High up in an FBI field office, Nicki is staring at his insurance agent, more confused than ever. When he considered all the weird stuff around him, this seemed to stand out the most.
“I am, as you said, the insurance guy, Mr. Knight.” He said it calmly, and just like last time, he had this weird air about him like something was off with him. Today, it was like the edges of his person were wispy and blurred. “What is going on here?”
“Simply put, we took advantage of your arrival below. We were actually going to call you in today.”
That was a hell of a coincidence. Looking over at the desk, Nicki saw the twin of the book in Jillian's hands. Were they really going to bring me in, or were we too close? “Okayyy.” He drew out the word, “So you have my book, I see.”
“Yes, we do,” he said, sliding the book forward on the desk. Nicki made no move toward it. “We actually found it a few weeks ago, but we needed it for a larger investigation.”
Nicki looked at Jillian, who looked just as lost. Then something occurred to him: “Am I getting it back, or is this a subtle threat about the content of the book?” He would be the first to admit the content could be dangerous, but that was true for pretty much anything in the right hands. On a whim, he pushed mana through his eyes, pushing past whatever glamor the man had on him, only to find a dried-up body with eyes made of Jade.
“Mr. Knight, you are a valued customer,” the corpse said, its movements unsettling in their inhumanity.
“And you are a mummy.” It just slipped out. It was the first thing that had come to mind when he saw the dried-up skin—a picture from a book he had read long ago.
Aillil looked completely stunned at the statement.
“Wait, really?” Nicki looked over at the woman standing on the other side of the desk. Who looked to be having her own epiphany, “It was shot in the dark. Damn, wait.” He remembered reading something on this in his research for spells and put two and two together, “You use ancient embalming methods to extend your life. If that is the case, then ancient Egyptian priests were right.” Nicki shook his head as he pulled out his bingo card, “Man, I didn’t even have mummy on my bingo card.”
“Mr. Knight.”
Nicki’s eyes snapped back to the mummy now and many again, “Oh, sorry. I got a bit excited. Magic is still fascinating, and our world has a lot of unexpected things.”
“It’s alright. We all get like that sometimes.” Aillil waved him off, “But to your earlier point, no, it’s not a veiled threat or anything. And no, this is not a recruitment for the magic police. This is returning of your property and a warning.” His voice turned serious as he held up the book, “Magic may not be easily controlled, but we do expect a certain amount of discretion and decency.”
“Makes sense.” It was goo to learn that there were people looking out, and not simply executing or removing magic. “What was the investigation?”
“You.”
Nicki was stunned at the admission looking back at Jillian she seemed just as surprised. “I don’t know how I feel about that.”
“Good.”
With nothing better to do he stepped forward towards the desk, “Well I guess—” Nicki froze a feeling unlike anything he had ever felt before shot through him.
#
A boy walks to the roof of a ravaged city, the army still marching upon it. Destruction in their wake. He stands alone, beaten and broken, a whisper on his lips. One last chance to be heard.
-
Everybody hear me.
Everybody see me.
-
His voice a shattered whisper, disappearing into the chaos below. He should be hiding, quiet, running, and coming back much more powerful. They were getting closer, destroying everything in their way. His voice rose.
-
I'm standing on the rooftop.
Waiting for you to find me.
Scream my ----- ---!
-
A song born of another place. Another time. Half remembered lyrics. Only a chorus remembered. Gone was his dream. With the ravaging of the city, he had lost. A cruel god with his cruel tricks. The army marched right past him, not hearing a single word. His voice rose higher, filled with more than just desperation. Just a hint of magic resonated.
-
Listen to the sunset.
Everybody see me.
-
The army seemed to pause, their eyes looking up as though the lyrics called them. For a single moment, they froze.
-
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
Break until you can't break.
Scream your ----- ---!
-
Then they moved on; there was a city to ransack. Why would they spare a moment for a single child on a roof? But they had. Which got his attention.
A dying ember, never truly lit, fades, with every word echoing into the world, calling for anyone and everyone to hear. His final breaths are into a song with all the wrong words. The fire smolders, burning him from the inside.
-
Fight until your heart stops.
Live until this God drops.
I’m standing on the rooftops.
Scream your ----- ---!
-
“There is no one here, boy.” There he was, the creature who had started this all. The one who thrived on his cruelty. How he stole the boy just to play his little game. He smiled cruelly down at the boy. “Is this the final dyeing embers of your resistance?” His voice was pleased and taunting. This was exactly who he was. The boy learned firsthand. His eyes grew fierce as he sang the next verse.
-
Standing on the rooftops.
Everybody sees you.
Everybody knows you.
Fight until my heart stops.
Standing on the rooftops.
-
The ember inside the boy grew stronger and stronger shift into a flickering flame, immolating his body with every line, syllable, and verse. He was beyond feeling anymore. All that mattered was the song.
-
I will make you regret.
Scream your ----- ---!
-
A wave of power shifted through the world, making the God smile. “You are burning yourself. You will die burned by a power you don’t know.” He breathed in deep savoring the taste in the air, “How exciting. You were alway my favorite.”
Tears were falling from the boys eyes. It hurt it all hurts so much. His world had been destroyed. And for what? This creature. This thing that did not deserve the title of God. Ever since he arrived the deity toyed with him. Let him think his life was going well, gave him parents, friends, then took them away in the worst way possible. He turned them against him. Gave divine decrees. Made him run, the entire time “Helping” him escape. For years until now. He had somehow gathered a group of people ready to fight back. People who he had fought with. Now he was the only one left.
-
The world will make you regret.
Face your final sunset.
Standing on the rooftop.
Scream your ----- ---!
-
Another pulse of purse shot through the ether. “This is quite catchy. Why don’t you finish your Song.”
The boys eyes burned as he watched the taunting thing as he stoked the song insde him letting it burn through him out into eternity. Tearing every fiber of his being. There was no after, only now as his soul began to burn.
-
Scream your ----- ---!
Scream your ----- ---!
Scream your ----- ---!
Scream your
-
Something deep within the boy shattered. As the Gods hand pierced his chest. A sneer on his face. “You still failed.” The power he gathered pulsed out dissipating into the ether. Waiting. For something that never would come.
Ripping his hand free, “Oh whats this. Did you already die? I was hoping for another verse. Thats the problem with you little things so fragile. Cant even sing.” He sounded genuinely disappointed.
-
Scream your ----- ---!
Scream your ----- ---!
-
A voice echoed deep from nothing.
“What?” The God searched for the source. Did he survive? He looked down at the still standing boy his body. Burning skin cracking. Yet there was no life.
-
Scream your ----- ---!
Scream your ----- ---!
-
“No.” Panic creeped into his voice as he heard the verse. “Your dead. Your soul shattered.”
-
Scream your ----- ---!
-
He smashed the remaining bits of the boys burning body. The fire seemingly burning out. The God let out a sigh, “Just an echo of the spell.” He laughed at himself.
-
Standing on the rooftops.
-
From every remaining rooftop, from any still standing building. A boy appeared one shattered, burned and remade.
-
Scream your ----- ---!
-
“What?” Panic filled the voice of a God. True fear for seeing something it didn’t understand. Something it would never understand. “Stop.” He said as he appeared at all the spots at once eviscerating the copy of the boy.
-
Standing on the rooftops
Everybody scream your ----- ---!
-
The voice was coming from everywhere and most strongly right in front of the God.
The voices chorused together the power once a tiny ember blinking in and out a sudden raging inferno.
The rampaging army stilled.
-
This is all we got now
Everybody scream your-
-
“SHUT UP!!!” He screamed, the final bit of power left from the soul of the boy latched onto its target. The trigger finally sprung, trapping the God the boys final gambit. A trick. As the deity screamed, a pulsating red orb glowed in his chest before pour out of his mouth. Absolute fear covered his face as the final remnants of the boys soul formed into a fading facade of ash surrounding the heart of a God. He squeezed, and a deity died.
The army continued its rampage, unaware or carring of the fallen God. They just move to take as they always did. But now there would be no force tipping the scales. No more true monster behind the scenes. Yes the pantheon would war, and fight as they always did. But with him gone peace would have a chance, and a shattered soul simply fell between everything.
#
A book, burned, pitted, and charred, falls upon a desk.
A little doll stares in wonder at the pages in such disrepair. Worn and barely holding together. Yet still there.
A little wisp of ash shifted and formed as it drifted through the room, circling the chair in front of the desk.
It took her a few moments to realize what was going on. “Oh. Hello.” She said kindly. To the ash, reaching out with her little hands. Android paint still covering them. The orb drifts from its spot, encircling the tiny bit of kindness caressing her in its fading warmth. Her other hand traced along the book binding.
Looking back and forth between the two, you’ve been through so much.” A pulse came from ash, almost like acknowledgment.
She turned, surprised to find a new door she’d never seen before—in a place a door had never been. “That's new.” Her eyes shifted back to the soul. “I think it’s for you.”
Slowly, hesitantly, the cloud of ash shifted away, drifting towards the door, dancing along its face. It seemed to look back at the Drystia.
She realized it was waiting. For her to open it. “Sorry.”
The little doll steps towards the door and opens it. The surface of the moon greeted them, and the ash drifted out, followed by a curious doll.
There, sitting on the moon, a doll, a door, a cloud of ash, and a man standing. Drystia blinked, seeing Nicki. Just behind him, another door opened to an unfamiliar office with people she didn’t know.
Ignoring them, she watched Nicki as he approached the ash, which she could swear was staring at the Earth below, a palpable longing coming from it.
“Would you like to go home?” Nicki asked.
The thing didn’t respond only its particles slowing entrance by its vision. Slowly the outline of a boy, not yet a man. Formed ghostly and ethereal, staring down at the world, tears flowing freely.
* * *