29
Throne 5.4
" Hot... Hot... as it goes... To burn your body and mind, Zanbaniya!"
-Assassin
April 28, 2011, Dockyard Workshop. 6:00 pm-
"-And finally the Mayor of Brockton Bay thanks New Wave for their outstanding defense of the city hall and finding several bombs planted by the deceased terrorist Bakuda." The newscaster announced as I finished installing the engine in the shadow border. The main body of the modified troop carrier had been finished and all that was left was to install everything.
I was covered in grease and oil. Da Vinci was busy setting up her neural interface and was too busy to help me in any significant way. Lisa had taken the lull in activities to perform her own research into magical circuits and magecraft. Particularly reinforcement since she found that to be the most useful magecraft despite her own capabilities with curses. Dinah and Emily had crashed after arriving, the latter grudgingly after being explained that they weren't leaving until after midnight.
The Fallen assault at Ellisburg had been stalled due to the sheer amount of bodies Nilbog managed to stack against them. The military had focused on stopping more Fallen families from joining the attack, most of the PRT resources went to reinforcing them. According a very edited quote from Dragon: "Collin had to leave the room before he called the heads of the PRT morons that could be replaced by headless chickens and we would have a more efficient administration." I couldn't help but smile at their growth, but also had to resist smashing my head against the wall at the sheer idiocy. Sure stopping the reinforcements is important, but it's more important to stop the damn Fallen that are already in.
I slowly let out a sigh, feeling the anger rush out of me alongside my breath. In a few hours I would be done and would have to explain things to everyone, and I hated that feeling. The doubt that always creeps into my head, what if they don't believe me? What if they ask something I cannot answer? What if…
[Fear is the mind killer.] Sylph reminded me and I laughed, yes it was true. Yet I still couldn't help myself, I really didn't want to be the one leading or even ordering things. But no one else could, or should carry this weight.
[Always so serious, despite your appearance. One more thing, Queen Administrator pinged me, she's fully on board. Did you suspect this would happen?] Sylph asked, flickering between real and mental space. I used Alchemy to set the parts around me, the engine was properly set, the inside of the Shadow Border had been set as well. All that was left was programming work and making sure all the systems were properly working.
" I suspected that time with Voyager would do them some good. He's… special, he represents our reach into the unknown, one of the final proofs that we were here. I had hoped QA would get interested in him and see him in action, if only to prove that humanity can reach beyond the cycle. " I replied as I drew out Emerald and had them begin the synchronization between Belle and the Shadow Border. I hadn't expected that Belle could in fact work similar to Trimagus and Sheba, all that was left was the installation of the paper moon, which would enable zero sail and give us a leg up in interdimensional travel without having to use prescience.
[I see. Your bet paid off, this time at least.] Sylph hummed in agreement and handed me a stone, I used it to fuel myself and let it turn into dust. I saw the screen flicker on and Belle's avatar appeared giving me a thumbs up as she began integrating with the system. Theoretically with both her and Da Vinci in the tank we could do a successful zero sail.
" Yup. Anyways, Sylph, stop trying to be subtle, what's wrong? " I asked my mental companion.
[I'm just worried about you. You're scared of Leviathan, aren't you?] That caught me somewhat off guard, was it that obvious to her? She's understanding me a lot more…
" Not Leviathan, but if that golden bitch shows up then we'll have problems. We're not ready… I'm not ready. " I replied, we didn't have a black barrel ready, even with 2 powerful servants we didn't have something to counter his siphon or even his control powers. Not mentioning his sting. The answer to the last one hummed behind the door I never entered since creating the room.
[All will be well. I promise you.] Sylph replied with as much confidence as she could muster. Which was a lot, given the lack of hesitation in her tone.
"Thanks Sylph." I admit aloud, the door opened behind me and a very tired looking Taylor appeared.
"Hey sis." I said as she grabbed a towel and threw it at me, for a brief moment I was blinded as she hugged me tightly. Her hands using the towel to dry out the oil stains on my body.
"You are the single most infuriating idiot in this world. You keep putting yourself at risk and you expect me to just keep letting you do that until you die. I hate that about you." Taylor said while crushing me against her stomach, she smelled of ash and burned metal, "And yet, I know that you don't do it out of thinking I'm weak or trying to leave me behind."
"Tay…" I began, yet she cut me off.
"No, listen to me Marie. You're unmasked, the remnants of the empire will try to come after you-"
"They won't, not after Ellisburg." I interrupted her, my voice steeling over the realization of what she was offering. Taylor must not be unmasked.
"I'm coming with you." She said almost instantly, I smiled and shook my head.
"No. I need you to adjust to the circuits. That will take at least 5 hours at the fastest possible speed, plus you'll keep Brockton safe while I'm making sure that we don't lose anyone." I stated, the real reason was to avoid having her anywhere near Valefor's mother. I felt a tug at the edge of my consciousness and let myself slip into Sylph to force the connection to be severed. Whatever that fully synchronized state was, it was alien enough to shake off certain effects.
"Lose anyone?" Taylor asked, snapping me into the present. I took off the towel from my face and stared into her eyes, I could see the fear reflected back and I explained.
"Leviathan comes."
It took another hour for everyone, even Danny to arrive, by that time I had set up a black board and some chalk. Glory Girl had invited herself in and I couldn't help but feel some bitterness, even if it was illogical for me to blame her for seeing Leviathan. I clapped my hands and made a podium, silencing them all as I began,
"Okay, everyone listen up. Tonight me, Da Vinci, Quinn and Belle will go to Ellisburg to deal with 2 threats. The first is the fallen. I will not mention their leader due to how their power works, but I will describe it. It's a major annoyance if you look at it directly, but indiscriminate attacks in their general vicinity will kill them. Another plan is to use the spice and force them to see what I see. Nilbog is the lesser worry, which is why I want Glory Girl and Amy-"
"Ariadne. That's going to be my name when working with you." Amy interrupted me and I paused. First Taylor named her bug Pandora and now Amy is picking Ariadne. Are we going with a Greek theme? Do I have to rebrand?
"... You have a twisted sense of humor. The last thread of hope in a dungeon?" I commented, allowing the conversation to be diverted. I began drawing the rough outline of Ellisburg, making sure to point out where the military would be.
"Thread that represents life." Amy pointed out with a small smile. Taylor's eyes went to Lisa who was pointedly not looking at either her or Amy. I could barely contain my desire to tease the trio over that.
"Well it's better than Panacea… Actually you could also go as Panacea." I replied and saw Amy think for a moment before shaking her head.
"Yeah, but then I'd have to explain why I can suddenly bubble people up in dimensional energy. Plus I really don't want to just be Panacea."
"Fair enough, Ariadne and Glory Girl. I want both of you to be in the outskirts, between your respective powers you'll have immunity, and mobility while we exterminate everything in that city. Ideally you'll be dealing with heros that have gone in as well as military personnel, so it's the safest possible job." I summed up their part of the strategy.
"Exterminate?" Danny asked.
"Yes. We have two main targets for it, the fallen and the creatures that Nilbog made. And as much as I loathe to take the option, keeping some of them alive is not a viable short or long-term solution given that no matter what Nilbog is not living until sunrise. Either I kill him or he gets mastered by the second target; Valefor. He's the child of the leader of the fallen, his power is a strong form of hypnotism. Though I'm unsure if he can do it only through eye contact, I'm not willing to risk it." I explained, as the rough drawing of Ellisburg and our entry point was finished.
"And if he takes over you?" Vicky interrupted me this time.
"He won't." I simply stated without any explanation. Lisa opened her mouth for a moment and I let Sylph surface behind my own eyes. It was for a brief moment, but Lisa's words were caught in her throat.
"That's playing with fire." Lisa said her eyes widening as she realized what I did. It took Taylor a quarter of a second to realize what happened since my body language didn't change.
"I know, but it works. Now, once that is done we have to deal with the fallout. Which is the main purpose of this meeting. The fallout will be simple, I'll be targeted and the government will order the PRT to make me join them. It won't go anywhere because of what will happen in a few days, Leviathan will attack Brockton Bay." I said and prepared for the inevitable. I was actually happy I told Taylor beforehand so she wouldn't join the choir of screams.
"Marie, WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU START WITH THAT!?" Lisa yelled.
"You can see the endbringers?" Vicky muttered as her eyes became somewhat glassy.
"Fuck, it's too early." Emily sighed.
"One, because since it's an endbringer there's nothing we can do until it arrives, so no need to worry. Two, yes and it isn't your fault Vicky. And three, yes it is, but both you and I know that changing one thing makes waves." I replied after making a taller podium and standing on top of it. "Bakuda took priority since she could've turned this city to glass, which meant we would lose a decent advantage in terms of location. Now to answer the other question in your head, it won't be necessary for you to participate in the upcoming endbringer fight. All of you can run away, if you so choose." I said dispassionately, I had willingly cut off the vision that would've told me how to make them follow me. I jumped down from the podium as they talked amongst themselves.
"Run away?" Emily asked over the mutters of the rest. There was an edge in her voice, I could almost taste the anger in it.
"Yes. If you stay Leviathan dies, if you leave Leviathan dies. So very literally your choice." I said pushing down my own desire to explain more.
1 step, I saw Emily's fist close.
2 steps, her body tensed as she began sprinting.
3 steps, the swarm began moving.
5 steps, the swarm stops as Lisa whispers something to Taylor.
7 steps, the swarm becomes a screen of bugs and noise between them, Emily and me.
9 steps, her fist met my face. Her gray eyes met my blue on blue ones. On a scale of 1 to 10 it really didn't register, especially since what little pain I could feel was over in less than a second.
"You idiotic bitch!" Emily yells, her eyes alight with rage, "If it didn't matter then you wouldn't even tell us! You just want to kill Leviathan by yourself, even if it means throwing yourself a hundred times against him!" Her hand is still shaking, even as she grabs me by my shirt. As if she could lift me or make me bow to her will.
"You-" I begin saying, yet she pulls my face dangerously close to her own. Words die in my throat, a blush creeps its way into my face despite my best efforts. " She looks so beautiful even when mad. " My thoughts whisper even as I feel Sylph separate herself even further from my consciousness. I could almost feel her saying,
[Deal with your girlfriend.] Thank you alien shard for leaving me alone.
"Don't you dare lie to me Marie Flynt! You can lie to yourself, say you're a villain, lie to Taylor and even the golden fool. But don't you dare lie to me! I know you! You have a plan to try and kill Leviathan by yourself and I'll bet every shard in existence that it involves dying over and over." Emily's voice rose above the haze I felt over Sylph's departure.
"It's not dying if I come back." I refute, yet she doesn't believe me for a moment.
"Fuck you. You'd abuse your respawn point here to lure it, blast it with enough firepower to remake the surface of the earth. Or hell, lock it in that dimension thing you installed in Calvert's base." She accuses and she did have a good grasp of plans D-G, but not my main plan at least.
"It would work!" I insisted without trying to correct her. A small piece of me was reminded that I could just force her to obey, it would just be a simple suggestion using my voice.
"On your corpse! A literal mountain of them!" She pointed out the one issue as if it mattered.
"I'll be fine!" I yelled back.
"Like hell you will!" She raged back at me, "I know how this ends! You break, I break and then I come back again and again! I won't let you die like an idiot just so you can satisfy your martyr complex!"
Her words didn't hurt, they annoyed me. " Who was she to tell me that I would fail? Why did it burn to know that she didn't trust me? Why couldn't she just do what I wanted her to do? Why did she want to risk herself when it's unnecessary? " All these thoughts and more raced through my brain. Why? Why? It's always that Why? Why does she care?
"Dammit Emily, why do you care about me?" I asked her, my voice full of bitterness, "You barely know me! I'm not her!"
"Because, I want to." Emily replied, I couldn't sense a single lie from her voice, from her eyes or her body. "You are someone who I want to know more of. You're adorable when you get focused on one thing, you're scary when you're fighting for a good reason. I like the way you think, the way your eyes widen when you see me, the effort you put in to learn new things beyond what your power gives you. Marie, why wouldn't I care about you?"
"Because… I'm…" I can't say it, the words turn to ash in my mouth the moment I begin to vocalize. "I… I can't. Emily, I triggered, I broke. Even without the threat of death over my shoulders I can barely keep myself on this side of sanity!" I feel tears run down my cheeks as I vent, "I don't want you to get hurt!" I admit without thinking.
"Why do you care about me getting hurt?" She asked me as if it wasn't obvious.
"Why wouldn't I? You're… You're…" I stall and I hear nothing but my own accelerated heartbeat, what's wrong with me? Why can't I tell her? What do I even feel? "You're my very best friend, someone that makes me smile with just your presence. I can't imagine a future without you in my life. " I manage to say even if it's through a choked whisper. From the very edge of my eye I see how her eyes widen and soften, she hugs me tightly. If I didn't have a strong body I would say she's choking me with a hug. It feels… nice.
9:00 pm, Hebert Household, Brockton Bay-
None of them chose to run, much to my surprise. Even Brian stayed, and he had the biggest incentive to leave. I still gave them more time to change their minds, letting them have until morning to decide, offered them a nice trip to Aleph and yet they all said the same. They're staying… The memory of that brought a smile to my face, they chose to believe in me. The meeting in general was a success in that respect, all that was left was to construct more weapons and set up a series of traps to deal with Leviathan.
Taylor was getting ready for the magic circuits I had explained to her and to Danny what I would be doing, which is creating a crest so that Taylor would have an even easier time casting magecraft. As to why I hadn't done that with Lisa, it was simple, we didn't share blood and I doubt Lisa would appreciate becoming Taylor's sister in blood.
The neighborhood was quiet from my window, the night air felt cool around my skin. I stared and focused on the future, visions and paths closing until the one I sought appeared. "Humanity's birthright lies amongst the stars, it isn't my place to guide them." I muttered, feeling something inside me react to my words, like hearing gears from an old clock begin to move, like hearing the sound of a hammer hitting hot steel. "If I'm not the one who will guide them, then all I need to be is the starting line." I promised myself as I headed to Taylor's room.
She sat on top of the circle with her workout clothes and a switchblade. Her brown eyes met my blue ones and she complained, "So are your eyes permanently stained blue now?"
"Yes. Though that's only as long as I don't use alchemy or cellular manipulation on myself. So Tay, are you ready?" I asked while taking the blade from her hands. She nodded and I told her, "Take off your top and face your back to me. I'll be placing the crest on your back." I saw her freeze up for a moment and I turned around and closed my eyes for good measure.
"Why do I need to do this?" Taylor asked even as she turned around and removed her shirt.
"Skin to skin contact is easier and I'd rather you didn't have it in a limb where it could be removed." I explained, turning around I did see a perfectly normal back, a bit more muscular than average but nothing truly overt. I breathed out and focused on the crest creation. Normally mages do this over time and slowly to avoid rejection, however I don't need to worry about that given how I can manipulate the genetic information.
I feel my circuits start activating, pale blue lines form across my entire body, placing one hand on top of my chest, right where my crest I and the other right behind Taylor's heart I began the process.
"This is proof that we once existed, our lives, our wills, slowly building endlessly until we reach past the heavens." I intoned, the circle beneath me glowed with white light and I began my work. The first step is opening the path for the soul, second step is the creation of the circuits, letting them form as naturally as possible is preferable and the third step is creating the crest.
Taylor's inner world was calm, a sea of stars beneath a golden spider,
[Connection.] Queen Administrator stated, her form shrinking as more stars decorated the sky. A pale blue dot shone before becoming a part of the scenery.
"Yes, it will deepen it, but don't worry no abomination will be born." I said even as I watched my body, from a thousand points of view, lie almost broken after fighting Echidna. Taylor's memories passed through me and yet I kept going. Memories of the undersiders, of fighting alongside the wards and Belle. The locker… I held back my desire to gag, I could feel the maggots eating my flesh, the bites, blood. They crawled, I felt them inside me…
[Don't hurt her.] Queen Administrator says in a soft voice as she fades from my view.
"I won't." I say as I begin the crest formation. Crests are, in a nutshell, magical libraries that also give you more circuits, and while my own knowledge of magecraft is small, the circuits that will be forming alongside her own will be more than capable of making up for that shortfall in knowledge with strength.
In reality it took a total of 15 minutes, to me it felt like days due to how careful I was. Taylor was breathing heavily, sweat decorated her back as the crest glowed beneath the skin. She sucked in a deep breath and her body glowed, magic circuits activated, it was like hearing an engine roar to life.
"That sucked." Taylor muttered out in a hoarse voice, I drew out a red stone and used it to heal her. If I used it to give her a bath as well she didn't complain.
"Yeah, but welcome to the mage lifestyle Tay. We have pain, annoyances and possible sacrifices of sanity on the horizon. Yet at least you have reinforcement magecraft as a base, and some select curses and healing spells. I wouldn't use anything for tonight though." I congratulated her while pulling down her shirt, which hung loosely on her back. Taking a careful step I stood up and felt the drain. Transfer of a crest is one thing, what I did was copy mine and that was an infinitely more tiresome process, but I endured it.
"Yesh… I'm-" Taylor began saying while trying to stand up. I felt the air around me heat up and cool off as her circuits deactivated. Her face was still flushed with marks of exertion, her posture was unsteady and I knew that while those things could be fixed with some rest, I needed her to stay in Brockton.
"You're staying here Taylor. Please." I begged her. To her credit she didn't glare at me for too long, then like a puppet without strings she fell to the ground. "Marie," she began saying, "I want you to promise me one thing."
"Sure, what is it?" I asked reflexively.
"Don't sacrifice yourself." Taylor ordered. I gave her a flat look before snarking, "Why does everyone think I'm a self sacrificing moron?" The glare I got as a response was enough of an answer to force a bit of laughter out of me. Taylor soon followed as Danny opened the door.
"I'm not interrupting anything?" He asked, with a tired voice. "No, I'm just leaving." I replied before Taylor could. She slowly made her way to her bed and flopped on it as I closed the door behind me and Danny.
"Before saying anything, I know I can't stop you." Danny mentioned as he motioned me to follow him downstairs, the lights down in the kitchen were on and the dining room table was dimly lit. Two mugs filled to the brim with coffee were facing each other at opposite ends of the table. Danny waited for me to sit down before he drank deeply from his, "I… Did you know how much you looked like your mother? And do you know how much that, reminded me of Annette? Watching you lie in bed, barely alive, it… it hurt a lot. Taylor wouldn't admit it but she was in almost as much pain as I was."
"Uncle-" I began stating as he slammed his fist on the table.
"I'm not done." He interjected with a tone that was several degrees below zero, "It's not fair. You and Taylor shouldn't have triggered, I should've been at the very least there for Taylor and I should've stopped both of you from going and being heroes. And now you want to fight an endbringer!" He yelled, I could hear his heartbeat speed up, "Dammit! Why? Why does it have to be you? Why Taylor?" He asked as I drank deep from the mug. It wasn't his usual blend, it actually tasted like coffee and not black sludge.
"Uncle…" I began again but this time he raised his hand and motioned me to stop. He finished off his mug and said, "I can't bear it. Did you know that Taylor has been smiling more ever since you came? It took me a while to realize that her smile had been forced until now. That she lied so that I wouldn't worry, so that I wouldn't fail her."
"Uncle, I'll be fine." I reassured him, his eyes glistened with tears as he shook his head. "I promise, I'll be done by six in the morning tomorrow. Maybe even sooner."
"Just promise me, you'll keep her safe." Danny begged, and I couldn't help myself but to snark, "Not worried about me?" And instead of getting angry or even laughing, he merely stated,
"No… I'm very worried about you, your mother, and your aunt wouldn't forgive me if I let you get hurt. But I know my daughter, she'll protect you. So please protect her." There was resignation and belief in his voice, I knew I didn't have to say anything, I could just leave. After all he had been mostly absent from Taylor's life ever since Aunt Annette died, yet here he was, pleading with honest belief in both me and Taylor. Asking for us to look after each other…
"I promise." I said as he breathed a sigh of relief. I finished my coffee and stood up, as I turned he walked towards me and kneeled, before hugging me. I stood dead still for a moment before returning the hug.
April 29th, 2011, Ellisburg containment zone. 100 meters from city entrance, 12:05 am-
The world came to life as we left zero sail, the shadow border had survived its maiden voyage. Though Vicky's stomach hadn't as evidenced by the sounds that came behind me.
"Why did I agree to do this?" She complained as she closed the barf bag.
"To keep Amy safer, save some people that can be saved and because you feel like you owe me for earlier." I summed up as I tossed a mask towards Amy, it had the usual modifications and in addition a voice changer as an extra precaution. Belle's body whirled to life as she seemed to wake up, Quinn was with Da Vinci near the core of the Shadow Border.
"Be nice." Amy pressed while putting on the mask. "So, how do I sound?" Her voice was several octaves deeper, "damn I sound like a guy." She complained as the mask adjusted the voice to sound a bit higher but with a different pitch.
"You'll get it right by the time you need to speak with anyone." I said without bothering to actually predict it. I adjusted the gloves on my hands and grabbed Emerald.
{Is it time?} They asked and I simply nodded before beginning to speak.
"Alright, within 5 minutes the shadow border will be noticed by conventional tech and the military will send the PRT to investigate. Glory, Ariadne, your jobs will be to assist them. Da Vinci will be picking up survivors inside the city. At the moment there's only a handful of parahumans in there that aren't affiliated to the Fallen or Nilbog." I explained before adding, "I hate to ask, but could you make sure that they aren't infected with anything?"
Amy nodded and headed towards Vicky, "As far as to what I'll be doing with Belle and Quinn, simply put we'll be establishing a kill zone and a containment field. Once the field goes up I'll deploy my city buster and exterminate both fallen and Nilbog creations." I finished my explanation as I used Emerald to change into my new costume. I breathed out, and let Sylph join my mind as close as she could without triggering the collapse of our respective egos.
It felt like sticking my hand into a box full of needles, every part of me wanted to let go, to keep her separated, and yet if I did I knew what would happen. The door to the outside world opened and I saw Ellisburg with my own eyes. The city itself was a shell of its former self. Decayed buildings, cracked streets and the smell of corpses were overpowering my senses for a brief moment. I… no we left the others behind as the familiar burn of magic circuits began.
In a few leaps we had made our way inside the city, goblin corpses mixed with the human remains of the fallen. It took only a few seconds for more goblins to appear, the creatures were twisted approximations of humans. Various skin colors that began with a sickly green and ended with an odd mockery of sky blue adorned their bodies. Some of them wore rags, others were as naked as the day they were born. Some were thin, only muscle and bones stretched out abnormally across an all too alien body. Pig-like nostrils, canine-like teeth, and a wide mouth covered in spit and blood.
"Another arrives! This one is like the rest, trying to kill the king!" The tallest of the exclaimed, there was a twinge of annoyance deep within us as we realized that it was taller than us by more than a head.
"Kill them!" "Maim them!" "Crush them" they screamed as we sighed. Drawing out the master sword we felt the spirit of the blade call out to us.
"We are here, Fi." And with that we swung the blade. A wave of light decapitated all but the tallest of them. The stench of rotting meat assaulted our nose as we walked towards the body of the once tall goblin. We ignored the Fallen man that ran away, he would head over to her and we would meet.
"Listen well, oh servant of the king of fools. We are Maeve, and upon your bones our kingdom will be formed." Our voice echoed across the streets, the servants began running, screaming our name to their king. The Fallen that were nearby cursed our name and decided to attack. One could manipulate fire, the poor fool tried to burn us alive and we laughed as the heat fed our reserves. She stopped as she noticed that her power had no effect on us.
"The angel will strike you down!" She screamed as we turned our heads to face her, she drew out a pistol. Between the space of one heartbeat and the next she stared as her arm fell into the ground, her screams were silenced as the next slash cut off her head.
"Chain, onto me… My adolescent dreams…" a song escaped our lips as a roar of an army graced our ears. Placing Fi on our back, we summoned the Hellwalker from Emerald's storage. Reinforcement magecraft lit up our body as the light of Eridium graced the streets of this abandoned city. We charged as the song warmed our heart.
One, two, three. Goblins, and other creatures lined up for the slaughter. Had we been separate, then one of us would've called them orks. At most diseased copies of the Uruk Kai, for unlike the rest these were muscular, cruel and ugly. Unfortunately for them, they were not immune to being shot point blank by a double barreled shotgun that was blessed by flames. Nor were they immune to spectral limbs that would turn them into crystals of Eridium.
More foolish shards appeared, their hosts screaming. One held sway over sight, blinding us, until their head exploded into a shower of gore. Their sibling screamed swearing vengeance as they tried to loosen our grip on our weapons, we stopped and walked towards them, our shield reflecting the bullets back at the ones who thought to use firearms. We could feel the shard screaming,
[Abomination! Escape!]
[Silence.] We commanded and there was no sound anymore. The whimpering of their host fell into the void as our hand pierced their chest. The smell of urine hit our noses as we removed our hand from the corpse.
"Children, cry for your mother." Our voice echoed in their minds until they began shedding tears of blood, a quick application of alchemy ended their existence.
"Mom, are you okay?" Quinn asked from our earpiece.
"For now. Tell me, are you and your sister in position?" We replied, allowing ourselves to feel pride in them.
"We are. I don't like it, but we are."
"Fire when ready." We ordered stifling the desire to tell her that things would be alright. Wings of flame form behind me as a leap into the sky. We do not know how long we flew, striking both fallen and goblins. It all melded into a haze of pain and suffering.
Storing the Hellwalker back into Emerald, we choose to focus on the kaleidostick. We swing and the mana around me ignites like a wave of fire. Crushing down what's left of the infrastructure as if it were made of matchsticks, the cries of the goblins reach our ears.
"Lubricate our blades with blood and tears, and your piercing screams are music to celebrate." We sing loudly and proudly as fear and chaos reigns, the shadow border races across the streets, a few rogues and heroes that snuck in in order to help contain the madness were saved by Da Vinci.
"Master, this plan is risky." Da Vinci points out as she draws all of Ellisburg within seconds, "Even if you keep your fused state under control without triggering the collapse or a permanent fusion, what's stopping you from being taken over by their leader?"
Her worries rise into the forefront of our mind as we feel its presence, a void, gnawing hungry. Little shards conglomerated around the host. We dove down, surrounded on all sides.Our eyes saw her, we heard screaming, bones being cracked, the rustling of insects beneath our skin, crushed bones and burning flesh. Our mother…
Something broke. Something pulled, an order? No a suggestion we made to ourselves earlier.
"Mathers." A voice echoed in the dark, "You will never hold infinity in your hands. You believe that you can trump anyone? Oh no, you cannot. Let me demonstrate." Our voice rang out as light flooded the surroundings, thanks to the use of alchemy. Two shots were heard, far away and only focused on us, Belle and Quinn fired. The shield reacted accordingly, though instead of reflecting, the bullets fragmented like shrapnel. Blood filled our eyes as Mathers screamed in pain, we drew out Emerald and summoned a class card,
"Of course I'll get possessed. However that too is necessary, I need to know how that shard works. We need to know, so we can stop it. Our fusion will slow it down, eridium, being a multidimensional energy will slow it down. All that would be left is to sever it and there are two ways that are easy," I explained to my servant, "the first is to simply use magecraft that manipulates the body and soul, the other is what I will be using. Class cards have a very useful property, they are very alien to shards." The smirk that adorned my face wasn't deterred by Da Vinci poking my cheeks for being smug.
"Install, Berserker. " Our voice echoed, and light filled the area. We now wore a dress, a black bodice hugged our chest, our arms held white and black sleeves barely connected to the rest of the dress, in our hands there was a spear? No, a staff that became a spear, knowledge of magecraft, a desire to rule and most damming a name. We dismissed the crown and veil we wore, there was no need for props, our mere presence was enough to establish us as royalty.
"Aesc the savior?" A bitter laugh escaped my lips, "What was it that the knight said? Ah yes, Morgan. Morgan Le Fay. Queen of this lostbelt."
"Mathers, did you think yourself akin to a god? Manipulating senses, even metaphysical ones, is child's play. Perception manipulation is inaccurate, you are more akin to an annoying yet avoidable hazard." Our voice was flat and cold, our hand reached outwards as the simplified curse matrix materialized, was applied on our body, and several spectral spears formed around us. One, five, thirteen… spears of light rammed themselves into our body.
Geysers of blood spewed from the fallen that were connected to Mathers. We clapped slowly as we saw what she was trying to do, unfortunately it was too little too late. A connection once opened isn't so easily closed. "Oh you foolish child, tell us did you think that we would let you escape?" There was no mirth, nor amusement in our tone. There's very little to be amused by, she was sacrificing her children to stay alive.
Baobab Sith's body rolled without limbs in front of my eyes. Again and again I had failed her. "Not again." I swore feeling for once a fire in me that I thought snuffed out.
"Mab would curse you until there's not even a speck of dust left, she loved her children and soldiers more than anyone else could or would. We, if allowed, would find a way to curse you with enough pain that even your ancestors would suffer." A voice that was our own yet not, came from our mouth, "Congratulations, you've managed to remind me of my anger."
Our fingers snapped and several lances formed all around the city, without the throne this was substantially more difficult, fortunately this body was very energy efficient. They fell like lightning all around us, cutting off the copies of Mathers's shard and scarring it even further as the curses piggybacked off of the connection and to the shard itself.
Mama Mathers screamed in pain as the backlash hit her, we felt Morgan's rage subside for a brief moment before laying our hands on her. I felt Sylph let go of the fused state and I tapped the ground with the staff. An alchemy circle formed beneath us as I began my work.
[ ABOMINATION! ] It raged against the connection to me. Believing that without our fused state we couldn't fight it, however it couldn't be more wrong. Berserker Morgan had a particularly good advantage over the shard, her ability to analyze, adapt and counter is unparalleled. And compared to reverse engineering Rhongomyniad, disabling memenic hazards is child's play; especially ones that merely targets the senses while establishing a link between hosts.
[Scream all you want, the noise might be yours. But this silence is ours.] Sylph replied as she tapped the connection. The sound of glass breaking was everything. The curses that we laid stopped it from even being able to run away, I watched as a shard died, Sylph took the corpse and faked a signal so that the idiot wouldn't look too deeply into it.
I stood on top of the still breathing Mama Mathers, I considered letting her live for a moment, she couldn't harm anyone anymore. Her death would serve no purpose beyond personal satisfaction. I drove Fi through her skull after realizing that it didn't matter. There would be no survivors, none that didn't deserve to survive anyways.
The Berserker card exited my body and with a flick of my wrist I had Emerald place it in storage. A shiver ran down my spine as I thought back on how deep Morgan's rage went and how it nearly overtook me and Sylph. I understood why she held such rage; to defy the world, one needs it to survive and thrive.
"You… You killed her." Valefor said and I stared into his eyes. "Bow!" He commanded and yet, he was so weak next to his mother. It also helped that Sylph was stopping his connection from truly forming. Funny thing is, he can force a hypnotic connection, and yet he can't force me to lift a single finger. I felt a desire to show him what real control was like.
"Valefor." I replied layering my voice so as to force him to obey, " Kill yourself. " A simple command, and his body stiffened for a moment, there was fear in his eye as he took a shard of glass and stuck it into his throat. I kept eye contact with him as I approached him, I drew my fist back and drove it through his skull. A small piece of my mind was unsatisfied by how easy it had been, kill Mama Mathers, draw him close and then execute him.
The rest of the fallen, the ones that hadn't died thanks to Mathers's death screams, had either begun running or fainted. The goblins would deal with them.
"Mom, are you okay?" Belle asked and as answer I merely flashed the peace sign in her direction. "Yeah, just tired. We need to go, soon the idiot in a cape will arrive." I muttered back. I picked up Fi and cleaned the blood out of her blade.
" Thank you. " I whispered to her from the depths of my mind. I felt a warm glow envelop me before she whispered back,
Smiling despite the tiredness I felt, I drew out Emerald and said, "Hey… It's time, I need the Lancer card."
{Yes, my creator!} They replied, summoning the card in front of me. I grabbed it and felt a small connection form. As if the spirit inside knew what I was about to do.
" Hey Master, I picked up the parahumans and the children. " Da Vinci said through our connection. A part of me wanted to let the fallen kids die with their parents, several of them had already killed and done worse things. And yet, I had no desire to kill them, they could change, they could grow and so I chose to save them. Regardless, their survival would only help my image and keep the more heroic leaning rogues from disregarding my proposals. " We'll leave through Zero Sail, as planned, but are you sure you want to do this? "
" Yeah, I need to destroy this city. And Leo… thank you for being so understanding. " I thanked her from the bottom of my heart.
" Fuji… Marie, there's no need to thank me. " She replied as I walked across the now barren streets. Nilbog had survived the onslaught, however by the time he would find me, it would be too late to do anything. Within minutes I arrived at the center of Ellisburg and I touched the ground. Focusing on the feeling I managed to find the leyline beneath the city, it was deep enough that I wouldn't accidentally trigger a chain reaction.
"Maeve." a man said behind his helmet, his blue and green body suit was a dead giveaway, even if his hood wasn't. I suppressed my desire to punt him into next week, and continued to ignore him. While I was busy killing goblins and drawing all the attention, Belle and Quinn had been setting up the circles for the blinded field that stopped the Fallen and the goblins from leaving Ellisburg. I felt Da Vinci's presence leave the city as she activated the zero sail and began the ritual.
By pouring my own magical energy into the city I marked it as my territory, the next step was to desig-
"ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME YOUNG LADY?" Eidolon yelled and I glared at him, gave him the two finger salute and drew out the Lancer card.
"David," I said loudly enough to silence the screams from the dying goblins, "shut up. I'm not in the mood to entertain your idiocy. I just spent the last few minutes cleaning up another of your messes and I am about to atomize this place. So shut up, get the fuck out and go back to your desk and wank off to your past glory. You powerless, negligent father." Thinking about it, I might've gone too far.
He charged at me, I could almost hear his shard screaming in his ears, his speed was greater than I expected, yet it was too slow to stop me.
"Install, Lancer ." I intoned seconds before he crashed into me. My armored hand caught his fist with ease. While bulky this azure armor was surprisingly light in actual weight, I twisted my hand and kicked his elbow. There was a snap and a crunch as his bones broke.
The air stilled for a moment as he flew into an empty building, I stood in the middle of the air waiting for his counter attack as a ray of light descended from the heavens. Legend arrived, his costume caked in dust and with some minor cuts, revealing the armor beneath.
"Marie." He said in the same tone a tired parent would rebuke a child. It made me laugh, this man still treated me like a child.
"Hi Keith." I said and he shook his head muttering, "Of course she knows…"
"Mind carrying David to someplace where his ego won't cause a disaster? I'm about to level this place into the next millennium." I asked, stalling for time, and to give him a fair chance at leaving, though his breaker form should survive…
"Why?" He replied frowning.
"The ground itself carries some horrors from Nilbog which would take years to cleanse properly. NEPEA-5 hinders that even further, and I do need a place to grow and call my own. You know, settle roots, make a nice big target, that sort of thing." I stated simply, Nilbog would be arriving in 5 minutes and I really had no desire to play queen or princess for an audience.
"And your Oracle predicted that?"
"Yeah, I did." My admission seemed to have been a surprise for him. Did Contessa not tell him? Or maybe she was blind to me?
"... I thought you were a Tinker." I blinked at his answer. Why do people assume that tinkers wouldn't mess with themselves first? Seriously the only reason why Leet hasn't given himself the spartan upgrades is because he could only make one!
"And? You can be a hero and be part of a group that has categorically fucked over this world in following the steps from a shard. Why can't I be a Tinker and an Oracle?" I let my annoyance at the assumption of my limits show. To his credit he does look somewhat sorry for assuming.
"What do-"
"Spoilers and move to the right." I interrupted him and he quickly moved, the instant he did, a spear soared through the air where he was.
The ice spear was a pretty smart move all things considered, he clearly knew heat and fire did nothing against me, I let it hit my armor just to test it. The ice spreads quickly and it manages to break off a piece of the armor. Eidolon soon teleported near me and he had changed yet another power, his eyes glowed from behind his broken mask. In an instant beams hit both of us and threw us back, I smiled as Legend lived up to his reputation.
"Legend!" Eidolon barked and I laughed. "Wonderful! Now please take him away, you might survive this, but he won't." I said, letting my tone becomes colder as I focused on Eidolon, "And as much as I would enjoy the circus his death will bring, it is not a good time for it. In a few days Leviathan will strike Brockton Bay, on the first of May to be precise. If I'm wrong I'll submit myself to Doctor Mother and provide you with the necessary steps to deal with the enemy. However if I'm right you'll recognize my team's independence from the PRT and you'll declare us affiliates with access to Doorman."
"You can… predict endbringers?" Eidolon asked and I swallowed the comment that formed in my mind and instead decided to try an be nice, that Legend would likely interject was also a good reason to not say: "Yes, you fucking jackass."
"Eidolon, I have seen infinity. I have seen the worms and shards, the fallen garden of eden and far beyond the golden fool's wrath." I announced with confidence, "I promise you, while your blind fumbling would achieve an eventual victory, the cost would be too much. I will not allow for any sacrifices to be in vain. For their prayers to remain unanswered and their lives used as kindling for a fire that would offer no warmth." I felt something click inside my mind as I said those words,
" Spoken like a true champion. Our trial will begin soon, prepare yourself." Din's voice echoed across my soul. I suddenly felt it, the ticking of the clock, there was no time.
"Now, both of you, flee." I ordered even as I formed and cast a simple spell that would let them pass out of the bounded field unharmed. Before any of them could say a word I let go of the form of Melusine.
"Gyahhh!!!" I screamed as my body changed, the smell of rotting flesh filled my nostrils as wings unfurled behind me. Black wings with red lines, the dress barely covered my body anymore, the tattoos glowed crimson and I stared at my arms. They were armored and clawed, in front of them two great lances floated. I took one step forward in unsteady legs, covered in scales and armor.
"Fuck, that hurt… You have 15 seconds before I destroy this place." I warned as runic circles formed above me. Keith opened his mouth, but I didn't listen.
"True name release, designation: Albion." I said as I took to the sky.
"My name is Albion." My voice echoed across the sky as I passed through the first circle, "The last dragon who opens the boundary!" Faster, faster I climbed into the sky! "From Geoffroy to Fromont!" My body had finished changing, where there was once flesh, now there was scales. Where there was once fae, now stood a dragon, the last dragon, the true boundary. My chest opened up and fire rained down on the city, more circles reduced the area of impact, "Show us the time, Tukeidight!" I screamed and my roar was heard across the world. The bounded field did its job, instead of keeping things out, it kept the explosion in. For over a quarter of a mile deep everything was reduced to atoms.
I gazed upon the empty land beneath me, not even ash was left. I saw Eidolon and Legend's shocked forms just a few meters away from the bounded line, the PRT foot soldiers, the actual foot soldiers and the news casters all watched as I descended into the crater. Perfectly smoothed ground, melted walls and a warmth that threatened to lull me to sleep were the things that met me as I ejected the class card from my body.
I raised Emerald above my head, and allowed myself to drain the heat from all around me. I breathed out steam and jumped out of the crater feeling refreshed.
"So who do I talk to about the bounties?" I loudly asked as I heard a facepalm, my eyes spotted Amy and I let myself smile.
Throne 5.4 End.
Notes:
Sorry for the late upload, between me coming down with the mother of all colds that left me bedridden and other irl things my writing time was reduced to like an hour every 2 days or so. Fortunately things have stabilized so hopefully I'll be able to upload more regularly.
As always thank you for reading, comments and kudos. I hope all of you had enjoyable holidays and my this year be excellent to us all.