Chapter 95
The World Forge sprawled around me in a cosmic labyrinth of green marble and golden filigree. Above, the suspended orrery at its core pulsed in slow, radiant cycles, like a giant, luminous heartbeat. I was moving fast—magic speeding my movement as I bounced from marble path to marble path, boosting my jumps and cushioning my falls. The shadow of Arishem had fallen behind at some point. Or, at least, his physical presence had fallen behind, even if I still had some sense of him watching over me. Just behind each of my shoulders, the golden bands of cosmic energy I'd forged hovered obediently, following me with barely a need for me to do anything but think that it should be so.
My nerves still felt raw after channelling the energies of the Mind Stone for so long; a sharp, electric sting that I felt all the way from my fingertips to the base of my throat. It felt the same way the air smelt after a lightning strike, that tang of ozone somehow translating uncomfortably into a physical sensation. When it came down to it, I hadn't even used that much power, but I was still only really used to handling the raw Stone's power for a handful of seconds at a time and, even then, not holding it so tightly or manipulating it so precisely. I had no idea how much actual time had passed in the real world—in a mindscape, things tended to happen at the speed of thought, so it was far from a one-to-one translation. It had to have been several minutes, at least.
In the distance, faint flickers of golden energy, like a swirl of cosmic dust dancing across one of the floating ramps, drew my attention. A white shape darted out of sight behind a half-formed wall, slipping between two slabs of green marble riddled with delicately spiralling loops of cosmic geometry, hanging in the void.
I hurried to follow, bounding over a gap between rotating platforms before following my prey up a wide, curving ramp that terminated abruptly in a precarious ledge jutting out into empty air. Below, bridging the gap between two enormous monoliths of marble, was a bridge formed out of small golden strands—a construct of cosmic energy that heavily reminded me of Thena's weapons and Gilgamesh's gauntlets.
As I dropped down onto it, the golden bridge immediately started to vanish, losing cohesion and dissipating in a bare fraction of a second, persisting just barely long enough for me to use it as a foothold and spring forward to the next sweeping marble walkway. Landing, my eyes widened slightly as I caught sight of two figures watching me from further down the ramp.
They were both undeniably Thena—blonde hair, lithe frames, the same graceful poise—yet distinct in attire and bearing. The first wore the same simple white dress as the Thena in the real world, her hair loose around her shoulders. Next to her, the second Thena was dressed in form-fitting blue armour of a design I'd never seen before, a braided ponytail hanging forward over her shoulder. The Thena in white was standing slightly in front, a long spear of cosmic energy held at the ready, as though she was prepared to defend the other from me.
I hesitated. From my conversations with the shadow of Arishem, I'd expected to find a single aspect of Thena, representative of the fragmented echo of her memories of Centuri-Six. The Thena in blue armour seemed to fit the bill. But the other… Was this a young Bucky/Winter Soldier situation? Was the Thena in white representative of the current Thena's memories? But if that were the case, shouldn't they be in conflict somehow?
A heavy, half-familiar presence stirred at my back and the two Thenas tensed. I didn't need to turn to know that the shadow of Arishem had somehow caught up, looming silently behind me. The Thena in white turned her head slightly, not taking her eyes from us as she spoke in low tones to her companion, too quiet for me to hear. The Thena in blue shook her head, pressing her hand to the other's shoulder as though encouraging caution, her eyes wide with concern.
A tense silence hung between us for a scant second before the Thena in white lunged up toward me at a speed that made my heart jolt. I flung out a burst of chaos magic, but her spear carved through it. Instead of meeting any resistance, the blade of cosmic energy sliced the bolt neatly in half, each fragment winking out of existence midair. Alarmed, I backpedalled, tossing another wave of red energy her way. She simply wove around the attack with effortless grace, sweeping her spear toward me. The thrust slammed into a hastily-conjured shield with enough force to send me skidding, nearly knocking me right off the walkway.
There was a clear path between me and the Thena in blue. With a thought, one of the golden rings hanging behind my shoulders streaked out from behind me toward her—maybe if I bound that aspect, per the original plan, the one attacking me might calm down a bit?
Instead, the Thena in white broke off her assault to dash to the side, spear raised, and deflected the ring from its course with a sharp diagonal slash. The loop of cosmic energy ricocheted harmlessly off into the air and I recalled it, tucking it back behind me. I felt a small spike of worry that she might have damaged it. Her eyes narrowed, and in a blur of pale fabric and blazing gold, she pressed her attack hard, forcing me onto the defensive with rapid strikes that sliced effortlessly through each panicked tendril of chaos magic I threw at her.
There was movement behind me and Thena's attention shifted as a dark shadow loomed over us. A moment later, golden rods of cosmic energy slammed into the walkway in a circular pattern around her—the same attack the shadow of Arishem had used against me earlier. Further back, the blue-armoured Thena thrust out her hand, a note of panicked desperation in her voice. "No!" At the same time, the eyes of both Thenas clouded over, white covering their pupils like they were both in the throes of a Mahd Wy'ry episode.
The white-clad Thena reacted near-instantly, jerking backwards almost like a puppet on strings, leaping out of the ring and summoning a large, round shield of golden wireframes to her forearm. The beams of energy that blasted out from the rods were deflected—it almost looked like the Thena in blue was directing the other's movements, somehow. But if that were the case, looking at their eyes… Was this a Mahd Wy'ry episode from the inside?
IT'S POINTLESS TO CONTINUE THIS FIGHT. BIND THEM BOTH.
"Both?" I asked. "But—"
I was cut off as the Thena in white rushed me again, eyes still clouded over. She contemptuously swatted aside a hastily-thrown bolt of chaos magic with her shield, closing the distance between us in a second. Fingers splayed, I conjured a shield between us to block an attack and she leapt, vaulting over me and somersaulting in midair.
Thena landed and sprang toward me again in a single, smooth motion and I stumbled backwards, eyes wide in panic. I tried to create another shield, but I already knew it was too late. The tip of Thena's spear loomed large in my vision for a bare instant before vanishing again, almost too fast for me to process, as Arishem's hand slammed down in the space where Thena had been a moment ago. My breath was coming in short, panicked gasps. Her weapon had to have been like an inch away from stabbing into my face, but she'd been forced to break off, darting back out of the way of his attack.
The shadow of Arishem raised his hand, watching them carefully. There was a moment where none of us moved. The Celestial held his hand at the ready, golden traceries frozen across its surface, while the Thena in the white dress stood interposing herself between me and the Thena in the blue armour.
YOU MUST NOT HESITATE AGAIN, OR YOU WILL DIE, the Celestial said behind me. BIND THEM. NOW.
I hesitated, hand poised, the rings ready to respond to my thoughts. "Wait, hang on. Time out." Risking briefly taking my eyes off the two Thenas, I glanced up at Arishem. "You said these aspects represent Thena's memories. If I bind the one that represents her current memories…"
BINDING THE ESCAPED ECHO ALONE WILL NOT BE SUFFICIENT. HER MEMORIES HAVE LEAKED INTO THE CURRENT ITERATION. SHE MUST BE RESET, ELSE THE BINDING WILL BREAK AGAIN. YOU MUST BIND THEM BOTH. DO IT NOW.
Ah. I knew that this had been too simple. The shadow of Arishem was just following along the same path that Arishem himself would—in retrospect, it seemed almost obvious. The Eternals believed there was no way to cure Mahd Wy'ry without resetting Thena's memories because that's how Arishem dealt with the problem.
"Hang on. Did we provoke a Mahd Wy'ry episode just then?"
IT IS IRRELEVANT. BIND THEM. There was a note of urgency in his tone, some actual emotion leaking in.
"No, it isn't." I looked askance at the two Thenas. "You're working together?"
The Thena in white—the one representing her current aspect—didn't relax at all, still standing ready to lunge at me without warning. She stood stock still, eyes fixed directly on me, her milky-white gaze unwavering. As I watched, the film over her eyes retreated and she inclined her head in a shallow nod. "She's no threat to me. To any of us. She helps me, where she can; when he—" she moved her spear slightly so the tip was pointed more toward Arishem, "—closes in on us."
THE ECHO SURGES TO THE SURFACE TO DEFEND ITSELF. THE MORE IT HAPPENS, THE MORE THENA IS TAINTED WITH THE ECHO'S MEMORIES.
I had a feeling that I'd been working with some incorrect assumptions here. Lowering my hand, I turned a little so I could look askance at the shadow of Arishem. "Is the only reason Mahd Wy'ry even happens at all because whatever it is you represent—whatever piece of programming of Arishem's you're a manifestation of—is trying and failing to contain those memories, provoking them into defending themselves?"
The Celestial was silent.
My mind was racing. If I was right, the remnant—or echo, or whatever you wanted to call the memories represented by the Thena in blue—was only indirectly causing Thena's episodes. It was the pressure inflicted by Arishem's programming as it struggled to contain the traces of memories that ended up pushing them to the surface, as a side effect. More like a symptom caused by an immune system response; not something directly caused by the memories themselves.
"I promised Thena I wouldn't erase her memories," I said.
YOU MUST FOLLOW MY DESIGN.
Nervously, I licked my lips. "And if I don't?"
YOU WILL NOT LEAVE. I WILL HOLD YOU HERE UNTIL YOU DO WHAT IS REQUIRED.
I thought back to our earlier conversations. How surprised the shadow of Arishem had been when he'd discovered the depths of my knowledge. How freely he'd discussed the Emergence with me and how easily he'd shown me how to use my magic to manipulate cosmic energy. "And when I do, you'll let me go?" I asked, but I already knew the answer. "You won't, will you? I know too much, and have too much power. You were never planning on letting me leave, were you?"
The looming shadow regarded me silently for a few moments. The lack of response was confirmation enough.
I turned away from the Thenas, showing my back to them as I rounded on Arishem. My heartbeat raced as I hoped desperately that I wasn't about to get stabbed from behind. "I won't do it."
THEN YOU'LL DIE, he said simply. AND I'LL TAKE WHAT YOU'VE CRAFTED AND BIND THEM ANYWAY.
A short, bitter laugh escaped my lips. "Well, you're not exactly incentivising me here. Do it and die, don't do it and die—what's the difference?"
I CAN'T LET YOU LEAVE, BUT IF YOU BIND THEM, YOUR LIFE WILL BE SPARED. YOU MAY RETAIN AN EXISTENCE HERE, WITHIN THENA. YOU WILL STILL BE ABLE TO HOPE FOR SURVIVAL, FOR ESCAPE.
I glanced back at the Thenas again, meeting the first one's gaze evenly, willing her to understand that I was on her side as I raised my hand silently. The binding rings of cosmic energy rose slightly, responding to my will as I simultaneously tapped into my chaos magic, sending tendrils into the Mind Stone. I drew on the Stone's power as I squared up against Thena, until barely-visible wisps of red and gold energy were boiling off me. The shadow of Arishem simply watched—perhaps fooled by my display, or perhaps not. Either way, several seconds crawled by with no one moving as my power radiated into the vastness of the World Forge around us.
If I bound them both, I'd be trapped in Thena's mind. Maybe forever. I'd have broken my word to her, and who knows what would happen on the outside? If I didn't, the shadow of Arishem would attack me again and I wasn't sure what I'd even be able to do to stop him.
Instead… Fuck it, we ball. Secret third option it is.
I turned back to Arishem, my eyes ablaze with power. "If you were the real Arishem, I might cave to your threats. I'd have no choice. But you're not Arishem. You're just a guard dog. A fragment. Barely anything at all. You couldn't even bind these echoes without the Mind Stone."
YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME HERE. I felt a note of disappointment in his tone.
"Maybe not," I said, my voice shaking slightly. "But I'm pretty sure she can."
A hand the size of a building was suddenly reaching for me, the shadow of Arishem moving deceptively fast, whorls of cosmic energy already forming as he lunged. I threw up my own hands, splashing a shield of chaos magic across the space above me to block him as I had before. At the same time, I sent a single imperative through the complex web of the Mind Stone's cosmic energy I'd been spreading throughout the space.
Release.
My shield buckled on contact, my split focus meant it only held for a bare few seconds before shattering entirely. I collapsed to my knees, eyes squeezed shut in expectation of a brief moment of pain and then nothingness.
Instead, there was a sparking sound—a clash of energy on energy—and I didn't die.
My breath coming in short, sharp gasps, I opened my eyes and glanced around wildly. It was Thena. Not just the two that had been with us, either. There were six of them standing around me protectively in formation. All of them held large, rectangular shields formed of interlocked golden wireframes, locked together to form a solid barrier—a Roman-style shield wall—between us and Arishem's hand. Around us, more Thenas were hitting the green marble path already running, each one summoning weapons of cosmic energy to their hands as they charged toward the Celestial.
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?
Thrown javelins and arrows flickered through the air, chipping away at Arishem's rock-like outer shell as they struck with enough force to shatter steel. Distracted, the Celestial moved back, withdrawing his hand from above me. The Thenas that had been shielding me immediately joined their fellows, some jumping up while others anchored rapidly-formed whips and chains to his fingers, climbing and shouting wordless battle cries as they joined the attack. I hadn't been able to reach all of Thena's echoes, but I'd still managed to free what had to be at least a hundred of them.
The Celestial flailed, surprised at the ferocity of the assault. His other hand slammed down onto the path, crushing one of the Thenas beneath his palm before he wrenched it to the side, sweeping it through a small battalion of the Eternal warriors with the force of a freight train.
While he was distracted, I took a moment to compose myself, steadying my breathing. This entire excursion had taken a lot out of me. Even protecting myself for a bare few seconds from the shadow of Arishem while I released the echoes of Thena's past lives had been draining. Still, I had one trick left—something that wouldn't take any effort at all.
My hand twitched and one of my binding rings of cosmic energy shot forward like it had been fired from a cannon, separating into a dozen bands that grew massively in size. Arishem's head whipped back around to fix me with his six, glowing red orbs as his hand was suddenly shackled. Two larger rings encircled his wrist while the others orbited his fingers. The binding yanked his arm violently backward and to the side, pulling him along with it.
NO. YOU MUST STOP THIS! The Celestial's voice hammered at me like a physical blow, the force behind it sending me stumbling back several paces.
I gritted my teeth and flicked my hand at him again. The second binding ring shot forward to slam in place against his other wrist. His arms were wrenched out to either side, legs dangled long and useless below his body as he hovered in midair before the Celestial furnace at the centre of the World Forge, as if nailed to a cross.
The Thenas broke off their assault, crowding the edges of the green marble walkways. Despite all being essentially the same person, there was a riot of differences between them. They wore different clothes, different armours, held different weapons—some even had differently-coloured skin or other small cosmetic differences, which was interesting—but they were all Thena, and all of them joined together in one great bellowing cry to claim victory. Slowly, the cacophony died down as they all watched the bound Celestial for any sign of him breaking free.
My heart was still pounding hard in my chest, but the moment I'd successfully bound the shadow of Arishem I'd felt a release of pressure. The golden force that had been keeping me from leaving Thena's mindscape had vanished.
I looked up at the trapped Celestial. He remained perfectly still, the six fiery red orbs of his eyes fixed directly on me.
WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH WITH THIS? ONCE TIAMUT EMERGES, THE ETERNALS WILL BE RETURNED TO THE WORLD FORGE AND ARISHEM WILL REPAIR THE DAMAGE YOU'VE DONE.
I swallowed, but met his gaze challengingly. "If Tiamut emerges," I said.
IT IS NOT YOUR PLACE TO INTERFERE WITH THE BIRTH OF A CELESTIAL. ARISHEM WILL NOT ACCEPT SUCH.
"Maybe. Maybe not. I'll burn that bridge when I get to it."
YOU MEDDLE WITH FORCES YOU CANNOT HOPE TO UNDERSTAND OR CONTROL.
Thena stepped up beside me—the one in white that represented her current self's memories. "Perhaps," she said, her voice ringing out loudly and clearly. She raised a spear of cosmic energy, pointing it at the crucified Celestial. "Arishem's design has been unbroken for billions of years. But it may not always be so. We Eternals have been unwittingly complicit in a cycle of death for far too long. I will see this world saved, if I can. I owe those already lost nothing less."
She turned and extended her free hand toward me, blue eyes boring into mine. I hesitated for only a moment, then reached out, grasping Thena's forearm as she clasped mine back. Her grip was firm and unyielding.
So was mine.
What a terrible idea *takes notes*
