Passed on Memories [Chapter 102]

After several minutes of crying and clenching my chest, I calm myself down and compose my thoughts. Memories flow through my mind, but not my memories. I see through the eyes of Nevereth and Grimgaer. I feel and see clearly how they felt.

Nevereth's desire to protect his friends, but also an overwhelming feeling of betrayal. The memory he'd previously let me see, now shown to me in a different light. Grimgaer was attempting to destroy the world, but Ayvex and Nevereth worked together to defeat him. In the final blow, Ayvex struck Nevereth along with Grim in the sealing strike.

Grimgaer's powerful belief that the weak should serve the strong. That everyone should fight for what they love and believe in. I see Grim championing thousands of people while in a dormant-like state. His knowledge of the world far surpassing Nevereth's. In a fraction of a second, while I'm sharing Grim's memories, I see through Grim's eyes.

Hours must've gone by from when my body was stepped on, because I can see clearly that Grim has amassed an army from the locals all across Mathric. Powerful chants echo all around Grim as he rears his massive head into the air and roars.

My vision returns to normal, and after several minutes, I hear the roar roll through the air passed us. I stand up, looking myself over.

"I don't....I don't understand. I thought I was dead, and that new soul would take control? Or, maybe I was right? I am the new soul, but I share all of their emotions and memories."

Ayvex speaks up, her voice shaking my body and soul.

"What happened to Nevereth? Was he resealed?"

I slowly look up to Ayvex, noticing her floating about thirty feet off the ground. She stands about fifty feet tall, and has a massive platinum sword at her side. I start to speak, but feel an intense wave of sadness hit me. I choke up words through the strange sadness.

"No, I don't believe he's sealed away. I believe he's here."

I hold my hand to my chest.

"I believe he's one with me now."

Ayvex nods then looks passed me, to where the deafening roar came from. She speaks up once again.

"Grimgaer has reawakened, the day I feared has finally come."

I start to ask a question, but Blankk talks before me.

"How are you feeling?"

I turn to look at him, noticing he's his normal self for the time being.

"I feel fine, besides having all the memories and emotions of Nevereth and Grim."

Blankk nods, his eyes glowing blue, Xa'gorthep taking control.

"I knew it would happen, but the merge was much smoother than I imagined. I hate to tell you this, but you aren't Dante."

I shake my head, putting my left hand on my forehead.

"I've already figured that out, but in a way, I disagree. I don't share mindsets with Nevereth or Grim, I only possess their memories. I am Dante in soul and mindset, with the added benefit of Grim's and Nevereth's experiences. I believe it, I am still me, just stronger now."

Xa'gorthep stares at me for a moment before closing his eyes.

"I can understand what you mean. But, honestly, Dante's soul was absorbed into you. Nevereth, and a fragment of Grim, were also absorbed. A way to explain it, if you were able to consume an animal, and gain its memories, would you yourself be that animal? Or would you just be a mental imitation of the original?"

Xa'gorthep opens his eyes and we stare at each other for a moment. I smile and shrug, then look to Warren.

"So, where's Kain?"

Warren shakes his head.

"He decided to stay on Sathric after we were told about what happened in Tevintis. I decided I still wanted to help, so I followed them."

He nods as Azeroth pats my back.

"Glad to see you aren't that crazy Nevereth guy."

I frown, feeling slightly insulted, but shake the feeling and look back to Ayvex.

"So."

I pause before speaking up again.

"If you're here, then I assume Vex is....dead?"

Ayvex closes her eyes and nods.

"To regain my true form, I had to cast off my mortal bindings. It was hard to take my own life, but it had to be done. Since the gate to Mathric was destroyed, we needed to fly across the ocean."

As she finishes talking, I remember Nevereth breaking the gate. I nod, quickly replying.

"Nevereth destroyed the gate so others wouldn't get involved. And as I'm sure you can tell, he didn't win the fight. Grim is still here by what I can tell, amassing an army for some reason."

Ayvex grits her teeth and clenched the hilt of her blade tightly.

"Looks like he learned from his previous mistakes. The main reason he lost last time is because he fought the world alone. If he creates a large army and distributes his strength among them, no individual nation could defeat them."

We all pause before Azeroth breaks the silence.

"Then we need to stop them before they leave, right?"

Ayvex shakes her head.

"No, Nevereth and I couldn't stop him at our strongest, and now Nevereth isn't here. A single army wouldn't be able to stop Grim, but maybe several armies could? Maybe, if we could somehow get the world's population on one continent, they could launch waves of attacks against him while we all do the main damage from up close."

I raise a question to Ayvex.

"Close? How would we get close if he's flying high off the ground?"

Ayvex pats her sword.

"I stayed awake for five hundred years after I sealed Nevereth and Grim. I regretted my hesitation, I regretted how I watched Nevereth do most of the fighting. When I finally jumped into the fight, I miss-timed my seal, accidentally hitting Nevereth as well. For five hundred years I regretted it, I knew that if I'd been in the fight since the beginning Nevereth wouldn't have been sealed."

She pauses then looks to me, almost a look of silent rage.

"Trust me, this time I won't hesitate to clip Grim's wings."