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Chapter Text

The Lamb was staring at the red toad standing at the minor pentagram. She had been trying to fight them back in the purged lands of Anura, even without her Crown. But now, she was silent, her knees trembling.

The last time Heket’s throat hurt this much, it was under Narinder’s crimson claws as he had ripped the flesh apart, only for that very organ to contribute to his imprisonment. She stared at the Lamb, that miserable creature she now had to call the God of Death. Oh well, it was them or…

She shook the thought away as she stretched her arms towards the Lamb. They would pay for what they did, it was a promise…

Just like she promised to protect her siblings

Her stomach twisted, and she had no choice but to clench it in pain. She could not even cry for help anymore; she tried to open her mouth, only for a generous quantity of ichor to fall on the ground, to the Lamb’s surprise.

“-Heket…”

It was useless, all she felt was hunger. Why didn’t the Lamb end her? Oh, it was to make her suffer, she was sure of it.

With great effort, she articulated with what Narinder had left of her larynx:

“-…Feed…Me…”

Her eyes went blurry, but she wouldn’t lose consciousness, oh no, she would not give the Lamb that pleasure. She heard their voice asking for a meal, and there came a Follower she never thought she would find again, a bandage covering one of his eyes

“-Thank you, Bathin.

-Ba…”

She coughed, spilling more ichor on the ground. The purple toad came to his old master, helping her stay up. She tried to ball her hands into fists, but the smell of cauliflower was too strong to resist, and she devoured the plate with her bare hands. The vegetable burned her throat, but it felt as if the very curse of Famine she had inflicted upon the Lamb had come right back to her, so much so that she didn’t mind. She was feeling her centuries-old bandages desperately try to resist the meager feast when she heard a familiar screech.

No, it can’t be…

A green worm emerged from the ground, millimeters away from the Cult Leader:

“-WHERE IS SHE? Damned Lamb, I can smell her…”

Heket, despite her better judgment, felt tears wet her eyes. Her baby brother was here. Her baby brother, that she let be slain like a vulgar sacrifice. Oh, she was undeserving of his forgiveness, how could she? His big sister let him die, never would he…

She felt the worm’s arms around her shoulders.

“-Leave us alone, stupid Lamb! He hissed.”

The Leader furrowed their eyebrows, but did not react further as they left with Heket’s old Witness. Leshy clumsily rubbed his hand on Heket’s cheek.

“-Dear sister Heket, please accept my apology! I failed to stop them, I disappointed everyone! But I beg you, he is here, help-

-….Shhh….”

The toad held her brother tight in her arms, letting the tears flow. He was out of this nightmare, it was all that mattered. He did not deserve to be yet another victim of her arrogance, especially in his state: judging by his gestures and her own throat, he must have been completely blind now. How could she have failed so terribly… She wanted to tell him how sorry she was, to scream in joy that her little brother was alive, but all that came out of her mouth was ichor dripping on the ground.

“-Heket, continued Leshy, you cannot answer me, can you? Oh, I will miss your voice, but at last you are out of Purgatory. Do you think Kallamar and Shamura will come back? Do you think-“

Heket put a gentle finger on her brother’s bandages, injecting him to stop talking. She saw Bathin slowly come back with another plate of cauliflower in a hand, a cane in the other.

“-Lady Heket, I think you may need to go to the healing bay to check on your…”

He did not get the time to finish as Heket grabbed her collar and spat ichor by his side before speaking:

“-….Traitor…”

Bathin raised an eyebrow:

“-Just as you betrayed Knhnou-

-What is going on here?”

The Lamb had come back with towels and Witness Allocer by their side. The toad dropped Bathin on the floor and walked to the Lamb, before opening her mouth: a scream would have left it if it weren’t for her throat.

“-Heket, you are in dire need of medical assistance, said the Lamb. And no Follower of mine will stay hurt within the Cult.”

She wanted to yell to that Lamb she was not one of their puny Followers, even less so Leshy. But no sound came, only the blood of the God she was no longer. She tried to gasp for air, but it stung, it stung as much as his claws…

“-Lady Heket.”

It was Allocer who had spoken. Finding her own Witness within the traitor’s ranks was a thing, having Shamura’s in front of her was another. She pointed at the spider, not a single sound able to come out.

She felt her knees falter. Bathin managed to catch her as Allocer guided the group to the Healing Bay.

“-Leshy, perhaps it is best you stay outside, advised the Lamb.

-How dare you, Lamb? This is my sister! Do you realize what seeing your family suffer-

-Oh, I am Leshy, coldly answered the Leader, and the worm immediately understood what they meant.”

The worm huffed before digging underground. Heket knew him, he would not obey the Lamb ordering Allocer and Bathin to carry her by her arms.

She wished to tell them it was not over.

She wished to tell Bathin he was but a rotten traitor

She wished to scream, so loud and for so long that damned Lamb would rip their ears out in pain.

But the Witnesses carried her on a bed, and the spider started to undo the bandages she had kept for centuries.

No…

***

“Here we are, sister…”

Kallamar finished bandaging his little sister’s throat. The now four Bishops of the Old Faith were in Blight’s private quarters, Leshy and Shamura had fallen asleep after hours of crying. It had been a challenge to bring the eldest here, as they had gripped the stone under Narinder’s prison so hard Kallamar had to wrap up their bloody claws as well.

Heket looked at her now deaf brother. Of course, the Crown would help him hear, but just as her voice would never be the same, he was doomed to only hear echoes of what was truly there.

“-Perhaps we should start… alternatives to language”, began Heket, and immediately regretted saying it as she saw Kallamar’s eyes fill with tears.

He did not answer, and instead chose to tighten the bandages around her throat. He wiped the now rolling tears away with a tentacle.

“-Come on, Kallamar… she said, doing her best to not burst into tears as well, this will be…our thing.

-Shamura will know what to do, they always do…”

***

"-Here we go, flatly said Allocer, wiping their claws. Is it okay for you, Lady Heket?"

The toad did not answer. She sat on the bed and faced the group’s opposite direction.

Bathin sighed.

“-Leader, I am sorry I cannot help you further. That effort took a lot out of me, not that I am unhappy to help you…

-Of course, whispered the Lamb. Good night.”

Heket wanted to tell Allocer and that rotten piece of sacrifice her own Witness called Leader to leave the room, but she couldn’t. Not anymore.

But despite all anger she bore, her tiredness allowed her to feel something else within her chest, something cold and heavy.

The knowing feeling the One Who Waits was near.

Chapter Text

“THIS IS NOT OVER! MY FAITH SHALL GROW! I SHALL…”

The depths of the Earth closed back to the traitorous brother. He had broken more than a family that day; Heket and Kallamar, shaking, helped a crying Leshy get back up, his hands clenched on his now empty eye socket. Shamura was kneeling at the seal, as five chains, one golden, grabbed it by magic.

They opened their mouth…

***

A high, piercing cry resonated within the Cult.

Heket opened an eye. By the Yellow Crown, what kind of mortals were still awake in the dead of the night?

She quickly remembered where she was. The Cult of the Lamb. She stood up, not without staggering: her injury impacted her more as a mortal than she’d have liked to admit. But more than her pained throat, something disturbed her.

"-…Show… yourself…

-Good evening, Heket."

The dark silhouette of Narinder appeared at the doorframe. His third eye was open, milky and blind. Heket knew she could not fight him in her state. But she did not care. She dashed towards the heretic, clenching her hands around his neck.

That was it. He was mortal now, and didn’t look like he was going to fight. For all his sins, she would kill him.

She saw the cat close his eyes, as a vicious smile started to form.

No…

Narinder grabbed Heket’s arms. Why wasn’t he using his claws? The toad did not get the time to linger on the question as her back hit the wall.

"-I knew you would react as such, whispered Narinder. Leshy tried as well, but I doubt Kallamar will."

How about dear sibling Shamura, you were always their favorite, thought Heket. But she could not say anything, she had used all she had to order the cat to show himself.

"-I was aware the Lamb would bring you back, continued Narinder, once he realized Heket would not try another attack. I knew you would react that way, for we both know and cannot forget the past."

Heket stared at Narinder so murderously it was a miracle he was able to even look her in the eyes. Even more so, to continue speaking:

"-You are going to try and kill me, I do not blind myself on the matter. Although your silence bothers me: I know you cannot speak anymore, but I observed you through the Red Crown during the Lamb's crusades, and most importantly, through the seal in your temple. You spoke to Kallamar with the very hands that were at my throat a minute ago."

Heket did not move. She scanned the room for something sharp, when she found a syringe on her nightstand. She jumped to grab it, so fast that Narinder did not get the time to do anything.

"-What is going on here?"

A high voice came from behind. Heket recognized another one of Shamura’s disciples, the millipede. What was her name, again?

Narinder took Heket’s moment of confusion to try and grab the syringe, without success. Knowing she had kept her most primal abilities, she jumped away before throwing the needle towards the cat.

Narinder would have only one functioning eye left if it weren’t for the floating black hand catching the syringe and dropping it to the ground. Heket turned around to meet the Lamb’s eyes.

They did not look angry. Heket was sure they knew such thing would happen. How could it be otherwise? They indoctrinated the very traitor who stole her voice…

Did Leshy try and fight him as well? Of course, it had to be! But she could not expect her brother to succeed where she had failed. If he could not beat the Lamb with his Crown, trying without it would be pure folly.

But why? Why, after all this time, did the Lamb choose to spare him? Was it to make him suffer, just as she and Leshy did?

"-Narinder, I told you to wait for tomorrow, sighed the Leader, the black hand morphing back into the Red Crown.

-I did not wish for you to join me, grumbled the cat.

-If it weren’t for me, you would have a needle planted in your left eye, remarked the Lamb."

With a sigh, Narinder stood up, while Heket did not dare to move. The Lamb rubbed a hoof between their eyes before speaking again.

"-Vephar, please escort Narinder to the exit. Heket and I have a lot to talk about."

The millipede nodded, and Narinder accepted her guidance without further fight. Was it because of his newfound loyalty to the Lamb, or his eyes starting to shine a little more than usual?

“This is it”, thought the toad; she would die again, by the same hand. She prepared her guard, her fists near her face. If only she had kept her tongue…

"-I am not going to fight you, Heket."

It took all her will to answer orally:

"-…Why…

-Because I am nothing like you five, continued the Lamb, approaching her. You will have to live, and that I promise."

She tried to land a punch on the Lamb, but got caught by the Red Crown morphed back into the black hand.

"-Beware, Heket. The only reason you are not in prison is because of your health.

-…coward…

-That word is empty of meaning coming from Kallamar’s sister", coldly remarked the Lamb as he dropped the toad on the floor.

Heket massed her throat, and saw the Lamb close the door behind them. She tried to reach back, only to have the panel slam in front of her face.

"-Try to get some sleep Heket, you need it now. I know you hate me, but trust me, I will bring them back too."

She turned the handle: the Lamb had locked her inside the room. Nevertheless, they kept speaking, a privilege she already missed:

“-It is easy to die for your family. It is way harder to live for them.”

Chapter Text

The Sun was barely rising that Hauras heard a banging sound on the Healing Bay’s door:

"-Open up, scorpion! I know you are here.

-We’re not open to visitors yet, Leshy! Complained the medic, half asleep. Oh, good morning, Heket, he added, a little calmer. I hope you slept well. The Lamb gave us the instruction to not talk about your, hem, old status, so try to not do it either, please?"

The toad squinted her eyes at the medic and turned the key to the waiting room.

"-Dear sister Heket! How are you? I heard the wretched feline paid you a visit. Oh, if I had I known, I would have…"

The worm was visibly shaking. Leshy was not as much of a coward as Kallamar, but as the only one younger than Narinder, he was in an even more delicate position than the other Bishops. Heket grabbed him by the shoulders and gently rubbed them, not able to pronounce a single sound.

"-I should have guessed, two old Bishops will do no good to my blood pressure, mumbled Hauras, leaving the counter. If you need me, I’ll be at the breakfast table."

Without another word, he left the Healing Bay, Allocer taking his role. They glanced at Heket and, after a moment of inspection, opened their mouth:

"-You can come in, Eligos."

The familiar bat did not dare enter the waiting room, and who could blame him? He knew his old master, and Heket would have probably tried to beat him to a bloody pulp if she weren’t so tired. With a sigh, she presented an inviting hand, asking him to enter.

"-It has been… quite a long time, hasn’t it, Lady Heket?"

The toad crossed her arms and looked away. Allocer did not falter, and spoke again; they whispered the same way Shamura did…

"-Heket, Eligos will be your interpret.

It will be… our thing…

-We know you can sign.

Only…us… Speak no… hear naught…

-So we can…"

They did not get the time to finish as Heket shoved Eligos away and dashed towards the Healing Bay’s exit.

Where could she go? It did not matter. How unfortunate it was though, that she ran into Narinder.

"-Oh great, complained the cat, pinching his nose bridge."

She ignored him. He did not matter.

Not anymore.

She reached the Cult’s entrance. Kallamar and Shamura were beyond that arch, she knew it. Suffering in Purgatory like she did. Like Leshy did. And she knew the worm was behind her.

"-Sister, do you not want to speak to me again? Eligos talked about you every day. His great Bishop of Famine… My followers are all dead, Heket, including Agares. And I must admit, Bathin may not have much longer to live; Eligos has that necklace granting him a longer life, do you remember? Amdusias had one under my command, but it did not protect him from…"

His voice faded away. He sat down near the major pentagram, his back facing Heket. She sat down with him, not daring to make him face her direction.

"-Are you disappointed in me, sister? Tap me once for yes, twice for no."

Heket hit her brother’s shoulder twice and, after a few moments, kept hitting, resting between two quick tapping.

"-Okay, I get it! I struggle to understand why you decide to wrap yourself in silence, away from this world, though. I know it is cruel, but if there is any good to being blind, for instance, it is to be unable to see that stupid Lamb’s face!"

Heket chuckled, ichor staining her teeth.

"-However… I am here, sister. I am aware it is not much, aware I am not much compared to… them. And if it is not enough for you, I understand. It is just… I simply wished I could have been."

Without another word, Leshy burrowed away, leaving his sister alone.

How long did she stay here, observing the well leading to Purgatory, completely alone? It did not matter. The Lamb had arrived without a noise by her side. How could they be almost her size now? It was humiliating. She readied herself to leave when their voice echoed through the broken arch.

"-Stay."

Heket stopped in her track, her muscles tensing. She knew she could not escape that damned Lamb. Turning her heels, she waited for them to continue.

"-Don’t worry about your, hem, speech impediment, I can read your thoughts, if you allow me to, of course."

Heket nodded, and approached the Lamb. Not wanting to look them in the eyes, she kept staring at the crimson well behind the hills.

"-I suppose you have many questions; as long as you do not try to come for my head, I will be happy to answer all of them."

By what right did they talk to her like one of their Followers? The Lamb seemed to catch on the thought, as they continued speaking:

"-Ah, my apologies. I do not exactly know how to address an ex-Deity. I am sorry for yesterday evening as well, Nari and I… had a lot to talk about and I was not feeling like myself."

Heket blinked in surprise; Nari? As in, Narinder?

The Lamb seemed to read her expression and chuckled:

"-Ah, you missed quite a few things after your, hem fall. Do not tell him I said that, but it seems he missed the world of the living so much he almost forgot my betrayal. Yes, because I betrayed him, they added upon seeing the toad’s even more confused face. Shamura… even opposed to me, I learned a lot from their wisdom."

The toad nodded. She opened her mouth out of reflex, but the pain stung her. The Lamb seemed to understand and morphed the Crown into a feather:

"-Perhaps, if you do not wish to sign, you could write on this? Here, I always carry paper around, it is less intrusive than mind-reading, and my followers can understand you that way."

The Lamb lent her a small notebook. After a moment of hesitation, she grabbed it, as well as the feather, and wrote four words in black ink:

"I will kill him.

-Please don’t, chuckled the Lamb. He… already tried himself, you know? Leshy too…"

Heket bit her lip as she looked away. Leshy, wanting to end it all? No, it was nothing like him. The Lamb seemed to understand:

"-He thought he would never see any of you ever again, and Narinder being around did nothing to help…

You act as if you are not the instigator of the situation, Lamb.

-I simply think all five of you deserve to another chance. You will see Kallamar and Shamura again, Heket, I promise.

You make a lot of promises, do you not?"

The Lamb smiled sadly as they looked at the paper.

"-I suppose so. But I can’t help but think I owe it to you. After all, I killed you in the name of one who is a God no more. It is quite an absurd situation, isn’t it?"

The old Bishop of Famine nodded again before looking back at the well of Purgatory. After a moment, she wrote again:

"Lamb, do not hurt my family again."

The Leader stood up and nodded:

"-Another promise I ought to keep!"

Chapter Text

The afternoon let the Lamb the time to present Heket her new shelter: a comfortable hut surrounded by a few sculpted pumpkins, right next to Leshy’s and what would become Kallamar’s.

"I wish to give you this as well, added the Lamb, lending the toad a notepad with a feather and a bottle of ink. I struggle to understand why you refuse to sign, but if that is your decision, I suppose we have to respect it.

-…Kallamar…

-Hmm?”

Heket sighed and dropped the notepad on the ground as she kneeled to dip the feather in ink.

"I only used it with Kallamar. Coward that he was, I promised to only use such language with him, just in case. This is why I orally spoke to you and Shamura.

-Oh… I’m afraid it was useless", said the Lamb, stroking their neck.

Heket furrowed her eyebrows. Noticing the expression, the Lamb continued, signing:

"Back then when we were hiding from you Four, we had to find alternatives to language, to stay discreet.

It seems it did not work, wrote Heket, accidentally making a stain on her threadbare grey and gold robe. She huffed at the incident.

-Oh, we might need to change your outfit as well", said the Lamb, and with a clap of their hooves, Heket found herself draped in a red tunic.

She sighed. There was no point in fighting them for so little.

No, she thought, her priority was someone else… there he was; why was he allowed to wear white?

"Narinder! Ah, I’m sorry, but the moment is perhaps not the best to-

-It is, Lamb, mumbled the cat under his veil. Heket, may we talk?

-There is nothing to talk about, read the Lamb on Heket’s notepad. Unless it is the language of violence you adore so much.

-As if you did not take the same liking in it", spat Narinder, towering over the toad.

Heket gave the Lamb her writing supplies and readied her guard. The Leader did not have the time to say anything that she jumped up, way above the hut’s roof.

Narinder barely escaped the hit coming from above, and pulled his arms behind his back. Why wasn’t he using his claws? Another thing that did not matter. This was the day he had to die for all his sins.

She finally reached his neck. Narinder tried to prey his way out with his arms, but their weakness almost made Heket laugh. His eyes were starting to close…

"STOP!"

The voice was not the Lamb’s. Heket turned around to meet Leshy’s bloody bandages, the leaves under it stained with tears. Not missing a beat, Narinder freed himself, breathing heavily while the Lamb came to his aid.

"…Why…

-Sister, this will only harm you. This wretched feline is not worth your time…"

How could Leshy say that? The very being that deprived him of vision, and her of a voice. Did the Lamb scare him away from hurting that heretic? Oh, they would pay for it, she thought as she picked up her notepad and frantically started to write on it

"Foolish Lamb, what have you done to my brother?

-Which one? Inquired the Leader, pointing at Narinder, held by his arms with the Red Crown morphed into a hand.

He forfeited the right to be called as such. Heket had scratched the paper so hard she tore a hole and ink spilled on the next pages.

-Can someone tell me what is going on? Cried Leshy, raising his arms to the sky.

-Heket is writing and the Lamb answers, grumbled Narinder. May you free me now?

-If you promise to not come for her throat once more, I shall consider it, answered the Leader, intensely looking at the cat.

-Urgh, fine, I promise. For now."

The Lamb released Narinder, who stayed behind them, looking at the old Bishops with a deadly stare.

"The Leshy I know would have gone for his head the minute he met him, wrote Heket, practically shoving the notepad in the Lamb’s face.

-What did she write?

-I think you two should have a conversation, declared the Lamb. I am willing to be Heket’s interpret, since Eligos is still eating lunch...

-No need, Leader."

Heket, the Lamb and Narinder turned around: the elderly witness Bathin was standing there, smiling sadly at his old master.

"-Leader, if you could please…

-Of course", said the Lamb in a breath before leaving with Narinder.

"Leshy, this is not you, wrote Heket, this time not spilling any ink.

-I know sister, but I am tired. Tired of fighting, as it cost me endless nightmares in Purgatory. As it cost me my eye.

This was not your fault. It was that foolish heretic the Lamb freed from his chains.

-And what if it was not? Snapped Leshy. I was the first rampart between the Lamb and us, and look how miserably I failed!

And what should I say? I did not stop them either, Leshy.

-You had to grieve! Of course you could not! Dear sister, I would fight to death for you, over and over again if needed, but this time… I cannot. I am not strong enough. I was not then, I definitely am not now. So please... do not hurt yourself too."

Heket heard her brother sniffle behind his bandages as tears and ichor dripped on the green grass of the Cult. She sighed: no words could help him in such moments.

But perhaps, despite her words being of no use, she could still comfort him: She wrapped her little brother into a tight embrace, and let him cry on her shoulder. Bathin, understanding that no more needed to be exchanged that day, left the two siblings alone.

No other words of evil were spoken that day between Leshy and Heket.

Chapter Text

Night had fallen, but Heket was still standing at the Cult’s entrance, staring at the crimson well of Purgatory. Why did the Lamb wait so much to retrieve them?

"Purgatory has a price."

She turned around: the Cult Leader was standing behind her, staring at the stars. Of course, they had read her thoughts. Her own mind was no longer hers… She wondered how such scene would have unfolded with Shamura’s broken threads of thoughts.

"I could leave at any moment, Lamb. Disappear into nature, and you would never find me again.

-Why did you not do it, then?"

Heket gave the Lamb a deadly stare, and only slightly softened at the realization the question was sincere. With a huff, she wrote the answer:

"You stole everything from me. My brother, my Witness and my Crown. I am here to pick up the rubbles of my life.

-Do you not think you could build something else instead?"

Noticing Heket did not pick her feather, the Lamb continued:

"-Bathin did not tell me a lot about you, nor Agares about Leshy. But you Fi… you Four do not share the same blood now, do you?"

The toad raised an eyebrow; did the Lamb ask for their life story?

"Insolent Lamb, if you are so smart, figure out how we met yourself."

And, desperately trying to contain all her anger into balled fists, she left for bed.

***

“Sibling Shamura is taking quite a lot of time for a supposedly easy conquest, don’t you think, sister Heket?”

“May you please stop calling me that?” grumbled the toad as she looked up from her parchment: two eyes had started to grow at the top of her cranium, and despite Shamura telling her it was normal, she was not reassured by the vision she had in the mirror.

“Why? Do you not consider me your brother?”

Heket opened her mouth, but stopped in her tracks. She needed to think her next words carefully, and fast: this one would not get wrapped around her finger like Khnoum.

“Why, I do. I simply think it  unnecessary to specify it every other sentence.”

“I trust our eldest. If this is what shall grow our Faith, I am willing to listen.”

Heket went back to her parchment. She had been following Kallamar and Shamura for a century now, and waited for the moment they would betray her: after all, this was how she ascended to power, and what told her Shamura’s desire to make a family out of the Crown Bearers was not pure masquerade?

The door of the private quarters opened, revealing their eldest holding a small, sleepy black cat in their lower claws, the Red Crown resting atop of his head.

Why did Shamura not kill him? He was weak, and Heket could tell he had received the Crown a short time ago. That was when she understood;

Shamura was sincere, and Heket now had a little brother.

***

Heket opened her eyes. Why were they wet? It did not matter. Her throat ached; it always hurt more in the mornings, even back to her time as a Bishop. She looked around, to be sure yet again her arrival in the Cult of the Lamb was not a bad dream.

No. Narinder was still there, Kallamar and Shamura suffering in Purgatory, and her little brother eternally plunged in darkness.

Where was he, now that she was thinking about it? She stood up, putting the only red tunic she had left to her name, and knocked on Leshy’s door. No response.

"Oh, I thought I’d be the only one searching for Leshy at this hour!"

She turned around: a yellow cat with a straw hat and a watering can in hand was approaching Leshy’s hut.

"I believe we’ve not been properly introduced, he said, lending Heket a paw. I’m Andre, the farmer of the cult. And you are?"

Heket did not answer. Oh, she could have forced a sound out of her throat, as she was not tired by a long day yet. But this mortal was not worth it. Andre’s eyes laid on her bandaged throat.

"-Oh my, I’m sorry, you must be Heket, said Andre. The Leader told me about you, don’t worry about the whole, hem, speaking thing."

Heket rolled her eyes, before grabbing her notepad

"Why are you after my brother?

-Oh, Leshy is your brother? He never told me about y-"

Andre did not get the time to finish his sentence that Heket grabbed him by the neck. Balancing the notepad with her thigh, she wrote and showed Andre the freshly written page:

"I have no idea why you are after my brother, mortal, but do you not think he has suffered enough? Why do you seek him? Do you even realize who he used to be?"

Andre coughed and, struggling to articulate with the hand clasped on his neck, spoke again:

"-Your brother knows how to take care of… take care of a field! And he is very sympathetic! Ah…"

Heket finally dropped Andre to the ground. She would have expected the mortal to run away, or cower in fear, everything but let a hearty laugh out:

"-Ho ho! I see who taught Leshy fighting! Truly admirable grip, Heket. Tell me, are you a farmer as well?

I ought to be your worst nightmare if you keep asking foolish questions, feline."

Andre smiled:

"-You truly are his sister… the first time we met, he threatened to gouge my eyes out!"

A shame he did not, thought Heket, not judging the effort of writing the sentence worth it.

Both looked at Leshy’s door for a moment. Seeing the Sun was now high in the sky, Heket decided to knock again, without any answer from Leshy.

"This is worrying, I haven’t seen him around the Cult this morning, said Andre."

Heket pushed the cat aside and, running to gain momentum, unhinged the door with her right shoulder. It still had a minor injury from a fight with a God millennia ago, but the suffering was nothing compared to her throat.

Andre and Heket slowly entered the hut, where the few pieces of furniture had been knocked over. Andre barely avoided a broken pottery when Heket arrived to what she could only guess was her brother’s bedroom. She knocked on the panel, only to receive a faint sigh as an answer.

“Something is wrong.”

She opened the door to find her brother laying down in bed, his arms covered in deep, bloody wounds.

Chapter Text

Andre did not wait for Heket to act. With all his strength, he picked up the worm:

"Heket, carry his legs!"

Usually, she would have told that foolish mortal to burn in the flames of Purgatory for trying to command her, but the situation didn’t call for her pride. She lifted Leshy’s legs, who seemed to have had suffered the same treatment as his arms, only a few weeks ago. Andre was awfully strong for a mortal, and they quickly reached the Healing Bay, where Allocer and Vephar immediately placed him on observation in a bed.

"That wretched cat did it", wrote Heket, sitting on a chair next to her brother, and as she showed Allocer the message, they understood she did not mean Andre.

"I doubt it, flatly answered Shamura’s Witness."

Heket raised an eyebrow, inviting them to continue:

"Look at this cut on his forearm. No claw did it. But it looks clean enough to have been done slowly."

Heket did not like where the Witness was going with their train of thought.

"Did you find anything sharp next to him?"

"How dare you, Leshy would never…", but as she wrote, she felt tears drop on the paper: why would he never do that? Because she was a good sister to him? Because she had been present?

She threw the notepad away, waking Leshy up from his barely conscious state:

"Heket?

-…Rest…."

She wanted to ask why, but deep inside, she knew.

She wanted to blame Narinder, but deep inside, she knew it useless.

She wanted to undo all the suffering he had been through, but deep inside, she knew she, Kallamar and Shamura caused it more than anything.

Andre came to her side:

"Look, Heket, I cannot fathom how you are feeling right now. But Leshy… I’ve known him for a short time, and yet I found him so endearing from the beginning, and now I see why: he is lucky to have been raised by a family like you, to have you by his side… Ah, I don’t know why I’m telling you that, I should leave you alone."

Heket dryly nodded, not taking her eyes away from her brother. What was the Lamb doing? Shouldn’t they be taking care of their injured?

Then it struck her. Purgatory.

But the afterlife of a God had a cost, she knew that. The more powerful they were, the more loyalty they needed; and the more loyal a Follower was, the older they tended to be. And the only elderly Follower left was…

“No…”

Heket ran to the entrance of Purgatory, where the Lamb and Witness Bathin were standing. She sighed in relief: it was not too late

The Leader saw her, a worried expression on their face:

"Heket, I…"

She stopped them with a hand. Turning around, she grabbed Bathin by the shoulders in a nonverbal but violent interrogation.

"My Lady, I practically have one foot in the tomb, it’s okay.

-…Mine…

-Even if it was still the case, it is to retrieve your brother, sighed Bathin. Besides, as a Witness, I will come back as soon as the Yellow Crown finds a new bearer.

Heket still looked angry. She placed herself between her old Witness and the well, arms open wide.

-Leader, what should…

-Do what your heart tells you to do, Bathin, answered the Leader."

The purple toad nodded, and plunged his only eye left in one of Heket’s, a sad smile on his lips:

"Lady Heket, it has been an honor."

And without another word, he threw his back towards the well, where a red tentacle grabbed him, forcing him into the depths of the purged lands of Anchor’Deep.

***

After Heket came back to the Healing Bay, no one had dared to enter Leshy’s room. Hauras had tried, only to get out with a blackened eye. The sun was setting when Andre entered the waiting room.

"Is she still inside? Asked the yellow cat to Vephar.

-Yes, even though Leshy is fine, she insisted we keep him, and no one wanted to end up in Hauras’ state…

-Eligos did manage to get in though, yelled the scorpion from behind the counter. So why not try?"

Vephar rolled her eyes while Andre waited for Leshy. Perhaps he would not care, but having someone, even if you did not know them for a very long time, could do a lot.

He heard Leshy’s screeching voice from the waiting room: Eligos' answers, however were a little harder to decipher…

***

"It was accidental!

-I don’t believe it one second. Leshy, you should have come to me!

-Why? To show my big sister weakness? To show her I am unable to take care of myself?"

Silence. Heket always knew what words to choose back in her Godly days. Why was it so hard now?

Leshy continued:

"Back then, you told me… that if I couldn’t take care of my domain, it would be taken away from me…

-Taken from you by the Lamb! Did you really think I was going to confiscate my own brother’s domain?

-Well maybe! You stayed desperately bitter for the thousand years Narinder was locked away! And when that damned Lamb came for my head, I had to stand alone! At least now, I can control when I am hurt, I can-"

Leshy did not get the time as Heket shoved Eligos her notebook and pulled him into a tight hug. The bat read the smudged lines written by his old master:

"Leshy, I am sorry. Sorry I was not enough."

At first surprised, Leshy returned the gesture, and, at first only allowing a few sobs, completely broke down once he realized Heket was crying as well.

"But… you… are…"

The toad coughed ichor, and, after a while, Leshy’s sobs started to calm a little. The rest of their siblings would be back, but for now, they had each other.

And maybe that was enough.

Chapter Text

Heket asked Allocer to remove every sharp object from Leshy’s shelter, to which they conceded. She was even ready to take care of the kitchen if it meant she had control over the knives of the Cult. It would perhaps take some time for the Lamb to trust her with the role of cook, but considering she saw some followers eat their own poop, they had to agree literal Famine was not the worst fit for the role. If only they came back from their crusade…

She heard a knock on her door. Usually, she would have been asleep at this hour, but Leshy’s state pushed her through a white night.

"Hmm?

-Heket, I presume? I am Dess, one of the Lamb disciples."

She looked up to meet the blazed eyes of a deer. Unlike most followers she crossed, they didn’t even try to smile at her. Good, she did not need false courtesy at the moment. Raising her palm to the deer, she went to fetch her notebook.

"And what need do you have of me, deer?

-Well, you seem to be in state to work, and everyone has to do something around here. Although I doubt Leshy will be in any state to do anything today.

Keep my brother’s name out of your filthy mortal mouth, wrote Heket, making sure Dess saw it.

-Then what should I call him, asked Dess with a smile, He of Havoc?

-You…

-Yes, I know, cut the deer. The Lamb told their disciples about you Four. But understand I can’t really call your brother that, or our Followers are going to panic.

Good, let them.

-Ah, you sound just like him, murmured Dess.

-…who…

-Someone."

They left, and Heket understood they expected her to follow them. What if she didn’t though? Well, they probably would not let her take care of the kitchen, and she could not take the risk.

“For Leshy”, she thought, swallowing yet again her pride.

"Now, as you can see, Andre, the farmer, usually wakes up first. I doubt putting you in the fields is a good idea though."

For all answer, Heket pointed at the pumpkins around her hut, already withered by what was left of her power. Dess hummed in agreement.

"-What kind of work could even fit you, I wonder…

I wish to work at the kitchen", wrote Heket, staring at the deer with such an asinine gaze they did not dare to question why.

After a sigh and a moment of stroking their neck, the disciple spoke again:

"The role of cook is pretty important, Heket… I will have to see with the Lamb. But I am not against you showing me your talents."

They pointed a hoof at the kitchen, and both directed themselves towards the counter. The disciple gave Heket a large, sharp knife and beetroot on a cutting board.

"Let’s see how the Bishop of Famine handles kitchen du-"

They did not get the time to finish their sentence as Heket pinned them to the wall, knife under their throat.

Why weren’t they reacting? It almost seemed they expected the threat. “No”, thought Heket; this was nothing like the times her followers feared her. Why wasn’t it so here? Why wasn’t that mortal begging for their life?

She stared in their eyes, in search of an answer; Dess only addressed her a sad smile:

"Don’t forget who else I had to deal with."

Heket dropped the disciple to the ground. Of course, he had done it before her.

She focused on the cutting board and diced the beetroot in less time than it took Dess to stand back up.

"Wow, I’m impressed, said the deer, massing their neck. Perhaps, if you truly wish to, you could make lunch with Eligos for today."

Heket shrugged and kept dicing the vegetables falling under her hands. By the time Dess felt they could leave the toad alone, a hearty ratatouille was boiling in the communal pot.

Leshy and Andre came first, followed by Eligos, joining her for kitchen duty.

"Ah, hello Heket! Greeted the yellow cat with a smile.

-Heket? What are you doing here? Screeched Leshy. You are going to starve us all!

-Oh, don’t worry, Lord Leshy, reassured Eligos, unlike Chaos, a Famine has to end. And what better way to end one than to feast?

-Hurgh, I suppose so, sighed Leshy, taking his plate.

-What are you two even talking about? Questionned Andre with a smile

-Nothing of importance, cat", snapped the worm

Heket could not help but notice he had chosen to wear long sleeves despite the warm weather. But she had to turn to other followers, happy to see a new head at the kitchen.

"Oh wow, I would have remembered such a pretty face if I had seen it before, began a green snail, refusing to take his plate. May I have your name?"

Heket unceremoniously shoved a boiling plate in his hands, while Eligos huffed:

"This is Snivel, pay him no attention, Lady Heket."

“Did not intend to”, thought the toad, too busy handing out plates to write.

Once all Followers got their lunch (did the Lamb always have so many?) Eligos filled two generous plates of ratatouille, both for him and his old master. Seeing Heket raise one eyebrow, he felt the need to justify himself:

"You are mortal now, you need to eat."

Nonsense, thought the toad. Bathin had already given her two plates of cauliflower a few days ago, so why would she feel hungry? But the twisting feeling in her stomach she had felt the first day came back, and she had to recognize the plate of food did seem very attractive to her.

"It must be strange, isn’t it? Chuckled Eligos. To feel hunger after so long. A taste of your own medicine, it seems."

She was going to ask him to watch his tone, but he was already leaving for the table to eat with other followers. Looking at her plate, she wondered: was Leshy eating alone? She looked at the long tables, and saw her brother at the very end of one of them, laughing with Andre.

The fact that the yellow cat was a mortal should have made Heket’s cold blood boil. But the thought that perhaps, her brother did not only have her left was a bigger relief than she could imagine.

Chapter Text

Heket had eaten alone. She had not dared to interrupt the small moment Leshy had with Andre, nor wanted to share any more of her time with the Lamb’s followers. She was finishing her ratatouille when Dess came to the kitchen:

“Hey.”

She gave the deer a stare meaning “What do you want from me?”, which they seemed to understand:

"Bathin’s funerals are this afternoon. Maybe you’d like to assist to them."

And without another word, the disciple left.

***

Unsurprisingly, Dess had been the one giving the eulogy. No corpse was to be buried, but the Witness still had a tomb to his name.

Heket’s eyes stayed focused on the name engraved in the tombstone. She remembered when she first saw him, he was not even her Witness. She had welcomed him herself into the cult of…

"Hum, excuse me?"

The toad turned around to meet Zepar’s three eyes. How could she still be here? And why hadn’t she seen her earlier?

"Oh, Lady Heket! Hem, pardon me…

-Honey, who is that?"

A pig joined the frog, observing Heket with curiosity but kindness:

"Ah, I did not know you and Bathin were acquaintances, he began. Did you two know each other outside the Cult?"

Heket simply nodded. She was starting to understand Leshy’s apathy towards the Lamb and their followers; their sickeningly sweet and optimistic behavior was tiring more than anything.

"Ah, he sometimes mentioned a Heket by his side, perhaps it was you?"

She nodded again. Understanding they were too much, Zepar and the pig left Heket alone, who sat in front of the grave. The grey clouds above the cult were threatening to thunder at any moment now, but she did not care.

"I have been too harsh, Bathin, only now I realize it. That ruthlessness was to be given to my followers, not to a Witness, and especially not my siblings."

She played with a petal that had fallen from the bouquet on the grave. Leshy must have chosen the arrangement, as the smell of the flowers was so strong it almost gave her a headache.

She could have stayed like this for hours if it weren’t for a black cat going in her general direction.

Heket immediately stood up: what was he doing here? She braced herself for a fight, but Narinder did not detach his eyes from the graves as he spoke:

"You are on sacred grounds, Heket. Even I respect it, so you ought to."

He kneeled and started to scrub the grave to Bathin’s right. Heket did not want to stay near that wretched heretic, but she was not ready to leave her old Witness either.

So the old siblings stayed here, in silence, while Narinder worked. He must have understood the purpose of Heket’s stay and decided to leave the grave she was facing for later. As he scrubbed, a thousand questions flooded Heket’s mind: why was he obeying the Lamb? Did he plan to get the Red Crown back? If so, why did he not act while his sib.. the Bishops were weak and, most importantly, with Shamura away?

But Narinder stayed silent. Heket was the one who usually did the talking between the both of them, back when all was easier. She pushed the thought away, as well as a few tears in the corner of her upper eyes.

***

"Sister, how long have you been staying here?"

Heket hadn’t noticed the rain falling on her skin, nor the growing obscurity around the Cult. She blinked a few times and turned to Leshy: he was standing, arms crossed with Andre, probably to avoid running into the tombstones. She sighed: her notepad was far away, and even if she wanted to write, the rain would smudge her sentence faster than her brother causing Havoc. Andre seemed to understand and invited Leshy to sit down by her side:

"She cannot communicate with you right now, Leshy. But I am sure she will be happy if you tell her what you told me.

-Urgh, I am not a baby, cat! Grumbled the worm. But he is right. Heket, he continued, a little calmer while tugging on his sleeves. Look, Heket, Andre helped me put a flower on my tunic, do you see it? And I hope you do or this cat shall have some explaining to do!"

Heket tilted her head and looked at the red camelia pinned on his chest. Putting a thumbs up to indicate Andre she saw it, the worm then continued:

"As long as I have this flower, I promise to never… do that again. One does not need eyes to see how much it hurt you, and this is the last thing I want."

The toad smiled sadly. She remembered the time camelias would grow by themselves on his branches, only to have all vegetation on them die out after he lost his eye. Did Andre know Leshy could do that? He probably supposed he had been a mere mortal his whole life, she thought, losing her grin.

She saw Andre try to decipher her expression. Shooing him away, Heket spoke with the only gesture she was now able to address her brother: a hug.

"Do you like the idea, sister? Ah, it seems you do, he added after feeling her embrace tighten.

-Hey, I hate to break it to you, said Andre, rubbing his neck, but the rain is going to make you two sick. Perhaps it is better if…"

Sick. Heket felt a shiver down her spine, and judging by Leshy’s trembling shoulders, he had felt it too.

They ran to the minor pentagram, where a pale blue squid was sitting, his ears torn out. The Lamb came from behind the trio:

"Ah, sorry I took so long, they said, out of breath, your brother is a beast in combat!"

Heket looked at the “beast in combat”: his eyes were not opened yet:

"What is this? Shamura, Heket? Leshy? I feel…"

His eyes opened and he promptly threw up, a centimeter away from his younger siblings. He looked in front of him, and blinked a few times.

"Leshy? Heket?

-Kallamar!"

Had Andre not been there, Leshy would have tripped on the content of Kallamar’s stomach. He embraced his brother, Heket joining the both of them as she tried to not cry. Once she and her brother exchanged glances, he nodded, and she started to sign:

"Happy to see you again, brother.

-Oh brother, sister, how much I have missed you, mumbled Kallamar, covering his mouth with a tentacle. Ah, excuse me…"

Kallamar massed his head, and rubbed what was left of his ears. The Lamb called the annoying green snail Heket had forgotten the name of to clean, while they held Kallamar by a tentacle.

"Let’s go to the Bay. You three need to heal."

THE END