your existence, dear children. It’s not going to mean much anymore.”
“True goddess?” Ignatius asked, freezing for a moment. He glanced at Robert. “That’s new. I didn’t realize that you wanted to reign alone. I thought you were quite content to rule together, as a family. That’s how we’ve always done it, after all.”
“Well, it’s a new day, and its about time things were done a little differently. The old ways don’t work, Ignatius, you’ve seen this. Imagine a world where all the races coexisted with each other! Where there was no war, nobody harming each other. That is the sort of world I aim to create once this one is razed over.”
“You want to create a perfect world? There’s no such thing,” he told her. “You’ll grow bored with that one, and seek to create one where chaos rules just to entertain yourself for a while. I know you, Aria; you’re never convent with just one thing. That’s why I came to you with the idea of creating another race, but together, because I know you were getting restless with just the fairies. You wouldn’t be able to rule by yourself, anyway, Aria. Why would you want to be the true goddess?”
“Because, I am perceived as such anyway. Why not make it true?”
“Perceived as such?” Ignatius asked, looking confused again before turning to Robert, and seeming to come to a realization. Robert wasn’t sure what he had in mind, but he didn’t like what he saw in his face. “Buttercup, do you perceive Aria as the only goddess you worship?”
“What?” she asked, grappling with a large peasant. “The only goddess? No, why? I mean, we focus on her rituals and holidays, but we also celebrate your holidays and important rituals as well, and your parents.”
“So you would know my worship day dance, am I right? The one preformed in the villages, not the Temple.”
“Of course I do. They make me do it every year because I’m the only one who can do anything with the fire.”
“Then I suggest you do it,” he hissed at her.
She blinked at him, shoving the peasant away with ease. Clover and Odessa took the hint, and took to keeping the peasants and the fairies away from her as she started to sway. It looked to be a complicated dance, especially to be performing in the middle of a battle, but she did it as though she had done it a thousand times before, and with such grace that Robert was instantly jealous, as well as awed. He couldn’t stop staring at her.
Neither could Aria. “What is she doing?” she demanded. “Stop that. How dare you do such a thing in front of me?”
“She’s a worshiper of the Angelus Dei, and yet, she also worships using my rituals, as well as our parents. You’re not the true goddess, Aria, and you never will be. I know what’s making you mad, dear sister. It’s not an imbalance of power, but an imbalance of worship.”
She paused. “An imbalance of worship?” she asked meekly. “What do you mean?”
He gestured at Robert, and at Buttercup and Odessa. “They have it messed up,” he explained. “Lumentis isn’t supposed to worship solely you, but rather all of us, since they’re in the central location. And Alter isn’t supposed to worship all of us. That’s why there’s so many Fire Mages in that kingdom, because they were supposed to worship only me. When the Lumentians took over, they brought over a religion that wasn’t meant to be. And it’s driven you mad with power.”
She glanced at her hands. “But…I…”
“No, Aria, you were never meant to be worship that much. The balance was broken over five hundred years ago, and you’re just not feeling the effects. Think about it; I know you were never like this before.”
“I feel so strange, Ignatius,” she said, the light fading completely. “I don’t…”
He gestured at Robert. “That’s because he’s beginning to realize what’s going on. You feel that shift? That’s him making the decision to correct things. You don’t have anything to worry about anymore, Aria. They’ll stop driving you mad as soon as you stop attacking them. Release the humans, and your fairies, and you’ll see how much difference that’s going to make.”
She glanced at them again, and suddenly, there seemed to be a slight whisper in the air. The tension was gone, and the peasants glanced around the room in surprise. One even helped Odessa to her feet, looking a little embarrassed. The fairies joined Buttercup and her little fairy in her dance, easing Aria’s mind even further, until she actually smiled at her brother.
And just like that, the battle was over, and the balance of power was restored.
Angelus Dei Chapter Twenty-eight |