{Enki | Pantheon}

Remorse refused to lose this fight, especially not to his children and Tumu. And while he traded blows with lesser beings, he might as well eradicate those who defied him. Each footstep—every knock down—crushed hundreds of soldiers. He rolled often to eliminate a few thousand more. Anything—anything—to validate his reasoning.

Primary Rem was right.

Righteous even!

With Three Two Four’s fall, the Tritans assumed the mantle as the paramount species in the galaxy. Razor would see to the inheritance of his successors. Without a doubt, that brilliant Aegis was calculating an escape plan for Bol, Remorse, and the Tritan males still on their side. If all turned traitor, the two remaining Primaries would construct new ones as they’d made the Lyriks, using Pax’s graduated Tritan cells for mortar.

All these thoughts occurred to Remorse in the instant he dodged a fiery blow from Torch and his Lyriki Siren’s Gale. The disgruntled father spat, “Such a disappointment.”

“I agree, cousin.” Tumu punched Rem with his insufferable, yet persistent, and enormous fist.

Stars burst in Remorse’s vision, coalescing into coffee grounds, then momentary darkness. It was a concussion his hard tissue repair system addressed quickly.

While Remorse was down for the second to recover, Bol uppercut Tumu hard enough to send him flying into the crowd.

Good.

Remorse’s vision returned to normal in time to see Torch swing his sister, Aria, in a swinging kick. He stepped back, avoiding it, while grabbing her by the waist and yanking them both across the battlefield.

Every step thundered and bounced the small creatures around them. Those in the air narrowly rode out the shock waves from each blow. All the while, Three Two Four somehow timed the beat of this infernal music to every move of the brawl. Remorse could watch the entire battle in the view screens he’d never known existed in Enki during the hundreds of millions of years he’d lived here.

Three Two Four would upload into Ishkur and teach the Tritans how to run it with his genius.

Nothing would stop them.

Now, Remorse wasn’t truly committed to this fight. How could he be with his grandson in his hand? He was careful with Pax, who was still unconscious from earlier.

As if reading the Primary’s mind, Xelan shouted, “Remorse, think of my son! Return him to his family for Elden’s sake!”

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With one good kick square to the middle of Tumu’s chest, Primary Rem growled and whirled on his wayward son. “Will I ever escape your Icarean dogma?! Let me educate you about Elden, my son. No Icarus was more selfish, more shortsighted than your precious messiah. His relentless pursuit of Surra savaged this galaxy.”

Xelan’s eyes widened.

Remorse noticed the fighting had stopped momentarily and all the armies stopped fleeing to listen. He continued, “Elden took the reins of Surra’s glorious armies and prepared to wipe entire civilizations off the map to find her. He attacked Razor for information, ready to tear down Enki itself for love. So we put him down, and, with Umbra’s puppet leadership, assumed control of Cinder. And that’s the truth, Xelan. Your martyr was nothing more than a lovesick fool with a gift for pretty speeches.”

“And I was wrong to leave him.”

When the heart stops, there’s a euphoric pause to existence until the lungs force air to draw again and the chambers and valves pump once more. The arrhythmia left Remorse choking as he turned to face his end.

Yes. There in her blue Atramentous eyes, Remorse saw it. Silence had finally discerned the path to her happiness lay through him. He’d never seen her so resolute and so focused, and she was the only fighter who wouldn’t care for Pax’s safety. Remorse doubted if the Shadow even realized this fact yet. It was best to try some damage control.

“Surra, please. Think of the boy—”

Vi.

Savis.

Remorse’s two greatest loves flashed before his eyes as Silence delivered a blow to head his head which splintered his Gargantuan skull with that tiny fist of hers. He focused on the eyes of the women from his past, so similar in severity. Their lips set in a frown of perpetual disappointment. Eternity, help him if they smiled at him. They’d derived happiness only from his misery.

These thoughts were so comforting as Remorse went down. Xelan and Tameka shouted at Silence to stop, but those were distant sounds. Primary Rem’s slowed heartbeat was louder than their voices, rushing black blood through his ancient veins.

Dying proved rather painful.

Before Torch delivered a severing kick to Remorse’s head, Bol intercepted, turning the Gargantuan Lyrik’s momentum against himself and swatting Silence into the distance. Tumu and Aria helped Torch back onto his feet while Bol tended to Remorse.

“Stand.”

Yes. That qualified as tending.

The nausea subsided enough for Primary Rem to push himself up. Pax was still alive, his tiny heart pulsing in the Gargantuan Tritan’s hand. He held the boy out for the Shadow to see.

Remorse addressed them, “If you want to kill him, then by all means, proceed with your attempts to murder us in our own home. But I’m keeping Pax safe because I love him. Don’t make me responsible for his death.”

Xelan and Tameka exchanged a glance before Fury asked, “What will it take for you to return him to us?” She sounded so incredulous it was amusing, if not for Primary Rem’s recent near-death experience.

He considered the best options to afford both Primaries some time. “Safe passage to anywhere in the galaxy of our choosing via conduit.”

Xelan pressed, “And Pax?”

What words could Remorse say to feign convincing forfeiture of his greatest asset? “Silence has convinced me it’s in my best interest to return him to you.” That should fool the intention reader.

As if reading his thoughts, Sagan asked, “Andrew, what are you getting?”

While the young man didn’t sound entirely convinced, he confirmed, “What he said is the truth. Silence convinced him.”

Manifested by their conversation, the truly majestic creature who was Project Surra returned to the fray with an expression made of ice. She wanted another round.

Xelan and Tameka conferred before she said, “We want our son first.”

Fools.

Three Two Four would save both Primaries. Remorse only need hold out until then and try to resist the urge to crush Pax in the meantime.