The garden shimmered with quiet life—droplets clung to stems and petals. Light filtered between leaves in shifting patterns, painting the ground with moving shadows while the air hummed faintly with insects drifting from bloom to bloom.
Children around hustled and bustled with activity, one trying to catch another or playing around anything else. Some others sat elsewhere, just talking about things or teenagers betting on stuff like which couple would break up or which guy would ask a girl out or stuff like that.
Sunny inhaled, letting in the sweet scent of floral nodes and the recently watered smell of plants into his nostrils. Then, he leaned a little to pick up a thermos—containing some hot NOT Black Ivory Tea, instead it was just the normal one—off from the smooth green blanket, acting oblivious to what happened around him.
'Ah, kids these days! Back in my days... Wait, where I was from had no such luxury! But, no really, who the hell hurt them enough to bet on couples breaking or people getting rejected!'
They sure had skill issues...
'I shouldn't be the one talking!'
Sunny turned to look at his friends, to hope for someone sane, and at least they were such people...
Turning around, he saw Steve playing Minecraft with Jack on a console. Playing Minecraft. For fucks sake who did that in a picnic, especially when they were barely 10!
'This generation is cooked!'
"Hey, why the hell are you playing without me! What the hell man!"
He had to keep the act up! So what if it meant acting like one of those people from a cooked generation...
"Says the guy acting like an old man nearing his end of his life and just trying to enjoy his final moments," Steve snarked with disgust laced on his tongue.
...
'This little minecraft addict! Damnation!'
"You're literally playing Minecraft at a picnic."
A pause.
"Move."
"Pfft—"
Steve burst into laughter and Jack followed, and Steve fell on his back, "Hahaha, you heard that right Jack?"
"He is definitely an old man wearing a child's body and trying to fit in, hahahaha."
"Okay fine I'll let you play but if you die you hand it over again." Steve was still on the floor, taking deep breaths as he saw Sunny pick up the console and adjusted it in his hand when...
Sssss
Boom!
Sunny died.
"Sunny died." Steve said at the same time as him actually dying in-game before bursting into laughter again.
"I—"
Sunny struggled to bring the words out with wide eyes. He was completely and utterly dumbfounded.
Jack, still laughing, held his stomach, "oh gods, I need to use the washroom from how much you made me laugh damn it, hahaha, Steve you can have my turn, just give me two chances when I get back."
Jack, putting his hands in his favourite blue jacket, left as Sunny let out a mischievous grin while pulling out their breakfast out of the bag, subtly placing it besides Steve. It contained a dish from the dark times called Medu Vada. One of Steve's favourite dish. Then, he watched as Steve started to drool.
"Sunny... Can we open that?"
"Nope, we gotta wait for Jack."
"Ugh, fine."
Just like that two minutes passed until Steve spoke again:
"Ugh, the pull of this beautiful smell is powerful. I feel like I'm being sucked into a blackhole, and I want to get sucked. The smell... It's too enchanting. It—it feels like I'm reading a slow ass slow burn novel where they're needlessly making me wait... WHERE THE HELL IS HE!?"
Ssss.
Boom.
"CREEPER!" Steve flinched as he died.
"Aw man, sucks to die. Now gimme the tab." He yanked the tab from him, finally getting a chance, and just like that a few minutes passed.
A few minutes passed with no signs of their friend coming back, but Steve—he looked calm as if nothing was happening.
It sort of made sense because of his age, but what didn't make sense was that it was him who was looking like this. He was quite mature, after all, so why was he this calm?
'Right, the environment. It's usually safe everywhere and this place is within campus.'
So, this was another thing he was better than Steve in.
As far as their current age and capabilities were concerned anyways.
"Hey, do you think he's fine? He is yet to come back and ten minutes have passed by."
"He's probably just looking for it, you know how he is?"
"Still, isn't it weird?" Sunny asked, slightly louder than before.
"Fiiine, I guess we'll go look for him." Steve sighed as he stood up not bothering to put anything in place as if they would be back here soon.
They went towards the washroom stall, but while going towards it they went past the spot where Cassie's group was sitting, and Steve... Steve looked at her for a second!
'Nope, absolutely not!'
Sunny refused to talk to her for even a second, so, like any clingy boyfri—'wait, what the hell!? No, that's not the comparison!'
"Do you think.... Uh, Jack is just done and is roaming around a bit, getting some fresh air?" Sunny asked, trying to distract his friend.
He would absolutely not interact with this Cassie.
"Alright," Steve chuckled as they continued ahead.
They walked towards the washroom stall, as Sunny spotted a boy around their age sitting near the washroom entrance, picking at the grass.
"Yo, did you see a kid come through here? Black hair, about this tall?"
The boy looked up, "oh, the one who went with those Awakened doctors? Yeah, they—and well, the boy too—said something about a checkup and took him through there." He pointed vaguely down the corridor.
Doctors.
Sunny found his feet already moving.
Jack, tired as he was, exhausted as he was, fatigued that he was, could barely think—his mind swirling in the clouds. All he vaguely recalled was feeling heavy while in the washroom and some Awakened doctors coming to take him.
Something felt wrong about it.
Something felt very wrong.
The world was tilting itself like sea-saw, but that wasn't the thing that felt wrong.
No, it was the doctors—why were they here? How convenient was the timing?
But no, why would they want him?
Was there a way he could alert someone?
"I'm going to the doctors."
The words he realised he had to utter—and did utter—as something pricked his skin.
This was wrong.
This was very wrong.
He—he has to do something.
His hands reached towards his jacket...
Sunny and Steve continued running ahead in the direction pointed out by the boy earlier. They kept running for a while until Steve spotted a blue thread, "isn't this..."
"Yeah," Sunny affirmed, "let's go."
And they ran towards the direction until Sunny realised something...
"You should go tell the teachers." Sunny—still running while following the trail Jack left behind—said.
"I—are you sure?" Steve asked, slowing down just for a moment before picking up his pace, "can you really handle it yourself?"
"Yes, I can. I brought it with me."
"Fine, I will go tell our professors and the Awakened guards. Good luck Sunny."
Sunny, of course, was talking about Serpent. His loyal Shadow that followed him along. Steve knew about it, having once catching him talk to Serpent.
The sole reason he brought it along was because Rain made a drawing of the Shadow and waved it around excitedly for everyone to see.
It truly was a good idea to take it as a warning, 'I will have to thank Rain later... Oh gods, my pride!'
And just like that, he reached. And just like that... It was time to unleash a corrupted terror.
It was time for the terror of LO49 to be unleashed.
The Sybil of the Fallen Grace. He made sure to kill it himself for the loss it brought upon him, and now he would call upon its help.
Well, technically he shouldn't have been able to do that since it wasn't in his Soul Sea anymore—or rather, he didn't even have one anymore. And yet Serpent existed.
Was it bound to his old one? He did know he could ask Serpent to do that because he tested it himself, but it was a question of how?
'Now is not the time to think about this.'
It was time for Night Action, '...it's day time right now!'
Axolotl, Bull, Camel, and Donkey surrounded a young boy laying on the ground with the only sign of him being alive being the shallow raspy breath.
"Would the boy survive this?" A girl with fair skin, and black hair reaching till her shoulder asked while looking at Jack.
"Yes, he will. Our lord confirmed it himself, after all, so you need not worry, Camel." A heavy voice comforted her worries. It was a man with dark skin, his code name? Bull.
"What do we even know about him? All we know is that he supports someone who was a Divine being once upon a time... She wasn't even a god!" Donkey, a man with an olive brown skin retorted with a snap... Yes, he even snapped his fingers.
"Oh, just shut up Donkey. Your concerns, as valid as they are, are not our problem." Camel sighed, "ugh, I just want to laze around after this job. I feel bad for this guy to be treated like this, but it isn't like it's one of our concerns."
"I need to get back in water..." Feeling suffocated by her surroundings, Axolotl let out a hoarse sigh.
"Axo, shut up and stop whining. You agreed to come here. Anyways, who the hell is the god we're following?" Camel asked, "All we know is that she's some sort of an oracle! She's long dead, damn it!"
"Ah-ah ah! no, that's where you all are wrong." A man clapped his hands, all the heads snapped towards him, "Our God is alive and well... She is the only Divine being of our time! Hell, she is the first in all the seven realms after the war among the gods."
Seeing the others raise their eyebrows, he continued, "Surprised? Yes, she is alive! And she even passed me a bit of her lineage, you know? Like the ones in the great clans. Yep, if you didn't know now you do! That's what makes them stand out! Ah... I truly am blessed."
"Can you shut up and get to the point already? And, before you ask, you were at the part about divine lineages." Donkey snapped, again. Both, with his tone and his fingers. Their boss was just like that, loving to listen to his own voice.
"Oh right, she directly gives me commands and promised to teach me how to Ascend naturally, without the spell! That's knowledge lost to times... And realms! Do you know how great that is?"
That man was Ascended GiveMeYourMoney. Yep, he literally said GiveMeYourMoney everytime and was somehow the richest here, and their boss.
Their boss let out a loud yawn while stretching their hands, "I think I'll take a nap," then turned around and left.
This was the moment their downfall started, and the first was Donkey.
"Ugh, fuck, my head is heavy. Is this because of the damn ritual?"
"Do you need healing?" This was Axolotl, their healer, "you are the one carrying the weight of the ritual, are you sure?"
He would probably be fine, but if he died, everyone else would follow.
Then, Axolotl felt goosebumps on her skin.
Her eyes dropped.
"A-are you fi-fine? Donkey?" She asked as he dropped on his legs, with hands on his chest. All around her she could hear others gasping for air. Their heart trying to jump out of their rib cage.
Their eyes wide. On her left, Camel was crawling away.
In front of her, Bull started running like a bull seeing only red, rushing against the walls, smashing his head over and over before dying.
Right when that happened, Camel let out a roar venting all his frustration and converting it to anger. Next came the tears as he wept, "I DON'T WANNA DIE I DON'T WANNA DIE I DON'T WANNA DIE I—"
Calm.
That was what his face turned into. It was calm. The eerie calm.
How could a man going through all those emotions look like th—
'Is he dead?'
Just then, Donkey died. She knew those symptoms—for both of them—it was a seizure. Their plans failed. Utterly. Completely.
Her thoughts started to fade, the world turning sideways beneath her.
'What was our plan? And wasn't someone lying there, right between them?'
Those were the last thoughts she had before her eyes started to blink rapidly.
Her last thoughts as her face contorted.
Her last thoughts as her body quivered.
And her last thoughts before her hand clutched her chest, making her rip her own heart out.
Just like that, all four of them died.
Near the entrance of the warehouse, a young child with black hair and eyes as dark as an onyx peeked from the door looking around warily, waiting for everything to end. He witnessed the slaughter that took place, which was, of course, orchestrated by him.
Such was the skill of The Terror of LO49—The Sybil of the Fallen Grace—who used mind hexes. That was, after all, what it did to the people in LO49—leading them to jump into the sea without anyone even noticing. Fully removing them from the perception of the others.
Sunny rushed towards Jack with wide eyes, he managed to kill the people surrounding Jack but was he even alive? What did the strange ritual do? Why him?
All those questions remained unanswered but what could he even do? All he could do right now was make sure that Jack was alive and preferably safe, rest could only be done by the Government Awakened since it was technically their duty.
If push came to shove he had nepotism as an option!
... Or that was what he told himself anyways.
Just as he was about to reach the poor boy...
He froze.
Suddenly his body was drenched in sweat. His heartbeat raced. His eyes widened.
Then his pupils dilated.
Then widened.
A beautiful childish smile appeared on his face.
Then came the tears as he wept for his friend, "JACK! I—I AM—I AM SORRY."
He clawed his chest.
His eyes widened, his jaw dropped, clearly surprised at how his body moved...
Throughout the whole process he felt something leaving his mind...
The cycle repeated itself.
It repeated again.
It repeated four more times.
Finally, it stopped. Right after the seventh one. Everything calmed down in a methodological way. Just enough for him to not have a stroke. Just enough for him to survive.
'Serpent?'
Was Serpent... Helping him calm down?
"J—Jack?"
Was he safe? Was he alright? Was he... Even alive?
Sunny could shrug off the emotions quickly because of his experience as an Ascended, but could Jack? He looked at the cold surface where Jack was lying, the air stilled, drowning all the noise from the city. A sour smell entered his nostrils drowning the metallic scent of blood.
That was when the silence broke. A piercing sound echoed across the warehouse with its source lying right at the middle of it all.
"SERPENT, HELP HIM CALM DOWN!" Sunny screamed, then in a low voice he whispered, "Save him... Please"
Sunny realised what was happening all too well, everything around him was a result of a lineage being absorbed, and this one used the emotions manipulated using Serpent's [Formless] ability.
The ritual absorbed the emotions everyone felt, which used the emotions Serpent gave them. It was almost as if the persons starting the ritual knew...
Sunny paced around, biting his nails, and throwing out curses.
'Why does the ritual have to take so damn long!'
He sighed, a shaky breath escaping his lips. He stared at the ritual circle, knee bouncing. Time stretched thin, the ritual circle shimmered with prismatic light.
He chewed on his nails as he watched the sorcery unfold.
A depressive azure slammed into a wrathful carmine, and flickers of lilac danced between them, woven like candle flames. Soon, they washed away like tides, leaving the thin string of violet where the colours married. Then the purple slammed into gold and a manic charge flickered amidst the tides once more.
The colours slammed, like churning currents pulling against each other. They blended and segregated, over and over, converging towards one shade. As the green started taking over, laughter erupted from places unknown.
As the depressive azure started to take over yet again, a thought started taking over.
A thought that had no place in this situation but he did just kill for the first time in this life. For the first time in seven years.
He hated the idea of killing ever since he got a touch of family and happiness again but it had to be done eventually, this was just earlier than planned.
Then, black as dark as an abyss started taking over.
He gritted his teeth and stopped. Just pacing around wouldn't accomplish anything but, 'What can I even do?'
He already had Serpent reduce the pain Jack was feeling from outside, his screams were dying out little by little, and the jerking of his body grew less frequent. The signs were of a seizure but not in this case, he hoped.
Suddenly, the excessive black in his mind was pulled over from inside his mind—by Serpent—but...
He still felt like a worried member of a family standing outside an ICU room waiting to hear the results. The light kept changing rapidly, and time continued passing.
Just then, he heard a shallow groan echo in the empty warehouse, and a twitch in his mind indicating the ritual was done. Whoever orchestrated this knew about Serpent or the success was just a fluke, which felt unlikely.
The deaths of the four people here were because of Serpent, but then what happened after was fully the ritual. Was it a coincidence that Serpent was taken into account too?
A twitch, once again, pulled him out of his thoughts. Serpent.
He was telling him to look at Jack again, and that his Awakened Professors were nearing the place. Since serpent couldn't exactly communicate with him the twitches were just pre-established signals.
At the center of the warehouse, Jack once again tried standing up as Sunny rushed towards him.
Ascended GiveMeYourMoney let out a cavernous yawn, his jaw unhinging until his eyes brimmed with moisture, "ugh, I'm tired, ah a nap sounds wonderful."
He could almost imagine the sweet comfort of his bed swallowing him while lulling him to a blissful sleep. Despite him having to deal with the ritual it should be fine, their Divine seer said it would work out the way she wanted it to, and anyways who would notice a nobody's absence, and even if they did the boy was protected by four Awakened with each of them being strong in their own ways.
Tring!
Ah, that was the sweet sound of his bed calli—
"Are you sure about that?" Cold wind carried the sound of a whisper, shimmering like a sacred song.
Money snapped out of his thoughts, with him immediately turning towards the source of the sound, and there...
There was absolutely nothing?
"Who is that?"
Silver sparks took form surrounding him and stretching from his right hand. Right as the sparks fully manifested, a dark and cold steel-like object manifested. His sword—an odachi—was all black just like his armor.
"Wow, so you fail to recognise your own god?"
Right as those words left the mouth of his goddess, a crippling pressure weighed down on him—making him kneel against the rock hard surface—as he felt something metallic on his tongue.
"I—I apologise, my lady, please can you find it in your divine grace to forgive me!"
"Mmm, fine I won't torture you, but I wish to ask something of you..."
A pause followed those words, each moment of it more agonising than the one before, "would you like to die for a great cause?"
The goddess appeared in front of him as she pulled his chin up to make him look at her... And yet he couldn't make sense of what he saw except for her blonde hair. It was beautiful. It was divine. It was pure.
"I—"
Was he truly capable of dying for her? To be killed by her? He wasn't stupid enough to realise that she wanted to kill him because he had the same lineage as her. So was he really going to let her kill him?
"Absolutely, my queen!"
Those were the last words he heard as a hand pierced through his chest, grabbing his heart and pulling it out.
After absorbing the lineage, the goddess turned to look at the sky and where the sun was, "I still have time?"
The moon was as far away as it could be and the call of Nightmare from the moon wasn't at its strongest, but still the rejection from the War Realm was strong so she
had to be quick, "That's perfect, I suppose I should meet a certain friend and confirm whether or not my suspicions were true."
But that was all she could do for the rejection was just as maddening as the call.
Steve noticed a strand of blonde hair as he ran across the area towards the teachers, and that was the moment he knew...
He knew that it was finally time.
Quickly informing the professors about where Sunny and Jack were, he immediately left to find the sign. He had to follow the hair. This was the moment he would find her.
Right.
Left.
Right. Right. Right. Left.
There.
There she was, or rather her hair. He ran towards it, chasing after the woman. A petite woman with fair delicate skin and an excruciating presence that would kill him instantly if it wasn't suppressed. Of course, that didn't mean he had no way of knowing it. The girl was a Spirit.
She moved like a ghost, from one place to another until they reached an open, clear area.
There, on her delicate and fragile looking hand, was a four clover leaf. Of course, they were anything but and could kill anyone alive right now with just a flick.
"I, Steve, greet Lady So—"
Somewhere else, Jack leaned up to look at Sunny closely, and that was the moment Sunny noticed the four clover leaf on his hand, being imprinted...
And the professors started to surround the two, being late to the rescue.
Author's Note: this chapter took 4 months (and 4k words) and a lot of sittings wth
Anyways this chap was one hell of a ride with me writing scenes depending on my mood or how clear I was about how I wanted the scene to go. Like first I started with the start, next I gave up halfway through and wrote the last, then the middle (giving up halfway through bc my brain wasnt braining a part and wrote the money scene) etc etc and put together it came like this.
I got an exam in a few hours so uh please wish me luck :D
Next chapter, if you're curious is Nephis pov