I'm back from the trip, and hopefully will have more patience to pick through my work before I publish them. That's a hard thing for me, writing and publishing continually, instead of finishing a whole piece and fix things all over the place as I go. Well, it's a challenge, then.
Hits are going up and up and up!! Thank you all! I do hope to see more reviews… thank you-s to Dromiceius and PhilipFreeman.
Disclaimer: I own Celadon, Oread, Cain's additional annoyance and the details in the story. Blizzard owns the rest, including Diablo III when it comes out!! Hurry up!
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Chapter 4: Fearful Fulfilment
Oread took a few days to rest and fully recover before we set out again. I grew tired of my sisters' inquiries regarding my journeys; and so for most of these days, I sat by myself, pondering, reflecting, remembering the short period of time that had passed, and transformed me into a new person.
It had only been a day, a single day, yet it felt so much longer than that. Within a day, I massacred, slaughtered, and murdered hundreds. Lives of the corrupted, but lives nonetheless. I have never felt so ready for my world, I have never felt so confident.
I looked down at my hands; all the lives I have claimed, their blood had initiated me into this world of live and let die. My pale hands seemed to be stained by a furious crimson, the souls of the dead still crying out, reaching out from these hands that were beginning to tell their journeys with blisters that would eventually become calloused. The warm blood will no longer be felt through the thickened and roughened skin.
I could smell it, the blood… from around me, the very air I breathe… no. It came from within me. The stench of the dead was brewing in me.
My innocence, my blissful ignorance, my naïve beliefs of the world, had fallen and died with my enemies. Like my Corrupted Rogue sisters, I have been killed in my battles, my soul as I knew it had left its body with an unprevailing scream of pain. My soul was unwilling, yet my body was grateful. The bloodlust from deep within me as a warrior had been fulfilled.
It was as if I had died and been reborn at the same time. Celadon – the young Rogue mercenary was no longer. I was now a battle-willing warrior. I was shocked to find myself impatient for more action, desperate for the exhilaration of battle.
I knew then, that from that moment, I would never stop battling. I was born into this body of a warrior, and until I leave this body behind, it would be my identity: a Rogue, a warrior against the Prime Evils.
Perhaps this was the reason why my corrupted, undead sisters continued to battle. Their bodies were alive; even if their souls were dead, their bodies still carry out their duties.
And I killed them all.
Looking at myself, I realised my likeness to them.
Is evilness and corruption determined by the lives one takes? Who is the true evil? Diablo and his brothers took over the lands, killing as they advanced. Us, warriors of the light, killed as we attempted to reclaim that land.
We were doing the same thing. We were killing one another for the sake of dominance over the other side. We were just as evil, just as corrupted as each other.
Two days after we returned from Tristram, Oread called for me in the morning. 'We're heading towards the monastery.'
She really favoured straightforward statements.
I have also noticed a few other things about my master during these days. She was very apathetic towards battles, and it seemed to me that she would rather have me take care of things, and only doing it herself when she has to. Still, she was very protective of me; save the Dark Wood, I had not killed a single unique enemy. She risked her life while keeping Griswold away from me.
That made me felt irresponsible as a mercenary. I, as a mercenary, should be protecting my master against foes, not the other way around; but Oread did not seem to be angry with my vulnerability. She wanted me to develop, I could see that. She was different from the other warriors that came and took us Rogues as mercenaries.
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It was a long way to the monastery; according to Kashya, we must first return to the Dark Wood, through the Black Marsh, across the Tamoe Highland, before we would even catch a glimpse of the Monastery. Oread decided that we should camp out until we reach the Monastery.
Returning to the Dark Wood by the waypoint, I noticed a foul stench; the many bodies of the dead Corrupted Rogues were decaying, filling the once-sacred place with the toxic smell of carrion. Oread surveyed the area in case of an enemy; I turned away, unable to look at the rotting bodies of my sisters. Once I heard the footsteps of Oread heading towards the Black Marsh, I ran straight towards the direction she was going, not daring to look back. Hopefully there would be another waypoint somewhere close; I never wanted to see that place again.
'Celadon! Watch where you're going!' Oread scolded from behind. I looked up, and before I could register what was in front of me, fear and instincts took over, and I shot another Corrupted Rogue down. So there were more of them. I still could not escape from what I had done.
'Pull yourself together, Celadon!' Oread came up beside me; I must have blindly ran ahead of her. She turned me to face her. 'I know this is hard for you, but thing are only gonna get harder. You have to toughen up, understood?' It sounded strange that she was, for once, expressing empathy. I nodded gratefully. She looked ahead to her left, and I watched as she took down a few monsters from a huge range, from which her targets looked like ants, and not wasting a single shot.
With such a display of her skill, my confidence grew. I aspired to be like her, and I decided, there and then, that I would not give up until I have gotten there.
We checked each corpse, clearing the area little by little, lighting a waypoint in the meanwhile. Soon we came across a strange sight – a small stone building, eroded by battle and age.
'Is it occupied?' I asked my master, after noticing the torches burning consistently on each side of an entrance.
'This must be the Forgotten Tower.' Said Oread.
'The what?'
'The Forgotten Tower. A cruel countess was buried alive when the divine sealed her castle within the earth. This small tower is the top level, and when the earth around it was eroded, it stood out as the Forgotten Tower.' We walked through the entrance, and found a hole in the ground, with a ladder leading down into the dimly-lit underground dungeons. 'Apparently there're treasures in here.' Oread concluded.
'How do you know all of this, when I didn't even have a clue?'
'I came across a tome on the way to getting Cain. I read a bit of it but it just seemed like some silly mythical story to me. Never would I have guessed that this actually existed.'
'If there's more information in the tome, it might help us decide if it's worth it.'
'Well, I've already thrown it away in Tristram. It must be burnt to ashes by now.'
'…'
'Doesn't matter.' Oread looked up at me, her green-hazel-golden-brown eyes somewhat shone with… excitement? 'I guess we can investigate this, no harm done. Even if there's no treasure, we can practice some in-the-dark combat skills. The Monastery has underground level, I'm sure?' I nodded. 'Let's go, then.' She began climbing down the ladder.
I was a little afraid of this strange place; its eerie silent and still atmosphere already streaming through the tiny opening. Nevertheless, despite my fear, my body was eager for more action, more danger, more blood.
I climbed down after my master, looking forward to facing the darkness of the unknown, lying patiently, awaiting me.
Awaiting its death.
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Well, I was going to include the completion of the quest in this one, but this chapter contains a lot of Celadon soliloquising, so I thought it would be proper to end it with some too. I didn't expect her to be this deep and dark, even after her bloodlust as a warrior have been awakened; but if this is the direction my inspiration is leading me… I might have to change the ending I have in mind. Celadon's darkness wasn't there as such when I first thought of the ending. It's kinda ironic since at the end Celadon thought of herself as one to destroy darkness, and not realising that darkness is within her, too…
I myself would like to see how this goes. I don't know how my mind works, at times…
