Godslayer Lysette: Chapter 259

Chapter 259: Paths to Power

After finishing breakfast, Lysette, together with Solanna and Aurie, wasted no time in taking leave of Domaria and heading back to Ciricu.  As the three took flight, Solanna spat and stuck her tongue out and gave the royal palace a single-fingered salute with both hands.  Aurie giggled, wiggling her fingers and speaking something in a foreign language that carried the cadence of  a childish taunt.  And Lysette smiled.  She remained peeved by everything, but appreciated the gestures of solidarity from her peers and traveling companions.

Lysette suggested making a stop back in Rinno so Solanna could have a bit of closure with the family she’d waxed poetic about earlier.  Her suggestion was batted down, Solanna claiming that she’d already made her peace with not seeing her granddaughter and grandson-in-law again.  And that showing up unannounced would only invite more questions and lead to more pain.  Lysette didn’t fully understand it— more than anything, she would have wanted one more minute together with her birth family.  But she did accept it, and so the three headed northward without interruption or delay.

“So,” Aurie said, breaking the silence between the three about half an hour after departure.  “What were you and Miss Stick-Up-Her-Bum talking about all last night?  Something you can share with the rest of us?”

“I can, but not in great detail.  Not right now.  I managed to convince her to allow us to… abscond with a few textbooks and, more importantly, a few artifacts that might serve us well in the coming trials.”

“That sounds useful.  I am curious, though.  What role do you plan to take in Ciricu, Solanna?”

“I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”

“Do you want to announce yourself as a goddess to the people of Ciricu and maybe start taking your own disciples, or do you just want to keep to yourself and just lend us your strength from time to time.  Or something else entirely?  I want to make sure that your agency is respected, especially after you’re doing so much already to help me out.”

“Eh.”  Solanna shrugged.  “I’m here to support you three…”  She turned to Aurie.  “Four.  You four are the ones really carrying the beacon for change for this world.”

“No,” Lysette said.  “You’re a partner in this.  When I fought Bionco, she called me a tyrant lording over my own kingdom.  Said that nothing happens in Ciricu without my leave.  And worst of all, she wasn’t wrong.  Even though I try to solicit feedback and let the council of elders decide things, the truth is that Mirae will side with me nearly always.  And there is no force in Ciricu that can stand up to Mirette.  When push comes to shove, none can go against my desires.  In that regard, despite trying to be thoughtful and considerate toward the Ciricuan people, I am no better than Saffron, Luminia, or Asterion.”

“But you’re fun, Cousin Lysettie!  No sticks up your bum at all!”

“I know.  Maybe because I’m young and still not too far removed from a human existence.  Because I haven’t had centuries of experience making me cynical and despondent that the world that is, is the only possible world that can be.  Because I haven’t fully internalized the notion that I’m necessarily better or wiser than anyone else just because Zarielle gave me power one day.  Just means I have the ability to enforce my will upon the world.”

“Then use that power and will to help everyone have fun instead of fighting!” Aurie said.

Lysette stared with incredulity.  Then she laughed from the complete nonsequitur of pure Whimsy.  And then she nodded in agreement.

“I want to, Aurie.”

“Then do it!  Let’s have lots of fun with everyone.”

“Let’s.”  Lysette smiled.  But it was hollow.

The rest of the flight proceeded in silence, Lysette wanting to say something to Aurie or maybe the other way around, but Aurie only ever looked like she wanted to talk.  And Lysette knew not the right words to broach the subject.  It took scarcely two hours before the three crested the peaks of the Spire Mountains and began their descent down the foothills into Ciricu.  Back home.

It was Solanna who finally broke the silence.  “My divinity help me, Lyse.  You told me Ciricu was a small town in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nothing on all sides.  But only now do I realize that your words were an understatement.  No entertainment facilities, I don’t even think I see something that’d pass for a decent bar.”

“There is an inn, and they do serve hard drinks,” Lysette said.  “Couldn’t tell you how they taste; I’ve not tried them and don’t care to.  But I don’t think you’ll find any more exotic entertainment than that.  The people here are pretty easygoing, accustomed to a modest existence.  There’ll be some pushback if you try to push for too much change, too soon.  I would ask that you respect that much.”

Solanna chuckled.

“Was something funny?” Lysette asked.

“We’d just spent all this time castigating Saffron because she refuses to change, and yet now I see that she’s rubbed off on you.”

“Maybe on the surface, but there’s one difference that’s critical.  At least in this regard, I’m enforcing the people’s decision, rather than the other way around.”

Solanna shook her head.  “To answer your question from before, I’m going to be taking more of an advisory role.  And as part of that, I’m going to call you out on your bullshit and sanctimony when I tell you that your so-called ‘difference’ isn’t nearly as different as you wish it to be.  Saffron does indeed respect the wishes of a large contingent of the Domarian population.  Even those who might do better under a different status quo.”  She looked away for a moment.  “Maybe you’ve forgotten your humanity more than I’d thought.”

Lysette grew indignant for an instant, and then let her ire dissipate just as quickly.  Solanna was absolutely right.  And she had known this before but forgotten it in so many months.  She spent more and more of her time and effort and mental focus on dealings among the gods and less and less on the humans she had long sought to uplift.  Shame came over her, and she allowed her embarrassment to show itself upon her face.

“Thank you, Solanna.  Needed to hear that.”

“It’s good for you to be idealistic, Lyse.  Just remember that you aren’t so brilliant that you’re going to randomly stumble upon some idea that no one has ever thought of in the last ten thousand years.”

“Point taken.”

“I’m not saying that your reasons are wrong or that your heart isn’t in the right place on this one.  But plenty of incredibly intelligent people— mortals and gods alike— have spent vast swaths of their lives trying to figure out how best to rule or govern or administer or whatever word you want to use to describe your position relative to the people of Ciricu.”

“Why are you like this, Solanna?” Lysette asked.  “I’m not saying it’s a bad thing— just the opposite.  But I act as I am because I am always pushing toward my Reciprocity— my revenge.  Serrena is constantly improving herself in accordance with her Ambition.  And Aurie is always thinking about having fun and playing games just as one would expect from the embodiment of Whimsy.  But I don’t see you going around, having amorous flings and rushing into questionable decisions in the heat of the moment as I would expect from the Demigoddess of Passion.”

“Well, I told you one of the answers.  My Passion is directed less toward being hotheaded and amorous, to use your word, and more toward the world and humanity as a whole.  But the other is a lot more difficult and you might not be able to pull it off.”  Solanna hesitated.  “Most of my strength comes from Cultivating ordinary Essence like any other human Cultivator.  I am a demigoddess, and the Forest of Feelings is an Essence Nexus, and I have spent nearly every moment over the past century Cultivating with all that I am.  And in doing so, I separated somewhat from my Domain.

I still acknowledge it, feel Divine Essence trickling through it to feed me, in a sense.  But I don’t strive to strengthen my connection to it.  For to strengthen your connection is to embody your Domain a bit more, to act more and more in accordance with it.  I wanted to remain myself, and so I did as much.  Ultimately, you have to choose for yourself— would you choose to gain power more quickly, even if you lose more and more of yourself in the process?”

Lysette nodded.  It wasn’t just her Domain, but also her demonic nature that provided an easier, faster, and more seductive path to power.  Through either and both as the situation demanded and allowed, Lysette had supplemented ordinary Cultivation to bolster her fighting prowess.  To increase her physical and mental capabilities, to develop new techniques, and in doing so, wield the power of the gods to shape Aimarion to her will.

Somewhere in the recesses of her mind, Lysette had been vaguely aware of it.  She’d even consciously identified that was true when she used her demonic power.  Every death made the next one easier.  Every Spark absorbed would fuel the addiction and make her lust after the next with greater intensity— greater ferocity.  Would bring her closer to the precipice of becoming the next Lilit.  Of being the very thing the gods were trying to prevent.

And yet, the alternative was worse.  Already Kristil had died in a war between the gods that did not concern her.  And if Alan was willing with his dying strength to kill her out of nothing but spite, there would be no telling what any other god might do in retaliation.  They’d already shown that they were willing to order their subordinates to ruin relations between nations and send their own children into the conflict.  Lysette scoffed— was there no atrocity to which they would not stoop?

No, they’d go after her with everything they had.  And because this was a holy war, divine missives ordained by their deities themselves, the agents of the gods would not be satisfied with direct assaults upon her.  They would continue to use her weaknesses.  Her compulsion to get stronger.  Her concern for the people of Ciricu, and to a lesser extent, those of Domaria.  Her friends.  Mirae, her love, most of all.  None of them would be safe— if not from underhanded tactics designed to put her into a compromised position, then from the crossfire.

Lysette wanted to say that she had morals.  Not striking the first blow, only ever reacting to threats against her and hers.  A boundary that could be flexible at times.  Marol came to mind.  How easy it would have been to abscond peacefully with a sleeping Mirae under cover of night.  None would have been any wiser had she slipped into the shadows and onward with her objective.

But those who threatened the people she loved?  Her friends, her tenuous connection to sanity, her reason for any semblance of morality and mercy and not scouring Aimarion as Lilit did four million years ago?  There could be no recompense from those who would harm them.

Lysette took a deep breath as she landed on the outskirts of Ciricu.  She took in the cool mountainous air, the ruffle of the wind, the rustle of new blossoms on the trees heralding the impending spring.  The people cooking and cleaning, kids playing in the streets, families being built, lives taking shape, and sometimes the community mourning loss.  An idyllic town, one not dissimilar from Osstia.

All of this was worth fighting for.  All of this was worth protecting.  The people, the community, the way of life, and the faint promise of a world where people worked together in harmony rather than tearing each other apart in the spirit of competition.

And if Lysette had to damn herself to that end, it was a sacrifice she would gladly make.

Chapter 258: https://www.patreon.com/posts/115284822

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

Chapter 260: https://www.patreon.com/posts/115342349