Fated (Chapter Seventy-Six)
Sunday, January 17th, 2016 04:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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mindcrackloveCan't be any less vague than that. Woops.
Chapter 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 Seventy-Six
Ruins of Dalania, Minecraftia. November 15, year 573. Time instance 483Z.
Samuel did not like having to track a couple of doomsday monsters through the ruins of Dalania.
It hadn’t been difficult to find the tracks of a large skeleton in the ash and dust of the Dalanian soil, and they had been following all day when Samuel held up his hand, listening.
Footsteps.
The ground trembled slightly, and Samuel nodded to the group. They had already decided on what they would do, and who would stay behind. They drew their weapons and moved forward, Tim and Tranpar watching sadly from Teramelle’s back. Mira whined softly and tried to follow Shred, but the Skullblade turned and shook her head.
“No. You have to stay here.” She stepped towards the young dragon and knelt down to hug her. “I’ll be okay. Don’t worry. I’ll be back before you know it.” She stood up straight and looked at Samuel, nodding slightly.
“Let’s go.” Samuel moved quickly and quietly forward, the rest of the team following close behind. They moved over a slight ridge and paused when the Hostiles came into view.
Paw’zelta flew in front, flying low to the ground with a magical beam coming out of the golden orb that constantly followed her. The beam was a dark purple and encased what appeared to be a giant red crystal, about ten feet tall, that glowed fiercely with fiery red light. Just looking at it made Samuel’s eyes ache and he shook his head to try and clear it of the painful interference that filled his mind.
So that’s the Heart of Pain.
Behind this crystal walked Arcvain, a massive skeleton of a creature, as if one had stripped all of the flesh off of Arcbiter and set his blackened and charred skeletal system loose upon the world. The pits where his eyes should be were dark, lit only by an angry red glow.
“Remind me why we can’t just grab this thing and have Specterveil shadow travel us out of here.” Arcvain growled. “I hate walking.”
“I told you, she’s done something to it.” Paw’zelta snapped. “She’s rigged it to curse us or set us on fire or to explode or something. I don’t know what she’s done but it doesn’t feel right and I’m pretty sure it’ll be triggered the second we touch it, so unless you want to risk yourself and the Heart, you’ll keep on fucking walking.”
“How do you know she’s done anything, huh?”
“Because she’s too stubborn to just give it to us! There’s got to be a drawback, a trick, something. She’s a Davion, Arcvain. And it doesn’t matter if that’s the last name of humans or the children of Iilthrid- both are known to lie and deceive to get what they want.”
…and their creations are no better.
“You guys ready?” Samuel whispered. “Do you remember the plan?”
“Of course.” Shred nodded. “Let’s do this.”
Samuel raised his spear. “CHARGE!”
“AAAAHHHHHHHHRRRRRR!” The descendants screamed as they ran forward.
“I HATE THIS PLAAAAAN!” Altren shouted.
The Hostiles turned and stared for a moment, not believing the stupidity of the descendants, before Arcvain roared and charged forward, immediately leaping into battle and swiping at Baltbee. The sheepman was thrown a ways away, slamming into the ground. He groaned and struggled to his feet, but he seemed pretty disoriented.
Shred ignored Arcvain in favor of charging the winged mage. Paw’zelta wasn’t about to let herself be sliced into bits, however, and flew higher, firing bolts of fire at the Skullblade down below.
Samuel narrowed his eyes and pulled the gun that Tranpar had given him out of the loop in his belt, taking a deep breath and aiming it at Paw’zelta.
Tranpar, don’t fail me now.
He pulled the trigger.
The recoil from the weapon startled him, but Paw’zelta’s scream distracted him from marveling over the power in his hands. He shoved the gun back into the loop in his belt as the Hostile fell from the sky, miraculously possessing a wound in her wing preventing her from flying. He had been aiming for her head, but he supposed that worked just as well.
He readied his spear once more and charged forward, Shred not far behind. The mage was back on her feet, rage evident in her red eyes. Bolts of fire and ice shot out at them, the only two with dragonbone, as they attacked her, moving around almost every blast. Shred growled in pain as she took a firebolt to the chest, but fortunately her armor protected her from death.
Paw’zelta got a painful slice in on Samuel’s left arm when his spear jabbed into her side, followed by a small blast of fire sending him flying several meters backwards. He painfully got to his feet, groaning, and noticed something odd in his peripheral vision.
He turned his head to see Tarsen climbing up Arcvain’s tail, the Hostile apparently too occupied with the others to notice. He frowned slightly but shrugged it off, figuring that his friend had an idea. He was about to charge back into battle with Paw’zelta when he felt someone grab his arm.
“Back up.” Niel told him, eyes wide.
“What?” Samuel frowned. “Why?”
“Tarsen said to. I don’t know why.” Without further explanation, Niel raced towards Shred, giving her the same warning as she fought off Paw’zelta. She started to back up, the Hostile following her. Samuel moved to help her once she got closer, driving his spear into Paw’zelta’s leg.
She started to charge up a fire blast of some sort, but Baltbee charged into her, throwing her backwards. Her attack went off midair, not fully completed and not fully under control, only making her travel further. Paw’zelta slammed into the ground back first, struggling to stand. She was about to take a step forward when Tarsen’s voice called out.
“Hey, Paw’stupid!”
She looked up and growled. Samuel’s eyes followed her gaze and his eyes widened when he realized that Tarsen was standing on Arcvain’s back, the skeletal Hostile dangerously close to the Heart of Pain.
Arcvain seemed to notice him as well and started to move, trying to dislodge the pest on his back. Tarsen bared his teeth and clung on, seemingly to be mentally preparing himself to do something very, very difficult. Samuel was hit with a wave of horror when he realized, eyes widening, and he was about to call out for Tarsen to stop, to get down from there, when Tarsen’s head turned and their eyes locked.
And then, as Samuel watched, the closest thing he had ever had to a brother threw himself into the Heart of Pain.
Wait.
Let’s go back, and find the reasoning behind this insane action.
Let’s see it from his point of view.
Tarsen was pretty sure that this was a terrible, terrible plan.
Meaning, they didn’t have a plan. Their plan was ‘run in and fight them and hope we don’t die.’
As it turned out, that was, indeed, a terrible plan. People were injured very quickly, especially those fighting Arcvain, and Tarsen was certain they couldn’t possibly win. He kept glancing at Adrian, hoping he would go monstrous, but no such thing seemed likely.
Tarsen flinched as Altren was thrown a ways away, missing the Heart of Pain by mere feet. He didn’t want to think about what would have happened if he had collided with it, but he was pretty sure the resulting explosion would be enough to kill both Hostiles and the descendants.
Wait.
Tarsen looked at the Heart of Pain, an idea forming. He wasn’t too fond of this idea, but as he glanced at Samuel, engaged in battle with Paw’zelta, he knew he had to do it.
The Heart was too high up for him to reach, but he saw a possible path up as Arcvain’s tail swung past him in an attempt to hit Adrian. Tarsen bounded over to Niel, grabbing his arm and gaining his attention.
“Back the fuck up.” He snapped. “Tell everyone to back up.”
“Wh-what?” Niel stared at him. “Why?”
“No time to explain, just do it!” Before Tarsen had even finished speaking, he was off, sheathing his sword and leaping onto Arcvain’s tail. He was grateful that the Hostile was either too stupid or too distracted to notice him as he climbed up its spine, finally standing on its shoulders. He watched Paw’zelta get blasted back and he knew that this was his chance to get both of them within the blast radius.
He silently hoped that this wouldn’t blast his friends into tiny little pieces as he shouted, “Hey, Paw’stupid!”
Surprisingly, it actually got her attention. Unfortunately, it also got Arcvain’s attention. He roared and started trying to throw Tarsen off, forcing the ex-bandit to adjust his weight and grab onto an outcropping of bone to avoid falling prematurely.
I really don’t want to do this. I really, really do not want to do this.
He judged his jump but paused, looking over at where his friends were gathered. He met Samuel’s eyes, noticing the horror there as his friend realized what he was about to do.
Sorry, Samuel. This has got to be the highest-ranked thing on a scale of one to stupid that I’ve ever done.
He forced his eyes away from Samuel and onto his goal, and before he could change his mind, he jumped into the Heart of Pain.
He tried to scream as he hit, but it was devoured in the same burning agony as the rest of his body. He had never felt anything like it, pain so intense it seemed to be eating away at his very being, and when everything went dark, he welcomed it more than he had ever welcomed anything before.
The descendant of Bdoubleo wasn’t finished yet, however.
The world was still dark, but feeling returned to his limbs. His eyes blinked open and all he saw was red, glowing red, and he could hear only his heartbeat in his ears.
I’m not dead.
But, then….where am I?
~~~
The resulting explosion was violent and final.
The Heart of Pain seemed to scream and erupted outwards into waves of red energy and flame. Arcvain was blasted apart, bones dissolving into dust and leaving only his orb left in the wreckage.
Sea of Flame had been defeated.
Paw’zelta was overcome with the explosion as well, screaming as it disintegrated her wing membrane and much of her skin. The orb of magic that followed her everywhere shattered into pieces of glass and she was thrown far, landing near the descendants, covered in blood and burns.
She seemed to barely be breathing when, without hesitation or remorse, Samuel drove his spear into her throat. She dissolved into her orb without another sound or spiteful remark.
Spellbound Caves had been defeated.
Samuel sank to his knees and was left staring numbly at the blood on his spear, not even noticing when a bolt of red lightning struck next to Arcvain’s orb to allow Vechs to retrieve it. He seemed to teleport with a similar stream of red electricity, eyes hidden behind his goggles but clearly not ignoring the descendants that were only feet from him as he retrieved the other orb. He took a couple of steps back before the red lightning returned for him and took him away once more.
He’s gone. Samuel felt a void in his chest, like someone had torn out a vital organ. Tarsen’s gone. Tarsen’s dead.
And he’s never coming back.
-~-
Bdubs was still staring at his orb when Vechs returned.
“It’s red.” He mumbled. “It’s-“
He interrupted himself by yelping, and Vechs glanced over in time to see a reptilian eye with a blue iris and a ring of purple around the pupil taking up the entirety of the view before vanishing, leaving the orb completely black.
The Mindcrackers stared.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Blame demanded.
“He’s dead.” Bdubs whispered. “Tarsen’s dead.” He looked seriously upset, and Generik put an arm around his friend.
“He can’t be.” Vechs protested. “Your orb isn’t broken.”
“It’s black, Vechs! What else could it mean?”
He didn’t have an answer, and Bdubs was left leaning against his friend, hurt and upset by the loss of his descendant.
Vechs glanced at the two orbs he held, one in each hand.
“You’re more trouble than you’re worth.” He mumbled, but left the room to put them back where they belonged anyway.
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Date: Sunday, January 17th, 2016 10:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Sunday, January 17th, 2016 11:32 pm (UTC)G.C. (::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)
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Date: Monday, January 18th, 2016 03:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, January 18th, 2016 04:35 pm (UTC)(I also have a theory about where he is)
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Date: Sunday, January 17th, 2016 11:50 pm (UTC)-Anon Cami
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Date: Monday, January 18th, 2016 07:14 am (UTC)-the lurkiest lurker
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Date: Monday, January 18th, 2016 03:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, January 18th, 2016 07:29 pm (UTC)-Observing Anon
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Date: Tuesday, January 19th, 2016 04:02 am (UTC)I should not have read this before going to sleep because now I'm hyped the fuck up on adrenaline. Like shit man, Tarsen is such a savage, just jumping in there with no fucks given. Holy shit man, idk what this comment even is I'm just so pumped from this chapter.
I'd also like to use this comment to say "I told you so" as I literally claimed Tarsen as my favorite the second he was introduced, and no one else liked him then, but I knew he was spectacular.
no subject
Date: Tuesday, January 19th, 2016 04:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Tuesday, January 19th, 2016 08:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Tuesday, January 19th, 2016 06:43 am (UTC)-the lurkiest lurker