Chapter 678 - Responsibility

Zeke sat with his elbows on his knees as he stared at the floor.  Oddly enough, there were leaves scattered across it, many of which had gathered into piles in the corners.  They smelled fresh. 

But he wasn’t interested in them.  Nor did he care about the rest of the embassy’s décor.  It would have been incredibly easy to get wrapped up in the cozy inn aesthetic, but he refused to acknowledge it.  Instead, he was focused on the things he’d learned only an hour before.  Since then, Oberon’s presence had disappeared, leaving Zeke to come to his own conclusions. 

“You don’t have to do it alone,” Eveline said, appearing beside him.  When Oberon had flickered and faded away, the others had vacated the common room as well.  Zeke wasn’t certain if it was at the god’s command or if they had made that choice of their own accord.  But he appreciated it nonetheless.

He glanced at his companion. 

Unlike what had been the case inside the various circles of Hell, her image was no longer faded.  Instead, she looked as solid as she ever had.  That made it difficult to ignore her beauty, dangerous though it was.  Once, she’d been a succubus, and she’d used her appearance – as well as her potent mind powers – to seduce other demons in an effort to gain advantage. 

And though she didn’t actively use her abilities against Zeke, those traits hadn’t faded. 

“If you keep thinking along those lines, I’ll start to think you like me,” she said.  “Like, like-like.”

“That’s a lot of likes,” he remarked with a small smile.

“It was, wasn’t it?” she said, taking a deep breath and looking up at the ceiling.  “I was serious, though.  You’re not in this alone.  I’m not going anywhere.”

“Even if you could?” he asked.

She shook her head.  “I don’t think so,” Eveline responded.  “We’ve been through too much together.  I know it wasn’t actually thousands of years in Hell, and even if it had been, I was locked away for most of that time.  But I never left you.  I was right there with you through it all.”

She took another deep breath.  “It’s odd to think about it, but I’ve been like this for longer than I was a regular demon,” she said.  “If you take those thousands of years into account, I mean.  I don’t even think of myself in those terms anymore.”

“So, why do you look like that?”

“What?  This is how I’ve always looked.”

“We both know that isn’t true,” Zeke said.  “I remember that story you told me about the elves.  About your home world.”

“Technically, they weren’t elves,” she said in a small voice.  “Not as you know them, at least.  The ones in the Eternal Realm were artificial creations of a god who –”

“You’re avoiding the topic.”

“What do you want from me, Zeke?  This is who I am.”

“You can appear however you want,” he insisted.  “Why not try out your old form?  Maybe you’ll feel better.”

“People find it unnerving.”

He shrugged.  “So?  People are stupid.  Show me the real you.”

Clearly, she didn’t need to breathe, but she still took a deep breath before saying, “Okay.”

Then, her image shimmered before contracting into a small ball of swirling light.  Oddly, the first thing Zeke thought about was a memory from his youth when he and his brother had chased fireflies on a balmy sunny night.  They’d been happy back then, but that was before everything had gone wrong. 

Before Tommy had really gotten sick.

Or maybe it was before Zeke really understood the implications of it all.  Regardless, that was what he thought of when he saw Eveline’s true form.  Of course, she was far more beautiful than a little bioluminescence.  Her light covered the entire spectrum.  Blue swirled into green, and green became yellow.  At the same time, reds and purples intertwined.  A hundred other colors – some only tiny variants of primaries – twisted around, forming a ball of magnificent light only a half foot across. 

“So?  What do you think?” she asked in a small voice.  As she spoke, her form flickered.

“You’re perfect,” Zeke answered. 

She flickered a few times in rapid succession, then said, “I…I forgot what it was like.”

“Does it feel different?”

She bobbed up and down, saying, “No.  My perception is based on your senses, so it’s the same as it was.  If I had truly taken on my old form, everything would be entirely different.  We saw everything as streams of energy.  I know now that it was mana.  There was nothing solid in my world.  Not to me.  The elves were different.  I sometimes wonder how they saw things.”

“If you’re not comfortable with this, I understand.  I just thought it might help,” Zeke said.  “But don’t keep it going on account of me.”

“I…I think I can stay like this.  When I appear, at least.  But for now…”

She disappeared, then from inside his head, she added, “I think I’ll stay here.”

“Fair enough.”

“What are you going to do?” she asked. 

“Part of me wants to tear this city apart,” Zeke admitted.  He hadn’t forgotten what lay beneath the surface.  The pretty picture that everyone else saw wasn’t real, and it simply concealed a hell just as horrible as the ones he’d left behind in the pit. 

“But?”

“But I don’t know if I can.  I’m stronger than a lesser god, but I don’t think I can compete with one of the greater deities.  Not yet,” Zeke revealed.  “Maybe I’d survive it, but there’s a good chance I wouldn’t.  I think…I think I need to take Oberon’s help, go to his domain, and reunite with the people in the tower.”

“I’m sure they’ll celebrate when you return,” she said.

“If they even remember me.”

“They do,” she stated.  “Remember where your divine energy comes from.  They’ve been worshipping you all this time.”

Zeke leaned back in his chair and ran his hand through his hair.  It was long and ragged, and he knew he did not make for a very appealing sight. 

“I really just want a shower, more food, and some rest,” he revealed.  “Like, a month or two.”

“Well, this looks a lot like an inn.  I’m sure they could accommodate you.”

“You know what?  You’re right.”

With that, Zeke pushed himself to his feet and looked around the embassy.  His first impressions were right, and it wasn’t long before he found an unoccupied room.  There was no one else around – everyone had vacated the premises the moment Oberon had disappeared – so he just slipped inside, shut the door behind him, and took advantage of the facilities. 

Fortunately, the room featured a private bathroom with running water and a tub.  So, it wasn’t long before he stripped down and took a long, hot shower.  The ability to clean himself was something he’d always taken for granted. Aside from his time in the troll caves, he’d always had running water available.  But in hell, the availability of bathing facilities had been sporadic, at best. 

The only place where he’d access to proper grooming was in the Circle of Fraud, and he’d been in no position to enjoy it.  So, he took his time in the shower, even going so far as to run a bath full of steaming water.  He sank gratefully into it, and as his muscles unkinked, he found himself drifting off to sleep.

He never fully lost consciousness.  Instead, he hovered on the edge of sleep.  But it was relaxing enough.  Thankfully, the hot water never cooled, so he was able to enjoy it for as long as he wanted.  Still, after a couple of hours, he picked himself up and headed to the mirror. 

After he wiped the steam away, he couldn’t help but shake his head at the person staring back at him in the reflective surface. 

Hollow eyes dominated his familiar features.  He recognized himself, of course.  But he’d changed.  Part of it was simple age.  Technically, he was thousands of years old, and while his skin remained smooth and largely unwrinkled, his eyes bore the weight of those years. 

His body looked healthier than it ever had, with lean, bulging muscles and an athletic frame.  There were scars there, too.  So many scars.  Some were still angry and puckered, but others were faded and barely visible.  Zeke couldn’t even remember where most of them had come from.

But he knew they went deeper than his flesh.  They were marks on his soul – evidence of all he’d overcome.  Of all the mistakes he’d made along the way.  Of all the lessons he’d been forced to learn. 

No man should’ve had to endure so many grievous wounds.  Most would have long since died. 

“But not you,” Eveline said.

“Not me,” Zeke agreed.

He knew he wasn’t invincible, but he was also more than aware of just how much it would take to kill him.  He couldn’t allow himself to become mired in false hubris, though.  That was when he’d end up picking a fight he couldn’t win.

And besides, just because he wasn’t easy to kill didn’t mean his enemies couldn’t hurt him in other ways.  Captivity was always an option.  So was hurting his friends.  Certainly, he was not invulnerable, and he needed to remember that.  The alternative was unconscionable. 

Suddenly, he remember that his storage space was available, so he summoned a pair of scissors and started trimming his hair and beard.  Over the years, he’d become quite proficient at cutting his own beard, but he was more than a little out of practice.  Plus, he’d always preferred letting someone else take care of it.

“I’m sure they have barbers here,” Eveline suggested.

“I am not letting one of those demons close to me with a sharp instrument.”

“Probably smart.  I wish I had hands.  I could help,” she said.

Zeke shrugged.  “I’ll make do.”

And he did, though the results weren’t nearly as neat as he’d hoped.  On top of that, the scissors had dulled to almost nothing, notching in a few places from the sheer durability of his hair. 

But it was better than it had been, so he dismissed the scissors and summoned another set of clothes.  After laying them out on a nearby couch, he gratefully sank into the bed and promptly fell asleep.

Outside of the Circle of Fraud and a few times when he’d passed out, Zeke hadn’t really slept in what felt like thousands of years.  Sure, he’d closed his eyes on a few occasions, and he’d sunk into something akin to a shallow sleep.  But it wasn’t the same. 

Even now, he held himself on the brink of wakening.  He trusted Oberon – at least to a certain extent – but he wouldn’t truly relax until he was back inside the tower.  But he was comfortable enough to sink a bit deeper than normal, and for almost ten hours.  So, it was more rest than he’d gotten in years.

When he finally rose, he didn’t feel like he was in perfect condition, but his thoughts did come a little more clearly.  That was enough to confirm that he needed quite a lot more rest before he embarked on any great campaign of conquest.  It was one thing to know he needed to kill a half-dozen gods, but something else altogether to put that into practice. 

Zeke wasn’t so naïve as to believe it would be easy or that he could do it alone. He needed support.  And more than anything else, he needed to be at the top of his game.  So, the first order of business was to return to the tower, but to do that, he needed to get out of Mak’tar’s domain. 

So, without further ado, he rose, dressed, and headed downstairs.  Once there, he called out, “Oberon.  If you have a plan for me to get out of here, now’s the time to let me know.  Otherwise, I’m going just carve my own path.  I might die in the process, but forcing my way through is kind of my only move.”

Oberon flickered into being only a second later.  “So, you have accepted your responsibility?” he asked.

Zeke shrugged.  “I don’t know about that, but I have no issues killing a couple of gods.  I have a bone to pick with Shar Maelaine.  And Oda’s on my list too.  Eta…well, we’ll see.”

“And me?”

“We’re good.”

What he didn’t add was an all important addendum.  Instead, he merely thought it. 

For now.