Seed of Life
"I'm sorry, Sis."
"Don't apologize anymore."
Another spat with the other androids at Anemone's camp sent the twins fleeing into the desert. It had become almost like a haven for them. It was hot and miserable but it gave them something other than their own guilt to focus on.
They went through a web of caverns that spread throughout the sea of sand so that they didn't have to pass through Jackass' camp where they often dealt with the same harassment. The caves were quiet and still. It was like exploring a tomb that time itself had sealed away. Sand drifted down slopes and around bends like a network of rivers. Curved walls of colorful sandstone enclosed around them. Fossils and petrified trees dotted the subterranean landscape.
"I'm sick of feeling this way," said Devola. She trailed behind Popola. She held a hand over her stomach as she felt the tell-tale signs of encroaching guilt that she had no control over. She couldn't help but feel it. It was a part of her programming. A crucial, immovable aspect of her being that would never fail to weigh her down.
"I love you," Popola said with such sincerity that Devola couldn't help but say it back with a fleeting sense of warmth that bubbled in her chest.
The twins rounded a couple of corners. None of this looked familiar. They had taken these tunnels before to collect flowers. They knew them well, but clearly not well enough. Regardless, Devola and Popola pressed on. They didn't pay much mind to their surroundings or the increasingly weird way the caves twisted and turned. They were just happy to be together.
"Hey, Popola?"
"Hmm?"
"If we could've been there instead of those other twin models…"
"We would've done a better job," Popola said as if reading her sister's mind. "We could've done it right. I just know it."
Another stretch of twisted caves pulled them deeper into the belly of a dying world. They passed by another long-decayed tree covered in glistening gems of amber. Just beyond it, the tunnel expanded into a vast chasm. The twins stopped in their tracks lest they fall over the edge of a cliff where sand flowed down endlessly like a waterfall.
Beyond was a massive expanse. An entire range of eroded mountains lay at the base of this sandy void. Rolling dunes between them formed a valley where they spotted the ruins of an ancient village. Towering walls of ancient brick connected the gaps left by the mountains and encircled the archaic site.
"Wow," Popola said with a gasp. "I've never seen anything like this before."
"An old human settlement," asked Devola.
Popola cocked her head. She seemed uncertain.
"Maybe. C'mon. Let's get a closer look."
They found a path down the ledge and entered the ghostly town through a space where a gate likely once stood. At the center of the village was a humble stone fountain that spewed nothing but sand. Brick arches half-ruined by age. A library sat at the top of a tall hill. It was a massive hulk of a building that towered over the rest. It clearly wasn't meant to be built atop eternally shifting sand as the whole structure was slanted drastically.
The town proper sat far across a field of rolling dunes. Yet more walls protected it. The twins even saw an old watermill that lay motionless and half-buried. However, it was the lonely house toward the back of town that drew Popola's attention. Devola followed along as they approached.
An old mailbox stood in front of the humble two-story. Popola pulled it open and a torrent of sand poured out. There were a few letters inside but each one crumbled to dust when Popola tried to pick them up.
"To think," came Devola's voice. She spoke softly as if worried she'd be overheard. "This whole place used to be on the surface. I wonder what it looked like."
"No telling…"
Popola started for the house. The door was cracked open and barely held on rusty hinges. A quick shove was all it likely took to push the thing down and out of the way. Before she could reach it, Devola stopped her.
"Hold on. Should we really be poking around in this place?"
Popola looked back and shrugged. "What's the problem?"
"It's just… this place is giving me the creeps."
"You'll be okay, Sis." Popola tightened her grip around her sister's hand and led her inside that dark, dusty ruin.
Devola took out her flashlight and with a single click, it flickered to life. The place was filled with old clutter. There was a bed on one side and a single flight of steps leading up to the second floor. Popola carried on.
Halfway across the room, Popola nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of Devola unleashing a blood-curdling, "SHIT!"
Popola whirled back with one hand hovering over the sword at her hip. "Sis!? What happened!?"
She found Devola bouncing on one leg, holding her boot. A glistening drop of Devola's blood fell from her sole and splattered on the cold stone floor.
"I stepped on something sharp," Devola snarled. "These damn boots do nothing! What the hell was that!?"
Popola bent down and got a closer look. She saw the gleam of metal on the floor and felt around. Her fingers caressed an icy edge. It was a weapon of some bizarre kind. She felt around for the edge and picked it up.
It was quite possibly the strangest sword she had ever seen. If one could even call it a sword. It was a hooped blade. Not a curved blade, but a hoop. The blade itself curled back in on itself and formed a circle of death. The outside edge was unimaginably sharp but the spine on the inside was blunt. Steel spikes decorated the hilt and splotches of rust kept the luster subdued.
"Who uses a weapon like that," hissed Devola. To that, Popola had no answer.
Devola managed to recover herself after a few minutes and they were on their way again. They moved more carefully this time.
The top floor looked much like the bottom. Yet another cluttered bedroom with a small bed to one side and a whole mess of relics of the past scattered about. There was however something very different hidden in plain sight toward the back of the chamber.
"What the hell is that thing," Devola asked in a shout.
Popola froze like a statue when Devola's light shined upon it. At first, it looked like the back wall. It was a rough, white texture but then the twins noticed how it curved inward. Devola shined her light about to outline the object.
An egg… That was all Popola could equate it to. A massive, over-sized egg. The type of egg a dragon would lay. She took a bold step forward but felt her boot collide with something on the floor.
It was a corpse. The twins both whirled back in fright. The body was heavily decayed. It rotted and weathered in ways that androids simply did not. It had been mummified after eons of being entombed in these ruins where time seemed to stand still. The skeleton had yellowish bones and was coated in a thin layer of remnant flesh that had long since turned to ebon stone. The mummy's slender arms were curled around a book so eroded the sisters couldn't tell what it once looked like.
Popola's fear shifted from fear to sorrow. The vacant eyes of the mummy's archaic skull seemed to look back at her. She saw the pits of emptiness within them and frowned deeply. Whoever they were, they must have died alone.
"No one deserves to die alone."
Between the egg and the dead body, Popola had no idea what to pay more attention to. The overwhelming curiosity about that bizarre artifact inevitably compelled their eyes forward once more.
"What is this place," asked Devola between fearful breaths.
"I think it was a Replicant village… But this…"
Popola gawked at the egg. She stepped carefully over the body and approached.
"What do you think you're doing," exclaimed Devola. "Don't go near it!"
"It's okay, Sis," Popola said, though she sounded uncertain herself about that assertion. She cautiously stepped forward.
Devola tightened her grip around her sister's arm. "Don't..! Sis, please! Let's just get outta here! This is scaring me!"
Popola pushed forward. She stepped over the remains. She couldn't tell what spurned her forward. The egg easily took over half the chamber with its sheer size. Devola's flashlight flickered as Popola neared and reached for the bulbous shell. It looked like a rough, rugged texture. It was pasty and pale. As her fingertips drew ever nearer, she felt a living heat radiate from the shell.
"It has to be an egg," Popola said aloud.
"Great, now let's get the hell outta here before it hatches!"
Hesitantly, and in spite of all the warnings, she touched it. The egg, once solid and unyielding started to ripple as if she had just disturbed the surface of a calm pond. Popola jumped back. Devola shouted more at Popola's abrupt movement than the egg itself.
"What are you playing at," snapped Devola.
"Did you see that," asked Popola. Her voice shuttered in disbelief.
"Yeah, I saw it! All the more reason to leave this thing alone!"
Popola tried to reach for it again but Devola yanked her back. "Stop already! It's creeping me out! We don't know what it'll do!"
To that, Popola could not argue. She mulled over ideas until something came to her. She whipped around and clasped her hands on Devola's dainty shoulders. "Wait here. I'll be right back!"
Popola ran off. For once, Devola dared not follow her sister's instructions.
"Like hell, I will."
If they went anywhere, it was as a pair. They were twins after all. Devola trailed Popola outside and watched her pluck a petrified stick out of the sand near one of the sparse trees outside the house. They came back in and with the new tool in hand, Popola resumed her poking.
Devola wanted to get out of the room but she couldn't bring herself to leave her sister. Devola wrapped her arms around Popola's waist—ready to pull her sister back at a moment's notice. Meanwhile, her dangerously curious twin started prodding the egg. At first, she merely skimmed on the surface. She tapped the egg a couple of times and watched yet more ripples form. Then she dragged the tip of the twig across the shell several times and drew rippling lines around the shell.
At a distance, the egg seemed completely solid. Anytime it was disturbed, however, it would quake like liquid. Finally, Popola stuck it in a bit deeper. The twig just kept sinking. There was nothing inside the egg that offered resistance. It was like stabbing gelatin.
Popola removed the stick and she almost wanted to scream.
She didn't just pull out a petrified stick. With it came fresh bark, vibrant green leaves, and a living aura. The half still held in her hand that went untouched by the egg was as dead as anything else in this sandy sarcophagus of a village. The half she submerged within the egg, however, was revived. It bloomed, it grew, and thrived in the palm of her hand.
Popola dropped the stick. Speechless, she looked at her sister. Devola saw it all and she went as pale as a ghost.
Popola tested a theory brewing in her mind. She went back out—Devola followed her again, her not wanting to be left alone—and returned with a few more sticks. Each one met the same result. When placed inside the egg-like artifact, they all came out revived and full of foliage. The last test was the one that required the most courage. She picked up a handful of sand and shoved it along with her whole hand inside the egg. Her fingers were enveloped in a rejuvenating warmth. It felt organic. Alive!
She pulled her hand out and it was unaffected, but the once coarse sand had turned into thick, moist soil. It was a deep shade of ebon brown, filled with roots, and sprouting with little weeds and flowers. Whatever went into the egg was given new life.
"We shouldn't mess around with this thing," said Devola. "Let's contact YoRHa and let them handle it."
But Popola had another idea. A twisted idea.
She looked down at the body mere feet away from this miracle of an artifact. Devola saw the way her sister eyed the mummy and immediately stepped between her and it.
"Don't even think about it!"
"But, Sis. This thing can bring back the dead. We've both seen it."
"Exactly! But putting twigs and dirt in there is a lot different than putting a… a…"
"A human," Popola finished for her. "Perhaps a Replicant? Either way, we could really make a difference here."
Devola's words got caught in her throat. A festering guilt came to the forefront of her mind. That same guilt that blighted her life always soured her mood and never failed to be felt even in those quieter moments. She couldn't imagine what it would feel like to be redeemed. To be accepted after some heroic discovery that saved the human race their model of android had doomed so long ago.
Still, she wasn't entirely convinced. "No, this is too creepy," exclaimed Devola. She ran her fingers through her hair and backed into a corner. She didn't want to be near that sinister artifact or the mummy. "What is that thing? Why is it here? Who put it here? What happened to this village? Who's that on the ground and why are they lying dead so close to it? These are the questions we should be answering before we go flinging whole bodies into whatever that thing is!"
Popola inched closer to the body.
"Don't!"
She knelt and placed a hand around the base of the skull. "I have to know… If there's even a chance of bringing them back. If there's a hope we—you and me, Devola and Popola—could right this wrong and save our creators… won't you take it with me?"
Something else came over Popola in that moment. She saw in her mind's eye, every time they were shoved, stalked, or bullied. Every time they were kicked out of one place and forced to move on to the next. It was all for the sins of another. In one swell of emotion, Popola was tired of it. Tired of all the hatred flung their way. It wasn't the suffering she went through that bothered her, but Devola's. Devola didn't deserve any of it. In that singular moment, there wasn't much Popola wouldn't do to be rid of this curse.
With both arms, she gently cradled the corpse. She tried to remove the book from its decaying arms but the corpse held on too firmly so she left it. The mummy didn't weigh very much. She stood, and step by step, approached the egg. There was no resistance. There was a pull. The egg seemed to greedily swallow up the cadaver. It was practically ripped from Popola's arms and absorbed behind that semi-liquid shell.
The shell hardened again. Popola stumbled back.
Suddenly, the egg lit up. Glowing, magical runes spawned over the shell and across its surface. They swirled and spliced, forming new incomprehensible symbols. Then they came to an abrupt stop. The shell started to ripple again. Something pushed its way out past the soupy membrane.
Skin so pale it almost blended with the shell emerged first. The features of a face so handsome Popola couldn't take her eyes away. Big and clear blue eyes peeled open. Long locks of white hair cascaded around his cheeks and framed his handsome face. His eyes met Popola's. She might very well have been the first thing he saw.
Another flash of enchanted light almost blinded her. She heard a thud and finally, the whole room went dark.
Popola found the man lying crumpled up at her feet. His arms clenched that same book but even it seemed to have been given a fresh semblance of life. The binding was a bright, white leather decorated with lavish engravings. The stranger who held it wore an all-black outfit covered in chains, straps, and the occasional feathers.
An urgency swelled in Popola. Her hardwired instincts kicked in. Instincts she had almost forgotten about. The need to protect and serve humanity. She scrambled down and tried to scoop him off the floor as if he were a fallen rag doll. His well-sculpted chest expanded and retracted with every slow breath. His handsome head stirred. White locks ruffled against her synthetic skin as he looked up.
Their eyes met again. Popola felt her plastic heart thump in her chest.
He studied her. His features changed but she couldn't quite get a read on his expression. He was dazed at first. Finally, his ivory lips parted and revealed rows of pristine teeth. They were straight and even like neatly arranged pearls. His canines, however, were rather sharp. They were long as well.
His voice sounded almost distant at first. A little raspy too.
"Popola…"
Popola felt a sinking sensation that threatened to bottom her out entirely. "You… You know my name?"
"Popola," he said again. "Long time no see."
Note: Obliterate is a story I previously wrote on AO3. I was displeased with how it was turning out. After four chapters and a long hiatus, I decided to take another crack at it. This is a rewritten version that has not necessarily changed a lot of individual plot points but instead brought back a lot of ideas I had scrapped. The first version of this story was very short and too much of the stuff I wanted to do got cut just for the sake of keeping it short and to the point. So, hopefully, this new version will be better. Once I get caught up here with these new chapters, I'll replace the old ones over on AO3 and the story will be the same across the board.
Oh, and another thing. This is the spiritual successor to a one-shot I did a while back. It was called Hex and featured Devola and Popola finding an egg that can suspiciously revive dead bodies. This is the same idea. If you played Drakengard 1, you probably already know where I'm going with this.