-They’ve taken control of the fire. It’s pushed me to the edge of the barrier. I need to-

Minucia stopped writing mid-sentence. The flames were getting too close. She’d have to take her chances in the Fell Wood. 

She stuffed her notes back under her robes, and turned towards the gap in the barrier. With grim determination, she strode through.

…and immediately realised she’d been hoodwinked the whole time. Nothing changed when she crossed, and the entire ‘barrier’ disappeared moments later. 

Her eyelids twitched as she barely contained her extreme frustration. Such a rookie mistake- to trust literally anything the opponent does during a war. They knew she would realise that the gap in the barrier was a trap, but by over-focusing on that obvious trap, she hadn’t focused enough on the fact that she had already been trapped. 

There was no use beating herself up about it. She was actually closer to escaping now- understanding what the opponent has done is obviously requisite to countering those actions. 

What would they expect her to do now? The obvious answer would be to try desperately to escape, but they knew she was too smart to do the obvious thing. They’d expect her to do the unexpected, namely to proceed further into the trap. On the other hand, they’d surely take into account that she might know they knew, and therefore do the unexpectedly expected thing. Escape, or go deeper? Did they know she knew they knew she knew? 

When the opponent offers you two bad choices, take the third. 

 

“Fuck! She’s setting more fires! Fírinne, try to decrease the intensity. Dellia, create a tree break. I’ll take care of the smoke. We’ll keep the fire contained, and see how she feels when things heat up.”

[...]

“Uh, Sionann!? She’s setting her own robes on fire!”

“She WHAT!?”

“I can’t control the flames that close to her!”

“Fuuuck. We can’t let her die. Gods, she’s so annoying!”

At this point, Minucia started to scream in pain. Sionann groaned, summoned a shield of water, and charged through the flames. 

 

It hurt. It was the only way to win. She had to do this. But it still hurt. A lot. Like, really a lot. Oh gods, what if they just let her burn to death? Was she ready to die? No, they wouldn’t. They couldn’t. If she died, they wouldn’t be able to cover it up. They needed to capture her alive, for whatever nefarious scheme they had in mind. 

BUT IT STILL HURT.

IT REALLY, REALLY, REAAAA- 

A deluge of water fell on Minucia, who had been rolling on the ground, extinguishing the flames instantly. Some went into her nose and mouth, but choking a bit was significantly preferable to burning alive. And now she had them. They were off guard, and unlike them, she had no compunctions about killing. She just needed to- 

A hand grabbed her by the tattered remnants of her robes and hauled her upright. It was Sionann, whose face was contorted in fury. Perfect. An angry opponent was an unstable opponent, and an unstable opponent would make mistakes. She just needed to-

Sionann slapped her face with her free hand. On freshly-seared skin, that really stung. 

“WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM”, the elf yelled, although it didn’t sound like a question. She didn’t bother to respond, but conjured a gout of flames to-

Shadow tendrils shot out from behind Sionann’s back and wrapped around her hands, pulling them away. With her arms forcibly spread, the gout of flame just hit empty air. 

“YOU STUPID BITCH. IF YOU JUST GAVE UP, YOU’D HAVE A MUCH EASIER TIME”

Okay, fire gout was out, but what about conjuring a ball of flames centred on Sionann’s head. Tricky to do without moving her hands, and normally something the target would easily react to, but Sionann was clearly too emotional to notice her-

Sionann slapped her again. 

“I CAN HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS YOU IDIOT”

She- wait what. That’s impossible.

“NOT IMPOSSIBLE, MAGIC.”

No, no, she was just guessing. She would be impossible to defeat if she could read thoughts. And nobody was impossible to defeat.

“THAT INCLUDES YOU, DUMBASS.”

A fair point. But she wasn’t defeated just yet. 

Sionann let out a long sigh, calming herself down a bit. “You were defeated the moment you entered-Ḳ̷̦͔̗͈̓̂̂̔̽̍̚͜i̵̡͕̯̫̼̮̺͍͂́̿̽͜͜ͅn̵̬̭̰̲̞͙̞̬̬͇͓͔̿͆̈́̈́̏̂̀̽̿̕-̴͓͙͎̻̈́G̴̡̐̿̂̂͝ą̸̡̠̣͕̫̻̦͙̬̲͊͊͒l̷̢̡̟̺̠̬̮͍̫̼̥͑̀͑̾ư̶̹̯͉̿̃̈́͘͝d̸̢̗̞̙͔̬̘̋͆̄̽’s domain. The only question was how hard you’d make it on yourself. You- oh, whoops.”

Minucia’s face had contorted itself into a rictus of horror when Sionann said… those noises. It felt like the elf had taken a hammer and smacked it into reality itself. She almost literally saw the cracks forming in the air. 

“Sorry, I shouldn’t’ve said that. KG’s name isn’t meant for untainted ears. Calm down, it’s okay- it’s just a name, reality is still there.”

Surprisingly, those reassurances actually helped, and she was able to calm down a little. Sionann sounded genuinely concerned, which was odd. 

“Don’t flatter yourself. I’m concerned because it’d be a hassle if you were rendered insensate. Listen, Minucia. You lost. You’re a loser. My team won. There’s only one way you can be a winner.”

What a primitive attempt at persuasion. She’d have to try a lot harder than that.

“I don’t have to, actually. I could just throw you into the depths, and let KG break your mind. But it would be better for both of us if you volunteered. I know you want to win. This is not a situation where you can defeat me. You either join us voluntarily, and get amazing shadow powers and whatever perk you ask KG for, or you join us involuntarily as a mind-broken puppet.”

Minucia tried to say something, only to realise her throat was too sore from inhaling smoke and ash.

“Just think at me, you don’t need to talk.”

[Why wouldn’t you offer me this hours ago?]

“Because I didn’t realise how deep-seated your need to win was. I thought you’d need to be driven crazy before KG could persuade you to join us. Little did I know you started out crazy.”

Minucia stared into Sionann’s eyes. There was anger in them, but no deception. She was either telling the truth, or believed she was telling the truth-

“I can prove it to you, you know.”

[Quit interrupting me] 

Sionann rolled her eyes, but kept quiet. 

It seemed unlikely that this ‘KG’ figure would be able to win if its opponent was the entire Vestal order… but it was this powerful already, if it got stronger-

“Which it will”

[Shut up!]

-if it got stronger, it might actually be able to do it. Maybe KG was actually the winning side. Certainly she had underestimated how outclassed she was, even just by Sionann alone. And the fact that the Vestals hadn’t detected these shadow powers was evidence that they weren’t prepared for this fight. 

…

[…if there is only one route to victory, a good general will take it, no matter the cost.]

“See, that’s the spirit! Come on, let’s get you to the temple.”

 

As she descended the stairs, Minucia realised how futile her resistance had been. How could anyone fight against the weight of true reality? Other than the founder of the Vestals, who apparently was a being of equal strength. But… they weren’t here, and Kin-Galud was really here. More here than she was herself. 

Have you decided what you want in exchange?

[Power, and I want to command your armies when you go to war]

You have the potential to be a great commander, yes. It can fulfil that wish. You understand the price?

[Betraying the Vestals, Reme, and the world. Aiding your cause going forward. Eternal damnation. I accept the price, as I have no other choice] 

Not sure why people assume the damnation will be eternal, but fine. Hold up your finger, and do not resist. 

Minucia held her finger up. A spark of magic flashed from the door, and a drop of blood was extracted. The chain it landed on barely had time to shudder before it turned into a puff of smoke. 

Kin-Galud’s presence immediately grew stronger around her. Tendrils, or rather tentacles, emerged from the darkness, wrapping around her body. It didn’t hurt as much as she expected, considering the extensive burns she was still suffering from. In fact… the burns were being healed, and her robes restored. 

Additionally, she felt the eldritch energy flooding into her, giving her power to match her intellect. A tentacle on her forehead also granted her the necessary charisma and ‘presence’ to lead an army, and the direct memories of a hundred battles. She had read about a lot of battles, but never experienced one first hand, obviously. Turned out that words couldn’t quite do it justice. 

A few times, the eldritch energy would… tingle, in a way that felt good- but she didn’t have time for frivolities, she was too busy absorbing her newfound power and knowledge.

They had just finished capturing the final spirit by the time Minucia emerged from the depths. As soon as she stepped into the light she started giving orders.

“Bring the spirit to the altar, leave the necklace there, and get ready to return to Reme- we’ll deal with my spirit on the way”, she spoke, and her voice carried such authority that Sionann was halfway through following the order before she realised what she was doing. 

“Hey! Who put you in charge?”, Sionann demanded. 

“Kin-Galud appointed me commander. My role is to convey its orders and ensure optimal execution”, Minucia stated plainly. 

[Are you replacing me already?], Sionann asked Kin-Galud privately, while trying not to think-sound too desperate. 

Commander and leader are not the same thing. You have the necessary drive and morality to serve as its mortal representative. But you do not need to busy yourself with the details. Minucia, by contrast, is perfect for handling the details, but lacks the autonomy and vision needed to set goals. Her loyalty is also conditional- it can't allow her the same mental autonomy without risk of betrayal.

[Oh. So Minucia has to follow my orders?]

So long as they don’t conflict with its orders. Give it a try.

“Good job, Minucia. Once we return to Reme, I need you to figure out our next potential convert”, Sionann commanded.

“Understood. I will arrange it”, Minucia responded deferentially.