CH 188: The Man vs The Myth

All of the cheerfulness in the room evaporated. Claire could feel the tension building within the room. She thought the questions would stop adding up, but the new information only left them with far more. The fact that the Tyrant could have been considered a saint puts everything they were taught into question. The depiction of a blood thirsty killer who genocided an entire species of beings clashed too hard with the idea of a saint.

Everyone in the room was deep in thought. The new information weighed heavily upon them. Claire came to Toni’s room hoping to relax and cuddle as they both recovered from their fatigue, yet here they were trying to process more information thrown at them.

“C-can we see the depictions of Firewater and Silkie?” Ana broke the silence.

“Sure, let me go grab the pictures,” Lily said as she tried to get up.

“Wait,” Claire whispered. She tightened her grip on Lily, “Did you see any imagery with Ravens? Or the other animals?”

Lily’s eyes widened before she tried to recall. She shook her head after a moment. “I don’t think I saw anything.”

“Fuck,” Claire muttered.

“Sorry,” Lily mumbled. “I was too caught up in seeing Firewater and Silkie depicted as humans to focus on those…” “It’s okay,” Claire loosened her grip on Lily’s waist. Lily swiftly exited the room to retrieve the books she had returned with.

“What would be the point in learning the Raven God’s name?” Ursa asked. “They’re most likely dead.”

“Names hold power,” Elsie replied. She pursed her lips as she thought of a way to explain it properly. “When Claire first channeled the Goddess’s power, neither Ana nor Lily could heal her without knowing what was ailing her. It was only after learning the name of her fatigue that they could heal it.”

“So?” Ursa asked, tilting her head.

“The two are hidden from the world and Gods by an ancient spell, likely cast by one of the three Gods depicted on their marks.” Elsie continued. She held back a smile as she explained to Ursa. “They are probably prohibited from telling us anything because of said magic.”

“If we wanted to learn more about their times as humans, then we’d need to get around the spell,” Ana continued for Else. The younger twin was deep in thought, looking down. “If they are connected to Claire’s Goddess, we could find out Her name, too.”

“That is if She is connected to them,” Elsie chuckled.

“Oh, okay,” Ursa mumbled to herself. She tried to understand what the twins were talking about, but magic generally went over her head.

Silence fell over the room again. They were left with more questions than answers once again. Claire let out a deep sigh, her fatigue finally fading from her body. She had hoped to join Hannah and Toni in their bed this morning after a quick conversation, but that seems far less likely now.

Claire stood up and climbed into bed with Toni. The man’s eyes widened, and he tried to speak, but Claire cut him off with her hand.

“Shh,” Claire shushed him. She snuggled closely to the dancer’s body before settling. “Going to savor this before Lily returns.”

Hannah giggled from behind Toni. She reached out to Claire and pulled her, and by extension, Toni, closer. “Smart.”

“Mhmm,” Claire mumbled. She felt the body heat radiating off of Toni and let it soothe her racing emotions. “Let me have a bit of peace before we continue this conversation.”

She heard Elsie’s laugh behind her, but she didn’t care. She came here for more cuddling. Claire took deep breaths as she waited for Lily’s return. She felt at peace while holding her lover. If the circumstances were different, she’d let herself fall asleep. But Claire knew she couldn’t.

She’d need to confirm what Lily found.

The questions began to storm within her mind. They raced around her mind one after another. Would they find the third God within those books? What does it mean that those two were companions to the Tyrant? How could He, of all people, meet the requirements of a Saint?

She shook the thoughts away and clung tighter to Toni. She could wait a few more minutes before asking those questions. She nuzzled her forehead against Toni’s chest, causing him to squirm. His reaction cleared Claire’s mind of all her negative thoughts.

“Ah,” Toni moaned. His chest was far too sensitive now that even Claire’s brushing against it made him squirm. He struggled against the two women’s grip, but couldn’t move. He gave up and let Claire cuddle him until Lily returned.

Toni let out a small sigh before beginning to hum. He hummed a lullaby into Claire’s ear, hoping to calm his lover. His voice had an immediate effect on Claire as she relaxed even more. She was very nearly asleep when Lily rushed back into Toni’s room.

The alchemist was out of breath and holding several books. She handed them to the twins before she bent over to catch her breath. Elsie and Ana quickly skimmed through the books she brought for the information she mentioned. Elsie was quick to find the two goblins in their human form.

“Claire!” Elsie yelled. She stood beside Toni’s bed and yanked the blanket off Claire. “Look, here they are.”

Claire groaned upon being pulled away from Toni’s warm embrace. She exhaled, her breath caused goosebumps to jut across Toni’s chest. She turned, ignoring the man’s soft moan, to focus on the book Elsie held.

There they were.

Firewater looked the same, just with tan skin instead of green. He looked a lot closer to the depictions of the Tyrant in human form. Beside him was obviously Silkie. She had different colored eyes and hair, but the face was the same. Her black hair was now blond, and her yellow eyes were now blue.

Between the two was another man.

One shorter than Firewater and much thinner. He had round glasses and a thin frame. He wouldn’t have stood out from the men of the current era. The picture was a recreation of a heroic depiction of all three, seemingly for a recruitment advertisement. The paragraph beside the picture explained as such and that the three’s names were lost to time.

Claire nearly choked after finishing the paragraph. The man in the middle, the one who looked like he could barely lift the staff in his hand, was The Tyrant. Claire’s head spun, and her vision doubled.

“What the fuck?” She said a bit too loudly. Her breath quickened as she reread the paragraph to make sure she didn’t read that wrong. “This man? This is Him?”

“Yes,” Lily said while catching her breath. “It’s hard to believe, but there are several other recreations within that book. All of them depict him the same way until the later years of the war.”

“Huh?” Ursa snatched the book from Elsie’s hands. She stared at the picture in disbelief. “This man is the ultimate warrior? Rava, you have to be kidding me. This is the man we are judged against?!”

Lily stood up after catching her breath. She patted Ursa on the back and whispered into her ear. “Only in the beginning. He was not a warrior until the war with the demons… if you look at the pictures towards the back of the book.”

Lily pulled the book away from Ursa. The northerner’s expression was still blank as she stared off into space. “Here, you can see the more familiar look…”

She turned the book over and displayed the man they were far more used to. One that rivaled Firewater in terms of muscle. A man who lost the smile from the original depiction. He stood solemnly overlooking a battle. He was much more built, but still retained a slender body.

Still not the giant of a man she’d seen before.

“Um, it says in this book,” Ana spoke up. She held up the second book that Lily brought, one titled “Saints Throughout the Era.” The younger twin took a deep breath before speaking, “He was a doctor. One who specialized in monsters. The scholars of this book speculate that he would have been Sainted had he continued on this path. H-he had calmed and tamed almost every type of monster known at that time, from Dragons to Giants…”

“Then what changed?” Toni asked sheepishly.

“Demons,” Lily added. “They invaded Riefleheim and this plane of existence. They were beings from another world or another realm that came here to conquer. Yet, He almost achieved peace with them.”

“I thought Dem-” Claire tried to say. Lily shook her head, and Claire stopped.

“No, that was a lie.” Lily sighed. “They were not native to our land, nor were they like us. That fact was heavily used in the propaganda of the Tyrant’s time for recruiting…” “So, almost everything we know from that time is wrong?” Elsie asked aloud. She stared down as she tried to wrap her mind around everything.

Lily nodded. “Fyre is very against lying and inaccuracies. They don’t advertise they have this knowledge, but they also don’t make it hard to find.”

“So is anything that we learn true?” Claire asked.

“Yes,” Lily said. She flipped the book to another depiction. “He was able to eradicate the demons and nearly the entire Pantheon.”