BM - Chapter 14 - Violet Memories
"Why…?" the Priest in front of them asked. Gura and Ina tried their best to hide behind Ina'nis.
"I am not like you!" Ina'nis yelled, firing the attack she had been preparing. A small beam shot out of her open palm aimed directly at the Priest's chest. Unfortunately, they just barely dodged it. It did leave a large burn on their side, but not much else.
"Not… friend…" the Priest said, understanding the situation they were in. What they had thought would be an ally, was instead an enemy. They would have to fight to survive this. There was no other option.
"Why are they even here?!" Gura asked frantically. The Priest didn't move from their spot just yet, but all three girls could tell that they were thinking of their next move.
"It probably found my magic and thought I would help it. Sorry guys…" Ina'nis kept her arm extended, trying to increase the speed of her next attack. Even though her opponent was injured, they still possessed enough speed to dodge.
"Let's just take care of them…" Ina said nervously from behind her.
"Yeah," Ina'nis agreed, staring down the Priest. They still hadn't moved. What were they planning?
Ina'nis let another beam rip through the space between them. It was faster this time, but not fast enough. The Priest got several tentacles between themselves and the beam, stopping it before it could hit them. They then swung several of them straight at her.
Ina'nis prepared to counter with her own set of tentacles, but a memory swept her consciousness away.
'Don't even think about moving!' a man in front of her screamed. Her hands were raised in the air in surrender. The man held a bolt action rifle, letting Ina'nis see straight down the barrel.
'What-' Ina'nis started to squeak out before the man rushed at her. Behind him, several other men with rifles of their own followed. They all ran in through her front door and surrounded her. To say she was terrified would be an understatement.
This could be where she died.
Ina'nis understood that she couldn't die here since it was a memory, but it didn't change her past-self's emotions.
'On the ground!' one of the men commanded her, gesturing at the floor with his gun. Ina'nis was still frozen in place. When she didn't comply, the man turned his gun around and slammed the stock into her stomach.
All the air in her lungs was knocked out by several tentacles from the Priest. She flew backwards, collecting Ina and Gura who were just behind her. Only out of pure instinct was she able to put a cushion of tentacles between them and the wall.
The three girls all struggled to get up, sucking wind and clutching several parts of their bodies. Ina'nis staggered to her feet first, readying herself to defend another attack.
"Wh-Why'd you just stand there?!" Gura yelled at her, standing up herself. Ina followed quickly behind.
"A-a memory…" Ina'nis replied quickly, still struggling for air. Gura's rage subsided slightly, knowing that this was out of their control.
"Are you sure that you can fight then? Wouldn't it be better to just run?!" Ina looked around at the damage that had already been caused. It pained her to see the place she had called home for so long being destroyed like this.
"I can try," Ina'nis said, kneeling to the floor to try and cast a teleportation spell. Another tentacle forced her to leap to the side before she could begin. She quickly grabbed Ina and Gura from behind her, moving them to safety.
The problem was her unwilling participant in this. It took a lot more effort and time to teleport someone who was actively using magic and struggling. Sure, she could just teleport herself, Ina, and Gura to safety, but then the Priest would be free to tear up the surrounding area.
"You two should leav-" Ina'nis was interrupted, as she was swept into memory once more.
'I-I don't want to leave mom and dad!' Ina'nis was crying like a baby even though she was fourteen at the time. In front of her were the same men that had surrounded her in the earlier memory.
'Those are your choices kid. The Elder made himself clear, either get out of here or be killed. We would rather not have blood on our hands,' the one seemingly in charge stated again. Ina'nis was on the ground just outside of her house, beaten and bruised after being taken from her home.
'Do you need encouragement?' another man asked, raising his rifle in her general direction. Ina'nis felt herself become frozen in fear, as she stared down yet another gun barrel. The man next to him put a hand on the gun and lowered it himself.
'Let her choose…' he whispered. Ina'nis sat on the ground, completely terrified and at a loss for what to do. She knew her parents weren't coming back, but where could she go if she left?
'Mom… Dad…' she whimpered towards the cold dirt beneath her. Two soldiers broke the circular formation that surrounded her and approached. Ina'nis looked up at them and began to back away on the ground. 'N-NO! DON'T!'
They grabbed her under each arm and began to haul her away.
The choice had been made for her…
Ina'nis felt the same pulling sensation when she returned to her present. With a quick glance behind her, she saw Ina and Gura both dragging her along the floor. She felt the distinct feeling of liquid running down her face, too. Wiping it away, she saw her hand was now stained red.
"H-How long…" Ina'nis asked, nursing both her head wound and headache. The Priest was still standing on the other side of the room, twitching violently.
"At least a minute. You took a pretty bad hit a few seconds ago," Ina explained to her. Gura growled, becoming angry at the lack of control Ina'nis had over her flashbacks.
"We're lucky that they seem to care more about looking menacing than killing us…" she said with clenched teeth.
Ina'nis figured that she needed these two here. If Ina was teleported away, the Priest would become more violent searching for her and she needed them for support when she passed out.
"I'm sorry that I got you guys involved in this…" Ina'nis pulled herself up from the ground and stood in front of them once again.
"Stop apologizing and kill them!" Gura screamed at her.
Ina'nis rushed towards the Priest without a second thought. She knew her time was limited in this fight. The Priest was playing it safe, not attacking when they were unsure. If they made too large of a mistake, they would be beaten in mere moments. She needed to play into the hesitancy to kill them before they fully figured out what was going on.
The Priest's injured body prevented them from reacting quickly. They attempted to force her away with another tentacle barrage. Ina'nis had already seen this attack before, so it was easy to either deflect or destroy the tentacles.
Ina'nis was on top of them in no time.
The Priest realized Ina'nis wasn't backing off this time and attempted to put a shield around themselves. Ina'nis thrust her right arm out and stopped the barrier from fully forming. Her hand made contact with the Priest's chest.
§̷͍̓ê̸̙̇ï̴̧̓ ̶̡̎Ì̷̭̇¢̵̜̚†̴͖͝ ̴̯̚†̶̞͛ḙ̶̂͆†̴̫̋
A long, narrow tentacle fired out from her palm, impaling the Priest through their heart. They let out an ear piercing scream filled with thousands of different voices that clashed in a noisy symphony. Quickly, Ina'nis threw the Priest back out the hole they had crashed in from. Their form flew through the air before disappearing as they fell to the ground below.
'They are not finished,' the Ancient Ones warned their Priestess. Ina'nis nodded, planting her feet firmly into the broken floor boards before shooting after the Priest.
They were still groaning from the pain of being stabbed when Ina'nis caught up to them. Ina'nis walked up to them, as several onlookers couldn't believe what was happening.
"Why…?" the Priest asked once more. Their voice was even more strained than before. A sickly purple liquid reminiscent of blood seeped into the dirt around them. Ina'nis simply stared at their twitching form, breathing steadily.
"You should've thought twice before going after one of my friends," she responded, offering no words of comfort for the dying Priest.
"How… can… you… remain… sane…" The purple glow from their eyes faded, revealing that the boy who the Ancient Ones had corrupted once had dim hazel eyes. Ina'nis resolve cracked slightly.
"I'll make this painless…" Ina'nis tried to keep her voice from shaking. The boy closed his eyes a final time.
"Do what you gotta do…" they said, all traces of the Ancient Ones faded from his being. His voice returned to normal and any sign of purple corruption dissipated. Even the purple blood returned to its normal red coloring.
Ina'nis put out her hand, keeping her arm and breathing steady.
But just as the first sparks of magic formed at her fingertips, another memory swept her away.
Ina'nis cursed her luck, as the world around her materialized. She fought hard against the current pulling her deeper into her memories.
And when she saw the gun pointed at her, she pulled even harder. A humanoid being sat in a chair, pointing a small revolver at her.
This version of Ina'nis, now twenty one years of age, knelt on the ground. She had just finished some kind of ritual on the ground. The rings of magic illuminated a dark purple, bathing the rest of the chamber a similar color.
Past Ina'nis now noticed the gun and shrieked, trying to crawl backwards away from it.
A singular, earsplitting bang and burning pain in her stomach finally allowed for Ina'nis to escape her past.
Ina'nis blinked rapidly, grabbing her stomach where she had been shot with her freehand. The pain from the memory was still rescinding. She breathed heavily, fully collecting herself before looking back down at the dying Priest.
However, as her eyes focused downwards, a red stain on her hoodie caught her attention. A large tear had been ripped through the fabric and blood was collecting on her hand. She peeled it away from the wound, wincing as she did.
The gash wasn't too deep like her head wound, but it was still painful. Two close calls while she had been unconscious. She needed to figure out a way to escape her memories while in the middle of this fight.
But wasn't this fight over?
Ina'nis fully focused on the Priest.
On the ground wasn't a young, helpless boy whom the Ancient Ones had abandoned. Instead, a mass of purple mist and tentacles was digging its way into the ground. One of them had caught her in the Priest's frenzy to escape.
Ina'nis finally let her spell rip, sending a beam straight into the hole beneath her. However, without the incantation, it wasn't nearly strong enough to kill. The Priest's tentacles absorbed most of the damage before they shot back up the hole, lashing out at their attacker. Ina'nis was forced away to avoid any more damage.
"Get away from it!" she yelled at the crowd of people who had gathered around the fight. Most of them followed the Priestess' advice, but some stayed.
Ina'nis was too far in the air to stop them from getting cut much like herself. None seemed to be seriously injured, but fresh blood now littered the grass around them. Several screams for the police echoed across the crowd.
In the chaos, the Priest managed to fully escape underground. The dirt collapsed around the hole, preventing Ina'nis from following them in. The Priestess landed on the ground, and rushed over to help any injured people she could.
"S-STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Ina'nis seized up when the injured man she was approaching screamed at her. "DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!" Her lip quivered as she turned around and walked back towards the apartment building. The sound of sirens began to approach, they could handle the wounded.
"What the hell happened down there?!" Gura's voice called from the hole in her and Ina's apartment. Ina'nis pulled herself back up into it with a long tentacle. She sighed, wiping the tears out of her eyes before they could fall.
"I-I failed…" she said quietly, "The Priest got away…"
"We made it out alive at least."
"Don't beat yourself up about it."
Both Ina and Gura tried to ease her frustration. They both got one thing wrong, though.
'They are still here.'
The building began to shake around them. All three girls grabbed something close by to steady themselves. The floorboards in the living room exploded into splinters, becoming embedded in the ceiling above.
The Priest, or more accurately, the Ancient Ones emerged from the new hole in the floor. Any sign of a humanoid form and been shredded to pieces. They were now a writhing mess of tentacles, limbs, and twisted faces.
The flesh of what was once the boy morphed around in a deep purple mist, creating horrifying, mutilated faces. Each one displayed some form of terrible pain before it was ripped apart and sucked back into the mist. Ina gagged, trying not to throw up.
"What the fuck…" Gura said in complete disbelief.
'This is the outcome of a vessel being unable to contain our power,' the Ancient Ones answered inside Ina'nis' head, not that Gura could hear them, 'However, they are on a time limit now. With each moment they spend without a vessel they are burning magic. Once they run out, they will be forced to retreat back into their pocket dimension. We must stall until then.' Ina'nis nodded, preparing to defend against whatever the Ancient Ones would throw at them.
What she hadn't prepared for was the entire wall to their left exploding. Ina'nis was the closest, putting up a barrier to prevent any debris from hitting either of the other girls. The large tentacle that had been used to destroy the wall crashed into it, bending it to near its breaking point. Ina'nis strained to keep it that way.
"Shit! SHIT!" Gura screamed off to the side. Ina'nis struggled to get vision on what was happening while maintaining the barrier. Once she did, she saw Gura using one of the broken legs of the kitchen table as a bat to fight off a smaller tentacle that was going after Ina. The other girl was trying her best to avoid the tentacle's attempts to grab her.
Ina'nis let the barrier suddenly drop, allowing the tentacle to plow towards her. Immediately after, she made another barrier, but oriented it perpendicular to the tentacle's path. It was sliced in two, with either piece moving around the group of girls.
Without the distraction of maintaining the barrier, Ina'nis fired a beam that destroyed the tentacle harassing Ina and Gura. Both of the humans breathed a sigh of relief when it retracted back over to the Ancient Ones.
"Keep protecting Ina. They will run out of steam soon," Ina'nis told Gura. Gura nodded, holding the table leg in a defensive manner towards the Ancient Ones. Ina'nis didn't exactly know how much time they had to stall, but they at least had a goal.
The only advantage they had at the moment was that the Ancient Ones wouldn't risk hurting Ina with any attack. They obviously wouldn't use Ina as a shield, but sticking close to her would make them hesitate with larger attacks.
The writhing Ancient Ones weren't pleased that their distraction attack had failed. The morphing faces all opened their mouths and let out a sickening groan. All three girls wanted to cover their ears to drown out the noise, but couldn't risk dropping their guards.
One of the many faces began to melt back into the writhing mass, but it didn't fully merge. Some of the purple flesh dripped onto the damaged floor below them. They turned a similar shade of purple, becoming corrupted and beginning to bubble. Several more faces followed suit until the entire area around the Ancient Ones was a boiling, purple mess. Despite the seeming liquidity of the floor, it maintained its shape and rigidity.
Ina'nis, Gura, and Ina were frozen in place, completely lost in the horrific show being put on display in front of them. Ina'nis was only able to snap out of it once her fight or flight instinct kicked back in.
She noticed that the corruption was spreading along the floor without any more face melting from the Ancient Ones. It was also spreading at an alarming rate, reaching out towards them all with what looked like two dimensional tentacles. Within a couple minutes, the entire apartment would become corrupted.
"Back up!" she yelled, grabbing both Gura and Ina away from the approaching corruption. This snapped the both of them out of their daze.
"That's disgusting…" Ina mumbled under her breath.
"Let's get out of here!" Gura gave her recommendation that no one objected to. Staying in the apartment was not the way to stall out the Ancient Ones.
Just before Ina'nis fully turned to blast a hole into the wall next to them, the Ancient Ones spat some of their flesh at the group. It wasn't aimed at any of them, though. Instead, the flesh landed on the wall Ina'nis had been planning to destroy. The corruption quickly spread, looking almost like a spider web in doing so. Ina'nis fired a blast at the wall despite all this in an attempt to still escape.
However, the wall didn't break apart as she had expected. The uncorrupted walls broke apart normally, but the parts that were in the web of corruption held together, bending from the blast instead of breaking.
"Shit…" Ina'nis vocalized her concerns. Running to stall did not seem like an easy option. Fighting to stall might be their only option.
The web of corruption spread further around them, narrowing their already limited usable space. Ina'nis, Gura, and Ina compressed into each other, making their combined size as small as possible.
Ina'nis tried a few more times to blast away portions of the walls, ceiling, or floor, but each time the Ancient Ones spat more flesh to block it. They were forced into the hallway, stepping over what remained of the wall, to gain more space.
Unfortunately, they still couldn't teleport out of this mess. The now unleashed Ancient Ones probably didn't have any hang ups about killing random people to prolong its life. It might even find a suitable Priestess candidate by accident. They had to keep Ina just close enough that they wouldn't think of those other options.
The Ancient Ones became impatient and took initiative with their next attack. It was once again a large tentacle that swept from inside the apartment to the outside this time. Ina'nis used the same barrier trick to cut it in half, remaining vigilant for any additional attacks. The hallway became peppered with debris and items from inside the apartment.
The group of three carefully back down the long hallway, never taking their eyes off of the threat. The corruption spread through the wall next to them and snaked its way onto the floor. It spread out, trying to find the best path to reach them. Several pieces of debris became engulfed in the corruption.
Suddenly, something began to glow on the ground just in front of them. Ina'nis tried to see what it was, but it leapt towards her at frightening speeds. She quickly put up a barrier to defend and…
It went straight through.
Whatever this glowing object was passed straight through the barrier and latched on to her outstretched hand. Desperately, she tried to shake it off, but it remained attached to her. Her arm began to feel numb, as she realized that this object was slowly weakening her.
'It is eating your magic!' her Ancient Ones called out. Ina'nis quickly dropped her barrier spell and the object dropped to the ground, kicking up a small amount of dust.
Ina'nis didn't waste a single moment getting away from it, but when she leapt backwards it followed her. It was like it was tied to her by a few foot long string. Only now did she pay attention to what this mystery object was.
It was a dark purple book with a glowing design on the cover that was beginning to fade away. The Ancient Ones made no move to attack now, freezing in their place.
"Ina are you ok?!" Gura called out from behind her. The other two girls had backed away very quickly when the book had leapt at Ina'nis. They now slowly crept back up behind their friend to see if she was ok.
"I'm fine, just confused…" Ina'nis answered. The answer soon dawned on her.
'Inside the apartment there is something you will need. Find it and take it,' Ina'nis remembered Johnny's words from only a couple hours prior. This had to be what he was talking about, but why hadn't she found it earlier?
The Ancient Ones moved to one side of the hallway, merging into the wall slightly. It looked like they were trying to avoid the book.
Ina'nis' eyes went wide when she finally realized why they were scared of it. She grabbed the book off of the ground and saw the design on the cover begin to glow again.
The book was absorbing corruption magic. If the Ancient Ones in front of her were burning it to stay alive, that meant she could use the book against them.
She no longer cared about the why's or how's of the book, just that it could be used against the Ancient Ones.
She held the book out in front of her and took a step towards the Ancient Ones. They made a sharp whine and backed away in kind. Ina'nis smiled slightly.
"They don't like that book…" Ina said. Ina'nis nodded, bringing out a tentacle to hand it over to her.
The tentacle didn't get within a couple feet before it was sucked into the edge of the book. Ina'nis had to quickly sever the tentacle to stop it from getting pulled in. She was confused by this behavior. The book had obviously been in contact with tentacles before, so why was it only now absorbing them?
'It most likely was not activated before now. Something must have acted as a catalyst to cause it to activate,' the Ancient Ones theorized to their Priestess. Ina'nis rolled her eyes slightly before looking at the corruption on the ground. It had stopped advancing straight towards them, instead choosing to move up the walls and on the ceiling to try and get around them.
Ina'nis put the book against some of it that was on a wall nearby. The corruption was immediately sucked out of the wall and into the pages. The book showed no signs of being corrupted itself, so it seemed safe to assume it was supposed to do this.
"Here," Ina'nis walked over and handed the book to Ina, "Let's kill them good." Ina grabbed the book and began to nod.
But before she could finish, Ina'nis began to get pulled into another memory.
Ina'nis fought hard against the pull of this one, managing to retain some of her senses to the outside world. She could hear and feel the worried cries of her friends just beyond her memory.
This one had her sat down with her parents and godmother. Even through the hazy blur that was her godmother's face, she could tell that she was nervous about the situation.
'You don't have to go through with this, Ina. It is our idea and we don't deserve to drag you along. We could-' Ina'nis interrupted her father speaking.
'I want to do this. Those sons of bitches took everything from me. They deserve it!' Ina'nis saw the shocked look on everyone's faces before the memory finally ended.
"Watch out!" Gura yelled just as Ina'nis returned. She tried to turn around and defend the group, but her headache was pounding and limited her movement for a short time. Her gut wound also didn't feel too great.
Ina threw the book over the Priestess in an attempt to defend. It worked, as the Ancient Ones began to shriek and squeal. Ina'nis gathered herself enough to turn around and face them.
Several tentacles were being sucked into the book, as the Ancient Ones were desperately trying to sever them all. The book was laying on the ground open with the pages flying from one side to another. She could make out something being written in them as they turned.
Ina'nis recognized the pull of another memory and fought the hardest she had. This time, she was able to keep her senses in the real world while viewing the memory. It was like having film layered on top of one another as it played out.
'Damn… I mean, it has to be somewhere in these things,' her mom let out a frustrated groan. Her dad nodded, sitting next to her at the table.
The Ancient Ones finally severed all of their tentacles and shot backwards away from the book. Ina'nis clumsily walked over to it, but couldn't manage to pick it up in the haze. Ina instead walked over and grabbed it with Gura following closely.
'We've had to have read at least a dozen of these scrolls, but they are all just filled with ramblings about how great the Ancient Ones are,' her godmother was equally as frustrated, judging off of the tone of her voice as well. She then mumbled something under her breath that Ina'nis didn't catch.
The memory subsided and Ina'nis gained full motor functions back. The Ancient Ones were hissing and screaming at them, contorted faces morphing quicker now.
"Are you ok now?" Ina asked, holding the book out in front of the group defensively.
"For the moment, but that's all we'll need," Ina'nis responded, growing a smile on her face. Ina and Gura mirrored it.
"Let's kill 'em good this time!" Gura cheered before all three charged towards the Ancient Ones.
They didn't take this rush standing. They lashed out with several spells and tentacles, but all of them were absorbed or deflected. Ina'nis had to be careful to not get sucked into the book herself.
The Ancient Ones began to retreat, trying to escape back out the hole they had busted in from. Ina'nis wasn't going to let them just leave, so she put a barrier up to cover the hole. They slapped and pushed against it, shrieking and crying incessantly.
Ina got within a few feet of the purple maelstrom and felt the book try to jump out of her hands. She held onto it with all of her strength, feeling her heels beginning to drag along the broken, purple floor. Gura put an arm out to stop her from getting too close.
The shrieks turned to a constant scream. The noise of it started to separate into distinct voices as more of the Ancient Ones were sucked into the book.
Tormented phrases started to be heard over the sound of the screams. Many 'Oh please no!'s and several 'Please help me!'s we're mixed into the cacophony of screams.
They began to shrink, clearly being sucked into the book. Tentacles and spells lashed out in every direction, but the group was safe behind the book. It was disturbing, but it would be over soon enough.
The attacks became noticeably weaker after two minutes of absorbing them. Instead of lashing, their tentacles slapped weakly on the barrier. They didn't fire any more spells either.
The Ancient Ones were dying.
Ina'nis might have felt bad if they hadn't caused so much destruction and tried to corrupt Ina. Both of those facts combined kept her conscious clear of any second thoughts.
They continued to shrink and now lacked the strength to do anything but paw at the barrier with two lone tentacles. The screaming had died down to pain groans and small whines.
"It's almost over," Ina'nis said, trying to comfort the obviously horrified girls next to her. Neither of them had been exposed to this kind of mythical horror before.
Ina looked over, preparing a joke response to lighten the mood even further. But she would get a single word out. Her lapse in concentration was exactly what the Ancient Ones needed.
They erected a barrier between the book and what was left of their 'body'. At the same time, they used the previously corrupted floor to make an opening just large enough to squeeze through.
No longer being absorbed and now much smaller in size, they slipped into the room downstairs. They quickly ripped apart the wall before Ina'nis could stop them and darted outside.
"Oh no…" Ina'nis said instinctively. She dropped her own barrier and stood on the very edge of the building, trying to see where the Ancient Ones were going.
It was exactly what she had feared earlier.
They were charging at the group of people nearby.
There were several police officers and EMS personnel treating a group of wounded nearby as well. The police were quick to notice the charging purple blob and trained their guns on it. Gunfire rang out soon after when they realized that the approaching mass had no intention of stopping.
Ina'nis weighed her options carefully. She could run after them, but that risked not catching them in time. She could teleport in between, but that risked getting shot by the police.
'We will take care of the bullets. Teleportation is our best option,' the Ancient Ones made her decision for her. Ina'nis nodded, becoming encased in a purple light.
She suddenly found herself directly in front of a rabid, charging Ancient Ones. Behind her, she could hear several more shots being fired. Quickly, she put up a barrier in front of her to stop the oncoming tentacles. They crashed into it with a resounding thud. Ina'nis strained against the force that was being put on it
Just as her Ancient Ones told her, they brought up and maintained a barrier behind her, stopping any bullets from hitting her. She risked a quick glance behind her.
A gunshot rang out, causing an explosion of searing hot pain to shoot through her stomach. The gun smoked in the hands of the humanoid figure from a previous memory.
"No no no no…" Ina'nis mumbled in the real world. The memory had come so suddenly and at such a terrible time. The barrier began to fade, allowing the two tentacles to push through. She felt both the pain of the gunshot in her memory and the pain of being slapped around by the Ancient Ones in reality.
The humanoid turned with the gun still raised. Ina'nis was vaguely aware of people screaming from that direction. Painfully, she turned her head to see what was going on.
Her parents were both shot in the chest as well.
"GOD DAMN IT!" Ina'nis yanked herself out of the memory and pushed through the new headache to defend herself in reality. She had gained a few more gashes and her blood was now staining the grass around her.
Her own tentacles deflected her opponent's, but they were relentless. She was gaining new scratches and bruises by the second. This would end with her dead if she didn't change her tactics.
Any barrier would fail because of the constant attacks and leaving would just doom the people behind her to a terrible fate. There was only one thing she could think of.
She summoned a very intentional tentacle and stretched it back up to the hole in the apartment wall. She couldn't see it very well, but when the sensation of her tentacle being pulled on came through to her she knew the book had latched onto her. She retracted the tentacle back to her and severed it to break free from the book.
The Ancient Ones began to shriek yet again, albeit much weaker this time, once the book came near them. Ina'nis was able to grab the book and nearly yank it open when another memory tried to steal her mind.
This one she was able to force into a layered view and maintained some of her motor functions in the real world. She got the book open and began to suck in the Ancient Ones again.
Ina'nis was still on the ground, bleeding from the gunshot wound in her stomach. A deep rumbling began from just in front of her. The fabric of reality cracked and shattered, as a dark purple portal opening in the middle of the room.
The humanoid walked up to it with its arms outstretched, seemingly presenting itself to the void beyond the portal.
The memory ended abruptly and another one began just as quickly. It was more of a flash than a full memory this time.
She was waving goodbye to her godmother for the last time. Her parents were on either side of her. It was only a few days before their deaths.
The Ancient Ones continued to squeal like a dying animal and continued to get a few more attacks to hit Ina'nis. She was bleeding pretty badly now, but I'd she could finish this fight now it wouldn't be an issue. Her regeneration could still heal her with this amount of damage.
Her legs were starting to shake from the intense pain all over her body. Her arms were weak and heavy. Her head was pounding from the headaches of her memories returning.
She was staring at a newly bought set of paint brushes and colored pencils. It was her birthday and her godmother had surprised her with a gift even though she hadn't asked for one. It was exactly what she wanted, too.
The Ancient Ones lashed out one last time, smacking Ina'nis in the head with their tentacles. This reopened her head wound, causing blood to start pouring down her face.
She was sad since there were no other kids in the village to play with her. Her birth had been the first in decades for the village, making her parents seem like a burden.
The blood got in one of her eyes, causing her to blink rapidly to clear it. She couldn't risk taking either of her hands off of the book to wipe it away.
They worshiped the Ancient Ones. They had been missing for centuries if not millennia. Some believed they had gone into the ocean to seek out a treasure. Others believed they had returned to their pocket dimension.
One last blood curdling scream emanated from the Ancient Ones, as the rest of their grotesque body was absorbed into the book.
They were the 'Thousand Minds'.
The book closed itself and shook in her hands. The glowing purple cover slowly dimmed until it was completely gone. Besides the interesting design of it, the book now looked perfectly normal.
The adrenaline faded and the pain of her wounds surged into her mind. Ina'nis felt her legs finally give out, but someone held her up.
"Are you ok, miss?" A man said from behind her. She was being steadied by him as well, preventing her from falling to the blood soaked ground around her.
"I-I'm just a b-bit t-tired…" she wheezed out. She was guided by who she found out was a police officer to the EMS and was laid on the ground gently.
"Thanks for everything you just did. Get some rest now," a nearby nurse said gently. Several other people around her also thanked her. Ina'nis saw another flash of a memory.
'I have a sister who lives in the US that would be happy to adopt you!' a nurse was saying to her.
"Y-yeah…" she said to no one in particular. She slowly closed her eyes as more people gathered around to see and thank her. They were also noticeably afraid still, but not of her anymore. She could even hear Gura and Ina calling out to her as they ran over.
One last memory floated to the surface of her mind before she passed out.
'I hope you remember us after this,' her mom said, sitting next to her on the bed. On her other side, her dad tightened his grip on his daughter's hand.
'We're so sorry, Ina…' he said solemnly. Ina'nis reciprocated his grip. She sniffled back a few tears.
It was the day their plan was to take place. A plan that had been in the works for nearly four years up to that point.
Their plan to steal the Ancient Ones.
'How could I ever forget you guys!' Ina'nis said jokingly, not knowing the irony of her statement. Her family laughed lightly at her joke before coming together in a family hug.
Ina'nis awoke with the biggest headache of her life.
And the rest of her memories.
If she didn't already have tears in her eyes, this surely would have brought them. However, that massive revelation would have to wait because she had no idea where she was. With rapid blinking and a clearing of her throat, she began to take in her surroundings.
She was in some kind of hospital, laying on a medical bed. She tried to move, but found her arms and legs to be bound to the bed. There was one person in the room that gave her an idea as to why.
They were a Foundation soldier, looking almost identical to the ones she'd been accustomed to seeing in her timeline.
Fuck, this was not good.
She attempted to use any magic to help her escape, but nothing floated to the surface. She was probably drugged up on something and had spent a lot of energy in her fight. There was also no sign of Amelia's time watch anywhere. The only saving grace was that the purple book was resting lightly on her chest.
This was one of the worst case scenarios she could be in.
The soldier mumbled something into his radio. Probably signally that she was awake and struggling.
A few moments later, a conversation walked its way up to the door, ending once the group of people reached it. The door opened to reveal three familiar faces.
Ina, Gura, and Emersyn Monroe.
"My name is Commander Monroe, you will follow my orders or be killed on sight, understand?" she firmly asked the Priestess on the table. She motioned for the other soldier to leave the room. They did and closed the door behind them. Ina'nis nodded that she understood.
"Yes, ma'am…" she mumbled through her brain fog. Emersyn nodded to Gura and Ina, to which they both responded by rushing their friend. Both of them enveloped the Priestess in a hug.
"We were so worried!"
"I'm glad you're ok!"
Both cried on top of her. Ina'nis laughed slightly.
"I'm fine, I'm fine…" she said, allowing both girls to get off of her. Emersyn walked over and started to undo her restraints.
"Sorry about that rude introduction. Foundation policy," she explained. Ina rubbed her wrists once they were free from the restraints. "These two have already gotten me up to speed on your situation, Ms. Ninomae. I am willing to help you if you help me first." She turned to sit on the bed, letting her legs hang off the side that Gura and Ina were on.
"What do you need to know?" Emersyn seemed very relieved that her request was accepted. She walked over to a small plastic bag nearby and got out Amelia's time watch. Then, she took an audio recorder off of her belt and placed it on the bed next to Ina'nis and pressed it to record.
"Can you tell me about this, that book, and how they might relate to Johnny Watson?" she asked. Ina'nis was more than happy to.
She explained her corruption magic and how Johnny had a run in with a Priestess in the past. She then explained that the time watch could be used to travel through time and switch timelines. The book to her, though, was still a mystery.
Once Emersyn was satisfied with Ina'nis' testimony, she stopped the recording and reattached the device to her belt.
"Off the record, I respect what you did here. You saved countless lives and protected these two with your life. It is for that reason that the Foundation is willing to release you." Ina'nis felt her mouth fall open slightly before she could close it. She knew that Emersyn had a soft spot for sentient, peaceful anomalies like herself, but to be instantly released hadn't even crossed her mind.
"I-If I may, ma'am, there has to be a better explanation than that. The Foundation doesn't normally do this," she responded, trying her hardest to not sound ungrateful. Emersyn chuckled, letting the edges of her mouth curve up into a slight smile.
"I heard from your friends that you are a part of an agency known as Hololive that is filled with crazy people like yourself," Ina'nis nodded, letting Emersyn continued, "We have a few people within the Foundation requesting an experiment to try something just like that. Some entities deserve second chances at a normal life. I lobbied hard at a meeting to get you released with no strings attached." Emersyn was almost a mirror image of herself in this timeline. This version did seem a bit more idealistic and less edgy, but they had the same mannerisms and goals.
"You're my manager in my timeline, Emersyn," Ina'nis proved her point by using Emersyn's first name, which had not been said by this version. Emersyn blinked a few times before laughing again. That was a sound Ina'nis could get used to.
"I would say that's the craziest thing I've heard today, but it is far from it. Glad to know this experiment has worked out in at least one timeline," Emersyn responded, her rare, full smile now on display. She walked over and placed the watch on top of the bed. "It is a bit of a shame that we can not take the book, but it won't be missed. Some soldiers tried to read it while you were out and went a little crazy. Thank god we have amnestics on hand here."
"Then it's a good thing that Gura didn't accidentally catch a glimpse of it," Ina'nis teased. Gura huffed and stomped her feet.
"What is that supposed to mean?!" she cried. Ina giggled next to her.
"I think she means that you are too stupid to be a Priestess candidate," her girlfriend got in on the teasing. Gura playfully punched her arm a few times.
'The time watch is fully charged now. We increase our output during the fight as high as we deemed safe,' the Ancient Ones explained. Ina'nis picked up the time watch and inspected it.
"So I can just leave?" Ina'nis asked Emersyn for clarification. Emerysn nodded.
"Yeah, you are free to go. The book will most likely travel back to your timeline with you," she replied.
"Oh before you go!" Gura suddenly called out, digging around in a duffle bag she had brought in. Ina'nis felt her heart sink slightly at the sight of the contents.
The bag was full of nothing but clothes and whatever the two of them could salvage from the apartment. After another moment of searching, Gura pulled out a familiar picture frame. She presented it to Ina'nis and pointed at one of the subjects.
Ina'nis immediately recognized the photo. It was the one left face down on the nightstand in Amelia's old room. Somehow, through all of the chaos and destruction, it has survived with only a slight crack in the bottom right corner of the glass.
Gura was pointing at Amelia in the photo. Ina'nis didn't notice anything off about her until she leaned in to look closer.
She was no longer fading into a blue hue. The timeline had let her back in, if only a little.
"You see?! I also can remember so much more about her!" Gura was incredibly happy with the return of her memories of Amelia.
"That's amazing!" Ina'nis cheered. Emersyn packed up her stuff and walked to the door.
"I'll leave you guys be then. Good luck, Ms. Ninomae," she said before opening the door to leave.
"Thanks, Enma!" Ina'nis used her manager's nickname, catching Emersyn by surprise.
"What was that?" she asked quickly, peeking her head in from the hallway. Ina'nis laughed heartily.
"Just a nickname we have for you in my timeline. Don't be surprised if it pops up here, too." Emersyn rolled her eyes and sighed, but her slight smile remained.
"Whatever, keep that in your timeline please," she responded before closing the door, leaving just the three girls in the room.
Ina'nis rubbed her eyes, feeling the fogginess in her head begin to fade. Pretty good timing for the drugs to be wearing off. The lack of haze also finally allowed her to start thinking about her past.
"All of my memories are back," she said simply. Her smile was wide, but also subdued.
"That's great!"
"Congrats, Ina!"
Both her friends congratulated her. Ina opened her mouth to continue talking, but closed it and looked towards the ground.
"I want to ask about it, but I think some other people deserve to know." Ina'nis' smile dropped to a more strained expression. Ina was obviously referring to Amelia and her version of Gura. She sighed, understanding that it was time to leave.
"I-I can't thank you guys enough. You took me in and accepted me despite what I am…" she said quietly, pouring her heart out to the two girls next to her. Ina broke out into tiny giggles, drawing both Ina'nis' and Gura's eyes onto her.
"What can I say? I trust myself, no matter how different I might look," she replied with a slight smile, "Even if my other self is a stalker from another timeline." Gura joined in with the giggling. Ina'nis felt her chest seize up, as she remembered her first interaction with these two.
"I-I was curious!" she said loudly, trying in vain to defend herself. Gura and Ina's giggling strengthened into full blown laughter. Ina'nis shook her head, a slight smile forming since she knew it was no use with these two.
"I mean, first impressions aren't everything," Gura said once her laughter calmed down, "Both Ame and Ina were bumbling messes when I first talked to them." Ina didn't like having the barrel of past memories turned on her.
"And who asked who out first?" she countered quickly. Gura seized up for a moment before groaning in defeat.
"Come on, you know exactly why that happened!" she whined to her girlfriend. Ina'nis allowed herself to giggle slightly at the shorter girl's dismay.
"Looks like we'll need a third party to settle this one," Ina'nis tried to push the topic in a direction she wanted. Both Ina and Gura tilted their heads to look at her.
"You don't mean…" Ina started, allowing Ina'nis to finish her statement.
"I could probably drag you guys back to my timeline," she proposed, "You would get to see Ame again and meet an Atlantean version of Gura. It would be… you guys don't want to…" Ina'nis trailed off when she saw the looks of sadness on the two girl's faces.
"It's not that we don't want to, but it is such a massive risk. One timeline destroying event is enough for us," Ina said, tightening her grip on Gura's hand. Ina'nis sighed, coming back to her senses.
"You're right, that was a little uncalled for…" she responded sadly.
"We appreciate the other, though," Gura said quickly, "You should get going now since I'm sure your friends miss you." Ina'nis tilted her head in confusion.
"What do you mean, 'miss me'? I'm just going to travel back to when I left," she asked. Gura and Ina exchanged nervous glances before looking back at Ina'nis.
"Amelia has been gone for nearly 3 years, the same amount of time she's spent in your timeline. If you only now came back here…" Ina left the rest up to the Priestess to figure out, which she quickly did.
"Time is passing in both timelines at the same time…" Ina nodded.
'We thought you already understood this, our Priestess. We are sorry to have assumed this and did not inform you properly,' the Ancient Ones apologized. Ina'nis groaned and leaned back on the bed. She rubbed her temple lightly, trying to calm her anxiety.
"Y'all might call me stupid, but even I saw that!" Gura joked, trying to lighten the mood. Ina'nis leaned back forwards, staring at the wall in front of her.
"Guess I should go then…" She held the time watch lightly in her hand. She knew it would work, the Ancient Ones had assured her of that. But now she was going to have to face some immediate consequences.
"Tell Ame that she should visit sometime. Whenever she's done with whatever is going on over there," Ina said with a sad smile.
"It's great that she has made a life over there, but we miss her." Gura's voice had a similarly sad tone.
"Absolutely," was all Ina'nis could get out before light tears began to stream down her face again. She had been holding them back so well until now. Oh well, it was inevitable. The three girls had one last tight group hug.
When it was broken up at last, Ina'nis stood from the bed. All of the drugs were out of her system, so she could think perfectly clearly. With one last deep sigh, she pressed down on the time watch.
As the world faded around her into a gray fuzz, she heard Gura call out to her one last time.
"And make sure you visit, too!"
Author's Note: At long last, the chapter is finally here. Man, this one was a doozy to write. On top of technical issues, this chapter was way, way longer than I initially anticipated. So long in fact that it was split into two different chapters. That's right, there is still one more chapter to this arc and it is also fairly long. It has a bit of editing, but I am confident it will be done in time for next Saturday.
I was not planning of making the fight with the Priest/Ancient Ones so long. It was originally going to be a quick defeat with the book and some tearful goodbyes. But then I had an idea: What if Ina'nis got to save the public and be accepted? I took it and ran with it for 8.3k words and here we are.
The entire section with Emersyn was also not planned. I just couldn't imagine an outcome where Ina'nis passed out and didn't wake up in Foundation care. I originally had Yagoo show up instead of Emersyn, but decided against it. There would be no reason to show up in the US where this story is located, and he wouldn't speak English. If I changed those things, I don't really think that it would still be Yagoo. So, I swapped him out with Emersyn and here we are.
Some of the events in this chapter might seem convenient (ie the book and Ina'nis' release from Foundation 'care'). There are decent explanations, some given and some to be discovered, but I still think they look a little too convenient.
I am very happy with how the fight turned out. It is very dynamic with new attacks and strategies being used as needed by both parties. The book is definetly the biggest mystery left here, though. Why was it in Ina's apartment and who put it there?
Ina'nis' memories are now back, yay! Unfortunately, you all will have to wait until next chapter to get the full story. It is a 1k+ word summary, though, so I tried to put as much detail into it as possible. I hope you all enjoy it!
Fun Fact: This is now the longest chapter I have every written!
Next Chapter: Facing Your Friends
And feedback/criticism is appreciated!