“Not a whole bunch, princess,” John freely admitted. “I don’t even know how exactly the borders look or who is in charge where. All I know is that the majority of the Divided Gates reside in Europe.”
Lydia fell into thoughtful silence following that. “I cannot have that. Your ignorance may reflect embarrassingly on me. They will speculate that I am taking advantage of your inexperience.”
“You technically are,” John dared to suggest.
“I mean that I am taking advantage in a way that leaves you without advantages gained yourself. An obvious falsehood.” Lydia looked at the very alive Rave. “Regardless, I do not gain a favourable reputation by having one of my subjects, be it a temporary one, be unlearned. Explaining the hows and whys for everything would take too long but I can give you a basic rundown. Aclysia, would you clean the table?” the princess requested, as if the Artificial Guardian had been her servant for years now.
Aclysia obeyed, after a quick double-check with John via mental connection. Swiftly, she stacked empty plates. Mono was still cuddling Gnome, so she had no hand free to help.
When Aclysia reached for the tea set, Lydia stopped her. “Leave this here,” the princess commanded.
“I’ll start washing immediately, please call me if you need anything,” Aclysia said.
“You don’t need to,” Lydia told her. “The kitchen has a dishwasher, just place the plates and stuff in there.”
“Oh,” Aclysia blinked a few times, her face staying blank otherwise, “In that case I will be right back.”
“You fine now?” Mono asked the stone elemental in her arms.
“Y-yeah,” Gnome muttered. “I’m fine!” she declared and pumped her fists, as if to convince herself. When she returned to the table, she shot Sylph the meanest glance she could. For an entity that could punch through concrete walls, her glare was remarkably similar to that of a puppy.
“N-aw, don’t be like that Gnome!” Sylph blabbered, “Here, for justice's sake I too shall disrobe and show the world my best side!”
John sighed and gave a mental command. Half a minute and the combined efforts of everyone to catch Sylph, later the tempest elemental sat on the table inside a small prison.
“You know, this actually isn’t that bad!” she kept going and poked the water wall that spanned between the bars of rock around her. “It is nice and warm in here. I feel like I am in some sort of kinky role play. OOOOH! Can we try that? Kinky role-playing? I feel like that’d be fun. I would be a former princess of a faraway fairy court and you the brutish conquerer and then we could do…” Sylph got lost in her thoughts for a moment, “Uh, hihihihihi, yeah, that would work, I mean, that sounds great, doesn’t it? My idea is that we-“ Undine made the water wall several times thicker and closed whatever holes had allowed Sylph’s voice to escape.
“Sorry about that,” John sighed, “she talks…always.”
“Yes, Salamander already stated that earlier, and I know enough air elementals to be aware of their general proclivities… in fact, is she still talking?” Lydia said with eyes on the tempest elemental gesturing inside the prison.
“Yup,” Rave answered.
“Well, perhaps it is best we keep her there for the remainder of this talk,” the princess stated and loosened her rapier from its belt and then placed it on the table.
‘And how is that supposed to help me with understanding the European Abyss?’ John thought and used Observe on the item.
“Uhm, a stupid question,” John said, “but the Frederik the Great that leads Germany right now cannot possibly be the same as the Frederik the Great of Prussia, right?” Back when he had read the name in Magoi’s newspaper he had just thought that it was the usual lack of creativity regarding names that ran amok in noble houses. Now, however, he had an item in front of him that told him otherwise.
“You would be wrong, he is one and the same,” Lydia stated.
“Uhu,” John mumbled, “two more questions: Doesn’t that mean he is like 300 years old?”
“That’s actually not unusual,” Rave chimed in, “strong people in the Abyss get stunningly old, Romulus himself is rumored to be around ten thousand.”
John remembered her saying things to that effect before, but it only now really settled in what it meant to be powerful in the Abyss. To live for several hundred years or even millennia. “I might see the year 3000,” he considered.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Lydia stated. “A person with an Innate Ability like yours has the potential to become much older than a mere millenium. You’re a Latebloomer. Your second question?”
John shook his head to get it clear, he had learnt way too much today, “Ehem, yes, why would you have his rapier?”
Lydia’s finger danced over the table, creating a cascade of soft noises. “So, you can see information about items as well,” she said and stared him down, “I read that in the High Fateweaver’s report but you left it out earlier. Keep your reports precise in the future.”
“Understood, but could you answer the question, princess?” John kept at it.
“Why would I have it? I am his granddaughter of course.”
John wheezed, “Don’t say ‘of course’ like that, princess,” he pleaded on an empty lung. None of this should have been surprising, considering surrounding context clues. The confirmations, however, still hit his thoughts like a ton of bricks.
“Well, to be exact I am his grand-grand-grand-granddaughter,” Lydia nodded to herself, after counting on her fingers. “I am heiress-apparent of the majority of his lands anyhow and the candidate for the throne of Rex Germainae.” She looked at John with a wide, proud smile.
For a moment John could peek behind the iron facade and saw the 19-year-old girl who had made discipline her character. She was a woman proud of her achievements but wanting for more. Stunning, incorruptible and absolutely bent on advancing further. “Impressive?” John carefully said, feeling that it was somehow expected of him.
Lydia’s smile grew a bit cocky, then she realized what she was doing, and cleared her throat to regain her composure. “Anyhow,” she said, her iron demeanour back in place, “Let us look at the European situation.” The weapon on the table became liquid and spread over the table as a thin sheet. The sheet then turned into a shallow, three-dimensional height map of Europe.
“Impressive,” John said with certainty this time. The map was cut into hundreds of provinces, all of them grey. The only thing out of place was the tea set, sitting off the Iberian west coast like a gargantuan UFO.
“I will colour the areas of interest as I explain,” Lydia said, “you may notice some shared provinces or minor mistakes, this is either down to me not remembering exactly, fights over that area or an agreement to share it, or control of this detail being difficult. Let’s start with an overview of Romulus' empire.”
“That is… actually not as big as I expected,” John confessed. He had thought he would be presented with the full Roman Empire in its glory days.
Rave nodded, “I saw bigger maps, like, France used to be in there, as well as way more of the Balkans and Turkey.”
The princess raised an eyebrow, “The last time Romulus held control over Anatolian areas was several hundred years back. After Pompeii, he started to lose interest in keeping the outskirts of his empire together. For France, well, the Illuminati happened.”
“Still can’t believe they’re real and in France of all places,” John mumbled.
“It is a surprising story. The Illuminati were a strong underground organization that used the chaos that swept into even the Abyss during the French Revolution to establish a wide-spread movement that seceded from Romulus’ empire. Their goals are knowledge, morality and freedom. Professed goals, as is typical with nations,” Lydia explained. “They are also associated with a number of unsavoury characters.”
Aclysia looked at John, “Aren’t the Illuminati often referred to in internet conspiracy memes, master?” she asked.
“Yup,” John said, “but it seems they are also one of the strongest magical organizations on the planet.”
Rave giggled, “Man, I totally forgot that, I only ever remember what the Greeks are called.”
“Prometheus,” Lydia nodded. “Close allies of both Romulus and the Illuminati, fellow seekers of knowledge with cultural ties to Rome.”
“Oh hey, they got Constantinople back, good for them,” John observed. “And Crimea is in their hands for some reason?”
“Those are not actually their lands but territories controlled by daughter organizations that declared independence from their overlord. Prometheus is a nation that has always prioritized internal perfection. Constantinople separated from the Great Sultanate.”
“And Crimea got independence from the Blood of the Proleteriat?” John guessed.
“Correct,” Lydia said and added yet more changes to the map.
“Geez, those borders are hideous,” Rave said.
“Yeah, bordergore galore,” John agreed, “they must be doing pretty badly if they look that torn up.”
Lydia shook her head. “Those are just the provinces they publicly control, they have sleeper cells just about everywhere and what’s worse…” She pointed at the areas in the Balkans and the areas that squirmed towards the Polish heartland. “…they are expanding into formerly lost territories. Thankfully, there is a power in the north that is willing to intervene.”
“So…you share that northern bit with them, princess?”
“It is called Schleswig-Holstein,” Lydia said, “and yes, due to an ancient treaty that land is partially reigned over by both sides,” she pointed at the map, “All land that remains grey is not controlled by anyone important or it changes hands too frequently to really call it control.”
John’s eyes roamed the map, taking all of that in. “That’s a lot of empty bits here and there… and the entirety of Britain, surprisingly.”
Lydia sighed, “that vacuum is troublesome indeed. A lot of strong people are on the British Isles, but, until somebody unifies them, they remain a wild card. However, now that you have an idea about Europe at large, let us move on to Germany in detail, this part is important to our immediate situation.” The map was cleared and then rebuilt itself with only central Europe in view.
“Even more border gore,” John lamented as he looked at the carved-up version of Germany. ‘…and Czechia…and the Netherlands…and Switzerland…also Hungary, Slovakia, parts of Romania and Croatia. Probably some other Balkan countries. Those Germans really conquered a whole lot.’ “What do N.T.C. and H.T.C. stand for?” he asked out loud.
“Netherland Trading Company and Hanseatic Trading Company, respectively,” Lydia answered.
“Okay…so what is up with the colour coding?”
“The green countries are the ones whose leaders have a vote. Maximillian has one as well. Finally, Romulus has two.”
“Wait…you do not have a vote yourself?” Lydia shook her head. “The current emperor’s country is denied its vote in the following election.”
“That sounds pretty dumb,” Rave said, “then again letting only seven to eight people vote is dumb in the first place.”
Lydia just kept quiet. Whether she agreed or not was not apparent. Instead, she pointed at the brown area that marked her area of regency and the Protectorate of Prussia right next to it.
“This is the land under my full governance, as well as what will be mine once my grandfather dies,” she explained. “The light blue provinces are the free cities, they have special rights and autonomy. The three countries in the west are conglomerates of smaller organizations that banded together to resist outside influence more effectively. Germany is united in name only… and I aim to keep it that way.”
“Wait, you don’t want to unify all of this into some Fourth Reich?” John asked and cashed in an angry glare in response. He understood quickly that he had overstepped the joke line.
“No, you fool,” the princess’ words were sharp. “I want to modernize it into a federal system where everyone has as much autonomy as they need and only turns to the top when there are affairs between states or outside threats. There is no reason for a central government to rule over all of this with an iron fist.” Her hard tone contrasted these words, as did the glint of steel in her blue eyes, “Rex Germaniae has been in a decline for hundreds of years, the slow, central bureaucracy, itself subject to the byzantine apparatus of the Greater Empire, has been choking out independent thought and creativity for generations.” She visibly forced herself to relax. “I require the power of the crown to diminish the power of the crown. Aid me in succeeding in this endeavour, and your debts will be forgiven.”
‘I didn’t sink into the shit mire at all,’ John thought. Of all the possible people that he could have gotten indebted to, it was a young, ambitious, attractive woman with a dream that sounded as moral as it was selfless. He had practically won the lottery, just that he had lost money in the process. “I deeply apologize for my comment.”
“Good,” Lydia simply stated. “I have no sympathies for the Purest Front or its ideological cousins.”
John just acknowledged that quietly, then he voiced another thought. “Even with all of this, there is one more thing I still don’t quite understand, princess.” He stopped for a moment, to look into her blue eyes. “Why me?”
“Not a whole bunch, princess,” John freely admitted. “I don’t even know how exactly the borders look or who is in charge where. All I know is that the majority of the Divided Gates reside in Europe.”
Lydia fell into thoughtful silence following that. “I cannot have that. Your ignorance may reflect embarrassingly on me. They will speculate that I am taking advantage of your inexperience.”
“You technically are,” John dared to suggest.
“I mean that I am taking advantage in a way that leaves you without advantages gained yourself. An obvious falsehood.” Lydia looked at the very alive Rave. “Regardless, I do not gain a favourable reputation by having one of my subjects, be it a temporary one, be unlearned. Explaining the hows and whys for everything would take too long but I can give you a basic rundown. Aclysia, would you clean the table?” the princess requested, as if the Artificial Guardian had been her servant for years now.
Aclysia obeyed, after a quick double-check with John via mental connection. Swiftly, she stacked empty plates. Mono was still cuddling Gnome, so she had no hand free to help.
When Aclysia reached for the tea set, Lydia stopped her. “Leave this here,” the princess commanded.
“I’ll start washing immediately, please call me if you need anything,” Aclysia said.
“You don’t need to,” Lydia told her. “The kitchen has a dishwasher, just place the plates and stuff in there.”
“Oh,” Aclysia blinked a few times, her face staying blank otherwise, “In that case I will be right back.”
“You fine now?” Mono asked the stone elemental in her arms.
“Y-yeah,” Gnome muttered. “I’m fine!” she declared and pumped her fists, as if to convince herself. When she returned to the table, she shot Sylph the meanest glance she could. For an entity that could punch through concrete walls, her glare was remarkably similar to that of a puppy.
“N-aw, don’t be like that Gnome!” Sylph blabbered, “Here, for justice's sake I too shall disrobe and show the world my best side!”
John sighed and gave a mental command. Half a minute and the combined efforts of everyone to catch Sylph, later the tempest elemental sat on the table inside a small prison.
“You know, this actually isn’t that bad!” she kept going and poked the water wall that spanned between the bars of rock around her. “It is nice and warm in here. I feel like I am in some sort of kinky role play. OOOOH! Can we try that? Kinky role-playing? I feel like that’d be fun. I would be a former princess of a faraway fairy court and you the brutish conquerer and then we could do…” Sylph got lost in her thoughts for a moment, “Uh, hihihihihi, yeah, that would work, I mean, that sounds great, doesn’t it? My idea is that we-“ Undine made the water wall several times thicker and closed whatever holes had allowed Sylph’s voice to escape.
“Sorry about that,” John sighed, “she talks…always.”
“Yes, Salamander already stated that earlier, and I know enough air elementals to be aware of their general proclivities… in fact, is she still talking?” Lydia said with eyes on the tempest elemental gesturing inside the prison.
“Yup,” Rave answered.
“Well, perhaps it is best we keep her there for the remainder of this talk,” the princess stated and loosened her rapier from its belt and then placed it on the table.
‘And how is that supposed to help me with understanding the European Abyss?’ John thought and used Observe on the item.
“Uhm, a stupid question,” John said, “but the Frederik the Great that leads Germany right now cannot possibly be the same as the Frederik the Great of Prussia, right?” Back when he had read the name in Magoi’s newspaper he had just thought that it was the usual lack of creativity regarding names that ran amok in noble houses. Now, however, he had an item in front of him that told him otherwise.
“You would be wrong, he is one and the same,” Lydia stated.
“Uhu,” John mumbled, “two more questions: Doesn’t that mean he is like 300 years old?”
“That’s actually not unusual,” Rave chimed in, “strong people in the Abyss get stunningly old, Romulus himself is rumored to be around ten thousand.”
John remembered her saying things to that effect before, but it only now really settled in what it meant to be powerful in the Abyss. To live for several hundred years or even millennia. “I might see the year 3000,” he considered.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Lydia stated. “A person with an Innate Ability like yours has the potential to become much older than a mere millenium. You’re a Latebloomer. Your second question?”
John shook his head to get it clear, he had learnt way too much today, “Ehem, yes, why would you have his rapier?”
Lydia’s finger danced over the table, creating a cascade of soft noises. “So, you can see information about items as well,” she said and stared him down, “I read that in the High Fateweaver’s report but you left it out earlier. Keep your reports precise in the future.”
“Understood, but could you answer the question, princess?” John kept at it.
“Why would I have it? I am his granddaughter of course.”
John wheezed, “Don’t say ‘of course’ like that, princess,” he pleaded on an empty lung. None of this should have been surprising, considering surrounding context clues. The confirmations, however, still hit his thoughts like a ton of bricks.
“Well, to be exact I am his grand-grand-grand-granddaughter,” Lydia nodded to herself, after counting on her fingers. “I am heiress-apparent of the majority of his lands anyhow and the candidate for the throne of Rex Germainae.” She looked at John with a wide, proud smile.
For a moment John could peek behind the iron facade and saw the 19-year-old girl who had made discipline her character. She was a woman proud of her achievements but wanting for more. Stunning, incorruptible and absolutely bent on advancing further. “Impressive?” John carefully said, feeling that it was somehow expected of him.
Lydia’s smile grew a bit cocky, then she realized what she was doing, and cleared her throat to regain her composure. “Anyhow,” she said, her iron demeanour back in place, “Let us look at the European situation.” The weapon on the table became liquid and spread over the table as a thin sheet. The sheet then turned into a shallow, three-dimensional height map of Europe.
“Impressive,” John said with certainty this time. The map was cut into hundreds of provinces, all of them grey. The only thing out of place was the tea set, sitting off the Iberian west coast like a gargantuan UFO.
“I will colour the areas of interest as I explain,” Lydia said, “you may notice some shared provinces or minor mistakes, this is either down to me not remembering exactly, fights over that area or an agreement to share it, or control of this detail being difficult. Let’s start with an overview of Romulus' empire.”
“That is… actually not as big as I expected,” John confessed. He had thought he would be presented with the full Roman Empire in its glory days.
Rave nodded, “I saw bigger maps, like, France used to be in there, as well as way more of the Balkans and Turkey.”
The princess raised an eyebrow, “The last time Romulus held control over Anatolian areas was several hundred years back. After Pompeii, he started to lose interest in keeping the outskirts of his empire together. For France, well, the Illuminati happened.”
“Still can’t believe they’re real and in France of all places,” John mumbled.
“It is a surprising story. The Illuminati were a strong underground organization that used the chaos that swept into even the Abyss during the French Revolution to establish a wide-spread movement that seceded from Romulus’ empire. Their goals are knowledge, morality and freedom. Professed goals, as is typical with nations,” Lydia explained. “They are also associated with a number of unsavoury characters.”
Aclysia looked at John, “Aren’t the Illuminati often referred to in internet conspiracy memes, master?” she asked.
“Yup,” John said, “but it seems they are also one of the strongest magical organizations on the planet.”
Rave giggled, “Man, I totally forgot that, I only ever remember what the Greeks are called.”
“Prometheus,” Lydia nodded. “Close allies of both Romulus and the Illuminati, fellow seekers of knowledge with cultural ties to Rome.”
“Oh hey, they got Constantinople back, good for them,” John observed. “And Crimea is in their hands for some reason?”
“Those are not actually their lands but territories controlled by daughter organizations that declared independence from their overlord. Prometheus is a nation that has always prioritized internal perfection. Constantinople separated from the Great Sultanate.”
“And Crimea got independence from the Blood of the Proleteriat?” John guessed.
“Correct,” Lydia said and added yet more changes to the map.
“Geez, those borders are hideous,” Rave said.
“Yeah, bordergore galore,” John agreed, “they must be doing pretty badly if they look that torn up.”
Lydia shook her head. “Those are just the provinces they publicly control, they have sleeper cells just about everywhere and what’s worse…” She pointed at the areas in the Balkans and the areas that squirmed towards the Polish heartland. “…they are expanding into formerly lost territories. Thankfully, there is a power in the north that is willing to intervene.”
“So…you share that northern bit with them, princess?”
“It is called Schleswig-Holstein,” Lydia said, “and yes, due to an ancient treaty that land is partially reigned over by both sides,” she pointed at the map, “All land that remains grey is not controlled by anyone important or it changes hands too frequently to really call it control.”
John’s eyes roamed the map, taking all of that in. “That’s a lot of empty bits here and there… and the entirety of Britain, surprisingly.”
Lydia sighed, “that vacuum is troublesome indeed. A lot of strong people are on the British Isles, but, until somebody unifies them, they remain a wild card. However, now that you have an idea about Europe at large, let us move on to Germany in detail, this part is important to our immediate situation.” The map was cleared and then rebuilt itself with only central Europe in view.
“Even more border gore,” John lamented as he looked at the carved-up version of Germany. ‘…and Czechia…and the Netherlands…and Switzerland…also Hungary, Slovakia, parts of Romania and Croatia. Probably some other Balkan countries. Those Germans really conquered a whole lot.’ “What do N.T.C. and H.T.C. stand for?” he asked out loud.
“Netherland Trading Company and Hanseatic Trading Company, respectively,” Lydia answered.
“Okay…so what is up with the colour coding?”
“The green countries are the ones whose leaders have a vote. Maximillian has one as well. Finally, Romulus has two.”
“Wait…you do not have a vote yourself?” Lydia shook her head. “The current emperor’s country is denied its vote in the following election.”
“That sounds pretty dumb,” Rave said, “then again letting only seven to eight people vote is dumb in the first place.”
Lydia just kept quiet. Whether she agreed or not was not apparent. Instead, she pointed at the brown area that marked her area of regency and the Protectorate of Prussia right next to it.
“This is the land under my full governance, as well as what will be mine once my grandfather dies,” she explained. “The light blue provinces are the free cities, they have special rights and autonomy. The three countries in the west are conglomerates of smaller organizations that banded together to resist outside influence more effectively. Germany is united in name only… and I aim to keep it that way.”
“Wait, you don’t want to unify all of this into some Fourth Reich?” John asked and cashed in an angry glare in response. He understood quickly that he had overstepped the joke line.
“No, you fool,” the princess’ words were sharp. “I want to modernize it into a federal system where everyone has as much autonomy as they need and only turns to the top when there are affairs between states or outside threats. There is no reason for a central government to rule over all of this with an iron fist.” Her hard tone contrasted these words, as did the glint of steel in her blue eyes, “Rex Germaniae has been in a decline for hundreds of years, the slow, central bureaucracy, itself subject to the byzantine apparatus of the Greater Empire, has been choking out independent thought and creativity for generations.” She visibly forced herself to relax. “I require the power of the crown to diminish the power of the crown. Aid me in succeeding in this endeavour, and your debts will be forgiven.”
‘I didn’t sink into the shit mire at all,’ John thought. Of all the possible people that he could have gotten indebted to, it was a young, ambitious, attractive woman with a dream that sounded as moral as it was selfless. He had practically won the lottery, just that he had lost money in the process. “I deeply apologize for my comment.”
“Good,” Lydia simply stated. “I have no sympathies for the Purest Front or its ideological cousins.”
John just acknowledged that quietly, then he voiced another thought. “Even with all of this, there is one more thing I still don’t quite understand, princess.” He stopped for a moment, to look into her blue eyes. “Why me?”
