Transition

A large block of stone explodes into several large chunks, which rain down upon the ground and crash into the turf. As the smoke settles, a small disheveled witch is seen floating in the air, breathing heavily. She's been at this for at least half an hour now, and at least 45 giant slabs of stone have been obliterated, each at least four times her size. This was nothing to her. She could continue on for another day if she wanted to. But... now that she'd exerted this much energy, she saw no reason in continuing. The obliteration of blocks served no real purpose, it was simply a way to vent anger and restlessness without actually harming anyone. A friend had suggested it. He had said that that when he was bored, or on the rare occasion angry, he would smash boulders. He had said that it was quite fun, and he was sure that she would enjoy it as well. The witch had already destroyed as many boulders as she could find, so a few days ago she had taken to transfiguring the rock dust into blocks, which she would then reduce once again to boulders, and then to dust. It is a tiring cycle, and serves well to relieve her stress, as well as to perfect her ability to create perfectly chiseled cubes. She finds this ability irritatingly useless.

The witch is sitting on a smooth, rounded stone, slowly building up another block as she hears the familiar flapping of an approaching friend. She does not turn around as the friend lands with a ground-shaking thud and and a trademark, "Huzzah!"

"Hello, Balrog," says the witch, calmly. She hates to admit it, but she is actually glad her friend visits her some nights.

"Hello, Misery!" The large arcane mech walks up to her, somehow quietly, as not to disturb her designing. The witch snickers. 'He lands with no grace at all,' she thinks to herself, 'Shouting at the top of his lungs, and now he treads lightly?' She shakes her head. She has become so familiar with the process that not even a volcanic eruption could cause her to make a flaw in her work. "What design are you making this time?"

The witch closes her eyes, not even looking at the mural being created before her, as she can see the completed work in her head. "Take a look for yourself." Her prismatic friend leans in to take a closer look, and upon closer examination, sees himself staring back at him.

"Wow!" He says this quietly, but the witch can tell he is excited. "This is great! I think it is one of your best ones yet!"

The witch laughs warmly. "Are you just saying that due to to the likeness?" Her friend shakes his large form a bit, making up for his lack of separation of cranium and torso.

"No, no, this is, indeed, one of your most detailed murals yet! You even captured the fading between my eyes perfectly! And the frame," he continues, transfixed. "Not just my own grand frame, but the frame of the mural itself! There are so many interweaving patterns, it is absolutely marvelous!"

"Oh quiet," says the witch in a cold voice. She tries to put up a facade of uncaring silence, but she is unable to maintain it. "... Thank you." As the block nears the top, a slender figure begins to take form, and in just a few seconds is revealed to be herself, floating a few feet above her friend. She looks at peace for once in this mural. The witch opens her eyes and gasps as she sees how accurate her etching is. She had only added herself into the picture as a last minute thought, yet, it had taken form most beautifully... Perhaps her skill was not so useless after all...

The block reaches the top, and is completed. The witch steps back and closes her eyes once more. A dark sphere begins to form above the block. "Misery," says the large figure. "You aren't going to... destroy this one too, are you?" The witch smiles and she opens her eyes, the sphere striking down into the block with a black bolt of lightning. There is a loud crack, a small boom, and a plethora of stone dust, but when it all clears, the mural is still standing. The large friend looks up over the front of the mural, and sees that the entire back of the cube is obliterated. "Did you..."

"Yes," says the witch. "I did that intentionally."

"Bravo!" The large friend hugs his small friend, and the small friend accepts it. For once, the witch did not mind her friend's embrace.

"Let us take this back to my mother," says the Witch, standing up. Her large cubic friend nods his frame in agreement.

"Yes! That sounds like a grand idea. Shall I let you do the honors?"

The witch shakes her head. "No. Let us walk." Her friend nods again, and they set off towards a home the witch has not set foot in for many, many years.

Notes From the Author

Hello! As you can tell, this is definitely not your regularly scheduled Chapter 9. In fact, this was totally unexpected. I started writing Chapter 9, and then decided that I was bored with it. So I'm taking a small break from the main story line to describe the state of the Island! As you may have noticed, I am writing in present tense. I will continue writing in present tense for the remainder of the Transition. Why? I have no idea. It's a transition, or an intermission. It's a break from the norm, and frankly, it keeps me on my toes.

I will be continuing the Transition for a little while longer, but I probably will not focus solely on Balrog and Misery. There are still other inhabitants of the island, and some of them may become important later... Hehe... (Spoiler alert: In the game, you're going to have to get your weapons from somewhere, right? Now, who is better to make weapons than the _! They will be visiting real soon. I have a ton of ideas for weapon crafting and trading. Oh man, this is gonna be so much fun!)

In other news, I've beaten another game. This game is called OFF, and it is completely indescribable. That's why I'm giving y'all a link. It's a turn-based RPG originally made in French, and the story line is superb. If you are into adventure/confusion/plot twists/dark humor/slightly creepy yet hilarious stuff, then you should totally check it out. The link is here;

forum/Fan/Games/OFF-by-Mortis-Ghost

Anyway, I'm sorry if this was immensely disappointing to a lot of people, so in order to make up for the boredom, play this game. There's three endings, so I'm sure it will keep you busy for a while.

As always, I wish you the best. Have a nice week, be safe and warm, if at all possible, and do your best to retain all of your limbs until next Monday, so that you will be able to read the next update.

Sincerely,
Alaystus