Chapter 247
Ars Poetica
ULTIMA RATIO NEMO OBLIGATUR
- Location
- The Kingdom of Fiore
- Pronouns
- He / Him / His
Poe has a chat.
-x-
Now that the Organization knew that attacking the fortress – which I really needed to consider naming by the way – was a bad idea, and now that they knew I was hostile to them, I needed to start reinforcing the defenses. There were two ways to go about doing that.
Since I only had a limited number of seeds, I needed to be careful not to plant all of my modern castles. To avoid that, I took a different approach. The fortress was surrounded by round walls and a series of guard towers. A few hundred feet away from those guard towers, I planted a modern seed and two other seeds. Then I repeated the process eight times.
Each of the groups of three seeds was planted equidistant from each other and from the guard towers of the center wall, resulting in an octagonal shape where each of the corners stood in line with a principal wind. Each one of the castles would thus be named for the respective traditional wind, with the main towers in the center fortress being named just for the direction.
It wasn't very creative, it was a little complex, but it was worth it. Keeping to the theme I'd inadvertently aimed for, I named the increasingly massive fortress "Compass".
The center of Compass was roughly the size of a small town and boasted a population of roughly twenty-five hundred people including the women and girls from the bandit encampment. I'd planted eight seeds, so that meant the average number of people that would be summoned with the castle was around three hundred and six or it meant that the number increased on measures of exponents.
When I first planted the castle seeds, it was to deal with a housing problem. I wanted to give shelter to the people of the Pineapple Confederation who'd lost their homes in the extended American Civil War. While I was on my improvised vacation, the population numbers of the castles was never a concern. There was food and water aplenty and I never thought of planting enough seeds for population growth to be a significant issue.
Here, though, that wasn't the case. Here, I needed to know my numbers just as I needed to expand the fortress to increase those numbers and offer that same increasing number of people the necessary supplies to live.
Expanding out of the valley necessitated a different approach to the city-fortress's defenses. The center, Compass, would still be protected by a combination of high walls and natural formations of the land. The other built up castles would require something more.
Which at last brought us to the present as I, and several armed servants, continued the long and arduous task of literally drawing a line in the sand. In the span of six hours, we'd built a Transmutation circle around the city, the buried seeds, and a slightly larger plot of land besides.
This was for one reason. I was going to clap my hands and lift the whole thing up several hundred feet. The beautiful, bullshitastic thing about alchemy was that it let me cheat. Formations that would have had to form naturally or efforts of architecture that would take centuries could be accomplished in a day with guided effort.
Sparks of gold and violet exploded as land was shifted beneath the area and pushed it up. A deep canyon was dug between the edge of the border and the incredibly high, apparently-natural cliff's side. If any enemy attempted to attack the massive fortress city of Compass, they'd now have to cross this deep canyon, climb a small mountain, and then keep climbing when the walls of the castles formed.
Deep below, I heard the sound of rushing ground water that steadily turned the canyon into a moat. I'd have to add some reinforcements and maybe super-harden the rock and sand into something resembling diamonds to keep erosion at bay, but that was a task I could do without the aid of dozens of people and a transmutation circle.
For right now, at this moment, the groundwork had been laid; the gauntlet had been thrown. My newest task would be to work on using alchemy to terraform the land that had been acquired so far into something farmable… and I'd need to get my hands on some animals that could be domesticated from a nearby town or city.
Compass was on the western quadrant of the island. That meant the only city or town within reach that had what I needed would be…
…Uh…
…Shit, I had no fucking clue. Guess it was time to ask the locals.
-x-
There were two ways I could've gone about this. Either I could have gone wandering the countryside in search of a town where, either due to my appearance or my mannerisms, I'd have been confused for a member of the Organization or a Yoma in disguise… or I could just ask one of the people I'd saved from the bandits.
I found them in a particularly large compound next to the center of Compass. I'd have to have some administrative buildings constructed if I was going to turn this whole area into a livable city state… Maybe I'd need to set up a code of law? Yeah… that's kind of necessary, isn't it…?
"Hey there," I greeted them. "You like the place? I wasn't able to design a lot of it, and there are probably a few buildings that need to be made to finish the whole look, but…" My voice faded as I noticed they were staring at me. One and all, I'd captured their attention. I briefly glanced behind me to check whether they were actually watching me or not.
"Who are you?" One of the women spoke. She wasn't the oldest, but she wasn't the youngest – I would've put her at being about a year or two older than me, but I wasn't totally sure.
"I'm Poe R.R. Acti," I answered her with a nod. "I blew up the bad guys, found you a home…?"
She shook her head, "That isn't what I meant. I…" she looked down for a moment, as though unsure.
Another young woman spoke up in turn, "Are you an angel?" she asked. "Are you a messenger of the Goddesses?"
"Do you come from another island, like ours?" another woman asked.
Yet one more stood, "Is it larger? Is it smaller?"
"Are you a wizard?"
"Who are you?"
"What are you?"
I felt my eye slowly widen as the questions kept coming, one after another. It seemed like there wasn't an end to them and each time I made to reply another question was asked before I could. They started shouting then, one trying to be overheard by another.
Certainly, I could've shouted at them. But instead I took a step back, turned, and started walking away from the compound. Clapping my hands, I built a bench from rocks in the ground and sat there, staring at nothing in particular. My hands were crossed as I took deep breaths.
What the hell could I say to any of that? I could understand that they were curious about the person that saved them, but the fact that the first questions I heard from them put me on the level of a god was… it was a little much. I'd played at being a spirit, but being worshipped as a god was…
"You've never had a problem with this before," Medusa noted as she sat next to me on the bench. "This is about something else, isn't it?"
"Meds," I bit my lip and thought about what to say. "Am I… Am I playing god?" I gestured around me, "Building castles and fortresses overnight, waging impossible wars, summoning people from nothing… You could even say I smited those bandits. Smitted? Smit?"
"Have you called yourself a god around them?" she asked me. "Have you said anything to claim your holiness?"
"I haven't needed to, is the point." I replied. "Even when I didn't say anything, they're still calling me these things… And when I take a step back and look at what I've done, to anyone else I'd have certainly earned a title like that. Right?"
"…Ars, you're not playing god."
"How?!" I all but cried. "I… Look at what I've been doing! Look at these things I've accomplished, and… and…" I babbled, at a loss for words. "I'm not, I'm really not, but what do I say to that? I can't…"
"I played god when I aspired to destroy the world. Father played god when he built a country so he could harvest its people and become immortal. Zhao played god when he tried to invade the Spirit Realm and assassinate the Moon Spirit. You've done nothing to suggest you're playing god, Ars."
"They don't think that," I replied. "Someone who doesn't play god doesn't get called god, Meds. I'm being called a god, and… they're not like those people at the village. These women need something to believe in, don't they? I…"
"I can't say you aren't trying, but you are going about this the wrong way." She pointed into the compound. The world absent of color slowly showed them gathering there to watch me as I shook. "If you think they need something to believe in, give that to them. What they do need is a new start, and you gave that to them already. They're making the choice to call you these things, but they don't have to. You're not wrong to correct them, Ars."
"…It's terrifying," I said softly. "I called myself a Grand King because I wasn't thinking about it back then, I didn't care, I just wanted some poofy title or some shit… and I did a good job as Grand King. I think I did, at least. But I wasn't the one in charge of everything. The Knights could micromanage, the people were going along with it so easily, and here… here I'm doing everything and–"
"You're feeling the pressure of leadership. That's fine." She comforted me, "You have the skills, you have the knowledge, but it's alright if some aspects of it still frighten you."
"Then as the leader of this fortress, and the people in it, what do I say to them? What can I say to them?"
"Just say the first thing that pops into your head." She shrugged.
I blinked. Slowly, very slowly, I turned my head and stared at her. She wore an innocent expression on her face. Her smile was positively impish as a light seemed to dance in her eyes. My mouth dropped open slightly, "Seriously?" I asked her. "Seriously?"
She laughed, "It's worked so far, hasn't it? Improvise, Ars. Even if you fail, you'll find a way to benefit from it. I doubt the women you saved from sexual slavery are going to judge you for any awkwardness."
"…Yeah," I breathed. "Yeah, you're right." I stood from the bench. "And, uh, by the way… you're pretty cool with all this," I nodded towards the women who in the greyed world had mostly filtered out of the compound.
"Oh, Ars, you're worried why I'm not jealous?" She chortled, "I know you're mine, and I know you're too polite to do more than look."
I blushed, "Um."
"After all, we haven't even…" her smile widened as she leaned in. I could feel hot breath on my neck, "Well, you know."
"Uh… Umm… I, uh…"
She laughed again, "Even knowing the gutters your mind goes to, you really are too innocent for me to worry. But I wouldn't mind changing that if you find the time, later."
Was this happening? This wasn't happening. But oh wow this really was happening and I was turning redder than a fire engine with a fresh coat of paint oh wow…! "Uhhhhhh…!"
"But first," she pointed, "You have a job to do."
"R-Right…" I coughed, trying to compose myself. And, though my cheeks still felt warm, I stepped forward as though nothing happened and started talking. "Okay, so, that's a lot of questions. I figure, let's get this all out in the open air instead of a stuffy, cramped room." Their room wasn't that stuffy or cramped, but whatever worked. "So, first, I'm not a god. Ladies, this might come as a shock, but I am the host to the Spirit of Vengeance. I'm the Ghost Rider, and I'm a chimera formed from a man, a type of dog, and an eagle. I'm a homunculus representing Lust and Wrath, and I'm also technically a Noah that also represents Wrath. I'm an admiral, a Brigadier-General, a Grand King, an alchemist, the head of a massive business, and…
"I'm me." I pointed at myself with my thumb, "I'm Poe R.R. Acti. I'm a guy that makes bad decisions, and some good decisions. I try to do the right thing, and I don't always succeed. I travel between points in time and space in a way that I'm still trying to understand, and I am an excellent driver."
Someone in my audience seemed ready to correct me on that as she raised a hand.
"An excellent driver." I said again.
The hand went down.
"I was born in a country far away from here, obviously somewhere not on this island. And I like to think that I'm human. I'm not a messenger from any god or goddess, and I'm certainly not either of those… but I have been called these things a lot. I'm just a guy with a lot of power, and I try to do what I can to help the people around me with that power. I can be a little irresponsible, but I make an effort to fix my mistakes.
"Having said all of that, I'm glad you're here. And I'm happy I was able to help you, all of you, even if I arrived too late to stop those men from… well," I rubbed the back of my neck. "I know this must come as a shock to all of you, but I'm hoping that you can make a life here… or, instead, maybe find a way back to wherever you were taken from…? I don't know." I took a deep breath, "All that being said, if there are any other questions, please. Feel free to ask."
"Why here?" the first woman from before asked, "Why did you go west? Wouldn't you be welcome in Rabona?"
"That's… actually a very good question." I felt my tone deepen as I crossed my arms. "But before I answer it, I must confess…" I paused dramatically, building up my answer. "I have no idea where I am!" I announced; my voice positively cheery.
Just like that, the tension in my body seemed to release itself as I basked in the dead and total silence.
It felt good to share.
-x-
One Foot on the Platform
OR: One Foot on the Train
End-247
-x-
Now that the Organization knew that attacking the fortress – which I really needed to consider naming by the way – was a bad idea, and now that they knew I was hostile to them, I needed to start reinforcing the defenses. There were two ways to go about doing that.
Since I only had a limited number of seeds, I needed to be careful not to plant all of my modern castles. To avoid that, I took a different approach. The fortress was surrounded by round walls and a series of guard towers. A few hundred feet away from those guard towers, I planted a modern seed and two other seeds. Then I repeated the process eight times.
Each of the groups of three seeds was planted equidistant from each other and from the guard towers of the center wall, resulting in an octagonal shape where each of the corners stood in line with a principal wind. Each one of the castles would thus be named for the respective traditional wind, with the main towers in the center fortress being named just for the direction.
It wasn't very creative, it was a little complex, but it was worth it. Keeping to the theme I'd inadvertently aimed for, I named the increasingly massive fortress "Compass".
The center of Compass was roughly the size of a small town and boasted a population of roughly twenty-five hundred people including the women and girls from the bandit encampment. I'd planted eight seeds, so that meant the average number of people that would be summoned with the castle was around three hundred and six or it meant that the number increased on measures of exponents.
When I first planted the castle seeds, it was to deal with a housing problem. I wanted to give shelter to the people of the Pineapple Confederation who'd lost their homes in the extended American Civil War. While I was on my improvised vacation, the population numbers of the castles was never a concern. There was food and water aplenty and I never thought of planting enough seeds for population growth to be a significant issue.
Here, though, that wasn't the case. Here, I needed to know my numbers just as I needed to expand the fortress to increase those numbers and offer that same increasing number of people the necessary supplies to live.
Expanding out of the valley necessitated a different approach to the city-fortress's defenses. The center, Compass, would still be protected by a combination of high walls and natural formations of the land. The other built up castles would require something more.
Which at last brought us to the present as I, and several armed servants, continued the long and arduous task of literally drawing a line in the sand. In the span of six hours, we'd built a Transmutation circle around the city, the buried seeds, and a slightly larger plot of land besides.
This was for one reason. I was going to clap my hands and lift the whole thing up several hundred feet. The beautiful, bullshitastic thing about alchemy was that it let me cheat. Formations that would have had to form naturally or efforts of architecture that would take centuries could be accomplished in a day with guided effort.
Sparks of gold and violet exploded as land was shifted beneath the area and pushed it up. A deep canyon was dug between the edge of the border and the incredibly high, apparently-natural cliff's side. If any enemy attempted to attack the massive fortress city of Compass, they'd now have to cross this deep canyon, climb a small mountain, and then keep climbing when the walls of the castles formed.
Deep below, I heard the sound of rushing ground water that steadily turned the canyon into a moat. I'd have to add some reinforcements and maybe super-harden the rock and sand into something resembling diamonds to keep erosion at bay, but that was a task I could do without the aid of dozens of people and a transmutation circle.
For right now, at this moment, the groundwork had been laid; the gauntlet had been thrown. My newest task would be to work on using alchemy to terraform the land that had been acquired so far into something farmable… and I'd need to get my hands on some animals that could be domesticated from a nearby town or city.
Compass was on the western quadrant of the island. That meant the only city or town within reach that had what I needed would be…
…Uh…
…Shit, I had no fucking clue. Guess it was time to ask the locals.
-x-
There were two ways I could've gone about this. Either I could have gone wandering the countryside in search of a town where, either due to my appearance or my mannerisms, I'd have been confused for a member of the Organization or a Yoma in disguise… or I could just ask one of the people I'd saved from the bandits.
I found them in a particularly large compound next to the center of Compass. I'd have to have some administrative buildings constructed if I was going to turn this whole area into a livable city state… Maybe I'd need to set up a code of law? Yeah… that's kind of necessary, isn't it…?
"Hey there," I greeted them. "You like the place? I wasn't able to design a lot of it, and there are probably a few buildings that need to be made to finish the whole look, but…" My voice faded as I noticed they were staring at me. One and all, I'd captured their attention. I briefly glanced behind me to check whether they were actually watching me or not.
"Who are you?" One of the women spoke. She wasn't the oldest, but she wasn't the youngest – I would've put her at being about a year or two older than me, but I wasn't totally sure.
"I'm Poe R.R. Acti," I answered her with a nod. "I blew up the bad guys, found you a home…?"
She shook her head, "That isn't what I meant. I…" she looked down for a moment, as though unsure.
Another young woman spoke up in turn, "Are you an angel?" she asked. "Are you a messenger of the Goddesses?"
"Do you come from another island, like ours?" another woman asked.
Yet one more stood, "Is it larger? Is it smaller?"
"Are you a wizard?"
"Who are you?"
"What are you?"
I felt my eye slowly widen as the questions kept coming, one after another. It seemed like there wasn't an end to them and each time I made to reply another question was asked before I could. They started shouting then, one trying to be overheard by another.
Certainly, I could've shouted at them. But instead I took a step back, turned, and started walking away from the compound. Clapping my hands, I built a bench from rocks in the ground and sat there, staring at nothing in particular. My hands were crossed as I took deep breaths.
What the hell could I say to any of that? I could understand that they were curious about the person that saved them, but the fact that the first questions I heard from them put me on the level of a god was… it was a little much. I'd played at being a spirit, but being worshipped as a god was…
"You've never had a problem with this before," Medusa noted as she sat next to me on the bench. "This is about something else, isn't it?"
"Meds," I bit my lip and thought about what to say. "Am I… Am I playing god?" I gestured around me, "Building castles and fortresses overnight, waging impossible wars, summoning people from nothing… You could even say I smited those bandits. Smitted? Smit?"
"Have you called yourself a god around them?" she asked me. "Have you said anything to claim your holiness?"
"I haven't needed to, is the point." I replied. "Even when I didn't say anything, they're still calling me these things… And when I take a step back and look at what I've done, to anyone else I'd have certainly earned a title like that. Right?"
"…Ars, you're not playing god."
"How?!" I all but cried. "I… Look at what I've been doing! Look at these things I've accomplished, and… and…" I babbled, at a loss for words. "I'm not, I'm really not, but what do I say to that? I can't…"
"I played god when I aspired to destroy the world. Father played god when he built a country so he could harvest its people and become immortal. Zhao played god when he tried to invade the Spirit Realm and assassinate the Moon Spirit. You've done nothing to suggest you're playing god, Ars."
"They don't think that," I replied. "Someone who doesn't play god doesn't get called god, Meds. I'm being called a god, and… they're not like those people at the village. These women need something to believe in, don't they? I…"
"I can't say you aren't trying, but you are going about this the wrong way." She pointed into the compound. The world absent of color slowly showed them gathering there to watch me as I shook. "If you think they need something to believe in, give that to them. What they do need is a new start, and you gave that to them already. They're making the choice to call you these things, but they don't have to. You're not wrong to correct them, Ars."
"…It's terrifying," I said softly. "I called myself a Grand King because I wasn't thinking about it back then, I didn't care, I just wanted some poofy title or some shit… and I did a good job as Grand King. I think I did, at least. But I wasn't the one in charge of everything. The Knights could micromanage, the people were going along with it so easily, and here… here I'm doing everything and–"
"You're feeling the pressure of leadership. That's fine." She comforted me, "You have the skills, you have the knowledge, but it's alright if some aspects of it still frighten you."
"Then as the leader of this fortress, and the people in it, what do I say to them? What can I say to them?"
"Just say the first thing that pops into your head." She shrugged.
I blinked. Slowly, very slowly, I turned my head and stared at her. She wore an innocent expression on her face. Her smile was positively impish as a light seemed to dance in her eyes. My mouth dropped open slightly, "Seriously?" I asked her. "Seriously?"
She laughed, "It's worked so far, hasn't it? Improvise, Ars. Even if you fail, you'll find a way to benefit from it. I doubt the women you saved from sexual slavery are going to judge you for any awkwardness."
"…Yeah," I breathed. "Yeah, you're right." I stood from the bench. "And, uh, by the way… you're pretty cool with all this," I nodded towards the women who in the greyed world had mostly filtered out of the compound.
"Oh, Ars, you're worried why I'm not jealous?" She chortled, "I know you're mine, and I know you're too polite to do more than look."
I blushed, "Um."
"After all, we haven't even…" her smile widened as she leaned in. I could feel hot breath on my neck, "Well, you know."
"Uh… Umm… I, uh…"
She laughed again, "Even knowing the gutters your mind goes to, you really are too innocent for me to worry. But I wouldn't mind changing that if you find the time, later."
Was this happening? This wasn't happening. But oh wow this really was happening and I was turning redder than a fire engine with a fresh coat of paint oh wow…! "Uhhhhhh…!"
"But first," she pointed, "You have a job to do."
"R-Right…" I coughed, trying to compose myself. And, though my cheeks still felt warm, I stepped forward as though nothing happened and started talking. "Okay, so, that's a lot of questions. I figure, let's get this all out in the open air instead of a stuffy, cramped room." Their room wasn't that stuffy or cramped, but whatever worked. "So, first, I'm not a god. Ladies, this might come as a shock, but I am the host to the Spirit of Vengeance. I'm the Ghost Rider, and I'm a chimera formed from a man, a type of dog, and an eagle. I'm a homunculus representing Lust and Wrath, and I'm also technically a Noah that also represents Wrath. I'm an admiral, a Brigadier-General, a Grand King, an alchemist, the head of a massive business, and…
"I'm me." I pointed at myself with my thumb, "I'm Poe R.R. Acti. I'm a guy that makes bad decisions, and some good decisions. I try to do the right thing, and I don't always succeed. I travel between points in time and space in a way that I'm still trying to understand, and I am an excellent driver."
Someone in my audience seemed ready to correct me on that as she raised a hand.
"An excellent driver." I said again.
The hand went down.
"I was born in a country far away from here, obviously somewhere not on this island. And I like to think that I'm human. I'm not a messenger from any god or goddess, and I'm certainly not either of those… but I have been called these things a lot. I'm just a guy with a lot of power, and I try to do what I can to help the people around me with that power. I can be a little irresponsible, but I make an effort to fix my mistakes.
"Having said all of that, I'm glad you're here. And I'm happy I was able to help you, all of you, even if I arrived too late to stop those men from… well," I rubbed the back of my neck. "I know this must come as a shock to all of you, but I'm hoping that you can make a life here… or, instead, maybe find a way back to wherever you were taken from…? I don't know." I took a deep breath, "All that being said, if there are any other questions, please. Feel free to ask."
"Why here?" the first woman from before asked, "Why did you go west? Wouldn't you be welcome in Rabona?"
"That's… actually a very good question." I felt my tone deepen as I crossed my arms. "But before I answer it, I must confess…" I paused dramatically, building up my answer. "I have no idea where I am!" I announced; my voice positively cheery.
Just like that, the tension in my body seemed to release itself as I basked in the dead and total silence.
It felt good to share.
-x-
One Foot on the Platform
OR: One Foot on the Train
End-247
here is their blood covering the moon
