Adrift: Raven's Wail

"Mortals will often ask if there are lower or higher planes of existence beyond that of the sphere of their creators. It is then our duty as shepherds to best explain such knowledge to them in ways that will not shatter their minds and souls. The great work in upgrading their resilience towards such profound knowledge is, after all, under scrutiny, and not much can be done to expedite it. In this manual, we will provide a clear explanation of how to share and safeguard your loyal followers on their path to the beyond. For it is our duty always to safeguard them."

On the dangers of the Beyond. A primer for newly minted Divinities Volume 1

"You are saying that a Deity from our world, or better yet, our reality, made some interactive medium where everyone and all their secrets are exposed as if it were a book? And you can "play" inside it? Like an elaborate illusion spell?" Kaine was the one who started firing the questions as soon as William's explanation was done, for the rest of the crew was awestruck with the sheer insanity of it all.

"Not any God, use that noggin of yours a little more, Kaine. Who has the power to act without the layers of bureaucracy Faal loves so much? And who ended up being the most benefited by this entire scheme?" Lucrezia spoke with a mirthful tone in her voice. Kaine wasn't sure how to respond as the whiplash of her current attitude was giving him a migraine at this point, haughtiness and pride to the gills in a way that eerily reminded him of his childhood in the royal court.

Kaede squeezed his hand in support, but it was Saa'ryu who spoke. "Decorum, you speak to the future Arch-Mage of the Kingdom, Lady Wulfgren. Behave yourself at once." She shook her head. "God be good out of everything that could've happened. I would rather deal with some sort of abomination from the cosmos over this." Saa'ryu made a gesture towards her old charge, who grinned in defiance.

"Technically, I am an abomination from beyond. My entire plane of reality is under lockdown by Faal and everything," William spoke as everyone stopped and turned to him, only for Kallista to speak in return. "Terra, Old blasted Terra out of all places! All realities!" Silence took over again as the room felt the odd blanket of awkwardness fall over them all, only for Richard to break the stalemate.

"Not to change topics, but when we did the deed, who was in charge? I don't want Arthur to bug me over this later," Hope snorted a laugh, together with Arthur. The awkwardness dispelled as Lucrezia's form closed the gap and stared at Richard."There's a fire in your eyes that wasn't there before, and it doesn't look like a good kind of fire." he spoke to her as he saw a hint of malice in her face.

Richard could see that whatever influence William had over her, it was for the better.

"Me, it was always me, even before my better half let go of the reins., The ritual was meant only to give me the memories and his better morals, not to exist in this duality of soul and mind state we were before. The tale is not yet over." Richard could also see that she wanted to touch him. Her entire body language screamed for physical affection in weird ways, almost unhinged.

"As I was saying..." William picked up from where he left off, the room getting quiet and all eyes on him once again.

"That fits, doesn't it? You found his people ready to die in the cold wastes and raised them so fast that the entire faith spread like wildfire! And his wife even blessed you later down the line as well! Kallista spoke with passion, "All-Mother's tits, what a plan, to nab someone from Terra out of all places at that! Can you imagine what could've gone wrong? Well, I guess we don't need to imagine it. Vivienne and Hope have made contact with whatever deity had its hooks on William's soul before he became fodder for this plot." The Dragoness shook her head in amusement.

"That powerful entity that aided us against Malphas, the weapons we have..." Vivienne whispered, "From the way you talk, William, it almost seems you didn't believe the Divines of your reality were real, correct?" Out of everyone here, she was the one who felt closest to the boy, even knowing this wasn't an individual but whatever spilled over from the attack Lucrezia suffered.

A terrifying concept that took Castra-Cam no small time to explain before Kallista changed subjects with her musings.

"Can we wrap it back to the fact that Lucrezia's fused soul was unfused, please? I understand that Ra'Tyrius' plot is important, but I believe this takes precedent over it." Richard spoke with alarm in his voice, to witch Hope out of all people spoke out against "You telling me that the fact all of our deepest secrets, faces and names are being used as some sort of demented entertrainemtn to millions of people in a planet so evil that the All-Father had to lock it away doesn't make you queasy at the stomach Richard?" she asked the young man with fear and a bit of fury in her voice.

"Honestly? Yes, it's creepy, but this is the woman I love, and we must do something to save her, even if thirty percent of her is that of a man from gods-blasted Terra." There was a fire of conviction in his voice. Hope looked at him and then at Lucrezia, or as she was calling it, "Haughty Lu," given how much of a mean streak the shade had in her. Hope had to agree with Saa'ryu here; the Terran was a good influence on her.

"To think you could've manipulated everyone here, and outside, to absurd degrees, and yet you didn't, it" Kaine spoke as he faced William. "From the way you spoke earlier, it seems this version of us you met was dear to your heart, yes?" William nodded, " Wynnur's Sphere of power does have a bit of Chronomancy involved, as she has to pay a yearly tithe to Gwennarius. It is then safe to assume that out of the myriad timelines out there, the Goddess plucked one and somehow made this. How did you say it? Virtual was it? "William nodded, and Kaine smiled. "What an odd word. She had Terran Divine support as well, but that's not here or there, I wager." Kaine was silent for a while before Arthur lobbed a question that had been burning in his mind for a while now.

"Why do all of this? The rebellion and warring? All the fighting and setting us up for success? You had the life of a Duke's daughter in your hands and could've just played pretend. Pardon the way I word this, Mister William, but you don't look like the kind of person who goes looking for trouble, correct? So why?" Arthur watched as William and Lucrezia exchanged a series of glances and grunts before she shrugged.

"I died, my duchy falls into chaos and heresy and you all are forced to put me and my people to the sword, except Richard he's the one supplying the crew in the game" Lucrezia spoke "It was not a good death, my parents turned me into a abomination after failing to hope you into a relationship Arthur, I was to be the end of the "school" arc major villain and my death would have Hope ascend as Duchess-in-Waiting as soon as she cleared my lands" Silence blanketed the group once again.

"Everyone?" Saa'ryu asked, and William nodded, "Civilians, our castle staff. Knight-Commander's troops will be deployed if you fail to clear enough territory within a time limit set by the game. Chaos is a fertile ground for the protagonist to rise and become the savior of the north. It is a total change of tone from early-game school setting and exceptionally grim given you also have to deal with irate Winter Spirits, rogue necromancers, and druids up in the wastes..." William halted himself, not wanting to get lost in the minutiae of the game's second act.

"You have spoken little of you and your parents, Master William, for the shades downstairs together with Lucrezia's family are yours, correct?" Castra asked, and she got a nod from William." For such a young individual, you behave with oddly mature ways, and the actions taken while in control of Lucrezia's body, even with her soul whispering in your mind, speak of someone with a precocious sense of justice. All signs of a bad childhood," she paused. "Yet here you are, somewhat free of sin and assuming we get back to the real world, ready to enact Holy War to avenge the Spirits, leading a territory that nearly borders on utopia for its citizens." Castra paused again.

"Castra, where are you going with this?" Kaine asked and the undead raised her hand "I wish to know him, for when and if we fix this what is left of William will be fully mixed into Lucrezia's soul and if I am seeing this right the work Wynnur did to make this soul meld possible was shoddy at best, and when Faal fixed it it was not his best work, a rush job given the situation Lucrezia was in." Castra smiled at the thought of the most powerful Divine ever being a shoddy necromancer. "I am, at the end of the day, an envoy of the Unbreakable; it is my duty to hear lost souls before they part away to the Queue, if he wishes so, of course."

William shrugged, "I mean, if you guys wanna hear it, sure. But I am afraid it's not that exciting compared to your lives, given you know, no magic and all that." he chuckled at the thought, but the others were quite serious, and with a collective nod from the group, he began telling his life story.

Too many lows and few highs were shared with the group, who remained quiet for all of it in a display of good listening. William could see some wanted to ask questions, but they held their tongue, and he kept droning on, about himself and his parents. How he missed his sister, but was glad she wasn't dealing with all the shit he was now, and the horrible acts his parents were guilty of.

That broke the silence as Hope asked, "The other shades, down with Lucrezia's parents?" William nodded, and she shook her head. "Your parents are rotten people...That is no way to raise a child, even if we differ culturally." She got quiet again, and William nodded in agreement, resuming his tale, the exile from his house and the icy reception by his parents when he returned.

Explaining his hobbies was a little more involved, as questions started to pop up regarding the game mechanics and the events of it. It painted a far grimmer picture for the people of the north as William explained the entire third act of the game and how bad the situation was on all levels, from refugees fleeing to the north to random demonic and devil incursions on the wilds, rogue necromancers, and irate Spirits.

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"It's like hearing a what-if scenario by the most depressed bard there is," Kaine spoke after a short silence."Granted, we have waged actual warfare against Malphas and her forces while you two were here, and that was also incredibly bleak, but knowing this could've happened had you and Ra'Tyrius not done what you did is a terrifying thing to consider, I must say." Kaine went quiet for a while before Vivienne asked a question.

"Why you? out of every terran out there, why you in particular, William?" There was no judgment in her voice. "A part of you, however small it is, was embedded in my soul when you saved me from the curses that vile fiend had me under. I refuse to believe anyone would've been picked at random," she spoke quietly for a moment." I've already thanked you once, but let me thank you again for saving me and remaining at my side every night ever since." It was a nice moment for the entire group.

Kaede spoke from the side of the bed, her ears perking up as she heard the conversation. "It is bizarre to see how each of you complements the other now. Here's someone, or at least the remains of someone, who came from the worst place we know in the cosmos, and it feels like a friend I've had for ages. And that's not even accounting for how that happened, and even Lucrezia's haughty attitude comes off endearing rather than rude." To which Castra replied with an explanation.

"That's because these shades are the Lucrezia we know. After the attack and rejoining that happened in the Fields, All-Father Faal himself is the only entity capable of work like this on short notice, but you see rogue necromancers trying all the time, and it is not something a novice can do. It's insane you even survived the attack and later the arrow that did you in, Lucrezia. William. Any other poor sod would've become raw mana." She paused and looked at Kallista. "Which means you being here and having the piece of that artifact the Dragons use to heal themselves has something to do with the big man, doesn't it?"

"Indeed, in exchange for an artifact tailor-made by your patron and Faal, we are to keep silence about the Terran origins of William here, and Wynnur plus Ra'Tyrius' involvement with the whole thing, under oath enforced by Divine Mandate." She paused. "It is possible, given the urgency of the request, that the gelstalt entity that was Lucrezia before the attack may be missing chunks of her memory, so if I can have everyone's agreement in word and ink..." Questions flew by as Kallista made everything plain to everyone and even raised the option of a vote. Still, the group was unanimous in not divulging William's Terran origins, the possibility of memory loss; on the other hand, it raised a few more questions.

Castra managed to ease their worriers "This is, well I hesitate to call standard procedure given the rarity of soul melding and then splitting more than once by non licensed practicioners but as you well know the soul and brain must interface with one another for proper memory builing and retention, technicalities aside some memory loss is to be expected even on the best of scenarios, which this isn't" she paused and rubbed her chin "Still we got her into a stable environ and her coffin is keeping her body healthy and hale so maybe a few days, weeks tops"

With everyone in agreement, Lucrezia asked for a private word with William "I know you won't even refuse it, so at least let me give you a proper farewell, my better half" she touched her forehead in his "May I never forget this moment, for the third time you saved me" He smiled and held her hand, ready to start whatever ritual Kallista had planned for them.

"We are going back home."

"I do not know what's worse, All-Father being shoddy with soul magic or the fact someone had access to secrets only known to my Patron Deity and willingly divulged it to what has to be the worst reality there is outside of maybe the infernal planes and some of the pseudo-realities made by higher entities above our Creator. Meant to torture and torment lower beings as some form of twisted entertainment." Castra spoke out loud as the crew helped her and Kallista set up the ritual. The soul entities that comprised Lucrezia were sleeping, or what looked like sleeping, inside this soul realm.

"Kid's had a hard life, I am amazed he didn't turn bad, given he's from Terra." Hope spoke as she sat beside William, "It's always a blessing knowing your parents aren't scum of the earth, isn't it?" She had a rueful smile at that. "I am almost willing to forgive his manipulation, knowing what I know now, maybe it was for the better." Grunts of agreement from most of the crew echoed as Castra and Kallista kept the work going.

It was Saa'ryu who raised discontent. "It irks me he didn't come clean with me. I've been there from the very beginning. If there's anyone in this room who deserves to know it was me," she paced around. "But seeing the vision, whatever those images were from, that thing that bears our faces and voices made a chill run down my spine. That was my home being leveled to the ground, my castle, my city!"

It was a rare display of emotion by the woman; her fists trembled, and tears formed in the corner of her eyes as Richard and Vivienne rushed for a hug. Silence covered them for minutes as Saa'ryu felt wave after wave of emotion slam against her very soul, yet with the support of both, she weathered the worst of it and muttered a barely audible thank you to both.

"The mechanism the meld labored under likely had something to avoid sharing that information on levels no one but the casters had access," Castra speculated to cheer the woman up. "That and saying you are a soul entity hijacking a body is a quick and surefire way to get a Scythe squad deployed to deal with it," she grumbled a bit. "Even if Lucrezia had given any consent before the fact that this happened, which I doubt," she faced Arthur, who had gone downstairs to check on the shades.

"It is indeed shoddy" he spoke with some mirth "All-Father forgive me but this is absolute shoddy necromancy Castra, even Kaine would agree with me here but he doesn't want to piss off the big man" to which Kaine replied "Speaking ill of him is bad luck, my connection to Gwennarius means he's constantly paying some sort of attention to me as well..." he gestured with his hands "It was a rushed job, that's all you getting from me alright?" Kaine and Arthur nodded to one another as the ritual went on.

"We have been blessed by the entity that held some sway over his soul, Hope." Vivienne sat down next to William and ruffled his hair. "Every night without fail, they are there, you know? Ready to battle with me against my demons, I may be biased, but all he did was for the best. Even when the worst came, both stood fast and helped so many people!" More grunts of agreement, everyone present had seen firsthand the power Lucrezia had brought to the world and beyond.

"Before the battle, we had reached an agreement with over half the Divines in charge of many sections of the underworld. The capital and surrounding territories were nearly free of poverty, and the standard of living went up so fast that the infrastructure sector was struggling to keep up. Universal literacy that was praised by the Divines in charge of education, and free entertainment! The food!" Saa'ryu's voice cracked at the end. "My home is now the pride of the new world, all due to him, her, or them, but still it wounds me that I had to find out like this." Saa'ryu went silent.

"We can talk with her once this is over, and All-Father while we are at it" Kallista spoke "Now, Kaine, Hope and Arthur please come here" she pointed to the exact place they would be funneling their mana for the ritual "Silence, I do not want to screw this up" the Dragoness's face was a bit pale "Castra, whenever you are ready." the undead Cat-kin nodded with a smile.

"I was born ready, My Lady."

Castra-Cam stood alone in her mind projection as the final touches of the ritual slotted into place. The Shades of both the Terran boy and Lucrezia slowly merged into one as she, together with help from the others, fixed the sloppy job All-Father had done. And what a mess it was for someone who was the supreme deity of her reality! Had this been anything else, she would've laughed at the sheer absurdity.

"Not even the All-Father is perfect," Kallista the Dragoness had said earlier to her, one of the most ruthless and canny generals of the Dragon Army, spoke plain as day, and Castra-Cam was starting to see that even her creator had faults of his own, a humbling thought to have as she worked on the ritual. Unmaking the foundations of the soul and reattaching them to form a cohesive being without the aid of a proper linchpin was not easy, but if there was anyone worth putting effort into, it would be these two.

It had been a good few hours spent chatting with the Terran shade, William was of a rare breed in mortal men she thought to herself, inquisitive and sharp of mind, kind but resolute and even after going through the horrors of what his parents made him suffer he had come out of it not a monster, something she saw many mortals fall to in her long years walking the coil in her undeath.

The fact that a version of hers was copied down to minute detail and was fairly popular out in Terra still creeped her, and she would be giving that Wynnur a good talking to about privacy, but that was an issue for future Castra to tackle. Minutes went by as energy from Kaine and Arthur flew into her as the two aided her outside of her mind projection in keeping the ritual stable.

Light flooded her space as a mighty monolith appeared. Finally, Castra thought to herself as she watched the thing crack open like it had been hit by a thunderbolt. Here it was, the foundation of Lucrezia's merge of souls with William, made specifically to kill whatever he had of personality and only impart knowledge to the Duchess, another rushed job made by amateur hands.

"Sloppy work, for a Goddess no less," Castra spoke and got to work again. This was a divine-made, magical construction of necromancy. Still, one made by someone who clearly was rushed and not properly trained, as to distract herself from the boring yet very necessary job of repairing the specific parts that would meld the souls back within the linchpin, Castra fell into an audit mindset she had in place for up. Coming soul mages and their thesis, grading the work Wynnur had done.

"Bad math, favors function a bit too much without knowing form affects the intricacies of the consciousness she wanted to meld. Improper grafting sigils meant for higher forms of life..." She stopped at that intersection of sigils. "One small error and William managed to retain continuity and thus the melding of souls was damaged, I'll be damned, Great Grandpa was right about quadruple checking these sigils!" Castra felt the warm mana of the Dragoness touch her at the top of her head; the outside part of the ritual was finally done, and it now fell to her to do the rest.

"Ancient dragon magic that is basically 'Let's use the artifact to ease the two halves into one. ' It is a wonder that thing is even used by Dragonkind, but then again, it worked, didn't it? On Vivienne and now Lucrezia, and she had made a few adjustments to it. It is no wonder All-Mother keeps those close to her chest and only favors her children with it. Now for the fun part of this." Castra felt the Monolith shake itself as the place she was in changed into a sea of blood, the Monolith now hovering over a basin of stone.

"Foreign Gods, still watching over their flock and even blessing those who would aid him, eh?" A stiff bow came out of the Undead Catkin. "May we all prosper under His umbral guidance," she felt the sea beneath her feet stir and got on with the melding, this time using the Monolith as it was intended. The Specter of whatever force that watched over William's soul was watching her closely.

Yet one step was proving to be bothersome, memory of the events happening inside her soul fractured, and were not sticking to the proper pathways inside the Monolith, the gestalt entity of Lucrezia-William would not retain these important memories and would likely last remember the moment she was struck down by that foul arrow. With a burst of effort, Castra-Cam communicated her findings to the rest of the crew via her crude mind magic skills.

It took a while for the reply, "We understand, everyone has agreed to debrief Lucrezia before we meet the Gods." Richard's voice came with the weight of leadership, and she smiled at the thought. Richard was taking this very well for someone so young; he would make for a fine Sycthe if Lucrezia ever allowed it, and he was Willing. Castra grunted with effort and dumped nearly all of her mana into the ritual.

Clicks and clacks all over the place as she snapped back into her body. "It is done, we must leave," she spoke, and everyone nodded as they huddled together with Kallista. Time to face the music, Castra thought one more time before her vision went black.