Chapter 38 #2
"You do realize I want you to survive," I said. But she vehemently shook her head.
"To survive without honor is no way of life, certainly not for a divine. With power comes responsibility, and a code of honor in how it gets used," she said vehemently, as the ship powered up and Lady Chiksai led the whole crew away towards Perez's place and Violet's duel.
The ship would be fully online in less than a half-hour; we were cutting it close.
"The world of divines is not a place for you or me," the madam said.
"I disagree. Violet here says I owe her a date, and if something were to happen with her, then I would not have had a chance to fulfill a promise.
That would be a stain on my honor, so what should I do?
Go back on a promise, or keep her alive at the cost of some of her sense of righteousness? " I asked.
"It won't matter," Lily said, "because nothing will happen to her. The captain's wish is that you survive, so don't worry, I will make sure that happens."
Violet offered Lily a small smile.
"Lily's right. We've already planned all we can for the worst-case scenarios. Now it's time to hope for the best," I said, trying to dismiss the gloomy air that had begun to settle in the ship with all the talk of Violet's potential failure.
In what felt like no time, the shuttle landed on Perez's lawn.
Where there had once been grass and gardens, there was now hard-packed earth, burnt and stamped out.
The two kikai that we had met before were lounging back in lawn chairs while Perez's servants fanned them and fed them while shaking like leaves in the wind.
"Oh, is that my tail?" The two-tailed kikai of the twins lifted a pair of sunglasses and regarded us as the shuttle bay door opened up.
"Well then, we certainly don't need the rest of you.
" He laughed, and with a flick of his two tails, all of the servants dropped like puppets with their strings cut, falling to the floor and bleeding out fast enough that I knew there was no room for medical intervention.
Even Melgara could only glance at them and shake her head.
"Why would you do that?" Violet shouted, her tail bristling out as she jumped out of the shuttle to check on the closest person.
"Calm down," I warned Violet. "They did that to upset you."
She scowled at me as if I had just said it was her fault.
I tried to speak her language. "Those two are monsters; they're not worthy of the honor of being a divine."
Violet scowled but seemed to calm slightly.
I tried one more time. "Their actions are their own, but I'm fairly certain that they're at least in part doing it to upset you and knock you off your game."
Violet took a deep breath, acknowledging my words and scowling. "You're right. They don't deserve to be divine," she spat, and the three-tailed brother only chuckled.
"Ushael, I do think her tail will look fantastic on you, although I'm afraid it's going to make you stupider. She doesn't understand even the most basic concepts of the world." He chuckled.
"A tail is a tail, and it doesn't have a mind of its own. I know for a fact that Akari's tail didn't make anyone overly self-righteous." Ushael laughed.
Violet sucked in a deep breath and then let it out slowly. "You know nothing of my master," she said coldly. "Stop pretending that you do."
"Oh no." Ushael put a hand to his head and pretended to faint. "The barely-divine is upset, Brother. Whatever shall we do? Perhaps we should forfeit. Clearly, she is far too much for either of us to handle." They both then broke out in laughter, leaving Violet stewing.
"Are you done?" Violet asked. With the coldness in her tongue, I almost didn't recognize her. "Because I have better things to do than sit here while the two of you jabber like old maids."
The two-tailed, Ushael, laughed. "It seems we've got her claws out, Brother. I suppose there's no need to work her up any farther… unless you've got some torment you'd like to inflict?" He spoke as if that was a regular question, which only confirmed my desire for them to be wiped off the planet.
The three-tailed tapped his lips several times, honestly considering the question.
"No, I figure we're done for now. She doesn't have enough bite to be interesting.
At the end of the day, she's just a one-tail, barely worth our consideration.
She'll be gone before she recognizes the power of a real divine. "
Violet squared up against the two of them, and I couldn't have been prouder of her.
As if a shift in the wind, the banter had stopped. I watched as she became cold and hard, waiting for the fight to start.
Ushael sensed his fun was over and popped to his feet before bouncing onto the burnt and packed earth, the sort of arena they had prepared for this duel.
He had a smile on his face while he stepped in servants' blood, spilled around the ground.
I wasn't sure if I'd necessarily call the servants innocent, but they were certainly not worth killing.
"You know, I can already tell that you're Akari's disciple," the kikai said, tilting his head and watching her.
"She had a self-righteous streak miles wide.
In fact, it was practically legendary. The problem was, when it actually came to much more than talk, your master's actions were far different.
She was a bloody slaughterer that once swept through the sector, leaving none who opposed her alive. "
"My master left such practices in the past, where they belong," Violet said with confidence, pulling out her master's beam saber and squaring up. "Will your brother be your second?" She cut through the chatter.
"Yes, this is a duel between two divines, and there shall be no interference. Who is your second? Perhaps Madam Chiksai?" he asked, his voice wry with amusement.
"No”—Violet glanced over at Lily—"she will be. I trust her with my life," Violet said with a smile.
"Introduce yourself," the three-tailed said, standing up straight.
"Liliana Valcrest," Lily answered.
It seemed her borrowing of my name for that couple's therapy session was going to stick.
"And what are you? What gives you the strength"—he chuckled slightly—"to be a second amidst a duel of divines? Are you a dragon, perhaps?" he asked, and Lily tilted her head, a smile on her lips.
I knew immediately what she was going to do, and I glanced around to see if there was any recording equipment, of which I saw none.
“You're good, Lily. There's no one here to hear you,” I told her, and she nodded to me with a smile.
"I am Lily Valcrest, and I believe being a helivore gives me credibility to be a second?" she asked with a smirk.
We all greatly enjoyed the way both divine kikai stiffened and stared at her incredulously.
Yet I could see the wheels turning in their minds.
A helivore was something even a divine kikai should fear.
After all, once established in a world, nothing short of an orbital bombardment would dislodge her and save the world from being consumed.
The three-tailed paused and barked a laugh. "You had us for a second." He chuckled, and Lily tilted her head.
"I am confused. Do you refute my honesty?" Lily said and turned to me. "Captain, should I give them an example?"
I held a hand up. "Save it. If they don't believe, they don't believe." Both of them narrowed their eyes, and I smirked. I didn't want to make them so concerned that they wouldn't give Lily an excuse to fight back at some point.
"Is she really a helivore?" Madam Chiksai asked, leaning over to whisper to me.
"She is," I verified.
Lily seemed to be preening with pride, which she clearly wanted to continue as she spoke loud enough for the two divines to hear. "And just imagine how strong he is, to command both a divine and a helivore on his ship."
I could see the two divines assessing me from across the way with critical eyes, attempting to understand what exactly I might be. Their eyes were narrowed, trying to understand what hidden strength I might have.
It was enough that I decided to take control of the flow and raised my hand. "Are both duelists ready?"
Violet and the other divine both nodded. And so, my raised hand became the starting gun.
"Then on the count of three, let the duel begin. Three. Two. One." I dropped my hand, and both exploded into action, moving so quickly I had trouble tracking their movements. Instead, I could just see the trails of light left by both of their beam sabers, flashing repeatedly in the air.