Chapter 133: Too powerful
Lucrezia stared at her. Her expression was filled with many emotions; confusion being the most. "Then why was it unleashed?"
Nalia’s expression became more solemn. "Because the gods had become too powerful."
The words settled heavily between them.
Lucrezia said nothing. She remembered that.
Nalia continued, her voice quiet. "The gods were feared, but fear alone did not make them obedient. They were immortal, powerful and bound to one another by an accord that made them nearly impossible to challenge. Their authority extended over the Downworlders, and there was no higher power among them willing to judge their actions."
Lucrezia understood that as well. "So Hell gave them another Sin to control them?"
"No."
Nalia’s answer came immediately.
Lucrezia looked at her.
"It was not given to them," The servant continued. "That is what makes the eighth different."
"Then what was its purpose?" She asked.
Nalia became cautious. "I do not know if purpose is the proper word, my lady."
Proper word? "Then what would you call it?"
Nalia lowered her eyes briefly. "A consequence."
Lucrezia’s fingers tightened around the porcelain cup. "A consequence?"
She nodded. "For the gods."
The room seemed quieter now. Even the faint movement of the curtains near the window seemed distant.
Nalia continued carefully. "Hell had unleashed the Seven, and each of them had been placed within the Seven Kingdoms. But the gods were not simply rulers anymore. They had become powers unto themselves. They could govern their people, punish them and determine their fates without anyone standing above them to question their judgement."
Lucrezia thought of Vaeron—of the other Sins. Of the way everyone in Blackvale seemed to speak of them with a mixture of fear and reverence.
"And the eighth was meant to change that?" She asked, her voice quiet as well.
"Perhaps."
"Perhaps?"
Nalia gave a small, uncertain shake of her head. "The histories disagree on many things, my lady. Some say the eighth was created to restore balance. Others say it was created because Hell itself had grown dissatisfied with what the Seven had become."
Lucrezia listened carefully. All the options seemed acceptable to her. "And what do you believe?"
Nalia looked almost startled by the question. "I am only a servant, my lady."
"That does not answer me," She said softly.
Nalia hesitated. "No, my lady."
Lucrezia waited.
After a moment, Nalia finally said, "I believe the eighth was something even the gods were not prepared to face."
A faint chill travelled through Lucrezia. "Why?"
"Because the Seven knew how to rule what belonged to them," She said. "They knew their powers, their kingdoms and the boundaries of the accord." Nalia’s gaze shifted towards the window. "But the eighth had no kingdom to govern. No people to answer to. No place within the order that had already been established."
Lucrezia’s curiosity deepened. "What did it govern, then?"
Nalia’s lips parted. For several seconds, she said nothing. "I do not know, my lady."
It was the first time Lucrezia had heard uncertainty in her voice.
"You don’t know?"
"No."
"But you said this was general knowledge." She pointed.
"The existence of the eighth is general knowledge," Nalia corrected gently. "Not everything concerning it."
Lucrezia lowered her eyes. There were gaps. She could feel them now. The same sort of gaps she had noticed in Greed’s book.
Things had been written, but not completely. Names omitted. Events shortened. Truths reduced to fragments until only what was considered safe remained.
"What happened to it?" she asked.
Nalia’s expression changed, though only slightly. But Lucrezia noticed.
The servant looked down at her folded hands. "I would not know, my lady."
It was too careful.
Lucrezia studied her. "Nalia."
The young woman looked up.
"You said the gods could not be governed," She said. "Then you said Hell unleashed the eighth because of them. Surely you know what happened afterward."
Nalia was silent.
For a moment, Lucrezia thought she might refuse to answer.
Instead, she said, "There are parts of that history that are not spoken of freely."
"Why?"
"Because some things are better left in the past," She said.
The answer was simple—too simple. Lucrezia felt the question pressing against the back of her mind, but she did not ask again.
Something about Nalia’s expression told her that she had already said more than she should have.
So Lucrezia leaned back slightly. "And the Seven?"
"They remained," She said.
"Even after the eighth appeared?"
"Yes, my lady."
"Then nothing changed?"
Nalia’s gaze met hers. For a moment, neither said anything.
Then she looked away. "The eighth changed many things," She said quietly. "But the gods remained. The Seven remained. And Blackvale remained."
There was something about the way she said it that made Lucrezia uneasy as though remaining was not the same as surviving.
Lucrezia glanced towards the window again. The pale morning had begun to brighten, though the sun itself remained hidden behind the clouds.
"So that is what the Tithes are?" she asked, remembering Nalia’s earlier words. "Something connected to the gods’ punishment?"
Nalia shook her head. "No, my lady. The Tithes are something else entirely."
Lucrezia frowned. "Then what are they?"
Nalia’s expression softened with a hint of caution. "Higher Ups," She answered. "It is said that their faces are marked with scriptures and symbols from the future. Others say they hold the past and present occurrences. No one knows because there cannot be seen." She said.
Something about that description seemed familiar. Where had she seen something like that?
"After the eighth Sin was brought as a consequence for the gods, however, power influenced it as well," Nalia continued. "But in this case, it became far worse. Its ambition was greater than what any creature could destroy, and its power was enough to destroy the world completely. And so, the Tithes was created."
Lucrezia listened.
"Its purpose was to create balance in the gods realm, and by doing so, each and every soul sacrificed something worth living for. But the dead can’t, can they? Unfortunately, even the dead had something of worth, and so did other immortals as well. That was how the Tithes were created, and how they lived beyond the gods."
By sacrificing something of worth, she thought.
Her voice became solemn as she continued, "The eighth Sin left the realm for greater pastures, to ambush his ambition, endangering the world in general. The gods became his target, and eventually, he begun to carry out his ruse. By the time the council intervened, it was already too late. He’d corrupted and built what was called the Phantoms,"
Lucrezia’s heart skipped. The Phantoms, she thought. That was what were at the fair that day.
"No one knew how he was eventually captured, but history has it that the blood of each—" and her eyes met hers for a brief moment. "—chosen mortals, strengthened the ward at the Gate, that which held him in captivity for forty thousand years."
Lucrezia’s stomach sank. Punishments, she thought. That was why she was important. It was because she exists as a sacrifice.
Her voice was hoarse when she spoke, "If... the eighth Sin had been captured, then why are the Phantoms still roaming?"
Her question seemed to make the room still. There was something about Nalia’s expression that made her heart start racing.
"He escaped."