186 A Holy Day (1/2)
It began with silence.
Silence permeated Citlai in all directions and a heavy stillness beset the people who lived in it. A shroud of gloom covered the sky and dyed it the color of bittersweet melancholy. It was as if the world itself had taken a momentary pause in abject fear.
What could have elicited such a dramatic response? To have drawn the fright of an entire world? And for what reason?
The world would never be permitted to know the answer but for a select few, the truth would become known to them on this fateful day.
Buried underneath Citlai's Heart, a contingent of the finest Ancient Mulian warriors to have ever lived waited in silence as they mentally prepared themselves for death. Each one of these warriors was a living legend who had participated in the war against the Infestation for millennia across an untold number of universes.
They were all demigods and demigoddesses of war, educated in the path of blood and ruin.
And yet today, they had begun making amends with death. Not of their foe's death...
But of their own.
Leading them into battle were several familiar figures. Koyovo, The Pure Moon, Morate, The Hidden Star, and Shaali, Mother of the Sea, stood front and center behind the highest authority in Citlai — Ulbo, Father of Stars.
The Royal Armada, the Silent Fleet, and the Old Guard's finest warriors had been summoned by their respective commanders for what lay ahead.
A sealed complex of conceptual restraints, infinite regression loops, and spatiotemporal buffers had begun to erode at their seams. It would not hold for much longer.
Beside the elders of Citlai stood their children. They, too, had been summoned to fight. Yalya, Itotia, Lu'um, and every single warrior in the royal family worth a damn had been called into service.
Citlai's finest, totaling a mere fifty or so souls had assembled under Ulbo's orders. Together, they embodied a force that had enough firepower to tear apart an entire planet to pieces.
A horrific, sloppy churning sound — much akin to raw meat in motion — resounded across the grand prison chamber. It was a truly repugnant thing, only rivaled by the unsettling noise of something dull breaking under stress.
Ignorant passerby would not have been able to identify what something was, but everyone in the chamber was well acquainted with that sound.
The grotesque spheroid had grown considerably in what had seemed only a matter of seconds. Towering above the battalion, it had become a repulsive mass of writhing flesh.
To put it precisely, it was a mockeryof life. There was no other way to describe it.
But it was not fear that haunted them. What struck them hardest was... the overwhelming guilt.
This was a creation of their own design. Their fault. Not an ounce of the blame fell on him.
Peals of laughter filled the silent chamber from a mixture of voices, both old and young, male and female, until a specific voice reigned in their glee.
”...Ahhhhhh, can you hear me?” asked a familiar voice in a relaxed manner. It was addressed to no one in particular, a simple question meant to clear the air.
And yet, no one responded.
”...Hello? Oh, is my form putting you off? Pardon me, it slipped my mind that you are all unfit to conceptualize me as I am now,” said the cheerful voice, not realizing it had only made everyone feel even more unsettled.
The formless abomination shuddered and then began to fold, compress, and rearrange itself until it became a pulsating spheroid wrapped in a thin veil of semi-transparent membrane that resembled skin.
Within it, a speck of something floated in suspended animation and quickly took a life of its own. In a matter of a few seconds, it expanded and took on a more refined form...
A much more familiar form.
The silhouette had grown into a recognizable shape that could not be mistaken by anyone within the prison chamber.
And then, as if to emulate what it had mocked so thoroughly, the silhouette thrust one of its arms out of the grotesque womb it had grown inside of and clawed itself out in a barbaric manner.
”Ugh, it's been a while since I've been in this form. It feels so goddamned restrictive, but... I guess there is some beauty in its composition. The limitations this body has does make one relish what little it can perceive with its primitive senses.”
Thus said the newly born being coated in violet blood, discarded flesh, and opaque, slimy fluid.
Reed had returned.
He extended his arms outwards and said, ”So... who's going to give me my welcome back hug? Will it be you, my beloved? Or perhaps, will it be dearest grandfather instead? Ah, mayhaps it will be my mother after all.”
A fragile joke. One loaded with sarcasm to the brim, evident in the speaker's twisted voice. You could practically feel the malice embedded in Reed's cheerful words akin to needles piercing one's very mind.
Reed frowned and said, ”No hug? That's pretty cold of you guys. And here I thought I was family. How cruel of you people to shun me for changing my image a little bit.” He conjured a repulsive force from his body and removed all of the filth that had been clinging to him in an instant.
That was when they noticed an extremely glaring change in Reed's body, one that immediately prompted a response from Lu'um herself.
”Where is it, Ka'an?! What did you do?! Please tell me you didn't—”
Reed let out an audible sigh. ”So that's the first thing you ask about. No concern about me, huh...”
Lu'um quickly realized she had made a mistake and hurriedly said, ”That's not true and you know that, beloved!”
Reed chuckled and replied, ”...Is that so? I'm touched you feel that way about me, my Ichmaitl.”
Lu'um felt her blood freeze. There was no way he should have known any Mu, and yet he had...
He caressed his chest and said, ”As you can see, the mark is indeed gone. But rest assured, I have not tampered with your precious little toy. Even I am not so rash as to jeopardize all of your efforts out of spite.”
It had truly disappeared. The Mark of Responsibility had seemingly vanished from where it belonged.
”Where is it and what have you done to it, childe,” said Ulbo as he mentally ordered everyone to ready themselves. In his mind, now was an opportune time to restrain Reed and subdue him while he was in a more manageable form.
They would simply ask questions later... once they could ensure that Reed would not be able to do anything rash. The current situation was far too unpredictable and dangerous for everyone involved, including Reed.
”Oh, you needn't worry, gramps,” said Reed as he snapped a finger. ”All I've done is...”