"That didn't go how I expected it to." The poor girl realized that she must have taken her powers for granted. Her Totem was a very effective non-violence method of fighting... at least up until she gets close enough to slit the throats of her enemies. But this bastard Hippolytus really messed her up even in the form of the thing he loved the most.
She opened one eye just a little bit to look at the devil's face.
Vibrius's eyes were scary to look into. It seemed as if it contained an endless amount of frustration and exhaustion. His eyes were unblinking and stared sharply in one direction, yet for some reason, she could sense that he was confused. He continued to rub her head on his lap gently as he stared into nothingness, desperate for some form of reassurance— a tether to reality and an escape from all that has become of his home.
"Please... Let me go—" Sansa attempted again to use this form that Vibrius seemed so pleased with to escape his clutches. But the sudden shift of his eyes onto her caused her to shiver, forcing her words back into her throat.
"No..." Her voice was barely audible as he shifted his arm towards her shoulder. Her arms had been healed somehow, but what if he breaks them again.
Vibrius's hand froze above the shivering woman's arm, but he continued regardless, caressing her, "Stay with me, Sansa. As long as I'm here, those monsters won't get to you. As long as I watch them closely, they will never reach you again. When the snake's head turns to dust, we will finally be free."
Free? Sansa wanted to be free now. Free from this heartless monster.
———
They ran as fast as they had left. Ivan had gotten a message from Flutter's bird about something terribly wrong happening at the underground base. And as they approached the opening of the path they had just reopened, the two could already hear the loud wails Flutter spoke of, tormenting the prophets. Even more obvious was the colossal statue in the distance, towering over the crimson trees.
This statue was like the letter 'Y', a decapitated person nailed accord to its shape and wearing their own head as a necklace. In the state the person on the statue appeared, one could not tell exactly whether they were male or female. The body was almost just a skeleton, thin layers of muscles, tendons and skin barely clinging onto the frame. But the head was alive, the eyes were wide awake, and its mouth was opened wide as it screamed so much in agony, only a grotesque visage was left on its face.
"Ivan?!" Equinox called out to the Seer. Ivan could barely keep his balance, his knees buckling under the weight of the suffering he was currently bearing.
"Ahh... Ah!!!" The man could only cry out in pain, rolling frantically on the ground.
Equinox was confused and lost for what to do. By the looks of things, Ivan was likely getting backlash from some sort of Vice, or perhaps a direct attack from the screams of the lively statue. Taking a step forward, he bent to try to calm down the Sullivan somehow, when a woman clad in a white floaty gown and long hair appeared out of thin air.
"Lift him up!" Aos-sia yelled out. Before he could even react, the restless spirit asked quickly, "Can you fly? Get him in the air, why are you acting so slow?!"
Clearly there was no time for questions. Ikky could only do as the woman said, grabbing ahold of Ivan. It was quite the struggle to hold onto the squirming Seer, but at best, it was a mildly inconvenient task for a person with Ikky's physical capabilities.
"Jump!" Ikky followed Aos-sia's command, but to no avail. The spirit grunted. "Is that it? Whatever, just throw him as hard as you can into the sky, the farther the better."
"Uhh."
"Just do it!" Startled by her shouting, Equinox grabbed the screaming prophet by the shoulder, took a few steps back and launched Ivan into the air.
Aos-sia clicked her tongue in annoyance, following her prophet after leaving Ikky a few words to ponder, "Work on your legs! You're like a highland bull on chicken shanks."
Ikky swung his arms out helplessly, "You could've at least said thanks! ...Dang Augur spirits."
As soon as Ivanhoe's body went above the trees, soft clouds wrapped around him, gently holding him up. The usually cheerful spirit had a worried look on her face as she sat beside the seer, combing through his red hair.
At the sound of Aos-sia humming a relaxing melody, Ivan slowly opened his eyes, waking up to her beautiful voice.
Ivan shook his head in pain as he sat up on the clouds. "That felt like hell!" He groaned, shifting his hands frantically through his hair. "That hurt! That fat mindless blue-eyed bastard!"
"My-my braids..." Aos-sia watched with swollen eyes as the man scattered his finely combed and braided hair.
But Ivan didn't seem to be in the mood to care. "I warned Timofey, didn't I? Reel in your wretched mistress, I told him! "He wouldn't dare, the frankfurter-licker answered! Well look here, Aosi..."
A new sky suddenly appeared above their heads as Ivanhoe summoned his Instrument Totem, pushing it all the way to an Apotheosis.
"Whoa!" Equinox stared in awe as he looked towards the new starry sky. Ivan had told him a while ago about the different unique characteristics every totem type possessed. For Living Totems, it was nigh-invincibility and a second life, for Instrument types it was their ability to minimize essence use by an astronomical amount and to ascend the totems themselves to a grand and mightier form-- their Apotheosis state. In this state of elevation, essence requirement becomes more demanding, but was worth the massive boon provided to the prophet's powers.
Ivanhoe's Totem, [Mortal Skies: The Cosmic Hunt] covered a range as far as he could see. From that alone, one could already guess just how outrageous the strength of his Totem was. Size isn't everything, but for a Totem who's size was actually everything, what else could be said?"
The full moon began to glow in this starry purple sky, sending rays of light to illuminate the world. The trees, boulders, the vines and even the ground turned transparent. Now looking through the earth into the complex tunnels dug underground, Ivan was able to get a clear idea on the situation. He turned to look at Ikky as he ordered,
"Go ahead, Equinox! The Deceiver on the surface isn't something I'd be able to protect you from."
Equinox shrugged, running off with his head focused at the sky all the same. "Yaga, I don't believe a guy like this will lose to Astrid even if she's a Believer." He was starting to wonder just what criteria could a person be measured in this new world he was in. There were still six more hierarchies above the Sullivan, yet he could already do this? What would change if he ever ascendd? Will the world be eclipsed under the size of Ivan's Totem then?
Yaga scoffed, replying with a hint of sarcasm, "Yes, it's hard to believe the prophet who's able to fight in another separate dimension with nothing but residual spiritual essence can do much at all."
Equinox blinked, "Huh?"
"You really don't know anything."
"You should start telling me then!"
Yaga pouted, "Hmph! Like I'd waste the time of day. I've seen what all your Virtues and Totem can do... they're all pathetic."
Watching Equinox leave, Ivan turned towards the other direction to focus on the strange red skeleton stirring a large cauldron of bones in a soup of fire. The skeleton continued to churn this pot gently, unbothered by the noise, the light or the dagger rushing at its head. A longer than usual white throwing dagger struck hard at the skeleton's skull yet left only a black mark on the creature's head, which soon disappears anyway. However, the Woden was a constellation worthy of the Cosmic Hunt armaments, not a simple throwing dagger... but instead thousands of simple throwing daggers!
Stars began to transform into Constellations, those constellations then forming shapes of curved or straight daggers appearing on the surface of the sky like stalactites. Before long, hundreds appeared, waiting for the command to be unleashed.
"A downpour is coming! You sure you wanna stay out cooking dog treats?!" Ivan laughed, sending the rain of daggers down on the skeleton. The daggers all collided as they shot down, appearing like a single lance when looked at from afar. The Skeleton could do nothing but get crushed underneath the mighty lance of oblivion.
Yet, Ivan's eyes were as focused as ever. The damned skeleton did not even budge!
Smoke rose from its head, its entire body that was recolored black, burning red again. Only this time, flames began to grow and cover the gaps in its body and forming muscles under flesh of fire. Another arm punched right through its back, grasping at two sharp rods of the same substance as the rest of itself. The skeleton- or rather flame man took out a bone necklace from the pot and wore it over its neck, bending down to pull out two coal sticks burning beneath the cauldron.
Ivan stared at the creature with a frown on his face, but then he blinked. The unfortunate Seer exploded, shockwaves tearing through the air, violently knocking everything within range off the ground.
"NOOOOOO... CHEATERS!!!!!" The Deceiver spirit's jaws unhinged as it roared into the sky.