The end of their journey:
Part 1- The campfire
“Are you sure we can do this?” the tall blonde woman asked, a curious smile on her face “I mean, it’s complete fucking suicide. If I hadn’t heard it from your mouth, I’d shut the idea down immediately” she spoke to a taller man, bright blue eyes and scruffy black hair, a large scar across his neck. “Yes Emily, I’m quite sure this is possible. I mean, we’ve pulled off bigger shit before. Remember the heist at the King’s tower in blackthorn?” he asked, Emily smiling as if looking back at something very fondly “Joseph, that was not a very good example at all. We lost Johnathan and Maria that day, we almost lost Ova and Shel that day too. If they weren’t orcs, they’d have died from the wounds they endured that day”
The man shuffled slightly, the dead leaves beneath his feet crunching as he did, trees looming over the couple with barely any leaves. The winter had not quite completely set in yet but was almost upon them. It was, however, a cold night. The only warmth aside from their clothes that was in the area being the blanket they had given to the sleeping 16-year-old lying by the campfire asleep, and the actual fire itself.
After a moment, Joseph chuckled “Yes, we lost people, but they knew the risks. Just like we know the risk. We may die in this upcoming battle. But either way it will be an ending. Just imagine if we do somehow get this done. If we storm that fucking thing over the hill and actually manage to grab the eye. Think of what we can do. The people we can save. We could be legends! The team that saved the entire damn world. The team that found the key of the mists! We can save as many people as we can here and then leave. Get a boat, travel the world together. Me and you. Along with Ellie. Us three travelling, finding new lands. Documenting our adventures. Maybe even finding somewhere we can all settle down.”
“Listen Joseph, it’s a good idea. Really good... But we could both die, what If we leave Ellie without anyone to look after her?” Joseph sighed, something he clearly hadn’t thought of. “Fine then. Take her away from here. I’ll go, get the eye. Take out as many of those ‘Gyrashi’ bastards as I can without dying. And I’ll get back by dawn. Gives me three hours or so” he said, faking a smile. “Our daughter deserves a good world to live in, one without war. We mustn’t let her become like we did. She cannot get lost in a war she does not need to fight in. So, I will go. You stay with her. There’s a clearing about a mile from here, if I am not back by the time the sun rises... Then assume the worst and leave without me”
Emily sighed deeply “Joseph please-” “No, I have decided my path. Protect our child at all costs Emily. The worst that will happen to me is that I get to see the rest of the team again. If you die too... Then Ellie will have nobody to guide her towards the right path.” “BUT WHAT ABOUT ME JOSEPH?” Emily yelled “what if you die? I do not wish to lose you. Not again. You know that one more damn death and you are finished! For good! No gods to bring you back, no magical fucking orb that shocks you awake! That is it for you! And... I do not wish to lose you again!” she said, on the verge of tears. That's when Joseph’s demeanor changed from something heroic, to one of a worried, broken man.
He lay a hand on Emily’s shoulder, pulling her towards him into a warm embrace “hush now, don’t worry about that. All that matters is that you and Ellie live. I’m going to do my job as a father to our daughter and a lover to you and aim to fight for our family. So, we can finally live in peace. Besides, many years ago I made a promise to somebody. And today is the day I must fulfill that promise.” A couple of tears slid down his cheek, some falling on the woman, others falling onto the forests soil below them. “I love you Emily, I truly do. But I must face this battle. You look after our daughter. I promise that I will come back to you, even if I die.” he said, gently kissing her cheek. He then looked at the sleeping teenager by the campfire they’d set up together “Ryamere” He whispered, a small rose-colored light emanating from his fingertips, travelling to her and forming a sort of light shield for a brief moment before disappearing.
“Goodbye my love, look after our daughter” he said, turning towards the hill behind them that marked the edge of the forest.
Part 2- Preparation
Soon enough, Joseph stood atop the hill, a large keep about half a mile in front of him, a single tower in the center of it standing above all the land. He had been there once, 23 years ago. Back then it was known as the crater’s fortress. 5 years later, it became the keep of the damned. Being back made him remember his promise, remember that day.
The scene changed; it was a bright day. He stood in a large ballroom within the now unruined castle. A standard heist mission. Drop in, take a small gem from the queen’s chambers, then drop out. He wasn’t very happy that he had to rely on theft to get by, but it was the best he could muster with the cards life had dealt out for him. There was another man, however. 18 years old, same age as Joseph. However, he was the complete opposite, rather than being orphaned at an early age, with both parents' dead, casualties of the multi-generational war between man and the orcs, the mysterious new man was a nobleman, Alastair Redrun of the house Redrun. Something he made very clear to others. A name of significant power in this region of Planarus.
The moment Joseph was approached by Alastair, he knew that the mission was going to be successful. Completely. Alastair was tall, somewhat intimidating, wearing a navy-blue suit and tie. He had the brightest emerald green eyes and a very rough yet not fully formed beard growing on his face, his hair was long, tied up into a ponytail, he spoke with a voice that was as smooth as a god “Alastair Redrun, you must be Louis River, lovely to meet you”
‘Good’ The thief thought ‘He’s not caught onto my real identity, Elle, your turn now. Get the crystal’ “yessir, one crystal comin’ right up!” came a reply, the whole speaking through minds was a weird concept to Joseph, despite the fact that he’d already been working with this concept for the past couple of months. Living in an orphanage his whole life taught him much about sneaking around undetected, however very little about the concept of mind magic, especially since the city he lived in had magic outlawed.
“That I am Mr. Redrun, it’s very lovely to meet you too” he offered out his right hand, a sign of wanting a handshake, to which Alastair gladly accepted. They both had very similar lavish suits, Alastair wearing a grey waistcoat, purple shirt and a dark-ish blue tie. Joseph wore a smart jacket with a large variety of reds, yellows, blues and purples. The nobleman smiled as the music began to quieten, and something with a very slow tempo began to play, a violin solo to begin with. It was a slow dance. Of course. “So, Mr River... would you join me for a dance?” The nobleman asked with a grin, offering his left hand. The thief blushed slightly, ‘Fuck, not how I was expecting this night to turn out’ He thought, supposedly to himself. In reality, the woman he was speaking to before replies, “What’s up with you Joseph? Nobleman got ya blushing?” came her voice in his head.
The already deep blush deepened just a little ‘Just shut up for god’s sake. I’ll do this for the mission. Not because I like it. The nobles of this land are a pompous lot, sir handsome there being one of them’ he thought, by this point he had already sheepishly taken the other man’s hand and went off to dance. For some reason they didn’t really get many dirty looks, when dancing with men in other regions, Joseph had often been glared at.
“My darling thief, you’re much worse at your job than I had anticipated” The nobleman spoke out loud “Most thieves have a thought blocker on their team along with the trackers. Makes it so that people like me can’t hear your conversations” Joseph stiffened slightly, still dancing with the other man, “You knew? Can’t say I’m surprised.”, “Darling You’re surprised, we trackers don’t just read thoughts you know” he said with a slight smirk. “I’m not going to turn you in, I’ve heard much about you and uh... Wish to join you. I can prove myself. I swear.” The music began to get to the ‘second act’ so to speak, beginning to swell rather dramatically.
“So... what you’re telling me, is that you’ve known about our plan this entire time? And you’ve played your cards so that you’d get me to dance with you and offer to join me? You have some balls Mr. Nobleman”, “Please my dear thief, call me Alastair” the man spoke with a soft voice as he spun Joseph around, the thief tripping and being caught. It looked surprisingly graceful, a move known as ‘the dip’ by many, this one being accidental and almost resulting in Joseph falling onto the ground completely.
The two locked eyes for a moment, Joseph knowing that he shouldn’t like this, but being tempted by the allure of the nobleman. “You... haven’t quite persuaded me dear Alastair, you certainly don’t lack the strength to join us but I'm going to need a little more than that from you for ya to get a place with us.” , “Then let me prove myself, I’m sure I can be useful for you” A message came through into Josephs mind ‘In More ways than one’
And then, as if on cue, the doors to the ballroom burst open, a small party of about 8 masked individuals with crude firearms walked in. “My oh my dear thief, seems as though another group of bastards decided to join the party, I’m sure they’re not with my dear, mind helping?” he said as the music cut off and a large number of guests began to retreat to the back of the room. Alastair began to draw a symbol in the air, his fingers glowing a dark purple as he smirked, still gripping onto Joseph “Stay close to me, the spell will only continue to activate as long as you’re touching me, for you at least my dear” he said with a smirk, a bubble appearing around them, visible to only them it would seem.
“Those bastards cannot see us, I’ll keep this bubble around myself, how quickly do you think that you can get to the right side of those bastards?” Joseph chuckled slightly, pulling himself up straight, his arm wrapped around the others’ waist so that the bubble wouldn’t readjust to exclude him from the spell “Invisibility magic, that’s powerful stuff... I’m very intrigued now” Joseph said with a smirk “I can use a burst rune, that should get me to the others in about 2 seconds, if you get there quick enough, we can flank them, both take them on at once and have the element of surprise on our side.
Then a voice came within Joseph’s mind yet again ’Joe, the fuck are ya doin down there. Some sort of Nyenquake just happened or some shit like that, how ya faring?’ ,“I’m doin good, just got a couple of issues down here, once you’ve grabbed the gem, go. We will meet you at the camp with the others” Joseph then smiled to himself “Off we go Mr. nobleman, guess now is the perfect time to prove yourself”
They both smiled at each other, and after about a second. BOOM
Joseph was off, throwing himself through the air after drawing a rune with his hands on the ground, this time his fingers glowed a green-ish color, and the rune turned into a very small but powerful explosion of air, powerful enough for Alastair to use it to throw him in the correct direction too. Within a few seconds, they were both at the entrance, right behind the attackers. Joseph smirked, drawing another rune, his chuckle being heard before he was even properly seen “Ignite” he spoke, a flamethrower of massive proportions exploding out of his hand. Immediately 4 of the masked men were set alight, screaming.
Then Alastair appeared from the side of the others, uncloaking himself “aww how sweet their blood just ran cold the moment they saw us” he said with a chuckle, pulling out a dagger from its sheathe and slicing one of their throats clean open, Joseph watched, worried when one of the other masked men turned directly towards Alastair with his gun pointing directly at his face, the man quickly drew a rune , and as the masked person fired, the bullet seemed to hit something midair, reflecting right off of this new object of light and smacking the man directly in the forehead, blood beginning to slowly trickle down his face as he seemed to phase out of consciousness.. By the time he fell, Joseph and Alastair set their sights on the final two men, Joseph jumping towards one, his hand glowing once more, this time a white as he flicked his hand upwards, the other man being flung upwards with speed. He made impact with the ceiling before dropping, landing with a thud, still. Motionless.
Meanwhile, Alastair looked at the remaining man, imprinting one phrase within his mind, before also saying it out loud “Kill Yourself” He spoke with a strange intensity in his voice. And the masked figure seemed dazed, before pointing the gun at his own head and firing, brain-matter quickly hitting the floor, half of his face torn off in the aftermath of the blast. It was not a very pretty sight.
Alastair was breathing heavily “A couple of close calls there” he said with a small chuckle “Joseph... You’re an unborn, aren’t you? You used about 3 different types of magic during that fight. That’s how you’re so talented isn’t it?” the man asked with a curious grin. Not many people could say they had met an unborn, let alone fought alongside one
“Yes, I am unborn. All I know about how I became one is that my mother and father got into an accident when I was still in their care. I was part of that accident. Then I woke up in a hospital bed to find out my parents had died” He said with a small sigh “I can see that you’re rather bright, decent at combat and have a good look about ya. You don’t belong with the pompous pricks here Alastair, join me” Joseph spoke softly, offering out a hand to the other man with a warm smile. He felt the man take his hand, closed his eyes... And was back at the hill, 23 years later. Staring at the same castle he had just been in, completely abandoned and destroyed, an ominous aura about the place. This was it, he had to end it all that day.
Grab the key of the mists, kill the Gyrashi warriors and finally find peace with his family.
The long journey was almost at its end. He had to fulfill his promise
Part three- The Winter’s night
Joseph scratched his neck, rather nervous. It had been 18 years since he was last here. At the fall of everything. The place had kind of become a second home for him, since Alastair let the group plan in the dungeons of the keep when they were in the area. It was the HQ for that old group. Before the Gyrashi arrived that day. Slaughtered everything in sight. And Joseph was too weak, too cowardly to fulfill his promise there and then.
He grabbed the longsword from his back, imbuing it with magic. His reserves weren’t nearly as strong as they were many years ago since he was on his last life, but still. He had enough to take on an entire army. He’d just hoped that these gyrashi warriors were weaker than a standard army. Although he highly doubted they would be. “Ignite” he said, the blade of the magically imbued sword setting aflame.
In the distance, there were what appeared to be 7 tall, cloaked figures, standing in a line. two on the left holding tall staffs, two on the right holding mighty looking hammers, one glowing a frosty white and the other glowing a disgusting bright green. In the center of the line stood one seemingly holding nothing, and beside him, two more creatures holding long spears. The Gyrashi warriors. It was likely the one in the middle was their commander.
Joseph nervously touched his chest, grabbing hold of the small pendant he’d almost forgotten he had been wearing. It had practically become a part of him ‘I’m here with you Joseph. Remember to fight till the very end’ That voice... He hadn’t heard it in years. “Alastair... I-” Joseph sighed, his heart growing heavy with regret. He ignored that feeling the best he could, however. He took a deep breath and decided that now was the best time. He’d go in without a plan for them to counteract, then he may have a chance of winning.
The man charged, running towards the warriors, drawing a rune symbol over himself, his fingers glowing yellow “Staminus” He spoke out loud, feeling a rush of energy, his stamina levels rapidly regenerating even as he broke his usual running pace. He chose to pick them off one by one, headed towards the two wielding staffs first. The creatures screeched from across the battlefield. For some reason, the moment he was noticed, he saw white flakes start to fall from the sky. They started off slow, then began to rapidly descend, landing on the ground and sticking to it one by one.
As he got closer to the group, they began to split away from the line which they had formed. Joseph barely spotted the hammer flying towards him at great speeds until it was about to hit him, a flash of white light caused by it hitting him as he ducked under the hammer, the other one followed, to which he dodged to the right, it was an open battlefield, so he had plenty of space to dodge any flying objects. As the hammer flew past, green energy flew off it, hitting the skin on his left arm, beginning to burn a hole into it.
The man winced in pain, but continued anyway, running towards the creatures with staffs even faster ‘Fight through the pain’ he thought to himself ‘Fight through it and destroy those bastards. He drew another rune as he ran, this one over his sword and himself “Fortus” he said, the yellow energy that had gathered on his fingers “IF I FALL TODAY, SO WILL YOU GYRASHI BASTARDS” he screamed, the two with staffs ran towards him, white light emanating from their staffs. Telekinesis runes. He knew he had to find a way to combat that, and quickly. ‘Those bastards need to see me to be able to use telekinesis. So, if I-’ He smirked, he drew one more rune, hands glowing white as he focused on part of the wall off the abandoned keep, grabbing it using telekinesis and ripping it from the ground, it flung toward him and stopped about 5 feet away from him., he continued running towards the two figures.
Once he was about 15 feet from them, he flung the wall at the one casting telekinesis, it hit the creature head on, there was barely a sound of pain as it was crushed by a wall that was 7 feet of pure stone. One down. Easy enough.
The other staff wielding creature screeched, was that pain in its voice? Joseph didn’t have time to think. Before he felt a scorching pain. The other staff wielder had used some sort of flame attack. Literally the moment after he felt more pain, as some metal object smacked him in the back, he fell to the ground, his fortitude spell being the only thing keeping him conscious and relatively unharmed. He was briefly winded, but the moment he recovered he sprung back up and kicked the creature directly in the chest. The thing’s cloak flew off as it fell on the floor and scrambled back up, trying to smack him with the staff again.
This time he was anticipating it, blocking the staff with his arm, the creature followed through with another attack using the bottom half of the staff, which was once again blocked, this time by a sword being stuck in the ground with an unusually high amount of force. A shockwave was created, rippling through the ground, creating a circle drawn in the earth around him and the creature.
It had a completely pale face, few features to be seen aside from two enlarged human-like eyes, bits of a skeleton being seen under the pale skin and a gaping mouth full of extremely razor-sharp teeth. It had been here for so long that the features had shifted from that of a man to that of a ghastly monster, straight from the slumbering mists of purgatory. Not only that, but barbed wire was also wrapped around the creatures' body like a metal snake, with some of it being used to keep the things jaw open.
Joseph smiled sadly “You were human once, but now... you’ve been turned into this. I will kill you all, so at last your bodies and souls may rest in peace” The man said, with a new sense of determination “Ignite” He accentuated the word, a look of anger and resolve on his face. The circle around the two bursting into an inferno. “I will lay you all to rest, that I promise”
As the flames spread, they got higher and higher, creating a circular wall as the fire stopped spreading beyond the circle drawn into the earth. Joseph could feel the fire around him, burning. The move was often a last defense, it was basically suicide for those who weren’t unborn. But he had the powers gifted to him that could combat that, the defensive shield around his body somewhat helped quell the pain, the injuries he would’ve sustained being much less severe than they normally would have been.
And the flames began to morph, Joseph was standing in the middle of that great ballroom once more, the biggest difference being that this time it was in pandemonium. Complete chaos. “Joseph my dear” He turned to his right, seeing Alastair standing there. A large green portal behind him “You zoned out for a moment, are you feeling well?” he asked, “We must get out of here”, “Alastair! I’m sorry, I don’t know what came about me” he said. Two moments later, he felt himself being pulled into a kiss, confused as to what had just happened.
Then he noticed it, the spear went straight through the man, only stopping when he forcefully grabbed it using his right hand, the one that wasn’t resting on Joseph’s face. “Snap out of it, Joseph. Please”
He was forced out of his daydream when he felt himself being lifted in the air, the fire around him had quelled, and he noticed that there was a spear pushed straight through his back, protruding from his stomach. The defense spell was wearing off, so he started to feel... Numb. It was then followed by screaming, as the fire on the ground grew even stronger, completely incinerating the creature that had impaled him. He fell to the ground, standing up and ripping out the spear from his stomach, the dizziness beginning to hit.
He didn’t notice the hammer. And it his him straight in the back, sending him flying through what was left of the keep’s walls. And then flying into the castle itself.
He was back in that ballroom. Again. The day of the massacre. That portal directly in the center of the room, glowing an ominous dark green. A swirling mass of faces. Alastair came running through the doors to the right side of the ballroom “Joseph! Evacuations have been completed, what are we dealing with?” the man asked, Joseph looked shocked “I- Don’t know. I’ve never seen this before Al- I... I’m scared” he said, a tear streaming down his face. He hadn’t seen anything like this before ‘Calm down now, my dear. You will be fine. We will be fine. Just stay here’ That voice came into his mind, calming him “Al, what’s wrong with this. I’ve never experienced dread or fear of this scale before. It- I do not wish to know what is about to emerge from that portal”
“Hush now dear, we will face it together, whatever it is.” He was gripping his dagger in his right hand. Even he was being affected by this dread. Then the first hooded figure crawled out of the portal, followed by the second and third. And that other creature, an armor-clad monstrosity. That creature seemed to be literal living armor, a large metal grin on its face “My children, feast. This will be your first blood. Go forth and kill whatever you see” it waved an arm and blew the wall of the ballroom open, the cloaked creatures running out past the two of them. Alastair looked terrified “The Gyrashi... no not them” He spoke in a hushed whisper, but still rushed towards the leader, determination on his face.
The creature let out a deep chuckle, as Al rushed towards it. He imbued his dagger with some sort of green energy. “Poshitina” he whispered, the dagger taking on a different form, one that looked a lot brighter, as if a child had made it using crayons. As the man rushed towards the creature he felt a sharp sting, as it ran towards him, stabbing him with a long metal tail and grabbing him by the throat, he felt something being pumped into him, and slowly began to lose consciousness “You think that a little man such as yourself can defeat me? You are a fool, not even a powerful unborn can destroy me, puny fool” Al then chuckled, he was in immense amounts of pain, but that didn’t stop him from fighting back “Idiot, I don’t Need to go ahead and destroy you. I merely need to banish you. Have fun being trapped for all eternity, and don’t worry about your creatures. They’ll be dealt with eventually.” he said with a massive smirk, dropping the dagger, the moment it touched the armor, the creature screamed in agony and vanished into the portal once more. It closed directly behind the creature
Alastair fell to the floor, unable to get up. “Joseph darling, please. Come here.” he said with a sad smile. As if on command, Joseph snapped out of whatever trance he was in before, the fear fading slightly “I’m sorry, the moment I saw what they were... I couldn’t let you get yourself killed.” He said with a sad sigh, the moment Joseph got over to Al, the injured man forced himself off the ground, looking deathly pale, he leant on Joseph, cupping the man’s cheek with his right hand, coughing slightly into his left hand, the result of which was a hand with blood that had a hint of green liquid.
“Darling, I love you. I really do. But you must promise me something” Joseph knew what was up immediately, a small tear dropping down his cheek “Al, PLEASE... Don’t leave me, not like this” he said, begging the other man to stay with him “Joseph my dear, promise me to avenge me, come back here. Grab the key out of this land from my chest and avenge me by slaughtering the remaining Gyrashi warriors. I love you” he said, pulling the other in for one last kiss, handing him a key and going limp.
“Al... I- Al... I promise I will avenge you, and no matter what. Those bastards will pay. I love you” he said, turning to leave the body there. “Ignite” he spoke setting the ballroom on fire.
“I promise”
Part 4- A promise Fulfilled
‘You promised him Joseph. You promised. Wake Up!’ The man opened his eyes, the stench of his own blood in his nostrils. Looming above him were 3 figures, cloaked figures. “You... You Bastards!” he whispered, lungs burning as he felt the pain of every wound he had endured during the prior battle. “You’re dead. End of story!” the man clenched his fists. Despite every part of his body wanting to shut down, begging for death, he began to move, mustering the strength to draw another rune “This.... Is my last... My last battle”
He was still in constant pain as he stood up, he knew the move he was about to pull off would seal his death, but he didn’t care. “Distatum... Ultimatus” he spoke, a large smirk plastered on his face, his hands both glowing a bright golden color. The wounds on his body Began to close up, very quickly sealing themselves. “Only got about 5 minutes of this, but here we go. That’ll be more than enough”
“YOU BASTARDS WILL PAY! AND I WILL GET BACK TO MY WIFE AND CHILD... So that even if I die... They can fulfill our dream and have a bright future” He didn’t know where the sword he carried had gone, it seemed to fly out of his hand after he was flung into the castle.
“You Will Die Today, and our master will rise once more. Your friend was the one who had power... Not you” One of the creatures spoke, a distorted, hoarse voice. Like that of a dying creature.
Joseph just chuckled, looking at the remaining creature with a spear, running towards it at inhuman speeds. He ripped the spear from its hands, his eyes glowing the same gold as his hands. He then jumped over the creature, impaling it from behind, lifting it up in the air and throwing it through the castle wall, then running so fast he could catch it as it flew through the air, slamming the creature on the ground then stomping on its head, a mix of green and red blood now all over his shoe.
The creatures then tried the same trick once more, throwing a hammer at the man, he threw the spear in the opposite direction and turned around quickly, grabbing the hammer in the air, the resistance being extremely high. “My dears, you should know by now... That I cannot be fooled twice” He then smirked once more, grabbing the handle of the hammer and then ran towards the now hammerless creature, as he did, the other creature threw the acid hammer directly at his face, to which he ducked and it passed right over his head, a bit of the acid hitting him before he reached the first creature.
His hands were freezing yet boiling hot at the same time, each time the ice tried to set over his hands it would just thaw away. This was true power, the true ability of the unborn. ‘Last stand’ or ‘last push’ dependent on who’s asked. He smacked the creature with the hammer he was holding, the acid hammer this time circling back towards him, which earned another prompt dodge.
He chuckled once more, then smacking the other creature, which was followed by another arc of the hammer that was promptly dodged. Then once both creatures were on the floor, he drew another rune in the air “Goodbye, foul beasts” he said with another chuckle, this one much darker than the last. “Ignite” he said, both creatures being hit by a flamethrower of epic proportions.
The Acid hammer began to arc back, so he threw the frost hammer that was still in his hand at the other hammer, both clashing, causing a shockwave in the air as they both shattered, ice and acid exploding from the respective hammers. Joseph was in the impact radius. But still, he healed. That was when he started feeling the effects of his spell begin to wear off.
He looked around the room once more, it was that ballroom...one minute there was nothing, and the next there was a figure he recognized standing in the center of it “Hey Joseph, congrats on winning. Sorry I couldn’t help you much” came that voice in his head from earlier.
In a second Joseph found himself running towards the figure, bringing the man into a big hug...
And then he felt the knife.
He looked at the actual face of the man he had just started to hug. It was him... But it wasn’t at the same time. His friend, his first love... turned into a creature brought back from death to serve a great evil “I’m sorry... There’s something controlling my body. I cannot help this, at all... please, just end my suffering dear. Let me rest at last, the pain... The suffering. It’s too much to bear, seeing my own body piloted by the bastard that killed me. Just end it, Joseph. I beg you”
A tear slid down Joseph’s face, stepping back slightly, mouth agape, staring at the dagger now sticking out of his chest. “I... damn it. I thought I may have escaped the curse of that spell, tempted fate and won once again” The man said with a saddened sigh. “But of course... my own judgement failed me. The hope of seeing you again took over and I- I became an idiot” he said, scowling slightly, feeling a sort of hatred that he had never felt before.
His old friend just smirked “Darling, you should’ve known that you’d be a failure in the end, couldn’t even see your wife one last time before the end” he said, mocking Joseph. ‘Jo, please. That’s not me. THAT IS NOT ME’ the voice was back, was it just in his head?
The man gasped slightly, his heart shattering into a billion pieces the moment he heard his old friend’s words. They cut deep, deeper than any knife wound. He fell onto his knees, defeated “See? Can't even be bothered to kill someone who just stabbed him. The poor little man just gave up. Just like that?” Alastair smirked maniacally, kicking Joseph right in the face.
That was followed by a punch, then another kick. Then another punch. A kick and a punch and a kick and-
Silence
Nothing but the sobs of a broken man filled the air in that moment. The anguished cries of a dying man, beaten by someone he called a friend, his first true love. He just closed his eyes, ready to accept his fate “I’m sorry, Al-” He whispered quietly through his sobs and in between his beating “I c- I couldn’t save you in the end.” He spoke, utterly destroyed. Defeated.
‘Jo, you’re a lovable dumbass, really. But that ISN’T ME. FIGHT! I'LL TRY TO TAKE CONTROL BUT I CAN ONLY DO IT FOR A MERE SECOND.” the voice had returned once more “Just. Fight. Back.” The voice begged the man.
Joseph slowly began to stand up, the creature inhabiting his friend “And now he stands up? After I just beat the shit into you... You stand up? God you’re dumber than I thought”, “Sorry, old friend. Didn't realize that wasn’t you to begin with...” Joseph said, pulling out the knife from his chest “But now I know the truth, you’re not the Al I once knew, merely some pathetic excuse of a creature inhabiting his corpse like a puppet. And that really pisses me off, he should be in the afterlife by now, with the other great heroes who died fighting evils such as you and your master. I quite frankly couldn’t give a shit if he comes back, because he’ll be killed for sure. One day, he’ll die by the hands of a great hero like Al, and I hope the bastard shits himself as he has flashbacks to the night he was banished before his death” The creature grinned, bursting out laughing.
“AND WHAT’RE YOU GONNA DO, HUH? KILL ME? I'LL JUST COME BACK. YOUR FRIEND IS NO MORE, THANKS TO ME!! HE DIDN’T JUST DIE THAT NIGHT; I WAS REBORN WITHIN HIS CORPSE. I’M NOT AT MY FULL POWER, NO BUT YOU CANNOT-” As the creature stood there ranting, Joseph continued to shamble towards him, until for just a second the creature stopped, and Joseph lunged towards it, plunging the dagger in his hand into his old friend's chest.
“Thank you, Joseph dear. I’m proud. And I am sure your wife will be too” he said, pulling a small orb out of his jacket pocket. An orb with a key inside, whisps of mist swirling inside. “Take the key to her, give Emily and your daughter a way to get out.” He said with a small smile followed by a chuckle, before falling into Joseph’s arms “Give me a proper burial my dear. See you soon.”
And with that, the man went limp once more. Joseph could barely breathe, the beating gave him several cracked ribs, and by the feel of it... A punctured lung. He pointed at the doorway and opened a blue portal, Alastair in his arms, shuffling through the room to get through the portal. When he walked through it, he immediately collapsed onto the cold grass, he was at a clearing, another campfire set up, as the sun began to slowly rise.
He felt someone grab him, Alastair’s corpse falling next to him “Joseph... My love, what- what happened.”
Joseph struggled to breathe, let alone talk. “Emily... I got it, I... Got... The key” The woman started to panic, tears streaming down her cheeks, as her husband smiled “Hush now... I knew... The risks-” He could feel the blood pouring into his lungs as his body broke down, coughing up some of the crimson liquid onto the ground.
“I love you... Just as I loved... him.” he said, weakly pointing at the other corpse, his eyes fluttering as he faded in and out of consciousness. “Give us a proper burial my love” he said weakly, feeling himself start to slip.
“Fulfill... Our dre-” and with that he slipped away. Feeling nothing but seeing the images of his wife and ex-husband. Watching his life unfold before him once more. Emily sat there in the snow, the man she loved lying in her lap, a mere corpse. She broke down over him, tears streaming down her face.
she had a sad smile, hugging the dead man, afraid to let go and fully lose him.
“I will fulfill our dreams, my love.”
End:
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