“You’re the trainee?”
A hybrid scowled. “Yeah. Why do you have to be so surprised, Aly? You just became Ice Warden, why can’t I?”
”You? A trainee? That’s shocking.” A cyborg interrupts.
”Yes. Now shut-“
Ignis looks Jade up and down. ”You’re a trainee?”
“YES!” She yells, quite angry. “Why do you have to be so surprised?”
Sea shrugged. “I don’t know, it’s just that…”
”What?”
She shrugged again.
Meanwhile, an old man smiled at the other’s shock.
Next to him, Gale scowled. “Did you have to pick her now? Elemental balance is-“
Greenheart shrugs. “She’s good.”
The fairy buried his face in his hands. “Oh my…”
Aly glanced at Greenheart, "Jacob, are you sure you were in the right mind when you chose Jade?"
Ignis looked at the hybrid in distaste before adding, "I'm not sure choosing someone who's gone insane twice was a good idea."
“And you’re better at Earth Magic?” She grumbles. “Look, so long as you don’t bring those elemental monsters around me I’ll be fine.”
"Off to a rocky start already, huh?" Chase commented.
"I mean, you guys could be a little bit more kind to her about this," Samantha suggested.
The influence of the nothing still remains.
The scars are a living wound... literally.
“You don’t need to soften it up. I know I’m, ah… not the most mentally stable. But I’m good at Earth magic, have experience, and Greenie chose me.”
Aly sighed exaggeratively, "Well, I guess we can tolerate her." Then she muttered under her breath, "Besides, as soon as she slips up Gale will kill her anyways..."
Storm and Sea both looked at her alarmedly, being in earshot.
“Gale’s my scar twin! He won’t kill me.” Jade retorts. “And you’re new to this Warden thing too.”
Gale buried his face in his hands, "Please don't bring that up..."
Aly, meanwhile, crossed her arms, "I'm not new to this. Who do you think was Warden before-" She cut herself off, suddenly looking discomforted.
“Oh. Yeah.” The hybrid murmurs, staring at the ground.
Beyond the veil, a soul watches indifferently at his mention.
Cold fills the tangible room, however,- sub-subconsciously summoned by the dead Ice Warden.
Lucas had fallen more silent than what was lately usual for him at hearing the implied name.
He shivered slightly at the cold, devoid of any curiosity as to what caused it, as well as lacking the motive to bring it up.
Abner noticed and gave his shoulder a slight squeeze in an attempt to comfort him, but the touch felt empty the Astral Warden, as well as everything else.
Nothing could fill the gaping hole in his heart.
Absolutely nothing.
Jade shot a sideways glance at the Astral Warden, but didn’t question his empty gaze.
“Gale, does the element of Earth approve?”
The fairy didn't answer, shuffling his feet instead - uncommon for him.
“What is it?” The hybrid insists, fiddling with the relic ring on her finger.
Gale sighed with visible frustration, "As usual, she doesn't care unless you do anything crazy. Now, do you mind not using me as some sort of elemental plaything?" His tail lashed back and forth, showing his annoyance even further.
“Sorry. But have you heard anything from the elementals?” Jade suggested tentatively. “I would assume there was some note… what with all the element/Warden chaos recently.”
Hands curled into fists, and his tail lashed with more aggravation, "What do you mean have I heard anything from the elementals? I have to tolerate their chatter every day!"
“Have you?”
The Ivory Fairy muttered something scarcely intelligible, somewhere on the range of "none of your business".
The void-tainted scars writhed in apparent smugness at Gale's emotional distress.
Dylan tried to determine if he should be amused or wary of the increasingly agitated Gale. He took a step back just in case.
“So you haven’t?” Jade asks, slapping the scar on her wrist.
"No, I have, just... not as often, admittedly." Gale responded somewhat snappily, not wanting to continue this conversation.
“Alright.” Jade examined her scar for a second before asking her next question, her tone significantly softer and more careful. “What about your… thing?”
Something came to rise in the deepest corners of Gale's mind- a very monotonous, yet spiteful voice.
"Tell her to call me by my name every now and then."
If you don't shut up, I'm performing exorcism on you.
The fairy eyed Jade in displeasure, hissing only two words, "Shut. Up."
Her voice fades. “Sorry.”
Storm spoke up, looking a tad flustered, "I think this is a good time to bring this back on topic. So... uh... Any more thoughts on Jade being a trainee? Yes? No?"
“‘Wow, Jade, you’re so amazing!’” The hybrid mimics, slapping her scar harder this time and shooting Gale a look. “What about you, Greenie?”
Greenheart sighed, "Jade, please don't call me that. As for you being a trainee, I've waited way too long to make my choice, and I trust that you'll do a good job of it. As for the rest of you," he gave Aly a pointed stare, "I ask that you respect my choice and help Jade, not turn her down due to past mistakes - you have all made a lot of them, Storm especially."
"Hey!" The borg immediately protested.
Ignis rolled his eyes, "Admit it, you're an idiot."
“Gale?” The trainee asks, shooting him a sly look. “Anything to add?”
The Academy Keeper scowled, "No."
“Sure. Well…” she shrugs. “That’s about it.”
Suddenly, a black haired wizard wearing a prototypical Neon Outfit and a metal pipe on his back dashed into the room in what felt like an instant.
"Yo, the keystones are acting weird! Their color looks like it faded!" he said.
"AGAIN?" Yelled out the group in unison.
Gale slowly facepalmed, exhaling frustratedly, "Why can't we go a day without the island being imbalanced?"
"I have no clue. Maybe it's some new person who specializes in, or is, a dark element!" replied Ansat.
“Because we just went through Shadow and Void s***.” Jade suggests, spitting out the name of the elementals like curses. “And I’d wager we’re going through everything now.”
Could you tell her not to say my name like that? As for *it* however...
:How about she keeps on saying your name like that, and instead stops saying my name like I'm you?
HOW DARE-
Exorcism is still in consideration, I can easily kick you out too, Shadow.
You're bluffing.
Who says I can't?
Gale's tail thrashed back and forth, vexed.
Meanwhile, the Professor sighed, "Jade, Langu-"
"Are. You. F***ing. Kidding Me?"
"Storm..."
The borg paid him little mind, "No. There is no way I'm tolerating this again. Gale?"
The fairy stared at him displeasedly, "I thought we had an agreement."
"Well, it's been, what? 4 times? 5?"
Aly crossed her arms, "It's been four times counting this one."
"Four times of what? Four times we've been attacked by some corrupting element?" asked Ansat.
The hybrid frowned. “So how do we fix the keystones? How do we even know we’re actually in trouble?”
"I'll call Ben, assuming he isn't threatening to murder someone right now." said Ansat.
Gale waved a hand to dismiss Ansat's offer, "I can fix the keystones easily, the problem is dealing with whatever is unbalancing them."
"Hmm, I guess that is a bigger issue." replied Ansat.
“Dealing with those things?” Jade spits, spinning her relic ring so hard it cuts into her finger.
I am not a thing-
Shut up.
Gale crossed his arms, "Maybe, maybe not. Depends on what caused it. I'll take a look at the keystones - you might as well come with me, this involves the lot of you."
She heaves a sigh. “Fine.”
The fairy slid past the rest of the group and walked out the door, making his way to the great hall.
With a few shrugs and sighs, the others followed, soon walking out to where dullen keystones lay upon the pedestals.
"Yeah, so I was trying to see what happened if I jumped twice in between all of them, but then they faded." explained Ansat
“Ansat, what the actual f**k?”
"Relax, if nothing happened, I would have left. Besides, if I was trying to crack the pedestal in the middle, I would have curled into a ball."
Gale muttered something foreign and vulgar under his breath before saying, "Ansat, if they had broke, you would've been good as dead by now."
Jade facepalmed. “Why were you- y’know what? I’m not gonna ask.”
Ansat looked scared for a second, before regaining his composure. "Alright, guess that one was on me, but when I got off the pedestal, the keystones faded. And keep in mind, I didn't do anything to the pedestal." he said.
The fairy eyed Ansat, reconsidering whether or not he should kill him then and now, before finally saying, "Well they don't seem to be physically damaged... so it's most likely magical."
"Well, I don't know how to magically damage stuff, unless it involves blasting." said Ansat.
"So we can't use magic, again?" Lane grumbled.
"To some extent, it does," Gale said drily to Ansat, resisting the urge to fiddle with his knife. He then looked at Lane, "It hasn't come to that yet, but you may find things more difficult until I fix the keystones."
Ansat was sweating, thinking Gale might try to murder him.
"Hoo- boy, is it getting hot in here, or is it just me?" he said.
"Oh, no, it's not just you. I'm quite sure tempers are about to flare." Responded Storm.
"Yikes, in that case, things are about to get heated!" said Ansat
Lane and Ignis shot the two of them death stares, but the tech wizard was oblivious to it.
"How long till things get ignited?"
"I don't know, but I'm gonna get grilled for this!"
The second he said "grilled" Ignis tackled Ansat, Sea having to pry him off and Aly restraining Lane.
Gale simply rolled his eyes, puzzling over what could've caused the keystones to imbalance.
"Whoa, what's with all the fired up anger?" said the oblivious speedster.
Jade watched the boys maul on each other with mild amusement before she turned to the keystones. Lowering her voice, she muttered to Gale, “Have you felt anything?”
The Academy Keeper shifted uncomfortably, "Can you please stop asking me about that? And no, not really, otherwise I would've done something by now."
"Seems like we ignited his frustration," Chase commented.
Storm grinned, "He's pretty inflamed!"
"Something set off a spark!" said Ansat, who was about to start laughing.
“Seriously… nothing?” Jade insisted, tracing a finger over her scar.
"Things are getting electric!" The tech wizard piped.
"How shocking!"
Meanwhile, Gale shook his head in response to Jade, becoming stressed.
Someone tugged at the Ivory Fairy's robes and he looked down to see Luce.
"What is it?"
"The void's invasive, right?"
"Well... yes."
"How do you know that it didn't invade the elementals themselves?"
“It also had to invade me.” Jade grumbled.
Gale had managed to become quite pale over the past few seconds, and he gave the hybrid a panicked glance, "Jade, I don't think that's of most importance right now. What if Luce is right?"
“Well, if Luce is right, then beat Void and restore balance. Again.”
"Is anything ever that easy?" He responded grimly.
“No. But-“
The keystones dimmed further, just slightly.
Jade bit her lip. ”-I think we have to try. Starting with you telling the truth about the elementals.”
Ansat noticed the keystones dimming further. "I didn't do it!" he said quickly.
"That remains none of you business," Gale hissed in response to the Earth Trainee, suddenly hostile.
“And you’re being selfish now. I’m not asking for your life story. Just for something to alert us about the elementals.”
"You're still intruding on my privacy," he snapped in response.
Meanwhile, Aly had frozen the Storm and Ansat in time, Lane and Ignis being caught in the midst of the spell as well.
Jade bit herself back from snapping at him. “Oh, whatever.”
The keystones dimmed with every second that passed.
Chase grabbed a random keystone off a pedestal, shaking it rapidly, but to no avail.
Jade tried casting a spell at them, but it was just as successful as Chase’s attempt.
A certain fairy was growing increasingly annoyed by his peers' futile, and frankly, unreasonable attempts at fixing the keystones.
“Well, nothing’s working.” The Earth Trainee concluded after having tried a grand total of two spells.
Gale was facepalming, breathing out in frustration. He was about to use Elemental Balance to stabilize the keystones himself when... nothing happened. Panic flashed through his gaze but he said nothing, ultimately trying not to draw attention himself - this was one thing he didn't want anyone to know about.
Something festered within each of the keystones. Something very, very dark. It looked as though it was eating away at the keystone's energy from the inside...
and yet, no one noticed.
“The keystones!” Jade gasps. “Gale, Luce, Lu…”
Lucas stands on the fray of the group, face solemn and turned to the ground. His hair hangs in his face, hiding his expression… and his emotion.
The hybrid clears her throat. “Lucas?”
The Astral Warden, at first, didn't react at all to hearing his name. Then he slowly looked up, ever so slightly, eyes lacking any sort of luster, barely possible to see the disinterest his gaze carried.
He kept his hands tucked in his pocket and didn't even bother to inquire what the Earth Trainee wanted from him.
Abner stood next to him, his mouth a tight line as he spectated the teen's behavior.
Jade examines him for a second before speaking up again. “Lucas. The keystones.”
No response.
”Ian.”
At that, he sharply looked up, meeting her gaze.
Abner frowned at the hybrid, her receiving similar stares from Aly.
Her eyes met his.
Ignoring the looks sent her way, Jade continues. “The keystones are damaged. We need your help. Ian would want it… and he depends on it.”
Gale cleared his throat. Loudly.
"Jade, stop manipulating Lucas, he's been through enough. Ian won't be affected by anything involving the keystones - at least not anymore..." He said that last part more quietly, felling uncomfortable on the topic.
She turned, not remotely affected by the Keeper’s suggestion. “Anymore?”
Gale spat the next two words, disgusted by the hybrid's insensitivity - even he knew to respect the dead, "He's dead."
“I know. And that’s a bad thing. But what I’m saying is we need the keystones fixed, and need Lucas’ help.”
The chill from the funeral came and left once more, being somehow colder towards the arguing fairy and hybrid.
During the entire argument, it was only that chill that affected Lucas.
Though it wasn’t nearly enough.
Gale looked somewhat disturbed and annoyed for that matter. "Lucas won't be any help to you in this state, he can barely help himself."
Abner tensed, "Gale..."
"He's letting grief get to his head, if he really cared about Ian so much he wouldn't be putting himself in misery every second."
"GALE."
"Abner, shut up, it's true and you know it." The fairy glared, holding no remorse for anything he said.
Lucas listened silently, looking back down at the ground. It wasn't the chill that made him feel cold, but the emptiness.
Jade nodded. “Thank you. Now back to the keystones… Gale? Luce?”
Luce shrugged, "I'm a Shadow Warden, not an Astral Warden. Anything I do might make things worse."
“Well. Gale?” She asked, tone more insistent.
"I..." The Ivory Fairy looked at the ground, not having a response for the hybrid.
“Why don’t you try one of your elemental shenanigans? What was it called? Elemental Balance?”
Gale bore an unreadable expression, but still didn't answer.
Ignis tapped his foot impatiently, while Aly was giving Gale a concerned expression. Unfortunately, Aly had lost focus over her hold on time somewhere along the line of things, meaning Lane, Chase, Ignis, Ansat, and Storm were all fully capable of continuing their battle of some sorts.
"Heh, that was an electrifying experience!" said Ansat.
Storm let out a playful sigh, "Ansat, I don't think it's a good idea to continue. Otherwise, we'll be going back down the lane of punishment." Lane immediately raised a fist, the cyborg taking a step back.
Jade facepalmed. “Enough with the pun-“
She was immediately interrupted by another shower of puns.
Ansat burst out laughing.
Gale meanwhile, was secretly grateful for the distraction, managing to sneak off unnoticed.
"Lane of punishment! I never would've thought of that!" said Ansat, who was still laughing.
Jade groaned, pinning Ansat to the wall with a pike of earth. “Stop it. Where the hell is-“
She turned to where the Ivory Fairy used to be, only to see air.
”Gale, get over- Oh, f**k this.”
Aly slowly backed away, hoping to be able to make a run for it before the hybrid began asking questions.
Of course, that made Jade notice the Ice Fairy.
”Aly, do you know anything? Any other wardens?”
The Ice Warden stiffened, chuckling nervously. "Look, if Gale doesn't want to be found, you won't find him."
There were a few shrugs from the others, but Storm was giving Aly a pointed stare, skepticism filling his gaze.
“Do you?” Jade insists.
"i s l a n d"
"a n s w e r s"
"f i r s t a d v e n t u r e"
The Ice Fairy seemed a bit pale and ignored the hybrid's question, "Jacob, did you happen to travel anywhere the first time things went crazy?"
Greenheart nodded, "The Elemental Islands."
"Island.... maybe there'll be some answers there?"
"It's certainly possible."
While they spoke, a curious baby dragon crawled on top of the Fire Keystone, a Keeper immediately hauling it off carrying it over to Chase, where it dropped it at the Fire Warden's feet and padded away.
"Could someone get me outta here? This is a real breath cutter!" said Ansat
Storm rolled his eyes before walking over to where Ansat was, powering up a lightsaber and quickly slashing through the result of the Earth spell, the speedy wizard crashing to the ground just out of the saber's range.
He powered it down and shoved the device in his pocket, "You're welcome."
"Thanks,” said Ansat.
Chase picked up the baby dragon, placing it on his shoulder. "Well, what are we waiting for?" asked Samantha.
"Looks like we're going to need a boat..." Abner muttered under his breath, before giving Sea and Samantha a look.
Meanwhile, Ignis and Storm groaned, grumbling in unison, "Great. Water." They glanced at each other in surprise, before returning to being indifferent.
“Can we go now?” Jade snapped. “Please, get the boats over with. I’m getting seasick thinking about it.”
Aly frowned, "Sheesh, what's up with you today?”
“Nothing’s with me, I’m just…”
The hybrid doesn’t have words to articulate how she feels, instead letting Aly interrupt her.
“Whatever. Storm?”
A holographic map appeared before the tech wizard, and with a quick swipe, the whole group was teleported to Shipwreck Shore. He explained to Jade, "We need a boat to get any farther than this as the Elemental Islands aren't recorded on the map." He looked at Sea and Samantha, "Do you mind?"
”Well… how do we get a boat?”
Ansat landed in a tree, where he found Ben, who was feeding worms to some birds.
"I have an idea," Greenheart said, summoning plants from the ground. They twisted and turned, interlocking around each other, before falling still shortly after.
The group stared at the product in mixed amusement and bewilderment.
"What even IS that?" Lane asked.
"Looks like an oversized decaying banana," Dylan replied.
"It's a boat," Greenheart answered.
"THAT thing's a boat?!" Lane exclaimed.
"Look, I wasn't particularly skilled in woodwork," Greenheart said defensively.
"Well that gets us to the root of the problem," Chase commented.
“Lemme help you with that.” Jade sighs, enlarging the existing material and growing sails made of flowers. “Welp, good enough.”
The group pushed the boat into the water, about to climb in.
Then it filled up with water and sank to the bottom of the ocean with astonishing speed, the startled group falling into the water except for Samantha, Sea, Greenheart, and Lucas, who wasn't doing much of anything.
Under the water, a certain Earth Trainee’s eyes widened in fear. Her body flailed to get to solid ground, inhaling several gallons of saltwater as she did so. Jade barely got to shore before she started hacking, coughing, and retching.
The entire group rushed upwards, reaching land and gasping for air.
Well, everyone except Chase.
The Fire Warden flailed about in the water, evidently becoming more and more panicked as he sank further down.
Sea dove, soon surfacing with a drenched Fire Warden clinging on for his life and coughing up the gallons of water he managed to swallow.
She shot Storm a look, "He's worse at this than you."
"You try swimming with one arm!"
A salamander was swimming nearby, looking more infuriated than adorable.
Some of the group coughed up water, while others threw up.
A dazed hybrid began throwing up, retching, and making very strange noises - Jade hated water.
Ansat was talking to Ben, when he saw what happened. Ansat and Ben jumped down from the tree to see what happwned.
"Whoa! You guys okay?" asked Ansat.
A very annoyed Ice Fairy shook herself like a dog - the only way to get water out of fur quickly - still looking like a drenched cat at the end of it.
A salamander scurried onto the sand, climbing onto a rock and setting itself alight to dry off, while a tech wizard sulked near Aly.
Sea pried Chase off her and shoved him toward Samantha, who immediately began worrying over him as the half-merling rolled her eyes with a sly smile. The Water Trainee turned to Ansat, "We're fine, just a bit wet and never trusting Jacob's craftsmanship again."
"Hey, I didn't tell you all to jump in and nearly drown yourselves," Greenheart shot back.
Jade made a strangled noise in response, water still pouring out her mouth and her wings fluttering hard in annoyance and anger.
"Yeesh! I'll go get some towels!" said Ansat. He dashed off into the distance .
Storm glared at the Earth Warden, grabbing his wet hair with his only mobile hand to cover up his components, "You're wet, aren't you? So that's irrelevant." He huffed in irritation and resumed facing away from the group.
Ansat returned with his arms filled with towels. "Aight, got the towels."
"You mean the water that you all sprayed on us?" Greenheart retorted.
"Hey! I'm not the one who shook themselves dry."
Aly glared at him, "You don't have to deal with tail fur."
"And you don't have to deal with paralysis!"
"Fair point."
"Everyone SHUT UP," Lane said, twisting the front of his Black Fang Coat, releasing buckets of water onto the sand. "The keystones are down and we still have no way to get to the elemental islands."
Now I'm gonna need the towels... Ansat thought.
Sea had quite the interesting expression, "I have a boat we can use, I just wanted to see how good of a boat Greenheart could make - which turned out as not at all."
Jade made a movement to strangle her, still making unintelligible noises.
Sea simply stepped out of the way before beckoning for the group to follow, heading farther down the beach.
The trainee choked out a few words. “I. HATE. YOU. Never going on a boat again.”
She simply called over her shoulder, "Have it your way, but the laugh was worth it."
“I’m killing you first chance I get. Now where are your boats?” She snapped, coughing every other word.
Dylan slapped Jade on the back, causing the hybrid to cough up all remaining water.
“Thanks. Ugh, I hate water.”
"The boats are wherever Sea's going, so you might want to follow." After answering Aly ran to catch up with the half-merling.
Samantha ran down the path, Chase stumbling behind, his hand currently gripped by Samantha's.
They reached a sandy clearing with three sun-stained wooden sailboats.
Ansat dashed ahead. "Oh boy! I've never been on a boat before unless I'm stowed away!" he said. Ben flew after him.
Sea was standing near a sailboat that was already floating in the water, waiting for the group to approach.
Ansat hopped on, eager to set sail. Ben also got on, but had a worried look in his eyes.
Ignis eyed the boat warily once he got near, while Abner was more concerned over Lucas, who was lumbering behind the rest of the group.
Ansat was in awe at seeing everything.
Chase lightly tapped the boat with his foot before warily boarding.
Ben was clutching his laser gun tightly.
After everyone was on the boat, Sea boarded herself, casting off the boat and seating herself by the tiller, "This is a little late but- Please tell me none of you get seasick."
"I don't!" said Ansat. Ben did not respond.
"Never have before," Abner said with a shrug.
Aly sat grouchily near the base of the mast, still soaked from earlier, "Well I'm not retching over the side yet- Storm? You of all people?"
The tech wizard was sick over the side of the boat, groaning one thing in response, "This is NOTHING like warp drive - nor time travel for that matter."
"HE'S SEASICK?! WE'LL HAVE TO GET RID OF HIM THEN!!" yelled Ben, who was pointing his laser gun at Storm.
Ansat immediately knocked the laser gun out of Ben's hands.
"Ben, what have I told you about pointing your laser gun at people?! You're grounded from flying for a month! Have fun getting around with your no stamina havin' a**! Now get off the boat and stand by that tree until we get back!" he said.
Ben flew off the boat, and sat down by a tree, glaring at the boat and everybody on it.
Jade would have spoken up… but she was too busy vomiting over the side.
Sea shot Ansat a look before turning the tiller, the ship sailing out of the cove and out into the open ocean. She looked up at Jade and Storm, "Do you two want something for that seasickness? Because this is going to take a while.”
“Yes. Kill me now.” The Earth Trainee groaned, clutching her stomach.
"Er... you're going to have to settle for ginger root." Sea responded while tossing Jade a cloth bag, a similar one being slid towards Storm.
The hybrid grabbed the bag and stuffed the contents in her mouth, immediately retching afterwards.
"Forgot to mention," began Sea with a wave of her hand, "you're supposed to eat small portions of ginger at a time. Eh, if you're lucky the seasickness will go away in an hour or so..."
Ansat was staring at the sea like a child.
"Look at that one! And that one!" he said as he pointed to some fish.
A shaken Chase was hugging his knees, flashing back to his recent drowning on loop, Samantha attempting to comfort him.
"Wow! The sea is so cool! I can even see a shark- wait a shark?! Oh ***..." said Ansat.
Sea looked at Ansat with mild amusement, "It won't do anything unless you jump in and start flailing in the water."
Jade moaned, fiddling with her sword hilt and ring. “I hate you, Sea.”
The shark zoomed past the boat, brushing it and causing the whole boat to spin 9 or 10 times.
“I hate you too, shark.” She added, having been knocked to the ground by the spinning.Sea moved the tiller in the opposing direction to stop the spinning before correcting course, chuckling nervously.
“Are we there yet?” Jade called, getting to her feet carefully only for a small wave to send her to the ground again. “I hate boats.”
"Nearly there," the Water Trainee responded, "we should be able to see land in a bit."
"Thank goodness," Aly muttered, having settled down at the center of the boat to avoid getting soaked with sea spray. She had tucked her hands and legs under her in a manner similar to a cat's "loaf form", tail lashing on the deck as it dried off.
Meanwhile, a certain salamander watched in amusement, sunning itself nearby.
“Where the f**k is this land your promised?” Jade snapped, growing more irritable every second.
Ansat kept looking at the fish. "So many colors!" he said.
“So many ways to murder Sea.” A certain trainee muttered.
"Wait, what?" said Ansat.
“What?”
Sea ignored Jade's last comment before pointing at an island on the horizon, "There."
Ansat stared in awe. "Wow! The only other island I've even been to was that frozen island where I met Ben." He said.
“Laaaand.” Jade groaned, rushing to the island. “And wait, you met Ben on a frozen island?”
"Yeah. He was about to get mauled by a polar bear."
“I’m not going to ask.”
It was a bit longer before Sea turned the tiller again and lowered the sails. She glanced back at the group, "You can get off the boat now, I'm not bringing it any closer to the shore."
The hybrid rushed to the shore and promptly collapsed, asking, “Where are we?”
Aly leapt off the boat gracefully, landing in the sand next to Jade, just short of the water, "The Elemental Islands."
"The elemental islands," Dylan replied.
"Yeah we didn't have the best experience the last time we were here," Lane commented.
Dylan chuckled nervously.
Meanwhile, more messages formed within the mind of the Ice Warden.
"c a v e"
"r u n e s"
"d i s c o v e r e d"
"b e f o r e"
Aly looked at the other wardens, "Did you guys happen to go in a cave the last time we were here?"
“Oh, I prefer caves to boats.” Jade added unhelpfully, still lying on the ground.
Ansat leaped off the boat, doing several front flips, and landed in the sand.
"Whoa! This place is kickin'!" said Ansat.
"Yep," Dylan answered Aly. "Then Shadow tried to make me kill these guys."
“Typical of it.” Jade grumbled, tossing a handful of sand into the air and turning it into a shape before letting it fall to the ground.
"What're we doing here anyways?" asked Ansat.
"I think we should check out that cave then," the Ice Warden responded, notably ignoring that last comment.
“Great. C’mon.”
"Wait, didn't the whole cave collapse the last time we were here?" Samantha asked.
Jade narrowed her eyes. “I’m sorry, what?”
Aly pinched the bridge of her nose, "You've got to be kidding me."
“I wish.” Jade sighed. “But I doubt they’re joking.”
The Ice Fairy's tail lashed in frustration as she said, "Well then, can you at least lead us there?"
Dylan took the lead, the rest of the group following behind. after a while, the group approached the remains of the cave.
Jade whistled. “You want us to get in there? Because…”
Aly shot Jade a look, "Can't you do anything? I thought you were "good" at Earth Magic."
She shrugged. “Sure. But first, why don’t you try some Ice Magic?"
The Ice Warden glared, "That," she gestured to the cave, "isn't made of ice. It's made of stone. I would have to freeze it over then manipulate the ice in a way for it to actually affect anything."
She shrugged again. “Just try."
Ansat sat down with a bag of popcorn.
Aly breathed out in frustration but turned to the cave and... "Wait a second, Jade, are the keystones out again?"
“Ah yes, the keystones. What about them?”
In response, Aly flicked a hand, supposedly to cast an Ice Spell, and as expected, nothing happened.
Jade crosses her arms. “I thought you were good at Ice Magic?”
The fairy's hands curled into fists, "Storm. do me a favor and try using Ion Cannon on Jade."
"Seriously?"
"Just do it."
The tech wizard rolled his eyes before trying, only for the pitiful resulting Storm Magic to flicker and fade.
“There we go, Aly. Now who’ll get rid of the cave’s rocks?”
Muffled noises swirled around Lucas' head. He had completely zoned out of the conversation.
"made... stone... manipulate..."
His ears caught on to one of the words in the jumbled mess.
"Ice."
Shivers ran down Lucas spine and a sudden chill wrapped a round him. Ian...
"Lucas?" Abner asked, placing his hand on Lucas' shoulder. Lucas shrugged him off and shook his head.
"thought... favor... cannon..."
He wasn't sure why, but everything suddenly seemed so blurry, like he didn't have a point of focus.
The cold mist descended upon the young Astral Warden, once again returning to sight as its corresponding soul focused his energy to the living plane. Clarity and understanding came with the chill, tone changing in nature, passing through Lucas as the mist faded. A faint cluster of words breached Lucas's stunned mind.
"o n w a r d"
"f o r u s"
"h o p e"
"c a s t"
The broken stones that blocked the cave appeared to glisten yellow, golden wisps piercing the cracks.
Ansat had already eaten his bag of popcorn in excitement.
In a nearby tree, a figure slinked through the treetops, footsteps muffled by fur and a long tail flick back and forth. It let out a little hiss at seeing the group, pressing against the branch it perched on, ears laid back and tail lashing irritably. The shadows cast by the canopy of leaves patterned across gray fur, concealing the creature.
Ansat was tapping his foot impatiently.
"Lucas, think you can do something about that?" Chase asked, nudging Lucas. The astral warden only lightly swayed back and forth as a result of the contact, not responding. Chase sighed.
"All elemental magic's down as of now. Lucas couldn't do anything even if he wanted to," Greenheart pointed out.
Meanwhile, the creature slowly crept forward, leaping to another branch almost soundlessly. It gazed at the glowing stone, eyes shining briefly from the light, before gazing back at the group and continuing its approach.
Ansat looked down on his wrist as if he was wearing a watch.
The hybrid frowned. “What if all the fairies just tried to push the stones away?”
Aly glared, "You mean, what if I tried to push the stones away. No offense, but you can barely pick up a crate."
“Yeah, and? Look, there’s not much we can do, especially the trainees and Wardens, so we have to rely on brute force. Unless you have a better idea?”
"Simple. Storm?"
The tech wizard ruffled his hair nervously, "Er, my brace is still wet. Can't do anything, even if I wanted to. Sorry, Aly."
"Well that's just great-"
At that very moment, a figure exploded from the treetops, a gray mountain lion landing in front of the cave with a thump.
"Wow, who's that?" asked Ansat
“Judging by the tail, the eyes, the gray, and the way he’s glaring at me, that’s Gale.” Jade said, shooting a look at Aly.
"Wow, I never knew Gale could change into that!"
“I didn’t either… but it’s honestly pretty recognizable.”
At that, Gale scowled deeper.
"Awww, he's so cute now!" Samantha exclaimed, picking up the grouchy cat.
”Before we go in, does anyone know what’s actually in there?” The hybrid interrupted, backing away in case Gale turned feral and began clawing Samantha.
Ansat flopped down on the ground. "I have no idea, but can we get going?"
The cat hissed and squirmed in Samantha's grasp, clearly not liking being held.
Aly was now glaring at Jade, whilst a very specific borg was trying very hard not to burst out laughing.
“Here’s the plan. Get in cave. Make sure Gale starts telling the truth. Save the world. Yay.” Jade sighs monotonously, now scowling back at Gale.
The feline stared at Jade, eyes narrowed, and maintained eye contact as he swiped at Samantha, forcing her to drop him. The cat then turned into an all too familiar and all too annoyed fairy, saying one thing, "No."
“Yes. Seriously, Gale.”
When he didn’t relent, Jade crossed her arms and snapped, “Alright… use Elemental Balance, then, if you’re perfectly fine and dandy.”
No response, only a glare.
“Can you? Or can you just admit to the fact that you’re hiding something, and share what it is?”
"Maybe you should leave the angry fairy alone, lady?" said Ansat.
Jade glared at Ansat, making him take a step back. “Lady? If you don’t shut up… my sword blade is very sharp. I’ll be putting it to use. And Gale should start telling the truth.”
"I'm just saying, you should probably leave him alone. I know I wouldn't like it if I was asked about something personal every 5 seconds." said Ansat.
“It’s not personal, it’s about the elements, and it’s required to save the world. You want me to say something personal? I can’t sleep in the darkness without… horrible nightmares. There. Now Gale can tell the truth.”
Her voice wavers slightly, but the hybrid’s still defiant.
"Sorry about the nightmares an' all, but I'm saying you should just leave Gale alone."
Jade narrowed her eyes more, sneering slightly. “And I’m saying all we need to know is what the elementals are up to.”
Ansat sighed. "Fine, but don't be surprised if he refuses to talk." he said.
“Then I’ll make him.”
"I don't think that's a good idea..."
Jade ignored Ansat, instead going back to glaring at Gale, who was already edging away from her and the rest of the group.
The Ivory Fairy sighed in response, "Look, I'm not obliged to tell you anything. Frankly, just because you're a Trainee now doesn't give you any more authority over me. If I want to keep something private, then you just have to respect that."
Jade rolled her eyes. “I don’t care that I’m a Trainee. I do care about the fact that you’re hiding information that could potentially save the island.”
The two glared at each other for a while, neither one of them wanting to relent.
Aly stepped between the two, "Jade, you're jumping to conclusions and doing nothing but make Gale uncomfortable. He's done nothing to you and we have bigger problems than one person's thoughts, sheesh."
The hybrid finally stepped back, turning her gaze to Aly. “He’s hiding something and that’s obvious. But, fine - we’ll deal with the cave first.”
"Told ya so..." muttered Ansat.
The trainee shot him a death glare.
"Well I was right, wasn't I?"
“Shut. Up.”
"I'm just sayin'..." muttered Ansat.
"One of you are going to have to cave in soon," Chase notified them.
"Chase, shut up. Anyway, what ARE we looking for inside the cave?" Dylan asked.
"I'm not sure to be honest," Aly responded to Dylan, "But do you have any better ideas?"
Jade scrutinized the cave entrance, frowning a bit. “If I had Earth Magic, I’d have this cleared in a pinch, but now?” She shrugged, “We can see if there are other entrances.”
"Well there was a second path in the cave that we never got to check out..." Samantha said.
Aly glanced at a certain reclusive fairy, "Gale?"
He sighed in response, "I never actually gone into that cave, but I have seen a few spots that might be that entrance."
"Which spots are they?" asked Ansat.
Jade shrugged. “Ask the others.”
"Wasn't talkin' to you, lady." said Ansat, sounding harsh.
The hybrid scowled and gripped her sword hilt, letting an inch of the blade show. ”Shut up now or I’ll use this thing. You’re fast, but clearly not very smart. So careful.”
"I don't care! You may be a Warden Trainee, but I don't listen to authority!" snarked Ansat.
“Will you listen to a sword blade?” Jade snarls, letting more blade show. “Seriously, stop bringing my trainee status up. Why are you so mad anyway?”
Ansat smirked. "Swords don't mean anything to me!"
Jade rolls her eyes. “Oh, whatever.”
Ansat flopped down on the ground and waited impatiently.
Gale looked at Ansat, "To answer your earlier question, on the other side island. Some spots are too high for a human - excuse my tone - to reach but there's one place that's promising."
Jade interrupted, still looking sour when she looked at Gale, “And that place would be?”
At that the fairy turned to leave, stopping when the group made no indication of moving, "Are you following or not?"
The group followed the fairy across the hundreds of miles of the island, stopping a while later. The group, aside from Aly, Gale, Ansat, and Jade doubled over, hands on their knees, breathing heavily.
The Ivory Fairy gazed at the group in mild amusement before gesturing to the gawping maw of stone tucked behind a couple of trees, overlooking a towering mountain, "That's your entrance."
“Great. Now, what’s in that cave of horrors?” Jade asks, inspecting the entrance… but she might as well have been looking into a black hole, minus the instant death. They could see nothing.
Gale shrugged in response, "As I said, never gone in there before. I only come to the island to have peace and quiet, not to have an adventure."
"Hmm. How about I go in first, because I'm fast, so I can get out quickly if there's any danger?" said Ansat.
“How about a few of us join you, so you don’t die from cockiness?” the hybrid says.
"Yeah, okay, lady," replied Ansat.
“Oh no, I wasn’t offering. I’m not staying around you and your ‘ladies’ any longer, and I’m certainly not going on the dark. No.”
"Whatever. I wasn't letting you go anyways." said Ansat. He turned to the others. "Anyone else wanna come with?"
Chase slowly raised his hand, which was put back down by Professor Greenheart. "I'll go," he said, "And we need a source of light." Chase slowly raised his hand again. Greenheart put it back down. "One goofball is enough," he said. "Abner?"
Abner responded by lifting a hand and pointing downwards at Lucas, who as before, didn't even notice.
“Figures. Can’t you let go of him just a little while? Not like he’ll do anything - too busy grieving.” Jade mutters, eyes glued to the ground.
The Astral Trainee sighed, "Last time I left him alone, I came back to find him in the act of trying to get a Mystember to trample him."
“And there’s people to watch him. Besides-“ she hesitates before continuing, preparing herself for the outburst that’s bound to happen, “-if he wants to die, can’t you let him?”
The void writhed within Jade's scars in excitement, eating away at the elements- a window of time to consume Astral faster would be greatly welcomed.
He opened his mouth to respond - only for every adult excluding Jade to slam a hand over his mouth.
Aly glared at her, "Jade, seriously? Out of all things you just had to ask that question?"
The trainee winced from both the reminder of her scars and the look everybody was shooting her, especially Abner. “What? I’m right in a way. And I’m sure he agrees. Can’t you let him go?”
"Wow, man." said Ansat, who was not amused.
“Whatever. Just… go into the cave, and learn to-“ Jade stopped herself, “Never mind.”
Abner shoved away from his peers' hands, mild annoyance in his gaze. "If you didn't want me to give her the long answer, you could've just said so." He sighed, "Jade, you shouldn't be encouraging Lucas over things like this. If dying was something that happened whenever you wanted it to, then why do aging and ailment exist? It would be petty, vain, and selfish, especially over something like grief."
“Then you’ve never felt true grief before.” The girl snapped back, fists curled. “You’ve never had to kill someone you loved.”
"Maybe he didn't, but Lucas did," Samantha shot back.
“Yeah. And it’s right for Lucas to feel grief that bad. If Abner really cared, he’d be less possessive.”
To her surprise, it was Gale who answered, "Jade, you've crossed a line. If you want to claim your life is worse than anyone's here, then you're horribly wrong - unless the person in question is Sea. You're acting like those petty children crying about their life at home just to try to persuade me not to send them to detention - even Ansat behaves better than how you're acting right now."
“No. My life is, frankly, between a lot of yours. I’m trying to say that life in general isn’t as valuable or good as some of you think it is.”
"And that's where your wrong," the fairy responded, "if life had no value, then how come you're still alive right now?"
"I gotta agree with Gale here-even though that seems to happen every once in a blue moon. My life seems to have turned rotten since I'm an orphan living in a treehouse, but it still has value." said Ansat.
“Fine. Fine. Argue with me all you wish, but I’m not changing my opinion, and all of you know that.” Jade says. “But we need to get in the cave first.”
"Alright, so Greenheart is coming, is Lucas coming or staying?" said Ansat.
Jade frowns at the ground, clearly planning to bring the topic back later.
Ansat revved up.
“Welp… we’re continuing this conversation later. Now get to the cave.” The Earth Trainee decided, trudging towards the dark cave entrance with a bit of hesitance… the dark was still horrible.
"Storm, can you use your lightsaber?" Greenheart asked.
“Please,” Jade added, cringing at the darkness that was the cave’s inside.
Storm walked up to the cave entrance and one handedly pulled a device out of coat pocket, a beam of deadly light occurring at the hilt with a flick of switch, lighting up the entrance and revealing that it did continue into a passageway.
"Well that settles it," Greenheart said. "Storm, Ansat?" The two wizards nodded, entering the cave after the Professor.
After the three had entered the tunnel, a certain red-haired wizard silently creeped towards the entrance of the cave, about to enter it unnoticed.
Well, before Aly grabbed him by the ear and dragged him away. "OW OW OW HEY!"
The hybrid winced, but managed to make her way down the cave. One trembling hand ran over her scar obsessively, the girl taking deep breaths to calm herself.
"Hey, how come she got to go?" Chase complained.
“Because I’m getting rid of this stupid f-fear of darkness!” Jade calls, voice notably shaky with concealed fear.
"Okay, I guess that's a valid reason." said Ansat.
“Stop!” She snapped, teeth gritted in concentration.
"I wasn't even going at you that time!" replied Ansat.
“I said, stop before I break!” She repeated.
Storm glanced back at the frightened hybrid before sighing and continuing forth.
Meanwhile a certain Ice Fairy realized a hole in the plan, darting inside a cave and leaving a particular fire wizard unguarded.
"Water we looking for anyways?" asked Ansat.
Jade would’ve reacted to the pun, but she was too busy silently screaming.
"Yeah, what are we looking for?" Samantha asked.
“Looking for what?” The Earth Trainee murmured, eyes unfocused and filled with fear.
Storm turned to face the group, "What are you guys doing-"
"WHY DID YOU FOLLOW ME?" A certain Ice Warden exclaimed, looking at Chase in particular.
"Chase ran into the caves the minute none of us were watching," Sea responded.
A certain salamander crossed its forelegs grouchily, balancing on its hind legs and alight with fire.
"Didn't Greenheart say that one jokester was enough?" said Ansat.
“Get out. Stop.” Over and over, pleas murmured under Jade’s breath.
Gale eyed Jade with a mixed expression, standing near the end of the group.
She does realize she won't get over her fear like that, right?
Eh, she'll never face you yourself, especially not with that thing hanging around.
Don't remind me.
More words, more trembling, more darkness swallowing the hybrid up… more memories.
And memories meant insanity.
It was all Jade could do to keep her mind normal, but it was slipping with each second that she stayed in the darkness of the cave, no brother to protect her.
Storm simply sighed, "Well since you're all here you might as well come along anyways. Ansat, mind scouting ahead?"
"No problemo!" said Ansat. He dashed off ahead.
“Why don’t all of you go ahead?” The Earth Trainee said, voice frayed and ragged. “Please.”
Ansat was running through the cave, until he crashed into a huge stalagmite.
Aly crossed her arms, "Jade, Ansat already went ahead, it won't be too long."
Ansat came back, covered bruises, and carrying a glowing rock. "Hey, guys! This rock is glowing, like the keystones were!" he said.
The new intruder's voice in Gale's mind felt more indignant through its monotony. I'm right here.
“Go!” She yelled, screaming louder than was necessary. Her shaking was undeniable now, and complete and total fear filled her eyes.
When they hesitated, she repeated, even louder and more crazed, “GO!”
Ansat jumped when he heard Jade screaming. "Fine, I'll go further." He said.
Ansat ran off, again.
The group tensed, all attention diverted towards the hybrid.
Jade exhaled, right hand clenching her left wrist so hard her knuckles turned white. “I’m fine. Alright? Just to be safe… go.”
Ansat came back with some more glowing rocks. "These rocks are also glowing like the keystones! I found a whole trail of 'em!" he said.
“Ansat, we’re kinda busy at the moment!” The hybrid called. “But please, some light.”
Ansat dropped the rocks and dashed away, following the trail of glowing rocks.
“Ansat-“
Darkness closed in around Jade, images flashing in the strangling black.
The Puppet Master.
Shadow.
Void.
Darkshade.
Hundreds of other faces, distorted and grotesque.
She wasn’t aware she was falling until she was on the ground, curled in a fetal position while darkness swallowed her up.
A scream of complete fear escaped her mouth.
Ansat dodged Stalagmites and bats while following the trail of glowing rocks.
The void in Jade's scars continued to contort and twist against her skin, living wounds that would not be forgotten.
Ansat reached a part of the cave that was glowing brightly. It was almost too bright for him to see.
Meanwhile, outside the cave, a blonde-haired teenager sat down, staring silently at the ground. One particular memory played in his head on loop. Ian, defending himself from the wrath of his possessed friends. An unwilling hand loaded the arrow and released it. The Ice warden collapsed to the ground, blood pooling around him once more.
It's my fault he's dead. I released Shadow. I caused all those people to suffer. I killed him.
The scars on her wrists burned, but pain was the usual.
Fear was not.
Every part of Jade’s body wanted to run, run, run away from the darkness and the scars and the soul-crushing, mind-destroying, life-swallowing fear.
But she couldn’t.
The walls coursed with ancient inscription, vibrant colors appearing to struggle against the shadows. The same 14 warden figures were mainly present- the descendant of the Ice warden inscripture being faded and cut, bleeding what appeared to be liquid Astral and Ice energy. Beneath the descendants were what were unmistakably the trainees, their colors slightly dimmer than those above. Aly's carving appeared to be absorbing the "blood" coming from what was most likely Ian's carving, interestingly. The runes Ian had collected so long ago were still not present within the room, and some monster remains blocked the halls to the left and the right.
The same funeral mist descended upon the walls, glimmering the veins of magic that coursed in the carvings.
But in every single line, a purplish-black nothing ate away from inside.
Within the Earth trainee, Jade could now feel the way the void snaked up and down her bloodstream, as if gripping and snatching at her flesh from inside. The nothing continued to press and eat, unrelenting- a ravenous, insatiable guarantee of destruction, so it seemed, The void pressed up against her head, forcing out reason, gnawing at whatever was left to keep Jade even slightly calm. Its teeth were almost real to the trainee, who was barely able to stop and recognize that she could not halt its hellish dark.
Jade would’ve screamed, but she couldn’t. She would’ve ran, but she couldn’t. She would’ve done a hundred things that she wished she could do, but she couldn’t.
All she could do was feel her last shreds of sanity crumble away. Watch helplessly as fear consumed herself. Struggle against the consuming force that never left her, but it was a lost cause.
After guiding his way through the bright light, Ansat managed to feel something. It was a keystone. "Wait I thought there were only 5 keystones?" he said.
After putting on some sunglasses, Ansat saw that there were some wires, each colored the color of the keystones. The wires were hooked up to the keystone that Ansat was feeling.
Ansat detached the wires, and the keystone stopped shining. He ran back to the others while carrying the keystone. "Guys, I found this thing." he said.
The Astral Warden could hear a distant and distinctly female scream, guttural and unearthly… animalistic, even.
But he didn’t care.
Over and over, the memory that would never cease replaying in his mind.
The Shadow taunting him.
The arrow aimed.
The begging for it not to be him.
The ice shattering.
The whistle of the arrow.
The blood splattering the ground.
Ian’s face, icy blue eyes wide with shock and blue hair matted with red.
The Astral Warden closed his eyes, but that wouldn’t block out his memories.
Next to him, Abner wrapped an arm around his son only for him to walk away.
The screams from far away were peppered with sobs now.
The Astral Trainee wasn’t angry, only sad and helpless. Pangs of regret and sorrow rushed through him, making him wonder.
What did he do wrong?
Yet the only answer was wind.
There weren’t even any screams.
Gale loomed at the back of the group, having fallen silent and expression twisted in immense discomfort, a trace of panic in his gaze at seeing the carvings.
What have you done?
"This keystone was hooked up to some wires. I think somebody was using the Academy's keystones as a power source!" explained the speedster.
The carvings on the wall flickered dangerously.
Some, like Sea’s or Ignis’, only dimmed slightly.
Others, like Jade’s or Abner’s, nearly faded entirely, darkness covering the two.
And this darkness affected them.
Jade’s eyes were squeezed shut, her head bowed and arms covering her contorted face. Black seemed to pool around the hybrid, tearing at her very being with hunger, joy even.
Storm frowned, powering down his lightsaber since the existing light was sufficient, "Ansat, can you let me see that real quick?"
"Sure, dude." said Ansat as he handed the keystone to Storm.
The tech promptly flipped the stone upside down, managing to screw off the bottom and revealing a light source. "Yeah this is the nightlight Ice nabbed from me a few years ago. Forgot who it was for though... sorry Ansat, but it's not that simple."
Meanwhile, Aly was inspecting the carvings, turning to Gale after a bit, "Is Shadow up to something again?"
He shook his head, "Not this time, I think it's the void."
Those two words sent even more tendrils of fear through the already terrified hybrid.
Shadow. Who laughed while torturing her, who joked while corrupting her, who was nothing but cruel.
Void. Who casually struck fear into her, who constantly haunted her, who was ruthless and, much worse, ruthless like her.
It wasn’t screams that came out of Jade’s mouth, no, it was feral noises of complete helplessness.
Was she broken? No.
Jade’s final threads of sanity snapped, the humanity she once held on to fluttering away with it.
She was gone.
"Ah hell..." said Ansat, in response to Storm. "I wish things were simple for once..."
Sea tensed, alarm pooling in the half-merling's gaze, "Wait, where's Jade?"
Somewhere in the distance, a certain hybrid heard her name called out, but the voice and reasoning behind it didn’t register.
Her mind was already deteriorated, her being was gone.
All Jade had to do now was grab her sword.
But one thought flashed through her mind.
Lucas.
"Last time I saw her, she was screaming no- I think something bad's gonna happen." said Ansat, replying to Sea.
"Oh God damn it," Aly burst into a run soon being followed by the other trainees - except Storm.
"Wait, aren't fairies atheists-"
The hybrid was on her feet now, shaking and wanting to scream.
But pure fear jammed her throat, her lungs, her heart. She couldn’t scream. Couldn’t breath. Couldn’t even form coherent thoughts, let alone words, without the emptiness inside her forcing her down.
But she made her way down the cave, stopping occasionally to collapse or punch the walls, her fists now red and raw, blood trickling between her fingers.
It felt good.
Ansat dashed behind, then ahead of Aly, also wanting to see what was going on.
Finally, light met her.
It was too late, of course, but the hybrid felt her fear recede for but a fleeting moment.
Then it came back, and worse.
Pure terror, unfiltered, uncovered, consumed Jade.
She closed her eyes to block them out, but all that did was send her back to the darkness.
There was no escape.
Or was there?
Her hand was clenched around her sword hilt.
"Where the hell is she?" wondered Ansat.
Meanwhile, an Astral Trainee fingered an arrow, gazing at the crazed hybrid.
She didn’t seem to notice Abner, however, and was dead focused on Lucas.
Literally.
Before Jade could fall yet again, she just barely managed to make her way to the Astral Warden.
His eyes met hers, and he gave a nearly imperceptible nod.
The sword point was nearly there.
Something bad's gonna happen. I just know it. Thought Ansat, who was still running.
And he was absolutely right.
Abner saw the hybrid, her sword, Lucas…
All rationality was gone from his mind, and he did the first thing he could think of.
The Astral Trainee seemed to fly across the grounds as he ran to Lucas, grabbing Jade to stop her from killing him.
Then he realized his mistake.
His hand was clamped around her wrist.
Ansat dashed around the place, trying to figure out where Jade was.
Green eyes widened even more, looking less like that of a person’s and more like an animal’s.
The hybrid struggled against Abner’s iron grip, but the wizard was intent on saving his son… even if it meant hurting Jade.
Lucas himself was watching in shock, fully aware of his surroundings for the first time in months.
Jade screamed and sobbed and begged, but Abner didn’t relent.
Ansat finally found Jade, and his eyes widened. "WHAT THE ACTUAL F**K IS GOING ON HERE?!" he yells.
Nobody heard him over the screams and sobs, but Jade noticed the speedy wizard out of the corner of her eye.
”Get. Out,” she mouthed, eyes panicked yet fluttering shut and scars glowing crudely. No, they weren’t glowing… there was an unnatural light now, a darkness too dark to even comprehend.
Ansat didn't leave, and pulled out his metal rod. "I-I won't h-have to hurt a-anybody, d-do I?" stuttered Ansat.
“Please, stop-“
Abner’s face seemed to contort into hundreds of faces that haunted her nightmares.
Another face to haunt her.
Jade fell to the ground, trying to get away.
The Astral Trainee had already let go, but the damage was done.
The hybrid lay limp on the ground, scars eating away at her raw wrists like bracelets made of living predators.
Jade screamed until she lost her voice, she sobbed until her tear ducts were empty, but nothing could stop the pain and the fear, the fear that destroyed her for beyond repair.
The worst part? She wasn’t dead.
One little movement towards her sword sent shocks through her body, sent her mind into the completely lost state that she’d dreaded for so long.
A sick and ghastly puddle of tears, of vomit, of blood, of black. All of it came from Jade, all of it was tearing her apart.
That was one trainee down.
Ansat was horrified the whole time. "J-Jade?" he asked. "Do you need any help?"
Lucas backed away from the horrific scene… but it wasn’t Jade he saw in front of him.
Ian’s face flickered amongst the hybrid’s, his dying face of shock and pain.
The Astral Warden ran.
Meanwhile, Jade watched the others through a black haze of pain, shaking and muttering inaudible pleas. The strange warmth of blood and the piercing absorbent Void coated the weak hybrid.
Abner glanced at where Lucas was before responding to Ansat, "That she does," he drew an arrow from his quiver and held it out to Ansat, "Here, press this against the void scars, the Astral should help a bit. I need to go after Lucas." The Astral Wizard dashed off without another word, Dylan and Luce running over to the speedster.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group stumbled out of the cave, stopping at seeing the blood-matted hybrid.
"Oh God damn it." A certain gray fairy ran over to Jade, crouching next to the limp form of the halfling.
Do you have to make things difficult?
Through the black, Jade could barely perceive two amber eyes shining with aggravation and anger.
Well, Gale, maybe you could be a bit nicer about this, was the only rational thought she could form.
Then suddenly, as if she was a puppet on marionette strings, the hybrid jerked away from him.
What-he’s going to hurt me.
Gale frowned, stepping closer.
He’s trying to hurt me.
His hands were nearly there.
He’s an enemy.
The trainee turned away, fighting to stand up despite her barely being able to breathe.
Kill him before he hurts you.
ANSAT TO THE RESCUE!" yelled Ansat as he dashed to Jade. He dodged Gale, and struck the arrow into a void scar.
Gale hissed in annoyance, "Ansat, Abner said to press it against the void scar, not to jab it in."
The hybrid winced, pulling her arm away and ignoring the burning sensation that ran through her bones.
The effects of the Astral arrow weren’t positive, though. Blood tricked down her right wrist, mixing with the blackish-purple of the scar.
A shock of Astral Magic made her flinch, it was less of a warming sensation and more of an electric shock running through her.
He’s an enemy as well.
One red-coated hand flew up to block him, to knock the unfamiliar wizard aside before he killed her.
"I misunderstood!!" yelled Ansat. He put his head down in disappointment. "I messed up again, didn't I?"
The Ivory Fairy grabbed Jade's wrist, muttering something under his breath as faint Astral Magic filled the gaping wound the void was inflicting.
Every time the hybrid reacted, he used his tail to hold her still, not stopping until the blackish-purple finally receded from the scars.
Only pain shone in his gaze as he let go of her wrist, a piercing headache being the vengeance of an increasingly aggravated pseudo-elemental.
A hand was on his shoulder, and he looked up to see Aly giving him a knowing expression.
Jade shuddered and exhaled, trying hard to relax her body.
A subconscious list of priorities started in her mind.
Try to breathe.
Get up.
Try not to break.
Use your sword.
The list ended there.
Ansat was curled up in a ball as if he was a hedgehog, having not noticed anything. He was muttering to himself something along the lines of, "Failed it. Failed it! Failed it!"
The Ice Warden helped the gray fairy up, who stumbled in his steps and fell into her grasp, in turn becoming a bright shade of pink and looking at the ground, Aly being equally embarrassed.
A fiery salamander tapped its foot against the ground impatiently, a tech wizard, half-merling, Fire Warden, and Water Warden standing near it.
The ghost of a smile flickered on Jade’s face as she wrapped one fist around her sword handle.
She looked up at where Lucas once stood for a second, hesitant, then pressed the sword point to her neck.
Even more drops of red.
Ansat got up, and looked at Jade. Without saying a word, he immediately ran over to try and pry the sword away.
The void's presence became far more blatant within Gale's head, appearing to force out every other element, or...
seemingly being part of their voices.
The hybrid snarled in a inhuman way, smacking Ansat with her sword. By pure luck, the flat of the blade smashed him in the gut and sent the wizard sprawling.
A force seemed to hiss with annoyance, pulsating over and over in her scars. It was muted somehow, however, like a thick blanket was wrapped over the force.
Ansat coughed up blood before getting up to try again.
Jade glared at him with a hostile look, still not saying anything… almost as if she didn’t recognize him.
The blade was swiped at Ansat, forcing him back, before she brought it to her neck again.
Ansat fired a star smash directly at Jade's sword.
Jade narrowed her eyes, fists curled. Her sword lay on the ground, blade and hilt split by the effect of the spell.
She was about to turn on Ansat when something inside her gave up and she collapsed, breathing heavily from just moving a little.
"I... Did it!" said Ansat. Then he collapsed. "Oww.. My gut..."
Jade wanted to sleep. She wanted to be able to close her eyes and be home, be adrift in another world that was surely better than the hell she was in now.
Fear still throbbed in her mind, but she couldn’t run from this. This new fear, this new will, this new person was permanent.
A circle of blood and Void, wet with tears, surrounded her like a halo.
Meanwhile, an Astral Warden stared at the ocean from a cliff, contemplating if he should jump.
Footsteps sounded on stone and sand, echoed and muffled, "Lucas."
The Astral Warden didn’t react, only stared down at the crashing waves.
Blue waves. Blue like Ian.
White seafoam. White like Ian.
Crashing continuously. Reliant like Ian.
Everywhere he looked, all he saw was Ian’s shocked face. His coffin, which Lucas never got within ten feet of. His dying breath, whistling around them in the form of wind.
It was only his father’s hand on his shoulder that stopped him from jumping.
Ansat has finally managed to stand up, and he walked around a bit. He walked to the cliff where Abner and Lucas were standing. "Hey, everything okay?" he asked.
They didn’t need to answer.
Meanwhile, a certain Earth Trainee lay on the ground, shuddering and screaming weakly, too weak to manage anything else.
Void’s crude marks, taking the form of scars, still festered in her.
It wouldn’t stop.
Trauma never did.
Back in the cave, the gruesome carvings were changed.
The figure under Greenheart was covered nearly entirely by black, but the black was slowly fading to more of a dark gray.
The figure under Ian was now rising halfway to cover him, being lifted up by ambiguous forces.
The figure under Lane was remotely unchanged, though something dangerous and unforeseen was behind him, imperceptible.
The figure under Chase looked like he was trying to push his way up, but to no avail.
The figure under Samantha looked like she was watching over the others, colors vibrant as ever.
The figure under the already-grayed Lucas was slowly ascending, taking on and absorbing some of the miserable darkness that covered him.
Ansat turned to Abner. "Mind if I talk to him for a sec?" he asked.
"I suppose it'll be alright," the Astral Trainee responded after a bit.
"Hey, Lucas. I know you're upset about Ian dying, and I just wanna say, I understand how you feel. I know I've brought this up loads of times before, but my parents died when I was six. I miss my parents every day, because they were good parents, like how Ian was a good friend to you. I know my parents would want me to move forwards, and not get hung up on the past, and I think Ian would want that for you too. Who knows? If you moved past Ian's death, you could go on to do amazing things! All you need to do is keep a positive attitude, and then, you'll be the best around, and nothing's ever gonna keep you down." said Ansat.
It took a few seconds for Lucas to process what Ansat had said.
His only reaction? Turning back to the cliff.
All that Ansat had done for him was tell him the thing he’d been avoiding himself. That he was being selfish. That this wasn’t what Ian wanted.
But grief had consumed him, and there was no recovering. All that could happen was more blame that fell squarely on the Astral Warden’s shoulders.
A thought flashed through Lucas’ mind.
I’ll join you, Ian. I promise.
What? Don't tell me that didn't work?! thought Ansat. That's the second thing I messed up today! Can't do anything...
Jade felt something, no, someone pulling her to her feet, muttering something incomprehensible.
She was far too weak to walk, however, and ended up leaning heavily on whoever it was that was holding her up… despite the embarrassment the person felt.
Aly cringed at the hybrid in her arms, awkwardly patting her on the back. “Er… we need to get to the Academy. There were no leads here, and you’re in a… questionable… state.”
It was only when the Ice Fairy finished when she realized Jade was fighting to stay conscious. “Oh.”
Ansat was figuring out a way to stop Lucas from jumping without coming off as inconsiderate. "Hey, buddy! There's always leaving offerings! Maybe you can use a psychic as a vessel to talk to him?" said Ansat.
Lucas didn’t seem to hear or care about Ansat’s attempts to cheer him up.
Dull yellow eyes stared down at the ocean, feet nudging closer and closer to the edge.
"If you kill yourself, there will be people who miss you!" said Ansat.
Abner rushed forward and gripped the Astral Warden's arm firmly, leading him away from the edge, "Thanks for trying, Ansat."
"Guess I can't win 'em all. But whatever, the important thing is that your son's not dead."
"I suppose. I just wish things turned out differently... anyhow, we better get back." Abner responded, sighing as he turned to Lucas again.
The three made their way back to the group, where Aly was awkwardly supporting Jade as the others waited impatiently.
Storm had pulled up a hologram, messing with the display and mapping the Elemental Islands. He looked up at the approaching wizards as their footsteps began to sound, "Finally, you're back."
"Yeah..." said Ansat . "Anyways, are we going back to the Academy soon?"
Storm nodded before swiping his hand across the hologram, the group instantly being teleported to the great hall.
"Neat! I'm gonna check on the keystones." said Ansat . He dashed through the hall, until he got to where the keystones are.
Felix and Olivia ran down the stairs, Fatima and Kayley following them from behind.
Meanwhile, a certain hybrid sat in the corner of the wide hall, shuddering hard. Her back was pressed tightly against a column, her knees bent and arms wrapped around her legs as if she was protecting herself from unseen forces.
But no, there were forces in Jade’s mind. Hundreds of them, haunting her forever.
Her eyes stared listlessly at the ceiling, empty yet so full of emotion. Occasionally, she’d flinch and bring her head between her knees, only to make a strangled gasp and look up again.
Jade stared at the lamps flickering above them so hard that her eyes burned.
Light was better than dark. No matter what.
Or so Jade thought.
Gale loomed at the back of the group, standing near a certain Ice Warden. He was pinching the bridge of his nose, having a particularly nasty headache due to a particularly nasty pseudo-elemental.
Meanwhile, Ansat was staring in shock. Why are the keystones purple?!
A boy appears at the staircase, amber eyes wide with worry and fists clenched.
He scans the whole room, fists clenching tighter and tighter until…
“Jade!” Hunter calls, rushing down the stairs and hugging his sister close, back facing the rest of the group. “Jade, are you-“
“I-I’m scared, Hunter,” his sister whispers in his ear, inaudible to all but them. “I…”
The hybrid turns, his tone and posture surprisingly soft, like a poacher carefully setting an animal trap to snatch the best prey.
“What did you do?”
There were a few murmurs from the group, most everyone avoiding his eyes.
“What did you do to her?” He repeats, voice slowly growing louder.
Jade grabs his arm, knowing what’ll happen next. “Hunter, stay calm, just stay…”
“WHAT DID YOU DO?” Her brother screams, tears of anger and sorrow beginning to well in his eyes.
He scans the room again, a lion searching for the best target.
“You,” Hunter snaps, eyes laser-focused on Gale.
Jade hisses in his ear, “Don’t… be caref-“
The boy charges towards him, getting up in the fairy’s face. “WHAT DID YOU DO?”
Gale’s eyes widen and he backs away, totally stunned at the emotional outburst.
“Tell me now!”
“I-“
“Are you trying to hurt her? When she’s still recovering from what you let happen? While she’s engaged-“
Jade’s eyes widen, “Oh my god, Hunter, don’t mention that-“
“-and you still hurt her? WHAT DID YOU DO?”
Gale flinches slightly… he’s never seen Hunter so angry, so willing to kill.
Aly stepped between the two. "Hunter, calm down. If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at Shadow, or that thing who requests to be called Void."
“That I am, Aly,” The hybrid hissed, shooting a look of concern back at his sister. “Are any of you going to tell me what happened? And more importantly, where I can find these elementals?”
"Gale performed exorcism on Jade, so frankly, he did her a favor." Luce answered, walking over. "As for where to find the elements... good luck convincing Gale to mindtrap you, because there's no way he's going to do that."
Hunter stepped back, wrapping an arm around his sister. “Well… thank you, Gale. And what is a mindtrap? I’d like to-“
Jade interrupted, “No you don’t. You won’t be able to attack the eleme-“
”-and I don’t care. I’ll try at least.”
"No," this time the Ivory Fairy answered for himself, "all you're going to do is infect yourself with Void and then you'll come crying back to me asking me to do the same favor I did your sister. And I don't mindtrap people."
“What is a mindtrap? And I’ll be the one deciding if I’m doing it or not.”
The Earth Trainee sighed. “Hunter, can’t you just-“
”I promise, I won’t do anything dangerous. But I want to know about this Void.”
Jade’s eyes found the ground, the girl feeling a bit guilty for wanting his company just a little longer. “A-alright.”
There was a second’s pause before Hunter said, “You want me to stay with you, don’t you?”
She hesitated, then nodded. “But-“
”It’s fine. I’ll stay a bit longer.”
Jade let loose a sigh of relief, resting her head on her brother’s shoulder. “Thanks, Hunter.”
”No problem.”
Ansat burst into the hall. "THE KEYSTONES ARE PURPLE!!" he yelled.
"WHAT?" Multiple voices cried in unison.
Meanwhile, a certain Academy Keeper connected the dots, looking up at a particular Shadow Warden.
Jade sighed. “Well, Hunter, it was nice, but-“
”Nope. I’m staying-“
”-by my side. I know. And fine, but you’re helping us and you’re not prioritizing me.”
”You want me to, though, don’t you?”
The hybrid shrugged.
"Luce, have you tried using magic yet? I know the others can't but," Gale paused, unsure if he should continue, "I think the current situation might be to your advantage."
"I don't like-"
"Just try it."
"Fine..."
The Dark Fairy thrust out a hand, which in turn Shadow Magic festered with unpredicted magnification in the air in front of him.
"Nobody can even pin this on me, because they were purple when I got in there!"
"We know it wasn't you," Aly informed Ansat with a frown, "It was the Void."
Jade winced, turning red as she buried her face in her brother’s chest. Shadows.
“Jade-“
”I know, I know. Sorry.”
Hunter sighed, frowning. “You’ll get better.”
”It’s been ten years.”
The hybrid went quiet. “Fine. Sorry about that. Main point is… can you fight?”
”Probably. My sword’s broken, but-“
”On it.”
With a shhhk, the blade and hilt of Jade’s sword reconnected and flew into her hand.
"The Void... The Void... Where have I heard that before?" pondered Ansat.
“Don’t bring up that thing,” Jade and Hunter said in unison, both of them fiddling with their weapons.
”Please,” the Earth Trainee added.
Luce shattered the strands of Shadow Magic before turning to Ansat, "You've been to the Void before, and also ran into a couple of rather unpleasant elementals."
"Oh right. I think I probably blocked off that memory."
At the mention, Jade tensed and snarled, surprising for her.
”Jade, what the-“
”I’m getting rid of those things. If I get the chance, I’m the one killing it.”
Gale sighed, "Jade, you aren't killing Shadow, she's actually not the bad. The Void, however..."
“She. Like it’s got feelings, or remorse, or morality. But I know I can’t kill Shadow. I will kill Void, however. As brutally as I wish.”
Gale frowned. “That sounds like something Shadow would say.”
The hybrid faltered.
The voice returned to Gale.
My death means nothing. The void itself cannot be conquered, nor destroyed. I am an envoy of what remains in its collective will.
The monotony and calmness in the psuedo-elemental's voice was now incredibly frustrating- almost smug, if the damn thing was capable of it.
At the mention of killing it, Void writhed with annoyance in Jade’s scars, this time barely noticeable as it had been purged.
The girl flinched, but managed to ignore it. “Gale, I’m not like-“
”You are. And you’re denying it.”
Hunter crossed his arms. “You can talk about this later, but my sister’s recovering.”
Elsewhere, a voidwalker monitors his newest project, accompanied by 3 other versions of himself. He waves away the other 3, who each recall into a wormhole of their own. The voidwalker that remains continues to spread his infection, his corruption.
Tarnishing this world was easy enough.
The void would never loosen its grip on this reality, so the voidwalker knew.
He just had to push further in the spread of the nothing to achieve his victory.
ROTW DARKSHADE
ACTIVE
Meanwhile, a lone figure stood far away from the rest of the group, head bowed and long brown/blonde hair covering his face.
I’m coming, Ian.
But every attempt he made to join him always failed. It was like he was trapped.
Trapped in his own grief.
A single tear rolled down his cheek, splashing on the ground.
Utterly alone.
The cold that the young Astral warden felt enveloping the room was not of the late Ice warden's presence.
It was of his own stagnant pain.
"I feel like I forgot someone..." said Ansat.
Cut to Ben burning the tree he was supposed to stand by.
Forgot who?” Jade asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Ben," Sea responded with little interest.
Meanwhile, Gale eyed Jade with an uninterpretable expression, soon sighing.
Shadow, make sure our little... friend doesn't do anything.
"We should probably check on the Keystones. Aly, you still have the Astral Relic, right?"
The Ice Fairy's tail flicked back and forth, "No, I gave it to Abner a few days ago."
"Abner?"
The Astral Trainee held up the relic ring in response, having figured out what would be asked of him.
The Ivory Fairy turned to go, "Well then, I guess we better figure out what to do about that void."
“No,” a quiet voice said. “No, not again. Remember what happened last time? And h-how would we even get to the place?”
Jade turns the ring on her finger over and over. “I- we can’t do it again.”
"Storm can send us there," Aly and Gale responded in unison, glancing at each other in surprise.
The Ivory Fairy spoke next, "We have to deal with the Keystones first, however, and we might not even need to go."
The hybrid exhaled, awkwardly switch her stance. “Good. I-I mean…”
“Smooth,” Hunter whispered. “You’re a great liar.”
“Shut up.”
Suddenly, there was a flash of red light, and then, a huge hole in the wall, with a very angry wizard wielding a laser gun standing in the hole.
Gale took one look at Ben before saying, "Ansat, deal with that... friend of yours, please." Then promptly left, soon being followed by the others.
Ansat walked over to Ben. "Ben, what is wrong with you?! That's it, I'm keeping my eye on you! Ruin this and you're grounded from inventing for two months!" said Ansat.
“Do we have to go?” The hybrid mouths, eyes wide.
Hunter bites his lip, “I think we have to.”
Jade rolls her eyes, “Great.”
"Well, any chance of relaxation has clearly been rendered void," Chase said.
“Chase, don’t make a pun like that,” Jade sighed. “Please?”
Ansat and Ben caught up to the others. "So sorry about that, Gale." said Ansat.
"But to not crack a pun is a cat-astrophy," Storm informed Jade cheekily.
Gale shot him a look before staring at the keystones and grimacing.
Their glow was dull, the usual pulse weak, but what made him grimace were the veins of black, purple essence seeping through it and letting off a glow. The essence of Void was too much for the keystones, the strain being enough that the magic itself dripped from the crack-like veins, hitting the red carpet and letting out an acid-like hiss before the light faded from the droplets.
"Ansat", Kayley yelled, running over to him and embracing him. "I-i thought-i thought you were-"
"Oh, hey, Kayley." said Ansat.
Hunter raised his eyebrows, leaning in to inspect the Keystones… unlike his sister, who cringed and backed away as far as she could without seeming cowardly.
Felix tapped Hunter, "Don't."
The hybrid stepped back. “You’re right. Doesn’t seem safe.”
"You still got the ability to control of void magic, Dylan?" Lane asked.
"Maybe, but even if I do, I'm still not exactly sure how to control it completely," Dylan responded.
The liquid abyss pouring through the veins that lined the keystones appeared to be transferring the elemental energy of the keystones into another locale.
Jade stepped back a bit more, eyes glued to the keystones with strange fascination and horror. “H-how is it consuming them?” She murmured under her breath.
Felix watched.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Chase asked.
Storm ruffled his hair nervously, "Well, uh..."
Aly stared at him, "What?"
"Well you see... eheh... I haven't really..."
Gale pressed a hand to his forehead, exhaling deeply, "God damn it, Storm spit it out."
"I haven't dimensioned jumped before."
"So?"
"Meaning there's this teensy little chance we'll get lost."
“Sounds better than being in the Void,” Hunter says, shooting a look back at his sister. “Or so Jade thinks.”
"How teensy of a chance is it?" asked Ansat.
Jade spoke up, “Hopefully, not so teensy.”
"Bet it's a large chance," Lane commented.
"Lane, don't be so negative," Samantha said. "It can't be that bad...right?" Storm shuffled. "Right?!"
Aly's tail lashed as she answered, "Knowing Storm, not even close to teensy, and what do you mean by hopefully, Jade?"
“I repeat, do you all want to go back there?”
"Hell no." said Ansat.
Jade crossed her arms. “Exactly.”
"Wait, wait, WAIT," Aly turned to Storm, "Do you still have that data saved from the console?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Can't you just use that?"
The tech wizard shuffled his feet in response.
Hunter frowned, “Why are you all wanting to go back there?”
"To save our reality," Lane responded.
"Hey, I'm willing to go through Hell for reality." said Ansat.
“Well, catch me up on how going to hell will help us.”
"I have no clue, but I feel like being an adrenaline junkie, so I'll gladly risk my life just to have a thrilling experience." said Ansat.
Jade shot him a look from under Hunter’s arm, “God, Ansat, that’s not a valid reason. And, Hunter, I’ll be fine.”
The hybrid scowled, “Jade, are you su-“
”Absolutely not. But this is the chance for me to kill Void, or one of its cowardly Voidwalkers. I can’t just sit by because I’m scared.”
”I don’t like this.”
”Me neither.”
Aly glanced at the cyborg, "Storm?"
"Yeah I'll do it... just give me a moment."
Seconds later a rift tore open, an unnaturally quiet tech wizard waiting beside it.
Hunter hugged Jade tighter, whispering, “I’m not letting go of-“
”I know. Get this over with.”
Face pale and fists clenched, Jade stepped through the portal.
”I’m not scared.”
She was convincing nobody.
The rest of the group followed through the rift. "Well, here goes nothing," Chase said.
"I can't wait to start feeling the adrenaline!" said Ansat, who was hyped.
Storm gave the great hall one last glance before darting into the rift, it closing promptly behind him.
The group let out collective sighs of relief once they exited into the void, but the feeling was quickly replaced by worry.
The nothing was as cold and dark as ever...
And yet, it tangibly felt as if something had changed.
Elsewhere, a transcendent warden sees the group's entry through his mind.
He understands what their goal now is.
"Listen, Ben, I'm gonna unground you from flying so you can help in case things turn to dust." said Ansat.
As the group gained their bearings, a certain tech wizard was hugging himself - but he wasn't cold. His mismatched eyes were shut tight as he shuddered, whispering something under his breath as he tried to stop the floodgate of thoughts - but it was too late.
The memories had already been turned on.
Dark. Everything was dark.
Something moist touched his face, causing him to flinch away.
A hiss and the sound of scrapping scale reverberated throughout the room, the boy's eyes wide with terror, every fiber of his being screaming at him to run - but he couldn't. Something held him in place.
Heart racing, he let out a whimper of fear-
He was jolted back to reality as Aly placed a hand on his shoulder, her light blue eyes pooling with concern.
"You alright?"
"...yeah, I'm fine."
"If you say so..."
Meanwhile, Gale spoke up, "Seeing what happened last time... we need to find Darkshade again, don't we?" He looked immensely discomforted, not looking forward to running into the voidwalker again.
"Who's Darkshade?" asked Ben.
Jade held back a yelp and managed to focus on finding a source of light. “St-Storm… can you get your… saber?”
Hunter watched, lips pursued. One hand grabbed hers and he mouthed, “I’m right here.”
The trainee nodded, but squeezed her brother’s hand so hard she cut off circulation.
Storm seemed almost relieved at the preposition to use his saber, turning it on the instant it was asked at him.
The light was a glimpse of sanity there in the darkness, but just a glimpse wasn’t enough.
The wounds inflicted in the cave had been cut… and in the darkness, the pain would set in.
A weak sound, of fear, of helplessness, of sorrow, escaped Jade.
Aly fiddled the Heart of Ice, squeezing it ever so often, "Darkshade's almost always near the console, right? Which is at void boundaries. So I guess we just... head in one direction until we bump into him???"
The voidwalker observed for little more time before phasing into the floor, beginning his travel to intercept.
Hunter speaks for his sister, “We can’t do that. What’ll happen to Jade, and to Gale?”
Gale's hands curled into fists, his amber eyes narrowed, "I'm fine. There's no need to baby me." Yet the sharp pain in his scars begged to differ.
Aly, however, sighed, "That's how I know you're not fine. And to answer your question Hunter, I think I know when Gale can or can't handle himself, and he can. I'm actually more worried about... never mind."
Yet a single glance at Storm said all.
“Jade’s… certainly not alright, and I don’t want anyone else breaking.”
”Hunter, I’m fine,” the hybrid snapped, but she could barely manage even those words.
”You’re my top priority. And you’re not breaking.”
“A bit too late.”
Ansat was playing on his Gameboy with Ben using a Link Cable.
"Even so, we're already here and need to go. So," she turned to face a promising direction, "are you coming or not?"
Hunter sighed with annoyance, “Fine. But anything happens to Jade, it’s your fault.”
"You can tell yourself that," she responded, then began to walk, the group exchanging glances before following.
As before, the only person who looked remotely comfortable as they walked past various imprints was Luce, a soft glow in the air around the ten-year-old.
"This place still gives me the heebie-jeebies!" said Ansat.
“Oh, I’m sure I will,” the hybrid murmured before going on.
Steps resounded in the distance. The wardens and trainees brandished their wands. Samantha fingered her Aquarius Star Wand. "Why did I choose this wand again? I can't even use it!"
"Bonk them on the head with it, I guess," Chase shrugged.
Hunter let loose a string of profanity, stopping only to snap, “Hey, Jade, someone to kill.”
The hybrid’s head snapped up. “Huh.”
Ansat pulled out his metal pipe, while Ben grabbed his laser gun.
A sword and a spear glinted, reflecting the light of Storm’s saber.
Jade was shaking so hard the sword nearly fell out of her hand, but she managed to hide it.
"If it's that DIPSHIT King Kong, I'm gonna murder him!" said Ansat.
“I doubt it’s Kong… it seems more Void-ish,” Jade murmured.
"Whoever it is, I'm gonna kill them!!" said Ansat.
Ben fired up his laser gun.
“They’re mine, Ansat,” the hybrid snarled, a bit of a growl hidden in her voice.
"Oh, really? I'm gonna get to 'em first!" said Ansat.
The void appeared to cloud up, fogging the area around. The presence of another became readily apparent as the abyss appeared to tense.
On cue, a voidwalker arose from the ground, forming out of essence.
"So this is what you are."
Instantly, Jade felt a tug in her gut, making her double over. It was all she could do not to scream.
”What did your thing do to my sister?” Hunter yells, glaring at the figure.
Ansat was mad. "Hey, you! I don't know who you are, but infecting people with your purple, shadow knockoff is no good!" he said.
"The Elemental was never my creation. It was of other origins... I'm sure the Keeper over there is quite experienced with how." The figure sighed. "But on other, more important points, i'm sure you're all familiar with how we operate."
The voidwalker brandished an abyssal scythe, blade barely visible between the fog and the dark.
"I can't really let you do what you're doing. It's an obligation, no hard feelings. Just let me kill you, or leave of your own accord- that'd make my job a lot easier."
"I got a better idea! You can look at deez keystones!" said Ansat. He charged towards the voidwalker.
The voidwalker rolled his eyes, bopping Ansat 2 feet off course with a singular prod of the back end of the scythe. He snapped his fingers and watched as Ansat was encased in a robust hexagonal void structure.
The trainee steadied herself, managing a few words, “How do you want to die?”
Ben fired his laser gun at the voidwalker. "GO BURN IN HELL, YOU PIECE OF SH*T!!" he yelled.
Lane and Dylan charged at the voidwalker, scythes in tow. They came within striking range and brought their scythes down, which were then blocked by the voidwalker's.
Felix unleashed an Amberthyst Dragon on the voidwalker.
Two weapons sliced at the Voidwalker from behind, one notably less accurate than the other.
”Focus, Jade,” the hybrid muttered to herself, striking again.
The voidwalker vanished, reappearing near the edge of the fog. He pointed his blade towards the group, casting construct after construct to slam into anyone unlucky enough to be in the spread. Spikes, knives, blunt objects, a dead body or two- if it existed in creation then it was viable to be thrown.
The two siblings stared in horror as a pile of bones peppered where they once stood.
Hunter recoiled, but Jade leaned in, curious… excited almost.
“Are they… human?”
“Jade, it doesn’t matter. Get away from them.”
The hybrid obliged, turning back to Darkshade with sword raised.
The ROTW version of Darkshade poised himself for the next strike, allowing the abyssal energies surrounding him to deflect and stem any elemental attack from any other direction.
Ansat was trapped. "Hey, dark for brains! Lemme out before I quash ya!" he yelled.
A blast of Astral energy made the darkness recede for but a fleeting moment.
Hunter cursed under his breath, readying another spell.
"I mean it! I will kill you!" Yelled Ansat.
“Ansat, that thing is mine,” Jade repeated, shooting him a look of hostility.
Ben threw a bomb at the void structure that was holding Ansat, and without even checking to see if it even dented the thing, Ben grabbed a laser pistol.
Hunter let loose another, more powerful, beam of light. This time, the blackness covering Darkshade dissipated more, giving Jade an opening to attack.
And attack she did.
Pale green blade cut at least a dozen times before the darkness closed in around her and Jade crashed to the ground.
"I'M GONNA F**KING MURDER YOU AND THE REST OF THE VOIDWALKERS!" shouted Ben. He fired his laser pistol at Darkshade multiple times, before casting a Wildfire.
The void healed Darkshade's wounds as he deftly reflected the laser shots from Ben. He shot a look at the crashed Jade for a moment before moving to cut her half open.
"You really shouldn't have given me the opportunity..."
And cut he did.
The voidwalker cast another hexagonal structure around the actively bleeding-out hybrid before turning attention to Hunter.
“Jade!”
The voice was panicked, and the speaker was standing only several feet away… but to Jade, it was far away as the sun.
Red slowly leaked out of her side, trickling faster and faster.
Black swallowed the trainee up, tearing away at her sanity again.
But this time, it didn’t need to do much.
Ben started screaming, and flew at Darkshade. He took out his laser gun and tried to bash Darkshade over the head with it.
Hundreds of rays of light now, directed at the Voidwalker.
Hunter swung his spear while Darkshade was blinded, wincing at his sister’s screams.
The voidwalker backpedaled for a bit before lashing out tentacles in retaliation.
Ben flew past the tentacles, and bit Darkshade in the leg like a rabid animal.
The voidwalker sharply exhaled in pain, recomposing before bringing his scythe down on Ben.
The group (excluding Aly, Gale, and Storm) ducked and dodged the flying objects, advancing towards Darkshade.
Except for Hunter.
The hybrid charged directly at him, rushing towards the weak sounds of his sister.
More light blasted at the Voidwalker, and every time he tries to dodge, a horde of vines tied him down.
The shadowy aura returned to Darkshade, rotting the vines into essence and dust, negating their magic. He dealt with the blasts by cleaving them as they approached.
Meanwhile, a weak hybrid managed to drag herself into the fray of the battle, black-stained blood pouring relentlessly out of her side.
All Jade could do was watch, but she wasn’t even watching the fight.
Instead, memories upon memories flashed through her fragile mind.
Gale’s scars.
Her own.
Falling.
Collapsing.
The Puppet Master.
Taunting laughs.
Burning bonds.
Pointless begs.
Jade’s eyes flew open, just in time to see her brother impaled.
Ansat was upset. "What if Ben got hurt?" He asked himself. The very thought of Ben getting hurt made Ansat angry. you couldn't see it, but there was a flash of yellow light inside the void structure.
The voidwalker rid his scythe of the hybrid's sibling, cleaving flesh and bone as the body dropped. He grimaced at the mess and turned to face the group as a whole.
There were two red lights which were glowing so brightly that you could see them on the outside.
“HUNTER!”
A guttural cry, worse than any sound anyone could ever make.
Jade rushed to her brother, still in a state of complete shock.
But before she could, a huge scythe blocked her, the limp form of Hunter disappearing behind its blade.
Jade’s fists slowly tightened around her sword hilt, tears that had begun to well seeming to pause as she charged the Voidwalker.
Hunter’s alive. Unlike Darkshade.
The sword was barely visible now, only a green blade that cut red upon red across Darkshade’s face, the Voidwalker unable to even move as Jade attacked.
Ansat tried to escape, but he couldn't. "GODDAMN IT! LEMME OUT!" roared Ansat.
Chase charged at the voidwalker, jabbing and slashing repeatedly at the voidwalker, slowly forcing him back.
Ansat gave up trying to burst out.
Anger.
Helplessness.
Fear.
Pain.
Those were all the things he was feeling. No happiness. No overconfidence. Just those emotions.
The void healed the wounds, draining fully the first failsafe as Darkshade's scythe glew bright purple. The aura was blocking all incoming attack as the voidwalker spoke.
"I don't want to have to exert this much magic. Leave, and i'll make sure they live."
Jade knocked the Fire Warden out of the way, intent on killing Darkshade herself.
She swung her blade again, this time not trying to kill him, only cutting small wounds over and over so that he bled out.
The hybrid ignored the scythe, simply dodging and Fey Stepping aside, her sword tip making an incision across his already bleeding chest.
The Voidwalker was woozy now, but just Jade wasn’t enough…
Yet.
Ansat doubled over, and pounded the bottom on the void structure. "IT'S NOT FAIR!!" he yelled. 2 seconds later, there was an explosion, and a very angry wizard standing inside of it.
The abyss once more filled the gashes of misplaced flesh, as if nothing had changed at all- though it took a few seconds for the voidwalker to regain balance. The healing drained a failsafe, reducing RW Darkshade to 2.
"Well, let's do it your way."
The scythe the voidwalker bore began to hover in the air, calling essence and elemental energy to its blade. The entire object appeared to bear a bright purple glow, but seemed completely engulfed in dark and gloom- as if composed of it. The weapon began to contort and shift, squeezing and pulsing, changing form into a spherical core of the void.
Darkshade sighed as he snatched the orb out of the air and raised it over his head, and the eye on his crown opened once more to dart wildly. The voidwalker began his incantation.
"Ignis. Terra. Gelum. Fulgur. Aqua. By your absolute zero are their powers consumed. The unrelenting hunger plaguing the abyss shall not be satiated. Through will of eternal servitude, I call upon your power. Through your ultimate nothing, o realm of Void, I dare to cast..."
The eye on the crown shone magenta, blinding.
"VOID NOVA!"
The orb was slammed into the ground, sending an abyssal explosion with the magnitude of the entire American nuclear arsenal screaming forth from where the voidwalker stood 2 seconds ago. It would take the quickest reflexes to not get obliterated, to find at least some form of shelter.
For the voidwalker, that meant phasing into the floor.
Void and purple essence shot from the ground, twisting and manipulating so intensely it was but a dark, glowing blur.
The strands of void and magic seemed to be weaving into a growing mass, forming a barricade against the oncoming void spell.
A hand shining with dark magic raked through the air, golden eyes narrowed as a tail lashed back and forth - Luce.
His figure levitated just above the ground, radiating with unstable amounts of a dark essence.
With every movement of a wizard's equivalent of sorcery, more void and shadow were woven until the entire expanse the group stood in was shielded from the advancing blast.
The voidwalker looked on from between the seams of the void using the omniscient gaze of his crown at Luce's magic.
And to be honest?
He had never, in his entire life, respected one of his enemies so *** much.
At the sight of Shadow, of Void…
For the first time since that hellish and torturous capture over a decade ago, Jade wasn’t scared.
Instead, a silent pulse of anger ran through the hybrid, stemming from where her hands lay, where her brother was slowly dying.
The ropes of morality that once bound her down, that had been drawn taut, snapped.
Jade didn’t scream when she charged Darkshade, standing over the place where he was buried.
All she wanted to do was kill him.
And slowly.
The voidwalker looked up at the angry hybrid, calmly jabbed her in the face with the heel end of his scythe, and went off further through the abyss to Blank Slate Primordial-knows-where, all within the span of 10 seconds.
He had completely and utterly vanished...
but the new wounds the siblings bore would be enough to let them suffer.
The void had already begun the infective process once more, bleeding dry reserves of natural magic and replacing it with the nothing.
All the void knew when facing a powerful host was to convert them into a voidwalker, and it wouldn't be stopped.
Jade winced and staggered, skidding backwards to lie exhausted next to her weak brother.
Kayley was curled up in a ball.
"Oh, hey, Kayley! What happened to you?' asked Ansat, not aware of what happened a few minutes ago.
The remnants of the dark barricade shattered into countless fragments, fading once they hit the ground.
The not-so-young Shadow Warden had stopped levitating and was now inspecting his hand with an unreadable expression, "So, does anyone wanna take a gamble and guess what the heck just happened here?"
"Don't tempt me," Abner responded drily, "but I think Shadow just lost her excuse to call Void inferior."
“Hunter…”
No response.
“Hunter?”
It’s dead quiet.
Tears leak out of Jade’s eyes, tears of endless sorrow.
“Please, Hunter… you said you’d stay by my side. You said if anything happened to me, you-“ she swallowed a sob before continuing, ignoring the throng of people around her, “-you’d be there.”
Eventually, desperate begs become gut-wrenching, hellish, horrible sobs, the shock and disbelief becomes sorrow so terrible it crushes the weak hybrid.
Sob.
After sob.
After sob.
They don’t stop, they only become worse and worse until they aren’t even sobs anymore, just strange animal noises and screeches and incomprehensible words.
"Man, that dude sure was tough!" said Ansat.
"Alright, I think it's time to come up with a plan!" said Ben.
It might as well have been centuries while Jade sobbed and screamed. But eventually, her tear ducts were empty, her throat hoarse.
She opened her mouth to say something, but all she could manage was curling up on the ground, shaking so hard she felt she was going to fall to pieces.
But Jade broke inside, not outside.
"Yo, wait, where's Storm?" asked Ansat
Ignis crossed his arms, "Seeing that idiot is out only way back, that's an excellent question."
"He's with me," Aly answered, all the way at the back of the group.
The tech wizard was being hugged by the Ice Fairy, sobbing whilst clutching a displeased gray cat.
Abner blinked, "What... happened-"
"No clue, he sorta just started crying once Darkshade showed up."
"Man, I feel so sorry for him..." said Ansat.
Silence, peppered only by the sobs of a traumatized cyborg and a hybrid who’d lost her family and her will to live.
Or so she thought.
“Now you’re crying.”
Jade turned, for the first time not bothering to wipe away the tears, “H-Hunt…”
”There we go. You’re showing your emotion.”
The two siblings gazed at each other, both wanting to say something but neither knowing what would fix the other.
Finally, Jade spoke, “Your wound.”
”It’ll leave some scarring, that’s for sure.”
Scars.
They represented so much.
Pain. Sorrow. Anger. Cruelty. Death. Life.
With a strangled mix between a sob and a laugh, Jade rushed to her brother, “How-how long can you last?”
“How long can you last without me?”
The hybrid bites her lip, hesitating to answer with the truth, “I can’t.”
Hunter winced, eyes flickering down to the gaping black wound, “I think you should learn to.”
”I can’t,” she repeated.
”Try.”
Ignis looked at the hybrid siblings grouchily, "Are you going to act like emotional idiots or ask Abner to help you?"
Jade turned to snap at him, but Hunter grabbed her shoulder, “It’s fine. I do need it, anyway.”
"Man, I feel so bummed." said Ben.
"It's okay, dude, because I'm here! " replied Ansat. "When we get back home, we can run around Pallet Pass! We got all the time to spare!"
Abner cast a glance at certain Fire Warden, "Chase, your Sun Rod?"
After he had obtained the polearm, Ignis shapeshifted, flames heating up the metal. "Er, Jade, you might want to hold Hunter down... this'll hurt like hell."
The hybrid glances at her brother, expecting uncertainty, or hesitance, or reluctance.
”I’ll be fine, Jade.”
”I won’t.”
”Just look away.”
Ansat and Ben were running around.
Abner grimaced before stepping toward Hunter and immediately pressing the hot blade to the wound.
At the back of the group, a gray cat flinched at the oncoming scream, instantly burrowing into a certain borg's coat, paws over its face.
Jade’s back was turned, but the hybrid flinches at the scream, doing all she could not to turn and attack Abner.
Abner removed the blade, waiting for it to cool before handing it back to Chase.
"You can look now," he informed Jade bluntly before returning to Lucas.
The trainee turned immediately, rushing to her brother.
“Are you-“
”What do you think?” Hunter responds, scarcely able to speak, “And besides, you’ve been worse.”
”This is worse than Void, I swear. Now, c’mon, we’re getting revenge on Darkshade.”
Ansat and Ben eventually stopped running. "So, what do we do now?" asked Ansat.
Luce answered, "Well for starters, we need to find Darkshade again, but this time, we negotiate instead of charging blindly into battle." He looked at Jade specifically with that comment, "Were any of you paying attention to what Darkshade was saying? Or doing for that matter?"
“Saying? He said ‘Void Nova’. Doing? He nearly killed my brother. There we go,” Jade amended, glaring at whatever horizon the Void offered, “And you can negotiate all you wish, but I kill him. None of you intercept. I do it the way I want. Fair?”
"Alright, I guess dashing at him was on me that time..." said Ansat.
Luce shook his head, "No, no, before that. He said he was obligated to do this, but the question is why. If we find out why we can develop a plan that'll actually work."
"Maybe it was after the last time we were here?" said Ansat. "I don't remember Darkshade saying he was obligated last time."
“Obligated? He probably just wanted to attack us,” Jade snapped, glancing at her brother, “What do you think?”
”I think you should listen to Luce.”
Luce crossed his arms, "If you kill him that defeats the purpose of the plan. For all we know that might actually make things worse."
“I’m either killing him or the elemental that he uses.”
Hunter sighed, “Jade, be reasona-“
“Or I can just torture him,” the hybrid said, smiling slightly, “And no one intercepts.”
"Nobody cares as long as his behind isn't dead." said Ben.
“Fine. His ‘behind’ will be nearly dead and in hellish pain,” Jade said, smiling as she contemplated it.
"So I guess we have to get moving," Dylan said. He heard movement behind him, turning towards the direction of the sound. Behind the wizard, a particular ice fairy was tending to the academy keeper and the storm trainee. "Storm? Gale? You okay?"
Storm exhaled deeply before putting down the cat and wiping his face, "I'll be okay."
The cat crossly groomed it's fur, golden tail flicking in irritation - clearly fine.
"Nice to see you're okay!" said Ansat to Storm.
Jade frowned, scrutinizing the cyborg, almost like she was reading him. before speaking up, “Storm, just so you know… trauma only gets worse.”
With that, she turned away from the group, seeing something in the endless black.
That something was the death of Darkshade.
Ansat sighed before saying, "Just ignore her."
Aly glared at where the hybrid, "Maybe trauma gets worse because you choose it to, maybe it's because you're always taking it out on others instead of coping with it the right way. Have you ever bothered to listen to yourself, Jade? Or do you just well in self-pity as you hate everyone around you?"
“And what is this right way?” Jade asks. A touch of desperation fills her voice, “Because I don’t think there is one. But if there was…”
Her voice is wistful now, a longing for something that will never exist.
"Not this again..." muttered Ansat. "Will we ever even get going?"
"Look, Jade, nearly everyone here went through some sort of trauma - Jacob over there used to be terrified of fairies due to what he went through." Greenheart turned red with embarrassment, but Aly continued, "He still sorta is, to be honest, but you don't see him running from you, me, Hunter, and Gale, do you? No, and do you know why? He got over his trauma from being with his friends, from people caring about him and helping him. There are people who care about you Jade, when are you going to notice them?"
“I know. My brother cares about me. And I nearly lost him,” her voice broke for a second before she kept going, “So I can’t take anything out on him.”
Hunter shot Aly a tired look that read, “She’s not going to let this go.”
Ben spoke up. "JADE, SHUT THE F**K UP AND STOP ACTING ENTITLED, OR I'LL GIVE YOU MORE TRAUMA!!"
The hybrid snapped, “Entitled? I’m not entitled to anything! I can’t even take care of my brother, I can’t even take care of myself!”
The Ice Fairy persisted, "And do you really think he's the only person who cares? Jacob apparently cares otherwise he would've chosen someone else to be trainee, Gale must care at least a bit because he actually helped you, Dylan gladly helps you, Abner, Sea, Chase, Samantha, and Storm clearly care because they'll all gladly give you a hand if you need it. On top of that, I apparently give a damn otherwise I wouldn't be bothering knocking sense to you. Yet always ignore people who care or treat them like they're nothing, just like you did to your mother. You never seem to notice we care, just hate."
The hybrid backed away, staring at the black ground intensely, “Don’t, Aly. I know you care about me, and that’s the worst part.”
Aly stared at Jade for a solid five minutes before shaking her head, "You're worse than me - at least ten years ago. Fine, I don't care, just buzz off and leave Storm alone, but when you decide to see common sense, there's people who do care."
"ANSAT TOLD ME THAT YOU LITERALLY ACTED LIKE YOUR LIFE SUCKS MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE'S!" roared the angry 13 year old.
“Ben, I don’t know what Ansat thinks, and I’m fine with that. But you don’t know what you’re saying.”
"I may not know what I'm talking about, but you did act life your life was worse than everyone else's!" said Ben, having calmed down a little.
“Ben-“ Jade groaned, wanting to knock some sense into the idiot as she was unable to find enough words of aggravation.
Hunter interrupted, “Ben, you’re acting like you’re any better than her. So if you don’t shut up and stop attacking her, I’ll remind you I’m her brother.”
Ben sighed. "Fine..." said Ben.
Hunter glowered, but Jade ignored him, mulling over Aly’s words, when…
”Wait. Back it up. ‘Just like your mother’? How do you know about that? How do you know her? And why would you bring her up?”
The Ice Fairy looked at him, "I'm literally Ice Warden, do you really think I won't know about someone who works at the Academy? And why shouldn't I bring her up? It's not like she committed a crime or anything. Anyhow, we need to find Darkshade."
The siblings both gaped at Aly before Hunter managed, “She might as well have.”
”Hunter, Darkshade.”
”Right. But-“
”Darkshade.”
"Be grateful that you have each other, arguing won't solve anything", Felix said, "At least you're not in my spot, dead family"
"Finally!" Yelled Ansat and Ben.
Both siblings ignored Felix, instead choosing to have a silent conversation.
”Is he crazy?” Jade mouthed.
Hunter looked at her, expression reading, “He’s not serious.”
”He can’t be.”
“Come on. Darkshade,” Jade snapped, already heading aimlessly through the Void.
A few glances were exchanged but the group soon followed in suite.
Images flashed through Jade’s mind.
Hunter stabbed.
Darkshade’s spell.
Void crashing around her.
Red dripping down.
Sword whirling.
All of them culminated and combined into a new image.
Her own sword, stabbing at Darkshade slowly and brutally. Screams of pain. A laugh… from her.
A smile etched its way across Jade’s face.
"Jade, are you okay? You're smilimg, but it seems more like a psycho smile." said Ansat.
“I’m fine. Perfectly fine,” the hybrid responded, but she wasn’t even looking at him.
Hunter muttered to Ansat, “She’s not, but get used to it.”
Elsewhere, an incredibly complacent voidwalker acts like he hasn't just set off a continent-shredding explosion in multiple people's faces. He sits on the floor and lets his crown see his enemies for him as he strategizes, small bits of regret seeping into his head at the sight of a certain hybrid's emotional torment. The thoughts are forcefully ejected from his mind by the abyss.
After walking for what felt like hours, the group slowed near a cluster of crystals.
Aly sighed, "We're getting nowhere, literally."
"Ben go study those crystals or something." said Ansat.
"Roger!" said Ben. He got out a machine from his bag, and hooked it up to one of the crystals.
“Crystals?” Jade frowned, “Did Darkshade make those?”
"How should I know? I've never seen those before." said Ben.
“One way to find out,” Lane said. “Dylan?”
“Wait, I don’t even know how to-“
”T R Y T O .”
Dylan shuffled uncomfortably, hands outstretched, focusing on the crystal in front of him.
“Wait,” Hunter frowned, “How is he doing that?”
Samantha shrugged. “We only learned he could do that the last time we were in the void,” she said, gesturing to the hovering crystal that Ben had backed away from in surprise.
Luce tensed, "Uh, Dylan-"
"What?" Dylan turned to Luce, breaking his concentration on the crystal. Cracks shot throughout the crystal, and the pieces rushed outwards with a burst of energy that knocked the party back. A dazed Dylan sat up. "Well that wasn't supposed to happen..."
Jade groaned, “So this led us nowhere. I need to find Darkshade.”
Luce sighed at seeing the shattered crystal before turning to Jade, "You mean we need to find Darkshade."
“You want to ‘negotiate’,” the hybrid said, making air quotes, “I need to kill him.”
"I though we agreed that you weren't gonna kill him!" said Ansat.
“Right. Torture.”
A-now-not-a-cat Gale crossed his arms, "Jade, I don't like Darkshade anymore than you do, but Luce has point in his plan. If Darkshade does anything however... feel free to kill him."
The hybrid grinned, “Perfect. But first, we find him.”
"Yeah, well how do we find him?" asked Ansat.
Greenheart was the first to get to his feet. "Well, no sense in waiting around. We still fade while we're here."
“Greenheart’s right,” Hunter said, shooting a nervous look at the dark around him, one hand pressed against the spot below his ribs where he’d been stabbed, “We should- Ben?”
"Alright, just gimme a sec. I feel like garbage." said Ben.
"Uh sorry," Dylan apologized, helping Ben to his feet.
“Well, Luce, Gale, have you two got anything on Darkshade?”
Ben wobbles a little.
“You’ll be fine,” Jade snaps, “We have better things to do.”
Luce glared, "Just because I was Puppet Master doesn't mean I know what everyone is doing. I never did, frankly, so would you do me a favor and drop it?"
Gale sighed, "No."
“I’m sorry, you were what?” The hybrid demands incredulously, eyes wide.
"Why do I get the feeling that Jade's gonna start another argument..?" said Ansat.
Hunter scowls, “Jade. He didn’t do it.”
”I need that from him. What if he did?”
Aly exhaled sharply, "I thought we were over this."
"That we were," Luce responded, arms crossed.
“Fine. Darkshade.”
"Right, Gale, can you just..."
The Ivory Fairy muttered something under his breath before closing his eyes, soon responding, "Too many imprints."
"Whatcha mean, imprints?" asked Ben.
“Probably some sort of fancy Elemental Balance thing. So long as it finds Darkshade.”
"Actually no, imprints are basically the Void variant of ghosts," Gale informed Jade, "and when there are multiple ghosts, it becomes incredibly hard to track one individual... soul, so to speak."
"How about we split up? Maybe that could be more effective!" said Ansat.
Hunter sighs, “That sounds like a horror movie trope.”
In front of the party, a bright cyan rift ripped from the mundanity of the black and purple surrounding. A singular bloodied and printed-out screenshot of a PowerPoint presentation fell away from the light as it faded.
Jade snarled, rushing to the portal, but it had closed far too quickly.
Asking Darkshade to do some positively splendid things, she snatched the sheath of papers up, remotely undisturbed at the dried blood coating it.
"What the hell is that?" said Ben.
A relatively primitive instruction sheet crossed the entire space the print allowed, an entire slide devoted to the many nuances and stuff about the "locate ()" command. The general gist of it was just to outright state every single piece of major information about the instance of an object or being one was trying to find, such as substrand, universe, name, that kind of thing.
Another rift opened in front of the group, expanding rapidly in the general direction of closer. A tentative peer into the rift revealed the unmistakeable brick image of CONSOLE_2.
"What is that thing?" asked Ben.
Lucas blankly stared at the rift.
Can it kill me?
He started to step towards the rift, but Abner firmly placed his hand on Lucas' shoulder. "I should go in before you. Don't want you getting hurt."
Lucas briefly clenched his fists before biting his lip and looking away.
Just let me go, Dad.
“What is that? Can we use it?” Jade asks, reaching out to grab it.
"Don't touch it. it looks sus." said Ben.
"Ben, what have I told you about saying the word sus?! Nobody plays Among Us anymore!" said Ansat.
Storm sighed, "It's a rift, Raid's handiwork this time. I'm guessing he and Cloud decided to lend a hand for once in their lives."
Hunter raised an eyebrow, “And the CONSOLE and these papers are helpful because…?”
The borg blinked, "Are you serious? Do you really want to walk aimlessly until we run into Darkshade?"
“What does it do? How does it help us?” The hybrid asked.
Gale facepalmed, "You don't need to be Storm to know that it'll help locate Darkshade. Now are going or not?"
Jade grinned, “Then we go… and I have fun.”
"I can't wait for this!" said Ansat, enthusiastically.
The trainee turned to Gale, fist frozen clenched around her sword hilt, “Let’s go. Now.”
Storm gave Jade a tentative glance before dashing into the rift, being followed by the others.
As soon as the last person stepped through the rift closed behind them, leaving no way back.
A certain tech wizard walked to CONSOLE_2, pausing for a minute before typing in commands.
locate(Darkshade);
ERROR: Multiple matches found in lookup
>LS_Darkshade
>WS_Darkshade
>AS_Darkshade
>RW_Darkshade
"Um... we have a bit of an issue."
“I want the one who just attacked us,” Jade snaps without hesitation, “That, or we all split up.”
"Why must there be so many Darkshades in the multiverse?" Samantha groaned.
"Which one was the one that attacked us?" asked Ben.
"That's what I'm wondering," responded Storm. He sighed before turning back to the screen, "Well did anyone see that Darkshade the last time we were here? Yes, no? Because if you didn't, I can check the log and locate the most recently added one."
“So… now what? Do we just blindly choose? Do we split up? Do we just leave?” Hunter said, frowning.
"Go with the most recent one, the only one I remember seeing is that idiot who who dared to hurt Gale." Aly's tail lashed angrily as she responded, clearly not having let go of that one.
Storm exhaled deeply before typing in the command.
locate(RW_Darkshade);
The console began flashing through 3rd person visions of the void before offering another prompt.
SPECIFY TIMELINE LOCATION
"present"
"external"
“Present,” Jade said, “If it means I can kill the guy.”
The borg gave a weary look before typing in another command.
The console continued to swap between angles until locking onto a very not-suspicious totally-normal giant crane building sitting in the middle of the void.
"LOCATION FOUND: ToC
PREPARE RIFT?
Y/N"
Storm slammed the "Y" key, just wanting to get this over with already.
A purple rift materialized beneath the group, landing them right outside of the now visibly gigantic structure. The building was far more expanded and large than it normally was, probably due to the voidwalker quad's shenanigans. A bright magenta aura surrounded the premises.
“Where is Darkshade?” Jade snapped, unsheathing her sword.
Luce sighed, "Jade, no killing."
“Torturing. Killing if he tries anything. Got it.”
"Where are we now?" asked Ansat
“That doesn’t matter, where’s Darkshade?”
"I don't know, I'm only here for adrenaline." said Ansat.
Storm was observing the towering crane, spotting an entrance near the side, "Did any of you consider the fact he might be in that thing?"
“He better be,” the hybrid said, rushing towards it, “Hunter, you-“
”I’m fine! I’m fine.”
The group entered the structure - Lucas, Abner, Aly, Storm, and Gale hanging near the back.
Jade, however, rushed to the front of the group, Luce having to tag along to make sure she didn't do anything.
“Luce, I won’t. We haven’t even found him yet.”
Sounds pretty shady to me," Chase chirped from within the group.
"Hopefully no one tries to kill us here. That'd be dark." said Ansat.
“Or maybe you could all shut up so I can torture Darkshade!”
The structure was a winding maze of archived texts and odd structures. Locked doors and storage boxes littered tables and walls- and a glowing magenta door obstructed an equally bright spherical light source, visible through the larger peephole. The said door connected through the facility in the same veins that were on the keystones, sapping what appeared to be the keystones' power into the room.
“The door,” the hybrid gasped, grabbing the doorknob.
The door was tightly shut, the knob volatile and wet with dripping elemental essence. Volatile here meant that the doorknob was literally composed of slightly gelatinous void magic clusters.
Jade winced, pulling her hand away like the doorknob was scalding hot. Lip bit as not to scream, she backed away.
”Someone else do it.”
The entire group turned to Dylan.
"...you want me to blow it up again?"
”Please.”
"What happens if you do touch it?" asked Ben.
“Your scar writhes in horrible pain and you want to die.”
Ben reaches in his bag and grabs some parts. "Gimme a few hours and I'll have a robotic hand." he said, grabbing his wrench.
Dylan focused on the doorknob, trying to manipulate the void magic within.
Well, before he realized everyone was still staring at him. "Could you guys not stare at me?"
"Fine, fine." said Ansat. He laid down with his legs crossed and looked at his wrist as if it was a watch.
Hunter frowned, “Just do it.”
Dylan tried again, but to no avail. "Seriously, you guys are staring at me like-"
The doorknob violently burst into particles of void magic, the explosion resounding throughout the void. The door and front wall were demolished, all traces lost somewhere throughout the void as the group was tossed back several yards.
Ears ringing, the party laid sprawled on the ground, some semiconscious, others not.
Jade got to her feet, sword brandished. Her heart pummeled, her scars burned, her hand shook.
But she was still smiling.
Ansat curled into a ball, then sprung right back up. "I might need medical attention, but let's keep going."
The siblings glanced at each other, confidence and anger covering the fear and sorrow that they’d each hidden far too long.
No words. Just one glance was necessary for comfort.
They charged through the doorway.
Ansat also charged through the doorway, but sped past the siblings due to his speed.
The doorway...
led to the exact same room, again.
The void had reset itself.
The door would not be breached so easily.
Jade cursed under her breath, but Hunter looked… relieved, almost.
"The past door didn't reset, did it?" asked Ansat.
“I have to find Darkshade. Try the rest of the crane!”
Gale was watched the three with mild amusement, somehow being the only one not affected by the previous blast.
Aly sat up, shooting him a displeased look, which in turn he sighed playfully and helped her up.
The hybrid pushed past the rest of the group, scowling as she looked around the crane.
"Listen, your fixation on trying to torture Darkshade has become really creepy. Can you not talk about it for 10 seconds?" said Ansat.
Felix watched.
"Please," Luce said with a groan, not having yet recovered from being blasted.
“I need to torture him, Ansat, you wouldn’t understand.”
"Need to or want to?"
She didn’t respond, the hybrid was already out of sight.
Ansat muttered a swear word in Japanese before dashing off.
Samantha sat up, rubbed her forehead, before staring at the reset door. "Seriously?"
“Seriously,” the Earth Trainee called, clearly very annoyed.
"Alright, I already got my robotic arm working. Leave it to me!" said Ben.
Luce, who was now sitting up, eyed the contraption skeptically, "That stuff on the door is the equivalent to acid, do you really think that's going to work?"
"Relax. When I stick my hand into this thingy, it acts as a motion control camera. It goes through the extendable part, then it goes to the fake hand, which is covered in thick metal." explained Ben.
Olivia was listening, "I have literally no idea what you just said."
"Whatever, I don't care." said Ben. He tried to use the robotic hand to open the door, but it failed, big time.
"Welp, seems like we're gonna need some help."
The veins connecting the door to the other locked paths appeared linked- the doorframe had multicolored cuff-like rings conforming to its upper left and right areas, supposedly composed of sapped energy. The various odd boxes and labyrinthine shelves that surrounded the area were oh-so-conveniently situated as to suggest that they helped break the reset door's magic.
Ansat had managed to fall asleep.
Luce looked at the door, gaze darting from the rings to the boxes to the shelves, "I think it's a puzzle."
Aly immediately looked at a particular borg, "Storm, aren't you good at puzzles?"
"Yeah, when I'm under the control of a hive mind and have zero humanity." He responded rather sarcastically, "But I can give it a go I guess..."
“Well, hurry up and solve it!” Jade demanded.
The reset door's activation appeared to awaken something else.
Mildly metallic creaking and thumping could be heard from the far corner of the room, rapidly increasing in tempo as the sound gradually became closer. Electric crackling could now be heard as well.
"Jade you're not helping," the borg responded, "If you want me to hurry up then help me open these boxes."
“Fine,” she sighed, immediately slashing through with her sword, using a bit more force than necessary.
After ten or so boxes Storm was staring blankly at the contents.
Luce sighed, "What is it?"
"It's a key."
"That... seems too simple."
“We should at least try it,” Hunter said, stepping over to inspect it, “Is anything about it out of the ordinary?”
The tech wizard frowned, "No, it seems pretty much normal."
"Maybe one of the rings? I mean, why put them there if they don't do anything?"
The metal rushing was even closer now, a blaring scarlet light casting shadows through the shelves.
The pack had about 10 seconds to move before whatever was coming bulldozed its way through everyone's spines.
“Oh my god, open some random doorway now,” the hybrid called, glancing nervously at the sound.
"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT," the borg slid the key into a random keyhole and turned it, the door clicking open.
Luce looked on blankly, "This is too easy."
“Maybe Darkshade just wants us to fight him. And I’ll take that opportunity,” Jade said.
"I highly doubt that but GET INTO THE ROOM." The Shadow Warden darted through the doorway, being followed by the rest of the group, some being half-dragged, half-carried. The door was slammed shut the second the last person went in, no person being fully relieved.
The doorway led to a different room, an imprint of a keystone within. It appeared to be blazing, similar veins running across the surface to that of the keystones in the Academy. The metal screeching was even closer now, revealed to be a 2 ton rectangular robot with frontal spider-like legs and a giant electrical wall coating its front. Its eye appeared to be casting the light- the entire room was now drenched in red.
"Hell-born son of a-" A saber was powered up, calculations displaying on the viewing side of a visor, "-what in the name of Astral?"
The robot slammed into the doorframe, blinding red glare leaving spots in everyone's vision. It furiously shoved and crushed against the structure, but was unable to enter- it soon veered off to the hallway on the left.
Jade winced at the sight, wishing she could something about it.
"Well? How do we get in?" Felix asked.
“Storm?” Hunter asked, “Can you think of a way?”
"Well, uh..." He exhaled deeply, gripping the handle of his lightsaber tightly, "How about I go first? I mean, it can't really do anything to me unless it rams into me at full force."
“Well, be careful.”
”And successful,” his sister called, stabbing her sword into the ground.
Olivia folded her arms.
He shot one regretful look before dashing in the hallway and veering left. He kept running in that direction, turning only when he heard that horrible screech of metal, visor recording every turn. His lab coat flurried behind him as he finally came to a stop, faint red light ahead.
Jade winced, resisting the urge to help him, and more importantly, attack the monster.
Felix instinctively gripped the handle of his blade.
The void machine screamed and sparked against the corners of the shelves as it began to round upon Storm at maximum velocity. The maze itself began to shift as well, bookcases and objects rearranging.
Storm froze briefly before darting forward and slashing at the machine's multiple legs and dashing back, electricity beginning to convey and conduct around the borg.
The machine had absolutely no visible damage or even tarnish to it at the touch of the weapon. It was able to reach out and slam one of its legs into Storm's left one, crushing muscle and bone. Consequently, the borg was immediately immobilized as the machine tried to get past him by tearing him apart in its legs like a paper shredder. However, the robot was getting caught up in Storm's lab coat like a Roomba trying to eat a loose piece of fabric, the trainee's electricity beginning to pull against Void TR3-VR's own.
A dragon was unleashed on the machine, Felix standing in the hallway.
The machine took no damage once more, but appeared to be unbalanced from the impact, precariously tipping over Storm as it scrambled for footing.
A glowing, orange spear slammed into the robot's front, bouncing off harmlessly while tipping the machine over the other way. As it thudded on the ground, Samantha emerged from the darkness of the void, staring at the metal creature, spinning her wand. Resulting in water sloshing out of the wand every time it arced downwards. She looked down at the constant splashing, staring at the puddle beneath her. "Well that's convenient." Samantha turned, locating Chase's spear, picking it up, before charging at the robot. She jammed the spear into the ground, vaulting off of it, launching herself at the bot. She turned her wand upside down, water pouring out of it as she approached it. She vaulted over the machine, drenching it with charged water as she arced overhead, landing harmlessly on the other side. Sparks leaped out of the machine as its movements grinded to a halt. "Lights out, bolthead."
Unfortunately, the forward-tipping robot immediately began to fall once more as it was permanently denied footing, crushing Storm into the floor. The convenient bottom-heaviness of the robot was barely keeping him alive, giving his body some semblance of space.
The flawed copy of the original bot may have been non-impervious to damage, but it was certainly not impervious to gravity.
WHOOPS!
*insert canned laughter here.*
The space and time ripped open with a pained screech where the void machine was, the disabled lump of metal vanishing into the rift and smashing to the ground from a parrel rift behind the group.
The tech wizard was crumpled on the ground like a wadded piece of paper, void rushing into the wounds, yet it was possible to see a glint of metal from within the flesh of his left leg.
He wasn't even screaming, not a groan, a moan, nothing.
The borg had forced himself to forget how to feel pain.
Jade winced in sympathy, turning to Aly, “Is Storm… what happened?”
The fairy didn't answer, not having one.
The imprint keystone continued to writhe and hiss with stolen essence, and it looked particularly breakable- well, it would, after Storm stopped almost dying.
The Void stopped rushing in.
Every visible wound was now scarred over in purple and black, the borg taking shuddering breaths as the abyssal essence writhed and sought out every internal injury needing healing, a disorientated hiss being heard in his thoughts as it ran into imbed components.
Soon enough, Storm slowly opened his eyes, a trace of purple in the left, hidden by the mass of bloodied gray hair.
Hunter cringed, hands lighting up with a warm glow.
His sister had a very different method, though.
Jade pointed her sword at the cyborg, eyes narrowed, “He’s corrupted.”
Gale walked up to the hybrid and gripped her wrist, making it clear that he wasn't going to let go until she lowered the blade, "If he's corrupted, so is Hunter. Put away the sword, now."
“Hunter is fine. Storm isn’t. So we incapacitate him. Simple,” the trainee snapped, shaking his hand off her wrist.
Gale sighed, "Greenheart, handle your trainee, please?"
Meanwhile Aly had approached Storm, helping him up.
"You alright?"
"Nope, but I'll be okay, I think."
"Incapacitate? Does that mean we have to put him down?" asked Ansat.
Aly glared at Ansat, "If any of you lay a finger on Storm you'll be the incapacitated one."
"Relax, I like the dude. He's fun to crack puns with."
“I don’t know what happened to the cyborg, but he’s not fine and likely going to attack us all,” Jade said, turning her sword over in her hands, “And you’re all familiar with me doing that.”
Storm exhaled deeply, "Mind addressing me by name? I don't have anything against being called a cyborg but when you say it like that you're making me sound like some thing."
The hybrid frowned, “Are you-“
”Jade. Don’t be insensitive,” Hunter sighed, sitting down next to her, “Sorry, Storm.”
"Jade, leave Storm alone, please," Greenheart said with a sigh.
"It's... fine." The tech wizard responded to Hunter. He looked discomforted but didn't say anything else.
Gale put his hands on his hips, "I don't want to sound insensitive, but we still need to find Darkshade."
The hybrid smiled, wiping off her sword with her shirt, “Finally, we’re in agreement. Come on.”
Luce was busy observing the imprints in the room, "Hey, aren't these the same veins on the keystones?"
“What?” Hunter groaned, crossing over, “Careful.”
A certain Ivory Fairy walked over to them, "They are."
"What would happen if we were, to say, break them? Would it break whatever connection there is?"
Chase, Dylan, Sea, Ignis, Abner, and Lucas approached the rest of the group, having just regained consciousness.
"Nice of you to join us," Aly said at their arrival.
Samantha handed Chase's spear back to him. "Thanks," he said, spinning it.
"Yeah, you're welcome...I guess..." she muttered back.
"What's wrong? You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Samantha replied, glancing at Storm's void-filled injuries. Chase gave Samantha an inquiring look, cut off by Greenheart.
"You two gonna help us destroy this keystone or just chat?"
“Hunter,” Jade said from behind him, voice low.
The hybrid turned, “What?”
From her grim look, it wasn’t going to be good.
”You love me, don’t you?”
”O-of course, Jade.”
”If I ask you to swear something, will you break the swear?”
”Depe-“
”Yes or no?” She demanded, stepping closer.
”…no. No, I’ll never break a promise with you. But-“
The trainee but her lip, nervous to ask the question, “I know you want to fight Darkshade with me.”
Hunter groaned, “You’re not stopping-“
”I’m not. I’ve given up refusing help from you.”
”So… what?” He asks, already hesitant, “What’s your request?”
Their eyes met.
Jade takes a deep breath, lowering her voice more before she speaks, “I’m killing him. You know that.”
”That I do.”
”But you saw what happened with Storm. He turned into… a Voidwalker.”
Hunter drops their gaze, “And?”
”Look, when I fight Darkshade, he will hurt me. And you know I’ll kill him even if I die with him.”
”That I know as well. I can’t persuade you,” the hybrid sighs, “Though I wish I could.”
Jade nods, seemingly more content. “Good. But here’s the problem.”
They’re right next to each other now, whispering.
”What if he doesn’t kill me? What if I become a Voidwalker?”
Hunter swallows, “I thought about that, too. I’d struggle with your becoming one, but-“
”No.”
”What?”
”No, I’d rather die. So, Hunter… swear this on your life.”
”I swear on my life.”
”You won’t break this promise,” the hybrid says, completely serious.
”I won’t.”
”You have to kill me, should I become one.”
The blood drains from Hunter’s face, “I can’t-“
“You have to kill me,” Jade whispers, “You swore.”
”I-I did. But-“
”I’m not living out life like that. You know I’d do the same to you.”
The hybrid tries for a joke, “Should I be concerned you’d be okay with killing me?”
That gets a breathy laugh out of her, “I wouldn’t be okay with it. But I’d do it if you became a Voidwalker. So please, Hunter, if I become a Voidwalker, kill me.”
A pause…
Hunter nods.
Jade’s face breaks into a tiny grin, “Thank you.”
"So, what are we gonna do about Storm?" asked Ansat.
"What do you mean what are you going to do about me?" He eyed Ansat warily, biting his lip.
Both siblings turned from their conversation, Hunter visibly shaken up.
”Your Void abilities are an asset, but you could still be dangerous,” Jade said, “And we should be willing to kill if necessary.”
"Like, how are we going to help you?" said Ansat, replying to Storm.
"This is Iota level buffoonery. You don't even know if I'm actually a Voidwalker, Jade and Hunter both got hurt in the void and nothing happened - and even if I was, pretty much all the Voidwalkers we ran into are in full control of themselves."
“Well, that’s fantastic. But how do you feel? I know for sure none of them were fine. They weren’t the strongest mentally, and definitely weren’t afraid to kill.”
"Hell-born bit-" Aly slapped a hand over his mouth, cutting him off mid swear.
"He's fine, other worse he would've electrocuted us all by now."
He pushed away from her hand, "I would not."
"May I remind you what happened when you-"
"THAT'S IRRELEVANT- I mean... er... uh... eheh..."
"I didn't mean anything about Voidwalkers- just forget what I said." said Ansat.
Storm sighed, "Sorry, I was mainly talking to Jade because SOMEONE can't remember I can hear them." He gave both hybrids a pointed glare, his single visible eye burning with anger.
“I’m saying there are risks with you being a Voidwalker now, and we should be careful,” the trainee snapped.
"Geez, do none of you trust me? Sure, I've done some stupid stuff before but I'm not some serial killer. You're the ins- actuallynevermindIsaidnothing."
Felix sighed.
"If I'm being honest, I didn't even know you until a few weeks ago, so I know nothing about any stupid things." said Ansat.
Hunter groaned, “Jade. You’re being insensitive.”
“I’m just-“ she stopped herself, “Fine. But when we find Darkshade, be wary of Storm.”
If it was possible for him to look any angrier, one glare at Jade said all. The borg exhaled frustratedly but said nothing else.
"Wow, she's buzzing people off even more than I buzz authority figures off." snarked Ansat.
The shelves began rearranging once more, and the imprint keystone continued to drain its respective element from the realm of creation- considering Chase's increasingly mulberry features, it was almost finished consuming Fire entirely. The blazing void imprint sat still, veins coursing to the door dripping orange.
“Chase?” Hunter asked, wincing at his weak state.
Chase turned to the keystone. "Well...time to expose the crack in Darkshade's plan," he said, gripping his spear as he approached the keystone.
Chase's appearance continued to descend into violet as time dragged on without a shattered keystone imprint- such things reflected on the appearances of the other wardens.
Chase raised his spear over the gem, bringing it down.
The spear smashed into the false keystone, shattering it.
The elemental essence burst out of the broken veins, splashing onto the ground, inching towards Chase.
The gem fragments clinked and dissipated into nothing once they stopped rebounding off the floor and walls. As the sapping vein decomposed up to the orange seal on the sealed chamber's doorframe, the seal itself broke with a loud metallic shatter, fading into dust.
Suddenly, around 20 monsters' worth of footprints began to arise from behind the group, and 20 pairs of gleaming purple eyes could be seen in the dark.
Jade unsheathed her sword.
A lightsaber powered up and an Icy Blade glinted in the resulting light, Aly and Storm exchanged a glance, both of their weapons raised.
Void construct replicas of Spire-native monsters charged from the shadows. Arachexes to Embersheds, almost every fully-evolved monster from the Spire was present in a fake, copied form.
The second a monster jumped near her, Jade sliced at its head, black essence splattering the ground.
Abyssal flames and claws tore and singed the entire room, the shelves audibly shifting behind the doorway.
Storm's saber grazed through a horde of monsters that got too close, Aly doing likewise, but notably more recklessly.
Blasts of light incinerated several monsters, the caster shooting a concerned look at his sister.
The beasts attacked even more furiously as they saw their kin fall, landing flame and fang upon the gang.
Felix cast an astral dome, shielding them from the beasts.
"Nice going, Icicle Brains!" said Ansat, sounding genuine.
With the help of the dome, the group shuffled forward in the opposing direction of the imprint monsters, where ahead lay another box.
Jade slashed at the remaining monsters and followed the group, the rest of the monsters snarling behind the Astral dome.
The gleam from the closed-off chamber cut off suddenly. Movement could be faintly made out from the shadows, the figure of RW Darkshade visible against the glass where the porthole-like window was on the door. The figure moved back into the dark, and the magenta light resumed its brightness.
It was all Hunter could do to hold his sister back, Jade snarling at the figure and swinging her sword, teeth gritted and eyes wild.
"I hate this so much!" muttered Ansat.
After getting the box open, Aly shoved the key in the keyhole, turning it clockwise. The door swung open, and the Ice Warden gripped her blade tensely.
The hybrid’s eyes were still focused on where the figure once stood, her expression less like a human’s and more like a predator’s.
Ansat got into a fighting position. Speed. That's all I need. he thought.
The new gem imprint was dripping wet, veins blue. Samantha's features were now noticeably indigo compared to the essence within the sapping tubes.
A certain petite half-merling glanced at Samantha, "You want to do this or...?"
“Jade. Not now,” Hunter hissed in his sister’s ear, trying with all his might to pull her away.
"No, you do it," Samantha replied to the merling, forcing a little smile.
"Sammy-"
"Chase, she'll do it," Samantha said, cutting off the Fire Warden.
Sea shot the Water Warden a curious look before walking up to the imprint of keystone, breathing deeply before striking it with her Hurricane Wand as forcefully as possible.
The gem cracked before shattering , blue essence sloshing toward her and Samantha.
More footsteps and skittering from behind. This time, the horde was of Water monsters, and there were 5 seconds of breathing room before they started drenching.
A net of vines blocked the blasts completely, absorbing the water.
Hunter let go of Jade, concentrating entirely on blocking the monster’s attacks.
Storm blinked, then jumped up and tossed down his saber, it landing in the center of the horde and vaporizing the majority instantly. It gorged way into the ground before stopping at the hilt, unbeknownst to the group a miniature tendril of void tentatively turning it off, as if whoever was in control of it was almost unsure that it'll work.
Ansat blasted an Ion cannon in a random direction.
A final set of eyes emerged from the shadows, and they were... rather unnaturally high up?
A void Fathom proceeded to crash its way into the room, sending anyone within the back half of the area flying out of the door.
Fire sparked in between Chase's and Ignis' fingers, as they and the rest of the group stared down the Fathom.
Well, except Dylan who was hacking the rest of the monsters to pieces, unaware of the Fathom behind him, and Lucas, who could care less about everything around him.
There was a blue flash, and an orange flash. Two monsters got knocked out, before two adolescent wizards reappeared and high fived.
A faded Astral arrow struck the Fathom, another being loaded instantly. The forgotten Astral Relic was being gripped in the same hand holding a bow, Abner's yellow eyes focused on the imprint monster.
The next arrow was let loose.
Nobody noticed the Astral Warden, except of course his father.
Abner clutched his shoulder, but what with their guarded expressions, it looked more like he was restricting Lucas.
The wizard pulled away from the trainee, screams and explosions muffled by the memories replaying in his head.
Ian.
From his hair ruffling in the wind, to his smile, to his rolling eyes, to the face. The one of shock and pain, devoid of love. The face that he died with.
Three slices, and three monsters fell to the ground.
Four bursts of Extreme Speed, and four monsters fell.
As the rest of the grounded imprints were dealt with, Storm dashed in and grabbed his saber, shoving it away for now - there was nothing he can do to help about the Fathom, at least, without being killed by Jade.
The Fathom swirled back and let loose a jarring vocalization before unleashing a Downpourtal upon everybody.
Ansat treated being drenched like taking a shower, and Ben grabbed an umbrella.
After the Downpourtal ran it's course, Abner took fire again, more arrows being rained down.
Jade stabbed at the Fathom, black spurting out of its stomach.
The Fathom moaned in pain as it plummeted to the floor, fading into essence.
The veins connecting the imprint keystone to the blue seal on the door decomposed, destroying it like the orange one.
"Alright! Let's get going!" said Ansat, enthusiastically.
Storm pushed open the door this time, a hallway being revealed.
At the end of the hallway was the next box, presumably for opening the next door.
"Who's gonna open it this time?" asked Ben.
"I'll do it," grumbled Ignis, cindering open the box and grabbing the key. With the same procedure as before, the door clicked open, revealing yet another room.
Storm glanced at Lane, "Are you going to-"
He was cut off as the Storm Warden slammed his scythe into the imprint, both of them being drenched in gray essence.
"...a warning would've been nice." The borg only received a smirk in response.
"Okay, Fire, Water, Storm. We've got 2 left!" said Ansat.
The veins of the Storm keystone imprint decomposed and fried with electricity, releasing the gray seal on the door with a loud bang. Instead of a horde, however, the floor began to steadily creep at the gang with electric arcs and fields. The cyan sparks crept along the ground, paced, while the shelves began to shuffle once more.
"Well this is easy," The tech wizard approached the electrical fields, all the energy instantly being redirected around the borg and creating a path to the next door, "Are you guys coming or not?"
"You know I am! My god, you're so cool!" said Ansat.
The key was inserted into it's respective slot, prior to the door being pushed open. A burst of cold air was unleashed, drawing Lucas' attention. The Astral Warden's head snapped up, gazing at the room ahead.
A blur moved past two Astral Wizards, a blade making contact with the imprint of its respective keystone.
The Ice Warden looked relieved at seeing the essence, clearly having grown impatient.
"Next up's Earth. Let's get a move on, I think I left the oven on at the treehouse." said Ben.
"Wait, isn't there usually a challenge at the end of-" Storm was cut off as his questions was answered.
An imprint of someone all too familiar entered the room.
Soulless eyes and deadened expression. Husk and hollow of movement. Yet, so recognizably calm and collected, and prepared to do whatever it took to take anyone and everyone down.
The Ice essence collected into the imprint's weapon, a crystalline sickle, gaining a fair cyan sheen visible to everyone as he pointed it forward.
The voice beyond the veil spoke to Aly once more.
"t h a t i s n ' t m e ."
IMPRINT OF IAN FROSTBREAKER ACTIVE
REVIVAL ON KILL: DENIED
Void-tainted Spearicles jutted out from the ceiling, and rained down in an oversized hailstorm of blades.
Jade gasped, slicing through the icicles and facing the imprint of Ian.
Typically, she’d be hesitant to fight him…
Now, not so much.
Her sword swung at the figure, slicing at his neck.
The imprint ducked and swung his sickle, aiming for the hybrid's abdomen.
Aly exhaled deeply before adjusting her grip on her weapon. Faster than a blink, she rushed forward next to Jade and swung the blade, sword meeting pickaxe, every second of the blades colliding driving an Astral Warden to the edge.
"NO!"
Lucas watched in horror, scream resounding through the room.
Both Aly and Jade turned in shock to face the Astral Warden, who was fighting to find words.
”Don’t. Please…”
They couldn’t hurt him. It was Ian.
But it wasn’t.
This wasn’t the Ian he loved.
This wasn’t the Ian he kissed.
This wasn’t Ian.
Ian was… gone.
Suddenly, a shard of ice caught the boy in the neck.
There was no more hesitation.
All humanity was gone from Aly's gaze as spears of Ice formed from weak Ice Magic, her plunging forward and striking Ian in the chest, the icy manifestations impaled the imprint until he was dead countless times over.
Jade stood stunned, torn between helping the now-collapsed Astral Warden and going on to fight Darkshade.
She hesitated…
And then ran towards the next door.
Abner crouched down and hugged Lucas, the warden sobbing on the trainee's shoulder.
Aly glanced back at them and sighed, watching the pseudo void-tainted blood fade from existence. She only said one thing before turning her blade back into a staff, "Jacob, the next door is yours."
Jade promptly sliced the box open, grabbing the key and shoving it in the lock. Her hand was noticeably shaky and she squeezing the key a bit too tight, but the door clicked open.
Greenheart walked up to Jade, Earthquake wand in hand.
The Earth Keystone's Imprint was at the end of the room, which in turn the Professor lifted his hammer and smashed the gem with so much force the pieces went flying in the opposing direction, pieces clinking against the wall.
He lowered the emerald hammer as green element energy sloshed onto the floor, spilling towards him and Jade.
Void tainted green swirled at the end of the room, another imprint appearing in place it.
Dead amber eyes, tri-paired wings, an unusual green skin tone, flowing robes, and that staff Greenheart rarely used meet their gaze, the figure having a green streak in the mess of hair.
The trainees, Aly, Jacob, Gale, Luce, and Hunter all froze in place, recognizing the long-dead fairy instantly.
The young wardens, however... not so much. All they got from looking at the Earth Fairy was some distant, blurry memory.
Immediately, the hybrid charged at him, spear raised. Jade stood back, letting her brother attack.
Hunter slashed at the figure so much his face was just a matter mess of red.
That didn’t stop the imprint of Florian from unleashing a net of vines that overtook the room.
A string of foreign vulgar language, then, "Hunter, either he's mine or you let me destroy him before you kill him."
Astral energy was swirling around the Ivory Fairy - just because Elemental Balance wasn't working doesn't mean he can't do this.
Greenheart took a step away from him - too many fairies have gotten violent in one day, he had met his limit.
“Fine. Take him, but-“
Another blast of purple plants.
“-I kill him.”
The Astral Magic concentrated near the fairy's neck, him positioning his hands in a manner that a bit of the energy swirled into his clenched hand, forming... a hilt?
Gale thrust his hand upward, actually pulling a sword out of his chest.
His amber gaze glinted coldly as the light being cast by the elemental energy lit the area around him, instantly charging forward, blade raised and knocking the imprint back with enough brute force that the Earth Fairy was knocked out of flight, hitting the wall with multiple sickening crunches - he had broken every bone in one blow.
He lowered the blade, the point resting on the ground, "Finish him."
Meanwhile, Greenheart slumped to the ground, Storm alarmedly rushing over to him.
Hunter grinned, “What’s your problem with the guy?”
A tiny light began glowing inside the fairy’s stomach, expanding slowly until it exploded him from the inside.
”Nice.”
After a second of reveling in the sight, he turned to his sister.
”Jade…”
”Remember your promise,” she mouthed, “And follow it through.”
Jade hesitated before going on, “I love you.”
For a second, Hunter could’ve sworn he saw tears in her eyes.
But they were gone. Like always.
"H-how long has that been in there?!" Dylan stammered. "AND HOW IS HE NOT DEAD?!" The entire group gawked at the sword the fairy had generated.
With a quick flick of his hand, the claymore-like weapon dissolved into the particles, hair falling into his eyes as he replied to Hunter, "Not exactly my problem, but I made it my problem. What he did was disgusting, and the worst part was I could do nothing about it."
Aly answered Dylan's question, "Forever and never. He just concentrated Astral Energy into a weapon. Convenient, but tiring if you're not Academy Keeper or a Warden."
"W-we got all the Keystone essence stuff. Can we go home now or do we have to still face Darkshade?" asked Ansat.
Luce inspected his fingernails boredly, not at all bothered by anything that happened, "We still need to see Darkshade, and remember, first we talk. No fighting unless he attacks first."
Both siblings turned to him, having a conversation with their eyes before speaking up.
”Darkshade.”
”Darkshade.”
The main door slid up, hitting the ceiling as the final seal broke.
The magenta gleam within silenced, and the room illuminated just enough to see the voidwalker within.
It took all the strength Hunter had to hold his screaming sister back from what was basically suicide.
”Jade, negoti-“
“NO!”
The trainee shoved her brother away, sword slashing at the Voidwalker with completely inhuman anger…
Jade was broken.
No, not broken.
Redone, remade, recrafted into a ruthless monster.
Ansat got into a stance, but then got back to normal after remembering that they were there to talk.
"DAMMIT, JADE!" screamed Ben
The voidwalker caught the guard of Jade's sword as another slash swooped down towards him. "So you're here to talk... sans the insane one. What do you want?"
Luce sighed, "Sorry about that, we want to know why you're obliged to do this. Gale let the void elemental hang around... what else is there that you want?"
Hunter pulled the girl back, but she didn’t seem to care.
”Jade, please-“
Another scream, and the hybrid was knocked backwards.
”Jade…”
The trainee faced Darkshade, her sword not a sword anymore… just something to murder with.
Ben flew over to Jade, and grabbed her arms. He flew upwards. "You're not going anywhere!" he said.
"...They'd stab me to death if I told you," explained the voidwalker, who had by now pushed Jade's weapon off to the side. "I just want to keep existing. This is the only place where I can, and if their plan goes through, then I can be real anywhere."
A slash, and Ben fell to the ground, a line of red across his chest.
Jade turned to attack, but Hunter held her down, ignoring her guttural screams.
”Stab you to death?” The hybrid screamed, “GOOD!”
The voidwalker glanced away with distaste from Jade's rabid kill frenzy, and a snap of his fingers encased the hybrid inside of another hexagonal cage.
"Wait, who would stab you to death?" Luce's gaze was unreadable, yet a certain Ivory Fairy knew well what he was thinking.
"Luce..."
Ansat charged at the structure. "YOU DON'T HURT BEN AND GET AWAY WITH IT!!" he yelled.
Hunter turned to the Voidwalker, “Why… Why would you do it? You broke Jade, you nearly killed me… why?”
"You posed a threat to their plans. You're all skilled. You've got the keeper on your side, he's basically a deity that can die- hell, the cyborg over there can time travel!" the Voidwalker said. "If I didn't try to take you down, you'd have stopped our plot far too early for anything to happen."
“So you’re just as evil as the rest of them,” he snarled, “My sister is…”
Hunter gestured at the psychotic Jade, unable to find words.
Storm actually had the audacity to shoot Darkshade a look at being called "the cyborg" again, but Luce ignored him.
"Can you answer my question? I understand that you want to live but... is there another way?"
Shards of Void crystal sprayed everywhere as a sword slashed through the air, Jade tumbling out only to be held down by Hunter.
After Storm helped Greenheart back up, he glanced at Hunter, whispering, "Do you want help?"
“Yes. Please,” he mouthed back, wresting Jade’s sword from her grip.
He shuffled over, grabbing her arm with his right hand and carefully prying her fingers off the sword with the help of his brace, allowing Hunter to take it.
The trainee stopped struggling, only glared at her brother with tears in her eyes.
”I’m sorry,” he whispered.
Only another glare met him.
Felix watched.
"That isn't possible. Not without..." RW Darkshade's voice trailed off in consideration. "That thing, the elemental... it'd have to swallow this timeline whole. This reality would continue to exist, but... anything from it, or locked within it, would be a husk. A dead piece of the timespace continuum, doomed to do absolutely nothing for the rest of forever."
Gale cringed from the back of the group, his expression making it clear that was not going to happen as long as he had something to say about it.
Luce sighed, he was running out of options, "Do you even know if you'll actually stop existing if you left the void?"
“You’re just as bad as the others,” Hunter snapped, spear raised, “Since all you care about is yourself.”
Ansat had managed to calm down, and Ben got up.
Ben was about to topple over when Ansat caught him.
Everyone was focused on Darkshade…
No one noticed the hybrid until it was too late.
A whirl of green sliced at the Voidwalker, straight across his face.
Ansat and Ben rush at Jade and grab her arms. "So sorry, Darkshade." said Ben.
The trainee knocked both of them to the ground, only to be tackled by her brother.
"I'LL GET YOU IN A BODY BAG!" yelled Ben.
He fired up his laser gun, and aimed for Jade.
"I'LL GET YOU, AND I DON'T CARE IF I HIT YOUR BROTHER EITHER!"
A beam of light incinerated the laser gun, Hunter sighing in annoyance.
”Ansat, control him.”
Ansat sighed. "Fine, but try a little harder to control your sister. She's ruining the plan." he said.
"The plan to negotiate," Luce quickly corrected, visibly stressed.
"Right, and that plan involves no attacking!" said Ansat.
"...It's happened before." The voidwalker's hesitation was overshadowed by his confidence, knowing this as fact. "They've tried this before. Brought me into the void, forced me through the same process that they've been in. But because I was never apparent during the creation of this timeline... i've been bound here."
“Jade. Calm down. Please,” Hunter murmured, running a hand across her cheek.
The trainee snarled at him, flinching away, “Get away from me!”
”Jade…”
“Get away!” She snapped, pushing her brother away.
Her sword returned to her hand, but the pull was shakier.
Jade struggled to her feet, growling slightly as she glared at Darkshade.
"KEEP AN EYE ON HER, ANSAT!" said Ben.
RW restrained the hybrid using a network of tentacles, wrapping Jade in a cocoon-like bundle up to her head.
"Again, we're so sorry, Darkshi- Darkshade." said Ansat.
Luce looked at the Voidwalker with something that could only be empathy.
"Luce, whatever you're thinking stop thinking it." Gale hissed in his ear, trying not to be overheard by Darkshade.
"What IS he thinking?" Chase whispered, rather loudly.
Aly slowly face palmed, "God damn it, Chase-"
"Can't. They know where I am, at all times. I'm basically a shining beacon of void magic because of the fact I was able to make spells out of it. It's like... leaving a trail. A scent. I couldn't escape if I tried, and if I did, i'd be dead already."
"Why don't you clone yourself? I don't know if that's a thing Voidwalkers do, but if you can, they probably won't be able to tell who's who." said Ansat.
“Why don’t you just allow yourself to die? Isn’t death better than this life?” The hybrid asked, reaching for his restrained sister only for her to pull away.
"I'd be brought back. Over and over. Forever, without end. Voidwalkers are denied natural access to the Lotus Realm the moment they become as such. That afterlife is locked away to those such as me." RW sighed. "We get locked in the barrier between the void and the Lotus Realm. While this is normally just permanent, the others of me can break in and drag me out."
Hunter gaped at the Voidwalker for a count of three before muttering, “So that excuses you from your… actions?”
"Admittedly, no. I had the option to refuse back before... when I was just that one bounty hunter, wandering about Lamplight aimlessly." The regret in RW's voice was barely there, but so incredibly apparent. "I didn't. It was too alluring, and... it still is."
Before Darkshade could continue monologuing, an array of people fell out of the shadows, most landing on their feet.
The Voidwalkers.
The voidwalker sighed, exasperated. "How long have you people been clinging to my roof, eavesdropping?"
Ansat was in shock, but Ben stayed still.
"RW, don't forget your purpose," a female voice emanated throughout the void, originating from the center of the group.
"If I did, I wouldn't be talking about it. Be logical," snapped back RW.
A slow clap resounded through the room.
“Wonderful speech. Truly, I teared up,” Kong said, brushing off his tuxedo. His eyes drifted about, noting each person he’d met before. “Nice to see you all again.”
Zoe looked about the room, eyes landing on Jade, “Oh, good. Easy target.”
"Hey there, King Kong! Long time no see!" said Ansat
“Hello… what’s your name again? Sorry, but hard to remember the names of someone so…”
Kong looked the speedy wizard up and down, “Like you.”
The Void coiled around them, forming a ridiculously sharp knife, “I’ll get rid of the siblings first, then the ice girl, then the gray thing.”
"Well, you'll have to go through me first, and you know how that went last time." Said Ansat.
“I won? And Zoe, negotiate before you start killing.”
”You’re no fun.”
"Ah, damn you, you simian savage. Anyways, I got my best friend with me, so I'll win this time." replied Ansat.
“Keep telling yourself that. Now, Darkshade, what do you think you’re doing?”
Ansat kept yelling insults, before Ben stopped him.
A hooded Voidwalker grumbled, "Ralph, you idiot, did you have to shove Cero?"
A taller Voidwalker, Cero, was eying the group warily, "That's what I'm wondering."
The voidwalker muttered something as the room darkened and he grasped his scythe, blade now invisible in the gloom.
“Naleese. Fantastic seeing you again. Are you going to fight? Because I’d rather you not. This is serious,” Kong said, twirling a black stick between his fingers.
"Fight?!" Said Ansat.
"Not now, dude." said Ben
"Not now Kong," She hissed in response, gripping an arrow.
“You’re right. Not now. Get out of the way, this is a proper battle.”
"Listen here, King Kong. We're not idiots-well, except for Chase-"
"Hey!" the fire warden exclaimed, cutting off Lane.
"Shut up. Anyway, don't expect us to try to fall for your so-called manipulation tactics," Lane continued.
m not trying anything, just getting a certain ‘Voidwalker’ out of the way.”
"Can you start with this idiot right here?" a black-haired female voidwalker said, shoving Ralph.
"Now wait a minute, Melanie-"
"I will put an arrow through your skull sooner or later if you don't shut up," she hissed.
Tendrils of void materialized in the area around Naleese, ignoring the wardens entirely, "Are you saying I can't fight? You can't do anything without that savage following you around, not to mention that hideous snake."
Cero glared at them, gray eyes showing only annoyance, "Are you going to argue or are you going to come to the realization that not only is he about to throw a fit, one of those idiots is a Voidwalker?"
Kong laughed, “Yes, I’m implying you can’t fight. You also can’t lie, can’t act, can’t do magic, can’t…”
While the Voidwalkers fought, a single hybrid tumbled out of her net of Void - Darkshade had forgotten about her.
An explosion of vines knocked Darkshade over, while a sword sliced at Kong and Zoe.
"I want in on that!" yelled Ansat. He charged at Kong, while Ben charged at Zoe
A sword knocked both of them away.
”They’re mine.” Jade hissed, glaring at the Voidwalkers with a gaze… far too similar to theirs.
Naleese looked smug, vanishing into the shadows again and letting Jade do the dirty work.
Cero backed away slowly, gripping his polearm incase she attacked him too.
"You can take that sword and shove it! I'm taking Kong!" said Ansat. He jumped over Jade, and continued charging at Kong.
"It's not her you have to worry about, it's me," Lane hissed from behind Cero, right before landing a brain-rattling punch to the latter's head.
Darkshade regained balance by digging in his scythe, proceeding to hold up his weapon with the same magenta glow as it did when he used Void Nova.
"Abyssal Rend."
He slashed at the air, sending a crescent wave of deadly essence soaring slowly through the width of the room.
The hybrid snarled, turning her attention to Darkshade now.
Slash after slash after slash aimed at the Voidwalker, each with more force than the last.
Ansat dodged the wave, and landed 3 hits on Kong.
Ben flew up to Zoe, and used a Volcannon.
A barricade of Void formed between the rst of the group, separating them from the Voidwalkers... well, most of them.
The barrier vanished after the spell ran its course, the group first staring at Dylan - who raised his hands in defense, then at Luce - who shrugged, and finally a certain tech wizard.
"What? I didn't do anything."
Unbeknownst to the group, he stuck up his middle finger behind his back at Cero, who was instantly assaulted by a void tentacle.
A sword hilt caught Storm in the back, the wielder stabbing downwards at him.
Luckily, the blade caught metal, scraping against plating instead of doing damage. Storm winced, electricity generating and giving the attacker a nasty shock, who in turn was Jade.
Felix hovered above on his rainbow cloud, observing and ready to strike when needed to.
“Jade, that’s not-“
Hunter groaned, knowing his sister was far beyond able to see reason.
Instead he turned to Storm, muttering, “You know she wants me to kill her. I can’t.”
Lane took advantage of Cero's distracted state, sweeping his legs out from under him with his own, grabbing the back of his collar, and sticking his scythe right in front of the voidwalker's neck. If he fell any more than an inch, Cero's head would simply be detached from the rest of his body.
"Then don't." He jumped out the way of Jade's blade as it struck the ground, hearing the sound of it cutting air long before it struck its mark.
The hybrid gasped, pushing Jade out of the way.
“Please-“
The sword barely missed his neck.
Olivia watched the chaos.
Ansat continued his barrage of hits on Kong.
Another splash of poison, and the hiss of a snake.
Ansat rolled away, before running up the wall like he was Faith from Mirror's Edge.
A knife hit Ansat’s ribs, sending him hurtling backwards.
Meanwhile, Jade was fighting a reluctant Darkshade, nearly killing him were it not for her brother.
Greenheart spun his hammer before charging into the midst of the voidwalkers, slamming his weapon into the ground, unleashing a massive shockwave that knocked everyone within the vicinity at least 3 feet away, crashing to the ground. "Are the rest of you going to stand there or help?"
Lane groaned, being within that vicinity. "Not if you're going to knock us away immediately," he grunted, lying on the ground, staring upwards.
"Fight me like a man next time!" said Ansat.
Ben was flying around Zoe at 50 mph.
The snake bit at Ansat, poison dripping off its fangs.
A ball of Void knocked Ben to the ground, knife poised to stab his heart.
A Luma's Sun Ray Rod slashed at Zoe, forcing her to back away from Ben.
Meanwhile, a voidwalker, quickly retreated to the shadows, loaded a single Void-infused arrow, taking aim on an unsuspecting Dylan.
Ben kicked the knife away, and sucker punched Zoe in the face.
A blackish wound was now cut across her forearm, but Jade kept fighting, nearly killing her brother.
Cero, now not under the threat of Lane's scythe, sat up with a groan - only to be assaulted by yet another tentacle.
Chase slashed and jabbed at Zoe, who was struggling to regain her composure, occasionally whacking her on the side of the head with the flat end of the hot blade, continuously driving her back, Ben getting the occasional punch in.
Ansat forced himself up, despite being in no condition to fight, and ran up the wall again, this time, he jumped off the wall, and landed on Kong's head. Ansat jumped on Kong's head repeatedly.
Two jabs of pain ran up Chase’s leg, the snake having bit his ankle. Poison rushed through his veins, the wizard falling to the ground.
Ansat kept jumping on Kong's head, until he was forced on the ground.
A tentacle of Void knocked the speedy wizard away, Kong groaning in a mixture of pain and annoyance.
A cry of pain escaped Chase's lips as he hit the ground, writhing whilst grabbing his ankle. "CHASE!" Samantha rushed over to the injured fire warden, kneeling down at his side. She was quickly met with a dagger, centimeters from her neck.
Ansat dashed at Kong again, and kicked him in the gut before blasting him towards a wall with an Ion Cannon.
Kong and Zoe both smirked, turning to face Ansat and Ben.
Another black wound across Jade’s leg, the hybrid visibly weaker and angrier.
"Let's do this thing!" said Ansat.
Ansat and Ben both fist-bumped before getting into battle stances.
A knife flew at Ansat’s chest, while the snake hissed in apparent joy and slithered over to Ben.
Samantha stared at the two gaping wounds in Chase's left ankle, filling with a mixture a fury and sadness. A bubble of water formed around Zoe's and Kong's heads, cutting off all oxygen intake. After 30 seconds of the voidwalkers scratching at the bubbles of water, desperate for oxygen, she picked up Chase's spear, gripping it so tightly that her knuckles turned white. She drove it into the balls of water, slowly heating them up. The water began to bubble ferociously, vapor being emitted as more water was added and boiled.
Both Voidwalkers struggled to escape, but their attempts were failed.
Ansat pulled the knife out of his chest. "You aim as bad as you fight. That missed my heart!" he said.
He threw the knife to the ground, and collapsed.
Before the snake could strike at Ben or her, Samantha drove her foot on it's head with a sickening crunch.
Ben flew over to Ansat and gave him a potion.
Ansat got up, and charged at Kong. He kicked Kong in the head, him going flying into a wall and falling to the ground with a sickening thud - two failsafes gone.
"Na-Naleese-" Cero stuttered at seeing the fallen Voidwalker.
A hand reached out of nowhere, grabbing him by the neck and yanking him out of sight.
Ansat sat down, panting heavily, when Ben ran over to him, grinning ear to ear.
"Did you see that? That was so amazing!" he said.
Ansat didn't respond. He just smiled.
This was the Ben he had met on North Island.
This was the Ben that he had saved from the polar bear.
This was the Ben that was his best friend and younger brother figure.
A mass of electrically infused tendrils burst from the ground, entangled, shocking, and generally stopping Melanie and Ralph from doing anything - all while an Ice Warden dumped a bag of fairy dust on Chase, preparing herself for the sneeze.
Hunter was pulling his sister away now, but to no avail.
Black wounds covered her body, her scars glowing black. She had succeeded in getting rid of one of Darkshade’s failsafe’s… but at what cost?
Chase sat up shaking the fairy dust off of his face. "I think some got into my mouth,' he said spitting it out. The Ice fairy raised an eyebrow in surprise. "What?" Suddenly, the fire warden sneezed so hard that he toppled back over, body jerking from repeated sneezes.
"There it is," she said, turning away.
RW's eyes narrowed. "Stand down, hybrid. I'm not letting you be sealed like I was."
There was a flicker of hesitance and fear in her gaze, but anger quickly overtook it.
Another sword slash, before she collapsed.
The voidwalker's scythe gleaned off the strike, sparks still present in the air.
"...Unfortunate."
RW turned around, footwear threatening another phase to an unknown location.
"Do you still want to challenge them? Stop the raid on the Academy we planned?"
"Wait, raid on the academy?!" said Ben
"There's a reason we sapped the keystones. The building is weak. Exposed. Without it, this timeline disappears, and your threat as the root world's denizens is vanquished. The Void wins. But you... you might still be able to stop it, if you reach the area in time."
The voidwalker turned back to the group, eyes focused.
"If you still think there's a chance, then i'll send us there. If not... then I'll try to get you to a different continuum, at the cost of my aforementioned life. No biggie."
Gale's eyes narrowed, "How do we know we can-"
A hand slammed over his mouth, belonging to a certain Shadow Warden.
Surprisingly, Storm was the one who did the talking, "Look, we've been through a lot of garbage - if we can't get out of this one, so be it. Besides... as you said, I can time travel. If we do run out of time, there are... methods."
Zoe had stopped struggling, hanging in the bubble limply. The Luma's Sun Ray Rod inched closer to Zoe's face, about to make contact. "Samantha, stop." The spear stopped it's movement, lowering out of the bubble shakily. "Let her go."
The Water Warden turned, meeting the gaze of the Fire Warden. "But she...she almost got you killed!"
"Samantha, this isn't you. Put her down, please."
"But..." Samantha trailed off, staring at her reflection in the spear's blade. Her cold, ruthless expression glared back at her. The bubble behind her splashed on the ground, dropping the unconscious voidwalker, burn marks visible all over her face. The spear clattered on the ground next to the water warden. In her shock, it still took her a while to comprehend the fact that Chase had pulled her into a hug. "I-I nearly killed Storm with that thing too..." she whispered hoarsely, choking back tears. No response. Chase simply hugged her tighter.
Meanwhile, a certain Storm trainee made a mental note to bring this up later.
Felix watched.
"Aww!" said Ansat and Ben, touched by the moment.
A weak groan, Jade shuddering and gasping.
Her scars glowed black, this time seeming to grow on her wrists and ankles.
Her eyes found Hunter’s for the first time not full of anger or hatred. Only desperation and helplessness.
“Please, Hunter…” she whispered, “Your promise.”
“I-“
“Please… kill me.”
“I-“
The hybrid felt like he was being torn to pieces.
His sister, the person she loved more than anything, wanted to die, and worse, wanted him to do it.
But he couldn’t.
So all Hunter could do was shake his head and let his tears fall.
“Please,” Jade begged, tears running down her cheeks, “I thought you loved me.”
“I do, but I can’t- can’t do- this.”
A weak scream came from the trainee, a scream of longing and hatred and sorrow and pain and another thing, something Hunter couldn’t place a finger on.
It was pleading.
Never in his life had he seen Jade so helpless, not when she was dying, not when she was crying, not when she was screaming in the dark of night.
Jade’s body was covered in gruesome black, taking over the weak and already dying body.
There was one thing Hunter knew about his sister. One thing that never changed.
It was that she hated asking for help.
And now, Jade was doing it. Crying. Screaming. Begging.
And all Hunter could do was watch, watch as his sister broke and then changed…
Into a Voidwalker.
When she looked up at him again, he didn’t see the eyes of the girl who loved him, who cried with him, who fought with him.
He saw the eyes of a monster.
Aly tensed immediately staring in Storm's direction where he was... gone?
Meanwhile the tech wizard had phased into reality behind a certain hybrid - surprised that it actually worked - before tackling Jade, tendrils of void binding her sword so tightly to the ground it'll be impossible to get a hold on it.
The hybrid struggled, but his grip was far too strong. All she could do was stare at her brother with a mix of anger, sorrow, and betrayal.
They managed the gaze for about two seconds before Hunter looked away, tears coming and coming until sobs filled the air.
The one person he loved.
Gone.
Storm looked up at Hunter before speaking to Jade, "Jade, listen to me, calm down. None of us want to hurt you, especially Hunter, but we're going to have to if you don't stop it - and you know we won't kill you so don't even dare think that *** you have going on."
She only responded with a glare, clearly not believing him.
At that, he shot Gale a look, who crossed his arms and harrumphed, only for Luce to stare him down.
"FINE. How en de faen nor am I related to you?"
Storm looked back at Jade, "Could you be reasonable for one day? Please?"
“She won’t,” Hunter said from behind him, voice shaky, “I did break our promise, after all… and she’s a Voidwalker now. Just let her cool off.”
At the mention of her being a Voidwalker, Jade winced, “I’m not one of them.”
The borg stared at her, "I'm literally right here."
The trainee stared at him for a count of three…
Then she kicked him away and ran, ignoring the sobs of her brother.
A string of curses and- he vanished. Again.
The tech wizard reappeared in front of Jade, twisting his foot in a manner to help him keep his footing - resulting in the hybrid being the only one falling down when she crashed into him.
"Sheesh."
“Storm, let it go. She can’t do anything right now and the more you stop her, the more deranged she gets,” Hunter called.
Storm sighed, "Fine." Yet instantly, a rift tore open, dumping Jade who knows where. Answering the unspoken question, he said aloud, "She'll be fine. Now, we have something to deal with, don't we?"
“What did you-“ the hybrid took a deep breath to calm himself. “Where did you take her and how do I know she isn’t killing her self?”
He responded quite casually, clearly not concerned, "Gale knows the answer to that."
"YOU DID WHAT-"
Aly slapped the Ivory Fairy, who stared at her in surprise. "Calm down, it actually makes sense to send her there."
“Fine. So long as she doesn’t hurt herself.” Hunter said, clearly resisting the urge to strangle the cyborg.
"It's impossible," grumbled Gale, "Do you really think I would have a pocket dimension where you can die in? Obviously not, I'm not stupid."
“How do you-“ he stopped himself, “-whatever.”
Storm sighed exasperatedly, "We. Need. To. Go-"
"WAIT."
He turned to look at Luce, "What?"
"Okay, so this might be crazy but if we create a miniature void around Darkshade so he can help?"
Gale stared at him blankly, "How is that supposed to help?"
"Well, you remember what I was like as Puppet Master, right?"
"...yes. That's hard to forget, Luce."
"As a shadow, you can't really exist in places with too much light, as it makes it hard to see the shadow - which is why I wore those ridiculous robes. So basically we do the same thing, but with void and minus the robes."
“How is he supposed to help us and why should we let him?” Hunter asked, visible resentment in his voice.
"Well he literally just sold out the other Voidwalkers."
“How is he supposed to help us and why should we let him?” Hunter asked, visible resentment in his voice.
"Well he literally just sold out the other Voidwalkers."
"That could work..." The voidwalker stood in consideration.
“Fine. But will the Keystones start working if we get rid of all this Void? More importantly, will my sister recover?”
"Your sister... that's another matter entirely. But given her status as Warden trainee, which I totally knew about the entire time because of void omnipotence by the way, the reduced caliber of void magic could induct a takeover by the Earth elemental through the keystone synergy granted by the combined power of the Earth runes and- you know what, you're not listening anyway," RW rambled. "Maybe. But the Keystones are going to work, and they're recovering as we speak. However, you need to get over there soon."
The hybrid blinked, “Just tell me if she’ll be okay, you- sorry.”
"Yeah, yeah, I have a plan for that." Storm replied to Darkshade while conjuring a hologram.
It was the usual display as the last time he pulled it up as the group, however, he pulled up a window and set the time to a good bit before the present, notably set to just after they broke the Earth Keystone Imprint.
He swiped his hand across the makeshift screen, the hologram disappearing, "You coming or not?"
"Well, lets go," Greenheart said. With the movement of a metal strewn wrist, a rift had opened and the group walked through.
When they reached the other side, they saw torn academy banners strewn about, smoldering papers from workbooks, the Great Hall rug (now scorched), a fiery chicken pecking at a smoldering paper, before engulfing it in flames entirely, and a familiar orange dragon chewing half of an academy banner.
Instantly, a certain Ivory Fairy glared at an even more certain Fire Warden, Chase raising his hands defensively and backing slowly.
Meanwhile, a tech wizard cringed, knowing well who would be held responsible once the fairy realized who had forgotten the dragon.
Chase quickly picked up Scarlet and his Pyro Peck, feeling Gale's death stare drilling into the back of his head.
Purple mist tinged the back of the Academy along with the sounds of twisted rifts.
The other Darkshades had arrived.
Having heard the sound of the opening rift, Storm clutched a device, turning it in his hand ocassionally.
3 people's worth of footsteps tread down the main hall. The sounds of swathes being torn across clusters of Academy students and the unmistakeable noise of an abomination or 2 resounded as the Darkshades came ever closer to the keystones.
As the footsteps grew in sound and tempo, an Academy Keeper paled, Aly placing a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.
The knocked out or dead bodies of Academy students propelled across the walls and floor as the abominations did their work. Crystal clinking soon became apparent- the voidwalkers had reached the keystones.
"Well, this is it." Dylan gripped his scythe, being the first one to take a step towards the Darkshades, the rest of the group following soon after.
"Man, I can't wait to get the keystones back." whispered Ansat.
WS was the first to spot the group, his staff 2 inches away from utterly eradicating the Fire keystone. Soon, the other two realized what was happening.
Uncomfortable silence stretched on, until WS finally decided to speak.
"...How the F**K did you figure out we were here!?"
The question went unanswered, WS receiving a Torrent to the face, causing him to stagger back.
WS spat out the water, sweeping his staff in a general direction in front of him. Tentacles began to writhe and form out of the floor, plaster and wood whipping the group. LS took the opportunity, phasing into the floor and reappearing behind Gale. The gray fairy soon was launched into a rift, aforementioned voidwalker following close behind. The tear in reality closed afterwards.
"SH*T!" yelled Ansat.
Chaos broke out almost instantaneously, the group splitting off and charging at each Darkshade. Lane and Dylan cut each tentacle down as they popped up, like a lumberjack version of whack-a-mole. Chase, Samantha, Scarlet, Greenheart, the Pyro Peck, and Sea proceeded to assault WS.
WS backpedaled, tentacles and spikes clashing and stabbing at the slightest quiver of his staff. AS created an armada of brilliant amber-gold crystal spears, launching at the rest of the gang and trailing yellow dust in the air as they flew.
A beam of light shot at the Darkshades, nearly incinerating them were it not for the Void tentacles.
Hunter unleashed another blast of light, this time even fiercer.
Lane dodged another tentacle, quickly cutting it down. Out of the corner of his eye, he took notice of Lucas, standing off to the side, staring blankly out of the battle. A tentacle quickly lashed at the Astral Warden, Lucas making no attempt to dodge it. The Storm keystone glowed brightly as Lane dashed at Lucas, the only thing visible of him being a blur and a trail of lightning.
Before he knew it, Lucas was on the ground, staring at the ceiling. He sat up, and stared at the tentacle that just posed the danger of smashing his ribs in across from him, implanted in the wall.
Before he could process the fact that Lane just saved him, the storm warden grabbed him roughly by the collar, hoisting him in the air. "Listen Lucas. We've got a role to play here. We're the wardens of this island. We didn't ask for this. We didn't ask to be born like this, but here we are anyway. And the entire island is counting on us. So snap out of it and focus." He dropped the surprised Astral Warden on the ground, turning away, picking up his scythe once more. "You're the Astral Warden, Lucas. So get it together," he said without turning around, charging back into the midst of battle.
Out of nowhere, every single void tentacle, tendril, and anything abyssal that didn't have a mind of its own froze in place, a particular borg blinking.
"Well that's conveni-" Instantly, a scythe was struck the wall where had stood seconds before, the Darkshades clearly having taken into consideration to deal with the other threat.
As he phased into reality a short distance away, easily spotted - no thanks to his stature - his saber clicked on, "...or not."
Hunter scowled, “Let Jade out of her rift so she can help. I can handle her, I promise.”
As a void tentacle stopped yet another scythe from landing its blow, the tech wizard briefly glancing at the hybrid, "Yeah I'm sorta occupied - YELL AT RAID," he phased to the opposing side of the room, avoiding WS, "WHO'S EATING," he dashed out of the way of AS' scythe, "F**KING POPCORN."
Felix took out his blade.
As WS ran towards the Keystones, he was suddenly dangled in the air, floating higher and higher until -
Crack.
Something had clearly broken as he crashed to the ground from several hundred feet up.
Hunter smirked, releasing his hold on the Voidwalker and preparing to fight the others.
WS stumbled to his feet, arm twisting in a very wrong direction. His eyes' sclera were lined with black veins as he summoned another 5 abominations.
Meanwhile, LS free-fell, grappling with Gale in mid-air as they plummeted from 500 feet up directly towards the upper point of the Void Tower. Scythe met wing and spell met face as they roughhoused their way through a not-so-graceful descent.
Meanwhile, a pair of very un-concerned time travelers watched the battle through a very hidden rift in the Academy. Popcorn littered the inter-spatial rift's "ground" as they calmy observed.
Icy blue eyes narrowed into rectangular slits the second a certain Ice Fairy realized LS was gone.
An Icy Blade formed in the grasp of a single ungloved hand, Ice Magic concentrating in the opposing.
"I am not standing by as you hurt him again."
Instantly, spears of ice struck weak spots, abomidations roaring and turning to face the warden.
The abominations screeched with hostility, their legs moving as fast as they could as they belligerently charged towards the group. Their arms packed the force of Thor's Mjolnir moving at 50 miles per hour as they battered and punched.
Which was their mistake.
Blue ice struck now-exposed forehead, ice spreading through blood as fast as void could neutralize.
The sands of sanity started, the hourglass been turned.
Flameheart? Nah.
Icetalon? ....yes.
The blade of Chase's spear heated up, pressing against WS's staff, a hissing sound being heard as the staff heated up.
The abominations hoarsely cried out as they fell to the ground, vanquished. They faded into coagulated essence as WS recoiled and directed any of his remaining beasts towards the Keystones. Meanwhile, AS reformed the dust now polluting the air into sharpened thorns, buffering and cutting the entire gang.
Felix leapt at AS, blade in hand. slashing at his skull.
AS deftly blocked and countered, the two opposing edges never quite getting close enough to the other combatant. The small blade-like thorns in the air helped AS slowly try and push Felix back- though with how close some of those cuts were getting, it was relatively dangerous.
Ansat appeared behind WS and kicked him in the back..
WS dropped to one knee, regaining balance as he whipped around to face Ansat. A mess of black and red liquid dripped out of one corner of his mouth. Conjuring more tentacles, the wooden tendrils bursting from the floor latched around the speedster's legs.
Felix blocked and released a row of Amethyst Spikes on AS.
Ben tied WS' legs together while he was turned around.
Samantha kicked WS in the stomach, sending him toppling over.
Greenheart smashed the tendrils holding Ansat in place with his hammer.
Storm, thankfully forgotten once again, took the time to attempt to manipulate the void essenced thorns that were assaulting Felix.
"Thanks, dude." said Ansat.
AS neutralized the threat by capping off the spikes with soulcrystals. WS heaved himself to his feet, blood and void continuing to drip from his mouth. More abominations rushed to his aid, taking the attention off of him while he used a tentacle to grab the Water Keystone off of its pedestal.
Instantly, the Sword of Ice reformed into a bow, and a frozen barbed arrow was let loose at WS' hand, pinning it to the base of the pedestal.
Simultaneously, shards of ice pelted the new coming abominations' weak spots, being taken down in a similar manner as before.
All of it was done by a single person, not a trace of humanity in Aly's gaze.
Storm could only stare at her in shock, before shaking his head and resuming diminishing the rest of the unnoticed thorns, trying to distract himself.
Until it was revealed that Ben was hovering above him the entire time.
"The perks of being forgettable? You go unnoticed the entire time until the last second!" he said. He landed on WS' head and started stomping his feet.
WS grimaced, batting Ben off of his head with a remaining tentacle. Glancing at his hand, knowing his other arm was busted, he sighed.
Soon, the small voidwalker was yelling as he tore his hand out of the arrow, flesh and blood being left behind through the pain. The void filled the wounds WS had recently gained, at the cost of a failsafe. More of the voidwalker's beasts rushed to combat, and what appeared to be a tentacled monstrosity akin to that of a deleted timeline was being constructed in the back.
WS wiped the blood off of his face as he grabbed his staff in both hands, prepared to continue the fight.
Suddenly, there was a blue flash, and the staff was knocked out of WS' hands, as well as his face being drawn on, and the Water keystone returned.
Then, a very cocky adolescent speedster reappeared, holding a marker. "Like your new makeover?" he snarked.
Meanwhile, an Ice Warden lowered her bow, icy gaze scanning the new set of abominations.
"At this point this is genocide. Are you really going to keep this up, sapan?"
Yet it wasn't long until a new round of ice began to do its work.
Ansat twirled his marker around, before getting out a notepad. "Gotta check that one off the bucket list!" he said.
"Shut it, you motherless person," hissed the voidwalker. He launched himself forward, pushing Ansat to the ground, letting the floor tendrils bind him. WS proceeded to wipe the marker onto his sleeve and signaled for AS to continue spreading dust-blades, which he did.
Felix cast an Amber Rainfire.
AS countered by converting the older dust particles into a temporary shield, resisting the magic with some effort. He then turned the barrier into a set of diamond-shaped needles, firing at the group.
Ben flew at WS, carrying a broken soda bottle. He started stabbing him before breaking the bottle over his head.
Felix tried blocking all the needles with an Amberthyst dome.
"You adolescent immature piece of-" The sight of Ben being snatched and tossed a couple meters away by a floor tentacle resolved WS' rant before it started picking up steam. The void, once again, healed the wounds, but the next failsafe was a good quarter gone by now.
Scarlet latched herself to WS' face, scratching ferociously while the Pyro Peck jabbed its beak at the recently closed wounds, reopening them.
The voidwalker furiously peeled the animals from his face, hurling them like hackysacks at Chase. The wounds were negligible, but still... 52% down on failsafe 2, mainly from the Pyro Peck's reopening.
Ben crawled over to Ansat, and broke apart the tendrils with a power drill.
Ansat got up and dashed around WS.
Flash!
Clothing was torn, red liquid leaking, and there was nobody to be seen.
WS was launched into the air again, then bounced between the ceiling, floor, and walls like a bouncy ball - Hunter was having quite some fun.
Every time he made contact with the walls, a sickening crack could be heard. At this point, he was far behind able to walk, let alone fight…
But still, the cracks went on.
“That’s what you get for hurting my sister,” the hybrid muttered, clearly having practiced his telekinesis.
Crack.
”That’s what you get for hurting me.”
Crack.
”That’s what you get for hurting everybody on this island.”
Crack.
Splat.
The Voidwalker collapsed on the ground in a heap, failsafe doing its work before he was immediately launched onto the ceiling again.
Inexplicably, Hunter grinned.
Chase caught the two pets, crashing to the ground.
In the void, two figures approached a voidwalker and a gray-skinned fairy as they hurtled towards the ground, twisting and turning.
WS hacked up blood and void essence once more, tugging against Hunter's telekinesis to little avail. The voidwalker focused his remaining magic on the creation in the back, which was now almost complete- at the cost of his general health and wellbeing.
Meanwhile, LS continued to try and direct Gale's general back area into the top pike of the Void Tower.
Far, far, far, away from the others, a hybrid lay on the ground, completely empty eyes fixated on a single point in the sky.
A sword was clutched in her right hand, her fist clenching its hilt so hard she was practically unable to let go.
With a yell of frustration, she stabbed at her own chest only for nothing to happen.
Black pulsated in the dozens of gaping wounds peppered across her body, but every time she stabbed at them, the sword simply passed through.
Over and over.
Stare at the sky, thinking who knows what.
Stab at herself, only for nothing to happen.
Repeat.
The back-and-forth gnawed at her already slipping sanity, but there was nothing she could do.
Normally, Jade would’ve cried, or screamed, or done something… but there was no point.
There never was.
Watching the two twist in the air, one of the voidwalkers raised her bow in the air and fired an arrow. The arrow sailed upwards, before quickly turning and falling back down, going straight for the fairy's exposed back.
Back in the Academy, an exhausted Hunter kept abusing WS, but the attacks were becoming slower and weaker.
Another abomination fell.
Bow lowered, Aly glanced at Storm, who avoided her gaze.
"Please?"
With a sigh, two rifts opened, one which dumped a certain hybrid near her sibling, the other which soon closed behind the Warden and Trainee, leaving unnoticed.
Before her sword could even skim her neck, Hunter knocked it away.
”We talk about this later, Jade. Fight now.”
The trainee scanned the room, smirk appearing on her face, “Perfect.”
The monsters immediately sank into the ground, sharp rocks piercing their skin as they slowly drowned in pure earth.
The only sign that they ever existed was the streaks of reddish-brown across the ground.
The siblings turned to the Darkshades.
Somewhere in the multiverse, a cyan rift tore open, a tech wizard falling out of it face-first onto the ground, while an Ice Fairy swooped gracefully out.
"Are you sure-"
"-yes, this is where he took him last time." Storm replied while getting up.
"Then where are they?"
"My best guess? In the to- ooooor falling out of sky right towards the top tower-"
"WHAT‽"
Meanwhile in the Academy, a certain salamander snuck behind AS, crawling up loose clothing until reaching the Voidwalker's shoulder, biting his earlobe and setting alight.
Ansat and Ben were playing all kinds of pranks on WS while kicking his a**.
By the time they were done, WS not only looked injured, he looked like a very unlucky person on April Fools Day.
Both WS and AS immediately sank into the ground, being bashed over the head repeatedly by a spear and a beam of light to stop them from struggling.
Jade took the pleasure of creating a cut across their faces with Astral magic, making sure it cut deep enough to leave scarring.
She kept going, cutting them again and again until they had even more Astral-filled wounds than her, both semi-conscious… just enough so they could feel the unbearable pain.
It was the last scar she carved that made her smile… a several-inch deep glowing cut across their wrists, pulsating with light.
Suddenly, Ansat stood up WS, and slammed a metal bucket on his head and started playing it like a drum.
Both Darkshades were up to their eyes now, unable to breathe.
Jade flicked her sword across AS’s face, blood flowing from his eye, then backed away, leaving the two to suffocate in mortal pain.
Hunter watched her with a strange look on his face, but one emotion was decipherable in the mix - regret.
"Jade, Ansat, stop."
Everyone paused, registering who's voice that was.
Lucas.
They turned their heads towards the Astral Warden, who stared at Jade intently. "I know they put you in immeasurable pain, and I can't imagine how that felt. But making them suffer more makes you no better than them."
”I don’t care if I’m no better than them. None of us should care. The reason they keep getting to hurt us and kill our loved ones and scar us? It’s because they’re willing to do what it takes,” Jade responded, “And we should be willing to as well. We all nearly died. Some of us did die. And that’ll stop now. I’m taking charge. We’re taking charge now.”
Her brother spoke up, placing a hand on her shoulder, “I think you’re-“
The trainee pulled away, “I’m what? Angry? Vengeful? Reckless? You know me better than anyone, Hunter, and you know what I need to do to them.”
The hybrid opened his mouth to respond, but he had no words.
"...It's over, right?"
"No other choices, WS."
"That was obvious enough from the beginning."
"Then do it."
The abyss screamed forth from 50 more surrounding rifts, tearing open the floor of the Academy like it was made of wet toilet paper. The sound of the wood shattering and flinging was deafening with the wind of creation being pulled into the void. The eyes of both voidwalkers went pitch black as the injuries and disgraces they had sustained descended past void and flesh.
Darkness descended upon the Great Hall of the Academy, a toxic and corrosive substance borne of the nothing itself.
The last resort had become real.
The Walker's Last Stand.
Soon enough, the tables had been turned- AS moving on pace with a complacent Ansat as he tore through the group with his scythe, now-purple crystals pinning and piercing flesh and cloth. WS' monstrosity had been completed, its 20 meter tentacles recklessly hurling into the drove with the force of bricks out of a pirate cannon.
The dozens of Void pieces, imbued in Jade’s scars, writhed in apparent delight.
The trainee, however, was anything but. Pure fear jolted through her, intense and relentless and… familiar.
It was only the firm grasp on her arm that kept her from charging at the monster, that kept her from getting herself killed.
All thoughts of suicide were blasted out of her mind, both literally and figuratively.
The monstrosity descended upon them.
"WHAT THE F**K IS THAT?!" Dylan exclaimed, ducking and dodging the relentless attacks of the tentacles.
Ansat and Ben were dodging, but not taking anything seriously enough.
They were being so casual about this, that they were having a conversation about video games while dodging.
Two cascades of light, one a tad stronger than the other, struck the beast. The two siblings glanced at each other nervously, each worried for the other.
More Astral spells were cast, from a small Starbit Blast to a powerful Supernova. Each seemed to irritate the beast, but otherwise it kept on rampaging, its face striking terror into one horrified trainee.
Abner gripped his bow, fiddling with a small, seemingly irrelevant device.
Somewhere in the mess of the multiverse, a borg received a single message conversed of only three words: "STORM. RIFT. NOW."
Attached was a file composed of an image, revealing the Academy in its current state as well as a certain monstrosity, multiple rifts being torn in reality.
Two were positioned so that LS and Gale would crash to the ground nearby instead of either being impaled - Aly could deal with the rest later.
Another opened in the Academy, sucking in the monstrosity sending it to who knows where.
The fourth he ran into, landing on his feet, surprisingly, as he reached a terrain that would only be comfortable to him, staring in the direction of the monstrosity.
1 second - static electricity sparked in the magenta area, predicting the oncoming event.
2 seconds - the electrical energy began to arc and jump, a borg beginning to smile in recognition.
3 seconds - an unspeakable amount of ongoing electricity struck the abyssal creature just as it charged for him, conveying and continuing for another 6 seconds as more lightning joined the fray until the creature roared out and crumpled to the ground, limp and charred.
Two more rifts open, the dead monstrosity falling to the ground in front of the group, and Storm falling face-first to the ground next to Aly.
The Ice Fairy stepped between a Voidwalker and Ivory Fairy, murderous intent burning in her gaze.
"...And that's why I'm better than Felix!" said Ansat to Ben. He turned to the others. "Oh, hey guys. That monster is gone now, right?"
Immediately, both Darkshades were dragged towards Hunter, being forced into the ground and promptly being cut to pieces by an angry Jade.
The bodies did not fade. The souls did not leave.
Instead, the two corpses began glowing bright magenta...
Oh.
The side effect of the Walker's Last Stand was the expunging of all residual void magic within the body.
WS and AS had, under every circumstance, the largest reservoir of void magic of anybody in the entire room.
In short, a detonation beyond the force of a Void Nova, by over three times the amount, occured within the Great Hall.
QUICKTIME!
OBJECTIVE: VOID USERS MITIGATE BLAST BY REVERSING CONTROL!
READY...
GO!
"Oh! What's happening?!" asked Ansat
Void tainted Shadow Magic concentrated before Luce, him staring in Dylan's direction, "A little help would be appreciated!"
“Jade… now would be a good time to use your Void abilities…”
”I can’t!” The hybrid screamed, watching as the corpses glowed brighter and brighter until…
A huge rush of black exploded in the hall, the magical version of a nuclear bomb.
”JADE!” Hunter screamed, panicked beyond belief.
“I-“
That’s when she realized nothing was happening.
Her eyes flew open, revealing a towering mass of black above her, mid-explosion.
It was beautiful somehow, the weapon of destruction on pause. The ability to destroy with just a flick of her wrist.
For just a moment, Jade wondered if she could do it. Destroy it all.
But instead, her arm slowly moved downwards, the mass of Void mirroring her movements.
”Oh no…”
Pure power ran through her in that moment, something Jade hadn’t felt in quite a while. It blocked out the fear, the disgust, the horribleness of her new abilities.
She was in control now.
The amount of effort it took to keep the Void from crossing down was astronomical, but Jade managed to keep it up for roughly a few seconds before it started collapsing in slow motion.
The hybrid did the first thing she could think of.
She directed it backwards, blasting both of the Darkshades.
The bodies glowed and exploded, their faces contorted in pain and horror, reduced to dust.
The rest of the remnants of void were redirected by Luce or Dylan, the blast collapsing in on itself.
“Oh my god… that was…” Hunter gasped, mouth hanging open.
Then he noticed his sister, hand pressed against her forehead to ward off the piercing migraine from controlling so much Void.
It wasn’t the migraine that was bothering her, though… it was the way she’d controlled Void.
It was alluring, almost, the amount of power and strength it had. Unlike any other magic she’d ever used before.
It was tantalizing… yet simultaneously terrifying.
Perhaps a bit more of the latter.
“Are you ok-“
”I don’t have an answer, don’t ask me,” Jade responded immediately, hand tracing indecipherable shapes in the air, mimicking the movements of the Void, “That was… amazing.”
“I thought you’d be more scared.”
”I am, but also…” she shrugged, “Being able to kill and destroy this easily? It’s fascinating. I can see why the Darkshades are so on hinge. And I can see how they keep beating us. Not anymore, though.”
Lane plucked a few void crystals out of his skin. "You guys didn't do all that earlier because...why?"
“Because I didn’t realize I could. But now that I can, now that I can kill and torture and destroy at will-“
”Jade, you’re not okay.”
”I haven’t been for a while now,” she retaliated, fingers tracing her many Void wounds, “But I’m fine with that.”
Luce inspected his hand, "I'm more like Gale than I like to admit - in other words, I had no interest getting involved. Speaking of which... where is Gale?"
Meanwhile, outside of a tower located in the Void, scythe met blade, void met ice, fairy and voidwalker colliding.
Not far from the battle, Storm was helping Gale sit up, the fairy's teeth gritted with pain.
Ice pelted LS, only for void tentacles to deflect and knock the fairy back, her having to cut them down.
A guttural scream resounded through the void, Aly and LS pausing briefly and looking in the sound's direction.
A red-tipped arrow tossed onto the ground, a tech wizard grimacing at seeing how bloodied the fairy was.
LS was the first to recover, holding little regard towards the two, and raised his scythe...
...and brought it down.
Aly barely blocked it in time, being knocked to the floor by the amount brute force LS put into the blow - he was aiming to kill.
The Ice Fairy tried to get up, anger being shown in every movement.
Another tentacle knocked her to the ground.
"Ready to surrender, fool?"
The Ice Warden stared at her hands, pressed against the ground of the void, before slowly looking up at her opponent.
"No."
Across the universes, respective keystones shone a blinding cyan as snow formed and levitated in the air around the Ice Fairy. The snow then hardened into bizarrely sharp ice, all turning to face her opponent as she stood.
A founding entity chooses her moment to strike, using the vessel of her persona to finally take vengeance.
"I've had enough."
The ice pelted Darkshade, impaling her enemy countless times over. As crimson liquid began to pool on the ground, not a trace of emotion in the Warden's gaze.
One failsafe down.
She turned away from her opponent, disregarding his agony, "Flameheart... that fake cheery name I've been living under for how long? Whether I like it or not I'm an Icetalon, and I'm not a fool... you are," Those last words sounded unnaturally smug, as if she really didn't care if she was now a murderer.
Icetalon... I don't know, maybe I'll get used to it.
She raised her hand in the air, and shards of the ice gathered and concentrated into a sword-like shape, before impaling the voidwalker with bone-breaking force - right over his heart.
Blood streamed out faster than the void could fill.
Two failsafes down.
The voidwalker continued to bleed out, and finally, Darkshade fell limp.
Three failsafes down.
She stepped back, rushing over to where Gale lay.
As she knelt on the ground next to the fairy she loved, she glanced up, only meeting a sapphire gaze of disappointment.
Deal with it Storm... this is me now. In fact... it was always me.
A rift tore open, and Ice Fairy, Ivory Fairy, and cyborg tumbling out.
Luce stared at the bloodied heap of people, "What... happened-"
"Doesn't matter, we're fine now." Responded Storm, only lies filling his wwords.
He wasn't fine.
Not at all.
Only one eye was open, the right.
A red liquid glistened around his limp body, drenching his clothes.
Moments earlier, he would have been screaming in agony, but he couldn't feel anymore. He couldn't feel anything.
The fire sizzled at the edge of the pool of blood, kept at bay.
It was the only thing keeping him alive, and the thing that might eventually bring death.
He was beginning to feel faint, tiredness being swept over him.
Finally, the eye started to close, a figure approaching him as the world went dark.
Never again.
He forced himself to close every rift the Darkshades had opened, keeping himself occupied.
Trauma can be dealt with later, but for now... there were more important things to recover from.
Hunter managed one last sentence, “Well… now what?”
Three years later
With the baby came something new. A new feeling.
Jade held a tiny bundle of blankets to her chest, staring down at it with a mixed expression.
“Hello, Opal,” the trainee said, for the first time using a soft tone.
What was this feeling? It was familiar, but she just couldn’t put a finger on it.
The hybrid closed her eyes, recalling this emotion.
When she saw her brother.
When her lips connected with another’s.
When she felt the stirring inside her.
Was it good, this feeling?
Jade looked up at the throng of people around her, all of them watching her intently. Her brother… her friends… her newfound sister.
She surprised even herself when the first person she looked at was Aly, but perhaps that was because the Ice Fairy had been through this before.
“What is this?” The hybrid asked, voice quiet.
Her question was answered for her.
Love.
It had been quite a while.