Swarming Sovereignty

Chapter 68: Changes

Lia listened to her teacher’s report, still feeling a little odd about having someone she had respected so much display such unwavering subservience to her.

“…And that is my report, Mistress.” Ophelia said. “What do you advise we do?”

Lia looked towards Rose, who gave a shrug. “We need a better grasp on how strong they are.” She said. “I, unfortunately, wasn’t there to see the fight, so I don’t have a proper sense of scale.”

“I can remedy that.” Ophelia said. “Give me a moment, I haven’t done this before…” She paused, face screwing up in concentration, and then a video of the fight appeared in front of them. It was from the perspective of the cerberus, so the focus wasn’t great, but they were able to get glimpses of the nightmare and the phoenix, and that was apparently enough for Rose.

“We are unable to safely take these on.” Rose concluded. “But it seems unlikely that they will leave the area soon, nor are they particularly aggressive, so we should have time to build our strength if we play our cards right.”

“If I had people to protect, I could take at least one of them without issue, probably the phoenix.” Amelia said. “And if we can figure out how to get Ophelia temporarily unbound like me, we can probably take both.”

“May I speak my mind on the subject?” Ophelia asked, eyeing Amelia carefully.

Amelia, clearly not interested in Ophelia’s opinion, opened her mouth, then closed it again. “…Very well.” She said. “Speak.”

“That seems like a poor idea.” Ophelia said. “As Rose said, these two do not seem like they are that aggressive; while we may have a chance at succeeded at capturing them if both Amelia and I are unbound, whatever we make them into will be bound as well. We would see a windfall in the short term, but we would leave a power vacuum that something less favorable might fill. I believe now is the perfect time to train ourselves to the point where the restrictions on our power are lessened naturally, if not outright removed.”

Amelia opened her moth once again, paused for a moment, then spoke. “I see the logic in that.” She admitted, much to Lia’s surprise. “But we could just repeat this process whenever a new threat comes along, so I don’t think it holds up.”

“And what about when people start taking notice of us?” Ophelia pressed. “You may be strong, but even wouldn’t be a match for the armies of several countries. And the Spine wouldn’t protect us either – it won’t take long for people to realize that there are no extraordinarily dangerous monsters around, and might send larger forces of people.”

“But they won’t at first.” Amelia argued. “They’ll send small teams like yours, and each team will make our power swell. If we wish, we could even take advantage of their fractured nature and sign treaties similar to the one we signed with Brom, and become immune to their attacks while we build up our strength.”

“That won’t work.” Ophelia said immediately. “They don’t know you like Brom knows you. They don’t understand just how strong you were, and are unlikely to be cowed as easily as he was. And people realize something is up when most other countries have stopped

“I, I’m sorry.” Amelia said, struggling to choke the words out between her tears. “This is…this is supposed to…supposed to be your big moment…but I’m here…making a mess of things, just b-because I can’t sort my own feelings out.”

Lia reached up, wiping away the tears from Amelia’s eyes. “That’s fine.” She said. “You didn’t know. I’m here because I got worried about you, not because I felt you were making a scene.”

“You…you shouldn’t have to.” Amelia sniffed. “I’m supposed to be the steady one, who…who doesn’t get upset by things like this. I…I should be there to comfort you, but not the other way around.”

“Amelia, that goes ways in a relationship.” Lia said, standing back up and gently prying Amelia away from the wall and into a hug. “That’s the . You’re both there for the other, no one person does all the work.”

Something swelled inside of Amelia, and suddenly she seemed to see part of herself, almost as clearly as if it was real. There was a cage around her heart, one that was being slowly and methodically melted away. But…it was melting , and she wanted it gone . It felt like her heart was bursting against it, being help captive and restricted by its unflinching restraint, and she , hated it like she hadn’t hated anything before.

There was an odd moment of tension and then something , the cage disintegrating into nothingness. And, with it gone, Amelia’s emotions seemed to intensify fourfold; even the murky, confusing emotions were suddenly almost as prominent as the clear ones she had given herself. They may not have had the same intensity, but they were so , deep and full in ways that her “artificial” emotions weren’t.

She collapsed into Lia’s arms, sobbing intensifying. “I’m so sorry.” She wailed. “I…I made so many assumptions, I…didn’t really before I acted, I…I…”

“Did your best.” Lia finished, stroking the back of Amelia’s head. “Just let it out, okay? I’m here for you, and I’ll make sure everything turns out alright.”

Amelia rested her head against Lia’s chest, sobbing and sobbing, her strength seemingly fleeing with each sob, leaving her feeling so, so tired. But Lia’s embrace was firm and unyielding, and it made her feel warm and safe and…protected. Never before had she felt protected by anything, she was the strongest in the world, and there was nothing anyone could protect her from that she couldn’t protect herself from.

Yet, Lia was there, a shield from the strange and confusing turn things had taken. And, so comfortable and warm was that feeling, so soothing and calm, that Amelia found herself drifting off to sleep, her strength spent.