Power Overwhelming

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It was gruesome to watch the effects of prolonged exposure to the Song of Khali in action. Even Karna had to suppress a shudder as she was showing the memory of Greed’s death to Hekarti. Greed had already clawed his eyes out and was in the process of doing his very best to destroy his hearing. Not that it would help. While the Song was carried by voice, the effect didn’t require hearing, just that you were within the area the sound reached. Like with many music-based spells and abilities, sound was simply the method to create and carry the spell, not what actually caused the effect.

What made the Song of Khali such an effective ability was the fact that it was complex to understand and thus counter. It fell in between the more common spells of similar type, yet worked differently enough that the usual counters didn't do anything. It was perfectly logical to think that disabling your hearing would stop a song from affecting you, but that very logical thought was exactly the type of error that would cost you, especially when already under the influence of the song. As the song affected the target's mind directly, it was also logical, and equally wrong, to assume it was a mental attack. Any normal mental defenses would be useless.

In fact, the best way to counter the song was to attack the singer directly. Using the song required concentration, especially when you wanted to exclude your allies from being affected, and disrupting that concentration wasn’t too difficult. Unless you were a captive, or just isolated yourself with a spell that for some inexplicable reason allowed sounds to pass through. Of course, Greed had stolen the spell from her, and the spell had been developed with the song in mind, so…

“I do not understand why he is suffering so, but his suffering is clear. For that, I’m glad.” Hekarti’s words brought her out of her musings. “I get that it has something to do with the song your subordinate is singing, but I don’t know why. Sound like a rather standard ditty to me.”

“That is because I’m purposefully blocking the effect. We wouldn’t want either of us affected after all.” Karna explained. She was showing this memory to the goddess so that Hekarti would have her revenge. It would be good for others to know that she was willing to see justice done. It would also be good if the word spread about the consequences of messing with her.

"Certainly looks effective. I'm curious about what can cause a powerful god like Eldrazor to do that to himself, but I'm not sure I want the method to spread. I certainly don't want to risk being on the receiving end." The Goddess of Dark Magic realized when something might be too dangerous to allow in common use. “Still. Thank you.”

As the goddess left, Karna turned to Envy. She’d been standing nearby just in case. “I’m curious. How did you know Greed had rigged the planet to explode?”

The fellow sin chuckled. “He might not realize it, but that’s not the first time he’s tried to pull that trick with me. I wasn’t personally the target last time, which is probably why he doesn’t remember, so I was able to shift through the debris. He’s not as imaginative as he seems to think he is. And why should he change a tactic that has been successful so far.”

“Well, he’ll remember this time, that’s for sure. Come to think of it, while he hasn’t used that exact strategy with me, it does fit his modus operandi. He often tries to hide behind his pre-prepared defenses, while letting either other people or his treasures finish his opponent." Karna nodded in realization. "It's generally not a bad tactic considering his specialty. A little one-dimensional though.”

“Quite.” Envy was clearly not impressed by his tactics. “Anyway, once I knew what to look for, the only question was where. It took a bit of time, but that’s why I didn’t assault his base immediately. And Kensei was a perfect counter to anything he might try to pull, which is why I wanted her along.”

They could both sense Hope approaching the room they had used to view the memory, so they turned to the door just as she entered. “Your new honor guard is here.” She said without preamble.

“And is Pride among them?” Karna asked in confirmation. She would prefer him to be that stupid, as it would make things simpler. He would’ve been isolated in that case.

“No such luck I’m afraid. I expect he will not approach you until the moment he strikes.” Hope shook her head. They’d all secretly wished Pride would be stupid enough to put his head in a noose like this, but they hadn’t really expected it. Everything would’ve been so much simpler if your enemies were stupid, but the stupidity of your enemies was not something you should rely on. Prepare for, certainly, but not rely on.

“Well then. In that case, I will have to go meet my new bodyguards and ensure their loyalty.” Karna stated primly, before heading for the door.

The white-clad imperial guards had not been allowed too far into the building, so Karna's group found them in the foyer, surrounded by the protectors assigned to her by the titans. As the armor of the guard was designed to hide any personal details, it was hard to tell much about the three. Hard, but not impossible. Karna's senses told her that two of them were human men, while one was a woman of mixed heritage. She likely had some elven blood along with that of some kind of Saurian and human. All three were warriors at rank 13.

The trio stood stoically in place, clearly not bothered by the armed members of the House Titannica around them. They were also keeping quiet despite many questions that had obviously been posed. Karna could tell at a glance that the trio had announced the reason for their arrival, and nothing else. "At ease," Karna commanded as she glided into the room, her words immediately cutting through the slight tension.

The three guards all approached her, stopping at a safe distance before kneeling on one knee. The one to speak was the female member of the trio, standing between the two men. “Future Empress Ynnead. Your guard reporting for duty. I believe you were informed that we would be arriving.”

“Yes, and I know it is traditional for the future empress to be protected by the guard. However, I’m certain we both know it’s not quite simple this time. Don’t we?” Karna took a seat at the conveniently placed throne-like chair that someone had been quick-thinking enough to place in the room just for this purpose.

“I don’t think I quite follow.” The leading guard stated, though her tone wasn’t quite able to hide the fact that her words were not completely honest.

“Come now. There’s no need to dance around the subject. There is one among the guard, and in a rather high position at that, who would like to see me dead. So, as you can imagine, leaving my protection in the hands of the guard is going to be challenging.” Karna’s voice had taken a bit of a condescending tone.

“The imperial guard is bound by unbreakable oaths.” The guard stated simply.

“To the Heavenly Emperor. Which I am not. I will be in the near future, but I am not the empress now. And we all know that once you become powerful enough, such oaths, taken at childhood no less, are no longer able to hold you." Karna countered. She could sense that the female guard in front of her was affronted by the very idea of what she was suggesting. So was one of the male guards. The third, however…

“Can I ask for some privacy?” The female guard requested after a moment of stewing.

Karna waved her hand and erected a magical barrier that blocked all sounds and made reading lips impossible. “You may speak freely.” She wasn’t alone with the trio, as Envy, Hope, and Valor were also inside the barrier.

"I know of what, and of whom you speak. The guard have served countless emperors for countless generations. It is why we exist. We are raised, conditioned even, for loyalty. So even the mere suggestion of going against our core tenets is offensive to the maximum. Yet…your words are not entirely misplaced. The person you speak of has…convinced some that the guard needs to change. Those who have power and disagree find themselves sent to places that keep them out of the way. Such as guarding the future empress.” The message between her words was not difficult to read.

“Well then. You’ll understand why I can’t just take at face value that you will truly protect me and seek me no harm. You will be with me around the clock, are you not? Even when I sleep, or am otherwise vulnerable. I’m going to need something else to make sure you will not take advantage.” Karna leaned forward.

“You need additional oaths?” One of the male guards asked. His tone was a little hesitant. The swearing of additional oaths seemed like something he wasn’t, understandably, comfortable with.

"No. Since the original issue stems from being able to either ignore or twist the oaths, additional ones will be of no use. No, we'll have to use something a little more direct. I want you to understand that I am also compromising here. I could insist on mental or magical bindings that would turn you into little more than slaves. However, I believe that such enforced loyalty is wrong. I also think that tampering with another person's mind or personality is one of the unforgivable sins." Her words had both caused the guards to tense up in worry and to relax a little in moments.

She continued. “However, I am acquainted with two rank 14 psions. They will not read your mind, do not worry. They will however scan you for hidden programming. Then you will wear one of these.” She pulled out small bracelets with a clear gem set in them.

“What will they do?” The female guard asked.

"The bracelets are attuned to me and will monitor the wearer. Specifically, their emotions. The gem will change color based on those emotions, and if the item discovers hostility or other such dangerous emotions towards me, I will be notified immediately." She explained. "Naturally you'll be expected to wear them at all times. If taken off, I will also be notified immediately."

“We have been trained to suppress emotions.” The female guard taking the lead admitted.

“Oh, I know. Or I should say, I would be very disappointed if you weren’t. However, I’m very good at what I do. Just because an emotion is suppressed, that doesn’t mean it’s not there. I’m very well aware that even normally trained assassins are trained not to feel any hostility in the moment of the strike to not alarm their target, not to mention someone with your level of training. These will work even on psychopaths that don’t have real emotions, as they hook on to something more profound. Believe me, these will be more than enough.” She twirled the little bracelets around in her hand. She didn’t tell the guards that the bracelets worked on the soul and their karma as well as the usual emotions. Even if they were incapable of feeling normal emotions, their souls would still show traces of it.

“I suppose that’s acceptable under the circumstances. I do hope this won’t be necessary if the man you’re speaking of will no longer be in the picture.” The female guard took the bracelet that Envy passed on to her, and the two other guards followed her lead. As she slipped the bracelet on, the other two couldn’t really avoid doing the same. The female guard’s bracelet had the gem gain a slight bright-blue tinge, while one of the male guards got a slightly reddish-pink color. Both were very faint through. The third guard’s stone turned ugly black and brown color.

“And we have a winner.” Karna stated with a voice tinted with an almost palpable ‘I told you so’-tone.

Envy and Valor appeared right next to the guard with their weapons drawn, though not yet pointed at the man. The man didn’t seem too surprised. “This is more accurate than I assumed.” He instead stated calmly. The other guards hastily rose and took a couple of steps away from the man. “I take it that I’m to be killed then?”

"Oh goodness no!" Karna said in a tone that was obviously faking being affronted. "No, if I were to go around and kill everyone who wanted me harm, there would be very little left of the Divine Planes by the time I was done. That's the problem when your solution to problems is only violence. It tends to beget more violence. In addition, these little bracelets are fantastic when it comes to determining someone's emotions, but they don't say anything about the reason behind those emotions. You could be allied with Pride for all I know, or you could just want me dead for entirely different reasons. Ultimately, it doesn't matter. I can't have a bodyguard that wants me dead. We won't kill you though. We'll simply send you back and have the guard send us a replacement. They’re obviously going to be tested as well.”

The colors on the gems were almost irrelevant. They showed the strongest emotions the wearers held towards her, but she personally got a lot more detailed breakdown directly sent to her from the bracelets. For instance, the other two guards had felt both disappointment at their fellow guard, shame that one of their own had been tainted in such a way, as well as relief when they found out that the fellow guard would be spared. None of that was reflected in the gems.

As the hostile guard was escorted out, the other two turned towards Karna again. “I wonder, what do these colors represent?” The female guard asked.

Karna smiled secretively in response. “I’ll let you figure that one out yourselves. It wouldn’t be fun if I just gave you the answers. Though I can give you a hint that brighter and lighter colors are positive emotions, while the depth of the shade tells of the strength of the emotion." Both of their gems were showing a relatively light color, while the amount of color wasn't very much, signaling that the force of the emotion wasn't very powerful.

“I think I can guess what mine means.” The male guard grunted.

Karna decided not to comment. “Now, as I said, you will be checked for hidden programming, but assuming that test goes well, I’ll be welcoming you into my staff. You will coordinate with Envy here, as she’s been working as my bodyguard so far. You can figure out a rotation or something.”

“Beg your pardon, but we don’t need a rotation really.” The female guard mentioned. “Each member of the Imperial Guard has been conditioned since birth. We can stand guard unmoving and unnoticed for hundreds of years without needing relief.”

Envy scoffed. “Definitely not unnoticed.”

The female guard was about to disagree, but Karna cut her off. “Envy here is an expert on the subject. You can have a little competition later instead of arguing. A little competition might actually be great to build some respect.”

“On the positive side, if they’re competent enough, I might be able to run more missions for you.” Envy pointed out.

“There is that. There’s certainly enough work for you.” Karna agreed.

“On that note. Until you do take the throne, we are your protectors, not your personal assassins. You will gain full power to command us once you ascend to the throne, but until then…” The male guard mentioned, leaving the rest unsaid.

‘Speaking of Ascending, I should probably try to get that done while these two are being checked by Selendil. Just because they aren’t hostile to me, that doesn’t mean they can’t be spies.’ Karna thought to herself. She would have to time things right.