Godslayer Lysette: Chapter 254

Chapter 254: The Lotus Medallion

Saffron brought the meeting to an end shortly after her warning to Lysette.  With no other reason to remain in the castle and Lysette wanting to make her way to her blessed lemon custards posthaste, she, together with Solanna and Aurella, made their way out of the castle at a deliberate pace and headed east toward the Academy.

Lysette didn’t dare make a sound as she exited the massive palace complex.  She didn’t even dare to send a telepathic message to her companions, so shaken was she by the threat behind Saffron’s words.  And it wasn’t until the three had made it all the way down the capital hill and into the market district that Lysette finally took a deep breath and released the tension in her hands and shoulders she hadn’t even realized was there.

“So, she shows her true colors at last,” Solanna said.  “I’d say ‘Glad to say that she’s finally thinking for herself and not just serving as Domar’s meat-puppet’, but I’m not so sure she deserves credit for barely clearing such a low bar.”

“Yeah, how dare she threaten Cousin Lizzie!” Aurella said.

“Cousin Lizzie?” Lysette asked.

“Well, yeah, if she’s gonna be Auntie Solanna, then that makes you Cousin Lizzie.”

Lysette sighed.  “If you’re going to call me something other than Lyse, I’d prefer you just called me Lysette.”

“Lysette?”  Aurella tipped her head and placed her finger on her chin.  “Alright, fine, Cousin Lysette it is!”

Lysette looked around while Aurella and Solanna were chatting idly about days and events from long before she was born.  Despite the war, despite the human suffering on both sides of the conflict, the hustle and bustle of traders and agents of the nobility was just as spirited and sometimes raucous as it was during Lysette’s first month at the Academy.  Brokers were hawking exotic foods and jewels and plenty of Cultivation gear, including raw materials for artifact Creation and pills of… questionable efficacy and safety at best.  Indeed, without knowledge of the outside world, Lysette was hard-pressed to notice any signs that a war was waging down on the surface world below.

Lysette noticed a strange talisman while surveying the open-air stalls along one of the busier streets en route to the Academy.  It was made of some alloy, a disc about as large as Lysette’s palm.  It had a blooming lotus carved into its face, and it exuded a soft, quiet, but unmistakable power.  She approached, still vaguely listening in to Solanna and Aurella’s continued conversation, when the merchant called out to her.

“Do you see something that’s caught your eye?  I assure you, all of my amulets are well-sourced.  And unquestionably effective.”

Lysette shook her head.  “I am, but I doubt I have nearly enough to purchase it.”

“Oh?  What about that medallion around your neck?  I’m sure that would be more than enough to close the gap.”

Lysette clutched the Periapt of Stability.  “I’m sorry.  This was a gift from…. A friend.”

“Oh?  Did something happen between the two of you?”

“It’s complicated.  And I don’t think it’s my place to speak of what’s happened.”

The merchant, a shifty-looking older gentleman with a missing tooth and plenty of blemishes and scars on his face, smiled a toothy grin.  “Sometimes, sharing your troubles with a stranger is easier than sharing them with your usual confidants.  Provides a different, disinterested perspective on the matter.”

“The two of us are… allies for now.  But we have different perspectives on what should happen going forward, and those views may not be reconcilable.  I fear we may not be able to maintain our friendship if circumstances change and we’re forced onto opposite sides of an upcoming conflict.”

“Such is the nature of life.  Each of us only has a limited time on this world.  And sometimes, friendships are cut short, whether by differences of opinion or by the cruel hands of Fate and Time shepherding them onward toward whatever awaits us after we die.”  He picked up the lotus trinket and held it before Lysette.  “Such is embodied within the lotus flower.  They are beautiful, the product of thousands of individual leaves which together comprise a beautiful whole.  But they are fragile for the same reason, and without proper care, succumb to entropy in their natural course.”

“So what does this talisman do?” Lysette asked.  “I can feel a strange power from it.”

The merchant laughed.  “That’s something you’ll have to find out for yourself.  I’ll tell you what, though.  I’ll give you a good price, just because I think there’s something about you.  A thousand gold coins.”

“A good price?”  Lysette shook her head.  “I’m sure the price is fair, but I hardly have that much money on me.  Besides, I need what I have for…  other reasons.”

“‘Tis a shame indeed.  I think it would suit you rather well.  But, perhaps, if our paths cross again, you will reconsider.”

“Oh, that’s where you are!” Aurella said.  “Auntie Solanna noticed that you stopped following us and sent me to come find you.  Cousin Lysette, what are you looking at…  Oh, wow, it’s beautiful.”

“Another friend of yours, Miss?” the merchant asked Lysette.

“Yeah.”

“Do you want me to get it for you?” Aurella asked.

“I can’t hope to afford something like that,” Aurella.  “Nor can I hope to pay you back.”

“How much is it?”

“A thousand gold.”

Aurella guffawed.  She reached into a storage charm in her pants pocket and laid fifty platinum coins on the table.  “Is that all?  Lysette, that’s nothing!  You should’ve said it was that cheap.  And don’t worry about paying me back either; it’s the least I could do for all the fun I’ve had these past couple of days.”

“Are you sure, Aurella?”

Aurella nodded.  Lysette maintained some twinge of guilt that she was taking advantage of her generosity, but after seeing Aurella’s insistence turn to pleading, she ultimately accepted the generous gift, holding it with both hands as the two headed back to rejoin Solanna and onward to the Academy’s cafeteria for a hearty lunch.

The medallion glowed a soft teal as Lysette held it.  It was surprisingly heavy for its size, a bit under four pounds by her estimation.  Upon the reverse of the medallion was a series of inscriptions in a language Lysette had not before seen.  It was neither the common script nor that of the ancient Aestori, suggesting the talisman was from the age of humans.

When Lysette poured a bit of her will into her new amulet, a foreign will pushed back slightly.  The force within it did not seem malevolent or hostile toward Lysette, but she decided not to inquire further, instead waiting until she could commit more of her mental focus toward the task.

Shortly thereafter, the three demigoddesses arrived at the main gates of the Domaria Cultivation Academy.  With the war continuing into its fifth month, it was less an Academy for learning, research, and study of the science of Cultivation and more a military training facility.  More senior cadets worked alongside new enlistees to practice various drills, procedures, and sparred on the campus grounds.  Meanwhile, more senior military personnel took notes, discussing promising candidates who might be selected for leadership roles.

Solanna was stopped as she stepped onto campus, but as soon as Lysette and Aurella caught up and joined her, the sentry on duty— a man who seemed vaguely familiar— broke into a cold sweat.  He turned to Lysette with a shudder in his voice.

“Is she with you, ma’am?” he asked.

Lysette nodded.

“V– Very good, ma’am.  Please let one of us know if you need anything.”

The two carried on into the commons, weaving around various sparring matches, and when they finally arrived just outside the dining hall, Solanna turned to Lysette with a grin on her face.

“So, what did you do to him?”

“I don’t–  Wait, now I remember.  That was the same guy who stopped me when I came back here shortly before the war started to recruit my group to take back with me to Ciricu.  He didn’t realize and wouldn’t let me explain that I was on a special assignment from Saffron and forced me to get my Essence coefficient measured as part of the intake processing.”  Lysette blushed.  “I might’ve overloaded the device and then gotten his boss’s boss to scream at him and order him to start running laps around the city.”

“Cousin Lysette?” Aurella asked.  “Did you intend to overload the device?”

“I… felt like showing off a bit, since I didn’t have to hide myself from the palace or the late Chancellor.  Who I killed.”

“Lysette?”  Aurella patted Lysette’s back.  “Good work.  I’m super proud of you, causing a scene like that.  But most importantly, did you have fun?”

“I don’t know if ‘fun’ was the right word.  But I definitely had more than a hint of smugness on my face once I was done.”

Aurella laughed as she opened the door leading into the cafeteria, beckoning her companions inside.  As soon as a hint of cooler indoor air wafted through the threshold and the accompanying smell of all the finest delicacies of Aimarion assailed her nose, her eyes lit up and literal sparkles began to dance around her head.

“Oh my goodness!  You weren’t kidding, Lysette!  It smells better than anything I’ve had in the last twenty years!”

“Aren’t you like… twelve?” a voice came from one of the students.

“Hmph!”  Aurella stuck her tongue out at the young man of about twenty.  “I know how old I am, and that’s none of your business, thank you very much!”

She proceeded onward with all the aplomb and attitude of a kid throwing a tantrum, but her mood flipped back to excitement and joy just as quickly when she saw the mountains of food and eagerly darted off to collect seemingly everything she could.  As the Whimsical demigoddess whirlwinded her way through the students, Solanna put her hand on Lysette’s shoulder and sighed, a wistful note in her voice.

“It really takes me back.  Haven’t been in these halls since…  Oh goodness, 7297, I think.”

“That long ago, huh?  Has the Academy changed a lot in the past two centuries?”

“With that old crone still calling the shots?  The Academy has hardly changed at all!  Food does smell a bit better— at least the kitchen staff understands the concept of iterative improvement.”

“Wait…” a female voice called out.  “Is that you, Serrena?”

Solanna turned around and shook her head.  “I’ve been told that there’s a bit of a family resemblance, but no, I’m not her.”

“Family resemblance?  I didn’t realize Serrena had an older sister.”

“She doesn’t.”  Solanna gave Lysette a knowing glance.  “I’m not her sister.  I’m her great grandmother, Solanna.”  She curtsied slightly.  “A pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

The woman shook her head and stared.  “Wait, hold on a minute.  You’re saying you’re that Solanna Raesh?  Like, the Solanna Raesh, the one from the history books?  The one who’s said to have died a hundred years ago?”

A crowd gathered as the dining hall went silent and all eyes save for Aurella’s turned toward Solanna.

“Well, as you can all plainly see by the fact that I’m alive, well, and here, that I obviously am far less dead than your history books seem to imply.”  She turned to Lysette and lowered her voice to a whisper.  “If you want to go meet up with Aurella, I’m going to take advantage of this situation to whip up some much-needed Passion in the student population.”

Lysette smiled as she grabbed two lemon custards and headed to the back of the hall where Aurella was already happily chowing down.  Solanna’s antics would provide a good opportunity to examine the Lotus Medallion in greater detail.  After a long-awaited dessert, of course.

Chapter 253: https://www.patreon.com/posts/114909042

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

Chapter 255: https://www.patreon.com/posts/115020500