Lewis' hands dropped away from Arthur's ears as Kay slid off the Shiker's spine, her voice little more than a winded cry as she spread her wings to avoid the stalagmites.
"-omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica!" Vivi shouted, hoarse and cracking. How long had she been exorcising? "In nomini et virtute Domini nostri-" She coughed, reaching into her pocket to clutch something.
"Isn't it funny, Puppet?" The Shiker's jaws moved, his voice setting rubble raining from the ceiling. "Isn't it funny, she thought it would be easy. One little phone call for help and her whole brain stops working. I'm surprised she had the sense left to magick her ears against the siren."
"Shut up!" Vivi screamed. "I know what I'm doing!"
"Watch this, Puppet, I can even say it and she doesn't understand. I left Chloe's chains loose enough to reach the phone I allowed her to keep. There, it's a trap, what do you say now?"
"I say we're walking out of here with Chloe!" Vivi picked up a rock and hurled it at the green orb. The Shiker's jaws slid sideways with laughter, the orb dropping to his throat. Vivi turned on her heel, her glasses askew and a dark look in her eye. "Squire, I need you to-YOU. What are you doing here?" She pointed past Arthur. "I told you to never come back!"
But a quick glance confirmed that Lewis wasn't even looking at Vivi. He stood, frozen, staring up at the beast that ruled his every breath for gods-knew how many years of his childhood. The locket in Arthur's pocket pulsed frantically.
Kay rose out of the fog that swirled around the cave floor, beating her wings as she struggled to the top of the cave.
"Would you be upset if I plucked her, Puppet?" TheShiker's jaw cracked loudly as it shifted the hinge joint. "I have all their feathers, her mother's and her aunts' feathers, all in a little glass jar. Pretty red and brown and black feathers, should I add gold?"
Arthur jammed his elbow into Lewis' side. The Shiker was focused on him, Arthur. If there was a time to run with Vivi, this would be it.
"Your determination is amusing, you keep thinking you can change things."
Arthur frowned. The Shiker was connected to his thoughts, and knew why he and Lewis were there. Still, the demon hadn't made a move since they'd arrived. He hadn't attacked or tried to take Lewis like they thought, and he hadn't made a move on Arthur.
"Hmmm, so interesting. Why wouldn't I be ready to make good on either of the things I want, Puppet?"
Ready. He wasn't ready. Something hadn't happened yet-
"Get your hands off me!" Vivi shrieked, drawing Arthur's attention. Lewis had scooped her into his arms, but she was struggling. "You're not a hero! I don't want you, I don't need you! I don't even know who you are!"
Arthur's spine went ramrod straight. He opened his mouth, he had to warn her!
"Silence, Puppet." And Arthur's mouth shut. His hands gestured uselessly. She had kicked Lewis' skull clean off his suit and finally gotten free, she wasn't looking at Arthur.
"You think you could ever have been close to me?" she snarled as he fumbled for his skull. "I could never love someone like you! You're not what everyone said you were!"
Arthur's gestures became wilder and more frantic, but his feet would not move. He glanced down to see fog winding around his ankles.
"They said you were kind and loyal and a loving person!" She advanced on Lewis, backing him toward the ledge. "They were wrong! They were talking about Lewis Pepper, and Lewis Pepper is dead. You?" She sucked in a deep breath, shouting, "Who are you?"
Lewis' eyes were hollow, his shoulders stooped and his knees bent under the weight of the question.
And then the Shiker moved, casually closing his talons around Lewis and pinning him to the ground. "That's a marvelous question, Vivi. Who are you, child?" The Shiker lowered his jaws next to Lewis' skull. "What is your name?"
Lewis' hands balled into fists, his outline flickering in and out of sight.
"What is your name?"
A low sob escaped Lewis, and the bones gave way to flesh, the suit dissolving into crusted rags, the flames fading into a mop of scruffy, matted brown hair. The Shiker's claws tightened to accommodate the shrunken ghost, and he whispered again, "Child, what is your name?"
Arthur's mind reeled. Any second, the Shiker was going to harvest Lewis, who had no idea who he was. The question hadn't had to come from him, it had come from the one Lewis had relied on most for his identity.
A surge of anger blew past his defenses. Vivi, you ruined everything.
The Shiker's eyes flicked to him for a moment, before focusing back on Lewis.
Arthur seized on that. He didn't think any further. He couldn't, the Shiker would hear any plan he came up with. He filled his lungs with air and bellowed, "You ruined everything, Vivi!"
With those words the link flooded open. He could see the Shiker, and he could see himself through the Shiker's eyes. He could see his own face filling with the realization of his anger and gods he wanted some of that. The last time he had taken this Puppet it had been marvelous, a fine wine of resentment and anger that had provided him with hours of intoxicated bliss. And this, this looked to be a deeper rage that had been simmering for quite some time. But first, to attend to the child-soul he had in his grasp-
Arthur shook himself, wrenching his attention to Vivi. "You couldn't just wait!" he shouted. "You never listen! Shiker's right, one phone call and you go crazy! Oh, I'm Vivi and I'm Bipolar so I don't have to sit and listen and figure out a plan of action! Screw that, I have magic so I'm gonna charge facefirst into danger and of course it'll all work out!"
Vivi's lips parted in shock, but he continued.
"Yeah, Vivi, because it's all about you! It's all about you and your missing memory and your inability to save Chloe! It's not like you have friends you're dragging into danger! It's not like you need input from other people when you know you're not thinking straight! Hell, it's not like you care enough to make an informed decision, you're Vivi! You can't think your way out of a paper bag when you're swung, but somehow you're going to save everyone!"
He could see himself squarely from the Shiker's view, and Lewis was hardly a thought. The Puppet's face was twisted in a terrible way, flushed a deep crimson with veins standing out on his forehead. Something flapped around his head, but he waved at it, slapping it away.
Arthur watched the Shiker slap Kay out of the air. She hit the wall, sliding down to sprawl on the ledge behind Vivi. The Shiker wasn't holding Lewis anymore, focusing only on him. But Arthur had nothing more to say to Vivi, so he turned to Lewis.
"And you! You didn't think for one second that maybe, just maybe, none of this was what I wanted! But why am I wasting my breath? I'm just some murderer whose only purpose in your life was building you up so I could kill you, right? That's why we teamed up against bullies in school, that's why we hung out all the time, that's why we stayed best friends all through high school. It's because I wanted to kill you! Yeah, makes perfect sense, Lew. And now look where we are! Because you and your stupid secrets you wanted to take to the grave took you to the grave, now we're all going to die!"
The Shiker was moving again, and Arthur knew what was going to happen, but he kept shouting at Lewis. It was all he had left to do. Kay was pulling herself to her feet, but Arthur couldn't say anything to her. There's never enough time.
"Congratulations, Lewis Pepper! You and Vivi really are perfect for each other, two bull-headed idiots charging into a situation without any idea what's really going on. And why's that? Because one of you won't talk about it, and one of you won't listen. Scratch that, neither of you listens. You deserve each other. You know what? Here's a little secret for you. Are you listening to me yet?"
The grip on his feet loosened and he could only see from one direction now. Coldness pierced his right arm, traveling up to his shoulder and spreading through his chest. The Shiker was no longer visible, but he could feel a familiar presence taking command. He shut his eyes. If his anger was what kept the Shiker with him, and not looming over Lewis…
"It's YOU I hate the most!" he spat.
His mouth was no longer his own. Neither was the rest of his body. He stumbled back, covering his face with his hands as he laughed. The rage was glorious, he hadn't drunk like this in eons.
"Kay!" The remains of Lewis were shouting something. "Get back!"
Arthur dropped his hands to see the firstborn daughter running for him, arms outstretched. Foolish child. The vines around her head already swelled, near to bursting in bloom. It would only take the smallest push.
And he had promised her a personal touch, hadn't he?
"Arthur!" She was in hysterics, grabbing his arms.
And such an opportunity. When would he have a chance like this again? He took her face in his hands. "Arthur is gone," he whispered, and wrapped his mouth over hers. Inhaling slowly, he drew song from her throat, unraveling it like a thread from her vocal cords and winding it around his own voice. She shoved at his chest, clawing his shoulders as she sensed the theft, but he was no longer the weak and vulnerable Arthur.
Lewis ripped Kay from his hands, all bone and fire once again, seizing him by the neck and slamming him against the wall. Arthur's lips curled in a smile. This was a good day. Intoxication like this was hard to come by, and he was often too busy tending his garden to indulge. Ahhh, Lewis.
He opened his mouth, his new voice richer, deeper than it ever had been before, vibrating with the power of stolen song. "Hello again, did you miss me?"
Behind Lewis, the buds along the firstborn's vines opened as glorious scarlet flowers.