For whichever of the many reasons you’ve decided to take this position , be it the pay, the chance to earn safe passage and move up in the world of Auravall’s shimmering spires. Or maybe you want to protect those near and dear to your hearts.

We welcome you no matter what.

But just remember, nothing comes without its risks. You should be wise to follow what was learned from your predecessor’s mistakes.

1: If your neighbouring Watcher’s tower lights up like a Christmas tree, help them in anyway you can. You might not know when you’ll need their help in return.

• Why didn’t you help them?

2: If anyone approaches the village walls first identify the following:

2-B:Is the person in question wearing any clothing that obscures most if not all of their form? If yes, politely ask them to remove it so you can check for any concealed weapons and their identity 

2-C:If the person in question isn’t wearing any clothing at all, or their features are too out of place for any regular individual terminate them on site. Use the same force if the subject attempts to scale the walls or your tower

2-D:If the subject is not on the days briefing or if said subject is holding a concealed armament of some kind, politely turn them away. If they get defensive or violent at this news, use any force that you may deem necessary 

2-E:You let something inside,You let something inside,You let something inside,You let something inside,You let something inside,You let something inside,You let something inside,You let something inside,You let something inside,You let something inside,You let something inside,You let something inside,You let something inside,You let something inside,You let something inside

3.If the forest starts up with the screaming , wear the provided PPE. It should cease shortly thereafter.

4.Due to our local geography and particularly high concentration of [unintelligible] the temperature can often take sharp spikes into ranges of -10 to -50°C. During this time please remain within your tower, it will be over soon. Do not attempt to clear the glass. Measures have been taken to ensure your safety here. 

4-B I am safe here.

5.If rule Three is not currently within effect, every hour on the hour one of you must leave the tower to perform a routine spot check of the village perimeter. You can sort out who does what between yourselves .

6.Don’t trust any voice on the radio  other than theres.

7.If you hear your family calling to you from the entryway. Ignore them, civilians aren’t permitted to exit the village past sundown for their own protection.

8.If any wildlife or flesh growths  breach the forest’s boundaries, contact the provided number at once.

9.The Mages won’t be deployed with out substantial prior notice of their presence in the area. If none has been given , like in Rule 8 calm the provided number and pray help arrives in time. Do not engage.

10.But you couldn’t do it could you. You were too scared.

[Carry the Princess out of the basement.]

“Are you serious! You’re really going to carry her to freedom after everything I’ve told you?”

Voice of the Hero: I doubt the carrying part is necessary, shouldn’t you ask her before doing something like that?

(Explore) Would you be okay to stand?

The Princess: Should be, why do you ask?

I have to tell them everything

If any of us were to move forward then it’s just what needs to be done. 

Though, thankfully it seemed I didn’t have to fetch anyone. The news of its absence had travelled fast. By the time I’d properly gotten inside everyone was waiting in the living room.

The air hadn’t exactly been tense when I walked in though it hadn’t been malicious either. Just filled with a perverse sense of anticipation

Witch, who had been sitting on one of the sofas, had been the first to speak up with a snide remark.

Witch: Well are you going to spill it or what. 

Seemingly filling in for clarifications sake, Scipius had filled in practically as soon as she finished speaking.

Scipius: She’s inquiring on exactly the events that lead you to leaving the Heretic behind

Of course they would be. I decided, just no more secrets between what happened, I would tell them everything. 

I just needed to figure out how.

Advie: I’m just wanting to know on what fight went down. There had to have been something right?

Myself: Well there had been a fight.

Advie: See! I told you!

Myself: But not with it

Marcus: Well are ye goin to say who the unlucky shite was?

I hadn’t found the time to exactly call the Princess who charged us unlucky.But as I thought about it, the more apt the description became. She had been rabid, yes.  But I guess she had been unlucky in the sense that she had no clue that she had no chance in winning her brawl.

Myself: I’ll get to it. We found as we’d gotten back into the construct. There had been nothing. No path, No forest either.

Prisoner had been the next to chime in. She hadn’t looked nervous per se. She had the same stoic look in her eye she’s always had. Though the slight wringing of her hands as she spoke almost said otherwise.

Prisoner: Was there really nothing. All of us at least had the cabin.

Myself: There wasn’t a thing. Except we had found another Princess

Damsel: Then why didn’t you  take her back home here? 

I thought this type of question would come up. I  had done so with all of the rest of them. Even Beast. It had just been a feeling, a gut instinct that all of that animalistic rage wouldn’t have tapered off if she got her wish of tearing the both of us to shreds.

Myself: I couldn’t, as soon as we got close enough , we found her looking exactly like Mira.

Tower: Are you not aware of the possibility that it was the newcomer? 

Myself: Even if she had been new, considering her opinion of it. She wouldn’t have shanked him like she did. She just drove her hand in deeper. Before long, she looked more like a caricature of what a person should be after that she was gone, and everything that should have been there, now was.

Tower: So the little Birdie actually proved himself a useful thing for once.

She smirked slightly at the thought. I couldn’t blame her. For all she knew the thing was a walking pile of feathers with glass bones that broke at the slightest touch. One who tried to act all high and mighty until the moment it lost the upper hand.

Nightmare: How do you know he was the one to do that? He can barely move without collapsing.

While in the moment I wasn’t one to care too much for the details. At that point I didn’t really care for anything it did.

However, she had hit the nail right on the head.

Myself: No you’re right. Though it hadn’t helped really in the slightest. 

Beast: She broke free of cage?

Myself: Practically as soon as we got there. Could feel that If she was going to get out, her bloodlust wouldn’t be stopping at just us two. The thought of whatever it did to her.

I wouldn’t have called those chains a cage, let alone a bracelet with how effortlessly she tore them from the rock.

Advie: So you had to fight her!?!

She was practically bouncing up and down on the spot. To anyone else, she would be alarmingly excited at the thought of what bloodshed had transpired. 

Myself: She didn’t give us another choice. As soon as she got out she tried to strangle the feathered thing.

Damsel: Why was she so angry at him?

Spectre: Well considering the odds, he probably had history with her as well.

Spectre almost seemed to be thinking on the same wavelength as I had been. Though it was heavily unlikely that we had been the only two to do so.

Myself: Well, with whatever it was, I only had the chance to get her off it. But with a sleight of the hand and all sense of reason just utterly left it as it grabbed her and hurled her off. But like before she just kept charging back like a rabid animal.

Advie: Well what happened next?!?

Myself: Not much happened in the cavern at least, she had seemingly budded herself off and as a seeming last try, all of this smoke and nerves came forward. The next thing I knew I was seeing the past. 

Advie: You sure you didn’t hit your head on one of those rocks or something. You really went from a cave to that.

Myself: I know it sounds far fetched. But I’m saying what it is. The honest truth of what happened

It had been at this moment that Mira had slightly appeared from around the door, she had seemed slightly worse for wear.

Mira: Hold on, you saw the past? Who’s?

Grohg: FLYNN SURE?

 I don’t know how exactly she did it. I don’t know exactly how she knew. I just knew that it had been real. It had matched up with everything I knew.

Myself: I saw it all, everything it put all of you through. Bar you Mira. I saw everything.

Spectre: So you really saw all of it.

Her hair, usually a twirling mass ever floating, seemed to relax slightly. Whether out of shame or relief. I don’t know.

Razor: You saw the ribbons he made? 

Nightmare: So you’d finally understand why I’d wanted to prolong the suffering he’d been going through. Where he’d left me?!?

Myself: I saw everything. I saw what all of you were put through.

Beast: He threw me back in the cage! He dead didn’t count.

Spectre: I just wish he’d at least given me a chance before he killed me

Tower: That pathetic birdie couldn’t kill a fly if he submit to me that easily

Witch: That witch wouldn’t have submitted to anything. If he had I’d have guaranteed you that he was up to something.

Advie: And you just left it there?!? You didn’t bother to finish it off while you had the chance?

Myself: Listen, I had my reasons as to why.

Nightmare: Honestly you’d be a waste killing him just like that? For him you’d be better dragging it on longer.

Myself: I hadn’t been there to torture the thing

Marcus: I knew ye can’t kill the bloody thing but it bloody sounded like ye were!

Grohg: I’D DONE SAME CAN’T URT OUR FRENDZ

Scipius: Well if the Heretic can’t be killed. Would you allow me to accompany you to ensure the restrictions are of suitable nature?

The more hands that could help with this the honest to God better. I don’t know when or how exactly this Thing was going to get out, just that I needed to get it locked down and fast. 

Myself: If you wish

Prisoner: So he’s gone. Like actually gone, you didn’t just kill him and he’s going to come knocking on our door again tomorrow?

Damsel+Mira: He’s really not coming back?

Myself: No he isn’t. I’ll be making sure of it. I think we should use this as an opportunity to finally just let go of our pasts. Anything that may still be haunting us, we don’t have to forget about them. We can just all move forward together.

At that everything seemed to just lighten up slightly.

Marcus: Aye I can drink to that.

[LOG END]

[ADDENDUM: 7:00PM]

It had been a while since I’d done this but Damsel’s right. All that fighting, blood and all the other stuff warranted a bit of a freshen up.

Wiping my face off with a bit of water lead to something odd

My reflection blinked.

All while my eyes remained wide open

Blink

Again it had moved without me even so much as fucking flinching. 

While I don’t know how this is happening. 

I think something. I don’t know what. Is watching us

The cameras should still be working so if anything approaches throughout the night, we’ll be made aware of them. Whatever or whoever they may be. 

I’ll set up some traps and let people know to lock their doors as well

Just to be safe.

The Thing is gone.

Left behind to rot, it won’t bother us again.

When I came back from the Fortress there was confusion at first.

I decided to ignore the seeming delay in how my reflection moved in the entryway mirror.

Marcus: Ye left with the Bird didn’t ye? Ye didn’t lose control of yerself?

Myself: No, it’s not going to be bothering us anymore. I don’t think it’ll be going much of anywhere, at least I hope not.

Marcus’s eyes furrowed at the news. He’s already pieced together seemingly what’s been done.

Marcus: I see….so ye left the bloody karker in there

Myself: It’s for our own good that thing doesn’t see the light of day again. You’ll get the details about it later. Just keep it you yourself….please

Marcus:  Just let me ask ye this. How will ye break the news to that Mira lass? They were practically karkin inseparable the two of them. 

Myself: She has to find out one way or another.

It did not go down well.

I found her chatting with some of the others out the back of the cabin, namely Witch, Prisoner and Advie. 

Mira: So is that why you like fighting people so much?

Advie: Exactly why!!! Absolutely can’t get enough of it . I just hope that Flynn relents and finally lets me fight him one day.

Myself: Not sure how many times I’ve told you this already but I think you already know the answer.

Mira: Oh hey your back! How’d things go?

Her eyes fall behind me noticing That Thing  hadn’t been by me.

Mira: Did you already lock Quiet back up?

Myself: That’s actually what I came here to talk to you about. As for you two. 

I turn to address Witch and Advie.

Myself: Could you please give us some space for a while.

Witch: Why did ya ditch the freak in a corner somewhere or something?

Prisoner. Silent thus far, seemingly perks up at this comment. Though decides to say nothing.

Myself: Get inside pleas

Advie: It’s not worth the effort, just leave it.

Advice’s shockingly compliant for once. Though as the three head inside it feels as if something’s still there. Waiting. 

Mira: You didn’t actually leave him there. Right?

Myself: I wish I could say I didn’t, but please understand. It was for all of our own sakes.

Mira: But he never hurt anyone! Didn’t Marcus tell you that? 

Myself: Even if he didn’t want to hurt anyone. That didn’t stop things from coming to him.

Mira: But aren’t you strong? You dealt with them last time without issue. Please just tell me you could have just dealt with them.

She started choking up a bit at this point. Slight tears well up.

Myself: I could have. *sigh* but It’s what I had to do.

Mira: I understand….I just….I just need a minute.

With that. She heads inside. I know how it feels. To lose family like that. It’s…never easy to hear. Even if it is for the better.

After just….sittting for while. I eventually heard someone come out back. Looking up I saw Damsel standing there.

Damsel: Is everything alright?

Myself: It’s fine. Just…..had to deal with something.

Damsel: It’s about Quiet….isn’t it.

She must have overheard our conversation just now.

Myself: So I take it you know then?

Damsel: I heard…. 

She sits down beside me.

Damsel: Did you actually?

Myself: I just needed to be sure we would be safe….

She looked conflicted slightly , but seemed to settle soon enough

Damsel: Well…thank you..for always looking out for us. 

As she says this she hands over a large flower. Looks like some sort of Moonflower. It’s pretty.

Myself: Thank you.

Damsel: Glad you like it.

I just hope whatever’s watching us stops already

[Switch to Flynn’s Perspective]

That thing just had to make this so much harder than it had to be

If it hadn’t gotten involved in it, had it just left it to me. It would have been quick, sorted it out right then and there.

Now it’s been swallowed up to god knows where with this rabid Princess on it’s ass

Though I couldn’t care to give it much more thought, as I’ve got something else up here 

I think it’s bud off

From the dark comes a noise, low at first though it doesn’t take much for me to realise exactly who it’s trying to copy.

It really thinks I’m going to fall for it disguising itself as Damsel

Princess: You can hear me…right Flynn? It’s just so dark in here

Myself: Give it up

Princess: Give what up , silly? It’s just me.

I wasn’t going to be playing any of its games. Just a few steps forward and a quick pull of it into the light revealed exactly what I needed to know. It was wrong, more a twisted mockery than anything that could hope to look like her. She just doesn’t have this many eyes. A quick bring down of my fist and her head caved in before there was a slight give and more of those nerves spewed forth . No matter what happened , crushing the head completely, riddling her body with holes, only burning her corpse seemed to halt the frothing with any significance.

Though with her seeming dying moments she tried something.

Not even bothering to attack she tore the environment into something new. Less a cave, rather a basement. The basement.The one each and every one of the girls had come from. Though it was different, in some cases enormously so, as if someone stripped it down to the bare essentials, the only singular inhabitant being one of the girls, or at least another who bore an uncanny resemblance to them. She doesn’t seem too surprised that I’m here, it’s like she hasn’t even noticed, though If this is it’s attempt at showing me something then it can be rest assured it’s not going to do it any favours.

Dammit! Where in the hell did that thing go? 

Though taking the slightest of steps forward shows something, the stone patchwork of the basement floor has a layer of give to it. On the off chance this is real. I should talk with her.

As if responding to my thoughts, a shadow appeared at the bottom of the stairs. That thing, a knife clenched tightly in its scaled hand.

On this there was reflection, on what it had said about the “Narrator” and his situation. How he had been instructed to do this, it tried to play remorseful

The Princess: And there you are, are you here to kill me or something?

There wasn’t even a singular goddamned moment of hesitation, not even a seeming reflection on what it was about to do. As soon as she finished, it charged forward and sank that knife into her heart, a singular calculated blow as it stood over her with its hollowed eyes looking coldly down, unblinking, unmoving.

It didn’t even seem to register to the thing that it just took a life.

A brief flash showed me only Spectre was left behind. She barely held herself together searching through each and all of the corners of the cabin. A lonely soul left to wander until it found a ride home.

And I didn’t hesitate to try and take its.

As soon as the hit connected everything changed, writhing, squirming, screaming. And it was all back to how it is. 

Okay, so it seems to get to her all I should need to do is pummel it into the ground.

With a thought it was all back, a click and creak of the cabin door and That Thing appeared at the bottom of the stairs once again. Only this time it didn’t seem so sure on what it had done. Was The Thing’s conscience finally getting out of whatever chains it locked it in? It didn’t matter in the slightest as the moment he touched a hand to her neck I returned “the favour” he gave to her.

Razor was left to practically carve her cabin to pieces. Growing all the more erratic with each and every passing day that it didn’t return. Her blades the only comfort she seemingly took pleasure in. 

The next time the Thing was just so pathetic that it didn’t even put up a fight just fell to the ground and lay there as it took, no almost accepted its punishment.

This only left Tower with the choice to reflect upon herself with the starlight that fettered through the stained glass window. A self proclaimed God with no followers. One eventually exposed to the humanities of the normal  life.

Another step found the environment shifting to the cabin’s upstairs landing, a dust ridden practically ancient room. The blade lay wistfully on an old oak table. So….it wanted to do this? It had the option to just leave it here. But no, it decided that it had to kill her. Even when I had disposed of the blade before it arrived, it just showed me that without it. The thing would practically mercilessly do it’s “job” with it’s bare fucking hands. No matter how much Advie seemed to enjoy it. Once that thing was dead, she just sat on the ground with a look I hadn’t seen on her before now.

An almost pure and utter sadness

It was just getting sadistic.

Running its mouth as fast as it could, making all these sweet promises about how it’d help them and set them free, only for things to rightfully and justifiably backfire into that thing’s shit eating grin as in one case I  Beast mauled it to the point of being utterly unrecognisable.

I watched it play a role of comforting friend, building up their hope and dashing it flat with a blade to an unsuspecting back. A sense of broken trust, broken minds and a broken body. Without it Witch is left distrustful of every noise that moves. A mind so hesitant to reconnect with a sense of trust again that it tries to shut it down before it can even truly begin. Though in time, as with everything , that hurt began to slowly fade.

Its false promises and cowardice lead to the basement door being thrown open and it cowering in a corner jumping at every little movement or twitch of the finger. Only leaving her lonely soul exposed to a life by nothing but a petty and vindictive being that it saw fit.

 It brought the blade down a slight spark of something resembling a conscience only to try and turn the blade against her only to have its throat slit open. We stood there, watching it bleed out. It left her, detached with the seeming escape growing more distant by the day.  

That brief spark was thoroughly dashed out, another half assed rescue mission left me her to drive a stake through it’s body. Over and Over and Over and Over and Over. Until poor Dams was left in a room, weeping.

With that singular and final time the environment collapsed into that textured void of nothingness once again, the “Princess” lay lifeless. The toll of everything catching up to it both physically and mentally, and as if the space around folded in on itself , she’s gone in a sea of the presumed Mound’s hands.

Only one thing was left, this thing. If it can even be called that. It’s had a choice yet each and every FUCKING TIME it was given the chance to take the right path. To try and seem like it had any semblance of the humanity it tried to show. It just  kept stooping lower and lower, resorting to dashing the hopes of the girls and killing them with this sick sense of almost cowardly sadism or leaving them to rot.

This Pile of Feathers with Legs isn’t leaving this Place.

[Switch to Quiet’s PoV]

[In the moment we come to we find ourselves…nowhwere. There’s absolutely nothing to be seen in any direction]

(Skeptic) “Nowhere” doesn’t exist. Keep searching, we're bound to find something eventually.

(Paranoid) But what if we don’t? What if we’re trapped here? Stuck to this place, you’re right there has to be someone else. We can’t just be the only ones here.

(Hunted) The things in shadows can use it to conceal both their forms and intentions. You need to be careful.

(Contrarian) We’ll be fiiine what’s there to be afraid of in this dark place anyways. I always found it quite cozy to be honest.

(Explore) And if we do find something what’s your proposition then hm?

(Stubborn) We chase them down and fight them like we did the Princess that took us here!

[Walk forward]

[Continuing forward we’re initially met with nothing. Though eventually you see a man. Rather muscular in stature, with short black hair. He doesn’t notice the seeming approach, or our presence. In fact it’s like we aren’t even here at all]

(Hero) It can’t hurt to try and talk. Right?

[Call out to the man]

[We call out, trying to get his attention, but nothing seems to work. Though as the man begins to walk you find things begin to spring forth from the void. Visions, places, and eventually entire worlds. Some things beautiful, betrayals and discoveries. Eventually came to be someplace familiar to us. Earth. A place where he’s seen for the first time since we were taken here.]

(Skeptic) You realise you don’t need to act all mysterious. Just tell us things how they are.

[Okay then. By he. I intended to mean the man in metal. The one who strapped the bomb to our back.Though he’s different now. I don’t know how to describe it. He’s just more normal]

(Cheated) So you mean to say he wasn’t always as strong as a thousand fucking suns?

(Skeptic) Of course he wasn’t!!!. You think anybody was just born with what they’d get later in life?

(Cheated) Well of course not! 

[I do see what you mean there. It’s like, you just look at the guy and can’t imagine he’d be anything else than that mountain of muscle.]

(Cheated) Exactly!

[He’d been stuck here for months now. A cold barren steel building on a chunk of rock. That was until the day everything had changed. A distress call from a facility just like their own nearby goes out before everything goes silent. He’s stationed outside his own, unaware of the tides of flesh and horrors unfolding within. However the silence had gotten to him, searching the oppressive halls lead to the worst]

(Hunted) Not good. The air’s gone still, they’re just using it to drag you in.

(Paranoid) But who’s doing the dragging?!? You can’t just jump in blindly without knowing what you’re getting into!

(Stubborn) Sure you can! Just need to beat down anything you can and you’ll come out on top!

(Contrarian) Oooorrrr you can just turn around and walk the other way! Saves you and pins the problem on someone else

(Hunted) If he’s got any will to live, he’ll walk away from the jaws before they close

[Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly I should say. He doesn’t, the seeming mortal man refused to let this even waver him. With ruthless abandon he tore through searching for a chance to stop this right at the source. Eventually he finds something, the lost base. Floating above something that looks like what can only be Hell.]

(Paranoid) Hell?!? HELL? I’m sorry I must’ve misheard you. We can’t be in literal fucking Hell right now. We just can’t be.

(Cold) Whining about it isn’t going to do you any good. 

(Stubborn) Right on? Just pick up a bit of courage for once!

(Broken) Can’t you just let someone have a normal reaction? This is what a normal person does.

[Down there’s where he finds it. The one behind the lost base , part spider, part something. Though it’s death is too late. The man returns to Earth only to face the gut wrenching realisation. The demons, Hell, were on Earth. His presumed pet Rabbit’s head mounted on a pike]

(Cheated) It really seems like Hell just hates him in particular doesn’t it? 

(Paranoid) What did he do to deserve this, What did he do to deserve this, What did he do to, deserve this,What did he do to deserve this,What did he do to deserve this

[The dead were piling up day after day. The screaming never stopped. Some try to leave the planet via a vehicle you can’t even hope to describe. Thankfully, against all the odds The Man mows down the horde with a seeming relative ease before finding the source of the invasion. His home town. Through the swirling fire he finds the orchestrator of this madness. Not the Spider from before, but what can only be described as Sin itself. A colossal skinned bovine skull, with an awfully convenient cavity exposing its brain. A quick rocket through puts it down for good]

(Stubborn) How the hell is that what put it down. Where’s the fanfare? The carnage?

(Hero) How’s this not enough for you? This thing was going to kill everyone. By all means it should have been put down quicker.

(Opportunist) I mean not that it makes a difference, but wouldn’t dragging it out just a teeeensy bit more make the better story?

(Broken) At what cost? You can only put yourself through this so much, the same goes for everyone. He doesn’t deserve to fight forever. No one does.

(Stubborn) Are you forgetting someone?!?

[He’d been haunted for god knows how long. His past battles resurfacing in his nightmares and the PTSD haunting him during his walking days. Fate, as cruel as it was, seemed to want to thrust him right back into hell's core. He accepted its call. Fighting his way to its core once more he found his seeming home to be among the fireballs and rockets. Quenching a thirst for demon blood making sure that no claw could ever wrap it’s grip around humanity again, Hell is where he remained. For untold eons he rip and tore until he found himself in a civilisation unlike his own. He wanders close to a massive fortified wall, what lay beyond is currently unknown.]

[I honestly don’t know where we are anymore. When did we even leave Hell? Have we ever even left?]

(Cold) What makes a difference? If you ask me, it was getting rather dull.

(Skeptic) You think people could have set up a whole civilization surrounded by those things?!? Absolutely not.

[Dragged inside he’s brought before what seems to be this places high officials]

(Opportunist) Nows the chance! Why doesn’t he just schmooze on up to them while he can?

(Paranoid) And get himself killed?!? We have no idea what this place is like? How do we know they won’t just throw him into an arena for sport?

Daeg Ranak: He has fight in him yet

Daeg Nilox: In spite of his injuries

Daeg Ranak: Send him to the arena. Let him be judged like the others

[With that order the half conscious Man is dragged from the room limp and unresponsive. Though that doesn’t mean he’s down for the count. As he’s tossed into the ring, he pummels the others into the ground leaving them dead, half dead or writhing in agony.]

Doomguy: Guts ... .huge guts! Must kill them…Kill them all!

(Stubborn) Now that’s what I’m talking about! Back in the action!

(Broken) You enjoy this?

(Stubborn) Of course! Do the cheers mean nothing to you?

(Broken) No?!? I’m a normal person , a normal person who’s adverse to all of this.

Doomguy: Rip…..and…Tear!

Daeg Grav: You’ll make a fine addition to the front lines stranger!

Doomguy: The demons….They are everywhere…must kill them all!

(Hunted) His prowess is still standing strong. He needs to keep it when he’s backed into a corner. 

[While that fighting “prowess” you mention does greatly persist as he’s put through the wringer fighting for the front lines against nary a similar foe, it earned him the right to be taken under their wing. Reading their rites, forging a brotherly bond with those he fought alongside, eventually he was given permission to return to the battlefield he once and continued to thrive on. Hell. Many a time where others fell He prevailed. RIP AND TEAR!! He cried as he fought through the hordes.]

(Stubborn) He really is unstoppable isn’t he. 

(Opportunist) Thinking about it, that’s why we maaaaaaybe shouldn’t have pissed him off.

(Broken) Maybe?

(Smitten) How could we have known the cruel cruel hand fate had in store for us? Was wanting to explore with our beloved really such a crime?

(Hero) Is him wanting to protect his so bad either. Two sides of the same coin really.

(Cold) And does that coin matter when you’re not the one controlling it’s toss?

[Though eventually he faced a foe he couldn’t take down with all the strength he possessed. A great titan risen from Hell’s Depths. In this darkest hour he was chosen. Given a gift of strength to help him on his way. Stepping into a great machine the very totem pole of reality’s order had shifted. In went a skilled warrior and out came a Slayer.]

(Stubborn) You feel that? What the hell was that? That wasn’t anything normal was it? Something that does that can’t be normal.  Time to see that giant get it’s ass handed to him!

(Cold) He stepped into some alien microwave. No need to get all so worked up

(Stubborn) Worked up?!? Worked up? You’re witnessing masterstrokes of history here. In the making!

(Hero) I get you’re excited, but tone it down a little. You’re embarrassing yourself

[With strength beyond those could even begin to conceive of, the Slayer continued what he lived for. Though under a new command. A conceptual collar forced onto him by these things where they angels? We weren’t sure. What was for certain was that they knew he needed to be controlled. Used. Feared.]

(Stubborn) And they should fucking fear him!!

(Broken) A man forced to fight beyond his limits? Forced to carry out the whims of something who doesn’t care the least bit about him?

(Stubborn) What limits? He quite clearly has none!

[Though there came a day when something refused. Rising up to command the hordes unlike what we’ve laid eyes upon thus far, came a Prince. A being like many another strove to rule over Hell from which he came, one in search of]

Prince Azhrack: And The Heart of Argent? 

Daeg Loric: Is sealed in a chamber. I told you. I cannot open it. No one can

(Opportunist) Why not just point him to someone who can? Smooth things over with your reputation’s a bit

(Cold) It seems they had a deal, they seem to have upheld both their ends. Nothing more to it

(Broken) But he knows what he’s doing. He knows who’s being put at risk here. Even still…

(Smitten) Pray tell, have you never had someone you’d sacrifice everything for?  

[Though it seems this information hadn’t deterred the Prince in the slightest. Making sure the Slayer had been “preoccupied” he advanced upon the heart’s location. As the invasion advanced beyond the city’s limits The Slayer mounted some cybernetic Dragon to close in. This battle was won. Though the hordes had been relentless. Trying to finish the job they started they began to advance on the city they fell back upon.]

(Stubborn) He has a motherfucking dragon too?

[Back on the angel like ship whether the torment had reached his ears or be it self created. The cries of the innocents caught in the crossfire reached him. The tether flickered once, twice, thrice and then completely flickered out]

Slayer Movement detected

(Broken) It’s for the best, nothing good’s going to come of him staying her like this anyway. Not for him, not for the people. Not for anyone.

(Stubborn) You think I like him being cooped up like this either? 

[They try in vain to up the tether’s power over him. To absolutely no avail. He continues to advance. Pounding fist after fist against the shields of his “pen”. The weapons that surround him are readied and he’s launched.]

[Clearing the horde and giving the opportunity for the King to escape . The Slayer and the king’s daughter traveled to a great forge allowing for his power to be swollen to even greater heights. Leading him through the boundaries of Dimensions and into the bellies of old Horrors. Eventually into his own cage and his death. Despite that. Despite everything, even at the cost of his own life he seemingly wasn’t going to rest that easy

[Commandering a colossal Barge The Slayer returns from the land of the dead. Wasting nary a moment he gets right back to work, slaying the Creed, he fights the Prince once more, ripping the Heart of Argent from his core and forcing him to retreat. Though in the process, Serrat was unceremoniously put down by the Prince. Just how much family was Hell going 

(Broken) Too much. This is just too much.

[On their last legs, the Witch and Azhrack confront The Slayer a final time. Though at this point it should be obvious enough that they don’t stand a single chance. Azhrack had been hunted down and promptly decapitated. The Sentinels had been freed from the conflict that this war brought.]

Commander Thira: And lastly, I’ll ask you to join me in paying our respect. To him. The people of Argent D’Nur rest easier now. Knowing that he is out there

[Though this peace brought by the Death of Azhrack was like all things, to shortly pass. From right under their noses, the “Angels” or Makyrs as you’ve come to know them as. Have built what can only be called Abominations. Vast cities solely dedicated to torturing those who’d perished, Syphoning off something to be sent back to Urdak. Once this came to light, so did the Civil war of the Argenta Forces. Those who followed the likes of the Creed , among them the Priests who’d formerly relented to the sides of humanity and those who vehemently opposed what the others had stood for. The dark and the Light. Among those in the light was The Slayer. Every fight. He was there. With each advancement. He was there. Fighting, Ripping and Tearing with a rageful fervour. One which had eventually blinded him, luring him into a temple that had been promptly dropped upon his own head]

(Stubborn) He can get out of this right? He has to be able to get out of this.

(Skeptic) For all that he is, doubt he can see the future. How’s he to know what would happen? 

[With this once in a lifetime chance The Slayer was locked away, encased in a stone sarcophagus, marked to serve as a ward for those who’d come near. And there was where he stayed, for God Knows how long he lay in wait until one day  He’d been ripped from this Hell and once again thrust into another, one claimed to be a necessary step in the betterment of mankind]

Samuel Hayden: That is pure argent energy you just took in

[What the fuck is that?!?]

(Skeptic) Some sort of energy source I’m guessing, if they’ve got this much then there’s most likely loads stored around the place. Maybe it’s dedicated to the stuff

Samuel Hayden: We exploited Hell and its resources because it was in mankind’s best interests to do so. What you see around you now is the cost of that progress. But none of it matters now

(Cold) Does anything really matter like this?

Samuel Hayden: The facility will not let you access the turbine room unless the demonic threat level is brought down inside of the foundry.

[With nearby seeming nests and threat levels taken care of, the woman behind this all had no choice but to use the nearby energy tower to manually create the connection point between these worlds.]

Vega: While the Argent Tower is non functional, the connection to their dimension is still viable. We are at great risk Doctor Hayden.

[A great risk that needed great care to be given. Care that The Slayer couldn’t care to give. One by one the filters keeping this place running were destroyed. Shutting down the energy production in the process]

(Contrarian) Ooooh like what he did there. Relatable on how you want to give things a good ol 'kick to see if that does anything. 

[A cost, a blow to all of this caliber was sure to have its ripples. But it wasn’t nearly enough. The woman had been successful using an unknown device, she had torn open Hell and the Slayer followed suit. After emerging from the depths he found that Hell was once again loose. After confronting and becoming tethered to the Man who’d come to be known as “Hayden” a once more trip to Hell’s depths was undergone to retrieve the Crucible. Disabling the Vega AI, rupturing its core came this Fight. The Woman twisted into something only resembling a Spider had been put down. With that The Slayer returned to Earth. The Facility to converse with Hayden a final time]

Samuel Hayden: You’ve won, it’s over. You stopped the invasion and closed the portal, but it’s come at a price. Argent, Vega, This Entire Operation. You see I’ve watched you work, come to understand this operation.You think the only way is to kill them all, you may be right. But we can’t shut it down. Without Argent energy it will be worse. I can’t expect you to agree.

But with this we can continue our work. I am not the villain in this story. I do what I do because there is no choice. Our time is up. I can’t kill you, but I won’t have you standing in our way. Until we see each other again.

(All) Oh you asshole!

[That day would come sooner than anyone thought. The Priests from all those eons ago, still carried oyt the whims of their wretched Makyrs. Travelling the realms, torturing those who they came across. Earth being their next stop.]

[As for The Slayer, he found himself a home. A fortress. The very one that he dragged you through. From there he, Humanity’s Saviour answered the prayers for salvation with a hail of lead. Within nary but a few minutes, he’d tracked down the first of the three Priests like a hungry bloodhound and promptly did as he does with any other Demonic. The invasion is reduced by 36.8%. The celestial locator needs a replacement]

(Skeptic) Presume he knows where to get one of them? 

(Stubborn) Of course he fucking does!!!

(Skeptic/Hero) Well go on…tell us where then if you’re so certain

(Stubborn) Well ... .uh…..from someone he knows most likely!

[.....Right.]

[They say this is humanity’s chance to repent, The Priests]

Daeg Ranak: You will not save them from their judgement! 

[The King.]

King Novik: You know our laws.

[A Betrayer. A Father. Trades The Slayer a fully charged replacement for the empty device he carries. Requesting for his Son’s life to finally be put to rest. In the Arctic the second Priest lay in wait. Wielding something long extinct put to new form.]

(Opportunist) Look at them, they’re trying so hard with all they’re fancy gadgets.

[Are you really siding with the people busy eradicating fucking humanity right now?!?!?]

(Opportunist) No! Not at all! More just commenting. That’s all !

[With its hunter dead. The Priest is put down without mercy. Though on return to the Fortress something is inside]

Khan Makyr: This has gone far enough.

(Cheated) Of course it had to have been her. Can’t she just leave him already?!?

Khan Makyr: Despite the loss of the Priests, Earth will fall and my people will survive. I will answer the human’s prayers, reward those that believe.

(Hero) Like she’s done anything to help those she’s killed so far.

[The Corruption has been expedited. The invasion had been turned from a trickle into a full on flood. The source. A gore nest , once blown to absolute smithereens, only halts the invasion. Despite this the final priest can’t be located. Though theres is someone who may have answers.]

(Skeptic) Hayden most likely, he seems to be the only one who seems to know a strangely unreasonable amount about Hell. If you were going to need anyone it’s him.

[Why exactly do you think he knows so much?]

(Contrarian) A cyborg’s bound to come from an educated background right?

[Hoisting the decaying rot of mechanical parts down alarms start to blare]

Facility Voice: WARNING, Demonic Presence threat level 5 entering main laboratory. 

[Out steps a man. No something that used to be a man. The Slayer throws Hayden through a portal and back into the Fortress out of reach]

Marauder: You were never one of us. You were nothing but a usurper. A false idol. My eyes have been opened. Let me help you to see slayer.

[These were beings who once sided with the Khan in life, and were denied a finality in death. Mutated and reborn for one purpose alone. To kill the Slayer. An utterly fruitless dream. Hayden freely gives away the final Hell Priest’s location. Sentinel Prime. The last known gateway now sunken into the core of mars.]

Samuel Hayden: You Can’t Just blast a hole in the surface of Mars!!!

(Hero) He’s doing fucking what?!?

(Stubborn) You didn’t hear him? Can’t get where he needs so you just make your own way

[Taking the gate through, he finds himself where he was once taken in. Where he proved himself. Now a place of bloodsport. The place where the Priest’s last blood is spilled. 

[Witnessing this, the Kahn’s last hand is forced.  A monster, The Icon of sin is going to be reawoken]

(Contrarian) The big guy isn’t so bad….right? 

(Paranoid) Are you kidding? Do you not even remember what it did the first time around?

(Cheated) Are you going to go on and on again about how great he is?

(Stubborn) Angry grumbling)

[There’s only a singular way for this to end. Reclaiming and reforging his lost sword from within the birthplace of his legacy. He rides a wave through the void to the Makyr’s homeworld. Interrupting the ritual , laying the Betrayer’s son to a final resting place and setting the Icon free to roam the Earth. Kahn's arrogance and her underestimation of the Slayer. That is what lost her everything, her people, her home and her life]

Khan Makyr: You have destroyed all I was meant to rule just to protect them, mere servants to our beliefs. You have broken the holy seal of Urdak. Your transgressions here will jeopardise all of creation.

[All that’s left is to kill the Icon. Its mere existence being enough to create a black hole to threaten Earth. Dragging it and the universe into Hell’s depths. Though with its death, this realm is safe once more]  

(Stubborn) As expected !

(Cold) Did you forget about the other demons?

(Stubborn) There should’t be any trouble with that surely.

(Broken) Just how many more will be hurt though? Hasn’t there been enough already?

(Hero) I’m sure it won’t be too long now.

[With the Demons in Urdak, they once again threaten a new pathway is under threat of being commandeered. A new guide must be begrudgingly worked with so that The Slayer can reach the one man capable of sealing off Hell’s forces.]

(Skeptic) Bet’s on that Hayden from the Argent facility. He honest to god seems to know more than anyone.

[Taken to an isolated rig in the secluded ocean , The Seraphim is found dormant and in wait. With his old body accessible to him once more Hayden jumps ship from the robot to the flesh. A request to locate someone. The Father. The betrayer. The one who betrayed the man from the void all those eons ago ]

(Skeptic) What did I tell you? 

(Cheated) I know he doesn’t need it but why can this guy jump bodies. Yet this “Great Slayer” can’t?

(Stubborn) Then he wouldn’t be so great now would he? What’s great about someone who jumps ship every time they get hurt? You’ve got to push through it! 

Seraphim: Hurry…retrieve the Fathers soul sphere. He will save Urdak from the demons. For the human’s sake, do it now.

[However these requests will never be honoured, he knows the makyrs corruption, knows what’s in store for them, for humanity, should the ally themselves. He’ll never retrieve it. Quite the opposite. He intends to destroy it. After breezing through the trials required, that’s precisely what he does.]

[There’s one way and one way alone that this can end. Bring the Dark Lord. The Leader of Hell’s armies. Back to physical form.]

(Cold) Now that’s at least an interesting idea? 

(Cheated) INTERESTING?? I think bringing back the FUCKING DEVIL. Should be more than “interesting”

[Once the Slayer reaches the place necessary to carry this out. He finds the Seraphim once more. Twisted and warped into a purple beast. Though before he’s killed, he’s taken away. No longer an impediment. The Slayer resurrects the Dark Lord.]

The Father: The Dark Lord is the leader of Hell’s armies. Not a king, but a warrior of the dark realm. The fiercest among them. As only the strongest could rule the demons. He is you. In their world.

(Contrarian) How do you suppose he’s getting out of this Mr Fanboy? Bit difficult to fight yourself isnt’t it?

(Stubborn) I’m sure it’s going to be fine! He’s dealt with worse surely.

[A single shot from the Slayer’s gun is sent out]

Dark Lord: Our time will come. If you survive I will be waiting for you at the city of Immora.

(Smitten) Such a beautiful name for such a cruel cruel place. 

[The World Spear is the only place capable of powering the Gate of Divum. But a shard being capable of limitless untold power. With the Shard in hand, the gate is opened. Leaving the Dark Lord and The Slayer. Neither side willing to take this lying down. Neither side willing to go quietly.]

[From what was an army of one then became two, then four, and eventually countless in size. All turned to spear their might at one foe, one force. All to assist the man. The Slayer as we’ve heard him called, heard him worshiped as, what he’s feared as]

Commander Valen: Come, Brothers! Let Hell tremble before our might!

[Though while they nary trembled for a moment, Immora’s walls never were going to last. A final attack brought The Dark Lord and Slayer face to face]

Dark Lord: Stand and fight Slayer. Honour your true God. Fight and show me your purpose

(Stubborn) Here it is!!!!You feel that. The excitement is killing me!

(Opportunist) You know what? I can see what you mean. It is exciting to see the winning side come out on top.

(Broken) I’m just happy we can all stop killing each other soon

[Despite being a brutal fight, metal against metal, fists against fists. Even the Dark Lord of the Underworld still has places to rise. His mech suit is too damaged to continue. He’s dead to rites]

Dark Lord: Tell me, have you nothing to say to your creator before you strike him down?

The Man in Metal: No

[With that one man impales the other and you feel it. The entire balance of things shifts on its very head, all the demonic presence you’ve seen outside of this place. All of it….is simply wiped clean, as if it was never there. Though that in itself doesn’t replace the scars left behind]

(Opportunist) We really aren’t the top dog are we?

(Stubborn) Did you not just see what he did? All the glorious bloodshed he spilled?!?

(Broken) All the pain he’s been through.

[This journey, the chapter of his life. At this point has seemingly come to an end. Placed inside a stone Sarcophagous. It all goes dark and there he is before us.. The one thing makes itself clear. The only one here to fear]

(All voices) It’s Him.

[A sudden kick in the ribs shatters you awake. Through the pain of wincing eyes you see The Man a seeming newfound rage in his stance, in his heart. Looking down upon you]

(Skullface) "You've hurt them..."

"W-what?"

(Skullface) "The Princesses... Each of them suffered in their own way... all thanks to you..."

"You've... you've seen my past?"

(Paranoid): We’ve seen plenty of his , why couldn’t he have seen ours?

(Skeptic) But how much?

(Skullface): "I've seen enough."

(Opportunist) Now surely there’s some way to reason with him….right? There’s a way to reason out of all of this.

Look, I had no choice! I-I was forced to-

(Skullface) "There is ALWAYS a choice! What kind of man are you if you can't find a way other than murder? Who am I kidding... You're not a man... You're barely a humanoid... You're a fucking pile of feathers on legs!"

(Broken) He’s right, we could have done this differently.

"I'm... I'm sorry... Is there something I can do to make it up to you?"

(Skullface) "To me?? No, buddy. You've already done plenty. I'm going to put you through a mere fraction of what you caused to others... You won't make it out of the Construct... I assure you."

[There’s no hesitation, not in his words nor his stride. Slowly but firmly he walks forward. A snap, excruciating pain. Our arm is for all purposes gone. Though he doesn’t stop there, try to speak but the throat goes next, then the legs, organs are crushed and ground. The last thing we see before it begins to go dark is him, leaving us behind, forever in a prison of our making.]

(Eepy) *Yawn*.....I thought I told you guys to wake me up if I missed anything

(Cheated) WHERE IN THE FRESH FUCKING HELL WHERE YOU?!?!?

[A prison that we belong in]

Chapter I:The Hero and The Princess

“You’re on a path, in the woods. At the end of that path is a cabin, and in the basement of that cabin. Is a Princess. You’re here to slay her, if you don’t it will be the end of the world.”

[Explore] The end of the world? What are you talking about?

“I’m talking about the end of everything as we know it. No more birds, no more trees and, perhaps most problematically of all, no more people. You have to put an end to her.”

[Explore] How can one person end the world? She isn’t magic or anything right?

“You don’t need to linger on the specifics, all you need to know is that she can and if she gets out she will”

[Explore] How did I get here? Who even are you to begin with? It just seems that there’s something else at play here.

“Listen. All you need to know is that you’re here for a reason and that reason is to get into that cabin and slay that Princess. You can consider me a helpful voice to guide you along with that”

[Explore] If this Princess really is going to end the world, then how did she get locked up to begin with? Normal people surely couldn’t do that

“Well you’re right on one thing. People did lock her in that basement. As for how, again you don’t need to worry about specifics. I’ve told you more than enough already.”

[Look. I’ll go to the cabin and I’ll talk to her. And if she’s as bad as you say she is then maybe I’ll slay her. But I’m not committing to anything until I’ve met her face to face]

“Then I guess we’ll just have to see what happens. But a word of warning if you go in prepared to hear her out, she could easily tap you in her web of lies. And the more you listen to her honeyed words, the harder it’ll be to pull yourself out.

Then each and every one of us are doomed.

So sure, go talk to her. See how that turns out for all of us”

“You make your way up the short path to the cabin. You’ll find the princess within.”

Voice of the Hero: You’re not going to go through with this right? We’re supposed to save princesses not slay them.

“Ignore him, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

[Proceed to the cabin]

“The interior of the cabin is almost entirely bare. The air is stale and musty and the floor and walls are painted in a fine layer of dust. The only furniture of note is a plain wooden table. Perched on that table is a pristine blade.”

“The Blade is your implement, you’ll need it if you want to do things right”

[Explore] “So who left this thing here? Someone had to have been her to leave it surely. Otherwise it would have been dust ridden like everything else”

Voice of the Hero: Wouldn’t it have had to be pretty recent? As how could a blade be this good for this long?

“You..don’t need to linger on the specifics of the thing, all you do need to know that it was left here for you. “

[Explore] Why should we even need a blade in the first place?

“Unless you plan on going down there and killing a world ending monster with your bare hands, you’d need a weapon”

Voice of the Hero: That’s the thing though, if she’s really so world ending, then surely a blade’s not enough? How’s she even trapped there in the first place?

“Please…. just don’t linger on the specifics. Go in there, do your job and proceed to your reward.”

[Enter the Basement]

“The door to the basement creaks open, revealing a staircase faintly illuminated by an unseen light in the room below. This is an oppressive place. The air feels heavy and damp, with a hint of rot filtering from the ancient wood. If the Princess really lives here, slaying her is probably doing her a favour.

Her voice softly carries up the stairs.”

The Princess: H-Hello? Is someone there?

Voice of the Hero: It’s hypnotizing. It’s the kind of voice you only have to hear once to remember it for the rest of your life

“Don’t let it fool you. It’s all part of the manipulation. You’re playing a dangerous game by coming here unarmed”

[Continue down the stairs]

“Good. You’re still listening to reason. It would be better if you had a weapon, but you may still be able to do what needs to be done.

You walk down the stairs and lock eyes with the Princess. There’s a heavy chain around her wrist, binding her to the far wall of the basement”

Voice of the Hero: She’s beautiful. How could someone like this be a threat to the world?

“I’m begging you to stay focused.  There’s a lot riding on you here.”

The Princess: Hi! Do you think you can get me out of these chains?

[Why don’t we talk a bit first?]

The Princess: O…kay.

[Explore] “Has there been anyone here before me? To visit you perhaps?”

The Princess: No…you’re the first one in a long long time. Why do you ask?

Voice of the Hero: If we’re the first ones then that just lends all the more credence to what we thought upstairs. There does seem to be something else at play here

“Or maybe here’s a more rational thought, the people who locked her down here knew the threat that she posed and took the only sensible decision which is to lock her up, throw away the key and try to forget that this place even existed until you arrived to fulfill your sacred duty”

[Explore] If I’m the first person you’ve seen in a while. What have you been eating? Or drinking?

The Princess: I don’t see what that has to do with anything

“This is the only time this is going to happen, but I agree with the Princess. That’s hardly relevant.”

Voice of the Hero: Okay, but actually what has she been eating? She has to eat, right?

[Explore] “Listen…I know this is going to sound crazy but do you believe in magic?

The Princess: Are you serious? We’re in a life or death situation here and you're asking me if I believe in magic?

“You should drop this already. There is no magic at play here.The only dangerous thing her is her, whom you’ve spent long enough talking to her as is”

[Explore] “It’s just as if it looks like the upstair’s been all but abandoned, yet there’s a blade that looks brand new. There’s also the fact you’ve been down here God knows how long but haven’t seem to have been eating anything, not to mention there’s a voice telling me to kill you before the end of the world.”

The Princess: Hold on… end of the world? I-is that why they threw me down here? But I don’t want to hurt anyone. I like the world! I think. I don’t remember much about it. To be honest I’ve been down here for so long.

Voice of the Hero: That’s…How long has she been locked away?!

The Princess: Did they tell you-how I’m supposed to end the world?

[Explore] I was hoping you’d tell me

The Princess: I don’t know how to destroy the world if that’s what you’re getting at

Voice of the Hero: I believe her.

The Narrator: She doesn’t have to know how to destroy the world to be capable of doing it.

The Princess: At the end of the day, what the two of us have going on down. Here is about trust. Blind trust. Whoever sent you to “slay” me claimed I was a threat to the world. But they didn’t tell you why. I don’t trust that. And I don’t think you do either. Or you wouldn’t have come down here to talk.

Voice of the Hero: She has a point. We’re talking like this for a reason.

The Princess: So this shouldn’t be about what I’d do if I got out of here, or me saying the right thing to convince you to save me. This is about how messed up this whole situation is! This is my life we’re talking about! Do you really think I can even end the world? Why would I even want to? We both know that if there’s people we can’t trust in this situation It’s whoever locked me down here, and it’s whoever sent you to slay me. And those two groups are probably one in the same.

 The Narrator: Don’t let her turn the tables here. This isn’t about trust, this is about risk, we stand to lose everything, all for the sake of one person. And a subjugating monarch no less. 

“Okay, I’m going to get you out of here. Don’t make me regret this” [Examine the chains]

“You’re only making this more difficult”

The Princess: Thank you and I won’t! I promise!

“Your making a big mistake”

Voice of the Hero:No you’re doing the right thing

“You walk up to the chains, binding the Princess to the wall and give them a tug s̸̨̨̧̨͉͚̗͇͓̫̺̲̣͚̼̫͖̹̱̭̬̮̮̺̘͙̬͉͈̱͖̈́̊͋ͅů̸͈̝̝̹̬͇͍̙̟̘͈͈͈̗̓̄̐̀̈̈̀́͂̾͐̽̀͐͗̂́͛̀̃̀̀̈̐̆̈̒̚͝͠͝͝p̸̧̧̛̛̰͓̫̩̼̯͔̮̝̳̠̥͙̟̳̈́̆͋̀̑̈́̒̊̄̂͗̏̿͆̂͌̉̌̃́̈̌͛̏̅͂̀̅̑̽́̓̓̓̂̓́̈̓̓̓̕͝͝͝͠p̸͕̱͍̰̭͉̠̞͇̉͜o̶͍͇̗͙̎͂̉̀̇̽͆͆͂̓̂̽̆̑͊͊̽̀̾̂̊͌̈́́̉̋̈͘̕̚͜͝͠s̸̡̡̛͍͕͕̦͙͕̗̮̬̜̰̼̰̞̦͈̥͖͉̩̗̫̩̅̇͋̍̐͗͌̄̉̋̈̓̿́̆̽̃͐̀̇̒̔́͊̾̓͂̏̍̉͊̓́̃̃̍̿̕̚͜͝͝͝͝ͅe̸̛͚̻͌̍͌̀̐̑̈́̍̎̀̎̀͑̑̈́̆̍̏͂͐̆̐̈̋͑͆̓̉̓̍̓̚̚̚͝d̴̢̛̛͇̜͓̼̠̥̟̥͙̫̬͔̖̯̘̲̥̻̺̜͉̹̫̻̱͉̠̒̊́̊͐̿̔̂̏͂̓̀̒̇̄̐̍̍̒͆͑͐̉̆̒̾̑̌̏͒̀̔̈́̚̕͜͝͝͝͠ͅͅ ̵̧̡̡͓̤̫͕̻͙̘̬̼̱̥͔̙͍̭̥̪͙͔͈͎͔͇̳͚͎̭̣͎͈̠̭͎͈̲͕̻͗̌͒̀̅̓̓̃̂̆̈̈́̾͘ͅẗ̵̥͇̜͎͖̲̳̯͚͇͙͚͚̙͉̻̪̱̪͕̦͚̪̯̰̬͙̤̦͖͇͎̪͖̲͍͇̥̰̜́͂͆͜ͅǫ̶̼̭͔̳̠̠̮͉̩͍̠̭̓́̔̀̅͑͆̏̑̄͗̽̑͗̈̈́̚͠͝͠ , slight panic in the Princess’s voice”

The Princess: If I could just get out of these chains then I know we could get out of here together.

"She barely hesitates before raising her arm to her mouth, her teeth tearing through her limb with the determination of a trapped wolf. As she rips flesh from bone gripping the chain to steady herself, you almost could swear you see the metal itself begin to twist and crack , from behind you you hear the clang of bouncing metal. It's the blade from upstairs. You're not sure how it got down here but if there was a time to strike. It's now."

[Explore] I’m sorry, but how the hell did this happen? We were just talking with the princess and now it feels we’ve missed an important part of the conversation.

Voice of the Hero: Not just missed, it’s like it never even happened, or it did in a weird way

“You were probably just spacing out, with all your thoughts of magic and the like I wouldn’t count it out. You’ve been given a golden opportunity to correct things here. Don’t waste it.”

[Save the Princess]

“Ugh, fine. You pick up the blade in your hand and put it to her ragged wounded wrist. Just above the unyielding chain binding her to this place. You cut into her flesh. The blade is sharp, it takes little effort to cut through the bone of her arm. Her chain falls to the ground, the limb following suit."

Voice of the Hero: She didn’t utter a sound through that at all 

“No. She didn’t”

“She smiles softly as her gaze meets yours, blood from her wounded arm rhythmically dropping to the ground”

The Princess: Thank you. Now let’s get out of here.

“No. We won’t be having any of that, the stakes are too high. You can’t just let her escape into the world. No, I can't let her escape into the world.”

“As the Princess approaches the bottom stair, your body steps forward and raises the blade”

Voice of the Hero: No you can’t just do that!

“Watch me.”

[Warn her]

[R̷͚͊e̷̘͂͒s̴͍̩̈́p̸̗̤̼̈́̕ō̶̫͕n̴̙͑͂s̸̺͆̏͝ẽ̸̤ͅ ̵͎̈́̋s̴͔̔̆͠ͅt̵̨͍̓͘͘i̵̯̮͈͗̒͐m̵̻̲͉͗̓u̶̘͎̘͋́l̶̤̮̀ụ̸̲̦́́ṡ̶̛̻͓ ̷̜̙̤̋ọ̶̬͂v̵̩̭̀̀̐ě̵͔͋͂ṙ̸̜̳̣́d̸͖̼̿̋ȏ̶̰͂́n̷͖̿e̵̬̝̾,̴͔͓̂̌ ̴͕̤͓̈́ŕ̸̢̝̥̀̔ë̸̡̗̲̄̅d̵̺̱̮͐́͝ì̴̳͖̽̽r̵̡͊ȩ̷̛̬̗̏c̸̰̭͐͠t̸̟͌i̸̘͌͝ń̸̫̤̦g̶͙̟̒̓ͅ ̴̘̓̈́f̷͉̅ǒ̵͖͘͠r̶̢̩̬̓́̒ ̸͈͒̍̋ú̸͖͛n̶̟̦̣̍̈́o̶̲̽b̸̙̼͔͂s̸̬̳̕é̸̜̳̬r̸̺̯̱̈́̀̄v̶̧̫̫̏̉̄ḕ̴̝d̴̥̫̚ ̴̧̨̘͒̉ȑ̵̜̎e̶̤̞̖͗͌̕s̷͙̳̫̐ư̷̥̻̮̿̚l̷͈̪̋̀̚ţ̵̊̚s̴̰̾͊]

“You bring the blade down to strike at the Princess’s heart, bracing for an impact that…..never comes. It’s almost as if an unseen force has grabbed it out of the air and with a flash of light the blade’s knocked out of your grasp, sending it scattering across the room. The sudden noise draws the Princess’s attention to you.”

The Princess: What did you….Did you really try to…

“But you don’t get a chance to respond, not before the crushing pain of the several spikes that have skewered you through sets in, spikes that quite frankly shouldn’t have had the opportunity to be here in the first place”

Both Voice and The Hero and Princess: What the hell happened?!?

“But you don’t get a chance to process what happened before everything goes dark and you die”

Chapter II: The Mage

It just doesn’t make sense

But then again none of this had made sense.

The Bird said he’d let me go yet as we’d left his knife had been flung around the room. Did I do that? He had been talking all that stuff about magic before he tried to kill me, at the time I thought he was just a weirdo, but I mean…who wouldn’t? But now..everything’s different,there’s bookshelves cluttering everything in here stuffed to the absolute brim, these glowing things (maybe Crystals?).There's even this shimmering pool filled with stuff that looks like water, but the almost metallic quality makes me want to second guess.

Maybe he was right, though that doesn’t change the fact that he still tried to kill me. If i’m going to figure out this supposed “magic” he was talking about then I’m going to be doing it myself.

*Sigh*

I didn’t even know the first place to start for working on something like this.

Reaching out and trying things with my hands got nothing but marks on my wrists and arms and a few hits with the chains.

I couldn't move so much as a breeze with my mind.

The only thing that came to mind at that point was to close the old eyes and feel out the environment so to speak. Though to my surprise, this seemed entirely possible, I could “see” everything with a dull white glowy outline soft under the touch. Giving one of the bookcases  the lightest pressure almost seemed to cave it in slightly like wet clay and a slight pull sent the contents scattered to the ground.

Perfect! If it could do this to a bookcase then the chains should be a piece of cake! 

Carefully steadying my breathing I held the steel ringlets in what could only count as my “hand” a quick tug snapped them in twain like soft dough.

If only the front door of the cabin was that easy, No matter what I did, no matter how hard I had pounded. Nothing, absolutely nothing happened.

???:C-R-N-S-C-T-sample-13 identified, detecting signs of frustration, analysis revealed subject escaped bindings by their own action though fails to leave on her own whims.

Me: What in the actual hell are you?!? Are you one of the voices the bird told me about?

???: Current relation of self to Sample C-R-N-S-C-T-0 is minimal. 

Me: Then what are you? Why can’t I see you?

???:Unnecessary, previous sample maintained aggression when unprovoked,tell me 13, do you desire your freedom? I can give it to you.

I had no idea what this thing was, nor what it had wanted. Though if it was bargaining with the possibility of getting out of this place then I’m taking the odds.

Me: What do I have to do in return

???: Nothing

Me: Then do it already.

And just like that, the door had opened, the cool night’s breeze felt absolutely wonderful, the quiet chirps emanating from the grass, the crinkle of the leaves in the trees, all of it was wonderful. 

So I decided to take a walk

Through the forest, down the short path away from the cabin and eventually into somewhere cold….quiet. It was there where I saw something beautiful.

A  tear in the space itself, beyond where a kaleidoscope of colours, ebbing and flowing, growing and dimming, birth, death and new life all in one concentrated instant. Wherever this was…I just knew that I had to be there.

And it was beyond there, that I met another like me

It's been a while since I've last wrote

Thankfully in that time nothing's broken in, no one's been hurt and their improving at a steady pace. Though before it all started I'd relayed what I'd plan to Marcus, Scipius and Grohg:

Scipius: Lord Taggart, if I may you have a plan regarding the sanctioned, correct?

Marcus: Ye need to be knowin what ye'll do with em. Can't just let it run round.

Myself: In actual fact I'd planned to train them so to speak.

Marcus: Ye want to bloody karkin train them?!?! The feathered lad nearly cost us our bloody lives cause of it's "fan-club"

Scipius: Marcus would be correct. I too think this is unwise.

Myself: Listen, I know how this sounds but I have good reasoning for it. We know those Cultists most definitely haven't been stamped out during that one fight. So my plan was to effectively turn their "so called God" against them before they could come back.

Marcus: Ye know this would work how?

Myself: That's the thing, I don't but if we want to guarantee our safety then we need to grab at every opportunity handed to us.

Marcus: Well then, ye better pray this hail mary of yours is pulled off.

Grohg: WHEN'D E'LL BE READY?

Myself: I don't know for sure, but most likely weeks, considering it's starting from making pillows of all things.

Marcus: Since ye're turning it into yer attack dog, ye think we can see it in action once ye're done with it?

As for the training, It had all started the day after I decided to not blow That Thing to bloody pieces, instead opting to drag it out of it's room at dawn. Unlike what I'd expected when I'd into their room, the both of them had been up and talking between themselves.

Myself:Up. Both of you. Come with me.

Mira:Best not keep him waiting

Groggily stumbling after I lead them to the pre-designated area, essentially to let the training wheels off just that little bit and ensure they don't kill anyone or themselves in the process

That Thing:I’m sorry to ask but….why would be out here?

Myself: So you don’t kill something, and so you can control yourself

Mira:You need us to do anything specific?

Myself:Make something again. Simple this time

Thankfully the two of them seem to have actually acknowledged what I'd said, following my instructions to the absolute T. Mira creating a notebook and That Thing making a small bouncy ball.

Myself:Again, multiple this time

And that's how it went, for weeks I'd drag those two out at the ass crack of dawn, directing them from simple household items, to various natural furnishings, machinery and even full on life in the forms of small animals. Throughout this I'd recount their growth to Marcus, Grohg and Scipius.

Marcus: Karkin hell if they're creatin full on life, wouldn't ye say they're stable enough?

Myself: It's kind of selling an engine you've made yourself, you wouldn't do that just because it's stopped sputtering would you?

Scipius: Perhaps not

Scipius: If memory serves, you had informed us that we'd see them personally once they stabilised. Had you not?

Fuck I'd nearly forgotten about that.

Myself: I did didn't I?

Grohg: WHEN"D AT BE?

Myself: How about at the end of the week?

And so with the date set in stone, the week's end had come and at the usual time the four of us had entered the confines of this Thing's room

Scipius: So this is the individual you spoke to us of

Marcus;Ye don't look to bad. Not like the karkin god Flynn told us about.

Grohg: FEATHERY! U A BIRSON?

Mira:Sorry for asking, but who would all of you be?

That Thing:As long as you're not going to hurt any of us. I’d rather anyone  not go through that again

Myself:They're here to observe

Marcus:We've been told that ye're practically fraggin omnipotent. I'd like to see it for myself.

Scipius: I would also like to witness this "Omnipotence" for myself.

Grohg:Wait.. YOU DO MAGIC?!?!

Myself:As they said, they're observing today. Get up.

Mira:That should be fine.

Quickly and quietly we funnelled out of the cabin and to the usual place, though to pass the time and since I guess it's the Boy's first prolonged contact with This Thing, they started asking the both of them some questions.

Grohg:WHY YOU A BRID LOOKIN THING?

That Thing:I honestly don't know. I've always looked like this as far as I know.

Marcus:Ye paused for quite a bit there. Why is that?

That Thing:You….know those voices in your head?

Marcus:Voices? So are ye karkin schizophrenic or something?

That Thing:I’m not sure what that means. But.. *Sigh* how do I describe it? It's like if you have multiple people all sharing your body.

Marcus:How'd ye and the lass meet?

Mira:Well….I’d been locked in a basement for I don’t know how long, before he showed up. I would have to admit I’d been scared at first but found he was a big softie at heart not long after

Scipius:Bird man.  One is half feline, one has horns, hooves and a tail, and now you... you have feathers and talons. Tell me… you are all sanctified mutants… correct?

That Thing:Sanctified?I don't know what you mean by that

Scipius:Are you telling me that you are not sanctified by the imperium?

That Thing:Imperium?

Fucking hell, this thing's just gone and signed itself another death warrant. This is why I locked it in a separate room. I couldn't have it breaking out and I couldn't have had Scipius knowing that it was unsanctified considering what happens to those unsanctified by the Imperium and what would happen if this thing somehow was killed. 

Scipius:You have committed heresy against the mighty God Emperor Of Mankind. I cannot allow this transgression to go without punishment.

No matter how much I want this thing gone and out of our lives. I need to step in, if this is allowed, then it's going to set a really bad precedent for the girls back at the cabin

Myself:Don't kill him yet. While he’s not sanctioned at this point, I promise you we will get him sanctioned once we finally have the time.

Thankfully after further pressing I seemed to talk some restraint into him.

Scipius:Very well. As you wish Lord Taggart. But I expect it to show full repentance for its heresy.

That thing (under its breath): Thanks, you really saved my ass tere

I didn't speak up to save it, I only spoke up to save the others back home.

The rest of the walk was sour, a tangible sensation hung over us with only the briefest moment of levity showing itself once things began

Myself (Directed towards Marcus, Scipius and Grohg) :For the past while I’ve been putting these two to work here. Trying to get their abilities under control. You wanted to see the results so that’s what they’ll show you

Though I'd already told them that in private, alongside to not expect some "perfect smoothness". Despite their first time infront of an impromptu audience, Mira and that Thing had quickly gotten to work, a young sapling having risen from its birthplace in the soil and a small red squirrel poking it's head from the top bushes. Simultaneously grew a small flowering rose bush with a family of raccoons underneath.

That thing:Awww! 

Mira:Thanks! I could say the same to you

Scipius:Interesting. It is going to take more than that to fully impress me.

Marcus:I'd say what them two have shown so far is mighty karkin impressive, creatin full blown life.

Considering it had started it's progress at nothing but a fucking pillow, this had been a huge leap for the both of them. Though time would yet tell if it put an ego in the two of them

Grohg: AWW CUTE!!! HOW'D U DO IT?

Mira:Kinda just had it pictured in my head and then poof! There it happened

That Thing: Same here

Marcus:There anything else the two of ye can make?

Myself: That isn't a danger to anyone

Scipius: That would be implied would it not?

Mira:I....don't actually know

Mira (directed towards That Thing): You wanna do something together?

That Thing: Sure

Turning to the side they chattered among themselves, talking something about getting on Scipius's good side and after a short time, seemingly struck with some sort of inspiration, both Mira and That Thing got to work on building something, what that was ended up was a machine that essentially a circular platform on a cylinder, claws that looked like the overturned legs of a dead Spider on the top.

Grohg:WHAT'S THAT THING DO?

Mira:If this works as it should, then it should make something you’re fond of

Grohg:S'AT MEAN I CAN GET ME ONE OF EM BIG BOOMS?

Mira:Well if that’s what you want, give it a go!

I just have a really bad feeling of what's going to happen, this things words and actions scream that it's pretending to be alright , that absolutely nothing's at stake here. But hell, something's going to go wrong. It always has and basic pattern recognition should tell me that it always will

Myself: May I take a look at it's inner workings beforehand?

Mira: Don't see why not?

Grohg: DONT BE LONG

Hoisting off the front panel the close inspection ended up proving rather fruitless as looking inside had revealed no inner mechanisms, not even a single gear or pully to the thing's name, They all seemed to vanish into thin fucking air. No explosives or hidden mechanisms either. I didn't even know how or if this thing were to function.

Grohg: U READY?

Myself: Nearly

One last cursory look reaffirmed what I was seeing and a quick reaffixing of the front. Grohg had been been standing there like a child about to go downstairs on Christmas.

Grohg: CAN I GO NOW?!?

Myself: Go ahead.

Rusbing his way forward and against what should have been all possible odds, the machine's legs whirred into life, frenzying like some sort of dying spider spinning a last web. One that took the form of a small wooden box affixed with a leather strap. Inside being a simple handful of grenades. Though looking at Grohg's face would make you think he'd been told the best news one could hear.

Grohg: WORKED A RIGHT ONE IT DID! LOAD OF BIG BOOMS IN ERE

He didn't even so much as hesitate before pulling one's pin and hurled it across the field, bringing down a tree in the large flash of fire that followed.

Grohg:HA! IT BEEN ANI..ANIA....AH GRUT IT! IT BROKEN BAD.

Next up was Marcus, once more the Spider was brought back, what's weaved ended up being larger than the simple box. This time what was left was a Melta Gun, not unlike the ones used by The Imperium.

Marcus: Bloody hell! Is that a karkin Melta Gun?! Been wanting one of these for meself for years now.

Hoisting it down from it's resting Place he gives it a quick once over

Marcus:From what I've heard ye're supposed to load it with a tank down ere. Guess it came loaded already! Lucky me.

That thing: Would you need a target? Can get you one if needs be

Myself (taking Marcus aside): You really don't have to do this. I don't think this is going to go well.

Marcus: Is this about the feathered lad? I understand yer concerns. Ye think he's got some karkin secret plan in that noggin of his? Even I wouldn't be stupid enough to even consider somethin with yerself and Scipius here. Ye cleared the machine didn't ye?

Myself: I'm just don't want you to get hurt If i can help it.

Marcus: Ye can do what ye must. if yet give the go ahead then all the better

Myself: This'll take a while.

Took a while it did, while meticulously checking the inner workings of the Melta gun revealed no obvious faults, even going opver them a second or third time with the dexterity of a fine toothed comb revealed absolutely nothing new.

Myself: It seems all clear for now

As soon as the words departed from my lips, the soil not 12 feet ahead of him began to crack and fall away and as if pushed up on some unseen platform, a large boulder came through. I handed Marcus his gun.

Marcus:I would cover yer eyes

As the trigger was pulled, the guns inner mechanisms began their work on what they did best, inducing the reaction that lead to the tens of thousands degree hot shot of heat bursting forth and utterly annihalating the boulder that came from the earth.

Marcus:All I can say is..... that's a karkin gun!!!!!

There was nothing that I expected, no sudden recoil, no catastrophic failure, no blowback, just working as perfectly as intended. Still....I even as I stepped up myself, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was inching it's way closer., if this machine really can produce anything. And looking at Marcus it seems like it can, I'm hitching a knot in this violent thread where I can for now. The metal legs frenzying like a dying spider, the material threads spin themselves once more, forming a fluttering ribbon on the bag as a finishing touch. Feeling the weight of the objects inside as I picked it up, I had a cursory examine, flowers, stuffed felt toys, decorations not out of place in a cozy cottage and the seeming coup de gras a framed photo featuring all of us, with Damsel front and centre. I admit it, I couldn't help but let out a slight smile at the thought.

Grohg:FLYNN NOT GETTING A WEAPON TOO?

Myself:No, If this really can produce anything then why use it for violence?  I thought something for Damsel would be more fitting .

I'd stand by those words, we'd all been through hell and back with more surely on the way in the near future. Everyone needs to take a moment to breath when we can.

Marcus:Ye're right thoughtful. Will I may not know er as well as Ye do. It looks like the lass would really appreciate it.

Though there was just one last person left to step on up.

With a steady stride in his step, Scipus stood forth the mechanical pincers working in tandem to create a simple combat knife and accompanying whetstone. Taking a few scrapes to assure the quality, the knife goes from dull to razor sharp.

Scipius:While you have committed heresy against the glory of the emperor. You have done yourself well with this.

For the first time in what must have been months, everything and everyone was calm, no fighting, no bloodshed, just an overwhelming sense of stillness. But like all things, it wasn't meant to last, Mira and the thing had stepped aside to have a conversation to themselves.

Mira:I’m glad everyone’s seemed to enjoy themselves

That Thing:Yeah, definitely

Mira:You think we should do much else before we get taken back?"

That thing:I may have an idea

Mira:Really? What is it?

That thing:I remember….. Before during the fight. All of the voices split off somehow. Could we do that again?

Me: Hold on, all your "voices" tried to kill me the last time they had some sort of body. How can you prove that they won't do the exact same thing again?

That thing: I know this is hypocritical of me, but I can't, you're going to have to trust me on this

Trust? Trust? How could I trust it, when it's the one that's been the reason for all of this. It's the reason we-

That thing: I can introduce you to the Narrator

Marcus: The karkin what now?

Myself:Fine then, a few minutes, maximum

As this feathered freak keeps turning over new pages and, just keeps revealing even more. As if having some sort of stroke, it's eyes rolled into the back of it's head  and black smoke began rolling from it's cracked and worn beak. As if they had a mind of it's own they started to writhe, forming twisting and turning until they resembled to almost identical, yet wholly different entities from the original

The Narrator: I know you have questions, but restrain your bloodlust, please

That Thing:We've already died once and, believe me….it’s not pleasant.

Pleasant?!? Of course death isn't pleasant, I've seen it time and time again for I don't even know now.

Scipius:More heretics?!? Just how many do you harbour?

Me: Calm yourself.

This was for the good of the both of us. If i had a modicum less restraint both that Narrator and the thing would be as deep in the dirt as they could be.

Marcus: So it wasn't a load a shite. Would be lyin if I said I didn't have any questions for ye.

Grohg:MORE BIRDIES?!? THAT MEAN U GOT MORE SOMEWHERE!?!

That thing: There are.

Marcus: If ye voices are real, then how'd ye come aware of each other? Just how many of ye are there?

The New one: I we……just always have to be honest. More arrived when we died, I think we’re at eleven?

"The Narrator":Refrain from grouping me in with the likes of you

Marcus: Then the hell are ye?

"The Narrator":I’m an ‘echo’ so to speak. I made him gestures to quiet

So he's the one behind all this? **He's...**no, It's the one who mandated all their suffering. With the thing just following along blindly obeying.

I need to here this from it's own mouth

Grohg: U MADE BIRDIE? LIKE HOW I MAKE ME NOSH?

"The Narrator":While I’ve no clue about your "Nosh" . I did make him and the Shifting Mound"

Marcus: The shifting what now?

"The Narrator":You would know her as the princess"

Scipius: So both of them are of the same nature?

Me:*To That Thing*. I'm asking you again, you said this "shifting mound" was why those hands were over everything. Why is that?

That Thing:Apologies, but I may know more about myself but I’m pretty much as in the dark as you are. Maybe I can think of a way to ask her directly?Narrator. You did say that both the shifting mound and  us were in the construct? Or I guess she was in the "long quiet"

"The Narrator": Go on.

Then wouldn't she still be there? So I guess as long as we find our way there we can ask her whatever questions we need.

Me: *Gestures to That Thing* He says he woke up on a path, with someone telling him to kill a princess. Was that you?

"Well...Yes...."

Marcus: .....So yer the one..?

Grohg:U WANT TO URT PRINCESS?

Me:.........

By that point, it was enough this thing had gone on torturing the girls and it touts it all for this "grand goal". Bullshit. It needs what's coming to him.

Without wasting another moment, I grabbed the so called "Narrator's" arm and with one swift tug, it gained another elbow. I pulled, and pushed again, and again, and again and again. Teeth, feather's, bone fragments, all ripped away.

And it was only the beginning. As if on command, the machine from earlier roared into life, producing a medical syringe, filled with fluid that upon injection, effectively wound back the clock on this "Narrator".

Me:Marcus, Scipius, Grohg. Take those two back to the cabin. I've got greater concerns at the moment.

"The Narrator": You can't just leave me here!

Me: Now

Without another word, the rest of them left towards the cabin. I'd need to deal with the feathered thing, but for now, all that's left is me and it.

"The Narrator": I'm sure you could understand.....right? I did this for all of us, for the greater good of everything.

Greater good my ass

Once certain the two of us were alone, I began to rip

"The Narrator": Please! You just have to understand it was for the greater good.

And Tear

“The Narrator”: You have people you care about, right? RIGHT?

And snap

“The Narrator”: You! Please do something, anything!

Now this, this is what gave me a slight moment of pause. Was there someone else here? I knew those cultist bastards practically burst from thin air beforehand so if there was someone he was seeing, I needed to know where. Though leaving this thing pinned limply to a tree and conducting the most thorough sweep I could give the forest yielded no results. When I came back it was giving it’s last gurgled death throws.

"The Narrator": Fine.

As those last gurgled words, escape it's broken jaw, life finally leaves the body.

Shit! I'm not done with the bastard yet.

I won't let it be done with me. The machine whirred to life once more. Yet no matter what happened , The body stayed Infuriatingly limp, hanging from where it was nailed to the bark.

....It was done.

Chapter II: The Celestial

Voice you get: Voice of the Astronomer

How to get to the chapter: In chapter 1 you ask the narrator pretty much why can’t we talk to the princess first before deeming her the threat she supposedly is. The narrator replies as he usually does , pretty much saying that talking isn’t an option as we’re up against a bit of a ticking clock. You question this “jokingly” saying that it’s not like the moon’s going to fall out of the sky if we take too long.

Once in the basement with the princess, if you do end up choosing to talk to her , you can ask if she remembers anything about the outside. Then either you or her can bring up the stars and how you can both find the sight of them rather beautiful

You can continue down this path furthermore but eventually the narrator cuts you off demanding you make a decision already.

You can either choose to slay or free the princess, however either way

The last thing you see out of the basement window are the stars beginning to fall one by one, crashing into the earth, the cabin is crushed and you with it.

You’ve taken too long and the clock’s run out

Everything goes dark and you die.

Cabin: The initial upper room you see resembles an almost space station (think the ones from alien isolation) so the walls are almost slick white cabinets lining the walls, the only furniture of note being the plain white worktop. Resting on its edge is the pristine blade

The door to the basement is heavy and vacuum sealed. Pretty much airtight,proceeding down the basement metal grate like stairs you find the temperature rapidly drops , once you get to the bottom you find the basement pretty much resembles the surface of the moon, gravity being much weaker and the princess is chained to a large boulder

The Princess: when seeing her chained to the boulder you get the impression she’s made of the moon’s rock around you, she’s slightly chipped as well

Several miniature planets orbit her. She can grow and shrink them as well as she needs. She’s also able to move these about through telekinesis.

The chipped pieces float above her head in the formation of a tiara with a miniature moon acting as the base.

Her dress is a mixture of dark purples and pinks. Dotted around are white dots resembling stars. Her eyes also now resemble stars

Personality wise that differs on whether you brought the blade and chose to slay her or not.

 

If you chose to free her she moves in almost an ethereal fashion, an otherworldly feel follows her . She does not know why the stars fell. Yet she harbours no ill will towards yourself. She more has indifference and an unknowable almost curiosity, for you and the world outside.

If you chose to slay her however she’s cold and distant , silent in her words initially she acts as if you aren’t even there. But if you continue to show hostility and cruelty for her, she’ll be sending it right back at you.

 

Chapter II: The Horizon/The Void

Voices you have: Voice of the Astronomer, Voice of the Hero, Voice of the Cold.

How you get there: In the previous chapter if you’d initially chosen to slain her and end up trying to provoke her even further, disregarding any possible salvaging of things that could have existed before, you need to continue poking and prodding at her until she starts to pretty much break as she starts to progressively feel just emptier and emptier.

Turning her indifference into a sorrowful rage she tries to fling some of those planets that orbit her into your direction, but her heart’s really just not in it, their size begins to falter as they fall to the ground, destroying the basement in the process and causing things to just collapse

The Cabin: Once you wake up in the forest you find that there is no “Forest” per se, instead you’re in what seems to be the deep void of space, constellations mimicking the general appearances of the typical huddles of trees.

It’s freezing cold here.

The cabin just floats aimlessly in the void, the only thing that can vaguely count for furniture here is a slab of wood, perched on it’s edge is the pristine blade

The only real difference in what could count for the basement is the silent, but ever present hum of a passive black hole, it’s gravity slowly pulling you, and her towards it.

The Princess: When entering the basement it’s hard to make her out as she pretty much looks the exact same as the void that the two of you have found yourself in, her pinprick eyes looking exactly like distant stars. If I had to name something specific of how she looks I’d compare her appearance to SCP-179/Sauelsuesor.

Overtime her pinprick eyes begin to grow to resemble the great blackhole in the background

Personality wise she desperately tries to maintain her indifference, to pretend that all is fine, but you can tell that she’s been hurt, she dismisses, you telling you to just hurry up and leave, as there’s nothing more that you can do to her that hasn’t already been done

 

 

 

 

Chapter title: The q̶͉͉͇͍͉̜̟́̑̑̔̄̏͒͗̔̌̍̇̕͜͝ͅͅà̶̰̖̩͖̭̺̯̪̺̠̮̮̣t̶̞̫̔̓͠͠ỳ̶̼͉̥̫̖̲̗̫̲͎̕ẗ̸̛͕͎̤͎̪̈̑̀b̵̹̗̉͗̉ͅh̷͙̟̠̪̦͉̣͈̥̤̃̓͐̒̑̄̕k̷͉̘͈̬̟̳̘̜̞͙̹̻̀̍̆̅̀̈́̏͠ĵ̸̹͉͈̞̰͚̟̣̼̩̆̔̆̽͊̃͗ͅv̸̹̠̫͔͇͉̝̳̻͖̔̀̊͝

Voices you can get: Voice of the Contrarian, while Voice of the Hero can reflect some traces of all the others depending on your dialogue choices.

How you get there: The main thing I thought of in this chapter is that it plays on the unknown and how that would work when the Narrator constantly describes everything to you. So in that case in chapter one just after the Narrator says his opening line, you begin to question the fact that you have some sort of voice in your head, asking him to leave and as expected the Narrator would put up a fight, but if you continue down this path you eventually manage to shut the narrator out. This continues throughout the chapter and  leads you to express your frustrations with him to the Princess in an attempt to do anything to get rid of him at that point, eventually this just breaks the narrator and he talks about how you’d know nothing of what’s at stake without him, and if you want him gone so bad then so be it, and he leaves but not before killing you in the process (presumably by using your body to stab yourself with the blade. Putting you in chapter II with a form of amnesia as a final “Fuck You” from the narrator

The Cabin: Unaware of how to process the fact you’ve just returned from the dead and the little information you’ve managed to gather, the cabin this time around has no set appearance, clouded in fog every time you reach the edges the appearance shifts to something entirely new, the only thing that can count as furniture has some sort of weapon perched on its edge, including but not limited to the pristine blade.

The basement can also change from tightly cramped tunnel to vast and seemingly endless expanse in the blink of an eye

The Princess: Like the Cabin, the Princess is also subject to change in personality and appearance depending on your dialogue choices, for example, at one moment she can be harmless, but if you show a hint of doubt she can rapidly change into something more monstrous for a split second

A potential ending for the chapter could depend on whether you manage to collect yourself before things get too out of hand resulting in you either being killed by her or leaving the cabin alone or with her as well.

u/tabbyslome gave the word: Eternity

Chapter II: The Ancient

Voices you can get: Voice of the Endless or Voice of the Broken

How you get there: In the chapter one, you’d can either take the blade down the stairs or leave it on the table, either way what matters is what you say to the Princess: This being that you’re honest with the Princess of what the narrator tells you is at stake. Talking with her you eventually somehow work out a compromise between you and her. That being  you both remain in the basement. Against the initial protests of the Narrator, you’re content, though eventually after constant prodding of the narrator you have two choices, accidentally succumb to the Narrator killing the princess and yourself (getting you voice of the broken), or you remain in the cabin until both of you decay away.

The Cabin: The Cabin feels eerily ancient, it’s still in good condition yes, however the architecture screams less “modern” and more of a bygone era of the distant past, The Pristine blade sitting on the edge of an old fashioned wooden table.

The basement maintains this old timey architecture, it’s main difference in it being almost suffocatingly long, seemingly from first glance, near infinite, however if you walk far enough you will find the basement’s end.

The Princess: In this chapter the Princess hasn’t changed as drastically as she would have in other chapter two’s however she does look much much older than she was previously, resembling someone who’s experienced a lifetime in a place so confined. She carries her voice carefully, speaking with the knowledge of someone wise beyond their years.

How this chapter progresses: There Is no real conflict this time around, it’s just the two of you, sitting and having a talk trying to come to terms with the fact that you may have much much longer lifespans than you’ve previously estimated (evidenced by the fact that you haven’t aged proportionately to your time spent in chapter one). Even trying to come to terms with the fact that you may live to see eternity, if you become content with this you stay here, taking with the princess (or you can free her), however if you reject this idea, opting to leave/kill her or any other means, this leads to chapter three

 

Chapter III: The Unending Dawn

Voices you can get: Voice of the Endless or Voice of the Broken, Voice of the Conceited (plus another that I’ll not say until later on)

How you get there:

The Cabin: While the forest around you is perfectly normal looking, the inside of the cabin is much larger on the inside than the out, seeing the inside also fills you with the sense that this place is much older than you ever where and will outlast you for seemingly eons to come, the architecture and table in the corner being built to reflect that. Resting on the table’s edge, as always is the pristine blade.

The basement of the cabin takes on much of the fortified architecture of the upstairs, however the key difference is that no matter how long you walk you can never seem to find the end. It just keeps going. Throughout the chapter though the basement will take on more varied appearances.

The Princess: Throughout this chapter I thought it’d be interesting if she didn’t take on a single physical appearance, instead she’s everywhere and everything, she can be and is everywhere at once, including as a voice inside your own head. Through this she tries to guide you towards the outcome that’s most suitable to her.

The goal of which is to make you comfortable in letting go of your desire to save those on the outside, stepping into eternity to spend it with her, rather than spending it by yourself as since she puts it: “The Infinite can get rather lonesome”

How forceful she is with making you realise this is also dependant on the actions you took in the chapter one, with her being more lenient if you have Voice of the Endless as she’d assume you’re more likely to come around to her viewpoint.

To convince you of her views she essentially forces you into an almost trance like state, in which you experience an approximation of all human life. Every high, every low and all that come’s in between. Feeling all the pain , happiness and the reprieve that death can bring at the end of it all. Trying to convince you that the human mind is just not built to live forever.

Once this has been done, she moves on to something similar yet different, she shows you an approximation of what it’s like for you as the long quiet to live forever. Though she doesn’t know of your true nature’s at this time she can tell that the both of you are different from the rest, she shows you how you can’t be wired to form the same permanent connections that make life worth living, everything you know slipping through your fingers like sand. The pain of what it’s like to truly be alone.

Don’t think she won’t use all the time she needs to make this work. As Shifty says

“Days mean nothing in the maw of forever”

How this chapter progresses: There are four or so outcomes that I imagine could come of this chapter, first if you have the voice of the Endless, you never make it out of the infinite, too content, she can never pull you back to the now, the second is the end but your mind just slowly breaks, the third is if you have the voice of the Broken you can withstand what she puts you through and either kill her or leave with her into the now.

 u/AffectionateDrama749 Gave the word: Bomb

Chapter III: The Ordinance

Voices you have: Voice of the Stubborn, Voice of the Tactician, Voice of the Hero

How you get there: This is another offshoot you can reach through the Adversary, this time when initially proceeding down the basement stairs after taking the blade you can suggest that the both of you should be using at least some form of weapons to even the playing field in a way. I’d imagine this would initially be shot down by Adversary, however this plants the idea in the back of her head and as the fight progresses, she ends up pulling one of the bars free from the window.

After this progresses for a while and the protests from Stubborn about the fight “Feeling Stale” starts to grow and he consistently asks for something bigger and more destructive pointing out how since you came back from the dead, then that must mean that some sort of “other” force is present (which he argues could mean other sorts of things can happen as well), as a result you eventually get your ands on an explosive

If incorrectly used it would go off, sending you to the chapter three.

The Cabin: The upper room of the cabin retains the similar cavern style appearance of the previous chapter, however while it does have the similar structure it look’s like a bomb’s cone off, scorch marks spread up and down the walls and the “table” from before is a pile of rubble, the pristine blade perched in the centre.

As you descend the basement stairs you almost find yourself descending into a boiler, with each step down, the temperature rises just a bit more. The basement’s walls consisting of molten slag mid flow

The Princess: In the chapter three the Princess’s appearance has taken on the appearance of an explosion (if you somehow managed to freeze one in place and shape it to look like.a person), the almost draconic elements from her previous appearance are here as well, but magnified, her dress is consistent of various pieces/shards of metal shrapnel, these same pieces of metal shrapnel make up a few pieces of armour she’s also got.

Personality wise she still retains the want to fight you, but her way of going about it is less “brute force” than the adversary. Now she’s more overall cold and calculated in her actions, ensuring that you are as well angry at you for your “slip up”.

If you fail yet again the chapter ends and you progress to the wildfire.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter IV: The Wildfire

Voices you have: Voice of the Tactician, Voice of the Stubborn, Voice of the Hero, Voice of the Hunted.

How you get there: If you progress through The Ordinance and don’t learn from your mistakes that caused the bomb to misfire back in chapter two, the Ordinance becomes progressively more and more angry towards you and your “incompetence”. Causing her to slip up in her calculated moves killing you in the process.

The Cabin: As soon as you wake up you realize that the forest around you is actively in the middle of burning to the ground (meaning that you’re forced to move towards the cabin).  In addition to the forest, the cabin is also burning down.

Progressing down the basement stairs you realise you’re walking straight into the heart/source of the blaze as the flames to grow taller, until you see the basement has grown into a large flame engulfed circular chamber .

The Princess: Yet again the Draconic features have been amplified, however this time it’s to the point she completely looks like an ancient dragon, if a dragon were to be composed entirely of billowing fire.

Her rage is also at it’s absolute peak in this chapter. Blaming you for “ruining” what she once had through your incompetence.