A/N: Words cannot express how sorry I am for the lack of updates. My internet has been having trouble every time I had tried to write this chapter, and it has become nothing short of annoying. And it ended up happening again somehow, but even after rewriting it a third time, I'm not satisfied at how it's turned out. At all. Welp, I guess it's a good thing that I'm almost at the end of this arc.
What? No. This isn't the end. We still have at least three chapters after this.
But yeah, I'll probably have a Forgotten Dreams chapter as well shortly after, if that's good. 'Kay? Good.
Ravel (A/N: Er, not me. Other one. Gods, this is confusing.)
I slice open a mage, whose scream is now masked by a flow of blood.
A general and myrmidon try to double-team me, but I do a spin slash and knock them off of their feet. I quickly decapitate the general, before turning toward the myrmidon, who gets up and charges at me.
I smile and flip over him, before slashing at his back. He tries to turn toward me, but the blood loss quickly gets to him, sending him falling to the ground.
Hmph. Who would have thought that a year of solitude would be so helpful? I have all of that petty possessor's skills, I have to do now is make better use of them.
No! You can't do this! Give me back control of my body! NOW! NEVER! I was imprisoned inside of you for a year! I couldn't do anything! Every little word that I longed to say, simply echoed across the boundaries of my own prison! And now you will have to suffer the same fate! Nothing can change it!
... I'm.. Sorry...
Silence.
Hmph.
I see that peculiar Bow Knight... Geoff... rush toward me.
"Ravel! No... Alan, what are you doing?!" I glare at him and turn around, chopping apart a couple of more men apart. It feels so wonderful to get rid of this pent up anger.
"SNAP OUT OF IT!" GAH! FOOL!
"Let go of me!" I try to shake him off of me, and- SHIT!
Epona tackles me to the ground, and the other mercenaries rush in and form a barrier around me.
... His influence still has a hold of me. Hmph. No biggie..
STOP IT! I shake my head in pure aggravation and confusion.
"Geoff! What's going on with him?!" Niro turns toward Geoff, in obvious panic.
"I-I don't know! Just... Hold them back!" He reaches out and grabs the front of my trickster outfit, prompting me to pull out my sword.
"Let go! Don't make me use force!" I yell.
Gah! Even HIS personality has been corrupted! Quiet, Jeremiah! I don't need your input!
I pull out Draiotoll and slash at Geoff, who barely jumps out of the way.
"So that's how it's gonna be." I keep a stern face and rush toward him.
Geoff
OUT OF THE WAY!
Gah... Damn!
What the fuck has gotten into him?!
That's not Alan! Huh? What do you mean? I dodge another slash and parry, before pulling out my shield.
I MEAN, that's not Alan! Remember how we told you about the process of soul-merging? Yeah. What about it? Gah!
I look down at the large cut on my leg, before looking up at Ravel.
"I warned you." he keeps a stern look, before lifting up his sword.
And that's when someone tackles him.
"Stop it!" Wilson yells.
As I said, that isn't ALAN! That's the other person that was involved in the soul-merging! Can we even fix that?!
I could try! But it will be a bit risky! Just... Try to hold him off! Maybe you can knock some sense into him.Got it!
Ayla quickly heals me and I grab my sword again. I rush toward Ravel, who already has Wilson knocked off of him.
"I don't want to do this, but if it means I can get Alan back, so be it!" I rush toward him, only for him to jump out of view.
I turn, only to quickly have our blades collide in a shower of sparks.
The circle around us breaks up, presumably to combat the forces around us. Yet there is still a clearing between us.
Hmph. Reminds me of one of those epic battles.
Maybe because it is... but..
SHIT! I dodge a spin slash, followed by a vertical slash that rips some of my clothing. I wipe away the blood and hold out my shield again.
Draiotoll collides with full force, knocking me into Epona, who nudges me back to my feet.
"Thanks." I nod. I then charge back toward him, taking my sword and swiping it across his shoulder.
He roars in pain, picking up Wilson's discarded axe and tossing it at me. It full-on whacks me in the face, snapping my jaw and sending an ocean of pain through my skull.
"Gawd dam..." Oh gods, that hurts! J-Just... Why is he so powerful?!
It's a side effect of soul-merging! He has all of Alan's abilities and skills, but without the flaws!SHIT! Pain! Ignore the pain and run!
"Nowhere to hide!" He jumps on the head of a couple of men, before winding up a reasonable distance in the air. He takes his sword and raises it into the air and-!
Did lightning just strike it?!
OH GODS RUN! RUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUN!
SHIT!
Jeremiah
Oh... Oh my gods...
This is insane. If we don't stop this, Ravel's prescence could very well cause ripples in the stability of the Outrealm.
"Alright! I'm back! I got the-!" Sygil rushes into the room, only to drop the small device that was in his hand. "A...B... We won't have to use it, will we?"
I stay silent, which aggravates Sygil a bit.
"Should I start to reset the soul-merging?!"
"No. Alan already knows about Ravel, he'd end up feeling guilty if we just re-merged Ravel. If anything, he'd lose the will to fight." And that's the problem. We cannot simply continue this safely without damaging the Outrealm.
"W-wait, does that mean we'll have to use the AB?"
"I'm afraid we may."
"Will it affect the others?!"
"It may not, though I can't make any promises. And besides, what if we take away too much? Most of the survivors have had prominent roles in the original timeline, and we can't risk a time ripple that would undo that." Time ripples are the bane of my existence. Just touching one person's persona can completely modify their roles in any corresponding timelines. Though there are exceptions in some of the Outrealms, it still doesn't change the fact that this is serious.
Sygil turns and sits at his desk, taking the small device and placing on a nearby pad.
"Now installing Amnesia Bomb."
Geoff
Gah... Ears... Ringing...
"Why must you fight me?" a figure above asks.
Damn... It...
"I-I... Just want my friend back... Not some... some stranger.." That was epic sounding. Like, main hero epic.
Pft, why would I doubt that?
I spread a hand on the ground and slowly pull myself upwards, staring at Ravel from above me.
He continues to frown, staring at the ground around me.
"...I never really had friends..." he mutters.
...?
I continue to stay silent, staring at him.
"Maybe this man's lucky to have people sticking up for him. Maybe this was supposed to be my world... But now, it isn't." He frowns and sheathes his sword.
I frown and shift weight to my left. Ow! OW! OKAY! NOT MY LEFT!
I look down, noticing the scorch marks all over my leg.
...Damn.
"...I should apologize." ...Is he crying...? "So... I will." he pauses to wipe some tears from his face, before looking up at me. "I'm sorry... That you had to be a part of this demonic scheme." As he finishes, Ravel closes his eyes.
Gah-! He's falling!
Just gotta-!
Too late, he's on the ground. So much for that.
Wait... So he was just a normal person? Not some psychopath that merged with use just because?
Waaaait. Does that mean that the person I'm merged with is just like him?
... Oh shit.
"Guhh... Wait..." Ravel reaches his hand out into the air, despite nothing being there.
"Ray!" I yell. I proceed to grab his hand and yank him onto his feet, lightly snapping his arm in the process.
"W-What...? Geoff...? What happened...?" His confused look quickly shifts from confusion back to the stern look, and he looks into my eyes. "Jeremiah and Sygil did this." he frowns.
I nod.
"Damn them. And here I was thinking that nothing was suspicious about this." He growls and stomps on the ground, which sends some dust blasting into his face.
He's right. We're practically being used as gambling pieces, except we're almost literally ruining peoples' lives.
"Damn bastards." I frown.
Come on out Jeremiah. How 'bout you explain?!
...
Fuck you too.
"W-what the-?!" a distant voice yells.
Huh? I turn toward the voice, spotting a barely conscious Gorge holding up Wilson.
Wait, what is he pointing at...?
"What the hell is that?!" I gasp.
There's this creepy black cube-thing in the distance. It's all... Techno-ey. And- BEAM!
roll out of the way of an energy blast coming from the cube, which proceeds to startle Gorge, causing him to drop Wilson to the ground.
"That's not good..." I say through gritted teeth. "What the hell is this thing?!" I turn toward Ravel and yell.
"Shit! This is Jeremiah's doing! He's going to do something to try and make us think differently again!" What the hell?!
Why would you do this this, Jeremiah! Sygil!
Our purpose is more than you believe.
Just as the voice echoes across my mind, a powerful wave of energy blasts from the cube.
It immediately hits me in the skull, sending a numbness throughout my body.
Just gotta... Think...
Gah... Thoughts...
Clouded...
Damn you... Jeremiah...
Guh.. Damn... That was one tough battle.
I extend an arm and push myself upwards, just enough to see my surroundings.
Gods, a lot of corpses. Everyone else seems to be up: Niro, Gorge, Calina, etc, though some are still down.
"Damn... Something..." Huh?
I turn to my left to see Ravel just climbing up.
"Damn... What?" I ask.
"I'm not sure. It's like I'm supposed to be mad at something... but I have no idea." he frowns and clutches his head. "Whatever happened at that battle, my head sure is suffering from it."
I sigh.
"This isn't it, though. If what Jafray heard was true, than there are more Grimleal heading straight toward Ylisstol." The big battle. The time of hero's dawn. All of that typical hero stuff.
We'll need it, if the battle's going to be like it was before. Or at least, the stuff that I remember. Seriously, why's my memory so foggy right now? Whatever.
Ravel sighs. "Then I'll have to think of a plan this time, and hope that it doesn't very well get us all killed."
A/N: I've already stated how I didn't like the end result of this chapter as much, though it's really the only way I could have rightfully done it without it turning into pure angst.
Clearly there's more to our two guardians than it seems. Or maybe there is nothing, and we're just really uncooperative.
Either way, someone's going to suffer.
And in other news, I'm now going to slightly prioritize Forgotten Dreams over this, albeit slightly. This is mostly because Forgotten Dreams has gotten 8 wonderfully positive reviews in the first two chapters, which is something that this story didn't even come close to having until Chapter 8. Yeah, I have reasons for my favorites.
It's a shame though, since I personally like this story more than Dreams. Eh, I guess it's my fault for trying to rush the chapters, though.
Anyways, The roads are frozen and I'm going to be locked in my house for the next two days, so you can expect a chapter or two over that course of time.
So until then, please review, not that it's really that important at this point in time. But hey, a little criticism never hurts.
Oh, and I'm going to have a new poll.
Basically, it's going to be about this story.
And... no pun intended... It's fate.
Basically, I'm going to ask whether I should just follow my original plan and put this on hiatus THEN rewrite it, just continue normally, or rewrite without putting it on hiatus.
I have this feeling that I won't really get many votes, though I'll probably wait until after the arc is over to end the poll.