Chapter 72: Where I Fit

  At the same time, after Tessa had finally come to her senses inside Tiara following a long, exhausting night of struggling to keep herself under control with Vessikar, and after she had already begun her first day in Tiara without the Princes, Marie stood atop the newly formed keep. One hand rested against the cold stone of the battlement as she looked down over the fortress below.

  It was still hard to believe it was real.

  Demonic soldiers moved along the walls, clad in almost black armor, their weapons shimmering faintly as they took up their positions. Others carried supplies into the freshly raised buildings that had emerged from nothingness. It was a strange sight. The Princess had been the first demon Marie had ever seen in her life, and now she found herself standing in the middle of a fortress filled with more and more of them.

  Marie watched them quietly, her thoughts drifting far away, untethered from the person she used to be.

  When the buildings had first erupted from the earth, Marie and the other cultists ran out of their new home in a rush as the ground began to shake. They stood together in the clearing, staring up at the sky, watching the Princess hover above the lake with her wings spread wide.

  And in that moment, Marie didn’t see a demon when she looked at the Princess. There was something more behind it. The magic the Princess had cast felt like something taken straight out of old legends or fairy tales, nothing that should’ve been possible in the world as she knew it. She wasn’t sure anymore whether the Princess was simply a Demon, or a greater Demon like Lord Igrath, or something that could be explained so easily at all.

  When the Princess began to cast her magic, it felt as if reality itself bent beneath her will. It was also a reminder of how quickly things had spiraled out of control, raising a question Marie could no longer ignore. What exactly had they summoned? How was it even possible that they had managed to bring someone like the Princess into this world? How could something like this exist at all? Had they summoned some kind of goddess?

  Only a few days had passed since the ritual, and yet every new day felt more unreal than the last. There were more signs that reality itself twisted in the Princess’s presence, and Marie should know. After all, she had received a class tied directly to the Princess herself. Or rather, she had been given a choice between three options, and she had chosen what seemed like the safest one, while at the same time being the riskiest bet.

  [Handmaiden of the Abyss (Cultist Witch)].

  Her new class had scared her at first, but Marie had always followed the witch path, so it was also the one she felt most comfortable with. And normally, she should have been happy about it. A [Rare] class evolution was something most people could only dream of, something they might achieve only after reaching a high enough level, usually somewhere between level 200 and 300.

  But there was also the matter of her identity.

  When Marie had opened her status, it was no longer just a few lines stating that she was a [Cultist] [Acolyte] and listing her level. This time, there was a full class description—something that only came with a rare class. And it stated clearly that she would lose her identity to the Abyss, because she had chosen this path… Sure, it also said that she wouldn’t simply vanish, and that she would become something else instead. But that sounded far too ominous. And what did that even mean, really?

  At the moment, Marie didn’t feel very different. There was only a strange dullness to her emotions. Anger, fear, and even panic felt muted somehow. When she’d been angry at Sevrin, it hadn’t felt like her anger at all. It had felt more like watching another version of herself standing beside her, feeling it in her place.

  Is that really a bad thing? Marie wondered while trying to memorize the layout of the new fortress.

  The fortress was enormous, especially since the massive walls enclosed even the whole lake. She didn’t know exactly how many new people had joined them with the stronghold, only that some kind of garrison was now under the command of Lord Igrath. But since she didn’t see hundreds of people moving around, she knew they were still far too few for such a huge fortress.

  That was why she’d come up here in the first place. Her original plan had been to get a proper overview of the whole fortress while standing atop the keep, to spot points that might need improvement later. She wanted to understand what they were dealing with. But the open view and the fresh air made the task harder than she’d expected. Being alone up here meant being alone with her thoughts, and for the first time since everything had happened, she had the space to think things through.

  Marie sighed softly and watched Sharen and Tristan walking along one of the new stone paths connecting the buildings below. She lifted her gaze, following the massive black walls. Then her eyes wandered upward, toward the lucid flag hovering over the fortress, glowing faintly against the sky. And her thoughts began to circle again.

  When she’d been given the choice of a class evolution that evening, she’d read the warning about identity. She knew it had been there. But at the time, she hadn’t really had a choice. Everything had happened too fast, and she hadn’t been given the time to properly think it through. So, she’d chosen what felt most logical in that moment.

  Now, with distance and quiet, she wasn’t so sure anymore.

  Because it raised questions, she hadn’t been ready to face back then.

  What is identity, really?

  Is it the sum of everything you’ve experienced so far? Is it your beliefs? Your choices?

  Or is it just a frame you’re born into, something you were never meant to escape?

  And what is “me”? Am I the same person every day?

  Or am I already someone new every time I wake up?

  There were no real answers to those questions for Marie, but asking them still felt necessary. Because in the end, they helped her reach a simple conclusion.

  It didn’t really matter.

  Marie had always been who her circumstances had decided she needed to be. As a child, she had been the sweet noble daughter, sheltered and carefree, with no real worries in life. When she left her home as a teenager, after her father betrayed his only daughter in favor of some illegitimate child following her mother’s death, she adapted. She became a street kid, scraping by, craving a place where she belonged.

  When she met Sevrin, she changed again, growing into a new role as they shared a dream of a better life together. At first, their cult had probably been nothing more than an escape, a substitute for the harshness of the streets. But it hadn’t stayed that way. It had grown into something more.

  Her identity shifted again when she became a [Cultist]. She hadn’t fully realized it at the time, but now she was certain of it. Her values had changed. Her view of the world had changed. Her goals, her beliefs, even her hatred had shifted. The anger she once felt toward her father and his new wife had transformed into something broader, into resentment toward a society that had cast her aside.

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  So yes, it was true. It didn’t really matter whether those questions had clear answers or not. Change was fundamental to life. And maybe identity, in the end, wasn’t some fixed core at all. Maybe it was simply the place in the world where she felt she fit.

  Marie inhaled deeply, filling her lungs with the cold, fresh air. Over the years, she had found a new family more than once, and again and again, she had carved out a new place for herself. She could do it again. She would do it again.

  She would carve herself a place in this new world that was forming right in front of her eyes.

  And with that, Marie pushed the thoughts aside.

  Looking down again, tracing the newly formed paths with her eyes to memorize them better, Marie’s gaze eventually landed on the Princess’s mansion. It was a beautiful building, still impressive even now, despite the massive fortress surrounding it and the equally imposing forge of Lord Igrath standing beside it.

  Marie had actually wanted to speak with the Princess in private. Not only because she needed to talk to her about the supplies, since she had been tasked with getting an overview of them, which had become far more complicated now that an entire fortress and a full garrison had appeared, but also because she wanted to ask her about her new class. After all, it was completely tied to the Princess herself, and maybe she had her own thoughts about it.

  Unfortunately, Marie hadn’t had a chance to see her since the incident with Sevrin and his possession. After that, the only time she had seen the Princess again was yesterday from afar, when she had summoned the fortress.

  It doesn’t help, she sighed inwardly. I’m not important enough to just bother her… at least this isn’t an emergency.

  Still… I really wonder why she didn’t show up today. I thought she would at least show her new apprentice her… how did she call it again? Ah, right. Her base.

  Well, it didn’t help to dwell on it.

  Marie forced herself to look away from the mansion and began walking slowly across the keep toward the other side, her eyes settling on the massive gates of the fortress instead. The keep stood on the southern side of the lake, while the Princess’s mansion lay farther east, almost northeast from Marie’s viewpoint. And the enormous gates of the fortress marked the southernmost point of the entire structure.

  At the gates, she spotted four soldiers taking up lookout positions. It was still strange to see actual demonic soldiers, or better Demonkind soldiers. Because Demonkind were different from true Demons like the Princess or Lord Igrath. Marie hadn’t really studied demonology in depth, but even she knew that Demonkind were far more closely related to humans or elves than to true demons.

  They had once lived on Pangrea, long before the Church of Light had driven them out. Most people mixed up the terms anyway, calling Demons Demonkind and Demonkind Demons without distinction. But Marie remembered from her school days, back when she had still been a noble child, that Demonkind had once been one of the four major populations of Pangrea. They had ruled nations deep in the south, and in the north they had once been even more common than elves were today.

  Now, they were considered extinct. Only their distant relatives, the true Demons, were still known to appear on Pangrea through summonings. At least until now.

  Marie watched the soldiers for a moment longer, then turned to continue toward the western side of the keep. She had only taken a few steps when something at the gate caught her attention again. There was sudden movement. The soldiers raised their weapons, and calling out warnings as they prepared themselves.

  She didn’t wait to get a better view from her vantage point. Everything around the fortress was still forest, and from up here it was almost impossible to see what was happening beyond the gate. So instead, she decided to head there herself.

  There were several possibilities for who might be standing outside. The lucid flag hovering above the fortress was visible for miles, like a beacon that could attract anyone in the area. On top of that, Cale had left before the fortress had even existed. And in the end, she couldn’t quite judge how the soldiers would react to unexpected visitors yet. At least Sevrin was still in bed, so he wouldn’t be a problem for now. She really hoped he’d be more himself again once he felt better.

  She almost jumped down the stairs of the keep, then broke into a jog toward the gate.

  One of the soldiers was already waiting there. When he saw her, he straightened and saluted.

  “Lady Cultist! We’ve already sent someone to inform Lord Igrath. There are visitors at the gate!”

  “Visitors? Who are they?” Marie asked, still moving as she headed toward the stairs leading up into the gatehouse above.

  Please let it be Cale with the Conclave, she thought.

  But her hope was crushed when the soldier behind her spoke again.

  “They’re envoys of Duke Valtiara.”

  Of course, Valtiara. The problems were already knocking at the gate. Hadn’t the Princess claimed Tiara as her own city? Marie hadn’t been there herself since then, but Tiara was still, at least formally, the capital of the Duchy of Valtiara. Envoys from the Duke wouldn’t be amused by that. Even less so when they discovered a massive new fortress standing inside one of their forests.

  She reached the gatehouse, where two more soldiers were already positioned, looking down through the opening at a group of armored men waiting below. They nodded to her when she entered.

  In that moment, Marie was oddly grateful that the regular soldiers had already accepted the cultists as part of the hierarchy. If they’d treated her like a random civilian, it would’ve caused an entirely new set of problems.

  She stepped up to the opening and looked down at the men below.

  “If you know what’s good for you,” she called out, “I suggest you turn around and leave.”

  For a moment, no one answered. The group at the gate consisted of ten armored men, well equipped, their tabards bearing the sigil of the Duchy of Valtiara. They looked up at her, then past her, their gazes drifting to the walls, the towers, and finally to the faintly glowing flag hovering above the fortress.

  One of them stepped forward, clearly forcing confidence into his posture.

  “We followed that glowing banner,” he said loudly, pointing up at the lucent flag. “It appeared overnight inside Valtiaran territory. You will explain who you are and why an armed fortress has been raised in the Duke’s forest.”

  Marie rested her hands on the stone edge, leaning forward.

  “You’re standing at the gates of a sovereign domain,” she replied. “This fortress answers to the Princess of the Xares Empire. You have no authority here.”

  That earned a ripple of unease among the envoys. A few of them glanced at one another, whispering under their breath. While they did, more soldiers from the garrison arrived behind Marie, steadily filling the gatehouse. Then a deep, resonant voice cut through the murmurs.

  “Lady cultist. Do we have a problem here?”

  Marie turned as a broad-shouldered Demonkind stepped forward. He wore heavy plate armor layered with arcane inlays that glowed faintly between the seams. Thick gauntlets and a reinforced cuirass were carved with demonic runes, and a focus crystal set into his chest pulsed with contained magic. The hellfire battlemage of the garrison.

  Marie nodded calmly. “I hope not,” she said. “We just have some visitors.”

  Since the soldiers all had worn helmets, the envoys didn’t notice earlier but since the battlemage had arrived, they could see, that the garrison wasn’t human at all.

  “These… these aren’t human soldiers,” one of the men whispered.

  “No,” Marie said, hearing him clearly. “They’re not.”

  The lead envoy clenched his jaw. “That doesn’t change the fact that this fortress is illegal. Valtiara never granted permission for this construction. If you think the Duke will tolerate this—”

  “The Princess doesn’t ask for permission,” Marie interrupted. Her voice stayed level, but something cold crept into it. It felt wrong to her when someone dared to question the authority of the Princess to her. So, Marie decided to go all in. “Tiara has already fallen under her authority. This land followed.”

  Silence stretched between them. The envoys exchanged uneasy looks, whatever resolve they had arrived with beginning to crack under the weight of the fortress and the presence of its foreign soldiers.

  Finally, the lead envoy raised a hand.

  “We’ll withdraw,” he said stiffly. “For now. But don’t mistake this for surrender. The Duke of Valtiara will hear of this. And he will return with an army to reclaim what you’ve stolen.”

  Marie straightened.

  “Then bring him,” she replied. “But don’t come back pretending you weren’t warned.”

  The gate remained closed as the envoys turned away, their pace quickening as they vanished back into the forest.

  Marie exhaled slowly, watching until they were gone. Around her, the Demonkind soldiers remained at their posts, unmoving.

  “So,” she muttered under her breath, “that didn’t take long.”

  Marie turned to the mage at her side and decided this was a good opportunity not to make the report alone. “Care to come with me and report this to Lord Igrath? Since he isn’t here already, we should inform him about the incoming army,” she said with a quiet sigh.

  The battlemage grinned, clearly amused. “I hope they’re stronger than this lot,” he replied casually. “I could’ve incinerated all of them with my left pinky toe. But of course, Lady Cultist, I’ll come along.”

  He turned toward another soldier. “You. Report to the Centurion immediately.”

  And with that, they left the gatehouse together, to report what had happened and prepare for what would come next.