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Fable : Fall of the Guild	By : Samson Category: +A through F > Fable Views: 8222 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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Chasm Of Blood.
Fable : Fall of the Guild

Part VIII - "Witch-hunt"

By: Jesse Racine AKA Samson

Original Date Written: August 11, 2012

The trek to the Chasm was perilous. After managing to slip out of Darkwood and elude any more Witchspotters, Grizelda took the two towards the coast, towards the mountains to Darkwood’s western side. She took the two up a thin mountain pass, the dusty, gray environment putting Timoteo a little on edge. He had a feeling like something was wrong, that something was watching the group, not wanting them using that particular path. His feeling was eventually proven correct, as gray balverines ultimately appeared along the mountains on either side of the pathway, howling as they sprinted down towards their prey. The three Will-users, however, were not willing to be an animal’s feast, fighting the animals off with spells until the balverines all lay dead. Grizelda took them through the mountainous path, crashing waves becoming audible on the wind, signalling they were close to the coast. When the mountains parted enough for there to be a clearing, the two found themselves standing at the precipice of an immense cliff, a fall from merely half the cliff’s height surely being lethal.
An intense wind from the ocean came in, buffeting them with how strong it was. Below, the blue waters of the ocean slammed and mashed against the cliff’s wall, as if the sea were furious with the land for simply existing. “I can feel Dark Will nearby...Are we close to the Chasm?” Bianca asked. Grizelda merely pointed off into the distance. The path continued off to the side, heading along the edge of the coast, hugging close to the side of one mountain. It was narrow and looked quite dangerous, one having to be careful with their footing lest they topple over the side and meet the sea’s embrace. After close to half a kilometer, the narrow path ended at a small, unobtrusive cave opening, the mouth to the cave looking like no more than a slim crack in the mountain’s side. “There’s no barrier.” Timoteo pointed out. As Grizelda set off down the pathway towards the Chasm, she merely said “That’s not the true entrance. Come. We have things we must discuss with Octavia...”
As they walked deeper into the cave passage, the sounds of the ocean waves echoed out, reaching around from behind them and reverberating against the stone. The cave was cold and damp thanks to it’s proximity to the sea, large, pale mushroom-like plants growing in clumps and patches on the ground and walls. The path headed steadily downwards before suddenly going up at a steep angle, the trio climbing the incline until the sounds of the ocean disappeared from behind them. When they got to the top of the incline, the path split into three different directions, with the path to the right going off into pure darkness, the path ahead heading back downwards, and the path to the left going off into the distance, lit up by a strange blue glow. “Which way do we take? The one with the glow?” Timoteo asked. Grizelda shook her head, carefully starting down the middle path, taking her time, not wanting to slip and trip. “No, that path is a dead end. The moss illuminating the path interests me, but it’s not where we need to go.”
“How far until we reach the entrance?” Bianca asked. “A few more branches, then we’ll reach the trunk.” Grizelda calmly said. The trio carefully went down the incline, reaching the bottom after a couple of minutes. They went around a curve in the path when faced with another set of multiple pathways, heading back in the direction they had come from, still heading deeper into the earth. It quickly became so dark in the passageway that Grizelda resorted to holding up a fireball, illuminating the path for several feet in front of herself. They came to a path that branched into two different directions, and when Grizelda went down the right-side path, they quickly found themselves facing a path that led in three different directions. Grizelda took them down the left-side path, saying “It’s just at the end of this passage. We’ll be entering the true Chasm, then.” “Will there be banshees and shadows, like when you first came through here?” Bianca asked.
“I don’t think so...I believe they were only there because of what the necromancer was doing here. There may be, because of Octavia’s actions, but I don’t see her trying to raise them consciously. If they’re there, they may be there purely by manifestation of the energies.” “I see.” Bianca mumbled. Aside from the light hissing and whipping of Grizelda’s fireball as it sat among her fingers, they only heard a light dripping sound, a few water droplets running from the ceiling of the cave, hitting the cave floor. They walked down the passageway for a minute before going around a curve in the passageway. When they went around the corner, they noticed a red glow coming from down the passageway, casting the cavern in a nightmarish red light. Grizelda lowered her hand, letting her fireball die, leading the two of them towards the light. “This is it. I’ll need a few moments to lower the barrier, but once we’re in, we can track Octavia down. The Chasm’s inner catacombs have dozens of interlocking passageways, making a maze of sorts, but I know the way to the central chamber. That’s where Octavia will be, there’s nothing else worthwhile in this place.” Grizelda confidently said.
“We can’t let her teleport away, again. If she escapes a second time...” Bianca said, trailing off. “I’ve thought of that. I’ve prepared a little gift for her, a poison. You could consider it a negative mana potion. It drains the Will of whomever’s veins it runs into. All you need to do is get it into her, and she’ll not only be stuck here, she should take such a hit to her mana that she should be defenceless, entirely.” Grizelda raised a hand to her chest, poking a few fingers into her cleavage from the star-shaped opening over her robe-like dress. She pulled out a thin glass vial, handing it to Bianca just as they reached the barrier. The barrier was a wall of fiery light, like an unholy inferno blocking their path, standing from wall-to-wall in a large opening in the passageway. Timoteo and Bianca stayed back to examine the vial as Grizelda walked closer to the barrier. The vial was filled with an opaque fluid, coloured light purple, moving around like milk inside the glass. “I’ve never seen poison like this, before.” Bianca curiously said.
“It’s something I just recently succeeded in making. I’ve thought about it for a long time, but I could only recently get the recipe just right. Every poison I’ve seen has been made to weaken or cease the functioning of the body. I wanted to see if I could make a poison to weaken the spirit. I daresay that poison may be the first of it’s kind. I can teach you how to make it, afterwards.” “Certainly.” Bianca eagerly said, still looking over the vial. Grizelda raised her arms up towards the barrier, speaking a quiet incantation to herself. After a moment, the fire suddenly began to funnel towards her hands, as if vortexes were in her palms, drawing in and absorbing the flames. The fire was fairly quiet as she drained it away, whooshing through the air faintly until she had drawn it all away, opening the path. “Stay close to me. Even if Octavia hasn’t filled the Chasm with creatures to deter us, it’s easy to get lost in here. Either way, we need to stay together.” Grizelda warned, looking back at them. They both nodded, walking up close behind her. Grizelda raised up another fireball, illuminating a space several feet long in every direction around the trio, beginning to guide them into the bowels of the Chasm.
The passage just beyond the barrier was narrow and barely higher than their heads, none of them able to stretch their arms out very far by their sides without grinding against the walls. After about a dozen steps into the passageway, the walls changed; instead of being the rock of a cave, they were the brick of careful craftsmanship. “It’s a good thing I’m not claustrophobic.” Timoteo commented, glancing around at the slim, oval-shaped passage. “I haven’t the faintest clue who built the Chasm, but clearly, someone thought it important enough to take the time and manpower necessary to construct this place. Considering the negative energies here, it may have been used by some ancient cult dedicated to evil. Perhaps it was even made during the Old Kingdom.” Grizelda quietly said. “Wouldn’t the Archons of the Old Kingdom have put a stop to something like this?” Bianca curiously asked.
“It’s impossible to say anything about the Archons with certainty. That was such a long time ago, and little records exist about what the Old Kingdom was like, exactly...We have to be careful not to romanticize the past. I don’t even know how or why the Old Kingdom ended. You’d think something of that magnitude would’ve been recorded in every facet of Albion’s culture, but I haven’t seen a thing related to it. It makes no sense for us to have never recorded anything. It’d be more plausible to assume all traces of history from that era were erased, entirely.” Grizelda answered, calmly. “For some reason, I have a difficult time believing the Old Kingdom appreciated the darker side of morality.” Bianca mumbled out. “The Old Kingdom might not have been all bad.” Grizelda said, with amusement. Bianca smiled a little in reaction, Timoteo feeling like the odd man out, not having a manifested morality like either of them.
The passage they walked through eventually came to a confusing crossroads. The hallway led to a junction between seven other hallways, one heading north, east, west, and every diagonal direction. “Um...” Timoteo muttered, glancing around. “Don’t get confused. I know the way. Just follow me.” Grizelda calmly stated. Grizelda headed off down the northeastern passageway, Timoteo and Bianca following close behind. Barely thirty feet down from that crossroads, they came to another, seven identical paths leading off in every other direction. “What was the point of this?” Bianca quietly questioned. As Grizelda led them down the eastern pathway, she slowly said “I don’t know...Perhaps to prevent sacrifices from escaping, should they break free. Perhaps to give the inhabitants time to prepare, should there ever be an invasion.” They came to yet another crossroads, identical to the previous two. “Don’t you find this disorienting?” Timoteo asked.
Grizelda raised an eyebrow and looked at him, smiling faintly. “A maze is purely a mind game. Provided you don’t panic, you can remember the way you came, and eventually, find the exit. In our case, the exit is the central chamber.” “The true chasm, itself.” Bianca said. Grizelda nodded lightly, looking ahead once more. Before Grizelda could lead them down another passageway, mist abruptly began to flood into the catacombs, going close to chest height before stopping. “...She knows we’re here. She’s attempting to hasten her ritual. It won’t work in her favour.” Grizelda calmly stated. Timoteo heard whispers come from a nearby passage, looking over. He almost didn’t notice Grizelda and Bianca walk off down the western passageway, barely catching up with them in time to keep them in sight. They quickened their pace, nearly jogging, Timoteo not questioning the change, rushing after them to keep up with them.
They took him through several different passages before abruptly coming to a stop. Timoteo stood by Grizelda and Bianca, their backs to him, glancing around at the passages. Already, he felt hopelessly lost. “You still know where we’re going?” He asked, looking at Grizelda. Without looking at him, she said “Oh, I know. Just keep up.” The two took off in a full run, heading down another passageway, Timoteo running after them. Several passageways away, Bianca had just noticed that Timoteo had disappeared. She grabbed at Grizelda’s arm, her eyes widening a little. “Grizelda, Tim’s gone. We must’ve lost him.” “Damn it. Finding him is going to be a problem. I know the way to the central chamber, but straying away from that path could be problematic.” “What should we do? If there’s no banshees or similar creatures in here...” Grizelda slipped her arm out of Bianca’s hold, slowly saying “I suppose we’ll have to go and find him.”
Grizelda quickly walked past Bianca before she could look at her, heading back the way they came. Bianca followed after her, heading down to the previous junction, heading off in another direction with Grizelda. She walked through a couple of passages before calling out Timoteo’s name. “Shh. We don’t know if there’s any creatures in here. Don’t draw attention to us.” Grizelda quietly said, without looking at Bianca. “Sorry.” Bianca mumbled, glancing around for any sign of her lover. Grizelda took her down several gloomy passageways, no sign of Timoteo ever being evident in the mist. Bianca tried calling Timoteo’s name again, eventually, and it drew a surprisingly angry response from Grizelda. “Bianca, I told you to be quiet, you’re going to ruin everything!” Bianca looked at Grizelda’s back with surprise. “Looking for him isn’t enough, he needs to know where we are...And what do you mean, ruin everything?” Grizelda didn’t respond right away.
She began to head towards a junction up ahead, Bianca noticing that chains were hanging from the ceiling in the junction. Her brow furrowed a little when she noticed large hooks, like for fishing, were hanging from the chains, hanging barely above the mist. Just as Grizelda walked into the center of the junction, she calmly said “The Chasm needs to be fed more blood. For ages, people have sacrificed to it. It’s not enough. You will add to it.” Bianca’s stomach leapt when she stepped into the junction room, her foot finding no flooring. Before she could plummet forwards, she reached out and grabbed one of the hanging hooks, gasping lightly as she swung gently on the hook. She felt her feet around, but felt no floor at all. Grizelda, somehow, was levitating above the pit. “Grizelda?” Bianca worriedly said. Grizelda turned to her, giving Bianca a shock with how sudden it was. Grizelda’s luscious hair blew back as she let out a bloodcurdling scream.
Her face had disappeared, and in it’s place, a bloody maw was revealed, like a long vertical mouth taking up her entire face. Teeth riddled the sides of the mouth, her body shaking and twisting at disturbing speeds and angles as she screamed. Bianca’s eyes went wide with fear. She lashed out when Grizelda hovered closer, kicking her in the chest, knocking her back. Bianca started to take advantage of the momentum her kick had made, swinging with the chain, moving back and forth. Grizelda tried grabbing at her legs, tried pulling her down from the chain, apparently hoping to make Bianca fall into the mysterious pit below. Bianca kept knocking her away and building up speed with her swinging, knocking other chains around with her movements, frighteningly sending hooks swinging around in the junction.
Eventually, when Bianca felt she had gained enough momentum, she released the chain, heading for the passageway she had come from. She landed back in the hallway with a hard tumble, collapsing to the mist-covered floor before scrambling back to her feet. She looked back into the junction, but Grizelda was gone. Bianca glanced around for a few seconds before taking off, trying to go back the way she had come, calling out Timoteo’s name every few moments. Grizelda, meanwhile, was nearing the central chamber of the Chasm when she heard the imposter’s scream. She froze, turned around, and realized the other two had disappeared. “Avo.” Grizelda mumbled out, quickly running back the way she had come, beginning to search for them both.
Timoteo followed Grizelda and Bianca until he could see an opening of sorts at the end of the passageway. Instead of another junction, he saw a large space, almost completely black with darkness. There did appear to be fire on either side of the passageway’s exit, but it only made the rest of what was visible turn even darker. “Is that the central chamber?” He asked. “Yes.” Grizelda curtly responded. The three walked to the end of the passageway, coming out on to a stone balcony. A pair of lit torches were sitting atop tall bronze fixtures, the fixtures shaped like hands stuck on spikes, the hands gripping the torches tight. Timoteo was stunned by what he saw. The central chamber, the chasm for which the location gained it’s name, was monstrously huge. The walls of the chasm, unlike the passageways behind him, were left as simple rock, suggesting the chasm was a natural formation and not man-made, like the maze.
There were dozens of other balconies, judging by the pairs of lights dotting the darkness. He didn’t know exactly how many platforms were built out of the chasm’s walls, all along the circular interior of the chamber. He looked up. The chasm stretched on upwards an incredible distance, Timoteo wagering a guess that the chasm must’ve been close to a kilometer in length. High up above, near the ceiling of the rocky chasm, he could see three platforms that reached out from the walls, joining together near the center of the open space. Whatever was atop the platforms, he wasn’t sure, but there were several torches lighting it up, suggesting it was important. “Are you sure this is where we need to be? What’s up there?” Timoteo asked. “Shh. We’re at the right place.” Grizelda insisted. He looked over to them, stepping closer to the edge, cautiously looking over. Down below, he saw a lake of red, calm and peaceful, but disturbing, all the same.
He had no idea how deep the lake went, but it didn’t matter, to him. In the end, if the red water was truly blood, then countless people had been slaughtered to make the lake. That alone made the lake an abomination. The fall to the lake from their platform was frighteningly high, enough to make Timoteo quickly take a safe step back. “Avo. Hundreds of people must’ve died to make that. Thousands, even.” He muttered out. “And it’s not enough. It needs more.” Grizelda stated. “More? For what?” Timoteo questioned. “It needs more. It needs our’s. Your’s.” Bianca quietly said. “What?” Timoteo said, narrowing his eyes, confused. Grizelda and Bianca promptly stepped to the edge of the platform, leaning over it. “Wait, no!” He loudly said, trying to grab Bianca. They fell over the edge before he could get a hold of her, Timoteo watching from the edge as they plummeted for several seconds before slamming into the blood below.
Timoteo stared for several seconds, his mouth hanging open, utterly shocked. “Join me, Tim. Follow me...” He heard Bianca whisper out, her voice rolling around him unnaturally. Timoteo’s jaw went tight, and his eyes narrowed. He knew that what he had seen must’ve been a trick of Octavia’s. Turning around, he rushed back into the passageway, knowing he had to find the other two in case they were being subjected to the same phantoms. As he went, he called out Bianca’s name, trying to take any passageway that led upwards, thinking that if he couldn’t find either of them, he could at least investigate the mysterious platforms at the top of the chasm. Perhaps Octavia would be found there. If not, he could call out their names from the top, and hopefully, they would hear his voice echo. Though he took every passage upwards he could find, it eventually became a struggle to remember which direction he’d have to travel in to get to the central chamber again.
He marvelled at the catacombs of the Chasm, how it must’ve taken years upon years to create the hundreds of rooms and hallways that honeycombed the space around the chasm. Eventually, he became unsure about which direction he’d have to go in to reach the central chamber, simply continuing to head upwards, hoping he would eventually reach the passage that led to the highest platforms. As he came to the top of another incline in a passage, he suddenly heard a rather sexual moan, coming from ahead. He instantly recognized it as Bianca, hearing her moan out with pleasure. “Bianca?” He said, with confusion. Slowly walking forwards, he walked through another junction, following the voice down another passageway. He saw her at the end of the hallway, sitting on the edge of an altar of stone, fully clothed. She had her skirt hiked up, her knees spread far apart, one hand slipped into her underwear, moving around as she felt herself.
“Oh, Tim...Come here...” She seductively urged, staring at him, her eyes half-closed. She slipped the other hand up under her shirt, pulling it up enough to expose her left breast, fondling her chest, both hands working for self-pleasure. Timoteo narrowed his eyes, taking a few steps backwards. Bianca’s skin began to darken, turning black like shadow. The red of her eyes began to glow. “Come here, don’t go...” She murmured. Timoteo curled his lip up, angrily saying “I’m gonna find you, Octavia. And when I do...” The clothes covering Bianca’s body began to liquify, running down on the altar, dripping down in gray and black droplets. Bianca’s voice began to deepen, twisting around and distorting as she said “The Chasm needs more blood...It wants your’s. It’s thirsty. Won’t you let it drink?” Timoteo stumbled backwards with shock as loud bursts sounded out inches ahead of him, clouds of dust flying out.
His eyes went wide when he saw all-metal spears jut out of the walls on either side, clashing together in a veritable web of death just ahead of him. He turned and ran as fast as he could, narrowly avoiding more of the traps. Spears stabbed out from the walls, coming out from their hiding places like unsettled insects, hoping to find his flesh. He sprinted for all he was worth to the end of the hallway, running out into the junction, coming to a stumbling stop. He turned around and looked back into the passageway. The hallway was completely blocked off, the spears weren’t returning into the walls. There were so many of them that Timoteo couldn’t look past them at all, completely cut off from the Bianca imposter. Timoteo glanced around, trying to see if there were any passage nearby that led upwards. Not seeing any that directly led up, he headed in the direction he hoped would lead towards the central chamber, walking off down another hallway.
Bianca had gotten the same idea as Timoteo after entering the central chamber, herself. Having headed upwards, she was trying to make her way to the highest platforms, wondering if that’s where Grizelda was leading the two. As she came to the top of a passage, she could see something hanging from the ceiling of the crossroads ahead. Slowly, cautiously, she walked towards the intersections, the raised heels of her boots tapping lightly against the smooth stone floor. She quickly realized that she saw bodies hanging from the ceiling, both naked. When she came close enough to see exactly who the figures were amidst the mist, her expression turned cold. It was Timoteo and Grizelda. Timoteo was hanging from the ceiling, a chain wrapped tight around his neck, turning his head a deathly shade of purple. Grizelda had it worse. She was suspended by two chains, each one ending in a hook. Her back to the floor, her head was hanging back, one hook going into her mouth and coming out through her throat.
The other hook went into her vaginal passage, jutting out through the lower reaches of her stomach. Bianca stared at them for a second before looking down a nearby passage, seeing an incline that headed upwards. She silently walked past the bodies, heading towards the incline. She had gotten maybe twenty steps down the hallway before she heard the chains rattle. She froze, her blood turning to ice in her veins. She spun around, looking back at the crossroads. Grizelda and Timoteo had gotten off of the chains, standing there at the entrance to the passageway, staring wide-eyed at her. Bianca stared back, unfazed by the trickery. The two of them suddenly began to sprint towards Bianca, which surprised her, even frightening her, at first. She quickly raised her hands and launched out several Blades, however, letting the magical swords impale the two, knocking them down to the floor. She turned and rushed towards the incline, running up it, heading for the top as fast as possible.
When she got to the top, she heard Timoteo call her name. At first, she didn’t want to respond. It was probably another illusion from her mother, she decided. As she walked down the hallway, however, the calling continued. He sounded rather close, perhaps just a few hallways away. Taking a chance, she called his name back. In response, she heard him call her name, his voice coming from every hallway around her, his voice coming at her in eight different directions. Bianca’s eyes fell towards the floor, her face a little lifeless at the cruel joke. She slowly began to walk down the hallway ahead of her, hearing Timoteo’s voice continue to come at her, echoing from behind and from ahead. She ignored the voice, heading down the pathway until she came to the next junction. Most of the other passages led downwards, only one other pathway leading to somewhere on the same level of elevation. She heard Timoteo’s voice again, calling her name more desperately, coming from each pathway around her.
She heard running footsteps come up the pathway across from her, heading up the incline. Her eyes widened a little, and she spoke his name. When he came up the incline, he looked at her with relief written clear on his face, saying “Thank Avo, I-” before Bianca cut him off. “Prove you’re really Tim.” Surprisingly, he didn’t ask her for clarification. He simply said “How?” Bianca stared at him and said “Say something only the real Timoteo would say. I’ve seen a few imposters in these halls, and I don’t want to fall for another one.” Timoteo calmly said “I’ve been dealing with the same thing, Bianca. You made me a cake, this morning. We were kissing when Abel came.” Bianca continued to stare at him for a few seconds before taking a step closer to him. She reached out with a hand, reaching for his chest. She slowly laid her hand over his chainmail, seeing that, if he wasn’t the real Timoteo, he certainly felt like it. She took another chance, wrapping her arms around him, hugging him tight.
He hugged her back, squeezing her just as tight, glad to have found her in one piece. “Have you seen Grizelda, anywhere?” He asked, slowly releasing her. She shook her head lightly, quietly saying “No, I lost her, a while back...I was heading to the top of the Chasm because I saw platforms near the ceiling. I thought my mother might’ve been there.” Timoteo nodded, saying “I had the same idea.” He glanced around, saying “It looks like we’ve gotten to the top...Every path goes down except for this one, here.” He said, nodding at the passage that Bianca’s hadn’t come from, the one that remained at the current elevation level. “Grizelda might be looking for us.” Bianca murmured. “Now that I’ve found you, I don’t want to lose you, again. If we get out on those platforms, we can call for her. She might hear us.” Timoteo suggested. Bianca nodded in agreement, saying “Alright...Let’s see where this path goes.” She took his hand in her’s, holding on tight, not wanting to be tricked away from him, again.
The two headed down the pathway together, seeing this particular hallway to lead on farther than usual. Eventually, the end of the hallway became lit up, the pinprick of flickering red growing larger, revealing a stone platform leading out over the chasm. There were several standing torches on either side of the platform, guiding the way. At the end of the platform, they could see some kind of fixture, a statue. A figure was standing before the statue, their arms upraised, quietly speaking a chant in a language unknown to Timoteo’s ears. Bianca’s expression darkened when she saw the figure, and her step quickened. The two of them walked out on to the platform, Timoteo glancing to the sides, seeing the other two platforms leading up to the statue to lead to other hallways. Evidently, there was more than one way up to the top. He looked back to the statue, to the figure. The statue was shaped like an abstract shape, nonsensical, twisted and deformed.
Like a triangle that had several different shapes growing out of it at all points, it was curious to Timoteo’s eyes, but incomprehensible, as well. The stone must have been worked by a madman’s hands, Timoteo decided. The statue was standing attached to an altar, similar to the one Timoteo had seen the imposter of Bianca sitting over. It was waist-high, and made of stone like the statue it was bonded with. The surface was smooth and flat, while the front side was adorned with numerous dark runes, Timoteo recognizing them as Will incantations. What they were meant to do, however, he wasn’t sure. The sides of the altar had faces carved into them, horned and grinning wickedly, looking rather demonic. Octavia continued to speak the chant as they approached, her arms raised up to the nonsensical statue, looking up at it. Once the two were close enough, they stopped walking, releasing hands. Octavia trailed off with her chant, slowly lowering her arms down by her sides.
Everyone was silent for a few moments before Octavia muttered out “My little bee...My little Bianca. You’ve tracked me down, yet again.” “You’re not getting away this time.” Bianca calmly said. Octavia slowly looked over her shoulder, her eyes narrow. “It sounds to me like you’re making a threat.” “Not quite. I’m making a promise.” Bianca quietly responded. Octavia smiled a little, and looked back up to the statue. A faint red glow began to come from the altar, pulsing, shining for a moment before fading, only to return. “I stand on the precipice of power your father only dreamed of. Once this ritual is complete, I’ll have strength that would’ve shamed your father. If he and I fought again, it would be he who was humiliated.” Holding her arms up towards the statue again, she angrily said “Then I never would’ve had to waste time with him, and I never would’ve had to defile my body with your wretched, parasitic presence. Maybe when this ritual is done, I can avoid you two, forever. Maybe I’ll stop seeing you everywhere I go...”
Bianca’s jaw went tight, and she took a step forwards. Before she could continue, however, rapid footsteps began to sound out from the platform to the left, coming towards them hastily. Timoteo and Bianca looked over in time to see Grizelda march out on to the platform, her face dark with anger, her hands clenched into fists. “Octavia!” She muttered out, loud enough for her to hear. Octavia looked over, her face turning confused. “Who the hell are y-” Grizelda cut Octavia off by pulling back an arm, a rippling orb of Force Push developing in her palm in a fraction of a second. Grizelda threw her arm over, the Force Push spell hitting Octavia in her side with such force that she was flung off of her feet, cascading out into the chasm.
Timoteo and Bianca ran to the edge of the platform, near the altar. Octavia twirled through the air before crashing on to a balcony close to the altar’s elevation, slamming down against the balcony with enough force to roll around a few times, ramming into the wall by the balcony’s doorway. She looked heavily dazed, lying stunned for several moments. Grizelda walked over, looking over the edge at her, saying “Damn. I had hoped she would fall to the bottom.” Octavia let out an angry groan, glaring up at them as she slowly got up on her feet. She held her left arm with her right, putting little weight on her left leg, apparently having broken, or at least fractured, both limbs in unknown places. Bianca looked back at the altar, slowly stepping closer to it. “Don’t touch it!” Octavia angrily called out. The trio ignored her, Grizelda watching her with hate clear on her face. Bianca stood in front of the altar, looking down at what lay over it. There were a few locks of raven black hair, most likely Octavia’s own.
There were a few bloody teeth, sitting together in a small pile. There was a pile of fine black powder sitting in a clump near the teeth, Bianca recognizing it as a rare alchemical ingredient, called Samsara Powder. A white dove lay dead on the altar as well, some of the Samsara Powder sprinkled over it. And finally, lying in a small, gray metal bowl, was a human heart. Suspended in some kind of colourless fluid, it looked perfectly preserved, to the point of disgusting Timoteo; it looked like the heart had been pulled from a chest just the day before. The red light was coming from it, pulsing like a heartbeat, making the heart glow. “Is that...?” Timoteo asked. Gently, Bianca murmured out “Yes...Yes, I think it is.” “She’s using it like a sponge. The energies of the Chasm are being welled up inside the heart.” Grizelda stated, staring at the lump of muscle in the bowl. “For what purpose?” Timoteo curiously asked. Grizelda crossed one arm under her hefty bosom, bringing the hand of her other arm near her chin.
Thoughtfully, she said “Channelling the power of this ritual directly into herself could cause her to lose many aspects of her mind, not to mention the changes the ritual would entail for her body. She would lose her humanity. But if she used the heart like a filter, and focused the power into it, instead...Hm...Interesting.” Looking at Timoteo with an eyebrow raised, she said “She might’ve been attempting to use the heart to take the brunt of the negative effects. It might enable her to wield the power of her new form while still retaining some of her humanity...I doubt it would work, but it’s an interesting notion. She must be afraid of losing her human identity.” “The ritual’s not done, yet. I can see there’s still more to go before the heart has finished absorbing all it can.” Bianca simply stated. “You’re right. If we destroy the heart, the ritual will be over.” “No! All my years of planning and preparation, I won’t let you destroy it all!” Octavia cried out.
Bianca reached into the bowl, grabbed her father’s heart, and pulled it out of the clear preservative. She walked over to the edge of the platform with it, the heart pulsing light between her fingers. Octavia’s eyes widened when she saw it, begging loudly, crying out “No, don’t! I need it! I’ve spent so much time-” Bianca cut her off, narrowing her eyes, coldly saying “I don’t care how much time you’ve spent.” Octavia’s face went angry, and she loudly said “Put it back, little bee, or you’ll get yourself a spanking for being so naughty! Don’t defy your mother! I won’t let you destroy everything I’ve been working for!” Bianca calmly said “This is my father’s heart. The man who loved you. The man who helped you bring me into this world...” Octavia grit her teeth a little, her eyes going desperate. She suddenly disappeared in a shimmer of blue light, teleporting. “No!!” Octavia screamed, the scream coming from behind them. Everyone looked back.
Octavia was on the altar’s platform again, sprinting towards Bianca. Bianca simply dropped the heart, letting it zoom down over the edge of the platform. Timoteo got out of the way, Grizelda pulling Bianca back, not giving Octavia the chance to push Bianca over the edge. Surprising them all, Octavia dove over the edge of the platform, going after the heart. The three of them came closer to the edge of the platform again, watching Octavia plummet towards the lake of blood, the dark spot of her body quickly disappearing as she went farther and farther down. “She’s gotta be dead. Not even a Hero could survive a fall like that, could they? She’d break her neck when she hit the water, right?” Timoteo said, glancing at the other two. Grizelda was quiet for a moment, seemingly contemplating. “Hard to say.” “I want to see a body. I want to see her dead before I relax.” Bianca muttered out. “We can head down there, check the lake. There are passages that lead down that far.” Grizelda said.
Bianca nodded, mumbling out “Okay. Let’s head down there.” They all turned and began to walk away from the altar, heading back the central platform, heading for the doorway. The chasm suddenly shook, an earthquake running through it, nearly knocking them down to the platform. “What...?” Bianca mumbled, looking over the edge of the platform. To her shock, the lake of blood had begun to swirl around, a giant maelstrom developing in the red lake. “Octavia, that damn fool!” Grizelda angrily said, narrowing her eyes. A bright red light developed at the center of the maelstrom, suddenly shooting upwards, heading towards them. Coming up with a furious cry, a figure was flying, red light trailing beneath them as they moved. The earthquake came to an end as the figure came up above the altar and statue, a red light surrounding them. It was Octavia, but she was almost unrecognizable.
Octavia’s clothes had been eradicated. She looked partly like a shadow, with patches of her body black as night and faintly transparent. The darkened sections of her body let off a faint black smoke, like normal shadows did. Much of her legs had been turned black, along with her arms, though blots of skin could still be visible. Streaks of darkness ran along her arms, leaving most of her skin untouched. The streaks all ran down to her hands, overtaking her hands entirely, leaving them black as night, with long talons extending from each finger. Much of her abdomen was left as flesh, though the darkness ran from her arms to her chest, concealing her breasts. Her back was mostly still flesh, through asymmetrical patterns of darkness ran over her flesh, riddling her skin. The darkness ran up her throat and jaw, consuming parts of her cheeks and chin. Her hair flowed out on the air behind her, as if constantly lifted up by some unseen wind.
Her eyes were glowing fully red, like a shadow’s. A red glow was surrounding her body as she levitated, looking down at them with a huge, victorious grin on her face. She let out a little laugh, her voice warped, corrupted. Her pitch waved around impossibly as she laughed, going high, then low a split-second later. “She’s an abomination.” Timoteo muttered, baring his teeth a little in disgust. “You’re more right than you think.” Grizelda calmly stated, staring hard at Octavia. Octavia pointed a hand at Timoteo, speaking in an echoing, unhallowed voice as she said “Be silent, boy. You are looking at a goddess. There will be no more Avo or Skorm. There will only be Octavia.” Her voice going ecstatic, almost as if she were heavily in the throes of orgasmic pleasure, she lightly said “Oh, Bianca...You couldn’t imagine the pain. I can see the Void, and it can see me! Oblivion...Is at hand.” “She’s completely lost herself. She jumped into the ritual when it was incomplete. Killing her now would be an act of mercy.” Grizelda coolly said.
“You’re toying with things you don’t understand. The Void isn’t for people like us.” Bianca firmly said. Octavia grinned and giggled maniacally. “For what it’s worth, little bee, I believe you! But it doesn’t matter to me if I can’t understand it. Look at me now. As long as this power bends to my whim...It doesn’t matter if I can’t comprehend it or it’s origins.” “You’ve lost yourself completely to your own ritual, Octavia. You’ve been corrupted by the power of this place. A foolish mistake, made by an amateur Will-user.” Grizelda firmly said. Octavia angrily barked out “What about her?! She cast Infernal Wrath as a child, manifesting an evil morality! She traumatized herself by destroying all those people!” “She was a child, and you were the one at fault for that!” Timoteo loudly said. “Yes, and I paid for it by having her haunt me like a ghost every day for years! Today, I’ll send her down to see her father!” Octavia loudly proclaimed.
Bianca silently raised up her hands, launching fireballs at Octavia. Octavia flew out of the way, Timoteo launching a bolt of Lightning at her, streaming the electricity from his fingertips into her body. The electricity hit Octavia for mere seconds before she cast Physical Shield, surrounding herself in a glowing white veil. His Lightning reflected back at him, giving his arm a quick jolt, forcing him to end the spell. Grizelda charged up a Force Push spell, firing it out at Octavia. It hit her hard enough to dispel her barrier, knocking her back in the air. Bianca threw out a storm of Blades, throwing three swords per hand several times, letting the blades fly for Octavia like raindrops. Octavia flew around and tried to dodge the swords, but several of them managed to hit her, not impaling through her, simply bursting against her with orange light.
Octavia recoiled when enough of the swords had hit her, momentarily stunned. Grizelda took the opening to hit Octavia with a hex, causing her to writhe around in the air, flying uncontrollably. Octavia grunted and cast some sort of nullification to the hex, regaining control of herself, glaring furiously at Grizelda. Octavia raised her hands up, charging a massive fireball, the fireball almost as large as Octavia was tall. Grizelda swung an arm up, a wall of ice bursting into life on the platform, putting a shield between the trio and the altar. Octavia threw the fireball down anyway, the fireball hitting the wall of ice with an earsplitting hiss, melting much of it down before dying out.
Timoteo fired out a blast of Force Push from either hand, sending the weakened wall of ice outwards in a storm of ice chips. Octavia raised an arm over her face, recoiling from the blast of ice. Bianca cast Slow Time, everything turning to shades of gray around her. She began to charge up a Blades spell, staring hard at her mother as the spell drained more and more mana from her. She let it loose before her Slow Time spell ended, six glowing orange swords spinning out on the air above her, pointing at Octavia with deadly intent. They all flew over and hit her, still not impaling her, simply exploding against her, knocking her around. Grizelda raised up a hand, a tall Vortex of swirling winds growing out of her palm. She threw the tornado outwards, the cyclone whipping through the air, heading straight for Octavia, the winds blowing strong enough to rend flesh from bone. Octavia Battle Charged out of the way, orange and red light mingling together behind her as she flew out of the way.
Octavia let out a cry as she thrust both hands together, thick beams of Lightning whipping out from her palms. Grizelda shot a hand up, firing out her own beam of electricity, their beams attracted to one another and striking against each other. The electricity arced to Bianca and Timoteo, stunning them both, knocking them to the floor of the platform. With her other hand, Grizelda began to charge up an ice spell, her hand coating itself in frost, cold mist flowing from between her fingers. When it was charged up enough, she threw it out, massive shards of ice appearing in the air around Octavia. She flew like mad to avoid the dozens of shards, the shards appearing around her and shooting after her, impaling into the stone wall of the chasm when they missed. Desperate, Octavia flew over, casting Assassin’s Rush and appearing behind Grizelda. Before she could do anything, Bianca bit her own hand as hard as she could, splitting skin.
She threw her hands down, and where the droplets fell, a swirling orb of red light appeared. The orb let out a haunting wail and launched an ethereal tendril out, striking Octavia. The blood ward swatted her back like she were a fly, knocking her out of it’s radius, keeping her back from the platform. Octavia growled with annoyance, floating up in the air again, moving away. Timoteo started throwing fireballs at Octavia wildly, hitting her a few times before she flew out of his way. Grizelda wove a Vortex and fireball together, creating a massive, flaming tornado, throwing it out towards Octavia. Octavia tried to move out of the way, but Bianca hexed her, cursing her to remain immobile, gray electricity flashing along her body. When the Vortex hit Octavia, it engulfed her in flames as the winds wildly swung her around, throwing her around in the air. Timoteo used the opportunity to charge up a fireball, throwing it out at Octavia.
It hit her with an explosion fierce enough to knock her out of the Vortex, making her slam against the far side of the chasm. Surprisingly, she wasn’t even stunned. She looked at Timoteo with fury as she threw a blast of Force Push out. He cast Physical Shield, but it hit him with enough force to instantly lower it. Octavia flew to the side and threw another blast his way. His stomach leapt when he was knocked into open air, flying over the side of the platform. He crashed into the platform to the right of the central one he had just been standing over, barely managing to get his arms over it to grab it. Octavia began to charge up a strong blast of Force Push, perhaps hoping to send him straight over the edge and down into the chasm. Before she could launch the attack out, however, both Grizelda and Bianca threw out dark green spheres of whizzing magic, hitting Octavia with hard concussive bursts, knocking her back and interrupting her spell.
Bianca’s ward faded then, Octavia making frightening use of the opening. Flying towards Timoteo, she let out a shout, twin orbs of Force Push in her hands. She flew down into the platform, slamming out novas of energy into it. The platform began to rumble and break apart, Timoteo barely managing to jump over the edge in time to avoid falling with the rocks. The platform broke up entirely, crumbling and collapsing into the chasm below. Octavia began to levitate again as Timoteo grabbed hold of the central platform’s edge, Grizelda and Bianca both desperately pulling at his arms, helping him up on to the platform. Octavia flew back near the center of the chasm, grinning maliciously. “I’ll show you the light of the Void!” She called out, raising up a hand. A small sphere of white light appeared in the palm of her hand. Grizelda’s eyes widened. The white light in Octavia’s hand burst in size, becoming three times as large, shining out blinding light into the chasm.
Timoteo couldn’t see, but he felt pain burn along his body, like fire was licking at his skin. It made him writhe for a few seconds, hearing Bianca and Grizelda both collapse to the platform, Bianca screaming at the pain. Grizelda grabbed Bianca, trying to hold her close. Timoteo knew he was close, getting in front of them, casting Physical Shield. The burning pain stopped, though his skin still felt tender and raw from the magic. He fell to his knees and grabbed them both, using himself and his barrier to keep them shielded from the spell’s effect. The light continued for several seconds before it finally faded, Timoteo’s barrier dropping a moment later. He looked at Bianca and Grizelda. Smoke rose from all three of them. On several patches of exposed flesh, they both had small burn marks, but they had been saved from the worst of the spell, thanks to his intervention.
Octavia came down over the platform, running towards him from behind, hoping to kill him while he wasn’t paying attention. He heard her coming, grabbing his mace from his pack, pulling it loose as he spun around. He surprised Octavia, giving her a blow across the face with his mace, knocking her off the platform. She levitated, catching herself before she fell into the chasm. The maelstrom below continued to roar on, opening up a gaping maw down into the dark abyss of the chasm’s unknown depths. Octavia flew towards him, launching out fireballs. He cast Physical Shield, waited until she swooped near, and swung out with his mace. Catching her on the arm, he dealt her a pulverizing blow, making her grunt out in pain. Bianca and Grizelda fully recovered by that point, getting back on their feet. Timoteo cast Ghost Sword, a pair of ethereal blades appearing by his sides. They hovered after Octavia, floating out on to the air, rushing up to her.
She deflected their blows with her bare arms, swatting them away whenever they tried to hit her. Grizelda charged up a dark green orb of whirling magic, the sphere spinning around wildly between her hands. When she shot it out, it let out a high-pitched rippling sound, whizzing towards Octavia. It flew past Octavia, hitting the wall she was close to, erupting with power. The blast wave of force that came out, along with the shards of rock, crashed into Octavia’s back, making her cry out as it knocked her out of the air. She flew towards the platform like a bat out of hell, red light streaking behind her as she slammed down into the platform, rolling against the stone a few times before coming to a stop. Timoteo rushed up to her, raising his mace, baring his teeth. He hit her over her back a couple of times, aiming for her spine. Because her back was mostly exposed, he was hitting parts of her body that the ritual hadn’t altered, his mace crashing directly into her muscles and bones.
She alternatively screamed and laughed as her bones gave way, crushed to dust under his mace. Octavia was breathing shallowly as she cast a nova of Lightning, jolting him and making him stumble backwards, Grizelda catching him and keeping him from collapsing. Octavia then cast Battle Charge, zooming away from him before he could try to hit her more. She came up to the altar, twitching around a little as she grabbed it for support, trying to get up to her feet, only ending up hurting herself more when her body refused to cooperate. She was chuckling sadistically, looking back at them from over her shoulder, grinning wickedly. She barely turned around, sitting on the floor, her back to the altar’s frontside. Bianca began to walk towards her, her expression one of cold fury. Octavia only grinned more, a blue glow beginning to surround her. “Bye bye, little bee.” She tauntingly said. Bianca’s eyes widened.
She reached into her cloak and ran towards Octavia as fast as she could. Before Octavia disappeared, Bianca rammed the vial of Grizelda’s poison into her mouth. She grabbed Octavia’s head and viciously slammed her knee up into Octavia’s chin. A loud crunch came out as the vial shattered inside Octavia’s mouth. Octavia screamed in pain, the blue glow surrounding her fading instantly, her teleport cancelled. Octavia hung her mouth open, whimpering and chuckling as blood poured down her chin and throat. The glass shards had impaled into her tongue and the roof of her mouth, opening up a direct route for the poison to enter her bloodstream. “You’re not going anywhere this time, mother.” Bianca icily declared. The red glow surrounding Octavia began to dissipate, and the black smoke coming from her shadow-converted body parts weakened considerably. Bianca turned around and began to walk away from Octavia, moving slowly, her eyes on the floor.
“Where are you going? Don’t tell me you’re forgiving me. Forgiving me won’t be enough to undo your body, you brat.” Octavia barely said, speaking around clinking glass pieces and squirts of blood. Bianca came to a stop. Timoteo and Grizelda watched her, keeping an eye on Octavia as well, despite knowing she was defenceless, now. “I was never planning on forgiving you, mother.” Bianca softly said, clenching her right hand into a tight fist. Green light shone out through the cracks between her fingers, Bianca letting the spell drain as much mana from her as it wanted. “Then do it. I’ll see you with Skorm. We’ll all be one big, happy-” Bianca spun around, threw her arm out, and unleashed the spell before Octavia could utter another word. The whizzing sphere of magic struck Octavia directly in the chest. The altar and statue exploded in a shower of rubble, Octavia ramming into them with such incredible force that she went clear through them.
Octavia’s broken body plummeted in the shower of rocks, heading down for the maelstrom below, the giant whirlpool of blood hungrily swallowing her and the remains of the unholy statue and altar. Once her body fell into the maelstrom, it calmed, sloshing around heavily as the lake settled once again. The three of them were quiet for a few seconds. Bianca, panting lightly from a lack of mana, turned back around and walked towards Timoteo. “Are you okay? She didn’t hurt you, did she?” Bianca asked, concerned. Timoteo could see tears welling up in Bianca’s eyes. “I’m fine.” He gently said. Bianca kept her eyes on his chest, her chin beginning to quiver. He silently reached his arms out, wrapping them around her shoulders. She quickly hugged him back, but within seconds, she was trying to release him. He began to release her, confused. “No, no. I shouldn’t cry. I’ve wanted to do this for so long, and...” She urgently said.
Timoteo put his hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes. She was on the verge of breaking down, yet for some reason, she was fighting it with every ounce of willpower she had. It seemed to Timoteo like she was almost trying to bottle up her emotions, like she was unwilling to let go of the anger she had had against Octavia for all those years. “It’s okay, Bianca...It’s over. You did it. She’s gone, now. You can let it go.” He quietly said, raising his eyebrows faintly. She looked up into his eyes, tears crawling down from her eyes, rolling down her pale cheeks. His urging broke down her resistance in the blink of an eye. Her bottom lip quivering, she reached up and looped her arms around his neck, letting him hold her around her waist. Burying her face into the side of his neck, she wept, trying to come to terms with the fact that, finally, her accursed mother had paid for her transgressions. She had died, by Bianca’s own hand.
Years of hating, years of wishing for vengeance, years of energy spent fantasizing about Octavia’s death, it all came rushing back, and she tried to let it all go, tried to let the dark stain purge itself from her soul. With every teardrop, she came closer to her goal. Grizelda stepped closer to the two, raising a hand to Bianca’s back, giving her a comforting rub over her shoulder blades. “It is done.” She merely murmured. Bianca sobbed lightly, almost unable to believe she had finally fulfilled her lifelong mission. Timoteo held her close as she cried, rubbing soothingly along the small of her back, he and Grizelda giving her all the time she needed to vent the feelings that had long festered in her heart...
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Fable : Fall of the Guild