Reality returned in a rush as Felix blinked back blue-white light. A headache formed at the peripheral of his Mind, like a brace of knives stabbed into his temples. He stood, but his balance was off as his vision swam for a moment. The circular chamber wavered, flickering between its stretched hues and the gold-lit radiance of the Compact.
Felix swallowed, and the world settled. Somewhat. The System stood before him, gazing down with their empty eyes.
"What happened to—?" Felix stopped himself before he could finish the sentence. The System tilted their head at him, but he didn’t continue.
"Eredon,” Pit cooed from the side. “I wondered about him, too. No moon.”
Felix glanced at his friend. “And yet there was a moon for everyone else, even those that don't have one now.”
Pit bobbed his head. “Like Avet and this extra god.”
You Brim With Questions, the System intoned. Yet Your Time Is Almost At An End. What Is Your Third Question, Felix Nevarre?
Felix ran a hand through his hair and down his face. The rough scales scratched at him, but he focused on it—a tether to what was real. The room stopped shifting, and his dizziness faded.
Deep Mind is level 114!
…
Deep Mind is level 121!
Void Sanctuary is level 137!
…
Void Sanctuary is level 145!
He had so many questions. About the Compact. The Empyreans. Hell, even the Nym and the sword he now carried at his hip. He hadn’t known what to expect from his second question, but the Memories he’d been shown were incredible.
The Names of the Divine. That was the real treasure. Felix tried to remember them, but they shied away from his recall—exactly how the Divine and the Ruin did. Except he’d earned a Title that let him remember the Ruin. He could envision its assault in various Memories as clear as day. Endless purple-black flame and a tide of starlight.
If he could recall that, then he could remember the Names.
Should that be my next question?
Felix firmed his gaze on the System. He’d never noticed before, but after seeing so many Empyreans in the Memory, the apparition before him looked…off. As if they’d been smoothed and blended from thousands of features, all to create this one amalgam. If they’d really given up their Minds to the Compact, then perhaps that was true.
Would they even allow me to ask it? Considering how hard they’d stopped him before, Felix figured not. Same likely goes for more details on the Compact. If I could even understand them.
The complexity of the Compact was so beyond him that Felix hadn’t known where to begin looking. He still recalled what he’d glimpsed in the Memory, but it would’ve been easier reading Sanskrit or Ancient Greek. Outside the pressure and flow of the Memories, he could see that the sigaldry was different from what he’d learned. It reminded him of the difference between Old English and modern American English. They were basically two separate languages.
Don’t look at me, Pit sent. I only like reading about military tactics. And biographies.
Felix’s Mind jumped across threads of thought, hopping from sigil to glyphs across the Memory of the System’s answer. Inevitably it sent him to the end, when the Empyreans had gone and the Nym were left to stand in the breach.
Wait. What was that at the end there?
He stopped his recollection, pulling it back as the System’s voice shook through him again. Once more, he saw the red-hot glow of Empyrean constructs being reforged. The Memory hadn’t included the final products, but there was little question in his mind about what they’d made. He touched his brow and chest. They reforged the original parts of the Compact into the Empyrean Regalia.
Pit chirruped. I think so, too. That means they know where the Bell is, right?
Felix agreed. There was little chance the System wouldn’t have kept tabs on something as powerful as the Regalia. But should that be his final question?
What did you say before, Pit? The Herald had all three, right?
His Companion swallowed before nodding. And she still lost.
Felix breathed out. The world had finally stilled, and the inlaid stone beneath his feet was firm as he turned toward the looming apparition. He'd come there for the Exalted Bell, but that was a means to an end. There was only one answer that truly mattered.
"How can I destroy the Ruin?"
The Ruin Cannot Be Destroyed.
Felix's heart sank. The System offered nothing else. No vision. No Memories unraveled before his eyes. Just stark reality.
Questions Completed. Your Omen Started You On Your Path, But Your Future Spreads Before You Now. Felix Nevarre, You—
"Not much of a future," Felix growled through the System’s words.
The apparition looked at him, blank eyes creased by a vague annoyance. It Is The Future This World Has Chosen—
"Excuse me?” Felix stepped forward. His heart pounded, and there was a heat in his head like a forge fire. He had to force his hands to stay at his sides. “Explain how that works.”
Fate Is Woven Of Choices. The Vast Tapestry Of The Realms Have Brought Us To This Moment. To Ruin.
“And Ruin can’t be destroyed, right?” Felix bared his teeth. “That’s bullshit. If this stupid world has taught me anything, it’s that everything has a weakness. Everything can be fought."
The System regarded him without a single emotion on its angular face. What Will You Do?
"Something stupid, probably." Felix adjusted his jacket, fastening the buttons down the front as he turned away. "C’mon Pit. Time to go."
Wait—
The pair of them froze as the System apparition glitched. A look of surprise crossed the androgynous figure's face before they vanished entirely. Another Empyrean stood in their place. Slightly shorter but with a face that looked far more lived in. A face that Felix had seen much of recently.
“Lascalium?”
Hold. Do Not Give Into Despair, Scion. All Is Not Lost.
Felix smiled. "I wasn't planning on it.”
Lascalium’s brows lifted. Truly?
“Did my whole declaration sound particularly devoid of hope?" Felix forced a laugh. "I'm used to unwinnable fights."
I See. So It Is True. The Empyrean smiled, and it changed his face. Gone were the severe and narrow angles as his skin bent to joy. You Have Touched Upon The Bonds.
Felix and Pit shared a look. "What? What does that have to do with anything?"
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They Bind Us All. Without Exception.
His blue eyes burned as Felix stepped closer. “The Compact. It drew on Bonds to fuel itself. No.” He turned, his steps becoming a pacing stride. “Connections are more than that.”
So They Are.
Without warning, lightning tore at Lascalium, and the Empyrean nearly folded. Felix put his hands out to catch him, but they passed straight through. He wasn’t there any more than the System’s little agent.
“What the hell was that?”
There Are Consequences For All Things, Ascendant. Careless Words Included.
“You can’t tell me things,” Felix breathed. “You’re restricted?”
Lascalium didn’t answer—Felix supposed that was as good as a confirmation.
“So Bonds connect all of us. The Compact uses them. I do.” Felix paused. “The gods, too.”
Even The Ruin.
That lightning returned, bringing the big Empyrean to his knees. He sat there, pieces of his form hazy now as sparks crackled through them.
“Why is the System punishing you? Aren’t you part of it?”
Such Is The Conflict, Felix. I Am All Of Us. Yet I Remain Myself. Lascalium smiled. It Strains Me.
It looked like more than strain. Felix eyed the pieces of the Empyrean’s shoulder that wafted away. “Why are you doing this?”
Lascalium stood back up. He did not answer—he only stared at Felix expectantly.
“Right. Figure it out.” Felix chewed at his lip. “Pit, any ideas here?”
“For why he’s doing this?”
“Sure. Or what he’s getting at.”
Pit squinted his big gold eyes at the luminescent Empyrean, and his beak clacked several times. “I think…he’s telling us to look at the Bonds?”
Felix opened his mouth, eager to scoff, before slowly closing it. Adamant Discord.
A sea of blue light sprang up around him, so complete that it washed away all delineation. Felix blinked at the brilliance of it, and slowly his Skill sharpened, the song of it plucking strains across the whole of the chamber until the faintest of lines could be seen.
“Are we…in a Bond?” Felix didn’t even glance at the Empyrean. He knew it was true. The blue-white light above them, the lightning, the…well, maybe not the stretching. He wasn’t sure what the hell that was about.
He plucked the faint strings around him, and electricity uncoiled from the contact. Vibrations rattled him, sparking into other Bonds before setting them off in decreasing waves.
"The Unseen Tides," Felix muttered. "Veridaan’s power.”
Yours, Should You Reach So Far.
Felix eyed Lascalium. He hadn’t been struck by the System for that statement. Interesting. “How exactly do I do that?"
Only You May Know.
He spread his hands. “And I don’t. Some clues, if you please.”
Lascalium smiled. I See Much Promise In You, Felix Nevarre. Scion. Inheritor. Fiend. Many Are Your Titles, But All Of Them Are Earned.
I See No Issue With Granting You Two More.
The System flickered back in, cutting through the Empyrean. The Compact Cannot—!
Lascalium slashed a hand, dismissing the apparition. I Take On The Consequences Of My Action.
Immediately after his words left his lips, a red light slowly smoldered across the man’s sleeve. Where it passed, it ate the Empyrean away, flaring once it touched flesh.
Lascalium only smiled. The Magician And The Tenku. Cardinal Fiend And The Guardian Beast. Your Power Walks Hand In Hand. Significance Gathers In Your Every Footprint, Left Behind To Indelibly Mark The World.
Felix couldn't help the frustrated growl that came from him. "A lot of fancy words, but what's your point?"
You Asked What It Takes To Ascend.
"No, I didn't."
Not Here. In The Tumult’s Twin.
You did. Pit’s beak clacked again, and his eyes were wide. How does he know that?
Something about Bonds, probably. Felix wasn't sure he liked that. "Is the System listening to me all the time?"
No. It Would Be A Waste Of Significance. But You Have Touched Upon A Thread Worth Our Attention. One I Buried Long Ago.
Lascalium's warm smile widened, even as that reddish glow consumed his right hand past the wrist. It proceeded toward the elbow. I Cannot Help But Reach Out.
Unbidden, a Memory flushed through Felix’s Mind. He and Pit stood upon similar ground, recovering from visions. Then, a voice like ten thousand screaming trumpets had called out to him.
My Omen Path. The time the System spoke to me. Felix’s jaw worked. "That was you?"
Lascalium said nothing, but there was no denying the glint in his eye. Karys had been agog about the System addressing him directly during the Omen Path, and it had turned to awe when it had given Felix a few seconds of cryptic confirmations.
"So here we are, talking again.” Felix put a hand to his sword. “How do I ascend?"
By Choice.
Felix waited a second, hoping more information would arrive, only to stare into the empty eyes of a Memory. "Is that it? I choose to become a god, and—" He rolled his eyes. "This is more cryptic bullshit, isn't it?"
Again, Lascalium didn't answer. Couldn’t, perhaps. The red light moved faster, and now his left leg was burning away.
“What happens when you’re burnt away?”
Peace, Perhaps.
The chamber around them shook. Pieces of masonry fell from above, clattering to the ground and forcing Pit to dodge a falling column. He pulled closer to Felix, one wing raised to protect him from debris. “Something is definitely wrong!”
Felix bit off a curse. "Progenitor. We’re running out of time. Choose what, exactly? When?”
When All Is Lost.
Felix didn’t like the sound of that. It sounded like getting his ass kicked. "Fuck it," he muttered. "Never stopped me before."
A deep chasm split the room, hurling the entire left third sideways as blue-white light spilled in. More masonry fell, and the twisting architecture was pulled further up, like taffy stretching to the breaking point.
Lascalium didn't laugh, but he looked pleased. You Have Chosen Once Again, Felix Nevarre. This Time, Your Path Leads You To Places Where Even The System Cannot Aid You.
Only Your Will.
"Our Will," Pit corrected. "Wherever Felix goes, I go, too."
Felix grinned and ruffled the tenku’s feathers. "You heard the bird."
The Empyrean nodded without a flicker of surprise in his face. You Walked This Path Together. The Legacy Belongs To Both.
His one remaining hand stretched out. Felix Nevarre. Pit Nevarre. You Have Revealed Your Omen. Chosen Your Paths. Now, You Have Unveiled Your Legacy.
A System notification flashed before Felix and Pit at the same time. Bordered in brilliant gold, it was threaded through by a blue-white and red-gold light that shone from every word.
Legacy Unveiled!
Four Are One!
All that walk the world are a product of primal forces. Those forces are not gone. They are only changed.
Pit squawked. "What the hell is a Legacy?"
The left wall fell apart, the chasm splitting from the chamber in a great crack of thunder. It spun outward, lassoed by the infinite blue and vanished instantly. Felix and Pit leaned to each other as a gale tore at them both before settling.
I Can Answer Nothing More. Lascalium’s remaining hand shimmered as pillars cracked and fell, tossing away dust that fell in torrents from the twisted heights. But I Can Do This.
The world squealed. Thousands of violins and cellos vibrated the air, their strings sawed at the worst possible angle. Chords percolated through the noise, Harmony squeezing amongst Dissonance like a thief shouldering through a crowd. The swell of music assaulted Felix, drowning out the harsh notes as a notification popped into place.
The Exalted Bell Rings For You!
Do You Wish To Claim It?
Felix grinned. "Hell yes!"
A gleaming bronze bell the size of his clenched fist appeared in the air. Felix seized it by its faceted obsidian handle, and the clapper within struck the side.
Sound ripped outward.
Deep Mind is level 121!
…
Deep Mind is level 124!
Void Sanctuary is level 145!
…
Void Sanctuary is level 148!
A chamber blasted apart, the floors breaking into segments as the pillars flew upward to join the dissolving ceiling. Pit clutched Felix, and Felix held onto the Bell with every ounce of his Strength. Among the wreckage, unmoved and untouched save by the encroaching red, Lascalium stood like a ghost. He still smiled.
Flee, Brave Ones. The reddish light had consumed his other arm now, and his legs, all the way up to his chest. All that remained was a head and shoulders. Seek Your People. They Stand Upon The Precipice. They Need Your Faith.
The red light burst, and Lascalium was torn apart.
The chamber itself twisted, pulled in every direction as the last remnants of structure stretched out toward infinity. Felix and Pit ran, both flaring their Agility as they fled down the stretching hallway toward a doorway made of shadow.
No! Obsidian!
They reached for it, Bell clutched tight, but the hall pulled inward.
Collapsed.
