One of the areas of work for an archaeologist is museum curation, and a consistent trait of university professors is to dump all the work on their assistants. Put two and two together, and you'll understand why I'm at the New York Historical Society, helping to organize an exhibition on the history of medieval knights. My professor, Nathan Garrett, should be the one here doing this, since he's one of the museum's curators, but it seems he has some super important commitment and so he sent me to handle the final preparations. As always, it falls to the intern.
It's not a difficult job, after all, the fun part—defining the exhibition theme and selecting the pieces—has already been done. What's left for me is coordinating the setup and organization of the hall, checking if the pieces are correct, that sort of thing. But there's so much to do! And the museum staff isn't the best. One of them bumped into a suit of armor over half a millennium old, and it shattered on the floor. I had to reassemble the entire thing. Do you have any idea how long that took? Having to dress a mannequin in a super heavy metal suit of armor? While a demon in your head keeps complaining about how bored it is?
The strangest thing is that one of the main items in the exhibition was a horse's bridle. According to the exhibition text, it belonged to the legendary King Arthur and was woven by Merlin himself using magic to ensure the power to tame any creature. That's more fantasy than history. I know magic exists, but King Arthur and Merlin? That's a more controversial subject.
Maybe I'm shooting myself in the foot by saying this, after all, I should be the last person to question the relevance of any historical stance. You've probably noticed that my relationship with Professor Garrett isn't the best. The old man is a bit lazy and always dumps work on me. So why am I his assistant? Well, just as he's considered controversial for studying Arthurian legends, I'm considered controversial for studying pre-Cataclysm history and Atlantis. He ended up being the only professor who agreed to endorse my research, even though our fields are so far apart.
Back to the exhibition, it was almost ten at night when we finally finished setting everything up. Modesty aside, the result was great. The items were arranged in chronological order, and each small section was well organized. Which only made me more irritated when that bastard came through the ceiling and crashed, shattering one of the display cases.
"Finally, some fun," the symbiote celebrated.
"Fear not, vassals. This noble knight of thy majesty Pendragon will not harm any of ye, mere innocents. Leave this room at once, and thy lives will be spared."
His accent was very strong, and he insisted on using "thou" in an almost cacophonous way. Indeed, he was dressed as a knight. His body was covered in a black chainmail, a breastplate, gloves, boots, and even a cape. Completing the look, he had a bucket-shaped helmet with a visor that destroyed any possibility of historical accuracy in the uniform. As a final accessory, he carried a large golden spear with a digital panel in the middle (which also didn't help with historical accuracy).
As expected, all the museum staff ran away in panic. I ran too, but I circled the hall and entered through the other door as Barbarity. By then, I was so impatient that I jumped with a flying kick straight to his back. Thanks to the symbiote's speed, he didn't even see me coming and flew, breaking another display case.
"Damn, I have to be careful because I'm the one who's going to have to clean up this mess," I thought to myself.
"Who art thou, vile creature?" the knight asked excitedly.
"Don Barbarism de la Mancha," I bowed. "And thou, art thou the bucket-headed knight?" I replied, sarcastically imitating his accent.
"What an outrage! I am the noblest of all the knights of the Round Table. Heir to the great Sir Percy of Scandinavia. I am the Black Knight." Even after being thrown against the wall, he didn't lose his pomp.
"It doesn't matter if your relatives are on display, okay? You still need to buy a ticket like everyone else."
"Outrage!" he shouted with all the air in his lungs. "Die for thy blasphemy!" The knight pressed a button on the spear's panel and pointed it at me, firing a laser shot that I dodged by jumping in the air. I drew my sword and charged. I thought the best idea would be to disarm him first, so I aimed at the spear to destroy it. With another button press, a force field projected around him from the spear. When my blade hit the force field, the energy reverberated, and we were thrown far away, destroying yet ANOTHER DISPLAY CASE.
"This is public property, you know? It's going to look bad on your record," I tried to keep my humor. Even though the symbiote was covering my body, I could still feel some glass shards piercing my skin.
Looking at the floor around me, there were several items scattered, including one of the armor mannequins. I really shouldn't have done this, but projecting my symbiote's tentacles, I grabbed the mannequin and threw it at him with all my might. Of course, the force field protected him, and the armor was badly damaged, but it was the distraction I needed. We jumped against the wall of the hall and, with a push from our legs, launched ourselves at the knight. In mid-air, we increased our mass, turning into a huge cannonball. We might not pass through the force field, but by hitting the ground, we caused a tremor that knocked the knight down and made him drop the spear, deactivating the force field.
The Black Knight was agile and quickly stretched to retrieve his spear. We grabbed one of the swords from the exhibition on the floor and threw it like a dart, which landed in his path, sticking into the ground and pushing the spear away. Then we were surprised. Instead of continuing to try to run to the spear, he grabbed the sword and took a combat stance. He was challenging us.
With the symbiote sword back in hand, we engaged in a close-range fencing match. Even with a common sword, which hadn't experienced the heat of battle in a long time, the knight was able to parry our attacks with mastery. We were at a stalemate. The blades clashed fervently, and neither of us gave in.
Unfortunately, I made a grave mistake. I was so focused on the battle, on the blades, on the feeling of my spirit boiling and the adrenaline rising, that I didn't notice he was making us approach the spear. When I thought I would land a perfect strike, slicing his belly, the knight rolled and retrieved his original weapon. Another button pressed, and he fired at us again, this time a sonic blast.
When I felt my other self retract, it was too late. We were hit by a deafening sound. I instinctively covered my ears, but it wasn't enough. The blast left me disoriented, but what it did to the symbiote was worse. Its screams weren't just in my head, they could be heard by others too. It was a cry of excruciating pain. It struggled not to detach from me, and I had to turn my face to ensure I wouldn't be exposed. Unable to move to escape because of the symbiote stiffening, I didn't last long and soon passed out.
When I woke up, I was on a stretcher, still in the museum, with a paramedic taking care of me. I wasn't dressed as a hero anymore, but luckily, it seems no one saw when it happened. My body had several cuts that were treated, and it was hard to stand up right after. The paramedics wanted to take me to the hospital to check if everything was okay inside me, but I refused. Everyone thought I had been caught in the middle of the fight while trying to protect the artifacts. What an idiot. Any colleague would be furious if they knew I ruined a centuries-old knight's armor. Professor Garrett is going to kill me.
The police held me there for a while, asking for statements, as the cameras had been destroyed in the fight. As soon as everyone left, I decided to walk through Central Park, right next door, to clear my head.
"What was that, huh? That attack of his completely took us out," I asked the other me, confused.
"I should have explained this before, but my race has two great weaknesses, sound and fire. These two in intense doses are enough to kill one of us."
"That's what happened when we first merged, right? I remember hearing a truck horn," the events of our first day came rushing back.
"Yes," his voice seemed heavy with regret. "I'm more resistant than others of my race, but we were caught off guard this time." Between each word, there was a silence that seemed to last an eternity. I felt our emotions mixing, anger and sorrow towards ourselves. "I was... scared."
His confession weighed heavily on my chest. It's been almost a month since we've been together, which might not seem like much, but when you literally share every second with another being, and even the same body, you can't help but form a very strong bond. We are already one. And today, we failed. For the first time, Barbarity lost.
…
Far away, where the hero's eyes could no longer reach, the so-called Black Knight returned triumphant to his lair. A mansion preserved for centuries in Manhattan, a true monument to the city of New York. Still, despite being richly decorated, the house was empty and dark.
Walking slowly, as if he had not a single worry in the world, the man crossed the dark corridors to his library. It was an elegant and clearly well-kept room, without a single grain of dust on the books. Stopping in front of one of the shelves, he pulled out a book, an old but very well-preserved edition of the Mabinogion.
The book activated a mechanism, the shelf began to move, and an elevator was revealed behind it. As he descended many floors, the man removed the helmet from his head and adjusted his hair. Short, well-cut brown hair. His gaze was serious, and his expression was rigid. On his face stood out a thick and well-groomed mustache, one of the man's greatest prides, who used the title of his ancestor to hide his true identity, that of Professor Nathan Garrett.
The elevator doors opened to a black corridor, illuminated by blue neon lights. With just a few steps, Nathan reached his arsenal. Swords, spears, and maces, enough material to arm an army of knights. Something, however, was out of the ordinary. The center of the room was occupied by a huge cage made of nothing less than adamantium. Inside it, a diabolical beast snorted. Its glowing red eyes scrutinized the man as he entered.
"Took you long enough, huh?" The one complaining wasn't the animal, but the hunter. Standing up from where he was sitting on guard, the eccentric figure covered in animal skins spoke.
"I apologize, Mr. Kravinoff. A small unforeseen event came my way, but it's all resolved now," the man's voice was deep, and his mannerisms were completely different from when he wore the mask. "Don't worry, you'll receive a generous bonus for your patience."
The hunter seemed to accept the situation well, aware that money was no problem for this man. Soon his gaze fell on the object the man carried in his hands.
"Is that what you went to get?" His tone was mocking.
"The Golden Reins of Arthur," Nathan announced, displaying the piece to his guest.
"I don't think this little piece of cloth will hold the beast in there."
"Just watch, hunter."
With calculated steps, he walked around the cage to a ladder that led to its top and a trapdoor that led inside the cage. Originally, that opening was supposed to serve for feeding and such, but now it was an entrance. Nathan jumped inside without a second thought and stood upright.
Less than a moment passed before the beast charged. Thirsty red eyes. The sound of its hooves against the floor was thunderous, and its black mane swayed wildly. A hellish horse, capable of traversing land, fire, and air. The perfect mount for the Black Knight.
Even still wearing his breastplate and chainmail underneath, Nathan could feel the pressure of the creature's jaw when it crushed his armor with a bite. However, he didn't falter. His hands quickly grabbed the animal's mane, holding it in place, and swiftly forced it to wear the reins. The demon reared and jumped, but soon stopped, dominated by the magic of that item.
A Machiavellian smile took over Nathan's face as he embraced the head of his new partner.
"My noble steed. Thou shalt now be called Helhest."