Chapter 253: Unconventional

I glance down at the jagged end of the chain that represents the severed connection to my own body, and a chill runs down my spine. “Right, because if we don’t sever her connection to her body, she might manage to pull herself into the Yin-Yang Realm...”

“That is indeed a risk,” Goddess replies. “Especially during transit, right before you reach my domain. However, it is not the main reason for this condition of mine.”

I frown. “What is it, then?”

“The connection is two-way,” Goddess states simply.

It takes me a moment to figure it out, but when I do, my brows shoot up. “Starmother might be monitoring the connection from the Yin-Yang Realm! If so, she could probably just follow it right to Suri...”

I really should’ve realised sooner. This was the whole reason I severed my own chain, after all!

Goddess nods. “Exactly. Only by severing her tether can we hide that the Peilor is alive and has been transported to the Realm of Imagination. Mara might still suspect something, but without hard proof, it will be much harder for her to convince her council that this is cause to break the truce.”

“And... I guess that goes for my tether, too,” Kaitlynn adds in a small voice, prompting me to snap my gaze over to her. She’s got her arms crossed over her midriff, her shoulders slumping, and a small frown mars her features.

Shit...

“Indeed,” Goddess replies with a sigh like a forest rustling in the wind. “It is up to you whether you go through with severing it, but I would not recommend you travel up here without doing so first. Not until some resolution with the Peilor has been achieved, at least.”

I swallow, and reach out to grab Kait’s hand and give it a squeeze. She squeezes back, looking down at the floor, brows furrowed in thought.

“If you do decide to go through with it,” Goddess continues, “then having your connection severed nigh-simultaneously with the Peilor’s would probably be the least suspicious manner to do this, as it’ll help sell the idea that you’ve simply both fallen to some unknown danger.”

“Noted,” I reply, my voice a bit hoarse. “So... can I just sever Suri’s tether like I did mine?”

Goddess cocks her head sideways a little. “Actually, as I’ve mentioned previously, the state of your mortal tether is kind of... unprecedented.”

Oh. Right. I think I remember her mentioning that... man, that was a long time ago.

“While I’m sure the feat can be replicated,” she continues, “I’ve personally never attempted to sever a mortal’s tether. Frankly, I fear I do not understand the connection to the mortal coil well enough to do it. I’m not even sure if it’s possible to sever another being’s tether, and it’s not something I would experiment with lightly, but this is likely about as good an opportunity as we’re going to get.”

Kaitlynn flinches a little at that, which, I get. Experimenting on prisoners of war is kinda... yeah. Not great.

But Goddess has a point. It is a good opportunity, and we need to sever Suri’s tether anyway to bring her along, so I don’t interrupt as she carries on speaking.

“If you find it isn’t possible to do it to her—as I somewhat suspect—you will have to get her to do it herself. One way or another.”

Oof. Yeah, forcing her to do it herself would not be much better.

“Of course,” Goddess mercilessly continues, “I’m sure you understand that severing the Peilor’s chain will not be enough of a security measure by itself. Additional precautions will have to be taken to ensure the prisoner doesn’t attempt to escape or seeks to contact her allies.”

My stomach sinks a little. “You mean Commands, right?”

“I’ll leave it to you to choose and devise the means,” Goddess replies, “but a proper set of Commands to prevent treachery would indeed be my suggested method. If you haven’t mastered their use yet, I’m sure you can find someone to teach you in the Realm of Glory.”

After that, we hammer out some more details.

Yuna will have to stay behind—naturally—as she’s too strong for me to properly Command, and there’s really no good reason to bring her anyway. Instead, she’ll be left in the care of the raptors, but by the look on Kaitlynn’s face, we’ll be making sure she’s well cared for.

Kaitlynn does get grudging permission from Goddess to bring her cuties along, after she promises to take full responsibility for their behaviour in the Realm of Imagination.

Which means zero hunting, among other things, which might prove a challenge.

Goddess does tacitly allow indigenous non-sapient beings to do some hunting—mostly because she can’t be everywhere to stop it all the time—but letting loose five Ascendants on the local wildlife is obviously a no-no.

As a peaceful, sapient being, Koko is of course more than welcome, and as I brag about Kirri’s growth, I spot what might actually be a genuine smile on Goddess’s face.

It’s hard to tell, with the beak and all.

Finally, once it seems like we’ve covered everything regarding our return, Goddess once more speaks up. “Now, as I’m sure you understand, I’m quite loath to show off any new ‘tricks’ when Mara could pop in on me at any given moment. So unless there are other urgent matters, I’m going to cut off this conversation here.”

“If you could spare a moment of your time, oh Divine One,” Bhat says reverently, dipping his head, “I would like to humbly ask if our work over the past decamillennial has pleased you.”

Goddess flicks her gaze over to meet his hopeful eyes, and is silent for a short moment. “You have performed admirably,” she finally responds. “I would like to... apologise, for how distant I’ve been. My war against Starmother has kept me quite occupied.”

Bhat straightens up, alarm on his face. “Oh! No need, milady, no need. We could never repay the debt of gratitude we owe you. In fact, if there’s ever a thing we can do to help in your war, don’t hesitate to say the word!”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Goddess says, a little more warmly. “Thank you, Bhat.”

I have to bite my lip to keep from smiling at how awkward Goddess was just now, and how unaware Bhat seems as he beams with pride.

Does she not like the fanatical worship, or does she just feel guilty for neglecting them?

With a cough to hide my mirth, I clear my throat. “Thank you for contacting us so swiftly, Your Highness. I think we know what to do now.”

“Excellent,” Goddess replies, her relief at not being required to speak with Bhat for longer well-hidden, but still noticeable. “We’ll talk more when you get here.”

And with that, the scroll is suddenly engulfed by bright white fire, and burns up in a flash. As the flames disappear, they reveal a small, black, owl-shaped object on a necklace that remains hanging in mid-air.

After a moment, Kaitlynn gingerly reaches out and grabs it, bringing it closer to her face and studying it with a bemused frown. “Is this... a bird whistle? We’re supposed to signal Goddess with a bird whistle? That seems... oddly irreverent.”

I groan. “It’s a bit of an inside joke, I guess. I’ll explain later. Don’t lose it, yeah?”

Kaitlynn nods and carefully slips the string it hangs from around her neck, still frowning thoughtfully.

I figure it’s probably best if she holds on to it anyway, as I’ll have my mind full with the traveling metaphor during our journey.

I let out a sigh, feeling some of the tension in my shoulders drain away.

I’m not sure if I’ll ever truly be comfortable speaking to Goddess, but definitely not when it’s sprung on me like this!

Still, it was a fruitful conversation.

I turn to Bhat, who still looks happier than I’ve ever seen him previously, and give a short bow. “Thank you for... assisting us in this matter. We greatly appreciate it.”

I was about to thank the ruler of a Realm for delivering our message, but it just felt too weird.

“It was but a small favour, Descendant,” he growls, suddenly all magnanimous, like he wasn’t bowing and scraping seconds ago. “Insignificant in the light of all that’s occurred. Please, do not let me keep you from fulfilling your orders post-haste.”

My orders. Right.

Seeing no reason to correct him, I just nod and turn to Kaitlynn. She looks pensive as I reach out for her hand again, but she still automatically intertwines our fingers.

“Come on,” I say as I gently lead her out of Bhat’s audience hall. “We’ve got a lot to talk about...”

Our ride back is quiet, as I try my best to give Kaitlynn some space to process her feelings regarding the various bombshells Goddess dropped. However, by the time we get back to our suite in the Arena, the quiet is driving me nuts, and I feel compelled to say something.

“You know you don’t have to do it, right?” I ask, remaining standing as Kaitlynn flops down on a beanbag.

It takes a moment, but then she sighs and shakes her head. “No... I do. If I don’t cut my tether I’ll have to stay here, and then I can’t help... save Earth.”

I crack a smile at the almost disbelieving tone in which she says the final two words. “It’s weird, right? The idea of trying to actually save the whole friggin’ planet. It feels so... abstract.”

“Definitely,” Kaitlynn agrees, nodding her head fervently. “It’s like, I don’t quite believe it yet? I always thought the biggest threats to our planet were human pollution and asteroids. This just... it doesn’t feel real.”

“Yeah, same. I try not to think about it in those terms, though.”

“What do you think of then?” she asks, cocking her head sideways.

I shrug. “My family. My little brother and sister. I’m not letting this happen, Kait. I don’t care what I have to do to prevent it, I’m not.”

Kaitlynn looks down. “Yeah... I get that. Which is why I already know I’m going through with it, it’s just... scary.”

I pull over a second beanbag, and sit down next to her, putting my hand on her thigh. “I know, baby. But, hey, we don’t know much yet about this stuff. It might very well be possible to restore our ‘mortal tethers,’ as Goddess calls ’em, and reclaim our bodies.”

Kaitlynn takes a deep breath, sitting up a little. “You’re right. That’s not the only thing bothering me, however. What are we going to do about Suri?”

I remain silent for a moment. “Well, for the same reasons, she has to come along. We’d be lost trying to navigate the Yin-Yang Realm without her. And while I don’t like it, Goddess is right. Even if Suri decides she wants to help us, we can’t take her word for it. Even if we somehow were a hundred percent convinced she meant it, we still couldn’t just trust her to not change her mind, the stakes are too high.”

Kaitlynn lets out a sigh. “I’ll be honest, I feel... conflicted. On the one hand, I feel a lot less compelled to help Suri out since you removed her Commands, and saving Earth is about as lofty a goal as it gets, but... cutting her tether and taking away her free will? That’s like killing her and enslaving her soul. The Geneva conventions don’t even cover that, but if they did, I feel like it would be considered a rather big no-no. If we start doing stuff like that, are we any better than the Peilor?”

“Yes,” I reply with conviction. “They’re enslaving entire planets, Kait, and massacring most of the population in the process because they can’t be bothered to pay the cost to do it carefully. And to be honest, even if what we’re doing weren’t better, I’m not sure how much I’d care at this point, because they’ve pretty much forced us into a situation of ‘us or them.’ ”

Kaitlynn looks down, then nods quietly.

I clear my throat. “However, if we can avoid overly immoral acts, I would obviously still greatly prefer that. So, how about we try to come up with a set of Commands that’s the least invasive, while still allowing us to rest assured that Suri can’t screw us over, hmm?”

That, at last, gets a smile from Kaitlynn.

Author's note:

Thanks for reading! ^^