23. Their Promise

< Decision of Forty Juries Pending >

Blackness. These handful of lights were the last remnants of their kind. She imagined a universe where only a select few stars dotted the night sky. The canopy could no longer be distinguished from the void of the forest as the darkness swallowed all.

Their footsteps were soundless. The bloodshed fell onto deaf ears as Frost could only focus on the number of Hanged Juries that remained. They seemingly ticked down faster than the passing seconds. She knew they had a day at most left before their final encounter with the One Thousand Eyed Bird.

Mouthful after mouthful, Frost eradicated all that existed in the forest. It no longer teemed with life and was as dead as the stars in its abyssal skies. The remaining Righteousness perished one by one to their invisible wounds after laying fire onto the One Thousand Eyed Bird.

The black ball of feathers was encased in a thick layer of thorns. The light of whatever eyes it had left struggled to pierce through its thorny armor. It was an ember in comparison to the bonfire that were Frost’s eyes, for she possessed a grand total of 960 of them now.

She should have noticed that her eyes were radiating some sort of light, just like Jury’s.

But she was unable to properly perceive it until she devoured this absurd number of them. The darkness was cut like a blade by her eyes alone, dissolving it as the light guided her in their voyage. She wished she could have at least used the additional eyes to look at herself.

It had been so long since she last saw her own body. She just wanted to make sure she was still human… as human as she could be, anyway.

But she shrugged the thought away, expelling it into obscurity as she focused on the only thing that mattered now. After all, the final remaining eyes were all within reach, each waiting to be plucked from the branches of their tree like an irresistible fruit.

* * *

< Decision of Seven Juries Pending >

Frost’s heart raced for what felt like the first time in years as they approached the end of their arduous journey. The dawn of the finale was within sight. The One Thousand Eyed Bird lumbered further into the forest. Even with its dwindling luminosity Frost was able to instantly identify it.

They strolled through the forest. Slowly, this time as she carried Jury on her back. The woman was fast asleep again, exhausted from their endless bloodshed. She needed to get all the rest she could before their final encounter.

Nothing but the sound of her steps and the soft breathing of Jury surrounded them in this dead forest. It had been hours since Jury fell asleep. Frost was able to mentally map the entire forest as she wandered like a haunting spirit. Her immense number of eyes made her nearly omnipotent to a terrifying degree.

She could see all save for what was obscured by the walls of trees.

It was a strange sensation to say the least. Her peripheral vision had expanded all around her head, including above and below. Yet it was also so clear that it could hardly be called her peripheral vision. She felt like she could walk blindfolded and still be able to discern where she was with uncanny accuracy.

A small hum left her lips. The tune was adlibbed. It was nothing from Earth or this world. She had long forgotten about the music of Earth after only hearing the shattering bones and splattered blood for more than 50 days straight. The visceral sounds played in her mind like a broken record whenever she tried to reminisce.

It saddened her a little.

But it also gave her hope for what other wonders laid beyond this hellish purgatory.

When was the last time I heard anything pleasant? We’ll soon be out of here. We’ll see the stars of the night sky. The light of the sun. The lands of this world. The music the world of Elysia has to share… Just a little more to go.

“Frost. Are you prepared?” The System suddenly asked, pulling her away from her trance.

“I am. It’s a shame I can’t retrieve the other 3 stakes I left behind, but no matter. I only need one stake to skewer it.” She confidently stated. “It’s been a long journey, huh System? We’ve been travelling in the same scenery for over 50 days. It feels like it’s been… shorter? Longer? I can’t really tell myself. It’ll mark the beginning of our freedom… and for my revenge.”

Frost grounded her teeth. Iscario claimed that he was no match for this beast. The truth of those words was subject to mystery. However, be it the subjugation requirement or from her raw strength alone, she wouldn’t allow anything to detract from the fact that it would serve as a morale boost for her if she managed to defeat it.

She could never forget the prejudice she was faced with.

Nor the pain of being skewered, and the hopelessness of watching him murder a helpless village before her very eyes. His words echoed in her mind like a demonic whisper.

Archetypes are very durable. But believe me, you monsters can still suffer.

She yearned for the day they crossed paths again.

Frost also had to wonder if it was even possible for her to die in the first place. Her HP had hit 0 once. Nearly twice during the first time she activated the Will of the Amalgam.

“Do you have faith in me?” Frost needlessly asked, seeking only for a voice to echo her resolve.

“Absolutely.”

“Good to hear. Haaaah. No matter what it takes I’m getting us all out of here.”

“You’ve repeated the same promise a number of times. Is there something on your mind?”

Silence ensued. It enraptured them like a heavy fog, suffocating all as Frost briefly adjusted Jury’s weight. She allowed the woman’s warmth to circulate around her as the brewed her conviction to protect her.

Frost noticed it for a while now. She just didn’t know how to acknowledge the strange disparity with the lights. Because although there were 7 left in total, she could only see 6 around her, excluding the One Thousand Eyed Bird.

The seventh eye was behind her. Directly behind her.

“The eyes. Jury possesses one of the glowing eyes.” Frost revealed with a solemn tone as she set her sights to the nearest light. “That’s why I’m… not running anymore. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid because I don’t know if I’ll be losing Jury in the process.”

It rattled her heart. It ate at it, gnawing at it little by little until an unbearable hole was left. She froze in place suddenly as she felt Jury’s hands clasp at her bare back. The woman yawned and begged to be put down with a silent struggle.

Frost reluctantly set her down and turned to face the woman with sincere eyes.

“Frost tired?” Jury asked innocently, completely oblivious of who or what she was. Or maybe she did know but…

But what?

Frost grasped at straws as she searched for an answer. Or maybe it was just an excuse. She thought Jury was already pardoned from this madness after she became an Original. But that was far from the truth. Despite her appearance and the changes that set her apart from the others; she was still an Unhung Jury. A denizen of the Black Forest.

One that had the power pass a verdict.

The eyes she possessed were destined to be the last one required to enact judgement upon the One Thousand Eyed Bird. There was no telling what was going to happen to her. But Frost vowed to never devour her even if it meant escaping from this place.

She could never do that to Jury. Not her.

“Frost!” Jury yelled, sensing the agony in her crumbled face before she suddenly clasped onto her cheeks. “FROST!”

“Y-Yes?” Her voice snapped her wide awake.

“Frost! Jury! Good! Eat big, skewered beast! Eat Jury bad! Eat Frost bad!” Jury exclaimed.

Her glowing eyes dug deep into her soul as the woman mashed their foreheads together. Jury had somehow read her mind so perfectly that it left Frost awestruck as the woman yelled:

“There’s a good Jury inside of Frost! Jury… Jury! Frost! S-Syt-System! Skewer the big bad beast of the Black Forest!” Her voice resonated within her heart, filling the gaping hole with Jury’s own resolve to fight.

Frost should have realized it earlier but… she wasn’t the only one who desperately wanted to finish this. There was a certain pain in Jury’s voice. A cry that desperately wished for salvation. Then there was hope… and an aspiration that surfaced straight from the depths of her innocent heart.

“I didn’t expect to be acknowledged by her.” The System commended, surprised that Jury would even feel so strongly about it. “It was a mistake worrying about Jury. She’s as fired up as you are to beat that thing.”

Frost was taken aback by Jury’s display of emotions. The conviction. Her passion… her pain. It caused Frost to slowly raise her hands and gently clutch Jury by the arms.

“It goes to show just how much I even know about you Jury. But… you know, you don’t have to keep holding me like this… no, actually, let me stay like this for a little while. Tch. How could anyone want to hurt an innocent soul like you, Jury?”

Frost patted the girl’s hair like a child. It was an interaction which Jury had come to enjoy.

“In the end, I’ll have a thousand eyes on my side regardless. Nine hundred and ninety-nine with me, and one from you.”

“That is how I interpreted it as well. The Hanged Juries are all on the side of the One Thousand Eyed Bird. The Unhung Jury would most certainly be on your side.”

“Jury was the only one capable of saving me as well. So long as you’re on my side, then that’s all that matters. If it means doing this hard way, then… aha. Ahahaha. S-sorry… hahaha.” Frost, for no obvious reason, suddenly burst out laughing.

Jury rapidly tilted her head left and right in surprise before Frost recomposed herself with a long exhale.

“Haaaaah… Like we’ve been doing it any differently anyway. The hard way’s been our only way since the start. Jury. System. I promise you, the next time we get to speak like this –” Frost pointed up the black canopy as Jury curiously looked up. “– It’ll be under the light of a billion stars!”

“St… stars…?” Jury reached up with her, trying to imagine what Frost was trying to depict.

There was no telling what was going to happen to Jury.

But if anything was for certain –

– She was not going to allow Jury to become the price of her paradise.

< Decision of One Jury Pending >