Hey everyone, first of all, I am so incredibly sorry for the massive delay and the silence lately!
Apartment hunting has been absolutely hectic, honestly, a complete nightmare. It feels like every single place out there is either a total dump or violently overpriced, and trying to navigate the market has been draining all my time and sanity.
But despite all the chaos, I managed to sit down and finally got this chapter finished and posted for you guys.
Also, I wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday recently! I am so sorry I failed to respond to your comments and messages individually.
Between the apartment hunt and life, my brain has been completely fried, but please know that I saw every single one of them and appreciated the love immensely.
Thank you all for being so patient and sticking with me through the breaks.
Enjoy the chapter!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KNOCK.
KNOCK.
KNOCK.
Down in the monitoring room, the sound of the door being struck shook the space, violently pulling Erasmus's astral form back up through the floors of the tower.
He snapped his eyes open, shaking his head to clear the sudden, sharp discomfort of the forced reentry.
"You can come in, Stormfront," Erasmus called.
CLICK.
The heavy door swung open and Stormfront walked in, clicking it shut behind her. She cast a brief glance around the room before her eyes settled on his bloody right hand.
"You don't seem surprised," Erasmus started. It was less of a question and more of a casual conversation opener.
"Well, I do have super hearing," Stormfront replied smoothly, stepping closer. "But I do wonder... why did you kill him?"
Erasmus went quiet at the question, his gaze falling back to the floor where the shriveled corpse of A-Train used to be now there was only blood. He didn't offer an excuse, and he didn't offer a lie.
Stormfront watched him back for a moment, a soft smile touching her lips. Closing the final distance between them, she dropped to her knees right in front of him.
Erasmus looked down at her as she reached up, placing her palm flat against his chest.
"It's fine if you don't want to tell me," she murmured, her eyes burning with absolute devotion. "Gods don't need to explain themselves when they indulge in their wrath."
Her fingers curled slightly against his shirt.
"Be free, Erasmus," she whispered. "Be free from the shackles you place on yourself. Claim your seat as the king of the master race."
Slowly, he covered her hand where it rested against his chest. The fresh, wet blood coating his fingers smeared thick across her knuckles, staining the white fabric right over his heart as heavy droplets dripped from his palm, tapping quietly against the floor.
With a gentle grip, he pulled her up to her feet. He stepped in, closing the gap between them until her hot, eager breath brushed against his skin. Leaning in, he brought his mouth right to her ear, his voice dropping into a deadly, intimate whisper.
"Do you want to know my real superpower?"
A shudder ran through Stormfront's body at his words. She leaned her weight into him. Her hands slid higher up his chest, her mind clearly leaping to a much more carnal conclusion as she tilted her chin, waiting for his lips.
But the kiss never came.
Instead, Erasmus smoothly slipped past her. Stepping close behind her back, he placed his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her forward. He guided her steps until she was standing directly over the blood on the floor where a corpse should have been.
"Look closely, Storm. Can you guess my power now?"
As he spoke, a sudden heat radiated against the nape of her neck. She could feel the unmistakable, gentle scrape of three hot, metallic fingers as they reached out, slowly and deliberately caressing her skin.
"Look at me," his voice came from behind her. "Am I still beautiful?"
Very slowly, she turned around.
Erasmus stood before her. His lips were parted, his jaw unhinged just slightly. From the dark cavity of his mouth, slipping from right beneath his tongue, slick appendages slithered out into the dim light.
They writhed and twitched. The slender, metallic-hued tendrils extended outward, radiating an intense heat as they danced through the air just inches from her eyes. They hovered around her face, tasting the air, moving like vipers as they traced the outline of her cheekbones and jawline without actually making contact.
Stormfront just stared. Her eyes traced the fluid, viper-like movements of the metallic tendrils. The initial shock melting away. She didn't step back. Instead, she leaned into the heat.
Slowly, she raised her hand. She reached right through the writhing tendrils and cupped Erasmus's jaw, her thumb brushing against the edge of his parted mouth where the shadows spilled out.
"Beautiful doesn't even begin to cover it," She stared directly into his cold eyes, entirely unfazed by the monster staring back at her. "You're perfect, Erasmus. You're exactly what this world needs."
Erasmus stared at her, utterly unblinking. Slowly, he took the hand she had pressed against his jaw and guided it toward his parted lips.
The metallic tendrils leaned down, slithering eagerly across the soft skin of her palm. They moved with terrifying precision, tracing the lines of her hand before suddenly pressing in.
Stormfront let out a soft gasp at the sharp sting, watching as rich crimson blood began to seep from the shallow puncture. Instantly, the tendrils snapped back, retreating into the dark cavity beneath his tongue.
Erasmus brought her bleeding palm the rest of the way to his mouth. He pressed his lips against the wound, sucking the fresh blood for a mere second before pulling away. The blistering heat radiating from him seemed to spike for a fraction of a moment, his jaw snapping smoothly back into place as he swallowed.
Slowly, he raised his own open palm right before her eyes.
CRACK.
Vibrant purple lightning flared on his palm. The raw, electrical arcs danced effortlessly between his fingertips, an exact copy of her own power.
Stormfront stared, utterly mesmerized by the purple glow illuminating his flawless face.
"Do you know" Erasmus started. He smiled then, a genuine, unforced expression, the first smile she had ever seen on his face.
"Those I consume... I can almost hear them inside. They aren't dead. They're alive within me." He paused, his gaze growing distant. "Or maybe I'm insane. But it doesn't matter. It's the path I set out on from the labs of Vogelbaum. They're not gone. They become part of something greater. A part of me. No more circus animals. Only gods will walk this earth."
Stormfront didn't know what to say to his statement. She was absolutely mesmerized by the perfection before her, though one lingering thought gnawed at her, and the doubt showed clearly on her face.
"You wonder why I don't consume my father?" he asked softly. "In Greek mythology, there was a Titan named Cronus who swallowed his own children, driven mad by the fear that they would one day rise up and usurp his throne. My father is no Cronus. He never tried to destroy what he created."
Erasmus tilted his head, his eyes boring into hers as the philosophical weight of his own existence hung in the air.
"But what does that make me? Am I Zeus, overthrowing the old author of my creation? Or am I merely a worse version of Cronus... a son so hollow he must devour his own creator just to anchor his place in the world?
Even if I wanted to, I don't think I have it in me to do it. Truthfully... I think I am afraid. If I cross that line, there will be nothing left to stop me. There will be no boundaries, nothing to prevent me from consuming anyone I want, reducing the fragile beauty left in this world to absolute chaos.
And then, people would fear me.
I don't want them to fear me. I want them to love me. Because I am beautiful. I am polite. I am restrained. I am a very, very good being."