“I’m thinking that was probably the point,” I offered. “My guess is that he knew everything about the power-sharing arrangement between Gamma and Static. Gamma probably realized that if she was gone and Static still had her power, Cerek was as good as dead.”
“That’s pretty much on the nose,” Rune acknowledged.
“Actually, it’s not completely clear that he would have killed Cerek,” Endow confided. “He’s had several laamuffals over the years find out his secret, and he usually just wiped their minds and sent them back.”
“So they found out that the emperor had no clothes on,” Rune mused. “That certainly explains why his turnover rate for laamuffals was so high.”
“And he also had his mother looking over his shoulder back then,” I noted. “Killing laamuffals probably would have cost him his one ally. And that brings to mind another question: does anyone know what happened to Gamma’s body?”
“Yeah,” Rune said. “It seems her double wasn’t just supposed to kill Gamma, but totally expunge her — erase all trace of her.”
“Apparently she didn’t want her body to be found,” Endow expounded, “since that might give some indication of what had happened.”
I simply nodded in understanding at this, as it showed notable foresight on Gamma’s part. Case in point: upon finding out why I was here, one of the first things I’d done was ask about Gamma’s body.
“Anyway,” Rune continued, “getting back to the subject of Gamma’s power going to the relic, that was both a blessing and a curse for Static.”
“How so?” I asked.
“It was a blessing in that he then had all her power,” Endow explained. “Or as much of it as he could get in Permovren. It was a curse because now it was devouring him even faster.”
“That being the case, he stepped up his timetable,” Rune said.
I raised an eyebrow. “What timetable?”
“Murder,” Endow said flatly.
“And this is what allowed him to do it,” Rune announced, holding up the green crystal. “It permitted him to make doubles of Reverb and Pinion.”
“Which, in the latter’s case, killed him,” Endow declared.
“I didn’t think you guys could be killed by anything besides another Incarnate,” I remarked. “That being the case, I have to ask: how many of those things” — I nodded toward the crystal — “do you folks have lying around?”
“Technically, the doubles it creates are Incarnates,” Endow clarified, “so your supposition is right.”
“As to how many of these there are,” Rune added, “I’m hoping there’s just the one. To be honest, I’ve never seen anything quite like this.”
He stared at the crystal as he spoke, obviously intrigued.
“So where did it come from?” I inquired.
“According to Cerek, Gamma created it,” Rune said. “From all indications, it was infused with her power, and that’s actually what fueled this thing. In fact, her sivrrut is the only thing that can activate it. When she died, her power was supposed to disappear, thereby making this crystal inert.”
“Only her power didn’t disappear,” Endow interjected. “And as a result, this stayed active and fully functional.”
“And under the control of Static,” I surmised, “who had her power and could therefore control it.”
“Next thing you know, he’s using it to kill Incarnates,” Rune said, “in hopes that it would force me to bring forth the Kroten Yoso Va.”
“Well, he didn’t actually kill Reverb,” I corrected. “And on that topic, how did Reverb actually survive?”
“As you can guess, Static made a double of him,” Rune explained. “Initially he fought back, but that only seemed to strengthen his look-alike. Moreover, Reverb realized that the stronger he made his attacks, the more likely he was to kill someone innocent — even after he transported to the field outside the castle.”
“And rather than kill someone, he just shut down,” I guessed. “Stopped fighting back.”
“Yes,” Endow said. “And you can tell from his appearance that he suffered for it.”
I nodded, shuddering internally at the thought of Reverb’s limbless torso. “Will he be all right?”
“Believe it or not, he’ll be fine,” Rune assured me. “Although his effigy crumbled, Cerek somehow smuggled Reverb into the relic with him. He was near death, but Cerek used the sivrrut housed there to keep him alive.”
“And it was during that time,” I said, “while he was in the amulet with Cerek, that Reverb got a good chunk of the story.”
“Correct,” Rune confirmed.
“Any particular reason he never tried to let you guys know he wasn’t dead?” I asked.
“He didn’t even have the power to keep himself alive,” Rune countered. “He had nothing to spare for reaching us.”
I gave him a skeptical look. “So how’s he alive now?”
“Shortly after you and Static disappeared, our doubles vanished,” Endow explained. “We know now that occurred when you defeated Static, but immediately afterward we were able to get to Reverb and sustain him.”
“He’s strong enough now that he’s taken over the healing process himself,” Rune commented. “He’s even regrown his limbs. Needless to say, his laamuffal Konstantin is overjoyed that he’s still alive.”
I nodded as Rune’s statement brought to mind another thought. “That reminds me — what happened to Pinion’s laamuffal?”
“He shut down after Pinion died,” Endow informed me. “Apparently Pinion’s sivrrut was the life force that animated him.”
“And Cerek?” I asked. “How’s he?”
Rune and Endow both went silent, which was an answer in and of itself.
“He didn’t make it,” Endow finally muttered solemnly. “That blow from Static killed him — probably intentionally.” She looked frustrated for a moment and then added, “He should have just come to us.”
I gave her a sympathetic look. “Like I said earlier, he was still trying to protect Gamma’s son. Regardless, what would you guys have done if you’d found out about Static?”
“Probably attempt to strip him of Gamma’s power,” Rune admitted.
“And perhaps kill him in the process,” I added. “Maybe that’s why Cerek didn’t come to any of you even after Reverb was attacked. If you ended up killing Static, it would have meant that Gamma died for nothing, which was probably the worst thing Cerek could have imagined.”
There
