CHAPTER FOURTEEN
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Numbness engulfing every limb of her body. The faint feeling of an arm wrapped softly around her cues her eyes to open. Heavy, wanting to close again. Faint distant screaming scribbled the air thick. The loud noises of the earthly night surrounded her and projected themselves, and the sharp coldness of snow flurries, after so long, pricked her skin. Slowly, Madam sat up. Wrapped in 18s arms, his eyes gazing hazily down, awake already, his face neutral like the stone eyes of the angel children. Ice snapped underneath them, unharmed by the two sitting on it, but definitely shaken by what was underneath.
"Your body." The man finally murmured, his gaze stuck on the ice.
"Your soul lead you to your body, love." The Mortem brushed his gloved hand over cracked and frozen pond where her pale face floated just below. The woman stared at her dead body, then looked away. She was dead, there was no need to look back. Elenora couldn't have her body back. It was gone forever, lifelessly floating and flesh freezing, gradually burying itself in the dirt. Her vision became blurry with tears made by the sight but she did not weep. Looking at her hands now, they were faded. Translucent. The Tier Head held out his hands and felt the nothingness of air then brought them to his face.
"Oxygen..." He looked up past the skeletal trees, trying to ignore the interrupting sound of chirping insects. "And a pitiful moon..."
"What are you... planning?" Madam slowly arose and looked around, wiping her eyes.
"I need to find a Five... Warn them about the bombs and the plan... Then, I'll have to find the human who poorly thought it out..."
The man arose and unbuttoned his cloak, fastening it around the both of them, flipping his hood up as well. 18 shut his bright illuminated eyes and froze. At a moment they vanished. The shouting and screaming blasted their ears with a quick pang. Feeling collected back into her limbs. 18 looked around frantically, as did Elenora, only he ignored the terrified humans that ran for their lives. Not a single citizen casualty. Just as he ordered. The humans ran through the two, the feeling of a drifting tide as they did. They couldn't see them, for they were completely translucent. The feeling of the souls he was looking for flashed behind them. The men were solid, seen by humans who scattered like rats at their sight. Masks and hoods covered their mouth and head, revealing only their eyes, something Mortems can only identify beings with. When they spoke, to human eye, they would be speaking to nothing but thin air.
"Sir! Madam! You're in the Tier!" A man with glowing hands seemed surprised, upset. His boots were blood spattered and the buckles and straps across his chest and waist was full with vials. The screaming intensified and so did their voices.
"Look, there's going to be a bombing!"
"A bombing? Where sir?" The Mortem replied.
"At the main base! Base Unem in the center! I need you to report for evacuation and an escort to The Hominum Tier Heads mansion to confront him and retrieve the captives!" 18's arms closed tighter over her under the cloak. "Understood? Avoid all combat and report for evacuation immediately before detonation!"
"Yes, sir!" The Five disappeared and left his comrade, who quickly joined his leader and teleported to the mansion as The Mortem Tier Head ordered. The minute the raid to retrieve the captives and stop the announcement began, just like his cowardly image reflected, The Hominum Tier Head absconded from the scene. The man's logical idea of hiding from a soul seeking being like a Mortem was flawed, and 18 was about to demonstrate how. The front of the mansion, invaded by guards. Guards persistent to deliver their retreating leader to a safe place. Close behind followed Madam Elenora, The Mortem Tier Head and the Five Rank. They gazed past them, far into the distance from where they came. Elenora glared at them, peeking through the cloak beneath the man's jaw. They attended the front of the mansion door, armed, but they did not shoot them.
"What do we do? Just walk in?" Madam asked.
"I don't want to kill them. I'm not after them." he replied unbuttoning his cloak again to let Elenora out. He spoke to the both of them, implying an order in his words. The man's gaze fell to the Five, securing the buttons once more.
"You know the procedure, Sir. Lucius?"
The man nodded. " Yes, s-"
"What was that?" A guard froze.
"What..?" The other asked, the irritating tone shuffling his voice.
"I... I thought I heard something... A whisper..." The man trailed from the rest of his sentence, lazily marching closer to them with a blind eye.
"What? What is it? I have no time for your antics..."
The human stopped suddenly, a gun clutched strongly in his hands and his eyes squinted, staring directly at the apparitions. The three were still, Elenora stared intensely at the human, who turned back and began returning to his post. A nod from 18, and the Five waited, watching his every move.
"You know, I swear I saw something... Must be my-" He stopped.
Wholeheartedly annoyed, the human faced his friend. "Wh... what's wrong?"
The frozen man's gaze fell blank drifting off in space and his eyes rolled to the back of his head. A painful collapse, the sound of his heavy body hit the floor.
"Bloody- are you alri-" and the second man did the same. The humans lay still. Madam turned to Sir. Lucius, who was already gone. The Tier Head peeled from the insides of the guards body along with missing Lucius, like a spirit leaving a corpse. The Mortem brushed his cloak off and returned to her side, proceeding to the inside.
"What... What did you do?"
18 grinned. "That's what a human would call fainting, my dear. Would you like to help me?"
Elenora smiled with a small nod of enthusiasm. "Of course!"
"Lets proceed." The Mortem signaled.
"Yes, sir."
Into the mansion, they followed. Through the door like a wall of air.
"Watch closely, love." 18 murmured next to an oblivious man guarding the door. "In the chest, the human keeps his soul... Reach in, and touch it. The activity and energy of your spirit will make them nauseous most likely, and they will lose consciousness because you've gained it, you see?"
He reached out his hand to demonstrate and the soul pulled him in like a void. The guard tripped on himself and fell unconscious on the floor, The Tier Head fled before the man hit the ground.
Elenora smiled a bit. "Like possession?"
"Yes, temporarily. Just be sure to pull yourself out before the body hits the ground." 18 smiled. Sir. Lucius proceeded on his own, finishing with three already, stripping them of their consciousness quickly. The last was left to Elenora. The human looked around, confused out of his mind like he heard voices, and his hand flew to his neck, rubbing it uncomfortably and panicking at the unconscious guards at his feet. Madam approached him, and held her hand out to his chest, instantly sucked in. The woman's vision went black, and it turned on like a television. She was the man for a moment, feeling nauseous and anxious like he did, it flew to her head. The body rocked slowly, she took a deep choppy breath and jumped out before the body fell over, unlatching her grip from his soul. Madam was out. She had done it. Her first possession as a spirit.
"Good." 18 grinned and Elenora did as well.
A shiver and a giggle. It was cold inside a body where you're not welcome. Elenoras heart was not yet ready to fathom the feeling that was building like a wall inside. The feeling that whispered 'soon you will face a threat that will attempt in all his power to kill you.' The original reason they were there sat in her mind, dancing around as she helped 18, grinning, waiting to snatch every thought and set them on fire. Ready to burn them and leave Elenora with only it and it alone. This is what would come when the moment did. The single moment when they faced The Hominum Tier Head. The three continued the pattern of taking human consciousness. Finishing the heavily guarded area, they fled up the stairs where the soul of the human leader lingered. Four more men stood patiently at the door of the parlor, and a second was given for each before they were down. The Hominum Tier Head spoke with his guards in a hushed tone inside, discussing matters and falling silent after his guards attention fled from his words.
"What is it?" he asked. His guard stared intensely at the doorway and a pointed finger lifted shakily. The heads all lifted simultaneously to the cloaked figure in the doorway, finally visible to human eyes. A dangerous thing to say. A twisted sneer fell slowly on their leaders face.
"Well, well... The Mortem Tier Head of 18..." The humans menacing voice bounced off the walls. 18 patiently pulled his hood back, revealing his face to The Hominum Tier Head. "I knew you'd come... Sending your men to slaughter my city during a gathering..." The human leader snickered and turned to face the Mortem in the doorway. The group of guards that surrounded him raised their weapons. "And I suppose you're here to do the same to me, reaper?"
That word made him sick. A profanity used by humans. 18s voice boomed. His voice was intimidating. It competed harshly with the human who stood just as confident.
"Wrong. I'm here to make a deal, human." The Mortem worded slowly.
The man scoffed. "A deal? You take me for a fool..."
"As a matter of fact, I do." 18 spat and pulled his gun. "And if you decide to effortlessly show it, I'm sure even a fool like you should know what might happen."
"Do you think this is a game, reaper?" The Hominum drew a gun of his own with a arrogant snicker. "You think you'll win with your silly little deal?" By the raising of his voice topped with the pull of a trigger, 18 had already disappeared. The bullet carved a perfect hole in the wall by the door and the human was forcefully kicked to the ground, his revolver skidding across the polished floor and into the corner. At the quick raise of guard weapons, Lucius and Elenora discarded their invisible cloak instinctively. The human was on his knees, his lip bloodied from fierce contact from the floor. 18's voice bounced off of the ceiling in pure and unmistakable rage.
"Call off the bombing on my base and give me back my captives and we'll leave peacefully as of that moment!" His arm held stiff with his finger on the trigger, aimed at the human's head.
"Don't shoot!" he ordered, and his men froze, dropped their aim, and all fell silent. It was a moment of weakness for the human leader. 18 took advantage. "Lucius." The man's eyes locked on his Five Rank. "Get to a safe place where you can keep a shield around her."
"Yes, sir!" The Five was off.
Elenora slowly emerged from the corner and joined 18's side as the human gathered strength from the sudden blow. Her eyes were fearful and revealed not the soft and effervescent sparkle it normally would. With the shield of a Five, nothing could hurt her. A thought about the gun she held of her own. The Mortem glared down at the man as he gained his footing. A wipe of his lip leaving a thin streak of blood on his white cuffs, and he stood up.
"A Five..." he murmured. The mans light brown hair gleamed in the light from the burning candles, his face was dark. Slowly he turned and stepped toward Elenora, leering at her, his eyes like the frostbite that stabbed her body in the deep water. This was The Tier Head she was afraid of, she decided, not 18. The Mortems hand twitched, his aim never fell.
"I see you brought along this wretch of a human?" The man looked her in the eyes, sneering, touching the Mortem button on the woman's dress with his thumb shakily. "Thinks she's better off decomposing to dirt like you, I see..."
"Don't touch her."
A guard handed his leader his gun by order and he pointed it at him. Elenora's heart skipped. He had found 18's weakness. "Or what, reaper?" he barked.
A Mortem bullet shot another hole in the wall, just missing the human's head. 18's eyes spoke defiantly for him.
"You dare shoot your gun in my mansion?"
The Mortem snickered. "A fool could see that."
The human squeezed the trigger at the remark and the gunshot projected its noise throughout the room. Elenora jumped at the sudden fire, but 18 was grounded like a statue, his arm still gripping the gun, his eyes still painfully glaring. The blood dripped down his temple like molasses right from the bottle.
"If you want to play your little games, reaper, then I'll play mine." he snapped. The gun was now pointed at Elenora's head. She immediately froze and her face drained of color, breaths were short.
"What if I killed her? Right here? Will that make you surrender? Yes?! Surely a grim reaper wouldn't care much for a lowly human! And what about your soldiers? What if I send the word out? Or Both! What will you do then? Huh, reaper?"
The Mortem's eyes darkened.
"Go on! Say the word or she dies! Say it!"
"If you kill her..." 18s voice deepened to a raspy, eerie whisper. He pinned the human forcefully to the wall and bared his sharp teeth. "I will make sure you have a secured place in hell!"
"Take her to the corner! Guns up! I want to see if he's bluffing!" The Hominum gestured. The man knew now how to play with 18's emotions.
"And send the word to detonate the bombs!" The man's clouded eyes turned to 18. "Let's see how fast we can kill a base of Mortems!" A guard yanked poor Elenora to the far corner of the room, throwing her against the wall and she yelped in pain. Another fled quickly from the room in fear, eager to carry out the order. By the shield of Lucius, nothing could hurt her.
"Bloody swine..." 18 wanted strongly to drop it all and slaughter this man, but they would shoot her. A disgusting and sick plan he played out. The force fell and recentered on the human's throat, choking him with a grip that was heavy and harsh.
"You won't... kill me! I'll die before... I make that deal and... your threats... are nothing but words!"
18's hand began to glow, burning him like a hot iron and throwing the human to the floor to leave him to cough and choke. The guard drew his gun now, pushing it violently to Madam's head and slamming her to the wall. Now she cried, but silently, eyes linked with The Mortem Tier Heads dark gaze. Sadness was the single emotion that lingered. Anger in 18's voice triumphed. "So be it."
The Mortem Tier Heads handgun was dropped, denting the floor underneath. Taken slowly from his coat, was a bottle. A container that held the liquid he made in The Mortem Tier, and a liquid that he knew he would eventually have to drink. The one even 18's own soldiers feared. It was brought to the hole in his head. A shuttering breath came from the Hominum's lungs. He swallowed.
"Wh... what are you... doing?"
Mix with the liquid was then Mortem's blood. He stared at Elenora's terrified eyes, apologizing to her. She was the last thing he thought of, and he brought the bottle to his lips and swallowed it. All was silent. The Mortem twitched, not a word uttered from his mouth.
"What are you?" The man watched closely in silence and fear caught a small spark. Menacing laughter stabbed into the shaky atmosphere and the empty bottle slipped out of Death's hand. The Mortem lifted his head, teeth like daggers, eyes crimson and flashing. A voice of many spoke before them. Every soul 18 had in his body, a harmony, a long line of ancestry speaking in a beautiful combination of hatred and agony.
"If that is what you desire, we shall not have mercy on you!"
The guards took off, gunfire stopped in mid air along with the shooter, his time stopped by 18's hand. Another man's limbs, unmovable, body wrung out like a wet rag, crushed from the inside, blood splitting through his skin and screams silencing slowly. The power The Mortem Tier Head demonstrated on the humans could be felt from the city, a soul grabbing, nerve breaking power. In a blink, another across the parlor was brought to his knees with a strong glowing grip on his hair. Staring into the endlessness of 18's blood red eyes, the life drained from his, and the helpless antagonizing screams of the grown man that swirled in the atmosphere drew the shaken soul from the guards body. His eyes blew into blood leaving empty sockets and a dead corpse to fall to the ground. The Hominum Tier Head strained his throat at his shouts. "N... now! Shoot him!"
Holding a gun to Madam Elenora's forehead was the last man. He dropped the weapon immediately when the bloodthirsty Mortem turned to his leader. "N... now wait... I... I didn't-"
The Human shot the Mortem in the chest but he only grinned and cackled. He started long strides toward the human, blood rippling down his face, his eyes painted red and demonic from rim to rim.
"Stay away from me! I-I'll... I'll kill you, I swear it! St-stay away!"
But the Mortem marched and drew the human's feet from the floor by the lift of his hand. He held the human high in the air above his head. Arrogance had fled the Hominum like a cowering puppy. With his other hand, he thrust his palm into the human's chest and tore his heart straight from the source, artery by artery snapping. A bloody ocean gushed from the man's chest, pooling on the floor under his dangling feet. The once vain human leader, reduced to a bloody mess. He knew he was going to die by the hands of death, fading by the moment and he watched the Mortem sink his teeth into his draining organ, swallowing a chunk and throwing it to the floor like a wet sponge. Death smashed his shoe on it, grinding the meaty flesh into smooth the floor, and he backed up, smiling and cackling menacingly and fully sunken into the insanity of Truculentus. The human stayed levitating by the Mortem's power. With the wave of The Mortem's hand The Hominum Tier Head limply brought his right hand to his scalp, locking his fingers in his hair, and the left hand fit perfectly under his jaw.
"N... n..." The excess breath escaped The Hominum's lips, and he wretched blood all over the wooden floor. The stench was metallic and pungent. A brief moment when the room fell silent, and instantly, the human tore his own head completely off of his body, tendons visually ripping strip by strip, esophagus ripping and partially his spine coming with it. The Mortem let the body drop like a broken puppet, internally fighting it, but the violent insanity took over. He let the loudest maniacal laughter bounce from the chandeliers and walls, then his head rolled and his eyes met the guard by the corner. Death had killed their leader and he was next, neverending. Hastily, the guard faced Elenora, but was stopped by a cold hand grabbing the front of his face. With all the might he could muster, The Mortem Tier Head reared back and smashed the human guards head into the wall, blood like lightning almost touching the ceiling. He had finished his childsplay. Madam Elenora did not flinch when his bloody face turned toward her. Elenora just stood, scrunched in the corner, and stared at his burning eyes. Tears ran down hers, flowing like a stream, but she did not loudly sob. She watched him twitch and hiss. The insanity reached to grab her and end her, but now, it was The Mortem Tier Heads turn, just like Elenora in the beginning, to march up on stage and shoot the devil with a smoking revolver. It was consuming him, just like any Mortem who drank it before him. They would forever fight the internal insanity. He looked her in the eyes, and his blood caked hands flew to his hair. Almost ripping out the strands, his head flew forward in utter pain. The fight he put up would be a good one, and if he were going to cram back the bloodthirsty insanity for anyone, Elenora would be the one he would spare. The man would clearly kill himself quicker than let Truculentus lay a finger on her. She watched him, shaken, shivering, silent. Profound and enraged chanting grew amplitudes in his head making his eyes bleed from fighting it.
"N... no! Stop! Stop it!" The voices of many growled in pain but the chanting grew louder. It was eating him. Elenora hurt for him, shuttering, crying, watching him suffer for the last minutes of consciousness. Never had she heard Death shout in agony and pain. It made her insides feel sharp. The man began gnashing his sharp teeth. Dark blood slithered from his eyes as he shook his head.
"Stop! Don't hurt... I'm sorry! I-I don't want t... to hurt... y..."
The way it killed him inside shook the woman, but from all things, the single thing that made her legs want to give out, was when his hands dropped to his sides and he fell silent. His body straightened and his gaze, blank and dazed at the wall above her, eaten alive by the elixir that snaps the Mortem brain. Elenora's breath remained shaky and her eyes wide. She didn't want to move, to think. She just fixed at his sad crimson eyes, bleeding from the sockets, frozen like a broken television screen. The handkerchief in her pocket, she rarely used. Beautiful crisp white, embroidered with her initials 'EEB' in light blue, given to her when she was only a little girl. This she used to carefully wipe the blood off of his weary, blank face. He could not feel the soft cloth, the sweet gesture, and she did not take her eyes off of him when she put the ruined handkerchief back in her pocket. By this moment, The Mortem Tier Head was gone. The man had lost all strength, and fell limp. He was caught, and his head was softly rested on her lap, unresponsive. She began rocking his shoulders back and forth.
"W... wake up... Please wake up." Tears forming in her eyes and her voice choked and scratchy. "Come on... Wake up... Why aren't you moving?"
Madam hated the uncertainty and slow realization, and what felt like an eternity was returned to real time when she raised her head and her eyes met a familiar sight.
"Elenora!" Ann rushed to her in panic and surprise. It felt surreal. Her friend was alive.
"Ann?"
"Elenora, what happened? What are you-" Ann pushed her glasses up as she knelt down. "Elenora... This is..."
"The Mortem Tier Head of 18." Madam finished. The woman quickly wiped her eyes and cleared her throat. Not another word was said. With their effort, The Mortems still body was moved, and Madam Elenora slowly stood up.
"How did you find me? How are you alive? I... I can't believe my eyes..."
"They're raiding, but not a soul but that of soldiers have been killed... The Hominum Tier Head is dead, I see." Ann replied. "I thought I saw you. Roaming through the crowd with a Mortem, you were. So I followed you..."
One weak arm was flung around the woman's body. Elenora was cold, transparent.
"Oh, Ann... You did see me... and a Mortem."
Ann was speechless, staring at the Mortem in the dark over Elenora's shoulder.
"I died, Ann... I died and I went to the Tier."
The young woman slowly pulled her away. "You died?"
"Yes..." Madam replied softly, wiping her eyes. "I was killed by the shopkeeper and the guards... I went to the Tier and I... I stayed there for days... I-"
"Days? Elenora, I saw you just yesterday!"
"I know... The time there... It's different... and I... I survived and I met the Tier Head... He killed the Hominum Tier Head, Ann. He did it... but he won't respond to anything after..." Her voice trailed and picked up again. "He drank this elixir and he killed The Hominum Tier Head. He looked mad... Like the madness of it was consuming him and his face fell blank and he never spoke since."
"I... can't believe it."
"And Ann... I..." Madam swallowed. "I'm their Bearer." she finished.
"B... Bearer? Bearer of 18?"
"Yes... and I came here with him but he's... he's not moving and..."
As confused and shocked and amazed she was, Ann hugged her, but at the moment a figure appeared behind her and Elenora pulled away, a scream was let out and Ann backed against the wall. Four of them. Four towering, transparent and dark hooded figures. Mortem soldiers.
"Madam 18, you're safe! I felt a soul go out." Lucius accompanied with three other Fives arrived unnoticeably, the group silenced and dropped to their knees at the striking sight of their leader. Elenora quickly moved out of the way for them, just enough for them to kneel around the body and take in what has happened. Ann observed as her heart rate fell, their eyes consumed by bright yellow and their hands held in prayer. They were silent, soft words pouring from their mouths, then they finished quickly and arose within the minute. Her hand flew to her shoulder. Madams arm wasn't sitting in the cast 18 gave her anymore. It had fallen loose and unmovable. The Mortem guards now rushed to her aid.
"Madam. Your arm isn't in a cast anymore."
"My shoulder... It's... nothing to worry about. All I want to know is if 18 will be okay... Please..."
All was silent. Lucius joined the Bearers side, his hand solemnly resting on her good shoulder.
"Madam... I'm sorry..." the man voiced behind the hood as he pulled down the cloth covering his mouth.
"Wh... what's wrong with him?" Elenora whispered between small breaths. "Surely, you'd know? He'll be okay... right?"
"Truculentus... Deus, why Truculentus?"
"Truculentus?" Madam 18 brought her head up. "Please... Someone tell me if he will come back?"
"Truculentus... It's... a destruction elixir." A Five Rank woman murmured. "He... he's stuck."
"Stuck?"
"Yes... I'm sorry, Madam 18. He's stuck like this... It's gotten to his head... I... I didn't expect this..."
"So he's... not coming back."
Madam Elenora shut her eyes and the tears rolled down her cheeks once more. There was her solemn answer. He wasn't going to return. Elenora was stripped of yet again, love, and yet again, she will have to carry on.
"N... no... That can't be... I didn't think he'd be..."
"I'm sorry Madam 18... He did it for The Tier... He did it for his people... for us. If he hadn't, we would have lost many Mortems here... Our soldiers." the man said. The words of defeat.
"No... He... he would have... said something. He would have told me... I... I didn't know that this would have happened."
"We're very sorry, Madam 18... Very sorry."
Shaking her head, tears flew from her face. Madam was heard as she sobbed this time. His head rested in her lap and her gloves covered the bullet hole in his temples. Her gloved hands ran through his hair.
"Th... that can't be... He has to come back... He would have told me that... Come back... Oh, please... come back... You said... you'd never leave..."
Her body mimicked 18s. Limp like a corpse, she fell. Unconscious. The rush of fear followed.
