Mother of Midnight

Chapter 155 – The Strongest Fragment

It happened all at once.

Rava’s warnings hadn’t been baseless, though Vivienne never doubted them. She trusted Rava more than anyone in the world—a trust earned in blood and battle, not mere sentiment. But even with that trust, she hadn’t expected this.

The creature that erupted from the frozen ground was beyond grotesque, an abomination born of some nightmare realm where flesh, chitin, and madness intertwined. A massive centipede-like beast loomed over her, each of its legs—if one could call them that—eerily human, resembling elongated arms with pale, clawed fingers that flexed and grasped with disturbing independence. Dozens upon dozens of those arms ran along its segmented, chitinous body, their pallid hue standing in stark contrast to the blackened, glossy shell.

And then there was its face—a face that should never have belonged to such a monstrosity. Smooth, soft, and disturbingly human, it bore the features of a newborn, wide eyes staring blankly as inhuman wails escaped its lipless mouth. The sound was chilling, a haunting mix of infant cries and something ancient, primal, and wrong.

Vivienne, in her colossus form, strained to hold it back. Her massive claws gripped its frontmost limbs, digging into the strange fusion of flesh and exoskeleton with all the force she could muster. Yet, despite her size and strength, it was an even match. The beast was unnervingly powerful, its many legs clawing at the frozen earth, driving it forward inch by inch.

Pain flared through her right forearm—a deep, searing agony where one of the creature’s claw-like limbs had raked her down to the bone. Her grip faltered slightly, her wounded arm unable to deliver the force she needed. Blood, dark and thick, dripped steadily onto the snow below, staining the pristine white with crimson blotches.

She bared her jagged teeth, her breath coming in heavy puffs that mingled with the cold air. Even wounded, even outmatched, there was no retreat in her. Only the fight.

"Rava!" she growled through gritted teeth, her quintet of black eyes flicking toward her companion. "Now would be a good time for that plan!"

Rava cursed under her breath, pulling back slightly as she tried to reposition herself for a better opening. The monstrosity writhed violently, its countless human-like arms clawing and grasping at anything within reach. Its newborn-like face twisted unnaturally, stretching into a grotesque semblance of a smile as it released another bone-chilling wail.

“Kivvy!” Rava barked over the din. “Get a shot in now!”

The goblin, perched on the wagon’s roof, was already fumbling with her magazine, her weapon radiating steam from the last few shots. “Yeah, yeah, working on it! Just keep it busy!” she shouted, one eye narrowing as she focused on lining up her shot.

Vivienne let out a low, guttural snarl as the centipede-thing pressed forward, forcing her back a few paces despite her immense size. The edges of her wounds crystallized slightly, her body instinctively trying to knit itself back together, but the damage slowed her movements. She adjusted her grip, claws digging deep into its hardened chitin, earning her a shriek of pain from the creature.

"Any time now, sweetheart," Vivienne growled, her voice strained but still sharp with impatience.

Rava didn’t waste time with a reply. Instead, she darted forward, her gauntlets crackling with energy as she delivered a powerful strike to one of the beast’s legs. The impact sent a jolt through the air, enough to momentarily unbalance the creature.

Kivvy seized the moment. With a triumphant shout, she slammed the capsule into place and pulled the trigger. A searing bolt of concentrated energy arced through the air, striking the centipede squarely in its distorted face. The newborn visage contorted in agony, and the creature let out a piercing screech, rearing back as its dozens of legs spasmed uncontrollably.

“Hit it again!” Rava shouted, already preparing another strike.

Vivienne didn’t need to be told twice. With a feral roar, she surged forward, digging her claws deep into the creature’s underbelly and tearing a jagged line through its flesh. Dark ichor spilled onto the frozen ground, hissing as it touched the snow.

The monster reeled, its grotesque form spasming violently, countless arms flailing as it attempted to retreat. But Vivienne wasn’t about to let it escape. Ignoring the searing pain in her injured arm—where the gash pulsed with dark, sluggish ichor—she tightened her grip on the beast, claws gouging deep into its slick, chitinous plating. With a vicious snarl, she anchored herself firmly and ripped out another massive chunk of its flesh. The creature shrieked louder, an unholy, high-pitched sound that grated against the senses, like a choir of wailing infants twisted into discordant agony.

It didn’t falter for long. In a sudden burst of panicked strength, the aetherbeast surged forward, its many limbs thrashing and clawing with unnatural force. The sheer weight of the thing drove Vivienne back, her feet digging furrows in the frozen ground as she was forced toward the camp.

Another shot cracked through the air, a lance of dawn energy streaking past Vivienne’s head, grazing her uninjured arm before striking one of the creature’s unnervingly human arm-legs. The impact sent a shudder through the beast, causing it to momentarily falter, but it wasn’t enough to bring it down.

“Watch your aim, sweetheart!” Vivienne barked, voice rough with irritation. Her five eyes flared with a feral gleam as she glared in Kivvy’s direction. “I’m not the enemy here!”

Kivvy didn’t respond, too focused on reloading her weapon. Rava, meanwhile, was circling to the creature’s side, looking for another opening.

Vivienne grimaced, the pain in her arms slowing her down. She muttered to herself, voice low and edged with determination, “I think we could do with more numbers…”

Without missing a beat, she opened her mouth and began to sing, or, at least, what passed for singing in her current form. From her colossal jagged body, the sound that emerged wasn’t a delicate melody but a deep, resonant cacophony, as though an ancient choir of aged men sang in unison from deep within the earth. The sound reverberated through the air, heavy and commanding, vibrating through bone and stone alike.

As the eerie hymn filled the battlefield, the ground around them trembled. Cracks spidered outward, and from beneath the snow-covered earth, crystalline creatures began to rise. Glimmering in the dim light, they pushed aside dirt and snow as they emerged—primal beasts formed entirely of translucent, iridescent crystal. Wolves with jagged, faceted bodies gleaming like living quartz, and hulking swine with tusks as sharp and glassy as obsidian. Each one pulsed faintly with the rhythm of Vivienne’s voice, as though animated by the cadence of her summoning song.

The crystalline creatures wasted no time. With a single, unified motion, they surged toward the centipede monstrosity, their claws and tusks finding purchase in its fleshy, writhing legs. Shards of crystal broke off with each impact, only to reform moments later as the creatures fought with relentless precision.

One of the crystalline wolves leapt at the centipede’s side, its faceted jaws clamping down on an arm-leg and yanking it aside. The beast flailed in response, dislodging the wolf, but two more took its place, their gleaming forms tearing at its flesh with relentless fury.

Rava, seeing an opportunity, rushed in with a growl, her gauntlets crackling with energy. She struck at one of the centipede’s exposed joints, her blow landing with a resounding crack that sent a ripple through the creature’s entire body.

“Keep the pressure on!” she shouted, glancing briefly at Kivvy, who had finally reloaded.

Kivvy nodded, lips pressed into a tight line as she took aim once more, the faint glow of dawn energy reflecting in her eyes. With a steady hand, she fired another shot, this one streaking through the air and slamming into the creature’s torso. The blast sent a ripple of dawnfire through its body, eliciting another horrendous wail.

Renzia darted in from the side, her twin needles gleaming in the dim light. Moving with an unsettling, puppet-like precision, she jabbed at the creature’s soft underbelly, each strike swift and surgical. The centipede let out another inhuman cry, ichor spraying from the small but growing cluster of puncture wounds Renzia had inflicted. Despite the chaos around her, she remained unnervingly calm, her movements precise and efficient.

Vivienne didn’t stop singing, her voice rising in volume, each note thick with ancient power. More crystalline beasts emerged, a steady stream of reinforcements clawing their way free from the frozen ground. The tide of battle shifted, their numbers beginning to overwhelm the centipede-like abomination.

“Push it back!” Rava commanded, landing another heavy strike on the beast’s flank.

Vivienne’s summoned creatures responded instantly, surging forward in a concerted assault. Wolves sank their crystalline fangs into its many legs, while swine battered its side with heavy, glittering tusks. Renzia continued her methodical assault, her needles stabbing in rapid succession, each puncture sapping more strength from the beast’s writhing form. The air shimmered with refracted light, fragments of crystal catching what little sun filtered through the swirling clouds above.

The beast, now visibly faltering, staggered backward under the relentless assault. Its grotesque face, still bearing the twisted visage of a newborn, contorted in pain and fury. Dark ichor spilled freely from its many wounds, staining the snow a sickly, shimmering black.

“Almost there,” Rava muttered, her breath visible in the frigid air.

Vivienne’s song pulsed louder, more insistent now, the echoes of its strange, layered chords vibrating through the frost-choked air. Her crystalline beasts attacked with renewed ferocity, moving as though they felt her rising determination. Wolves clamped onto the centipede’s arm-like limbs, their faceted fangs grinding down with unrelenting force. A massive crystal swine slammed into the creature’s side, its tusks driving deep into the soft, fleshy sections of its segmented body.

The monster let out a piercing wail, high-pitched and alien, as it reared up on its hindmost limbs. With a powerful lunge, it swatted a crystalline wolf aside, shattering it into shards that sparkled in the dim light before reforming moments later. Another swipe sent a crystal swine careening into the frozen earth, its glassy body cracking but holding together.

“Hold it!” Vivienne growled through clenched teeth, her monstrous form straining against the beast’s renewed strength. Her claws dug deep into the centipede’s front limbs, ichor pouring down over her obsidian scales and sizzling where it touched. Her injured arm quivered from the exertion, but she didn’t relent.

“Renzia!” Rava barked, spotting an opening as the beast struggled against Vivienne’s grip. “Now!”

Without hesitation, Renzia darted forward, her movements unnervingly precise. She moved with an almost mechanical fluidity, her canvas skin stretching taut as she closed the distance. Her twin needles gleamed in the dull light, and with a swift, calculated strike, she drove them deep into the creature’s side, right where one of its arm-limbs met its body.

The centipede shrieked, thrashing wildly in response. One of its limbs lashed out, narrowly missing Renzia as she nimbly leapt back. Ichor sprayed from the twin puncture wounds, dark and viscous, hissing as it hit the snow.

“Good work!” Rava called, charging in with her gauntlets crackling. She leapt up, using the nearest crystalline wolf as a springboard, and brought both fists down onto the centipede’s head with a thunderous crash. The impact left a deep dent in its fleshy skulll, and the creature staggered back again, momentarily dazed.

Vivienne seized the chance. With a roar that echoed across the barren landscape, she pulled with all her might, wrenching the centipede’s front limbs apart. The beast let out a final, anguished wail, its strength waning as it tried to retreat.

“Not this time,” Vivienne snarled, her eyes gleaming with predatory focus. She tightened her grip, her claws digging in deeper, and with a ferocious heave, and tore another one of the limbs clean off. The centipede collapsed, writhing in the snow as its dark lifeblood spilled out in torrents.

Kivvy didn’t miss her opportunity either. She climbed atop the wagon, steadying herself against the freezing wind, and aimed her weapon once more. Dawn energy surged along the length of the barrel, casting a faint golden glow across her determined face.

“Move clear!” she shouted, waiting until Vivienne and the others had backed off. When the way was clear, she squeezed the trigger. The shot streaked through the air like a falling star, slamming into the centipede’s exposed underbelly. The resulting explosion sent chunks of chitin flying in all directions, and the beast’s wail was abruptly cut off as it finally collapsed, twitching once before lying still.

Silence fell over the battlefield, broken only by the distant howl of the wind and the faint crackle of crystalline beasts reforming themselves. Vivienne released her grip on the creature’s ruined body, breathing heavily as she straightened. Her monstrous form shimmered briefly, then shrank back down into her humanoid shape, though her scales remained dark and gleaming with ichor.

“That was… unpleasant,” Vivienne muttered, flexing her injured arm. The cut was deep, and though it was already starting to knit itself back together, it would take a while before she regained full strength.

“Unpleasant?” Kivvy repeated incredulously, hopping down from the wagon. “That thing had a baby’s face. I’m going to have nightmares for weeks.”

“You won’t be alone,” Rava said, shaking her head as she wiped ichor off her gauntlets. “But at least it’s dead.”

Renzia stepped forward, silent as ever, and carefully withdrew her needles from the centipede’s corpse. She examined them briefly, ensuring they were undamaged, flicking the ichor off her needles before slipping them back into the folds of her canvas skin.

Vivienne turned her gaze toward the crystalline creatures still standing around them. With a soft hum, she ended her song, and the beasts crumbled back into the earth from which they came, leaving only faint impressions in the snow

“Well, I’m going to eat now, sweethearts. Shall we head out afterward?” Vivienne said casually, already kneeling beside the grotesque creature.

“You’re seriously going to eat that?” Kivvy asked, disbelief evident in her voice as she hopped down from her perch atop the wagon.

“Waste not, want not,” Vivienne replied with a nonchalant shrug, her tone light, though a faint edge of weariness crept into her voice. Without hesitation, she plunged her massive claws into the grotesque beast’s warped, sinewy flesh. The wet sound of tearing meat filled the air as dark ichor spilled freely, steaming faintly in the frigid cold.

Kivvy grimaced, hastily turning her back to avoid watching the grim spectacle. “I’ll just… check on the wagon,” she muttered, retreating quickly to spare herself the sight.

Vivienne didn’t mind. She had long since stopped caring about how others perceived her feeding habits. To her, the rich, otherworldly taste of the beast was worth every disapproving glance and hushed whisper. She tore off a chunk of flesh and devoured it, her black lips gleaming as they moved with predatory efficiency. The flavor was intoxicating—far denser in aether than most creatures she’d consumed.

A complex medley of loam, dusk, and celestial aether burst across her tongue, a harmony of tastes she had rarely, if ever, encountered. It was exhilarating, a rare delight for her insatiable hunger. But as the energy suffused her, it brought with it something far less welcome.

The first memory struck like a bolt of lightning.

Her vision blurred, and the snowy landscape dissolved into something entirely different. A child’s perspective, low to the ground, stumbling through a dense, humid jungle. The scent of damp earth and decaying leaves filled her nostrils. Ahead, a towering figure loomed—its shape indistinct but radiating authority and cruelty. The child’s legs trembled, her heart pounding in terror as the figure turned its gaze upon her.

Vivienne gasped, her claws sinking deeper into the beast’s flesh as the memory tore through her mind. The jungle vanished, replaced by another scene—a grand temple of smooth obsidian walls, the air heavy with incense and chanting. She was no longer a child but a woman, adorned in ceremonial garb. She knelt before a massive altar, her hands trembling as she held a blade. Blood dripped from its edge, pooling on the pristine floor.

“No,” Vivienne hissed through gritted teeth, shaking her head as if to dislodge the vision. But the memories kept coming, each more vivid and jarring than the last.

A battlefield stretched wide under a blood-red sky, choked with ash and the acrid tang of burning flesh. The cacophony of battle rang out: the clash of steel, the crackling roar of magic, and the agonized screams of the dying. At the center of the chaos, a towering figure loomed, inhuman yet hauntingly familiar. Her claws—long, glistening, and black as obsidian—were slick with blood, droplets falling rhythmically to the scorched earth below. She moved with an unrelenting fury, tearing through enemies as though they were nothing more than paper, her every strike precise, her every movement devastating.

Around her, the tide of battle ebbed and flowed. Soldiers in shining armor hurled themselves at her, their blades bouncing harmlessly off her impenetrable hide, their spells dissipating against her unnatural resilience. The sky seemed to tremble with the force of her destruction as she carved through an unending tide of foes, their bodies collapsing into heaps at her feet. Yet through it all, a sense of wrongness pervaded—her motions were too deliberate, her strikes too methodical, as though she were a puppet driven by some ancient and malevolent will.

The next memory surged into her consciousness with the force of a freight train, leaving her mind reeling under its weight. It was all she could do to keep herself grounded, her colossal claws tearing through the centipede's grotesque body with brutal efficiency. Each strike was almost automatic, a primal response, as the overwhelming cascade of memories battered her psyche, threatening to drown her in their relentless intensity.

A vast throne room loomed, its vaulted ceiling disappearing into shadow, lit faintly by a network of intricate machinery that pulsed with rhythmic, otherworldly light. Pipes hissed and gears whirred softly, a symphony of artifice that made the air hum with power. At its center stood a figure of overwhelming presence, her form cloaked in a radiant, unearthly glow that seemed to repel the darkness around her. Her towering silhouette cast long shadows that danced across the polished, metal-etched floor, each step she took echoing with authority.

Another came, no less vivid than the last.

Arrayed before her, a multitude of figures knelt low, their foreheads pressed to the cold ground. Their faces were a mosaic of emotions: awe, fear, and a desperate, fervent devotion. None dared to look up, save for fleeting glances filled with terror and wonder. Behind the figure, the throne rose like a jagged mountain, forged of shimmering crystalline spires entwined with wires and conduits, its very structure thrumming with a life of its own. She gazed down upon her subjects, her glowing eyes cold and calculating, radiating a dominance that brooked no defiance.

The memories came in relentless waves, each one crashing into Vivienne’s mind with greater force, threatening to fracture her sense of self. Every fragmented vision pulled at her, drawing her deeper into an abyss of alien emotions and experiences that weren’t her own. Yet, even as her mind struggled under the onslaught, her body moved with a mindless, feral purpose.

Her massive claws continued their gruesome work, rending flesh and cracking chitin with primal abandon. The aether-rich ichor stained her hands, soaking into the snow beneath her. She was barely conscious of her actions; instinct had fully taken over. The scent and taste of the beast’s essence drove her movements, the primal hunger for its dense aether overpowered everything else.

As she devoured her fill, the memories intensified, overlapping, and fragmenting further. Entire lives flickered through her mind, unbidden—victories and betrayals, creation and destruction, a symphony of foreign existence that burned through her consciousness. Her breathing became erratic, her claws slowing as tremors overtook her body.

When she tore the last chunk free and consumed it, her movements ceased altogether. A low, guttural growl escaped her throat as her massive form shuddered. The world around her seemed to fade, the snow and the cold distant and insignificant compared to the storm raging within her. Her eyes, still glowing faintly with aetheric energy, became unfocused as the last memory struck her like a thunderclap.

Vivienne froze, her massive frame still as if petrified, and then she collapsed to her knees, her claws sinking into the blood-soaked snow. Her body remained upright, but her mind had slipped fully into the cascade of foreign memories, unable to resist their pull any longer. The battlefield around her blurred into nothingness as her consciousness was dragged into the depths of the alien experiences.

The air grew eerily silent, save for the occasional gust of wind rustling the snow-draped landscape. Rava glanced over her shoulder, the tension in her body easing as the last crystalline beast dissolved into the ground, its purpose fulfilled. Her gaze landed on Vivienne, still kneeling amidst the carnage.

At first, Rava assumed Vivienne was merely resting, catching her breath after the macabre meal, but the stillness lingered far too long. No quips, no playful remarks, no triumphant grins. Just silence.

“Vivienne?” Rava called, her voice hesitant as she took a step closer. “Are you okay?”

There was no response. Vivienne’s immense form remained motionless, her claws half-buried in the slush of blood-stained snow. Concern flashed across Rava’s face as she moved closer, crouching slightly to meet Vivienne’s distant, unfocused gaze. “Hey, Viv. Snap out of it. We’ve got places to be.”

Still nothing.

Rava straightened and glanced toward the wagon, where Kivvy and Renzia were watching with growing unease. “Something’s off,” she muttered to herself, then reached out cautiously, resting a hand on one of Vivienne’s massive, scaly arms. “If you’re still in there, give me a sign. Anything.”

As if on cue, Vivienne’s body began to tremble. A low hum emanated from her, soft at first but growing louder, like the reverberation of distant thunder. Rava took a wary step back as the scales on Vivienne’s body shimmered, their dark obsidian hue giving way to a kaleidoscope of shifting colors.

And then it happened.

With a sound like cracking glass, Vivienne’s colossal frame began to shrink. Her horns retracted, her claws dulled, and her monstrous tail dissolved into nothingness. The transformation was swift, fluid, and utterly disconcerting. Within moments, the towering colossus had vanished, leaving behind a figure wholly unfamiliar.

Where Vivienne had once knelt, now stood a plain-looking woman in her mid-thirties. Her features were strikingly mundane: mousy brown hair tied in a loose bun, tired eyes framed by simple wire-rimmed glasses, and a beige coat dusted with snow. She looked like someone you’d pass on the street without a second glance, the very definition of unremarkable.

Rava stared, her muscles tensing instinctively. “What in the—”

Before she could finish, the newly transformed woman jolted, her head snapping up to meet Rava’s gaze. Her eyes, wide and brimming with panic, darted to the wagon, then to the blood-soaked snow around her. Her chest heaved as though she’d been plunged into a nightmare and couldn’t wake up.

“Wh-where am I?” the woman stammered, her voice trembling. She scrambled backward, her hands slipping in the crimson slush. “A lekine? Did you win the grand war? What's going on? I never agreed with it. I swear!”

Rava froze, her lips parting as the stranger’s words registered. The Grand War? Her mind raced, trying to piece together the implications. She lowered her hands further, her voice softening even more. “I’m not going to harm you. I promise. Are you talking about the war between the Sovereignty and the Clans?”

The woman’s breath hitched, her eyes darting between Rava’s face and her hands. “What’s the Sovereignty?” Her words faltered, her gaze clouding as if she were searching for something just out of reach. “Why can’t I remember? What is happening to me?”

From her perch, Kivvy leaned closer, frowning. “The Sovereignty? The empire that rules half the continent?”

“That doesn’t matter right now,” Rava said sharply, her focus still on the trembling woman. She stepped closer, cautiously, watching for any sign of flight. “Listen to me. You’re safe. We will figure this out.”