ULTRAMagic Babel - Chapter 6
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“Ruckus! Nothing but ruckus these days,” Séamus complained as he stepped out of the rattling, metal lift. His face was wrinkled and his hair was gray, but his green eyes were just as sharp as they were the day he entered the tower. “Lia, what are you doing back here so soon?
“Aisde from running from Valdemaras, we’ve come to activate the beacon.”
“Really now?” he replied as he set some books aside. “What would you youngsters need with that?”
“Orders from Ozymandias,” Angus answered. “I assume you got the note I sent you?”
“Give me one second.” Séamus quickly checked his vest pockets, got out a folded piece of paper, and held a scratched monocle up to his eye. “Ah-ha, I see… bad winds afoot, no two ways about it, but we’ll drive those sodding, dirty rats out one way or another.”
“Ha, Valdemaras or the constructs?” Angus jokingly asked, causing the both of them to laugh. “For our new faces, this is Séamus Gallagher, the Elder Librarian of Calcinatio.”
“A good evening to all of you.”
“An honor to meet you, Elder Librarian," Adriana said with a respectful bow. “I am Captain Adriana Hawthorne and I come by way of The Blades of Dunja to escort Lia to The Iron City. And these three are Serjiel, Yoshihiro Higasa, and Tusk Willfort. They’re from The ULTRAMagic Guild and here to help Odo and Buster.”
“ULTRAMagic you say?” Séamus commented as he straightened out his vest. “Good old David Livesey and young John were looking into that hocuspocus if I recall correctly.”
Yoshihiro thought he sensed something familiar with the latter name, then tapped Serjiel on the arm. “Our John?”
“Let me ask-Séamus? You wouldn’t happen to be referring to Johnathan Hawkins, would you? As we have a John in our guild.”
“Depends,” he replied. “The son of Jim Hawkins, from The Admiral Benbow, southwest of Bristol?”
“That would be him.”
“Well blow me down! How’s the lad doing these days? Still sailing or did he finally settle down for that guild of yours?”
“He’s doing fine, and keeping things lively with his tales and music.”
“Excellent to hear, as his father was never the same after returning from Treasure Island. I had a lurking suspicion it wouldn’t have been good for the young Jim, and I’ve been worried how’d that affect John ever since. David and Squire Trelawney certainly got an earful from me and the missus when they got back from that fateful voyage.”
Séamus then glanced over to the grand clock on the far wall and was shocked to see that it was well past dinner time at 7:30. Everyone took that as their cue to head to the dining hall. The spectacular hall was large with four, incredibly long, masterfully crafted tables. Some of the librarians were sitting at them, peacefully eating their meals despite the chaos from earlier. Illuminating everything were three chandeliers of immense proportions, and on the walls were grand paintings of the greatest alchemists and philosophers from across the Cosmos. Odo and Lia both felt relaxed and at ease for the first time in a while as the aromatic smell of warm food filled their nostrils. There was a wide selection of Irish dishes being served that night ranging from Stobhach Gaelach, Dublin Coddle, and Shepherd’s Pie.
“Oh my goodness, this brings me back to my childhood…” Lia remarked as she ate her stew.
“You should try some of the stews my father, Hazarel, makes some time,” Serjiel insisted as he wiped his face. “They were to die for and helped take the edge off after a long day on the battlefield.”
“And Gragmund also makes some really good soups you should definitely try too,” Yoshihiro added.
Adriana took a sip of her water, set her mug down, and cleared her throat. “So, Lia, in regards to your upbringing?”
She sighed as she put her spoon down. “Ah yes, that… Where do I even begin?”
“Allow me, Lia,” Angus interjected. “We Ascher’s hail from the fallen kingdom of Glacierhaven, a once great city at the frozen limits of the Southern Unlight. We were all miners, smiths, and craftsmen, dealing with winter every season. Not a day went by where your feet weren’t freezing or your pipes weren’t frozen in the morning.”
“Pardon my tree-ness, but that sounds unbearable,” Tusk put in. “How’d you guys even stand conditions like that?”
“Galcierhaven had access to some of the richest veins of alchemical ore in all of The Unlight,” Séamus clarified. “They’d mine some good rocks, process them, and ship them off to Feuerland and other kingdoms in return for the things they needed to survive.”
“Which was going fine until that godforsaken Gudrun had to go and collapse Feuerland with her stupid ambitions…” Angus rubbed his face and sighed as painful memories returned to him. “Glacierhaven was in its twilight years when I was born and I didn’t realize it back then. My parents argued, people at the local pub were always fighting over how to manage the city, but I always thought it was supposed to be like that. Cue my adult years when I finally realized how bad things were. When Yvette and I planned on having a child, we knew we were on borrowed time and would have to set out for greener pastures eventually. Despite how troubling and difficult things were, Lia had a reasonable childhood… as reasonable as a dying kingdom could provide.”
“Oh dear…” Adriana felt a little nervous, as was natural when prying into a family’s history. The fact that she could sense that she was bringing back unpleasant memories did not help in the slightest, but she had to continue for the sake of the mission… or so she told herself. “What happened then? With Lia, I mean.”
Lia sighed again as she calmly and slowly rolled her spoon along the edge of her bowl. “Well you finally hit your rebellious phase, there’s a particularly bad winter, a famous tower you enjoyed visiting finally collapses, you say a bunch of regrettable things to your parents, and before you know it you’re off on your own in the streets of The Great Uncity causing trouble with… I mean, you know the rest, right, Adriana?”
There was a moment of silence, broken by Angus. “Lia, me and your mother want you back. To Abaddon with the past and all that was said, we miss you and have been worried sick about you…”
“But father, I’m a wanted criminal…”
“What did I just say, young lady?”
Lia was speechless, so Séamus spoke up. “Lia, let me share with you some words of wisdom my grandpap once told me. The past is behind us, the future is uncertain, but today is a gift; that’s why it’s called the present. If you were not meant to be here today, you would have been cast into the abyss a long time ago.”
“I… I suppose you’re right…” Lia admitted as she finished her stew.
Tusk chuckled. “I mean, Lia, you’ve literally saved Odo’s life right before we got here. Keep in mind that he was your ‘enemy’ a year and a half ago.”
“And more than just saving me,” he added. “Adriana, what do Englehart and Dunja plan to do with Lia once she’s safe in The Iron City? I don’t want to see her rotting away in a jail cell, nor does Buster.”
She finished her water and took a breath. “I suppose now is a fair enough time to discuss that. Should everything go according to plan, Lia will be monitored for the following year, then inducted into the Blades of Dunja assuming she maintains good behaviour.”
This caught the others off guard, with Lia almost choking on her drink and nearly dropping the mug on the floor. “Wait, WHAT?! Excuse me?!”
“Well aside from Torunn being Torunn, Dunja and Englehart believe your talent as a speaker is being wasted and as an ENCOM captain I firmly agree with them. We all know how awkward Englehart and Dunja are with speeches at times, and you would be perfect as a speaker for the crown and a speech writer. And you know there’s no arguing with Torunn when she gets fixated on something.”
Lia chuckled to herself, recalling their past clashes. “Good point, Adriana…”
“Lia, it would make your mother and I so proud if you became a knight of The Iron City,” Angus stated as he tapped the table. “You’ve got the voice of an angel, the lungs to match, and the wit of a skilled writer. I remember all the tales you used to tell as a schoolgirl-all the straight A’s you got in your language and writing classes? You’ve got talent and the king and queen wish to foster that. This is an opportunity for you your mother and I could only dream of.”
She shook her head with a smile. “Alright, father, I’ll give it a shot.”
“On a side note, Adriana,” Odo put in. “She’s got a knack for gunnrmancy, but her soul magic could use some work.”
“Duly noted, Odo,” she replied.
“Gunnrmancy?” Séamus questioned. “Can’t say I’ve heard of that one…”
“It’s magic primarily facilitated through weaponry,” Serjiel answered. “Wands and staves can also count, depending on the nature of the spell. As an aside, my grandfather knew how to divine the future with my guns when they were his.”
“How fascinating. Now that I think about it, David may have been going that way with his studies.”
Angus cleared his throat and stood up, looking ready to announce something important. “Séamus, it’s time to start training Diarmad as my successor, as I’ll be leaving for The Iron City when all of this is said and done.”
“Well now! Are you sure Merrick is ready for such a responsibility?”
“With your guidance, Séamus? Absolutely. I hate to fly off into the sunset on all of you, but I need to be there for my family. Besides, I’ve been cooped up in this tower for too long and need the fresh air.”
A good night’s sleep was just what Odo and Lia needed. One would think the two would be haunted by nightmares, but thankfully they slept like logs in their comfy beds. Buster on the other hand had trouble sleeping that night. A lot was on his mind and it was to be expected given all of the pressure he felt. Tusk did not mind staying up, so he chatted with him to alleviate their worry. Hearing about the guild’s adventures renewed Buster’s hope and made him want to join. He would ideally have to wait until Karnage was vanquished and for things to settle down, but Tusk promised him a spot regardless. It also helped that Buster revealed he had natural ULTRAMagic, but it also made Tusk fully realize why Buster was in such great danger.
While the group had breakfast, Angus and Séamus took a group of librarians to the beacon chamber to activate it. It was a grand contraption that resembled a light house, with four basins lining the walls lit by flames in the colors of the four classical elements. Above the beacon was a platform with a larger, special basin. Each flame was brought by torch and was lowered into the shimmering oil. Séamus spoke a spell in ancient Gaelic and a sterling white flame lit up the room, causing light to pulse from the giant bulbs of the beacon and out of the chamber, like a guiding beam in the vast fog of The Unlight. A series of successful-sounding chimes rang out in the library to signify the beacon’s activation.
Angus wanted to go with the group to the other libraries, but he needed to stay behind to protect the Calcinatio Library. Plus Séamus insisted he start getting Diarmad ready to succeed him as Chief Librarian since he was so insistent on it. Still, Angus gave the group a special book full of maps of the tower. Notably it had a section on ways to get to the other libraries with ease. And given that Tusk had accidentally torn the previous map in their last encounter with Valdemaras, the book was a godsend. With a final hug, Angus bid his daughter farewell for the time being. Lia promised she would make it out alive, as now she had something else to strive for; reuniting with her family.
“Now that my head’s clear, I’ve had a realization…” Odo said as the group walked down the halls of the tower.
“What’s that, Odo?” Tusk wondered.
“I became a knight for the wrong reasons. I did it because I wanted to be a knight in shining armor who dutifully protected the citizenry to the glowing praise of his peers… you don’t do it for the honor and glory, you do it because it has to be done and to protect the innocent. It even goes so far that you may have to be ready to strike down your fellow knight in case they stray off of the path of light. Without you there’d be no order…”
Buster knew that tone all too well and interjected “Brother, you better not start self-loathing again…”
“No, no-It’s just the self-awareness is kicking in. I wasn’t ready to become a knight.”
Tusk stopped Odo and patted him on the shoulder. “Look, as green as you were, you did us in The Unending Forest a massive favor by keeping The Lich out that year before Blood-Wraith showed up. And what was I doing? Sitting on my arse being a tree. My guilt was kicking in hard given all the hard work you were putting in. If anyone wonders why I was so testy with Auda the day I met Blood, there you go.”
“I had a lot of fun hanging out with the rest of the Willfort’s,” Buster added. “I really want to go visit them again some day.”
Odo smiled… and then realized something truly dire as a surge of bile shot into his throat, burning like the terrible fear that had occurred to him. “Lia, I know your intel is limited, but how did Karnage find out about Buster?”
She felt a tight knot of anxiety in her throat and swallowed hard, wishing she did not know what Odo had beseeched of her. “It… It was your encounter with The Lich in the forest…”
“DAMN IT!” Odo roared as he kicked a sconce pillar, nearly breaking it. “SOME KNIGHT I AM!”
“Brother, please!” Buster pleaded, trying to calm Odo down.
“Yeah, take it easy, Odo,” Yoshihiro added. “How was any of us supposed to know Karnage was scheming that far back?”
“I should’ve known…” Odo growled with utmost frustration towards himself.
Serjiel sighed, feeling bad for the brothers. “This conflict is utterly maddening. And to think I could have potentially stopped the Lich back in my universe… perhaps it’s best it stays the way it all turned out…” he lamented.
“Wait, why didn’t you?” Odo asked.
“Well firstly I had a lot of untamed power thanks to my newfound ULTRAMagic at the time and could’ve easily ended up destroying a residential area of the Heaven Apex Tower…”
“Ah… good call, good call…” he admitted.
“And secondly, what would have happened to us now? Would Blood-Wraith have come into existence? Would the modern guild itself even be around? Such hindsight haunts me to no end. I definitely drew some ire from my battle brothers that day, but if only they knew the things I know now…”
The group went deathly silent, unable to bear the thought of things turning out differently, despite how well off they would potentially be if Serjiel had gone for it back then. “Well that’s an unbelievably terrifying thought to consider…” Adriana concluded.
Tusk took a nervous breath. “Well it’s like what Will said back when the Future Squad was around: Everything happens for a reason. Let’s not dwell on the past and keep moving forward…” He shuddered, recalling all of the times he had kicked himself for sitting around as a tree.
Next:
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
Treasure Island © 1883 Robert Louis Stevenson
Master Post - Patreon
“Ruckus! Nothing but ruckus these days,” Séamus complained as he stepped out of the rattling, metal lift. His face was wrinkled and his hair was gray, but his green eyes were just as sharp as they were the day he entered the tower. “Lia, what are you doing back here so soon?
“Aisde from running from Valdemaras, we’ve come to activate the beacon.”
“Really now?” he replied as he set some books aside. “What would you youngsters need with that?”
“Orders from Ozymandias,” Angus answered. “I assume you got the note I sent you?”
“Give me one second.” Séamus quickly checked his vest pockets, got out a folded piece of paper, and held a scratched monocle up to his eye. “Ah-ha, I see… bad winds afoot, no two ways about it, but we’ll drive those sodding, dirty rats out one way or another.”
“Ha, Valdemaras or the constructs?” Angus jokingly asked, causing the both of them to laugh. “For our new faces, this is Séamus Gallagher, the Elder Librarian of Calcinatio.”
“A good evening to all of you.”
“An honor to meet you, Elder Librarian," Adriana said with a respectful bow. “I am Captain Adriana Hawthorne and I come by way of The Blades of Dunja to escort Lia to The Iron City. And these three are Serjiel, Yoshihiro Higasa, and Tusk Willfort. They’re from The ULTRAMagic Guild and here to help Odo and Buster.”
“ULTRAMagic you say?” Séamus commented as he straightened out his vest. “Good old David Livesey and young John were looking into that hocuspocus if I recall correctly.”
Yoshihiro thought he sensed something familiar with the latter name, then tapped Serjiel on the arm. “Our John?”
“Let me ask-Séamus? You wouldn’t happen to be referring to Johnathan Hawkins, would you? As we have a John in our guild.”
“Depends,” he replied. “The son of Jim Hawkins, from The Admiral Benbow, southwest of Bristol?”
“That would be him.”
“Well blow me down! How’s the lad doing these days? Still sailing or did he finally settle down for that guild of yours?”
“He’s doing fine, and keeping things lively with his tales and music.”
“Excellent to hear, as his father was never the same after returning from Treasure Island. I had a lurking suspicion it wouldn’t have been good for the young Jim, and I’ve been worried how’d that affect John ever since. David and Squire Trelawney certainly got an earful from me and the missus when they got back from that fateful voyage.”
Séamus then glanced over to the grand clock on the far wall and was shocked to see that it was well past dinner time at 7:30. Everyone took that as their cue to head to the dining hall. The spectacular hall was large with four, incredibly long, masterfully crafted tables. Some of the librarians were sitting at them, peacefully eating their meals despite the chaos from earlier. Illuminating everything were three chandeliers of immense proportions, and on the walls were grand paintings of the greatest alchemists and philosophers from across the Cosmos. Odo and Lia both felt relaxed and at ease for the first time in a while as the aromatic smell of warm food filled their nostrils. There was a wide selection of Irish dishes being served that night ranging from Stobhach Gaelach, Dublin Coddle, and Shepherd’s Pie.
“Oh my goodness, this brings me back to my childhood…” Lia remarked as she ate her stew.
“You should try some of the stews my father, Hazarel, makes some time,” Serjiel insisted as he wiped his face. “They were to die for and helped take the edge off after a long day on the battlefield.”
“And Gragmund also makes some really good soups you should definitely try too,” Yoshihiro added.
Adriana took a sip of her water, set her mug down, and cleared her throat. “So, Lia, in regards to your upbringing?”
She sighed as she put her spoon down. “Ah yes, that… Where do I even begin?”
“Allow me, Lia,” Angus interjected. “We Ascher’s hail from the fallen kingdom of Glacierhaven, a once great city at the frozen limits of the Southern Unlight. We were all miners, smiths, and craftsmen, dealing with winter every season. Not a day went by where your feet weren’t freezing or your pipes weren’t frozen in the morning.”
“Pardon my tree-ness, but that sounds unbearable,” Tusk put in. “How’d you guys even stand conditions like that?”
“Galcierhaven had access to some of the richest veins of alchemical ore in all of The Unlight,” Séamus clarified. “They’d mine some good rocks, process them, and ship them off to Feuerland and other kingdoms in return for the things they needed to survive.”
“Which was going fine until that godforsaken Gudrun had to go and collapse Feuerland with her stupid ambitions…” Angus rubbed his face and sighed as painful memories returned to him. “Glacierhaven was in its twilight years when I was born and I didn’t realize it back then. My parents argued, people at the local pub were always fighting over how to manage the city, but I always thought it was supposed to be like that. Cue my adult years when I finally realized how bad things were. When Yvette and I planned on having a child, we knew we were on borrowed time and would have to set out for greener pastures eventually. Despite how troubling and difficult things were, Lia had a reasonable childhood… as reasonable as a dying kingdom could provide.”
“Oh dear…” Adriana felt a little nervous, as was natural when prying into a family’s history. The fact that she could sense that she was bringing back unpleasant memories did not help in the slightest, but she had to continue for the sake of the mission… or so she told herself. “What happened then? With Lia, I mean.”
Lia sighed again as she calmly and slowly rolled her spoon along the edge of her bowl. “Well you finally hit your rebellious phase, there’s a particularly bad winter, a famous tower you enjoyed visiting finally collapses, you say a bunch of regrettable things to your parents, and before you know it you’re off on your own in the streets of The Great Uncity causing trouble with… I mean, you know the rest, right, Adriana?”
There was a moment of silence, broken by Angus. “Lia, me and your mother want you back. To Abaddon with the past and all that was said, we miss you and have been worried sick about you…”
“But father, I’m a wanted criminal…”
“What did I just say, young lady?”
Lia was speechless, so Séamus spoke up. “Lia, let me share with you some words of wisdom my grandpap once told me. The past is behind us, the future is uncertain, but today is a gift; that’s why it’s called the present. If you were not meant to be here today, you would have been cast into the abyss a long time ago.”
“I… I suppose you’re right…” Lia admitted as she finished her stew.
Tusk chuckled. “I mean, Lia, you’ve literally saved Odo’s life right before we got here. Keep in mind that he was your ‘enemy’ a year and a half ago.”
“And more than just saving me,” he added. “Adriana, what do Englehart and Dunja plan to do with Lia once she’s safe in The Iron City? I don’t want to see her rotting away in a jail cell, nor does Buster.”
She finished her water and took a breath. “I suppose now is a fair enough time to discuss that. Should everything go according to plan, Lia will be monitored for the following year, then inducted into the Blades of Dunja assuming she maintains good behaviour.”
This caught the others off guard, with Lia almost choking on her drink and nearly dropping the mug on the floor. “Wait, WHAT?! Excuse me?!”
“Well aside from Torunn being Torunn, Dunja and Englehart believe your talent as a speaker is being wasted and as an ENCOM captain I firmly agree with them. We all know how awkward Englehart and Dunja are with speeches at times, and you would be perfect as a speaker for the crown and a speech writer. And you know there’s no arguing with Torunn when she gets fixated on something.”
Lia chuckled to herself, recalling their past clashes. “Good point, Adriana…”
“Lia, it would make your mother and I so proud if you became a knight of The Iron City,” Angus stated as he tapped the table. “You’ve got the voice of an angel, the lungs to match, and the wit of a skilled writer. I remember all the tales you used to tell as a schoolgirl-all the straight A’s you got in your language and writing classes? You’ve got talent and the king and queen wish to foster that. This is an opportunity for you your mother and I could only dream of.”
She shook her head with a smile. “Alright, father, I’ll give it a shot.”
“On a side note, Adriana,” Odo put in. “She’s got a knack for gunnrmancy, but her soul magic could use some work.”
“Duly noted, Odo,” she replied.
“Gunnrmancy?” Séamus questioned. “Can’t say I’ve heard of that one…”
“It’s magic primarily facilitated through weaponry,” Serjiel answered. “Wands and staves can also count, depending on the nature of the spell. As an aside, my grandfather knew how to divine the future with my guns when they were his.”
“How fascinating. Now that I think about it, David may have been going that way with his studies.”
Angus cleared his throat and stood up, looking ready to announce something important. “Séamus, it’s time to start training Diarmad as my successor, as I’ll be leaving for The Iron City when all of this is said and done.”
“Well now! Are you sure Merrick is ready for such a responsibility?”
“With your guidance, Séamus? Absolutely. I hate to fly off into the sunset on all of you, but I need to be there for my family. Besides, I’ve been cooped up in this tower for too long and need the fresh air.”
A good night’s sleep was just what Odo and Lia needed. One would think the two would be haunted by nightmares, but thankfully they slept like logs in their comfy beds. Buster on the other hand had trouble sleeping that night. A lot was on his mind and it was to be expected given all of the pressure he felt. Tusk did not mind staying up, so he chatted with him to alleviate their worry. Hearing about the guild’s adventures renewed Buster’s hope and made him want to join. He would ideally have to wait until Karnage was vanquished and for things to settle down, but Tusk promised him a spot regardless. It also helped that Buster revealed he had natural ULTRAMagic, but it also made Tusk fully realize why Buster was in such great danger.
While the group had breakfast, Angus and Séamus took a group of librarians to the beacon chamber to activate it. It was a grand contraption that resembled a light house, with four basins lining the walls lit by flames in the colors of the four classical elements. Above the beacon was a platform with a larger, special basin. Each flame was brought by torch and was lowered into the shimmering oil. Séamus spoke a spell in ancient Gaelic and a sterling white flame lit up the room, causing light to pulse from the giant bulbs of the beacon and out of the chamber, like a guiding beam in the vast fog of The Unlight. A series of successful-sounding chimes rang out in the library to signify the beacon’s activation.
Angus wanted to go with the group to the other libraries, but he needed to stay behind to protect the Calcinatio Library. Plus Séamus insisted he start getting Diarmad ready to succeed him as Chief Librarian since he was so insistent on it. Still, Angus gave the group a special book full of maps of the tower. Notably it had a section on ways to get to the other libraries with ease. And given that Tusk had accidentally torn the previous map in their last encounter with Valdemaras, the book was a godsend. With a final hug, Angus bid his daughter farewell for the time being. Lia promised she would make it out alive, as now she had something else to strive for; reuniting with her family.
“Now that my head’s clear, I’ve had a realization…” Odo said as the group walked down the halls of the tower.
“What’s that, Odo?” Tusk wondered.
“I became a knight for the wrong reasons. I did it because I wanted to be a knight in shining armor who dutifully protected the citizenry to the glowing praise of his peers… you don’t do it for the honor and glory, you do it because it has to be done and to protect the innocent. It even goes so far that you may have to be ready to strike down your fellow knight in case they stray off of the path of light. Without you there’d be no order…”
Buster knew that tone all too well and interjected “Brother, you better not start self-loathing again…”
“No, no-It’s just the self-awareness is kicking in. I wasn’t ready to become a knight.”
Tusk stopped Odo and patted him on the shoulder. “Look, as green as you were, you did us in The Unending Forest a massive favor by keeping The Lich out that year before Blood-Wraith showed up. And what was I doing? Sitting on my arse being a tree. My guilt was kicking in hard given all the hard work you were putting in. If anyone wonders why I was so testy with Auda the day I met Blood, there you go.”
“I had a lot of fun hanging out with the rest of the Willfort’s,” Buster added. “I really want to go visit them again some day.”
Odo smiled… and then realized something truly dire as a surge of bile shot into his throat, burning like the terrible fear that had occurred to him. “Lia, I know your intel is limited, but how did Karnage find out about Buster?”
She felt a tight knot of anxiety in her throat and swallowed hard, wishing she did not know what Odo had beseeched of her. “It… It was your encounter with The Lich in the forest…”
“DAMN IT!” Odo roared as he kicked a sconce pillar, nearly breaking it. “SOME KNIGHT I AM!”
“Brother, please!” Buster pleaded, trying to calm Odo down.
“Yeah, take it easy, Odo,” Yoshihiro added. “How was any of us supposed to know Karnage was scheming that far back?”
“I should’ve known…” Odo growled with utmost frustration towards himself.
Serjiel sighed, feeling bad for the brothers. “This conflict is utterly maddening. And to think I could have potentially stopped the Lich back in my universe… perhaps it’s best it stays the way it all turned out…” he lamented.
“Wait, why didn’t you?” Odo asked.
“Well firstly I had a lot of untamed power thanks to my newfound ULTRAMagic at the time and could’ve easily ended up destroying a residential area of the Heaven Apex Tower…”
“Ah… good call, good call…” he admitted.
“And secondly, what would have happened to us now? Would Blood-Wraith have come into existence? Would the modern guild itself even be around? Such hindsight haunts me to no end. I definitely drew some ire from my battle brothers that day, but if only they knew the things I know now…”
The group went deathly silent, unable to bear the thought of things turning out differently, despite how well off they would potentially be if Serjiel had gone for it back then. “Well that’s an unbelievably terrifying thought to consider…” Adriana concluded.
Tusk took a nervous breath. “Well it’s like what Will said back when the Future Squad was around: Everything happens for a reason. Let’s not dwell on the past and keep moving forward…” He shuddered, recalling all of the times he had kicked himself for sitting around as a tree.
Next:
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
Treasure Island © 1883 Robert Louis Stevenson
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