Chapter 54. Completely stable.

"So, what do you think?" Everly asked Grail after the meeting. "He looks wonderful, doesn't he?"

They stood on a balcony outside the memory palace, which overlooked the swirling darkness of the void beneath them. Everly had asked Grail to stop by to offer an opinion on a little project she was working on. He came as requested but was unsettled to see that she appeared to be sculpting a monster of some sort.

Everly had announced earlier that she was going to begin spending more time physically inside the memory palace. There were things she wanted to do that could only be done here, away from the sight of outsiders. Eris and Titania were pleased by her decision, but Grail wondered if she was being completely honest.

Although he would never say so aloud, he suspected that Everly didn't want to sleep inside her father's house. The very house where she had disposed of that unfortunate friend she'd made, two months earlier.

Did she feel guilty over that bloody decision? Grail himself had been furious when he learned what she'd done. He understood her reasoning but there were surely other methods they could have tried first. Murder didn't have to be the first solution.

That was the problem with serving Everly. She was becoming a creature of impulsivity. Nothing had yet appeared that could thwart her, so she was quickly losing her sense of restraint. When restraint left you, patience and tolerance were swift to follow. Without those three virtues to constrain her, Everly would swiftly devolve into a self-indulgent tyrant.

That was a scenario that was best avoided for everyone.

The sight of Everly's new creation was an unpleasant one. It was the nightmarish image of a man slowly decaying into a rotting corpse. Everly seemed to be shaping him out of the air itself; he wore a rusting suit of mail and carried a chipped sword. Half of his face was still hale and young, but the other side was a bloody display of exposed gore and sinew.

What was worse, Grail realized, were the creature's eyes. They met his own and trembled in watery misery. The poor bastard knew what he was. He had awareness.

"He's beautiful, isn't he?" Everly asked Grail. "I like the expressions he makes. The sounds are fun too. You know, taking him apart and reassembling him was a lot like putting together a plastic model. Wasn't it, Kel?" she asked her subject.

"Who?" Grail wondered.

"Don't you remember? This is Sir Kelton," Everly told him. "The kind knight who escorted me home. I'm repaying him for his service and his gentle manners. Eris made a copy of his mind earlier for her rat room, but I wanted the real one to play with. You know, for authenticity."

"What have you done to him?" Grail asked, aghast at the sight of the tortured being.

"I'm building a better zombie," she informed him. "Transforming him into something precious and unique. Besides, he's helping me troubleshoot a few minor issues I noticed a while back, when you raised the dead at Bremburg."

"What issues?" Grail wondered. "The corpses I used were perfectly sufficient for the task. As I recall, they turned the tide of the battle."

"It's true," Everly agreed. "But the process was so messy. The undead were fearless and relentless, but the visual aesthetics left a lot to be desired. Broken bones and gore everywhere. Good results in a fight aren't the only outcome I desire."

"Did you take notes?" Grail asked with bemusement.

"Of course, I did," Everly replied at once. "You see, the immediate problem I noticed when raising the dead, is that they smelled terribly! Their odor is completely nauseating!"

"Well, yes," Grail said. "They're dead. One shouldn't expect them to smell of roses and lilacs."

"Yeah, but even the fresher ones were tough to endure," Everly said. "Dead people release their bowels, Grail! They made horrible messes all over themselves. It was awful."

"Grotesque biology often comes with participating in a major battle," Grail said with a shrug. "That's one of the reasons I always preferred to eat after I fought."

"A habit that I believe I'll adopt for myself," Everly said sagely.

"A wise decision, my Empress. But why concern yourself with such matters? When people gather in mass, issues of sanitation are inevitable. Especially for fighting men, alive or dead."

"Sure, that makes sense," Everly replied. "But who cares about what makes sense? Shouldn't necromancy be about more than what's expected? You Inheritors are essentially undead, but you're far superior to any human being other than me."

"True, but that's only because you personally created us," Grail said. He then gestured towards Kelton. "These creatures are just rank-and-file disposable shock troopers. Who cares how they turn out? Or how they look or smell? They exist merely to provide a numerical advantage and to terrify your foes."

"That's mean, Grail," Everly replied. "Even these hopeless, moldering little nothings should aspire to be more than mere fodder. They exist to enforce my dream! That gives them great value in my eyes. And anything I value should be regarded as a work of art."

Everly affectionately brushed her hand against the ghoul's cheek. In response, the wretched creature murmured incoherently and sighed with pleasure at her touch.

"Another problem that I've noticed with using corpses," Everly continued, "is that fresh or old, they just don't have the necessary durability for sustained combat. So, my new idea is to create beings with the appearance of the undead, but who are quite alive and far more useful. Like Kelton here!"

"Why is he still alive?" Grail asked with revulsion. "Everly, why would you trap a man's soul in this…form?"

"He had an entire day to apologize for how he spoke to me," Everly said indifferently.

"Did you ask him for an apology?"

"Grail! If I have to explain the rules to every insignificant participant in my story, then I'll be doing it until I'm an old woman!" Everly said irritably. Then she returned to the main topic.

"These new foot soldiers will look like zombies but possess far greater strength and intelligence. And to really make it unfair, they'll be fast too! Capable of independent thought. Their prey will need to be on their toes to avoid these abominable little darlings."

"So, I take it these new un-zombies won't be motivated by a single-minded desire to consume the flesh of the living?" Grail wondered.

"Goodness, no, Grail," Everly said with an aghast expression on her face. "How I possibly remove such a classic feature? No, they'll still be utter cannibals. They just won't be weak against silly things like closed doors and holy magic. Sir Kelton over here will be the first of thousands to come."

"Mother," the horrifying creature gently whispered, as Everly continued to stroke its face.

"God, Everly," Grail said with some unease. "Aren't you ever worried that you'll go too far?"

"No. I don't worry about anything," Everly said. She leaned over to whisper something into Kelton's ear. He nodded and shuffled into the memory palace leaving the two of them alone.

"Where's he going?" Grail asked.

"To wait in the dark for his siblings to join him," Everly answered. "What do you think, Grail? Will ten thousand do for a start or should I be more ambitious?"

"In a better world, the answer would be zero."

"There's no world better than this," Everly said. She stepped over to the balcony and stared down below at the utter emptiness swirling below. The endless depths of the void that comprised the astral realm.

"Look at all that wonderful nothing," she said as she gestured below. "How far do the depths reach, I wonder? You know, despite the immense satisfaction I feel in having created this palace, it's a little humbling to realize that despite my efforts, the emptiness of non-existence will always be greater than anything I can ever build."

"I find it…terrifying," Grail admitted as he joined her in looking down into the maw of darkness. "The notion of being swallowed into the abyss, of being of no greater value to the universe than a mote of dust. I can't abide it. Lives need to matter more than that."

"Really?" Everly asked. "Thoughts like that make most people turn to religion. But you're not a humble believer so far as I can tell, are you?"

"I dislike easy answers," Grail replied. "I can accept not being meant to know everything. Can we ever truly know the meaning of why we exist? That's a question for which we'll never have a satisfying answer. I choose not to let thoughts of it consume me. I'm alive and that's enough."

"Tch. How very Zen," Everly said teasingly. "Grail, that's the same as finding comfort by ignoring reality. Like a child pretending they'll live forever if they never think about dying. You're just avoiding the scary part to maintain your dignity."

"Perhaps, that's so," Grail replied. Then he said, "Everly, I had a confrontation with your father earlier today."

"I figured," Everly said.

"You knew? Were you watching me?"

"No. When I went to wish him a good night, I noticed his study was destroyed. Did you throw him out a window?"

"Through it, actually," Grail corrected her.

"Oh. Defenestration. Very nice. How did it feel?"

"So, very, very satisfying," Grail admitted.

"Good. I'm glad you two are getting along," Everly grinned.

"Aren't you going to ask who we fought over?"

"No. I can hazard a guess."

"You can't trust him, Everly."

"Hmm. You do keep saying that," she said thoughtfully as she continued to lean over the railing. Then, she suddenly leaped on top of it, and sat down with her feet kicking out and dangling above the endless nothing.

"Everly?" Grail said in alarm.

"It's the oddest thing, Grail," Everly said with a look on her face like that of a child trying to figure out where a puzzle piece is supposed to go. "I occasionally get these urges, that I find simply irresistible! Out of nowhere, I'll get these thoughts that I just can't get rid of. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does…I can't help but give in. I'm helpless against them."

Now Everly stood on the railing. Although her balance was perfect, her positioning was still precarious. She began to walk along it from left to right, as though she were using playground equipment.

"It's funny," she continued. "There I was, enjoying meeting my family and making plans and relishing the fun to come, and even enjoying this conversation with you, when suddenly I felt the most peculiar urge to hurl myself from this perilous height, just to see if I'd die."

"Everly? What do you mean?" Grail asked. He couldn't believe she was doing this without an ounce of fear in her.

"It's difficult for me to describe," Everly smiled. "You know, it's like a sudden desire for a sweet snack, or buying something impulsively. I get these images in my mind and it's all so…compelling. Wouldn't it be funny if I died here and now, Grail?"

"I don't think it would be funny at all, Everly," Grail said cautiously as he slowly inched closer towards her.

"How strange, because I think it would be hilarious! To have all these lofty aspirations only to suddenly spiral out into spectacular self-destruction because of an unexpected urge for self-annihilation. Oh, Grail, I would so very much like to be destroyed. After all, a villain's ultimate goal is to be defeated. What if the only means by which I'll meet my destiny is by my own hand? Ha, that's so interesting, isn't it?"

"Everly, please step back down before you—EVERLY!" Grail shouted when his mistress winked at him and let herself fall backward.

Moving faster than any mortal man could, Grail leaned over the railing in less than a heartbeat and grabbed Everly by her hand before she could continue to fall.

Dangling at the end of his hand, Everly laughed with childish delight and cheered excitedly. "Grail! You caught me!"

"What the hell are you DOING?" he bellowed angrily at her.

"I have no idea," she laughed happily with a rosy blush on her cheeks. "It just seemed like the right thing to do in that moment," she said. "I'm glad I got that itch scratched, in any case. Pull me up?"

"You psychotic little imp!" Grail said furiously after getting her back to safe ground. "Why would you do such a thing? Don't you care about anyone other than yourself?"

"Who can say?" Everly asked with an innocent shrug of her shoulder. "Heh, you're a lot faster than you used to be."

"Think of a better answer than that!" Grail yelled.

"I'm sowwy. Don't be angwy at me," Everly said mockingly before suddenly giving Grail a tight hug. "You caught me though! That's why you're here. You're the one who'll always catch me, aren't you, Grail?"

Grail said nothing in reply, stunned into silence by her words. Instead, he stood there quietly, letting her embrace him.

"I…I'll try, Everly. I'll always try," he eventually said to her.

"I know you will, Grail," she said before looking up to meet his gaze. "You're just too good of a person not to."

"You don't make it easy," he said gruffly.

"Would it be any fun if I did?" she asked him.

Then she smiled at him brightly, and it was as though all the stars in the sky shone for her alone.

Gods, I'm really trapped with this selfish little monster, aren't I? he thought somberly to himself.

"Yeah, you are," she said happily as she gave him another hug. "You love it, though."

"Stop reading my thoughts," he demanded.

"I'll consider it," she said non-committedly.