Chapter 6
Modus Vivendi
Novius opened his eyes but it made no difference, the darkness was persistent even with vision. He removed himself from the cold floor and found the closest wall to him in the pitch black. Leaning against the uneven surface Novius said aloud, “Where am I?” while palming his forehead trying to relieve the pressure from the killer headache within his skull. Hearing the echo of running water in the distance he walked towards it hoping to find something to key him into where he was. Dragging his hand along the rugged surface beside him as he walked his other hand naturally rested on the blades attached to his hip. Nearing the sound he spotted a dull blue light glowing in the distance. More confidently now with even the tiniest amount of light, he increased his stride, capable of seeing ever so slightly where he stepped.
Reaching the dull glow he entered a large open underground area slightly lit by local vegetation. Realizing he was in a cave Novius looked around more carefully to ensure his safety from anything that could be lurking. Seeing nothing dangerous he eased up and observed his surroundings. He was in a dome-shaped area of a cave with a waterfall spilling into a lake filling the middle of the room. The light was emitting from bioluminescent plants spotting the walls and floor here and there. They were formed by three large primary leaves and four tendril-like vines rising from the middle. Novius watched as a fly land on one of the glowing leaves of the plant. As soon as it touched the surface of the leaf the blue light focused all into one spot directly under the fly. The insect melted into a liquid which was then absorbed into the plant as a form of nutrients. After the plant finished its meal the light redistributed evenly along the leaves as if nothing happened.
Curious now about the plants Novius approached one and touched it with his fingertip. The whole plant went dark as if to hide from Novius. Leaving the now dark spot of leaves alone Novius walked to the edge of the small lake. Looking toward the waterfall he figured that was the way out of the cave. Novius shot his vision back toward the water noticing movement, rather large fish were swimming around inside. Hungry he decided to catch a fish and drew one of the blades from his hip naturally. Noticing it wasn’t one of his usual weapons he looked down at them puzzled. He didn’t know where he got these blades from but didn’t think much of it as his stomach grumbled loudly demanding food. Stabbing into the water making an attempt at a fish he made a loud splash, the cave suddenly went dark as he notified all the plants of his presence via the noise. ‘Oops,’ Novius thought to himself while he waited silently by the edge of the water staring into it. After a minute or two the plants relit themselves once again granting Novius his vision.
Looking at his reflection in the water he noticed all the dried blood on his face and in his hair. Deciding to wash himself off first he scooped out water with his hands, cleaning himself slowly on land in an attempt to keep his only water source clean. While doing so, he remembered what he was last doing, ‘What happened with the raid? Everything after tackling the king is gone… how the hell did I end up here? Hopefully it ended well.’ Novius decided worrying about his companions wouldn’t help and he first needed to fix his current scenario.
Suddenly a piercing headache struck him knocking him to his knees. Novius shouted in pain as he gripped his head in the once again dark room. His head filled with voices shoving out any thoughts making it impossible to move or think. Attempting to fight it he smashed his forehead into the floor cutting it open and causing pain. Momentarily the voices silenced but quickly flooded back in now ever so slightly quieter. Novius continued to slam his head into the floor while the voices continued to scream in his head in-between blows. Eventually, he passed out from the pain and lay slumped on the cave floor.
A few hours later Novius awoke while walking in a different part of the cavern. Confused by the bizarre idea of waking up while walking, his head immediately flooded with the voices hissing at him. Dropping to the floor again he smashed his head continuously for relief. Eventually, he cracked his skull on the cold stone floor and all the voices formed one clear voice momentarily, “Stop hitting your head!” Novius without hesitation shouted, “FUCK. YOU.” Thrusting his head down for one last good blow he knocked himself unconscious again.
Days later he awakened back in the waterfall room while now eating a fish in front of a fire. Just like before his head was flooded with voices and now memories that weren’t his. Dropping the food he clamped his hands over his ears, desperate to stop the noise. Trying something new, hoping for a more permanent fix, he shoved his fingers inside his ear canal, popping his eardrums. Blood and puss dribbled out from within as a nonstop ringing overtook his senses. Despite this action, the voices were still loud from within, overpowering everything. Having proved his own insanity he became hopeless, “Grnnnggg stop it! Stop it!” Rocking back and forth before the fire, hands pushing on his temples, he clenched his jaw tightly. In his nervous breakdown, he ground his teeth against one another trying to think of a way to make it stop. Cracking from the pressure he was applying his teeth began to break apart in chunks, filling his mouth with a sandy bone dust texture.
With the massive migraine pounding at his skull the light from the fire began to irritate him. Even with his eyes closed the flames reached his pupils making everything worse. Incapable of thinking straight he immediately resorted to jamming his fingers in his eyes. Tears poured from his sockets while he dug deep into them like he was trying to scratch the back. Finally getting his finger behind them he scraped the back of the socket with his nail and gouged out his own eyes. Limp they laid on his cheeks attached by their optic nerves, still sending signals of blurry vision to his brain. Tearing them out and throwing them to the side they splashed into the water where a fish quickly sucked them up as a meal.
Pain jolted through his nervous system and began to overcome the voices, but it wasn’t enough yet. Falling to his side defeated by the mental torture he felt the warmth of the fire, this gave him an idea. Thrusting his arms into the flames his skin melted slowly, silencing the voices entirely for the duration his hand was burning. Disappointingly for Novius, the pain was absolutely excruciating and he quickly dashed to his left, plunging his hand inside the water. As fast as the burning stopped the voices returned, but this time Novius had a better idea. Using his renown he fixed his several self-inflicted wounds and brought his thumb to his mouth. Biting down on the finger sent an influx of consistent, personally controlled pain. This relieved the voices while keeping the pain low enough to keep Novius’ mind still slightly intact. Crawling with his free hand he made his way into one of the cave tunnels nearby and slumped against the wall. He pulled his knees to his chest and endured the self-imposed suffering while gnawing at his fingers.
Several days passed by as Novius chewed away at his flesh, periodically fixing it with his renown. It was a repetitive cycle: eat away the flesh, fix his bone-exposed hand with Time Echo, repeat, and eventually pass out from exhaustion. Every time he would wake up his body would be acting on its own, doing some sort of task like fishing or exploring without his permission. He would resume control, hear the voices, and go back to gnawing and chewing. Progressively over weeks, the voices began to seep through the pain barrier he was creating in his mind. The pain started to dull letting them get louder and louder, filling up more space. At some points, sentences could be made out but Novius was driving himself insane with this process, he cared not to reply to them, only to get rid of them.
After about two months the voices became clear. The slow acclimation to the whispers from the lessening of the pain calmed the chaos in Novius’ head. It started to make more and more sense like you were learning a new language. The several voices formed one and began to speak and sound like his own. It was hard to make out the difference between the two for they were so similar. Staring at the chewed-up flesh hanging from his skeletal hand he waited for his renown to refresh. “It should be soon now,” one of the voices stated.
“Yes I know, we can both sense it.”
“Why do we continue this cycle?”
“I don’t know… it’s been so long, it's all we know.”
“Maybe we should try and remember.”
“Why? I’m sure we do this for a reason, it's what we've always done.”
“But I think something changed.”
“Like what?”
“When did we begin to converse?”
“No idea… perhaps you are right.”
“Ok… where should we begin?”
“Well, who are you?”
“I’m Novius, what about you?”
“I am Novius.”
“Well this didn’t help… if we're going to get somewhere we need different names. How about I’ll be called Novius and you can make your own name.”
“How come you get to keep the bodies name? We share it! We both get rights to its name.”
“I suppose you can have it if you like but we need to bridge this gap first for this to work.”
“You’re right… I’m sorry. It's ok you can be Novius, I’ll be Orius.”
“Ok this is a start,” Novius began, “How did we end up here? What is our past? Why do we live?”
“Hold on let’s start slow,” Orius said.
“Ok… I recall light… sun… sunlight! Darkness is not everywhere!” Novius said excitedly.
“Good, yes I recall this too. I remember a woman… what was her name?”
“Tyra! Yes, I remember her, she was my mother… no that's not right.”
“There was an intimacy but not that of parental nature,” Orius stated. They sat there for a few moments thinking, then Orius continued, “Girlfriend! Yes, we wished to marry her! We were happy… were so happy.”
“But now I recall pain, it hurt so much,” Novius said.
“Pain is no more for us Novius, we have rid ourselves of the construct,” Orius argued.
“Emotions, human feelings, regret… love,” Novius replied.
“We have no need for these, it’s all coming back now. She is dead,” Orius said bluntly, “The world is not so simple anymore.”
“Don’t speak of her like she wasn’t important!” Novius yelled, “She meant everything!”
“Yes I see now, I recall both of our pasts. No wonder you feel this way. I suppose this circumstance is quite fitting.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean!” Novius replied insulted.
“Listen here, stop being so childish. You worry about such a thing when something much more important lies in front of us. The gods must be punished for their negligence, I intend to deliver that,” Orius said as he activated their renown fixing the limp hand before the echo could disappear.
“Don’t act like I’m some kid who doesn’t understand. I have our memories too. What makes you think YOU could accomplish such a feat,” Novius fired back.
“Keep thinking light of me and see where that gets you. One way or another I suppose you’re along for the ride with me for now.” Orius stood the body up and began to walk.
“Along for the ride? I don’t think so, this is my body too,” Novius exclaimed as he tripped the body over its own feet making it fall flat on its face.
“Oh, real grown-up asshole, who do you think you are to stop me from achieving my goals?” Orius was raising his voice now.
“You act like you’re above me but look where we are. Funny you think you have reign over me here.”
“IM GOING TO BRING THIS WORLD TO ITS KNEES BEFORE ME WITH MY HATRED AND CONSUME THE GODS! DO YOU SERIOUSLY THINK YOU CAN STOP ME?!” Orius’ voice deepened and boomed inside their head at Novius.
“Whoa whoa buddy, a bit harsh of a punishment don’t ya think? Maybe we should go get some food and a drink or two and discuss some things before we start jumping into such exaggerated plans,” Novius spoke calmly to try and cool Orius down.
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“Fine, we have all the time we need anyways I guess. Either way, we can’t stay in this god-forsaken cave forever,” Orius replied cooling off. Getting back to their feet Orius allowed Novius to control the body taking them back towards the waterfall room. Climbing the rock face next to the waterfall they made their way to the exit of the cave. Upon entering the outdoors they were blinded momentarily by its brightness. Once their vision recovered Novius stretched, enjoying the warmth of the sunlight, "Mmmmph, its been so long since I've felt the sun!" Orius ignored him and cut the stretch short making them look around at their surroundings, "I think we're still in the vicinity of Bhrunum. These should be the mountains towards the northeast." Upset at Orius' rudeness Novius replied, "You're such a buzz kill, besides how would you know we’re nearby?"
"I can't imagine we wandered very far from where our minds merged. Take us in this direction, hopefully it won't be far."
About fifteen minutes of hiking later they came across an overlook giving a good view of Bhrunum. "Looks like lots of construction is still taking place after the raid, those fire arrows must have done a number on the town," Orius examined, "Welp, get to walking."
"Why can't you do the walking?" Novius complained.
“Well, you wanted to share so go ahead and walk,” Orius scuffed, “It’ll take at least twenty-five minutes to get there. In the meantime, I’ll take a nap.” Orius’ consciousness went silent and left Novius with a peaceful head, “Fine by me, at least I can enjoy the sun now.” During his small trek, Novius thought about his new situation. He’d never experienced a shared headspace and it made him realize how much his usual private headspace was taken for granted. Such a change would make life difficult but at least he wasn’t dead or rotting away in a prison somewhere.
Arriving at Bhrunum the amount of damage the city took a little over two months ago showed. Non-painted buildings were here and there with half-constructed ones filling the gaps between. Thinking he should probably wake up Orius he realized he didn’t know how. So far they just waited for the other to wake up. Novius decided to scream inside his head as “loud” as he could, but to no avail, his mind stayed silent. Deciding it didn’t matter much he continued to walk towards the southeast portion of town which should be less damaged.
Now in a more put-together section of the city, he approached a tavern that he hoped would have cheap food and be ok with him not wearing a shirt. Entering, he approached the bartender who was a middle-aged busty woman. He sat down noticing her seductive cougar appearance. She asked, “What can I do for ya?” In reply Novius all of a sudden spit out, “I could think of a few things.” Blushing realizing what he said he stumbled over his words to correct himself, “Mead! Mead is a good start.” She gave Novius a funny look while now leaning over the counter resting her large breasts on it, “Why aren’t you wearing a shirt?” she asked casually. Trying to save the awkward moment Novius responded, “Haha yeah I don’t know, I should be wearing one,” he accidentally glanced down noticing her nipples poking through her soft, thinly stretched, cotton shirt before continuing, “It is pretty nipply out. I mean nippy! Bit of a nip in the air right? haha.” She chuckled a little and smiled while pouring his drink, “You want some food with your mead?” Watching her, Novius replied, “How bout some ass? I mean mash! Like mashed potatoes, some chicken with it if you can.” Completely defeated now Novius lowered his head embarrassed by his idiocy. Orius then burst out laughing in their head not being able to hold it in anymore, ‘Bwahaha, you look like such a moron!’
“You fucking asshole that was you? I didn’t even notice you woke up.” Novius said aloud without thinking while the bartender brought over his plate of food. ‘Don’t say it out loud you moron she's going to think you're crazy,’ Orius said internally still trying to keep some resemblance of approval from her. ‘You’ve already made us look like a tool,’ Novius jabbed back. ‘Oh I’m not done yet,’ Orius said before she placed his food in front of them. “Enjoy your food hun,” the bartender said politely. “Now I’ll just need some sugar later for dessert,” Orius spoke while holding strong eye contact with her. She giggled and leaned over the counter again. She tucked in her chin now keeping eye contact through her brow seductively, “You’re funny,” she said while sliding him a napkin with a hotel name, room number, and time on it. Orius took the napkin and said, “See you love.” The bartender winked at him and left to the other side of the bar to help other customers. ‘You gotta be kidding me,’ Novius said surprised at the outcome.
‘You have a thing or two to learn about speaking to older women,’ Orius replied proudly.
‘Surely you don’t intend to actually go, right?’
‘We’ve been in a cave for over two months without getting off, yes I intend to take this opportunity.’
‘Whatever, c’mon let’s eat,’ Novius said trying to change the subject. Orius reached for the mead at the same time as Novius reached for the chicken leg winding up in their arms crossing over each other. ‘What the hell are you doing?’ Orius spat.
‘We’re starving, I'm trying to get some real food in us first,’ Novius said.
‘You idiot you should always wet your throat before trying to force down food, have you no class?’ Orius jutted.
‘Oh cause you’re the real embodiment of class,’ Novius added sarcastically.
‘We gotta figure out how we're going to move around while we're both awake,’ Orius stated. They both retracted their arms and stopped for a moment. ‘Alright, I’ll drink first, just let me control the eating for now while we figure everything out,’ Novius said while grabbing the tankard and taking a gulp. ‘Do we both get drunk?’ Orius inquired.
‘How should I know it’s my first time with this? I guess we'll find out. So run me through why you want to “consume the gods” exactly.’
‘You’ve seen first hand through our memories why. Look how the gods treated both of us, they tossed you aside like you were nothing giving you this forsaken life. All they care about is themselves and the entertainment of our suffering,’ Orius said like he was talking to some kind of friend. ‘So how would killing the gods benefit all other life? They watch over us and intervene sometimes pushing events towards the way they should go.’
‘You’re blind, the only times they involve themselves is when it benefits their entertainment or threatens it. They don’t care about everyone, why do you think so many lead such tragic lives? Waking up daily to slave away under an uncaring master, family members dying from illness, murder, rape, torture, and being born with disabilities while others get renowns. If they actually cared for us they would give us all happy lives or just end our suffering altogether. Them not making that decision is a BIG decision… and I plan to make it for them,’ Orius spoke passionately. He didn’t raise his voice or get angry, just tried to inform and persuade.
‘Hold on there cowboy, are you saying you plan to kill off everyone? Some of those things are done by evil people, not cause the gods willed it. Some are just born to be pieces of shit,’ Novius argued aggressively figuring out how bad Orius’ intentions were. ‘That’s exactly the problem Novius, there will always be people who are born evil. Even if one person rose up as a singular god, ruling over all, he couldn’t keep up with such a massive world. There are too many lives and people to keep track of whose a bad apple and who isn’t.’
‘That’s exactly why there are multiple gods though! So they can keep up with it!’ Novius was now getting desperate to negotiate with Orius in their internal argument.
‘Then why don’t they? Why are there such horrid people running about freely? Hell, it's not even like they’re hiding from them, most are in positions of power doing as they please with the world. Having several gods introduces corruption, a council of gods could never consist of only good rulers, and one god can’t keep up. So the only solution is to end everything, put a stop to all the misery infesting this plane of existence.’
‘What about all the good people? How could you just be ok with killing them off too? Shouldn’t the experience of good moments in life outweigh that of the bad?’
‘Eliminating the bad and keeping the good would only delay the problem. Those of evil will once again be born. If they are killed off before they can perform their harm the world will see it as cruel and introduce hatred themselves, ultimately causing more suffering. This is the only option and the fact I inhabit a body containing a renown means I am destined for this. I will not let this opportunity slip, so join me and help me bring this world to a peaceful end.’ Orius spoke more seriously than ever, he truly believed he was right and this was the only option.
‘I can’t allow you to do something so drastic. Destroying life altogether is a selfish idea, not everyone feels the same way as you. As long as you and I share a mind you won’t be doing anything of the sort,’ Novius spoke determinedly. ‘Fine, I’ll bear the burden on my own,’ Orius spat aggressively, ‘I’ll force your conscience to submit to mine.’
They sat and ate in silence for some time before changing the conversation. ‘Well until that happens we still have to live with each other… so what do we plan to do about the moving around thing?’ Novius said breaking the internal silence. ‘I suppose you can control the normal walking and movement during the day, I’ll take care of emergencies and combat since I’m more effective at it than you. We’ll take turns from day to day on who gets to eat. After this let's get some new clothes, we can’t just walk around shirtless,’ Orius proposed casually.
Finishing their meal they left the only pocket change they had and made their way to a busy shop nearby. Without any money, they both decided they would have to steal a shirt. Letting Orius take control they slipped inside unnoticed among the crowd of young shoppers. Quickly browsing the available shirts Orius grabbed a purple and black one throwing it on. ‘Why the purple one? You couldn't have picked a less noticeable color?’ Novius asked Orius questioning his taste.
‘Shut up, purples my favorite color,’ Orius said shyly while attempting to leave the shop unnoticed. Outside now a shout could be heard from inside, Orius without hesitation began to run down the street. One of the shop workers had seen what happened and was now chasing them, “Get back here! You didn’t pay for that! Guards help!” Glancing back the shop worker could be seen flagging down two soldiers patrolling the streets. Now being pursued by the guards Orius rounded a corner and walked behind a horse-drawn carriage filled with hay. Keeping his head down they listened as the soldiers reached the corner and sped down the street in pursuit of their now-hidden thief. Free of pursuit Orius turned back around and headed in the opposite direction. ‘Nice job not getting spotted,’ Novius said taking back control over the body. ‘I don’t see us behind bars,’ Orius jabbed back casually, ‘It’ll be dark soon so let's go find that hotel and hit the bath before our little hookup.’
Now clean they made their way upstairs to the room number written on the napkin. While climbing the steps Novius had a thought, ‘Wait how will this work with two of us?’ Harshly Orius replied, ‘Just let me handle it and you sit back and be quiet, I don't need to hear you moaning in my head.’ Reaching the door Novius hesitated to open it, suddenly Orius took over flinging the door open. Lying on the bed was the bartender fully naked with her legs crossed.
Watching from the back of their mind Novius felt awkward at first. It was a strange experience to witness sex in the first person like this without actually being in control. The loud moans from the woman began to ease Novius into it making him more comfortable. Orius focused on pleasing the woman and having fun while Novius just enjoyed the bliss of the feeling. After several minutes of rhythmic thrusts, Orius decided to finish it off in missionary.
After not having sex for so long Novius was infatuated with the beauty of the older woman. Orius gripped her throat choking her causing her eyes to roll into the back of her head from pleasure. About to climax Novius fixated on her luscious lips which were parted open slightly as- BAM! Orius’ right hand smashed into her face breaking her nose and sending blood splattering all over her face. Novius was shaken awake from his ecstasy as Orius tightened his grip around her throat while finishing inside her. Crushing her esophagus Orius had no intent on letting up. Novius attempted to take back control or at least prevent Orius from going harder but he couldn’t. Orius’ willpower was through the roof as he continued to pump inside her and punch her again. Novius could do nothing but watch until they finished climaxing.
Once finished Orius plopped down onto her burying his face into her breasts and relaxing. Novius took over and yelled in their head, ‘You fucking killed her!’ Pushing them back up in a panic Novius looked at her face only to see the woman smiling back, free of blood, “You didn’t mention you had a renown, we could’ve been more extreme!” Orius collapsed them back down into her breasts as before and the bartender ran her hands through their hair. ‘Calm down you imbecile, I fixed her. Now let me enjoy this before I get tired of it,’ Orius said with a sigh trying to wind down. After three minutes of laying in silence, Orius groaned as he got up, “Alright, that's enough of that.”
“Where you going, baby? No need to run off,” the woman pleaded as Orius put their clothes on. ‘What are you doing? Let's stay here for the night,’ Novius asked. “I can’t stand women's neediness after sex, I’m going elsewhere,” Orius said responding to both of them while exiting the room. Now walking down the stairs of the hotel Novius questioned Orius aloud, “What the hell do you mean? All we did was lay there for a couple of minutes!” Exiting the building into the chilly night Orius replied, “After good sex women are clingy. Once cooled down I don’t like to be touched, she would have been clinging to us all night after a fuck like that.”
Frustrated by his close-mindedness Novius slumped over, “Well, that’s just great where do you suggest we sleep now? Need I remind you we have no more money?”
“There should be an orc camp south of here. We’ll take turns sleeping while the other walks, the body can rest once we arrive.”
“An orc camp? They won’t want us there. How do you figure they’ll let us sleep there, let alone even be nearby?”
“Orcs live by strength, all we gotta do is beat one in a sparring match,” Orius said confidently while yawning. Rounding a corner on the empty street a different set of guards were on patrol. Entering their line of sight they shouted, “Hey! Stop!” Noticing their blunder Orius turned and started running. Without any people around to blend in with losing them wasn’t an option this time.
Ducking into an alleyway the soldiers followed hastily behind only to be surprised with Orius waiting for them. Grabbing both by their chest plate he flung them into the brick wall. Running up to them, still stunned, Orius grabbed one of their heads and smashed a knee right into his face knocking him unconscious. The second soldier recovered and reached for his sword but before he could Orius grabbed his wrist twisting it behind his back. Grimacing in pain the soldier was forced to submit to the floor with his arm outstretched and twisted in the air with a foot pushing down on his upper back. “All this chasing over a damn shirt?” Orius said mockingly. “Shirt? What the hell are you talking about? Just kill me like you did the rest you dirtbag!” The soldier said through the pain. “What do you mean killed the rest?” Orius murmured now noticing the iconic red and grey Opik armor they were wearing.
“On the night of the raid you traitor! You killed my friend K’len and plenty of others in that castle, don’t pretend like it didn't happen!”
Now sent into disarray from the shocking statement Novius’ conscience began to race with thoughts, ‘We killed K’len and the others? Why are Opik soldiers here? Did I kill Maxith?’ With Novius panicking internally Orius couldn’t hear himself think because their voices blended together. ‘Novius. Calm down,’ Orius pleaded. ‘What about the rest of our men? Are we wanted now? What if we get thrown in prison?’ Novius couldn’t stop the thoughts from flowing. ‘Novius! Stop it!’ Orius shouted internally at him. Even this didn’t prevent the flow of panic causing Orius to get angry, “Novius! Shut the fuck up!” Suddenly the speeding words halted, “We agreed I would handle the emergencies. I can’t hear myself think when you do that, our voices sound the same and mesh together. Just calm down for a minute.” The submitted soldier furrowed his brow confused as to why Novius was talking to himself. “Ok… I’m sorry,” Novius also replied out loud. Looking back to the man below them Orius began questioning him about the night of the raid.