Monstrous (Chapter Nineteen)
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mindcrackloveThe longest chapter so far; it is 38 words short of 2000 words.
Quite a bit is explained in this chapter, and I anticipate a lot happening in the near future...
Chapter list: http://tanadin.dreamwidth.org/382.html
Chapter Nineteen
Western Expanse, Nether. July 16, year 373. Time instance 483Z.
Vechs couldn’t move. He couldn’t speak.
It was undeniably Zisteau in front of him. Half-rotted, armored, holding both a sword and a sign, and green eye looking triumphant, obviously certain that they couldn’t beat him and two blazes.
Blame growled. “Lord Nian, I would guess?”
“You would be correct.” Zisteau glanced at Blame for a moment before returning his gaze to Vechs.
“You were told to remain in your cell.” the blaze to the left (Zisteau’s right) hissed. “You did not listen. You will pay.”
“Sorry, but Vechs doesn’t have the time to stay in prison. He and I are a bit more concerned with destroying that damned Nether portal.” Blame replied.
“I can’t let you do that.” Vechs winced at how flat and emotionless Zisteau’s voice sounded. “I have interest in only one of you. The Skullblade must die.” He waved a hand and the blazes began charging up fireballs.
Blame dodged the shots of fire and charged forward, slashing at one blaze with his sword but receiving a hit from the sign in the chest.
When Vechs had known Zisteau previously, whatever ridiculous “weapon” (usually a sign) he had wasn’t enchanted, but this sign was obviously magically reinforced and powerful, the blow sending Blame flying back several meters. He groaned as he hit the wall and struggled to his feet, dizzy from the blow to the head he had received but still okay.
That jerked Vechs back entirely to reality. He drew his sword and charged the blaze to the left, earning a burn for his trouble but slicing up a couple of rods. Blame advanced forward and managed a lucky shot into the other blaze’s head and charged at Zisteau.
The zombie pigman parried his blow but his sword received a large gash. He blinked and reacted too slowly to block the next strike from Blame.
Instinct and panic took over.
Vechs leaped forward and deflected Blame’s strike by hitting the sides of their blades together. “No! Don’t!”
“VECHS, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?”
“HE’S MY FRIEND! HE’S ZISTEAU!”
“WHAT?!”
Zisteau blinked at the sound of his own name but shoot it off, swinging the sign at Blame again. The Skullblade dodged, seized Vechs’s arm in his left hand, and started running. He knew that Vechs wouldn’t let him fight Zisteau so their only option was to flee. Vechs followed him, numb except for his pounding, panicking heart.
“That guy is your FRIEND?”
“Yes! Well, he was, awhile ago! Something’s wrong with him!”
“I’ll say! That’s our power source!”
Vechs started to ask but he tripped over Blame’s feet and caused them both to fall.
Smooth.
Vechs looked behind him as he tried to stand, finding Zisteau directly behind him with his sword raised to strike Blame.
He rolled to try and get his sword to block it, but he was too late. The blade started to fall, and as he watched-
Time slowed, then froze.
Vechs blinked as Zisteau stopped moving, Blame stopped moving, the blaze stopped burning, and all the sounds of the Nether died away. He looked around, very confused, and then stood. He prodded gently at Zisteau.
The pigman’s flesh didn’t give- it was like a solid object.
“What the-“
“Vechs Davion.” Vechs whirled around at the unfamiliar voice.
A man a couple inches taller than he was (holy shit) stood back the way they had come. His skin was slightly darker than Vechs’s and his hair was bronze, going a little past his shoulders. His eyes were reptilian-like, with slitted pupils and bronze irises. He wore flowing robes of white and dark red with bronze detailing. Vechs was pretty sure he could hazard a guess as to this guy’s favorite color.
“Who are you?”
The man motioned for Vechs to approach. “I won’t hurt you. I’ve been helping you this entire time.”
Vechs’s eyes narrowed but he hesitantly approached. “What did you do?”
“I froze the timeframe temporarily. They will be alright once I resume the timeflow.”
“What about-“
“Your friend will be alright. Do not worry about him at the moment. Walk with me.” Once he was sure that Vechs would follow, he began walking down the tunnel. “I have been watching you for a very long time, Vechs Davion. You and all of your friends.”
“Why?”
“You are instrumental to making sure that this timeline does not go awry. I have already helped you multiple times- in watching your life, I have intervened at points. You have mostly not noticed, but I fear one of my most recent interventions was a bit suspicious.”
Vechs realized what he meant. “Us falling from the sky? You kept us from dying?”
“Exactly.”
“Are the others alive? All of them?”
“Yes.”
Vechs sighed in relief. “Why are you revealing yourself now?”
“I need to explain certain things to you- if I do not, there will be dire consequences. You must close the Nether portal as soon as possible, but you cannot do that while Lord Zisteau Nian rules over the Nether.”
“How did this happen?” Vechs asked quietly. “How did…”
“There is much I have to explain. That lab was built by worldbuilders- not by hand, but with what limited powers that worldbuilders bring with them when they descend to Minecraftia. Worldbuilders and their power leave a sort of magical residue wherever they go- hence why the rotting potion did not perform its original task and instead merely half-rotted Zisteau, and also why the electricity had what effects it did on you. Due to his rotting occurring by magically infected potion, he did not lose his mental facilities as zombie pigmen often do. He was driven from home and searched for you, but finding the lab destroyed, he assumed you were dead and despaired greatly. He wandered alone for many years, often falling into stasis for several years at a time. He built things sometimes to distract himself, but he never truly got over the pain of losing his friend, his life, and his home.
Zisteau eventually encountered, in a mountain in Traz’madar, a shining red crystal of power. He instinctively knew not to touch it, as the power it radiated was dangerous and he was not stupid. However, a corruption that had been sleeping beneath Traz’madar for many years noticed the pain in his heart and the position he was in. It seized control and had him take the crystal, disrupted the power it was outputting and corrupting both him and the crystal. It had him build a Nether portal shortly thereafter and go forth into the Nether, immediately converting the other zombie pigmen and blazes to his side. The corruption drove him to invade Minecraftia. It is perfectly aware of what that crystal is and what it has done.”
“Crystal…wait a minute. Blame said it was our power source. Is it-“
“Yes. That crystal is the power source of your worldbuilder clan’s leader, Guude. It’s power was cut off and disrupted, forcing you all down.”
Vechs faltered in step as he considered this, but quickly caught up again. “So it was Zisteau that made us fall?”
A domino effect.
“Yes. But he is not in control of himself. Zisteau has interest in you because what is left of his true self recognizes you from his past, but he cannot place where.”
“How can we help him?”
“That is why I am speaking to you and not just letting you rush ahead blindly. If you were to shatter the crystal, it would destroy the corruption, but it would kill Guude and render you all mortal. If you kill Zisteau, the crystal may remain corrupted. You must alter the Nether portal by changing three specific runes and force him into it- it will take him nowhere but drain the corruption into itself. He must remain in there for exactly forty-three seconds. Do you understand? If he remains so much as a couple of seconds longer then he will certainly die. If you alter the wrong runes, it may kill all of you instantly.”
“How do we know which runes to change?” Vechs didn’t entirely trust this guy, but he was his best bet at the moment. Not to mention he could unfreeze time at any point and easily push Vechs off the cliff they were walking near into the lava below.
“They are the ones that glow the faintest. They are purple, not red. The faintest three purple ones.”
“That’s not specific.”
“I cannot be more specific. You would not recognize the magical runes.”
Vechs sighed in frustration. “Anything else I should know, time man?”
“You will need at least two or three people to keep Zisteau in the portal. You need a dragon claw to change the runes on the portal. You will need people to distract the Nether’s forces while to attempt to drain the corruption. To destroy the portal, you must destroy all the red runes. The purple ones should fade along with the portal itself. Destroy the obsidian frame as soon as possible, and the moment that Zisteau is purged of the corruption, you must remove that crystal from his chest and give it to Guude. You will not be able to regain your worldbuilder powers immediately but I will explain if and when that occurs.”
“That was quite a bit more. Can you write that down? I think I have a pen in my toolbelt.”
The man sighed dramatically and let Vechs retrieve a pen and a notebook, then patiently repeated everything he had said. Vechs made sure he had everything before returning his things to his toolbelt.
“How will I get a dragon claw?”
“That is up to you to discover.”
Vechs sighed. “I figured you’d say that. Thanks…what was your name, again?”
“My name is Norazdomu.” He stopped walking and Vechs looked up, finding himself next to the portal.
“What about Blame?”
Norazdomu waved a hand and Blame shimmered into existence beside them, still frozen in his previous position.
“I will resume time if there are no more questions, and will leave you to accomplish your task.”
“I do have one more question.”
“Yes?”
“Will I ever get my monstrous form back?”
Norazdomu smiled slightly. “Yes. Do not fear. You will regain use of both forms, in time.”
“Wait. Another question. Why are you doing this?”
“I am a custodian of time. I don’t want to see this timeline fall into ruin. You are the best way to prevent that.” Norazdomu waved a hand again and began to fade. “We will meet again, Vechs Davion.” His voice faded along with his body until he was entirely gone.
Time resumed.
Blame jerked away from the blade that was no longer there and blinked. “What the-“
“I’ll explain once we get out of here! Come on!” Vechs grabbed Blame’s arm, pulled him up, and raced through the portal.
Once they were through, they noticed a slight bronze shimmer around them, and the Nether forces didn’t seem to notice them.
“Vechs, what is going on?!”
“I’ll explain in a minute. I think we’re shrouded right now.” He found the cliffs and started jogging towards where they could climb a hill and arc around to get back to camp. “It won’t last forever and I want to explain once we get back to camp, but long story short some weird magical time man showed up and froze time, told me how to fix this stuff, and saved your ass before resuming time. I did write down what he said.”
“Good. I wouldn’t want you to forget.”
As they began to ascend the hill, Vechs wondered how the hell he would explain this all without revealing his ex-worldbuilder status to Aureylian…
Quite a bit is explained in this chapter, and I anticipate a lot happening in the near future...
Chapter list: http://tanadin.dreamwidth.org/382.html
Chapter Nineteen
Western Expanse, Nether. July 16, year 373. Time instance 483Z.
Vechs couldn’t move. He couldn’t speak.
It was undeniably Zisteau in front of him. Half-rotted, armored, holding both a sword and a sign, and green eye looking triumphant, obviously certain that they couldn’t beat him and two blazes.
Blame growled. “Lord Nian, I would guess?”
“You would be correct.” Zisteau glanced at Blame for a moment before returning his gaze to Vechs.
“You were told to remain in your cell.” the blaze to the left (Zisteau’s right) hissed. “You did not listen. You will pay.”
“Sorry, but Vechs doesn’t have the time to stay in prison. He and I are a bit more concerned with destroying that damned Nether portal.” Blame replied.
“I can’t let you do that.” Vechs winced at how flat and emotionless Zisteau’s voice sounded. “I have interest in only one of you. The Skullblade must die.” He waved a hand and the blazes began charging up fireballs.
Blame dodged the shots of fire and charged forward, slashing at one blaze with his sword but receiving a hit from the sign in the chest.
When Vechs had known Zisteau previously, whatever ridiculous “weapon” (usually a sign) he had wasn’t enchanted, but this sign was obviously magically reinforced and powerful, the blow sending Blame flying back several meters. He groaned as he hit the wall and struggled to his feet, dizzy from the blow to the head he had received but still okay.
That jerked Vechs back entirely to reality. He drew his sword and charged the blaze to the left, earning a burn for his trouble but slicing up a couple of rods. Blame advanced forward and managed a lucky shot into the other blaze’s head and charged at Zisteau.
The zombie pigman parried his blow but his sword received a large gash. He blinked and reacted too slowly to block the next strike from Blame.
Instinct and panic took over.
Vechs leaped forward and deflected Blame’s strike by hitting the sides of their blades together. “No! Don’t!”
“VECHS, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?”
“HE’S MY FRIEND! HE’S ZISTEAU!”
“WHAT?!”
Zisteau blinked at the sound of his own name but shoot it off, swinging the sign at Blame again. The Skullblade dodged, seized Vechs’s arm in his left hand, and started running. He knew that Vechs wouldn’t let him fight Zisteau so their only option was to flee. Vechs followed him, numb except for his pounding, panicking heart.
“That guy is your FRIEND?”
“Yes! Well, he was, awhile ago! Something’s wrong with him!”
“I’ll say! That’s our power source!”
Vechs started to ask but he tripped over Blame’s feet and caused them both to fall.
Smooth.
Vechs looked behind him as he tried to stand, finding Zisteau directly behind him with his sword raised to strike Blame.
He rolled to try and get his sword to block it, but he was too late. The blade started to fall, and as he watched-
Time slowed, then froze.
Vechs blinked as Zisteau stopped moving, Blame stopped moving, the blaze stopped burning, and all the sounds of the Nether died away. He looked around, very confused, and then stood. He prodded gently at Zisteau.
The pigman’s flesh didn’t give- it was like a solid object.
“What the-“
“Vechs Davion.” Vechs whirled around at the unfamiliar voice.
A man a couple inches taller than he was (holy shit) stood back the way they had come. His skin was slightly darker than Vechs’s and his hair was bronze, going a little past his shoulders. His eyes were reptilian-like, with slitted pupils and bronze irises. He wore flowing robes of white and dark red with bronze detailing. Vechs was pretty sure he could hazard a guess as to this guy’s favorite color.
“Who are you?”
The man motioned for Vechs to approach. “I won’t hurt you. I’ve been helping you this entire time.”
Vechs’s eyes narrowed but he hesitantly approached. “What did you do?”
“I froze the timeframe temporarily. They will be alright once I resume the timeflow.”
“What about-“
“Your friend will be alright. Do not worry about him at the moment. Walk with me.” Once he was sure that Vechs would follow, he began walking down the tunnel. “I have been watching you for a very long time, Vechs Davion. You and all of your friends.”
“Why?”
“You are instrumental to making sure that this timeline does not go awry. I have already helped you multiple times- in watching your life, I have intervened at points. You have mostly not noticed, but I fear one of my most recent interventions was a bit suspicious.”
Vechs realized what he meant. “Us falling from the sky? You kept us from dying?”
“Exactly.”
“Are the others alive? All of them?”
“Yes.”
Vechs sighed in relief. “Why are you revealing yourself now?”
“I need to explain certain things to you- if I do not, there will be dire consequences. You must close the Nether portal as soon as possible, but you cannot do that while Lord Zisteau Nian rules over the Nether.”
“How did this happen?” Vechs asked quietly. “How did…”
“There is much I have to explain. That lab was built by worldbuilders- not by hand, but with what limited powers that worldbuilders bring with them when they descend to Minecraftia. Worldbuilders and their power leave a sort of magical residue wherever they go- hence why the rotting potion did not perform its original task and instead merely half-rotted Zisteau, and also why the electricity had what effects it did on you. Due to his rotting occurring by magically infected potion, he did not lose his mental facilities as zombie pigmen often do. He was driven from home and searched for you, but finding the lab destroyed, he assumed you were dead and despaired greatly. He wandered alone for many years, often falling into stasis for several years at a time. He built things sometimes to distract himself, but he never truly got over the pain of losing his friend, his life, and his home.
Zisteau eventually encountered, in a mountain in Traz’madar, a shining red crystal of power. He instinctively knew not to touch it, as the power it radiated was dangerous and he was not stupid. However, a corruption that had been sleeping beneath Traz’madar for many years noticed the pain in his heart and the position he was in. It seized control and had him take the crystal, disrupted the power it was outputting and corrupting both him and the crystal. It had him build a Nether portal shortly thereafter and go forth into the Nether, immediately converting the other zombie pigmen and blazes to his side. The corruption drove him to invade Minecraftia. It is perfectly aware of what that crystal is and what it has done.”
“Crystal…wait a minute. Blame said it was our power source. Is it-“
“Yes. That crystal is the power source of your worldbuilder clan’s leader, Guude. It’s power was cut off and disrupted, forcing you all down.”
Vechs faltered in step as he considered this, but quickly caught up again. “So it was Zisteau that made us fall?”
A domino effect.
“Yes. But he is not in control of himself. Zisteau has interest in you because what is left of his true self recognizes you from his past, but he cannot place where.”
“How can we help him?”
“That is why I am speaking to you and not just letting you rush ahead blindly. If you were to shatter the crystal, it would destroy the corruption, but it would kill Guude and render you all mortal. If you kill Zisteau, the crystal may remain corrupted. You must alter the Nether portal by changing three specific runes and force him into it- it will take him nowhere but drain the corruption into itself. He must remain in there for exactly forty-three seconds. Do you understand? If he remains so much as a couple of seconds longer then he will certainly die. If you alter the wrong runes, it may kill all of you instantly.”
“How do we know which runes to change?” Vechs didn’t entirely trust this guy, but he was his best bet at the moment. Not to mention he could unfreeze time at any point and easily push Vechs off the cliff they were walking near into the lava below.
“They are the ones that glow the faintest. They are purple, not red. The faintest three purple ones.”
“That’s not specific.”
“I cannot be more specific. You would not recognize the magical runes.”
Vechs sighed in frustration. “Anything else I should know, time man?”
“You will need at least two or three people to keep Zisteau in the portal. You need a dragon claw to change the runes on the portal. You will need people to distract the Nether’s forces while to attempt to drain the corruption. To destroy the portal, you must destroy all the red runes. The purple ones should fade along with the portal itself. Destroy the obsidian frame as soon as possible, and the moment that Zisteau is purged of the corruption, you must remove that crystal from his chest and give it to Guude. You will not be able to regain your worldbuilder powers immediately but I will explain if and when that occurs.”
“That was quite a bit more. Can you write that down? I think I have a pen in my toolbelt.”
The man sighed dramatically and let Vechs retrieve a pen and a notebook, then patiently repeated everything he had said. Vechs made sure he had everything before returning his things to his toolbelt.
“How will I get a dragon claw?”
“That is up to you to discover.”
Vechs sighed. “I figured you’d say that. Thanks…what was your name, again?”
“My name is Norazdomu.” He stopped walking and Vechs looked up, finding himself next to the portal.
“What about Blame?”
Norazdomu waved a hand and Blame shimmered into existence beside them, still frozen in his previous position.
“I will resume time if there are no more questions, and will leave you to accomplish your task.”
“I do have one more question.”
“Yes?”
“Will I ever get my monstrous form back?”
Norazdomu smiled slightly. “Yes. Do not fear. You will regain use of both forms, in time.”
“Wait. Another question. Why are you doing this?”
“I am a custodian of time. I don’t want to see this timeline fall into ruin. You are the best way to prevent that.” Norazdomu waved a hand again and began to fade. “We will meet again, Vechs Davion.” His voice faded along with his body until he was entirely gone.
Time resumed.
Blame jerked away from the blade that was no longer there and blinked. “What the-“
“I’ll explain once we get out of here! Come on!” Vechs grabbed Blame’s arm, pulled him up, and raced through the portal.
Once they were through, they noticed a slight bronze shimmer around them, and the Nether forces didn’t seem to notice them.
“Vechs, what is going on?!”
“I’ll explain in a minute. I think we’re shrouded right now.” He found the cliffs and started jogging towards where they could climb a hill and arc around to get back to camp. “It won’t last forever and I want to explain once we get back to camp, but long story short some weird magical time man showed up and froze time, told me how to fix this stuff, and saved your ass before resuming time. I did write down what he said.”
“Good. I wouldn’t want you to forget.”
As they began to ascend the hill, Vechs wondered how the hell he would explain this all without revealing his ex-worldbuilder status to Aureylian…
no subject
Date: Friday, March 20th, 2015 02:10 am (UTC)As always great chapter.
Cookies for all! (::)(::)(::)(::)
Zisteau.
no subject
Date: Friday, March 20th, 2015 02:20 am (UTC)ZISTEAU HYPE
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Date: Friday, March 20th, 2015 02:12 am (UTC)Vechs.
Vechs.
You're dead, man.
Aurey's going be slightly annoyed(and by that I mean furious and hurt)
no subject
Date: Friday, March 20th, 2015 02:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Friday, March 20th, 2015 04:24 am (UTC)They have a quest now, awesome.... (What could go wrong) -Jiminee
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Date: Friday, March 20th, 2015 11:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Friday, March 20th, 2015 04:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Friday, March 20th, 2015 11:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Friday, March 20th, 2015 07:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Friday, March 20th, 2015 09:59 pm (UTC)Well, I found the murderer...
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Date: Saturday, March 21st, 2015 11:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Friday, March 20th, 2015 07:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Friday, March 20th, 2015 07:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Friday, March 20th, 2015 11:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Saturday, March 21st, 2015 01:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Saturday, March 21st, 2015 04:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Saturday, March 21st, 2015 10:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Saturday, March 21st, 2015 11:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Tuesday, May 17th, 2016 04:26 am (UTC)so technically
bdubs and genny made the lab
the lab caused zisteau to rot
zisteau rotting caused vechs to return to the lab
vechs returning to the lab led to vechs becoming a worldbuilder
vechs becoming a worldbuilder led to zisteau's depressed wanderings
zisteau's depressed wanderings led to zisteau finding the crystal
zisteau finding the crystal led to the mindcrackers falling
the mindcrackers falling (and vechs becoming a worldbuilder) led to basically the entire series
so really, it's all bdubs and generik's fault. ;P