Chapter Text
Hey, dear readers! It’s me, Cal!
So, it’s been quite a few months since the whole Ad Laun Dyz crisis. Another Christmas came and went, even Valentine’s Day is behind us, and spring is practically at our doorstep.
Adam’s still working on getting his counterparts under control, and M-62’s still working on finding Anti-Calvin.
Naturally, they’ve both been staying in touch with us, but in M-62’s case, it’s probably because he thinks we’ll suspect him of being up to no good again if we don’t hear from him.
Him and Umbra have been playing correspondence chess by phone, and U-1999’s soul is still safely secured, far away from our timeline’s Umbra.
And there’s been another marked improvement in Umby’s behavior. He might actually be capable of changing for the better, but he’s not there yet. He still isn’t official ChaotiX member material, but I think he might be inclined to help us again in the future, if the pot is sweetened enough.
Meanwhile, work on Project Fluffy Island is going smoothly, even though we haven’t decided on a final name, and the, uh, second island is also coming along nicely.
The readers probably remember what that second island is going to be used for. Finally, we’ll be able to take those dinosaur eggs we got from Duncan’s men out of stasis.
And it shouldn’t have to be explained why a separate island needs to be built for that.
Because putting fluffies and dinosaurs on the same island is a recipe for disaster, duh.
Yes, fluffies have it hard enough on Primal Earth.
The smaller island is going to have the A’tuin Protocol too. I know you haven’t seen that function in action yet, dear readers, but maybe you can guess what it entails.
Who knows? Maybe this time next year, people will already be moving in.
We still need to decide on a final name first, though. Whatever name we choose is gonna go down in history, so it needs to be a good one.
Could just call it ChaotiX Island.
Well, that’s one idea at least. If we build a few more islands, we’d have something like the Hex Archipelago over on Magicca.
Sir Peter has told me about that. Supposedly, the Hex Archipelago is a chain of hexagonal islands located somewhere in the ocean to the east of Drakonia, but anyone who sailed out to find it either returned unsuccessful or was never heard from again.
There are all kinds of rumors about the place, some saying that a sinister being rules over the islands, but if the rumors are true, whoever rules over those islands is apparently content to rule their domain, and not cause trouble on the mainland.
It feels like the kind of thing that would eventually become OUR problem, but for some reason, I don’t think this is the right medium for THAT adventure.
Naturally occurring hexagonal islands are highly unlikely, so there has to be something unusual about the Hex Archipelago.
Well, maybe we’ll end up setting sail in that direction in the future.
I wouldn’t bet on that, but at least we wouldn’t have to take a fucking boat there. We can fly, after all.
Most of our adventures take place on dry land, or sometimes underground, or, ahem, on a floating continent, so it might be fun to do that whole swashbuckling on the high seas thing for a bit.
Assuming that we don’t just spend seven years standing around on the deck and waiting for the boat to arrive.
That would probably make the readers go… BERSERK.
Very funny. Let’s just move on, shall we?
Actually, I can’t think of anything else that needs recapping.
Other than the things I already said, it’s been mostly peaceful. We’ve been doing everything we usually do when there isn’t a big mission: fight crime, save lives, do science and magic, you know the drill.
Of course, I also had a nice vacation with the family, bringing back lots of souvenirs for my friends, family and/or teammates.
I didn’t fight any supervillains, but Judy and I did catch a couple of regular criminals who attempted to rob a bank and flee by speedboat. I just grabbed ‘em by the scruffs of their necks, flew back to shore with ‘em, and Jude retrieved their ill-gotten loot.
At any rate, we haven’t been dealing with anything worse than that, or an underground fluffy mill.
But I have a hunch that our next big mission will be starting soon.
Not only that, I also have a hunch what it’ll be about.
If you’re all caught up, so do you, and I’m sure that you’ve made good use of all the time since the last Saga to catch up, so I’ll get straight to the point.
As you should have already seen, Eddy got another scroll from that old crone, which he naturally showed to me, and when we figured out the clue the scroll contained, it lead us to the Warriors Four’s house here on Earth, where Gilius was keeping an old family heirloom.
A compass made of chivalrium, handed down all the way from the Bli’kzim-ku’up family’s progenitor, who used to work for none other than Chival the Benevolent himself, the inventor of chivalrium.
On Earth, the compass is damn near useless, because the needle just spins around at random. Gilly’s dads gave it to him as a good luck charm years ago.
(You should also remember that dwarves traditionally present as male regardless of their biological sex, which is a very private matter to them. That used to make dwarven courtship a lot more complicated, but there are plenty of openly female dwarves these days, like Mary Stronginthearm at Cetteville’s Foundation branch, who used to go by Merry. So one of Gilius’ dads has to actually be his mom, but it would be rude to ask which one.)
Anyway, Mar, Eddy, Erd, Gilly and I put our heads together, and we reckoned that the compass isn’t meant to be used on Earth.
Chival and his dwarvish assistant originated from Magicca, as Dehak conveniently revealed to us during Operation Rising Sun.
That was a pretty big breakthrough for Deston’s ongoing efforts to uncover the secrets of chivalrium.
Des happens to possess the sole surviving copy of Chival’s autobiography (at least, the sole surviving copy he knows to still exist), and while it’s a bit vague about Chival’s origins, Des has been rereading it, to see if there are any clues hidden in it. Something like a joke that would fly over someone’s head if they’ve never heard of Magicca.
Finding that compass, however, is an even bigger breakthrough.
We reckon that the compass needs to be used on Magicca. That it’s not meant to point north, but towards something important. Something that Chival had hidden away a long time ago.
The thing is, we don’t know what it’s meant to point at. We don’t know what we’ll find at the end of the trail, so we don’t know whether or not anything dangerous is waiting for us at the end.
If we just blindly fly in unprepared… it won’t end well for us.
Cal, don’t forget our chat in Gilly’s room. If there’s some kind of trap at the end of this trail, it’ll be meant to keep the BAD guys away, and we can handle chivalrium, so we shouldn’t be in any trouble. We can handle chivalrium, so Chival wouldn’t mind letting us have whatever that compass is supposed to find.
Chival was an incredibly powerful wizard, renowned on both Earth and Magicca, and he was very protective of his secrets. Whatever the compass leads to will be heavily protected as well, to ensure that only the truly worthy can access it.
Have you ever MET Chival, Fi? You’ve been around for a long time. Maybe he’s the one who created the Sword of Kings.
I’ve said before that I have no memories of my origins, Niv. For all I know, I came into existence in Fairy Hollow, so I don’t know who created the Sword of Kings, or who created me.
Even if you didn’t know Chival personally, you surely know a lot ABOUT him. My data banks contain much magical knowledge thanks to Deston, but you know things even HE doesn’t. What CAN you tell us about Chival?
Well… according to all second-hand accounts that I can recall… he was a lot like Cal in many ways. Compassionate and determined… but also fiercely protective of those who he cherished. Ultimately, he is remembered as one of the kindest, noblest wizards of his age-- and you must remember that wizards in older times were generally a ruthless lot, so the bar was much lower back in his day. Some of Deston’s other predecessors as Archmage were very unpleasant people by any century’s standards. They were famed for their power, knowledge and feats of magic, not their gregariousness.
Indeed, that’s why they used to say that the plural of “wizard” is “war”. People didn’t call Deston’s immediate predecessor Philippos the CANTANKEROUS for no good reason.
Remind me what happened to that dude? He tried to do the Rite of AshkEnte backwards and vanished, right?
Yes, he was hoping to keep the Death of Humans away from him, and the Rite of AshkEnte--
Is normally used to SUMMON the Deaths, I remember THAT. Even though we missed the last few times it was used. Come to think of it, I don’t think we were there ANY time the readers have seen that Rite.
Well, yeah. There was the time when me and Mar went missing after the New Tenneb mission, and again when we were abducted by the Old Folk. Both times, Des wanted to find out whether or not we were still alive, among other queries, and the Deaths would know if we weren’t still alive.
And there was that time after everything at the Eternal Gentlemen’s Club, but that was like a year before I met Doc at Flufftopia, so I had literally nothing to do with that one, I was getting high with the guys at home while all of that was going down.
That was when Des set up that whole annual arrangement for Vic, Scarface and Perenna, right? That Perenna’s spirit is allowed to return to the living world for one day every year, so she can catch up with Vic and Scarface?
Yeah, exactly.
It’s nice to know that Vic can have a relationship with a woman that DOESN’T revolve around sex, even if it’s only because she’s incorporeal.
There are more reasons than that, Niv. And the spirits of the dead are only incorporeal in the living world, seeing as they aren’t supposed to be here anymore, outside of certain exceptions like Phantasm, and the other ghosts that haunt the living world. Their dimensional frequencies are no longer aligned with that of the Prime Material Plane, that’s why ghosts can phase through virtually any matter.
Except multidimensional metal, because it exists on several dimensional frequencies, including the one ghosts exist on. I remember that too.
The same goes for the ectoplasmic energies that Danny and Ghost can harness, and the green flames Cal can harness by combining that power with his own pyrokinesis.
Which makes one of a certain set of sword moves I’ve been learning redundant, but it never hurts to have redundancies. Eggs, baskets, yadda yadda yadda.
And then there’s the skull amulet we recovered from Humphries and Dominare, which allows ghosts to be corporeal in the living world. Deston has had some success replicating their properties.
Yes, he said that he felt obligated to reverse engineer that enchantment, so he could confer it upon something that isn’t as hideously tacky as that amulet.
Whaddidya expect? It was made by DEHAK, he puts skulls on EVERYTHING. If he had his own breakfast cereal, there’d be little marshmallow skulls in the bowl. Maybe it’s just a lich thing, or a necromancer thing, the Staff of Necrosis had a skull on it too.
Maybe, yeah. Necrosis is still in our custody, and still a toothless head. I could ask him about this when I’ve got the time.
Which I don’t right now. You’ll see why in a bit, dear readers.
Also, Perenna isn’t Vic’s only platonic female friend, it’s just that he failed to save her at the Club, and he looks forward to their yearly meetings.
He can talk to Jude, Nanny, or any of his other female friends whenever he wants, but he only gets one conversation a year with Perenna. What with him being immortal and all, that might be the best he’s ever going to get.
I mean, he’s gonna outlive all of us sooner or later. Later rather than sooner, hopefully.
But that’s why, when the Club’s ex-employees meet up on the anniversary of that whole shitshow, the Trinity of Terra (and Montana) always make an appearance.
Me and Mar tag along too, sometimes. We try not to hog the spotlight, since it’s a day for those who were there, and we weren’t there.
Again, I was at home all day. I didn’t even know that anything that happened at the Club could happen. And I’m pretty sure Mar wasn’t even born yet.
Scarface isn’t actually that much older than Mar and the rest of my fluffies. When Marley asked Scarface what it was like to be immortal, around the time I started my training, Scarface was kind of playing it up a bit to impress Mar, which he confessed later on.
He looks forward to those annual barbecues too, y’know. Burgundy was one of the few fluffies that Scarface genuinely liked before he met Mar and the others.
Burgundy’s herd is still living at the Foundation branch Doc built on the Club’s ashes, aren’t they?
A few members of the herd have been adopted out, but their owners always bring them to the annual barbecue. It’s kind of a rule at that branch, Doc insisted on it.
And most of those owners live in Massachusetts, so the trip isn’t a long one.
We’re getting sidetracked again, gentlemen. We were talking about Chival, remember?
Look, these internal monologues tend to go all over the place, so if the readers aren’t used to it by now, then there’s no helping them.
Fi is right, though. We need to start preparing to move out to Magicca and follow that compass.
But as I said, we don’t know what exactly it leads to, so the question is, what preparations do we need to make?
What should we expect to find at the end of the trail?
My money’s on a dungeon of some kind. Dungeons are like Starbuckses on Magicca, they’re all over the goddamn place, and dungeons usually have some combination of monsters, traps and puzzles, so we need to prepare for THOSE.
If you’re right--
Which I am more often than I’m given credit for.
--then that would make it easier to decide which team members we need.
A few heavy hitters, someone who’s good at disarming traps, and someone who’s good at solving puzzles.
And I’m pretty sure I’ve got team members who fit the bill.
But there’s something else I can do to prepare for the mission.
Which brings me to my current location.
Right now, me and Marley are in Fairy Hollow, for the… regular appointment with a certain spectral skeleton.
Yeah, we’re starting off with one of these lessons. Didn’t expect that, didja?
You can’t always assume that you know how the whole thing is gonna go.
It’s the middle of the afternoon here, sunlight shining through the branches, a gentle breeze blowing.
Gaius is here, but he’s a giant magical talking tree, so it’s a bit hard for him to be anywhere else, and his fairies are flying overhead. Some of them are tending to the unicorn that’s been staying here since the Wedding of Doom, who is still wearing those silver horseshoes.
Sorcie decided to name the unicorn Silverhooves, and she then admitted that it wasn’t very creative, but by that point it was too late, because the unicorn won’t respond to any other name, so yeah, he’s Silverhooves now.
I can see a few members of Viridian’s herd going about their business in the bushes too. Viridian is talking to his head toughy at the moment, a dark grey and brown earthie called Pewter.
We’re standing at the pedestal where the Sword of Kings rests between Champions, and we’re waiting for my, ah, tutor to make his appearance.
Hopefully, he won’t invoke the tired old “He’s right behind me, isn’t he?” cliché again.
And as usual, we’re in our battle suits, with my sword, shield and bag over mine. Mar’s got his sword bracelet on, too.
When we hear something rustling in the bushes, I turn my head.
And sure enough, a certain one-eyed gold and white stallion emerges from the bushes, turning into a wolf.
Marley steps back, watching as the wolf and I stare at each other.
Then the wolf leaps at me, and everything goes white.
As expected, I come to in the mental realm where these little lessons take place.
My skeletal tutor is here, and the mist surrounding us is a lot thinner than during our first lesson together.
“Hail and well met, Cal. I sense that you have mastered the Counter Slash, the fifth of my techniques.”
I nod with a grin.
“And I put it to pretty good use during the Ad Laun Dyz crisis, too.”
He draws his sword.
“Then I assume that you will not mind demonstrating your mastery of the Counter Slash for me. I will come at you when you are ready.”
I know I’ve seen a sword like his somewhere, but I just don’t know where.
Yeah, even I can’t quite place it, and I remember everything you forget. Maybe it was in a painting?
Hmm. I guess that’ll have to wait.
I draw the Sword of Kings, bracing myself.
“I’m ready when you are, dude.”
“Very well. Do not hesitate, Cal!”
He charges at me, swinging his sword…
SLA--
CLANG
SLASH
…and I counter his attack, knocking him on his bony ass, and knocking his sword out of his hands.
He gets back up, radiating satisfaction and pride as he retrieves his sword.
“Yes, that was flawless. You are ready for the next lesson, Cal. But be warned: the technique you are about to learn may be harder to master than ANY of my previous techniques. You have not forgotten the FOURTH technique I taught you, have you?”
“The Spirit Slicer? Of course not. I kinda missed an opportunity to use it a while back, but I haven’t forgotten any of the moves I’ve learned so far.”
“Good, because the next technique requires the user to have mastered the Spirit Slicer. It is another technique intended to affect the target not merely on the physical level, but also on the METAphysical level. It took me YEARS to master this, so I hope that you’ll beat my record.”
“Well, us Omegas are fast learners, and I mastered all of your previous moves pretty quickly. Why don’t you just show me how it works?”
He turns his skull, looking at an empty spot of blank white ground.
“First, we will need a sufficient visual aid to demonstrate the technique. Ah. I know what’ll work.”
When he points his sword, a statue appears.
One half of the statue looks like an angel, made of white marble, and the other half looks like a demon, made of black obsidian.
“Watch closely, Cal.”
He readies his sword, the blade glowing with a strange aura as he lifts it up over his head with both hands.
One side of the blade is glowing red, the other is glowing blue.
SLASH
When he swings his sword, the blade passes right through the statue, apparently doing no damage, but leaving a glowing purple line down the middle.
The rest of the statue is glowing too. The demon side is red, and the angel side is blue, just like the sword was glowing moments ago.
SPLIT
Then the statue splits into two statues. One white angel statue, one black demon statue.
As the statues stop glowing, Skeleton Guy turns back to me.
“I call this the Liminal Blade. Have you figured out what it does?”
I look at the two statues.
“Well… it turned a statue that was half-angel and half-demon into those statues. So my guess is that it’s supposed to split things, and not just by cutting them in half.”
“Correct! It is a technique made to be used on those of a liminal nature, hence the name. Of course, if you perform this technique incorrectly, then it WILL just cut the target in half, with the expected messy results. Do it RIGHT, however, and you will be able to separate any being of dual natures without harming them.”
“So let me see if I understand: if you were to use this on… say, a werewolf, would it separate them into a human and a wolf? Or could you use it to separate people who’ve merged with Mervin’s Bands of Merging?”
He shrugs, his bony body making a sound like a bag of dice rattling.
“Perhaps. I have never used it in such specific ways, so I cannot say for certain, but I’d dare to wager that using it in those ways WOULD work. The trick to using the Liminal Blade properly is this: you must focus on WHICH qualities you are separating, so you must KNOW which qualities you intend to separate. Use the Liminal Blade wisely, and it will prove to be incredibly versatile indeed. Always remember that a line can be drawn in ANY direction. With enough skill, you could separate the spirit and the body, the good in someone and the evil, the mask someone wears in public and their true self. So you also need to remember that the Liminal Blade must be used with CAUTION, lest you unintentionally separate someone in a way that DOES harm them.”
In a nutshell, it’s one of those things that runs on semantics, isn’t it?
We’re good at finding loopholes and we have a lot of imagination, I think we can do shit with this move that Skeleton Guy couldn’t even conceive.
If Cal’s first example is doable, we effectively have a cure for werebeasts.
Huh, yeah. But what would we do with all of the animals left over? Build a zoo?
Do you think the Liminal Blade is reversible?
Eh, if it’s NOT, we can just dust off the Merge-O-Matic if we need to put a werebeast back together.
Let’s just focus on learning the move before we think about how to use it.
“Okay, so I can guess that I start by focusing my energy on my sword.”
Skeleton Guy nods.
“Yes. You do not have to swing the blade in the same direction every time. Each target is different, as are the qualities they possess. Just focus on your target, and the qualities in them that you wish to separate, and let your blade move as if on its own. You will swing from the angle you need to swing from.”
He points his sword at the statues, and they merge back together into the half-angel/half-demon statue. They just sort of blur together.
“You may practice the Liminal Blade on this. Do not worry about permanently damaging it, I can repair it as many times as needed.”
He taps his helmet, grinning at me. Like the Death of Humans, he’s always sort of grinning on account of being a skeleton.
“I conjured the statue from the depths of my mind. Presumably, I must have seen a pair of statues like that when I was alive, but I don’t know where.”
“Well, maybe you’ll remember after I learn this move.”
“We shall see. You have the floor, Cal.”
He steps away, and I take his place in front of the statue, gripping my sword with both hands and focusing my energy upon the blade.
“Alright. Let’s give it a go.”
As I focus on splitting the statue into the two separate statues like Skeleton Guy did, the Sword of Kings’ blade glows red and blue, just as his sword did.
SLASH
When I swing the Sword of Kings, the blade passes through the statue, and for a moment, the glowing purple line appears.
But then--
KRAK
THUMP
--the statue splits diagonally, and the top half slides off and falls to the floor, the glowing line vanishing into purple glittery stuff.
Skeleton Guy chuckles softly.
“Not bad for a first try, Cal. You ALMOST had it.”
He waves his sword, and the top half of the statue floats back up and reattaches itself, as if Jack is rewinding time.
“Try again. Take as many tries as you need, you know that time passes at the speed of thought here.”
Okay, fine. I’m sure I can get this right, I’ve learned all of the other moves without any problems.
SLASH
SPLIT
No less than twenty tries later, I finally manage to split the statue into an angel and a demon properly.
As I sheathe my sword, catching my breath purely out of habit, Skeleton Guy nods in thorough satisfaction.
“Yes, you’ve got it at last. Well done, Cal. You have learned the Liminal Blade.”
He sheathes his own sword.
“What you must do next goes without saying, I assume.”
“Go back to the world I know, master the Liminal Blade, then come back for Move Number Seven. We’re almost there, dude. What do you remember now?”
On cue, the mist around us thickens, and an echoing voice speaks around us.
“For your crimes, Hakar, there can only be one punishment: as King of Drakonia, I hereby sentence you to death…”
Just like the last few times this happened, there are four figures in the mist, one kneeling before the other three.
Only now, the figures are clear enough that I can recognize three of them, more or less.
The kneeling figure is wearing the simple clothes of burlap that prisoners in Drakonia wear, but his head is low, and he’s also wearing a burlap hood, so I can’t see his face from where I’m standing, but I’m certain that a black curled goatee is just barely visible.
There’s a man wearing armor, red with gold trimming. He’s wearing a crown identical to Lorik’s, and holding a sword identical to Dragonbane, and I recognize his face from multiple statues I’ve seen across Drakonia. I’m pretty sure he’s the one who spoke.
Then there’s a woman who is unmistakably Ursula, standing on the crowned man’s left and wearing dark grey armor and the skin of a bear. She’s openly weeping, and avoiding making eye contact with anyone else.
But then there’s the fourth figure, on the crowned man’s right, who just looks like a humanoid blur. Just a person-shaped cloud of white smoke.
And before I can try to get a closer look, the figures are gone, and the mist is receding.
I slowly turn to Skeleton Guy, processing what we just saw.
“Drakus, Ursula and Hakar. That’s who those three are. So the other one must’ve been…”
Oh. Oh! Are we FINALLY having this conversation?!? Or are we gonna keep delaying it until we’ve learned the last two moves?
It does feel like we should wait until then.
Look, we’ve guessed it, the readers have probably guessed it, and if Skeleton Guy hasn’t guessed it too, I’ll eat my imaginary hat, WITHOUT any imaginary sauce. Come on, let’s stop blue-balling the readers already!
I suppose we can only drag it out for so long.
Cal, just say it, and we’ll see how he reacts.
Alright, fine.
“Can I run a theory by you?”
Skeleton Guy nods.
“By all means, go ahead.”
“Great, thanks. Here goes, then.”
After taking a moment to figure out how I want to say what I want to say, I gesture around at the mist, and the nearly recognizable features in the distance, the castle and the tall mountain.
“Obviously, what we keep seeing is a memory, and this is the realm of your mind, so that’s one of your memories we’re seeing. Which means that you have to be one of the four people in that memory, and three of them have already been ruled out. One of them reincarnated as Dehstuonn, another reincarnated as Eddy, and the third went on a one-way trip to the future without reincarnating, via the Casket of Resurrection. Which leaves only one possibility. One that I’ve suspected for a while, to be honest.”
I smirk audaciously at Skeleton Guy, knowing this may be the last time I mentally refer to him as that.
“You’re the White Wolf. And that’s not all I’ve guessed. You weren’t buried very far away from Fairy Hollow, were you? The journey from your grave was nothing a feral fluffy couldn’t handle, even if he had a bit of supernatural assistance. I… I don’t think it’s ever been mentioned where exactly in England Fairy Hollow happens to be, but…”
My smirk widens, and if I was a defense attorney, this is the part where the dramatic music would start playing, and I’d be pointing just as dramatically.
“…it’s in Lankershire. Not too far from the small town of Lanker… where the Baron family has lived for generations. Lankershire has been witch country for a very long time, the whole place is steeped in magic, and being home to a passageway to the birthplace of magic is probably why. Well, that or the Long Man. Possibly both. Nanny June’s the only one of my grandparents to be born in England, so I think that the Barons descend from you, which means… so do I.”
He folds his bony arms, staring at me with his one glowing eye.
He says nothing for a few moments, contemplating my theories.
And it might just be my imagination, but it looks like the mist around us is receding further. Not all the way, but I can see the implications.
I think that might have actually done it.
When he finally speaks, his tone is a deeply impressed one.
“…At last, it is all coming together. Now I know the truth Gaius was keeping from me. When you said that name… the title I earned so long ago… the memories started flooding back. Yes… once upon a time, I WAS known as the White Wolf, one of Drakonia’s first heroes. And yes, I DID travel to Earth and settle down in Lankershire. I was pleased to learn that my bloodline has survived to the present day, even if my name didn’t. And you… you ARE my heir by blood, Cal. You are the heir to the legacy of the White Wolf.”
Well, well, well! Look who was right YET AGAIN! ME, BITCHES!!! MEEEEE!!!!! MEEEEEEEEEEAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!
I knew the gloating was coming, but I wasn’t looking forward to it.
And the triumphantly mad cackling is worse when you have as many ears as WE do.
But this DOES explain where Cal has seen that sword before.
The day we met Ursula. In those murals on the wall, the one with Drakus and the White Wolf.
But this just leaves us with more questions than we started with.
Why did he go to Earth? Why did he abandon the love of his life? If he wanted to start a whole bloodline, why didn’t he do that with Ursula?
I mean, I’m not exactly complaining, I wouldn’t exist if he stayed with Ursula on Magicca, but I’m curious. He had to have a reason to go to Earth, right?
And since the White Wolf probably isn’t his real name, what is?
Just fuckin’ ask him already, Cal! It’s about damn time we get some answers outta him!
I’m on it, Niv.
“I have… I have a lot of questions for you. Why did you--”
But the skeleton formerly known as the White Wolf holds up a hand.
“Your questions will have to wait, Cal. I haven’t recovered ALL of my memories yet, and I would like to be able to answer all of your questions in a satisfactory manner. There are still key memories that elude me… such as the rest of the one we have been seeing bit by bit… and we both know what we must do in order to see that memory in full. Without that memory, we may be missing vital pieces of the puzzle.”
Then he walks over to me, placing his hand on my shoulder in a fatherly manner.
“But permit me to say now that I am incredibly proud of you. I do not regret choosing you to inherit my techniques. Yes, I have other descendants, but you have gone so much further than any of them. You are a worthy heir to my legacy. Your birth was a blessing.”
“Thank you. I needed to hear that. Some of the things the Light said in Ad Laun Dyz kinda stuck with me.”
“Whatever that foul being said, ‘twas only meant to weaken your resolve and break your spirit. But as they say, words cannot hurt you. Only if you let them.”
Then he takes his hand off my shoulder, drawing his sword and holding it out.
“We are almost there, Cal. We are very close to the core of this ancient mystery, and the path ahead is clear. When you have mastered the Liminal Blade, we will take the NEXT step on that path.”
I follow suit with the Sword of Kings, crossing blades with him, the knight’s equivalent to a fistbump.
“Believe me, I can’t wait to get to the bottom of this. Like I said, I have so many questions.”
As we sheathe our swords, he chuckles again, a warm and friendly chuckle.
“I am sure you do, Cal. I have many questions of my own, as a matter of fact. The time will come when we will BOTH get the answers we seek, I promise you.”
The White Wolf points at me.
“Now go, and do not falter… my child.”
And everything goes white again.
I come to back in Fairy Hollow, seeing the gold and white wolf turn back into a fluffy.
Well, now he’s just a white wolf turning into a fluffy, but his body is still glowing faintly with a gold aura.
He nods at me before he scurries off into the woods, and once he’s gone, I look up at Gaius.
The look on my face clearly tells him everything he needs to know, and he smiles.
“So, you finally know the truth about our mutual friend.”
“Not the whole truth, but I know the gist of it. You knew all along, didn’t you?”
“He passed through the Pit of Giaga long, long ago, and my memory has never failed me before. I remember everyone who has ever traveled through the passageway I guard. So yes, I have always known the truth about him.”
“And you didn’t tell either of us because, let me guess, you thought it was something we had to figure out ourselves?”
Gaius stops smiling, looking rather ashamed all of a sudden.
“Forgive me, Cal. I simply felt that it was not my place to reveal the truth.”
Marley waddles up next to me.
“Wait, wut am daddeh an mistah Gai-yus tawk-in abowt? Wut twoof abowt ouw moo-tyuh fwend?”
I smirk down at him.
“I’ll fill you in when we get back to the School, buddy.”
Gaius interrupts.
“You can tell Marley, Cal, but I think our spectral friend would appreciate it if you two keep it to yourselves for the time being. The time that everyone else can know will come.”
“I see your point… I dunno how Ursula will take it.”
What, that her old boyfriend whose disappearance broke her heart was on Earth all along, and is now a skeletal ghost possessing a fluffy who turns into a wolf sometimes? And that the first thing she did after waking up in the modern day was try to make out with his great-great-great-times-a-kajillion-grandson? Oh no, I think she’ll take it like a champ.
She wasn’t too upset when she found out that the empire she built fell apart during her lengthy absence. She can take bad news well, it seems.
From a certain point of view, it’s not even BAD news. She might be pleased to know that her beloved is still around, in a fashion.
Yeah, and didn’t she actually suggest that Cal and the White Wolf are related when we first met her?
I believe she did, yes.
Then she’ll probably get a good laugh out being proven right, to say the very least. I know I did.
Yes, and all of our ears still hurt.
Sorry about that, Memories. But Cal, are you sure we shouldn’t tell Ursula that the White Wolf is here?
She’ll get to know eventually. When the time is right.
Gaius thinks it’s too soon to tell everyone else, and I trust him on that. I think we found out a little too early, frankly.
Eh, but at least the readers don’t have to put up with us dancing around it anymore.
Besides, there’s something else that just occurred to me: if this knowledge reaches the wrong ears… like, say, Dehak’s ears… what would he do?
Whatever he did to Jaws after the idiot fucked up? Being a ghost doesn’t really mean you’re SAFE from Dehak. So I see your point, Cal.
If it helps, we probably won’t have to keep this a secret for that long. Until the final lesson, I’d guess.
And on that note, I’ve got a new move to master, along with two more to learn.
Like Skeleton G-- like the White Wolf said, everything is coming together. Bit by bit, everything is getting clearer.
Y’know, I think Ursula might have already figured it out. Didn’t you see the look on her face after your little duet at the Wedding of Doom?
Look, we’ve got other things to worry about right now.
I need to check in with Des and make sure Gilly’s relatives are still safe, for starters.
Time doesn’t really pass in the outside world while I’m having these lessons, but Dehak and his friends can do a lot with even a few minutes.
I also need to check in with the Nerd Squad. It might be time to use that thing we’ve been putting together soon. The thing with the doohickey Pierre invented for Victor, after Vic’s Klondike trip.
“Gaius, I’ll see you and everyone else here later. Maybe next time, I’ll bring Roxie so she can say hi to the unicorn.”
Can’t bring Young Quin or Ronnie for that, obviously. Only female virgins can safely approach a unicorn, unless they know the Horseman’s Word.
Which Mel taught me a few years back, but it’s a bit cruel.
“Anyway, I’ve got a bunch of things to do today, so we’d better get moving.”
Rose the fairy flies up to my face and kisses my nose.
mwah
“Say hi to everyone at home for us, Cal.”
“I will. Gaius, is there anything else we need to discuss?”
“Nothing of import, but you and Marley are always welcome to drop in for a friendly chat.”
“I’m a busy man, but I’ll try to make time. Mar, let’s go.”
“Wite. Am we guin back tu da Skoow nao, daddeh?”
“Eeyup. I’ve got Des taking care of shit there while I’m out, so he’ll probably be in his office.”
Yes, Des has an office at the School. His main office is at home, in the Sanctum, but he’s got one at the School as well, for those occasions when I can’t run the team myself for whatever reason.
That, and he’s basically the Deputy Headmaster of the School, he’s been filling that role since Pierre built the place. Doc’s backup plan for the event of his death/retirement/whatever before I was ready to take over as leader of the ChaotiX was to have Des run the team until I became ready, but I guess that backup plan was never needed.
And Vic has an office too, seeing as he teaches History and Home Ec, among other things. I haven’t seen a teacher of either subject who can hold a candle to him.
My office used to be Pierre’s. He used to have a Remote Body or two stashed there before the Demonic Invasion, and the secret room he hid them in is still there.
And I know how to open it, but I haven’t really been doing much with it. I just use it as a closet, most of the time.
Anyway, I’ve got shit to do, so we’d better hit the bricks. So to speak, we are in a forest.
pop
pop
Me and Marley teleport out, waving goodbye to our friends in Fairy Hollow.
Meanwhile, in the throne room of the underground headquarters of the New Order of Darkness, Lord Dehak sits on his throne, talking to Darksyde Doyle.
“Any success with those dwarves yet?”
Darksyde Doyle regretfully shakes his hooded head, his face shrouded in shadow.
“No, Dehak. From what we can discern, the ChaotiX are protecting every member of the Bli’kzim-ku’up family through various means. I think they know about the compass, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Korkea has already taken it into his custody.”
Dehak clenches his yellow teeth and his fists in frustration and anger.
“Damn it all! Without that compass, we have no way to find Chival’s secrets! We can’t let the boy and his legion of lackeys get there first, Darksyde Doyle. They are already too formidable without assets of such value.”
Darksyde Doyle lowers his hood, showing his concerned expression.
“But getting the compass from Korkea is virtually impossible. If we could take it from him by force, we could just eliminate him from the equation altogether.”
It’s only when he’s with his closest associates that he reveals his face, due to the mark on his forehead which immediately exposes him as a servant of the Devourer: eight dots and eight squiggly lines around a circle, and triangles around the inside of the circle, an oversimplification of the dread entity to which the New Order is ostensibly subservient.
(Well, that and the deathly pale skin, red irises, and dark shadow around his eyes. Add some pointy teeth and remove the mark, and he could easily be mistaken for a vampire.)
Before he became a Darksyde, an embodiment of who he is on his worst day, the true Doyle was merely an accountant from Detroit, and a casual acquaintance of the Robinson family. One of his old coworkers was Jeff’s father.
But these are all things you should already know, so we’ll leave it at that.
THUD
Dehak angrily bangs his fist on an armrest, growing more frustrated.
“Don’t you think I know that?!? The boy has survived longer than anyone else who ever incurred my wrath! That alone is an unforgivable insult!”
He growls in annoyance, rolling his eyes as he rests his chin on his fist.
“It was so much simpler before that little wretch came along. Someone angers me, I kill them, the end! Even when I was bodiless and forced to rely on that idiot von Drachen, I had just enough magic to smite any of those filthy peasants Harvey ruled over. But it didn’t start with the boy, you know.”
At this point, Dehak starts grinding his teeth.
“It started with Auldryn, and his little friends. They were the first ones who defied Lord Dehak the Almighty and lived to tell the tale… or at least some of them lived.”
When he recalls the end of his first reign over Drakonia, Dehak’s smile turns upside down.
“But of course, I killed the thief and barbarian myself… with the Devourer’s gifts… and you know what that means.”
Darksyde Doyle nods, having patiently waited for Dehak to finish his rant.
“Well, yes, only one end awaits those who are slain by our Master’s power. So when are you going to--”
CLONK
But he doesn’t get to finish his sentence, because someone just threw the doors open, and Darksyde Doyle quickly pulls his hood up.
Then, Dehak and Darksyde Doyle turn, seeing someone waddle in with utter confidence, followed by two of the New Order’s rank and file.
“Lord Dehak, our sincerest apologies!”
“We tried to stop it, but it just… it just…”
The newcomer is a rather unusual-looking individual, and the first unusual thing about it is that it’s very small, only a foot tall tops, so Dehak and Darksyde Doyle slowly look down, staring at the new arrival.
They’re staring at a creature with a pear-shaped body, pale purple in color, with long floppy arms that trail behind it and stubby little legs. Its face is just two black dots, and a smaller dot for a mouth.
Dehak cautiously addresses the creature, sensing something strange in the air.
“Who… what are you? Do you understand me, intruder?”
He stands up, shaking his sleeves back, the wizarding equivalent to cocking a shotgun.
“Do you even know where you have chosen to intrude, or who is the master of this place?”
The creature looks up at Dehak, the dots on its purple face shifting. The mouth dot becomes a thin crescent, and the eyes become two upside down Us, an approximation of a smile.
When the creature speaks, it does so in a high-pitched voice, that reminds Dehak of his old servant Blot.
“Oh yes! Understand you just fine! Know who you are too! Very strong wizard! Can help me find way home!”
Dehak sneers down at the creature, shoving Darksyde Doyle aside as he steps forward.
“So you are lost, little one? What made you think that coming here for help was a good idea? Look around! Does this place look like a hall of heroes to you? I don’t have time to help lost little… whatever you are! I’ve got problems of my own to deal with!”
The creature nods, still smiling that rudimentary smile.
“Know about problems strong wizard have! Looking for Chival’s secrets! Is why I come to you! We looking for same thing!”
The throne room goes silent, and Dehak wordlessly gestures for the minions to leave.
Only once they have closed the doors behind them does Dehak speak.
“I thought you said that you want to find your way home?”
The creature sighs, its eye dots briefly turning into straight lines.
“Is same thing. Strong wizard looking for compass. Compass point in direction of secret place. Where secret place is, home is too. I know where secret place is, but cannot go alone. Need help getting there, getting in. Need someone strong, strong, clever, clever. Need someone like you.”
Again, Dehak sneers, still not entirely sold.
“And what do I get out of helping you?”
The creature tilts its body slightly to the left, radiating confusion.
“Is not obvious? You get Chival’s secrets! All yours, all for the taking! Do not need, you can have. But can’t find secrets without me. And if you not help me… maybe Chaotics be getting secrets first, hmm?”
It pauses for a moment, letting Dehak and Darksyde Doyle process that.
“Chival have special treasure, you know. He keep it in secret place, keep it safe. Very powerful treasure, too. If you find it, very good things happen.”
Dehak strokes his beard, after checking that it hasn’t spontaneously turned into a curled goatee again.
“What kind of treasure are we talking about? Some kind of weapon?”
“If strong wizard help me, you see for yourself.”
To his deep concern, Dehak recently discovered that his separation from Dehstuonn has caused his unique existence to be compromised.
You should remember how Calvin separated Dehak and Dehstuonn at the Spring of Light, and that, at the time, Dehak appeared to survive the separation and remain himself.
However, Lord Dehak the Almighty was born of the mental union of Dehstuonn the Ambitious and his previous incarnation, Hakar the Black. Hakar was watching from behind Dehstuonn’s eyes ever since the latter was born, and it is Hakar’s half of the soul he once shared with Dehstuonn that remained with Dehak.
(Well, more or less half. If there was ever any good in Hakar, it all went with Dehstuonn, because it’s certainly not in Dehak anymore, and everything has to exist somewhere.)
So Dehak technically still possesses all of Dehstuonn’s memories, at least up until the moment they were separated, but those second-hand memories can only protect him for so long.
Without the other half of their soul, the half that Dehstuonn took with him along with their body of flesh, bone and blood and half of their magical power, Dehak will eventually cease to be himself, and revert back to Hakar. The process of reversion has already started, and the fact that Dehak’s beard keeps turning into Hakar’s goatee is the proof.
The dark powers of the Devourer remained with Dehak too, of course, seeing as the Spring of Light’s sacred waters purged the powers of death and darkness from Dehstuonn’s body, but even those powers can only buy so much time.
Even as Dehak struggles to resist the reversion through sheer force of will, he can feel himself becoming less Dehak and more Hakar. Occasionally, he catches himself mentally referring to himself by the wrong name.
And Hakar alone is not enough to prevail. He proved that thousands of years ago, shortly before his demise.
(Which Calvin has been seeing one bit at a time.)
Simply reintegrating with Dehstuonn would solve the problem, Dehak has guessed, but that would also make a new problem for him.
When Dehak was purged, he transcended lichdom, becoming more than simply undead. He shed his vessel of rotting flesh and became the power of death and darkness incarnate, pure evil in physical form. His body is comprised of dark energy now, and is merely projecting the illusion of being made of rotting flesh, an illusion that slips when his emotions run high.
But if he and Dehstuonn were to become one again, Dehak would once again be a mere lich, and his dark powers would once again be shackled by a body of real rotting flesh, with all the weakness of humanity.
Which would be a major setback for his quest to obtain the Stones of Octavo. The power of the Stones can burn an unworthy wielder’s flesh, shatter their bones, and boil the very blood out of their veins. In the worst case scenario, the most that would be left of the wielder is a pair of smoking footprints.
And the undead tend to be more vulnerable to burning than the living. Necrotic flesh is unfortunately flammable, even when it’s still up and walking around and casting spells.
But Dehak knows via multiple sources that one can avoid those gruesome consequences by not having any flesh to burn, bones to shatter, or blood to boil.
One must be corporeal to use the Stones, but not necessarily organic.
Beings of metal and rock have wielded the full, unrestrained power of a Stone without coming to harm. A being of pure darkness might be able to survive too.
So to summarize Dehak’s dilemma: becoming one with Dehstuonn again would prevent him from reverting to Hakar, but it would also render him unable to wield the Stones.
Until a few days ago, Dehak thought that he was stuck between a rock and a hard place, but there might be another solution, he realized. A way for Dehak to eat his cake and have it too.
He could slay several dragons with one sword if he plays his cards right.
(That’s the Drakonian equivalent to the phrase “kill two birds with one stone”, or the more recent “kill two fluffies with one brick”, but those Drakonians who are on good terms with the benevolent dragons will say “kill two monsters with one sword” instead.)
All Dehak needs is the right opportunity.
And as he ponders the newcomer’s words, he sees that the perfect opportunity has just dropped into his lap.
The ChaotiX have the compass handed down from Chival’s assistant, through generation after generation of Bli’kzim-ku’ups. If they haven’t already figured out how it works, they’ll figure it out eventually.
There’s only one way to beat the ChaotiX to the prize: by helping the strange little creature who somehow broke into this extremely secure location.
Dehak isn’t a fool. He is aware of how convenient it is that the creature showed up now, exactly when it was needed, and Dehak didn’t make it this far by dismissing such conveniences as chance and coincidence.
But he’s also an unapologetically selfish bastard, so he considers it a given that the creature has ulterior motives for offering its help to the New Order. After all, Dehak himself made it clear that he won’t offer his help without incentives, and selfish bastards tend to believe that everyone else is just as selfish as them deep down.
A thief thinks everyone steals, as they say.
If the creature pulls any stunts, it’s outnumbered and outgunned. Dehak is confident that he can remain in control of the situation.
So he makes his decision.
“Alright… I’ll humor you. But you had better be true to your word, for Lord Dehak the Almighty does not forgive betrayal.”
The creature smiles again, obviously pleased by this answer.
“Thanking you very much! Are we leaving now? Chaotics could already be on their way there.”
Dehak shakes his head.
“Not yet. We have preparations to make, and I have questions to ask you. First of all, how did you even get in here, and how do you know of the ChaotiX?”
“Ask questions later! Getting Chival’s secrets is more important, no?”
Darksyde Doyle steers his way back into the conversation at last.
“Are you sure we should trust this creature, Dehak? This all seems a tad too convenient. Too good to be true.”
Dehak slowly turns his head, having completely forgotten that Darksyde Doyle was even in the throne room.
“We have very few other options. Without this strange little fellow’s assistance, there is no way for us to beat the boy to Chival’s hidden treasures.”
“But how do we even know that it’s telling the truth? This could be Chaos in one of his disguises.”
The creature cheerfully chimes in.
“If was Chaos, would not be helping you, would be helping Chaotics instead. Please, do not waste more time. We must be ready to move. I wait for you, but not for long. Otherwise, maybe someone else help me instead?”
Dehak growls in annoyance.
“Fine. Give me… a few days to make all of the necessary preparations. I must summon the rest of the Octovirate and inform them of this development. Our team name is still not accurate, but this may require a group effort.”
The creature smiles again.
“Good! With friends, everything easier.”
“I wouldn’t call them friends. Oh, and maybe we should tell the Dehak Rangers to prepare for deployment, just in case. They still haven’t gotten a chance to test their strength against the boy, or to compensate for their poor showing the first time they were deployed.”
Darksyde Doyle raises a finger as he offers a suggestion.
“You could deploy your golem again, too.”
Dehak shakes his head.
“No, that thing’s in use at the moment. Kzhar needed someone who’s good at heavy lifting, what with all the gold he’s been transmuting for me.”
Then an idea occurs to him, and his rotten lips curl into a wicked smile.
“But perhaps we could make use of another asset…”