The Giggling Dark: Session Twenty-Eight

Months ago Xellous, Telos, and Michael had left Threen alone with her thoughts. During that time she felt horrific remorse for drowning her firstborn son, Charles. Alone for months, she made a horrific wish. And now all the other humans of Khouria have been hulled of themselves, all thinking they're Charles. All because The Nameless had found her and hijacked her wishes. And now Xellous, Koras, and Telos were going to rescue her and destroy The Nameless.

Telos had his enormous greatsword. Kora had Pyra. Xellous had his khen-zai pistol. Little Gerard couldn't come with and Ikuinen Lampo was practically useless in a combat situation. So Kora hesitatingly put her baby into Ikuinen Lampo's arms. Gerard didn't even cry. He looked into Lampo's face and cooed. Kora glowered but relented, gripping Pyra, her superpowerful bow. Leaving the cart with Ikuinen Lampo and Gerard, Xellous, Telos, and Koraheaded twoard where they knew the Nameless were. Xellous changed their auras to resemble those of elves and their journey began. They came acrost a lot of humans who all said "Hi, I'm Charles!" Kora, Xellous, and Telos grew sadder and sadder with each fallen human they encountered. How far did the ruination of Khouria go?

They may have passed hundreds as they journeyed.

As they went over a hill they saw it.

A Nameless.

Its form was shifting into a mass of things... which made no sense.  They all stopped and stared. They couldn't look away. Kora screamed and ran as fast as she could.

The Nameless began shifting towards them.

Telos grabbed Kora and Xellous shouted at her. They needed Pyra to blast that thing open, now. Xellous unloaded his pistol at the Nameless, and it reared back.

Pyra flared.

The wolf's head turned into a bear's. The bear screamed like a woman. The scream had another scream that sounded like grinding steel. Smoke came out of its "chest" as the Nameless fell over.

A gigantic colorless hand reached out of the smoking hulk. Not black. Not even darker than black. Colorless. All hue fled with the advent of that hand. Out stepped something much larger than the Nameless it had inhabited. The world began to frost over, adding a few inches of ice within a few second around the Thing as it stood before them. Kora began to cry. Xellous and Telos were rooted to their respective spots in unimaginable fear.

Looking up, Telos whispered to Xellous: "That's a demon. An actual, real, demon."

Xellous could take his eyes off it. "Yeah... we're fucked."

"Yup."

"Wait, you said a demon, right?" Xellous's head was spinning. All of a the demonology he had studied while trying to figure out what Flammeous Lads were, all the time spent in the Observatory with the monks who were now dead. Something was clicking in his head. "Demons. Real demons. They're not supposed to be in the world. At all. Heaven forbids it."

They were running before Xellous was finished talking. Xellous grabbed Kora's wrist as he ran. The demon had been talking to Kora, telling her that he would make sure her entire life would be an entire hell for uncovering him here.

The whole world went white.

The earth shook in rolling rumbles that knocked everyone and everything over for tens of dozens of miles. They could only hear ringing. White flakes covered them. Xellous, Telos, and Kora were shaking like leaves as they stood. Behind them was a crate a quarter mile wild, and at least that deep. At the center of the crater was a man in white. Gulping, Xellous, Kora, and Telos went down to meet him.

The man's eyes hurt to look at. Something about those eyes just... there was too much goodness. Too much focus. Too much purity. The man was himself. And no one. And nothing else. No judgment could live within those eyes. Just existence. Shaking, Xellous thanked the man for saving them from the demon. The man thanked them, Kora particularly, for cracking the shell. Nameless were the camouflage the demons wore in order to travel the world undetected by Heaven. Now that the man was aware he wasn't going to leave until all the Nameless and the Demons were destroyed.

The man looked at Kora a moment. He grew sad. Walking up to her the man said there were pieces that were missing. But the man could bring them back. He put his hand on Kora's head.

A ball of light appeared in the man's hand. Xellous and Telos jumped. The man smiled and handed the ball of light to Kora; it vanished. The angel explained those were Kora's missing memories. Kora could reclaim them anytime she wished. She deserved that choice, and the man would never force that upon her. Kora thanked him, trembling. The man said he wasn't done saying thank you. He would take them to see Threen, Kora's mother.

They were in Xellous's house. It had rotted in the nine months Xellous had been gone. Threen was in a corner. Her clothes had rotted away; her ribs could be counted, as well as the bones in her legs. Xellous and Kora gasped. Threen stood up, somehow. Looking at Kora Threen began to croak; she was too dry to cry. Her shoulder shook and Kora wrapped what was left of her mother in her arms.  Kora supplied the tears.

"Mommy?"

Something that resembled a child in on name entered the room. Its eyes were burning coals of spite. When Threen had begged for her firstborn, her little Charles who she had drowned, to come back, The Nameless had answered with a simulacrum, a hollow mockery of Charles. This... thing... had been tormenting Threen for months, driving her insane, causing her to keep the rift to the world of The Nameless open, allowing them to corrupt the land of Khouria because of one mother who just wanted to apologize to the baby boy she had drowned.

Threen cried and screamed, begging for "Charles" to leave. Xellous looked at the angel, who nodded: Xellous had the ability to fix this, so he should. Xellous looked over at Telos, who smiled and nodded. Xellous needed no help in this. How long had it been since that hadn't been true? Xellous walked up to "Charles" and touched the snarling little monster. He exploded its little head with one push of aura. Threen collapsed in Kora's arms, sobbing with relief. Charles was gone. The man was was beaming with happiness, but silent. He stood next to Telos, who was drying his eyes silently.

After a few minutes the man asked Kora if Telos could borrow Pyra; he was going to help the man hunt down the rest of the Nameless and needed Pyra to crack the shell so the man could finish the demon off. Looking at Telos, Xellous felt suspicious. He asked fi the bow as coming back. The man and Telos both assured him that Pyra would be returned, even if it had to be teleported to the house. The man and Telos walked out the door.

Xellous came running out after them. He asked Telos if he was leaving. Telos paused a moment and told Xellous he didn't want to overshadow the reunion with Threen. She needed Xellous and Kora. The planet needed them. But not Telos. And Telos could see that Xellous was now in a spot where he was up to the challenge. He had what it took, and Telos couldn't help but feel proud that he got to watch it happen. But the man had told him he was needed back on his world, back on Heranyt. And so Telos had to go.

Xellous hugged Telos, who returned the hug with great warmth. Kora came running out at that moment, saying Telos had been not be fucking trying to sneak off. Telos laughed and thanked them both for saving his life. For being his friend. They thanked him in turn, for Telos had been a constant support to the both of them. Telos said nothing could have given him more pleasure.

Xellous asked the man's name as Kora and Telos embraced.

"Raphael". He gave Xellous a spear the size of his hand. When Xellous needed another miracle he'd know what to do.

Raphael and Telos left with Pyra.

Xellous found a bow in the house. Threen needed food. And Xellous was going to provide. The woods just outside their house had plenty of game.