Chapter Text
Jon was no stranger to pain. His body was littered with scars that proved it. As the Archivist, he’d had to gather the marks of all the other Fear Gods to truly become. Or at least, that’s what he had thought for a very long time.
It was difficult to tell which mark hurt the most. His stolen rib definitely was one of the worst sensations he’d ever felt in his life, but the immediate agony of his burnt hand and the feeling of his skin melting had him wishing he were dead. To think he used to be right-handed… And yet, the recovery had been much easier than after his encounter with the Flesh Hive. His powers hadn’t been as developed at that time, and it took weeks before his whole body stopped aching with every movement, even with the help of statements.
So, in a way, feeling the sharp claws of the Ravening Wolf burrowing into the flesh of his shoulders didn’t hurt as much as he’d expected, now that he’d practically become a God himself.
“Where is she?” She growled, holding him down on the ground while Georgie, Melanie and Martin were desperately trying to find a way of helping him.
Her eyes were wild, her bared teeth as sharp as her fingernails, and had Jon’s head not been slammed against the ground when she’d jumped on him by surprise, he would probably have had the presence of mind to answer her question immediately. Instead, all he thought to say was a sarcastic:
“I missed you too, Daisy…”
“Shut up!” She said with a snarl. “This is your fault, isn’t it? Can’t think of a better culprit for all the eyes in the sky.”
Jon was vaguely aware of Martin screaming at her to leave him be, but she ignored him.
“Where is Basira?” She asked again.
Ah yes, that. He hadn’t known about her before, but the information came to him as if it had always been there at the back of his mind. Basira was to Daisy what Martin had been to him not that long ago. A confidant, and a best friend, and maybe, under the right conditions, potentially something more.
“Lost in the Dark.” He offered with a weak breath. “You won’t find her, even I struggle to see her.”
Her eyes filled with rage. Even though he knew she couldn’t kill him, Jon had no doubt the pain she could inflict on him would still feel like torture.
“You little bastard… I should have killed you when I had the chance.” Her claws dug deeper into his skin and he had to swallow a whimper.
“We’re trying to turn the world back.” He focused on her instead of the pain, hoping she’d take him seriously. “But we need your help.”
“Oh, do you now?”
“Daisy, this is serious.” Melanie interrupted from behind them. The strain in her voice betrayed how stressed she was about the situation. “Calm down and listen to us!”
Daisy hesitated, fury and rationality fighting in her mind, then released Jon, who whimpered when the claws finally left his skin. In seconds Martin was by his side, fretting over him.
“Shit, Jon, are you alright?”
Jon nodded, hissing at the pain. Then a small, breathy laugh escaped him.
“This is the second time we end up like this, we, hah, we should maybe stop before it becomes a habit…”
“Yeah, that, that’d be nice actually…” Martin tried to come off as light-hearted, but he very poorly concealed how worried he was inside.
Jon noted silently that there was a faint layer of mist pooling on the ground from around them. A clear sign that Martin’s newly gained powers were developing, and, unconscious as it was, he used them to create a barrier around Jon and himself, trying to isolate them both from danger. Near immortal as he was, Jon was still grateful for the support, and it assuaged his concerns that Martin was actually growing as an Avatar.
And already, the holes and tears in Jon’s skin started knitting back together, leaving behind them nothing but bruises that would also disappear in a brief moment. So while Martin kept looking at him under every angle to make sure no wound remained, Jon turned his attention back to Daisy. Melanie was busy explaining everything that happened and the reason they were looking for her, Georgie standing by their side, adding details or clarifying points when necessary, her eyes sometimes slipping to Jon with uncertain worry.
And although she still looked torn between wanting to skin Jon alive and wanting to save her friend, Daisy listened.
Of course.
The Slaughter and the Hunt were always closely related to each other. They often manifested together, if not equally then at least partially. So it was only natural that Daisy would be more inclined to listen to Melanie rather than Jon. Forging alliances was part of the Avatar job, and he had always been terrible in that regard.
Ignoring their conversation, he looked down at his hands, covered in blood so dark it looked like ink. Well… If there was any proof he wasn’t human anymore… Although his eyes might have been enough proof already. He couldn’t see his own eyes, but he could imagine what they looked like based on Martin’s description. Bright green irises surrounded by pure black, infinite-like sclera. The eyes of a monster. The eyes of a God.
He decided to stop thinking about it for now. There would be time to consider that later.
Behind him, Melanie’s explanations came to an end. And as he rose to his feet, Martin’s hand on his waist in hope of stopping him from potentially faltering, Jon waited for the three women to finally face him again.
The hatred in Daisy’s gaze was still very much present, but she had calmed herself enough that she could now stop herself from tearing into him again.
“Is this true?” She asked, voice harsh. “Do you really want to save the world?”
Jon felt like that was the only question that was asked to him these days. He knew better than to hesitate this time.
“I do. And I know what you’re thinking, but I cannot promise you’ll ever see her again. What I can promise is that I will do everything I can to try and reverse the world back to what it was.”
Her jaws clenched. After a moment of silence, she said:
“If it doesn’t work, I’ll make your life a living hell. I don’t care that you are more powerful than me, now. I won’t stop unless you kill me yourself.”
Jon hated that this was a possibility, and he hated that he knew how easy that would actually be.
“Then let’s hope it won’t come to that.”
Martin grabbed his hand and squeezed it softly. Then he said, voice steady:
“I’m sure everything will go back to normal. We can do this.”
Jon looked at him and his features eased into a soft smile. He might not be as optimistic, but seeing Martin try and be positive for the both of them was warming his heart. He squeezed back.
Daisy looked Martin up and down, and Jon knew she recognised him as the one that had been present on that last Council meeting, when Jon had asked him to come too. He felt it as a new flare of rage roared in her, but she kept it quiet, so he ignored it. Martin carefully avoided meeting her eyes, for which Jon was grateful.
“So what do we do next?” Georgie asked, all too happy to leave what happened behind her.
Before Jon could say anything, Daisy started talking:
“If I understood correctly, I’m apparently supposed to give you a tour…” She crossed her arms on her chest, containing her anger for now.
“Not a tour.” Jon sighed. “We need you to guide Melanie and Georgie to Agnes, which they couldn’t do unless I was there. Meanwhile, Martin and I will be looking for Oliver and Annabelle.”
“Agnes?” Daisy asked, deadpan. “Seriously?”
“What, you think she won’t agree to help us?” Melanie took a step forward, clearly not thrilled at the idea.
“No, I just don’t think she could actually do anything about it.” That, she said while looking at Jon. “I think there is only one person here that can.”
As if Jon didn’t feel guilty enough.
“We have to get all the help we can find…”
Because otherwise, that left everything in Jon’s hands. And he didn’t know if he could bear that thought. How could he save the world on his own when he was the one that doomed it in the first place? Was there even a way to save the world? If so, what price would he have to pay? Because Jon wasn’t delusional, such an outcome would require sacrifices, even a being as powerful as he was wouldn’t be able to banish Gods from this plane of existence without giving something in return.
He took a deep breath, then continued:
“Let’s all meet back at the Panopticon when we’re done. We can then decide what happens next, depending on how successful we were.”
He really, really hoped that one of the other Avatars would be able to help them.
He made eye contact with Daisy, indicating it was time they parted. She rolled her eyes with a sigh and turned around.
“Fine. Let’s go.”
She started walking away without caring if the two others were following. Georgie looked surprised.
“Wait, right now?”
“Yes.”
The suddenness of it all was clearly not what the priestess had been expecting. She turned to Jon, waiting for him to say something, but he kept his tongue to himself. If Daisy was on board, it would probably be wiser if he didn’t speak more than he had to, lest she change her mind.
Melanie grabbed Georgie by the arm and gently tugged her in the direction of Daisy’s footsteps.
“Come on, I think she’s leaving.”
Georgie hesitated for another few seconds, then her shoulders drooped.
“Alright… You two,” that was addressed to both Jon and Martin, “promise me you’ll stay safe.”
“We’ll do our best.” Was all Jon could answer. He squeezed Martin’s hand again.
“Okay…” She inhaled deeply, steeling herself. “See you at the Panopticon.”
She then turned around and held Melanie’s arm as they walked away to follow Daisy’s lead.
And once again, Jon and Martin were on their own. In a way, it was a relief. Even though time stopped being a thing, it still felt like weeks since they’d been alone together. However difficult it might be when the sky was covered in eyes, he still longed for some private moments with his boyfriend.
He felt guilty for neglecting Martin since the girls had arrived. They had barely worked on his powers, and they hadn’t really taken the time to actually talk about anything.
He cast one last glance at Daisy to make sure she was actually heading in the right direction, and finally let out a breath. Before he could say anything out loud, though, Martin’s arms circled him and squeezed around him softly.
“Martin?” Jon asked, a little surprised at the sudden hug.
“Sorry.” Martin said, voice muffled by Jon’s hair. “You just really looked like you needed this.”
Jon huffed a laugh, then snuggled closer, hugging him back and enjoying the feeling of closeness.
“Maybe you’re right…” He admitted in a low voice. “I thought I was the only one with mind-reading abilities here.”
“Oh come on, I still have eyes!”
Jon hummed, face buried in Martin’s shirt. Right at that moment, he couldn’t care less about what was happening around him. He felt the rumble of Martin’s next words through his chest.
“I actually got pretty scared about you for a moment there…”
Ah. And there was the guilt again…
“I’m sorry.”
“Well it’s not actually your fault, is it?” Martin rolled his eyes audibly.
Jon smiled. Silence surrounded them again, and without being able to tell who started it, their hug turned into gentle swaying.
“Jon?”
“Mhh?”
“What…” Martin swallowed. “What do you think will happen when we turn the world back?”
Their movement came to a stop. Jon let his head rest against Martin’s chest, not wanting to look at him right now.
“I guess…”
He tried to think of something to say.
“I hope as much as you do that everything turns out fine. But I cannot promise it with certainty.”
Martin said nothing. He simply swallowed, nodded once, then hugged him tighter. Jon wished he could say anything else. But there wasn’t anything else to say. Not until they actually found how to solve this whole mess.
He sighed, taking a step back.
“Come on. Let’s keep going.”