The story behind Feather’ concept… well, it was vague as to why he’d ever tried to use the concept of anything in the first place, or why he’d been so desperate to turn to something that was taboo for very good reasons, but that part of the story hadn’t been necessary. Because once Kya managed to explain everything, they were all horrified regardless. They learned of how he died. How Feather died over, and over, and over again. Endlessly, repetitively. The woman went into detail about the toll of his concept… how the more he used it, the more his body would degrade until death inevitably took it. How he usually tried to kill himself before he died naturally, so that his body wouldn’t be as affected when he woke up. And also how he usually took it upon himself to die at least once every six months to make sure he was always in top shape. But overusing it like he had been recently, well… the price was greater. More power equaled more deaths. And that would explain why he hadn’t been able to move after waking up in Lilino’s estate, his body still resisting the repetitive revival it was forced through…
“I can’t believe you guys didn’t know,” Iden fretted, hands trembling over her mouth as she looked in between the people gathered. She was sitting closest to Feather’s body, Eve having already confirmed he was once again alive, which was perhaps the only reason she’d been able to calm down… but Iden had a hand in Feather’s hair, brushing over his forehead protectively while she faced the group. “You know, he usually flaunts it. Everyone in my hometown who’s gone on missions with him has seen him die at least a few times.”
“And that doesn’t bother any of you?” Eve pressed, looking entirely offended as she glared at Iden. “Dying is painful and traumatic. There’s no way he’s okay with that.”
“But he is!” the ginger woman protested, knocking her fists on the tops of her thighs while she whined at the people who were staring at her. “He likes dying! He always acts like he’s having fun!”
“How could somebody ever like to die?!” Eve yelled, standing up from the dry ground to tower over the taller woman. “As I said, dying is painful and traumatic! It hurts, and there’s usually no going back! There’s a reason the concept of revival has always been considered impossible to achieve, it’s because the human brain isn’t meant to comprehend coming back from death!”
“Well, I don’t know how he does it, but it’s true that he enjoys it! He always wakes up laughing and talking about how good dying feels!” Iden yelled back, the two women glaring daggers at each other before Kya stepped in between them, resting a hand on Iden’s head while her other went to mediate in front of Eve’s chest.
“That’s enough. Both of you have valid thoughts, neither way of thinking is wrong. And Eve, I do understand this must be shocking for you,” she directed towards the snowy woman, Eve’s blue eyes still filled to the brim with distraught emotions. “But if you want to continue traveling with Feather, this is something you’ll have to get used to.”
“Get used to him killing himself?! How can you say that, aren’t you his sworn guard and servant?! It should be your duty to protect him, not watch and aid him in destroying himself!” Eve screamed, Kya’s blank, unflinching gaze deeply unsettling her.
This wasn’t right. None of this was right. Eve had seen countless deaths, witnessed so many people she loved and cared about die and wither away because she hadn’t been skilled enough to save them. Growing up on a planet filled with snow and ice and nothing else was hard. No one else in her tribe had concepts. All they had were their hand crafted weapons and their bodies, and more often than not, that got them killed. Her older brother was one of those casualties. Her father was another. Her aunt had died of hypothermia after giving birth to her cousin, who had died before he even turned a year old no matter how much the other mothers tried nursing him. Eve had been surrounded by so much death, but she never got used to it. It wasn’t something she wanted to ever get used to.
And the way Kya and Leocadies were staring at her… without an emotion to be seen on either of their faces. How could they be okay with this? Why hadn’t they tried stopping him? Did they just not care? Everything made so much more sense now, about why Feather seemed so keen on hurting himself or carelessly throwing his life into harm’s way. It was because he had no lethal consequences. But dying would still hurt, and it would still take its toll. Death, even when reversible, still had its price. In fact, Eve remembered a very special story with exceptional clarity… a story of the last wielder of the concept of good.
According to legend, their best friend had died a gruesome death at the hands of monstrous people, and the person who wielded goodness believed it was the right and good thing to revive them… so their power had acted on their belief in goodness, and revived their friend. However, he’d been tortured and brutally traumatized through his death, so even though he’d been rescued by a good person willing to care for him, his mind couldn’t take it. He’d ended up taking his own life, and it was at that moment the wielder of the concept of good realized that reviving the dead was never a good thing, no matter how good or seductive the idea might seem. To pay for their sins, and to repent for misusing their powers, the last wielder of the concept of good executed themselves once they defeated the evil of the era, and went down in history as a martyr. And if she took anything away from that legend, it was that Feather dying over and over again was not good, and he needed to stop.
“I don’t think you’re properly understanding what we’re trying to say,” Leo squinted, taking over Kya’s attempt at comfort as he stepped forward. “If you want to travel with him, you will have to get used to his constant deaths. That’s not something we can negotiate. It’s not that we like seeing him suffer, but there’s no turning back at this point. He is—”
“What? He’s too far gone? Is that what you’re about to tell me?” Eve snapped, hands curling up into fists at her sides. “How can you say that? How can you possibly—”
“No. He’s right, Eve.”
“...huh?” Eve turned at the familiar voice, not expecting to hear that person agree with them. Cirrus was looking down at Feather’s body, counting the time until he would wake up, and he was looking all too calm while he did it. But still, he wasn’t heartless, and in her soul, Eve knew it wasn’t something her leader would mean maliciously. “What are you saying? Cirrus, even you’re agreeing with them? How?”
“I don’t think it’s a matter of how. Feather’s lifespan is already ruined. Isn’t that right?” the prince looked towards Leocadies, the ginger-haired guard meeting his gaze without a response, before Cirrus turned himself back to Eve. “It’s not that they want to see Feather die, or that they approve of it. It’s that he can’t survive any other way anymore. Because even if he decides one day he wants to never die again and stops using the concept of anything from there on out, the fact is that he has still already used it, so it will always come after him for a price. I’d say, if he truly stopped using his concept altogether and tried to die as little as possible, he’d probably last around maybe two years before his body inevitably broke down and died again. Then he would revive, and the process would repeat. In other words, it’s unavoidable now. He has no way back.”
“I… what? That, that can’t be…” Eve paled, finding it unbearable to process everything she was hearing as another silence stretched between them.
However, Achitha was doing her best to take in and consider all of this new information rationally, going through her memories of Feather and of the time she’d spent with him. Everything really did make sense now, putting it all into perspective. “Then, back in that labyrinth on Pearalis… I assume Feather truly did die that time, correct?” she questioned, Cirrus’ eye examining his memories in a matter of seconds before the answer came to him naturally.
“Oh, yes, it looks like he did.”
“Hold on, how do you know that?” Jayce growled at his best friend, leaning towards Cirrus on the ground while a clawed hand moved to drag the prince’s long bangs off his face so that he could see the parts hidden underneath. “And what’s going on with your eye?”
“I finally managed to get it to accept me. I can see everything now, and it doesn’t even hurt,” Cirrus smiled, Jayce moving his hand behind himself with a huff.
“Okay. How many fingers am I holding up?”
“Oh, hm…”
His eye took in everything. The moment a question appeared in his mind, all of the answers came harmlessly rolling in. In fact, now that he felt more in tune with himself, he realized both of his eyes were working the same way. His amber hues locked in on the visible muscles he could see of Jayce’s arm, calculating the position and which muscles and veins were straining, all within a few seconds before an easy answer came to his mind.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Three. Am I right?” he smiled, Jayce’s incredulousness amusing him.
“What? No way, you’ve never been able to do that before…” the werewolf frowned, moving his hand out from behind his back as he flexed his claws. “Hey, actually, maybe we can use this to settle an old bet…”
“Uh, Jayce, is that really all you’re thinking about right now?” Eve frowned, looking immensely disappointed in him as she faced his dumb smirk. “We should be focusing on Feather now, not a bet.”
“But the bet is about Feather. Remember when we were betting on if he was a virgin or a slut? Cirrus has all the answers now, so hurry up and tell me. I want my gold,” Jayce patted his lap, facing his friend with anticipation as Cirrus’ eyes widened.
Almost immediately, Achitha’s fist was coming down hard on Jayce’s head as the prince went to cover his eyes, turning himself in the opposite direction of Feather while hiding his face that was so red it was almost purple. “No, no, I won’t be thinking about that… I won’t look at him like that… I won’t look at him for that reason, I don’t need to know…”
“What is wrong with you?!” Eve screamed, kicking Jayce in the shins as she reached for her dagger, snow already flurrying on her fingertips while Achitha grabbed him by his scruffy brown hair and made him look at her. “He just killed himself and all you care about is whether he’s a slut or not?!”
“Well, hey, a bet’s a bet, and you were in on it too…” he frowned, not liking this one bit as Eve’s glare turned more furious. “And besides, we already knew he was insane. Now we know why. I don’t think it changes that much. I still hate his attitude, and I’m not gonna treat him any differently. He obviously has my respect, and I’m sure as hell not gonna start pickin’ a serious fight with him, but I already thought that. So, honestly, what do we need to change? You’re letting this affect your view of him way too much, Eve, and if you ask me, I don’t think he’ll like that. The only thing this changes is now we know he has limits that we’ll have to keep in mind so that we can better watch his back. That’s it.”
…suddenly, he felt the hand that had been firmly gripping his hair relax, and out of nowhere he felt Achitha petting him and smoothing down his ruffled mop of hair, before she reached over and scratched behind his large fluffy ears. He leaned into it instinctively, as that was a canine reflex he couldn’t subdue, and his tail started moving eagerly on the ground before Achitha complimented, “That’s it, good boy. Now stop being so vulgar and you’ll make a good husband.”
“I, uh… what? Since when am I lookin’ ta get married,” Jayce complained, but he didn’t stop her from petting him, since that felt nice.
Though Eve was still dumbfounded. Was she the only one bothered by this? She supposed Jayce had a point about them now being able to better support him with this knowledge, but still… was she the only one who wanted to prevent it? But then there was what Cirrus had said… she supposed the all-knowing eye really was omniscient over the things it saw. He’d seen Feather’s weaknesses laid bare in a more vulnerable way than she had. That was why Feather got so upset and killed himself in front of them in the first place. Because more than anything else, what she’d noticed about him was… Feather hated being vulnerable. It scared him. And Jayce was also right about how he wouldn’t like it if she made a big deal out of this. So maybe… she really should just try not to react too much when he woke up… she didn’t want to make him uncomfortable. He’d probably be a bit out of it, so she should prepare to be gentle with him….
Although, that turned out to be the opposite of what she should’ve been preparing for. Out of nowhere, she heard an aggravated groan erupt from the body that Iden was poking, and she gasped when Feather’s hand moved and swatted the ginger woman’s hand away before stretching his arms high above his head. He sat up quickly, a deranged grin on his face as he crossed his legs, his head leaning all the way forward until he knocked it on the ground, giggling to himself with a giddy, senseless voice, his entire body shaking.
“Heh… heheheh, haha!! Wow, that was great!!” he exploded, entire body springing to life as he jumped to his feet, and they were all a bit scared by what they saw. His entire form was glowing, his eyes radiating a shade of blue that seemed inhuman. His hair looked white, his skin was orange, and power was wafting off him in unstable doses as he moved to grab hold of Kya’s hands with all that uncontainable energy. “Man, that hit the spot!! I was getting so upset but then you killed me and made everything better, Kya!! Thank you so much!! Now I wanna explode something, hahahahhh, oh my god, I wanna explode something!! Gimme something to explode!!”
“Why don’t you punch a rock, boss?” Leo suggested helpfully, a doting smile back on his face while he easily approached the glowing lunatic that was so eager for violence, as if this kind of thing happened every day for him. “There aren’t any trees to punch around here, but there are tons of huge boulders! You could even go back inside and destroy that golem one more time to shake yourself off!”
“Ahhh… ahhhhhhh you’re right!! You’re so right, the golem!!!” Feather screeched, moving from Kya to grip Leocadies’ shoulders, shaking him back and forth and back and forth as his power seemed to shimmer. His smile was wide and he looked absolutely crazy, his laughter shuddering off his features before he lifted his arm and pointed two fingers at the dungeon’s entrance. “Hahahah, I can see her, she’s sleeping ehehee!! I’ll destroy her from right here and then I’ll feel perfect, wahahahah!!!”
“Everyone get behind me!” Kya yelled immediately, whipping out a card with the figurehead of a powerful woman embroidered in gold on its white surface while everyone instinctively followed her command. It was the card of The Empress, the mother who nurtures and protects all those she cares for, and the large naked figure of a beautiful woman with shining locks of dark hair and a crown made from flowers leapt forth, white, angelic wings breaking out from her back as she shielded them all with her body like a mother shields her children from harm. The explosion Feather created rocked everything, and the force of the wind and pressure that came from it was immense. But The Empress protected them faithfully behind Feather’s power, the storm and energy so powerful that the weather began to change. It had once been sunny with a few clouds out across a golden sky, but as the storm created by his power fueled nature to change, droplets of rain began to land on the flat plains around them, before The Empress faded back into her card and Feather turned around to face them, his smile no longer looking so unhinged as he went and scratched at his ear.
“Wow, I feel so much better now. Leo, you’re always right, punching things always seems to work. How are you so smart?” he sighed happily, moving his hand to yawn as a sense of exhaustion seemed to hit him, though he didn’t seem all that bothered by it. “Luckily I didn’t die this time though! Last time I went berserk I caused a cave-in and killed myself again. Haha, that was so stupid of me,” he laughed casually, walking forward towards his group while lazily clapping his hands, everyone wearing a different face.
Cirrus’s eyes were analyzing every little detail, and he could gather that the frenzied state Feather had entered after waking up was a side effect of being upset or slightly irked when he’d been killed. It looked like the emotions were amplified into something uncontrollable after being revived, which turned into raw power that had the key desire to destroy everything it touched. After Feather got it out of his system, the prince watched his power levels fade back down to controllable amounts, and Feather’s mood stabilized with it. It was fascinating, though he was a bit shaken.
Achitha was just overwhelmed. She didn’t know how to process all of this at once. Feather’s deaths, this overwhelming power, his insanity… she was just tired and wanted a break.
Eve felt a bit scared. This was the complete opposite of what she’d expected Feather to be like after reviving. She’d been expecting him to be shaken, tired, maybe a little bitter… not this. Not whatever this was. It just didn’t feel logical, and his insanity had never been put on better display.
Jayce wanted out of this mess! He wanted to leave! He wanted to go home! This was ridiculous and he didn’t want to be in the same vicinity as this power drunk monster! Let him leave, goddamnit!
Iden was absolutely overjoyed, though. She loved watching Feather go crazy, and it always fueled her own enthusiasm. She was cheering and jumping up and down, excited out of her mind, and the others finally began to understand where she’d learned her unhinged traits.
Kya and Leocadies were the only ones used to this who had the ability to treat it like normal, soothing Feather and offering him more candy to help calm him down even more while Kya started playing with his hair and massaging his shoulders. Feather was giggling childishly the whole time, clearly happy with the attention as he sucked on the solidified honey, smiling from ear to ear while letting himself be pampered.
“Haha, yes, this is great! And now that I’ve fully displayed my power, it’s time for me to begin teaching all of you!” he announced giddily, body melting into Leo’s grasp and Kya’s warm touch, though his eyes were still pinned on the group in front of him. He scanned them so slyly, amused and excited, before he shifted himself to look at the number he’d done on the dungeon. The golden entrance was completely destroyed, and the entire gateway had been charred black. Amalthea would probably get mad at him for that, but oh well. He did what he wanted and nobody could stop him. Honestly, yeah, haha. No one could stop him. And as he looked back over to scan his eyes over Cirrus, Iden, Eve, Achitha, and Jayce, he knew he would turn these five into forces that couldn’t be stopped as well. So he smiled, elated with this new resolve, and announced boldly, “I’m going to turn all of you into monsters just like me! When I’m done with you, all of you as a team will be able to tackle this dungeon no problem. Because nobody understands power like me. I’m the most powerful being in all the universes for a reason, and I’m the best for a reason. So, now that the show’s over, who’s ready to start learning, hmm?”
“...”
“...”
“...”
“...”
“You know what, maybe I should kill myself, too,” Jayce deadpanned, and with Achitha’s hand slapping the back of his head once more, their training begun.
discord server now open for Death Card and discussing all things related to it! I'd love it if you were to join, it would really mean a lot to me! Here is the link for those interested, as well as a list of perks and benefits for all people who join down below: ;
Perks of joining Death Card's discord server:
character team roles so you can choose your favorite characters to represent you
- planet allegiance roles so you can stand by whatever planet is your favorite
- the ability to ask for direct spoilers from the author themselves
- free access to the author's art and character designs
- extensive information on the characters like ages, translated ages, race/ethnicities, genders, pronouns, sexualities, defining symbols + representative animals, confusing name pronunciations, and more!
- fun facts about the story's development and original concepts/character designs
- a friendly and respectful community who have all read bits of Death Card and would love to talk about it with you!
Who is your favorite character on Team Feather?
