The angel touched down softly on the tiled walkway leading to the castle, its wings tucked tightly behind it. With Jack in hand, it started walking toward a set of grand pearlescent gates which opened up into a courtyard. Around them, Jack saw creatures of various shapes and sizes landing on the vibrant yellow grass that flanked the path. Winged leonine creatures with golden manes, flaxen-feathered birds that stood taller than Jack, blonde hounds capable of running on streams of light through the air, multi-winged serpents with scales the color of medallions, and more; they all fixed predatory gazes on Jack as the angel dragged his limp body behind it by the collar.

For his part, Jack offered no resistance nor did he acknowledge his surroundings in any way. The bodily ache of the Eternal Light’s Embrace coupled with the crippling penalty to Willpower left him in a state of hopeless reflection. Since his Focus and Intelligence were unaffected, his thoughts still came as readily as ever, but he couldn’t summon enough motivation to turn the thoughts to action. He lacked the drive to do anything except think of his impending doom and the futility of his existence. Esthara was dead. Mitani had been sold to the Ithcari flesh pits. Johan was gone. Ruka had been tortured and executed to lure him out of hiding. He’d suffered through all of it, yet he had never given up. He kept running. Running in the hopes that, someday, he wouldn’t have to run anymore. In a way, he had been right; his journey would come to an end soon.

Al is dead. The words shook his mind like bombshells fragmenting his already tenuous sanity. Alindal had been with him since his first day in Fracture. They had broken the chains of Azatiel together. Alindal, his first companion and friend, was gone. After so many years, Jack was alone in truth.

In his chest, the Blue Heart released tremors of frantic fear that grew in intensity the closer they came to the Eternal Light’s Bastion. Jack could do nothing to assuage its fear though. He knew that his fate and, by extension, the fate of the Blue Heart teetered on the edge of ruin. He also couldn’t bring himself to care. From a purely objective perspective, he understood the horrible ramifications of his situation and realized it was in his best interest to escape if at all possible; however, he had no desire to act. Alindal’s death had drained any vestiges of resistance out of him.

Jack heard the gates swing open as the angel made its way into the courtyard proper. More creatures populated the space though there were also lightweavers milling about in the midst of various tasks. He took note of the lack of lanterns on their person which marked the lightweavers as beyond salvation if the Twilight King was to be believed. Instead of crossing the courtyard, the angel jumped high into the air and beats its wings once, twice, three times before the pair landed at the top of a double set of stairs overlooking the courtyard.

Jack swept his gaze listlessly over the gathered servants of the Eternal Light. All but one went about their tasks without pause or distraction. Standing in the shadow of a small building that jutted from the white stone wall on the eastern side of the courtyard, a woman holding a lantern met his gaze. Sadness swept over Jack at that moment detached from the hopeless sorrow he already felt. And then, it was gone. He blinked in confusion and the woman disappeared.

The next few minutes passed by in a blur as the angel pulled him through the Eternal Light Bastion. Unlike the Twilight King’s fortress which looked like a castle inside and out, Pope Bohum’s seat of power defied reason. The interior of Eternal Light’s Bastion consisted of a series of unconnected winding pathways suspended on thin air. Each pathway ended in one or more archway filled with white light. The angel flew off the side of the pathway, heading up toward another which floated near the top. Jack glanced upward wincing as he glimpsed the miniature sun hanging overhead. Strangely, instead of feeling searing heat from the blinding orb of light above, Jack shivered uncontrollably from a sudden chill. The angel landed near an archway and walked through. His vision flashed white and his stomach rolled like he was spiraling through the air. His eyesight returned as the sensation passed but before he could get his bearing, the angel tossed him forward. He went flying through the air, landing on his stomach at the base of a dais.

Jack didn’t bother collecting himself as he glanced up at the dais where a man in billowing white and gold robes knelt in supplication to an altar of the Eternal Light. The angel stepped up and knelt beside Jack. It took off its helmet placing it to the side and lowered its forehead to the floor giving Jack a good view of its, or rather her, visage. His eyes narrowed as he looked up her face, a foreign memory resurfacing at the sight of a familiar face.

Between the time of the memory and the present, Arcen’s wife had changed in many ways and not at all in others. Her long flaxen hair had been cut short and her forehead branded with the mark of the Eternal Light, a circle containing three dots each of which produced a single line of light. Conversely, the radiance in her gaze dimmed offering Jack a look at her unchanged forest green eyes which still bore the same dull, unfocused look as when the inquisitor dragged her from Arcen’s room.

A host of jumbled emotions tumbled through Jack’s unshackled mind. He couldn’t make sense of any of them in his current state, but the cold observant part of him knew that the woman beside him had killed Alindal. Her identity mattered little in the face of that act.

The sound of shifting fabric reached his ears. A voice came from above. “You left survivors. Why did you allow the child torn from the Eternal Light’s embrace to fall into the clutches of damnation? Why did you not call the Eternal Light’s scorn upon the other outsiders? It’s unbecoming of a Justiciar’s judgment to be so lax, dear Lilan.” Pope Bohum spoke with a force that sent Jack’s mind into a freefall spiral destroying even the fragmented thoughts he had. Each word drilled the sentiment of the pope’s disappointment into his body and soul. The pope’s disapproval became physical pain and mental shame even though he hadn’t been speaking to Jack. It was like when the Twilight King used Greater Destruction. So close to the man, Jack even recognized that Bohum wasn’t speaking in a language he understood, but the sheer power of the words imparted their meaning on his mind.

Pope Bohum’s stepped closer to the two off them. Jack could tell the pope was barefoot from the sound of his steps against the stone floor. Bohum leaned down and stroked Lilan’s head. “Does your conviction waver because they were agents of your foolish husband?”

Lilan shook her head vigorously grinding her forehead against the stone as tears streamed from her eyes. She leaned forward and kissed the pope’s foot which peeked from beneath his robes. When she looked up at the pope with her piteous gaze, Jack noticed a thin smear of blood where her forehead had touched the floor. The pope knelt down in front of her prostrate form. His next words held affection and a hint of forgiveness.

“Of course, of course. This must be very hard for you,” He ran his hand through her hair. “You have always loved so strongly. Devotion and mercy are in your nature. I know this well. It is what makes you such a strong conduit for the Eternal Light. I am sure you felt much sorrow for those poor souls, deprived as they were from the Eternal Light’s glow! Oh, how your kind heart must have trembled at the tragedy. I understand, I do.” Lilan’s tears continued to flow but she lowered her head back to the floor in supplication. “But, fear not. You have not failed the Eternal Light completely. You’ve brought one of those poor tormented souls into the light. For this deed, I forgive you, dear child.”

Lilan laughed through a choked sob like a woman overwhelmed. She closed her eyes and spoke in the same language as the lightweavers. Her body language suggested nothing but submission to Pope Bohum.

“Nonsense, child. All who seek the Eternal Light are worth of its loving embrace. We must all struggle with our true selves under the Eternal Light’s all-revealing rays.”

The small part of Jack still capable of processing the situation reeled in disgust and anger as he watched the scene unfold. Lilan’s groveling pulled at the part of Jack that had connected with Arcen. He could only imagine the emotions that the Twilight King would feel if he had witnessed what he had. Unfortunately, Jack had no time to imagine anything as Bohum turned his attention to him.

The pope stood. “My child, I wish to see our new supplicant’s face.”

In an instant, Lilan hauled Jack into a kneeling position and forced his head up to look upon Bohum. Despite his meager Willpower and stunted desire, Jack immediately wanted to look away from the man. On the surface, he looked normal, an aged, if fit, man with flowing gray hair who wore voluminous white robes decorated with golden trim and embroidery. His eyes were average brown eyes with a slight yellow tint to them; however, when Jack peered into them, he saw the truth of the man before him.

Bohum was a shell. A shell for something horrible. Jack closed his eyes. The trembling worsened. He wanted to curl up into a ball somewhere far from whatever occupied Bohum.

“Open your eyes.”

The words ripped through his fragile resistance and he obeyed opening his eyes to stare directly at the horror within. Bohum smiled as the thing inside of him roused. Jack summoned the last vestige of resistance he could muster, spurred on by primal fear and turned his head away from Bohum. He barely had a reprieve before Lilan twisted his head back to the pope wrenching his neck painfully. Bohum nodded approvingly as his eyes drifted over Jack’s body.

“Yes, a fine vessel waiting for the Eternal Light’s salvation.” He reached his hand out to push the flap of cut cloth over the Blue Heart aside. His smiled widened. When he met Jack’s eyes again, the entity within stretched its predatory maw of ruination open in anticipation. “And you bear a nubile seed, just like the Twilight Key that Arcen protects so fiercely.” Bohum laughed cheerfully. “Yet, he sent you straight into my arms. Truly, he is a fool.”

The moment Bohum’s hand lightly brushed the Blue Heart, Jack seized violently. His breath came out in sharp gasps and his muscles spasmed. The Blue Heart cried out in pain, audible only to Jack. Bohum chuckled at Jack’s reaction. He rustled Jack’s hair as a father might his child. The touch only magnified the pain.

“Do not worry, my son. The Light can be dangerous to those who have never stepped into its domain, but I will guide you. You may burn, and you may ache, but once you are filled with the Eternal Light’s grace, you will feel its loving embrace.”

Bohum looked at Lilan. “Take him to the Radiant Chamber. I will see to his Illumination myself.”

Jack lost consciousness as Lilan pulled him from the ground and through the portal of white light.

***

Jack woke in a panic. He cried out jerking upward, only to find that golden chains around his wrists and ankles secured him to a table made of white crystal. His upper body had been stripped bare leaving his chest and the Blue Heart exposed. He glanced frantically around the room and noticed his equipment in a pile by one of two doors. He looked up to see that the table had been positioned below a circle of white crystal set into the stone ceiling of the room. The circle had several rings of etched symbols within it that radiated cold light. His mind, still disoriented and fragmented, tried to piece together the where, how, and why of his situation. Memories of the attack, Lilan, and Bohum rattled through his thoughts colored with terror and regret. Alindal’s death hit him again and he wept.

“Ah, it took you a while to awake though you are possessed of joy for your Illumination, I see.” Bohum’s voice hammered into him with its oppressive power shoving aside even his mourning grief for Alindal. Hollow joy filled Jack’s mind expanding until his head threatened to burst. Jack smiled. “Yes, that is it. Rejoice on this joyous day, my son.”

Bohum walked into Jack’s line of sight. He placed a possessive hand on the Blue Heart while the other patted Jack on the head. The agony of his touch was excruciating, but he smiled, enslaved by Bohum’s will.

The pope continued, “Normally, I would give a new supplicant like yourself a lantern to illuminate your journey to the Eternal Light’s embrace, but you are special. So long, this world has yearned for the Eternal Light’s presence, yet without the Twilight Key, I have been unable to bring it forth in its full glory. I have prayed for a light on my path for years and here you are bearing a replica of the Twilight Key. It may be weak, but I will raise the new seed you bear in the Eternal Light’s glory.” His words became more reverent and impassioned the longer he spoke. Jack nodded along with forced enthusiasm as the words pervaded his mind with their intent. “In time, even Arcen will be unable to deny the Eternal Light. I will be the Avatar and you will be the Key.”

He laughed. Powerless to resist, Jack joined in, his own laughed tinged with the madness as his mind futilely struggled to throw off the pope’s control. When the laughter stopped, Bohum held his hands in the air. His fingertips alighted with radiant energy which shot into the center of the circle on the ceiling.

“This will be unpleasant at first, but you must bear it. We will take our time to ensure you are whole and full by the end.”

The circle filled with yellow light until the center up to first inner ring shone like the sun. Bohum pressed a finger to the Blue Heart eliciting another spike of pain. However, his touch was nothing compared to what happened next.

A beam of yellow light lanced downward striking the Blue Heart in its center. Jack wasn’t sure he could ever truly describe the feeling he experienced at that moment. Words like suffering pain, and agony, each encapsulated the spirit of sensation and, at the same time, came up short. For an unknown amount of time, he existed in torment. A presence within the light invaded the Blue Heart. Jack couldn’t resist. Under Bohum’s compulsion, he let the presence in. It wracked his body with violent seizures, shattered his mind, and peeled pieces away from his very soul. He screamed at the top of his lungs. At some point, he bit partway through his tongue and the resulting flow of blood turned his screams to violent bouts of retching that left him covered in his own bodily humors. He writhed, twisted and bucked in his restraints, yet they held.

In a cruel twist of irony, Jack’s mind endured, not because of his will or desire to be free of pain. He endured because Bohum had willed it and his mind stretched itself to its very limits to obey.

Above, the yellow light within the white crystal breached the first ring pushing toward the second. Somehow, everything got worse. Jack didn’t even notice the numerous notifications flashing through his thoughts. He also didn’t see them flicker and distort as the Logos tried to process the events unfolding.

[A foreign presence has seized control of the Blue Heart.]

[Warning: A foreign presence is attempting to corrupt the Blue Heart. Immediate action required!]

[Error: Corrupted Logos detected.]

[Warning: Incompatible Logos within Blue Heart. Attempting to purge…]

Purge failed…

Attempting to contact nearby administrator…

Contact failed…

Initiating stasis as per W.R.L.D. Protocol…

Stasis complete…

[Opening World Core Status. Please assess damages…]

[World Core Status]

Blue Heart

Maturation Level

1

Logos

???/10000

Links

1/1

[Abilities]

View Skills?

View Traits?

Initiate Relic Creation? [LOCKED]

Suddenly, everything stopped— including Jack’s heart. His chest tightened painfully and the Blue Heart went dim before his eyes. Bohum stood over him, confused as the beam’s connection with the Blue Heart severed. After deactivating the circle, he placed a finger against Jack’s carotid artery and frowned. His other hand came down on Jack’s chest with a swift chop shrouded in light. The force of the blow knocked any remaining air out of Jack’s lungs, but a surge of warm energy entered his body and his heart began to beat though its pulse was weak. Jack groaned weakly in a puddle of blood and bile. As an afterthought, the pope placed a glowing finger into Jack’s mouth and against his wrist where the restraints had rubbed even his metal flesh bloody. Warmth seeped into him again healing his wounds.

“Hm,” Bohum mused looking up at the circle above. “It appears this will take more time and care than anticipated.” He glanced closely at the dim Blue Heart ignoring the mess Jack’s fluids made of his white robes. He seemed to find what he was looking for as his smile returned. “Ah, good. Worry not, my son. The process has begun; we’ve merely run into a minor obstacle. The Eternal Light’s guidance will see use past it, I’m sure.” He stood to his full height. “Rest. I’ll have someone cleanse you of the impurities the Eternal Light purged from your flesh so that you are immaculate when we begin anew.”

With that said, Bohum departed leaving Jack to fade into darkness.

***

An indiscernible amount of time later, Jack woke as someone touched his head. He flinched away from the hand; his eyes wide with fear. In the spot where Bohum had stood, there was now an elderly woman with. She smiled at him, exaggerating her heavily wrinkled face. She wore yellow robes like any other lightweaver and a lantern hung at her belt. He met her eyes. They were heterochromatic; one light brown and the other seafoam green. More than anything, her eyes were kind and Jack couldn’t handle that.

He turned away from her and cried.

Without a word, she lifted a bucket that smelled of damp wood and contained a sloshing liquid. She dipped something into the liquid. Jack winced when he felt her pressed something to his metallic skin. It was warm and smelled of loam. She squeezed the object releasing a torrent of warm liquid over his chest. Several times, she repeated the process. When she squeezed the liquid over his head, Jack tasted it. It was warm water mixed with lime. Then, she started to hum.

The melody calmed Jack’s frayed nerves as she washed him. To Jack’s enhanced hearing, the tune was off-key though he didn’t care. It might as well as have been the music of the gods from his perspective. Eventually, she wiped the object, which he discovered was a sponge, across his face pulling his gaze back to her. She caressed his cheek with her other hand as their eyes met again. Abruptly, some of the fog hindering Jack’s mind cleared. A new notification caught his attention.

[The Eternal Light’s Embrace ailment has been temporarily suppressed.]

Even without the crippling penalty to his Willpower, Jack barely held it together. He tried to speak but the screaming from early had rendered his voice unusable. Unfortunately, Bohum had only healed his tongue, not the strain on his throat.

“Poor lad,” the woman said. Her accent reminded Jack of Arcen’s before he became the Twilight King, rustic with a slight lilt. She dipped the sponge back into the water and squeezed its contents onto his hair while she firmly ran her other hand through along his scalp coaxing the mess out of his silver hair. The pleasant sensation along with the strange intimacy of the moment relaxed the tension wound up in Jack’s muscles. “Not the first time you’ve been broken by your trials, is it?”

He was silent for several seconds as he realized that he could understand her. He choked out a reply. “No.”

“Mm, I thought not. I can feel the breaks in your skin and bones,” She dipped the sponge once more. Jack glanced at the bucket and was surprised to find that it was still pleasant-smelling water despite all the woman had used. She wrung the sponge over his hair again. “But I can also feel the strength there. After all the breaks, you keep going. Reminds me of my husband.”

Confused, Jack struggled to express himself. “How… can… you… speak?”

She chuckled slapping him gingerly on his bicep. “Your tongue might be fractured, lad, but I’m used to picking up the pieces of broken things.”

They were silent for a while until she finished cleaning him. After one final rinse from head to toe, she put the bucket down. He closed his eyes attempting to collect himself; however, he couldn’t shake the feeling of emptiness inside him or the harsh absence of the Blue Heart’s emotion. The World Core weighed on his chest, no longer feeling like a part of him in its dormancy. His heart was also faint and weakness permeated his body.

The woman’s warm, leathery hand pressed against his cheek. “Thinking of giving up?”

He nodded, not opening his eyes. She patted his chest with her other hand. He might’ve cried more at that moment, but the emptiness forestalled any tears. Instead, he said, “They’re... all… gone…”

“Mm, I understand. Loss can be a hard thing to best,” she replied. He opened his eyes and saw her gaze was distant.

“You… too?” he managed to struggle out.

She nodded, “My daughter and husband. I wasn’t sure how I’d go on without them, but here I linger.” Her eyes refocused as she looked down at him. Her smile returned. “They’re never gone completely though. The ones you lose, I mean.”

She patted the dim Blue Heart which flickered to life slightly before dimming. In that brief moment, Jack felt a connection from within the Blue Heart. The connection led far from his current location. It was weak but a pulse reached out from the other end. He remembered the sensation, his Link. He grasped at the feeling with all he had. The fleeting image of Alindal passed through his mind along with a wave of deep concern. Then, it was gone.

Jack immediately tried to sit up, forgetting he was secured to the crystal table. The woman’s eyes widened at the sudden motion. She laughed. “Still got some fight in you then?”

Their eyes met and her expression changed shifting from grief to acceptance to appreciation.

“You really are like him. Just don’t know when to give up, do you?” Taking her hand off his chest, she touched the lantern on her hip. The yellow metal turned dull gray as the light within went dark. Her robes transformed becoming worn and changing color from yellow to mottled green. Before he could express his surprise, she leaned over and kissed Jack on the forehead. Rather than being confused or repulsed by the act, a feeling Jack had sought for years overwhelmed him. He felt safe. When she pulled away, it broke his heart. The elderly woman smiled down at him as he collapsed on the table. With her touch gone, the cold wrongness of the Eternal Light’s Embrace returned. Her voice resonated through his body and the crystal beneath him as she said, “Endure, Jack, and in enduring, grow strong.”

Suddenly, a familiar something snapped within his mind and the sound of his own voice filled his thoughts as the Logos ailment took hold of him once more sending him into unconsciousness.

“Few remedies soothe the ailing Fool as well as the mother’s touch. As he wallows in his own suffering, he finds that the thread of a mother’s love is not easily broken.”

When Jack awoke for the third time, he was alone and the light of the chamber had gone dark. He pressed his palm to his forehead as a terrible headache greeted him. He sat up then froze when he heard the soft jingle of a chain on his neck. Looking down, he realized two things. First, his restraints were gone. Second, he wore a dull gray medallion around his neck. The headache throbbed again and Jack noticed something else. Two notifications flashing in his mind while they waited for his attention.

[You have equipped the Ore Father's Token!]

A final memento of the Earth Mother representing her memory of the Ore Father before his destruction.

Relic Grade: S

+30 Stamina

+30 Willpower

[This item has a Skill! Would you like to view this Relic’s Skill?]

[Your Status has been updated.]

1 New Skill added from The Fool…

[Open Status?]