My name is Thorn and a long time ago, I made a promise. I suppose that it's a bit selfish to call it my name when in reality, it's more like some sort of identification, or serial number... but the truth is that I've made a lot of promises, and I am to keep them. Is it selfish of me to claim this? Is it foolish? Or maybe, it's downright delusional? I'm supposed to be a tool, but I don't think that's the case anymore...
I remember the days, back then- a prospering young nation, happy as can be, led under the queen named Hesteros. The gods... they hated what we became- ingenuity and resilience are the biggest enemies of a god with a fragile ego, don't you know? Who are these humans, they raged, to believe that they can exist without a patron god? After all, even each of the hells had some sort of leader, a god they answered to. Cthulu, Baphomet, and on down the line... but no. Here was a nation free of such influences with no desire but to be left alone, able to pursue their own goals without worrying about sacrifices and pain, suffering from sources outside their control.
I wasn't made for combat, though. I remember that time all too well- so many of us made, each with a different task in mind. My brothers and sisters could absorb the temperature of a thousand suns for a short time, or freeze lakes over with a flick of their wrists... but I was, defective, and therefor repurposed. Soldiers came to me bleeding and wounded, and I fed them my nectar. I watched their wounds heal closed- watched them run back to the front lines to be wounded and nearly killed again. For years the wars dragged on, gods throwing their pawns at us- but I filled their wineries, I kept them alive. My master, back then, told me that I was the backbone of the war effort, no matter what else was said. I don't know if I believe it, but... I played my part, that much was an absolute.
The war dragged on too long though, I remember that too. I remember when the gods got sick of waiting and stepped up to bat themselves. I remember carrying my master far, far away from a land that burned and bled to the roots of the world. I remember his dying breaths, rattling in his lungs as he lay against a tree, wheezing slowly.
I remember, too; the promise that I made to him that night as he clutched my wrist. If I were capable of crying, I think that I'd have done it, just then.
"Thorn, I have to know, for sure, that... I have to..." My master cried nonsensically, and I held him, running my thumb gently against his cheek, wiping his tears away. Bringing my rose around, I tried to make him drink, but he shook his head, eyes tired.
"Thorn, you can't sustain me, not anymore..." He coughed, smiling up at me through bloody teeth. "You... can save a lot, but my heart is failing... I'm too old to keep going. Just promise me that if you ever see the chance, you'll show even one god... humans are a force to be reckoned with, okay...?"
I thought, for a moment- and this, this was new to me. Golems don't think- or at least, they aren't supposed to. I had to wonder though- should I make this as a promise to him?
"I promise, master." I decided after a long moment, nodding softly. "I promise that if I see a chance to make this right... no matter how small or big the scale, I will. I swear it."
He died in my arms, that night, and I learned what it is to mourn. I'd seen death, and loss, but until that night, I never felt remorse for any of it.
Where was I to go? There wasn't a home for me to return to, and so I wandered, occasionally leeching magic from new places. Small, at first- a dead elk with seven horns, mutated animals. Then, bigger corpses- a gryphon left to bleed out after a battle. Absorbing it was fairly simple... and on I went, growing my strength, just in case the day ever came for me to put it to use.
Then, one day, I made another promise. That badger girl wheezed on her hands and knees in front of me, and I smiled softly down at her, nodding. "Then I will be on your side when the time comes, summoned hero. I understand." Another promise. When would the time come? Would she need me? Was this even a promise that I'd be able to keep?
The squirrel girl came to me, one day, nose wrinkled, eyes wide in fear.
"Thorn," She pleaded. "I don't know who else to go to- I only just found my way back."
The girl with her bushy tail and fuzzy ears told me a wild story. A tale of one of the hells, of a butler helping her to escape from a bar, through a violet forest and to return here. At the end of it all, she repeated herself; "-I just didn't know who else to go to, but you saved me, and I can't do this myself. Please, she needs your help."
The truth is, there's a lot of magic to be found in a being alive so terribly long- let alone one who has consumed so much, so many dying beings. I gave it back, too- restoring their ability to see, to walk, to think. More than I gave, though, I took- from the dying, from those I wouldn't be hurting to begin with. Is it cruel of me, not to save them, when they expected death and saw no other way? That I must admit- I care not for. I only care to keep my promises.
I walked through the garden of statues, admiring them slowly. Emily, Aurelia, Nao, Charlotte, Hina- their expressions horrified, afraid. A woman I didn't recognize, as well, closer to the exit with a snarling face and wolfish ears.
"Oh- my name is Thorn," I replied to this goddess, swallowing slowly. In truth, I didn't know if I'd be successful, but I had to try. She raised her hand, presumably to strike me down, and gagged, coughing blood the color of lilacs onto her chin as Hina's little sister stabbed her from behind, pushing hard. In the moment she stood there, distracted, I grew my vines round her head, closing my eyes, channeling my magic... Lu slumped to the ground, and so did I.
For a long time, I stayed on my knees, trying to find a hole in her defenses... there was screaming and savagery under the surface, it burned at me, I couldn't work my way in, couldn't harm her at all... but she was so busy defending herself from an attack, it left her open to something else...
=
"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Cthulu screamed, pacing about, the facade of a pretty young blonde woman fading away as she lashed out in the darkness, her arms becoming tentacles covered in razor-blade like vines. "Where am I, what is this?!"
"You poor, lost soul... you've forgotten the purpose of a god," A voice came from everywhere and nowhere, and Lu yelped as something yanked at her core from within- she spiraled through the air and hit something, hard, bone crunching as she landed on the ground, her skin turning gray, slimy, as more of her pretty mask faded away.
"What is happening to me- you can't do this!! You're wasting your time!!" Lu screamed out, angrily, and lashed out again- as she did, something rammed into her head hard enough to make her fall to the ground, her face morphing, becoming elongated and decidedly squid-like, her voice turning deep, wet, gurgling. "You can't kill a god!!"
"No mortal can kill a god," The voice boomed in her head, and she screamed, loudly enough to shatter all the eardrums in hell... if only her scream could still be heard.
"No. But what of a golem, and a thousand humans? Gryphons, and demi gods slain in battle... young and old dragons... and so much more...?" The voice boomed again, and Cthulu roared once more as she found herself pinned down to the ground she couldn't see- no, she wasn't pinned down at all. She felt too weak to move- too heavy, too lethargic. "Rest now, Cthulu, and know that it was human ingenuity that brought you here," that voice came once more, before Lu lost consciousness, confused, but too tired to remain angry any longer.
=
Hina groaned, opening her eyes slowly and staggering to her feet. She wore only that stupid bikini armor, unbroken as promised... her body felt slimy, gross... the entire floor was coated in some sort of slime... she looked around, and staggered to Aurelia, to Nao, to Emily, and then to Charlotte. All of them were breathing, chests rising and falling slowly- she staggered to Fang, then, as well, and the wolf girl was unconscious, but breathing slowly. Groaning in pain, she looked up- Thorn. The golem- how was she here? Lily, too, the teenaged girl snoring against the golem's hip.
"Come here, Hina." Thorn spoke quietly, but her voice carried- something was wrong, about her, but Hina couldn't quite place it as she slowly walked forward.
"Afraid we don't have long, Hina," Thorn smiled softly. "I kept my promise." Still, the badger girl felt unsettled- something was wrong with her, her eyes were too bright, skin almost seeming to glow.
"How are you here? Are you okay? What happened to Lu? Why is Lily-"
"I will explain," Thorn gently cut her off, placing a finger to Hina's lips, and the badger girl leaned back, nodding.
"Lily followed you here and was escorted out by one of the soldiers who helped you- she came to me for help, not knowing where else to go. I followed, and I tried to help, as I promised to when the time came. I could never hope to attack Cthulu, with magic or otherwise... but she was so sure I would attack, she never expected me to pull her closer."
"What do you mean," Hina whispered, but Thorn's eyes were glowing now, for sure, and Hina had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"You know what I mean, don't you." Smiling slowly, Thorn sighed. "I pulled her in, instead of attacking. Pulled, rather than pushed... it was something she never thought to be careful of. The trouble is, Hina... I can't take this much, not so fast."
"Let me share the load then, spill some of the magic into me! Or set her free and we can fight again, okay? You're going to be okay," Hina spoke quickly, raggedly, standing up, tail thrashing, but Thorn only smiled.
"I made three promises, Hina. I have not yet kept the third."
"No- no you can't just die, is that what you're saying?! That you're dying?!" Thorn was glowing brighter now, body putting off light, but she smiled.
"Hina- I made you a promise. I made my master two promises, though. One, that if I could, I would show even one god... that humans and their creations are a force to be reckoned with. My third promise, though, can you guess what it is?"
"No, what is it," Hina whispered, eyes soft, wet, shaking her head. "You can't die, come on we can figure something out-"
"I made the third promise a few nights later, as I buried my master." Thorn nodded, smiling wistfully. "I promised to do my best to leave a positive impact until I died- as he had always tried to do; but, Hina? I'm tired. Very, very tired... I'd ask you to let me rest, now that I've kept my promises... let me finish my final promise with a bang, as you would say..."
"Thorn, you can't die,"
"Hina. I want to rest," Thorn whispered, the light growing brighter, and brighter, until Hina was forced to look away; there was a crack like lightning, and a wave of pure, unadulterated mana hit her like a wave of fire, making her head swim. She staggered back, and then... nothing. Opening her eyes, she saw that Thorn was gone, completely.
"Thorn, no!!" Hina shouted, stepping forward, eyes narrowing with confusion, fear, denial. "THORN-?!"
"Hina, I am, so very tired. Allow me to rest," came the whisper into her ear, from everywhere and nowhere as Lily collapsed sideways into the moss that had been Thorn's seat a moment before, and Cthulhu's before that. Hina stepped forward, eyes wet, and then staggered back in surprise as a small flower grew from the stone before her- and then, with the crack of marble splitting apart, vines came through the floor, stabbed into the walls, radiating outward. Hina watched, in shocked awe, the others slowly beginning to wake around her as the vines looped in and out of the walls, ripping and tearing, breaking them apart... and when the castle had fallen apart, it was not a hellscape of lurid, horrific fauna that awaited. A wave of greenery had begun to spread, farther and farther, trees turning from pinks and purples to greens and soft blues. The sky itself, a beautiful shade of amethyst, now lightened to something closer to lilac, and Hina watched in shocked, horrified awe as magic swept outward from the castle, flowers growing around her feet. The world itself was healing- one of the nine hells had fallen- and it wasn't a summoned hero and her harem to save the day, nor was it the Wolves.
No. Human ingenuity, and a young woman who'd gotten everything she ever wanted.
Hina, overwhelmed, sank to her knees, eyes wet, not even fully registering that Aurelia was kneeling to her left, Charlotte to her right, the others coming over, slowly wrapping arms around her, holding her.
"Hina... we're here..." Nao whispered, crying- and that was the last straw for Hina to begin to sob, slowly. She cried freely, letting it out, her chest heaving with force as she wailed, horrible images dancing behind her eyes; the chandelier, the animals, the trees. She screamed, and wailed, and they held her close, and for a long time, that, alone, was the world. It could have been hours, minutes, or days, but when Hina finally stopped sobbing, Fang shouted to be heard over Hina's soft cries, and those of the others.
"Hey, I don't mean to be insensitive," Fang opened up gently. "-but how about we head back to the bar, when you can stand? I've got clothes for all of you, and drinks, food."
"Hina," Charlotte whispered, crushing Hina to her chest. "We are taking a real vacation. Wherever you want to go. I love you, I'm so sorry I fell for her tricks and brought you here,"
"Yeah, screw all this hero stuff," Nao agreed, hugging Hina tightly from the side. "I love you, we're going to take some time for us."
"I'm so sorry, that this happened, I'm sorry, I love you," Emily whispered, hugging her other side. "I swear to you, I'm never going to let you be hurt again, never."
"I'm sorry too, a lot of this is my fault," Aurelia cried out, hugging Hina from behind, her tail thrashing around in stress. "I love you, please believe me, I love you..."