Chương 1069: Day One Thousand And Sixty-Seven

Dear Diary, I am, on occasion, a dumbass. Just in case anyone not aware of this fact still existed. In this case, I'm talking about talking to Aphrodite about any part of my plans for her without confirming that she is, in fact, no longer connected to Ares while she's in the oubliette. I mean, I didn't tell her all of the plans, because I'm pretty sure he's gonna be able to scrape what I've told her out of her head the moment he realizes she's there to be scraped.

But if he's got some sort of sense of timing, he might be waiting, and that could be inconvenient for certain aspects of what I'm doing. Which, to be clear, is something that's gonna piss a lot of people off. Possibly scare even more of them, if they figure out what's going on. But on the flip side, the folks most likely to be scared are the ones who seem to have made every flaw they have everyone else's problem, so I'm not really upset about that.

Okay, something tells me I will be, eventually, but for right now, I'm trying to steel myself. Gird up my loins. Which, interestingly, is something I've now seen someone do. Siobhan decided that 'hair of the dog' would be the best cure for the intense muscle aches she had from Monday, so she came along to Camden Yards today. Credit to the Cadets, despite her being the Dannest Dan girl to ever Dan, none of them were anything other than helpful and polite.

Okay, maybe some of them ignored her and focused on their own workouts, but that's not really rude, what with her being a sort of plus one for me rather than an integral part of the class. We followed the same format as the Phileo kids, only with a shorter warmup run, less time dancing, and more weight work. Honestly that's probably most of what Siobhan needs anyhow, so it worked out. Honestly, I think some of the Newark Cadets started out not too far from where Siobhan is now.

I'm gonna see if I can bring her along on Friday, because even if they've progressed way beyond where she is, seeing the difference might help them, and seeing how much they've improved might encourage her. At any rate, after my convo with Aphrodite yesterday, followed by choreography dreams and a day of teaching Math to kids of sizes ranging from Isnomi to just shy of Maze and Ria, I brought the kids home and got them eating. Salads today, in a variety of meanings.

None of those weird Midwestern 'salads' I'd read about, thankfully. Although to be honest I've never tried any of them, and the biggest complaint I ever heard was that they were, like, made out of calories. Like packing as much raw energy into each spoonful as possible, just pure fat and sugar. So maybe they'd make good Cadet Chow. Gotta check with Marie about that. Maybe Saffron too, to see if we have the components of that kind of abomination.

But no, we had iceberg lettuce with chopped veggies, mixed greens, chicken salad, egg salad, and even what looked and tasted like tuna salad. A couple different kinds of bread, including the old favorite Academy black bread loaves, a nice hearty sourdough that Marie had started somehow, and even some of those flatbread cracker things that Tallulah used to have as a staple of her dinners. Ria did not like those much, but showed her sisters how to use them to scoop up the assorted savory salads.

Tallulah, on the other hand, practically embodied nostalgia as she crunched at them. It takes all kinds, I guess, and at least she got her nostalgia fix. Siobhan had been moving like a geriatric since the Monday workout, slipping into the bath and going all floppy as the hot water leached the ache from them. Kinda funny, when I got real attentive, Saffron chuckled at me.

"What? She's sore because of the workout I put her through." Saffron sobered a little immediately.

"Oh, I'm aware, and I didn't mean anything hurtful. No, love, she simply reminds me so much of how you slipped into the Bath the first time."

"Who, me?" Marie answered that with a definitive, "Yes." As I continued working Siobhan's shoulders while Marie took a turn at nursing Aoibh, who was still clearly in the 'eat, sleep, shit' stage, I pondered, "maybe in a couple Seasons she'll be all buff like me?" At that point Saffron did a little Shapeshifting. Specifically into Siobhan. More specifically into an over the top muscular Siobhan.

Okay, really she probably just did a Siobhan recolor on what I looked like, but still, it got all of us laughing, even Siobhan herself. Good times. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. At any rate, once we had the kids in bed, Saffron gave me that look, and I think I stunned both of us when I said, "go ahead if you like, but I've got to talk to Conrad first?" She hopped up to give me a kiss, then took Siobhan by the hand.

"As you wish, love." The two of them disappeared as I strode over to the corner closet that had Conrad's armoire nestled within. No idea why he kept the entrance in the back of an armoire, but it's not like it's hurting anybody, just a little quirk of his. Then again, it's possible he's making some kind of joke and I'm just not getting it. At any rate, slid the door open, stepped through, and called out, "Son? Are you around?" His fingers slid over my shoulders to give me a parody of a comforting squeeze.

"Mother Dearest! What brings you to my Workshop?"

"Secure us, please?" If he looked a little surprised, he didn't hesitate. A couple moments later, he nodded.

"Done." I turned around and held out my arms, offering. He stepped in and accepted a brief hug. After a few seconds of awkwardness that still seemed somehow more wholesome than I expected from Conrad, I explained.

"I had a question about the oubliette?" He just nodded.

"The one in your Temple of Love, I'm assuming?" I nodded, then realized.

"There are others?"

"But of course. Each of your Temples has one. There's also the prototype here in my Workshop, as well as one I don't know about," he put one finger on the side of his nose in an exaggerated gesture, "in Alliance HQ."

"Mom didn't tell you about it, or she asked you to keep it a secret?"

"The former, of course. I wouldn't have told you if it were the latter." That tried to open up a whole fuckin' case of cans of worms, right up until I realized that my son enjoys stirring up shit way more than any internet meme lord.

"Okay. Thanks for letting me know. At any rate, yeah, the one in the Temple of Love."

"What did you need to know about it?" I thought for a second, making sure that I wasn't about to ask him something that would offend him. Or really, more to the point make sure I wasn't about to ask him something in a way that would offend him.

"Okay, so from times I've been Translocated while I'm in there, it's got something of the same Shape that the Anti-Translocation Ward I used in Calverton did, and based on... No, based on what Aphrodite has been telling me, it cuts her off from her Worshippers, as well as from her husband? So I'm guessing it has something like a Divine Ward incorporated?" He nodded.

"You've figured out most of it, I think. The Shape itself is Enchanted into the structure, and powered from without and within."

"Meaning?" He looked a little put out by the interruption, but then I probably should have known what he meant from context.

"The oubliette is primarily powered by the Worship of the faithful in the Temple, but it is also powered by the Mana of any within. As such, the more powerful the beings within it, the more powerful the Shape becomes." That took me a little by surprise.

"Wait, so the times I've been in there...?" He nodded, smiling.

"With you even partially within the oubliette, the containment should be sufficient to contain any lesser being." I frowned.

"Less powerful being." He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'm all big and bad and powerful, but that doesn't make me better than."

"Does it not?"

"It doesn't." Weird. I felt something then. I dunno if it had been standing in his sealed Workshop, or maybe some kind of funky posturing by my more socially acceptable evil son, but the moment I said that, told him it didn't matter, it all washed away. He blinked, and smiled at me.

"As you say, Mother Dearest. At any rate, the Shape is unique, at least the one I designed for the Temple of Love, although each of the copies designed and emplaced by your Clergy are likely similar. Albeit less powerful in the sense that they are likely less efficient."

"Still gonna be able to keep somebody contained if I'm standing guard though." He nodded as if that point was true while not really being relevant.

"Fair, although I would prefer to avoid you having to stand watch forever should we need contain someone indefinitely. At any rate, the Shape itself is inspired by and contains elements of a basic Mana Ward, an Anti-Translocation Ward, an Anti-Scrying Ward, a... you referred to it as a Divine Ward? Very fitting. At any rate, on top of those, it also contains element of Blend."

"You know..." He just raised an eyebrow.

"Of course you do." I paused for a moment, then asked, "could Ares hear what I told Aphrodite?"

"While you were within the oubliette with her?" I nodded.

"Then it would be incredibly unlikely. Even had he bound her as Clergy..."

"He did." That got him. He winced.

"Unpleasant oaf. You do intend to confront him at some point?" I took a deep breath, let it out.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'll probably have to."

"Good. If I might make a request?" I made a 'go on' gesture.

"Humble him. No, wait. Shame him. Shame him so badly that even should he survive, he would rather end himself than be recognized." I shot him a crooked smile.

"If he surrenders, I won't be able to do that." He looked a little crestfallen until I added, "but what are the odds of that?" So I left a content Conrad working on some new passion project of his when I joined Saffron and Siobhan in the Bedroom. Where Kitten had used our Darling as a pincushion. Acupuncture. Once I made sure Siobhan was resting comfortably, I kinda asked Saffron for the same.

"When will I get my turn?" I winced a little.

"Yeah, my Skills with this aren't what I'd call trustworthy. Maybe we can bring Marie up here Friday?" She frowned, but nodded.

"Perhaps. Now lie down. Face up."

"Yes, dear." Fell asleep right there in the Bedroom next to Siobhan. More choreography practice. Dunno what's going on, except maybe the ladies have something big planned for the Solstice.