Cooled Passions Chapter 62: Growing Pains

Chapter 62: Growing Pains

“Thou were right to bring this to me, Consort mine.” Ranni spoke, joining me in the visualization of my soul once again, “I am aware of the reason behind this disturbance.”

“That’s good.” I sighed, “Because I have no idea what caused this.”

Below our projected forms, lay the white orb of my soul. Like before, it was caged behind the bars of the Seal, but something was demonstrably different about the whole edifice. The ball swelled, straining against the bars that seemingly creaked and groaned before they also grew, relieving the pressure.

After my difficulty controlling myself with the sisters, I had tracked down my goddess for a supervised visit to my soul, as a hunch led me to believe that I would find the cause there. Find the cause I most certainly did.

“Tis lamentable. Mine apologies, Consort, I should have foreseen this possibility.” Ranni spoke, sending her earnestness through to me from our literal soul-deep connection, “I share a not insignificant portion of the blame.”

“You do?” I questioned, my attention drawn from the sun of power below me, “How so?”

“I connected thy Sword to thine soul. It will grow in power as thou do this way, but the reverse also holds true.” She started to explain, “The power of a God is not something that can easily be explained, nor understood. Tis not something that can just disappear. When I devoured the foolish God that attacked you, I did so through the Sword.”

I put it together rather quickly, “I see. When you absorbed Loki, the majority of his power went into the sword and is now trickling through to me. The seal seemed to have been designed to grow with the natural growth of my Soul, so this accelerated growth is outpacing its ability to keep up.”

“Exactly.” The Dark Moon agreed, “I can restrict the transfer, but it will still continue, albeit as a mere trickle. Thy soul will eventually grow beyond the confines of the seal. Should thou slay any further Gods or divine beings, it shall grow even faster.”

“And what happens when my growth outpaces the seals ability to contain it?” I took in the information, carefully controlling myself to look at the situation practically.

“I do not know.” Came the shocking reply, my reaction clear to the Goddess, “Apologies. Without knowing the purpose or the design of the seal, the effects of breaking it forcibly is impossible to determine. As there has been no pain yet, despite the strain, it is unlikely to be dangerous…”

“But it’s impossible to rule out that it could be.” I finished, getting a feeling of affirmation from Ranni, “Brilliant. This seal was already a thorn in my side and now it has turned into a ticking time bomb.”

“Does it change much, Consort?” I was incredulous at those words, but her continuation made my indignation disappear, “Thou hat already made plans to determine the source of the seal and its effects. All this means is that it is a higher priority. There is no doubt whatsoever, Damocles. You will overcome this challenge and emerge triumphant.”

I felt like grinning, her certainty in me something that was deeply reassuring, “With your help, of course?”

“Of course. Just ask, and I shall aid you, however and wherever thou may require.” She stated as if it was an immutable fact, “With my knowledge of this issue and slowing of the transfer has brought us time enough for a solution to be found. Examining how the seal interacts with thy growing essence could even allow us to glean insight that as of yet have remained stubbornly hidden.”

“How long do we have?” I questioned, already throwing myself into studying the seal in more detail, closely watching the point it interacted with the representation of myself.

“I would estimate until the end of the year, Consort. But that time frame is unlikely to be perfectly accurate.” Came the reply, the Goddess joining me in my study.

“So a little less than six months.” I sighed, “Less, if I use the sword to kill anyone of notable strength.”

“Thou fought the greatest heroes of the Age and bested them all. Thou hath slain Gods, multiple now. Thou hath garnered the attention of powers that even I struggle to comprehend.” Her voice was soft, but firm, “Thou will not fall to this.”

I felt a deep amusement and warmth at her words, her final statement sounding almost as if she was willing the world to bend to meet its contents.

Still, she did mention something that somewhat reassured me.

Catharsis was interested in me and my goals here. I still did not know what his reasoning was, what purpose he chose me specifically for, but I was sure of one thing.

Me dying to a seal reacting badly? That would be a rather boring end to the story. Something he likely wouldn’t allow, if my reading of his personality was correct.

Still, that was only a vain hope and completely out of my hands. I had the control of this situation, whether or not it deteriorated to that point was solely my prerogative. It would not get that far.

I still had my Pride, after all.

---XXX---

Eisen Thorne was not a particularly strong Devil, neither a high ranking one. He had been resurrected to be the toy of a higher ranked Noble Lady, something he had no say over nor ability to deny, not with the power disparity between them. Truthfully, there were worse fates for reincarnated Devils, at least his ‘Mistress’ was not fond of needless cruelty or torture.

Still there was a sort of casual sadism that she excelled at. After keeping him as her live in entertainment for a few decades, she had grown bored of him. Retrieving her pawn piece from him, she had cut him loose, with nary a scrap to his name nor a backwards glance. It bothered him to this day, that he had no clue whether she was aware of the misery her actions had caused or not. Or whether she even cared.

It was a kind of simple-minded, absent callousness that was incredibly difficult to comprehend, never mind understand when its owner’s gaze fell upon you. Despite being forced to serve a cruel and demanding Mistress against his will, it was almost worse when he had been ‘Freed’.

Reincarnated Devils were not at all liked by the systems of the Underworld. They were tolerated at best, when they were members of a Noble’s peerage. If they were particularly powerful, they could earn recognition, but even then, they would be treated as full Devils, not Reincarnated. The reasoning was something he understood, once he comprehended the fertility rates the Race was plagued with.

Power was something that they had to have marry into their Race, unless they wanted to die out even faster. With the ability to amass quantity either impossible through births, or societally fraught with the Evil Pieces, they were almost forced into relying on sheer quality. Still, understanding all this didn’t really help him when he was forced to fend for himself on the streets of Lillith.

There was one advantage he had, his mind. Without the power or training to back it up, it was not enough to develop himself into being strong enough to gain attention and favour. His magical power was pitiful and he had no Sacred Gear. All in all, despite the innate advantages of his new race, there was not much that separated him from the Human he had been.

Thankfully, he had been an accountant in his Human life, giving him the skills he could use to scrape out a living for himself. Or it would, had he not been a Clanless Reincarnated. Thanks to the labour laws, finding a legitimate job with that background was difficult, if not all but impossible. That just left the illegitimate ones.

Such as bookkeeping for the Black Market. It was dangerous and stressful, but it gave him enough to at least not starve. Additionally, so long as he did good work, the gangs that controlled the slum he lived in were instructed to leave him alone.

Of course, criminals were not the best people to be working for, especially if they knew for a fact you were desperate and had no other options. He was paid peanuts for the amount of work he did, not nearly enough for any significant amount of savings.

Eisen had considered the immortality that Devils were gifted with a curse rather than a blessing at that point, not even knowing why he insisted on carrying on like he had. Stubbornness, maybe?

Whatever it was that allowed him to persevere, it paid off. Something happened, something that shattered the grey, stultified malaise that he had been stuck in.

Lord Damocles Sagan.

His return and subsequent introduction to the Devil Senate had caused waves. The guy was a complete selfish bastard, Eisen could tell, but he was a smart selfish bastard. Not even a year back, the little Lord had realised that the underworld was sitting on a painfully underutilized resource and he had wasted no time at all to gather it all for himself.

The Reincarnated Labour Revision Act had been brought up in the senate a few times before, but it had always been delayed and denied thanks to the gridlock of the Senate. With the Sagan vote, that gridlock had broken on the issue, allowing the Act to pass into law, loosening the restrictions on employing Clanless Reincarnated Devils. There were still several hostile provisions within it of course, such as the inability to pay such employees even half of what you paid a Pure Devil or a Clan Reincarnated.

That particular amendment had actually been what caused Eisen to pay attention. It had been suggested by the very reason the Act had passed after all, Lord Sagan himself. Most believed that it was to distance himself further from the Reformist Faction, or due to his own personal beliefs, but Eisen had noticed something odd from the wording of the amendment.

A loophole.

It wasn’t based on average salary, or on market rates. The restriction on paying Clanless Reincarnated was only in effect if you actually employed Pure Devils or Clan Reincarnated in similar positions. If you had an entire workforce, or a section of it, entirely composed of Clanless, you could pay them whatever wage you wanted and still be perfectly compliant.

The wording was careful, long, winding and boring. There was no way that it was an accident. Eisen didn’t trust it. What could the Sagan Lord have to gain by doing this? What was the motive?

Such cynicism had been beaten into him at this point, having long since learned to not trust anything down here. Which is why when Sagan Trading Company recruiters first came through the slum, he didn’t sign up. He was surprised the second time, when instead of the previous group, instead it was several of the first batch that came back to recruit.

In a fit of madness, perhaps out of desperation or nihilism, he had signed up the third time, when even more familiar faces showed themselves looking healthier and well fed than he could remember them. Taken to a STC training centre, he had been given several tests as part of the interview process, before being given a rather surprising offer.

Head of the Gnosis Distribution Centre Logistics Division. He had double and triple checked that they got his name correct, before asking several questions about his new position. It was then, as the duties were explained to him, he realised just how devious the new Sagan Lord truly was.

Security would be provided for him, so his lack of power wasn’t an issue. His job was to keep the paperwork in order, make sure that the facility was operating correctly and reporting any discrepancies to the STC in monthly reports. He wasn’t required to confront any thieves, merely note down what had gone missing and when. It was this particular task, aided by his accounting background that had earned him the position.

As well as his intelligence scores.

It was then Eisen understood the long term plan that Lord Sagan had in mind. Taking the Clanless, sifting through them for talent and ensuring that they were put to productive work. The true reasoning for the loophole in the law was that the STC hadn’t been fully established by the time it passed through into law, meaning that their workforce was almost entirely only top level positions. Anyone that would actually be working in the distribution centres had to be recruited after Law had passed.

Meaning that he was able to recruit exclusively Clanless, while his rivals were forced to offer lower wages and less benefits because of the already established workforces they utilized. An entire new labour pool had opened up, and only the Sagan were able to offer the incentives necessary to tap it effectively. It was ruthless, brilliant and terrifying.

Eisen had started work gratefully, the promised pay and benefits arriving exactly as promised. With a full belly and a soft bed, in a Sagan built apartment that he actually owned, Eisen had realised the last part of the Sagan’s plan. Loyalty.

After tasting all this, what fool would wish to jeopardise it?

It turns out, more than he thought. He noticed several discrepancies soon enough ,reporting them as ordered. The Gnosis Center was visited by Kasane, the Blade Fairy, and the discrepancies suddenly stopped.

Eisen tried not to think about what that meant.

He did wonder, if his reports were how they detected issues like theft, what was their guarantee that he was telling the truth? His question was answered when he received his first piece of mail in his new job.

Confused, he had opened it up only to be met with a copy of his latest report. Reading through it, wondering if there was a delivery error, he was met with something that stilled his blood. On the 57th page, in red marker, a single decimal point was crossed out, the result of an equation; incorrect. The correct equation and result was notated shortly besides the incorrect one, with no further writing on the whole report.

The equation had relayed on several subreports from his subordinates, each of which filled in a specific part of it. The fact that someone looked through all that and noticed that the final number was off by a single decimal point… Without the equation even being in the report originally, instead being performed personally by himself?

Whoever was reading his reports, they were frightening, even more than the Blade Fairy.

Which is why, when he was locking up the office after a long, productive day and was grabbed from behind, he was asked the impossible.

“Eisen, been a long time buddy. Have time for a chat?” One of the old Black Market guards walked into his view, his partner ensuring that Eisen couldn’t move without some messy results, “STC got their product locked up tighter than an Archangel’s panties, but with some ‘creative bookkeeping’ I’m sure we will find a way to wriggle in anyway.”

The hand covering his mouth moved, allowing him to reply, “That’s not possible. The Sagan has a monster watching over us, I can’t sneak anything by them even if I wanted to.”

The Black Market guard frowned, “The Blade Fairy? She’s been MIA for a couple weeks. Apparently her sister got hurt or something. There’s no need to be a hero, man.”

“No, not her.” Eisen clarified, “There’s someone who double checks our paperwork. It’s impossible to slip anything by them.”

There was a snort in reply, “Sure buddy. That sounds like an excuse and I really don’t like people who make excuses. You are going to do what we say, or else.”

Eisen stared at the guard, who had pulled out a wickedly curved knife and was idly picking his fingernails with them. He was going to be tortured if he refused, wasn’t he? But then again, he would get tortured and killed anyway if he agreed. The Blade Fairy was MIA? That was news to him and was likely why these guys felt bold enough to attempt this.

However, he knew his employer by now, how they operated. If Kasane was unable to operate, there would be a backup. He was sure of it.

Therefore, there was only one answer he could give here, wasn’t there?

“No.” His answer earned a jolt from Knives, “I refuse.”

“Thanks for that buddy.” The sinister grin that spread across his face was worrying, “It’s been awhile since I was able to have some fun.”

The man started to move towards him, only to pause in shock as the one holding Eisen suddenly jerked. Being released, Eisen looked behind him only to be greeted by the sight of a headless corpse collapsing to the floor.

“Urk!” The sound made him turn to Knives, to see that he was being effortlessly suspended in mid air by the neck, the petite red haired woman performing the act making it look slightly comical.

“Who sent you?” Was the dispassionate question,

“Fuck… you…” Knives choked out, his knife out of his grip and lying on the floor.

The woman didn’t reply, merely laying hand on his shin, before said hand suddenly exploded into a sea of black and white flames that even Eisen could tell radiated wrongness. Knives screamed, convulsed and thrashed, tortured at a level far beyond what even fire should have caused, the man instantly breaking as the black fire devoured his leg, leaving a cauterized stump behind.

“Who sent you?” The question was asked in the exact same tone.

“Janus! Janus sent us! He told us to…!” The words were cut off as she clasped his head in her grasp, the same black flames bursting out and devouring his entire body in an instant.

Eisen started, suddenly aware of her heavy gaze. He stepped back, realising he was about to trip over the first body only to be shocked at the fact that it was no longer there.

“Thorne, correct?” The words struck him, forcing a response.

“Yes ma’am!” He called out, panicking, “I’m… uh, Head of Logistics here and…”

“I know.” The cold statement stopped him, “I heard what you said. I will mention it in my report. Go to the Sagan Employee complex, stay there for the night.”

The rehearsed finale gave him whiplash, the bored, perfunctory way she delivered the line so at odds with her previous statement. Without even waiting for a confirmation or an answer, she disappeared, gone before he could react.

Following her orders in somewhat of a daze, he went home. When he finally had enough of a mind to check his phone, he was shocked with multiple posts about attacks on many different STC distribution centres, all of them being stopped by the red haired woman he had met.

He sighed. As if the Blade Fairy and the Observer were not nerve wracking enough, it seemed that the STC now had its own Maiden of Black as well.

At least the pay was good.

---XXX---

The seal was worrying, its presence an even bigger weight on me now, but it also put other things into perspective. There was a situation that had gone unaddressed for far too long. Stalking through my Manor, I finally found my target, lazing at the dining table while Naomi fretted over the stove.

“Hello Damocles!” Naomi chirped cheerfully as she saw me, causing my Queen to straighten up out of her slump.

“Hey.” Was her monosyllabic greeting.

“Morning girls.” I responded, before turning a serious gaze onto C.C., “We need to talk.”

Her posture didn’t change, but she looked to the side, “I'm a bit bus… Hey!”

I had grabbed her, taking her by surprise and throwing her over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

“Sorry Naomi, I have to deal with this as soon as I can.” I apologised to the blonde, who was grinning widely.

“Oh don’t mind me, go have fun!” She waved us off.

Nodding, I turned on my heel and left the room, CC bobbing along with me as I did. She crossed her arms and huffed.

“This feels familiar.” She groused.

“Good, that means that you know better than to try and escape.” I rejoined, getting another huff.

“What do you hope to achieve? Miss me that much already?” She asked sarcastically.

“I was willing to wait, but that changed. I’m fixing this, now.” My serious answer seemed to take her aback, as she shifted under my arm uncomfortably.

Opening the door to my room, I tossed her onto the bed and closed it behind me, before turning back and looking into her eyes.

She must have seen something in my own gaze, as her expression quickly shifted to concern, “What is it?”

“As I said.” I sighed, before grabbing a chair and sitting it, facing her, “We need to talk.”