2.9.2
Updated: Sep 17, 2023
Content warnings: stabbing, dismemberment, mentions of torture (detail below; skip if you prefer surprises)
Several characters are dismembered and stabbed repeatedly.
A character mentions in passing several methods used to torture him in the past.
~.~
“Tch, I can’t believe you’ve wasted so much of yourself helping these useless mortals,” The Necromancer gloated, walking up to Kai at a leisurely pace. The older immortal was still kneeling, hunched over in pain, hands planted firmly on the ground in a weak attempt to stay centered. His whole body was aflame with green and black, and he could feel his grip slipping. Another wave of searing pain rolled through Kai’s body and he cursed, clenching the ground so tightly that his skin started to blister.
The hunger was overwhelming now. Kai could sense the group of mortals in the center of the dimension, could feel their life energy, and it was so tempting. He absolutely despised the part of him that wanted to drain the mortals of what little energy they had left. It took every fiber of his being to resist as the tendrils of green flame danced within inches of the mortals.
“You’re still fighting your instincts, huh,” The Necromancer sighed. “What a waste, really. You have the power to rip down whole dimensions, and you’re still holding yourself back because of some misplaced sense of sentimentality.” The Necromancer poked Kai with his boot and Kai felt like his whole body was on fire—which, okay, wasn’t entirely inaccurate.
“You’re going to die here, by the way,” The Necromancer said casually, drawing his sword. “Those earlier wounds from the shadow beasts? They destabilized your soul. You have no hope of regaining control, and I highly doubt a sword through the heart is going to help you there.”
Kai’s vision went dark as he focused even more intensely on stabilizing his power, on getting the flames under control, on keeping the green tendrils far, far away from the small group of mortals in the center of the dimension. It was like trying to lift a skyscraper with one hand.
Images flashed through Kai’s head—memories of Joshua helping fold potstickers, of Peter and Joshua bickering in the desert, of Lian’s laugh and Joshua’s scowl and Peter’s grin. He thought about the way Joshua looked at Joel. Kai ground his teeth and tightened his grip on his soul. He had made a promise and by Karai, he was going to keep it.
And then the blade of The Necromancer’s sword pierced his heart.
~.~
Okay, Ven, deep breaths, deep breaths, it’ll be fine, Ven thought shakily. Rae, Joshua, and Lian are safe. Even piecing together those words was hard enough amidst the searing pain. It felt like his soul was being split in two. Every inch of his body ached. And to make matters worse—
“Oh, one sword strike wasn’t enough to kill you, hm? Let’s try again, then,” The Necromancer cackled. “Let’s see how long your resolve lasts.”
For a brief second, Ven was back in the prison, with its godawful humming noises and energy-draining handcuffs and soul-stealing chairs and—
Ven’s breath caught in his throat as the sword pierced his chest for the second time.
~.~
A sob escaped Minerva as she watched Silpa get stabbed again. It wasn’t a new sight, not really, but something about watching her best friend in this world get skewered while her soul was slowly unwinding was just a little distressing. She wanted to get up, wanted to help, but it was taking everything she had just to keep her soul from exploding further and disintegrating the mortals.
The mortals you dragged into this, she reminded herself. The mortals you failed to protect.
She thought about Morgan, struggling desperately to stay afloat through fight after fight against the shadow beasts, and her hands balled into fists. She let the frustration and anger and helplessness fuel her resolve to keep the flames at bay. It was going well, too, until—
“Your turn!” the Necromancer said cheerfully.
A sword sliced through her shoulder, separating her arm from her body.
~.~
Felix, we can do this, Ridwan said calmly. Felix did not feel like he could do anything at that moment. His whole body ached, and his soul felt… detached from the body that wasn’t even his to begin with. Not to mention the headache and the nausea and the chills and the fever and the pain.
Felix forced a deep, shaky breath through his system as another wave of pain washed over him. His mind had almost reached its limit. He could feel the tendrils of turquoise energy filling the dimension, searching for things to destroy, to consume, to feed on, but he could not do anything about that. For the second time in Felix’s life, he had no control over what his soul was doing.
It was like a ten-ton weight was on his chest as he pushed back against the flames. The dimension was mostly wrecked, anyway, but there was still something worth protecting at its center, and Felix was not going to hurt them. Never again.
The mortals were going to be engaged in a fight soon—Felix could sense that much. They needed his help. He needed to get up, needed to move, needed to—
“Aw, Felix, it’s no fun if you don’t at least pretend to be in pain,” The Necromancer complained. “But hey, I can do worse, I guess, if that’s what you really want.”
Felix settled for pouring the remains of his energy into Dani to keep her alive. It was the last conscious action he took before The Necromancer’s sword chopped his legs off.
~.~
Mateen… do you need… me… to take over…? Silpa groaned, struggling to rein in the purple and red tendrils of energy.
No, Mateen said tersely. Silpa sighed. Mateen was the one dealing with all of the body’s pain and torture right now while Silpa focused entirely on keeping her and Mateen’s souls in check. It felt like they’d just been hit by a soul-stealing rifle, except the feeling was constant. She was halfway curious about how The Necromancer had managed to pull that one off. She would’ve asked him, too, except Mateen was in control of the body.
Silpa tightened her grip again as the flames almost brushed against Peter’s arm.
NO, she chastised. Bad soul. Bad! She didn’t think talking to her soul was going to actually achieve anything, but hey, it made her feel a little better.
It was like trying to rein in a wild beast. It made sense, really—she hadn’t fed the curse any energy for a whole month, so the first chance it got, of course it was going to destroy a whole dimension. Silpa just counted herself lucky that her resolve had been enough to keep the mortals safe.
Silpa was vaguely aware of Karyme reeling in pain in the distance. Anger flooded her system, and before she fully realized what she was doing, tendrils of light spiralled out of her control. A column of purple light burst out of the floor, vaporizing what she hoped was an opponent.
And then, Silpa lost track of everything as The Necromancer unleashed dark lightning on Mateen, and even Silpa could feel the overwhelming, earth-shattering pain.
~.~
Knowing it was coming hadn’t made it any easier. There was a big difference between knowing you were going to be in pain and actually feeling the sensation of your soul splitting in two. Haku clutched their chest and bit back a pained yelp as the curse intensified.
It hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts—
For a second, Haku saw Lian’s frown, heard their voice saying, “Haku you piece of poo, the Ennead are friends too—my friends!"
Jaw clenched in determination, Haku forced themself to calm down and squashed the small part of them that wanted to kill, destroy, absorb, destroy, kill.
Haku may have made everyone hate them, but they did not hate everyone.
“...I see that you’re still on the losing side,” The Necromancer said quietly, slamming a boot into Haku’s back. Haku’s face hit the ground, and they almost lost their grip on the flames.
“You’re a fool,” Haku snipped. Their voice was hoarse, and even the mere act of talking took more energy than they had. The Necromancer hummed thoughtfully.
“Me, the fool? You’re the one wasting your energy on mortals,” The Necromancer spat as his sword stabbed cleanly through Haku’s left lung. “I hope it was worth it, spending all this time keeping them alive when you know they’ll just die eighty years from now anyway.”
As blood spurted into their lungs, making it impossible to breathe, Haku couldn’t help but laugh. Of course it was worth it. Haku had a lot of regrets, but this wasn’t one of them.
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