Chapter 1806 - 1806: Promise (2)

Earlier – before Skullius returned to the Sanguine Suite…

The Vacuum Fiend was trickier than Skullius had expected. He'd intended to loosen his grip on it after reaching the Bosom, but the instant he tried it, the Vacuum Fiend attempted to utilize its incredible affinity with Eklhesh to escape not just his binding of Ju`wtte, but the Bosom as well.

Indeed, with its powers, it could come and go as it pleased from the Bosom or any one of the Warmoth's dimensions – barring those steeped with aspects of the |Greater Cosmic Law|, of course.

It was a haunting discovery, but welcome, nonetheless. Skullius assumed the utmost care with his grip on the Fiend.

'I don't know what that essence in the Tors Lampion is exactly, but it must have powerful spatial properties. If any of the Warlords and Generals can use it to enter any dimensional space they please, like these Fiends…'

That would be horrifying, but Skullius dismissed that theory.

'If that were the case, why would they all bother with that whole elaborate plan to lure the Vacuum Fiends out into the open to destroy them instead of attacking them from their hidden habitat…'

Put that way, it did make sense. However, a part of the Hybrid just didn't want to deal with a problem like this, in addition to the fact that he had to watch out for a whole host of enemies with access to higher Patronage Rank Guidance Field functions at the same time.

Skullius sighed, glaring at the odd creature in his grasp. It had stopped squirming once he reestablished his hold over it, but its fury and hostility against him was bleeding over through those soulless eyes.

'But you are going to help me level those threats out.'

All Skullius had to do, now that he had activated [Instant Embodiment of Perfection] and assumed the First Phase of the War Body, was meet the conditions to acquire his full power and finally make progress on all his projects.

The required time soon elapsed, and Skullius, calling on all three of the Great Revelations – the Storm Baker, the Garmma Mail and the Kharnio-Glyss – filtered into the fourth dimension seamlessly to withdraw the prize he had left behind.

Boron's corpse.

Shortly after retrieving it (and continuing to hold the Vacuum Fiend), Skullius warped into the Mobile Maverick Library.

Paliothese looked terrible. He'd already been the perfect template for an immense, decaying, severed Deity head, but now, he looked like something even more haunting. It didn't help that he could hardly muster any strength from his Broader Existence. Skullius had tried to utilize some of the resources in the Bosom to help ease his pain, but it was no use. The bluish miasma on his neck stump seemed to be inflicting the most pain.

Paliothese only persisted this long and hard because…

Ah, look at you…

Upon seeing the Authority of the Null Verse garbed in the fullness of his might, the Deity – the Prime Worlder – rejoiced. There were no falsehoods in his intent. Skullius knew that now, after feeling every bit of his (Paliothese's) desires – his plights – pulsate through his soul. They never wavered or trembled or dimmed for doubt.

Even now, his joy was authentic. Skullius felt a gaze so hot that he would have thought a living flame was scanning him from head to toe.

You're like one of the Named – glistening in a glory not even Thyrgga has felt before. I knew fortune drew me back to the living for a reason.

The glaze came after a rough wheezing from Paliothese that the Sovereign of Refined Anarchy noticed had grown ten times worse since he last spoke to him.

Skullius drew the Vacuum Fiend away from him, but kept it bound with his Benighted Ju`wtte firmly. His Storm Baker floated above the Fiend, its forked end pointed at the creature's head. He then slipped out of the Garmma Mail and sat in midair in front of Paliothese's immense, empty eye socket.

The Deity head made an egregious attempt to turn to an upright position. The metallic rings that made up his beard caused great bursts of noise when they collided from the clunky motion. Finally, the Deity managed it.

For a few minutes, the two appraised each other in the absolute silence.

…And then Skullius said:

"It appears there are more Prime Worlders here. They are sharing my accommodations, in fact. What do you make of that?"

Guests here for a different purpose than mine, I'm sure. They are proud residents of Paradise – no friends of yours.

"You sound certain."

I know my people.

"If you say so."

There was another pause, this one much longer than the last. Then it was Paliothese's turn to break it.

I'm not a fool, you know? I don't count on Direction alone to solve my faults and their consequences. Young as you are, you are not a fool either.

Skullius said nothing.

You waited. You watched – biding your time. You weighed the worth of my plight and found it worth bothering with. I daresay, I gave a good pitch, but I don't believe – even for a second – that that's what won you over in the end.

"What then? You think I'm doing this out of the kindness of my heart?"

No. Your eyes, they are full of responsibility, and not just because of that collection of subordinates of yours. I can recognize a parent rather easily, you see, even one who isn't so keen on bearing that burden in its entirety just yet.

"Well read."

Paliothese gave another drawn-out wheeze. It almost sounded – or perhaps, felt – like a laugh.

I was not mistaken about your nature, after all.

"Mostly," said Skullius, sighing. "I am naïve, actually, and optimistic, moreso than I should be here in a territory as dangerous as this one. So many things are new to me, like bearing strength as immense as this, having loyal followers… and being a father. That last one – believe it or not – scares me the most, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since leaving my children."

"But in this time of anxiousness, Direction sees it fit to lay you before me, casting your burden on me – just the kind of burden I decided I would use these powers of mine to bear, if I can help it. I can't possibly reject it, can I?"

Another pause.

Do you want to know the last words my son said to me before I was executed?

Skullius wasn't sure he wanted to know, but he'd given Boron the chance to say whatever he wished at the end of his life. He would be fair now too.

"Tell me."

Paliothese gave a shaky breath. It took him another minute to compose himself.

He told me, I hope whatever hell you're going to after this makes you miss that Paradise you hate so much.

…

Skullius had no words for that. Whatever wisdom he thought he'd accrued from his battle on Aigas, it gave him no way to console Paliothese. In fact, it only made him imagine Quillith and Mohrane telling him something similar in the future.

Would he be so high, mighty, and composed then?

He gulped. Another harrowing thought.

Could it be… Could it have been…

Did the Warmoth experience something similar when his children were being violently torn up by the Cold Oblivion? Did they have hateful words to say before they passed as well?

A loud, subdued sobbing noise resounded in the Library, startling Skullius.

I never got to tell him what I was fighting for – what all that pain and patience was all for! I thought I was protecting him, that I had more time! I don't want him to live or die without realizing that… it was all for his sake!

Skullius shrank. He'd never felt sentiment so stark, so rich.

Suzamete, Boron, Quintess… None of them made him feel like this.

Curse me! What kind of father gets a second chance at life and still fails to save his son! Curse me, Skullius! I'm a fool! I'm the sediment – the filth – Reality was supposed to drain before I ever conceived of bearing a child!

Their roles might have been reversed. Skullius might have been the one at Paliothese's mercy. He shrank further, the immense intent flooding his soul.

The Deity bawled. Self-pity, fury, and sorrow did a dance in what remained of him; and what remained was precious little.

But you know it all, Skullius. You know everything – my cause, my faults… that I only did what was right. Save my son. I beg of you. Save him. If not his body, then save his soul, at least…. I beg of you. Don't forsake… him. Please. He doesn't deserve to be punished. Have… mercy. I beg of you…

Skullius felt the embers in Paliothese thinning.

Lord Thyrgga… have mercy. Take me… He is innocent…

His mind was gone, fleeting, perhaps striding the memories from Consternals past.

Master Navvexr… Be merciful. Be cruel with me instead. I will… pay for it all tenfold.

…And the Prime Worlder's life faded. It ended before Skullius could reassure him.

The power and agency to do so... If he had claimed boldly that he would, without a doubt, against all odds, save the child… it would have been a lie.