Vindasvelt Apothecary Near the Gate of the Second Ring

Tharia reclined in the wooden chair. Her new set of clothes rustled because they hadn’t been worn in a long time. She wore simple pants, a shirt for men and a coarse leather jacket. Copious amounts of snow had buried the roof she was on. The girl watched the chimney spit smoke into the cloud-laden sky. Her eyes locked with the False Star. It amused her just how quickly that nightmare had become the new normal to her. All it did was float in the sky and give ominous stares.

The girl leaned forward and looked over the edge of the roof. Well, and there were its followers. Observers. About a dozen human figures stood half-naked in the snow and stared up at the monster. They had seen many, many more of them doing nothing but stare back into the eyes of that creature. Tharia stretched her new found senses, tiny flames appeared around her. The brightest of them came up the stairs.

“Hello Annie”, she said, a moment before the door opened. The goddess walked out with a smile. In her arms, she held two cups with a sweet aroma.

“Brought you some tea”, Annabelle commented. Back when they had started their journey, Tharia reckoned, she wouldn’t have used that many words to describe something that was kinda self-explaining. Yet here she was. Tharia picked one of the cups and wrapped her cold hands around it.

“Thank you”, she said. For a while, she simply appreciated the presence of her love. It was the simple things in life that really made it worth living. Sure, the high notes were amazing, especially now that no one would ever complain about noise in the morning, but really, just a cup of tea and a few quiet moments was where it was really at.

“I’ve been wondering some things”, she finally said while turning her head towards Annabelle. The goddess sipped from her tea and nodded as a sign to continue.

“Well, a couple of things really. First off, can you kindly cut my finger with this knife?” Tharia said and held out a clean kitchen implement to Annabelle. Without missing a beat, her love picked it up and made a shallow cut.

“Ouch, no hesitation at all, eh?” Tharia said and watched her finger. The moment the knife was lifted back up, the cut was already gone without any intervention of the spark inside.

“Guess that means I join the club now”, she added and licked off the traces of blood while looking up at Annabelle.

“I don’t think we can do this”, Annabelle mentioned with a downcast gaze.

“That battle with my sister really took the wind out of you, didn’t it?” Tharia said while brushing her hand over Annabelle’s back.

“Completely outmatched”, the goddess said.

“Can I get that as a complete sentence please?” Tharia playfully shot back, but when nothing but silence came back, her mood turned glum. She took a sip from the tea and enjoyed the feeling of warmth spreading out in her body.

“Well, we were bound to lose at some point. We’ll just have to get stronger somehow. Did you swallow Celestine’s sphere yet?”

Annabelle shook her head in response.

“Why not? Look, if you’ve got any reservations because it was my sister, don’t. Before her turn, she was as nasty and vapid as can be. She just forgot in the process. Swallow that pill, get stronger still”, Tharia said and with a sudden smirk, she got up from the chair and lifted a finger towards Annabelle.

“Listen to your healing slut, girl. The doctor orders you to...” she stopped mid-sentence when she saw that her love wasn’t reacting to it. Tharia sighed and softly leaned into her instead.

“What’s the matter, Annie?”

“Why are you doing this? You don’t have to pretend to be fine”, Annabelle replied.

Tharia sighed and walked two steps towards the edge of the roof. She leaned onto it and let her gaze wander over the city. The truth was, she was neither fine nor in a bad state. She just was. Currently, the only emotion inside of her was the love she felt for Annabelle. Everything else was blanketed out by a pitch-black abyss of apathy. Her fingers traced patterns into the snow.

“Annabelle”, she said and consciously used the full name, “Right now, I’m not pretending. Yeah, I know I should feel something about what happened but I don’t. Maybe this whole Mother Bone thing cut me off from my old self. All I know is that it’s better this way. So don’t poke it.”

Tharia shivered as gentle arms snaked their way around her chest. She felt a head on her shoulder and warm breath tickling her neck.

“You’re pretending to yourself as well”, her love said and then carefully laid out the words in a sentence that took nearly a minute when it should have taken a few seconds.

“What you’re doing is like holding back a river. You can uh, what so you do... no, let me try again. Like a river. It will flood if you try to stop it. Y-you have paused uh halted yes stopped it for years. Am I making sense?” Annabelle raised her voice at that point but then quickly went back to her half-coherent rambling, “You stopped the river for years! And then it broke out and you did... things. Now you’ve got flooded plains and you’re holding it back again without repairing the damage.”

Tharia blinked in confusion. On some level, she got the message. Her repression had boiled over. True. And now that she was repressing things again, it would boil over again. What was she supposed to do though? Her mind didn’t give her the choice. It just put it all away and left her with apathy.

“Alright, yeah I’m absolutely not fine but it’s beyond my control. I’d like for you to help me with it, but I’m afraid it will end up hurting you too”, Tharia turned around to look at Annabelle, “In turn though, I will help you as well and that means unpacking a lot of things going on in that beautiful head of yours.”

“I’m fine”, came Annabelle’s reply. Tharia couldn’t help but laugh in response. She poked her pet goddess in the sides and grinned.

“After all you just said to me?” her voice took on a questioning inflection before resuming her laughter.

“Okay, I’m not fine. You’re right. I’m sorry. Let’s do that then. Talk, I mean”, Annabelle answered with a grim frown, “I’m really bad at it.”

“Relax, not laughing about you. It just was funny how we both walk into the same trap”, Tharia added and then turned to look at the snow covered city. It looked outright peaceful. Sure, the nearby fortification wall dwarfed everything around. Especially since it was framed by a moat.

“Let’s make a plan we can stick to. How’s our kill list coming?”

“Four are left. One above, three more in the two Rings ahead”, Annabelle answered.

“Let me add two more things to that. The Muse, obviously. We haven’t seen the last of that one. He’ll come to use or I swear I will find a way to find him. Then, the golden fields need to be burned down. Those things have been chasing us, so either we keep running or we face it. If you ask me, I’m done running”, Tharia said and grinned.

“Next. We have two large hurdles. One, find out how we can hurt each other physically. With me turning into this thing, we’re fresh out of humans to kill ascended fucks with. Second, I don’t see us getting much stronger – but we can always get smarter. No more improvisation and haphazard plans. We go cold as ice, premeditated monster murder.”

Tharia stretched her arms and legs, then leaned her body into the soft flesh of her love, paying special attention to let her head rest on Annie’s bosom. Sheer accident, of course.

“Third and finally!” Tharia added, “Uh... I’m bad at lists. Let’s stick with our murder list and problem-solving. Actually, I’ve got an idea but it’ll require some copious kissing.”

Tharia sat on the floor inside the apothecary. She blinked, slightly befuddled. The room had a particular scent that reminded her of the sudden and unexpected outburst of physical activity earlier. Annabelle was opposite of her. The goddess hadn’t looked this disheveled in a long time. Tharia herself was out of breath as well, her hair hanging down her face in fine black strands.

“Alright”, Tharia said with a stretched tone, “that I did not see coming. No regrets though. Just a bit sudden. What I actually meant by kissing was a transfer of energy rather than that.”

Annabelle spoke with a breathless voice, “I know.”

“You did it anyway, eh?” Tharia chuckled. She brushed her hair out of her view and then wrapped her arms around her bare chest. The chimney was burning brightly and had turned the room snugly warm.

“Back to business. Our earlier cutting test means I’m now like you. However there’s one key difference, I haven’t lost my memory. It’s really not that different from before. What if the only change is how well the essence is integrated?”

Following her words, Tharia tapped a finger against her bare belly and smirked towards Annabelle.

“I want you to draw it all out of me”, Tharia said and suddenly blushed, “Uh, not like before, just the essence. Draw it out until there is nothing left. Then I will prick you with a needle and we’ll see if it still heals.”

“It could work. Giving up power wouldn’t be something a god would ever do”, Annabelle said and then moved close again. Tharia had to actively blend out the intoxicating scent from her love. Don’t think about what you just did earlier. Don’t think about it. A sudden shudder ran down her spine. She looked up at Annabelle and saw she too was still caught in the moment.

“Maybe some other time”, Tharia said when Annabelle quickly lunged forward. Their lips locked together but Annabelle made sure to not touch more of Tharia than was necessary. At the same time, the young woman let the divine essence flow out of her. It felt different this time like a black abyss opened up inside of her. Bit by bit, she transferred it all over to Annabelle until there was absolutely nothing of it left. When their kiss broke, she collapsed on the ground.

“Ouch”, her voice had a particularly sarcastic tone. There was one fact she had actually managed to forget. Without the spark, her lower half was about as useful as a bent fork. She groaned as she flopped on her stomach. Annabelle offered her a hand and together they moved her broken body into a sitting position again.

“I might be the first god of cripples”, Tharia said with a sarcastic grin, “Sorry, inappropriate. Now, where’s that needle... ah, there.”

She took another look at the naked frame of her love and drank in all the details and curves and right, back to business. Tharia shook her head and put up another smile.

“You’re too distracting”, she said and then quickly pricked one of Annabelle’s fingers. There was a subtle and curious shiver, that she saw on Annie’s body a moment after. And the way the goddess bit her lip made her mischievous. Still, they both held their breath as a drop of blood appeared.

“It’s not healing”, Tharia said and then pricked a second finger. Annabelle shot her an angry glare, but the human girl just grinned in response.

“Don’t even lie about it. I saw your shiver and I can still see two arguments that suddenly stand to attention”

“It’s cold”, Annabelle said with a cute pout.

“Of course it is, girl”, Tharia mocked playfully before getting serious, “Problem solved. By expelling essence, we come close enough to being human again, that the protection no longer works. That’ll be inconvenient in battle but it’s better than nothing.”

While looking at Annie, she felt a sensation of joy. This was the first time in her life that she could actually really appreciate someone being there with her. Here, she could be herself. Even if it included being just a little bit cheeky. She quickly leaned forward and pricked Annabelle a third time. Alas, the frail girl was not ready for the payback. Not at all.

Henrietta's Fall - Main Avenue Near the Gate of the Second Ring

“Ow”, Tharia groaned for perhaps the hundredth time that morning. They were back on the road, their bellies full with food and their bodies had gotten a good night’s rest. Tharia had gotten back part of the essence, that didn’t explain her groan though. While the spark was really good at repairing cuts, it was awful when it came to smaller injuries.

“I won’t be sitting for weeks”, her complaining echoed through the streets.

“You tempted fate”, Annabelle shot back.

“Girl, you look like perfection made flesh. How was I supposed to know just how much of a closet pervert you are?” Tharia grumbled.

“You liked it and you started it.”

“No denying that. It was fun for a change but let’s not do that too often though”, the young girl said, rubbed her aching bottom and then offered a smile to her love. Despite the resident pain, the day and night in the apothecary would become a good memory as well. She pulled the heavy earthen coat closer around her shoulders and focussed on the road ahead.

This was the main road towards the Second Ring Gate. It was wide enough to allow several siege engines at the same time. That or merchants of greed on the warpath. Both were scary in their own right. They passed an increasing number of observers. Tharia only mustered them with a passing interest. These things weren’t a problem yet and they seemed to be happy. In a broken and rather strange sort of way.

Soon the buildings on either side of the road spelled mostly one thing: Filthy rich. Their style was particularly gaudy with houses that had actual miniature towers on them. Naturally, the roofs had been covered in rare metals and even rarer gems. The street-lights actually still worked. They hissed and spread an odd stench as the flames burned.

“Isn’t there something terribly sad about our machinations still working, while we as people have long since moved on?” Tharia said and pointed towards the lamp. As if it heard her, the light suddenly sputtered out and in quick succession, so did the others.

“Of course, the moment I say something. Dear cosmic forces, did I ever do something to you? Can you fuck off now?” the added and felt Annie’s hand on her shoulder, “Yeah, okay right. Let’s not provoke anything else. We’ve got enough enemies.”

While the flames had gone out, the loud hissing prevailed. She started to feel lightheaded and suddenly stopped.

“Annie. Different way. Now”

The goddess looked at her with a confused look. Tharia pointed towards the lamps.

“Gas-powered. Something killed the flames but not the gas. One, we’ll keel over if we inhale too much. Two, one spark and this entire city block goes up in flame. Trust me, I’ve got experience there.”

The young woman then raised her head and shouted at the clouds, “Oi cosmic forces, for once I’d love to leave behind something intact for a change!”

A motion at the corner of her eye caught her attention. There was a cute caterpillar. Three meters in size with strange pipes sticking out of its body. It shuffled along the street and the concentration of gas suddenly lifted as the thing sucked it inside.

“I take it back. This is fine”, Tharia said as the feeling of lightheadedness lifted. They both just watched as the caterpillar shuffled forward and soaked up the gas.

“You know, we said we’d be smart about this. The smart thing is to gain distance to that”, Tharia added and with a nod from Annabelle, they quickly reversed direction. While gaining distance on the odd creature, they took care to neither appear threatening nor like something that was fleeing. In the time they had moved back a hundred meters, the caterpillar finally crossed the road. Once there, it suddenly sprung a series of sharp legs from its body. A roar bellowed out from it. With a hiss, liquid flames poured out of its mouth and into the building at the end of the street.

Half fire, half-acid, the facade melted away in seconds with a once more cute caterpillar moving on straight through the building.

“Think it’s one of those moth things from your Eleanor friend?”

“I’d rather not meet those again”

“Good point”, Tharia agreed. With sudden sparks, the lamps suddenly ignited again. One by one, the street was once more filled with light. Tharia tugged the coat close and then they once more turned direction. When they passed the melted building, they found the massive caterpillar dead in a puddle of molten stone.

“So it can spew fire but not take the heat? Yeah, the world is fucked”, she said and shook her head. That was something that had irked her for a while. All those monsters seemed like attempts to create something new. Some were successful and turned into nightmares, others helplessly went about their short lives and died in a ditch somewhere. There was just no method to the madness.

“Madness, right, did you swallow the golden sphere yet?”

Annabelle sighed and pulled it out from a small pouch.

“It’s your sister, maybe you should have it”, Annabelle said, “You need essence too now.”

“Annie, gods be cursed, swallow the bloody sphere already, what's the matter with you?”

With a defeated look on her face, the goddess finally moved the sphere to her lips. It took a while to shove it down because of the sheer size. Annabelle suddenly started sweating and shuddering.

“Yeah I get it, my sister is toxic”, Tharia said in an attempt of humor.

“Not now”, Annabelle said. Golden lights sprang from her body and formed into complicated patterns glowing out from her body. Tharia watched quietly when she suddenly realized the complete absence of sound. She blinked and felt the blood run down her chin. Turning around, she stared directly at the ugliest two-tailed cat she had ever seen. Its tail shivered and shuddered.

Not now, indeed, Tharia cursed silently. Without a weapon, facing a Whiskerhush would be a real nightmare. But with Annabelle temporarily unable to fight, Tharia was all they had. She cracked her knuckles and got ready to fight. But then she saw sudden movement. A pasty white human walked through the snow, the half-naked limbs looked like frostbite but squiggling little white worms sewed it back shot.

An Observer. A mobile one. It reached the Whiskerhush and in one fluent motion without missing a step, it snatched up the catlike monster by the tail. The observer let out a blood-curdling scream that pierced through the veil of silence. For a moment, the cat-monster looked stunned. It was the last time it had a chance to react to anything. The deathly white arm smashed it into the ground, through the snow and pasted it into an ugly mush on the cobblestone beneath. Then, as if nothing happened, the Observer stood up again and continued shuffling towards the Second Ring, ignoring everything around it.

“Annie...” Tharia said as she took a look around. There were hundreds of them and they all shuffled down the road in the same direction. She turned around to see the goddess still stunned from taking in the sphere.

“Back inside, now”, the commanded, grabbed Annabelle by the hand and dragged her towards the nearest building. The door suddenly opened in front of her. Another Observer walked down the stairs. Tharia quickly pulled Annie aside and made way for the creature. It walked past without seeing her. The eyes of the human-like thing turned to always look at the False Star. This started getting creepy when the Observer turned to walk towards the Second Ring. With an ugly scratching sound, the eyes kept turning inwards until blood trickled down the eyesockets.

“Just another day, eh?” Tharia snarked and quickly led the dazed Annabelle into an alley. Everything to get away from those strange bodies driven by wormcolonies with a godhood complex.

End: Those that stand still | Coming up: Those that move