WARNINGS: Blood and gore, death, violence, child abuse, adult language, adult situations, attempted suicide, suicide, suggestive themes, sexual situations, sex, alcohol, shrooms
A/N: I am back again this time with the sequel to 'An Epic Retelling' that I had promised! Really fast huh? I have written fourteen chapters so far and have the first chunk of this story worked out enough to begin posting! I am editing my own work this time so please let me know if you spot any serious errors so I can fix them. Chapters will be uploaded on a weekly basis unless I run out of things to post. I should probably also note that people events from the previous story will be referenced, so you should probably read 'An Epic Retelling' first.
This story is far more graphic, serious, and dark than the last one, as you can probably tell by the warnings listed above. My brother fondly tells me I'm a horrible person for writing much of it, and yet, here I am posting it anyway. The FanFiction 'M' rating is definitely true for this fic! The warnings I chose are there for a reason and specific ones that pertain to the chapter specifically will be listed again at the start of EVERY chapter that needs them.
Now then, on to the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own Epic Battle Fantasy 4, its world, its plot, or its characters! They belong to Matt Roszak. I will only be borrowing these elements for the purpose of this story, not for any monetary/physical profit on my part.
WARNINGS FOR THIS CHAPTER: Blood and gore, death, suggestive themes
"It figures that the one time Lance, Matt, and Natalie are going to be gone for a long time a huge monstrosity attacks," Anna complained to herself sarcastically, barely suppressed panic lacing the thought. She had traveled around with the three for a year after their world saving quest for the three jewels that had ended with a battle against two avatars of Godcat herself.
When Matt had 'borrowed' a map supposedly leading to a massive treasure stash on a forgotten island from some shady merchant, she had opted to stay behind to visit with her friends and family in Greenwood, promising to go on their next quest. Sea travel, she had found, did not agree with her. That had been six months ago, and she knew they should be returning in another couple of months. During that time, she missed her three friends horribly—especially her boyfriend, Lance—wishing she had gone with them and toughed out the seasickness; now more than ever.
DDDDDD
A traveling seer had visited the village two weeks ago, claiming to see the usual omens of approaching doom and gloom, Anna had listened to the 'warning' with patience before sending the mystic to speak with Old Lana, the village priestess. The man had 'foreseen' the earth splitting in Greenwood and an ancient, unbeatable evil like the world had not seen in millennia clawing its way out of the ground. Anna had internally scoffed at the tale.
As of three hours ago, though, her opinion had changed, drastically. A fissure had appeared in center of the village right as the sun was setting. Anna had run out of her house, bow in hand as she sensed a wave of pure darkness sweep over Greenwood. Right as she arrived, a huge creature hauled itself out of the crack. It looked like nothing she had ever seen before. On top of being taller than any of the houses, it had three heads similar to those of dragons; though none of them had any eyes that Anna had seen. Each mouth was lined with curved fangs that dripped with acid and each shot a different elemental breath. The three serpentine necks as well as the body were covered in a thick, grey hide that Anna could not puncture, even with her Piercing Shot. It had thick legs ending in massive, clawed feet. The walking nightmare had two curved tails tipped with scorpion stingers. Magic, she'd discovered, had some effect on the monster. But, while it seemed to harm the creature it also had made the monster slightly larger and stronger.
As Anna had stood there gaping at the sudden threat, somebody had screamed. The noise spurred the monster into attacking and it had launched itself forwards snapping up the offending villager. The heads had then fought over the kill, gruesomely splitting the hapless man in a shower of gore. Anna had launched Combo Shot, but the arrows had harmlessly bounced off the creature's hide; all that had happened was she had attracted the monster's attention. The beast had charged at her and she had tried an Aqua Arrow. The magic arrow had bounced off as well, but a rash had appeared instantly, causing the monster to falter in its dash with an echoing shriek of pain. One clawed foot lashed out, catching the ranger's side and sending her into a tree. She had quickly healed herself before dashing off through the village, yelling for everyone to run; stopping only to inform Lana that she would do her best to stall the monster while they escaped.
DDDDDD
Smoke and flames swirled around Anna as she peered around the corner of a burning building to see if she could get a shot at the back of the strange creature. Dried blood caked her side, cracked around the hastily healed wound and a small trickle still ran down the side of her face from her hair-line; the souvenirs from her ill-fated initial tangle with the beast. She stepped around the side of the building, raising her bow, as the monster turned its back to tear through the wall of another building, searching for another victim. Thankfully, there were no villagers left in Greenwood; in fact, the only reason Anna was still there was to distract the creature until everyone else had escaped by playing a very dangerous game of hide-and-seek.
"I'll see if I can keep this up for another twenty minutes and then I'll go. Godcat, I wish the other three were here," she thought as she let the arrow fly.
As soon as the missile was airborne, she dove into a set of bushes, heading for the cover of a different building. A screech that raised the hairs on Anna's neck—even though she'd heard it many times by now—rose above the roar of the fire. The ground shook as the monster lumbered to where she had fired the arrow from. A splintering crash signaling the total destruction of a house sounded out as Anna slid behind the cover of another building.
Flattening herself against the rough wall, her heart frantically pounded as she intently listened, trying to determine whether it was safe to check on her foe's position. The ranger frowned as nothing other than the now-familiar roar of the flames and the sharp cracking of wood as trees and houses broke and collapsed came to her ears. Anna swallowed heavily and risked a look around the building.
The giant monstrosity was gone.
Anna frantically twisted, searching for the beast in the thick clouds of smoke, but there was no sign of the creature, only the devastation it had left behind. Anna cautiously stepped out into the open, arrow laid against her bowstring, ready for any attack. None came. The ranger swallowed, still fearfully scanning for the creature to no avail. Finally, she took one last look around the flames that engulfed her home before sprinting into the trees to catch up to the fleeing villagers, tears of helplessness and rage building in her eyes.
Her dash through the trees came to an abrupt halt as she tripped over something soft in the path. Anna picked herself up with a groan and turned to look at what she had stumbled over. Her blood froze in her veins as she saw an arm sticking out from a bush. Trembling, Anna walked back and pushed the braches of the shrub out of the way to reveal the corpse of the shop keeper of Greenwood. His throat had been slit. The ranger swallowed heavily as she reached out and respectfully closed the man's eyes with a shaking hand. A cold feeling sank into her bones; a human had killed this man, not an animal.
Anna stabbed an arrow into a tree near the body to mark where he lay so he could be buried later. She resumed her dash through the forest with renewed, panic-driven energy, her heart racing. A killer was in these woods and might be after the other villagers; she had to catch up to warn them.
The ranger leapt across a small brook and forced her way through group of shrubs, breaking out into a clearing. She froze as she beheld a group of five cloaked figures standing over the scattered bodies of the villagers of Greenwood. The clearing was covered in blood and the heavy scent of iron hung thick in the air. As one, they turned to face Anna, each holding a bloodied sword. Their blades were dripping with the blood of her people who all now lay dead; slaughtered by the five figures in front of her. A low, evil laugh came from under the hood of one of the murders.
Something in Anna's mind snapped and she threw her head back to release a howl of fury, loss, and agonizing pain. Mana exploded outward in a massive wave. The air hummed and the earth shook with its intensity. The figures staggered back from the sheer power of it as the plants in the clearing answered the ranger's call and burst upward. Grass tangled in the murderers' legs, holding them in place as sharp roots burst from the ground, impaling the trapped men. There were a few screams that were cut off almost immediately with a wet choking sound as blood filled the lungs of whoever made noise. The murderers thrashed helplessly for a few brief moments before falling limp, their blood dripping to join the pool of their victims' as it sank into the ground.
Anna fell to her knees, sobbing and staring with broken eyes at the bodies of almost everyone she had ever known. She didn't know how long she stayed there, but eventually she found the mental strength to lift herself to her feet. Her people needed graves and she was the only one to dig them. Anna hollowly returned to the still-burning ruins of her village and found a shovel by the entrance near Lankyroot. She brought her tool back, stopping along the way to retrieve the body of the Greenwood shopkeeper to drag with her. The rest of the night and much of the next day were spent digging graves and dragging bodies into them before covering them. She tried not to look at the familiar faces as she worked for fear she wouldn't be able to continue.
Anna's body trembled with exhaustion as she pressed a single seed into each grave. She knelt there; hands covered in blood and dirt, and stared across the new graveyard. The murderer's corpses she had left in the woods for the animals to feast on. She pulled out her flute and played a haunting, mournful song for the villagers' souls. The notes rose and fell, warbling through the trees before dying away. Anna dropped the flute, curled in on herself with her forehead pressed to the ground, and wailed. Her cries echoed through the forest, scaring nearby birds into flight with cries of alarm.
The sun was setting when she finally rose and turned her back on the graves, heading to the stream to wash the blood and dirt from her form. She didn't feel the cold of the water as she scrubbed. She didn't hear as Tanuki Dogs and Black Birds called to announce the evening. She didn't see the shadowy figure that watched her, a sly smirk twisting his face before he vanished with a swirl of shadows.
DDDDDD
Anna woke when a drop of morning dew landed on her face from the tree overhead. She didn't remember falling asleep. Dully, she supposed she shouldn't be surprised she had passed out after all the emotion of the day before. A wave of sorrow threatened to overwhelm the ranger as she thought of all the graves she had just dug. She was alone, now. All alone.
The ranger shook herself violently. "You are not alone, Anna. You still have three friends," family, really; especially now that her real family was dead, "They aren't here now, but they will be," she fiercely told herself.
She took a few deep breaths and squared her shoulders. She needed to find out who would want to murder the entire population of Greenwood and why. She also needed to find out more about the monster that had attacked; which meant she needed to find the seer that had visited. Eventually, Lance and the others would come back, but until they did she would work on finding out as much as she could on her own. And be very careful as she did it. She doubted the assassins she had killed were the only ones. When they failed to return others would know they had been discovered and killed. And really, she had been the only person in Greenwood who would be strong enough to do the job, so she would be the likely suspect.
Welcoming the distraction that her new objective would give her, and thankful for the fact that she always kept all of her gear on her in her Adventure Pouch, Anna headed for Goldenbrick. The seer had mentioned he was heading back to his home there.
DDDDDD
Anna stepped onto the sandy ground of Goldenbrick Resort. Her journey through Lankyroot Jungle had been much less eventful than when she had gone through with her friends. For one, there was no storm, and for two, the giant plant they had fought was still dead and none of the weird flowers that had been there before were there. Even the humidity hadn't been too bad. "In fact," Anna mused with a frown, "Goldenbrick isn't as hot as before, either. It's almost chilly, actually." It was too early in the year for the temperature to be dropping. Shrugging the strange weather off, Anna headed for the tavern to ask around about the seer.
Pushing the door open, the ranger walked passed the crowded tables, ignoring the stares she garnered from the few patrons inside, and snagged a seat at the bar. The chatter started up again as the patrons realized that just because she was wearing her bow openly it didn't mean she was about to start firing arrows around.
A few minutes later, the barkeep, a man slightly older than Anna stopped in front of her, "What can I get for a pretty young lady such as you?" Anna ordered a glass of water and bowl of soup, sliding a few pieces of gold across the counter. The man swept them into a coin pouch and called her order into the kitchen before bringing over the water.
Anna sniffed the water carefully. At one point, a drunken Matt had thought it would be funny to lace her drink with some essence of hallucinogenic shrooms. The resulting fiasco had been mortifying, and now she was slightly paranoid of spiked drinks. Smelling nothing unusual, she sipped at the water until her food arrived. The ranger ate her soup quickly and waved the bartender over when she was finished.
"I'm looking for an old man who claims he's a seer. Do you know of him?" Anna asked when the man reached her, wiping a glass clean with a rag.
The bartender snorted, "Who doesn't know him? He's out there by the altar everyday with the usual end of the world crap."
A man on Anna's right leaned over, "I dunno if you want to write him off. He claimed the weather here was going to take an early turn for colder temperatures and now look; it's almost cold enough to be winter out there."
Anna frowned, mentally turning over this supposed proof of his skills as the bartender snorted again, "Oh, please. This isn't the first time weather has turned cold early here. He just made a lucky guess." The patron shrugged but turned back to his drink. With sly wink at Anna, the bartender leaned closer, "Forget about the old coot. I'm free at sundown if you want to have fun." The man's gaze wandered downwards, telling Anna exactly what kind of 'fun' he was talking about.
"I already have a boyfriend, thanks," Anna refused with a bright blush, standing up.
The man shrugged, moving away, "Well, if you ever change your mind, I'm here every night."
Anna shook her head sharply and bade him a good evening before slipping back outside. "Ugh, men," the ranger muttered leaning against the wall next to the door. "Good thing Lance wasn't here to hear that," Anna thought with a chuckle. The familiar pang of missing him shot through her before she shook it off and stood straight again. "Well, I guess the seer isn't out now or I would hear him. I might as well go see if the inn has any open rooms," she said to herself.
On her way to the inn, Anna passed a group of men she remembered sitting just inside the door of the bar, leaning against a wall in the shadow of an overhang. One stuck his foot out as she passed, tripping the ranger. As soon as she was down, the three men surrounded her. "Alright, girly, hand over all your money and weapons right now and there won't be any need for unpleasantness," the leader said with a sneer.
"I change my mind: I wish Lance were here to shoot these guys where it hurts," Anna mentally groaned as she slowly stood up, eyeing the muggers. They watched her closely as she reached for her coin purse. While their attentions were fixated on the jingle of gold, Anna suddenly dropped again and swung her leg around, sweeping their feet out from under them. The men all swore colorfully as they hit the ground before scrambling up to chase after Anna as she raced away.
"This is just not my month. Why didn't any of this happen the last time we came through here?" The ranger wondered in exasperation as she ducked down a narrow alley. She scrambled up a wall, using loose bricks as handholds and footholds. Anna hauled herself over the lip of the roof just as the men chasing her, tore around the corner with their daggers drawn. They ran down the alley without once looking up only to skid to a stop when they didn't see their quarry in the empty street on the other side.
"Damnit, she was right there! This is entirely your fault, you two clods," the leader raved, sheathing his dagger and turning on the other two with anger gleaming in his eyes. "She was one girl with only a bow on her; that should have been simplicity itself!"
"Then why did you get knocked down, too?" one of the grunts muttered. Anna suppressed a laugh as the leader spluttered indignantly before the meaty smack of a fist striking flesh rang out followed by three sets of heavy footsteps stomping away.
Anna peered over the lip of the roof carefully, checking for any sign of the muggers before hopping down and continuing to the inn with much more care. "Well, at least I know why that didn't happen last time," Anna murmured as the inn came into sight. "I'll need to buy some kind of blade to carry with me. Maybe a dagger—I have a little experience with those," she mused, pushing the inn door open and walking up to the desk to request a room.
She was in luck. The unusually cold weather had turned away many of the usual tourists, so not only were there plenty of open rooms, but the price for one had been marked way down. Anna paid for her room and slipped upstairs to rest. She checked the locks on the window and door before leaning her bow up against the nightstand and flopping on the bed with a massive sigh.
"This visit has been way more stressful than I was expecting. I hope the others get back soon," she mumbled with an arm across her face. She wondered what they were doing right now and whether they had actually found any treasure. Slowly her eyes slipped shut and she fell asleep.
DDDDDD
It was only just past midnight when Anna shot up with a choked scream, cold sweat running in rivulets down her face and neck. She leaned forward and roughly scrubbed her face with trembling hands.
She had been having nightmares ever since Greenwood had been destroyed. The dreams varied; sometimes the monster that had attacked was there, killing all the villagers one-by-one before laughing as it turned on her. Other times, she was cornered by the cloaked assassins, their blades dripping with the blood of Matt, Natalie, and Lance. The most frequent one, though, was the worst of all. She would be standing there, a freezing blade held against her throat by an invisible force as the villagers appeared one after another, each with bloody scores across their necks, red liquid dripping from their mouths, and their eyes glazed with death. They accused her of sending them to their deaths. Asking why had she been too slow to save them. Why should she live when they hadn't? The dream always ended with her throat being slit.
Anna choked on a sob as she tried desperately to shove the images from her mind. She tried to focus on things that made her happy. The first kiss she and Lance had shared on the beach just outside. Her elation when they had won against Godcat. The wonderful year she had spent wandering around with her friends. How happy she would be to see them again. Eventually, her breathing evened out and she slipped back into a restless sleep for the rest of the night.
DDDDDD
Anna left the inn well after the sun had come up the next morning and headed for the weapon's shop to purchase a dagger. She kept a wary eye on the people around her, just in case somebody else decided she was a good target for a robbery. She had been lucky that the first bunch had been idiots, but she wasn't going to count on her luck holding out. Slipping inside the shop, Anna nodded a greeting to the owner before she headed for the case displaying daggers.
Looking over the various blades critically for a few minutes, Anna mused on what would be best for her. Not throwing knives, she'd never used one before and she doubted it was as easy as experts made it look. She passed over the decorative daggers and the ones disguised as hairpins or other objects. Anna wandered down the selection until she paused at a series of blades about the length of her forearm. Spotting a gleaming steel dagger with a red flame etched in the blade lying next to a plain leather sheath, the ranger grinned and waved the store owner over. The older man approached and opened the case, carefully pulled out the blade, and handed it to Anna, hilt first.
The man watched with a smile as Anna mimed a few swings and thrusts, attempting to remember her knife fighting lessons from when she was fourteen. "Not bad form for a newbie," the man commented.
Anna grinned sheepishly, "I had a few lessons when I was a kid, but I don't really remember them. I'm actually getting it as a thief deterrent."
The man nodded with an approving gleam in his eyes, "That's a good choice, then; the hilt is unadorned so they won't go after you for wealth. Try putting more of your shoulder strength behind your stabs," he suggested and glanced at the gleaming white bow on her back, "As long as you have that nice bow out, they'll go for that, though. I humbly suggest carrying a less obviously-valuable weapon." He watched as Anna pulled the finely carved Angel Wing bow off her back and slipped it away t replace it with her Sky Feather. "That is a fine weapon, though not at first glance," the owner said, eyes sweeping over the bow, "Its enchantment restores magic?"
The ranger shot an impressed glance at him, "That's right: it drains mana from my foes on top of doing added wind damage. You can tell just by looking at it?" The man smiled widely, a twinkle in his eyes. Anna smiled back, handing the dagger back to him. "I'd like to purchase that dagger and the one next to it with the blue etchings," she requested. "Thank you for your help."
The man gave a slight bow as she handed over the required amount of gold for the daggers. Anna accepted the two blades, tying one to the belt at her waist and tucking the other away. She waved a good bye to the store owner and headed out the door for the Goldenbrick Altar. As she walked, she was acutely aware of the unfamiliar weight of the dagger at her hip and the ranger mentally ran over her knowledge of blades and fighting with them. She sighed, resolving to get some practice in as soon as possible with some monsters.
As she got closer to the altar, Anna began to hear an old man's voice above the sound of the wind whistling through alleys. She turned the corner and there was the seer, kneeling on a worn cushion the glowing red Jewel of Goldenbrick sat above his head. The man called to people as they passed. Most ignored the old man, some tossed a few coins on the ground in front of him as if he were a beggar, and others spat in his general direction before walking off muttering about senile old fools. The seer was unfazed by the treatment, continuing to ask people to stop and listen. The first real reaction he had was a start of surprise when Anna walked up to stand in front of him.
The man peered up from beneath shaggy white, eyebrows at her. His eyes widened in surprise as he recognized the young woman as the ranger who had directed him to the priestess in Greenwood. "Ahh, your name is Anna, correct?" He asked.
The ranger nodded, crouching down to sit in front of him.
"I thought so. You did not believe me when I spoke to you in Greenwood, but neither did you belittle me and my message as these fools do. How is Old Lana faring? She seemed rather frail of health when I spoke with her." He watched as a shadow passed across the young woman's face and her eyes darkened in remembrance of something horrible. "I see…" He murmured sadly, "Though I am sure these words mean little to you, I am sorry for your loss. She will be missed."
"She, and everyone else in Greenwood," Anna said in a tight voice. "At least by me."
The man rocked backwards in shock, "They are all dead?" His face darkened, "The darkness arose and killed them, did it?" He watched with sorrow as she turned away, "This is somber news indeed. I grieve for their loss, and I am relieved that you have survived, young Anna."
"An unbeatable monster did rise, but it wasn't what killed them," Anna murmured, fighting back tears.
The man frowned in confusion and slowly stood, "Come, the streets are no place for this discussion. Let us return to my home and I shall brew us some tea."
Anna mutely followed him as he led the way to a single room home tucked away on the edge of Goldenbrick. He held the door for the ranger and followed her inside.
"It isn't much, but it's home. Have a seat wherever, while I boil some water," he said as he hobbled to a bucket and ladled some water into a dented pitcher that he set above the fire pit. A murmured spell later and the wood blazed. The old man settled down on a low stool and turned to face where Anna sat, her eyes gazing blankly into the flames. "Now, then; tell me what happened, as much as you are comfortable saying."
Anna swallowed heavily a few times before opening her mouth and relating her tale in a quiet and broken voice.
A/N: *Nervous Laugh* So uh, yeah... Off to a great start? It isn't so bad. I mean, all I did was, uhm... torch Greenwood and, er... murder all of the villagers...
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Okay, I'm horrible, I admit it. I'm sorry. That's a lie, I'm not sorry. I'm sorry, I'm not sorry. You should probably know that it gets worse.
Please let me know what you did or didn't like. I have a far cheerier story also in the works, so if you decide this is too dark for you, so please keep an eye out for that one! I guess I'll see you next week!