The sounds of music and joy fill the air, as hearty laughter and jovial banter echo through the spacious room reserved only for the most special of occasions.
Party balloons and streamers of all colors hang from the rafters of the banquet hall as fog machines coat the floor in a thin layer gray of haze. Rows of tables line the walls spread with various assortments of food and drinks, as partygoers spread themselves around the room in this atmosphere of excitement and delight.
Species of every kind gather in this hall in celebration of the feats accomplished by the Champion of Terraria. Goblins, Humans, Lihzahrd, and everything in between rejoice in honor of the man who conquered the impending doom.
"I could drink more than you ever could, Morthal." A pirate boasts to the man sitting down at the bar in front of him.
"HAH. You think you can drink more than me, Cap'n? The only one who gave me a run for my money was Tavish DeGroot." A dwarven man with a ginger beard that would put any other to shame, slams his ale mug down on the table as he gives a hearty laugh. "You're welcome to try Morgan."
"Oh you're on, Dwarf!" The two get fresh mugs poured and start chugging. A crowd is gathering around the competition, various cheers and applause is given to the two as they continue to drink. After about three full mugs the pirate stumbles and falls over unconscious. As the crowd cheers. A woman in a nurse's outfit grumbles to herself looking at the now blackout drunk pirate.
The man of the hour, however, was not joining in the festivities. Instead, choosing to stand outside on the balcony attached to the banquet hall. It was relatively dark out for such an early hour, the full moon giving enough light to see the vague outline of the nature surrounding the estate constructed by his own two hands.
Dancing across the night sky were ornamental paper lanterns released by the townsfolk during the celebration. Casting reflections down into the lake below, as falling stars twinkled in the inky black. Every here and there he could spot a neon pink light or two crawling around in the soil of the surrounding forest, Enchanted Nightcrawlers always seemed to like making appearances during meteor showers. It was a huge coincidence that the night of the celebration was also the same night as such a rare meteorological event. Unfathomable, but it made for such a lovely view.
Hearing the door open up behind him, he spun around to meet the gaze of a man with hazel brown unkempt hair. Wearing a cream colored shirt, faded blue jeans, and simple black shoes.
"Was the party getting too loud for you, Phineas?" The man asked in a hushed voice.
"Hey, Andrew." Phineas replied. "Nah, just needed a breath of fresh air is all."
Andrew chuckled lightly. "It seems like just yesterday I found you out cold in the forest with barely anything on you but the clothes on your back and a few flimsy copper tools."
"I know." Phineas agreed. As he returned back to the railing "It's hard to believe that it's been three whole years since then. A lot has changed in such a short time." He looked at a small black box he was holding. "A lot has definitely changed."
"Are you going to finally ask her?" Andrew asked hopefully.
"Yes, tonight has to be the night. I can't keep waiting foreve-"
"Hey Phin, I was looking everywhere for you. Oh hey, Andrew." A new voice joins the duo out on the balcony. The voice belonged to a girl with hair as green as the leaves of the trees, adorned with flowers. She was wearing little clothing but the two didn't seem to mind. The more private areas of her body were covered by greenery and plant life.
Andrew nods in greeting while Phineas hurriedly conceals the black box in his hand before addressing the new voice. "Hey Shea, what's up?"
"The party was getting lonely without you, I was wondering when you're going to come back in?" She asked.
"In a bit, I was just thinking about some things. Enjoying the scenery." Replied Phineas, returning to the marvelous view.
"It really is something, huh?" Shea asked. "Beautiful. Isn't it?"
Phineas exchanged glances with Andrew, the two sharing a silent conversation before they both nodded. Phineas turned towards the Dryad. "H-Hey Shea. Can I ask you a question? A lot has been on my mind recently, a-and I feel like this could help get some of it off my chest."
"Oh? Well what's on your mind then?" She returned the gaze curiously.
"Well it's-" Just as he was about to start that sentence he suddenly got a dark foreboding feeling. God it was so silent, what happened to the critters of the night? The wind was so silent. Something was wrong, his gut was screaming at him to take up arms or flee. Then he noticed it.
It first started as a small red slit in the air just hanging there. The more and more he stared at it the worse this feeling became. Suddenly the slit expanded into three star-like shapes filling the center of them were a black void, almost reminiscent of those weird animated smoke tiles that Destiny sold. It was far darker than the night sky or any of the surrounding landscape, making its presence known by casting an ominous red glow onto the balcony.
"Get down!" The awful feeling hit its climax as he jumped and pushed Andrew and Shea down behind the railing, just as a red and black tendril of cubes shot out of the leftmost portal. Narrowly dodging it as it flew up and back around into the rift.
Massive tendrils of the black cubes protrude from the maw and flail about, uprooting trees and slamming into the walls of the estate. Andrew pushes Shea out of the way as one of the tendrils slams down onto the balcony causing it to groan in protest.
Inside, the party atmosphere seemed to die down and tension rose as the building shook with a loud slam. A man with a dark complexion and graying black hair, sporting a maroon shirt and blue jeans with brown shoes wearing an old brown trench coat. Rushes over to the source of commotion out on the balcony.
The door to the balcony swung open "What the hell is going on out here?!" The Arms Dealer yelled out.
The Arms Dealer had to duck down as a tendril went for a wide swing over the balcony.
"Everybody inside now!" yelled Phineas. The trio ran inside and slammed the door shut behind them. The slams became more erratic almost like the thing was mad at them for retreating as the intensity of the red glow increased outside the glass doors.
"Phin, what the hell was that thing?" asked the Arms Dealer.
"I have no idea, Tyrone. But it can't be anything good." Phineas concluded.
Despite the doors being made of glass it seemed to hold back a surprising amount of force as more and more cuboid tendrils bashed against it in attempt after attempt to get inside. Turning back towards the immediate threat he saw as a figure was beginning to emerge from the portal. They were human, or at least gave off that appearance. Seemingly a young woman in her mid twenties, fairly tall but slender. Her eyes were a burning gold color with cross shaped pupils.
"Damnit, everyone. Get out of here! Use the old Teleporter system if you have to, something tells me the Pylon network might not be working." As convenient and simple the town Pylons were, they seemed to have a knack for completely shutting down whenever a monster of great power emerges or an invasion is taking place.
But before anyone could make a break for the large doors that led back out into the manor, the only remaining exit seemingly transformed into a bunch of the vile looking blocks. Cutting off the only other way out of the hall, lest anyone was willing to take a dance with death.
"I don't understand, We've been invaded by otherworldly forces before. But this looks nothing like the Old One's Army." Just as Phineas finishes that sentence, the uninvited arrival touches the glass doors. As from the point of contact, spread more of those cubes. But this time instead of lashing out to attack they just spread around, fully consuming the door and a part of the wall holding it in place. All the cubes then shrink and fly back towards the point of origin, a small golden tesseract held within the hand of the woman.
"Vermin. All of you." Phineas looked at the intruder with anger. "You and your people have been a thorn in my side for far too long." The woman stated with an air of authority.
"Oh? And you are?" Phineas asks as he points his blade at her. "To me, you just showed up out of the blue to crash a party. We've only just met." He speaks with ice in his tone.
"I am the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles. It seems Cthulhu didn't accomplish his assigned task. Now I must carry out my will myself."
"I've already killed one god, what's another?" He taunted.
"The arrogation of your kind will be their downfall." She responded in kind.
The two powerful beings stared each other down, neither moving an inch. The tense moment was broken up when a flaming arrow went flying towards the intruder. Before it could even land the dark cubes shot up from the floor and absorbed the arrow. "Then you'll all die together."
The two charged each other, the clanging of metal echoing through the hall. A dance of death was shared between the two; neither willing to back down, and each blow carefully calculated to damage or defend. From an outside perspective, it seemed the two were completely equal in skill, the stakes too high to back down.
This dance continued on for a moment more until a small dark round object clattered onto the floor in between the two. Recognizing this object, Phineas jumps back but not before going for one last strike to stagger the woman. Just before the grenade could explode, a rocket flies straight into the frey. The two explosives detonate at the exact same time, a devastating blow to anything just short of inhuman.
"You think we're just goin' to let ya fight alone? Laddie, this is our home too." Morthal says, walking up next to Phineas.
"It is a fight for survival; strength in numbers is recommended." Affirmed a robotic looking man.
"She thinks she can get away with crashing a party?! One that I painstakingly planned?!" shouted a girl in all pink.
"Alright, then attack with everything you've got!" Phineas yelled.
As those words left his mouth, projectiles of every kind flew towards the clearing smoke. The Sustainer of Heavenly Principles widened her eyes in surprise before summoning a barrier of the dark cubes. However,she failed to notice the Truffle Spores floating their way around the barrier. Just as they made their way around the barrier, the woman dashed from her cover. She thought she was free of any harm until a stream of bullets stopped her dead in her tracks. She turned her head towards where the shots had originated from to see the smoking barrel of a Minishark in the hands of Tyrone.
"Annoying pest." She mutters as a swarm of black cubes shoot out towards him. He raised his arms in defense hoping to block whatever damage those things may do. But before the swarm could make contact, they slammed harmlessly against a green translucent barrier.
"It's probably not a good idea to let those things touch you at all. We'd better not take the risk." Said Shea, her arms outstretched, a green glow emanating in front of them.
"Holy- Thanks for the save, Shea." said Tyrone
"Do be a little more careful next time?"
"Yeah, yeah. I got it."
Before she could attack the two any further she was slashed from behind, as Phineas took the opportunity to attack while she was distracted. She yelped in surprise and annoyance as she cursed herself for allowing him to get the advantage on her so easily.
But Phineas wasn't the only one attempting to attack her while getting up close and personal. An exotic looking Scimitar slashed its way down with quick precision. At the exact same time Phineas went in for a second swipe.
The god placed her hands out in front of the blades stopping them in their place. The two had to jump back as they saw the exact spot they were standing be engulfed in the black cubes.
"Those cubes are proving to be a problem. We have to find some way to take those away or we risk a never ending battle." Said the man holding the scimitar.
"Then we'll just have to attack from a distance. Grab on." Said Phineas as he grabbed the Dye Trader's hands and flew back to the group.
He turned back towards her, and held out his blade once more. Interconnected with it as he was, he willed it to split apart and slash from all directions. The Zenith glowed before quickly lifting from his grasp and in a bright flash, split itself up into multiple forms before flying straight at the attacking party.
Try as she might, protecting one's self from all sides is no easy feat. Raising her arms up brought about another wall of the cubes, moving like a semi-solid liquid. Blocking or deflecting a majority of the swords, but a few made it through.
She audibly hissed in pain and frustration as the few swords that made it through her defense cut her. Frustrated, she decided to employ a different strategy to get the upper hand. It seemed that a majority of her attacks were being deflected by barriers and protective actions done by the one in the back with green hair. She needed to get rid of that dendro user. Forming a cube in her hand, she tossed it at the crowd. It bounced harmlessly off the barrier at first, but it soon started to glow and vibrate.
As the cube's actions intensified, Phineas realized what this may be, but before he could warn anyone or take any action himself. The cube exploded and a bright disorienting flash filled the room. It only took two seconds for Phineas' eyes to readjust and see normally again, but his comrades weren't as lucky.
Capitalizing on that flashbang, the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles dashed for the emerald haired girl and restrained her. No one could stop her advance as they were all reeling from the intense bright flash that just occurred.
After the people's senses finally came back, the stakes of the current situation finally dawned on them.
"Let her go, you coward!" Phineas yelled, as he was about to ready another strike with his blade.
"Don't be foolish, I've already won."
"Don't listen to her!" Shea yelled out.
"Quiet girl. Now sit still. And. Die." She stuck her hand out towards the champion and launched another shot of cubes at him. He rolled away from the barrage before teleporting away with his Rod of Discord.
Quite the helpful tool it was, being able to teleport anywhere within an area centered around himself. It helped him out of very serious situations, but using it too much in a short timespan could spell his demise. It would be quite bad if his legs and head swapped places after all.
Shifting behind the god he primed his sword to cut. The god only turned around before she could register the incoming danger.
The next thing Phineas heard was a sharp scream, but his attack never connected. He could only stare in dumbfound horror as Shea was now bleeding profusely, the wound in her side filled with the cubes, almost eating away at her like a parasite.
The room was silent aside from the menacing buzzing of the portal the god opened upon arrival. The goddess flashing a maniacal grin sent out cubes from her feet to restrain the champion.
Phineas could barely register what was happening before it was too late, he wasn't fast enough. Shea got hurt because he wasn't fast enough to react to that flashbang. All of his friends and family were going to get hurt because of his failure.
The goddess started to chuckle, then a laugh, then a malicious cackle. She had tossed Shea aside as she slowly started to approach Phineas, a look of dejected worry for Shea morphed into pure unadulterated rage as he stared right at her. She calmed down her cackling as she started to speak.
"Let this be a lesson to all those who attempt to oppose the Heavenly Principles." She spoke in a cocky authoritative tone. She slowly held out her hand towards Phineas' head.
Placing her hand on his head to attempt to destroy his very core was met with high resistance from a familiar yet otherworldly magic she hasn't felt before. She quickly took her hand away, placing her free hand on her forehead.
"Well, this won't be as easy as I once thought, it seems you are a special case…"
"If I had a gold coin for every time I've been told that, I'd have enough money to buy whatever I'd want." He spat back bitterly as he struggled against the cubes holding him down.
Another flaming arrow drew away the attention of the goddess. She scoffed before walking over to the assailant.
"Do you really want to die that eagerly?"
Andrew starred in defiance, before notching and losing an arrow. The projectile was absorbed into a black mass before it could even touch her.
She closed the distance between her and the Guide in less than a second, grabbing him by the neck and lifting him up. She attempted to execute him then and there but like the Champion, he too was being protected by this same mysterious magic. She slowly removed her hand before looking at the rest of the people in the room. It was a mix between fear, shock, and anger on all of their faces.
"A special case indeed…" She said quietly to herself before a column of cubes erupted from the floor right underneath Andrew. As the cubes slowly collected into the small golden tesseract into her hand, Andrew was nowhere to be seen.
One by one all the guests at the party were also absorbed into masses of the cubes. Phineas tried to break out but the combined chaos around him and the searing pain from the cubes digging into his limbs kept him from breaking free.
The last thing he saw before his vision was obscured was watching Shea get slowly consumed by the sea of black and red.