Heavy is the Head that Wears the Solemn Crown

Fifty-Four - The Limitations of Love Are as Boundless as the Void

Wilbur

Shubble holds a bolt of lightning in her hands. There must be something solid underneath that Shubble is holding onto, but the brilliant light paired with the small cackling bolts rippling across the surface make it hard to focus on the bolt. She uses it like a chisel, carving patterns into the ten foot glass pillar. She stands on top of the wind to reach the highest points, but right now she kneels on the ground to carve symbols into the lower part. The golden light illuminates her face, filtering into her eyes to make them gleam like the fires of the rising sun. Her lips are pressed firmly with a determined expression. When she carves the last curve, the lightning crepitates in her hands as it disappears. She wipes her fingers across the surface, and all the symbols begin to glow a pure white color. As Shubble stands up, she takes a step back. The symbols flicker, and when they come back, they glow a dark purple-black.

It's magic, but Wilbur can't feel a single emotion towards it. His fear has not completely gone away because he still grows anxious at using magic himself, but he can witness it without even a spike of panic rippling down his spine. He wants to believe that this is Shubble's doing. Her confidence travels through the bond, dispelling his unfounded emotions. Wilbur is swayed into trusting Shubble no matter what because she's his familiar. If he can't trust her, he can't trust anything.

She turns to Wilbur with a patient smile on her face. Wilbur looks from Shubble to Aimsey. The prince is standing on the edge of the precipice. They stare up at the late morning sky, squinting at the gray storm clouds festering in the distance. As if they know someone is looking at them, Aimsey turns around to glance at Wilbur. They keep their nose up towards Wilbur, but they do nod at the king. Wilbur acknowledges Aimsey's readiness by sending enough energy towards Shubble that she knows it is time to begin.

Shubble joins Aimsey at the edge of the cliff. Aimsey lifts their hands up. Their form begins to flicker like a fire in the wind, but the basic colors of their outfit remain clouded over the horizon. Tawny sparks pop into existence. They circle around Aimsey before fizzling out silently. Nothing visible happens in the sky, but Wilbur can feel the growth of a forbidden power. The mana in the air begins floating upward as if guided by a powerful gravity. The void spirals beyond the rings of untraceability spells Shubble has formed in order to ensure that no one else can notice the void above their heads. Aimsey can sense it because of their constitution as an Enderian, and Wilbur knows it is there simply because he is a god.

Shubble forms her hands into a ball with her fingers spreading away from each other. The wind begins to blow around them, sharp and heavy with the musk of a storm. Buzzing fills the air, an anticipation right before lightning strikes. The clouds on the horizon move a little faster across the land, but they do not draw any closer. As quiet as a heartbeat, Wilbur knows that lightning has struck somewhere nearby because of the thunder. Shubble's eyes flash with light in the same instance the lightning would have struck, and her smile seems as dazzling as the sun as she turns to Wilbur. She reaches for his arms, grabbing his hands. Her fingers are burning hot and he feels a tingle of electricity race up his limbs, but it doesn't cause him any pain. It doesn't even wound him. All he can focus on is her ecstatic happiness. "It's storming!"

"Our plan worked," Wilbur breathes out. Although he would never go so far as to doubt Aimsey and Shubble, part of him had been certain that this would be impossible. At first, he was concerned about Origin's god of nature or the sky. He understood that the gods did not like it when others interfered with their domains. He's done enough research while Shubble had been building the glass monoliths and Aimsey was collecting enough mana for the spell that Origins did not have a god. They had a myth about an ancient ruler called the Crowfather. It was a legend that wouldn't affect Wilbur's current actions. So, the gods weren't predisposed to ruin Wilbur's plan, but the universe was becoming an increasingly present factor. Wilbur's murderous attitude towards Aimsey was getting harder to hide as the days wore on. Wilbur would keep control because he was familiar with the touch of insanity, but one day he will snap and kill the prince instead of trying to negotiate the terms of them going back to the End. Wilbur, under Mojang's influence, was the threat Wilbur had mostly been concerned about.