To move forward, despite being stuck, Part 1
To move forward, despite being stuck.
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Eda
Eda’s mind was blank. The ocean of feelings that was raging in her mind silenced itself. The beast and the witch had both gone silent, their minds fizzing into empty space as they watched Luz cry, the infection creeping over her body.
“ I’m sorry, Eda, King. I still don’t know what to say,” She whispered, one last tear dropping from her face.
And then she was gone. Burst into tiny orbs of light. Tiny luzes floated into the air, bright and golden and away.
She was gone.
De- and then the blankness of her mind was filled with rage. The ocean of her head turned into a monsoon of pure hatred. For the monster that tried to hurt her family, her kids, and all the people that Eda had come to love with all her being. King jumped forward, tears streaming down his face. He was ready to fight with all his heart. Eda was too. She pushed the Collector back when they approached her.
“I’m sorry, kid. I don’t think I can control myself right now.”
That was a lie. Eda could control herself, but the beast and she agreed together. They were going to fight. Fight for the isles. Fight for their friends. Fight for Luz.
And so they did. The rage was all-consuming. Eda and the beast clawed and scratched at Belos, and King kept them protected with his cry. They were keeping him at bay but not making progress in defeating him. The beast clawed one of Belos sickly eyes out but realized that they were starting to get tired. They landed, hunched to protect themselves and the Collector. Belos turned to them and raised his hand. The beast and Eda were both so tired, but they raised their wings to protect King.
We have to protect King. Like we should’ve protected…
A blast of orange light saved them. Someone was inside the light, but Eda couldn’t recognize them. Glyphs floated in the air around them as the light emanated from their body, obscuring Eda’s vision. She barely had time to watch them long before they were gone in a flash of gold, speeding in the direction of the head.
A tiny shaking voice brought Eda out of her mind.
“Get off of her!”
Eda felt scratching on her talons and, through the rage, looked down to see the Collector doing their best to paw off some of the sickness that had begun to reach her feet. They were crying, streams of tears washing down their face. The quiet voice reminded Eda of… it calmed her down, and she and the beast separated.
“Shhhh, kiddo…,” Eda choked, looking at the flashes of light coming from the skull. “It's… alright.”
The glyph user was putting up way more of a fight than Eda and King were. She felt a shockwave of magic shoot from the skull, and some of Belos was purged away and turned into red grass. She had to think. All of this green sickness had spread so fast it was insane. It was like it had been pumped to every place in the blink of an eye. Pumped. A memory hit Eda.
Where do you think magic comes from.
Hmmm, the heart?
A tear ran down Eda’s face. Times like those felt ages ago, and now… they wouldn’t happen again. Eda steeled her resolve and wiped the tears from her face. All of this could’ve only spread from one place on the isles.
“King!” she cried, “We need to get to the heart!”
He nodded in agreement and climbed onto Eda’s shoulders. She scooped up the Collector, who Eda noticed was still crying, and extended her wings. Before she took off, the glint of something in the light caught her attention.
Luz’s staff lay motionless on the ground, surrounded by the mold of Belos. Eda screeched and took off, grabbing the staff as the three of them sped off toward the heart. They didn’t get far before a crash howled throughout the land. Eda turned back to see the Archive above the skull stumble. She turned to fly back to help everyone trapped in there, but the Collector pushed themselves out of Eda’s grasp.
“I can help them! Let me help them!” They look back at Eda, tears still in their eyes but with newfound resolve in their voice.
“Go!” King yelled as he hung tight to Eda's back. The Collector nodded and sped off towards the archives, stardust in their wake. Eda squeezed Luz’s staff, and they shot down through the ground toward the heart.
Despite all the chaos above, it was quiet down in the old castle. Eda held the staff to light up the way but picked up a sound echoing through the halls. It was… whistling. It sounded familiar, so familiar and so beautiful, and… it was her song. Her requiem. Eda rushed through the halls as fast she could, King hanging onto her back. Then she found them. Her Rainestorm, was stuck to a wall covered in mold. Their head was hanging down in defeat, but they still whistled, the mold unable to corrupt them while they did so.
Eda felt the staff disappear in her hands, and a palisman retreat into her hair as she rushed to Raine.
“Who’s there! Stay away,” They yelled as Eda approached. She realized that Raine couldn’t see. Spotting their glasses on the ground, Eda picked them up and placed them on Raines's face.
“It’s okay Raine… I got you,” Eda choked as calmly as she could. She reached behind Raine and cut them from the wall, pulling them into her grasp. Rain chuckled as Eda set them down on the ground.
“I am still not used to this new look.”
Eda let herself laugh a little but stopped herself quickly.
“Rainstorm, we have a job to do,” She told them. They nodded and turned to the area where they’d been stuck and pointed a finger.
“He’s in there. Fused to the heart.” Eda nodded and reached into her hair to pull out the palisman. The little purple snake looked small, scared, and had curled up into a little ball, quivering.
“Little one,” Eda asked, rubbing her finger over the snake's head. “Will you help me?”
The palisman nodded, and she quickly morphed back into her staff form.
“Let's end this,” Eda growled as she slashed at the Belos mold. With Raines and King's help, they were quickly able to cut through the mold before arriving at the heart. The room was caked in green sickness, but Eda saw the monster protruding from the heart.
Eda screeched and flew at the Belos but was deterred when hands ejected from the walls and tried to grab her. He would have to try harder than that. Eda spun the staff and knocked the hands away before throwing the staff to Raine. It would be more useful in their hands than Eda’s. Eda wasn’t even able to keep Lu- no. She needed to focus.
She swiped at more tendrils that were shooting their way toward King, then quickly scooped him up and put him on her shoulders. Raine used the staff to create borders to protect them all, and Eda watched their back. They slowly made their way to the heart fending off tendrils and claws, but they were slowly starting to overwhelm them.
It felt like slow motion. Eda felt Raine pull her back as a blade-shaped tendril just nearly missed her head. Then Raine shrieked in pain as they dropped to the ground clutching their arm. Eda knew what was happening this time. She wasn’t going to let-
NO!
She grabbed Raine's arm where the infection had taken hold with one swift strick of her talon and cut it off. She then quickly grabbed a fire glyph and smacked on the stump, Raine grunted, and the fire seared the wound shut. Eda then quickly scooped Raine up. She was going to have to get them somewhere safe, but before she could even do anything, Raine grabbed her arm with their remaining one.
“The heart! Belos!” They shouted
“Raine, I-”
“WE HAVE TO DO IT NOW!”
Raine never shouted. Not to anyone. Eda nodded at them and rushed the heart. She felt King use his power to keep Belos at Bay, so she swiftly put Raine on the ground and used her arm to grab Belos’s ribcage.
“YOU WON’T SUCCEED, WILD WITCH!” He growled, his eyes maniacal. She pulled with all her strength and felt Belos slowly slip from the heart. She pulled, and Belos slipped further. She looked down to see Raine pulling with their own arm despite being so wounded.
“I WILL CLEANSE THIS ATROCITY! YOU CANNOT STOP ME,” Belos yelled even louder, tendrils streaking towards Eda, but then they were gone. Eda felt warmth from behind her as two golden claws stretch out and grabbed the ribcage. Eda felt strength and anger and love and hatred. Eda wanted this all to be over. She wanted to have goofy adventures with King. She wanted to meet Camila. She wanted to love Raine with all her heart. She wanted… she wanted to make a world where all the weirdos could be accepted.
“No, you won’t, you monster!” Eda yelled, pulling with all her strength. She saw glyphs float in the air coming from behind her but focused back on Belos. A memory came back to her. From the first time she met a weird little human.
“NOW EAT THIS SUCKA!” She yelled a grin on her face and tears in her eyes. With all her strength, she pulled, and Belos came flying off the heart. The warmth behind her dissipated, and she swore she heard a quiet voice whisper.
Thank you.
To move forward, despite being stuck.
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Raine
Raine looked down at the sludge they had just stomped on.
It was over. All over. Belos, Belos was dead, though it had come at a cost. They looked towards their left arm. It was burning with pain, and it still felt like they had fingers down there, but at least they matched Eda now.
Raine clutched the staff in their hands and turned to Eda to give her a hug but found that Eda had slumped to the ground. She was… she was crying. The little Titan named King was crying with her as well, the two of them holding each other.
Raine knelt down and rubbed Eda’s face, doing their best to wipe the tears, but the tears kept coming. Something was wrong. Eda wasn’t crying from relief or happiness.
“Eda? Eda, what's wrong?” Raine asked gently. Eda looked up, her eyes puffy. She looked at the staff Raine was holding and grabbed it from their hands. She cradled it gently and then stood up.
“Luz…” Eda choked,
“Luz is dead.”