Umm… h-hello
…
C-can I… help… you?
…
W-what's your… name?
…
…
Umm… h-hello
!
W-what's your… name?
.
.
.
.
"Come on, Luz. Just wake up! It's been 3 days, just wake up!"
King was crying. The fight with Belos was beyond brutal. Luz nearly died a number of times, and when it was all over, she passed out and had not woken up since.
They didn't even get the satisfaction of Belos being out of the picture. While Luz did somehow manage to drain his body of magic using the same spell he was intending to use on the Boiling Isles. But not only did he manage to escape alive, he somehow still had people following him after trying to END ALL WITCHES.
The fact that people like Terra Snapdragon still followed the guy that literally tried to kill them all was infuriating. It just went to show just how deep into the people's minds Belos had burrowed himself.
King wasn't the only one worried and nearly crying, everyone present was. Especially Eda and Amity. But they were trying their best to not show it too much, to avoid making the others feel worse than they already were.
It had been an awful time for everyone.
But besides all of this, there was… something else.
No one could really put it in words, so no one dared to mention it.
But there was this… feeling
A feeling that was… hard to describe
It's like there was something always standing right next to you, watching you very closely.
It was somehow different from the feeling of being watched.
It was like what was watching you was right there, next to you, breathing down your neck. But also all around you, and all over you. It was this ominous and overwhelming sensation of something being there.
But there was nothing.
.
.
.
Hi! You came back!
… Hi!
Wanna play?
…-Yes!
Hehe! Ok, what do you wanna do?
…-do you wanna do?
… Oh, right, you probably don't know how to say it.
…-don't know how to say it.
Well, it's ok, you'll learn in time, don't worry about it.
…-learn in time…-don't worry about it
…-don't worry about it.-Yes!
…
… Friend.
Yes! We are friends! You're getting it!
…-getting it!
… Friend.
.
.
.
.
Amity was feeling sick, so she decided to take a walk outside. Seeing Luz like this was bad enough without the strange feeling.
She tried to calm down and breathe a little.
All of the sudden, that strange feeling became stronger. She was starting to get an overwhelming sense of dread that made her freeze where she stood.
That…
Is when she saw… it.
What was it? That is a difficult question to answer.
Amity didn't quite understand what she was looking at.
It looked like… a shape? It was the best way she could describe it. It looked like an octahedron balanced on one of its corners… or rather floating with its corners. It was also blue in color really reflective, Amity could see her reflection on the surface of this… thing. As well as the reflection of the sky on the upper side.
It was just sort of… there. Amity was distracted, but there was no way she could have missed this thing closing up on her from the front. It's like it just appeared there.
Amity had no idea what to do. It was clear that the strange sensation was the result of this thing appearing, but it seemed to be a natural byproduct of its mere existence. It was impossible to tell what it was thinking, so she had no idea whether or not to treat it as friend or foe.
It wasn't moving either.
A few minutes passed like this.
"…"
"…"
"…"
"… U-um… hello?"
"… -hello?"
Amity was shocked. This thing seemed to be able to talk… but not really. There was something… odd about the word it had just spoken.
"… Hi… Can I… help… you?"
"…-help…you?"
Amity quickly realized what was wrong with its voice. It wasn't its voice; it was her voice! This thing was recording everything it heard her say and playing it back in parts to say what it wanted to say.
Apparently, it couldn't speak on its own, so this was the best it could do.
"…-Luz"
"What?"
"…-Luz"
This time the voice was different. And she recognized that voice immediately. It was Luz's voice, although it sounded a bit younger than she was used to.
"Do you know Luz?"
"…-know Luz? ...-Yes!"
And now it had combined two clips into one sentence. First her voice, then Luz's voice. This thing was clearly intelligent enough to hold a conversation, even if Amity couldn't quite figure out where the recordings were being played from.
"…-Friend!"
"Huh?"
"-Luz-is my-Friend!"
"…Oh… you are a friend of Luz… that's nice! (of course she would manage to make friends with this thing)"
And now there was a third voice that Amity did not recognize. It sounded deeper.
"…where is Luz?"
"… She is… resting…"
"…can I-see?"
"… She is…not doing well…"
"… -not doing well… -why?"
"It was… a lot happened and she… we tried to help but… we couldn't and now… and now…"
Amity was about to cry again. The thing in front suddenly started to move. It started to change shape. Its jagged edges moved around and it simultaneously grew new surfaces and edges as well as loose some others in a bizarre and quick motion.
What was the result of this process was a series of pyramid-like shapes that almost resembles the shape of a person. This shape was also smaller than the one before. Three holes also appeared near the top: Two rectangular holes side to side and one larger rectangular hole below those two. It seemed to try to emulate a face, and not doing so very well.
It then started to float motionlessly towards her, she didn't know if she should stay away, but it didn't seem to bear ill will, so she took her chances and let it get close.
What it did was… oddly sweet.
It got next to Amity and one of the pyramids that seemed to take the role of an arm moved to her shoulder and started to moved up and down, lightly touching her shoulder as it did.
"…-there, there, sweetheart. Everything will be just fine."
It was consoling her.
Even though it was almost guaranteed it had no idea what was going on in the slightest, it still tried to console Amity when she was clearly in distress. It understood emotion, it understood pain, and it had empathy.
This thing got stranger and stranger, but it was also weirdly likeable. The deep voice that it was using at times started to feel calming and comforting.
"-Where is Luz?"
This time, an unknown feminine voice was used. This one sounded a bit familiar… was it Camila's voice? Amity had only heard it in recordings maybe once or twice, so she wasn't sure.
She decided that whatever this thing was, it deserved to understand what had happened, no matter how painful it would be.
…
"And you decided to bring this thing into MY house? Boots, I don't ask this often, but are you out of your mind?! Do you even know what this is?!"
"I … have no idea. But it's a friend of Luz, and who knows, maybe it can help her!"
"How in the titan's name is this thing going to help?!"
"I DON'T KNOW, BUT AT LEAST I'M TRYING SOMETHING!"
"YOU THINK WE HAVEN'T TRIED TO-…. Whaaaaaat is it doing?"
The thing began to pat Eda in the shoulder like it did Amity.
"…-there, there, sweetheart. Everything will be just fine."
"… *sigh*, well, at least it's not aggressive or anything."
Eda couldn't help but feel this thing was… kind of cute. It gave her this feeling of a little kid trying their best to help, even if it had no idea what it was doing.
"-Vox Dei?"
"Pardon?"
"… How about we call it Vox Dei? It means "voice of god" in Latin! How does that sound? I think it's cool."
"Whaaaat is going on boots?"
"I think it can't talk by itself. It records what other people say and it plays it back in parts to say what it wants to say. It played my voice back before, too. I don't know whose voice this is though."
Eda was, understandably, creeped out. She then realized something.
"Oh!, is that your name? Vox Dei?"
"-Yes!"
"Aaaand that was Luz's voice. So I guess the whole "Luz's friend" thing was true. Vox Dei is a weird name though."
"…-I think it's cool."
"Ok, ok, my bad. I guess you can come in, just don't break anything and try not to disturb Luz, ok?"
"…- OK!"
They walked inside (well, it floated inside, everyone else walked) and headed to Luz's room.
On the way King decided to ask something, noticing that it made itself smaller to fit in the doors and hallways.
"Say, you play back other people's voices to talk, right?"
"…-Yes!"
"So, that guy that gave you your name, whose voice was that?"
"… -dad"
"Dad? Your dad?"
"…-No. –Luz-dad"
"… O-oh… I see."
They reached Luz's room and Eda opened the door. Everyone braced themselves, seeing her wasn't easy right now.
Luz was in her bed.
Covered in bandages, casts, and healing glyphs. Part of her face was covered as well, covering the wounds on her face.
And she was still asleep.
Vox floated near Luz and stood still right by her side. Its form tilted slightly forward to look at her (assuming those eye-holes actually work as eyes).
No one could figure out what it was thinking, but they could make themselves and idea of what it was feeling. It was probably the same sinking feeling of sorrow and uselessness that made them miserable right now.
"… -Friend."
No response.
"C-can I… help… you?"
Nothing.
"… Luz, wake up mija."
But she didn't.
…
…
"We'll be friends forever!"
…
"I'll be fine; I promise"
…
"Sometimes, you have to do what you have to do and help people, you know?"
…
"But say, you, brothers and sisters, who aids those that aid others? Who comes to heal those who heal others? Is it not our divine duty as children of god? "Love thy neighbor as you love thyself", those were the words of Jesus Christ himself. So when the neighbor becomes wounded, we must aid. When the neighbor becomes ill, we must heal. So then, my brothers and sisters, when the neighbor that aids others needs aid, we must aid them. Amen!"
The room was silent.
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Vox let out a screech so impossibly loud and so impossibly sharp it almost made everyone's ears bleed.
It's reflective blue color switched to a bright crimson that no longer reflected anything. The mouth hole began to widen, stretching out all over its body.
Despite the pain, they all could somehow understand what was happening.
It was crying.
And then it was gone.
…
…
"What in the titan's name is that?!"
"Are you seeing this?!"
"What is that thing?!"
"Someone go get Terra!"
"Dear Titan, help us all"
The remaining members of the Emperor's Coven could not believe what they were seeing.
On top of the castle, a gigantic… thing had appeared out of literally nowhere.
It looked like some sort of cross, and it was almost the size of the Titan itself. Its massive shadow loomed over the entirety of the Boiling Isles. It was a deep crimson in color, and no one that looked at it could comprehend or even fathom what it was.
Both the emperor and Terra made their way to the roof of the castle to see what was happening, and neither of them could believe their eyes.
"Good lord in heaven! What is that?!"
"How did it just show up there?! Did no one see it coming?!"
"My liege, what should we do?"
"Stay calm. Whatever it is, surely it can be dealt with. Prepare the castle's defenses."
There was a strange feeling building up inside Philip…
that's odd. How long had it been since he thought of himself with his human name?... Why now of all times?
This thing… it looked like a cross… like a holy cross… like the cross of Christ…
This feeling… it's… indescribable…
He was scared, but also… mesmerized…
It was quite beautiful.
Then, at the center of the cross, a spike bulged out, and it started to shine and glimmer in a bizarre way.
The entire castle was covered in a warm and gentle light that came from this thing. It was almost like the warms lights of sunset. It was gorgeous.
Suddenly, trumpets were heard all over the Isles, trumpets that Philip recognized instantly, because they were the starting notes of a song he had heard for as long as he had memory.
And the dulcet sounds of the choir began to sound out:
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Belos smiled
For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
He began to laugh
For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
He laughed so loud, but no one could hear it.
For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
Hallelujah!
"It had come. The time has come!"
The Kingdom of this world is become the Kingdom of our Lord,
And of His Christ, and of His Christ;
And He shall reign for ever and ever,
And He shall reign for ever and ever,
And He shall reign for ever and ever,
And He shall reign for ever and ever,
"The trumpets of Gabriel are sounding! The time for us all to return is here!"
King of Kings,
(for ever and ever. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!)
And Lord of Lords,
(for ever and ever. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!)
King of Kings,
(for ever and ever. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!)
And Lord of Lords,
(for ever and ever. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!)
King of Kings,
(for ever and ever. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!)
And Lord of Lords,
King of Kings, and Lord of Lords
And He shall reign for ever and ever,
And He shall reign for ever and ever,
"As it was told in the Book of Revelations!"
King of Kings,
for ever and ever
and Lord of Lords,
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
and He shall reign forever, for ever and ever,
The light became brighter and brighter.
"The first trumpet, hail and fire! The second trumpet, the burning mountain falls! The third trumpet, the star falls and poisons the waters! It was all foretold! The time for your reckoning has come for you, foul witches! GAZE UPON THE GLORY OF GOD!"
King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
and He shall reign for ever and ever,
King of Kings! and Lord of Lords!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
The light shone brighter than it ever did.
The fire burned hotter than it ever could.
No one could see anything.
No one survived.
And by the time the light faded.
There was but a massive hole where the castle once stood.
…
…
…
… Friend.
