A river of darkness connects Eldest to me as the black powdered smoke clears. The grimace on his face relays such joy to me as I feel utterly replenished with life. Energy flows through my being while Lily stomps with jubilation, stumbling into being beside me.
Still, Eldest has some fight left in him. He grasps back out for me, Darklight washing over his hands to supplement his damaged life and soul as a complementary river to my own, but it doesn't reach me. A lithe spear knocks his hand to the side, stabbing through the flesh.
The return of the Hurricane Hunter is quickly cut short as the retaliation costs her a head, specifically hers. She chose to ignore the genuine threat against her and protected me instead, as her head and torso simply ceased to exist.
The act gives me enough time to stab with another Soulbone as Lily also lashes out with her abyssal ichor. Yet, we both miss as Ether protects Eldest. Virgil, Bonfire, and Lazarus strike all at once to break through the defenses with us as the skies above rumble with danger.
The Sirza is only continuing to grow. Right. They only stop if forced. Shouldn't my father's be the same? It probably is. Or... It's not finished yet. I don't know, and I don't have time to worry about it.
Gritting my teeth, I push with my Dominion, canceling each and every attempt of Eldest to avenge his injuries as he's now slow enough for me to keep up. The only thing keeping the Motherbound alive at this point is his Sirza.
Seconds rapidly pass as we push him into a corner, drawing a few more wounds with each instant. In less than a minute after Lily's round is fired, Eldest falls to a knee, gasping for air.
None of us let up even a little, doing everything within our power to kill him. Virgil's light slices against the everchanging Ether while Bonfire's flames also feast on it. Lazarus and my father strike with colossal weights, shifting the earth at large. Not every attack opens a weakness to exploit, but some do.
A rumble through the Court, however, is what pauses us for a moment. Chuckling rabidness comes from Eldest as he falls onto his back, staring at the ceiling of the Underworld.
"You think they would let me die? I'm her Eldest here, her most prized mortal. The Gods will break this Court for me. Otherwise... Mother won't be happy. Quite the Sirza, Killian. If we were both at our full potential... I frankly wonder who would win. Too bad Mother predicted one would try to take Death's place."
I won't let him continue, dashing with another Soulbone, and the others join in, frantically attempting to end this in case what he speaks is the truth.
Lazarus appears beside Eldest with a flash of thunder, the crackling lightning around him forming into an entire bolt that transcends into the heavens as if they were what was above. The Third raises a hand, creating a gun with his fingers like those of a child. His lips twist as I hear a slim whisper, one that doesn't make any sense, both the words and how they cut through the Sirza.
"I am sorry."
Then, my ears suddenly return to the noise as a burst of light so grand I momentarily lose my sight wreaks havoc on reality. One. Two. Three. Four. Five seconds pass before Blodwyn restores my vision. And when I can see again, the battle is over.
Virtually.
A crater hundreds of feet deep but only a half-dozen wide in each direction offers home to Eldest, the Demigod reduced to a malformed husk of his previous form. Ash is all that remains other than his burnt head.
Even still, he is not dead.
Stepping to look over the ledge, I form a Ballista with what remains of my Ether as Bonfire saddles up beside me. Meanwhile, my father thanks Lazarus as both are unable to stand, breathing heavily and struggling to regain their energy.
"Thank you, Lazarus. I know Drawn Lightning is not easy, especially without your true body."
The Third releases a low hum of laughter, managing to reply as his body begins to splinter into motes of Ether. It would seem Killian Graves has lost his hold on his Ether.
"Of course. Just remember, Killian. Never hold us for longer than five with your own Ether. We might reach our full strengths... but..."
My father nods sagely, understanding the unspoken words fully.
"I know. Death will have to die before I can do anything more with Reaper's Seal."
Listening to them, I pull the trigger of Ballista while my friend tosses a bundle of fire into the hole. Lily even throws some of her own ichor, aiding in ruining what's left. I hear a chime of a bell, likely denoting the end of the battle, but the arena doesn't shift or shrink. Nor do we escape it and return to our seats.
It is still as vast as a Territory and as awful as can be. Lily, however, is ecstatic, howling beside me as she skips side to side.
"We did it! We did it! Two Dominions! Yes! I can grow again, Wyatt! Do you think I'll be taller? Last time, I think I grew an inch!"
Bonfire smacks a meaty hand onto Lily's head, the man only several inches taller than her as opposed to his previous height. I already know he's going to say something before he does. However, my worry is why she received two Dominions from this. Why was there two?
"It doesn't matter if you grow! You'll never be taller than me! Haaha! Shorty! I didn't know Wyatt was hiding you in his gun all along! How come you never showed me? Huh?"
I shake my head in spite of my own exhilaration for Lily. The two immediately get into an argument the first time they have a chance to speak. I'm quickly pulled right off my train of thought by the two of them.
"Hey! Who are you calling short! I gave you your life back, Bono!"
"Bono? Bono? I'm Bonfire, you dimwitted gun! Bonfire! Remember it, or I'll scorch your paint job! And pshch! I didn't need you! I could have done it all on my own!"
I slide an eye to stare knowingly at Bonfire. Emmet Knox grins sheepishly as he tries to defend arguing with a little girl. In the background, Lily stomps and threatens 'Bono's' fire with water.
"Hey! It's not... I'm a child now, too! I can make fun of whoever I want! Hahaha!"
The flat part of a palm slams into the back of Emmet Knox's head, and the man practically rotates in place to faceplant against the dirt. Virgil rubs his wrist softly while staring down at Bonfire and the man's younger form. His look is both remorseful and furious.
"Bonfire."
I leave Virgil to speak to the maniac and instead move toward Lazarus' fading body. My father and the ancient man are still exchanging words, but that time limit they spoke of is fast approaching.
"He's dead, but there are many more to come, Killian. Eldest might have been the strongest, but he came alone to make the push for Godhood. Luckily... he didn't remember what I said I wished to do all those years ago. Such a shame how it turned out. But... the others... there are many more. Gods, too. At least... that's what I remember. My mentor and his king delved far beyond what anyone could follow. The Gods beyond this Court... they are many, and they are strong. Hopefully... hopefully Apisirahts was killed back then or he is truly just as lazed as the legends say."
I raise an eyebrow as I've never heard that God's name before.
"Who is that?"
Lazarus faces me with a grin on his weathered face. Even as the motes reduce him to nothing but a floating skull, he answers my final question while my father is lost in thought.
"The Morning Star, the Eminence Of Tomorrow, Apisirahts. Back in my day, or before that, he was the strongest of the Old Gods, yet sadly, the least likely to help as he despises life. With Hutash dying, the mantle was left to Death to wage war without her brother and sister, all equal in age. Goodbye. Hopefully, I see you again, young man."
A long breath leaves my lungs as the Thunderbolt Titan leaves the realm of the dead, entering Death's Gullet once more. It must be awful to be returned to a place such as this, only to be forced back in less than five minutes. At least previously, during that grand war, he wasn't so injured he had to return immediately.
It seems that due to his injuries, he has to be sustained with Killian's Ether. However, that raises another question. Were the Primes not that instrumental in aiding Vincent? Or were they just enough to turn the tides and let that crazy old man win?
Who knows. Only he would, I suppose.
And, here, I stand before my father as he is just as grievously injured as usual. To him, it must just be normal, immune to pain as he is. I take a seat beside him as the sky blinks with a flicker of golden aura. The Devil must be doing something, probably trying to pull us out of here.
"Why didn't you use your Power?"
I propose the question into the air, and a grumble is the swift reply. A second response comes shortly after, and it's quite a surprise.
"Who says I wasn't? Not all are external. Mine keeps my soul in my body. If I were to stop the Ether flowing through my body... I'd die instantly with my body in this state."
"Makes sense."
We both stay silent for several moments as I realize that my father is not very talkative. His one remaining eye watches Bonfire and Lily's interactions like a hawk while the insides are shifting in rapid thought. The wounds on his body gradually recover, the bone and flesh mending over what was there before.
Oddly, though, he doesn't heal into the flesh of an average human. He recovers to match the parts he put onto himself. I watch it with interest while Blodwyn comments on how inefficient it is. I don't think Blodwyn comprehends how difficult it is to regenerate an arm as fast as he does.
More time passes before my father abruptly speaks, his voice abnormal and his words oddly meaningful. It almost sounds like he has an issue simply talking at all. Like... he doesn't know how to connect with another person.
"I am proud of you."
The five words are robotic and obviously practiced. I turn my head to look at my father as his face is twisted into a grimace. Not one of pain, but instead shame. I see. I see why he is the way he is. Without Ma... I'd be the same.
"Have you ever been close with anyone?"
My father is whisperless for only a second before eking out the harrowing retort.
"No. I have never had the chance. I was always on the move, doing one mission or the next for Vincent. While he was off exploring Godhood... I was left to kill the demons he left behind. Searching ruins, experimenting for him, and even heading to the Underworld. All of it was planned by him or Eli. My whole life. I hid you from him the best I could, the child I found when I turned the world's rivers red, the day I gained my Dominion."
My mind flashes back to the legends of Tornridge and how the riverbeds were all stained red from its liberation. How one man killed all the monsters, demons, and creatures of the night within it.
Heavier shoulders, indeed.
"Do you regret it?"
A creaking rumble comes from the jaws of the Demigod beside me. The sheer force of his anger would be enough to kill any mortal in his presence. Through clasp teeth, he nods.
"Yes. Every damned thing. But what was I to do? The old man is invincible. Despite what I said, I doubt he'd ever actually lose to Eldest. And... it'd be worse if he was dead. So I sucked it up and did my job. No matter the cost."
The 'cost' is apparent as I watch his body meld back together. None of his skin is uniform, all built from some creature or another being. His arms are asymmetric, with all the bones I've seen differently colored and grained. Even his eyes are inhuman, glowing with otherworldly intensity. Worst of all... his heart is not human either. Mine, at the very least, still looks to be.
Killian Graves' heart is not a heart at all. Instead, it is the furnace of a demon, their unique organ capable of generating heat, bestowing grand physical strength, and allowing a more efficient flow of Ether.
To many, it may be a blessing, but to us, Graves who are already so far from humans...
"Are you even human anymore, father?"
Two sparkling eyes face me, one only halfway regenerated with the skin near it still split open like spiderwebs. Within those orbs, however, I can feel the brilliance of his soul. It is beaten, tarnished, and even broken. He has bowed to forces beyond him, submitting his own life and glory.
Yet... he has not yet allowed himself to die. Within his eyes, I feel his Dominion through my own soul, and it speaks to me just like the visions of Sigils and tomes of The Cabin.
The Undying Promise is more than just an oath. It is a certainty. Death will not come for the one who has a purpose beyond his chains. The Undying Oathbound, The Slavened Wretch, will not fall by any man or God's hand but his own.
His Dominion and Power work in concert to keep him alive, binding his soul to his body. I bow my head slightly, respecting the tribulations he's been through. I have... hated him for much of my life. But...
It is hard to hate a man such as him. Not with the way he looks at Lily, the protectiveness. Not with the way he smiles at me, the pride. The way he stares at Aniwye could use some work, but...
He's my father. I don't care if we aren't bound by literal familial ties. He found me in blood. That's good enough for me. Still, a question lingers.
"How did you find me?"
My father answers me just as golden light covers us.
"A Graves can feel another. You've already sensed it down here. So have I."
I stumble as I reappear in the stands right beside Aniwye. She catches me as she nearly tumbles over from my weight. Confused by her weakness, I glimpse her smile as she congratulates me.
"Little one! Nicely done! You got your Dominion finally!"
I embrace her with a laugh as my eyes fall on the two men behind her. My heart abruptly stops as I witness them speak with each other.
"You wish to kill Death, no? It would seem we are in concert, then. Her Reapers seem to want my life quite severely."
"A God is not so easy to kill."
"Yeah? And? Something tells me His Majesty will join us."
I clamp down on my rage and boiling emotions as I find Louis Fern trembling with a hand on the wall. Everyone here, from Lennon's comatose form to Bonfire's crazed lips, falls silent. It is partially due to respect but also to worry—worry for his condition. He's a God, yes, but we don't honestly know where such limits lie.
"The Court is soon to break out of my control. Unfortunately, another Wonder is coming. It'll take a whole lot of death and destruction to reach that point; however, as it grows off judgment... sadly, all are subject to its brutal lens. Few in history would be let off by her gaze. I only earned mine by fighting for a millennium."
The Devil points in the opposite direction of Hell, staring directly at me.
"I know some of you have come to enter Hell, but that is not an option. We must be out of here before the Court enters its first Hearing. Anyone could be your opponent, a demon, a friend, or yourself. If we—"
A golden hand appears in the air in a hurry as a warning goes off in my mind. His sudden entrance pauses and shocks the Devil, but it only causes my eyes to widen. Remington. The one in the... whatever that was warned me. Do I trust it?
"My king, you must stay! If you leave, there will be no one to scare the Gods away! Even if the Court forces you—"
With every word, Remington's hand gets a bit closer to Louis Fern. Inch by inch, the golden dust seems to grow just a little more ominous. I step forward as my brain makes a connection. The missing hand from Eldest. The absolute control of Ether.
This... he...
"Remington!"
The single word forces everyone in the vicinity but Louis and me to shout in pain as they hit the floor. Even Killian and Eli fall to their knees. I simply bear the pain with a hand on my head as I grind forward with a harried step.
What confirms my thoughts is that the hand is also subject to that same pain.
"That's not Remington, Devil! She got him long ago! He's a—"
I don't get to finish as the hand explodes into motion, flying right for Louis Fern's neck. The Devil's cane twists, catching the palm as time abruptly slows to a crawl with my warning. I can feel everything stop, yet... it seems less against me.
It feels like I'm moving through molasses, but I'm not as crippled as the others. Stridingforward, I rush toward the God as he is similarly affected. Still, Louis Fern is a God, an Unnatural one, too.
Phantasmal balances appear behind him that strip away the sand from Remington's palm, or I should say Eldest's hand. I don't know how it has happened, but all that I do know is that Remington's domination over time must have been impossible for the Mother Below to fully grasp, so she sectioned it off and tossed it into the Sandy River.
Who knows how many eternities passed until I pulled it out? The time that passed in the real world before Remington was subdued had to have been counted in centuries. But... in the mysterious River Of Time? It might have very well been millions of years of decay. Only with that could she overpower his true Dominion. The one we saw before must've been a false one, formed by his raw mastery over Ether and his own soul.
The king battles his alchemist with a fury, hauling out all the strength he has.
"Remington! She really got you? Really...?"
But beneath the heavens and mountains of Ether that move in but an instant, I see tears in the old human's eyes. A thousand years had passed, and he thought his friend had clawed his way back. Lamentably, not all reunions are happy endings.
I reach out with my soul in this augmented time, grasping out toward the hand with it. Remington has no reply against us other than to shatter one of his fingers. And with that shatter, I watch as the Devil visibly ages a hundred years.
His body withers, his muscles wane, and his eyes fade. Still, a God is a God. Age matters far less than it does to a mortal. And before a second finger breaks, I tap my soul onto the hand, ripping away the Dominion at work.
And that's when my heart skips a beat. Because nothing happens. This isn't a Dominion. It isn't even a Power. It's just Ether. Ether positively filled with a Concept, that of boundless time.