CH 22 - Joy

Gauss

I can't look at the boy without being filled with a rage passed down through generations, the very reason that the Empire decided to erase that beast from the history books. They never wanted the people to remember and keep that hate alive, because his power grew the more people feared him. I am one of few people in this world that does remember,and those atrocities can't just be forgiven, even if it wasn't he that did them. It was the same magic, and I find it hard to believe this is all a coincidence and not an ill omen of a second coming,

But still, Lord Henry and Lady Emilia trusted him, for whatever reason, and as such I found it quite difficult to actually kill the boy when he went psycho in the streets. Then I learned what had happened, and I understood him, if only slightly. If I had come home for a reunion to find a crime scene, I might not be so held together, either. So while the boy rests in the Asylum jail cells, Emilia watching over him as he sleeps, I go with Cass to investigate.

I figured we should start by finding the young man he nearly killed. The town guard informs me he is at the doctor's office, though it is serving as a makeshift morgue more than anything else. We walk into a lobby far too cold for visitors, and that's because there are five cadavers that still need looking over before they can be given a proper burial.

"Oh my gods," Cass says, covering her mouth in shock, though I remain composed.

I was already told that there have been a string of killings by the innkeep, though the commotion of the fight had drawn me away before I could learn more.

The nurse of the office sees us enter fairly quickly, rushing over to properly admit us. She is a cute, young, human lass with luscious thighs and delicate features. Her hair is a deep brunette, a chocolatey brown. I immediately go into charm mode.

"Oh, hello!" she exclaims, fumbling with a clipboard full of papers as she finds the form she is looking for. "Doctor Carnis is very busy as of late, but he will make time to see you when he can. If I can just get some information from you first, that will just speed things along."

I flash a warm smile, subtly looking her up and down. "No need, we aren't here for treatment. Rather, if it isn't too much to ask, I'd like to have a word with the lad that the doctor is currently with."

She blushes at my expression, and I see her shy away slightly, though not enough that she was trying to shut down my advances. "Oh, uh, I am not sure that's allowed, if you'd give me a moment to check…"

I produce my left wrist, where the pin of Lord Hera, a crowned pomegranate, is fastened to the lapel of my robe. "I am of the House of Hera, surely you can make an exception?" I give her my most smoldering look, gazing into her baby blue eyes whilst combing my hand through my hair. She melts beneath my golden, radiating presence.

She is flustered and bright red. It is an unknown side effect of my Blessing. I constantly emit a soft light that soothes others, with women having a particular susceptibility if they find me attractive, which many do. "Oh, dear gods, of course! Forgive me, sir, I had no idea!"

I put a finger beneath her chin, leaning in close, our lips almost touching. "It's fine. We only just arrived an hour or so ago. I couldn't possibly expect you to-"

I feel steel against my left ass cheek, peeping behind me to see Cass giving me a disapproving look as she puts the tip of her sword where it shouldn't be. "Really? We aren't here to get laid, dude."

I blush at being called out so brazenly, releasing the nurse. "Forgive me, I got carried away."

Cass sighs, and then turns to the nurse, who is holding her clipboard tight to her chest as she tries to collect herself. "Ma'am, could you please escort us to see this Dr. Carnis?"

She nods vigorously as she shakes off her flustered state. "Of course!"

She leads us behind the reception desk, through the double doors behind and inside into an examination/surgery room. The blonde boy is lying on his stomach on an operating table as a man in a white doctor's coat cleans and uses White magic to heal the multitude of slashes covering his entire body. I can tell that the wounds hadn't hit a single artery, didn't nick anything that would lead to death via blood loss. It is precision at its finest. It tells me that Dainn has an unnatural knowledge of the mortal body's weak points.

"Doctor," the nurse goes, though the man does not stop what he is doing for even a moment.

He does, however, sigh in aggravation before answering, or rather interrupting, her introduction. "Look, tell the guard I don't have time for any new victims. Besides that, if they read my latest report, then they'd know…" he trails off as he finally looks up and sees me and Cass. "Oh. You aren't with the guard. Are you with Lord Apollo, as well?" He gives a slight gesture to the boy on the table, who is awake and looking at us. He seems to recognize me, his eyes wide.

"Gauss? Gauss Lumos of Hera?"

I nod, and I try to put a name to his face, but come up blank. "Have we met before? If so, I'm sorry but I do not remember." He isn't a ward of the Lord Arthur Apollo, and certainly isn't a suitor for either of his straight sons, and his daughter is still just four years old.

He shakes his head, struggling to sit up, despite the doctor's protestations . He wears some boxer shorts, so he isn't completely indecent. "No, sir. I've done a few jobs for Lord Apollo in the past, and he's mentioned you in passing more than once. Apparently you won a few hearts of girls he had been trying to court?"

I shrug my shoulders in embarrassment, scratching the back of my head. "Friendly competition at some highly boring 'high class' parties, nothing more. So, is what the doctor is saying true? Did Apollo send you here?"

He gives me a grim look before telling me the story. Of how the killings have been going, how the investigation is at a loss on what to do, and how Apollo sent him here because apparently the first victims were…

"I see." I suddenly feared Dainn might throw another fit. One with far more death involved.

Dainn

"Am I dead?"

I am floating in an ethereal white space, and for a moment I wonder if Gauss knows a level of magic I've yet to learn, one that can send me to another realm. I guess there is the void, but this is very different. There is light in the void, but mostly shadows. Almost like being in a forest with light penetrating the branches, only there are no trees.

I wonder if Dainn knows of a Gold variant of the void, but that is very short lived.

Then I saw the woman. She is naked, but light and mist covers everything that might get this age restricted. She is beautiful, with curves that can only be described as 'ohmagawd wowsers'. I think the saying that best applies is that she is thiccc, no second part needed.

Her hair is a rainbow, and I don't mean multicolored, I mean an actual rainbow that flows from her scalp like a waterfall. Her eyes are literal starlight, and her smile radiates all the motherly love in existence.

"Uh, hi?" I don't know what to say. I don't usually find people stunning. I mean I can recognize beauty, but rarely does it leave me speechless. I look down at my feet in embarrassment, and I gasp.

I am not Dainn. I am Michael.

I don't understand. I am in my old body, late twenties and my hands are covered in blood, my knife once again in my possession. Darkness fills me, a mixture of homicidal race, self hate, disgust in everyone and everything.

I point my knife at her. "What is this? SEND ME BACK WITCH!"

She giggles, and I drop my knife. I find I can't maintain a rage before her. Is this magic? It was like, and don't ask me how I know this, but like how you feel bad for hurting your mother's feelings on accident.

"Calm yourself, Dainn. I am not your enemy. Besides, I am glad to see you prefer your new life."

My body shrinks, evident by her getting bigger before me, and I look down to see I am once again Dainn Blackguard. I can't explain the revulsion that went through me as I realized I was my old self, but it alleviates just as quickly.

"Where am I? Who are you?"

She pouts slightly. "Really, Dainn? You get a second life, with all your memories to guide you along, and you never once thought to seek enlightenment concerning such an obvious religious experience?"

That explains it. But wait, then would that mean…

"So I am dead? Did Gauss really kill me? I knew he hated me, but I didn't think he'd go that far."

She huffs in exasperation. "No, Dainn, you're not dead. I simply wanted to talk."

"Uhm, okay. So, you're one of the three gods of Elysia. If I have to guess I'd say you're Joy. I have a question, though I thought if I ever got to ask it, it'd be to Death."

Her eyes go dark, her smile growing bigger as she answers me before I can even ask. "Yes, Dainn, I am the one that killed you."

What? My question was still on my lips, I had been planning to ask who killed me, and she just says she did out of nowhere? I mean, she is a divine being, and mind reading is to be expected, but the audacity to just confess.

"You? Why? I can't imagine Joy being bloodthirsty. Maybe Death, hell I can even see Order doing it, but you?"

"You really haven't been to church, have you?"

I groan. "No, I haven't. The hypocrisy of my old world and its numerous, corrupt religious institutions kind of left a bad taste in my mouth." I considered asking her which religion was correct, but her very existence kind of answered it for me.

She gives an understanding nod before continuing, "Well, Death's job is to ensure the progression of life to its inevitable end. He wants people to die, and would have been glad to let you work to your twisted heart's content. Order, on the other hand, is there to keep me, Death, and the world in check and running functionally. He would have only acted if you had been at the point of wiping all humans out, and while you would have hit numbers in the thousands, you were never quite a walking calamity. Not with the limitations of that world.

"Meanwhile, I am all about ensuring the most people have the best time, even if that means some select few suffer, or in your case, get put down like a fucking rabid pup."

I wince at her cheerful hate. It really sounds like she is justifying cruelty in the world, so long as fifty point zero one percent of people were happy. Majority rules and all that nonsense.

Wait, did she just say I would have killed thousands. Why does that warm my corrupted soul?

"Would I really have been that bad?"

Her face goes sad, and she rests her cheek in one of her palms. "Well, let me give you a rundown of what we saw. After that night you would have fled, eventually deciding on going overseas, where after a month and some rumors you allowed yourself to be captured by a terrorist group.

"You endured a year of torture, all while laughing that you'd never expose state secrets you did not even have, all so they'd keep you alive as you learned their weaknesses. Eventually you learned enough, and so, after slaughtering them all in one night, you launched missiles they had stolen at the homes of some of the most wealthy, politically corrupt, and criminal kingpins alive. Basically, you declare war on the world, starting a new type of war that was a combination of a world war and cold war.

"You then evade every attempt on your life through cunning, traps, and sometimes almost supernatural determination. You did this even as you targeted the people that controlled resources, trade, basically everything that held society together. You were a virus of darkness and despair, with no victim out of reach forever. So, while you could never kill everyone, what you would have left behind when you decided you were done would have been a world in tatters. I think it's pretty understandable why I gave the pedo a gun."

My head is spinning. I went global? Or would have, at least. The amount of blood I had in my future. I feel regret to know for sure just how much was taken from me.

No! I'm not that monster! I shake the thoughts out of my head.

"Honestly," she continues as if we were simply having a casual brunch conversation, "I had my reservations about bringing you to Elysia for a second chance, but I must say, you've done better than I could have expected so far! Too bad it won't last."

"What?" I feel a cold sensation run through my body. Was she threatening me or warning me? "Why not?"

She looks at me with a minor surprise, before brushing it off and waving dismissively. "Oh, you know, because he is going to return soon."

"He? Who? Where? When? Tell me and I can stop it! I have the power, the skill, the imagination! Just tell me and I'll make it last!"

She tuts disapprovingly. "I can't do that, because if I did, then it wouldn't be true anymore. I can give you vagueness all day long, baby boy, but specific details will alter the future to the point that I would have basically just lied by telling the truth. No, you can stop it, but only by not doing the thing you will do when you have to do a thing to stop some things, you follow?"

I scowl as my head starts to throb from that inane ramble. "Absolutely not."

She shrugs, "Well, you got a year to figure it out, hun," she pauses, looks off as if she is wondering if she should have said that, and then shrugs again to herself. "Hopefully you will save her."

My pupils become pinpoints, my body shakes and goes hot, and a singular determination fills me. "Tell me how."

"You know how, but it's difficult, isn't it. You know it'll scare her, possibly away forever. But I guess that's the decision you need to make."

"What? What! Stop being so damn vague!"

"You'll lose her either way, Dainn. You will need to decide if she'll be alive when it happens."