The surviving cultists, despite all the death and carnage, rejoiced and cheered. They had survived the Day of Reckoning. In the cult mythos, they became the chosen ones, validated by the second advent of the Pail Priestess. They even tore down the enchantment keeping the complex separated from the Void. Now that the cult leaders no longer needed to fear Mickey attacking in the night, it was a waste of essence. It was because all of those who feared the Mouse’s wrath were now dead or converted.
Robert pondered about his use of mental domination. Was it that bad? They were his enemies and their current state was better than death. He made only the bare minimum changes to them. But he had little time to waste in contemplation. He was paying the upkeep of Mind Blackout on Pete and had a spirit to deliver.
“Mickey, can I really take Pete?”
The mouse’s smile faded. “Pete has tormented us for more than a century. And that was before Gwen awakened us, Robert,” Mickey said. “He’s the one who convinced the cult leaders to betray Gwen. This world has more than enough villains. Go, save Amanda.”
The other cartoons nodded, and then they all vanished. Robert wondered if he would ever see them again, now that they were all free. He placed a hand on the incarnate spirit and used his main talent.
*
*
Amanda was in her bedroom and she was wearing clothes this time. Dragging the anthropomorphic cat behind him, Robert appeared right next to her bed.
Her eyes were red, with black rings, and swollen. Her otherwise impeccable hair was messy and tangled.
“Robert?” She asked with a hoarse voice. “Where have you been? And what is this creature?”
Pete wasn't going anywhere but Robert was in a hurry. Keeping the incarnate spirit dominated was costing him a ton of essence, more than what his abilities and satellite could provide.
“This is a unique spirit of the Void affinity. You need to take it into your soul to finish what we started.”
Shock ran through the young woman’s spirit. A spark of hope to light up the darkest night. Yet, she locked that spark, wrapped in her darkest emotions. No. Amanda couldn't believe it. How? It was a once-in-a-lifetime lucky strike to find that treasure. And now a spirit? Where was he getting those wholesale? Oh.
“Where… how? I don’t understand. Is he one of the cartoons trapped by the cultists? Why did Mickey agree to…”
“Yes, but Pete here was their antagonist. The villain. There’s no love lost between the other cartoons and Pete. Can we talk about that later? I’m spending a lot of essence keeping him subdued.”
She felt the urgency in his voice. Robert had absurd essence reserves due to his Void Heart storage ability but he was probably coming from a battle and... she shouldn't be dallying right now. Pushing her dark brooding mood aside, Amanda closed her eyes. Robert did the same and the two of them appeared in the Netherecho in their projections. Pete was not visible in the Netherecho. Robert realized they had to kill its physical form before it would be released.
“Amanda, stay here and get ready to use your crook,” he said and returned.
He did the same he got used to when eliminating a creature. He wrapped them in a resilient sphere and then disintegrated the physical body. As she saw the released spirit appear in the Netherecho, Amanda’s body grimaced along with her projection. Robert quickly returned to the Netherecho but his worries were unfounded. Amanda had it under control and Pete was sleeping.
The young woman threw a new unaligned transparent shell at Pete and captured him. The shell started to crack as Pete shook off the effects of her crook but Robert used his armillary timepiece and stopped time for Pete. Amanda reinforced the shell and pulled him in.
Amanda felt numb. Overwhelmed by the influx of information and feelings, the changes in her soul gave her whiplash. Amanda wept and felt bile rise to her mouth. She needed a hug, she needed to scream, she needed to crawl under her blankets and vanish.
Robert's projection watched her in silence. He was gathering wisps with a frantic hunger, replenishing his heavily depleted stores in case something went wrong. His clockwork construct spun and ticked frantically, like a mechanical clock being forcefully adjusted by pushing its hands.
Amanda struggled not to keep Pete contained but to sort her emotions. Time passed in that stalemate. She wished she had Robert's mental tempering but alas. Meditation was impossible, so distressed she was.
A wave of self-deprecation and loathing struck her. Why was he doing that for her? She wasn't worthy of a priceless Affinity Treasure and now a Unique Spirit. She didn't believe they had that deep of a relationship and she didn't do as much for him. Even if you count the teleportation platform scam, it was still short of this. Bloody hell, a Void Affinity was worth hundreds of billions, maybe a trillion or more to the right buyer. The power it granted Robert was beyond measure.
It reminded her of when Robert demanded she stop giving him lavish gifts. Goodness, did he feel the same as her? Was she imposing on him that much? Noticing how much of a good person he was compared to her hurt Amanda.
She felt the urge to vomit. It should be a happy moment but Amanda couldn't feel satisfied. She felt dirty, crooked, corrupted, unworthy.
Amanda had no idea why she was feeling like that. She was used to getting priceless gifts. The five-star Artificial Core she got from Granny, was worth almost as much as this spirit. So why was this gift triggering these dark negative feelings in her when the others only gave her momentary joy?
*
*
Robert gave Amanda the space she needed. Though he wasn't actively trying to read her mind, he still picked up hints of the emotions going through her mind. He decided to give her ten minutes to work through these feelings, then he would intercede.
He knew there was nothing he could do to help Amanda right now. She had to come to terms with those feelings and make up her mind, on her own. He could be there for her and show support but the last ten feet of separation between them had to be walked by her on her own two feet. If she sought him out, then yes. He could comfort her. But right now? Reaching out and comforting her would only relieve his distress and dump it on her.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Time passed. Though neither of them moved, they were both busy. Robert frantically gathered wisps to replenish his stars, while Amanda worked through her inner turmoil.
Amanda looked up and met his eyes.
She schooled her expression and smoothed her emotions.
"Thank you," Amanda's eyes shone with crystalline admiration and love. No, they weren't tears. Go away.
*
*
Robert felt his worries evaporate like dew under the sun. Slowly. He didn't let Jade Mind steal the moment from him. He approached the bed and sat on it. Amanda threw her arms around him as she let her body press against his.
"Are you okay?" He asked and felt her head bob up and down against his neck.
"How is this going to help me?" Amanda asked.
Robert moved her to his lap so they could see eye to eye. "Damien is dead. Without the Seed of Unholy Rebirth in your soul, he cannot take over you. His talent won't let him die but has nothing to do. That's why every seed you plant with his talent germinates instantly and becomes a copy of him. But all these copies have the same memory set, minus the ones belonging to the host. The talent is reviving Damien from before he took over your body. No information from the projection inside your soul is carried over with these new seeds. And if Damien is considered dead, his fate is sealed once we finish your tempering. Meet me in the Netherecho."
She nodded. They conveyed back to the Netherecho. The two cartoon projections stood there, floating in the Netherecho for quite some time. Then, Robert grinned and took her tiny princess projection for a dance. He then presented a stage zero shell.
“Great. Now, this is the first spell you need to learn, Purge Essence. We are going to speedrun you through the Void tempering.”
Amanda studied the shell Robert projected.
She quickly copied it and learned the spell to cleanse her body of all the dross essence lying around. She could do the same with a few hours of meditation but now that she could use the spells, why not? Robert knew that with the amount of essence she was going to burn through during her tempering, she needed this.
"Done. What's next?" Amanda's cute chibi princess projection asked.
Robert produced another Ether shell. "The next step is to reach the maximum of stage zero in the Void Veins tempering. We will do that in the true void so we waste no real-world time."
After Amanda learned the spell, they returned to reality. She filled her essence, and the both of them went to the true void. She started to temper after she managed to learn the spell. She didn't have the advantage of a Void tempering bath but she also wasn't doing it in the dark like Robert did. With Robert ready to heal any mishaps, Amanda slowly converted her blood vessels to Void flesh.
It took less than a month in the void. Amanda abused her five-star satellite and Purge Essence to temper nonstop. She made mistakes and required healing from Robert. The process was slow but inexorably moved forward. She converted all of her blood vessels but the heart to void-attuned flesh. And now, the most dangerous part.
The Void Heart. They did that in the liminal void as well, where it didn’t matter if Amanda blew her own heart. She wouldn't bleed out or die of shock She failed several times. It was a hard step but the cost of failure was minimal. Since body functions were suspended, Robert could fix her with any healing spell, and then fix the little defects with Meticulous Rejuvenation.
She ran out of essence and they returned to reality after spending the extra time meditating and tempering their several techniques.
But after trying several more times over the next real-world week, she managed to complete the Void Heart.
*
*
Amanda felt odd. Not having a heartbeat was so unnatural, it made her believe she was dead. Yet, it was the least surreal thing happening to her right now. The initial Void Heart could store shit essence. She couldn't believe it would grow to be as powerful as Robert's, who could hold over four times the essence any two-star had the right to keep.
It was also absurd how many times she blew up her heart in the liminal void. With Robert's guidance. She should have been dead many times over. This technique was crazy, batshit insane. And now, she faced the hardest part.
"Time to ascend to the third star, Amanda," Robert said.
Andronicus had warned her to not do it, but Robert's recent conclusions told her it was safe. Still, Damien might use this as an opportunity to take her over. Amanda just wanted it to be over. One way or another. So she let her two stars go supernova.
She saw her Prime Vestige, the Super Farmer, and another, a black orb with an ominous face lit up in her soul. It had to be the Seeds of Unholy Rebirth.
"Turbocharged Crops! Infuse essence into them and watch the world explode every single night!" Super Farmer rocked.
"Within each soul where the seeds of resurrection sprout, carry forth the remnants of power from those who have fallen before." Seeds of Unholy Rebirth said.
Damien awoke right as the evolutions happened. "Bloody hell! You stole my fucking talent!"
Amanda's projection was right next to him the subsequent second, bonking him with the shepherd's crook and putting him to sleep. The assault was completely optional, and the ability was ranged.
She didn't check what her evolutions granted her. All of Amanda's focus was on getting rid of the parasite. She didn't even inform her family of her ascension.
*
*
Robert prepared the ritual for the Void Gates of Nirvana. He spent another week rehearsing the steps with her, and that she should trust it completely.
So, Amanda performed the ritual at the end of the week. She opened the rift and followed in Robert's footsteps as she sacrificed two stars to open the gates.
As the Void Gates connected, her heart pulsed again. Essence was drawn from elsewhere and filled her heart's tiny pool. It was exhilarating. The power. The possibilities. She could have as much essence to play with as Robert, and with the Purge Essence spell, she didn't need to worry about poisoning.
Then, she heard the screams. Guttural, rumbling, ear-splitting, heart-rending, death throes. It came not from her ears but from her soul. Amanda dove into it to see what was going on.
The Void Gates of Nirvana were opened wide, and an oppressive force vacuumed her soul. For a moment, she panicked. Then, she saw that none of the objects in her celestial orrery were in danger. Her single star, the shells for her abilities, her Artificial Satellite Core. Everything was in order.
Then, she focused on the source of the infernal howls.
Damien.
The projection was hanging tightly to her satellite, flailing around like an inflatable tube man caught in a storm. His clothes and his legs were all being dragged into the Void Gates of Nirvana. The screams and shouts and pleas for mercy tug at her heartstrings but Amanda floated nearby. She felt no such pull.
"HELP ME PLEASE! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"
Amanda scowled. Like a vengeful Goddess, she judged the man before her. No. Not a man. A vestige of a soul.
"You sought immortality and gained it, but targeted the wrong people. Like Icarus, you reached for the sun. Differently from it, you were burned by the void. Now, lost spirit, what will you do?
"HELP ME!"
At the thought that Damien was a disembodied spirit, Amanda had an epiphany.
She waved a hand and conjured a transparent shell. Then, she tossed it at Damien. The shell clamped over the projection, the lost spirit.
"Choose!" She boomed. "Oblivion or eternal servitude."
Damien glanced at the Void Gates of Nirvana that was sucking him in. Then at the shell, open.
"I don't want to die!" Damien pleaded.
"Fool. You are already dead! What you have to pick now is to let go of this life and move on to the next or forever hide in that shell!"
She didn't want to tarnish her soul with that, but she had already compromised too much. Capturing this free spirit would be a drop in the bucket and she knew that it would offer her a power unlike any other. Not for a moment Amanda thought she was binding a former human soul. Damien and his crimes didn't deserve to be counted among them.
Damien leaped into the shell, hope flared on the face of the cartoonish chibi smuggler projection.
Then, as he was about to enter it, the shell vanished.
"NO! NO! NOOOOO!"
Amanda might've given up on a kickass unique affinity but she wouldn't tarnish her soul further.
Amanda grinned with a wicked smile, savoring the negative emotions as they released in a burst. She cackled like a villain as Damien was sucked into the Void Gates of Nirvana.
The fractal metal gates slammed shut after him.