Abyssal Road Trip - 662 - Options (Patreon)

Amdirlain’s PoV - Hills west of Tuancheng - Zhōngxīn

Wèilán didn’t look up or even catch Amdirlain’s arrival. Preoccupied with spinning a shard of a shattered cup on the polished table before her, Sun Wèilán seemed oblivious to her changed surroundings. The shelves lining her study walls, once filled with mementos of victory, were now nearly bare. A torn war banner bearing Wèilán’s crest hung crookedly from a low shelf near the door.

“Who pillaged your house?” Amdirlain asked.

“Are you upset that you didn’t steal them first? Have you come to kill me, or torment me some more?” Wèilán lifted her bloodshot eyes from the fragment.

“Neither. Do you now understand what it’s like to have your progress crippled?” Amdirlain asked. “Do you feel any compassion for your choices that prolonged the crippling of another?

“You crippled my entire cultivation over one person.”

“Lady Song merely drew my attention to how you caused conflict for your own personal growth. That is why I seeded you with self-doubt,” Amdirlain corrected. “The degree to which you were crippled was your own work.”

Amdirlain dipped further into Sun Wèilán’s thoughts.

Wèilán’s jaw dropped. “What?”

“Yes, so I’d suggest that you know how unethical your actions were,” Amdirlain said. “I know your dao involves the creation, control, and observation of conflict. You had multiple reasons not to intervene for Lady Song, but your primary one was that the conflict within her family helped your own cultivation.”

“What of it?”

“I’ll offer you two choices. You can work through your self-doubt issues yourself, or I’ll fix them for you, and you can undertake work for me. All the assignments will line up with your combative dao.”

“Demonic beasts besiege this place,” Wèilán jabbed a finger towards the shuttered window. “Exactly how long do you expect me to survive to resolve what you inflicted on me?”

“That sounds like your problem, not mine,” Amdirlain stated, sitting down across from her. “How many people have died because of decisions you’ve made?”

“I’m a… was a general; people die in battle.”

“I’m not talking about the direct fighting. How many people died because of your political manipulations? Died because you need conflict to ensure your personal progress?”

The muscles along Wèilán’s jaw worked as she glared at Amdirlain.

“Have you thought about it, or is that just a price you were willing to pay?”

Wèilán’s strident tone didn’t waver, and she kept glaring at Amdirlain. “Why are you even here?”

“I came back because I had considered restoring your cultivation,” Amdirlain said, shaking her head. “Now, I’m trying to work out if more people would die from your strength being restored or from its absence. However, since I’ve already made my offer, I’ll stand by it.”

“Do what you want. I’m sure you've already decided on an option, and you’re just seeking justification to make yourself look good to your brother. Are you trying to get me to say something you can manipulate in an oath? Do you need to swear to someone that I gave you no choice?”

“I’ve already told you what your choices were,” Amdirlain said. “Despite my personal dislike for you, I’ll help you fairly if you agree.”

Spitting across the table at Amdirlain, Wèilán drew a knife and raised it to her own throat. “I’ll die on my own terms.”

“That’s your pride speaking. Dying on your own terms really isn’t the glorious end you think it is,” Amdirlain said, meeting Wèilán’s gaze. “The moment you cut your throat, that is the last choice you will make. The rest of the choices in this meeting will be mine.”

As the edge broke skin and sliced open Wèilán’s throat from side to side, Amdirlain didn’t look away. The former general’s choice added her to the countless trillions Amdirlain remembered dying, and the choice earned no sympathy.

Stupid. I had billions of years of conflicts I could have shared to help her progress.

“Do you expect me to leap to save you and force you to live?”

Wèilán spat a wad of blood at her, but the mess slid harmlessly from Amdirlain’s robes. Though Wèilán’s cultivation might be ruined, her hardened body could endure for minutes rather than seconds. All the while, Amdirlain listened to the gamble running through Wèilán’s thoughts.

Amdirlain spoke as Wèilán’s body began to falter. 

“I had intended to employ you as an army commander to protect people. You think that I’m soft, and that’s why I came back. You heard of my arrangement with Quan Yin's Waters. Since I scolded you for the slums, you think I’m merciful and one of them. Your gamble counts on my tendency to save and take responsibility for progressing those I’ve saved.” Amdirlain's smile turned hard. “The slum children deserve my mercy, not you. My way is the progress of many souls. You and so many cultivators focus on your own progress at the expense of others, and even obstruct anyone who isn’t of personal use.”

Desperate disbelief flared in Wèilán’s gaze at the recognition of the failed gambit. Her shaking hands lifted a pill towards her lips, but it and the storage ring leapt to Amdirlain’s hands. More emergency healing items leapt to the table before Amdirlain, and a gravity field held Wèilán in place.

“I told you cutting your throat was going to be your last choice.” Amdirlain sat and watched until the light in Wèilán’s eyes died.

Amdirlain teleported away, leaving Wèilán’s corpse and the demonic beasts behind.

Coarse beach sand compressed under her feet when she materialised beside the ocean. The spot she’d picked was some four hundred li north of the blue stone cliffs she’d observed from the isle; and here there wasn’t even a hamlet.

Although storm clouds crowded the western sky, the winds driving them had not yet reached the shore. Only a gentle breeze brushed the sands; carrying the sharp tang of brine, the stench of decaying weeds and cracked shellfish heated in the sun. Seagulls and hawks screamed in protest at her arrival and flew off, leaving their meals lying on the beach.

Drakon taught the hamlet chief to read and write in a single night, and helped him understand how to process bamboo for building and cloth. Should I meddle further? Líng Xī is with her uncle, so I should collect her today… or do I just let her know we’re okay and leave her to enjoy the reunion?

Amdirlain dropped to the sand and stretched her legs. Loath to speak to anyone, she created another shrine to the four winds within view of the hamlet they’d started to help and called it done. She stared blankly at the rolling waves and let her mind drift. It wasn’t Wèilán's death that held her attention. The cries of the birds melded with memories of the screams of raptors and vultures ripping flesh from vast fields of slaughtered innocents. The gold elves' faces and the slain Anar King swam in her vision, and their melodies mingled with Sun Wèilán’s own.

The malice and narcissism that caused the deaths provided her a grim antidote to any sadness over Wèilán’s prideful end.

Slowly, the surge of memories faded, and she relaxed into the sounds of the ocean, letting its calm settle old pains. As the afternoon lengthened, she noticed a new arrival a score of yards down the beach.

“Good afternoon to you, Sun Wukong. Are we in trouble for sending the damned souls Yuxuan was using on their way?” Amdirlain asked, though her gaze stayed on the waves.

“They’d earned the punishments awaiting them in Di Yu before you entered this realm. Wèilán was too much of a political beast to even recognise your genuine offer.”

“She made her choice, and I made mine. What do I owe the pleasure of your company?”

“I dropped in with an offer,” Sun Wukong said, scratching at a bushy sideburn. “Would you like some more companions for your travels? I know you’re missing Sarah and your old friends, and I feel bad about that distress. Especially after you put such effort into honouring mine.”

She turned to regard him and raised an eyebrow. The thought of Sarah trapped in this realm drained the afternoon warmth from around them. “What are you scheming?”

“Nothing harmful to them.” Sun Wukong raised his hands. “I’ve been in touch with Maker, and it’s something that would take some arranging. As such, we wanted to ensure all parties would welcome it.”

“We?”

“Yourself, myself, Maker, and probably your father would need to approve it. Then we’d approach some people and see if they’d agree.”

“The time differences?”

“Maker said that it isn’t an issue for them. Something about differing time streams, but you won’t be able to return before you left.”

The same approach I was thinking of using to rescue the four winds.

“Did Maker say what’s in it for them?”

“There are others outside your circle of friends whose growth I would like you to assist,” Maker’s voice rumbled from the air, distorting light with the sudden weight of their presence.

“You won’t simply lift Drakon and me home?”

“How would I gain from that course? You chose this path by releasing Nüwa, and I believe it is aiding you. My current calculations show you’ll return to proper creator capacity faster along this route, which is preferable for my own plans,” Maker replied. “There are matters of greater concern than the petty foes in your realm, and you already owe me repairs to my choice of realms.”

“But—”

“Eldritch child, I will not shortcut your road. However, I will aid you by helping your friends join you at this temporal point,” Maker interjected. “You fell to the pain caused by grief and loneliness before, and I wouldn’t have you repeat that mistake. Friends of equal strength will reduce that probability.”

Sun Wukong had stiffened during Maker’s chiding. “Eldritch child?”

“Some primordials emerge directly from the far chaos, and while I’m a few generations removed, that’s meaningless to Maker,” Amdirlain said. “I’m really uncomfortable with this proposal.”

Illusions of Maker’s eyes manifested and fixed on her. “Is the choice to come here theirs or yours?”

“Theirs, but they don’t know enough.”

“They will before they choose.”

“What do you get out of this?” Amdirlain asked.

“More creators. Livia is likely to grow to protect souls, and Sarah to see purpose in fashioning rules to support realms. Others have seeds required for realm creation pulsing in their souls. You help them, and I help you.”

“Fine. Who else do you want me to assist?”

“Sun Wukong allowed me to set up an observation platform in this realm, and I’ve identified some individuals; some you already know. ”

“I hadn’t really planned on teaching,” Amdirlain grumbled.

“Are you not going to provide more choices?” Maker asked before his presence disappeared.

Though Sun Wukong was still there, Amdirlain scrubbed at her face. “They are so manipulative, and I’m so selfish. I should have said no, but I want Sarah here with me.”

A pulse of temporal qi washed over their spot. Before it had settled, multiple heavenly tribulations split the air and drowned out the arrivals’ songs.

Rachel’s voice sounded in her ear, as Maker’s touch relayed a message.

♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫

Maker’s PoV - Far Chaos

With the conversation setting a temporal marker, they withdrew from Sun Wukong’s realm to prevent contaminants that would cause an insertion rejection. Another tweak further changed the course of the now encapsulated realm as he reviewed the personalities of Amdirlain’s friends.

She can prevent memory loss from death.

While temporal calculations raced, they triggered new instructions to a host of observation platforms. If they found the shards Amdirlain had recalled splitting from herself during her time as Orhêthurin, some might prove efficient to nurture.

Once her healing is complete, I should request Amdirlain eliminate Kronos; he might maul other potential creators the same way he did her. Hunting that primordial should give her a satisfying amount of temporal experience, which will help repair some realms.

With a potential temporal source within Nicholaus’s realm identified, Maker touched the point in the realm’s temporal ocean. A burst of data and schematics quickly earned Nicholaus’s agreement and the help of relevant aspects to cover the absence of some mantle holders.

If I move the phoenix healer, Sun Wukong’s rules will interfere with his ability to interact with Amdirlain and his wife. Still, that will spur the wife to grow, and Amdirlain to help.

Tiny slivers of their attention manifested as eyes across Labyrinthos, holding multiple conversations at once.

In the Outlands, they ploughed through the boundary of a shared domain, sparing its resistance less attention than an elephant would give to a cobweb.

A human deity with snow-white hair and sapphire-blue eyes sat beside an avatar of a dragon composed of living red diamond.

“Sarah and Livia. Would you like to join Amdirlain on her journey? That would give you the opportunity to grow into primordials and ensure she’s not alone.”

“How is she?” Sarah asked. “How long has it been for her?”

“I will inject you into the realm at a temporal point some eleven years after her arrival. That will mitigate the risks I foresee in the centuries ahead. While she has made progress healing, I believe your presence would accelerate her growth and ensure she takes fewer risks.”

They both groaned as the concepts crashed past their mental defences, and Maker reduced the intensity further.

Such fragile things. I could have asked an aspect to facilitate, but the risk of mistranslation would exist.

“Why offer us this opportunity?” Sarah asked. “This must cost you energy.”

“You should know that she opened her vaulted memories and must now suppress old habits. I seek to avoid her resuming Orhêthurin’s route. I believe you both have potential to be creators in your own way, if you receive this chance at growth.”

“I’ll go.” Sarah transformed into a human clad in red leather. “Is Nüwa with Amdirlain?”

“Nüwa is dead,” Maker replied. “Does that change your intention to come along?”

“I just needed to know if I should be prepared for a fight.”

A crystalline orb formed near the two deities. “I’m here to assist. I’ll tend to your Mantle if you’re going, Livia. Theinas will help Sarah’s followers,” Custodian said.

“I’ll go,” Livia said, nodding.

Maker shifted control of their divine offices to the assisting aspects and lifted the pair from the realm.

*

On a snowy mountainside upon Vehtë, another eye opened near Jinfeng. The practitioner had been flowing through sword forms, slaying ranks of demons from the local Di Yu, before the pressure of Maker’s arrival caused all the denizens from the lower plane to burst apart. Higher on the mountain slope, the gate into Di Yu shattered.

“Would you care to join Amdirlain on another journey?”

Cleaning the black gunk from her blade, Jinfeng sheathed it carefully, forcing her hands not to tremble. “How do I know you’re from Amdirlain? I received no message from her.”

Still too much pressure.

“Do you think I need to deceive you? If I wished you dead, or worse, I could facilitate that with ease.”

Jinfeng’s gaze flickered across the slope. “True. Excuse my natural suspicion of a stranger.”

“I’m called Maker. I will not drag you from this realm and annoy Amdirlain. She would prefer you had a choice whether to join her, and I told her I would provide it.”

“Where is she?”

“Presently, she is in another realm. One closer to your ancestor’s realm, where you can cultivate natural energies. That process allows for a particular path of growth that might serve you well,” Maker explained. “While the result is close to what you might gain here, the road in that realm would strengthen you.”

“Why are you looking to send me to her?”

“She has shown that having friends around is good for her. Your level of understanding regarding a Mortal’s use of Ki could help others joining her.”

Jinfeng’s hand dropped from the sword at her waist. “It’s been a while since I sparred with Amdirlain, and it would be good to have more time with her. Very well.”

Steam rising from the demonic sludge wafted across the now-empty mountainside.

*

A green, natural sludge stretched across the sea before Gail and Rainith. Their harmonies entwined, tweaking chemicals and establishing primitive life forms to provide a foundation for life to evolve on the new world. One Power coiled within Gail’s flesh reminded Maker of a flesh-formed Eldritch.

That is protean within a Mortal, most curious. Perhaps that will be an experiment to observe in another realm.

Maker pulsed a sound wave to mimic an Elf clearing its throat before the sliver opened its eye. The same details shared with the others pulsed through their thoughts.

“You explained how it helps Auntie Am, but does this benefit you?” Gail asked suspiciously. “Are you trying to put her in your debt?”

“I seek creators who can grow to form realms and order the Far Chaos. Both of you have shown a talent for creation with True Song. If she helped you and others grow to become creators, I would benefit greatly.”

Conflict showed in Gail’s gaze, her shoulders slumping. “We have a family.”

“The children are adults,” Rainith said. “I was too young to help Amdirlain with her struggle on Redemption’s Path.”

“She barely let me provide any help,” Gail grumbled. “How long would we be gone?”

“You wouldn’t be gone from this realm long, though you might find realm-hopping appealing.”

“Sorry, but you’re obviously some kind of Primordial. In the local time scale, what would be the duration of our absence?”

“Allow a couple of hours, though it might only be minutes in this temporal stream,” Maker replied.

Cuineth appeared beside Maker’s eye. The body of the Aspect of Life shifted from one moment to the next; her aura washed out across the sludge, accelerating the vibrant energies in the simple life forms the pair had changed.

“Cuineth!” Rainith blurted. “Do you know Maker?”

“That’s why I’m here. The offer is genuine, and Nicholaus would appreciate your help. He doesn’t want to lose her again.”

“Are you sure we’ll be able to return, Maker?” Gail asked.

“Amdirlain has a natural talent for aiding another's progress in that realm, as long as they are putting in an effort,” Maker reassured.

Gail gently squeezed Rainith’s hand; Maker waited, aware of the unspoken communication.

“You’re arguing against what you want to do,” Rainith chided. “Don’t make me the bad guy; let’s go.”

“The children.”

“I’ll just tell them we’re having some parental time. They don’t need to worry,” Rainith said.

Rainith dispensed her message in a few heartbeats, and the pair vanished from the realm. Cuineth remained to grow new life in the sea of ooze. Maker left her to it.

*

Elsewhere in the realm, on a sunlit shore, Maker found Rachel with Azadi, as she cleaned up an environmental disaster. A now-deceased species had caused a nearby supernova through their experiments. The Anar and Celestial listened intently as Maker explained the situation.

After a contemplative frown, Rachel slowly shook her head; her loose platinum locks fluttered around her shoulders. “Thank you for the offer, but no.”

Azadi nodded. “I’ll stay with Rachel.”

“Gail and Rainith agreed to go,” Maker announced. “What should I tell Amdirlain when she asks about you?”

Rachel frowned. “Are you trying to manipulate me?”

“I seek data.”

“Before I was reborn as Mori, I failed to live up to what the Anar should have been too many times. Only by chance did my Soul’s path cross Ori’s, and someone else could easily have benefitted from being her descendant. Though I could see the rot and the dangers, I moved too slowly.”

“You’ve already proven an Anar can regain their True Song.”

“With Gail going along, it is more important for me to stay. There will be an election when she comes back as a Primordial,” Rachel squared her shoulders. “Though this might be arrogant in itself, I do my best to ensure we don’t fall to pride again. I need to ensure we don’t fail Amdirlain again.”

“I believe Amdirlain would understand that goal.” Azadi squeezed Rachel’s hand.

“I hope so. Please convey my love, Maker.”

“Very well.” The eye closed, leaving them to their day.

*

Klipyl stiffened when Maker’s eye appeared. The ribbons extending from the back of her Celestial form fluttered as her attention fixed on the whirling galaxy pattern that formed the iris. “So beautiful.”

Her words prompted Kadakalan to turn from his workbench, where he had been teaching an Angel some finer points of Tao Alchemy.

“How are you in here?” Kadakalan asked.

“I’m Maker, an associate of the Titan. Are you aware of Amdirlain’s absence from the realm?”

“Yes.”

“The creator of the realm she is in is aware of the emotional impact being away from you, and others, is having on Amdirlain. He thought perhaps your presence while Amdirlain gathers the strength to leave would be beneficial to her and you.”

“And him?” Klipyl asked.

“Yes, and him. Amdirlain has caused some ripples. He thought having more family and friends with her would mitigate exactly how much noise she makes.”

Klipyl giggled. “Noise? But Sarah isn’t there.”

“Yes, that is part of the problem. She has had a significant impact on multiple nations and the realm’s three planes already,” Maker offered.

“Oh, that kind of noise.”

Kadakalan cleared his throat. “Shall we move this along?”

“Okay,” Klipyl chirped, giggling more.

“I’m concerned about my followers,” Kadakalan said. “I would go if I could, but I’m loath to disadvantage them.”

“I’ve arranged with the Titan for someone to protect them in your absence. Gideon will provide them guidance as to the most probable choices you’d make in most situations,” Maker reassured. “You shouldn’t be gone longer than an hour. There is a potential advantage to you at this destination.”

“What is that?”

“You will escape the trap of the mantle. Your nature as a phoenix means the realm would consider you Immortal and require you to be on the heavenly plane. At the foothills of primordial growth. Phoenixes are only on the earthly plane when tending to heavenly duties related to shrines and special locations. If you come along, you and Klipyl would be apart until she reaches the heavenly plane.”

“The way you put it sounds like they’d still be on the heavenly plane for a time. Have I understood that right?” Kadakalan said.

“Yes, as I would like Amdirlain to at least regain the strength she possessed of her first life. I believe that is her intention as well.”

“How probable is that?”

“She possesses the energy Orhêthurin cut away,” Maker said. “Refining it with her current outlook has dramatically sped her growth compared to the locals.”

“So you’re asking us there so she doesn’t second-guess herself and change her mind?”

“Yes.”

“We can go?” Klipyl asked.

“I wouldn’t keep you from Amdirlain’s side,” Kadakalan reassured her. “And I’m confident you can look after each other.”

“Of those who accepted it, it will be perhaps hardest for you, Klipyl,” Maker said. “You’ve never been Mortal.”

“Mortal?!” Klipyl squeaked excitedly, her eyes aglow with eagerness.

What a strange creature.

Her eagerness dimmed, and Klipyl murmured. “But how could someone like me help Amdirlain? I mean, especially if I’m Mortal.”

“Assist her in not losing sight of the beauty in what she does, even when things are grim.”

“There is beauty even in imperfection,” Klipyl murmured.

Kadakalan took her hand. “And lessons to be learnt, so they aren’t something to avoid.”

“Sis strives for perfect results. Are you going to take Aggie along with us?”

“I hadn’t considered her,” Maker admitted, calculations on her presence and others completed before Klipyl’s mind caught up.

“Are you asking Ebusuku and Farhad?”

“There is a tipping point where too many of her friends joining her would create uncomfortable pressure. Amdirlain doesn’t currently have the same strength she has here. I believe she would feel exposed if too many of her friends potentially needed protection. It is best to leave Aggie behind at this time. Amdirlain can assist her former worshipper later if she desires.”

“Oh.”

“Though that you considered it proves my point, Klipyl,” Maker said.

“When do we leave?” Kadakalan asked.

“Now, if you are both willing.”

They stood.

With the last targets for Sun Wukong’s realm collected, Maker sent them on and returned to gathering data.