”The corruption runs rampant in these depths. Our triumph with the tortured being struck a blow, and the interference of someone else fights to keep it at bay, but as with the knight, the wounds it has made are beyond my means to repair.” The voice in Emilia’s head said as they stepped into a vast chamber filled with mist. A layer of liquid covered the stone floor, which seemed a bit odd to the priestess, but unit twelve didn’t pay any mind to it, she chose to not do so either.
After Trauma’s illusion had been dispelled, the group had found itself in a rather odd position. Their wandering had left them nowhere near where they had been before the illusion had completely taken ahold of their surroundings, and since it was hard to tell how long exactly they had spent walking around with Trauma, it was anyone’s guess if they themselves had traversed the distance, or if the illusion simply decided to dump them in a random location. However, according to their custodian guide, the new location was to their advantage. On their way to the communications post the fetch the necromancer and the venator, they would have to pass through the chamber of the so called ‘Great One’ and would let them check on the situation there.
The physical manifestation of Pyria had sustained some fairly minor injuries in her fight against the illusionary necromancer; who, according to the fiend, had been conjured by trauma’s powers grasping at any and all memories of those present which could be used to prevent the illusion from being dispelled.
Unfortunately, the same could not be said about King, who had been far too close to Trauma without any sort of protection, and had taken the brunt of the corruption they had channeled. If the fiend accompanying them was to be trusted, this had tainted something deeper inside him than Pyria could get to and wasn’t simply limited to his mechanical body. Unfamiliar with the exact ins and outs of the corruption, she had no prognosis to offer either. After the successful dispelling of the illusion, the other knights had wrestled the core out of King’s chest to make sure he couldn’t harm himself or others, and the party had been left with two options: take the body along with them to Anastacia or have one of the knights bring it to the nearest repair shop to wait for a better moment to figure out the problem. Unit twelve sent the injured knight from her team to said repair shop along with one fully functional one to accompany it, and would have preferred to send King with them, but Emilia knew that Anastacia would have never forgiven anyone involved if they had just left King somewhere. So, the deactivated knight was given back his armor and brought along in the hopes that either the necromancer or The Great One had some trick up their sleeve to save him from whatever fate the corruption had lined up for him.
Needless to say, this left the priestess more than somber, not only had she possibly lost someone she considered a friend, but she also felt that she had completely betrayed Anastacia’s trust by letting King get hurt so seriously. She had not said much in the last couple of hours, and largely ignored the voice in her head as well.
“Hmm…” The custodian suddenly stopped in her tracks, halting the entire group. She stared at the blood smeared on her armor and then at her knights. “Bringer of Joy, you said this protective effect stems from a god – Sylvester or whatever. But this place should be out of divine diddle range, and their boons and curses negated entirely. So why does this power persist?”
“Oh, little one, this world has no such thing as perfection and no rule is without its exception. You think your cozy burrow shielded from gods, but had you stood there when the first gods were chosen, you would know no singular category has a chance to define them all. The aureun tricks and baubles employed might ward off most, but let us consider such beings as The God of Forbidden Places or the gods who manifest as emotions. One would feel at home in places the divine do not belong in, and the others are ushered in by your own feelings.” The manifestation of Pyria answered before Emilia had to lie about it. The priestess had other things on her mind and neither of them were too keen on revealing who or what was protecting them, as the custodian herself was ancient enough to have witnessed Pyria’s reign aboveground and the name may have raised issues.
Unit twelve squinted at the fiend. “That seems like a lot of bullshit – but if it works, it works, I suppose. If it’s a problem, The Great One will do something about it – I just work here.” She shrugged and continued.
The fiend chuckled and scooped a bit of the liquid covering the floor with her hand. As it touched her feet, the it turned bright red, leaving behind a trail of blood in the slowly flowing elixir. “As the matter of these Great Ones has been brought up, do you know of their creation?” She asked.
“Nope, they predate us and as long as more don’t get made, I couldn’t really give less of a shit.” Unit twelve responded curtly. She didn’t really seem to enjoy the fiend’s attention at all, and constantly veered further away from her.
“Ah! But knowing the flaws of those who came before us is what fuels progress! The paths vile, wrong, dangerous and terrifying are endless in number, so waste no time threading ones with footprints on them. Take care of the maps charted by the monsters that were, and take care to chart yours to help those that come later.” Pyria advised the custodian.
“I see you’re just going to keep talking then? What is with you surface dwellers – you come in a million different shapes and sizes but absolutely none of you are capable of shutting up?” Unit twelve snarked annoyedly and tried her best to ignore any further conversation.
“The ramblings of this ancient being are all connected, and their subject the same: gods.” The fiend continued speaking cheerily. “To give the spark of life to a minor machine, a soul of a common mortal; to give it thought, a soul of an aureun. Yet, both of these are but flickers of light compared to the fires raging inside the masters of machine fortresses. To create a Great One, the aureun chained gods, to contain them, they built their fortresses. The labyrinthian networks of fortified tunnels left behind by your creators, are but buried corpses of gods prisoned below the surface. Each corridor, a vein to transmit power; each chamber, an organ with a purpose; The Great one, a mind locked in stone – all in all, hilari-“
“Shh…” Emilia suddenly shushed the fiend and turned her ear towards the direction they were going in. “Do you guys hear something?”
In the silence, almost drowned by the noises of the machine fortress, they could hear the clap of thunder and quakes of the stone floor, and under them, cries of agony. Unit twelve and the knights immediately darted forwards, and afraid of losing their guides in the mist, Emilia and Pyria followed. As they ran through the mist, the faint sounds turned into unmistakable racket of a fight. The distorted wails echoing from the mist didn’t sound like anyone or anything the residents of the fort or the priestess knew, but it was clear that their location was concerning to the custodian.
In their rush, they came to a network of light patterns, suspended in the air, much like the walls of the underwater corridor where the adventurers were separated. Unit twelve gave orders for her remaining knights who weren’t tasked with carrying King, and they prepared their weapons. She then ran her hand across the patterns, causing them to disappear, dispelling the obstacle and allowing them access to The Great One.
Almost as soon as they stepped onwards, flashes of lightning and bursts of flame illuminated the mist ahead.
“Curious… At the seat of this corruption, where rules of nature are twisted by contamination, something has called upon the elements themselves to join the fray – and they have answered. There are no mere magics of this age, to call upon nature is a gift granted to beings from mine…” Pyria marveled at the lights, sounding genuinely intrigued, both in person and in Emilia’s head.
Suddenly, from the mist appeared an exhausted-looking necromancer, wearing bits and pieces of a stone armor over her tattered remains of sleepwear. No doubt having dashed into the direction of a first sign of life she had felt in days. She stopped to stare at the bloodstained group with a disappointed or almost worried look.
“Anna!” Emilia exclaimed and ran forwards to hug her friend, but before reaching the necromancer, she noticed the look in Anastacia’s eyes. The necromancer was looking at her like she was a complete stranger and stepped back when she approached. “Anna?”
The priestess looked down at her own outfit, it was stained, tattered and worn compared to her usual look, but she was in no way unrecognizable. “If you’re worried about all the blood, I don’t think it’s mine.” She awkwardly joked, both confused about the tepid welcoming and already dreading having to explain King’s situation.
“What’s the number of my room back home?!” Anastacia demanded to know out of the blue.
“What? You’re in room two, right next to ours.” The confused priestess answered.
This seemed to sate some of the necromancer’s demands and she slowly inched forwards with her hand reached out. Once within reach, Anastacia slapped the priestess’ metal chest plate a couple of times.
“Wow, I don’t have time for whatever the fuck this is!” Unit twelve declared and ran off with the armed knights without bothering to greet the necromancer, but at least leaving one behind to carry King.
Pyria’s manifestation placed her hand on Emilia’s shoulder while walking past her. “I shall see to the curiosity awaiting us, you have much to discuss.” She stated and followed the fort’s residents towards the fight in the distance.
Anastacia watched the fiend leave their side but didn’t dare to say anything. She then turned back to her friend and carefully inspected every part of the priestess’ appearance like she was looking for something. The blood didn’t seem to bother her anywhere near as much as whatever it was that caused her reaction.
“Where’s King?” She asked, still staying an arm’s length away from Emilia.
“Well… About that…” The priestess sighed and gestured towards the knight carrying King’s deactivated body. “We-“
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“NONONONONO!” Anastacia screamed before her friend even had the chance to explain. She rushed to the knight and made it lower King down to the ground. “No, no, no, no…” She uttered as she felt the corruption stuck inside the simulacrum. She then tore out the shred of charred skin Pyria’s blessing had placed on his chest armor and clutched tightly onto King’s body.
The temperature around them dropped drastically and the liquid on the floor began to freeze as Anastacia accidentally started pouring the energy from her surroundings into the simulacrum. Of course, it did nothing, but she had no control over the effect anyway, nor did she notice it. The world could have just as well been a black void to her at that moment. Nothing Emilia said or could have said reached her, and all anyone could do was to watch and hope for the best. Pillars of ice began to rise from the ground, forming a wall around them so quickly that the other knight barely escaped in time. The blood flowing from Emilia’s body suddenly stopped dripping down and was instead suspended in the air, which she took as a sign of the necromancer’s powers starting to get out of control as well. As much as it pained her to leave Anastacia alone, It likely wasn’t safe to stay so close and the only way she could now help was to rid the world of Eminence, and so she followed the rest of the group.
First one to reach the scene of The Great Sage’s struggle against the elementals was unit twelve, and standing by it, calmly watching the fight was Apple. The custodian was fully aware of how there could be a second necromancer and was about to demand a situation report from her, but was stopped by some unseen power that immediately took over all control over her body. Apple herself fared only a second longer thanks to her own necromantic abilities, but was similarly frozen in place by Anastacia’s rampant outburst of power.
The knights accompanying unit twelve were free of flesh and bone, and so unaffected, but halted their progress thinking there could have been an unseen enemy responsible for their custodian’s sudden lack of movement. They quickly took the formation designed to protect her and stood their ground while keeping an eye on Eminence.
The corporeal form of Pyria was created from things no creature of this day and age knew, nor should know, but her immunity to direct necromancy had been tested already, and so she reached the site unhindered. The fiend glanced at Eminence, but was suddenly far more interested in Apple. “Such a dangerous thing to usher into this world…” She commented and gently tapped the antler stuck on Apple’s crown.
“There is an idiom regarding pots and kettles that relates to thine comment, but thee predates kitchens no doubt…” Apple’s voice spoke out regardless of her frozen state, no doubt through magics Anastacia had once witnessed somewhere. “I would assume, thee art the one we were to buy time for? Thy arrival must have been accompanied by solemn news, judging by the outburst of the original one.”
Pyria sighed. “The necromancers favored child of stone has fallen to the corruption. It shames me to admit, but should I try to extract the parasite from the valiant soul, more will break than intended…” She lamented, seemingly genuinely at least. “Have you learned much of this corruption?”
“The sage claims only red or white will bring an end to him, but I know not if that will repair what has been done… The third of our troupe hast fallen to it much the same, and sadly the souls art not to be tampered with by my skills either. The body I can repair and purify from this filth, but it appears we art at an impasse on that front.” Queen Apple shared her knowledge, perhaps a bit less bothered by the fiend’s appearance than she should have been.
“So we can’t just kill it?” Emilia asked when she finally caught up with the others and appeared from the mist.
Pyria dashed towards the sage and jumped high into the air, completely disappearing into the mist for a moment. The elementals only barely avoided the impact of her crashing down on Eminence. Though he had struggled to hold his own for a while now, it was the first time sheer terror could be seen on the sage’s face. With a horrified shriek, he tried to claw at the fiend, but noting came out of it as metal wires growing from Pyria’s skin began to tighten around his limbs and slow him down. Clearly enjoying her prey’s panic just a bit too much, the fiend stood over Eminence and grinned as his armor and bones cracked when squeezed by the wires. The disgusting violet sludge pouring from the sage’s wounds dirtied the liquid around him, but even after a few moments, the injuries did not begin to heal like they had so far.
“Fucking finally!” Apple’s voice celebrated.
“Why is there a second- You know what, never mind!” Emilia was about to ask when she noticed the second necromancer, but a copy of her friend was on the more normal side of things now and she simply didn’t have the energy or state of mind to care.
After a few more moments of out-of-control violence, Pyria remembered herself and what she was supposed to be doing. She dangled Eminence form a couple of long iron spikes like a fisherwoman proud of her newest catch and bowed grandly to her audience.
Between his pathetic sniveling, exhausted wheezing and coughing up blood, Eminence still managed to let out a chuckle or two.
“What’s so funny?” Emilia asked and boldly stepped closer.
“You prance around with the steps of a hero, yet act against the good of this world, ally yourself with literal incarnations of evil.” Eminence mocked the priestess. “Though reason enough, that is not why I laugh. I freely admit that yes, I have been outplayed by The Great Commander, and you have what is needed to rid the world of me. But not all stories of heroes end well for the one in the right. I may die today, but I have struck a grave blow against the evil I have found in these buried halls. Most of it will never recover, and my touch will linger for eons as my corpse rots, my valiant sacrifice will buy time for our plans.”
The priestess squinted. “What?” She asked in disbelief.
“In his head, our foe is convinced that he is the hero of this story.” Apple’s voice whispered.
Though that did confuse the priestess, it was the other part of the lunatic’s rambling that worried her. If the corruption would ‘linger for eons’ it meant killing Eminence would not simply cure King’s soul. That immediately ruined the primary plan of action, leaving only the alternative of hoping there was some force out there that could cleanse the corruption altogether – be it Sylvia, some other god, Erratic Judgement or whoever.
As she pondered her options, the voice inside her offered no comfort. “Were gods capable of cleansing this, would they have let it fester to this point? Do not put much weight on their help. Equally helpless is The Great Commander, his halls lay in ruins against Eminence, much of them tainted and corrupt.”
Even if every inch of her body cringed at the idea of agreeing with the fiend, she could see the reasoning behind her words. As a priestess, her conviction and faith in Sylvia should have never wavered, but was she willing to risk everything inside the fortress on the arrogant thought that obviously her goddess could just snap the problem away? Was she willing to risk King’s life on that same bet, or possibly even Anastacia’s forgiveness?
With her mind still racing for solutions, she addressed the sage. “What… what if I were to offer you a bargain? A chance to return to your kind, a chance to continue contributing to your cause rather than die as a martyr for it? Free everything within this fortress from your grasp, and be granted an unhindered escape from the clutches of death.” She suggested with a voice so unsure that it barely came out.
“What art thee doing?” Apple asked, sounding more intrigued than angry.
“Guess I’m not that great at my job… I just care more about Anna’s happiness than about saving the world from him right now…” The priestess shrugged, feeling the seething hatred emanating from the frozen custodian behind her, who obviously abhorred the idea of not killing Eminence on the spot.
Inside the accidental shell of ice, Anastacia wept against the lifeless knight and didn’t even bother trying to fight the corruption now residing inside King. She had already failed to save Amora from the same fate, and already dreaded how it would end this time. Perhaps accidentally, perhaps not, she grasped the side of King’s head with her right arm and once more, the core in her shoulder chose to act. A jolt of power shot across her arm and the necromancer woke up in darkness – to an uncomfortably familiar laughter.
As the singular source of light, some distance ahead of her was a simple campfire that illuminated the nothingness, and by it sat a tall figure, clad from head to toe in stone armor. Across all of this, echoed the deranged cackling the Eminence.
“You have chosen a poor time to visit me, fair one, vile wizardly has taken ahold of this little realm of mine.” The ancient warrior once called Fah-Raja greeted the necromancer. “I do not have much to offer, but this fire we can share, should my company be to your tastes.”
Anastacia wearily stepped from the shadows and collapsed by the fire. She stared at the flames with a vacant and defeated look on her face.
“You seem melancholy. What brings a frown upon such a lovely visage? I may not be a wise one, but I have experience on my side. So, do share your burden.” The aureun warrior inquired and placed down his spear.
“I think you might be dead… or broken for good.” Anastacia answered faintly, she had more or less understood the gist of the power the core gave her and could deduce that her conversation partner was the aureun that became King. Had it been any other moment in time, she would have been all over the poor man, but not now. “The last time this happened… it didn’t end well.”
The aureun nodded. “Not many things do, endings tend not to be the part we seek after all. I would assume it has something to do with this heckling menace that invaded my realm not long ago? I would not worry myself with it, time has not been kind to the villains of the world. His appearance was a rather dull event, claims of this and that, but between you and me, my mettle was not particularly tested by him… All mind games and fluff, truly the lowest branch of any tree.” He said, almost humored by the corruption that had taken such a toll on the world outside. “He may have nested here and taken what has become of my body outside, but it will take great many years for him to touch upon my thoughts! In my days, the great tits popping along a field, seeking bugs to eat wielded greater powers than this sorry vulture.”
As he chortled, Anastacia noticed that the warrior was indeed somehow untouched by Eminence. Amora had been entangled by him for what must have been days even before she had found the spider-like simulacrum, but King was still perfectly free and didn’t even really seem to need help on this side. Even if it didn’t give her a way to actually fix his contaminated soul, it did bring Anastacia some hope. Maybe there was something Apple could do, or even Emilia if she could reach Sylvia.
“A less daunting look suits you much more.” King’s soul commented on the necromancer’s slight shift in mood. “Perhaps you could answer a question I’ve now found myself with? Why does it fall on your frail shoulders to rescue me? The aureun are no friends to humans, or anyone else… and I doubt what was made of me did much better.”
“It’s a bit embarrassing to say when you can talk back… but let’s say that your current form and I are the king and queen of a very small nation, and you know… because stuff.” Anastacia admitted and blushed somewhat. She could easily recognize several minute details in how the aureun warrior moved and each one reminded her of King.
Fah-Raja tilted his head and, even through his visor, was visibly puzzled by what events could have possibly led to the situation he was in. “Ah, I must applaud what remains of me on the outside, clearly he has played the hand given to him expertly! A beautiful queen by my side, a nation of my own to protect… a dream come true!” He exclaimed cheerfully and stood up.
As before, Anastacia’s glimpses inside the minds of simulacra were short, and her vision started to grow hazy. The warrior must have noticed this and quickly kneeled next to her.
“It appears our meeting is to be a brief one, but it has filled me with confidence.” He said and offered his hand to the necromancer. “I am not one to choose my queen by looks alone. You are kind and you have found a way to reach me here as well. I have no doubts of your ability to find a way to undo what harm has come to my body – and until then, your king will stand strong and unwavering. No matter how long it will take, I do wish we can meet once more, in better circumstances…”
As the vision faded, Anastacia reached out to grasp the warrior’s hand, but only managed to lightly graze it in time.