CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
Light Path
It took a ton of enemy encounters to deal with or outright avoid altogether when possible, but it wasn't long before the Prince came across Darius and the Resistance soldiers on the ground.
Moving across the undergrowth and vines inexplicably created in mass by the Doppelganger's forces, the Prince could see for certain that they were having trouble with a massive stone guardian, which was seemingly guarding the entrance to the core source of water that flowed throughout Babylon's wells.
'They're not going to last much longer if I don't step in and do something now,' the Prince said to himself, leaping from the branches he was standing on and landed on a stone ledge, shimmying along until he reached a spot where he could continually descend down, successfully landing on the ground without sustaining anything more than minor scrapes.
'Darius!' the Prince called out.
'Prince? About time you got here,' Darius shouted out as he did his best to avoid being crushed by the stone guardian's steps. 'Any suggestions for taking this creature down?'
'Continue distracting it. I'll do what I can to bring it down!' the Prince replied at equal volume, as he rushed head-on in the direction of the creature.
There were no immediately obvious weakpoints that stood out to the Prince at first, until he caught a glimpse of the creature's neck when it bent down and tried to snatch one of the Resistance members. It had an opening barely protected by wood and leaves, which could make for an easy redirect as a battering ram at the fortified doors, if he managed to stab his sword into the base of its neck far enough. However, this was easier said than done (as it was flailing about too much for him to start climbing immediately).
Evening the odds, the Prince decided to slow down time and made sure not to waste the Sands (rushing as fast as he could up the guardian's legs and back, only slightly away from the neck area when time flow was restored to a more natural pace). The Prince held on for dear life as he placed one limb after another on a stable foothold, reaching the top of the neck.
Struggling to maintain balance all the while, the Prince pulled out his sword and made a series of slashes at the weakpoint until it was deep enough to reach the creature's nerves, stabbing it in and using the sword like a lever, directing the frenzied stone guardian at the fortified doors (smashing into it hard as the doors were blown off their supports, killing the creature in the process as it faded into dust and revealed what had truly become of the gardens under the Doppelganger's control, the Prince leaping to safety at the last minute as he retrieved his sword from where the stone guardian originally was and returned it to its scabbard).
'Be on your guard,' the Prince said. 'I doubt we've seen the last of enemy troops in this area.'
And as the Prince and Resistance members slowly began their descent to the source of the water blockage, it became clear that the undergrowth had especially taken its toll on the gardens' core well. It got so bad that they had to stop and slice vines in their path at least four times, before they finally arrived at the bottom.
Cautiously examining their surroundings, things seemed almost disappointedly dull in terms of action, after what it had taken to get here.
Suddenly, the Prince heard the cowering screams of a Resistance soldier being dragged away by seemingly sentient vines (everyone drawing their weapons as they prepared for an incoming attack).
Vines started lunging at the Resistance members as they did what they could to hold down the fort, the Prince performing a backflip to dodge a capture attempt before dealing a counterattack that sliced a few offending vines into pieces (causing an unnerving scream to be heard).
'Where are you? Show yourself monster!' Darius boomed. 'Your vines will not stop us from achieving what will be done on this day!'
Seemingly obliging the Indian general's request, the monster revealed itself for all to see. Its upper body looked distinctly female, but the rest of its body seemingly dragged behind it akin to a collection of plant roots. The skin looked entirely formed of bark, as the monster's face expressed visible feelings of anger.
'You were foolish to come here mortals!' it said with venomous fanaticism. 'You cannot stop the beginning of a new era. Your kind will be wiped off the face of the earth while a new race will rise to take your place across land and sea!'
'Keep telling yourself that,' the Prince said. 'It'll make it easier to kill you.'
The monster roared as it generated more vines from its body in a desperate attempt to capture the Resistance members and the Prince. It unfortunately managed to succeed at capturing two more of the soldiers, cruelly sapping the life from them until they were nothing more than food for the plants.
'Damn you!' Darius shouted, as he charged forward in a blind rage and stabbed the monster's lower body with his sword. It screamed out in pain as it knocked Darius aside into a nearby wall, knocking him out cold while doing what it could to tend to the open wound.
Becoming increasingly frustrated with how events seemed to be turning around in the monster's favor, the Prince proceeded to make use of this opportunity and rushed as fast as he could, climbing up to the monster's back and stabbing his sword deep into the creature's body repeatedly.
The monster did what it could to get the Prince off its body, but he wasn't playing around anymore. Too many innocent lives had been taken over the course of this conflict and he wouldn't allow any more Resistance members to be among the casualties.
Slowing down time, the Prince managed to reach what he considered the heart of this foul creature during the end of the power's effects, performing the finishing blow as he let out a powerful scream. Unable to stand, the monster collapsed to the ground, managing to let out a few words before it died.
'My son... Thank you...'
And as the undergrowth miraculously receded before the Prince's eyes, he realized then and there what that monster originally was in another life.
'Mother? NOOOOO!'
The Prince stabbed his sword into the ground, unable to hold back his repressed grief any longer. 'Why? Why did it have to be you? If I had never opened the Sands, perhaps you'd... still be alive.'
'You did what needed to be done Prince,' Zurvan said to him from the depths of his mind. 'The Queen would have not wanted it any other way. She was living a fate worse than death, unable to fight back against her own actions and feeling as if someone else was in control of her body. There's no way you could have known.'
'I know Zurvan,' the Prince said. 'But it doesn't make it any less painful. I thought that destroying the Sands of Time by preventing their creation altogether, would mean that my family would all still be alive. You have every reason to hate me for not following your advice.'
'While its true that what you did was reckless Prince, no. I do not hate you,' Zurvan said supportively. 'I've lived a long life, experienced many unforgettable things... I can only be proud of how far you've come and grown. And I'm sure the King and Queen would say the same thing, if they were here.'
'But they're not,' the Prince said as he wiped his eyes and put his sword away. 'Father is still under my duplicate's control. And so long as my imposter still lives, there is no way for Babylon to fully recover. There's one last mission that needs to be done.'
'The Babel Tower?' Zurvan inquired.
'Yes,' the Prince said. 'It's time this madness was brought to an end, once and for all. But first, I'd best make sure Darius is okay.'
Turning to Darius, the Prince did what he could to wake him up, as he supported him all the way back to the main Resistance hideout.
Dark Path
It took a ton of enemy encounters to deal with or outright avoid altogether when possible, but it wasn't long before the Prince came across Darius and the Resistance soldiers on the ground.
Moving across the undergrowth and vines inexplicably created in mass by the Doppelganger's forces, the Prince could see for certain that they were having trouble with a massive stone guardian, which was seemingly guarding the entrance to the core source of water that flowed throughout Babylon's wells.
'Those idiots are not going to last much longer if I don't step in and do something,' the Prince said to himself, leaping from the branches he was standing on and landed on a stone ledge, shimmying along until he reached a spot where he could continually descend down, successfully landing on the ground without sustaining anything more than minor scrapes.
'Darius!' the Prince called out.
'Prince? About time you got here,' Darius shouted out as he did his best to avoid being crushed by the stone guardian's steps. 'Any suggestions for taking this creature down?'
'Continue distracting it. You've been doing a solid job already!' the Prince replied at equal volume, as he rushed head-on in the direction of the creature.
There were no immediately obvious weakpoints that stood out to the Prince at first, until he caught a glimpse of the creature's neck when it bent down and tried to snatch one of the Resistance members. It had an opening barely protected by wood and leaves, which could make for an easy redirect as a battering ram at the fortified doors, if he managed to stab his sword into the base of its neck far enough. However, this was easier said than done (as it was flailing about too much for him to start climbing immediately).
Evening the odds, the Prince decided to slow down time and made sure not to waste the Sands (rushing as fast as he could up the guardian's legs and back, only slightly away from the neck area when time flow was restored to a more natural pace). The Prince held on for dear life as he placed one limb after another on a stable foothold, reaching the top of the neck.
Struggling to maintain balance all the while, the Prince pulled out his sword and made a series of slashes at the weakpoint until it was deep enough to reach the creature's nerves, stabbing it in and using the sword like a lever, directing the frenzied stone guardian at the fortified doors (smashing into it hard as the doors were blown off their supports, killing the creature in the process as it faded into dust and revealed what had truly become of the gardens under the Doppelganger's control, the Prince leaping to safety at the last minute as he retrieved his sword from where the stone guardian originally was and returned it to its scabbard).
'Come on,' the Prince said. 'Water flow to the wells throughout the city won't get resolved if this isn't dealt with now.'
And as the Prince and Resistance members slowly began their descent to the source of the water blockage, it became clear that the undergrowth had especially taken its toll on the gardens' core well. It got so bad that they had to stop and slice vines in their path at least four times, before they finally arrived at the bottom.
Cautiously examining their surroundings, things seemed almost disappointedly dull in terms of action, after what it had taken to get here.
Suddenly, the Prince heard the cowering screams of a Resistance soldier being dragged away by seemingly sentient vines (everyone drawing their weapons as they prepared for an incoming attack).
Vines started lunging at the Resistance members as they did what they could to hold down the fort, the Prince performing a backflip to dodge a capture attempt before dealing a counterattack that sliced a few offending vines into pieces (causing an unnerving scream to be heard).
'Where are you? Show yourself monster!' Darius boomed. 'Your vines will not stop us from achieving what will be done on this day!'
Seemingly obliging the Indian general's request, the monster revealed itself for all to see. Its upper body looked distinctly female, but the rest of its body seemingly dragged behind it akin to a collection of plant roots. The skin looked entirely formed of bark, as the monster's face expressed visible feelings of anger.
'You were foolish to come here mortals!' it said with venomous fanaticism. 'You cannot stop the beginning of a new era. Your kind will be wiped off the face of the earth while a new race will rise to take your place across land and sea!'
'Keep telling yourself that,' the Prince said. 'It'll make it easier to kill you.'
The monster roared as it generated more vines from its body in a desperate attempt to capture the Resistance members and the Prince. It unfortunately managed to succeed at capturing two more of the soldiers, cruelly sapping the life from them until they were nothing more than food for the plants.
'Damn you!' Darius shouted, as he charged forward in a blind rage and stabbed the monster's lower body with his sword. It screamed out in pain as it knocked Darius aside into a nearby wall, knocking him out cold while doing what it could to tend to the open wound.
Becoming increasingly frustrated with how events seemed to be turning around in the monster's favor, the Prince proceeded to make use of this opportunity and rushed as fast as he could, climbing up to the monster's back and stabbing his sword deep into the creature's body repeatedly.
The monster did what it could to get the Prince off its body, but he wasn't playing around anymore. Too many innocent lives had been taken over the course of this conflict and he wouldn't allow any more Resistance members to be among the casualties.
Slowing down time, the Prince lost all sense of reason as he proceeded to slash at the monster's head till it was no longer a part of the body, sand escaping as it faded away into dust and the undergrowth miraculously receded before the Prince's eyes, water flow returning to normal.
'That's another monster down. All that's left now is my imposter between me and seeing Babylon restored to its former glory. Better make sure that pig-headed brute isn't completely dead.'
Turning to Darius, he did what he could to wake him up, as he reluctantly helped him back to the main Resistance hideout.