"Oh, please… There"s no need to fall on my feet, or prostrate before the Heavens for the prophecy which placed me on your side! After all, it"s not like I saved your life and the future of your home…Wait, that"s exactly what I did! So show some d.a.m.n grat.i.tude!"
Standing above the same patch of sea to which they had been teleported after being saved from the Church, Daneel and Alistair had been looking at each other for an entire minute without saying anything before the Basilisk finally put her hands on her hips and said this in a tone filled with sarcasm and mild anger.
The Heroes had been sent away instantly, along with the three a.s.sa.s.sins who had been charged to use the Artefact sent with them to see them safely over the Sea. After that, the staring match had started, during which Daneel was not proud to admit that he had had to expend a lot of effort to get over the crippling sense of having too many enemies.
It couldn"t be helped! He never had been that perfect leader figure who could possess confidence no matter what the situation was. He had always had his fears and uncertainties, and now, with the reveal of Basilisk"s true nature, they all reared their unwelcome heads again.
Why, why, why do you want to kill me, too? Doesn"t the survival of your sect depend on it? I was just going to trust you! One more G.o.dd.a.m.n enemy is definitely not something I need right now!
As thoughts like these came in his head, he also asked the system once again to check whether the data was correct, but so far, the system had never been wrong.
Still, at his behest, it went through everything again, and just 10 seconds ago, it had told him that the animosity that the Basilisk felt for him extended even beyond the scale that the system had created, which meant that it couldn"t even perfectly quantify just how much Alistair wanted to kill him.
But why?
Again and again, he kept coming back to this question, but when he heard her speak, he knew that now was not the time to think about it.
So, clearing his mind, he focused his gaze on the Basilisk and saw that the weariness that he had noticed before was still present. She was present in the same form as before, on the face of the poor a.s.sa.s.sin who had come to Angaria with very different plans, but apart from the eyes, the entire face was drawn, and even the body of the man looked weak, as if all the energy had been sucked out of it.
He did not dare activate the Basilisk"s Breath, as he did not want her to know that he was using her own technique to have more time to think. It might cause suspicion, which would be the worst thing that could happen right now, so seizing the little time he had, Daneel thought of everything he knew about Saints, and realized right away that she must have left some place vulnerable because of coming here, which meant that she might be eager to leave after confirming that this act of hers would not go unappreciated by Daneel.
And as for what she wanted right now… What did any narcissist want, after they had done something that looked selfless?
Praise.
"Forgive me. I can"t believe that I came so close to losing it all… I guess I was still in a daze. You are right: first, some grat.i.tude is due. I, and Angaria thank you for what you have done for us. Without you, today, everything would have been lost. I do not know just what cost you had to pay to do this, but I promise you that I will repay you in kind, someday. This is an oath I swear with the Heavens and the Sea as the witness. I do not know if the Heavens are where prophecies come from, but I do know that I feel extremely grateful that we were witness to it. After this war is done, your statues will be erected all over the continent, and you will be praised as one of the friends who came when the need was dire. Thank you."
His words made Alistair finally relax and drink in all the praise as if it were the sweetest elixir in the world, and seeing this, Daneel felt relieved as that was exactly what he wanted.
Right now, he felt as if he were back to those days before he had even taken control of Lanthanor, when he had had to hide his motives and act disingenuously if he wanted to get out of the deplorable situation that he had been in. Now, with so many enemies surrounding him, he knew that the unbending att.i.tude of a G.o.dking would not serve him well. He needed to be flexible, once again. So, as so much was at stake, he swallowed the pride that had built up inside him in all these years and told himself that when everything was done, he would have a chance to straighten everything that was being bent, and when that time came… he would not hesitate, or hold back.
Seeing that this was the perfect opportunity to dismiss her while making it seem as if it was her own idea, he continued in a humble tone.
"I can see that you are very tired due to the incredible amount of power that you must have needed to use. If you need to retire, I understand. We can speak again after you have recovered. Although, I am curious… I heard of Saints from the a.s.sa.s.sins that you sent. It is obvious that you are also at that power level, even if that is not what you might be called. They said that a Saint cannot leave the base of a force unless they"re willing to expose themselves to an attack by others… If so, how did you do this?"
His tone was almost like that of a student who was asking a senior for direction, so with a smile, Alistair replied, "Yes, if I were in the Church, I would be called a saint, but I spoke of a favor. Once, I allowed myself to be bought by a random fool instead of a.s.sa.s.sinating him. He rose to become a Saint, too, so I simply settled the debt by using him as a conduit. He"ll have to rest for a couple of years or more, but he doesn"t have a force following him, so it doesn"t matter. But you"re right, this was very tiring. It is good to see that you know to show grat.i.tude despite the lofty status you"ve given yourself. We shall speak later. Farewell."
As soon as she disappeared, Daneel let out a sigh and began the journey back to Angaria.
A minute or so later, he was sitting on the throne in the middle of the continent with an old man in front of him.
Finally, Daneel had relented and sent the message to Fenoras, who had hurried over with a very troubled look on his face.
That expression was still present, and as Daneel watched the old man look all around him as if he were searching for something, he wondered what was wrong.
Before he could ask, the Emperor spoke with none of the happiness that had been present when he had first been revived.
"G.o.dking. I have been… Wait, first, can we speak secretly here? Without those a.s.sa.s.sins overhearing us."
Daneel merely nodded with impatience.
"Good. I can see that something has changed, which led you to summoning me even though I know that you must hold a lot of respect for the man I was. Let me tell you the reason behind my anxiousness. You know that I have a penchant for planning. Before the war, I had always known that my mind might be one of the treasures that the enemy would come looking for. All the secrets it holds had to be protected at all costs, but I could not really antic.i.p.ate the kind of methods they might possess. I knew that it was possible that my mind might be taken control of and changed to follow them, so to let myself know if that happened, I placed a trap deep, deep within my consciousness. If any external change occurred in it, it would be sprung. It would do something that I would never be able to ignore… Yes, you guessed right. It would change my personality to the opposite of what I was. This is exactly what has happened. Everyone knows that I did not smile all that frequently. But at first, even I did not detect the change, until I sat down and looked back. The trap has been sprung. I have been trying to find what has been changed, but it is fruitless. There is only one way that it might be possible for me to find the source… But it"s impossible. Simply impossible…"
Burying his face in his hands, the Emperor keep repeating the word "impossible", but interrupting him, Daneel spoke loudly.
"Is it that someone should possess an entire record of all of your memories that you left with your followers?"
As if his back had been whipped, the Emperor snapped his head up and looked at Daneel with shock.
"Yes! How did you know? If someone had all of my memories, the piece of consciousness that clings to them would be enough for me to fill the gaps! Even if there are certain memories that might have been removed from the original form of consciousness, they would all come back to me due to the effect of having an unchanged piece healing me! I made a spell to make it happen, in case I ever needed to find everything that was erased! But it is impossible to-"
As Daneel raised his hand, the emperor shut his mouth and stared.
In the air, a small, glowing ball appeared suddenly in which multiple images that encompa.s.sed all the experiences of the Emperor could be seen. Realizing what it was, Fenoras even began to stammer.
He looked between it and Daneel, but after a few seconds, understanding came to him as he said, "Everyone has secrets. I see that yours are powerful enough that we may truly save Angaria. Give me a few moments."
He walked forward with a confident stride, and after reaching the piece of consciousness, he simply went forward and let it enter his mind.
As Daneel saw the man fall to the ground and begin to heal himself, he once again praised his unbelievable foresight and leaned back on the throne, hoping that he would soon find the answers that he was looking for.