Chapter 8: The Balance Guardian and the Imbalance

Val stared at the pool of Kain's blood on the floor and the sinister smile returned to her face. Oh how she loved torturing vampires. Only now did she truly realize that. She wouldn't say it outright but she wouldn't deny it either. She lapsed back into her sadistic nature. The Soul Reaver glimmered in response. Her blue eyes were replaced by darkness once more. As she toyed with the Reaver Blade she began to softly sing a little song her siblings used to sing to the Vampires as they persecuted them. It was sung to the tune of Jack and Jill but it was so soft and gentle, almost like a lullaby.

There was a vamp, I skinned him through

And burned his flesh with water

He groaned in pain "what shall you gain?"

And I just roared in laughter

There was a vamp, Old Tom his name

One heck of a complainer

'Hacked off his head coz he's undead

But I gave it back after

There was a vamp, "Old Maggot Man"

His flesh would rot and fester

The bowl of blood in front of him

Won't make him any better

There was a vamp and every

Bone in his body had been broken

And since the day I came to play

Not a single word he's spoken

She was so caught up in her reverie that she hardly noticed the woman in a dark necromancer's garb floating rather close to her. When she finally did notice her, she attempted to exude a facade of indifference and detachment, banishing her perfervid fantasies.

"Well now, child," said Eidolon. "It would appear now that your role here is done; time to return to your world. We mustn't keep Gamin waiting."

"How do I know that you really are the one he wanted me to return with? What about her?" Val remarked blatantly, pointing at Ariel. "How do I know that she's not the one?"

"You'll simply have to trust me. How else do you think I knew about Gamin?" asked the dead necromancer.

"You have every right not to listen to her, little one." Ariel interrupted. "As she is my daughter, I know her well enough to realize how willful and conniving she can be. She will no doubt use you for her own arcane purposes.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Eidolon reproached, acid hanging ever so slightly in her tone. "Mother? Poisoning the well? I didn't think you would stoop down to such a vulgar level. I expected more support from you seeing how decadent this world has become." She turned to face Val. "In any case, you still have no other choice but to have faith in me, if you wish to return to your world."

"What are you talking about?" Suspicion was now evident in the Shadow Wolf's voice.

"You wouldn't even know how to work the Conduit if I hadn't told you. And even if you were to recite the incantation, you would only be absorbed into the Conduit's trans-dimensional vortex, leaving the Conduit here. We can't have that now, can we?"

The specter's words were true enough. She had not the slightest idea of the Conduit's machinations. If she refused aid from this spirit, she might as well be trapped in Nosgoth. Not to mention, if that were to happen and the premonitions she had so skeptically shown her of what was to come held any truth to them, then not only was this world beyond redemption, she would rot along with it. Finally, Val felt utterly compelled to keep the Conduit in her safekeeping. She did not know why but the obligation to keep the Conduit in her hands was too overwhelming. It was probably due to the dementia that corroded this land. Perhaps when she got back home she would return in to Jack… perhaps.

"Alright then, I'll play along for now. What do I have to do?" Val was all ears now, not that she had much choice.

"First of all, I want you to will your Dark Matter to cover the Conduit leaving no surface untouched."

Val unquestioningly did as she was told. Within moments the Conduit was wrapped in a thin layer of a mixture between shadow and substance.

"Now crush it."

"WHAT?" Val was utterly taken aback by this command. Would not destroying the Conduit also be severing the only connection she had to her world?

"You heard what I said. Crush it! Trust me."

Val felt at the back of her head that the spirit Ariel was smiling inwardly and thinking something along the lines of "I told you so" albeit a bit more profoundly. With unrelenting doubt, she shattered the glass shell of the Conduit. If she were to be trapped in this lifeless insane dystopia, then, hell be done with it.

Thousands of glass fragments lay scattered upon the ground. Amongst the remnants of what was once the Conduit, a single device now stood out. A blue gem encompassed by a metal frame shimmered faintly in the midst of the cracked shards.

"Ah Nexus, I should have known." Eidolon remarked to herself as she neared the center stone of the broken Conduit.

"Now what? I've destroyed my only hope of ever returning to my world. What else do I have to lose?" Val had now taken a pessimistic outlook on her situation. Who could blame her? It was all so dreary and hopeless. She never had much to live for in the first place.

"Close your eyes, Child. The next task may prove too difficult for you to carry out on your own. I will attempt to possess your body in order to aid you in this deed. Do not resist! It will make it easier for the both of us."

Resigned to her wretched fate, Val shut her eyes tight and silently willed the moment to pass. She just wanted to get it over with. The Shadow Wolf felt her right hand seek for her dagger, while her left hand held the blue gem from the ruined Conduit. Her hand gripped tightly on the hilt of the dagger, waiting in trepidation for the next move.

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A deafening wail of agony was heard throughout the hallways of the Sanctuary of the Clans. Several bewildered Dumahim vampires nearby, those who survived the massacre and came to feed on their diseased kin, looked towards the source of the cacophony but saw nothing. None knew what occurred in the room of the Pillars save the two manipulative sprits and their little lapdog.

Val was on her knees, feebly looking up at Ariel, perhaps in the hope of divine assistance. The dagger in her hand was now deeply embedded in her chest, missing her heart by millimeters. The possessed hand did not waste time in carving out her flesh, effectively making a cavity the size of her fist.

Oh how her silver blood did run, dripping to the marble floor and mixing with the puddle of Kain's Vampiric blood. Crimson and silver merged and the potent concoction was immediately absorbed by the marble. Once again, the sanguine solution disappeared completely, seemingly taken in by the Pillars.

When a substantial amount of flesh had been lacerated from her body, the blade ceased its torment. In its place, Val felt the enchanted stone in her left hand take its place. It was being forcefully shoved inside her flesh, as her body strived to recover from its injuries. Then, the deed was done. Her flesh closed in on the cavity, in effect sealing the Stone inside her body. Her robe was torn from the opening the knife made but a touch of Dark Matter would hide that well enough.

Val lay on her back, sprawled on the marble floor in exhaustion. She was utterly spent. In this weakened state, she could barely move. The day, or night for she could not tell, had been completely miserable for her. It was not everyday that one summoned a demon, was transported by said demon into a dystopian realm, attacked by hordes of mindless vampires and was deceived and used by beings that may have been dead probably a thousand years ago.

"Rest now, Child. You are not in fitting condition to travel back to your world just yet." Eidolon spoke as she left the Shadow Wolf's body.

"WILL YOU STOP IT??!!" It was more of a command than a question. Val could barely contain her current hatred towards the Spirit. "My name is not 'Child.' My name is VAL!" Her voice was beginning to sound worn and raspy from all her screams of pain and protest.

"That name is insignificant. You will have many others. I will call you whatever I want and you will obey me." In Kain's absence, Eidolon no longer needed to lure Val into a false sense of security. Her once gentle, reassuring tone was replaced by a cold, commanding and emotionless one. "I have seen the streams of time. Your existence in Nosgoth is crucial. However, should you so much as stray from your predestined path in the slightest, you will be expelled from the time stream. That is not the outcome I had in mind when I allowed myself to be bound to the Pillars several millennia ago."

Val did not even bother replying. Half of what Eidolon said made little or no sense to her. Why would her presence be of any significance to this post-apocalyptic world? Was it not ruined and decadent enough? And how could one be expelled from time? So many questions; she yearned for answers but who would give them to her?

"Oh and you may thank me later." Eidolon added to her argument.

"Thank you? After what you've done, why would I want to even think of such a thing?" Val obviously saw this remark as little more than insult over injury.

"Think, Child! Now that the Stone is inside you, when you are pulled into the trans-dimensional vortex, it will not be left behind. In all honesty, I foresaw you to be more intuitive than this." Eidolon berated her unnecessarily.

The weary Shadow Wolf no longer cared. Eidolon could continue to scold her until the end of time itself, for all it was worth. All she wanted now was solace. She wanted none of this "pre-destined fate." She was tired of being pursued and harassed by vampires at every turn. Most of all, why would she even waste her time with a demented specter who made her perform self-induced open heart surgery on herself?

Once again, she felt her strength slowly returning. It was one of the boons of being a "Shadow Wolf" or whatever her creators wanted to call her. As she was the last of her kind left, she theorized that the absence of immortality was the price for this rapid healing. She now had the strength to sit up and take the Reaver Blade that earlier lay forgotten on the floor. Carefully, she regained her composure, stood up and strode over to the Kain's throne and casually sat down. She reclined, legs crossed, head tilted up and all.

"What do you think you're doing?" Ariel was quick to scold her this time.

"Resting, contemplating. Why? Is that a crime?" Val replied indifferently.

"You are sitting on the throne of the Pillars with the Reaver in hand." Eidolon reprimanded. "Don't get cocky! If you have any fancy notions, you can forget about them this instant. You are not destined to be the next tyrant of Nosgoth."

"Then what am I destined to be?"

"You are designed to be something far more… constructive. Fate has so much in store for you. I guarantee you won't be disappointed."

"Oh that's very helpful. Would it be too much to ask for something a little more specific?" Patience was a virtue and Val was quickly losing it.

The two spirits looked at each other in silent understanding and then at Val. It was clear that they knew something she didn't.

"Very well," Eidolon replied. "If you are so intent on finding out about your destiny and if it will make things easier, we'll tell you. You see, my Mother was the Guardian of Balance before Kain succeeded her." She gestured to Ariel. "Kain is the Scion of Balance. But because he was corrupted, the land, in turn, decayed."

"Yes, I see. The Keeper of the Balance failed to do his job. But what is my part in all of this?"

"You are the source of the Corruption."

"What?" Val was completely stunned. Her mind froze. These spirits were not making any sense. "You mean to say that I am the reason this world is like this?"

"In a sense, yes. It was foretold by Moebius and so it shall be. You are the Imbalance. Or at least, a physical manifestation."

"But this world was like this when I first arrived here. How can I possibly be responsible for all this?"

"Did you think time worked in a linear fashion? That is what I meant by expulsion from the time stream. You will exist in several timelines at once. This is but the first segment."

Val was absolutely stupefied. She remained seated on the throne but now she bore the full weight of the accursed land. Words failed her. All she could do was murmur to herself "How?"

"How? You ask?" Eidolon now taunted her. "You always have and you always will. It is, has been and forever will be the nature of your pre-ordained existence. Is not true that whenever you look into a vampire's eyes, they go mad?"

"Yes." She muttered.

"Your gaze only affects vampires because they are more sensitive to your ability to corrupt minds. Vampires are only seemingly infallible but in truth, there are more susceptible to certain things that humans are too numb to perceive."

Val said nothing at this. At least she finally got her long-sought-for answers. Though not how she imagined it.

"For now, do not think too much of it. You are young yet, Child. You have barely begun to realize your true fate. Your role in Nosgoth is not yet due."

"How can you even say that? It's like you don't even care about this world. Shouldn't I be trying to find a way to bypass this fate, so that this world is not condemned?"

"Haven't you been listening? Your fate has been practically laid out for you! DO NOT TRY TO CHANGE IT!"

Debating with this spirit would get her nowhere. "Alright, fine! I'll do what you want! I just want to return to my world. I think I can handle traveling though dimensions now."

"Very well but before we depart, I have a few things for you. As a token of good trust, I offer you these trinkets."

With a wave of her incorporeal hand, several objects appeared out of thin air and floated in front of the Spirit: an ornate black and white butterfly mask and a pair of twin Cryse blades.

"The Reaver is not meant to be in your hands. You are not nearly skilled enough to wield it. It belongs in the possession of a more capable swordsman."

"And who, pray tell, would that be?" Val questioned.

"Why, Raziel, of course. You must give it to him."

"I don't understand you. First, you yell at me and reproach me for being the disobeying little dog that I am and now you dangle these prizes in front of me, tantalizingly, and expect me to start begging. How skilled you are in the art of persuasion." Every word was teeming with sarcasm.

"I apologize for my irrational behavior a while ago. Being bound to the Pillars for several eons will inevitably leave a considerable effect on the mind. Now, test your rewards. I believe they're more your size."

Val stretched out her hands tentatively and grasped the Cryse Blades. Sure enough, they felt perfectly adequate in size, shape and weight in her hands. Unlike the Soul Reaver, these were weapons she could wield with ease, for someone of her stature at least. She placed them on her back and instantly a sheath appeared on her.

With reluctant hands, she took the butterfly mask. Reason was tossed aside when she felt the overwhelming desire to try it on. She strapped the bands on and slipped it upon her face.

An unwelcome sight met her in the realm of the dead. A black mass appeared before her with glowing red eyes and a vampiric aura to boot. The creature startled Val, causing her to shriek and take off the mask in terror.

"What was that?" She questioned both spirits in general.

"That was the spectral realm. What you saw was no doubt a vampire wraith. You needn't be alarmed though. With your powers, I doubt it could harm you." Eidolon answered before Ariel had the chance. "The mask not only allows you to see into the spectral plane. It actually transports you there. Taking off the mask returns you to the physical world."

"I've heard of this "spectral realm" before. My mentor Ella spoke of it to me once. But I never imagined it to be so distorted."

"In the spectral plane, time effectively stops. As a time-traveler, you may find it useful."

All of a sudden, the ground began to quake. Val stumbled a bit but quickly regained her composure. The Spirits, floating in the air, felt nothing. It was a minor passing tremor, nothing more. But the suddenness of its occurrence caught Val off guard.

"What was that?" She blurted out by instinct.

"A warning that we had better leave soon. Your mere presence here hastens the land's decay."

"Let's get going then." Val said as she gathered her possessions: her blue Illustrazio bag on her back, the Cryse Blades sheathed, slung across her shoulder, the butterfly mask atop her head and lastly, the Reaver in her right hand.

Once more, Eidolon possessed her but this did not surprise Val in the least. It was, logically, the simplest method of transporting a spirit.

Ariel looked disdainfully at the pair. There were no parting words between Mother and Daughter. They had spent an eternity together, bound to the Pillars. Now they were finally glad to be free of each other. The former Balance Guardian disappeared into the spectral realm and that was the last they saw of her.

Valwique and Eidolon, merged as one, were truly alone now. The two spoke as one, "Bephesda Alamimnon Sanguino Terra Firma!"

A bright fireball consumed them and they were no more.

Shortie: Ariel on the Pillars

Ariel: I'm bored! I wonder what the old squid is doing. (Suddenly dematerializes into the floor and rematerializes in the Elder God's lair.) Hey, iggy (EG), wazzup?

Elder god: Ah, it's you again, you infernal…

Ariel: Infernal what? (Pokes iggy) does this hurt? Huh? Huh? Huh? HUH? (Poke poke poke)

EG: Stop that you infernal phantasm! I'm trying to practice my lines here!

Ariel: You don't HAVE any lines you idiot! And come to think of it, neither do I after this chapter! Wanna go out for a coffee break?

EG: Make it a date and we'll call it even.

Random Sluagh: Hey! Can I come too, boss? I wanna decaf! Souls are so boring if they all taste the same.

EG: You're fired.