Muse 9 (ONC 2020)

Chapter 18

Nine Sparks fill the courtyard, all moving in sync as they slowly approach me. Nine. One for each Muse Era. One for each rifle.

Nine.

My eyes flickered to the gem on the top of the shaft. That must be the Insprix. So now I had to get it and escape from the Sparks.

The Sparks and Shadows must be combined, together with the two powers, into the body of a rifle in order to operate at the Muse 9 level, the level of power Mnemosyne wielded.

In order to build the rifle, I needed to somehow combine the Sparks and Shadows, at least according to the Muse 9 texts. But how was I supposed to do that?

The first Spark jumped at me and I fired straight through its chest. It dropped to the ground as the other eight circled around me, in a very similar fashion to the Shadows down by the Library. On the bright side, it would be easier to bring them down, there being only nine.

The sun flashed against the gem and another Spark materialized near the fountain, quickly joining the circle of its comrades.

Great. Just great.

I needed to shoot these Sparks down quickly, but I also needed to remove the Insprix. And since they would reform every time I shot one, this was not going to be as easy as I had thought a mere moment ago.

Sable Huntris. Sable Huntris. Sable Huntris. Their whispered, toneless voices punched through into my brain.

That's it!

The memories.

I had taken a memory from the Shadows, in an attempt to figure them out at a later time. Perhaps that was how I could combine the Shadows and the Sparks, through combining the memories.

Well. It was worth a shot, anyway.

I tapped at the controls of my rifle, adjusting them to "capture." Then I lifted my Muse 8, firing at a Spark. As soon as my tracker indicated a captured memory, I charged forward, switching my settings back to "kill," and aimed my rifle at the Sparks.

The sun figures rushed towards me as my first shot took out one of the Sparks. The remaining ones tightened the circle around me and launched themselves forward, needlelike fingers reaching for my skull.

Ducking, I narrowly avoided their groping hands and fired into their legs, sending them falling away as I propelled myself forward. I felt the sharp needles rip into my skin, a fierce burning sensation igniting in my flesh as they made contact and froze me in place.

Sable Huntris.

You think you will build the Muse 9, Sable Huntris? You think you will do what no one else has ever done? You may have bested the Shadows but we are stronger. You cannot manipulate us so easily.

Bright light filled my mind, blinding me as more needles sunk into my skull. I gasped, feeling white hot pain flood me. But no memories came. I didn't see my mother, my brother, or glimpses of my father. I didn't see anything but the glittering gem on the gold shaft before me, taunting me.

Obtaining the Orphoid doesn't make you Mnemosyne, Sable Huntris.

As I opened my mouth, hot liquid bubbled up in my throat, burning my sinus cavities and the back of my throat. I couldn't speak, couldn't breathe. All I could feel was the searing pain of the fiery liquid in my mouth.

The laughter of the Sparks bombarded my mind, already wracked with pain. My chest seized up, and my body tried to retch, to expel the burning liquid. But the Sparks' grasp on my skull kept me from moving. I couldn't do anything. Nothing at all except choke on the boiling hot liquid.