Wholly Undead

[Lucius are busy, at this moment?]

[No, my lord.]

[Come to my office. I have somethings We need to discuss.]

[Of course, my lord.] Lucius replied, respectfully.

Jack waved his hand, in front of his office door, and found that with his intention it opened for him.

[How does this work?] Jack wondered to himself, now that he calmed down ever so slightly. He sort of remembered when he did this to his personal room, and even to his evening tomb, without trying.

Jack went into his office, as the door behind him closed, "Emily do you want to sit on the couch, or do you want to stay in my arms?" Jack asked softly while looking down at this little skeleton. Jack never thought that he would find a skeleton cute, but here he was thinking she was... Perhaps his sense of ascetics was changing.

A soft voice drifted out as if dreaming, "I want to stay in your arms a bit more..."

Jack nodded and went to his desk to sit down and wait for Lucius to show. He saw a number of reports on his desk. Some of these reports detailed the Dead Tide, and others about Zitergall... Or Zitergall before it was backhanded by him.

After reading through the Dead Tide report did, he noticed that Emily shifted every once in a while, in his arms. It was exactly like she was dreaming.

[So, undead do dream... Or is Emily special???] Jack wondered when he heard a knocking at his office door.

"Come in."

Lucius came into the office, closing the door behind him, and took his usual seat in front of the G.o.d-King"s desk. Lucius couldn"t help but notice the little loli cuddling while being held by one of Jack"s arms.

"My Lord... Why is Consort Emily... Uh... Resting in your embrace?" Lucius asked cautiously, but couldn"t contain his curiosity, though it wasn"t like he hadn"t walked in on Jack with Leslie in a precarious position.

"She is tired, and I needed her comfort. I"m glad she was able to calm me down." Jack said as he used his free hand to tousled Emily"s webbing hair.

"...." Lucius was speechless, when had his lord become this close with his second Consort... Not that it was a bad thing, but he would have thought to known...

Lucius thought of Jack"s wording, and spoke up, "My lord, what has upset you?"

"The Grimnight clan has seen fit to p.i.s.s me off... At least the Clan Head of the Grimnight clan and the part he represents. This does not include their Third Elder and his son, or the undead under his charge that have already arrive" Jack explained.

"Should I ask what he has done?"

"He threatened Jade, Leslie"s Mother, with blackmail against Leslie."

"...He has indeed... made a bad choice."

"Indeed, Lucius... I have a fitting end to him, but for now... I need to discuss with you some key issues."

"Yes, my lord."

"About this G.o.d-King business..."

"My lord, are you against being known for what you are?" Lucius spoke up, as he heard Jack on more than one time claim he wasn"t a G.o.d.

"Uh... No... The undead may call me such. I will accept this mantle if they choose to place it on my shoulders. The question is how many faithful do I have among the populace?" Jack asked uncertainly.

"Here in Saigunrai, I would say all worshippers have been converted over to the Faith of the G.o.d-King, and some new recruits within the City have lent a whopping seventy-seven percent of the population here in Saigunrai take you as their Undead G.o.d."

"That is good."

"The zombie undead slaves that were given by Neolith as part of the second Consort"s dowry have almost all converted. What"s even more interesting is that yesterday, these zombie undead formed a group calling themselves the fanatical and wish to serve even more faithfully. They go out and lash themselves in front of each other, in almost a compet.i.tion of sorts to see who can bleed more black blood for the G.o.d-King..." Lucius continued as Jack listened quietly as if dazed.

"This morning they began their self-flogging again while crying their loyalty to you... To be honest, I"ve never seen anyone worship like them... They were slaves before I gave them the ability to rise from that status to become normal citizens. What surprises me the most, and I"m stopping myself from laughing at the irony, is that they use to be lashed, and now they are lashing themselves..."

"I can see your point here, Lucius." Jack chuckled as well, as this irony wasn"t lost on him.

"Should I let them continue this behavior? I don"t wish for some contagion to start because of their frolicking." Lucius queried.

"Provide them with health care for their flogging, if this behavior risks a public outbreak of disease. I think I may have a use for these... Fanatical."

"As you wish, my lord."

"I"m planning the construction of a new City... One to replace Zitergall." Jack stated bluntly.

"Is this the use of these Fanaticals?"

"Yes. These will be the hard laborers of the City, and We need skilled crafts men to direct these hands. I want this City completed with such haste that has never been seen before within these lands."

"How... How fast are you talking, My lord?"

"I wish for it to be built in a month, two months max."

"My... My lord! Two Months?!?"

"Yes. The very survival of Deagoth depends on this new City that will be named... Bellum."

"Bellum?"

"Yes. Do you have any suggestions to make this happen?"

Lucius quietly thought.

Jack caressed Emily in his arms, as his Flaming eyes danced while gazing at her.

After a small period of time, Lucius surfaced from his thoughts, "My lord-"

"Lucius." Jack interrupted, "You can just call me Jack like before. There is no reason for you to stop now, just because I"ve gained a different t.i.tle."

Lucius went silent, as he felt a bit of warmth, "Alright Jack... If that"s what you wish."

"It is, my friend." Jack nodded and spoke with a smile in his voice. Over the period of time, Jack found he only had one issue with Lucius... And since he was now the G.o.d-King that meant there were no issues with Lucius.

Lucius nodded as well, as he spoke, "We can either throw a lot of money at this problem, or I have another solution."

"Use the faithful, in addition to the Fanaticals?" Jack asked.

"Precisely!"

Just as Jack was going to say some more words, his laptop sounded with a chime.

Lucius looked to the golden tome, with amazement within his mind.

Jack opened his laptop, as Tux the Penguin appeared on the screen, "Reporting to Creator! Project Bellum is ready for your review."

Jack nodded, as he looked to Lucius, "Lucius. I was so in thought about the kingdom, that I failed to show off my newest creation."

"A living tome?"

"Something like that... This is the most powerful living tome that has ever been seen here, and I might dare to say the whole underworld." Jack chuckled again, pleased with himself.

"The whole underworld? What did you bind into this tome exactly?" Lucius asked out of astonishment.

"I"ll let you in on a secret, Lucius... Tell no one else... But I made this tome, and the creature inside was designed and created by me and me alone. I bound no other souls to this tome."

"?!?" Lucius sat up straighter in his chair, as he looked to this golden tome. No soul was used to make it? Not even a piece of the creator? Lucius could only chalk this up to Jack being a G.o.d.

"Tux create a spell that will allow me to display this city as a construction so that I can view it in all three dimensions." Jack ordered.

"Calculating... Done... Spellcraft ready for Creator." Tux replied almost immediately.

[Just like last time! I really love the speed of this thing.] Jack felt pleased with himself, as he read the screen.

Jack stood behind his desk, still holding Emily, as he hummed a new spell. Lucius looked on in astonishment from what he heard, just speechless. Creating spells so quickly? Madness!

"Diflam." Jack hummed.

A golden hologram of the city plans for Bellum illuminated Jack"s office, as it appeared before both him and Lucius" vision.