Raki Za'Darmondiel.
***
I heard her words as clearly as one would hear a spider skittering over stone, yet my ears were rendered mute by the pain. 'Sink or swim.' Although I was unfamiliar with such a phrase, it did not take long to discern its meaning. The method, however, was another story.
Her bite was like a venom both warm and cold to my flesh. Cold in the sense of my bones becoming rigid, cracked, and reformed under the immense pressure of her jaws while my flesh burned and expanded beyond its limits from the venom she injected into me.
The pain of a stab increased those sensations tenfold. The feeling of a hand writhing inside my innards increased it by a thousand, leaving me lost in an infinite expanse of blue water, bubbling and rushing to fill my lungs with the tepid waters of the abyss.
I was not fated to die in such a way. I refused to die in this way just as her cold voice said. And so, I struggled, and it was those throes that sealed my pact, signaling the great black and white behemoth to devour me wholly and disappear the heat and cold; the pain, the pressure; the water in my lungs, and the abyssal sea occluding my mind.
Gone in an instant and replaced with a comfort I never knew before, those things were; a sense of ease and relaxation, warm and radiant against a harsh, cold reality.
I was home, I realized. Inside of Rippa just as Rippa was inside of me.
Rippa.
I knew not how I was aware of that name, only that it sounded so nice alongside mine. Rippa Raki. Raki, the Rippa. The way it rolled off the tongue was… savory. Splendid. Almost… ferrous. Like…
I came to my senses to find blood in and around my mouth, my hands, and elsewhere, with scraps of dark, bloody meat strewn out before me. What was worse, the taste was greater than anything I'd sampled before.
I took another bite or two to gather my wits and looked around to find I was in a grand hall of basalt and bronze, expansive and yet barren of anything but the table I sat before and the several faces I both knew and had never seen.
"Welcome to the Orcinus Mafia, Raki Rippa." Blude lowered her head respectfully.
Slowly, I set my platter of liver down and cleaned myself as best as possible, feeling around for any trace of Zimysta or the life I had known. "Where am I?"
"You've died and gone to heaven." The tallest and lankiest of them- Sam, snickered.
"I am in no mood for jests, Sam," I said calmly.
"Only a partial jest." She gestured around the spacious hall. "This isn't heaven. It's your home."
"You disrespected the Prime Matriarch." The other one- Redd said. "You died for that. But for those dealing with the Elven Devil's Troupe, death is but a door, and you've walked through it."
"I am your undying slave then?"
"Most certainly not." Blude scoffed in disgust. "Just like you chose to disrespect me, you chose to take this new life and join my Pod of Pods instead of dying. If you want to renege I can pry Rippa's soul from yours and leave you dead in the water."
"Quite the choice indeed." I huffed, slightly amused.
"You can always pray to your spider to help you." The emerald-eyed devil snickered at the missing brooch around my neck. Yet, no matter how much I wanted to get angry, I could not.
"I… no longer feel her."
"Yeah…" She sighed. "Makes you wonder if she was truly there to begin with. Especially once you notice what's in there now."
I could feel what she was speaking of. Not just power within me or the presence of divine beings around me. I could feel the memories. Memories of being young in a vast sea, trailing the mirror of this woman before me- Chako, Rippa's mother. Memories of peering through the darkness to see the light that was Amun, changing beings and the world around him wherever he went. Scheming, just as we drow did, or rather like devils, but for the sake of goals that lay centuries or millennia ahead, and for things we couldn't begin to fathom.
That brought about something worrying, however; The being born into this cruel reality at my side.
"If you're worried about Ruel, don't be," Blude said, gesturing to a mirror that showcased my sister with that large woman and her canines; creatures I now knew to be celestials like Geri in the same bestial shape I could take up; only of a different species, and of a different nature. I needed no further explanations, for I knew their meeting would be virtually identical to mine, thus I turned my mind toward the most pressing matter.
"How do you know her name?" I asked, half-knowing the answer.
"Your brother told us." She offhandedly said, waving her arm to release a field of scrying bubbles; the most prominent of them being the sight of Abbot Eiriol eating a strange mushroom and another of Etan, chained and shackled in a red pit I'd only heard tales of.
"I'm sure you know about Abbot Eiriol telling Amun that Etan was born to be the Eternal Champion's teacher," Blude said. "He agreed to be led by Amun and extended his teaching to Amun's Legions, making them, in his words, 'Worthy of serving the Eternal Champion.' And so, Etan accompanied us on our journey across the Peninsula to recruit the rest of the Troupe. That is to say, he became one of us- the Eternal Champion's Champion, the Abyssal Regent.
"And so, we know all that he knows about this place. We know of the Houses and their rules. The 8th House of Jusztiir raids the surface the most and has the most goblin slaves. The 7th House of Yril'Lysaen has demonic blood. The 6th House of Abaeir are the keepers of the Great Woven Yards. The 5th House of Hun'ana has the largest industry. House Illistyn, the 4th House, are archivists- record keepers. The 3rd House of Noqutyl has the most witches and wizards. House Casia-Psellus is the wealthiest, with the most trade agreements. House Za'Darmondiel is the eldest in all the realm, descended from the Goddess herself.
"We know of the first daughter, High Priestess Nadra, and her children, all priestesses and monks. The same goes for the second daughter, Yela, except her second daughter, Daulery." She pointed, bringing to bear a scrying bubble showing the moments preceding that blue wave of silent death. "We even know of your older sister, Mala, and the anger she holds within her for having her power exploited. We know of the fourth daughter, Ilar, and her brood of artificers, monks, and rogues. We know of you, the twins, Raki and Ruel; paladins in training who manage the domestic and worker slaves respectively. We know of Eban, the Heart Keeper, an Archmage who is bitter because he's only recognized as a witch. We know of 'Two-Heart' and we know of Selph.
"We've had our eyes on you ever since. I've had my eye on you ever since, Raki. And though I planned for it, I hoped we would make it here under different circumstances."
"The circumstance of our meeting is irrelevant now," I said. "We are here. I only care that my sister avoids whatever fate is in store for Zimysta Falls."
For the first time since I met her, Blude genuinely smiled as she held out her hand. "That was the condition Etan gave Amun before he joined- that we help him free his family; so that you may witness Amun's march across the Mortal Plane alongside him. Your sister is fine, I can promise you that. Now come. Allow me to tell you of your second family."
With those words, I was guided through this maze of basalt and bronze via swimming- an effect of this blessed curse inflicted on me. If I choose, water could become like air and air like water. When submerged, I could breathe and not get wet while in the air I could kick and pull myself through space; easily done but with not as much fluidity as they- the Orcinus Mafia; my… sisters.
The further we went the more I realized the true scale of this empty complex- Rippa's body-turned-undying machine. She now existed as a part of me and I within her, reconstructed into a vessel capable of traversing any realm in luxury.
In a way, it was much like the caverns of the Darkworld. Rooms and pathways were formless, following natural curves and slopes dictated by veins and arteries rather than sporadic sprawl of civilization, with as much of a vertical orientation as a horizontal one due to the incredible volumes of stone and glass borne from blubber and muscle. The spine was made into a grand expressway running the length of the body, with moving staircases and lifts leading down to the various caverns born from the organs, now hollowed and layered to create vast complexes and annexes.
I knew not what to fill such a sacred place with. Not until I was brought to what used to be the brain of this divine creature. To enter it, I was instructed to push open a vaulted door of bronze that stood to the ceiling. Even being stronger than male drow, I believed it an impossible task; therein brought a moment of surprise when the door bulged with the slightest touch, opening up what I assumed to be a throne room.
Vast windows, rounded as a shield looked down on an elaborate throne set before a desk of finely crafted wood, casting the deep haze of the blue abyss onto the wide space of couches, vacant shelves, and black tiles flickering the dances of the faerie fireplace; all built within the brain of the many-winged complex that was my new house. House Raki.
"We of the Orcinus Mafia have many faces, depending on the context. In the context of our station in Amun's pantheon, we are the divine rulers of the World Seas." Blude proclaimed once I settled into my throne and clasped my hands across the desk.
"In the context of the Legio Noctis and the Eotrom Empire, we are in charge of REST- Recreation, Entertainment, Sports, and Tourism. As a business, we are a group of pleasure-producing professionals with a rogue side. Among the do-gooders of the surface, each Matriarch you see before is a professional in a different field- a different branch of the Grand Hadal Enterprise, dwelling within their Umas. To those more nefarious types and those out at sea, we are known but unseen as the Orcinus Mafia.
"It comes in two parts. I build recreational facilities in the waters of these realms for the public. I also give passes to the downtrodden in secret, granting them limited, temporary entry to our Grand Hadal Suites. We clean 'em up free of charge, teach 'em a few things, give 'em a chance to make some coin- get 'em on their feet then send 'em on their way. That's my front. In my Uma, are the Grand Hadal Estates- luxury safe houses built for the esteemed rogues and ne'er do wells of the Legions and abroad. The other Matriarchs provide services for both sides."
"Food, for example." Sam gestured to herself. "Being an esteemed chef can gain you access to all sorts of places; dockyards, markets, auctions, royal courts. What's more, being a chef means that once I set up a kitchen, I'll be expected to receive regular shipments. That makes smuggling all too easy."
"To that end." Blude stepped forward to slap a set of folded clothes onto the table and poke the small stack of parchment on top. "I have an idea as to your occupation. In the end, however, it's your choice to make."
"The School of Exemplary Service." I read curiously.
"You trained the domestic slaves of House Za'Darmondiel. We Eomen do not keep slaves, but your experience and nature would be perfect to create the finest maids and butlers seen by the realms. Maids and butlers of a dual nature, employed by Amun's Legions and those he meets.
"Use your standards to create beings worthy of serving Amun and his many followers; not because they are coerced to but because they want to. Make them into masters of subterfuge capable of waging silent wars for the Orcinus Mafia. Be they your former slaves or existing family, I don't care who. Through either life or death, recruit them to your cause and free them.
"You take this and the agreement is made." She poked the clothes with a slim finger. "It is both a devil's deal and a warlock's pact. You become a Prime Matriarch of this family. A Divine Sorceress. A Demigoddess. What you become on top of that is your choice. But if you want to see Amun change these realms with your own eyes, he requires you to become both an artificer and a witch. In this, he will train you."
Again, I thought of my sister, yet I took them without hesitation. I already made my choice when I swam. Nothing has changed since. Death was not on the table for me just yet. Not with this second and first chance- the only chance I had to continue living and perhaps escape from this maddening pit of webs I dared not question before.
"Now then, Rippa, let's talk about what's in store for the Falls of Zimysta."