Godslayer Lysette: Chapter 164

Chapter 164: Long-Awaited Arrival

Lysette smiled as a cool northerly gust blew through the skies above northern Domaria in the early afternoon.  She and Mirae had long past Gnaria on their flight and now were nearing the southern foothills of the Spire Mountains.  The rocky crags were sharp and pointed as befitting their name, and upon the highest peaks in the distance was the pale white of snow that seemed as stubborn and immutable as the mountains themselves.

Mirae descended to match the mountainous peaks, and Lysette trailed just above and behind.  As they flew lower, a few puffy gray clouds floated by from the west.  Lysette closed her eyes and concentrated on her aurasight, enjoying the cool icy mist crystallizing in her hair and the turbulent flow of chilled air battering upon her face.  Soon after entering the heart of the cloud, she spun slightly to avoid a pair of snowballs flying toward her.

“Mirae!  Was that you trying to pull a fast one on me?”

“Here I was hoping that one would work.  Should have known better.”  Their answer was followed by a short giggle and the noise that often accompanies the sight of someone sticking their tongue out.

Despite the playful attempt at a prank, Lysette couldn’t get upset at her love and their antics.  If nothing else, it was refreshing to enjoy a bit of lighter fare after the heavier conversations earlier, and to distract herself from an ominous worry that had been eating away at her ever since the two took flight.

Lysette pulled her bangs out of her face and uncloaked her left eye, magnifying her vision a hundredfold and peering over the horizon.  She continued scanning the area and trying to get a feel for any subtle shifts in the flow of Essence out along the rolling plains of southern Terea.  Minutes of flight time went by without any sign of Terean forces mobilizing along the outskirts of Ciricu, although the sense of foreboding she had refused to abate at the lack of threat.

Mirae slowed down as the two emerged out of another cloud and took Lysette’s hand as they passed over the highest peaks of the Spire Mountains and passed the border between Domaria and what had previously been Terea, but was now— if Lysette had anything to say about it— the dominion of the Free City of Ciricu.

“Something’s bothering you, isn’t it?” they asked.  “Seems like you’ve been lost in thought all morning.”

“At first, I thought you needed some time to think about everything going on with your family, and I wanted to give you some time to process all that.  But ever since we took off, I’ve been consumed by a feeling that something bad is going to happen soon.  I don’t know what or where, but it’s just this tightness in my chest that won’t go away no matter how much I tell it to do so.”

“Do you think we should investigate these mountains?”

“I want to get to Ciricu as soon as possible.  They’re far closer to the Spire Mountains than Domark is and if there is something going on up there, I think they’ll have better intelligence and maybe some local legends about what could be up there.”

“You know, what if it’s another Aestori shrine?”

“I’ve considered that possibility.  In the absence of better information, I’d consider it the most likely one.  But again, I think we’ll know more when we get to Ciricu.

Mirae gave Lysette a side eye.

“Yes, love,” Lysette continued, “I also just want to see everyone again.  It’s been nearly two weeks now and I was hoping to be back here ten days ago.  I just–”

“It’s fine, love.”  Mirae stroked Lysette’s left arm and nuzzled up beside her.  “It’s cute, seeing you so happy and excited about something other than Cultivation and Creation and gaining more power with every waking moment.”

“I mean, I am passively Cultivating most of the time now.”  Lysette demurred.  “Sorry, that was a bit rude of me.”

Mirae grinned.  “Not rude.  I can do it now too.”

Lysette was positively beaming at those words and pulled Mirae into a long and passionate kiss as the two descended down the slopes leading into Ciricu proper.  The town proper was still some ways away, but it did feel good being back in the territory.  At the same time, however, returning to Ciricu filled Lysette with so many different questions and concerns.  Now freed from the yoke of Terean rule, there were even more questions on her mind.

Serrena had told her some of the basics, but there were hundreds of things that went into managing and overseeing a newly independent nation.  Some, like defense, were at least straightforward, if not easy.  Others, like foreign relations and the production and procurement of foodstuffs, were neither straightforward nor easy, but at least they had defensible solutions she could conceive of.  Though, nothing she could intuit in a few seconds of flight would be anywhere near optimal.

And then there were even more matters that Lysette could scarcely imagine solutions to.  Education was a big one, both in matters of Cultivation and not.  The prosecution and handling of criminals.  Arbitration of civil disputes.  How to manage even a rudimentary economic system, let alone trying to make the people more prosperous over time.  

Even if she could do all of that on her own, it wouldn’t be right.  In the short term, it might benefit the people, uplift them and provide them with temporary comforts.  But in the long run, it would only serve to make them yet more dependent on her benevolence, something which sat poorly with her.  A benevolent dictator though she could be— if such a thing were even possible— but a dictator she would be nonetheless.  And, after seeing how other gods treated their subjects— with one exception— Lysette knew it was a path she did not wish to go down.

She would need to ask Saffron for advice about these sorts of things, but it wasn’t the time to do so.  A formal alliance between Domaria and Ciricu was something to pursue later, once Ciricu was well enough established to be able to negotiate that sort of thing, and do so as equals.  Equals, yes.  That sounded right, and filled Lysette with a pleasant warmth that complemented the refreshing, invigorating chill of Mirae’s hands upon her own.

“You seem perplexed, love,” Mirae said.

“Just thinking about the thousands of things we’ll need to do over the coming weeks, months, maybe years.”

“Remember that most important word in there.  ‘We’ll’.  As in, ‘we,’ as in ‘I know you’re thinking about trying to do all that yourself, love.  Because you…”  Mirae started poking Lysette’s arm with each word, “always try to do everything yourself.”  

They took a deep breath before continuing.  “I’ll be beside you every step of the way.  Serrena will help too, although she’ll phrase it more akin to ‘keeping you out of trouble.’  I’m sure some of our friends and acquaintances back in Domark will help you out, or at least offer some general advice.”

“You’re right, love.  As you often are.”

“By the way, and speaking of friends and acquaintances, where is Nightshade?  I miss her.”

“I wish I knew.  Last time I saw her was three days ago.  And she wasn’t happy with me back then.  Pecked me in the eye while going on and on about how I was ruining Zarielle’s plans and causing mass pandemonium and upheaval in both realms.”

“I mean, you kinda are, love.  By your own admission.”

“I know.  And I should have been aware that, despite our… friendship, Nightshade’s loyalty has and always will be to Zarielle first, last, and foremost.  As much as I had hoped that she would prefer us after all the time we’d spent together, I suppose her true loyalties would not waver so easily.”

“I see.  And I’m sorry to bring it up.”

Lysette shook her head.  “You don’t have to apologize.  If anything, I should be the one apologizing for not telling you earlier.”

“Love?”

“Yes, Mirae?”

“None of this blaming yourself.  Not for something like this.  You’re not perfect, and nobody expects you to be.  We just want you to be the best you can be, and work toward being your best possible self.”

“I feel like I have a responsibility to be better than even that.  Because the mistakes I do make won’t just affect myself and my immediate circle.  Not anymore.  They will affect the…  Well, I think at this point, my actions will influence the entirety of Aimarion.  And by extension, the Celestial realm as well.”

“That’s all the more reason we should hurry to Ciricu, then.  The more advice and different perspectives we get, the lower the chances that we make a critical mistake.”

Lysette nodded as they continued the last stretch of the journey to the small town where she hoped to spend much of the next several years.  And just thinking about the quiet tranquility of the idyllic village filled her with warm fuzzy feelings after spending so long among the iniquity of elite Cultivator society.  A society which had, through a tremendous and omnipresent force, quite literally separated themselves from the rest of their fellow humans.

The people of Ciricu were going about their daily lives with seemingly no care in the world as the two landed upon the southeastern outskirts.  But as soon as they landed, word spread like wildfire.  And soon after, the villagers assembled.

First came a few children, wide-eyed with beaming smiles on their faces as they ran over toward Lysette.  A few of the younger ones all but jumped into her arms and wrapped themselves around her legs.  Lysette froze for a moment out of surprise, but quickly realized that none meant any harm.  After a few moments of headpats and hugs to ensure that everyone who wanted some physical affection from their guardian got some, she turned to Mirae.

“Do they do this with you and Serrena too?”

“Me, sometimes.  But you know Serrena isn’t one for physical affection.  It’s been a bit contentious, but the kids mostly understand and accept that.  In this case, I think they’re really surprised and excited to see you come back after so long.”

“Ah, Miss Barret!” one of the young women said as she scurried up to grab her young son from off Lysette’s feet.  “You’ve finally returned.”

“I have.  Sarah, correct?”

“You actually remembered!”  Sarah smiled.  “I can’t believe it!”

Lysette nodded and took in the young woman’s rather petite figure.  She was shorter than Lysette by half a head, with piercing onyx hair and wearing a modest blue blouse and skirt combination.

Lysette whispered to Sarah.  “Just don’t let anyone know I remembered, alright?  Because then I’d be expected to remember everyone after just a single night, and then I’d disappoint way more people than not.”

“It’ll be our secret, Miss Barret.”

Sarah grabbed her son and carted him back into the center of town, and one by one, the kids answered the cajoling of their parents and returned back to their homes and games and otherwise.  As the crowd dispersed, Mirae took Lysette’s hand in their own and lay their head on her shoulder.

“It’s good to be back here again, and to share this time with you.  My goddess, my love.”

“I agree, Mirae.  It’s been far too long.”

Chapter 163: https://www.patreon.com/posts/108863689

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

Chapter 165: https://www.patreon.com/posts/108863699