Issue 8: The Three Drums within The Void
We owed much to Dexter and Eliza Murphy. It was time to gather the rest of the Elder Ones within the Weave.—White
The Amarche rejected the face of Creation but they weren’t the only ones to live within the elements of Dark Matter. Before the Advent of Planetary birth.—Tales of Elysium
From what Victor/Slapdash had to report: The Merfolk of Hatheon made their splash along with a certain state upon Earth. Warm beaches and triangles. Sharks with Lazers for eyes. Here I thought I had odd adventures.—Sleeping in Starlight: Florida and its Premiere Demi
Inner Weave
Galactic Heart of Eden
White padded cautiously.
It was a gamble. To approach these as she was. But a point had to be made. Black’s large paw reached out to tap the blue square of light arrayed before them. It floated over their heads for a moment. Lines shot out to scan them from head to tail. A green-skinned man held out his hand, “The Primacy will hear your request.” The upper torso was covered with obsidian and gold armor. He held a three-pronged spear in his left hand. Its crystalized surface pulsed with dormant power.
*****
Il’kari of Hatheon marveled at the massive creatures approaching their cresh-pocket villa. She was the first among the Blood. Sigilmaker and Princess of the People. Her black hair was braided. Flecks of ivory hairpins kept each strand in place. Her black fins pushed her forward. Off the threaded terrace. Her white silken shirt rippled in the threads of the Weave. To a normal eye, it would appear that they were underwater.
She circled the visitors. “Centurion!” The merman halted.
Saluted with a free fist over his hearts.
“What brings those touched by the Oversoul here?”
*****
Gwen ran. Black beaks called out, their warbling cries opened wounds within her soul. Her breath came in hot bursts. She scrambled over mounds of white bone. She dared not look down. She couldn’t. Her fault. A singular epitaph of her arrogance. She tripped. Fire lanced down her knees.
Spindly hands dragged her towards a tear in the earth.
*****
I pulled. Gwen’s pale visage emerged from the hole of her own making. Pale fire erupted around us. Her guilt was a sharp wedge upon my mind. She couldn’t see us. I asked my mother and Lorain, “Any ideas?” Mom pulled out a set of H-7s. The new standard in home defense. They were the size of hand blasters. Lean and elegant. Gunmetal black. Green indicator lights signified a full charge. Her face fell when she saw who I dragged from the morass beneath us. I patted Gwen’s cheek. “Hey!”
Gwen’s clouded copper eyes flickered to my face, “Leave me.” I cradled her to my chest. “If this is her soulscape, what can we use to clear the deck. A touchstone!”
Mom’s eyes brightened. “The Tower. Inside the Null sphere.”
Doc and turned. I concentrated. I remembered that place. Mom and dad had stayed there with Lorain for a time. To give the triplets space to grow. To protect them from Nyx. Later I had spent time within it alongside Doc and Auggie. I had fond memories of that place. Even if it was for different reasons. I grunted as Gwen’s body weighed me down. I lifted her into my arms. Aimed a kick at the white wraiths latching onto my legs.
I shouted, “Not my sister!”
Gwen sucked in a breath. Her voice faint, “Let me go. I'll just…”
I replied, “No. We rise or fall together.”
Doc and my mother took point. Each step carried us away from the bone fields. The sharp tang of the sea hit my nostrils. Mom’s shoulders sagged, “I know this place.”
I recognized it as well. A Typherian Gene Index.
House Ayeer’s.
I strode towards the archway. In holographic lettering it stated in a bold golden font:
///Bloodline Contaminated.///
Gwen shivered, “J’anu was right.”
Mom holstered her guns. She gripped Gwen’s hands in her own, “No. We are more than blood. No matter the source.” I pushed the doorway open. It groaned. From disuse and thin threads that stuck fast. Voices echoed. Gwen’s among them. The room shifted. The light outside became a warm noonday shine. The skyline was familiar to me. Gleaming skyscrapers. Hovercars. The call of birds from the central parks.
Home.
New Ashbury
Joint Typherian-Terran Registration Hall
Genebank Index
Gwen rubbed her chin. Examined the samples.
This can’t be right.
J’anu’s crimson eyes flashed in her memory. The lips curled back, “Oh? It is the truth. Eliza died with our blood in her heart. A lamb to the slaughter. You have the blood of tyrants flowing through you.”
The neutral mechanical voice stated, “Genetic match.” There was no doubt.
Gwen didn’t want to believe it. Urraden blood. Entwined with Ayeer. Via her grandfather. That was why the Owls hounded her. They could sense that traitorous strain. Her weakness. Her pride. She pushed away from the console. Her eyes glued to the message screen out of the corner of her vision. She threw her jacket back on and stepped out onto the balcony. Far below the dots of grav cars zipped by.
It would be so easy.
To just end it all.
Her hands gripped the rail. Knuckles whitened.
Anna’s voice came over the INet, <<We have a flair up. Sector 27!>>
Not today. The shadows lengthened through the room as she turned back.
Was it easy?
She pictured Eliza’s smiling face.
“One more day.”
*****
Mom’s hands passed through the memory. We watched as the scene collapsed. The cold surface of an asteroid replaced it. Gwen was skipping from crater to crater. Just behind Anna. I glanced at the stilled form within my arms. I gulped down the lump in my throat. “You asked. It wasn’t easy. Marching into that dragon’s maw. Not knowing if I’d come back. Just because I can link with my future doesn’t mean it will happen 100%.”
Clammy fingers twisted in my hair. Gwen’s eyes flitted open, “I cannot smile. How can you? You aren’t human….” I smelled the copper tang of blood. My eyes met Mom's for a split second. There it was. Mom had bitten down so hard. I retorted gently, “No. We are only partly human.” The Gwen within my arms howled retribution, “Yet you have wings to defy everything!” Blackened chains wrapped around my sister's arms and legs. I carried her onward.
I spoke sharply, “I will not lose you. No matter what.”
She spat, “Says the woman who can do everything!” The voices egged her on.
Mom whispered, “You don’t mean that….”
Those sightless eyes turned to mom, “So perfect, isn’t it? A lovely little family. With one compromised link!” Lorain’s cold voice rang out, “ You think you own the market on suffering?!” A bright light cut across the asteroid backdrop.
Anna approached. Her voice matched Doc’s, “Do you think your sister was alone within the grip of Unity? Hardly.” Gwen’s arms tightened around my neck.
She hissed, “There is nothing left to save within this vessel. Arbiter.”
I bit down on my thumb. A bead of blood welled up. I pressed it to Gwen’s forehead.
She twitched. Her muscles coiled. Anna pressed her bracers to Gwen’s back.
Before us, three towers stood. Within one floated Gwen. The middle contained the taint of the two Owls. The third was a bright golden thread. Her Weavespeaker manifestation. The two birds burst forth. Flying lazily about the highest reaches. Their calls shrill.
“Arbiter. The one who will fall by 1000 cuts.”
The All-Father’s gleaming crimson orbs. Wearing Thoth’s face. The knife pierced my chest. Its blackened hilt expanding. “All is mine. As is proper. I take back the blood of my forefathers!” One heavy black chain fell from Gwen’s body as I shouted to the sky, “The Wall Endures. Faith Endures.”
I transferred Gwen to one shoulder. Thronebearer sigils burst forth from my fingertips. Here? Raw demi power would not work. I had to reach the part of Gwen that was shared between us.
The Weave.
*****
Gwen’s eyes opened.
She was within the crystal. Her sister carried the shell. The body that which was whole. She clasped her hands to her heart. Three pinpricks of darkness radiated outward. The chain of Guilt. Wrath. Envy. Doc’s words were sharp in her ears. A masculine voice murmured, “See beyond the Veil of Flesh. Find that which is eternal.” She had carried the burden alone. She watched as her mother fired up at the two white specters that hovered. The true form of the Owls. Doctor Impossible formed shields around all of them. Including Gwen’s bodily form. This would not work.
The chains were against the soul shard.
She reached out. Smashed her fists against the crystal holding her Weavespeaker powers in check. She had done this to herself. Allowed the darkness to spread. Drowning in remorse and fear while those around her fought to keep the Light from snuffing out.
Gwen shouted,” NO MORE!”
She couldn’t be her sister. She didn’t have to be. All this time the answer was before her.
Each piece of the Wall held fast. No matter how strong or weak. All links reinforced one another. Anna’s voice rang out. Clear and strong. “Listen! Seek the Path!” Golden footsteps gleamed past the edifice of polluted stone. Anna’s lamp continued to illuminate the gaps. Gwen stepped outward. Into the light.
*****
The final chain fell from Gwen’s body. As if it had never existed. My shoulder ached then the weight disappeared. I ran straight towards the middle tower. The stone around it reformed.
Biting. Hissing. Two shadowed lamps for eyes took on a predatory quality. My right fist slammed into the bedrock. I said, //88-|-88\\!
White fire flowed from my body. It gleamed within the shadowed recesses. With each punch, I added that cleansing fire. I shouted until my voice was raw. I would not allow my sister to fall into the shadow. Nor despair. A wind blew past me. It roared against the black spiderweb that had engulfed it. Gwen’s soul beat upon the final tower. Each hit sent a ring outwards. It tingled along my spine. Divine words curled around the base of the stonework.
“Third Eye of the Veil.”
That mote that tied her to the Highest. To the Weave.
Krak! Krak!
Two heavy thuds indicated mom had found her marks. Mom’s concern radiated from every shot. Here the soul provided power. Her voice beat in time with her heart, “Not my baby. None of them are on the menu you filthy….” I kicked the remaining corrupted pieces away. Pressed my palms to the ground. The earth parted to reveal a wound. A turgid crimson that was dark enough to be considered black.
Tendrils shot out. Attempted to drag me under.
Mom strode over and fired repeatedly into the blackened scab.
The fire continued unabated until those wizened veins released me.
Mom’s expression gave me pause. I had forgotten how formidable she could be. She took me by the collar of my flight jacket and dragged me back. Two silver shells loaded into her guns. She aimed at the base of the final tower.
“Get away from my children.”
A huge hole formed as those shells burrowed deep.
*****
Gwen reached out. Grasped the golden threads to her chest. A warm glow infused her as the crystal containment fell away. They did care. Her mother most of all. Tears escaped her eyes and she found herself staring up into four faces. Mosaics shimmered in the background. She coughed as Eliza held a flask to her lips. She winced, “Orange Juice?!” Not expecting the tart flavor.
Anna thumped Eliza on the back. “Dork.”
Gwen smiled weakly.
Eliza commented, “What? It is self-regulating. Nice and cold too!”
Gwen Murphy pushed herself into a sitting position. J’ino remarked, “That’s a fancy necklace.”
Gwen’s hands reached up. A simple silver necklace with three white pearls hung serenely. Three white circles adorned each palm. She held them up for Anna’s inspection. It was Eliza who said, “The Mark of the Three Voices.”
*****
A middle-aged man with a white suit tapped me on the forehead with a simple wooden cane. “Gather those who remain.” Images flashed. Others like the Amache, who had existed within the Primordial, who had not fled from the Light of Creation. He pointed at a shifting mosaic. Black and White!
I blurted out, “Mermaids?! In the Weave!”
We watched as one of them sounded a horn. A doorway appeared. Each circle pulsed with golden light.
*****
White peered around. “I feel as if all eyes are upon us brother!” Black nodded, his massive head turned about. Double rows of the Hatheon Guard came to attention. Their tridents were a mix of blue, green, and red crystals. It reminded him of Dexter. What this where the first Trident had been formed. Before the dreams of Hephestus? He didn’t have all of his old memories at hand. Too many threads crossed. From one soul cycle to the next. A way to protect all those outside the walls of Elysium. Not all managed to get aboard Noah’s Ark. Souls remained within that first city of Man and Divine.
They stepped through the portals.
A palace of vibrant coral greeted them. Within the main hall five Mermen, each adorned with white robes and golden sashes bowed, “The Five Primarchs of Hatheon hear the footsteps of the Twins. Not as their current shell. We recognize Azrael, Gatekeeper of Death. Path to Renewal.”
They turned to peer down at White, “As of the Dawn. Eos.”
White sat heavily. Her tigress form faded. Black returned to his humanoid shape. His armor flowed over his body. Black and gold. The noseguard on his helm was etched with silver leaves. Eos said, “Then you know.” The Five moved. Opened the path forward. “We have awaited this meeting since it was written in the Book of H’than.” The eldest among them floated forward. Riding on the threads everpresent within the Weave.
He spoke, his voice crackled with age, “…So goes the ship of stars. Noah across the vastness of the Black, to seek a new seed for the Seat of Man.”
He presented the careworn tome with reverence to Eos.
“Once unbound, two shall come, after the Convergence. Upon quiet steps. To beseech the Primordials. Those who walked the realms before the Advent of the Oversoul.”
Eos paused. Each block within the temple hummed. Warmed the soles of her feet.
Memories flowed, “Promise made. Kept unto the ends of Time.”
The eldest pointed, “So shall it remain.”
A column rose from the center of the foyer. Upon a simple cloth rested a cup.
Its surface was plain save for the copper covering within.
Azrael bowed his head. “I never thought to see it.”
As Eos approached the cup filled. Waters so clear that her eyes ached. She brought it to her lips. A solitary drop ran down her throat. The world faded. Smoke filled her eyes.
“Remember.”
Eos cried out, “The Host has fallen!”
Issue 7: Here
Issue 9: Here
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