And it occurs to Asmodia to wonder, at the last, if maybe it's all a lie, because Cheliax.
They told her almost everybody goes to an Evil afterlife. That could be a lie.
They told her she detected as Lawful Evil. That could be a lie.
They teach that it's not so easy to change that, not so easy to repent, once you've been part of the Chelish system, that Pharasma doesn't just let you apologize. That could be a lie, even if her currently detecting as Lawful Evil isn't a lie.
They told her that the gods of Good are weak and not much use to anybody, and that could be a lie.
Ione isn't here, and that means that, whatever Nethys did to her, or for her, it was enough to prevent them from making Ione sell her soul.
Asmodia's eyes go on moving across the parchment, and she thinks, the only one time in her life it will make sense to think that -
- that she was born into Cheliax, and never had a chance to be anything else, to be what her own nature would have led her to, if Cheliax is lying to her about how much that doesn't matter - if Pharasma has any whiny justice within Her of the sort that Cheliax teaches only for purposes of saying how pathetic it is -
- that she doesn't want to go to an Evil afterlife, and if there's any god who isn't Evil or Chaotic Neutral who has any use for her - or is Good enough to want to help her even if she's useless - even if all they can do for her is accept her change of alignment and then kill her on the spot before she has to sell her soul - then she wishes they would help her, or she'll work for them if she has a use, in this life or in another. She - doesn't pray to any god who isn't Asmodeus, even now, because they're probably reading her mind and that would be a step too far - doesn't think the names of any other gods but Asmodeus even now -
(Nethys, Iomedae, Sarenrae, anybody)
- just in case somebody is there after all.