262 (II)

  Accelerated [I]

  "The very act of deception poisons the soul," the Starhawk declared with utter conviction.

  This made Jessica laugh again, but this time her voice was tinged with a deep bitterness. "That thing happening with Maiden, the thing you noticed about all the Ascendants?" She gritted her teeth. "That's happening to him too. He would have never said something corny like that, even just fifty years ago. He lied, and he did whatever it took to make sure that life for the people turned out for the best. You were quite the political player, Thaen. You were good. You did whatever it took. And then… slowly, you couldn’t.”

  Jessica sniffled and looked up again. "I remember you saying that your personal values and honor pale in comparison to the importance of the standards of living and the general livelihoods of the people. Not quite so, anymore. You basically turned into the stories they're telling about you as well. The degeneration’s happening across the board. You’re not escaping this any more than Maiden or the others are."

  "This I know," the Starhawk said, "but it points me toward goodness. Toward the arc of justice.”

  "What a load of horseshit." Jessica snorted. "You can't be good. You're just a character, a facet of yourself. You don't have the choice to commit evil because you're Starhawk the Just. All you will ever be now is just. You can't turn aside from your nature and choose something else. Just like Daughter can't stop being a monster. Just like Longinus can't stop forcing himself on people and letting the drink spill through his veins. Just like the Songbringer can't stop deceiving people and fucking things up for everyone. You are all shriveled. And there's nothing any of you can do about it."

  "You’re wrong," a new voice rasped. Roland stepped closer, and immediately, Jessica's demeanor changed. If there was any hint of mercy or softness when she was talking to the Starhawk, it died the instant she found herself faced with the Ascendant’s favored Avatar.

  "Of course you think there is," Jessica said, sneering at the man whom she once might have called friend. Now, she would have probably tried murdering Roland right there and then if she could get to him. “At the heart of every last one of the Starhawk’s dumbshit decisions, there’s Roland Arrow. Honorable Roland Arrow. Noble Roland Arrow. Man who has an excuse for practically everything—because even if you did something wrong, it’s for a good cause. Right? Right, Roland?”

  The Town Lord’s jaw tightened. He was diminished, but there was no hint of fear in his eyes; just weariness. “I didn’t want to do it. And there are things you don’t understand—”

  “Well, I’m here. Now’s a good time to tell me. Why’d you kill my kid? What did she do? Did she murder someone who didn’t have it coming? Did she betray us? Well?”

  Shiv waited for Roland to say something—and Adam swallowed. He stared at his father expectantly. But no words came from Roland. The Town Lord just looked away.

  Jessica’s calmness nearly came undone right then and there. If she didn’t have a skill that could douse her rage, Shiv suspected she would be past the point of Berserk. The Giantsbane let out a breath. “Yeah. That’s what I thought. She didn’t have it coming, did she? So. That means she probably figured out what your great patron was planning.”

  “This is—”

  “Shut the fuck up, thing,” Jessica snarled. “I’m talking to a real person right now. The one that can actually make a choice. You don’t have a place here.”

  And to Shiv’s surprise, the Starhawk didn’t strike back at her in any way. The Ascendant seemed to acknowledge her grief and spared her any retaliation, verbal or otherwise.

  Sage of the Enkindled Heart: She likely will try making a move on Roland when we raise the siege of Blackedge. Adam won’t allow that. More importantly, we will not allow that. Her personal grudge against Roland Arrow is second in importance to ours. He cannot die. He cannot die until whatever between us is settled… and even then, he cannot die. We despise him still, but he does not deserve death. For Adam’s sake. And because he’s just…

  Shiv let out a breath. Godsdammit. He’s just human. Why couldn’t he have been a monster…

  Gardener of Doubt: Roland thought this of us as well. Too human. All too human.

  Roland leveled his gaze at Jessica. "Hate me if you must, Jessica, but you know that the Starhawk's mission is just. You know that the Ascendants are leading the Republic to ruin. That there is no future in—"

  "Shut the fuck up!" Jessica snapped. "Just shut the fuck up. I'm not here to discuss morality with you—you bastard. I don't care what you have to say to me. I don't."

  Rusty hovered in the air and slowly tilted, turning until the tip of its blade was pointed at Roland. Rose took a step in front of her love and glared her former friend down, but it was like Jessica couldn't see Rose anymore. All that remained in her eyes was Roland.

  "I know about his plan," Jessica said, pointing upward. "His plan to turn you into an Ascendant as well."

  "What?" Roland gasped. "He's not—No. That isn't what the Sacred Phylacteries were for. We wish to distribute the divine power among the people."

  Jessica sneered. "Yeah, 'the people.' How do we decide who 'the people' are?"

  "Everyone!" Roland cried. "Every single person in the Republic who bears faith. Every single person in the Republic who has served the Commonwealth—who served the common good."

  Jessica shook her head as if it were the most absurd thing she'd ever heard. "You know, I've met plenty of the ordinary people of the Republic, and you two… If that's actually the Starhawk's plan, you're genuinely fucking morons."

  "It is the only way the Republic will survive," the Starhawk declared, and for the first time, Shiv heard a note of genuine anger in the Ascendant's voice. "If the people are not empowered, then we will belong to the few. Countless will be sacrificed to ensure the Great One is further contaminated, that our false divinity takes hold."

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “Yeah, sure,” Jessica replied. “That's what you claim. But let me tell you something. Even if everything is true, even if you aren't bullshitting me right now, the average person is never going to make for a good god. Most people are barely decent Pathbearers. The average person is pathetic and will do whatever comforts them. You're degenerating too. You know this. You know how predictable you’re becoming.”

  "If this plan unfolds properly, then the people of our Republic will not suffer the same kind of ontological dementia."

  "That doesn't matter. They don't need to suffer any kind of mental or spiritual decay to become pathetic. They are already pathetic because they're behaviorally pathetic. Because instead of swinging their sword and doing everything they can to make sure they have the skills to steal a little bit of agency back from the System, they're waiting like dogs in a kennel, scared, beaten down. They have their heads low, and they're waiting to get their throats fucking slit. I would hate them if I didn't pity them so much. I would hate them if I didn't have to fight for them, if I didn't feel so godsdamn bad for them."

  "Then what do you believe?" Roland asked, his voice a harsh rasp. "Do you believe that it's proper for Veronica Chandler to decide everything? For her to be the Lord Ruler of our Republic? To be the master of a group of degenerating dogs that we assume to be gods?”

  Jessica shrugged. "Yeah. Sure."

  "You're only saying that because she has a hold over you," Shiv said. "You basically admitted it to me earlier."

  The Giantsbane rolled her eyes. “No, even if she wasn't offering me that, I still wouldn't believe in the people. I defend the people because the people have problems. It's not that they're terrible. It's not that I hate them for having problems or acting like shits. I get it. I don’t despise them. But they are weak. We're not supposed to butcher and bully the weak. I was weak once. But the weak can't decide. The weak shouldn't decide. If you're weak and stupid, you're just a problem waiting to be solved by someone. There's a whole lot of different weaknesses. Even if we fed them divine power, they wouldn't know how to use it. They can't. It's too much, all at once."

  She paused and examined Shiv again. "Same for you. You became a Legend far too quickly, kid. Far too quick. That's why I put you down when we fought earlier. You have the strength, you have the ability to hurt, but you don't know how to use it. You stumble around like some kind of drunk monster; you don’t strike, you flail. That’s enough against someone weaker and slower. The System might’ve flooded you with some instinctive grappling, but there’s not enough actual combat experience there to make a proper difference against someone worth a damn in a fight."

  “I’ve killed and broken Legends,” Shiv shot back. "I think I got plenty of fight in me."

  “Sure. Maybe single-skill Legends. And they weren’t going to stay Legends if you managed to put them down. Let me guess, one of them was a Legendary monster? Or a Jotun? Is that why you feel confident?" Shiv didn’t answer, but she read something from his face. “Yeah. That’s what I thought. Let me tell you, the Frost Giants aren’t worth shit in a fight. Killing a Frost Giant Legend is like killing a High Master of the Republic. Maybe barely that.”

  “Seems a bit prejudiced,” Uva muttered.

  “I am prejudiced. Giants aren’t people; they’re a set of numbers I’m going to turn into a zero someday when I feel like it. They’re a bunch of bullies from a world that was tailor-made for their comfort. They’re born too big, too magically inclined. The System fucked them over by making the front half of their lives too easy. And that’s why Earth beat the shit out of them in that Incursion and ate their planet. And it’s going to do the same thing to you. And it will do the same thing to everyone if the Starhawk here actually pulls this dumb shit off."

  Sage of the Enkindled Heart: Her main problem remains the fact that Roland is in support of this plan. She hates him. Enough to see her own thoughts and true feelings clouded. Enough to repress any possibility that the plan might turn out for the better. Continuing down this path of dialogue is useless. It will aggravate her. If there is to be a solution for her emotional turmoil, it will require a level of satisfaction that sees what she lost returned.

  Shiv cleared his throat. “Look, if I can bring your husband back, I’ll do the same for your kid. How’s that for an additional benefit? No extra bullshit. I’ll just do it.” The words left Shiv on reflex, and Jessica’s eyes snapped back to him like a bird of prey spotting a rat.

  “There’s a hell of a lot riding on your back, Deathless,” Jessica said coolly. “I hope you understand that a lot of this rests on your ‘probably, certainly’ earlier.”

  "Yeah. But we do what we can with what we got, right?"

  She didn’t disagree, and so they left the topic there.

  "Well," Hymn chimed in, clapping his hands together. "This has been a most unsatisfying and tense conversation. But it seems we have come to something of an accord."

  "And this fucking guy has to stay twenty meters away from me. At all times," Jessica added, pointing at the Headmaster.

  "Sure. Done," Shiv agreed.

  Hymn looked between them. "Are we forgetting my vote in this?"

  "Just go with it," Shiv said.

  "I don’t give a shit," Jessica hissed.

  The Headmaster muttered something about never being respected under his breath, but promptly retreated from the conversation.

  Sage of the Enkindled Heart: And be wary of Hymn. We have something to use against almost everyone here socially and psychologically. Not the Headmaster. He is unbothered. There is no obvious weakness. But he is dangerous—made more dangerous by the fact that he doesn’t ever snarl. If he seeks to kill us, it will be a sudden, unannounced attack. He has no fear of any of us. And he barely regards Jessica with any tension at all. He may well be the single most dangerous person here by far…

  "Listen, kid, since you've been straight with me, I'll be straight with you." Jessica reached out and took Rusty by the hilt. "I'm here because this is a deal, a transaction. And because you've supposedly been working under Chandler as well. If she knows about you and she's playing her game, I don't see why I shouldn’t profit a little, either. But don't think, not for one second, I won't go for Roland or side with the Ascendants when the time comes."

  Shiv gave her a begrudging nod. "But until then, we can help each other. We can both get a little closer to what we want. I'm not stupid. I understand grudges. And I know you're not going to let whatever is happening between you and Roland go just because we say a few words. But I'm asking you to put your satisfaction ahead of revenge. Because I just might be able to give you what no one else can."

  The Giantsbane let out a long breath. "It's the only reason why we're still dealing with each other."

  Shiv looked past Jessica and made eye contact with Roland. The Town Lord communicated his thanks, and the Deathless cringed as he realized he was somehow the mediator between a man he still kind of hated and a woman with whom he shared a grudge.

  Can’t believe I’m being the reasonable one for Roland… Emotions are a real mess to have sometimes…

  "So, now that we got through the messy bits. Where's the slipgate?" Jessica asked. She tried to drive Rusty through the floor, but this place was only made of Psychomancy mana. Nothing but translucent mist; there was nothing to sink the tip of the dimensional sword through.

  "We'll bring you there," Shiv said. "We just gotta—ah, shit… dammit…” Shiv sighed. He rubbed at his face as he realized he had another headache coming his way.

  “What? What’s wrong? Shiv?” Uva pulled at him using her Psychomancy, trying to get a response.

  “The Educator,” Shiv said. “We still gotta tell the Educator about all this shit. She’s going to pop a vessel when she finds out everything we’ve been doing without telling her.”

  “Well,” Adam smacked his lips, “time to prepare a Necromancy arrow. Just in case.”