An Asnean Odyssey: Bastien
Chapter Twenty-Three

Twenty-Three

Liet

When Liet opened his eyes, it was like he was seeing color for the first time. The world was glowing golden. He had trouble focusing at first, but after a few minutes he managed to clear his vision. When he looked at the trees around him, he could perceive every moment of their existence, every leaf and every twisted branch that would ever sprout from their trunks.

Before passing Gage’s faded body, he removed Serena from his pocket, then he approached Skye’s lifeless corpse, kneeling down beside her.

She didn’t glow like the rest of the world. Her aura was a plethora of colors that shone brightly even beyond death. He placed his hand against her cheek and lifted her head, brushing the leaves and dirt from her hair. He placed his lips against her forehead. She was cold. Liet placed her head carefully on the ground again and removed the mirrored pendant from around her neck. He opened it. The surface of the mirror had been cracked into three pieces, each one containing a visage of himself. He closed it and fastened the pendant around his neck, then headed for Asnea.

The city seemed empty. Liet ran straight to the castle. The doors were already open. Through the walls of the castle, Liet could see an odd distortion, which he headed for. He found it in the throne room. Liet stepped through the portal to find himself back in the clockwork sun. Balthazar was leaning on the guard rail of the catwalk. A vile green aura pored over him, seeping into his surroundings.

“Look who it is!” Balthazar smiled. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”

“What did you do to him?” Liet asked as he saw Bastien lying on the catwalk. His stomach had caved in and his skin had peeled away, revealing his putrid bones. A pale purple veil dripped from his still body.

“Don’t worry, I put some blood in his mouth. He’ll be up and about in no time!” Balthazar straightened his stance. “Or at least, he’ll be awake and restored, ready for slaying. Did you come here to join me? I’m sure you’d love a round or two with him, ay?”

“I’m here for you, actually,” Liet began to approach Balthazar. “Your existence is putrid; I can see it.”

“That hurts,” Balthazar laughed as Sverker peeked out from beside him. He walked over to Bastien’s body and picked up Ludvig. “I don’t know if you’ve figured this out yet, but we can’t die! So that pretty much puts your chances of success at zero.”

“I’ll find a way.”

“I doubt it, but I won’t try to stop you,” Balthazar touched Ludvig and Sverker together, causing them to spark and ignite, Ludvig wreathed in black flames, Sverker in purple fire.

Liet flexed his wrist, causing time to slow around him. He approached Balthazar and examined him with his eye. He could see the faint glow of Balthazar’s heart through his putrid aura. As he reached for one of the twin blades, he could hear Balthazar’s distorted voice.

“That’s an interesting trick you’ve got,” Balthazar began to pull himself free of the time lock, causing a rush of blood to be drained from Liet as the manipulator tried to keep him restrained. “I saw you use it before. So, I decided to try it out for myself. Magic is quite astonishing, isn’t it?!”

Balthazar started to slowly move, which made Liet release his control of time to free himself from the stress of using the manipulator. Balthazar immediately began twirling and swinging Ludvig and Sverker. Liet could see a faded image of all of Balthazar’s moves briefly before he made them, allowing him to easily avoid his strikes.

“I know that eye,” Balthazar remarked as he continued his assault, throwing the occasional fireball into the mix. “How did you come to bare it?”

“It was willed to me.”

“Hmm, no matter. Soon it shall be mine.”

Liet worked his way to the edge of the platform, just below the container of blood. When Balthazar swung, Liet threw a punch at him, knocking him back. He then quickly used the manipulator to stop time and approach the container. He detached a tube from the manipulator with a small syringe attached to it and thrust it into the spout on the enormous blood vial. The manipulator started to drain blood at an astonishing rate. Liet approached Balthazar and pried Sverker from his hand. Unlike Ludvig, Sverker did not sear his skin. He pressed the blade against Balthazar’s chest, cutting him open to reveal his pristine organs. Liet began to pluck his ribs like wilted flowers, cutting them out with Sverker and casting them aside. Once he had access to Balthazar’s chest cavity, he plunged Sverker into his heart, then ripped it from his chest.

“Whatever you do is pointless! You can’t kill me!” Balthazar’s voice echoed as he began to slowly move again. The vat of blood had emptied and the manipulator was drawing on Liet again, who quickly released his control of time.

“Because you’re already dead?” Liet asked as vivid red blood erupted from Balthazar’s gaping chest. The wound quickly closed and Balthazar approached Liet, who held Balthazar’s beating heart. The blood leaking from it caused his skin to peel and rot.

“Because I’m a god!” Balthazar cried out as he swung Ludvig at Liet. Ludvig stopped a few inches from Liet’s face. Balthazar stumbled backwards, dropping Ludvig and clutching his chest.

“I’ve stopped your heart,” Liet winced from the pain of the manipulator.

“You can’t...keep that up...forever...” Balthazar struggled to speak as he collapsed on the catwalk. “The second you slip up...I’ll be coming for you...You can’t kill me...”

Liet tossed Sverker to the floor and approached Bastien. His stomach had regained its normal shape and his eyes began to open.

“Have you come to kill me, like I asked?”

“No.”

“Then why are you here?”

“I was told to give you what you deserve.”

“I deserve death.”

“Everyone deserves to be happy. You were just chasing that feeling. That’s why I can’t blame you for killing Skye,” Liet lifted Bastien to his feet and smiled. “You deserve to be forgiven.”

Bastien

“I know you’re here!” Bastien cried out as he approached the pool of lava. His face was dripping with depression and his voice was unstable.

“Why do you bother me?” Ignis’ voice echoed as he emerged from the pool of lava.

“I can’t do it! This pain is unbearable! I can’t live like this!” Bastien collapsed to his knees as he sobbed and pleaded. “Please, just end my fucking existence...”

A smile breached the enormous beast’s lips, revealing its molten fangs.

“No.”

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