Derek’s Earth mother had done nothing to protect him and Carl from the abuse while Ezio was alive.
After his death, she had cut her children out of her life, blaming them as the source of her misfortunes and resenting them for taking two-thirds of the settlement that she considered entirely hers.
It was the reason Derek had come to forget her name.
She wasn’t a person and as such she didn’t deserve one.
On top of that, Derek considered those feelings of love and acceptance like weakness, and weakness was an unforgivable sin.
If not for the hunger, the Void would have never entered Mother’s Embrace, no matter how much he needed it. The construct closed its arms, bringing the smaller figure of the Abomination to its bosom.
The spell focused the world energy on Derek while also draining the ground from nutrients and taking fresh water from the stream. Mother’s Embrace also sapped the nearby life forces but did it slowly and gently to optimize their consumption without wasting a single drop of energy.
“Mom.” Derek couldn’t even remember when the last time he had spoken that word was, but surrounded by that warmth, all his grievances disappeared.
He didn’t even question what the nutrients and water were for since his body had no flesh or blood.
He wasn’t hungry anymore and for the first time since he had awoken out of Vidun’s hiding spot, he was at peace. The world energy stabilized his Abomination form leaving Mother’s Embrace free to give the human side everything it needed to recover.
After restless days of constant struggle, Derek fell into a slumber that lasted until the next morning. He woke up at sunrise, shocked by how long the spell had lasted and by having avoided the torture of the hunger for the night.
“This is amazing!” He said while looking at his reflection in the water.
His features were much more defined, closely resembling his human appearance back on Earth. The only differences were that his hair was made of flames and his eyes now shone with pure white light of Decay with no trace of red or black.
“I don’t know what happened, but I feel much stronger than before. Even the hunger has subsided significantly.” With the human side finally healed and all the life forces restored, the Abomination side was stable again.
It didn’t need to constantly feed the human life force anymore, greatly lessening its energy consumption. Even Ragnarök felt reborn. After the whole day of rest, the scabbard was back to being fully red.
The Chaos had been purged and the abundant world energy had brought the power cores of the angry blade and Double Edge back to their peak condition.
“Okay. What do I have to do now? Any change of plans after the power-up?” He wielded Ragnarök, waiting for the hologram, but nothing happened. “Hello? Is anyone there?”
He asked while knocking on the scabbard.
‘No! Fuck no!’ The Voidfeather had fallen asleep as well but when he woke up, he had found himself much weaker than before.
The influx of power from the mana geyser had restored his body, but it had come at a price. The three life forces were now crystallized in their current form. The Divine Beast side needed no effort to prevent the shapeshifting because it had become impossible.
Only a small tether connecting the three aspects of Lith’s life force remained. Now the Void was truly alone, and unless the Voidfeather found a way to revert to the previous condition, that small tether was all that separated Lith from becoming a true Abomination.
***
Griffon Kingdom, Eskar Region, Mirena Plateau, at the same time.
After discovering the truth about Lith’s and Solus’ disappearance, Baba Yaga had excused herself and left the Verhen Mansion.
‘I can’t break the news to Lochra via the amulet. I’d better do it in person so that I can shut her up when needed and keep her from running after Elphyn like a madwoman before I can finish talking.’
The Red Mother had contacted the First Magus and asked her to meet at Silverkeep, Silverwing’s secret hideout where she researched tower crafting. Much to Baba Yaga’s dismay, reaching her friend had been quite difficult and she had left plenty of messages before receiving an answer.
It was the reason when she came out of her tower, the Red Mother was in her Crone form and wore the most disgruntled expression a man would ever see.
“I’m sorry to keep you waiting, but-”
“Shut your trap and listen!” Whatever Silverwing had been doing, Baba Yaga didn’t care.
She went over everything she had learned from Kamila, Ryka, and from her own analysis of the remains of the Chronicler’s Darwen armor. She played the Royal Edict for Lith’s search last just to make Lochra understand how dire the situation was.
“I would love to cuss you out until your ears bleed, to put you on my knees here and now and spank your sorry ass red for isolating yourself like a damn Lich, but that will have to wait.”
Lochra Silverwing stared at her own communicator as if it had betrayed her. She had long since learned how to tap into the frequencies of public announcements of the Awakened Council’s network but she would rarely listen to them.
From the Royals to the commoners, from the representatives of the five races to the last of the apprentices knew about Lith’s disappearance. Everyone on Garlen did. Everyone but Silverwing.
“Are you listening to me or do I have to slap some sense into you?” The Crone snarled.
“I’m listening, but you told me to shut up! Make up your gods-damned mind!” Lochra replied.
“I meant until I was done talking, not forever. Gods-damned children. Always taking everything to the letter.” Baba Yaga grumbled. “Well, what are you going to do about this?”
“What I have to.” Silverwing stood up. “I’m going to look for Elphyn and-”
“And then what?” The Crone cut her short again. “You are just a bright white cored Awakened. Inside the Fringe, the World Tree is as strong as a Guardian otherwise I bet my wrinkly ass Solus would have already escaped on her own.”
She put emphasis on Elphyn’s new name while glaring at Lochra.
“I have a tower, one Horseman, and all my Firstborns are willing to follow me into battle, yet I don’t stand a chance against the Yggdrasill. What makes you think you can do better?”
“Maybe I can’t but I can at least try!” Lochra slammed her fist on the table in fury. “I’m not leaving Elphyn in the vines of that lunatic without a fight. We both know how the World Trees think.
“They won’t ever use Ripha’s tower since they know it has been programmed to serve Elph- I mean, Solus instead of the one who imprints it. On top of that, even if the Tree manages to replicate Ripha’s tower, they won’t let Solus go.
“If someone else captures her, they might make more towers of their own and maybe even discover the weak points of the Yggdrasil’s tower. Not to mention the Tree would have to always watch their back from Elphyn. She isn’t the forgiving type.”
