Mori smiled as Fara and her family hugged as if they had not seen each other for a decade. Molly was crying with joy and Fanrik was on the verge of tears. Fara herself was smiling and hugging them, listening to their happy babble. She, VII, and Juka all stood off to the side in the expanded staging bay, watching the family reunion as liches, death knights, and Avar ran around, packing scrap into boxes. “So, are you sure you want to come with us?” Mori asked, turning to Juka, “You won’t be able to come back afterwards.”
Juka rubbed her chin, but eventually shrugged, “I have no reason to stay attached to Granulous. My family is all dead, I did not have many acquaintances, let alone friends, and joining this mausoleum’s worth of undead you have here will let me see things no other mortal has seen before. I think it is a good deal.”
“That seems a bit shallow,” VII replied, earning a scowl from Juka, “But not all decisions need to be thought out for days. You have no attachments, so it really is like moving cities. Except, you’re moving between worlds,” she said, shrugging.
“Well, with you guys, all we have left is to get spirited away,” Mori said, “I’m just thinking… we should probably mention it to someone before we go. It could cause a panic if the large thing in the center of the city suddenly disappeared. What do you think?” she asked VII.
“I think it’s a good idea,” VII replied, “Just don’t keep the gods waiting. They could get a bit impatient and play a prank on you,” she chuckled. Mori gave her a questioning look, but VII just shook her head. Mori shrugged in response, subtling pointing to Fara, to which VII nodded.
Mori gave her a smile and walked away, towards the door at the bottom of the hill that comprised most of ATHENA’s new body. In retrospect, she needed a better name for the whole thing, but that could wait. She had eternity to come up with one. Almost immediately, Idle fell into step with her, following close behind. Once they were outside, Idle transformed into her draconic form, “You don’t have to fly me,” Mori said, patting Idle’s side, “But thanks for the lift, anyway.”
Idle just smiled, though Mori did not know how she managed with her muzzle. Mori lifted herself atop Idle’s neck, holding on tight as she flapped once, then again, and again. With every flap, she lifted a bit more, and they were above most buildings before long. With a final flap, they were off, flying towards the JALF camp, if it could be called that. It was, in reality, the skiffs all lined up behind the wall, with small outposts at each of the breached points in the wall. There was always gunfire coming from those outposts, as Clockworks sought any target to wreak havoc on, but they held on well enough. Mori could, though, feel the pitiful soul she had imprisoned within her writing to give them commands. She pressed down on him, silencing his psychic cries. There was no place for such violence anymore.
She was mistaken, though, as a boom that sounded like thunder erupted from below them. Idle, with her senses, dove down and just barely missed the large cannon shell flying by them. Idle growled and dove towards the Goliath, as she was sure it was called, strafing it with a breath of fire. Metal on the deck slagged and the cannon melted a great deal, becoming unusable. That did not stop it from trying to fire again, only blowing the misshapen cannon barrel up like a can filled with gunpowder. The Goliath eventually tried to bat Idle out of the air with the cannon, which was a funny, if pathetic sight. Idle, as if seeing the attempt as a personal insult, landed upon the deck and bent what was left of the barrel into a right angle. She then ripped into the deck and breathed fire into the new wound. She kept breathing fire, not stopping until the Goliath was little more than a bowl of metal soup. Before the Clockwork could fall, Idle flapped her wings and flew away.
“Did you have fun?” Mori chuckled, Idle going rigid for a fraction of a second, which was plenty of time for Mori to notice, “It looks like you did,” she laughed, grinning. Idle rolled her eyes and looked at their target, which was a large sandstone hut in the center of the surrounding fleet. Idle steered herself towards it, landing onto the sand with a few flaps of her wings. The soldiers and similar people around them stared at them for a moment, but continued with whatever task they were assigned before long. Mori jumped from Idle’s neck and Idle returned to her human for a moment later. Mori gave Idle a smile, then walked into the curtained entrance to the command hut. Inside the hut, there were only a couple of the people Mori was hoping to see, with Aetra and B’yldynl sitting around the central table and pointing at the map. That was fine, though, “Hey, Aetra, rock man,” she greeted. She was never very close to B’yldynl, but she never had to say his name out loud. Any attempts she made ended with her sounding like she was trying to swallow a rock. As a lich.
“Hey, Mori,” Aetra greeted, “Is there a problem on your end?”
“Yes,” B’yldynl agreed, “Problem? Also, rock man a slur to us. You not know, but be nice.”
Mori winced at that, “Oh, sorry. I don’t know how to say your name. Can I just call you Build?” B’yldynl shrugged, showing little care either way, “Okay, cool. Anyway, I wanted to drop some… big news. Basically, we’re done here.”
There was a moment of silence between the two of them, and Mori suddenly had a feeling that she would have to explain herself a bit more than she wanted, “What do you mean ‘you’re done!?’” Aetra yelled, “We’re almost there, Mori! Don’t you want to finish this yourself!?”
Aetra stood, but Build put a rocky hand on her flank, “Calm,” he said, “All has reason.” Aetra took a breath, then sat down. Build nodded, turning to Mori, “Explain, please.”
Mori nodded, “Well, we’re kind of here on Granulous on borrowed time. We were supposed to leave as soon as the main Forgeheart was taken care of, but we had to take care of a few other things first. Now that they’re done… I don’t think we can keep the gods waiting any more.” Mori was not sure how much of what VII said about a prank was a joke, but she chose to believe that VII was part-joking and that it would still be better to not keep the divines waiting. Also, she did not want to admit that there was little for Mori to do. Sure, there were Clockworks about, but their days were numbered. The merpeople were patrolling the coast and the JALF was pushing into the city, inch by inch. Though blood would be spilt, the rewards would be many. Mori wanted no more part in it. She finished her mission, and she would collect her reward.
Aetra pursed her lips, but soon sighed, “I… guess there’s no helping it, then. Mori… thank you. I don’t know if we could have done it without you,” she said, hanging her head.
Mori chuckled, turning to leave, “Don’t worry. If it wasn’t me, then it would have been the gods themselves. Anyway, I guess this is farewell. Live well, Aetra! I certainly will!” she laughed leaving the hut. Idle was courteous enough to immediately shift into her draconic form, allowing Mori to hop aboard. Idle flapped her wings and they were off once more.
Their flight was silent until Idle coughed, “That joke was bad,” she said, keeping herself from breaking out into laughter. Mori did not reserve herself like that, and laughed with Idle. Their flight took them to the door of the staging bay, where Mori dismounted and Idle reverted to her human form. Idle was about to return to the staging bay, but stopped when Mori looked around, “Mistress?”
Mori did not respond immediately, holding her left hand up and pulsing her mana in the signal she once used, before becoming an archlich. She turned to Idle, “Alright, now I’m done,” she said, turning back to Idle, “Let’s go. Best not to keep the gods waiting,” she laughed.
After getting everyone settled, talking to Fara’s parents for a bit, being examined by her mother, and making sure that everyone was together, Mori, VII, and Fara climbed down, out of the staging bay, and onto the sand beneath the mass of ATHENA’s body. In the center of steel mountain, there was a tall obelisk, with two altars. One was adorned with images of the sea, of skulls, and of gravestones. The other was decorated with images of wolves, dragons, and otherworldly beasts that Mori could hardly describe. And it all was glowing, as if inviting them to kneel, to pray. Mori did not hesitate, walking to the Shrine and kneeling, hands held in prayer. Fara followed and so did VII.
There was a moment of silence, when nothing happened. Mori was worried that something had gone wrong, but it was in that moment when everything shifted. The air felt heavy. Thick with mana. It almost felt suffocating. Mori looked up, and she was no longer outside, under ATHENA. Instead, she was in the largest room she had ever seen, with bone-white stone far above them, below their feet, and all around them. Mori, Fara, and VII stood, looking around with shock, when a trio of skeletal liches approached, each holding a glass of glowing blue water, “Greetings,” the leftmost one said, “It seems that you finally got here. It’s about time. Now come on, it’s time you join our ranks!” she said, shoving the water towards Fara.
“Calm down, Glacta. They are guests of the gods. Be nice,” the middle one said, offering his glass to Mori, who took it with a nod.
The final, leftmost one shook its head at its companions and turned to VII, “Peace is strange, huh?” she asked, giving the glass to VII.
She took it, nodding, “Indeed it is,” she replied, turning to Mori and Fara, “Well, then. To eternity!” she cheered, downing the whole glass. Mori and Fara shared a look, then followed suit, drinking their water with a similar cheer, though Mori just tried to absorb it into her body. The moment after Mori drank her glass, the world around her went dark. It was like she had just received a Trait, from all that time ago, but the pain was almost unbearable. And so, with her mind wandering into darkness, she took her first step into the Rift.
Will the next chapter be the end of the story or arc 3 , starting with arc 4 in the new world?
Umm... next chapter’s the epilogue. Mori’s had her story. You’ll see.