The Quantum Wanderer

I rearrange the furniture of my study. I position one sofa with it’s back to my desk. I leave the coffee table in the middle, and one couch for Cecilia. Muninn perks on the bookcase. Huginn doesn’t need a couch, she just sits on the coffee table.

I sit on my chair behind the desk. It is an ornate chair, it ends up giving out the right vibe for what I am attempting to implement.

“So, my loves, we are setting this a precedent. Whenever we get any dispute amongst ourselves, we are going to discuss it. The decision is going to be by the people not involved. Since Huginn and Cecilia have two different viewpoints, the decision is going to be taken by Opal, Shandon, Aquamarine and Ruby. I am going to be the tie breaker.”

“What about me, father?” Muninn asks.

“You are going to vote however Huginn tells you to. Sorry.”

He tilts his head to each side, nodding in the end.

“Yes, you have a point.”

“Now, I want you both to promise that we are going to solve the issue in this room. No bad feelings are remain after this. We are going to continue loving ourselves after this.”

“Yes, papa.”

“Yes, my villain.”

I am thinking on how to work this as it goes along. I know that my goal is not really to decide whether we should continue or not, but make so the decision is one that includes everyone’s investment. I don’t want to loose anyone over this.

“We are going to take some decisions relating the Holy Kingdom penalty. The first question is whether we are going to keep punishing, covering all the largest cities. The second question is whether we are going to punish only the leadership, the soldiers, and or the adventurers involved. Do both of you agree?”

“Yes.” “Yes.”

“The decision to be taken here is going to be logical rather than emotional. Based on facts. Now let me list the facts as we have them. You can correct me, but the correction has to be accepted by both parts, else it goes into trial as well.

“Arguments can be presented verbally, but answer doesn’t have to be immediate. You can ask for time to investigate or research a particular subject. I don’t think this necessarily applies here, but I am putting this so that even if we don’t use it now, if this ever happens again we have the possibility. I don’t want the pressure for an answer to be something that decides the subject.”

I look at both of them, each of them nod. It is really weird that a human is arguing against a brân in the shape of a crow.

“Are both of you satisfied? We could get other people in the jury. We could invite Edward, Rajesh, Brokkr, or even the dryads, for that matter. It is very important that you are satisfied with the format of the discussion, so that we can put this subject behind us after we are done here. You can even ask for Leopold’s help if you want. You would have to convince him to come, though.”

“I am satisfied, papa.”

“Yes, we are good.”

“Do you want to try to enlist Leopold as an advocate, Cecilia? He is an outsider, though.” I ask her.

She stops to think about the possibility. He would be really invested on her side.

“What do you mean, he is an outsider?”

“Do you really think his arguments are going to have the same weight as yours with your sisters? Remember, they are to have the freedom to decide as they choose. He can still help you with arguments.” I say.

“Provided he can provide points that you wouldn’t think of, mama.” Huginn adds.

Huginn is not being innocent. Cecilia thinks for a minute.

“No, we are good.”

“Ok. Let me start with the facts then.

“The Holy Kingdom and the Church of Nergal are one and the same. They are two entities that are so connected that they cannot be separated. Only priests are used as rulers, they have religious rules, such as no other religions allowed and the such.”

They both nod.

“The church and the leadership in the country ordered the crow extinction. Thus they are all to be considered military targets.”

They both nod.

“They hired the guild locally, in each city, with smaller quests so that the quests were not passed to the upper echelon. The quests were deceitful; they didn’t mention the crows were going to be killed. There is, however, a repeating pattern of distrust and hate towards crows by the country.”

Huginn nods. Cecilia makes a face.

“Pattern of hate…? Isn’t that a little bit too strong?”

“Well, for one, I wasn’t allowed to bring Muninn into Angelica the first time I was there. Then there was the bishop that tried to kill a crow in our yard, unprovoked. Am I being too harsh?”

“Can we say that they don’t like crows?”

I look at Huginn, and gesture at her.

“Hum… Can we say that they PUBLICLY don’t like crows? They don’t try to hide that. And they kill them on site. Unprovokedly.”

Cecilia agrees, but she is not completely comfortable. I am trying for a consensus, but it is going to be really hard to get a complete one today.

“Do you have additional facts you can add? Something that you think the other is going to agree as well?”

Huginn raises her right wing. I nod at her.

“The crows were killed with unnecessary cruelty. They were burnt alive. There was enough firepower there to make it instantaneous. Either spells or a simple neck snapping would make it that much more clement.”

Cecilia nods.

A moment of silence ensues.

“So, let’s argue whether the punishment should continue or not. The first question. Who of you want to speak first?”

Cecilia raises her hand. The way things are set up is generating this kind of formal energy. I nod at her.

“We already punished them enough. They have had their capital destroyed. Erased. Then we killed all the soldiers in two cities, and all adventures in one of them. This is more than enough to send a message. I can even argue that further attacks are only going to be create hate. Hate we don’t want against us.”

Huginn pays attention to what Cecilia is saying. There are several moments of silence before Huginn starts talking.

“I think that the first thing we have to identify is what is going on. This is not policing. This was an attack by one country on to another. They didn’t know they were doing it, but that’s what they did.

“As for why we are a country. Countries are funny things. A group of children can decide they are a country. The main thing a country has to have is the power to enforce it. In the case of the children, the parents are going to drag the children screaming and flailing, back home. And the country is undone.

“If any of us declared this house as a country, no one would dispute. The only question would be if we can have an ambassador sent.

“They did a malicious attack against discriminated beings in their kingdom. They tried to purge them all. Their intent was to send a message. The message was a declaration of war.

“Mama, they crippled me. For hours. Everything each and every crow suffered reached my mind. It doesn’t matter that that wasn’t the intent. Actions and results matter.

“By their own law, they feel at ease to invade and dominate a country because of unintentional suffering of faithful. I followed their rules.

“The goal of war is to eliminate military targets. That’s what I did. The first city I attacked was left with some new faith towards Wrax. By their own standards, I just liberated the city.

“Now I want to finish the war. I want to finish attacking the military targets.

“And this is also our law. You could have handed your parents muggers to the city guards. Of course, they would have been liberated after a fine. Of course, we would never have reached the merchant that had sent them. Our law is to apply their values to themselves.

“They killed nearly all the crows. I am not even targeting all the population, only the involved ones. I am going to finish the job.”

“But all those lives…” Cecilia says.

“All those *GUILTY* lives, mama. We never spared bandits. We didn’t spare the hero’s party’s rapists. Because they were guilty. That makes a big difference.

“Not all lives are equal. Otherwise we would choose to just starve. Everything we eat, vegetable or animal, was alive at one time. Except for honey and salt, of course. That’s the way this world works. Why didn’t you spare your father’s muggers?”

“But that is different…” Cecilia says. I can feel her resolution on defending them crumbling.

“Because it was about your parents instead of me, mama?”

Fuck, Huginn is good. There is a long moment of a very noisy silence in the room. I clear my throat, everyone turns to me.

“Can I put it to vote?”

Huginn nods. Cecilia looks at the floor. I turn to the girls.

“Opal, should we continue with the punishment?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Shandon, should we continue with the punishment?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Aquamarine, should we continue with the punishment?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Ruby, should we continue with the punishment?”

Ruby just nods, in an incisive way.

“That was the first decision. The next question is whether we should punish the soldiers. Cecs, do you want to argue against that?”

“Yes.” She says. I nod at her, for her to continue. “They were only following orders, they were not in a position to choose. And many of them were not involved in the situation.”

Huginn scratches her neck with her paw. I nod at her.

“They opted to obey their orders. Either we consider them irrational animals that should just be put down after the owners are executed, or we hold them responsible for their actions. Either way, they are valid targets.

“Would they have killed their own kids if ordered to do so? I don’t think this would happen.

“And just to wrap up, they are soldiers of an enemy nation. That’s what happens during wars.”

“But what about the cycle of hate? The fact that we did this is eventually going to leak out. Their kids are going to hate us.” Cecilia asks.

“Well, mama, if that’s what you are concerned about… I mean, no one from Angelica is going to hate us… But then I am impressed that you are suggesting this.”

Again, the silence. The scene repeats itself. I ask to submit it to vote. Again Huginn nods and Cecilia looks down. She is not even convincing herself at this point. Again, the dragonesses are unanimous on their decision. Soldiers are valid targets of punishment.

“Now, the third merit we are deciding. Should the involved adventurers be punished as well?”

I look at Cecilia. She is tired.

“Do you want a break?”

“Can we?”

“Sure. Again, I want you to make sure you protect your opinions. I just want to be fair. I want to be just.”

“This justice is rather harsh.”

“Justice generally is. Specially against the guilty. There was a religion, on the place that I come from, that had kinds of… minor gods, or aspects of a single god, associated to aspects of the world. They would also have places associated to them.

“The one associated to justice would live among quarries. Because a quarry has all sorts of sharp corners, it is really easy to hurt yourself there.”

Cecilia leaves the room, while I come from behind my desk. I grab some hard liquor for myself and sit on the sofa Cecilia was using, so that I can face the girls and the kids.

I relax on the sofa while I sip a little from my glass. I take a look outside. This thing has consumed the morning.

“How are you all?”

“This experience has been… Interesting, my lord.”

“Thanks, I guess?”

“My lord, we can see that you agree with Huginn. Why not just telling sister that that’s that?” Aquamarine asks.

“Ah. Now that’s an interesting question. The first thing is that she, as well as all of you, have free will. I want you near me, I love all of you. That doesn’t mean that you are my captives. While you keep wanting me, I will fight whatever needs to be fought to keep you around.

“But if one of you wants to leave, you are free to do so. My heart is going to ache, but I will not keep you by force.

“That being said, I think I agree with Huginn. But among us everyone is always entitled to present their opinions, even if they disagree. I might be proven wrong.”

“But… Isn’t it irritating when people show you your mistake?” Aquamarine asks.

“We do have that ingrained in our species, yes. But if I am shown that I was wrong on something, it means I learned something, right?

“Of course, it only happens if we can have a sincere discussion. Based on facts. Where we start with the points we agree. Generally speaking, though, I don’t expect us to have too many differences. We are going to have more agreements than the opposite.”

“Why?” Aquamarine now has her head tilted to the side.

“Because we all have aligned goals. We want to stay together. We want to project our family. Our differences may appear on how we are going to do that, but it is a much smaller issue.”

“And how does that affect Cecilia’s freewill?” Shandon asks.

“She is going to see this as something that the group agrees, and that she was heard. She is having her chance to speak. I want her to understand that the situation is fucked up, not us. Not Huginn, not us for not asking her to stop.”

“Why didn’t you call Leopold to participate, then?” Aquamarine asks.

“The rules that apply to Cecilia and all of you don’t apply to him. He is on another level in terms of relationship.

“I have said, and I will mention it again: If I ever needed, I would burn this world for you. I want to never be in that situation, though. As for Leopold, I wouldn’t mind spending a couple of hours helping with something.”

A sweet smell comes from them, in particular from Aquamarine. I look at the others, they have this affection in their looks. I smile. I stand up a little, just to stretch the legs. They all stand up with me. I shake my head, smiling.

“I am just stretching the legs. We have been here for hours.”

I go outside the room, into the living room. Cecilia is there, talking to her parents. I open my smile.

“Hi Cecs… I was thinking of going out for a walk in the sun. Do you want to do this? A light stroll?”

She thinks a little about it. I can see she doesn’t trust that this is just a honest stroll around the area to take the mind off of things. She ends up relaxing.

We go outside the house. I offer my arm to her. After some moments considering, she takes it. Her mind is working at full power. I am enjoying the garden. The gardener was there, he waves at me, I wave back.

After we leave our gate and take a direction at random, Cecilia turns to me.

“You agree with Huginn, don’t you? Is this whole trial thing just for show?”

“I agree with Huginn *right now*. This trial thing is so that you have a fair chance to change my mind. Our minds. So that you know that you are being heard. So that we can hear all sides before deciding something important.

“At some point we are about to have disagreements. I am establishing a way to resolve them so that everyone in the group has a voice. No one will ever be shut up by the others in the group. There is no ‘your argument is stupid’. There are the arguments. And hopefully we can get back to what we were after this.”

We walk around some clothing shops. There are trees planted on the street. The dresses are… underwhelming. The elves spoiled us in terms of clothing. The dwarves spoiled us in terms of weapons and armors. The demons spoiled us with, well… And here I am, living in a house gifted by Edward and Anthon.

We walk by some tea shops. One of them is announcing elven condiments. It has a long line of nobles on the streets, waiting for a vacant table. Several people in the line are complaining that only few houses have these. That they are not being treated up to their stations.

The manager, by the door, is trying to calm the public down.

“I am telling you sir, we can only serve this amount of people! The hooded maids won’t sell larger quantities!”

“This is preposterous! We are going to get a formal complaint!”

Two nobles are talking in the back, amongst themselves.

“Who do you think these traffickers are? Aren’t the guards going to put them in a cell?”

“I heard that they have a very strong backer. They are not to be messed with.”

“Who, in the hells, would create a group named ‘hooded maids’?”

“I heard that the sellers are always dressed in maid uniforms. Really rich ones, too. They cover their features with a coat and a hood.”

“I am telling you, this is just a front.”

We keep walking. The whole thing was funny. Cecilia’s humor improve immensely, we decide to go back to the discussions. It is probably around one in the afternoon.

We go back home. We find the other girls, Muninn and Huginn in the living room. Cecilia has her happier instance.

“Hello, guys… We just saw the funniest thing…”

“Yes? What?” Muninn asks.

“There is this tea house, not very far from here, that is announcing pies and sweets with elven produce. You should see the size of the line. They are saying the products come from the ‘hooded maids’. A new group of smugglers.”

“Oh, don’t worry, mama, I have been keeping an eye on them. They are safe.”

“Keeping them safe…?” She looks at the dining room, almost staring at the kitchen door. “Shit. Really?”

“Yes.”

Cecilia turns to me.

“Did you know about this?”

“They had asked to sell some of the stuff when we visit the elves, I don’t see a problem. If they can make a buck on the side, why not? There might be a tax issue, but it is not like they are building a merchant company or a black market. When they mentioned it, I thought it was a possibility. I though you had thought the same.”

Cecilia laughs.

“Fuck. Even when we are not involved, we are in the middle of things. Oh well, good for them.”

After a little pause. Cecilia sighs.

“Let’s finish this up?”

“Sure.”

We walk back to my study. We all assume our positions. Once everyone is in their places, I continue the trial.

“Let’s continue the trial. There still is one matter to decide. Whether the involved adventurers should be punished with the others. Cecs, do you want to go first?”

“No, this time I would prefer daughter went first.”

“Very well.” I nod at Huginn.

“Sure, papa, mamas. There is a lot in this.

“My first point is that without the help of the adventurers, they would be able to hurt some crows, but not bring them close to extinction. They did not bring in some crows. They brought in all the crows in a very large area around each city. This could only be possible with a lot of druid power.

“The second point is that the guild did not do its due diligence. No one was interested in the crows life. No one cared. A quest like the centaur one we received was only possible because the upper echelon for the area, Guina bitch, was in charge. They did investigate, but the guild masters brought the subject up only to be sent back. But here there was no apparent risk for the adventurers, so they just didn’t care.

“The third point is that when they noticed something was wrong, they could have acted on it. They were only ignorant until they saw the bonfire. A very public bonfire being prepared inside the cages. They could have reacted, freed the crows. They chose not to. There were water mages among the adventurers. They could have faced the guards.

“Even after the event, the druids could have worried about the chicks. No one did. No one does. And I am saying that with propriety. I have sent some other birds to adopt some of the chicks.

“Putting this all together: they helped building the mess, they didn’t try to fix their mess. They just didn’t know the price they would have to pay for that. If life is not valuable, then it just isn’t. That is the life of an adventurer. Sometimes an adventurer hits a cursed quest.”

Cecilia presses her lips together. She knows that Huginn is right. Nevertheless, she breaths down and starts her side.

“Ok, I agree that they messed up. But can’t we meet halfway? You are already getting the priests, the soldiers…”

“That is not halfway, mama. The tried to get crows extinct. The correct punishment would be to burn the whole city. Since I know that you and papa care so much for people in general, I decided to give you leeway. A lot of leeway. Instead of everyone, just their soldiers and leaders. Even the adventurers, I am sparing a lot of them. When I am allowed, of course.”

There is a pause. We are waiting for Cecilia’s response. She shakes her head.

“Can I put it to vote?”

“No need.” Cecilia answers. “I agree with daughter.”

“Great! The trial is done, then! Just everyone remember, no one did anything against their will. We talked, we reasoned, and it was decided. As family. Matter closed.”