Chapter 73: Return to the Fields
Perspective: Astro
We sit on a pillbox overlooking the Shelter's entrance, watching the columns of Mencur-Besh marching by. Myself, dangling my legs off the edge and kicking back and forth. Tyron sits to my right and slightly further up, bowlegged, and relaxed. Kir is propped against his knee, as though lounging in the sun itself. Steve and Jennifer are also there, arms around each other and watching the procession. A light breeze drifts by, and the sun tenderly roasts us from above. It's a nice little island of relaxation in the midst of all this.
Unfortunately, I'm not able to completely forget my cares. There are guards around us - a mixture of Shelter troops and Mencur-Besh (mostly green-eyed, but one blue-eyed one, I believe that means they're earth, and water attuned respectively). The Mencur-Besh are still and stoic, and when they speak to one another, it is in the headache-inducing demonic tongue, which no matter how hard I listen to I cannot pick a word out of. But they have taken up all the right positions and assure us they have the situation under control. In comparison, our lot don't seem to know what to do with themselves, and two have started carving a game of tic-tac-toe into the side of one of the few remaining trees on the ridge. Their presence is a reminder of the war to come - a war we still don't have enough fighters to win.
And, of course, Kay stands some way off, flanked by two guards, contemplating his shackles.
I track the far-off shapes of Fire and Shadow through the crowd, but without magic I wouldn't have been able to manage it. Their normally distinctive colour scheme of jet black and stark white is no longer nearly as distinctive. They stop to talk to someone I reckon must be Lucy. Whether I'm right or not, they dart back inside. Fire then gets up to the podium and starts surveying the mass of black scales.
"Lady Justice… Y'know, because he has scales," remembers Kir in our minds.
I sigh and try to push away the suspicion that we're disrespecting Destiny's memory by having a moment of respite.
"Well, I guess the scales really are tipped in our favour this time," chuckles Steve.
He says it to no one in particular, but he squeezes Jennifer a little closer. She snorts and shakes her head.
Tyron smiles and hangs his head.
"I still think puns are stupid."
I catch Kay looking over his shoulder before quickly returning his attention to the horizon. I wonder if Kir said to him as well.
I redirect my attention to Fire and the Mencur-Besh ranks, and something immediately seems off. Before, there was a certain chaotic oscillation that can be expected from a crowd of living beings, now that movement is gone. The Mencur-Besh stand perfectly still, as if anticipating something, even the guards close to us seem to stop.
I try to catch Tyron's eye, but he appears to have drifted off. I roll my eyes and exchange a glance with Jennifer. She's noticed it too. We hop down from the pillbox and approach the blue-eyed Mencur-Besh. I try to remember the name Fire called her by.
"Stream?" I test. I look at Jennifer and she seems to agree I've gotten it right. "Stream, is everything alright?"
Her body stands statuesque, but her eyes remain lively. They stare intently at something right before her that I cannot see. A multitude of emotions flicker across them - emotions that had previously been absent. Bliss, joy, anger, despair, confusion all take their fleeting turns. Then, suddenly her face returns, not quite to neutrality but to a certain clarity. The Mencur-Besh begin moving again, slowly.
I crane my head to get into her field of vision. Finally, her eyes begin to follow me.
"Stream, good to have you back," says Jennifer. "Are you feeling okay?"
Stream replies: "I… we… the collective just linked up in its entirety. Normally we can only directly link a dozen Mencur-Besh together, never more than that."
"Oh, is… is that good or bad?" I ask, feeling my jaw clench.
"It shouldn't be anything for you to worry about, in fact it might even be useful once we decide what to do with this new potential. This world, Nexus, certainly holds uncharted possibilities."
"I mean, is it a good thing for your abilities," I press. "Will it make you fight better, or could it be a problem?"
Kay is now looking at us directly. Jennifer glares at him and he averts his gaze.
Stream explains: "During battles we share strategic information over our network, but there is always a delay and a limit on how much can be shared. Now with this, we might be able to act as one mind with many bodies. Our existence as one has also briefly afforded us the luxury of emotions. According to what Fire shared with us, Freak is worthy of our hatred."
I nod in satisfaction and look to Jennifer. She seems happy with this too. Kay seems to be walking up with more questions, and from the way he's looking at me I can tell they're not for Stream.
"Thanks for filling us in Stream, that's good news. Was just a little confused there."
I bow out and walk back toward the pillbox. Tyron is still asleep. Steve, however, is now crouched in the centre of the roof. He is talking to Fire, who now looks very pleased with himself and is discoursing openly about the possibilities the linkup opens up. Shadow stands a ways off, smiling with similar confidence.
I walk up to them. I hear Kay's footfalls behind me. Fire speaks with uncharacteristic enthusiasm:
"...it's possible that if they link up for longer, the collective might form a full personality of its own, it's what the experiment that created the Mencur-Besh was originally trying to achieve, an artificial mind."
Whatever-academic-left-in-me's ears prick up several miles. That sounds fascinating, and a bunch of sincere questions begin flooding into my mind. What if this project succeeded? Would Fire let me look at the notes? Could this success be replicated in my own world?
After all, before the Golden Revolution the Testificates had successfully created artificial life in the form of their golems, only they'd lost the knowledge of how when the Divines cursed them, and the remaining golems had been hunted down and destroyed. Beings with full autonomy and even some sense of individual identity, completely stomped out. And this wasn't idle mythologisation either - Ray and Fedwin managed to get one of them back online to fight for Overlord and until Aaron finally killed it. I've always wished they'd found a way to take Antioch alive, finding a way to communicate with them would have been fascinating. Did it remember the world before the Golden Revolution? What did it think of the world as it was? Did it consider itself alive? All wonderful, scintillating questions that very successfully keep me from thinking about-
"Fire, I hate to say this while you're in a good mood, but I'm ready."
Kay stands beside me, back straight and eyes closed. With his chin raised, and his aspect as despondent as it is, he looks as though he's presenting himself for a shave with a murderously clumsy barber.
"Ready for what?" I ask. I look at Fire and repeat: "Ready for what?"
Fire says: "While we talked in the manor, Kay thought that we should give asking your people for support a shot. The Tower's mercenary armies outnumber ours by a great margin, even with the Mencur-Besh. We need any reinforcements we can get."
I feel my stomach twist. Of all the decisions The King in Ash made, the decision not to show up to the True Court and demand their fealty was quite possibly the only good one. Granted, that was almost certainly because of Kay's vanity convincing him he didn't want or need their help. But this would be ugly. For both of us. For the first time since he tried to murder that child, I almost feel sorry for Kay. Mostly I feel bad for myself, and all our friends he hurt who are now going to see him again. I nod silently. We head back to the Shelter.
What follows is a blur. We are in the armoury. Rose gives a demon specifications for a new knife she wants. She barely acknowledges us, but Kay shoots a furtive glare in her direction. Voidblade momentarily warps in to carry a message. The nearest portal will come out in the Fields of Acrisius. It will still be Winter. After what Zerg did I wonder if it will ever stop being Winter out there. I put on furs and robes. I try to modulate my concerns. The Silhouette likely holds the portal - it's near where I was kidnapped.
"Is he a threat?" Fire asks.
I try to think about what he has. He wouldn't accept a Tower garrison, I know that much, so it will be in-house. The usual coterie of thugs. Glibby is here, but who else is on his payroll that he'd trust with this? I killed Hamish. The Family are mostly dead or captured. Muffin was on the loose. I try to recall if they ever caught Huskers. Would Mathias have gone into his service after escaping? Truly, I don't know the extent of his network.
Kay sits on a nearby bench, head bowed. The light hits him so that his right eye is all darkness. I remember the eye Tauto took from him. The wound I could have stopped if I'd been there to protect him. The wound Kay brought upon himself by waging a guerilla campaign and not going into hiding. The wound that tormented him. The wound he wore like a badge of honour.
"Maybe," I say.
Fire nods and picks out his diamond halberd.
Stocking up. Potions. Lucy asking if I'm alright. Me jabbering out about how great I am. Health, strength, speed, so many. I check my rings again and again. They are full. I am strong. I will fight and kill and kill and kill. I check again.
The portal looms. Shadow nods at me. Steve and Jennifer wish us luck. Tyron operates the console. I catch a glimpse of Warnado for the first time since the prison, we lock eyes and there is solidarity at last. We have both survived him. He is muttering prayers. He has his red scarf-hood raised, his mouth covered. I follow suit with my navy-blue robe and furs. Fire stands between us, clad for war. It's just the three of us. I pray this is wise.
Tyron presses buttons and the portal flashes to life. I feel a wind whipping my face. Maybe from the portal, maybe from what waits on the other side. I remember the snow-covered corpses, seemingly innumerable. Many faces I recognised, still more I'd never seen. I remember their weight upon my back as I carried them to the cart.
I draw my sword. Kay follows suit. Fire raises his halberd. We rush through.
We emerge in the entrance to some sort of old mine. Carts are scattered around the place. Old, frozen tracks lead down tunnels. And wind and light howl in through a half-broken gate. It must be daytime outside, but it is still too dark to make out much. I want to summon a light, but then I hear Fire and Kay pull the corks from night vision potions and I reach for my own. An arrow shatters the glass.
I see light begin to glow from between Fire's scales and I summon an orb of light. There are corpses all around. Blue cloaks and quartz masks lie scattered across the floor. Blood mingles with black ice. In this state of desolation, I struggle to believe that anyone could be living, and yet they come, armed, hooded, and roaring. Kay roars back, Fire assumes a fighting stance.
I throw a fireball at the ground, and they leap back long enough for me to get a good look at them. An archer with a blue breastplate, the flash of a red beard just about visible. One of them, apparently the leader, steps forward and draws a gigantic greatsword, inlaid with faded gold and cracked lapis gems.
"WAIT!" I yell as Fire prepares to intercept them.
The Mencur-Besh does so, with some hesitancy. The archer cocks his head as I walk forward. Our assailants hold the line, but they don't attack.
"What is your business with us?" I ask in a low voice.
The leader speaks up.
"If you are loyal to the Silhouette, we're here to take our friend back."
His voice is as familiar as it is deadpan.
I can't help but grin. I remove the covering from my mouth and pull my hood back.
"What if he refused to be taken?"
The leader pulls his hood back. My suspicions are confirmed. Aaron's dark hair pokes out from beneath his skullcap, and despite all they've seen his eyes are bright with relief. I barely have a second to start laughing before he rushes up and lifts me into a bearhug.
"Aaron," I strain through laughter and compressed lungs. "By Notch, it's been a long time!"
"You always say exactly that," he grunts. "Get another greeting for Mods' sake!"
He puts me down and I see the other assailants begin to pull down their hoods. The members of my Guild, who joined me in my plot to trick Falcon, to get Tassadar back from the dead, and who shared in my punishment. Secret, grinning, lowers his hood and reveals himself to be the archer who shot the potion from my hand. Mo straightens his bandana, attempting to look collected. And, of course, Tassadar leans against a post, offering a two-fingered salute. I smile guiltily at her.
I decide to distract myself with a more immediate concern.
"Have you guys just been waiting here for me for the last, what has it been?"
"Three months?" Secret explains, clapping me on the shoulder. "No, we were looking for you for three weeks. That's when Arcation gave up helping - Gogyst said their pact was with you, not the rest of us, and gave up. Jeb summoned him and he went back to the Old Craft. Let us stay on in the Manor, though, so that was nice enough."
"Then," Aaron cuts in. "We sent word to Brit, and he sent back a tip-off about the Silhouette using this mine for smuggling goods out of the Old Craft - but he couldn't figure out where to. Even accounting for Nether travel, The Fields of Acrisius are well out of the way of anywhere you'd want to smuggle goods to."
"So, naturally," Tassadar calls over. "We had to pay them a little visit."
"And we killed them all," Secret concludes, stepping on a quartz mask and cracking it in two. "A few of them escaped through the portal. We couldn't get it working again - not the way they did, at least. That was a week ago."
"Anyway, what's new with you?" asks Aaron with a certain smugness.
Secret rolls his eyes.
"Aaron's come up with one of his scenarios," he mutters. "It's stupid, you don't have to answer."
"I'm telling you, Secret, I've been wrong in the past, but I'm really confident of this one."
I cast an apologetic look back to Fire, gesturing to him to come down. This is going to go one of two ways.
"Perhaps my new friend should explain this to you," I beam. "Fire, meet Aaron, Secret, and the Guild. Secret, Aaron, and the Guild, meet Fire."
Fire begins: "I had to say this a lot recently, so here is the gist. A cosmic force turned person and warlord called the Entity started merging worlds and built itself a base of operations called the Tower. It allied with the one you call the Silhouette and captured Astro. I met him after he broke out of the Tower's prison. Through a prophecy that I was apparently the champion of, I came into a position that allowed me to build the Shelter, the name is self-explanatory, and lead an opposing force to the Entity. Through various twists and turns, the Entity ended up betrayed by one of its subordinates when he found out that it intended to absorb all of reality into its being. Now said subordinate, a phantom of fear named Freak, has usurped the Entity, and is now planning to unite all worlds into his perfect realm of fear. I glossed over some details near the middle, but that is why we are here. We are seeking aid against Freak."
"Thank you, Fire," I say.
I appreciated him leaving out the stuff about Kay. I shoot an anxious look in his direction, and see him staring at his feet, trying not to draw attention to himself. I redirect my attention to the Guild. Its various members are all horrified at the news that not only was our world much larger than we'd thought, but that it was now in imminent danger. All except two.
"Well," says Secret sheepishly to Aaron. "You didn't get every detail right."
Aaron cocks an eyebrow and looks Fire dead in the eye.
"Was there a dog with a monocle?"
Fire suppresses a chuckle. "Yes, there is one, his name is Bartholomew. A few things surrounding him are starting to make more sense now."
"Motherfucker," breathes Secret.
Tass howls with laughter in the corner.
"Thank you, Fire," says Aaron. He turns to Secret: "In your face!"
He turns to me.
"We're glad to help however we can."
I hug him.
"We're going to need a lot more than just us," I continue. "We're actually here to… to try and enlist the True Court. Is Jeb still camped out in the Old Craft?"
"Yeah," grunts Secret. "Show trials haven't even properly kicked off yet. He insists on continuing to investigate the attack of the Citadel, even though Dominus pretty much confessed it was all him. Half the Vanilla Craft is still considered a suspect."
"That sounds bad," I say.
"He wants a big, grand purge," elaborates Tassadar. "Get everyone he thinks the Court of Whispers could ever turn against him in one go."
"I'm going to level with you Astro," says Aaron. "You're not going to have any luck there. You're not exactly in Jeb or Herobrine's good books and, Fire, you seem nice but they're not going to trust an outsider, especially not one who looks as… Endling as you do. You just don't have anyone the Divines would be obligated to pay attention to."
I chew my lip, realising I am now going to have to unveil the reason Jeb was going to listen to us. For better, or for worse, he took that responsibility out of my hands.
"Well, that's not strictly true."
He pulls back his scarf. His face is a mixture of despair and hope.
Aaron steps back. He clasps a hand over his mouth and his eyes quiver wildly. Secret drops his bow. Tassadar doesn't seem to know what to do with herself, looking back and forth between me and Kay. Mo draws his sword, but I shoot him a reluctant warning glance.
"Hail captain!" says Kay. "How goes the watch?"
His eyes are quivering almost as much as Aaron's. Tears well in both. Aaron looks at me. I can't bring myself to look back. My friend walks toward the ghost.
"Kay…" he says. He places a hand on Kay's face and looks at the eye he will one day lose. He is quiet for a long time. Finally, he rallies: "Watch's going well."
Aaron hugs him, but over Kay's shoulder I can see the haunted look on his face. His eyes are cavernous.
He pulls away and turns abruptly so Kay doesn't see his expression. He manages to keep the energy in his voice.
"We'd best get back to the Craft," Aaron explains, blinking away the tears. "Cossack is our best bet of an audience with Jeb."
And so, we leave.
