Jackal Among Snakes

The moment that they exited Erlebnis’ vault, the Alchemist seized all of them with his many arms, and used [Worldstrider] to take them elsewhere. Though wounded, battered, and mentally scarred, the fact remained that they had escaped the clutches of Erlebnis and Mozzahr both. It almost felt wrong to win in this manner… but win they did. They stood once again in a section of Erlebnis’ near-endless Annals of the Universe, about to fulfill their last task.

“You’re back,” Elenore’s relieved voice flooded into his mind through her divine blessing of connection. “I thought… I didn’t know what to think.”

Argrave smiled. “We’ll be coming home, soon. All of us.”

There was silence that told of unspeakable relief. Then, Elenore said simply, “I’ll be waiting.”

Argrave stared at the Alchemist. The man seemed to be gathering himself to prepare to do something. His body cracked inward, and Hause’s court stepped back in alarm. He exploded into a mass of arms and eyes, then spread throughout the vast city of brown books. He tore them apart book by book, consuming the knowledge inside.

As the Alchemist—or Raven, as he had once been known—pillaged Erlebnis’ knowledge ruthlessly, Argrave looked back at his party and reflected. They had come here seeking to gain every bit of knowledge they could to study Gerechtigkeit, searching for a way to defeat him. Along the way, they’d gained far more than just that. Even barring the myriad artifacts that they’d stolen from Erlebnis’ vault, of which they’d yet to fully sort through… there were many benefits to this journey.

Argrave had learned the truth of what, and who, the Alchemist was. It was a terrifying revelation. The Alchemist had the potential to destroy an entire continent on his lonesome… and indeed, he had once before. And in the end, they’d rescued his patron god, Hause. Argrave spotted her, speaking to her divine servants. He gestured toward Anneliese, and they walked side by side to speak to them while the Alchemist labored.

“Hello,” Argrave greeted. “I’m sorry for your losses, Hause. Not the most pleasant way to wake up, I imagine.”

Hause stared at him, and Argrave stared back. He questioned if she was seeing his potential, sizing him up. He couldn’t deny the idea enticed his curiosity. She had long wavy blonde hair with auburn roots, and looked like a young girl despite her status as divinity. She seemed not fully grown, yet just on the cusp—in a word, potential.

“We were never asleep,” Hause said in response. “We were fighting the Smiling Raven, and then we were here.”

“I see. I… honestly don’t know how long you were in there. At the very least, it’s been two cycles of judgment—meaning two millennia,” Argrave told her calmly.

Her court stirred with the news, some appearing utterly distraught. Argrave wouldn’t know how to react to that information, either—perhaps he’d need to see it to believe it.

“We have innumerable questions about you, and I imagine the same would be the same for you of us,” Anneliese continued. “But perhaps we might begin at introductions, given we never got the chance earlier. I am Anneliese, Queen of Vasquer. This is my husband, Argrave, King of Vasquer. It is to our kingdom we will be returning, once the Alchemist finishes his duty.”

“Royalty? In this chaos?” Sonia, Raven’s old lover, questioned. “If your council permits that, it cannot be a large land.”

“Size is relative. You’ll have to be the judge of that,” Argrave shrugged.

“I am Hause, goddess of potential. It seems to me you two know that,” she dipped her head neatly, completing their exchange. “I appreciate your aid. I hope we might speak more in-depth later. You are king and queen… but who among you holds power?”

“He does,” Anneliese surrendered graciously.

“…but in truth, we’re equal partners,” Argrave added. “I’ll be brief. I’m not sure what your plan is, after this. But you are welcome in Vasquer, and I daresay you’ll be safest there. We have formed an alliance with other powerful gods, who supported this heist to its completion.”

Hause stared without moving at all, and Argrave narrowed his eyes in confusion. Then, he heard a voice behind him.

“I’ll be looking forward to seeing their faces.”

Argrave whipped around. The Keeper sat there, on a bench in this ugly city of brown books. All of time seemed to be frozen.

“More of this mental war?” Argrave questioned. “Give it up. Even in your own realm, you can’t catch us.”

The Keeper rose to his feet. “We always wanted to own you, Argrave. We were satisfied to have you as a champion… but when that avenue died, we still hoped we might salvage things. As it so happened, you wandered right into the heart of our power… and you truly think you escaped without losing anything?”

“Illuminate me,” Argrave indulged him.

“That blessing my brother gave you…” the Keeper stalked closer, and Argrave prepared to end him. As if sensing his malevolence, the man stopped. “…you’ve used it well. Too well. But at the end of the day, it’s still an inextricable link between you… and him. And he’s made it his blessing once again. On the mortal realm, Erlebnis could do nothing about that. He just had to accept you using him, like a leech. But you came here, into his quintessence. You stood among Erlebnis, his body surrounding you. And you think you escaped without a scratch…?”

“I feel fine,” he responded simply.

“Yes. We know very well how you feel. You see… Erlebnis got what he wanted, Argrave. He got you.”

Argrave scoffed in disbelief. “I don’t feel very gotten.”

“Good,” the Keeper nodded. “But you’ve been marked. That weak mental warfare he subjected you to… nothing but a prelude to the true attack. You might consider it a curse, but we consider it our greatest blessing. Everything that you see, everything that you hear, everything that you sense… well, Erlebnis will know about it, Argrave. Rather than kill you… Erlebnis elected to prepare this condition. He believes it is just about of equal value to all you stole.”

Argrave blanked out for a moment, and his vision danced. He denied, “That’s not true. If it was, you would never have told me. You would’ve just let me remain ignorant. Now, I can take measures, get it removed, or…”

The Keeper narrowed his golden eyes. “Your wife has Truesight vested in her by Yinther. The Alchemist is a thorough observer. There was no point in hiding it from you, as it will be found shortly. But even now that you know… what can you do? You have to communicate with your allies. In so doing, you will communicate with Erlebnis. How can you avoid it? As for removing it… well, try. This is a curse from the god of knowledge.”

Argrave’s brain whirled. Questions persisted in his mind, but he dared not overplay his hand—his thoughts seemed spared this scrutiny, but would Erlebnis know about his communication with Elenore? Was removing it truly hopeless? Ingo had already had his blessing purged by the Alchemist, and Erlebnis was ignorant of that fact. It felt like an empty threat. Whatever the case…

“Fellhorn is awakening. He remembers you well, Argrave. I’m sure he’ll pay well to know your plans to combat him. And the Qircassian Coalition? Any strategy you might have against them will fall into their hands the moment it leaves your lips. Even the more mortal enemies you’ve made, like Mozzahr, will not protest to learning all of your secrets.”

The Keeper held his arms out. “And if you call upon the Blessing of Supersession again, Erlebnis’ curse will only strengthen. For now, it’s your senses. But later, perhaps it will be your mind. This is Erlebnis’ counterattack, Argrave. Does it soil your victory, somewhat? If you should wish to negotiate… the door remains open. You need only say the words aloud, and Erlebnis will receive them.”

Argrave couldn’t deny he was panicked, but he’d be damned if he was to show it. “It looks like we’ve gotten really close, but despite all that I’m afraid I don’t even know who you are, really. I know your brother… but who the hell are you? Why should I believe anything you say?”

The Keeper sighed. “And you said Erlebnis lacks creativity… you really can’t figure it out? Fine. I am simply what remains of Erlebnis’ humanity,” he said, holding his arms wide. “I am… shall we say, the human element. I am what he was before he became what he is. In that sense, we do rather well. After all, he’d never have thought up that curse without my input. But now… we’ll always be there. Listening. Watching. Learning. Nothing you will ever do is safe from us.”

“I will break this,” Argrave vowed. “And if I can’t break this… I’ll break you.”

“Good luck,” the Keeper laughed confidently. “I imagine your problems are going to mount exponentially, Argrave. Because you’ve drawn Erlebnis’ sole attention. Humans are much frailer than divinity… and you won’t surprise Erlebnis ever again.”

The scene faded, and Argrave stared at Hause again. She said, “I can’t rightfully refuse such hospitality. I—are you all right?”

As Argrave turned around and stared at the spot where the Keeper had been, Hause looked baffled at his sudden movement Anneliese looked at him with alarm, but Argrave shook it all away.

“Sorry,” he dismissed, despite his mind boiling like a cauldron. “Still paranoid. You were saying?”

“Well… yes,” Hause gathered herself. “As I was saying, my realm… I cannot feel its existence anymore. It would be an immense struggle for me to manifest on the mortal world safely without your help. I will be as weak as a chick for days on end. In simpler terms… I can only trust you. It wouldn’t do for Erlebnis to learn where I was hiding out. I always knew he coveted my power, but this… was far beyond my expectations.”

“Yes,” agreed Argrave. “It wouldn’t do for him to learn that at all…”

“It’s done,” declared the Alchemist, rewinding all of his limbs back in place until he was a body well and truly once more. He rose the white spear into the air. “Now… let us be free of this dreadful place. I have much information to parse, if we are to take the next step against Gerechtigkeit.”

Argrave stepped in, feeling violated with every step. Someone was seeing through his body, hearing through his ears… he was confident it could be removed. But he could not deny there was some fear, bubbling just beneath the surface.

“Yeah. There’s a lot we need to talk about.”