Chapter 24: Reunited
"Perched at the very precipice of oblivion…"
-The Ancestor (Darkest Dungeon)
Asriel swiveled into the alleyway, breathing heavily. He tried to fight off the persistent ache in the back of his head. He had been battling the Shadowborn for several minutes, but had barely made a dent in their forces. As a result, he and Noelle had opted to flee from them in the hopes of reuniting with their allies.
In his hand, he held a dagger that he had stolen from an incapacitated soldier. He had little skill with the weapon, but it gave him an alternative to his magic.
A swordsman rounded the corner, and Asriel rushed at him, plunging the dagger into his chest. He ducked under the soldier's retaliatory attack and followed up with a quick stab to the leg. He kicked his sword out of his reach before returning to Noelle's side.
"How are you holding up?" he asked her.
"About the same as five minutes ago," she winced as a wave of pain ebbed through her leg. "I'll be fine, just worry about yourself."
"I'm trying." He sighed. "It's a good thing these guys don't know the town too well, huh?"
"Yeah. I think that's the only reason we're still alive."
"Hey, we've got a man down!" a Shadowborn troop called out in the distance.
"Damnit." Asriel threw Noelle's arm over his shoulder. "We need to get out of here."
He carried her out of the alleyway and toward the tree line. He set her down behind a large tree and took up a position beside her, dagger in hand. The lake was just behind them; they had no more room to retreat.
Asriel cursed to himself. "If they find us here, we're gonna have to throw down."
"When you say 'we', you mean you, don't you?" Noelle questioned.
"I'll say it again, you're in no state to fight. You can't even walk."
"That doesn't mean I'm useless! You'll get yourself killed if you try to fight those guys on your own. Just let me help."
"Don't draw any attention to yourself. Please. I already lost Kris. I can't let you die too."
She sighed gently. "I can't let you die, either. At least let me take some of the heat off of you."
"Did you hear something?" a Shadowborn troop's voice came from nearby.
Another replied, "Sounds like it came from over there."
"You sure it's not just that weird onion guy again? I don't think I can stand another conversation with that thing."
"Shit…" Asriel muttered. "Alright, you can help. Just make sure you're safe before you worry about me."
Noelle nodded and readied her crossbow. Asriel peeked around the tree, finding himself mere inches away from the blackened steel of a soldier's chestplate. He made uneasy eye contact with the soldier, who hoisted a staggeringly large sword over her shoulder. She met his eyes with a withering glare.
"That's quite a weapon," he deadpanned.
"And you're quite a target," she said. "I think I'll use this weapon to chop you in half."
"I'd prefer if you didn't."
"Sorry." She held her sword overhead and swung it down. He rolled out of the way, and it hit with enough force to shake the ground. He stabbed her in the chest and shoved her back. Noelle shot her in the leg, and she dropped to the ground, losing her grip on her sword.
Asriel grabbed the sword, but found it far too heavy to lift. The soldier threw a punch and nailed him in the jaw. She reclaimed her weapon and prepared to take another swing at him, but fell back again when another crossbow bolt struck her in the shoulder.
A magical projectile whizzed past Asriel's face, causing him to jump back in fright. He turned to face his attacker. Before him stood a dozen or so Shadowborn soldiers with an armored mage standing at the forefront.
"You've been quite the pain to hunt down," the mage spoke. He drew a mace and ran his hand along its length, coating it in a brilliant white glow. "Now hold still, and we'll make this quick."
The mage swung his mace, and Asriel ducked under it. He countered with a burst of lightning, ignoring the headache that began to form. The mage leapt back and conjured a set of ethereal blades, launching them at Asriel. He swiveled into cover behind a tree to avoid them.
Noelle took aim and fired, hitting a swordsman in the leg. One of his companions noticed her and charged at her with his weapon raised. She quickly reloaded and fired again, hitting him in the chest and halting his advance. She downed him with a followup shot to the knee.
Asriel continued to duel the mage, primarily employing his scavenged dagger. The mage evaded his attacks with surprising skill, and fought back relentlessly. He swung his mace and hit Asriel in the head with enough force to knock him aside.
"Asriel!" Noelle instinctively stood up, only to sink to the ground in pain.
"I'm fine…" He pulled himself together and stood back up. A burning pain had set in where the mace had hit him. He shook his head to try and regain his focus.
"What's the matter?" the mage taunted. "Afraid to really use your magic? Feeling outmatched?"
Asriel scoffed. "I've been using magic nonstop for the past half hour. If I was at 100%, I'd kick your ass."
"Too bad for you, then. I don't deal in fair fights."
Asriel glanced at the soldiers all around him. "Yeah, I noticed."
He lunged at the mage and sunk his dagger into his chest. The mage stumbled back, clutching at the wound. A golden light formed in his hand, and it was mended.
"Good, you can do that too…" Asriel sighed. He jumped back to avoid another swing of the mage's mace, countering with a short burst of lightning. The mage shrugged it off and continued to attack, until a crossbow bolt struck him in the back.
While he was left reeling, Asriel stabbed him in the chest again and grabbed his mace, stabbing him yet again in the arm. He pulled his weapon from his hand and used it to club him over the head, then tossed it aside. He stabbed the mage once more in the back, leaving him to collapse to the ground.
A spearman charged at Asriel, but was halted when Noelle shot him in the back. Asriel slashed him across the face with his dagger. Noelle shot him once more in the leg to incapacitate him.
One of the remaining Shadowborn troops glanced at her comrades in disbelief. "Come on, people! There's only two of them, and you're letting them make you look like fools!"
"Have you considered the possibility that you are fools?" Asriel said. "I mean, if you're having this much trouble with us, how did you ever take the throne in the first place?"
The soldier seethed. "You piss me off in ways I can't even describe. I'll fix your ass!"
She advanced toward him with her shield raised. When Noelle took a shot at her, she spun to block the bolt.
"Someone kill the sniper!" she pointed her sword at her.
Asriel rushed at the soldier. She swung her shield to knock him to the ground, then turned to defend against another shot from Noelle. Asriel stood back up and conjured his chaos sabers. The soldier rolled out of the way of his first attack, and deflected his second with her shield. She cleaved into his shoulder with her sword before kicking him over.
Noelle felt a strong kick to her back. She fell to a prone position, her crossbow leaving her hands. She tried to crawl away from her attacker, only for him to pull her back by her ankle. He gave her another swift kick to the ribs.
"Noelle…!" Asriel stumbled to his feet, but was shoved back to the ground by the armored mage. The mage cast a healing spell on himself and flashed a smirk.
The swordswoman stood over Asriel and brought her sword to his neck. "Still think we're fools? I'll teach you respect."
She raised her sword to finish him off, when a sudden barrage of crossbow bolts and magical projectiles assaulted her, and she pivoted into a defensive stance.
"What the hell?" she cautiously peeked around her shield.
Asriel turned to the source of the sudden assault. A small defector squad approached, led by the other members of the Fun Gang.
Susie sauntered forth, pointing her halberd at the Shadowborn. "I'm gonna give you one second to get away from my girlfriend before I punch all the blood out of your bodies."
"The traitor's army?" the swordswoman stepped back. "How the hell did you get past Castle Town?"
"Who cares? Just kill them!" the armored mage prepared a spell. A crossbow bolt struck him in the forehead, and he collapsed, dissolving into dust.
The defectors charged into battle. One of them battled the swordswoman until another crept up behind her and ran her through. They left her where she fell and challenged the other Shadowborn troops.
Ralsei ran to Asriel's side and cast a healing spell on him. Frisk came to his side as well, and helped him stand up.
"Sorry we couldn't get to you sooner," Ralsei said. "We had to make sure Frisk was okay."
"I'd say you arrived just in time," Asriel said. "Hey, where's the police chief?"
Frisk lowered her head. "Helsing killed her."
Asriel nodded. "He'll pay for that, too."
Susie buried her halberd in a soldier's shoulder and shoved him aside. She grabbed another by the collar and slammed him face first into a tree with enough force to dent it. She tossed him like a ragdoll at yet another approaching soldier, sending them both tumbling to the ground. Ralsei stepped up to pacify them all.
The remaining Shadowborn troops soon fell dead at the defectors' feet. They gathered the survivors, taking them as prisoners.
"Noelle, are you alright?" Susie knelt down by her side.
"Yeah, I'm fine, all things considered," she winced.
"Damn, how long have you had that bolt in your leg?"
"Ever since we split up."
"Don't worry, I can help." Ralsei carefully plucked the bolt from Noelle's leg and cast a healing spell. "Can you walk?"
"Now, I probably can." She grabbed her crossbow and stood. "Thanks. How are you all doing?"
"We're fine," Susie said. "Police chief got schwacked, though."
"Oh…"
"Yeah… another reason to smoke Helsing's ass, as if we needed another one. Speaking of which, I'd say it's about time we find him and take him down. What say you, Ralsei?"
"I think you're right," he nodded. "His army has effectively been destroyed, and you cutting his hand off has to have crippled him."
"Maiming people has always been a talent of mine."
"Hm. I think we should take a moment to catch our breath, and then go after Helsing."
"Hell yeah, brother."
"Well, while you're recuperating," one of the defectors said, "I'm gonna head back and report the situation to Rouxls Kaard. Hopefully I can bring back a few more troops."
With that, he set off. A few of the other defectors accompanied him, with their new prisoners in tow.
Ralsei took a deep breath to steady his nerves. With the end of this brutal conflict so clearly in view, his thoughts became consumed with questions of his own morality. The mere mention of Helsing's name was enough to dredge up feelings of grief and hatred.
He would be lying if he said part of him did not want to kill him.
Even ignoring Helsing's cruel murder of Kris, he was a threat to the light world as well as the dark world. He was a bloodthirsty tyrant, driven mad by his own twisted ambitions and perched on the verge of total insanity. It would be dangerous to leave him alive.
But even still, he wasn't sure if he could bring himself to kill him.
For much of his life, he believed that nobody had to die in this world. When Chara and the hive mind proved him wrong, he promised himself that he would only kill out of necessity. But was it truly necessary to kill Helsing?
Would Kris have wanted him to kill Helsing?
Ralsei sighed, pulling his hat down to cover his face. He so desperately wished he didn't have to make this decision. With the time to decide quickly approaching, could he trust himself to make the right choice?