Chapter 784 - Sentinel's Fall (Patreon)

Hera woke up with a splitting headache. But she only had a chance to open her eyes before the feeling changed. She could feel pressure in her head as if something incredibly heavy was pressing against her. Slowly, the pressure increased, at first just like an annoying weight, but soon, she felt her eyes being pushed deeper inside her head and her skull starting to crack under the weight. The Ophidianite tried to scream, but no sound came out of her mouth. The only thing she could do was to keep her hand on her face, trying to hold it together. The pressure increased, and she felt her eyes pop just as a gust of air ruptured her eardrums, and then the upper side of her beak cracked. Then, her brain. She could feel every neuron being squashed under the weight of whatever this was. Her mind was blank. She could only think about the pain and the fear of dying. Another set of… feet? No, hooves slammed into her chest, pushing her stomach towards the rock-hard bed. She felt part of her digestive tract being pushed to the sides while her stomach and bile forced themselves towards her mouth, ripping her lungs apart and pulling her heart out of her veins. The last thing that passed through her mind was a deep sense of shame. As if she had failed someone. As if she had failed Hera.

Just as suddenly as it all started, the feelings vanished, and the Empress recovered control over her body. She was no longer feeling any pain, even if the memory of it still lingered. Hera could speak, although she could only sob. Looking around, she noticed Daskka trying to speak with her, and only then the Ophidianite realized she could hear.

"Mum! Are you ok?"

"I…I…" Hera couldn't reply. She just reached out and hugged her closest friend. After a few moments whit the snake trying to calm the Empress down, she managed to say one word, "Nimbus."

"I know, Mum. He died. I felt it, too."

"He's…. Coming back… Right?" Hera knew this was how her legacy worked; if one of her court members died or was destroyed in battle, they could return. But what she felt was so much more intense than what happened last time. The pain, the fear of death. She couldn't help but wonder why Nimbus was even afraid of dying. He couldn't. The only way for him to die was for either Hera herself to die or for her to pass the legacy to someone else.

"He is mum. It will be a few days, but he will be back," Daskka snuggled closer to Hera's chest.

They stayed like that for some time while both cried silently. Unfortunately, they weren't quite enough. After about half an hour, someone knocked on the door.

"Hera? Are you ok?" Neria's voice was full of worry and an underlying note of confusion.

The Ophidianite tried to speak up, but her voice was too weak. The fear she felt still held her back. Daskka understood what the Empress was going to say and turned her tail into mist, stretching it towards the door before slowly opening it. Neria, still waiting on the other side, was surprised by the sight. Hera was on the bed, wrapped around the covers while holding Daskka close to her chest, both faces touching each other. The tears that were falling from all two pairs of eyes stained the sheets.

The triton became more worried and approached carefully, closing the door behind her. She didn't know whether Hera wanted to share this with the rest. After she sat on the side of the bed, Neria reached for Hera's shoulder before asking, "What happened?"

"Nimbus died," the Empress replied with a sniff.

"Oh… I'm so…" Neria paused, remembering a bit about Hera's legacy, "Sorry? Can he die?"

Hera took a deep breath and tried to focus, "Not really. Just for a while."

The triton frowned, "I understand you are upset, but if you don't mind me asking. Why are you this upset? He is coming back. It sucks, but he will be back."

With a nod, Hera tried speaking again, but a sob held her back. A moment later, she continued, "I know. But I felt it. How he died. I felt the same things he did as if they were happening to me. The pain, the fear, the death. It's… not easy."

Neria's eyes went wide, "You… felt him dying? You felt as if you died?" the Ophidianite only nodded in response. Neria just hugged them both and let them cry. As a healer, she had seen her fair share of death. But this was different. It was survival. Survival with the trauma of knowing you died and were brought back was one thing. Having that memory and still being able to live like you used to was another thing entirely. For now, the best thing the triton could do was just be here while Hera calmed down, and she did just that.

After almost an hour, the Empress managed to regain her composure. It was already close to sunrise, so she and Neria decided to just start their day. Soon after, the titled blades arrived at the hotel room. They could sense that Hera wasn't doing that well and gathered to tell what happened.

Since Neria was also around to hear the report, Viper took charge, "We were going for another run, and this time, Crimson and I asked to practice fighting in our guardian form. We didn't have any opportunities to use that skill in an actual fight. And we agreed that this was a good idea."

"We all agreed," Lurize added.

"Yes, everyone was on board with the idea. Fighting the Monarch wasn't that hard. I mean, it could be, but we were not having any problems. Possibly due to the number of times we already beat it along with the rest of the team. Anyway. We were fighting. Nothing unusual. But then, the Monarch suddenly jumped. That gave it a golden aura, which we believe was the skill the Golden Armadillo would use. Alongside that, it used the Chromatic Moose ability. When it came back to the ground, the Mandala Fox used a skill to trap Nimbus, and he was hit by the Monarch," Viper concluded.

Crimson flinched hearing that last part, but Livy placed one hand on her shoulder to comfort her. Unfortunately, the difference in size between the two didn't help, making the gesture even less threatening to watch.

"That jump wasn't dangerous by itself. It tried doing it again against me, but even when it hit, the impact was almost weak. But that time, it didn't have the Chromatic Moose aura. We think that when it jumped, which was a really fucking high jump, by the way, the distance it traveled helped boost the purple aura thingy. That's how it was able to kill Nimbus in a single sudden move."

"I believe the Mandala Fox waz key for that. Nimbuz froze for a moment when he noticed it. If he hadn't, maybe he could have used the protection skills he has. I think that fox had the ability to freeze him momentarily," Lurize tried to maintain his composure, but some of the words he had to say out loud made him die a little bit inside. Finishing a word with a Z sound was one thing. Saying zkillz instead of skills was another. He wasn't that worried about Nimbus. Not really. Like the Sentinel, he had been destroyed once before. It was far from being a pleasant experience, but it was something they could overcome.

"Yeah. We might kill that fox before going for the Monarch in the future. That combo is something that could kill one of you if we are not careful enough," Livy added.

Hera just listened to the entire explanation before nodding, "And did you manage to kill it? The Monarch, I mean."

"We did. After it killed Nimbus, we went a bit nuts. Crimson and I were in the Crimotra form, and we just started attacking nonstop. We got a bit injured in the process, but that only messed up our guardian form," Viper continued.

"Ok, and did you get the drop?" Hera asked. She was slowly regaining her composure. Even if she did that, she had to push down all of her emotions for the moment.

"We got a drop. Not the horn," Lurize said.

"More materials?" Neria asked.

"Yeah, this cloth…leather?" Lurize pulled a roll of mossy green cloth. It was one of the drops they had already seen before, a material that was great for making dresses and other clothes. It was sturdy as leather but malleable as silk. Unfortunately, it was a bit too hot, and it had almost no defensive capabilities.

There was a pause, and Hera didn't know what to say. She was trying not to focus on whatever happened with Nimbus and kept trying to control her emotions. Hera was also a bit tired; after all, she wasn't able to sleep properly, and the fear and pain the Sentinel felt was still very fresh in her mind. There was a lot of tension in the air, not intentionally, but the court was worried about the Empress' reaction. Wanting to end this conversation, she asked.

"Is there anything else you want to say?"

Crimson raised her hand, "I do. This was my fault. Nimbus saved me from being hit by an attack, and he ended up very close to me in my guardian form. I felt embarrassed and pushed him away. This made him fall into the trap of the fox. I'm the reason he died."

Hera nodded, "Anything else?"

"Wait. What?" Crimson gasped, "That's it? You are not going to say anything?"

"Crim, what am I supposed to say? Scold you for messing up? Trust me, there is nothing I can say that will change how you are feeling right now. I could sense your guilt when you turned the corner to come to the hotel," Hera sighed. She didn't like the idea of having to 'punish' someone for making a mistake. The court was not her children, except maybe Daskka, but the rest were her partners, her friends. Their relationship should be one of trust and camaraderie, not of a master and servant, despite what the legacy seemed to lean towards.

Crimson hesitated for a moment, "Can you order me not to do that again?"

Hera shook her head, "No. I get why you are asking, but one thing that wouldn't be learning and improving. That's taking the easy way out, which could be the right idea for you all or not. I don't know, and I'm not in the mood to figure that out now. Another issue is that this opens a Pandora's box. If I start using orders to change how you behave, when do I stop? When all of you become perfect little dolls doing exactly what I want? That is not how I want the court to be."

Crimson nodded, processing what the Empress said. It was hard to not be guilty, but wishing it didn't happen wouldn't solve anything. This was a lesson and something she would have to be careful of in the future. Viper wasn't saying much. Usually, he would tease his sister for her mistakes, but this wasn't the moment for it. The rest of the court was also worried about the Sentinel, even if they all knew he would be back soon.

Hera looked at the clock. It was still too early for what she wanted to do. Changing her idea, the Empress pulled up the tablet and started to look through the stores in the city.

"You are trying to buy something?" Neria asked.

"Yes," Hera replied.

"What?"

"The biggest mana stone I can find."

"Why?" the triton frowned.

"That fucking Monarch killed Nimbus. I'm killing it back," revealing the underlying rage that the entire court was feeling due Nimbus' death.