Dark Hearts

Well, I'm sure this seems like a bizarre pairing, a show with children fighting for the good of the world, and the other a complete parallel to the other. The other is a tale with no victory, no defeat, only acceptance, a never ending loop of loss and tears. However today, victory is achievable, even if a pyrrhic one.

Chapter 1-a: Jacobus

The Lepers were a unique bunch, they all came from the same town, were all of the defenders of a village began to feel their bodies begin to return to dust, despite the fact they still walked the earth. Their families had abandoned them out of fear of catching the plague, and usually, they didn't blame them.

Most Lepers were left to fester and rot within the stage coach, unable to have a hand in battle, they wander the lands aimlessly, awaiting their bodies to fall apart.

However, a few select zealots found themselves charging the dank depths below, no matter what they fought in the pits, they always found a way to persevere, even in death, be it a swarming, cascading wall of flesh encasing them, an eldritch creature with omnipotent capabilities from realms beyond, a fleeting light at the end of the tunnel always helped them to persevere, even in the absence of a physical one.

That light they fought so hard for? A victory for their comrades, but not themselves.

The Lepers all shared a common goal, to die on the battlefield, whilst simultaneously guaranteeing the success of their brethren.

Whilst there were multiple Lepers, only one was able to stand tall, and lead the charge on the depths of the manor's halls...

Jacobus.

Jacobus was the first Leper at the estate, and he found himself to be the last one standing of his generation.

Jacobus was a bizarre Leper, since they were extremely corrosive and vile by nature, one would not expect one of them to spend almost all of their recreational time drowning their sorrows in rum, or relieving themselves via the pleasures of the flesh surrounded by the fair and bountiful maidens of the brothel, while he cared not for anyone there, he certainly found their appearances to be... tempting, after all, he returned consecutively without fail for the last 40 weeks of his stay in the estate. He had more sins kept in his closet than any other man within the estate, since his very existence was a fallacy to life itself.

He knew full well that he was corrupt, a no-good sexual deviant, rotten to the very core, however these grasping and handling of the flesh were merely used to lessen the pain.

His wife had abandoned him shortly after giving birth, when his skin began to fall like snow on a crisp winter morn. And while he didn't blame her for leaving, he missed her gentle caress, her hands and lips seemed to have an uncanny ability to calm him, decimating any anger or melancholic thoughts in a mere instant.

Now, only a hollow base level of pleasure remained in the flesh, and it was the only time the man ever felt anything, his body a shallow carcass, carrying him along the path to a pyrrhic victory.

The alcohol was there merely to lessen the pain of his skin, the burn of rum sliding down his throat was a slight distraction from the ever-present burning of his entire body, as every inch of his body seemingly melted away.

Chapter 1-b: Dismas

Dismas was a murderer. A cold-blooded, ruthless, merciless man who would use his flintlock and dagger to either splay guts all over the walls, or blow holes into anyone who stood in their way. Whilst Highwayman such as themselves were no mercenaries, they fought to protect themselves from rival groups of bandit cut-throats, however in their efforts to do so, only Dismas remained as the sole survivor of his clan.

Dismas killed not because he wanted to, but because he had to.

During his time before the estate, Dismas had fought in a three year war, costing him the lives of his brothers and sisters in arms, however in order to achieve redemption for them, he had to begin to eliminate the incoming band of Crusaders who were encroaching on their territory.

This is where Dismas killed a family.

A mother and their child, on pure reflex.

He had gotten so used to mindless slaughter, he didn't stop to think over his actions consequences, and paid the price in guilt.

Once Dismas arrived at the estate, he discovered a man, a crusader, his first companion at the estate, and his greatest friend.

However, that all changed, when Reynauld, the crusader, discovered that Dismas was the man who slaughtered his family that he had worked so hard to build, purely out of reflex.

Reynauld stormed the darkest dungeon in anger, alone, and never saw the light of day again.

A rumour soon spread that Reynauld had become The Heart of Darkness, the beast at the centre of the darkest dungeon.

Dismas fights for redemption, for the family he slaughtered so mercilessly, within the deepest chasms of his mind their image carves it's name into each and every facet available, even if he could forget, it would never truly leave him.

Dismas seeks flagellance for respite, he finds a sickening, twisted sense of atonement through getting himself whipped and scarred like a slave, feeling a scalding morsel of the pain of the family he had butchered.

Chapter 1-c: Jailoc & Tilly

Jailoc was an abomination, this much he was well aware of, the matter of how and why remained locked away in the more tenebrous facets of his mind.

Jailoc had been beaten, branded, and barred from life for as long as he could remember, and Jailoc wasn't exactly pulsating with the energy of youth, now in his thirties, or at least what he believed to be his thirties, he had come to understand that he had been locked away likely before he could walk.

The experimentation that occurred within the ancestors ruined jail during it's fall was a harrowing experience that Jailoc remembered little of, all he could see within himself was the cold steel of iron chain constricting his torso, the complete nakedness of his body, the many slices, slashes, and serums which he had been subject to came from a cult following the eldritch abomination known as the shambler, a beast of incorporeal omnipotence, and equally captivating strength.

Jailoc knew full well of the blood flowing within his puckered, tired veins, and he knew full well that there's likely none of his original blood left. Jailoc can transform into a beast at will, Claws sharper than any blade, jaws more powerful than the swing of a warhammer, and previously unprecedented agility and light-footedness. This makes Jailoc a very powerful comrade to have during excursions to the dungeon, however in his more docile and spindly form, he isn't exactly a pushover either, swinging loose rungs of chain at his enemies, providing a heavy blow that flays skin quicker than any way imaginable, and the uncanny "ability" to vomit bile of an extremely toxic nature at will, and launch it at the enemy, searing their flesh like meat on the most blazing of skillets.

Jailoc was originally found during a ruins excursion performed by a crack team of stalwarts, while three turned to dust soon enough, one still remains, a Plague Doctor by the name of Tilly. In fact, she was the one to prescribe him his name, after discovering that he truly was sane, which she got from the chains encasing his lower torso, his clothing looked to be a jail in-and-of itself, and thus...

Jailoc was born, a man turned something far more devious and terrifying, protecting the panicked population of the Hamlet from anything stood in his wake, alongside that scientifically obsessed Plague Doctor.

Jailoc is typically docile and downright shy, he trusts very few, with Tilly being the exclusive living example, he seems to enjoy talking to Tilly in order to lower his stress to a sustainable measure, however this usually means taking part in her hazardous experiments on corpses she digs up from the Hamlet's graveyard.

Very little is known of Tilly, she's a Plague Doctor who is usually stoic in nature, even when extremely stressed she tends to tighten her mouth even further, pressing on further in battle with newfound confidence. The mask has remained on her face since she got here, she retreats to the most shadowed corners of the Hamlet for her testing.

Chapter 1-d: We Are The Flame

This was it... The final crusade, one last hurrah before they could forget about this inhospitable place, and move on before the vengeful spirits of the fallen ones before them rise from their graves and hunt us down with an impervious confidence. The hamlet had been rather docile for the last month, after endless slaughters of the other adventurers, only four of the raiding party remained, our previously mentioned warriors of previously unknown renown and reputation. The composition of Jacobus up front, swinging his mighty blade upon the frontlines, Dismas in second, striking at the legs of fiends with his dagger, and firing pellets-aplenty, Jailoc in third, and taking the place of Dismas when in his other form, and Tilly in the back, launching various toxins at the enemy, and releasing powerful gases to strengthen her adversaries.

This composition went by two names, their original, The Four Horsemen, since they all resembled an individual member of the horsemen, Jacobus took on the moniker of war, with his uncanny lust for battle of the blade, Dismas took on death, the Hamlet knew well of his failings, Tilly took on pestilence for obvious reasons, and Jailoc took on famine, as he was rather languid in figure, his skin tightened around his body like a vice, he seemed to consist purely of skin and bone, as well as the eldritch blood within him.

However, they did have another name they now go by.

Dark Hearts.

Dark Hearts had been issued an order from the enigmatic mayor of the Hamlet, he selected expeditions and who would go on said expedition, essentially, he was the employer of sorts, even if that pay was being able to live another day and get fed reasonably well.

The mayor seemed to have come to understand that the Hamlet was likely now doomed if his plan failed.

Dark Hearts had been issued one final quest.

To take out the Heart of Darkness.

And not just to kill it, like so many had already failed to perform, they were to emaciate the amalgamation of flesh and blood from existence, and thus, save the Hamlet.

Dark Hearts had to accept, not out of some morbid sense of responsibility, but because there was nobody left to take their place, they were the force to activate the Lotus Beacon within the Darkest Dungeon previously, thus clearing the path towards the horror itself.

Plus the Hamlet was a reasonably good place to get a good pint of beer, or a good woman or three, and since there was nowhere left that would take them, why not fight to keep the place going? Either that or await an agonising death at the skeletal hands of the Heart of Darkness anyway.

There was no escape. Nowhere else to run or hide like some child's game.

This was the finale of their journey, they were doomed to die within these hallowed halls.

And they had long since accepted that fact.

…

They were at the chasm, stood upon the Locus Beacon, the gaping abyss seemingly stretching into forever greeting them. With their horror hidden behind a stoic unbreakable mask, they stormed into the pits below, prepared to die an agonising death, but not without finishing off the beast itself.

"In all my terrible researches, what I sought was a glimpse behind the veil, a crumb of cosmic truth... I found it here, and in that moment of brain-blasting realization I ceased to be a man and became a herald...an avatar of the Crawling Chaos."

"Life feeds on life. In your petty pursuit of family redemption you consumed those who rallied to your cause and in so doing you strengthened the Thing, accelerating the end. This is as it should be. It is why you are here."

"We are chained here forever, you and I, at the end of the world. Free yourself, rouse the thing, and embrace the ineffable cosmic hideousness that lives within us all."

While the Dark Hearts were unaware of the exact implications of the disjointed omnipotent voice's heed, they understood the face value of the statement, that death was inevitable, why fight?

This man fails to understand the raw and uncontainable power held within the human spirit, an ability to have confidence surge, the rays of light to shine through the cascading darkness like a splintering arrow, their inner potential unleashed, every blow is precise, down to the exact atoms, each enemy blow dodged by a hair, and countered swiftly with a devastating flurry of blows.

This was an ability that the Dark Hearts were more than familiar with, and in their complete silence, they marched forward, to battle the heart so many had failed to comprehend in battle.

"You still foolishly consider yourself an entity seperate from the whole. I know better. And I. Will. Show you."

Within the chasm of writhing flesh, they discovered a man, bearded and short haired, regal and elderly, simply stood within, this was the voice, the one that had tried in vain to get them to drop their arms in an act of acceptance.

This man would die tonight, if it even was a man.

…

The man became a man swathed in eldritch appendages springing out from under his pettycoat, and then into a large writhing mass of muscle, hanging from the roof of the chamber they were in, eventually a skeletal body pried itself from the heart to glare at them during the battle, surely they would fail, it thought to itself, these were no mere mercenaries of fools, compared to their predecessors, they were gods among men.

The beasts flesh was melting away from the concoctions of poisons and bile were launched their way from Tilly's arsenal and Jailocs maw, Slash scars from Jailoc's razor sharp teeth and claws, and Jacobus' mighty executioners blade, and littered with holes from Dismas' flintlock.

"Behold the heart of the world!"

Jailoc delivered a series of mighty blows to the amalgamations midsection, if you could even call the wall of flesh such a thing, whilst Jacobus and Dismas inhaled the intoxicating fumes from Tilly's arsenal, readying themselves for a destructive blow.

"Progenitor of life,"

Jailoc swung his left leg into the beast, driving the spiked toenails into the beast, getting himself stuck in the flesh.

"Father and mother,"

Dismas delivered a point blank shot to the beast, whislt simultaneously driving his blade into the wall of flesh.

"Alpha and omega!"

Jacobus began to sprint at the beast.

"Our creator..."

Jacobus raised his right leg to Jailoc's shoulder, and used it to launch himself up to the beast's face, he drove the blade into the bony skull, splitting it clean in two.

The beasts incoherent writhing ceased within an instant.

"...and our destroyer."

Only blackness greeted them.

…

"Victory... A hollow and ridiculous notion. We are born of this thing, made from it, and we will be returned to it, in time. The great family of man... A profusion of errant flesh! Multiplying, swarming, living, dying... Until the stars align in their inexorable formation and what sleeps is roused once more, to hatch from this fragile shell of earth and rock and bring our inescapable end. So seek solace in a manner befitting your lineage and tuke up your nugatory vigil, haunted forever by that sickening prose echoing through the infinite blackness of space and time... Ruin has come to our family."

"Not yet." A raspy voice whispered into the blackness of the hollow.

"I will not fall yet." Came another voice, extremely panicked, yet calmer than usual.

"There is still research to be done." Came yet another, flat like a plains of a dried riverbed.

"Vengeance is still owed, Redemption still remains to be acquired... Reynauld cannot be allowed to die in vain." Came another voice, tired, yet aggravated and seeping with melancholy.

The four voices combined into one being, acting as a whole rather than as individuals...

"Another family of man calls for us, where the stars will forever remain out of alignment, where you will never reach, A haven that we will protect with our minds, bodies, and souls..."

"...You will not have Remnant, you will be forever contained within that shell, fragile as it may be, we will stand guard, until our bodies return to dust."

To Be Continued...

So what ya think?