Chapter 755 (2/2)

“You know just as well as I that those energies are balancing out,” Lucretia said quietly. “That new energy… even you have to admit that the applications for power and mechs are endless. THAT is the energy source you’ve been waiting for. The Genesis mech frames… all the plans-”

Alta’s sharp glance cut Lucretia short. “Are you truly thinking of preventing me from following this Path? Here and now? After all we’ve been through?”

“Never,” Lucretia’s voice was just a breath. “I’ll follow you to the end. But I won’t let you walk coyly into the darkness. Stride boldly as you make to burn the world down, Alta. Or I will twist your arm until it breaks.”

There was a tremor in the grey flowers at Alta’s core. The fragile plants seemed to breathe. The petals spread outward. Slowly, the blackthorns that dotted the stalks grew larger and more sharpened. Alta’s eyes flickered, that twisted smile hanging on the corner of her mouth.

“Fine,” Alta said with a sigh. “Creta, we have been given the keys to the world. With that energy, I can make technologies that would be the foundation of a utopia. But this world doesn’t deserve it. This world doesn’t deserve your clear eyes or the Council’s escape to a better realm… no. This world deserves… me.”

Alta pressed her hands to the table. “And I’m going to blow it up. This is a toy I can break, and I’m going to because I can. That is power.”

“Then let’s plan,” Lucretia said lightly. But Alta shook her head.

“Not now, not yet. I’m still figuring things out. For now… send Danz to my quarters.” Alta turned to go.

Now, Lucretia’s frown deepened. As if sensing it, Alta stopped and gave Lucretia an amused glance. “What? Just because you remain a virgin doesn’t mean I need to be. Besides, he enjoys it just as much as I do.”

“If he really enjoyed it so much, why-” Lucretia began, but then she stopped herself.

Laughing, Alta waved her hand and walked away. Lucretia made a mental note to send for some healing potions so that Danz’s injuries would be quickly healed. That helped, somewhat, to shake the funk that always seemed to hang around him after Alta spent a night with him. Getting rid of the bruises helped shake some of the reminders.

But it didn’t fix the internal wounds.

Lucretia walked over to to the table and lightly touched the spot where Alta had pressed her hands against the table. Some of the wood had worn away, leaving an ashy powder. Sighing, Lucretia wiped it away and left the room to find Danz. It was a small thing, but Lucretia always preferred to do these sort of tasks herself. Just like she insisted with Alta, she would not look away from the horrors she committed.

She found him in the workshop, as usual. Just like Alta, Danz realized the potential of this strange emerald form of energy that emerged. It was related to the original life force in the World Tree, but this energy… it was electrifying. It behaved so curiously that all the tech people who had noticed it were full of ideas.

When she stopped next to him, Danz looked up with an annoyed glance. It only took one look for him to realize what was happening.

It wasn’t quite Alta’s beauty that made him always acquiesce, but that was part of it. It wasn’t the crush he had nurtured for almost thirty years, that heady and sick allure that only the broken people can have. It wasn’t the precarious nature of his job, nor the looming threat of silencing that had become increasingly apparent to him as he witnessed Alta’s meteoric rise to power.

It was all of these things and none of them.

It was also, Lucretia forced herself to admit, because Danz trusted her. And as long as she asked, he would go.

“I’ll finish up in a minute,” Danz said shortly. And true to his word, he quickly finished his tinkering and began to wash his hands.

As the water rushed out, Danz let out a whisper so quiet that the sound of water covered it up. “Do you think… she could find it in herself to love me?”

Lucretia didn’t answer.