The path they had taken into the Clarity City System was fascinating and terrifying. The steep staircase twisted and turned at abrupt angles, reminding Emilia of a caving route that had been chiselled into a proper path.
V would have loved it, what with his history in that blackaether caving raid. Emilia herself had only the smallest experience with caves, from her months in Dion as a teenager and later a young adult. There had been a small cave, with stairs carved into it much like this, near the palace. It was outside its sprawling borders, which she had been ordered not to leave.
So, of course, she had left. Those steps had opened to a small lake, where she and HuaHua had gone to swim several dozen times before their guardians had discovered their activities and put them under better guard—not that that had stopped them from sneaking away to other places.
These stairs opened into the ceiling of the city system, near one of the walls. The path that was left was tiny, barely large enough for Boundary’s muscular form to traverse without risking him toppling over the open edge. They had to go down, however. Below them, the grey city system loomed, quiet and unmoving. Much like the buildings of the city system above, these buildings also featured estates built onto their tops.
They weren’t as green and lush as the Stringer and Ingogia estates had been, without the twin suns blazing down on them, instead being harsh, dreary looking things. Sharp-edged buildings jutted out of the already bleak looking sky scrappers—or ceiling scrappers, she supposed—and while there was the occasional plant and water feature, they appeared half-dead, the water an uninviting murky grey.
“You jumped to that building!?” Emilia hissed at Conrad, who had rearranged her so she was slung over one of his shoulders. She wanted to argue she could travel down the thin, ominous looking path herself, but she didn’t think anyone would believe her.
Conrad had briefly set her down, after they had awkwardly realized the Enclave his family had associated themselves with may have taken Tobias—Toby—to the library city in order to create a blood weapon. Although she hadn’t felt one being created—not the way she had felt the blood gathering during the stampede in Livery, anyways—they couldn’t rule out the possibility there was now a weapon of mass destruction out in the world, and Boundary had sent off an emergency message to someone. A short while later, they had confirmed that whatever blood had been left behind following the library's destruction was no longer there.
There had been no official record of its cleanup, and the overseer of the area was now wanted for questioning—it was unclear where they were, and some sort of manhunt was now on for them. Not that the manhunt was likely to result in much, what with how overextended the Risen Guard currently was.
While the men had discussed the issue, Conrad somewhat reluctantly giving Boundary and Carne information about his family so they could feed the information back to other people, she had returned to her messages with Honey. Harmony was apparently being questioned, but was refusing to answer any questions. Emilia had joked about Conrad going to question her, and, well… She’d gotten a bit distracted, okay!? One moment she was chatting with Honey about the ethics of using whatever Conrad’s ability was on people, the next she was stepping wrong and falling onto her ass, sliding several steps before she almost took Boundary down.
So yeah, no one was letting her walk down these steps herself, and she contented herself to being carried like a sack. It wasn’t exactly comfortable, Conrad’s bony shoulder digging into her stomach, and staring down at the ground far below them… watching gravel from the path fall away as the men walked…
Uh… yeah. Emilia had never practically had any fear of heights, but she’d also never worried much about dying from falling. Maybe a little when she was younger, before sparking had become a thing, but now? Even with her knots currently—or at least recently—fucked as could be, she could always still spark away and land—more or less—safely on the ground.
If they fell now? If Conrad tripped or an attack came from someone standing guard below—not that her or anyone else’s maps indicated anyone was standing guard—or the path suddenly broke away from the wall?
Well, she and Conrad would just pop back into their bodies, but unless they could teleport while falling, Boundary would die, no one would save any of the kids, and who knew what would happen to the other kids Carne had taken.
“I need to stop looking at the ground and contemplating death,” she muttered, letting her eyes close.
Conrad laughed, but said nothing. Maybe he sent her a message, but while Boundary had told her the Risen Guard system would alert her if she got a message while her eyes were closed, the system interface hidden in the darkness, she’d never felt it, and she’d definitely gotten messages from Honey while resting or asleep.
Instead, the men continued on, and when Boundary said he was going to transport them to a nearby roof instead of Conrad’s original, horrifying jumping method, she breathed a sigh of relief, and then screamed as she was unceremoniously hauled out of Conrad’s arms by Boundary before they landed on the roof.
“A warning would have been nice,” she sighed as he put her down and vanished to get the others. She looked around, contemplating the area and—
Wait.
“Hey, how did you and the kids get out of here?” she asked when Boundary dropped Conrad beside her a moment later, Carne having popped up alone a second earlier. Apparently the quiet, kinda-cult leader was above moving visitors.
Conrad’s smile stretched across his face, her stomach fluttering nervously at the inhuman gesture. ⸂You don’t wanna know,⸃ he said and yeah, actually, she didn’t think she did.
Something told her she’d be tempted to try pushing the man off the building, if she found out what sort of nonsense he had done to get the kids out of this place. As it was, the path they had travelled was barely visible, and it didn’t surprise her none of the Clarity members knew it existed—or if they did, that they didn’t see it as something worth watching.
Maybe that lack of security wasn’t weird. Clarity obviously had spies inside the Risen Guard, and were actively—if secretly—collaborating with the Enclave. Normal people didn’t wander around the streets of the city system either, so why would they waste resources monitoring a secret entrance that was difficult to access? Didn’t really explain why they weren’t watching it now, though. They should definitely have been watching it now, what with all the visitors wandering around.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“So… which way now? When are our stories supposed to stop overlapping?” Emilia asked, her energy reaching out, searching for something in the universe she could read for herself.
Carne still didn’t look at her as she did so, Boundary translating her words for him. He did look at the places her energy was touching the world, however. It felt strange, to be practicing something she knew so little about in front of someone who was a master at it. All she could do was practice, though, even if she couldn’t really read anything. She could feel marks and scars across the aethernet, sure, but it meant nothing to her. Stars, it didn’t even feel like it should mean something to her, and she’d seen and heard tons of different languages through her life. If there were words—a story—hidden in the sensations her energy brought back for her, she didn’t see it.
⸂Not yet,⸃ Carne said, his own energy bubbling before he turned, leading them… somewhere. Emilia had kinda given up on wondering where the guy was going and what he was thinking.
“Does he seem… different, than when I met him before?” she asked Boundary, her voice soft despite Carne’s inability to hear her. They were still gossiping about him, and it felt right to keep their voices down.
Boundary’s jaw tightened, his generally severe expression becoming all the more intense. ⸄He is… more himself,⸅ he finally said, swallowing in his unease. ⸄I believe I told you that the more powerful a Risen Guard becomes, the more they lose themselves?⸅
“Technically, I think you said the more gifts they receive?” She could be wrong about that. It had only been a few days since that conversation, when they’d wandered the Risen Guard compound with Astra and little now-Emile. It felt like a lifetime ago.
The Risen Guard nodded, telling her—and Conrad—that generally power was connected to the number of gifts. ⸄Not always. Each gift is ranked, from most to least powerful. The ability to hear visitors is not powerful, for instance. It is often the first gift trainees receive, each travelling to a specific labyrinth that nearly always bestows that particular gift. The trainees who leave that labyrinth will not even feel the tug of the heartcore’s manipulations on their minds, due to how weak the power—and therefore the pull—is.⸅
“I’m guessing that nearly always didn’t apply to Carne? That’s why he can’t hear me?”
⸄Yes,⸅ Boundary agreed, his eyes glued to his former-something’s back. ⸄He was gifted an exceptionally powerful ability to read the universe instead. Normally, he… would have been killed. From the moment he received it, he was too dangerous. The personality created by the heartcore is almost always in control of him.⸅
“How much is your heartcore personality in control?” Emilia asked, curious. She’d only seen that personality once, when Boundary had tracked her to the Stringers. Since then, he’d been normal, but he had warned her his alternate personality could pop out at nearly any moment. “Actually, does something in particular trigger that personality? For the Clarity members, it seemed to just sorta… overcome them? It was like certain situations triggered it, and it needed to come out? Like, when we all met to discuss their stupid Infiltrate the Ingogia Estate plan. If someone seemed to be questioning Ajarni’s plan or words, BOOM! Heartcore personality took over, then, eventually, it would bleed away, and they’d be themself again. Rin was a bit the same? The few times I saw what, I think, was her altered personality, it was when she was defending the Risen Guard. It would defend you guys and your beliefs, then slip away.”
Boundary nodded as they moved, heading down a set of stairs that must have been the outer stairs she’d run into Conrad on, during his first break and enter. Well, maybe not the exact same staircase. She assumed each of the four buildings had at least a few, for emergencies, and she wasn’t even sure this was the same building.
⸄Generally, our heartcore personalities appear when necessary to defend the Risen Guard. The Enclave’s slowly form around their waking mind, overtaking more of their host’s personality as they grow in strength. From what I know of Clarity, their personalities come out when a hive mind is needed. Given your experience, I would guess it also rises when its host’s personality is threatening the harmony of the group.⸅
[Conrad: Neither of the others are hive minds?]
Boundary contemplated Conrad’s question, while Emilia contemplated that the two could message each other directly, rather than going through her as translator. Stupid men. Yes, they had fought… several times, but still! She did not appreciate being treated this way! It reminded her way too much of that dinner fiasco with Olivier and her ex, and at least in that case, she’d been getting sex, smiles and food!
⸄I do not believe so. For the Enclave, even within specific families, we know there have been fractures. They are very secretive, but our best guess is their personalities become more… intense in their beliefs as they grow more powerful. The original belief was there, within their original personality, but not so intensely. The power of the heartcores augment, but do not shift, their views.⸅
“And that causes problems, when different people have different beliefs with the same insane intensity.”
⸄Indeed. For us…⸅ Boundary hesitated, looking unsure of how much to tell them, although it seemed strange to tell them so much, so close to them leaving this world, only to then worry about it. The man’s eyes flicked between her and Conrad before returning to Carne’s back. ⸄Our personality is a single entity, given access to this world through our power.⸅
“Oh.” Emilia wasn’t sure what to say to that. Not a hive mind, but a single, dominate one. “Can it exist within several people at once?” she asked, unsure what else to ask.
Boundary nodded, telling them that it could, but as a whole, the Risen Guard limited their individual power, so it had less access to the world. As a result, multiple iterations were uncommon. ⸄Its interests do not always align with our own. Hence, once a Risen Guard begins to shift too often, they are put down.⸅
[Conrad: Cold.]
[Conrad: That what this guy is? Someone who should have been put down because their personality is this thing even you guys fear?]
Emilia’s eyes locked onto Carne’s back, contemplated how much they seemed to be a broken child at the moment. Ash. If this wasn’t the Carne who was being controlled by the entity Boundary spoke of—or another, similar entity—this must be Ash, or what was left of them. Living as that thing for so long had probably affected them, muted their personality. They also clearly believed what they were doing was right—or perhaps knew fighting it was no use. Perhaps they were even going along with its wishes, hoping to wheedle out a few more moments of existing before it took over again.
“Is he being controlled by the same thing that takes you and the other Risen Guard over?” she asked quietly, glancing up at Boundary and finding him glowering at Carne’s back.
After a long, painfully silent moment, he shrugged. ⸄We do not know. Either it is, or it isn’t. All we know is the last time something that powerful was allowed to exist in this world, it almost destroyed it.⸅
“But you can’t kill Carne,” Emilia noted. Even without Boundary confirmation that the Risen Guard were unable to kill Carne, she knew it was true. He was a monster, guided by the aether in everything he did. If the universe didn’t want him to die, he wouldn’t. It was probably why the Risen Guard had been unable to kill Ash, why they would continue being unable to kill the thing Gale’s sibling had become.
She also knew that the you of Boundary wouldn’t be able to kill Carne either, even if he had the opportunity. Something told her there was too much baggage there. Friendship and perhaps broken hearts. The man might be happy with a husband and new child, but that didn’t matter. Some part of him belonged to the person in front of them, and as much as he had told her that she and Conrad were right to kill the things the Clarity members and Ingogia family had become under the oppressive power of the heartcores, he wouldn’t be able to follow his own advice.
Boundary wouldn’t be able to kill Carne. It was sweet. It was sad. It was also potentially dangerous.