Silence - Chapter 24

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* * *

"Can't get me!"

"Ahh!"

"I wanted to be it—aiii!"

The high pitched squeals of the children mingled joyously with the musical barking of one Rottweiler-sized tenku as they chased one another through the fallow fields. All five children were about, Kili and Nell running faster than the rest, while Jain, Pol, and Kor were giggling around boulders. Felix watched them as Pit raced after one, then another, grabbing them by their belts or trousers and carrying them triumphantly back to a larger boulder they'd designated as safe, or as they called it: High Rock. They were unruly, all of them barely past potty-training age were they Human, and rules were things for someone else to follow. Regardless, Pit's beak was split open in a panting grin and their bond was alight with unreserved delight.

It soothed Felix's soul to see it.

That is your Affinity at work.

Felix was perched atop the peak of the farmhouse's roof, and he glanced to his right where the apparition of the Maw hovered soundlessly. Its pale yellow dress still rippled in a phantom breeze, as did its lank black hair. The face of Lhel, once Nymean researcher and mage, stared at Pit and the kids. It kept talking, unprompted.

Your Affinity is your connection to the Realms, and all that lies within them. Even here.

"My Affinity," Felix said. He pulled up his Harmonic stats.

Harmonic Stats

RES: 103

INE: 88

AFI: 62

REI: 60

ALA: 143

They were impressive numbers, all told. Aside from Resonance (RES) and Resilience (REI), which directly affected his mental an physical regeneration, he was fairly uncertain about the lot of them. Alacrity (ALA) supposedly governed "feats of the Mind" while Intent (INE) was how Felix interacted with the world at large, both of which were vague enough to mean almost anything. Affinity (AFI) as a connection to the Realms was something though. In fact, the manner in which the Maw was bound to him related to Affinity according to his Cage the Beast Title. Was that how he'd remove the parasite?

He'd have to keep that in mind.

The days—cycles, as they said—had passed much as they had the first day. Felix lost track of the time after a while, but it hadn't been terribly long since he'd arrived in Echo's Reach. A few cycles at most. He spent those cycles doing "hard" work that rarely made him sweat, and learning the ins and outs of farm-living in the Void. Whenever he wasn't helping Bateo, Felix was either practicing his Skills, attempting to clear his Mana Gates, or rebuilding his Bastion one stone at a time.

It was slow going on all counts but his Mana Gates, but even that was only to a point. He'd managed to free up both feet and knees, and now that he could open and close the majority at will, it felt as if he could breath for the first time. Before, closing a single Gate felt suffocating, but with practice he'd learned to tolerate closing all of his Mana Gates, if only for a few minutes at a time. The Maw suggested folk on the Continent typically held their Gates closed at all times, unless they were trying to regenerate their Mana. Felix doubted he'd ever be able to get to that point, but the improvements were promising.

Yet he still had one Mana Gate left: the one just below his skull. The Maw had warned him repeatedly that clearing his skull Gate was tricky, but Felix had paid it little mind. The others were difficult and painful—like performing a root canal on himself, except all over—but his Pain Resistance at least blunted a large chunk of it. But the skull Gate proved beyond painful, igniting his nerves in electric agony with every attempt. Maybe it was because the Gate was near his brain, or some more esoteric reason, he'd barely put a dent into the accumulated "rust" around his final Mana Gate.

Instead, he focused on his Bastion more and more, and he soon discovered the reason for his weakness a few cycles prior. The effort and "training" he was doing within his Bastion was drawing on his personal stores of energy, namely his Aspects. Mind, Body, and Spirit, they'd been drained of what little they had to spare. If he wanted to repair it porperly, far as he could tell, Felix would have to get more energy from somewhere. In the Void, a desert of System energy, his options were extremely limited.

Can you sense their emotions yet, Felix Nevarre? Not just through your...Companion Pact, but in the air.  A taste on the wind.

"There is no wind," Felix said. He didn't mind being intentionally thick when it came to the Primordial's lectures. "You're awfully chatty this morning." The Maw looked offended.

Am I not allowed to share my infinite wisdom with those barren of it? This is for your benefit. All that I do, now that we are stuck together, has been for your benefit.

"Mhm." Felix kept his disbelief from his face, though it was a close thing. "And what do you want for that help?"

Want? I merely want you to survive long enough to escape this wretched place. The Maw's mouth twisted, like it had bitten into a lemon. To have your core remain unaffected by the insidious nothing here.

Felix narrowed his eyes, but couldn't keep the surprise from his voice. "Why do you care?"

I have already told you. We are one, much as neither of us want it to be so. The greater your power, the greater I become in turn. Helping you is helping myself.

"And what happens when you get powerful enough?" Felix asked. It was a question he'd dreaded asking, but it had to be said, if for nothing more than setting the stakes. "You try to take over my body again?"

The Maw regarded him for a long moment, silent. Its gaunt, stolen face was pinched, as if he'd actually hurt its feelings. They way we are bound, you will always outstrip me in advancement and power. I...I am at your mercy, Felix.

Felix locked eyes with the Primordial, blue staring down blue-green orbs. If it was true, it was great news. And I'd be a fool to believe even a part of it.

Below, a door slammed open.

"Eyas! Suppertime! Come an' get it!" Estrid's voice was loud, powered by her Apprentice Body, and the children pivoted on the spot at the sound. With a series of excited whoops and cries, the children ran to the edge of the farming island and leaped off.

Felix's gut clenched at the sight, but each kid had wings that snapped open, carrying them effortlessly to the central island. Pit followed, mimicking their feat, and Felix was surprised to see the tenku achieve it easily. More joy floated through their bond, and Felix's worry transformed into indulgent joy.

"That means you too, Felix!"

Ignoring the Maw, Felix grinned to himself and leaped down.


* * *


Supper was less involved than breakfast or lunch, featuring light fare and hot cups of a bitter sort of tea. Estrid was a firm believer in "food is fuel" and knew the mornings and afternoons often held the most laborious of tasks on the farm. Laborious for Bateo, perhaps, though Felix hadn't found anything too onerous. His physical stats felt like he was doing everything on Easy Mode.

Still, it was damn good food. And though light there was plenty to eat, which he knew wasn't the usual state of things in the Void. If nothing else, he appreciated the three square meals he'd been receiving at the farm.

"So, how long have you been here?" Felix asked during a lull in the feeding frenzy. "You said you were born in the Void?"

Bateo dabbed a rough woven cloth at his beak. "Yes. Most in Echo's Reach were born here. I am..." Bateo paused and tilted his head up to the right. "I believe I have lived over one hundred thousand cycles."

Felix almost choked on his tentacle casserole.

"That's...that's like three hundred years," Felix said in a strangled tone. He pounded at his chest, dislodging the hunk of food before continuing. "You look like you're in your prime, still."

The Maw had said the pirates were something like two hundred years old, at least. They were almost all grizzled and haggard, evidence of a hard life or something more? Or maybe his viewpoint was skewed. Most of the pirates were humanoid and Bateo was more of an avian.

Bateo's crest feathers rose a little and a smug smile tilted the edges of his beak. His wife rolled her eyes. "Thanks for that. Now he'll be insufferable."

Bateo laughed and so did Felix, caught up in the birdman's good mood.

"It's the voidbeasts, you know," Bateo said after a bit.

"What is?"

"Our longevity. I'm sure you've noticed we're not particularly high level, yes?"

Felix nodded. "I had wondered about that. It's because of the Void?"

"It is. The System does not reach us here, not in the same way it supposedly does on the Continent," Bateo explained. His voice had a wistful tone when he talked about the Continent, like a man describing a fairy tale. "Skills and levels stagnate after a while, just as our core spaces change the longer we take in the thin dregs of Mana. Long ago, our ancestors realized that eating voidbeasts and their Mana bladders meant living longer, fuller lives out in the black." He slapped his chest. "We're hardier, and our Bodies adapted. Now we push on, our cores evolved to live in this place, cycle after cycle."

"Sounds lonely," Felix said before he could stop himself. He winced.

Bateo only smiled, however. "I've my Estrid." He took her hand in his own and they shared a long look. "And the children. It is enough."


* * *


"Mister Felix, please tell us about the Continent!" Pol begged as dinner wound down. He and the other little hawks all crowded near Felix with wide eyes and hopeful expressions.

"Oh yes!" Kili agreed. "I want to hear about monsters!"

"No!" said Kor. "Monsters are scary."

"Okay, no monsters," Kili said. "Tell us about the sun!"

"Yes! The sun! The sun!"

A chorus was taken up, and Felix couldn't stop himself from smiling at the grubby little birds. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Bateo and Estrid both smiling over their cups. Unwilling to disappoint such an eager audience, Felix cleared his throat a bit nervously.

"Alright then, how about I tell you how Pit and I first met?"

"Yes!"

"The Honored Tenku? Please, yes!"

A second chorus supplanted the first, all of them exhilarated by the idea. Even the parents leaned closer as Felix started weaving his tale. He wasn't a storyteller, so he stuck to the facts—more or less. Starting in the Bitter Sea, he navigated his way across the Foglands, fighting monsters the size of their house and emerging unscathed every time.

Yes. Just the facts.

They were the perfect audience, despite Felix's stumbling narrative. They oohed and ahhed in all the right places, shivering in fear when the Seven-Legged Orit emerged, and cheering in righteous anger when Felix recounted its ignoble death. Sure, the story was a little more PG than before, with Felix actually fighting the beast off with his former sword in grand fashion, but it made for a better tale.

Just as he finished the retelling, Pit bobbing his head in pleased agreement, Felix noticed most of the hatchlings were nodding off. Without another word, Bateo stood up and calmly ushered them up to bed. "When I return, I'll have more tales from you Felix!"

The Unbound watched them go with a smile, climbing the stairs one sleepy leg at a time.

Pathetic. Can they not climb the stairs under their own power? Must they rely on this elder creature to provide for them? The Maw sat near the ceiling, looking down its nose at the retreating family. Felix. You must leave this place, or else you'll end up just as weak-willed as these hatchlings.

Oh my god, shut up! Felix glared at the ceiling, projecting his thoughts with all he had.

"Felix?" Estrid still sat across the table from him, and she briefly looked up at the ceiling before fixing Felix with a steady gaze. "May we speak?"

"Um, sure," Felix said. At the very least he was happy to ignore the Maw. "What's up?"

"What are your plans?"

"My plans?"

Estrid ruffled the feathers along her neck and shoulders, the equivalent of an uncomfortable shrug. "You surely don't intend to spend the rest of your days here, on our tiny farm, do you?"

Felix leaned back in his chair and the bone creaked under his considerable weight. "Well, the original thought was to get my ship fixed, gather some supplies, and head back out there."

Estrid frowned. "To do what? Die in the black?"

"Find a way back. To the Continent," he said.

Estrid's frown deepened. "I know you've only just arrived in the Void, strange as that is, and you've more hope in you than most. But...escape is a fool's dream, Felix."

"Bateo seems to think it's possible."

"I love my husband. More than anything. But he's a fool, through and through." Estrid shook her head, and her feathers seemed a touch duller. Dingier. Her eyes, unlike Bateo's, were ringed by bags and a certain darkness he could feel. "I love that my husband believes. That he listens to the old stories and hopes for a way out. It drew me to him, long ago."

"How did you meet?" Felix asked, hoping to divert the subject.

Estrid laughed, a short little chirp. "Blasphemy, if you would believe it. I was set to devote myself to Noctis, and Bateo accidentally set fire to the Temple."

"Whoa," Felix said with a laugh. "How's setting a building on fire an accident?"

"When a dozen Manabladders get punctured at once, many unexpected things can occur," Estrid said. Her voice was fond, but also tired. "He was carting a shipment for the Conference, and a chance accident with some skimmers sent him crashing into the Temple. He was so agile and strong, moving aside the priestesses and securing what bladders weren't too far gone. Lost half his crop and won my interest."

"Wow," Felix said with a chuckle. He never knew Bateo had it in him. "Temple of Noctis, huh? I've heard of a Temple of Vellus in the Void, but not Noctis."

Estrid gave him a strange look. "It is not a true Temple. The Void would never allow such a thing to exist. The divine would be sucked away into the nothingness around us." She sighed, which sounded much like Pit's own noises. A whistling tune. "But yes. I was a devotee of Noctis for a long, long time. Goddess of the Night, Time, and Truth itself. Fitting for this place, which is eternal night, though no mythical stars or moons shine on us." A bitter note entered Estrid's voice and she glanced at Felix again. "Noctis was the beloved of Vellus, you know. Goddess of the Storm, of the Tide, and Blood itself. When Vellus was Lost to Ruin, it is said Noctis cried enough to create the Bitter Sea."

"Really," Felix said. "Vellus was Lost too? What does that mean, exactly?"

No one had been able to explain it, not really. Magda and the others had tried, but he always felt like he was missing some sort of cultural touchstone to understand what they were talking about.

"It means Ruin took her, ripped a goddess from the heavens and cast her into Desolation. Or so the scripture tell us," Estrid shrugged. "Not even the gods can survive Desolation, though they reside within the Ethereal."

Felix's mind flashed back to the wards around the Ten Hands' fortress. Desolation magic, Nokk had called it. Estrid snagged her stonecrafted mug of tea and held it in her hands, letting its paltry warmth waft over her.

"I understand sadness like that, Felix. It's what drew me to the goddess. The Void is a realm of despair, and only the foolish avoid its eventual sting." She smiled again. "Only when I met my Bateo did I feel happiness, and again when each of my littles hatched. Motes of light in the dark, the only stars I'll ever see."

"There has to be a way out," Felix insisted. "I know it."

"I'm glad you believe that," Estrid said. "But I cannot. Your tales are powerful and strange, speaking of alien lands and things we've only ever heard of in our oldest legends. I even felt myself get lost in them, just for a moment....and I cannot let Bateo chase that dream any more than he already has."

"What? What do you mean?"

"You're a kind person, Felix. My Bateo sees that, trusts that. I know that if you asked, he'd follow whatever lead you may discover in the hopes that an exit could be found." Estrid shook her head again and the stone cup hit the table hard enough to slosh her tea out. "We need him. I need him to be here."

She reached out, placing her clawed hand on Felix's own.

"When you leave, do not tell us."

Felix hadn't a clue what to say to that, for all that he sensed Estrid's earnest sincerity. The pain behind her eyes and twitching feathers. "I—"

"Raid!"

Bateo's voice rang out into the stillness of the Void, loud as his Body would allow. Alarm shot through Felix, seizing his fight or flight response.

"Voidbeast attack!"