“What is taking him so long?!” A heavily adorned obese man in a white robe paced back and forth in a meeting hall, desperately clutching the stump on his arm where his hand used to be. “It’s been an hour! The portal should be open!” He cried.
“His skill makes him unable to fail at his task, as long as that task is well enough defined.” An older man scoffed as he sipped from his mug at the table “the tech department made sure our will was all that was left in that shell.”
“Then why isn’t the portal open?!” he shouted, slamming his remaining fist into the table “He opened the backup, and he had his orders-“ tremors shook the room, the man gripping the desk for support “-not even their so called S-ranks should be a match for our tool!”
The man took another sip from his mug “Which is why I question we didn’t send him on a rampage in the city.”
“We were tasked with getting materials.” A third member shrugged; a women draped in black “the failure of the crusades to the west have left us bare.” She then grit her teeth, frustration dotted on her face “the adventurers somehow knew about the sanctuary, and while they remained weakened their assault-“another tremor shook the room “-is slowed, is not stopped.”
The 2nd coughed “our followers might have gotten a bit… overzealous… seeing how mixed the population of this city is.” Shaking his head, he continued to speak “gathering the materials in the dungeon and leaving the city all together, not using it as an escape” he shot a glare towards the obese man, smirking at his lost arm “was the better option.”
“Agreed” spoke the women “our information about the Sanctuary was already leaked, sending him into the city with the order of ‘kill every enemy you see’ would become useless if they knew about him.” She waved her hand in the air, speaking in a sarcastic tone “blinding him or avoiding his sight would just make him stand there-“she shot an annoyed look towards the 2nd “having a doll without so much as slight will to adapt was…questionable.”
“We had to.” The 2nd spoke, defending himself “even the slightest bit of resistance would cause the whole thing to be undone while he is under that damned effect.” Another tremor, the man throwing his mug behind himself in a fit of rage “those damnable nobles not letting us have that hero from the start! Their greed blinding them has cost us a willing invincible pawn that could kill anyone, regardless of the difference of power!”
“So,” the fat man slammed his fist down on the table as the room shook “where is that invincible pawn!” he thrust a pointed finger to one of the walls “our ship and men wont last much longer against this onslaught!” he huffed, becoming out of breath from his outbursts “if it has come to this… then we must summon our gods light…” he started laughing, reaching towards the center of the table.
A fourth member slammed their foot into the table “Don’t you dare.” The member, who had been silent until now, protested “even by our own teachings, you should know that is indiscriminate and only to be used as a last resort.” The man stood, draped in a red robe “before you idiots do that, I’ll go see about cleaning up.”
“Idiots?! Hold your tongue, I won’t have so-“the fat man suddenly had a sword pointed at his mouth, he backed away, clutching his chest “Y-you wouldn’t dare…I am a priest!”
The red robed man shrugged “Eh, doesn’t mean shit when you can’t back it up.” He sized the man up and down, smirking “clearly, sent the most expendable people available to this desperate harvest.”
“Still your blade, Jack, we will not activate Gaia’s light.” The 2nd spoke “to lose a gift like The Left Arm on her first voyage would be a vast insult to our cause. We are hardly expendable.”
“What Elijah says is true-“ the women spoke, motioning towards the door “perhaps you should go even the odds a bit, to ensure that Peter doesn’t get an itchy finger.”
Jack stared at them, considering his options before clicking his tongue and withdrawing his blade “Fine, I’ll go clean up my junior’s mess.” He walked towards the metal door, turning back to the three “if I see any sign of you launching that thing, I won’t stick around for the aftermath.” He then slammed the door behind him as he left.
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“…Heresy…” Peter spat, dusting off his robes “not aware of his own position.”
The three sat in the room, illuminated by a solemn green light that emanated from the apparatus that held a floating staff at its center. The three sat there, in the hull of their ship as the tremors shook it, waiting for any news that may sway their growing doubt this situation could be salvaged.
* * * * * *
“Get yourself together already!” Ryker yelled at his leader, tired of his continued pathetic state “You have been sulking ever since that little girl had touched you! That’s all she did! No curses or mind fuckery!” he bent down and slapped Roy “Snap. Out! Of! IT!” He yelled, getting increasingly frustrated at his leader and friends lack of reaction.
“Ryker, calm down!” one of his comrades spoke up, trying to get him to stop.
“No! this isn’t Roy!” Ryker growled “that little brat… she did something to him.” He stood up, careful not to rock the boat as he stood.
“Woah now” the other party member spoke up, rushing to his side “it was just a girl, and Trevor and Dria did the same thing as Roy did, right? And they are fine!” they were joined by the other member, holding Ryker back.
“B-but!” he glared down at Roy, who sat still and mumbled incoherently “she did something, how could she not? He has never been like this before…” he struggled against their grip, and conceded, not wanting to hurt them trying to force it. He sat next to Roy, remembering what all they had been through together, growing up in the city, becoming young adventurers, and making their team and at the time raising up the ranks faster than anyone before them.
This man that did not respond no matter what, and was increasingly getting worse… he clenched his fist, cursing today’s events. If that girl did do something to him, he’d have his revenge.
Screams of joy could be heard coming from the stairs, the group glanced up at the stairs as a women stood at the top “We broke through the barrier! Kids, retreat upstairs and head towards the back rooms for more safety!” she waved, her voice carried by magic as the kids cheered at the good news, heading up the stairs to follow.
“…at least we are making progress there.” The helmsman of the boat chuckled “Idiots, attacking an island full of S-ranked adventurers.” He shook his head.
“Should we join them?” a member asked.
“I am.” The other stood “Roy can sulk all he wants, I’m going to defend the city.” They said, hopping off the boat.
“…I’ll stay with him.” Ryker spoke, shaking his head “he… I want to be here for him, till he-“
“It’s useless.”
Everyone froze, bringing their attention to Roy who spoke “Roy? Are you finally co-“
“Nothing is real… it is pointless.”
“What do you mean?!” Ryker picked him up, forcing him to look at his face “Roy! I don’t know what she did to you, but this is ridiculous, nap out of it. You are obviously real.”
“That boy snapped.” The helmsman sighed.
“Shh-!” the remaining team member shushed him, walking up and placing a hand on Roy “Roy, just take deep breaths ok? Tell us what happened.”
Roy lazily lifted his head “Nothing matters…we don’t exist… only she matters.” He spoke slowly, as if struggling to speak.
“So she did do something!” Ryker angerly spoke “C’mon, let’s go get here to-“
“No… don’t you see?” Roy started laughing “no matter what you do, no matter what you try, she is the only thing-!”
“..what are you- ergh?!” Ryker dropped him, taking a step back as he held up his hands, some black substance sticking to his palm like oil “what is… Roy?!” he looked up from his palms, seeing Roy clutching himself.
“She is the only thing, the o-only th-thing…” he shot up, black sludge dripping from his skin like sweat “THAT MATTERS!” he opened his mouth wide, the black substance slowly filling from the back of his throat.
The two leaped from the boat “The fuck is going on!” Ryker shouted, his eyes going wide when he realized something “The old man!” they had left him on the boat.
“Uh, kiddo…” the helmsmen spoke, recoiling as Roy’s head rotated a perfect 180 degrees to face him, the sludge spreading like a sprinkler when he did so “I…um… don’t know what is going on bu-?!”
Vomit.
A stream of black sludge spewed from Roy’s open mouth, covering the man and overwhelming him, reducing him to a pile of lumpy sludge “you don’t matter either.” Roy gurgled “you don’t even exist, only s-s-she exists. Only SHE gets to exist.”
“…Holy Gaia…” The team member stepped back “what did she do to him?!”
“I don’t know.” Ryker glared, readying his claws “warn the others, that is clearly not our Roy.” He then paused, watching as the lump of sludge started to rumble and rise into a humanoid creature with long drippy limbs, hands ending in long black claws, and a lack of a face, a low moaning emitting from the body. “…the fuck DID she do to him?!”
“…good luck, Ryker.” The member, understanding just how dire the situation was, ran to catch up and warn the others, leaving Ryker behind to buy them some time.
Meanwhile, Roy’s face began to twist, as if each individual part of his face was floating in a body of water, his mouth gurgled, then spoke in an unfamiliar, otherworldly voice.
“Oh, looks like someone couldn’t handle the existential crisis of their own self’s existence after experiencing Time, oh well, that’s how it goes sometimes. Hope you didn’t know this guy too much buddy~ OH! and, sorry it has to be this way. Kinda everyone’s fault they subconsciously think of a monster whenever they see black goo… anyways, have fun! ~”
Ryker was taken aback, but didn’t have much time to think about it before the monster that used to be Roy screamed and leaped towards him.