The Archon residing in Sya’s body didn’t react to Arden’s defeat, unlike the soul inside of the vessel. The emotions of Sya’s soul were so strong that they managed to bypass the Archon’s suppression.

  Tears ran down the Archon’s face and she felt something burning inside of her that was only cooled by the feeling of a heavy weight beside the fire. She could only surmise that she was feeling grief, rage, and sorrow.

  “How human.”

  She looked down at Arden’s body wondering what happened. It was perplexing

  He couldn’t have died just from that. She imposed her will onto him, but that wouldn’t kill. It would only force them to submit after soul torture.

  But his body was sprawled out in front of her. She could sense no presence of life in him. For all intents and purposes, Arden was dead.

  But if that was the case, why could she feel his soul? And why was it open, as if inviting her in?

  A soul couldn’t exist without life.

  Even more strange, it was opened without any thought of submission. Submission was her domain, and as such, she could force others to submit, and was able to see who had submitted to anyone before.

  She felt no submission coming from the boy.

  He hadn’t given up, but he had opened the gates for her.

  She could feel his open soul, but he was dead.

  …She wanted to know just what he was.

  …She wanted to learn what was special about her undead brother.

  …She wanted to see inside his soul. There, she would get her answers.

  “...Show me your secrets, Brother RedShift.”

  Arden came back to life for a moment and grabbed Sya’s hand. Under normal circumstances, the Archon would have wrenched her hand free of Arden's grasp, but the unparalleled joy coming from her vessel gave Arden enough time to say two words with an evil grin.

  “I consent.”

  Both bodies fell to the floor with their consciousness ripped away.

  *****

  The Archon chastised herself for falling for such a simple trap. She would make sure to punish the soul of her vessel greatly for her infraction. Putting her through the same torment her brother went through seemed like a great start. It was almost poetic.

  She would do it as soon as she took control of RedShift’s soul.

  She recognized the feeling of entering someone’s soul cluster. This wouldn’t be the first time she’d done so, but this was the first time entering one with a vessel. She felt a strange disconnect from her body.

  When vision finally returned to her, she looked around the soul cluster, expecting to see the constellation map variation that her agent had.

  Her words failed her when she saw that she was trapped inside of a giant rib cage that covered the entire soul cluster. Through the cracks in the bone, she could see the stars that should have been floating were now caught in a web of blood and bone. They were all interconnected and led to a single point.

  “Yo, you finally made it!” Arden cheered.

  The Archon turned in his direction, the nexus of the grotesque web, and saw that he was sitting atop his stellar core that itself rested upon a pillar of bloodstained bone as motes of light colored grey, red, and white floated around it. Arden gave a casual wave with his feet resting over the walkable ocean of blood. She could see his core thumping in a steady rhythm, as if it was a heart.

  She didn’t say anything and just took it all in. She already realized that Arden was not sitting on a Stellar Core, but a Star Core instead. It was another impossibility. Star Cores fell outside of humanity's domain. Only the mindless slavering foot soldiers of the Blight had Star Cores.

  “Oh man, are you speechless?” Arden said. “That’s gotta be a first for an esteemed one such as yourself.”

  “You.”

  “Yup.”

  The air vibrated around Arden for a moment. He looked at the shimmering air around him, then back at the parasite leeching off of his sister.

  “Your little tricks won't work here, Archon,” he said, clapping his hands together, dispelling the attack that made short work of him on the outside. “You’re not the queen bitch in here. This is my soul. My house, my rules.”

  “Bow down.”

  With growing anger, the Archon watched as Arden shrugged off her attack while picking his ears. She was above humanity, and yet a human was currently above her.

  Arden shoved himself off his core, and landed on the ocean of blood creating a ripple. A few motes of red light floated around him, and he grabbed one. A moment later, the Bone Talons appeared on his hands.

  “What are you?”

  “Well, first I was a human. I think I probably still count as one, even though I'm a Starborn now. Do you think Starborn count as being human? I think whatever acts emotionally qualifies as a human.”

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  “Tell me.”

  Arden shook his head with a shit-eating grin. He waggled his finger and spoke.

  “That anger you're feeling is a very human emotion. You've got a name, Archon? Mine's Arden, by the by. I prefer it to ‘brother’ or ‘RedShift.’”

  “You are unworthy of hearing my name.”

  “Suit yourself, lady. I'll learn it eventually. I already know about two of them. It shouldn't be hard to learn the rest.”

  “To seek the knowledge of the Archons is blasphemy of the highest order. You dare blaspheme against us?”

  “Quite often, actually. I've already blasphemed against two deity-like bullshit entities before, possibly. Does that big-ass tree count?”

  The Archon’s eyes narrowed in response to Arden’s words. She gave a slight pause before speaking.

  “...How do you know of that accursed engine?”

  “Beat me and I'll tell you.”

  The Archon scoffed.

  “You expect me to degrade myself to your level and engage in combat?”

  She suddenly felt a tingle coming from the back of her neck. She whirled around to see what it was, but found nothing. Only the faint trace of a foreign, yet somehow familiar energy.

  “You are misunderstanding the situation. I am God here. I can smite you and excise you from my sister's body and be done with it. But I'd rather not do that.”

  Her face was colored with suspicion.

  “Tell me why.”

  “Because doing that would only foster hatred between us. I'd love nothing more than cut you out of Sya’s body, but that would only buy me a little bit of time. You worked hard to turn Sya into your prime vessel. If I force you out, you will come for us hard.”

  The Archon didn't respond. She knew it was true. She had done the same thing countless times across countless eons.

  “What are you suggesting?”

  “A duel. One on one. We fight here, in my soul cluster. I'll let you tap in a bit to your full power. Not much, but just a tiny bit. Enough to match me for fighting in a place like my own soul.”

  “Tell me the terms.”

  “Fight until one of us can't continue. If you win, you keep my sister as your vessel. I'll also tell you my story, and answer any questions that I can answer. But if I win, you get the hell out of my sister's body forever, and we bury the hatchet.”

  The Archon rubbed her chin in thought. She hated the idea of engaging in a fight against some mortal. It stained her pride as an Archon.

  Looking past that, she was tempted. The boy offering the deal interested her. He was no normal man. He was strange, even by the standards of the other Archons. To wage his own human soul against someone as unfathomable as her was something that she never expected.

  She looked into his eyes and saw defiance burning within them. It was the kind of look she loved to see. She loved to see how long it would take them to submit.

  Everyone did eventually. Kings knelt before her, and Gods worshiped her. Her youngest brother would be no different. Even if he was part Archon, he was still a human for most of his life.

  She had yet to meet a human who had not submitted.

  It was in their nature to bow before true power. That was why their government enraged her. It was a facsimile of power that she could see through by simple virtue of being almighty.

  There was always something beyond humanity. She felt compelled to teach her dear brother that fact.

  “I need more than just your words. Swear upon your existence, as RedShift and an Archon.”

  “Only if you do the same.”

  The Archon nodded Sya’s head.

  Arden spoke, raising a hand

  “I vow on my own soul, my existence as both RedShift and an Archon, that I will abide by the rules of the duel. Should I lose, my body and soul will belong to the victor.”

  His red star core that was beating like a heart stopped beating. A golden thread wrapped tightly around it, signifying the accord had been struck. If he went back on his word, his soul would be destroyed.

  “Your turn now.”

  Arden watched in awe as the great storm that was a miniscule portion of the Archon’s power surged through his soul cluster. It swept through the cosmic carnage all around them. He didn’t fear it though, not like he had on the outside. He could tell that there was no malice in this show of power. It was simply a connection made between the prime vessel and her greater will.

  The Archon’s power coalesced in the sky above them, creating a sigil that was different then both the symbol of the Stargazer and the Blight. Just by looking at it, Arden could feel the whisper of submission tempt him, before he cast off the feeling.

  The image of a broken crown resting on a throne lit up the red sky in gray light. It softly pulsed as the Archon spoke.

  “I, Domah, Archon of Submission, vow on my existence as an Archon to accept the rules of this duel and abide by the results.”

  The emblem of submission in the sky glowed brightly for a few seconds before it too was tied to the abyss with golden thread.

  “I must say, o brother mine, you surprise me. You surprise me in ways that no mortal has before. From the appearance of your soul, to your willingness to fight something like me. Like us. You tricked me into entering your soul with you, and instead of removing me from your sister, you struck a bargain with me. You lack the manners and dignity of us, but your enigmatic nature is proof that you are of our kind.”

  “I’d rather be human.”

  “Stop pretending. Your soul reflects your desires. Looking around, I can see what it is you desire. You want more. You want everything under your control. Perhaps that makes you the Archon of Greed.”

  “What I want is for you to stop bullshitting. Universal domination holds no appeal to me. Living my life is good enough. If you Archons could stop injecting yourself into my life, that’d be great. The same goes for the Blight.”

  Domah’s laughter echoed throughout Arden’s soul. Despite being safe from the effects of her words while in here, he still felt disgusted. It felt like his soul trembled.

  “You don’t even know what you talk about, brother. Your kind has no knowledge of the Blight. You speak as if you are an authority on it.”

  “I’ve seen enough of it to form an opinion. It’s killed billions of people. It took my sister. You took my sister. I don’t have the power to destroy or even slow down the Blight. But don’t you dare stand there telling me that the Blight is a force of good when you made Sya overdose on it to let you in.”

  The air shook around the Soul Cluster. Arden felt the hostility in the air. It was like he was back in the threshold of will, feeling the weight of infinity trying to crush him.

  A gray haze lifted up from Domah’s shoulders giving off the appearance of the top half of a giant human made of mist. This new form hovered above her body with its hands out, as if puppeteering Sya’s body.

  Arden matched the energy with the power of his soul. The Archon of Submission’s power was vast, but here it was limited, and Arden’s own power was multiplied.

  The soul was inviolable. Arden wouldn’t lose in his own soul.

  He couldn’t afford to.

  The mist imposed its will on Arden. It didn’t try to attack, or even force him to kneel. No words were spoken, but Arden could understand its intent. The meaning was clear to him.

  “It seems I was wrong, o brother mine. You are no Archon after all.”