****************
Wyatt Graves
Exhilaration screams through my body as I fly up the ladder, the shadowy form of Adumbral's Sigil diminishing the impact of gravity. The flickering candles that wave from my movement sting a bit and pull even more Ether from me. But, still too elated by the feeling of flying, I ignore it and persist upward. The shaded form of my body, a thing of coiled night, spirals and undulates as I move upward like a gaseous ghost. A noiseless laugh comes from my changed frame as I crest over the plunging pit that ushers to the Vault. And once I get to the top, I see Johnny standing on the porch outside, talking animatedly to Virgil.
Smiling to myself, I get low, the abyssal form turning into a condensed shadow that blends into the corners of Edmund's cabin. I feel like an amorphous blob, one that fills to fit its container. Then, I creep closer and closer as they talk, the noise inaudible due to the effects of my Ether intertwined with Adumbral's Sigil.
Now this really feels like a Sigil in an item. Most Colts and Claymores have dull abilities, except those very high in Sigil. But this? This is what a 5th Sigiled should be capable of if they devote everything to stealth! I'm not only faster; I'm quieter, more difficult to see, and it changes the shape of my body.
I love it! Now, I can finally get back at Virgil for sneaking up on me all those times.
And so, I shift closer, muted and imperceptible, as I blend perfectly into the shrouded segments of the cabin. My head tinges with discomfort, the length of using the skill biting into me, but I hold on. Yet just as I reach the door, my tenebrous finger pulling me around the doorway, I dart around the entrance to scare the two of them, only to meet their backs as they quickly walk away.
Dammit! I was so close.
I glance around for anyone else that might wreck my prank, but I don't catch sight of anyone paying attention to the cabin right now. Oddly, everyone is gone, actually. The tents standing set up are empty, and without the capacity to listen due to Adumbral's effect, I can't tell which direction anyone is in but Johnny and Virgil, who are now breaking into a sprint.
Something isn't right.
Hmm... I'll just follow them for now like this. I move faster with Adumbral's skill active, anyway.
Impatiently, I stand and move out from under the porch, hastily creeping for the closest shade of a tree as I track Johnny and Virgil. Real pain bites into my back as the sun burrows radiance through my shadowed form. The pain isn't awful, as it's more like a minor sunburn, but it's definitely not something to be withstood for long periods. Neither is the harsh draw on my Ether now that I'm in the sun's light.
So, I move from tree to tree instead of directly behind the two to save Ether and prevent my head from exploding in overuse. The difference between light shade and direct sunlight is likely ten to one. Even I, with my increased capability with Ether, can't endure that.
The good thing about this is that not only am I hard to see, even as a shadow in the day, but I also move far faster. Without using any other skills and just focusing on Adumbral's Shadowed, I can keep up with the other two. I don't know how Arnold made this thing. Still, it's almost like all five Sigils were combined to have a single effect, the variances being removed and harmonized.
I'll have to ask Johnny about it. I'm sure he'd know more.
Zipping through the forest from tree to tree for half a minute makes me truly inquisitive, however. What's happening? Where did everyone else go? I was down there with Johnny for an hour or so, then without him for half an hour to one whole hour at most. I see footprints in front of the duo, many in fact, but why would anyone else just leave the cabin?
I'm so lost, but as I pursue after their traces, worry builds and fast overtakes my curiosity. Something must have happened. For only Johnny and Virgil to not be gone says volumes of whatever caused this absence. Virgil was out scouting recently, surveying our surroundings for danger. He probably just got back. At the same time, Johnny was perhaps distracted in the cabin, investigating the rooms that he was so interested in.
Or... it's him.
But could he affect Johnny's mind, even as an Angel? Probably. My Sigil is hellbent on perceiving the physical world, piercing through any illusions. It took me until what, 3rd Sigil, with everything enhancing me at once, to break through his illusion. And even then, it was momentary, a fading thing. Should he spend time and effort preparing an illusion... I don't think even I can break out of them.
Johnny, at most, has his eyes, the organs likely capable of breaking through some illusions on their own, but if the man was in the cabin, then the bastard only has to affect his hearing. Alexos could dangle the usual sounds in his ears as he lured everyone else away with illusions of his own. It'd be simple, really. Just make it seem to everyone as if they are doing their everyday things, walking alongside someone else, retrieving firewood, or taking a leak. Anything would work.
But that still leaves one question in my mind as I chase after the two.
What about Abraham? He could counter the illusions way back when, right? What about now? Did he betray us? No. He wouldn't. Oh... fuck... I forgot. Heath put him to sleep with his medicine. That's why he struck now. I wasn't present. And Abraham was asleep.
Why did Johnny not come and get me? All he did was take that Concoction for Blake before leaving me alone to do some other shit.
Fuck! Where are they?
As my head burns with sunlight, more trees pass me, but I push on through the light until I find Johnny and Virgil entering a clearing. I skulk behind them, not entirely entering the diminutive field of green as I take in the sight of what lies within.
A Bado stands upon the top of a broken down tree, lines of darkness running down the steely wings as they glow with cruel bravura. Its hawking eyes scan the two figures before me, its body sheening with a dark blue—a 6th Sigil. But the sight of a Motherbound that is likely a Manipulator is the lesser worry right now, as beside him stands a dark-skinned man, one bound in the same magenta chains as Johnny. The human stands silently beside the Motherbound as the Bado waves its arms superfluously, pointing to the crowd of people bundled together, unmoving and unconscious.
"Hello, friends. I have come to offer you two a deal! I know you seek a peaceful world where you and yours no longer have to fight to eke out a living. And I'm happy to inform you that it's arrived! You need only lay down your weapons and take in the light!"
I scrutinize the people clustered together and sigh with relief as I notice a lack of Darklight around them. I know little about Motherbound, but I am relatively sure that each has a limit on how much Darklight they have to use at any given time. The Manipulator must be saving it for the battle about to come. I don't know how the dozens of people, including Blake, have been put unconscious like that, but I can guess.
Alexos.
That means he's somewhere here, too. But I don't see him, just the Bado and the human, the one who must be Ray Olive, the Fortuned Son. As my mind spins to rationalize how an Angel fell to such depravity, I realize that Abraham is nowhere to be seen, and neither is Heath or Bonfire.
Those three were off far away in the medical wagon. Were they missed? It's possible, but I shouldn't hope for it. Even if they weren't, Heath isn't a fighter, and Bonfire is still healing. Abraham could help for sure, but he's asleep. Though, I suppose that's likely why they were left alone. The insomniac will awake if alerted even minorly.
I watch intensely as Johnny steps brazenly forward, drawing Fate Sealer from his holster. Virgil is beside him as he covers himself with a film of darkness, a gun in his left hand, and a machete in the right.
"God worshippers. You're all the same. All that changes is the 'light' you call us to. I've killed enough normal worshippers to know you are no different. Come on then, Manipulator. Show me what you have in that light of yours, and I'll show you mine."
Johnny finishes as I move near the trees, trying to get better positioning. The gunslinger raises his gun with lightning swiftness and fires before anyone can even move. Yet, the bullet doesn't work like normal.
A fiery trail as bright as a night's star screams toward Ray before darting to the side, an invisible hand pulling it. The bullet slams into the dirt with a minor explosion, and the earth rises with a plume similar to a cannon shot as the power of Johnny's Colt is shown.
The Bado then speaks once more, a creaking voice leaving his beak as it puts a hand up in feigned hurt.
"Aw, how rude. You seem rather powerful, gunslinger. I might just have to call back my Phantom from meeting his rival to make you fall. But for now, I think what I'm doing is okay. I'm sure Mother won't mind if it takes a few risks. Ray-ray, end him. Cefern, Iern, and Tismal take the shadow."
The Manipulator waves its right hand forward, a general declaring war. Three figures rise from behind it, each with a 6th Sigil and dark blue chains. That sinking feeling finally proves itself as Ray steps forward and darts into a sprint toward Johnny, a deck of cards sliding down his sleeves into his arms as he follows orders.
"Yes, Dominus."
Meanwhile, Johnny continues to fire bullets, but they just keep darting to the sides or meet a card in the air, the paper causing the shell to detonate. Is Ray the perfect counter to Johnny? Did the Manipulator plan this all? Dammit! No! Johnny just needs to get close to mess with that pull Ray has. The three other figures, one Bado and two humans, move toward Virgil with murder in their eyes and Darklight on their bodies.
Johnny only has to fight someone of his same Sigil yet more experienced. In contrast, Virgil has a much more significant challenge ahead of him. But outnumbered, outclassed, and out of his element, the Nightshade, with his family in his sight in danger, refuses to back down.
Virgil Flickers, his body phasing into the ground below before appearing beside one of the Motherbound, a human with an elongated tongue of fire. Then, without missing a beat, a bullet leaves Vernon's old Colt as the Tonguer barely reacts to stop a shot to the head and instead takes one to the arm. Virgil follows with a slash of his machete, almost removing the injured arm.
But before he can do anything else, the other two attack. A shriek from a Bado sends Virgil into the air as the other pursues the tumbling man with an oversized arm of what looks to be rock.
At this point, I act, my Shadowed form coming from the trees as I dart right for the back of the shrieking Bado. My speed under the cover of the Adumbral is fast enough to get me behind it before anything reacts to the invading shroud of lightless movement. And as I get a foot from it, I let go of the now painful flow of Ether as I'm in the light and take a hearty gasp of air.
Strugglers Gasp fills my lungs with Ether as the fire subsides on the Tonguer's tongue, the rock crumbles from the Dreadmarked's arm, and the sounds cease from the Bado. Ether flows through my body of Breakneck and Strugglers Defiance as I push myself as far as possible in a second. I can visibly see their chains tighten as mine loosen, and I deliver an instantaneous Blast to the back of the Bado's head as it tries to turn around.
But the creature tainted by Darklight cannot, its head crumpling inward from my strike as it looks deformed and brutal. Still, it refuses to die, twisting to meet me before a machete removes its head from the darkness. Then, the body of one of the last Bado alive falls as a welcoming shout enters the clearing.
"Well, well, well! I thought you to be in that cabin! But, oooh... Alexos will not be happy about you escaping, little one. So, come, I have a bargain for you, one that I doubt you will refuse."
The Manipulator speaks to me, the battles between my two friends and their opponents still raging. I hesitate, unwilling to obey its demands, but Virgil meets my eyes, the man noiselessly speaking to me while dodging lumbering strikes from the Dreadmarked and lashes from the Tonguer.
I'm not good at reading lips, but I'm relatively sure he said to hear it out. And I guess he's probably not wrong. Another 6th Sigil joining the fight, especially a Manipulator that is known for its intelligence and craftiness, could spell our end. Plus, apparently, Alexos is at the cabin right now, so we will have to worry about him too. Why is he with a Motherbound? Bastard.
So, I step away from the fighting toward the Motherbound, whom Ray called Dominus, as I quickly breathe out the Ether in my lungs. What a pretentious name. Fitting for a God worshipper, I suppose.
When I get close, but not too close that it could strike me before I could react, it speaks.
"I have been waiting for you, young Graves. The Mother hums in my sleep of individuals whom she wants in her Cathedral. You are near the top of that list. So is that illusionist who so badly wants your life. Well, I suppose I did convince him that if he killed you, I'd revive his family. I--"
I put a hand up, not able to follow its words. However, I keep my Ether flowing and my body ready to fight. This could all just be a clever rouse to lower my guard.
"What? Why did you tell me that? Are you--"
It also cuts me off, the hawk-like eyes of the Bado gazing into my pupils as if it can see my soul.
"I told you that, to be honest with you. You have a higher potential than that man, though he is still impressive. Of course, the Mother wishes for you and him to join her willingly, but we both know the reality of this situation. The only other option in her eyes is death, for she cannot allow Angels or anything higher that she disapproves of. You would never join the Mother willingly, not that she can sense your soul anyway, but that's beside the point. And just as you would never follow a God besides the burgeoning resolve within you, Alexos would never wholly kneel before any being, his goal and pride unbreakable."
My eyebrows raise at the Bado's explanation, and I try to speak during a slight pause in its speech. But before I even get a word out, the creature takes out what appears to be a human liver as it continues.
"But, I am reasonable and know how to make concessions. One day, all her dissidents will be dead, my hands, or my brethren, the maker of such things, but for now, I am too weak. So, instead, I offer you a deal, a win-win for us both. Forgo fighting me, wasting my effort, and instead take this artifact. Within it lies a Philosopher Sigil, something that, even with Mother's help, took great effort to find. And with that greater Sigil, slay the Phantom Pain."
The Manipulator finishes as it holds out the liver, an artifact wrapped in orange chains reminiscent of 3rd Sigiled individuals. I barely even know how to react as two battles clash not that far away, both my friends fighting for their lives.
Is this a good idea? No way. How could it be? The Manipulator says it's a win-win, but I must be missing something. I'm ready to advance, I have been since that cave with Blightraven, but something must be off.
Let's see how it acts if I refuse.
"And what will happen should I refuse?"
The Bado smiles, skin twisting unnaturally on the edges of its beak.
"Then you will die, and your friends will join me. So I ask only that you kill someone of equal potential, and you all may walk."
I squint at the creature, the confidence is unnerving, but something is still off, my gut telling me to continue prodding. Also, what does it mean 'of equal potential'? Is Alexos that gifted? I don't think I'm all that special, but I think I could take Alexos right now despite being a lower Sigil. I remember Johnny was impressed by the man's Ether usage, similar to a veteran 7th Sigil, but is that really that groundbreaking? From what I remember, illusions were all he had. As long as I can break through them, I win. Now, that's easier said than done, but it stands true.
"Uh-huh. And why don't you just kill Alexos and me? Ray, over there should be capable."
Dominus glances over at Ray before continuing.
"Alexos is shrewd. He's never let me even see his actual body. Did you know he runs an illusion twenty-four-seven? I was appalled when I figured it out, for the efficiency of doing so is, frankly, inhuman. Not even Mother's chosen can do that. But that's something impressive about your race. Amongst the columns of inept, some geniuses can go toe to toe with the other races. And among those geniuses, beyond a plethora of fallen and a horde of lifeless bodies, a monster is sometimes born, one worthy of Mother's attention. I believe you are one of those, Wyatt, and Alexos is too. Another exists in the east, but he ascended before we could stop him. I have zero confidence in killing such a Phantom. I could wound him, yes, but he will always manage to escape. And yet, you are uniquely suited to do so, the Philosopher against the Phantom, for he will not run away from you."
The sly Motherbound finishes as it holds the liver out for me to take once more, the claws digging into the supple organ. The pressure is tenuous, yet no blood is drawn from the organ.
I can feel the temptation to take the offer, to advance, but should I? Bullets rage and blades clash just behind me, the battle only growing more decisive, but in front of me is a Devil's bargain.
The only question is if it's worth it.