C153: Denatus Discussion
Alt Title Teaser: Shush
Overall Word count = 2264 on 10/26/2024.
Sorry bit late again but I was trying to think on how to end the chapter 'properly'
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The 25 representatives chosen by all the votes stepped towards the giant tent that was the planning room. Refurbished, fixed and expanded through the usage of more tents mixed in that would be brought back down unless it was turned into a large storage space or sleeping zone for Ganesha's people.
Of the 25, the first 6 to enter are Axel, Ouranos, Ganesha and Alaya, Lily and Finn. One of the many gods entering the tent points his finger at Alaya and asks out loud for all who enter after him to hear. "Who is she? Nobody voted for…."
"SHH shh shh shhhhhhhh. Don't talk to her, don't look at her. Consider her no more than an ominous ghost that if you encounter her, give her a wide berth so she doesnt talk you into committing Suicide." Axel steps in front of the talking god with a finger of his lips as well as his own as he shushes him multiple times.
Many in attendance look at Axel weirdly but he deigns to clarify, "To be more precise, the less she talks, the more brain cells I retain and the less holes there are in this tent." Axel gets many more strange looks but Ganesha and Ouranos seem to have appearances like Buddha as they nod in understanding.
"Snicker" A chuckle escapes from one of the gods mouths at his words as he couldn't help but find Axel's words funny. Axel raises his eyebrow as he glances at the laughing god and only finds a drunkard, to be more specific, the god of drunkards, a popular rival to the god Soma that Axel only knows about because of Lily who briefly talked about her former god to pass along time in the dungeon with small talk.
Nevertheless, a potent scent of alcohol masks the blonde god's presence but he himself is not drunk or anything. Strangely enough, Axel can sense residual magic auras coming from him which should be impossible unless he has had extensive exposure to tons of monster cores or used his arcanum recently. Axel knows that gods could freely use their arcanums once the tower fell to protect themselves but with how extensive his group was, there should not have been many chances of that except in the early robot invasion.
"Now Now, Shall we get this meeting underway" Hermes once again butts in as a strange tension envelops the tent from Axel's previous warning.
"Yes, Let's get a move on, I have to return to my garden and cleanse it from all the filth left behind when I deigned to ensure the prosperity of the mortals." A female voice comes from near the end of the tent where a lovely long black haired lady is seen standing, her hair ends in strange yellow balls which are pointed like spikes. She wears a long flowing black dress that ends just above her feet which are wrapped in below knee boots that weirdly also have a golden spike near the tip of her shoes.
This is Semiramis Ototsugu Konoe. The former queen, who had secretly built her hanging garden after many years but during those years, her kingdom was invaded by a monster horde that ravaged everything to ruin. As such, rage overcame her and she worked harder to create her own indestructible land of perfection that she used to vent her rage and inadvertently became an immortal/Saint. A protector of the people.
Axel briefly looks at her before agreeing with her words, "indeed, we should start the meeting. Come spread out in a circle with a bit of space in the center" He commands and using his earth manipulation he creates rows of seats with a stone podium in the center. His usage of earth magic is evident but while most are walking towards a seat of their choosing, Semiramis raises her voice again.
"You would ask of me to sit upon these filthy mud chairs as if I was a peasant" She questions with a haughty attitude and with her head raised high. Many still in uncertainty as they choose to remain silent to lay witness to what shall happen next. Axel simply stares at her before simply responding, "Then stand. I don't actually care. I simply wish to start the meeting so we can all go our own ways faster." He summons a fireball and throws it at the chair closest to her, denying her a seat now. His gaze never once shifted from her even when he threw the fireball.
Her own irritation seems to grow upon now being refused a seat even though she was elected by all the hundreds of people she had saved from the robot invasion and subsequent escape from Orario as it collapsed.
"Keep staring at me like that and ill tear out your eyes." She threatens but is surprised to instead hear a chuckle from Axel.
"I'll do you one better" He stabs his fingers into his own eyes, tearing them out with ease as if he was an Uchiha changing a lightbulb. Not a drop of blood spills from his sockets except for the small glimpse of the flesh where his eyes used to be. He closes his eyelids as he tosses over the pair of eyes to Semiramis. "Now you keep those two and shut up unless you have something useful to say in this meeting" He then saunters over to the podium where he opens his eyes a moment later to reveal a fresh set of eyes.
This serves as the final nail in the coffin as all the gods and immortals take a seat while the former queen trembles before destroying the eyes in her hand with an acidic spell from her poison repertoire. Yet amongst the moving gods, Dionysus changes his direction to take a different seat. While Axel might not have bled from his eye holes, there was a drop of blood or two on the eyeballs that he threw, as he noticed that one of the drops had dropped next to one of the seats. The very chair that he now sits next to. Using his foot to cover the bloodstain as he plans to collect it later.
Axel did not notice this as he derives strength from the earth and not a constant seismic sense. Yet even if he knew, he knows that a single drop would do very little in this world as he is now fully merged, soul-wise at the very least.
"Now as the mediator for this Denatus, I'd like to welcome Ouranos and Ganesha to the stand to explain the choices possible for all the people and gods we have just outside." This is the first thing Axel says to the group of 25 gods and immortals as he moves to the side.
"I am Ganesha" The two gods stand before the podium and even before they explain the choices. The Indian god with the elephant mask says his signature line. They then provide the 3 clear cut choices available to all. Axel works by writing them all down but they are primarily:
1: Return to where Orario is/was and rebuild it step by step.
2: Allow everyone to scatter wherever they want to fend for themselves in whatever activity they choose.
3: Become citizens of Axel's magical territory and live there.
The third choice surprises everybody, including Axel, since he had not offered his territory as land up for grabs. Ouranos was the one who proposed this idea and when he revealed it to Ganesha just moments ago, he was also surprised. With the exact size of the land seemingly adjustable or at least unknown limits. This makes it easy for the already existing farms to be expanded and sustainable for hundreds if not thousands to live there.
"I veto the third choice" Axel finally makes his voice known regarding the inappropriate infringement upon his literal divine made magic city.
"But why?" Ouranos cant help but ask as he only has ever heard of Axel through his guild reports and they always describe Axel as strong but relatively weak willed, especially after he heard that he didn't even put up a fight when Alaya sealed him away.
"Because I won't be anyone's puppet. That land is my manifestation of pure magic, a symbol of my full power. I only know a few people here but only 1 amongst them is allowed to live in my land." He points to his sole party member and friend, Lily. Yet he knows that she would likely reject unless someone puts the moves on her and she decides to settle down.
Many who had begun to feel optimistic about the new village are suddenly depressed at hearing that it's not actually being offered. Some glare at Ouranos and Ganesha for getting their hopes up.
Meanwhile the rest are still in shock over the revelation of the city but can do nothing about it. Granted the few 'casters' amongst the immortals get glowing eyes over hearing that Axel has what sounds like a livable reality marble which is rare in of itself. They hope to potentially discuss with Axel to perhaps analyze his reality marble or get him to share his experiences in achieving this.
Yet a smaller group amongst this knows that Axel is actually quite reclusive or hard to track down as many at getting to know Axel but Raikou or one of the other people he lived with always shooed them away. Then when he moved into the former Apollo home and the knights joined not long after. The new 3 immortals helped Raikou in fending them off just so that they could pay less Vali for the rent. Later this turned into habit as the groups got along better or fought each other to showcase their power (the spars).
After the two gods bring up the ideas they had, Axel has them take a seat so that he can retake the podium and then distributes papers to everyone like he did before and holds a poll which the results are
1: Rebuild Orario- 16 votes
2: Scatter - 9 votes
The reason for such a sequence of votes is that most of the immortals just want to be free and wander the world again since a good portion had originally joined Orario to help serve as a line of defense against the dungeon when it is unleashed. Yet no one could have predicted how this 'unleashing' would have occurred. Yet they still fulfilled their end of the contract and either wanted their freedom back or didn't like being imprisoned inside Orario in the first place. Granted there were a handful of immortals who liked the peace and quiet of Orario and it should be even more peaceful without the dungeon.
Of course not all the gods voted to go to Orario, some wanted to take their familias away to visit new lands and make a proper name for themselves while others like Loki needed to start over as they can no longer be considered Expedition style familias. As without a dungeon, there are no more expeditions. So the only other revenue stream for someone like her is to go into business and that requires both:
A, a base of operations
and B merchants to come visit.
There were plenty of merchants that likely lost all the materials they had but with the bits of money that Loki had hidden away, it should be possible to help them restart and set up a profitable business venture from there. Of course Dionysus is amongst those that voted to return to the city and rebuild.
Not for a sense of comradery but to continue his pursuit in his own mythical Orgia, a festival of despair, fear and pain. He had witnessed a great stream of this in the past day or two which brought him great joy but Axel and the other immortals overshadowed it with their hope, joy and stability. But perhaps if his experiments with Axel's blood prove true then he could give Ouranos and the other gods their just desserts. Oh he would feel great pleasure in ravaging the newly rebuilt city.
"Well the vote has been concluded. While we did put this to a vote, I will not be keeping those that wish to leave if they want to. The dungeon is gone and any businesses have to be made through their own hands. 'Ye gods shalt once again observe humanity at its finest' " He states but then Alaya foolishly speaks up.
"I won't allow any immortal who voted to leave to be free. You are still bound by vow to protect the city." Her words gather much antagonism from the immortals in this gathering but with the subtle reappearance of their own chains or various other runic seals, their complaints fall numb.
Chain marks also appear around Axel even though he had already fulfilled his end of the bargain by completing the falna. So seeing the eclipse gold (mix of black and gold lights) wrap around him once more. A frown crosses his face as he grabs the chains around his neck and tears them off.
His complete soul now allows him to more easily rip it apart than he could before and the [Great Devourer] would not be weakened again.
"Care to say that one more time. Pretty please, just for me?!"
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Alt Title: "Don't talk to her", Drop, Split Decision.