Three Means, What End?

There truly was no answer for the frustration that both Blade and Mercury were feeling. The Terran had suggested they engage in more physical, amorous acts to help mediate their stress and that certainly helped to a degree. If anything, it was more a relief of the tension that had been strained between them since their meeting. And while the two of them were more than happy to engage in fornication after a stressful day, the frustration continued to bubble up.

Blade was better at managing it than Mercury, if only because he’d been trained to. He internalized his stress, compiling it within his mind until he could meditate on it later and help ease the strain. But even that wasn’t completely depleting the pressure that was felt on his shoulders and it was becoming harder with each passing day to scrub through books, tomes and scrolls over and over again without answer. Their progress, any advancement they made, was so minimal that it was barely worth celebrating, let alone reporting on. The Terran was simply staring at the page in front of him, the words lost to him as his mind fled to more depressing, painful memories. Constant reminders of his failures and how, for every step forward, he was pushed back several paces. Even with Mercury within Maker’s own base, with her having ingrained herself in his operation, they’d made next to no progress.

The faces of his family, his people… staring at him from out of the void. He hadn’t been there to protect them and now, years later, he couldn’t even find the means to undermine his brother and enact justice. It was a dark place that he generally didn’t allow his thoughts to tread, for fear of what unraveling of his character would come at its expense. It was only Mercury’s outburst that drew him away from the intrusive thoughts, slightly jerking at her sudden raise of voice and act of pushing the monitor away. Down her head went, right into her hands as she theorized that Maker must have gone to an alternate place of existence. As she saw it, they were well aware it existed, given the Rhaegarians being there, and if the energy came from there, then it was understandable that it couldn’t be found.

He nodded softly. “It is possible, yes. And it makes the most sense. Material from another plane would be finite in our realm and lacking any natural trace.” The thought that Maker had continued to stay in their reality when a whole other universe was open to him seemed… troubling. Maybe it was his own ego; he wished to conquer his own realm before he moved onto others. But if he’d been forced to evacuate the collective energy of their people, then another realm was the best viable option to lay low and expand his influence. Instead he’d remained here. Yet more empty spots in the grand puzzle that was Maker, plots that seemed to lack any feasible, explanatory pieces to fill in.

Mercury rubbed her head as she plotted in her head. After a moment, she revealed that the only option that seemed open for her was to dig deeper. Her clone was still within the walls of Maker’s base and she believed, so long as she was cautious, she could get what they needed without drawing attention to the particular data she was hunting. As she saw it, Maker knew about the blade and understood that she would be curious about it, giving her the ability to explain away her curious search without revealing any further information. Blade frowned, which wasn’t much of a change to his usual features. “It is still dangerous. I know that it is a clone but there’s no telling what kind of advancements he’s made or how he could lash out upon discovering you. I care not to endanger you or any of your kin.”

But the truth was, they were out of options. They’d done all the research they could, followed every path and found nothing. He didn’t wish to put Mercury or all of her friends in peril just for the possibility of them discovering something. Yet he lacked the proof or even the resolve to tell her there was another way. Luckily for them, it seemed fate was slated to intervene before any drastic steps or choices were made. The door opened to their area and in came Cillian, looking perplexedly incensed and jubilant all at the same time. He stated he was an idiot, to which Mercury agreed with him, though her reasons for believing so were more out of regard at his obliviousness to her flirtations.

Either ignoring the comment or not caring, the necromantic wizard raised his hand and showcased some kind of object wrapped in a cloth. He stated that he had forgotten about whatever it was that he had, having put it away for four hundred years without a second thought. Whatever it was, he was hyping it up rather curiously, even as he approached the table. Blade shared a look with Mercury before following in her stead, stepping up and rounding the table to stand beside the dark mage as he unraveled a… book. It looked like something of a journal, bound in leather and lacking any kind of decorative markings or indication to its purpose. Mercury asked the obvious question and Cillian quickly replied that it was the Book of the Damned.

It seemed that struck a chord in Mercury as she called it by another name; Necronomicon. Apparently it was some kind of magical relic that Silver Wolf had been trying to find, to no avail. It took the Xocili a moment to process his simple responses, even as she questioned the fact that a mage, capable and practicing in the arts of necromancy, had owned such an important relic and had never bothered to give it the time of day. And Cillian, in his usual fashion, was unperturbed by her shock, admitting that he simply hadn’t been interested in it, as he wasn’t ‘a book guy’ as he put it.

As Mercury once more took a moment to criticize just how truly terrible Cillian seemed to be at being a ‘dark mage’, he flipped the book open to some well worn and curious pages. Blade didn’t recognize any of the imagery or the language but that was unsurprising, considering his being from off planet. But even he could tell that something was off about the book; something deep in his spirit felt uneasy even being near it, let alone looking at it.

Cillian went on to explain that he hadn’t found anything that gave them any kind of answer but he had found a spell, one of the summoning variety, for something called the Lich King. Looking at the image of said lich, it seemed to hint towards the true appearance of the creature. Mercury hadn’t heard of it and Cillian explained that it was some kind of god of undeath, on par with Death though on a separate plane. As the dark mage saw it, there was no one better that would be capable of giving them a solid answer between the connections they were seeking.

Hope. It was a wonderful feeling that washed over all the negativity and emotions that had hampered them for so long. Blade almost felt light and giddy, as if the tension and stress had been pulled from his form via magic. He would never state that what he was feeling was better than coitus… but in that moment, it was certainly comparable. Mercury inquired to know if he was strong enough and Cillian gave about the answer he expected, unsure but willing to try. They would need to enact the ritual somewhere else and he still required a few odd bits that he hoped Mercury would be able to provide.

Finally, some progress. And it wouldn’t be even a whole day before they had traveled to a remote cemetery, out among what was referred to as the ‘Cursed Lands’. Apparently Mercury had some history with the place called Silent Cemetery, stating it had been used for another ritual. The cemetery itself had been repaired afterwards, the damage undone by unknown people or forces. The surrounding area that had once been filled with dark, ominous trees hadn’t fully healed though; the foliage had been vaporized several dozen yards and there were still craters littering the wasteland around from the battle years ago.

Blade knelt down as Cillian and Mercury prepared, placing his hand on the sanctified soil. “I can still feel the tremors of battle here,” he remarked softly, his eye closed. “And the presence of something truly terrible.”

Coded by d3571ny of ADOXOGRAPHY V2

Blade’s gaze flicked to Mercury as she confirmed that some truly terrible things had happened in the graveyard. She confessed that there had been a fight with a mad goddess, which had surprised Cillian as much as it had Blade. Mercury waved off the question, insisting she would tell them about it later but she would rather not hang around the cemetery for as long as they needed to. With that Cillian went and prepared a place for the ritual while Blade and Mercury hung back. The Terran kept his blade in hand, having placed a few enchantments of his own in case anything decided to try their luck on the trio. But Blade kept a noteworthy attention on the preparation that Cillian was doing, studying it only out of curiosity than anything else. It was a unique design, unlike anything he’d seen from magic users up until that point. Then again, necromancy was an entirely different art form in comparison to the limited magic spells he had seen.

Once everything was prepared, Cillian approached them and handed them satchels, explaining what was inside of them and insisting they would possibly offer protection. When Mercury questioned his confidence on it, the necromancer stated that he’d never tried a spell of the caliber they were about to undertake. He then instructed them to follow his lead and remain quiet until he gave them a signal that they could speak again. Even the slightest alteration, such as an uttered word, could affect the spell and undo everything they had worked on. Blade gave the man a nod of understanding, his hand tightening on the grip of his sword slightly before Cillian began.

He pulled out different ingredients from the pouches and poured them into a marble bowl. The necromancer was chanting quietly in some language that Blade wouldn’t have known even on his better days. An oil joined the rest of the ingredients and then he began to mash them together with a pestle until they were nothing but mush. Wine joined the mixture and was swiftly swirled into one combined liquid. Then it was poured into a cup, one that Cillian held with both hands at the center of the circle. That’s when the pressure of the summoning spell really took form. The necromancer’s words became a cacophony of haunting sound and magic began to flow out of him and fill the trench he had dug out. Symbols of power blazed to life in the area and the air around them whipped up violently, yanking at their clothing. Blade stood tall against it, staring through the vortex as his eyes scanned the area all around them.

Once Cillian had finished the spell he was chanting, he took a sip from the chalice and swallowed the mixture down. Then he turned and offered it to them. He shared a look with Mercury before she took the cup and drank from it and Blade followed after. Seeing what had been mixed in, he had expected a far worse taste but was surprised that it hadn’t been bad at all. But it was only a second later that the most intense sensation ripped through his form. He grimaced as his throat burned with the heat of a sun and his vision began to glaze over. No, it wasn’t getting hazy… it was something else. Things, surreal objects moving. His single free eye adjusted as best it could and after a moment, he realized that it wasn’t some side effect of the potion but rather an intended effect. He was seeing and hearing the spirits from all around them, remnants of those that had been buried in the graves that filled the plot of land.

He passed the cup back to Cillian even as he looked around in wonder. The necromancer once more began to chant and a new pressure filled the area around them. As if gravity itself was bending to his each and every word and getting more intense. Like Mercury, Blade had to push to stay on his feet even as Cillian finished the final part of his chant and his magical energy ignited the wind, causing a shockwave of sound and fury to rip through the graveyard before they were left in quick and sudden silence.

The spirits had stopped moving, all staring at Cillian -- or rather the place directly in front of Cillian. The air got so frigid so quickly that one would have thought they had been plunged into an arctic ocean. But worse than that were Blade’s extrasensory preceptors. Every alarm he had, every warning sensation that he’d trained over the years, was going off like mad in his mind. His entire body had tightened as literal frost began to spread over the ground beneath them. Before long, the entirety of the area around them had been frozen over, Blade breathing heavily through his nostrils and creating steam with each puff out.

Ice came together before Cillian, taking shape into an imposing, intimidating form. He was giant in comparison to them, towering over the trio like they were nothing. His armor had been fashioned to be as terrifying as possible, hiding his body and face. Long white hair fluttered behind him, crashing gently into the damaged cloak attached to his shoulders. He held a sword in his hands calmly, without intent but merely to define its purpose. They could feel his icy gaze upon them, despite there being no sign of his eyes.

He spoke, the impression of his voice reverberating in their minds. Cillian spoke up, stating their reason for rousing him and he asked for an offering. Luckily the necromancer was more than prepared and held out the wine and another sack, letting him know what each of them was. Once he had explained it, he placed the items on the ground before the Lich King. They were forced to wait for several, long seconds as the undead god considered the offerings, which honestly felt like decades. When finally he spoke, the Lich King deemed their offerings satisfactory and asked that they speak of what they needed to know.

The necromancer then turned the stage to Mercury and Blade, letting them know that they could speak. Blade swallowed hard as he fought back all of the instincts telling him to flee rather than approach and took a step forward. He drew a series of symbols and then created an image of the dagger that had been used to injure Vandrad, broken down into its pieces. At its center was the mystery element and Blade took the image between his fingers and held it out for the Lich King. “Unholy One,” Blade spoke up, his voice strong and assured despite his internal misgivings. “This element was used in the creation of a weapon that destroyed a magical core. It is not of Earthland nor have I found traces of it in the stars beyond. We humbly ask if you know of what it is and where it hails from.”

Coded by d3571ny of ADOXOGRAPHY V2

There was something deeply unnerving about a powerful creature such as the Lich King staring at a person. Even Blade, who had encountered dozens of beings during his travels throughout the galaxy, could feel an uneasiness in his heart, only emboldened by his desire to find answers. The Lich King stared stoically out from his helmet for several long beats before he began to shrink down and took on the height of a normal humanoid. Now meeting them on an even level, optically at least, he pulled his helmet off, revealing his frosted face and glowing eyes. And he looked… concerned.

The uneasiness of the situation was extrapolated as the knowledgeable undead god stated that the element they were seeking, the material that had been used in a vicious attack against Vandrad, did not exist. For the first time since he’d arrived, Blade looked deeply perplexed, troubled even. Mercury spoke up, clarifying his words before he reinforced his statement. The Xocili was understandably concerned, insisting that it had been used to injure Vandrad. But before she could get too deep into her spiral, the Lich King held up a hand, asking her gently to stop. He took a moment, closing his eyes and clearly seeking something beyond their area, and stated that he could sense the presence in the universe, specifically on Teras Prime. “On… my homeworld…?” Blade spoke up softly, his brow furrowing. Still the Lich King continued, stating that the element did not and more importantly should not exist in the world they occupied.

And worse, he had no idea what it was. It was like all the hope they had built up for themselves in that short span of time had been crushed, unintentionally, beneath his armored feet. Of course it had been a gamble; from the moment Cillian had even suggested the ritual, it was all up to chance that they would even get this far. But to have achieved so much and still come up with absolutely nothing… It begged the question in both Mercury and Blade’s minds. How had Maker not only come across this element but weaponized it? And if its presence still lingered on his long-dead home world, did it have something to do with the experiment that his brother had enacted to absorb his people? That’s the only thing that made sense.

While he stood in place, his hand slowly dropping down in defeat, it was Cillian who spoke up next. He’d picked up on the Lich King’s verbiage and asked if possibly the element was from another world; one that wasn’t classified as living. Mercury turned to look at the necromancer, as did Blade, as she asked if he was talking about the afterlife. He clarified that while that was an example, there were several different planes of existence strewn throughout their reality and beyond. It would make sense that elements from those places wouldn’t be trackable on their own… and it seemed the Lich King agreed with the possibility. In fact, it seemed he had an idea in mind to where they would be able to acquire the knowledge they were lacking. But he could not willfully encourage their undertaking the journey, as the ritual they would need to enact was dangerous and would put them all in danger.

Cillian waved off the caution, insisting he couldn’t die, which was still something Blade hadn’t quite come to terms with. But it seemed that the Lich King was less worried about his mortality and more for his sanity. He spoke of a place called the Abyss; a realm that was material but also something more; a plane that bordered on the edges of sanity, that was the birthplace to madness and the final resting place of gods and demons alike. Whatever lived there, hunted there, sat so far beyond their conceptualization that the Lich King seemed to refuse to elaborate further. Being exposed to the masses of mad monsters would result in their ends; mortally for Mercury and Blade and spiritually for Cillian. It sounded like the worst nightmare that anyone could have and had, seemingly, been born out of the universe’s own fears.

But that wouldn’t stop Mercury, who asked if the Abyss could provide their answers. The Lich King surmised that there was a possibility, though he couldn’t provide a definite answer. The Abyss seemed to house fragments of something called the Time Before; the reality that had existed before and had come to an end, resulting in the one they occupied. There weren’t many traces of that time left, only stored in one of the deepest layers of the Abyss; Omothol. It could lead them in the right direction but it came with a hefty, dangerous trial to achieve it.

A Time Before? Blade’s understanding of the world was expanding into directions he’d never even conceived of and in such a short amount of time too. He already felt like the edges of his sanity were being tested with the amount of mind-altering knowledge that was being dropped on them. But despite the heavy warning and nightmare-esque picture that the Lich King had painted, Mercury didn’t even wait a beat to affirm her desire to go. Even in the face of such peril, she was unrelenting and even the Lich King himself seemed surprised. Off his look, she explained that the element was now in their world and it had been brought into existence by someone who would use it maliciously to serve his own agenda. Any chance of stopping him and preventing any further damage to the natural law of the universe rested on their going to Omothol and finding answers.

There was no choice, as she put it. Blade understood it just as well as she did. The Lich King’s eyes looked upon the other two, looking for confirmations that they would stand with her. “Of course. My brother has made a mockery of this world’s laws by utilizing this material. We must know what it is and how we can destroy it, to set things right.”

With the three of them agreed, the Lich King had little choice but to provide them passage to Omothol. But before he brought them, he felt compelled to provide guidance and words to heed. The ritual they would be performing would draw attention from the denizens of the realm; if he were to accompany them, it would bring about more than they could handle and they would fail and ultimately lose their lives. All he could offer was some minor protection against the negative effects of madness and advice that they stay within the limits of the ritual space. Otherwise, the Lich King from the Time Before or worse spirits could happen upon them. Mercury, of course, asked the question they were all thinking and wondered what could be worse. The Lich King didn’t answer, which was probably more terrifying than actually explaining it.

Once in Omothol, they would need to perform the ritual which would upgrade the Necronomicon with the knowledge they were, hopefully, seeking. But it would only contain that knowledge for a short amount of time, requiring them to memorize what they could as quickly as possible, before it was lost again -- even from someone with such powerful data banks as Mercury. That was all he could provide them in terms of advice. They were on a time table and the nightmares of Omothol would come to claim their lives for their trespassing. He asked once more if they were prepared. Blade nodded firmly, his hand tightening on his sword handle even as Mercury lamented the fact that Vandrad was going to kill her for what they were about to do. With that, the Lich King informed them that he would provide passage and the ritual would be known to him once he had arrived. With one final caution to steel themselves, he raised his hand and disappeared from view.

The first sensation was beyond comprehension. It felt like a vice had been wrapped around their heads and tightened. Intrusive, dark thoughts that each one of them had held at bay for one reason or another suddenly rushed to the surface. The desire to laugh; to cackle like the funniest joke had been heard as images of blood and viscera and eyes in the darkness filled the mind’s eye. But before it could become too much, it was all pushed away. Blade opened his eyes with a gasp and took a step back as he took in his surroundings. As his vision cleared, he saw his arm up, sword mere inches away from the back of Cillian’s neck. He pulled it back, mumbling out a strained apology as he reached behind his back with his free hand.

The chorus of manic thoughts and images had been pushed back, for now. But he and the rest of them would be very well aware of their existence, scratching at what seemed to be a barrier in their minds. A barrier that felt like an itch, almost begging them to poke and scratch. Though he doubted it was any more powerful than whatever the Lich King had bestowed upon them, Blade took out his ocarina and plugged away a quick tune. It would provide further relief, at least enough for them all to focus fully and clearly without the desire to see what lay in the dark of their minds.

For a place with such a grandiose name, Omothol was not impressive by any stretch of the word. It more resembled a dark and smoky swamp, with long dead trees stretching out of the bogs towards a sky that was as pitch black as coal. The swamp was made of a murky, black sludge that bubbled and hissed with heat and steam. Bones of creatures, humanoid and not, lay at the feet of the tree trunks, scattered about the lifted roots like terrifying dioramas.

It was the first time since he’d faced Maker that Blade felt true, unequivocal terror. His soul had been unseated and his instinct to flee was greatly overpowering his instinct to fight. And yet he held on, squashing the cowardice as his hand tightened on his blade’s handle once more in defiance. “Do what you have to, Cillian,” he said, finding his voice more firm and stronger than he thought it would be. “We’ll protect you.”

A loud, yawning noise echoed out from the shadows of the trees around them, the Terran turning to face the source with his blade out. From the shadowy mist, a horrid creature emerged. It was made up of dysmorphic bones, as if it had attached remnants of other creatures to itself. It had no hands or feet to speak with; each limb coming to a jagged, pointed end. A circular, pointed mouth stretched slightly as empty-socketed eyes stared at it. Blade felt a scream in the back of his mind and the blood in his veins cooled as if he’d been thrown into a vat of ice. A black ichor poured out from between its teeth as the creature shambled towards him, hungry to feast upon flesh.

Coded by d3571ny of ADOXOGRAPHY V2

The truly terrifying realization that kept gnawing at Blade -- one he really should have stamped out quickly -- was the fact that they were currently protected by a superpower undead god. The Lich King had offered them some kind of protection, be it a spell or blessing, and still the dangerous thoughts almost broke through. Both Blade and Mercury had been moved to places of extreme violence and Cillian himself had been wracked with some kind of trauma as well. With their wits gathered about them, or as much as they could be, they all attempted to steady their stances. The Terran had been so caught up in looking around that he whirled in a panic as Cillian called out Mercury’s name, finding the necromancer pulling the Xocili back away from the murky pools of liquid.

Cillian explained that the ritual to gain the knowledge was difficult but not overly complicated, meaning it wouldn’t require a lot of prep or advanced maneuvers, or so Blade surmised. All the better, considering that something had sensed them and emerged from the shadows, revealing itself as some kind of bony monstrosity. Blade felt ice water in his veins, a shrill scream rebounding in his head with such force that panic nearly overwhelmed him. Never in his life had he felt such fear and that included staring down Maker in all his power and glory, at the moment of his triumph. He’d seen creatures not dissimilar to this thing but something about the air of Omothol made it all the more terrifying. Blade only found himself when Mercury managed to summon a light shield; a thin film of magic but strong enough to break the terror that threatened him. She ordered Cillian to get to work and he didn’t need much more encouragement beyond that.

Blade took out his ocarina once more and blew a few notes. He then hastily drew his finger in the air and then pointed towards Cillian. Several rings of glittering light swirled around the necromancer and formed an extra layer of defense for him. Mercury told him that she had no estimation to how long the shield would hold out, even as the bony creature continued its march towards them. It could recover after being destroyed but there would be a delay and there was no telling what could make it through before it was up again. “I’ve put the strongest protections I know around Cillian. They can only remain around one person at a time, so as long as he finishes the ritual quickly, it should hold against physical and mental distress.” That was, of course, counting that his prowess stood up against the insanity of the realm.

Blade gripped his sword with both hands as Mercury began to pepper the creature with shots. The edge of his blade began to glow a bright red and symbols lit up along the flat edge of the weapon as he continued to focus. Chips of bone splintered off from Mercury’s shots as the creature groaned, unbothered as its culminated body was splintered and cracked by her firing. More shrieks and roars of other creatures filled the air as more monsters approached from beyond their sight. The bone creature made it to the pool of black ichor, stepping into it and moving unhindered… but as it moved, more whispers began to sound out all around them.

Blade was just about to unleash his sword’s attack when a new creature emerged form the darkness. A monstrosity that seemed to be made up of veins and slimy tendrils. Two tentacle-like appendages moved where its mouth should be as it stared at the group with glowing red eyes. It brought its hand up, lining up with both Mercury and Blade… and there was a flash of light from its bloody gaze as it cast something at both of them.

Suddenly Blade wasn’t in Omothol anymore. He was lying in a big bed, filled with naked, writhing women. Hands and legs moved over him, offering him gentle, loving caresses. Lips of women he knew, women he’d been with, pressed against his all over as he heard calming whispers fill his ears. He didn’t need to panic, there was no need to fight. He was safe and they would keep him company for as long as he wanted. The worst part was that Blade knew it was a trick, some kind of fallacy pushed upon him from that creature, but that didn’t keep his mind from wanting to listen. The protective barrier in his mind felt even more turbulence as his better self was temporarily taken in by the vision. The women offered him affection, and promised to take all of the bad thoughts away…

The creature let a portion of its own desire infect the fantasy and Blade was suddenly met with the vision of himself, trapped by the ravenous bloody creature. The tentacles wrapped around his neck and face as an orifice latched onto the top of his head, digging through his flesh and bone, sucking up his mind even as Blade screamed at the top of his lungs. Turns out, that scream carried out into the real world as the Terran came bursting out of the nightmarish vision. With a hard jerk of his hands, he slashed his sword forward diagonally and unleashed a wave of concentrated energy. The arc of light ripped through Mercury’s shield and sliced off a portion of the bone creature’s top half, toppling it to the ground. But, more importantly, the direction of his slice ripped right through the neck of the succubus mindflayer, divorcing its head from the rest of its body and causing both to tumble to the ground.

Blade fell to his knees as blood ran out from his nostrils, dripping onto the ground. He barely had time to collect himself before a pair of other creatures emerged from the smog. Another humanoidish nightmare, purple and pink and made of limbs and tendrils, quickly stumbled forward towards them while some kind of giant worm burst out of the ground and launched itself into the shield, slamming into the hard surface and squealing. An appendage burst from its mouth; wet, slimy and covered in talons and fangs. The appendage scratched against shield before the worm itself was forced to retreat back into the ground, even as the other creature charged into the shield and began to batter its dysmorphic arm against the light wall.

Coded by d3571ny of ADOXOGRAPHY V2