Path of Valor 11
A/N: That last note was probably confusing. I meant one of the songs in the next two chapters was purely superficial in meaning.
...Although, no one asked me to clarify. So what the hoo ha.
–
Apparently, 'soon' means motherfucking sundown. Which wasn't soon at all.
So, with a killer ache in my legs, I plop down on the ground near the small campfire in the center of our bad excuse for a camp. I'm under the impression we're avoiding main roads, because once it was getting dark Greil turned around and told everyone to set up camp here, right in the middle of the road. Then again, we'd probably fuck up anybody that dared to stumble across us, and my soldiers worked nicely as sentries anyway.
So here I sit, with barely enough sunlight to make out anyones' faces. As Daniel sits next to me, I realize exactly how much of an outsider both of us are. Oscar, Boyd, and Rolf are all pitching a large tent that I presume they'll share. Greil, Titania and Ike have finished putting up their tent and were setting up another. Gatrie was standing guard around the camp along with my soldiers, with Shinon begrudgingly assisting him. Soren was having a word with Rhys, before looking over and catching my gaze.
Before I could do something silly like wink or waggle my eyebrows suggestively, Mia skips over and sits next to Daniel like a lost puppy. "I feel so weird; I mean, we haven't exactly had time to get into this tight-woven group. Especially since..." She prods Daniel with her elbow, "...you know."
Yes Mia, I'm well aware we're outsiders in more ways than one. As Soren finishes her talk with Rhys, I take my cue to stand. I poke Daniel to get him to look at me, before informing him of my intentions.
"Broseph. You're the best around, and nothing's gonna ever keep ya down. Okay?" I ask. Daniel takes a second to comprehend exactly what I was saying, before nodding. As I walked off, I heard Mia ask what that was all about. Daniel simply shrugged and changed topic.
Good to see our code is fresh in both of our minds.
–
Soren hadn't gone far by the time I caught up with her. "Soren! Wait up!" I called to her, grabbing her attention. When I got to her, I was met with only a single inquisitive raised eyebrow.
Taking a second to catch my breath from running twenty feet, I dive right into what I came for, "Soren, mind if we go somewhere? I've read something interesting, and I want to share it with you." I say, being careful not to tip my hand too early. She'll be a lot easier to convince if we're alone, then if we were standing in the middle of everyone like we are.
Her face betrayed nothing, but her eyes flashed excitement, surprise and curiosity. I'd say it was cute, but that would be obvious by now wouldn't it?
Yes. Painfully.
Quiet you.
Soren doesn't make any outward showing of agreement, preferring to answer in the same way I did Dan, "We'll not be eating for a while." She says in a ever-so-slightly raised voice, adding, "And shouldn't you be on patrol?"
She makes a show of rolling her eyes before walking over to the commander. They exchange a few words before I decide that bringing along a few Zombies might be a good idea. Quickly summoning my Devil axe-wielding Canite and three lance-wielding Abelites with a thought, Soren walks up to me again.
"Looks like I'll be accompanying you. Ready to go?" She says, eyeing Daniel and Mia curiously.
"Yeah. Through the woods or down the path?" I ask, answering her unspoken question.
She shrugs, "You're the one leading our entourage." Deciding that moving four brain-dead corpses would be a hell of a time if we had to go through brush, I point down the path we'd been traveling on a few hours prior. My bodyguards lurch into movement, with Soren and I quickly following.
–
Once the dim light of a campfire was invisible on the horizon, I motion for Soren to sit. I'm surprised she could see that hand motion, considering it was now dark as hell. "You know," She says, sitting on the cold earth, "If we keep sneaking off together like this, someone might begin to suspect something."
I shrug, before realizing she probably wouldn't be able to see the gesture. "Ehh. I've got this weird feeling Daniel and Mia already do."
I imagine Soren rolling her eyes, despite not being able to make them out in the darkness, "Of course they would. They're together, so she thinks we should be too."
I smirk, although feeling a bit hurt, "Well, what'd be so bad about that?" I inquire.
Soren dodges the question, "So, why did you drag me all the way out here?" I roll my eyes imperceptibly.
Yawning, I jump right into it. "A few reasons. Mainly, I wanted to know if you were still up for learning Dark Magic." Even in the darkness, I could feel her surprise.
"You can teach me? I find that a bit hard to believe..." She asks, having a healthy amount of skepticism.
"Well, not exactly. Reading over the notes you left in the book you threw at me all those days ago, I noticed you seemed to have a block. After...progressing a fair bit in my own studies into Elder Magic, I wanted to know if you wanted help for your own." I slip a bit in stating my case, and Soren picks it up right away.
"Progressing? I've read the book too, Adam. How have you been 'progressing', exactly?" Soren's tone was harsh, and I don't really blame her. I haven't exactly been a good boy...
"Well..." I trail off, "...As you know, gaining a proficiency in this kind of power requires you strike a deal with your personal demons..." I get about that far before I hear Soren scramble to her feet.
"You...you've done WHAT?! Do you realize how stupid inviting spirits, especially ones that malicious, into your body is?!" She gasps. I was kinda hoping it wouldn't come to this...
"Yes, actually. So far, any deals we've made have been under threat of death and/or eviction." I say, omitting the time I promised him sacrifices for curing my diabetes.
She consider this for a long while. As the night air begins to carry a chill, she finally says, "Alright, consider me interested. How do you plan to teach me?"
I sigh. The hard part was finally over. "Well it's pretty simple. I tested it out on Daniel on our way here, and I've determined I can pull people into the Spirit World and put them back again safely."
"Interesting. But how would this give me the ability to all of a sudden use Dark Magic?"
"Well, once I take you there, you'll have to deal with The Darkness-"
"No," Soren interrupts, "Absolutely not. I'm not selling my soul over to some spirit for power!"
"I'm aware. That's why I'm bringing you in; We'll beat a good deal out of The Darkness, just like I did. So, you game?"
By now, I can only barely make out her presence. Yet I can still make out her soft words, "...Alright. I trust you." I'm actually surprised, as I never expected her to come to like us all this quick.
You did show that you were familiar with all of them, though. Perhaps she feels she should treat you the same way?
Maybe. Wait, why do you seem so helpful all of a sudden?
We will get to meet Our kin, if your plan goes through as it should.
Oh. You'll have to tell me how that works sometime.
Perhaps.
Right before I open my mouth to explain how I was going to get ready, a devious thought flashes through my mind. I nudge Soren with my arm, and offer my hand out to her. There's absolutely no reason for us to hold hands while we do this, but she doesn't have to know. After a moment's hesitation, she takes my hand. I'm surprised at how warm and...well, small it is.
Did you expect her to have bigger hands than yours?
Well, no. But still. Also, stop distracting me!
You didn't have to answer.
Ignoring The Darkness, I savor the feeling of her hand in mine for a bit more before continuing. 'Right, so, I'm going to have to start chanting. Luckily, I played around with the specifics of the ritual, and I got it to work by singing. So, enjoy!" I chuckle, still lightly clasping her hand.
Clearing my throat, I begin;
"Well I took a walk around the world to ease my troubled mind,
I left my body lying somewhere in the sands of time,
But I watched the world float to the dark side of the moon,
I feel there is nothing I can do..."
As I continue, I try and call on my power as easily as I have before. As I begin to panic ever so slightly, I realize I'm being distracted by something...Oh yeah. Calming down internally, I make it to the chorus.
"If I go crazy then will you still call me Superman?
If I'm alive and well, will you be there holding my hand?
I'll keep you by my side with my superhuman might..."
As I feel her give my hand a gentle squeeze, I begin to feel myself separate from my body. Finally.
The feeling of the cool early-summer breeze evaporates around me, just in time for me to remember I have no idea what season it is. Pushing those obtrusive and annoying thoughts from my mind, I go on with the task at hand. Soren was standing with me now, and since light basically has no meaning in The Spirit World, I could plainly see she was quite nervous. While the pale illumination lights up the world around me, did also enhances Soren's natural beaut-
Wait, purple prose. That's enough of that.
Cracking my spiritual fingers, I size Soren up. How was I going to do this without hurting her? Deciding to work from the top, I place one palm on the back of her head and the other on the back of her neck. Exerting a lighter amount of arcane force than I did with Daniel, I see Soren's spirit's blue head pop forward.
"Ahh!" She yelps, understandably surprised.
"Hello. Try to keep leaning forward, I'm working on the rest of you." I explain, for once not caring about the sexual connotations of something I've said.
She doesn't say anything while I move to her arms. Quickly deciding to free them both at the same time, I quickly start with popping the hands, lower arms, upper arms, shoulders and finally the small of her back. This leaves her in quite the humorous position; her upper body is hunched forward while her waist is perfectly rigid. I decide to speak up.
"You're probably going to collapse as soon as I finish, so you can straighten up if you'd like."
Soren shoots me a death glare and is probably biting back something very sarcastic. I pay it no mind.
"Okay, three, two, one..." I say, rapidly palming one leg, then the next. I don't know if she'd hurt herself falling with one still-frozen leg, but I'd rather not take the chance, thank you.
Once Soren picks herself up, I take a quick look around. The washed-out orange blip on the horizon told us that at least someone was awake at camp. While I was tossing the idea in my head about whether this was a good thing, Soren manages to completely get the hang of moving around here and pokes me with her entire body before flying off a ways, scrambling and flipping about uncontrolled.
Chuckling, I manage to stop her mad rotations. "Now," I say, "We wait."
Soren was still trying to get her bearings, "For what?"
I shrug, "I dunno. Float towards the camp and see what approaches you. We're looking for a translucent spirit with a red outline. I'll keep some distance from you, in case my presence might scare it off."
Nodding, and finally getting her Spirit-legs, she sets of towards the camp. I wait here, idly deciding to pull out my Cainite in case we need backup.
"Cain," I say, referring to him by his name, "This battle will be very important to me. Do you understand?" I decide to forsake my usual goal of scaring the unliving daylights out of him.
"Da." Cain says dumbly, "She ez yar wormah. Yous muss protact haar. Yuse can cahnt on me, mahstar!" He said proudly. Note to self; Cainites develop brain damage and mild Stockholm Syndrome the longer they are active.Still, it's kind of endearing. Like a puppy.
As I peer over towards camp, I see Soren staring back at me, an annoyed expression on her face. She obviously hasn't found The Darkness yet, so I decide to continue my conversation with Cain.
"Cain, do you like me?" Stockholm Syndrome notwithstanding, I need to know if I still inspire fear in my subjects. Because brain damage is slow.
Cain stares at me dumbly for a second. "Yarr. I vill gieve mah life fah yuu, I can has to, rite?" Acute observation, if a totally incorrect one. He likes me because he feels he has to? I'll have to revisit this information later...
A scream snaps my head around to Soren so fast I'm afraid my spirit will get whiplash. Motioning for Cain to follow, I launch myself over towards her. When I get to her, I see her floating frozen over camp. Before I can ask what happened, a shaky hand points towards something I...flew over?
…
How did I miss that?
Clad in a familiar red-tinged outline, The Motherfucking Black Knight stand next to Ike, sword poised to strike him.
"And now the final player has arrived...Will you allow your friend to die?"
Spoken like Satan incarnate, the black-red figure waits. I hesitate, because all of a sudden I'm not entirely sure The Darkness can't completely fuck up Ike's unsuspecting ass right now.
Why not wait this one out?
I'm confused for a second, before I realize my personal Darkness is talking to me.
What the hell are you talking about? I ask silently, while I watch Soren's emotions play out over her face. Honestly, I'm taking cues from her; If she wants to attack I'll follow, but I'm holding back in case she still thinks she can talk to it.
The way We see it, whether this human lives or dies you still stand to win.
I consider this for a moment. If The Darkness does kill Ike, then I'm free to pursue Soren's affections uncontested. If it's bluffing, Soren and I can still kick it's ass. This situation is...
...Good.
I turn to look at Soren. She's absolutely terrified. Her best friend in the whole world, the first one to ever show her a scrap of dignity and even going so far to save her life, is about to possibly be skewered by the man I've been hyping up to be Ike's greatest challenge. Whoops.
And yet, the look on Soren's face sparks something in me. It could be my inner White Knight surfacing, because I feel angry. Angry at The Darkness for putting my own interests in front of Soren, Angry at this Darkness for daring to try and hurt Soren, Angry for not remembering to put a rock under Boyd's sleeping bag.
But before I can go twelfth century on their ass, The Darkness makes my decision for me. Deciding not to skewer our intrepid hero, they instead opt to smack Ike over the head with the sword's pommel. This has the surprising consequence of having Ike's soul fall out of his body, writhing on the ground in pain and terror...
...Yeah, I'm not buying it. The Darkness tipped me off, because when it made Ike's soul appear, Ike's soul was the same coloration as it. Dick Dastardly HAD to stop and cheat, huh?
Unfortunately, Soren hasn't quite picked up on it, so I decide to move this confrontation along lest someone get bored.
"Right, so, as the guy who's already experienced this once, The Darkness is absolutely bluffing." I say, giving the Black Knight imposter my best douche bag grin. It remains impassive.
"Would you bet this one's life on it?"
"Probably. But since it's not actually in danger..." I trail off, noticing the light of realization in Soren's eyes. Atta girl-Holy shit!
...She just blasted the fuck out of The Darkness with wind! And she's still going, throwing impossibly sharp green arcs one after another at The Darkness. Getting caught off guard, The Darkness was knocked flat on it's ass, fake-Ike soul dissipating quickly. I, also getting caught off guard, didn't have time to properly restrain him. But now that it's on the ground...
I decide to get creative, as gigantic fuck-off spikes fall right out of the sky and impale The Darkness's limbs to the 'ground'. This has the side effect of getting Soren to stop her mad berserker rage for a second. I quickly fly over and place my hand on her shoulders.
"Soren!" I say assertively, "Calm down! We got 'em! Now quick, make a deal in your favor and let's go! I'm in danger of running out of words in my chant, so we gotta get back tres rapido!"
I hear Soren gasp quietly, no doubt realizing The Darkness can speak to her mind. While she works things out with her demon. Darkness?
Yes? What is it you desire of Us?
Mind if I call you by something different, so I don't get you and Soren's Darkness confused?
...Very well. What did you have in mind for Us?
How familiar are you with Old English stories?
...You know the answer to this question, human.
I know, I just wanted you to say it. Anyway, I'm naming you after a demon from The Tragedy of Doctor Faustus.
Seems fitting already. The demon's name...?
Mephistopheles.
Seems ancient and powerful. We approve. Did you have a name in mind for Our kin?
Depends. Do you guys have a gender, as we humans know of?
Technically, Our sexual characteristics could change on a whim. So no, We suppose not.
So I'd be technically correct in assuming Soren's Darkness is female?
...Technically. Are we to assume you've given Our kin a female name?
Yes, you are. Lilith, another demon, is the name I chose for it beforehand.
…
...What?
...Not going to explain the origins of that name, are you?
No Mephistopheles, I am not.
Fair enough. We feel as though Our kin has completed negotiations.
Oh, cool.
"Soren, done?" I ask, tentatively, in case Mephistopheles was just bullshitting me.
I only see her nod slowly, not daring to utter a sound. In my conversation with Mephistopheles, I didn't notice Soren absorbing Lilith. That's a good sign though, all things considered.
"Do you know how to go back to your body?"
I again only get a nod in response, before Soren shimmers once and...disappears?
Damn, I want that trick.
We could provide-
Yeah, don't want it that much, Mephistopheles. Floating back to my own body with all due haste, I quickly bind Cain back into his.
As I jump back into my own skin, I can't help but think...
Lilith, a demon familiar with Soren's mind enough to know what would entice her to action, chose to present a ruse containing the death of Ike.
...This does not bode well for me.