Jackal Among Snakes

Argrave had never been on a boat for an extended period of time. That didn’t change, really, because Lira had installed a feature to his boat that allowed him to go back to land whenever he wanted. It did somewhat undermine the purity of such a thing, but that was already thoroughly marred by the underlying purpose of the Sea Dragon’s long voyage across the sea. The constant vigilance of the accompanying gods ensured they would not be accosted by enemies without warning.

Admiral Tan Shu guided them most of the time. She was a fierce fighter, but her true talent was hinted at by her title. She could read the stars far better than any other sailor. Her skill was such that she could often estimate how far they’d travelled just by looking at the stars each night. She had a great ability to predict weather, wind, and how both might affect the voyage. Perhaps these abilities were supernatural.

But both Admiral Tan Shu and Emperor Ji Meng were tightly watched by countless guards. The reason for that was Sophia. Argrave felt he needed to be near the Sea Dragon to keep watch on things, and at the same time he felt Sophia needed to be far, far away from civilization when they tested her power in case it truly was as dangerous as the Alchemist said.

But progress was not immediate. As a matter of fact, to call it ‘progress’ implied some had been made. Argrave and Anneliese gave the best tips they could to help Sophia grasp her power. Argrave once again borrowed the lens that bestowed [Minor Truesight] when empowered by magic, showing Sophia the turbulent forces that lie within her… yet nothing proved easy stimulation. This sent Sophia into a little bit of a depression. That depression helped her act more like Elenore, but hurt her everywhere else.

She never gave up, though, to her credit. Argrave and Anneliese tried countless different angles to help her grasp her power during the long voyage. They tried to teach her magic to give her a basis of the supernatural. Sophia was magically blessed, and managed to complete a simple F-rank matrix after a few days… but that proved more a distraction than a help. Visualization techniques caused nothing more than a headache for Argrave and Sophia both. For all the countless experience Anneliese and Argrave had calling upon powers other than their own, this was proving beyond them.

Until one peculiar night, that was.

#####

Sophia sat in her bed. She couldn’t sleep. Her throat hurt badly as she tried to cry in silence. The reason? Herself. She hated herself. She was useless, and even after two weeks, couldn’t be of any help to Argrave. He had taken her away from her father, had made nice people look after day after day, and the first thing he truly asked of her she was useless at.

She hopped off her bed, seeking the only thing she felt could comfort her. She opened her trunk and saw the toy knight that had once been her brother’s. She didn’t want to get tears on it, so she wiped her face away with a wet towel the nice people provided for her, took Mr. Knight, and walked back to the bed. She set him there, then stared as she crouched.

Mr. Knight is strong. No matter what, he’d keep fighting, keep going. He would repay anybody, even Argrave. As she tried to harden her resolve by peering upon Mr. Knight, an idea came to her. A good knight is supposed to train knight and day.

Sophia made up her mind to try and train even now, just as Mr. Knight would. She thought back to the lessons of two weeks. ‘You have the power to create, Sophia,’ Argrave had told her. Your power can create life. We’re not sure how, but we do know it can.’

Sophia remembered seeing herself through that lens Argrave had placed up to her eye. Something beyond Sophia’s imagination had lurked within her—but rather than lurk, it was her. But if she could make life…

Sophia stared at Mr. Knight. She had known him for years, every facet of who he was. He was supposed to protect her and her brother. He had metal armor, could defeat anyone, and even though he always listened, he never said anything. She closed her eyes, thinking. Despite everything, she knew Mr. Knight was a doll. But if he wasn’t? If he was alive, and could do all of these things? What would it be like?

The sound of metal against metal made her open her eyes in panic. And as she stared, she came to a realization.

She didn’t need to imagine anymore.

#####

Argrave and Anneliese had been woken up late one night by disturbed guards. Argrave wasn’t entirely sure if he had actually left the dreamworld as he stared at a half-foot tall armored knight kneeling before him. He had a large red feather plume atop his visored bascinet, a sword in its sheath, a knightly demeanor rivalling Orion’s, and a beaming princess just behind him.

“It appears we’ve fallen into a fairytale,” Argrave told Anneliese glibly.

His wife was too beset by curiosity to find his remark humorous at all. She studied Mr. Knight—who was truly a mister, now, instead of a mere child’s fantasy. He looked like a very small person, well and truly. His armor was metal, his sword was sharp and functional, and his manner was impeccable enough to include him among the royal guard.

“Can he speak?” asked Anneliese.

Sophia shook her head. “Mr. Knight has taken a vow of silence until the world is at peace. But he’s always listening if you have any problems!” The princess grew excited, and began to explain her imaginary friend that had come to life.

Argrave and Anneliese listened, but in the midst of her explanation, they looked at each other. A breakthrough had finally been found, after two weeks of painful struggle. And what they found was utterly frightening, yet completely fascinating. Just like many fairy tales, upon introspection.

#####

The birth of Mr. Knight led to a frenzy of activity. The Alchemist studied him, and came to alarming conclusions. Mr. Knight was alive, well and truly, beyond mere tricks of magic. He had a functioning brain, though its intelligence was constrained by its small size. His strength wasn’t quite at the level Sophia bragged it at being. In simpler terms, he was constrained by physical laws. He could not be far stronger than his size, nor more intelligent than his brain feasibly could be. His personality, though, was precisely as Sophia dictated. Before everything else, Mr. Knight was her loyal confidant and protector.

It truly felt like Argrave had been whisked away to a fairy tale. A princess who could make her toys come to life—not a wholly unique phenomenon in stories, certainly. It gave both Argrave and Anneliese tremendous trepidation about what was to come. Sophia quite literally created a life. Ethically, morally… what were these creatures? Should creation come so easily? It made life itself feel valueless, and they both worried Sophia might develop a lack of regard for life itself. How could something be valuable if she could create it at whim?

But the Alchemist would not hear their ethical concerns. He demanded they press on. Anneliese’s rampant curiosity coupled with Argrave’s indecision led them to proceed with this development even as the Sea Dragon headed for the Great Chu.

Now that they had some lead as to what it was that Sophia needed to genuinely create life, the next days became a frenzy of activity. They brought other toys of hers to the world of the living. Those that she had a tremendous backstory for—a tremendous understanding, in essence—she was able to bring to life. It gave some insight into what Sophia actually needed to create life. But these additional living dolls she made, unlike Mr. Knight, could speak.

Each and all had the personality one might expect a child to make. Fortunately for all of them, Sophia didn’t have dark thoughts. She brought a maid doll to life that was happy, bubbly, and obsequious. She made this maid’s entire family, too. Serving positions were apparently standard in this family—they had a butler, a cook, and a seamstress. These living toys were utterly astounding in that Sophia had made them, but they were limited in so many ways it was hard to imagine the Alchemist thought she could destroy the world.

The living dolls couldn’t hold long-term memories. They could perform the duties they ostensibly should be able to in their roles, and they could remember Sophia. Anything else was too much to ask. They were truly a child’s toy come to life—existing only in her world, for her. This was even to her frustration. Sophia wanted them to help Argrave, but they couldn’t even remember his name longer than a few hours.

After, to lead her toward what they needed, they had her try and recreate the living dolls. After much effort, this proved something that she was capable of. She managed to make two Mr. Knights, the second being just as unsettling as the first. Next, rather than make more, Argrave and Anneliese tried to help her learn how to modify them. Her power seemed to rely on understanding. To aid her imagination, they fed her additional information about the extent of these living doll’s capabilities.

It proved possible for Sophia to modify her creations. Within a matter of days, she was able to give life to something that could at least remember just as well as she could. She had difficulty creating something that was larger than her, as she had never actually been that size. The things she made still had a relatively static personality and lacked true memories of what it was and why it was, but it was proof of concept.

But Sophia was a clever girl, and with Argrave and Anneliese’s guidance, she picked up on what needed to be done to master her ability in greater detail. It was her understanding of something, her grasp of it, and the limits imposed by the body.

Argrave and Anneliese weren’t entirely comfortable about the idea of Sophia practicing these things on her own, but they were hesitant to restrict her entirely. After all, without Sophia’s own relentless drive toward this, they’d likely still be scrabbling around at nothing. They never suggested she work on her own, nor did they disapprove.

Rather than Anneliese and Argrave bringing her to the Sea Dragon to try and help her, she came every day with something new that she’d learned. Her powers, now in her hands, were becoming more and more sophisticated with every passing day. The fact that Sophia proved utterly devoted to helping out Argrave and Anneliese made them somewhat lax. Sophia felt simply too sweet to be evil. She listened to what they said, and simply tried to help. This was what they had wanted—they couldn’t disapprove of her relentless push forward, necessarily.

They should have. It might’ve prevented ‘Castro’ from being born.