The Old Kingdom: Darkness Rising

Andreas

Vetala filled his mind.
"You mistake me for another," Lucretia rasped to Andreas when he approached her.
And the familiar presence of Vetala was gone. He was halted momentarily by this confusion.
"But if you help me, human boy, then I will take you to my mistress, the one who taught me how to channel Darkness...Vetala herself."
And then all was explained - Darkness flooded through him. The Darkness that was inseparably related to Vetala. Now, in a strange sense, he was Vetala too. It was a moment of truth that only lasted for a moment, because it was made obsolete by a flood of indescribable clarity. His entire body tingled, and he became aware of everything within himself. Everything. Every muscle, every sensation. The chaotic sounds of battle filled his ears, and he could feel his brain dissecting and sorting it into relevant and not relevant. He could feel the adrenaline ebbing and flowing. The awareness spread to his powers - wherever he turned his attention, he could sense every globule of water and the hardness of every surface, whether he'd be able to grind it or not. The whole world was running at half-speed. He stood stunned at this tide of information, and after a little while it eased to a level he could cope with, but he was still left with awareness far beyond what he normally possessed. It wasn't the only gift the Darkness gave him. He also felt the joy drain from him. It was more than a passing dejection. It reached deep inside, to that spark of hope that he kept locked away from the world, and the Darkness snuffed it. The world was bleak and cold, and there would only be suffering. He could see everything, but nothing mattered.

A light fairy who had been witnessing the exchange swung at him with a curved blade wreathed in a green aura. Andreas sidestepped the blow whilst grinding his hand. He caught the falling weapon and severed the fairy's head with it. He then turned to Titania and Oberon. This was his chance to impress Lucretia. He could sense their feelings, but it was foggy. Even with his heightened perception, there was a magic there greater than his own. Still, he sensed there might be an opening, so he fixed his attention on Oberon and said, "levity."

Knowing that the spell would take effect or not regardless of whether he watched, he turned his attention to one of the Elfguard. He looked for the water in her veins and dragged it into her feet.

 

Trisana

Trisana waded into the mob of dark fairies that surrounded them. The Shiny Sword was in one hand, the Silver Staff in the other. She swung the Sword and took down an assailant that was about to lunge. Another fairy came at her with a spear. Before he could even get close, he was reduced to a sooty black spot on the floor by a powerful lightbeam from her Staff. But the others were quickly closing and Trisana's enchanted weapons would not be enough to take them all out. Time for them to get a load of my new powers. Without breaking stride, Trisana raised both the Sword and the Staff in the air, and cried, "Enchanted relics combine to create...the Super Sceptre!" There was a blinding light and the two weapons became one. The Super Sceptre was as long as her arm, with a sparkly rainbow crystal at the top and a foot-long blade at the other end. The shaft was silver with a gold handle in the middle, for a better grip.

"Pretty!" Trisana exclaimed as she marveled at her new weapon. She twirled it like a baton and cut down an advancing dark fairy with the blade side. When the remaining six fairies tried to jump on her, she pointed the rainbow crystal at them and let loose a dazzling rainbow beam. Where they had once stood, there was a huge, smoking crater that was surrounded by rainbow glitter. Nothing that was a part of the Darkness could withstand the sheer positive force of Trisana's super-rainbow. The nearby dark fairies gawked in abject fear. Trisana took one step in their direction and they ran for their lives.

"Good," she muttered, all-business. "Now I can focus on the real threat...the Dark Queen and Andreas." Trisana glared across the ballroom at the pair of villains. The Dark Queen was some kind of evil fairy that ruled the Unseelie Court. She was pure evil; Trisana would deal with her without remorse. But Andreas...he had once been one of them. A good guy. But now he had brutally attacked Samara and gone over to the dark side. There was no coming back from that.

He has aligned himself with an ancient force of evil. There's no room for sentiment, only cold, hard justice.

Trisana twirled the Super Sceptre and headed straight for the center of battle, the irises of her eyes blazing with every known color. She blasted several dark fairies to smithereens before they learned to stay out of her way. When she got close, Trisana yelled, "Hey, Andreas! This is for hurting Samara and turning into Darth Vader!" She pointed the Sceptre directly at Lucretia and Andreas and fired off a rainbow beam as wide as a bus.

 

Joe

The sharpness inside them disappeared. Drake. Drake was there, and he had saved them. But why was there so much blood? ...Of their blood, they realised dimly.

Everything was a blur. Screams, blood, death. Everyone was dying. Was this real? This couldn't be real. This didn't happen in real life. Will's face flashed in their mind. The soldier with the burned chest and the mashed hand. Something in that memory stung.

They came to themselves. Their hands were already on Samara, healing injuries they hadn't even registered. Samara, indomitable and unstoppable, was in shock. And her leg- That was it. Her leg was mangled just like the soldier's fingers... Joe's chest stung dully and felt empty, like- well, like there was a hole in it. They stepped over the sensation and felt out for their clone. It didn't remember things well, but this... They blinked, and there was a misty replay of the clone's memory. Of Andreas casting Grind.

They weren't even angry. Strangely enough, they weren't even surprised, though they wanted to be. They'd been betrayed. They hadn't really expected it to be Andreas, but it didn't matter. It was inevitable that someone would turn on them. Again.

Something bumped against their shin. They picked it up and held it gently, looking Tyran's severed head directly in the eyes. There was nothing left inside them. Joe laid it gently by Tyran's body and closed the eyes. They expected- no, they wanted anger. They wanted something inside of them to give them a reason to stand up again. But it all seemed to be spilling out of their chest with the blood.

Joe raised their eyes to the Unseelie Queen. She was laughing and reveling in the chaos surrounding her as she spread ever more blood and death. Andreas fought beside her, his eyes dark and features expressionless. The tightness in Joe's jaw was back, the creaking in their bones. But there was no anger this time, no hunger. Just...purpose. The purpose of destruction.

If they had been themselves, they would've feared it. But there wasn't enough of them left for that.

"Fenn." The word sounded like a snarl. Their teeth felt were...grinding, changing shape. "Drag our people back. Get them outside if you can. Focus on protecting the King and Queen." Bones stretched, skin itched, ears lengthened. Across the room, they felt the presence of their clone snuff out like a candle. Their magic was disappearing.

To their teacher: "Nora. When Fenn starts clearing the room, storm it. Fill this place with ice. Alex, stay with Nora. Protect her and Samara. Gather our party if you can. Leave Andreas." Their muscles stretched and the clothes on their back felt like they were melting away. It felt like the last parts of Joe were fading with them. "I'm going to give you a shot at Lucretia." The last words were almost lost in a roar. "Take it."

Then there was only the wolf.

A silver wolf with ice-white eyes, larger than a real animal but not by much. This was not a natural beast. This wasn't even conscious, like the werewolves who had once attacked them. It was a weapon with exactly one direction embedded in their mind:

Behind: Pack. Ahead: Prey.

They charged the Dark Queen and leapt, wrapping their jaws around her neck.

 

Andreas

He was transfixed at the sight of Joe bleeding out some distance away. He was even more transfixed when they turned into a wolf. He wasn't capable of shock anymore, but he sure was surprised. Let's hope they can't clone like that or turn inv-

"Hey, Andreas!"
Trisana's voice. It was cathartic, hearing her angry at him. God knew he'd provoked her enough in the past - now he finally knew what it took.

"This is for hurting Samara and turning into Darth Vader!"
When she'd got as far as 'this is for', he could guess her intention. One of Fenn's vines was near at hand, supple and full of water. Andreas used his magic to whip it across Lucretia's feet and they both went crashing to the ground. The rainbow beam seared his hair and scorched his tunic, but luckily the brunt of it went over them. How could something so cheerful and bright be so damned vicious? Care bear on crack, he thought.

His move wasn't all that inspired. Now they were on the floor, and Joe the Wolf was landing on her, teeth wrapping around her neck.

 

Oberon blinked, momentarily stunned by Andreas's levity spell. He was almost stabbed by a sneaky dark fairy, but Titania jumped in, whacking the attacker with her bow upside the head and then blasting him full in the face with pink magic. Ashes were still falling as Titania whirled around to kick another enemy across the ballroom. As she fought, her crystal-studded dress transformed into a tight, silver jumpsuit made completely of chainmail, pink lightning crackling all over her body. And when another enemy slipped through the Elfguard and tried to cut Titania's legs, her sheer cape raised up and became a large pair of iridescent hummingbird wings and she flew over the blade. Titania shot him with a rose-arrow before dropping back to the floor. She was fiercely beautiful as she wiped the sweat from her brow and resumed fighting.

Andreas's water-slide trick saved the day as Trisana's rainbow spell left a smoking crater where they had once been standing. Fenn was still busy wrapping the dark fairies in vines when he heard Joe. "I'll see what I can zippidy do!" Fenn called. Then he held up his arms and grew eight feet tall. His body became leaves and his face a smiling wooden mask. Yellow-green eyes blazed as he gestured broadly and vines erupted from the tiles all around the ballroom. The vines grabbed light fairies and started carrying them out of the castle at top speed. Still in giant form, Fenn swung his burly leaf-arms, knocking dark fairies aside that were trying to surround him. He laughed cheerfully as he fought, clearly feeling the full effects of the hallucinogenic berries he had consumed just earlier.

The enchanted vines tried to grab Alex, but he swung his scythe and incinerated them. "No, I'm staying!" he yelled. "I'm seeing this through to the end!" He ept swinging his scythe wildly, burning scores of dark fairies, slowly making his way to the Unseelie Queen and Andreas. Lucretia was already in danger though, as Wolf Joe jumped on her and savagely bit her throat. She thruat her spear up between his snapping jaws, but he bit it in half as if it was a toothpick. "HeeeEEEeeelp!" she screamed at Andreas, but it was too late. Joe savagely bit her throat and she was no more.

Nora had started to conjure a blizzard at Joe's request, but she lowered her hands when she saw that the Dark Queen was dead. Things should be winding down soon, now that she's gone, Nora thought, sighing in relief. Then the sound of cackling echoed off the ballroom walls. Sitting on one of the thrones was Vetala in a black version of the blood-red dress she had been wearing before. Her platinum blond hair was pulled back into a sleek ponytail, a diamond choker adorned her neck, and matching diamond earrings swung from her ears. Smoky eye makeup accentuated her wicked green eyes as the vampiress laughed with abandon. Vetala stopped laughing when a blue lightning bolt flew over her head, singing her hairtips. Nora was already getting ready to throw another one.

"Give it up, Ilianora," Vetala scoffed. "Your old tricks are beneath me. I have outgrown you." She flicked her wrist and greasy black tentacles shot out of the shadows and wrapped around Nora's neck, lifting her high into the air. "Dance for me, my pretty!" Vetala laughed, clapping like a demented toddler.

 

Samara

Everything was a fog. Samara’s mind swirled with dark thoughts. She felt hands, lifting and moving her useless body, as muffled voices churned inside her head. People moved all around her, friends and enemies, but she couldn’t distinguish any of it. Drake? Nora? Joe? Which of them would betray her next? Who would surrender to the fading light and the growing Darkness?

Andreas’s attack had both dulled and sharpened her. Pain was the universal motivator, a language everyone spoke and even the most lethargic fool responded to. If she had any doubts about the path she’d chosen or how best to reach her goal, he’d washed it all away with one cruel act. She was born again. Brand new. Ready.

She felt Joe’s healing push into her, like gentle warmth driving away the pain, only it felt frantic this time, rushed. They had no time for her. They just wanted to get it over with. Everyone did. And then Joe was gone --they were all gone-- and she was alone again, healed yet still broken inside.

That’s when the Darkness finds you, when you’re all alone. Give evil room to grow and it will. She couldn’t get Andreas out of her head. His face. The fear in his eyes. Fear of something other than her. Why the hell does that bother me so much?

Because power is frightening. If even your friends don’t stand in awe before you, it means you’re powerless. It means you’re their equal --or, worse, you’re beneath them. How the hell can you call yourself their defender, their savior, if they’re all looking down on you? Weakness. Disgusting weakness.

She could still hear him laughing. He had laughed as he did it. Yes, that’s how she remembered it. The sneering smirk as he broke her.

I’m going to return the favor, Samara thought and the transformation was complete. She was made whole, in the worst way… just as Vetala’s sinister cackle issued forth from the throne room.

Until now, Samara had been numb to it all, trapped in her own head. The only sound she heard clearly was the dull pounding of her heart in her ears, like the thunderous drums of a warband on the march. Now the vampiress’s chiding remarks rang out like a declaration of war.

“You… bitch,” Samara hissed as she rolled over and struggled to her feet, her crystal armor materializing all around her without a thought, as she took stock of her surroundings. She was outside. Vines were carrying light fairies out the door at an alarming pace and Samara’s only thought was that she needed to get inside. She needed to get to Vetala and Andreas and didn’t give a damn how.

A moment later, she crashed through the wall and tossed aside a crystal Warhammer big enough for a giant. It vaporized before it hit the floor. She didn’t even remember conjuring it or smashing through Oberon’s castle. It was all instinct. Raw instinct.

“Vetalaaaaaa!” She screamed as she outstretched her hand toward Nora. Link! In one leap Samara soared toward her teacher and slashed through the inky black tentacles with a crystal blade. Link! She quickly changed targets and veered toward Vetala next, burying the crystal sword in a dark fairy’s face along the way, and planting a dagger in the neck of another before finally reaching the vampire. "DIE!" Samara howled, twisting through the air as Excalibur materialized in her hands.

 

Drake
The battle was raging all around him. I was overwhelming to Drake's senses. The blood flying everywhere, the noise, the amount of magic flung around, so much that trying to even comprehend what was going on made Drake's mind shatter. He was afraid, but this time the fear didn't make his body freeze. If anything it made his mind clearer, more focused.

After he killed Joe's attacker, a fairy grabbed him by the shirt. "Need a lift?" he said with a dashing smile. Drake smiled to himself. He didn't want to hurt the fairy's feelings by telling him that there really was no need for it, and so he let the cute guy take him back to Nora. He turned his head to see Samara's condition, then turned back the just in time to see the fairy pierced through with a spear. He shouted in anger, but his dispair was shot lived as that moment Nora's ice dome shattered, and a giant troll swung his club at Drake. Drake just managed to avoid the swing, teleporting behind the creature. The troll turned towards Drake, when a gout of flames covered its body, and the creature fell. Behing him stood none other than Alex, the little goth kid holding a giant scythe and looking so freakin cool. Drake smiled and turned back to see the battle. He found a fallen crossbow, and began teleporting around, keeping his distace, and shooting bolts everywhere. That gave him a good view of the scene.

Trisana was being awesome as ever, now wielding a new weapon, a scepter filled with rainbows and death. She was attacking... Andreas?! The cynical hispanic kid, who he actually grew to like in the past, was now fighting alongside the dark queen. Joe was also there, attacking with a new spell, some strange wolf thing that was actually pretty awesome. It killed Luceria with one bite. A surge of hope filled Drake. They might actually win this. Around him a blizzard was beggining to form, and vines were flying everywhere, dragging light fairies out of the hall.

Then a cackle filled the room, a sound that reminded Drake of dark caverns and terrifying fangs. Vetala sat there, right in front of him. Black tentactacles came forth from her throne, and wrapped around Nora. He was going to die, he knew it.

The wall shattered, and a figure in glowing crystal armour burst through. One moment Samara was severing through the black tentacles, the secondshe was flying towards Vetala, Excalibur in her hand. Drake's heart almost stopped out of the sheer badassery desplayed. He was not going to let this end like last time. He took a deep breath.

Going through everything he has learned about teleporting and alternate dimentions, from what Nora taught him, to Robin, to what he figured out on his own, he started forming a single spell.

"Telly-" he said, focusing on every weapon lying around. Vita ex Machina, he whipered in his mind. "Port!"

Hundreds of bloody swords and spears suddenly appeared around Vetala, each coming to life instantly. The swords swung themselves at her, the spears struck, bows fired. Even if they weren't going to kill her, which Drake doubted, they were at least going to distract the vampiress enough for Samara to land the finishing blow. Drake fell to the floor, without enough strength to stand, but fighting for conciousness. He had to see this. He had to witness his self-attacking weapons and Samara making contact and kicking Vetala's ass. It was going to be. So. Fucking. Cool!

 

Trisana

Trisana watched without emotion as Joe (or what used to be Joe) ravaged the Unseelie Queen. It had to be done. She looked at the Fairy King and Fairy Queen to check if they were alright and was satisfied with what she saw. Samara, Nora, and Drake were going after someone sitting on one of the thrones. Wait...is that Vetala?!?! Trisana wanted to join them, but there was still Andreas to deal with.

Andreas. She glared at him like a cat looking at a mouse. "Traitor!" she spat. "Liar! Idiot!" With each word, Trisana fired a destructive rainbow beam at Andreas. She had seen his devastating powers in action and she did not plan to give him any time to concentrate. She would just keep shooting to keep him scrambled.

"How could you!?" Trisana cried. "You were one of us!" Blast! "We fought together!" Blast! "We learned together!" Blast! "How could you!?!?" Blast! Blast! Blast!

 

Andreas

Andreas leaped from spot to spot, narrowly avoiding the rainbow beams. Every time he tried to formulate a plan, another rainbow blast kept him on his toes. He was also distracted by the awesome sight of a Samara-Drake combo, with countless sharp objects reeling in towards Vetala as Samara executed a Palpatine-style twisting sword attack. They seemed to hang there forever, almost as if Samara had been suspended in the air, slowly closing in on her enemy, for the past seventeen days.

It would have been curtains for Andreas, if it wasn't for the clarity and speed of perception bestowed on him by the Darkness. It was the weirdest thing - it wasn't like he suddenly got a lot more brainpower. It more like he could actually feel the bits of his brain being tied up with avoiding Trisana's attacks. As though there were an Andreas on the outside inspecting Andreas on the inside. Frankly, it was off-putting. But there was a slot free in his subconscious, and with some tinkering he began avoiding the beams automatically. Subconsciously. And his mind began to regain control. As soon as he could he clutched his awareness at Trisana, sensed for water and shoved. It wasn't an intricate, precise attack. It was a hurried, inaccurate, clumsy blow. Under the pressure of attack he was only dimly aware of bits of fluid inside her, fluid in her vains, fluid in her stomach. He had no idea what it would do, but he shoved it all away from him. She'd at least have to fall over, right?