Chapter 24: Ascension (Part 2)

Nanashi felt, for the first time in his life, like he might actually understand and even sympathize with what olden heroes of days long past had experienced and suffered as they fought against the very nature of the world itself, against despots, tyrants, lovers, comrades or even against themselves.

The homunculus would even go so far as to say he had a sense of kinship with them, of the battle against a seemingly inevitable fate that would have left countless others battered, bruised and inevitably broken.

For he was in the midst of a quest for his very life in a failing body that could barely be called as much, more a papery and ill container for his soul than it was any effective construct of flesh and bone.

Tumors had grown and formed fast enough that there was little point in draining or removing them, one orb of cancerous material on his back in particular weighing him down. Eyesight, taste, hearing, smell...all of it had faded and waned, only his sense of touch remaining somewhat intact and feeling oddly sensitive to pressure and other stimulus.

He essentially lived within the world of his Mystic Eyes, lines of interconnected meaning his only reality as his failing form was pushed to the limits by a constant application of reinforcement, lungs and heart so weak that without the enhancements he would have collapsed long ago.

...The homunculus likened the experience to some kind of enlightenment trial, the final tests some crazy ass monks and other esoteric types would put themselves through in the hopes of discovering something about themselves that could never be found through conventional means.

The seconds (or was it days?) blended together in the throes of a constant fever, marked only by the occasional word or request for clarification from his allies and friends, Manaka, Merlin and occasionally Abigail flitting in and out of his awareness as he tried to convey concepts and connectivity that only he could see...although separating fantasy from reality was often a chore, the youth not always able to tell what it was his Mystic Eyes saw and what his overheated brain imagined.

Unicorn and Yuki-onna blood. Not related either by legend or function, completely different mysteries that nonetheless trace back to it all through a winding and circuitous trail of genesis...the blood of Wynstar was shed in both revenge and desire to avenge a loved one, healing tainted by murder, a cold opposition of intent and action-

-that's the connection, cold. Coldness and frozen malice, connect the threads, bridge the gap between meaning and function.

Nanashi wryly mused - in his rare moments of half lucidity - that it was probably for the best he was delirious and mostly dying during the whole ordeal, else he wouldn't have had the slightest clue how to describe the absurdity and unnaturalness that was his slowly coalescing body, magnificent and unlike anything he had ever seen as material after material was welded together by the deft and experienced hands of his friends and allies.

Griffon eyes. That's easy to resize for a human, after all we're both predators. Our eyes face forward, it's why people get along so well with dogs and other hunters. Griffon is being of magic, so was he, they held a common thread, weave that into the roots of the Fae nervous system as they also have predator eyes.

This was his final test, his last labor before he could inhabit the perfection that gradually neared completion.

A body that he could truly call his own, not comprised of failing flesh and organs, brittle bones and flaccid muscle. A working piece of art that could experience the world around it not through muted lenses but the senses of a god, who's chemical balance would allow him to finally love the girls in his life who had given him a reason to keep going like they had always wanted…

Nanashi had only to march through one final Hell and Heaven was his for the taking, a Heaven where he could walk side-by-side with the souls that provided context and meaning to his unnatural life.

Manaka, Abigail, Merlin, Fou, Tiamat, Haruki, Ayaka...and even those that had expressed faith in his ability to persevere, who had offered him the chance to prove himself.

Viviane, Mortin, Tomoka, Wynstar...beings of myth and ancient age, who had entrusted him with gifts most magi could only dream of.

Eventually Manaka and Abigail ceased their aid, only he and Merlin laboring seemingly without pause to finish the last few steps of the new mould before them, the final pieces of anatomy that would stand strong and proud being grafted and sculpted by masterful hands-

-and then he woke up.

"Nanashi...Nanashi, drink this."

Feeling his head tilted back by soft but powerful hands and some kind of mug brought to his dry and cracked lips the homunculus felt the all-consuming thirst that traveled with him these days momentarily vanish as a trickle of soothing liquid wet a sandpaper throat.

Not too much, past experience had shown anything more than that was enough to leave him coughing and choking.

Barely able to incline his head in thanks the youth remained silent as a small pan was slid beneath the chair he had collapsed in, urine leaking out without any ability to control it as he suffered through the quiet indignity without comment.

...The first time he had shit himself without warning had been a bit of a humbling trendsetter, his own bowels no longer under his control.

The pan was tucked away to no doubt be cleaned at a later time, the homunculus's eyesight so deteriorated that he couldn't even make out the man's expression as he crouched before him.

"Have you discovered more about the nature of your eyes, of what resides alongside it? You have been using them ceaselessly this past month."

The younger male blinked, slowly processing that.

A month? He wasn't sure if it had felt like a fraction of the time or an eternity longer.

"I...I don't know. It feels like...like I'm on the verge of something but I don't know what."

The blurred sight that was Merlin merely nodded, Nanashi vaguely recalling an agreement he and Manaka had made, that he could inhabit his new form only when he was able to tell her of what he exactly was, of what he could do.

That deal had been struck long ago, when they were still getting to know each other beyond surface level fascination and he sincerely doubted the girl would allow him to die at this point...but it still left him with a strangely hollow and regretful feeling, that what had been such an integral and seemingly important pact between them was to be left unfulfilled.

"I see...well, perhaps now is the best time for you to return to your fellows, I need only another day to ensure your body is in working order and you may make the transfer into it."

The homunculus blinked, a warm chuckle leaving the Magus of Flowers as he added, "That's right, Nanashi. You made it."

The youth sat in a stupor for what felt like hours, clogged ears hearing the words but barely able to comprehend or understand them...and what felt like the weight of the world was lifted from his shoulders, an unstoppable grin splitting his battered lips and letting worn down shoulders straighten themselves.

Something Merlin noticed, chuckling as he gave the younger man's arm a careful squeeze.

"Rest for now with your companions, they will ensure you do not abruptly fall dead at an inopportune moment when you are so close to the proverbial finish line."

Nodding at that the homunculus weakly stated, "Merlin...thanks. For everything."

The magus chuckled, replying, "Ahh, to be thanked so profusely by such a wonderful child. Truly, there is no more generous and brilliant a gift!"

Weakly shaking his head the youth staggered to his feet alongside a healthy amount of assistance by the magus, Nanashi preparing the mystic code necklace Manaka had provided to him, a simple but powerful tool that would transport him to a specified area of her house that was loaded down with bounded fields aplenty.

"Remember, twenty-four hours and no less."

"Right...I'll be there."

Another weak but resolute grin pulled at Nanashi's lips.

"Can't miss my own birthday."

"And what about this, is that perhaps too warm?"

"Sister, I think it would make more sense to have the rag be cool rather than warm, poor Nanashi has run a fever for such a long time that-"

"Nonsense, heat aids the metabolic process in killing foreign pathogens, warm is self-evidently the manner most effective in-"

Inwardly sighing at Manaka and Ayaka's obsessively motherly actions towards him Nanashi let his dull and failing eyes wander to where the outline of Abigail and Haruki were watching the proceedings with obvious amusement.

Yes, he was dying. Yes, his body was so far gone that he couldn't even have a voluntary bowel movement. Yes, he was so ridden with cancer and failing organs that it was a miracle he was alive even with reinforcement. Yes, he'd long since abandoned any and all dignity once held in the face of his helplessness…

But being swaddled like a caterpillar in countless blankets, fussed over by the Sajyou siblings and otherwise treated like fine china combined with a parapalegic puppy was a bit much, even if it was just to ensure his final hours were as safe and threat-free as possible.

Haruki made a show of glancing at his wrist and the watch attached, remarking, "Your time of playing nurse is at a close, you two. There's only ten minutes to go until Nanashi's scheduled appointment, we had best be preparing for it."

Abigail giggled, remarking, "I think he looks rather cute like this, but I guess all good things come to an end…"

Giving what he thought was Abigail's direction a tired look the blonde chuckled once more, Ayaka curiously asking, "Do you have something in mind for when you get your new body, Nanashi? Anything you want to do in particular?"

His mind instantly flashed back to Manaka kneeling before him, of something wet and warm engulfing his groin...and he promptly kicked that response aside, instead rasping, "Food. And drink. Being able to eat normally would be great."

Manaka released a haughty sniff, grumbling, "Of all the various things one could wish for when gifted the body of a god…"

The group nonetheless stood, Ayaka and Haruki also being granted permission to visit Merlin's residence with the appropriate protections this one time and one time only, something the pair had understandably been looking forward to.

Abigail gently unwound him from the honestly rather excessive bundle he'd been bundled into, carefully raising him to his feet as Manaka announced, "Very well, then if all is in order let us be off."

He heard the familiar sound of the girl opening a rift to the Reverse, a sense of contentment and relief flooding the youth as his long journey was finally coming to an end-

"Wait...no, not now! Manaka, don't-"

A note of such panic and anxiety that he'd never heard before escaped Abigail's lips, the homunculus feeling a strange rush of energy emanate from the girl as her body shifted into its 'priestess' state...and the world vanished around him.

Thwarted and directionless anger was something Nanashi had always been fairly well acquainted with, a stark and ruthless reality of being a strange, cobbled together facsimile of a human being. Whether it had been his old school peers mocking his weakness and strangeness, comparing himself to monsters and geniuses such as Manaka and Merlin, having to rely on the kindness of Ayaka, Haruki or Abigail he'd always been familiar with a deep-seated, impotent kind of frustration with his lot in life. Sure, there had been things going for him but when so much of his future relied on the goodwill and assistance of both others and cosmic whim it was unavoidable that he feel an intrinsic and constant fury at his relative powerlessness.

…

What he felt now made years of impotence and helplessness seem like a tiny brushfire in comparison, when held up to the inferno of his blazing hatred.

"WHY NOW? WHEN I WAS SO FUCKING CLOSE!?"

Even through his hazy and damaged vision Nanashi recognized the chaotic hellscape that was the realm Abigail interacted with Sut-Typhon, aforementioned girl crouched over his sprawled and crippled body as she dug her key into the 'floor' before her like some kind of mythical sword in the stone, tiny form trembling with strain as countless tentacles and a blazing eye of eldritch cruelty strove to rip him to pieces, held at bay only by his friend's will.

A slow pan revealed Manaka, Ayaka and Haruki ensconced in some kind of rune barrier, the magus no doubt straining herself to the limit to keep them alive and safe, else she would have already come to their aid...it was just him and Abigail on their own.

Or maybe it would be more accurate to say it was Abigail on her own, like he would be of any help.

"Nanashi, are you still alright?"

The blonde's voice was tight with strain, the homunculus having trouble sucking down enough oxygen to respond with words so he weakly raised an arm, setting it on her knee...where he felt warm drops of sweat rain down upon it, such was the trial she was undergoing to save his life.

"I'm sorry, Nanashi...I should have known it would do this, it would never let you go unharmed after you hurt it, it was...only biding its time."

Feeling a swell of bitterness at the patience of the Outer God - to deny him his paradise when it was so fucking close - Nanashi could only flex his fingers to provide the slightest amounts of pressure to Abigail's knee, trying to reassure her that he didn't blame her, only himself and the creature she was contracted to.

And she answered, a note of triumph entering her tight and barely controlled voice.

"But I have a way to save you, Nanashi...even if you might hate me for it."

Terror and anxiety suddenly raced through his system, the homunculus desperately trying to force his worthless and failing body to form words, to stop being useless and fucking worthless for just a single goddamn sentance-

"I am Sut-Typhon's anchor and eyes into this reality...and were I to vanish so would its influence over your world and this current reality."

A thin, deceptively strong arm raised the midnight key aloft, placing its tip against her slim chest, Nanashi not needing his eyes to know that she was smiling. The scream of the Outer God itself was clue enough, a voltaic screech of galaxies scraping against each other and thousands of stars going nova, the hellscape they were in flaring bright with released energy as the tentacles writhed with hurricane force yet never managing to come closer than a few arm's length.

"If that reaction is anything to go by, such an act would be quite effective indeed-"

"No! Don't...don't waste your life...on me...dead anyway…"

His frail and failing lungs finally collapsed, the proverbial last gasp only causing Abigail's blurry and indistinct face to turn his way as he wished more than anything he could gaze upon her features one last time.

"I couldn't imagine a more beautiful use for my long, immortal and cursed life, to allow a friend to live a full one of their own."

Before the homunculus could think of a way to protest further he saw Abigail's face dip low-

-and soft lips seized his own, his brain halting in its thought process as a moment later the blonde pulled back, voice soft as she caringly said, "Well...perhaps more than a friend, as short as it was."

All Nanashi could do was watch as the girl stood tall, his hand limply falling aside her foot as her body wavered with some kind of released energy, skin turning a shade of blinding pale, voice now carrying an odd echo to it as she victoriously crowed, "Our long and spiteful relationship draws to a close today, Outer God! I am your unwilling slave and partner no longer!"

The key was held aloft as a Sut-Typhon raged and howled in thwarted anger, the boy feeling a surge of directionless, helpless rage at the unfairness of the situation that someone as sweet as Abigail was sacrificing her life and happiness for his rotten and worthless existence, wishing only that he could scream at her to not do this-

[And how far would you be willing to go, to save your companion's life?]

Nanashi blinked, startled at the shift in scenery as this time everything was a calm swirl of blackness, clouds of drifting blue providing a shifting backdrop while some kind of lazily swirling vortex of energy resided further back...guarded by a single, solitary figure adorned in crimson and concealing robes, featureless 'face' staring his way.

In any other circumstance he would have marveled at the fact that his hearing, sight and other senses were back to more or less normal...this situation was anything but normal.

"The hell is this? What happened to-"

[Be at ease...this space operates within a different reality than the one your body and soul currently occupy. Time will not pass until your perception returns to it.]

Feeling his hands curl into hapless fists the youth tightly replied, "Great. That doesn't answer any of my previous questions. What the fuck is this place and who are you?"

[Hmm...you did your work well, Nanashi, for you to be unable to remember the path and guardian you once interacted with…]

Feeling an odd sense of unease at those words the crimson-eyed male more slowly asked, "You're saying I've been...here before? I think I would recognize someone as ridiculous looking as you."

A disembodied chuckle reached the boy's ears.

[Not if you ensured that your memories of such an event were well and truly erased from existence. The only reason we remember is because we know of the missing records, access them on a constant basis.]

The robed figure side-stepped slightly, exposing Nanashi's gaze to the spiral of primordial reality-

-and froze, narrowing his eyes before calmly remarking, "The Akashic Records, right?"

[Indeed. And we have kept a close watch on you these past years.]

"Why? What the fuck is so special about me? Does it have anything to do with that memory erasing crap you mentioned earlier?"

[Everything, actually.]

Nanashi opened his mouth to ask what the hell any of this was...and instead grit his teeth, glaring at the robed figure and center of reality with endless frustration.

"Get to the fucking point, why am I here? None of this bullshit concerns me right now, Abigail...she's not going to die, she can't die...not for my sake."

This time the figure laughed, echoing mirth repeating endlessly amongst the void-like space they stood upon.

[To see the fondest desire of so many, only to spit upon it and wish to help another instead…]

All traces of levity abruptly left the being's words.

[If only you were not the antithesis to the First, not possessing Mystic Eyes of quite possibly the worst synergy for the powers you wield.]

"...My eyes? And what strange power, is it what Manaka kept sensing was off about me?"

The robed figure was silent for a time, eventually replying, [Let us strike a deal here and now, for the sake of reality as you know it. We shall tell you of your heritage - the pieces that you didn't remove from the common history of existence - and in exchange you shall return to this plane when we desire it, to determine the worthiness of your possessed powers.]

Feeling questions burn within his chest Nanashi was only able to hold back his inquiry due to his worry about Abigail, tersely responding, "Fine, deal. Just tell me a way to save her, I could care less if I die in the process."

Another reverberating chuckle.

[Very well, this accord has been struck...now listen well, for the Counter Force is not in the habit of lightly arming its potential enemies.]

Time resumed, Nanashi summoning the vestiges of his strength to grab onto Abigail's arm, shredding the papery and frayed muscle within the limb as he hauled himself to his feet and briefly unbalanced the girl, halting her self-sacrifice for just a few crucial seconds.

It sure as hell halted Sut-Typhon, the Outer God freezing in its frenzy as the limp, half-dead form of the scraggly youth stared up at it with cloudy and essentially sightless eyes...bloody smile straining a skull-like countenance to the limit.

"You...should have never hurt her, fucker."

One last desperate roar, the entire weight of uncountable stars attempting to crush him to dust...and it didn't matter, Nanashi calmy activating his Mystic Eyes for what might be the last time of his short life.

The world exploded into clarity, lines and pathways of meaning and importance manifesting with familiar starbursts of light...and he could only inwardly laugh at himself.

He had always assumed he was seeing the mystic 'weight' of something with his examination. He wasn't wrong, but he'd only been scraping the surface of what his vision was capable of.

After all, his eyes could track the pathways of existence all the way back to the Root itself.

An effortless application of will isolated Abigail from Sut-Typhon, ensuring her soul and mind would be left untouched by what he was about to do-

"NOLI ESSE!"

-and reality unmade itself to swiftly vanishing shreds at his command.

"...ashi! Nanashi!"

Blinking did nothing to do away with the blackness now dominating Nanashi's vision, the homunculus wryly noting that his latest stunt seemed to have been the final straw for his eyes.

"...to Tiamat-"

"-ave no choice?!"

"Nanashi, please!"
The various words of his companions and what sounded like Merlin came from a world away, Nanashi grinning one last time as he summoned the final dregs of his strength, flopping his arm in what he thought was Manaka's direction, soft hair tickling his face as what he was fairly confident was her voice sounded close to his ear.

There was just one last thing to tell her with the last breath he could summon.

"Manaka...our agreement...I know...what I am…"

A finger landed limply on his face, pointing to his open but blind eyes.

"The Mystic Eyes of Consanguinity...the Mystic Eyes belonging to the Fourth Magician, Nanashi."

He fell limp, the last moments of this life as his senses shut down ones of quiet triumph, melancholy and desperate hope.

He'd done all he could do, finally gone up against an enemy and destroyed it in its entirety all on his own...now it was up to his beloved companions to save his life.