Chapter 70 of 99 · Book 8, A Parade of Horribles

Chapter 70 — The memorial crystal; the Midnight Epicure

Book: A Parade of Horribles · Part: Horrible One · Previous: Chapter 69 — The stables: who may leave; the Scavenger myth · Next: Chapter 71 — Hungry Eyes: the goodbye; Bautista's tea · Floor: Floor 10 — Don't Come in Last · Series: the series

Opening

Prepotente was wearing the memorial crystal like a necklace inside his robes, and he hesit

Summary

Prepotente lifts the crystal from his robes — 'I am not giving this to you, Carl. But you may observe it.' Memorial Crystal. Apito. 0% charged. It should charge on kills like the patch, but on Osvaldo's body and in his inventory it did nothing; near the end of Faction Wars it lit the sky on its own and still never charged; full, it yields the god's spells, skills and knowledge — and Apito is not dead, so it should not exist. Carl: it shone when Yarilo stepped from the Nothing at Houston's castle, where there was a chance Apito should have appeared, and she did not; the Scavenger's Daughter patch fired then too and misfired, as with Lucia. Osvaldo has a second crystal and a quest for why they fail. Carl's own quest is Geyrun's murderer: Samantha present at the hiring, a son of Sheol possibly involved, Amayon claiming to know. The answer, he suspects, unravels everything, the Scavenger included; even the AI wants it solved and may not know itself. The crystal was first heard of in the High Elf Castle as the thing that protected against Scolopendra and was needed for the final battle; Scolopendra and Apito are siblings, perhaps one entity. Prepotente's quest came at the Masquerade from the Midnight Epicure, who 'protects all prey animals by destroying all existence after unleashing all the consumed back into the galaxy' — a xenophobic tale to frighten non-caprid children that became his people's hope; the quest: hold it, 'I will know when to use it'. No Emberus update came while Carl held it — the room works. Samantha bursts in without Grigori and offers a swap — 'Show me yours, and I’ll show you mine' — and gets Donut's summary of Carl's plan — leave the party, get 'a bunch of immortals who hate each other on a floor where they can’t die at the same time and then get them to kill each other anyway', an elaborate suicide. Samantha: 'That’s just like my plan, too!'

Characters

• Carl — Misses Katia; a loose theory; hoping to see that memorial crystal
• Princess Donut — 'What would she have called you?'; summarises Carl's plan as an elaborate suicide.
• Prepotente — 'A little stinky butt'; the Midnight Epicure explained; 'I will know when to use it.'
• Rosetta Thagra — No god updates in the stables — confirmed.
• Imani — Time to leave.
• Elle McGibbons — Raises an eyebrow.
• Samantha — 'He didn’t even gasp when he entered Sam Town'; 'That’s just like my plan, too!'
• Osvaldo — Has a second crystal and a quest.
• Penelope — Boinged by the tail.
• The Midnight Epicure — Prepotente on his god: 'They who were eaten will become the devourers.'

Locations

• The Royal Palace of Princess Donut — The stables.

Motifs

• Memorial crystals — Apito's: 0% charged, should not exist; lit the sky when Yarilo came out.
• The gods — Yarilo, Taranis's child, banished by Apito.
• The Scavenger's Daughter — The patch misfired then as with Lucia.
• The death of Geyrun — Amayon claims to know; the AI may not.
• Carl's chart of the gods — In Carl's scratch pad.
• Plan Carl — Immortals who hate each other on a floor where they cannot die.