I have to say thanks to Occi and everyone else ahead of time, since a good chunk of this omake comes from what Occi is writing.
Ferenike 22 - Through Doom's Gate
Her shout rang through the air like the tolling of a great gong, twined with the shouts and screams of her soldiers. The enemy stood before them beneath the wall and ran to scale it, sprinting at it with the incredible bounding speed of cultivators and then running
up the sheer surface like it was flat land as Qi lightened their bodies. "Scorpion Squads five, seven and nine! Fire! Left flank!" She yelled, voice roaring clearly over the deafening clamor of the battlefield as the arrays embedded in the walls exploded, knocking some enemies off, vaporizing a few, blasting others from afar before they could reach the wall, and their fury made the sheer surface even more hazardous. There was a great clanking of gears and then spear sized bolts blessed with fire and thunder and other powerful arrays rained upon the Fifth Sea hunters from the scorpions mounted on the wall.
Arcing above their heads and the wall was a dome of snapping energy and spells generated by the work of the array engineers, shielding them from the arrows and spears and spells of the back ranks of the enemy attack. Ferenike stalked across the wall, shouting orders to dozens of runners and squads and directing fire as she listened. She listened to the world and she watched it shift and churn and the mosaic of red glass in her mind shifted, clicking and clacking as it tracked the flow of the battle. The desires of the enemy commanders were bare and obvious to her in the movements of the hunters. The world itself was lain bare before her instinct and experience, a feeling tapping at the back of her skull, an ephemeral sense of direction and purpose.
Here a squad raced up the wall, spinning grappling hooks and readying swords, aiming to tear down the defenders, and she pulled back her men and called for them to brace. As the Hunters surmounted the wall they were met with a dozen men and their spears and handfuls of arrays tossed in their midst to explode.
There, a squad of her men became too eager and before they exposed themselves she was there amongst them! The Kataphractoi was called and surrounded them. Leaping off the battlements and running along the surface of the wall in a trail of golden sparks and the blood of their opponents, they carved through the enemy in a great scything blow.
One, two, she pushed the Formation to leap and their massive bronze hooves stomped upon the enemy's heads and bodies and weapons, a whirling dervish of fire and glass at its heart that screamed exultations and orders in a furnace roar. Flung glass shining like red stars, flame and arrows together to knock the enemies screaming from her walls. They hit the dunes before the walls and raced along the walls, firing arrows all the while as the enemy turned to pursue them, only to be peppered and impaled with great scorpion bolts. Then they turned and a leapt and they soared back onto the wall as the rider dissipated.
"Squads cycle! Get me new men on the wall!" She screamed and it all began again, an endless cycle of blood and bronze and breaking glass. There was no thought, no doubt, only action, piercing through enemy cleverness with her own skill at using her army like her own fists and feet and spear. Her mind grasped more than her imperfect mortal senses could perceive, the battle in the palm of its hand. She danced and her army danced with her, a thousand actions aiming for one goal as they fought.
To live, to scream, to wet their blades with the blood of their enemies. Under her care they fought like demons and they died as heroes.
Slowly they were pushed back, forced to fight back to back as the shield arrays failed and weakened and terrible spears and wicked arrows began to rain down on their positions. Step by step the enemy climbed further up the walls, and slash by slash they wounded the great symphony she had created, introducing weakness and fear.
But her army held and whenever the line would threaten to fall she came, heralded by the rising of a red star, and she cast back dozens of enemies as the heart of a great Formation, a devil-titan rising suddenly without warning to dance upon the hunter's skulls and corpses with fire in her maw and the Hoplite shining around her and her soldiers.
Back and forth they struggled for a small eternity. They were losing slowly, but her defeat in this battle was inevitable, for her enemy was effectively endless and the might of greater realms could not be matched forever by the lesser realms with the supplies they had. Already their medical supplies were dropping precipitously, as were their stores of spirit stones, her initial supply plans discarded out of necessity. Soon they would need to abandon the wall.
As she reinforced a flagging scorpion crew, giving them cover under a rain of her glass spears so that they might retreat, Tisamenos came to her running up the stairs. "
Mechanikos Adephos asks us to surrender the wall, Centurion." He said, huffing and sweating in the heat of the battle and the desert sun.
As expected. Unfortunate, she thought with barely a blink. "Understood!" She growled at him.
She turned and started shouting names and like a receding wave her cultivators began retreating, squadron by squadron, maniple upon maniple running down off the wall. Behind them they left bombs and poison and scorpions rigged to explode and similar traps to slow the enemy ascent. As they retreated she saw Achille emerge from the city streets looking much the worse for wear with a hole bored through his chest and bleeding freely. He came to stand besides them, they were all almost off now, and then he slashed a hand and triggered a burst of Qi to flow into the arrays. The wall
roared behind them, thousands of runes glowing all at once. A massive red glow appeared, trapping all the Fifth Sea cultivators inside like flies in amber. Shock and dismay and anger were frozen on their expressions to her amusement.
Next to her Tisamenos jerked in surprise at the display. Achille spoke up. "It'll last an hour. Wanted a killing field, but the array is barely functional as-is. This is the best I can do. Minervina better have that damn poison ready or we're all done for." The man was deathly pale, his voice haggard with effort.
Ferenike frowned. "Come with me, scribe. Better to record it all." Not as she would want it, she had hoped they could hold longer, but she could work with what she had. Snapped orders had runners sprinting across the battlefield and her soldiers set themselves amongst the streets and atop the buildings of Pleuron right at the base of the great wall, ready to charge out and attack the enemy, to hold them back for just a little longer once they were free.
Their run to Barda took only a few moments as they flung themselves forward with cultivator speed.
The Foundation Building expert looked little better than previous encounters, papery skin and a sickly glow of green iridescence beneath her skin. Her breath was a rasp and wheeze of an old woman and she could barely walk in tottering steps. She stood before them though and her smile was a ghastly thing.
"Good. You're all here." She wheezed, and cut off protests with a hand.
Rina Callista spoke. "As per the plan, I'll take it. It's ready?"
Minervina looked over at her. "Boiled my own dantian for this, Rina. And no, it's not ready. Not like it should be. If I'd had a few more hours... well. It
can be delivered, but you'll need to hold it within your own body to get it to the enemy. Not stable enough to exist outside one."
Rina walked forward, holding out her hand, steeling herself.
Minervina chuckled. "You'd die in moments. Magnus. Get over here."
Magnus walked over, face twisted unpleasantly. Ferenike hoped he lived through this. Minervina continued. "You worked on this with me. It'll work. You have to touch the enemy you're using it on and infuse it yourself. You have... oh, I'd guess twenty minutes before it reaches your heart with your command of poisons."
She touched him, and the bony wizened claws of her hands grasped his forearms and thrummed with sickly power. Malignant colors ran up Magnus's arm in a rush before he gained control and forced it to slow at his forearms. Even with his skill though Ferenike could see it winding its way up the veins and flesh ever-so-slowly.
Minervina shook her head, hairs falling out of a wizened scalp. "Well. I hope this works."
Magnus groaned, fingers twitching and clenching as the poison ate at his body. he tottered, stumbling for a moment as his face twisted in a grimace and he seemed almost about to fall. With a breath however, he righted himself and stood upright. "I have it. I... have it."
Ferenike looked over at Tisamenos. "Record the details. If we fail and the city falls, try and hide them somewhere. They might be useful in future." And if they succeeded, fate would smile upon them. She could feel that same strange sense from before again now. All around them the rest of the Thirteen were walking, followed by Minervina who held onto the arm of a legionnaire to support her.
Tisamenos nodded. "You're going?" He asked.
Ferenike shook her head. Her role in this event was over, and what happened now was in the hands of others, the weight taken off of hers to be carried on their shoulders. "There's nobody left to command. If they all die... somebody needs to get you juniors out."
They reached the wall and atop it an archer stood. Tasos had saved his arrows for the army below, if they succeeded in the next step, he was needed to seal it. Below them the enemy army was already beginning to move, the restraining field failing.
Rina spoke, her voice high and soft. "You're ready, Tasos?"
The man nodded. Rina smiled. "As we planned. Only one shot at this, so let's make it count."
With an unseen signal the north wall burst and shattered, a massive wave of force spreading out, catching thousands of enemy cultivators in a field of amber, making them slow, unsteady. Good. In her mind Ferenike heard a massive wheel begin to turn.
Seven cultivators ran out, Amaranth Castellanos in front. In the center of the pack, protected by all the might the Thirteen could spare were Rina, and Magnus. As they ran, hunters moved to oppose them. It seemed for the time being all the Qi Condensation cultivators were trapped in the amber, for now.
The first was a figure of power above her own, settled comfortably in the Foundation Establishment realm. Besides her Tisamenos whispered, "Foundation Establishment...", hands a blur as he wrote down all he saw. Ferenike simply stood next to him, her spear manifested and the butt resting on the ground as she witnessed what would occur from under the brim of her large circular hat.
The Foundation expert moved with blinding speed, a cut to remove a head, and Amaranth
struck. With his own incredible speed he intercepted the enemy, matching them blow for blow. Once. Twice. Thrice, arms and legs flying like the wind.
Again and again Amaranth struck, but as he did Qi bled from him and his soul ignited like a great bronze fire, a furnace consuming his life. A second Foundation expert strode from the crowd, lazily heading towards the embattled Amaranth.
"Go!", Amaranth shouted. Ferenike could see his blood ignite in truth, literally catching fire as he burned his flesh and bones to match his enemies. He held them for thirty one seconds, enough time for the other six to run, and then he fell. The feeling in Ferenike's mind intensified and her eyes closed as she listened to the world. In her mind she reached out and placed bright red pieces onto her mosaic which traced the shape of the world.
The six lights went on, before they became five as one peeled off. She could feel the shift and watch it in the mosaic as deadly intent faced him before suddenly another of the six lights came before him and pulled a trick. The savior then fell, grievously wounded and yet fought on like a cornered serpent.
Around the racing forms of the Thirteen she heard the battle shifting as the field faded, a respite of only a moment as another two experts came. These were Qi Condensation, on par with her own strength. She did not need to see the gate the four members of the thirteen ran for as Diogenes and the Ninth Prince fought on. She could feel its shape in the way it disturbed the Qi of the world and the way it seemed to be ground away under external forces.
The rest of the army moved, the ones that had been immobilized running to the gate, only to meet a Bear. Shining bright in the darkness of her mind the aura of Peta and Wajo became a bulwark before the gate. Hundreds of shadows, these hunters, stood against her. Ferenike smiled as she heard Wajo's growls and roars and the screams of their enemies.
As she fought against a tide of enemies, the Ninth Prince fought against three enemies far above his own realm and drove them away. She frowned as she saw his star gutter low. He lived but only barely. The other light, Diogenes, fought on bravely. Her mind turned to the gate and felt the auras there and found Peta and Wajo fallen, atop the bodies of their enemies.
Three left. One light broke from the others, Wei Feng. Like a river he circled the other two, blocking dozens and dozens of blows as the final members of the Thirteen hurtled towards their final enemy, whose presence was nearly blinding with its power. The noise in her mind was a drumroll now, a great indrawn breath as the event built to its crescendo.
A voice of beauty shook the desert and flew into the city, carried on qi and it carried with it such power that it seemed foolish to challenge it. Luckily, Ferenike was just such a fool, as were her companions.
"You come to challenge me, children. And for what? You cannot hope to hurt me. You have eyes, I presume. Can you not recognize Mt. Tai?" The Core Formation hunter spoke.
Besides Ferenike she heard Tisamenos mutter as his quill scratched at his work. "Phoenix...".
"Phoenix! Phoenix!" Cried a man next to them. Damien, who she had helped find new boots.
"Phoenix! Phoenix! Phoenix!" Following his cry the entire army assembled on the wall began to cry out in unison, a sweeping fire taking them.
The Core Formation cultivator spoke again. "Let me show you what power is. Take your shot. Do whatever you want."
What arrogance. While she admired the power this woman held and wished to command superior in her own time, Ferenike was disgusted by the lack of forethought. Truly no patience. And no respect for even the smallest grain of sand.
The elder continued speaking. "I won't strike the first blow. Of course, once your friend there dies, my disciples will kill you anyway. So? What do you have?"
Ferenike felt energy begin to build, the star of Rina rising.
"Do you really think so?" The Core Formation presence challenged, responding to something Rina must have said.
The energy within Rina solidified, fortifying itself as more words came. Behind them Wei Feng fought on. His star guttered lowest, and yet his nature kept him alive against the many foes trying to reach the final two.
"...will be." Rina's last few words rang through the world with absolute command and Ferenike felt their weight fall upon her shoulders. Briefly she felt the qi of the world replaced, a new world appearing in a faint mirror like phantasm as Rina's power manifested. The feeling in her mind tipped over and she felt the Core Formation Hunter flinch down to her core.
Now was the time to act, and Magnus flung himself like an arrow and reached the Core elder. There was a scream, and then he was flung away, his star flickering from grave injury but intact.
The Core Formation seemed unharmed for a moment. Ferenike waited. She could be patient.
Her presence wavered, and the hunters many stars stopped attacking Wei Feng, seemingly transfixed by what had occurred.
The Core Formation elder took a step towards Rina.
One.
Two.
Three.
She did not complete the fourth, and fell down stone dead.
Behind Ferenike the army and the city burst into joy, a woman's cry starting the chant. "Qi Condensation killing Core Formation! Unrivalled Beneath Heaven!"
Tisamenos shouted as well beside her, his quill stopping as he raised his arms and screamed victory. "Indomitable Thirteen! Unrivalled Beneath Heaven!"
Ferenike opened her eyes and saw before her a field of enemies, fearful and pale now that their elder was slain, almost disbelieving in their shock. She was extremely tempted to raise her own arms and join in, but it a felt a little too pretentious to cheer for her own title and so she waited as Minervina spoke. "Tasos. Be a dear and clean up, would you?"
Ferenike saw Tasos smile, and draw an arrow. It shimmered impossibly, thousands of copies present within. The bow was drawn back and shot, the arrow splitting again and again until it seemed to fill the sky above the Fifth Sea Cultivators. When they landed they burst into terrible golden and sickly green mist, choking them and tearing at their flesh.
Minervina cackled, and then called for Tisamenos. "You there, scribe."
Tisamenos froze.
"Yes, you." She said.
As she spoke, tokens began shattering, and people began teleporting out. First one, then ten, then hundreds, then
thousands, an entire army melting away like snow in summer.
"Write, write. I have notes for you." She said as she led him away. Ferenike briefly entertained stopping him since she had plans to recruit him as a papermonkey, but decided against it. Minervina should have her fun first.
Ferenike sighed. It was over for now. Other threats lingered on the horizon but their time would come later. Now, was the time to rest and then tend to what she could. Their supply troubles wouldn't just evaporate because the enemy was gone, though that certainly helped!
A few hours later she managed to take a break from her desk duties for a moment, which mostly involved a lot of prodding the maniple commanders to keep stuff sane in the midst of a wild party, to scout out the battlefield of the North Wall for anything which might be of use to her.
As she walked she saw few corpses, only those taken so greatly by surprise that they had no time to react to their impending doom were left dead. The Core Formation corpse had already gone to those who could use it, like Minervina and Magnus. No, most of what was left was the odd item or as some hoped, treasure. Already there were a few enterprising individuals out and about in the dunes. She was hoping to find something that could help Xiao Yi out here, as strange as that hope might be.
She walked across the blood soaked dunes and spread her gaze and qi senses. She stepped past burnt out skeletons, bloated corpses tainted by poison and others impaled on great scorpion bolts taller than her. Looking for the faintest trace of something useful, which is why it surprised her when she literally tripped over something buried in the sands. Faceplanting with a shriek of surprise she snorted sand out of her nose and shook her head as she got up on hands and knees and looked around.
Her foot had caught on something buried in the sands, dark and round, about the size of her head. Turning on a knee she reached out and brushed it off, digging it out of the sand to reveal a... mango? She thought it was anyway. She wasn't that familiar with the fruit as they didn't really grow in the desert. The heck was this? And how did she miss it, with how it glowed bright enough to her senses to be nearly blinding. It was slightly cool to the touch and the skin seemed iron hard under her gemstone hard glass nail.
Rubbing her eyes she stored it away in her storage artifact and got up to continue searching. She had about an hour to spend on this, maybe she'd find something interesting. And so she walked through the sands, poking at the odd item here or there, but the world did not smile on her and once the hour was up she had found nothing of interest.
She headed back to the city with a chipper bounce to her step, bounding up and over the wall at a speedy run. Hopefully she could use this. The streets were absolutely packed with people, mortals and cultivators mingling in the streets freely as celebratory lanterns were lit and hung and fireworks went on above the city. People leaned out of their windows and hollered and sung and those on the street danced to their music. The crowds tried to part for her, but she was inevitably somewhat caught up in the festivities which made getting to her office a long and somewhat difficult task.
When she manages to get her office she found another pile of papers laying on her desk. Taking a peek at them she found them to be supply reports on shoes and weapons. Oh that might be useful! She picked them up as she passed through along with a quill and started humming a tune as she peeled through them at incredible speed, filling out what needed to be filled out, checking numbers against her memorized tally and making notes and corrections where needed. By the time she was halfway to the gate she was done and with a nod handed it off to a runner to be distributed.
That bit of pleasant business done with, her heart darkened and her smile dimmed. It was time to visit a friend. She walked out of the city, the crowds still choking the streets and onto the sands again and she headed for the dark spot on the horizon. It didn't take very long to reach Xiao Yi's grove.
It was a looming, menacing thing, all dark vines tangled about each other in strange tree like forms and the black-green skin covered in dark red thorns. It smelt like bones here. She walked beneath its boughs, calling her glass armor to her, and waded through the dark brambles.
It took several minutes of very carefully moving through it as she tried not to harm the vines, even as they scraped harmlessly at her glassy covering. There was an aimless and malign intent to them, if they had had real effort put behind them she'd suffer the fate of those others that were consumed. In parts of it she found signs of passage from others, little tokens of thanks left where they could be easily seen.
Finally reaching the center of the grove she stepped around the sleeping form of Qing Yun absently, her eyes fixed on the half-corpse of her friend. As she watched she watched his chest move weakly, rising around the vines that slowly writhed from his flesh. Her breath choked with anger, a swirling
burning thing that locked up her back and made her teeth grind. And then she sighed as the rage could find no real target, simply aimed out at the way the world worked.
She looked at his face, dark skin pale and waxy like a corpse as vines emerged from his eyes and mouth. Looking at that face she could feel his aura keenly, spread out through the whole grove. It was aware, hanging around her and dimly present in the vines that poked at and tried to snake around her. So he had
stayed alive. A relief bubbled up from her breast and swelled her throat.
She bowed her head. She didn't have anything to thank for that...
A bit lamely she thanked her friend for living.
But that relief was pricked, complicated by a feeling of guilt. It must be agonizing to exist in this state of crippled half death. She could almost imagine screams in the occasional groan of shifting vines in the grove.
It might have been more merciful if you'd died... a part of her thought, bubbling up from a place of darkness and hopelessness and exhaustion.
She jerked. That...
But it might mean others suffer in future, if he is not present to protect them. A stupid idea to think death is truly merciful if it leads to the suffering others. A whisper came from deep within her that brought her up short. That was true, wasn't it? The lot of cultivators was not to experience a life free of suffering, perhaps as many thought, but to carry great burdens of it so that others could be spared. Did that weight increase as you rose in Great Realm? Her thoughts turned to the fate of the Protostrator and Old Gold and the stories she had heard of the old monster. Perhaps they did.
He'd chosen this and while death may have eased his suffering, it would mean others could suffer later. You had to be alive to provide mercy and care to others. She smiled a little, her dark mood lifting. She pulled out a small bottle of wine, more Ice Peach Wine, and after working out the stopper she tipped it out onto the vines beneath his dangling feet. To her esoteric senses she could feel the grove drink up the wine, suckling the qi within it eagerly. Hopefully he could taste such things still.
She shuddered at the idea of not being able to taste alcohol. That'd be
awful.
She considered for a moment if she wanted to pull out the magic mango in the middle of the grove, but as she didn't even know what it was so that seemed unwise.
So she spent a good while there, listening to the celebrations and revelry of the city continue for many hours before she eventually stood and prepared to leave. Qing Yun had awoken already and was walking carefully amongst the grove, and came trotting over to her when she approached. She smiled at him as her hand dug into a pocket of her robes. She gave him a pat on the shoulder, he stood nearly a third again her height at the shoulder now. "Take care of him will you, I'll try to help. For now here's a gift." She said as she held out the bag of Century Scorpion Oats.
The qilin huffed and snorted at her in glee, blowing her hair back and nearly removing her hat with his warm breath as he snatched up the oat bag and trotted off into the vines.
She nodded, satisfied, and left the grove. Her first stop was the library. When she managed to work her way there the receptionist let her into the halls beyond the reception area with nary a word. They knew her wherever she went in the city. They knew all of the Thirteen. She dived into the stacks, which towered nine times her height and were lit by faint blue were-lights in spherical glass lanterns.
Hunting down fruit books took hours, and needing to punch one particularly onery book into submission, but eventually she did confirm that it was a mango. And further from that, it was apparently a Dark Sin Mango, and if one could find a way around its nearly impenetrable skin it would provide great insight into ones own psyche and provide a great boon of cultivation. Not particularly happy for her now plant tormented friend unfortunately.
But it would help her, and she could help others if she was stronger.
Sticking her head out of the archive door she looked around for a runner. There were none present. Eh, time to go find a junior to holler at.
Walking out of the library with a spring to her step she stepped onto the streets and was again faced with hordes of party goers. But she didn't avoid them. She liked mingling with them, feeling the vigor and happiness of the people all around her. It didn't take her too long to find a junior and have them running like demons were after them though, heh.
Ah the privilege of rank.
That should clear out enough time for her to poke at the mango, and she set off immediately for her temporary quarters in the city which happened to be right above her office. Reaching the long building she hopped up the wall and into the window, pulling it close and then sitting on the stone floor after securing both it and the door.
She pulled out the mango and looked at it. It looked rather a lot like a plum in color, dark and the skin looked like it might be thin as it shone in the light of the lamp on her desk. All she had in the room were a cot and a desk and chair. Didn't need anything else really.
Sitting in her hand the mango's presence seemed to fill the room, so inundated with Qi it was like a light seen behind closed eyelids. She took a breath and sent her awareness into her mind and stood atop the glass sphere of her dantian. Deep within the red flame of her hope burned as always. She was still in the ninth Heavenstage, making steady progress. 'Outside' she could feel the mango.
She tried to stab it with her thumbnail, prodding it strongly but it was hard as iron and did not give way at all. Actually hurt her nail a bit. Pulling a knife out from storage she tried to cut it open but the bloody thing actually
broke. Really? She grumbled angrily. Next she tried to light it on fire, but it did not burn at all and simply sat their in her palm surrounded by red flames.
Eyebrows scrunched in consternation at being defeated by a
fruit, she focused and pulled from within her body. Her stars came to rest in her hand, four of them. With careful breaths she shepherded her infused chunks of blood to her thumbnail. Once they were all there, right at the tip she
pushed.
Her nail snapped with a tiny tinkle.
Urgh. Wincing and grumbling she shook her hand and examined it carefully. The tip had broken clean off. Bugger.
She glared at the mango. Stupid thing, this was ridiculous.
That thought made her pause.
...
She was being ridiculous, and impatient.
She took a breath and waited, breathing and meditating with the mango in her hands. She focused on it, tracing over its shape with her eyes. She almost had to turn her qi senses away it was such a dense mass of Qi, nearly blinding with the density stored within it. But she stared at it intently for hours, pondering.
A part of her idly wondered if this fruit was just a normal fruit in the Fifth Sea. It seemed almost ridiculous, but she really had no way of knowing.
Her fantastical thoughts began to bend, warping around the fruit as time passed. It was just a fruit. It was made of Qi, like all things...
She tilted her head. Just a fruit. Made out of Qi. Like her, like the desk, like the floor.
The sky outside, the desert sand. The air she breathed.
Qi. The fruit...
She blinked, thoughts slowing. She barely breathed.
The fruit was just a fruit, made of qi like every other fruit. And fruit were soft.
From another perspective, shouldn't it be soft?
She pressed her thumb to its skin and it parted easily, and bled a clear fluid. A jolt of qi slammed into her dantian and nearly dazed her as she struggled to control it. She didn't notice the images flying around her mind as she settled the burst of qi. She raised it to her mouth and bit down.
The jolt of qi knocked her senseless as images flooded into her mind, the impact laying her out on the floor.
She thought of Tiu Shen, Gallius, Markus, Fuxi. Their faces clear as day in her memories. She'd... failed them? It crushed her, the emptiness surrounding her mind. She was alone in this world. But she remembered something she had thought just today. It was the lot of cultivators to suffer for the sake of others.
...Why did she choose to be one? She was a naïve girl wasn't she, seventy years ago. She thought it'd make her happier...
Though... unbidden another thought bubbled up from the flame in her center. She had been happy as a cultivator. But was she happier? She didn't know.
More faces came. More regret as she saw the trainees she had cared for, Pleminon, Markos, Spyridon and others who had died. Like Jin Nu'er, someone who had died simply to protect and avenge those she cared for. She thought of Agha and Katerina and the others of her trainee group who she knew had survived the trials. She'd paid premium to check. Such a tiny handful.
And yet it felt...not enough. That didn't sit right with her, but she could not nail down why.
She thought of Xiao Yi. It was out of her hands and yet in her folly she clung to it like an idiot. He'd made his own choices and she had not been able to save him from the consequences. And should she? She should ease his suffering, but saving him would have required denying him the chance and choice. And that wasn't right.
Another group of faces slammed into her, those of that band of Saber Palace disciples who had come to plunder the Clan. They had been cut down by her. She remembered vividly, stabbing her hand into their leader's ribs, the squishing of the meat around her fingers and the burning of flesh as she unleashed her qi. Many would say that killing them was the proper thing, but she did not agree.
It had been so stupid how they had died. She had greater power than all of them together, demonstrated by how she killed them so easily, and they had overestimated their abilities and been deceived by her. Compounding their mistakes. Their deaths had been a loss of potential benefit, she realized. If she had given them mercy and only beaten them thoroughly they might have learned not to trifle with the devils.
But by killing them it wasn't like anyone would
know what actually happened to them. They'd just presume the Clan had killed them, which they had, and nothing would change.
Like a pit between her teeth it stuck. The idea of mercy.
It was honestly rather useless for her, alone.
She thought back, to her friends. As she lingered in the morass of ill feeling it came to her, whispering up out of her fire that she hadn't really failed them. Much like with Xiao Yi she was not in control of other people's choices, or the choices of people who interacted with her friends. If she had been more powerful they might have died peacefully, or if they were stronger, but they would have died. Perhaps they would reincarnate in a better place, or not reincarnate at all, she did not know. They were gone, all the same.
Slowly her awareness of the outside world returned as she thought through everything the mango had triggered. Weakly she pushed herself up right with her elbows and then a hand to sit cross legged. Her hair was matted and lank with sweat, and tears ran down her face. The room was also several degrees hotter, the heat radiating from her.
Her brief moment of respite ended. Her friends were gone, but the idea of friendship is what kept her going, the hope she'd have it again. Truthfully it had little to do with mercy or not. They'd done their best on their own paths and those paths had ended. And, a part of her was happy to be a cultivator because it meant she could help, and carry these burdens.
The trainees had been victims of an uncaring world which did not smile upon them. They were her responsibility, but those who had died had helped her save the others. That meant she
had accomplished something, herself and with the help of others. It'd be self-pitying to think she hadn't done enough, and dangerous because it would prevent her from doing her best if she was weighed down by the loss.
Xiao Yi? He had made his choice and he was alive. The old fool was like her in that way, he'd claw his way back to health, especially if she helped. She could do something to help and so she should. It was not a difficult dilemma.
Which left those Saber disciples. She sighed, running a hand through her hair and over her face, tears drying. She'd been angry, and deceived them, and then killed them as enemies of the clan. And they were. It was how this world worked, and the fate of enemies. They fought, they died and on it went until one or the other was destroyed.
That thought lingered but then the sheer stupidity of those disciples' deaths struck her again. What was the
point of that fight except her unleashing her anger? There wasn't really any greater cause to it than that. And, she didn't think people deserved to die simply due to their betters' anger. That perpetuated suffering in this world.
Therefore... she should have spared them. But they would live and possibly cause more harm later. And she was not sure how to resolve that dilemma.
There was something she was missing, but she felt the last influences of the mango fading and realized that she was covered in a thin film of disgusting fluid and gritty slime. She blinked, as she felt around in her dantian and saw the purity of the body her qi flowed through. She'd made it through? Huh.
She laughed, a choked little thing. Well, she'd have to find a bath then, and get to work helping.
Not gonna lie, kinda hate having to go over the fight again since it tingles concerns of plagiarism in me, but Ferenike's reactions to what happened there and what she did are important for outlining her future development. Bah!
But that gripe isn't too big of a deal, since I have set up my plot lines for some future stuff. Also, K6BD references for more mythical mind bending fun. I have the endpoint for this dilemma on mercy plotted out, just setting it up at this point.
Glad this Trials let me write this so thanks
@occipitallobe. Just another Fate boost for turn 6 for this one. I think I'll put up my turn 6 bonus in the next omake I make. Hopefully.
