Chapter 83: Garden of Memories
Apple’s teeth sank into Somner’s neck with the precision of a blade sliding between ribs, not jagged but deliberate, a puncture perfectly placed.
The first gush of blood came hot, thick, almost metallic-sweet, and for an instant Somner swore he could feel it leave his veins in a single, rushing pull...
Like a tide finally surrendering to the moon’s call.
His breath caught. His body betrayed him, leaning into the bite as if urging Apple to drink deeper.
It was agony, sharp and flooding, but under the pain was something darker, heavier....
Relief.
The sensation crawled down his spine and blossomed in his chest, a warmth that burned in reverse, hollowing him out from the inside. He felt the pressure at his temples, the faint ringing in his ears, the throb in his throat, and beneath it all... the pull.
Apple’s Mindbloom allowed him to explore the garden of his past.
It wasn’t just Somner’s blood that he was taking. He felt his memories pouring out too.
They came unbidden, first in flashes, then in seamless, living scenes, as if he’d stepped into them again.
***
The dining hall smelled faintly of roasted pheasant and old wood polish. Candlelight made the silverware flicker like tiny suns. Little Somner sat stiff in his chair, small hands folded on the polished table.
His father, a man with a voice like stone grinding on stone, leaned toward him.
"You are Somner C, the hundredth to bear the name after the first Siren Knight. No last name. No dilution. The firstborn male inherits. Always."
Somner’s voice was tiny. "But... why me? Sister Eris is older than me and stronger. She—"
His mother cut in sharply."Tradition, Somner. Tradition must continue no matter what. It’s how things have always been, and we must not question it."
The weight of it settled on his shoulders before he was even tall enough to reach the floor.
***
The training courtyard reeked of sweat and the metallic tang of weapons clashing. Eris swung her practice blade in precise arcs, sweat glistening on her brow, not once glancing at her brother.
Little Somner trotted to her side, clutching a water bottle.
"Want some?" he asked, smiling.
"Everything gets handed to you on a silver platter." She muttered, snatching the skin but not looking at him.
He stepped back, unsure. "I just wanted to—"
"I don’t need you watching me train. Go play somewhere else." She drove the blade into the practice dummy’s chest, wood splintering.
That was when he saw her jaw tighten, her voice crack just enough to betray her: "If only I were a boy..."
Somner stood frozen, wishing the same thing she did. That he’d never been born to be "Somner" at all.
***
Her scream ripped through the battlefield, and Somner’s head snapped toward the sound just in time to see the beast’s massive claw close around her. The fingers were thick as pillars, glistening with a thin sheen of void-slime that smoked where it touched her jacket.
She thrashed wildly, boots scraping against its forearm. But the grip was unyielding, squeezing her chest so tightly he could see the air being forced from her lungs.
The crystal-plated giant lifted her like a doll. Its mouth opened... a gaping cavern lined with jagged teeth, each one thick as a dagger, their edges chipped from breaking bone.
The stench hit him first: the sour, rancid breath of something that had feasted on flesh for centuries.
Eris’ boots kicked as the beast shoved her inside, legs disappearing past the dripping teeth.
It bit down once.
And the sound was a wet, splintering crack, like branches snapping in a storm. Her scream turned into a choked, muffled cry.
The next bite silenced it entirely, the noise swallowed by the obscene grind of molars crushing through her ribs.
Her blood sprayed in fine arcs against the creature’s face, dark against the gleam of crystal spines.
Somner could not breathe. Could not think. His body moved on instinct, taking one staggering step forward, then another, as if sheer will could force the beast to spit her out.
But it only tilted its head back, swallowed with a deep, rumbling gulp...
And she was gone.
The rift behind it yawned open wider, black light pulling the monster into the Void. The sound of her bones breaking still rang in his ears, a phantom echo that would never leave him.
***
Black fabric swayed in the wind. The white lilies at the altar smelled sweet enough to turn his stomach.
Somner stood by the empty casket, his hands trembling, but his family’s smiles were warm... for him.
Only for him. Always just for him.
They did not care about her at all. Did not care that she died, only that he’s—
"You’re alive." His mother said.
His father clasped his shoulder. "You’ll carry on for her sake. She would’ve wanted that."
’Would she?’ He bit back the answer.
But he still smiled. Smiled until his cheeks ached, smiled until the words stuck in his throat, smiled while inside something screamed.
***
Somner continued on like this, controlling others using Sirentone.
This curse that was passed on to him as a birthright.
But one day... Someone took that curse off him. That burden that he had been carrying, the one he didn’t ask for.
"Get off me."
Somner did, pulling back with a faint smirk. No one had ever told him no before. No one had denied him what he wanted.
And it felt... intoxicating.
He couldn’t have enough of it, so he sought out this special man once more. But then he heard him say:
"I’m not fine. I feel like I deserve to die."
It was like he said the words that Somner could never say out loud.
And so it had become Somner’s mission to make sure this man never leave this Earth feeling that way. That he would be happy...
He will do anything to make him happy.
***
And now, with Apple drinking him dry, he had the same feeling... heavier, sharper, drowning him and freeing him in the same heartbeat.
["I want to give you my everything...Take me."]
The world tilted. He blinked and then...
"NO! GET OFF HIM!
The scene fractured. Hermes was here — no, two of them. One pushing the other, movement like a mirrored fight.
Two Hermes? His mind couldn’t hold the image steady.
’Stop it.’ Somner thought, but it was airless, wordless.
He wanted to tell them not to fight. He wanted to make Hermes happy, no matter which one of them it was. Whether it was the kind Hermes who would never want to hurt anybody, or his vengeful self.
The edges of his vision closed in. His head lolled. The sound of blood in his ears was thunder....
Somner closed his eyes for the last time.