Chapter 1151 (2/2)

Then Zeke turned to Randidly.

Once more, they regarded each other silently for several seconds. And to his own surprise, Randidly was the one who spoke first. “...thank you. For everything. I never got a chance to say that.”

“But I got the chance to see you were thankful,” Zeke said softly. With his free, Nether-blue hand he scratched his chin in wry embarrassment. “I wasn’t… alive, obviously, but I saw that my people got their own land when you reshaped the Soulskill. It was the proof… my people had always waited for. That even if we weren’t created… we weren’t a mistake. We could wear the moniker of Monster with pride.”

Randidly blinked rapidly as he felt tears in his eyes. “I...if I were stronger-”

“You weren’t,” The Spriggit Thief cut across Randidly. Then she favored him with a cold glare. “You never were. In a lot of ways… you were just lucky. But you paid back the debts you owed as best you could. Which is why we all came when you called.”

“Samantha,” Zeke’s tone was reproving. “We’ve all become a part of his legend now. I’m sure you’ve seen the shape of his struggles. Is there any point and acting sour now?”

The Spriggit Thief folded her arms across her chest and turned her nose up at Zeke’s gentle chide. But Randidly could only blink.

“Your name… is Samantha?”

Almost unwillingly, the Spriggit Thief turned back to Randidly. “Yes. What of it?”

“...that was my mother’s name. And… sorry. For never asking for you name.” Randidly inclined his head slightly.

If anything, Randidly’s apology only served to annoy the Spriggit Thief further. But as she was opening her mouth to respond, another voice cut across them.

“Hmph, so you fools already arrived and all you doing is chit chatting? Stand aside; I didn’t come here for him.”

The new voice that drifted upward from the darkness where Randidly pulled the Nether was rough and raw. It was a voice that was filled with fire and ash. The Spriggit Thief and Zeke exchanged a glance. Zeke reached out and put a hand on Randidly’s shoulder, the hand that burned with the Creature’s impure Nether. “We will go on ahead. And… don’t be so hard on yourself. You making a mistake isn’t the end of the world; we made just as many mistakes. So it is to be alive. It’s only when you refuse to acknowledge those mistakes that you will lead us to ruin.”

“Charming,” Randidly managed to mutter out, and then the two walked forward. Zeke went first, moving smoothly up to the altar of Azriel’s body and dispersing into those clumps of Nether to be absorbed. But at the last moment, the Spriggit Thief stopped and turned back toward Randidly.

Even as her lower body disintegrated into shadow, she spoke to him. “...I was born without a name. Just like Zeke, I was an orphan. So… even my name was stolen. It came in one of those dreams we would have, that were your memories percolating out amongst the denizens of the Soulskill.

“It was a brief memory, and extremely fuzzy. You were a child, having your clothes straightened by a woman- I suppose your mother. She had a nametag on that said Samantha. And I thought… it was a beautiful name like I’ve never heard before.”

The people in the Soulskill had dreams that were my memories…? Randidly thought in wonder. His mouth moved, but he had no idea what to say.

Then the Spriggit Thief’s torso and arms were being sucked away into the Nether Ritual and her expression softened. “Of all the things I stole… I always felt the guiltiest about taking that name. I don’t know why. I just… it just felt special.”

“It was,” Randidly sighed. And then the Spriggit Thief was gone, woven into the Nether bead.

Randidly turned to face the next specter of his Soulskill that came forward when he called, buoyed forward by the thousands of people that she had killed in her descent into madness. They were heralded by a thick cloud of exhaust and the coppery tang of blood in the air.

Although they flowed around her, Alta’s bulky figure was immediately clear amongst the other shadows that flowed upward to join the slowly being constructed core of the Nether Ritual. The differences only became more stark as they became flesh and she condensed as a machine. She walked forward belching smog from her exhaust ports and covered in thick, riveted plates of meta. Even with the metal shell, it was clear her flesh was slowly being burnt away by the incinerator like engine that was in her chest.

Then it changed. Because in this memory form, she was all of the faces of who she had been. As she approached, the metal slowly began to fall away.

The pieces came away smoking and clanged against the ground at such a volume that it could even be heard over the howl of the Nether gathering both above and below. Every step Alta took saw more of her metal panels and protections falling away, revealing the red and inflamed skin beneath. Yet as this reincarnation of Alta continued, her flesh began to rapidly heal. Metal fell away and the burns receded.

By the time she had reached Randidly she could reach up and remove the helm that had given her the moniker of the Metal Queen. Once more she was whole, no longer bearing the scars of having been consumed by her desire for revenge.

Alta Bounty regarded Randidly coolly. “I haven’t forgiven you for what you have done, you know. For creating such a fucked up world and abandoning us in it. And I still think my choice was the only logical one.”

With soft eyes Randidly watched Alta, allowing her words to wash over him. She was intense, but still… lovely. The fire of her passion burned still, bringing light to her face. She was a physical presence of heat and light, displaying all of the attractive pieces of the image she consumed and none of the terrible loss that was hidden beneath the surface.

Perhaps the proof was in the smoking metal she left strewn in her wake to reach him.

As he stayed silent Alta’s mouth firmed into a line. “Pah. You think this is about you? No… this is…” Alta’s gaze went to the black marble that had once more appeared and was floating down toward Azriel’s chest. “...this is about that image. You know what I hate? That I feel so drawn to this ancient thing’s image. That she has the same terrible scars that I do. That just like me… she failed to accomplish what she wanted. That terrible regret she carries…”

Alta’s eyes flashed as she glared once more at him. “That’s why I’m here. You are practically an observer.”

Without a word, she continued forward. So Randidly spoke to her back. “...I would have done the same thing you did, if the roles were reversed. I deserved it. I failed you and for the longest time, didn’t know how to apologize or help. Your choice… it killed a lot of people. Just like my choices have killed a lot of people. But… the Alpha Cosmos wouldn’t exist without you, Alta. You were… necessary.”

For a split second, Alta froze. She snorted and shook her head, still swaying on that same spot. Before Randidly’s eyes, she changed again as she turned around, so that when she looked back toward Randidly she was the child who had hurried back to find her family bloody and mauled. Her eyes were still haunted by what she had seen that day.

Then she raised her chin and disappeared, absorbed by the swirling tide of Nether.

As the shadows emerging to joy the working faded, Randidly’s eyes narrowed at the obsidian marble that was floating down toward Azriel. Scratching his neck, he asked mentally, Are we really going to sacrifice your body to create a weapon…?

Azriel chuckled. “You’ve seen the Creature’s memories… and you are familiar with your own legacy that answered the call of this working. Do you truly think what will grow out of that is a weapon…?”