Godslayer Lysette: Chapter 263 (Patreon)

Chapter 263: Bloodlines Revealed

Lysette cycled through her mind trying to figure out when and where was the best place to reveal the new bombshell about the twins’ latent divinity.  Just say it here in front of everyone right now, not caring how any of the others would take that sudden revelation?  Wait until Beatrice has had some time to steep in her emotions and tell the group then?  Pull Rolf aside and tell the two of them?  There didn’t seem to be a single great answer.  As there rarely was in life, let alone when deities chose to get involved.

Ultimately, though, fewer secrets meant fewer possible misunderstandings.  Resentments and simmering tensions could still boil over, but that would happen either way.  It wasn’t ideal that Beatrice would hear about her heritage from her twin later.  Though, thinking about it a bit more, maybe that was for the best.  Lysette had had to come to terms with her own sudden ascension while in the throes of grief and with the faces of her family and the stench of their burning corpses fresh on her mind.  And that had definitely not been the greatest outcome for her mental stability.

“Alright,” Lysette said.  “There’s no easy way to sugarcoat this and I’m sure this will come as a surprise to everyone else involved, so I’m just going to state this plainly.  Solanna and I were discussing this just a moment ago via telepathy.  Rolf, there’s strong reason to believe that you and your sister are both directly descended from Goleo, the primordial God of Earth.  That would explain why your family has a strong affinity for the Earth element.”

“Okay.”  Rolf paused for a moment.  “Even if that’s the case, whatever happened back then, happened.  It doesn’t change who Tricia and I are, nor does it have any relevance to what we’re doing now.”

“The point is that the children of the gods and their descendents carry inside them something Solanna has referred to as a Seed of Divinity.  That is to say, the two of you have the potential to become gods, if you so choose.”

“Gods?” Rolf stood up, eyes full of distrust and denial.  “You’re saying that Tricia and I are gods?  I know you’re–”

Lysette maintained her focus on the potential new godling, not wavering, not blinking, trying to convey the truth of her words through her open body language and divine presence as much as possible.  Rolf tried to raise his hands in what must’ve been accusation or anger like that of his sister, but as the two made eye contact, his index finger first tensed, then released.  He sat back down.

“Lying…” he continued, quivering.  “By every sane and rational metric, you should be lying.  There’s no way.  It can’t be true.  Me?  A god?  But…  Those eyes.  You genuinely believe every word you just told me.  Even if they’re not true, they’re true enough to you that I–.  I need to lie down for a moment.”

“It was a lot to take in for me too,” Serrena said.  “I was in your position just a few months ago until my favorite dimwit over here showed me that my great grandmother and I were also descended from our own godly progenitor.  I have to say, ever since that day, well, there’s not been a boring day since.”

“Your great-grandmother?”

Solanna stood up, offered her hand, and bowed slightly.  “Solanna Raesh.  Serrena’s great-grandmother.  Nice to meet you too.”

“Wait,” Katie said.

“Are you also going to tell me about whether or not I’m that Solanna Raesh who allegedly died a hundred years ago after she vanished?  Because yes, I am, and yes, having this conversation so many times is starting to get a bit annoying.”

“Uh…  Sorry.  I guess you’ve gotten that a lot.  I guess I was just astounded.  Up here, they called her the Phoenix of the South.  At least, according to the history books.  A Cultivator as feared as she was respected for her prowess.”

Solanna responded with the signature Raesh family grin.  “Moving back to the topic at hand, now that you know this, you and your sister are going to have to decide where to go forward from here.  If you want to stay here, live normal lives as ordinary Cultivators, or even abandon Cultivation altogether and be just… regular people, you can do that.  I’m sure no one here will begrudge you and I don’t think I’m overstepping my place to say that Lyse will protect you just the same as she would everyone else here.”

Lysette nodded.

“The other option is that you can start trying to awaken that Divine Spark that you both hold within you.”

“I’m guessing there’s a catch, or you wouldn’t be trying to dissuade me so.  Please, enlighten me.”

Aurie, who had previously been lying on one of the few remaining patches of snow and giggling as she frolicked about, leaned in from behind Lysette and grabbed a piece of sausage.  She plopped it into her mouth and barely chewed before swallowing.

“Ooh, that one is spicy!  Anyway, being a goddess isn’t really fun.  It really just means being thrown around on one assignment or another and always having to worry that someone’s going to use you or kill you!  Not fun at all!”

Rolf shuddered.  “You too…”

“Aurella.  But, uh, you can call me Aurie too if you want.  Cousin Lysettie does, and so do most of the kids.  And yeah, I’m a goddess.  As are like half of the people sitting at the table.  If you count people who don’t have any divinity at all, I think there’s like three of you here.”

“Oh, celestials above.”  Rolf sat in bemused silence.

The rest of the table sat just as quietly.  Aurie took advantage of the situation to grab another piece of sausage, this time savoring it far longer before finally swallowing and sighing just a bit too suggestively for her childish form.

“Aurella, despite her Whimsical nature, is correct,” Solanna said.  “That was part of the reason for my disappearance for a century.  Just trying to escape all these damnable wars the gods and their servants keep trying to drag me into.  My divinity help me, but even when I say I want no part of it, the war always seems to find a way to drag me back in.”  She glared toward Lysette again.

“And I’m afraid things are only getting worse,” Lysette said.  “I was gone for less than a day and a half and had to survive yet another assassination attempt.  That’s… what, three this week, if you count Aurie deciding she wanted to fight me too.”

“I’m sorry, Lysettie!  I was told you were big and bad and scary.”

“You are,” Jules said.  “Very scary indeed.”

“The point that Lyse is trying to make,” Serrena interjected, “is that once you embark on the path of divinity, you’re tied into the war of the gods.  For life, which is to say, to the death.  As much as Lyse is too soft for her own good sometimes, she is decisive to act whenever she or the people she cares about come under threat.  You’ve seen her when she gets that way.”

“Like I said, very scary.” Jules said.

Katie nodded in agreement.

“So, is this a threat?” Rolf asked.  “We can become gods like you, but in return, you expect us to follow in line with whatever you want.”

“I didn’t say that,” Lysette said.

“But Serrena certainly implied it.”

“What she and I are saying is that, if you and your sister choose to pursue your family’s legacy, then it is a matter of when and not if you will get dragged into this conflict.  And when that happens, if you choose to wield that strength against me or anyone else here, I will not hesitate.  And I won’t be able to spare you like I did last time.”

“Why did you spare us in the first place?  Especially after threatening me just now?”

“Because I thought that would make me feel better about myself.  Thought it’d make me better than the one who killed my family.  It only made me a hypocrite, but I still don’t regret my decision.”

“I guess I…  I don’t understand.”  Rolf clutched his head.  “If it’s all the same, I’m going to go for a walk.  Meet up with my sister, let her know about all this.  Just…  try and figure out what I want to do.”

He departed with a curt nod toward the table collectively.  As he left, Lysette suppressed a sigh, instead doing so verbally just to Mirae.

“There’s no easy answers for any of this.  No matter what I do, someone gets hurt.  At the very least, someone ends up having to fight.  I just want this all to end, love.  Be done with the fighting and the dying and the killing, so we can just… be.”

“And we will, dear.  And just remember.  I know how you feel.  The responsibilities that you’ve placed on your shoulders are greater than almost anyone’s.  Responsibilities that no one, especially not yourself, are capable of bearing.  So I want you to remember what you promised us.  That you’re not going to do it alone.”

Mirae was right.  It had always been her goal to share her power with others.  A goal that was finally being realized through the people of Ciricu, all of whom had at least the ability to Cultivate, if not the time or interest to do so.  In time, she hoped, the rest of the world would follow suit.

It wasn’t a decision without its own set of problems.  For one, it meant that the upcoming conflict— now inevitable— would be far more brutal both in terms of damage to the world and to villages and lives.  No longer would it be one where Cultivators warred while the people did their best to get out of the way.  It meant one where each individual person had at least the opportunity to defend themselves with divine power.  But also one where the line between civilian and combatant would blur, in some cases disappearing entirely.  It meant one where civilians who might’ve lived could possibly die.

Lysette piled those burdens atop her shoulders as well, hearing Mirae’s words but not sure how to accept their offers for help.  She held their hand in her lap, sandwiching it between both of her own.  And without saying a word, she let those worries and concerns and guilt and doubt and every other mixed emotion suffuse through the thin boundary that still separated the two lovers as their rings made contact.

“I’m here for you, Lysette, my beloved, my betrothed.  Even if all I can do for you is be an anchor, hear your concerns and worries, and let you speak your mind freely and without judgement.”

“I appreciate it.”

“What do you think they’ll do?”

“I don’t know.  I know this is likely to be taken the wrong way, but I’d like you to keep an eye on them.  Both of them are angry and confused, and I’m so naive as to believe that Terea doesn’t have a few spies keeping an eye on us for opportunities to weaken us from within.  Do your best to stay out of sight, give them space, and let me know if you see anyone else approaching them.”

“They’ll resent us for this if–”

“I know.  I’ll be seen as a tyrant sending you as a spy to eavesdrop on a private, personal conversation.  But when I said that I will do anything and everything it takes to protect the people here, I absolutely meant it.  I won’t begrudge them their decision if they want to turn tail and head back to Terea, even if they later take up arms against us.  But if they get some idea in their heads to try to take hostages or similar underhanded tactics, well…”

“I understand, love.  I will keep my distance and observe only with my aura.”

A bit of tension released from Lysette’s shoulders.  “Thank you, my beloved.”

Chapter 262: https://www.patreon.com/posts/115473246

Table of Contents: https://www.patreon.com/posts/101896170

Chapter 264: https://www.patreon.com/posts/115603517