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RATIONALPARANOIA -> (AQ) Heroes And Villains (6/27/2008 16:57:37)
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Heroes And Villains: An AQ Fanfiction
Prologue
"You go this far, you've got to finish. We had a deal, did we not, Mr. Tucker?" The man in front of Mr. Tucker was mostly covered by the shadows, but his long hair could still be seen, as well as the eye that it partially covered. He wore a dark red robe, with various symbols inscribed upon it. In the night, these symbols seemed to move and glow, with quite an unnerving effect.
"The deal's off. What you intend to do… it’s monstrous! We could turn a blind eye to your 'experiments' as long as you protected us, but you should have known we wouldn’t let you do this- we’re not your playthings. We're human, just like you." Mr. Tucker stood in front of the mage, nothing more than a lowly smith, his face still stained with ash from his fire. His eyes burned with rage, and most of the men standing with him had the same look in their eyes. The women and children were all somewhere safe, away from the intruder.
"That's where you're wrong, my friend. I'm not human- far beyond it. And all of you can become greater than even me, at the cost of these weak mortal bodies that you currently possess. If you follow through with this, your spirits will be close to all powerful... and immortal." The mage smiled, two lights beginning to swirl around him. One was blue, the other red- they were part of his way of focusing. The red light circled around his head, and the blue light made rotations around his chest.
"That's right- if you do this, you will never die. And for those of you who have... a significant other, you will never be separated. Never be alone. Your love will be eternal."
The mage bent over, grabbing a handful of the soil. Raising his hand, he let the dirt go. It blew away in the wind, scattering to all parts of the town.
"Or, on the other hand, you can be like this dirt beneath you- small, insignificant, dead... and most of all, easily separated. I'm sorry to tell you, but there is no afterlife. You die, and your love dies with you. You don't get a second chance. You live out your pointless, miserable life as a peasant... then you die."
The mage paused, his eyes going back and forth among the crowd in front of them. Their faces seemed to be changing, from looks of anger and determination to looks of sadness and confusion. They were thinking about what he had told them, the reality of it scaring some, depressing the others, but at the very least distracting all of them.
"And after this... There will be no struggle. No more rumors. No one fighting you, no one bullying you. No arguments, no negativity, no disease, no aging, no thirst, no hunger... nothing but pleasure, satisfaction, and happiness. All of your fantasies will be realized."
The mage's eyes glowed, and something appeared behind them. It was monstrous, horrible, terrifying, disgusting; but there was another side to it. The thing spoke of desire, of dreams, of things both forbidden and pleasurable... And it promised all of them.
Tucker looked the mage in the eyes, and stepped forward, pulling out a knife. He was thinking about a game that he had played when he was young. He had played it on the river, on a log that ran from one end to the other. The game was pretty simple- you stood on one side, your opponent on the other. You couldn’t move off the log, and you lost if you fell into the water.
Winning the game was a little trickier, though. You couldn’t just charge your opponent, and struggle with him- You’d knock him into the water, sure, but you’d go in right after him. And if you both went in, you’d both lose. So, the real key to the game was finding a good way to distract your opponent. Once he was distracted, one quick push, and you’d win. And having played it as many times as he had (and having won it as many times as he had), Tucker knew that the mage would have been quite a good player. But Tucker was still sure that he could beat him- now he knew his strategy.
"We said no to you before, mage, and we say no to you now. You and your associates- you're demons. Now, here's what we're telling you: Leave our village. Do so, and we will let you live. Stay, and we will kill you."
The mage offered no reply. He just stood there, staring at Tucker. The two orbs still floated around the mage, but they now had more frantic, erratic motions. The other villagers edged closer, and yet the mage still didn't move.
"What are you doing, mage? I told you to leave." Tucker shouted these words, loud and defiant. He was finally taking control; they could defeat the mage, push him into the water. Tucker and his family, they could forget about this. Forget that they ever let him use their town to do... whatever it was he did to those people, and just be happy.
"He's stalling, Mr. Tucker. Charging his magic- getting in tune with the elements, working through the process. Magic this powerful, you see, requires concentration and a place of focus. This place can be anywhere, as long as it's in the area of the spell, and focused in one place- such as where he is standing now."
The newcomer was a young, handsome, and muscular man. He wore light black armor, and held two long swords in his hands. He stood on top of one of the houses closest to the crowd, smiling. The smile was perfect- it not only made him look very happy, it gave other people joy just looking at it. It made you feel comfortable, at ease, made you feel like he was a good old friend.
He moved with a frightening speed and grace. His blades whirled around him, cutting the villagers down. They screamed in pain and fright, running from him, trying desperately to escape. All sense of unity, of standing up and fighting for the collective good of the village, was gone. It was replaced by survival instincts. They needed to run and hide, they needed to get away. Men pushed through the crowd, not caring who it was that they knocked to the ground. Neighbors trampled over each other, trying to get to the safety of their homes.
"No! We were so close... We were about to succeed! We were going to have a normal and good life. And you had to come and screw this all up!" Tucker just stood there, screaming at the killer standing in front of him.
All of the composure and courage that had been on Tucker's face was gone, replaced by the look of a man on the verge of a breakdown. He was in the water now, he knew it; the mage had been a much more cunning player than he had thought. But this wasn’t the river, where you could just climb out of the water. In this water, everybody drowned.
Again, the man in the armor moved with that shocking speed and grace, seemingly flying over the ground. One of his blades pierced through Tucker's stomach, impaling him to the wall of the nearby house. The other blade made a perfect cut, and Tucker screamed as his hand was severed from his wrist.
"We tried to talk to you, Mr. Tucker. We tried to convince you to follow our path. But since you decided that you might just act like the hero of the day, it ends like this instead. For what I am doing now, you have no one to blame but yourself. You made this necessary." The man pulled the sword out of Tucker´s stomach, and Tucker fell to his knees. He was ready to collapse and rest, but a hand grabbed his chin. It forced him to look up into the face of his attacker, who had a smirk upon his face.
"I could leave you here to bleed out, but I think you deserve a little better. You showed courage, and we both know that courage deserves a reward." The sword came down again, cutting through Tucker's throat.
"Come out here, people. Come out or I'll hunt you down like dogs." Nobody came out. He hadn't expected them to- Actually, he wanted them to stay where they were. As long as they thought there was a psycho outside of their homes waiting to kill them, they'd stay where they were. This would give the mage time to complete his spell, and give him time to find... a certain someone.
He remembered her well enough… She had been beautiful. Long blond hair, and bright blue eyes. She always had a smile on her face, and she giggled almost as much as he talked. They had met before… But that was another time, and another age, and he pushed it out of his head. He did not need distractions.
He still remembered where her house was, and he walked to it quickly. She was in there, sleeping on her bed. She was so calm, so relaxed… He just stood there for a while, watching her. Then he quickly slipped in through the window, and went to stand by her. He didn’t move, just stood there and listened to her breathing. The gentle, rhythmic sound of her breathing... She opened her eyes.
"Where are they?" He smiled as he said this, stroking his hand through her hair. His two swords were on his back now, but his free hand rested on the handle of one, making sure he was reading for any sudden intrusion.
"I don't know what you're--" He slapped her across the face. Hard.
"I'll ask you one more time- Where are they?" His voice was still pleasant, still calm. But his eyes burned with fury, and she was almost certain that he had broken her nose.
"Hidden from you, you monster." The voice came from behind the man by the bed, and he turned to look at its owner. It was a tall man, with a broad chin and chest. His face was scarred, yet handsome, and his brown hair ran down past his shoulders. He held a long sword in his hand, its blade pointed at the man by the bed.
They looked in each others eyes, and without a word being spoken, a whole world of understanding passed between them. Both of them knew that this was the end. This was a fight to the death, and there was no escaping it. There was no middle ground to be met, no minor victories to be won. And with that in mind, he attacked, his long sword coming forward in a lithe, fluid attack.
The intruder quickly unsheathed his weapon, and brought it to meet the long sword. The blades clashed, and both men struggled. It was clear that they were not evenly matched; both were excellent swordsman, but the man who had been by the bed was beyond human, and possessing an unnatural skill. There was nothing but a few parries for a time, as the two struggled to get a dominant hold.
The woman watched as her husband struggled against the intruder, and she saw that he was about to slip before he even realized it. His attacker, taking advantage of the small fault in his opponent, kicked him hard in the stomach. He doubled over, the pain and surprise overwhelming him.
"You can't hide them from me- They're mine by right." He pulled his second blade from his back, and thrust it at the man, aiming for his throat. The long sword weilder rolled away from the blade, losing grip on his weapon as he did so and crashing into a wall of the house in the process.
As the wall collasped around the man, his attacker noticed that there was something hidden behind it. Stepping over the man on the floor, he took a closer look at what had been revealed. To his surprise, he had found exactly what he was looking for: a crib.
"There they are, my beautiful children… I’ve been waiting a long time to meet them.” Twins rested in the crib: one male, the other female. The boy had a pout on his face, locked in a look of childish anger and frustration at having been awakened. The girl, on the other hand, was smiling, and giggled as she saw the new man.
The man with the two blades reached out, leaving a mark along both of their foreheads. He marked them with a blue paint, drawing an eye on each of them. The eye was staring out into space, and the general look of it, especially on the children, unnerved even him.
He reached down, picking up the man by the throat. He tightened his grip quickly, making sure that the man was immobilized. He knew better than to give the man an opening, no matter how small.
"It's about to happen, my friend. All of our work- We will soon see its product. The birth of a new age will start here, and you're going to be here to see it all happen. And not only that, but your own flesh and blood will be the ones that start this glorious age!"
As he spoke, the ground beneath him began to shake. The mage, still standing in the same area he had always been, began to glow a bright red color, and float into the air. This was the part about it that the mage truly liked: the raw pleasure that came from using magic. Knowing that with your own energy and control, you could reshape the world. He didn’t know how it made others feel, but it always left him feeling giddy and ecstatic, even after he finished using the magic.
"Let the power be released, and let the circle be completed!" As he spoke, a gigantic wave of red energy rippled outward from his body. As the energy passed over each villager, they began to scream. Their bodies were being torn apart, and their very souls were being ripped from their body. The souls were all headed toward the center of town, combining together with each other in a sick mockery of love.
They formed a bright blue ball of magical and spiritual energy, both alive and dead, both real and unreal. Various faces showed in the ball, screaming for release and help. Well, they tried to, at least... No sounds escaped from the ball, asides from its disturbing hum as it grew larger and larger.
Finally, as the mage heard the last of the screams, he knew it was complete. All that was left was to combine this energy with the targets- He sent it out, to look for the special marks. If his partner had done what he was supposed to, this was truly finished.
Inside the house (or what remained of it, after what the spell had done to it), the man lay on the floor, clutching the two children, keeping them safe. They were important, and he would not lose them over something so trifle as a piece of falling wood. And, as he saw the energy coming, he raised them up into the sky, to be ready for it.
Their third eye, one that had been previously only drawn on, opened for real now. It would be the gateway, the place where the magic would enter. The energy flew into it, swirling with various colors and sounds. As soon as all of it had been absorbed into the children, the eyes closed, becoming nothing more than mere drawings again.
"The spell has been completed." The mage had made his way to the house rather quickly.
"So it is... Now, we shall take the children and go. We have much to do." The man got up, and started walking over. As he did, a knife flew from behind him, missing his throat by a hair. He turned around, looking for the attacker, and saw the brown haired man, his wife in his arms.
"How did he sur--" The mage began, before the brown haired man interrupted him.
"Why? Why did you do this?”
"Because we made your family." the other man spoke in reply. "Yes, did you think it was all coincidence? Do you think that you, one of the greatest soldiers to ever live, simply fell in love with one of the most beautiful and genius women in the world of Lore? Of course not."
"All of this- the meeting, the romance, the children; it was all planned by us. Both of you were selected because of your potential for having the perfect children- or as close to perfect as they could be. But now- How did you survive that spell?" As he asked this, the man pulled out his two swords.
"Magic like that- you should have known it could be counteracted by will power. It´s the way that mages, in times pasts, survived magical sneak attacks, back when magical duels were common. I knew that because I´m not a fool… I pay attention to what´s important to me. That´s why I was always better than you, the great-- "
In a flash, it was over. One of the blades went through his heart, one of the blades went through his lungs. His wife screamed, and she grabbed him tighter, tears running down her face.
"You better than me now!?” he screamed into his face. "Are you?!"
The brown haired man collapsed on the floor, dead. The other man didn’t move, just stood there, breathing heavily and erratically. The mage didn´t speak either. He didn’t dare to, not with his partner being angrier than he had ever seen, or ever even thought possible. And so he didn’t tell him about the strange change that he was examining in the children.
They were growing, rapidly aging in front of his eyes. Hair was growing out of their scalps, their arms and legs were growing, they were expanding… All of this was happening in front of him. And then, just as sudden as it had started, it stopped. It must have been a side-effect of the magic; in less than a minute, they had aged from one month to around three years old. And they were perfectly fine… A little disoriented, maybe, but fine otherwise.
"Mommy?" It was the boy. Brown hair, just like his father. He was rid of his confusion, and beginning to feel the need for their parents that all children have. "Daddy?"
The woman looked around for where the sound was coming from, and saw her two children, both of them grabbing at her arms. She wiped the tears off her face, and pulled the two of them close to her, hugging them. They were close to crying, she saw, and even with everything else going on around her, her maternal instinct of trying to protect and comfort them dictated her actions.
"Shh..." she cooed to them. "Everything's going to be alright, Mommy promises. Everything's going to be just fine."
The two children smiled, and looked up at her, the girl giggling. Looking back down at them, she smiled. Truly smiled. Then the boy started giggling, and the woman couldn't help herself- she started laughing too. Fresh tears started down her face, and she smiled, and she hugged them closer to her chest.
For a moment, she closed her eyes, and tried to think about what it would have been like if the men hadn't come. The babies were toddlers, they were kids, they were teenagers, they were men and women. She saw her son coming back with some beautiful woman, and her daughter being swept off her feet by some strong, handsome suitor. She listened to her husband laughing, sharing stories with his son by their house fire. She felt fabric running through her hands, as she taught her daughter to knit, and told her of the family tradition of passing down knitting from mother to daughter.
And then the blade whistled through the air again, slitting her throat in one swift motion. She felt the mage grabbing her children, pulling them away. She fell next to her husband, the two of them together looking like a cruel imitation of lovers.
"Why did you do that?" the mage asked. He’d seen his partner do many things, but few things had ever been that cruel and senseless.
"I didn't want them getting connected to anyone but me- Especially not their mother, knowing how she'd feel towards us." the man said, wiping the blood off of his sword. "Now check on the children, and make sure they're fine."
The mage looked at the two squirming children in his hands, and saw something that scared him- the boy and girl were glaring up at him. Their faces didn’t look like children’s faces, either… They looked much older and wiser. Like their parents. You´re frightened because their parents are in them… And so is their parent’s hatred.
"They're... Uh, they're fine." Was it a trick of the light, or was the boy starting to glow? "We better get them out of here, and to some place--"
The mage was interrupted by something shooting up from the boy. It hit him in the eye, and he felt blood began to pour down his face. In his surprise and shock, he let go of the twins.
"Damn it all!" he shouted, clutching his eye in his pain and confusion. "Help me, get me something, he hit me in the eye, it hurts, it--"
The man's fist came down upon the mage's nose, breaking it and knocking the mage unconscious. The eye (and the nose) could be healed, but for right now, he was not in the mood to deal with that. He had to make sure the children were safe.
Looking around by where the mage had been standing, he saw only the girl, lying on the ground, still glaring up at him. The boy was gone… But where? He must have teleported somewhere; there was powerful magic inside of him, and if he wanted to get away, he would get away. Even if he didn’t exactly know how he did it.
The man sat down, feeling anger start to swell up in him again- The boy was gone; at least for now, anyway. But the girl... She was still here. She'd be all he needed, for now. When it was necessary, he'd find the boy... And then, the plan would truly be complete. The new age would begin.
"You..." The man almost jumped into there, turning around to look where this voice was coming from. He saw the woman, struggling to speak. But she shouldn't be struggling, he thought, she should be dead! "You are damned. My children... They will never rest until justice has been served. They will never serve you, and they will never be your pawns- but they will be your undoing."
She was dead, he realized. Even as she was speaking, she was dead. The words had come from her, but from somewhere else at the same time… And they had a ring of truth that he didn’t like. Already, his plan was not going exactly as he wanted it; the boy was gone, wasn´t he? But, before he could go down that path, he pushed the thoughts out of his head. His plan would succeed. He’d make sure it did, no matter what he had to do.
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