Chapter 791 – Reuniting

Pray Salvation. Pray Empire. Pray Survival. Pray until there are no prayers left, and then pray again.

Pray not to understand, but to be understood.

Pray for Arda.

- Ending of Goddess Helenna’s, of Love’s speech about the Second Arc.

The skirmish would have been bloody. Two dozen angels flying through the air and only being by lucky shots were different to shoot down for men who had to aim with their hands. Maybe Kassandora would have even needed to issue an order to retreat. But laying that black bubble, with Kavaa’s hand squeezing her, she knew it was. Not the most destructive, but certainly the most dangerous of Imperial Divinity had come to ensure that there was only one way in which this could end.

The bubble disappeared, Irinika was standing next to them. The Goddess of Darkness was clothed in the writhing mass of her demesne made incarnate. It slithered up and down her body, seeming both tight and loose and constantly moving. Dark eyes passed over Kassandora and Kavaa, she pulled the tobacco pipe from her mouth and let out a large cloud of smoke. The trio looked at the mass of what remained after Irinika killed.

The angel that had come to fight Kassandora was now a broken mass, spread out over the landscape. Part of his face was staring up at the sky, torn the skull, which itself was missing. Arms had been grabbed and crushed and twisted and torn. The torso was nothing had been made into a red slurry that painted the ground red. The almost-golden plate armour had been shattered once, then shattered again, and broken and twisted into every direction. Putting that back together would be impossible. Kassandora got to her feet immediately. “Kill the rest Irinika! We’ll talk after!”

Irinika did not follow the order, she just turned to the portal, the battle had paused. Everyone would have seen the sphere of darkness that was the woman’s trademark. And everyone would be looking at the carnage she left behind. The angels hung in position, even the Imperial soldiers had stopped shooting. Irinika put her pipe back into her mouth. “Oh no sweetheart.” Irinika said. “I have a pet dog now.”

From above, the sky opened up as one of Allasaria’s pierced through the clouds and incinerated another of the angels. A massive pillar of light, as wide as a tank, that carved a new perfectly borehole into the ground. It swallowed an angel from wing-tip to wing-tip and left nothing but the scraps of feathers managed to be too long to be enclosed entirely. “Allasaria.” Kavaa said. Another beam came from above, another of the invading forces was incinerated.

“My pet dog, hmmm yes.” Irinika said. “She’s been waiting to be let off the leash.” The woman practically cooed with satisfaction as she watched the carnage. Kassandora did not ask, nor care, nor even worry about what the woman did to break Allasaria. Frankly, it was not important in the slightest.

“That’s your…” Kavaa trailed off. Not saying the rest.

“Is she safe?” Kassandora asked. Of all the White Pantheon Divinity, this was the one she wanted to deal with the least. Some of them were lazy, but Allasaria had always thought that she could run an army better than Kassandora or Fortia combined.

“She’ll fight for us for the immediate while.” Irinika said. “How long, I cannot say.”

“So she’s not bound or anything?” Kavaa asked. Another pair of beams came from the sky. Two individual angels were incinerated in the blink of an eye. The force started retreating. All of them coming back from the portal. Kassandora twisted her tongue, thought about giving Irinika the order to help with the pursue but there was no point. If Leona was the number one threat in the White Pantheon, Allasaria was number two. Legions were given orders to scatter if Allasaria was in the area. It was much the same as fighting Irinika.

“I do declare she is doing this of her free will.” Irinika said and Kassandora rolled her eyes. Irinika was only acting like this because Kavaa still gave a reaction, even though Kassandora had specifically told her not to. One beam hit an angel, did not disappear immediately, but instead was dragged across the carving out a channel through river and soil and clearing out another seven of the angels in a single blow.

Not a single one of them, no matter how fast they were, made it back to the portal successfully. Kassandora took a deep breath and hid her annoyance. Allasaria was even worse than Irinika, at least Of Darkness left material which could be taken for testing in a lab. Allasaria just smelted it out of existence.

And then, she descended. Iliyal came over the radio as the Goddess of Light emerged from the clouds like a Divine amongst Divines. Rays of illumination shining out from her, the cloud turning gold around her. The white dress shimmering and waving in the wind, with that long golden-blonde hair waving. “I assume she’s on our side Goddess.”

Kassandora replied before the elf ordered anything stupid. “Yes, Irinika brought her.”

“Understood, I’ll signal the order to pull back.” Kassandora’s eyes went to the portal, she saw it shift, then slam shut in an instant.  Back into that light blue line of shimmering energies, the lines then wrapped itself closed into a dot, and it was over. They had won. Won through Divinity, but Kassandora gathered enough information already to be able to make improvements on the army as it was.

She almost turned, then realised it was Allasaria. And everyone knew what Allasaria was going to act like. “She’ll want to talk with me, won’t she?” Kassandora said.

“I so assume.” Irinika mused, fiddling with her pipe.

“I’ll give you two space.” Kavaa said and Kassandora wished Kavaa did not trust her so much. The Goddess of Health went to stand by the Goddess of Darkness, staring at the pipe for a few moments.

“If the smell of nature’s bounty distresses you, little doctor, save your breath. Divinity does not get addicted.” Irinika said and Kavaa stared at her for a few moments.

“I’m just looking at what your pipe is made of.” She said and Kassandora sighed when she saw Irinika light up. Immediately, the posture dropped, she pulled the pipe from her mouth, blew the tobacco out and held it for Kavaa to see.

“Wood here, it’s hand-made, I prefer the darker ones.” And Irinika went on and on and on as Allasaria descended down to Kassandora. At least she was faster than Arascus. Of Light flew over the bloody mass that Irinika left behind and landed with a thud on the short grass. She was as tall as Kassandora remembered her to be.

Kassandora stood facing Allasaria and Allasaria stood facing Kassandora. Irinika usual ritual of lighting her pipe and taking an inhale was the movement that finally forced them into action. “So we meet again.” Kassandora said.

“So we meet again.” Allasaria said. What exactly was Kassandora supposed to say? Was it supposed to be some grand reunion? Maybe Allasaria thought that Kassandora would cry with joy? Or be terrified? Or what exactly? The woman had switched sides, good on her. That was it.

“I am the commander of the Imperial Armed Forces.” Kassandora said. “You’ll be receiving orders from me, right now, I’m going off to run battle analysis.” Kassandora said, turned around and began to walk off. Irinika chuckled, Kavaa stared at the pair, and Allasaria’s opened her mouth, unable to say anything. Kassandora took three steps, saw Kavaa watching them and sighed. Great. So everyone wanted this to be some dramatic reunion. They had a job to do and instead, they would have to be wasting time on this.

“Wait!” Allasaria’s hesitant word was a shout she didn’t want to make loudly.

“What?” Kassandora said, turning around.

“That’s it?”

What else was there supposed to be? Did they have to sit here and all prance about and say how wonderful it was that Allasaria decided to join the Empire finally? “Is there anything I’ve missed?” Kassandora asked. If Allasaria was out of prison, then she would have someone assigned to her. That someone could only be Irinika. It wasn’t certain, but she made the call. “Irinika will explain to you what is important, if she misses something, it wasn’t important in the first place.” This wasn’t Neneria or Baalka who could too focused on a job, and Fer would withhold information because she found it funny to see others struggle, Anassa would withhold it because she was a bitch. But Irinika was generally fairly competent at being a direct superior.

“What faith in me.” Irinika said. “No little sister, Allasaria is here to say hello and bequeath an introduction upon you.” Kassandora half-parsed the jargon that had just been spewed at her, not even bothering to react to the fact that Irinika talked as if she was several thousand years out of date.

“I know Allasaria and Allasaria knows me.” Kassandora said. What would be the best way to end this reunion then? Probably by playing along for a few minutes and then just making an excuse once Allasaria got satisfied enough. “Allasaria, this is not the first time a Divine has switched to the winning team. I have procedures for this.” It wasn’t about whether the woman was even White Pantheon or not. Some said forgiveness was a mandatory skill for Divinity, but that was only important if everything was taken personal.

“I would like to apologize for keeping you in prison for so long.” Allasaria said. Irinika chuckled, smoked her pipe and then raised her hand to Kavaa when the Goddess of Health was about to speak up. Kassandora returned a flat glare to Allasaria.

“I lost the Great War, what exactly where you supposed to do?” Kassandora said. “In that position, I would have executed myself.” Allasaria’s eyes went wide, Irinika chuckled and blew out a cloud of smoke. Kavaa just slapped her palm into her face.

“What?” Allasaria said.

“What?” Kassandora asked back.

Allasaria opened her mouth, closed it, and then turned to Irinika. The Goddess of Darkness smirked, pulled her pipe out of her mouth with nimble fingers. “Kass, she’s asking for forgiveness.” Kassandora sighed.

“Forgiveness for what?” What exactly was there to forgive? “The Great War was a war, I am a better than Fortia so it would have been expedient to execute me. What?” Maybe she needed a metaphor to understand, from what Kassandora remembered, Allasaria liked metaphors. “You’re asking a forgiveness for building earthworks on a flooding river as if the river cares in the first place. No, the river just flows. I just ran a war and I ran it well.”

“I…” Allasaria said and Kavaa shook her head.

“This is miserable.” She muttered quietly, although everyone overheard.

“Why do you think Kassandora doesn’t have friends?” Irinika asked and Kassandora turned on her sister.

“I have Kavaa, for one, and I get along plenty with people.” Kassandora said.

“Who?”

“You.” Kassandora said, this wasn’t a difficult argument to win, she knew how Irinika operated. The Goddess of Darkness smiled in satisfaction and put her pipe back in her mouth.

“Touche.” Irinika murmured as Allasaria still stood there, mouthing something she wanted to say. “Allasaria, I know what you want to say, if you don’t say it, I will.”

“I’m sorry for leaving you all the way back then.” Kassandora stared at Allasaria for a while, unsure of what exactly to say. All the way back in Sythia? Irinika smiled in satisfaction and Kavaa stood up straighter.

“It’s ancient history.” Kassandora said. “Water under the bridge.”

“But it’s important.” Kassandora stood there and tried to see what the woman was getting at. It was so long ago that it did not matter at this point. Would things have changed? Well of course, but once someone started playing that revisionist game, things spiralled out of control. What if Kassandora had said no to Arascus? What if she had never been there to integrate magic back into the world? What if? What did it matter? That was how things went.

And then, the realisation struck Kassandora. It wasn’t important to her, it was important to Allasaria. The woman needed an explanation, or some out, or something to be able to move on in order to pretend that she did not abandon Kassandora when Kassandora decided to leave Sythia herself. “You are not responsible for everyone around you, what I did, I did out of my own decision making.”

Allasaria opened her mouth, but Irinika spoke before she did. “You will not get more out of my sister than that Allasaria.” Irinika said. “That is it.”

“There was a time when you weren’t like this.” Allasaria dug deeper.

“When exactly?” Kassandora asked. “When was I not like how am I now?”

“When you formed and when we worked together.” It simply wasn’t true. Kassandora shook her head, opened her mouth, tried to find an argument. Nothing came out. What was there even to say. This is part of the reason why she had left Allasaria in the first place. What was there to talk about after a battle? Men marched to war, men died, wives cried, fathers buried sons, and that would be repeated. Kavaa understood how that looked. Allasaria had never.

“Allasaria, what is there to explain? We worked together, then we stopped working together.”

“But we did work together.”

“And we were the best at it.” Kassandora said. The more she thought about it, the more she could understand Allasaria’s position. They had a good thing going, and then the wars ended, and then what use was there for a Goddess of War during peacetime? “And it ended Allasaria, what do you want me to say?” She rounded on Allasaria, staring up at the taller Goddess. If it wasn’t said now, it would have to be said later. “I have moved on, Sythia is a memory, even the nation doesn’t exist anymore! The people are gone! Should I be tying myself down to rubble because I incarnated there!?”

But it wasn’t about Sythia, was it? “Should I be tying myself down to you because we incarnated close to each other? Because we had a title? Do you want me to play pretend that standing as second in command to your army is some great dream or honour? I am not the a mortal Allasaria, I am the Goddess of War.” She took a step forward, her armour was smattered with blood and dust and rubble, all of it from the battle. “You are a great power Allasaria, no one in there right mind will pretend you are not. But if you think that your presence on its own is some great blessing, you are delusional.”

Allasaria opened her mouth and Kassandora talked over her. Now that she was on the offensive, the worst part would be to lose the initiative. The woman wanted personal? Then it would be personal. That was the language Allasaria spoke and languages could be learned. “Since I formed, you have looked down on me.”

“NEVER!” Allasaria shouted back.

“Oh it’s cute little Kassandora! Oh it’s the Goddess of War in our endless quest for peace! No Allasaria. I am the incarnation of War because warfare on Arda is as natural as the sun rising at dawn. You will not separate the mankind from its ultimate trade. What did you think I would say? That I miss those times? Compared to now, of all times? How many times did you come to me on Olympiada for advice?!” She poked a finger into Allasaria’s stomach, the woman was a full head taller than her, Kassandora only reached up to Allasaria’s chest.

“That is the difference between you and Arascus. Because Arascus saw cute little Kassandora, with all her bitterness, and he saw the War, and he saw the two as the same because they ARE the fucking same! Because he saw the Goddess and did not try to make her into a human or into a mercenary! Because, unlike you, he can move on. And that is precisely why I can join him forever, because tomorrow, if I am not Kassandora anymore, he will still be my father! For you, if I am not your rehabilitation project then what am I? Your trophy to display! To prove the gracious magnanimity of the Goddess of Light!?”

Allasaria blinked, her eyes welled with tears and Kassandora held the woman’s gaze. Great Allasaria! Cry now! Why don’t you!? “A friend.” Allasaria said and Kassandora closed her eyes, took a deep breath and calmed the force. And there it was, the bitter little feeling that replaced what should have been any real guilt or hurt. The complete, unperturbed lack of it that was more perturbing than anything else.

Kassandora opened her eyes and shook her head. “Why?” She said quietly. “Allasaria, why?”

“Because we were there, together?”

“I am not that woman anymore.” Kassandora said quietly. “At this point, I don’t know what happened to her.” She shook her head. “What am I supposed to say Allasaria? Tell me and I’ll say it but don’t tie me down with any stipulations. There is no grand reunion, there is no forgiveness. There is nothing. I see you and I don’t hate you, and I don’t love you. You’ve switched to the winning team. Great.” She said dryly. “That’s it.”

“Kass…” Irinika stepped in between them.

“I told you.” Irinika said cooed. “Did I not?” It obviously wasn’t to Kassandora. Allasaria closed her eyes, mumbled something and made a single nod.

“You did.”

“And you still tried.”

“I did.”

“Well now you know.” Irinika said. Kassandora didn’t know what the woman was doing or saying, or what she was trying to dig out of Allasaria. She held her ground and posture and stared up at the two taller Goddesses.

“Kass.” Allasaria said and Kassandora held her posture. “I’m sorry.”

“Do not play that game with me.” Kassandora said. “You’ve played it on everyone here already. Weep, fail, beg, and understand you do not change. Sorry for what? You sculpted me this way did you? Two thousand years of history just like that?” Kassandora snapped her fingers. “That’s what you want to say? That if made a different choice back then, things would have worked out different? But they did not. I am not the Goddess you led by the hand Allasaria.”

“Are you…” Allasaria took a deep breath, her eyes welling with tears. “Are you happy here though?”

Kassandora opened her mouth and then she felt it. There it was, the pang of guilt. Thoughts of Kavaa through her mind, of sitting with Arascus in silence, of drinking with Fer. Listening in on Irinika gossip as Neneria pretended not to be listening. Of arguing and laughing with Malam and receiving paintings of herself from Olephia. Even sitting down with Baalka and watching the woman go on about diseases Kassandora knew nothing of. And of Kavaa again, of them sharing a blanket and watching television. Kassandora would cry today, she knew she would, when everything hit her. Allasaria had just picked a bad time. She shouldn’t have tried a reunion after a battle. “I am.”

Kassandora turned back to look at Kavaa who was squatting down, watching them a short distance away. She had no expression on her face, no shock at what Kassandora had said, nor any sort of support for Kassandora. She tilted her head to the side and shrugged. “I am Allasaria. I am happier here than I been in a thousand years.”

“Then I’m happy for you.” Kassandora was not going to play this game. She knew it ended with apologising to Allasaria sooner or later. The woman always did this in the past. Kassandora could not win in an argument against that benevolence. She was too crude, too brutal, too to the point, and even though she had changed, Allasaria had not.

Kassandora walked away.