The fire dissipated as quickly as it had started, the distraction giving Danira the moment she needed to move forward, her energy weapon now formed into an enormous buster sword with a golden hilt and a bright glow radiating from its blade.
Wyatt blocked her first swing and threw his shoulder forward, knocking her off balance. He then brought his other revolver around, connecting the bottom of the grip with her chin.
This angered Lucian to the point that he threw his fist forward, his mandible claws barely making it out of his knuckles to enhance his blow.
His attack connected, his claws digging into Wyatt’s chest, the Death Hunter’s eyes lighting up as he jammed his revolver in Lucian’s mouth and squeezed the trigger.
Everything went black, the sounds nonexistent, as if Lucian had just been sucked through a vacuum.
Oddly enough, even though he couldn’t see anything, Lucian could still feel his body moving.
Yet he had no idea where it was moving to or what it was doing, the void expanding all around him, yet Lucian still with a sense of touch, and almost an understanding of his location as he fell backward.
His first thought was to send his consciousness to one of his crows, but he discarded this idea as something wrapped around his chest, the following collision causing him to lose all feeling in his body.
Lucian started to panic as he was once again whipped into another immovable object, the impact sending a jolt of shock through them.
His Soul Points flashed in front of him, Lucian able to see them even though he currently didn’t have eyes.
Wyatt’s point-blank shot had really taken a lot out of him, enough so that if he hadn’t killed the angels, he would be dead.
Whatever that looked like.
He tried to squeeze his hand but couldn’t, Lucian hoping he’d be able to conjure the potion Yoshimi had made him.
Without ears, Lucian couldn’t hear the report of weapons, the explosions, metal on metal as Danira and Mastima battled on, Lucian’s mechas sweeping through the injuresouls, his crows adding to the chaos.
Without eyes, he couldn’t see what was happening, he couldn’t know if he was in harm’s way or if something happened to one of his companions. The last part was the most infuriating, a piece of the puzzle that he would not be able to solve without a visual aid.
And suddenly, it was all over.
It was as if Lucian were suspended in air, floating through a darkened abyss, a light in the distance starting to grow until it took over his periphery.
Lucian eventually was able to see, and he found himself lying on the beach in Portland, the sound of the waves meeting his newly-formed ears mixed with the squawk of seagulls utterly jarring.
What was left of his torso was slowly mending, Danira lying next to him, the beautiful angel missing an arm.
“Lucian?” she whispered, her eyes fluttering as she took him in. The paint on her face was smeared and mixed with grime, cuts on her brow, bits of shrapnel jutting out of her cheeks.
“Yeah?”
“He…” Danira swallowed hard and closed her eyes for a moment, reliving the horror. “Wyatt got her.”
“Mastima?” Lucian asked.
She nodded.
Lucian grimaced as he took in her features, the blood in her hair, the bits of her mask that were still shattered, the stub of her arm as it slowly began to reform.
An idea came to him, a way to fight fire with fire.
He didn’t know if it would work, but it was worth a shot.
Dammit, it was worth a shot.
“We’ll save her tomorrow,” he said, his voice hardening. “Gaspard too. And I will kill Wyatt once and for all.”
Chapter Twelve: Grim Vacuum
Lucian and Danira stood in front of his workshop, both of them sipping cups of coffee, a plate of chocolate floating in the air.
The sun in Old Death’s world was setting, adding a tangerine sheen to the lake, the waves all but still even as their crows played in the water.
Lucian felt the urge to confess to her in that moment, to tell her that he had killed two Progeny of Light.
But he knew better.
Lucian knew that now wasn’t the time to say anything.
He turned away from the angel, watching their crows settle on top of the water as if they were swans, Lucian wishing he could bring her into his arms as he’d done the other night, to just be next to someone.
Perhaps he could, but something about Danira’s demeanor, her distant stare, made him feel that this wasn’t the appropriate time for affection.
“I need to go,” she said suddenly, her eyes lighting up for a moment, her brow lowering, a line forming between her eyes.
“What is it?”
She ran her hand through her hair. “I forgot that there was a meeting tonight; apparently something happened. I found out about it just before meeting you at the beach.”
“What kind of something?”
“It’s a council meeting; it’s a big deal.”
“Maybe you should just stay…” Lucian said, turning to her.
He reached his hand out and placed it on her arm, Danira startled for a moment, nearly spilling her coffee.
But rather than brush away from him, she took a step closer to Lucian. “I wouldn’t mind staying…”
“Then why don’t you?” he asked. “What could be so important? And don’t you practically run these councils by this point?”
She smirked. “No, just the meetings. Nothing this large.”
“There’s a difference?”
“What you think?”
“Then just stay,” Lucian said, smiling at her. For a brief second, he saw his own reflection in her eyes, his dark clothing, his square jaw, the way his muscled form filled the robes he wore. “If there are a lot of people there, it’s not like they’re going to miss you. Who would even see you in the first place?”
Danira slowly lowered her hand, Lucian taking it. “I have never missed one of these larger meetings,” she admitted. “I mean, I missed them while I was in my various incarnations, but never while I was in this form. I’m sorry, Lucian. I just can’t. Someone would notice. Someone like Hashul.”
Lucian gritted his teeth for a moment. He really wished that it had been Hashul that he’d killed, rather than the two random angels. Hashul continued to be a thorn in his side, albeit a small one.
“I get it,” he finally said, once again feeling a magnetic energy radiating between them. “And it makes sense. You don’t want to raise attention to yourself.”
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow?” she asked.
“Definitely. At the beach. Same time. And I’ll have company.”
“You will?” she asked, her eyebrows lifting in surprise.
“Just trust me. I have a plan. It’s a strange one, but we have to handle this now. It’s gone on for too long.”
Danira nodded. “I agree. Let’s finish this tomorrow. Until then…”
Her wings started to grow, her two cherub crows returning to her, spiraling around her body as she rose into the air, the celestial being once again taking Lucian’s breath away.
She blasted off, gone as quickly as she came, her personalized coffee cup hovering over to Lucian.
He reached for the cup and it vanished as soon as his fingers grazed against it.
Lucian also did away with the chocolate, flipping the plate over so the chocolates fell on the ground, Ezra running over to them and eating the pieces that were left.
“I forgot you liked chocolate,” Lucian said as he stretched his arms over his head and yawned.
He badly needed to blow off some steam, and had the perfect solution...
He got into the large bed that Danira had gifted him, Lucian smelling a feminine scent radiating from the white sheets.
Lucian grabbed her pillow and tucked it under his head, his video game controller appearing in his hands, the screen lowering from his ceiling and then detaching so it floated before him.
/> His two crows settled at the end of the bed, Hugin using its retractable claw to drag a pillow over for them to rest on, Ezra rejoining them once he’d finished the chocolate.
Rather than lay down, the cat sat on his haunches, licking his paws as the Zero Enigma music played.
The load screen started up, reminding Lucian to revisit certain areas that he had already completed on the map, that the game was filled with surprises.
“I already know that,” he mumbled to the screen.
Besides, he had more important things to do.
There was nothing like absent-minded looting until he fell asleep, Lucian having spent hours upon hours doing this on some of his worst days back when he was alive.
Once he was able, he immediately fast-traveled to Karonyoff, the well-armored guards at the gate stopping him.
“Oi, you look familiar,” one of the guards said, his accent faux British and overplayed. The other one raised a shield, bristling.
“Yeah, I know you,” growled the first guard. “You’re a wanted man around these parts, you are.”
Lucian couldn’t help but grin at the responses he was offered.
And like always, he went with the snarkiest one.
[I’m a wanted man in a lot of parts, especially down south.]
“Including your mom’s house,” Lucian whispered, adding on the line.
“Oi! Is that bloody so? You’ve just doubled your fine, you low-life scum,” said the second guard, his hand on the pommel of his blade. “Unless you prefer to go to prison.”
Lucian wasn’t allowed to respond this time. Instead, he was presented with three options: go to jail, flee and be forced to fight them, or pay the fine of two thousand crowns.
Lucian reluctantly gave the money over, the guard commenting on how he’d be sure to keep a little cut for himself, and for Lucian’s avatar to be on his best behavior lest he have to pay the fine again.
“Whatever,” Lucian said to the screen as he took off in the direction of the market, the buxom ghost warrior named Danira floating behind him.
He had been meaning to show the real-life Danira the avatar he had created in her honor. Maybe next time they played Enigma Kart together, he would load up his save file real quick to show the angel her digital representation.
Lucian had already looted most of the people in the Karonyoff Market, but there were others that were at a higher level than he was at the time of his looting, and now that Lucian’s avatar had gained some experience, he figured he would give it another shot and see what kind of goodies he could get.
For the next thirty minutes, Lucian checked every single person in the market, a screen coming up and letting him know if they had something, or if they had already been looted by him.
He thought about visiting David of Willmarth’s home, recalling that there were some cheese wheels and other assorted oddities in the place, tons of bacon too, definitely a few bottles of whiskey that he had grabbed the first time. Lucian recalled there being a collection of goblin dolls that could be worth something, and which he’d meant to loot last time.
In the end, he decided against it, focusing instead on a lively circus that had come to town, and all the people it had drawn.
With all the new people in town, it didn’t take Lucian long to recover the money he’d lost at the city gates. He had acquired a number of potions too, weapons he could sell off, a few letters which either held quests or could be sold, plus raw materials, and even a gold bar.
Definitely a looting extravaganza, one for the ages, one that…
No one would ever know about.
Because Lucian was a Grim Reaper, living in a former Grim Reaper’s world, playing a video game that shouldn’t exist for him yet somehow did.
But at least he had an angel.
As long as the truth didn’t come out.
Because once Danira learned of what he’d done, things were going to get much worse before they got better.
And since he couldn’t think of any solution at the moment aside from numbing his thoughts through gaming, Lucian continued his looting spree, eventually falling asleep with the controller in his hands.
What Lucian really wanted to do the next morning was pour his power into creating a pizza, but he knew that it would be a waste, especially with what they were hoping to attempt later in the day.
Even if he could take a nap, Lucian knew he should focus on the items he would need to get for the battle against Wyatt and come out alive.
He now stood before the lake that sat in front of his workshop, sipping from his cup of coffee which read ‘Demon,’ trying not to worry about what Danira may have learned at her angelic conference.
It was certainly about what happened to the two angels, but he had this feeling that if she had known it was him, she would have shown up by this time, and perhaps brought the cavalry.
And since it hadn’t happened, the secret was still safe.
But he couldn’t be sure.
While she had changed her tune as of late, he knew not only what she was capable of and what she’d done in the past, he also recognized her ability to hold a grudge.
He would have to be prepared on the beach, just in case it was an ambush.
And as Lucian finished his coffee, he wondered why he was going after Gaspard and Mastima anyway.
He knew he would get asked that question once he met with his predecessor, and he needed an answer.
And he couldn’t help but give thought to the question at the back of his mind: What if Gaspard wasn’t for the cause? What if he planned to use the fact that Lucian and Danira had teamed up against him?
How much did Lucian trust Mastima in this regard?
Well, trust or not, he was in this now.
And he needed Wyatt’s power if he hoped to kill the parasite that had latched itself onto his brother.
That was for sure.
Lucian had increased his Soul Points by three thousand the previous day, so it was worth checking in with his brother, seeing what he could do.
But Lucian was aware that it would be depressing, and he wasn’t so sure that he would be powerful enough to actually make a difference in his brother’s condition.
He certainly wouldn’t be able to do anything about Sam’s discovery, and the implications for their relationship, their upcoming wedding.
“Still, it’s worth a shot,” he told himself as he threw his cup of coffee over his shoulder, the coffee cup disintegrating, and the liquid following suit before it hit the ground.
Lucian thought for a moment how the contraption he planned to cook up should operate.
It needed to float, and it needed to have its business end be expandable, allowing it to latch onto the object Lucian wanted, suck it in, and trap it.
He summoned Menor’s cannibalistic ax, its bit forming into sharp teeth, salivating some.
Now standing before the lake, Lucian suspended the weapon in the air, instructing it to grow its teeth.
As the ax did as instructed, Lucian started to conjure a similar design, almost resembling a Venus flytrap.
His contraption snapped its teeth in unison with the ax.
Lucian gave his newest creation a ribbed neck made out of clear, expandable material, which was connected to a beach ball-sized holding chamber, reinforced with metal, which could float.
The space inside needed to be able to withstand attacks from the inner chamber, as well as its outer surface.
To accomplish this, Lucian focused more of his power into strengthening the durability of the chamber within the floating sphere.
He wasn’t going to have a way of testing his creation other than going out into the real world and doing some hunting.
But Lucian did have an idea of the parasites that he wanted to capture.
As he finished up, Hugin buzzed over to him and examined the device, which Lucian wanted to function as a vacuum of sorts.
“How many will fit inside there?” Hugin asked in its androgynou
s voice.
“We’re going to have to test that out,” said Lucian. “I may have to make the holding chamber larger and possibly a bit stronger. Then again, those things seem pretty squishy.”
“Where did you come up with this idea?”
“Do you remember our fight back at the Taj Mahal?” he asked, looking at Hugin. “Remember how the Spaniard had parasites attacking us as well? That’s where I got it. And Wyatt has somehow managed to capture injuresouls, which also gave me the idea. I want to be able to catch these things and use them to my advantage. If they can figure out how to do it, there’s no reason I shouldn’t be able to. I’m sure we are using different means to accomplish the same task, but whatever, I’m fine with that.”
“Do you have a name for it?”
Lucian looked to his newest creation, trying to decide on a name. “Grim Vacuum? Yeah, that’ll work.”
“That’s a rather odd name for it.”
“I know, but keeping with the naming convention I’ve already established makes sense to me. What would you call it?”
His crow tilted its head as it considered Lucian’s question. Munin flew up next to Hugin, also now focused on Lucian.
“I really can’t think of a name for it,” said Hugin. “My apologies.”
“So Grim Vacuum then,” Lucian said, both his cannibalistic ax and his newest creation vanishing. “Come on,” he told his crows. “It’s time we test this thing out, but before we do, we need to go have a quick conversation with Old Death. He owes me a favor, especially after the anatomically correct replicant I gave to him.”
Chapter Thirteen: Headhunting in Boston
The leaves had fallen off the trees that ran through the Boston Public Gardens. There was a bit of ice on some of the swan boats that floated in the water, patches of snow on the ground, people milling about, those with nothing to do walking casually, and those simply passing through the park for a change of scenery walking at a brisk pace.
Lucian turned toward Boylston Street, and actually stopped at one of the lights to wait for the cars to pass.
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