A Change of Heart

Emrys was no stranger to the labyrinth of subterranean and unearthly passageways known as the Crypto Chthonic Cuniculi. It had been millennia now since he had first stepped foot inside of them, when he had been a mere man. The Druids said that he was mad, that those tunnels led straight to the Underworld, and that he would surely meet his demise.
On all three counts, they were only partially correct. 
Blindly trusting in his own clairvoyance and intuition, those lightless tunnels led down to the very bottom of the astral plane; beneath Hades, beneath Tartarus, beneath even the so-called Darkness Below, which – as its name suggested – was supposed to be bottom of all Creation. Nonetheless, Emrys had reached the very edge of both physical and spiritual reality. There he sat and meditated for years on end, reaching out to the primordial being he could sense just on the other side, a being and place he called the Darkness Beyond. 
Over time, he became It and It became he, until he was Its avatar, never again to fully be the man he once was, but never to fully lose his former self either.
Since then, he had spent a great deal of time stuck inside of an astral serpent, but that wasn’t particularly relevant at the moment. Now, he was headed to the mystic marketplace of Adder’s Folly, where he had pressing business with an old friend. 
It was not entirely safe, either walking the Cuniculi or visiting Adder’s Folly, as both were frequented by his enemies in the Ophion Occult Order. Regrettably, creating a portal directly into Adder’s Folly was beyond even his powers, so he had no choice but to risk a confrontation. 
Adder’s Folly was situated at a crossroads between multiple realities, as well as in between the physical and astral planes. It had been created by the incorporeal beings native to the astral plane, the Gods and Fair Folk whom the Ophion Occult Order collectively referred to as the Elder Kin.
Adder’s Folly had been intended as a summit of sorts, where living Men could meet undying Gods and directly seek spiritual guidance or divine favour. But Men are petty, and the Gods pettier still. Ophion, the World Serpent, commanded his minions to seize the summit for their own. The inevitable Titanomachy eventually brought it all to ruin, forsaken by all the Old Gods, including Ophion. It was for the Serpent’s foolishness that the nexus was now named Adder’s Folly. 
Despite being only a remnant of its former glory, the greatest of Men and the least of spirits still squatted in the crumbling yet colossal ruins, and many a wanderer passed through to seek their wisdom or blessing.  
The sky above was fractured firmament, with crepuscular rays of astral light beaming down through the cracks to light the desolate land below. Primitive dirt paths snaked through the hilly terrain, overgrown ruins, and eclectic architecture that had sprung up over the centuries. 
None of the locals paid much mind to Emrys; just another stranger passing through. The fact that he was a rather large stranger with a suspiciously human-sized sack slung over his back only reaffirmed their commitment to apathy. 
As such, he strode unopposed through the twisting earthen paths until he reached his destination; a tall and crocked stone shop built in the literal shadow of a colossal statue of the Machine God. A hanging wooden sign proclaimed the shop to be Clockwise Contraptions – Certified Custom Clockwork since 1771 AD. 
Emrys gently pushed the door open and stepped inside. Though the door had a small bell attached to it, it hardly seemed like it would be audible over the continuous ticking of the countless clocks and clockwork devices that filled up every possible space in the shop. Most of them were set in prismatic, crystal display cases levitating buoyantly above the floor, gently bobbing up and down while slowly spinning clockwise at a rate of exactly one rotation per minute. 
“Uhrzeigerzinn!” Emrys called out loudly, but politely, knowing that the man he had come to see did not react amicably to being intimidated. At his summons, a lean and elderly man came shuffling out from some hidden backroom. 
He was as pale as death, since he was not technically alive. Overtop of his 19th-century clothing he wore a brass exoskeleton with a small clockwork backpack attached to it. It was a device of his own creation, and the only reason he was still ambulatory and conscious despite having now seen five separate centuries. 
He paused at the sight of Emrys in his shop, taking a moment to adjust his opaque, hexagonal spectacles to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. 
“Emrys? I heard you’d gotten out. What brings you to Adder’s Folly, and my shop of all places?” Uhrzeigerzinn asked, speaking with a strange and obsolete German accent. 
“I need you to fix a broken heart,” he smiled, unslinging his sack and opening it to reveal a deceased young woman, riddled with puncture wounds. 
“Die Arschmade,” Uhrzeigerzinn muttered as he threw up his hands in exasperation. “What in God’s name did you do to her?”
“I did nothing. She’s a victim of the Darling Twins,” Emrys replied. “Twenty non-fatal knife wounds, and one more straight to her heart. I’ve preserved her well enough, and I can heal the non-fatal wounds, but my power’s still too limited to perform a full resurrection by myself. You’re the only person I consider an ally who’s capable of bringing her back for me.” 
“And why is it you want me to bring her back, if I may be so bold?” Uhrzeigerzinn asked in befuddlement, still not daring to get too close to either the corpse or Emrys. 
Emrys pondered the question a moment, casting his gaze down upon the body in pity.
“She didn’t deserve to die. Most of the Darling Twin’s victims don’t deserve to die; it’s their whole schtick,” he replied in contempt. “I watched her die, Uhrzeigerzinn. I could have helped her, but I didn’t, because it would have blown my cover. They tortured her to death for their own sadistic amusement, and I did nothing.” 
“I see,” Uhrzeigerzinn said skeptically as his gaze bounced back and forth between Emrys and the corpse. “And if we should succeed in returning her to life, then what? Do you intend to simply return her to whence she came?” 
“I… was hoping that she might have some desire for vengeance on the Darlings,” Emrys admitted reticently. 
“There it is,” Uhrzeigerzinn smirked. “You want her as a follower, then? Think she’ll pledge yourself to you in exchange for your help taking out the Darling Twins? Are you so desperate for help you’re recruiting corpses now?” 
“I’ve been free upon this plane for a year now, and in that time, I’ve accomplished embarrassing little,” Emrys confessed. “I need people I can trust to work on my behalf when discretion is required. I figure, what better way to earn someone’s allegiance than to bring them back from the dead?”
“I would have started with a living wage and health benefits, but then again I’m not a literal god,” Uhrzeigerzinn replied. “When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail, I suppose. In in any event, it’s none of my business what my customers do with my wares. Let see what I have on hand, shall we?”
The crystal display cases began not only spinning much more rapidly but dancing around the room, gracefully avoiding any obstacles as well as each other in a beautifully choreographed waltz. As they cast alternating rays of light and shadow across the shop, a crash seemed inevitable, and yet they always avoided a collision, sometimes by only a fraction of an inch. 
Display case after display case flew by Uhrzeigerzinn, until he finally spotted the one he wanted. With one touch, the cases came to a standstill wherever they happened to be at the time. The case Uhrzeigerzinn had chosen was full of mechanical hearts. They were crafted from a variety of different materials, some of them perfect replicas of a natural heart, with others possessing far more novel and unusual designs. 
“And how will you be paying today, Herr Emrys?” Uhrzeigerzinn asked, just before opening the case. 
Emrys held out his right index finger, and unwrapped a blood-stained linen cloth, revealing that he was bleeding from a thorn prick on the tip. With his left hand he pulled out a small vial, held it up to his index finger, and filled it with dark blue ichor. 
“I’ve read that Moloch Incarnate won’t part with an ounce of his ichor for anything less than seven virgin sacrifices,” he pronounced as he passed it over to the Clocksmith. “Keep the change.” 
Uhrzeigerzinn gingerly plucked the vial from his hand and took out a bronze monocular device to examine it. 
“Well… you’re an avatar, not an incarnation; not quite the same thing,” he said in the most blasé tone he could manage. “The will of the Darkness Beyond flows through you, but it is still quite safely beyond, not incarnated into your body, so this barely even counts as ichor. Plus, Moloch’s ichor has much more clearly known properties than, ah…” 
Uhrzeigerzinn trailed off as his confidence withered under the cold gaze of an insulted Emrys. 
“But… it is acceptable, I think,” he backpaddled, quickly pocketing the vial out of sight.
Not daring to offend Emrys again, he offered his finest clockwork heart to him. Its opalescent body was woven from the silk of the Fairest Widow spider, its mechatronic inner workings forged from Morgana Silver, its design modelled on the heart of a martyr burned at the stake.  
“I believe this one will fit the young lady,” he said, faintly lamenting parting with such an exquisite work of art. “A shame she’ll never be able to appreciate its beauty.” 
“She’ll appreciate its functionality even more, I’m sure,” Emrys said, telekinetically drawing the heart towards him. The body on the floor began levitating as well, and her damaged heart passed ethereally through her chest and into the air.  
“You’re resurrecting her here? Now?” Uhrzeigerzinn asked aghast. 
“I have to see if the heart works before I leave, don’t I?” Emrys grinned. “You wouldn’t want me coming all the way back here to get that ichor back from you; trust me.” 
The silk and silver heart plunged down into the dead woman’s chest, along with trailing tendrils of Emrys’ black miasma. Through his power, the heart seamlessly integrated into her body, and as it began to beat, it circulated the miasma through her body along with her own cold blood. 
Emrys had kept her well preserved, and it took only seconds to return her cells and tissues to life. Her wounds healed nearly as fast, and since Emrys had kept her soul bound to her body, it snapped back into place the instant her brain was in working order. 
She awoke with a sharp inhale, followed by a confused scream that didn’t seem to know if it was one of agony, horror, or just shock. Her hand immediately clutched to her chest, as the last living memory she had was of a knife going through her heart. She tried to pull it out, only to find that the knife was gone, and her heart was beating stronger than ever, albeit with an unfamiliar rhythm. 
Between pained and horrified sobs, she frantically looked around the room for any sign of her tormentors, and barely even registered that she was no longer in the game studio. 
“Petra,” Emrys spoke softly, his voice soothing and salve-like. “You’re alright. The Darling Twins aren’t here. You’re safe.” 
“I was dead!” she screeched, struggling to comprehend everything that had just befallen her. “They murdered me! Those monsters murdered me! They tortured me, and then they killed me, and it still wasn’t over! I was ghost, I think, I don’t know. I still don’t know, but I was dead and I was looking down at my dead body, and that horrible thing in the audience wanted to eat me! It was going to eat me until, until…”
She paused, struggling to sort through her memory, looking up at Emrys with faint recognition. 
“Until… you ate it,” she murmured, unsure if what she remembered actually happened. “What are you?”
“My name is Emrys, and I’m the human avatar of a primordial deity from another universe,” he replied matter-of-factly. “That’s how I was able to consume the Darling’s pet, and how I was able to bring you back.” 
Petra stared silently for a moment, conflicted between the sheer outrageousness of the statement and the fact that based on her present circumstances, it sounded plausible enough.
“Wh-why?” she stammered. “Why do either?”
“Well, the Darling’s and I have a bit of a spat going on, and on top of that they’re just generally terrible,” Emrys replied. “They’re like me, in a way. They’re not avatars, exactly, but they’ve been influenced or corrupted by something not of this world. The reason I consumed their pet was because my power on this plane has been limited by these.”
He paused to gesture to the silver chains around his neck, waist, wrists and ankles, each link forged in the likeness of an ouroboros. 
“I was, and in a sense still am, a prisoner of the Ophion Occult Order, the same club of magic enthusiasts that the Darlings belong too. They forged these chains to make me more manageable, and now that I walk this plane unchecked, they seek once again to banish me from it, back into the stomach of the World Serpent that they worship, where my astral form still resides. If I do not break these chains, eventually they will succeed, and so I seek to siphon the power of mighty paranormal creatures, until I have enough strength to break free of my chains once and for all.”
Petra slowly opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a violent knocking at the door. 
“Clockwise! Clockwise! Open this door!” the interloper demanded, rapidly alternating between knocking on the door and trying to knock it down. 
“That’s not my name,” Uhrzeigerzinn muttered under his breath. 
“And speak of the devil,” Emrys smirked. “An Adderman must have spotted me.”
“You’d best be leaving then. That door won’t hold him back for long,” Uhrzeigerzinn urged him. “Go upstairs to the attic. There’s a hatch in the roof that opens to a viewing platform. A jump from that height should be no problem for someone of your talents.” 
“Wait, you can’t leave!” Petra protested, jumping to her feet. “I still have no idea what the hell is going on!”  
“Come with me then,” Emrys suggested casually, already heading for the stairs. 
There was a loud smash as the Adderman succeeded in breaking through the door. His crimson cloak obscured most of his features, but what wasn’t obscured was the large, serpentine sword of Damascus steel in his hand. 
He reflexively recoiled for an instant at the sight of Petra, but his disgust immediately transformed into ardent rage. 
“Abomination!” he cried as he moved to impale her on his sword.
Screaming, she stumbled backwards to escape him, and as she did the crystal display cases began spinning and dancing again. The only difference this time was that instead of adeptly avoiding Uhrzeigerzinn’s customers, they all collided into the Adderman assailant without fail, knocking him to the floor.  
“Go with Emrys. I’ll deal with this snake handler,” Uhrzeigerzinn instructed as he glared down at the fallen Adderman in contempt. Having no desire to die a second time, Petra obeyed without question and chased Emrys up the stairs and onto the shop roof. 
The perimeter of crystal display cases parted slightly to let Uhrzeigerzinn through, where he immediately placed his foot on the back of the toppled Adderman, his mechanical exoskeleton affording him more than enough strength to hold him down. He slowly bent down and pulled the sword from his hand, leaving him completely defenceless. 
“They call this place Adder’s Folly, and you belly crawlers still think you’re in charge,” Uhrzeigerzinn snarled, pointing the sword to the back of the Adderman’s neck. 
“If you kill me, you’ll have my entire Order to answer to!” he threatened, though his quivering voice made it clear that he knew his threat lacked credence. 
“You broke into my shop and drew your blade with a clear intent to commit cold-blooded murder; I’d be well without my rights to put you down,” Uhrzeigerzinn countered. “And I’m not without friends in high places myself, as you just saw. I’m very skeptical that the Ophion Occult Order would consider your loss anything worth antagonizing me over. But, fear not, young cultist, for I’m not going to kill you. I’m going to remake you in the image of your beloved God.” 
And as Uhrzeigerzinn used the serpentine sword to sever the man’s limbs, he did indeed writhe like a snake, even if he screamed like a banshee all the while.
***
Petra gazed up at the strange sky, as if she was afraid the shards would fall if she took her eyes off them. Emrys had carried her as he jumped from one roof to another, until eventually ending up on the Crow’s Nest of a massive shipwreck, despite the lack of an ocean anywhere on the horizon. 
“It doesn’t look like anyone’s looking for us down there, so I don’t think the Adderman had a chance to alert anyone before following me to Uhrzeigerzinn’s,” Emrys commented as he peered down at the Folly below. “We should probably make a break for the Cuniculi then, the tunnels that –”
“He called me an abomination,” Petra said solemnly. “Why did he call me that?” 
“You were dead, now you’re not,” Emrys shrugged. “There are those who consider resurrection a power reserved for God alone.” 
“Which you’re not?” Petra asked, genuinely unsure of even that. 
“Not of this World, no,” Emrys shook his head. “As I said, I’m the avatar of another’s reality’s primordial deity; the Darkness Beyond, an all-consuming living darkness. It’s… not as bad as it sounds.”
“It’s in me now too, isn’t it?” Petra asked softly, tears welling in her eyes. “That’s why he called me an abomination. I was resurrected through its power, and now it’s a part of me? Is that how it works? Don’t lie to me.” 
“A trace of It resides in your body, yes, but your soul remains your own,” Emrys assured her. “I know I wasn’t able to return you to life completely unchanged, and if you find these changes unacceptable, I understand. If you prefer, I can let your body die and your soul will ascend to the higher levels of the astral plane, free to join any realm of your choosing that will have you.”
“That’s an unsettlingly polite offer of assisted suicide,” she retorted, managing to crack the slightest of smiles, the first she had managed since Emrys met her. “I heard what you said in the shop, when I was dead or a ghost or whatever. You brought me back because you wanted my help, and in return you wanted to help me kill the Darling Twins.”
“Not kill; not exactly. Killing them won’t stop them, and its too good for them anyway,” Emrys replied. “But, if you help me break these chains, I’ll be able to put a stop to them. You weren’t their first victim, Petra. They’ve killed thousands, and they’ll kill thousands more at the very least if they’re not stopped.”
“And then what? After your chains are broken, what is it you plan to do, aside from stop the Darlings?” Petra asked tentatively, her dancing eyes rapidly evaluating the strange being before her. She wasn’t quite ready to trust him, but after he had humiliated her murderers and brought her back to life, she wasn’t quite ready to distrust him either. 
“A fair question,” Emrys smiled back at her. “And one which requires an in-depth answer. If you like, you could return with me to my sanctum in your reality, and I’ll happily answer any questions you have before you agree to anything. If you don’t like what you hear, you’ll be free to go.”
As Petra considered his offer, it occurred to her that she had not been simply returned to life, but given a new life altogether. She had been shown the world on the other side of the Veil, and it seemed a waste of a rare and precious gift to pretend she hadn’t and go back to the same life she had before. The choice then was not so much about whether or not to return to her old life, but how best to go about living her new one. She could simply wander about blindly, but that seemed fraught with peril and likely to end with her dead again before too long. But Emrys was offering himself as a mentor, and a wise and powerful one at that. All she’d have to do is aid him, and trust him. 
“My soul would have been devoured by the Darling’s pet if it wasn’t for you; I’m willing to hear you out,” she agreed. “Let’s get out of here. Any longer in this freaky netherworld and I’m going to have a goddamn existential breakdown.” 
Emrys smiled at her, and extended his hand. She accepted it gingerly, and without warning he pulled her with him as he leapt from the Crow’s Nest, back down into the twisting chaos of Adder’s Folly. 
 
  
 
Category:Beings
Category:The Vesper's Bell