Bro, I'm not an Undead!

1429  Another Time, Another Whim

'You were very ambitious, Asthon. More than I thought. I also misjudged your intent. You were a bit more selfish than you appeared,' said Azila, sitting down in the sky-themed domain. He was watching the chilling scene happening before Suzamete. Everyone, for some reason, observed silence. 'The path you made for us isn't cheap, but I get it now. Through a Territory and the creatures that form within it, we can learn to adopt mutations and Classes. But even then, we'll need a conduit, like Grim's Paradon Parody.'

He frowned.

'But… I suppose it can't be harder on us than it is on him.'

He was looking at Grim who had jerking and puking blood from all of his facial orifices. Yuyui was beside him, patting his back. The Esurient Hoarder had returned to his normal human form, but he looked worse than hell.

He refused to let Suzamete relieve him of his pain. It was obvious why. It was written all over his face.

His cheeks were traced with trails of crimson, as were the sides of his neck and his chin.

He was kneeling in a pool of his own blood.

Yuyui didn't know what to say anymore. She only hoped Grim didn't actually let himself die from blood loss. For an expert of his calibre, he'd have to choose to die that way.

Finally, the pour of blood ended.

Grim laid flat on his black against the canvas of crimson, looking up at the endless sky.

His lips trembled and tears dribbled from the edge of his bloodshot eyes. He drew in deep, hoarse breaths.

<It came at a great cost, I know.> Suzamete said. <It's a miracle that someone of your level can match the power of an average Chronocle Fiend. That is Divine power. Even with the amplification I gave you, it wouldn't have been possible without your inspiration, and Asthon's complex design. But even then…>

"I know," said Grim with a broken voice. "I'll wish I was dead after each use of that power."

<It's worse than that. Your body has grown a bit weaker. The next time you use the Paradon Parody to access that new form, you might actually die.>

Grim gnashed his teeth.

It hurt to hear that, but the feeling in his heart was worse. He wasn't sure why he was feeling like this himself.

Hadn't he just met Asthon?

Had Asthon really meant that much to him in the end? Yes. The answer was yes, and that was a damn shame.

The old bird and Grim had connected on a level he wasn't sure he would ever connect with anyone ever again. It was a short-lived connection, but it was extremely powerful. Man and beast had become thick and thieves in a matter of minutes. Trials tended to do have that effect.

The pain that burned Grim's heart was the yearning he held towards making that connection he had with Asthon last longer.

Why did that bastard just submit to death so easily?

Why did he suffer such a crude, gloryless death?

"Then I guess I have to get stronger," he said. His eyes were misty.

There was another bout of silence.

Jiggorrhax was sitting opposite Yuyui, on Grim's other side. He had assumed his human form, and was whole and well. Grim had purged the effect of Death's Tide on him before his time with King of Unforgiving Impermanence ended.

The dragon was watching Grim's grief with impassive eyes.

The Unlimited Star turned to look at Suzamete's incomprehensible figure.

"Can you really not bring him back?" he asked in a voice so soft, it might have not been real at all.

Suzamete had entertained this question more than twice since the group had returned to her domain. Grim found it hard to believe that with all her power she couldn't bring back that small, passionate bird.

Words would not suffice, Suzamete knew. Thus, she called forth one of her Fruit Bearers. He pulled his cart as he approached her. She must have given him some directive, because a moment later, a rift opened behind him and he went through it into Aigas.

Less than ten seconds later, he came back through the same rift and parked his cart in front of the Deitess. Everyone except Jiggorrhax watched curiously. The Fruit Bearer extracted a soul – one of a small woman with short hair – from his cart and offered it to Suzamete. The Deitess took the soul in her hand and what might have been a mouth opened on what must have been her face. She deposited the soul into it.

…!!!

Gasps and gapes flew about.

Suzamete looked at everyone one by one, appreciating their shocked faces.

They were all wondering why she had just devoured the poor soul. Of course they were. To normal humans, it was unusual. Why would she do that?

Jiggorrhax was surprised the Deitess would show them all this just to prove a point. It was unnecessary as far as he could reason.

<This soul I just devoured is from someone who was injured terribly during one of the battles between the remains of the Capital Service and a force of the Cavern in Pelian. One of the duties of my Fruit Bearers is to collect the souls of people like this, incapacitated, very ill, or near death. I feed on them to make myself stronger. All Deities – especially those involved in partnerships in the creation of a world – do this to increase their power; to regain the power they expend on their creations; or to give the poor, suffering souls a chance at being remade in another time, another world, another whim… Two of these are some of the selfish reasons Deities create worlds.>

Grim sat up, gaping. Yuyui opened her mouth to speak, but her worlds failed her.

Azila staggered.

"You… you eat the souls…?" Hauza stuttered, but everyone else seemed to have caught onto something more significant than that.

<Normally, the souls of the dead go to the Yormuness, where they are tended to by Spirits. The mechanism Quintess, Listafelle and I created will not allow us to touch any souls that have already passed on to the Yormuness, as a rule. We can't resurrect them either. It's part of the stringent limitations that come with creating a world in the great void.> Suzamete explained. <The Yormuness and my nourishment are the standard fates that await all souls I oversee in the end. Well, unless you count the involvement of anomalies or other Divines.>

Grim struggled to his feet. His face looked like how a wet towel felt.

"So, Asthon…" he began.

Suzamete allowed a pause and then she spoke.

<Asthon was waiting for one thing since he attached himself to the Royans. He was glad to die as long as he saw it happen. I allowed him to temper with the powers of humans, Sif and Giants back then, just so I could see how his story ended. But the end of that story was obscured with Boron's rise. Even I couldn't have known how he would die; if he would ever accomplish what he hoped – for other beasts and for his own selfish interest. But I do know that being revised and rewound wasn't the kind of extinction he would have hoped for. So…>

Grim's eyes grew wide. Even Jiggorrhax was taken aback. He had not expected that.

"What… you mean…" Grim stuttered. Hope flared in his eyes.

<In time, perhaps his essence will find its way into another little bird, wise, rebellious, cunning.> Suzamete said, but then her tone changed. She refused to spell it out for those who weren't keen enough to catch on. <But now isn't the time for mourning. The drapes of time need to be fixed. I need you to be strong, Grim.>

The Unlimited Star wore a small smile. He was one of those who caught on.

He couldn't have asked for too much more than this. Blood leaked from the edge of his mouth. He wiped it away.

"Right," he said and with a thought, he manifested the Paradon Parody. "Let's do it. Let's finish it."

Yuyui looked at him a little enviously. She nudged him on the arm.

"And you were getting all cranky about not finding your chance to shine against Nigerra," she said with a grin. "Bitter loser."

Grim chuckled.

"Yeah, I might just take a peek into the past to see how stupid I looked with all that bitterness," he said.

A vibration coursed from Suzamete right then that startled them all.

At first Grim thought it was because he had fibbed about time travelling for such a fickle reason, but he soon discovered that he was wrong.

Suzamete… gave a bark of laughter.

<Of course he was alive!> she exclaimed. <Just the variable we need!>

She saw something none of those in her domain saw. She saw someone approach Aigas – someone previously thought lost to the great void.

They would change the whole course of the Aigas' fate. Yes, indeed.

---

[Author's Note]

And that marks the end of this arc. Yeah, I know, it ended up being as long as Yuyui's but… oh well. Tough noogies!

Do tell me your thoughts. I know there are going to be a lot of… opinions. Questions, even!

But in any case, I should let ya'll know, we are swiftly approaching the end of our time in Aigas!

The climax of this part of the Volume is near and it will be…