Without pause or mercy the wind continued to howl. Restless waves of thin veils of snow washing over and blanketing the four as they ascended the mountain.
The frostbite would kill them later—but not in the moment.
Without rest Auro, the Scholar and Shifty continued to carry their own weight up. Every time the waves of thin snow would wash over them, thin muscles would tense on their faces as they shouted curses washed away in the air.
All of them were more than past their limit.
But Sunny's limit—or the body he had been vessel'd in—had long lost sight of what should have been a limit. For a human that is. Yet he was a slave, and a slave was less than a human.
Everyone could only watch as his body continued to move. His feet now a stomach-churning colour of black and red, the frostbite and infected wounds seemingly competing to see which would claim his life first. Already ragged, the little cloth that draped around his bony body now started to frost around the edges.
They all wanted to say something.
Complain about the ridiculousness of the Spell's treatment to him.
His inspiring relentlessness.
All of his efforts were more than enough.
Yet as they watched in silence sync, they did not. He couldn't hear them, and none were aware of a version of himself's presence in a certain shadow. All they could do was watch. Watched as he silently climbed the unforgiving peak towards an unknown destination—a suppositional temple—somewhere unknown from the world. One which could possibly grant them refuge and safety from the pursuing Tyrant.
However at this rate they all couldn't help but think the same thing.
That Sunny wouldn't last another day.
All Saints were more than familiar with what perilous circumstances did to humans. Twisting, reshaping them into something else under the primal desire to survive. The only breather they were allowed was once the group finally set up a small camp for a brief rest.
It also allowed the spectators a brief moment of clarity. That clarity was short lived however, when the images sped up, and day finally broke.
Somehow, the two slaves looked even worse than before. It was as though yesterday's climb had overstrained Scholar too much.
However, Shifty's condition could not be explained by simple overexertion. He was deadly pale and shaky, with half-conscious eyes and a lost look on his face.
"What's wrong with him?"
Scholar, who himself was not doing very well, helplessly shook his head.
"It might be the mountain sickness. It affects different people differently."
His voice sounded raspy and weak.
"I'm fine, assholes. Get out of my face."
Shifty had trouble forming full sentences, but still insisted that he was alright.
Hero frowned and then took most of the supplies the defiant slave was supposed to carry before adding them to his own load. After hesitating a little, he gave some to Sunny, too.
"Did anything happen while we were asleep?"
Sunny stared at him for a few seconds.
"The monster ate the dead."
The young soldier's frown deepened.
"How do you know?"
"I heard it."
Hero moved to the edge and looked down, trying to make out the distant stone platform. After a minute or so, he clenched his jaw, showing signs of uncertainty for the first time.
"Then we'll have to move faster. If the creature is finished with all the bodies, it will come for us next. We need to find that old path before nightfall."
Frightened and dejected, they set out again and continued to climb. Sunny was slowly dying under the weight of the added load. Thankfully, Shifty and Scholar had already drunk most of the water, lightening it a little.
'This is hell,' he thought.
They climbed higher, and higher, and higher. The sun was climbing with them, slowly approaching the zenith. There was no talking, no laughs, only strained breathing. Each of the four survivors was concentrated on his own steps and footing.
However, Shifty was falling farther and farther behind. His strength was abandoning him.
And then, at some point, Sunny heard a desperate scream. Turning around, he only had time to see a panic-stricken face. Then Shifty fell backward, his foot slipping on an ice-covered rock. He hit the ground hard and rolled down, still trying to grab onto something.
But it was too late.
Frozen in place and powerless, they could only watch as his body tumbled down the slope, leaving bloody marks on the rocks. With each second, Shifty looked less like a man and more like a rag doll.
A handful of moments later, he finally came to a halt, hitting the top of a large, protruding stone in a pile of broken flesh.
Shifty was dead.
"What is…." Jest mumbled. Beside him Gilead finally moved. His posture shifted forward, a rare engaged tone in his voice.
"Foul play?"
The Saints of Valor looked at each other, the daughters and Saints of the Queen doing the same. All of them could single out something was wrong. It seemed casual for the Shifty to meet an end in the trial—like a loose trope of a hateable character—but the execution was wrong.
Not present on the mountain itself, but just from he provided images, they could tell the snow was not enough to make him slip up as such. His overall appearance and stamina had exponentially decreased since the start of their journey.
Falling even behind Sunny as they woke.
Such a development was only possible through foul play.
Yet they had not seen any clear actions in the time shown to them. They all knew that Sunny was more than incapable of affecting them, with such a useless Aspect—the question in its development—a mysterious singularity in itself. But that development had not happened yet. The Scholar was a likely suspect.
But it didn't make sense.
If anything it would be logical to rid the risk of the powerhouse that was Auro, the second greatest risk to their lives. So why waste his hidden cards on Shifty instead of him, considering Sunny as deadweight?
That left only one possibility.
Auro himself had done something to them.
Was this the first of his Aspect's abilities? The very Aspect that was capable of wrecking ruin to an indomitable empire as War's? Solvanne spoke for everyone as her mellow voice came from the rows above.
"For such a person, a reclusive ability that slowly kills seems very unfitting."
The others turned to look in Eurys's direction, expecting a quippy snap that would possibly give them information even if she was wrong. The skull remained lifeless for a few moments.
Then a chuckle sounded—but a different type.
Compared to the rest, this one did not boast careless madness, a prideful knowing nor a spiteful disdain. Instead it was something new—-hidden—-indiscernible.
As he quieted down, he spoke a single sentence.
"Appearances can be deceiving."
In response a shudder ran down Rain's spine. She didn't even dare turn her head, already feeling the daunting gaze of the wolf in sheep's clothing from above, cruising under the name of Mordret. The others were instead left in silence.
Was he admitting to the perfidious nature of Auro's Aspect?
Or was there something else they had missed?
Cassie was the quickest to process the information as she spoke, her voice calm and collective, "So then you are admitting that there has been some sort of development that is affecting them."
Eurys did not respond, simply clicking his jaw—if one could take that as one.
They were all left in silent contemplation. Only for a moment however as a scoff sounded from next to the skull, Effie leaning further back into her seat.
"An information peddler and a shrewd killer who fronts as a noble warrior. The Nine really are a treacherous bunch."
Brows raised in response to the unruly remark, Kai already panickingly reaching over to Effie, only pausing, a bit unsure of what he was even meant to do. Fortunately Eurys took no offense. Or possibly he did not consider words at her to be at the level of something that should be taken as an insult.
He let out a sigh.
"We are indeed a miserable, treacherous lot…."
Pausing, he stirred in Rain's lap, his voice now even more hushed:
"....but some are more treacherous than others."
'Some?
Just who was the damn skull ambiguously referring to they all unanimously thought. Before they could press further however, they found the skull being moved. Rain politely handing him over to Ananke beside her.
"Sorry…do you just—do you mind? I think I need a moment or I my mental being will manifest corruption in this place."
Ananke simply smiled, gently taking the skull from her noticeably sweaty palms.
"I would never wish to see such a thing dear."
Rain nodded. Sinking into her seat, she let out a sigh—only—the action quickly turned into a painful sharp breath as she noticed Nephis looking at her from the side. She shot up, straightening her back as she put on her most friendly mile.
Nephis blinked.
"You could have asked me to hold him for you."
Rain remained absentminded on the spot. The words bounced in her head. Eventually her lips slightly curled as she curtly nodded. Seemingly satisfied, the Angel of humanity shot her a smile that would have incinerated any non-Divine shadow's heart.
"That's what—"
She paused.
What Nephis wanted to say seemed to come to realization as she froze.
"J-Just ask me if you have any concerns or need something." she quickly finished, turning back to the screen. Rain however, did not turn back. Instead she remained in the same spot—staring intently at Nephis—her eyes wide without courtesy.
'Did she…..did she just try to win my favor!?'
It was impossible. No, such a statement had become illegible as soon as she had been brought here. More importantly….
'Just what was she about to say….?'
Taking a glance at the rest of the cohort down the aisle, Rain looked back at Nephis. Swallowing, she opened her mouth to speak—only to be unceremoniously drowned in murmurs—a development having pulled everyone's attention on the screen.
Rain could only let out a groan.
Looking at her shadow, her stomach dropped further as its shoulders slightly lurched—imitating that of a restrained laugh.
'Bastard, aren't you supposed to be unconditionally on my side?'
Seemingly hearing her internal spite, it reclusively angled its hand, pointing above to the screen. Rain couldn't help but object as something other than whirling snow came into view.
It was weathered and narrow, barely enough for two people to walk side by side. The path wasn't paved, but rather cut from the black rock by some unknown tool or magic, winding its way up the mountain like a tail of a sleeping dragon. Here and there, it was hidden beneath the snow. But most importantly, it was flat. Sunny had never been that happy to see something flat in his life.
Without saying a word, Scholar dropped his rucksack and sat down. He was deathly pale, gasping for air like a fish out of water. Despite that, there was a slight grin on his face.
"Told you."
Hero gave him a nod and looked around. A few seconds later, he turned back to the triumphant slave:
"Stand up. It's not time to rest yet."
Scholar blinked a few times, then glanced at him with pleading eyes.
"Just… just give me a few minutes."
The young soldier was going to retort, but Sunny suddenly put a hand on his shoulder. Hero turned to face him.
"What is it?"
"It's gone."
"What is gone?"
Sunny gestured down, back the way they came.
"Shifty's body. It's gone."
Hero stared at him for a few moments, clearly failing to understand what Sunny was trying to say.
'Oh, right. They don't know that Shifty's name is Shifty. Ahem. Awkward.'
He wanted to explain, but both Scholar and Hero seemed to have grasped his meaning. Simultaneously, they moved to the edge of the stone path and looked down, trying to spot the place where Shifty had met his end.
Indeed, the splattering of blood could still be seen on the jagged rocks, but the corpse itself was nowhere to be found.
Scholar flinched back and crawled as far away from the edge as he could. The young soldier also backed away, instinctively grabbing the handle of his sword. The three of them exchanged tense looks, clearly understanding the implication of Shifty's disappearance.
"It's the monster," Scholar said, even paler than before. "It's following us."
Hero gritted his teeth.
"You are right. And if it is that close, we will inevitably be forced to fight it soon."
The idea of fighting the tyrant was as frightening as it was preposterous. He might as well have said that they will all be dead soon. The truth of it was painfully clear to both Sunny and Scholar.
But the older slave, surprisingly, did not look panicked. Instead, he lowered his gaze and quietly said:
"Not necessarily."
Hero and Sunny turned to him, all ears. The young soldier raised an eyebrow.
"Explain?"
'Here it comes.'
Scholar sighed.
"The beast had traced us this far in just a day. That means that there are two most probable possibilities. Either it is smart enough to realize where we are going, or it is following the scent of blood."
After a bit of thinking, Hero nodded, agreeing with this logic. The older slave smiled slightly and continued.
"Whether it is one or another, we can throw him off our trail and buy some time."
"How do we do that?"
Despite the urgency in Hero's voice, Scholar hesitated and remained silent.
"Why are you not answering? Speak!"
The older slave sighed again and slowly, as though against his will, answered. Sunny was waiting for this moment for a while now.
"We'll just have to… make the boy bleed. Drag him down the path, then leave him there as bait and go up instead. His sacrifice will save our lives."
'Ah'
The moment had finally come.
Almost everyone who had realised didn't want it to be so. But what was about to proceed seemed irrefutable. .
"It's a bit ironic actually" Noctis mused, "For someone who would go on to be the best swindler, of two worlds even, such a nature stems from his encounters in his very beginning."
Solvanne glared at him from the side.
For some reason she wanted to smack the back of his head, fortunately stopping herself—for a few reasons. One, the warning of violence. Two, to not dirty her hand. And more strangely of all….when had she become chummy enough with his pathetic likes to resort to such social cues to communicate a point?
The thought slipped her mind as a scoff sounded from above.
"Please" Beastmaster snarled, "As if this limp weasel will be the last one in this situation."
Beside her DeathSinger shot up, brimming cheerfully.
"Oh yes! I can already feel it! Death such a terrible death approaches! I don't know who's death…but Death!"
The other sister dragged her down before another misinformative whisper could escape her glossy black lips. Revel glancing at Daeron, who rose in response.
"One promised and one more than nothing. It can only be Auro and Sunny left alive."
He paused.
"....though how such a development will go even I cannot foresee."
"He's right," Cassie chimed in, "Even I cannot say for sure what will happen. My intuition feels all muddled when I look at the scene."
"Then we can only watch" Nephis said.
Finally, after some time had passed, the soldier spoke:
"I have only one question."
Both Sunny and Scholar stared at him while holding their breaths.
"Yes?"
"You said that one of us must be sacrificed to save the other two. Why him? From what I see, you are far closer to the grave."
'A great question! I was just about to ask it myself.'
Sunny turned to the older slave, trying very hard to suppress a mocking grin. But to his dismay, Scholar had an answer ready.
"Before the first attack, he was already bleeding because of your senior's whip. During the attack, he was drenched in the blood of a fellow slave. His cloak, too, was soaked in it when the previous owner died. The boy already reeks of blood. Keeping him alive will put us in danger. That's why he is the best choice."
The grin died before reaching Sunny's face.
'Curse you and your big brain!'
Scholar's reasoning was appallingly solid. Hero listened, his expression growing darker with each word. Finally, he looked at Sunny, a dangerous light shining in his eyes.
"That is true."
Sunny felt his mouth getting dry. Cold sweat was running down his spine. He tensed, ready to act…
But at that moment, Hero smiled.
"Your logic is almost unassailable," he said, unsheathing the sword. "However, you failed to account for one thing."
Scholar raised an eyebrow, trying to hide his own nervousness.
"What might that be?"
The young soldier turned to face him, the smile disappearing from his face. Now, he was radiating thick, practically palpable killing intent.
"It's that I know who you are, Your Grace. I also know what you've done, and how you ended up a slave. Just one of the revolting crimes you have committed would be enough to make me want to kill you. So if there is someone among us who deserves to be sacrificed… it's you."
Scholar's eyes widened.
"But… but the smell of blood!"
"Don't worry about it. I'll make you bleed enough to overpower whatever residual scent the boy carries."
It all happened so fast that Sunny barely had time to react. Hero lunged forward with a speed that seemed almost inhuman. A moment later, Scholar was shrieking on the ground, his leg broken with one strike from the flat side of the young soldier's sword. Not giving him an opportunity to recover, Hero stomped on his other leg, and a sickening sound of shattering bones could be clearly heard. The shriek turned into a sobbing howl.
Just like that, Scholar was done for.
The brutality of Hero's actions was in such stark contrast with his usually graceful demeanor that Sunny felt blood turning to ice in his veins. This was… scary.
The soldier gave him a calm look and said in a placid tone:
"Wait for me here."
Then he grabbed the older slave and dragged him down the path, soon disappearing behind a rock outcropping. After a few minutes, terrible screams could be heard echoing through the wind.
Sunny was left alone, trembling.
'Crap! This is… this is too much!'
He still couldn't believe how sudden Scholar's demise came to be. And how ruthless it was.
Some time later, Hero was back, acting as though nothing had happened. But it was exactly that normalcy that unnerved Sunny the most.
After sorting through the contents of Scholar's rucksack and throwing most of the firewood out, the young soldier put it over his shoulder and nonchalantly turned to the young slave:
"Let's go. We need to hurry."
Not knowing what to say, Sunny gave him a nod and headed forward.
Now there were only two of them left.
It was sort of stupid, but Sunny suddenly felt lonesome.
Walking on the stone path was much easier than scaling the mountain wall. He even had time for unnecessary thoughts. A strange feeling of melancholy descended on Sunny… somehow, he began to feel that the end of this nightmare, whatever it might be, was not far off now.
They walked in silence for some time before Hero spoke.
"Don't feel guilty about what happened. It's not your fault. The decision was mine, and mine alone."
The young soldier was a few steps ahead, so Sunny couldn't see his face.
"Besides, if you knew this man's sins… actually, it's better that you don't. Just trust me when I say that killing him was an act of justice."
'I wonder which one of us feels guilty.'
These people… always trying to rationalize their actions, always desperate to maintain an illusion of righteousness even while doing most foul things. Sunny hated the hypocrisy.
Not getting an answer, Hero chuckled.
"You don't like to talk, do you? Well, fair enough. Silence is gold."
They didn't speak again after that, each preoccupied with their own thoughts.
The sun was setting, painting the world into a million shades of crimson. This high up, the air was clean and crisp, pierced by streams of scarlet light. Below them, a sea of maroon clouds was slowly rolling past the mountain. The stars and the moon had begun to reveal themselves in the vermillion sky.
"See?" Beastmaster chortled, "Damn insect got what was coming"
"D-Damn…" Effie mumbled.
She turned, looking at the skull in the lap of Ananke across from her. Considering her previous words, she lightly smiled, jokingly commenting.
"For such an epitome of righteousness, he can be pretty brutal…"
Eurys did not respond.
But something in the air around him changed.
Maybe had finally succeeded in beginning to break the ancient being's body with her corrupting banter. Or maybe he was living in the past. Reliving distant memories that could be considered relics, conversations, knowledge and sights of what Auro had been.
And what he truly was.
Not far from the path, hidden behind some tall rocks, was a narrow crevice that extended into the slope of the mountain. Happy to be safe from the piercing wind, they explored the crevice and ended up in a small, well-concealed cave.
Sunny made a move to unbundle some firewood, but Hero stopped him with a shake of his head.
"Today we will camp without making a fire. The beast is too close."
Camping without the warm flames to keep them company was not going to be pleasant, but at least they weren't going to freeze to death inside the cave. In any case, the alternative was too frightening.
Sunny sat down, putting his back against the cave's wall. Hero settled opposite of him, looking downcast and thoughtful.
He was obviously in a strange mood. If nothing else, it was apparent from the fact that today, for the first time, the young soldier had failed to care for his sword after making camp.
Soon, the sun was gone, and their small cave became completely dark. Sunny, of course, could still see perfectly well; Hero, on the other hand, was now completely blind.
In the darkness, his handsome face looked noble and, for some reason, sorrowful. Sunny studied it, not willing to fall asleep.
After a while, Hero suddenly spoke in a quiet voice:
"You know, it's strange. Usually, I can feel someone's presence even in absolute darkness. But with you, there's nothing. It's like you are just one of the shadows."
With only silence to answer him, he smiled.
"Are you asleep?"
"Wow. It's like they're student and mentor." Rain murmured.
Beside her Effie lightly elbowed.
"I know right? Like a…batman and robin! Except the robin is not really a robin but a very small and unkillable angry roach!"
She lazily chuckled, looking around at the others' faces. Surprisingly nobody reacted, nor conveyed emotion of their own interest.
Instead it was….cold
All the Saints looked with darkened eyes.
Effie was also a Saint, and it only took her a split-second to realize. Quietly she pulled Ling close, covering his face as he yielded without resistance. Only Rain remained confused and out of the loop.
Frowning in concern, she turned to Nephis.
"What is—"
But as she spoke, Sunny's voice from the screen rang out, a chilling tone—what he said making her blood run cold as all the surrounding shadows darkened.
"Why? Are you waiting for me to fall asleep before you kill me? Or will you do it in the morning?"
________________________
Second chapter of marathon
I lied, one more chapter to properly go over and wrap it up seems right.
Also just really wanted to end on this line
It's one of my favorite moments in the whole series
________________________