Chương 7: Vessel

Noah entered the manor with shaking hands. The house was quiet. Too quiet. His footsteps echoed through the halls as he moved deeper inside, each step heavier than the last. The walls were still standing. The furniture was still there. Everything looked close enough to home that, for one horrible moment, he wanted to believe it could all be fixed. Then he reached the dining room. And he saw her. His mother lay on the floor, lifeless and still.

Her skin had turned pale, and her eyes were closed as if she had simply fallen asleep. But Noah knew better. His breath caught in his throat.

"Mom?" He ran to her and dropped to his knees.

"Mom, please wake up." He gathered her body into his arms, holding her tightly as tears spilled down his face.

"Please…" Her body was cold. Noah lowered his head against her shoulder and cried.

"Lux," he said, his voice breaking. Lux stood in the doorway, silent. Noah looked up at her, desperate.

"Please, you have to revive her." His arms tightened around his mother's body.

"You're a god. Not just any god. One of the four primordial gods." His voice rose into a plea.

"Please. You have to. Just like you did for me." Lux's golden butterflies drifted quietly around her.

"I can only perform so many miracles in an era," she said. Noah stared at her.

"I used my ability to revive you." The words crushed him before she even finished.

"I cannot bring her back." Noah lowered his gaze. His mother did not move.

"Mom…" His voice became small.

"I'm sorry." He hugged her tighter, as if holding on hard enough could keep her from being gone.

"I'm so sorry." His tears fell against her pale face.

"If I had been stronger, maybe…" His throat tightened.

"Maybe I could have stopped them." He shook his head.

"Then you would…" His voice broke completely.

"You would all still be okay." For a while, Noah could only cry. Then a thought struck him. He slowly lifted his head.

"Wh-where's Isaac?" His eyes widened.

"And Isabelle?" Lux did not answer right away. Noah's breathing grew unsteady.

"They came here for Isaac," he said.

"Where is he?" Lux stepped into the room.

"Isaac is missing." Noah froze.

"He escaped The Crows," Lux continued.

"But his current location is unknown to me." Noah swallowed hard. Escaped. That word should have brought him comfort. But it did not. Not completely.

"And Isabelle?" he asked. Lux was silent for a moment. Then she spoke.

"Taken by The Crows." Noah's blood ran cold.

"No…"

"Unexpectedly," Lux said, "she was valuable as well." Noah slowly stood, still holding his mother's body close. Lux's voice remained calm.

"If Isaac is the vessel of calamity…" Her butterflies drifted through the ruined dining room.

"Then Isabelle is the vessel of curses." Noah stared at her.

"What do you mean by vessel?" Lux did not answer immediately. Instead, she stepped further into the dining room, golden butterflies drifting around her like small fragments of light. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

"What do you know about the previous seven apocalypses?" she asked. Noah's hands tightened. He knew the stories. Everyone did.

"Each apocalypse was driven by despair and hatred for the world," he said slowly.

"And each one was given power by the Man in White." Lux remained silent.

"A twisted mirror of you," Noah continued.

"The one who blessed them with the strength to slaughter life and challenge the gods." His voice grew quieter.

"Thorns. Permafrost. Combustion. Conquest. Plagues. Curses…" He stopped. The final name sat heavy in his throat.

"And Calamity." Noah's eyes widened as the truth began to settle over him.

"You don't mean…" Lux nodded.

"The Man in White," she said.

"Nihil." The name seemed to darken the room.

"Alongside turning The Doctor into this era's apocalypse, he intends to revive all seven previous ones." Noah felt the air leave his lungs.

"The vessels have already been chosen." He looked toward the empty doorway, thinking of Isaac running somewhere alone, and Isabelle taken by monsters.

"The Apocalypse of Calamity alone massacred half of all life in the world," Noah said, trembling.

"If all seven are revived…" He could barely finish the thought.

"There will be no stopping them."

"That is correct," Lux said. Noah slowly stood. His mother's body still lay at his feet, cold and still. Lux looked up at him from behind her butterfly mask.

"That is why you must become the Hero." Her voice remained calm, but it carried the weight of the world.

"You must stop them before they succeed." Noah swallowed hard.

"How many vessels have they acquired?" Lux turned her gaze toward the broken window.

"The vessel of Thorns is unknown," she said.

"Permafrost has been identified and is easily within their grasp." Her butterflies circled once around the room.

"Combustion is The Doctor's wife." Noah's eyes narrowed.

"Conquest cannot be obtained as long as the Emperor remains alive." Lux paused.

"Plagues is being protected by an annoying man." Noah's hands shook at his sides.

"And as for your siblings…" Lux looked back at him.

"You already know their status." Noah lowered his head. For a moment, all he could hear was his own breathing. His father was gone. His mother was dead. Isaac was missing. Isabelle had been taken. Everything had been stolen from him in a single day. Then Noah raised his eyes.

"I swear," he said. His voice was quiet at first, but it did not shake.

"By the Fafnir bloodline, I will stop them." Lux watched him closely.

"I won't let them succeed." Noah's hands curled into fists.

"Never again will I be powerless in front of them." His green draconic eyes burned with conviction.

"Never again." Lux smiled beneath her butterfly mask.

"Good, good." The golden butterflies around her fluttered more quickly.

"Very good, young Fafnir." She clasped her hands behind her back.

"You are already much better than the last two members of your bloodline I worked with." Noah blinked.

"What?"

"Noah Crest was such a dull perfectionist," Lux said with a sigh.

"And Valor Crest?" She shook her head.

"The Emperor is a sociopathic tyrant." Noah stared at her.

"Are you sure you should insult the Emperor like that?" Lux tilted her head.

"They say there are things even the gods do not know," Noah said, "but nothing escapes his eyes." Lux gave a tired sigh.

"I regret making him the Fourth Hero." She turned toward the doorway.

"And I have said that to his face." Noah did not know how to respond to that. Lux walked past him, golden butterflies trailing after her.

"Now come along," she said.

"Let us begin your journey." Noah looked down at his mother. His resolve faltered.

"Wait." Lux stopped. Noah knelt beside Sarah and gently brushed a strand of hair away from her face.

"Let me…" His voice softened.

"Let me bury my mother first." For once, Lux did not make a joke.

"Go ahead," she said. Her voice was quieter now.

"It is the least you can do." Noah lifted his mother's body into his arms. She felt too light. He carried her through the ruined manor and out to the back, where the yard met the edge of the forest. Then he found a shovel and began to dig. The work was slow. His body had only just returned from death, and every movement hurt. Dirt piled beside him as the hole deepened, but Noah did not stop. Not once. When it was finally finished, he stood at the edge of the grave, breathing hard. Then he looked down at his mother.

"I'll avenge you," he whispered. His hands tightened around the shovel.

"I'll slay every one of The Crows." The wind moved softly through the broken trees.

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you." His voice cracked.

"But I'll make sure your story isn't repeated by them." Noah lowered Sarah into the grave as gently as he could. For a moment, he simply stood there. Then he began to cover her. Shovel after shovel of dirt fell over his mother until the grave was filled. By the end, Noah was exhausted. His hands were blistered. His arms ached. His breath came unevenly. Still, he remained standing.

"I love you, Mom." His eyes burned, but no more tears came.

"I wish I could bury Dad beside you." Noah lowered the shovel. Then he bowed his head before the grave. For the last time, he stood in the yard of his home as a grieving son. When he turned away, he began walking as the Hero. Lux waited near the edge of the ruined yard, golden butterflies drifting lazily around her.

"Off we go," she said.

"We are heading to Artem." Noah looked back at the manor one final time. The broken windows. The ruined walls. The grave beneath the trees. Everything he had known was behind him now. His home. His family. The life he had been too weak to protect. Noah clenched his fists. Then he turned away. Lux smiled beneath her butterfly mask.

"That shall be the beginning of your journey, young Fafnir." Noah followed her without another word. Behind him, Gram remained silent. Ahead of him, the road to Artem waited. And with it, the path of the Eighth Hero.