“Don’t ever attack me for any reason.”

“Don’t touch my guards either.”

“Listen to what they tell you too, as long as it doesn’t contradict my own commands.”

“Don’t try to harm yourself.”

“Never stray too far from me.”

“If your old master tries to get you to violate my orders, I want you to actively fight against his control.”

Acton had spoken many commands over the years – many of them off-handedly. Yet, the weight of his bloodline had turned each of them into an inviolable chain wrapped around Micky’s soul, forcing him to comply.

Whether it was his next promotion, or the Green-born’s death that would first snap those chains, he didn’t know. Perhaps, neither would, and he would simply remain a slave for a second lifetime. He tried not to think about that scenario too much, trusting that Percy and the others would rescue him from this hell.

Either way, these orders had posed quite a problem. Micky and Percy’s clone had spent a lot of time before the start of the battle thinking about how to best navigate through their gaps.

Carefully dissecting their wording, it was clear that Percy wouldn’t be able to turn Micky against their enemies. Even if he could have, it would have been risky to stay within earshot of them, as they could easily issue an amendment to deal with his dissent.

Fortunately, Acton’s commands had plenty of blind spots. For instance, he had forbidden Micky from letting Percy help him violate his commands, but not from possessing him entirely. He had also never specified what “too far” meant, leaving it up to Micky’s interpretation.

Of course, it wasn’t like he could freely fly to the opposite side of Remior – Micky knew this would go against the Green-born’s intentions, and that was enough for the command to take hold. That said, Micky genuinely felt that he was free to roam a couple dozen miles from Acton. After all, the Holy Child had explicitly allowed him to hunt by himself within that range in the past.

Thus, he and Percy had decided that their best course of action would be to simply slip away amidst the chaos and stay clear of the battles until it was all over. That didn’t mean that they would be doing nothing in the meantime, however.

‘There they are,’ he thought, spotting a few humanoid silhouettes chasing another in the distance.

The sea of drifting globules lowered visibility greatly, but his passive Soul Vision allowed him to locate his targets. These were the Green guards, currently chasing Nesha through the Valley. Obviously, Micky couldn’t afford to fly near them, let alone get in their way. Yet, he had another task here, no less important. Gliding in a wide circle around the humans, he scanned the barren land for any opportunistic scavengers waiting to ambush the victors of the battle – hopefully just Nesha

.

Micky and Percy weren’t as worried about his main body or Elaine getting attacked. Fights between Blues were downright cataclysmic. Even the dumbest, hungriest beasts would have the sense to stay as far from those as possible. But them sneaking up on a weakened Nesha was something they had to watch out for.

Sure enough, it didn’t take long for him to find a few. It was a small pack of monkeys. Seven Yellows accompanying a Green alpha. Gathering some air mana to his mutated feathers, Micky dove down at a great speed, aiming directly at the oversized monster.

The creature seemed to notice him at the last second, barely ducking in time to avoid getting its soul torn apart. Micky’s talons still carved several deep gashes into the beast’s back, however.

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Not even glancing at the monkey spasming in agony behind him, he grabbed two of the Yellows by the neck, sinking his beak into the chest of a third one.

The survivors were too stunned to react. By the time they managed, Micky had taken off. He was already circling back for a second attack, tossing the carcasses on the ground.

A few seconds later, the Green monkey was back to its feet, the fur on its legs painted red with blood as the soul damage caused it to shudder erratically. As for its henchmonkeys, they were already dead.

The alpha fought back, of course, but the poor thing had never stood a chance. Micky had already killed bigger and stronger Greens over the years. Percy might have asked him to hold back on improving his spells, but his understanding of his various mana types and of his own body had still grown tremendously after all this time in the Valley.

Swallowing the Green core whole, he took off once again, scanning the ravaged battlefield in the distance to figure out which way Nesha and the others had gone.

…and what other unlucky beast had made the mistake of shadowing them.

‘Micky…’ Percy’s clone suddenly spoke.

‘Hmm?’

‘We’ve done everything we could to prepare for this... But you know… there’s still a chance we lose.’ Percy said, his voice grim.

‘If that happens, you should escape to the Vault with your main body.’

Micky replied, not hesitating for even a moment to suggest that.

Opening a portal from Remior was a huge risk they would have preferred to avoid. Percy handing himself to Metatron on a silver platter was an even greater one. But it was better than dying, wasn’t it?

Percy shook his head, however.

‘No way. I won’t leave you or the others behind. Yet, you should do that. If we all get killed, there’s no point in you staying here. With my clone possessing you, we’ll be able to activate the Decree.’

A wave of horror gripped Micky’s heart at the mere thought of losing everyone he cared about in this battle. Just the fact they had all sacrificed so much to rescue him already filled him with guilt. But he knew it would be irresponsible of him to not at least discuss what to do in the worst-case scenario.

‘Can we even survive without your main body?’

Percy sighed.

‘I’ve asked Zoris. He doesn’t think so. Nobody can be entirely sure about anything related to my bloodline, but there’s a good chance my clones rely on the cords to survive. But I might last long enough to open a portal for you. And you may stick around for longer, since your soul is more independent than mine…’

Micky took a few seconds to ponder his friend’s words. Eventually, he shook his head.

‘And what would be the point of that?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Percy… I never told you this, but I recovered a couple more memories since Gentlebreeze town.’

he said, feeling some surprise seep through their bond. But he continued. ‘It wasn’t anything major – just bits and pieces from my captivity on Huehue. Nothing I particularly wanted to remember, really. All of it was sparked by my feelings under Acton’s control.’

‘Where are you going with this?’

‘I… I want to remember the rest. And to take down the bastards who have ruined my home. I can’t do any of that by myself.’

‘But you can. Assuming you live long enough, of course. Metatron will likely shower you with resources. You are even more unique than the other beasts I’ve given him. He might figure a way to fix you up for good. If the stars align, you might even manage to attain divinity without me. Even if you can’t, maybe you can convince Metatron to free Huehue in the future.’

‘Right… But I don’t want to. My fondest memories in this life are from our time together. Training every day to get stronger. Hunting the goblins and the wasps… Doing everything in our power to become gods, even when everyone told us we can’t. Hiding and fighting and scheming against those who wish us harm… Always thinking about the best place to get our next drop of elixir from, or choosing the most useful spells to focus on… What fun would any of it be if I was all alone?’

Percy chuckled.

‘You mean, you enjoyed that stuff? All this time, I honestly felt bad, dragging you through my nonsense.’

Micky laughed too.

‘Maybe it’s just nostalgia. I guess I was just a newborn chick at the time... Or it could be the part of your soul inside me speaking. Either way, all I want is for things to go back to the way they were… It’s been so long since that bastard cast his bloodline on me.’

Percy remained silent for a couple of seconds. Eventually, he spoke again.

‘I don’t want to die either. Obviously. But you’ve started over once before. I’m sure you can do it again. Besides, you won’t be alone in the Vault. There are others you can hang out with. Tlaloc is from Huehue like you. He can talk to you about your people. Maybe even jog another memory or two.’

‘I’d love to meet him – all of them. But they aren’t my family Percy… You are. So do us all a favour and kick that guy’s ass.’

Percy didn’t immediately respond, seemingly at a loss for words. Eventually, he nodded, however, a wave of determination rippling through their connection.

‘…Okay.’