884 - Beyond the Future
“Now it’s getting good!” chittered the Unspoken, his badger’s whiskers twitching as he clapped his front legs, which were currently in the form of an elephant’s foot and a walrus’s flipper. “I bet it’ll be even more exciting now that there’s three of them going at it!”
“I’m not sure whether to say ‘phrasing’ or ‘that’s what she said,’” snickered Kara. “Mostly because I’m the ‘she’ in that expression.”
Blaze, however, spat on the ground. “There’s no escalation here. That doxy’s weapon is powerful, but she isn’t. Against a demigod and a titan built to function as an ersatz avatar, she doesn’t have a chance.”
“She might,” argued the Sun Queen. “Even if she doesn’t have aristeia anymore, that’s not where the whole of her power came from. Don’t forget, she was able to match Lex Legis for strength before-”
“Her strength was never comparable to his own,” rumbled the Night Mare, her lip curling. But she didn’t take her eyes off of the viewscreen, staring intently at it.
The Moon Princess gave her rival a sidelong look. “When she emerged from her bathing chamber and he grabbed her by the throat, she broke his grip and flung him across the room.”
“Only because he let her,” smirked Kara.
Luminace frowned. “How would you know? You were watching the same scene as the rest of us.”
The love goddess chuckled. “Because, I taught him quite a few things while the Night Mare was elevating him to immortality. And one of those was that there are times when it’s important to be gentle with a girl.”
“Again, neck-grabbing and wall-slamming,” noted Luminace. “What part of that is gentle?”
“The part where he only used his muscles to do it, instead of willing reality itself to make him stronger,” retorted Kara silkily, clasping her hooves together in front of her as though she were a young maiden in love. “He knew she had aristeia, but he still didn’t want to risk seriously hurting her. It was actually rather romantic of him.”
She gave a dreamy sigh at that, before her starry-eyed expression melted into a sultry look. “Of course, I also taught him that sometimes a girl needs to be slapped around like a whore that isn’t earning her money. Especially that little treacherous little whore.”
“With that sphere, she can do some slapping of her own,” noted the Moon Princess. “Nothingness incarnate is a powerful weapon, capable of destroying anything it comes into contact with.”
“Including a demigod?” Luminace adjusted her monocle, unable to help but glance at Soft Whisper then, the death goddess continuing to watch the viewscreen in silence. “Or a titan?”
The Night Mare growled softly at that, but it was the Unspoken who answered, snickering in a way that made his snake’s tongue writhe in the air. “Our goddess of magic doesn’t know what a magic item can do?”
“That’s no mere magic item,” interjected the Sun Queen. “As my sister said, it’s a void, one that unmakes whatever it touches. But while I’ve never heard of such a thing being used against a god, if what Soft Whisper said is true-”
“Then it can destroy even divinity,” hissed Blaze, her eyes narrowing even as the flames surrounding her wings grew brighter.
“If that’s the case, then it probably has a limit on how much godhood it can destroy,” murmured Luminace, brow furrowing. “Or at least, how much it can destroy at once.”
“Meaning that Kryonex has the advantage,” noted the Moon Princess. “Even weakened, he’s still a demigod, and has far more divinity than Lex Legis possesses.”
“My champion will overturn that advantage.” The Night Mare’s voice was thick with tension, as though daring anyone to disagree with her, one wing sweeping out to make a dismissive gesture toward Soft Whisper. “The same way he will that ailing old fool’s prediction.”
“And if he can’t, you could always ask The Author to bring him back,” added the Unspoken, smacking his alligator jaws. “She’s a creator goddess, after all.”
That was enough to cause a round of shudders to pass through most of the assembled deities. “Even if she could, and that’s a pretty big if, I’m not sure that she would,” muttered Luminace.
“She prefers to set fate in motion rather than overturn it,” agreed the Sun Queen. “And even then, I’ve never known her to interfere with what other gods – or beings with even trace amounts of divinity – do, besides laying down her rules for our interacting with Everglow.”
“We’re getting ahead of ourselves,” cut in Kara with a tantalizing flick of her tail. “Maybe Sexy Lexy will do like the Night Mare says and surprise us.”
“If he does, that will almost certainly mean we’ll need to worry about dealing with the elves later,” warned Luminance.
“On the contrary,” retorted the Night Mare, “when my champion prevails, it will be the elves who need to worry about dealing with us.”
Lex paused, taking in the sight of Adagio even as he made sure to keep the bulk of his attention on Kryonex, knowing that the demigod was doing the same.
Even a casual glance showed that she’d somehow discarded all of the magic items he’d cursed, despite the fact that she shouldn’t have been able to remove them. Only the curse that he’d placed on her voice was still there, but there was some sort of compensatory enchantment – Nenet’s magic, he could tell – holding it at bay. Exactly how she’d managed that was less important was yet another question he’d have to look into later; right now, the more salient consideration was what to do about her.
This time, none of what she wore was enchanted, either because she had no magic items left or because she was afraid he’d turn their powers against her again. The only exception was the necklace, which in contrast to its plain appearance was powerfully ensorcelled, serving to heighten and externally direct the wearer’s concentration.
He didn’t need to wonder what that concentration was supposed to be directed toward.
The black orb hovering near Adagio was dangerous in the extreme; his foresight had told him that much, showing him his own sudden demise if he hadn’t moved. Just the fact that Adagio was wielding a weapon capable of killing him – even in his current state, where Kryonex’s own divine will had failed to do so – was enough to give Lex pause.
But it had also given Kryonex pause, the demigod leaping away as soon as he’d become aware of the threat.
Somehow, Adagio had gotten her hands on a god-killing weapon. One that she’d apparently been keeping as a backup, presumably for a situation exactly like this. And which required that necklace to help her control.
But if I can take it from her, then I’ll have the advantage against Kryonex!
As it so happened, that was when the demigod – doubtlessly having come to the same conclusion – made his move.
Immediately, Kryonex’s eyes flashed as he turned his will toward Adagio, seeking to destroy her so that he could use the weapon she’d brought without interference. But Lex had no intention of letting him do that, immediately flinging Belligerence at the demigod. He’d felt the force of Kryonex’s divine will before, and he knew that it required concentration in order to use, which meant that so long as the demigod was under threat – or taking damage – he wouldn’t be able to bring it to bear.
Even if whatever transformation he’d undergone had freed him from his guilt and self-recrimination, it didn’t change how Lex felt about his obligations. He’d promised Sonata and Aria that he’d bring their sister back, and it was a promise he intended to keep.
Fortunately, that seemed to be within reach as Kryonex abandoned his attempt to destroy the Siren, instead dodging to the side before Belligerence could put another hole through him, and Lex rushed in to take advantage of the opening, claws raised and a spell at the ready.
“Fool!” snapped Kryonex, bringing a leg up as the roiling mass of wires that was Lex’s body dug into his ice armor. “You’re defending someone that’s trying to kill us both!”
“She’s mine!” snarled Lex, unleashing his augmented liquefaction spell into his foe’s armor, causing the portion of it that hadn’t already been shattered to turn into slush, sloughing off of his enemy. “I’m taking her back with me!”
But even as he raked at Kryonex’s now-bare legs, trying to get past them to strike at the demigod’s face, his foresight was already warning him that Adagio was once again directing her black orb toward them both. “As much as I like seeing guys get tangled up in knots over me,” she sneered, holding her hands out as she sent it veering in their direction, “I think you’ve got a headful of bad wiring!”
In his foresight, Lex tried several different ways to impede the advancing sphere – ranging from a wall of black crystals to increasing the gravity in the local area – but nothing worked. Whatever that void was, it couldn’t be blocked, only dodged.
But that worked in reverse too, as Lex slipped inside a counterattack from Kryonex, turning and grabbing the demigod’s leg as he hurled him toward the black orb-
Only for Kryonex to pivot in place, digging one leg into the ground and reversing the throw, knocking Lex directly into the orb’s path.
With a cry of victory, Adagio’s eyes glittered as she concentrated harder, the orb speeding up...
But Lex had already seen the weakness in her technique.
Reaching out with his telekinesis, he grabbed several pyroclastic bombardments that were falling from the eruption he’d caused, flinging them in Adagio’s direction. It was an obvious attack, the glow of his aura highlighting their change in trajectory, but it was enough to break the Siren’s concentration, leaving her yelping and dodging the attacks – resorting to using her voice to blast apart the few she couldn’t avoid – now that she no longer had aristeia to bolster her defenses.
It was more than enough to break her concentration, the orbs immediately slowing down and moving back toward her as Lex hit the ground claws first, arresting his movement-
Just as the orb suddenly reversed course again and resumed rocketing toward him, far faster than before.
Only the fact that he’d been expecting that to happen allowed Lex to stop it in time, focusing his will on it and barely managing to arrest its movement before it reached him...
By less than two feet.
Beyond the edge of the orb, Lex could see Kryonex staring at him, the demigod’s eyes again having darkened to a blue so deep they were almost black as he kept trying to push the sphere forward, needing no necklace to project his concentration outward. It was an obvious ploy, one that Lex had known his enemy would utilize from the instant he’d realized how Adagio was controlling the sphere.
But just because it was obvious didn’t mean that there was an easy way to counter it.
As it was, Lex could feel himself losing ground, the sphere slowly – millimeter by millimeter – working its way closer to him. For all his strength, the demigod’s will was an onslaught that he couldn’t match in a direct confrontation. That was still true despite overcoming Kryonex’s attempt to erase him from existence.
Something which that orb would now do for him.
Clenching his jaw, Lex looked for a way out, running myriad scenarios in his mind.
He couldn’t bring forth another necklace like Adagio’s from the dream realm, his foresight having showed that would take more effort than he could currently spare. Trying to steal Adagio’s was likewise impossible, since the level of concentration that he was currently using to stop the sphere’s advance made it impossible to so much as walk, let along snatch something from a resistant target. Casting a spell would likewise cause him to lose focus enough that Kryonex would hit him with the orb before he finished. He couldn’t even summon Solvei or Nenet; even if he hadn’t warded the area against teleportation, neither of them were in any shape to help him now.
A short distance away, Adagio saw what was happening and smirked, circling around on a path that would put her behind Kryonex. The sight set Lex to snarling, knowing that she was planning to wait for the demigod to kill him, and then intended to break his concentration in conjunction with using her necklace to try and bring the orb back around to strike him in turn, something Lex knew wouldn’t work. Kryonex had sufficient speed and knowledge of the future that he’d never fall for such a simple ploy.
All she was going to accomplish – all that she’d accomplished by coming out here in the first place – was to get them both killed.
Slowly, the sphere moved closer, now within one foot of him...
And Lex realized that he couldn’t stop it. Every scenario that he’d dreamed up, every future that he’d looked into, all ended in the same way: with it making contact with him.
There was no way to avoid or defer what was about to happen.
But that didn’t mean that he was out of options.
Had he still been the being he was, Lex knew he would have been overwhelmed by grief, unable to help but berate himself for letting down everyone who was depending on him. But he felt no despair now, instead focusing solely on the one thing that he could still do:
Spite the enemy who had bested him.
And as the orb inexorably drew closer, Lex used a spell.
But not a spell that he had prepared himself.
While his tulpa’s greatest power had been to bring things from the dream realm into the real world, that had never been all that it could do. By virtue of its being a fragment of his mind, it had also retained the ability to prepare a small number of spells on its own, siphoning power whenever he’d renewed his thaumaturgical magic and readying spells of its own volition. That power had saved him several times before, being put to good use against enemies such as Xiriel and Starlight Glimmer.
But after his sojourn to Darkest Night, his tulpa had come back under his control. Still a semi-independent entity, it had become an obedient one, using its dream-binding powers at his direction rather than at its own discretion.
That he could also command its ability to prepare magic, ordering it to ready certain thaumaturgical castings and use them at his direction, had seemed far less important. After all, with the equinox already having passed, that benefit had little practical use.
As a titan, however – able to prepare his strongest magic without needing external assistance – it was suddenly a different matter.
That was why Lex had made sure to fill his tulpa with several choice spells before going to confront Adagio, choosing several of the most utilitarian spells that had the widest range of potential applications across various scenarios. All in the rogue portion of his mind, needing just a simple mental command to release.
And now that his tulpa had been reintegrated into his mind, even that wasn’t necessary. All it took was an act of will.
An act of will which would disrupt his concentration, meaning his loss, but not before he managed to strike back one final time at Kryonex.
Short-range teleport!
It wouldn’t have been possible if not for Mystaria’s clasp, the accessory’s functionality having been absorbed by his new form, letting him ignore his earlier spell banning teleporting. That was the only reason his final act of defiance worked, the black sphere catching up to him right as the magic activated.
He and it reappeared exactly where Lex had intended: directly in front of Kryonex’s face.
Materializing between the demigod’s pedipalps, Lex had just enough time to see the orb appear in the same space as the leftmost appendage, tearing it free from the demigod’s face as Kryonex screamed-
And then Lex fell to the ground, untouched as the sphere suddenly shrank in on itself, missing making contact with him by a fraction of a millimeter.
Above him, Kryonex stumbled back as the orb contracted further, down to the size of a marble, and Lex moved backward, barely noticing Adagio doing the same, her eyes wide and brow furrowing as the dark spot suddenly expanded again, growing larger. Then it seemed to shrink again. Then expand. Then its form seemed to compress, as though being squished between invisible barriers, righting itself only to quiver like jelly, dropping down and then bobbing back up again an instant later, tripling its original size...
Which was when Lex realized he couldn’t see it in his foresight anymore.
“This isn’t what happened!”
Soft Whisper’s exclamation didn’t match her namesake, her disbelieving shout echoing through the pavilion. “The sphere makes contact with Lex Legis as he uses it to deal one last wound to his enemy, dying in the process!”
But unlike when her prediction had commanded their attention before, this time the assembled deities barely seemed to notice what she was saying.
“I don’t understand!” babbled Luminace, her monocle falling off and dangling from her robe. “I can’t perceive that sphere’s future movements!”
“It’s become completely unpredictable!” squealed the Unspoken, his body parts now changing so fast that they were a blur.
“Something’s changed,” muttered the Moon Princess, staring at the viewscreen. “I can see it, but I can’t sense it anymore.”
“It happened when it struck Kryonex,” noted Blaze, wide-eyed and tail thrashing as she stared at the screen. “Why?! What did it do?!”
“I don’t know,” murmured the Night Mare, alone among the other gods in how she was grinning fiercely, her expression one of fiendish delight. “But now that my champion has avoided the death that he was supposed to meet because of that item-”
“It is not an item.”
A hush fell over the gods then, as a new figure appeared in their midst, with only the Unspoken daring to say their name.
“The Author.”
But the creator goddess didn’t acknowledge him, stepping toward Luminace’s viewscreen slowly as she spoke again.
“It is an egg. And now, it has what it needs in order to hatch.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.159 seconds
Total duration
797 users online
667,821 hits today, 2,244,100 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I don't think the world is ready for the chicken that is going to come out of that egg.... lol
An egg that required a vast source of power to hatch and the flesh of a demigod would certainly contain quite a significant amount of it. The question is, what is going to hatch out of that egg? And what will its intention be upon hatching?
I'd crack a joke about whatever comes out of that egg imprinting on Lex and calling him 'Mama' but given how deadly the Everglow is on a good day, I doubt it will be anything remotely close to wholesome, especially if 'The Author' makes an appearance herself.
Uhoh.
Someones been reading EE Doc Smith, The Vortex Blasters?
Somehow I dont think Adagio wanted to lay that egg, or Spike is going to hatch from it.
Oooooh crap. Yeah I don't see anything coming out of a SoA being anything good...
11741609 That would be one seriously badass motherclucker.
11741668 At this point, all signs point to this being something extremely bad. Like, "potentially apocalyptic" bad, if the surprise appearance of the deity whom the other gods of the pony pantheon regard as a creator goddess (and seem to fear). Which begs the question; what sort of creature has a sphere of annihilation for an egg, and apparently requires divinity to help hatch? There really doesn't seem to be any version of that answer that isn't a source of danger to Lex, Adagio, and Kryonex...and quite possibly every one else as well!
11741792 I haven't actually, but I wouldn't be too surprised if an idea like this has shown up somewhere else; I have my sources of inspiration too, after all.
But right now, this egg isn't so much "your brain on drugs" as it is, "this is a brain far worse than any mere drugs could ever produce."
11742268 Yeah, I wouldn't put any money down on this being a good sign. If anything, it's more likely to be one of those things that makes what's happened up until now seem tame.