Deicide the God Eater
The Twenty-Second Chapter

The boy asks himself, who he will be. The man asks himself, who he is. The elder asks himself who he was. The one who is God, asks nothing. – Gnomon.

It had beensome time since Fawn had decided to join the fight against the Aeolipile. She had thrown herself into the difficultpipeline it took to become an active soldier, a mechanically enhanced fighteron par with those that were Eaters, the pride of the Nazareth. They had grown in number as well as overallstrength, able to beat back Deathless forces even though they wereoutnumbered. On their side wastechnology, Deicide had refused to use Negation weapons, even as he watched hisarmies slaughtered in blood soaked fields. After a battle Fawn had always made it a point to linger behind, hopingshe could catch a glimpse of Deicide from inside one of the hangers.

“Come backto bed,” Secant said. Fawn rolled hereyes and grabbed a bottled water from the kitchen. As she walked back to her bedroom she passedFlechette’s room, the woman was already up, religiously maintaining herequipment. Lechwe was across the hall,contorted into some indescribable shape amongst the covers. She hopped over Secant and shimmied back intobed.

“So what arewe gonna do today?” Fawn said.

“Eh?” Secantsaid.

“We can’t liearound all day,” Fawn said.

“Sure wecan. Watch,” Secant said, as he lay asflush as he could against the bed.

“Fucker,” Fawnsaid, pinching him. The two lay tangledtogether for some time, until Secant noticed some of Fawn’s newest bruises, hekissed each one. They were unusuallydark.

“They’vebeen rough on you,” Secant said.

“Eco doesn’tbelieve in wearing the floating armor during training,” Fawn said.

“Yeah. She’s like that. She wants you to always be tougher than the competition,”Secant said.

“I don’tthink eaters actually feel pain though,” Fawn said.

Secantdragged his fingertips across her back where the umbilical plug had been, themounts, now fused with her body would stay, as well as the small well wherevestige was stored, removing the rest of the apparatus would cripple her. Many of those that were forced to come offtheir daily supply of vestige reported being fatigued and sick for months afterthe withdrawal, but Fawn felt fine, causing her physicians to give her strangelooks. Still, the well sitting againsther left kidney remained empty.

Fawn fellback onto her pillow and saw the blinking, scramble light, any moment theentire complex would begin to blare with sounds of battle preparations. She turned down the volume of her antlers andsnatched a pair of ear muffs from her night stand, harshly throwing them overSecant’s head. As soon as the siren wentoff, Lechwe screeched and began to fumble about the room. Flechette was already suited and began to wrestleLechwe into her own battle garments. Fawn quickly dressed in her suit, so much reminding her of an eater’sSkid. Secant had already dashed from theroom, and Fawn shook her head. She hadreminded him the duty personnel were to practically live in their equipment,but she had seen for herself the type of soldiers Deicide’s army created, deathmeant nothing to them, even when it was certain to be permanent.

Out on theplaza, small cars were waiting to take the fighters to the launching station;the drivers looked worse off than the fighters did, frantically waiting forpassengers. As each one filled, it shotoff toward the station. Fawn and hersupport team, Lechwe and Flechette fell into the back of a car and slapped thedriver on the shoulder. They barreledforward, through waves and cheers of the civilian populace. For the first time Fawn realized she wasfighting for something that actually mattered, not a rare mineral mine, or somenoble’s pride, but against a real oppression that had been called sanctuary bythose that created it.

Fawn grinnedas she saw Secant race past the little car on foot. It had been explained to her that whencertain individuals had spent a considerable time as an Eater, their bodycontinued to produce the chemicals which enabled their freakish strength, aslong as they were given a primer. Thescientists onboard the Nazareth had created their answer to the inert vestige,but it was only useful to those who had been exposed to pure vestige, and thosethat had resided in Deicide’s closest ranks.

The carstopped abruptly and the women dispersed, Lechwe went to grab their unit’sallotment of negation shells as Fawn and Flechette prepared their gear. They both slipped on another suit over theone they were wearing, it was covered in contact pads; plates that would keephold of the Floating Armor when not in use. Flechette began to slap on the cross-shaped armor plates, for Fawn. Fawn was using the ‘Domino’ load out, for anaggressor, while Flechette and Lechwe would use the larger, single-layer platesof the support team. When Lechwereturned they began to load their weapons, just as someone brought Fawn’s ToyBox to her, fresh from being modified to fire Negation rounds. She kissed it just when a civilian happenedto be taking a picture of the crew.

Ecocideemerged from the darkness on the catwalk, followed by her sisters, Genocide andVivicide.

“Obviouslysomething’s up. But Deicide’s down thereand I refuse to pass this opportunity,” Ecocide said.

“He seems tobe working them up into a frenzy, don’t expect this one to be easy,” Genocidesaid.

Moments laterthey were jumping through the hanger doors, through their own folds in space,and into a grim and rainy forest. Theplanet had breathable air, but their faceplates were down and as they began tocreep through the trees, they smelled a strange scent. Ecocide and her siblings led the attack,bouncing off the sides of trees so they could see farther ahead. The wet darkness they were trudging throughwas extremely uninviting, the cloudy sky practically scowled at them fromabove. Deicide seemed to have a penchantfor the grim and macabre, someone now on the Aeolipile was possibly takingphotos that would inspire a painting that would hang in his infamous hall ofheroes.

Fawn cycledher weapon out of habit; she liked to feel the ammo revolving inside. They heard an air siren and immediatelystopped to listen; Fawn’s eyes darted back and forth across the gray horizon,replaceing nothing. Once Ecocide gave theorder to move once again, they pressed on and as they came to the clearing,they saw Deicide sitting at the edge of a lake. He was alone, antennas glowing red in the dark backdrop, artificiallycreated by the Abyss.

Fawn’s chesttightened, knowing it was a trap, but was unable to perceive where its edges lie. Ecocide returned to the ground with a heavywet stomp, halting the force. Deicidelooked up, his diamond eyes twinkling in the gloomy, partial light. Ecocide nodded toward Flechette, who began tosetup for a shot. As she laid into proneposition Deicide began to wave lazily.

“Hold it,” Ecocidesaid.

“Aw fuckno. Who the fuck does he think weare? We grew up with this punk; I helpedhim run this game,” Genocide said.

“Yeah, I betHellmouth and White are itching to pop out,” Vivicide said looking up at the trees.

“But whereare the eaters?” Ecocide said.

“More thanlikely in the lake,” Genocide said.

“That isn’ta lake; it’s some kind of peninsula. Look,” Secant said, pointing to the left and right of them.

“Hey!” someoneshouted. Before Ecocide could give theword to retreat their entire flank was met with a wall of the void. From the folds of the physical darkness thathad emerged, an array of eyes and tortured feminine moans. It shot up and over their heads, until theywere encased in a lightless dome. Fawnimmediately began firing, her face lit up by the muzzle of her weapon. The Negation rounds tore temporary holes inthe structure of the Abyss, but were quickly filled and she was amused by theirpersistence.

The Abysswas as large as she had ever been, their negation rounds could not begin thechain reaction which would be needed to weaken her, so that it would leave herpup vulnerable. The Abyss’ screams blared through their communicationequipment, leaving them practically deaf on top of being blind. Unseen black tendrils sliced through the airaround Fawn’s person; she heard them crash through the armor of her allies,they hollered as the oily javelins gushed poison into their bodies. The countless voices of the Abyss laughed atthe anguish she had caused, the kind of madness one only remembers from anightmare, the type of chaos very few could survive unscathed.

The sound ofmetal warping was heard as the infinite mouths devoured the guts of those thathad been speared, eating them from the insides. As Fawn witnessed the atrocities surrounding her, not once did the Abyssattack her. In fact her inky fibersseemed to go out of their way to avoid contact with the woman. She remembered that an unusual privilege hadbeen forced upon her by Deicide’s wife and now the Abyss was her hellishsister-in-law; or perhaps a mother-in-law?

In the lightof a few red flares their group had managed to light off, Fawn saw theLionesses had finally engaged Deicide. Shewatched as Deicide fought the women with a lazy grin on his face, lookingcompletely relaxed as he blocked and redirected their attacks. His movements appeared overly rehearsed, likea simple math equation chiseled into some impossibly hard stone; the outcomewould always be the same. As she crossedin the darkness surrounding her, the Abyss barred her passage. She fired a short stitch of shells to freeher path, but this alerted Deicide to her presence. As if Fawn had called his name, Deicide turnedtoward her, then grabbed Vivicide by the face without looking and rammed herhead into a black spike that the Abyss had provided. The Abyss pumped herself inside the woman’sbody until vestige bled from every orifice. Inside her body, every cell was being reprogrammed so that it would fallinto lockstep with the Abyss’.

Overtaken byrage Ecocide surged toward Deicide, slashing impotently with her claws as hebackpedaled into the Abyss. Fawn urgedGenocide to calm her sister while she looked for a way out. She found Flechette maintaining a sizeablehole in the Abyss towards the way they had come; she fired into it at steadyintervals. The woman shuffled amongstthe mutilated bodies inside the dome until they reached the tear in the blackspace. Outside was considerably brightercompared to the madness inside, Fawn thought as she was pushed through thehole. As Ecocide attempted to escape theAbyss, the creature oozed over the hole, sealing her in. As the women concentrated their fire, theAbyss’ eyes turned outward and flared up at them as Deicide stepped throughcasually. As they continued to laysuppressive fire upon him, all rounds were absorbed by the Abyss, her seeminglyinfinite mass continued to bleed from an unseen source as the Negation shellsfound her lightless walls.

Deicideraised his hands as they emptied their magazines. Fawn attempted to reload her weapon, butGenocide stopped her by placing a hand over the Toy Box. Fawn scowled at the woman, but then caughtthe faces of Flechette and all the others who had made it out alive. Flechette, Secant and many more retreatedwith a subtle signal from Fawn. TheAbyss giggled as she dumped a pile of dry, shattered bones drained of theirmarrow.

“Somethingfor you to bury,” Deicide said, grinning like a wolf god. His uniform was still creased and dry despitethe storm of wet entrails that took place within the folds of the Abyss. Genocide lunged forward, but she stoppedshort as the Abyss blocked her path. Fawn could hear the voices of the Abyss in her own mind. She felt the presence of ancient women aroundher, whispering to her about the great success of their Last Son.

“Go,” Fawnsaid, as she activated her floating armor. The plus shapes lit up and began to orbit her frame. Genocide started toleave, but then paused and turned back to Deicide.

“You returnwith your people,” Deicide said. Fawnurged Genocide to leave, and as soon as the two were left alone silence filledthe space between them. The Abyss waitedfar behind Deicide not wanting to attack Fawn. Fawn watched as Deicide spread his killbox far into the woods, behindher visor Deicide’s sovereignty gave off a bluish hue. She held the Toy Box in front of her, justabove the knees. She tried to slow herpulse and listen to the monstrous echoes from Deicide’s mind. Besides the choir of the Abyss moaningpraises of encouragement, she could also hear the whispers from signals thatcrossed into Deicide’s mind, fleeting, nothing remotely intelligible. The minds of Fawn and Deicide were linkednow; somehow, she could hear what he could. She wondered how anyone could put up with this and still remain sane;there were so many, some babbling, others voicing unrelated concerns. She was startled by Deicide’s sovereigntypressing against her suit, the only thing keeping her away from his influenceinside the killbox. It radiated a field whichdiverted the forceful pulses being sent from Deicide.

“You rushtoward a death that is certain,” Deicide said.

“Nothing iscertain,” Fawn said.

“My victoryis,” Deicide said.

“By whoseword?” Fawn said.

“The Abyss,”Deicide said.

“That thingis nothing more than a mirror of your own delusion,” Fawn said.

Deicide grinned. “Those aren’t your words,” Deicide said.

“Are theytrue?” Fawn said.

“No,” Deicidesaid, looking back towards the Abyss. “She’s a promise.”

Fawn heftedher weapon and fired where her mind told her Deicide was to be next, but herphysical reaction was far too slow. Inthe time it had taken her to send a message to her brain to tell her muscles tomove, he had already crossed the space between them and found his way to herflank. The Toy Box converted to thelaser saw as she spun around. Deicidecaught the weapon, the laser blade singed the inside of his forearm as hecrushed and warped the weapon with strength alone. Fawn snatched the weapon away and sent thebattering ram towards his face. As theblunted end of the object came into contact with Deicide’s scarred hand, the pressurizedgas released and shot backwards out of Fawn’s grip. The Toy Box skidded away across the dampground before the jaws of the Abyss; she consumed and wrenched it apart insideher folds. Fawn’s punches and kicks wereuseless against Deicide, not even bothering to dodge them; instead, he grabbedher limbs mid-strike and tossed them away.

“TheLionesses were only a threat because they gave everything,” Deicide said.“Luckily Abyss gives much more.”

Fawn openedher visor and switched off her suit, ignoring the screams in her mind tellingher no. As the singing of the Abyssbecame louder and louder she realized that it was coming from her own mind, theAbyss was already with her, telling her that she had no reason to fight Deicide,but there was also another. Fawn ignoredthe cries, but the touch never left. Shecould feel a presence slithering underneath her skin and over her eyelids. It was then that a new presence made hislevel of coexistence known; Fawn could feel her arteries bulge as the creaturelined her arterial walls. Then her heartwas caressed by a frigid claw and Fawn expelled a frosty vapor from herlips. Fawn had never believed in a Godtheory, but she was sure, if one did exist, it would feel exactly as she feltnow. Her sovereignty began to spill overinto Deicide’s, forming a dogbox; the two sovereignties inside were shovedviolently against one another. She feltso sick to her stomach she doubled over, her veins shone black across her beigeskin. The rapid beating of her heart wasaccompanied by a strange chatter, unintelligent voices babbling to herconsciousness.

“That’s it,”Deicide said.

Unable tohold in the boiling stew in her gut any longer, Fawn wretched up a thick graypaste. The material swirled around herlegs and feet, bubbling and writhing until a face emerged at its surface. Fawn recoiled and fell over backwards; thegray sludge crawled up and over her knees and pooled onto her stomach. Its creamy eyes widened as she took notice ofthem, a jagged white grin formed just beneath them. It began to speak in hundreds of tongues,sounding as if someone was tuning a cosmic radio, and then as if by magic Fawncould understand this mass speak. As sherose she could see that the Abyss was smiling with her eyes; the connectionbetween them severed. Fawn’s body hadfinally transformed the vestige material into something useable; it was amiracle she had not died before the process was complete.

The grayvestige flared its long and flat, ribbon arms, slowly wafting behind Fawn likea great idyllic sun, it was Long Arms. Deicide approached casually as the Abyss loomed over him like an ominousblack cloud. With each breath Fawn couldfeel the union become more and more complete, this new entity, this other, wasparsing her every memory, consuming what it felt was pertinent. Then suddenly her hate for Deicide drainedaway, and there was only a concern for her brother, the animalistic malice shehad struggled with her entire life was encapsulated by this strange creature,her hate had a face and it shown itself just behind her head; a grinningwhite-eyed monster. Her vestige clung toher shoulders and wrapped itself around her arms, where it hung like a greyshawl. It snickered rudely at thoughtsmost decent people kept to themselves, in attempt keep society civilized. It was then she realized what this creaturewas, an embodiment of the wicked little devil and pious angel that sat on eachshoulder, but this being was much more honest than the pair; pureconsciousness, pure impulse.

Suddenly,the Abyss needled the earth around Fawn with her black tendrils. She avoided them easily and prepared forDeicide’s rush. As he struck at blindingspeeds Fawn anticipated the attacks as they moved within all space of thedogbox. It was almost as if gravity didnot exist. As she fell upwards into thenight sky, she repelled downward as the Abyss arced to slice at her. She touched down, but soon leapt away asgiant black thorns peppered the trees around her. It took all of her focus to avoid the jaws ofthe Abyss snapping and gnashing all around her. From behind her Deicide emerged from the ocean of the Abyss and rippedat the vestige that surrounded her. Shewatched as the scars at the corners of his lips tore open to allow his jaws toincrease their circumference. He thrustthe gray vestige he had torn away into his mouth and chewed it like a wad ofgum. Fawn had been completely surroundedby the Abyss and only Deicide remained in the darkness, the only lightavailable was coming from his antennas.

To Fawn itseemed they had battled for an eternity within the black dome, her muscles werebeginning to shake and her teeth felt loose. She could no longer dodge the Abyss or Deicide. He had consumed most of her vestige and shefelt as though she would collapse in front of him if they went on anylonger. Deicide grinned as the Abyssnailed her to the ground with black spears. She struggled to sit up, but one was driven straight through her leftshoulder. Two through her legs hadbroken both of her femurs. As the Abysssnatched her tendrils back unmercifully, she giggled and drew herself away,revealing the night sky once more. Shehappily shrank back to her usual size, and formed around Deicide like a cloak. Fawn desperately struggled to raise her headas the remaining vestige plugged her wounds to avoid her bleeding out.

Deicideknelt over her and brushed her pink bangs out of her face. Her head trembled as she desperately strainedher muscles to move, but she was helpless to stop him. She looked up into his eyes, hating him,wanting to taste his blood. A bittertaste filled her mouth, the vestige was secreting pain relievers into hersystem, and she closed her eyes and waited for the cold embrace of death.