2013.10.11 - Sharpening

Considering that Marcus Cranston had been -- though well-preserved by his magic -- only 60 or so compared to Necro's 300+ years, he had assembled an impressive collection of tomes, treasures, relics, artifacts, spells, and more. They were all Necro's now. As her minions sorted through them, catalogued them methodically, relocated the important ones to secure locations, Necro reflected on recent events and her newest Lieutenant. Marcus was different from the other undead she had created -- he was not entirely loyal to her. She knew it. And she knew that Marcus was not aware she knew it... But that he knew she SUSPECTED at least.

Having a potential traitor hanging around -- one of her creations who would NOT necessarily act in Necro's best interests -- made immortality a bit more interesting. But to be honest, the only reason she did not 'fix' his little loyalty problem was because she WANTED that schemer around. Necro was far from being the eldest entity on Earth, and she had already encountered various immortals, demi-gods, and so on who had become complacent over the duration of their existences. They had gone soft, taken their status for granted, and even the ones more powerful than Necro herself just were not in the form -- mentally, at least -- that they needed to be in to survive against an extremely driven, goal-oriented Lich, who was not interested in playing their games.

She had realized it was a hazard of once being mortal and then becoming something else. Certain aspects of mortality lingered psychologically. One of these was complacency. The fact that a focused mortal had managed to get through her defenses, get close enough to attack her, and hold his own for a time, indicated she was already starting to slip a little bit. And she could not stand that idea. She was better than those idiot immortals who assumed just because they had not yet died that they would live forever. Elder vampires in Italy, with considerable power and sorcery of their own, had refused to join Necro's side and had paid for it. Even normal mortals kept thinking they had a chance and struggling right up to the end. The ones who despaired and gave in or just willingly joined the side of their new Empress were the ones who suffered less. Death -- at least, Death granted by Necro's hand -- was a blessing. A release from suffering. Sure, you might get back up afterwards and go back to work, but at least you would be doing something that actually MATTERED for once. Fixing this broken world -- making it whole in the eye of its true, destined ruler.

A place where no little girl had to have THIS repulsive reality beaten into her because she preferred an imaginary world where people treated her with the respect she was due.

Marcus was much like Necro in some ways. A mortal with a goal, and the will to pursue it. Unfortunately for him, his will was inferior to Necro's own. It had not even taken a day to break him. She had willingly undergone the surgery to replace almost every part of her body with something else. He had endured a few hours of the same and then given up. That was only fitting, as he was inferior to Necro.

But that message, that he had gotten close enough to take a shot... That made Necro start analysing her own behavior. And she determined she might actually be starting to lose her edge as well, simply due to a lack of rivals who could challenge her. She was still superior, still destined to rule... But destiny is a funny thing. Knowing where she would wind up eventually did not mean she could simply wait and let it fall into her lap. That had never been how things happened for her. She had always worked to MAKE that destiny happen. And that meant she had to work to maintain her sharpness. And that is why Marcus was allowed to remain a potential traitor:

To keep her sharp.