Chapter 712 - Terra

Zeke gripped the railing, staring into the gray cloud.  He felt it out there.  The Framework.  It hummed with every movement, infusing everything while infesting the very notion of reality with its existence.  The others were out there, too.  Those tentacles of strings, waiting for anyone to be stupid enough to step foot into their cage. 

There was a part of Zeke that wanted to do just that, to throw himself forward so he could continue to investigate the raw Framework.  In the Void, it was laid bare.  No secrets.  He craved understanding in a way he could scarcely comprehend and did not want to acknowledge.

Yet, he was also terrified of it.  The memories of what he’d experienced within the Framework had not faded.  He still felt himself being unmade, his mind being overwhelmed, and his very reality unraveling around him.  Mere recollection wasn’t enough to destroy him, but it definitely was not pleasant. 

Still, he needed to immerse himself in the Framework.  The pull was very nearly undeniable.

But nearly was not completely, and he managed to resist the draw.  One day, he would return.  One day, he would understand.  But only on his own terms, when he was ready.  Until then, he could only focus on the task at hand.  In his mind, there was only the next goal.  The next target. 

Terra.

Everything else was just whispered noise. 

Even so, he couldn’t help but cast his awareness toward the Void, and even though he could only vaguely feel what was on the other side of the gray cloud, he hoped that he’d gain some degree of insight.

“We’re getting close,” said Tucker, leaning against the railing.  “Are you ready?”

Zeke didn’t look away from the Void as he answered, “I guess.  I’m not looking forward to it, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Indeed, the last time he’d fought a greater god, he’d been forced to endure one attack after another, each one enough to obliterate whole armies.  Eventually, he’d been let loose, but even then, he had been thrown into the Framework, which had very nearly torn him from existence.

“Do you have a plan?”

Zeke sighed, then pulled away from the railing.  “Other than what we already discussed?  Not really.  I normally just wing it.”

“Sounds stressful.”

“It’s the only way I know how to fight,” Zeke admitted. 

“I wish I could do that.  I have to plan out every move.  Think of every contingency.  Any other way, and I’ll lock up,” Tucker explained. 

“Wait – you think of everything?”

“I try to.  Sometimes it works.  Sometimes it doesn’t.”

Zeke shook his head in disbelief.  That kind of thing would require quite an organized mind.  Which sort of made sense, given Tucker’s history has a scientist back on Earth.  He’d translated that into becoming a successful alchemist, but it spoke to an overarching nature that Zeke had so far ignored.

“Wish I could do that.  I’m just not built for it, though.”

“You don’t say,” replied Tucker with a knowing grin.  “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, I suppose.  Just don’t bite off more than you can chew.”

“I’ll try not to, but I don’t think I have much control over it at this point.  I’m riding a wave right now.  I sometimes feel like fate wants this, and it doesn’t matter if I agree,” Zeke explained.  “Does that make sense?”

“I think that’s how it feels for everyone who does great things.  You just go with the flow, react how you can react, and do what you can do.  Take control where you can,” Tucker said. “That’s the only way to survive, at least as far as I can see.”

Zeke nodded.  “Wise man.”

“That’s what they tell me,” Tucker acknowledged. “It’s bullshit.  I’m just as clueless as everyone else.  I’m just better at pretending otherwise.  Look on the bright side, though.”

Zeke waited for a moment for Tucker to finish the statement.  When the alchemist remained silent, Zeke asked, “What bright side?”

“Oh – I don’t know.  I figured if anyone knew one, it’d be you.”

Then, he laughed.  Zeke couldn’t stop himself from joining his friend.  It wasn’t really that funny.  Rather, Zeke had simply needed to release a little stress. Laughter was good for that, in his experience.

So was hitting things really, really hard, but that wasn’t really an option.  Not yet, at least.  Soon, that would change.

The laughter didn’t last long before the pair went silent.  Eventually, Tucker wandered off, leaving Zeke to once again turn his attention to the void.  However, he wasn’t in the mood to endure the discomfort, so he soon found his way down into the hold, where some of the off-duty crew had gathered. 

Zeke didn’t know any of them – not personally – but his presence clearly made everyone uncomfortable.  So, he quickly left them to their own devices, eventually sequestering himself in his cabin. 

Not for the first time, he wished he’d let Talia come along.  She’d certainly wanted to.  However, she had her own responsibilities, and what’s more, she couldn’t really do anything to help him.  He certainly didn’t want her to try, either.  If she’d come along, she would be tempted to accompany him down to the planet, which would likely result in her death. 

He couldn’t handle that, so he’d insisted that she stay behind and join the rest of the army in their assaults on various Terran enclaves.  If she truly wanted to help, that was the best way.

For the next few days, Zeke rarely emerged from his cabin.  Instead, he focused inward as he tried to make sense of what he could remember of the void.  Even thinking about the threads comprising the Framework left him with a headache, but he knew that if he wanted to figure things out, he needed to endure a little discomfort.

Still, by the time he felt the ship shudder to a stop, he’d made no real progress.  He felt that he was on the verge of understanding something important, but he just didn’t have enough information.  Or the capacity to comprehend it.  Either way, further contemplation was probably a waste of time.

Especially considering that they had arrived at their destination.

A knock at his cabin’s door heralded Tucker’s arrival, and when he opened the door, he saw his friend waiting on him.  “It’s time.”

“Yeah.”

Without any more words – as if there was anything left to say – Zeke pushed past the alchemist and followed the hall to the stairs.  A moment later, he was on deck and looking at the small boat he would take into Terra’s domain. 

“Remember,” Tucker said, gripping his shoulder.  “Don’t hold back.  Go all out from the very first swing.”

“I know,” Zeke said.  Then, he cracked his neck and boarded the boat.  “Time?”

“We have five minutes until the attack,” said Iris, who’d left the helm to her first mate, Gira.  “You can go now, but you likely won’t be able to hurt him.”

“Better to arrive early than late,” Zeke said, climbing into the boat.  He glanced from Tucker to Iris, then offered them a smile.  “Don’t worry so much.  I’ll just run down there, kill a greater god, and be home for dinner.”

Then, without waiting for a response, he grabbed the oars, which launched the boat into the gray mist.  A second later, he was soaring through the Void.  With it much closer than before, he could feel his revelation hovering just out of reach, but he refused to acknowledge it.

Today was not about discerning the nature of reality.  It was about killing Terra.  So, with unnatural willpower, he shoved everything else aside and focused on his task.  It was just in time, too, because he soon found himself breaking through the atmosphere and sailing down to the land below.

He didn’t dare remain in the boat for long.  Instead, he leaped free, and it was just in time to avoid a giant earth spear that erupted from the ground and rendered it into splinters. 

Zeke landed a moment later, already having switched into his titanic form.  Hammer in hand, he only had a few moments to take in the terrain – all rock, no vegetation in sight – before something climbed free of the ground

At first glance, he thought it was a giant.  Certainly, the size fit.  It was at least as tall as Zeke while  under the effects of [Primordial Titan], but with even broader shoulders.  What’s more, it had a beard made of jagged quartz, glittering, sapphire eyes, and a body made entirely of rock. 

It looked like a sculpture come to life.

It was also clearly built using the proportions of a dwarf, giving Zeke some insight into Terra’s original race.

“Bold,” the greater god rumbled.  It was the sound of an earthquake, sweeping across the land like a natural disaster.  “You come to my domain ready for battle.  Why?  I have no quarrel with you.”

“I think you know why I’m here.”

The greater god shifted, and the world shook with his movement.  “You think yourself the next Creator, do you?  Foolish.  Very foolish.  There is only one Creator.  He stands at the forefront, protecting this reality.  We fill the gaps.  Our former followers, risen to prominence, fighting an eternal war against the Adversary.  Yet, you wish to kill us, to harvest our power and supplant the Creator.  Why?”

“I don’t want to take the Creator’s place.  I want to help him.”

“Foolish child.  You meddle with forces you do not understand.  Power without knowledge is dangerous.  Did Oberon not teach that much, at least?”

“I’m what you might call self-taught.  Oberon didn’t teach me anything,” Zeke stated. 

“He should have.  Then again, perhaps he is manipulating you into walking to your own death.  It would not be the first time.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your patron is no saint.  He is a failure who cannot stand his own stench.  He has seen hundreds – nay, thousands – of would-be proteges to their deaths.  He convinces them to sacrifice themselves, all on the…”

He went silent.

“What have you done?” demanded the greater god, the world shaking with his fury.  Clearly, the plan to slaughter Terra’s followers had begun.  When Zeke didn’t immediately answer, he screamed, “What have you done?!”

Zeke felt the attack coming only a second before his body was impaled by a hundred stone spears that erupted from the ground.  He remade himself only a moment later, then swept his hammer out to shatter the earthen weapons. 

Then, the greater god was on top of him, pounding his face with enormous fists like boulders.  He hit with the weight a thousand mountains, pummeling Zeke into submission. 

But Zeke had been hit before.  He had endured so much.  A few punches – no matter how strong – could never hope to incapacitate him. 

Clearly, Terra did not expect Zeke’s impressive endurance, so he was caught completely unaware when Zeke shoved him away, then followed it up with a baseball swing.  Voromir’s head slammed into the greater god’s chest.  Terra didn’t break, as Zeke had hoped.  But he did stumble away, breaking through a rocky pillar and falling onto his back.

That was the opening Zeke had been waiting for.

He embraced [Primordial Wrath], then slammed Voromir into the earth.  He didn’t aim the skill at Terra.  That wasn’t its point.  Rather, he directed it downward, pushing past the planet’s crust and into the mantle.  He had no hope of reaching the core, but he didn’t need to, either.

The skill activated just like it always did, with a miniature sun and an implosion.  The planet was not built to withstand such forces, but tied as it was to Terra, it did not shatter entirely.

A part of Zeke was grateful for that.  As curious as he was about the Framework, he had no interest in revisiting the Void anytime soon. 

Still, earthquakes swept across the land, spreading huge rifts in the terrain.  More importantly, the force of the implosion reached the core, and it began a chain reaction that would hopefully shatter the greater god’s domain. 

“What have you done?!”

“Evened the playing field,” Zeke answered, advancing, determined to end the fight as quickly as possible.