(A/N: There's been a lot of interest in this story lately so I figured that I should update while it's still going on. Here's the second part of the Ragnarok arc. Hoping you all like it. I was expecting this to be a little longer than it was, but there is a lot of information in here and it starts and ends exactly where I planned it to and I didn't want to force it. As usual, let me know what you think and a huge welcome to all the new readers!)
Jon was furious with himself. His training with Raven was supposed to stop this shit from happening. True, he was still only learning the basics but that's beside the point. This sort of thing wasn't supposed to be his life, anymore. He wasn't going to be the damsel in distress. He shouldn't be magically pinned to the wall like a fucking butterfly. Not only that, but both Wraith and Crypt Chick were trapped as well. When Jon was in trouble, the ghosts were usually his trump card, unless he was dealing with another ghost. Even against really powerful magical foes like Thornwick, the ghosts help turn the tide. They were his secret gun. But whoever this Ragnarok was, ghosts were not a problem for him. Jon even had to yell out before he was magically silenced to make sure that the other ghosts stay away.
Through his frustration, all Jon could do was silently watch as Ragnarok curiously walked around examining things. He hated feeling helpless like this. But with no other options, Jon just tried to take in as much information as he could and hope it would be useful later. The first clear thing about his opponent was his sheer size. Both in height and muscle mass, Ragnarok was huge, almost monstrously so. But despite his size, he moved around like any other person. To even further add to his intimidating appearance, Ragnarok had sharp, bony looking protrusions coming out of his leather outfit. This all culminated in his face which was completely covered in what appeared to be an animal skull, the only indication that a face lie under the skull were his two glowing red eyes. He gave off a curious odor which seemed familiar to Jon but he couldn't place it. After a while of his pacing and lazily rummaging through things, Ragnarok turned to Jon as if he'd just noticed him there, despite Jon's nonstop struggling and grunting against his magical bondage.
"I don't…suppose you would just…help me deal with the witch?" He asked, calmly.
Jon growled in reply, and only then realized that he was no longer gagged. "Fuck you! If you think I'd betray either of them, you might as well kill me now!"
Ragnarok's head snapped in Jon's direction and even through the skull, you could see the gleam of his teeth as he grinned. "Either of them…of course…it would be either of them on this world… Their mother is probably alive as well, isn't she?" Jon didn't answer the question, but his confusion at it made his answer unnecessary. Ragnarok began to pace again, but was clearly centering his attention on Jon. "I'm not going to kill you."
"I know." Jon growled. "Because I'm going to kill you. Count on that. You don't know who you're messing with."
Ragnarok threw back his head into a loud booming laughter that shook the crypt. "I don't know who I'm messing with? Foolish human." Reaching up, Ragnarok pulled the skull off of his head and looked into Jon's eyes face to face. Jon's eyes bulged as he looked into the equivalent of a fun house mirror. "I know you better than anyone. I am you." And from all indications, that was true. It was twisted to fit that massive body and his eyes were still glowing, but it was absolutely Jon's face looking back at him. "That's why I won't kill you. I don't know what would happen… We both have a very…curious…relationship with death."
"…how…? What…?" Jon tried to shake off the revelation. "You're…a future me?"
Ragnarok let out another loud laugh. "Possibly. But…I don't think that's the case. You appear to be roughly the same age I would be if not for Raven. I'd assume I'm in an alternate timeline." Ragnarok's curiosity about his living quarters made a lot more sense now. He looked back at Jon with a grin. "I noticed you have a picture of Tarot, but none of Raven. Does Tarot have first call on you in this world?"
That's when Jon finally got it. Ragnarok might not want to kill him, but he was milking him for information. That's why he let him speak even though he's not letting him free. He needed information and Jon didn't know why. But knowing this, Jon immediately shut up and turned away.
Ragnarok continued to smile, taking note of Jon's silence. "I'll take that as a yes. Interesting. If you…don't want to talk, then I will do it for you. I'll tell you a story." Jon looked back at Ragnarok, but remained silent.
"I suppose I should start at the beginning." Ragnarok began. "I find it quite funny that you…keep Brandi around." He gave a sideways glance at Crypt Chick, who silently glared back, still unable to move or talk. "Me and Brandi were dating when I first met Raven." He grinned widely. "It…became problematic for our relationship. Though…as I'm sure you know by now, Raven is quite…addicting. And I was in high school at the time, I had no defense. I was smitten."
"High school?!" Jon exclaimed before remembering that he was supposed to stay quiet. This only made him feel worse when he saw his own twisted demonic grin staring back at him.
"I did assume you must have met the witches much later…" Ragnarok pointed to the books Jon had been studying earlier. "Beginning magic books. I'd hazard to guess that your relationship is very…fresh. Especially with her protecting you as she is." With that said, he waited to see if Jon would volunteer any more information. When it was clear that he wouldn't, he continued, "Breaking up with Brandi was awkward, for sure, but it was worth it. I had no regrets. Truth be told, I had feelings for Rowan as well and due to the nature of their…beliefs, I was able to have the best of both worlds, as I'm sure you do now. But Raven was always the one with first call on me. My heart was hers. There was just this…connection we shared. This…intangible…thing… It was clear to everyone. It was the only reason her father even tolerated me. Her mother was just happy that someone was making her happy but as…as far as they knew…a normal mortal, her father despised me."
Ragnarok chuckled to himself. "I suppose that's part of being a father. No one's every good enough for your little girl. I wouldn't know. We both know that the last thing on our father's mind was who we were dating." This got a particularly vicious glare from Jon, but Ragnarok continued as if he didn't notice. "Of course, there wasn't much her father could do about the situation. Even he had to admit that I was a good influence on her. As a human who didn't discriminate her for being a witch, I was able to…curb…her darker tendencies. I proved that all humans weren't assholes. I even got along with her goblins…eventually…
"But alas, even I couldn't stop the inevitable from happening. Eventually someone stepped out of line and set Raven off. Her father stepped in, the big obvious tank that he was and-"
"He was still killed…" Jon muttered, morosely. He almost didn't care that he was giving Ragnarok more information because the inevitability of that turning point was just…sad…
"Yes…he was…" Ragnarok grinned. "Raven didn't take it very well. She became more…closed off…more…embracing of the darker side of magic. I did what I could to dissuade her from going too far. Especially when her secret activities started to risk her becoming cast out from her coven…her family…her position as Swordsmaiden. I tried to talk some sense into her."
"Seems kind of hypocritical, now doesn't it?" Jon growled.
"So quick to judge…" Ragnarok chuckled. "I am getting to that part. Do be patient. You see…she continued to delve into necro magic trying to bring back her father. I helped her but only so she wouldn't push me away. I continually tried to get her to just…you know…deal with her loss like a normal fucking person. People die. It sucks. Move on. But Raven didn't see it that way and when one of her spells went awry, well…I was a…casualty."
Jon blinked. "Raven…turned you into that?"
"No." Ragnarok said, bluntly. "She killed me. The spell tore me limb from limb. It sucked. But even in death, I didn't…go where I was supposed to go. I still felt…pretty solid here…anchored…despite no longer having my body, but…weird things happened. There were whispers of the dead around me all the time. As I said…I won't take any chances killing you. You might be more trouble to me then than you are alive…" Ragnarok rolled his eyes and continued his story, "But I had no clue what I was doing and I couldn't actually communicate with anyone. All I could do was follow and observe. It was torture. And Raven…well…she was already planning on bringing her father back…my death only doubled her resolve. Once she figured out how to bring back the dead once, surely she could do it again. She eventually got everything she needed even with her family trying to stop her, but…there was a big flaw in the spell…"
"It brought back a demon…" Jon remembered.
"Yes, yes it did." Ragnarok chuckled. "Even though I was dead, I tried to stop it. But instead…something…interesting happened. When I came into contact with the demon, I merged with it."
"That's where I know that smell from…" Jon realized, breathing almost a sigh of relief that at least that part of the mystery was solved.
"Yes…" Ragnarok smiled, noting that Jon wasn't quite as tight lipped anymore. "You have…no idea…the power that comes with that kind of a merge. The knowledge that you're suddenly privy to. Ironically, Raven was the only one who didn't see me as a threat. Probably because she was entirely responsible, but I digress. Despite them trying to do what they could to separate my soul from the demon, I didn't want to be 'saved'. My power is like yours." He glanced over to the ghosts. "Only more realized. I don't just…make ghosts solid. If I kill…I take the power of what I kill and I control them, body and soul. Rowan came very close to figuring something out so…she had to be dealt with. It wasn't very hard. She always secretly wanted first call on me after all. Women are weak. Even powerful ones. You just have to know what threads to pull and when to pull them. You'd be amazed the knowledge demons have on that sort of thing. They've been around for quite some time after all. Now, Tarot might not have been as powerful as Raven but…by the gods did she have a lot of power in her. I had to take out her mother for the same reason. She became suspicious of her daughter's disappearance, but she was even easier." Ragnarok chuckled, "She couldn't hurt her daughter. And I controlled her daughter's corpse, her memories, all the things I needed to make her a sitting, crying, useless duck while I killed her too."
Sighing, the demon hybrid began to pace around again. "Though maybe I was a little too…full of myself at that point. I knew as soon as I killed their mother that Raven knew that she was going to confront me over this. It was a test. And I failed it. I love Raven to death but…I love living more. Raven was a tricky little thing though. She started to build a magical army against me. Which was a good idea in theory. I have my own powers plus two very powerful witches at my disposal. One on one, I'd have been able to take her. But…that's just in theory. In actuality, making an army was the worst thing she could have done. I just had to kill…one dragon…and then I could kill two…then three…and then she was fucked in every possible way." The more Ragnarok talked about this part of the story, the more sinister his grin became.
"By the time Raven knew enough to pull the army back, it was too late. I was the most single powerful magical being that world had ever known. She's a smart cookie though. So, she ran and went into hiding. Even with all the knowledge I gained, I could not find her for the life of me. So, I punished her for it. I didn't need kill entire cities, I suppose, but I needed to make a point. Piss me off and the world dies."
"What about the threefold law?" Jon suddenly asked. "All that death and destruction is going to come back to you."
"I was above the threefold law." Ragnarok shot back. "Unless the gods wanted to take me out themselves, there was no one who could enforce it. And gods don't dirty their own hands."
Jon couldn't help but notice that Ragnarok was talking about some serious godlike level powers. And while he certainly seemed powerful now, it was nowhere near the levels he was describing. That brought a smile to his face. "Then how'd you end up here?"
"I'll give Raven this. She's very inventive. She couldn't beat me so she just…spirited me away to this…world…" Ragnarok looked around in disgust. "I'm going to have to start all over again to figure out how to get back. But I needed to know about Raven before I did so." His look of disgust became one of almost orgasmic pleasure as he turned back to Jon. "And you've been so helpful in that regard."
"I didn't tell you anything." Jon spat back.
"I know that Rowan has first call on you. And I know that your relationship is new. And I know that she's clearly teaching you." As Ragnarok talked, he began waving his hands and a dark mist began to encircle his body. "That's all I need to know." When the mist finally faded, Ragnarok looked exactly like Jon, from his size, to his clothes, his eyes, even as far as the smell that had once permeated the crypt. "I think I'm going to go…pay her a visit. As I said before…women are weak. Raven may seem strong but…I know her triggers better than anyone. I'm not going to make the same mistake of going after her last." Jon immediately protested this, but he quickly found out that he was gagged once more. "Ta-ta." Ragnarok taunted as he walked out, the only sound being Jon's continued struggles as he tried in vain to get free.
Raven was in danger and there was nothing that he could do about it.
