Crainers POV:
I was starting to become more worried the more time passed without the others coming back. It was nearly the middle of the night, and I was starting to doze off a little, leaning against a tree. A sudden voice woke me up though, startling me slightly.
"You know, the more I think about it, the more I realize something." It was Squid Nugget. He was sitting beside Sky, carving something that looked like a dragon out of a small piece of wood.
"What is it?" I asked, yawning. He sighed a little, smirking. He pointed the knife he was using at me jokingly.
"You said that Herobrine has a deamon within him, Noroi was it?" I nodded. "And you also said that he can sometimes speak without taking control at all, am I right again?" I nodded once more, unsure of what he was trying to say. "How long until he gains control without you knowing?"
"What are you getting at exactly?" He swung the knife around a little.
"This is how I see it, Herobrine and Noroi both share one body. At first Noroi is only a spirit of hatred, nothing more, and Hero has no soul. Then he gets a piece back, and each bit makes Noroi stronger, but it also seems to give him sentience. He's gone from a shadow of nothing, to actually thinking about his actions, enough to give himself a name and identity."
"I kind of get it, but what does this have to do with him taking over and not noticing it?"
"Think about it Crainer. What if he starts to share the soul with Hero? It may be out of curiosity, or it will be a complete accident, but chances are he will feel what it is like to have humanity. Humans are social creatures," I did not like how he said that part, "they will become lonely and they will start to wish for some form of human interaction. If Noroi had a chance to take over then, he could potentially go against what he was made to do, and pretend to be Hero." He paused, more questions in his eyes. "What will be that plan though if he becomes good? Are you going to get rid of him like you originally thought, or are you going to give him a chance, a chance to actually be human?"
"I actually don't know." I was a little speechless that Squiddy had thought about all that. Now that he mentioned it, Noroi has grown on us, even though he's only threatened us and tried to kill us a few times. I sighed. "Looks like we'll cross that bridge when and if it appears." It was silent for a few minutes, and Squiddy spoke once more.
"This is highly random, but why isn't Thea with you? I thought you were going to let her join you on missions?"
"I talked her into staying home. This is dangerous, heck, look at what happened to you. If something like that happened to Thea…" I trailed off, I didn't want to think about that.
"You don't have to worry about her. She's getting good with fighting, she may even be better than you at this point." I chuckled.
"Well, of course. Thea is a savage." There was a small groan beside Squiddy, and Sky put an arm over his eyes. When he spoke, it was barely above a whisper.
"Who's a savage?" I smiled, he seemed okay. Idal had warned us that what he did to wake us up could have hurt his mind, but it looked like he escaped that.
"Sky, thank goodness your awake! Do you feel alright?" I asked, and there was a moment of silence. I figured he'd fallen asleep again, until he spoke, slowly.
"I don't feel good at all. My everything hurts…I think I'm going to throw up." He moved his arm, and I could see his eyes. The iris' were completely yellow, no pupil. I helped Sky sit up, to try and stop the feeling of nausea, but it was a very bad idea. We were lucky Squiddy had a bucket, so he didn't have to clean the path later. I patted Sky's back a little. "Now I feel worse." His amulet started to pulse slightly as he looked around. "How did we get here?"
"You've been out for a while." I answered. "We saw Sherbert, one of Stampy's dogs, and he led us to some sort of portal. When we got here, Squiddy was almost dead. Hit the Target has a sword, one that can control the person it cuts. I bet you can probably guess how Squiddy almost died." He looked at Squiddy.
"I'm so sorry. Did he make you almost ki…umm…you know?" He nodded.
"And then he took Stampy. The others left, and we stayed behind. Speaking of which, they left quite a while ago." Worry crossed Sky's face.
"We have to go help them." He tried to stand, but then his amulet stopped glowing. His aura flared around him like fire for a second until the amulet started to glow once more. The area where he was standing was charred. His eyes were wide in surprise, what happened just now? The amethyst stone in the amulet started to dull, a small part of it turning black.
"Sky, do you feel okay?" He didn't answer, and his aura flared around him again. I could feel heat from it as though it was real fire. I tried to touch him to see if he'd snap out of it, but it burned my hand. "Sky?" I tried again, but it was as though he couldn't hear me. A scream cut through the air, and Sky turned his head towards it. It sounded like Jason, I didn't know his voice could go that loud. Sky started to run towards it, and we had no choice but to follow suit. We passed a few deamons, but it was as though they couldn't see us. Sky stopped in front of the entrance to Stampy's house. He kicked open the door, catching his breath. I could see everyone inside. They were tied up by scary looking vines, and was that Husky bleeding out!? Sky stared at Target, as though he was, well, his target. Ssundee was the only one to speak.
"Sky? Are you alright?"
Jason's POV:
Sky didn't answer Ssundee, he just looked at Target. He took a step forward, grabbing his sword, his aura running along the blade. Target caught me off guard, and cut me across the chest, kicking me to the ground. It was a shallow wound, and I didn't really feel it. What I could feel was something like electricity running through me, and red sparks were surrounding the sword. I couldn't move, is this what it is like to not be in control? Target licked my blood off the sword.
"Hmm, your blood is different than others. A lot more sweet than metallic. Not the usual-" He barely dodged Sky's strike as he ran towards him, only grazing his cheek. Target laughed. "Nice to see you back in action, but you won't win so easily." He put his hand over the small cut, and when he removed it, the cut was gone. "You need to be faster." Sky started to breathe more heavily as his amulet dimmed more. I was made to get to my feet, and I picked up my sword. Target laughed. "Let's see how well you fight a friend." He moved the sword, and I ran at Sky. He barely dodged my hits, and I was surprised to find I could still speak.
"Sky, you do know he's controlling me, right?" Sky didn't answer me, and it was becoming worrisome. "Sky, what's wrong?" I could see out of the corner of my eye that Crainer and Squiddy were working to cut everyone out of the vines. Hero was already healing Husky. He flipped me into the ground, although I caught myself, moving so he nearly tripped onto the ground. I dodged once more, grabbing the sword out of his hands and throwing it to the side. My hands were badly burned, from both the blade and the fire around him. The amulet became even more black as the aura started to gain a red tinge. Target walked up to Sky, pushing me to the side, and raising his sword.
"Well, if you're just going to stand there, say goodbye!" He swung the sword.
Ssundees POV:
Right after Crainer cut me out of the vine, I tried to run over to Sky to put up a barrier to stop the blade, but he grabbed Targets wrist, stopping him. The fiery aura started to burn him, and he nearly dropped his sword. He growled at Sky, kicking him away. His hand was slowly healing, and Sky picked his sword back up.
"Hit the Target, what a silly name." He didn't sound like himself. "A name I despise." He walked over to Target, who took a step back. The fire became even more red in color, and Sky's eyes were doing the same. "You can't outrun karma forever." He swung the sword at him, barely missing. I walked over to Hero to help him heal Husky. He was shaking slightly, and he wasn't looking at Sky.
"Are you okay Hero?" He shook his head.
"I'm afraid of that aura. I don't know why, but I am. When it activated before when he fought Torrent, I felt some fear. But this a whole other level. Maybe the Dark Ancients had a phobia of the aura." Idal joined us.
"What exactly is a Dark Ancient, the closest I've heard of was just the Ancients. They were just starting to die out in my time."
"That could probably mean that the Light and Dark Ancient were once the same things." I said. "But it doesn't really solve why you could be afraid of the aura."
"The Ancients were always afraid of it." Idal caught our attention. "His aura is called The Golden Fire. It is a power even older than the Ancients. The Carriers, holders of the fire, are chosen by the fire every thousand years, but the Ancients had to keep it safe until the next one. They had to find a suppressor before they died from being unable to handle the aura as well."
"What's a suppressor, and more importantly, what the heck do you mean by, as well?" Max asked, and Idal sighed.
"A suppressor is the only thing that can hold back the aura. For Sky, it's his amulet. If the Carrier is unable to tame the aura even the smallest bit, after a period of time, they will die. And Sky…he's already there." What!?
"How is he already there? Isn't it just his aura going berserk because the amulet isn't fixed completely. I mean, he didn't use his aura to fix it this time. You could have messed it up." She was silent for a second.
"I know exactly how to fix a suppressor. The one from my time also had a necklace as a suppressor that broke a lot. He showed the same things as Sky is before he died. The golden eyes, the inability to hear others that well, the aura actually burning, and the blood."
"There's no blood on him." Ross argued. I then noticed it, the red wasn't the aura acting more like fire.
"It's using his blood as an energy source. It's why it's turning red." Panic crossed everyone's face.
"B-But, is there a way to tame the aura?" Idal shook her head.
"Not that I know of. Only the first Carrier survived this by taming it." They must tame it while dying? "If they wait too long, they get what my Elders called Instant Insanity. They'll start to hear something, and all their resolve will strip away. They will do whatever they must to fulfil what the voices are telling them. The Carrier from my time killed three people as they tried to hold him down. By the similarities so far, I'd say Sky will start talking about the voices when the amethyst becomes completely black and shatters." I had a feeling that these voices could be important. I looked back over to Sky, and he actually had the upper hand in the fight. Thanks to the fire around him, Target didn't want to get too close. It didn't seem like he healed that quickly with wounds from it.
"So, he can't hear us?" Asked Deadlox. "That can't be true, he-" Before he could finish that sentence, the amethyst on the amulet shattered. Sky froze, his eyes starting to glow gold. There was also a slight glow around Target, and he couldn't move.
"Wh-What? What are you doing? Why can't I move, you little brat?" Idal looked away, and Sky laughed darkly.
"Brat? I'm not a little kid Target. I'm giving you one chance, what did you do to Stampy, I don't see him." He hasn't said anything about voices, is he hearing any? Target smiled.
"I'll give you three words on what I did to him. I tortured him!" Sky frowned, his aura turning dull for a second. Target laughed. "He truly believed that Squiddy was dead, he believed that it was his fault. I took that belief and ruined him. I highly doubt that if he lives, he'll be the same."
"You are a psychopath." Sky said, swinging his sword around boredly. "Maybe I should do what they say." Oh no, they? I thought he'd lose all resolve, he still has a sound mind. There was a surprised look on Idals face.
"When he woke me up, he had to break his amulet. It would've hurt his psyche, but it seems like whatever it did is actually helping him stay himself. He may have a chance yet." Sky walked up to Target, smiling widely.
"You know, creatures like you shouldn't live. You've manipulated Stampy once already to bring you back from the dead, and then you keep tormenting them. All for an army of dogs!? You have to be kidding me." He chuckled some, putting an arm around Target, and the smell of burnt skin filled the area. "You want to know what they say?" He walked a few paces in front of Target, turning so the sword was facing him. "They're all jumbled, and if I could hear them all, I'm sure I'd lose my mind. I am only focusing on one though, so let's see if this works." He closed his eyes, golden symbols circling around him. He was using a spell that looked like magic, but it wasn't magic. It took me a while to notice, but his aura also smelled different. It was a mix of multiple things, did the aura save pieces of different ones from the past Carriers? The circles started to slow, stopping in front of the sword. When Sky spoke, it seemed to be mixed with someone else's. "Golden Fire, fueled by ten thousand millennia of our blood, heed my call." His eyes flashed brown for a second, was that his original eye color? "Tame your flames, for I am the last. Let me use a spell that is used of magic past." His aura started to condense into a ball inside the connected circles, running along his sword to gain power. "Use my soul, what gives me breath, and bring my enemy their final death!" There was a bright flash as it shot towards Target. It went straight through his head, breaking the crown and destroying the wall behind him. He fell to his knees, laughing darkly.
"Nice try…I came…back once…I'll…do...it...aga…" His eyes became blank and he fell to the floor, dead. He didn't even disappear. Sky also fell, but Mitch ran forward to catch him. Sky could barely fix his amulet before he fainted.
"What kind of spell was that? It looked like magic." Barney asked, and I shrugged.
"I don't know, but by what he said, it was soul magic. I don't know much about it, other than the fact that it tears a piece of the soul apart to do something. It'll fix itself after a while, but there is a consequence for this. Considering it was to kill, the consequence could be big." I explained. The only problem is, what kind of consequences are there? Sky started coughing, accidently making Mitch drop him.
"I'm sorry! Are you okay Sky?" Mitch asked, and Sky nodded. He stood up, shaking his head. His eyes were back to normal, and his amulet was glowing.
"What did I do? I started using the spell they said, and everything went blurry." Deadlox put a hand on his shoulder.
"Who was they?"
"Uh…I don't really know. I remember voices all over the place, almost overwhelming, but one was the clearest." He gasped, looking at Target. "I killed him…He said he hurt Stampy bad!" He took one step and paused, grabbing his head in pain. "The worlds spinning."
"You should calm down and rest." Idal stated. "Your body, soul, and mind has been pushed to its limit." Sky gave her a confused look.
"Who are you?"
"I am the one you awoke with the Golden Fire. My name is Idal." He was silent for a second.
"That seems a little familiar. Wait…I barely recall, but is Jason still under the things control?" I kind of forgot about him. Luckily, he was moving. He had the sword, and was trying to break it. Idal walked over, taking the jewel out of the hilt surprisingly easily. The black sword turned grey, losing its power. She gave it to Bodil.
"Keep this. It might come in handy someday." Bodil nodded, and Hero walked over, carrying Husky. He still seemed a little shaky, but it was a lot better than earlier. I wonder if it was him or Noroi that were so scared.
"Well, since Husky is healed, we should leave the two of you down here to rest, and go find Stampy." Deadlox said, and Sky whined.
"But I want to help."
"Sky, you're in no condition to do so. Stay here and rest." Deadlox demanded, and Sky finally gave in. We left him and Husky there as we started to search the house, hoping Stampy was okay.
Herobrines POV:
I went a different path than everyone else, and I started to think about the odd fear. It didn't really feel like mine, more like Noroi's. Speaking of the devil he spoke, and once again, it was through my mouth.
"I was not afraid." Since I was alone, I ignored the fact that he was doing that. He still sounded off.
"Someone was. But seriously, what happened to you after Sky woke Idal? What happened?" I didn't think he'd answer me, but he did.
"I…saw something. It was a man covered in scars, with one arm, smiling at me. It's been bothering me ever since I saw it. I'm an artificial deamon, I shouldn't have memories of people. I shouldn't feel anything for someone I never met." He sounded like he was hurt, and I started to worry. Noroi was sentient, and I've figured that there was a possibility that this was because the Dark Ancients used a soul that belonged to someone and corrupted it to make him…what if that was true? Does Noroi have his own soul, but it's buried under all that darkness?
"I don't know how to help with this, you know even I have trouble remembering things from before I lost my soul." He was silent, probably trying to ignore me again. I stopped in front of an orange door. It said "Stampy's Room" and I opened the door, greeted by the sight of too much blood for a single person to bleed. The glass to his balcony was broken, the glass strewn about. Stampy was in the corner, deep wounds almost everywhere. He was slowly breathing, and his eyes were blank, and half closed. I called into the hall to get everyone's attention. "I found him! Hurry!" I ran over to him, almost slipping on the blood, and started to heal him. I was already low on magic from Squiddy and Husky, but I didn't really care at the moment. Everyone stopped in the doorway, and Squiddy gasped, tears already in his eyes.
"What did he do to him?" His voice made Stampy try to move. Ssundee held him still as he helped to heal him. It took a few minutes, until he spoke.
"Who are you?" He was asking me, and I guess my eyes were human.
"I'm Herobrine. Don't panic, I'm not going to hurt you." I don't think he heard the last part. His breathing quickened.
"No…Nononono." He closed his eyes. "Not you too. Hasn't Target done enough!?" He was starting to cry, but I couldn't get him to calm down. "I know, it's my fault Squiddy died, I'm a horrible friend!" Squiddy kneeled in front of him.
"Stampy, I'm not dead because of you. I'm right here." He opened his eyes, but they were still blank, not showing any sign of hope.
"No, you're not here. My mind is making things up…You can't be real!" He was breaking down. His wounds were healed to the point where they were just shallow cuts, and I did something that I probably shouldn't have. I stood quickly, grabbing his ruined jacket and making him stand up as well and look at me.
"Will you snap out of it? Squid Nugget is right here, and Target is dead. I don't know all of what he did to you, but it's over now. Pull yourself together, because this isn't the Stampy I knew. You never gave in like this in hard situations, so don't start now!" I don't know if I helped or make it worse, because he sank back to the floor shaking after I let him go. Stampy stayed silent as we moved him to his bed. Just because his wounds were healed, didn't mean he wasn't weak from blood loss. Squiddy sat beside him, and Stampy hugged him.
"You're really here? You're alive. He just messed with me, made me think I saw something." Squid Nugget shook his head.
"No, what you saw was real." Stampy looked at him, his eyes wide. "He had a sword that could control people with one cut. He made me almost…you know. Hero and the others helped me though." Stampy looked at me, and finally smiled slightly.
"Thank you. I really thought he died because of me." Before I could say anything, there was slow clapping from the doorway. A person who's been absent this whole time was there, leaning against the door frame. Veeva Dash.
"I should have known that Target would start without me, but to die so easily? How horribly pathetic." She walked into the room, a tooth necklace around her neck glowing slightly purple. Bodil clutched his head in pain, and there was a slight bit in the back of my head. "Oh, and a new deamon? I never would have guessed you were one…Martin." How did she know that? And if that necklace could hurt deamons, what would it do to me or Noroi? "And Tsk Tsk Travis, what a bad hatchling, flying away from what you were told to do."
"I am no dog, witch!" Travis yelled at her, and the tooth glowed red. His eyes started to glow red as well. His eyes widened, and it looked as though he couldn't move.
"I may not be able to control you brat, but I can make every moment of your life laced with pain." Bodil stood in front of Travis, breaking the connection between him and the odd talisman.
"Why and how do you know my name Veeva?" She laughed.
"Easy Marti dear~ I can find the name of every deamon. This tooth may be familiar to you, it's the same necklace you late king wore. I killed him, and took this as a trophy. You are looking at your new queen." Bodil scoffed, crossing his arms.
"You call yourself a queen of the deamons? You are no queen, just a weak human." She laughed again.
"Oh, I forgot that calling someone weak is one of the worst insults you can give someone in your culture. She whispered to the tooth, holding it in the air. Dark Blue shadow appeared around her and settle on the ground beside her. Another deamon materialized. They were completely covered in gold armor, and I couldn't see his face because only a dim blue light shone through the slits in the helmet. Bodil took a step back, surprise and slight fear in his voice. Was this deamon stronger than him?
"Ghost!?" Ghost growled, disappearing into the dark blue smoke and reappearing right in front of him. Could all deamons turn to smoke?
"Traitor." Veeva looked between them, laughing darkly.
"Wow! You two have a history? Maybe I won't try to control you Marti dear, it would be a lot more fun if I just got rid of you with your old friend." Bodil growled at her, but Simon put a hand on his shoulder, instantly calming him down. Ghost yelled.
"Traitorous brat! How dare you still hang around that winged filth!" The dim blue light shone brighter, and Bodil sighed.
"You know, you were always one for losing your temper. I guess that spell on this place is making that little problem worse for you, am I right?" Ghost growled again, and Veeva moved her hand, signaling him to attack. He didn't attack Bodil though, he ran right past, stabbing the sword through Simon before he could even react. He ripped the sword out of Simon's chest, and he stumbled back, holding his chest. I tried to heal him, but it didn't work, was it because he was an angel? Bodil grabbed Ghost before he could attack again, throwing him out the balcony. He turned towards us, his eyes flashing red.
"You okay?" Simon nodded, and Bodil sighed. "Alright, I'll be right back. I have to catch up with an old friend." He jumped over the balcony as well, to continue the fight with Ghost. Veeva laughed, walking closer to us.
"Now that he's out of the way, I can sense another deamon." She stopped, looking at me.
"Who are you? And why do I get the feeling that you are more than one person?" I turned my eyes to glowing white, and she backed up a bit. The fear was soon replaced with a smile though.
"Oh, this is just grand." She grabbed the tooth, and pointed it at me. It glowed red, and my head suddenly felt like it was being bashed in. "I can sense it. The deamon within you just pulsing with hate. Let's see if I can drag that deamon out within you." Noroi growled, and it took me a second to realize he was slightly in control. He raised our hand, and a shadowy black spike shot out of the ground at her. It hit her through the chest, and she dropped the tooth. It felt like we both reached for it before she could react, but as soon as we touched it, everything tilted and turned purple as I felt suddenly very tired.
Sky's POV:
I saw Veeva Dash try to sneak past me. It took me a second to stand without the room spinning. Even though it made me feel sick, I followed her. I lost track of her when I had a dizzy spell, but I soon found the room where she went. When I entered the doorway, I saw a spike, and it was going through Veeva Dash, who was, for some reason, still alive. Hero was holding a necklace in his hand, his eyes glowing a dark purple. I didn't like what was happening, but before I could grab it from him, Veeva spoke.
"Ha…looks like reaching for the tooth while both of you were in control hurt, didn't it?" Both of them? How could they both be in control at the same time? Hero's eyes started to fade back to human, but one was a bright orange, the other amber. I didn't like the blank look on his face, and I took the tooth necklace. As soon as I did, he fell to the ground, unconscious. I dropped the tooth, stomping on it to try and break it, which was surprisingly easy, almost as though it was made of glass. I grabbed my sword, ready to end Veeva, but Deadlox stood in front of me.
"No Sky, you look too dizzy to be using a sword at the moment." He took it from me, turning to Veeva. "What did you do to Hero?" She shrugged, or at least the best she could do while impaled. I guess it missed the vital organs.
"Hard to say. Maybe their two minds fused into one. Or maybe they cancelled each other out, destroying them." I could tell she was playing with us, and some blood started to come out of her mouth. Deadlox didn't let her speak more, he cut her throat open with the sword. She disappeared, but at least we were done dealing with her for now. Ssundee walked over to Hero, and was unable to wake him up. There was a cough, and Husky was standing in the doorway.
"What happened? And what's with all the blood…?" He looked at Stampy and smiled. "Looks like you're okay." He then saw Hero. "What happened to him?"
"We won't know until he wakes up." Jerome sighed. "Let's just hope that Noroi hasn't token over." I wonder if the others knew his eyes were different. We moved to a room that wasn't so covered in blood, so we could tell Stampy and Travis everything that has happened so far. They both were quiet for a while.
"I think I know of where the next trial is. The only problem is that we'll have to wait for the sun to rise. You see, it's quite far away, about a day's trek. I could make a portal within the water for you to instantly get there, but I need the suns energy to fuel it."
"Why do you need the sun?" I asked, and he shrugged.
"It might be something to do with being a Mie'fwa."
"I thought you were just part cat?" I asked, and he nearly choked on the water he was drinking. His eyes seemed to brighten up a bit as he couldn't stop from laughing.
"Think about what you just said! How would being part ordinary cat make sense? That isn't even possible." Oh. I never thought about that.
"But, don't Mie'fwa's have cat ears?" I asked. He laughed again, and orange cat ears appeared on his head.
"My mother was human, it gave me the ability to make my ears come and go, much like werewolves can." His ears disappeared again, I wonder if he didn't like to show them. Another question came to my mind.
"Hey, where's Squaishy?" I half expected Stampy to start freaking out. He didn't though.
"Luckily, she went to the nearest town before this happened. She'll be back soon though…" He looked out the window at his buildings. Some were broken up, and some were still burning. "We're going to have to rebuild a lot of things." Squiddy chuckled.
"I'll call up our other friends to see if they can help." Before he could leave the room, there was a groan from where Hero was laying. He sat up, and opened his eyes. They were still orange and amber.
"Hero? Is that you?" Ssundee asked carefully, and Hero slowly shook his head, almost as though he was half asleep.
"No." It was Noroi! He grabbed his head. "Ugh." Simon spoke up.
"Why aren't you trying to kill us right now?" Noroi looked at him, anger in his eyes.
"Does it look like I'm in the mood to kill right now!?" He grabbed his head again, shaking. I was a little worried, but I don't know why. Bodil entered the room, some blood on his hands. He didn't look hurt though, and he stopped when he saw Noroi. He instantly knew it wasn't Hero.
"Huh? Why are you in control?"
"I don't know." The darkness in his voice seemed to slip away.
"What happened to Ghost?" Asked Jin, and Bodil sighed, leaning against a wall.
"The spell broke, and it made him very confused. We postponed the fight. It's a bummer though, I was looking forward to finding out how strong he's gotten after all this time." Noroi suddenly stood, walked over to a wall, and punched a hole right through the stone brick wall. His hand was bleeding, but he didn't seem to be phased by it. He turned to us, with tears in his eyes for some reason.
"A soul…I didn't take control the normal way, it feels weird." He chuckled mirthlessly. "It's infuriating, feeling things."
"I shouldn't be saying this, but are you okay Noroi?" I asked. There was an odd look on his face for a second.
"I don't know. I still want to kill you all, but the soul isn't letting me." He paused again, yelling slightly when he held his head in pain. Spikes shot out of the ground around him, and I backed up a bit. He was an artificial deamon, could he even withstand a soul? Is it why he keeps trying to suppress it? Does it make him unstable? After a few moments, the spikes disappeared. "He…can't get control. His mind is asleep?" He was talking about Hero.
"What do you mean his mind is asleep?" He shrugged.
"Whatever that thing was must have knocked his mind unconscious subconsciously. It's what's making me be in control. He'll wake up again, but I don't know how long until then. Hopefully not too long, I hate this soul." He looked like he wanted to punch the wall again, but he didn't. "Arrgh! I'm sick of holding back. Give me something to destroy already!" I couldn't help but chuckle a bit. Max smiled jokingly.
"Oh, come on now, you're whining about it already? I would have guessed you'd last at least ten minutes with your newfound humanity, not two." He growled at Max, taking a step towards him.
"You want to go, motherf-" I covered his mouth before he could say it.
"Keep it PG. There's babies in here." He gave me a confused look, and I pointed to the puppy that was sleeping on a bookshelf. He bit my hand, but I couldn't help but laugh anyways. This was going to be fun while we waited for the sun to rise.
-Time Skip to Dawn-Still Sky's POV:
The sun was starting to rise, and we made our way outside. Some of the buildings didn't look as bad now that there were more light, even though a few were still on fire. Stampy led us to a small pool of water. He stopped in front of it, and his orange aura appeared around him, along with the smell of orange. He held out both of his hands over the water, and they started to swirl into whirlpools. He mumbled something, and they started to glow orange. He then turned to us, looking a little bit more tired.
"This one on the left will take you back home Travis. And this one will drop you guys off at the Trial area. Are you sure that you want to do this though? You all have barely had any sleep and not to mention two of you nearly died."
"I don't really remember the nearly dying part that much." I said. "Besides, we have to get there before the squids do, if they haven't already." He sighed.
"Okay. Just so you know though, you must completely submerge yourself to teleport. You won't get wet, but chances are you'll teleport somewhere random, like in a tree." I nodded, and waded into the water. I did what he said, and I was instantly standing in a forest. There was a large hole in the ground a few paces ahead of me, and I could hear some voices. Great, they beat us to it. The others appeared, even Noroi. Deadlox walked up to me, whispering so the people in the hole couldn't hear us.
"What do you think the trial is?" He asked, and I shrugged.
"Only one way to find out." I jumped down, and two people turned to face me, one was a squid, and the other was Torrent. He had a confused look on his face.
"How did you get here so quick?" He growled. "You were just captured not even a day ago."
"Let's just say we used a few tricks." I said. We circled each other, and I grabbed my budder sword. There were scorch marks on it, probably from earlier.
"Well, your tricks will not work on me this time, A." He grabbed his axe.
"Tricks? I meant what I said to you T. You're better than-" I ducked so I didn't lose my head as he swung the axe at me. I kicked him back, holding my sword up in front of me.
"Quit messing with me right now!" You're just saying that to get into my head again. It's not like you actually care, much like how you didn't care when you killed him!" His voice sounded hurt, and I knew exactly who he was talking about. I lowered my sword, keeping my voice calm.
"Okay, I'm not going to fight you T. I'm just going to say it again, I didn't mean to kill him. I couldn't control the aura, and-" He started to swing the axe at me, and I took a step back each time, until my back was against the wall.
"Why not fight me, A? Usually your up for a fight." He spat those words. "You're nothing but a traitor, you killed him, you've lied to me, and you took what was supposed to me mine! They were counting on me to get that aura and save them, give them the ability to shapeshift, much like us half-bloods so they could live among humans. Do you really think that you'll gain my pity or mercy after this?" He raised his axe. "I've always hated you." As he swung, I closed my eyes and said one thing.
"And I've always loved you." The axe hit the stone brick behind me, barely missing me. Torrent was shaking, something like regret in his eyes.
"What did you say?" Torrent asked, in barely a whisper, some tears in his eyes. I stayed silent, and he repeated himself, this time yelling. "I said, what did you just say!?"
"No matter how many times you have said you hated me, no matter how many times you tried to hurt me, or the times I've gotten mad at you, I've always loved you. You're my big brother, and you used to be my best friend too. I never meant to kill your father. I just got this aura, and I was in so much pain. I couldn't hold it back, and I never thought it would have lashed out at him like that. As for how you've wanted the aura, think about it. They tell us that humans killed your father, and then they go and tell you to use the aura to let them walk among humans? How does that make sense? Besides, it nearly killed me not long ago. The only reason I'm alive is because I was able to listen to the right voice." He gave me a confused look, I guess the squids never told him that it could kill him. The other squid seemed to be getting impatient.
"I think we get it Traitor. Blah blah, apologies, blah blah, sad junk. Will you kill him already Torrent?" He looked between me and the squid, looking torn. Did what I say actually do something this time? Is he actually going to listen to me for once? He pulled the axe out of the wall, disappearing as he teleported away. The squid started to panic. I walked to him, readying my sword.
"W-What did you do to him Ad-" I cut the squid in half, killing it. Everyone had a shocked look on their face, and Deadlox was the first to speak.
"Did I hear the word brother being used?"
"That seems like a story cliché." Mitch chuckled, whispering to Jerome, although I could hear it.
"Yes, you heard me right, but we actually aren't related at all. We grew up together, so I think of him as a brother. Hopefully Torrent gets his mind straight after this." Jason was the next to ask a question.
"How come nickname he has for you is A?" I sighed, looking at the ground.
"I…don't really want to talk about it." He nodded, dropping the subject. Noroi walked up to the door, and started to read it out loud.
"You've come so far, and I guess now would be a good time to introduce myself. I am Dimitri Crass, a carrier of the Golden Fire and powerful sorcerer." Noroi paused, did this Dimitri guy die from the aura as well? I got my answer when he continued. "I have an ability unseen from anyone before my time. I can see visions of the future…the far future. Each vision kills me a little, and not to mention I know the Golden Fire is going to kill me, and soon, I saw it." Dang, to know when he was going to die must have been a scary thought. "From this trial forward, I've had some help with my three closest friends. They are to assist me in this, so it's done before my death. This trial is rather simple, you just need two beings inside one person to touch the door. It's easy." It was silent for a second.
"I was wondering how he knew what was going to happen." Ssundee said. "But, how could he have seen so far into the future?"
"You had a vision that could have been farther in the future once, right? When you died in the Nether?" Jin suggested, and Ssundee frowned, crossing his arms.
"It could have. But then that would mean that this Dimitri guy had to nearly die every time he wanted to figure out what to do next for the trials. That seems pretty dangerous, even if you did know the time that you were going to actually die." He was right, and it almost seemed sad. To go through so much trouble to make sure the trials were made.
"Something tells me this is more than just finding something to defeat the squids." I said, and the others agreed. "It just begs the question of what is at the end of this. I guess there is only one way to know." I looked at Noroi, it was obvious Dimitri was talking about him.
"You want me to touch the stupid door, don't you?" He didn't wait for an answer. He touched it, and the ground suddenly gave out from under us.
"What happened to being easy!?" He yelled.
"Look on the bright side, you could fall to your death." Ssundee sighed, sounded a little frustrated.
"Noroi, quit contemplating our deaths and help." He scolded. "You have your own kind of magic, don't you? Then show us what you are capable of." Noroi grumbled to himself, and I could see spikes below us. He moved so he was facing it, and extended his hand out. He closed his eyes, and white symbols started to circle us. It didn't look like black magic at all. We started to slow, and Noroi spoke.
"Lift!" Gravity stopped for a second, and we floated down easily, missing the spikes. Noroi stumbled when he touched the ground, falling. He got up before any of us could try to help him out. "Stupid human limitations." A thought came to my mind.
"How come you didn't let us fall to our deaths? Hero's soul wouldn't have stopped you from not helping." He stayed silent for a second, holding his head as though he had a headache.
"It's just…falling to your death is an incredibly boring way to die. It doesn't seem like a fun way to get rid of you." There was an odd pink crackle of electricity around him, and he fell, but Mitch caught him before he could hit the ground again. It started to make me wonder. What would happen after Hero does take control again? Would Noroi take over when he slept, and vice versa? A pedestal rose out of the center of the room, and there was more writing. Barney read it.
"Did I say it was going to be easy? That was a lie. This is only the beginning of the trial; the next part is upon the map that will be shown to you momentarily. I believe that my magic has knocked out the artificial deamon, correct? He is unstable, and will probably break down shortly, I can't see everything, so I don't know how bad it'll be. But look, this is between you guys and me, human emotions hurt him. The Ancient that made him used a soul of someone who passed, and corrupted it. Because he had the ability for emotions turned off, it hurts him horribly to feel something. I believe it's a chance there's a way to fix him, and a way to stop his hatred, but I don't know how to do it. Because he is in control, the map at the end of the trial will not have a soul piece within it. See you at the next part, Army of the Sky." What was the Army of the Sky? The pedestal broke into many pieces, revealing the map in the broken stone. I picked it up, putting it in my pocket until we left this area. There was another crackle of pink electricity, and Noroi woke up. His eyes were still weird, and he looked confused.
"What just happened?" I didn't think the writing wanted him to know.
"It gave us another map. The falling was just another trick." After a few minutes of searching, we found a hallway covered in vines. We followed it, and it almost seemed to go on forever, until we finally came across a branch of three paths. I don't know why it did that, they were all going the same route, and it didn't really make sense. We went down the left hallway, and Noroi stopped, holding his head in pain once more. Large spike shot out of the ground, and it barely missed us. As more appeared, we stepped back. I thought I saw a tear fall to the ground.
"He's in pain…" I said, and an idea came to my head. I made my way around the spikes, and Deadlox seemed to know what I was going to do.
"Why help him?" I shrugged, and stopped in front of Noroi. It didn't look like he noticed I was here. I put a hand on his shoulder, and my aura started up rather easily. I could sense it, there were multiple sudden emotions swirling around, overwhelming him. I couldn't take them all, but I could take most of them. After a few moments, he looked at me. The spikes disappeared, and his eyes were full of confusion.
"Why did you just…why?" My own head started to hurt slightly from all the emotions I took, but I ignored it.
"I just wanted to help, and it was the only way I could think of. Human emotions hurt you, right? Ow!" Deadlox slapped me, and it took me a second to remember why. "Oh, I guess I broke that promise, huh?" He sighed, crossing his arms and smiling slightly.
"It's alright Sky. As you said, it was probably the only way to help, but next time it'll be two slaps." He said that part evilly, and I couldn't help but laugh a little. Noroi was staring at us with the same face Hero would before he got his soul back. Before long, though, he turned, walking further down the hall. As I thought, all three paths led to a large room. In the middle was a pool of swirling pink water, much like the one that Stampy made. I threw a stick into it, and it disappeared as soon as it was submerged, it was exactly like the one Stampy made, but it was pink. Dimitri couldn't have made it out of his aura, it had to be budder in color if that was the case. Could magic come in pink though? He did state that he was a sorcerer. I jumped into the water first, falling face-first onto soft sand. I looked around seeing nothing but sand and sandstone as far as I could see, and there were only two sandy mountains in the distance. The air seemed too thick to breathe from the heat, and there was only a slight wind that kicked up loose sand around us. I looked up, seeing a bright red sun in the middle of a clear sky, unmoving.
Howdy, and chapter 50 is up finally! I gave the sorcerer guy who made the trials a name. I just made it up on the spot, and I really like it. Also, is it bad that I want Noroi to grow in character? When I got stuck on a part writing this, I actually came up with a design for him if he was human, and now I have a backstory to him too. I think I may put a picture of it on Deviantart. Anyways, I hope it didn't seemed rushed in some places, I really wanted to get this chapter out. I highly doubt I spelled Mie'fwa right, but I guess that's okay. If you can guess where they are now, you'll get a cookie! (::) (::) (::)
P.S. Have a good day!