Written by: AtheistBasementDragon
Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots
...Roble Holy Kingdom...Yanana...
The next morning, Neia awoke and found herself beneath Skana's arm once again. Only this time she did not panic and think she was about to be attacked. Indeed, her breathing did not change its pace and her heart did not quicken with fear. Instead, it skipped a beat only when she suppressed a laugh at how the one eyed scout slept splayed out all over the bed. Neia rolled her eyes and imagined she'd get used to that, then paused immediately. "Did I just... think of getting used to that?" She asked herself, and when she felt the woman shift beside her, slight murmurs in her sleep, Neia let a smile grace her lips. "I did... and I like it. So this is what it means to be... happy." She said softly, and simply lay there for a time in the large bed under a thick blanket, with a soft pillow supporting her head, it was more comfortable for her in this moment than it ever was in the home she was born to, and she wished she could pause the sun's rising to draw that hour out for a lifetime.
But the power of a god was denied her, and so after savoring the moment a while longer. She carefully extricated herself, trying not to wake Skana, and dressed to go to the bath. Though she could bear the grime of combat and the stench of exertion in those desperate times it was needed, given a choice, she preferred cleanliness, and a luxury hotel definitely offered that. So she entered the women's bath only to find CZ and several other female Black Justice members already present. She shrugged, total privacy would have been nice, but not necessary.
The bath was large, but heated by magic, it was trivial for steam to be everywhere, and the water was warm to the touch as she gingerly stepped in, she sighed at ease as she felt the tension melt out of her with the water's warmth.
As she sat and made herself comfortable she asked CZ, "Do demons really need to take baths?"
CZ shook her head, "No, however Lord Ainz suggested that while I am with humans, I should try to experience everything as they do, to better understand my friend."
Her tone of voice to anyone else would have sounded disinterested, but to Neia it sounded deeply sincere and she matched that sincerity when she replied, "Thank you, CZ. I'm very glad to have you."
"Cute." CZ said, and took a sticker out of her nearby bag and tried to apply it to Neia's cheek, only for it to refuse to stick because of the steam. CZ frowned, then tried to do it again, and again, only to look at it in frustrated confusion.
"I think it is the steam." Neia said, "Besides, I'm going to wash and I'd lose the sticker anyway, don't worry, I'll let you apply your cute mark to me when we're out of the bath."
CZ had an expression on her face that Neia vaguely recognized as a pout, but she accepted the suggestion and put the stickers away.
It wasn't long before Skana arrived and sat next to Neia, she stretched out languorously and sighed with relief as she felt the effects of the water. "So you're feeling better CZ. No hangover I hope?" She asked with a smile.
"No demons do not get hangovers. Just a shutdown sequence and some confused effects, that has never happened before, but it was not unpleasant." CZ replied in her usual monotone when she failed to recognize the rhetorical question for what it was.
Skana touched her own head and laughed, "No hangovers, wow, I never thought I'd envy demons before learning that."
Neia rolled her eyes and gave Skana a playful punch in the arm.
After a time Neia spoke seriously, "I hate to cut this short... really, but I have to go see Tinamoc and find out his plans for us today. We might be free again, he might need a guard, I don't know, but I promised him I'd meet him for breakfast to go over our plan for the next few days. Skana, pass the word to the rest of our numbers to assemble at the sparring grounds next to the adventurer's guild where they're staying, and I'll show up to pass instructions soon."
Skana gave a nod of acknowledgement and they waved to one another as Neia finished her bath, dressed, and walked out. Tinamoc as it turned out, had already gotten a table and was waiting with two plates and cups of juice already prepared. He gestured to the opposite seat, and Neia politely took it.
"Good morning." He said amicably, "I hope your time off was enjoyable."
"It was, for the most part." Neia said as calmly as she could, though her fingers twitched on their own.
Tinamoc raised an eyebrow. "For the most part?" He said, his tone making it a question.
"There is... hostility in this city. CZ tried to pay for our first round of drinks in the coinage of the Sorcerer King, and she was rudely treated and nearly threatened by the bartender, and in turn, well, she's a maid demon you know..." Neia began to say.
"She didn't kill him did she?" Tinamoc asked, interrupting suddenly.
"No, but she did scare him half to death. We left that place and then at the next place a few drinks in, we were cautioned by someone not to make the 'jokes' we did and he warned us about hostility to the Sorcerer King and to the North itself, kind of put a dampener on the evening." Neia explained.
Tinamoc nodded sagely and then set down his fork and folded his fingers in front of him.
"I'm not surprised. Remember with this place largely unharmed and relatively few veterans of the war living here, to them the Sorcerer King is just another undead monster, a threat to be dealt with, and those who deal with him on good terms, let alone follow him, are either evil, deluded, or deviants. The temples do nothing to dissuade this attitude, and they're very powerful in this half of the Kingdom. If you make it known that you personally served the undead King, you will not be well loved here." He said emphatically.
"I see." Neia said with a kind of sad acceptance that he spoke the truth.
"Honestly, what this means is that you all get kind of a vacation for the next two days, go out, have fun, once I've finished my business, we can move on to the next city." Neia's expression changed to a grin from ear to ear, this statement meant only one thing to her.
No sooner had they parted ways than Neia rushed to meet with her people.
"I have good news and bad news." She said, sweeping her eyes over their ranks and opening her arms out as if to embrace them.
They listened attentively, formed up in ranks of ten, presenting a fearsomely uniform sight to passers by, as if they were one being and not ninety different ones.
"The bad news is we have no mission from Tinamoc for the next two days." She said, projecting her voice in all its power from the front rank to the back.
This odd thing to say had them curious...if that was the bad news, what was the good? They were not long in suspense.
"The good news is that we still have our mission from the Sorcerer King!" She began to move her hands to draw their eyes to her and keep their focus, "You will demonstrate his power, by contest here against these adventurers of the Southern Kingdom. You will show what peasants, men and women not born to a bloodline of battle and nobility, but instead called to be greater than their birth in the pursuit of justice, can truly accomplish! You will show the people of this city that you are the survivors, you made it through the fire, while a burning demon DIED IN IT!" As her voice rose, it drew pauses from the passing civilians who stood to watch.
"You will display your virtue, showing that justice is carried by strength, but given meaning by deed! You will show why an undead magic caster of incalculable power found humanity WORTH FIGHTING FOR! You will show that he was RIGHT! That WE are right, that YOU are right, you will show them what RIGHT means, and why YOU of all people were chosen to do what paladins could not, what scriptures would not, and why you are what an army IS NOT!"
"Challenge adventurers in battle, challenge doubters with reason, challenge slanderers and liars by way of truth! Tell your stories, and know that you do not have anything to exaggerate, because you are the ones who passed through hell and survived, and fought harder than the demon emperor himself while the people of the South slept snug in their beds! Hail the Sorcerer King! Hail the Sorcerer King! Justice through strength, strength through justice!" She finished loudly.
"Justice through strength! Strength through justice!" The gathered band echoed back, loud enough to wake the dead.
"Now get to work, and I'll see you all back here in two days! Dismissed!" Neia shouted, and the formation broke apart, and headed en masse to the adventurer's guild front door, under the eyes of adventurers on the upper floor who had been watching the unusual assembly.
Skana approached Neia after the speech. "Sounds like you don't plan on fighting." She said. "Not afraid are you?" She teased.
Neia laughed, "No, I have elsewhere to be. I trust you to kick some ass without me."
"So where will you be heading then?" Skana asked, trying and failing to keep her eyes from roaming over her commander..
"I'll be in every tavern, at every square, and I'll be telling every person who doubts me, to go to the guild and watch the finest on display, I expect you to be among them." Neia said and, ever the stubborn leader, she clapped Skana on the shoulder for emphasis..
"Then you'd better get to it, you've got a city to talk to, and you've already convinced me. Go on!" Skana said and turned to run into the door of the Adventurer's Guild hall as almost a hundred Black Justice members sought to arrange an impromptu tournament within the training grounds. She waved to Neia as she went through the door, while Neia herself rushed to the nearest public square.
She looked around, the houses were well built, as were the common buildings, the shops appeared well stocked and everything appeared to be older, as if it had not had to be rebuilt. The people appeared in considerable numbers and most were well fed, Jaldabaoth's wrath was foreign to them. For a moment she wondered how to reach them, and then a thought occurred.
She jumped up to the top of the fountain, memories of Prart returned, of the want, privation, desperation, corruption, she thought of Skana's missing eye, and her own missing parents, she thought of the clash of gods that could have ended all her people's lives, and the armored boy... man... who had no scars to show he'd faced the terror and survived, who warned her to be silent about who she was, and who CZ was... and she thought of Tinamoc, who cautioned her about the care he would have to take in his business dealings if what she was doing became an issue. Then and only then, she knew what to say, she knew what these people lacked.
"People of Yanana, citizens of the Roble Holy Kingdom!" She shouted through the square, letting her voice carry from one corner to the next, the echo of her words bouncing off the buildings and striking every ear, stilling conversation and drawing eyes her way. She took a deep breath, and before she began again she whispered to herself, "You faced monsters..." and then she began. "I am Neia Baraja, squire to the Sorcerer King, builder and taker of cities, bearer of the Ultimate Shooting Star and of the armor of the Grand King Busar. I am the slayer of scriptures, the butcher of bandits, and the bearer of Justice to every inch of land over which I step!"
That all had their attention. Even in the South, Neia Baraja had been heard of. "I come to you now because your nation is in dire need. The North has been ravaged by a demon terrible and foul, the demihuman armies are broken, Jaldabaoth is dead, but did you think the work was finished?! Did you think that after you put out the fire that burns your house, your work is done, that the house need not be rebuilt?! Will you live in a ruin?!" She asked them loudly, putting force into her voice.
"YOU!" she said, pointing to a fat looking priest, "How many people in the North did you heal with your magic before you returned to the South? How can you have returned while there are still so many in need of the aid to recover?! Did you even go?!" She asked.
"I...didn't go." He said, as he failed to lie under the fear of her withering gaze.
"And you!" She said, pointing to another priest beside him.
"I went!" He snapped.
"How many did you heal?! Why did you come back?!" She asked, "Were there no more wounded? Were the homes rebuilt?"
"I healed until..." He paused, the outrage in his voice petered out.
"Until they were too poor to pay for it?!" Neia snapped.
He looked down, shamefaced, but too terrified to lie to her. "Yes."
That earned some dirty looks from some of the less well dressed persons, and to their credit, to some of the better dressed people who slowed to listen.
The priest snapped his head up and shouted, "It’s the rules! We do that for income so that we needn't play at politics and can focus upon aiding the people!"
"The Sorcerer King provides healing for free, and his temples do not involve themselves in politics, why is it that you cannot do as he does?!" She retorted.
"He's an undead monster!" The priest snapped, and Neia gave a predatory grin behind her eyes.
"The MONSTER is more generous with the wellbeing of his people than the TEMPLES?! The MONSTER is less corrupt than the TEMPLES! What does that say about who is truly good and useful, and who is truly a greedy monster?!" Neia asked.
That brought some laughter from some bolder members of the crowd, and also some reflective looks.
"I am no foreigner, to think temples have freed themselves from political concerns, Black Justice heals people for free, indeed that was always our intent, but the temples entreated the King to not only mandate this, but to prohibit state support in the hopes that we would wither away, but instead we thrive, and we do not deprive people of their wealth by holding their very lives hostage!"
The priests shuffled away, avoiding further acknowledgement.
"People of Yanana, I know that for many of you, the danger of Jaldabaoth seemed distant, it seemed as if it could not truly touch you, yet you do not know how close you came to destruction. Had the Sorcerer King not arrived with reinforcements and personally slain Jaldabaoth, he would have wiped out our army and even now he would be frolicking in the South bringing destruction to whatever was left of you!"
"Many good men and women died to protect you, and now they suffer privation still, for want of the freedom of conscience to heal others! You all heard that priest, one did not go, and the other returned not because HIS PEOPLE were better, but because his people were TOO POOR!" She paused and let that sink in.
"The Southern Kingdom is not lacking in material goods, nor is your city lacking in beauty, but it is lacking in PURPOSE, it is lacking in JUSTICE! And so you know what this means to Black Justice, the bearers of the Sorcerer King's will, I challenge those of you who would see a spectacle, go to the adventurer's guild, go and watch what the power of PURPOSE has given common people, go see what the will to Justice has led to in power! And go see what it means to truly serve the people, by bringing your sick and your wounded, and we will do what the temples will not, we will see you healed freely!" This set people muttering, and Neia got down off the fountain.
She went to another square, and another, and another, and then a tavern, and then two more taverns, it was a busy morning for Neia Baraja, and she wasn't sure how well it paid off until she saw CZ in the crowd at yet another public space, and when she finished her speech and had come down to ground level again, CZ approached. "How are things at the Adventurer's Guild Headquarters?" Neia asked.
"Cute." CZ replied.
"Cute? Things are cute over there?" Neia asked.
"No. Here." CZ said, and put a sticker on her cheek.
Neia couldn't suppress the grin and didn't want to, but she did want an answer, "Seriously, how are things proceeding?"
"Very well. Black Justice fighters are winning." CZ said simply. Neia mentally rolled her yes, CZ was notoriously short spoken, and it was easier to go see for herself, than to spend time teasing the details out of her.
"Well, let’s go see." Neia said, and started walking back to the guild, even if she hadn't known how to find it before, it would have been easy enough, just listen to the crowd talking about the impromptu tournament, and follow them.
When they arrived, a Black Justice combatant had just grabbed a sword hand at the wrist when the guild member swung too forcefully, then stepped in and twisted, locking the man in a grip, and then bringing a dagger out suddenly and holding the tip to the back of his neck.
The guild master called the fight, and the two stepped apart. Neia then saw Skana step into the middle of the practice ground, and say, "There are no gold ranked members left, now will the Platinum adventurers dare to step forward, or will they leave it in the hands of Black Justice, and show that they are less brave than their juniors?!"
Neia wryly smiled as she listened to Skana's provocation, even if they were afraid of losing reputation by losing a fight, what could be worse than not going in the first place out of fear, they'd never live it down if they didn't even try.
The fight was well underway when a dozen armed and armored city guards approached in a double rank formation and spread out, covering a portion of the outside of the crowd.
A man stepped in between the line and shouted, "I seek the person known as Neia Baraja." Everything began to stop, the combatants eyed each other and wordlessly made a temporary truce, sheathing their weapons. The crowd went quiet and the guards put their weapons to the ready.
"Is Neia Baraja among you?" He asked. Neia shouted, "Over here!" And the crowd parted slightly, not wanting to be too close to someone the guards wanted. As the way opened, Neia stepped forward.
"I am Neia Baraja. What can I do for you?" She asked, looking them over with interest..
The man took out a scroll, unfurled it, and read it, "Neia Baraja, you are under arrest. You are charged with accosting the priests, blasphemy against the gods, heresy against sacred doctrine, and with slandering the temples maliciously and with willful intent to harm their reputations." He spoke the crimes loudly in a voice that said he was convinced of Neia's guilt, and confidently rolled up the scroll and put it away.
"Will you come with us peacefully?" He asked, stowing the scroll and laying a hand slowly over the hilt of his sword, tightening his hold on it audibly as his leather gloves twisted nervously over the grip..
The mood of Black Justice turned... very angry, Neia could feel their bodies tensing, waiting only for her to formally refuse so they could attack.
Neia took a deep breath and forced herself to remain calm, she had to break the tension, and she forced herself to laugh and clap the guard on the shoulder as if he were an old friend.
"Of course, of course. Surely if some harm has been done, I will honor Yananan city Law." She said politely.
Skana hurried over to her and whispered hoarsely into her ear, "Don't go with them, they can't take you unless you let them." Neia felt... oddly relaxed in that moment, like the warmth she felt the last time someone seemed to worry about her safety.
It felt nice, in spite of the apparent danger, and she said, "Relax, everything will be fine, this isn't Prart, riddled with corruption at every turn." She gave Skana's hand a squeeze, and then stepped forward away from her people, raising one hand up with her palm open to let them know to relax themselves, not to fight.
"Black Justice, follows Justice." She said loudly, "I will place myself in your care, honorable guardsman. I assume though, I should not be bringing my weapons?"
The man looked flustered, as if he hadn't expected this, but he managed to mumble out a “No, leave those with someone you can trust." He muttered, and Neia disarmed and handed her weapons to Skana, only for CZ to approach and start walking towards the guard.
Neia saw murder where others saw only passive indifference. She leaned in and grabbed her arm, "Relax, CZ. I know you're here to protect me, but there are many kinds of battle, and I won't die in this one. So please, don't do anything." She whispered, and then stepped back, giving a wan smile and turned to the guards. "Alright, let’s go, do I require chains?" She asked.
"No, you have been cooperative, I will honor that with a measure of trust." He replied, and the guards formed up around her, and Neia walked away.
She looked back over her shoulder at the still frozen combatants, "Continue the contest! Make me proud!" she said enthusiastically, "I'll want to hear all about it over drinks later!" she waved behind her as they moved out of sight, and when they were gone from view Neia said, "This is going to be ugly, isn't it?"
"Very much so." He replied, shifting his grip on his weapon.
"Alright, let’s get this over with." She said, "I want to see what justice means to the South."
