A Concept of Apathy

Chapter 18

I met a stranger, darkly clad and softly spoken
That told me of old monsters awoken
Others said these were lies and falsehoods
So the stranger just sadly smiled

They left, for a time, and came back worried
A new problem, their explanations hurried
No one headed their warning
So the stranger just sadly smiled

Again they left, just to return
And came back, saying we’d all burn
We heeded them not, once again
So the stranger just sadly smiled

All three warnings came to pass
And I fear I am the last
From the village, that scorned them so
And so I sadly smile
– Writing found on a stone tablet dating back to the age of Loss. Author unknown

Sylin
—
Our day started early, the two clerics entering the home. Mother, Kaeo, Minna, and Apolonia headed up stairs, preparing for the birth. I had asked my mother how she knew when it was going to be, and evidently it was once again her magic. She could evidently determine when anyone would give birth with it, which explained why every once in a while pregnant women from the village would drop by to speak with her.
Mister Reclamation, Madam Strength, Madam Weakness and I all sat in the living room, waiting. The sun had not even risen yet, and my father was already gone. So was Mister Sharp and Madam Lie. I was nervous, my foot tapping against the floor and the only one who seemed to share my nerves was Madam Weakness.
She looked like she was made of glass and lace, like she was made of everything fragile. She seemed to float rather than walk as well, like she had no weight. Madam Strength looked made of crystals, quartz and salt. Both of them were pale white, and looked similar at a glance.
Madam Strength was talking to Mister Reclamation about some point in history I knew nothing about, and I once again wondered how the Concepts knew so much. They seemed to know the moment they were made, and I felt like I had to be missing something. No one just knew things like history when they were born, or I supposed close enough to it for Concepts.
I was starting to get hungry, so I turned my restless energy into trying to get some food. I hummed, looking at what we had. Eggs, milk, some meats and cheese. I started trying to move a pan over to the stove to make some eggs, but found myself stopped by Madam Weakness. She gave me a slight nervous smile.
“Don’t worry about it Young Master, I’ll handle it. You wanted eggs?” She moved the cast iron skillet over to the stove easier than I could, mostly due to height and size.
“Thank you, and yes, eggs were my goal.”
“Well you should go and rest. It might be a while however as I doubt anyone else has eaten and I want to make enough for everyone.” Her voice was soft, but not quiet. It also sounded somewhat sad, and I was fairly sure all of these were unintentional.
“I can wait, thank you again.” I said, moving back to the living room.
All the girls came down the stairs, and it was somewhat amusedly I noticed that the only boys in the house were me and Mister Reclamation. I supposed my little brother would be born soon enough as well. Kaeo came down, smelling the air. I was not surprised she could smell breakfast before it had even started.
“When will you have to go up?” I asked my mother as she made her way down.
“Oh, a little under five hours I think.”
“And when do we expect the first assault?” She looked both amused and annoyed at my question.
“Oh, a little under five hours.” She looked grimly pleased, and I wondered why.
“Are eggs for breakfast?” I heard Kaeo ask from the kitchen, and I glanced over to see her on her toes peering over the stove.
“Yes, they are.” Madam Weakness said, then addressed everyone at large.
“Who all is eating?”
Of all of us, only Kaeo and I were eating as it turned out. The two clerics were fasting, and my mother refused. From there only Concepts remained, and most Concepts did not need to eat. I was somewhat happy at this turn of events, as it meant I would get to eat sooner.
“Is there a reason you’re fasting?” I asked Minna as she sat down in an armchair.
“I presume you mean for more than theological reasons?” She said with an eyebrow raised.
“Either or.” I said with a shrug.
“There is the reason for faith, but also one more practical reason. If you fast with a prayer, it will bring you closer to your god, more able to draw on miracles.” I could almost hear the ‘And today we need a miracle.’
“Huh. How does that work?” I shifted slightly to the side as Kaeo came to sit next to me on the couch.
“It brings you closer to the divine domain they use, or perhaps closer to how they think? I’m not sure there is much of a difference.”
“Of course there is a difference.” Apolonia said, finally speaking up. She didn’t look very happy to be here, and she had brought her full plate to change into but as she was going to be helping deliver the babies she was not in it right now.
“Which is?” I asked, turning to look at her.
“Say that you are really really good at a job. You have a natural talent for it, and atop of that you have spent your life training to do that job.” She said, the entire thing sounding somewhat rehearsed.
“Okay.” I said, following so far.
“Now, that likely shapes how you think, but you don’t think through the job. It might shape how you look at things as it is your literal life’s work, but it doesn’t think for you.”
“So you’re saying that the divine domain is the work in this case?”
“Yes.” She looked pleased I understood. I wondered how much human nature we could apply to the “gods,” and saw why Minna might not think those two things were that different.
“Here you go, Young Master.” Madam Weakness said, handing me a plate with eggs and a fork. She handed the same to Kaeo, who ate much quicker than I did.
It amused me to watch Kaeo and Minna. They didn’t dislike each other, but they largely did ignore each other. I wasn’t sure as to why, although I knew that Kaeo was much more shy around people she didn’t know nowadays, and Minna was rather odd. I sometimes wondered if Minna even thought about the world in the same way as everyone else, and I was relatively more sure the more I interacted with her that she did not.
I ate, letting the others talk. My mother was inputting on the running conversation between Madam Strength and Mister Reclamation, and Kaeo was looking back and forth between Minna and Apolonia as they debated some point of theology. Madam Weakness could be heard cleaning up the kitchen behind us, and the candles that lit the room made the entire thing feel cozy.
I could almost forget there was a war coming.
Almost.


Karios
—
I had ridden out earlier than anyone else was up. I had already sold off my tiredness to one of the concepts I had for that express purpose, so felt awake despite the relative lack of sleep. I had kissed my wife on my way out, but she had been fast asleep. I had tried to make little noise to not wake anyone, as most of them could not deal with the lack of sleep in the same way I could.
I had taken Mister Sharp and Thanny with me to the tower. I would be beginning this day by working in the tower, where I had some rather nasty things prepared. I had scarfed down some cold leftovers as Thanny had ridden us over, putting the plate in my study to take back to the house later.
Mister Sharp was perhaps not one of my better fighters but certainly one of the ones that was harder to kill, so I had one task for him. Until I came out of this tower, no one was to come in unless they were family. There were a lot of foot soldiers, and most of them were constructs. I would not be targeting them very much, as I had faith in my works to hold.
No, the real problem would be the clerics. As arrogant as they were, they had power and they thought they had enough to kill either me or my wife. I would have to work against that, then kill them or otherwise incapacitate them. That, of course, started with preparation. There was more I wished I had done, although I knew I tended to be on the side of overkill at large.
And, luckily, I would be fighting clerics. They were not very smart, as instead of eating well and resting before fights they typically fasted and meditated through the night before a fight. I shook my head, more to myself than anything. It might make them more powerful, but it also made them slower in thought and reaction. They should have stayed to help people, not have been made into soldiers.
I climbed the steps of my tower, the entire place ablaze with activity. Concepts ran about, carrying this or that. I made it up to the top, and was handed a report which I started to skim. Nothing glaring seemed to be happening, everything so far was within the predictions. I nodded, skimming it once more to make sure I didn’t miss anything huge, then absent mindedly handed it off to an attendant.
It had been a long time since I had gotten in full war garb, although today was definitely one of the days where I should. I walked to the center of the room through the glass barrier only I could move through, and pulled my glove from my pocket. The glove was my least offensive enchanted item, nor did it do anything that seemed entirely defensive.
No, the glove had seven enchantments on it, those being the ability to grab any contract I had made, the ability to put items in an extradimensional storage, the ability to pull items out of said extradimensional storage, the ability to instantly read anything it touched, the ability to store mana for up to a year, the ability to interact with anything – fire, gasses, light – as though it was solid at my discretion, and the ability to instantly put any item of clothing I touched onto me.
The only real problem was the mana storing enchantment, which I had meant to use to store other peoples mana, but I had messed up the enchantment badly enough it could only pull on my own. I couldn’t even undo that one without messing up other enchantments due to how I had done it, and it might have been the biggest mistake in my career as a mage. Not that that was a problem now.
I started to pull things from storage, my robe, my hat, my glasses, my staff, some extra rings, a secondary glove, boots, a new shirt, a new pair of pants, and a belt. My normal day wear was put into storage for future use, and I shrugged my shoulders. It had been a while, so we might as well do some warm ups before anything really started.


Madam Lie
—
I was strolling my way over to the forest, not bothering to use the connecting to instantly pull myself there. It was why I had started so early to walk over to the forest. I left at the same time that my Master had, giving him a wave and a “good luck.” Not that he would need it, and he saw those who dealt with the magic of luck as pointless charlatans.
No, he would tear a bloody swath through those sent at him. Given, he was not feeling merciful and he was rather patient, how far would they enter his web before realizing the entire thing was a trap? I had a feeling that Karios would suffer nothing less than one hundred percent casualties, and Ruin was always sitting inside his head, sewing his namesake.
I had made on one of my favorite lies today, a red dress that was rather flowy. I had taken to wearing it less recently, although I had no good reason for that. Perhaps I should start wearing it once more. Although, given today it was rather likely I should start discarding lies. I let out a suffering sigh, doing a twirl to watch the dress and discarded that lie.
Then the lie of needing a form.
Then the lie of being anything close to human.
I started to spread, seeping into the ground around where I was. I quickly stopped that, knowing I needed to save my power. I flowed through the forest, welcoming me as a friend. To some degree, I was. The forest was not as… sentient as most Concepts, likely more on par with “Thanny” than anything. That did make it a rather loyal dog however, and it so happened its loyalty lined up with mine.
I was in the center of the forest, and started to spread. I felt the forest through, as it let me ride its own power to grow faster. I did not claim this ground as I might do when left alone, but I did not need to in order to complete what I was assigned. The forest was old, and like many old concepts it scorned the world trying to take what it had claimed. I laughed, as it carried me letting me see so very much.
Yes, we would have fun today.
So much fun, the forest and I.


Eusenius
—
I stood, and watched the first act of Ruin. The village became transparent, more like a ghost than anything. I tried touching one, but my hand passed through the walls. I, along with five clerics, roamed the streets to make sure no one would be caught in a battle they had not asked for.
I looked at the house for a bit longer, shaking my head at how one so young could still show me something new. It was marvelous in a way. My mind set once again to the… heresy that the High Cleric of The Seven Gods had proposed. He had not even been around when Ruin had killed us all. I suppressed a shudder, and for a second I swore I could once again see the blood that ran like a river. It faded, and I continued on.
No, no innocents should be caught in one man’s insanity. He thought of using this “war” to consolidate power, but he was too young. No, and I had done this, in a way. I clenched a plated hand, and found the God of Mind to give me comfort for a moment. I thanked him with a silent prayer, still walking.
How many would I be able to send away? I had wasted power and time trying to leave the center of power, not wanting to be chosen. I was old, and had friends in high places but none of them were likely to be on this field. No, clerics hungry for a name and for power would be here, and those who spurned what was right over personal power had no place as clerics.
I breathed in, expanding my senses as I stood in the town center. I searched for souls, but only found souls emptied, like mine. I smiled ruefully. Mine was an old soul, emptied out time and time again. The Gods had found a home there, but they were not me. I held them closer for that perhaps, and to say it was only downsides would once again be a lie.
It appeared that no one was out and about, although I directed the others to help me with one more search. I would rather be safe, these souls did not choose to be here, so I would make sure they were not. I looked up at the tower at one of the edges of town. It blazed with a white light that hurt my eyes to look at. The glow was only brightening, and power was getting thrown around to such a degree I worried about collateral damage.
I shook my head. No, I would not feel much remorse for the souls that came here to wage war. I hoped that none of the other six Saints would be here, although it seemed unlikely.
Given, I really only had one on my side which was me, as Minna had been sent away to help with the birth.
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” I started saying in old Olian. “Last time I saw Ruin fight I was not even a Saint of one of you. Since you have blessed me with all of you. I would ask your forgiveness for standing against the church as a whole, but you all know they are wrong.” I felt their attention on me, and I warmly greeted my oldest friends. “I will redo all of the wrong here, and make the church so this… mistake will never be done once again. Do I have your blessings, oldest of friends?”
Like that, my vision bloomed. There was a mistake to correct, and the Gods themselves had given me the blessing to fix it.


Mister Sharp
—
They were on the horizon, and would be here soon. I was unsure if people could see them, but my eyes were sharp. I knew my Master could see them, as the tower behind me blazed. Why these imbeciles thought it was a good idea to walk to their deaths, I had no clue. Not that I was complaining, it left me with a rather fun job.
I had been told to hold the door behind me, and my Master had done… something. I had no idea as to how, but suddenly I had felt stronger after he pressed a piece of burning paper against me. I wasn’t going to complain, or try to understand the magic of one of the most accomplished mages in the land.
No, instead I waited by the door, standing nearly twenty feet tall. Thanny was with me as well, that pale steed waiting on my call, and if I did not call on him would stand here and fight with me. He had grown as well, although I had no clue if that was just him or once again the Master.
I ran a hand along the horse’s neck, then hopped on.
It would take them time to get to this door. It was time to go raiding.


Kaeo
—
I was filled with nervous energy, so instead of joining Sylin to read I paced around the couch. I didn’t understand how everyone else could be so calm, although perhaps Madam Weakness was not calm. She was sitting, but one of her legs was bouncing and her face looked ill. I wanted to do something, but I knew I couldn’t leave the house.
I wanted to ask Sylin to spar, or to do something, but what was there to do? No, war was coming and I didn’t have any real idea what that meant. Was I going to die? Was everyone else? I didn’t want that to happen, with every fiber of my being I did not. So I kept pacing.
Minna and Apolonia were upstairs praying, saying it would help them. I wanted to prepare in some way as well, but I didn’t know how. Madam Strength and Mister Reclamation was talking about some boring point in history, and Madam Weakness looked lost in her own head.
Sylin and Missus Duewoe were both sitting, reading peacefully like everything was perfectly normal. I had no clue how they did it, and even though I was shoving it back I was tired. I had not slept well, fitfully at best as I was just so nervous. What was going to happen?
“Kaeo, dear, how about you try to read?” Missus Duewoe eventually told me. I stiflingly nodded, and went up to my room to get my book. I came back down, and sat down next to Sylin.
I felt a working start from Missus Duewoe affecting me, but did nothing to stop it. She would do nothing to harm me, and if she did there was nothing I could do. That was how I was put to sleep, leaning against Sylin.


Nomiki
—
I laughed silently to myself, watching Kaeo pace. I reached out, feeling what she did and found her tired and nervous. I had asked her to get a book, and predictably she ended up on the couch next to Sylin. I had put her to sleep, and she had relented, slumping against him.
Kaeo had a crush on my son I suspected, and I likely would have been worried more about it if they would not go and pursue different trades at the age of eleven. Sylin looked surprised at her falling asleep, and she had managed to open her book so he caught her book before it fell and put her bookmark back in.
He was rather sweet, trying not to move so as to not wake her. Not that she would wake up, I was making sure of that. She needed the few hours of sleep she was getting, and she would wake up when I went up. I hoped that all went well, and although rationally I knew it would, I had a fear of the children coming out stillborn.
I knew that wouldn’t happen. I could feel them, and explore them with my Sight. They were both healthy and strong, but I couldn’t keep my mind from wondering. I sighed, forcefully going back to my book. There was nothing I could do now besides wait.
And when the children were born, well then I would remind these clerics why they made a new troop just to have a better chance at beating me.


Sylin
—
I had been surprised when Kaeo had fallen asleep against me, and I barely managed to catch her book before it fell. It took some moving on my end, but eventually I got to a point where she could use my lap as a pillow and I went back to reading. There was some real interesting stuff in here, and more about something called “natural enchantments.”
They weren’t really enchantments, more like properties of magical items. Like say dragon scales, which were typically really hard to destroy and absorbed energy. These did not count as enchantments, and was one of the few ways to get “more” enchantments in something without going over seven and weakening each other enchantment.
My cane was also a good example, as it was made a bit out of “travel.” It was a very subtle one however, and was not very impressive. I rather liked it however, as it made it so that my walking pained me less than it should. I should really go and thank the forest for giving it to me at some point, especially now that I understood more of what it was.
One of the issues with “natural enchantments” was that if you had something that went against their concept, it was remarkably harder to enchant, and would often slowly weaken the enchantment. You had to be careful about stuff like that, making sure you could understand what the concept was so you would not weaken yourself for no reason whatsoever.
It was a fascinating issue as far as I was concerned, and there was an entire branch of magic around “natural enchantments.” I was of course only reading an intro about it, as I was assigned to read a lot of those. My father told me not to get too interested in any of them before I had seen most of the major branches of magic so I would not find something more interesting. It was sound advice, but there was just too much that was interesting about magic.
It did not help that as interesting as the concepts themselves were, the books themselves were rather dry. I understood why that was, but it made it harder to get through them. I still made an effort however, as when you were young you had the easiest time to learn and also the most time to.
I should likely start trying to teach myself another language other than Olian. There were two other major world powers I was likely to run into with their own languages, although from what I understood Sidica had about twelve national languages. Their most common was Lithergin from what I understood, and Ekelek had two, one being Old Olian and the other being Interesse.
Most of them spoke Olian as well, but from what I understood the accents of Minna and the other clerics was from Interesse. It was good to learn new languages, and not to mention dwarvish, gnomish, and elvish. Not that they called their languages that, but it was the common name from them here. From what I understood, gnomish was the least common as they didn’t interact with anyone, while dwarvish was the most common of the three as they were always selling stuff.
I sighed, looking through the blinds where the sun was rising. It was a rather pretty sunrise, although diminished by incoming war. I almost woke up Kaeo to look at it as she always liked stuff like that, but determined she needed the sleep more. My mother shot it a quick glance, before looking back at her book. She was nervous, but good at hiding it. Or perhaps ignoring it? I wasn’t sure, but either way she looked rather unbothered in her favorite arm chair with her book.
“How much longer mother?” I asked in a somewhat quiet voice as to not wake Kaeo.
“Soon.” She said, not looking up.


Madam Lie
—
The first of them had entered the forest, and I waited. There were a lot of them, but not enough that I could not catch them all. They had constructs, but I had already tested and they seemed like whatever detection they used did use sight. I almost felt bad for them. Almost.
They significantly slowed when entering the forest, but that was fine. I was simply here to stall, and if they wanted to do that themselves so let them. I had no clue why they were so set upon entering the forest, but the forest was not helping them move through it. In fact, it seemed to be doing the opposite and I noticed some of them started walking in circles. Not that they would notice, but I had not been aware of how strong the forest was.
It took a while, but they all got into the forest and I started with the illusions. Nothing major at first, as I knew clerics had a way to look through all but the most powerful illusions if push came to shove. I didn’t even want to give them a reason to try to look through, so I started simple.
Bugs, swarms of them coming through and flying into visors, and more. Biting, stinging, and more. Not that any of the bugs actually could bite or sting, but I could put the illusion of pain there. Some of the clerics healed their wounds, but I noticed they were slower on drawing on the miracles than the clerics we had.
Interesting. Was this my Masters working, the allied clerics, or perhaps they were just weaker? I had no clue, but I wasn’t sure it really mattered. Some of them did seem confused about their miracles being weakened, so it was likely one of the first two options.
I gathered myself, and finally struck. I first simply made illusions of what they were seeing, making it seem no different. The insects were of course still being annoying, but they were “dying” as people swatted them or used other tactics.
I wove a second illusion, of nothing around the first, and then a third of them being chased and fighting a menagerie of concepts along the way. With that, I stopped being boring with the first illusion, and had them all turn on each other.
Some of them did fight each other to my glee, but others ripped through the first two illusions to find an ambush. Those who did break out of illusions had more illusions wrapped around them, as they seemed to panic. What was real, if you had broken two illusions? Anything at all?
I let laughter soak through the illusions, and the clerics slowly stopped. I felt animals sent by the forest coming to find them, and I never truly realized how many bears there were. I was impressed, I really was. I protected the animals to the best of my ability, as the forest deserved at least that much.
The clerics were having it rough, and the constructs were not that intelligent. They easily got lost, and I managed to trip almost all of them. They struggled to get back to their feet, as their weight worked against them. It was made worse when I guided them to a muddied part of the forest and then they had mud to work against as well.
The clerics were slowly dying off, but not quickly. I made sure to drop as many as I could in the river, as that plate mail was a death sentence there. Not that they would even notice they were under water, but it would kill them all the same. I started to mess with their sense of time as well, slowly making their perceptions of time more true. Some of the clerics had scarily accurate reads of time however, and I had to take a more direct hand there to make sure they were all disorientated.
It was not long before there was no longer an army, but instead thousands of people lost in the woods.


Cathay
—
I swatted at another insect, I hated horse flys, and that was when the world started getting weird. One of the Clerics under me -I believed his name was Zane?- hit me in the back. I spun around confused as he raised his mace to strike me again.
“What are you doing, you idiots!? Get him!” I shouted. I was the captain here, but no one heeded me. No, instead they took arms up against each other. Traders? What was going on?
I got my shield up to block the second blow, knowing the blow would still likely hurt. He was a Cleric of Body, and I was not. That gave him more strength, speed, and some more control over his body. I started calling upon Noviara to see the Present, to understand exactly what was going on around me, and that broke the illusion around me.
I was standing in nothing, nothing at all. I felt sweat falling down my back and soaking my hair more than it already had as I twisted. I felt like I was falling, but that made no sense. I felt myself get hit once more, from nothing and so I reached for Noviara once more. The illusion broke again, and I saw the truth.
We were under attack, an ambush more like. Most of the other clerics must have been stuck in the first illusion, and I wanted to break them out. It was hard to see if any of them were talking underneath the full head covering helmets. I tried screaming at them, but it seemed they could not hear me. I blocked some creature made flesh who flung itself at me, hitting it hard in the head with my mace. It died, and more climbed over its body as they kept coming.
It was some sort of bug creature with too many legs. It was huge, and one swing from it knocked me back. It was strong to do that to someone with platemail. I drew on Miracle, sending a blast of holy power though it, but nothing happened. It blew a chunk out of the creature, sure, but it didn’t care.
I kept backing up, trying to get room to do something. I swore, as I tripped trying to back up. Something big landed on me, and the illusion broke once more before I died.
We were not under attack at all, there was no one here besides us. A bear sat on top of me, and there was little I could do as with uncanny intelligence it ripped off my helmet.


Mister Sharp
—
We had skirmished for a bit, breaking constructs but no one living was in the front. We had to pull back, when they got close enough to the door. I sent Thanny around to keep hitting people in the flanks, hoping that maybe he could kill some clerics. I remembered the light that had burned me away once before, and even if I was stronger now it was not a risk I was willing to take.
Constructs soon enough started to gather around me, and I was under assault. They were starting to set up siege weapons, and I scythed through people even as trebuchets and ballistas struck me. They tried for the tower as well, but all of the shots there stopped short before hitting it, just freezing in air like their momentum had been stolen.
I was getting beaten down, slowly. I was remarkably durable, I knew that, but that was not the same as indestructible. I did not tire, but that was not the same as having infinite energy. No, my store of power was slowly draining as I had to fix dents and more in myself. I kept scything through people, even as this all happened.
The constructs were not hard to break, even if they were made of stone and steel. My blades passed through them, as they were wicked sharp. I grunted, forced to stumble by another hit from a trebuchet. I gritted my teeth, and kept going. My Master would not permit me to die, I didn’t think that was the type of person he was.
So even as I broke hundreds and hundreds of constructs, slowly losing energy I kept going. After all, even if I had doubts, even if I had the kernel of fear, I was the first obstacle. And they were struggling with me, let alone whatever was next.


Karios
—
“Do it.” I casually ordered, watching the remarkable effort of Mister Sharp. He had done better than I expected, I had expected to have to do this earlier.
Thousands of warriors made of multicolored fire joined the fight, as I waited for longer.


Sylin
—
The first three quarters of the hour had gone well, my mother had stood at the back window, impartially watching siege equipment and constructs running at us. Roots as thick as trees had started coming up through the ground, crushing and breaking everything they had run into. I honestly had expected more, and so I asked.
“Could you not do more?”
My mother seemed grimly amused by the question as I stood next to her. She was slowing down, not from tiredness but from needing to give birth soon.
“Yes, but I can’t go into a trance. That would likely kill the twins.”
“What is a trance, and why?”
“Well, how about you walk with me up the stairs and I’ll tell you?” She said, starting towards her room. “A trance is something you can enter if you have enough Elf blood, which I do. It makes your body complete, killing anything that is not part of it to keep you functioning to keep it short. The children would be seen as tumors, and would purge them.”
“Oh. Okay.” I had more questions, but time was limited.
“Stay safe Sylin, I hope this won’t take long.”
“You to mother.” I said. She pulled me into a hug, then went into her room. The other three people -Kaeo, Minna, and Apolonia- were already in the room. I went back down stairs, to where Madam Weakness, Madam Strength, and Mister Reclamation were. I sat down on the couch, trying to read but I couldn’t.
I went back to the back window, watching the army. They weren’t getting far, the barriers stopping them effectively for now. At the back, so far back I could barely see them, I saw clerics start doing something. A glow started to strengthen, and I nervously tapped my foot watching it.
Madam Weakness came to join me shortly, standing next to me. When she saw what was going on, she tapped a finger against her lips. She no longer looked nervous, just tired.
“I don’t think so, no.” She whispered, and the light shattered. “They are getting more bold.”
“Are they? What did you do?” I said, watching her. She was still watching the army.
“Oh, I weakened what they were doing.”
“How?” I said, eyes drifting back to the army.
“I can’t really explain it, it is just something I can do, Young Master. Now, are you hungry?”
“Sure?” I paused debating whether to ask. I finally did, as we started walking to the kitchen. “Why are you no longer nervous?” I asked, as she started to make some eggs.
“My concept is Weakness Through Strength. I am weak, Young Master, but they pushed far enough to find strength.”
“That… kinda makes sense?” I said, sitting.
“Sister, can you watch the back for me?” Madam Weakness called out.
“Sure.” The more confident voice of Madam Strength replied. I turned, watching her walk away, still talking with Mister Reclamation who decided to follow her. I got up to get my book, waiting for the eggs to be done. I was almost done with the book, just five pages left, and wanted to finish it and get the next book before my eggs were done.
It was not a long read, the last five pages -besides the index and stuff like that- were mostly filled with tables with different “common” and known “natural enchantments.” I finished the book before the eggs, and as I stood up Madam Weakness looked up.
“Well you’re up there, can you ask if anyone else wants eggs?” She said, pushing mine around the cast iron skillet.
“I can, thank you for the eggs.”
“Of course, Young Master.” She said with a slight bow in my direction.
I strided up the stairs, going into my fathers study to find the next book I wanted. I put the one I finished back where it belonged, walking over to my fathers desk and grabbing the quill to cross it off the list. The next book was An Introduction to Deeper Mana. That looked interesting, and given everything here was sorted alphabetically it did not take long to find.
I waked out, the fairly thick book under my arm as I heard a scream from my mothers room. That… was not good. My mother shouldn’t scream, she should have all her pain turned down. I barged into the room, looking around wildly to find Apolonia to have driven a knife through my mothers chest.


Minna
—
My God pulled at me, and Minna followed what it told her. Minna backed up, away from Apolonia to see what would happen. Her perception was slowed down, thanks to her God and she entered Sainthood. It was needed.
Minna couldn’t do anything in time as she watched the ever quick Cleric of Body drive a knife through Missus Duewoe’s heart. Minna felt rage, and let her God take it from her. No, here she saw everything, and watched. There was a corruption in Apolonia’s mind, planted there by the same army that now marched on us. She thought our very own Cleric of Seven, the Saint of the same, was an old fool.
Oh, poor thing. No, the Gods stood with Rot and Ruin for whatever reason. It was not up to Minna to decide what the gods wanted, nor why they acted like they did. No, this cleric deserved the following.
Sylin broke into the room, eyes wild and Kaeo was already lunging at Apolonia. Minna started forwards, and the Sainthood finished.
“Stop.” Minna spoke, and the room did. Minna turned to Apolonia, frowning.
“Apolonia, cleric of nothing. I hereby strip you of your emptiness, as I have had a conversation with Vareth. He deems you worthy of this. Good bye.” Xhaen said through her. Everyone was left standing still besides Missus Duewoe and Minna. She floated over to Apolonia, reaching forwards with a single finger to her forehead.
Xhaen filled her soul, Vareth being pushed out. She unfroze everyone, and Apolonia dropped to the ground screaming. The Sainthood left Minna, and she pulled the dagger from Missus Duewoe’s heart. It healed instantly, and Kaeo killed Apolonia. Minna had no clue where she grabbed the dagger from, even having seen that she had twelve daggers on her from the Visions.
“Get out, Sylin.” Minna said, waving him off. “You’re not supposed to be here.”
Sylin watched, his Sight in full blazing. Slowly, he looked towards his mother who nodded and Kaeo who looked mad. He gave a nod, and closed the door behind him.
“I am sorry about that Missus Duewoe.” Minna said, going back to help deliver the children.


Kaeo
—
I saw the dagger get pulled out, but I didn’t realize what it was for until too late. I was fast, and strong and I cracked one of the floor boards as I pushed off the ground towards the cleric of body.
Sylin opened the door at about the same time, and then Minna said something.
“Stop.” Her voice was like it always was, sounding like she was in a daydream, but this time like you could touch the daydream. Everyone froze in place, and started to walk forwards.
Apolonia, cleric of nothing. I hereby strip you of your emptiness, as I have had a conversation with Vareth. He deems you worthy of this. Good bye.” One of the gods said, and I shuddered inwardly.
Minna walked over to touch the cleric’s forehead, and then we were all allowed to move once more. I pulled a knife out, running it through the traders throat. Minna pulled out the dagger from Missus Duewoe’s chest, and I sighed.
I was angry, and almost didn’t hear the “Get out, Sylin.” Minna said, waving him off. “You’re not supposed to be here.”
He looked at me, and his mother before leaving. I took a very deep breath, forcing myself to be calm. I still had work to do.


Sylin
—
I closed the door, letting the Sight fade. I likely shouldn’t have pulled on it, as Minna’s god was more in that room than any time I had seen before. Could all clerics do that? I only somewhat recognized all of the concepts rushing up the stairs, and I said something about everyone being okay, and the cleric of body dying.
It was only once I was downstairs I remembered I was supposed to ask about the eggs, but I found it hard to care. Madam Strength was up there, and Mister Reclamation finished my eggs as Madam Weakness watched the back door.
“Thank you.” I said, taking the plate and starting to eat. I wasn’t hungry any more, but I forced myself to eat anyway. I likely needed the strength.
“Of course, Young Master.” Mister Reclamation said. “Are you okay?”
“I wasn’t the one stabbed.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.” He said, watching me.
“Yes, I think I am. A bit shaken is all.” I answered after a second of contemplation.
“Good, take it easy for a bit, yes?” I had a feeling he was trying to comfort me, but I didn’t feel like I needed to be comforted.
“Okay. I think I’ll go watch the back.”
He didn’t seem happy about that, but let me go. I stood in front of the window that showed the back, Madam Weakness standing next to me shaking her head and looking disappointed. I ate my eggs in silence, not really tasting them.
Why hadn’t my mother killed the cleric? What had happened with Minna? I had so many questions, and so few answers. I watched, and eventually Madam Weakness let out a long suffering sigh.
“What is it?” I asked, having finished my eggs and was now just holding the plate.
“Oh, they broke through the first of two wards that just shreds matter. The second one is stronger, but it isn’t good. It was within some predictions your father shared with us however.”
“So I shouldn’t worry.”
“No, you don’t need to.”
I heard crying from upstairs, and I smiled. Well, one of them was all right. I wondered which one it was. I considered it, and realized I didn’t even know what my parents wanted to name the twins. I hoped they got good names, and I scorned myself for getting attached before even seeing them.


Eusenius
—
I walked to the house of Rot and Ruin. It was slowly getting surrounded, and I was somewhat disappointed I could walk up to the first ward. Not that anyone would attack me, or any of my Clerics. We looked like Clerics after all, and I doubted anyone knew we were helping them instead of staying impartial.
Or so I thought. I got hit in the back of the head by a Miracle, and I turned. Another old cleric faced me, and I sighed. Yes, Telthalemue would know I supposed. He was another cleric of seven, although he did not have Sainthood. No, there were only seven Saints in the world, one for each god and one for a cleric of seven.
“I suppose I couldn’t get you to surrender?” I sadly asked him.
“You’re insane, old man. They need to die, you know it.”
“It’s too much effort, this brings us nothing! What have we won today but wanton slaughter?”
“On our end, not theirs. They’re too dangerous, you know it. You just have stockholders syndrome for being in one of their plans back then.” He hissed at me. He had also been there when Ruin had killed so many of us. I slowly shook my head.
“It is good they exist. Perhaps if we get a few people like them, war will stop. It’ll be too costly, Telthalemue.”
“It’s far past the point of stopping, even if I wanted to. It’s a mistake to, you know it, you’re just in refusal. The gods want it, otherwise we would not call on Miracles.”
I smiled sadly. “Have you not felt those weaken? They are with me in this. Surrender, all of you, and I will plead for your lives.”
“You lie.” He looked mad, and I slowly shook my head.
He threw another Miracle at me, but it was like pouring water into the ocean. The gods gladly took the return of their power, and I entered Sainthood. All seven Gods were with me today, and I took a deep breath in, and let them speak.
“Telthalemue, Cleric of nothing.” They started. That is how all the fillings started, “You will be stripped of all of us. We have spoken and found you in wanting denial. Good bye.”
His eyes widened, and he turned to run.
“Walk to me, calmly, and kneel.” I told him, and he looked panicked even as his body complied. He walked over kneeling and his eyes crying in anger. I gently laid a hand on his head, and his soul was put back together. He slumped over, knocked out. I shook my head, feeling sorry for the man. Perhaps I could find someone else to convince to turn this around.


Karios
—
They had finished surrounding the tower, all of them so close. They were chanting trying to set up a mass miracle to bring down my tower. I watched them do so, waited for it to almost reach the climax of power. It could have hit me, and done nothing, but I preferred a simpler solution. They had gathered so much power, so I had made a type of funnel around my tower. I reached out, my will like a needle and popped the miracle.
It exploded, and instead of hitting everything like an explosion, the power was funneled back downwards into the army. I had to set up things on the ground as well so it wouldn’t make it unusable, so it washed around like a current. Most of the army was destroyed in that instant, only a few hundred clerics remaining.
What fools. They turned to run, but I was having none of that. They had gotten too close to the tower, and while they were all distracted trying to break it I had put seeds of magic in all of the Clerics. It was a hard thing to detect, if you were looking for it and more tedious than hard to set up. I took those seeds of magic, and fed them. The remaining clerics exploded, and I shook my head. There were no more living enemies on my third of the field, that is what the Flame of Truth told me.
I rolled my shoulders, finishing what needed to be done. The town would not clean up my mess, so I started taking the materials into different extra dimensional storages, and making their bodies into power. It was frowned on to use people as power sources, but no one would complain here I felt. No, these were invaders, and the only people who might care were the Ekelekians.
They were such a wonderful power source as well. I had not yet figured out why Concepts loved blood so much, but it was one of their favorites. I sighed, stepping out of the main receptacle of the tower. One front was down, and I had faith in my wife and wards to handle the other. No, Madam Lie needed help.
I walked down the tower, calling Thanny over to me. He had been eating some of the corpses, which I admonished him for. He knew chewing through plate mail was bad for his teeth. I sighed, repairing them and then hopped on him.
“Mister Sharp, start heading home.”
I had faith in my wife, but I was still worried. I shook my head, and was determined to clear through the forest as quickly as I could. The sooner that I could get home, the better.


Sylin
—
I was called up the stairs a little bit later, and introduced to my new brother and sister. My mother was indeed fine, looking like she had not just given birth. The two twins had cried themselves to sleep, my mother holding my brother and Kaeo holding my sister. Minna had evidently handled most of it, and was now going to clean up.
“What are their names?” I said, peering at the two little bundles.
“Eva and Enos.” My mother smiled, nodding towards my sister then my brother. My mother handed me my brother, then ruffled my hair. “You two be safe, I’m going to… go out.”
Her face darkened, and I started rocking my brother in my arms. I followed her down the stairs, Kaeo behind me. I was slow, as it was hard to hold my brother and use a cane at the same time, but that was fine.
As my mother walked down the stairs, bark started to grow around her body along with vines and moss. It looked like a type of armor, and she retrieved a small bone shard from her pocket. It grew into a staff, hooked at the top which looked like some sort of antler. As we got to the bottom of the stairs, bottles and herbs floated over to her and put themselves on different hooks that were on her armor, hanging there. Her eyes started to glow with the sight, and they were such a brilliant green I could see it from behind her.
She walked out the back door, and I turned to Kaeo. “Do you want some eggs?”
“I am hungry.” She said, not turning away from my mother.
“I’ll get on that.” Madam Weakness said, who was in the living room with us. Madam Strength walked over to look at brother, who was still asleep.
“May I?” She said, reaching for him.
“Of course.” I said, handing him over to his caretaker. Madam Strength looked happy, rocking the baby from side to side. I walked over to my little sister, and was silently amused. They looked the same as newborns, as far as I was concerned. The only way I could currently tell them apart was that my sister was wrapped in a pink blanket and my brother in a yellow one.
I felt the ground shake, and I could see my mother standing there impassively as giant roots worked their way around the house. I could from time to time see people or siege equipment fly into the air, although I could not hear anything. I realized I couldn’t hear anything from out there this entire time, and I wondered if that was a side effect of one of the wards.
“Have you eaten?” Kaeo asked me, still holding my sister.
“Yes, I have.” The newborns looked so peaceful, and I smiled down at my sister even as she couldn’t see it. “How about I take her so you can eat?” I told her, holding out my arms.
“Thank you.” She said, seeming somewhat begrudging at handing her over. I held her carefully, walking over to the couch and sitting.
Kaeo sat next to me, and was eventually brought eggs. Madam Weakness asked to hold my sister, which I let her do. Both Madams seemed happy holding their charges, and I sighed, closing my eyes.
I felt Kaeo lean against me, still eating and I smiled. This entire day had felt draining, even if I rationally knew I had done nothing. I was glad the hard part was over.


Nomiki
—
I worked the roots I had kept under the ground into becoming bigger, the trance falling over me getting rid of my draw limit. Not that I had a low draw limit, but there was a large gap between high and unlimited. My mana was draining, but I could have been doing ten times this work and still have had mana to burn if I kept this up all day.
I could feel each bit of life, from each strand of grass, to my children inside, to the clerics walking around. The few I knew I left alone, as they had helped. Well, except that one. I brought her body outside, taking a good look at her. Her soul had passed on too far for me to bring her back, so instead I flung her body into one of the wards that shredded matter. She would not come back from that, even if a cleric decided it intervened as far as I was concerned.
It took perhaps half an hour for me to clear all of the clerics out, and I directed the roots to hide once again. They fell back into the ground, once more making up most of the hills that had lain behind my house. I felt all the bodies, and the siege equipment that was made of wood or other organic material. I started to bring it all into the wards, clearing it all out. My husband would be minorly annoyed, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. He still got all the broken and mangled constructs, as I could not touch those.
I expanded my senses, making sure that I had broken every single construct here. I shook my head once I was satisfied, dropping the wards. I started directing the grass and dirt to once again cover the roots, fixing my destruction. I hoped my husband’s spell to remove the village from the equation worked, and if it didn’t I would go and fix it.
He would as well of course, but for some types of work I was better equipped. Or maybe not any more, he had a lot of time to prepare. I looked back over at his tower, walking my way to the front of the house. It was dormant once again, the bright flame gone. I could feel no life over there, he must have killed them all. I wasn’t surprised, he was rather good at that.
That likely meant he was off to the forest. I hoped he finished up soon, I wanted him to meet the newborns. With that, I smiled, heading in to see my children.


Madam Lie
—
My Master had walked into the forest, and I had guided the forest to let him through. The forest liked him, but not in the same way as the Young Master or the Young Kaeo. I let him into the center, wondering what it looked like to him. The lies here had grown as I had stayed here, and it likely now made the entire place look different.
“If I may, Madam Lie?” He asked. He was always so considerate. I felt his will reach out, about to seize my power and use it.
“Of course, Master.” I said, making sure I had every single person and construct from the army held.
He reached out, his will riding along my own. Small motes of magic were placed in everyone. I wondered which working he would use, as if I saw correctly last time they all just exploded. He was methodical about it, likely going slower than he had to but once he was sure I felt an order fly through them all.
They all slowly broke, as he repeatedly slammed each of the insides of them with thousands of pounds of force. The people exploded in their armor, the constructs buckling inwards then ceasing to function. It took longer to plant the seeds than it did for the order, and he retracted his will once he was satisfied.
“Come back to the house when you are ready, Madam Lie. I believe we have some new additions to the family, and I would rather like to see them.”
I hesitated for a moment. Then, I drew back into myself, and once again put the lie of being a person back on. It was slowly becoming less of a lie, but today had reverted most of that progress. I smiled at my Master, as we started back home.
“Feel free to keep what you want.” My Master told the forest as we walked away. “You deserve it. Anything you don’t want, we’ll come back to collect in a week.” The forest bent in appreciation, and we walked out of the forest, lost creatures dead at our feet.
It would be nice to see the twins, I had to admit.


Sylin
—
My father came back home with Madam Lie in tow. Mister Sharp had arrived earlier, not looking very impressed by the twins. Madam Lie looked much more amused, having split herself into two to look at both of them. My father had given me and Kaeo a hug before kissing my mom. He let Madam Lie finish before holding both of them at the same time, which my mother yelled at him for.
He had sheepishly handed my sister back to Madam Strength, then been silent for a very long time watching both of them sleep. Minna had left with Eusenius, saying they had something they needed to talk about. I suspected I would see them sooner rather than later.
For now, I basked in the warmth of my newly expanded family.

---