28.Terror

Dear diary,
 
I find myself writing the last page in this small, little notebook. Fitting, as tomorrow could very well be my last day on this beautiful earth. Cute, haha. Anyway, let’s start from where I left off. Last time we were just embarking towards Roib, the famous wonder Island. The island of sin and money. And the place where no matter how rich you are you can always leave empty handed, and not only because of the markets. Hehe. This here island was empty. Nobody was walking its earth besides some guards and a strange old man, but we’ll get back to him. Everybody was sheltered in the inner city. A marvel of engineering. A city built inside a volcano nesting the best technology you could imagine.
 
That old man however didn’t feel scared enough to lock himself down there. He greeted us and we had a chat before he invited us into his house. His name was Ewelon Roseld, a retired merchant, he claimed. Tallion told us before that Damaschini and his party encountered this Ewelon before and nothing from his story seemed to make of this man a trustworthy one. We played stupid for a while, trying to get to know him and his intentions a little, until he obviously recognized Tallion and figured out we knew about him. We told him about our goal, that we wanted to procure transport for the people of Vedia. He gave us to options: 1) we would introduce ourselves to the high governing council of 5 that we were representatives of Vaneolin and we came here to settle the debt they had or 2) we would get rid of a couple of council members so that he could place his own people on those vacant positions to regain his lost power. We asked for some alone time to think and we started deliberating the plans and voting on our approach.
 
We stood as follows: Me, Eve and Tallion were against siding with him because we didn’t trust a single word coming out of his mouth. I, for example was sure that either way, he will do the killing and we would be the scapegoats. I’m not into that. And Eve and Tallion fully agreed with. We were thinking of a way to make ourselves heard and win our way inside the city so people can hear us and hopefully listen to us and get out of here before it’s too late. On the other hand, Verfy, Nixie and Heron wanted to use Ewelon’s help to get inside the inner city and work from there. Given the votes we went with Ewelon’s idea. We all stared heading towards the Great Seal, a huge metal door, impenetrable by design by normal means, that opened the way to the inner city. The door was… just immense. It was somewhere around 6 stories high (no there weren’t buildings with 6 stories in this city, but try to imagine one) and a lot wider. Right above it, on each side, there was a ballista pointed right at us, with what seemed like no person controlling it. I don’t want to know what that thing fires like. The door opened in stages, with each stage opening in a different way, from horizontal to diagonal to weird zig-zag patterns. It was amazing, and sllooooooooooooooooooooooooow…
 
After what seemed like an eternity we entered a large corridor that probably lead to the city’s center square. We took a left at some point towards our loggings. The tunnels were illuminated by some weird, probably alchemical stones in the celling, behind a piece of stained glass. I have no idea how that works. We were heavily guarded and we couldn’t leave our quarters, so we discussed what to tell them, the council. We were summoned quite fast though, to meet one of the council members. We were escorted to a big room with a bunch of holes in the walls and huge doors of stone with a table in the middle wits all sorts of alchemical tubing and openings and buttons and stuff. Behind the table there was our guy. We started talking nonsense and bullshit about Vaneolin and their debt, until he, obviously recognized Tallion Almas and decided to arrest him for stealing Marcon’s treasure alongside Damaschini and his party from the Roiban council. He opened the doors through his wonder table and soldiers were readying to enter. That was.. not okey. And we had no choice. We couldn’t let this happen. The trap was sprung and we had to survive. I trapped the council member in a heavily accelerated time bubble and shouted my plan to the others before I myself jumped inside the bubble to try and close back the door. It was the weirdest feeling ever. I don’t even think I recovered mentally from that, not even now, over a week after. I saw him, slowed there, almost frozen in time. But when I jumped in, I felt like my body lacked behind for a split of a second. Then he was moving at normal speed again, like nothing ever happened, but around us everything happened so so fast. I saw Verfy running at an incredible speed behind him and when the effect of my spell wore off she slowed back down to normal speed and knocked his ass out. I somehow managed to keep composure through that and started to look for the thing he used to close the door. I looked for dust marks in hopes I can find something. And I did!!!! Phew. Unfortunately I was too slow, and a guard managed to get in, but he was quickly dismissed by our fighters. After that I decided to quickly dress as the council member and I figured it’s the best time to use a new trick I learnt. After I learned how to make myself invisible by changing the way light works around myself through magic I decided to try and show people something else, rather than nothing. So I morphed my face to look exactly like that council dude. I cannot do more yet because I’ve just discovered this ability, but I am sure I will be able to keep a form for longer in the future. It’s hard on the mind. So, yeah. It was all a malfunction of the door and a false alarm. We hid the bodies and I tried opening the door again. But… well… It wouldn’t open!!!! What’s worse the seats that we were sitting all started retracting into the ground from where they came from. And a bunch of cannons appeared from the celling, everything while sleeping gas started pouring into the room. I felt first to the gas and everybody else right after me. This was not good, so so not good. I couldn’t let us die like that. I had to do something. I recalled the terror of everybody I felt back then on the boat. I couldn’t let any of those fears come true, I love these people. I, quite literally scared myself awake for a second through their pain and the realisation that their fears could become reality. I was gathered in a pile alongside everybody else while a tornado was coming towards us and a new kind of strange gas was just about to ignite the entire room. I slowed time around us and watched to see if we would be alright inside the storms eye, which we were, but the upcoming heatwave was about to be the true test to our survival. There was little to nothing I could do, but inside my time bubble I could see the explosion happening slowly moving towards us. As I tried waking everybody exploiting the connection I had with their feelings of terror I collapsed to the ground because of the gas.
 
I woke up in some kind of hospital, like the ones I heard about in Ionolia, where priests take care of wounded soldiers, diseased people and whatnot. But much more crazy and nice. I was taken care of, but I had to refresh my disguise in order to stay there and try and find my friends. At some point some people came checking on me. A problem soon appeared. I don’t speak their language, oh no. So I played hurt and muttered the names responsible for this mess: Tersiolis and Ewelon. They treaded me some more and left. In the corridor next to me I started hearing shouts, and explosions and fights. From what I could gather they were stagging a coup against me!!! Unbearable screeching and gianormous footstep sounds started to come and approach my room. Like a metal on metal kind of fight but with enormous strength. I was scared and feared they would find me and kill me thinking I was that poor guy Gertis. So I ran into a corner and hid myself from their eyes, and soon enough they broke into my room and I found out what those sounds were. Right next to me was a… huge statue with obsidian claws, sharpened and glowing, and… eyes?!?. That thing, that golem was searching for me. It left soon enough and I started hearing even more fights on the streets until it all went silent. There were bodies everywhere I stepped. Soldiers disembodied, pieces of golems broken apart. Even a few completely destroyed. I could see inside one of them, albeit much of what was inside was probably taken away. But I could see the traces of what was once there. There was a place for a heart, and everything looked like a human would look like. With veins of obsidian and weird pieces of quartz where a joint would be. These things were incredible, but I had no time to wonder about. I had to find the others and get us out of here somehow. I dressed as one the guards that wasn’t torn apart like a doll and made my way to what seemed like a prison. On the way there I saw a platoon escorting Ewelon and some other seemingly important people in chains and beaten up towards the prison. I followed them and pretended I was one of them. It was easy, and they led me right to the prison. I left their group undetected and started to search some cells where they could have put my party. I heard one of my songs at some point so I followed that sound, but it was such a big god damned place that I got confused and didn’t notice two guards finding me. One of them asked me something… So naturally I replied: Sir yes sir. But then he asked me something again, and I was out of tricks sooooooo…yeah… I pulled out that weird stick they used to threaten me and shot it at one of them while shouting, in roiban, traitors. He managed to parry my attempt and the other one attacked me. Luckily their armour is incredibly strong and it deflected a couple of hits. But I still got hit and at some point knocked down. Shit that’s bad, I cannot die, no please. AAARRRGGHH. Okay bart, think, use your brain, not your body. Ugh, I morphed my leg as to appear almost tored apart, like one of the defeated soldiers from before, and revealed my chest, which had a large hole in it from a golem’s hit, while fainting death. It worked, but I was also bleeding out, so I had to do something quickly. Luckily reinforcements came at my cry and saw those two carrying a body and they started attacking each other. I crawled my way out of there like the dead person I was and I ran to find that whistling. I managed to find a trapdoor in the floor leading to their cell alongside some levers that controlled some sort of punishment mechanism. I freed everybody out of there, but not before giving Tallion a quick bath. Hihi. I was sorry, there were no times for games. I ran to them and almost fainted from the blood loss. They patched me and we started to see who is missing. Vadrek unfortunately was not there. He died in that room with the gas. :( … And Eve was badly burned. Out of a sudden Tersiolis came to us, oh god why, and kind of asked for our help so he could get away with this murder case we were accused of. He basically just wanted us to tell the truth about Ewelon and what happened inside that room, and in exchange we would get to live long and happy outside of their city forever. Well, we had no choice but to accept. It was a defeat for us this time. I begged him if he could take Eve and tend to her wounds. Thank god he agreed. He didn’t let me come though. I just hope she is alright. We spent 5 days with the trial and everything and we returned defeated to our boat after we learned that they even chased our refugees away.
 
Ugh, we couldn’t make ourselves heard… They brought Eve when we left. She was fine, still feeling dizzy and heavy. I took care of her as much as I could, but she just wouldn’t let me. I tried bringing her food in the morning, but one day she just woke up earlier that me and sneaked out so she could take her own plate. She wants to be strong and she surely shows strength, but she needs to rest to recover. She is so stubborn sometimes. But she motivated me to work harder for what I want. If she fights like that for the sake of not showing me she is weak and in pain then I should try at least as hard as her to achieve my plans! Ah.. She does bring out the best in me so many times. I love her so much. *small little heart drawing*
 
Right before we left Roib we wanted to know what happened to our refugees. I suggested that Tallion could vision his way there. And he did, and found not one, not two, but twenty one dragons alongside their riders on the coast we left everybody. They sensed him and started flying towards us, so we started sailing away. There was no way we could fight this many dragons. Behind us we left Roib, the wonder island, its people still trapped inside. Right before Roib went out of sight we saw a huge cannon designed by Kelly (don’t even ask), who traded her way out of there, shoot a massive projectile with great speed towards one of the dragons. It hit and disintegrated ones head in a massive explosion of ice. Well, 20 dragon riders left. It was quickly overwhelmed by them and destroyed to pieces… That was the end of Roib. I hope somebody, somewhere managed to survive and will be able to retain its memory and knowledge. If not, then humanity lost one of their most precious information center.
 
We couldn’t help those refugees because of our poor choices, so naturally we gathered to discuss what happened and see how we could improve. We turned back to the moment we decided to ignore Nixie’s orders in Iomen. We discussed at length the event. Eve supported Nixie, but me and Verfy were quite violently asking her questions about her state of mind and morality. We both felt that respecting her orders would stand against everything we stood for and that the rest of this journey would come to an end for us two. No matter what happened next. We quarreled for a bit until Tallion abruptly interrupted us with a: guys I forgot why I was thinking this but the room feels weird. I looked around and yes stuff starting to float and then the wall bent and suddenly pierced Tallion. Ah yes, how could we forget about the boat demon. Our fight fuelled him and his power to the point he was able to control the magical plane around us. I laid on the floor and started recalling the last time terror overfilled our minds, trying to feel everybody again. I was quickly terrified by so many thoughts it was unbearable. But I had to do this… People wanted to form a circle of trust and help each other fight this demon, but… I couldn’t.. do that… I simply didn’t believe I trusted them, especially Nixie. After everything that happened in this journey I learned a lot about myself and a lot of stuff I would like to change for the sake of these people I love. It’s just… hard. I wanted to trust them, I wanted so bad to trust them, but I knew I couldn’t. Even though I had so many memories and adventures that scream trustworthiness, I had my doubts as well and my demons trying to stop me from believing. I hated myself for not trusting them. WHY CAN’T I JUST TRUST THEM. Yes blindly, like I do the Almighty. I never expected something from Him. But, ah. That was it. I wanted something from them. They were not enough for me. I wanted them to be perfect like I know God is. How could you not trust Him and His perfectiveness, right. But I need to trust my friends as well. With everything bad that comes with them. I cannot not trust them. I must do it!
 
I remember staying there, crying my eyes out ignoring everything that was going on around me, trying to feel them. Truly feel them. I wanted to understand why I cannot trust them. I wanted to see them as they don’t even see themselves. Their naked soul, bathed in the terror that surrounded it. I prayed to the Almighty and to our dear Sea they would give me the power to understand them and truly trust them as I trust Them, love them and I love Them. I just wanted to do it, so so much. *smudge* I couldn’t die not trusting them. I couldn’t. It was a struggle with myself. I froze multiple times because I couldn’t take it all, their feelings. But I persisted, I couldn’t let them down. Eventually I felt a warmth pushing me to try harder. Then another and another. I was loudly crying and screaming in pain at this moment until I just froze and stopped in time for a split second. I… did it… I felt it… I felt why. I felt every one of their fears and heard them. I felt Nixie’s despair we would die and she never got to apologise for that stupid kiss with Eve, I felt Eve’s fear of losing any of us and and her fear of being the worst soldier on the planet and the fact that she thought she would never be forgotten for her disobedience. I felt Talion’s fear of not being strong enough to fight this change, I felt it all. But behind this fear and terror, there was warmth and love. The love that brought us all together. I felt it all. I was there with them now. We all, together managed to push away this demon through our little angel Sea. She bonded us like that and she was the one we recalled back to unite our hearts against this demon once again.
 
We managed to push him away for now. We lost Xebec though. He died protecting Verfy. All of a sudden the door opened and a white figure, small in stature and with the warmest smile. It was Sea… She came and hugged us all, ethereally, but I’m sure we all felt it the same. She left a cookie besides Xebec, a real cookie!!! She asked us to never sit silent and she waved at us. I couldn’t stop crying… I was so happy and so sad and so full of everyone and so empty of myself and so… I cannot define what happened. I couldn’t stop crying for an hour I think. Even after that I kept shedding tears until morning. All of that really took a toll on me physically. I mean I wasn’t even sad anymore, my body just would not stop tearing, that’s all. I hugged Eve so hard I thought I broke a rib. Omg I’m sorry.
 
We told the crew about Xebec’s death and we gave him a burial at sea. As Verfy said, he always wanted to visit that horizon line. We departed as he sailed towards it. He was a great man and he died fighting for what was right. Now it’s time for us to continue the fighting.
 
We started sailing towards Vaneolin. Dillen was now in charge of the helm. I would stay next to him with the map to plot the course together. We sailed for a few days. Meanwhile I practised my singing some more while Eve read about runes. I could see her smirking at me from behind that book from time to time. She really thinks I cannot see her, does her? Hehe. So you are not letting me help you and you also spy on me while I train. No no, not like that. I made sure to push her a bit on our next discussion as I know she doesn’t want to express her opinion too often now. We are here to push each other right? :P Soon we caught sight of the first elvish lands. We were pasing by Nesim, since it was close to Fordel Forest, the bad side of Fordel (yeah it has a bad side). So we were going to Metherol since we’re faster on the sea. We had to make a decision regarding “The gamble”. A tight corridor between Irilosi Peninsula and another island where pirates used to ambush ships. Tallio entered his vision and looked over there to see if anybody is waiting for us when he saw a weird black ship with a huge titied mermaid statue with xenatine pieces on it and a pair of red eyes. He somehow saw his old crewmate, Cato, which was dead. So we decided to turn tail and run towards Nesim. When we got close to the city we were greeted by a bunch of ships crewed by undead elves bearing the three pointed lance and that weird vedian symbol with the eye. All whilst above the city flew a flag with the three pointed lance. We had no way to fight any of them and nowhere to run so our captain, Nixie, ordered us to abandon ship once we beached it at the nearest shore and run for our lives. We ran like no other day, but some undead scouts spotted us along the way so we had to keep moving.
At some point we heard a bunch of rustling from the bushes and then a voice shouting at us: ”Damn your dimension”. And of course the obvious:”Tallion Almas!”. Just how can a single man be known in so many parts of SO MANY WORLDS? Ugh… This guy was Ghilders. He is a cool guy. He rambled some stuff about his dimension and how he won several events that we don’t understand, but most importantly he came to us, or rather Tallion or any of Damaschini’s party members, a letter ascking if we need help. Looks like Mr. Z (Zarkuz/ZuZu) told them about what is happening in our world and what happened to their party in what seemed like perfect honesty. I was a bit confused as to why he would do that. I though at first he was a bad guy, given what Tallion told us about him. Now he seems like a good guy. But, if everything is true he is just deranged and like playing both sides of the coin. We will have to talk about that letter from Badjid and Lullaby, but now we are nearing Metherol.
 
We reached the forest next to Metherol and our druids discovered that the city is under siege by a huge undead army. We all quickly decided to find a w way to enter the city and help it during the assault that was about to commence the next few days given the undead were now constructing siege equipment.
 
So yeah, that’s funny as this is my last page here awaiting the biggest battle I will be part of, probably ever. I will need a lot of hugs from Eve before this fight starts.
 
May the Almighty save the souls of those trapped by Evil’s power.