Chapter 63: Never Cared For What They Do
Nothing Else Matters; Metallica
Previous | Chapter Listing | Next
Now that they knew the potion worked as it was intended to work, all that was left was making enough of it to fill several bottles and arm everyone that wasn’t a vampire with one. There weren’t a lot of them that weren’t vampires going on this little excursion no thanks to needing to get past the barrier, if the damned barrier even still functioned with magic dead, but the more of them that had one, the better.
Unfortunately, the vampires were also susceptible to getting killed by it, and Sarnai had a habit of throwing people into things. Maybe not risking the bottle shattering along the way and killing a vampire they didn’t want to kill was good.
It felt like they’d taken forever to make any progress at all, and Cassandra would be lying if she said she wasn’t jittery to some extent. Drake was beside her, helping make enough of the sunlight potion that they’d be in a decent position to win this.
Cassandra just hoped they weren’t too late. But she hadn’t seen Ezio wandering around as a ghost, either, so she was going to let herself believe they weren’t until she saw otherwise. It was better to try and fail than to give up, she figured.
At the other cauldron, something crashed into the side of it, and Drake cursed under his breath. Cassandra glanced over at him. He’d cut his hand. Cassandra breathed out, setting her work to the side for a moment, and shuffling over to him.
“It’ll heal,” he said.
“It’s not that I’m worried about,” Cassandra answered. “You’re nervous.”
Drake didn’t answer, just made a face.
Yeah, she figured. Instead of saying anything else, she just reached over and took the hand that wasn’t injured, and rested her forehead against his shoulder. “Everything will be okay,” she said softly.
Drake was quiet a moment, breathing instead. “What if it’s not?” he asked.
Cassandra shook her head, looking up at him. “Don’t think like that,” she said. “You can’t think in what ifs and maybes and could be. We do this. We get Ezio home. There is nothing else. Nothing else matters right now.”
Drake looked over at her, then took a breath in, another. “You’re right,” he said. “It’s just hard not to let the thoughts creep in.”
“I know,” Cassandra said. “I have them too. But my love for Ezio and my want to see him home is more important than whatever my demons think they have to say. I’m sure yours is, too.” She’d be surprised if it wasn’t, really. That was why he cared, of course, why it was so easy to make him worry about this, and that, too, she understood.
But she’d said it once before and she meant it even more now than she had then. There was no choice. If it was either figuring this out and doing it, or losing him forever, the only option was clear.
Cassandra rested her head against Drake’s shoulder again. He focused on breathing, and then reached up and patted her hair. “I’m okay now,” he said.
“Good,” she answered, and then went back to her own work. They had potions to brew and psychotic vampires to burn up.
Ezio smiled, watching them from the astral plane. He didn’t know if he was alive or not; maybe he was already dead, and his astral form just hadn’t gotten the memo. Or maybe he was a ghost. He didn’t know. But for once, he couldn’t feel anything, and it was a relief.
They’d be okay without him. Morgyn… maybe not as much.
To one side, Makana came to stand beside him. Ezio looked over at her. “Time to go?” he asked.
“Not quite,” Makana answered.
Ezio looked over at Cassandra. “Can she see you?” he asked.
“Not right now, no,” Makana said. “But when I let her, she can see me very clearly. She is a very strong necromancer. Not stronger than you, though.”
Ezio snorted. “That’s surprising.”
“Come on,” Makana said. “I want you to see something.”
Makana turned around and walked away, gesturing for him to follow. Ezio looked back at Drake and Cassandra, and then shuffled between them, resting either hand against theirs. They both seemed to feel it, though Cassandra noticed it first.
“I love you,” he said. Neither of them would hear it, but it was nice to say all the same. Maybe he should say it more, if he lived through this. “And thank you.”
Ezio let go, and followed Makana.
* * *
She led him back to magic realm. The screeching was still awfully loud, and Ezio knew why, but found it interesting all the same. He could feel the link to his body still active; yeah, he was alive, somehow. Ezio found that rather interesting, but there was a flicker of light and something else around him. Like little sparkles.
Oh, this was the star whale. It turned out he could see it quite well, in astral form. Its arms were feathered, large wings, little talons poking out of one of the joints, presumably that it could walk with its forelegs. The back legs were bulky and rounded, with paws, almost, on the ends. Looking at them, he thought they could pull straight enough to be aerodynamically sound. It did have a beak, and a somewhat oblong body.
Mostly, it looked white, but there were streaks of maybe purple in there. Its eyes opened, looking up at him. They were red.
“It’s nice to finally be able to see you,” Ezio said. Though, he had to admit, it didn’t look anything like a whale. Of course, he had no idea what else to call it, either.
The starry creature raised its head, nuzzling against Ezio’s cheek.
“Reach for it,” Makana said, “with your necromancy.”
Ezio looked over at her like she’d lost her mind. “That’s not a good idea,” he said. “That can get very dangerous very quickly, and I don’t think I want to push my luck that way.”
“You’re in astral form,” Makana said. “Dangerous is the least of your concerns right now. And besides, you were given necromancy for a reason. You might as well use it when it’ll be useful.”
Ezio frowned slightly, but he figured she was probably correct in that statement. Okay, alright, fine. Ezio tilted his head, and then reached out, resting his hands against the creature’s snout. It moved slightly, resting its forehead against Ezio’s, and then his hands glowed an eerie green colour.
There were voices. He had no idea who was who, or what they were saying at first, because the sound of their voices were distorted. Ezio focused a little harder, reached for the memories, the star creature’s memories of something.
I told you not to do that! Now you’ve gone and killed us all!
How was I supposed to know what that was going to do!
The vanir told us what this stuff would do, but your greed just couldn’t be sated, could it! We cannot control it!
The vanir can. Ask them for help if you’re so determined we can’t do it alone.
As if the vanir will want to stick their snouts in this after what we did to them. You’ve gone and cut through the branch we’re dangling on!
We don’t have time for this! Contain it!
We can’t contain it!
Figure out a way because if we don’t do something it’s going to destroy everything!
Gytha no!
Don’t just stand there, help her!
It’s blotting out the sun! Ragnarok has come!
Cast faster!
A strange ringing echoed in Ezio’s head. He wouldn’t say his ears; for technically, he had none. And yet, for all that he had no ears, and no eyes, either, tears slipped down his cheeks anyway, as a flood of hopelessness washed over him. He backed away, grey eyes meeting the star creature’s red ones, and all he saw in them was pain and regret.
Please, hear me. Save us. Forever and always, give us peace.
The voices faded. The ringing in his head died off, and to the side of him, the All unleashed a sudden spark of light. Ezio jumped slightly, and then closed his eyes as the light became too bright to stand.
* * *
It’d taken some work to find her. Given Morgyn didn’t really know her very well to begin with, the sage wasn’t sure where to start, but Lilith had mentioned there was a spell caster in Forgotten Hollow, for whatever reason. Morgyn figured, if there was a spell caster they didn’t know in Forgotten Hollow, then most likely, it was Lakshmi Nirun.
Caleb wanted to come, of course, but Morgyn had him stay behind. Morgyn didn’t want Lakshmi freaking out because there were two of them, and ending up face to face with Morgyn fucking Ember would probably be terrifying enough.
Morgyn’s heels clicked against the asphalt, the light catching the ring on the brunet’s finger and throwing sparkles of pink. Morgyn had to admit, it sure was sparkly, and the brunet loved it, even if it was a little distracting. The sage went up the stairs, tapping on the door and waiting.
The door opened a moment or two later, and a dusky skinned young woman, with long brown hair and grey eyes blinked in surprise. “Oh man,” she said. “I figured you’d come eventually, but oh man.”
“I just want to talk,” Morgyn said. “Please.”
Lakshmi frowned, crossing her arms, but she didn’t close the door. “What about?” she asked.
“I want my brother back,” Morgyn said. “You want your sister back. I like to think we’re on the same side here.”
She snorted, shaking her head. “I don’t think we are,” she answered.
“And why’s that?” Morgyn asked. The brunet was really just curious.
“I haven’t been Sarnai’s sister in a long time,” Lakshmi said. “She doesn’t see me that way, not anymore. Maybe once I could’ve helped you, but I don’t think I can anymore. I don’t know what that monster is, but it’s not really my sister.”
Morgyn released a breath. “Your sister’s in there somewhere,” the brunet said. “She didn’t just suddenly turn into someone else.”
Lakshmi turned down to look at the porch floor, and released a sigh. “I guess,” she said. “I still don’t know if I can even help you at all.”
Morgyn smiled. “Yeah, I don’t either,” the sage answered. “But I think maybe you’re going to have to try, because if we don’t do something, magic is going to stay dead forever. And who knows what that’ll do to the balance of things.”
The woman snorted. “Sometimes,” she said, “I think it’d be best if humans couldn’t use magic anymore, anyway.”
Morgyn smiled again. “Well, you’re probably right,” Morgyn answered. “But if magic stays dead, then I have to figure out what to do with my life and I’m not ready for a midlife crisis just yet.”
Lakshmi gave Morgyn something of a look. “I should think you’re a ways beyond midlife crisis stage,” she said.
“A little,” Morgyn said. “Anyway, look, the plan is, if we can’t get her to separate from the All without killing her, then we are going to kill her. I just thought maybe you’d want the chance to save her first, if you can, because if our roles were reversed and Ezio was the crazy one, I’d want that chance myself.”
Lakshmi went quiet, thinking for a long moment. “She will come back,” Lakshmi said. “She always does.”
Morgyn wondered what that meant, but then figured the brunet already knew what that meant. “She resurrects?” Morgyn asked.
Lakshmi shrugged. “I think so,” she said. “So she will come back eventually. To get her to stay gone, you have to kill Ra.”
Morgyn frowned. “We haven’t run across a Ra,” the brunet said.
“You will eventually,” Lakshmi answered. “The two never go anywhere or do anything by themselves. Ra tells her how to think. Sarnai does his dirty work. This entire situation is probably Ra’s idea and not hers.”
Morgyn looked a little unsure. “I’d rather not have to kill her,” Morgyn said.
Lakshmi shook her head. “I will try,” she said, “but if I fail, and Sarnai won’t listen to me, you kill her. Please. Set my sister free.”
* * *
It turned out L was onto something. Drake and Cassandra had made a sunlight potion, and Morgyn was messing with creating bullets that were essentially just UV bulbs that could be fired out of a gun barrel. Not that Morgyn was entirely sure it would prove necessary, nor did the brunet know if it would be functional, but it was a secondary backup solution in case everyone ran out of sunlight potions.
Morgyn tried not to think about what would happen, what it’d mean, if they failed in this and didn’t manage to stop Sarnai. The brunet was going to hope that Sarnai didn’t manage to control the All well enough to be truly unstoppable; something told Morgyn if Sarnai figured out how to work it, she was going to be damned near impossible to stop.
But the only thing these bulbs emitted were UV light. It wasn’t distorted and filtered by the atmosphere. It wasn’t partially indirect because of the planet’s axial tilt. And Morgyn was hoping that if the brunet committed these bulb-bullets straight to Sarnai’s heart, it’d take her out in short order. But maybe just about anything would die if shot with something in the heart. One could hope.
While Morgyn worked, someone walked up behind the brunet. Morgyn could smell Caleb’s shampoo, though, so the only thing Morgyn did was pull the batteries out of the one UV bulb that was lit. Morgyn would like to know if these bullets were going to work, but not by injuring the brunet’s boyfriend.
Wait, they were engaged now, weren’t they? Ohh… that made Caleb Morgyn’s fiance. That was such a nice thing to think, wow.
Caleb shuffled up, gently wrapping his arms around Morgyn’s waist, and resting his chin on one shoulder. “What are you doing?” Caleb asked.
“Rigging battery-powered UV bullets,” Morgyn said, twisting some wires together. “The idea is if you shoot a vampire in the heart with one of these, it should instantly kill. Either because it’s UV radiation, or because you shot them in the heart, whichever one.”
Caleb made a noise. “You know Sarnai’s immune to UV light,” Caleb said. “I’m not sure how successful this one will be.”
Morgyn shrugged, with the shoulder Caleb wasn’t leaning on. “She might be,” Morgyn said, “but I don’t think anyone’s ever really immune to UV rays, just resistant. The idea is with exposure to enough of it, it should overload her resistance and kill her anyway.”
Caleb tilted his head. “Well, I hope it works that way then,” he said.
“It’s just a backup,” Morgyn said, twisting the last bunch of wires together and setting the bullet shell down. Now the brunet just had to get a little UV bulb in it, and connect everything up. “Just in case the sunlight potions run out.”
“It is a good thing to have a backup plan, you’re right,” Caleb said.
Morgyn smiled, then turned and leaned slightly to one side, and press the brunet’s lips against Caleb’s. Caleb returned the kiss, then straightened up. Morgyn moved around to face him, and for a long moment, they watched each other in silence.
Eventually, Morgyn moved forward and hugged him. Caleb gently rested his hands against Morgyn’s back.
“Ezio will be okay,” Caleb said.
“I want to believe that,” Morgyn answered. “But I can’t. No matter how hard I try. He hasn’t had his medication in almost a month, I don’t know that he’s going to stay okay enough for long enough to stabilise him. I can’t save him just to lose him.”
“Hey, don’t think like that,” Caleb replied, reaching down and taking Morgyn’s hands, kissing them both. “You’re not going to lose him. Ezio’s the strongest person I know, and one of the smartest incidentally. He knows what he’s doing out there.”
“And I might remind you,” Morgyn said, “he’s still an Ember. And Embers are reckless losers with no self-preservation instinct.”
Caleb blinked. “Okay yeah I can’t argue with that I guess,” he said, shrugging. “Still, beating yourself up over it isn’t going to get anything done, and right now we need to do things, yeah?”
Yeah, Morgyn knew that. “You seem weirdly optimistic anymore,” Morgyn said, head tilting at him.
Caleb shrugged. “Life got better,” he said. “And it’s about to get even more so, right? Cause we’re gonna go to magic realm, we’re gonna throw potions, we’re gonna murder Sarnai and free the All, and then we’re gonna save Ezio. And finish school terms, and I don’t know, maybe go on a bunch of dates and then start wedding planning. Or never wedding plan. That’s fine too.”
“Of course we’re going to do wedding plans,” Morgyn said, head shaking. “But maybe after school, you’re right.”
“Okay,” Caleb said. “I just, wasn’t sure if you wanted to wait a few years or something, you know.”
Morgyn snorted. “I should think waiting over a hundred years is enough waiting, wouldn’t you?”
Caleb raised an eyebrow. “Oh,” he said. “Right, yes. I try not to think about it.”
Morgyn smiled, shifting up to kiss his cheek. “Stay dorky,” Morgyn said.
* * *
There was something cold and solid under his cheek. And when Ezio started to move again, several of his joints cracked, but that was to be expected. Truth be told, he had no idea how long he’d been down for, anyway. He understood now, what the ghosts were talking about. The star creature was, in fact, a ghost, but Ezio hadn’t the faintest idea how it’d ended up in the form it was in, nor how to get it back out of it.
He supposed that was a semantic that didn’t really matter right now. He was alive, it’d seem, at least for now. He should be glad about that he figured, but doing things was a lot easier when he was in astral form. Ezio almost purposely ejected his astral body from his physical one, but he was having a little difficulty using magic of any kind right now.
No wonder, of course. Sarnai had absorbed the All. But something Ezio had done to it made it reignite. What had he done, exactly? Maybe his bond with it was still active, but that didn’t entirely make sense either. If the sages lost theirs, then Ezio should’ve lost his, right? Given his went through one of the sages.
Ugh, okay, he wasn’t really up for thinking about anything too hard right now, being fully honest.
Instead, Ezio curled up where he was on the stone, and then opened his eyes. Everything was a little hazy. Ah, he could see the star creature now, in his actual body, where he couldn’t before. It’d draped over him, he remembered noticing that in astral form.
What was it doing, he wondered? He didn’t know, but whatever it was doing, it was making it a bit easier to breathe and think. Ezio wasn’t terribly attached to thinking right this second, but it would be a useful thing all the same. He needed to come up with a plan of some kind, to figure out what to do with this mess.
Someone had to stop Sarnai.
“Where’d Sarnai go?” Ezio asked, looking up at the haze that was the star creature. He should figure out what else to call it, because calling it how he was doing already seemed a bit rude to the poor thing, and it’d proven very helpful so far. Ezio should be nice to it.
The star creature didn’t really respond, just looked down at him, and Ezio was overwhelmed by the impression that he should stay still. Well, the star creature was probably correct in that, but Ezio was an Ember, and Embers were fuelled by yolo.
“Someone has to fix this,” Ezio said. And then he shifted around, getting his arms under him, and standing up.
The star creature partially separated from him, bouncing around frantically and mentally nudging him with ‘hold still’ impressions.
Of course, Ezio didn’t listen. And he tried to stand up, anyway, only for his knees to buckle and he hit the ground all over again. The star creature seemed greatly unamused, wrapping around him again and resting its head against his shoulder.
Ezio was not amused by this turn of events. He raised his head, and then dropped it a few times, gently onto the stone, trying to think. Normally, about here, he’d wonder if and when Morgyn and them were going to make it, but it was quite clear that was unlikely to be anytime soon, and in the interim, Sarnai held onto the All longer.
The star creature rumbled slightly, and then let out a soft keening sound.
Ezio tilted his head. It sounded familiar, somehow. Then, he wondered if this was the thing that was singing. “Are… you the thing that sings to me?” Ezio asked.
The star creature shook its head.
“Then what is?” he asked.
The star creature looked up at the All, standing silent watch over him. Since that spark, it hadn’t done anything else notable, apparent by the fact Ezio had forgotten it was there. He still wondered about the All. The stories about it had started to fail to add up, somehow, and Ezio wasn’t sure how to take that fact. What was it? And how was it a threat to Morgyn?
And what the fuck was he supposed to do about it when there was a psychotic vampire that’d absorbed the damned thing?
One issue at a time, he imagined.
“If you don’t want me moving,” Ezio said, “then what do you propose we do, exactly?”
The star creature tilted its head, and then laid back down on Ezio’s shoulder. No real answer seemed terribly forthcoming, and Ezio released an impatient huff, dropping his head against the cobblestone again.
And then, he got the distinct feeling he was meant to be waiting for something. Ezio was perplexed again. Unless, he was waiting for Morgyn. Given his current state, it’d be smarter not to take Sarnai on by himself, and with this enforced waiting period, he imagined he could recover a good deal more of his energy before he had to expend it fighting her.
Okay then. Waiting it was.