Enter Abyss

Chapter 46; When all falls down.

For the next several days after, everything felt grim. Lifeless. As if the world have been drained dry of life the same way Galen had.

For Archer, those were the worst days of his life. The days when memory of the boy-- his smile, his laugh, his eyes-- all came returning back in a wave that nearly crushed him.

He missed the way Galen had talked animatedly about things only he and Archer had cared about. He missed the soft way he spoke, his gentle cough, his delicate, pale hands tinkering with whatever machinery was in his workshop.

And it was during these binding of memories that Archer would simply sit in the center of Galen's room filled with parts and pieces of the broken, thinking.

Thinking of him.

Other times, he would find himself wandering the disolate halls of the library, pausing in the stone room that held the carved words of the prophecy that Galen had spoken so highly of. And it was there, in that dimly lit room that Archer stumbled upon several of the boy's forgotten journals-- some looking rather new and others appearing as though they had sat there for years.

Picking up on of the leather-bound books, Archer flipped through page after worn page scribbled with theories about who the prophecy could be speaking of.

Then, he came to the final page, scrawled with only a single name, circled over and over.

His own name.

Looking up at the words carved on the wall-- the words speaking of bringing the people to peace, to light-- Archer made himself a silent promise then. A promise he woud be willing to give his life to fufill... the moment his heart finished grieving.

And though he would have gladly wandered the halls alone for several more weeks, thinking-- often times he could not escape to the solitude of the workshop, or hide beneath the comforting shadow of Arnold, for there was still a kingdom to be run, riots to be quieted.

Dead to bury.

Thus, not three days after Galen and Mordren had fallen, they were given a place among their Ancestors in coffins of stone-- even though neither of their bodies had been preserved beyond a pile of ash. 

It was heartbreaking, really, that Archer could not even look upon the face of his friend one last time. And during the Burial Rituals, he could not help but think of that fact-- the entire ordeal bringing tears to his eyes, and only the steady grip of Cogs' hand on his shoulder kept him from crumbling... but it could not help him forever.

Thus, when the service ended, he rushed out of the hall as fast as his legs would dare carry him, Cogs on his heals. And through a city wreathed in black, they made their way to the edge of the Abyss where Archer and Galen had been banished to the shadows. Now, as Archer gazed at the blackness, the idea of being banished was almost a better outcome than what had happened.

At least they would have been together.

Coming closer to the blackness, Archer though he heard sniffling coming from somewhere off to his left and, upon looking closer, he found Pip-- tears rolling down her cheeks, clutching a black dagger to her chest.

Wordlessly, Archer sat down beside her, holding her in his arms as she sobbed into his shoulder, Cogs sitting on her other side, whincing slightly as his wound was jostled.

But he was alive and walking. All because of Galen; he had sacrificed some of his magic so Cogs could live, and in a way, Pip had sacrificed something as well.

Sometimes, in his grief, Archer forgot what she had gone through to make sure he stayed alive. For had she not done what she did, Mordren would have killed Archer. Still, Archer had a sense that Pip had loved the man-- however strange that love may have been. And though he hated Mordren from the bottom of his soul-- hated him for killing Galen, for using Pip-- he could not help but feel sympathy for his cousin.