Chapter 8-19 The Second Cycle (II)

Chapter 8-19 The Second Cycle (II)

"What the fuck is she doing? She's supposed to take the Frame! She's not suppose to to play with it? Whatever the Hell that thing is. That doesn't look like a godsdamned Hunger to me."

"I think it's a bioform."

"A bioform with a Liminal Frame? Come the fuck on, Valerie. That's like giving a nu-dog the mem-keys to a golem."

"Voidwatch has its uplifts."

"Yeah. Uplifts. No bioforms. One's a sophont; the other's got enough ghosts haunting their mind that they have to listen when you cast at them or they have a mental breakdown. Besides, no voiders going to be putting thaum-shit into themselves. They can barely stay zero with all the grounders doing it."

-Cas eld'Canduir to Valerie Denton, Ninth Column

8-19

The Second Cycle (II)

Both Zein and the Heaven froze, caught off guard by his request for permission.

I apologize. I am unused to such courtesy.

He grunted. Will make you more potent. Me, more potent.

Zein looked between them and inched closer. You know, the old god has no choice in this matter. She suddenly frowned, realizing something. Wait. She has been talking this entire time. How is that possible. I broke her.

Avo turned his attention to Zein. Just noticed?

I was distracted. By other things. Like the future and your Soul and ah She threw up her hands. Bah. Whats a talking god, Ive seen it before. But but it doesnt have control over you or

No.

Then why not just change it?

A hint of annoyance entered Avos tone. Not my flavor. Not a Low Master. Want it to choose.

The elder Godclad stared at him for a moment before she nodded. Ah. Don't we all dedicate ourselves to strange obsessions.

In this, she reminded him a bit of Walton. For one who enjoyed combat so much, there was little actual harshness from her in things unrelated to direct violence. She was well-natured. Too well-natured. The discord she presented twisted at him.

Build me, the Woundshaper spoke with a sigh. For the million deaths we will come to taste. Build me.

Zein held up a victorious fist. Avo gave a single command.

The flames did the rest.

The burn did not come as a forge would melt an ingot this time, not like when it was inverting a Heaven down to a Hell. Instead, Avo found himself watching as his resplendence broke into flaming needles, threading at both the Woundshaper and the shrouded Heaven, binding them with searing bridges that drew them closer with each rippling flicker.

Before the shine of his Soul, the Woundshaper changed again, the unknown Heaven melting into the threadsnow seeming more like veinsinto the Heaven of Blood.

Before his eyes, the Woundshaper evolved, its ontology mutating.

No noise of pain or agony came from the former god, but he could feel its shock as it rose, expanded in both mass and shape.

From the tower's back burst insect-like wings grown from the armored spine of the Woundshaper. Veins expanded and spilled through his Heaven like bleeding briar patches, while the alchemized patterns of tungsten and matter within the tower-top jaws of the Woundshaper sprouted shimmering horns of upward raining particulates; the shape of the luminosity befitted a deer or a moose.

Then, the first of the paradoxes appeared. Space fractured in three parts around the Heaven, causing it to part into three fractals.

This displeases me, his Woundshaper said, voice thick with confusion, watching as its midsection folded over its spire.

Zein sighed, lament written clear on her face. Bah. The Domain of Space is absolutely ruined. A shame. A spatially separated entity is an amusing blade to wield: Have you ever cut someone in three places with a single strike cut three hours ahead of time?

The thought of performing such an act appealed to Avo, if for naught but novelty.

Pain? Avo asked the Woundshaper. He was connected to its being, but the way it suffered might be different than what he understood. He wanted to hear its words. Comprehend its hurt from a gods perspective.

Fragmentary. And also slick.

As its changes stabilized, Avo waited for a beat to see if Woundshaper would see any other alterations. None came.

RESURRECTION - 64%

HEAVEN - [WOUNDSHAPER]

DOMAIN: (BLOOD/MATTER)

THAUMIC REQUIREMENTS - 781 THAUM/c

Other than a few reverberations sloshing through its blood, the Heaven seemed mostly stable. It had more than doubled in mass and size. Parts of it continued to jump and fracture twisting fractals in space. Studying the canon, Avo immediately noticed the problem.

DOMAIN OF SPACE

CANON: ORAVINS UMBRELLA - ALL GASEOUS AND LIQUID MATTER CAN BE PULLED UPWARD INTO A UNSEEN PLANE OF SPACE; MASS LIMIT: 100 TONS

HUBRIS: NO PHYSICAL MATTER MAY BE STORED IN EACH PLANE

Zein tilted her head at that. Hm. Well, theres a contradiction.

Was constantly pulling hydrapedes into demiplanes, Avo said. Ever seen something like this?

A few times, Zein said. Thaumic sabotage, I believe. Deliberate sacrifices meant to taint a Heaven. Usually impossible without an Agnos aid.

Or someone like you, Avo asked.

She didnt deny it. You will soon come to find that breaking things is far easier than mending them. And more fun. This Domain is clearly not designed for combat, and therefore useless. Do away with it.

Yes, the Woundshaper said, grunting as its base was suddenly sliding over where its tip was, remove this. The sensations are growing most displeasing.

Upon ordering the inversion of the Domain, the waves of his Soul sliced into his Heaven and this time, the Woundshaper did shudder. It sounded like a gasp, the sound someone makes when a limb is lost or the air pulled from their lungs. Clutched by a fistful of light, broken fractals of space formed a shape of an umbrella as it was drawn into his Souls embrace.

The mem-data updated.

HEAVEN - [WOUNDSHAPER]

DOMAIN: (BLOOD/MATTER/LUMINOSITY/BIOLOGy)

THAUMIC REQUIREMENTS - 672 THAUM/c

A good leaning, Zein said. Look at the other canons. What are these canons? She made a disgusted noise. This isnt shaped to benefit violence at all! Whats the point.

Think it was for something ecological, Avo said. Was connected to a hydroponic chamber. Had gardens.

Zein scoffed. Did these gardens grow weapons?

Dont think so.

Then I despise these gardens, Zein declared. Foul. Invert this Heaven too. Better used as a supplement to your Hell than this. She shook her head. My beloved was a fool, do you know that?

Avo didnt.

He had a yearning. A dream. To see all uplifted under a common Heaven. Zein sighed. The fool. The absolute, gold-hearted fool. He even wanted to restore the gods afterward. With new safeguards, of course.

Restore? The question came from Avo and the Woundshaper both, their surprise bringing them to a synchronous union.

Indeed, Zein said. For despite the Godsfall, he always viewed them more as misguided administrators than tyrants to destroy. I suppose he was right, if we regard them ontologically.

Her knowledge came as accountings of the past. Whatever the Guilds claim the gods to be, the Agnosi, know they are all wrong. Only Voidwatch holds the true key to the past, and yet they hide much from us. I think they are afraid we might finish what came before.

Finish what? Avo asked.

HELL - [THIRD CIRCLE] - WOUNDSHAPER

DOMAIN: (MATTER/ENTROPY)

THAUMIC REQUIREMENTS - 450 THAUM/c

REND VENTS ONLINE

CANON: THE BREATH OF THE WITHERED - THE MASTER OF THIS DOMAIN CAN NOW EXPEL THEIR TOTAL REND INTO AN ENTROPIC GUST OF WIND THAT CAUSES THE RAPID DESTABILIZATION OF MATTER; ALL PHYSICAL MATTER WILL BE AFFECTED ASIDE FROM THE MASTER - THIS CANON IS ABSOLUTE

CANON: THE BARRAGE OF THE WITHERED - LAUNCHES A ENTROPIC CONSTRUCT FROM THE MASTER COMPRISED OF ENTROPY WHICH CAN THEN BE CONTROLLED AND GUIDED; ALL PHYSICAL MATTER WILL BE AFFECTED ASIDE FROM THE MASTER - THIS CANON IS ABSOLUTE

DAEMON: EXPELLING EXCESS ENTROPY INTO A SINGLE POINT OF MATTER WILL BIRTH AN ANATHEMA OF RUIN TO SERVE AS THE MASTERS ANATHEMA; THE ANATHEMA CANNOT BE SLAIN AND MUST BE STARVED

DAEMON: SHOULD THE CONSTRUCT NOT STRIKE AND DISSOLVE MATTER FOR THE TIME IT TAKES THE HEAVEN TO FILL WITH REND, THE MISSILE WILL BIRTH AN ANATHEMA OF RUIN TO SERVE AS THE MASTERS ANATHEMA; THE ANATHEMA CANNOT BE SLAIN AND MUST BE STARVED

With a surge of brightness, he felt his Hell expand, the imbalance between Heaven and Hell stabilizing. Even the eldritch flames began to flow more evenly around the Woundshaper.

YES! The Woundshaper bellowed. FINALLY! A PROPER PEDESTAL FOR A GOD! WORSHIP ME! GLORY TO ME!

With bated desire, Avo directed his focus to activate his new cycler, splitting the flow of thaums near-even between them as a test.

(WOUNDSHAPER) THAUMIC OUTPUT - 486 THAUM/c

(GALESLITHER) THAUMIC OUTPUT - 485 THAUM/c

REASSEMBLING HEAVEN

MODIFYING WOUNDSHAPER

GRAFTING HEAVEN - 100%

REVIEWED - MYTHOLOGY STABLE

REASSEMBLING HELL

MODIFYING WOUNDSHAPER - [THIRD CIRCLE]

GRAFTING HELL - 100%

REVIEWED - MYTHOLOGY STABLE

GRAFTED HEAVEN - WOUNDSHAPER

DOMAIN: (BLOOD/MATTER/BIOLOGY/LUMINENCE)

THAUMIC REQUIREMENTS - 450 THAUM/c

REND VENTS ONLINE

GRAFTED HELL - [THIRD CIRCLE] - WOUNDSHAPER

DOMAIN: (MATTER/ENTROPY)

THAUMIC REQUIREMENTS - 450 THAUM/c

REND VENTS ONLINE

Suddenly, Avo found himself within the Woundshaper as well, the flames of his Soul clasped firmer by a second dragon. With but a shift of an angle, he twisted from Galeslither to Woundshaper, as if an alteration of axis shifted him between flavors of reality.

Ah, the Woundshaper said, pleased that it was perpendicular to the Galeslither. Now we are mounted upon the steed, master. Onward. Onward and away. The Galeslither can be put to proper service for the superior goddess; its rightful place has been uncovered.

Careful, little dagger, Zein said. You will wish to consider your distribution for if you wish to rise high or grow wide. Your Woundshapers demands are far greater. Portion your cyclers well. But do it afterward. After you finish spending your final Domain.

(WOUNDSHAPER) THAUMIC OUTPUT - 910 THAUM/c

(GALESLITHER) THAUMIC OUTPUT - 61 THAUM/c

One dragon brightened substantially. The other dimmed. A clashing luster came from bother their scales as the brighter dragon spun faster while the other worked to a more muted pace.

Yes. He did have one more Domain of Space, didnt he?

Cant use it on the Hell? Avo asked.

Best put it in the Heaven anyway, Zein said. Youre running a Galeslither at baseline. So, its draining from space displace or momentum vectors. With your Sangeist

Woundshaper. The Heaven of Blood bubbled with new glee, prodding at itself as if a young child gazing upon their reflection in a reflective pond. If a reflective pond was a Hell meant to balance them.

--You probably already have the means to deal with your Rend, no?

True as that was, Avo didnt want to overload his Galeslither. To strip himself of enduring wings was a mistake of the highest order. Without his Yondergales, without his Heaven of Wind, his world would shrink anew, and his freedoms would be denied again.

Running the simulation, options came and changed. Mem-data danced through his mind as he studied his options. Augmentations influencing speed and space played on the strings of his avarice, while the cost demanded in weight of thaums sank into his hopes like a dagger. Smaller transparent attachments to the Galeslither teased him with improvements in utility, but in truth, his mind was made.

Going to wait, Avo said. Wait until I get another Galeslither. Build the Heaven. Even the Hell.

Zein shrugged. Youre being too conservative, I think. You should unchain yourself more. Indulge.

He stared at her. You know what I am?

What you were, Zein said. From what Ive seen, youre quite the well-disciplined cannibal. So well-disciplined that your father gave you the keys to his kingdom. Or, at least, to his basement.

A moment's pause parsed the void. The fires were beginning to trickle upward. The time was almost upon him.

RESURRECTION - 99%

Just before the end, she smirked, turning to Fancy a bet, Fallwalker?

Fallwalker? Avo asked.

Are you of a Guild?

No.

Then Fallwalker is what you are. She considered her words. Ostensibly, at least. By your apprenticeship, I suppose this makes you a terrorist against the state powers in a more fixed sense but who is to know?

Avo hummed, a note of anticipation staining. Whats the bet.

Do you think you can manage to kill me? Her question came half-ask, half-taunt. Or will you still be as you were against meas helpless as a worm fighting an eagle? Even if I were to forgo the full use of my chronology.

He didnt answer her immediately. The brightness began to build. Upward, he felt his Soul begin to ascend. He made a final adjustment to his Souls root functionschanging how he wanted to transition after his resurrection. Lets find out.

Yes, master, his Woundshaper concurred, Use your enemys aid to see them dead. I approve of your machinations.

Whats the gambit? Avo said, wondering just how close Zein was to Bright-Wealth.

Succeed and I will offer you a Heaven. One to protect you against time, perhaps.

If he could salivate, he would. Lose?

Then we both have fun. Godclads do not lose. That is for mortals and fools who forget to vent. But it will hurt. And I will continue killing you until I get bored, or you succeed.

Fun. Hows your memory in your old age? Dont want to kill you accidentally.

Zein threw her head back and laughed. What hubris! Magnificent! A Godclad I will make of you yet.

And inward, into the flames he fell, the bright consuming his mind, and reloading him into reality.