Chapter 17 – Loyalty
Cassius stood transfixed at the sight of two completely different panels flickering in front of him.
His eyes went back and forth between the Random Knowledge and his Fated Villain Quest. Yet without meaning to, his gaze kept stopping on the Random Knowledge first.
Not unexpected. He already had some idea about the Fated Quest and what Villain Points might mean.
But the Random Knowledge?
That was a new one entirely.
"An Echo of Desdemona?" He muttered, sitting cross-legged on his bed, hand resting thoughtfully on his chin, eyes narrowing in confusion. "Since when was there something like that in the Elysia Academy Testing Ground?"
He had never heard of it despite the number of times he had played the game. Not surprising, though.
To play the game he had no choice but to control the Main Protagonist, which meant most of his interactions had been with the main cast and almost no one else.
And given that Cassius died early in the game, no one had ever bothered to take a deeper interest in the Desdemona.
Besides to kill them, that is.
Still...
"What could an Echo possibly mean?" He asked aloud, speaking to Ananke, who was clearly watching him and fully aware of both notifications.
He had expected her to stay silent. But it seemed the Goddess knew when to stop and get serious.
This time, she spoke directly.
[I have no knowledge of this.]
Her voice echoed deep within his mind, carrying that same strange feeling from her Gate, like a whisper from someone quietly fishing out your secrets.
"Not even about what an Echo might mean?"
[An Echo can mean many things depending on the setting. I could potentially learn something about its nature in your specific case...]
"Oh, then—!"
[...but it would require me to spend Essence and power to do so.]
Cassius fell immediately silent, understanding exactly where she was going.
After the amount of Divine Essence she had poured into his Blessing, the Goddess genuinely needed time to recover.
"Don’t worry." He said. "I’ll make sure you recover it soon."
[Do you have any idea how?] she inquired. [I still haven’t explained to you how you could help me.]
"I’m not that clueless about gods, you know." Cassius chuckled. "There are many ways like acting in your name, doing things in line with your attributes, creating a Church to gather GeumGeum — the Divine Essence unique to gods."
A brief silence followed before Ananke answered, her voice carrying both intrigue and exasperation in equal measure.
[Should I stop being surprised by your knowledge of things you shouldn’t know?]
"That would honestly help you sleep better at night."
[How?] she pressed, her curiosity getting the better of her. [How do you know all of this? How did you even know of me; of my rituals? I am a Lone Goddess with no Faction. And yet you knew. You knew about my Gate, about the way gods operate. So how? How, Cassius?]
Ananke had finally hit her limit regarding the unknowns surrounding her own Blessed. It had been intriguing at first, something to chew on inside her Gate. But too much of anything became dangerous.
And right now, there were far too many unknowns regarding Cassius.
[You are not even pretending anymore. You don’t look surprised by the Fated Quest. You don’t look surprised by anything. So tell me, how?]
Cassius let a silence settle inside his mind, his thoughts churning in multiple directions.
It was true that at this rate the Goddess would stop trusting him, which meant she wouldn’t help him when it truly mattered.
’And with Vorn’s cursed eyes blanketing our family, I’ll be damned if I don’t need her help.’
That meant trust had to be established.
The moment that thought settled, something lit up in Cassius’s eyes, a sudden clarity in the midst of everything dense around him.
He swung his attention to the Fated Quest, reading it again. An idea sprouted, then took root deep inside his mind.
A risky one. An overwhelmingly risky one, even.
’But oh well. Bloody hell with it. Leap of faith, once again.’
He decided, let out a soft breath to release the tension from his body, and spoke.
"Do you want to know, Ananke?" He asked, swinging his head back until it rested on the top of the bed, his crimson eyes fixed on the purple light drifting through the room.
The Goddess immediately felt something in his voice, in his posture and most certainly in his gaze, which looked toward the heavens as though somehow able to find her there.
She took three heartbeats before spreading her will outward and answering her Blessed.
[I would not have asked if I didn’t want to know.]
"This requires a great sacrifice from me." He confessed. "One I am honestly not willing to make without a guarantee."
[What kind of guarantee?]
"You want to know how I know so many things. I can share that with you. But in exchange, my Goddess, I want one thing from you."
He didn’t wait for a response before following through.
"Your loyalty."
[What?] Ananke exclaimed, surprised, yet not entirely.
"I will open my mind to you. I will let you see inside of me...see who I am, why I am the way I am, and what is hidden inside my heart."
He paused briefly, then continued in a tighter voice.
"Ananke, I am letting you read my own story. The story I have been craving until now."
’In the hope that you will not ruin it.’
The air of the room tightened like a clenched fist. In some strange way, Cassius could clearly feel his Goddess’s gaze slithering through him, like careful hands inspecting something fragile.
He felt her apprehension. Yet underneath it, he also felt her deep, overwhelming curiosity at the prospect of seeing inside his mind.
The two feelings were battling within her, because she knew, as the [Lady Who Reads The End], that reading a story meant far more than it seemed.
It meant feeling what the characters felt. Crying when they cried. Laughing when they were happy. Cursing when they did something stupid.
It meant caring about them the same way one would care about a living, breathing person, despite them being nothing but a world of memories.
Knowing all of that, was it worth looking at Cassius’s memories? Was it worth giving her loyalty to a man like him, just to quench her curiosity?
The Goddess’s gaze hardened, and Cassius felt the descent of the verdict.
[I will see your fears.]
"Aye."
[I will know your weaknesses.]
"A price I am willing to pay for your loyalty."
[What if I betray you, Cassius Desdemona?]
"You know my family, Ananke." He whispered. "We don’t take such a thing lightly. But I will hope..."
His voice dropped.
"...I will hope that we never reach that point. And that my honest, respectful and devoted heart toward you will be enough to move yours."
He smiled softly. Then...
"What is your decision?"
[You already know.] She said. Then, immediately after..
[Open your heart and mind to me, Cassius. Let me see who you are. And...]
Cassius’s smile widened.
[...Let me offer you my loyalty in exchange.]
"By all means, Goddess."
—End of Chapter 17—