Chapter 79: Chapter 78: Visiting The Black City
"Why do you want me to do any of that?" Carl asked, in response to Lillim’s question.
"Why? Simple. You need to sign people’s contracts, because only you can. You need to welcome the newcomers, because they need to know who’s in charge and as for the last part... This is why."
As she finished, she raised the book of beast taming which he had been reunited with and handed to Noah so he might see it.
"What does that have to do with Nergal?"
"For starters it is written in a language that no mortal has know since times long forgotten. It wasn’t written by any mortal, more to the point even amongst immortals it is spoken by a poultry few and he is one of them."
"So what? You can go and find out, I’ll stay and deal with the more pleasant situation."
"Carl, I swear if you don’t drop this pointless grudge I’m gonna toast in bed with no plate." Klaire’s intervention only succeeded in confusing most of those present, but made Varl’s skin crawl.
"Wh-"
"Simple, regardless of what you think, Nergal never actually claimed you as family from what we’ve been told. He doesn’t actually seem to be interested in anything more than observation and can you really blame the guy for wanting to know if a piece of his sister survived?" Klaire didn’t give him an opportunity to double down.
"Can I at least not like the fact it might be true?" Carl grumbled.
"Of course, but it will be petty. You have absolutely no reason to hate your origins. They didn’t matter to you one way or another until you discovered them, rejecting something that hasn’t changed a damn is a pointless waste of your time."
It surprised everyone to hear her be so stern with him, well everyone except Gillian, Alysse, Lydia and Kon, since they had seen this happen plenty during their time at SATS.
"Well, they’re clearly back to normal..." Gillian said, a little bit worried that it might reignite her hostility towards him.
"Papa, can we come with you when you go?" Kitsunoko asked as she grabbed hold of Tiamutael.
"First, tell me why. If you just want to run off and cause mischief then no." Carl was ever cautious of her inclination to playing tricks on just about anyone, he was also growing concerned about the possibility of her rubbing off on Tiamutael.
"Mama Kyubi said he has a black city lit by the subtle green glow of the souls that dwell there. I wanna see what kind of green it is."
"You want to see what shade of green it is?..." Carl stared at her suspiciously.
"Dad, I’ll keep an eye on her, I kinda wanna see where his realm is in case I ever have to go there without a gate."
"You hold Grandma’s hand or mine at all times. Squidge, can you babysit for us?"
"Sorry Dad, I’m gonna go fight some of The Carrion, it sounds like everyone else will be busy and you said Majesty needs to be watched."
"Appointed yourself the pet-police?" Carl asked sarcastically, feeling like he was just trying to wiggle out of keeping an eye on them.
"Yep, I’m getting stronger, but it’s not good enough. The least I can do is watch the others and let you know if they start acting up. The ones that are assigned to others, might not necessarily be as obedient."
"It sounds like you’re getting as paranoid as Grandma..." Carl barely managed to get the words out before she smacked him.
After that the meeting came to a quick end.
The next day, they went to the settlement where Carl was raised to collect everyone who was joining, in the end half of them decided to join.
Carl was honestly a bit confused by the fact half wanted to stay, but when he asked if they were remaining because they though the life sounded unfair or they didn’t trust him, everyone laughed.
They explained that the only reason they were remaining was because there were still realm gates opening and people wandering in search of a place. They weren’t rejecting the place they had been offered, but sacrificing it to aid those in more need.
"Fine, but I’m leaving a pet to help keep everyone safe. I’ll make this clear though, do not change how you live. If you annoy Gaia, I will be forced to withdraw unless I antagonise her."
Those staying behind nodded in agreement, then Carl produced another Shifting-vinealyser. "I’ll call you Sentinel, I want you to stay here and watch over these people. You aren’t to interfere with them, but warn them of any threats and you’re free to defend yourself."
"Yes, Creator."
"It’s Carl, no need for anything so fancy. Anyway, give me a shout if anything major happens."
After that, they all withdrew back to Mirage, which was as diplomatic HQ, also newly dubbed the initiation centre.
As for why, Carl honestly wasn’t sure, it was just one of the daily operation changes that had been listed by one of the others and he didn’t really think it mattered enough to ask about.
When they got back to Mirage Lillim grabbed him and told him she had changed her mind about the itinerary and they were going to see Nergal immediately after he had signed the contracts.
"Nergal, may we please visit the Black City?" Lillim spoke, once again looking at something Carl’s mortal eyes couldn’t see, then she opened a portal and her, Carl and the two kids walked through.
They appeared at the same gates that Carl has seen the last time he came to Nergal’s realm. Remembering the note he got on his wedding day, he sighed, turned to the left and started walking.
When they reached the next door over, Carl was about to knock but hesitated and they remained stationary until Lillim scoffed and knocked for him.
"Perhaps I should have dragged Klaire along... Snap out of it and don’t think for a second I’m above telling her when we get back."
The doors opened almost immediately and Nergal stood, fairly surprised to see Carl with her.
"Nergal, I would like to apologise for my attitude up to now." Carl said as he bowed, surprising everyone since Klaire only ordered the apology after he tried to argue before they fell asleep.
"Carl, for what it’s worth. I accept however you wish to feel about us all and the situation we are all in. It is our fault after all. Now, how can I help you today?"
Lillim explained the situation and produced the book, which Nergal looked at whilst scratching his chin.
"I don’t think it’s Ishtar’s writing, definitely written in her wording, so maybe she simply dictated and someone else wrote it. To be sure, why not come inside, you can compare it to a note she sent me a long time ago."
"You elder gods and your notes... Samael has a habit of sending them in place of a telepathic message or long range conversation too."
"Do not include that young man in the elder god category, he always had a vein streak and his age was a touchy subject if I remember correctly." Nergal said as he turned to lead them through to their new destination.
Carl was busy mumbling to himself whilst Nergal and Lillim chatted away.
"May I ask your names children?" Nergal finally asked once the conversation that had distracted him so far ended.
"You’re a god, shouldn’t you know already?" They both asked with no small amount of bitterness.
"Kids, didn’t I tell you two to behave, you’re starting to make me realise why your mum told me off."
"Sorry Dad." They both spoke in unison before introducing themselves in the laziest way they thought they could get away with.
"Kitsunoko and Tiamutael. I am Nergal, I hope you enjoy what you see, unfortunately the living cannot enter the city proper if they wish to leave."
"Actually, I want to see the death lions my mama told me about, they sounded like fun." Kitsunoko finally revealed her true objective and Carl groaned again with the reveal.
"Ignore her, she has no sense of boundaries. We aren’t here to intrude."
Nergal laughed and Lillim groaned much like Carl had.
"You don’t need to worry about that, his damn cats are all over the place, their fur gets everywhere and ruins the material of clothes." Lillim explained when the kids tried calling her out on Klaire’s orders to be polite.
It wasn’t long before they all got to see exactly what Lillim was talking about, but Carl focused himself on the goal at hand, letting the kids play with the "pretty kitties" as they called them to Nergal’s delight.
It wasn’t long before they found some of the notes that Nergal had mentioned, which quickly proved him right about the handwriting.
"I wouldn’t say you wasted your time coming here, it is interesting to know where it came from. That I know of there are only nine that can write in that tongue left, most of whom are villians in this game."
"If you tell me Margo could speak it and this is his last gift to me, I’ll take the argument with my wife."
Nergal laughed at his words. "No, he didn’t speak the language to my knowledge, but the list of who can and might’ve been present is short. Mobius, Samael, Hopita and that one..."
"is "that one" supposed to be a riddle?"
"Yes, he never introduced himself to anyone. A nameless god amongst the oldest."
"Great, do we know anything about him?"
"Yes, he is more powerful than any of us, he never had to raise a finger because we were never stupid enough to challenge him. I would suggest not thinking about him too much, it’s a waste of time at best."
"Well, thanks for the help. I do appreciate it, but I’m gonna go, I have some debugging to do if you didn’t know."
"I didn’t, I have decided to respect your privacy and stop watching. If you want me to assist, you need only ask, but I won’t interfere unless asked to from now on."