Fated (Chapter Forty-Five)
Sunday, October 18th, 2015 01:54 pmChapter list: http://tanadin.dreamwidth.org/382.html
Map of the continent: http://tanadin.deviantart.com/art/F
Character status spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet
Chapter Forty-Five
Mindcrack territory, Vortex. October 25, year 573 Minecraftia time. Time instance 483Z.
The orb slipped from Blame’s fingers as shock overwhelmed him. It rolled off the bed and hit the floor with a dull thud, rolling under a desk as Blame stared numbly at his now-empty hand.
“Iirkolav.” He whispered, shaking slightly. “Iirkolav!” This last utterance of the man’s name was a shout as Blame leaped off the bed and raced out the door, navigating through the halls as he ran. He had to get to Iirkolav. He had to reach him, he needed to be there, and he needed to be there NOW.
Clearly the other Mindcrackers had realized that he would do just that and rushed out of seemingly nowhere to try and stop him but he ran past them, shoving Nebris out of the way as the purple-eyed man tried to block his path to the exit. He felt someone strong grab one of his wrists and he whipped around to meet the goggled eyes of Vechs.
“Blame, you can’t just-“
“I need to get to him! You don’t understand, I need-“
“Blame!” Vechs snapped. “Norazdomu said we can’t interfere!”
“Fuck Norazdomu! Let me go!” Blame pulled desperately to free himself, but Vechs had a viselike grip on his left wrist
“Blame, you can’t, it’ll mess everything up!”
Blame’s eyes narrowed with sudden determination and he balled his right fist.
“Blame, wait, d-“
Blame’s fist slammed into Vechs’ jaw with every ounce of strength he could muster, fueled on by his desperation to reach Iirkolav. Vechs’ hand released him as the taller man went stumbling backwards with the awful sound of shattering bone, falling on his back and letting out a strangled cry of agony.
Blame ignored the aching in his hand as he raced down the hall, leaping down a flight of stairs and over Aureylian as she was halfway up them. He rounded the corner and his eyes locked on the doorway out of the Vortex. He put on a burst of speed before a cold, metallic hand grabbed his right arm and a second hand grabbed his left.
He struggled against Doc and Etho, screaming Iirkolav’s name with tears pouring down his face. He was so desperate to reach him, to reach Iirkolav, and these people that he’d thought were his friends were keeping him from him! How could they, how could-
Guude came around the corner and raised his hand, small sparks of red lightning dancing from his fingertips into the Skullblade’s body. Blame’s vision blacked out and he saw no more.
-~-
Herobrine looked up as Ishtillion leaped off his perch, storming down one of the hallways in his palace. The demon king scrambled to keep up, shooting him a confused look. “What has gone wrong, lord?”
“Norazdomu continues to baffle me.” The gryphon skeleton growled. “We’re going to pay him a visit, and I feel like Natterax will be there as well.”
“You don’t mean you’re going to the Infinity Hourglass, do you?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.” Ishtillion shoved open the door to the transport room and stepped on the pad, using his energies to light it up. “Coming?”
Herobrine grinned excitedly, jumping onto the pad as Ishtillion activated the transport beam.
The two flashed through space, exiting the Nether and appearing in a place outside of time. Ishtillion stepped off the transport pad first, storming towards the center of the ‘room’, but Herobrine paused to stare as he had never been in this place before.
The floor was made of bronze sand, allowing tracks to be made on its surface. Clawmarks of dragons seemed to turn up the sand the most, but Ishtillion’s skeletal tracks were now there as well. Upon close inspection, the footsteps of a barefoot human with clawed toes could be seen, as well as marks left in the sand from the downdraft of dragons’ wingbeats.
As Herobrine raised his gaze from the sand, his eyes met the most bizarre and wonderful thing he had ever seen.
It was like space, but not like any space he had ever seen. The darkness of the sky was overcome by swirls of light, color, and wonder, as if the galaxies and nebulae had arranged themselves around this place just so he could admire them. Purples, blues, oranges, every color Herobrine could think of and some he hadn’t dared to imagine before now wrapped themselves over the sky before him, stretching on forever in every direction. He suspected that, if this sandy platform had an end, he could peer under it and see more of the cosmos.
He dragged his eyes away from the sky and back to Ishtillion and quickly jumped onto the sand to race after him. As he followed his Lord, Herobrine became aware of a constant, but quiet, tick-tick-tick sound. He looked to see where Ishtillion was going and then understood.
In the center of the platform that seemed to have no end stood the largest hourglass that Herobrine had ever seen. Bronze sand slowly filtered through it and it seemed to be about a quarter through, but it was difficult to tell. Smaller hourglasses slowly spun around it, running down their own timers.
Ishtillion stopped several meters in front of the hourglass. “Where is that damn-”
The magical, sparking sound of a transporter was heard and both Ishtillion and Herobrine turned to see a bird made of wind, rain, and clouds appear and fly off the transporter pad, coming to hover beside them. Two small balls of lightning served as the eyes of Natterax, and considering how many lightning bolts shot through her body, she was displeased.
“What has Norazdomu done?” She demanded. “He interrupted the spell, brought someone back from the dead, and launched a child into the vortex of time for no reason!”
“I did no such thing.” The bronze dragon Norazdomu landed beside them, wings neatly folding on his back. He sat like a cat, wrapping his tail around him and raising an eyeridge. “You act as if I have broken some law.”
“You have!” Natterax cawed. “We are not meant to interfere!”
“I did not.”
“You can’t just bring people back from the dead!” Ishtillion growled.
“I did not.” Norazdomu cleared his throat, blinking his eyes slowly. “Let me explain. What I have done is pulled Iirkolav out of timeline 477Z- a timeline that is exactly the same as this one, as 483Z, except for one crucial difference- that Iirkolav was pulled out of the timeline right before Glar’ren dealt the blow that would end Iirkolav’s life.”
Norazdomu paused to let that information sink in. “That means that, in this timeline, there have been three different instances of Vechs Davion. I have brought no one back from the dead and the spell was set to only search for ‘ancestors of destiny’ or a similar translation of the Kroxil term ‘voyslakur,’ which consist only of the Mindcrackers. The spell was searching for their spirits, not for worldbuilders up in the Vortex, and thus it failed. I stepped in and summoned the 477Z Iirkolav, explained to him what was happening, and set him down in 483Z. As for Doc’s past self…when you put a being in a timeline, you must remove another. I did this the last time that I brought Iirkolav into this timeline, and both times have affected the timeline in more ways than one. I would explain the nuances but we would be here far longer than you have the patience for.”
A brief silence.
“What did you tell him?” Herobrine asked, knowing that neither of the other creators would.
“I informed him that he was needed elsewhere in the timestream and explained where he was going and what was going on- the descendants, his place in the prophecy, the Hostiles, and what had to be done. He knows they must all die, all their orbs must be retrieved by 483Z Vechs Davion, and Specterveil must die last to a bowshot from Kaen no Mai. I took his blade, Vamorrot, from him- there are already two copies of that blade, Vamorrot and Veltarkon, in Blame the Controller’s possession. Three copies of the same sword is just ridiculous. However, I did supply him with a gift…”
Norazdomu ran his claws through the sand, pulling his paw upwards. The sand that remained on his scaly ‘hand’ shifted and condensed, changing into a glass vial filled with dark red liquid.
“A mighty gift.” Ishtillion mumbled.
Norazdomu nodded as the vial returned to sand, slipping through his draconic claws. “Indeed.”
~~~
Nia stared into the blue eyes of the beaten and battered man before her, confusion welling up inside of her. She didn’t know what she had been expecting but it wasn’t this.
The man in front of her had a jagged scar across his face, starting above his left eye and stretching diagonally down and to the right across his face, going down his neck and into his ragged red shirt. His blueish gray pants were just as ragged, and his left leg seemed to be missing part of it- his foot and a decent amount of his lower leg was metal, a roughly carved iron dragon’s foot with no moving parts and pretty awful traction. His hair was gray with wisps of black and his eyes were a bright, intense blue.
“Who…who are…”
“Iirkolav. I go by Iirkolav.” The man practically growled. Niel whimpered quietly at the man’s appearance, particularly at his sharp teeth. “I’m an alternate version of Vechs Davion, Nia’s ancestor.” He surveyed them all with a raised eyebrow. “I’m here to help you fight off the Hostiles.”
“That wasn’t supposed to happen.” Mitven muttered. “An alternate version? What…”
“Look, lady, you’ve got me. Deal with it.”
“I don’t like him.” Valkan decided. “He’s broken. Can we get a new ancestor?”
“Oh, sorry. You just gonna throw me back out there into the void with a shout of ‘SEND SOMEONE BETTER BACK’? Sorry, shitgoblin, you’re stuck with me.” Iirkolav snapped. “Anyway.” He turned to Nia. “What’s going on? There are ten Hostiles, right? Any plans for taking those on?”
Nia slowly shook her head. “No. We were hoping you could provide that.”
Iirkolav nodded slowly. “Okay. Let’s get to somewhere where we can sit down and we can assess the situation. Anywhere like that?”
“I can take you back to the living quarters.” Mitven motioned for the others to follow her and led the way out of the room. Iirkolav nodded and followed, remaining towards the back of the group, struggling to keep up and clanking the whole way.
Tranpar walked up beside him relatively quickly. “That metal foot isn’t very efficient, you know.”
“I’m perfectly aware, thank you.”
Touchy subject.
“I’ve been studying the skettisren and I think I could make you a better one- one that really moves. It could even be a dragon foot if you’d like.”
Iirkolav paused. “Really?”
“Yeah! I just have to ask them for parts.”
Iirkolav grinned. “If you could do that, you’d be my favorite kid in a red hat.”
Nia watched Shred step over to Iirkolav, Mira in her arms. Iirkolav glimpsed her and jumped. “Bl- no, you’re not Blame. What do you go by?”
“I am Shred the Mainframe.” Shred told him. “I’m wondering what that is.” She pointed at a vial filled with red liquid that was poking out of the pocket on the front of his shirt. “And I’m wondering why you don’t have a weapon.”
“This?” Iirkolav tapped the glass. “It’s for emergencies. Let’s hope I don’t need it. As for the weapon… Mine was taken. I’ll need a new one.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” Mitven muttered. “Just be patient.”
“Patience is a virtue that I don’t have.” Iirkolav grumbled. “But fine.”
Onward the group walked, upwards in the caverns and upwards towards where all hell would soon break loose.
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Date: Sunday, October 18th, 2015 07:24 pm (UTC)G.C.(::)
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Date: Sunday, October 18th, 2015 07:49 pm (UTC)It's just he didn't get hit by Glar'ren, didn't talk to Blame while he was dying, and didn't, well, die. But he did indeed kiss Blame before the fight.
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Date: Sunday, October 18th, 2015 08:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Tuesday, October 20th, 2015 01:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Sunday, October 18th, 2015 08:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Tuesday, October 20th, 2015 01:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, October 19th, 2015 05:50 am (UTC)-the lurkiest lurker
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Date: Monday, October 19th, 2015 06:24 am (UTC)Anyway, I'm hoping Iirkolav would put Valkan in his place because *glares* I really don't like him.
-Anon Cami
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Date: Tuesday, October 20th, 2015 01:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Sunday, October 18th, 2015 09:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Sunday, October 18th, 2015 09:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, October 19th, 2015 05:41 am (UTC)-the lurkiest lurker
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Date: Tuesday, October 20th, 2015 01:05 am (UTC)BUT YEAH I KNEW YOU'D FLIP ^^
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Date: Monday, October 19th, 2015 05:42 am (UTC)-the lurkiest lurker
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Date: Sunday, October 18th, 2015 11:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Tuesday, October 20th, 2015 01:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Tuesday, October 20th, 2015 07:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Wednesday, October 21st, 2015 02:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Wednesday, October 21st, 2015 08:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Wednesday, October 21st, 2015 12:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, October 19th, 2015 04:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, October 19th, 2015 05:48 am (UTC)I knew Blame was going to flip out! I KNEW it! I feel sorry for him, though. Poor guy.
Cookies for Iirkolav! And Tanadin, I guess. xD (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::)
-the lurkiest lurker
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Date: Monday, October 19th, 2015 07:21 pm (UTC)Other than that, G.C. (@) (@) ('cause I dunno how to make cookies)
-Sierra Winters
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Date: Tuesday, October 20th, 2015 01:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Wednesday, October 21st, 2015 02:10 am (UTC)- Sierra
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Date: Wednesday, October 21st, 2015 12:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Wednesday, October 21st, 2015 01:16 pm (UTC)-the lurkiest lurker
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Date: Wednesday, October 21st, 2015 03:05 pm (UTC)Also, Hi! First time commenting but have been following this story among others for a few months, binge read Monsterous and caught up to near the end of Residual. I cried over Iirkolav's death Tanadin, I just want you to know that and for my sanity's sake I hope to the Creators that you allow him to live through this and reunite with Blame, who for this Iikolav he will only have seen mere hours ago but Blame has waited 200 years to see again! Their ship will never sink! :D
Scara ^_^
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Date: Thursday, October 22nd, 2015 12:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Thursday, October 22nd, 2015 10:48 pm (UTC)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)
- Scara
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Date: Thursday, October 22nd, 2015 11:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Tuesday, November 10th, 2015 06:43 am (UTC)Whee, stupidly late comment!
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Date: Wednesday, February 24th, 2016 09:52 pm (UTC)Hello.. Iirkolav
Oh, don't mind the confetti around.
Yeah.... Totally....
Birthday. Sure.
..
..
..
..we cool?
Cool..