Interlude 2
A Dark Mystery
Let us shift our perspective to another world for a few moments, to see what is transpiring in the land that Konstantin has come from.
Let us shift to a dark place, ever shrouded in the mistakes of the lord who once reigned. To a ruin manor atop a hill and the squalid hamlet that sits in the distance.
"This has never happened before." A gruff Man-At-Arms says as he addresses the Heir of this long suffering estate. "Not ever. Th' way certain monsters are seeming to stop existing all together doesn't bode well."
"This is a boon, Barristan!" A Crusader booms optimistically. "With news of the Collector of all beasts departing for some unknown reason, we can breathe a little easier!"
"The Collector is a pushover, Reynauld!" The Man-At-Arms admonishes, waving a gloved hand. "We all know that, from how often we've kicked his ethereal, bony ass back to the abyss!"
The Occultist silently steps forth, before speaking calmly.
"There is a great change coming forth, I do not know what it is, but we cannot afford to ignore it." He gently raises the skull with the lit candle a little higher.
"Hmph! If anyone would know, it would be you Abdul." Barristan huffs.
"Then we are in agreement." The Heir drones from his desk, lit by several candles scattered about. "We would do to form a plan for the future to prepare for this change. Now, you're dismissed."
With that, the Adventurers departed, and The Heir decided to gaze out the window. He figured taking out that bottle of whiskey in the bottom drawer, but thought better of it.
It is long after the sun sets, that The Heir finds himself awakened, having been moved to his bed. He gave a sigh, for that meant he had likely dozed off again. He hears something, outside his room.
He steps out of his bedroom, and slowly tapers toward his office, where he can hear the faintest vestiges of conversation taking place.
"The raider will be broken, for the blood he has spilt flows outwards from all orifices like a damned waterfall of corpses. His guilt will crush him. It has happened before, in this cycle they are all trapped in."
"Foolish human! He is not in a loop and he is in a world of hope! There is no cycle there like there is here! Konstantin needs to be broken before he can meet Baldwin. He needs to be seen as the rabid animal he truly is. We need to make his partner die. That is why we-"
He hadn't allowed anyone entrance unless asked. Ever.
Drawing out his Ancestral Pistol, and smashing open the door, he finds not a soul inside.
Nothing is out of place, save several missing Trinkets.
A few Reaver trinkets, a Martyr's seal...
Well, the Heir was well and truly pissed now. He was about to bellow out an alarm, but sensed a dark presence behind him.
Turning with his finger on the trigger, he was knocked back by some unknown force, slamming into a bookshelf, the pistol going off with a blast of light and sound!
And lo, he beheld some terrible shadow-like beast! A bright blue eye stared deeply into his own before a demented giggle echoed in his mind.
The Heir sneered in defiance as the wretched thing clasped at the sides of his face with it's smoky appendages. He had faced far worse horrors than this new threat.
Then he spat in it's face, or at least, where one would be.
"Your world of never-ending nightmares are so much fun." The shadow whispered in his mind. "Thank your Ancestor, if you get to see him again, for showing me the way here."
The Heir was released from the shadow's grip, the thing seeming to disappear.
The Houndmaster burst in, club held high and hound barking up a storm.
"Who's there!? Sir? What happened."
The Heir was silent. And slowly, he stood up. He took a deep, deep breath, and-
A scream of rage echoed throughout the Hamlet.
"AAANCEEESTOOOOR!"
A/N: Zara did most of the work here but at you can tell, Darkrai's gone a bit off the rocker.
Zara, what do you think?
zaravan : Local man ruins everything.
Again.
On an inter-dimensional scale.