My Servant System

Chapter 747 746: Library

"Well, I didn't expect to see you so soon. Nakith, Luci, you can relax near the door; I'll accompany Lady Jahi around the library."

Lady Hathor stood up from her couch and closed the book in her hands, its extravagant silver binding flicking in the candlelight, contrasting the woman's warm yellow skin with its metallic sheen.

Placing it on her belt, the older Demoness chained her book to herself before approaching me, giving me a nod before waving her hand languidly at the other two, dismissing them from our presence.

"Is there something in particular that brought you to the Aedis' library, or were you just here for a chat, Lady Jahi?"

Lady Hathor turned and walked slowly towards one of the many rows of bookshelves, guiding me further into the enormous sanctum of books, its wooden appearance softened by the beautiful tapestries that hung on the walls as well as the red and gold rugs that rested atop the wooden floorboards.

"A mixture of things, I suppose. I have to admit I am more curious about the Cimeriesa's then the Beliali's; I feel like I can understand and comprehend my red skinned, silver tongued 'cousins', but not so much my magically inclined, intelligent and sometimes crazed 'cousins'."

Glancing up at me with a raised brow, Lady Hathor shook her head gently, her expression still as serious as ever even as her voice came out gentle, saying "Only an Asmodia would dare to utter those words in front of a Clan Head. Even the Empress highlights our positives and ignores the negatives; she hopes that a reminder on what we do good will push us further into those niches, and yet... we cannot help ourselves from exploring those darker, terrible paths. I myself happen to be one of the best examples, though Ammit... Ammit is the prime example."

Around us, the shelves lined with various tomes and scrolls towered up almost towards the ceiling, with rolling ladders attached to their surfaces to help maneuver the library, and various orbs of brilliant mana floated around lazily, illuminating the space.

"We Cimeriesa's have an... innate thirst for magic. In all facets, passive or dangerous. It matters not to us, and we wish to understand it better, to grasp any and all threads of this intricate tapestry of mana that comprises the world around us. The tapestry that we ourselves become as we learn more. Ammit was one such hopeful. She hoped to understand not the world of magic, but the body of magic that we all possessed. To understand the Core on a deeper level, to study the mana pathways in our bodies and how they work. How they connect the entire body together.

One such question she had was about the mind, and in her pursuit to quench that thirst, the young Demoness never once asked herself if... if she should. We all can do something; anything, in fact. Mortals are capable of a great deal of things, and so long as one has the willpower and the drive to do something, it is possible, no matter how improbable or impossible it might seem. What tempers your decision making is the realization of what can go wrong. The 'should' to the 'could', if you will. You CAN kill someone, but should you? You CAN build a house, but should you in that spot?

She never asked herself if she should. She just... did. That is the flaw of all of the Cimeriesa's, and especially the womenfolk. It is why, when we womenfolk succeed in our experiments, it leads to something incredible. We could do something, and so we did. However, we never ask that question. None of us. I never asked myself that question, and my results were mild - to some, anyways. I lost a chance that I shall never get back. For Ammit, it was far more catastrophic. She damaged her mind; once so very sharp, now it has dulled, though it is no less brilliant. She is a powerful woman, but she has... regressed."

Lady Hathor let out a sigh, her green and red eyes focused on the area in front of us as she led me into a new section of the library, one with rounded shelves that formed a barrier to the center, not allowing entry further into the library.

"That is what you need to know about your 'crazed cousins', Lady Jahi. We wish to learn, no matter the cost. We suffer from hubris that, because we can be so intelligent, because mana comes to us far more naturally than others, that we are capable of great things. And yet, more often than not, we end up suffering for our hubris. The same way the Beliali's suffer for their need to exaggerate and lie; the same way the Asmodeucian's suffered for their insistence that they could do everything themselves, that their strength was greater than anything else's. That is the bane of the Demon : Hubris."

I nodded, watching as she unchained the book from her belt and placed it on the shelf, taking out a new one and chaining that one up, the silence between us becoming palpable for a moment before she sighed, a weary smile on her lips as she said "I'm certain you didn't wish to hear the melancholic bumblings of a jaded woman. Ask your questions, Lady Jahi."

"No, that is what I wanted to hear. If you had ignored everything... 'wrong' with the Clans, I wouldn't have listened to anything else you had to say. I dislike when someone constantly needs to embellish their good points whilst ignoring their negatives. If you can't acknowledge the bad, it tends to fester and cause more damage... that I know personally."

Those multicolored eyes landed on me, and I could feel the power radiating from those spheres of mana that Lady Hathor used for sight, each rotation of either one increasing its potency before they gradually began to decline in power, her fiery eye emitting sparks that quenched the worst of the flames.

"Spoken much like Chordeva... You really are a near identical copy of her, Lady Jahi. Albeit with the temperance of your Mother... and her manners as well. When I... When Chordeva asked me that same question before - and I gave her a similar answer - she just laughed and called me an idiot. It was infuriating; I didn't understand what she meant, but I do now."

Looking away, Lady Hathor sighed once more, before raising a brow as I asked "Well, to pull you out of your melancholy, and to show that I am indeed her child... Could I purchase one of those golems from your Crucible? They were really~ really fun to spar against~!"

She stared at me for a few moments before sighing yet again, shaking her head even as a small smile tugged at her lips, the woman muttering "You truly are just like her..."

Resuming her walk, Lady Hathor remained silent as she guided me back through the library, thinking it over before looking at me once more, asking "No, you cannot purchase one of the golems."

I felt my shoulders slump in disappointment, feeling much like a child who had been denied their favorite toy, only to re inflate as she added "However, Chordeva could. The expense of such a thing isn't something you could afford, Lady Jahi. This would need to be a conversation she and I would need to have, but therein lies the problem. She refuses to speak to me, so-"

"Ah, that's simple. I'll tell her she needs to meet with Belian, but forget to tell her that you're with him. Lock you both in a room and force her to buy it... Simple, really."

"I... sincerely doubt that would work. Not without me leaving that room severely injured, or remaining in that room a corpse."

Rolling my eyes, I stretched as I said "Fine, fine... I'll talk to her properly about it... Shouldn't be an issue though, since the idea of that golem should intrigue her enough."

Of course, as I glanced at her from the corner of my eye, I didn't miss the hopefulness on her expression as we made our way to the doors, where Nakith and Luci waited patiently for us.

There was little doubt in my mind that hearing about Miss Julie had reignited the spark of hope inside her; hope that perhaps Mom would be... 'open' to the idea of rekindling some talks between House Asmodia and Clan Cimeriesa.

Whether or not she could temper her expectations with reality wasn't my problem, and it wasn't like I was guaranteeing her that Mom would speak to her outside of this business transaction; that was all on her.