She wasn’t working against her mother. Malice had lost her way a long time ago, and she was hurting the people she meant to protect.
Mercy had to do her mother’s job.
She turned to the seventh page, and their surroundings dissolved another time. This time, she was face-to-face before an Empress.
The Netherworld Empress was clearly based on Akura Malice…or perhaps it was the other way around. She had dark hair, though it didn’t flow like living shadow, and her eyes shone like cruel amethyst stars. She wore a crown of silver and elaborate ceremonial robes.
With a black bow of darkness in one hand and a spear at her side, she stood over a battlefield. It stretched for miles, and Remnants picked through thousands of strewn bodies. Aura of death and destruction choked the air, but the entire space was dominated by the will of the Empress.
Shadows rose from the bow like smoke, and with it in her hand, she gave off an impression of absolute control. As though she saw everything, had stood before this slaughtered army alone, and could stand before a hundred more.
It was hard for Mercy to meet her eyes.
She had forcibly opened the seventh page before, but it was meant to be mastered when she was a Herald. Mercy had a difficult time keeping her thoughts clear here, and she was supposed to integrate the Empress into herself. This was a manifestation of her own power, after all. Or at least what was supposed to be her own power.
“Incredible,” Lindon said. “Dross, can you tell how she did this?”
[She built an image of her ideal self. She’s so clear about it, and she put so much of her will into it, that it resonates with a bunch of Icons. You can sense that kind of thing more clearly than I can, though.]
Lindon began muttering. “Bow Icon, Shadow Icon, Strength Icon…is that the Crown Icon? It must be.”
Mercy struggled upward, trying not to kneel before the Empress. “How can you tell?”
“It’s something of an instinct, but it’s like imagining how well something matches an ideal. She makes me think of the ultimate archer, ruler, shadow artist, and I’d say she was intended to represent ultimate power as well. The energy in the page is meant to take you to Herald, but I can see how this might guide you to Sage instead.”
[Or afterward,] Dross pointed out.
Mercy suspected that was the case. The Book of Eternal Night was meant to contain Malice’s ideal Path, and therefore it must end at Monarch.
She finally caught her breath and was proud of herself for adapting, until she looked up to meet the Empress’ eyes.
Those purple beacons of light were shining on Lindon.
The Empress was focused on him, and she had her bow half-drawn. She glared at Lindon with the oppressive weight of her willpower.
Lindon’s body, a projection of his mind and spirit, began to flicker. He gazed wide-eyed at his fading self. “If we can put this much will into Dreadgod madra, we might be able to make a puppet-construct that could fight Monarchs. Do you think we could leave spirits behind that can prevent people from advancing to Monarch?”
[That’s a great idea! Let’s stay and examine it instead of helping Mercy.]
“Apologies, Mercy. I was distracted.”
[No, I was serious, this is way more interesting.]
Mercy forced a smile. “No, of course! Whatever you need to do.”
Her spirits had died. Not because Lindon wasn’t helping her—the fact that he was in here at all, giving her insights into her own Book, was more than she could have asked—but because of how much help she still needed.
Lindon noticed. “Forgiveness, please. I shouldn’t have lost concentration.”
The Empress was still focused on him, but he was ignoring her.
“That’s not it, I…” She sighed. “My mother left memories about what it took for her Herald advancement, when she was becoming a Monarch. It was terrifying. Her Remnant almost killed her, and she almost killed it. The spiritual damage was so bad that she took months to recover, even after her advancement.”
“We can help you with that,” Lindon said confidently.
“That’s what I’m saying! You didn’t need this much help. I’ve had someone holding my hand since I was a girl.”
She paced and fretted, but continued speaking, baring her soul while standing in the depths of her spirit. “At first, it was easy. I was just better than everyone else. And then, when I’d proven myself, I had a Sage and a Herald teaching me. My mother’s a Monarch! And still, you and Yerin—”
“Eithan turned out to be the Reaper of Worlds,” Lindon pointed out.
Mercy hesitated. “That’s…that’s true, but…”
Lindon folded his arms and walked in front of Mercy, turning his back on the Empress. She looked furious and redoubled the force of her glare, but Lindon didn’t flinch. His body did start flickering more rapidly, though.
“I have received more help than anyone in the universe. Even most of my power is stolen. There’s nothing noble about doing everything yourself. You just have to do your best to honor the help you’ve gotten.”
Then he stepped out of the way and continued, “We want you to persuade your mother into ascending.”
Mercy stared at the Empress that represented her mother’s ideal self. Even with most of her attention taken up by Lindon, she was still intimidating.
“She won’t,” Mercy said certainly.
“Then I’ll have to kill her.”
That shook her, though it wasn’t anything she didn’t already know.
Lindon spoke earnestly. “Will you be happy if you didn’t try?”
She wouldn’t.
Her Archlord revelation had been ‘To bring light.’ To bring light, she had to at least try carrying a torch into the deepest darkness.
Mercy squared her shoulders and faced down the Empress. “I’ll need work.”
“That’s what we’re here for,” Lindon said. “We won’t leave you by yourself until you’re—”
Lindon vanished.
Mercy and Dross both stared at the space where he had just stood.
[Was that a joke?] Dross asked. [You know I don’t understand your humor. Lindon?]
“Go check, Dross,” Mercy ordered.
Dross disappeared. Maybe Lindon had been joking. The timing was suspicious. But that hadn’t looked like he’d left voluntarily. The Empress certainly hadn’t shoved him out.
Either the Book had activated a self-defense mechanism they’d never seen before, or something had pulled Lindon away.
With Lindon gone, the full force of the Empress’ attention was on Mercy, but now it was an annoying distraction. Weight gathered on Mercy’s mind and spirit, trying to force her down, to make her submit.
Mercy glared back at the Empress. “Not now!”
For a moment, the pressure retreated.
Dross popped back in, flying in panicked circles. [He’s gone! I’m gone! The original me is missing, and I can’t feel him!]
“Dross, tell me where Lindon is.”
[He’s gone! That’s what I’m telling you! He disappeared!]
Mercy wasn’t ready to panic just yet. “Didn’t he just leave?”
Dross grabbed Mercy by the collar. [Mercy, he cannot get so far that I can’t sense him without going through a portal. And he can’t do that. Either the labyrinth brought him somewhere without him giving an order, or someone took him.]
There were only a handful of beings in the world capable of taking Lindon anywhere against his will, and none of them would find it easy.
If they took him, they were prepared for him.
Mercy shrugged off the Empress again and shed the Book, returning to herself in a dark room.
She stretched her own spiritual awareness out. Dross couldn’t sense as far as she could; at least, her version of Dross.
To her surprise, she found Lindon immediately.
That wasn’t good news.