Chapter Seventy-One: Gauntlet

"...then why are you still on this channel, Clubs? Kill the windy fuck. And report back in when you're finished."

There was a silence in the central radio room of the Onyx as the transmission died, dissolving back into static. The Wrathful Veteran could feel his heartbeat increasing, anxiety beginning to creep its way into his shoulder muscles, his breath. All eyes in the radio room were focused, unblinking, on the Veteran, waiting for him to speak. "This is bad," he finally declared. "This is very bad."

The Veteran could see it all happening. First, the Courtyard Droll would kill the Thane's waking self. The Thane would not see it coming. Once the Thane's waking self was dead, his consciousness would temporarily transfer to his dream self, at which point it would quickly succumb to the same wounds sustained by the waking self.

That is, unless someone could permanently revive him...but then, even if such a thing were possible, it would not have mattered. The Thane's dream self was at the mercy of the Black Queen. Once the Droll called in to confirm his kill, the Queen would immediately press advantage and have the Thane's dream self killed as well.

This would completely remove one of the Heroes from the equation. This could not happen.

Only one option remained. A longshot at best, the Veteran knew, but it was better than no hope at all. "Where's the Prince and the Witch?" the Wrathful Veteran asked.

"Oh fuck..." Gwen moaned between breaths, "Oh fuck, oh fuck, fuck, fuuuck-"

Waves of intense pleasure coursed through her body, blissfully blotting out all awareness of the world and its troubles.

"Wow...thank you..." Gino murmured, inhaling deeply, wiping the beads of sweat dripping down his forehead. "This should be an Olympic sport. You're a natural."

Gradually Gwen's bliss subsided and reality seeped back in, allowing her the coherence to form a reply. "Olympic sport?" she asked, her voice wheezing slightly as she worked to regain her breath.

"Yeah, Olympic sport." Gino and Gwen kissed. "Think of the glitz, the glamour." They kissed again. "Think of those five multicolored rings." A third kiss. "Damn it, Gwen, think of the torch."

Gwen dismounted Gino, rolling onto her back. She stared up at the ceiling. "Okay," she ventured, "how would it be judged? Are we talking duration? Orgasm count? What separates Gold Medal sex from Silver Medal sex?"

"Dunno." Gino gave a thoughtful hum while he removed his condom and tied it off. "One's good. The other's better. And neither is unfortunate enough to be Bronze." He tossed the condom away. It sailed across the room, smacking into one of the clock faces making up the four walls of the clock tower interior.

Gwen stared at the sullied condom, wrinkling her nose. "Really?"

"What?"

Gwen motioned towards the discarded prophylactic. "You're just gonna leave your gizz on the floor?"

It was Gino's turn to raise his eyebrows. "I don't see any trash cans around. What do you want me to do? Put it in my pocket? Carry it around with me 'til I can throw it out? Fuck no. The gizz stays on the floor."

"But… Gino, that's disgusting! What if someone finds it?"

"Gwen. Dersites don't have dicks. They are cockless carapacians. They don't even know what condoms are - if someone finds it, they'll just think it's a random piece of trash that is sticky and smells kinda funny. Which can be said of any other piece of trash. And besides, just look at all the cobwebs in this room! No one comes up here."

"We did."

"C'mon, don't play semantics, you know what I mean."

Temporary pleasure, Prince. A shadow of happiness.

Gino blinked again, shaking his head.

"You heard them again?" Gwen noticed Gino's lapse. "The Outer Gods?"

"Yeah." Gino did not bother hiding it, anymore. Gwen already knew. What would be the point in keeping it secret from her? "They sure know how to kill a moment… Did you…?"

Gwen shook her head. "No. I get traces of whispers, sometimes, just out of hearing. Almost like when you hear voices while you fall asleep. But never coherent sentences…"

"Well, lucky you…" Gino murmured. "They aren't very nice…"

"Hey." Gwen caught Gino by the arm and pulled him close, meeting him halfway with a kiss. "Don't let those voices get to you, okay?"

Gino returned the kiss. "I won't."

You will.

You already have.

Fortunately for Gino, the radio chose that exact moment to begin squawking. At first, there were a few moments of static, but then the white noise quickly stabilized and resolved into one of the dissenters' pirated frequencies.

"Come in Tower Watch, come in Tower Watch," the all-too-familiar voice of the Wrathful Veteran issued through the speaker. "We have a problem."

"Fuck." Gino crawled over to the north wall, picked up the binoculars resting on the floor, and peered through a gap in the masonry. The Silent Dungeon loomed in the near distance, ominously quiet. Everything looked normal. "Okay, doesn't look like we missed anything important."

Gwen picked up the radio and responded. "Hey, WV, Tower Watch here. What's up?"

"Listen closely; time is of the essence. Not two minutes ago, one of my radio ops intercepted a coded transmission from the Land of Fog and Shadow. The Black Queen has dispatched an Agent to the Thane's planet, and it would appear that an opportunity has now presented itself."

"Opportunity?" Gwen shared a confused glance with Gino, her forehead scrunching up in puzzlement. "Wait, what…?"

The Wrathful Veteran kept right on speaking, not wasting a single speck of time. "That coded transmission was a kill order, straight from the Archagent himself. Do you understand? You must contact the Thane and warn him. If you do not, he will die. Please hurry. Again, time is of the essence."

The radio fell silent. Gwen and Gino looked at each other, still reeling from what they'd just heard. In unison, they both retrieved their phones from their sylladexes and checked PalHassle. Theo was offline, unfortunately. Gwen tried calling him, but it went straight to voicemail.

"Not surprised…" Gwen muttered, returning the iphone to her sylladex. "We haven't used our phones in days… What can we do?"

We can help.

This time, both Gwen and Gino jerked upright. "Did you…?" Gino sent a questioning glance to Gwen.

"Yeah." Gwen nodded. "Um. Is that what they always sound like?"

You cannot stop the Thane's death.

You can, however, delay it.

"How?" Gino heard himself asking.

You are a Prince of Mind.

"Wait, you're talking to them?" Gwen's eyebrows nearly met in a fierce frown. "Are you nuts?"

"Well, I...what choice do we have?" Gino shot back. "I have to help Theo if I can. I have to. Now, think...think…"

It was a curious sensation when Gino's Mind powers came blazing to life, like a sleeping limb when all the blood comes rushing back in.

Gino closed his eyes and focused. The image of himself standing in black space popped into his mind with an ease that startled Gino. He was surrounded by an aura of little streaks of light that zipped their way through the darkness, almost like trails of numbers crawling across a computer screen. As Gino's thoughts shifted, so too did the streaks of light.

When he focused on them, they grew more aligned, forming a cocoon-like haze that pulsed and swirled around him in harmony, rather than a chaotic rabble.

Focus.

Follow.

Just beyond the white cocoon of his thoughts, Gino sensed a vast presence, larger than he could even comprehend. He felt like a candle flame facing a gale-force wind. Black thoughtforms swirled in the darkness just beyond Gino's senses.

Gino could not actually see the dark thoughtforms, but he could feel their movement. If he concentrated enough, Gino was sure he could paint a reasonable picture of what the sources of all those thoughtforms looked like...but he had a feeling that this would be unwise.

There was a strange sort of pull about the dark thoughtforms, like a sort of gravity - sometimes one or two of Gino's white thoughtforms would peel away and vanish into the abyss of dark thoughtforms. They never returned. Gino was careful not to probe the dark thoughtforms. If he did, Gino feared he might destabilize and lose himself.

The stormy mass of dark thoughtforms began to move away. Gino found that if he did not resist, the dark thoughtforms' gravity seemed to pull him along, as if he were tethered. As much as they unnerved him, Gino knew he had to follow.

"Where are we going?" Gino asked. He was not sure if he was really speaking the words or merely thinking them, but it did not really matter. The dark thoughtforms answered him.

The solution.

As Gino travelled through the darkness, he reached out with his hand and touched his vacillating cocoon of thoughtforms. The little motes of light danced about his fingers, swirling up and around his arm. As they made 'physical' contact, Gino would catch seemingly random smells, snippets of conversations, convoluted bursts of emotion, disjointed images… His own thoughts and memories. He recognized each and every one, even if he was not able to properly sort through them in a way he could understand.

Within seconds, Gino became aware of another source of pulsing white light. It was shining off in the near distance, like a lighthouse in the fog. Gino found himself detaching from the gravity of the dark thoughtforms, willing himself to move towards the other source of white light. His suspicions were confirmed when he grew near - it was another system of thoughtforms, belonging to…

Another image flashed through Gino's mind. Another teenager, wearing golden pajamas. He had unruly black hair and red eyes. At the core of the other cocoon of thoughtforms was a spark of white light that was too bright to look at directly, but it was from this core that the image of the other boy came to Gino.

These were Adam's thoughts.

The Knight is vulnerable when he dreams.

That made Gino stop short. "Come again?"

Take him. Use him.

"This is some really fucked up shit. This is wrong."

Your Choice.

Gino felt sick to his stomach as he made his choice. Still, when faced with the stark reality that Theo would die if he did not act, Gino went ahead and reached out, making contact with Adam's thoughtforms.

Flying. Adam was flying… All around were golden towers and spires, streets… A gentle warmth emanating from above… Prospit was so close to Skaia-

Gino took a deep breath, stopping himself from wandering too far into Adam's thoughts. Boy, Adam sure had a lot of thoughts... Under his guidance, Gino's thoughtforms slowly began to stream into Adam's current. Gino found that he could not directly manipulate Adam's thoughtforms, but he could influence their movement. It was very subtle work. With all his willpower, Gino focused on infusing Adam's mind with a very simple command: Up.

It took a few moments, but it worked. Adam's thoughtforms continued to pulsate normally, as if nothing were happening. They did not detect the presence of Gino's essence. Gino kept one of his hands firmly embedded within the current of thoughtforms, keeping himself updated on Dream Adam's location and movement. The visions and sensations Gino received told him that Adam was flying up and away from Prospit's Moon, heading off into the void of space.

When Gino had moved Dream Adam far enough into space, it was time to start rolling out the Force Aspect...but Gino had no idea how to spark Adam's powers. This was only his first time trying to control someone else, after all. Fortunately (or unfortunately), the Voices were still looking out for him.

You must go deeper.

Gino gulped nervously. "Is it...is it gonna hurt?"

Yes.

"Me or him?"

Yes.

Not wanting to put off the ugly task any longer, Gino took a deep breath and dove right in. Gathering his strength, Gino found himself forming a wedge-like pattern with his own thoughtforms, driving them straight into Adam's. The 'wedge' of white light disrupted the currents of Adam's thoughtforms, sending their patterns into disarray.

Gino was shocked when Adam's thoughtforms began shining an angry crimson red. Suddenly, they turned on him and started to fight back, throwing themselves against Gino's wedge, trying to smash their way through. And the Outer Gods had not been lying - it hurt. Those were Gino's own thoughts Adam's defenses were attacking.

Nausea was beginning to grip Gino. He could feel the Force Aspect simmering just out of reach, but it was very difficult for him to remain focused on finding it while he was getting bombarded by Adam's thoughtforms. He started getting tiny little glimpses into memories that did not belong to him as the hostile red thoughtforms made prolonged contact with his own.

Gino pushed the wedge in deeper. He gasped as white-hot pain flashed through his cranium like a bolt of lightning. He could hear screaming, too, though he was pretty sure it was coming from Adam's mind and not his own. Still, that final push did the trick.

The Force Aspect was electrifying, to say the least. As Gino made contact with it, allowed it to flow freely to the 'surface', he was almost in awe of the raw power that hummed within the other boy's mind. Adam had no idea just how powerful he really was - that much was plain to Gino.

More sensory information from Dream Adam began to flood Gino's mind. Gino felt a charge building up around himself, almost like static electricity. Ignoring the growing pain from Adam's hostile thoughtforms, Gino asserted more and more control over the Force Aspect, encouraging it to build up an even greater charge.

There was more screaming. Gino was not sure if Adam was really screaming, or if this was merely how he was translating the turmoil of the other boy's raging thoughtforms as they continued to fight to oust the invading presence of Gino's influence. It was hard to 'hear' what Dream Adam was feeling over all the 'noise'. Gino tried not to think about it, too much, focused on the task at hand.

After generating a substantial amount of harmless radiation through manipulation of Adam's Force powers, the Voices ordered Gino to release it. Gino had to pour even more strength into his efforts, sending more and more of his thoughtforms into the fray, crudely constructing a conduit through which the Force Aspect could freely flow. Mimicking the path of the conduit, the wave of radiation surged forward like a solar flare, heading in the direction of the Land of Fog and Shadow.

Gino did not know for sure if he was sending the Force radiation in the right direction, but more insight from the Voices put his fears at ease.

The radiation will blanket the Thane's planet. No radio transmissions will be able to make it through. You have done what you can. Now release the Knight before his mind kills you.

You are a true Destroyer of Choice.

We will speak again.

Adam's angry red thoughtforms were beginning to triumph. Entire chunks of Gino's 'wedge' were being torn away, causing the pain in his skull to increase with each new loss. Gino's strength was beginning to fail - he would not be able to sustain his hold much longer. It was too much, too much…

Gino's eyes flew back open. He was gasping for breath, as if he'd just come up from being underwater. He heard voices. They were speaking to him, but he could not yet make out what they were saying. Everything was in disarray…

Then, as Gino's breathing stabilized, calm returned. The teenaged boy realized he was lying on a stretcher. As he tried to sit up, a firm grip took him by the shoulder and laid him back down. "Easy, Prince. We nearly lost you," said a voice. Gino instantly recognized it as the Wrathful Veteran's.

Gino's eyes refocused, finally allowing him to look around and get his bearings. It was like a bad dream - he was back in the Onyx's infirmary, where wounded dissenters were treated. His cheeks felt wet and crusty to the touch. When Gino brushed his fingers across his face, they came away bloody.

"...the fuck?" Gino mumbled, blinking several times, shaking his head slowly. He still felt very dizzy - if he'd sat up, he probably would have puked. "What…?"

"Easy, Prince," the Wrathful Veteran repeated himself. The Dersite revolutionary leader was sitting in a foldout chair next to Gino's cot. "Try to relax. Don't strain anything. When the Witch brought you back to us, you were having seizures. Foaming at the mouth, bleeding from your eyes, screaming about...what was it, again? Thoughtforms, or somesuch? You were quite the picture of a nightmare."

"Gwen...where's Gwen?"

"The Witch is back at her post," the Veteran replied. "You have been unconscious for nearly a day."

Anna Carrero sipped lazily from her flask of Captain Morgan.

She was watching, invisible, from mid-air as a short, squat Dersite Agent scampered into the dwelling where Theo was sleeping. A twitch of the mouth was the only outward sign of the disgust welling up within her. Disgust at what she had to do. Or, rather...what Anna had to not do. She knew what was about to happen, but she could not prevent it. To do so would be catastrophic. It would send everyone careening away from the alpha timeline and into oblivion.

No doomed timelines for me, thank you, Anna thought to herself, taking another sip. It was a thankless job, being a Seer of Time, keeping the alpha timeline intact. Literally. Not a single person had thanked her. She did not even remember how long she'd been jumping around through time - Time travel really messed with one's sense of chronology.

Anna willed herself to float closer to Theo's dwelling. She often found herself in situations where she needed to observe without being seen. Having reached the god tiers - which Anna did not want to think about, right now - she was able to fly. The light-bending ring she wore, crafted by a god-tier version of Gwen from a future doomed timeline, allowed her to remain unseen.

As a result, the Courtyard Droll did not know that Anna was watching him. He went about his business, humming quietly as he produced a small cloth bag from an inner pocket. Inside the bag was a dusty yellow substance. Upon closer inspection, Anna could see that it was pollen. The Courtyard Droll blew the pollen into Theo's face. Almost immediately, Theo started coughing. His eyes flew open and he felt around his pockets instinctively, searching for his inhalers. But then he remembered that his inhalers had long since gone dry.

If he wanted to live, he had to use Breath.

Unfortunately for Theo, the Courtyard Droll was anticipating this. Before Theo could focus on his Aspect, the Droll whacked him over the head with the butt of his umbrella, knocking Theo out cold. The teenaged boy's airways continued to constrict, however. Theo was unable to use his Breath while unconscious, resulting in a slow death by asphyxiation.

Anna waited patiently for Theo's body to go limp, fighting down the nausea in her stomach. When the Courtyard Droll slipped back outside and made his escape, Anna considered flying up behind him and kicking him off the edge of Whiterock Eyrie, sending him plummeting to a spectacular death thousands of feet below. As she started to move, however, her mind's eye provided her a new image:

The Courtyard Droll, bloodied, winded. Standing on a wooden deck. A ship. Surrounded by turtle-consorts. They were angry.

Anna watched the Droll slip away. "Your day will come, little guy," she murmured. With that, she turned away from the fleeing Dersite Agent and floated into Theo's dwelling. She would have to act fast, before the ptero-consorts discovered Theo's body. If that happened, Anna would never be able to smuggle it away.

It took every ounce of Anna's strength to lift Theo's corpse from the bed. He was heavy. Grunting with exertion, Anna staggered over to the doorway and took off, flying away into the air, praying silently for none of the ptero-consorts to see her. It would be a strange sight, indeed, to spot the corpse of a Hero of legend flying through the air seemingly all by itself - Anna's light-bending ring did not appear to extend its coverage to Theo.

Anna flew as fast as she could, quickly putting a great distance between her and Whiterock Eyrie. Then she turned north. It took her ten minutes to reach her destination: a strange, small mountain made out of blue rock. This mountain had a flat top, with a blue stone slab in the center, emblazoned with the Breath symbol. Spires protruded from the four corners of the stone Breath slab, giving it the appearance of a crude four-poster bed, each spire capped with a sphere of black crystal.

Anna's muscles were screaming by the time she reached the quest bed. After laying Theo's body down on the blue stone slab, she collapsed. The orbs at the top of the spires came blazing to life with a searing blue light, and the quest bed began to hum and vibrate with an immensely powerful, unseen energy. Despite the grand spectacle, however, Anna remained motionless on her back, breathing deeply, letting her muscles rest.

It was not until the butterflies arrived that Anna sat back up, resting against the altar. There were thousands of them - butterflies of all sizes and colors, fluttering en masse towards the quest bed. They came in swarms from all directions, hundreds upon hundreds of them emerging from the veil of fog that obscured the skies, every single one of them honing in on the quest bed.

As the first butterflies reached the quest bed, they landed on Theo's body, waiting patiently for their fellows to arrive. Pretty soon, Theo's corpse would be completely covered.

Anna retrieved her flask of Captain Morgan from her sylladex, taking a long drink. Not for the first time, Anna wondered if it was bad that she no longer felt the burn of alcohol as it traveled down her throat. But then she shrugged and took another drink. Reviving dead friends came first. Worrying about her growing alcoholism came second.

"Jesus, Theo…" she murmured, watching dispassionately as more butterflies landed on his corpse, as more heat and light was given off by the quest bed. She massaged her sore, aching arms and shoulders. "When you wake back up, you need to lose some weight."