[IC] The Five Senses

[HokumPocus]

---

With the heart's destruction came a faint trace of hope, and what to Octavio was a misstep in their opponent's game. The seed's roar was an admission of weakness, a sign that, no matter how viscerally repulsive and fantastical, it was a thing that could die. He'd wanted to joke about it, and he was sure he would've, had he not still been surrounded by danger and supernatural bodily fluids.

Soldiers. Tw- Air! Air!

Another limitation of their new code, he discovered. It didn't account for situations in which points of interest were no longer on the same altitude as Octavio and were in fact being dragged by tendrils. He intervened late, through a single soldier and multiple robotic, tactical hacks. Octavio didn't even have time to curse at himself before the next threat came into view.

He couldn't affect the battlefield in the same spread out way a heat construct or a wall of ice could, so he emphasized the opposite. Illusions that targeted tendrils individually, the less conspicuous ones that could have gone undetected. It had been easier thought than done, as many tried to strike Octavio. He weaved and rolled out of harm's way, albeit slower, bogged by the multitasking. A larger tendril scrabbled across his shoulder bone and nearly found purchase, before his dagger could put a stop to it. Two smaller ones darted for his shins and missed by inches.

Sidestepping a third tendril, he silently agreed with Karina. His own personal efforts to deal with the tentacles would be nothing but ineffective pruning over the long-term. They all needed to be more aggressive.

"I could perhaps try something riskier. Having many illusions rush towards different hearts, something to spread this digusting creature's attention around." He wiped a brow and hoped that what had oozed off was mostly from his own body.

[Pezzle]

Plot Point

---

”Do it!” Chres yelled to Octavio as he dashed behind the ice wall.

Octavio's illusions suddenly redirected their attention to the hearts. Together they made a mad dash for the Seed.

Chres frowned. The Seed didn't seem to be reacting to the Illusions. Instead it thrashed about. Smashing one of its larger tendrils through the ice wall and then attacking with several smaller tendrils.

Chres ducked for cover. Senses! Why wasn't the Illusions distracting the Seed?

Suddenly it hit Chres. The Seed was using the Insight! That meant it probably couldn't see the Illusions! They could use this! Perhaps take out all the hearts at onc-

The Seed roared in anger. Chres' realization had come too late.

The cloud of debris had finally settled, revealing that the closest of Octavio's illusions had already made it past the Seeds defenses and ripped out another heart. The seed was now aware of the presence of illusions.

Chres had seen it before with the Sightless. Once they became aware of the presence of illusions, they would target the illusions relentlessly. And in that moment so did the Seed.

---

The Seed's tendrils recoiled backwards after losing its second heart. Frantically it search for the cause yet it found nothing. Nothing but blank spaces in the Insight. Illusions.

All at once the tendrils came smashing down on all the Illusions rushing its main body and blinked them out of existence.

More! There were more illusions! Three more illusions. Familiars..

---

The world around Octavio appeared to freeze. The only sound, an echoing slow clap.

"Bravo! Bravo!" Said a voice belonging to The Being of Many Names. "Two down and a hell of a lot more to go!"

The Being materialized before Octavio, sitting comfortably atop of Chres' back. The Being got to his feet and smiled coyly at Octavio.

"Have to say I'm impressed. Working with others? So unlike you after Olivia...

The Being looked to the frozen Lynx. "Though that one was the odd exception, wasn't it?"

The Being looked back to Octavio with a knowing smile. "Be glad it still has eight lives left."

With a snap, the Being vanished. Time rushed back in on itself.

---

The largest of the Seed's tendrils, came down in a rush. Smashing a poor Lynx, caught unaware.

"K-K-KILL... K-K-KILL..." The seed roared.

"LYNX!" Sil screamed in horror. Without thinking, she sped towards the 'injured' Lynx

Chres cursed. ”Sil! Wait! Don't!”

Getting off his hands and knees, Chres made a mad dash for Sil. The Seed was targeting the Illusions. That included Sil and the rest of the familiars!

A stray tendril whipped out of nowhere and slapped Sil from the air. She collided into a wall next to Lynx. The large tendril lifted itself back up into the air, ready for another strike. A strike that would crush both Lynx and Sil.

”Damn it!” Chres yelled. As he dove and throw up a construct at the last minute.

The tendril came smashing down. The force cracking Chres' construct.

A whimpering Sil slowly crawled towards Lynx. It looked as if she was in pain... but... wasn't Sil not able to feel 'pain'?

"L-lynx..." Sil whispered. "P-please... don't be dead..." Were those 'tears' in Sil's eyes?

Chres had no time to ponder the unusual behavior of his familiar. The large tendril was coming in for another attack.

”Damn it all!” Chres yelled. He took down his cracked construct and Compressed the retrieved energy into an unstable orb of energy.

As the tendril slammed downwards, Chres threw the ball of energy with all his might at the tendril. It connected in an explosion, ripping the tendril in two and saving them from its follow up attack.

Chres was now dangerously low on stored body heat.

They had to do something about these tendrils if they ever hoped to get another attack in.

Salt the stump.

Chres' hand went to the pouch of salt at his side, as he recalled The Being's words.

I ended up fighting the same sightless we fought again. Jen had said in the tunnels. Her healing ability got interrupted wherever the salt got into the wounds.

An idea came to Chres. He dashed towards the seed, pouch of salt in hand.

C-chres... Sil said in his mind. W-what... What are you doing?

Heroism at best. Suicide at worst. Chres replied. A tendril caught him by the waist and lifted him off the ground.

C-chres... don't...

The tendril pulled Chres towards the center, where its bloated stomach pulsated.

Too late. Chres thought, as he threw the pouch of salt into the stomach.

Nothing happened at first, but then-

The tendrils stopped moving and almost seemed to shutter. The Seed suddenly let out a guttural wail echoing throughout the chamber.

Chres found himself falling to the ground and landing awkwardly on his knee. He heard a crack.

Crying out in pain, it took all the will power Chres had to force himself to his feet.

With a limp, Chres made his way to the enlarged skull that had once belonged to Lord O'Kal. Deep inside that skull, another of the Seed's hearts beat rhythmically.

Chres placed his hands in the slightly a opened O'Kal jaw. With all his might he tried to force open the mouth of the skull to expose the Seed's heart within. It wouldn't open with his strength alone.

The Seed's tendrils began to move slightly, shuttering here and there. It appeared to be recovering from the salt. They needed to act soon.

”A little help!” Chres called to the pactmakers behind him.

[Fetzen]

Týfurkh

Týfurkh, whose armor had been damaged and breathing impaired by the seed, had sought shelter behind what looked like bookshelf long abandoned. An eerily familiar situation behind a barrier that looked even less sturdy then the one he had used in his first encounter with a sightless, but this time with rotten tomes added to the mix! However, the roar of the seed after two more of its ugly hearts had been forced to stop beating caught his attention and so he dared to stop hiding. The giant rose like a phoenix from the ashes -- or in his case rather trash -- and pulled a not so slight cloud of stench behind him. Unfortunatenly though he perfectly knew that things such as 'suffocation' did probably not exist in the seed's wicked existence.

Pain however seemed to do, and it was fairly obvious that right now that was pretty intense factor for the seed to consider. He had not seen how Chres' had thrown some salt, but the way the tentacles now lumbered around rather aim- and helplessly was such a stark contrast to the highly aggressive, vicious demeanor they had shown off previously, that the opportunity was fairly obvious. And then there was Chres' call for help.

Quite a lot more sluggishly than the other pactmakers might have become used to with regard to someone whose sheer size deprived him of a lot of agility even in peak condition, Týfurkh approached the mess of flesh, debris and tendrils in the cellar's center. His breathing was painful, but his arms still worked fine. Týfurkh dug his hands into the skull's mouth and leaned backwards to amplify his pull by means of his weight. "Rip that abomination into pieces once you get at it!" he groaned.

[Jerkchicken]

Jen kept fighting off whatever tentacles came to the group. But as for the way the forward, that was beyond him momentarily. It was true that they couldn't hold off forever, at least not without that has yet to reveal itself. One needn't be too impatient as an opportunity could reveal itself, but it was definitely hard with all the damn flailing from The Seed. Octavio would announce his plan and Jen could really do is watch and see what's next. The tentacles' flailing seemingly ignored them until it didn't. It seemed the illusions weren't so immaterial after all and soon The Seed's focus changed with a scream. The constructs would be targeted which eased some of the pressure.

However, it was Chres' throwing of the salt which would allow them the real opportunity to strike back. Týfurkh and Chres would rush the Lord's skull and force it open revealing yet another heart. Both would be telling everyone else to come attack the weakspot. "Alright then." Jen would say as he eyed the monstrosity. He took a deep breath as he focused on applying salt himself yet again on the end of the staff. He was aware that time was of the essence, but he was acting on a hunch that perhaps another blow with salt to the seed might keep it weakened for a little bit longer.

Jen would hold the staff like a spear. The spit and salt crusted end would be its ignoble spearhead. Jen rushed forward to the skull and would deftly stab at the seed. The force behind the stab was sufficient that any resistance the heart's flesh had against the blunt end was fleeting. Jen felt the staff piercing through the heart and when it was sufficiently skewered, he'd rip the heart out. Which would produce the most disgusting anticucho.

[Pezzle]

Plot Point

---

The Seed shuddered when Jen's stick impaled the heart. The flesh around it turned brown an shriveled releasing a brown gas from the wound. For a moment, it seemed the seed appeared be fighting back against the corruption from the salt. Black shoots shot from the shriveled flesh. Coating it. Attempting to heal it. But then, when Jen ripped the heart out, the healing stopped and the entire heart quickly shriveled up.

---

Time around Jen came to a sudden halt. A hand fell upon his right shoulder.

The Being spoke in Jen's ear. "Oh my! Look at you go! Scoring points with the allies before the treasonous act you must commit."

With a snap, The Being disappeared and reappeared in front of Jen. He hovered in the air in a sitting position. "Traitor to her, or traitor to him. Quite the dilemma you find yourself in."

The Being vanished. Time rushed back in on itself.

---

Most of the Seed's tendrils stopped shuddering and almost seemed to calm. All except for the part of the Seed that once belonged to Nieffar. It seemed to whimper and shake. The Nieffar's tendrils curled up around the main body, covering up the two hearts located there. Was it protecting those hearts, or something else?

Chres frowned and limp backwards. He was beyond exhausted. Yet despite his tire, he fought to focus.

Of the three hearts left, The last one belonging to lord O'Kal was the only one currently exposed. The only question was how would they get to it? They were all beaten and bruised up. And Chres doubted that the Seed would let it's them get close enough to toss more salt into its stomach.

The seed waved it tendrils hesitantly in the air. It seemed cautious now. Perhaps afraid? It released guttural growl that made its bloated stomach contract and visibly rumble. The intestines and innards, connecting the stomach, began move. Slowly hoisting the stomach upwards as if on a pedestal.

Chres cautiously limped backwards. Each step pure agony.

The stomach, shaped like the bud of a flower nearly in bloom, turned its tip towards the pactmakers and spat. Acid spewed from the stomach towards Chres, Týfurkh and Jen. The first bit grazed Jen in the right shoulder. A second shot hit a limping Chres off the side of his bad leg.

Chres screamed. Once again falling to the ground.

The seed saw its opening and took it. All of O'Kal's tendrils shot towards the fallen Chres. Quickly, Chres threw up a wall. The last bit of his stored body heat used up in that moment.

The seed roared and began to wrap its tendrils around Chres's barrier.

He would likely die here. That much, he had accepted. But at the very least, they could take advantage of this moment. With Nieffar in his curled up, shivering state and O'Kal's tendrils focused on Chres, that left the last of O'Kal's hearts undefended. Ripe for being picked off by an icy blade.

”Karina!” Chres cried. ”Take the shot!”

[13org]

Karina Frost

---

It was getting harder and harder for Karina to keep on fighting. Even if she tried to conserve her stamina, the extended usage of ice magic was already starting to take it's toll on her. Besides, she knew very well that one small mistake would be all the seed needed to take her out. Not only that but the seed didn't seem to grow tired as well. When Octavio mentioned his idea of using his illusions in a more aggressive manner, Karina immediately agreed with him, almost at the same time Chres shouted for him to do it.

With that said, Octavio's plan had an... unexpected result. Luckily, not a bad one.

Karina was able to hear the seed's roar before she understood what had happened. Apparently, the seed didn't seem to care, or even react to the illusions, but that also made it relatively easy for the illusions to pass through the seed's defenses and rip out another heart. Confused and in panic after having one of it's hearts ripped out by something which it couldn't see, the seed began trashing around, smashing it's tendrils everywhere, almost hitting Karina in the process.

"Dammit! This thing doesn't get tired!" she cursed, as she gave a big jump backwards, almost losing her balance as she tried her hardest to avoid the tendrils, which were now trashing around the seed in a seemingly random manner.

Just as Karina thought that they had finally started making some progress, things went from bad to worse in a really short time. After being wounded by the illusions, the seed was now aware of them, as it became evident as it slammed down it's tendrils, quickly eliminating some of Octavio's illusions. If that was all, there wouldn't be many problems, but the worst part was that it also targeting the familiars.

Lynx was the first one the seed went after, striking it with a mighty attack. Lynn, worried about Lynx, immediately tried to help him, unaware that the seed was preparing another attack.

"WHAT IS GOING ON!? Why is this thing attacking us all of sudden?! I thought it wasn't able to see us!!" Akai shouted alarmed as one tendril suddenly tried to pierce her, followed by many others, trying to attack her.

Akai, whom was previously only warning Karina and the others about incoming attacks and avoiding attacking the creature herself, afraid it might draw it's attention, was now forced to run, dodge and fly to avoid the tendrils as she headed towards Lynx and Sil, trying to help them.

"Akai, get Sil and Lynx, try taking them somewhere safe! I'll try to cover you with Chres!" Karina said, just as Chres blocked another attack as the seed continued trying to take Sil and Lynx out.

"What's with this stupid thing?! How can we even fight against it if it regenerates, doesn't get tired and has like... at least 50 more 'hands' than we do?!" Akai complained as she jumped one of the smaller tentacles, which tried to trip her, using the momentum to slash it with her claws. Even though she knew it would regenerate soon after, it would buy her some time as she tried dragging Lynx's unconscious body and Sil away from the seed.

"Sil! Keep talking, don't close your eyes! Lynx, Lynx! Wake up!!" Akai shouted, shaking Sil and Lynx as she dragged, with some difficulty, both of them as far away from the seed as she possibly could.

In the middle of deflecting and fighting against the tendrils, Karina turned towards Chres, about to ask if he was okay, knowing that he would probably be in a worse state than she was, since he used his tempraisionism more than she had.

The moment she located Chres, she only had time to watch his back as he dashed towards the seed.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOI-" Karina shouted, nervous as she watched Chres being caught by one of the tendrils. In her mind, she was already foreseeing the worst outcome. Chres being pierced by a dozen tendrils or having his bones crushed, slammed into the ground by one of the larger ones. The only thing that she didn't expect was that Chres had a plan... and one that, despite how reckless it was, had a very good chance of succeeding.

The very moment the tendril lifted Chres into the air, Karina was able to see him throwing a little pouch at the seed's mouth... The very same pouch of salt that they were given before the fight. Fortunately, Chres' gamble paid off. The salt seemed to have a very strong effect on the seed, which immediately roared, throwing Chres into the ground as it became vulnerable. Vulnerable enough for Chres, despite being heavily wounded due to his previous gamble, approach it enough to get face to face with what once was Lord O'Kal's skull, trying to pry open it's jaw to get to the heart inside it, followed by Týfurkh, who came soon after to help Chres.

Thanks to the coordinated effort of Chres and Týfurkh in opening the skull, Jen had a clear line of sight towards the heart and immediately dashed towards the Seed, holding his staff almost as a spear and using it to pierce the heart with no difficulty, ripping it out of the seed's body afterwards in a brutal and gruesome way.

Karina, who was almost being overwhelmed by the tentacles, suddenly saw them go limp and drop to the ground the very moment Jen's staff pierced one of the remaining hearts, much to her relief. The only tendrils that remained, now seemed to be much more careful of the pactmakers than before and were acting in a much more defensive way as they curled around what was once Nieffar's body, protecting the last hearts it had.

As a last effort to protect the remaining hearts, the seed roared once again, making it's innards contort and twist, bloating it's stomach as it did so and using the intestines to hoist up in the air. Karina watched, alarmed as the stomach suddenly turned it's tip towards them and spat a foul, acid looking liquid. Karina had no time to react before the liquid splashed, hitting Chres' leg and Jen's right shoulder. Chres' screams of pain were enough of a warning to Karina. One clean hit of that acid would probably put them out of combat for good, if not simply kill them.

Unfortunately, due to Chres having already been wounded and now, screaming due to the acid, the seed saw him as the perfect target and took the chance to finish him off for good. Focusing all it's tendrils on Chres, it tried to pierce him, only to be stopped by Chres' heat construct. Definitely the last bit of heat he had with him, judging by it's appearance and how frail it looked compared to the previous ones. Karina knew it wouldn't last forever. She knew that if she didn't do something fast, Chres would die and the chance he bought for them after paying an enormous cost, would be wasted.

With no time to think or ponder, immediately as she heard Chres' shouts for her to take the shot, Karina, which was already extremely exhausted, both physically and with her bodily temperature already dangerously low, gathered the last bits of her energy, making the two remaining blades of ice merge into a single ice spear and shooting it towards the heart with a frightening speed.

"IT'S NOT YOUR TIME YET, CHRES!" Karina shouted as the ice spear flew towards the seed.

If that attack failed, it would be their end. Karina's lips were already blue, her bodily temperature was so low that it was nearing hypothermia and her muscles ached and burned due to exhaustion. All she could do now was hope that their last gamble succeeded.

[Pezzle]

Plot Point

---

"Chres!" Sil cried out weakly as Akai took her away to safety. "No… What are you doing?”

What was this pain? This worry?

"We… we can’t leave them…. We can’t leave him…"

Her mind felt clear again. Why now? Why here?

The cries of battle began to fade as Akai took her further away.

”No…" She whimpered. With every step away from battle she could feel her mind dulling. "don’t…"

I’m broken. she realized as the clearity began to leave her. Her mind… It had always been broken…

---

The tendrils reaching for Chres hesitated as a giant icy blade began to form. Intentional or not, Karina had kept the extent of her abilities hidden during most of this fight. Her ability to attack from afar caught the Seed off guard.

The icy blade shot through the air. The Seed panicked and redirected its tendrils away from Chres and towards the incoming attack. But it was too late. The blade flew true. It hit its target and ripped the last of O’Kal’s hearts out from its home.

---

Time stopped for Karina. A towering shadow fell upon her in the form of General Frost.

“You can’t escape it.” Said a voice behind Karina. A voice belonging to the Being. “You can’t escape him.”

“No matter where you go. No matter what you achieve. The weight of his name will follow, and the ‘respect’ given will never really be your own.”

The shadow of General Frost faded.

“One must not chase mirages, my friend.” The Being said, smiling coyly. “They have this nasty habit of disappearing when you get too close.”

The Being vanished. Time rushed in on itself.

---

The seed screamed. It slammed its tendrils on the ground as if throwing a fit.

Two hearts left. The last two hearts were the ones connected to the mass that used to be Nieffar. Chres held his breath. Hoping beyond hope that at the very least the loss of O’Kal’s four hearts would impact the O’Kal part of the seed in some way beneficial to the Pactmakers.

He waited. Ten seconds. Twenty seconds. Thirty. Nothing happened. The Seed continued to throw its fit.

Chres cursed. Their gamble to focus on only one half of the Seed appeared to have not paid off. It had become clear that they would indeed need to rip out the final two hearts.

The Seed screamed. Nieffar’s tendrils, still shivering, uncoiled themselves cautiously. They almost appeared unhealthy. Perhaps a little brown... and… cracked?

Chres cocked his head.

"C-C-C-CAN’T L-L-L-L-LOOSE… C-C-C-CAN’T-T-T-T-T”

O’Kal’s tendrils sharpened. The action making Chres tense up. He’d managed to get himself into a sitting position but struggled to get back on his feet. However, instead of launching the tendrils at him, the tendrils instead shot into the earth.

Chres cursed. He had seen Sightless attack like this before, launching tendrils from the earth beneath their feet in a surprise attack. A Sightless was one thing, but for a creature with several of individually moving tendrils to do the same?!

”Run!” Chres cried out to the others, but it was too late.

What seemed like hundreds of tendrils shot out from beneath the earth, individually surrounding each of the soldiers and Pactmakers. Caught in the Seed’s trap, their attempts to escape were fruitless. Within seconds the each Pactmaker and soldier became coiled and bound by one or more tendrils.

The tendrils coiled around each of the Pactmaker’s chest and tightened. The pressure making it difficult to breathe.

Damn it. Chres thought. We were so close to winning. So close to ending this nightmare.

Chres felt one of his ribs give in with a snap. He open his mouth to roar out in pain. Though with no air left in his lungs, nothing came out.

“CAN’T L-L-LOOSE!” The Seed repeated. “C-C-CAN’T!”

Chres tried to cry out. His lungs screaming for air.

“S-S-SEE ALL. L-L-L-LOST FROM START.”

So this was how Chres would die. Never knowing if he deserved it?!

The air seemed stiffen. As if time had stopped. A familiar sensation, but this time, Chres, his fellow Pactmakers and the Seed still moved.

“Lost yes.” Said a coy voice from the shadows. “Though not for them.”

The strange sensation stopped. Time seeming to rush back in on itself.

The seed seemed to hesitate. Its grip on the pactmakers loosening. Time stopped.

“Nieffar, oh Nieffar. Proud and Pompous to a fault.” Said The Being, emerging from the shadows. “His vision short-sighted, as were his ambitions.”

The Being vanished. Time rushing back without him.

The Seed roared and lashed out at where the Being had been. Yet again time stopped.

The Being appeared in a different location. This time leaning casually against the base of the Seed.

“This fight is lost but not for them. For you see, what is this? Is that rot I detect?”

The Being casually nodded to the Seed’s base, where what used to be the hips dug into the ground.

Time returned in a rush. The Being, gone from sight. The tendrils’ grip loosened further, enough for the Pactmakers to breathe again.

Chres gasped for air and then turned to look at the Seed’s stem. And there he saw it. The brown coloring he had seen before was a rot growing from Nieffar’s roots. It cracked the wood-like outer layer of the seed. It grew up along the base, seeming to attack the part of the seed that had been Sightless Nieffar.

Nieffar’s tendrils shivered further, turning browner in color as rot grew further. Suddenly, the stem cracked.

Time froze. The Being returned. This time sitting atop one of the Seed’s tendrils.

“The town you rooted in; it rejects you.”

Time returned. The Being, gone. Another crack from the Seed’s rotting stem. Time stopped.

“Your connection to this place? Tenuous at best. And so, the land; it rejects you.”

Time returned. Two more cracks. The tendrils gave way, releasing the Pactmakers. Again time stopped.

“You lost this fight from the start. Your decision to delve into the Insight’s depths; Let’s just say it was a miss of the dart.”

Time returned. The Seed bellowed out. The rot spreading up Nieffar’s mutated spine. Ten cracks followed. Time stopped.

“The Insight used you, and like the fool you are, you dove into its depths. Now, with ties to this land so weak… your very roots themselves; they reject you.”

Time returned. Nieffar’s spine snapped. Splitting the once Sightless away from the remainder of the Seed. Time stopped.

“Farewell Nieffar, fool of a Sightless. If you wish to toss blame, by all means, go blame yourself. Your cause was lost, though only to your arrogance.”

Time returned. The Being vanished.

“Its gone…” The thing that had been Nieffar whimpered weakly as it died. “I could see… everything… and now… its gone…”

The remainder of the Seed slouched. Its last remaining hearts, having belonged to Nieffar, now gone.

“We… did it?” Chres breathed in disbelief. He struggled to comprehend everything that had happened.

Suddenly the Seed, that had been O’Kal, twitched. The Seed… the place where the hearts had been… they appeared to be healing.

Chres cursed. The Seed could heal its hearts?!

Cut off the stem. Salt the stump. The Being had said.

He struggled to his feet only to collapse. Damn it! They had to stop it before the fight started all over again!

A shadow emerged, dropping down from where the stairs, leading out of Lord O’Kal’s cellar, had been. The figure rushed in swiftly towards the seed and pulled out a blade. In a rush he raised his blade and swung with all his might. The place where O’Kal’s spine connected to his hips was now severed.

The man reached into a pouch at his side. He grabbed a handful of salt and tossed it on to the stump.

The world around them pulsed. Slowly the unnatural darkness began to recede. The pactmakers shadows shifted. No longer did they stretch towards the light coming from the dropped crystal jade candle. Instead, they retreated away from the light. Acting as shadows should.

The Distortion was gone. Chres blinked. He recognized their savior.

”Ferris?” Chres said hesitantly.

A brown gas released from the stump and the corpse of the O’Kal seed. The gas caused Chres’ attention to shift away from Ferris. The stump and the corpse’s color shifted to a color darker than black. It almost appeared to suck in the light around it. Almost like-

”Shadow metal…” Chres breathed. His eyes widened in realization.

Time froze. A slow clap broke through the silence.

“My, oh my.” The Being said, sounding amused. He sat in midair. Hovering above the rotting stump of The Seed. “You folks sure know how to put on a show.”

[Fetzen]

Týfurkh

"Says the right one..."

Týfurkh's voice was a tad more cold than had been the norm for the giant man so far. It was not entirely intentional however for the fight, the lingering feeling to suffocate that had started with the deep dent in his chestplate and ended in a real struggle for life and death entangled in too many tendrils to count, and last but not least the sight of way too much disgusting rot to stick with easily had not only pretty much drained his reserves, but also whatver kind of good mood had been left.

It seemed however that Chres was alright, despite some nasty crack he thought his ears had picked up over all the chaos and the obvious pain. The other seemed to be fine as well, at least as far as one could determine that externally. Týfurkh did not expect any of them to actually feel particularly well at this point though. This had been... a bit of a rough chain of events to be honest.

"If I might ask a few questions ? First of all: Who, or what, are you ? A semi omnipotent being because you're so amused despite the severity of events and also manage to pop up and disappear seemingly at random ? Then I'd be happy to know whether this 'shadow metal' -- did you just call it that way, Chres ? -- is actually as dangerous as it looks and why it is here. It doesn't look like something O'Kal has eaten for lunch before he decided to turn into an abomination, though who am I to even try and judge a madman. And then..."

Týfurkh was slightly hesitant for how to formulate the next question. He didn't want to come off as rude, but also not as someone who'd accept weak-ish answers for softened up questions easily at this point.

"How does it come that you decided to contact me ? I don't know about the others, but neither have I seen them nor this whole town before and I probably would not know any of them without you. Is there something special about me I don't know of, or was it just a 'lucky', random circumstance ?"

[Pezzle]

Chres
The Being of Many Names

---

The Being's smile grew as Týfurkh finished his inquiry. With a snap of his fingers, the Being vanished and reappeared besides Týfurkh.

"Týfurkh. Týfurkh. Oh my dear friend Týfurkh." The Being said while shaking his head condescendingly.

The Being reached out as if to place his arm on the Giant's shoulder, only to hesitate soon after. Týfurkh was far too tall for the Being to put his arm around the giant without it seeming awkward.

The Being frowned and snapped his fingers. The Being's legs grew instantly, putting him at a comparable height to Týfurkh. With his arm now comfortably wrapped around the giant's shoulders, The Being smiled and nodded as if to say 'Much better'.

"You sure have a lot of breath for a man with cracked ribs." He teased with a smile.

"Who am I? Just your best bud of course! What am I? Same answer -Is what I would say if I just wanted to mess with you- However, today, I'm feeling generous. So who am I?"

The Being snapped his fingers. A bag materialized in his right hand. The Being of Many Names reached into the bag and pulled out a piece crumbled paper. Unfolding the piece of paper showed a name scribbled on it. 'Bud'.

"Ah-ha! Bud! What a wonderful name to wear today! So who am I? Please, by all means, Týfurkh. Call me Bud." The Being, Bud, smiled as if pleased with himself.

"It's not... dangerous." Chres said breathing deeply in between words. "Its the black sheep of magic deterrents. A metal softer... than gold. Soft, and rare..."

"Why, thank you Chres. You're such a wealth of knowledge."

"Shut up and answer his questions." Chres growled while wincing in pain. "What the hell happened there?!" He said, pointing at the Shadow Metal. "Where... in Senses were you?! And why us?!"

Chres didn't have the patience for Bud's shenanigans. He was tired, beaten, and broken in more places than one.

Bud's smile seemed to wane. "I apologize for my attitude. When you exist as long as I have, you begin to lose yourself. It becomes important to find a way to cope."

Bud turned his attention back to Týfurkh "As I told the others in the past, my absence was important for you all to succeed. Any prolonged appearances would have signaled your location to the Sightless as it did the first time I met the others... Besides-" Bud's smiled returned. "I'm largely useless anyway. Aside from this bubble of existence that I've created, my ability to impact the world has long since been stripped away.

"As for why I picked you lot? Call it a gamble on my end. I may not have a connection to the Insight, but I do catch glimpses of what's possible. It was honestly a roll of the dice when I choose you lot. And would you lookie here? It seems my gamble paid off -please hold your applause"

Chres frowned. The hostility leaving his eyes somewhat. "You should be applauding us. Not us applauding you."

"Oh, but I did." Bud said. "Did you not hear my slow clap after you all bravely slew the Seed?"

Chres grumbled. Slowly he forced himself into a sitting position.

[Pezzle]

Chres
The Being of Many Names (A.K.A. Bud)

---

Chres looked around the ruined cellar. This sensation. This stopping of time. He felt it early. Back in the tunnels beneath the city. Before they entered the Cult's Church.

'You could have run.' Those were the words he had heard back then.

Chres looked back to Bud. He had taunted Chres. Played on his desires to have left and be done with this. Played on his growing frustration. Yes, he could have run after the army took the wall, but there was danger in doing so. Danger in being seen as the enemy trying to escape.

The hostility returned in Chres' eyes as he stared Bud down. This man, whatever he was, he was toying with them. Playing with their lives.

Chres' gaze fell back onto the corpse of the Seed. Its remains now turned to Shadow Metal.

Bud frown, perhaps sensing the room's hostility. He turned his gaze to the Seed as well.

"By killing it, you cut the Seed off from its source of power. Speak his name and his eye shall fall upon us. The Root of Insight. Discarded of Sight-" Bud smiled softly as he spoke the next few words, "Vi'daerus, the Omniscient."

A shiver suddenly ran down Chres' spine. It felt as though a looming presence had fallen upon the pactmakers. A presence which made the itch on the back of his neck intensify.

"Vi'daerus?" Chres said hesitantly. Again his itch intensified.

"It is the inevitable fate of all Sightless to eventually give in to the deepest temptations of the Insight. It binds them to its power. Brings them as close to godhood as one can reach without bodily destruction. So close, in fact that their body requires an anchor to bind them to this realm.

"A connection to the land. A deep relation to the place in which they root. To become be a Seed requires one to merge into the fabric of reality itself. Whether it being born to the land, to have greatly influenced the land or to have lived in the land for many a year, whatever your connection may be, it is this anchor that holds them to this world. Without it, the world will surely reject them."

Chres shook his head. There was too much here to take in. "Merge with reality?" It sounded like a word salad to him.

Bud smiled. "Tsk Tsk, my dear Chres. That Distortion, do you think it natural? The roots of the Seed dug deep into the fabric holding this realm together. It influenced it! Changed it! Distorted it! Such is a thing that the world normally resists. But by having ties to the land, one can trick the land into thinking it belongs! Kind of like how you've been acting this whole time, am I right Chres?"

The itch of Chres' neck flared again, he couldn't help but scratch at it. He expression darkened, but bud seemed to pay no mind. Instead he casually strolled over to the remains of Neiffar. Rotten remains which, unlike O'Kal's, had not turned to Shadow Metal.

"Our fool of a friend Nieffar knew all this before taking the dive into the depths of Insight. Yet still he took the plunge."

Bud smiled softly. Causally he pointed his thumb behind him towards Nieffar. "This guy, am I right? He stayed in Shimmertown for what? A week? Surely he knew better?"

Bud sighed and waved his hand to the rotten corpse. "But alas, such is the result of his foolishness. Good for us though, right?" Bud said while giving the Pactmakers a knowing smile.

Chres frowned. He didn't share Bud jovial attitude. Instead of smiling, he looked back to the corpse of Lord O'Kal, thinking on what was said. So that was why they turned him into a Seed. Who better than the Lord of Shimmertown himself?!

Bud followed Chres' gaze back to O'Kal's corpse. The Shadow Metal corpse appeared to devour the light around it.

"That one though, with his anchor well cemented,-" Bud said frowning. "-he became one with the Insight. It changed him. Transformed him. By killing him, you cut him off from the power. A Stray Thought, snuffed out like a candle. This-." Bud kicked aside a stray tendril of shadow metal, "-is the result."

[Fetzen]

Týfurkh

Týfurkh felt somewhat challenged by The Being's so abundant use of the words 'dear friend'. He was no friend of The Being, he had merely done what he himself had found to be the right thing after having been nudged into the right direction. Yet the being was on the verge of patronizing him as if he'd actually be The Being's son! The latter's arm did not meet sympathy when it was wrapped around the giant's shoulders, but a cold stiffness that came from more than just the heavy armor still on top of them.

'Just your best bud, of course ?' For a brief moment, Týfurkh considered the possibility that the Being was just making rather poor, mocking jokes about itself, but also had to realize that he probably was kinda biased by the fact that one always tried to interpret things the way one more or less subtly wanted them to be. It was quite likely that The Being was actually serious about its encroaching spill of words -- which just made things a lot worse.

Good thing that at least Chres was keeping a neutral and helpful stance to all of this, explaining in short but understandable words what kind of black stuff they were looking at! Týfurkh felt a fair bit of worry surging in him however for Chres obviously was in an even far less preferable condition than he was himself. Should he try and convince The Being of being actually useful while here and maybe do something about the worst of their injuries ? The giant almost dropped the word, but then held it back as The Being told a story about it being useless anyway. Quite hard to imagine given the powers it had already shown off within the last couple of minutes, but better not to provoke something, but instead get over with the whole affair as quickly as possible and seek medical attention elsewhere all the sooner, Týfurkh decided.

"Your ability to impact the world has been stripped away lonce since ? I'm really wondering why anybody would ever consider doing that..." he dropped into the conversation dryly, internally applauding to whomever had brought that blessing of limiting The Being's influence upon all of them.

"Oh I'm sorry Bud, I've stopped hearing anything below a certain threshold after that couple of explosions I have been part in over the last couple of days. Maybe you can come back later and applaude us then when we've all had a bit of rest and recovery ?" He tried to join Chres' efforts of pointing out The Being's conversational flaws, but actually had only little hope for that having any noticeable effect.

Maybe Týfurkh would have adopted a much more angrily stance had the subsequent exchange of words not turned into one actually being much more useful than the talking so far. At least they were now given some serious explanations, even though they were hard to understand to say the least.

"So..." he started, releasing his words almost one by one with some noticeable gaps in between as he had to think about how to formulate the whole sentence. "What we're looking at... is essentially... a piece of reality that no longer is what it should be... because O'Kal has tampered with it... in order to maintain a presence in our world ?" Did that question make any sense ? Hell he wasn't even familiar with the whole matter enough to feel confident about that. "So let's stick to the basics first before I get a headache:" and he raised his palms towards Chres and Bud as if to make a stop sign. "That shadow metal here, you say it's not dangerous ? Then is there anything what we need to do about it ? Or is there anything we actually can do about it ? Like... if it's the black sheep of magic deterrents, can we collect and use it ? Just in case we run into more Sightless or the like."

[Pezzle]

Chres
The Being of Many Names (A.K.A. Bud)

Interactions with @13org @Fetzen

---

"Bravo! Gold star for man with girth!" Bud exclaimed proudly. The man snapped his fingers. A gold star shaped adhesive appeared on Týfurkh's forehead.

Bud frowned. "Then again, you weren't entirely on the ball there, so maybe you get more liiiike... half a star."

The man snapped his fingers. The star tore in two; the torn half falling loosely to the ground.

"Its a side effect of loosing access to godly power all at once. A recoil of power that rebounded back on the physical body that channeled it.

"As for what to do with it..." Bud shrugged. "Take as much as you can for all I care. I'm sure you'll get a pretty price for it from the right seller. Oooooor, you could keep a bit for yourself. The stuff cancels out any sight magic just by touching it. I'm sure you'll find much joy in using it to threaten the little fairy that follows this one around." Bud said while nodding in Chres' direction.

Chres stared coldly at Bud. The man was not winning himself any points with off hand comments like that.

"I wouldn't be so fast take it." Chres said. "Seeing that General Frost is Karina's Father, word of this cache of shadow metal will inevitably get back to General Frost. Even if Karina decided to turn a blind eye to any of us taking the shadow metal, You can be sure that her father will have our belongings searched for the metal. Especially considering the type of magic he is known for. This thing, it's not just a gold mine, but a weapon as well."

Chres looked to Karina. "Isn't that right, Karina?"

"You could also use it as a rock to smack around Mr. 'I don't know how to have any fun' here." Bud said quickly.

The comment earned another glare from Chres. An amused smile spread across Bud's face.

[13org]

Karina Frost

---

As Sil's voice became weaker and weaker, Akai grew even more worried. She didn't know what to do other than take both of them to safety... She didn't even know what's wrong with Sil... but she did know that she was definitely losing her. The situation became even worse when Sil stopped speaking

"SIL! STOP PLAYING WITH ME! WAKE UP!" Akai shouted as she continued taking both her and Lynx to a safe location.

"THIS IS NO TIME FOR JOKES!... Wake up... Both of you... Please!" Akai said, a mix of anger, fear, desperation and sadness in her voice as she watched, powerless as Sil went unconscious.

---

Kneeling on the ground, already beyond the point of exhaustion, Karina watched, relieved as her ice spear tore the heart off from the distorted creature that Lord O'Kal had become. While it was another small victory for them, there were still two hearts remaining... Even though Karina wouldn't be of much help, she forced herself to get up... The battle wasn't over yet.

The very moment she slowly but surely stood up though, time suddenly stopped around her. Without any time to react to the strange situation, a huge shadow covered her, taking a very familiar form... Her father, General Viktor Frost. Together with it, a voice called out to her, the voice of 'The Being', saying how she would never escape the fate of living under her father's shadow... She could feel it... That voice was mocking her, mocking her accomplishments and everything she was. It's words were like needles, aiming precisely to the small cracks in the armor Karina built around her heart and mind...

"SHUT UP, SHUT UP!!" Karina shouted, covering her ears, trying, with no avail, to make the voice go away as it continued.

"YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ME, ABOUT MY LIFE AND WHO I AM!!" she continued, with burning hatred in her eyes and voice as she said so.

As the time began to flow again, Karina soon saw herself surrounded, together with the other soldiers and the rest of her group, by sharpened tentacles. In the blink of an eye, each and every one of them was bound by a tentacle.

"I will not fall without fighting!" Karina said, muttering to herself as she did her best to resist the tentacles.

Even knowing that it was a useless effort, Karina simply couldn't give up now... Not after everything she went through. She refused to be remembered as someone who was right, but lacked strength to act up to her words...

At that very moment, the same being, who came to mock her appeared once again. The moment he did, Karina's eyes once again filled with hatred. Initially, she thought that it had come once again to mock her, to say how she would be reminded as nothing more than a failure... But this time, it's target seemed to be someone else, as it turned towards the twisted creature that was once Sightles Nieffar.

Something happened as The Being spoke to Nieffar... Something that it did... Or maybe something that was already happening even before it appeared... Regardless, just as it had said it was happening, cracks started appearing from the Seed's base, 'rot' as the Being had mentioned, quickly spreading towards Nieffar's tentacles and soon enough to it's spine, ending on it being completely split from the seed.

Karina, falling to the ground after the 'rot' took Nieffar, was finally able to breathe again. Although they were not able to win that battle... They were now safe... at least for now. Unfortunately, as much as Karina tried, she simply wasn't able to get up. She knew that she had overexerted herself, both physically and magically. Still, even exhausted, she still found enough energy within herself to send the being a burning stare of hatred as he turned to her, Chres, Týfurkh, Octavio and Jen.

The stump of the seed, after being salted, had turned into something Karina knew well... A very rare resource that was always seen and dealt with extreme urgency and cautiousness, due to it's effects and how it could be used as a weapon against her father and the Military forces he commanded...

”Shadow metal…”

Karina's expression of hatred didn't change as she heard Chres' words. She kept looking towards the being, watching his every movement and word as it clapped, congratulating them with an arrogant tone.

Silently, Karina heard, still regaining her breath from the previous fight, as the being answered to Týfurkh and Chres' questions, mentioning how the reason for him having chosen them was but a gamble and how he was 'useless', stating that his influence in the world was stripped long ago. His explanation continued, mentioning how the Seed was drawing power from another source... Vi'daerus, the Omniscient as he called it.

His explanation, while fantastical, was not exactly impossible to believe, after everything they've seen and went through. The fact that the Insight could bring someone closer to 'godhood' to omniscience, wasn't hard to believe and would explain a lot of the unbelievable powers the sightless had.

Despite all that explanation... There was still one thing the Being, or 'Bud', didn't explain on detail...

"You still haven't answered us. Who... What are you?? Why shouldn't I believe that you are exactly the same as this Vi'daerus you speak about??" Karina asked, her voice and tone sharp as a knife as she looked towards 'The Being', or as he told them to call him, 'Bud'.

"You used us... You used all of us as mere pawns. Sending us to an almost suicide mission based on nothing but a gamble!" she said, shouting as she finally stood up again, pointing her rapier towards him.

"Not very unlike how this Vi'dareus used the sightless, isn't it?" Karina asked, looking directly towards Bud.

"You... Vi'daerus... You both seek to play god with a world that isn't yours, don't you? We are not pawns to be used, pieces of a game to be manipulated. Your influence was stripped from you and even this Vi'daerus needs very specific circumstances to exert his power..." she said, still staring daggers at him.

"It seems that I'm not the only one that rejects your kind... This world seems to do it as well..." she said with a mocking smirk towards him... A small payback for everything he said and did.

"Humanity does not need gods to control and restrict them. And we will not let any creature with such aspirations to do as it desires." she finished, looking to Bud defiantly.

While Karina would like to keep the properties of the shadow metal any amount of it and even it's very existence a secret from as many people as she could, the moment Týfurkh asked more about it and Bud said they were free to take it, Chres immediately said for them not to, proceeding to explain it's properties and exactly what it was before staring at her, seeking confirmation for his words.

"There will not be any oversight to any amount of Shadow Metal leaving this room." she said with a cold tone, looking to both Týfurkh and Chres. Both her tone and her stare were clear warnings that she would not budge on that matter.

"The Shadow Metal will be secured by the Military of Touch and dealt with accordingly." She said, her eyes making it clear that she wouldn't comment on that matter any further.

Even though Shadow Metal was a very rare resource, there was a reason why the Military spared no effort to secure any amount of Shadow Metal they went through and even to keep both it's existence and properties a secret by spreading disinformation. The very fact that Chres and the rest knew that the Seed had turned into Shadow Metal would be dealt with in a very serious manner by the Military. They would do anything so that information wouldn't become public.

[Pezzle]

Chres
The Being of Many Names (A.K.A. Bud)

Interactions with @13org

---

Again a shadow seemed fall upon the room when the name, Vi'daerus, was spoken.

Bud cautiously glanced around only to give what seem to be an almost nervous chuckle. "Not of the faith, are you Ice Flower?" He mused at Karina's words. "Well you might be happy to hear that neither am I. They call me the Lord of Senses. Though honestly, I would prefer to not really be a Lord of anything. If you would take away anything from this encounter, then take away this. I do not wish to fashion myself as a god. So please, if you would be so kind, spread word to my would be 'followers' and tell them to go... sniff a butt." Bud smiled. Amused by his very unclever butt joke.

"Their Goooooooooooood commands it!" He spoke the last sentence as if preaching to a quire. Hands shooting into the air.

"You still haven't answered the question." Chres growled. His patience was thin. Not just due to Bud's annoying nature, the pain from his injuries or from to his own tiredness. No, he feared this lack of patience was starting to come from something much deeper.

Bud eyed Chres, and gave him a lopsided grin. "Alright. Alright. I give." He said. His hands raised in the air innocently. "Believe me though, the answer is not very satisfying."

Bud snapped his fingers. A chair appeared behind him. Taking a seat, he said. "I'm actually not entirely sure what I am." Bud's pride and arrogance seemed to fall away with his words. His coy smile turning into one far less certain. He seemed to age in that moment. Not physically, but mentally.

"At the very least, I seem to be a bubble of awareness, shattered long ago. I can create these temporary bubbles of existence, occasionally move minor objects to and fro. Aside from that though, I can't do much else... well, other than my ability to form pacts with the likes of you.

"My shattering imprisoned me to this land. Trapped me for many a year. I do not seek godhood. I simply wish to be free from this world and the bonds that tie me here. The Cult's continued existence is the final healthy bond that holds me to this world."

"That is why I came to you. By gambling on all of you, I knew that at the very least it would save you all from the day of Madness that struck Shimmertown the day after. So while yes, I am using you as pawns, I did so knowing that it might save your lives for another day."

Bud sighed. He bent forward in his seat and looked to Karina. Bags lined the bottom of his eyes. "I have seen all this world has to offer. It tires me, Karina. Makes my essence grow thin. To see the realms that lie beyond, that is what I need. For this prison, it drives me mad. It is a madness I'm sure you have already seen. A madness I wish to stave off a while longer."

Chres frowned. He wasn't entirely sure what to make of Bud's words. The man joked from one moment only to become serious the next.

"And yet," Chres spoke hesitantly. The itch, it clawed at the back of his neck. "when we met, you claimed that your involvement wouldn't save my life. You claimed I would survive the aftermath."

"I said, they would take you. Convert you." Bud waved his hand to the corpse of the Seed. "Did my involvement not save you?"

"Only if what you claim is true." Chres said coldly, the itch digging ever deeper.

'You don’t understand’ His wife's words rang through his head.

"And even then, I wonder if a little Insight wouldn't have hurt."

Bud blinked. A cold look crossing his face. For the first time since he first appeared before the Pactmakers, Bud actually seemed bothered by one of their statements. "Then by all means, run off to your friends in the Cult, Chres. I'm sure they would welcome you with open arms."

Now it was Chres' turn to blink. Why had he said that? He shook his head. The wariness was getting to him. "I'm sorry." He said warily to the others. "I didn't mean..."

Bud gave a dismissive wave of his hand. "Noooo..." He said getting up from his seat. With a snap the chair disappeared. "I'm sure you didn't mean anything."

He gave Chres a smile that didn't reach his eyes. In that moment, the ware and tear seemed to vanish from Bud's face entirely. The normal Bud began to resurface.

"You know on second thought, Karina. Maybe you shouldn't go around telling people that I told them to go sniff a butt. Senses no! For if you did, I fear they actually might start doing it! Knowing them, they would make it some sort of tradition! Can you imagine, Karina? Everyone sitting around for evening prayer only to be told, 'And now we end this ceremony with the ceremonial sniffing of the butt.'"

Hand this his face, Bud shook his head. "Ooooh, the humanity!"

[HokumPocus]

---

Every illusion of Octavio's, every piece coiled around his fingers in the game of blood and flesh, was gnarled to nothingness in a near instant. It made his blood go cold, in a wasteland already polluted with frost and blood. He thought of kings without kingdoms and sailors whose ships had ruptured. Men that were already dead, who clung to the ragged breaths that were all they had left in the world. The world around him stopped, and his thoughts froze with it.

Stranger. Being. He had the face of a man, but it felt incorrect to consider him one. At one point Octavio envied him, even saw him as a rival that could be bested. Those had been the thoughts of a stupid man. As the... entity took interest in Lynx, he could feel the cold crawl towards the center of his heart.

Taunting words. Ones uttered by those with the power. The control. Just as the noblemen he hated, the politicians, the mercenaries, all those he wanted that feeling of control from besting. But he could feel ice in his throat where words would be, a frozen expression of grief where one of confidence would have to take center stage. He wasn't the lead again. It felt as if he'd never be.

One piece left. Himself. Lynx was in no state to fight, instead fleeing with the other familiars. The king was supposedly the most important piece in chess, able to move anywhere, yet signalling the loss of the game when captured. But when Octavio attempted to move himself, he found no way to escape the storm of tentacles that overtook him. A struggle, thrashing, sinking. Tentacles wrapping around other tentacles, anywhere they could sense empty space to contaminate. It was worse than the last time, as the tentacles had greedily dug around his abdomen, denying him of even his final breaths. Checkmate.

...Check. A third player. One that wasn't bound to timing their turns. One that wasn't bound to white and black squares, white and black morality. The way the entity spoke truly made Octavio feel like a piece, one listening to an actual player. Octavio remained silent for the most part, eyes trained on the thing as it continued it's fanfare. He had no experience dealing with the supernatural. It irritated him, almost. When he finally spoke the words jutted out without much concern for formality. It was gifting star adhesives.

"Do not wish to fashion yourself as a god, and yet you say you lost access to your godly power. You're allowed to call yourself whatever you desire," he said, judgmental of the word "Bud" and the entity's newfound love for it, "but you're a former god, is what you've so indirectly implied."

He suppressed every ounce of pain and discomfort imaginable as he stood, feeling it pound through over a dozen and a half areas of his body. It wasn't entirely successful, and with a pained grimace he knew it would give the being brand new material to work with. "I would thank you, but this isn't so much a favor as it is a transaction. We've been performing our end of this odd bargain, and I suppose you've assisted us through some of the more dangerous moments. It was a close call particularly now. Don't you think it'd be wiser to facilitate things for us? It'd be a win-win for this... transaction we've been conducting." Whatever this former god was in actuality, he'd likely never know. But the being had shown more of his hand, and Octavio found himself reacting predictably as a man moments from death encountering great power. It was ironic, he realized. The same thoughts that led to the insight obliterating men. He still hadn't taken a single step from his spot.

Check.

***

Lynx's body arose one limp paw at a time, until he was upright and more or less lucid enough to stand. He recognized Akai, but it took a moment for the thoughts to solidify. Words were even slower.

"Gah. What a mess."

[Pezzle]

Chres
The Being of Many Names (A.K.A. Bud)

Interactions with @HokumPocus

---

"You words, not mine." Bud said with a smile. "Did I use to be an entity of extraordinary power? Oh, yes! Of course! But was I a god?" Bud's smile deepened. "That question is a little more up in the air. An answer that depends on perspective and, perhaps more importantly, on your definition of a god.

"That said, it seems your missing the point. A point I thought I made clear. I do not wish for worship or rulership. Though, perhaps, it was not a misunderstanding between us friends. Perhaps... it was a statement of envy..."

Bud cocked his head, an amused look on his face.

"I see. So that's what it was. My, my, how familiar." Bud spoke, as he stared into Octavio's eyes. only to shake his head soon after.

"But I digress. You asked a question I've oft been asked many times before. Why don't I help more? Well, perhaps there are other people out there who I've thrown my lot in with. People besides the lovely Octavio and his Pactmaker friends. Or perhaps such facilitation is part of the reason the world is in its current mess. Hmmmm... wouldn't that be an interesting twist? Or perhaps, oh yes perhaps, the wonderful Bud is not so great and mighty, as he lets on. His attention only able to focus on so many things at once. But perhaps, just perhaps, the answer is all or even none of the above."

The strange man shrugged. His amused smile ever present. "I don't know. Pick a reason."

Chres' expression darkened at the response. "Try this for a reason. You're a cunt who doesn't actually care whether we live our die. All of this is nothing more than a game to you."

"My, my Chres, you ought to wash out that mouth of yours."

Bud snapped his fingers. A bar of wet soap appeared in Chres' mouth. Chres spat and sputtered. The bar of soap fell to the ground.

Bud smiled at his prank, only for it fade away shortly after. The more serious side of Bud appeared to resurface.

"The years have made it hard for me to care, Chres. Though in my own broken way, I do care about my pactmakers. Your Unspoken Pacts maintain my existence. It feeds me names and knowledge. I depend on our connection to survive, however, perhaps that same connection keeps me at arms length."

Bud's smile re-emerged. "So, Chres, how about you try that for a reason instead?"

Chres remained unimpressed.

Bud rolled his eyes and sighed. Finger raised in the air, he turned his attention back to Octavio. "Oh, and by the way Octavio, I do call myself what I want. Or have you not caught on to that yet? Last time we met, I went by the name Gin. Today, however, I've been going by the name -drumroll please-" With the snap of his fingers, a large circular drum appeared behind him and literally began to roll across the room. "-Bud."

The drum crashed into a wall. Smiling, Bud snapped his fingers again. Confetti popped around him and a 'Tada!' sound effect echoed across the room.

[Jerkchicken]

Jen did not take to the being's intrusion too well. The sudden sensation of the touch on his shoulder literally came out of nowhere and with it, his attention shifted. "And I suppose you're going to give me some better ideas?" He said through gritted teeth. It was a definitely not a subject he wanted to think about in any capacity especially with how recent that deal with the sightless was. Perhaps there was a better way, but he couldn't figure it out and he was doubtful he'd get anything straightforward from this entity.

Much to Jen's total lack of surprise, he was only left to stew with his guilt under the less-than-ideal conditions for this bargain. Time resumed and then Jen felt a sudden pain, on the same shoulder no less! He felt a moisture, but it burned like lemon or chiles on a cut. It was disorienting too as Jen felt a lingering sensation of that touch on his shoulder than then transitioned into pain. As if this was an early punishment for his future transgression.

He found himself having to fight to keep his breathing smooth from the sudden spike of pain. Of course, what was really discomforting was moving the afflicted arm around on that point of movement. Shit what was he going to do? Of course, then was there also the ton of tentacles aiming to skewer the already hobbled Chres. He didn't know how much he could contribute in this state, or if moving the arm around would exacerbate the injury, but in this moment it didn't matter. He needed to keep this guy alive, and besides it was the final stretch of the battle. Either they die in the fight or get some rest time afterwards.

Chres was out shouting at Karina to make the attack. Given the Seed/Sightless' tunnel visioned focus Chress, it made sense to strike. Karina would manifest an icy spear and charge the final heart. Fortunately for everyone except the seed, it would strike true. That was the final heart for the seed, right? Jen grimaced; he was hoping such damage would affect the Sightless. He could see that browning on its body, but it seemed it had enough energy for another massive attack. He failed to react in time and like everyone else was ensnared. He could feel the coils tighten around him as they started to crush him and everyone else.

This was not good, what the hell was there to do. He needed to find some way to break free, but how? That familiar sensation came again as time would distort and freeze around the scene of the sightless crushing them. The being appeared, and began lecturing the sightless? He could see the brown discoloration spreading over the body over a short span of time with each stop and start of time. The tendrils' grip would loosen, and Jen didn't hesitate to break free. The sightless would collapse on his side as his spine cracked like a tree that had collapsed on itself. All there was left was a sliver of flesh connecting the halves, it wouldn't take too much effort to sever it into a stump. "CUT AND SALT THAT SUCKER BEFORE IT REGENERATES!" He'd wheeze out hoarsely. He was coughing while stumbling to gain his breath.

Ferris would come and save the day as he jumped into the ruined cellar and cut and salted the now stump. Jen smiled in relief as he plopped down onto his ass. "Good job..." He would watch everyone else interact with the being as looked the dark metal that glimmered that constituted the corpse of the sightless. Try as he might to pay attention to the metaphysics being explained about the metal and the sightless needing to root themselves in reality, it felt like it was going from one ear and out the other. Furthermore, it seemed this entity that insisted he was not a god, seemed to be irritating everyone else. Of course, such aggressive smarm wasn't the most welcome thing to face after going through this exhausting battle.

"Right, so you're saying you're some rando trapped on our world. That just happens to have a bunch of nifty abilities we don't have, and you seem to inhabit some other reality we can't perceive. And I guess there's more of whatever the hell you are beyond this world. You say you're not a god, but it seems some sort of faith sustains you. Since it could be argued that without some sort of faith in the offer, none of us would have done so right? I guess we could call you an unwilling demi-god or demi-bud rather. I know you don't want it, but would some offerings and prayers might improve your condition or is it going to take a lot more to recover from this shattering business." Jen said while lying on the floor.

[Pezzle]

Chres
The Being of Many Names (A.K.A. Bud)

Interactions with @Jerkchicken

---

Bud smiled at Jen's comment. "My dear Dirty Bastard... wait- I'm sorry. That's right, you go by Jen now.-"

Bud snapped his fingers. A copy of him appeared next to Jen and elbow nudged him on his wounded shoulder.

"Look at you, switching names on us like that! Taking after your good ol' friend Bud, huh?"

Bud snapped his fingers. The copy disappeared.

"My dear Jen, if there was an easy answer to this problem, then I would have done it years ago. Alas, fixing myself has proven far more complicated. However, wiping out the cult might be a sure way to start." Bud said the last sentence more to himself then the others.

"At one point I thought, that by isolating the cult to their Broken Islands would be enough to starve them of new members. Near the dawn of the current era, the world had turned against the cult and forced them to their current home. Resented by all, they were isolated for many a year. And while their power started to wane, I underestimated the cult's resiliency.

"I figured that given time, their great All-Seeing Eye, wouldn't hesitate at the chance to turn its remaining followers into Sightless. It sustains him after all. Keeps him strong. What I didn't expect was his capacity to resist temptation. He resisted the urge to convert all his followers, and allowed them to build families on the isles. Generations of followers. Generations of Sightless.

I thought that time would ultimately put an end to the cult. And while it might have eventually ended them, what I didn't expect was for time to turn enemy on me. As millennia passed, the people of Saencila began to forget their hatred of the cult. It started with trade, which turned into visitation, which eventually led to the acceptance of missionaries."

Bud shook his head. "No, time doesn't work against the cult. It only makes them stronger." He looked to Jen. "In all honesty I'm not entirely sure how to proceed. It's something I'm still working on."

Chres frowned as he tried to absorb he information Bud presented. There was context missing here. It seem Bud often like to omit context in his explanations.

"You were spot on though." Bud continued after moment. A hint of amusement returning to his face. "Offerings and prayers won't help me. And as for faith?" Bud laughed. "Faith won't do any of us any good. It sustains neither me nor you."

Chres narrowed his eyes.

"So then... what does sustain you?"

His attention turned on Chres. An uncomfortable frown appearing on his face. It made Chres uneasy. Bud didn't seem to like this question.

"You know Chres, perhaps we-."

"Answer the question." Chres pressed. Suspicion filled his voice.

Bud shuffled his feet uncomfortably. "Your legacy." He sighed finally.

Chres furrowed his brow. Their legacies?

"The Unspoken Pact. You've heard the Sightless mention this term before."

"They call us pactmakers." Chres nodded hesitantly.

"Like with the Insight. Throwing in your lot with me comes with... conditions."

"What kind of conditions." Chres asked. His question sounding like a growl.

"The kind I wish... I didn't have to make." Bud said reluctantly.

Chres stared Bud down. Waiting expectantly.

"Upon your deaths, I take everything. Everything that you did in life. Everything that you were in life."

Chres' felt his blood go cold.

"Your names. Your memory. Your experiences. The memories others have of you. I take it all. Your legacies, Chres." Bud said somberly. "Aside from your fellow pactmakers, the world will not remember you... Any of you... Unspoken... forever more..." Bud hesitated. "I-I'm sorry."

Chres felt his heart begin to race. Outrage filling his blood. Sorry? SORRY?!

"Why?" Chres felt his voice trembling dangerously. "Why are we only hearing of this now?"

Bud looked to Chres almost sorrowfully. "Because," Bud started, his voice full of shame, "as I am right now, without a consistent flow of Pacts, I will die."

"YOU will die? YOU?!" Chres barked out a dry laugh at the irony of the statement. An entity that lived off of the deaths and erasure of other people did so out of fear of his own mortality and erasure from memory.

"This isn't a pact most would make if they knew the conditions ahead of time." Bud said. "And my death is the last thing you want."

"Funny, because right now, your death is very close to my top ten."

For a while, Bud said nothing. "If I die now. The entity that is me will vanish, but the power I control will not. It will live on and pass to another. And as of right now, the top candidate for taking my power is one the Sightless worship. Vi'daerus."

Yet again, shadow fell upon the room when the name was spoken. This time though, it was accompanied by a sharp wind that began to blow through the room.

Chres looked around, surprised by the sudden wind.

"Mark my words." Bud continued. "You do not want Vi'daerus as the 'god' of this world."

The room began to shudder with Vi'daerus's name uttered twice in quick succession. The wind began to roar and rage, as the ceiling of the cellar began the creak as if it were being pulled from its hinges.

"Vi'daerus. The product of my sins."

The winds turned into a cyclone and ripped the ceiling clean off. A red night sky appeared above, with bulbs of light that looked like stars but bigger. The red night sky cracked and shattered. A Sightless white eye appeared from beyond.

"Speak his name and his eye will fall upon you. Wise, it would be, to fear the Discarded of Sight."

Oily black tendrils shot from the cracks in the sky, reaching for Bud.

Chres' mouth opened in awe and fear. Unable to comprehend what he was seeing.

"Farewell, my friends. Until we meet again."

Bud snapped his fingers as the tendrils rushed for him. The world blurred. Time rushed in on itself. The cellar returned to its normal, non-destroyed, state prior to the Being's appearance. The unseeing eye, he named Vi'daerus, gone.

The Being... Chres noted that he did not think of him as Bud anymore... Odd as it were, he didn't linger on the thought long.

"That bastard..." Chres whispered. Fatigue, pain, anger and hopelessness washed over Chres as he lay on the ground, unable to pull himself to his feet with his broken leg.

"Senses... Did we win?" Chres absently heard one of the touch soldiers ask.

"We won! We did it! We killed the monster!"

The soldiers let out a cheer. As they gathered their wits and set to work on tending to the pactmakers. One even heading back through the tunnel to get help.

Chres lay there motionless, not saying a word.

As help began to arrived, they tended to the pactmakers and lifted Chres to safety. Still he remained nothing but silent. Broken.

He was going to take everything, The Being. His reason for living. His reason for dying. His ability to punish himself and tarnish his own reputation, should he learn that he indeed did deserve death. All of it, The Being has just made meaningless.

'You don’t understand.’ His wife's voice rang again. 'You don’t understand!’

What? What didn't he understand?

The Being had forced Chres' hand. He had but one path left. One outcome to hope for. Learn the truth behind his wife's actions, and pray that what he learned did not justify self punishment.

Chres felt his consciousness slip as he was carried away to the army makeshift infirmary. His wounds tended to by touch healers.

[Pezzle]

Arc 1
Aftermath

---

Immediate Aftermath

The moment the distortion fell, The Cult of Insight fell into disarray. In their confusion, The Army of Touch, broke through the Cult lines and captured the central portion of Shimmertown. Victory for the army is all but assured. Just a few pockets of resistance remaining.

The Pactmakers were given food, medical attention and a bed to stay. However, they were watched heavily by the Empire of Touch's soldiers. For the time, the Pactmakers were not allowed to leave the city. Their close involvement with the town's events and victory made the Empire see them as a potential asset. That aligned with the new found knowledge about the truth behind Shadow Metal made them a danger.

For the time being, Viktor Frost made sure to treat them with the highest respect. There would be a time that he might need them, he knew. the question simply was a matter of when.

---

Malkev's Imprisonment

Malkev O’Kal sat alone in a makeshift cell. A single room at an inn that the army had taken charge of. Despite the bars, which had been bound to the ceiling and floor by magic, the cell itself wasn’t too terrible. It had a washroom with a bucket of water. A waste bin to relieve himself with. A desk and chair to sit in. A decently comfortable bed, and even a window (although it had been sealed off, of course). Though even with his accommodations, Malkev sat miserably atop his bed. Face burrowed in his hands.

How had it come to this? His brother, dead. His home captured by invaders. His nephew? They would rip him from his hands and hold him as a hostage. This wasn’t a thing that he could agree to, was it? To be a puppet to the Nation of Touch. Could he follow through with such a thing?

The guard at the door to his ‘cell’ entered carrying a plate in one hand, with some of vegetables and what appeared to be chicken. In his other hand, he held a glass of wine.

“Dinner.” He said, while placing the food into the cell so that Malkev could take it.

Malkev lowered his hands and stared at the soldier coldly. A few seconds went by until finally the soldier shrugged and walked away, leaving the food and drink on the floor. Malkev then turned his stare to the food, until finally relenting with a sigh.

Getting off the bed, he picked up the plate of food, but left the wine behind. Taking the food to his desk, he sat and gave the food one last stare before picking up his utensils and eating.

The chicken was season perhaps a bit too much. To the point that it was a touch bitter. However, considering Malkev hadn’t had an actual meal all day, it was a meal much needed. Feeling thirsty and a touch warm, Malkev reached for his drink only to remember that he had left the wine on the floor.

“Leaving the wine to waste, love?” Came a melodic voice behind Malkev.

Startled, Malkev jumped to his feet and spun on his heels. Behind him stood Svephraey, casually leaning against the wall just outside the bars to his cell.

“You?!” Malkev whispered in shock. He quickly glanced to the door of his room only to find it shut. A bead of sweat dripped down the side of his head. “How did you get in here?”

Svephraey shrugged, bending down to pick up Malkev’s abandoned glass of wine. Using her freehand, she lowered her elongated turtleneck below her nose. She gave the wine a sniff, and then turned her gaze upwards towards Malkev.

Malkev looked to the wine. His lips feeling parched. He wondered to himself when was the last time he had a drink of anything. Ignoring the wine, he looked back to Svephraey.

“Why are you here, Svephraey? The town will be rid of the cult shortly, just as Kharu-Natjer and the rest of us wanted. What else does he need of me?”

Her eyes seemed to smile tauntingly. Slowly she lowered her turtleneck further. Revealing her full face to him for the first time. It was a face that was surprisingly beautiful.

Svephraey smiled. Then as if to mock him, she took a sip of his wine.

”Aaahhh.” She said teasingly. ”Refreshing.”

“Svephraey.” He said growing frustrated. “You’re the last person I want to see right now. So would you kindly do me a favor? Relay the Kharu-Natjer’s message and leave.”

”But I’m not here on his behalf.” Svephraey said. The barest hint of a smile crossing her lips. ”I’m here for myself.”

”Why? To taunt me?”

”Of course.” She said smoothly, taking another sip of wine. ”There’s pleasure to be found in watching a pup whine and beg from its cage.”

Malkev rolled his eyes. He tugged at his collar uncomfortably. Senses, it was warm. Why did they have to seal his window?

“You and your dog idioms.” He muttered. “I will not ‘whine’ and ‘beg’ for your enjoyment.”

”Oh love, but you already have. Afterall, was it not your whining and begging that got you put here in the first place?”

Malkev gave Svephraey a cold look. “I’ll never understand why the Kharu-Natjer tolerates your presence. It is most… unwelcome.”

Svephraey gazed down into the depths of her wine. ”Have you ever wondered what it means?” She asked, ignoring his comment.

Malkev gave her a frown, not understanding the question. He wiped away a bead of sweat rolling down his face.

”His title.” She said. ”The Kharu-Natjer.”

“Kharu means voice. Natjer means God. So I imagine it means something like ‘the voice of God’.”

Svephraey raised her brow as if surprised. ”My, my. The pup is smarter than it looks.”

Malkev eyed her in annoyance. “One of my men told me the other day. While doing work with Ferris and Octavio, they had a conversation with one of The Kharu-Natjer’s slaves about what the title meant.”

”My mistake. The pup’s smarts are lacking after all.”

“Would you stop!” Malkev shouted in frustration. Being parched, however, his shout came out sounding more like a croak. Senses! He should have taken the damned wine!

”You have it backwards, actually.” She said, ignoring his outburst. Causally she took another sip of wine. ”His title. It means ‘God’s Voice’.”

“God’s Voice?”

Svephraey took another sip. ”The structure of their sentences is somewhat backwards. So the word ‘Natjer’ is the descriptor, while the word ‘Kharu’ is the subject.”

Malkev sighed. It was too hot and stuffy in this room for this conversation right now. He undid the top button of his shirt.

“Why are you telling me this?” His voice came out in a wheeze. His last few words ending with a cough.

”He’s an odd one, The Kharu-Natjer. The man has powers. Powers that don’t seem to fit the mold of any of the five senses. Deterrents supposedly don’t work on his magic. I wonder… Why do you think that is?”

Malkev collapsed into a fit of coughing. Thirsty! He was so thirsty! Why was it so stuffy in this damn room! Senses how was one supposed to breathe in here?!

Not bothering to look at Malkev, Svephraey used her free hand to raise her elongated turtleneck back above her nose.

”You’re poisoned, love. Shouldn’t have eaten the chicken.”

Poisoned?! Malkev released another nasty cough. This time, he coughed up blood.

“Help…” Malkev whined weakly. “Somebody… help…”

”Aaaaah.” Svephraey’s eyes seemed to twinkle with satisfaction. ”Now there’s the whining and begging I hoped for.”

Malkev grabbed at the bars of his cell. Another fit of coughing. His mouth was so dry…

”Here. Have a drink.” Svephraey poured the rest of the wine on to Malkev’s head.

“Guards… Help…” He wheezed out.

Svephraey chuckled and kicked Malkev in the head. The large man fell on his side.

”You’re wasting your breath, love. I am the guards.”

“You?... The guards…?”

”The guards, the cook… I am whoever I need to be… or rather, my Splinters are. Pieces of me gifted to a corpse. Puppets to my every whim. You asked why the Kharu-Natjer tolerates me. Well… this is why.”

“What did I do… for him to… want me dead…?” Malkev’s voice was now barely above whisper.

”Oh love, don’t flatter yourself. I told you, didn’t I?” Svephraey’s eyes seemed to smile. ”I’m here for myself.”

---

A few minutes later, Svephraey knelt beside the lifeless body of Malkev. Hand on his back, she willed a piece of her into him.

She thought back to that day when she sent all her Splinters to their deaths at the clock tower. A desperate attempt to rescue the pactmakers from the cult. The day ‘God’s Voice’ placed his ‘touch’ upon her and somehow enhanced her abilities. That day, she sensed a power beyond…

‘The power behind the magic. The power of gods’ That was what the Sightless had said to the pactmaker named Jen, before their conversation had degraded into a fight.

Svephraey had been asked to have her Splinters keep an eye on the Pactmakers during the battle, and to assist if ever necessary. Well, Svephraey had done as she had been asked. Even going as far as to have a Splinter blow up a building to make sure Jen survived his battle.

What the Kharu-Natjer hadn’t asked her to do was come here herself. She would pay for that, she knew. Despite all her talk of pups and dogs, in truth she herself was a collared dog. Having escaped one prison only to find herself bound in another.

Svephraey removed her hand from Malkev’s corpse and let her magic do its work. Repairing Malkev’s body and undoing any internal damage caused by the poison.

The power of gods. Power that the Lord of Senses supposedly wanted. A power capable of exchanging hands much like her own magic. Svephraey wondered… Could she usurp such a power? Snatch it out from the hands of God himself?

Malkev’s corpse began to stir. A new Splinter born. He opened his eyes and looked at Svephraey, confused.

”Hello, love. Welcome to the world of the living.”

The new ‘Malkev’ frowned, realizing his place in the world. He was her, but not her. Her puppet to do with as she wished. His name was now Malkev. The same name as the one who used to own this body. He would take the man’s place. Serve loyally to the Empire of Touch, but serve her first and foremost.

”Tell me. How do you suppose one kills a god?”

The new Malkev shrugged, unsure of the answer.

Svephraey gave the new Malkev a look of amusement. She patted him on the head belittlingly, before rising to her feet and making for the door.

She needed to return to the Kharu-Natjer. She needed to return before he decided that she had been gone for far too long.

“How?” The new Malkev asked. “How does one kill a god?”

Svephraey, paused. She was surprised by the Splinter’s curiosity.

”I don’t know, love.” She said. ”Though perhaps one could start by carving out its voice.”

---

Viktor Frost's Unexpected Visit

General Viktor sat quietly in his study reviewing the many reports given to him by his men. Things had been running smoothly since Malkev had come to his senses and agreed to the terms laid out to him.

Since then, Malkev had joined their cause, speaking out to the people and bringing them to the army’s side. By and large, they had won over control for most of the town with save but a few Cult friendly holdouts on the north-eastern side of the city. The remaining resistance was weak and he expected it to fall by sunrise.

What was more concerning was the reports the girl, Karina, had brought to him. A new cache of Shadow Metal had been discovered. A fresh cache. The first of its kind in perhaps a millennia or more!

It was a good thing that this new cache fell into the army's hands. In the wrong hands, the shadow metal could have hurt Viktor’s efforts in the war considering many of his tactics involved large scale illusions. Though what worried him was not that they had found new shadow metal, but the realization that new shadow metal could theoretically be made at will any time the cult wished it… That is assuming the girl’s reports were to be believed…

Viktor breathed out a deep sigh. Things were getting complicated. For one, the Cult had sided with the enemy. For two, his scouts brought rumor of two other towns that had been affected by Distortions like this one. That meant two other towns, in enemy territory, that potentially had new caches of shadow metal as well.

The winds of war were changing. He could sense it ever so slightly. He had a sense of where it was going, but was still not entirely sure how to proceed.

Rubbing his forehead, Viktor reach for a nearby glass of water when something caught his ear. A gentle blow of the wind. Funny, Viktor hadn’t opened any of his window. He eyed a nearby mirror he placed on his desk. A mirror he used to catch glimpses of those sneaking up behind him. The intruder was quietly climbing up the open window. She had no bow or ranged weapons that he could see.

Viktor continued to act as if he hadn’t noticed anything and casually took a sip from his glass of water. That was when his trap triggered. The intruder, a woman, shrieked. Startled by the chains shooting out from the stray piece of glass Viktor had left out just for scenarios like this one. The glass began to drink in the candlelight coming from his desk. The illusion running on light as fuel.

Viktor stood up, and calmly turned to the woman, his hands clasped behind his back. She struggled desperately against the chains wrapped around her body and wrists.

“A thief,” Viktor began, “an assassin-”

Viktor squinted. This woman, she looked familiar.

“-… or something else?” He muttered off to himself. Viktor frowned. “Who are you?” He asked. "And why did you deem it necessary to climb through my window?”

“My name-” The woman spoke, as she struggled against her bonds. “-is Princess El’lysael. And I climbed through your window, because I wanted to prove to myself that I could. Now if you would, I very much would like to be free of these bonds. Or do you do this to every young girl who finds themselves in your chamber?”

Viktor raised an eyebrow at the girl's attitude and her odd reasoning for sneaking in through his window.

He shook his head and slowly he walked to the stray piece of glass that activated his trap. With a light touch of his foot the trap turned off. The chains disappearing with it.

“Princess El’lysael?” Viktor raised his head ever so slightly, a realization coming to his eyes. That was why she looked so familiar “Yes… I see…” But why and how had the princess of the Nation of Sight found herself all the way in Shimmertown?

El'lysael massaged her wrists and looked back at Viktor. "So you're just going to take that comment about tying up young women in stride, huh?" She asked her eyebrow raise this time instead.

“One does not always need to acknowledge the insults of others.” Viktor said calmly.

"Mmm... Insults..." El'lysael muttered, not really caring about what he had had to say.

“You know, you look a lot like him.” Viktor said. “Your father.”

The Princess smirked as she picked herself off the ground.

“Funny.” She said. “People often say I look like my mother.”

Viktor held his tongue. So, the princess didn’t know. The Emperor’s disgusting secret then remained what it was, a secret. The deed the Emperor had done to his very own sister, the poor woman…

“Of course.” Was all Viktor said. “I see that as well.”

Viktor eyed the girl curiously as she collected herself. She wore a traveler’s cloak that looked worst for ware. She appeared as though she had been waring the same outfit for quite some time.

“So tell me Princess. Why and how did the Princess of the Nation of Sight find her way into my new study?”

The Princess met Viktor’s eyes and straightened her posture.

“I wish to help you.” She said. “To help you remove my father from power.”

Viktor sighed ever so softly. Again the winds of war shifted, and a path forward had presented itself.

[13org]

Karina Frost

Karina heard the being's words with skepticism. Fan of religions or not, being revered wasn't a prerequisite a creature like him needed to have so he could influence and control the fates of humans. After all, what he was doing to them was exactly what a self-proclaimed 'god' would do... He used and manipulated them.

'Gods' or any kind of creature that were seen as such were always the same... It's in their very essence to be selfish and egocentric. To use and manipulate the lives of thousands for what they believe to be 'the greater good'... Constantly intervening and manipulating, silently robbing makind of their free will.

Humanity does not need such interference.

As he continued speaking though, despite Karina's clear waryness and antipathy towards him, she couldn't help but find a certain reason within his words. The Cult was a plague. At least, it was definitely a much bigger and immediate menace than the being currently was. Despite that, his attitude and his words when he said that this world 'tires' him and how he spoke about the 'humanity' were a clear indication that Karina shouldn't forget what he truly was.

"In the end, it's just about your own interests, isn't it? After all, why should you care about the feelings, lives or the future of mere pawns? Of lesser creatures? In your eyes, we exist only to be used and further your own goals, don't we?" Karina asked with a very sharp gaze towards 'Bud'.

"As much as you use us, we will use you in return. This is simply a 'transaction' after all... And the terms of this contract are bound to change if one side realizes that it's getting less than the other..." Karina said with a terribly cold stare towards Bud, further adding and agreeing with Octavio's words as he mentioned that we weren't doing him any favours.

When Chres said that he didn't care about them, the being's answer almost made Karina laugh as he said that he 'still cared' in his own broken way.

"Oh but you do. In the same way one would care about their investments or their business, isn't it?" Karina continued, carefully watching the being's reactions as she spoke.

Despite everything, Karina could still see a way how both of them could benefit from a 'contract'. The Being was using them, so they would use it in return. He would be freed from this world and they would get rid of the Cult. It was a fair exchange. Perhaps even advantageous to them, as they might see themselves free from the Being's influence once everything was over...

Or that was what Karina thought before she heard about the 'conditions' for the pacts he made, which were the very things that sustained his existence.

The moment the being spoke about the conditions, Karina simply stood still, in shock for some time, still trying to understand what exactly he had said. It was only when he spoke aboud Vi'daerus that she finally realized what he had done to them.

At that moment, the words the being said previously during the fight came back to haunt Karina's mind, cutting it like a blade.

“No matter where you go. No matter what you achieve. The weight of his name will follow, and the ‘respect’ given will never really be your own.”

In the end, she would never surpass her father... Everything she did and would do in her life, all her achievements, all her effort would be stolen from her. To die in anonimity, without a name, without anything.

Hatred and anger were everything she could feel. Right now, she didn't care about how the being felt about the costs of his pact, or how guilty he seemed to feel.

Cold winds swirled rapidly around her as spikes formed around her feet as she walked towards the being, her rapier unsheathed as she did so. Unlike the ice around her, her eyes were burning with hatred.

Even though Karina had nearly exhausted her magic on the previous fight, her hatred was still enough to make the remaining magic she had go rampant. It was clear to those around her that she had completely lost control of her own magic. Fortunately, she was already exhausted enough to cause any harm or destruction.

The remaining heat on Karina's body quickly left as she stared towards the being. Even if she tried, she was simply unable to say anything. Words couldn't possibly describe the hatred she felt right now, how powerless she felt, knowing that she simply couldn't do anything against him.

Just as the being was about to disappear, Karina's lips started to move. The ominous and grim words that could be read from her lips were enough to freeze one's soul to the core...


"This world will be your prison. From now until the end of times. You will be powerless, useless, irrelevant and forgotten but I will not let you die..." Karina said just as the being disappeared, a moment before falling down on one knee, followed by the other, then her hands and finally, only then letting go of her rapier as she fell unconscious, her body dangerously cold to the touch as there was no heat left within it for her magic to use.