Issue 33: Blood Ties Abandoned
Which side of the coin do you fall under? Not
all histories are recorded. Cataloged or remembered.—Partial Inscription on the
Doors of Nodohri
They
all forgot about little old me.—Hilary Brookes
The histories ask why I spared Hilary.
Evil begets evil. Her fate was sealed the day she absorbed all of them. The
consumption destroyed what remained of her shriveled soul.—Sleeping in Starlight:
True Fragment Recorded. Store in Database 55.
Planet Ilax
Mechanda System
June 19th, 3196
Hilary swallowed.
The
remaining bone settled neatly. The final Apex bird glared. She whistled merrily
at it. “You all tasted delicious! It's too bad Unity never warned you. You did
all that hard work.” It was frozen in its owl form. It snapped at her, “You
will regret this.” She pulled at its wing. Using the mor’ku blade’s milky white
edge to tear the meated joint. A clean slice. Hilary’s mouth extended. Her
Dominion form elongated. White hot tattoos swirled about her body. She sliced
off the other wing.
“I
will assume control of the Bone Throne.”
The
high demon of Unity examined Dominion through its Necrotic senses. All was
going according to plan. Abbadon would be pleased. In the end? She would not be
able to control the souls already devoured. The perfect weapon to unleash upon
an unsuspecting Universe.
In
the end, they would all serve Abbadon.
Even
Unity.
The
final demon joined its brothers and sisters along the rope.
They
had never needed a physical form.
Patience
was its own reward.
*****
Hilary
hooked the shriveled sets of eyes around the cord. Unity’s current host stepped
forth from the shadows. Its cold blue gaze calculated. “The captured souls will
give you temporary power. Once you use all of it? What remains of your shard
will join them in oblivion.”
Hilary
nodded, “Means I'll have to be picky!”
Dominion
would crush Murphy. Not directly. That was not how one bested a merciful hero
such as she. The true path to destroying that particular demi would start with
friends. Then family. The final nail would be that elusive brother called
Dexter. Let them destroy Chronos. That was half the battle. She would outlast
them all. Doc could heal all sorts of damage. Hilary’s lips twisted into a
parody of a smile.
“The
All-Father missed his chance. I won’t.”
*****
This was a dead world. The bodies of
its former inhabitants worked endlessly. Constructing ships. Chronos would
re-appear soon.
Unity
consulted the Fallen Amache within: Has
anyone seen Lucifer?
Satan replied, “Oh yes. He is
leashed. Same as we are.”
Leviathan said, “On a shorter one.”
Abyzou
gloated, “As we lost consciousness I heard the word mentioned. Tears.”
Unity’s
minds flowed together.
Tears.
Not of mortal make.
The
first waters of creation!
*****
Hilary slid through the ruins. The
faces around her were etched in fear. Those unwilling to serve the Night Realm.
The other half of the population toiled away. Their bodies were given over to
the cause. The moment of the planet’s death. Where had the mythical Highest
been as his brother devoured this place? Abbadon thought himself the Lord of
Flesh but a counter signal was growing. One that Hilary had sensed before.
In New Ashbury.
Eliza Murphy was a piece of the
puzzle. A valued piece but expendable.
The Highest pretended. Abbadon didn’t
bother to hide how he saw everything. If Unity was cast aside so easily? Then
the rest of them would be seen as mere speedbumps.
*****
I followed Hilary. My formed phased
through the remains of the buildings. The people.
She was half right. Abbadon used his
followers. The Highest did as well but he also put himself on the front lines
every time a piece of his soul connected to mine. My younger self called me
Silver Fox, for she saw me as clever and all-knowing. None of them came close
to the truth. Even I dared not speak it. Hilary climbed. The combined Fallen essence
within her had twisted her body further. Granted Void Walkers had never looked
pretty in the first place but she would shine in the horror department next to
Sister Nyx.
Abbadon forced corpses to be his
eyes and ears across the ages. The Highest had to ask. To place a mote of
awareness into all who listened. Thus the Weave Speakers were born. From the
waves of the Hatheon to the far future of Shield World Elysium. The Vigil
remained. A change in management needed to occur.
My
brother was always the stronger.
Out
of habit, I ducked low.
Meathook
had a similar ability when Abbadon road around within that desiccated shell. A ying for yang. It was likely I wouldn't
remember this moment either. To protect the timeline? I had already agreed. The
Highest coiled tight, >>We will restore that which was lost.<<
I
smiled. >>Promise made. Promise kept. I shall walk the Path set before
me.<<
It
was an old refrain. Long ago I had gotten my answer. Within the Dark Matter
Cluster.
At
the height of my memory blockage.
I had pleaded with my brother. What
was so important?
They
had shown me.
A
world without change. Without Death. Life had no meaning. The soul cycle was ruined.
I
clutched my chest. It throbbed where Nyx had stabbed me so long ago. Even with prolonged
life extension? One eventually had to face the gates of tomorrow. Every action
would lead to that final climb. Not only to save myself but to bring the cycle
back into balance. One enemy would perish. My brother would ascend.
I
phased through the ground as Hilary whirled.
*****
Hilary paused. Her eyes glittered. Only
death greeted her senses. She doubled back.
Just to be sure. The silence of a
tomb. She shivered. “Just the wind.”
The voices took a hold of her.
See
what lies beyond.
A stonework doorway rose from the
mountainside.
She felt the giddiness take hold.
Upon the Bone Throne, she sat. Her
father and Thoth were thrown into the pit under the grasping hands of the
living and undead. Next to her was that hideous Doctor Lanis. Hilary paced about
the expanse. Drinking it all in. Chained between them was a man. His face was a
mirror of Eliza Murphy. She crouched. At eye level, she stared at the symbol
carved into his head. Three bloody circles. Black within Black eyes blinked and
she fell backward into the pit of trash. Clawed fiends tore at her body. Lanis
said, “I know the taste of her Tears.”
*****
Sweat ran down my face.
The Highest said, >>The link is polluted. We must play
this angle a while longer. Please bear with me.<<
I
shot him a tired grin within my mindscape.
>>You got it bossman.<<
He withdrew my hand from the Night
Realm bubble. The Left Hand and Arm that was not my own. Just as he had mine.
Two sides of the same coin. What Abbadon should have been with his brother. Lorain
Lanis had a direction connection. Not to the Highest or his Fallen Brother. The
one that created them had pulled her directly from the early mists of Creation.
She was the progenitor soul. Of the
mortal world.
It was she who tasted the first
tears of mortality that began the cycle.
When I was younger I thought I had a
big enough burden.
Lethe had been commanded to forget
her origin.
Her touch, in the end, would
recombine the Realms torn asunder.
The Highest murmured. Awareness
faded.
Shield World Elysium
Age of Twilight (XX 35)
Temporal Throne Sight Portals Detected
Lorain Lanis shielded her eyes as
Eliza materialized over the Lake. The light of the artificial suns beamed down
on their shield world abode. She smiled as she pulled Murphy from the waters. She
asked for the thousandth time, “Penny for your thoughts?” Eliza peered up at Doc.
The medical demi’s hair was pulled back in a messy bun. Green eyes as bright as
ever.
“Yep!
I collected a whole nickel this time of mental awareness!”
It
was a familiar ritual.
Lorain sighed, “The troubles have
passed. Why does he send you on these errands?”
A shadowed figure rose from the
shade of the trees.
*****
I
ambled over.
My
brother shielded his eyes. I sent the command and the environment dipped
towards a pleasant moonlit evening. I
jerked a thumb at Dexter, “Just a few remaining pieces to the Vigil.”
Lorain shook her head. Her expression
troubled, “Have any escaped the sight of the Titans?”
Dexter
replied, his voice barely above a rasping groan, “None. But the game remains in
play. Just from another point of view.” Lorain glanced away. Unable to hold the
gaze of those black within black orbs. Incessant whispers emanated from my
brother. His Throne was hard on anyone. A grateful smile formed on his face as
I wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
With
my other hand, I poked him in the ribs.
“Did I hear correctly?”
My brother ruffled my silvered hair.
“Indeed!” That proud glint in his
eye told me all I needed to know.
Starlight rings floated around us.
Another link in the great tapestry.
Lorain pursed her lips, “How do you
do it?”
I replied, “So others can live in
peace.”
Dexter added, “Each to their burden.”
My brother held the memories for us
both.
*****
Hilary finished the final preparations.
She would bring her fleet into the battle. The Ark was meaningless. The owls
within told her so. They couldn’t hide any information. Not from her. If they
all were expendable? She would make her mark. Survival was secondary. Abbadon
had groomed Unity to be its attack dog. Beyond that? They were the pawns it
desired for its heavy work. She knew when her father would re-appear. The ants
of Earth had no say in the matter. If he was a backup form for Abbadon? It was
time to take him off the playing board.
Blood called for blood. All ties be
damned.
She snarled, “I deny all of you.”
Abbadon, Unity, the Flesh Barons,
High Demons, The Lower Night.
She would not be a link in the
chain.
She
hooked her mind into the control units of her fleet. “Initiate Secondary FTL,
stay within Normal Lanes, relay to Last Marker.”
Endless
waves of saucer-shaped ships rose from the planet. Each rising from the hidden valleys,
old mining cores, to join the ones already amassed in space. Every asteroid held
additional forces. By her calculations, her fleet was four times the size of
her father’s at this point. All they would need is his genetic key.
She
gloated as the fleet moved as one.
Blood
upon the stars.
Issue 32: Here
Interlude Dark Matter Cluster: Here
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