The next few days of travel went relatively smoothly for the caravan, the only hiccup in their trip up to this point had been Amethyst strangely collapsing in the last town. Babylon had informed them that Hecatolite had “awakened” briefly and had begun suppressing the young woman again before falling unconscious again; this had not helped their concern for her, but they lacked any other options than to take the terminal's word and press on hoping she would fully awaken soon.
“It will only be another day or two depending on the roads.” The guard driving the caravan said looking up at the clear summer sky. “It normally doesn’t take this long to travel to the capital.”
“Well given mother insisting on Amethyst and I training at night and practicing magic during the day.” Alexa sighed as she looked back into the covered wagon, her eyes landing on the sleeping form of her sister.
“You think she’s expecting trouble in the capital?” the guard woman asked.
“It’s my mother we are talking about.” Alexa shrugged, “she’s always expecting trouble. I mean really, with herself, a demon, and myself, no offense but I don’t see the need to drag a whole caravan of guards across the nation.”
“None taken.” The woman grunted with a smile, “I will be the first to admit that we are a little out of our depth guarding you all. If anything was wandering these lands that could cause you lot any trouble then what hope do we have?” She said with a weak laugh.
“And yet here we are.” Alexa said, a wry smile creeping across her face. “I personally doubt we will meet any resistance in the capital, the Queen, if I remember, is… fond of my mother. She will likely be granted an audience the moment we arrive.”
“It’s likely going to be much sooner than that.” Taaffeite's voice caused the two to snap to attention as she rode next to the cart. “And to put your mind at ease, I expect no trouble once we arrive at the capital itself, but given the last few weeks let’s just say I like to be prepared.” She lifted her arm signaling to stop as the two carriages were guided to the roadside.
Alexa was relieved that they were closer to the capital as the cart smoothly came to a stop. It was not lost on the young woman how much nicer the well-traveled roads were than dirt carved paths in their own territory. The simple act of stopping the caravan just showed the difference as they had more than enough room to pull off the road with no concern of getting stuck in the wayside.
Taaffeite nodded to Amethyst in the back of the covered wagon, “you should wake your sister, there's a procession on its way to greet us.”
Once they had woken Amethyst, Taaffeite gathered everyone, “it would seem a group of armored soldiers are making their way towards our position. After investigation it is likely they are members of the royal army on their way to greet us.”
“Is it possible they are just passing by?” Amethyst asked groggily as the succubus knelt next to her and began strapping her leather armor on, the woman falling into her role as Amethyst’s lady in waiting the moment she was released from the carriage.
“That's unlikely, the only thing to our backs is peaceful land.” The guard woman interjected as Taaffeite nodded.
“Hecatolite still sleeping?” Taaffeite asked, eyeing Amethyst.
Amethyst shook her head, Taaffeite sighed.
We have a few hours until they get here… I guess we will have to go with that. Taaffeite thought as she nodded to the succubus.
Before the woman could react Taaffeite jerked to the side, an arrow appearing in her shoulder as she fell.
Amethyst's mind went blank as her mother fell before her, the whole world fading as Alexa ran to their mother’s side. The only sound she could hear was her own heartbeat as she was violently jerked to the side. The succubus dragged her to the ground as arrows rained around them.
Why? She watched through blurred eyes as arrows rain on her sister who shielded their mother. It's… it's simply not possible…. Mom. She tried to scream but no words came as she was smothered beneath the succubus, her vision suddenly blocked as she was pushed down. The only thing she could see now was the clear blue sky through a small gap in the woman’s arm.
In the clear sky something caught her eye, a small… dot? She couldn’t even react as the dot suddenly grew, it’s an arrow. Was her last thought as the world faded to black.
Taaffeite lay under Alexa, sweat forming on her face as she strained to maintain control. Her eyes locked on the sliver of Amethyst's face she could see through the arms of the succubus; she could clearly see the look of horror on her daughter's face before her expression fell slack. Just as the arrow was about to make contact Amethyst face contorted as her horror quickly morphed into anger.
“Inutil!” a black obsidian slab appeared at the last moment.
Hecatolite woke in the forest, her whole body tensed as a wave of panic shot through her.
“Inutil what’s going on!?” She screamed jumping up, her eyes scanning for unseen dangers.
I don’t feel any hostility… Why does it feel like our hearts going to explode! She let out a low growl as a terminal appeared.
“It would appear that your physical body is releasing adrenaline in large quantities. Advise quickly moving to the possession circle and taking control of the physical body. Note, you are currently suppressing Amethyst, you are effectively defenseless.”
“What! Are we being attacked!?” she screamed darting through the forest.
Fuck again! Shit it's going to take forever to get to the cabin… where is the cabin! Her mind exploded with dread as she looked around the forest, her eyes landing on the floating egg nearly right above her, shit that things hours away! Remembering her first adventure out into the forest forgetting all the times she had stopped.
She stopped for a moment, thinking hard about the cabin that marked her sister’s half soul space and the circles she created for driving the body. She closed her eyes as she pictured the cabin and the path she took to the egg last time, a sinking feeling in her stomach as she tried to remember the directions. Ok the dumb log cabin, I went… right? Then just straight towards the front of the egg… No, that's not right. Ok the cabin, the front door. She pictured the cabin in as much detail as she could, feeling a strange pop in her mind as she did.
“The cabin is…” as Babylon attempted to direct Hecatolite its words were cut short as she… vanished? “I nearly forgot this is your domain now isn’t it.” Babylon sighed as it too vanished.
When she next opened her eyes, she was standing in front of the cabin, peacefully standing just as she pictured it in her mind. she froze as she cocked her head, “how the...”
“No time, you're being attacked.” Babylon appeared next to her.
“Oh yea!” She broke into a sprint running around the cabin only to be greeted by another strange sight.
In the field behind the cabin that led to her half of the void were dozens of terminals, all lying dormant, their enchantment circles on display as if someone was pulling them apart. In the middle of the metaphorical graveyard was the massive dual possession circle, a young girl sitting limply in the chair.
“Wait, is that Amethyst?” She asked as she eyed the girl, instantly recognizing it as a perfect copy of their physical body. “Why isn’t she… you know, all soully?” She slowly made her way to the circle.
The girl had long dark hair that could be mistaken for black though once she was closer, she could see that it was a deep dark purple, on closer inspection she could see barely visible lights twinkling in it much as Amethyst soul had.
“Amethyst soul was forced to condense in response to your presence, she is currently being suppressed. You need to move quickly.”
“But she’s…” Hecatolite looked up at the girls sleeping face… “wait… is she fucking taller than me!” She yelled, an odd feeling washing over her as she heard a crashing noise behind her as terminals were flung about.
“You are currently being attacked!” Babylon flashed yellow as it reminded her that she was still in danger.
“Fine! We will talk about this later!” she jumped into the chair behind her and focused on the spell.
What’s going on… Oh we are being hugged this is nice. This lady smells amazing… like flowers… Hey, wait, who is this?... Hecatolite thoughts were scattered as she was violently forced into the body, the feeling of being embraced by the strange woman though nice, confused her more as she contemplated attacking the strange new pervert that was... that looks a lot like a pointy stick? Her eyes landed on the strange, feathered stick flying towards her. That’s flying at me!
“Inutil!” she screamed, the terminal appearing an inch from her face at the last possible second.
Arrow, that’s what they're called. Arrows. Who’s firing arrows at me! She thought, ignoring that the arrow in question did not stop, passing through both Babylon and her head harmlessly. I’ll kill them! I bet it’s that shitty goat’s fault again! She thought as she strained against the woman holding her, her body creaking as Aether flooded her easily forcing the larger woman off her.
“I am getting really tired of waking up to being attacked!” Her voice seemed to distort as the ground around her quaked.
“Hecatolite that’s enough!” Taaffeite yelled, getting to her feet.
Her mind seemed to snap into place as she looked around. Surrounding her were a group of guards all staring at mouths agape as they slowly backed away, a man in priest robes was laying on the ground covering his head, Alexa and Taaffeite were dusting themselves off as they both gave her a weak smile. To her side the woman who was holding her was… bowing? No, groveling? What’s it called when someone puts their head on the ground like that? p… pros…. Prostate? No, that's a body part. fuck it she’s bowing… Why is she bowing?
“What’s going on? Where are we? Who’s this? Why does my back hurt?” Seeing no immediate threat her body relaxed, the black lines that covered her fading as she released her self-enchantments. As she saw both her mother and sister approaching her, both clearly fine as they smiled at her, she found herself unable to remember why she was so tense just a moment ago as she let out a yawn. “I’m hungry.”
Alexa let out a weak laugh as she looked at her mother, “I can’t believe that worked.”
A few days ago.
After Amethyst collapsed Babylon had informed them that Hecatolite, having recovered all her aether, would likely suppress Amethyst the moment she awoke again. This posed several problems for them as Taaffeite was planning to use this visit to the capital to introduce her youngest daughter to the queen as it would be much easier to explain a lot of the story with Hecatolite herself present. Not to mention that Babylon had helpfully informed them that it is likely that Hecatolite will awaken in the soul space and “She will likely wander the soul space before assuming control of the body. Given the time dilation between their soul space and the mortal realm, along with the changes in their souls it is possible Hecatolite will spend an undetermined period of time in the space.”
This was a problem as well given that would leave them with no choice but to carry her until one of them took control, while presenting a demon lord and a fallen priest to the court dragging an unconscious body along would not exactly instill trust in their story.
“There is one possible way.” Babylon informed them, “Hecatolite seems quickest to act when Amethyst is in danger. If she were in a situation where her life was being threatened it would likely stir Hecatolite to awaken on her own…”
“I’m not going to let my daughter get attacked, Babylon.” Taaffeite glared at the terminal.
“Amethyst doesn't need to be in actual danger, a sufficient spike in adrenaline would likely have the same results. Reminder, it is unknown if this will wake Hecatolite. Note that both Amethyst and Hecatolite have the skill; danger sense...”
“Yes, so this won’t work. We can’t force her to think she’s being attacked, and we sure as hell are not going to put her in danger.” Alexa replied curtly, not liking the idea of scarring her sister to the point of thinking she’s dying.
“She’s no soldier, it's likely she will panic forgetting what skills she does and doesn’t have. It would be good practice,” Taaffeite began formulating a plan in her mind, “it’s honestly one of the hardest things to train, surprise attacks.”
“If I guide Hecatolite upon her wakening it is likely it will only take moments for her to take control of the body.” Babylon informed them helpfully as it began displaying text, “if executed properly, and Hecatolite is awakened by the shock, there is a 95% chance of her exiting the soul space quickly. Advise ceasing any actions of hostile nature as quickly as possible once Hecatolite has taken control of the body. Note, Given their soul space seems to have shorter days and longer night cycles this will likely take anywhere from moments to a minute depending on the time and how willing Hecatolite is to ignore the extra stimuli inside of the space.”
A shiver ran up Alexa's spine as her mother took on a thoughtful look. “Mom… are you expecting us to have to fight?”
“No, not at all.” Taaffeite said dismissively.
“Then why are you pushing us so hard, to train that is?”
Taaffeite paused, her face seeming to sink a little as she leaned back in her chair, “the fight against the heroes…” she took a deep breath, exhaling slowly as she closed her eyes. “Your father and I are powerful, there is no denying that you are as well but even with all that… Alexandrite, even with all my strength… I couldn’t protect you all.” Her voice hitched, just a little, barely enough to be noticeable but even still, it was there. “A simple wooden wall,” her face contorted as she clenched her fist, “that’s all that separated me from my child screaming in pain.” She took another deep breath as her hand relaxed, as her eyes opened, she quickly wiped away an unseen tear. “I can’t protect you all, but I can prepare you. No Alexa, I do not think we will be marching to war, but that does not mean we will not be prepared to. You cannot prepare for the unexpected, but the more you prepare, the less likely that you will succumb to the unplanned.”
They both sat in silence for the remainder of the night as Taaffeite's words sank into Alexa’s psyche. Taaffeite herself formulating a plan to arouse her now comatose daughter. Would using aura manipulation be too much? was her only thought as she drifted to sleep that night.
wait… is she f*cking taller than me!
- Hecatolite, master of priorities
it is important!
kinda dont like how the temp admin nerfed her.... understandable but still
I agree, and I want to point out that the system itself is kinda messing things up.
the system itself reported that X47 is a mix, an amalgam. So this is not the same being that one of the main parts of that merged soul is from.
then the system is seriously messing up by denying her what she deserves while she is nice. X47 is clearly anti goat and likes people, so treating her as a mass murdering monster ... makes no sense for something like a system that works logically supposely.
if A is apple, and B is grape. is AB apple?
honestly these two chapters made me loose some interest since they seem illogical.
@LazyFloof I think the main thing is it doesn't matter if she is nice. She is WAY to dangerous. I wouldn't want to give a saint access to the entire worlds nuclear arsenal for example. I wouldn't give ANYONE that access. X47 is not a saint and is quite literally crazy. So regardless of how nice she is her getting more power does put the world at risk. ESPECIALLY seeing as the current administrator doesn't know her and has only seen the kind of damage she can do.
Even if she DID know her, handing her more power would probably feel like a bad idea. It would be like creating Sheogoroth from Elder Scrolls. But Sheogoroth can go from potentially hostile jokester to Jyggalag in a heartbeat.
@LazyFloof what fallows is a spoiler. This will all come up in the books later. A grape is still a grape if you wrap it in a apple.
so Hecatolite is the same monster that Himari watched in overseers memories, the amalgamation of soul fragments are wrapped around singular core that is unable to be scanned because they interference from the fragments. Himari now know that because she knows Hecatolites original race, the only difference is that Hecatolites mind fractured for and unknown reason. The reason that they didn't kill Hecatolite is simply because they couldn't she just reforms over and over the best they could do was trap her soul in a magicless world and be sure that another of her kind could never be born. Given she ate the rest of her race it wasn't hard, but that's the reason Himari cant tell babylon about Hecatolite, if babylon learns exactly what she is it wont call mother its programmed to lock the world and inform the primordial court directly and Himari sees that this is clearly not the monster that once battled the 4 primordials before but she has the potential to become it again, the first step to becoming the monster she was was becoming a deity last time as far as overseer knows. She doesn't want just have Hecatolite executed because the sins of her past (not to mention if they pick the battle up ware they left off this world will be destroyed and every soul in it scattered to the winds) but also i wouldn't trust a mass shooter with a gun, you know, even less of they were clinically insane.
@Shadelang In that case even more stupid. Give her the healing power, make her a medic! yes X47 is bat sh*t insane. if your soul and mind are a mix of a lot of beings who wouldn't be.
I understand that Himari (current temp admin) is traumatised and was overloaded due to strain.
however denying everything or trying to when the last Admin seemed a bit on the positive side? when X47 is the way to remove the goat?
that still feels to me less like that adult logical mind Himari is supposed to be and more like a panic reaction.
@Tibbit so if I buy grape juice and get grape mixed with apple despite the label saying grape I got what I wanted?
unless I missunderstand. Himari knows what X47 really is, the system does not, ... uhm why and how did the system then show her the past?
Kinda feels like a forced nerf, I understand I lack background. but from the parts I hace read, it feels awkward and a bit illogical.
I never said I find X47 sane or harmless. But the full denial reaction feels a bit too much and more like one of the "no no no no" from horror then a logical "How do I make it work and limit her properly?" sure Himari was uhm ... heavily damaged and overloaded physically and psychically. Still feels off.
And In this case. to make it fit better, adding a sentence or two to the last chapter would make it more logical. "Due to creating Babylon and infusuion on a partial soul into the babylon system the system had managed to gather more information on X47. It showed the results to its temporary administrator." unless I missed it it felt like suddenly it knows what she is, if himari knows it, but the system doesn't ... how did the system show the past?
sorry, I am more confused now then before.
X47 core can't be scanned, so unknown. if system knew what X47 is lockdown ... where did the videos of gore and past come from? unless you mean what she did in this world? in that case 4 hours of gore seem too much? most fights were over quickly.
@LazyFloof one thing i have to say is just because the core can't be scanned doesn't mean parts of the soul close to the core can't be scanned as well or mid tier range or whatever....she has a massive soul there is a ton of soul area to cover
@LazyFloof so this is my fault now that its been explained I hope I can clarify.
Overseer is part of the original universal system that was created, this system was in place when Hecatolite was originally born and it was "destroyed" when Hecatolite rampaged across the galaxy the first time. It is more than likely the only thing left alive in the universe that knows what Hecatolite is minus the 4 primordials and a handful of obscure gods. given that Overseer was observing and battling X47 in the begingin it knows exactly what it is and what its capable of. What himari knows is that at one point in time Hecatolite battled the primordial court and nearly won, overseer didn't see the end of the war because it was eaten before. Overseer itself is purposefully keeping this information from the other half of this worlds system (the Babylon part) for several reasons.
Babylon was part of the universal mother system that was formed to replace overseer after it was destroyed and as such has system protocols in place to keep another Hecatolite from ever forming, and one really massive "f*ck this" button if Hecatolite ever appears on another world given that the primordial know she is not dead, just trapped in a harvester world. if the trigger is hit the system is suppose to lock completely and notify the primordial of life (the creator of the system) and standard operating procedure is to just wipe the world out, take any fragments you find and shove them onto a harvester world and see if Hecatolite reforms on that world or not.
the system though omnipresent, is not omniscient. that's why simply disabling Babylon was enough for overseer to share this with Himari. to protect souls Babylon was not given the ability to read minds as souls are suppose to have the free will to chose between god devil or deity, the good, the bad, and neutral factions respectively.
after this sentence is true spoilers!!!
as for why Himari reacted the way she did, I think is simple. Hecatolite was originally a mindless monster that plagued the system eating everything in its path. even the most composed person would be terrified of a creature capable of causing death, true death. as it stands now Himari knows souls don't die, they simply get reincarnated unless they are shattered, but Hecatolite. Hecatolite eats souls, she is the only thing ever that can do this so the idea of her becoming more powerful terrifies her. a healthy dose of being on fire however and being forced to chose or remain being on fire kind of forced her hand to chose what she thought was the least destructive path. she's scared that Hecatolite will lose whatever little control she has and revert back to a mindless monster, Overseer however is desperately trying to find out why X47 seems to have evolved and if it can find out how it came to be so it can complete its original objective of removing this threat from existence. for that it needs her alive, and under control until it can find out how she became one of only 5 beings in all of creation that are truly unkillable. (if Hecatolite or any of the 4 primordial die they will reform after a period of time, depending on who dies. Light and dark take about 1200 years, life takes around 800, Death only 500, and Hecatolite will reform after 100-1000 years depending on whare her soul was destroyed and its fragments were left)
@Tibbit
Considering Overseer doesn't know how it really started or how it ended, it is failing to remember the first rule of Temporal Plot Shenanigans ... trying to avoid an outcome when you don't know the cause is liable to be the cause of that outcome. Sure this isn't a timey wimey situation but, for all the overseer knows, the trigger for the universe eating the first time might have been trauma or divine interference causing her to go insane. Does it know if Hec's fractured mind was gained before the event? Does it know if the reformed Hec has the same identity and personality as before?
Right now they've got a super powerful destruction machine that seems determined to protect people from evil. If it were me, I'd be trying really hard to be kind and tolerant towards her with the goal of her continuing to be a protector even as she gains power or potentially recalls her past. Never pass up a viable opportunity to rehabilitate an immortal monster.