Yeah I dunno this sat around unfinished for years but recently I suddenly got the urge to finish it. And it like took three days.
This is a flashback chapter and I think I made this in response to a whumptober prompt or something similar. Not sure which one since I never wrote it down.
I had plans on putting the first two parts and this one into a separate story outside of the one shot collection but y'know what I'll do it later.
Stick to the Script and Other Stories
By Bilbo-sama
Kindness Can Go A Long Way part 3
It is said that not much can thrive in the Miasma Marshes. Only dark creatures and those too deep in despair can withstand the poison in the water and air for longer periods of time.
It is said that the walls of reality are thin enough for the Horned One to peek into the world from its prison and call to someone worthy of becoming its servant.
Lucien did not care if its all true or not.
This place is the perfect punishment for himself. He defied orders to save a sage's daughter. His commanders saw her nothing more than a pawn. But...Why should her childhood cease to exist on behalf of Bellicosia? What would be the odds that she would inherit her father's skill and aptitude in magic?
He adjusted his grip on his staff as another wave of despair washed over him.
Because he let her go free, everyone he grew up with is dead.
His family. His friends. Neighbors. People he passed by in the streets. Dead. Because he defied orders to protect one child.
It was all his fault.
He couldn't even save one life. The little girl is long gone by now. Either she truly escaped or they have found her. Her fate is no longer in Lucien's bloodstained hands.
In the end, it was all for nothing and he lost everything.
Lucien gasped as he crumpled to the ground, energy and will spent. Dark smoke slowly climbed up his body. He noticed but did not care. Why should he? He deserved it.
The war will end without him. Lives will be lost. Kingdoms will fall. New ones will eventually rise. One day a new war begins. Then the cycle continues on.
Nothing he can do will stop it. Why did he even try?
What was the point if there's no good in this pathetic world? If all there is is despair?
EMBRACE THAT DESPAIR.
...What?
Lucien looked around wildly. Where is that voice coming from?
LET IT CONSUME YOU UNTIL ALL IS LEFT IS HATRED.
"Why?" Lucien asked.
BECAUSE THOSE WHO WRONGED YOU STILL LIVE, said the voice. CONSEQUENCES DON'T MATTER TO THEM.
Lucien had the impression that the voice was smiling while leaning forward to him. The dark smoke became stronger and yet it didn't hurt. It was as if it was asking for permission.
TEACH THEM THAT THEY ARE NOT ABOVE CONSEQUENCE, the voice offered. LET YOUR DESPAIR BECOME THEIRS.
"H...How?"
BECOME MY DEAR HEART'S EXECUTOR AND HELP HIM TEACH THE ARROGANT TRUE HUMILITY. UNTIL THERE IS NO MORE WAR.
No more war...can that be possible? It must be if the voice sounded so confident about it.
But...
"Who are you?" Lucien asked.
I AM THE HORNED ONE. KINGMAKER OF ALLEGORIA. TIED TO KING DOLORAN.
Of course...the fabled Kingmaker said to be so evil and powerful, it could not be contained. And so, Allegoria was lost.
It was real all along.
It was offering power to avenge his village and beyond.
Lucien laughed brokenly.
What the hell. He had nothing to lose besides his life. There was nothing else the Horned One can do to make it any worse besides leaving him alone to his own despair.
"I accept," he called out.
EXCELLENT. He had the impression that the Horned One was smiling.
Lucien felt power surge into his tired body as the darkness surrounding him entered him.
It was wonderful. It was terrible.
I DUB THEE THE DARK DJINN.
DEAR HEART.
Doloran looked up from his scrying cauldron. The image of the King Laurence of Bellicosia, unaware he was being watched, continued to soundlessly speak his decree to the people.
"Yes, my beloved?" Doloran called out. His words echoed in the room and he grimaced. Even after all these years, he still forgets to speak through the Kingsbond.
No matter, the cursed and malevolent form of Alisandra heard him anyway.
I FOUND YOU AN ASSISTANT.
Doloran blinked at the unexpected announcement before he slumped guiltily.
"Ah," he said. He should've seen this coming in hindsight. Of course his beloved would've gotten tired after fifteen hundred years of waiting before he could get all the Kingsbonds needed to free her.
DO NOT FRET. I FORGIVE YOU.
"Thank you," replied Doloran dutifully.
HE WILL NEED ASSISTANCE COMING HERE. HE IS IN THE MIASMA MARSHES.
The youthful ancient wizard grimaced. Whoever it was will be in poor health by the time he is rescued.
MOVE QUICKLY. MY POWER CAN ONLY DO SO MUCH TO STAVE OFF THE INEVITABLE.
"Of course," Doloran bowed before teleporting away from the simulacrum of Allegoria.
The first thing Lucien registered as he woke up was the soft bed underneath him. He frowned as he carefully patted the mattress before deciding that it is indeed real.
He carefully sat up in the bed, noting that he was now in a well furnish room, and found that it didn't hurt to do so despite his prolonged exposure to the atmosphere that gave the Miasma Marshes its name. However, his body thrummed with an unfamiliar energy. The memory of hearing a voice in the Marshes brought itself to the front of his mind.
He exited the bed and moved to the window where he saw an unfamiliar cityscape. Where was he?
"Am I dead?" Lucien said aloud. Was it all a hallucination? Was his mind trying to comfort itself in the end?
"I hope not. It has taken a fortnight to bring you to full recovery even with the Horned One's assistance," Lucien whirled around to find a man adorned in ornate robes and a snake shaped helmet standing in the room's doorway. He had an aura of great power. Much of it felt familiar...
"Who are you?" asked Lucien, feeling flatfooted before his unexpected host.
"I am Doloran the Arcane. King of Allegoria. Servant of the Horned One," declared the man now known as Doloran, "Come. There is much to show you."
He led Lucien through a maze of corridors that were frustratingly similar. Lucien wondered if he will ever see that bedroom again or if he'll be given a new one. This place is so big. He would be surprised if his host never got lost.
He was brought out of his musings when he and Doloran stopped before a pair of doors. They opened to a temple like room. Snake statues lined the walls while an intricate circle laid on the floor. A staircase led up to an altar surrounded pillars glowed in an eerie light.
"You have been chosen by the Horned One," explained Doloran as he and Lucien climbed up the stairs, "to be one of its agents in this world."
"How do I do that?"
"The seal containing the Horned One can only be broken when enough Kingsbonds are gathered here. I estimate that twelve more are needed before we can begin the ritual. I assume you know what Kingsbonds are?"
"Yes, they are the link between a ruler and Kingmaker," replied Lucien, "but how are you getting them?"
Doloran grabbed a large staff sitting by the altar. Within its snake-shaped headpiece was three jewels of different colors. He murmured some words and shadows that resembled a human and a dragon like creature, presumably a Kingmaker, appeared over the man's head. A shadow of a line snaked between the human shadow and the kingmaker, linking the two of them.
"Kingmakers are a symbol of the ruler's power. However, power will mean nothing when your people become discontent." A group of smaller human shadows appeared, their body language showing their ill mood, "Eventually, the Kingmaker will return from their Cradle to cast judgement. There is a short window of time where the Kingsbond is vulnerable."
The shadow representing the ruler raised a hand to their chest as they backed away from the Kingmaker, its mouth open in a silent roar.
A shadow that resembled Doloran appeared. It raised a hand that had shadows rising up from it as if it covered in flames (or perhaps it represented magic, Lucien wasn't sure) before charging at the ruler.
The hand dove into the chest and pulled out the line representing the Kingsbond.
With a flick of the wrist, the bond snapped in two. The shadow Doloran vanished with its prize.
The Kingmaker roared again as the rest of the shadows dissipated.
"If I haven't done that, the Kingmaker would've broken the Kingsbond itself. With my intervention, there is time to escape," Doloran reassured Lucien.
Lucien did not feel reassured.
"And if the Kingmaker had done it?"
"Everything in the area immediately ceases to exist," Doloran said solemnly, "I've seen it happen before."
Doloran turned to the altar again and tapped the scrying cauldron with the staff. King Laurence appeared within.
"News of the destruction of a village to punish a single soldier for allowing an enemy combatant to escape a skirmish have reached the populous. He has so far managed to convince some that it was necessary."
"It wasn't," Lucien whispered as his grief welled up once more, part of him surprised he still had tears left, "She was just a child."
THE SAGE'S DAUGHTER WILL GROW UP TO LEAD BELLICOSIA'S ENEMIES TO VICTORY, a voice in his head, one that Lucien instinctively knew it was his new master, pointed out.
"Ah," Doloran nodded his head in understanding, "can't have that now can we?"
"She deserves to be a child!" yelled Lucien, "No matter who her father is!"
"Arthur the Great Sage refused to join the army of Bellicosia, Halcyon, or Rubicon out of a vow of neutrality," Doloran pointed out, "if Bellicosia hadn't come for him, the other two would have. If nothing else then out of fear of what will happen if he decided to break that vow and chose a side."
"And innocents had to die?!" raged Lucien as his grief and anger allowed his newfound power swirl around him unchecked. "We were ordered to kill everyone in that town! All for the crime of harboring the sage! No one was to be spared! Not even the children!"
Doloran stood unmoved as a flare of magic enhanced by the tainted energies of the Horned One threatened to lash out from Lucien.
"And then! Then! It happened to my village!" The disgraced wizard sobbed.
"And what will you do about it?" asked Doloran calmly, as if he was discussing the weather.
"W...what?" the attitude behind Doloran's words shocked Lucien out of his despair.
"Are you going to let them get away with this?"
"No," Lucien shook his head, "I wouldn't dare."
Doloran smiled, "Good," he waved a hand to the scrying cauldron, where it still held the image of the Bellicosian king, "then let's get started."
Uhhhh yeah, not happy on how this ended but screw it, its done. I'm free now.
Anyway:
1. I spent the whole time thinking it was Belladonia instead of Bellicosia until I looked up the cutscenes post final Shadar fight on youtube and learned otherwise. I have no idea where Belladonia came from.
2. And then when I was almost at the finish line and done, my brain went 'what's the King's name' and refused to go any further until I looked up some names on google. Laurence apparently means a 'wreath of laurel' which in turn symbolizes victory, triumph, and success. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
3. I don't even know why I set this 500 years before the main story. Shadar in canon gave me the vibes that he was more than a century old, especially after mentioning his soul mate reincarnated many times but 500 years is kinda pushing it in relation to everyone else. I'll think of a better excuse than 'the Great Sages live longer' later.
4. So uh yeah, Lucien is technically a Tainted Monster now. He wont be Shadar the Dark Djinn for a while but to be fair he needs to build up a reputation first.
5. I didn't want to do the Kingsbond exposition but if I ended things after 'follow me to the plot room' it would've looked like I posted this chapter unfinished.
Not sure if I'll update this again in a timely manner. I have so many other unfinished files to do orz