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Chapter Five Hundred And Two – 502

Emptied Spirit. Felix narrowed his eyes at the inverted woman. Not far from his side, Beef seemed to have fallen fully unconscious. You dont sound like Hallow, and you certainly dont look like her.

The beautiful older woman shifted her shoulders, her smile fading a bit more. The voice you normally hear is filtered through Beefs core space and my own power. I am capable of inhabiting multiple Bodies by my very nature, after all. The form before you is one that Michael found the most comforting when he created me.

Comforting? Pit asked.

I am a near-exact replica of his mother, Helen.

Felix traded a glance with Pit. Alright. Thatswell, I cant fault him for missing his mom. But how?

The emptiness shook around them as a burst of chill shadow once again suffused both platforms, above and below. When it cleared, more ice layered over Beef and Hallow in almost identical patterns of frost.

The woman that claimed to be Hallow grimaced, stretching her neck so that the ice cracked and snapped. Though I wear this face, I am unaware of Michaels beginnings. I only know snippets of the time before my creation. Michael was brought here, summoned the same as you, Lord Autarch, and dumped into the heart of the Scorched Expanse. There he fought beasts and monstrosities, changing his Race in order to survive, and yet coming closer to death with every passing moment. Her eyes were bright and colorlesslike empty glass orbsyet her gaze bored into Felixs. I am a result of that trauma.

Felix could understand that. The first few hours of his arrival had gone badly, too. What are you, Hallow? I thought you were a Skill that Beef had learned, but what youre saying is suggesting something else.

That smile returned, still sad but now somewhat impish. In an effort to extract the magic he required to survive, Michael did the impossible. He wrenched free his nascent Spirit by some virtue of his Unbound nature. Me. I am his Spirit, whole and completely separate from his Body and Mind.

Whoa, Pit said, beak agape. Youre not a Companion. Youre a Beef.

Hallow, please. Michael gave me that name shortly after I inhabited the corpse of the first Sandwolf he killed.

Not Helen? Felix asked.

Hallow frowned, her expression turning dark for the first time since shed started speaking. I am not Helen. I only wear her face for Michaels sake.

He makes you look like his mom? Felix asked.

Unconsciously. It was a form he chose when he began to visualize his core space and he first found this empty chamber.The initial posting of this chapter occurred via N0v3l.B11n.

Right. Empty because you werent here any longer.

Exactly.

This lightthis is Beef protecting the rest of his core space from the ooze? Felix asked, pointing to the barrier around both platforms.

Incorrect. This is me protecting the rest of Michaels core space. He is trapped, as I am, and barely holding on. I do not know why it is resonating so deeply with his Spirit, but I fear that even this solution will not hold for long. Another burst of darkness, worse than the last. Thick ice crawled up Hallows chest. Her face twisted in pain, but her voice was steady. Not long at all.

Felix heard the increasing violence woven in the dissonant expulsion of ice and shadow. Whatever the ooze was doing, it was getting stronger. For the briefest of moments, Felix sent his awareness outward, back along his Link toward consciousnessand found his Link slam into a solid wall. Felix drew in a sharp, angry breath. What the hell?

The door out of Beefs core space had closed.

That is dire. The ooze is touching more of Beefs power than I anticipated. Despite the bitter cold, sweat beaded along Hallows pale forehead. It dripped off, turning to icy slush before vanishing into the dark. My barriers are failing, and it isit is claiming him.

Felix whirled toward his friend, the teen Minotaur who just wanted to have a fun adventure. Ice had crawled up onto his jaw and around his face, locking his square, bovine head into a menacing snarl. Beefs eyes were open, but inside there was only a deep, terrible darkness.

Hallow panted with wide eyes. There was no sad amusement, just a mounting panic. Lord Autarch. Felix. If it takes him, I do not know what will happen. I am its point of entry into his core. You must destroy me.

Absolutely not. Felix spun from Beef to glare at Hallow. You think Id just roll over and kill an allya friendbecause some eldritch ooze wants to start calling the shots?

A friend? Hallow asked, quietly.

Yeah! Were all friends! Pit agreed with a bright chirrup. His wings spread, beating at the dark and crackling with sudden lightning. And we fight for friends!

Damn straight. Felix glared at the two platforms, Mind whirling. Okay, what do we have? Barrier. Echo of the Regalia. Ooze. Whats the deal with the broken plinth there?

Hallow seemed unable to speak for a few seconds. Uhmthatthat is one of the few extant pieces of his Spirit. All the stone you see before you is such. A chunk was requireda piece of himselfwhen he formed my Homunculus. Primordial power or not, such a creation was beyond Michaels abilities without a piece of who we are.

Oh. Yeah. Beef swallowed, but the lump didnt vanish. He looked up, where the endless white expanse was stained by skittering, blue-purple shape. He had trouble focusing on it, like he was staring at buzzing static through a rain-soaked windshield. Ropey strands hung from itthat much Beef could make outstriking out in every direction like they were swatting at flies. If it was as huge as the appendage that swung for him, then the thing was absolutely monstrous. Whatthats the Creatures ooze?

Hallow nodded, and recent events flooded back to Beefs bruised Mind. He recalled feeling ill and unsteady and the long fight down the root tunnel. He remembered falling.

Bastard sneak attacked me, he muttered. What do we do? How do I fight this thing? Am I in my core space?

You are. The Autarch stepped into it to save you.

Felix is here? He saw my core space? Oh god, thats embarrassing! Beef suddenly wished he hadnt dodged that massive tendril. At least then hed have been at peace. Whatwhat did he say? Anything?

Hallow leveled a look at him, so similar to one his mom would use.

Yes! Yes, that is what Im worried about, right now! Beef swallowed. His fur felt too hot, and his hands were sweaty. What did he see?

Beef. Focus. Felix needs you, now.

That stopped him. Beef lifted his eyebrows. Felixneeds me? Pride swelled in him and he puffed out his chest. What does he need? Wait, where is he?

Hallow pointed. Up.

Beef followed her finger, gazing up into the fuzzy mass of monster that seemed to be slowly expanding. Or getting closer. Except parts of it were whirling this way and that, slapping outward at the endless white like gooey frog tongues only to be batted away violently. Beef focused, straining his Perception, and could barely make out another shape beyond the blue-purple blob. It too was massive, like the shadow of the moon itself, lit with flashes of blue-white and red-gold. Too fast to truly see.

Whawhat does he want me to do? he asked, staring up at his friend that was battling the behemoth.

He needs you to embrace the storm, Michael, Hallow told him. Her voice was quiet, but the words almost boomed in Beefs ears. We both know what that means.

Beefs breath caught in his chest, tangling around the vast riot of power that still waited within his core space. I have to?

Hallows colorless eyes were soft as she looked at him. His mothers eyes had been brown, and sometimes it was all Beef could use to assure him that Hallow wasnt his mom. You have been delaying the storm for weeks, Michael. Perhaps in another time you could have avoided it entirely. But you were given a choice. You chose to be selfless. To help, uncaring of the costs.

Now it is time to pay.

Beef looked back up, where the white nothing had begun to fade. It was a shell, his Mind whispered to him, a protection, keeping him away from the monstrous battle that was occurring beyond his senses. Felix was there, Converged with Pit, scales darker than the black around him, whorls of cyan glowing upon his chest and arms in an echo of his haunting eyes. Wings made of scale, claw, and feathers spread outward, hurling lightning from them with every stroke. More than that, shapes seemed to manifest and vanish all around him, flickering and fading like ghosts. The ooze attacked and he savaged it, consumed it with teeth that shone like red-gold fire. He movedhe did not move like a Human. He was an engine of violence and power, brought to bear against the undulating monstrosity the size of a skyscraper.

And he wasnt backing down an inch.

Im afraid, Hallow. What if Iwhat if I lose the room? Its all I have left.

Felix is strong. Perhaps he can fight the ooze alone, and perhaps you can stay on the sidelines and remain unaffected. Hallow shrugged but anger churned under her too-familiar features. Change will always happen. But it is better to embrace it than to let it run you over, right?

Beef!

The cry came from above, from somewhere impossibly distant. Felix had become a whirling vortex of lightning that was devouring pieces of the ooze. Your core!

A tendril slammed down, along with a second, but they were deflected by summoned shields of ice and stone. Its cool! Sick gaming rig!

More came, spearing outward from every direction. It shrieked and charred as Felix breathed out red-gold flame. Nowhah! He caught another protuberance, and ripped it in half. Lets kick some asstogether!

Beef took a big, shaky breath. He closed his eyes. Everything twisted as Beef took command of his core space. He returned to his core, to the replica of his old room back in Texas. The storm outside was raging harder than ever before. Trees whipped hard enough to uproot themselves, and the foggy shapes of houses were tearing apart beneath the titanic winds. The storm, the Primordials Essence hed held off for so long, it was coming.

Hallow?

Yes, Michael? She stood at his back, as always.

My name is Beefhammer.

With a savage cry, Beef kicked open the window.

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