Sound ceases to exist as Kwakiteh's head finishes its roll, staring up at me with blind eyes under her blindfold. A second passes before even the blindfold unravels, revealing to me, for the first time in many months, Mie's look. One eye is glazed over, wholly pale, while the other is pinkish, a little red, a little white. The sight is visceral, boiling up the bile from my stomach at the gore, something I thought I had long gotten over. I gaze at the pupil of colors, pleading for a voice to come.
Yet, now I cannot hear Mie's voice, as if she, too, has died. I know that it isn't the case, that she simply cannot use her Ether without a vessel, but my fists tighten even further. Eldest turns his voice back to me, levying a gnarled claw to face me.
"Many more will die, Graves, if you do not submit. Those you see here? Dead. They simply do not know it. Those who left behind? Who's to say I haven't already welcomed them to my mother's kingdom? Mother will have you. She will have all of you. Whether it is the hard way or the easy way is on you."
The emotions keep building, a fiery rage that has two origins within my body. Blodwyn is equally furious, as he found a mentor in Mie and Kate. They didn't often interact, at least not when I was a part of the mental links, but I know they spoke on their own—artifact to another Wendigo, a bizarrely unique experience. For a moment, I consider using Sacrifice, just to see if it will work, but I toss the possibility aside. Even if it does... I'd be so crippled afterward that I would be condemning myself to death.
I meet Eldest's horrid, appalling, emotionless pupils that aren't even his own just as a throat-ripping yell enters the air. I wasn't terribly close to Kate. We spent many hours together, but she was always closed off, keeping mostly to herself and her partner.
I'm not all that dissimilar. But there is someone who has spent many, many months alongside her. Even if he is the most lonesome man I've ever met, he still has feelings. Whether they were merely those of kinship or something deeper, I'd never know. But it doesn't matter. In the end, Eldest did more than piss Lennon off. He did way, way more than that.
He killed one of the very, very few friends the man had left in this world. In fact... possibly the only one that he'd recognize as such.
Space around us cracks, and my vision is hardly able to comprehend the pressure Lennon releases with his soul. A thousand swords appear around the man, but he doesn't simply throw them at Eldest while the Motherbound retreats for the first time.
Lennon raises a formless hand made of continuous blades and clenches the fist. The scores and throngs of invisible swords condense to a singular one within that closed palm. And... then he's gone.
The Bladeless Monster moves so quickly that I cannot even see him. Bloody mist, lined identically to his figure, is the only thing that remains of him before the right arm of the Eldest topples to the ground. The Motherbound scoffs in disbelief and lifts his other hand to his shoulder as I make my move as well, Lennon already collapsing onto a lone knee.
"Bastard."
A single word from Lennon punctuates my actions and Virgils, too.
Arbalests carry my broken legs forward as I return to an old stance, pushing my body forward with my arms as well. Just as I reach Eldest, another star begins to fall, but I ignore it, striking in tandem with the daggers sinking toward the inside of the Motherbound's knees.
Once more, the Motherbound moves with a speed unbecoming of his vessel, breaking and damaging it even further. In exchange for this, I receive a fractured skull, even through Blodwyn's armor, from a kneecap, and Virgil has his right hand twisted in the opposite direction.
Still, we don't fall back. I swing my head back from the impact and bring my eyes back to meet Eldest's. The bastard's arm is back already, but it's healing slower than before. He's slower than before. Lennon must have done something. Within my arm is the bomb from Earl. We just need the chance to use it!
Virgil and I have another bout with the oldest Motherbound, but it doesn't end nicely the second time either. My freshly repaired kneecap bends backward while Virgil's entire right arm hangs limply, the shoulder caved in.
Eldest rears his arm to slice open my neck, or perhaps remove it entirely, with his claws, but he flinches in pain at the apex. The moment of pain, of hesitance, has a single footstep upon the cosmic floor echo in return.
I don't see him this time, either. Even my eyes cannot track him, not Insight, not anything. He moves as if he is nothing but his Dominion.
Another arm goes flying—the same one, the one that killed Kate.
I can tell Eldest is getting visibly angry as he roars out a grunt of pain, pushing us all away from him with a wave of pressure from the dimension itself. It would appear as though manipulating the realm is costly or difficult, probably both. The sun above has already been devoured, a seizing man responsible for saving our lives.
Eldest turns to face Lennon, the man relegated to his knees, gasping for air that just won't seem to come as a formless hand clenches the flesh above his heart. The Motherbound tsks his tongue, striding right past Virgil and me, even as we attack him. A fist lands in my stomach, curdling the organs within as I struggle to remain upright. Virgil, less durable than I finally falls to a heap as his femur juts out from his leg.
"You cannot escape this Void. You, Lennon Hull, are a danger to everything. Just as that man exists to Ruin and the other exists for Immortality, you exist to Cut. Even if this body dies today, you will fall."
Spitting out blood that comes directly from my stomach, lungs, and, frankly, most of my organs, I sprint after Eldest. But I'm too slow. Each of his footsteps is slow, unhurried, and slim, but they transport him far faster than my frantic ones. Something within my chest vibrates, and I pause, unsure of what is happening, as I can only watch Eldest approach Lennon's damaged figure. But... the feeling vanishes as Lennon Hull, a poet's son as he oft calls himself, grins through bloodied teeth. He doesn't even look at the Motherbound. He simply stares at me, a command hidden between the lines.
"Bomb."
It's simple. It's succinct, but I'm absolutely convinced that is what he is asking of me. I use my mental connection with my prosthetic to have the bomb hidden within it roll out onto my palm.
At the same time, Lennon stands to meet this Demigod. His legs are buckling, the knees incapable of holding him sturdy, but that is when Lennon is the most dangerous. Pushed to his limit, to a corner where there is no escape, his fangs are bared.
And by all the Gods, are they sharp.
More swords, more blades, more edges than I can fathom form into being within a moment, stabbing for Eldest. And, for the first time since this conflict ensued, Eldest doesn't deflect and counterattack, his innumerable years of experience apparent. The Demigod knows when a strike is unstoppable, when a blade is imbued with all of one's being. He simply evades the strikes wholly, not deigning to counter.
It's a good thing he was never Lennon's true target.
All the tips of his Dominion, every minuscule powerful point, converge on a single point. It is such a consolidation and condensation of force that I worry it will explode. Yet, as I watch, it does not. In fractions of a second smaller than I can imagine, the Dominion hones reality, slicing a rift in this false dimension.
The portal is opened right behind Eldest, next to me. Lennon nods to me, shouting verbally in a fury.
"Take him out!"
Our eyes share a solemn juncture, but I refuse to listen to him. Not just because it would kill him, too. It would also kill Bonfire and Virgil. The madness behind Lennon's irises simply doesn't care for the casualties. He only wants to win, to gain revenge.
So instead, I goad the most powerful of all the Motherbound. He might want to kill Lennon, but his Mother wants me. Plus, my father has pissed him off beyond reason.
"I'm leaving, Eldest. Don't you want me? Leave them here. One on one."
And I step through the rift, betting on the importance that he holds upon my father and what impact killing Lily and I will have.
I return to the dirt from before, a few moments of anxious silence as there is no one nearby. Aniwye, Otto, and Silas are still gone. Marion is somewhere in the darkness still. I don't know where they've gone, but as another second ticks, the non-existent clock in my head counting, my stomach continues to sink even as it is regenerated.
By the third second, however, my finger is already upon the primer of the bomb, the tiny deadliness wrapped up within a ball with the radius of a finger.
At the fourth, I press the button, squeezing it with all the force I can. It doesn't break. Instead, it holds together perfectly, as if built to contain my strength.
"Are you sure this is a good idea, Wyatt? This bomb... it's really, really dangerous."
Blodwyn looks out for us, but I can only nod. We cannot beat that bastard without it. He's healing slower, but Lennon can hardly move his Dominion without killing himself. Bonfire is reduced to a crumpled, moaning mess, and even Virgil can't fight back.
"It's the only thing we have left."
My companion sighs within our shared mind, lamenting Kate's death. They were closer than I expected.
"Perhaps. I'll miss her. She was really nice to me... Are you betting on 'that' thing? What Aniwye said about your soul?"
I nod slowly as a foot appears from thin air, as if it is from nothing at all. Eldest, in all Seatco's splendor, grins at me. The smile is atrocious, inhuman at best, and leaves trailing blood over Seatco's odd-haired darkness, but it bestows relief.
Five seconds isn't enough to kill Lennon. That means he took the deal.
"Yeah, I'm betting on it. Either she's right about my Tomb, or..."
"Or you're dead."
Blodwyn finishes my sentence, tightening the bones around my body as Tsavuk enters its most dangerous stage. It is not even controlled anymore, just blood flowing at a high enough pace to cut rocks.
I offer Eldest a subtle nod before I release the primer on the bomb. The last thought in my head before deafness, darkness, and nothingness ensues is of thanks.
Thanks to Earl.
The bastard made a weapon to help put down a Demigod. He'll love to hear this. Though... I wish it were a little less... omnidirectional.
****************************************
Wyatt Graves - Days ago, on the journey past Depravity
"Wyatt. I want to speak with you."
I nod to my mother, patting the rock beside me. She plops down roughly without any visible manners as her lone eye stares right into mine. Aniwye is always absurdly blunt, and she immediately cuts to the chase.
"I've been combing my memories, and after adding together the stories of Virgil, Bonfire, and your own, I think I have an idea about your Tomb, or at least the actual effect it has."
My heart increases as I'm too excited to finally figure this out. I bob my head up and down, wanting to hear it as soon as possible, but Aniwye first slows me down.
"Relax. I will only tell you my thoughts if you promise me something."
"Of course, what is it?"
Too energetic, I agree, and wait for the promise. But the oath she asks for me to swear throws me for a loop.
"No matter what you hear from, you will, under no circumstances, test the theory out. Only... only if there is no other option, will you rely on it, do you hear me?"
I raise an eyebrow, but I don't even try to negotiate. She knows best, after all. Hell, she almost knows all. Aniwye then nods slowly after my agreement, beginning to speak.
"Have you ever felt your heart stop?"
"Yeah?"
Aniwye continues beyond my affirmation as if finding it to be normal. She then uses her mind to draw a portrait of a human body into the dirt before us. It is simple, hardly more than a stick figure, but she quickly adds detail.
"Have you ever felt... dead?"
"Uh... yeah? I've been brought back before after my heart stopped."
Aniwye shakes her head, but then, she returns another nod as if unsure how to explain herself.
"That's not exactly what I mean, but it's close enough. I believe... I believe your soul is special. I don't know how, but I know it is. When you die... I don't think anything pulls you away. I think... that as long as someone, or something... heals your body, you will not die. Your soul will remain in that vessel until it's utterly destroyed to nothingness. You... do not possess an afterlife of any kind."
Her words sink profoundly, and I fall silent for several moments. Aniwye watches me carefully with her eye as I consider my past. All the times I nearly died, perhaps I truly did. Perhaps even on that very first day with Lily, I died, and her healing my body brought me back.
If that's the case... then how many times have I died? Am I immortal? No. If I'm decapitated, that's probably it unless someone knows how to reattach a head properly. Even Blodwyn probably can't do that. Not yet, at least. If I'm burnt to ashes, I'd be dead, too. Or if I drown, it'd be over, stuck at the bottom of a body of water for eternity.
Aniwye halts my rapid thoughts, placing an Adjusted hand on my shoulder, not too large, but still more significant than my own hands.
"Relax. I do not want you to test this theory. After all... I might be... wrong."
My mother's shoulders sag in fear of a possible future as she faces me without recoil. She tightens her grasp, promising me something of herself.
"I will do all I can to make up for what I have done in the past. I have been doing all that I can. I don't know if you care or if you are just using me, but—"
I hug her with a pressure tighter than her own fists could ever produce. Her brain probably could... but...
"Thank you. I will... do my best. That's a Graves' promise."
A sad smile grows on Aniwye's face as if she knows something I don't. It's the same kind of face that Ma used to have when watching me work on the farm. It irritates me, but then she pats me on the head. The single act washes away the frustration, leaving behind only tiredness.
"Go to bed, little one. When you awake, we will traverse some more. There is much ground to cover, little time, and dwindling strength."
******************
Light enters my eyes once more, so bright that I attempt to blink, only for nothing to change. Oh. I have no eyelids. Pain doesn't even exist. My body is too damaged to sustain such a feeling as my surroundings gradually form.
Eldest was overconfident. Though... to him, I was easy prey. Never before in history has such a lethal weapon existed that used zero Ether. Capable of severely wounding even the most powerful of Demigods, and killing nearly all others while impossible to detect by conventional Sigiled methods. The name of the bomb bounces within my head as I watch Lennon stand over Eldest's struggling form. It is a figure of wriggling flesh, unable to reform with any bit of swiftness or cohesion.
The Marshall Protocol. Meant to kill those that cannot be slain, even if one must be sacrificed themselves. It is a way to even the playing field between Angels and men.
My ears still haven't returned as I read Lennon's lips, the man rearing back an invisible blade. His words are long, hard to catch, but profound. Then, he moves faster than ever before. The speed is such that his blade, an intangible thing, literally combusts into flame. Additionally, the sword is more than visible to my Insight. It literally exists, translucent and fading to the eye, but it is visible to all, regardless of vision.
"There's another you should be concerned with. His brain is enough to kill you all. This is for all you have killed. This is for Kate. This is for Seatco. I will find you, Eldest. And I will kill you. You and all your siblings. That is a promise. May the Devil cut me down should I fail."
Eldest's head falls to the ground, but the Bladeless Monster is not yet done. Picking up the head to stare into the eyes, he spits into the face. Then, he cuts, he hacks, he slices, he dices, and he finally stomps on the corpse in derision when there is nothing but bacon bits remaining.
Glancing around, I discover Virgil carrying two unmoving bodies, limping through a rift in the air that quickly shatters. He collapses to the ground, Kate's corpse and head falling in two different directions while Bonfire thunks his head on a rock.
I wince at the dunce's pain, but I can hardly move. Scratch that; I can't move at all. Blodwyn's voice comes to me as I recognize that he used the saved-up Excavator to heal me.
"Seems like she was right. I was really worried there. I'm glad you're alright. I-I wouldn't know what to do otherwise."
"You're not getting rid of me that easy. I'm here, buddy."
Blodwyn chuckles as I exhale a deep, painful breath as my senses come back to me. I'm happy she was right, too. Some questions are starting to be answered now, though I wish there were a lot more solved.