Chapter Text
Darkness, Luce was used to darkness. After all she’d spent most of her life hiding in the shadows, either figuratively or literally. But this was different, she was trapped, alone. Surrounded by those diabolical little purple crystals, blocked off from her powers, she felt… Empty. Those imbecilic interns had locked her in this cursed place after they had invaded her hideout. Did she deserve this form of punishment? Probably, but that didn’t mean Luce was happy about it.
“Curses.” Luce sighed as she slumped against the wall of the small room. This should never have happened, she was the most powerful person in the land of Faeza. Her name struck fear into the hearts of anyone who heard it, Paralyte. But now she was going to be forgotten, the interns had taken care of her, and now they had a new villain to deal with. Entropy or something.
Luce looked outside of her cell. She couldn’t see much other than the cell across from hers which was full of ice. But she could tell there was a small window at the end of the hall by looking at the faint light cast across the floor. She sighed, looking down at the floor. Was this really her life now? No, she was going to get out of here. She clenched her fists. “Those idiot interns are going to regret this,” Luce felt a pang in her arm. Grimacing, she looked down and saw a small wound trickling blood. Of course first before Luce gets revenge she should probably take care of whatever injuries she sustained during the battle. Grumbling, she tore a piece off her cloak and began to patch the various wounds. “If nobody will help me, I'll do it myself.”
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Kaltberg was strange when it wasn’t covered in ice and snow. Spectril was used to the freezing temperatures after staying there for several months so after the land had been freed from its hundred year winter it felt unusual to the half-orc. Andi the local deity had warmed things up after the century long feud ended. The century long conflict that Spectril had made worse.
A couple of weeks previously, Spectril had been a victim of Paralyte and her mind control. Stabbing one of his old friends, Slique and waging a fierce battle against the interns. With the threat of a great explosion the interns left the two Infinights to the flames. Luckily Spectril regained control of his mind at the last minute and transported himself and Slique into the ethereal plane. With nowhere else to go, the half-orc decided to go to Kaltberg.
Weeks later, after the two Infinights had been patched up Spectril sat in a ridiculously fancy chair around a table. Along with several important looking Ishbjorn and Valrossians, Slique and the previous V-King Nyve were also there, with goddess Andi at the head of the table. Spectril stifled a laugh at the various mismatched chairs around the table. Since the battle everyone had been doing their part in rebuilding the ravaged land, matching chairs wasn’t high in their list of priorities, which made for a very funny visual. All these serious looking people, with some sitting on bar stools. It was all Spectril could do to not make some kind of sarcastic remark.
Andi cleared her throat and stood, “Hello everyone, thank you all for being here. I know it’s been quite a journey rebuilding this land and also rebuilding the bond between both Ishbjorn and Valrossians. I wanted to call everyone together today to update you on a few things...”
Spectril fidgeted with his amulet. He’s already heard this sort of speech before. They had this type of meeting every week or so. The speeches done by Andi always ended up sounding similar, so he wasn’t super keen on hearing the same thing again. So instead he looked off into the distance, thinking about what his Ishbjorn lover Yumi would have thought about all this, he clutched his amulet tighter. He had found this amulet where Yumi had died before she dissolved into mist. She was always wearing it, never took it off, until… Spectril wiped away a tear attempting to roll down his face. He wasn’t going to cry, not here at least. Spectril turned the unusual necklace over in his hands. The pearl colored amulet almost shone with light at his touch, he smiled as he squeezed the amulet. Whenever he wore it he felt stronger, like Yumi was still with him.
Spectril was jolted back to reality as Andi cleared her throat. The half-orc realized she was looking very intently at him. He mentally slapped himself for not paying attention, she clearly was waiting for him to respond to something he just wasn’t sure what! Nyve noticed the look of confusion on Spectril’s face and leaned over to him
“She asked if you think the repairs are going smoothly.” the child whispered Spectril nodded at Nyve in silent thanks
“The repairs are going great, I myself have been working tirelessly to make sure we restore this place to its former glory!”
Andi nodded at him, and continued what she was saying previously “As you can see, we will surely have this place up and running again soon! If you have any concerns or questions for me or the rest of my team,” she motioned to Spectril and Slique, “feel free to ask!” The deity smiled. “That will be all for today, and once again thank you all for your unwavering efforts to rebuild.”
various people around the table stood up and either walked away or started talking to each other in hushed tones. Andi motioned for Spectril to come over to her. He sighed, got up from his chair and walked over.
“Spectril dear, I noticed you seemed a bit… Preoccupied during our meeting today. Any particular reason why?” she said gently. Spectril started fidgeting with the amulet again.
“Just thinking, sorry I wasn’t more invested.”
“Don’t worry, sometimes I find myself zoning out in such meetings as well.” she chuckled, “are you sure there’s nothing I can help you with Leonard?”
“Yes I’m sure, Thank you though.” Andi smiled and nodded then moved to talk to a Valrossian who was trying to get her attention.
Spectril spotted Slique and Nyve in conversation a few feet away from him and decided to walk over.
“We rode on a mighty ship, and of course after seeing my extraordinary skills the captain immediately had me swab the deck!” Slique flexed his “muscles” and Nyve looked at him quizzically,
“Isn’t that one of the least important jobs you can do on a ship…”
“It doesn't matter the details!!!” Slique quickly interrupted Nyve and strummed dramatically on his lute for emphasis.
Spectril laughed as he approached, “Ostin you must stop embellishing your stories, or nobody will believe you!” Slique looked at Spectril indignantly, “Who’s embellishing? I’m not embellishing! Everything I said is one hundred percent true!” Nyve giggled and Spectril turned his attention to the small boy,
“Thanks for helping me out back there.” Nyve brightened “Of course! Anytime!”
Slique strummed a cord on his lute, and the two turned to him. Spectril shook his head, Slique always had a nasty habit of getting people’s attention by strumming on his lute dramatically. Spectril was glad his old friend had his prized possession back, but sometimes it was a bit of a nuisance.
“I say we should get dinner,” Slique pointed to the sun which appeared to be sinking rapidly,“I believe it is going to be dark soon!”
Nyve nodded and began to follow the dwarf back to what was left of the castle, they had been staying there until they found more permanent housing. Spectril thought for a moment and called out: “You both go ahead, I'll join you later.” Slique looked back at Spectril and nodded, continuing his totally not exaggerated story as he and Nyve walked on.
started walking, not to the castle but to a nearby hill. He wanted to be alone for a while, he was constantly being needed by people rebuilding various things and he just wanted a break for a while. He trudged up the hill, sat at the top, laid his daggers on the hilltop next to him and sighed
“Finally some quiet.” Spectril felt a cool breeze blow across his face as he watched the sun dip below the clouds. With all this silence he found his mind began to wander again.
Why did the interns leave them so fast, I mean he and Slique were some of the most powerful heroes in the land. Not to mention they were kinda the interns' bosses. Why didn’t they at least even try to save Slique. Did they even care? Spectril shook his head, no there’s no way the interns didn’t come back to look for them. There’s no way Doctor Ahem would leave them there!
The half-orc was comforted by this thought. He missed the old days when the Infinights were a team together. His best friends in the world fighting whatever dangers came their way, with Doctor Ahem the master gadgeteer supplying them with whatever they needed. Spectril laughed to himself, he never was quite the hero type, he was quite the opposite in fact. Always being called scrawny by his peers and made fun of for not looking like a traditional half-orc, but the hero title seemed to fit him well. Instead of being a miner with no money or impact on the world, he had become a hero. He had actually helped people, he saved people’s lives! But now he was reduced to this, a builder of houses and a savior of no one.
Before he knew it, the sky had gotten dark.
“Already?” Spectril sighed. He had hoped for at least a couple more minutes of silence. He began to stand up but stopped as he noticed his amulet glowing. “That’s peculiar…” he held the pendant in his hands as he looked at it puzzled, it had never done this before after all. The amulet glowed brighter and brighter and Spectril had to turn his head away as the light was too bright. Then he felt a jolt as the pendant stopped glowing, but as he turned back he saw a white glowing portal in front of him.
“Oh my Dia..” Spectril looked at the portal and rubbed his eyes to check if he was seeing things. It was strange, he felt drawn to the portal in some way, like he was supposed to go in it for some reason. Against his better judgment he decided to reach his hand out and touch the portal, it couldn’t hurt right? He hesitantly reached out and touched the white portal, strange. It was cold to the touch and felt smooth, kind of like silk. His amulet started glowing again, and he felt his arm getting pulled into the portal.
Before he could do anything he was sucked into the mysterious portal. Leaving his daggers behind on the hill.