Cassandra Pendragon
"We'll split up. There's no other way. You have to go and so do I. This," I gesticulated hesitantly towards the sprouting cherry seed, "this can't wait."
"You're right, but I don't have…" I knew how she felt. The sensation of being pulled in every direction until it hurt wasn't new to me, but she still had made a promise. If Ahri wasn't going to protect her ward, she'd never be able to look in a mirror again, even if she survived.
I rose to the tip of my toes and gently kissed her forehead. Her wings, blazing flames that seemed to rise ever higher until they touched the distant shores of the Emerald Island, quivered and almost vanished, but then she clenched her jaws and met my gaze even though her multicoloured eyes shimmered with a suspicious light. "I'll come running after you as soon as possible." I slowly shook my head.
"You won't. Not this time. I'm sorry, my love, but you know as well as I that even our tattoos won't allow you to find me, once I'm…"
"I swear, if you're going to say gone I'll knock you out right now and simply take you with me. Choose your words carefully, Cassy. If there's even a chance that you won't make it back…"
"There is," I sighed, tired of our stupid dance. It just hurt too damn much. I caressed her cheek and wiped away a single tear that threatened to spill from the corner of her eye. It shimmered like a diamond on the tip of my finger and for a long moment we both stared at the beautiful jewel between us. "Do you know what I actually meant, all those years ago, when I told you love was a poison?" Her eyes widened incredulously as she stammered:
"That's the most inappropriate…" I silenced her with a kiss and breathed against her lips:
"Only because you don't know the answer. It has never been about freedom, or fear, or power… it's simple, really. I'd sacrifice the entire universe, all of creation, to protect a single life. Your life. And… I think it's the same for you. We are… flawed. Maybe it even turns us into villains, but at the very least we can't put all we have on the line. Honestly, that's also why Lucifer died. He… I couldn't bring myself to… it doesn't matter. What matters is this: neither of us is ever going to be able to let go. But if the fear of losing the other is all it takes to paralyse us, then… Ahri, if you can't let me leave now, there's really no point anymore. I can't… tell me now and we'll leave. We'll turn our back on this entire mess and never look back. It'll be tough and there'll be tears for millennia to come, but we'll spend them together. Probably on the run, but between the two of us we can make our way through a universe ruled by a mad angel and probably protect Reia to boot… if she wants to come." She stilled. Even her breathing stopped.
"Would you… would you hate me for it," she finally choked.
"Never. I'll suffer and I'll mourn, but it'd never change how I feel about you. Like I said… I'm willing to sacrifice everything for you. I'm… I'm just a stupid soldier, always have been. And you're my princess. Ironic, isn't it? Now, tell me, Your Highness, what will it be? Do we run? Or do we fight? It's up to you, but should you choose the latter, please, force a smile on your face, tell me that you'll be waiting for me and kiss me goodbye. I can doubt myself, but if you want me to make it through everything that's still waiting for us I need you to believe in me. I need you to believe that I'll make it back to you." Her gaze rose from the tear I still held to my eyes and her tails wrapped themselves around me tightly enough to hurt. At the same time her presence surged through our tattoos until there was no space, no difference between us. She wanted me to know that she meant every word:
"I'll be waiting for you, my love. Don't take too long. I'll make sure you still have a home to return to. Godspeed." She turned into motes of crimson light and slipped through my grasp like the memory of a half forgotten dream. "I'm leaving. If I don't go now, I'll take you up on your offer. Cassandra, I love you. If you're in danger, run. There'll be no tomorrow for me without your light." Then she was gone and I stood alone in a chamber that still sent shivers down my spine while huge, ice cold tears ran down my cheeks. The darn woman. I couldn't even count the number of times she had made me cry, anymore. Luckily I had work to do. Fighting or running away had always calmed me down.
With a derisive snort I brushed away my tears and looked around. The centre of the tree, Greta's heart, was located underneath the pond we had created. Not even the dryad could come here, the transcendent forces that surged from a block of crystallised power right in front of me would have torn her apart the moment she'd have set foot in the underground room. Mephisto hadn't been able to join us, while Ahri herself had needed my help to remain unscathed, a consequence of my intimate connection to Amazeroth, the architect of this place and, judging from the infinite torrents of power I could see raging with the naked eye, a genius far beyond my comprehension. There was no way for me to judge how strong the demon actually was, but I was slowly starting to understand that it didn't really mattered. Someone who could create a place like this…
Huge, towering spires of light and magic appeared and vanished in an intricate, ever changing pattern. Sparks of gold, green and blue danced around their base and spiralled towards the distant, glowing ceiling, where the shadows of the pond spun mesmerisingly like a kaleidoscope of colours. Droplets fell from above to fill the chamber with a sparkling, silver mist, that followed my breath like a swarm of fireflies, and the song of water. I inhaled deeply to savour the taste of earth, magic and life, before my boots echoed softly on the rocky ground as I approached the tiny tree on a block of crystallised magic at the very centre. With every step the pressure increased until it'd have ground even an adamantine mountain to dust, but I barely felt it. By now I could probably have walked straight through a Black Hole without any issues.
The cherry tree hadn't sprouted, yet. It's unfurling roots were still connected to a pitch black seed that hovered half a metre above the ground. Small, quivering shoots had broken through the glossy, hard surface on the top and their very tips seemed to be shrouded in swaths of magic. I already knew that they were connected to the manifestations on earth, while the seed contained the furious maelstrom I had encountered, but what really had me worried were the sluggishly moving, sprouting roots. The thickest one in the middle shimmered with a dirty white light while the rest, arrayed symmetrical around it, glowed with different colours. As far as I had come to understand it, they represented Gaya's realms as well as the Source I had hidden on Earth.
That seed… Greta in her entirety was a parasite, an artificial life form that had a unique ability. She could burrow into any kind of plane or realm and connect whatever she could touch, almost like a growing bamboo forest where every shoot was in reality a part of one giant, living organism. I couldn't be sure, of course, but I thought the basic idea was actually pretty simple. That tiny tree over there had to be planted in Hell. The ravaged sanctuary still contained more power than any other place, but the Silver City and with the Source as nourishment the tree would grow and probably turn Gaya, Earth and Hell into one giant fortress that could, hopefully, weather the thunderstorm my remnant power had become and maybe even the assault of an immortal army. There were just two problems. One, it was pure speculation and two, we had to somehow get from here to there without dying or losing the better part of the population on the way.
The former would become clear over time and the latter… Ahri had an idea. The sigil Amazeroth had branded her with allowed her to manipulate transcendent energies that weren't her own. A key, she had called it. The ring I wore could collect and store them. If I wasn't mistaken we could use both artefacts and the Source to control, maybe even form the magic that would change our world. I just hoped they wouldn't burn out in the process. We still needed them afterwards to cleanse our fallen siblings, after all. It was a problem, but one we could deal with in due time.
For now the pressing matter was the tree in front of me. If we were right, it was the root of our current, world-collapsing problems. Which meant I had to freeze it, keep it in stasis until it could grow unhindered. Until then I had to ensure that neither its roots, nor its budding shoots could endanger our home further. They had already dug through the barriers and now all that kept Gaya and Earth in a shaky, crumbling balance were the reaching, growing radicles of the plant that had closed the tears like a cork sealed a bottle.
Lilith had been right, if things had been allowed to progress, the realms would have merged within weeks, but as it stood, as long as I could prevent further growth, a new equilibrium would be reached. Unfortunately I couldn't do it from here. I'd try to prevent further growth, but the connections that had already formed had to be cauterised from the other side. On both planets. Long story short, I was going to freeze the seed and afterwards follow each and every radicle, every shoot it had already formed. Once there, I was going to burn a part of the plant. That'd hopefully turn out to be enough to shut it down until we wanted it to reawaken. If we were right Greta wouldn't even feel a thing. A dryad didn't hibernate with her host. If we were wrong… well, the dryad would probably face the least amount of problems
But Cassandra, you encyclopaedic treasure trove of magical proficiency, how can you freeze something like that? In time? Wouldn't that, at leats, freeze the dryad as well? Sure, but I had just emerged victorious from a tussle with my sister. My sister who controlled ice and my armour was still chock full of her energy. With just a smidgen of luck that'd turn out to be enough. Truth be told, I didn't even think I needed luck. I needed actual cold at my beck and call and a few days ago I had bested the angel of eternal ice. Coincidence? Luck? Or maybe fate? Goddamn, should there ever come a day for me to reclaim my crown I'd stop messing with people's lives that very second. As I was I at least made mistakes. That's no excuse, but I always tried my best. The demon didn't try, he knew and that… that was just wrong.
With an inaudible sigh I halted a handspan away from the inconspicuous seedling and manifested my wings. With a nimble movement I shrugged out of my spider silk dress and even slipped out of my boots before I stored them in my stamp. Experience had taught me to take off my clothes, unless I was willing to walk around in a gown made of light and shadows or a full plate armour. Considering I'd probably have to visit the Vatican and claim the Source again, that didn't sound like the very best idea. Now, where to begin?
Logically the Source would prove most troublesome and I'd need Ahri's help, but… there was also an actual chance that it'd kill me. Better save that one for last. If we failed… well. No point in dwelling on it. Being killed by that thing was probably the same as being killed by an immortal. If that happened, chances were I wouldn't make it back, not even in another cycle.
With another sigh I released the shackles around my core and was immediately interrupted. My power surged through me, broke the seal around this place and raced along the invisible pathways that connected me to Ahri and Viyara, but in contrast to my love the dragoness had no clue what was going on or why our connection had been suppressed. Like a headless chicken her thoughts wobbled through my mind in a desperate attempt to figure out what had happened, where I was and why I was scared, all at the same time. What surprised me, though, and frankly enraged me in equal measure was, that she didn't even try to understand before she moved. "No," I managed to holler, but by then she had already extended her wings. She had become a crystalline and there was no place between Heaven and Hell she couldn't reach. The fraction of a second later the chamber groaned under the weight of a massive dragoness, followed by her pitiful squeal as the torrents of power started to flay her body. Blood spattered, a metallic taste clogged my throat and she passed out on the spot. No… the stupid child! Not on my watch.
"By all the forlorn saints," I cursed mentally, my heart thundering with fear. I had to get her out of here. Now. But where… I could already see her fangs shatter and her skull peeking though her ravaged flesh. This one. Half my wings latched onto Viyara and I had to clench my teeth to ignore the hot, squishy, nauseating feeling of blood and muscle. She'd be fine. She had to. The other half formed a cocoon around the tree, while my crimson wing wrapped itself tightly around one of the roots. "Freeze," I screamed to push as much liquid light through my veins as my core could offer.
With a sound like snapping wires my armour manifested, its runes began to glow, my vision shifted and my senses expanded. In less than the blink of an eye an ice cold, roaring sun manifested around the tiny tree, held back only by the silver curtain of my wings. Determination that would have frozen a star, that would have silenced a galaxy thundered against my grip like a gentle breeze and when the two transcendent forces, related, but yet different, clashed, the cavern shook. "Yield!" My voice had changed and without me realising, so had my body.
Soft paws whispered over the ground on either side of Viyara's massive head while even softer tails enveloped her in an embrace that could keep the deadly light at bay. A blood red tongue lolled from my mouth as I craned my neck and sniffed the horrifying sphere of crystallised power. A wolfish… foxish smile tugged on the corners of my mouth. I could still feel the unmoving essence of the tree at its centre, but it was my will tearing reality asunder in front of me. Mine and mine alone. The first part had worked.
"Come on, Toothless, time to go," I rasped. I'd have sent her back, but she needed me to recover. She needed my power. I could have almost cried at the irony. Every single other creature in existence, aside from my mom, I'd have dumped upstairs, but of course one of the only two beings who had my magic at their core laid gravely injured at my paws. So much for brute forcing my way through every obstacle I was going to encounter. The dragoness just wasn't sturdy enough, yet. "Doesn't that remind you of the first time we met," I babbled. Somewhere along the line I had gotten used to talking out loud when I was really scared and the dragoness had lost about a third of her flesh. The bloody, raw sight that greeted me every time I dared to look at her was nauseating. Aside from me and Aurelia nobody would have been able to recognise her anymore. Even her wings had been reduced to ugly, skeletal white stubs along her back and the stench of burned metal had become overwhelming. Time to go and patch her up.
With a twist of my will we folded in on ourselves and turned into silver sparks that raced along the connection I had formed with one of the roots. My vision became blurry and I felt my presence change and deform, but I kept my entire being wrapped around the tiny, silver golden flame I felt burning at my side. In her current state she wouldn't have survived the shift without me. Luckily it didn't take long. The very moment my essence hardened into a body again I coiled myself around her, entirely oblivious to my surroundings. I wasn't tall enough to cover all of her, but her head and torso were hidden underneath a fluffy, silver blanket. That had to do for now. I brought my snout close to hers and exhaled deeply. More than air left me and a soft, silver glow bathed my wounded friend in warmth when my power flowed through her like a promise of life made real.