ULTRAMagic Interlude BC - Chapter 29
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Having dinner under the stars with his friends and family was a treat for Vlastimir. It was surreal after all that he had been through, but welcome nonetheless. Eventually Leif’s constellation came into full view and was gazing down upon everyone. Zoltan and Morana were in awe, with the former muttering something about the nightmares that plagued his older brother. Vlastimir caught this and knew who he was referring to, the context giving him chills. Blood-Wraith felt happy seeing Leif again, as he always did at night in recent times. Naturally Deimos and Vexation spent the rest of the evening telling everyone stories of back when they used to explore the Cosmos with The Dragon of Old.
The next morning, Vlastimir and Ekaterina were back at The Singing Storm Tower, packing up their belongings. It was a shame for Englehart as they were leaving before Dunja and Barna returned, but he wished them safe travels regardless. The two then returned to the mansion for a final round of goodbyes before heading home. With everything all squared away, Radovan escorted the Dracul’s to Ironfire Station. Blood-Wraith tagged along as he wanted to see the train they would be using (in reality he was bummed out to see Vlastimir and Ekaterina leave).
Blood-Wraith watched as the train slowly pulled away, vanishing once it left the station. “I’m going to miss those two.”
Radovan patted him on the back. “Don’t worry, you’ll see them again. Zoltan’s a good chap and I definitely plan to stay in contact with him.”
“That’s cool, dad,” he replied as he began to leave.
“Do you want to go for a walk, Blood? A little father-son time?”
Blood-Wraith paused. “Thanks, dad, but I want to go check in with Vex about that anomaly I encountered. Maybe later.”
Radovan smiled. “Very well, son. Just know that I’m always here for you if you need me.” He sighed once Blood-Wraith was out of sight. Raising a son was already proving trickier than raising a pair of daughters.
Upon returning home, Blood-Wraith was greeted with an unfortunate sight: Valentina had her belongings packed up. “Not you too, Val?”
She winced. “Ooh, I’m sorry, Blood. It’s just that urgent matters popped up back in my universe.”
“Are they that important?”
“Unfortunately. Nasargiel stressed that it was a matter of utmost importance.”
He had to concede on that one given what Valentina had told him about her universe’s Inferno. He sighed. “Alright, I guess. Tell Gabriella I said hi if you see her before I do.”
“I will.” She gave him a kiss on the forehead. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that I’ll visit you whenever I can. And don’t be afraid to come visit me. We’d love to have you along for dinner.”
“Thanks. Bye, Val. Stay safe.”
“You too, Blood. Farewell for now.” Valentina did not immediately take off, as she had a couple of things she wanted to take care of first.
Vexation had been quietly standing there. “Hey, Blood?”
“Yes?”
He could see and hear how bummed out he was. “So I talked to Eustorgio last night and he had some pointers towards what you had discovered yesterday. If it makes you feel better, I have some potential explanations we can explore.”
Blood-Wraith shrugged. “Sure, Vex. Let’s hear them.”
After stopping by a few shops, visiting some alchemists, and grabbing some books, Valentina was ready to return to her realm. All she needed to do now was quickly visit Rose and Radovan. Fortunately they were both at the Raynot mansion. “Rose? Radovan? Do you two have a moment?”
“Of course,” Rose replied. “What’s the matter?”
“It’s Blood. I’m pretty sure I just bummed him out…”
Radovan looked at her packed belongings and nodded. “Don’t beat yourself up, Valentina. Duty calls at the worst possible times.”
“I know. Do you two have everything all wrapped up in regards to your positions?”
“Almost,” Radovan replied. “We’re nearly done with getting all the records up to date at the tower.”
“I’m free at the moment,” Rose pointed out. “Does Blood need attention?” Valentina nodded.
“That’s what I figured,'' Radovan said as he calmly tapped his fingers on the windowsill. “I’ve noticed he’s been a bit emotionally hectic ever since we met him…”
“A bit?” Rose cut in.
“Okay, fairly hectic,” Radovan answered. “I feel so bad for him, getting tossed into the tail end of our conflict with Milosh, and right out of the figurative womb too. It’s a lot for a boy to handle.”
Rose nodded in agreement. “Well then I guess I’ll just have to go visit him. Don’t worry Valentina, we’ve got this. Thank you for all the help you’ve provided thus far.”
“Thank you too, Rose. And you too, Radovan.”
He shook her hand before she left. “Well he is our boy after all. If you ever need any help, don’t hesitate to ask, Valentina.”
Upon departing the mansion, Rose watched as the dark angel flew into the sky and vanished, leaving behind some stray feathers. Valentina’s black wings were quite the sight to behold. Once Rose reached Blood-Wraith’s house, she rang the doorbell and waited. Opening the door was Blood-Wraith, who looked somewhat sad. He was processing a lot of emotions and his friends leaving did not help in the slightest.
“Oh, hey, mom. What are you doing here?” he asked.
“Hello, dear. I did not have anything else to do today, so I figured I’d come and sit in on one of your lessons. Is that okay with you?”
A smile started to appear on his face. “Sure, come on in.”
Vexation was sitting in the recliner as Blood-Wraith and Rose sat down on the couch. “Hello, your grace. Glad you could join us.”
“Same. So what have you two been up to? Hopefully it hasn’t been too bothersome.”
Blood-Wraith set some notes down on the coffee table. “Well, we think the thing I ran into is some kind of entity. It’s kind of complicated though. Truth be told, I’m not feeling these journeys into the collective unconscious…”
“Well like I keep saying, Blood; I’m always open to any ideas you have for this stuff” Vexation replied. “This is just the most guaranteed way to attain the knowledge we seek.”
“I imagine it can’t be all that bad if the means are that flexible,” Rose pointed out.
Blood-Wraith thought about that notion, wondering if it related to the entity. “Well either way, we were going to talk about Deimos and Vex before you arrived just now, mom.”
“Ah, how intriguing…”
“In particular he wanted to know about what led to our group breaking up” Vexation clarified. “It’s an unfortunate tale, but one that bears repeating.”
Rose’s interest piqued. “I’d dare say I arrived at the right time then. I’ve tried to research the ancient past, only to find missing information and contradictory passages.”
Vexation chuckled, as some of that may have been his fault. “Oh boy, where do I even begin? I suppose context is in order. Me, Eustorgio, and Tiberius were all mages looking for knowledge and more knowledge. We craved it to no end. And who could blame us? It was the Epoch of the Cosmos, when everything was fresh and new. Our countless travels eventually led to us crossing paths with Leif, multiple times. Eventually we all became friends out of mutual benefit. Leif could get us to where we needed and we often had the solution to his problems. Plus there was the fact that Leif was just a likable dragon in general. He was positive, caring, starry-eyed, and would not give up.”
“Was the problem between you guys really that bad?” Blood-Wraith inquired. “He seemed pretty bummed out when I met him.”
Vexation nodded. “Yeah. The schism between us really tore him up. I was shocked at what happened to Leif when I ran into him after the Epoch.”
“If I may ask, what was the inciting incident for all of this?” Rose wondered.
“That…” he said with a sigh. “Are you two familiar with the Old Gods?” They were unsure. “Right, expected. The Old Gods are entities that existed before God showed up. When God created the Cosmos, his light shone on the void, revealing the existence of the Old Gods. Paradoxically, God counts as an Old God in and of himself. Right now we only know eight: God, Death, Father Time, Threrth, Klernta, Mar-Gargn, Zertherhar, and The Deep God. The Deep God is important here as he foresaw a lot of stuff relating to all of us. For some reason he told Leif in a riddle instead of going to Tiberius…”
Rose was confused. “Well that’s a bit bizarre. Maybe he felt Leif was… was he trying to protect all of you?”
Vexation rested his head on his fist, slightly averting his gaze. “Honestly I think The Deep God knew everything had to play out as it has, hence why he went to Leif. He knew Leif would become distraught and cause Eustorgio to go off his rocker. You’re all familiar with the idea that avoiding your destiny only makes it happen faster?”
“Yes, or that general concept, at least,” Rose answered.
“Geez, I don’t know how to feel about these Old Gods…” Blood-Wraith said to himself. “What did the Deep God tell Leif exactly?”
“A vague, truncated version of everything we’ve gone through.” Vexation groaned. “He warned that one of us would turn our back on God, which was preposterous… little did we realize that Eustorgio had a crisis and began to fear his reincarnation.”
Blood-Wraith thought back to his battles with The Lich, especially the one at the Metal Oasis given what he said to him back then. “I think I get it. So all that stuff he said to me…?”
“Was a watered down version of what he was going through back then.”
Rose noticed how odd that answer was, then realized something. “Vexation, being able to confirm that would’ve required extensive knowledge of the battle. Were you actually there at the time?”
“Guilty as charged” He said with a regretful chuckle. “I used a curse to hide my presence. It was so tempting to stab The Lich in the back right then and there. The least I could do was soothe Desislav while everyone was distracted…”
“Hey, wait a second!” Blood-Wraith interrupted. “What about Drago?! She nearly died!”
“Well I was going to help, but Ferro asked me to hold off. Death wanted to talk to her.”
“Eh?” Blood-Wraith was lost.
“Apparently she’s had multiple, near death experiences during her exploration career, no thanks to Ethor’s death I’d imagine.”
Rose looked incredibly worried. “Oh dear. I think I’ll need to have a talk with Dragoslava when I see her again…”
“Vex, were we in serious danger?” Blood-Wraith questioned.
“Yes and No. The threat was real, but I would have executed my backstab early if things had truly gone south.”
“So what was stopping you from just acting and helping us?”
Vexation sighed again. “Everything The Deep God ever said. Few grasp that everything is in a precarious, ever so fragile balance. One tiny alteration and all of that flies off the rails. Knowing to any degree is infinitely worse than not knowing. Why do you think Eustorgio went completely bonkers? It’s truly maddening and I’ve had moments where I’ve found myself at the brink of losing my mind. And it doesn’t help that the whole thing was born from a conflict between the rogue gods that was way before more time. Scant information exists about it and what Eustorgio knew was too incoherent to make heads or tails of at the time.”
Blood-Wraith looked slightly terrified and mildly upset. “Oh God, I don’t know if that makes my anxiety worse or better…”
“Blood?” Rose set her hand on his shoulder. “Don’t let it worry you. All of you are here now and that’s what matters. Clearly The Deep God knew we’d be able to fix everything.”
“I guess you’re right…”
“Don’t fret, Blood.” Vexation coughed a little as his throat was a little dry. “Focus on yourself and go with the flow… It’s kind of hard to do when you’re someone like me, but it’s doable.”
Rose looked at the two and got up. “Well since we’re so worked up and our throats are parched, how about I make us some tea?”
“Yeah, I could go for that,” Vexation answered, then got up to stretch his legs.
“Thanks, Mom,” Blood-Wraith replied. “That would be nice. Everything you need is in the top cupboard.”
Next: Chapter 30
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
Master Post - Patreon
Having dinner under the stars with his friends and family was a treat for Vlastimir. It was surreal after all that he had been through, but welcome nonetheless. Eventually Leif’s constellation came into full view and was gazing down upon everyone. Zoltan and Morana were in awe, with the former muttering something about the nightmares that plagued his older brother. Vlastimir caught this and knew who he was referring to, the context giving him chills. Blood-Wraith felt happy seeing Leif again, as he always did at night in recent times. Naturally Deimos and Vexation spent the rest of the evening telling everyone stories of back when they used to explore the Cosmos with The Dragon of Old.
The next morning, Vlastimir and Ekaterina were back at The Singing Storm Tower, packing up their belongings. It was a shame for Englehart as they were leaving before Dunja and Barna returned, but he wished them safe travels regardless. The two then returned to the mansion for a final round of goodbyes before heading home. With everything all squared away, Radovan escorted the Dracul’s to Ironfire Station. Blood-Wraith tagged along as he wanted to see the train they would be using (in reality he was bummed out to see Vlastimir and Ekaterina leave).
Blood-Wraith watched as the train slowly pulled away, vanishing once it left the station. “I’m going to miss those two.”
Radovan patted him on the back. “Don’t worry, you’ll see them again. Zoltan’s a good chap and I definitely plan to stay in contact with him.”
“That’s cool, dad,” he replied as he began to leave.
“Do you want to go for a walk, Blood? A little father-son time?”
Blood-Wraith paused. “Thanks, dad, but I want to go check in with Vex about that anomaly I encountered. Maybe later.”
Radovan smiled. “Very well, son. Just know that I’m always here for you if you need me.” He sighed once Blood-Wraith was out of sight. Raising a son was already proving trickier than raising a pair of daughters.
Upon returning home, Blood-Wraith was greeted with an unfortunate sight: Valentina had her belongings packed up. “Not you too, Val?”
She winced. “Ooh, I’m sorry, Blood. It’s just that urgent matters popped up back in my universe.”
“Are they that important?”
“Unfortunately. Nasargiel stressed that it was a matter of utmost importance.”
He had to concede on that one given what Valentina had told him about her universe’s Inferno. He sighed. “Alright, I guess. Tell Gabriella I said hi if you see her before I do.”
“I will.” She gave him a kiss on the forehead. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that I’ll visit you whenever I can. And don’t be afraid to come visit me. We’d love to have you along for dinner.”
“Thanks. Bye, Val. Stay safe.”
“You too, Blood. Farewell for now.” Valentina did not immediately take off, as she had a couple of things she wanted to take care of first.
Vexation had been quietly standing there. “Hey, Blood?”
“Yes?”
He could see and hear how bummed out he was. “So I talked to Eustorgio last night and he had some pointers towards what you had discovered yesterday. If it makes you feel better, I have some potential explanations we can explore.”
Blood-Wraith shrugged. “Sure, Vex. Let’s hear them.”
After stopping by a few shops, visiting some alchemists, and grabbing some books, Valentina was ready to return to her realm. All she needed to do now was quickly visit Rose and Radovan. Fortunately they were both at the Raynot mansion. “Rose? Radovan? Do you two have a moment?”
“Of course,” Rose replied. “What’s the matter?”
“It’s Blood. I’m pretty sure I just bummed him out…”
Radovan looked at her packed belongings and nodded. “Don’t beat yourself up, Valentina. Duty calls at the worst possible times.”
“I know. Do you two have everything all wrapped up in regards to your positions?”
“Almost,” Radovan replied. “We’re nearly done with getting all the records up to date at the tower.”
“I’m free at the moment,” Rose pointed out. “Does Blood need attention?” Valentina nodded.
“That’s what I figured,'' Radovan said as he calmly tapped his fingers on the windowsill. “I’ve noticed he’s been a bit emotionally hectic ever since we met him…”
“A bit?” Rose cut in.
“Okay, fairly hectic,” Radovan answered. “I feel so bad for him, getting tossed into the tail end of our conflict with Milosh, and right out of the figurative womb too. It’s a lot for a boy to handle.”
Rose nodded in agreement. “Well then I guess I’ll just have to go visit him. Don’t worry Valentina, we’ve got this. Thank you for all the help you’ve provided thus far.”
“Thank you too, Rose. And you too, Radovan.”
He shook her hand before she left. “Well he is our boy after all. If you ever need any help, don’t hesitate to ask, Valentina.”
Upon departing the mansion, Rose watched as the dark angel flew into the sky and vanished, leaving behind some stray feathers. Valentina’s black wings were quite the sight to behold. Once Rose reached Blood-Wraith’s house, she rang the doorbell and waited. Opening the door was Blood-Wraith, who looked somewhat sad. He was processing a lot of emotions and his friends leaving did not help in the slightest.
“Oh, hey, mom. What are you doing here?” he asked.
“Hello, dear. I did not have anything else to do today, so I figured I’d come and sit in on one of your lessons. Is that okay with you?”
A smile started to appear on his face. “Sure, come on in.”
Vexation was sitting in the recliner as Blood-Wraith and Rose sat down on the couch. “Hello, your grace. Glad you could join us.”
“Same. So what have you two been up to? Hopefully it hasn’t been too bothersome.”
Blood-Wraith set some notes down on the coffee table. “Well, we think the thing I ran into is some kind of entity. It’s kind of complicated though. Truth be told, I’m not feeling these journeys into the collective unconscious…”
“Well like I keep saying, Blood; I’m always open to any ideas you have for this stuff” Vexation replied. “This is just the most guaranteed way to attain the knowledge we seek.”
“I imagine it can’t be all that bad if the means are that flexible,” Rose pointed out.
Blood-Wraith thought about that notion, wondering if it related to the entity. “Well either way, we were going to talk about Deimos and Vex before you arrived just now, mom.”
“Ah, how intriguing…”
“In particular he wanted to know about what led to our group breaking up” Vexation clarified. “It’s an unfortunate tale, but one that bears repeating.”
Rose’s interest piqued. “I’d dare say I arrived at the right time then. I’ve tried to research the ancient past, only to find missing information and contradictory passages.”
Vexation chuckled, as some of that may have been his fault. “Oh boy, where do I even begin? I suppose context is in order. Me, Eustorgio, and Tiberius were all mages looking for knowledge and more knowledge. We craved it to no end. And who could blame us? It was the Epoch of the Cosmos, when everything was fresh and new. Our countless travels eventually led to us crossing paths with Leif, multiple times. Eventually we all became friends out of mutual benefit. Leif could get us to where we needed and we often had the solution to his problems. Plus there was the fact that Leif was just a likable dragon in general. He was positive, caring, starry-eyed, and would not give up.”
“Was the problem between you guys really that bad?” Blood-Wraith inquired. “He seemed pretty bummed out when I met him.”
Vexation nodded. “Yeah. The schism between us really tore him up. I was shocked at what happened to Leif when I ran into him after the Epoch.”
“If I may ask, what was the inciting incident for all of this?” Rose wondered.
“That…” he said with a sigh. “Are you two familiar with the Old Gods?” They were unsure. “Right, expected. The Old Gods are entities that existed before God showed up. When God created the Cosmos, his light shone on the void, revealing the existence of the Old Gods. Paradoxically, God counts as an Old God in and of himself. Right now we only know eight: God, Death, Father Time, Threrth, Klernta, Mar-Gargn, Zertherhar, and The Deep God. The Deep God is important here as he foresaw a lot of stuff relating to all of us. For some reason he told Leif in a riddle instead of going to Tiberius…”
Rose was confused. “Well that’s a bit bizarre. Maybe he felt Leif was… was he trying to protect all of you?”
Vexation rested his head on his fist, slightly averting his gaze. “Honestly I think The Deep God knew everything had to play out as it has, hence why he went to Leif. He knew Leif would become distraught and cause Eustorgio to go off his rocker. You’re all familiar with the idea that avoiding your destiny only makes it happen faster?”
“Yes, or that general concept, at least,” Rose answered.
“Geez, I don’t know how to feel about these Old Gods…” Blood-Wraith said to himself. “What did the Deep God tell Leif exactly?”
“A vague, truncated version of everything we’ve gone through.” Vexation groaned. “He warned that one of us would turn our back on God, which was preposterous… little did we realize that Eustorgio had a crisis and began to fear his reincarnation.”
Blood-Wraith thought back to his battles with The Lich, especially the one at the Metal Oasis given what he said to him back then. “I think I get it. So all that stuff he said to me…?”
“Was a watered down version of what he was going through back then.”
Rose noticed how odd that answer was, then realized something. “Vexation, being able to confirm that would’ve required extensive knowledge of the battle. Were you actually there at the time?”
“Guilty as charged” He said with a regretful chuckle. “I used a curse to hide my presence. It was so tempting to stab The Lich in the back right then and there. The least I could do was soothe Desislav while everyone was distracted…”
“Hey, wait a second!” Blood-Wraith interrupted. “What about Drago?! She nearly died!”
“Well I was going to help, but Ferro asked me to hold off. Death wanted to talk to her.”
“Eh?” Blood-Wraith was lost.
“Apparently she’s had multiple, near death experiences during her exploration career, no thanks to Ethor’s death I’d imagine.”
Rose looked incredibly worried. “Oh dear. I think I’ll need to have a talk with Dragoslava when I see her again…”
“Vex, were we in serious danger?” Blood-Wraith questioned.
“Yes and No. The threat was real, but I would have executed my backstab early if things had truly gone south.”
“So what was stopping you from just acting and helping us?”
Vexation sighed again. “Everything The Deep God ever said. Few grasp that everything is in a precarious, ever so fragile balance. One tiny alteration and all of that flies off the rails. Knowing to any degree is infinitely worse than not knowing. Why do you think Eustorgio went completely bonkers? It’s truly maddening and I’ve had moments where I’ve found myself at the brink of losing my mind. And it doesn’t help that the whole thing was born from a conflict between the rogue gods that was way before more time. Scant information exists about it and what Eustorgio knew was too incoherent to make heads or tails of at the time.”
Blood-Wraith looked slightly terrified and mildly upset. “Oh God, I don’t know if that makes my anxiety worse or better…”
“Blood?” Rose set her hand on his shoulder. “Don’t let it worry you. All of you are here now and that’s what matters. Clearly The Deep God knew we’d be able to fix everything.”
“I guess you’re right…”
“Don’t fret, Blood.” Vexation coughed a little as his throat was a little dry. “Focus on yourself and go with the flow… It’s kind of hard to do when you’re someone like me, but it’s doable.”
Rose looked at the two and got up. “Well since we’re so worked up and our throats are parched, how about I make us some tea?”
“Yeah, I could go for that,” Vexation answered, then got up to stretch his legs.
“Thanks, Mom,” Blood-Wraith replied. “That would be nice. Everything you need is in the top cupboard.”
Next: Chapter 30
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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