Chapter 31 - Taboo (Patreon)

It took him a while, for that hideous presence and humming sound to vanish from his ears. Even after that, all Lukas was able to do was to curl up, focus his will and try to push it away from his thoughts. His right hand had gone ice-cold from Everfrost, but for some reason, it was impossibly difficult to procure some fire-mana and neutralize its effects.

Still, it was a nasty surprise. He had always thought that Inanna held an intense amount of power. Her ability, Kinetomancy, had been the most bullshit thing he had ever chanced across. In this world where the real monsters were masters of elemental manipulation, the power to control Motion itself made everything else look tame. It was why he had never put anyone on a pedestal, despite it all being so amazing and supernatural. After all, elemental manipulation was only a sub-part of what true Kinetomancy was about.

And that was without getting creative.

All of that had made it easy to forget that after all was said and done, it was not what made Inanna the Supreme Queen.

Hell, she had used Kinetomancy in the Vikahl Ashlands. Which meant that the Inanna in the memory had used Kinetomancy against the Fire-god Asshur, and failed.

And then she had gotten something worse.

Her words came to mind.

The Vikahl Ashlands are truly ancient, even for divinity. A power that exists only to purge others. A power that was the antithesis of Asshur’s  Truth. I embraced it. For a time. For a price.

He remembered how it felt the first time when he had seen that dream. He had seen — no, he had been Inannna in that dream. The feeling of slowly losing oneself, of slowly throwing away pieces of his— her humanity at every step that he—she made into that flaming valley wasn’t something he had forgotten, or would forget any time soon.

It was right after this that he had asked her a very vital question.

Is that why you always refer to me as ‘Mortal’? To remind yourself that you aren't’?

Inanna had avoided answering. Lukas had thought it to be an invasion of her privacy and dropped it. But now, he knew differently. It made him wonder, just what was that power she had invoked in the Ashlands? What was she after? What did she get?

A power to purge others?

Her Truth was Depredation. Ordinarily, it would refer to the power of plundering. Of ravaging. Of Destruction. But that child— that entity, whoever she was— had called them the Flames of Deprivation.

Deprivation. The act of taking away that which is others. The core concept wasn’t about taking it for oneself, but to take it away from others. To snatch.

Deprivation and Depredation.

To snatch and plunder.

The act of a robber, an invader, a tyrant.

Goddess, Tyrant Queen, Butcher… I personally liked the last one. But that was the old me. These days, I’m simply Inanna.

And she had even cursed him to play her role with her demise.

Be the invader that I was. The monster. The conqueror.

In his ignorance, brimming with his emotions, he had agreed. He had even willingly accepted it all, never knowing, never understanding what it was he was accepting so freely.

He had started the journey for the sake of survival. He had bargained with her for survival. And now, he sought power, sought growth and evolution. He wanted to break the System’s limitations and obtain as much power as he could, even if it meant snatching from others.

One only needed to look at the massacre in the borderland for proof.

All of that begged the question.

If Inanna’s Truth was Depredation, then what the hell was Deprivation? He thought about her words some more.

I embraced it. For a time. For a price.

For a time? For a price? What did that mean? Did she not have it any more? Why? Had she rejected it when she had become the Supreme Queen? Both powers were incredibly similar in their meanings and concepts, so what could have possibly made her choose otherwise?

Unless…

Unless Deprivation had nothing to do with snatching at all?

What was he missing?

He looked in front, about to ask Frost about his latest quandary, when the sight before him froze him to his very bones.

Avatar of Fimbulwinter, Alter-ego of every Everfrost user since Meynte, Frost was currently sitting against the wall on the floor, as physically far away from him as possible while staying in the room, her knees curled up against her chest, shocked and scared out of her mind. Lukas didn’t know exactly what it was that had felt inside that memory, but if it was enough to make Frost visibly scared just by witnessing its memory was something he’d better not risk invoking.

“Frost?” He tried.

She flinched, and let out a small squeaking sound. Then she got hold  of herself and blinked up to look at him.

“What was that?” He asked.

Her voice was very quiet. “An anathema. That which cannot happen.”

She met his eyes. “A Taboo.”

Out of everything else she had spoken so far, that shocked Lukas the most.

“Ta— taboo?” He swallowed, unable to believe his ears. That wasn’t possible. One became a god by gaining a Truth. Inanna had gained hers. It was called Depredation. But then who was this Inanna, who had gained the taboo of Deprivation?

If gaining a Truth was the ultimate act of Ascension, gaining a Taboo would be the ultimate curse. The ultimate Sin as far as the World, no, the Origin was concerned. The idea that someone had become an Anathema — a Taboo-wielder, and then risen to become a goddess, and not just any goddess but a Supreme Queen was…

It was impossible!

It was impossible!

And yet, it was true.

She had gained it. Embraced it. For a time. For a price.

“Your goddess,” murmured Frost, “was an Anathema-wielder. An Anathema from a Reality different from my own. A Reality that does not exist.”

“If it doesn’t exist, then why are you panicking?” He demanded. He really couldn’t see what was so utterly dangerous about it.

“You do not understand, soulcrafter!” claimed Frost, slowly standing up. “You do not understand the pieces you have set in motion.”

“Then help me understand!”

Her body language tensed slightly. “Reality is large enough for Infinite Truths to co-exist together, soulcrafter. But a single Taboo is all you need to disintegrate that Reality back to the Void. From the Infinity of Forms to the Formless, the Taboo is, has and shall be the Cruelest Winter. The End of Potential. And yet, we saw, with our own eyes, another Taboo. Another  Anathema, one so impossibly powerful that it was  tearing through the foundations of Time and Reality itself. One that was attempting to leave the constrictions of Abstract and become the Real.”

That, in Lukas’s opinion, meant all kinds of bad.

“And unless I’m wrong, you bear a connection to this Anathema. And with my recognition, it seeks to enter this Reality. To Deprive everyone of everything. Even me, of my destiny of bringing back the Formless.”

His jaw physically dropped, and he only heard the distant echo of the bed groaning as he shot up to his feet, both hands clenched and lifeforce beginning to surge through them. He knew what she was about to say, what was about to happen right next.

Frost stood up, the amused expression replaced with a cold, hard, glacial look. “I’m afraid, I cannot, let you bring it into this reality, soulcrafter. Your goddess cannot be resurrected. No matter the cost.”

Lukas froze.

And straightened.

His eyes narrowed, and everything he was feeling fell away. Power surged through him, and for once, he didn’t bother to hold it back.

He had been at this debate before, when Meynte had told him that he couldn’t let Tanya survive. Doing so would condemn the world. But Lukas had fought him, because apart from other things, Tanya was his friend. His partner. He would not condemn her for anything, not even the world. Even if the alternative meant facing the memory of an Empress, even if it meant dealing with Frost, even if all he had was a thin possibility that Tanya could master Fimbulwinter, he had been willing to do it.

And now, Frost — her alter-ego, the source of her power, was demanding that Inanna not be brought back.

Because it would take away her position of being the only Taboo of this Reality, whatever that meant.

Conclusion — whoever had erased Inanna out of existence, had also erased that Taboo out of existence. Or at least, that place that held it. For Fimbulwinter, it was the Maelstrom of Hvergelmir. And for Deprivation, it was the Vikahl Ashlands.

And now, the Taboo from the memory was attempting to reach out to this Reality. How, Lukas did not know. It couldn’t be that seeing the memory alone was causing it to react so vigorously. No, he had seen the dream before, and nothing had happened. He hadn’t even sensed anything weird the last time around.

Could it be that just like the Divinity within him, the Taboo that was once Inanna’s power was reacting to him?

Or rather, the World within him?

A world that, coincidentally, was not connected to the Origin?

Truth and Taboo — those were his options to resurrect Inanna. Truth, he did not have enough. And Taboo? Frost was not willing to allow him to. He didn’t know if she was doing this out of some kind of righteous ignorance, or plain maliciousness.

In the end, it didn’t matter. Whatever the reason for it, even if it was just speculation, even if he might be wrong, it wasn’t something he could just let slide.

He had lost Inanna once. He had nearly exhausted her divinity frivolously in the borderland. He’d be damned, figuratively or literally, if he lost his other chance.

And then before he knew it, Frost had practically teleported across the room, grabbed him by his neck, and pinned him down to the bed. He felt her cold, glacial hands around his neck, and knew that he’d have to act right away or lose his life forever.

“Rescind your words, soulcrafter. I cannot, will not help you with bringing back your goddess,” she snarled.

Interesting choice of words! First Inanna and now Everfrost. Something about these entities made it an unbreakable rule for them to break the bargains they made with him. He had thought Inanna did it because she was a reflection of the original whereas he was an Anomaly. But Frost had no such constraints, and yet her response was to make him rescind her words, instead of breaking them herself.

“What if I don’t?” He asked, eyes filled with defiance. “We had a deal, Frost. And I’m not rescinding just because you got a little testy.”

“Arrogant little thief of power, you think you can command me?” snarled Frost, a twisted hate shining on her face. “Then this ends right now. You cannot be allowed to let that in. No matter the cost.”

“Of course,” Lukas choked, suppressing the urge to attack her back. His game with Meynte would not work on her. She was too smart for that. But unlike Meynte, he actually had a way out.

“Of course! You’re right! You’re right!”

He was a human. She was a spiritual entity.

“Then you agree?”

The surprise, however momentary, was vivid on her face. The moment he had been ready to acquiesce, her hold instantly relaxed.

And that proved to  be her greatest mistake.

“Yes!” Lukas coughed. “I agree. This has to end. Now.”

Territory Created

Living Anomaly Activated within Territory

“WHAT?” She snarled. “YOU TRICK—”

“This conversation,” Lukas said, looking at an utterly furious Frost. “is over.”

Her eyes flared to sudden, incandescent rage and she screamed, a wailing sound that rattled every single thing in the room and felt like it was splitting his head. Then the power imploded into Tanya, and shook her entire form. Tanya fell down into his arms, and Lukas softly grabbed her, and laid her down on the bed. Once that was done, Lukas stood up and considered his situation carefully.

Holy hell! That was a close thing. Had he been a second late, she’d definitely have skewered him whole. It was a risky thing to attempt, but his reasoning had been sound. The moment he had agreed to her demands, their bargain forced her to act according to its rules. He had been willing to compromise with her demands, and there was no need to force him to do so.

Unlike humans, Frost could not fib.

And that cost her the chance.

Lukas had no doubt that the next time he tried talking to her, he’d have a frost dagger skewered through his neck, and the center of his eyes before he even had the chance of opening his mouth.

Until he could find a better way, it looked like this was his last meeting with Frost. As per  their accord, she’d not possess Tanya, and would not manifest, not until Lukas called out for her.

And if he did, he had no doubt it would be his last.

“Guess that means I’ll have to bring Inanna back before that happens.”

He grabbed the pendant with his right hand and began rubbing over its surface.

“I’m on it, Inanna,” he said. “I know it now. I will connect with this Taboo, and it will drag it out of your memory. Even if it takes the entirety of the Haze’s power to do it. I will.”

As always, there was no answer.