The fury in his resistance is someone bound to that stone in chains, forced to sink, forced to cease the assault. If by some vile miracle the god himself was actually manifest, he would be able to at least writhe against such bonds, would know more of his place, but he is not. Death commands, and there is no choice in the matter, while hatred rages and thrashes against any ally of life. The physical onslaught passes, but the echo remains, rooted in the heart of Fever's soul, woven through the tissue, keeping it still.
Except, it beats. Once. Then again, and again. Despite the unyielding grasp that his will has on her, it beats.
It hurts, each time it happens. But Fever puts all she has into making it occur, into keeping her heart going. Each beat rejects his will. Each is life, grasped with both hands, a refusal to give in and give up. The desire to keep going, with the force of a storm behind it, because there is more life to live, more of the world to take in, more to pour into all the empty spaces that exist in her mind until they are filled with things she wants to remember. And to do all that, she has to keep going.
Madness is truly close at hand, to deny me so. My spawn, whose veins course with my blood. Your life is mine. End this and accept me, or what is mine shall be reclaimed.
Once, such a threat would have fully cowed her, absolute fear and the sting of the lash enough to leave her shaking. And to deny she fears still would be ludicrous. But to let Bhaal remain is unthinkable. No more. No more. Every night he remains is a passageway for possession. Every day she lives, carving out more of an identity for herself, and he has no place there except in the past. And looking at him now...
Is this all he is? Is this all he's ever been, this ghost that has haunted her, threat and god and absence? A hand that only knew how to strike, never hold. This specter of nightmare, has he always been so pathetic?
"I will not."
Barely audible in the physical realm, clear and ringing through her soul. And before he can retaliate, struggling in Mortanne's power, Fever fixes her eyes on the echo, summoning all the courage she ever possessed. A leap of true and utter faith that this will not be her end. She'll regrow from any damage. She isn't alone anymore. She'll live.
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Except, it beats. Once. Then again, and again. Despite the unyielding grasp that his will has on her, it beats.
It hurts, each time it happens. But Fever puts all she has into making it occur, into keeping her heart going. Each beat rejects his will. Each is life, grasped with both hands, a refusal to give in and give up. The desire to keep going, with the force of a storm behind it, because there is more life to live, more of the world to take in, more to pour into all the empty spaces that exist in her mind until they are filled with things she wants to remember. And to do all that, she has to keep going.
Madness is truly close at hand, to deny me so. My spawn, whose veins course with my blood. Your life is mine. End this and accept me, or what is mine shall be reclaimed.
Once, such a threat would have fully cowed her, absolute fear and the sting of the lash enough to leave her shaking. And to deny she fears still would be ludicrous. But to let Bhaal remain is unthinkable. No more. No more. Every night he remains is a passageway for possession. Every day she lives, carving out more of an identity for herself, and he has no place there except in the past. And looking at him now...
Is this all he is? Is this all he's ever been, this ghost that has haunted her, threat and god and absence? A hand that only knew how to strike, never hold. This specter of nightmare, has he always been so pathetic?
"I will not."
Barely audible in the physical realm, clear and ringing through her soul. And before he can retaliate, struggling in Mortanne's power, Fever fixes her eyes on the echo, summoning all the courage she ever possessed. A leap of true and utter faith that this will not be her end. She'll regrow from any damage. She isn't alone anymore. She'll live.
"Father, tear him out."