Ria's Adventures
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Godslayer Lysette: Chapter 263
🕑 Added 2024-11-07 12:54:47 +0000 UTCChapter 263: Bloodlines Revealed
Lysette cycled through her mind trying to figure out when and where was the best place to reveal the new bombshell about the twins’ latent divinity. Just say it here in front of everyone right now, not caring how any of the others would take that sudden revelation? Wait until Beatrice has had some time to steep in her emotions and tell the group then? Pull Rolf aside and tell the two of them? There didn’t seem to be a single great answer. As there rarely was in life, let alone when deities chose to get involved.
Ultimately, though, fewer secrets meant fewer possible misunderstandings. Resentments and simmering tensions could still boil over, but that would happen either way. It wasn’t ideal that Beatrice would hear about her heritage from her twin later. Though, thinking about it a bit more, maybe that was for the best. Lysette had had to come to terms with her own sudden ascension while in the throes of grief and with the faces of her family and the stench of their burning corpses fresh on her mind. And that had definitely not been the greatest outcome for her mental stability.
“Alright,” Lysette said. “There’s no easy way to sugarcoat this and I’m sure this will come as a surprise to everyone else involved, so I’m just going to state this plainly. Solanna and I were discussing this just a moment ago via telepathy. Rolf, there’s strong reason to believe that you and your sister are both directly descended from Goleo, the primordial God of Earth. That would explain why your family has a strong affinity for the Earth element.”
“Okay.” Rolf paused for a moment. “Even if that’s the case, whatever happened back then, happened. It doesn’t change who Tricia and I are, nor does it have any relevance to what we’re doing now.”
“The point is that the children of the gods and their descendents carry inside them something Solanna has referred to as a Seed of Divinity. That is to say, the two of you have the potential to become gods, if you so choose.”
“Gods?” Rolf stood up, eyes full of distrust and denial. “You’re saying that Tricia and I are gods? I know you’re–”
Lysette maintained her focus on the potential new godling, not wavering, not blinking, trying to convey the truth of her words through her open body language and divine presence as much as possible. Rolf tried to raise his hands in what must’ve been accusation or anger like that of his sister, but as the two made eye contact, his index finger first tensed, then released. He sat back down.
“Lying…” he continued, quivering. “By every sane and rational metric, you should be lying. There’s no way. It can’t be true. Me? A god? But… Those eyes. You genuinely believe every word you just told me. Even if they’re not true, they’re true enough to you that I–. I need to lie down for a moment.”
“It was a lot to take in for me too,” Serrena said. “I was in your position just a few months ago until my favorite dimwit over here showed me that my great grandmother and I were also descended from our own godly progenitor. I have to say, ever since that day, well, there’s not been a boring day since.”
“Your great-grandmother?”
Solanna stood up, offered her hand, and bowed slightly. “Solanna Raesh. Serrena’s great-grandmother. Nice to meet you too.”
“Wait,” Katie said.
“Are you also going to tell me about whether or not I’m that Solanna Raesh who allegedly died a hundred years ago after she vanished? Because yes, I am, and yes, having this conversation so many times is starting to get a bit annoying.”
“Uh… Sorry. I guess you’ve gotten that a lot. I guess I was just astounded. Up here, they called her the Phoenix of the South. At least, according to the history books. A Cultivator as feared as she was respected for her prowess.”
Solanna responded with the signature Raesh family grin. “Moving back to the topic at hand, now that you know this, you and your sister are going to have to decide where to go forward from here. If you want to stay here, live normal lives as ordinary Cultivators, or even abandon Cultivation altogether and be just… regular people, you can do that. I’m sure no one here will begrudge you and I don’t think I’m overstepping my place to say that Lyse will protect you just the same as she would everyone else here.”
Lysette nodded.
“The other option is that you can start trying to awaken that Divine Spark that you both hold within you.”
“I’m guessing there’s a catch, or you wouldn’t be trying to dissuade me so. Please, enlighten me.”
Aurie, who had previously been lying on one of the few remaining patches of snow and giggling as she frolicked about, leaned in from behind Lysette and grabbed a piece of sausage. She plopped it into her mouth and barely chewed before swallowing.
“Ooh, that one is spicy! Anyway, being a goddess isn’t really fun. It really just means being thrown around on one assignment or another and always having to worry that someone’s going to use you or kill you! Not fun at all!”
Rolf shuddered. “You too…”
“Aurella. But, uh, you can call me Aurie too if you want. Cousin Lysettie does, and so do most of the kids. And yeah, I’m a goddess. As are like half of the people sitting at the table. If you count people who don’t have any divinity at all, I think there’s like three of you here.”
“Oh, celestials above.” Rolf sat in bemused silence.
The rest of the table sat just as quietly. Aurie took advantage of the situation to grab another piece of sausage, this time savoring it far longer before finally swallowing and sighing just a bit too suggestively for her childish form.
“Aurella, despite her Whimsical nature, is correct,” Solanna said. “That was part of the reason for my disappearance for a century. Just trying to escape all these damnable wars the gods and their servants keep trying to drag me into. My divinity help me, but even when I say I want no part of it, the war always seems to find a way to drag me back in.” She glared toward Lysette again.
“And I’m afraid things are only getting worse,” Lysette said. “I was gone for less than a day and a half and had to survive yet another assassination attempt. That’s… what, three this week, if you count Aurie deciding she wanted to fight me too.”
“I’m sorry, Lysettie! I was told you were big and bad and scary.”
“You are,” Jules said. “Very scary indeed.”
“The point that Lyse is trying to make,” Serrena interjected, “is that once you embark on the path of divinity, you’re tied into the war of the gods. For life, which is to say, to the death. As much as Lyse is too soft for her own good sometimes, she is decisive to act whenever she or the people she cares about come under threat. You’ve seen her when she gets that way.”
“Like I said, very scary.” Jules said.
Katie nodded in agreement.
“So, is this a threat?” Rolf asked. “We can become gods like you, but in return, you expect us to follow in line with whatever you want.”
“I didn’t say that,” Lysette said.
“But Serrena certainly implied it.”
“What she and I are saying is that, if you and your sister choose to pursue your family’s legacy, then it is a matter of when and not if you will get dragged into this conflict. And when that happens, if you choose to wield that strength against me or anyone else here, I will not hesitate. And I won’t be able to spare you like I did last time.”
“Why did you spare us in the first place? Especially after threatening me just now?”
“Because I thought that would make me feel better about myself. Thought it’d make me better than the one who killed my family. It only made me a hypocrite, but I still don’t regret my decision.”
“I guess I… I don’t understand.” Rolf clutched his head. “If it’s all the same, I’m going to go for a walk. Meet up with my sister, let her know about all this. Just… try and figure out what I want to do.”
He departed with a curt nod toward the table collectively. As he left, Lysette suppressed a sigh, instead doing so verbally just to Mirae.
“There’s no easy answers for any of this. No matter what I do, someone gets hurt. At the very least, someone ends up having to fight. I just want this all to end, love. Be done with the fighting and the dying and the killing, so we can just… be.”
“And we will, dear. And just remember. I know how you feel. The responsibilities that you’ve placed on your shoulders are greater than almost anyone’s. Responsibilities that no one, especially not yourself, are capable of bearing. So I want you to remember what you promised us. That you’re not going to do it alone.”
Mirae was right. It had always been her goal to share her power with others. A goal that was finally being realized through the people of Ciricu, all of whom had at least the ability to Cultivate, if not the time or interest to do so. In time, she hoped, the rest of the world would follow suit.
It wasn’t a decision without its own set of problems. For one, it meant that the upcoming conflict— now inevitable— would be far more brutal both in terms of damage to the world and to villages and lives. No longer would it be one where Cultivators warred while the people did their best to get out of the way. It meant one where each individual person had at least the opportunity to defend themselves with divine power. But also one where the line between civilian and combatant would blur, in some cases disappearing entirely. It meant one where civilians who might’ve lived could possibly die.
Lysette piled those burdens atop her shoulders as well, hearing Mirae’s words but not sure how to accept their offers for help. She held their hand in her lap, sandwiching it between both of her own. And without saying a word, she let those worries and concerns and guilt and doubt and every other mixed emotion suffuse through the thin boundary that still separated the two lovers as their rings made contact.
“I’m here for you, Lysette, my beloved, my betrothed. Even if all I can do for you is be an anchor, hear your concerns and worries, and let you speak your mind freely and without judgement.”
“I appreciate it.”
“What do you think they’ll do?”
“I don’t know. I know this is likely to be taken the wrong way, but I’d like you to keep an eye on them. Both of them are angry and confused, and I’m so naive as to believe that Terea doesn’t have a few spies keeping an eye on us for opportunities to weaken us from within. Do your best to stay out of sight, give them space, and let me know if you see anyone else approaching them.”
“They’ll resent us for this if–”
“I know. I’ll be seen as a tyrant sending you as a spy to eavesdrop on a private, personal conversation. But when I said that I will do anything and everything it takes to protect the people here, I absolutely meant it. I won’t begrudge them their decision if they want to turn tail and head back to Terea, even if they later take up arms against us. But if they get some idea in their heads to try to take hostages or similar underhanded tactics, well…”
“I understand, love. I will keep my distance and observe only with my aura.”
A bit of tension released from Lysette’s shoulders. “Thank you, my beloved.”
Chapter 262: https://www.patreon.com/posts/115473246
Table of Contents: https://www.patreon.com/posts/101896170
Chapter 264: https://www.patreon.com/posts/115603517
Comments
Jessica
Not quite what I meant. Of course, the Terean soldiers don't deserve death after they capitulated. I merely meant since they are the attackers they have the burden of deescalation. And I certainly do see the burden of deescalation on Lyse for when she overstepped and I am not at all in agreement with her that she has a right to murder all the gods just because she has been wronged by some of them. Also I don't see Ciricu as Lyse invading Terea because Diversity also demands a right to secession which I think is more what happened there.
Bielna
This time I will be the one to point out that you are the one who seem inconsistent. You claim that those soldiers have no right to live for attacking a town that they were informed hosted a Demonic cult, and whose inhabitants had massacred twenty guards sent to apprehend a criminal. Furthermore, after learning that those orders were invalid, they haven't tried to fulfill them again and even accepted to help their captors. That is, in addition, to the fact that Ciricu became rebels in the first place because Lysette violated the laws and custom of Terea on her first visit there, then escalated the situation further with public and open defiance and killings. Compare that to Mirae and Lysette attacking Marol and Kattor, murdering and torturing nine of their defenders for money, or to Kristil, Danitha and Ari following the Domarian orders to mobilize and engage on the front lines, or even to Lysette, Serrena and Mirae explicitly acting to destroy the current order including the position of faiths and deities unrelated to Asterion. Each of them have circumstances (some good, some not) and varying amount of damage caused, and each act represents some form of violation of someone else's cultural environment, but you seem to only condemn to death the Terean soldiers. Edit : I'm not saying that all those acts demand death penalty, quite the opposite, I fail to understand why the Terean soldiers shouldn't get their own chance to be forgiven considering the circumstances behind their attack and the fact that they have already lost their ability to Cultivate and their freedom.
Jessica
We might actually be stuck on the differences between "our Domains" again. Diversity demands a sanctity to someone else's cultural environment where I consider the soldiers to have forfeit their lives when they overstepped it, while Vindication demands a more measured response in relation to how much of a threat the attacker actually posed.
Bielna
I don't think that's really practical, even Lysette isn't so naive as letting people go back to Terea on a promise, which is why she depowers them first. If the idea is that the "defeated" Cultivators must prevent each other from engaging in combat... I think this is roughly equivalent to being treated as PoW, in which people are spared but locked and under surveillance, and won't try to kill their jailers. It's still uncomfortable to imagine civilians treated as soldiers, though. I think we can make an exception for those who can't fight (children and elderly) and their caretakers ? Or maybe if the agreement goes back earlier : even if they can Cultivate, anyone not wearing an uniform will not engage in combat even against hostile invaders, as long as said invaders do not harm civilians.
Bielna
It's consistent with her saying that she will damn herself to protect Ciricu, though. I wouldn't call it a relapse, it simply contrasts the moments when she doesn't see evil acts as necessary. But she has been moving in this direction intentionally since the beginning of this book and is keeping to her current path. But as was my complain back then, what I fear is that her "damning herself" would be something that others, not Lysette, pay the price for. Which would be the case if that spying becomes the reason Rolf and/or Beatrice go back to Terea while Lysette and Mirae get away without facing any consequences. Edit : Also, that's why I would consider both the case where Mirae isn't caught, and the one where they are but Rolf and Beatrice don't turn coat, as "good" outcomes. Either way Lysette damns herself and Mirae by abusing her power and violating the privacy of others, but at least in those cases, no one else ends up paying the price.
Jessica
I concede that point. She decided so without consulting anybody and even shutdown Mirae's attempt at a counter point and that is at least a severe relapse on her character growth.
Bielna
Yeah, I'm a bit on the pessimistic side. But considering Lysette is acting exactly in line with what Beatrice was angry about, I'd give a 50:50 chance for her, at least, to turn coat after seeing her accusations confirmed. The want for peace comes from not attacking others gratuitously... And Mirae spying on their private conversations is an attack. Remember when Lysette said that spies deserve a summary execution ? If at least it was a communal decision... I hate spying, but if a representative share of the community decided it was necessary for its safety, I would find it more acceptable. At least, at that point, it becomes a question of whether you want to be part of such a community or not. On the other hand, a handful of extremely powerful individuals deciding this on their own and in secret ? And it annoys me that Lysette is going to get away with it. I'd love, if the spying is revealed, to see Solanna holding Lysette and Mirae by the scruff of their neck, in front of the central place of Ciricu, and have them tell everyone exactly what they did to violate the privacy of Rolf and Beatrice ; all the while those two accept this as a sufficient punishment and decide not to hold any more grudge. But that's never going to happen. In general, there is pretty much never any consequence to Lysette's actions... because she is powerful, and in Aimarion, the powerful can do whatever they want. We've seen that multiple times on both the protagonist and antagonists' sides. Okay, let's be optimistic. No handing by the scruff of the neck and confessing in front of all of Ciricu, but instead Beatrice outs Lysette and Mirae in front of all the people who were around this table then punches them in the face, after which they shake hands and agree not to take openly hostile acts towards each other. I can actually see this as possible... but I have to be really optimistic about it. The actual outcome I see as both very likely and positive is that Mirae doesn't get caught. But then it's a case of "tyrant couple deciding in secret to spy on people's private life and get away with it" situation, which is bitter for a good outcome.
Jessica
If there were such a thing as a 'good soldier' there would be an interesting alternative: You could as a cultivator agree that you are defeated and could be killed and stay out of the war from that point onward knowing that the option of being spared in exchange for that agreement is only on the table so long as everybody abides by it. But it is like with cops, once the 'good' ones are found to protect the bad ones they are no longer good.
Jessica
Not necessarily. Because Lyse made it absolutely clear to Rolf that she is protecting Ciricu. So I'm not sure the spying should come as such a surprise given Rolf already understood the threat Lyse was making. By leaving the siblings alive and telling them about their divinity Lyse has taken a risk even though she had every reason not to. And so if and when the spying ultimately will be revealed it would be on the siblings to not turn to becoming enemies even though they have every reason to. The want for peace has to come from both sides and Lyse has made an offering but the siblings haven't yet, so I feel like it is on them to make a show of not becoming enemies even if they won't be allies. I do agree on the tyrant bit though, but I wonder how much of that is because Lysette is the main character and narrative convention dictates that the plot progresses through the choices of the main character.
Bielna
In a slightly better world civilians would have some protection, but Aimarion isn't such a world. Better to have them being able to fight back, I suppose, or at least I prefer everyone to have the ability to do something. On the other hand, it's also a dangerous path. We saw in the previous chapter's discussion on handling Cultivator prisoners, and in what happened with Ft. James. Training everyone as a Cultivator means that if an army takes a village, they have to, by the standard military practice of Aimarion, execute everyone systematically because of the danger represented by Cultivators. So giving everyone power is an improvement against bad soldiers who would attack civilians anyway, but it means good soldiers who would have spared non-combatants can no longer do so. ... I wish Lysette could share her Essence drain technique. Edit : I remember that Kristil mentioned executing Cultivator prisoners after interrogation, but also it came up in yesterday's discussion that after the large-scale battle, a number of weak Cultivators were taken prisoners. It's possible that civilian Cultivators would be handled the same way by an ethical army, treated as prisoners of war but not systematically executed. We don't have enough details about the logistics behind taking Cultivators as PoW to make sure.
Bielna
Not sending them was more dangerous but it was the right thing to do. Especially in a world where the purpose is to make people equal and able to defend themselves through Cultivation, it makes no sense to violate someone's privacy under such grounds. If Mirae is caught, neither them nor Lysette is going to be the one paying the price, feeling violated and channeling that anger towards their own doom. If Lysette wasn't an absolute leader, Mirae being caught would mean both of them have to pay for the criminal choice of spying on people's private conversations. In that case it would almost be fine, the ones committing a crime paying the price for it. But because she is an absolute leader, what can we expect to happen if Mirae is caught ? Everyone will look the other way, at most scold Lysette without any actual weight behind it, and no one will give Rolf and Beatrice a reason not to turn against Ciricu. I wish I could put more faith in the characters, especially Serrena and Solanna, but I really can't. Their allegiance to Lysette is too strong and I don't think they will ever actually do anything even after seeing her do wrong. Serrena already proved that in books 2 and 3, and I'd be surprised if Solanna was different.
Bielna
It's funny how Serrena and Lysette are so sure of themselves that everyone need to get involved... When they really don't. Like, the only one that didn't freely choose to get involved is Aurella, because she was pressured by her mother, and that's more a product of the ties she already had. Solanna could easily have stayed in her corner, and Aurella could choose not to get involved further with either side. Heck, even now Serrena has practically no significant ties (Rayleigh and Lysette are the only ones really keeping her where she is) and could walk out at any time (not true of Lysette, though). She won't, but that's her choice, not a product of her divinity. Last part is a terrible idea, Mirae better not fuck this up. If the twins realize they are being distrusted and spied on, they will have a legitimate reason to turn coat. Even if I understand the reasons, they should understand how oppressive it's going to feel especially given that they're already the absolute leaders of the town. And they both know it's a shitty thing to do, they aren't even informing their allies... Tyrant couple :-( Thing is, it's not just being seen as a tyrant that will be the consequence. In the worst case, she will be seen as a tyrant, attract legitimate hostility as those two turn coat, and remorselessly kill them for fighting back under the thinking that a tyrant should be brought down. I hope it won't come to that, and that Rofl and Beatrice will not go back to Terea, but that this is a possible scenario is ironic, considering yesterday's conversation was all about holding people accountable if they don't try to bring down tyrants. Then again, I find this development interesting. So we can see the best scenario instead, hope they will accept this revelation, awaken as their own demideities, and channel their anger and discomfort with the situation in Ciricu by helping people awaken and take responsibility for themselves, seeking equity rather than flock to Lysette and her mini-pantheon.
Ria Corvidiva
Politics is war with words instead of weapons. And while the enemy of your enemy might be your ally today, they might just be your enemy when the dividing lines change ever so slightly. And pretty much. The conflicts might be bloodier, but better that civilians can defend themselves than be helpless and at their attackers' lack of mercy.
Jessica
Before this chapter there were clear front lines with our side here and the enemy over there. Now the lines a blurred and some might not even know themselves whether they are ally or enemy. It had been said that war was the last resort of politics, but it is actually the other way round, politics is the first act of war to force people to take a side. And by sending Mirae to spy Lyse might have pushed the twins to becoming enemies, but I agree that not sending them was even more dangerous. Also as real life conflicts as well as the very beginning of this story has shown there are no civilians in a war. Especially women are always a target for violence and the only question an attacker asks is whether you are an enemy that fights back or one that doesn't.
