Chapter 47: The Siren and the Witch
Creatures were not born, monsters were not created. All the beasts that had once walked the seven worlds were once sentient, normal creatures. Sirens, for example, and elves.
The sirens themselves were the dominant race in the second world, until the gods, until heaven and hell, until the witch, until Amon came. With their arrival, their curses became the source of all disasters, as well as the means to create all the monsters on the earth.
That is why these cursed sirens, transformed into abominations, immediately knew this golden light from the palm of the young man, rallying to the call of monsters.
"AAAAUUUUURRRR!"
The second scream pierced the air, already filled with the first one, with fear. But this time, there was more pain that came out.
The chain on the monster’s neck tightened, but the black crystal that held it around its throat with the witch’s curse, pulsing, cracked second, and split further.
Tanya drove the spear into its side. A golden spray of blood flew from the wound, splashing on the shattered stone, hissing.
On the ridge, Liliana tasted the scent of this blood and laughed, seeing the hero fight.
"Found you," the witch muttered.
She dropped the fire she was throwing and opened her hands. Debt Collectors who stood behind her, their bodies torn and rebuilt, their empty eyes staring at the sky, opened their mouths at the same time.
"My new children, serve!" said Liliana.
"Yeyeyeyeyeyes."
The blast of sound that came from the mangled mouths no longer surged in waves but flowed together, forming a spear of sound that dove into the slope. It hit the monster’s back, right between the shoulders, and the abomination staggered.
It was already weak from battling the demigods and the attacks of the hero, and the blow from the witch and the boy knocked it off balance. Its long arms trembled, and for a second, the monster’s golden eye met Liliana’s shadowy gaze. Something ancient and savage roared in the depths of the abomination’s soul.
"The Witch ..."
Liliana’s laughing grew louder; she stepped out onto the ridge.
The air around her still vibrated with power. The black and purple flames curled like vines around her ankles as she walked down to meet the monster. The witches’ chord swelled and resonated to the very marrow of the living.
Claude and the Oracle reached the edge of the ravine at the same time as Liliana’s feet met the stone.
"Why does she want to chain Amon? What’s so great about the keys? Why is she even here? It’s not like she needs anything from us!" murmured the Oracle, barely audible.
"You don’t know? She is not here for Amon’s keys"
"Then why?"
"..."
Claude tightened his grip on the two keys in his coat pocket.
"You talk less. I am here merely to fulfill some obligations, after that, and I’m leaving. "Claude muttered
Meanwhile, down in the ravine, the abomination was recovering.
It no longer had any interest in fighting the demigods or even Tanya, but its very bones were crying out in pain from the strike of the girl. The monster’s disjointed body twisted and writhing, turned towards Liliana with incredible speed, cracking the stone with its movement.
"By the Witch’s..." it growled, and the next heartbeat, its voice became more feminine, more youthful, and somehow stranger.
"Liliana of the First Circle, you have bound us, fed us the blood of the immortal, and turned us into monsters ..."
Liliana’s eyes widened in surprise at the sound of her name, then narrowing in pleasure.
"Ohhh, beautiful sirens, you survived, huh? Good, I was starting to think that all these decades of imprisonment had finally addled your pretty little brains." said the witch, almost tenderly, almost fondly. "But, of course, it was not so."
With a flick of her fingers, a curtain of black runes rose up between them, older than the gods themselves, older even than the masks of the Debt Collectors.
The abomination’s crystal gave a flash of gold, answered her runes, and the two of them collided at the center of the ravine with an explosion that sucked away all sound.
Doom!!!
Columns of stone that had stood for centuries were uprooted and shattered. Demigods were tossed like ragdolls.
Tanya’s spear broke in her hands, and Cheering’s glow dimmed, but he did not yield. He planted his feet and drove more power into the fight, holding his ground against the storm.
The abomination and Liliana were in the eye of the maelstrom. Claws of parchment met claws of shadow. The siren’s half-faced mask glared furiously at the witch’s smiling mouth.
Each clash sent shockwaves rippling through the valley. Each rune that bit into the abomination’s back caused the black crystal to shine brighter.
Claude watched the battle with some detachment, perhaps because the sight of Liliana and the monster wounding each other was preferable to looking at himself. Partly, too, because he did not have to kill himself with the dagger in his pocket that would end it all.
"Come, now. While they are busy. We should go close to him and get the keys!" said the Oracle.
Claude was watching the two monsters fighting, the siren whose body had been twisted and stretched, the woman with the golden hair. "It feels strange. He seems younger than us."
"Twenty-six ... maybe ..." muttered the Oracle.
Meanwhile, nearby, Cheering was looking up at the ridge where Claude and the Oracle stood. Their eyes met, and for the first time, three men who had never stood together, who had only fought each other, saw the same thing.
Their common enemy, who had to be stopped at all costs.
"This is madness!" Cheering shouted. "Where did you get the other keys?!!!" he asked
Claude answered with a simple nod.
The Oracle’s expression did not change, but he stepped forward into the light.
"Well, he is easy to talk to. Let’s go," said the Oracle.
Liliana heard their voices, and she laughed while the monster’s claws raked her ribs, sending geysers of black blood spraying everywhere.
"Did that happen before? Did you all forget who I am?" she said to the siren, whose ball of crystal sparked gold. "I have infinite divinity. I have ceased to be only a witch. I am an actual goddess now!" cried Liliana, covering the siren with her spells.
She felt the witch’s grip loosen and growled in frustration. She drove both hands into the monster’s chest, feeling the last of her power being squeezed out of her body.
Dark sparks of fire shot from the abomination’s back, shooting into the sky and piercing the clouds.
"You will not decide your fate!" she hissed, her voice trembling with something like madness, "you belong to me! You are mine! Always have been!" With these words, the black crystal on the monster’s chest pulsed, and the chain on its neck broke.
The siren’s body lengthened and contracted, the abomination’s legs and arms shrunk, and soon enough, the monster was no longer an abomination. Its face, too, had returned to normal, almost human.
"Thank you later," muttered Liliana, undoing the curse on the siren. "Now if you want to look like this, I’ll remind you of all my demands."
Tanya touched her cheek, her tears cutting through the thick darkness. She had returned to herself, to her old self, her true self. She had heard Liliana’s words and obeyed without hesitation. Turning to the demigods and the three disciples, the siren gave an order, but there was only one answer.
Nodding, she prepared to scream again, the same way every time, to lull the enemies asleep.
"Aaaaaa!"
The long-awaited battle began at the same time as the abomination’s release from the witch’s spell. The demigods, united with the girl, all three of them on the ground, could not move for a few seconds. The siren’s song, so melodic, was almost soothing.
At the same time, however, the Oracle was not tied by this magical music. He was still somewhat awake, as was Liliana, who was smiling as she approached him.
"I always adapt, my brothers. It seems you guys are really underestimating me ... mainly you, the blind prophet who ran away when he saw Liliana. "Liliana said, tossing the siren aside like a ragdoll. "Still hiding behind others’ power?"
The three witches screamed in unison when the Oracle raised his hands and pointed them at the three demigods, who were lying on the ground. The sound magic blew them away with incredible force, almost crushing them.
Claude heard his ears bleed as the Oracle stumbled over backward. Cheering’s aura of light dimmed, but it held firm as his body refused to obey the siren’s orders. Only his soul was free from the witch’s magic.
Step! Step! Step!
"We really need a plan, huh?" said Cheering.
Claude’s thoughts were racing. "I can’t move ... someone kill me!"
"What?"
"Just kill me!" Claude shouted.
"Not yet. The decrees of fate cannot be avoided so easily. "The Oracle moved his hands in a certain way, and invisible threads of fate wrapped around Liliana’s shadow, pinning it to the ground.