She tries. She really does. She tries to cool off. She tries to not let it get to her. But it’s just impossible. Serafina was supposed to be her and her mother’s greatest ally. It was through the Holy Pope that the Royal Family had held onto the throne all throughout Elsenthia’s adolescence, and it was through the Holy Pope that they’d now cleaned up the Nobility, pruning its numerous branches so that the great big tree that was the Holy Empire was at a more manageable size.
 
And yet… and yet, Elsenthia was beginning to wonder if there wasn’t a rot at the heart of that tree. In having Serafina deal with their problems, had Elsenthia and her mother failed to understand the sort of monster that they were being supported by? Was Serafina really any better than those who her Shadow had slain?
 
… Alright, so maybe that was a little hyperbolic. The Crown Princess was sure that Serafina wasn’t as bad as their enemies. She had to believe that. But at the same time, she was beginning to suspect the Holy Pope’s power had gone to the woman’s head. Maybe… maybe it was time for a change. If Elsenthia was going to be running the Holy Empire from here on out, she needed to be able to trust those who were running it alongside her.
 
Somehow, she got the feeling that so long as Serafina was the Holy Pope, Elsenthia would never truly be able to rule the Holy Empire, not even if they did get Marcus back and he ruled it by her side. Serafina would always be looming over both of their shoulders, a shadowy force in the background. For good? Maybe… but it wouldn’t be Elsenthia or Marcus’ choice. It would be Serafina’s choice, what she ultimately used her power and influence for.
 
And so, despite their… differences of late, Elsenthia goes to the only person she can think of once again. She finds herself approaching her mother once more for yet another meeting, desperate to get support from at least one corner of her life.
 
“Elsenthia. I would have thought you’d be happier, but you look quite upset about something.”
 
Of course, trust in Lisanna to immediately see something was wrong. She was the Queen, after all. Flushing, Elsenthia nevertheless strides forward, sitting down across from her mother in the older elf’s parlor.
 
“… You’re right, mother. This should be a time of happiness. Our enemies have been laid low. The Nobility has been pruned. Things have become… dare I say it, quiet. And yet… I’m upset. I’m anxious. More than all of that, I’m concerned.”
 
Seeming a little amused by what she probably perceives as grandstanding on Elsenthia’s part, Lisanna simply lifts an eyebrow and takes a sip from her wine glass. When it becomes clear that the Queen is not going to be the first to speak, Elsenthia lets out a shuddering breath.
 
“It’s about her Holiness. Mother… I think we’ve hitched our carriage to the wrong horse.”
 
That gets a reaction from Lisanna. An overreaction, in Elsenthia’s opinion. She, for one, doesn’t think her words are worthy of the Queen of the Holy Empire spraying wine all over the table between them. Honestly, she’d never known her mother to be THAT dramatic before.
 
“E-Excuse me? What did you just say, Elsenthia?!”
 
Standing her ground, Elsenthia straightens in her seat, her hands clutching at her skirts.
 
“I said I’m beginning to lose confidence in the Holy Pope, mother. I fear that continued reliance on her will only lead us into ruin. She’s begun making mistakes… mistakes that threaten the safety and security of our citizens.”
 
Taking a cloth and dabbing at her lips, Lisanna’s eyes narrow as the older elf takes in Elsenthia’s words for a long moment. Silence falls over the room, but Elsenthia refuses to squirm. Instead, the Crown Princess remains still, head held high, back ramrod straight. Finally…
 
“Explain.”
 
And so she does. She explains everything her mother does not already know. Obviously, the Queen knows about Elsenthia’s little detour, but she hadn’t known the details of why she’d gone running off with the Pope’s Shadow… until now. Elsenthia lays it all out for her mother. She explains what she did alongside the Shadow here in the city, and what they found in the Duke’s correspondence. She explains why she felt the need to rush off to the Convent as fast as possible, so they could try to keep such a terrible thing as the Paladin Commander from coming to pass.
 
Lisanna listens quietly, offering neither censure nor praise for Elsenthia’s actions. She would have liked it if her mother had taken a moment just to say Elsenthia did the right thing, but she wasn’t exactly expecting it. Not from the woman who had never made any secret of her distaste for Elsenthia’s Job and the Crown Princess’ complete unwillingness to ignore the benefits of said Job. Elsenthia was a Knight, and so long as she comported herself as was befitting a Knight, there would always be friction between her and her mother.
 
But that did not mean said friction couldn’t be overcome. Regardless, Elsenthia finishes up that part of the tale by giving Lisanna the cover story the Pope had, that Tobias Williams and his thugs were slain by a Yeti of all things.
 
Then she gets into her meeting with Serafina. She explains herself quite eloquently, or so Elsenthia feels. Maybe because she’s had more time to think about it, but she feels like she puts her thoughts into the right words. It’s not solely about Serafina’s mistake. Everyone makes mistakes. It’s the fact that the Holy Pope refuses to acknowledge that mistake… more than that, it’s the way Serafina doubled down and said she would gladly make the mistake again, because in her eyes finding Marcus was more important than saving a Convent full of Priestesses from men who would have done them harm.
 
When Elsenthia finishes explaining this to her mother, she sits back and waits for Lisanna to agree with her. Surely the Queen must see where she’s coming from. The mistake is what it is. But the reaction afterwards paints a grimmer picture. Serafina… might not be suited to remain in the role of Holy Pope any longer.
 
“… Her Holiness is right, my daughter. In the grand scheme of things, finding the Destined Hero and bringing him back to the Capital IS more important than the Sisters of that Convent.”
 
Elsenthia’s eyes widen, and she’s on her feet before she even knows it.
 
“What?! Mother you can’t possibly be-!”
 
“Silence! Sit down, Elsenthia.”
 
In that moment, Elsenthia freezes as the full weight of her mother’s royal presence bears down on her. The older elf speaks in a tone that brooks no argument, and in the end Elsenthia finds herself forced to sit. But that doesn’t mean she’s happy about it.
 
“I am not saying that the Sisters of that Convent did not deserve to be saved. Nor am I saying that her Holiness is guiltless in their near-brush with horror. However… there is much you do not know. Much you do not understand. Perhaps… perhaps it is time you were told the truth.”
 
Elsenthia blinks owlishly at that. She’s still incensed, but her mother has just thrown her for a loop. Told the truth?
 
“Mother? What are you talking about?”
 
Looking off to the side for a moment, Lisanna spends a little while clearly putting her thoughts in order. Just when Elsenthia is considering prodding her again, the Queen of the Holy Empire suddenly looks up, pinning her daughter with her gaze.
 
“The Pact between the High Elves and the Holy Empire does not only rest on the shoulders of the Royal Family, Elsenthia. There is more to it than that.”
 
More to it than that? What did that even mean? The Pact was what put her mother on this plane of existence. The Pact was what granted her father and thus her the right to rule the Holy Empire. A right given by their bloodline.
 
“A long, long time ago, over a thousand years in fact, there was… an expedition. A joint exploratory venture, between men and elves. In the course of that expedition, a device was discovered.”
 
Lisanna speaks as though this is the most important secret that she’s ever told her. Elsenthia, on the other hand, grows more and more befuddled. She truly does not understand what the hell this has to do with… well, anything. What is her mother even talking about? Why is she going on about ancient history at a time like-?
 
“This device gave them the first Jobs in existence.”
 
Elsenthia’s inner thoughts fizzle out, her eyes growing progressively wider as she processes what Lisanna just said. She chokes on her own spit as the ramifications of her mother’s words hit her like… like that fucking slab of metal General Roka-Ra had called a sword.
 
“W-Wait… I thought Jobs were granted to us by the Most Holy Light. Are you saying…”
 
“I’m saying that nothing is as simple as you have been taught to think, Elsenthia. I’m saying that it’s long since past time for you to open your mind to the true nature of this world. The Most Holy Light is a powerful force for good in the Holy Empire, when in the proper hands and wielded by just and righteous people. But no… it is not where the origins of Jobs came from. That was the device.”
 
As Elsenthia is forced to come to terms with that revelation, her mother continues on. And the hits… they don’t stop coming.
 
“The device also had another purpose. One that led us directly to where we are today. It offered that expedition a choice. How they wanted the lands around them to be… administered, so to speak.”
 
Administered? Elsenthia’s brow furrows in fresh confusion, but before she can ask for clarification, Lisanna waves her off.
 
“Many of the options have been lost to time, though there were apparently a few different choices. What matters, however, is the one that the expedition actually chose, seeing as we’re still living with that choice to this day. That option… was for the lands to be administered under the Dark Lord vs. Destined Hero Doctrine.”
 
Dark Lord vs. Destined Hero… Doctrine? Elsenthia’s face must be showing her incredulity and befuddlement, because Lisanna just smirks.
 
“It’s quite simple, really. One among the expedition was to be granted the Job of Destined Hero. They chose their strongest warrior, with the understanding that that warrior’s bloodline would carry the Job into the future, so they could always be sure of who it would end up with. Obviously that didn’t last for the past thousand years, eventually they lost track of the bloodline… but it’s worked fairly well all the same.”
 
Here, Lisanna’s face grows somewhat dour.
 
“On the other hand, there would be a Dark Lord. Someone… some unlucky soul, would be named the Dark Lord once per generation. Their potential for power and ruin would be immense, but so long as the Destined Hero slew the Dark Lord, things would be alright.”
 
Here, Elsenthia can’t help but choke out an incredulous response as the full ramifications of everything her mother just said hit her hard yet again.
 
“A-Alright? Just alright?”
 
Shooting her an exasperated look, Lisanna rolls her eyes.
 
“More than alright. Specifically, the lands you and I know today as the Holy Empire would flourish and prosper, so long as the Destined Hero slew the Dark Lord every generation. We would not be sitting here, you and I, in such comfort, if not for those generational sacrifices made for these past thousand years.”
 
That was… that was awful. What could the other options for administration have been, if that was what the expedition went with?
 
“If it’s not already clear, the leaders of that expedition were your ancestors. My own bloodline can be traced all the way back to the elf who helped activate the device, before my people even became High Elves. Meanwhile, your bloodline comes both from that elf and from the man who activated the device alongside him.”
 
Oh. No, Elsenthia did not feel like that was ‘already clear’. But of course, even as she was once again reeling at finding out her ancestors had made such a choice, her mother wasn’t done just yet. The Queen’s expression becomes even more severe than it already was, and she lets out a sigh.
 
“Of course, the Holy Empire has not been prospering or flourishing since the death of the last Destined Hero and Dark Lord, now has it? No… if your father’s death wasn’t evidence enough of that, then the corruption that we have recently excised from the Church and Nobility should make it clear we have failed to secure the lands for the next generation.”
 
… That makes sense. Things are certainly shitty. More than shitty, they’re odd as well in some ways. Like Elsenthia being born the first half-elven daughter in a thousand years. Or Marcus, the Destined Hero, being a half-orc. Really-
 
“This is because the last Destined Hero and Dark Lord did not kill each other as most believe.”
 
Wait, what? Elsenthia stares at her mother with wide eyes as the Queen looks off to the side, frowning.
 
“This, Elsenthia, is the greatest secret of our generation. The last Destined Hero, rather than slaying the Dark Lord as he was supposed to, fell in love with her. In the end, the two had to be killed by the Church. You must understand their choices were slim. Either they let the corrupted Destined Hero serve alongside the Dark Lord and wreak havoc across the entirety of the Holy Empire, or they took the gamble that the lack of prosperity from killing both of them would not ruin us.”
 
Finally, Lisanna looks back to her, her eyes narrowed.
 
“We could sit here and argue about whether they made the right choice or not all day long, Elsenthia. Whether your father’s death without a male heir was a result of the Church’s choice or not, I could not tell you. However, I know this much… if the next Dark Lord is allowed to get their hands on our young Destined Hero and corrupts him the same as happened with the last one… we’re doomed. Plain and simple. Even if we manage to kill them both again, another generation of the harm we’ve seen these past two decades would spell very real calamity for us.”
 
Sitting back in her chair, the Queen of the Holy Empire looks altogether regal as she sniffs.
 
“So you see now why Serafina is so distracted with locating both Marcus and the next Dark Lord. You see why I must side with her Holiness in this issue. The Holy Pope is right, Elsenthia. In the grand scheme of things… nothing else matters. Not as much as this.”
 
-x-X-x-
 
She’s not sure how much later it is, but she’s still reeling, still trying to process everything she was just told when she all but staggers out of her mother’s parlor. Leaving the Queen behind her, Elsenthia stumbles down the hall, catching herself on the wall as she tries and fails to just… think. It’s too much information. Too many secrets. Her head feels like it’s fit to burst with the sheer amount of forbidden knowledge that Lisanna has decided to stuff into it all at once.
 
But then… if the Destined Hero Job was passed down by bloodline, didn’t that mean Marcus’ father was… and if the previous Destined Hero fell in love with the previous Dark Lord, didn’t that mean Marcus’ mother was…
 
“Princess.”
 
Just as Elsenthia’s realizing what this means about Marcus’ parentage, a voice calls out to her, causing her to turn around and look into the face of… a Shadow.
 
“You know the truth now, Princess. You know what they saw fit to keep from you all this time. The only question now is… what are you going to do about it?”

-x-X-x-

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