The Creators Ch. 11

I shifted mindlessly between pressing bodies, tasted thoughtlessly of mouths and man, licked playfully upon the lips of the face and the lips of the sex. They finished inside me, pouring into my stretched ass, leaking into my defiled sanctity, and dribbling from my marred smiling lips. We ended up in a pile on the middle of the floor, the afternoon sun shining an azure tint through Brandon's canopy. We didn't speak, but enjoyed the warmth of each other, the fluids drying upon our forms, between our legs. I think we all knew we were standing at the precipice. We just didn't know what. I looked in Willowbud's greying eyes, and she stared back with only a hint of malice. Just a touch, but it was overwhelmed with a friendliness and a confusion that I hadn't seen before. In that hot and humid room, with the sounds of breath exhaling and the whispers of love, I made the decision to spare her life. I just hoped I wouldn't regret it.

Interlude Three: The Window

DIAMOND

I stared at myself in the reflection of a mirror. It was the only thing in this hole of Guilt's memory; a large pane of glass floating in a gilded frame above the stone floor, lit by the beam of chromatic light that shined from above. I'd tried to go up one of the spires, but the moment I stepped through the door, I'd fallen just like I had before. Now I was trapped in Guilt again, but at least I was afforded a moment of vanity. Of course, someone else's face suddenly showed in the reflection of the mirror, and I was squawking in fright, trying not to piss myself. It was Joy again; this time older than she'd been in the last memory. She looked to be twenty-something, but she didn't look too joyful. She stared distantly through the glass, her brow knitted in confusion, her mouth parted. Her blue sclera and irises dimly reflected my face, then she faded from view. This wasn't a mirror, it was a window, but to what?

"Where do they go?" a man's voice said from behind me. I turned to see a horned man sitting with his tail between his legs. Even though his face was twisted in grief, he was incredibly handsome. Satan, Corruption's father. "Why do they go?"

I turned around, but there was no one there. Like before, I was Corruption in this memory, or this nightmare, it was hard to tell. Satan dragged himself to his feet, and walked beside me. His face looked to have been carved by a master sculptor, his body was sinuous and corded with muscle, his hair was pure white, and his green eyes had reptilian slits for pupils that narrowed when he looked out the window. Judging by the way he put his arm around me, Corruption's relationship with her father was more than paternal. I wondered just how much incest had occurred between the divine triplets, the Holy Mother, and Satan.

Find out about the Life Giver, Angela's request echoed in my mind. One of these holes probably had a memory of Corruption's brother. Heck, one of them probably had a memory of the fabled Holy Mother herself, but I didn't have time to jump down every hole to find out. The answer to why Corruption existed would be in Chaos's center, and Angela would weaponize that information to deliver the knockout blow. I just needed to figure out how to get up the spire.

"What have we done?" Satan whispered, pulling me from my contemplation. I turned to see what he was looking at, and gasped. They were endless. Face after face streamed past the window, expressions of bewilderment showing back at me. They seemed to float in from the void, then they disappeared back into it. Satan dropped his head against the window, and closed his eyes. "We can fix this," he said, his breath fogging the glass. "We can forget this," he said, and it sounded like a plea.

"What?" I asked, knowing it was futile. "What can you fix? What happened? Who are these people?"

"Where do they go? Why do they go?" Satan just lamented, staring with existential horror at the scene out the window, "Do they know, or are they lost?" Satan looked right at me. "What's waiting for her on the other side?" Then Satan dropped to the ground, blood spurting from a gash in his neck, his eyes wide and frantic. He thrashed, clutching at his wound, kicking at the ground desperately as though trying to get away, but the mortal wound had already been dealt. A knife clattered to the stone beside me, and I looked at my hands to see there was blood on them. Satan's thrashing grew weak, and his face relaxed into surrendered acceptance. He stared sightlessly at the beam of light that circled his splayed form, then he stared at nothing at all. I knelt before him, trying to decipher the meaning behind it all. What had Corruption said in the spaces between his words? What had prompted her to kill her father? I looked at the window, frowning as the faces swam past the glass. Satan's face appeared, that bewildered expression strewn across his portrait. He looked at me, then he faded away to give space for another face.

"What's waiting for her on the other side?" I echoed Satan's words softly. Joy had died, and I'd seen her face in the window. Satan had died, and I saw his face just after. Was this a window to death? Or was this just the addled memory of an insane thought, twisted into something that never happened? Corruption at least thought it happened, and the memory burned a hole into her realm. But Corruption hadn't yet been 'Corruption' when this memory occurred, had she? Corruption is the filter between Chaos and Guilt. That's why there's no center in Corruption's realm; she's a construct of Chaos meant to stop her evolution. She's an artificial Sentient, which is why her realm is crumbling. I relayed the theory back to my garden, wondering what good it would do for Angela, Tera, Justina, and apparently, now Aunt Lucilla. I would've preferred that Aunt Lucilla not have been involved. One way or the other, Aunt Lucilla always got what she wanted, and I doubted she was hinging everything on what I could find here.

I stepped beneath the beam of light, and closed my eyes. I let the guilt wash over me again. I punished myself for every misstep, and magnified every mistake until it became the whole of my being, then I stood on Corruption's level, an open iron door exposing the dead landscape of shattered plateaus and foothills leading to spires. There was a new canyon in Corruption's realm, running jaggedly though the plateau I had walked upon to get here. I looked up at the dot of white high above me. If feeling Guilt gets me out of Guilt's realm, than feeling Corruption must get me out of Corruption's realm, but how do I feel Corruption?

"Well, that's simple, Diamond," I said to myself. "If Corruption really is just the filter between Chaos and Guilt, then what is her purpose? To take away the Guilt. And how does Corruption do that? By perverting it."

I closed my eyes. Passion was an old whore who got what was coming to her. Mom should have tortured her for longer before she killed her. Greed was an opulent slut who didn't deserve to exist. I should've dragged her to Hatred by her pussy hairs. I hope Mom swallows Corruption whole. I hope she burns this crap-pile of a world to a crisp. I hope she breaks Aunt Lucilla into the twisted wretch she truly is. I'll stand with my mother, watching the horizons smolder under the ash-falling sky, and I'll giggle. Then I'll get on my knees and spread myself for her, and we can revel on the corpse of earth.

I felt something cold and metal in my hand. I took a moment to let the horrid thoughts wash from me, then I opened my eyes, and saw that I was in front of an iron door. I looked down, and saw that I was standing on nothing. A great height of tunneled stone stretched below me into blackness, and my feet rested upon the air above it. I fought the vertigo, took a deep breath, and opened the door. I immediately shielded my eyes from the sudden blinding light. I took no steps, yet my soles felt damp soil that squished between my toes. I waited until my eyes adjusted, then I lowered my forearm to reveal the realm of Chaos. My heart jumped into my throat; my breath caught. I turned around and lunged for the door, but it was shut and locked, as immovable as a boulder.

"Angela! Arbitrus!" I screamed, but it was futile. No one could hear me. I wasn't even transmitting back to my realm anymore. But of course I wasn't. I turned to my left, and saw the thought I'd just had form against the wall. It was a statue of me pounding against the closed door, my face frozen in a horrific revelation. I gulped, and turned back around. Immense black clouds were illuminated by streaks of golden light, the rays bursting through the puffy reaches of storms, and casting over distant sheets of rain. The red, orange and yellow sky painted a dramatic ceiling over the endless landscape. Mountains jutted defiantly from the earth, fjords cut violently through it, and rolling hills contoured it between the extremes. Great rivers traversed the gashes in the landscape, before snaking to more gentler terrains, and emptying into bays. An ocean reflected the spectacular sky, its surface like glass, the storms to the east not touching it. A single marlin disturbed the medium, flew in an arc, then splashed silently back into the water. Great forests blanketed the hills, grasslands covered the plains, eagles glided through the fjords to catch fish in the streams below. Chaos wasn't a Sentient. Chaos was tethered. Chaos was alive.

Part Four: At the Precipice

FREYDIS

A lone high-elf stood on the balcony of the northwest tower, but even from a mile away, I could tell it was not the Bound One. It was the one called 'Sara,' the one who had ordered my violation, the one who the Bound One had promised I could kill when this was all over. Honor demanded that she die, but I had to admit, I would find satisfaction in her end. I debated whether I should accept her invitation. I knew why she was there. Sara was made of treachery, but she was pragmatic, and the Bound One was less so. I'd known the Bound One to be hard when hardness was necessary, but I also knew she'd only act as such after all perceived easier routes had been exhausted. The fact that Sara was standing alone on the balcony fifteen minutes after the Bound One was supposed to arrive told me that the Bound One thought she'd found an easier route, and Sara had corrected her. I sighed, unfurled my wings, and launched myself from the steeple I'd been stooped upon. It was time to rescue the Bound One, and have my vengeance. Justice. I corrected myself.

I'd painted silver streaks in my span, and donned one of the ridiculous robes Julia made her Breytans wear. The cowl covered my hair and face well enough, and from a distance, any exposed skin wouldn't be easily discerned from the beige complexion of the oriental samurai. Still, I was wary of every Breytan that glanced up at me, and I cringed to think what I'd have to do if they confronted me. Luckily, none did.

"Freydis?" Sara asked. I drew back my hood, and scowled at the little elf. She didn't even flinch, which was a testament to her bravery, I supposed. It was better to kill brave warriors than cowards.

"Where is the Bound One, bitch?" I snapped at her.

"Is that my name now?" Sara smiled. "I like it."

"Speak quickly!" I hissed drawing my axe.

Sara stepped right into my killing range, and stopped. "I've got her tied up and gagged in a closet."

"Traitor!"

"To Princess Flitari, sure," Sara shrugged. "But I don't serve her. Her Holiness is convinced that she's at the precipice of fixing Willowbud, but I've seen the damage her repairs have caused. Mercy can be seductive, and I was worried the princess had been ensnared by that seduction. Have you?"

I stared at her silently, wondering if I should decapitate her now, or later. "Have all the arrangements been made?" I asked instead.

"The Breytans won't be a problem, but the princess couldn't convince Her Holiness not to attend. She will be there."

"Will Her Holiness inquire after the Bound One's whereabouts?"

"Her Holiness asked the princess not to come with, much to the princess's objection. I've taken the role of intermediary between quarrelling lovers, and have informed Her Holiness that the princess has begrudgingly decided to honor her request."

"So, everything is set in place?" I asked. Sara nodded. I noticed the subtle way in which her arms dangled straight from her body, as though something rigid were hidden in her sleeves. She noticed that I noticed, and her smile grew a little wider. I snorted, and turned around.

"When this is done, I will track you down, and I will kill you," I said as I stepped to the balcony's edge.

"I look forward to it, High Guard," Sara chuckled.

"I am no High Guard," I took a deep breath. "The name 'Freydis Skyborne' will be a curse on every Ionan tongue until it is forgotten. When the deed is done, the Bound One will talk, and we will both be at the mercy of the Heat Bringer. I just hope I get to you before she does."

ANGELA

"She's just... gone," I muttered.

"What do you mean?!" Justina insisted for a third time.

"Her memories just stopped coming," I frowned. "The moment she went through Chaos's door, she stopped sending them back."

"Fuck," Tera sighed, pulling me out of her pussy.

"What do we do?" Justina said, her voice high with panic. She'd been getting more frantic with every minute we neared out deadline.

"We work with what we have," Tera scowled, and pulled a gemstone out of her ear. "Fucking communicator must be broken. I'll need to tell Lucilla about this."

"Don't!" Justina yelled. "Can't you see she doesn't trust us? If we tell her we lost Diamond, she's going to tell Julia!"

"Let's hold off on that, Tera," I said. "We'll tell Lucilla afterward. This doesn't change anything. Diamond is safe in Chaos's realm, and—"

"Safe?!" Justina hissed. "Angela, we don't know what Diamond found on the other side!"

"Only Julia can kill Diamond as she is," Tera said, "so we at least know Diamond's alive." Tera looked at me. "From what Lucilla told me, Corruption is barely hanging on to Willowbud. We need to strike now before she has a chance to strengthen the meld."

"We still don't have enough information!" Justina looked near to losing her mind. "We can't just barge head-first into an operation blindly with no idea what we're actually doing! We could make things worse! We could... Mom, what are you—no, no, stop! Stop! Stop... stop... don't stop... keep going... yessssss...." And Justina undulated happily against her mother, her violet eyes closing, her teeth biting her smiling purple lips. Her slender body twisted along her abdomen, her gyrating hips dancing to the music her mother's fingers played inside of her. She dropped her head on Tera's shoulder when Tera pushed her tail up her ass, and she moaned as her thighs quivered above her bent knees, which dug into the bedding with every shift of weight. Tera sweetly kissed her daughter's cheek, her violet eyes brimming with affection, then they hardened when she looked at me. "Are you ready?"

"Yes," I nodded.

"Let's go over it step-by-step," Tera said, easing Justina to a bent over position.

"I go with Julia and Lucilla to the Pit fight," I said, reciting everything that Justina, Tera, Lucilla and I had planned. "Lucilla will find a reason to get Julia out of the booth. That's when I kiss Willowbud. Corruption may or may not try to corrupt me, it doesn't matter. I tell her about Joy and Satan. Hopefully, that's enough guilt to make her change, if only temporarily."

"We only need a moment. Once she's Guilt, the meld breaks. I don't give a fuck if she changes back afterward, she just needs to be out of Willowbud."

"What about that window?" I asked.

"I think Justina's right; it's an abstraction. Her memories aren't pure memories; more like the guilt-ridden perceptions of them. They're like if you tried to visualize the emotions you felt when you remembered something," Tera replied, her fingers causing Justina to collapse into a twitching sprawl on the bedding.

"So many fucking variables," I frowned. "Justina's right about that too. We don't even know what's important. We still don't have the name of her Life Giver, and that was supposed to be our ace in the hole."

"Stick with the plan. Maybe we don't need her to remember the Life Giver. Maybe we have enough," Tera frowned. "No, there's no 'maybe' about it; we've got enough, Angela. It's going to work," Tera forced a smile on her face. "I can feel it! You got this, Angela!"

"You're absolutely inspiring," I snorted.

"I'm sorry," Tera sighed. "I've been a solo act my whole life. If you want a rousing pre-battle speech, maybe you should ask Astrid."

"Speaking of which..." I checked my wristwatch, "...you better get going."

"I almost forgot," Tera replied, and withdrew from her satisfied daughter. She nonchalantly sucked her fingers, then began pulling her boots on like she was about to go out for a night on the town instead of fight for her life before the entire city.

"Aren't you scared?" I asked.

"Terrified," Tera smiled, walking to the bench, and collecting her knife belt, "but fear is just the first obstacle you must hurdle toward success. Once you leap it, the path to the finish line becomes much clearer." Tera clipped her belt, then walked over to Justina, and kissed her intoxicated daughter on the lips.

"Good luck, Mommy," Justina whispered, her lust-drunk eyes staring their adoration. Tera pet her daughter's hair, smiled fondly, then shared her lips with me.

"I've made a copy of everything we've learned," Tera said, proffering a folder. "Gloria contacted me earlier today. I'm sending our info to her to see what she thinks."

"Does it even matter now?"

"Do you really think this ends tonight?" Tera asked. She let me linger on that question, then turned around, and left.

I cuddled with Justina on the bed, trying to find a way to hurdle my own fear. I didn't know why it was so strong. I was risking absolutely nothing in this operation. Maybe that was it. Julia had taken her soul to the brink, Tera had risked her life every night on the Pit sands, Diamond had risked her spirit in the astral plane, Lucilla had sacrificed her body, Justina had sacrificed her mind, and Astrid had sacrificed her honor. I'd sacrificed nothing, yet if I failed, everyone else's sacrifices would be in vain. Corruption would never be this weak again. I took a shuddering inhale of Justina's hair, trying to find courage in her touch, but Justina didn't offer that kind of comfort. She was a great friend, but she wasn't who I needed. Of course, I couldn't have who I needed. Not yet.

A booming knock on the door sent me jolting upright, but Justina just giggled on the bed. The familiar rap-rap-rap, pound, rap-rap-rap of Lucilla's secret knock sounded, and I breathed a sigh of relief, and opened the door for her. My first reaction was that Lucilla looked slightly different. My second reaction, was that there were ten Lucillas. Then I realized it was just Sara and nine of her elves, and the hair started standing up on my arms. Tera had left a blade by the door, and my hand crept slowly to it. I had Diamond's combat skills, but I didn't know if I had her killer instinct. I prayed that I wouldn't need to find out.

"Hi Sara."

"Hi Angela," Sara said with a smirk.

"Lucilla's got a big mouth," I frowned.

"And an even deeper throat, but I guess you know that, don't you?" Sara grinned.

"I've never actually had the pleasure," I said, my fingers grasping the handle of the sword, "but I'd love to know how deep you run."