Lateral Movement

by Alzrius

847 - The Unfrozen Soul

The decision that Lex found himself facing regarding his spine was, in truth, no decision at all.

With his choices restricted to only two options – to either undergo a procedure with extremely low odds of success but no potential side effects, or to undergo a procedure with a high chance of success and whose side effects were completely unknown – the latter was the only selection that could be justified.

After all, “success” in this context meant survival, not just for himself but for Solvei and Nenet as well. His previous death had seen Solvei immediately join him as a soul separated from her body on the Astral Plane, and while she’d theorized that had been the Night Mare’s punishment for her committing blasphemy, Lex had no desire to see if that still held true, nor find out if it applied to Nenet as well.

He owed them both more than that.

The same way he owed everypony who had chosen to believe in him back in Equestria.

Even the ponies who had opposed him were ponies that he still had a responsibility toward, since his commitment to his people and his homeland was absolute, requiring neither the agreement nor the approval of anyone else.

That obligation went to the core of who Lex was.

His entire moral framework had been developed purely so that he could figure out how to best abide by and advance that duty.

At times, it demanded that he put his life on the line in pursuit of that goal, and he’d done so without hesitation. But that didn’t mean that he was free to court death on a whim; he’d already determined that if he died now, it was improbable in the extreme that anyone would resurrect him, which meant that his obligations would go unfulfilled.

To that end, choosing the riskier option for restoring his vertebrae would have been irresponsible. While the side effects of reintegrating his original spine back into himself were complete unknowns, those were an insufficient disincentive when the only alternative was near-certain death.

As such, as soon as Lex had finished channeling as much power as he felt he could spare into the ring of regeneration – still connected to the bracelet along with the other two – he placed it within his umbral form in a spot analogous to his remaining foreleg before floating toward where his spine was hovering aloft of its own accord, aligning it with his incorporeal body just so...

Then he changed back to normal.

The sensations that assaulted Lex as he returned to physical form had nothing to do with pain. Instead, it was the same numbing pressure that he’d felt in the scant moments after he’d come back to life. That same absolute lack of feedback from his body, so intense as to be smothering, as though he had been buried alive in his own flesh. It made it impossible to tell if the ring was working, or what was happening with his spine, his senses decaying almost immediately as the overwhelming absence seemed to swallow him up-

And then it eased off, as he managed to draw in a ragged gasp.

The action made his lungs feel as if they were burning, and the sensation of air passing through his throat almost made him choke. But the very fact that he was breathing, and that he could feel that he was breathing, made him want to laugh with triumph.

It was working!

Lifting his head as best he could – something that he belated realized was only possible because of the other ring, which allowed for physical trauma to be ignored – Lex managed to telekinetically pull his cloak and underclothes aside, staring at his back.

The glow of his horn reflected off the dim white of his spine as it shifted inside the open cavity that had been carved into him, the ring’s magic causing it to twist and writhe as it reconnected each nerve, ligament, and bone back to its original position. A moment later the pale bones were hidden beneath a layer of red as his muscles were seamlessly stitched back together, closing over and hiding his vertebrae from view. Then his skin resealed itself. Another second, and even that was covered once more by his organometallic fur.

Just like that, he was whole again.

Or rather, almost whole. A prickling in his tail made it clear that the ring hadn’t finished working its magic, and Lex let his clothes settle into place as he saw the appendage begin to regrow, the bones slowly sprouting from where Hvitdod’s jaws had torn them off, followed by the same progression of muscle, skin, and fur.

Nor was that the only place he felt the ring working, as his right shoulder was tingling as well.

That was enough to make Lex’s horn light up again as he quickly dug through his saddlebag, pulling out his severed foreleg. Unlike his tail – which had almost certainly been completely destroyed when Hvitdod’s facsimile had exploded – he had kept the foreleg that Sissel had severed, using a preservative spell on it in anticipation of this exact scenario.

Pressing it against his shoulder, Lex felt the ring’s magic go to work immediately as the tingling increased-

And then his foreleg was part of him again, tactile sensations from it once again registering in his brain as he reflexively clenched his talons.

Slowly, testing his reattached limb’s ability to bear his weight, Lex stood up. He could feel numerous other wounds across his body – taken during his back-to-back fights with Sissel’s corps, then Sissel herself, and finally with Hvitdod – closing up, the persistent aches that he’d grown to used to feeling that he hadn’t bothered acknowledging them now noticeable only for how they were diminishing.

Another moment, and even those were gone too, leaving Lex without any pain whatsoever.

There was still a deep sense of fatigue from how much power he’d channeled through himself over the last few hours – the ring could repair wounds and mend injuries, but it couldn’t do anything about the fact that he’d strained his body’s magical channels to their limits – but other than that, Lex couldn’t feel anything wrong with himself.

Even better, he couldn’t feel anything from the alterations that Adagio had made to his spine.

Her spells, Hvitdod’s curse, and even the godsblood she’d added; it was as though none of them were there at all.

Or at least, they didn’t seem to be interfering with basic functions like movement or respiration.

But that’s no reason to be complacent, Lex knew. None of those were physical changes, so it was unsurprising that they wouldn’t interfere with his biological functions. The real test would be to make sure they weren’t an issue for his body’s magical capabilities as well. The last thing he needed was to face Adagio – even if he hadn’t promised Sonata and Aria that he’d bring her back, she couldn’t be allowed to remain free after what she’d done – only to find that her magic had some sort of adverse effect on his backbone that he’d overlooked.

Fortunately, he could perform at least a few basic tests without any problems. He’d already confirmed that there were no issues using his horn’s telekinesis. And a thought was all it took to expand his connection to Solvei and Nenet, borrowing their senses just for a moment as he overheard them mentioning something about how the original Hvitdod had been in possession of aristeia.

Making a mental note to bring that up with them later, Lex put that thought aside as he turned toward his thaumaturgical spellcasting. Even if he was completely out of battle spells, he still had a few that he could use now, just to be sure that hadn’t been affected.

The spell he selected then was a minor power, allowing the caster to see into the magical spectrum. It was completely superfluous now – with his new body’s physical enhancements, he could do that via his dark magic, and even then his circlet could do the same thing – but when the equinox had come around almost two weeks prior, he’d still been in his weaker body, and so had prepared that spell as a contingency in case something had happened to his circlet.

But his lack of use for the spell now meant that it was acceptable to use it in his current experiment, unconcerned with its expenditure as he made the single, uncomplicated gesture and muttered the necessary word-

Only to hiss in alarm as he felt....something happen to his spine.

Abandoning the spell, Lex held still as he tried to analyze what was happening.

Up and down his back, an odd sensation pulsed through him. With no context for what he was feeling, it was impossible to describe; the closest that he could come up with was that it was like putting on a garment only to realize that it didn’t fit correctly.

Worse, the sensation wasn’t stopping just because he’d ceased moving.

If anything, it was growing more intense, causing him to shudder involuntarily as the alien feeling spread across his spine.

Fighting down a sudden surge of anxiety, Lex activated his circlet, not wanting to use any more inherent magic if he could help it. Instead, he turned his head to glance at his back-

And saw that Adagio’s spells were breaking down.

There was no other way to describe it. Even as he watched, the shaping enchantment – the one designed to direct and guide the movement of energy – rapidly unraveled, uncoiling itself from around his spine as its underlying structure disintegrated. Worse, its failure was compromising the other spells she’d cast as well; designed to work in a sequence, the collapse of one was causing a cascade now as the others started to fall apart.

Why?! The spell he’d cast had been the very weakest one he knew! More than that, it had been entirely thought-based; it shouldn’t have interacted with his physical self at all!

But there was no time for him to contemplate the absurdity of some of the most powerful spells he’d ever seen coming undone because of a single cantrip. Not if he wanted to stop them from collapsing completely.

Under normal circumstances, Lex would have rejoiced at having foreign spells removed from his body. Someone else using their magic on him without his permission was something he considered to be horribly invasive. But in this case, he couldn’t bring himself to celebrate, knowing that Adagio’s magic had been designed to hold greater concentrations of power. Without the mitigating influence of her spells – which he’d somehow disrupted with his altogether minor spell, despite it being entirely thaumaturgical and not in the least physical – that energy would be unleashed in its entirety, and there was no telling what would happen!

Hvitdod’s curse had already killed him once. Lex had no desire to see what it could do in conjunction with godsblood.

Except Adagio’s magic was disintegrating faster now, the binding spell’s underlying structure destabilizing rapidly, and that was causing the protection spell in turn to crumble, unable to sustain itself. There was no way to repair either of them, not when he lacked both the understanding and the specialized spells that would have required.

But maybe I can slow it down! he decided as he tried to turn back into a shadow. That had arrested his physical breakdown before, so perhaps now-

He didn’t have a chance to put that thought into action as both spells completely shattered.

And then the cold enveloped him once again.

It wasn’t like last time, when Hvitdod’s curse had wrapped him in a chill so profound that it had frozen the blood in his veins.

This went far beyond anything so trivial.

More than any mere reduction of temperature, the cold that radiated out from Lex’s vertebrae engulfed all aspects of his existence.

Like a match thrown into the waters of an icy ocean, every part of the being known as Lex Legis was extinguished by the unrelenting cold as the godsblood in his body – using Hvitdod’s curse as a vector – overwhelmed him completely.

It glaciated his body. Down to the sub-atomic level, the matter that made up his form lost all ability to move, entirely devoid of energy.

It chilled his thoughts. Even if his brain had been capable of cognition, the metaphysical concepts that occupied his awareness had solidified completely.

It froze his soul. Even at the spiritual level the chill was absolute, preventing his essence from migrating to the Astral Plane.

Even time had frozen for him, evicting him from its procession as the universe itself recoiled from the supreme algidity that was the barest essence of a god.

And in that trapped flow of time, an echo remained within the brumal prison that permeated Lex’s soul. Too ephemeral to be called a thought, less than a feeling, and more tenuous than a wish, it was little more than a remnant of an inclination. A single reflection of the impulse that stirred his mortal existence.

It could have been called a yearning, or an impression of dissatisfaction. It was a need, a desire that hadn’t been met. But not one that came from something which hadn’t been received, but rather hadn’t yet been given. It was the sense of something left unfinished. A duty. A responsibility. An obligation.

That obligation went to the core of who Lex was.

And that made the echo grow, as it somehow stretched to encompass the name “Lex.”

It made as much sense as a drowned match suddenly emitting a spark. A frozen fire giving a glow. That soul had already been frozen completely, down to the deepest reaches of its essence. There was no movement to be had. No room for it to expand. No way it could reconnect to anything.

But the echo within it – the concept of “Lex” – did so anyway.

There was no way to measure how long it held out, because time itself had ceased to pass for it. But somehow, impossibly, that fragile echo not only held out, but continued to grow...

And began to push the cold back, as Lex fought to reclaim himself.

The process was as slow as it was difficult. The cold pushed back ceaselessly, making every portion of his essence a bitter struggle to recover. But struggle was nothing new for Lex, his own determination overpowering the cold little by little, until he had regained enough of himself that he could recall more than just his name.

Slowly, memories came back. Each one was a war unto itself, and more often than not the prize was some memory that brought him only pain or shame or frustration. Even so, he retook them eagerly, savoring the good and the bad alike as he let each one add to his growing sense of self. Each remembrance was embraced and experienced a dozen, a hundred, a thousand times over, until he’d relived his own life countless times, letting every mistake, every triumph, every regret remind him of everything he had yet to do, letting it stoke the growing need at the core of his soul.

And the match that should have drowned in that frozen ocean burst back into flame.

The cold rushed in, trying to overwhelm him the way it had before, but this time Lex was ready for it. Each time it froze him solid, he burst free. Each time it began to numb one of his memories, he drove it back. And slowly, he found the frequency of its challenges diminishing, the potency of its chill faltering, and he seized those opportunities, pressing forward...

And then the cold was gone.

And above him, the Night Mare’s teeth shown as a smile crossed her lips.

“Well done, my champion,” she murmured, her voice a purr that he had never heard her use before. “Now claim your prize.”

Slowly, she reached down toward him, and he felt the barbed wire wrapped around him pull him up to meet her.

“Immortality.”

Author's Note:

Waging a spiritual war against the essence of a god, Lex emerges victorious!

What has the battle done to him? And what did the Night Mare mean by his prize being immortality?

Comments

[Booster Spice]

Lex gets squished from Phosphorous to Lithium?

Still, a nice combination of Stasis and Ressurective Regeneration pretty much gives him Functional Immortality even if Nightmare didnt allow full unloc demideificaiton?

In D20 terms, would this make Lex L20, or L21 Mythic class?

[Not so New Brony]

So Lex survived due to his unique mentality though him achieving immortality from this ordeal is rather unexpected. It is likely due to the godsblood in his spine. Makes me wonder if Adagio's magic was to isolate the godsblood and let it, for lack of a proper term in mind, ferment until it was ready and safe to be used.

Which makes sense for Adagio's plan since she wants to take over and be adored and being immortal or at least as close to it would be ideal for her. Shame for her that Lex seems to be reaping the rewards here. Still, I wonder how this is affecting Solvei/Akna and Nenet since if they went through the same thing Lex is, then their chances of getting through might not be as good.

[Alzrius]

11633452 In d20 terms...well, I really should post an updated character sheet for Lex now, shouldn't I?

Ideally, I'd have been posting on my blog here more often with various "behind the scenes" glimpses of the game mechanics of various characters, but I've clearly fallen off with regard to that. That said, I'll try and get an update turned out relatively soon...hopefully.

[Alzrius]

11634129 "Unique mentality" indeed. Essentially, this is Lex at his very best, at least in terms of marshaling his personal strengths (with regard to virtues, rather than magical or martial abilities). His greatest weakness, in that regard, has always been despair; specifically, despairing of being able to justify his own existence to himself. But the flipside to this is that when he is pursuing something that he feels gives meaning to his life, his strength of will is second to none.

In this case, it was enough to fight off a god, at least in terms of measuring who has the stronger spirit. Or rather, to fight off a tiny fragment of the spirit of a demigod. But for a mortal (and one with no aristeia of his own), that's an achievement so incredible that it strains the imagination. That wasn't a battle of wits, or magic, or claws and fangs; it was that tiny piece of Kryonex essentially trying to drown Lex in the demigod's transcendent existence, and by all rights it should have succeeded. Even if it's "just" a demigod, and even if it was just a fragment, that's still far and away beyond what a mortal should be able to handle.

Lex did it anyway.

And now, it seems, he's about to reap an incredible reward.

No doubt Adagio will be ticked off something royal.

[TheAbsoluteRadiance]

Okay. Lex is Shirou Emiya from fate, His will is literally absurd and at this point I don’t know why he doesn’t have a reality marble. If you ever decide to write something other than pony fiction Fate would 100% be the fandom for you.

[Alzrius]

11636449 That's not a fandom I'm currently active in, but I've had people tell me that I need to take a look at it.

The funny thing is that I struggled quite a lot with this chapter. As ridiculous as it might sound, after devoting hundreds of chapters comprising millions of words to Lex's adventures, I'm still nervous about making him seem "overpowered." My natural inclination, when writing about him in a fight scene, is to highlight how much he needs to struggle to win, and to make sure that there are times when he needs assistance from someone else – whether it's Sonata, Cloudbank, Severance, Aria, Thermal Draft, Solvei, Nenet, etc. – in order to pull off a win.

Which was to say, when I was writing this chapter I kept having to go back and stop myself from providing an external explanation for why Lex was able to overpower a (fragment of a demi)god through sheer force of will. It was like "no, this isn't because of his new animal instincts. It's not because of his connection to Solvei and Nenet. It's not because of his being the favored of the Night Mare. This deep reservoir of inner strength is entirely his, and it's powerful enough to win a fight that by all rights he should lose."

After all this time, you think I'd realize that's entirely justified, rather than worrying about making him seem too strong.