Chapter 40 – Only Memories

Linton wandered through the darkness, lost and alone. He was small, and he was frightened.

Demons slid around his feet, biting at his ankles. He pressed on. There was no other choice. Mommy would be upset if he ran back to her.

That horrible, indescribable face appeared before him. The blackness was too compact for him to see, but the thing was close enough to sense. Close enough to make him bow with its very presence.

“Interesting,” Couldess said, his voice echoing over the endless black plains. “To have seen such horrors.” He paused. “Now it makes sense why the pirate governor aided you in ferrying away your family. She’s your mother. Of course.”

Mommy appeared behind Linton, wrapped his arms around him in a warm hug.

“Good boy,” she whispered in his ear. “One more time for me.”

Her clawed hands closed around his neck. She squeezed until she cut off his airflow.

Couldess blew out a deep breath and the darkness whirled away, replaced by a wet street corner on a muggy day. Linton was released. He fell to his knees as he caught his breath.

A tall, gaunt man with bright blue hair offered the only real spot of color in the grey, drab scene. He stood before a red wagon with blue letters on its side, reading: ‘BLUEBIRD’S MAGNIFICENT MAGIC SHOW.’

A small group of children were gathered around the man, watching with rapt attention as he pulled several white pigeons from his coat, releasing each into the air until he had some ten birds circling around his head. He held open a roomy pocket on the outside of his coat and the pigeons dove into it one by one, vanishing into the impossibly small space.

Linton giggled at the display. He stood up and clapped his hands. Bluebird bowed and took off his hat with a flourish, releasing the same flock of white birds from his untamed hair.

“Ah, I see,” Couldess said as he appeared next to Linton. He rubbed his chin with two fingers. “This is your original muse, then. I suppose you had to have gotten your treasonous ideas from somewhere.”

The world warped. Linton stood at the base of a large, wooden platform. Bluebird knelt on the edge of the platform, weighed down by chains. A truther in a long coat and wide-brimmed hat stood behind him, a pistol against the back of his head.

Bluebird grinned to the crowd of people who had gathered to watch him die. He bowed, as deeply as his chains would allow, as though this was nothing more than the end of one of his performances.

The truther blew his brains out the front of his head. Linton was showered with blood.

“Hmm,” Couldess snorted. “Fool should have known better.”

The scene changed a third time. Linton grew. He was placed in a chair, a book in front of him and a notebook in his lap.

Academy.

A young man appeared in the doorway, knocking on the rim. “Hey, Linton! Me and the boys are going out for a drink. You coming or what?”

“No,” Linton said dully. “I have work. So do you, if I’m not mistaken.”

The young man rolled his eyes. “Right. Always the boring one.” He disappeared into smoke.

“You take your revenge seriously, I see,” Couldess said, appearing behind him. “To think that everything I built nearly toppled because of your petty vengeance.”

Linton stood up off his chair, letting the notebook slide out of his lap. He turned to face the minister. “Fuck revenge,” he said. “I’m making this world right and strong again. You think you know me because you’ve seen these memories. You’re wrong.”

Couldess regarded him, smiling to himself. He stuck his hands in his pockets. “Oh, I think I know you better than you’d like to let on.”

“Get on with it,” Linton said.

“What?”

“Get on with it already. We both know why we’re here. It’s not for the sake of rummaging through my dusty old memories.”

“Why are we here, then? Enlighten me.”

“So that you can gloat. In your head, this is all about you. You think you’re the absolute center of the world you inhabit.”

Couldess’s smile faded. “You couldn’t be more wrong. None of this is for my own benefit. It’s all for her. For them.”

Couldess paused, walking around Linton’s old dorm room. “Since you took the quick access elevator to my office, you will have seen the Screamer. Charming nickname. Tell me, what did you think of my work?”

He turned back to regard Linton. His face had become a mask of stone.

“Honestly?” Linton asked. “A little sloppy. Your vivimancy isn’t nearly as good as your psychomancy.”

Couldess chuckled joylessly. “You’re quite right. Less and less time to practice, these days.”

The locale faded away into smoke, replaced by a sunlit beach. Couldess looked out over the water. “I had a wife,” he said.

“She died,” Linton said.

“Yes. She was robbed from me.” He sat down in the sand. His shoulders slumped. In that moment, he looked weak. “I would like you to hear her story before I kill you. As pathetic as it sounds, Granhorn, while you are my enemy, you might also be the closest thing to a friend I have left.”

Linton sat down next to him. He watched the gently bobbing water with the man he hated, fish snapping at insects on its surface.

“Her name was Lee,” Couldess said. His voice was suddenly hoarse. “She was a beautiful, I mean gorgeous woman. Full of life. She had these eyes that…” He made a vague gesture with his hands. “I can’t describe it. It’s like all the life in the whole world was crammed into those two little points.

“I hadn’t been with her very long when it happened. I was too busy with work. I didn’t take enough time for her. I should have been with her that day.”

“What happened?”

“She was walking home late. A man stopped her in the street. Forced himself onto her. Brutally. Wounds on the outside didn’t heal for months. The ones on the inside…” He sighed. “She was never quite right after that.

“She became pregnant from the ordeal. I pleaded with her, but, gentle soul that she was, she wouldn’t get rid of the baby. We had Tess.

“That’s why she’s my miracle. Somehow, she inherited all of her and none of him.

“It didn’t take me long to find out who had violated Lee, especially with the MOW’s resources at my disposal. His name is Yari Wellum.”

“The Screamer,” Linton said.

Couldess nodded. “Correct. I wanted to prolong his suffering for what he had done to her. I had planned to kill him at some point, cut his misery short, but then…”

Couldess remained silent for a while. Linton didn’t push.

“Like I said, her spark disappeared after that day. I did everything I could to help her. I rewrote her memories of the incident, but every time I did, the implanted memories rejected. The experience had placed such a black mark upon her life that even I couldn’t remove it. The implanted memories became even less effective over time. Eventually, they did nothing to hinder her melancholia.

“Lee hanged herself. Tess found her. She was six. My wife left me with only my daughter and my grief. And so, I vowed that I would never let anything similar happen to Tess. That I would rid the Concord of scum like Wellum. Make it a safer place for everyone.”

Linton nodded slowly. “And in so doing, you created a nightmare.”

“My vision was never perfect, I’ll grant you. But you’re solely responsible for the nightmare. You and your group.”

They were silent for another minute.

Couldess stood. “It’s time for you to go, Granhorn. Because of the modicum of respect I hold for you, I’ll grant you a quick death. Well, quick-ish.”

“Not just yet,” Linton said. “I haven’t been entirely upfront.”

“Oh?”

“I hid something from you.”

“I sincerely doubt that.”

“A spectator.”

“A what?” Realization slowly crept over Couldess’s face, and his eyes widened. “No…”

A sharp jolt upset the balance of the serene landscape. It split open, spilling grey fog.

The dream faded away and Linton jerked upright, drawing in a deep gasp.

Couldess stumbled away from him, a knife buried in his side to the hilt. Tess stood over him. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

“You told me she died in an accident, you bastard!” Tess cried. “You didn’t just lie—you changed my memories! Mom and I… What else did you change, huh?”

“Tess, you have to understand…” Couldess said, sinking onto one knee. He gritted his teeth and fumbled at the knife grip. “I did it all for you. You were never supposed to carry this burden.”

Slowly, Linton got to his feet, He leaned down and picked up his pistol.

Tess backed up from her father, cradling herself and sobbing uncontrollably. “How much did you change? How many memories?”

“Nothing else,” Couldess said firmly. “Just the one.” He groaned as he extracted the blade from his body and threw it aside. With a muttered rune, he began to mend the wound in his side.

“How could I believe you?” Tess screamed. “How could I believe anything now?”

Linton pointed the gun at Couldess’s head.

The minister brought up a hardlight shield just in time, blocking two bullets, and rolled behind the desk. Linton rounded it to get a clean shot, and Couldess leapt at him, fury in his eyes.

He got Linton on the ground, closed his hands around his neck. He squeezed with unnatural strength, and Linton could only gulp uselessly in an attempt to get air. He tried to angle his gun at Couldess, but it was slapped away.

Linton’s vision became blurry. He did everything to stay conscious, repeated his breathing technique, but he didn’t have many seconds left. Without air, he couldn’t speak any runes, either.

Tess came up behind her father and plunged the knife once more into his back. Couldess stumbled back, letting out a hoarse gasp, and Tess stepped out of his way. He bumped into the desk, teetered around it, and fell against the glass doors at the far end of the room.

Linton gasped and rubbed his throat. Slowly, slowly, slowly, he got back up, pitching forward into the desk. He supported himself against it, shuffling around the side and falling to his knees before the Minister of Welfare.

“You…” Couldess hissed, blood bubbling between his teeth. “You.”

“Yes,” Linton panted triumphantly. “Me.”

He grabbed the black curtain that hung beside the windows and pulled the fabric tight around Couldess’s throat. He placed a knee on the man’s chest and pulled hard. His face went red, then purple, then blue.

Couldess reached up, hand shaking, to throw Linton off. Two fingers thudded uselessly against Linton’s face before his arm fell limp.

Linton wasn’t sure how long he held his choke hold. He continued until the man no longer breathed and his aura had all faded away. Minutes, probably.

Tess sobbed in a corner of the room. Linton ignored her.

He tied the curtain securely around Couldess’s neck, opened the balcony door, and dragged the minister’s corpse outside into the cool air. With a last exertion of strength, he hoisted Couldess onto the stone railing, left panting.

“I win,” he said.

Linton pushed Couldess over the side, letting his corpse hit the edge of the balcony, slowly swinging.

He took a step back and surveyed the burning city before him.

***

Merith Whittler entered the Council Chamber, her cane tapping rhythmically on the hard floor.

Four of the councilors sat in their chairs like fat little gophers, surrounding the Prime Councilor himself. Their own guards were dead. Several of Whittler’s most loyal soldiers had taken their spots, standing in a semi-circle array around the back wall of the room.

Azor was the only councilor who retained any semblance of composure. She could respect that.

“What is the meaning of this?” Azor asked in his loud, imposing voice.

“Nothing, really,” Merith said. “Just me arriving too late to stop the bloodthirsty Bluebirds from killing you all. Regretfully, they have already murdered those of your colleagues who attempted to flee the city.”

Azor opened his mouth to speak. Merith raised her hand.

A torrent of gunfire abruptly cut off anything the Prime Councilor might have said. Her soldiers stopped when the old men were dead. They then piled them up to be burned. It wouldn’t do to have any of them coming back as constructs.

“Excellent work,” Merith said before turning to leave the room.

One step closer to peace. One step closer to true unification.