Godslayer Lysette: Chapter 251

Chapter 251: Overnight Party

Lysette and Mirae led Aurella back down off the training grounds and into the heart of Ciricu.  As it was still early afternoon, the three had plenty of time to mingle with the children, giving no small number of air rides over the city.  Lysette and Aurella handled the majority of the individual flights, with Mirae staying down on the surface helping parents corral their rowdy kids as they bundled up and waited their turn for a flight in the chilly late-winter sky.

High above the town in the cloudless afternoon, where visibility extended for miles, the fields to the north of Ciricu were growing warmer.  The last bits of winter snow were melting, and the buds of deciduous trees were forming tiny tips of whitish-green, ever eager to herald the arrival of spring.  It should have been a peaceful time of rebirth to look forward to, but more immediately, it was a ticking down to the resumption of war along the northern front.

The afternoon came and went, with nearly a hundred kids who each received a few minutes in the air.  And as the sun descended toward the western edges of the Spire Mountains just to the south, Lysette finished the last flight and the crowd of kids and their parents finally dispersed as all of those involved made their way back to their homes for dinner and preparations for another good night’s sleep.

It was mere moments after they finished up and headed back home with their new guest that Serrena and Rayleigh touched down next to them.  The former was looking proud, though with a hint of confusion in her eyes as she looked at Aurella.  The latter, meanwhile, was so disheveled and heavy of breath that she didn’t do much beyond wince and try to catch her breath as she landed.

“So, I’m guessing the new girl isn’t your kid,” Serrena said.  “But I’m not sure what other explanation there would be for some child with a divine aura suddenly showing up here.”

Aurella floated up to Serrena’s eye level and furrowed her brows before dropping back to the ground.  “Yeah, I guess the family resemblance checks out.  You seem a lot less fun than Solanna though.”

“I can’t say I have much time for fun.  The path of Ambition is one of relentless pursuit toward self-betterment.”

“Oh, wow, you really are nothing like Solanna.  I’m surprised the two of you are related.”

“So much for the family resemblance,” Serrena said.  “And you hardly look old enough to know me, let alone her.”

“Well, yeah, it’s like I was telling Lyse and Mirae before.  I like looking like this, even though I’m older than all four of you put together!”

“Great,” Serrena muttered.  “There are even more of them now.  In any case, what’s-her-name–”

“Aurella,” she said.

“In any case, Aurella wants to go visit Solanna tomorrow and I suppose heading up there isn’t the worst idea.  I’m still worried about leaving the townsfolk without me, but I’m not sure if I should stay here myself or keep my avatar here while I go.  I suppose it doesn’t matter from the perspective of protecting the townsfolk.  Even that Mirette is strong enough to handle anything short of another centuries-old Godslayer, and I doubt Thosse’s Godslayer is going to come here in the first couple of waves.  Then again, Alan did and Asterion and Thosse are definitely in cahoots with one another, so–”

“Wait, you mentioned Asterion before,” Aurella said.  “Something about his inquisitors and the village where you used to live.  So you killed his Godslayer?”

“Yeah, Mirae, Solanna, and I worked together to slay him.  We got lucky and were able to take advantage of his overconfidence, but yeah, Alan is dead and as far as I am concerned, the world is better for it.”

“Woohoo!”  Aurella extended her hand up toward Lysette’s face.  “High-five!”

Lysette shed a single tear, at how much Aurella continued to remind her of Dani.  She wondered how Dani was doing, back at Ft. James, back on the front lines, back in the midst of a war that no humans should be fighting or dying in.  Nevertheless, she Reciprocated the gesture, though not without eliciting an air of confusion from their visitor.

“Do you not do high-fives here?”

“No, it’s not that.  I was just thinking of a friend.  You remind me of her, a little bit.”

“Can we go see her too?”

“Probably not, I’m afraid.  She’s currently away on an assignment, but we might be able to talk to her later if you want.”

“Talk to her how?”

Mirae stepped in, guiding the five of them back to their cottage.  “My power of Devotion allows me to communicate telepathically over extremely long distances.  Thanks to my love’s power of Reciprocity, we can share our powers with one another, such that she and I can both use it at will.”

Aurella tilted her head.  “Sharing power with one another?  Between deities? I know deities can gift power to their followers, but I’m not aware of such a power existing between two deities.”

The five headed inside, and Rayleigh immediately collapsed onto one of the two small couches.  Mirae picked up a cup, filled it with water, and handed it to Rayleigh, who downed it nearly instantly.  Meanwhile, Lysette headed into the kitchen and set the cooking fire with a snap of her fingers.

“Well, yes,” Lysette said as she began boiling water for some rice casserole.  “I used to be an herbalist before becoming a demigoddess.  And grafting desirable traits between different strains of herbs was a fairly routine practice.  With some herbs, you pretty much need to do so or you’ll end up with a weaker or ineffective strain after just a few generations.”

“But, like, how do you do that?”

“Well, we do so while jointly Cultivating.  I take cuttings of my Spark and graft a portion of my power onto Mirae’s and then they do the same for me.”

“And that actually works?  My parents were very explicit that I was not to mess with others’ Sparks under any circumstances.  Like, I’m not even supposed to have followers in the first place.”

“That tracks,” Serrena said.  “Your mother probably wants all the people who would follow you for herself.  She doesn’t want you to come into your own as a goddess.  She wants you to do all her work, coming out here to fight Lyse for her sake, and then you’ll go home and continue to be a tool for her benefit.  Damnit, it makes me sick knowing that she’s just going to use you like that.”

“Use me?”

“Aurella, what you do with your life should be your choice.  Not your mother’s or your father’s or anyone else’s.  Just yours.  Now, that’s not to say that what you choose won’t have consequences.  Lyse is all about being consequences for others.  Not the greatest when it comes to accepting the consequences of her own actions, but, you know, we’re working on that part.”

“So what are you saying?  I should just tell my parents no?”

“I mean, what are they going to do?  It’s not like Luminia is likely to just show up here in an avatar and try to fight us.  If she does, we’ll tell her exactly where she can shove it.  And if needed, we’ll demonstrate with our fists!”

“You’d really fight my mom?”

“I don’t see why not,” Mirae said.  “Lyse’s old boss Zarielle showed up about four months ago, demanded she kill the townspeople to ‘prove her loyalty to her.’  She said no— as she was right to do— and the three of us pummeled her avatar all the way back to the Celestial realm.”

Lysette peeked in from the kitchen.  “Well, it was definitely a lot tougher of a fight than that, but yes, we narrowly fought her off, and if you are sure that you don't want to kill me and want to stay here, we’ll protect you from your mom if she tries anything.”

“And you’ll still let me go see Solanna like we promised?”

“We’re still working out the details of who will be going, but yes, that’s the plan.”

“Okay, yep, I’ve heard all I need to hear!  You all are the absolute best!”

“Huh, wha?”  Rayleigh looked around and licked her lips.  “Is the food almost ready?”

“Just a bit longer,” Lysette shouted from the next room over.

“It smells delicious!” Aurella said.  “Like a chicken and cheese rice casserole?”

“Yep!  Sorry there won’t be a lot of variety.  We don’t eat all the time so we don’t have a lot of food in our place.  That and the spring planting season is only just about to start.”

“Oh, no worries!  I haven’t had anything to eat in like… three weeks or so?  Might be four.”

“Do your parents not let you eat?” Rayleigh asked.

“Oh, I can during the summer when food is more plentiful.  But Laquella City is pretty far to the north, even by the standards of its continent.  And even our continent’s farmlands are further north than this tiny town.  Food is scarce during the long, cold winter, and since I can do without, I’m expected to do so.  Don’t worry, I get to eat more during the summer and fall when people are farming and fishing and such!”

“As the one human in the room, I am awed and amazed by how varied all four of you are despite all being demigods or demigoddesses.”

“Well, of course,” Aurella said.  “In fact, we’re even more different than humans are.  Humans have all sorts of varied desires and wants, and each of us embodies and exemplifies one of those traits as our Domain.”

“Two of them, in Lyse’s and my case,” Mirae said.  “But yes.”

“Okay, but that’s like an extra super special case.  Most of us only get one Domain.  Even if it changes a bit over time and we adapt around it and modify ourselves to fit our understanding of our Domain, we still embody and define it for the world.  It’s a lot of responsibility, which…  Which I tend to ignore a lot of the time, since my Domain is all about not that!

“Besides, kids naturally embody Whimsy, so I don’t really worry too much about that.  Speaking of, thanks for letting me help out with all the flights around the village.  I had a lot of fun too!”

“Alright!” Lysette said.  “Food’s ready!  I don’t have as many herbs and spices as I would like, but I hope it still turned out well!”

Serrena brought Rayleigh a heaping portion, while Mirae brought two other plates, one for themself and one for Aurella.  Once Lysette brought the final two bowls for herself and Serrena, the five all dug in.  It wasn’t the greatest food Lysette had ever made, let alone eaten, but it was filling and satisfying and no one complained about it.

Three hours of lively chatter and impromptu games followed.  Despite her usual serious demeanor, even Serrena got involved in some of the less rambunctious among the games, and many laughs were had by all throughout the evening.  After about three hours of fun, Rayleigh stretched and said her farewells.

Serrena left alongside her disciple, leaving Aurella together with Lysette and Mirae to spend the rest of the evening together.  And, though none of the three did or even could sleep, the remainder of the night passed quickly in quiet conversation, telling yet more stories and recounting Lysette’s journey thus far.  And as the first light of the new dawn approached, Lysette, together with Aurella, readied for departure.

Chapter 250: https://www.patreon.com/posts/114722198

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

Chapter 252: https://www.patreon.com/posts/114837634