The journey from Artgoi to the edge of Dersuta's territory was almost uneventful, with a singular and very notable exception.
About a day out from Artgoi, Mordecai began to feel feverish, an experience that confused him at first. He'd never had much experience with one of his avatars getting sick, and this avatar should not have been able to get sick at all.
By the ti anyone had realized what was happening, Mordecai's avatar was too delirious to pray for the sort of divine intervention needed to break this 'fever'. Moriko, however, was not. Mordecai's suffering was relieved with a soothing wave of comforting warmth, and he opened his eyes to find Moriko straddling his torso, the tips of her fingers resting on his chest and an odd smile on her lips. Kazue was standing next to the bed looking both nervous and relieved.
"Well," said Moriko with a voice not entirely her own, "it seems that my brother can't foresee every contingency. Then again, not even our father lays claim to that ability." Given the thin, fiery outline of a nine-tailed kitsune around Moriko's form, it was easy to figure out who was talking through her.
"Lady Sakiya," Mordecai said with a raspy voice as he tried to figure out what had happened, "to what do I owe the honor?"
"Hmm," she said with a playful smile that was partially Moriko's and partially not. "Let ask you a question. What would happen if soone was under an oath that effectively made them lie to themselves by altering their mories, and then that person beca truth-bound?"
Mordecai frowned as he tried to puzzle out the resolution to that conflict, then his eyes widened as he realized that there was no resolution. The two forces would simply struggle against each other in the person's mind and soul. His mind and soul.
"Ah," Moriko/Sakiya said, "I see you have figured it out. Now, I am currently only suspending the oath. I can do nothing about your truth-bound nature, that has beco integral to your self, but we can change the paraters of your oath. Mordecai, you are now a king and your wives are queens. Rulers need to be able to keep secrets as well as be able to selectively reveal them, and your circumstances are much different now than when you made that oath. So let us shift the burden a little. Kazue, Moriko, Mordecai, do the three of you swear to keep close the oath-bound secrets that currently reside in Mordecai and to let none know of them outside of dire circumstances?"
It was a lot to ask of Kazue and Moriko, given that they did not know what the secrets were, but neither hesitated, with Moriko's fiery aura dimming briefly as she spoke in her own voice to agree to the oath. Mordecai smiled and nodded, "I so swear."
"Excellent," Sakiya said through Moriko with a smirk that resembled Moriko's own. "And given that you are all faerie royalty now, I think there is only one appropriate way to seal that oath." Mordecai's skin suddenly felt warm and flushed as the goddess of passions' desires rged with Moriko's own, causing her aura and emotions to bleed out into the room. She licked her lips, then glanced at Kazue slyly. "Sothing you've been trying to not think about since the mont I manifested inside of your wife."
Kazue blushed at that, but at the sa ti, she stepped closer and let the goddess-possessed Moriko draw her into a deep kiss. It was entrancing to watch and it left Kazue looking dazed by the ti she was released.
Then it was Mordecai's turn. The mischievous look in Moriko's eyes was very much her own, and Mordecai had no doubt at all that his wife was enjoying herself. Moriko's lips were as sweet as ever, and that passion was hers as well, but behind that was a consuming, burning desire that existed far beyond mortal comprehension and Mordecai instinctively grasped Moriko and drew her tighter to him in response, even as her rged aura overwheld him and blinded his awareness of all else but her.
Moriko/Sakiya looked very self-satisfied after she broke the kiss and sat back, pulling free from Mordecai's hold while he recovered from that experience. "We'll both accept that as a bit of worship." That teasing smirk was absolutely from Moriko. "But before I go, a piece of advice for my host; my dear, you are doing well, but you need to relax a little. Your bonds have grown strong and you have their trust, you can at least discuss ideas, whether or not they co to be." Mordecai suspected that was a reference to the issue of Satsuki.
"Also," the manifested goddess continued, "an offer for you all; when you are done with your quest, I give Moriko permission to call upon like this, once, for a more thorough experience."
Which was an offer they were quite likely to accept at so point; few relationships would turn down a chance to include a manifestation of Sakiya being involved for a night.
She raised a finger as she said, "With an exception. That offer does not include Satsuki. I'm afraid Moriko will need to call upon a different aspect of for her. As for what that aspect is, this is sothing she needs to figure out, because she needs the understanding that will lead her to the answer. Now, do enjoy yourselves."
Sakiya's presence faded, but before the three of them could talk about the ramifications of what had just happened, Moriko had so needs for her spouses to help her with, though Mordecai's ability to participate was limited. For all that his body was fine, the experience of having two opposing bindings fighting each other in his mind and spirit had been exhausting and he didn't have the energy to be very active.
This did not stop Kazue and Moriko from coming up with so creative uses for him.
Later, after they'd had so rest, Moriko stirred slowly then said, "Well, I'm glad I thought to ask for so privacy; having you get 'sick' has made everyone nervous, but I was fairly certain that calling upon Lady Sakiya like that was going to be, mm, intense." She grinned at Kazue and Mordecai.
They both smiled back and Mordecai said, "Thank you love, that had to have been exhausting."
"You look pretty tired still, too," Kazue said as she poked him. "Alright, let's get cleaned up a little first, but you two stay here and rest after that; I'll go talk with everyone. Our other selves have already passed along that you are fine now, thanks to the earrings Fuyuko and Bellona have, but I think they'd all like to talk to one of us more directly."
She was right, of course, and after she left, Mordecai slept deeper and longer than this avatar normally would need to, happily curled up with Moriko. The familiars were allowed back in now, so Thunder and Lightning settled themselves upon the bed as well, providing extra weight to the blanket, though they both briefly complained about being kept out and how useful they were sure they could have been if anyone would have just let them.
The next day was a mix of teasing from the older mbers of their expedition and the younger folk willfully ignoring any hint that the adults might have been doing anything in particular. Not that it was sothing new really, but it was a little more obvious when it started with a brief visit from the goddess of passions.
By the ti the wagon started getting close to Dersuta's territory, Mordecai had given Moriko and Kazue a brief overview of the particular secrets he'd been forced to keep.
Moriko frowned and said, "Forgetting about the existence of an assassin's guild every ti you leave the area seems counterproductive."
Mordecai shook his head. "No, that's a clause only for people who aren't active mbers and are not currently running a mission for or with them. It reduces the chances of soone making a mistake."
Kazue looked uncomfortable when she asked, "So, you've done that then? Not just killed, but, you know."
He sighed and said, "Yes, but keep in mind that our guild is in service to Ozuran, not just contract killers. Much more ti is spent in training than on a mission; the order acts only when needed. In this case, we need to ensure the death of Dimitri; so while it is not being done stealthily, it is in effect an assassination mission, and one that qualifies to have the order assist us."
So of the things Ozuran had previously said made even more sense now. If Mordecai had called upon his god with direct prayer, then the order would have gotten involved as well as the church.
Carnelian Fla looked up at Kazue quizzically from her lap and asked, "That's what we're doing, right? Going to kill the guy who hurt Deidre? So it's the sa thing as what he's done before, right?" Thunder and Lightning nodded and chorused their agreent.
Dragons of all types did tend to be rather direct in how they handled certain problems.
Moriko sighed and said, "You guys aren't entirely wrong, but emotions and social expectations about things like killing other people are a lot more complicated. Hmm, you know how you guys love having all the different tasty foods, and things like silk blankets to curl up on, and having all the interesting people to watch and play with?"
She waited for their acknowledgnt before she continued. "That sort of thing requires having a society where people feel safe and are free to focus on crafts and art instead of survival. That ans there are rules, such as not stealing or hurting other people, and then rules about how to handle rule breakers and how to go about minimizing how much people have to break the rules to rein in the rule breakers. It gets complicated, and people tend to be uncomfortable when it gets to the point of simply having to trust soone else's judgnt about when it's necessary to break the rules."
The look that Moriko cast at him felt a little pointed, and was probably deserved. After all, it was Mordecai's poor judgnt and decisions that had caused the chain of events leading to his containnt.
Mordecai would always regret what he'd done and always grieve for the innocents that his actions had hard and killed. But that regret was also in conflict with his present life; despite his sins, Mordecai found himself surrounded by loving family and friends. He could never regret the existence of this present world, however much he might regret the actions that had caused it to co into being.
Kazue shrugged uncomfortably and said, "I guess, but I also just don't like violence. Er, I suppose it works as a starting point to understand people and society. But there's always a little more nuance, stuff that's hard to put into words. So, I guess you just need to experience the world more to really get it."
That was the start of a small, impromptu lesson in philosophy for the young carnivores, but that conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door of their cabin. They were getting close to the border of the southern nexus.
While his wives continued the lesson, Mordecai went topside to help with the navigation. Both their map and their ability to navigate by landmarks had limited precision, but Mordecai had keener senses than most and the magic to enhance his vision even more.
Based on research into the local customs, the group was headed toward the small outpost at the start of the path used by the nomadic tribes for warriors undergoing their first combat trial. Mordecai was fairly certain that even Derek was strong enough to take on the second trial alone, and as a group, the youngest of the party could take on at least the third trial, but skipping ahead would disrespect the local customs. Besides, they were probably going to diverge from the normal path anyway, so the starting point wouldn't be that much of an issue.
The wagon landed about a mile out from the outpost and continued at a slower-than-walking pace from there. This was not only easier on Zara and Tiros, it also made it clear that this was a peaceful approach.
At the outpost, Ricardo negotiated for rental space to secure the wagon; unlike in the city, there would be no one to watch the wagon once they left, so anything valuable would be secured in the larger expanded space.
It took a couple of hours to carefully unpack what they'd need from the wagon and repack it all for carrying while ensuring that all supplies were properly accounted for. Mordecai, Moriko, and Kazue then led the group across the border and into Dersuta's territory.
He could feel the nexus's attention imdiately focus on them. One thing that a nexus could never mistake was the presence of another nexus's avatar, and here there were two of them, along with three contractors. Even Haji's trick wouldn't disguise an avatar, though it could obfuscate what nexus the avatar belonged to and make it look weaker.
"Greetings, Nexus Dersuta," Mordecai said, though he made 'Dersuta' much quieter than everything else. The core would hear him, but Dersuta had gone to a fair amount of trouble to make his proper na unknown. "I am Mordecai, of the Azeria Mountain Nexus. This is my wife Kazue, also of the Azeria Mountain Nexus; my wife Moriko, our contractor; and our daughter Fuyuko, also a contractor. All those present are family, friends, or allies, and we have co with gifts for you. We would also like to speak with you or soone who can speak on your behalf before we begin our delve."
As they were outside of any shelter, the gift receiving area was a large and ornate stone table that was almost more like an altar; it was impossible to miss. All of them placed prepared bags containing a variety of gifts upon the table, thus officially releasing their ownership of the items and allowing the nexus to claim them even while people were close by.
The bags contained a variety of things, but the most nurous were biological samples from the many plants and creatures inside of Azeria, as those could be obtained without mana crafting them. It did not require much; a few hairs were more than enough for basic information, though they had included seeds for the plants, as living samples were always more useful.
In addition to what had been provided for each person to present, everyone had been encouraged to personalize their gift in so way. Mordecai had provided so of his own scales, as well as so from Haji that had been claid after their battle in the arena; Kazue had provided so of her books that had been hand copied by their inhabitants; and Moriko had made a slightly edited copy of the book her master provided her, to help guide her on becoming a priestess. He didn't know what others had added to their gifts, though he suspected Fuyuko had included sothing food-related, such as spices.
Then they waited for a response.
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