Hidden Power Knox

It wasn't much of a detour to stop at Hermit Island on the way back to Conch. He felt a bit of a heavy weight on his chest as he approached closer to the graveyard itself. The lighthouse library loomed well overhead, towering into the overcast sky. It wasn't raining, yet. Even the weather itself seemed to be attuned to Knox's mood today. As he stepped through the black, wrought-iron gate, his thoughts briefly turned back to Selene for a moment. He had let her know he was coming and why, of course, but she'd decided not to accompany him to the graveyard. Probably half because she knew Knox needed a private moment, and half because she had come here far too often herself. He strolled through the graveyard, briefly, looking at the thick vegetation. The bright flowers, plucked from the ground, adorned many of the graves - and Knox instinctively found himself sneering a bit. ...Old habits die hard, he supposed. The composure returned to his face after a moment, as he considered just how many people were here, and the things they may have done with their lives.

August's grave was a little quaint one on the far side of the graveyard, closer to the lighthouse. It was a nice little hill here, from which you could overlook the sea. The marker itself was polished white stone, with two unfamiliar-looking dragons perched side by side. He didn't want to think about what Selene must have done to afford the special tombstone, but then again, government might have taken care of it. Who knows. In the ground underneath the front of that marker was a small coffin, and in that coffin an urn, containing the ashes of all that remained of the guy. Died in battle, his body consumed in fire, and now his resting place overlooking the seas he sailed in life. Knox supposed he could have had it worse. He started to open his mouth to address the grave, then frowned, feeling a bit silly and uncomfortable. Instead, he moved forward, past the grave, and sat down with his back pressing against the back of the tombstone, his eyes facing forward toward the sea. ...He and August had sat like this, back to back, shooting the shit on nights after hard training. And somehow, this felt right.

"So, I'm here now. I guess." he started a bit weakly. "...Finally time I got my ass around and visited, huh? Well, you know how it is. I hate funerals, and other things needed my attention, and... ....I guess I wasn't ready yet, either. ...What can I really say, here? You died due to ill preparation and stubbornness on my part. That's something I gotta live with. ...At least Selene seems to think you were happy to be free, in the end. That much is all I got for comfort. You deserved better than this, August. But I can't really sit here and mope, wondering if there was a way I could have saved you. I can't exactly blame whatever divine patron was watching over you, either. Without the visions, you'd still be doing their dirty work. ...I think what hit the hardest was how... damn sudden it all was. All the years we spent together, side by side, and then bam. Over in an instant. That's... life, I guess." He paused to lean his head back on the grave, itself. Already a bit of a lump was forming in his throat. "I've accepted your death, and I'm sorry I couldn't save you, but right now the asshole that decided to put a bomb in your head and pushed the 'detonate' button is out there, sipping Chardonay and jerking himself off to the thought of all their mind-controlled 'assets' and congratulating themselves on being the world's worst Saturday morning cartoon villain. And I can't stay idle while I know that's the case. ...and yet, I know I'm not strong enough either."

He took his eyes off the sea, and looked up towards the Lighthouse. "And to think it was a little girl that made me realize what I have to do. ...Times have changed." He began to get up and circle back in front of the grave. "...I studied magic and the unown in Sepia after our group broke up. Right now, I borrow the power of the unown and wield versatility beyond imagining. The Gates of Power I can open yield access to raw Elemental forces I can harness and crudely dump on my enemies, changing the shape of the flow with my Words of Power. But it's not a free ride. I've borrowed a lot of power from the Unown, and in return, the particular agreement I went in to requires me to offer them power in return. And while we carry each other's power, it's nurtured, and strengthened. Symbiotic. ...It's why the Unown I carry with me have stronger Hidden Powers than normal. In the same light, the psionic energy of mine that the Unown have been nurturing has probably gotten stronger in some way, too. ...but really, how can I keep fucking carrying on, having traded my strength for versatility? I have to grow even further, until Aether are nothing but goddamn ants on the ground below me. And that's why it's time for this." Now standing in front of August's grave, he conjured a small rune circle from which he removed a small, familiar pen. And then, he began to speak with a strange weight to his words. "I, the contractee, Nicholas Knight, hereby seek to anull the exchange of energy present between myself and you. All that was taken shall be returned. [All life is born of the meeting of two other lives]. Let it be known." In an instant, all of the tattoos on Knox's body began to spread, covering his entire body, face included, with a web of intricate runes and symbols, and blinking eyes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJMD3eO7tpE

To himself, he gently stated, "Ab initio, ab hinc, ad altiora tendo. (From the beginning, from here on - I strive towards higher things.)" And then with a stronger, clearer voice, he announced, "Open Terminus Gate!" A shimmering golden name - his own, appeared in the air in front of him in his handwriting, the signature to a contract he had signed one year ago. With the sound of shattering glass, the tattoos across his body began to break up and form a swirling ink that entered the tip of the pen he held. Once his body was clean of marks, he raised it and began signing his name in reverse, the golden letters being absorbed into the dark ink. And as the last bit was erased, the pen in his hand shattered and became air. Deep inside of himself, Knox felt a warmth he hadn't in quite some time. Raw energy, both poison and grass, he now recognized. And though Hidden Power: Knox would be the last Hidden Power he'd ever use, his studies prior to this point had provided him well a means to channel and harness this power.

"No more will I rely on outside forces, August. From here on out, it's just me. No extraplanar entities. No gods, no devils. Only man. Not to say I won't accept help if offered freely, but it will be on top of my whole, not a crutch to lean on. From here on out, I will be the acid that erodes their foundation, and the roots that break through the weakened stone. I'll rip their entire infrastructure right out from under them. And when I meet the others... I'll either free them like Robin, or... free them like you." His expression turned to a bit of regret. "Don't get me wrong. Won't be my first option. But I can't let them psych me out either. If I hesitate because it could kill one of you... then I risk letting them win on a larger scale. And I am not going to fucking let that happen. I'll save as many as I can, regardless. And if I die before my work is done, before my crew is free and before Aether is only a memory, then before you and whatever gods are listening, I vow this. My spirit will claw its way back out of whatever Hell it was damned to to make sure they are routed once and for fucking all." He paused a moment and then kneeled down. "Rest well, August. I'll make sure the bastards pay for doing this to you. Through me, your ambitions carry on." And with that, he turned and left.