Tread Lightly

Autumn itself threatens to laugh at my words before her head lowers in gravity. She sees my eyes and realizes my intent is genuine before a near-impossible-to-notice shudder rings through her. I would collapse it over them all if that killed them, even if it took me with the damned Gods.

But I can't do that. I don't have the strength at the moment. So, I play tough, acting as though I can fulfill my threat. The Goddess shrieks with anger, noticing that I'm bluffing and dashing straight for me with outstretched fingers wreathed in colorful autumn.

Fast! Too fast!

Shiver just barely saves me as I kick the ground, breaking my right ankle just to dodge the fingernail from entering my eyes. I bounce off the ground, rapidly getting back up as my bones crack into place. Before I can, however, seasons worth of petals come for me.

It's a stream, an endless barrage of needles and blades from fallen trees and plants. I raise my arms as lacerations open all over my flesh, stomping ahead with my broken ankle. Blood sinks to the Gate of Death's stony floor while pressure descends onto my heart atop it all from entering the more profound depths of the passage.

Tightening my jaw, I set my destination.

I steady my forearms to shield my heart and brain, feeling the sting and burn as they tear into my flesh. Loud tinks of impact against the steel in my right arm ring out constantly as Earl protects me with his creations once more. Pain explodes in my mind, but I use it, harnessing every bit to drive me forward as Painsforge detonates with power.

Blood Nexus moves toward my heart within my chest as Blodwyn inches toward activating our Sirza. We don't speak as we work together, not having to in the slightest with our time together. Peering through the endless falling autumn, I spot Lily getting whisked into the darkest depths of the tunnel. Worry rises, but the little girl instantly returns to the Colt again, wounded but alive.

With every step, more vitality drains from me. Painsforge and Blodwyn's adaptation within my flesh just barely keep me moving, my body changing just as quickly as life ebbs away. Flesh regrows faster with each footfall, but there is less vitality for it to consume from Lily even as Blodwyn grows more efficeint. Nevertheless, I march forward, inch by inch, deeper into the Gate of Death. The air thickens with an oppressive weight, the construct built by Death herself, crushing my heart with every beat.

Baw-waw's voice rises in a scream, a chilling echo like the coming winter and the loss of summer. Her fury is palpable, a storm of rage and desperation as the force only continues to rise.

The loss of blood rapidly becomes too much for my body to handle as Lily's vitality runs out. That's when Blodwyn takes the next step, knowing that if he doesn't do something, we will die.

Two Dzils meet inside my heart as I reach for the others, taking Excavator and Shiver to the next level as Bone Orchard works as the literal skeleton. Twisting bone erupts from my body as my whole being wobbles dangerously. The outstretched reach with my Ether is risky. If we don't succeed in activating the Sirza... we will instantly die from overexertion. It is a dangerous game. Not enough, we die. Too much, we die. The balance. It must be found. Yet... I do not know if I can, only that I must.

Still, my next stride hits the ground stably. Then the next is faster and faster, but we're careful not to ramp it too far.

Baw-waw retreats deeper into the tunnel while I chase, unwilling to simply stop. As the pursuit continues, the pounding of the Gate of Death upon my heart rises further, the tension adding to the the suppression of my body in the first place.

Step by step. A drop of blood followed by a bucket of blood onto the ground. Broken bone unto shattered frame that splinters to the walls. Bit by bit, we endure.

Finally, I stand before her. My hand, bloodied and shaking, the metal beneath all that remains beyond the crimson as bones creep back up, wraps around her neck. Her eyes widen in shock as I lift her, the leaves around her still slicing into me. But I don't stop, even as her arms and legs vanish into a flurry of autumn that opens up my every organ. With a roar that tears apart my throat, I use her as a bludgeon against the wall. The impact shakes the tunnel, sending cracks spiderwebbing through the stone.

Again and again, I slam her into the wall, the rush of momentum fueled by the last reserves of my strength. The tunnel begins to collapse, chunks of stone and debris raining down around us. Dust fills the air, making it hard to breathe, but I don't let go, simply inhaling more and more as my throat closes off with white steel. The Goddess' howls of pain fill the air while rushed footsteps appear in the distant darkness.

A quiet force enters my mind, hardly crossing past the noise of pain.

"I'll slow 'em! Break down the wall! The wall! Break it!"

Lily joyfully forces herself out of the Colt again, her battered, slim form slipping away. I acknowledge her but cannot look away, for all my concentration is hellbent on keeping my body from exploding. Again, I raise my arm and bring it back down, mimicking what I did to Flint.

The only difference is... the ground back then folded from the force. The Gate of Death, however, bears the impacts while cracking all over, increasing the damage against the God. Baw-waw's struggles weaken, her form battered and broken, yet I keep going.

The ground beneath us trembles as the walls shudder and give way. I feel the cold grip of death closing in as Blodwyn slows, the pressure of Death adding up, but I can't stop now.

Again and again, I bash her head into the wall, feeling as though the whole continent is shaking. Until finally, one last time, I crash her into the wall, the intensity of the blow causing a cascade of rubble to fall.

The darkness of the tunnel vanishes for a moment as if the Concept embedded within it is flickering. With that, I watch Lily get smacked into the ground by a literal streak of violet lightning. The lithe girl rolls against the rubble beneath me, bouncing all the while.

My vision blurs; the darkness is encroaching at the edges as I stumble. The weight of exhaustion and injury is overwhelming, but the fight isn't over yet. Lily moans in pain, attempting to get up while Baw-waw's cries refuse to cease.

Autumn is still alive. Shit. And there is another coming. I scramble for the weapon at my hip, taking it with trembling hands. My flesh is breaking apart on its own, the damage adding up with Blodwyn's pressure.

"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Lily! We need you! Get up! Come on! Get up!"

The Blooming Spider Lily levels itself at Autumn as the darkness reemerges, making it so I have no knowledge of how far away this supposed God of Thunder is from us. I pull the trigger, but nothing comes from the barrel.

Glancing over, I find Lily shivering, electricity arcing over her body as visible sound bounces across her. She can't move, only cry out in pain as the violet shears off rock and stone around her. I can only ask her to get up, the same as Blodwyn. We are too far away to do anything. Too weak to save her. We need her to save us. Again. Like she always has.

"Lily. Please. One shot. And you make it there."

"Lily! Come on! You got this! Just one more! If anyone can do it! You can! Lily!"

The little girl cries in pain, scratching deep grooves into the durable stone of the Gate of Death that crashed beside her with her nails alone. Her voice breaks, and so does my heart as I see an abyssal teardrop fall from her crimson eyes. But as that tear strikes the floor of the passage, it sizzles like an acid, eating away at it. The little girl isn't done yet, not like Blodwyn and I.

Slowly, she shuffles onto the back of her feet in a kneel and extends but one petite finger toward the cylinder on the Colt. Flowers, brilliant sanguine colors, bloom toward her weapon as space warps beneath the Blooming Spider Lily.

Baw-waw, on her back, lifts a broken arm toward us with leaves rising from her battered flesh, but Lily gets to the gun first, the fingertip touching the barrel. The next thing I know, Lily's voice enters my mind, and a river of relaxed strength flows within me. But... the young lady is out of my eyes, already vanished from reality.

"Just... a scratch... I'm good! Can't let Bono show me up! I bet he's doing cool things right now! Oh! Look! Look at me! I'm doing i—"

The laugh that should come never does as I still fall onto my knees, the bones across my body lengthening further while Baw-waw breathes her last. Autumn falls while Lily screeches in fatigued joy in my head before falling wholly silent.

That must be it—her final evolution! Warmth spreads from my heart while a terrible chill siphons it away from my left hand. The reassuring, cool sensation of Lily's frame has turned into something deviously lethal.

But I can't let go. Black liquid seeps out of the gun, wrapping around my hand and merging the weapon with my palm. Agony spikes abruptly as millions of tiny needles stab into my flesh while bone still stabs out of it. Inwardly and outwardly, two Gods war, neither meaning to as both cannot control themselves. Neither has full control over their Concept, only just gaining them. As for me... I am their battlefield and the only thing that keeps them from destroying each other.

All the while, the footsteps grow louder until sparkling violet reaches my squinted eyes. Looking up, I find a feathery creature with two wings of physicalized thunder, compacted winds, and lightning placed together. It reminds me of a Bado, only Godly in nature.

The beak on its face opens wide as the electricity builds within, and the majestic light of the corrupted radiance is a final warning. Rocks fall around us from the buildup of forces, and I take the only path toward survival while my body breaks down.

Leaping forward, I open my lungs, desperately needing more power. More Power. Freedom grants it with the first as the bone around my lips shatters, then the second, third, fourth, and fifth gasps come, all within the time it takes for the lightning to charge. But I can't be done yet. I need more.

So, I inhale a sixth time, and that attracts the partially sanguineous light, both the light of God's gemstone eyes and that of the lightning itself. The lightning, drawn by my inhale, surges straight into my lungs. Pain explodes within me, the searing heat spreading through my body and scorching everything in its path. My muscles seize, paralysis threatening to take me down.

But I refuse to fall, instead taking one more step as everything contracts to steady my stance. In this moment of extreme agony, I bypass my physical form entirely, reaching deep into my very soul. My chains are lifted so far that I use my Dominion to move my body, bypassing the nervous system entirely.

Darklight spreads from the crimson, but the war within shatters it in an instant. What is one God's might when there are two inside?

The supposed God of Thunder's eyes widen in disbelief as I twist my body, not aiming for him at all with my right arm of steel and bone. My body is a conduit for the raw, crackling energy of the Cardinal, of the Origin, and of Adaptation, and I use it to my advantage. Without another step, I contort all the strength in my body, acting as the pivot point for three converging Gods.

I gather the last vestiges of my strength, the tiny bits that remain beneath it all, as I manage to force out another Excavator, finding something hidden beneath. More Ether rises as Burdenless emerges once more. A tether of some kind reaches for me, but I am in no state to meet it. There is something out there for me. Something greater. And yet... I can only ignore it for now as my everything must exist here and now.

The God of Thunder tries to intercept, but I move with a speed and determination that is no longer human. It is beyond Divine. My soul guides my actions, unfettered by the limitations of my ravaged body. I collide with the wall of the tunnel, pouring all the gathered energy into a single, cataclysmic strike.

The impact is continental in scale. From here, I know its repercussions would reach from one side of the oceans to the other. Underneath my weight, the Gate of Death shudders, its structure failing as spiderweb cracks explode into gaping fissures. The entire underground realm quakes and the gate begins to collapse, with stone and debris cascading down like a furious storm.

As the world around me crumbles, I feel a strange sense of peace, the rocks falling with the God whose name I don't know, retreating in a panic. He doesn't wish to be crushed by the collapsing stone.

A voice calls for me, but I can't hear it. A slab crashes into my shoulder, sending me stumbling forward as another and another hit me. I don't yet fall, as it takes more to drop me. But they come, like an unending tide. One after another, the sea of cascading rocks punts me to the ground, feeling that One Heart Beating For Two is no longer true.

It either beats for three or none. Darkness overwhelms, but not the infinite cloud like before. It is simply a typical lack of light. However, that doesn't mean it is good, for more boulders collapse, striking and burying me swiftly in their weights.

Unable to move, I lie on my stomach as more and more poundage builds up, the weight of the world pressing into my back. Lily and Blodwyn shout for me, but their voices are muddled. I think their presence is overwhelming my mind.

It's getting hard to think. It's long been impossible to see. Or breathe. There is just the darkness, something I've become quite comfortable with.

In the dark, however, a slim hand wraps around mine, phasing utterly through the rocks as Virgil would with his Flicker. Lily smiles right at me and grabs my neck with her other hand for a hug. The crimson pupils are the only bits of light I can see.

"Come. Fall to sleep. Rest. When you wake up, it'll be better."

Unable to refuse her offer, I let the Colt take me away upon a river of darkness.

Water envelops me in lightlessness, and I am whisked away by a chilling river that pulses with enough heartbeats to fulfill all those within history while simultaneously echoing countless last breaths. The current carries me deeper, and I sink beneath the relaxing undercurrents, falling to the riverbed. My muscles unwind, the tension melting away as I spread out beneath the waves.

I can feel the exhaustion dissipating, each ache and pain dissolving in the embrace of the River Cardinal. These are the first waters of creation, the last waters of destruction, and they wash over me, revitalizing my weary body while breaking apart the weak pieces of my being. I wonder, what Concept does the Lily govern? Truly? Is it Origin? That has to be it, right? The origin of creation and destruction. How beautiful. The Cardinal was there at the beginning, and it will be there at the end of it all. Lily now holds those keys.

But what about me? Will I be alright with another God in my veins?

Only human. That is how I would describe myself. But as I am torn apart by the war within me raging on, striking out in fits of chaos that bulge my skin and torment my soul, I have difficulty repeating that line.

And it only grows more difficult as the waters caress my flesh, shaping me into a grander form.

Despite the inner conflict, I sense movement in the water next to me. Slowly, I open my eyes, surprised at the lack of a sting, and find myself staring at a trim girl in a dress, her hair floating around her like a thousand serpents. Each strand has blood-red pupils, blooming outward at the ends like flowers that, upon being seen, recoil back into mere strands of hair. Yet, rather than feeling apprehension at the sudden appearance, I reach out as Lily offers her hand.

Without words, we meet as I realize how surprisingly firm her grip is. Then, she yanks her arm backward, dragging me out of the water. I feel the river's grip loosening, and my body is pulled toward the shore. The moment I'm out of the abyssal depths, my lungs, filled with the waters, suddenly expel the liquid, and I sputter and cough, the water rushing out in great heaves.

As I catch my breath, I take in my surroundings, unsure if what I see is real, for it is both familiar in Lily's dreams and the real world. The surface of the water is adorned with red spider lilies, their vivid petals glowing with ghostly lights. The shore, however, is nowhere near as peaceful—composed of sharp glass that glints menacingly in the dim light. I feel the jagged edges bite into my flesh as I am hauled across it, but the water clinging to my skin acts as a shield, preventing the glass from cutting too deeply.

Exhausted, I collapse onto my back when Lily lets go, the weight of the recent battles and the subsequent minutes underwater overwhelming me. Lily crouches beside me, her arms hanging low as she shuffles the glassy sand.

I can't even say thank you to her as my lungs ache for air and are beyond exhausted. Each inhale is painful and scrapes through my throat. Lily doesn't mind, however, staying quiet for several moments. Right. She is typically quiet. Until she's not. My point is quickly proven as Lily closes her mouth to sing a short lullaby, her voice soft and haunting.

The melody echoes across the moonless sky, filling the air with a sense of calm and melancholy. I recognize it somehow, somewhere, but I just can't place it. It is wordless, just some notes of highs and lows that evoke something in our past.

The lullaby weaves through the silence, a soothing balm to my weary soul. I close my eyes, letting the sound wash over me, each note a gentle caress. The pain and fatigue seem to ebb away with her song, replaced by a profound tranquility. I breathe deeply, the air around me carrying the faint scent of the lilies.

And that is when I realize what the strange melody is. How? How could I forget Ma's humming?

The notes are calm and slow, long but unhurried, the only kinds of things Ma could do in her final days. Back then, I thought she made these songs for me to help calm me. I know that's not the case, that she was far too selfish for that, and that it was likely to entertain herself.

And yet... it soothes me. I can tell it does the same for Lily; the Colt is likely hearing it from within her box in our home. The pain in my body subsides, falling to the wayside as I lie in Lily's mental scape for a while longer.

"Thank you for taking me. I... I... I'm sorry we're hurting you."

The words come not from me but from the Divine Colt as the melody pauses. I open my eyes again to glance at Lily, but she won't look at me as she sniffles tearfully. She feels back because she joined my flesh. But... if she didn't... she would forever just be Colt. Artifacts like hers need a body to give them substance. How could she possibly think I would reject her? If it killed me, I wouldn't. I'd give her a place to live, even if that place was my walking corpse. Oh... How far I've come from despising the Bloody Palm. How far.

With a look of heartbreak, Lily's focus is set on the waves with the legions of red flowers atop them. I can only smile and say what I believe.

"You've done more for me than I could ever do for you, Lily. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. You ever see anyone tougher?"

Lily's petite head shakes back and forth, but the sniffles don't stop.

"No... But—"

"No buts. I'll be fine. Just let me sleep a little while. We closed the gate. That should buy some time, eh? At least they won't have anyone else to fight for a little while. By the time they do, we'll be up and running again. That's a promise."

A slow nod is my reply as I lean my head back against the sharp glass. I'll just have to believe in the others to kill those that made it past. I'll need a bit of time before I get back up. I might have exaggerated to her a bit. But... It shouldn't be too long, though.

A few hours at most.