Side Story

“Hold the line!” “The barriers can’t hold the attacks!” “Why are they doing this?!” “What the hells is going on?!” Screams echoed throughout the night, as explosions and magical lights brightened the darkness momentarily. A heavily fortified mansion was under attack in the middle of the night.

The building was surrounded with a dual wall system, yet the first wall went down without a fight. The second wall struggled to throw up a defense in time to delay the intruders, for only a brief while. The first wall glowed softly as dark flames and shadowy balls flew to bombard the secondary final wall. An evil cackling rose above the onslaught.

“Roast them all! Kill them all! Kekeke! Those fools should have known not to mess with me!” A sickly slender pal man with deep dark bags under his eyes with a wide sinister smile on his face was enjoying the scene before himself.

“My lord, we have confirmed the attack on the Flanders estate has started. Your brother will not be able to get here in time, but we must hurry.” A shadowy figure with glowing eyes knelt by the sickly man before vanishing back into the shadows.

“Huff… Rushing me, when I can finally enjoy this revenge… Fine.” He raise his hand up high. “Bring out the big guns boys!” He smiled wickedly while ordering his troops.

““Yargh!”” They chanted in creepy unison, as if under some sort of possession. They held out their hands as the Pals attacking were recalled. Then as one, they all summoned grotusque forms of twirling darkness hanging in space while undulating limbs twitched about.

“Let my creations sign!” He lifted up his hands before cackling up black blood while his eyes glazed over in inky black blood.

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“Damn that Daniel!” A figure atop the secondary wall turned around and yelled out some commands to the remaining men. “Code Black! Code Black! NOW!” He shouted before smashing the top of a pillar that rose from the wall before him. He took off towards the mansion by jumping off the huge walls as a glow quickly built and engulfed the entire structure in a forcefield dome.

“Brace for impact!” The shouts from the guards on the walls as they summoned sturdy looking Pals that formed glowing barriers around the guards before a wave of pure darkness engulfed the whole dome. The dome of energy stopped the darkness, but the pressure from the attack slowly increased the gravity in the area. “Resisted it!” Captains shouted out while struggling to stay strong.

“Pope!” The commander yelled as he held tightly onto a glider, a Pal sphere shot off from his falling figure in front of the mansion. “Sanctuary!” He yelled out, gritting his teeth for the upcoming rough landing.

“Wuhauh!” The golden glowing Pal shouted out before the entire area around the mansion was washed with a holy light, followed by a healing cozy feeling of safety. “Humu.” The large gruff golden Pal sat down in midair as it floated to a position above the mansion.

“Thanks bud.” The commander huffed as he stood up and rushed his way into the mainson. “Are the Ladies alright!” He yelled bursting through the doors, a thin membrane of energy washed over him, as if he entered a different space.

“They are fine Commander, the defensives were activated in time. But their condition still doesn't look good I’m afraid.” A butler greeted him in the main hall, before leading him further into the mansion. “Who is attacking us?” The old man has been working for the Rayne family for many generations, and he hoped many more.

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“Daniel, that bastard touched a taboo, I’m afraid without the Boss, we might not make it.” The Commander took out a bottle of restoration from his inventory and chugged it. The butler had a brief look of surprise, before he nodded.

“That bad I take it.” The butler offers the Commander a bottle of water to wash the nasty taste of those potions away.

“Worse.” He chugs a glowing potion before accepting the water. “Thanks.” He returns the empty bottle as they reach a large security door.

“It’s been my honor sir.” The butler offered the man his hand with full respect.

“It has.” The Commander smiles as he returns the gesture. “Watch over them for me.” He opens the door and enters a room filled with doctors rushing about the medical beds of the three Ladies of the Rayne family.

“Commander, is everything alright?” The woman clicked a button before the bed moved to allow her to sit up.

“Mistress Olivia, I hope you and your daughters recover as soon as possible.” The Commander knelt down and hung his head. He still held the guilt of missing the assassin that poisoned and harmed the family he was in charge of protecting. “Daniel has betrayed us, he found a taboo and is attacking us. We have no retreat.” The news was terrible, but a calm look on the man’s face confused Olivia.

“You have a plan, Commander?” The mistress of the Rayne family touched her left elbow, her arm was missing due to the assassin’s attack.

“We need the Boss ma’am, it’s the only way for you and your girls to survive this.” He walked over to a glass cabinet filled with medical vials and drugs. “So there is only one thing for me to do.” He grabbed some glowing vials along with some fizzy ones before handing them to a doctor. “Mix these.” The doctor was about to say something, but a glowing knife was placed before his face to shut him up. “Now.”

“Commander?” Olivia narrowed her eyes, not liking what was happening. “What are you doing?” She demanded answers.

“Communications are blocked, exits are sealed, it’s the dead of night and Daniel killed the city so there are no witnesses.” The commander calmly watched the doctor mix the concoction.

“But this is leth-” The doctor was protesting.

“Doesn’t matter, just need it to work for a minute.” The Commander gave him a hard stare, before the man understood and told his peers to mix a few other mixes up.

“Is your plan to poison Daniel?” Olivia couldn’t understand what the men were doing over there, and her injuries kept her restricted to the bed for now.

“I’m setting off an emergency beacon, and hope he’ll see it in time.” The Commander turned and gave her a sad smile. “I hope this can make up for my mistake.” He looked sadly at the unconscious girls with tubes and wires wrapped around them. “This time I will protect your family.” He turned to give her a solid confident look.

“We don’t have a beacon…” Olivia was worried about the plan now.

“I am the beacon.” He took the mixtures from the doctors and chugged them all at once. “Ugh… Argh.. AAAHHAAAAAA!” He yelled out in pain as a bright glowing power ripped and tore through his body. He vanished from the room in a blink of an eye, the occupants blinking the brightness from their vision or rubbing their eyes.

“What in the he-” Olivia rubbed her eyes before pausing. “How…” She blinked while staring at her left hand, which was supposed to be missing. “No wa-”

“Mom?” A soft call took all her attention. One of her daughters stirred on the bed.

“Zoe! I’m here!” She cried out as tears streamed down her face. “Mama’s her-” A thunderous echo shattered above the mansion, as the aftershock shook the earthquake proof room. “Commander, thank you.” Olivia looked at the ceiling with gratitude.