Fainntwo and I walked back to the entrance, crossing through a segment of the memory labyrinth. The air in here--it felt so much lighter. You could really tell that Marellia was gone. Fainntwo looked so happy too.

"Before I leave, Fainntwo—I was meaning to ask… when I sleep, fruit—"

"The fresh fruit that turns rotten?" Faintwo quickly said. "Yeah, that was my power leaking out a bit more. When you sleep, we get closer in other ways, so my power slips out because of what yours does. Pretty much, we're both connected to the subconscious and that subconscious acts as an alternate bridge between us."

"No, I guessed that one was yours. No, I have another question."

Fainntwo sighed.

"Who's the one making the rotten fruit? The rotten fruit that appears when there is no other fruit around?"

Fainntwo grimaced.

"Is it the kid? Is it us?"

Fainntwo shook his head. "It's not the kid."

"Then who?"

"I don't know—"

"If you don't know, then how do you know it's not the kid—"

"Because we are the kid, Fainn. Come. Let me show you something." Fainntwo waved his hand, and portions of the labyrinth changed.

"Fainntwo?"

"You already saw a lot so it'll be okay... I'll show you a specific segment--how we survived."

"W-Will that be okay?"

"It will, because those memories, in particular, are special." Fainntwo smirked. "But just in case, keep thinking about Svilran's boobs."

"... I don't have a fetish."

"Yeah, you have a dependency. We need you to be like this."

The memories of the past played once more, picking up from where I left off...

..

.

***

The Revival

 

Marellia emerged from the inferno that consumed the child. She came out  in a skin-tight dress that clung to her every curve. The fabric was as dark as black oil and was arranged in flame-like patterns that further drew the eye.

"Finally! Finally, my son," she said, running her hands over her womb. "You finally let your beloved mother escape her confines."

Gloria, her eyes clouded by confusion, forced herself up with one hand and held her stomach with the other. Marellia's long ears twitched, and she turned to face Gloria with a wicked grin, baring her jagged teeth at the dying woman.

"You--where's the Messiah?"

"Don't you worry, my dear Maiden. Thanks to your diligent efforts, he is where he belongs." Marellia adjusted her stance so that Gloria could see her rubbing her midriff. "Thank you for betraying my son. You were wonderfully False."

Many realizations struck Gloria one after the other, hitting her so hard that one could see each time a new element attacked.

Marellia ignored the dying woman's wobbling with a gentle smile. "As the one who let the core ripen, you have benefited from some of the ritual's energies... Consider it my son's thank you. You will witness the first moments of My Paradise."

Marellia held out her hands and faced the cultists.

"My women! Rejoice, for I have returned. The True Mother of the Prophet and your guide to My Paradise."

"HOLD ON!"

Marellia, with a disinterested look, stared at the sweating and pale Madonna. "What?" she spat.

The Madonna trembled. "Where..." She gritted her teeth and raised her voice. "Where is my son?! Where is he!? He was supposed to open the way to Paradise! Not let some damned bitch possess him like a fool--"

A black lance flew and impaled the Madonna to the wall. She, with blood pouring from her mouth, gripped the lance, but the strength was quickly fading from her arms.

"Imbecile. I am the way to Paradise." Marellia shook her head. "It's your fault this took so long. If only you had more of a brain that could properly interpret my brilliance--"

"WHERE IS MY SON, YOU WHORE?!"

A vein bulged in Marellia's head, and the lance disintegrated. She flicked her wrist, and the Madonna flew into Marellia's grip. The members watched one with sheer terror, but the Madonna--she spat in Marellia's face.

"My son--"

"Let's make something clear. He is NOT your son. He is mine, and mine alone. You..." Marellia released the Madonna and pushed her backward, happy to watch her stumble. "You're just a womb I borrowed."

Lightning arced between the Madonna's heart and Marellia's outstretched hand. The Madonna fell onto her knees as green and orange wisps flowed out of her chest. The wisps traveled to Marellia's hand and sank into her body as she sucked in air.

"And now, I am truly whole again... You served your purpose, womb."

The Madonna kept trying to hold herself up, but she was close to expiring, her heavy panting being the biggest confirmation.

"Thank you for being the one to bring My Eternity into the world."

Marellia lovingly stroked the space her womb occupied. "I could never leave you alone... Here, let me return that piece of me to you. Even when you are within me, I will be inside you... I just love you so much, My Eternity."

Her midriff glowed green and orange, the fragment of herself invested once more into the child.

Marellia then turned to the rest of the women. "And now, for Paradise."

She snapped her fingers, and black flames burst out from the women's feet, threatening to swallow them up. The women, the pain urging their voices to rise, screamed and cursed at Marellia, who gleefully acted innocent.

"What? How did you think My Paradise would come about? Souls are the currency of magic, you know?" she sneered at the burning women who were bound and trapped within the flames. "You will be the Souls who will empower Earth's new goddess. Your souls and all their power will be the reason I can reshape this world. I can't imagine a greater joy. Let me guide you to My Paradise. The one built on the efforts of your gorgeous souls."

Marellia held out her hands, and black lightning tore out from her palms and blew holes in the roof above. Marellia, looking like a woman who longed for the sky, smiled. Her expression continued warping until she looked like a woman intoxicated. But then, a sobering confusion set in.

"Hmm... There's more demonic energy in the world. That's not right... Is something about to happen? Hmm?"

Marellia looked down at her feet and chuckled. "What are you doing?"

"T-This isn't freedom," Gloria panted, her hand on Marellia's ankle. She jerked her head upward and cried out. "You promised he would be free after this ritual! We were supposed to have paradise! We were supposed to have Paradise!"

Marellia raised a brow. "I never made that promise with anyone."

Gloria shut her eyes and screamed. "Messiah! Messiah, please! I'm sorry! We were wrong! Messiah! Please, come back! Please--aie!"

Marellia kicked Gloria back, annoyed by the ugly display. "Disgustin--urrrp."

Marellia reddened at the ugly sound that came from her perfect mouth. Another burp escaped her, and she stumbled forward.

"My Son..." she said, clutching her midriff. "No, settle dow--"

"Messiah!" Gloria cried, gagging on her own blood. "Messiah, I'm scared! I was always scared! I'm sorry for doing something so scary to you! But right now... Messiah! Please, I'm scared! Please hold my hand again--"

"Enough!" Marellia screamed. She pointed her hand at Gloria, but the lightning that flew out curved to the left, leaving the girl unharmed. "What the--you would choose her over me--"

Marellia then screamed as a dagger's blade tore out through her chest. She looked down at the blade and was perplexed. Every neuron in her etheric body fired as she studied the blood.

Marellia--her body didn't bleed, yet the blade was coated with a thick layer of human blood.

"My son's blood--"

"That's my son... I am his Holy Mother! Me!" the Madonna screamed from behind Marellia. By her feet was an empty, blood-stained vial.

"You fool! What did you do?!"

"The Messiah's blood will protect his flock!"

Marellia's body itself started shrieking as black flames spewed from the wound.

What exactly had happened was anyone's guess. Maybe it was the cultists' faith. All those years treating the child's blood as sacred and something that protected them--maybe it, ironically, gave the blood power. Maybe the Madonna's obsession actually became power and interfered with Marellia's hold over the child. Or maybe there was just some alchemical significance in being struck by the blood of the vessel. Whatever the reason was, Marellia's hold over the child was disrupted. She destabilized, turning into a form of flames while the Madonna screamed like a mad dame.

"My child! He is my child! He came from my body! He is not yours!"

A garbled roar came from the flaming Marellia. "Bitch! He is my child!" she screamed as she turned and dug her flaming thumbs into the Madonna's eyes.

As the two mothers shrieked, the child's body fell out of the flames, and Gloria caught him.

"Messiah--"

"Do not touch my child!" Marellia roared. She, a floating apparition of flame, approached, only for the bloody knife to tear out of her left eye.

"My child!" the Madonna with scorched eyes screamed.

Gloria seized her opportunity and ran, pulling the disoriented child by his hand. The pair ran and ran as the sounds of flames and wind echoed down the passage. Gloria quickly went into one of the living quarters and wrapped the child up in many layers of robes, wrapping his feet in shoes too big for him, and many layers of socks.

"Come, come!" she said, pulling the child along. "We have to get you out of here before those demons appear!"

 

Fainntwo and I stepped into the scene, and we watched the almost naked Gloria run with the child, all while clutching her open stomach, hanging entrails be damned.

"I've watched this scene a lot, Fainn," Fainntwo said. "Marellia said the ritual had given Gloria a little bit of power, but this?"

We looked on at the sheer determination and desperation in her eyes.

"I know that you don't believe in god as much as you believe in demons. That notion is deep-rooted in you, but... when I look at Gloria... There is no way she was held together by any energy that poured out of the abyss Marellia crawled out from. Even if god didn't exist... Gloria became divine herself when she pulled that scared child out of this cursed compound. That's what I believe."

"Yeah... She's amazing," I said.