Chapter Text
Rose: That took quite a bit longer than I expected.
Rose: However not that it’s over, let’s close this chapter of our lives and move on to more productive horizons.
You would be more intimidating had you not been vomiting black bile for the past hour. A raspy voice that gasped for air every two seconds didn’t strike fear into anyone other than the youngest of consorts.
And perhaps if you could actually get off the floor, you could tower over Megido and cement this ill-begotten “win” of yours. Currently you only have the energy to pant and resist the urge to curl up into the fetal position.
Aradia: shut up
Looking over to your companion-in-misery, you note that she has fared no better. Megido’s been reduced to a single body, the rest either disintegrated or defenestrated.
Well, calling it a body would’ve been generous. She’s just a head now, with one eye viscously torn out. You don’t know how she’s still talking to you, or even why she would desire to.
The fight ended at the top of the clocktower. Less than ten feet away shines The Emerald Flame, its envious and magnificent glory dominating the space. Its light is so intense that you can see it even when you close your eyes, and despite that it makes almost no noise at all. There it is, the reason why you’re even here, completely dominating your vision.
And you’re too frail to reach it.
Rose: DAMMIT
Aradia: …
You’re not going to cry. Not in front of her. Not after everything you’ve done.
You—
You just need to rest your eyes.
For a minute, nothing more.
Aradia: why did they send y0u?
Rose: The Denizens of the Incipisphere wish to-
Aradia: d0nt play dumb
Aradia: i went to the sch0l0mance t00
Aradia: h0rr0rterr0rs d0nt care ab0ut this place
Aradia: s0 why are y0u really here?
Rose: …
Rose: We want to destroy The Emerald Flame
You hear a small snort.
Aradia: are y0u insane?
Rose: No, just perceptive.
Rose: Despite what the Denizens believe, hiding only delays the inevitable.The White Wizard’s untimely passing made them brazen. They believe that if they simply dispatch his followers and lock away his juju, the Lord of Albion will be forever banished from the Incipisphere.
Rose: What nonsense.
Rose: As long as the path remains open, the danger remains
Rose: Destroying it is the only way to be certain he stays on his side of the Veil.
Megido looks at you with a shocked expression on her face. Normally you’d be pleased to astonish someone in this manner, but the hangover twisting behind your eyes means you’re annoyed instead.
Rose: I’m sorry, didn’t you steal The Emerald Flame on the White Wizard’s orders? Surely you must’ve known that somebody would’ve come and stopped you.
Aradia: st0pped me fr0m d0ing what???
What?
Rose: what
Aradia: we t00k the jujus
Aradia: im n0t denying that
Aradia: (m0stly cause i cant)
Aradia: but we werent g0ing to summ0n any0ne with it
Aradia: we were just…
Aradia: its futile
The shock of that twist briefly stops your hangover. The trolls weren’t carrying out the Wizard’s will?
Rose: I don’t understand.
Rose: Then why did you steal it?
Aradia: t0 delay the inevitable
Aradia: …
Aradia: y0u met him right
Rose: Yes.
Rose: I wish I hadn’t.
You haven’t slept since you crossed his path, his words inhibiting your psyche in a way similar to parasites, devouring your dreams and bequeathing agonies in their wake. That man, the catalyst for the awakening of your blood curse, coalescing your mind to transcendental powers beyond your comprehension, constraining the true power of the Void in a form greatly unprepared to host it. The resulting insanity resisting every attempt made to soothe it, forcing your friends to watch defenselessly as you annihilated anyone or anything unfortunate enough to witness your descent, the end only coming when that destruction turned inward. His death brought you no closure, not because it occurred while you were lost in the throes of madness, but because you hadn’t been the one to wring the life out of his loathsome form.
Aradia: ever since i met that white bastard the future disappeared
Aradia: 0ne path remained
Aradia: 0ne where we f0ll0wed him
Aradia: 0ne where the w0rld ends
Aradia: i th0ught that if we t00k the jujus and made sure n0b0dy else c0uld use them the future w0uld c0me back
Aradia: but n0things happened
You listen to the soft crackling of the flame beside you. It must be nighttime, or close to it. John would be sleeping by now, in a nice bed given to him by the residents of Prospit. Jade usually stays up late, tinkering away at her body or some obscure invention that was entirely her own design.
And Dave—
Rose: We can’t give up now.
Aradia: d0 y0u think I want the w0rld t0 end?
Aradia: we’ve tried everything
Aradia: but the future w0nt change
Aradia: I HATE IT!!!
Rose: If we destroy—
Aradia: it’s a juju we cant d0 shit t0 it
Aradia: and even if y0u c0uld it w0uld break EVERYTHING
That last part she emphasizes loud enough that her voicebox briefly goes out.
Rose: As the saying goes, you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.
Aradia: we arent talking ab0ut eggs
Aradia: were talking ab0ut reality
Aradia: and can y0u even trust th0se h0rr0rterr0rs
Rose: Right, I’m sorry. That was… insensitive of me.
Rose: And to answer your question; I’m a Horrorterror myself. Of a much lesser nobility… but still a Horrorterror.
Rose: I trust them as much as I trust myself.
You despise how unconvincing that sounded. You’ve never been close to the courts of the Furthest Ring, not even now that your power has run amok. However, you’ve studied at their most prestigious school, you’ve learned their majyyks, both permitted and forbidden. That all has to matter, especially at this moment.
Aradia: is that why they sent y0u here
Aradia: t0 bl0w y0urself up
Aradia: did they pr0mise y0u s0mething
Rose: As you so graciously reminded me, I’m dead whether I succeed or not.
Rose: But I have a plan to escape that fate. “Destruction” becomes “extinguishing” if all goes well.
Rose: And for what they promised me—
The safety of your friends.
The whereabouts of your mother.
Rose: Knowledge, fame, riches.
Rose: All the common divine boons.
Rose: That’s irrelevant to what we’re doing now.
Rose: Megido, think back to your friends.
Rose: You ran all the way here, smuggling a juju of immense destructive power—
Rose: —and hid out in ruined civilization—
Rose: —all to protect them.
Rose: I know that you don’t want them to die.
Rose: And I know you think Lord Albion is unstoppable.
Rose: Wouldn’t you do anything, even break the entire Incipisphere, to make sure that doesn’t happen?
Rose: Destroy everything the Wizard made with his filthy gloves to guarantee a better world for them?
Rose: You knew the Denizens couldn’t protect them. That’s why you rejected their guidance. You knew that their "help" wouldn't be useful against a threat of this caliber.
Rose: Your desire may have been twisted, but that doesn’t mean you have to stop fighting.
Rose: …So please, help me save them.
Was this the right thing to say? Was it too pleading, too unsteady?
You don’t hear anything, but you do feel something. Unseen hands lift you to your feet, steadying you when you feel weak. In your ears a voice whispers,
Aradia: i still d0nt trust them
Aradia: any 0ld divine bastards
Aradia: but dying sucks
Aradia: and dying a sec0nd time w0uld suck m0re
Aradia: h0w d0es extinguishing w0rk?
You grasp your remaining needle tightly as you instruct your new ally on the fraymotifs necessary for the scheme. In this new light the flame becomes more of a challenge than a warning, something that can be beaten with skill and knowledge. See you soon Dave, your absent sister will be back before long.