To my reviewer Scotty: I plan on having one last lemon in this entire fanfic. I'm gonna try and top the first two and make it BIG. However, my desire is for each lemon to a critical point to the fanfic. The first one was Edward beginning to accept who he was while the second was Elsa and Edward both accepting the state their lives were. The last one will be a very pivotal moment that will play a big part in the endgame. So my hope is that I make it big and it comes out great. Thanks on your opinion of the second one.
Wrath said nothing as he stared at the two opposing creatures that circled him well out of range. The first two that he dealt with were put out of commission but very much alive. To be honest there wasn't much thought going on in the predator's mind but his reluctance to kill was still vaguely bouncing around in his mind. Rolling his shoulders and taking a deep breath before exhaling, the young man shot off to engage his closest target.
The creature saw the straightforward charge coming and instinctively timed its strike to cut the young man's head off the moment he got close enough. Before the claws could make contact with their target, an arm blocked the attack at the forearm while the other hand grabbed the creature's face and slammed it down into the ground. The other one seemed to think that the young man was open so it charged with its claws extended.
Wrath already knew its plan of attack before it even started it and was already reacting to it accordingly. Lifting his left leg, he thrust it forward as if to kick the creature in the face which was quickly countered by his foot being grabbed; then pushed off with his other leg while using the grip on his left leg as a pivot point and swung his right leg in a heavy roundhouse that instantly dropped his opponent.
With the four creatures unconscious, the splitting headache that raged in his mind lessened a considerable amount but was still causing him pain. Taking a moment to sense where the other remaining creatures were, Wrath quickly rushed off in their direction, leaving Private Arthur in awe about what just happened.
The Southern Isle soldier felt an overwhelming wave of relief overcome him as he realized that he was safe. He shakily got to his feet and took half steps to the creature closest to him and was concerned when he realized it was still alive. He thought about finding a weapon and finishing off the disabled creatures but his desire to run outweighed that desire.
Thanking God for sending the mysterious young man, the Private ran toward the harbor hoping that there were still soldiers guarding the ships so that he wouldn't be all alone out here.
The castle staff and the children from the hospital were all in the garden waiting for the trolls to give them the all clear to travel into the tunnel. Bast had said that the tunnel would be completed soon. Kai and Gerda were currently in the war room where Elsa was hosting a final strategy meeting for the situation.
"I am told that the escape tunnel will be complete soon, as soon as we are able to, we'll evacuate the people with half of our guards as protection. While we do this, we'll carry out Hector's plan to strike back against the enemy with the forces that we do have remaining. He'll explain the plan in detail along with assignments."
The blonde gestured to the noble who stepped forward and pointed to the map as all the guard squad leaders listened intently. "Alright, the large enemy is currently destroying the village and spreading fires to all other roads except the main one. It is likely that it wants us to attack from that main road to make us ideal targets. Given the size of it as well as the strength it showed being able to toss sections of buildings around, regular flintlocks are likely to do no good. So far, are only feasible defenses against that monster are Marshmallow, Queen Elsa and Lilian's powers, and hopefully cannons. Transporting the cannons to be able to get a shot on the large monster will take time and leave us vulnerable to attack so we'll have Her Majesty cover us using a low to the ground blizzard."
One of the guards raised a hand to which Hector nodded before the man spoke. "You want us to transport cannons while in a blizzard where we won't be able to see the enemy, yet the enemy will know exactly where we're coming from? With all due respect, that sounds like a suicide march."
From the look on the other guards' faces, they all agreed with the one who spoke. Elsa looked uncomfortable at what they said as she could conclude the same based on the plan he told her before. While it was a very daring plan and could be costly, it also showed a path to victory. Personally, she would rather just leave Arendelle and look for a more diplomatic option but she then considered the situation in a new light.
The Southern Isle and Weselton army has been under assault by creatures similar to Wrath who have killed a terrifying number of people despite being completely mindless. There were several of them running around Arendelle, killing whatever they saw. With General Julius willing to surrender and the Duke of Weselton captured, she could let all their soldiers die and just hold those two to ensure this didn't happen again. Besides that, she had those creatures to contend with as well as two more Sins to capture and the monster who controlled all of them.
Lina had said she thought she saw someone sitting on the ledge of the clocktower that overlooked the entirety of Arendelle. When she heard that, Elsa almost dismissed it but Stonewell also said that he saw someone up there while he captured Greed and noted that if he were pulling the strings behind an invasion, he'd be somewhere he could see everything unfold and be able to give orders from. The clocktower was the perfect place for that, which was what made Hector's plan more attractive.
If the plan worked, two more major contenders would be taken out of the equation. The only problems that they didn't have an answer for was the other Sin that was unaccounted for as well as the multiple copies of Wrath roaming the village. There was a chance that those creatures could ambush the guards transporting the cannons, while the other Sin could back up the large Gluttony.
All of these problems were swirling around in the blonde's head but she said nothing as she looked at Hector who started nodding his head as if he agreed with the guard's sentiment. "A suicide march…"
The noble walked out of the war room and left the door open which made everyone in the room look confused as the person with the plan just up and left. Stonewell was the first one to move and actually used the cane he kept with him and walked to the door after turning to the others and saying, "He probably wants us to follow him."
The occupants of the war room filed out and followed Hector who had walked to the courtyard and had called all the guards who remained. All of them looked to him as his eyes swept across each of them before he cleared his throat and began to speak.
"You all have seen the enemy we face and how bleak our situation is. The escape tunnel is not fully completed yet and will take a little more time for it to be so. It's possible that during this time the enemy could strike at us and we will be at their mercy if they decide to shower us with burning building parts. Which is why we must strike at the enemy first."
A couple murmurs could be heard when the noble said that. The majority of them had seen the large monster that was even bigger than the Queen's golem, tearing up the village and setting the ruins even more ablaze. How Bowman planned to strike at it was an outrageous question none of them thought to try to answer.
"We're going to rush the creature head on using the main street as our route. Obviously this will make us an easy target for it which is why the Queen will provide us cover with a one story blizzard that will somewhat conceal our movements. As we move to rush the creature directly, others from the rear will bring up cannons so we can effectively carry out a strike against the enemy. Are there any questions?"
All the guards as well as the Blackdust soldiers who were there all looked at the noble as if he grew a second head. His plan was simple and straight forward, but none of them missed the fact that it was essentially a suicide march. The bravest one out of all of them spoke first.
"That's a suicidal plan and you know it. Why would we engage the enemy on the only route that they left for us when all we have to do is dig in here and if they attack use the Queen's ice monster to buy us sometime while we pepper it with cannon fire? It doesn't seem to be in a particular hurry to move on the castle so we do have time, time we could use to build the tunnel and evacuate. Why throw our lives away when we don't have to?"
Elsa could hear the murmurs of agreement coming from the other guards. Hearing them agree and say that they would be throwing their lives away when they didn't have to had her second guessing Hector's plan. She logically knew it was a plan that could very well succeed but the cost would be high and seeing each and every one of their faces she'd basically be sending them to their deaths made her reluctant.
Hector, on the other hand, kept his sure expression on his face when he received all these questions. "You suggest we just run when we don't have to fight to avoid throwing away our lives on the possibility that it's meaningless? What about the ones who already threw their lives away to give us time to organize a decent defense? They could've ran, there are some among you who were there and already made the choice to run to leave them to their fate of giving you time to escape." A few men put their heads down when they heard that, they could remember the other sailors who had the look of absolute fear on their faces as they decided to stay. They wanted to run but they didn't want to abandon their comrades in arms even more.
"This entire invasion we've been on the losing end of this conflict. We were ambushed at our shoreline, had our civilians and troops captured, was given an ultimatum to surrender, and now face a monster taller than a building. The odds have not been in our favor from the very beginning but look at what we have accomplished. We've not only rescued our captured people but have taken most of the enemy's leadership. The fact the enemy has brought out this beast now instead of in the beginning shows that they are getting desperate and that we have a chance. Never before in Arendelle history have we been compromised in such a magnitude, choosing to leave is definitely an option; however doing so throws away the chance that many have fought and died for to give us."
Hector pulled out a pistol before turning around and shot at the front gate of the castle that startled everyone except Stonewell who scoffed. "What we fight for today isn't some plot of land or territory. Today we fight for the people who make Arendelle what it is, our home. If we run, the ones who managed to escape will be put in more danger as the enemy pursues us. The remaining civilians who are awaiting the tunnel will be in the greatest danger as they will be the first to die when the enemy catches up to us. If we don't wish to fight them here; when they're desperate and doing everything in their power to end this conflict now, then when will we ever fight them when they regain their strength and hit us even harder than now? I'm not asking you to throw your lives away to buy time, I'm asking you to stake them on the possibility of victory."
Everyone in the courtyard looked up with an astonished expression as they all thought the same thing.
There's a chance to win?
The guard who spoke out before voiced all their thoughts once again. "There's a way to win?"
Hector nodded. "There's a great deal of risk to this plan, however, if it succeeds, we win this entire conflict."
"So there's more to it than that charge?"
"Yes, but that suicide march as you called it is the main foundation for the plan. Without it, there's no way the plan will succeed. I already have some of our troops in position, but we need a little more time for the others to get in position as well. The charge gives us that time as well as sets everything up after. Since it's my plan, I will lead the charge myself, I understand none of you wish to die or run toward your deaths but this is the only way…"
Hector Bowman, one of the most proud, arrogant, and self centered of the Arendelle guard, dropped to his knees and bowed his head toward all the guards in the courtyard.
"...and I'm begging all of you for your help."
Talib continued to watch Gluttony cause rampant destruction with minor interest as he turned around for the umpteenth time to check on Sloth expecting some sort of report but only to meet silence. While he was confident that he covered all bases, a nagging thought in the back of his mind warned him that Arendelle wasn't a normal kingdom and he should be prepared for all contingencies.
The invasion plan that Greed had shown him which he improved was so carefully crafted and had multiple contingencies was being picked apart. Not by the Arendellians efforts alone mind you, but by his own forces who allowed their base human emotions to get the best of them. It forced him to take a more direct position in the conflict. Augmenting the prototypes to be essential copies of Wrath the Furious back when he was mindless took its toll on his reserves but he was still well within his allowed margins.
By now, his prototypes should be cleaning up the last of the remaining invasion troops, with each death they caused, the stronger they would become. When the last soldier fell, Talib planned to send them all at once to the castle from all sides. Even the powerful Snow Queen wouldn't be able to stop them all at once, he'd force them to come out the only road left to them and would have Gluttony ready and waiting to end them.
Even if they managed to build an escape tunnel, it would be pointless since the entire village would be reduced to ash and moving a large amount of people through the ruins would only give the prototypes the advantage of being able to attack from anywhere. If the escape tunnel led outside the village, Sloth would soon locate the exit and would either seal it or trap them there long enough for the prototypes to arrive.
There were only three variables to the plan.
Queen Elsa was one, given her immense power but he already knew that she passed out twice already. By now, she should be exhausted and even if she rested it wouldn't be enough to recharge her reserves. The second was Lilian, while she didn't have the reserves of other Elementals he had studied, her skill and knowledge of her magic made her slightly more dangerous than Elsa. She couldn't afford to waste all of her magic fighting off the prototypes with Gluttony ready and waiting. Even the flames that the Voracious Sin spreaded would do her no good. She needed a line of sight to use her magic on preexisting flames, the moment she showed herself would be the moment she'd get swarmed.
The final variable…
Talib felt something tugging at his conscience and closed his eyes to pinpoint whatever it was. He realized that four of his prototypes had fallen. They weren't killed, just broken. Focusing a bit harder, he looked through the eyes of the one who was tugging at his consciousness. The prototype was hanging on a burned down house stalking a young man who had his back turned. Talib immediately recognized the young man as the final variable, Wrath the Furious.
The prototype leaped at the man's back with its claws extended, ready to rip him limb from limb to get all the wrath he had inside. Talib didn't have the chance to tell the creature to stop before the young man without looking, leaned to the side to let the prototype fly by him before grabbing it by the leg and pulling hard. The last thing the alchemist could see from the creature's eyes was Wrath lifting his foot and bringing it down.
Talib's face turned pensive. The prototypes were no match for Wrath; he could probably sense their thoughts and could look through their eyes himself since they were all basically just a large mass of rage. If he had already taken out five then it wouldn't be too hard to imagine what he intended on doing. At the current rate things were going, he would incapacitate all of the prototypes, which wouldn't have been a problem if he killed them instead of just breaking them. All of them had the alchemist's black dust fueling them; if Wrath killed them then he'd absorb the black dust that belonged to Talib which would make things much easier.
The alchemist took a moment to consider his options before he focused his remaining attention on the prototypes that remained. He willed them all to stop and converge on Wrath's last known location.
I still have some time to kill, why not have a little experiment…
Balanced precariously on a broken rooftop in a lush armchair was Mr. Jorgen, who was sipping on some tea as he watched Wrath being attacked all at once by multiple creatures from all sides. He wasn't surprised to see the young man react to their attacks by dodging, evading, countering, and striking seamlessly whenever the opportunity presented himself. It was quite the spectacle to watch, Wrath was being swarmed and was handling them all at once seemingly without breaking a sweat.
The harbormaster might've found it amazing, if he couldn't do it himself.
There was also the fact that Wrath should know exactly what was coming before it even happened. The fight down there was essentially pointless as Wrath was without a doubt going to be the winner but that wasn't what Mr. Jorgen was looking for. He had kept an eye on young Edward for quite some time, he had seen every match against Walter and could tell that the person fighting the old soldier wasn't the person fighting now.
There was no hesitation or consideration in Wrath's movements right now. Every move he made flowed right into the next one as if he had spent years preparing for this show and could perform it in his sleep. Even if he knew exactly what his enemy would do, there were still multiple factors that he couldn't predict. Position, surroundings, even the blood splatter he got from each punch. With every slight variation of the world around him, he'd have to take a moment to plan his next move.
Yet, here he was moving like he was playing chess against himself and already decided how the game would go and which side would win.
Mr. Jorgen had a theory and wanted to see it in person. He was aware of who Wrath the Furious was before coming to Arendelle. A mindless beast that only sought out more rage and was that child's personal attack dog. Something like that wasn't so dangerous as beasts like those were base and their instincts could only go so far and would fail against someone with good instincts as well as could plan for their senses. Those creatures were prime examples of that; they were helpless compared to Wrath.
Speaking of which, the creatures all of a sudden backed off and gave Wrath some breathing room before the air around each of them changed. It was almost unnoticeable but Mr. Jorgen could tell something had happened. This time, when they attacked, they started to work cooperatively and cover up one another's gaps. This forced Wrath to play a more defensive position but he still seemed to be handling them quite well which reinforced the harbormaster's theory.
The longer Edward fought those creatures, the more he would return to being Wrath the Furious, who relied more on instinct than actual thought. That being said, Mr. Jorgen could tell there was still more thought going on in the young man's mind based off the way he fought. He watched Wrath jump over an a swipe at his legs before grasping a splintering support beam for a roof and as he swung off it to dodge another attack, it fell and landed on one of the creatures, temporarily pinning its leg which allowed him a chance to land a savage kick to the creature's head knocking it out.
Despite being a second rate imitation, he is quite capable…
The harbormaster still planned on sacrificing the young man for his ends but had to admit that there was something peculiar about him. The first time Jorgen laid eyes on him after Kristoff mentioned him, the old man had thought that perhaps he was a scout sent by an old acquaintance but as time went by, it was apparent that wasn't the case. That being said, he kept an eye on the young man just in case.
When that soul echo went on a rampage and managed to kill Wrath, Mr. Jorgen was able to get an inside look on what exactly was going on inside the young man's soul.
What he found there was quite disturbing.
He could remember being in some kind of sea, the pressure from all the water made it difficult to breathe. Such a thing shouldn't have mattered as the soul was only a representational space and objects inside one don't have the absolute aspects like their counterparts in the physical world. As such the crushing ocean that he found himself in shouldn't have any sort of effect on his body but he could still feel the crushing atmosphere around him.
Then there were the copies.
They all seemed to be wailing in pain yet he could tell that each one of them was different in some way. There were many of them and he thought that perhaps they were all figments of Wrath's imagination but then one of them saw him and held him at swordpoint. That particular copy wanted Wrath to crossover. To go into the void and lose himself to its depths. He tried to talk the young man out of it as it would be a colossal waste of an opportunity but the copy had cut him out of his soul with very little effort.
That was the moment he realized.
That copy was an integral part of Wrath's soul and had its own power over it.
Mr. Jorgen was surprised, if that one copy had power in Wrath's soul that would mean that that copy had its own soul as well as a sliver of Wrath's to allow such power. Such a practice was dangerous and would inevitably lead to the total breakdown of the soul. Yet from what the harbormaster could feel, the copy had no interest in warring for leadership over the soul; it was perfectly content with forcing Wrath to pass on.
An interesting thing about that was that a soul couldn't harm itself, one in harmony anyway. If a soul was completely at peace and in sync with itself then it couldn't hurt itself as it would only adapt to being struck by a piece of itself.
It was because of this that in the past, it was better to completely wipe away any trace of a victim's soul and forcibly assimilate the soul echo into the host's, making it nothing but power. Yet if one were to allow a soul echo to have a semblance of individuality that soul echo could cause harm to the soul that was its host. Mr. Jorgen thought back to all the other copies writhing in pain and wondered, if all of them had the capacity to hurt Wrath then that would mean they all still retained a trace of who they were before they died.
Such a situation would spell absolute doom for Wrath's soul yet here he was fighting off versions of himself that should be many times stronger than he was with just bare physical skill.
Mr. Jorgen didn't know how but part of him was intrigued, maybe this pitiful imitation had actually managed to get all the soul echoes he had taken and gotten all of them to willingly share their strength with him while retaining his position as King of his soul. Such an occurrence would be exceedingly rare and one not to be taken lightly.
Almost made him consider not to sacrifice him…
If the creatures down there didn't just explode into several clouds of black dust and all of them converged on the imitation. Some turned into restraints while others just funneled into his body despite the wails of pain he gave off. Mr. Jorgen sighed as he looked disappointingly at his empty tea cup.
It seemed like his tea, young Edward's luck had finally run out.
Gluttony tossed another house when he heard an echo of something in the distance. Picking up his head, he saw a bunch of horses riding his way with guards wearing thick green winter coats.
Well I wasn't expecting that. Thought they would cower in the castle for a little while longer but charging me head on? Must've realized they had no other options…
The large Sin picked up a section of a destroyed building and prepared to toss it in an underhanded throw to knock down the horses. Before he could do so however, he could see a snowstorm envelop all of them and completely concealed the road they were riding down. The snowstorm only reached up to the middle of his large stomach and Gluttony chuckled.
So that's their plan, get in close with a smokescreen? What good is that going to do when I wipe out the whole street?
Preparing his low toss again, he was about to let loose when the flames around him started acting strangely. They began to gather together into two bonfires before shooting toward him like lances. The first one got him in the jaw that made him release the building in his hand too late and shifted his aim way off course. The second got him right in the cheek and knocked him off balance enough that his large girth made it impossible for him to maintain his balance. When he fell the ground around him shook as he sat there for a moment trying to get his tiny feet back under him.
It required some rolling on his part before he was able to brace his large arms in front of him and lift himself back into a standing position. By that time, he took a moment to consider where the guards were. They couldn't have gotten too far in that short amount of time and with him standing in the only way out of Arendelle they would have to pass him. Deciding not to risk them being able to sneak past him under the blizzard ceiling, the large Sin raised his arms before bringing it down with a slam.
The ground shook heavily as well as the other buildings around him but he could feel the ground give way under his large fists. He was sure that he created an impromptu barrier or trench that would trip up their horses. Grabbing another building, he crushed it in his hands before tossing it high above his head so that it would rain down on them from above. As he continued to do this, he would slam another arm down and drag it across the street in front of him to feel if any of the horses made it close enough to him yet.
He couldn't feel that he hit anything nor did he know if any of the falling debris had hit his intended targets but he did know that none of them had made it past him. This time, he grabbed a building and prepared another low throw but was once again struck in the face by a lance of fire. The large Sin was able to keep his balance but started to run out of patience. Looking around for Lilian, who he knew had to be able to see him, guessed that she was at the castle which was currently the only place with a good vantage point.
Reeling his arm back, he swung it forward in a terrible swing that sent a building hurtling toward the castle at breakneck speed. He watched as it made contact with the side of the castle and could see smoke coming from the inside of the castle wall. The Voracious Sin smirked, Talib told him to avoid striking at the castle in the event he accidentally killed the Ice Elemental but that good toss would definitely make Lilian reel a bit.
As he was about to grab another building and prepare it for a low toss, his left knee exploded in pain as he felt it give out from all his weight and would've fell down if it wasn't for him using his arms. Thinking the enemy was right under him, he lifted one of his arms while balancing on another before bringing it down where his left knee was. He felt the splatter of something under his arm that time as the mouths on his arm opened and ate everything while he dragged it across the ground.
He tasted horse blood as well as human flesh before his other knee exploded in pain as well before giving felt himself fall over this time and felt the last of his patience leave him as he rolled into a sitting position before leaning forward and bracing himself on his hands. With some effort, he was able to lift his body with just his hands before rocking it back and forth like a swing. With each swing his body would get a little higher and higher until he felt it was enough and pushed off his hands launching body straight up above the buildings.
He didn't go too high given his size and weight but when he came back down with his arms spread making sure his body covered the most area possible, the full weight of it crushed everything under him. The impact of him hitting the ground blew away the blizzard around him and revealed the guards being tossed back just out of range.
Ah hah, there you are…
Picking himself up with his hands, he took a quick look at the guards in front of him who all scrambled to regroup and began firing their rifles at him. Gluttony only took a deep breath and swelled out his stomach as the many lead balls sank into his fat before the mouths all over his body started eating them. Once he had his fill, he lifted his arms and slapped his stomach, his large girth traveled up toward his small head and as if he was throwing up, he emptied the contents in his stomach.
A hail of bullets, horse bones, and human body parts rained down on the guards on the ground. The force at which he spewed them out was enough to make craters in the ground whenever his waste hit the ground. The guards scrambled to get out of the way of the dangerous rain but some of them weren't fortunate enough to do so and were either impaled by bones, shot by lead balls, or crushed by human remains.
The stench of blood was heavy in the air as Gluttony got a good look at the remaining enemy forces in front of him. He couldn't identify any of them thanks to the green winter coats that covered them from head to toe, not that it mattered, he supposed because they were all going to die anyway. The snowstorm from earlier was beginning to dissipate after he slammed into the ground. He would be able to see the main street again soon to see if there were any more guards on their way to assist the ones he already had engaged.
Gluttony tried to get back on his feet but small legs wouldn't respond, which meant they were probably gone. He didn't know how they pulled that off since he couldn't see past his massive stomach but that didn't matter. His girth was easily big enough to cover the street, he could just roll himself down the street and crush all that were in his path. Lilian may have been around here somewhere but he could tell that from those strikes earlier, she lacked the power to physically stop him, only to annoy him if she managed to strike his small head. With him rolling down the street, there was no way she could physically stop him.
Growing mouths all over his body and swinging his arms to gain some momentum, he prepared to kill the rest of them when something caught his attention. From the edge of the snowstorm, he could see cannon barrels sticking out with several crewmen behind them. The Voracious Sin internally chuckled, those cannons weren't dangerous to him in the least. Sure, the force of the impact might knock him off balance but all he would do is just eat the cannon balls and spit them right back out. One advantage to his large size was that there was little that could actually hurt him, it consumed an astonishing amount of black dust to create this large body but once it was made, killing him was quite difficult, especially when he could eat anything he touched.
One of the covered guards stood in front of the cannons and pulled out something from his coat before aiming at the air and firing a signal flare of some sort. Gluttony expected the cannons to fire at the signal but the sounds of cannon fire didn't originate right in front of him. For some reason they all sounded far off, he was about to look for the source of the sounds when he definitely heard the impact sounds of the cannon balls hitting something behind him. Turning around, his eyes widened when he saw at the base of the clocktower, it was burning and the sides had been shot by cannon balls making the support weak and the whole building groaned.
It was in that moment, did Gluttony understand what was about to happen.
He tried to stand back up to move but his legs were still useless to him and all he could do was fall over when a cannon ball had knocked him in the back of the head. As he hit the ground, another symphony of cannons firing behind him went off and hit the front of the clocktower, the cannon fire was targeted lower than the side cannons and the clocktower tipped forward before falling in Gluttony's direction.
By the time the large Sin was able to set himself back up, he looked up and the large clocktower was right above his head. Time slowed long enough for him to gasp before the full weight of the building crashed down on his head and body.
Rahim was as usual just watching a simulation of him and Wrath fighting before the predator ran him through. He honestly couldn't remember how long it had been since Garret had last visited him. Time could not be quantified in this space, with him not having a physical body, he didn't need to sleep. He could count seconds, minutes, hours, or even days but there was no way of knowing if he was right or not.
So to measure time in this space, he just counted how many times he was killed by Wrath.
It was a pointless measurement since the simulation was always different and took different times each iteration but it was all he had. Since Garret was last here, he watched Wrath kill him twelve thousand, six hundred and eighty two times. Depressingly, that number paled to how many times that he had seen the predator kill him since being trapped in here. In the beginning, he tried to ignore it but after enough times, his death stopped phasing him entirely and the simulation became his only tether to sanity.
He spent so much time studying Wrath's movements and body during each iteration. It was the only thing he could do and seeing as he couldn't write down any of it as notes to reference later, he burned all the information in his head by sheer repetition. He even decided to study himself and could see all the wasted movement that he would normally do that he never even noticed. It might have been a pointless thing to do but it did pass the time and when he was able to predict simulations down to a tee by just watching, he began to wonder if he could kill Wrath now if he had the chance.
Well, it's a moot point considering where I am and what I am…
As soon as he thought that, something happened.
The world around him shook. It was like a tranquil earthquake that shook up everything and distorted every image but didn't phase him in the slightest. The current iteration ended, both contenders turned to black dust as the world around him continued to shake.
One would think that Rahim was filled to the brim with hope that Garret had made good on his promise and was about to release him but the well dressed man's face was far from hopeful. It was cold and calculating as he looked up and could see a crack beginning to form where black dust began to leak from it.
Despite the immeasurable amount of time that had passed, Rahim never forgot this particular feeling. When he saw Garret, his emotions got the best of him and he ignored it since he could finally actually talk and touch another person. However, when his more logical self had overpowered the swell of emotions, it pointed out one key detail that was missing with Garret standing right there.
Whenever he occupied the same space as Talib did, a small trace of elation formed in the back of his mind. Such a feeling was so out of place amongst all the hate that he developed for this man but it was there. If there was one thing he could find morbid joy in the hell that was his childhood, was the singular fact that amongst all that time, Talib never smiled. His face was set in a permanent calculating stare that illustrated how empty his life really was.
Shahbaz tried to retain their humanity and joy as long as he could but when those two things died out, Rahim found a sense of it in knowing Talib wasn't ever happy. That small trace made seeing him bearable when they had gotten older. The alchemist showed no emotional tolls that an a lifetime devoid of happiness would have on a person but Rahim knew the man had thought about it.
To see him so absorbed in his notes then in a once in a blue moon chance see him look at someone else being happy and taking the slightest moment to consider it before snapping his head back down to his notes again, almost made Rahim's childhood better.
Seeing Garret acting actually human and remorseful of the pitiful life that Rahim had led should've been a big enough flag to show that he wasn't Talib. However once again, his human emotions had clouded his mind.
Happiness, regret, sorrow, fear.
All these emotions had been beaten out of him long ago, all that remained was just hate and anger. So to feel that sense of elation after what seemed to be an eternity, made Rahim's face crack a small cruel smile.
Well well well, I didn't take you to be the rescuing type Talib.
Hey guys sorry for the long update, its been a REALLY long month. I've gotten my shit kicked in at work everyday for like a month and honestly I'm trying to find a good work life balance or I'm gonna lose my mind. I'm even afraid to take leave because I feel the moment I do when I get back I'll get my shit kicked for a month of shit all in one day which already happened when I took just two days off. Hopefully you all enjoyed this update.
So its been a while since we heard from Rahim. Wonder what's in store for him, then stay tuned for the next chapter!