**Author's note: Apologies for this chapter being very late. I had some computer issues that caused me to lose a portion of this story, including this chapter, which I had to rewrite. Thank you for reading!**
I woke up face down on the smooth metal surface of the Room of Spirit and Time. Coughing and shaking, I pulled myself back up to a sitting position. Above, I saw the hologram of Pale Lord looming over me in his majestic giant form, his Corona and eyes blazing in heavenly fire. He wore his fancy black and gold armor, and his royal red cape majestically billowed behind him.
"Fuck!" I choked, trying to crabwalk backward from the inhuman giant standing above me.
The hologram laughed softly. "Look at you! Stigmata everywhere! What has the Imperative forced you into doing?" his velvet dragon voice echoed as if we were actually in a cave. "I see that you're standing outside of Obsidian City's archway. Were you curious this morning? I hope you're ready for more training!"
I felt myself telekinetically pulled to a standing position. Above, Pale Lord switched to his more casual "human" form clad in his white shirt and khaki trousers. He now stood beside me, tutting and sniffing, his white eyebrows raised in judgment at how much of a mess I was. He summoned a red handkerchief from nowhere and handed it to me without missing a beat. "Your stigmata bleeding tells me that you've had a great deal of fun, or, a presence inside of you made you have fun for it. I wonder what the Great Eagle made you do?" he asked casually.
"I... I..." I sputtered, woozily getting my bearings. "I... saw things!" I yelped when I felt long claws gripping my left shoulder, and reflexively freaked out, reaching with my right arm to madly swat at my left shoulder. This action caused me to launch poor Jiminy across the simulated space with my enhanced strength like a fastball. The drone was able to right itself in the air, and it slowly began to fly back to me. One of its insect limbs fell with a short clatter.
Seeing that I wasn't in a good way, Pale Lord offered to guide me back to the Manse, his arm supporting me by my shoulders. Before leaving, we waited for Jiminy to return, and he perched precariously on my right shoulder this time. The drone was damaged (again) by my bullshit. This will be fun to explain to Null, I angrily chastised myself.
Entering Tengoku Manse's dining area, I found that I couldn't effectively communicate until a cup of warm sake was placed in my hands, which helped to soothe and ground me. Pale Lord sat beside me, his gold eyes twinkling with curiosity.
"The Obsidian C-c-city!" I stammered, drinking my sake, still having difficulty with speaking words. "T-the Warp is bleeding into reality there! It's crazy!"
"Yes, yes it is," Pale Lord said with his weird smile. "Crazy, but beautiful! The dark radiance from the Deep Gate blackens everything in its physical proximity! You should have a-asked me about-t the G-g-gate bef-..." The hologram glitched again. "-but I'm pleased that you are unharmed!"
"Hey," I said after drinking my warm sake. "You keep glitching. I tried to ask you about that place before, but your hologram keeps messing up."
"That is unfortunate," the hologram responded before casually shrugging. "My program is rather old, from what you tell me. A little temporal degradation might be chewing on this manifestation after f-fifteen thousand years of existence! But, I will still serve to the b-b-best of my ability!"
I concentrated on relaxing with a few deep breaths. "I saw things. I saw two Custodes there, and I..." I paused and gripped my Key under my tunic. Even though it had only consumed one soul, it was hot, almost radiant with energy from the extremely potent soul that I had captured. Oh my god! I had eaten a Custodes!
"What is a Custodes?" Pale Lord asked me.
"Uh, they're these guys that have been genetically engineered into the Emp- er, the Weeping King's elite personal bodyguards," I babbled before remembering that the individual I had eaten had been a woman, somehow. Was that new lore? Who knows. "Or, just people that the Weeping King made to guard him, man or woman."
Pale Lord raised a white eyebrow. "Seems my direct successor was a very busy man."
I turned toward the Inheritor, suddenly very confused. "Do you really not have any knowledge whatsoever on your successor? Like, you're talking to me, and you seem to know all about me."
Pale Lord looked away. "For what it is worth, I was not programmed with any knowledge of my successor. Or, the knowledge has degraded from my programming with time. I apologize for the inconvenience."
"I think... I think I got possessed too," I included, clutching my Key, which now hung outside of my shirt. From the temperature and psychic heat blazing off the jewel, it appeared that the Custodes had been a very large and potent soul. With happiness, I suddenly realized that this would be great food for the Divine Retribution when I got home. Devouring a Custodes (that even somehow felt willing!) was probably like eating prime rib for that moody ship. Using this soul, the big bird might be able to regenerate and leave Ix!
"The likelihood of your unwilling possession by an outside entity is exceedingly low, considering the protection the Great Eagle offers you," Pale Lord offered with a small sly smile. "Mmm, looking at your stigmata, I believe you've become a victim of the Divine Majesty's Imperative. It can overwhelm your will in rare cases if you lack both protection and the willpower to push back. If that happened, what did the great greedy machine make you do to get you so bloody?"
"Oh, yeah, all this blood," I breathed, woozy, touching my messy face. I had actually been pretty drunk earlier, but the adrenaline and the energy from the Custodes' soul had kind of blasted most of that feeling away, but it didn't help with my disorientation. I decided to just explain what I had done as I remembered it as a way to ground myself. "What happened is kind of complicated. I went through the Obsidian City arch so I could find the Gate to the Deep Warp and see the Wizard. I want to eventually pass through that big Warp Gate in Obsidian City to go home but I've heard that this Wizard requires something, like a token or a gift, to let people pass. I figured I'd find that out early before getting there on my ship. When I passed through Obsidian City's gate, the Warp started getting really funky; I started seeing things! I saw a big gateway with a gold bird's head, but I wasn't sure if it was the place I was looking for, but it didn't matter, because this giant fire elemental creature showed up and told me to go back. Before I could find a way to pass through the gate, a Custodes showed up and started chasing me down the hall!"
I stopped so that I could catch my breath, briefly closing my eyes. "There were two Custodes. One of them called me a witch and started chasing me down. I turned huge for a few moments and ran back to the room with the arch that leads back here. The second Custodes showed up there. They were going to kill me until this powerful presence, maybe it was a part of the Imperative, came over me."
Pale Lord watched me with glittering gold eyes, obviously very interested. "And?" he encouraged me.
"The presence told me that it could help. I let it in, and then, I turned giant and started speaking in two voices. I'm pretty sure it was a memory of an Inheritor, but there was also a second presence later. The first one, I think, might have been a shadow of the Weeping King. It's happened once before, but the circumstances were unique and I didn't think it could happen again."
I looked up, and now, Pale Lord wore his small enigmatic smile. I couldn't get over this guy's uncanny valley aura. I cleared my throat and continued my explanation.
"Under this presence, I found myself giving orders to the Custodes in a strange language, and they instantly submitted. But, when one of them didn't immediately kneel, another, different presence came over me. Under that, I ended up killing the Custodes who didn't kneel by bursting her hearts. I... I devoured her through the Key." I looked at Pale Lord again, who was grinning like a sly cat, his eyes slightly narrowed. "So, I think maybe it wasn't just the Imperative. Maybe your presence came over me too, and you're the one who pushed me into killing that Custodes." I explained, unsure.
Pale Lord smiled even more widely, which made him look threatening. I looked away, and he began to speak. "I can offer somewhat of an explanation, my heir. Maybe you did not know this, but the Great Eagle takes a piece of your soul when it initially binds itself to you. It integrates this shadow into the amalgamated being inside the oversoul, and this oversoul is attached to you, even when you are not within your vessel. Sometimes, in remarkable circumstances, a shadow can reach through into conscious reality."
"So, I can get possessed and controlled like that in the future?" While I had allowed myself to be possessed by Sebastian after Nubua, I didn't think it was something that I wanted to happen with regularity. The feeling burned me both physically and psychically on top of my normal transformative experiences.
"Not normally," Pale Lord responded, his projection beginning to artifact and pixelate. "The D-deep Gate bleeds and spills unreality into this universe. From what you tell me, you may have been swimming in the tides of the deeper, stranger Immaterium on your way to its depths, and there, existence bends as you approach the realm of the gods as if you were approaching a black hole. Time, space, and reality itself become mere suggestions, and in your great need, you may have become subconsciously desperate enough to allow other shadows to assist you. It is quite d-difficult to explain, actually. Outside of d-d-discorp-por-ration, t-t-this s-"
Unfortunately, at the worst moment, the hologram glitched out again before reforming. He said nothing as he smiled at me. "What?" he asked, a quizzical look on his not-human smooth face.
"You glitched again," I said, patting my eyes with a handkerchief. I was dizzy.
"How unfortunate," Pale Lord replied, lightly shaking his head. "My program seems to be experiencing some corruption as we speak further on such topics, so let us train instead of talk. Are you ready for today's exercises?"
"Wait, wait," I said, holding my arms ahead of me. "Just... just give me a day or two to process what happened. I know I need to train, but I'm too fucked up right now. I just want to be alone."
"As you wish, my heir. Summon me once again when you have the need, but be advised, for your training to be effective, it must be regular," Pale Lord responded graciously, his form pixelating and glitching again before vanishing.
With a big sigh of relief, I drank the rest of my sake. Not wanting to think about anything else, I wandered back upstairs, flopped on the bed, and fell asleep in my bloody clothes.
After a day off (that I mostly spent in bed staring into space and walking up and down the red brick road in a fugue), I spent another ten days in the simulation learning various sword and dagger techniques. Today's exercises were nearly finished, and I was nicely fatigued from the effort. During the morning, I trained in a colder climate during snowfall while wearing a heavy wool coat. Now, we fought in the blazing summer heat while wearing loose black martial arts "gi" uniforms as dust storms raged around us. It made sense to train in different conditions, and I was grateful for the education I was receiving here. Pale Lord promised me that "armor training" was coming up, and I was very excited about that!
As I had trained, I found that the soul in the Key somewhat nourished me during physical activity. I even discovered that I suddenly knew the basics of using both a sword and a halberd. The soul inside the Key, while not explicitly willing like Nabopolassar's soul, still offered me some extra strength and martial knowledge. Seeing that I suddenly appeared to understand the basics of swordplay, Pale Lord even became mildly upset from time to time. The Inheritor set about trying to augment my newfound fighting techniques as they were quite different from his distinctive showy (and murderous) "dancing" martial style.
"Eventually, you will use the Nemeses Argentum in a dual technique," Pale Lord said as he harshly adjusted my pose after I had managed to kill a holographic red lion in a sandstorm. I had dispatched this creature by momentarily altering my weight to be closer to that of a Custodes before simply charging ahead with my illusory sword, which did not require any fancy dancing techniques. Pale Lord straightened me up and judged me. "These 'Custodes,' from what you describe, do not have access to Sight as you do. You need Inheritor-specific training, not inherited training from the absorption of a willing soul."
"At least this is something. Anything that helps me not die is good in my book," I responded with a grin.
"You should still keep your dual technique at the fore of your mind. Those blades are Sight reactive, and when they reveal, you will want to use nothing else," Pale Lord huffed. "And with this, it is now your respite period. You have completed today's exercises."
After ordering the red brick road to reappear again, I willed my illusory training sword to vanish as I stretched and drew the Nemeses Argentum again with my right hand, which briefly alighted with its pale blue flame. The silver artifact was warm, and a faint glow surrounded its length. With a smile, I turned the artifact around in my hand, remembering the daemons I had annihilated. I then became curious again as I began to walk down the road. "I've been meaning to ask you something else too. When I devour people if their sacrifice is willing, do I really absorb their skills? An ancient king killed himself for me, and when I grabbed his soul, I suddenly knew all these psychic techniques, and I also had some of his memories. When I killed the Custodes, her soul maybe almost felt willing, and now, I understand combat a little better. How do I, uh, learn from killing people? How does it work?"
Pale Lord followed me down the red brick road. It was yet another beautiful twilight evening, just like every other "day" inside the simulation.
"Ah, the delicious case of personal sacrifice, yes," Pale Lord replied coolly. He then closed his eyes and smiled as if enjoying a pleasant memory. With a brief inhalation, he opened his eyes again and began to explain: "As you know, yes, you can draw from the energy of devoured souls, but souls who have devoted their mortality to you will fall more thoroughly into your metaphysical gravity well. The sacrifice must be very intentional and willing by the other party. It is a symbolic act of someone giving themselves to you in entirety."
"This Custodes kinda felt willing. But the king, I was able to absorb a lot more from him, yeah..." I mused.
Pale Lord handed me a handkerchief to blot my bleeding right ear. "My opinion is that simply being a pretorian guard constructed for servitude isn't the same as a ritual devotion, but I wonder if it may be somewhat similar." The Inheritor wore a thoughtful expression as we walked. "Since these beings- these Custodes, you call them- were entirely created and crafted to serve my successor in all things, it may be that they exist as a bundled healthy soul meal for an Inheritor in difficult times. An emergency 'to go' meal, I suppose."
"That's... pretty morbid," I answered. I wondered if this was one of the Custodes' purposes aside from guardianship. As unsettling as it was, on some level, it made sense. From what I understood, Custodes were made to be eternally loyal to the Emperor, so I imagined that eating your loyal bodyguards for energy when in a pinch is certainly grim enough for the setting. While you needed the Divine Retribution to process most of the soul energy, you could consume a portion of the energy alone (and overload yourself from being too gluttonous like my adventures in Langwidere's palace).
"I'd say my successor was quite intelligent in this manner. When you were under the influence of the Imperative, they saw you as their creator. When one was killed, her soul, so devoted to the shadow within you, was given to you more completely upon death. Not as much as intentional self-sacrifice, but a healthy amount!"
"So, I really can learn even more if I get people to kill themselves for me, huh," I observed with a brief shudder. This had been all but confirmed to me before, but hearing it explained made my stomach turn.
Pale Lord grinned toward me, his eyes flashing with mischief. "Ah, you're catching on, my heir! And when you d-d-d..."
The Inheritor vanished completely in a flickering flash of light. The holographic system in here had been getting worse in the last few days, but I just shrugged it off and continued on my way back to the Manse.
As I sat and waited for my chef-daemon-slaves to make my dinner in the dining room, I watched their movements from the table. Even they appeared jittery and less smooth. One even dropped a fork, which I had never seen happen before.
A big toasted sandwich was placed before me, and I began to eat. As I ate, I observed my opulent surroundings. Everything was "royal" in here, I noticed, from the carved ebony table to the gold chandeliers above. Everything looked extremely expensive. It almost reminded me of some of the over-the-top gold embellishments of the interior of the Divine Retribution, which made sense, since an Inheritor historically known as "Spoiled Prince" had been in control of the ship for a couple of thousand years.
After finishing my sandwich, I decided to take a walk through the Manse again to relax. There were still some unexplored rooms, and I wondered about the other gate that I hadn't visited yet. The rightmost gate, according to the holographic Inheritor, lead to some kind of place called the "Manifold Reach," which leads to a group of other Gates somewhere, some of which are traversable by normal, non-Traveler-type beings. I made a mental note to either scry the Gate's location or ask the Inheritor about it when he was able to manifest again. It sounded interesting, and I wondered where it led.
I walked down the foyer hall. A high fluttering buzz caught my attention, and before me, I saw Jiminy exit from the spiral staircase. Because of Jiminy's low power and bodily damage, I usually kept him in rest mode up in the bedroom, but after coming back from a day of training, the mantis would fly to perch on my shoulder or rest in a pocket. The poor thing had lost two insect arms and one wing was damaged on account of me hitting and falling on him a while back, but he still appeared somewhat functional. The drone settled in on my left shoulder and immediately went back into low-power mode. While I couldn't tell how much juice the mantis had left, I could tell he was running down; he would need a recharge soon. "Sorry for me breaking you again, buddy," I wanly apologized, petting the drone with my right hand. Null was going to yell at me when I got back to the ship, I sighed.
Feeling curious, I decided to do a little exploring, and I stopped near the room that I called the "hell room." While I had, for the most part, explored most of the Manse by now, I had only visited this room twice. It had a really strange (and even somewhat infernal) vibe with its black marble and massive fireplace. This fireplace, I had discovered, actually didn't change size with the Manse when it shifted to better suit my current height. It remained a yawning portal to hell that was about as tall as I was. The fire continuously blazed and never changed height or brightness.
As I peered into the hell room, I noticed something funny. The sound of Jiminy's buzzing wings still echoed through this room, even though the drone was now resting on my shoulder. I explained this weirdness away as more simulation "noise," and I continued my walk.
The door shut behind me, and I jumped at the noise.
Before me, the giant fireplace brightly roared, throwing dancing shapes of light and shadow across the walls, which displayed tapestries depicting unknown scenes of frolicking figures and strange creatures. The long black velvet sofa faced the fire, and before it, there was no table. Aside from the tapestries, I noted that this room was spartanly furnished for such an ornately decorated location. I walked forward to touch the velvet couch.
The couch was very soft, and I dragged my fingers across its left arm. No television, no games, no books, no coffee table. Only a big fire to stare at by yourself in your illusionary mansion. This felt a little strange, so I decided to call Pale Lord back to ask him about this room.
"Hey, Pale Lord? Can you come here for a minute?" I asked.
He didn't appear. Huh, I thought. That's odd.
A faint flickering movement to my left caught my eye, and I backed away from the couch, reflexively drawing the Nemeses Argentum. Gratefully, it seemed that I was just being jumpy again as the strange flicker appeared to originate from the red door at the far left corner of the hell room.
With relief, I then remembered that Pale Lord had told me that the red door here led to the library and that the library was sometimes glitchy. This, along with the general intimidation of the hell room, had kept me away from this wing of the Manse, so I hadn't visited the library yet.
"You know, I should stop being afraid of shit all the time," I spoke aloud, letting my Corona pleasantly envelop me. "I mean, I hit the 'isekai jackpot' like Tzeentch always says, right?"
The ensuing silence almost laughed at me, and I walked toward the red door. Right now, it was solid, and Pale Lord had assured me that it was a safe place to visit aside from a few cosmetic glitches, so I decided to explore.
Right as I approached the door, it opened with a suggestive creak, almost anticipating my visit. Alright, that was weird, but some functions of this house seemed automatic to me, so it wasn't all that weird when I thought about it.
I pushed the red door open while holding my breath. Crossing the threshold, I felt pretty silly, as before me, I beheld a two-story library under warm gold light!
"Oh!" I exclaimed, now feeling ridiculous for holding my scissor blade in a nervous attack stance. I placed the Nemeses Argentum back in its sheath and walked inside the library.
This stunning space reminded me of something out of Beauty and the Beast, or maybe Hogwarts from the Harry Potter universe. Eerie white candles floated high above my head near a stained glass ceiling. The library was around twenty meters in length, about ten tall, and about ten wide, which made it large, but not overly cavernous. I had entered at one of the ends of the room. The bookcases lined the walls with what appeared to be thousands of books, and two iron curving stairways on either side of the room led up to the open second floor, which overhung the main floor in a balcony.
I walked inside. The scent of old books, frankincense, and myrrh surrounded me, and I closed my eyes with a smile, savoring it. It smelled like an old church along with an older library, which was the best smell ever.
When I opened my eyes, I saw a very brief shadow drift ahead like a ghost before vanishing into nothing. I couldn't make out any details on the ghost's appearance, as it was too indistinct. Since this was the library, I reminded myself that this was just normal for this room, and continued.
"Jiminy, record this if you can," I spoke to the mantis drone on my shoulder, which beeped weakly.
I walked further inside the space. Above, the floating candles offered a gentle golden ambiance to this room, and further above, a stained glass ceiling depicting a soaring gold eagle over heavenly clouds was visible, further impressing me.
At the opposite end of the library, I saw a broad gold desk outfitted with a glass gooseneck reading lamp on its left side. A very large book lay open across the desk's surface. From here, despite the book being open, I could tell that its cover was a brilliant blue. The book was large, about the length of my entire arm, and open to approximately its midpoint. Curious and enjoying myself, I walked ahead.
A strange sense of foreboding washed through me, and I slowed my walk. Something felt upsetting here, but it was very vague. Beside me, another shadow appeared this one of a bald man with an intense stare. The man was only visible for a moment before vanishing into nothing, and a shiver passed over me.
I walked to the desk. A large, ornately decorated gold chair with a red cushion rested under the desk, and I pulled it away so that I could sit down, which I did. Leaning inward, I went to observe the giant open book. It appeared oddly familiar, and I wondered if I had seen a similar book in the parlor library.
Unfortunately, the words were complete gibberish, a mess of disorganized letters, numbers, and symbols. What? Confused, I began to page through the book, and the rest of it was no better. Maybe this was just in a code or a language I wasn't familiar with, I wondered.
A low, barely audible rumble shook the library, and I stood back up. Alright, that was alarming, I thought, my Corona flashing into existence. I froze and began to nervously glance around while trying to convince myself that everything was fine and that this room was just weird. My eyes settled back on the pages of the book, and I was now surprised to see that the words were comprehensible. More than a little worried, I began to read:
"My Heir,
I regret I cannot explain this to you using my hologram, as I received your vision too late for me to program this knowledge into myself. I can, however, provide you with this written warning. If you are reading this, another party in your time is attempting to cripple a Gate that leads back to one of three locations accessible from Tengoku Manse. This act is causing the simulation to experience progressive cascading errors. Regrettably, you must immediately leave the Room of Spirit and Time lest you be unable to return to the location of the Great Eagle. After some time and regeneration of the simulation, you will be able to return to this location through the other two Gates should one Gate malfunction, so fear not!
Adieu,
Pale Lord"
The book then promptly went back to being written in gibberish, and I recoiled, momentarily shocked by what I had read. I then noticed that the desk lamp on the corner suddenly looked... weird.
While I could have sworn that the lamp had been a glass gooseneck-style lamp with a circular metal base when I had first seen it, it was now different. It now had a square base, red with gold trim on four legs, and a white square shade. On top of being a completely different lamp than I had first seen, something about the perspective of this lamp seemed really... wrong. It "switched" between two and three dimensions, and it even flickered to a brief inversion.
This was all I needed to convince myself that something bad was happening. "Shit!" I hissed as I turned around, and began to dash out of the library. Someone was trying to mess with one of the Gates? And they were... succeeding? I rushed to the foyer and charged up the stairs to gather my things so I could get the fuck out of here. I mean, those Gates were some Dark Age of Technology shit that should be ridiculously hard to destroy, right?
Right?
I now stood near the bed frantically shoving my things into my pack along with a few clothing items that were genuinely real from the closet. My winter coat from earlier was packed, and many little items that appeared to be real were snatched from this room. A small red velvet bag of what appeared to be genuine gemstones was crammed into my pack along with a statuette of a gold owl. I also impulsively grabbed a thin, almost rapier-like gold sword that also seemed to be real in the closet. Since I didn't have a scabbard for it, I just looped it around my sash, and I was now rushing down the stairway.
Another low shaking rumble rattled the Manse, and I reached the foyer. The shadow of the bald man appeared again; he seemed to almost be watching me as I raced ahead. I ignored that and continued running. Which gate was being tampered with? Was it really "my" Gate? I didn't think the Dwemer (or even the approaching Hereteks) could put a scratch on technology like that. But, I'm wrong a lot, and crazy shit happens in this universe all the time.
Using Sight for speed, I ran, and near the Manse's front door, I momentarily saw the bald man's shadow grow more cohesive, and I watched as a shade with gold eyes glowered down at me as I pushed open the front door.
Instead of the perfect twilight, I now noticed that it was completely dark outside, with no indication of stars or any light whatsoever! I summoned my Corona to light my way, and I was now bolting toward the main simulation area.
I felt the simulation tremble again. I sincerely hoped that this wasn't someone trying to fuck up Ix's Gate. If someone ruined that Gate, then I would be stranded!
After a short bit of running, I realized that I didn't feel the bloodstone in my pocket! Unbelievably disappointed with myself, I was about to turn right back around until I realized that I left it in my jacket pocket, which was now safely packed away on my back. A quick push of Sight confirmed this, and I was relieved.
Finally, after a frantic Sight-aided dash, I stood before the three arches again. Much to my disappointment, the left arch appeared to be the gateway that was having problems as it flickered and wavered. Fuck, was I ever going to be able to come back here? I looked behind me, only seeing the endless void and metal floor as the simulation room. My hesitation ended up hurting me, and I turned back around to witness the left Gate completely wink away!
Oh shit!
Angrily, I gathered my energy into a sunblaze of power and using the power of Sight interwoven with time, I reached forward, demanding that reality bend to my will. I reached through the simulation and beyond to march the flow of time a step backward to materialize the Gate again!
My heart began to ache along with my left arm, but I was rewarded with the Gate's flickering reappearance. I didn't waste any time, and I dashed through the gate!
The feeling of wind and motion gripped me, and I stepped out of the Gate and back into reality. Before me, a chaotic scene presented itself!
Two brass-helmeted and armored figures stood a few meters ahead of me beside a waist-height brass "steampunk" style cannon that stood on a hovering metal platform, charging itself for another strike. They seemed very surprised to see me, and angrily, I drew the Nemeses Argentum right before throwing myself to the left of the Gate.
The cannon screeched like a keening lightning bolt as it struck the arch, and the scent of ozone and electricity filled the air! Pieces of metal and rock exploded across the room, and a piece of shrapnel lodged itself in my right arm! What the fuck?! These people had just broken my fucking training room!
I felt rage fill my soul, and I directed my Sight to identify who these armored warriors were. I wanted to know what unfortunate group of people had decided to cross me so I could destroy them!
Images of elves with blue-grey skin and dark hair alighted in my mind's eye, and then, I knew immediately!
The Dwemer!
Losing my shit, I sprung angrily to my feet, completely ignoring the splinter of metal lodged in my upper arm. I felt myself become huge again as my body raced with angry gold fury, and I was now looking down at the two little armored rats who had decided to mess with me, and I smiled at their sudden fear. In slowed time, I observed the rest of this room, and I saw that there were a handful of other armored soldiers present in the amphitheater. Two of these people were currently dragging Zok away toward the exit corridor. The Tzaangor had been bound with cuffs, and his beak roped shut!
Xenos had decided to go against me! They were enemies of mankind!
Revulsion moved like a wave of hot magma through my veins. I had tried to make peace with these people, and this is what they ended up doing. Time sped back up, and I watched as the two armored men frantically tried to turn the cannon toward me as they backed away in fright. Instead, I advanced toward them and their stupid little toy, lifted my right leg, shielded it, and angrily stomped on their cannon, which was immediately destroyed in a small explosion.
Happily, I found that I was angry enough to retain my giant form at the present. This interior space was filled with about a dozen brass-armored Dwemer soldiers who were now scattering like mice away from me, and their fear smelled delicious! With a lunge, I grabbed one of the fleeing Dwemer that appeared to be in charge of the cannon. A smattering of smaller laser strikes and something that resembled a lightning bolt pinged off the gold shield that surrounded my body as I yanked the unfortunate warrior up to my eye level by his left leg. His panic smelled wonderful as he screamed! His helmet fell off, and I saw a man with a short black beard and braided long hair decorated with gold beads.
"You little fucker!" I boomed, shaking him as he dangled upside down. More bolts and projectiles pinged off my psychic shield. "You will now reveal to me why you people have done this!"
He screamed as I tore through his soul, pummeling his very essence and tearing out the information I required.
This unlucky Dwemer's name was Nzenchthril, and he was a scientist of metaphysics and sound for the city of Mer-Zel. In this group, he was in charge of the use of the cannon, which had been "sung" into a specific frequency to allow it to destroy exotic metals that had been charged with temporal energy.
This didn't make much sense to me, so I continued psychically ravaging his soul. He began to bleed from his eyes, nose, and ears as he screamed in terror while being suspended upside down.
Nzenchthril here served a powerful woman known as Tonal Architect Azsabrina, who was present somewhere in this group.
And, I had met Azsabrina before, I thought, getting even angrier. She was the woman in charge of that little diplomatic trio I had invited on my ship.
The goal of the Dwemer here today was to shatter the arch Gate and to invade the "Red Beast's" (what they called Magos Jinnicky) tower. They wished to retrieve the artifacts that had been stolen from their people. They had somehow figured out that Jinnicky was gone from this location, and that any defensive implements that this structure used had been taken with him, making this an ideal time for a raid.
They were also here to stop me, I discovered with great amusement. They also somehow knew (and I was genuinely impressed at this) that I had passed through this arch. The Dwemer understood that if they shattered the Gate, that I would not be able to return to menace them any longer, leaving my vessel vulnerable. Their elders had designs on the "Numidium Construct," which was what they called the Divine Retribution. They wanted to use it to get home.
So, they wanted to raid the tower, and they wanted to steal my ship. Haha, you guys are fucked now, I thought evilly, my teeth beginning to chatter.
I took the screaming man, and I swung him around once before hurling him at a group of warriors near the exit corridor who were trying to shoot at me with both bullets and lasers. I threw the man so hard that I felt three individuals instantly die, but their souls weren't captured.
My light began to fade, and then, I was suddenly back to being normal-sized. I found I was slightly staggered, and I knew I couldn't let them know that my energy wasn't infinite. At the very least, the Dwemer were now in a state of disarray after losing their cannon and three dudes. Thinking quickly, noticed that Zok was still being dragged into the corridor exit by soldiers. I telekinetically snapped the Tzaangor's binds around his wrists and beak. A bullet then grazed my head and I ducked behind the rubble of the arch near me.
Still furious, I shook with adrenaline as I tried to rally my power again, and on the floor, I saw that I had dropped my pack, the gold sword, and the Nemeses Argentum during my time engaging in Dwemer-ball. Since the gold sword was entirely new to me, I decided to pick up my trusty scissor blade, and I willed its blue fire to alight.
On top of the roar of an angry old Tzaangor, I could sense and hear three sets of armored boots running my way. A shouted, desperate order was barked through the hall by a familiar female voice.
Alright, I've had a few weeks of sword training, so let's go!
Since the Dwemer had guns trained on me, I simply waited for the three warriors charging my way to get to me as I sheltered behind the rubble. As soon as I sensed that they were close, I quickly slowed time and zipped away from my hiding place in a flash, running behind them. I stopped and turned. I sensed their frightened realization that I was no longer where they had expected me to be. Each of these soldiers was equipped with long electrified brass swords paired with light shields in a typical "Dwemer-esque" neo-Babylonian style. They began to slowly turn around in altered time while I began to critically study one soldier's armor.
Pale Lord's basic training had taught me to immediately examine my opponent under Sight if possible in order to exploit any obvious weaknesses in their defenses. After this, if facing a group of people, do as much "showy" damage as you can in a short amount of time to terrorize your opponents into submission. I had started that with playing Dwemer-ball earlier, but now, I had to drive the point home. From what I had understood from his lessons, Pale Lord had been an absolute master at this, and he had boasted that he had caused the surrender of several armies by messily decapitating generals only minutes after the start of a battle.
I observed the armor on the slender warrior before me, and I realized happily that this armor was more ornate and less utilitarian with angular plates made up of pleasing abstract designs. The light brass plate appeared to cover the chest, arms, legs, and head over a suit of dark cloth or leather that surrounded the body. Unfortunately for these soldiers, there was a nice convenient gap between the warrior's brass helmet and his breastplate that revealed a perfectly vulnerable neck!
Seeing this, I increased my weight, and briefly restarted time while training my strike to "hone in" and land in the way I desired. I shot ahead, aiming for the slightly exposed grey neck of the alien with my scissor blade!
The flaming Nemeses Argentum bit deeply through the throat of the unfortunate soldier, the blade plunging into one side of his neck and exiting out the other! As soon as I split his trachea, I slowed time again. I didn't stop to witness my artistry, as I had more work to do. Pivoting and removing my blade, I felt the initial surprise of one of the stabbed soldier's friends begin to bloom, and I immediately charged toward him. My blade was now aimed toward that very same weak point on his stupid suit of armor.
Time sped up again, and my blade greedily sunk into the Dwemer's neck. This time, I pulled outward, which caused his throat to open in a red spray to strike the surviving warrior in a gory shower. I again slowed time.
Before the two nearly-dead Dwemer could even fall to the ground, I rushed over to Zok's side. The Tzaangor had found a brass mace and was now readily defending himself against the group of armored Dwemer that had initially bound him near the corridor exit. Time sped back up again, and I grinned with sadistic pleasure as the surviving alien that had come after me screamed in horror at the sight of his two mutilated friends, who finally hit the ground, blood spilling everywhere.
Distantly, a small part of me was deeply disturbed by my behavior, but that part of me was quashed by the overwhelming satisfaction that the Imperative made me feel at seeing my enemies destroyed.
My heart was now definitely beginning to protest all my fun, so I knew I couldn't keep these stunts up indefinitely. Zok was surprised to see me beside him as he recovered from caving in a warrior's chest with a massive strike. The warrior fell to the ground, gasping and bleeding from the mouth. This time, I felt the Key respond to this death, and it was warm with fear and horror.
Seeing me suddenly beside Zok with my flaming dagger, the other two warriors began to slowly back away, each holding a long sword and shield, their eyes now wide with fear behind their helmets. The same female voice I had heard before shouted another demand from somewhere nearby, and one of the warriors before us called back in a frightened voice.
Behind these two, the surviving man of the trio that had initially come after me was still screaming at the top of his lungs, and I suddenly felt the psychic impression that I had just killed his brothers. This was, to him, so horrific that it had broken him. I wouldn't have to kill him, as he may as well be dead.
I smiled.
"Go on," I growled, taking a step forward toward the remaining two soldiers, letting my halo and eyes blaze gold. "Try it!" I made a tapping motion with the Nemeses Argentum before me.
The man behind him continued screaming his mad grief at the sight of his dead brothers, and I continued smiling.
When no one moved, Zok abruptly roared like a wildebeest, which caused one of the two men to drop his weapon, and break, terrified. Something that looked like an alien brass pistol clattered out of his armor as he ran. The second man bravely stood his ground, his long sword shimmering with energy in his right hand and his dark eyes blinking in fear. The amphitheater was now decorated with Dwemer corpses and appeared empty aside from this guy. However, I could sense that there was someone else nearby, and I began to psychically search the area as I stood my ground. Someone, I could tell, was using mystical means to conceal their presence.
"One of you is hiding from me," I purred like a dragon, my gold light stark and brutal. Pale Lord was right. Breaking people was sometimes easier than killing them. There had been around a dozen fighters present when I appeared, and more than half had fled in terror of me. An intuition pleasantly alighted in my mind. To these people, I existed as some kind of living demigod of humankind, so I decided to lean into that supposition. "Do you really think you can kill me?" I laughed, my teeth lightly chattering. "What a fool you are. I'm a god! How can you kill a god?"
A haughty (and familiar) female voice then spoke up as if from everywhere all at once. "An artificial god. One that has been forged for man using the synthesis of soul and technology." Her voice echoed loudly through the amphitheater, even overcoming the cries of the wailing man. "A god that could use her gifts for goodness, but who remains a beast, killing innocents, stealing what is not her property."
Oh, so she can speak Low Gothic, I began to laugh as I recognized Azsabrina's voice. The soldier before me trembled, desperately trying to hold himself together. Feeling nasty, I made a sudden stomping movement toward the terrified man, who then dropped his sword before running away. I watched in amusement as the fleeing soldier frantically grabbed the screaming broken Dwemer (who was now on the ground shaking and hugging his brothers), and dragged him away before rushing out of the amphitheater.
"Show yourself, Azsabrina," I called out over the screams of the anguished man. "I know you're here. And, you are in no position to make threats, as it appears that I've routed your people!"
"The bitch lied about you being dead!" Zok growled, eyeing the empty (and bloody) amphitheater. "They came through the tunnel a short time ago. They said you were lost, talking slow to me like I was an ogryn. Xenos told me they wanted me to join them! I told them their offer was grox shit! They tied me up!"
"Yeah, not surprising. You know, in the lore of their old universe, they have a history of making deals with people only to enslave them," I responded loudly, my enhanced voice echoing. "I know enough about these people to know what they did to the snow elves."
"You may be powerful, but you are ignorant, god-child of man," Tonal Architect Azsabrina's voice rang clearly. "All we wanted was our heartstone returned and the apprehension of the man who murders our people!"
"That's another lie," I projected, beginning to search for the hidden Dwemer. "I saw into the mind of one of your men before killing him. You wanted to destroy the arch to keep me away. You want to take my vessel!"
Silence hung heavily in the air as I continued to search for the Tonal Architect. She was somewhere close! Why couldn't I easily find her?
"It is a shame, god-child of men, that we must be enemies. I wish you good luck in the sky," Azsabrina finally responded. A strange ascending hum began to fill the air.
And then... I found her! She was standing two paces ahead of me! While I couldn't physically see her, I saw that she was cloaked in some kind of stealth field that was emanating from her bladed helmet! Angrily, I immediately summoned my light and prepared to un-alive this elf!
However, the instant I started drawing my power, I felt an immediate instinct to leap to the right, and as I did so, a blast of screaming energy lashed right where I had been standing, and I rolled onto the floor, my ears ringing. I jumped up and watched a blue and brass-colored blur turn and race down the corridor. She had fled!
I tried to slow time again to go after her, but an aching pain in my heart stopped me. To my left, I saw that Zok had fallen, and parts of his coat had been singed!
"Oh shit!" I exclaimed, rushing to help the Tzaangor up.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. Just a little burn," Zok exclaimed, standing up, patting a flaming sleeve to extinguish it. The Tzaangor appeared to have a burn on his neck and shoulder, and his downy blue skin was darkened in places. "Got worse at Langwidere's kitchens. But, you don't look alright."
Dizziness washed through me, and I sensed that whatever attack Azsabrina had used against me had been some kind of electric sonic blast. Realizing that I felt slightly concussed, I steadied myself. Okay, I can do this. Yeah. "We have to get back to the ship! They-"
I paused. I had to tell the rest of the crew back on the ship! Immediately, I reached through reality, searching for the light of the Divine Retribution. Within it, I sensed that my crew on the bridge was frantic and that people were upset and yelling. Alberich's soul, in particular, was uniquely bright, shimmering with a strange rainbow glow to my Sight. I focused my mental voice, and shouted, "The Dwemer! They're here! I'm coming back!" into the bridge, which responded with both fear and relief.
My leader, it has been so long! Alberich's psychic voice loudly rang in my mind. The aliens have begun an attack against Jinnicky and the tower you are in! Rasputin is-
"They're here!" I interrupted. "They blew up the gate and tried to trap me in the simulation! They tried to kill me! I'm coming back!"
A sharp pain in my shoulder caused me to sever contact with Alberich. I jumped away and realized it was just Zok. He was gently placing a balled-up handkerchief against my arm. "You're bleeding. You'll need stitches if you can't close that on your own," the mutant explained.
"Yeah," I replied, slightly woozy from all my fun and maybe also a concussion. "But, that can wait. We have to get back to the ship!"
As I rushed over to where I had dropped my pack and my new gold sword, I had to pass the two exsanguinated Dwemer on the floor. One of the deceased warriors lay on his back, and his helmet had been removed. The man's throat yawned open in a red gash, his blue-green eyes staring into shocked eternity. All around him, there was blood. There was so, so much blood. Did I really tear out two throats like that, and why was that action... fun? I'm Erika from fucking New Jersey, not a serial killer! After a moment of experiencing yet another crisis, I then remembered with great relief that my bloodstone had been in my pack, and not on my person.
Today was a stark reminder of what I'd become if I let the Imperative drive me around like a car in order to "protect humanity." I blinked repeatedly as I numbly picked up my pack and sword. I also deeply cringed as I picked up little Jiminy, who was now even more broken than before as he lay under a small piece of shrapnel. He had lost another leg and one of his main wings was bent at a harsh angle. While he seemed to be functioning, it didn't look like the drone could fly anymore. "Poor thing," I mumbled while giving the metal mantis to Zok. It was probably better for the Tzaangor to carry him, as I kept destroying things just by being around them.
The screams of the Dwemer I had terrorized rang in my mind as I gathered myself up. Zok and I began hustling back to the Horse of a Different Color, sidestepping broken bodies and slowly enlarging pools of blood as we quietly went along.