The next day, we got out of bed and dressed ourselves.
Luckily, Cassandra already knew how to behave herself during the intimate moments. Still...
"No fair! Isabella got to be lovey-dovey with Mizik... You're so greedy, sister! Keeping all of Mizik's precious love to yourself... I want a reward for helping Mizik..." Cassandra said sadly.
I could see tears in her eyes as she spoke.
"Cassandra, you already know how this works..." I said.
"But it's not fair! I...I want Mizik to love me too... You're all I want in life! All I desire is to be with you!" Cassandra said as tears began streaming down her face.
I just sighed.
"Isabella, I'll handle this. I think I'm the only one she would want to talk to her about it, anyway..." I said.
Isabella didn't switch in, but I had a feeling she understood.
"Cassandra, I need you to understand something. I am loyal to Isabella. She was there for me in some of the darkest times of my life. Including what you did to me. I forgive you for that and I don't question your devotion. But...I can't give you the same love that I give Isabella. That would betray the trust she has in me."
"B-but...that's... I've worked so hard to cover my sin... To be Mizik's number one! Or...at least number two! Please...I just want your love... My precious Mizik... My darling... I want to be loved..." Cassandra said with streaming down her face.
I would apologize to Isabella later.
I walked up to Cassandra and pulled her close to me. She cried on my chest and I...kissed her on the head.
"Stand by my side, always. I've grown to truly treasure you as a friend and ally. Perhaps closer than that. I rely on you, Cassandra. You've saved me multiple times and have already repaid me for what you did. Please, I want you to stay close to me. I can't...live without you..." I said.
It actually made my head hurt... Mostly because I meant it.
But...
Although Cassandra technically didn't 'survive' the destruction of Avernia, having her here made it feel like home was still around... Our original home, that is.
I would have to do my best to comfort her in the future. Mainly because I could never love her the way she wanted me to.
Despite her troubled past, I could clearly tell that she wasn't really that bad. Exactly as Isabella said so long ago. More than anything, she needed to belong.
She needed to be loved and cared for.
Even if it was somewhat limited, I decided as she continued crying on my chest that I would work hard to make her feel loved and appreciated...at least as much as I could with this damn curse...
"It's okay...just let it all out. I understand your frustrations," I said.
"Uwaa...Mizik is so...kind to me... All I've ever wanted was to be loved... No one wanted to look at me for anything other than my appearance! Why...why did I have to hurt you!? Why couldn't it have been me!? Why couldn't I have been first... I love you so much, Mizik... I don't ever want to leave your side! I won't do it!!!"
I kept holding her for a while.
Isabella might be a little upset...but I can't just let Cassandra continue to suffer.
When I thought about it, I remembered that the two of them acquired fragments of the other's personalities when I placed them in the heart
Cassandra caused Isabella to be a little less hesitant to hurt people and she became a tad more obsessive over me.
While Isabella caused Cassandra to desire me even more than she did already. She also became...a bit more physical with me as of late. Often hugging me more and touching my arms.
If Cassandra somehow turned on me because of neglect, I doubt I would be able to take her down. Surely such a battle would destroy an entire country... Or even end the world.
Besides...it might not even come to that.
With her absolute mental control, she could likely rewrite my memories to suit her if the obsession took her to that point.
I had no way of blocking that, currently. And Cassandra was far more valuable to me as an ally than an enemy.
Regardless, she eventually stopped crying and dropped to her knees.
She grabbed my legs and whimpered quietly.
"Don't...don't abandon me... Don't overlook me...please... I'm so sorry... I never meant to hurt you... I'm...I'm not worthless, am I?"
"You're not worthless, Cassandra. You're important to me. I would be devastated if I ever lost you."
Was that true?
Was I lying to her...?
No...I didn't think I was.
I would truly be sad if she disappeared.
She worked so hard to help me. She's been indispensable. Without her, I would be a slave to Jarbold...and so would Isabella.
If anyone was truly valuable, it was her.
"You have value. You're not just the Second Princess. You're Cassandra Iratus. Without you, we never would have made it this far. Now please... Don't cry anymore. Raise your head and stay by my side. We have a lot more work ahead of us and I need you at your best."
Cassandra looked up at me hopefully and smiled through tears of joy.
"I will stay by your side. I'll be here with you...and for you. Always. But...I still want what Isabella has..." Cassandra said.
Right...this is why I don't bother... She won't be convinced...
"We'll...see...?" I said heaitantly.
Her face lit up with happiness and she jumped up...then tackled me onto the bed.
"It's a deal! I'll work extra hard! I'll impress Mizik so much that he'll have no choice but to love me!" Cassandra said happily.
"Y-yeah...sure...just stop thinking that I plan to abandon you. Keep in mind that I could have removed your soul from Isabella's body at any point in time. I choose not to because I don't have anywhere else to put it and I like having you around. I can't use creation magic, unfortunately," I said.
"So...we find someone who can!" Cassandra said happily. "Then both of us can shower Mizik with love at the same time!"
"Alright! That's enough! Down, girl!!!" Isabella said angrily.
"Let me have him to myself for once! You're so greedy, Isabella!" Cassandra said.
Ugh...when does it end...? Am I digging my own grave? I'm sorry, Isabella!
* * *
Later that day, once things finally calmed down, I approached Vakra in his lab.
I could see Rastair sleeping soundly in an extra long hospital bed and he had been making notes on her.
"Vakra, I have a request," I said.
"Go on..." He said.
"I need you to build us a ship capable of transporting people through the Firmament and other worlds," I said.
He simply looked at me with eyes full of confusion.
"Why?" He asked.
"To fight the Corruption. It needs to be large enough to transport a small elite fighting force... Maybe at least thirty to forty people," I said.
"Do you have any idea how much time and effort goes into building such a thing? ARE YOU INSANE!?" Vakra said angrily.
"I'm perfectly sane. What I need to know is: can you build one? And if so, will you?"
"Of course I could build one. It wouldn't be impossible. But no. Absolutely not. I have no reason to do such a thing!"
"Then what do you want? Money?" I asked.
"Money is useless to me."
"Then what? And don't you dare say Isabella..."
"I could have as much sex as I wanted if I didn't have this damn curse on me. And I don't want Isabella. I'm not suicidal."
"You want me to try and remove your curse?"
"Tempting...but I have something else in mind... Something actually possible..." Vakra said.
"Name your price."
"Cleanse the world of Corruption. Save Delvandal from certain doom and I'll grant you one request. Anything you ask. I'll use every ounce of power and every single resource I have to grant it."
"I was kind of hoping you would build it for me in case that wasn't possible yet..."
"If it isn't possible for you at this point, you might as well give up on winning this war. If you can't even save a single world, why the hell should I set you up to fail at saving others? It makes no sense!" Vakra said.
Honestly...he had a point.
This was it. My final chance to prove that I could really fight the Corruption. If I failed here, I would have to kill myself and reset... Otherwise, Cain would lock me in the Abyss and prevent this timeline from ever ending... All of creation would be doomed.
"Fine. You have a deal. But...can I ask you to at least make the preparations?" I said.
"No. I need to help you win this war. Those preparations could take years to make. We might not have that kind of time," Vakra said.
Actually, we did. I distinctly remembered Cain talking to himself about how taking over this world could take twenty to thirty years.
I wondered why the Corruption had so much difficulty infecting magic worlds, but I would try to find out later.
After all, it was a fortunate issue for it to have. It bought us so much more time in the long run.
I thought about mentioning these things to Vakra, but...
He might be more useful to me if he believed the situation was more urgent than it really is. It was nowhere near as bad as the Ignitus incident, after all.
That world had no magic in it. Not to mention, Difar himself had arrived with Valtheim to completely obliterate everything in his path. We never stood a chance.
Although...I would probably benefit from asking Vakra about Valtheim...
"I'll talk to you about how much time we have later. I think I can still convince you to at least prepare to build my ship. Anyway...Vakra, do you know about a place called 'The Void'?"
"The region below all of creation. The endless chasm of nothingness that disperses and deletes all matter that enters into it. It's a useless and dangerous place. Why do you ask?"
"Because Difar managed to harness its power, somehow. Her name is Valtheim, the Avatar of the Void."
Vakra stopped for a moment. He looked at me in disbelief.
"What...? 'Her'? And she has a name? An...Avatar of the Void...!? Tell me everything."
I spent the next few minutes explaining the dire situation that Valtheim put us in when we fought her. Including the fact that her very existence was considered an anomaly by the gods and she couldn't be detected normally.
I also mentioned that she allowed Difar to quickly move between worlds.
When I had finished, Vakra looked somewhat panicked.
"Something like that definitely shouldn't exist... And it serves Difar!? I...how would you kill it...? Surely there must be a way..." Vakra said.
"None of our attacks worked. Even the gods were terrified of her," Isabella said.
"I...have a theory... Perhaps it could be done if you slew her at the source of her power... She's an Avatar, right? An extension of something? From your description, it seems as though she is a projection of the Void itself. If you somehow managed to go into the Void and kill her...maybe that would work?" Vakra said.
"But Vakra-" I said.
"I know. Surviving inside the Void is impossible. But let's ignore that for a moment...despite how important it is... If all attacks have no effect on her outside of the Void, then surely she has a solid form within it. If you could survive long enough to kill her and then leave, she wouldn't be a problem anymore. This is only a theory. I have no way of testing it and no desire to try."
"You had more ideas than anyone else did. Johann, the dragon god, just thought of attacking her until she died. But she just ignored everything. They passed through her and disappeared."
"What kind of horrifying abomination... Who would make such a thing!?" Vakra said angrily.
I shrugged.
"Cain Difar would. He's an insane psychopath bent on the destruction of all of creation," I said.
"Well, you certainly have your work cut out for you, Mizik. Good luck," Vakra said with a smile.
"You piece of shit. Fine! Don't help me then! See if I care!"
Vakra chuckled at my comment.
"I've heard worse. Anyway, I will begin an analysis of this Corruption. I would like the two of you to bring me a sample. Oh, and Isabella can hold it while I examine it as a safety precaution. Since Carlos mentioned that it couldn't be held using standard methods, of course," Vakra said.
"Okay. But if you can learn anything more than what we already know, I want to see something on that ship capable of detecting Corruption," I said.
"And so it begins... No promises. But I might consider drawing a few plans if you can get me that sample," Vakra said.
I had other things that I wanted to bring to his attention, but I decided not to bother with it at the moment.
We had a lot of work to do, after all...
* * *
Before we left, I decided to test a theory on teleportation that I'd been thinking of for a while.
I made a spell that allowed me to place a marker made of mana crystal on the ground.
It used a mock-version of creation magic that didn't require the light element to work.
Crystal magic.
I could create solid objects out of mana crystals. They also required a bit of focus to maintain... Since we would likely be away for a while, I wanted to be able to come back immediately if necessary.
After some testing with Isabella, I found it to be effective. I had plans to fix it so that I wouldn't have to maintain the marker later, but this would do for now.
After everything was said and done, we reluctantly prepared to search for a sample of Corruption...again...