Mercy hung her head. She knew all that, she just didn’t know what else she could do for him. Charity had emphasized that, while his physical and spiritual wounds were gone, the mental and emotional consequences were difficult to determine.
Coming from the Sage of the Silver Heart, that warning had sounded dire indeed.
More than just a shadow on his heart, this experience could impact his willpower and slow his future advancement. And it was all Mercy’s fault.
She had apologized over and over, until Pride had hit her on the head to stop her from talking. Now…she only wanted to help her little brother. She just didn’t know how.
Shakily, she offered him the one remaining wedge of fruit.
He sighed before taking it.
A shadow passing over the room was all the warning they had before Uncle Fury popped into existence between them, screaming loudly enough to hurt their ears.
Mercy was on her feet, readying Suu with an arrow of madra, and Pride fell back onto his bed with hands raised defensively.
Fury’s scream trailed off. “Sorry, sorry!” He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, his hair drifting like black seaweed caught in an unseen current. “Not used to that yet. I thought I was about to fling myself into the center of the earth.”
Mercy straightened to meet his eyes, though she wasn’t quite tall enough. She ground the butt of her staff into the floor, and the dragon-headed Suu hissed. “What were you doing? Do you see what you did to Pride?”
Pride had already straightened and was brushing off his clothes. “I’m fine.”
Fury looked more embarrassed. “I didn’t mean to. It’s not as easy as Charity makes it look. How you feeling, Pride?”
“Perfect.”
“Oh, great!” He glanced at Mercy’s face before coughing and continuing to speak. “Ah, yeah, but wounds can be deeper than you realize. Even when the healing is done exactly right, sometimes time is still the best cure.”
“I think he’s pushing himself too much,” Mercy insisted.
Fury blinked. “By standing up?”
Pride gave her a look of superiority.
“He can handle it.” A trace of rage crept into Fury’s face, and his crimson eyes burned. “I came to let you know that we’ve captured Seishen Daji.”
Pride ground his teeth, and even Mercy felt a cold anger. She had known it was only a matter of time before the family found the Seishen Lords, but they had produced results even faster than she expected.
Now they would face justice.
“The trial’s in a few hours. Mercy, she wants you to sit in judgment.”
Mercy’s first instinct was to say that Pride was the one who deserved to pass judgment, as he was the one who had almost died. But she knew better. This was to get her used to determining the lives and deaths of others.
Pride gave her a nod. He understood too.
“I will hear them out,” Mercy said. “As fairly as I can.”
Fury reached out and placed a hand on each of them. “You know, I’d given up on my brothers and sisters until you two. Your father would be proud.”
Pride and Mercy both stared at their oldest half-brother. He tended to wax sentimental even less often than his daughter.
“Uncle Fury…” Mercy began. “…is everything all right?”
“What? Yeah! Of course, yeah, everything’s fine!” His red eyes slid up to the ceiling. “But I am going away.”
“Where?” Pride asked.
Fury pointed one finger to the ceiling, and the bottom dropped out of Mercy’s stomach.
“You’re ascending?”
He scratched the side of his neck without meeting her eyes. “I don’t really have a choice. It’s not a surprise, though. This was always part of the plan.”
“What about Aunt Naria?” Fury’s wife was an Archlady, but she almost never fought anymore. Mercy hadn’t seen her in years.
“She’s coming with me!” Fury said brightly. “The little ones are coming too, and a few families from my branch. I guess it’s embarrassing to ascend unless you’re bringing a whole parade with you.” He rolled his eyes, but she knew he didn’t really object.
He was unreliable in many ways, but he would hate the idea of leaving the world forever if it meant abandoning his children before they grew up. His youngest was only eight.
This was all too much for Mercy to take in so quickly after returning from the battlefield. It had been less than a day since she’d fought Sophara outside Sky’s Edge.
Pride seemed to be taking it all in stride. He folded his arms. “What about Aunt Charity?”
It was a good question. If the Akura clan lost two of their three pillars at once, they would be vulnerable. Even considering that their biggest rival had been killed.
By Yerin.
Mercy still couldn’t quite wrap her mind around that one.
“Charity’s staying,” Fury said, and he sounded a little regretful. “She has her own responsibilities. But she saw this coming a long time ago, and we made our peace with it.”
“When are you leaving?” Mercy asked.
“Now.”
He said it so matter-of-factly, but to Mercy it was another heavy blow in a long string. “You mean…today? You’re not even going to wait until we get home?”
Fury looked down on her sadly. “Well, tonight. I wish I could wait longer, but another Monarch staying in Cradle causes all sorts of problems. Especially now.”
She blinked back tears to focus on the implications of what he said, but Pride asked the question she wanted to.
“What does that mean?”
“Mother will explain it to you.” Fury’s shoulders slumped and he gave a heavy sigh. “I wish I could, but I don’t want to fight with her before I leave. Don’t worry too much, though; it won’t be too long before you join me yourself, Pride. Herald, Sage, doesn’t matter. Even some Archlords make it out by their own power.”
Mercy noticed that Fury didn’t include her in those words, and she knew why. If she succeeded Malice, she would stay in this world for the rest of her life. Which could stretch on for centuries.
Why did that make her sad? She liked this world.
But it did mean that she would probably never see Fury again.
“Did Mother…” Pride started speaking, but hesitated and visibly changed what he was about to say. “Is she going to come see you off?”
Mercy knew what he had started to ask. Pride wanted to know if she had come to see him when he was on the verge of death.
Fury answered the real question. “She would have come if we really needed her,” he said, though he didn’t sound very convincing. “Charity was plenty able to heal you. And Mother’s busy. There’s a Dreadgod, not to mention a bunch of dragons to kill.”
He sighed wistfully. “At least I got to finish off Xorrus. What a nice going-away present.”
“So she’s not going to see you off?” Mercy said.
“We said our good-byes a long time ago.”
Silence fell heavily over the room, and Mercy knew they were all thinking about their mother.
Fury finally broke the quiet by clapping his hands together. The entire room shook, and someone down the hall screamed.
“Not leaving until sunset, but I’ve got a lot of people to see before then. I’ll see you with the rest of the family then, all right?” He looked off into the distance. “In the meantime, you should probably go see your friends. I think Charity’s about to lock them in a box and sit on them.”
“What do you mean?” Mercy asked.
“Where are we supposed to go at sunset?” Pride added.
In an implosion of wind and a swirl of shadow, Fury vanished.
Mercy stopped herself in the doorway as she was about to leave, leaning back to check on Pride. “Are you going to be okay by yourself? Do you need anything?”