NOVEL NEXT (Vol 5) Chapter 43: The Casualties of Progress
Ash began conjuring her preliminary disguise as a raven-haired goth girl, toning down the makeup, which was logical for the culture they were in. No one would bat an eye in Geirkos, at least, which Sammy was sure to point out, since Ash seemed to like the makeup.
Sammy copied the image and spat it back at Ash through her [Mirror Other] ability for the bonuses and her ease at relatively cheaply stacking long durations. Once this was done, Sammy had Ash shown to her room by the maid, though not before asking about spell materials and such she would need. Ash didn’t fully know everything yet, but she had a list of requests.
The plan was for most things to be done in Geirkos, including the spell casting itself, so Sammy got the ball rolling there. She decided to just let Ash use her own existing study and research chambers, being already well-stocked by numerous sources. Ash was excited just at the prospect of seeing Geikos — particularly the sea.
Despite the draw, Sammy insisted she stay put for at least a day to rest, and was certainly not going to let her go before meeting Estara. Ash didn’t argue and admitted she could use a nap after not being able to sleep on the ship.
The sorceress did cast a few wards over her room, which Sammy watched with interest in her general ‘greediness’ for spell experience. Every novel thing helped, and Ash was probably a treasure trove of novel spellcraft.
With nothing else to partake of in the Green Avatar, Sammy dematerialized back to Heavenpeak. Azure was standing near the throne, engaged in ‘Mirror Stuff’ she was determined to help out more and more with in order to hone her skills as the already second-best-by-a-mile at it.
Sammy glanced at her and asked, “So, what do you make of Ash and her background so far?”
“I feel sympathy and affinity for her,” Azure replied candidly without shifting her attention from the mirror in front of her. “She regrets a dark past; she desires to move on from it. You have to remember that your presence transforms everything. She would not have seen the vision, nor done what she did, without your passive influence. You’ve changed her already, and she is embracing that change.”
“Mmn. She’s already provided critical intel and a solution for a problem I didn’t even know I had. I was just thinking: she’s going to be a treasure trove.”
Azure flashed a smile. “Our daughters are all precious jewels.”
“You speak no lies, Blueberry.”
“Oh, we both know that is a stretch, Chestnut.”
They shared a grin.
Sammy turned her attention once more to a plethora of issues while Ash rested. She realized suddenly with a shock that three of her Followers were dead — this had been kept from her to avoid distraction during the incident with Ash in the Dominion city, as decided by Lucky, Jeeves, and others. A loophole, she realized, in the structure of how she handled realm gains and losses. If she was constantly actively thinking about it, it really would fuck up her focus at critical times. As for her subconscious…
Her Servitors effectively were the managers of her subconscious in a lot of ways, for better and worse. That included ‘non-priorities’ compared to existing emergencies.
None of the three men were any she knew extremely well. The cause was the ongoing underground ‘gang wars’ in Caneboro and included both an attack and a very successful counterattack and raid, nearly wiping out a rival. Estara was untouched and had been instrumental in saving lives via her new ability, though upset that some still had to die.
The attacking group did not appear very Dominion-heavy. According to Lucky, they'd indirectly infused funds into numerous rivals, which was going to continue being a problem with no quick solution. The bounty on Lucky’s own head was something she called ‘flattering,’ which Sammy did not like hearing one bit.
As for the dead men, they had already been attended to in Heaven, sticking together through the shock and oddity of the situation. After they panicked their way through too many requests for messages they wanted to be sent to living loved ones and other such arrangements, they soon became unable to avoid wandering the wondrous city.
They were partaking of a special wonder right then: stuffing their faces with the burgers of Dandy Diner.
“I can’t believe I missed all of this,” Sammy said a bit wistfully as she spied on them a bit. She ultimately banished the mirror she was using and sighed, propping her hand on her cheek as she sagged in her throne. “Not very godly of me.”
Jeeves’s image was still visible in a floating mirror before her, his arms clasped behind his back. “With all due respect, Madam — pish posh. It’s best to ease them into this. You have all the time in the world to greet them, and they fully expect not to be in any imminent way. Every member knows how busy you always are. They sense it intrinsically and are inspired to have the same energy.”
“Mm. Well, I appreciate you saying that, Jeeves. Are you suggesting I still hold off?”
“Yes. Let them settle in first. They don’t need more shock and awe — they’ve had plenty. Dying is… quite a lot to process.”
“I can imagine…” She’d experienced numerous elements of it despite being ostensibly immortal. “Alright. I don’t feel as bad now. I still wonder if they’d even be dead were I available.”
“Everything aside from your Avatar was incorporated, even REX buffs. Lucky strongly prefers you not interfere directly to mask the scent of a deity being involved. If they struggle much as a conventional organization would without apparent divine intervention, it’ll instill doubt in the Dominion about how much influence there is. Perhaps they’ll assess the influence as weak compared to the Southlands and not push so hard in Caneboro.”
“Lucky is still sticking to my clerics pretending they’re witches and such?”
“That’s correct, though it has been falsely leaked there is a new class called [White Witch] that can heal. We’ve laboriously added differences to casting, with alchemical and herb-use flair.”
Sammy chuckled. “Clever. Let me guess, this was the Brain Trust, namely the Cat Siths and Aramis?”
“That is correct, Madam, though with copious input from various actual mortal witches in our Mystery.”
“Okay, I’ll agree so long as a real emergency doesn’t crop up that needs some Samanthian Cavalry.”
“In that case, Alfred will shine the Sam Signal.”
“Perfect.”
Okay, so I have dead people… but they’re doing okay… probably still in a bit of shock… I’m sure it won’t be all cupcakes and sunshine, but I have people to help. And angels! But people with families… wives and children… that is tough. How am I supposed to handle that? Is it just doomed to be messy?
It might not be so easy for Heaven to deal with people over time. Some would freak out, or demand to go back, or any number of other crazy things because that kind of trauma was just… vast and extreme — not to mention tragic. Most would realize the opportunity, she hoped. Furthermore, those who already went through it could help the ones that came after. But if the pain was too much, it was their option to leave.
I don’t know what to say about resurrection yet. I’m not sure it's ever going to be feasible as a policy en masse. Still would feel a bit shitty to rebirth my mom and stiff everyone else. Maybe we can construct a lottery or something. But I have to talk about the feasibility of costs and such with Red unless I discover my own method. Which seems unlikely any time soon.
Meanwhile, the Pantheon was going strong. The Follower count was 27, which meant the first requirement of the quest she had was going to be blown by that very morning. Devouts were only 4, but Red had added a priest and priestess — an elven druid named Aluwen and a converted priestess named Shalnuri, who was one of the rare nymphkin known as the Eilune, long-lived mortals somewhat similar to what Marjorie had become.
Noting the dearth of Devouts, Sammy put out a Goddess Memo to the Pantheon for a few more of those so inspired to come up with personalized words of dedication to the religion, to thereby boost that count to in range of the quest completion, which was for 7 total.
She did not wait long. Six people fulfilled it within fifteen minutes in the early morning. I suppose I should’ve known — these are passionate people to even do this in the first place. Only humility keeps them from the title. I’d bet for a larger Devout-to-Follower ratio than normal within a week or two, if encouraged.
Sammy noticed rather late that there was in fact a Devout transfer request over to the Pantheon. Her jaw dropped when she saw the identity.
“Dax?!” Sammy called in a loud outburst from her throne, leaning forward. “What the absolute fuck? Is this a fucking joke?”
The voice of Michael resounded in answer. “Nope. She talked to me about it.”
Sammy took a deep, deep breath, trying not to seethe in irrational emotions bubbling up — only somewhat from ‘her’ as Sammy, who felt a teensy bit hurt. The heart and soul of the goddess within, her tied but separate identity, was much more offended. Angry. Perhaps ‘righteous indignation’ was the word. It was like being slapped in the concept.
“She’s one of the first fucking ten! No way. No fucking way is that happening. Nope. Denied!” But that burst of sudden surety in her judgment came and went in a flash of duration less than the act of actually shuttering the request. She couldn’t make herself do it. “Gah! Damn her!”
Immediately seeking her exact whereabouts, Sammy pinged a mirror in a kitchen of some safehouse of Caneboro, where Dax was sitting at a table and helping herself to a likely anachronistic, massive hoagie of meat, melted cheese, and eggs.
She was wearing little more than one of her off-white undershirts, somewhat blood-stained and inadequately buttoned over her bosom, with stockings on her legs and her wild, red hair spilling out in a vast, tangled cascade like some sort of fiery geyser. No one else was around.
Look at her! Just sitting there, eating! Unbelievable!
Sammy took control of the mirror from off the wall and floated it up over the table, showing herself through it and calling, “Daxerris Stoneboro! Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Dax jumped slightly at the outburst and ‘bull’s charge’ of the mirror. Her eyes widened in confusion at the words, flickering once. “Whbt?” Her mouth was completely stuffed with food. “Eabing?” Then she had the audacity to take another bite of her ridiculous hoagie, even with her mouth full.
With a snarl, Sammy spun the mirror around and slapped the hoagie right out of Dax’s hands — it went flying. Though Dax tried to grab it, she only managed to snag one-half of the bread, which flopped down in her hand. The rest of the sandwich spilled down on the floor with a moist splat of oily egg, cheese, and ham, all of it scattered flagrantly.
Dax looked on in horror, lifting up her saggy, soggy hoagie bun with a forlorn expression. “Whyb wub y-” She finally swallowed hard to get the food down. “Why would you do that?! Have you gone plum crazy?!”
Sammy righted the mirror to glare daggers through it. “Screw your stupid hoagie, Dax! You’re not talking to me with your mouth full — oh hell no, you aren’t, not with this shit you’re pulling. Why would you do this? You’re one of the first ten!” The last came out a bit shrill.
It took a moment for Dax to get it, even then. But when she finally did, she sagged with a great sigh, while tossing the bread in her hand down on the floor with the rest. “Oh. That.”
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Nice.