Chapter 11:

Failure and Outcast

Aidan was lying on the side of a shattered hill, his body immobilized under rubble. Lifting his head allowed him to peek at his blade, resting a couple of meters away from him. Its runes were reacting to a certain being’s presence.

“Vaska! Marvin’s lost control! You have to help me stop him!”

A mocking silence was the only answer he received.

“He’s started to turn! Once his anger is finished devouring his sanity, he’ll be nothing but a feral demon! At that point, it won’t matter if it's Alaya or Nova! He’ll butcher everyone in Kulum!”

The emptiness around him remained, but Aidan could feel a shift in the air.

“Not anger,” Rana’s voice sounded softly from the darkness. “Something else drives him. I don’t fear for my daughter’s safety.”

“You can’t be serious! Everyone’s lives are in danger!”

“It is in Novarac’s jurisdiction to protect them. A grim fate will befall me; dare I intervene.”

Aidan remained quiet for a moment. The more Rana’s words sank in, the more his rage grew.

“Then, I promise you, Vaska. When Alaya’s eyes lay unmoving on your moon; when the earth drinks the last drop of her blood, it will be I that will turn, fueled by rage.” Aidan’s voice dripped with venomous, murderous intent. “Then you’ll see if trading your daughter’s safety for your own was worth it!”

Loud footsteps thundered his way the moment the last word left Aidan’s lips. The sounds came to a stop mere inches from the back of his head, leaving Aidan still unable to see Rana.

“Heavy words for a walking corpse. Yet, as you bark at me, you forget, the plague child is your darling, not mine. It’s your failure that has found her in this precarious state!”

“And I suppose you do not consider it a failure that you allowed Nova to rot away in Kulum, surrounded by those who made her life a living hell?” Aidan barked back.

“Hold your tongue! You know nothing of the things I must face-”

“And how easy it must be for you! Novarac’s dogs fear you! All you need to do is carry Nova past the gates in your demon form! But alas, you’re only a coward.”

Rana slammed her foot on Aidan’s throat, barely stopping herself from crushing it. Aidan closed his eyes and fought through the pain.

“Listen to me, Vaska! We both failed; that is undeniable. Your hands are tied while my hands are free yet too weak. Alone, we’ll never succeed.”

“And together, we can?”

Aidan arduously raised his hand and pointed in the direction of his sword.

“Share your strength with me, and we will get what we want.”

Rana stared at Aidan’s discarded blade. She felt a weak connection to it, copying a fraction of her strength and storing it within the weapon.

Rana stepped off of Aidan. From below her, Aidan could hear her mulling over his words.

I suppose she wanted to stay far removed from the conflict while I fought Novarac for her.

Rana didn’t get to give Aidan an answer. A sudden wave of demonic essence washed over them from far off in the distance. Their hearts were gripped by a primordial fear of death - like a pair of rabbits staring up as a giant hawk descended upon them.

“That’s Marvin! Quick Vaska, we don’t have time! Give me an answer!”

Though Aidan made that claim, his gut feeling told him that a different person caused that wave.

Cold sweat ran down Rana’s visage. She shook her head and grabbed Aidan’s blade off the ground.

“It would seem the choice has been made for me.”

---

Marvin stared anxiously at the heraldic moon hanging in the sky. Standing beneath its blue gaze, Marvin’s body leaned down as if the moonlight turned to water as it fell upon him. The myriad of dark veins running across Marvin’s face, neck, upper chest, and shoulders burned hot under the light, granting Marvin the dubious privilege of feeling every pulse of the corruption stored within.

Marvin felt a strange ringing in his ears. He looked around to realize that the panicked chirping of the birds whose homes he had destroyed, the yelling of the villagers whom his impact had alerted, all vanished into a deafening silence, leaving a feeling of having a steel pin pushed continuously down his ears.

Marvin’s limbs grow colder beneath the uncaring embrace of this strange moon. As far as its effects were concerned, it was much different from what he experienced beneath the stygian expanse of the dark star. But the feeling was the same.

The sensation of the world twisting to fit the malignant desire of the star.

Marvin looked back at Alaya. Contrary to his expectations, there was a look of horror in her eyes.

“You have to take Nova to safety before the demon comes!” Alaya yelled despite the threat Marvin posed.

Marvin’s gaze only hardened in response. No matter what kind of beasts hid in Alaya’s shadow, they would all join him on his journey to the afterlife by dawn.

Marvin spun his rope spear in circles. Once the rotations became fast enough to kick up dust, Marvin unleashed a devastating slash at Alaya. His spear flew down through the air, aiming to decapitate her in a single clean slice.

Alaya did nothing to protect herself, instead choosing to cover Nova with her body and shield her from the attack.

Before the spear found its target, a rock smashed into it mid-air. The impact pushed it out of its intended trajectory and left it only hitting dirt.

Marvin pulled his spear back and turned around immediately to face whoever threw the stone.

At first, he saw nothing. The barren terrain was broken up only by some stray logs poking out of the ground from the demolished palisade.

No, there was something else.

In this world as blue as cobalt, a lone human-shaped shadow marred its idyllic aspect. Though it stood just in front of the shattered walls, Marvin still felt its gaze pierce him from even so far away, making Marvin’s hair stay on end even with its face and every other feature hidden behind a dark veil. Whatever it was, it wanted him dead.

Marvin glanced at Alaya for a moment. She wasn’t moving, and she wouldn’t make it far with her horrible leg wound. Could he afford to leave her be for a moment?

Marvin looked back at the shape in the distance - and jumped in surprise, realizing just how fast it was speeding towards him. Marvin slashed his rope spear at the rapidly approaching figure. Something flashed in front of the figure for a moment, parrying the spear without averting a single step.

A split second after, the assailant descended upon Marvin. It was noticeably shorter than him, forcing Marvin to stare at the void of darkness beneath him. Marvin swung his axe downward at it - an attack already predicted as the figure took weaved gracefully to the side and avoided it.

The swing went wide, leaving Marvin defenseless as the figure punched him squarely in the chin. The strike rocked Marvin’s brain, leaving him stumbling back.

The figure lunged at him. Marvin leaned forward, letting go of his spear and clenching his fist. When the figure’s fist connected with Marvin’s face, Marvin immediately retaliated with a punch enhanced with as much magic as he could muster.

The two attacks hit almost simultaneously, shaking the ground at their feet. Tremors ran through Marvin’s body. It hurt like hell, but it was only a stiff breeze compared to Alaya’s punch.

*Crack.*

The sounds of his opponent's neck bending and breaking filled the air. The shape stopped moving, allowing Marvin to see who exactly attacked him. And so could Alaya.

Alaya’s eyes were wide with horror. The sight made her arms go limp, making her nearly drop Nova to the floor.

Marvin was breathing rapidly, but it was not due to exhaustion or pain. A mix of emotions rushed through his mind as he took in every trait of the person standing before him.

A long black cloak, hiding torn, old clothes underneath. An old iron sword and an auburn mandolin rested on his back. Marvin’s eyes swelled with regret once he realized that the hood of the cloak covering his face was twisted around to where no human could survive. He had not expected it to be him!

Instinctively Marvin reached his hand out to him and opened his mouth to apologize, only for the shape to suddenly spring to life and grab his wrist.

*Crack.*

*Snap.*

Before Marvin and Alaya’s terrified eyes, the figure’s neck twisted erratically in a multitude of directions, many even more deadly than the one Marvin had left it in - clumsily wringing itself back into place.

“Did you enjoy letting out your frustrations on Alaya?” Aidan’s voice sounded from beneath the hood. “Tearing her flesh, sampling her blood, all to forget the taste of your failures. I hope you’ve had your fill of both because I will not allow you to ever harm her again.”

Alaya shuddered. Instead of comforting her with the knowledge that he was alright, Aidan’s voice only served to unnerve her. Something about it wasn’t right. Any sound that made it into this world already sounded muted, devoid of strength.

But this was different. His voice sounded just as distorted as Vaska’s.

Marvin’s guilt at the thought of killing Aidan didn’t disappear; it morphed. He had foolishly let his sister in the company of yet another monster—the veins strewn across his body audibly pumped as the quantity of dark blood within doubled.

Marvin freed his hand from Aidan’s grasp, who let it go without a struggle. Marvin let loose another punch, this time aimed at Aidan’s arm.

*Crack.*

Aidan’s right arm fluttered through the air - his forearm and hand turning to degrees impossible for the human body.

Marvin had no time to celebrate, for just as soon as he broke Aidan’s arm, the limb twisted with the same inhuman sounds his neck had, rotating nearly one hundred and eighty degrees before the forearm reattached itself with a loud pop.

The process through which his body healed did not surprise Aidan. What caught his attention instead was Marvin. Despite his latest strike holding no additional magic in it, it had more power than the enhanced punch that broke Aidan’s neck.

Is his transformation progressing?

Aidan drew his blade as Marvin spun his spear. The two stared each other down, their eyes conveying that neither would back down until the other was dead.

Marvin was the first to attack, his spear flying through the air at dizzying speeds - and parried at even greater speeds by Aidan. Marvin charged Aidan, their blade and axe meeting in the middle. It took two clashes for Aidan to overpower him and knock him aside with a slash.

My blade still doesn’t work on him.

Aidan suddenly felt a pulse from his sword.

I won’t be able to excuse holding my moon for much longer! Hurry!

Vaska’s voice rang in his head.

Throwing caution to the wind, Aidan shifted his blade to his right hand, freeing his left hand. He dashed at Marvin, diving and dodging through a sea of long-range spear slashes, marking his arrival with a one-armed swing.

*Smash.*

Marvin pulled back his spear as the axe and sword ricocheted off each other - only for the spear to fly past him as Marvin was launched off his feet by Aidan’s punch. Aidan slipped his blade into his left hand and ran after Marvin.

Aidan clenched his right fist as tightly as possible, inciting pangs of pain from his wound. He felt Vaska’s power ebb and flow throughout his body with no input from him. So far, he had only fought during its low points. The next punch, however, he would make sure would land at the peak of her power.

Marvin landed, his feet skidding across the ground. The moment the young man came to a stop, Aidan was already upon him. Time seemed to slow as Aidan threw his punch at him.

“!”

Marvin’s mouth flew open to unleash a thousand silent screams as Aidan’s fist sunk into his stomach. It looked like the stars surrounding the blue moon shifted position for a moment.

Aidan watched as Marvin flew through the air for several dozen meters before crashing into the earth and tumbling through it for even longer before coming to a stop.

Aidan breathed heavily and waited for Marvin to rise to his feet, but no matter how much time he gave him, Marvin did not move an inch. Worried it was a ruse, Aidan stepped up to Marvin and carefully checked his pulse to find it as silent as the world around him.

He’s dead.

Aidan clutched his shaking hand - left to watch over Marvin’s motionless body with only the sound of his breathing and heartbeat to keep him company.

Don’t think much of it. I just don’t like seeing folk being tortured by their past.

Memories of the previous days forced themselves into his head. He knew full well he had to go, but he couldn’t bring himself to take his eyes off Marvin.

He kept watching until his eyes were lit up by the faint glow of torch lights in the distance. He could not remain.

Aidan bowed his head to Marvin in an act of remorse before turning to Alaya.

The blue moon above them began to fizzle away as he walked to her.

I guess she reached her limit.

As the blue moon disappeared, its presence in the sky was replaced by purple, shimmering spiral trails of stardust. The trails shone in and out of existence, some disappearing completely before others took their places elsewhere in the pantheon of the stars.

The birth of a new demon? But-

Aidan looked down to see Marvin’s eyes snap open. Aidan took a step back - and felt his stomach turn inside out as Marvin dug his fist into it.

Aidan recovered just in time to avoid an axe swing from Marvin. The two’s weapons traded blows, neither budging from their spot. Aidan lost access to Vaska’s true power, but that was not all. Marvin was getting stronger.

His transformation progressed even while dead? Did it revive him?

A glance at Marvin’s eyes in between strikes revealed a feral look with no hint of humanity in them.

Aidan was quickly pushed back under the increasing strength of the barrage. White magic flowed continuously through Marvin’s body, gathering in spots on his body from which dark, spiral-shaped protrusions grew. The most numerous sproutings occurred on his leg, where the rope had cut him deeply.

Magic and demonic corruption can merge? Valerian never told me about anything like this!

Aidan raised his sword above his head with both hands, his feet sinking into the ground as he blocked a downward swing.

“Guitar….” Marvin growled.

Marvin’s voice startled Aidan. His grip weakened slightly, allowing Marvin to blast him aside with the next swing.

Aidan slammed his sword into the ground to stop himself. Holding all of Vaska’s power he still had, Aidan charged Marvin. Thunder echoed throughout Kulum upon each clash of their weapons. Aidan’s determination matched Marvin’s ferocity, but still, he could not overpower him anymore.

He’s stronger, but I might still have a chance if his emotions rule him.

After another clash, Aidan pretended to fall over from the impact. Marvin instantly pounced on this opportunity, only for Aidan to suddenly recover and let loose a slash on the created opening. Neither of Marvin’s hands was in a position to intercept the slash.

*Clang*

Aidan’s blade stopped prematurely, caught in a series of dark spikes that extended out of Marvin’s torso.

What?!?

Now presented with an actual opportunity, Marvin knocked Aidan back. Marvin’s spikes retracted back into his body as he started spinning his spear. His movement this time was clumsy, almost as if he had to relearn how to use the weapon properly.

Aidan dove at Marvin confidently, only to feel the cold touch of iron graze his cheek. By the time Aidan turned to see what hit him, Marvin’s spear had already returned to his hand.

Aidan desperately charged as Marvin drew his spear back, but he wouldn’t make it in time to prevent his attack.

“Leave him be!” Alaya yelled and rammed into Marvin from the side, knocking him down to the floor.

Marvin immediately retaliated with a kick to Alaya’s injured leg, dropping her to the ground alongside him. Alaya struggled to get back up, but Marvin had no such issue. When he was back on his feet, he stomped on Alaya’s leg.

Pain overwhelmed Alaya, leaving her powerless as Marvin raised his axe to kill her - the attack never came, however, as Aidan slashed Marvin across his back.

At last, the blade’s magic activated, sending shockwaves through Marvin’s body. Aidan didn’t receive any visions or information, indicating that the metamorphosis was still ongoing.

Still, that sufficed. Aidan unleashed an avalanche of slashes, each striking at the tender, unstable nature of Marvin’s very being.

Marvin let loose a roar of pain and jumped away - his feet struggling to support him after landing. Pushing through the pain, he quickly turned around and whirled his spear for another attack.

Marvin threw the spear, but once again, his aim was off. The spear flew seemingly harmless into the darkness, allowing Aidan a brief moment of relief - relief that was shattered when he saw Alaya throw herself in the way of the spear, the iron weapon embedding itself into her shoulder as it smashed her into the ground.

“Alaya?!” Yelled Aidan.

Alaya quickly rose on her healthy knee and held on to the spear.

“Wait!” Yelled Alaya, giving no concern to her wound. “You almost hit Nova with that!”

“Don’t bother! He’s driven by anger, he won’t listen to a single thing you say!”

Despite Aidan’s claims, Marvin stopped. He let go of the spear and looked closely at Alaya. The girl noticed this and shifted her body to the side, giving Marvin a line of sight to his sister’s unconscious body.

Had Alaya not caught the attack, the spear would have pierced Nova’s head and killed her instantly.

Marvin’s mouth hung open slightly, and his breathing picked up speed. A small firmament shone in his pupils.

“No…va….You…saved….”

“...’ Course I did. I’m her friend,” Alaya replied slowly as if she was trying to approach a scared deer.

Marvin shook his head and looked at his palms. Mounds of coal-like flesh poked out of them like large thorn spikes had pierced them. They were all over his body.

The ferocity in Marvin’s eyes vanished, replaced with horror. He looked upon Alaya, their eyes meeting for the very last time.

“I’m…sorry, Alaya.”

Marvin took a few steps back before turning around and running for the village.

Vaska was right. It’s not anger that triggered his transformation. But then, what did?

Aidan looked down at Alaya. Her left leg couldn’t support her weight, and her eyelids were constantly pushing down to close themselves, only kept open through willpower.

“I…I think I need to go after him,” Aidan said with a shaking voice.

“He’s not himself…I guess we have no choice. Go.”

Aidan could tell from her eyes that she despised the idea of letting him go alone.

“I promise I’ll be fine,” Aidan said with as much confidence as he could muster.

Alaya sighed.

“Prove it this time.”

Her words stung. Aidan took the same and ran after Marvin.

Alaya ran her fingers through the ground in frustration as she watched him leave.

“Oh, they’re gone at last. We can finally spend some quality time together.” spoke an elegant female voice from the darkness.

Alaya’s head snapped in the direction of the voice. Despite its cordial nature, something about it was very off-putting. She clutched the unconscious Nova tighter and readied herself for a fight.

“Now, now. That’s my daughter you’re holding.”

---

Aidan ran through the darkened roads of Kulum. After his short stay there, he had grown quite sick of the sights, but at least it meant he knew his way around. On his back, his sword’s runes still glowed, a sign he was still within Vaska’s range.

She returned to her human form. By the time I meet Marvin, I don’t know if I can stand against him anymore.

In the distance, dozens of torches were running wild. After taking a plunge into Vaska’s world, everyone was weakened and confused. Thanks to them, Marvin’s position revealed itself in the flames his presence turned blue.

“Grab your families and evacuate!” Aidan heard Malissa command.

Aidan dashed past frightened villagers. Aidan also caught glimpses of dogs running past the buildings in the direction of the blue flames.

Loud crashes sounded throughout the village. Aidan followed the most recent one to find an entire row of buildings sliced and pierced by dark spikes as long as trees and twice as thick as their trunks. Past those ruined buildings, Aidan found large spikes three times his size growing out of the ground - the trail reminded Aidan of how some animals and beasts shed their fur or molt their body.

Following the trail, the ground gradually became more deformed by spikes. The earthquakes increased in intensity and numbers, and the vague purple spiral accosting the heavens started to consolidate into a new shape.

By the time Aidan reached his destination, his breathing was the only sound in the world. Above him, the stardust from the spiral had gathered and formed a comet eternally falling to the earth, its long tail painting the heavens in its drab, purple color.

Marvin was approaching completion.

Aidan’s steps ended at the place where this all started, Alaya’s execution ground. The hill Marvin shattered was further torn apart by dark spikes. Arriving at the top, Aidan found no trace of the black crystal and pyre. In its place, a mass of spikes was gathered on top of each other, forming a rough sphere over fifteen meters tall and twice as long.

The sphere was dark on every side, the spikes far too numerous to reveal what lay behind them.

“He’s in there….I get it now. These things weren’t part of his demon form. They’re a cocoon.”

Aidan pulled at a spike with all of the strength he had left over from Vaska, but it didn’t budge an inch.

“Marvin, can you hear me? Nova’s out here waiting for you! You have to come out!” Aidan yelled while slamming his fists into the cocoon.

Shit! Shit! I never saw Valerian deal with this kind of thing before! What am I supposed to do? D-Do I sing to it?

“What are you doing, foolish child?”

Aidan’s eyes went wide. He slowly turned around to see Novarac step before him. Tabby was frightfully keeping in lockstep with his master.

Aidan backed away and reached for his mandolin.

“Don’t! You’ll waste time.”

Novarac calmly stepped up to the giant cocoon. He ran his hand down on one of its spikes.

“I hear you, Larish. I will see to him,” Said Novarac, removing the red ring from his hand.

Novarac was immediately hit by tremors stronger than any that shook the village. His hair quickly fell out and his skin turned marble white. His mouth opened to yell, only patches of skin to shoot out from both ends of his mouth, connecting in the middle and slamming his mouth shut. His body enlarged to the point where his clothes could barely hold onto his form. A dark line formed at the base of his neck and expanded until it looked like the dark strands of flesh contained within existed to connect the man’s separated neck and torso.

Even in this incomplete state, Aidan recognized him immediately as the demon from Marvin’s paintings.

Novarac raised his clawed white hand into the air until it looked like the purple comet was falling into his hand. Slowly, a red light appeared behind Marvin’s celestial object. Thousands of stars in the sky completely vanished as a single crimson giant occupied a quarter of the night sky with its enormity.

Novarac slapped the air, birthing visible red shockwaves. When the shockwaves hit Aidan, he heard Novarac’s monstrous voice ring in his mind.

I am the Red Star, the Ruler of All Flesh. The Earth and Heavens only move when I command them.

Marvin, break open your heart and allow your friend entry.

Crimson demonic essence flowed out of Novarac and into the cocoon. Before Aidan’s eyes, the spikes guarding Marvin started to pull themselves apart, creating an opening large enough for a human to pass through.

*Bark!*

Tabby’s concerned barks turned Aidan’s attention back to Novarac. The grotesque demon was resting on one knee, its physical form constantly pulsating as flesh grew and retracted all over his body.

Seeing Novarac’s power, Aidan had almost forgotten the greatest weakness all demons shared.

Each other.

As much as influence Novarac commanded over Marvin, the infant demon was striking right back at him.

Novarac slapped the ground, sending a shockwave into Aidan’s mind.

Go.

Aidan took his heart into his mouth and rushed into the opening. As he went inside, everything quickly became too dark to see. Even the activated runes on Aidan’s back went out, signifying a break in his connection to Vaska.

Aidan kept running for what felt like an eternity before the darkness ahead was broken up by a single purple dot. The dot grew larger the longer Aidan ran at it until it revealed itself to be a small doorway, the only thing with form in the endless abyss Aidan found himself in.

Passing through it, Aidan stepped back into Kulum. The crystal pyre stood a few meters away from him. What was stranger was that past it expanded the rest of the village, and beyond it, the forest and mountains, a sight far too expansive to be contained within the cocoon.

“Is this even real?”

*Bark*

Aidan looked down to see Tabby clamoring at his feet. Surprised by his presence, Aidan leaned over and grabbed the little puppy.

“Why did you follow me? It’s not safe here!”

Tabby buried his head in Aidan’s chest, stubbornly refusing to leave.

“Alright, fine. I don’t have time to take you back anyway.”

Together with Tabby in his arms, Aidan walked through the strange village. The world around him was wrong. The color of the sky and the grass at his feet was tinted yellow. The buildings were either too tall and thin or too short to house any humans. The planet itself was slightly tilted to the side, enough so that at any point Aidan should be fighting to not slip off on what otherwise should be straight ground. The sky pulsed to the rhythm of a beating heart.

In this empty world, Aidan saw no sign of Marvin. He quickly thought of all the places he could be, and how to most efficiently check them out.

No…I think I know where he is.

Aidan ran as fast as he could to the house he slept in the previous night, for he was certain it was the former home of Marvin and Nova’s family before Novarac attacked.

Arriving before it, Aidan found the house almost unrecognizable, covered in web-like strands of human skin and flesh. Sitting in its doorway was Marvin, who still had a few unsettling strands attached to his back.

The young man’s flesh was mutating and molting, discarding the human body and forming a demonic one. The dark protrusions were gone. Instead, his skin was turning into a shade of purple. A series of spiral-like horns had grown out of his head while the fingers on one of his hands had elongated into long, dark blades. His other arm ended in a short claw, with the skin and flesh above it folding over itself dozens of times, resulting in the arm being much shorter than the other.

Looking at it, Aidan understood that as Marvin’s instrument. An accordion, its nature clearly influenced by Vaska’s own instrument.

Marvin was slumped over. Holding hands above his head, he had not noticed Aidan’s arrival.

“Hey, Marvin.”

Aidan’s voice seemed to reach Marvin, for he shuffled slightly in place.

“It’s me, Aidan. Hey, say something. How are you feeling?”

Marvin let go of his head. Aidan watched anxiously as Marvin gradually raised his eyes to meet with his. His purple eyes were the only thing left human in his appearance.

“...Why are you here, Guitar?”

Aidan breathed a small sigh of relief. He was still sane.

“I just saw that you were in pain and thought you might need help. Do you mind if I sit next to you?”

Marvin stared unflinchingly at Aidan. After a few seconds, he nodded.

Aidan placed Tabby down and sat down to Marvin’s left. The two let their gazes wander over the empty, broken picture of the village the cocoon had created.

“How was it, meeting Alaya again?” Asked Aidan.

Marvin’s shoulders dropped, causing his folded-up arm to play a couple of melancholic chords.

“…I don’t understand anything anymore.”

Aidan’s eyes shifted around nervously.

I shouldn’t tell him about Novarac. It’s too late for that.

“If it makes you feel any better, she doesn’t hate you.”

Marvin’s eyes gained a hint of light as he took Aidan’s words in.

“Will she forgive me if I ask it from her?”

“She’ll whack you over the head for asking in the first place.”

Marvin lowered his head, though Aidan glimpsed the faintest smile from him.

“Maybe. But Nova won’t. She will never forgive me.”

Aidan’s expression shifted as he tried to think of something to say, but nothing came to his mind. Finally, Aidan sighed and looked ahead with a look of determination in his eyes. Aidan drew his blade and let it rest on the ground in front of him while still holding on to it.

“Marvin. Once the shell around us comes down, you will awake a demon. At that point, everyone you’ve ever known and loved will amount to nothing but meat for you to consume.”

Marvin didn’t react much to this announcement. He looked up at the pale yellow sky, his eyes revealing an understanding of his condition.

“And you’re here to save them? Even after everything we did to you?”

Aidan glanced at his mandolin.

“My dad made a vow to heal the wounded hearts of every demon, no matter how many bodies lay at the bottom of their stomach. As despicable as you are for what you’ve done to Alaya, your crimes still come second.”

Marvin stared, surprised at Aidan.

“...Is that why you knew to take her side? No matter, can you stop me?”

Aidan nodded. Marvin lowered his head again and closed his eyes.

“Then do it. I don’t wanna trouble my folks any longer.”

Aidan arduously got up, his arms dangling behind him. He stepped in front of Marvin and lifted his sword in his direction. Gazing upon the fallen warrior, Aidan let his mind flow freely to the previous day's happenings.

The emotion he’s driven by? It’s not anger.

Thinking back to how he spoke of Nova, his reaction to Alaya, Vaska’s words, and the purple comet, the answer became painfully obvious.

Guilt. Guilt at having failed to protect Nova and using Alaya as a scapegoat.

The first rune lit up.

“Marvin…do you feel like changing your name?” Aidan asked awkwardly.

“...What?”

“Do you still feel like Marvin is your name? Do you feel like a different word defines the new you?” Aidan grit his teeth. He didn’t know how to phrase it any better.

“...” Marvin initially thought that Aidan was crazy, but the moment he stopped to consider it in earnest, he felt something tugging on his heart. “Failure.”

Aidan’s eyes rose with pity. His hands tightened around the handle of his blade, refusing to accept the feeling it gave him as its second rune lit up.

The last one. His ties to the world. Nova, Melissa, Gawan, and everyone else who fights with him.

The third rune lit up, but not all the way. The young man tried to figure out what he missed when his eyes fell upon Tabby. The little puppy was pressed up against the Failure, trying to cheer him up.

Novarac?

A blinding light exploded from Aidan’s sword for a moment, all of its runes complete.

That was it. Aidan could now start the ritual and cleanse the Failure.

The Failure waited and waited, but Aidan didn’t do anything further.

“What’s wrong?”

Pushed by its words, Aidan finally drew his mandolin. Still, he didn’t play his song.

If I do this, he’ll be gone from this world, forever.

Aidan thought, only for his voice to sound in his mind again, this time more aggressive.

He deserves it for what he’s done to Alaya!

But he can make up for his actions still! And it would hurt Alaya so much to let him die!

Aidan argued with himself. In the end, he decided to give Marvin that choice.

“Listen, Marvin. I think if I try, I’ll be able to halt your mutation.”

“Permanently?”

Aidan shook his head. “No, but it will allow us to move you somewhere else. I’ll take you to a place with no humans and then let the transformation complete.”

“And? What then?”

“I’ll stay with you. I’ll keep you pacified until we find a way to stop your hunger!”

The Failure stared silently at Aidan.

“I’m sure Alaya will gladly help too. We can save you and then you can tell everyone how ridiculous they are for hunting Alaya!”

Aidan’s heart was beating fast. This was an act Valerian never even bothered attempting on even the weakest or most innocent demons he came across.

No, I can do it! I’ll save Marvin without needing to purify him! My father never ate human meat, so there must be a way to make it happen for Marvin too!

“Don’t listen to him!” Commanded a familiar voice.

The two their heads to see Novarac approach. He was back in his human form, his red ring wrapped tightly around his finger. Novarac was visibly struggling to stay upright, the fake world’s influence weighing on him heavily.

“The boy lies. Your life will be a living hell above what regular demons experience. Your reservoir of magic will corrupt your appetite and make you crave magically gifted humans. Eating Nova will be your very first act. Make the choice I never could. Let go.”

Aidan remained silent.

He just confessed!

The Failure stared wide-eyed at his adoptive father.

“Oh, yes, Marvin. I am who you think I am,” Novarac said mockingly.

It stood up without uttering a word. Magic exploded from its body, now the same color as its skin.

Its folded-up arm extended outward in the blink of an eye, slamming into Novarac. It grasped him in its claw before its arm stretched out for kilometers, ramming Novarac into one of the mountains in the distance - immediately dragging Novarac back through the forest, destroying trees and rocks in the way and digging a channel through the ground with Novarac’s body. It pulled him through the town gates and the buildings, cutting a swath through the village until its arm fully retracted.

Dangling Novarac above the ground in its claw, the Failure glared at him with all the murderous intent it had thrown Alaya’s way previously. It squeezed down on Novarac’s head as hard as it could, aiming to crush it - smiling as it heard Novarac’s bones crack and snap.

“Thanks for revealing yourself, boss. Now, at least, I can keep my word and drag the monster that hurt Nova to hell with me!” It roared.

It smashed him head first into the ground before cutting at him with its dark blades and launching its clawed hand into his back. The color of the sky and the ground shifted as the ferocity of its assault only worsened.

Once Novarac stopped moving, the Failure picked him up by his head and decapitated him with a swift swing of his blades. Novarac’s body fell to the ground, spraying blood everywhere from the severed stump.

The Failure spent but a moment looking at Novarac’s head, some lingering attachment to his adoptive father birthing a feeling of guilt - only for it to crush the head in its claw.

Throwing the bloody remains out of its claw, the Failure stepped back to Aidan.

“Kill me.”

Aidan hesitated.

“Are you sure about this?”

The Failure placed its bloody claw on Aidan’s shoulder.

“Let me atone for what I’ve done to my sister and Alaya.”

Aidan clenched his fists. He grabbed Marvin by the collar of his shirt, which had fused into his flesh.

“Atone?! Do you think you’ll atone by running away from your crimes? Step out of here and make it up to Alaya yourself! Make up for all of her pain, her wounds! Make up for the stake you pierced into her hand! Tell everyone how wrong they are, then work the rest of your days for the life you destroyed!”

The Failure’s eyes wandered around, shaken up by his words. His mind wandered to a thousand thoughts, and his body slowly crumbled up as if to hide from them.

Aidan already knew his answer before he even said it.

“I can’t.”

Aidan gripped his mandolin.

“Coward,” Aidan growled.

“Get out of here, Tabby!” Aidan let out his frustration at the puppy, chasing it away until it was safely outside the range of his song.

Now left just the two of them, Aidan prepared the last threnody of Marvin’s life.

“I’m sorry I misjudged ya, Guitar. Please, stay friends with Nova. I want her to recover after all of this.”

Aidan spat.

“With you gone and Alaya at her side, Nova’s smile will never fade again.”

Despite Aidan’s harsh words, the Failure looked content.

The Failure rested on his knees and let Aidan’s song take over. Just like the time Aidan sang to him to save Alaya, the world before his eyes changed.

Aidan sang to him of a young boy whose town was attacked by a fierce dragon. The boy watched powerlessly as the dragon kidnapped his parents and sister. Wandering through the destroyed town, the boy came across some townsfolk lynching a young girl his age.

“She’s to blame for all this death,

Capture her and end her breath!”

Without thinking about it, the boy sprang into action and saved her. Talking to her revealed her to be the daughter of a dragon, but she was not responsible for the attack. Nobody but the boy believed her.

“If it is redemption you seek,

Follow me to where the dragons sleep,

Together we can save them all from the deep!”

Aidan sang of the many journeys the two went through until finally arriving at the dragon’s layer. The two attacked the dragon as it slept, killing it and freeing all those it captured to feed on later.

The Failure smiled, satisfied as the song ended with the boy, his family, and the girl returning to the town heroes. No more would he be separated from his sister. No more would others take retribution out unfairly on the girl.

All was well.

The Failure was elated. The song reached the deepest recesses of his heart, its notes cleaving through his doubts and sadness, its tune carrying away every feeling of shame tainting his soul. All the regrets holding him pinned to the ground were lifted off of his shoulders. He had never felt so free, so happy before in his life.

The light emanating from Aidan’s blade intensified. The three runes lifted out of the blade and flew into the mandolin, the instrument’s auburn wood exterior changing as Lines of white and gold drew themselves on it.

Gradually the light expanded outward, enveloping both of them. Aidan lost all feeling in his body, his mind soon following suit.

---

Aidan woke up in a strange place unlike anything he had ever seen. The ground beneath him was ashen grey and rough to the touch. Whenever he took a step, his foot sank into it. It gave off a feeling of enormity, something so immense that whatever Aidan could think of to compare to it would pale before it.

Aidan found himself surrounded by an impregnable wall of fog with no sign of Marvin.

Aidan called for him, but only silence responded.

As Aidan walked through the fog, sometimes he saw what appeared like balls of light shining through the mist. No matter how far he ran after them, they disappeared before he could reach them.

Suddenly the ground beneath him moved. It was nothing like an earthquake - more like the movement of a limb that Aidan was a tiny ant on. A thunderous roar sounded around him, shaking every bone, organ, and vein in his body. It went so far beyond the limits of noise that instead of shattering Aidan’s ears, it felt like it threatened to pulverize Aidan’s very existence.

Aidan only started moving a full minute after the roar ended, his body too overwhelmed to respond in the meantime.

Aidan searched until the fog in front of him suddenly gave way to a pair of closed, golden gates. They were massive enough to accommodate creatures dozens of times Vaska’s size. Arches of marble adorned it, with two stone dragons wrapped around the edges.

Despite their enormity, the gates did not cast any shadow, nor were they connected to anything. Still, Aidan was confident it led somewhere. He could feel it.

Aidan tried knocking on the gates and calling for them to open to no avail.

The glow of his mandolin drew his eyes to it.

If it brought us here, then maybe-

Aidan played his mandolin. This time the gates responded. Instead of opening, however, the dragons guarding them sprung to life. They crawled down the gates and stopped right in front of Aidan. Their size intimidated Aidan, who couldn’t help but take a few steps back.

“Why are you here, herald? Your task is already complete,” the dragons spoke in unison, their voices carrying a powerful echo through the endless fog.

Aidan stared at the beasts. They carried an aura unlike anything he had ever experienced before. Still, something about them made him feel safe in their presence.

“I-I don’t know what you mean! I’m looking for someone, er, a half-demon! Have you seen him?”

The dragons snorted.

“Why do you ask something obvious? Your ward has already passed through these gates just like all the others have, Valerian. Have these six months of absence made you forget?”

Aidan’s eyes went wide.

“You know my father?”

Aidan’s question made the dragons look at each other for a moment.

“You…are not him?”

“My name is Aidan. I have taken up his quest to purify demons after his passing,” Aidan explained.

The dragons brought their heads uncomfortably close to Aidan. Their eyes scanned him for a bit.

“Aidan…the same name….Yes, Valerian did speak of you. Still, seeing a human take over his duty is a surprise. We are impressed that your frail body survived entering contact with a demon, even with Valerian’s cloak protecting you.”

Aidan shook his head.

“Never mind me! Please tell me where Marvin is!”

“We already told you. He passed through the gates.”

Aidan looked unsure.

“What happened to him after?”

Their eyes narrowed.

“It is not prudent for living flesh to question what fate awaits it beyond the thin veil of its mortality. Return to your world comfortable in the knowledge that the demon you cleansed will no longer suffer.”

Aidan stared at the golden gates. He felt a cold air of indifference flowing from them.

“There are people whose worries will be put at ease if they knew what happened to him!”

The dragons snarled and roared.

“Mayfly thoughts do not concern us. Your time here is at an end! Throw him back down, Ikankulut!”

The dragons returned to their positions, the gate vanishing into the air. Shortly after, the ground at Aidan’s feet shook once more. The fog above Aidan dispersed, allowing him to glimpse a cosmic infinity filled with endless snow-white planets and stars on a pristine canvas of gold.

Aidan’s mouth hung open as the canvas started to move. A tall white-golden shape dragged itself through the heavenly cosmos, disturbing the vast constellations as it cast its shadow upon them. That elysian tower drew in two stars into an eternal chase around its tip as it began its fall towards Aidan.

A single thought fired into Aidan’s mind before everything went black.

A finger?

---

Aidan woke up on the execution hill. Everything had returned to normal, more or less. The bleak colors of Marvin’s colors, the purple comet, and the cocoon all had disappeared. The few remaining spikes disintegrated into dust.

Aidan was left alone, surrounded by Marvin and Novarac’s corpses. Aidan clutched his chest as he stared at Marvin. His heart felt heavy yet empty at the same time.

Is this really for the best, father? I ripped him away from everyone. His eyes will never open again. Is peace worth it?

“So he’s passed on.”

Aidan stepped back as Novarac stood up before his very eyes, his split blood and splintered flesh flowing up his body like water to reform his destroyed body.

“What?”

“Why are you surprised? You should already know that mere violence does nothing to my kind.”

Aidan rushed to his feet and drew his mandolin.

Argh!

A jolt of pain immobilized the fingers on his right hand. The wound Vaska left upon it opened once more.

“Of course, I know!” Aidan yelled, trying to mask his pain. “What I don’t understand is why! Why did you let yourself get torn to pieces by him?”

Novarac swung his head side to side.

“To complete his revenge. So that he may face eternity knowing that the monster who haunted his little sister’s nightmares is gone forever, felled by his hands.”

Once Novarac’s human form was complete, he stepped up to Marvin’s body. Though unharmed on the outside, its soul was gone. Novarac placed his hand upon it. Little by little, the demonic features, his purple skin tone, the horns, and the arms all regressed until Marvin was left looking human again.

“That won’t do anything,” Said Aidan as Novarac lifted him in his arms.

“His friends will not want to see how grotesque he looks now. They should believe he died a human.”

Aidan grit his teeth.

“Why are you doing this? You’re the one who ruined his life! It’s all far too late to be acting kind now.”

Novarac stopped in his tracks. He looked away from Aidan and to the spot in the sky where Marvin’s comet used to fly through.

“Because he is my son,” Novarac answered with a voice Aidan had never heard before.

Aidan watched Novarac disappear down the hill. Though exhausted, and drained, his heart was beating heavily.

He won’t get away with this.