Chapter 608 - Overthrowing the Tyrants I (Patreon)

Birthday time! Woohoo!

I’d had a big bash for my 100th birthday, and it was pure insanity to me that we were having our big 128th birthday bash in an entirely different era. Like. The world we knew had ended, and we’d clawed our way out of it in less than twenty years. I was used to the mundane use of skills and how Classers could change and shape the local environment, but I still couldn’t wrap my head around how the truly powerful Classers could reshape the world so much in such a short period of time. 

28 years was nothing. 

28 years was enough to destroy the world, and rebuild the basics of civilization. Rebuild it enough to throw a birthday party with cake. Sure, it was in large part because I’d socked away sacks of baking supplies for Auri that I broke out on special occasions, but the point remained! Cake was a damn miracle. It was like breathing - I took the ability to make cake for granted until suddenly I couldn’t. Until chickens and cows vanished one day, until sugar supply chains collapsed, until vanilla was suddenly a luxury spice, until the only way to make baking powder was locked in a book, not in anyone’s memory. Auri had checked, twice - nobody in Orthus knew.

Cake was as much of a miracle as the huge party Iona had managed to throw.

We did what I wanted for our 100th, we were all-in on Iona for our 128th. Which boiled down to inviting nearly the entire town, and me doing my absolute best to make her deliriously happy.

A wave of sadness struck me as we all laughed, ate, and drank at a grand table together outside, people dancing in a circle around a grand bonfire.

Almost everyone I cared for deeply and loved was here, having the time of their lives. My head was resting on Iona’s shoulder as I was pleasantly buzzed, the pipe left at home. My wife was holding two conversations at once, her warm arm around my waist, her eyes sparkling as she swam through her element like a fish. Auri was having a blast in the flames, making them leap and dart around to the great joy of the dancers, her [Mage Hands] handing out cupcakes. Nina was next to Iona, in an animated conversation with Raccoon, using her Mirages to tell one of her tales.

Heh. The tails had a tale.

I was possibly a little more drunk than I suspected. I snuggled closer to Iona, bathing in the warm glow of family.

Fenrir was entertaining a gaggle of children behind us with his Ice and snow, creating dizzying sledding hills for them to enjoy. It was nearly summer, and most of the kids were dearly missing winter, as those things tended to go. Artemis was sitting next to me, deep in an animated conversation with Skye on different leadership styles. She’d absorbed a lot from Julius over the years, and our [Queen] was totally engrossed.

In many ways, this was our last hurrah. All of our preparations were done, and we were planning on leaving tomorrow, scattering to the winds to try and deal with the elves, each in our own way.

I didn’t know if everyone would return at the end.

==================

I woke up the next morning feeling like a heavy weight was on my chest. I snuggled closer to Iona and went over the situation again.

We’d had endless discussions on the topic. I just wasn’t entirely sold that not paying tribute to far-off despots was worth the price in blood needed to overthrow them. If we, as a community, had excess, and could afford it, what was money compared to lives? What was losing a fraction of the harvest compared to the rivers of blood? It was just money, no amount of coin could ever replace a child.

I was a little too law-abiding at times. At least, until the laws came up and smacked me in the face, I tended to shrug and go with them.

Iona, Skye, and the rest had shown me the math. Shown me the logic. 10% was often more than a poor family could take, and was the difference between surviving the winter and starving. It pushed the line in too many places, in too many communities, and it slowly added up to lives. 

Because the taxes were on top of whatever the local government was assessing. Skye had started to talk to me about taxation philosophy, and I’d promptly [Teleported] out of the conversation.

None of us dreamed we could actually overthrow the ‘government’ of New Remus. As fun as stories where a band of plucky misfits overthrew the evil despots were, we knew that just wasn’t going to happen. Wealth, power, numbers, and coordination were on their side. The best we could do was to improve lives and situations where we could… possibly with an eye at striking higher.

Nina was [Creed]-bound to try and ‘uproot’ the problem, which had the rest of us aiming for that target as well, no matter how outlandish or difficult it would be.

At the same time, a number of Immortals had survived the War. Invincible and Skater were both with Mare Town, and I couldn’t imagine them being particularly happy at the situation. Rumors had reached my long ears of Queen establishing her own little fiefdom deep in the woods, and I knew the lady. She wasn’t going to take a higher power lying down.

That was just Exterreri, just a small number of vampires I knew. Other Immortals and powers around the world probably disliked the idea and the situation just as much, and were hatching their own plots and schemes. The major advantage New Remus had was unity and numbers right now, we were all scattered to the wind.

There was some logic to simply waiting things out. Making sure my little patch of paradise did well, making sure my neighbors always had food, and letting Father Time grind the New Remus Empire down, just as every other nation had fallen. I kept that particular idea to myself.

“Worried?” Iona said a moment after she woke up, able to read me like an open book. 

“Yeah.” I didn’t need to elaborate.

She turned to face me, and I was once again lost in her sparkling emerald eyes, lost in the vast starry eyescape. Wild how she’d managed to get her Celestial class higher than her Gravity class again… but it looked much nicer.

“You don’t need to come with.” She said. “Go, do what you believe is right. That’s what we’re all doing. We all know this isn’t going to be quick, or short, or we might not even succeed. If you want to stay here and be home for all of us, we’d love you all the more for it.”

I hugged my wife.

“What kind of wife would I be if I did that?” I protested. “I’m with you, through thick and thin.”

We continued retreading the well-worn points. It wasn’t an argument, simply an outpouring of love from both of us.

We were going to split up in a way we’d never done, and perhaps that was the biggest cause of my anxiety. Rangers worked in a team for a reason. This ‘splitting up’ thing felt unnatural.

We weren’t fully splitting up. Auri was going with Fenrir. Raccoon, Artemis, and Titania were staying behind. Titania wasn’t cut for that sort of life, she was holding down the fort, so to speak, and Raccoon enjoyed being the [Constable] and felt that was her calling. Artemis was still working on the new Rangers and bemoaning their quality… which we promptly threw back at her and reminded she was responsible for training them up, and leading them into danger. She had another job and another calling, and none of us begrudged her for it. Nina was far more comfortable operating alone than with a group, and the sort of activities and behaviors that called to me didn’t quite require a team. Slinking around the edges of a battlefield and preventing deaths was better done alone, than in a team. Skimming by cities, visiting isolated villages - I suppose in many ways this was the kick I needed to get up and move, to go out into the world and do as much good as I could.

I was open to the idea of throwing wrenches at the New Remus Empire, but I’d have to be insanely careful that I didn’t end up causing harm. Medicine was my calling, the class I’d selected. I’d skipped out on [Revolutionary] even as a kid, and the most radical things I’d done were twist an [Emperor’s] arm to enact new policies - completely legal petitioning of the powers that be - and my fair share of tax evasion.

I ruthlessly squashed [Astral Archive’s] attempt to show me alllll the other crimes I’d committed over the years. Those… were a different Elaine. Yeah. 

We got up, and I went all-out making everyone breakfast, one last little act of tender love for my family before we scattered to the winds. Eggs and toast, warmed milk with a generous dollop of honey, and thick slices of ham.

We ate in solemn silence, each of us alone with our thoughts. I [Teleported] the leftover birthday cake onto the table, and that broke the silence.

“Cake!” Artemis tried to grab the entire thing, only for Iona to deftly maneuver it out of the way.

“I dunno spaceosaurus, do naughty Rangers get seconds?” She asked. Artemis pointed a knife - a butter knife - at me. I held my hands up in surrender.

“Hey, don’t ask me, I just - yoink.” I stole the entire cake, wrapped my arms around it protectively, and started to cackle. Nina perfectly predicted me, and an identical version of the cake appeared in front of everyone.

“Brrpt!” Auri didn’t second-guess the illusion at all, trying to run full-tilt into it. She was deeply disappointed when she failed to make a bird-shaped impression. It devolved into good-natured chaos from there. I think everyone ended up getting some more cake, although Artemis was literally eating it out of her hair. Thank goodness, I would’ve been upset if it had gotten wasted. I had a new appreciation for the miracle of food, and a far lower tolerance for senseless waste.

=========================

We circled outside of the cabin. I was worried, to say the least. All of us splitting up? It made sense, but…

“Moonstones! I only have so many. The biggest ones are full body heals. The smaller ones are for more minor problems.” I’d carefully packed and sorted each set into their own bags, and I wasn’t listening to any protests. I stuffed the first one in Iona’s bag, and her smile warmed me up. Artemis seriously accepted hers. Fenrir shifted his leg to give me better access to his bags. Auri looked at me expectantly, and I grabbed one of my spares inside the [Manor] before handing it off to the bird. Nina had a little smudge on her face.

“Here, let me get that for you.” I licked my thumb and started to wipe it away.

“Elaine!” She protested, trying to wiggle out of my grip. No chance of that! Stats for the win! “I’m fine!”

“You are not fine.” I objected as the last of the smear was wiped off her fur. “Here.” I pressed the gems into her paw. “Stay safe. Stay alive. Okay?” I asked.

I could see Nina suppressing the urge to roll her eyes.

“I will.” She promised.

I continued to fuss over everyone. Straightening out clothes, handing out packed lunches - everyone needed a taste of home on the trip out - and liberally distributing hugs. Iona eventually coughed, politely interrupting.

“Every year, let’s try to meet here on this day.” Iona said. “The gods willing, we won’t need to be here again in eight years, but should that happen, we do everything we can to meet again. Agreed?”

There was a chorus of agreements.

“Healy-bug, you better make it here. Need you to initiate the new Rangers.” Artemis said. “It’ll cause us problems if you miss.”

I nodded my understanding.

“Stay safe. Stay alive. Stay true to yourselves. I love you all.” Iona said.

There wasn’t much else to say or do. All of our preparations had been completed weeks or months ago. Auri nuzzled me, hopped on Fenrir, and away they went. Nina started to walk down the mountain trail to Orthus, where she’d hop on a heavily-armed trade caravan, and start her own travels. Artemis hurried after her, the kitsune and my mentor getting into a hushed, animated discussion. Something about sharpening the Rangers on a practice escort mission. Iona was about to take off into the sky when I crashed into her with a tear forming in my eye.

“Stay safe.” I said.

“I love you.” Iona said. “Now and forever. Hey, this is temporary. We’ll all be back together before you know it. Maybe revisit the idea of everyone living in your [Keep] skill!”

I tearfully waved them off, sniffed, and was about to launch myself on my own mission of mercy when a faint voice called my name.

“Dawn, can we speak?”

I whirled around, bending my ears, trying to trace who was calling me.

“This way. You have to come to me.” The voice said. I smelled a trap, but I couldn’t detect or sense anything. I was confident in my ability to handle most problems. Anyone who was trying to lure me into a trap would get a nasty surprise.

Plus, nobody called me Dawn here. I didn’t want to say I was retired, but the most Sentinely things I’d done was reviving the Rangers, occasionally fighting off a huge monster. Okay, granted, they were very much inside the Sentinel’s wheelhouse, but the idea remained.

I paused as I found an enchanted rock on the forest floor, a bit of arcanite attached to it to power the inscriptions. It was in a runic language I recognized, and I decoded it after a moment.

It was set to play a message after a certain amount of time, then repeat the message after a second period of time. That was it.

I pulsed mana through the enchantment, getting it to play the message.

“Dawn, can we speak?” The rock said.

I wanted to facepalm. Only one message in the rock, of course.

“Now that you’re done playing with rocks, follow my voice! We’ve got a distance to go. Pick up the rocks as you go, we don’t want to leave a trace.” I didn’t recognize the voice, but I had a sneaking suspicion who it was. 

Less than amused, I followed the voice to another rock. Then another. And another. Feeling like I was a child being led through the forest on a crumb trail, I was reluctantly impressed with the pure timing of it all. Each rock was enchanted to give its message at exactly the right time, half a moment after I’d arrived at the previous one. Whoever made this was brilliant, and knew me well, which rapidly narrowed the list down to one main candidate.

I’d gone far. Much further than my usual stomping grounds.

It was possible it was a hostile Classer, but I seriously doubted it. I was confident in my analysis, and had absolutely no problem diving into one of the Pekari’s lairs when the rocks called me in. A pair of Pekari soldiers were waiting at the bottom, and the two turned to escort me.

Oooh yeah, I knew who this was. Every inch of the walls confirmed it. The smell of tea and cookies hit me a moment before my escorts turned the corner to a room, where Arachne was sitting at the table.

“Dawn! It’s such a pleasure to be able to meet you again! Do you have a moment to chat?”