The Greatest Sin [Progression Fantasy][Kingdom Building]

Whereas there are principle issues with all of us, rarely are they so simple as with Arascus. For Kassandora, for example, it is difficult to sum the woman up. She is sociopathic, she enjoys only warfare, she feels a need to end warfare, which would ultimately lead to the death of her own demesne, yet the death of her demesne would be the ultimate expression of it. Fortia’s crisis, although not similar, is also difficult to stop. The woman is a Goddess of Peace who enjoys combat, that may be the simplest way to describe it. Likewise, she is a Goddess of Peace who does not actually believe in Peace as an ideal that can be achieved but rather a constant state that has a maintenance cost.

Helenna is a Goddess of Love that has grown bitter and finds the idea of love unrequited the most lovely and romantic, Malam is a Goddess of Hatred that actually has very little Hatred in her life. She is annoying, yet she is amicable to company in her own way. Arascus has no such issues in his life, he is the God of Pride and his Pride only fuels him to complete even grander achievements, which in turn fuel that Pride and result in a self-perpetuating, yet ever rising, circle.

Arascus’ principle issue is that the man will not ever stop. The larger issue is that he is competent, to say the least. The man has managed nations before and one would have to be a fool to say his management is poor. The man will see an army, and need to improve it. The man will see a ship, and need to improve it. Cities can always be made more efficient and populations can always be made more satisfied and Divinity can always be trained.

If there ever is a day when Arda sets sail for the stars, then Arascus will be there, at the forefront, pushing the world forward, or Arascus will be dead. There is no inbetween.

- Excerpt from Allasaria’s diary. Dated to before the Great War.

Elassa stood on the Ad Astra as take-off was announced. This was a stupid idea. A cretinous idea. It was quite possibly the worst thing that Arascus had ever conceived of. The fact she was the Divine tasked with it made it even worse. The fact that Anassa somehow got the far easier job and did not have to ride this floating castle to the sky was even more aggravating. That was plain favouritism.

The worst was the suit though. Arascus had revealed it two days before the flight. It was an ugly, bulbous thing, all orbs and balls and circles. It was painted white, the stomach was a rotund thing that made her look beyond fat. Beyond even what ogres out of children’s books were drawn like, she struggled to even wrap her arms around the front of the thing it protruded from her body so much.

The helmet was terrible too, the front was a pane of curved glass she was sure would not hold in space. And why was she even being sent into space? Couldn’t Kavaa do it? Couldn’t anyone? Send a minor Divine! Let her monitor from range! PLEASE! “This is Arascus.” Speakers blared from the side of her ear and Elassa winced. “Are you fine or no?”

“Fuck that’s loud.” Elassa said and Arascus didn’t reply. The Goddess of Magic shifted in the suit, she leaned to the left, almost fell off, and pulled her real arm out of the suit’s arm, so that they could settle in the massive stomach. Elassa leaned back, craned her neck and looked down at all the knobs and gears, she found the one labelled VOL and gave it a twist. “Alright, speak again, I’ve turned you down.”

“Testing testing testing, is this good or no?” Arascus asked.

“It’s good.” It was still too loud, she twisted it to an ever lower setting. “What do you want?”

“How’s the suit? Do you have all the controls down or not?” Elassa had learned what the controls were, and she did not even want to think about what they meant. The issue the Empire had faced today was speed, and whilst designs were being made for how to design a castle they could stick onto this island were still being made, the simple fact was that they needed a test and that test was needed yesterday.

So Elassa needed the suit because it was easier to make, and the stomach could hold all the needed devices, and behind her, instead of a structure being built, a space shuttle was strapped down with wiring bolted onto huge nails into the ground. It was a workaround, it should work even. Elassa didn’t even know why she worried for the spaceshuttle. These things went into space by themselves, by all metrics, as long as it didn’t float off, it should be fine. And even if it floated off, it could be caught and retrieved. “I do.” Elassa said.

There were three columns of controls, and they weren’t numerous. The left column were the electronics. There was a cable from the suit running to a massive battery. That was the last failsafe. Battery Release was a switch hidden under a plastic cover. That cover would not be coming off. Rope 1 and Rope 2 had their own covers, those two would not be coming off. The worst thing that could happen was for Elassa to float off. Then a dozen smaller things, volume, a frequency dial. All sorts of things.

The middle column were her own instruments. Catalyst crystals bound with wards, chained to the massive white diamonds that would launch the Ad Astra into space. More magical sensors, which detected ambience in the air, mana quality, everything and anything. They were packed tight and not a single label was on them, Elassa just knew all three by sight. “Launch when you are ready.” Arascus said. “I’ll communicate with you on this line and relay what Anassa says in her own monitoring.”

“Thank you.” That was a blessing at least. If Elassa had to deal with the official procedure of ground control, she would probably snap. Some things were not for the Goddess of Magic, saying over to indicate the end of communication as she was running one of the greatest magical experiments in her life was on that list. The right column was space monitoring and dials that she pretended not to see. One told her about the battery power remaining, another the altitude being recorded currently, a third the amount of oxygen. Those three, she would not look at. “Can I mute you?”

There was a moment of silence. “No.” Arascus said. “We did not include a mute function.”

Of course they didn’t. Why would they? “Then when I tell you to be quiet, you be quiet.” Elassa said.

“As a mouse.” Arascus replied. “Everything strapped in?”

“Yeah, what about your end?” Elassa asked and suddenly, the sound cut off. Oh. So he could mute himself and she could not mute herself? How fantastic was that!? Great! Stunning! It returned after a few minutes. “The astronauts from the shuttle report they are ready. They’ll be taking their own readings, don’t worry about the mundanities.”

“Alright.” Elassa said. She looked up at the switch just above her head. She’d be able to press it by jumping her arms got stuck. “The parachute was checked, yes?” There had been no reason to bring a parachute, she could fly. But she rather there be one, if space turned out to silence her magic, then any sort of help in the descent was appreciated.

“Kassandora checked them herself.” Arascus said.

“I’d prefer if you would have.” Elassa replied.

“I think Kass is more thorough than I am.” Arascus said and someone else spoke over the mic.

“Damn right I am.” Arascus chuckled to Kassandora’s voice.

“You can hear me?” Elassa said.

“Everyone can hear you.” Arascus said. “And you’re being recorded right now too.” Elassa blinked, then looked around her space suit. Oh. She should have spotted the small black box that was pointing down her face, just above the glass. Elassa stared at it with a dry face. “Yeah, we’re eye to eye right now.” Arascus said. “You’re on the big screen.”

“You will pay for this when I return.” Elassa said. It was a trick, he got her angry and when she was angry, she just wanted to get a move on and for everything to end. But it worked. “I’m starting now.” Elassa said dryly. “Don’t talk, comment or ask me questions. You have your men in the space shuttle for that. If I don’t say anything, assume everything is normal.” It was the least she could do to regain control of the situation. Elassa once again twisted and stuffed her arms into the arms of the spacesuit, where the outdoor catalysts were located. Diamonds woven or glued or stuff or… She didn’t know how it worked, but half the gem was inside so she could press it, half the gem was outside. If one of them got loose, there were emergency hatches that would the arm at the elbow. If she got stuck, then that hatch could be activated by bouncing her head into a side of the helmet and she would ride down without an arm.

Slowly, Elassa activated the mass levitation crystals that were speared into the floating island. One by one, the huge, car-sized, diamonds begin to glow. There was no sound of ignition, not even a hum or a whir. They simply did their job, their magical circuitry responding to Elassa’s activation, flicking shut into closed loops and… And she felt the ground shift and the earth rumble as a landmass was ripped from the ground.

And so the rise began. Elassa had been on islands before, she had made them, she had been paid to make them. When Arcadia was still young, a single one of these, complete with castle on top, would pay for a decade of not just maintenance, but expansion. So the stone shifted, grass tore, old roots that had been withered yet still held ripped apart, a flat piece of a field, equipped with a Goddess in a white suit that was more orb than structure and a spaceshuttle without a booster rocket strapped down haphazardly by cables left Arda’s surface.

Elassa knew the gemstones would hold, the magic was grand but grand was all it was. Most mages would not be able to channel the amount of magic required in a decade, communions were required to charge them the first time, then top them up every now and then. Or Elassa could do it herself, which she did herself on these. The central gemstone in the middle connected to a lattice of enchantments which kept rigid and held the island together. The other massive diamonds would discharge their energy slowly and into the air.

And rise they did. Anassa would monitor as far as the atmosphere allowed, because of course Arascus had favourites and of course Anassa had wormed her way out of wearing this humiliation-suit. Of Sorcery would appear in Elassa’s cone of vision everyone and now. Tracking the rock and its stability and how it responded to altitudes that had never been conceived when the idea of putting castles into the sky was first proposed.

The cloud layer was breached first and fog rolled over them, or rather they rolled through fog, normally Elassa would stand at the edge and watch the landscape shrink. The buildings lose detail and gradually fade away into invisibility, just mere spots of colour in below her that eventually were swallowed by the sheer size of the landscape. That was the best part of flying. Naturally, an Imperial plan, an Imperial anything relied on sucking the enjoyment out of things, so naturally she could stand here, affixed by ropes and an electricity cable, in this disgusting suit that was already starting to become hot.

Out of the cloud layer, the sun was overpowering. As if this day could not get any better. “Can you hear me Arascus, or no?” Elassa asked. The cloud of white was blinding, it was a sheet that bounced the light and made it twice as reflective and Elassa squinted and leaned back to gaze into her control dials. The ones on the right she ignored, her magical sensors were all reporting perfectly.

“I can hear you, is there an issue?” Arascus asked.

“Never face me south again in this suit.” Elassa said. It had to have been a stupid statement because of the fact that he took a moment to reply.

“You have legs, turn around.”

“You dress up in this and turn around.” Elassa said and Arascus audibly sighed through the speakers. Great. That was exactly what she wanted to hear, her boss judging her for her own stubbornness. Fantastic.

“There’s a switch on the left.” Arascus said. “Get your arms in the stomach, do you see it? It says dim. DEE-EYE-EMM.” Elassa leaned back and shifted left, pulled her right arm out, then repeated the move with her other one.

“I know how dim is spelled. I’m not dim.” Elassa said repeated and flicked the switch. Immediately, the glass darkened and she could open her eyes again. The sun was still there, and still bright, but it was a ball of orange now, white at the centre, and no longer just a torch directed straight into her eyes. The clouds, from above, were clouds, she had seen them before.

And so the floating island rose. Elassa monitored her own instruments, once she glanced at the oxygen supply. She saw it change from ninety-six to ninety-five and promised to never look at the timer on her life again, and instead focused on the magic. Every instrument was still shining well although they were still on Arda. Above Arda true, but on Arda. If magic was bound to the planet, then it wouldn’t collapse yet.

“Elassa, Anassa is reporting air thinning. She can’t go higher.”

“We can.” Elassa said. “Everything is good on my end.”

“Alright, there’ll be a break in communication in a minute when you switch over to satellite comms instead of this line.” Elassa stared at the cornucopia of buttons before her and felt a lump grow in her throat.

“How do I do that?”

“The astronauts with you will switch you over. Press the emergency communications button if you’re in silence for five minutes.” Elassa found the button. They must have taken her for an idiot, everything was labelled here, this one was even had paper and affix with tape to make sure she knew what it was.

And so the castle rose even higher. The predicted silence did come, the speakers cut out with a buzz that lasted two seconds and then fell silent. And Elassa was left with nothing but to watch the horizon get even lower. The sky shifted, an hour ago, it had been the bright blue of Arcadian daylight, then it grew darker, now, Elassa watched as the blue faded into purple, and that faded into black. She twiddled her thumbs nervously, eyes glancing to her own measurement tools, waiting for something to go wrong.

Nothing went wrong. “You’re back in communications.” Arascus said calmly. “How’s the view?” Elassa looked up from the gizmos, she stood on her toes to make get a better view and then she realised the sensation of falling. Or rather, of weightlessness. There was still something pulling her down, but it was slow. Not the constant pull of gravity but she felt it weaken.

Elassa watched as the stars became bright, the deep purple shifted into a colourless darkness that drifted on forever, marked with an endless array of white dots and nebulas. She saw Arda’s moon in the distance as it continued the slow swing around the planet, the grey ball in the sky locked in the eternal dance with its partner. She saw other planets in the distance and she saw them so clearly that that it was akin to photo images.

Kronos, with its massive ring around it. A white halo that illuminated the planet, and the black ring that was Tartarus sitting with a section. She wondered if the demons were rebuilding it. If they were Ardan, it would already be getting rebuilt. It was marvellous to think how close that world was. She saw the sun, the glowing ball of blinding fire that was difficult to look at even through the tinted glass.

Elassa felt herself float in that massive suit. She grabbed the sides and stabilized herself as her head touched the emergency deploy button, although there was no force in her movement. She simply bounced off and away before catching herself.

And then, her eyes went wide as she saw the planet. As she saw her planet. Arda. Blue and green and white, the Sassara gleaming, the world twisted underneath her, rotating, clouds slowly curling and licking around it. The edge of the atmosphere, the sky that was filled with floating dots, those had to be satellites in orbit. The endless blue oceans that looked so calm from up here. Where the sun did not touch, the planet would like up as cities turned on the lights, like swarms of fireflies that conglomerated together to make a lantern.

“Arascus.” Elassa whispered, this was no time for speaking. “I see Arda.”

“How does it look?”

“Beautiful.”

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