Card Twenty: Judgement

Feather had never seen a concept get fused into a living body that wasn’t its owner before, part of the blood flowing through this beast’s internal system entirely black and brimming with the concept of evil. Whoever had done this, it seemed like they’d turned this blood into a type of parasite, meaning that whatever host it was injected into would slowly be corrupted and forced against any naturally good instincts. But of course, it wasn’t impossible for Feather to heal. All he needed to do was cut a gash in the serpent's side and take all of the blood out. 

Though, to be clear, there was both red and black blood inside the serpent, and the black blood was a minority. It looked like the two different types of blood couldn’t mix together, so they were stuck inhabiting the same creature until one of them managed to take over. Feather assumed that once the mythical beast’s blood had turned completely black, it would’ve turned into a different monster entirely.

You… how could anyone accomplish such a miracle? the mythical beast quivered, faltering once Feather removed the very last drop of black blood and the concept of evil from its system before effortlessly healing the long gash he’d sliced through its side to the point you couldn’t even tell it’d ever been cut. 

Cirrus was also staring at the man with a bit of shock, uncertain how Feather was levitating all of the thick dark blood in the air so that it didn’t touch anything, and he could see the unstoppable gears turning in the chaotic blond’s mind as Feather started to really think about the things that were happening around him. It was probably inefficient to just keep cutting open the body to remove the black blood each time. It’d be much better if he could purify it from the inside, which would also take less time, if he could do it. 

“Hm. You know what, I’m not doing this as well as I could be,” he suddenly grinned, sky blue eyes wide and manic as he swirled the black blood in between his fingertips from where he sat on the serpent's neck. He lifted the blood high into the air, spinning it around as he tried to get a feel for it. After all, he could do anything. That was what the concept of anything was for. He could probably even use the concept of evil if he so wished, because that fell under anything. For Feather, anything was possible, it was just a matter of wanting to do it or not. Which was why, even though it was well within his capabilities, he would not be using the concept of evil. But if he got a feel for it, let his mind run through the blood to truly understand its fundamentals… he could probably purify it. 

“Um, Feather, what are you doing? You should be careful,” Cirrus fretted from down below, leaning forward on his ice that encased the serpent, but it didn’t seem like Feather was paying him any attention. 

Instead, he kept babbling to himself, moving the black blood in the air like he was playing with a toy as he kept humming in his amusement. “This really is so fascinating. I’ve never come into contact with the concept of evil before. But it really is inefficient, the way I’m doing things. Wouldn’t it be better if I could just purify this blood, without even needing to take it out? That would cause the victims so much less pain,” he smiled wider, appearing delighted with the fact as he kept moving the blood around rather carelessly in the air. “I just need to remove the concept of evil from it, that’s all! It should be easy!”

Young human! You don’t know what you’re speaking of! the mythical beast protested, Cirrus gaping at him in utter astonishment as he found himself unable to say a word. But the serpent seemed furious, writhing its neck back and forth from under the ice to give a proper retort, Feather only giggling while he was swung back and forth. I appreciate you for healing me, I truly do! I am now myself again, and I will be eternally grateful! But you mustn’t let yourself be arrogant! The concept of evil is a concept that goes back far in time, and messing with it will be a horrible mistake! You should never try to mess with it, human! Do you hear me?!

“Ahahah, I hear you, but I really don’t care,” Feather gave a breathy laugh, reaching out towards the blood with a single charged fingertip, the speed of his words coming out faster and faster as he began to ramble manically. “In order to control something, you must first understand it. I’ve been playing with the blood Eve stored for a while. She tried to purify it with her healing as well, but it didn’t work. Probably because the evil was too strong. Evil can’t be counteracted with healing alone, as they aren’t conceptual equals. That is the first level of understanding,” he explained excitedly, his elated smile only growing before he shoved his whole hand into the blood that he was levitating in front of him, Cirrus reeling at such an unbelievable action as Feather gave an unsteady laugh. 

“The second level of understanding is to touch it, to truly feel it! You can’t control something if you don’t know how it feels! And as I feel this evil, and as I match it with the evil I felt before, we come to the third level of understanding! The level of purification, and how it’s done,” he grinned, his hand twisting in the black blood before it all began to shimmer, the blood beginning to pulse a soft, iridescent white as the proper color returned to it, a mixture of bright and dark reds vibrantly pulsing through the formerly black liquid, the dark color fading from it entirely as Feather’s smile turned softer. “The only way to counteract the concept of evil is by meeting it with its equal, the concept of good. The concept of healing just won’t cut it, which is where I was going wrong. But if I use my concept to its fullest, and harness the concept of good for what it was made for, then I should be able to purify this black blood easily from now on without having to injure anyone else more than they already have been,” he finished, satisfied, almost coming across hypnotized by his own power, the fresh red blood swirling around innocently before he offered it to the serpent. “Would you like this put back into your system? It’s completely normal blood now, I removed the concept of evil from it completely.”

For once in their long lives, Feather’s two companions were just as equally shocked to see this new development and unexpected turn of events. Leocadies and Kya had been traveling with the man for over four centuries, and yet never once had he ever tried to use the concept of good. He always said it didn’t interest him, and that he wasn’t seeking to appear good or evil to others, he just wanted to do what he wanted and ignored how he aligned on a scale or morality. And usually, while he could indeed do anything, he would at least have to bask in the idea of the concept for a decent while before it began coming to him naturally. To whip out the concept of good just like that, as if it were as easy from him as breathing… it did say a lot about his character, didn’t it? 

Eve was absolutely floored. Suddenly, in her mind, she knew exactly who she wanted to be like. The beginning of idolization was new for her, as in her past, she’d always been the one others idolized. Her tribe put her on a pedestal for all she did for them, she was assigned to Cirrus’ personal squad despite being younger than most would need to be to even be considered. She was always the one people looked up to, the one people envied. But now she was seeing something she’d never once thought she’d see, and it meant everything to her. All Eve knew was that she wanted to be like that, too.

Ahhh, young human, you’re insane! How have you done this?! the sea serpent cried out, twisting in the ice as Cirrus finally released his concept and let the beast go, instinctively catching Feather when he jumped down from the mythical creature’s neck while he used the ice around his ankles to move them back into the broken ship that the serpent was holding together. Young human, young human, please, I will do whatever you wish of me! The concept of good has not been seen in millennia as well, yet here it is, right in front of me! Please, let me be of service to you, help me repent for my crimes while under the influence of evil! it begged, the waters thrashing around it before Feather immediately pushed himself off Cirrus, the man still staring at him like he didn’t know what he was looking at while the blond gestured to his crew. 

“Alright, my new serpent friend! If you want to be of service to me so badly, I’ll put you to great use!” he laughed boldly, the crowd still staring at him like he’d officially gone even more mad, as if he hadn’t already been off the walls before. “Take us to where all of these broken ships ended up. They all supposedly disappeared according to the villagers, but I’m willing to bet they all washed up in the same place thanks to our enemies' manipulation skills, making them undetectable. You can do that for us, can’t you?”

Oh, of course, of course! I will gladly do so! I’m fairly certain the enemy’s base camp is there as well! Or at least one of them!

“Perfect, then we can call this an infiltration mission,” Feather smiled pleasantly, making an “OK” sign with his hand at the mythical serpent before he faced Cirrus with yet another crazy, wide-eyed grin. “So I’m putting myself in charge. Your group doesn’t have to follow us, but me, Kya, and Leo are going to the island to look around and see if we can find any of our perpetrators. Are you in or not? And are you willing to follow my lead?” he asked bluntly, Cirrus staring at him in utter disbelief before he turned to glance at Achitha, Even, and Jayce. 

All of them looked so conflicted, except for one pale, white-haired girl with bright and icy blue eyes, Eve immediately bounding forward on the broken ship to raise her hand at Feather. “I want to go with you! Even if Cirrus doesn’t want to follow, I do, so take me with you!”

“Okay. I’m fine with that. You’ll be good help,” Feather smiled, Eve’s face glowing the moment she was praised by the amazing man. But that was before he lifted his chin towards Cirrus, eyes looking all too sly for someone who had just used the concept of good, but the prince felt like he no longer had anything hindering him. 

Feather had been completely right earlier. He was a coward. He always hid behind his prophecy, hoping that everything would simply turn out all right even if he didn’t assert himself, just because the prophecy was right there protecting him. He was passive, and when it came down to it, he often ignored smaller problems to focus on the larger picture, thinking that it was the best thing to do. To ignore the suffering and pain of the minorities so that he could save the majority of others… that was the life he’d been leading. Feather was right to call him a slave to prophecy, as that was all he’d ever been. It was all he knew how to be. The prophecy had always defined him and shaped him… it had always controlled him. It was to the point where Cirrus felt like, if the prophecy were ever stripped away, he wouldn’t have anything left to define himself with. 

Thinking this, Cirrus lifted his hand to look into his dark palm. The hand that had saved many, but also ignored many more for the sake of something that was supposed to be greater. Just because the prophecy told him he was supposed to be greater. Because the prophecy had said it. But Feather said… without him, the prophecy wouldn’t exist in the first place. The prophecy was going to come true not because it was ordering him around, but because it was merely foretelling the type of person he could eventually grow to be. It wasn’t telling him what to do, it wasn’t giving him orders, the prophecy had never once tried to control him… it had merely been offering knowledge of what one of his many possible futures had in store. His ideal future. A future that could have happened whether he knew about the prophecy or not. 

Which meant that, prophecy or no prophecy, he was still Cirrus Aixon, Crown Prince of Lilino, and he was going to lead every world and every universe into a utopia by stopping the collapse of reality. And on his way to doing that, he refused to ignore any more smaller groups of people, any more smaller planets, or any more smaller worlds, just because the prophecy hadn’t said it was his duty. Because if he was going to save people, then he wanted to save anyone he could, including the people right in front of him. No matter what he did, he just needed to trust that the prophecy his wise grandmother had given him would come true, because that was the type of person he was… or so he would choose to believe. 

His amber eye slid up to face Feather’s wide blue cores, something about them striking both fear, reverence, and comfort in him. He didn’t know which emotion to listen to, but he knew what he needed to say. So, on this broken ship, he calmly walked forward, palm clenching into a fist on top of his chest as he stood in front of Feather, lowering his head to show his respect. This was something he needed to say… it was something he wanted Feather in particular to hear. Something to prove to the man that he was willing to try. So he let out a shallow breath, steeled his nerves, and spoke tensely, “I am Cirrus Aixon, and I’ve been prophesied to save the world. I don’t know what else I’m worth yet, but I want to figure it out. So…” he hesitated, before slowly lifting his gaze to meet the haughty man in front of him who was still observing his every movement with the eyes of a hawk. After all, he knew that in order to gain Feather’s respect, he would have to stand tall, and straightened himself accordingly. “So take me with you, Feather. Just like you said, I want to help the people right in front of me. Please help me do that.”

And truly… Feather’s smile could not have been more brilliant. It was equally satisfied and threatening, as if he were daring Cirrus to back down and regret his words with only his expression. But after a moment, all he gave was a tiny giggle and a smile before he turned back towards the serpent, waving his hands to it as he declared, “Alright, it’s settled! The seven of us will follow you to the island of the enemy’s base camp! Take us away!”

Of course, young human! I will do as you wish, and I will help in any way I can.

“Perfect, that’s a relief. Then do you think you can pretend to still be corrupted by the concept of evil for me?”

…you want me to… to what?

“Just pretend you’re still corrupted,” Feather smiled with a shrug, the group following him all turning to give him a look of shock, as he clearly didn’t understand the extent of what he was asking, or how inconsiderate it may be. It led some to think… this was who Cirrus wanted them to follow? But his words were still sensible as Feather quickly explained, waving a hand in front of his face while he did, “I’m hoping that our enemy will let its guard down if they see you still acting evil or whatever. But of course, once we’re done with our infiltration, we’ll be taking you with us and off this planet. I just need you to pretend for a little while longer. Can you do that for me?”

…the concept of good has fallen on a rather cruel person’s shoulders, I see. But… very well. I will do as you please, the serpent gave a deep nod, slithering around the ship as it lowered its back to the seven of them, beckoning them to get on. Then I will take you to the island before I approach the villains and act as I usually would while under the influence of evil. Hopefully I can serve as a faithful distraction while you look around. If you need anything more, young faithful human, then you needn’t worry, as I have already promised to be as much service to you as I can in repayment for saving my life. 

“Aw, thanks, that’s nice of you. But don’t worry, I wasn’t planning on letting you off the hook anyways,” he grinned, already moving to hop onto the serpent’s back with glee, taking hold of its long, smooth whiskers all over again while his group hesitantly followed. “After all, you still have to repent for killing so many people. That is what you want to do, yes?”

Yes, it is. As a mythical beast, it is my duty.

“Then you can stick with me and make that happen,” Feather patted its scaly back, seemingly pleased with that as they set off on their expedition to the island. The island where the enemy lay… the enemy that was experimenting on humans and turning them into monsters… the enemy that was infecting mythical beasts with the concept of evil and turning such peaceful creatures into feral, mindless killers… it wasn’t right, and Feather swore to himself he would get to the bottom of this. It was a good thing that Cirrus wasn’t ignoring these types of things anymore, at least for right now, but he still had a long way to go before he was even close to being the type of person who could fulfill the prophecy and save reality from corruption. So for now, Feather would do what he could to figure out what mysteries lay in front of them… though if Cirrus ever thought about making him take one step inside a castle, he was out.