Page 74 of Mantle

“No. That’s not what I want.”

“I don’t understand. You called me here to assist with this, yes?”

“He was calling out for help.”

“The being forged to destroy you,” he retorted, bluntly.

“He’s an instrument of others, a victim.”

“The poor bastard was experimented on, cut into, and messed with, just like I was,” Nyx added in. “None of this is his fault. What heisisn’t his fault.”

“So you want me—one of the two people he’s come to eradicate—to assist you with locating him, in a bid to save him—a being created to be a killer, our killer, Ariana—because you believe him to have been unjustly forced into that role?”

“For one, we need to. He’s still here on the mortal plane. He didn’t leave like we were made to believe, like everyone thinks. So there’s that urgency now. And if you can’t accept my rationale, then consider this: if we can reach him—past his programming—and help him, we turn a massive threat into a formidable ally… against the very beings on the Celestial Plane who yearn for our demise.”

The corner of his mouth turned up. “You have come a long way. I am duly impressed.” He folded his arms across his chest. “Very well. Ask of me what you will in regard to this… victimized creature.”

“Nyx interpreted one of the symbols in my dream as signifying that Ketheron is being held by ancient, twisted magic. That’s a broad term. What, specifically, could hold a Celestialbeing, especially to the extent where it’s hurting them and also preventing them from communicating clearly?”

I conveyed the rest of the dream details as well, so he had the full picture.

“Not very many things could accomplish that. From the purely Celestial aspect, there is binding used on the Celestial Plane for those who have been condemned. But it would need to be wielded by another True Celestial being. And I can’t see it being possible to even wield that level of power on this plane. It would have to be rooted on the Celestial Plane itself. There is also Hellfire, which would have to be a profound concentration to accomplish actually trapping a Celestial completely. Blood magic is out, given what he is… impure and manufactured. There would be nobody to match blood with in order to create the spell.” He frowned, thinking on it. “Perhaps we are too focused on the Celestial aspect of his makeup. Ancient… twisted magic… necromancy would bind him from his vampire side. Dark Fae magic has the means to bind the other aspects of his form as well. Binding isn’t just about power in his special case, because of the way in which he was created. He is many things, but theoretically if one of those parts was bound, he should still be able to override it with his Celestial Light as that power is greater than the mortal plane. He could have been temporarily bound and then… leashed, before he had the chance to override that which was used to bind him.”

“Leashed? How? He’s not being held by the Celestial Plane—the proof being this sort of magic in play, and the fact that it was believed he’d returned there, but we now know it just to be a falsity.”

“By those who created him.”

“The magical scientists?” Nyx choked.

“Yes. Ketheron was created as a replacement and improvement upon Draco—a being who could do their biddingon the mortal plane. A means of controlling it and those down here to a greater degree. In order to make that improvement, he wasn’t just borne from Celestial power and Hellfire. He was made up of many lesser supernatural beings also. Somebody who had all those abilities and powers, but could eclipse them all with the Celestial Light also infused within him, and that which also bound all those components together as one. But in order to achieve this, the Celestial Plane required the expertise and collaboration of Chimera Circle scientists. During the process of creating him, it’s quite possible that they could have implanted a means to control Ketheron. Perhaps they wanted to take such a formidable weapon for themselves. Proximity to great power has been known to corrupt many.”

“Who are these particular scientists?” I asked.

“I do not know. All I am aware of is that there were three chosen. Ryker has also checked with Aegis Watch and they haven’t been able to determine who was involved either. It has clearly been covered up well, likely with Celestial Plane involvement and eradication of any viable proof.”

“I can find out,” Nyx said.

Oh no.“Nyx—”

“How so?” Cassius asked, very intrigued.

“I bound my memories of my time trapped in a Chimera Circle lab, but Ketheron proved to be a visceral trigger and I remembered part of it. Because he was there with me. If I can remember more, I could get the identities of these scientists—likely the ones who are leashing him now.”

“Binding your memories to that extent suggests you were escaping severe trauma. To undo that would be highly dangerous.”

“I can still figure out a way. It doesn’t have to be by magic.”

“Remembering at all could be—”

“Halo, I know. It will be horrific. But I’m willing to try. And I need to with what’s at stake here.”

“You can’t force it, Nyx,” I warned him. “Remember what Kai said.”

“I know, but I could at least help it along. Maybe spend some time meditating in a Ruminat hut for the next little while, see if I can access the memories that way.”

I saw Cassius notice how uncomfortable and worried I was about Nyx putting himself through that.

He then told Nyx, “I believe the more efficient option is to search theseburial grounds. We can craft a spell attuned to the type of ancient and twisted magic likely being used. That way, we’ll narrow the field and avoid having to sift through thousands of burial sites.”

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