>>5222089"Well, you did keep up your end of the bargain. It's time I fulfill mine.” You admit with a nod before turning to gesture at the stone that still hovers above the Sparagmos Engine. “You wished for a Fragment in exchange for your aid, and we have a Hope fragment here in the open. It’s yours.”
“Although I do have to ask, Leviathan; before you were rudely interrupted after your call with your father, you were in the middle of making a proposal of having a solution that could *fix* your father's current condition.” You forward, earning you an irritated snap of Levy’s head to glare at you. “If it doesn't bother you, can you mind explaining what you have exactly planned? I'm asking because I don't know if it involves getting others hurt.”
“OH, YOU NEED NOT FEAR FOR OTHERS. I, FOR ONE, ABHOR NEEDLESS VIOLENCE.” Levy replies with a sidelong glance at their brother, who—mercifully—fails to react to the barb. “MY PLAN IS SIMPLE. GATHER AS MANY FRAGMENTS AS ARE AVAILABLE. CONDUCT A FAR LARGER RITUAL AND, ONCE THE TETHER TO FATHER IS ESTABLISHED, I SHALL THEN REVERSE-SIPHON THE ENERGY INHERENT IN THE FRAGMENTS BACK TO THEIR SOURCE.”
“How big would it have to be?" You ask, just as the titan’s acidic sheathe of water starts to reach out towards the fragment. “The ritual, I mean.”
Leviathan pauses, studying you a moment before giving their reply. “THAT IS WHOLLEY DEPENDENT ON THE NUMBER OF FRAGMENTS I AM ABLE TO GATHER BEFORE THIS CYCLE CONCLUDES. NOW, IF YOU’LL EXCUSE M-“
“Wouldn't all the energy in this Crucible be not enough to stave off your Father's death?" You interrupt, and Leviathan’s acidic sheathe shudders irritably.
“GIVEN THE FACT THAT WE WERE ABLE TO CONNECT TO FATHER OVER AN INCREDIBLY VAST DISTANCE, AND PIERCE THE VEIL INTO THE DIMENSION THAT HIS LATE PEERS SEALED HIM INTO, IT WOULD BE A TRIVIAL MATTER TO THEN REACH OUT TO OTHER CRUCIBLES VIA THE FRAGMENTS AND FORM A NETWORK THROUGH WHICH I COULD THEN RETURN FATHER’S SPLINTERED POWER.”
"Well, if we were to use the energy of the other Crucibles, then wouldn’t you have to deal with the other iterations of yourself and your siblings?” You point out, staying on the offensive even as Leviathan’s discomfort grows. “What if those other iterations refuse to collaborate? What if they retaliate?"
“THEY WOULD UNDERSTAND. *I* WOULD UNDERSTAND. MY ITERATIONS, HOWEVER DISPARATE, HAVE KEPT THEMESELVES WHOLE FOR THIS LONG, SO IT ONLY STANDS TO REASON THAT THEY-” Leviathan explains before suddenly hesitating, and you catch them glance towards Ziz.
Ziz, who’s changed so much.
Ziz, who’s summoned the courage and poise to stand up to both her siblings, at once.
Ziz, whose recollections have proven Leviathan’s memory is less concrete than they previously assumed.
(Continued)
