Chapter 36 - Fading

Blüt roared as he dragged himself one-armed onto the cliff, blisters from his burned hand bursting as all his immense weight came down onto it. It didn’t matter to him, all that mattered was survival. Tears of pain and despair streamed from his face as he scraped the earth to carry his decimated body toward Merri and Luna.

“Merriiii…” He wailed. “Merriiii. Heal me…”

Luna didn’t turn to face him, just watched Merri’s reaction. Her eyes smoothed over like sandstone. Without a moment’s hesitation her body unwittingly sprinted toward him.

Luna stood in her way, reaching out an arm to halt the girl. She ran against Luna’s firm grasp, tears running down her face as she used all her strength to get past.

“Merri has to heal Blüt! Merri has to keep Blüt alive!” She insisted, panting out her words. They were forced, automatic, but not ingenuine. Her traumatized brain couldn’t comprehend leaving the Ogre to die.

“It’s okay, Merri. He’s finally dying. I promise.” Luna kneeled down, allowing herself more stability as Merri’s thrashing grew more intense.

“Merriiii!” He groaned. “Please! Please, Merri! I’m scared!” His voice was higher than normal, childish in a way.

Merri hopped up, making a desperate attempt to slip from Luna’s grip. Luna caught her quickly, dragging her backward. “Merri, don’t listen to him!” She pleaded, pulling the girl into her grasp, wrapping both her arms and legs around her. “Just watch. I’ll show you, I promise, I can show you. He can die. He will die!”

“Merri… Merri… Wants… I want…” Merri muttered, struggling hard against her instincts. She was fighting just as hard as Luna to keep herself back. “Merri doesn’t want her fingers broken…” She choked out, body growing weaker.

“I promised you Merri, no more broken fingers, no more magic. Just sit tight, okay? I’ll fix it all for you.” Luna whispered, finally confident enough to release a hand.

With it, she charged up another Munditia. This one didn’t need to be big. With the damage Blüt had taken and the blood loss from his missing arm, Luna was certain he would die soon enough anyway, but she wanted to make sure.

“I don’t want to die! Please! Don’t! Don’t cast that spell again! It hurts! It hurts so badly!” Blüt whimpered.

Luna felt filthy listening to him, hearing a monster like him beg for his life when he had denied that for so many others was utterly disgusting. She poured yet more power into the Munditia and carefully aimed.

“Merri will-” The Auf burst forth with a surprising strength from Luna’s grasp, her small stature allowing for her escape. She ran forward just as Luna intended to release her magic. At the last moment she had to swerve her arm to avoid hitting the girl, instead firing her blast into a nearby tree.

Quickly she leapt from her sitting position, intercepting Merri and grabbing her once more. “Let go of Merri! Let go! Merri has to heal Blüt! Merri has to! She has to!” She screamed more and more intensely, tearing her throat apart with each desperate cry. Luna pinned her to the ground. She didn’t relish doing it, but she had to keep Blüt from the source of his healing.

“Close your eyes Merri. Close your eyes. Don’t listen to him, don’t think about him, just listen to me, okay?” Luna pleaded.

In her desperation, she recalled something her own mother had done a long time ago, a trick for calming down unruly children. Her voice took on a smooth, calming tone, and she began to sing the first song that came to mind.

“Oh, there lived a little lady in Lillinberg.” She sang at a slow tempo, close to Merri’s pointed ears so the soothing sound could overwhelm Blüt’s continuous groans and cries. “This little lady loved her little girl.”

Merri’s thrashing slowed, eyes returning from their glassy brown to their usual chestnut. Luna continued to sing. “Her daughter strayed too far from Lillinberg.” Merri’s tears changed. They were no longer flowing as a continuous, violent flood, but individual droplets.“Found herself in another world.”

Blüt continued to wail and sob, beating at the ground with his one remaining fist. He thrashed and attempted to swipe at Luna and Merri, but was too far from range. He growled and screamed into the dirt pathetically, flailing as he impotently attempted to strike.

“Oh, that poor mother from Lillinberg.” Luna continued, earning a surprising stillness from all around her. Even Blüt began to listen, his attacks ceasing as death closed in and his body began to tire.

“Mama…” Merri said softly, thrashing finally stopping.

“Where’d she go and lose her little girl?” Luna stopped after that line, now feeling Merri still beneath her. “That better?” She asked, a slight smile on her face.

“I think… I think I’m okay now, Luna.” Merri muttered.

She allowed the girl some room. Merri rose to her feet, though Luna kept an arm firmly around her waist.

“It’s finally going to end… Isn’t it?” A small smile crept onto Merri’s face. She looked back at Luna, who smiled softly back and nodded. “I can finally be-”

“Mamaaaaaaa!” Blüt sobbed, slamming his head into the ground. “Mamaaaa! I’m sorry!” He beat his face into the floor, cracking his exposed skull and bruising his face. It was like he was begging, or perhaps praying, for forgiveness. He rattled his head so hard Sol’s sword fell from it, right beneath his one remaining eye.

Merri snapped immediately back into action, Blüt’s pathetic fear was enough to reactivate her programming. She leapt forward out of Luna’s arms, but the princess was able to grab her in time, dragging the girl to the ground by her ankles. Mercifully, they remained just barely out of his range.

Merri blinked, shaking her head. “No. No. I won’t! I won’t go back!” She said resolutely. She stood up and turned to Luna, who kept a tight grip of her ankles. “No more! No more box! No more healing! I’m free now!”

There was a resolve in her eyes as she looked down at Luna. Utter confidence that could only be found by overcoming oneself over and over. It seemed she had finally passed that threshold. “You can let go now, Luna. I can-”

Merri blinked. There was a sword through her chest. Straight through her heart. Blood dripped from it.

Merri blinked. There were flowers at her feet. She was healing. If she stopped. She would die.

Merri blinked. She was being dragged away from Luna. Gravity kept her on top of the sword as it was pulled suddenly back through the air. Soon enough, she felt hard flesh against her chest. She was pinned between the hilt of the sword and Blüt’s back.

Luna could hardly believe her eyes. Merri had taken just one tiny step backward. Just the slightest movement. She should’ve still been out of range. But by a cruel twist of fate, Blüt held Sol’s sword like a toothpick, barely able to reach the young girl, piercing her and forcing her to become his healing battery once more.

The river of possibility in her mind not only dried up, but was replaced by a desert. Even the path to victory Sol had carved for them had been neutralized. She watched in horror as Merri squirmed and writhed, once again imprisoned on Blüt’s back. She grew further and further away as Blüt rose, his face sewing itself back together and arm regrowing.

In that moment, Luna was not only certain of her loss, but she wondered why she ever believed victory was possible.

After all…

The Ogre was Immortal.