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Chapter 56: Powerful Conflicts
"This is it, isn't it? THIS is Glowstone National Park."
Norman and the others had finally gotten off their butts and were standing just outside the previous forest. Now, rather than many twisted walls of oak, they found themselves faced with a massive set of plains surrounded at its very edge by a half-circle of mountainous formations with one particularly large, black mount sticking out the center. A handful of twisting rivers could be seen in the distance as well. All in all, with every other edge surrounded by the thick forest from earlier, it was actually very beautiful.
"Yes it is, Adrian…we're finally here." Norman replied, nodding once.
Norman, Bailey, Adrian, Astrid, Auconi, Sabrina, and Carol stood in a horizontal line, all equipped with whatever weapons and armor they had spared over their long, grueling journey. For one moment, they actually looked like a legitimate team.
…
'Course, this didn't last too long.
"So, what?" piped Carol, giving the area a slight sneer. "Are we just supposed to walk up all those mountains trying to find this Sycallion guy? Thing? …ghost?"
Norman just gave a second nod and said,
"Again, yes. I checked the time while we were packing up back there and we've got almost exactly 26 hours—we got here early 'cause of how fast we were walking yesterday—before Arabaloca reaches the Minecraft Dimension. And when THAT happens, well…you all know."
They all muttered in agreement, all rather apprehensive; the idea of the Glitch actually getting to its master plan of swallowing the universe was preeeeetty scary. Even for Auconi, who made it a point to never show fear. He was still able to shake away said fear very quickly and was the first to take a step forward, grabbing the attention of everyone.
"Carol's got a point, you guys know. Where are we supposed to look for Sycallion? He could be absolutely anywhere in the area!" he said, throwing an arm out behind him at the faraway mountains.
Norman pondered this for a second. He thought of all the things that the other spirits had told him, both the ones back in the 0th Dimension and the two that they saved here in Minecraftia. Unfortunately, as he racked his brain of all that had happened in their last quest, he was reminded of all the people he'd lost along the way: Kelsey, Liz, even Darcy got him feeling pretty bitter. Suddenly thinking about these lost souls gave him an unusual feeling in his chest; one that traveled through past his chest and into his arms and legs, then through those into his fingers and toes.
And when he caught sight of his fingertips pulse very lightly with a white glow, just for a second, he conjured up two new thoughts. One of the other times where he'd seen this glow come from him: Jeff's death atop the Blood Vessel, for example. The second, however, brought the solution to their current problem.
He knew where Sycallion was.
"Would you all believe me," he said suddenly, "if I said that I had a sort of…feeling about where the last Spirit is? It's coming from the same place as those…incidents with everyone's deaths. The ones where I had freak-outs."
Astrid raised a finger and interjected,
"Wait, wait, did somebody finally tell you about all those times where you got super glowy and started destroying things? WHERE WAS I?!"
She laughed afterwards, obviously joking, but Norman stayed the same straight expression and continued.
"Yeah, Bailey told me." he briefly explained. "I don't know exactly where it came from…but for some reason it's not from the Spirits In Between. Despite the whole whiteness-theme thing that they follow."
Bailey shrugged, suddenly adding,
"Actually, I think that's silver for the Spirits."
Adrian lifted a hand to his neck and scratched it, speaking aloud,
"Huh. Ah guess ah never realized how much colors come into play in this universe. It's almost an obsessive kinda quality, wouldn'tcha say?"
Astrid laughed, taking a step forward and waving her replacement sword around once.
"Yeah, it's almost as if there's some kind cosmic super-being who's weaving the laws of the universe to be unnecessarily complicated and symbolic—"
Norman hastily tapped Shatter on the ground and bumped everyone up into the air a block with its knockback effect, stopping any murmurs or rants that were starting.
"Aaaaaand we're getting off-course! Like I said a minute ago, we only have 26 hours to find Sycallion. That includes beating the last Unforgiven Spawn!" he said, slapping the back of his hand into his palm. "So let's get back on the move! We can…we can do this! It's so, so close to being over."
Before anything else could happen—to Norman's dismay, that included any forward progress—Sabrina raised a timid hand and swallowed quietly, inwardly regretting her decision as the other six pairs of eyes fell on her at once.
"Um, so…where are we going, then? You didn't say where." she murmured, pulling at her crop top in a failed attempt to cover herself up more; she didn't like it when everybody stared.
Norman said nothing at first, studying her expression for a moment, but then seconds later smiled lightly and turned around. He lifted a finger and pointed off in the distance, directly towards the center black spire among the mountains.
"Right up to the top of that volcano. That's where he is. And that's where we'll meet our final monster. Not the Glitch, of course; that thing won't even get close to us once we do this."
He started taking steps forward the moment he was finished speaking. Everybody got what he meant in those short couple sentences and followed suit, all rather silent with confirmation.
They WERE going to do this.
They WERE going to stop the Glitch once and for all.
The group had taken less than fifty collective steps when suddenly, on the edge of the endless forest to their left, a massive blast of shimmering black and white light appeared above the trees, somehow even covering the powerful shine of the rising sun. The respective rumble caused all of them to momentarily loose their footing; when Carol fell backwards on her butt, she cried in pain and shouted,
"What the hell was that?!"
"What the heck was that?!"
"Awww, come on now! I know you wanted to curse there, Vanessa. Go ahead, let it out!"
The Mastermind turned around when he felt Salutem's wing rest on his back. Despite not having any facial features besides his two blue eyes, Salutem was very thoroughly able to convey an expression of discouragement.
"Mastermind, please! You could very well alert the Unforgiven Spawn with all those fireworks, you know. Perhaps Notch was right all those times he told me about your…erm, silliness complex."
The Mastermind extended his unnecessarily long arms outward and grinned even bigger, replying,
"Ah, Salutem! I may be silly, but I'm not stupid! I put barely a drop of magic in that lightshow so as not to disturb our upcoming guest. Don't you trust me?"
If Salutem wasn't just a blob of positive plasma, he'd shake his head in response. Instead, he turned away from the other two and threw out his wing towards the distant volcano, which was partially obscured by the more immediate mountain.
"You and I have both concluded that Sycallion and the hell-beast are waiting just at the top of the Glowstone Caldera—"
Vanessa raised a hand without warning and interjected,
"Me too!"
Salutem and the Mastermind glanced back at her, immediately turning her cheeks a bright shade of red. She lowered her hand and folded her arms, clearing her throat awkwardly.
"I mean, I did as well…sorry." she muttered, embarrassed for interrupting him.
Salutem's eyes became kind in a matter of seconds and he said,
"Of course, Vanessa. I shouldn't simply disregard your magical abilities. You did a fine job in locating either subjects upon our arrival."
Vanessa stood up a bit straighter and felt a huge boost in confidence. If this was coming from Salutem, one of the biggest deals in the magic world, then it sure as hell meant something. The next second, he returned to his earlier position and faced away from her and the Mastermind, wing raised once again.
"As I was saying, we are incredibly close to the Unforgiven Spawn and its captive. We cannot afford to even let off the tiniest bit of aura; if we alert it of our presence, the beast could outright leap out the top of the mountain with Sycallion in its grasp!"
Suddenly, the Mastermind whirled around in place to stare down at Vanessa, who raised an eyebrow at the weird look he was giving her…then again, all his looks were kinda weird.
"Remember what I said back at the temple about masking our magic?" he asked, one brow raised.
Vanessa frowned, letting her arms down.
"And how I can't do it yet? …yes."
The Mastermind put his arm out at full length to place his white-gloved hand on her head and added,
"But I can help you with that! It'll be noooo problem, eeheehee!"
Vanessa sniffed absentmindedly, feeling rather weak in this situation. She had to constantly remind herself that she wasn't yet at Rexum's level when he was alive—despite having part of his soul fused with hers! That made things even more infuriating.
Then, however, a brand new question came to mind as she studied the volcano in the distance.
"I get that we're running away from the waves to keep you out of the Glitch's hands, Salutem, but why are we going directly to the Unforgiven Spawn?" she asked, eyes drifting to the all-powerful marshmallow-esque being. "The Glitch knows all about them taking the last three Spirits captive, so don't you suppose that'll just bring more attention onto yourself?"
Salutem let out a soft metallic buzz—supposedly a sigh—and paused for a moment before turning himself in a slow circle to gesture towards all their surroundings: the mountains, the volcano, the plains, the forest behind and below…
"I have studied the path of the plasma both near and far. The Glitch has set its plasma to close me in within the park, you see; if we move too far north, we will be met head-on with more of those terrible, poisonous waves. Were they not so strong, all three of us could fly to safety…but, of course, you know of the…issues with that. I know I certainly couldn't…this plasma, pressing onward and inward, drilling into my mind and body to inhibit to such a pitiful degree…"
He suddenly spun around to face Vanessa and the Mastermind; somehow, they were both startled as Salutem hardly ever made that quick of movements.
"There is only…one option left for us now, as I've dragged both of you into this. We must slay the Unforgiven Spawn ourselves." he finished, eyes squinted in utmost seriousness. "I realize it is drastic, but…I've had some conflicting thoughts…and I believe this is the correct decision."
This last statement definitely got the Mastermind's attention. Vanessa, too, but the Mastermind threw a little fit before she could think of anything to say. The clown recoiled, leaning back on his twisty staff and momentarily startling his two pet snakes.
"Wait, wait, Salutem! I'm certainly one for deviating from the norm, but…well, you know of the complications that would come if you got that close to the Unforgiven Spawn? That's tampering with the word of Fate! That's metaphorical scribbles on the pages of the Divination of Dimensions! THAT'S…"
And then he paused, recovering from his sudden burst. A couple second later, the Mastermind's smile returned in the form of a small smirk. He paused once again with this new expression purely for effect, then tapped his staff on the ground once and said,
"That's actually a fantastic idea! THERE you go, Salutem!" he shouted, jabbing a finger at him. "Throwing caution to the wind, finally! Eeheeheeheehee!"
Vanessa could only stare at the…man. He was so flip-floppy it wasn't even funny. Of course, several lifetimes of balancing the world's good and evil could do that to anyone. Her master was eventually able to stifle his erratic laughter enough to talk, though he had to lean forward on his staff to steady himself in the moment.
"Listen, Salutem. If you want to charge up that volcano and try to take on a healthy helping of seven sins…well, then I'm all for it! LET'S DO THIS!" he declared, tossing his staff up in the air like a baton twirler.
Vanessa had finally had enough of both the Mastermind and Salutem and raised the hand that wasn't holding Cantatis, shouting,
"HEY!"
Both Salutem and the Mastermind turned suddenly to look at her. The lanky jester's staff ended up bonking him on the head when it fell, but he didn't seem to notice.
"Do neither of you remember the plan we made earlier to meet up with Norman and the others?! The one where we help the heroes instead of flat-out taking over?! What happened to all that?!" she exclaimed, then targeted Salutem in particular. "You said that it was the perfect plan, Salutem. Why are you throwing it all away?"
Salutem paused, giving a sudden tremor. It took a moment for him to recover, but when he did he was able to start speaking again; he looked truly shaken up.
"I…did? I don't recall making th-those…or wait, perhaps I do…?"
All of a sudden, every bit of the Mastermind's exaggerated personality took a backseat to a much more serious, inquisitive one. He took a step forward—this, shockingly, made Salutem jump—and leaned towards him, turning his head to stare directly at Salutem with his black sun eye. He studied Salutem uncomfortably close for almost five seconds before slowly backing away. When he did, he straightened up and smiled.
"Feeling a tad uneasy, Sal?"
He raised his one white hand and put a hand on Salutem's head. Suddenly, the Glove of Glad did a quick bit of magic and glowed momentarily. The next moment, when he lifted it off of Salutem, a small black puddle was coating the Mastermind's palm. He clenched his fist, crumbling what had looked like a liquid into dust and wiping it off on his checkerboarded torso.
"The Glitch really did put all its power into those waves, Salutem. You've been poisoned by them even at a distance, eehee! How despicable…"
Vanessa was unsure how she missed all of Salutem's recent mannerisms. He was always so quiet, controlled, and consistent, but the last couple hours he'd been so different. She felt less and less smart the more time she spent on this quest; she was constantly reminded how little she actually knew, even after reading aaaaaaaall those books.
She had to snap herself back into focus as her mind wandered. When she did so, she looked at Salutem and said,
"So, that was the Glitch trying to get you to take us all right to the Unforgiven Spawn…wasn't it?"
Salutem was still a bit shaky from having the black substance taken out of him, so he didn't respond right away. The Mastermind leapt into view in his place, shouting,
"Why, how marvelously observant of you, Ms. Bookshelf!"
Besides his face being unnecessarily close to hers, Vanessa realized in that moment something incredibly wrong with what the Mastermind was doing…er, had done.
"Wait a second…Master Mastermind, why were you encouraging the idea of us charging in to face the Unforgiven Spawn?! Wouldn't that have been the point where you realized something wasn't right?"
The Mastermind pointed at her with a finger and his grin broadened.
"First of all, props to you for calling me master!" then he leaned back and put a couple fingers to his neck, scratching it and almost looking embarrassed. "And second, well…I just get excited when I hear ridiculous, improbable plans like that! I mean, C'MON! Just imagine what kind of delicious chaos could ensue if three magical individuals walked in on one of Satan's pets and started dueling!"
Vanessa groaned, slapping her face with her hand. She knew it! He could never truly stay serious. She was sure dad was having a much better time wherever he was…
"Alright, alright, how about I suggest a plan of action this time? Like, a direct, concise, legitimate plan?" she said, raising a hand; the Mastermind and Salutem glanced at each other, eventually nodded, and then allowed her to continue. "I think I've got enough of a hold on my magic to gauge how close we can get to the Unforgiven Spawn without alerting it. It's just outside of the cave up near the top of the volcano," she made a gesture to point it out to both of them, though they probably already knew where she was talking about. "That's likely where Norman will appear just before going inside to rescue Sycallion. We can stand just at the top there, positioned away from the opening to the cave, and wait for them to appear."
She took a breath, having just said all of that in one. After gulping in a nice puff of air, she turned her finger to the Mastermind and continued with,
"Master, I would suggest that you watch Salutem to be sure that the Glitch doesn't try to mind-control him again. Our timeframe is really, really slim, so it'll be important to keep everyone in perfect line."
She looked over at Salutem and very lightly shrugged, adding,
"Er, no offense, Salutem."
Salutem, still looking a little shaken from his previous realization, shook his head comprehensibly and let out a soft, metallic buzz like a small sigh.
"None taken. I fully understand the complications with all of this and will trust both your judgement as long as I'm…possibly still impaired."
The Mastermind suddenly threw his arm around Salutem's blob-like figure with much gusto and declared,
"Don't worry, pal! I'll keep eye on you day," he winked once with his black, sun-shaped eye, "and night." then, respectively, his crescent moon.
Vanessa rolled her eyes slightly, groaning.
"Hilarious. We should just head over there right now, alright? Norman could show up any minute now, we definitely don't want to miss him!"
2 more chapters coming...immediately.