Right now, all I could feel in relation to the heat was a dull warmth, like the kind I got catching rays of sunlight in the attic. Diana wasn't giving us numbers in terms of the distance we had left to travel, which told me that the terrain was so difficult that the information wasn't worth giving in the first place.
"Do we know exactly where the Eyes are?"
Diana took out a roll of parchment. On it was a painstakingly detailed map. Naturally, X marked the spot in the most difficult area to reach.
"Purilo got as far as here," she said, pointing to a section a quarter of a mile away from our destination, if I was reading the key correctly. "He said that this was the most likely spot for the Eyes to be located. But... there's one problem."
"What's that?" I asked.
"The main passage shouldn't take more than two people at a time. We'll need to split until we make it to the heart of the Nest and regroup later."
"Split up?" Leo and I asked together, just as thrilled about the idea. Diana nodded.
"Leo is a capable necromancer, so he can protect himself just fine. You and Uhh make a formidable team," Diana smiled in her most reassuring way -doing little to ease our nerves on the plan. "Marvin isn't as trained, so my experience will come as an advantage."
"I don't want to risk Will finding Leo," I said.
"Will won't kill him." Diana looked between the two of us. "The only interest he has is in killing Marvin, which is another reason I'm going with him. He needs to get rid of either me or him directly to accomplish that goal. While he wants a painful revenge, I'm sure he'll settle for a quick death if there's a chance Marvin can escape him."
I'd almost forgotten about our conjoined health. Taking that into consideration, Diana's plan made more sense than not. Leo would even be more useful as bait, and he wouldn't be in danger once Will passed him by.
"To that end..." Diana rummaged through her supply pack, handing Leo a pack of cylinder tins. "These are signal flares. If Will passes you then light one. If you absolutely need help, light two so Marvin and I can make sure we get to you."
"And the spares?"
"Never hurts to be prepared," she said. "Ready?"
Leo and I looked at one another, leery of this venture.
"This is supposed to be the part where we kiss, right?"
"Over my dead body," I grinned. "Urah, Leo."
He clasped my arm in a firm shake. "Urah, Marv."
The phrase make parting much easier than what it could have been. It helped to think this wasn't the last time I'd see a good friend. This was not a farewell, but a promise.
Until we meet again, Leo -even if I die, live. Live a good, long life, and then meet me on the other side. We'll hunt all the Sand Whales you want, and Diana will be human, and I'll be Marvin... your friend.
Part Three: Into the Fire
In my pursuit of the power to save you I fear I've lost my senses. I've tempted Feyt, and in return she gave me magic -the likes this world should never have seen.
The horrors I've committed in its misuse are such that Koronos would pause at the aftermath. Necromancy is taboo in this place. My raising the people whose lives I've stolen as a form of recompense has been met with disdain and hostility from local villagers. I do not want to fight, Diana. But I've come too far to run.
Even now I see them; fires encroaching this valley of plum trees. A group calling themselves the Duskfell Knights are after my head, leading this invasion on my research grounds. There is no light in this Darkness. It is unnatural, and has no place in the cycle of life and death. It has made a monster of the man I was, a monster known as a Ghostwalker.
It's preposterous, the more I think of the title. I've seen plenty of ghosts in my line of work. Their feet never touch the ground. As such, the name itself is a contradiction, as is my existence now that it has found its way to me.
I studied bodies to save lives, not steal them, and I've made more mistakes than I can remember in my search for knowledge. Most of my students have taken what few breakthroughs I had to bastardize them with occult fanaticism. Most, but not you.
I hear the sound of intruders breaking through the gate. This letter will probably never reach you. If it ever does, know that I'm no longer here. I have lived a failure, and will die a coward, as nothing terrifies me more than living in a world without you in it.
Find your happiness, Diana. I am sorry that it did not lie with me.
~Inval
Year 864 S.E.
22: The Demon's Secret
Koronos reclined in a pool of lava, his human form immune to its otherwise lethal touch. He breathed the sulfur in the air, a refreshing change from the stagnant stench of rotting flesh in Krisenburg.
"It's good to take a vacation every so often, wouldn't you agree?" he asked his servant.
Will sat perched atop an overhang, surveying the Salamander Nest from this vantage point. He saw Marvin's Doll emerge from the Ichor Pass, the black slivering path which served as a hidden entrance into this place. It was difficult to spot for those with mere mortal eyes, but not for a Doll of his origins.
He scowled into the fissures of steam.
"You said you'd give them three days, Koronos."
"And so I am; you are still on your leash," said the fiend, inspecting his devilish nails. "They can do whatever they please during that time. I don't recall stating that I'd stay in the same place either."
Will snorted. Leave it to demons to play all sides of the field. Despite his disdain for Marvin, Will pitied him in this regard. He never dealt with a denizen of Hell before, and as such, was at a monumental disadvantage.
"Do humor this old devil," said Koronos. He appeared behind Will in the blink of an eye, fully dressed in a brilliant saffron robe. "I'd like to know what you'll do to that sweet boy once I set you free."
"Who says I'll go after him right away?" Will glanced from the corner of his eyes. "Maybe my real target was you all along."
"Oh how absolutely charming!" Koronos ran his fingers through Will's blonde hair, but his nails scraped the porcelain scalp, drawing black blood. "But let's be honest, my pet. You can't defeat me, and that's a fact."
Will cringed as he felt his wounds seal shut, a painfully burning sensation. He was all but immortal; even if he were to be smashed into bits Will would eventually recover, but that power came at the price of immeasurable agony.
During his first days as a Doll, Koronos tore him apart countless times to get that point across.
"I'll track Marvin down," said Will. "I'll... learn more about him. He's changed."
"Changed? Changed how?" Koronos joined him on the ground, swinging his legs over the edge. Will entertained the thought of pushing him into the pool of fire, but decided against it.
Will didn't know he was dead at first; it was months after coming to Nethermount that he learned his mother had killed both him and his siblings in their sleep before turning the knife on herself. Will knew she was suffering, but not to that extent. He couldn't bring himself to hate her for what she'd done -after all, a boy his age had brought him back, and Marvin treated him like the family he'd lost.
"He was... cocky," Will began. "There were a lot of topics older House members would talk about that Marvin could grasp in an instant. Problems were like fun riddles, and he got away with whatever he pleased -the picture of a child genius, I guess."
"The Pride of House Thanos!" Koronos laughed. "My what a drastic change he's made."
The Marvin Will saw in the Harpy Den felt like a husk of the child he once was. He was frail and dull by comparison. At first blush, he seemed aloof, almost as though he was looking down on him. That was the reason Will threw the stiletto at his cheek, but then he registered fear. A part of Will took great pleasure in getting that sort of response, but a greater part that surprised him was disappointed.
"He was bright, fun... shining," said Will, remembering their games in the attic, and the way the sun brought Marvin alive in a way necromancers could never be. I
t was this image Will carried in his heart over the years, of a radiant and indomitable man, living his life in happiness while he suffered at the hands of Hell. "He's a different person now. I feel like I'm being made fun of."
"Is that so?" Koronos pursed his lips. "Do you still have the heart to kill him?"
"Of course!" Will sneered at the pesky group in the distance, having some kind of argument among themselves. "He's an eyesore; that has never changed."
"Good." Koronos stood from his position. "Then follow me. The third day ends in eighteen hours. It'll take twenty for them to regroup."
"Regroup? They're splitting up?" asked Will.
"They'll have to if they want to get to the Eyes. We're to intercept one of them. We don't want them thinking they have hope, after all."
Will frowned as he got to his feet. "Nothing surprised you about any of this. You even knew they were coming to the Moor."
Koronos chuckled under his breath. "You think like a devil."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"It is -more than you realize," said his Contractor. "Let us just say that I've been aware of Lady Galatea's location for quite some time. The poor dear had been locked up in the attic for years."
"The attic?"
"Yes, Will. The attic -the very same one you and Marvin used to play in. She was tucked away in a wooden box. It wasn't until you passed that Marvin pried it open."
Will thought on the Doll he'd fought in the Harpy Den. He was stronger -he knew that just by understanding where his power originated, but Diana had experience on her side. She moved in a way Will didn't know was possible. It made him look like a graceless fool.
"They put that strong a Doll in a wooden box and she couldn't get out?" he asked dubiously.
"It was sealed," said Koronos. "It had many seals, in fact, all placed there by the Crone of Astheneia."
Will knew of the Crone; his memories of her at dinner were frightening to behold.
"And Marvin somehow pried it open... just like that?"
Koronos gave him a toothy smile, indication that Will had stumbled upon a what had previously been a secret. The only thing Koronos enjoyed more than rigging a game was sharing its lore with those who knew what questions to ask. For a demon, this one had a pretty big mouth.
"Just like that," said the demon. "The coffin could only be opened by Inval."
"But Inval died centuries ago."
"That he did, but like many great spirits, a part of his soul survived. It's no coincidence that Marvin is Inval's spitting image; he's his reincarnation."
Will came to a dead stop, prompting Koronos to face him. In his mirth, the demon had trouble maintaining his human guise, and as such the mouth was a little too large. The skin tore at his cheeks; grinning so wide that his face was literally tearing in half.
"Poor Lady Galatea; she knows the similarities most of all. Even being near Marvin must be painful. And just like his past self, he cares for her more than the world. It must be agonizing for her to be keeping him at a distance."
"You're a monster."
Koronos threw his head back, laughing in his inhuman way. Lava sputtered in response to the sheer power in his voice. More than physical pain, this was what demons loved best -troubling mortals in mind and spirit. Fewer things were more delicious than the presence of a broken heart.
"Soon you'll be free of me," he said. "Whatever you do, even if you decide to spare Marvin, know that a Doll will never be accepted in Nethermount or beyond. Enjoy your voice while it lasts, dear Will. Look forward to Silence -as that will be your warden in a world without a Contractor." Koronos stepped forward, cupping Will's face in his powerful grip. "But my only request is not to get in the way of my deal with Marvin."
He released Will, and the Doll dropped to the ground. Koronos had been planning this for years, he realized. It was probable that even Will's death had been planned by the devil.
"All of this," said Will, stopping Koronos on his way. "It was to get your hands on Inval's soul."
"And your point?"
"What did he do to piss you off?"
Koronos didn't move. Will couldn't tell if the devil was breathing at all. But he could sense the presence of a powerful loathing; the kind that caused the ground to crackle beneath his sandaled feet. He continued walking after that, not gracing Will with an answer, but the Doll grinned anyway.
He'd just stumbled upon the one secret Koronos didn't want anyone to know.
23: I'm Not Him
Diana and I were on the secondary path, a slivering passage pressed up against a cliff, just wide enough to allow one person to lead in a single file line. It was more dangerous, but it was faster, and by the time we arrived where Purilo marked our maps we should already have scouted the area.
Apart from this chunk of information, Diana hadn't said anything to me since.
I followed her lead, raking my brain over what Purilo had told me. I didn't want to believe it.
If there were ways of annulling Doll Contracts then it would only make sense for there to be a method to turn Dolls back to their original state.
Diana had the heart and mind of a human woman, an indomitable spirit that retained her sanity after centuries of being tucked away in a wooden box. Her porcelain features only allowed for so much expression; where I saw sparks of life I was certain that there was a sea of fire.
She deserved more than this. While it's silly and presumptuous of me to think that I can offer her happiness, I'd like to think I can at least give her the key to finding her own.
"Marvin."
My knee-jerk reaction was to look around us. "Enemies?"
"No." She slowed her pace, dragging her fingers along the wall next to us. "I just wanted to ask... is it possible that you're related to Inval, somehow?"
Any joy I found from her striking up a conversation was sucked away now that she mentioned Inval's name. I contained my irritation in a way I could never contain my fear.
"I'm a son of House Thanos; unless he was a woman in disguise then I'm afraid I don't share anything with Inval."
"Don't share anything?" A pile of rock crumbled from the edge. Lava shot up as it hit the sea of molten rock. "You act like him, look like him, think like him-"
"Don't presume to know how I think," I said.
There was so much venom in my voice that we stopped as soon as I finished that sentence. I didn't know I could sound like that. By the way Diana looked at me as she craned her neck, neither did she.
"We aren't friends, remember?" I said, startled by this monster reeling its head through my words. All I wanted to do was to hurt her, hurt her so deeply that she'd never broach this topic again. "You said so yourself when we came to the Moor."
Diana's lips parted, but she didn't say anything; not a single word was uttered in her defense. Her eyes shifted away from my face with shame, an emotion I often felt, though seldom saw in others. I was filled with instant remorse, but I didn't know what to say to make it better. I'd hurt her feelings. A moment ago that was all I wanted, but now that I did there was no way to take back the words as they lingered in the air between us.
"I've been... unfair to you," she said slowly. It was the tone of someone unused to giving apologies. "If I think about it, all this could have been avoided if I just walked back to the attic and let you go to dinner on your own. You still had a month to prove yourself, after all."
"What's done is done."
"But it's my fault." She bit her lip. "I'm sorry, Marvin. I was just so angry. You and Inval were so alike, even the phobias, I just wanted to help you fix it so- AH!"
Diana fell before my eyes. The ledge had crumbled out from beneath her. I instantly threw myself to the floor, grabbing her by the arm.
"Are you alright?" I asked, breathing heavily. Her shock translated to my own heart, beating twice as furiously as it should have. I almost felt faint because of it.
"Ah... y-yes, I think so." If she tried to punch the wall then our path would fal
l down and kill us. Diana didn't have to tell me that, so I pulled her up. It took all my strength to do it, but I did.
I breathed heavily, thankful for the hundredth time since we started our trek in this hellhole that Purilo's enchantments kept me nice and cool.
"Marvin?"
"What?"
"Thanks."
"No problem."
"And Marvin?"
I raised my head, realizing for the first time what sort of position we were in. Diana gave me a bemused smile as I had her pressed against the wall. Thankfully, I was beat red from sweating -my face couldn't possibly get any redder by blushing.
"Ahh... I need another minute to catch my breath."
No I don't!
What the hell am I saying?
"So." I leaned forward, my elbow next to her head. "You said something about trying to fix me? My phobia, I mean. Why?"
Inwardly, I groaned. Smooth, Marvin. You're about as smooth as a Sasquatch.
"Because Inval was terrified of corpses, just like you," Diana began. "After Koronos poisoned me, I begged him to let me die. I didn't think there was a way to become human again once I turned into a Doll. I just wanted him to be there while I passed. That was it. But he was afraid of me being just another dead body."
I saw the hurt in Diana's expression. She was bitter about it to this day. It wasn't hard for me to see why. But I did see a flaw in her reasoning.
"If," I stressed, "Inval and I are anything alike, I can tell you that he had a different reason for not letting you die."
Diana blinked.
"If someone I loved asked me to let them go, even if I had a guaranteed way to preserve them until they could be saved, I wouldn't let them die either." I looked her in the eyes. "For someone who meant that much to me... moving heaven and hell is the least I would do."
I waited for her to laugh, considering it was me this was coming from. Moving heaven and hell? I could barely move my own ass in the mornings, dreading what the day has in store.
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