Public Release: March 4th, 2019 - 5:00 pm EST
“My name is…” I paused. I thought back to my last few days, how I spent them despairing, falling deeper and deeper down a hopeless pit. I thought of the deaths I caused since I came to this world… and then I thought of the resolution I made with Sal, a promise I made to my best friend.
I looked up and smiled when I met the Fae’s eyes. He flinched, startled by my sudden confidence.
“My name is Calliope,” I said, my confidence returning. I knew the truth of this world. I knew Nox’s nature. Him betraying me wasn’t unexpected at all. It was the most expected event in the entire fucking universe!
There were seven Fae in this universe, and I would work with my enemy to ensure that there would only be six after this.
The enemy of my enemy is still my enemy, but I can have a temporary alliance. Morals didn’t matter. Right or wrong didn’t matter. The force that moved the entire fucking universe was MUTUALLY ASSURED BENEFITS!
Nox wanted this bastard dead and I did too. Thus, our wills were aligned. Nox never told me to use the Deity Ranked skills. He told me to fight like a coward and stall for time!
I hated his guts, but that didn’t matter right now.
I just needed to stall for time.
“I don’t like that look in your eyes,” said Argyle. Then, with a mere flicker, he moved.
I felt a tremendous force hit me, dead center. My body bent forward hard and I could see Argyle’s fist burying itself in my stomach. I coughed blood on impact.
“If you wont feel despair from words, I guess I can only make you feel it from a proper beating, instead~” he said.
Despite the pain, I grinned.
“Bring it on, fucker.”
-
The beating that ensued was supernatural in scope. The land was gouged and torn asunder. The skies split open like a gaping wound and thunder boomed throughout the land. The earth shivered and fell apart. We fought so hard that The Pass behind me was pried open, peeled like an orange, revealing tunnel systems to the air and scattering the creatures living in them.
Another fist hit me in the face. The Heaven’s Demon Garb stretched into a helmet around my head, absorbing some of the blow.
I was blown back hard. My body smashed into a rock formation, knocking it down like a tower of cards. Dust and smoke erupted in the chaos of it all like a mushroom cloud into the air.
I coughed up more blood, but I laughed as it happened. My health continued to drop and regenerate. He was playing with me.
Three days? I needed to survive three days of this!?
I smiled like a crescent moon.
And here I thought I was going to face a challenge.
-
Time passed and Argyle slowly ground away at my body and sanity. Each blow took me off my feet, sending me skyrocketing through the air like a ragdoll. Each skill he used was burned into my flesh and skin.
My body looked like the canvas of a gore artist.
Even still, I stood up again. Every time he knocked me down I stood again. Lily and Sal’s faces wouldn’t leave my mind. I needed to succeed here. I couldn’t bow my head. I couldn’t let my will be broken…
-
Argyle stood across from me, his breathing laboured. Almost a full twelve hours had passed. I couldn’t see out of my left eye anymore and my body felt like it was broken. Nothing seemed to work the way I wanted, but even still I smiled.
“You,” said Argyle before he took a deep breath. He was getting tired from just beating on me, now. “You are one hell of an impertinent bitch. I wanted to break your will, to make your soul taste better…”
His eyes opened wide and Argyle smiled again. His smile unnerved me, for some reason. I could feel a growing terror in the back of my mind. I felt like I was forgetting something, something important.
“Hey, Calliope,” said Argyle in a mocking tone. “You should use your Fae Energy Detection ability right now. There’s something important you need to seeeee~” His voice was singsong at the end and it fucked with me. Normally I wouldn’t listen to a word he said, but something about it all stopped me cold.
[Fae Energy Detect] flared to life.
That was when I could see what he wanted to show me. In The Pass, coming through it towards us, towards the chaos and noise, was a small caravan.
Why didn’t they leave? Why did they follow me!?
My worst fears were made manifest. My body shivered and, despite my own hardiness, I felt a pain unmatched by all the previous beatings.
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“No,” I whispered.
“Oh yes,” replied Argyle. “That’s the look I wanted to see~ I understand now. You’re the type who doesn’t give a fuck about what happens to yourself.”
He started moving north, towards The Pass. I screamed and chased after him, but he was faster than me before my injuries, let alone now with my body so beaten down.
I couldn’t breathe. I didn’t want to. I lost sight of Argyle, but my body started moving faster and faster. I could see him with my [Fae Energy Detect]. I could see everything with it in vivid detail. I screamed out a guttural sound from the bottom of my soul.
I dove into the caves after him, my body moving on pure panic and adrenaline. My eyes were watering and my muscles burned. Why hadn’t I noticed them before?
I realized it was because I turned off my [Fae Energy Detect] to save mana. While I considered it a smart choice at the time, it cost me some very vital information…
No. That decision cost me more than just information.
I turned the corner and entered a large cavern. There were holes in the ceiling above, letting light in from the sun. There, I found Argyle holding Lily by the neck. Scattered around him were the beaten and unconscious escorts. Off to the side I could see Sal with one of his legs broken.
“Is this girl precious to you, Calliope?” Argyle asked. My legs stopped moving. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t feel anything but absolute dread. I was afraid that if I said a word he’d snap her neck like a twig. I was afraid of losing Lily. I was afraid…
I hit my knees and looked on, unsure what to do. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t think straight. I couldn’t think of anything at all.
“Please, don’t do this.” The words left my lips, but I didn’t even remember saying them.
Argyle laughed. “That’s what I wanted!” His voice thundered in the cavern, booming through the air like a war drum. “The best flavor is always despair! It’s hopelessness and tragedy! You’re almost there! You’re so close to ripe.”
He turned his eyes to Lily and then he turned them to Sal. My heartbeat started to increase. I could hear each badump in my chest as if they were colliding planets.
“I’ll start with the girl. She’s already half broken, anyways,” said Argyle as he tossed Lily’s body through the air.
“NO!” I screamed and I started to move. I was too far, though. I couldn’t get to her in time. A ball of energy formed on Argyle’s palm, a skill I recognized. A skill I acquired myself. [Mana Bomb].
He threw the ball of energy at her. I clawed at the ground, trying to get traction to move faster. I met Lily’s eyes and, in them, I could see both fear and something more profound. I could see acceptance, as if she no longer wanted to fight her tragic fate.
Betrayed by her own family, crippled by an assassin, forced to run a country by herself in the interim while her bumblefuck brothers dicked around at the southern fort…
One by one my memories of her played through my mind. I didn’t want her to go… I didn’t want to watch her die!
I could feel something stirring inside me. My [Fae Energy Detect] let me see it. A bud sprouted there, something that didn’t exist before. A tremendous power surged within me, and I felt myself growing faster, stronger, and more resilient.
I just needed more time.
But time was something I didn’t have.
Just before the mana bomb hit, a golden light flashed in front of Lily. Sal was there, cradling her, and using his own body to shield her.
The [Mana Bomb] went off.
“SAL!” I screamed and rushed forward. Argyle just stood there, looking upon the dust cloud with an ugly grin. I ignored him. I didn’t care about him at all.
I dove into the dust cloud and reached Sal’s side. In his arms he was clutching Lily. She was alive and, mostly, unhurt. Lily’s eyes were closed though, and she wasn’t conscious.
Sal, though…
Half of his back was missing. He was losing a dangerous amount of blood. I grabbed at him and turned him around, so I could see his face. He was grinning as our eyes met.
No. No. No. No. No. No.
I didn’t want this. I didn’t want any of this! I just got my best friend back. I just got him back, dammit!
“Hey, Calliope,” he said, his voice harsh and scratched. He was missing half of a lung, so I couldn’t complain about it, though.
“Sal you goddamn idiot,” I said, choking the words out.
“Don’t be like that,” he said. His one good arm reached towards me and I felt his finger rub past my eye. “You don’t look very pretty when you cry.”
“Sal, why, goddammit,” I couldn’t think of anything to say.
“Hey, Calliope?” He asked.
“What is it, Sal?”
“Do me a favor.”
“Anything,” I said.
“Kill me.”
“Anything but that.”
He grinned. “You don’t get it. In this world, when someone dies, their soul becomes part of their killer’s.”
“No, Sal. Please don’t say that,” please. Anything but that. Literally anything but that. I didn’t…
I couldn’t….
“We were originally in that one body, so what’s wrong with going back to the way things were?” He asked, his smile too genuine. My hands were shaking. He was losing blood fast and his skin was paling.
I couldn’t heal him. I didn’t know how to heal. If I tried I’d only kill him faster.
“Please, Calliope,” he asked, his voice pleading and weak.
“I’m sorry, Sal. T-this was all my fault,” I choked the words out. I could only say it now, “I’m sorry.”
Everything was my fault.
“Do it, Calliope.”
I put a hand over his eyes. I didn’t want him to see it happening. I could hear Argyle’s laughter behind me.
I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.
I’m sorr…
[Solution: Hello, Calliope.]
‘Hey, Sal. Or should I think of you as RED again?’
[Solution: Date not found.]
I could feel a hotness on my cheeks. I could feel everything boiling over inside me.
I stood up and turned towards the Fae, towards the God that made me kill my best friend and I felt a rage unlike anything in my life.
And I felt a clarity unlike anything I ever experienced before.
[Combat State is evolving…]
I remembered the Fae’s words, earlier. I remembered Nox describing Argyle’s stupid skill.
“It makes it so no offensive technique, skill, or attack can harm him so long as it contains less Fae Energy than his barrier.”
The words thundered in my mind. I looked Argyle in the eyes and I knew the way forward.
[-New Skill Acquired-
Master Class Skill: Path Correction]
I had been going about it all wrong. I had been trying to fight him. I had been trying to stall him.
I knew the answer, now.
I walked towards Argyle. He didn’t bother moving. He didn’t think I could even hurt him. He was wrong.
When I reached him he looked down at me and laughed louder.
“What are you going to do, little one?” He asked.
I leaned into him and wrapped my arms around him, pinning him into a hug.
His laughter grew into an absolute uproar. “Have I finally broken you?!” His voice was filled with undeserved mirth.
“No,” I said. “I’m not broken. But you will be.”
“You really are an idiot. My [Unbreakable] will stop any attack…”
“But what if what I’m doing isn’t an attack?” I asked, interrupting him.
“What? What are you prattling on abo…” He stopped talking when he felt it. When he felt my mana enter him, slipping past his skill like it wasn’t even there.
“What are you doing!?” His voice sounded surprised. Now it was my turn to laugh. Now it was my turn to cackle like a goddamn madman.
“Oh my…” His words were cut off as his body started to swell like a waterlogged corpse. No, that’s exactly what he was.
“Can’t you tell?” I asked as I poured more and more mana into him.
“I’m healing you.”