Chapter 156: Viewpoints II
I am Matriarch Dundun of the Seeing Eye Clan. We specialize in divination, forecasts, and spotting trends. It was because of that I've been very nervous lately.
Today, we had a meeting to call out Lord Panchi of the Tanglefoot Clan for allowing a white belt to get pregnant. We fully expected her to butt heads with us, but instead she pleaded. She pleaded with us on behalf of our children. I couldn't believe my eyes when it happened.
Which makes her far more dangerous than she ever was before. Before today, we could write her off as a nuance, a delinquent. But now she's genuinely trying to bring change, and that terrifies me most of all.
"Lord Panchi needs to die!"
"Don't you think that's a little extreme?"
After the meeting, I pulled aside my friend, Matriarch Toydi, to discuss my fears. "No it's not extreme. Lord Panchi is a threat to everything we stand for!"
"I think he made some good points though. I... also once had to tell a child of mine to give up, and it was painful-"
"Don't get distracted!" I shouted, knocking her out of her guilt. "Don't you see the writing on the wall? This is the Lord of the clan in the center of this turning point in history here, and she's already talking about bringing change to how things are!" I stopped myself, took a breath, and explained further. "The Monster King is going to fall at the hands of Anne, Queen Adelaide is going to rise up and take the throne. No, she may even rise up to become the first god, putting an end to this stupid Divine Rush."
"I don't see what that has to do with anything."
"Don't be dense! It's a simple rule of threes. Anne will be the slayer, Raina will be the queen, so what does that make Panchi? You honestly think she's going to fall to the wayside in history after everything?"
"No! She's going to make a bid for the throne herself!"
"She's going to try to become the Minutian King. It's the only way this could possibly end."
There hasn't been a king since the God War. The monarch is the only one that has authority over the matriarchs. It's the reason this was just a meeting to complain at Panchi instead of actually being a regulating body dealing out punishments.
"There's no guarantee. You speak like he's destined to make a bid for the crown."
When your world exists in a book, tropes are the golden rule. "I'm 100% certain of it."
"Even if he is, what if the changes he brings are for the better? What if he does save the species?"
Oh, Toydi. She was hundreds of years old and yet so naive. Her clan is currently protecting merchants, a life of luxury, so it makes sense she wouldn't know. "Do not invoke the word 'change' so lightly. Change is PAINFUL! Too much of it can kill. And Panchi, she's nothing but the embodiment of change. She's going to lead to our deaths."
"I think you're exaggerating."
She may think so, but I've seen it countless times before. "Those who can't adapt only get left behind, that's what's going to happen to us if we let the story play out. That's why she needs to die!"
"My, ain't this an interesting conversation." Cutting through our chatter was a deep voice. Our eyes darted to the nearby doorway, and there stood a man in a long robe. He wore a blindfold over his eyes.
"Patriarch Sigma..." I said breathlessly.
"It sounds like we have a common enemy." His mouth curved into a wicked grin, and shivers spread down my spine.
Another day, more training.
Thanks to Belle, I managed to get through my writer's techniques. After spending so much time with her, I even thought of her as a friend. I don't know how I feel about her now I know she's a cannibal. I guess I'm not exactly in the position to judge considering I'm on the run myself, but it still feels... gross knowing what she was doing on the side. But because of her, now I got the final stripe on my belt before upgrading to black.
#88 is Single Master. If you conquer this technique, you have the ability to merge with alternate versions of yourself to become one, much like a conduit or a splitter. Shinobi taught me this technique by putting me in his pocket dimension and creating split timelines so there would be two of me.
He grumbled out an explanation. "I made the other timeline weaker, so this alternate you is a mere shell."
Basically, this version of me wasn't a full body, but a concept of me. This is the only ethical way to master the technique without having hundreds of clones of me running around. Day in, day out, he'd make the shell and I'd try to merge with it, but it would wind up taking me a long time to get it down.
Through it all, Shinobi was a cruel master. He'd never compliment my accomplishments, but always admonished me for my failures. More often than not, he'd tell me I'm no good, that I should give up. I get the feeling he doesn't like me at all, but I don't need him to like me. As long as he trains me, that's more than enough. That’s more than what my mother allowed me.
Finally, I got that technique down, it was my hand placement that was screwing me over in the end. Kind of wish my master had been more specific. I moved on to the last technique before the god techniques, #89 Pocket Dimension. This'll make hiding so much easier and I'll have my own world to myself. I've always wanted to be able to do it!
Learning it requires me to let my energies flow out in all directions so I create a bubble of reality around myself. There's no tricks to learning it, just gotta keep trying until it works. I did it over and over and over again, each time my energy dissipating before it could materialize anything, reality bending.
“You are worthless.” My master would say. He was probably right, but I had to keep trying!
"Do you need help, lady Woob?" Said one of my clan as she offered to help me out of bed.
I chuckled. "I'm pregnant, not infirmed! Also, don't call me ‘lady.’"
I feared how the Tangle Foot Clan might respond to my pregnancy. They were wary of it at first, but when they saw that Lord Panchi was backing up my decision, they tenuously started to support it. Now they were outright excited to have a new baby coming after so long.
The downside though, they keep treating me like I'm a new matriarch. Honestly, if I wasn't the one expecting, I'd be making the same mistake.
They helped me out of bed and fed me a hearty breakfast. "You need to eat for two!" They would say. They were way too overprotective. I'm not even in the thick of it, but they are acting like I'm going into labor in any second.
After breakfast, I was even helped into my medical uniform despite my objections. It was stuff like this that made me eager to go to work.
Heading into the clinic, I was immediately met with the raven doctor.
"Greetings Miss Woob." Dr. Nial was quick to greet me.
Pregnancy or not, Sanctuary still needed its medical team. We were still way understaffed considering the population growth, but we just needed to hold out until a wave of doctors move in a half a year from now.
"Miss Woob, help me with this splint!"
After a long day, I walked home. The others of my clan wanted to arrange some sort of transport to take me to and from the clinic, but I needed the exercise. Seriously, they worry way too much. Even though it was late evening, the sun was still high in the sky, that's Sanctuary for ya.
I finally got to the mansion and immediately I was helped out of my work clothes and fed a hearty dinner. Always "lady Woob" this and "lady Woob" that, I got so annoyed with them at the time. In retrospect, they were just worried about me. Also, I'm pretty sure mom instilled that anxiety into them. She would use her pregnancies as an excuse to have the clan pamper the hell out of her.
Seeing everyone again just brought a smile to my face. I'm certain they will do everything to give my daughter a good life. Yeah, I have no regrets. Even if I knew from the start that having Novelle would indirectly lead to my death during the Demon War, I would have done it anyway. It was all worth it.
"Maybe you should have valued your life more."
I chuckled. Yeah probably. I couldn't argue with that. Maybe my defeatist mentality is the reason my death was more permanent than usual, but even if that were the case, it was already too late to change things.
I looked upon the clan once again, seeing them dote on me like I was going to drop dead at any second, it brought a smile to my face. With confidence, I faced him. "Thank you for letting me see this again. I'm ready."
"You sure? We can jump ahead to when your kid is born."
"No, that would be far too painful." A small wave of guilt came over me because of my selfish words, but my time with her was cruelly cut so very short. Seeing that moment again would only give me heartache. I wanted to leave with a warm feeling in my chest, so I’ll be smiling when I one day greet her from the other side.
He held out his hand and I took it. With that, the Void Father led me into the afterlife.
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