Chapter 110 — Before the Maker
THE MAKER.
The word remained above Remus.
Nobody screamed anymore.
That was worse.
Thousands of people stood beneath it, staring upward.
Brook could hear the wind moving between the buildings.
Nothing else.
Then a child started crying.
The sound broke the silence.
Panic followed.
People began moving.
Questions.
Shouting.
Parents pulling children closer.
Soldiers trying to force order into a city that no longer understood what was happening.
Hades stood in the center of it all.
Still.
Brook looked at him.
"You know what that means?"
Hades didn't answer immediately.
"Yes."
Brook waited.
Hades finally looked at him.
"It means something is wrong."
Henry stared.
"That is the most terrifying answer you could've given."
Another word appeared.
Not in the sky.
On the palace.
GATHER.
Then another.
ALL.
Sera stared at them.
"The road wants everyone together."
Hades looked toward the crowd.
"Why?"
Sera shook her head.
"I don't know."
Brook looked at the words.
"Can you tell if it's a command?"
"No."
"Then what is it?"
Sera swallowed.
"A warning."
Lucifer's presence pressed against Brook's mind.
Harder than before.
Brook stepped away from the others.
"What do you know?"
Lucifer didn't answer.
Brook closed his eyes.
"Lucifer."
The darkness inside him moved.
When Lucifer finally appeared, he wasn't smiling.
That alone made Brook uncomfortable.
The Maker should not be able to touch this place.
Brook opened his eyes.
"What does that mean?"
It means one of two things.
Brook waited.
Lucifer looked toward him.
Either we are already too late…
A pause.
Or someone has opened a path for him.
Brook's eyes narrowed.
Elias.
The name didn't need to be spoken.
Brook turned.
Crowley was standing across the square.
Their eyes met.
Crowley understood what Brook was thinking.
"No."
Brook walked toward him.
Crowley immediately shook his head.
"No."
"You know where Elias is."
"I don't."
Brook stopped in front of him.
"Then tell me why you answered before I asked."
Crowley's jaw tightened.
Henry stepped closer.
"Brook."
"Stay out of this."
Henry looked offended.
"Not happening."
Brook turned toward him.
"This isn't your—"
"Stop."
Brook went quiet.
Henry rarely spoke like that.
Henry stepped between Brook and Crowley.
"This is exactly what he meant."
Brook's eyes narrowed.
"What?"
"Everyone keeps hiding things."
Henry pointed at Crowley.
"You."
Then toward Hades.
"Him."
Then at the city.
"And now we're standing under a giant message from the Maker."
Brook stared at him.
Henry's voice lowered.
"You don't get to turn on us because you're scared."
Brook went still.
Henry's face immediately changed.
Brook knew he had seen the truth.
Fear.
Brook looked away first.
Sera approached them.
"We have a problem."
Henry let out a breath.
"Finally, something simple."
Sera ignored him.
She pointed toward the crowd.
"The people aren't gathering."
Brook looked.
She was right.
The roads leading toward the palace were blocked.
Not by soldiers.
By words.
Huge letters had risen from the ground.
Stone.
Solid.
One word blocked every major road.
WAIT.
Hades stared.
"Who is controlling them?"
Sera shook her head.
"I don't think anyone is."
Brook looked at her.
"What?"
"The road is."
Crowley frowned.
"The road isn't alive."
Sera looked at him.
"You said that like you knew."
Crowley remained silent.
Sera walked away before he could answer.
Brook followed.
"Where are you going?"
"To find out what it wants."
Brook grabbed her shoulder.
"No."
Sera turned.
"Brook."
"No."
She looked at his hand.
Then at him.
"Let go."
Brook didn't.
"You almost died underground."
"I know."
"The road is changing the entire city."
"I know."
"And you want to walk toward it?"
Sera stared at him.
"Yes."
Brook's grip tightened.
Sera's expression hardened.
"Because nobody else is doing it."
Brook released her.
She took a step away.
"You can't protect everyone by standing in front of them."
Brook said nothing.
Sera looked toward the words.
"And you definitely can't protect people by making every decision for them."
The words stayed with him.
Sera walked away.
Brook watched her go.
Henry looked at him.
"She's right."
Brook didn't look at him.
"I know."
Hades approached Sera.
Brook expected him to stop her.
Instead, he said:
"I'll take you."
Sera looked surprised.
"No."
Hades frowned.
"No?"
"You have a city."
Hades looked toward the panic around them.
"I am the King."
"Exactly."
Sera pointed toward the soldiers.
"Act like one."
Hades stared at her.
Henry slowly stepped backward.
Brook almost laughed.
Sera continued.
"Get your people somewhere safe."
Hades looked toward the words blocking the streets.
"Where?"
Sera pointed toward the palace.
"Inside."
Hades looked at the building.
"The palace isn't large enough."
"Then figure something out."
Hades stared at her.
Brook watched something shift in the King's expression.
Sera wasn't challenging him.
She was trusting him with responsibility.
Hades turned.
"Captain."
A woman approached.
The same woman who had met them when they arrived.
"Your Majesty."
"Open the western halls. Every chamber. Every storehouse. Move the civilians inside."
The captain nodded.
"Immediately."
She ran.
Hades looked at Brook.
"I will handle Remus."
Brook nodded.
"Good."
Hades looked at Sera.
"And you."
Sera looked up.
"Don't die."
Sera smiled faintly.
"I'll try."
Henry watched Sera approach the eastern road.
Brook followed.
Henry moved with him.
Crowley did too.
Sera looked back.
"No."
Henry frowned.
"No what?"
"You're not all coming."
Brook stopped.
"Excuse me?"
Sera pointed at Henry.
"You need to stay here."
Henry stared.
"Why?"
"Because people are panicking."
"That's Hades's job."
Sera shook her head.
"No. It's everyone's job."
Henry opened his mouth.
Then stopped.
Sera continued.
"You're good with people."
Brook looked at Henry.
Henry looked at Brook.
"What?"
Brook shrugged.
"She has a point."
Henry looked personally betrayed.
"Seriously?"
Crowley looked at him.
"She's right."
Henry stared.
"Don't agree with them."
Crowley almost smiled.
Henry looked toward the crowd.
Then sighed.
"Fine."
Sera pointed toward the soldiers.
"Help them move people."
Henry nodded.
Then stopped.
"What about you?"
Sera looked toward the road.
"Brook."
Brook frowned.
"What?"
"You're coming with me."
Henry smiled.
"Of course."
Brook looked at him.
"Go."
Henry raised both hands.
"Going."
Crowley remained.
Sera looked at him.
"You too."
Crowley frowned.
"What?"
"Stay."
Brook looked at her.
"Crowley should come."
Sera shook her head.
"No."
Crowley stared at her.
"Why?"
Sera looked toward the palace.
"Because you're the only person here who knows what these symbols might mean."
Crowley looked away.
"I don't know enough."
Sera stepped closer.
"Then learn."
Crowley stared at her.
She didn't blink.
Finally, he nodded.
Brook watched him turn and head toward the palace archives.
For once—
Crowley was moving because someone else had told him to.
Not because he was running from a secret.
Sera and Brook reached the blocked road.
The word WAIT stood before them.
It was nearly ten feet tall.
Stone formed every letter.
Brook examined it.
"Can I break it?"
Sera looked at him.
"You always ask that."
"That's not a no."
"Don't."
Brook sighed.
Sera placed her hand against the stone.
Her eyes closed.
Nothing happened.
Brook waited.
Then the word changed.
WAIT.
LISTEN.
Brook frowned.
Sera slowly opened her eyes.
"Did you hear that?"
Brook activated Death.
"No."
Then he heard it.
Not a voice.
A rhythm.
Slow.
Far away.
Like something striking stone.
Once.
Silence.
Again.
Sera stepped back.
"It's coming from the road."
Brook looked toward the palace.
"Underground."
"No."
Sera pointed ahead.
"Beyond the city."
Brook activated Death again.
The lifelines beyond Remus were changing.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
He narrowed his eyes.
"Something is moving."
Sera looked at him.
"What?"
Brook's face changed.
"People."
The word before them cracked.
Sera jumped back.
Brook raised his sword.
The stone letters broke apart.
But there was no explosion.
The road simply opened.
A path.
Leading away from Remus.
Sera stared.
"That's where it wants us."
Brook looked at the sky.
The Maker's words were fading.
Only one remained.
BEFORE.
Sera started walking.
Brook grabbed her arm.
She looked at him.
"Brook."
He released her.
"I'll go first."
Sera nodded.
They stepped onto the road.
Henry stood near the palace gates.
A group of civilians were refusing to move.
"We're not leaving our homes!"
Henry rubbed his face.
"I'm not asking you to leave the city."
An older man pointed at him.
"Then why are you telling us to move?"
"Because the buildings are writing things on themselves."
The man looked at the word RUN forming across a nearby wall.
Henry pointed.
"Case in point."
The civilians finally began moving.
Henry watched them.
Then a small boy stopped beside him.
"Are you scared?"
Henry looked down.
The boy couldn't have been older than eight.
Henry hesitated.
Then crouched.
"Yeah."
The boy stared.
"Really?"
"Really."
The boy looked toward the sky.
"Then why are you helping?"
Henry thought about it.
Then smiled.
"Because I can still be scared while helping."
The boy considered that.
Then nodded.
Henry watched him run toward his family.
His smile disappeared.
He turned.
A woman was watching him.
The captain.
"You handled that well."
Henry looked at the civilians.
"I didn't do anything."
"You got them moving."
Henry shrugged.
"They listened."
The captain looked at him.
"Then maybe you should keep talking."
Henry stared.
"That's a dangerous thing to encourage."
For the first time, she smiled.
Barely.
Then an explosion sounded from across the city.
Henry's expression changed.
The captain turned.
"That wasn't one of ours."
Henry looked toward the eastern wall.
Brook and Sera were gone.
His hand moved toward his weapon.
The captain grabbed his arm.
"Where are you going?"
Henry looked at her.
"Toward the explosion."
"You were told to stay."
Henry looked at the people entering the palace.
Then toward the city.
He was torn.
The captain saw it.
"Choose."
The same word from the gate.
Henry clenched his jaw.
Then turned back toward the civilians.
"Fine."
The captain watched him.
Henry looked toward the eastern wall one more time.
"Someone better tell Brook I'm making responsible decisions."
Sera stopped.
Brook immediately stopped beside her.
"What?"
She pointed toward the ground.
A word was written across the road.
Small.
Almost hidden.
LEFT.
Brook looked ahead.
The road split.
"That's convenient."
Sera shook her head.
"No."
Brook looked at her.
"What?"
"The road didn't show us that."
She pointed ahead.
"It showed someone else."
Brook raised his sword.
A figure stood between the trees.
Watching them.
Brook activated Death.
No lifeline.
His expression changed.
Sera noticed.
"What?"
Brook stepped forward.
"Stay behind me."
The figure moved.
Not toward them.
Away.
Sera frowned.
"Brook."
The figure turned left.
The word disappeared.
Sera stared.
"Follow it."
Brook looked at her.
"You can't be serious."
"It's leading us."
"We don't know what it is."
Sera stepped forward.
"Neither does it know what we are."
Brook watched the figure disappear between the trees.
Then he looked at Sera.
"You always this stubborn?"
"Recently."
Brook sighed.
They followed.
Far beneath Remus—
Crowley stood alone in the archives.
Books surrounded him.
Old maps covered the floor.
He searched through them.
Not calmly.
Desperately.
He pulled open another case.
Nothing.
Another.
Nothing.
Then—
he stopped.
A small book rested beneath a collapsed shelf.
No title.
Crowley stared at it.
He didn't touch it.
His breathing slowed.
"No."
A voice came from behind him.
"You found it."
Crowley turned.
The archive was empty.
His hand moved toward his weapon.
"Who's there?"
The voice laughed softly.
Crowley froze.
He knew that laugh.
"No."
The shadows between the shelves moved.
A man stepped forward.
Crowley's face drained.
The man smiled.
"Hello, old friend."
Crowley whispered:
"Mercer."
The man looked exactly as he had years ago.
But Death would have shown Brook the truth.
There was no lifeline.
Mercer smiled.
Then said:
"You really should have stayed."
End of Chapter 110