Part 2
When the four of them reconvened in their room at the hot spring inn, the atmosphere was slightly tense for several minutes. Sensing Elias wasn't sure how to bring it up, Francisco elbowed him.
"Hey what was that for?" Elias asked him, to the snickering of Vordea and Nalaea.
"Just say it for god's sake!" Francisco told him. "You'd think you haven't been banging her for 3 years with how nervous you're being about this."
"Well he does know how to treat a lady." Vordea said, winking. "So, what do you want to say? You finally going to marry me?" Vordea said, teasing him.
"Considering who you are, I don't think I can." Elias replied, pulling stacks upon stacks of papers out of his bag.
"Oh, what's this?" Vordea asked, quite amused.
"Proof. Months of proof. Years, even. I've been writing down everything you've said about who you aren't. Along with my own research in the many libraries I've visited in our time together." Elias explained, finally getting to a piece of paper with a single name written on it. "You're Lady Chaos, aren't you? The Great Destroyer. The Broken Mirror. Lady Vordea, the Goddess of Change... no, that title is wrong." Elias said, correcting himself.
"Hmmm?" Nalaea asked, curious herself.
"The Supreme Goddess of Creation. The last child of... oh where's that other note?" Elias began to rifle through his bag, before pulling it out. "Aha! Of course. The last child of Carcosa."
"You remind me a lot of Professor Hargrave." Vordea replied, as she assumed her normal avatar in an instant, complete with her black armour. "An endless hunger for the truth. That's why I chose you."
Elias and Francisco were both taken by surprise at Vordea so readily dropping her disguise, and the look on their faces made Vordea smile.
"Now then Elias, or should I say... High Priest Malloit? Let's discuss everything in the open." Vordea said, folding her hands and placing them on her lap. "Ask away, I will answer all of your questions... within reason, of course."
Elias was flabbergasted, and took a few moments to gather his thoughts, shuffling the papers as he did so, before deciding to begin with the very first thing that popped into his head.
"What do you mean, High Priest?" He asked.
"Exactly that. I have chosen you to be my next High Priest. I already empowered your soul when we first met. You're the perfect candidate, and it's how you were able to save Nalaea."
"Of course. Why keep it a secret for so long?"
"I wanted you to figure it out on your own. I could have just revealed myself to you, and made a proclamation. You weren't ready then. You still aren't ready now. That's part of the fun, though."
"Will things... change between us?" Elias asked, as diplomatically as possible.
"I do like you Elias, I wouldn't be wringing you dry every night if I didn't." Vordea answered, her face flushing slightly as she licked her lips.slightly.
"Wants to be treated like a lady, doesn't act like a lady at all." Francisco said, shaking his head.
"Many such cases." Nalaea added.
Instead of responding with words, Vordea decided to slither one of her tentacles slowly over to Elias's chair, and curled it up around his leg, before winking at him.
"Right." Elias said, slightly flustered as it uncurled and slithered away again. "What does your Imperial Visa actually say?"
"I promise you it's quite boring, but here you go." Vordea said, pulling it out from inside of her black armour and handing it to Elias, who read it carefully.
Name: Vordea
Occupation: Goddess
Reason for Visit: Searching for next High Priest
Duration of Stay: Indefinite
Visa Class: Divine
Warning: Do not read this visa aloud under any circumstances.
"Divine?" Elias asked, as he handed it back to Vordea.
"Catastrophe is what would be issued to Sirene Ignitis or a High Priest. Divine is what's issued to the Gods themselves." Vordea answered.
"So where's the other visa?" Francisco asked.
"Oh there isn't. I simply rearranged the words." Vordea said dismissively.
"What do I get out of this?" Elias asked, before Francisco could challenge the ridiculousness of what Vordea said.
"Let's start with some clothing." Vordea said, clapping her hands. Instantly, Elias found himself wearing the robes of a priest, and Nalaea snickered.
"What's so funny?" Elias asked.
"The hat. Lady Vordea did you really have to?" Nalaea asked, her snickering devolving into laughter.
Elias felt for the hat and took it off. Looking at it, he laughed and threw it at Vordea, who was smiling also. "Fuck off, a bishop hat?"
"Worth it." Vordea said, laughing. "Okay, I'll be serious. You speak on my behalf. As wonderful as I am, I can't be everywhere at once, and people get intimidated by me."
"Gee I wonder why." Francisco said, to the laughter of all.
"So, you speak with my authority. When you speak, my power is behind your words, and you may threaten, browbeat, abuse, intimidate, and corrupt as you wish with that authority. It's all the same to me."
"I'm starting to remember Vordea is not one of the good Gods." Francisco continued, upon hearing those words.
"Good? Evil? I'm far beyond those concepts, boy. I am change. The High Priest of Vordea is the only living mortal whose summons I will answer. IfWhisper my name, and before the last breath leaves your lips, I will be there." Vordea’s smile widened into something wicked, almost teasing. "Imagine their faces when they willrealise notthe listenGod toof you,Chaos youappears can summonat your Godbeck toand enact instant divine judgement.call." Vordea was smiling quite wickedly now.
"What do I have to do in return for you?" Elias asked, crossing his leg.
"Smart boy." Vordea replied, repeating the motion. "I may give you a task from time to time. That is all.
"A task?" Elias asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Let's start now. Escort me back to Gilnas City. I have found my High Priest." Vordea said, folding her arms and smiling. "One more thing. Don't feel bound by your predecessors on how to act. High Priestess Celeste was chosen by an all out battle royale that resulted in the deaths of nearly a hundred, and the execution of her remaining rivals on the altar of the Great Cathedral. High Priest Fillmont literally seized control of the Church and named himself to the position. Act how you see fit."
"Celeste? Wait, you mean Old Handsy?" Nalaea asked.
"Handsy?" Francisco asked. "Do I want to know?"
"Dear sweet Neptis had a very... healthy sex drive." Vordea said, trying to be charitable. "I later discovered she was responsible for every single case of rape that occurred in Dragonpost over a 25 year period."
"All of them? Fuck off there'That's noone way.way to put it." Nalaea scoffed.
"She wasn't called that for nothing." Vordea said with a slight giggle. "But really Elias, just make it up as you go. My purview is change, and all that entails. The more chaotic, the better."
"You make it sound like this is just for fun." Elias said, laughing.
"Oh it is." Vordea answered dismissively.
"What." The other three said in reply, rather flatly.
"Your job is only as serious as you want it to be. Speaking of, there's another reason we have to go back to Gilnas City."
"Oh?"
"We need to make the pact binding." Vordea answered, quite seriously. "Right now you are still a flimsy mortal, and not one of my Avatars."
"That sounds like another thing you won't tell us anything about. So let's move on to your titles. Why don't you tell us a little about each one?" Elias asked, looking at the sheets of paper before him. "I've heard of most of them, but there has to be a reason behind them."
Vordea smiled widely, but keptfolded her hands onhands, her lap.smile stretching unnaturally wide across her face.
"Let's start with the mostelves' wellfavourite, known.shall we? The Great Destroyer." WhatHer thegaze elvesdarted callto me,Nalaea. do you"You know why you eventhey call me that, Nalaea?don't you?"
"Genetic memory. Elves can just barely remember the barest whispers of the last kalpa." Nalaea answered,said onequite ofstiffly, doing her eyesbest twitching.to suppress an eye twitch. "We remember... echoes."
"WhatEchoes, they remembercall isit," Vordea repeated, amused. "Yes. A half-remembered song. The last note of a kalpa, ringing still in your soul. You recall the silence of the end of a kalpa.symphony, not the music."
Her answered,smile smiling pleasantly.sharpened. "TheyWhat they see is me devouringgathering the mortalpieces when the game is done. The candle flickering out, the souls byrushing into my hands, the billionsboard as I extinguish all life in the universe. They witness me returning all of creation to nothingness,cleared so that I may beginset it again. They see the Greatending, Work once more, and extendnot the lifegame of the universe by many trillions of years yet.itself."
Elias was writingalready furiouslyscribbling, his quill scratching like mad. Vordea watched him with delight and amusement, letting the silence stretch until he looked up again.
"And the rest?"
Vordea leaned back and shrugged, as Vordeathough spoke,it unsurewere ifobvious. she"Find wouldit. everPiece shareby this information again. Vordea patiently watched and smiledpiece, as Eliasyou continuedalways todo. write,Where's greatlythe pleasedfun within hertelling choice.the Oncewhole Eliasstory was finished writing, she waiting forin a fewsingle momentsmeeting?"
[...]
"There's only a few who still call me this next title, The Broken Mirror. It's an old Orcish name for me. Can you guess why they called me that?"
"Probably to due with your propensity to omit the truth but not lie?" Francisco ventured.
"Close. A Brokenmirror Mirrorbroken does not lie, it only reflectsshows ayou partialin pieces. That is how the old Orcish Empire saw me. Fragments, refractions, never whole. They knew I was the truth, thatbut isnot the reason.one they wanted." Vordea said, smiling faintly. "They weren't wrong... but they weren't right either. Make of that whatas you will." Vordea said, shaking her head slightly.
"Anything more to it than that?" Elias asked, seeing Vordea shake her head again, he motioned for her to continue.
Elias tapped the edge of his notes, reading them over. "Fragments and refractions... partial truths. Every name I found is just that, isn't it?"
Vordea's smile widened, and she let out a laugh that was more blade than breath. "Of course, did you think any of you would ever hold the whole mirror? Even these little lists are more shards on the floor."
"Then this one's just another shard?" Elias asked, holding up a scrap of paper with a title underlined three times.
He hesitated for a moment before reading it aloud, almost like he wasn't sure if he should. Like the universe was telling him not to speak.
"The Last Child of Carcosa.Carcosa-"
Elias nearly toppled from his chair, clutching his skull. The word rang in him like a bell, but wrong, a sound no ear was meant to hear.
Francisco paled without knowing why. Nalaea's hands shook, though she refused to admit it. The syllables clung to them like smoke, a terror with no source.
Vordea alone did not flinch. She let it hang, let the fear breathe. Then, quietly, almost too gently:
"Where did you findhear that one?it?" Vordea asked.
"WhenHer wevoice exploredwas Zimmilsilk Ma.stretched Iover heardstone. it whispered as we looked through the libraries. It sounded important, so I wrote it down. Later IElias managed to linkcroak Carcosaout tothe you,story soof itZimmil feltMa, likeof itthe waswhisper referringamong toLazarus' you."books.
Vordea's explained,smile lookingwithered. throughHer hisposture notes.shifted, Suddenly,sharp heedges feltsoftening. dizzyFor andthe fellfirst backtime insince hisshe seat,shed holdingher hisdisguise, head.she "What-Whylooked doalmost I feel like this?"
mournful.
"EmperorI Lazarus. Of course.see," Vordeashe said,whispered, chuckling.folding "Evenher thehands namein isher alap. mentalA hazard,silence sostretched, I'll refrain from speaking it again. It refers to where I came from. It's a place mortal eyes are not meant to see,heavy and if I took you there, you would become quite insane."
absolute.
"SoThen, whatwith doesnone theof lasther childearlier mean?"flourish Nalaeashe asked.spoke.
"It was once a place so alive,alive. but that was evenEven before my time.me. I was theits last childchild. ofBorn from a doomed land, created in the dying gasp of an ancient place,gasp, so thatsomething of it would never be forgotten.remain." Vordea answered, smiling sadly.
"Created?"Her Eliasgaze asked,drifted raisingaway, anto eyebrow.some horizon only she could see. For the first time since they've known her, the smile faltered.
"ThatThe issilence somethingpressed thatin, mustheavy remainand oppressive like a secret,Port myNautitus sweet."fog.
Then replied,she shakingdrew a breath, and when her head.eyes returned to them they had the same sparkle they always did, the sadness washed away.
"Let's move on to the last one, the Supreme Goddess of Creation."
"HangElias ontapped isn'this that the Raven King's title?" Francisco asked, to which Vordea gently pat him on the head.
"No Franny, the Raven King is the God of Creation, which is... different. Creation versus Creation." Vordea said, stressing the word differently each time she said it.notes. "IWho ameven thecalls Supremeyou Goddess because none outrank me, not Eigengrau, not Agbus, no-one.that?" Vordea continuing, offering vague half-truths designed to deflect.