Welcome back, everyone! What took the longest about this chapter was re-working Lion-O's dialogue and actions; I was kind of stumped for a while! I hope you enjoy~
Leopara paced anxiously.
There was no way any of the cats would have taken the Book of Omens while she was within it. She knew that. Unfortunately, there was no denying the strain she felt pulling on her cord, causing her heart to beat faster and her chest to feel tight, like she couldn't breathe.
That left one logical conclusion: Mumm-Ra had the book. His lackeys must have seen them in Dog City and followed them, waiting for an opportunity to pounce.
This is my fault, suggested her unwelcome thoughts. If I wasn't in the book, I would have stopped them.
She couldn't even leave the book right now! If she did, her soul "would, without a doubt, become lost in search of your body to return to."
"Whiskers!" she hissed under her breath.
Behind her, one of the most epic duels raged on. All of Wizz-Ra's elegant and graceful mastery was brought to bear against the much younger Lepris. It should have been a resounding victory for him, but Lepris was more adaptable and tenacious than Leopara gave her credit for; not only was Lepris holding her own, she was wearing Wizz-Ra down. Using the power of the Ancient Spirits of Evil that still flowed through her, Lepris defended herself and countered Wizz-Ra's many offensive tactics. All the while, she whittled away at his own reserves of magic with her ability to siphon magic- and replenished her own in the process.
Watching her ancestor, with her eyes ablaze with purple light- with power so potent even her veins flashed with each use- Leopara was uncomfortably reminded of her time in Mount Plun-Darr. In the mines, with Pumyra, when her own eyes began to glow purple from channeling magic from the Blade of Plun-Darr…
The battle was just one more thing she couldn't help with. Mumm-Ra had stolen the Book of Omens, and she couldn't go back to help. Lepris, millenia past, was stealing the Book of Omens, and she couldn't help or affect anything; it had already happened.
Whiskers! Whiskers, whiskers, whiskers!
Leopara pivoted to look at Amun. He paid little mind to the battle, watching her with a neutral expression instead.
"What do I do?" she finally exclaimed. What could she do? She felt useless here!
Amun raised a brow. "What do you wish to do?"
"I want to get back to my body and get the Book of Omens back!" Frustration welled up inside of her, threatening to explode out of her. "We cannot let Mumm-Ra get it again! He already has the Sword of Plun-Darr-" she raised her left arm and pointed, "-if he gets the book, we'll have no way of getting the stones before him."
"Hm. All important things." Amun said. "You have no way of doing any of them."
The words, "I know!" exploded out of Leopara. She took a deep breath and sighed. "I know." she repeated more calmly. Quelling her frustration, a sense of helplessness began to trickle in. There wasn't anything she could do right now to get out of this situation. "I don't know what to do."
"Don't you?"
Something about the way Amun poised this question, unfazed by her outburst and so calm, cut through Leopara's anxiety. Leopara considered his question; it was both a test and a challenge.
As she pondered the question- did she know what to do?- her eyes were drawn towards the clash between Wizz-Ra and Lepris. She watched them for several moments, thoughts turning slowly in her head.
I can't even join this battle. Leopara thought dourly. What can I do?
As frustrating as it was, she could only spectate the battle between Wizz-Ra and Lepris. Its outcome was already a foregone conclusion, having taken place millennia ago. While she watched their duel rage on, she could only wait and trust that Lion-O would win the day.
"Lepris steals the book, doesn't she?" Leopara already knew the answer.
"It is likely." Amun answered smoothly. "She is resilient and resourceful, and it has been millennia since I last fought anything other than the denizens."
The denizens… he must mean those monstrous beasts that tried to attack Lepris.
They were nowhere to be seen in the vicinity of Wizz-Ra, however. That struck her, suddenly, as odd. This was one of the many layers of the Astral Plane described as a prison, by Amun himself. Why wasn't it more… dangerous?
Leopara studied him for a moment, hoping to catch a glimpse of… anything. He was so calm about his defeat! Lepris would steal the Book of Omens and give it to Mumm-Ra. With it, he would go on a crusade across the universe, conquering worlds, killing billions, and stealing their most powerful treasures for himself.
Amun's expression was so neutral and unwavering he put Jaga to shame.
Leopara swept her eyes up and down, hoping he would tense or relax or fidget in place- and for the first time, she really looked at him.
Amun had deep brown, weathered skin with creases in his forehead and beside his eyes. A nemes with a brilliant lapis jewel that was framed by majestic golden wings crowned his head. Over his long, loosely fitting white robe, he wore a golden usekh that had many lapis and sapphire jewels set into it in an intricate, geometric pattern that, to Leopara, resembled a glyph. A woven belt of golden thread and vibrant blue and deep green fabric adorned his waist and secured his shendyt. He wore tall sandals, woven from wicker it seemed,and golden cuffs around his wrists and biceps.
He was, overall, very ornate.
For a moment, she wondered if he had been a king or someone else very important in his time- and then it struck her: the very reason she came here was to learn about him.
That didn't change because her life and the Book of Omens were now in peril.
Leopara took a deep breath and smoothed her hands down her skirt to gather her composure and steel herself. When she raised her head to look Amun in the face, he was already looking at her. There was no doubt in Leopara's mind that he had sensed the shift in her emotions. Although his gaze held the weight of oceans, she met Amun's gaze with renewed focus.
"Amun… Wizz-Ra. I know what to do."
His expression finally cracked. His lips curled in a small smile and his eyes twinkled. "Do you?" he asked her again. There was no denying that he sounded pleased.
She nodded. "I'm here to learn about you. Please… teach me."
Amun smiled.
The domain of the Soul Sever was not, Lion-O thought, so different from the Black Pyramid. Dark storm clouds gathered around it for miles, blotting out the sun with a deep sense of dread and gloom. Lightning flashed in the skies, but thunder never seemed to boom. Soul Sever's home was clearly a technological marvel, a tall spire of smooth metal, intricate towers, and elegant windows from which an eerie blue glow shed. Tucked to the side, off of the path, were heaps of scrap metal, with more beneath them.
Lion-O crept silently beside Tygra and Panthro on the rocky outcrop overlooking the simple bridge that led to the spire. Flicker hovered near them, one, two, three, and then flew down when they saw no sign of the Necromechs.
Lion-O followed first, Tygra second, and Panthro third. With grim expressions, they quickly made their way down and chased after Flicker. The distance from the overlook to the bridge seemed to stretch on forever. Heaps of scrap metal loomed over them; Lion-O's hackles remained raised, wary that one of those robots could be hiding among the scrap and they wouldn't know until it ambushed them. Most of the scrap were just sheets of metal, but there was one in particular among the path that stood out.
"This must be one of those airships you saw in the book." Tygra said in a hushed voice. It was old, clearly suffering from an untold time of neglect and weathering, but still recognisable: an airship.
"If it worked, it could take us up to the next stone." Panthro added.
"Next stone won't matter if we can't get the book back." Lion-O reminded them. They didn't have a choice in the matter. Either they got the book and Leopara back, or the stones slipped through their claws and Leopara died. They could worry about how to get the stones when she was safe again.
Finally, they crested the smooth stairs. They slowed to a walk, creeping quietly towards the giant doorway. The doors were flung wide open.
Lion-O's skin crawled as they stepped over the threshold. Sharing in his unease, Tygra murmured aloud, "The stuff of nightmares." Even Flicker stayed close.
The inside was vast and open. A relatively long hall, lined with giant black pipes and who-knows-what led to an open, circular room. More black pipes snaked along the walls, all leading to… something. Truthfully, Lion-O had no idea what he was looking at. Above a dais were three giant canisters with pale lights swirling within them.
As they continued inside, they finally spied their prize on the far dais. Held aloft in some sort of electrical field was the Book of Omens. "It's the book!" Lion-O whispered. Without needing any more prompting, nor waiting to look for danger, maybe develop a plan, Flicker flew straight ahead, towards the book. "Flicker, wait!"
Too late.
A hand reached up from below the desk and snatched Flicker deftly out of the air. "What do we have here?" A metal figure then stood up, revealing itself. It held Flicker still and continued, "An amusing trinket?"
Panthro growled. "You better not hurt him."
The robot turned its bright green eyes towards them. "There is nothing to hurt. He is merely wires and electronics and programming. But no soul. He is incomplete" It discarded Flicker, who let out a pitiful whirring cry as he was thrown. "As are all of you. Perfect souls trapped in imperfect vessels." And then, with the first inflection Lion-O had heard from the robot, it angrily demanded, "Why have you disturbed me?"
"We've come here for the Book of Omens." Lion-O answered, taking an assertive step forward.
"I'm afraid that's impossible. Not after I've seen the incredible potential of this artifact."
Lion-O bristled. Its potential? This was exactly why the clerics of old hid the book away! In the hands of evil, the Book of Omens could- and would- facilitate more death than any weapon, even the Sword of Plun-Darr.
"And I've seen that potential in the hands of a madman. I won't allow it!"
Even if Lion-O tried to explain the destruction wrought by Mumm-Ra with the book, he doubted anyone would understand. He was even sure if he could comprehend all the lives Mumm-Ra had taken; Thundera was a drop in the ocean of blood that stained Mumm-Ra's hands.
"Then you see technology as an evil?" the machine asked.
Lion-O wanted nothing more than to interpret these as fighting words and draw the Sword of Omens from the gauntlet at his hip- but he remembered that nauseating green light that had incapacitated them already. Soul Sever made the mech who used it against them. What else could he have at his disposal?
They needed to be cautious. Too much was at stake to mess this up by being brash and headstrong.
"No." Lion-O admitted. It wasn't the book's fault it had been used to carve a path of conquest through the universe, after all. He thought carefully of his next words. They didn't want to start a fight yet, or if it could be avoided at all. But Lion-O didn't know anything about this Soul Sever except he was trying to create machines with souls, and apparently did so by severing souls. That made him extremely dangerous, and allowing him to keep possession of Leopara and Jaga's souls was not an option. Letting him keep the Book of Omens, souls or no, wasn't an option either; Soul Sever had stolen it, plain and simple. "But that doesn't mean we can allow you to keep the Book of Omens. You stole it."
"That which you seek is all that gives me hope." Soul Sever rebutted.
Yeah, it's all that gives me hope too. Hope of kissing my girlfriend again. Lion-O thought wryly. And defeating Mumm-Ra, he added.
Soul Sever continued. He was not a telepath and therefore did not hear what Lion-O was thinking, but Lion-O was alright with that. If he could get Soul Sever monologuing and goad him into continuing, that would give Tygra the chance to sneak up to the platform undetected, grab the Book of Omens, and then get out of there before Soul Sever was any the wiser.
Men like him, obsessed and convinced they were justified, were susceptible to monologues, just like Lion-O was susceptible to his temper. However, just this once, he tried to keep a tight lid on it. Leopara's soul was at stake, and if they couldn't get the book, then…
Well, he could kiss his aspirations of kissing her again goodbye and with a peck on the cheek, too.
With that fear tying his gut into knots, Lion-O did his best to listen to Soul Sever's story- maybe something would give him a clue how to talk their way out of this- and nodded at Tygra. His brother understood exactly what he meant.
"Before technology," Soul Sever began, gesticulating broadly with his arms and those lethal scythes affixed to his back, "-my only obsession was my family." Already, he was in a trance, recalling what must have been a better time. He continued on, not noticing Tygra discreetly slipping into the shadows, and then into camouflage with a quiet whirring. Anxiety gripped Lion-O's heart. "But a sickness overwhelmed them, one for which traditional medicine had no cure. I turned to the Necromeckers, a cult that harvested the technology that had been shunned by so much of Third Earth. If anyone could help, it was these mysterious strangers." Soul Sever paused, letting several suspenseful moments pass as he stared up at the jars in a reverie.
Lion-O shifted uncomfortably and glanced at Panthro. He itched to slip his hand into the gauntlet and launch a surprise attack on Soul Sever while his back was turned- maybe that would afford Tygra a better shot at getting the book and for them to get out.
Panthro met his gaze and subtly shook his head.
No, it would just cause Soul Sever to give chase immediately. Having already tangled with his mechs, he knew that their numbers and strength would overwhelm them in an instant. Then, Soul Sever would not just have the Book of Omens and Leopara's soul, but also them, at his mercy. Somehow, Lion-O didn't think someone with the moniker "Soul Sever" was known for being merciful.
"They managed to keep my family alive, but there was a price to be paid: they turned me into a weapon to further their cause." Soul Sever, as far as Lion-O could tell with his back turned, looked down and examined himself. "Their machines prolonged my family's lives, but it wasn't much of a life."
Lion-O tilted his head. He would admit, through much anger and anxiety, that this confused him. Wasn't much of a life? Why?
"I argued that if their natural bodies had failed, let us make better ones." His voice grew dark with his next words. "The Necromeckers warned me that doing so would be a perversion of the sacred balance between nature and technology. It had been tried before with disastrous consequences. They would not allow it- so I destroyed them." There was a long pause. Soul Sever craned his head to look at the canisters above and raised his hands towards them. "Through further experimentation, I succeeded in capturing my family's souls."
Oh. So, that was what the dancing lights were: souls.
"And here," he lowered his arms and began to turn back towards them, "-their precious souls have waited for the perfect hosts. A task I was beginning to believe was impossible until this book was brought to me."
In the wake of his words, Lion-O debated the harm of suggesting Soul Sever actually read the Book of Omens to see how his new body was made and how his soul was transferred into it, with the condition that he use it only for his family and then returned the Book of Omens to the cats immediately.
The problem was, Lion-O didn't know how long Leopara could survive like this, or how long it would take for Soul Sever to get his answers. He wouldn't trade her life for those of Soul Sever's family. Maybe he could negotiate for the Book of Omens, and Soul Sever, to come with him now, and after Leopara was whole once more, he could read it for his answers? They had to investigate that flying ship and repair it, after all…
Considering Soul Sever's force of mechs, and being pragmatic for once, Lion-O decided he would really rather have him as a tenuous ally than an assured foe.
"I'm sorry about your family." he began sympathetically. "But the soul of my friend is in that book, and she has a life to live. She'll die without-"
"No one," Soul Sever hissed in seething rage so palpable it filled the room, somehow making it darker, "-will ever touch this book but me. I suggest that if you value your fragile, organic lives, you leave now."
Lion-O's resolve hardened. "That's not going to happen. If you will hear me out-"
Soul Sever smashed his fist into the metal desk in front of him. "Leave now, or forfeit your lives."
Growls rumbled from his and Panthro's chests. Panthro's stance shifted and he put up his fists. Lion-O's left-hand slipped into his gauntlet, and he raised it to grasp the hilt of the Sword of Omens. Before either of them could start swinging, the Book of Omens vanished from its stand.
Tygra had grabbed it.
Now he just needed to make it back without being noticed.
Maybe, Lion-O thought, we should stand and fight while Tygra flees with the Book of Omens to get Leopara and Snowmeow.
"We don't want to fight you." Lion-O growled through grit teeth. He very much did want to punch Soul Sever in his metal face, but that did not need to be said. "But I also don't want my friend to die." Soul Sever glared at him, ready to interrupt, but Lion-O spoke over his attempt, "Would it be permissible to bring her here instead?"
Soul Sever seemed to genuinely consider his words, green eyes narrowing as he studied Lion-O.
And then, he saw Tygra.
Thank you for reading! A special thanks to The Night Whisperer, Hestia28, Heart of the Demons, and IrishDreamer4 for your reviews! Part 2 is underway! I have to say, Soul Sever has covered more chapters than I initially planned. We're angling for 50+ chapters of Hiraeth season 1! Isn't that exciting? See you next time :D