Aetheral Space-Chapter 535 - 17.7: Battle Lines, Battle Lines

DAY 2

Reyansh's finger twitched.

That was the prelude to his awakening. Even as every cell of his body burned, screaming at him to remain in blessed unconsciousness, he forced his eyelids open. The world was a blur of blackness and faint light. Nausea crept at the back of his throat. His head was throbbing, his heart was thumping a mile a minute.

It was like he'd just woken up from a terrible dream… or he'd woken up to the mother of all hangovers.

He had no idea where he was. Not within the fortress Auberon, at the very least. Even the supply closets in that place were white and shining. Wherever he was now, it was dark and dusty, with only a barely-functional lightbulb providing some modicum of light. Wooden crates were piled up on one side of the room, and Reyansh had been sleeping on the other, like he himself was cargo.

What happened…?

The moment that thought crossed his mind, he remembered. He'd failed. He'd failed again.

Noel. The girl he'd followed to the ends of the universe to stop her being misled. It had been just as the creature Niain had said. He hadn't stopped anything. All he'd done was follow her… and now she was gone. Captured by enemies who had no reason to show mercy.

It was just like last time, just like his last failure, just like all the others.

Only… two thoughts crossed his mind in rapid succession.

Why am I still alive?

Why am I still me?

He'd fallen in battle to the King of Darkstar. That was another man with no reason to show mercy. Even if Reyansh was alive, though, that didn't mean Niain had taken pity on him. There were worse things than being dead. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Niain had spoken of his Abyssal Knight, his feral hound… did that mean…?

"Now you're getting it," Niain chuckled.

Reyansh turned his head in dawning horror. There, sitting on one of the crates, was Niain. The face that sparked such fury in Reyansh's blood. The voice that twisted Reyansh's brain into utter hatred.

And yet… with his current level of strength, there was nothing he could do but lie there and glare at the object of his resentment. For a warrior, there was no greater shame than inaction. The most he could manage was to force his lips apart and croak:

"What… did you do… to me…?"

"Haha," Niain laughed. "Don't misunderstand. I didn't do anything to you. I'm not Niain, after all."

Bastard. Even now, he was mocking Reyansh. Even if he'd been reduced to this, was he not allowed to keep one scrap of dignity…?

"You're fairly stupid, so I guess I should explain it," Niain sighed, crossing his legs. "Would it make more sense if I called myself a hallucination? No, that doesn't really get across how screwed you are… oh, I know!"

"Get to… the point…"

"That's probably not something you want. After all…" Niain grinned wickedly. "I'm an insect that burrowed into your brain, you know?"

Cold terror swept through Reyansh's skull. "What…?"

"Yep. One of the real Niain's little bugs -- agents, he calls them. He created me with the ability to transmit some of his brain signals into your head, hence why you're seeing this representation of me right now. I'm partially a product of your own mind, too -- so if there are any inaccuracies, I guess you just don't know me that well."

Niain was inside his head. Niain was speaking from inside his brain. Reyansh began to hyperventilate, even as each breath was accompanied by burning pain.

The King of Darkstar smiled.

"There we go!" He clapped his hands together. "You are capable of understanding if you try! I'd suggest you get used to me, haha. After all, we're going to be spending a lot of time together."

Reyansh shook his head. "I'm not… I'm not!"

"Not yet," Niain giggled. "But only just. Try not to get so worked up, by the way. There are all sorts of creepy crawlies inside you right now that would just love that. The more emotional you get, the more they run wild."

Calm down, Reyansh urged himself. Calm down. Calm down.

But he could feel them inside him, horrors within his body. He could feel them swimming within his blood. He could feel them digging within his bones. He could feel them writhing within his flesh.

He wretched, and vomited on the floor before him. They were in that, too. A couple of centipede-like organisms skittered out of the puddle and into the darkness.

Calm down, he begged. Calm down! Calm down!

"Calm down, calm down," Niain echoed mockingly, wiggling his fingers. "Even if you were able to stay totally calm -- and let's be honest, that's not happening -- that would only slow us down, not stop us. We're hungry little guys, haha. Soon enough, we'll have devoured everything you have to offer."

The vision leaned forward, his face twisting into a spiral of eyes and teeth and mandibles.

"Looking forward to working with you… my Abyssal Knight."

Reyansh screamed.

At long last, terror overcame pain, and he threw himself forward. The Niain avatar parted like mist as Reyansh scrambled through it, charging towards the door. He had to get out of here. Wherever he was, he couldn't stay.

He threw open the door with all his strength… and only stopped when he felt the tip of a light-blade at his throat.

Atoy Muzazi, the man who'd been waiting beyond the door, stared at him with cold eyes.

"Come with me," he said. "You have a lot to explain."

On one of the balconies of Auberon, looking out at the shining city of Zepan, Niain and Zephyr Pandershi took tea.

"Are you disappointed?" Pandershi asked, using his middle-aged gentleman Extension.

Niain raised a black eyebrow. "About what?"

Pandershi frowned. "About losing your Abyssal Knight, of course. I'm certainly disappointed. I was looking forward to collaborating on him with you."

"Oh, that guy?" Niain waved a dismissive hand. "He hasn't got away or anything. What I did to him is done. Soon enough, he'll crawl back to us like a good knight… assuming he doesn't die. That would be a little annoying."

"Well," Pandershi conceded. "He'll make an entertaining piece in play, if nothing else. More tea?"

Niain watched in mild amusement as an automatic slid over and refilled his cup. It was one of the special ones that Pandershi had concocted, with black liquid metal squirming out of its cylindrical form and running down its surface like ink. Niain chuckled as he accepted the cup of tea.

"Are you sure it's such a good idea?" he asked mildly, taking a sip. "Using Temperance like this?"

Temperance, one of the Arcana Automatics -- and, along with the Tower and the Lovers, one of those that Pandershi had in his possession. Unlike most of its compatriots, it had little independent intelligence to speak of, but it was capable of upgrading and networking other machinery it came into contact with in order to oppose humanity. Somehow, Pandershi seemed to have brought Temperance to heel -- he'd been using it to upgrade his automatic forces, all the while avoiding having them turn against him.

Pandershi glanced over to the automatic. "Oh, that? It's fine. I've already conquered Temperance. It will elevate my creations, but that's the end of its influence on them."

Niain shrugged lightly. "If you say sooo…"

"Oh?" Pandershi raised an eyebrow. "You have doubts, then?"

"Personally, I make a policy of doubting anything that other people seem confident in," Niain replied. "It may not be a thinker, but they say Temperance is one of the more dangerous Arcana Automatics. I won't take it lightly."

"You say that, but you just took a drink from it," Pandershi pointed out.

"Haha, I guess that's true!" Niain said cheerfully. "All the same, I wouldn't go as far as letting one tuck me in at night."

They sat there for a little longer, drinking tea and nibbling biscuits -- until Niain spoke again, quietly, a sly smirk tugging at his lips.

"So you conquered Temperance, eh?" he asked.

Pandershi's eyes sparkled. "Are you interested?"

Niain put a finger to his lips. "Maybe a little."

"Then let me show you."

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"Hey, hey!" cried out a boisterous voice. "Pandershi-man!"

To be completely honest, this actually had taken Niain by surprise. This was the first room he'd seen in Auberon without that garish white lighting, and it was certainly the first disco ball he'd seen within its walls. Strobes of various colours washed over the dark lounge, painting it in the miasma of a rainbow.

And, to continue being completely honest, the man striding towards them wasn't who Niain had expected when Pandershi said he'd brought in an expert.

Harry Phantasm, a former Data-Hunter, an offshoot of the Paradisas branch of the Final Church that watched for signs of the invisible Emperor's appearance. Clearly, they had some expertise with the other Arcana Automatics, too. In terms of appearance, though, the man was far from a monk.

The tanned man wore a pair of bulky black sunglasses that covered his face, his scruffy white hair hanging low over them and impairing his vision even more. He wore a long fur coat, open to reveal his chest, and his hands were covered in a plethora of rings and bracelets.

Pandershi had switched Extensions as they'd walked here -- now she was using a female Extension with long white-and-orange hair and a pale dress, with a white eyepatch over her face that could surely only be there for aesthetic purposes. Niain wondered why the change. Had Harry Phantasm been the sort of person who responded better to that sort of appearance?

Interesting. Very interesting.

Pandershi scowled at her employee's mode of address, although her choice of features made even that seem somewhat elegant.

"I wish you wouldn't address me like that, Phantasm," she said. "It's… unpleasant."

"Sorry, sorry," the man raised his hands with a big grin. "Bad memories, right, I gotcha. What can I do for you and your pal there, boss? I was right in the middle of something, as you can see."

Niain looked past Phantasm to the couch he had gotten up from. Indeed, it was looking like he'd been right in the middle of something. Two members of the Seelie Rangers were lounging there in nothing but their bug-masks and white bikinis. Presumably they were tasked with entertaining Phantasm… and then, no doubt, reporting on his activities to Pandershi.

"I want to show my friend Temperance," Pandershi said imperiously. "Do it."

Phantasm sighed, plucking a remote from the pocket of his coat. "Okay, okay. You sure, though?"

"I've never been unsure in my entire life."

Beep.

There was a whirring sound -- and, as Niain looked down, he saw that the floor beneath them was opening. It had been made of glass, it seemed, with shutters beneath it to conceal that fact -- and with those shutters now parting, they were able to see what lurked below Harry Phantasm's little party room.

Black.

A dark and opaque liquid, filling a rectangular vat beneath the chamber, the only sign of activity being the occasional bubble rising to its surface. Patterns like circuit boards drifted over the liquid like rainbows from oil slicks. So… this was Temperance. The very first liquid automatic in the galaxy.

"Mere seconds of exposure of the Temperance substance to an automatic is enough to upgrade its capabilities tenfold," Pandershi explained giddily. "Meanwhile, the cage we've created blocks out any command signals, while making Temperance believe they've gone through. We've basically turned the Arcana Automatic into a simple upgrade mechanism."

"Wow," Niain said politely. "That's so interesting, haha."

"I'll say it again, Pandershi-man," Harry Phantasm said, his face turning serious as he looked at his employer. "You should destroy it."

"Nonsense," Pandershi waved a dismissive hand. "It's under my complete control. There's no point in throwing away a resource that continues to produce value."

Phantasm hissed through his teeth. "Maybe so, maybe so, Pandershi-man," he said. "But so many people say these things about the Arcana, and they never have what it takes. Maybe you don't either?"

The air seemed to grow much colder the instant those words left Phantasm's mouth. The girls on the couch froze like statues -- their expressions were concealed behind their masks, but Niain could imagine the looks of shock and horror. Pandershi slowly turned to look at Phantasm once more, her eye wide with quiet fury.

Phantasm gulped.

"I'd like to make something clear," Pandershi mumbled, almost feverish, as if her body couldn't even handle her rage. "That thing… you just said? You didn't say it. Okay? That was a delusion on your part. I don't want to hear anything close to that from you ever again. Okay? I'm going to forget what you just said… because you didn't say it. Okay? It never happened. Okay? Okay?"

"Okay," Phantasm nodded back, trembling.

With that, all of the tension disappeared from Pandershi's face, and she gave a smile like the sun. "Fantastic! Well, we're all busy people, so we'll be on our way, Harry. Take care of our pet for me."

With that, she turned around, striding out of the room -- with Niain following after her, smiling softly.

"Was that a good idea?" Niain asked as they moved down the corridor.

"Threatening Phantasm?" Pandershi said. "Of course. He forgets his place sometimes, so I have to remind him. It's the sort of maintenance a mechanism like him needs."

"Oh no, not that," Niain shook his head. "I meant showing me Temperance. Since I'm going to betray you in the near future, is it really a good idea to give me free information like that?"

Pandershi didn't so much as blink at the mention of Niain's betrayal. For her, that had been a given. She just smiled and responded.

"I see no reason not to," she replied casually. "If I put a weapon in your hands, I can predict how you'll swing it. Besides, I'm also going to betray you in the near future, so it wouldn't be fair otherwise."

"Right, right," Niain nodded sagely. "If you think about it like that, then my betrayal is more like self-defense anyway, huh?"

"Ha!" Pandershi barked. "Like you weren't going to do it anyway."

"True," Niain giggled. "That's true, haha."

The genuine laughter of the two traitors echoed down the halls of Auberon, filled with malice and kinship.

"...and so I ended up here," Reyansh Patel concluded, his voice low. "That's how I ended up… like this."

For the first time since beginning his story, he looked up at his audience. As he'd expected, faces of doubt and disgust. The only one who was looking at him blankly was the local girl -- she alone didn't understand the severity of his crimes.

He had aligned himself with Darkstar, the enemy of civilization, and allowed himself to be used as a tool for their ends. It couldn't even really be said that they'd tricked him. He'd understood what they were, but decided he could stomach it so long as it meant keeping Noel safe -- and in the end, he'd neglected that duty as well.

They were sitting in the ruins of Haisley's base, the withered forest of Ward 8 stretching out before them. Funnily enough, it seemed the forest had already gone through some destruction before rotting away. Some of the trees had been shredded or cut in half, as if caught in a clash between blades. That made sense, though. Wherever people gathered, conflict was sure to follow.

Hopefully that same conflict wouldn't reignite between those here now.

Ruth Blaine spoke first. "So… those tentacle things…?"

"Niain infested my body with them," Reyansh nodded. "I believe that cretin Pandershi was involved as well."

When he spoke Pandershi's name with such venom, Reyansh saw Haisley sit up. It seemed she was keen to find someone with equal hatred to her own.

"If I don't keep control of myself…" Reyansh continued. "...well, you saw."

"Can you?" Muzazi asked. He was standing against a half-broken chunk of wall, Radiant still burning from his palm. This splendid warrior wasn't taking any risks with a traitor to mankind. Quite right of him.

Reyansh raised his eyebrows. "What?" he asked.

"Can you keep control?"

Slowly, Reyansh nodded. "Yes. Now that I understand the situation… yes. I believe I can." He looked up, forcing what remained of his resolve into his eyes. "My goal is to bring down Niain and escape this planet. I believe that's the same for all of you, yes? Or at least our goals are compatible."

"You think we'll accept you as a comrade?" Muzazi asked.

"We've fought together before," Reyansh pleaded, leaning forward. "On Taldan. We -- we escaped from prison together."

"That was before you stained your name to this degree," Muzazi sniffed, before looking down at the others. "What do you think?"

The man with the face of the Supreme, the one who called himself Brother Wyrm, sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Look… I get that Darkstar is bad, but it's not as if he's still with them. If someone's seeking forgiveness, they should be given the opportunity to acquire it, no?"

As Brother Wyrm spoke, Ruth Blaine just stared at him with a complicated expression on her face, caught between many contradictory emotions. Perhaps the sight of that face saying those words was just too bizarre for her. If he noticed, though, Brother Wyrm didn't say anything.

"Besides," the priest concluded. "We're not exactly in a position to turn down allies, are we?"

At that, Ruth Blaine finally opened her mouth. "We?" she repeated softly.

Brother Wyrm blinked. "Yeah. 'We'. It's what you say when your group is made of more than one person?"

"Just so we're clear," Ruth said, standing up. "This thing, this Per Mutation ritual or whatever… we're not helping you win it. We're not helping any of you win it. I came here to get Dragan back, not some guy who looks like him. Okay?"

"Okay," Brother Wyrm nodded. "That's fine."

"Bullshit," Ruth spat. "What, that's it? You're just gonna give up and die? I don't believe it for a second."

Brother Wyrm frowned. "I just don't value my life enough that I'd sacrifice someone else to preserve it. Is it different for your Dragan?"

At that, at last, Ruth faltered. Her hesitant gaze flicked towards Muzazi -- who seemed to have no qualms with recruiting the priest -- before sweeping back towards Wyrm. Looking into those honest blue eyes, all she could do was let out a long sigh.

"Fine," she muttered, voice low. "But we're not letting you out of our sight."

Brother Wyrm just nodded. "That's fine, too."

The girl Haisley spoke up for the first time since the discussion had begun. She nodded towards Reyansh, who'd nearly been forgotten in the midst of that awkward argument. "If this guy is strong, we should bring him," she said. "I don't know what Darkstar is, but if he's not part of it anymore, it's fine, right?"

"You're such a nasty guy, haha."

Niain lingered at the edge of Reyansh's vision, a haze in the darkness.

"Tell them it doesn't matter whether you control yourself or not. Tell them you're nothing but a ticking time-bomb now. Wait, haha, that actually quite suits you!"

Reyansh ignored the hallucinatory taunts. "More than anything," he said to the group, voice hoarse. "I want revenge on Niain right now. I want to take him down. So long as our goals align, I promise you have no reason to fear betrayal from me."

Muzazi looked at the rest of the group. "Right now, taking down Niain is the same as taking down Pandershi. For the time being, I think we should make use of him."

"I have no preference," Brother Wyrm raised a hand. "I don't even know who this guy is, really, so, uh, yeah."

"If he's strong, we should bring him along," Haisley insisted.

Ruth cast her a skeptical glance. "You can't even use Aether," she said. "It's dangerous. What makes you think we're bringing you along?"

Haisley smirked. "I know this city like the back of my hand. Auberon, Zepan, all of it. You won't be able to get anywhere without me as a guide."

"And how exactly do you know the entire city so well?" Muzazi frowned.

"I…" Haisley looked up, but she couldn't meet the swordsman's eyes. "I'll tell you if you bring me with you."

Ruth and Muzazi exchanged a glance before sighing as one.

"Fine," Ruth said, running a hand through her hair. "Both of you, Hailey and Reyansh… we're up against an entire planet here. We need all the help we can get."

"Speaking of which…" Muzazi stepped forward, clearing his throat. For the first time, an awkward note had entered his voice. "...I think I know how best to start."

"How's that?" Wyrm cocked his head.

Muzazi looked at the rest of the group seriously, his gaze lingering uncertainly on Ruth Blaine for just a moment. For a second, it looked like he might chew back his words and let them vanish forever. Eventually, though, he did release them.

"We find more of Dragan Hadrien."