Chapter 55: 054 Mission?

Donovan had retained his dark brown hair color and his pale white skin, but his eyes were no longer the chocolate brown she was familiar with. Now they were a impossible naval gray that seemed to shimmer in spite of their darker color. Beneath his eyes, there were a pair of curved black lines. They looked as if Don had placed the pads of his thumbs on his eyes and pointed them towards the ends of his jaws, then pressed his nails into the skin on his cheeks.

If Diana had tattooed the scars from such an act, she would end up with a pattern similar to that on his face.

However the there were a few more slight changes than that. His nose, which she swore had an ever so slight angle to the left, was now straightened out. He used to have a slight overbite, but there was no evidence of such a thing now. The slight pinch at the top of his left ear was gone as well.

He was by no means a pretty boy now, but his face was ever so slightly more attractive.

"You look-you look great!"

"Huh, wha? Thanks?" He was shocked out of his stupor by the sudden compliment.

"It looks like your face has been, uh, fixed up? By the procedure? Your eyes are a dark gray now, and you have these black lines under your eyes." She traced where the lines where with her own fingers.

Just as Diana noticed the changes in his face, he took not of the changes to hers.

"Wow."

She was beautiful before, and these changes did nothing to diminish it. Bright silver eyes and a pair of lines in the same spot on her face, although they curved down towards her cheeks. Her skin seemed to be far smoother, and her lips were a far more flattering shade of red. Don was currently of the mind that makeup would only ruin the spectacle.

"Those lines would be the primary location you sense split from. Technically, you should be able to sense it from anywhere on your body, but the Great Csillacra took your reliance on sight into mind and made it so that it would be similar to seeing with your eyes. I believe the Skwiven and Velar have something similar in their biology."

"You look beautiful." Donovan completely ignored the Arboreal Maiden's words, entranced by the beauty before him. "They're like the moon."

"Thank you?" Diana was blushing slightly. "Might I ask what changed?"

"Silver, eyes." Don was slowly swaying where he stood, "Help." and then he collapsed.

- - - - -

"Are you finally up?"

Donovan was met with the Arboreal Maiden's voice when his eyes opened up again. He was laying down on a bed of leaves, no longer on the Great Csillacra's heart. His shirt wasn't on him, if he even had it on in the first place, and he was drenched. He couldn't quite tell if it was water or sweat.

"Yeah. What happened? I remember a talk about Jesus, something about me being marrying politically, and then looking into Diana's eyes, but after that everything's muddy." He struggled to sit up, an effort that was met with resistance from the side. Diana was hugging his arm from the side, in a deep slumber.

"I wouldn't sit up, at least not yet. Long story short, you woke up to early and drank too much too fast. Would you like me to elaborate?" She was gently stroking the fur of Mercedes, who was sprawled out on a similar bed.

"Yeah." He wasn't exactly feeling well enough to give a polite response.

"Very well. To start with, you woke up far too early to give your body the proper amount of time to adjust itself, more specifically your brain. It was supposed to be able to adjust to the information stream about split it was being fed in an unconscious state so as to not strain it. The addition of that liquid didn't help matters. It works as both a depressant and a stimulant, just for different portions of the brain. The resulting strain was the cause of your collapse."

"So I overburdened myself without knowing did I?"

"I had expected difficulties when I learned that you woke too soon, but I apologize for not realizing that this was a possible outcome." Her head was slightly bowed.

"Don't worry about it. It's my fault somehow, I'm sure of it." Don didn't like to be on the receiving end of a heartfelt apology, he wasn't used to it. He could handle it if he was angered or if the person who was apologizing had done something terribly wrong and was owning up to it, but when there was nothing much at risk like there was now, well, it just didn't feel right.

After this refusal of her apology, both parties fell silent for some time. The Arboreal Maiden continued gently lathering attention onto the German Shepherd, while Donovan stared aimlessly at the ceiling, once again trying to make sense of the split he could see. Just as he was about to get a headache from reading the slowly flowing energy, the Arboreal Maiden spoke again.

"I put off saying this because I thought it would be demoralizing for the two of you, but I feel it is something that at least you need to know."

"Hm?" He made it known he was paying attention to her.

"It is likely that Diana will be unable to negotiate with outsiders in the way she has been trained to. This isn't an attack on her skills or anything like that, it is simply a fact that diplomacy is currently looked down upon. She might be able to secure trade deals and that sort of thing, but alliances or other such arrangements may prove impossible. As I understand it, negotiations were supposed to be a big part of your plans moving forward, correct?"

"That's right. Our initial plan involved securing time-limited alliances with those close to us as well as requesting something like immigrants or temporary workers to help growth in a terrestrial environment. That doesn't seem impossible does it? What would prevent her from securing those deals?"

"I had touched on this earlier, but most people belonging to the ruling class place far more importance on military might than they do diplomatic weight, to the point that a request for a truce with another party is seen as a sign of weakness and will often invite an attack. Wars over petty things like that are common enough to make me sick."

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"I take it there's more to it than that?"

"There is. It is quite unfortunate that I have to say this, but the fact remains that she is a woman. That isn't to say that women don't exist in positions of power here, but they are the exception. Most of them aren't even what you would consider traditionally female either, acting more like men in most cases. We still have not progressed past the point of using women as tools for political arrangements, something I know will be off the table for you two."

"A patriarchy?"

"Yes, but not one born out of a belief that men are superior. You see, rulers are expected to lead their armies into battle, and men are expected to be the ones fighting. If a female heir does not wish to join the front lines, and many of them don't, they will forgo their right to inheritance. Is she skilled in maneuvering troops?"

"She is not, at least not that I know of."

"Is she skilled in combat?"

"I could probably teach her to shoot a gun to a satisfactory degree, but I think the both of us would prefer it if she stayed out of combat."

"Is that so?" The Arboreal maiden sounded disappointed. "That will make things quite hard then."

Another round of silence. Diana was still sleeping soundly, leading Donovan to wonder just how long he had been out before.

"You are going to have to protect her if she goes through with her plans of negotiation, physically. I have heard stories of female messengers being abducted and married against their will because of their beauty. I think you can imagine what a lecherous warlord would do to her if she fell into his hands."

Donovan looked at the sleeping body beside him. She was back in the set of clothes she had come here with, the robe nowhere to be found. Even now, almost completely coherent, he struggled to describe just how attractive he found her to be. To him, she was like an angel he had no idea how to act around.

"Are you suggesting that I need to become a better swordsman?"

"Swordsman, pilot, commander, strategist, whatever. You need to become better at war. I understand you are one of the best in the fields of strategy and piloting, but you need to become the incarnation of war if you are to protect her absolutely. In fact, I think an ideal personal goal for you would be to attain the status of a god."

"Status of a what?"

"I'm telling you to become a god, Donovan. As far as I am aware, there is no known god of war, so you should be able to claim the title for yourself. I can assist you in that endeavor, though I must tell you it will be tough."

"Wait, you're losing me. Why do I need to become a god? And how do you know how to become one? The Scholar said it was an enigma."

"Why indeed. True, you should be able to protect Diana even without the title, but the Great Csillacra and I are united in our belief that you will eventually need it. If not for your own purposes, then for the mission the Great Csillacra designed you for. As for how I know the path to becoming a god, that secret lies in my own life.

I've lived a long time, my own longevity surpassed only by the Great Csillacra. I myself am a god, though I know not what I am the god of. I do not remember the path that led me here, nor when exactly I realized it, but I have seen enough. I have seen enough to recognize a pattern. I have witnessed the birth, creation, and progression of other gods, and I have witnessed their deaths. Their descents from grace are equally important in revealing the secret to their rise.

If I had lived this long and not recognized a pattern, I could only be called an idiot."

"Okay, but what is this mission you keep mentioning? Why us?"

"I will tell you when you have proven yourselves ready. It is a secret the Great Csillacra would very much prefer to be kept, and at the moment it is still unsure if you two are right for the job. You will need to build yourselves up first." She moved her hands away from the dog and towards an object on the table, just barely out of his view. "Perhaps you will be the last to be introduced into this universe."

"Alright, in that case what should I do first? From the looks of it, we owe the Great Csillacra our existence, so I doubt Diana would be too opposed to whatever it is we need to do." He recalled their relation to religion, and wondered if the story about the world being created in only seven days was not that much of an exaggeration. He decided that would be a question for later. In fact, Don was starting to think it might be a good idea to start reading the bible, just to see what he should be asking about it.

"To become a god? You should start by becoming better at hand to hand combat, be it with blades or fists. More than assisting in reaching that point, it will help you to conceal the existence of your relatively more lethal ranged weaponry as well as help you in the opening stages of your time in the academy. I will arrange to have a suitable set of weaponry made for you, you prefer a hand-and-a-half style of sword correct?"

"Yeah, I think that's what the Captain called it."

"Then I will coordinate with him. Aside from the sword, you will need a set of shorter blades and some armor. Light armor would probably fit your current level of strength better."

"Um, thank you for that. I don't really know what I'm going to need in this academy, least of all the equipment required for combat."

"I know, let us handle that. I will inform the Marshall and Captain that they should also look for a squire of sorts, someone who knows how to maintain that equipment as well as someone who can teach you how to fight. I am certain they will know someone who can handle it, if not they can find one. Don't worry about the payment either, we will cover it."

"Thanks again."

"It is only natural for us to do so after we failed you so spectacularly. For now, rest. You might not feel like it at the moment, but your body is still under a lot of strain."

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