The Bee Dungeon

After Belissar finished his talk with King Ratuatapi, he received word from the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter.

“King! Fourth of Seventh’s bees invited other bees to hive of hives! Bees don’t work for King, work for nice hive-burners. Should help?”

Belissar tilted his head for a moment at ‘nice hive-burner.’

“Ah! Do you mean General Rippotis? He mentioned he has monster bees, that’s great! Yes, we should help them however we can.”

The First of the Fifth’s First Daughter, currently flying outside of the Tower, danced a salute. Belissar could feel her sending mana dances off into the distance, but his own connection to the hive of hives wasn’t strong enough to follow them, so he simply watched her dance.

After a few minutes of dancing, the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter sent more dances his way.

“King, light oracle’s bees teaching how work for Queen of All Light, other queens of all things. Should teach hive of hives?”

Belissar’s eyes widened.

“By light oracle…do you mean High Councilor Heigiosa, Oracle of Light?”

The First of the Fifth’s First Daughter danced a confirmation. Belissar’s mouth hung open. His bees were in contact with High Councilor Heigiosa! The Oracle of Light, the hero who saved humanity! She was said to have been the first person to stand up against the wicked kings of old, the one who recruited General Rippotis and the Good Wizard Konilias! She was the first person to receive a Tower from the gods, the God of Light sending the first one in answer to her prayers! She was the most important, most sacred human ever to live!

Well, at least according to the stories from the Tower Lords, most of which had proven to be lies. Belissar wondered if he could ask the God of Light…before realizing that maybe contacting High Councilor Heigiosa wasn’t that momentous an occasion when he had spoken in-person to the actual God of Light she served.

That thought calmed him down. Belissar then considered the question. Apparently, High Councilor Heigiosa had bees of her own and had been teaching them how to serve the gods. On the one hand, Belissar did not want to implement any of the Tower Lords’ methods, nor their teachings on the gods. But on the other hand, High Councilor Heigiosa was supposed to be the Oracle of Light. If there was any Tower Lord who actually respected the gods, it would be her…unless, of course, that had been a lie as well. That certainly seemed like a lie too far, though…

Belissar wasn’t sure, but fortunately, he had an oracle of his own to ask.

“First of the Fifth’s First Daughter, I’m going to ask Velebee some questions, then I’ll let you know the answer.”

“Ok!”

Belissar went ahead and sent his questions to Velebee. She did not reply immediately, but she did need to pass on his questions to the God of Bees who would then have to ask the God of Light, so he figured it might take some time. He settled into wait…

And then the sky lit up and a bright light descended from above, condensing and forming into a woman.

“Hello again, Tower Keeper Belissar. May I incarnate in your Tower again?”

Belissar blinked.

“Y-Yes, of course, any time you’d like, God of Light.”

The God of Light smiled at him as she landed before him…but then her smile faded.

“I apologize to you, Tower Keeper Belissar, for your current doubts are the result of my long silence. Please, allow me to reassure you. Heigiosa is indeed my oracle and I am pleased with her worship, you need not doubt her sincerity. She does not attempt to withhold the gods from the masses, as Starami did with you, she will not teach your bees the lessons that Starami taught you.”

Stolen story; please report.

Belissar furrowed his brow…but held his tongue. He had some additional doubts, but he was standing before the God of Light herself, so he didn’t want to lash out.

The God of Light, however, saw right through him.

“…you wonder, then, why Starami was allowed to act as he did?”

Belissar quietly nodded. The God of Light’s shoulders drooped.

“That was, again, the result of my long silence. Heigiosa grew desperate to hear my voice again, she started to believe that I was displeased with her. I had told her otherwise, but in the long years of my silence her heart wavered. She threw herself into my worship, trying to reach me…and in doing so, she lost sight of what was going on in the Conclave. She trusted Rippotis to handle the Hunger and Konilias to handle the people…and her trust in Konilias proved poorly placed.”

Belissar furrowed his brow.

“I see. Please forgive me for asking this, God of Light, but…why didn’t you talk to her then? She’s your oracle, right?”

The God of Light looked at Belissar for a moment. She nodded, seemingly to herself since Belissar hadn’t said anything else yet and then took a deep breath.

“Because my own trust in my fellow gods proved poorly placed. I invited the gods back to the world, I asked them all to work together to save it. Few humans today are aware of it, but before the Hunger the gods were not nearly as united as we seem. We battled against one another and we ordered our followers to battle against each other on our behalf. I had hoped that we could set aside our own rivalries, to create a lasting peace between us so that we could help you all resist the Hunger.”

Her let out a sigh.

“The problem was, Heigiosa was the hero of humanity, as was I. If Heigiosa asked the Conclave to do anything, they would all obey. If she spoke on my behalf, no Tower Lord would refuse her. I could, through her, command the entire Conclave at will…and thus could I command the disciples and champions of the other gods. Thus, in the spirit of cooperation, I told them I would not. I withheld my voice from Heigiosa, so that the Conclave would be a gathering of equals, just like the gods that patroned them.”

The God of Light then scowled. Belissar winced and shielded his eyes as the light on his face turned harsh and scorching.

“But I was mistaken. The other gods did not share my intentions and used my silence for their own schemes.”

The God of Light realized what she was doing and her anger faded, the light dimming with it. She gave Belissar an apologetic smile.

“…the truth is, Belissar, that I am not as powerful or wise as you believe I am. I can make mistakes, I can be deceived, I can fail. The state of the Conclave as you experienced it is perhaps my greatest failure, one that could have been avoided were it not for my naivety and wishful thinking. So, please, do not be overly harsh on Heigiosa for all of this. The blame lies with me. For all that has happened to you as a result, I am sorry.”

Belissar did not response, as he was too busy panicking over the God of Lightherself apologizing to him. The God of Light looked up at him and made a soft smile.

“…perhaps that was too much for you. Worry not, Belissar, you need not reply. Your deeds have spoken more than any words, let us speak with those.”

She waved her hand.

A non-patron god, the God of Light, wishes to offer you a quest. Accept?

Velebee chimed in a moment later.

“Hive-Builder Belissar, Queen of All Bees says Queen of All Light’s quest ok!”

Belissar, still dumbfounded, could only nod blankly.

Mission received: Hear the God of Light’s apology.

Mission: Hear the God of Light’s apology completed!

Reward: +500 max mana.

The God of Light gave him a warm smile.

“I must thank you as well, Belissar. You have chosen to aid those who hurt you and in doing so, you have saved the better part of the Conclave. The God of Bees, who gained her strength from your devotion, saved my Heigiosa and my City of Light. And beyond even that, you are giving me hope. You have reconciled spiderkin with karnuq, beastkin with fair folk, humans and monsters. You have brokered peace between the Butcher of Blackwood and the wicked Pixie Queen. You have earned the adoration of many gods. You have taught a proud dragon to respect little bees. You still revere me, despite my great failings. You have done more to heal the wounds of the world than any other, you have shown me that a world united against the Hunger is still possible, despite everything.”

The God of Light’s smile grew large and bright.

“I would offer to anoint you as my champion, if it would not take authority from the God of Bees who deserves it most. So, instead, just know that you have my gratitude and my favor, so do not trouble yourself on my behalf. And do not fear to ask my Heigiosa for anything, she will help you however she is able, as will I.”

With that, the God of Light rose back into the air, her light gently fading away the higher she got. Belissar was left staring blankly for a while.

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