One world depending on me
It was a red mist at first, growing in size and density as I struggled to free myself of unseen shackles. Ill perceived and ill fated bystanders were swallowed by the murky crimson, and from it they emerged wholly new beings not too different from those I’d battled alongside June and Ragnis just the week prior. Their intensity as they snarled at me was met with my own intensity as I conjured purple flames to delete them, only to be met with more each time.
Then came the larger creatures, some of which equaled small buildings in size. Their bodies blended into the void of black that persisted beyond the veil of crimson which I was observing, leaving only their accents to give away their size, shape and number. Before long, I felt my body tire, and cast one final barrier to protect myself as I collapsed to my knees. The beasts drew nearer still, but in a blinding flash, all but one were eviscerated by an entity I can only describe as a radiant knight. I could see their hair was a luminescent silver, hanging loosely at the bangs with a thin ponytail extending from their neck. Black armor with what appeared to be the Magnum University uniform underneath it told me that this was a student, but as they turned I confirmed they were far more.
This was June, but something was off about her. One of her eyes was scarred over and missing, replaced with a red orb that I could tell was the eye of one of those creatures. Underneath the long sleeveless coat, I could make out similar chain mail to what she had worn for our battle as well, but beneath that was a white gambeson pair of trousers which had blood marks running down her left leg. She seemed otherwise perfectly fine, but her face was more mature as well – like this was June from the near future.
Lastly, I saw a claymore on her back that had the blood of those creatures running down it’s blade without melting it. Puzzled, I examined it closely and found it to be a blade made of some form of sentience infused into the highest quality steel I’d seen in my life. A purple gem at the cross guard was pulsating a dim light, as if a heartbeat presently inside it was reacting and calming down from the exertion of combat.
“Come on, Arcy. Your dad won’t overthrow himself.” I heard her say as a gloved hand from her extended to help me to my feet. In that hand, I saw more blood stains in the shape of a magic seal similar to the one I’d had Alarice place on me, but also unfamiliar runes that I couldn’t perceive as they changed shape every time I blinked.
For some reason, I understood her urgency and stood, newfound resolve to battle my father, and marched alongside her while readying another spell from a purple tome I didn’t recognize. In that tome, I could make out the incantation for a spell that I seemed to believe was the key. It read;
Serenade the void with the voice of the unwhole
The drum of nothingness begets the end of the soul
Forsake creation, seek destruction not
Embrace stagnation and accept that which you’ve wrought.
Upon reading those words, I could see him again no matter where I looked or how tightly I shut my eyes; the masked man coated in the skin and bone of others with dirty, blood coated hair whom I saw while investigating the death of Franz. He beckoned to me once more. I saw him place a hand up to his mask and begin to pull the metallic face covering down, revealing a perfectly intact system of veins and muscles where his jawline would be, with no skin attached. The sight of this system functional but unprotected gave me a shiver, and from it I could feel a new sensation against my back. I reached behind me to feel that my hair had grown in length and turned crimson, and found myself suddenly wishing to stand by this mans’ side and face down against June directly. In one motion, I grabbed her by the back of her collar and whipped her against an aged red oak nearby, crying as I braced myself to end her life with a pleasantly cool dagger I’d found myself holding.
I pushed the blade against her throat, and suddenly found myself screaming, eyes wide as I jolted up from my bed. Of course, it had to have been a dream. I’d been reliving this dream for a week or so at this point, ever since moving into my new home which had been named the Huntress Tower. It was completed only days after drafting it, and I’d moved my belongings into it as it was constructed. Layer by layer I’d done this until the top of the tower was completed and I could move myself in fully. The layout of the tower wasn’t too complex as I’d be using it for research purposes above all else.
I drafted a twelve floor structure made of ivory similar to Magnum City walls, but with Imperial garnish and architecture supporting it from the outside in the form of eagle shaped buttresses. It was a full diameter of exactly twenty feet on the inside, so factoring in the walls which were three feet thick, it was a twenty-three foot diameter not counting those buttresses directly, at least for the base levels. The first floor was my kitchen, restroom and common area for relaxing, with the floor above that being broken into three bedrooms – one of which I claimed. The floors above that were mostly books, but on the tenth floor I had allocated a testing facility where I stored laboratory equipment and sanitization materials. I’d use this space to study pieces of creatures, tracks I could salvage, and other miscellaneous oddities. Floors eleven and twelve were a multi layered watch area, with the lower of the two providing me with a single isolation chamber that contained nothing but a chair and some enchanted restraints.
I did not include this in the floor plan aside from the shape of the room itself, as I needed this to be a discreet addition I could lock myself away in should I ever feel I was about to lose myself again.
The basement floors were filled with cells for keeping creatures live, such as those Abomination grunts and soldiers. There was one floor simply for observation, and the bottom of the basement contained the cells for the creatures as well as a large arena to watch their behaviors with other creatures, or perhaps as an open space to observe the interactions of whatever I may be studying. This lowest floor was also very deep; the first basement floor being the same size as the floors above, but the second basement was double the diameter and equal to that in height, with branching pathways to each cell. This section of the tower was heavily reinforced with multiple layers of enchanted material behind thick slabs of ivory stone and then encased in what I believed to be the most durable material I could find; magically enchanted steel given the property of reflection, of unauthorized substances. I coded the spell to authorize the ivory stone it would touch as well as the earth it was surrounded by to prevent it from imploding, but all other materials would reflect off the steel wall with force. Just to be extra safe, I applied this same enchantment to a sheet of thin steel between the layers of ivory stone that made up the entirety of the upper tower as well.
Finally, I coded similar spells on my front door, so that it may only be opened by me or other members of my immediate family. If anyone else or any other substance touched it from the outside, the door would be sealed behind walls of ivory. If anybody aside from myself touched it from the inside, the same effect would happen. In essence, I had made my new home as impenetrable as I was magically able to do at the time and gave myself several emergency options to lock myself in, or intruders out, and prevent Abominations destroying their containment so I may study them properly.
Pondering my situation and my self imposed isolation, it was no wonder I was having recurring nightmares like this. I yawned, told myself this was no different from yesterday, and rose from my bed to make my way downstairs and prepare for my day. After all, my forced vacation was soon ending, and I’d have to return to Magnum for class tomorrow.
I began my lazy day by brewing my favorite lavender blend of Imperial coffee, and contemplating the first experiment I would run when I captured one of these creatures. Perhaps I should dissect it and see how it works, or I could also observe its reaction to various different spells to determine the best elemental Affinity for damaging it. Alternatively, I could try to communicate with it and learn it’s behaviors to determine what sort of intelligence it answers to. I truly had no limits in this place, and that was something I feared I’d abuse eventually.
Briefly, the thought of the nutritional value of the creatures crossed my mind as well, but I determined this to be a fruitless endeavor due to the acidic nature of their bodily fluids and incredibly thick carapace. Though the combination of those two things was also curious, and I began to think that perhaps they had some form of microbiome in their subcutaneous layers which held those acids at bay and allowed them to function. What kind of unworldly environment must these creatures have evolved in to determine this as an advantage in the wild was beyond me, but I knew it to be true as I’d witnessed it first hand according to my notes. Of course, the actual memory of the battle itself was long gone and barely existed to begin with.
Another factor to study.
While this was all fun to think about, I also had to remind myself of my true mission to expel Crimson Mistress and destroy her, even at the cost of my own life if I had to. To that end, I had to continue to learn what triggers brought her out of me and into the world. How could I contain her more efficiently until then was a big focus of my research going forward as well, though that was another discretion topic. Within that same discretion, I also had to determine who this masked man was that seemed to appear to me in these states of delusion and what his connection to me was. I had a theory that he was related to Crimson Mistress, but I couldn’t determine how. Perhaps they were the same being and Crimson Mistress was his power being channeled through me, or perhaps she and he were similar beings with immense power channeling through me and others to cause havoc. Regardless of why, I could safely assume their relation, and as such my studies of her would bleed into my studies of him.
One way or another, I would solve this.
Unrelated to anything I was thinking that morning, my Sending Heart began to react, implying I was receiving a call. I answered to the chipper tune of my newfound cousin June energetically asking me if I was ready to return. I laughed and said I would be elated to, and she began to tell me all about her recent practice for the Combat Racing team.
Magna Varia 