Threads of the Soul

The next few minutes were filled with a heavy and awkward silence as the three hunters; Astra, Fox and Corvus, worked to prepare the Drake's corpse for whatever it was that Astra had in mind. She didn't care to share details with them, nor her reasons as for why. The most they would get out of her is the occasional word or two of orders on what to do next.

With the assistance of Corvus' godly statues, they had punched a few holes into various parts of the street, indicated to them by a silent gesture from Astra, where they would have access to the distribution wires of the cities power grid. Naturally, due to the inherent danger of the act, when they were cutting the cabling to get access to the wiring inside, the job was mostly performed by either the statues or Astra herself.

As time went on, and as they began to drag handfuls of sparking wires across the ground and towards the gargantuan corpse of the Shelled Drake, Fox and Corvus had less and less to do. Mostly their jobs became clearing debris and acting as moral support, a feeling of dread hanging over their heads as Astra prepared her own torture chamber.

'I really hope she knows what she's doing.'

Letting out a soft sigh, Seth retreated his mind from Corvus and only left a small sliver to keep him aware of the ongoing situation as it developed. Having so many sets of eyes had their uses, such as this, but most of the time Corvus was the only one he kept active in his mind. Two sets of perspectives was enough for the current time.

With what she was constructing, he had a faint idea of the torture she was going to put herself through, even if he didn't understand the full extent of her abilities nor the goal she was hoping to achieve. Most of all, he was surprised she was willing to go through it in the first place.

He could still remember his own 'advancement training'. The hellish experience of his soul shattering into fragments and having to slowly drag himself back together. Every moment feeling like he was crawling on his belly through a field of broken glass and rusty needles. How could he forget such an experience?

Even if he wanted to, his body wouldn't let him forget. He often woke up in cold sweats remembering that day or found himself wondering if this entire experience was just a hallucination dreamt up by his failing mind to act as comfort as he slipped off the mortal coil into the endless abyss.

He knew that wasn't the case, of course. But that never stopped his mind from drifting to those places in the depths of the night. Of all the monsters and hellish creatures that walked this world, how ridiculous was it that the thing that terrified him the most was being alone with his own thoughts. Pathetic.

A weight on his shoulder, followed by a warmth nuzzling against his cheek, dragged him to reality from that dark and cold prison within his mind. Omelette perched on his right shoulder, in an attempt to even out his unbalanced body, and let out gentle coos and rumbling purrs as he rubbed his fluffy head against Seth's cheek.

Letting out a soft chuckle, Seth hooked his finger underneath Omelette's beak and gave him scratches underneath his chin and down his neck, which happened to be the Wyvern's favourite spot and always made a tuft of his feathers raise up on his back.

{Fa-ther}

A soft, childish voice in his mind halted his actions, his finger pausing its scratching which caused much upset with Omelette. After the brief moment of pause from the shock, he quickly got back to the pet owners duty of giving endless pats and scratches.

{Fa-ther. Food. Food.}

'First Bob and now you? I'm never going to go back to being a normal, childless man. Am I?'

Letting out a reluctant sigh and shaking his head, Seth chuckled at the ridiculousness of his situation. Naturally, that wasn't Angels voice in his head. For one, it was slightly masculine while Angel was more female sounding, plus they would never refer to him as father or have any desire for food.

While Bob did one of those things, he had no need for food either. Not to mention he was much more well spoken that this internal voice, even if he hadn't gotten the hang of tonal language yet.

No, this voice could only belong to one person, or should that be one thing. This voice belonged to the little terror resting on his shoulder. A little terror that was apparently in need of some food.

"Come on then Omelette, let's get you some food. We've got plenty left to go through, so no need to dig into these people's supplies just yet."

Giving Omelette another scratch under his chin, Seth set off to collect his jerky from their sole protector Bearemy, his last remaining puppet apart from the statues and Corvus. All the while, Omelette cooed happily on his shoulder, ruffling his feathers in excitement as his voice resounded in Seth's head.

{Food! Food! Food!}

***

As Seth was busy feeding his talkative little friend, who devoured supplies like a bottomless pit in order to fuel his further growth, Astra was putting the finishing touches on her own growth project. Unfortunately hers was very unlikely to be as pleasant or filling as Omelette's.

Dozens of cable lengths had been cut in half, their sparking ends resting close together before being rested atop the head of the deceased giant. Astra was currently positioned between the wires, a collection of them on either side, as she sat in a lotus position atop the Drake's head, as if she was about to do some light meditation or cultivate on the universes bountiful energy to transcend herself to an immortal realm.

If only it was so peaceful and simple.

Taking a deep breathe to steady herself, she placed a roll of beast hide between her teeth so that they didn't shatter or so that she didn't bite off her own tongue. She made sure to give a withering glare towards Fox and Corvus, as if to dissuade them from interfering even if it meant her safety, before snatching up the bundles of exposed and sparking wires.

As soon as they touch her palms, her blackened fingers locked tight around them in an involuntary death grip. Every muscle in her body tensing up at once, threatening to shatter her bones with their strength, as the current of part of a city tore through her flesh.

Before even a second had passed, Astra threw her head back, her eyes snapping open as the veins on her throat pushed against her tightened skin so much that they could see the pulsations of blood and every spasming beat of her heart.

The warm, orange glow of the streetlights flickered as their life force was ripped from them, yet the street didn't grow any darker. In fact it seemed to grow brighter, a dazzling blue light flooding the streets, spilling over the wall and drawing the curiosity of all those sheltered within the confines of the library.

While many adverted their eyes from the intense light and others covered their eyes to avoid being blinded by it's splendour, two men stood resolute. They never adverted their gaze, nor shielded their eyes. They didn't even squint and could barely bring themselves to blink, as they gazed upon the radiant source of the divine light.

Still sat upon the head of the Shelled Drake, unable to move her body as her muscles obeyed the will of the electricity coursing through her, Astra bathed the world in light. Every inch of her nervous system, from the tips of her fingers to the ends of her toes, shone so bright that it was visible through her skin like her nervous system was nothing more than the filament of an incandescent lightbulb.

Lone tears dripped from her eyes before evaporating as her eyes themselves glowed with pure, white light. Countless screams of hellish pain caught themselves in her tensed and convulsing throat, never having the chance to even make it to her mouth where they would be muffled by her bite gag nonetheless.

It was impossible to tell how long had passed, not just for Astra who was bathing in the depths of hell itself but for the observers as well. Every second that passed felt like a eternity, constantly waiting for some sign that this torture was not all for nothing.

But only one person knew such a thing as her glowing eyes stared unblinkingly, not at the sky, but at the transparent screen hovering in front of her face.

[Additional Mutation forming, Catalyst is required. Requesting supplementation package for Catalyst…]

[Request denied.]

[Alternative source of sustenance required, acquiring now.]

With those words, sent from heaven above, bolts of lightning began to arc from Astra's body as she finally let out a hellish, throat tearing scream of agony.