This is the last one for this set so far. I apologize for it being so short, but this is not really considered a chapter to me.
Just for those who don't understand XX, it means that if certain conditions are met, then this chapter plays, like the Gaiden Chapters in the game. The conditions for this chapter... well maybe reading the earlier x chapters. Besides, if you've read the story this far, then I think you deserve to know what happened on Mark's side. I just hope this chapter doesn't turn you off the story.
So this chapter is actually right after the previous chapter, but encompasses to the time of when the dagger was taken back.
Chapter 24XX: Chorus of Twilight
Mark groaned in agony as he wondered for the umpteenth time why he was there. The answer was always the same. He wanted to protect his friends. That was the only reason that he was there. If it was probably any other reason, he would have laughed, scoffed, and spat in the perpetrator's eyes before being made to suffer like this.
He didn't really want to go through with the plan because it sounded extremely tiring, painful, and mostly, because he was lazy. Still, if he was to have an advantage in the next move, it was a necessary sacrifice. After all, how many times had his army sacrificed for him? It was only natural.
Still, after hearing the plan and having to come up with his own on such limited time and resources, he almost wished that he was the other Mark. His memory is still foggy but he was quite sure that none of it involved inter-dimensional travel.
There are several reasons that he came up with the discrepancies. One, humans just don't jump through dimension. Two, even if he did, he didn't have a passport. Perhaps he was just someone who was dead but in this world not. No that couldn't be it. The dead couldn't just come back, it was illegal.
Mark shook his head. Whenever he was pressed and stressed, he always came up with random thoughts. It's been a while since he came to the island, but he was blacking out every five minutes so he couldn't really understand what was happening. He tried to recollect his thoughts before he could black out again. At least this way he would have a head start and not have to go through more delusions the next time he woke up.
First, his 'brother' took him to the island via a transport seal. There they began to set up the runes needed to operate the gate. Technically, any gate would have worked, but this one was special in that it was already transcending dimensions and so it wouldn't take as much work to set it up, only to a different direction.
Directly in front of the gate was a series of seventeen concentric circles. Each was complex, different, and detailed down to each red written stroke. Mark helped to set some of them up by following diagrams. For his plan to succeed, he would need to go through everything first and time it so that the end result would be exactly as how he planned. Sure Murphy's Law of what can go wrong will go wrong still applies, but Mark was sincerely hoping that now was not one of those times. However, if everything is falling exactly as how it should happen based on his information then the plan should work.
After preparations were done, he pulled on the ring and drew the dagger. However, he made the unfortunate mistake of forgetting to limit himself. As such, the energy flowing from each rune in the room pooled together and knocked him unconscious. Thus was the plan delayed until he woke up, which wasn't for several more hours after his body finally filtered all of the excess energies.
Once that happened, he forced himself to stand up and continue the ritual. If the stories about him were true, then he would never have failed in the face of unparalleled difficulties. He tried again to unlock the door and only succeeded to the point where then energy flowed around him. He couldn't sustain the flow for long however, though he kept the runes glowing before the fell unconscious again.
Memories flooded his mind though he couldn't tell one from another. None of them made sense and he could tell that none of them belonged to him. Why then did he feel despair at the thought of them?
Upon awakening, several hours later, he was facing the ceiling which had a skylight. The sun was directly overhead and was blinding him. Without thinking, he reached up to block the light from his eyes. He felt his hand burning and quickly sat up to see what had happened.
As he opened his hand, he saw that he was holding a small orb of light. It swirled and flickered like the sun. All too soon though, the ball faded away, though he could tell where it went. He felt as its power and energy coursed through him.
It was a slightly warm feeling at first, but that was only the façade of the sun. Mark knew the true face of the light and the prowess of the light proved itself soon enough. Mark felt the unbridled pain as the light pierced through him, destroying him inside out. Mind, soul, heart, and body.
When he finally came to, he saw everything in the room with a slightly darker countenance. It slightly disturbed him, but it also gave him a sense of comfort. It was disturbingly refreshing from the whole experience with the light from earlier.
He was still on the ground, but he welcomed the darkness in with a glad euphoria. The darkness was calming to a degree. It was soothing. He would rather the darkness over the light any day. Not to say that the light wasn't great in its own sense, he was just more attuned to the darkness.
He went black once more.
Finally, he came to again. This time, he could tell that it was the final time for him to open the door. His 'brother' seemed to be expecting this as well.
Mark stood in front of the door and concentrated. Hopefully everything would go right. He could tell, and had confidence, that this would be the last time that he would ever see his friends on this world again. Oh well. Might was well make the best of it.
-
"Come on everyone," Nils call out. "We have to end this once and for all."
"Right," Hector said. "For the sake of the world once again, we have to solve this."
"For the sake of the people we love," Eliwood said.
"For our sake as well," Ninian replied.
"Also for Mark's sake," Lyn finished, "We will see this through to the end."
Short, but it summarizes up what has been transpiring on Mark's side. Not much happened except him being knocked out. Somewhere in his mind he is probably shouting "Don't get too comfortable!" but he probably isn't heeding it because he's already comfortable on the ground.
Really, being on the ground isn't comfortable. I know from experience. I prefer to be in a secure area, most preferrably comfortable before I sleep.
Oh well. I hope you've enjoyed these updates, but once again I'm not too sure of when the next one will be. I have everything planned out and I know exactly how everything is going to fall into place, but I'm going to have to find the time to type it up, which won't be until after this week at least.
I know this sounds a lot like an excuse, and I will be the first to say that it is, but it'll be a while before I can update again. Sorry. Know this though, I will finish this... eventually.
One final note. Actually, I'm writing this last line just to make up for the shortness of the chapter. Please review.
