What Goes Around
Quietly, slowly, you inch your body towards Rain, praying that they would not notice. The ground is wet, muddy with the ichor of the malformed beasts that the knights had slain. Rain’s blonde hair is plastered to her face with sweat and blood, her eyes shut. She seems to be unconscious still. Good, that would make it easier.
You reach out for her, slowly circling your hand around her waist, and draw her close to you. The knights are still talking, their gazes elsewhere. It would be too risky to make a break for it so close to them, and so you continue to shimmy on the ground, hoping that you can put enough of a distance between you and them. With Antonio’s attention turned to the commander of the knights, the back gates are left open. If you could just manage to get there, and slip into the streets of the city…
Rain groans unconsciously, enough to draw their attention.
“And there we have it. If they’re trying to run, then they must be guilty, Commander. Do I have permission?”
Moments before you are home free, Antonio speaks up. The golden knight sighs, and answers. “Very well, clean up this mess. The augurs have sensed the Black Hound’s paw in this, and we have no more time to waste.”
You curse, scrambling to your feet, holding Rain to you. You are close, so close, and if you break into a run here, you could still lose them before they catch up to you.
“Scatter, Claw of Achlys.”
The black mud that flowed freely from his dagger swirls and scatters at his command, evaporating into a dark cloud that flies towards you faster than you can run. If they underestimated your resilience, you certainly underestimated what they were truly capable of. Your instincts warn you that the dark mist is deadly, but with it closing in around you there is nothing else you can do.
“What’s… going on?”
Rain, regaining her consciousness and still groggy, looks up at you. You look back, and not for the first time tonight, remember the fire and the flames. What your father and mother did. That you survived, and your sister died.
Your body moves by itself and you throw yourself over Rain, shielding her with your body. The mist falls upon you in its entirety. The start is gradual, a tingling, itching sensation upon your skin, but soon it turns into pure, excruciating pain. Pain enough for you to scream. The mist melts through your clothes, eats through your skin, stripping flesh from bone. Rain, nestled underneath you as you curl around her even more tightly despite the pain, is showered in your blood. Staring at your ravaged body, she shakes her head and tries to push you off her, to stop you, but you hold fast. You hold fast, even as the mist decomposes your flesh, spilling part of your guts.
In her desperation.
She screams.
And the Tower answers.
There is a great rumbling both in the ground and in the air, followed swiftly by a loud, cracking noise that splits the world.
You hear Antonio shriek in fear, and his commander shout out in disbelief.
What happens next… you are not sure. Everything spins around and crashes together. Amidst the pain your consciousness winks in and out, though there remains a single constant that sticks in your mind. Joyful, mirthful laughter. The Hound’s laughter, in the darkness. Cackling and barking, and utterly satisfied.
When the merry-go-round of destruction ceases, somehow, you are alive. Half rotten, half melted, but breathing. Yet a visage of hell greets your eyes. The once thriving city of New Vienna is ruins, as far as the eye can see. Strange, twisted structures have pierced up through the ground, pushing aside the man-made buildings that humanity has taken such pride in, even the greatest of which look puny in comparison to these thorny spires. A great, black sun hangs in crimson space, burning like a baleful dark eye. Far above it, the sky has split apart, showing the crumbling remnants of the floor above, tumbling down to this level.
In front of you, Rain floats, her eyes fixed upon the black sun. Her golden locks have been bleached silver, and they stretch out far past below her legs, waving like the tendrils of some unfathomable sea creature. The world continues to rumble, twisting and groaning. As if the Tower itself were a writhing, giant worm.
You call out to Rain, but she does not respond.
Not far away, you see the knights… or at least, what is left of them. It is an exceedingly strange sight. Parts of them are peeking out of the ruins. Here an arm buried in the wall. There, half a face embedded in a pillar. Antonio’s face was found amongst these, and he was still alive. He was screaming, struggling, but all that availed to was his skin of his face ripping away from the stone that he was buried in.
And then, there was the commander. He had somehow managed to escape the worst of it, though not unscathed. One of his arms was missing. His helmet was lost, revealing a young man with tousled black hair, who could not have been ten years older than you. His gaze was firmly fixed upon Rain, full of resolve, and he was chanting.
“Sancta Mater, istud agas.”
He places his hand on the ground, fingers firmly gripping the dirt. Then, he draws from the earth a spear. An unassuming, normal spear, of wood and iron.
“Crucifixi fige plagas.”
Yet, he chants. The chant echoes, solemn and mournful. He raises the spear high, tears of fervor streaming down his face as a pillar of divine light shrouds him.
“Cordi meo valide.”
He pulls his remaining good arm back, preparing to hurl it at Rain. Time itself seems to slow down as he does so.
And so here we are, child.
In front of you floats a black, wicked spear, glowing with a purple as vile as the commander’s spear is holy. Was it the same spear from all those years ago? It no longer mattered.
Take it, and you might just be able to return the Key to the Lock. Though do so, knowing that you will no longer be yourself.
Uridimmu chuckles.
Regardless, I have already won.
***
A. With the last of your strength, you scramble in front of Rain and shield her from the spear. The Astra of the silver shield is still with you, and it might do some good here. No matter what happens to you, you refuse to give Uridimmu the satisfaction of having his prediction come true.
B. You accept Uridimmu’s offer. Though you may no longer be yourself, if there is a chance to save Rain and survive, you will take it. As Uridimmu puts it, he has already won. Then, perhaps you should align with the winning side.
C. You do not interfere. You are already exceedingly lucky to have survived the black mist, and to push yourself here might spell your doom. You do not know what the spear would do, and who is to say it would harm Rain?
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