BM - Chapter 19 - Cards on the Table
"AO-chan, take this and keep it safe," Ina asked, staring down at the puddle of Pure Flow. A tentacle sprouted from behind her and sucked it all up.
"You think that disabled the barrier?" Amelia asked Kiara.
"Probably, I don't know what else that light show could've done," she replied.
"Alright, then let's-" A sudden, loud thud caught Ina's attention.
The floating purple book next to her had suddenly dropped to the ground. Ina was confused and looked down at it. Its normal purple glow was absent now. She crouched down next to it and reached over to pick it up.
But just as her hand touched the book's cover, it burst into a viscous purple liquid. Ina jerked her hand away and rapidly backed away. She frantically wiped the liquid off of her hand, but it adhered to her like glue.
That was when she felt the cold liquid brush against her feet.
The book had never stopped spewing the liquid. It was now covering the entire ground, slowly rising upwards.
Ina looked around frantically for her friends, but they weren't there anymore. The catacomb she had been in was replaced by an infinite black expanse.
Ina tried to pick her foot up out of the liquid, but it was completely stuck. The liquid had the consistency of tar and prevented her from escaping. It had risen to her ankle now.
There was something else off about this place. It took a few moments for Ina to realize it, but it was very quiet. Not just in the normal way of nothing existing here besides her, but her mind was also quiet.
During her memories from before she became a Priestess, her mind had been this quiet. She never thought she would experience this again. All of the whispering in the back of her mind was gone, allowing her to think clearly. The temporary relief she felt quickly turned into anxiety.
If the Ancient Ones weren't in her head anymore, where were they?
The question swirled around in her head, as the liquid crept to just below her knee. It was steadily rising with no sign of stopping. Ina truly began to panic.
"Priestess!" the familiar voices of the Ancient Ones called out to her. They sounded like they were everywhere around her besides below. Ina felt her heart rate slow back down, knowing that they were still somewhere in here.
"I-I'm here, AO-chan!" Ina called back. She could almost feel the relief from the Ancient Ones when she responded.
"We will make this explanation quick," they said, "Your mind is being invaded by the other set of Ancient Ones we brought back. We left a vulnerability in your mind as we prepared to integrate them later on. They exploited this and are trying to overload your mind in order to take control. You might be able to contain one of us, but you can not contain two and remain sane."
Ina took in this explanation, as the liquid passed her knee. So this place was her mind and the liquid was the other set of Ancient Ones trying to invade. Her time was limited, so she needed a way out.
"What are our options?" she asked. The Ancient Ones went quiet, compiling a list of possibilities.
"There are two main options: First, we can try to fight them out, but that risks them winning. They also could escape the book and cause havoc once again; Second, we can try to integrate them faster they can invade, but this risks your mind becoming overloaded."
"Are there any other options that don't risk me losing control of my body?" Ina asked. The liquid was half way up her thighs. The Ancient Ones went silent again.
A bubble rose from the liquid. Ina felt it brush up against her leg before coming to the surface. It grew until it was the size of a baseball before it burst in a horrendous cacophony of noise. Ina put her hands over her ears to block it out. However, somewhere underneath all the noise, she could've sworn that there were words.
H̴͈̜͉̗̟̰̝̲̦̞̪͌͋̓̋͑̀̈́̈́̐̀̋ɘ̶̧̳̱̖̰̫͎̥̲̞̰̋͐̓̊̃͆̓͘̚̚͝l̴̛͇͕̗̦̰̞͚͚̣̗̉̎͆̐͂̈͂́̈͠q̴̢̛̳̗̰̻̬̝̖̗͋̓̇͐͆̂͒͑́͜͜͠ ̷̢̨̛̺͇̳̠͎͈͕̜̦̐̄͗́̊̊̈̓́̅ῦ̶̢̢̧̛̛̹̰̰͚̠͎̹̺̃̅̅̐̆̂̐̚ƨ̶̛̜͇͓̙̗̦͙̳͚̱̻̈̄͗̐̐̈̈́́̅͠!̴̡̨̙̬͖͎̯̥͎̘̮͂͆͌̏̍̀̽̏͑͘͠
"There is another option, but it is the most risky to us…" the Ancient Ones responded, "We can leave your body and enter the book, allowing you to control the other set of Ancient Ones. We could then be integrated into them later on, but they might not allow it." Ina thought about the third option, feeling the liquid rise to her hips. She eventually shook her head.
"No, let's get out of this together, AO-chan."
"Priestess…" It was the first time that Ina had heard the Ancient Ones sound happy. It made her smile, lightly.
Another bubble worked its way up to the surface, bursting with another explosion of sounds. Ina covered her ears again, but this time she was sure that there were words buried underneath the noise.
Ⴇ̶̮͚̱̌̅͒ő̸̪̯̥͋͠n̵͔͕̄̓̌ͅ'̶̛̪͍̻̈̚Ɉ̵̝͖̤̀̀̂ ̵͚̼̅̓͝ͅl̸̬̞̻̔̐̚i̸̯̘͖͂̓̃ƨ̴̱̼͕̿̆͝Ɉ̶̻͔̜̈͌͝ɘ̴̙͔̜̇̈͠n̶̞̪̭̾̆͊ ̴͈̤͚̒͐͝Ɉ̵̫͖͚̋̔̋o̵͓͓̟͆̽̚ ̶̲͉̲̒͂̚Ɉ̴̣̝̦͐͑̄ʜ̴̧̡̘́́͊ɘ̸̖̰̣̂̓͝m̷̧̙͆̚͜͠!̸̱̱̟̈́͗̓
"Did you hear that?" she asked her Ancient Ones.
"That noise is undesirable…" they responded, not understanding what Ina had really asked. She brushed it off.
"Let's try option one then!" she yelled to begin the attack. The liquid, which was now reaching her waist, began to vibrate. Small waves developed and it stopped rising. More bubbles floated to the surface.
Ţ̷͐ʜ̷̤̋ɘ̷̭͂γ̶̯́ ̷̱͒ɒ̷͐͜ɿ̷͇̆ɘ̸̨̓ ̴̡̅l̵̜̾γ̴͎́i̴̝̊n̶̳̏ϱ̵̤͊!̵̐͜
Ⴇ̶̰̓o̶̟̒ ̵̰͑n̸̨̈́o̷̠͌Ɉ̶̹̽ ̵̹̾d̷̮͠ɘ̴̠͗ĺ̵͙ỉ̵͎ɘ̷̩͊v̴̗̍ɘ̴̬͊ ̸̘͗Ɉ̸̘̍ʜ̸͕̊ɘ̴͓̚m̸̺̊!̴̤́
Ina was now sure that the other set of Ancient Ones was trying to talk to them. The vibrating of the liquid became more violent and it started to rise again.
"It isn't working!" she relayed to the Ancient Ones. They sighed.
"They are too deep in your mind to be stopped. Only options two and three are viable now," they said. The vibrating became even stronger, creating waves that splashed up onto Ina's face. Her hair matted down, preventing her from seeing. The two tentacles in her hair brushed away what they could.
Even more bubbles with even clearer words emerged from the liquid.
S̶t̷o̸p̶ ̸i̷t̸!̷
D̶o̶ ̴n̷o̴t̸ ̴l̵e̶t̷ ̵t̵h̶e̵m̸ ̵o̵u̴t̶!̸
"Don't let them out…?" Ina whispered to herself, fully understanding the words now.
"Pay no attention to their pleas. They only wish to invade your mind and take control. If we leave then they would be unsuccessful," the Ancient Ones explained.
D̸o̴ ̶n̷o̷t̴ ̴l̵i̵s̴t̸e̶n̸!̸
"Let's try to integrate them then! Give them their wish to be in my mind!" Ina yelled. The sea of purple stopped vibrating and began to calm down. It slowed to a stop once again just above her stomach. Ina was starting to get very cold and it was hard to breathe.
Suddenly, a section of the liquid next to her was lifted into the darkness above. Some unknown force, most likely her Ancient Ones, had sucked the liquid up an invisible straw.
The liquid began to rise again, however it was slower this time. More clumps of the liquid were sucked upwards to be integrated, but it just wasn't fast enough. The liquid continued to rise, slowly but surely.
"Can you go any faster?" Ina asked as politely as she could. The liquid was nearly to her chest and it was becoming increasingly cold and difficult to breathe.
"We are trying our hardest, Priestess!" Their voices were clearly strained from the effort. Ina could hear more voices being added with each word.
S̸t̷o̷p̶ ̵t̶h̶i̴s̵!̵
More bubbles popped, continuously saying that one line. It was very hard for Ina to breathe now and the constant noise was making her try to breathe faster. She was panicking, as the liquid reached just below her raised arms. It was almost to her shoulders.
"This isn't working either!" Ina screamed, making her feel light headed. She tried to take deep breaths after steadying herself. The liquid reached her neck, causing to shiver in horror.
"Just a little longer, Priestess!" the Ancient Ones answered, absorbing and integrating as much of the liquid as they could. Ina breathed even harder as it brushed against her chin. She raised her head up to the darkness above, seeing the several columns of liquid stretching upwards.
"I don't want to die…" she whispered, her bottom lip quivering in terror. The image of the Priest before he was devoured by the Ancient Ones shot through her head. She didn't want to end up like that. She had to get out.
"OPTION THREE!" she screamed into the air above her with everything she had left. The liquid was above her chin, just a couple inches away from pouring into her mouth and nose.
"Understood." The Ancient Ones were calm and collected as the columns of liquid came crashing back down. Ina was quickly submerged under the liquid, completely frozen in place. All she could do was apologize in her mind to her Ancient Ones. It was the only way for her to escape alive.
Now that her ears were under the liquid, she could clearly hear what the other Ancient Ones were saying.
no
no
No
No
NO
NO
NO
NO
Kiara slowly rolled Ina's limp body onto her back. Amelia ran over and crouched down next to her friend.
"What happened?!" she asked frantically. Kiara shook her head.
"I-I don't know, she just collapsed!" the Phoenix answered. Amelia clenched her fist and closed her eyes, trying to figure out what could have happened to Ina. Kiara poked at Ina and lightly shook her shoulder in a vain attempt to wake her up.
Amelia opened her eyes and fixed them on the purple book that laid on the ground next to Ina. It was glowing faintly and shifted on the ground ever so slightly. This caught Kiara's attention.
"Is the link between her and the book stronger now?" Amelia asked, having a hunch on what was occurring.
"Yeah, didn't she mention that she was going to integrate them into her at some point?" Kiara caught on to what Amelia was thinking.
"They went early. Ina's mind is in trouble!" Amelia surmised. However, even with the cause figured out, how could they help her?
Ina's lips moved slightly, a tiny amount of air escaping them. Kiara and Amelia both leaned in closer, trying to hear what Ina was trying to say. Neither made a single sound.
"...option one then…" she faintly whispered. Kiara's eyes went wide before she dove at Amelia, grabbing her away from Ina's body.
One moment, Amelia was staring at the limp form of her friend lying peacefully on the ground. The next, she was faced with a maelstrom of purple tentacles. They lashed out in every direction, striking the walls, ceiling, and floor of the chamber they were in.
Kiara was launched into a nearby wall, shielding Amelia from the impact. She fell to the floor and Amelia climbed out from under her. None of the tentacles were going after them specifically, but they were tearing up the place.
A large chunk of rubble dislodged from the ceiling above them. Amelia heard it and looked up, seeing it falling straight towards herself and Kiara. The Phoenix was struggling to her feet, but wouldn't be up in time to destroy it.
Amelia held her hands up and focused on the several timelines nearby. In one of them, the rock had yet to fall. Once the rock hit her open hand, she pulled that outcome into this timeline and the rock disappeared in a glitchy mess. It reappeared in the ceiling, but was close to falling again.
"Th-thanks…" Kiara wheezed, as she finally got to her feet. The sudden explosion of tentacles had caught her off guard, causing her to get hit. It was the second time she had nearly given her life to save Amelia's, but she certainly didn't regret it. She could come back, Amelia could not.
The rock again fell towards them, but Kiara turned it to ash with her fire. Behind it, several tons of dirt poured into the chamber. Kiara fired another powerful blast and punched a hole straight to the surface with it.
"Up we go!" she said, giving Amelia very little time to prepare to be lifted into the air. She almost bit her tongue as the two flew up and out of the hole. The flailing tentacles broke through to the surface at a similar time. They landed far away and watched as the purple mass tore away at the ground like a blender.
"Hey, you guys!" Gura yells from behind them. Both Kiara and Amelia turn and see Gura and Calliope running towards them. Kiara waves to them.
"Hey!" she yells back. They stop beside Amelia and Kiara and stare at the tentacles ripping up the ground. Amelia and Kiara turn to look, as well.
"What happened?!" Calliope asks, clearly panicked by the situation she is seeing.
"We disabled one portion of the shield and then Ina just collapsed before exploding into that!" Amelia said, gesturing to the tentacles.
"Oh my god, is Ina ok?!" Gura asked frantically? Amelia scowled and clenched a fist.
"The Ancient Ones are running out of control, so we have no idea if Ina is safe. That other version is trying to invade Ina's mind and gain control." Gura didn't know whether to be relieved or more worried by that explanation.
"How are we going to help her?" Kiara asked the group. No one wanted to just stand by and watch Ina struggle against them. They were going to find a way to stop this.
"The book containing them is connected by a magic link, right?" Calliope asked. Amelia and Kiara nodded. "Then I have a plan. You all just need to get me as close as you can to Ina's body."
"What are you going to do specifically, Calli? We don't need vagueness right now," Amelia asked as politely as she could.
"Right, sorry," Calliope apologized, "I am going to drag her into the Underworld with me. The trip there and the oppressive atmosphere should be enough to quell the alternate Ancient Ones or destroy the link entirely," she explained her plan and reasoning in full.
"Sounds like the only good option we have, so let's get to it. I don't think we can afford to wait much longer," Gura agreed with the plan. She and everyone were becoming increasingly worried for both Ina's physical and mental wellbeing. She was tough, but still just human.
"Then let's go!" Amelia said, beginning to take a step in Ina's direction. Calliope grabbed her shoulder and stopped her before she could move, though.
"I don't think this is your fight, Amelia." Amelia clenched her fist before letting her hand relax.
"Alright…" she said reluctantly. Calliope nodded.
"Come on." Her and Gura launched themselves towards Ina. However, Kiara stayed behind.
"Why are you still here?" Amelia asked, genuinely confused. Kiara smiled at her and pointed towards her stomach. There was still a nasty bruise on it from when she got hit before. Small patches in and around it burned faintly like embers, showing that it was healing.
"I need a bit more time to recover and I want to talk to you," Kiara said with her signature warm smile, burning through Amelia's disappointment. She knew exactly what Kiara wanted to talk about.
"I understand that I don't have your guys' magic or raw strength. I would most likely just get in the way or get stuck and need rescue, too…" she said, looking towards the ground.
"That's a part of it, but Calli also cares about you."
"I know I need to stay alive to help you guys. I'm the crux of your whole plan-" Amelia started to ramble, but Kiara started laughing. This caught her off guard.
"No you dumbass!" Kiara said, calming her laughter. She walked over to Amelia and looked her in the eyes. "Even though Calli would never say this directly, she cares about you as a friend. She just has an interesting way of expressing it." Amelia couldn't help but let a smile bleed onto her face now, too.
"Thanks… Now, get over there and save Ina," she said, relieved. Kiara nodded and launched herself into the air with her wings. The bruise on her stomach was mostly gone now, so she could fight with everything she had.
Very little had changed about the tentacles when she arrived. Gura was out of breath, resting on the edge of the crater that had been dug out. Calliope stood just behind her, surveying the battlefield.
"Have you guys tried anything yet?" Kiara asked once she had landed next to them. Calliope nodded.
"The tentacles lash out at random, but will still instinctively protect their Priestess. We couldn't get close enough," she explained. Gura stood, using her trident to pull herself up.
"But now with you here, I think we have a better shot at it," she said. Kiara grabbed her sword and shield off of her belt and set them ablaze.
"WE'LL GET YOU OUT OF THERE INA!" she screamed as the three of them jumped into the swirling maelstrom of tentacles below.
As soon as they entered the pit, several tentacles changed their trajectories to intercept them. Weapons in hand, they didn't let a single tentacle land a hit. All of them were cut, burned, or stabbed to pieces. They made it to the bottom perfectly fine.
"Spells and magic won't be an issue here. They don't seem to be able to use them!" Calliope yelled in the heat of battle. Tentacles would continue to come and them fast and heavy from now on.
Gura ducked under a swing and tried to stab her trident into the main purple mass that held Ina. She barely got a few inches in before she was forced to retreat.
"We need to hit it together and let Calli jump in!" Kiara told her. They stood back to back fighting off anything that came their way. Gura thought long and hard about a way to effectively combine their power. That's when she remembered the steam explosion from training with Kiara.
"Kiara, I'm going to inject that blob with as much water as I can! Cover me!" she commanded. Kiara nodded and they dashed in together.
Several tentacles barreled towards them. Kiara slid underneath several of them, letting her sword glide effortlessly through them. Gura took this opportunity to see how she could inject the water. She stabbed through several tentacles and forced water into them with the tips of her trident. With each new attack she tried to push more water in than the last.
She found a balance between speed and pressure, causing the tentacles to swell up, but not burst. Kiara and her met each other's gazes and pushed to get to the center.
Kiara continued to provide covering fire for Gura, as the Atlantean reached the central blob housing Ina inside. She could barely see through the translucent purple mass, but Ina's form was definitely visible. She stabbed into it with her trident and began to fill it with as much water as she could.
This was a tight balancing act, though. If Gura put in too much water, Ina would be injured in the explosion. However, if she didn't put in enough water, the blast wouldn't be big enough to dig Ina out. The problem was that Gura didn't know where the happy middle existed. She would have to rely on her intuition and guess.
Kiara roasted more tentacles that came after Gura. They were mostly ignoring Kiara and Calliope at this point, focusing on the closest person to Ina. Calliope was able to get in closer because of this and guarded Gura the best she could.
"Alright Kiara!" Gura yelled to the Phoenix. They swapped roles and places underneath Calliope's support and Kiara stood at the base of the blob.
There was a sizable amount of water inside, inflating the blob noticeably. Kiara jammed her sword into it and yelled, "Get back, everyone!" She then lit her sword ablaze and super heated the water into steam.
An explosion is usually synonymous with fire, but that isn't always the case. The destructive part of an explosion is the rapid expansion of gas. When water is quickly turned to steam, it expands and creates a powerful shockwave.
Kiara limited her output, trying her best to create an explosion that would push the blob apart, rather than shred it. This would give the explosion the best chance at digging Ina out without hurting her. The shockwave was still very powerful, though.
Gura was almost knocked off her feet by the shockwave, digging her trident into the ground to stay in place. Calliope did something similar, but she used her momentum to swing around her scythe and propel herself towards the opening the explosion had made. Kiara used her shield and wings to keep balanced and grounded.
Calliope felt the direction of the wind change. When a large enough explosion occurs, a void is created at the epicenter. After the air is done rushing away from the blast, it then rushes back in to fill this void. Calliope used this to move even faster towards Ina.
The Priestess was more visible now, but still behind a thin layer of purple gelatin. She was twitching violently, fighting internally for an unknown reason. Hopefully, they will get the answers they need soon…
Calliope saw the purple blob begin to regenerate to close the wound back up. Kiara tried her best to keep a narrow path open for Calliope to reach. Gura regained her footing and threw her trident in to help. It shredded some of the newly regenerated mass, keeping the hole open for just long enough.
Just as Calliope was about to enter the gapping wound, the blob jumped into the air.
No one could believe it. The entire thing just jumped into the air, using a couple hundred tentacles to push off of the ground.
It flew upwards in a desperate attempt to get away from whatever was attacking it. Gura latched herself onto one of the trailing tentacles and began to climb. Her trident swiftly returned to her and she used that to help her climb, as well.
"Fly me up there!" Calliope asked Kiara. The Phoenix quickly sprouted her flaming wings and grabbed Calliope's outstretched hand. They flew up above the mass and began to hover. The hole was still open, but closing rapidly.
Gura clawed her way up the side of the blob and saw the hole. She got directly above it and slammed the three tips of her trident into it. A bolt of water mostly reopened the wound, but it was still narrow.
"Go get her!" Kiara yelled before using Calliope as a springboard, launching her friend straight down into the hole. Calliope swung her scythe as quickly as she could, burrowing into the purple blob until Ina was directly in front of her.
She grabbed the Priestess and pulled her through the rest of the blob, exiting the other side with incredible speed. Just before they were going to collide with the ground, Calliope cut open a portal to the Underworld. They both flew into the dark abyss, turning to shadows in an instant.
The chanting stopped inside Ina's head as her eyes fluttered open. She looked up towards the red-purple sky above and thought she was still in her own mind. The Reaper standing above her said otherwise.
"Am I dead, Calli?" she asked, surprisingly calm despite her circumstance. Calliope shook her head.
"We wouldn't let you die, Ina," she replied, extending a hand to help Ina up. The Priestess grabbed it and pulled herself up, swaying on her feet slightly once she fully stood up. "Now, what the hell happened down there?"
"The other Ancient Ones tried to invade my head. I had to-" Ina began explaining, but was interrupted by a voice in her head.
'We didn't invade your head!' they said. Ina thought it was her Ancient Ones, but their cadence was off. It was too informal to be them. Also, the words they said indicated…
"Looks like option three was a success," Ina said with a smirk. She felt the voices in her head grow angry.
'It was not! That beast is now free!' they raged. Ina furrowed her brow.
"What do you mean?! They're right in this book," Ina refuted, grabbing the floating book next to her.
'We are still partially inside that book! They aren't in there with us!' Ina blinked a few times, slowly coming to a terrible realization.
"What are you talking about with them? Doesn't sound good to me," Calliope asked. Ina looked up at her with wide eyes.
"These other Ancient Ones invaded my head. I let AO-chan out so they could enter the book and my mind would be spared. But they never got into the book!" Ina quickly explained. Now it was Calliope's turn to realize the current situation.
"They are still in the Overworld, free from your control," the Reaper said, trying her best to remain calm.
"Let's get back, now!" Calliope didn't need to be told twice. She quickly raised her scythe and sliced open the ground beneath them. Both girls drained into the portal and quickly resurfaced on the other side. Only a few dozen feet away, Gura, Kiara, and Amelia noticed them return.
"Ina! Calli!" they all called out, as they rushed over to them. Ina was swarmed with hugs by Gura and Amelia, while Calliope got a big hug from Kiara.
"What happened to you?!" Amelia asked quickly.
"I'll explain later. We have a bigger problem," Ina said, glancing behind her friends at the large mass of purple flesh behind them. It was calm now, but no one knew if they would stay that way. Ina needed to figure that out.
'Don't approach them!' the other Ancient Ones warned. Ina ignored them.
"Oh, they said they were waiting for you to return after Calli dragged you away," Gura said. Ina nodded and began to walk over to the Ancient Ones. They continued to sit silently as she approached. She got within a few feet of the purple blob before stopping and looking up at them. Even though there were no visible eyes on or in the blob, she could feel them watching her.
"AO-chan…" Ina said hesitantly. They didn't move or respond. "You… you can't get into the book…" Ina explained to them. Still, they didn't move. "I'm sorry…"
"You have nothing to apologize for, Priestess," they now spoke. Their voices were hundreds of times more powerful than what Ina had ever heard in her head. Her hair was slightly blown back by the force of it.
"Y-You're not angry?" she asked them. They sighed a deep, long sigh.
"No, we are not," they replied, "But this does not have to be goodbye, Priestess." Ina was confused by this.
"Do you want to integrate with them? I don't think they'll let you retain control if you do…"
'They tricked you! Now they are free and can-' the other Ancient Ones again spoke up.
"Would you shut up?!" Ina asked not so politely.
'We are telling you, do not engage with them! Get away from here!' Ina tried her best to block them out. She didn't want to hear them babble nonsense at her.
"We wish for you to join us, Priestess. Come with us."
Author's Note: This is it, the turning point of the entire series. The story has been building to this moment from the beginning, leaving dozens of small hints and clues about the true intentions of the Ancient Ones. I'm sure some of you can predict what is going to happen next...
I hope the scene in Ina's mind captured the feeling of clautrophobia I was going for. I don't know if I'll ever be able to capture the imagry I have in my own head and put it into words, but I tried my best here.
Unfortunetly, I can't talk about much about the twist until next chapter, but I will say that it will impact the rest of the story going forwards. This was supposed to be the ending of the entire series, however holoCouncil made me rethink that and decide to expand the story to beyond this point.
Honestly, I never thought I would even get to this moment. I've been imagining it for well over a year and I am so excited to actually write it out now. Everything will come together next chapter, so I'll do even more talking then.
Next Chapter: "What are you talking about, AO-chan?"
Any feedback/criticism is appreciated!