Chapter 364: Glimpse of the Harvest

The gap in the interference did not last long thereafter, but neither did it reseal cleanly as the enemy would have liked it to.

Lucifer took advantage of the lingering impression, pressing against it before the blank sector could lock itself down and make the experience worthless. Nyx was at his side the moment he moved, the living darkness slipping into the thinning space and pressing itself against the gap’s edges, Aeloria adding her own authority a breathe later, forcing the space to remain even as the repair systems within the sector fought to force it closed.

The support element was on standby, refusing to leave the broken trail they had forced and cleared in the first place with Heron’s quiet presence watching their backs, the last members of the Origin operative maintaining their surveillance upon the drifting and broken constructs, ready to deal with any further threat.

The gap widened just a touch

Through it, the enclave was apparent in startling detail

The cold, unbroken space without walls, only layered densities of compressed law forming a great circular cell stood before them with the orb in the center; black and flecked with gold; slow to turn, surrounded by thin rivulets of the authority being stolen, feeding the central sphere with each turn and each pull until the orb itself reached out with thick tethers of stolen order to bind each of the old progenitors. As perusal led his gaze, Lucifer spotted the two faces which mattered most before his eyes could wander.

Damaris hovered just to the left of the orb, body whole but drained of its power in steady pulses, the golden glow struggling against the siphon’s pull in defiant, short gasps.

His were the only eyes open within that space, but even through the distance, Lucifer could see the moment of recognition in his father’s gaze as the gap reached stability and allowed perception to work through.

To the other side of the orb in turn, barely a hand’s breadth at the nearest tether’s edge hung Lilith, already further harvested than any of the rest, only the promise of continued extraction preventing her dark essence from being wholly devoured despite the binding chains, neither of which allowed movement nor respite, but when the gap was right, her own sight found him across the impossible space, her gaze locking onto his with the same undimmed intensity it had worn when she first reached through to find him.

The familiar faces of Elara, Kaelthos, Fenrir and the rest of the old progenitors were there to add to the tableau, all of them in the same state but for steady presence to be counted upon in feeding the orb, their voices stifled by the suppression field but more than loud enough for Lucifer.

Nyx’s voice was quiet at his side. "The orb is closer to threshold than you expected. The density is high enough as is and with the siphon continuing as it is, the completion will not wait on us."

Aeloria’s face was paled by the effort of keeping the gap open. "There is no chance at breaking on this strike. The barriers are stacked on the other end specifically to keep this sort of attempt at bay. A full assault would kill us and most of this group trying just on this opening."

Lucifer did not take his gaze from those within the enclave as the realization of the cold sensation which had plagued him through the seat of Remu became apparent in the thin tethers of authority binding the progenitors and feeding the orb, his parents very much alive, very much bound still, their harvest reaching a point where he would have been able to see the orb as a finished weapon before the final charge was applied.

The entity in question was just reaching awareness of their presence as well, stepping forward into full view on the opposite side of the orb, tall, composed, shifting between sharp lines of white light and more humanoid impressions of pale gold.

As soon as its notice of them was taken, the contact’s temperature dropped several degrees.

Ah,

the entity said, its voice carrying clearly over the span of the intrusion, calm expectation in the sound. The late seed does indeed possess teeth, as I suspected might be the case. How long do you believe it will take for you to force such a visitation?

Lucifer’s authority flared at the borders of the gap. Release them. . .

The being’s head tilted slightly in thought. No. Their authority has long been committed to the foundation, and Father’s return requires a denser supply than anything this garden’s lesser fruits may offer on their own. This hybrid of yours and the witch, the dragon, the others, they each play into a larger scale for the same purpose I have mentioned thus far. You should be just slightly proud; your family’s involvement is the reason such progress has been made thus far.

Damaris’ and Lilith both kept their unblinking gaze upon him, powerless to deny what they know through the sensation of being bled and bound despite their efforts to hold themselves to strength.

Aeloria’s voice rang up sharply through the presence. The gap is failing! We are not going to hold!

The force of Nyx’s dark presence pressing harder against the boundary was the confirmation needed. A few more seconds at the very most.

The entity raised a hand, placing it lightly upon the orb, its black and gold surface rippling outward. You will not come on this path, hybrid. The farther defenses are not mere constructs. They are walls of defense, not harvest. Turn back and build yourselves up as you see fit, but understand that every increase in the mass of your authority will simply lend more to the same restoration you have so furiously opposed. When the threshold is reached and Father walks, the Loom shall be set free, and your struggle will be something written into history and thereafter ignored.

Lucifer fought harder, trying hard enough to force the width to widen with every ounce of True Divine authority he could muster, but the barriers screamed with the effort and refused to give way entirely.

Damaris’ golden essence flashed once in answer, no more of it held as the entity’s warning was made clear, just as much as Lilith’s dark gaze held steady.

The sector’s repair systems won the contest with them and the gap was gone; the view, the impressions of what lay beyond as a cold prison vanquished with it. The unseeing emptiness of that spot in space resealed itself behind them as though it resented the disturbance, the force of its will far stronger than it had been.

Lucifer stood staring through the blank sector, his breath tight, the flare of his presence still seeking the confirmation it knew was there.

They were alive.

Alive and bound and being drained as he had feared in the first place.

And the one holding them had already decided its own outcome with everything the orb’s creation was.

Aeloria let her hands fall away, residual starfire crackling and dying at her fingers now that the task was down. We have the proof, you know, the evidence of the enclave. The harvest. Your parents are real and they are still in there, but I don’t believe you were mistaken about the second part, either. We are going to be too light to press through with this strike on what would be available in the next few days.

Nyx kept her black eyes on the spot the gap had been in. That changes the conditions, does it not? We can no longer think on this as a probe mission, not when everyone’s lives are in the balance and we have faces and names we have seen on chains.

Lucifer pulled more of his weight back under control, the metronome’s call coming through in the distance but still going regardless, steady on its beats. We return, Aeloria. That will not stop until it is in range for a proper breach, no matter how long it takes. We recondition the strike and come back before what they hold has passed the point of no recall. There is no reason for me to wait before taking them free.

No one argued the point.

The sector was again blank, unseeing; behind the interference, the harvest continued. And for the first time since the old progenitors had all vanished in turn, Lucifer saw clearly what was being done to all of the rest of them, and who was doing it.