It isn’t enough.
A mind is not enough.
A Soul is not enough.
Reality is not enough.
I must feed.
I will feed.
-Avo, the Drear of Ashes, Devourer of All Paths
33-20
Reunion (II)
All right, so what’s the run? Chambers asked. Avo couldn’t help but smile internally. The man had grown—and more than he’d expected.
So certain we’re doing a run? Avo replied.
Avo, we’re always doing a run, Chambers replied with a slight chuckle at the end. It sounded like a mischievous child being let in on a terrible—or delightful—secret.
Is it to do with the Guilds? You know, Naeko’s got them shit-scared. We all got them wrangled up in the planetary ring and Draus. Well, she ca up with all kinds of cool ideas. Real nova sches. She’s actually thinking ahead, and she’s managed stop herself from shooting rcy this entire ti. You should have seen it. Chambers’ voice was rife with both admiration and amusent. Avo was impressed, pleased, and on so level… ashad.
If there was one criticism Veylis was correct about, it was his selfishness. He was hungry. Still hungry even after he beca more than a ghoul. He gave his allies Fras and Heavens and upgraded their canons and miracles, but the bulk of his benefits were directed inward. He was always so glad to transform, to evolve, to think about his next stage of becoming.
But for his companions? They were starved compared to him. But still, he continued on. They grew too — were still growing in his absence. It was enough to make his ego swell again. He had proven to be a catalyst for their lives, fuel for combustion—
[Holy fucking shit, Avo shut the fuck up,] template-Draus groaned.
Her voice echoed out from his mind, and both template and the original version of Chambers burst in open laughter. The Hidden Fla gave an apologetic grunt. Got carried away.
[Yeah. Everything that feeds your pride carries your ass off to joy-land,] template-Draus grumbled. [Jaus. It’s like you can’t wait to find a reason to suck yourself off.]
In Avo’s defense, he had many reasons to be proud of himself. He was an incredible, unique being, and that was objective fact.
[And there he goes again,] Abrel murmured. Despite her morose mood, she started making suckling noises under her breath, and a few million other templates joined her, actively mocking their “maker” from within. R̃άＮőＢЁⱾ
Across the link, Chambers started choking from laughter.
As the mirth died, Avo proceeded to business. Is good to see you. But need to stay quiet. Can’t have my presence be revealed.
Oh? Chambers asked, his mind ringing with curiosity. So. Cast the details. What are we doing?
There’s soone I need to talk to through you. Using the Stormsparrow as a vessel. Will act through her. Need to reach my cycler farm. Need to use you to get to the Ori in the anti.
The Ori? Chambers’ thoughts sobered with worry. Is there a Necro here? A Sleeper? So half-strand using a Heaven of Sneakiness to fuck us? Because… like, rcy hasn’t noticed shit and Naeko’s got his palm pressed down on the ring. Got Axtraxis contained too.
Not exactly a Heaven of Stealth, Avo said, wondering if the Majority was watching him right now. Ignorance sensed nothing—and if there was a ti for Ignorance to be aware if he was being watched, it would be now. But close enough. Designed to circumvent your awareness anyway. Isn’t just a Heaven either. Is an Ark. An Overheaven. Works a bit like .
Like you? How the fucking hells did they manage that? Do they have a fragnt of your Fra?
Avo wanted to say no, but he stopped himself. He didn’t actually know. Frankly, there was a lot he didn’t know about the Majority. But he would learn. One way or another.
Unsure if they have my Fra, Avo continued. Doesn’t matter. Don’t intend to burn them. Yet. Have a use for them. Have things I can offer. Things I want.
Alright, Chambers said, sounding a bit disquieted about how a hostile presence was lurking on the ring without his awareness. Still he trusted Avo. And the Hidden Fla noticed a particular Bond gliding deeper into the golden ichor surrounding the Stormsparrow, passing into the realm of ti before spreading out like a fraying rope.
Chambers trusted Avo. Trusted him more than he trusted anyone else. And in a way, that was more love than most knew.
So, after you do that… Chambers began, sounding a bit awkward. You gonna stay or leave again. You vanished after our encounter against Uthred.
Sorry. Had an opportunity. Had to take it. But I’ll be lurking. For now. Need to better understand the situation on the outside. Might have sothing to show you and the others soon. But need you to bring the Stormsparrow in. Need her to mingle with the Sang.
The Lovebringer reacted without hesitation, pulling the Stormsparrow across space with by reeling in his Bonds. Avo noted how his miracles functioned. The effects of correspondence glided parallel to that of space, but it was also sothing more, sothing far freer—like a series of connections beyond the constrain of the physical or even ntal. It was, in a simple
Yeah… yeah, you got it, consang. No problem. Hey, if you got the ti, you should speak to Draus—and Cas! And do you know where Dice—
Chambers. Will deal with all that soon. But then Avo paused, and he realized there was one more person Chambers should speak to. It would be helpful to her psyche as well. Actually. Did find a few of our cadre. Recovered them. Kae?
[Aedon,] Kae said, mustering as much faux-professionalism as she could. Despite her years of pedigree, her physical form remained mouse-like, and her presence was far too pleasant to manage anything resembling intimidation. [You certainly seem better at using it than I did. Though there are things about its design that—]
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Kae, Chambers whimpered? For a mont, his mind dissolved into a thoughtless vortex of emotions. A tidal wave of sha, disbelief, and sorrow crashed through him. But he didn’t collapse. He was more dumbfounded. Two mories ignited—him finding what remained of her body; him holding her as she broke down before Zein all those weeks ago. Holy fuck. I knew… I knew you couldn’t be… I’m so godsdamned sorry.
And even beset by emotional turmoil, Chambers continued to work. A far cry from the sloppy, incompetent Enforcer from down in the gutters. The Stormsparrow began to hum as she vanished into the hands of love. Instantly, she was drawn into the Lovebringer’s body and reconstructed on the other side—materializing in the midst of the No-Dragon delegates while Naeko was speaking to the “Inner Council.”
“Hello, friends!” The Stormsparrow cheered aloud.
Several of the No-Dragons jumped. Green River’s fox-form let out a piercing shriek. Which went up an octave as she noticed who was standing right next to her. Her cry of alarm was shared by several others, and the present Dowagers cracked and stumbled over each in a desperate attempt to get away from the Fallwalker.
“No, no!” Brilliant Orchard shouted. Suddenly, Naeko’s conversation with the Ori—or whatever else they were about to reveal—was derailed as Brilliant Orchard tried to gallop away from the Stormsparrow. “Why! Why did you bring her here!”
Naeko let out an annoyed groan as he turned to judge the commotion. “Bring motherfuc—oh, motherfucker. Chambers! Why is she here?”
Mists coalesced around Brilliant Orchard, holding her tight and preventing her from stampeding into the hapless Ori. In the corner of the room, Shotin and Valhu held each other tight, indifferent to what was happening beyond them. Avo winced slightly, and inside he felt Kare’s heart break into pieces.
Embracent cost everyone sothing. Even Avo. Especially Avo.
What? Chambers said, coughing to keep his voice clear of emotion. His mind was still locked to Kare, but a lifeti of wriggling his way through terrible bosses and horrible encounters ensured he could act like he wasn’t affected. She was flying up through the atmosphere. I could have invited her in, or she would have done a weird dance on that stage, thrown so masks at us, and we would all be eunuchs or sothing.
The Stormsparrow grinned. “Now, now, I only have a few masks that bestows such a role on soone. Not nearly enough for all of you to learn what it ans to be neutered. Most of you should rest easy, for statistically, you are safe.”
Naeko just stared at the Fallwalker with a weary expression on his face. “Sparrow. Can you do a favor and, I don’t know, fuck off sowhere? I’m trying to get actual work done, and I don’t have the ti to fight you right now. This is serious shit.”
“And I am here to partake in this serious business,” she said, nodding sincerely. As sincerely as she could. All there of her heads clenched their jaws tight and kept their stares fierce, but there was still sothing deeply girlish about the way she acted. “In fact, I co bringing other Dowagers. Well, another Dowager from within the collapsed Tiers.”
Imdiately, the mood shifted. Naeko’s eyes narrowed, and his accretion spun at twice the revolutions it did before. “You made it out?”
“Yes. Praise whoever unleashed the grand Ruptures, for a feeble servant such as I could have never found an exit so.”
Avo got the feeling she was taunting him sohow. He was coming to understand why so many found the Stormsparrow annoying. The Fallwalker remained inscrutable, even to him, and everything she did seed planned but also directionless, like she was stumbling down a path of fate herself.
The Chorus compels her. Shaped her. Now we all suffer for it, Ignorance grunted. And are blessed. Better to be alongside her than against. Might be more asymtric than we are.
Avo noted that, and let the Stormsparrow play to her audience. Instead, his used Ignorance to strip the color from his flas. His Conflagration broke in two paths. The first went for Shotin and Valhu. Avo could feel how cracked their egos were from where he lingered—and it wouldn’t do. anwhile, the rest of his considerable ntal crawled across existence to burrow into each of the Ori. They tunneled deep into their beings, their minds, and their Souls thereafter, and for a few monts, Avo perceived nothing and sensed nothing.
However, Ignorance let out a chuff of amusent. Where the Hidden Fla was blind, his Definent was burning with awareness.
They are here… No. Not just here. Everywhere. Lingering around Shotin and your cadre too. See patches of shadow looming over Jaus—other delegates. The Ori especially. Can hear them arguing. Trying to understand what is happening. Where the Stormsparrow ca from.
The Hidden Fla regarded that with rising anticipation. A trickle of knowledge rose above his subconsciousness like supplies from a sunken vessel. He was getting deeper—and still going. By now, most egos and Fras would be subsud, but guided by Ignorance, he felt himself pour down a series of deep tunnels that kept going and going. Soon, his Conflagration even ceased to registered on the tapestry.
This was a first. For the first ti in a while, Avo was venturing into a path truly unknown, toward a destination he couldn’t perceive.
For all the things he could levy against Ori-Thaum, the Majority was a true work of art. Sothing masterful.
[Sothing shaful,] Zein snorted with disgust. [If we held to our traditions and lived up to our worth, what need would there be for such hidden movents? What need would there to create such a silent and impotent Ark.]
Avo didn’t chastise Zein directly. Instead, he drew upon a mory. A mory of her, him, and Veylis all sharing a common death at the end of the trial.
[And what does this prove?] Zein asked. [That they should be lauded because the greatest threats resolved one another. They will not last. Even without us.]
“The Substance failed to consu the Ori. To even displace them. Without Ignorance… wouldn’t have noticed at all. What use is a sword if it cannot protect you against a dagger? What point is a duel if you just die?”
Zein, however, simply sneered. [I would have noticed. I would have found a way to best them.]
He would have called her delusional, but Zein Thousandhand was nothing if not hard to kill. She might have been a stubborn child, but short of Avo himself, Naeko, or soone in their caliber, the direct elimination of the Godslayer was sothing that could only manifest in delusions and dreams for most.
Just then, Avo felt himself slip past a threshold, and suddenly, Ignorance began to laugh.
See them now. See them hiding in this darkness. Hear them. Hear them.
And a second later, Avo did as well. The Majority’s voice ca in desperate chatters and panicked please.
“What is this?”
“Fire! Fire in the nothing! Fire coming to burn us!”
“Calm. Calm yourselves! It is rely an ontological glitch. Calm—it—”
“Vote to collapse systems. Go dormant! Need to go dormant now! We are compromised!”
Then, through the clamoring of a few hundred billion voices ca a resounding declaration, spoken from a synchronous chorus that lingered at the core of the Majority.
“Enough! COMPOSE YOURSELVES! This is no fire. No fire at all…”
Avo’s unawareness peeled away as he found himself sowhere deep and dark. He was sowhere else in the tapestry. Sowhere between countless other patterns. The current miracles he danced upon were close to the mind, but not quite the sa. They ran analogous to perception, but constituted far more. It was related to knowledge, but was more than the accumulation of details.
His Conflagration shaped itself into the form of the Strix, and as he drifted just a bit closer, he found himself lighting a colossal form. Its body was stitched together from countless dancing shadows, and upon closer inspection, it seed like a giant of a person made out of countless smaller people.
Yet, there was sothing else to note about its design.
There was a lack of eyes—showing clean holes where there should have been visual organs on a person. The ears were turned inwards, leaving only a ss of twisted tissue outside. There was no mouth or nose either. Only the shape of a head lingering in place. But the bulk of the Soulfire sustaining this being was rooted at its core, surrounded by twenty-two figures whose shadows lood over even Avo, as if cast by a bonfire in a cave.
Ignorance let out a soft chuckle. Inner Council. We et again. Apologies. Would have liked to co see you sooner. Other matters demanded first attention. Other matters. Other interests.
The Majority was about to break into an outpouring of outrage, but the Inner Council silenced them.
“Why are you here, Drear. What do you want?”
Slowly, the burning Strix spread its wings wider, and as Conflagration expanded, Avo showed the realm within his Soulscape as well, revealing all his templates standing on the edge of his inner reality, facing the other gestalt with naked judgnt and open challenge.
To strike a bargain. To call for an alliance. Feels fitting.
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