Unbound-Chapter Eight Hundred And Eighty Five: 885

A cool wind blew, alleviating the scorching heat of summer. Ocalla Marzul stood atop the Star of Heaven. Statues of venerable humans from lost Ages towered above her, their hands reaching out toward the center of the tower. The pristine floor was set with the complicated folds of a true Seat and Seal. Until recently, it had been the only true Seat and Seal. Ocalla gritted her teeth, feeling her empire slipping further and further away from her grasp.

The Subordinate Seals had protected this section of the Continent for centuries, and now they were almost all shattered, stolen by the Fiend. Her Empress title remained, though for how long was a question to which she dared not presume an answer. Thankfully, her claims on the newly conquered Neer and Sept Territories meant her Subordinate Seals still numbered eight.

I can still protect them. Her ability to extend the perks of her power across multiple Territories remained intact, even without the Pathless's blessings. She gripped her alabaster staff and studied the radiant sun carved at the top. It was smooth in her hands, like glass, but she knew it was made of far sterner stuff. A relic from ancient Ages passed down to her. Once filled with the might of her god, now it carried only her own Will. That would be enough.

The sigils around her feet gleamed in the afternoon's light, array upon array layered over the Seat and Seal that the ancients had found hidden in the land all those Ages ago. It was her own genius laid there atop the stolen fumblings of lesser creatures.

No, not stolen. Repurposed for greater glory. Where the fiend would have murder, she would have a sanctuary unlike any ever seen.

She set her staff down, its end tapping against the smooth stone floor as she stared out over her city. A great many changes had been wrought there by the gods and their plan. Nasty, foul things crawled across her pristine capital, tainting it, defiling it. Ocalla ground her teeth. She hated what had become of her city, but she knew it was necessary. For now the people were safe from it all, and as for what was to come—that would be determined in due time.

Chains rattled and a garbled voice gave a muffled shout. Ocalla smiled at the nearest figure. "Have I disturbed you, princess?"

The winged Sylphaen was sat against one of the gilded pillars around the tower's top. She was afforded a cushioned seat, and though her arms and legs were bound by enchanted chains to the pillar, it was a comfortable prison. She was provided meals thrice daily and all the water she could stomach. The weather wards even kept rain and chill and excessive heat from her flesh.

It would not do to have her broken before her time.

"My, my, what anger! What was that, dear?" She snapped her fingers, and the muzzle around the Sylphaen's mouth opened, the pieces of it folding into itself with a flare of Mana. "Come now, speak up.”

“There is much fear in you, Marzul."

Ocalla frowned. The winged woman had remarkable poise for someone that had been kept in bondage for days. Perhaps she had been too accommodating. "Do you sense that with your keen Affinity that I have blocked with those chains? Or perhaps it is your Perception, stifled by your collar until it is even beneath Beginner Tier? Hm?"

"You overestimate yourself," the Sylphaen smiled, though none of the warmth reached her eyes. "You are not very complicated."

Ocalla pursed her lips. "I hold you and your ilk. I am backed by the gods and by a nation I have built with my own two hands. I have no fear, Unbound."

"Then why does your hand shake?"

Ocalla tightened her grip around her staff, and the sun at its zenith flared with passive Mana. "Do you know the restraint I must show, demon?"

The Sylphaen didn't answer, but her eyebrows drew downward. "I summoned you here, but you were intended to be kept creatures. Bound to me and my empire, you would have saved us. Yet you were set free by meddling fools. Allowed to roam the Continent at your vile whims. And you have nearly doomed us all. You are a threat to this world, demon, and were I a purer woman, I would have long since burned the life out of you."

Blazing light played across the sun staff, its alabaster stone filling as if she'd poured liquid gold into its center. "Burn us," Ondine scoffed. She was sweating. "I know you cannot kill us. You need us for something."

"Yes," Ocalla admitted. "I do."

She gestured, and the binding snapped taut around the Sylphaen's wings, drawing out a pained cry from the impure monster. Ondine tried to flex them, but there was no give to those bindings.

Ocalla showed her teeth, chin lifting up. "Ah, all that roaming, leveling your Skills, even Tempering with the storm itself. Yet you are still reduced to this."

"Why?" Ondine whispered.

Ocalla leaned forward, tucking her long hair behind an ear. "Hmm? Speak up, demon.”

“You said you brought us here to make us slaves to your empire, but why summon the Ruin, Marzul? Tell me that at least."

"No.” With a flex of her Will, the muzzle snapped back into place, and the chains tightened, pulling the princess back against the pillar. Ocalla straightened, letting a thrill of satisfaction tangle among her quiet spirit. "Would you two have anything to add?"

The two Kobolds weren't far off, chained and muzzled just like the Sylphaen. They rattled their manacles and shouted something that she had no doubt was very off-color. "I suppose it was too much to hope for intelligence from youth," she mused. She flicked her finger and the chains tightened on them as well, snapping them back against their pillar. They yelped in pain and the noise soothed Ocalla's temper.

She gestured again and sigilgery across the tower's surface lit up. It flashed across the columns, startling the Kobolds. The Sylphaen's gaze, however, stayed level. Measuring. Ocalla sneered at her as the three of them sank, along with their pillars, down into the surface of the tower.

Fah! Worthless chaff. She knows nothing of my Will, of what must be done.

The moment the pillars settled into place and the tower's surface was smoothed and unmarred by their poisonous presence, Ocalla thrust her staff into the air once more. A ripple shot outward from the alabaster sun, nearly invisible to the naked eye, but it screamed across her Affinity. It was a call, and it did not take long for it to be answered.

Shadows and the scent of decay swept up with the wind. A beast that was more wound than lion landed heavily upon the tower. Slithering beside it came a faceless Harpy made of shadow, its wings nearly plucked clean despite the bloody lightning that played between them.

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You Presume Much To Summon Us, As If We Were Pets At Your Beck And Call.

“I felt your rift,” she said simply.

Did You Now? Noctis asked, tilting her empty head. Isn't That Curious?

“More curious is where you have been. You were to hunt down the Lizard, were you not?”

The Servant Dares Question The Master? A piece of mushroom crumbled against Yyero’s eye socket as flesh regrew. The beast seemed filled with wounds, all of them packed with fungal growths that were slowly morphing into fur and flesh. You Forget Your Place, Marzul—

“And you forget your purpose!" she snapped back. "Where's the Lizard?"

Beneath Your City, Hiding In Refuse And Slime. Yyero shuddered, a clenching pleasure fluting through his Spirit. The Titan Hunts Him Still. She Is A Potent One. A Perfect Vessel, Were She Not Tainted.

Order And Light…Worthless, Noctis said, her voice honeyed as she stared at Ocalla. The Titan Will Find Him Soon, I Have No Doubts.

“And where did you go?" The Hierophant asked. "What manner of doorway did you open into the heart of my realm?"

Watch Your Tone, Servant! You Stand In The Presence Of Divinity. Hmph! With Only The Coward Remnant As Your Example, It Is Little Wonder At Your Presumptuousness.

A Visit, Yyero interrupted, licking his paws. To Elderthrone.

"Nevarre," Ocalla all but shouted, though she did not miss the way Noctis stared daggers at her brother. "What has he learned? What have you done?"

Learned? Yyero laughed. Nothing Of Consequence, Save Fear.

As if the word called it forth, the skies darkened, not as when the sun had blackened, but as if the entire world dimmed. A split opened in the air to the left of them, blazing with heat and revealing a blurred landscape beyond. Ocalla could make out little, though she tried until her eyes burned with the effort.

Through it, however, a vast creature of metallic blue strode from an impossible distance. It slipped through that space, making no sense to her eyes as it twisted and spun, contrary to all laws of the world, until the Twins crowded on the other side of the rift. Their entwined bodies creaked even as the angles of their many joints twisted unnaturally.

Ocalla jerked in surprise. Where the others were shadows, the Twins were substance. The force of its presence, even peeking through the rift, was enough to make Ocalla take a step backward.

They're still bound! Where do they get the strength?

Foolish. The Twins’ four eyes pivoting to stare at the temporary Vessels on the tower. We Play Our Hand Too Soon.

It Was A Test. Noctis turned to the bent metal that was the dual god. He Was Growing Too Fast To Leave Unchecked.

And How Many Of His People Did You Kill? How Many Cities Were Burned?

Noctis hesitated. The City…Was Saved, But Dozens—

Hundreds! Yyero shouted.

Yes, Hundreds Of Lives Were Lost.

Though their face did not dimple or furrow, the fury upon the Twins' visage was impossible to deny. Two Gods And You Managed Nothing More Than A Scratch Against Him.

There Were Unforeseen Setbacks, Noctis admitted. Another Piece Of Veridaan's Blood Was There. It Served Navarre.

The Twins' rage ceased as if it had never been, and it leaned against the rift, silent. Ocalla wasn't sure what their words meant, not exactly, and her anger grew by the moment for being left out.

"What is this? Who is Veridaan?" she demanded. The gods, however, ignored her.

Why Has He Not Devoured It Yet? the Twins asked.

We Aren't Sure, But I Think It Is Because The Boy Is Afraid, Yyero said.

The Twins laughed, a bitter, metallic sound. He Clings To Mortality. Their eyes fixed on the others, pinning them in place. Let Us Hope This Attack Has Not Inspired Him To Make That Leap.

"You claimed that Nevarre would never be a threat to you," Ocalla said, confronting the Twins.

That Is Correct.

“Then why do you sound afraid?"

The silence lasted only a moment before Noctis and Yyero growled and shrieked, their anger followed by the impotent crackling of bloodied lightning. Yet when the Twins spoke, all of them fell quiet.

Nevarre Dabbles With Things He Cannot Understand. Even If He Consumed This Blood Beast, He Would Not Reach The Heights Required To Truly Challenge Us…So Long As The Ritual Is Complete. That Is Why My Focus Is Here. Not On Nagast Or Any Of The Mortal Empires To The South.

To Add Surety To That, Noctis added, her empty face lifted as if staring down her nose at the Hierophant. Nevarre Has Ascended The Broken Path.

The Twins turned toward her, their four eyes burning like fallen stars. How Far Does He Walk?

Far Enough To Be Snared By The Bonds Of Fellowship.

Much to Ocalla's surprise, the Twins laughed again. It was still bitter, hard, and sharp. The Trap Of Divinity.

A pit dropped in Ocalla’s stomach. “You're telling me that this boy is beyond Paragon?"

No. This Is Separate From Your Mortal Advancements, Yyero sneered. If He Is Stepping Toward Divinity, It Is But The Smallest Of Ascents. For All That He’s Devoured Siva, He Retained Naught But A Sliver Of Her Godhead. He Makes Poor Use Of It, The Fool.

“A fool who has successfully warded off two Vessels."

Crude Projections Only, Noctis asserted, gesturing to her shadowfleshed self. The Barest Touch Of Our Power Nearly Overwhelmed His Vaunted Elderthrone. Were We Loosed In True, We Would Crush His Empire Into Dust.

"For all of our sakes, I hope you're correct. If he reaches godhood before he comes for us, I can do nothing to stop him. And I doubt you could either, true Vessel or no."

We Questioned Before, Yyero said. But Now We Are Certain.

“Why?” Ocalla asked, narrowing her eyes. "What about his nearing Divinity is a benefit to us? What are the Bonds of Fellowship?"

A strange giggle echoed from Noctis's empty face. To Approach The Summit Of The Broken Path Is To Invite A New Weakness Into Oneself.

"Weakness?" Ocalla had never heard such nonsense before. "A god is beyond weakness.”

At Our Start, We Are All Touched By Frailty. Shedding Our Mortality Takes Its Toll.

"Explain."

Felix Nevarre Has Formed Bonds Of Faith With His People. Noctis laughed. They Are A Drain On Him.

"Is the same not true of you?"

Mortals, Yyero scoffed. Their Thoughts And Prayers Are Meaningless Unless We Answer. Nevarre Has Not Yet Learned That Lesson. freewēbnoveℓ.com

Ocalla took a moment to soak up the new information. "Bonds. How do they work?"

Power Accumulated Is Spread Among The Faithful. They Will Hold Him Back, For Not Only Does He Lack A Compact To Order His Bonds, But He Knows Nothing Of Them. Push Him Hard Enough And His Power Will Falter.

Ocalla was following now. "And what's to stop him from refueling? He can consume power in an instant."

The rotted lion split open, its face shedding fungal growth to bear row upon row of bloody corpse teeth in a rictus grin. Leave That To Me.

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