“You’ve done a great job, son,” my father added, moving closer to me and putting his roughhewn hand on my shoulder. It felt just like it had when he’d alive, calloused from work in the foundry. “I knew you could do it.”
“You did?” I asked, swallowing hard as I took a step back and tried to take the two of them in, to memorize every detail of this moment. It’d been so long since I’d seen them, since the day that drunk driver had ruined my entire life.
They looked like they had then. My father with his long, dark biker’s beard and his work shirt rolled up to reveal bulging forearms covered in scars from work. My mother with her heart-shaped face and pudgy cheeks that made her seem like a perpetually happy Mrs. Claus.
“We did,” my father said, his lips splitting into an appraising smile as he rubbed his beard exactly like how I remembered him doing in life. “We knew the moment you were born that you were destined for great things.”
“You’re my parents. You’re supposed to say that,” I said, my eyes flicking between them.
“And yet here you are, my son,” my mother whispered right before she enveloped me in a hug that crushed me against her bosom. “The savior of all that is and will be.”
“That’s why we came, to help you be what you’re supposed to be, Arthur.” My dad nodded to me as my mother released me. “Well, and we wanted to see you too.” He wiped his eyes with the back of one hand. “I’m glad you’ve grown up to be you.”
“You are?” As I said the words, something got in my eye, and my vision got a little blurry.
“We both are, honey,” my mother said, nodding to me as she took my hand and pulled me toward the fountain. “Now, let us help you.”
“We know why you are here,” my father added, and I felt his hand on my shoulder once more. “And if we know, the Darkness knows too. She will come, will try to stop you, so you must hurry.” He gave me the same smile he had when he’d been alive, and my heart nearly broke. “You know they say evil never rests.” He met my eyes then. “But I think that if you try hard enough, son, you can give evil the big sleep.”
“I know you can do it, Arthur,” my mother said, releasing my hand as I approached the edge of the fountain. My thighs pressed against the slick marble and the sound of the rushing water within filled my ears.
“What must I do?” I asked, taking a huge breath as I wiped my eyes once more.
“Just take the items you wish to combine and give them to us.” My father looked me up and down. “We will do the rest.”
“Okay.” I took a deep breath, my eyes flicking between them. This was like a dream, seeing them again, and as much as I wanted to stay here with them forever, I knew I had a job to do, knew I had a job only I could do.
“How would you like to begin?” my mother asked, and as she spoke, I offered her Phanuel’s armament, the Bastion of Peace. As she took it from my hands, it began to glow with golden light until it was nearly so bright I couldn’t look at it.
“Well, this is embarrassing,” I said as I bent down and pulled off Sathanus’s armament, the Merciless Greaves of Wrath, which, of course, left me standing there in my underwear.
“Nothing we haven’t seen before.” My father shrugged at me as he accepted the Armament of Wrath.
It too began to glow, only this time it was filled with silver light so bright, I had to shield my eyes to keep from going blind. Then my parents joined their free hands while pushing the twin armaments together.
An explosion of light and sound ripped through the back of the cavern, and I stumbled forward. As my fingers grabbed the edge of the fountain, my father gave me a worried look.
“We must hurry, Arthur. Something has breached the well,” he said, offering me a new pair of greaves. It was made of interlocking gold and red links, and as I gazed upon it, the stats for it popped up in front of me.
The Merciless Bastion
Type: Leggings
Durability: 10,600
Defense: 2D10
Enchantments: Armament of Wrath, Armament of Peace
Ability: Reflection– Creates an aura around the user that reflects seven times the damage dealt to the user back to the damage dealer.
Ability: Neutral Barrier– Creates an aura around the user that doubles the strength of all defensive abilities.
“The guardian will buy us time, but not much,” my mother added as I took the greaves and pulled them on. “If you have others, we must hurry.”
“Right, okay,” I said, producing the boots. If I was to be interrupted, the boots were one I definitely wanted done.
The entire cavern behind me shook with the sounds of battle as my parents did their thing once more, and as the waters of the fountain splashed over them, I found myself staring at a new pair of boots made of slick black leather fitted with gilded plates.
The Uncaring Path
Type: Boot
Durability: 6,600
Defense: 2D10
Enchantments: Armament of Sloth, Armament of Providence
Ability: Slow – grants the ability to slow enemies.
Ability: Regeneration – grants the ability to heal from nearly any injury.
The belt followed next, yielding me a crimson belt with a massive golden belt buckle called Remorseless Benevolence that gave me both spell steal and critical strike, and as I fastened it around my waist, I gave them the last of my redundant armaments, my gloves.
“Put these on quickly, Arthur,” my mother said, not quite looking at me as she offered me my new gauntlets, Relentlessly Stalwart.
As I took them from her and the words Achievement: Retrofitted Completed flashed in front of my eyes, another explosion filled my ears, and the sound of footsteps splashing through the stream behind me filled my ears.
“The guardian has fallen,” my father said softly, drawing my gaze back to him, and I realized he was starting to fade. “We won’t be able to stay here without her.”
“We must go, Arthur,” my mother said. “Good luck.”
“Wait, there’s one more,” I said, pulling Caliburn from the sheath when I heard a familiar voice behind me.
“‘Sup, bro?” One said as the ghostly images of my parents faded away. “Fancy meeting you here.”
45
“One,” I snarled, glaring at him as a horrible thought filled my mind. “What did you do to Lucifer?”
“Me?” He touched his chest with one hand. “I’ve done nothing to her.” He lips twisted into a grin. “Two was the one playing with her outside.” He shrugged. “If you wanna go check on her, that’s cool. Just let me smash this fountain, and we can be on our way.”
He took an idle step forward like he totally expected me to agree with him.
“There’s no way that’s gonna happen, bro,” I snarled, gripping Caliburn tightly in my hands, “because I’m going to kill you.”
“Really?” He arched an eyebrow at me. “I don’t think you can.” He shrugged. “It’s so unlikely I don’t even want you to try.” He dusted off his hands on his pants. “I suppose it’s unfair to not let you though.” He sighed. Loudly. “Let’s get this over with.”
He punched me. I almost didn’t see it coming. One moment he was across the room and the next he was right on top of me. As his fist sank into my stomach with so much force the breath shot from my lips, I almost couldn’t think. My body buckled over, and as I slumped forward onto my knees, One screamed in pain.
He stumbled backward, blood gushing from his stomach, as the Armament of Wrath reflected the damage he’d dealt me back at him sevenfold. As he touched the spot with his hands and raised up his bloody fingers to his eyes, he turned white as a sheet.
“You hurt me?” He took a deep breath, fear lacing his words as he spoke. “How can this be?”
That’s when I realized something. He hadn’t ever been hurt before, and because of that, he didn’t know how to deal with it.
“How about we all take a moment?” I said, throwing my left hand forward. As I spok
e, the slow spell granted to me by the power of Sloth exploded from my hands. Golden chains wrapped around One, encircling his body while he kept staring at his own bloody fingers in confusion. Hell, he was so wrapped up in his own pain, he scarcely seemed to notice me.
“How did you do this?” One asked, eyes finally turning toward me as I launched myself at him. His arm shot up in a lazy movement, but the thing was, it was too slow. It probably would have been fast enough under normal circumstances, but well, with things as they were, it just wasn’t. My blade slid right by his arm as it came up and crashed into his shoulder. It was like striking a steel beam with a baseball bat, and as the force of the impact rang down my arms, blood spurted from his wound.
It wasn’t even that deep of a cut, but even still, with the scream of agony One let loose, you’d have thought I’d cut off his arm. His other hand went to the wound as he backpedaled, eyes wide with fear.
“No. This can’t be,” he cried through gritted teeth as blood oozed from between his fingers. “You should not be strong enough to hurt me.”
“Sucks for you.”
I didn’t give him a chance to get over it either. Instead, I attacked again, lashing out at him with Caliburn, and while he managed to block this attack with his forearm, the edge of my sword sliced into him. He cried out again, drawing back as I swung again.
He dodged, but as he moved, I launched a volley of Hellfire at where he was going. As he stepped lithely by my slash, my fireball slammed into him, throwing him backward as it superficially burned his flesh. Another cry of pain leaped from his throat as I stepped forward through the smoke and drove Caliburn into his chest.
The blade barely penetrated half an inch, but you’d have thought I’d have skewered it from how he howled. But that was nothing compared to when I launched the sapphire blast at him. The beam of energy blew him backward, slamming him into the wall with bone-shuddering force.
“How are you hurting me?” he whispered as he slid down the wall. Really, he wasn’t that hurt, but since he’d never actually gotten hurt before, I had him on the fences.
I leaped for him, Caliburn raised overhead when he darted past me, running away toward the exit. I tossed a quick glance back at the fountain behind me, wondering if I should stay and combine the swords, but thought better of it. No doubt if I let One escape, I wouldn’t get another chance to take him out.
“Don’t run,” I cried, sprinting after him. He was fast, and even with my slow, I couldn’t catch him. Only as he reached the exit, Lucifer’s arm shot out from beside it, clotheslining him across the throat. He dropped flat on his back, crashing to the ground as his hands went to his neck.
“Did you know Two had never actually been hurt before?” Lucifer asked, raising an eyebrow as she stepped from the shadows, an Essence of Darkness clutched idly in one hand. “I’m guessing scaredy cat has the same problem?”
“Yes.” I nodded as Lucifer fell on top of him, driving her dagger right into his heart. The tip of the blade clanged off his flesh like she’d struck steel, and skittered across his flesh, leaving barely more than a superficial wound, but you’d have thought she’d rent one from throat to crotch.
“Damn, I don’t think I’m strong enough to hurt him.” She glared down at the dagger. “I was able to whittle the other one down, but this—”
One batted her to the side before she could finish. Her body struck the wall, and as she fell brokenly to the ground, rage surged up inside me.
“How dare you hurt my friend?!” I snarled, launching myself at the General as he pushed himself to his feet. Caliburn smashed into his chest, knocking him back to the ground, and as he tried to bat away my weapon, I drew Excalibur even though I knew the weapon wasn’t supposed to work for me.
As Caliburn was torn free of my grip and sent skittering across the cavern floor, I stabbed at One. He caught the blade in his hands, and even though the edge bit into his flesh, he managed to push me back.
The movement caused the Ark to slip free of from my shirt, and as it dangled between us, it began to glow like the sunrise over the darkest day. Golden light wrapped around me, suffusing his wounds with gilded fire. He cried out, an earsplitting howl that practically shattered my eardrums as I continued to press down on the blade with all my weight.
He fought back, his arms straining to fight me off even though he couldn’t even look at me thanks to the blinding light coming from the Ark. As it turned his flesh bright red, I let go of Excalibur and drove my fist into his side. The blow shattered the bones in my hand, but it also made him shriek.
He moved instinctively away from the blow, and as he did, his grip on the weapon faltered. Excalibur slipped free of his hands, slicing them open before the tip drove into his chest. This time, instead of sinking in only a few inches, the blade pierced through his flesh like it was made of soft butter. The light of the Ark ran down its length, and I felt my weight push the weapon all the way through the General.
As Excalibur plunged through his heart, One’s glassy eyes met mine, and he tried to open his mouth, but all that came out were blood spattered coughs.
You have killed a more powerful foe! Would you like to absorb his strength?
46
After I dismissed the message because the absolute last thing I wanted was the Darkness flaw, the body of One evaporated into dust, leaving behind only a crystalline Essence.
I scooped it up and went to find Lucifer. She lay bloodied but not as broken as I’d thought, and as I tried to rouse her, the strange woman with the eyepatch appeared before me.
“Allow me to help,” she said, kneeling down and placing a hand on Lucifer’s brow. Warm light spread from her touch, enveloping the Devil before fading into her.
“What the fuck hit me, a bus full of buses?” Lucifer cried, sitting up with a gasp. Only as her eyes flicked from me to the woman, her face went as white as a sheet. “You.”
That one word had so much emotion in it, I could scarcely comprehend it. Still, there was one emotion I could gather. Fear.
“Me,” she replied, nodding.
“Wait, I thought you were defeated by One?” I asked, ignoring Lucifer because she was too busy sitting there looking horrified. “Shouldn’t you be …?”
“She is not the guardian,” Lucifer said, getting to her feet. “I’ll be outside.”
“You don’t need to go, Luci,” the woman said, reaching out toward the Devil.
As her fingers touched Lucifer’s arm, the Devil whirled around like an enraged wildebeest. “Don’t touch me.” She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. “Please.” She looked the one-eyed woman over. “I don’t deserve it.”
Without another word, she exited the cave, leaving me to stand there with the strange woman.
“She is wrong,” the woman said, still staring at the entrance to the cave. “She is the most deserving.” She cocked a wry smile at me. “One day, she’ll realize that.”
“Who are you?” I asked as she turned toward me.
“Come,” she said, ignoring my question as she took my hand. “I think your parents will be able to return, and then you must take that to the tree.” She nodded toward the Essence in my hand. “You have all of them, do you not?” Only the way she said it seemed less like a question and more like a statement.
“No.” I shook my head. “Dred absorbed all but three of them into Excalibur.”
“That is the same. It merely means Dred must accompany you to the tree.” She smirked before pulling off her eyepatch, revealing an eye as perfect as the one next to it. “Give him this, it will allow him to return to Heaven.” She offered it to me as we reached the edge of the fountain. “And don’t forget to bring both Michelle and Lucifer with you to the tree.”
“How did you—?”
“Shh,” she said, placing her finger to my lips before vanishing once more into the ether.
I blinked a couple times, trying to orient myself to my reality when my parents reappeared in front of me.
/> “You did it, son!” my father cried, wrapping his ghostly arms around me. “I knew you could.”
“We both did,” my mother said, joining the hug, and I’ll be honest, I wanted to stay in their embrace forever.
But that would have been the coward’s way. I had a duty to do, and I’d do it. For my friends, for the world, but mostly? I’d do it for my parents because they believed in me.
“Thanks,” I said as they released me. “It means a lot to know you guys are proud of me.”
“Of course, we would be,” my mother smiled at me. “Even if you weren’t the Builder, we’d still be proud of you, of the man you’ve become. This is just your opportunity to show it.”
“You guys are the best,” I said, swallowing hard. It was weird because I totally had something in my eye again.
“No, you’re the best, champ,” my father replied, slugging me lightly on the shoulder. “Now, I thought you had a couple swords for us?”
“Right, sorry,” I said, wiping my eyes with one arm before pulling Excalibur and Caliburn from their sheaths.
“Um… we’ll be able to do their sheathes too.” My mom gave me a smile. “Probably should do it all together.”
“Right, sorry,” I said, resheathing the weapons before unfastening both from my belt and offering them to my parents. Once again, they joined hands. More light began to glow, and this time, I was forced to take a step backward.
All my armaments began to glow as the marks emblazoned across my body flare to life. Color cascaded off of me as the light cascading off my parents faded away so that they stood before me, both holding a new sword by the hilt.
Its blade was inlaid with the sigils belonging to all fourteen Archangels, one side for heaven and the other for hell. The hilt was woven with bands of black and red leather, and the pommel was fitted with a glowing tri-color stone that blazed with energy.
Excalibur
Type: Longsword
The Builder's Throne Page 22