I failed everyone, especially myself…
Flippy tried to reach out for his friend, but that twisted abomination before him blocked his path. "Shit!" He raised his blade in self-defense, just in time to block the cascade of attacks send directly after him. "How does it feel to see people you care for suffer? How does it feel to be able to do NOTHING, compelled to witness their ordeal?" Her childish voice lowered in pitch, the tremendous scratch in her tone caused him to shiver.
But Flippy remains unfazed by her taunting, the entire situation is only fueling his own inner demon. "Why?! Tell me, you experienced it first-hand. So, you´ll be the expert on that I think." Seldana roared in anger, the area around him got engulfed by a violet fog, shadowy figures emerging from it. "I know that you have history, the blood curdling screams of the people you´ve killed…" But as soon as the figures emerged, they vanished instantaneously. "What? How is that possible?! Aren´t the lost seeking revenge on their murderer in your place?"
The war veteran only shrugged it off, amused by her bewilderment. "Can you consider a deed a murder if the "murdered" person is just going to be fine the next day? You claim to know me, claim to know my history, but the people I killed aren´t dead." He just shrugged his head in disdain. "You know nothing. You only seek revenge on someone who was equally tormented like you!" Flippy spits to the ground, not averting his gaze on her. "Pathetic…"
Green seams engulf her body, causing her to scream before she could say anything. Behind her stands a panting Ian, sucking the life out of their opponent again. With an infuriated scream, Seldana tries to chase at him, but Ian runs away from her without interrupting his cast. "STOP IT! IT ISN´T FOR YOU TO TAKE! IT IS MY LIFE FORCE!" The bruised raccoon ignored her ferocious rambling, concentrating on his spell while simultaneously avoiding falling of the platform.
Flippy got the message right and chased after Seldana. Her attacks were fast, but her speed wasn´t even half as vast. It didn´t take him long until he caught up on her, jumping on her back and ramming the sharp blade through her neck. With a loud bang the entire scene froze. The entire mist stopped wafting, Seldana herself only stood there as if the time stood still. Flippy and Ian share a glimpse before a way too familiar voice interrupts the disturbing serenity.
"Surprising, intriguing, MAGNIFICENT! You gave in to your powers. You GAVE IN! I knew you were part of them, you belong to them." Ian had enough of her riddles, enough to the point in which the rousing confusion just became aggravating. However, a click with her fingers compelled them once again only to stand still, unable to say anything, unable to move. "You know, it was always fun to play with you two. But couldn´t you figure that I would be too powerful for you?"
She approaches Ian with a menacing smile. "I´ve something special prepared for you… It is so unfair that you´re not killable." She purrs jocular. "But your past taught you something very important about being immortal, did it not?" Ian's wrath turned to fear, greatly intimidated by her rising madness. "The torment can be so unbearable and everlasting if the sweet death isn´t encasing you with his cold, redeeming embrace."
She stands directly before him, pointing her palm towards Ian. "Your torment however… Can turn out to be a searing experience… BURN!" Cones of flames come directly through her palm, sending Ian alight. His mouth is still shut, only muffled screams come through his mouth. Adrenaline preventing him from passing out, compelling him to feel every bit of the tremendous pain surging through every little inch of his body.
Manic laughter fills the entire room. "BURN, BURN AND SUFFER! I SHALL RELISH EVERY LITTLE SECOND OF YOUR ORDEAL!" Ian's burning body keeps uncontrollably twitching, every scorched part of his body regenerates as fast as it gets burned. The rising joy inside her chest turns her focus toward Ian only. Flippy slowly manages to free himself, charging directly at her. Seldana, however, heard him, compelling him again to freeze on spot. "Nice of you to join the show!" She slowly floats Flippy directly before Ian. "Look at your pathetic friend… Isn´t it a marvelous sight? He makes a perfect torch, don´t you think?"
There was nothing for him to do about this situation. He could only watch and listen to Ian's suppressed pleas. He looked him in the eyes, seeing the anguish, the exasperation in his gaze. Flippy tries to move anything, completely paralyzed. He breaks down, silently crying inside himself. "How sweet, I bet you two thought that after you already killed two children, the third couldn´t be possibly worse, right? RIGHT?" Seldana slowly opens Flippy's cameo jacket, grabbing the fur on his bare chest. "I can ensure, you were horribly wrong!" She scratches his chest with her sharp claws, several blood-trickles run down his fur.
Another manic laughter fills the room as the blue-furred hyena gives in to her insanity. Green seams engulf her, catching Seldana by surprise. Attempted screams got suffocated by a vast claw, choking her throat. The first time, Flippy was finally happy to see that familiar face. "I have an oath to fulfill. I will not have you ruin the compromise." The ethereal remains of the witch appeared, holding Seldana in a firm grip.
The spells lingering on Ian and Flippy vanished almost instantly. Flippy closed his jacket, not caring about his wounds. He rushes to Ian's aid who only sank down to the bottom, huddled up to his knees still whining. "You have such a marvelous body… Seldana! Is that right? I sure could use a new body since I had to… Sacrifice my other one." The green light surrounding her body got more intense with every passing second. Her manic laughter got replaced with a short, agonized scream. "You think of yourself so powerful, don't you?"
An apathetic look is everything remaining from her face. Even though the power of the witch seems to drain her completely, she seems to be unfazed. Her skin decomposes rapidly, peeling of until the rotten remains inside her skeleton become visible. The chunks of flesh and fur whirl around the ethereal projection of the witch, slowly nestling onto her. "I´ll make good use of it… You´ve served your purpose partially. Now go!"
Only ashes lie on the spot were Seldana was supposed to be. An old body vanished only for a new one to appear. "I will form it the way I want it to be." Flippy remains unable to fathom the entire scene, the last thing he perceives is the drilling headache until he finally gets embraced by soothing unconsciousness.
"Do you think he processed any of the happenings?" Lifty asked unsure what to think about the entire situation. "I don´t know, I sincerely hope that he didn´t but… I… I don´t know. It´s possible though." Sniffles stated, his voice down as the encompassing guilt is still gnawing on his chest. "I´m so sorry damn it! Why couldn´t I think straight and clear in a situation it was needed the most? It seems not only most of my experiments are a failure… Even I myself tend to be a disappointment…"
Mime rests his paw on the shoulder of the blue scientist. "Please don´t try to reassure me Mime. I always wanted to be a person you can count on when it really matters. But it seems I´m clearly not such a person." He rejected Mime's consolation, going upstairs without appreciating any of them a glance. "Please leave me alone for a while…" Mime tries to run after him, but Shifty stops him right at his tracks. "Please leave him be. I can see that you are worried for your friend. But ramming your sympathy down his throat won´t help right now. He said he needs space, give it to him."
A saddened expression was the last thing he could give at Sniffles before he vanished completely in the dark of Flippy's barrack. "What are we going to do now? Wait until morning?" This was a good question, Shifty didn´t know the answer by himself, only the whole situation necessitated them to do so, wait until the morning. Giving an exasperated sigh "Yes, I think that´s the best we can do for now." It was slowly getting the best of him. He tries to hide it all along, but Shifty becomes slowly worried about Ian. "I just hope he is ok…"
Their attention went to Cub whose calm smile in his sleep turns to be its own oxymoron. "Such happiness can only exist through your nescience… I hope it will ward you for a long time…" Shifty approaches the couch the infant is sleeping on and rests him on his lap. "But it already wards you for such a long time… Can you even relish your own existence?"
His eyelids lie heavy on his sight. The crackling of a bonfire smoothly disturbs his slumber as he inhales in shock, remembering the previous happenings, remembering Ian burning. He tried to get up, only to realize that someone's arms are wrapped around his upper body. He doesn´t wear his jacket and the spot on his chest with Seldana's claw marks got bandaged. "You´re finally awake it seems…"
Flippy turns his head, Ian sleeping peacefully next to him. "Ian is such a confiding fella. It was just too cute witnessing him snuggling on you in his sleep. It seems he just needed the comfort you perfectly provide." His green cheeks become a bright red as he slowly tries to free himself from Ian's embrace. Piercing her with emerald eyes "First of all, thank you for the sudden rescue. I thought you couldn´t aid us against them?" He sure was grateful for her intervention, but a slight anger was squirming in his stomach. Why couldn´t a being so powerful like her couldn´t help herself with these children? Seldana gave the hardest fight and she just sniffed her out like she was nothing at all.
"Could you please give me some insight on the happenings we recently encountered? I don´t understand it! What was she even? The first moment she paralyzed us with magic, then turned to some sort of abomination only to paralyze us again later! And she called Ian a "leech" constantly! What did she mean by that?" The witch who wandered the room stopped in her tracks.
"Seldana was a powerful illusionist, the most things you saw weren´t real, especially the part with the abomination. She could trick your mind easily but… Could you please elaborate on the last part? Why did she call him a "leech"? Did you perceive the reason for it?" She just stood there, looking out of the window. "Well… She mocked Ian to hit the first blow, I think she was too sure that nothing could harm her… After Ian touched her head a greenish light appeared. Just like the light which appeared after you touched her! She screamed things like he´s draining her life force and stuff like that."
The witch turned around slowly, approaching Flippy who still sits at the ledge of the bed "That is indeed interesting…" She averts her gaze toward the still sleeping raccoon. "I must talk to him later. Right now, he can rest." Flippy only frowned at her statement. "He can? Isn´t one child still remaining?" But instead of an answer, she only shook her head. "What? I thought it were four children?"
"Yes, they were. But the last one left my house. She won´t do any more harm." Her glaring never left Ian, Flippy couldn´t help but feel uneasy due to her staring. He sure had enough from magical gifted psycho women. "What did you mean as you told her that she partially served her purpose?" Sometimes there are situations keeping someone interested, but the other person decides whether it concerns you or not. "This is not yet for you to find out." An attempt to retort something seemed futile as the witch spoke on. "I changed my mind, could you wake him please?"
Flippy couldn´t tell the reason for that, maybe he was slowly getting on her nerves with his interrogation. He decided to let it be for the moment and shook Ian gently on his shoulder. His slumber wasn´t deep and his eyes slowly opened. "So, since you two are awake, I have to talk to you." She turns around, her motionless expression got exchanged with her humorous smile once again. "Many things to clear up, I guess."
Suddenly, it was Ian who spoke up first. "May I ask your name? I don´t want to call you "witch" all the time…" She chuckled a bit. "How sweet of you to ask. The name's Nimue." Ian got startled as Nimue grasped his hands without a warning. His paws emit the green light softly. "Heh… "Leech" What a disdaining term that is…" His eyes widened as she repeated the word Seldana screamed at him numerous times.
"You know what she meant by that?" Nimue nodded. "Yes, I know. May you two follow me please? You two served me a great favor by your actions, it is only a fair deal to give you at least some insight. First of all, do you know what I really am?" They both shook their head. She smiled at their bewilderment. "I´m a being manipulating the rules of life itself. I am a necromancer." It was Flippy once again who raised a brow. "You mean one of those guys who summon a lot of dead bodies and corpses to serve them? Like in these old-fashioned horror movies?"
"Yes, and no, dear friend, there is much more to it. Necromancy is the ability to manipulate life itself, everything about it. You can divide the art of necromancy into three major parts. As one aspect comes the physical necromancy. Physical necromancers are able to summon dead bodies as far as you know it. But not only that, a physical necromancer is able to command his surroundings. You have to be careful if you fight one if the ground is paved with bones and corpses."
She takes a small pause, smiling as she continues her explanation. "Necromancers are bound to their certain element. Physical necromancers are reminiscent to the element earth. Full trained physical necromancers are able to form servants just using the dirt around them as you have to understand that everyone in this world exists out of elements. Once a servant is created, the master is able to see through its eyes."
They nod, the given information seems to be simple enough. "Then there is the spiritual necromancy. Devotees of that magic are able to summon the essence of the dead, or as you may know them, as ghosts. Many kinds of different spirits exist." Ian shakes his head in confusion. "But what good does that do you? How are ghosts able to harm you?" A laughter was all he got as reply.
"I have to admit that this question surprises me, Ian. You suffered it first-hand." She went on with her explanation since she realized his obfuscated expression. "Spiritual necromancers are able to haunt you or send spirits to haunt you. In your case, both happened. You know, the fourth child was a spiritual necromancer, she possessed the spirits of the fallen children and forced them to torment you. In the end the possession was complete, and she adapted the power of the fallen, using them against you. Imagine that just to get a glimpse of the power of a spiritual necromancer."
Ian rested a finger on his chin to process that explanation. "But what element is reminiscent to such people then?" They came to a halt before a wooden wall. On it was a painting showing the silhouettes of several people. Then the symbol of a wind is shown with dead people below it. "Their element is air. There comes a specialty to them, the ability to summon ghastly plagues upon their enemies."
"So, spiritual necromancers can possess, haunt and afflict you with god knows what disease? Seems pretty unbalanced to me." Flippy retorted. "And if you allow me that question, what does that have to do with Ian?" They enter a room. No furniture is filling it, only three pedestals with one book each stand next to each other. "Ian seems to fit in the last group of necromancers. "Leech" is a derogatory term for necromancers manipulating life force itself. The ability to heal wounds and drain is manipulation of life, no matter whether you magically close or cause them."
She grabs the book standing on the midst pedestal. "Necromancers manipulating life force itself are able to drain and spread the energy taken from their opponent. If you have this ability, you´ll be able to learn spells which can empower your own allies, manipulate the blood surging through your body. As long as that necromancer has remaining life force from his enemies, he is as good as immortal, regenerating any damaged tissue in no time."
But Ian shook his head violently. "That doesn´t make much sense! Back then I was forced to revive the children they slit open, every time I failed to heal and later revive them, I was tormented to any borders! Where should I have gotten the life force to sustain that?" But the witch clicked her tongue. "I´m afraid the truth is more horrid than you imagine, Ian. If you have no life force left, your magic will leech on others to sustain yourself. If they tormented you that hard only to compel you to heal a slit open child…"
Ian's eyes widened in shock due to the sudden realization. "I couldn´t heal them because I leeched at them… I drained the remaining life out of them…" Nimue gave a compassionate nod. "I fear that all of this makes more and more sense. The children got drained by your magic, and the fourth child possessing them had an easy play convincing them that you´re the culprit." A dark expression covered Flippy's face. "That would mean they tormented him for the sole purpose of the ordeal itself. They craved the torment then… What organization would be so cruel?"
The answer struck them as soon as it got named. "The Mayan brotherhood." Nimue handed a great black book in perfect shape toward Ian, a silver pentagram is the only cover of it. "Read this book and learn its ways. It shows you the possibilities you´ll about to master." Ian grabbed the book, but his curiosity is occupied by the current topic. "What is this so-called brotherhood? We heard it several times now, Seldana herself even accused me of being part of it! May you please tell us about it?"
Nimue avoided this topic right as she brought it up, much to their frustration. "Let´s just hope that you will never encounter it. The outcome would be… Unpredictable…" Ian gave up "Ok, thank you for helping us in the first place, Nimue. I think we´re leaving now." The blazing smile on Flippy's face showed that he thought of it as a good idea. "A favor for a favor, Ian. You will be always welcome here, together with your friend. This is the least I can do for the favor you two just did for me." They shared a last nod and headed to the exit door. Ian holds the book close to him, but he is to exhausted to care about its content right now.
They both make their way down the hill, not looking back at the mansion. The memories lingering on it cause… mixed feelings. "You know… I´m glad that we´re done with this foggy bullshit these children carried us through… But why is it so foggy outside as well? I can´t see five inches ahead of us…" Ian tried to peek through the mist, Flippy was right, the fog was totally dense. At the gate, which leads outside Nimue's vast garden, lingers an ethereal figure. "Oh, please no… I have enough…"
They firm their grab on their weapons as they slowly approach the figure. "Seldana… What do you want now?" Ian asked bluntly, clenching his teeth. "If you really don´t belong to them, then free this place from the curse." The suspicion doesn´t subside. "How are we supposed to get rid of it? Stop dickin´ with us with your damn riddles and speak the fuck up!" The aggravation in his tone was piercing enough to leave even Ian with a glimpse of dread.
"Destroy… The idol…" The war veteran loosened up a bit. "The idol is the source of the curse?" Seldana's ethereal silhouette began to fade away as she spoke her last words. "No… But it is… The key… Destroy it and the door won´t open again…" A shrug was all Ian could give. "What did she mean by that? Do you have any idea?" Flippy still focused the spot Seldana just were. "I do, and I know who might have a plan. Come, it isn´t far to my home."
"Do you think Pop will be angry at us?" Shifty stroke Cub's head gently. "I don´t know Lift´. Due to our reputation, this is perfectly possible. Luckily this time we have Mime and Sniffles to support us in case we´re about to get arrested. Either by the police, or by Splendid." Lifty left the window he stared out, trotting toward his brother. "Speaking of which, where exactly is he? I didn´t hear anything about or from him since he wrecked our home… Again…"
The hat wearing raccoon kept his eyes down to Cub, startling Lifty as his tone gets somber. "Pfft, why should I care? Sure we´re condemned to be the bad guys, but he? He even killed several people and he still gets adored by everyone! Sure, there are some white-knights giving everyone a chance, but you´ll never get rid of the stigma the society has condemned you to wear!" He averts his head away from his frowning brother. "Despised by everyone…"
Lifty sits directly next to his brother. "Why so gloomy all of a sudden? Russell was just about to give us a new chance! We just have to use it. I´m sure if we try hard enough, anything good will come out of it. Look we already have a balanced relationship with Sniffles and Mime…" The deer witnesses the conversation from afar, giving a reassuring blink with a thumbs up. "And we still can get to terms with Flippy, and, most importantly, we have the trust of our newfound brother, Ian!"
"Yeah… But what if…" A loud banging on the door interrupts his trail of thoughts. "Lifty? Shifty? Open the damn door on an instant!" Mime got up abruptly to do as the voice from outside commanded. "Do you have to speak that harsh? They are my brothers!" A second voice emerged from the other side. "Yes, I have, the history we share prevents me a bit from fully trusting them!" as soon as Mime opened the door they stopped arguing, Flippy gave a surprised look to see Mime in the threshold instead of the twins. But he didn´t have to look long for them as Ian gets surprised by two green raccoons jumping directly at him. The impact cause them to fall over with Shifty and Lifty on top of him. "Damn Ian, we missed you so damn much!" Lifty said, squeezing him in a tight hug.
"Oof guys… Please… I missed you too… But get off me… I can´t breath!"
