Convergence!
A flare of bright light filled the underground chamber, and Felix felt Pit's unconscious form nestle back into his Spirit before he took a running leap straight up. With his enhanced Strength and Agility it was easy to clear the fourteen foot distance. He landed amid the tumble-down ruin of a cathedral; only three walls still stood, along with a number of cracked pillars and one extremely durable flying buttress.
It was still dark, but with his Manasight functioning it wasnt a hindrance. The night swirled with flows of black shadow Mana, dusty brown earth Mana, and white flows of air Mana. Along it all, however was a pervasive sense of agitation. The tiniest touch of rage. Courtesy of the Revenants, he had no doubt.
The skies were cloudy and impenetrable, just as Hisser had said. Far off, blue-white flashes of lightning Mana tore jagged scars though the clouds, but there was little light and less sound. It was a hypnotic display, one Felix would gladly have watched for hours were he not convinced more monsters could be nearby. Yet despite his vigilance, he didnt sense her, not even for a second.
Youve grown.
Felix spun toward the voice, claws up. He let them sag when he saw who it was.
Zara.
Felix. Or should I call you the Fiend right now? The ochre skinned Naiad smirked, showing off teeth nearly as sharp as his own.
Please dont do that, Felix groaned. He hated that name. With a pained groan, he released his transformation, and his bones realigned with audible snaps and cracks. His muscles deflated and the scales sloughed away into luminous ash. He was left looking like a normal, if athletic human man with black hair and blue eyes, for all that they had once been a dark, muddy brown only a few short weeks ago. "I'd rather that name not get more popular than it already is."
"Too late," Zara laughed and picked her way toward him through the rubble. "It's the name on everyone's lips, these days. You put on quite a show up there."
Felix grimaced, the fight against the Ravager King flashing through his mind. The power he'd taken...eaten...he clenched a fist.
Zara stepped up to him, only a few feet away, and regarded him. Her eyes flashed with an aquamarine glow, gone in less than a second. "You're hurt."
Felix waved her off. "I'm fine."
Zara pointed at his core, just above his navel. "No you're not. You're stuffed to bursting. What's happened?"
For a moment, Felix considered answering the question, but found himself suddenly suspicious. "Why're you here? I've been out for hours, apparently, and you're just now showing up?"
Zara arced and eyebrow at him. "This city is quite big, Felix Nevarre, and you are not my only concern. Other events have been plaguing Haarwatch, events that have been destroying this city, piece by piece."
Felix blushed, abashed. "Right. The Revenants." He rallied and refocused. "How are they here? I thought they had all died in the Domain."
"Some escaped as the Domain collapsed, but it was no more than a hundred or so from what I sensed."
"Oh," Felix's shoulders sagged in relief. "That's manageable, at least."
Zara started walking, and Felix followed her. "I wish that were so. The population of these Revenants has exploded in the hours since their arrival. That first hundred turned to two, then three, and now there are nearly two thousand spread across this city at my last estimate."
Felix choked and stopped walking. "Two thousand?"
He imagined the damage they could do, a mess of Tier II monsters imbued with the Maw's worst qualities. It was horrifying to think on. "What's happened to the people? Dusters and everyone else?"
Zara's face was grim in the dark. "Many have died. Far too many."
Holy shit. Felix's heart ached. Is this my fault? If I hadn't interfered with the ritual, would the Queens have eaten all of the Revenants?
A sleepy pulse of warmth shot through his chest, a formless, wordless comfort that settled his spinning Mind. Pit was right. Had they not interfered, it was likely the Ravager King would have killed them all. That thought sparked another, and Felix looked to Zara with urgency.
"Vess and Evie? The others? Did they all make it out?" Zara nodded, and Felix sighed so deeply he nearly lost control of his core. A quick, fierce struggle with his Fire Within mastered the volatile mixture of essence and power, but it sent a wave of sweat across all of his skin at once. "Where are they?"
"Back at Calesca's warehouse, though that term may not be entirely accurate anymore," Zara said, but her eyebrows tilted in concern. "Felix are you alright? Your Mana seems...tangled."
"I'm...fine."
Zara gasped. "You're holding back your Tier. Of course. How long?"
"Been a bit over nine hours, maybe," Felix grunted. "Glasses. Whatever."
"You should be fine for nearly a day, yet. Why do I see such pain in you?" Zara put a hand on Felix's shoulder.
"Monster essence and...System energy doesn't mix well," Felix said, and revelation lit up Zara's face.
"That...explains much," she said. "I had wondered how becoming part Primordial would affect you."
Felix's eyes snapped up to Zara's, but the Naiad was patting her robes as if she'd forgotten something. "Ah, here it is." She pulled out a large, fresh fruit. "I figured, despite your meals below, you're probably hungry for actual food, yes?"
Felix eyed her, but took the fruit and ate it after quickly identifying it. Kelaan fruit. He hadn't had once since he'd left the Foglands.
"What do you know?" he asked.
"Well, that is quite a broad question," she admitted and started walking again. They were heading west, near as Felix could tell. Without the stars or familiar buildings to orient on, he was mostly guessing. "Regarding your situation, I know that you've had some unfortunate encounters with the Primordial in the Labyrinth."
"Unfortunate. That's a good way to put it," Felix snorted a laugh. He had spent so much time fearing that Zara would find out about his connection to the Maw and she'd known all along. What was the point of hiding anything, anymore? "I killed it back then, sorta. Then I killed it for good in the Domain."
Zara was tapping her lips, watching him with her ice-blue eyes, far more vivid than his own. "No, you absorbed it. Which, strictly speaking, is impossible."
Felix felt his gut lurch, but he refused to give into the fear. "No. It's dead. The Mind of the Maw was destroyed when I ripped it from the Ravager King. It's gone for good."
"Perhaps," Zara admitted. "Perhaps not. I will say, however, the Primordial's power is still extant in this city. So in that sense, your Maw is still quite active."
The Revenants. Felix nodded, unable to muster the energy to object to the Maw being termed as "his."
"I have to admit, Zara. I figured you'd kill me if you found out I'd had a piece of the Maw riding inside me," Felix said.
"That is a completely reasonable fear," she agreed. "I would have, had things been different."
"Different?" Felix asked, ignoring the admission of his potential murder. "What are you talking about?"
"You conquered it, Felix. A task I would not have imagined attainable, yet here you are. Whole. Of sound Mind, Body, and Spirit," Zara shook her head. "It is remarkable. An achievement that only reaffirms my commitment to making you my apprentice."
Felix wasn't sure what to say to that, so the silence stretched as they navigated the ruined streets of Haarwatch. The city had been broken in many places, but there were still swathes of neighborhoods that seemed entirely untouched. Untouched, that is, save for darkened windows and smokeless chimneys. Everything Felix had seen had been abandoned.
"Where did everyone go?"
"There are several hidden redoubts around the city, though most are like the cathedral I found you in. Small with relatively limited access to food and water. It has been in flux all night, but a new balance is forming. There are three camps. The Guilders at the Wall, the Inquisitors in the Sunrise Quarter...and you."
"Me?" Felix asked, confused.
"Well, the Blue Eyed Fiend, at least," Zara smirked at Felix's frown. "A third camp has gathered, and the vast majority are doing so under your name."
"What? Why?" Felix gaped. "How?"
"I think showing is better than telling, don't you?"
Felix clenched his jaw. Zara's smile could have cut glass.