“Would you like to hear a joke?”
Erzili shuddered. She missed Laugher. The real Laugher. Charismatic, confident, powerful – yes, if it was ever possible for a nightmare to experience the emotion of love, Erzili would agree that Laugher had been her first love.
Dreamer had been her last.
Alas, it was all in the past now. The Elder One of Ecstasy understood that it was too late. It was not, however, too late for her darlings. Waving her hand into the air, she wrote once more into the air.
Resurrect.Fallen.Nightmare (Yuki_Onna)
Recognizing Command Prompt…]
[Analyzing…]
[Checking Authorization Level…]
[Authorization Found.]
[Demiurge: Janus]
[Command Authorized.]
She rose from the lake, her frozen form shuddering, her eyes blinking, wide, open, confused.
“L-Leader Erzili –”
“Onna darling, tell me,” she managed to keep her voice steady. “While Erzili expected it from Janus, because he does not know better, Erzili did not expect it from you. Darling, what possessed you to come here with Janus and fight Giggles?”
“I –” the poor girl licked her lips. “We – I assumed – we didn’t know he was –”
“Didn’t know he was powerful?”
The girl didn’t answer.
“Tell me, Onna darling, if the nightmares who owned the Domains neighboring the Hlahan Forest weren’t all incredibly powerful, do you not think Erzili would have taken them all out and claimed their lands already?”
The girl looked down. “I – I believed, with the Demiurge –”
“Yes, Janus certainly could have dispatched Giggles easily. Had he first allowed me to tell him the commands that enable him to weaken nightmares, or turn their domains against them, or simply just erase them – then certainly, you two would have triumphed. But, he did not, allow me to tell him. Instead, instead darling, you went to pick a fight with a former Night Emperor.”
“I – I wanted to be of use to you… I wanted…”
Erzili sighed. She reached out and touched Onna’s cheeks. At times, Erzili loathed her Epithet Skill. While it was useful, numerous times to gleam information and guarantee loyalty, she had to deal with events like this, with people and nightmares, utterly and completely obsessed with her. In love with her. Incapable of doing without her. They would sooner murder their wives and children than spend one second away from her embrace. Sooner slit their throats than be starved of her affection.
Onna was one of those affected more than most. The poor thing. “Darling – you are of use to me.”
She was the perfect puppet. The most loyal toy. No matter what Erzili did, no matter what order she gave, Onna would always follow. Unlike Slim, who followed her because they had mutual goals, Wunder who followed her because of his principle of obeying a person who could best him in combat, and Arol, who she could never truly break of her religious coding, Onna was completely and wholly hers.
Body, mind and soul – completely hers.
“It’s alright, Onna darling. Erzili was able to bring you back – and that is all that matters.”
She could not afford to lose lieutenants. Whereas her plan would be better if she could merely find terrifyingly strong individuals as her followers, strong nightmares were often headstrong, rebellious and ambitious. She did not need those sorts. No, she wanted to recreate her own circle, her own court. She did not need to join the Court of Nightfall or pledge loyalty to the Midnight Convent –
She would recreate her group, and with that group, she would rise to the top, return to her former glory, and surpass it.
She had not lied when she told Janus she wanted to create a Kingdom of Nightmares.
She however, had no intention of peaceful coexistence. No, Erzili’s goal – Erzili’s true dream – was the complete domination of the Kingdoms of Man. Why stop at following a master who would be the King of Nightmares, when they could be the King of the World?
Yes, Janus would be the King of the World, the one who the world’s eyes would be on. Behind the scenes, while she fed reassuring words into his ear, giving him the tenderness and compassion he was so severely starved of, her Epithet Skill would fully instill within him an undying love and devotion to her. The King of the World would nothing more than another beautiful puppet in her long tentacled arms.
And then, once he was strong enough, she would pit them against each other, Demiurge versus Demiurge.
Janus versus Morpheus.
Lady Gothel, upon granting her the name ‘Erzili’ had asked, what desire she possessed. Lady Gothel asked, “What is it you want from the world?” At the time, when she had not known, or understood, her answer then had been simple, and it had not changed.
I want everything.
And soon – soon, she would have it.
“Come, Onna darling… we have preparations to make.”
Chapter 21: Secrets
In the process of putting my plan into action, I received two unexpected messages.
Quest Objectives Complete!
¨ Conquer Krvavi Lagoon – [Complete!]
[For properly surviving an encounter with the Elder One of Cosmic Humor, your Minion’s Loyalty has gone up!]
As far as I remembered, I had lost against Giggles. Something strange was going on back in the Hlahan Lands. Erzili would certainly be irritated feel about me costing her a lieutenant and it was not a conversation I was eager to have.
“This is his room.”
“…it’s our room. Funny. Did you know Saintarelli was our roommate?”
“I did. It was why I noticed he turned off his comms and tracer.”
“To think one of
