ULTRAMagic Interlude BC - Chapter 45
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Blood-Wraith returned home after lunch to see that he had an unexpected guest. “Alexia, what are you doing here?”
“Hello, Blood. Pardon my intrusion, but I have some news about Tusk and what he’s been up to… Something he was supposed to tell you about a while ago.” Alexia did not look pleased.
“Yeah, Uncle Tusk is dragging his feet, Mr. Fire,” Auda stated as she got up from the couch.
“Oh hey, Auda,” said Blood-Wraith. “So what has Tusk been up to? He said he had something to tell me back before Vlastimir left.”
Auda took Blood-Wraith by the hand and led him out the door. “Soon, but first I want to show you something cool.”
Alexia followed the two, her armor clanking as she walked. “I trust you still want to go and explore that one spot on Aqua World, Auda?”
“Yes! Let’s go. Besides, it’ll give Uncle Tusk time to get off his roots…”
“Wait, Auda,” Blood-Wraith interrupted, halting the two. “I still need to check in with Theobold.”
“Don’t worry, dear,” Alexia replied. “I anticipated this happening, so I took the liberty of informing him ahead of time.”
Blood-Wraith was pleased to hear that. “Oh, alright then. Let’s get there quickly…” Stepping away from the two, a vortex of golden flames engulfed him leading to Golden Dragon appearing before them.
Once his passengers were ready, Blood-Wraith took off with a great flap of his wings. Aqua World was just as it had been left, the cerulean oceans shimmering in the vast dark of the Unlight sky. A welcome sight was that the derelict spaceships seemed to be doing a lot better. Shuttles were going to and from them and they appeared more lively in general. Touching down on the nice, sandy beaches, Blood-Wraith felt pretty good seeing the tropical trees and hearing the melodic sounds of the jungle again. Auda and Alexia eagerly hopped down off of Blood-Wraith, allowing him to return to normal. The first thing he did was fetch a ripened fruit from the ground.
Auda got down and watched as a crab skittered away from Blood-Wraith. “I’ve been wanting to try exploring for a while now, ever since I met you guys. It’s just that I need to learn how to do it and everyone’s been busy.” She also picked up a fruit and began eating.
“It’s not hard, Auda,” Blood-Wraith replied. “Know where you’re going, prepare accordingly, and be sensible about it… also don’t do what Drago does. She’s too reckless for her own good.” This made Auda laugh.
“A fair point, Blood,” Alexia pointed out. “But a reasonable dose of daring doesn’t hurt every now and then.”
He paused for a moment. “Touche. So what do you want to check out, Auda?”
Auda had bent down again to study a rock she had found interesting, followed by her putting it in her pouch. “I was talking to the Lich… sorry, Deimos and he said there’s a cove with all sorts of pretty rocks to collect.”
Alexia chuckled. “My, Auda, fancy yourself a geologist?”
“Geolo… geo… geologist… what’s that?”
“It is someone who studies the Earth and its properties.”
Auda nodded steadily. “Sounds neat. Alright, let’s go this way” she said, pointing to a stream that was flowing calmly. “We need to follow this.”
The trio followed the winding stream, moving through brush that went up to their waists. Auda had a map that Deimos had given her, but there were a few times where she got confused. Fortunately Alexia was very familiar with Deimos’ style of writing. After making their way past a series of leaning trees, not too far from the location of the terminal Deimos had once configured, Auda took a moment to think. How did she want to get into the cove?
“Stumped, sweetie?” Alexia asked.
“Hum…” Auda looked at the map closely, then at her surroundings. There was a cave entrance to her left and the path to the terminal spring on her right.
Blood-Wraith yawned a little, somewhat exhausted from his trip back to the Unlight from Inferno. “We’ll take the cave. There’s a good chance the pool at the terminal is in use. Besides, I’d probably have to become Ochre Serpent and I’m not sure how that would go.”
The cave was quite relaxing to walk through. It did not go deep and the sound of running water was quite soothing. Alexia in particular made a note to return there at a later date. Something that they noticed as they walked were the glittering stones embedded in the walls and ground. Auda went around inspecting them, tempted to start collecting. Instead, she continued onward, knowing that she could not bring home every stone with her.
After maneuvering around some stalagmites and treading some deep water, the trio found the cove. Sunlight shone through a hole in the ceiling, illuminating the glittering rocks and allowing one to gaze into the crystal clear water. All of it was quite beautiful and Blood-Wraith was glad Auda had brought him there. Naturally she was darting about, picking up stones left and right. Auda only put a select few in her pouch, her favorites being silver ones and gemstones.
As Blood-Wraith inspected a metallic orange rock, he noticed that Auda had paused her collecting. “What’s up, Auda?”
“There’s a weird stone here. It kind of looks like grandpa’s stone, the one he uses for alchemy.”
This caught Alexia’s attention, with her concern flaring up. “Where is it, Auda?” The girl pointed at it, with Alexia plucking it from the ground. It looked like a crimson crystal that was all too familiar to her. “Goodness, is this Eustorgio’s Philosopher’s Stone? What in the Cosmos is it doing here?”
Blood-Wraith looked at it, scratching his head. “Well let’s head to his temple and ask him about it.”
Auda then scurried around, grabbing whatever stone she could for her collection. “Agreed. Grandpa says it’s bad luck to abandon a stone like that.”
Heading back the way they came, Blood-Wraith led them down the path that took the three back to the beach. He then flew them to the island that Deimos had called home in recent times. Nothing had changed since their encounter there, and climbing to the top of the pyramid revealed the stones that Blood-Wraith and Dragoslava had sat on were still there. Blood-Wraith took a seat on his stone, with Auda occupying the one Dragoslava had.
“Wow, it feels so long ago since I was here with Leif and Drago…” Blood-Wraith remembered.
Auda glanced around, admiring the breathtaking sights. “Deimos picked a good spot to hide out. You can see anything coming from here.”
Alexia gave a light laugh. “Very true, Auda. If I had to guess, this most likely reminded him of where he was born. Plus this planet being a paradise also probably helped.”
“Really?” Blood-Wraith wondered.
Alexia nodded. “Certainly. In fact, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say it was his home realm, reborn in the present…”
“Well that’s because it is,” Deimos said with pride in his voice as he appeared on his throne. “This was the Pyramid of the 10th Sun, where you could commune with the gods.”
“Hey, Uncle Deimos,” said Blood-Wraith. “We found something in the cove.”
“Oh? What did you find?”
Alexia held up the stone and gave him an unamused look. “Eustorgio, what was this doing in the mud and dirt?”
Deimos opened his mouth, then closed it with a guilty look on his face. “Yeah, about that…”
“Uncle?” Blood-Wraith had a sneaking suspicion that he was going to be told something that would anger him. “What’s the deal with your stone?”
Deimos took the stone and sighed. “Things were… things were pretty rough for me after I arrived here. When I was split, I kept my Philosopher’s Stone for obvious reasons. In my anger and haste, I tossed it into the cove, cursing God, screaming that I’d fix this whole issue by myself. I’m not sure what came over me that day, but I’d imagine arriving at an abandoned version of my home realm didn’t help in the slightest…”
“HOLD UP” Blood-Wraith cut in. “You had a functional Philosopher’s Stone AND YOU DIDN’T USE IT!?!”
Deimos knew he was in trouble. “Well, I mean, everything worked out in the end…”
Blood-Wraith screamed, took off into the air as Golden Dragon, then plunged into the water as Ochre Serpent. He then began to ram his indestructible head into the seabed over and over again. “WHY DIDN’T I FREAKING CHECK!? I KNEW I SENSED SOMETHING BACK THEN!!” Only parts of this tirade was heard back at the temple as the ground shook.
Alexia turned back to Deimos and groaned. “Eustorgio, a lot was riding on the battles with The Lich and Milosh. I shouldn’t have to tell you this.”
Deimos slumped on his seat. “Add that on to the pile of mistakes…”
Alexia sighed. “Don’t beat yourself up, Eustorgio. Self-loathing gets us nowhere.”
“Yeah, Deimos,” Auda added. “Maybe it just wasn’t your time to do Alchemy.”
Deimos sat up and smiled. “Auda, Tiberius taught us never to do alchemy if our spirit ever faltered. Sometimes we just need a break to get our priorities back in order. I wish the timing had been better, but it’s probably for the best that I didn’t try to force myself to do alchemy…”
“Why? What could have happened?” Auda wondered.
“Lord only knows. And given that state I was in? I don’t want to even imagine it.”
“A fair point” Alexia conceded. “Still, you should have at least kept it on hand. Even the most desperate beggar can create gold with the right ambition.”
Deimos rested his face on his fist, “I guess you’re right, Alexia…”
Blood-Wraith returned to the top of the pyramid, rubbing his forehead. “Did I miss anything?” he inquired as he ate a different fruit.
“Not really,” Auda answered.
“Blood, I’d like to apologize,” said Deimos.
Blood-Wraith finished his food. “It’s alright…” before he could speak further, Deimos walked over and gave him a hug.
“No, let me have this. I’m sorry for putting all of us in jeopardy. I should have used my head instead of thinking with my emotions.”
“I forgive you, Uncle Deimos. To be fair, haven’t you and Vex been telling me that we shouldn’t have things handed to us on a silver platter?”
“Yes, what about it?”
“Well there you go. I’m still mad at myself for not being diligent, but it’s too late now.”
“And despite that, all of you managed to accomplish great things” Alexia clarified.
“Just like what you said about beggars a moment ago,” Auda added.
Deimos squeezed his temples, sighed, and chuckled. “Darkness was getting on my case about the stone. I hand waved it, but that boy was persistent.”
“Best be careful he doesn’t adopt your work ethic, Eustorgio,” Alexia cautioned.
This made him laugh. “I don’t think he will. So, Blood, school’s starting soon, aye?”
He nodded. “Yup. I’m looking forward to it too.”
“Well if you ever need a good subject to do a history report on, feel free to come here and ask whatever you want.”
“Thank you, Uncle Deimos. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Alexia then remembered something important. “Eustorgio, you haven’t seen Valerie, have you?”
“No, but she is definitely on the move at the moment. Gostislav has been keeping his eyes and ears open for me.”
Blood-Wraith groaned. “Oh boy. Let’s head home before my headache gets worse… See you later, Uncle Deimos.”
The trip home was peaceful and the rushing air helped clear Blood-Wraith’s head, but Tusk was nowhere to be seen back at the city. It was close to dinner time, so Blood-Wraith invited Auda to stay for the meal. Alexia would make her way to the tower as Englehart was expecting her and Tiberius that night. Plus she wanted to visit Mal as she had not seen in so long. The news of Tusk’s adventures would be saved for the next day.
“Glad to have you here tonight, Auda,” Drusa said as she served her some spaghetti.
Thank you for having me” she replied as she mixed up her food and dug into her meal.
Vexation laughed to himself over what Deimos had told Blood-Wraith and Auda. “I was wondering why Eustorgio was playing so defensively…”
Blood-Wraith slurped a mouthful of noodles and sauce. “That was a bit surreal,” he said after he swallowed his food.
“He’s done similar before. Hopefully with Tiberius back in the picture things will return to what they once were.”
“Vexation, can you tell me about those times tonight?” Auda asked.
“I don’t see why not.”
“Ah yes, back before everything hit the wall like an Atlantean debate hall” Drusa remarked. “There’s a lot of stories to tell about the time before time.”
“Why do I get the feeling things were just as chaotic back then?” Blood-Wraith questioned.
Vexation shrugged with a smile on his face. “That’s just how it goes, Blood. You have to fight for peace, and fight as hard as you can.”
Next: Chapter 46
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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Blood-Wraith returned home after lunch to see that he had an unexpected guest. “Alexia, what are you doing here?”
“Hello, Blood. Pardon my intrusion, but I have some news about Tusk and what he’s been up to… Something he was supposed to tell you about a while ago.” Alexia did not look pleased.
“Yeah, Uncle Tusk is dragging his feet, Mr. Fire,” Auda stated as she got up from the couch.
“Oh hey, Auda,” said Blood-Wraith. “So what has Tusk been up to? He said he had something to tell me back before Vlastimir left.”
Auda took Blood-Wraith by the hand and led him out the door. “Soon, but first I want to show you something cool.”
Alexia followed the two, her armor clanking as she walked. “I trust you still want to go and explore that one spot on Aqua World, Auda?”
“Yes! Let’s go. Besides, it’ll give Uncle Tusk time to get off his roots…”
“Wait, Auda,” Blood-Wraith interrupted, halting the two. “I still need to check in with Theobold.”
“Don’t worry, dear,” Alexia replied. “I anticipated this happening, so I took the liberty of informing him ahead of time.”
Blood-Wraith was pleased to hear that. “Oh, alright then. Let’s get there quickly…” Stepping away from the two, a vortex of golden flames engulfed him leading to Golden Dragon appearing before them.
Once his passengers were ready, Blood-Wraith took off with a great flap of his wings. Aqua World was just as it had been left, the cerulean oceans shimmering in the vast dark of the Unlight sky. A welcome sight was that the derelict spaceships seemed to be doing a lot better. Shuttles were going to and from them and they appeared more lively in general. Touching down on the nice, sandy beaches, Blood-Wraith felt pretty good seeing the tropical trees and hearing the melodic sounds of the jungle again. Auda and Alexia eagerly hopped down off of Blood-Wraith, allowing him to return to normal. The first thing he did was fetch a ripened fruit from the ground.
Auda got down and watched as a crab skittered away from Blood-Wraith. “I’ve been wanting to try exploring for a while now, ever since I met you guys. It’s just that I need to learn how to do it and everyone’s been busy.” She also picked up a fruit and began eating.
“It’s not hard, Auda,” Blood-Wraith replied. “Know where you’re going, prepare accordingly, and be sensible about it… also don’t do what Drago does. She’s too reckless for her own good.” This made Auda laugh.
“A fair point, Blood,” Alexia pointed out. “But a reasonable dose of daring doesn’t hurt every now and then.”
He paused for a moment. “Touche. So what do you want to check out, Auda?”
Auda had bent down again to study a rock she had found interesting, followed by her putting it in her pouch. “I was talking to the Lich… sorry, Deimos and he said there’s a cove with all sorts of pretty rocks to collect.”
Alexia chuckled. “My, Auda, fancy yourself a geologist?”
“Geolo… geo… geologist… what’s that?”
“It is someone who studies the Earth and its properties.”
Auda nodded steadily. “Sounds neat. Alright, let’s go this way” she said, pointing to a stream that was flowing calmly. “We need to follow this.”
The trio followed the winding stream, moving through brush that went up to their waists. Auda had a map that Deimos had given her, but there were a few times where she got confused. Fortunately Alexia was very familiar with Deimos’ style of writing. After making their way past a series of leaning trees, not too far from the location of the terminal Deimos had once configured, Auda took a moment to think. How did she want to get into the cove?
“Stumped, sweetie?” Alexia asked.
“Hum…” Auda looked at the map closely, then at her surroundings. There was a cave entrance to her left and the path to the terminal spring on her right.
Blood-Wraith yawned a little, somewhat exhausted from his trip back to the Unlight from Inferno. “We’ll take the cave. There’s a good chance the pool at the terminal is in use. Besides, I’d probably have to become Ochre Serpent and I’m not sure how that would go.”
The cave was quite relaxing to walk through. It did not go deep and the sound of running water was quite soothing. Alexia in particular made a note to return there at a later date. Something that they noticed as they walked were the glittering stones embedded in the walls and ground. Auda went around inspecting them, tempted to start collecting. Instead, she continued onward, knowing that she could not bring home every stone with her.
After maneuvering around some stalagmites and treading some deep water, the trio found the cove. Sunlight shone through a hole in the ceiling, illuminating the glittering rocks and allowing one to gaze into the crystal clear water. All of it was quite beautiful and Blood-Wraith was glad Auda had brought him there. Naturally she was darting about, picking up stones left and right. Auda only put a select few in her pouch, her favorites being silver ones and gemstones.
As Blood-Wraith inspected a metallic orange rock, he noticed that Auda had paused her collecting. “What’s up, Auda?”
“There’s a weird stone here. It kind of looks like grandpa’s stone, the one he uses for alchemy.”
This caught Alexia’s attention, with her concern flaring up. “Where is it, Auda?” The girl pointed at it, with Alexia plucking it from the ground. It looked like a crimson crystal that was all too familiar to her. “Goodness, is this Eustorgio’s Philosopher’s Stone? What in the Cosmos is it doing here?”
Blood-Wraith looked at it, scratching his head. “Well let’s head to his temple and ask him about it.”
Auda then scurried around, grabbing whatever stone she could for her collection. “Agreed. Grandpa says it’s bad luck to abandon a stone like that.”
Heading back the way they came, Blood-Wraith led them down the path that took the three back to the beach. He then flew them to the island that Deimos had called home in recent times. Nothing had changed since their encounter there, and climbing to the top of the pyramid revealed the stones that Blood-Wraith and Dragoslava had sat on were still there. Blood-Wraith took a seat on his stone, with Auda occupying the one Dragoslava had.
“Wow, it feels so long ago since I was here with Leif and Drago…” Blood-Wraith remembered.
Auda glanced around, admiring the breathtaking sights. “Deimos picked a good spot to hide out. You can see anything coming from here.”
Alexia gave a light laugh. “Very true, Auda. If I had to guess, this most likely reminded him of where he was born. Plus this planet being a paradise also probably helped.”
“Really?” Blood-Wraith wondered.
Alexia nodded. “Certainly. In fact, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say it was his home realm, reborn in the present…”
“Well that’s because it is,” Deimos said with pride in his voice as he appeared on his throne. “This was the Pyramid of the 10th Sun, where you could commune with the gods.”
“Hey, Uncle Deimos,” said Blood-Wraith. “We found something in the cove.”
“Oh? What did you find?”
Alexia held up the stone and gave him an unamused look. “Eustorgio, what was this doing in the mud and dirt?”
Deimos opened his mouth, then closed it with a guilty look on his face. “Yeah, about that…”
“Uncle?” Blood-Wraith had a sneaking suspicion that he was going to be told something that would anger him. “What’s the deal with your stone?”
Deimos took the stone and sighed. “Things were… things were pretty rough for me after I arrived here. When I was split, I kept my Philosopher’s Stone for obvious reasons. In my anger and haste, I tossed it into the cove, cursing God, screaming that I’d fix this whole issue by myself. I’m not sure what came over me that day, but I’d imagine arriving at an abandoned version of my home realm didn’t help in the slightest…”
“HOLD UP” Blood-Wraith cut in. “You had a functional Philosopher’s Stone AND YOU DIDN’T USE IT!?!”
Deimos knew he was in trouble. “Well, I mean, everything worked out in the end…”
Blood-Wraith screamed, took off into the air as Golden Dragon, then plunged into the water as Ochre Serpent. He then began to ram his indestructible head into the seabed over and over again. “WHY DIDN’T I FREAKING CHECK!? I KNEW I SENSED SOMETHING BACK THEN!!” Only parts of this tirade was heard back at the temple as the ground shook.
Alexia turned back to Deimos and groaned. “Eustorgio, a lot was riding on the battles with The Lich and Milosh. I shouldn’t have to tell you this.”
Deimos slumped on his seat. “Add that on to the pile of mistakes…”
Alexia sighed. “Don’t beat yourself up, Eustorgio. Self-loathing gets us nowhere.”
“Yeah, Deimos,” Auda added. “Maybe it just wasn’t your time to do Alchemy.”
Deimos sat up and smiled. “Auda, Tiberius taught us never to do alchemy if our spirit ever faltered. Sometimes we just need a break to get our priorities back in order. I wish the timing had been better, but it’s probably for the best that I didn’t try to force myself to do alchemy…”
“Why? What could have happened?” Auda wondered.
“Lord only knows. And given that state I was in? I don’t want to even imagine it.”
“A fair point” Alexia conceded. “Still, you should have at least kept it on hand. Even the most desperate beggar can create gold with the right ambition.”
Deimos rested his face on his fist, “I guess you’re right, Alexia…”
Blood-Wraith returned to the top of the pyramid, rubbing his forehead. “Did I miss anything?” he inquired as he ate a different fruit.
“Not really,” Auda answered.
“Blood, I’d like to apologize,” said Deimos.
Blood-Wraith finished his food. “It’s alright…” before he could speak further, Deimos walked over and gave him a hug.
“No, let me have this. I’m sorry for putting all of us in jeopardy. I should have used my head instead of thinking with my emotions.”
“I forgive you, Uncle Deimos. To be fair, haven’t you and Vex been telling me that we shouldn’t have things handed to us on a silver platter?”
“Yes, what about it?”
“Well there you go. I’m still mad at myself for not being diligent, but it’s too late now.”
“And despite that, all of you managed to accomplish great things” Alexia clarified.
“Just like what you said about beggars a moment ago,” Auda added.
Deimos squeezed his temples, sighed, and chuckled. “Darkness was getting on my case about the stone. I hand waved it, but that boy was persistent.”
“Best be careful he doesn’t adopt your work ethic, Eustorgio,” Alexia cautioned.
This made him laugh. “I don’t think he will. So, Blood, school’s starting soon, aye?”
He nodded. “Yup. I’m looking forward to it too.”
“Well if you ever need a good subject to do a history report on, feel free to come here and ask whatever you want.”
“Thank you, Uncle Deimos. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Alexia then remembered something important. “Eustorgio, you haven’t seen Valerie, have you?”
“No, but she is definitely on the move at the moment. Gostislav has been keeping his eyes and ears open for me.”
Blood-Wraith groaned. “Oh boy. Let’s head home before my headache gets worse… See you later, Uncle Deimos.”
The trip home was peaceful and the rushing air helped clear Blood-Wraith’s head, but Tusk was nowhere to be seen back at the city. It was close to dinner time, so Blood-Wraith invited Auda to stay for the meal. Alexia would make her way to the tower as Englehart was expecting her and Tiberius that night. Plus she wanted to visit Mal as she had not seen in so long. The news of Tusk’s adventures would be saved for the next day.
“Glad to have you here tonight, Auda,” Drusa said as she served her some spaghetti.
Thank you for having me” she replied as she mixed up her food and dug into her meal.
Vexation laughed to himself over what Deimos had told Blood-Wraith and Auda. “I was wondering why Eustorgio was playing so defensively…”
Blood-Wraith slurped a mouthful of noodles and sauce. “That was a bit surreal,” he said after he swallowed his food.
“He’s done similar before. Hopefully with Tiberius back in the picture things will return to what they once were.”
“Vexation, can you tell me about those times tonight?” Auda asked.
“I don’t see why not.”
“Ah yes, back before everything hit the wall like an Atlantean debate hall” Drusa remarked. “There’s a lot of stories to tell about the time before time.”
“Why do I get the feeling things were just as chaotic back then?” Blood-Wraith questioned.
Vexation shrugged with a smile on his face. “That’s just how it goes, Blood. You have to fight for peace, and fight as hard as you can.”
Next: Chapter 46
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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