Anvil stood up and summoned his sword, pointing at Jest.
"Did you take him, too, Dreamspawn?
"I'm not the dreamspawn, Anvil."
"How long were you pretending to be Jest then, Mordret? You got too careless."
Jest stood up with wide eyes.
"What? What are you talking about, boy? Have you lost your mind?! I'm still me!"
"You started talking about Lord Shadow and Weaver's mask, even though I didn't describe the mask or mention the shadow god lineage in the first place."
"Yeah, I don't even recall why I brought up that kid in the first place. I know that something was telling me to talk about him; surely you believe me."
Anvil stared at him for a while before sighing and dismissing his sword along with his armor, leaving him in a vermillion tunic.
"I do believe you, Uncle Jest, the dreamspawn is already influencing your thoughts then and trying to get information through you on the only lineage that hasn't been openly claimed."
Jest scoffed.
"I can't believe you would think I would get taken out in such a way, I've haven't lived this long to get taken out by your son."
"One can never be too careful. Besides, as I said before, the dreamspawn is already far too powerful. He's trying to mess with our heads."
Jest scowled at his words but noticed that Anvil didn't deny Mordret being his son like usual, which meant some of Jest's words got through that thick skull of his.
"Which only reinforces my goddamn belief that killing Broken Sword was his doing. The Dreamspawn knew you already didn't tolerate the boy and manipulated your feelings towards him so that you would begin to dislike him and then eventually come to hate him, so that you would be more inclined to agree with the Dreamspawn's plan in killing Broken Sword. I know better than most how mental manipulation works because of my aspect."
Anvil stared at him, considering his words. Jest could see the gears in his head turning before the boy eventually scoffed at him.
"You're being ridiculous, Uncle Jest. The plan of killing him was my decision, no one else's."
Jest slammed his hand on the table in frustration.
"Goddamnit, Anvil, you're hearing me, but you're not listening! The boy can read minds and sense emotions for fuck's sake! So he knew that Ki Song was already cautious and paranoid of Broken Sword because of his descent into madness over Heaven's death. So he toyed with her paranoia and amplified it into fear. All he had to do was play into her now growing fear and say that Broken Sword was extremely powerful and therefore, because of his descent into madness, he was also extremely dangerous and mentally unstable, and he would be willing to do anything to get his wife back."
Jest paused and saw that Anvil was silent while looking at him intently, and gestured for Jest to continue.
"The Dreamspawn knew Ki Song had already adopted Seishan, Hel, and Eunbin by then, so he knew that she would prioritize her children's safety over anything else. That way, she would be more willing to agree with him and join his plan! As I said, the boy has no feelings, so he would have no problem with manipulating them to further his goals."
"And his goal would be to get the fragment of Weaver's lineage that Broken Sword acquired?"
Jest nodded with a crooked smile.
"Now you're finally using your brain. Don't you think it's odd that the moment someone with shadow-related powers shows up is when the dreamspawn finally starts to try to make his return? It's clear that he's been waiting for the shadow god lineage to reveal itself so that he could take it along with the Sun god lineage; it's why he protected Nephis; that way, he can kill two birds with one stone."
Anvil stood up and began pacing around his room for a few seconds with a concentrated expression before speaking.
"Let's say I do believe you, and if your theory holds any truth, then he would have already gone to the underworld to claim the fragment of Weaver's lineage from Broken Sword's body. The one Broken Sword found instead of the Shadow god lineage, which means the dreamspawn would want the rest of the fragments, and I don't think he would waste time on a wild goose chase when he arrives on earth. That means someone likely already has the other fragments of the Weavers' lineage. So he'll be going after them, too, and actually be killing three birds with one stone. So I will ask you this: who do you think has the rest of the lineage?"
Jest was silent for a long time.
"I don't know, but if I had to pick, it would be Song of the Fallen. I think she has it. I don't trust the girl; she doesn't even have to try to go unnoticed, and I don't like it."
Anvil nodded and sat back down.
"Is that so?"
Jest stared at him in confusion as he sat across from him.
"You're not going to do anything?"
Anvil shook his head.
"No, she is still a valuable ally after all, and she will be invaluable when the dreamspawn arrives, as she will be his first target."
"Why keep her alive, though?"
Anvil cracked a hint of a smile.
"Because Cassia is the only one capable of wiping him from the memory of everyone. Even then, the task is impossible because she is only a saint. But she likely already knows that."
Jest eyed him for a few seconds and decided to get back on track.
"Going back to Weaver, you said that Broken Sword needed to die because he was a threat to humanity, but we both know it more so because of what he had found was forbidden, because of Weaver's heritage to-"
Anvil nodded as Jest trailed off, and he finished his sentence for him.
"The forgotten god, yes, Broken Sword was famous enough to where people practically worshiped him and since he had a fragment of Weaver's forbidden lineage and Weaver is a child of the forgotten god then the people were not only worshiping him but also the forgotten god which would speed up his awakening and lead to the war god realm's death along with everyone in it. Which is why he had to die."
Jest nodded but wasn't convinced in the slightest and narrowed his eyes as he asked.
"And how did you learn about the forgotten god?"
"…"
Jest asked again, this time more forcefully,
"How did you learn about the forgotten god?"
Anvil narrowed his eyes.
"You know how,"
Jest nodded.
"I do, but I want to hear you say it,"
"The dreamspawn,"
Jest smacked the table.
"See? No matter how you look at it, all of it traces back to him."
Anvil raised an eyebrow.
"What does the forgotten god have to do with the dreamspawn?"
"I don't know, and that's what scares me, but what I do know is that when that thing arrives, then it's no longer about who's going to win the war. It's going to be about survival, about who's going to survive him."
"We'll see,"
"Arrogant brat,"
Anvil scowled and allowed a hint of emotion to creep into his tone, something Jest hadn't seen for decades since he gained his flaw.
"Then what do you want me to do, Uncle Jest?"
Jest answered bluntly.
"Reconcile,"
"What?"
"Reconcile with your children,"
Anvil clenched his fist.
"And how is that going to help? I'm supposed to just welcome Mordret back with open arms and apologize for giving him to the dreamspawn and begin recognizing him as my own son and hope he'll forgive me for destroying his body and spirit? Start acting like a father and treating Morgan like an actual person after years of neglecting her as my daughter?"
Jest nodded.
"It would be a start,"
Anvil scoffed.
"A start to what? Redemption? The stairs that lead to the heavens? Forgiveness?"
"A start to mending,"
"You can't mend what's already been severed, especially with Nephis; she knows I helped kill her father."
Jest shot back.
"You haven't even tried with Mordret. I doubt that girl will listen to reason. I can't say I blame her, though."
Anvil nodded with a sigh.
"Neither can I, but you must've finally gone senile, do you really think that Mordret out of all people is the right state of mind to hear me out after all these years?"
Jest scoffed and rolled his eyes.
"I'm not saying to get on your knees and beg for forgiveness, just tell the boy why you gave him to the dreamspawn, it's simple."
Anvil shook his head.
"You say that like it's easy,"
"That's why I said it is simple, I never said it was easy, you're just refusing to try, you never know how it can go."
"And what about Nephis? The girl hates me; it's clear she does. Does she think I don't know that she only joined my clan all those years ago to gain my trust and eventually backstab me? No matter what side of the story Ki song or I could give her, she will just see us as the ghouls who murdered her father in cold blood."
Jest nodded.
"Fair point,"
Anvil's eyebrows knitted together.
"Moving back to that boy, even if Mordret somehow does forgive me, it won't last long because I know what will eventually happen."
Jest corrected him with a frown.
"You assume what would happen."
Anvil scowled and hissed.
"What are you not getting through your damn head, Uncle Jest? Have you not been paying attention all these years? Have you forgotten my flaw? If I start loving Mordret and Morgan, I'll lose them, but if I continue to pretend I despise them, then I'll still lose them, as Morgan will eventually come to hate me as well, and then I'll lose her in a metaphorical sense. I lost Madoc in Antarctica because a small part of me hoped he would live through it. I cherished him and got him kiiled."
Jest opened his mouth to speak.
"You-"
Anvil cut him off.
"I cherished Father and got him killed, I cherished Gwyn and got her killed, and I cherished Heaven and got her killed too. I tried to distance myself from Broken Sword and made myself despise him to not have a repeat, and I still got him killed, by my own hands no less. I don't want to lose Mordret, Morgan, or you. There is no winning with this flaw of mine; it's a curse. We've had this conversation dozens of times over the decades."
Jest's frown deepened.
"And we're going to have it again."
Anvil shook his head.
"No, we aren't."
Jest threw his arms up in frustration.
"So what the hell are you going to do then? Keep pretending you don't care? That's not how it works with flaws, especially yours."
Anvil nodded.
"Yes, I am, and yes, it does, it's kept you three alive so far, hasn't it?"
Jest wanted to slam his head into a wall.
"But at what cost, Anvil?! Look at yourself! Look at Mordret! Look at Morgan! You've been taking your flaw too literally, ever since Warden died, then Gwyn after she died giving birth to Morgan, then my wife, then your brother, along with every other death around you, you've blamed yourself!"
Anvil's grey eyes hardened as he rounded on Jest.
"How can I not? My flaw said I'd lose those I cherished, so I stopped cherishing them. That's why I gave Mordret away to the dreamspawn, in hopes he wouldn't die because of my flaw, and look where that got him. And it's why I treat Morgan like a weapon."
Jest took a deep breath and leaned against the wall.
"You've completely cut off all your emotions in hopes it'll keep the ones you have left alive."
Anvil sat on his bed.
"I'd rather them be alive and able to hate me than not be able to hate me because they're dead."
"You have a fucked up way of thinking, kid, you know that?"
"I do, but what else am I supposed to do?"
"I…I don't know,"
"I don't either,"
"Just…. Let what I said marinate in your head, yeah?"
Anvil didn't respond, and Jest straightened from the wall and sat beside him on the bed. That was when Anvil finally spoke up.
"Why do you keep pushing me to reconcile with Mordret? Especially when you're the one who taught me to be heartless."
"Well, I was a fool back then. I thought it would be a way to counteract your flaw, and it turns out I was wrong, very wrong."
"You never answered my question."
"Because I want to see you be happy,"
Anvil looked away and stared at the door.
"A piece of it was taken when I gave away Mordret, and another was taken when Gwyn died. Another piece died when I saw Morgan crying after she realized her older brother wasn't coming home. And the remaining piece died when I saw how much Mordret had changed after coming back and how badly of a mistake I made giving him to that monster."
Jest clasped Anvil's shoulder and patted it.
"I know that, I was there for all of it, just think about what I said,"
As Jest left and closed the door, Anvil sat on his bed for a little while longer and eventually spoke to thin air.
"You can stop looking through my eyes now, Cassia. I would appreciate some privacy."
The next chapter will go back to Raven Heart :)