ULTRAMagic Shadowland - Chapter 20
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The reality error Sir Odo and the others stepped into was a surreal sight to behold. It was a realm of fog and moonlight. The Landscape warped and turned, as if molded by an artist. Platforms of ground floated in the air, with rivers and streams that flowed off into nothing. There was an odd tranquility to all of it, with an autumn breeze flowing gently past the three. Despite all of this, it was hard to shake off the eerie feeling created by the lack of any entities aside from them.
Maximus seemed to be at the most unease, nervously looking around. “He’s in a place like this? Not the place I’d choose…”
“You know what, kid? I’ll cut you some slack as this place is giving me the heebeegeebees too…” The Beast pointed out.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Odo replied. “It kind of reminds me of my past life… Maximus? Aren’t you going to revert back to normal?”
“What are you talking about? I already did…”
Odo studied him for a moment. “Oh. I see. Must be this error in particular then.”
“I was wondering why you got so big all of a sudden… hey, where’d The Beast go?”
“Over here, slowpokes!” He called out, already roughly twenty feet away. “I got The Fear’s scent!”
Odo indicated for Maximus to follow. “Goodness, Beast!” he called back. “Even in a place such as this?”
“Yeah. Despite how late Sulfur and Mercury gave birth to The Fear, I have his scent down. Mind you it took me a couple of seconds given how long it’s been.”
“Wait, I thought we were going to use the ghost lantern…” Maximus pointed out. “You know, the one Andelin had us get?”
The Beast barked in the opposite direction. “It’ll be fine. My nose is on point.”
Leading the two forward, The Beast of Old sniffed around as he searched. The Fear must have been moving around out of boredom, as his scent was all over the place. There were a couple of times where Sir Odo had to use the lantern due to The Beast becoming confused. The Beast voiced his complaints, but they were handwaved. Finding The Fear was more important than a hunter’s pride.
Eventually the three discovered a small town, except it was not actually a town. The buildings were placed haphazardly, looking like the idea of a town. Furthermore, they were completely empty. It felt like there was supposed to be something in them. This alongside the emptiness made all of it incredibly unsettling. Was the town actually meant for anyone? Anything? Either way, The Fear’s scent was the strongest at this location.
“Oh yeah, he’s here…” The Beast remarked. “So, do any of you fear anything? I’m afraid of the future…”
Odo thought about it for a second. “Well, I guess I’m worried about failing my friends, family, and associates… that, and my younger brother being in danger.”
“Alright. Maximus?”
“I fear nothing.” They both looked at him incredulously. “What?”
“Kid, what do you fear?” The Beast asked sternly. “I’m serious. We have no idea how The Fear is going to react to us and we already have a good idea of what he can do…”
“Like I said, nothing. Dad and grandpa said I need to be fearless!”
Odo tilted his head, noticing Maximus’ legs shaking. “Maximus, that tenacity is commendable, but surely you must fear something. From what I have learned over the eons, our fear is what makes us brave.”
“Well said, Odo,” The Beast complimented. “You can’t better yourself if you don’t fear something. There is no bravery without fear. Be honest with yourself, kid.”
Maximus was growing embarrassed. He did not want to come off as weak, but at the same time he did not want to admit he was scared… then a mysterious voice joined the conversation. “He’s afraid of failure, heights, spiders… and petrification and synthetic fabrics for some reason.”
Everybody turned to see a boy up on a balcony… with Maximus jumping up to him. “Excuse me! Don’t say that stuff out loud!” The boy waved goodbye and dashed off. “Hey! Get back here! How did you know all of that!?” Maximus called out as he chased after him.
Odo inhaled and sighed. “That was The Fear of Old, wasn’t it?”
“Yup,” The Beast answered.
“And now Maximus is chasing him around the town…”
“Yup.”
The boy was crafty, effortlessly evading Maximus. He clearly knew the town inside and out. His pursuer showed no sign of stopping, so The Fear stopped. Thinking outside the box, he snapped his fingers. Maximus froze in place, unable to move. Gold crept up his body, turning him into a statue. It then stopped at his face so he could see and speak. Once he was sure it was safe, The Fear approached him.
“What have you done to me?!” Maximus cried.
The Fear laughed, the joke lost on Maximus. “You’re the one who started chasing me, so I have every right to stop you.”
“GET ME OUT OF THIS.”
“No! Not until you tell me why you’re here and chasing me.”
Maximus whined as Odo and The Beast approached. They were very confused as to why he was just standing there… “Maximus, are you okay?” Odo inquired.
“He can’t hear you,” The Fear stated. “I used his fears to stop him, so he’s a bit preoccupied…”
“I see… Would you happen to be The Fear of Old?”
“Um… yes…” The Fear was a bit unsettling. He had pale skin, voids for eyes, and wore ragged, black robes. His posture was also one of those who was ready to flee. “Who are you?”
“I am Sir Odo Ash, Knight of the Unlight. And this four legged chap here is The Beast of Old.”
“A Primordial!?” The Fear darted over and began inspecting The Beast.
“Hey, easy, kid…” The Beast recoiled a little as The Fear stroked his fur.
The Fear then took a step back and looked at each of them. “Wait, are all of you primordials?”
Odo nodded. “Yes. Mind you I am reincarnated, but I was once one of The Dream of Old. As for Maximus, he’s a recreation of The War Machine of Old… why is he taking his armor off?”
“GET THIS NONSENSE OFF OF ME, ARGH.” Maximus’ mechanical body was fully visible as his armor clanged to the ground. There was nothing of concern, save for exposed metal fibers. Most of it was covered up by metal plates in the shape of the male figure, but the joints needed to be free to move. “Better…” he then realized that he was exposed and panicked. “DON’T LOOK AT ME.”
The other three laughed. “Kid, relax, you’re a machine,” The Beast pointed out. “There’s nothing to be embarrassed over.”
“Well of course, but mom told me never to be indecent in front of others!” Maximus snapped back as he scrambled to get his armor on. The others assumed it must have been an illusion.
“So what are you three doing here?” The Fear asked. “Milosh and Andelin told me to hide here…”
Odo discreetly cringed at that. “Well… um, Andelin sent us here to check on you…”
“She did? But Gummi already did that…” He then had a realization. “Wait! Did Milosh send you here because you’re also running from The Scary God?” The three were taken aback. The Scary God? “Follow me!”
The Fear led his newfound guests to a house tucked into the depths of the town. Unlike most of the other buildings, this one had furniture and amenities. The Fear sat everyone down and went into the other room. He came back with some drawings, books, and notebooks. Sir Odo caught a glimpse of one of the drawings, reluctantly noticing a familiar individual. This caused some adrenaline to enter his blood. He then took a deep breath and composed himself.
“Don’t worry, my home is absolutely scary god proof,” The Fear reassured them. “Milosh made sure of it”
“The Scary God, who’s that?” Odo asked.
“He’s a terrible rogue god that my brother is fighting right now. He even sent Milosh to look after me…” The Fear got out a drawing. “Here, I drew Milosh. See how cool he is?”
Maximus was giving him the evil eye, but Odo kept him in check. “You like to draw?”
“Oh yes. Here’s one of me and Dunja playing in a field, this one is me and Andelin playing hopscotch, and this one is me and Gratiana baking cookies.” He then got out a drawing of a freighting man with a crown. “And this is The Scary God. He’s out to get me and everyone else…”
Maximus quickly realized who the drawing was depicting. “Hold on, that’s Grandpa Englehart!”
“I beg your pardon?”
The Beast groaned. “Should we tell him now or later?”
“Hold on you two,” Odo instructed. “Fear, how did you meet Milosh?”
“Ah, that. Well one day I was sitting around, waiting for my brother to get back. Eventually this silver haired man came up to me and asked what was wrong. He then told me that Hunger had sent him to protect me from The Scary God and that Hunger was freeing a kingdom under The Scary God’s control. Milosh then asked if I could help him get his kingdom back. All I had to do was help his subjects face their fears of the terrible Scarrier God…”
“FOR THE LOVE OF MY SANITY!” Maximus exclaimed. “Source on a bicycle, I am getting sick of these lying philistines! There’s no Scarier God, that’s Sten! He’s talking about Sten Haugen! The Scarier God?! REALLY?!”
“Maximus, easy!” Odo responded.
The Fear had darted behind a recliner. “What’s going on? What did I say?”
“Fear, I’m going to rip the bandage off now…” Maximus said as he got up. “Milosh is a lying charlatan!”
“What? No! He wouldn’t lie to me!”
“YES. HE. WOULD. I’ve seen and heard it!”
The Beast cleared his throat. “Son, there’s no such thing as The Scary God or The Scarier God for that matter. And if they do exist, they haven’t made themselves known to the Cosmos. And as for your brother, what I’ve heard through the grapevine is that he’s in The Trench Unlight. So unless Milosh knows how to get there, he ain’t met your brother.”
Odo sighed. “You two need to learn some tact… Fear? I know this is hard to take in, but it’s the truth. Andelin sent us here to inform you and bring you to Shadowland.”
“Hmm… how do I know you’re being truthful?”
“Here…” Odo handed the boy a card. “Straight from her deck.”
“Okay… but how do I know you didn’t steal this from her?”
Odo chuckled. “Fair enough… um… hum, guys? Should we fetch her?”
“Heh, that’s assuming he’ll actually talk to me this time…” She remarked as she appeared next to Odo. This startled everyone.
“ANDELIN, don’t do that!” Odo cried.
The Fear crept out from behind the recliner. “Andelin? These weird men are saying Milosh is a liar… is that true?”
She gestured for him to sit down in the recliner, followed by her sitting down with Odo and Maximus. “Fear, we have a lot of things to talk about. First off, yes, Milosh is a dirty liar.”
“No, it can’t be…”
She nodded. “It can. Dunja, the blades, and I have all turned our backs on him.”
“You did? Why?”
“It’s a long story, Fear. Since we’ll be here for a bit, can I ask a favor of you? A real favor?”
The Fear looked down at his drawings, then back to Andelin. “What is it?”
“Could you undo that little spell Milosh had you cast?”
“Oh, um, sure… I suppose…” He focused, causing a dark cloud to appear before him. He then waved his hands about, dissipating it. “So what was that actually for then?”
Andelin briefly turned to Odo. “Fear has food in the kitchen. Could you be a dear and whip us up some snacks?”
“Sure thing” he replied as he got up.
She then turned back to The Fear. “Again, I cannot stress enough that it’s a long story. Are you willing to hear me out?”
The Fear thought it over. “Yes, as long as it explains all this chaos and confusion.”
“Don’t worry, sweetie, all will be elucidated. I suppose we’ll start with Milosh and how he ended up in the position he’s in right now…”
“Oh boy, here we go…” The Beast said with a chuckle. “Strap in, son. This is going to blow your mind.”
The Fear made himself comfortable in his recliner. “Alright, I’m ready!”
Next: Chapter 21
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
Master Post - Patreon
The reality error Sir Odo and the others stepped into was a surreal sight to behold. It was a realm of fog and moonlight. The Landscape warped and turned, as if molded by an artist. Platforms of ground floated in the air, with rivers and streams that flowed off into nothing. There was an odd tranquility to all of it, with an autumn breeze flowing gently past the three. Despite all of this, it was hard to shake off the eerie feeling created by the lack of any entities aside from them.
Maximus seemed to be at the most unease, nervously looking around. “He’s in a place like this? Not the place I’d choose…”
“You know what, kid? I’ll cut you some slack as this place is giving me the heebeegeebees too…” The Beast pointed out.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Odo replied. “It kind of reminds me of my past life… Maximus? Aren’t you going to revert back to normal?”
“What are you talking about? I already did…”
Odo studied him for a moment. “Oh. I see. Must be this error in particular then.”
“I was wondering why you got so big all of a sudden… hey, where’d The Beast go?”
“Over here, slowpokes!” He called out, already roughly twenty feet away. “I got The Fear’s scent!”
Odo indicated for Maximus to follow. “Goodness, Beast!” he called back. “Even in a place such as this?”
“Yeah. Despite how late Sulfur and Mercury gave birth to The Fear, I have his scent down. Mind you it took me a couple of seconds given how long it’s been.”
“Wait, I thought we were going to use the ghost lantern…” Maximus pointed out. “You know, the one Andelin had us get?”
The Beast barked in the opposite direction. “It’ll be fine. My nose is on point.”
Leading the two forward, The Beast of Old sniffed around as he searched. The Fear must have been moving around out of boredom, as his scent was all over the place. There were a couple of times where Sir Odo had to use the lantern due to The Beast becoming confused. The Beast voiced his complaints, but they were handwaved. Finding The Fear was more important than a hunter’s pride.
Eventually the three discovered a small town, except it was not actually a town. The buildings were placed haphazardly, looking like the idea of a town. Furthermore, they were completely empty. It felt like there was supposed to be something in them. This alongside the emptiness made all of it incredibly unsettling. Was the town actually meant for anyone? Anything? Either way, The Fear’s scent was the strongest at this location.
“Oh yeah, he’s here…” The Beast remarked. “So, do any of you fear anything? I’m afraid of the future…”
Odo thought about it for a second. “Well, I guess I’m worried about failing my friends, family, and associates… that, and my younger brother being in danger.”
“Alright. Maximus?”
“I fear nothing.” They both looked at him incredulously. “What?”
“Kid, what do you fear?” The Beast asked sternly. “I’m serious. We have no idea how The Fear is going to react to us and we already have a good idea of what he can do…”
“Like I said, nothing. Dad and grandpa said I need to be fearless!”
Odo tilted his head, noticing Maximus’ legs shaking. “Maximus, that tenacity is commendable, but surely you must fear something. From what I have learned over the eons, our fear is what makes us brave.”
“Well said, Odo,” The Beast complimented. “You can’t better yourself if you don’t fear something. There is no bravery without fear. Be honest with yourself, kid.”
Maximus was growing embarrassed. He did not want to come off as weak, but at the same time he did not want to admit he was scared… then a mysterious voice joined the conversation. “He’s afraid of failure, heights, spiders… and petrification and synthetic fabrics for some reason.”
Everybody turned to see a boy up on a balcony… with Maximus jumping up to him. “Excuse me! Don’t say that stuff out loud!” The boy waved goodbye and dashed off. “Hey! Get back here! How did you know all of that!?” Maximus called out as he chased after him.
Odo inhaled and sighed. “That was The Fear of Old, wasn’t it?”
“Yup,” The Beast answered.
“And now Maximus is chasing him around the town…”
“Yup.”
The boy was crafty, effortlessly evading Maximus. He clearly knew the town inside and out. His pursuer showed no sign of stopping, so The Fear stopped. Thinking outside the box, he snapped his fingers. Maximus froze in place, unable to move. Gold crept up his body, turning him into a statue. It then stopped at his face so he could see and speak. Once he was sure it was safe, The Fear approached him.
“What have you done to me?!” Maximus cried.
The Fear laughed, the joke lost on Maximus. “You’re the one who started chasing me, so I have every right to stop you.”
“GET ME OUT OF THIS.”
“No! Not until you tell me why you’re here and chasing me.”
Maximus whined as Odo and The Beast approached. They were very confused as to why he was just standing there… “Maximus, are you okay?” Odo inquired.
“He can’t hear you,” The Fear stated. “I used his fears to stop him, so he’s a bit preoccupied…”
“I see… Would you happen to be The Fear of Old?”
“Um… yes…” The Fear was a bit unsettling. He had pale skin, voids for eyes, and wore ragged, black robes. His posture was also one of those who was ready to flee. “Who are you?”
“I am Sir Odo Ash, Knight of the Unlight. And this four legged chap here is The Beast of Old.”
“A Primordial!?” The Fear darted over and began inspecting The Beast.
“Hey, easy, kid…” The Beast recoiled a little as The Fear stroked his fur.
The Fear then took a step back and looked at each of them. “Wait, are all of you primordials?”
Odo nodded. “Yes. Mind you I am reincarnated, but I was once one of The Dream of Old. As for Maximus, he’s a recreation of The War Machine of Old… why is he taking his armor off?”
“GET THIS NONSENSE OFF OF ME, ARGH.” Maximus’ mechanical body was fully visible as his armor clanged to the ground. There was nothing of concern, save for exposed metal fibers. Most of it was covered up by metal plates in the shape of the male figure, but the joints needed to be free to move. “Better…” he then realized that he was exposed and panicked. “DON’T LOOK AT ME.”
The other three laughed. “Kid, relax, you’re a machine,” The Beast pointed out. “There’s nothing to be embarrassed over.”
“Well of course, but mom told me never to be indecent in front of others!” Maximus snapped back as he scrambled to get his armor on. The others assumed it must have been an illusion.
“So what are you three doing here?” The Fear asked. “Milosh and Andelin told me to hide here…”
Odo discreetly cringed at that. “Well… um, Andelin sent us here to check on you…”
“She did? But Gummi already did that…” He then had a realization. “Wait! Did Milosh send you here because you’re also running from The Scary God?” The three were taken aback. The Scary God? “Follow me!”
The Fear led his newfound guests to a house tucked into the depths of the town. Unlike most of the other buildings, this one had furniture and amenities. The Fear sat everyone down and went into the other room. He came back with some drawings, books, and notebooks. Sir Odo caught a glimpse of one of the drawings, reluctantly noticing a familiar individual. This caused some adrenaline to enter his blood. He then took a deep breath and composed himself.
“Don’t worry, my home is absolutely scary god proof,” The Fear reassured them. “Milosh made sure of it”
“The Scary God, who’s that?” Odo asked.
“He’s a terrible rogue god that my brother is fighting right now. He even sent Milosh to look after me…” The Fear got out a drawing. “Here, I drew Milosh. See how cool he is?”
Maximus was giving him the evil eye, but Odo kept him in check. “You like to draw?”
“Oh yes. Here’s one of me and Dunja playing in a field, this one is me and Andelin playing hopscotch, and this one is me and Gratiana baking cookies.” He then got out a drawing of a freighting man with a crown. “And this is The Scary God. He’s out to get me and everyone else…”
Maximus quickly realized who the drawing was depicting. “Hold on, that’s Grandpa Englehart!”
“I beg your pardon?”
The Beast groaned. “Should we tell him now or later?”
“Hold on you two,” Odo instructed. “Fear, how did you meet Milosh?”
“Ah, that. Well one day I was sitting around, waiting for my brother to get back. Eventually this silver haired man came up to me and asked what was wrong. He then told me that Hunger had sent him to protect me from The Scary God and that Hunger was freeing a kingdom under The Scary God’s control. Milosh then asked if I could help him get his kingdom back. All I had to do was help his subjects face their fears of the terrible Scarrier God…”
“FOR THE LOVE OF MY SANITY!” Maximus exclaimed. “Source on a bicycle, I am getting sick of these lying philistines! There’s no Scarier God, that’s Sten! He’s talking about Sten Haugen! The Scarier God?! REALLY?!”
“Maximus, easy!” Odo responded.
The Fear had darted behind a recliner. “What’s going on? What did I say?”
“Fear, I’m going to rip the bandage off now…” Maximus said as he got up. “Milosh is a lying charlatan!”
“What? No! He wouldn’t lie to me!”
“YES. HE. WOULD. I’ve seen and heard it!”
The Beast cleared his throat. “Son, there’s no such thing as The Scary God or The Scarier God for that matter. And if they do exist, they haven’t made themselves known to the Cosmos. And as for your brother, what I’ve heard through the grapevine is that he’s in The Trench Unlight. So unless Milosh knows how to get there, he ain’t met your brother.”
Odo sighed. “You two need to learn some tact… Fear? I know this is hard to take in, but it’s the truth. Andelin sent us here to inform you and bring you to Shadowland.”
“Hmm… how do I know you’re being truthful?”
“Here…” Odo handed the boy a card. “Straight from her deck.”
“Okay… but how do I know you didn’t steal this from her?”
Odo chuckled. “Fair enough… um… hum, guys? Should we fetch her?”
“Heh, that’s assuming he’ll actually talk to me this time…” She remarked as she appeared next to Odo. This startled everyone.
“ANDELIN, don’t do that!” Odo cried.
The Fear crept out from behind the recliner. “Andelin? These weird men are saying Milosh is a liar… is that true?”
She gestured for him to sit down in the recliner, followed by her sitting down with Odo and Maximus. “Fear, we have a lot of things to talk about. First off, yes, Milosh is a dirty liar.”
“No, it can’t be…”
She nodded. “It can. Dunja, the blades, and I have all turned our backs on him.”
“You did? Why?”
“It’s a long story, Fear. Since we’ll be here for a bit, can I ask a favor of you? A real favor?”
The Fear looked down at his drawings, then back to Andelin. “What is it?”
“Could you undo that little spell Milosh had you cast?”
“Oh, um, sure… I suppose…” He focused, causing a dark cloud to appear before him. He then waved his hands about, dissipating it. “So what was that actually for then?”
Andelin briefly turned to Odo. “Fear has food in the kitchen. Could you be a dear and whip us up some snacks?”
“Sure thing” he replied as he got up.
She then turned back to The Fear. “Again, I cannot stress enough that it’s a long story. Are you willing to hear me out?”
The Fear thought it over. “Yes, as long as it explains all this chaos and confusion.”
“Don’t worry, sweetie, all will be elucidated. I suppose we’ll start with Milosh and how he ended up in the position he’s in right now…”
“Oh boy, here we go…” The Beast said with a chuckle. “Strap in, son. This is going to blow your mind.”
The Fear made himself comfortable in his recliner. “Alright, I’m ready!”
Next: Chapter 21
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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