After the End: Serenity

The Memory of Breath’s laugh was unexpected and short. From her expression, Serenity thought she hadn’t expected it either. “Short and to the point. Well, fair enough; that is part of the purpose of the stairs, though I would have said righteousness instead of conviction. What makes you believe that you would be a better Memory of Blood than Eternus? I assume that is the position you wish.”

Was that why she thought they were here? Serenity was almost disappointed. He’d told the complete truth, at least about what he wanted. Why did she assume he had a hidden goal? Did everyone have hidden goals here?

It certainly seemed like it. Serenity still remembered what Blaze told him about the history of the Memories. Once upon a time, there were dozens, maybe hundreds, but there had been only four for at least a century. They still jockied with each other for power and which one was preeminent changed several times in that period, usually with the death of one or another Memory.

According to Blaze, they weren’t actually required to all be oracles; only the Memory of Light had to be an oracle. They were all oracles, however, since there was little chance for anyone else to achieve power with the Mimir. This had apparently not always been true, but Blaze couldn’t really tell Serenity when it changed; all he could say was that some of the stories talked about Memories that couldn’t see the future. Perhaps the fact that planning was easier if you could see the future was the real reason for the change.

Blaze had no answers when Serenity asked him if some of the historical Memories saw only the past instead. Serenity liked to think that that might be where the title “Memory” came from, but there was no way to know.

Blaze snorted. “After killing the previous Memory of Blood? No, definitely not. That’s a good way to have a knife buried between my ribs while I’m sleeping. No, we don’t want power over you or your world. Serenity told you what we want: we want the attacks to stop. There must be no attacks on Serenity, his wife, or anyone else he cares about. Don’t attack his planets, either.”

“There can’t be any big plots to get most of the universe’s population killed off, either, whether or not it targets my people.” Serenity didn’t know why Eternus wanted that, but he knew it had something to do with his desire to cross universes, at least according to the vision Serenity was granted by the Dreaming Tree.

The thought of the vision made Serenity freeze for a moment. He hadn’t really thought about it, but the woman talking to Eternus wore blue, didn’t she? Serenity quickly had Aide pull up the memory and compare it to the woman in front of him.

The robe was similar only in the number of sapphires on it; the Memory of Breath’s style looked far more comfortable than Borghild’s. More importantly, there was no real similarity between their appearances other than both being women dressed in far too many blue gems. The Memory of Breath also seemed older than the woman in the vision. That meant there was no reason to believe that the Memory of Breath was the same person he saw talking to Eternus.

The Memory of Breath started to respond to Serenity’s initial statement but stopped and looked openly puzzled at his last line. “Kill almost everyone? Why would we do that?”

Serenity shrugged. “I only know what the vision showed. The explanation was that he was escaping the universe and taking people with him, with the clear implication that he caused the very event he was supposedly fleeing. It’s a possible future and I know that exact future is impossible now, but I figured I should still mention it as something I won’t allow.”

The expression of doubt on the Memory of Breath’s face eased only a little. “That won’t be a problem. None of us would ever do that; there’s no reason for it.”

Serenity wasn’t sure if she truly didn’t believe it or simply didn’t want to. He suspected it was simply so out of her experience that she actually thought it was impossible. Well, that was fine; he didn’t need her to believe it.

The Memory of Breath turned her attention back to Blaze. “I recognize you, I think? You’re a messenger or something like that?”

“Deliveries and errands,” Blaze corrected the Memory, “But yes, essentially.”

“Hmh. That definitely falls under my purview, but it’s not something we should have a Tier Four doing unless that is your Path?” The Memory of Breath sounded curious.

Blaze shook his head but didn’t elaborate.

“Well, we won’t keep you doing that, then. What will you do if I don’t agree to help you?”

Serenity glanced at Blaze. Was he supposed to answer or was Blaze handling it?

Blaze didn’t glance at Serenity; he kept his eyes on the Memory of Breath. “Serenity would openly challenge the two Memories. I won’t tell you how he’s qualified, but he is; I’ve read the rules. It’s very clear. He’d win, too; they may be higher Tier, but they’re not enough higher for that to matter against Serenity.”

The Memory of Breath looked dubious for a moment, but she didn’t comment on Blaze’s clear confidence. “And why didn’t you do that?”

This time, Serenity knew he should answer instead of leaving it to Blaze. “Killing them might not stop the problem. I don’t know if they’re the only people who are involved. I want the attacks to stop more than I want them dead.”

The Memory of Breath nodded slightly to herself, then looked back at Blaze. “Then why approach me? If you won’t tell me your Path, I can only assume that you have a Path more suited to Mastery or Blood.”

Blaze shook his head. “I won’t say which I would fit in. It’s not important. I chose you because you’re the one least likely to be involved.”

The Memory of Breath didn’t immediately reply. It was long enough that Serenity was starting to wonder if the Memory of Breath was deliberately making then wait when she finally spoke.

“You truly believe he could win, that he could defeat all of us in a Challenge if necessary?” She sounded certain yet also a little puzzled.

Blaze nodded, “Yes, he could.”

The Memory of Breath turned her gaze on Serenity. “It’s impressive that you’ve stood there for so long with no trouble, but I still don’t see it. Show me why you believe you can win.”

That was definitely the politest way Serenity had ever been challenged. There were half a dozen different ways he could potentially win, but when it came right down to it, there was one thing that was the simplest: his Incarnate. It was the only thing he could think of that ought to be immediately decisive, and it was a large part of several of the possible plans he had to deal with people who were at a higher Tier than he was.

Serenity allowed Death to enter his aura more than normal and spread it over to the Memory. As he did, he noticed that the pressure of the runescript on the room’s walls effectively vanished. It was far more effective than his test earlier on the stairs, which could be because he was farther up or could be because he was actively using his aura rather than simply testing. Serenity couldn’t tell which it was and didn’t care.

There were two reasons to show his aura. First, if the Memory of Breath was at all perceptive, she would understand that there was little that anyone could do to stop Serenity if he decided to commit to killing something or someone. Second, it would give him an idea of how powerful she was. The Memory of Breath was supposed to be the weakest of the four memories, but that was only relative; they were each supposed to be the strongest of the Mimir.

The first thing that Serenity noticed when his aura touched the Memory of Breath was that she was at least Tier Ten, more likely to be Tier Eleven or even Twelve, though if she was Tier Twelve, she was weak for the Tier. That meant she was barely at the Tier he’d expect to rule a world like Mimir, which made sense if she was the weakest of the four Memories.

The second thing Serenity noticed was that she did not fear Death. She recognized it, or at least recognized the danger, but she didn’t have the strong instinctive reaction that many people did. She didn’t welcome it, certainly, but it was clearly not one of her great fears.

Perhaps she’d already faced that fear and managed to move beyond it? Serenity knew from Rissa that death was something that oracles saw frequently, even if Rissa hadn’t moved past her fear until she gained a Path that tied her to Serenity and to some extent tied her to his strongest Affinity. That didn’t mean some people didn’t face their fears and lose them.

Or she might never have been afraid of Death in the first place. Not everyone was.

Whatever the reason for the Memory of Breath’s lack of fear was, the reason didn’t change her reaction. She smiled as she felt Serenity’s aura wash over her. “I see why your friend believes you can win and also why you are horrified at that sort of killing. It strikes directly at what you are, doesn’t it?”

She paused just long enough for Serenity to register the question but not long enough for him to find an answer. “Even better, I can’t see your future; you are a blank in the sea of Time. Dinatha and Eternus may be better at Seeing far into the future than I am, but they will not see you coming. Yes, I can see why you might be able to win. Very well, then. It will grant your petition; I will do what I can to halt any attacks on you and yours.”

A glance over at Blaze said that she’d changed targets. “As for you, who clearly is more loyal to Serenity than to me … I shall have to think on what to do with you. I will not have you performing any more errands; that is clearly something you took on to gain entrance to the Mound. Will you be staying when your friend goes or leaving with him?”

“Leaving with him,” Blaze answered immediately. “There is no reason for me to stay once this is dealt with.”

“Too bad; I could use someone with your skills. Still, that may be for the best; how could I trust a knife like you not to turn in my hand?” The Memory of Breath seemed positively cheerful. “You may keep your token for the Mount; if something occurs that I need to know, you may tell my attendant or leave a message with the messengers. Should I require your attendance, I will leave a message for you with the messengers. What name should I use for it?”

“Blaze,” Blaze answered. “Most people find the name easy to remember.”

The Memory of Breath nodded slightly. “You may leave, then.”

On the way out, the attendant asked Blaze how it went. She seemed pleased when Blaze told her that the Memory of Breath granted their petition, but disappointed when Blaze wouldn’t say what it was.