Chapter 028 - Knight

Anna only realized she was sitting on the altar again several minutes after she’d been left alone again. All she could do was stare off into space as the words sank in. She slowly pulled her helmet off and leaned forward, cupping her face in her hands. She tried and failed to process it all. Her gut told her who exactly she’d just met but every rational and wishful thought in her head screamed to reject it. It was not a reality she wanted to accept, ever, and certainly not how she wanted it to happen when the time came.

She slid her hands up and through her matted locks of hair, clenching her fists in it. Her chest rose and fell as the sensation of pressure all over her body finally felt like it was fading. She’d been so numb, suppressed, held down with a fingertip. It made her feel small and angry. She screamed and hopped off the altar, turning to kick it over. She stopped mid way through and caught her hand on the edge. 

“You will choose.”

The rage came back and her fist collided with the altar. A single tiny crack formed beneath her fist as pain worked its way up her arm. “FUCK!” she swore. “YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU-” she punched the altar again, “You think you can just show your face like that! WHO ARE YOU?” she demanded. “WHY SET ANY OF THIS UP?” she threw her arms out, “WHY?”

Silence was her answer.

She exhaled and caught her breath. Her blood was pumping so hard she could hear it in her ears. She stood in the empty temple and just experienced the cool air and quiet for a little while, letting her mind settle as it tried again and again to spin out of control. Solitude is a prison? Well you said it yourself asshole, you put me here. I’m alone because of you. She squeezed her eyes shut. You didn’t even let me talk. It’s not fair. I’ve been so lonely. Mom.

Anna was well past wallowing, though, she only let herself feel for a few minutes before taking another breath and eyeing the two tiny scrolls on the altar. 

Tch.

She snatched them up and the stained glass image of a figure in chains behind the altar cracked and shattered. On the other side were a set of stairs leading up and curving to the right. She squared her shoulders and marched, hopping the small ledge leading up into the stairwell and beginning her ascent. The steps kept going for a while which gave her time to think. Not exactly something she wanted but something she needed.

She opened her hand and looked down at the two little scrolls. So this person was pretty shit most of the time, lived a hard life, did a lot of good to make up for it, destroyed an evil empire or something and died. Something about the civilians in the empire ending up paying for it or something. She sighed. This is way too fuckin complicated. I obviously don’t have all the details, just the broad strokes. 

“Could you have the strength to sit in that seat and make that call over and over again?”

She clicked her tongue. “Are you saying you do?” she bit out. “Is this your day job? Winner winner, pops. You definitely picked something to set a great example.”

She scoffed. Of course I only come up with that after he’s gone. Typical, she grumbled and continued marching up the steps. Seriously, how long is this staircase? 

She distracted herself with more grumbling and muttering as the march dragged on and she was beginning to wonder if she’d ever reach the top when the path suddenly stopped. A single door made of iron waited for her. A heavy steel bar stretched across it and secured it in place. She examined the lock hanging from the right side and was relieved to see that at least it wasn’t going to stand in her way. She pulled it down once and it popped open, she tossed it aside and hefted the crossbar out of the way.

The door swung open and she was rooted to the spot.

The room beyond was dark, only a few hints of eerily off-red candlelight illuminating black walls splattered with blood. The floor beneath her feet was covered in hints of debris, dust, and scrapes from clawed creatures that had come and gone. Whispers filled the air, words in a language she didn’t know but gave her the same feeling as the sensory images that had been blasted into her head by the faceless ghost. She scowled and stepped inside, watching the door behind her carefully. To her surprise it didn’t slam shut.

I was half expecting some kind of trap, she thought irritably and turned back to the chamber. 

Something moved in the dark and she squinted, pulling open her inventory and getting ready to yank out her club if she had to. Her hand dropped when she saw what it was. A woman was chained in the middle of the room, shrouded in darkness made deeper by the highlights from the candles along the walls. Her arms were up and shackled, chains stretching to both sides of the room. Her ankles were bound as well as she kneeled on the ground, her head dipped forward.

????? - Human - Level 0

“...laid out before me. Shield of light, you who bring illumination to the wicked, mark my soul and see through it. Aham. I am the penitent, my crimes…”

Is she… praying?

The woman rose to her feet, her head still bowed, and then she fell down to her knees again and pressed her head as close to the ground as she could three times before repeating her prayer. Anna watched her for a while before finally clearing her throat, “How long have you been doing that?” she asked awkwardly.

The woman froze and looked up. Her mess of dark hair parting over one green eye. There’s red flecks in her iris, like little flames. Her eyes were wide, confused, before they softened a little and she looked back down. “Hell has found a new way to torment me. The Lord of Dis shows no mercy indeed.”

Anna looked around. “We’re in Hell?” she asked.

“Your act is crueler than usual,” the woman muttered.

Anna frowned, Great, she’s crazy. That’s fantastic, because I really wanted to do this before. She shook her head and crossed her arms, looking down at the woman as she started praying again. Anna tapped her foot a few times. “Hey. Shut up already, I need to talk to you.”

Anna winced at her own words. Real good job, Anna.

The woman looked up again and frowned a little this time. She squinted and tilted her head. “You do not look like a Warden.”

“I’m not,” Anna growled.

“Then what are you?”

“Human…” she trailed off and frowned a little herself, “...I think.”

The woman sat up this time and fixed her with a thoughtful expression. “The Wardens usually cut the act by this point. You are not a jailor or invector?”

Anna’s head throbbed. “I just said that,” she growled. “I don’t even know what an ‘invector’ is. Are you just impossible to talk to? Because I’ll just make my decision now and-”

“Decision?”

Anna swallowed and held up the two tiny scrolls. The woman stared at them for a while before, to Anna’s surprise, snorting and barking out a laugh. She shook her head and lowered it again to the ground. “Get out.”

“Excuse me? You know what these are?” Anna asked.

“I don’t know who you are but you do not have the bearing of someone worthy of making such a decision. There are billions of lives on my hands,” she snarled. “You have no right to condemn nor grant me clemency, child. Just leave and return those to wherever you stole them from.”

Anna had only an hour ago heard another person talk directly towards her for the first time in ages and it was to tell her how unworthy she was. Now this person was doing the same and she was getting really, really sick of it. She tilted her head up and frowned. “I’m not leaving without making a decision.”

“Then condemn me and leave me,” the woman growled. “My god has abandoned me. If I am granted clemency where would I go? I would not be welcome in his realm. Would you damn me to the listless realm instead?”

Anna scoffed, “Your god has abandoned you and you’re still praying?”

The woman shot up to her feet, “His opinion of me is irrelevant to the matter.”

“Then why were you asking for his forgiveness?” Anna shot back.

“You are a devil, aren’t you?” the woman snarled, her green-red eyes burning in the candlelight.

“Still human,” Anna said. “And you didn’t answer the question.”

“And what gives you the right-”

Anna blasted her presence out, pressing down and cranking the volume to max. “Ask me that again!” she demanded, “Do it! You want to know what gives me the right?” she stormed forward and held both scrolls up. “The fact that I’m still in here and I haven't used the condemn scroll yet. That’s what gives me the right. That I’m willing to hear your sorry ass out.”

She spat on the ground and stormed away. “Fucking shit!” she swore. “First Chloe, then Hale, then the fucking integration, then that bony son of a bitch, and then this dungeon which has been a goddamn death trap every step of the way. Now that asshole wants me to pick and choose-” she turned back around and got right back in the woman’s face. “You know what? Make this easy for me. Just say it one more time. Do it. Say you want me to condemn you and leave and I’ll do it.”

“...integration?” the woman asked, confused. “You are from a new world?”

Anna’s eyes went wide and she reached up to pull at her hair, “Do your ears even work?” she demanded.

The woman scowled back at her, “Forgive me for being in hell for the last four million days. I am a bit disoriented, girl.”

Anna squinted at her, “Days?”

The woman jerked her chin towards the door Anna had come through. Anna looked up and saw the same kind of numbering that had been on the traps in the Tainted Halls. It took a few moments to understand what each symbol meant but it became clear enough with context. “Four million, three hundred and eighty two thousand…” she murmured.

“You are not permitted to lose track of time in Hell,” the woman growled. “Nor are you afforded the bliss of madness. Sanity can be a prison too.”

“Damn,” Anna breathed.

“This is my punishment. I do not want your pity,” the woman grunted. “I do want you to do what you must and leave. I cannot imagine what dungeon would give you a trial in the lowest level of the plane of Hell but I suggest you finish it and be gone. You are far too weak to exist in this place.”

Anna frowned at the numbers for a while before letting out a sigh. “Oh, there’s no way I pity you, lady,” Anna groused. “I heard a lot about you before this.”

“Pardon?”

Anna rolled the scrolls between her fingers. “I think it was your appeal hearing or something.”

“I did not request an appeal,” the woman muttered.

“No shit, really?” Anna barked out a sharp laugh, “And here I thought you wanted to get out or something.” She rounded on her. “Obviously somebody else set this up.”

“Why?”

“I don’t fucking know-” she froze and her eyes went wide.

“Solitude is a prison. Prisoners cannot be rulers. Only you can free yourself from the cell I have put you in.”

“Oh.”

“Oh?”

Anna lowered her arm and walked away for a moment, collecting her thoughts. Inheritance. She ran her fingers through her hair and started to pace. This is what you want, isn’t it? I’m not stupid old man. Someone who wants to suffer that much clearly has served their time already, at least in my opinion. What is that, ten, twelve thousand years? Shit. She pinched the bridge of her nose. But if I try to buck the situation just to spite you then I’ll be alone when I get out of here, she sighed, I know you aren’t fucking wrong I just don’t want to admit it.

She kept pacing. This isn’t about pity or justice or anything like that. That’s what this entire dungeon has been about, isn’t it? 

She clenched her fists. Power, taking it and the right to use it.

She turned back to the woman and marched over, planting her feet. She glared at her and the woman glared back. “I don’t pity you.”

“Good,” the woman growled.

“Were you strong back then?” she asked.

“They had to excommunicate me to stop me,” the woman said.

“What’s your name?”

“Catherine Haust, ex-Archpaladin of Lumar. Fallen pontiff.”

She was the fucking POPE?

“What is your name?”

She clicked her jaw once before speaking, “Annastasia Flitt. Call me Anna.”

“Anna then.”

“I don’t like you.”

“I do not very well like you either.”

“You said you wouldn’t have a purpose if you had clemency?” Anna asked and held up one of the scrolls.

Catherine glanced at it, “Yes.”

Anna put the tiny scroll in her face, “Then work for me.”

The woman blinked and looked past it. “Pardon? Are you mad?”

“Obviously not,” Anna said and tilted her chin up. “I don’t like you, Personally I think it’d be better for everyone else if you stayed here. I’m not thinking about everyone else though, I’m thinking about me.” She squeezed the scroll as that man’s face popped in her head and her blood roared like a lion. “I’m going to be a ruler one day. I swear it. So you’re going to work for me as your penance, you’re going to do what I say. That’ll be a new hell for you, won’t it?”

“You cannot just retrieve a soul and bring it back to the mortal realm,” Catherine countered.

“I think that’s entirely the point of this part of this dungeon,” Anna said, “I’m being set up to recruit you, so that’s what I’m gonna do.”

“Playing to the whims of another? That does not sound like the path of a ruler.”

Anna’s nose wrinkled, “No, it doesn’t. But I’ll do it until it stops benefitting me and when the time comes I’m gonna punch that asshole in the face for all of this.”

“You are a coarse person,” Catherine muttered.

“And you’re not saying no.”

“I will need to restore my strength, if you are truly in an integration that may not take as much time as I fear, though,” Catherine said thoughtfully before canting her head to the right and looking Anna in the eyes. “You say you want to be a ruler?”

“I will be.”

“Then grant me clemency, my Liege.”