No Need for a Core?

Kazue shuffled in place and played with her tails as she tried to sort her emotions. There was so much going on in her head that it was hard to think, so she took a chance and pulled all of her attention here, drawing on her core as well.

Which meant that she was trusting Mordecai to help keep an eye on everything in the dungeon. That was the first thought that cut through the clutter in her head, and that helped a lot. Whenever she got overwhelmed her head felt fuzzy, but her core had no such issues. So, she trusted him, that was good to know. And she saw a lot of sense in Moriko’s approach, but that wasn’t quite enough for her. She needed something more, and she was able to look at herself more clearly than she had been able to before she’d been a dungeon.

With a huff, she let go of her tails and smoothed down her dress. “Mordecai.” She began, trying to keep her voice steady. “I understand what happened, why you felt that way and why it drove you to do those... things. But, I, I don’t do well with people being really angry like that. Even feeling it second hand, it scared me. I know, I know, it’s stupid and kind of childish, and I’m not stupid or a child, and I need to overcome that because I now live in a dangerous world. But Mordecai, please, I don’t want to be scared of you. And I’m not truly scared, I know you wouldn’t ever actually hurt me, but still it scared me. So I want two things from you.”

She wasn’t looking directly at him before, but now she did, holding his gaze as Moriko had before. “I want you to promise to try and not let yourself be like that. I won’t ask you to just change, to just not feel something. No one can do that. But I want you to try. And, and even more,” She could feel her voice wavering and the tears started rolling slowly.

“Swear to me, swear to me and on everything, to never, ever, ever do anything like that again. Promise me to never put innocents in the line of fire. Even if something bad happens and you have to act, you don’t let innocents get hurt because of you, or me, or anyone.” Even the cooler, calmer thinking of her core wasn’t enough to keep her in check, and she was practically shouting at him. “Promise me! Please!”

She could only stand there, trembling, as Mordecai slid off the bed and to his knees before her. She watched as he took her hands and kissed them gently. “Kazue, sweet love. I swear and promise to you, and on Ozuran’s name, my honor, my life, my heart, and my very soul, I will seek to curb that most wrathful part of my soul, and I will never willingly or knowingly bring harm to an innocent again, no matter the rage in my heart.” She could feel it, that heartfelt sincerity and the weight of his words, the deep affection for her that made him ache knowing that he had hurt her just by making her accidentally feel the depths of his anger.

Kazue flung herself into his arms and sobbed, tangled there on the floor as Moriko joined them, her arms wrapping around them both. It had hurt so much to be even briefly afraid of him, and she didn’t know if she could deal with ever feeling that way again. They held together that way for long moments before they were interrupted by the clearing of a throat.

“Heard and witnessed. And I am going to hold you to that Mordecai.” Came a familiar voice, and the three of them broke apart to jump to their feet, then Kazue and Moriko started to drop back to their knees, Kazue's cheeks reddening with embarrassment at being caught in such an intimate moment. “Stop that, this isn’t ceremonial and you aren’t in trouble. Follow his example if you have to deal with me.” Ozuran continued, his voice cool but not filled with icy anger as it had been the last time they met him. Kazue halted and stood back upright almost stiffly as her initial embarrassment rolled into frustration and irritation. Why was the Lord of Shadows here again‽ Even most priests never spoke directly to a deific avatar, let alone twice in as many weeks!

“I am here to make something clear, though I think it’s best to start by explaining something few mortals know." As Ozuran began this short lecture, Kazue wondered how much of it was to placate her and Moriko. "Living dungeons were not part of my father’s original intentions for the universe, nor the willful intent of any of those he gathered to help him create this existence.” Ozuran smiled somewhat ruefully, which did not make her feel any better about whatever great secret was about to be revealed. “Note the word willful. There are some gods whose power acts without such intent. One particular such deity exists in many places, many worlds not only beyond this one but beyond the reach of even my father’s power completely. Li was invited in part to bring a helpful sort of chaos to this reality, to help offset the forces that would invariably try to influence things. After all, even for gods, absolute perfection is impossible, all one can ever strive for is to make things better.”

Ozuran paused to scan the three of them, and no one said anything. Kazue had heard some of this before, it was part of the creation story in her holy texts, but it felt different being told the story this way. Then the nine-tailed god continued. “It was Li’s influence that created the potential for Living Dungeons.” Okay, that part was completely new. “Father chose to not try to undo that potential and to work with it instead. But living dungeons could also pose greater risks without limitations. So it was me he turned to; he asked me to create Rules for the dungeons to keep them more beneficial than harmful while leaving them with the free will to be people, not mere constructs.” His eyes focused sharply on Mordecai now.

“These were the Rules you broke. Not arbitrary limitations that were byproducts of the world existing, nor mortal rules. No, you broke the fundamental rules I had forged so that you could even be allowed to exist.” Kazue was pretty certain she heard a hint of that anger again, and the room seemed a little less bright than it had been before. "Yes, you found a loophole, but you know damn well that I hold to the spirit as much as the letter of any law or contract. You were a favored priest for most of your existence Mordecai, you knew of your responsibilities to me. If you were not one of my followers I wouldn't be so angry. You violated my trust in you."

Ozuran took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Despite everything you are still one of my favored devotees, and honestly I do hope you do well. When and where I can, I will even help you in dealing with the Purity Idiots." He snorted at that. "Given that my father is a dragon and my mother is a kitsune, it should be pretty clear that we don't hold truck with that idea, but those fools -" He cut himself off. "Well, you'll learn in time. But you did a whole lot wrong in your wrath. Sealing you away was the least punishment that was still considered acceptable, and there were some who were calling for your immediate destruction. If you had resisted the sealing, I would have had to call upon Father's Enforcer myself to deal with you, rather than see this world wracked with even more war. Your restoration in such an unusual fashion," here he gestured toward Kazue, "and with such an increased capacity relative to your mutual growth, has others worried. There has been a push to restrain you once more. It's much better for both of us if I take care of it my way, you would very much not like some of the other proposals." Kazue was certain she didn't like the sound of that.

“Thankfully, you being my priest means that I have priority in choice of intercession, and you just gave me an opening to make this easy. As a priest of mine, you'd have already been more bound by that oath than others. This will be more extreme than you would have been expecting. So here’s what is going to happen. Mordecai, if you break that oath you will no longer be given as much leeway as mortals normally get regarding the foibles of existence without being able to see as far as we can. I am holding you to that oath with a soul binding. Should you ever, in my judgment, break it, I will act immediately. My intervention can start as soft as temporarily weakening you and can increase up to and including extracting your soul from your core. It will hurt them a lot, but they will survive and heal, and it will be your fault that they were hurt.” He raised a finger even though none of them were even thinking about interrupting him.

“But I am a fair god. You are only responsible for your actions, so long as you do your best to actually follow that oath. Only your choices can bring harm to you through it. And I have continued to acknowledge you as a priest because I do have hope for you. So a boon: I will make sure in this your will is always yours. No charm, enchantment, or illusion can ever make or trick you into breaking this oath. Mortal words and tricks are your own to deal with; you must still use wisdom to guide you. But no magic that affects your ability to choose freely can be used against you in this way, though it may still affect you in other ways. You are no more immune than you were before. And while you are given much less leeway, I will still allow for some limitations of circumstances. I will never demand the impossible but don't you dare do less than your absolute best." Sighing, he added, "By not stripping you of every power and boon related to me, I am also responsible for your conduct.” He tilted his head, fox ears swiveling thoughtfully. “And I have gifts to give as well. Not for you, but for the women caught up in the tangle of your life.” He grinned, his teeth briefly fox-sharp despite his human face. “Consider them wedding presents.”

Then his gaze slid over to Moriko. “Your path under my sister’s sway leads you to seek the skies, and I will not interfere with that. But I can open the path to the shadows as well, without taking away anything. Will you accept this gift and boon?” Kazue could feel the tension in Moriko and she could pick out the faint scent of her wife's nervous sweat, but Ozuran was known for not merely keeping his bargains but being fair about them. His judgment was one of the few ways a mortal could be freed from an unbalanced bargain with the fey, devil, or other twisted contracts.

After a tense moment, Moriko nodded. “I accept, Lord Ozuran.” He inclined his head in her direction, and Moriko gasped as if suddenly doused in ice water. Then that gaze turned to Kazue, and she saw kindness mixed with sternness in the eyes of her husband's god.

“You were a shrine maiden to my mother, and are beholden to her, but never were a priestess. To be frank, in your previous life, I think her wildness would have intimidated you far too much to ever be her priestess. But you are growing, and I can teach you the secrets of the shadows. Will you accept this boon and gift?”

Kazue was nervous, she could still feel Moriko recovering from his gift, but her own magic was more instinctual than about understanding its depths. Could she turn down this chance to become stronger, to be more useful? She needed to make sure Mordecai never had to worry about her again- her thoughts paused a second, and she caught the hint of a smile on Ozuran’s face, understood how in a way this was a gift to Mordecai as well. She might not fit the image of a trickster kitsune but she’d grown up around more than a few of them, and she couldn’t help but flash a grin at the god. “I accept, Lord Ozuran.”

She saw his approval, then she nearly blacked out as darkness rippled through her mind, gifting her with knowledge and forging new channels of power in her mind. By the time she recovered, Ozuran was gone, and Mordecai was left supporting both her and Moriko as they gathered themselves together. The knowledge she’d been granted gave her only the start of a path to shadow magic, but there was one new spell in her mind, and she could feel the way her training and growth would open up more paths for her. And with that knowledge came an awareness; she could have sought out these paths on her own, but as with all things, there was a balance. Pursuing them would have taken up the time she’d spent learning other aspects of her magical power. Now she had both options open.

“Are you okay?” Mordecai’s words shook her out of her introspection, and she smiled up at him before giving him a kiss.

“Yes, thank you.” Moriko was already standing on her own, and Kazue disentangled herself to straighten her clothes and begin cleaning her face, using minor magics to help remove the signs of tears from all three of them. “Alright, well, that was unexpected.” She tried not to giggle hysterically at that, her nerves were absolutely fried. “I’d say that you followed a peculiar god, but well, I know who I follow, so I am not in a position to talk.” Oh, what was she saying? Eh, she didn’t have the emotional reserves to worry about it right now.

“We can do the room changes after dinner.” Mordecai's response made her feel a little giddy; despite how happy she’d been at Moriko’s suggestion on how to change up the bedrooms, she’d not have gone through with it if Mordecai hadn’t made that promise for her. She didn’t know what she’d have done, but she’d needed that response. She was far less happy about what Ozuran had done, she didn't like the idea of a sword of judgment hanging over Mordecai, and that it was her fault. Ozuran had pretty much said he'd been looking for an opening, and she'd given it to him, the question was if he'd have found something even more dangerous if she hadn't asked for that oath? Something to be thought about later, her head was feeling full from all this mental whiplash.

“But Moriko’s parents are already being hosted and fed. We should go out and join them and talk about that visit later. Everyone else should be trailing in soon.” Kazue moved to put herself in the center and grasped both their hands, then paused a moment, glancing up at Mordecai. "And consider yourself forgiven for eating my book." She stuck out her tongue, then led the way to the main hall, trying to not giggle too much from nerves. After all this, she wasn't going to begrudge him the mistake of having 'consumed' her construct familiar when their soul-bond was forged. They had much bigger things to concern themselves with.