SWNOVELXO Chapter 25: Chapter 19
CHAPTER 19: THE ASHES SPEAK
...
The Throne of Foresight
The Throne of Foresight was no longer silent.
It sparked and hissed.
Zero sat slumped at its center, his long fingers shaking as he wove what remained of Eden's future into a semblance of order. But the threads burned now when he touched them... and some snapped outright with faint, audible cracks that echoed through the glass chamber like breaking bones.
Sections of the web went black. Entire pathways unreadable. Entire futures gone.
His breath came shallow, uneven, and his eyes... red-rimmed, veins bursting faintly... no longer glimmered with the cold confidence of a prophet. For the first time in decades, Zero looked mortal. Fragile.
And very, very angry.
Below the Spire, the mob still howled.
He could hear them even here... thousands of voices roaring, fists pounding the air, banners snapping in the ash storm winds. Their words slithered through the stone and glass: "Kill that thing! Kill Luther! We are not safe anymore!"
He dug his nails into his palm hard enough to draw blood.
The doors swung open. Envy entered first, floating soundlessly, her translucent form shimmering with faint psychic light. Greed followed, his heavy boots loud, his fists clenched, his face flushed with rage.
"Prophet," Envy murmured. "We are… containing the situation. Barely."
Zero didn't look up. He kept weaving.
Greed, however, did not contain himself.
"These worms!" Greed barked, striding up to the glass rail, staring at the chaos below. "These pathetic, sniveling worms ! Look at them! Throwing stones at the very gods who saved them! Chanting the name of the knife who would have gutted them all! They… they *need us!"
He turned to Envy and jabbed a finger toward the window.
"They need heroes to feel safe, don't they? And yet the moment things go wrong... the moment things get hard... they bite the hands that held them! Have I not bled for this city? Have I not sacrificed everything? I made them safe! I..."
He didn't finish.
A flash of heat struck him across the face, hard enough to send him sprawling to the floor.
Genna stood over him, her flames smoldering, her teeth bared.
"Enough," she growled. "You're making it worse."
Greed clutched his jaw, stunned. For the first time, he was quiet.
Zero finally stopped weaving and straightened in his chair.
But he said nothing.
He didn't need to.
...
The Knife in the Dark
Beneath the ash storm, the Choir of Sins moved.
Their operatives, masked and robed, slipped through the chaotic streets unnoticed, fanning the flames of rebellion. They whispered into the ears of angry citizens. They painted black sigils in alleys and squares. They stoked the crowd's fury like bellows feeding a fire.
One unit slipped through a breach in Eden's defenses, vanishing into the underground. They emerged in the dark corridors beneath the Cradle.
The Knife was waiting there.
Unconscious. Bound. His golden veins dim but still pulsing faintly.
Luther twitched in his sleep, muttering faintly.
"…Naomi… no… no…"
The Choir agents hefted him onto a stretcher and carried him out into the ash. Every so often he whimpered, his eyes fluttering, but he did not wake.
When they reached the hidden base beyond the barrier, Clone 3 was already waiting.
He watched silently as they laid Luther on the cot in his private quarters.
One of them saluted stiffly. "He's secure, sir. Should we stay to assist?"
Clone 3 shook his head.
"No. Leave him to me. Alone."
The Choir operatives obeyed without question.
As the door sealed behind them, Clone 3 knelt beside Luther's still form. He checked his pulse, inspected his wounds with quick, clinical precision. Then he removed his glove and placed his hand over the worst injury, a faint golden light sparking between his fingers as he worked to mend the damaged lattice beneath Luther's skin.
He activated his comm bead.
"…Not bad," he murmured softly. "Minor lattice tear. Some superficial trauma. Nothing that won't stitch."
On the other end, far above Eden, Mr. P leaned against the rooftop rail, smoking quietly.
"Good," came his reply, smooth as always. "Patch him up. Let him rest. He'll heal. Keep him close, but out of sight."
Clone 3 glanced at Luther's sleeping face. "Understood."
On the rooftop, Mr. P exhaled smoke into the wind.
"Wait a little longer, Elian," he whispered. "I'll get you back, my son.
...
The Choir Rises
Hours later, in the ruined cathedral oval the black dawn beyond the barrier, the Choir of Sins assembled.
Their numbers had doubled since their last gathering, the sanctuary filled with black banners and voices humming in quiet anticipation. The sigils etched into the stones glowed faintly, as though alive.
Clone 3 stood at the dais.
Behind him, Luther lay in shadow, still unconscious but alive.
The Voice raised his hands.
"You saw the fires," he called. "You heard their screams."
His masked face turned toward them, calm and cold.
"And now you see the cracks in their glass towers. The false gods of Eden are weaker than they want you to believe. And tonight…"
His voice rose.
"Tonight, we prove it."
The Choir erupted in chants, their hymn rising into a thunderous roar, shaking the old cathedral walls. Their banners flared in the wind as their black song carried out into the ashstorm beyond.
And above it all, Clone 3 smiled faintly behind his mask.
...
The Ashes Speak
Back in Eden, the ash storm howled.
The lower sectors burned. Civilians rioted. The people howled for blood.
"Kill that thing! Kill Luther!"
"It killed my family!"
"Give him to us if you can't do it yourselves."
Soldiers struggled to hold them back, forming lines with shields and shock batons, but the mob only grew more frenzied... driven in part by disguised Choir agitators weaving through the crowd, whispering poison into every ear they passed.
Greed watched from the steps of the Spire, his face dark with fury.
"You ungrateful bastards!" he bellowed, striding down into the square. "You pathetic, desperate children! You need us! You'd all be dust if not for me... if not for us! You think you can stand on your own? You think you can survive without the gods who saved you? You think you're worth saving? You think...."
A single flame struck him in the side of the head, dropping him instantly.
Genna stood above him, lowering her hand. "Idiot again you and your stupid mouth."
The crowd, stunned into silence, began to murmur again... this time angrier than before.
...
The Prophet Breaks
In the council chamber, Zero sat alone.
His bleeding fingers rested on the throne.
His eyes burned. His veins ached. His threads lay broken at his feet.
For the first time, he whispered aloud.
"…I've lost the knife."
The words tasted bitter in his mouth.
And still the crowd roared outside. Still the riots burned. Still the ashes spoke.
Envy entered, pale and breathless.
"Prophet," she gasped. "Luther is missing. The Cradle is destroyed."
Zero rose slowly to his feet.
His face — usually so calm — cracked.
"Fuck…" he whispered. Then louder. "Fuck! How the fuck did this happen?!"
Envy flinched as his voice echoed through the empty chamber.
He sank back into the throne.
And laughed.
Quietly at first. Then louder. Then louder still.
He stared down at his bleeding hands.
"Oh, Paku…" he murmured, chuckling through the pain. "I can't believe it. I really forgot."
His smile widened. His eyes bled. His laughter turned hollow.
"…I forgot how I think like you."
He leaned back against the throne, tilting his head back, eyes burning.
"…Ah… ah… heh… ahhh… Now let's play, Paku…"
And his laugh carried through the empty council chamber, long into the night.
...
Closing Images
The ash storm swirled around Eden's barrier, fires still burning in the lower sectors.
Civilians rioted in the streets, chanting for blood.
Mr. P's quiet laugh echoed faintly in his empty lab.
Zero sat alone, bleeding and smiling.
And outside the city, the Choir's black banners rose higher.
Their voices carried through the dead air:
"Let the gods bleed. Let the knife carve. Let the ashes speak."
...
END OF CHAPTER 19: THE ASHES SPEAK