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Vital Spark: The End of the World Prologue

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Vital Spark: The End of the World
(Prologue)


The Sahara Desert
Before the start of the Vital Spark tournament


A harsh wind blew across the sandy landscape, throwing sand and dust and dirt into the air and obscuring vision to a mere few meters, although anybody travelling in this storm would have a hard time just moving through it let alone see where they’re going. The being that travelled through it now however was not the least bit deterred by the extreme weather, although his hair and robes flapped in the wind he moved through the sandstorm as if it weren’t there. Mere sandstorms were nothing to Drakonius, the God of Darkness.

Drakonius moved silently, his black eyes scanning the landscape before him. He paused all of a sudden with a thoughtful frown across his face. “This ought to be the place,” he mused, reaching out a pale hand. He closed his fist and appeared to grip thin air. As his fist closed a shape blossomed from beneath it, like paint running down glass, first a door handle and then a full door bloomed into view in front of him, standing alone in the middle of the desert apparently leading nowhere. Undeterred the God of Darkness twisted the handle in his grip and slowly pushed the door open, stepping through.

The sight inside was a wondrous one, instead of opening up to more desert the door instead led to what looked to be some sort of furnished cave, candles dotted about the walls provided a cool, oddly even light source, a brass bird perch sat to one side and most of the space around the floor was covered with bookshelves, cabinets, boxes and tables (one corner even held a fridge), the floor itself was covered with loose paper that looked positively ancient, the pages yellowed and edges frayed. Drakonius took one step forwards into the strange room and was instantly met with a thin, silvery blue blade hovering at his throat before he’d even let go of the door handle. His eyes followed the blade up to a pale hand covered by a long blue sleeve worn by a tall, hooded woman with her face hidden by a white mask, the red pattern around the eyes giving it a slightly bird-like look, the woman wore a pale blue kimono underneath a long, sleeveless white robe and had a blue scarf wrapped around her neck. A strange blue and white bird sat on her shoulder, its beady eyes staring at Drakonius.

“Hello there,” the god greeted the stranger warmly, despite the clear threat held to his throat.

“I’ll be brief,” the woman began, her voice was calm, controlled, even somewhat polite, but there was a clear threatening undertone within it “Who are you, how did you find this place and why are you here?”

Drakonius let out a light chuckle. “You wouldn’t be willing to lower that blade of yours before I answer, would you?” He asked “I’d rather conduct a friendly conversation rather than an interrogation. I promise you I mean no harm.”

The woman stared at Drakonius silently for a moment or two before she lowered her sword arm, the blade appearing to vanish into a fine silver mist. “You’re not from the Council of Secrets, are you?” She asked.

“Nope,” Drakonius shook his head “I am Drakonius Agamemnon Fortunidia Dionsian Servantilius the Third, Lord of Darkness, Master of Blood and Emperor of Charred Souls.” He paused to allow the information to sink in with a broad grin plastered across his pale face “My friends call me Draky,”

“I see, well I suppose you had better sit down, I have some ice cream in the fridge if you would like some,” The woman replied, the bird on her shoulder taking off to settle on its perch.

“I’d be delighted,” Drakonius replied eagerly.

As the god took a seat at the round stone table in the middle of the room the woman went over to the fridge, returning with a bowl of ice cream which she set down in front of the god of darkness before sitting opposite him, clasping her hands together.

“So,” the woman began “Tell me, what does the god of darkness want with me?”

“Simple,” Drakonius began, swallowing a spoonful of ice cream “I’m responsible for quite a number of worlds and recently many of these worlds have begun to suddenly die out.”
“Worlds die, it’s natural,” the masked woman replied.

“Yes, that is true,” the god nodded in agreement, another scoop halfway to his mouth “However these worlds are dying far sooner than they should,” he downed the next spoonful and quickly returned the spoon to the bowl for some more “Something is draining the life from them and leaving them a near empty husk, only a small shred of life remaining.”

“And what did you come to me for?”

“Well, while I investigate the cause of this phenomenon and find a way to halt it I need to restore the worlds that have suffered thus far,” Drakonius explained “You see, the universe is a fine balance of life force, if too many worlds are sucked dry of their life then the universe will simply collapse under its own weight.”

“Tragic,” The woman responded “But I’m afraid I do not see what I can do to help, I am capable of a great many things but restoring the life to a world is not one of them.”

“Ah, that’s the fun part,” Drakonius beamed, producing a small blue crystal from seemingly nowhere “This is called a Spark Gem, by accepting this a small portion of your own life force will be absorbed into it and you’ll be entered into a contest, a tournament where you will fight against others on these dying worlds in order to break the other’s gem, once it’s broken the life will be released and that will restore the world. During the tournament of course the life in each gem will grow thanks to its connection to each contestant and the strong emotions felt during battle, by the end of the tournament the remaining spark gems should have enough life force necessary to restore all the worlds that have fallen to this plaque.”

“And should I happen to win this contest?” Her tone implied neither interest nor indifference.

“Then you’ll be granted a single wish from me personally,” Drakonius replied “Practically anything, except my job. Oh and to have infinite wishes, or… You get the idea.”

The woman fell silent, apparently contemplating the offer. After a long drawn out silence she finally spoke. “No, I’m afraid I shall have to turn your offer down,”

Drakonius’ grin faltered slightly. “May I ask why not?”

“I simply have no desire to participate in this contest, and certainly no need for any wish, I have everything I need right here,” she replied.

“Not even to save the universe from collapsing,” Drakonius tried the puppy eyed look; it didn’t seem to be working.

“Considering I am likely not your only choice for a contestant I would imagine there are plenty of others who would be more than willing to offer their services, and would likely benefit a lot more from the prize you are offering,” the woman replied “However, if you still wish for a capable fighter then I can recommend someone for you.”

“Oh really?” Drakonius raised a curious eyebrow “Do tell.”

The woman produced a crystal ball from under a table, the image in the sphere displaying a young woman with cyan hair and pale skin, the more striking features of her though were her ears and her eyes, her ears were pointed, like an elves, and her eyes were a cold blue, the pupils forming slits like a snake’s.

“Her name is Winter, she is a homunculus living in Japan and is quite a skilled fighter,” the woman explained “Not only is she incredibly skilled and powerful, she also has a good deal of motivation to fight for, she would be far better suited to this tournament of yours than me.”

“I see,” Drakonius mused, tapping his fingers together “Well, a Japanese homunculi warrior, can’t be too many of those around,” he joked “Very well, I’ll look into it then.” Drakonius slid his chair back and stood up, dropping the spoon into an empty ice cream bowl.

“Oh, one small request,” the woman said, causing Drakonius to pause “If you should happen to recruit her, I should like to be kept up to date with her progress, if you don’t mind.”
Drakonius eyed her suspiciously for a moment or two. “I don’t see why not,” he said, though somewhat reluctantly “Well then, I guess I’ll be seeing you later.” Instead of bothering to leave through the door a swirling portal of darkness opened up before Drakonius and he stepped through, vanishing from sight along with the portal.

The masked woman sat in silence for a moment, deep in thought with her head resting on her hands. “Ferenzies,” she began “I believe we have quite a bit of work to do.”

****

The Rest House
Before the final round


Drakonius’ study was practically pitch black save for the alien glow that surrounded his desk with no visible light source. The god himself sat with his chin resting on his hands, staring down at a pile of notes scattered across the polished wood, a thoughtful expression on his pale face. Everything was falling apart and he knew it, what made it worse that it was all his fault.

The tournament had started off well enough; the first round went off without a hitch, the only real significant event being Evil taking Zasha’s arm for all to see. It was during the second round that things truly began to fall apart, when the contestants were watching Evil’s fight against Alice, Tuk had opted to take his mask off to calm Sazial’s outbursts at the monster, disturbing quite a large number of those present and resulting in both Hollow and Pollyander opting out of the contest soon after. Things were not made much better when Sazial, Stella and Fern did not return from their match and then immediately after returning from hers Winter ran off to another world in pursuit of a creature called Autumn who had somehow followed her into the Rest House during the first round. The result of the encounter left her, Feral and Tuk severely injured with Tuk’s spark gem broken by Autumn making him unable to participate in the following round. The events had left them short of contestants for the third round, forcing Drakonius to try and recruit some more as well as allow Howl back into the tournament after he somehow repaired his gem, Winter herself was moved straight to the next round since she’d been due to fight Tuk anyway and her gem was still intact.

And throughout all of this Drakonius had finally discovered the source of their problem, Nariath, a powerful and ancient dragon capable of sucking worlds dry, a creature Drakonius did not wish to remain at large. Not to mention there was still the problem of Corruption to consider, his little speech during the fourth round had almost immediately turned many of the contestants against him, not to mention several of the contestants were now missing as well as Ciro, and Autumn appeared to have broken out of her cell. Though the part that concerned Drakonius the most was that Autumn had not simply gone on a rampage throughout the Rest House, she had instead apparently vanished into thin air, the lack of action from the less-than-subtle creature unnerved Drakonius greatly and caused him to suspect another hand at work, possibly Corruption’s since he seemed to have been working at unravelling the bonds of trust Drakonius had with the contestants for a while now, it was already apparent that he’d roped Snipe into helping him but Drakonius didn’t know who else he’d gathered. Drakonius heaved a sigh and leaned back in his chair, staring up into the darkness above him. Neither Corruption nor Evil had returned from their fight, the last anybody saw of them being the footage on Drakonius’ massive display screen, the feed having been cut moments after Corruption made his little revelation.

“What to do,”  The dark god sighed “I suppose there’s only one thing left to do.”

He sat up and closed his eyes, his mind reaching out to contact his servant telepathically. Raymond, I need to see you at once!

****

Winter sat in the library reading a small leather bound book that lay open in her lap, utter silence seeming to have fallen over the entire Rest House. It had been like this when she and Howl had returned from their fight, it was unnerving to say the least. Something had transpired during her fight with Howl that was certain. It had also become immediately apparent to her that neither of the other 2 remaining contestants had returned from their match and nobody seemed to know what happened to them. The homunculus hadn’t made much of an effort to interact with the other contestants during her stay so the sudden change in attitude had not bothered her, what did bother her was the resulting silence that now permeated every corner of the rest house. She remembered having heard a human phrase: ‘The calm before the storm’, it did not help her nerves.

A shadow fell across the pages of her book and she looked up to see the dark shape of Feral standing in front of her, out of all the other contestants, barring her opponents of course, Feral was probably one of the only people she had bothered to interact with and that was mainly due to the events concerning Autumn after the second round. She calmly closed the book and set it aside on a small table, returning her attention to Feral. “Yes?”

“We need to talk,”  the Shadow Kin began.

Winter remained seated but looked on expectantly. “About the final round, I assume,” she began.

The kin nodded in response, there were other chairs around them but he seemed to prefer to stand. “A lot happened while you were fighting Howl,”

“So I noticed,” Winter sighed.

“It would seem that my suspicions about that demon, Evil he’s taken to calling himself, were right,” The kin began “Drakonius has been deliberately allowing him to win, he even made a deal with him to kill his last opponent.”

“And did he?” Winter asked, wondering if this was the reason that neither of them had returned.

Feral shook his head. “We all observed the fight on that overpriced screen. After his opponent, Red I think he was called, let slip about the deal Drakonius made with the monster the footage was cut off; we don’t know what happened past then.”

Winter fell silent; she did not like the sounds of this. A small cough brought her back from her thoughts and she looked up to spy Howl hovering behind Feral. Despite his recent defeat, the second one he’d received at Winter’s hands, and losing his scarf to Drakonius Howl remained the very picture of cocky and optimistic, he gazed into Winter’s cold blue eyes with his own dark and beady ones, a wide grin plastered across his face. The trickster looked oddly naked without the dark red scarf around his neck.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” He asked.

“We were just discussing what you and Winter missed during your last fight,” Feral replied, his own voice betraying his dislike of Howl.

“Ah yes, heard all about that,” Howl mused “Can’t say I’m surprised, personally. Gods are a deceitful lot, making endless deals with mortals, never keeping to their promises.” Howls smile wavered slightly “I do despise those who do not keep their promises.”

“What do you want Howl?” Winter replied, not even attempting to hide the contempt she had for him.

Howl merely grinned back and took a seat opposite the homunculus, propping his feet up on the table and resting both arms behind his head. “Let’s call it a council of war, shall we?” He began “Plotting against the inevitable conflict that is soon to rise.”

Both Winter and Feral remained silent, Winter staring coldly at Howl while Feral stood to one side, his sightless face turned in the trickster’s direction as well.

“What are you talking about?” The kin finally asked.

“What? You mean to tell me neither of you have figured this out?” Howl feigned a look of deep shock “And to think I thought you two were skilled and experienced warriors.”

“Spit it out,” Winter snapped.

Howl gave her a sly grin and continued. “Well, given the events that transpired here while you and I were, occupied shall we say? I think it’s clear that someone is making their move against Drakonius; they likely intend to oppose him directly. Think about it, Evil’s opponent letting slip our divine friend’s shady conducts moments before the feed is cut, contestants going missing and one turning up only to actively threaten Drakonius, one of his most trusted servants and a crazed lunatic with more than enough reason to slaughter everything in sight also go missing, and to top it all off our dear friend Evil and the opponent he was apparently hired to kill have not returned since they left for their match. It’s pretty clear that whoever is behind this is doing three things.” Howl raised a finger “Firstly, gathering allies from within the Rest House, the place is packed with some of the best warriors in the multiverse, and even those not so capable fighters still have powerful and interesting skills and abilities,” he raised a second finger to join the first “Second, he’s getting rid of anyone who could possibly interrupt his plans until he is ready, Ciro is a very nosy person so it stands to reason that he must have come across some info before he vanished into thin air, and since Evil has not returned we can only assume he was not successful in his task, he is either most likely dead or has been recruited to our mysterious adversary’s cause,” Howl rose his third and final finger “And third, spreading distrust among those who might still help Drakonius, you must admit that after allowing that monster to compete trust in our godly friend was already hanging from a very thin strand, but to hear absolute confirmation of his misconducts would surely snap that thread in a heartbeat, I don’t think there’s anybody left in the Rest House that really trusts Drakonius anymore.”

Howl finished his little speech, looking between the two with a snide grin.
“So, we know that someone is actively opposing Drakonius,” Feral replied “But we don’t know who.”

“Oh, I have a very good idea who,” Howl replied.

Winter and Feral stared at him in confusion.

“It’s rather obvious that Red, if that is his real name, is the real enemy in all this,” Howl began “He was the one who let slip about Drakonius’ deal with Evil, and he has been something of a dark horse throughout this tournament. When this all started nobody took a second look at him, they were more concerned with the more obvious warriors such as Tuk, Evil, Alice and of course you two. So if Red is such a low priority why did Drakonius wish him dead? It wasn’t enough for the lord of darkness to have him out of the tournament, he actively wanted him dead, going so far as to make a deal with Evil to make certain on this. And after he went to the trouble of recruiting him for his fun little game,” Howl sat up straight, bringing his hands around in front of him and clasping his fingers together in front of his face and leaning his elbows against the arms of the chair in his best Gendo Ikari impression.

“If Red is such a threat, why did Drakonius recruit him in the first place?” Feral asked.

“No idea,” Howl shrugged “That is quite a puzzle. Perhaps he did not seem like such a threat at the time, though that is something of a weak answer, I’d like to believe there is something more to it than that.”

“If Red is conspiring against Drakonius then he made a poor choice of allies,” Winter replied “Autumn is not the sort to hold to deals, no matter what is offered, she’d simply have killed him as soon as he released her.”

“Perhaps he has found a way to tame your psychotic doppelganger,” Howl mused “At this point I wouldn’t leave anything off the table.”

The trio considered in silence for a moment before Feral spoke up again. “What do you propose we do about it then?” He seemed not quite able to believe he was asking this question to Howl of all people.

Howl returned Feral’s question with a smug, Cheshire cat smile. “That’s obvious my sneaky friend, we’ll need some allies of our own.”

“I doubt you’ll find anybody here still wishing to help Drakonius,” Winter replied.

Howl wagged a finger at her. “And who said we were doing this for Drakonius’ sake? I’d imagine someone actively opposite a person attempting to rejuvenate the universe, however crudely he may do it, has some larger agenda in mind. Let’s say, for the sake of argument, universal conquest. I seriously doubt anyone here would enjoy being dominated against their will.”

“And you expect them to believe you?” Winter replied, sounded perfectly disbelieving herself.

“My dear ice queen,” Howl began, earning an irritated glare from the homunculus “Drakonius may have my scarf, but that is a secondary weapon at best. If anything I’d always rely on my wits and my words.” His grin widened steadily “Put simply, just leave it up to me.”

As the trio were talking they hadn’t noticed Raymond enter the library, his expression appearing even more exhausted and stressed than usual yet he seemed to continue his duties at his regular pace regardless. He made his way over to where Winter, Howl and Feral were talking, clearing his throat to announce his presence. The three looked over to him expectantly, each one of them having a small suspicion about why he was here.

“Winter,” he began, addressing the homunculus “My lord Drakonius wishes to see you immediately.”

“If he has something to tell me then he can find me himself,” Winter replied coldly.

“Please Winter, this isn’t the time,” Raymond replied, rubbing the bridge of his nose “I understand you have reservations about dealing with my lord but this is of the utmost importance.”

Winter remained silent for a moment or two before she slowly got to her feet. “Very well then,” she replied, though it did not sound like she enjoyed the prospect.

Raymond nodded and turned to lead the way out, briefly turning his attention to Feral and Howl. “I understand if the both of you have misgivings about my lord given the recent events, but I assure you he has only the best interests in mind.” That said he led the way out of the library, Winter following behind him.

“Well then,” Howl turned his attention to Feral “I believe it’s time we made a start, don’t you?”

****

The pair walked through the halls of the Rest House in silence, neither speaking a word as they passed through the corridors. Occasionally they passed by other contestants but didn’t stop to make conversation, Amirabelle and Keegan were standing off to one side muttering to one another but both feel silent as Raymond and Winter approached, resuming their conversation once they were safely out of earshot. Kevin was wandering the halls alone, he let out a small squeak when he spotted them and quickly darted out of sight changing from a human boy into a red panda.

“Things have been getting quite restless around here,” Raymond yawned.

“I’d imagine it’s a bit more than restless,” Winter replied.

Raymond merely nodded in reply as the two reached a pair of heavy oak doors, Winter noting the presence of bullet holes in the doorframe.

“My lord will be with you shortly,” Raymond said, opening the door to allow the arctic homunculus entry “Please, wait inside.”

Winter passed through the doors and Raymond shut them behind her. She stood alone in the room, taking in the remains of a chandelier shoved into one corner and the shattered window which was letting in a cold breeze, though the arctic homunculus wasn’t the least bit bothered. After about a minute of silence however the room seemed to melt away behind her, replaced with a featureless black void, there were no visible light sources and yet she seemed to be able to see as clearly as if it were daylight, she could see her own hands and feet at any rate but everything else was just endless black. Winter looked around, finding no clues as to where she was.

“Glad you could join me!” Came the jovial ton of the dark god through the black.

Winter turned about to see Drakonius sitting in a comfortable pink chair with a cocktail glass in hand, the liquid inside seeming to glow with every colour visible to the human eye, and even some that weren’t. A second identical but empty chair sat opposite him and between them stood a small round table. Sitting atop the table Winter could see what she assumed was a black crystal ball, a black leather collar decorated with what appeared to be an oval shaped blue gem stone, a large pitcher containing the same glowing liquid in Drakonius’ glass and a red bundle Winter recognized as Howl’s scarf.

“Have a seat,” Drakonius offered.

Winter hesitated for a moment or two before walking over to the set up and taking a seat in the unoccupied chair, folding her arms across her chest and looking at Drakonius expectantly. Drakonius took a moment to take a sip from his glass, placing it carefully on the table beside him.

“I hope you don’t mind the accommodations,” he began “This is my own private… Realm let’s say, I don’t want to risk anybody overhearing this.”

Winter remained silent.

“Anyway,” Drakonius cleared his throat “I suppose I’d better cut to the chase, we both know why you’re here.”

“It’s about Red, isn’t it?” Winter replied.

“Basically,” Drakonius nodded “But his actual name is Corruption. I’ll fill you in on what he is momentarily bit first I believe I owe you an explanation.” Winter raised an eyebrow though her expression did not change otherwise “It’s time I told you the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” Drakonius’ normal optimistic smile faded and his face melted into a serious gaze “What you know already is true, I gathered each of the contestants in order to restore life to the worlds that are dying. I expect you’ve probably noticed the obvious flaw in this plan, there are barely more than 30 contestants, each with one spark gem each, and countless worlds where this disaster has struck.”

“I’ve worked that part out,” Winter didn’t bother hiding the distain she had for the god.

“Naturally,” Drakonius replied “However what you don’t know is that the spark gems are just that, a ‘spark’. Think of it as like lighting a fire, you don’t have to grab a bucket of flames and dump it on some sticks, all you need is a spark, and that’s what the spark gems do, they provide the spark needed for a planet’s life force to grow once again. Over the course of the tournament the sparks in these gems have been incubated, growing with each fight, the bigger the spark the larger the area affected. You may not have noticed since it happens on such a large scale but after the second round worlds surrounding the ones you all fought on were revitalized as well.”

Drakonius fell silent for a moment to allow his explanation to sink in. “By the end of the tournament the final spark gem should be strong enough to reignite all the remaining worlds that are affected, assuming they have managed to grow sufficiently. That is why I chose to recruit that demon, the one you have come to call Evil; I needed a presence such as his to ensure the tension was at an all-time high so that the spark gems could grow enough to accomplish this task. If things had gone according to plan he would have reached the final round and, best case scenario, would have faced either yourself, Tuk or Akki, the resulting fight would provide more than enough for the spark gems to reach their peak and spread their influence throughout the universe.”

“So that’s why it seemed like you were setting up all his fights on purpose,” Winter replied.

“Because I was, yes,” Drakonius nodded reluctantly.

“And you think just because you’ve told me this that I’ll trust you?”

“No, no I don’t expect you to trust me,” Drakonius shook his head “But I do need your help.”

“Corruption, yes?” Winter’s eyes narrowed.

“Correct,” Drakonius replied “He has managed to royally sabotage my plans, and made quite a fine job of it as well. To be honest, it’s my fault that he is even here to begin with; I noticed two wayward souls floating in the void, one human and one not so human, both seemed to have come from the same source. Curious I tracked this person down, finding him dead on an equally dead world, so using a blank soul I had handy I brought him to life and allowed him to enter my tournament.”

Winter stared coldly at the god, what little trust she had for him was now circling the drain. “If he is so dangerous then why did you allow him in in the first place?”
“He wasn’t Corruption when this all started,” Drakonius replied “I gave him a blank soul, no memories or life of its own, and tempted him into entering by promising to return what he’d lost. I needed a contestant and at the same time I wished to know why this person had two souls and what the other one was for. And so over the course of the tournament his memories and one of his souls have slowly returned to him.”

“One of his souls?”

“I took the other one in exchange for healing him after the first round,” Drakonius replied “Partly to rebuild his home world, but mostly so that I could find out what he is. Unfortunately I found out too late to do anything to stop him. I think you know the rest from here.”

“What do you think he plans to do now?” Winter asked “Get his other soul back? He seems to be going to a great deal of trouble considering he could simply wish for it back if he happened to win.”

“I expect he doesn’t want to leave it up to chance,” Drakonius mused “Plus I think he has other agendas in mind, ones I’d rather not think about. To make a long story short, I need your help to stop him.”

Winter’s gaze hardened. “If you believe I would kill him at your request like you did with his last opponent then you are sadly mistaken,” she replied coldly.

“Winter, please,” the dark god sounded almost desperate “I understand you have a moral code you live by, and I can respect that, but this is bigger threat than you can imagine, bigger even than Autumn. If you don’t kill him then he’ll simply grow in power until goodness knows what he can accomplish.”

“I will not repeat myself,”

“I’m not asking this lightly,” Drakonius continued “Think of it this way, if you were responsible for countless billions of lives, would you sacrifice a few to save those billion?”

“No,” Winter replied bluntly “I’d save them another way.”

“And if there was no other way?”

“I’d find one,” The arctic homunculus’ tone was absolute “There’s a saying where I’m from: ‘The road to hell is paved with good intentions’. Killing someone, no matter if it’s in the act of preservation or mercy will always result in something worse. It’s something I learned a long time ago and it is something I will never forget.”

“It’ll just be one death,” Drakonius replied his patience was growing thin “One time and you can go back to your happy moral code.”

“One death!?” Winter’s expression darkened as suddenly as the temperature dropped, the liquid in Drakonius’ cocktail glass and pitcher beginning to freeze “One death was all it took for Discord to become a serial killer, one death was all it took to drive me into a vengeful fury, one death is all it took to create Autumn.”

She fell silent but the temperature did not rise, the two stared at each other in silence for what seemed like forever. Eventually Drakonius broke the silence. “Very well,” he sighed “You do not have to kill him, but I would still like your help to stop him.”

“Considering I’d have been placed against him in the final round anyway this doesn’t change much,” Winter replied.

“It does change a few things, firstly you’ll be fighting on his terms and he probably won’t be alone,” Drakonius replied “I cannot choose where you fight so he could challenge you anywhere, say a planet of volcanoes or a dimension made entirely of magic where you’d be at a significant disadvantage. I don’t want to take any chances so I’ve prepared a couple of little presents for you.”

“I’ll be fine as I am,” Winter replied.

“Much as I admire your confidence I’m afraid I’d rather not risk it,” Drakonius replied “Determination and motivation can only get you so far.” He reached for the first item on his table, the leather collar “Now, I observed your little trick during the previous round, as well as the incident with Autumn, so I’m well aware that you’re able to use your gem as a power source.”

“I’m hardly going to rely on that,” Winter replied “My body can’t contain the amount of energy the gem possesses, I could only use it for a minute at most when I was fighting Howl and that was when I was trying to hold back with it.”

“Not to worry, this’ll fix that problem,” Drakonius replied, dangling the collar in front of her “Think of it as like a mystic exhaust pipe. Put simply this should help control the flow of energy in your body and get rid of any excess build up, meaning you can use as much as you like without having to worry about the consequences.”

He dropped the jewel into Winter’s outstretched hand. The moment she touched it she felt a peculiar sensation wash over her, like something building inside of her was finally being released. “Is that all?” She asked.

“Nope,” Drakonius now reached for the crystal ball, the thing was so dark she could only see it when Drakonius held it directly in front of him, anywhere else and it merged with the blackness surrounding them “You see I have been conducting some studies of Mr. Howl’s scarf and I’ve been able to produce something similar.” As he said this the orb seemed to melt, forming into a smaller counterpart to the scarf sitting on the table. “Unfortunately I haven’t had time to perfect it,” Drakonius replied “Unlike Mr. Howl’s, this version is not indestructible and is quite useless as a weapon, however it is still an excellent energy conductor and can absorb the energy from a person’s fighting spirit.”

“What makes you think I have need of something like that?” Winter asked.

“Simple,” Drakonius replied “When Corruption defeated Evil he did something with his spark gem, he didn’t just break it he used the energy in it for something rather like how your friend Autumn did. I’m not sure exactly what but the energy from that gem is a pivotal part of my plan, I need you to find out what he did with it and, if possible, use this scarf to reabsorb that energy and then release it out into the universe.”
Winter hesitated and then reached for the scarf, wrapping it around her shoulders. Unlike the jewel on the collar this felt vastly different; a somewhat unpleasant sensation as if something wet and slimy was clinging to her.

“Is that everything?” She asked.

“One more thing,” Drakonius replied “When you find Corruption, don’t break his gem. I have reason to believe he may have tampered with it somehow in his efforts to oppose me, I need you to bring it to me so I can see if he has done anything to it and reverse the effects if I possibly can.”

Winter nodded and got to her feet. “Very well then,”

“I suppose all that’s left is to wish you the best of luck,” Drakonius said “As soon as I find him I’ll direct you to where he is, till then I suggest you prepare yourself.”

Without another word the world around her seemed to fade out of existence and she once again found herself in Drakonius’ empty study. She crossed over to the broken window, looking down on the gardens that sat in the middle of the Rest House, she could make out some of the other contestants either relaxing in the sun or talking to each other, though she couldn’t make out what they were saying. She leant against the window-frame for a moment to watch the scene below her, a rare smile forming over her otherwise stoic face. After everything she had gone through to get to this point it was nice to have a moment of peace and quiet for a small time.

After a few moments of quiet gazing she heard and faint knock at the door and looked around in confusion. “Who’s there?” She called. She got no answer; instead she heard the sounds of soft, rapid footsteps retreating from behind the door. Winter quickly made her way over to the doors and swung them open just in time to see something dart around the corner and out of sight. She chased after it, rounding the corner and running down the hallway, coming to a halt when she found nothing but an empty corridor. “Damn,” she cursed “What was that?”

Then she heard it, an all too familiar voice, softly singing in a jovial and creepy tone. “I don’t want to set the world on fire,“ the voice sang “I just want to start a flame in your heart.“ Winter raced after the voice, following it through the halls and just catching sight of movement as her target vanished around a corner. “In my heart I have but one desire, and that one is you. No other will do.“ She spotted a door slam up ahead as she rounded another corner and ran towards it, practically tearing it open and stepping through into the hall beyond. She found herself in a very poorly lit, stony passageway. The only source of light came from a small window at the far end of the hall, where Winter stood however the light didn’t reach and the corridor was bathed in shadow. The voice seemed to have vanished but Winter kept an ear out anyway, listening for even the faintest of noises as she slowly made her way along the passageway. There didn’t appear to be any other corridors branching off from this one, meaning there was no place to hide. As she walked her foot fell upon something soft and she quickly looked down, her eyes widening as she spotted a large painting laid on the floor, unable to notice it until her eyes had gotten used to the darkness. Winter had barely enough time to react before she felt herself being drawn through by the portal’s influence and the corridor around her vanished in a whirlwind of colours and darkness.

The sensation ended as soon as it began and she landed catlike upon a solid grey structure. Getting to her feet she realized she was standing on the roof of a building, looking out around the world around her she practically felt her heart freeze in her chest as she observed the sight of a decaying city before her.


Her city.
Might as well get this thing started, and don't worry the rest will be in proper comic form... Poorly drawn and incredibly rushed comic form, but comic form nonetheless.

This is just a quick prologue to set up the final round, I decided to do it in writing to save time otherwise I'd have far, faaaar too much to draw for this round. I also wanted to give an actual canon explanation for the sudden dissapearance of so many contestants in the 2nd round (It was aaaallll Tuk's fault) cause I'm kida nit-picky like that.

Unfortunately I've had to focus on my university work for the last three weeks so I have literally had no time to work on my actual entry, I've barely even finished the script for it ><, so I may have to rush it quite badly. I will have something for you though, I'm not gonna let you all down at this stage!

Prev: [link]
Next: [link]

Winter and all related characters (c) ~TotalObelisk

Drakonius & Raymond (c) =Unknown-Variable

Feral (c) *CynicalRaven

Howl (c) ~ValeTheHowl

Cameos & Mentions:

Corruption (c) ~Grey-Walker

Keegan and Amirabelle (c) ~Nikkichan333

Kevin (c) ~Harmony-Fox

Zasha (c) ~Bottled-Rottweiler

Tuk (c) *scrap-paper22

Evil (c) *VenomX3000

Saziel (c) =Setachan

Fern and Stella (c) ~deadkitty

Hollow (c) ~midoriwerewolf19

Pollyander (c) ~WingedCatDusk

Alice (c) ~DustyMuffinsss

Akki (c) *Noirs-Blood

Ciro (c) *Eva-Wings

:iconvitalsparkoct: Hosted by :iconunknown-variable:

Effect Brushes from ~redheadstock
© 2013 - 2024 TotalObelisk
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CynicalRaven's avatar
Nicely done with the setup and with a general breakdown of what has been happening. Looking forward to seeing how this goes and probably thankful I dropped the Thanatus side plot less it make anything more complex.