The Greatest Sin [Progression Fantasy][Kingdom Building]
Chapter 297 – A Double Dose

A direct strike on Arcadia. A direct strike on Olympiada. The Pantheon’s Invasion of Kirinyaa defeated. The Pantheon itself shattered. Epa ablaze after separation. Leona dead. Atis made part of the Legion. The weapon Divines freed. The Epan Nationals on the brink of joining. A continent cracked. Neneria gorging on tens of millions. A continental Divine defeated.

Arascus stood up and stopped reminiscing about the achievements that had happened.

He had seen things like this play out before. They would score another two or three victories. They would push the Pantheon to the breaking point. And worlds would collide.

At least this time it wouldn’t be a surprise.

Fer sniffed the air as Raptor One shot back off towards the east. The moon was rising from that direction as the sky set. Stars were coming out too, made brighter by the total lack of lights on the grand expanse save for a few torches that the sorcerers were waving around. A few of their groups were laughing. One started a camp fire. A few others were dancing. The only other sources of light were the two dozen ships in the distance. From here, Fer could see that they had great cannons similar to what the Binturongs had been equipped with. The only difference to the land vehicles was that these barrels were mounted two or three to a turret. Those ships, tall towers in the centre of each one, floated like tiny fortresses in the middle of the water.

But Fer pulled her eyes away from the ocean as she looked up. The smell revealed who had just jumped out of Raptor One before Fer’s keen eyes spotted the woman. Cool yet bitter, cold and harsh, like mint leaves that had been smacked about in black pepper. A very distinctive smell for Kavaa, although most powerful Divines had smells that were very distinctive. By Fer’s side, Neneria smelled an unpeeled orange. At least, the ambience of her character tried to penetrate itself from her usual smell: a reeking, unwashed wardrobe that had not been opened in a decade. And Anassa.

Anassa was in such a sorry state right now that Fer couldn’t even get a whiff of the woman’s usual distinctive traces of terribly spicy honey. Instead, she simply smelled like sweat, vomit, mud and stomach acid. Fer looked down at her sister again. Anassa had tried to stand, but she had fallen onto her knees and was throwing up her insides out again. Another splash meant that she threw up more acid from her stomach. Neneria stared down at their sickly sister too and sighed. “Shut.” Anassa managed to get one word out as she greedily drank the air. “Up!” And she collapsed onto her side again, sweating and breathing heavily.

“We didn’t say anything.” Fer said as she looked up. “The doctor’s here though.”

“I…” Anassa said weakly. “Who… called?”

“Not me.” Fer replied, she looked to Neneria and the Goddess of Death shrugged as she shook her head, then pointed to the group of sorcerers.

“Them probably.”

“See Ana.” Fer said. “Even you have people who care about you!”

“Ha ha.” Anassa sarcastically replied, she closed her eyes and panic sparked for a moment within Fer. A listen revealed that her heart was still beating very hard and very steady, and a quick sniff revealed that she was still alive, still sweating and simply not enjoying herself. “I can take it.” She said. “It’s…” And she threw up again.

Neneria looked much too happy with the situation. “It’s what?” The Goddess of Death said as she knelt down. “What is it Ana?”

Anassa opened those crimson eyes of hers. They stared at Neneria, then jumped to Fer. Fer whistled, yawned, and took a step back. Of Sorcery realised the tacit permission and sprang upwards in a groan of explosive yet delirious movements. Neneria had never been fast, and the most reaction Neneria could do was simply gawk in surprise as Anassa launched her entire body at her sister. Of Death managed to straighten and just about get away, but Anassa managed to grab the black hem of Neneria’s dress. “Don’t Ana.” Immediately, Neneria resorted to begging. “Please don’t.”

Anassa did not have a shred of mercy in her bones though, and so Anassa wiped her sickly mouth onto Neneria’s dress. “I’m fine.” She said. “It is passi…” And once again Anassa collapsed as Neneria looked down at her dress with sulking eyes.

“You didn’t have to get it dirty.” Of Death said. “Sorry but…” Fer decided to step in. The social aptitude of either Neneria or Anassa made every interaction with them an exercise in misery.

“Now you have no excuse not to wash.” Fer made her tone light and joking. Frankly, she didn’t even mind taking care of these girls. It was nice when they smiled. Neneria looked at Fer utterly defeated.

“I…” She said as Fer interrupted her immediately.

“I know a place.” Fer said. “In Kirinyaa…” Fer trailed off. She knew of no such place, but how hard would it be to find one on the internet? “Trust me, you’ll like it.”

“I don’t like getting my hair wet.” Neneria said as Fer put her arm around her sister. Neneria would never admit it, but she liked physical contact. It was so obvious that Fer did not understand how the rest of them missed it, immediately, the woman sighed and leaned into Fer.

“She got my hair wet too!” Anassa shouted from the ground. And again, she vomited.

“You’re a big girl who doesn’t sulk.” Fer said. Anassa needed to be smacked down every now and then, it was just that sort of person who demanded everything in the hope that she would be told no. “Neneria is lovely though.”

“Mmh.” Neneria said from Fer’s shoulder. Fer was taller, but not by much, Neneria had always been tall. It made sense for such a grand demesne as hers.

“Ughhhh….” Anassa said as Fer left Neneria where she was and came close to give Anassa some pampering. Whether Anassa needed it or not, Fer didn’t know, she just felt it was unfair that she had just been nice to Neneria and not to Anassa.

“There there.” Fer said as she placed her hand on Anassa’s back. “There there. I’m here.”

“Fuck off.” Anassa said and Fer kept on rubbing the woman’s back. Anassa had always been prickly and frankly, Fer could not imagine her sister meaning it. The sudden cease in Anassa shaking and her breathing slowing down was evidence enough that she meant it. Fer rubbed Anassa’s back in the same way she would stroke a dog as she looked up and saw Kavaa open a parachute in mid-air.

The Goddess of Health let the cloth slow her fall, bring her to roughly the height of the ground, and then she released her backpack and dropped the rest of the distance. Her black coat, long enough to reach past her knees, flew behind her like a cape as she hit the mud and stood up. Those silver eyes flicked from Fer to everyone around. To the sorcerers, to the ships in the distance, to Maisara’s corpse on the ground. The woman’s soul had been stolen, although she died without a single wound. To the hills in the distance, Kavaa scanned it all like a soldier stepping onto a battlefield.

It was the small things like that, the paranoia when entering a new location and the utter need to inspect and force the suspicion of safety into certainty that made Fer respect the woman. She had seen it back when they trained the National Divines, Kavaa had a ruthlessness, a lack of honour and a paranoia about her that honestly made Fer respect the woman. There had been a time when she had been annoyed by Kavaa’s effectiveness in Erdely, that land should have been perfect for Fer. And yet Kavaa somehow managed to transform what should have been a quick campaign into a long war of attrition.

Fer stood up and waved the Goddess of Health over. Kavaa moved like a paranoid boar, steady, fast, but she was constantly looking around and inspecting the terrain around her. “Kassandora said we had an issue.” Kavaa said as she approached, eyes flicking between Anassa, Fer and Neneria.

Fer pointed to the sister that was on the ground. Anassa groaned, threw up again and smashed her fist into the ground as Kavaa raised an eyebrow. “What did she take?” The woman immediately asked and Fer looked to Neneria. Both of them shrugged. Kavaa sighed and dropped to her knees, she didn’t seem too worried about the woman’s condition, but she wasn’t lethargic about it either. “Ana? What did you take?”

Anassa threw up, spat out some more bile from her mouth and took a deep breath. “I-I’m fine Ka…”

“Is she getting better or is she getting worse?” Kavaa asked.

“She’s just been like this.” Fer said. “More or less the same.”

“Mmh.” Kavaa replied as Neneria circled around.

“Are you going to heal her?” Neneria asked quickly. Kavaa’s hands ran all over Anassa, from her back, her sides, her thighs and then they found something on the woman’s front.

“We’ll see depending on what she took.” Kavaa replied without emotion as she tugged on the woman’s dress. “I know you took something.” Kavaa added and pulled tight. “I’m just seeing what it is.” Anassa made a moan, Kavaa looked up from her kneeling posture to Fer and Neneria. “She may get mad.”

Fer understood what Kavaa was insinuating immediately, although Neneria did too. “We’re here.” Neneria said.

“Cut her open like you did me if you need to.” Fer said, she still remembered when Kavaa saved her life after she drank Baalka’s blood. Neneria looked up from the two on the ground to Fer.

“What?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Fer finished to the sound of silk being torn as Kavaa gave up on trying to access Anassa’s pocket and simply ripped the whole thing off. From the red cloth out came a small tub, as if it was for a pack of sweets. MisseMs. Kavaa waved it in front of Anassa’s face.

“Is this what you took?” Kavaa asked. Anassa collapsed on the floor again and Kavaa sighed, shaking her head. She popped the packet open and Fer immediately smelled the… it was a laboratory. The inside of that packet smelled of what she assumed a modern laboratory to smell like, even though she had never been inside. Kavaa tipped one sweet out onto her hand and sniffed it. She stopped for a moment in confusion, and then she threw it into her mouth.

And Kavaa burst out in laughter. “Oh my Kassie’s gone and fucked you hasn’t she!?”

“Is it bad?” Fer asked as Kavaa started to giggle. Sweat burst out over her face, her cheeks grew red. Fer heard the woman’s heart start to beat ridiculously fast, like a machine gun firing and she felt the sudden wave of heat coming off the Goddess of Health. Kavaa looked up to Fer and Neneria with dilated pupils, and then across the landscape.

“Well it works.” She said. “Give me a moment.” Fer’s ears jumped up and down as she looked curiously at Kavaa go through… go through whatever the woman was going through. After a minute, she took a deep breath and wiped the sweat off her brow. “That was strong.”

“It’s over?” Fer asked. If Kavaa simply… then why did Anassa?

“I sped up my metabolism.” Fer and Neneria both looked with raised eyebrows to each other. “Rate of burning, do you understand that? I burned it after my body absorbed it.”

“Oh.” Fer said. That, she did get. She looked at Anassa, her black-haired sister was once again starting to throw up another several spoonfuls worth of stomach acid. “Will Ana be fine then?”

“I guess it’s just too high a dose for her.” Kavaa said as she put her hand on the back of Anassa’s neck. In the other hand, she looked at the pack of MisseMs. Fer stared curiously at them too. As did Neneria. Immediately, Anassa stopped convulsing, she moaned, and collapsed onto the ground.

“That just feels cold.” Anassa said.

“I didn’t heal you.” Kavaa said. “I just burned it out of your system.”

“Mmh.” Anassa said. “I’m tired.”

“Go to sleep then.” Kavaa replied coldly. She saw Fer and Neneria looking at the pack of MisseMs in her hand. “Do you want to try these?” Neneria remained silent, but frankly, Fer was far too curious. She knew she shouldn’t, but something that put Anassa out of action like that could not be bad, could it?

“Are they safe?” Neneria asked.

“It’s just methamphetamines.” Kavaa said, she saw Fer and Neneria both look at her with totally dry expressions of not-understanding. “It’s a stimulant, these have hallucinogens mixed in.”

“Will I die?” Fer asked, she was a bit nervous frankly.

“No.” Kavaa said. “I’m here and frankly, I’d rather you take one now.” And Fer blinked at that.

“Why?” She asked.

“I don’t want one now.” Neneria quickly said.

“Because if Kass gave these to Ana, I assume she has doses brewing for you two already. Neneria should take one, but Fer, I think you’ll be able to handle two.”

“Eh?” Was all Fer managed to say.

“You have a big bodyweight.” Kavaa said as she stood up. Anassa had indeed fallen asleep, Fer did not even notice.

“Did you just say I’m fat?” Fer poked her own stomach. Fat was precisely the last thing she would use to describe it.

“How heavy are you actually?” Kavaa asked and Fer laughed.

“Just because we’re both girly girls doesn’t mean I’ll let you get away with that.” Fer said and Kavaa stared up at her as if she was looking at a child.

“Are you serious?” Kavaa asked.

“It’s a secret.” Fer said, she crossed her arms, and her tail started to swish to draw emphasis to the point.

“You don’t know.” Kavaa said, Fer smiled uncontrollably. Kavaa was damn right. Fer simply knew she was heavy, how heavy was unimportant. She was simply the heaviest. That was enough. “Well are you two Anassas?”

“Probably.” Fer knew she weighed just over twice of what Anassa did. They had measured that once on a swing. Two copies of Anassa would be unable to hoist Fer up, but three copies and the swing would reverse.

“Is that a yes or a no?” Kavaa asked.

“I weigh somewhere between two and three Anassas.” Fer admitted and Neneria whistled.

“You are heavy.” Neneria said.

“So two pills, Kass will give you a stronger dose. Neneria, you get one.”

“I don’t want one.”

“Kass will probably force one into you anyway.” Kavaa said as she brought out two pills from the box and gave them to Fer. The Goddess of Beasthood swallowed them, made an ugly face at the taste, and then crossed her arms.

Was she supposed to feel something?

Kavaa practically shoved the pill into Neneria’s hand. “If you take one now, I’m here to get you out of it.”

“Do you promise?” Neneria asked.

“I promise.” Neneria looked at Fer, muttered a curse, and swallowed her own Anassa-Dose of MisseM. And they both stared at Kavaa.

“I feel nothing.” Fer said. “It’s not tasty though.” It was one of the worst things she had ever tasted in fact.

“Give me your hands, I’ll speed it up for you.” Fer and Neneria both passed their hands to Kavaa. And Fer felt it. From one to a hundred, she felt the sheer humour of it. The world turned darker, her hearing distorted, she could no longer listen to the heartbeats of the Goddesses around her, but the waves in the distance were suddenly loud.

Everything became a silhouette as her eyes somehow lost the ability to focus on colour. Fer looked around, she saw Kavaa, a simple black statue move around. And she felt something funny in her calves. Fer didn’t know why it was in her calves, but it was. Her tail swung to side to side and Fer felt as if it was splitting the moon in half. Why? She didn’t know exactly, but above, in front of them, she saw Kavaa and Iniri and Helenna suddenly fall up into the sky, become an acorn, and then that acorn grew into a lion that sprouted from the ground.

And Fer watched it all in utter amazement. This is what had destroyed Anassa? "Ka-Kavaa?” Neneria suddenly whispered in a hushed tone.

“What?” Kavaa said.

“Ca-Can you get me out?” Neneria said, even quieter this time.

Fer saw the silhouette of Kavaa move and touch the silhouette of Neneria. “What are you feeling?”

“I have never been more scared in my entire life.” Neneria whispered. Fer though… These silhouettes in front her should be scary, Fer knew that, but they weren’t scary at all!

Fer looked at the silhouette of Kavaa that she knew was looking at her and then movement caught her eye from the side. Something tickled her stomach, Fer turned. She saw an infinite line of Fers standing there, each one copying her movement. Fer turned and looked to the other side, and she saw an infinite line of Fers here too. Up and down.

And Fer burst out in laughter. She didn’t even know why it was funny. But it was. It was the funniest thing she had ever seen! How could there be an infinite amount of herself? She was only one! And yet saw just a wall of Fers everywhere! Each one laughing and snickering just as she did. Each one heard some hilarious joke, each one howled and shrieked in laughter.

And she heard Kavaa speak. “Well, it looks like she’s having a good time.”