Finding Contentus

Chapter 134: Truce

Kakara would have reached out for her husband if her mother hadn't gotten to him after recovering from her gasp.

"Stop," Minaleese said, squishing Gabrielle's cheeks like they were marshmallows.

His vocal cords froze, as did his yowls, including his tears from Minaleese's cold hands. A strong chill passed through him, as if he was out in the open, stripped of h.is clothes. He wasn't shivering, he just became still like a log that remained unmoved by the current of an ill-tempered river.

She gazed into her son's eyes, freezing the cacophony of despair that resounded inside him, reverting the Ice Castle back to its spectral state that entertained no hysterics.

"Something is amiss," Minaleese muttered, like she had stumbled onto a clue buried in the snow, a clue that resided in their shared memories.

"Urie, how did Imcke die?" Minaleese asked.

Kakara stared at her mother with a stricken expression. She spoke as though Imcke was sleeping rather than dead, which, in all honesty, meant the same thing. The difference being that death was an eternal slumber.

Is it really? Kakara's shock dissipated. She and Minaleese had experienced death before. Death was no more than a transition. Some either came back, or went on. It all depended on the situation and individual.

Urielle funneled the channel of communications between the Archangels. "Snake poison. A deadly batch called Victoria's Vacuum."

Victoria? "Who poisoned her?" Minaleese prodded.

"Norne, before stabbing her brain for finality."

"How?"

"Straight through the eye. Raffa bore witness to it."

Gabrielle's eyes were very wide like he was seeing into a forest of swiveling phantoms. "N-Norne? V-V's venom?"

Minaleese let go of Gabrielle's face to brush his hair. "You spent years with their group. She's the one who doesn't believe in burning the body, oui?"

Gabrielle nodded slowly, looking concussed. Then he jolted upright like someone had kicked his spine. A trickle of heat ambled in him as though he was near a pot that was boiling white tea.

"This is Angitia's slippery work. V mentioned this to me before," he said softly.

"Because of what she did to Vickus?" Kakara asked. Good riddance.

Gabrielle nodded quickly this time like he was in a hurry. "Her Goddess required another soul as an equalizer. Instead of a soul that V hated, it had to be a soul that V loved."

He held his arm that had gone numb, squeezing feeling into it. He blinked away the frozen tears in his eyes like they were stardust. "Hope... there's still hope! Norne adheres to a strict code when it comes to the deceased. Kakara, remember Marli's preserved head during your grudge match with Kaikara?"

Kakara didn't like being reminded. Nevertheless, she did nod, catching on. "She'll safeguard Imcke's body like Urie safeguarded mine."

"Not only that, she's... she's going to wave Imcke around like some... fucking propaganda flag!" Gabrielle flicked his hands in frustration.

Kakara and Minaleese shared the same look of shock, hearing Gabrielle curse like that.

"Oy Gabey! How's about you capture me this time hey?" Imcke grinned at him, pretending to be the damsel and failing miserably. She wasn't cut out for the role.

"How could she do such a despicable thing?" His voice cracked, as were his emotions for the fierce friend he loved like a sister. "After all Imcke has done for her! After—"