Heirs of Debauchery - Story 04

Story 4: Not gods, just fools

Ember, avatar of the Eternal Scar, stared at the group of armored champions advancing towards her. The tanned muscular warrior, completely nude saved for the skull of an iron wolf as a helmet, knew that this would be her last fight in the arena. For good must triumph over evil, and she's the representation of that evil. A lesson to be taught to the thousands of viewers in the stands of the stadium, baying for blood and gore in the name of justice.

Someone has to die in such morality plays, and it should always be the wicked. A role she was born into, as ordained by the gods and the baying crowds, among them the heroes of the community.

There is nothing to do, except nothing itself. She threw her sword aside, its blade sinking into the packed dirt. She cannot deny them their victory, but she can deny them the sweetness of their victory. She closed her eyes for what she assumed to be for the last time, hoping to find the elusive peace denied to her for all of her life.

Suddenly the crowd went dead silent, their deafening sounds replaced by the whispers of a breeze and the hushed tones of a thousand whispers. As she dared to open her eyes for a peak, a rather unexpected sight greeted her: The crumpled bodies of the champions, who were just a handful of steps before her.

And behind them, also moving towards her in an unhurried pace, are a trio of hooded figures, their worn dark red robes in contrast with their undefined outworldly presence.

Then the first of them took off her hood, and Ember saw a face only described in legends: The face who could only be worn by her supposed patron deity. A somewhat goofy but thin smile bisecting that massive scar, as if mocking the life and death struggles of mere mortals.

They were mocking the dark gods, and the dark gods replied.

"Hang on, is this for real?" The mysterious female remarked in a casual though puzzling tone, all the while the other two figures pulled out weird looking firearms from under their robes, the barrels aimed at the crowd around. "Well, I hate to dignify any of the local institutions around, but I guess this will do." She sighed as she took out a small but heavily laden pouch.

With a surprising amount of force she hurled the pouch at the part of the stands where the great lords were seated. The force of the impact promptly pulverized the pouch, releasing the gold coins within like shrapnel, causing a few casualties among the intended targets.

And with that the crowds broke into chaos, although the other hooded figures brandishing small and oddly looking handgonnes took potshots at some of the guards who were normally hidden. None appeared to have hit anything of importance though.

"Wah-" She stuttered as the Eternal Scar grabbed her by the arm, the small and dainty hand having a surprisingly firm grip. The multiple levels of disjoint giving her a sense of overall wrongness.

"Do you believe me?" Her patron deity asked cryptically in a serious tone, along with an expression to match on her face for the first time since she saw her.

With that, her hesitation evaporated, and she found herself following this mysterious group, through one of the entrances/exits, which had been blasted open some time before, outside the stadium, and towards a large metal... construct, bellowing air all over, along with more of those hooded figures, wielding more of those sleek looking weapons. During the confusion, her mask was flung off, but none of the others paid any mind.

Once they hopped onto the ramp of the construct she was led through a small metal hallway of sorts, and then through a hole and... into a luxurious room, at least, more luxurious than any she had ever seen, much less experienced.

"Make yourself comfortable." the Eternal Scar said to her as she finally let go of her arm. "I'll be back in a bit. Gotta do this debrief thing. You know, important stuff and all that." The words and the stumbling oddly unbefitting for a deity, but who is a mere mortal to judge?

And with that, she disappeared back into the hole, which closed shut with a slight hiss. A steel hatch of sorts. Ember gingerly set herself down on the nearest couch, relaxing just a bit even as the room and everything around began to gently shake. She noticed a nearby window, and that they're moving- faster than any horse, or even any bird of prey. Maybe a few feet above the grounds, though it's hard to gauge as the endless tall grass around where casually blown aside as they went.

Her mind was still in a cauldron of confusion and shock even as her body sunk into the nearest couch, the softness and warmth of the furniture felt... guilty. She knew she wasn't worthy of any of this, unless it's just a delusion to lure her into a moment of vulnerability before the trap is sprung. Or worse: that it's all real and true, which only means that the gods have made a mistake, and there's a world of pain once they find out.

She was snapped out of her fruitless thoughts as the hatch once again opened, and in came the Eternal Scar... as naked as she is.

"Well, shit. I haven't actually thought this far." Were the words that came out of her mouth as a look of genuine concern and worry spread across her face. "But first things first, here's a drink." She handed her a tall glass of some multicolored liquid, the condensation on the outside belied the chilled nature of the drink.

Ember took the glass gingerly, and cautiously sipped on the drink. The flavorfulness of the cocktail almost made her drop the glass.

"Drink up. It'll calm your nerves for what's to come." The Eternal Scar said, pausing before continuing. "To start. There's no deities running around."

"Oh." Ember breathed a sigh of relief, before realizing something's off. "Then who are you?" She asked the obvious. The now all too mortal scarred woman before her shrugged.

"It's kinda embarrassing, but some of those silly stories are kinda my fault." She admitted, actually blushing a bit. "Name's Alexis by the way."

"Ember. I- I'm called Ember." Ember said, taking another gulp of the drink to stiffen her nerves. Of course, deities aren't going to see themselves as supernatural. That would be silly.

"Well, nice to meet you. You do seem to take all this rather well." Alexis noted, with what appeared to be an expression of relief across her face.

"What- what-s going to happen to me?" Ember asked. Normally in such tales the hero is rewarded for their feats of heroism, and villains rewarded by death befitting their villainy, and she harbors little delusions on where she stood, regardless of how her path was forced.

"Well..." Alexis began awkwardly, as if she doesn't want to admit it to herself even. "It would be really nice if you would, you know, fight for us. Lead troops. That kind of thing. We're kinda really short of security forces, never mind real militaries."

"Um, it's that- I have a confession to make." Ember spoke hesitantly, seeing an opening, however nonexistent it might actually be in reality.

"Sure. Anything." Alexis replied immediately. "No really, anything. Don't be afraid to speak your mind." She repeated, after noticing Ember's reluctance. Pretty much to be expected with her backstory, if the initial analysis was correct.

"I- I don't want to fight anymore." She finally blurted out the words. "I never did. I didn't even know you were real before today." She stared at Alexis intensely, to gauge her reaction. Or to face her imminent death with a brave face. Same thing, but for someone who already made peace with imminent death, the mere spectacle of such had already lost its luster.

"Well, shit." Alexis spat out the words flatly. Not with anger, or even disappointment, as if she had merely encountered something unexpected. The moment passed quickly though. "Completely understandable. Not a problem." she declared with a shrug and a thin but goofy smile. "We're not in the business of conscription or any such forced labor." It was then Ember noticed that the scarred deity had snuggled up to her, almost casually, like a friend.

"Oh." Ember breathed a sigh of relief that she didn't know she had up to that point. Of course, the gods despise insincere devotion, that's to be expected. Yet that does not answer the question of her fate. "What will happen to me?" She asked.

"Um...Uh" Alexis stuttered for a moment as she scraped whatever stray thoughts she could muster, a finger idly scratching the back of her head. "But what do you want? What do you wish to see yourself in? Your deepest desires?" She asked, in a not so coy attempt to move the topic.

"I don't believe it's within your powers." Ember sighed. That's the problem with a patron deity of violence: the opposite is not their realm. "A life of peacefulness. Away from all this. This life of being a prop for violence."

"Ah, of course." Alexis nodded, much to Ember's surprise. "The dream of peace, the desire of all sensible people." She noticed the warrior's surprise. "I mean, in theory. Look, I know in reality there's peoples and entire societies trapped in cycles of violences and stuff but even they tend to pay lip service to the notion of peace being the end goal."

"Huh?" Ember looked at Alexis with a stare of confusion.

"Nevermind." Alexis waved off the concerns. "We'll find some peace and quiet for you. You can be sure of that."

It was at that time that the hatch opened again, and though it stepped in what appeared to be a beautiful maiden, wearing only a somewhat sinister smile and holding a weird looking metallic helmet with numerous mysterious protrusions and spikes.

"I have a solution to this impasse!" The newcomer declared triumphantly as she held out the helmet.

"Nobody asked!" Alexis snapped back with an annoyed scowl. "And that part of the discussion had already passed, get a clue!"

"That doesn't mean the problem has disappeared." The gynoid countered cheerfully, before turning her attention towards ember. "Could you please be a darling and put this on?" She asked as she held out the helmet to her.

"Uh- yes." Ember stuttered as she took the helmet and put it on top of her head. Much to her surprise it was a very soft and comfortable fit. Whoever this person- deity- uhh, entity is must also be a powerful one, at least on par with the Eternal Scar, given the way the two had interacted.

"Alright, let's do this." The gynoid declared as she clapped her hands, and suddenly everything went pitch black. Then white, and a gradual fade to gray...

"Everything is alright, everything will be alright. All you need to do is to relax" A voice, as if from everywhere and nowhere at the same time, told her. The words repeated a few times, softer and softer. Soon she did relax, as feelings of pleasure began to wash over her body.

Soon after she felt something touching the entrance of her pussy, for a moment she tensed up, fearing for the worst, but a voice within her mind reassured her that everything will be alright, to put her trust in whatever's going on. And so she relaxed, and felt that thing enter her. There was no pain, just a gentleness that she was utterly unaccustomed to.

And then, the world returned. As she opened her eyes she saw that she was still in the room, the other two being in the middle of a shouting match for some reason. She felt a wetness, and as she looked down she saw that she had caused quite a large wet spot on the couch.

"Oh- you're awake." Alexis said as she noticed Ember's state.

"What happened?" Ember asked gingerly, still feeling embarrassed at the mess she had made, even though no one else seemed to care, or even noticed.

"Oh, nothing really important." The gynoid said. "We just sampled some patterns of your mind and injected the usual nanites matrix." Alexis promptly smacked her on the back of her head, which did no noticeable effect on the gynoid.

"What she means is that she took copies of part of your soul and gave you eternal youth in return." Alexis explained, then promptly turned back to the gynoid. "And without her informed consent of all things! What the fuck's wrong with you?"

"She'd be dead of old age if you had to bring her up to speed to be able to give consent!" The gynoid snapped back. "Your galaxy's long dead, get over it!"

As she watched the unfolding drama Ember suddenly chuckled, at the nonsensical situation, at her present circumstances, at the sudden turn of events. Here they are: those who wield true power, yet acted like petty children, seemingly carefree in their insignificant worries. Must be a paradise.

The sudden chuckles seemed to have an effect, and the argument between the two was paused as they both turned towards Ember, who promptly sobered up, wondering if she had finally pushed too far...

"Hey, all's well that ends well right?" The gynoid said with a shrug and a smile.

"For now." Alexis conceded, though still looking a bit miffed. "Hopefully this never makes it to the history files. Or anything else on this day, or this entire operation for that matter."

It was then that Ember decided that she would remember this day for as long as she lived, the day that she was saved by the powers that be, and the carefree spirits that wield them...