Jer'tunal’s bodyguard flew out of the Palace with Alexander slung over his shoulder just as Net'jala's group arrived, panting in exhaustion. “Pish'golvat, wait!” Net'jala called out to him as he bolted past, turning to follow. “What's going on?!? Why are you fleeing with the King!?!”
“The King has been compromised by a psychic invader!” Pish'golvat snapped. “I need to get him to a mind doctor, now!”
Net'jala blinked. “Isn't there one in the Palace?”
Pish'golvat glanced at him in irritation. “Do you want to try finding them in that mess?!?” He waved at the smoke covered building. “For all I know, they're already dead! The King doesn't have time for me to waste searching for someone who might not even be there!”
Net'jala nodded, turning to Va'ishta. “Can you detect the energy signature? Maybe we could take the invader out at the source.”
Va'ishta examined the King with a twisted expression. “There's- I don't quite understand what I'm seeing. There's some energy inside him, but it's unattributed ability energy, and there's no tether to any outside force… Are you sure the King is being affected?” She asked hesitantly, turning to Pish'golvat.
“I have voices in my fucking mind, you stupid bitch!” ‘Jer'tunal’ cursed.
Va'ishta froze, bowing towards Jer'tunal as much as possible while flying. “I- I apologize my King, I believe you, I just can't see how the influence is occurring.”
“It's occurring, because this asshole let a damn invader into my quarters!” ‘Jer'tunal’ snapped, pounding a fist into Pish'golvat's back for emphasis.
Pish'golvat grimaced. “I apologize, my King. The invader was completely invisible to my senses. And, it appears, yours as well.” He added, glancing at Va'ishta, who grimaced back.
“Excuses!” ‘Jer'tunal’ roared. “Just get this damn thing out of my head before I send you all to work the mines for the next century!”
*You're laying it on pretty thick there, don't you think?* Andrew commented as the cultivators fell silent and continued their rush to the nearest mind doctor.
*This is who Jer'tunal is.* Alexander grumbled. *Anything less than complete belligerence would be suspicious. Now how the fuck are we going to deal with the mind doctor?!?*
*No idea.* Andrew sighed. *Victoria?*
*We need the mind doctor to do something, or no one is ever going to let Alexander remain King. However, we also can't let them dig too deep, or it's going to become pretty obvious that Alexander isn't Jer'tunal…* Victoria trailed off, considering the issue for a moment. *Honestly, you might be fucked. There's no way a competent mind doctor wouldn't examine you as thoroughly as possible. Unless you have a way to copy Jer'tunal’s mind, there's no way they aren't going to catch you.*
Alexander's mind whirled, frantically searching for a solution, before letting out a frustrated snarl. *Damn it! I had the perfect plan to replace Jer'tunal without arousing any suspicion and you people just had to come in and fuck it up! All I'm trying to do is keep the City safe! Why- why does everything I try to do fail?!?* Alexander fought to keep tears back, despair welling up within him. It wasn't fair! Why did he have to lose everything, then get a second chance only to watch everything crumble around him again! Why!?! Why couldn't he just be happy?!?
*Okay, you need to chill the fuck out.* Andrew insisted. *Whining isn't going to fix anything. What happened happened. Stop moping about it and fucking deal with it!*
Victoria snorted. *That's pretty rich coming from you.*
*I'm working on it.* Andrew growled. *Can we just focus on figuring out how to fix this mess?!?*
Victoria snickered. *Sure, sure. Alright… Well, there's nothing we can do on this end, but maybe we can do something with the mind doctor? I could- wait. Shit, the woman can see my points. Uh… Andrew, how quickly can you take over someone's body?*
Andrew paused. *Victoria, that kills people.*
*I'm aware, but we're kinda strapped for options here!* Victoria retorted. *Greg's smoke is visible, Chris has to be next to the person, and they can see my points. You're the only one with a chance of doing anything here! If you can replace the mind doctor, you can convince the cultivators Alexander is Jer'tunal! If you don't… Well, Alexander is screwed, but I guess our plan would still work? Up to you, Alexander or the mind doctor.*
*Is there a way to save Alexander?* Andrew asked hesitantly. *I mean, our plan isn't bad, probably faster and less risky than Alexander attempting to impersonate Jer'tunal. The only issue is that continuing with our plan would get Alexander killed. However, if we can get Alexander away safely, there's no problem, right?*
*No, no, no!* Alexander protested. *Do you know what I've been through to get to this point?!? The things I've had to do to get close to Jer'tunal!?! I am not just going to step aside and let you people turn my suffering into a joke! Kill the mind doctor, or- or-*
*Or what?* Andrew growled. *I'm getting a little sick of your whiny, petulant ass. I'm certain your life has been one shitty thing after another, but you know what? So have a lot of people's! Life is shitty sometimes and some people's lives are shittier than normal, but so fucking what?!? You think that gives you the right to end another person's life just because it doesn't fit into your little plan!?! How do you know this mind doctor hasn't had just as shitty a life as you have? Maybe it's been even shittier! So fuck you, and either accept our help escaping or fucking die!*
A stunned silence echoed in Alexander's head for a moment. *Greg is going to be pissed he missed this.* Victoria muttered with a hint of amusement. *But he's right. There's no real reason for us to kill someone just to save you. You aren't integral to our plans, and we can save the City without you. The only person we'd be saving is you, and… well, honestly, we're just not that close.*
Alexander gritted his teeth, before letting out a defeated sigh. *Fine. I can teleport, but not far enough to get away from the cultivators. If you can keep them distracted while I run, I can probably escape.* He grumbled bitterly.
*Now that sounds like a plan.* Andrew replied. *Distraction is pretty much what we do. Plus, you only need to get far enough away for Chris to-*
*No!* Alexander snapped. *I am not depending on Chris! Not again!*
*Uh… your funeral, I guess.* Andrew muttered awkwardly.
*Yeah, that seems really dumb.* Victoria added. *Without Chris, your odds of dying go from slim to significant real quick.*
*I. Don't. Need. Him!* Alexander growled. *I'd rather die than depend on that bastard!*
*Fine, fine, whatever.* Victoria sighed. *I guess we can't force you to do the smart thing… hope it works out for you.*
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*Let's figure out how we're going to distract these people then.* Andrew grumbled. *It's going to have to be a lot better than I was thinking.*
*
Chris appeared in the courtyard of the Palace as the smoke flowed after the cultivators, Greg needing all of it for the distraction, which Alexander refused to let Chris participate in. Since he couldn't help with that, he might as well get started establishing their presence. He walked over to Zin'yesa, who was looking a bit ragged after spending the last half hour or so wandering in circles through the smoke, dealing with Greg's bullshit. “You're in charge around here, right?”
“Stay back!” Zin'yesa demanded, holding up her weapon, her squad immediately going on guard, eyeing Chris warily. All the other squads began to converge on him as well, surrounding Chris. Zin'yesa narrowed her eyes at him. “You're not- who are you?!? Where is that- creature!?!”
“Greg?” Chris cocked his head. “He's off dealing with… something. I'm not allowed to participate. Again. An annoyingly common occurrence lately, if I'm being honest. But I digress. My name is Chris, and I believe I'm going to be your new king. Or at least I'll wield the Blood Bow. I have no particular interest in actually ruling.”
Zin'yesa blinked, taking a few moments to process that. “We will not allow you to steal the Blood Bow!” She declared defiantly, signaling for the guards to throw up barriers to block and trap him.
Chris paused. “I wouldn't call it stealing… more like inheriting? After all, I am the only member of the royal family available to claim it, now that Jer'tunal is dead. Which, ironically, was not our fault. Not that we wouldn't have killed him anyway, it's just somewhat amusing that someone else beat us to it.”
Zin'yesa froze. “The King- is dead?”
“He is.” Chris nodded. “May the kingdom be better for it.”
Zin'yesa hesitated for a moment, before her eyes hardened in resolve. “It doesn't matter! I'm not letting some foreigner take our kingdom's most precious artifact!”
Chris shook his head. “Given everything you've witnessed so far, do you really think you have a choice?”
“Seize him!” Zin'yesa ordered, only for Chris to immediately disappear and reappear outside their perimeter, calmly walking towards the Palace. Guards threw attack after attack at him, erecting barriers to bar his way, but no matter what they did, Chris simply continued his walk, slipping in and out of his world whenever necessary. “Get to the throne room! We must secure the Blood Bow!” Zin'yesa yelled, rushing into the Palace with her squad while the rest of the guards remained to try and stall Chris. They ran past the squads Victoria had disabled, coming up short as they reached the throne room, eyes widening as they discovered the large hole in the floor, revealing the vault containing the Blood Bow, as well as Victoria sprawled across the throne.
Victoria sat up as she noticed the guards. “Hm? Oh good, another fight!” She hopped off the throne, whirling her daggers. “This is going to be a lot tougher without Greg's smoke.” She muttered, grinning slightly.
“Take her down!” Zin'yesa ordered.
Victoria quickly dodged behind a pillar as a barrage of attacks flew at her, dashing out the other side as she sent a few ice blades flying at the squad, which Zin'yesa quickly erected a barrier to block. Victoria wove between the returning attacks, using her point vision to keep track of the various projectiles as she made her way closer. Unfortunately, no matter how well she tracked the attacks, she needed enough time to actually react to them, so there was only so close she could get.
She gritted her teeth as she hid behind the pillar closest to the squad. In Greg's smoke, all she needed to do was take out the scout, but that wasn't exactly an option here… she needed some way to disrupt their attacks. She might be able to get into their heads and make some adjustments, but that would take a lot out of her and she needed to be alert to deal with the cultivators… she grimaced. Why did everything she did have to take effort or require her to spend her points?!? The only thing that didn't was shifting her points to match the various types of ability energy, but it took so many points to match an ability with any decent level of power that it wasn't worth it. She might as well just stick with her ice ability.
Unless… Victoria paused, narrowing her eyes at the various projectiles heading towards her. The projectiles weren't made of huge amounts of energy, at least not compared to what it took to make a strong ability, maybe five hundred to a thousand points, yet they were so powerful… why? She activated her ability, forming an icicle in her hand. The ability energy in her core… didn't change. So where did the energy for the icicle come from? More importantly, how was it different? Victoria frowned as she sent out a tendril of points, shifting it to match not the energy in her core, but the energy produced when she used her ability, watching as ice formed around it. She felt a bit of a tug as the World tried to do… something to her points, but took barely any effort to resist.
Victoria grinned as her points gathered around her, stepping out from behind the crumbling pillar as she shifted them to match Zin'yesa's barrier and dashed at the squad. More points flowed out of her, turning into tendrils that left ice in their wake as they twisted towards the squad. Zin'yesa put up a barrier, gritting her teeth as the tendrils hit, tearing into her barrier. A brief battle of wills ensued between the two before Victoria pumped more points into the tendrils and tore through the barrier, the entire squad crying out as the tendrils lashed at them, freezing various parts of their bodies.
“Woo!” Victoria whooped, as she stood over the defeated squad, before wincing and rubbing her head. She'd manipulated about five thousand points in that exchange, two thousand for the shield and three for the tendrils, which had made it a lot harder to resist whatever it was the World was trying to do to her points when she used them this way. Still manageable, and nowhere near the level required to manipulate someone's mind, but still draining, so she had a slight headache. Maybe she should stick to fewer points next time…
“I won't. Let you. Bastards. Win!” Zin'yesa groaned, stumbling to her feet and limping towards Victoria, swiping her sword at her.
Victoria easily dodged the weak attack, taking a step back. “Why not?” Victoria asked, cocking her head. “We can't be any worse than Jer'tunal, can we?”
“At least. Jer'tunal. Is an Elf!” Zin'yesa growled, swinging at her again.
“What's so special about being an Elf?” Victoria rolled her eyes, shifting into her Elf form. “Look, now I'm an Elf!” She shifted back. “Now I'm not. Am. Not. Am. Not. See? Completely meaningless. Now culturally you might have a point, but let me ask you this: how much culture do you really share with even a noble, let alone royalty? Are your experiences even comparable? Has any noble ever truly understood the plight of the common Elf? If you think about it, you have more in common with us than any noble. We at least grew up in average households, for the most part. We didn't grow up with servants attending to our every whim. We had to clean, work, take care of ourselves, worry about our future, feel the stress of depending on the decisions of people you don't even know for your quality of life… I mean, really, who would you rather have in charge?”
“At least. Nobles. Care. About. Our kingdom!” Zin'yesa retorted, continuing her assault in frustration.
“Do they?” Victoria raised an eyebrow. “Or do they only care just enough to make sure they maintain their power and lifestyle? Now, I'm sure there are some nobles who really do care, but can you even say most of them do? Can you even name five?”
Zin'yesa frowned, panting as she paused her assault. “That. That isn't. The point. You. Would only. Use. Us!”
“I'd ask how that's any different than the nobles, but I'm pretty sure I already made that point.” Victoria shook her head. “But to your point, what reason would we have to use you? You've seen our abilities. Greg makes whatever he wants out of smoke, Chris has an entire universe to mold to his whims, and I have my points. The only one who might have a use for you would be Andrew, but he can just as easily get the same thing hunting animals. Our only reason to take an interest in your kingdom is to help people.”
“You. What?” Zin'yesa asked, confused.
“Right, you actually probably wouldn't know much about us.” Victoria muttered.
“She'll learn.” Chris commented as he walked into the throne room. He glanced down at the incapacitated squad, clicking his tongue as he opened portals beneath them. “You've been leaving messes. Don't worry, I cleaned up for you.”
“Grah!” Zin'yesa cried out in a mix of rage and horror as she saw her squad taken before her eyes. She swung her blade at him, her ability answering to her emotions and creating a forcefield around it, extending the blade across the distance between them, whipping through him and cutting him in half! She slashed at him again and again, venting her rage and frustration until he was a pulpy, bloody mess! She stared at the corpse, panting in exhaustion, then froze as it flickered and a perfectly restored Chris stood in front of her.
“Feeling better? You looked like you needed that.” He commented.
Zin'yesa went pale, stepping back. “You- how-”
“We're immortal.” Chris shrugged as he jumped into the hole, walking up to the vault. “It's really not fair, I know.” He added, before disappearing into the vault, a portal opening a moment later as he walked out holding a bow made of yellowed bones with a blood red string. “Then again, is anything in life really fair? Some people's ancestors were farmers, some people's made overpowered artifacts ensuring their line would rule in perpetuity.” He glanced at the bow. “Wish he'd made it a bit less gross though…” He grumbled, pulling at the string as an arrow of energy formed, going from light pink to a red so dark it might as well be black as he pulled it back all the way, before pausing. “I did not think this through…”
“That. Is a lot of energy.” Victoria commented, examining the dense structure of the arrow through her point vision. “Pretty sure you'd collapse the Palace if you let it go in here. Maybe your world?”
Chris grunted, nodding in agreement as he opened a portal and stepped into his world, releasing the arrow. “There, that's-” He froze, eyes widening as the arrow burst into a giant cloud of energy, easily over a million points worth, greedily taking ownership of it and licking his lips as he stared down at the Blood Bow. “You- are my new favorite thing and I apologize for everything I've ever said about you.” He muttered as he drew another arrow, before stepping back into his world. All his subordinates were mutating tonight!