Godslayer Lysette: Chapter 210

Chapter 210: The New Year

Lysette sat on the rooftop of her and Mirae’s house as the sun dipped below the horizon far to the southwest.  As the last bits of the sun’s disc disappeared for the evening, she lay her head back and looked up toward the sky, watching the twilight rainbow as it followed in the sun’s wake.  And she sighed and let a warm smile radiate upon her face as twinkling speckles of light emerged out of the nascent evening sky.

“Having fun up there?” Serrena called out from the ground.  “It’s rare to see you not doing much.”

“I don’t know about ‘fun’ exactly, but it’s relaxing for sure.  Do you want to join me?”

“Sure, I guess.”

Serrena leapt onto the roof in a single lackadaisical bound and lay down on a snowy patch of the rooftop which immediately melted and then evaporated in her presence.  The two demigoddesses lay silently for several minutes watching the sky before Lysette finally spoke.

“You know, I think this might be the first time the two of us have talked just between the two of us since…  I think back at the Academy.  Back that one time we did joint Cultivation between the two of us as we were learning more about our abilities as demigoddesses.  Every other time it’s either been the two of us with Mirae, or Rayleigh and Mirae, or the Order of the Mirrored Flame, or someone in Ciricu, or whomever else.”

“I’m actually curious why you’re not up here with Mirae anyway, as inseparable and insufferable as you two lovebirds are.”

“They’re spending the evening catching up with their grandmother and brothers.  It’s the last night of the year, and they were feeling sentimental.”

“I’m surprised you’re not joining them.”

“I haven’t met their brothers yet and I think they wanted to keep it just between the four of them.  At least for now.”

“Now that you mention it, we were still planning to visit my family and see what they know about this whole ‘war of the gods’ business.  But it seems like neither of us has had the opportunity to fly back to Domaria for a couple of days.”

“Sorry.  It’s just one thing after another.  If you think you can spare a day or two sometime in the next week or so, that might be the best time, now that things are finally settling down with the detainees and the foot situation isn’t so dire.”

“Though, it’d be me sending my avatar, not my main body.”

“That’s fine.  We’ll have to be careful that Saffron doesn’t catch wind of it.  I doubt having you walking around in her ex’s body is going to make for an easy conversation.”

Lysette shuddered.  “I agree.  On an unrelated note, I was hoping to get your perspective on something Mirae mentioned a few days ago.”

Serrena raised an eyebrow.

“Mirae said that they think Zarielle was testing me— testing all of us— when she showed up two months ago.  Specifically, making sure we were progressing quickly enough for whatever future plans she has going for her.”

“Curious how that came up.”

“I just mentioned to them that I think Zarielle made me into a demon because she wanted— expected, even— that I would succumb to these urges to kill, to slaughter, to feed off the Sparks of mortals.”

“I won’t lie, Lyse.  When I first saw that side of you back during the first attack on the Academy, the way you delighted in slaughtering Lacos and his goons?  It made even me shudder.  Made me really rethink that ‘Reciprocity’ really isn’t as benevolent as it sounds on its surface.”

“And you’ve shown that Ambition isn’t the root of evil as some people malign.”

“I’ll take the compliment, even if I think it could be worded better.”

“What do you think about their hypotheses?”

Serrena paused for several minutes, during which time Lysette looked up at the still air and continued to watch the stars dancing all around the cosmos.  The moon was but a tiny sliver, with the following night’s new moon heralding the arrival of the winter solstice and the start of the new year.  And she took a moment to think about how much her own life had changed since her near death and subsequent rebirth.

New friends, a new home.  A new family, a new partner with whom Lysette really and truly felt safe, loved, and wanted.  A new community of people who’d taken her in and accepted her as one of their own.  And a new purpose in life— new goals to strive for as she continued to walk her path toward the future she sought to create.

“I think they have a point,” Serrena asked.  “Things have been too quiet.  Too easy, lately.  Easy enough that I fear I might lose my edge.”

“At least it means plenty of time to Cultivate and train.”

“True.  But even sparring with you is just that— sparring.  I haven’t had a fight where my life was on the line since our battle with the Chancellor, and that was close to three months ago.”

“And I thought I was the demon here.”

Serrena laughed.  “Okay, you got me, Lyse.  Perhaps there’s some hope for you after all when it comes to witty remarks.”

“So how are things with you and Rayleigh?”

“Do you want to reword that?”

“I didn’t imply anything untoward.  I know the two of you have been hard at work trying to develop some new techniques, and I wanted to ask how that was coming along.”

Serrena paused.  “It seems like there’s some incredibly powerful combination there just beyond our reach.  Of course, neither of us is going to let difficulty stop us from pursuing our Ambitions.”

“I know you won’t.  It doesn’t take a halfwit brain to figure that much out.”

“On the topic, you mentioned once that you and Mirae have fused together during your battle with Karchek.  Is that something you’ve been pursuing further?”

“We’ve tried it a couple of times but never really gotten very far in those endeavors.  Based on my understanding from what Leonn told us, we can’t trigger it on command.  If I had to speculate, the conditions for a linkage of that sort are threefold.  First, we have to be in mortal danger.  Second, we have to be perfectly open with one another, prepared to give our all for our partner to the point of even sacrificing our own selves to that end.  And third, if Leonn is to be believed, it’s only possible because we’re partners.  And it’s entirely possible that it only works if both people involved have divinity.”

“Technically Rayleigh has a bit of divinity from my pact with her, but…  Well, as much as my Ambition compels me to keep pushing forward toward greater heights, it seems that might not be the most viable path to doing so.”

“Hey you two!” Mirae called out from inside the cottage.  “I’ll be right there.”

A brief twist in the space right to Lysette’s left preceded Mirae’s appearing there a moment later.  The two’s hands interlocked with one another and, for about thirty seconds, none of the three said a word as they all gazed up at the final night of the year.

Serrena kicked her legs up and hurled herself forward with enough force to throw her body back to the ground.  “I think I’ll take my leave now.  Have fun, you two, and see you both next year!”

Serrena sprinted off to her usual training grounds south of Ciricu, and the two lovers were left in awe as a trio of shooting stars streaked across the heavens.  With the lights of the town dimmed and midnight approaching, the entire cosmos shined a warm yet faint yellowish glow punctuated by hundreds of thousands, if not millions of stars spanning every direction.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Lysette said.

“Definitely the second most beautiful thing I can see.”

Lysette turned to Mirae and pecked their cheek.  “Stole my line!”

Mirae giggled.  “It’s true, love.”

“Thank you.”

Mirae spun around and onto Lysette’s stomach before planting a kiss upon her lips.  Lysette gave a look of faux shock, and Mirae did the same.  The two laughed again, and then kissed once more.  Then several more times in rapid succession, before finally breaking apart and staring back up at the sky once more.

“Maybe you’re right, Mirae,” Lysette said.

“I usually am.  But about what?”

“About Zarielle.  Being out here, with you, watching the night sky.  I still feel that same sense of calm at night that I’ve had ever since my rebirth.  Maybe she is still watching, looking out for me however she feels she can while still moving forward on her other plans.”

“What about before then?” Mirae asked.

“Before then?”

“Before your rebirth.  What was the old, human Lysette Barenete like?”

“A lot quieter.  A lot more reserved.  Maybe even afraid of interacting with others.  A real homebody.”

“That much hasn’t changed.  Much.”

Lysette sat up and crossed her arms.  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that you’re always telling me how you want to build a small cottage like this one in the middle of wherever and just spending a few thousand years cuddling up with me.”

“Don’t say that as though you don’t like the idea.”

“That wasn’t a complaint.”  Mirae’s smile turned coy— seductive in a way.

“Despite all that, she– me– I.  I still remember very much enjoying using my knowledge of herbs and medicines to help others.  And the bright smiles and sighs of relief that came from knowing that a loved one was going to pull through their injuries or illness.”

“Another something that hasn’t changed.  What about something that actually did?”

“I–  I have trouble seeing her and me as the same person, but when I really think about it, far less has changed than I thought.  Obviously, there were the physical changes.  I was a little shorter, a little stouter.  Spending time outdoors foraging for medicinal herbs all day was quite the workout for someone who knew nothing about Cultivation.”

“Nothing at all?  I’m surprised.  I guess living in the capital all my life meant I at least knew about Cultivation from the time I was only a few years old.  And I know you lived out in a tiny town like Ciricu, but I didn’t expect you’d literally know nothing at all about it.”

“I mean, I’d at least heard stories about people with superhuman abilities.  But having never seen one my whole human life, I’d always thought they were just stories.  Not until the night the soldiers attacked did I realize it was all real.  And the rest is pretty much as you know.”

Mirae wrapped their arms around Lysette’s left arm, nuzzling up against her.  “Thank you for telling me.”

“I think it was the same for me as it was for you after your ascension.  You changed your appearance to suit yourself, and you became much stronger and better aligned with your Domain.  But the you wrapped around me is the same you that I fell in love with.”

Mirae shivered with delight.  “Could you say that last part again?”

Lysette Reciprocated Mirae’s coy smile from earlier.  “I love you, Mirae.  I’m in love with you, and I want to remain so for all time.”

“I think the new year is just a few seconds away.  Do you want to ring it in together?”

“I absolutely do.”

And the two lovers shared a long, passionate kiss as the year 7472 of the Domarian calendar came to a close.

Chapter 209: https://www.patreon.com/posts/112440644

Table of Contents: https://www.patreon.com/posts/101896170

Chapter 211: https://www.patreon.com/posts/112440668