Ch 12: A Second Truth, A Sage’s Downfall

Agnes has lost control of her powers due to Barinus' interference. Her life on the line, can Alastor do nothing but watch as she's destroyed by her own ability?

            Breaking into a run as he reached out a hand towards her, Alastor shouted, “Agnes?!” Looking up as she heard his voice, Agnes cried out, “Alastor?! What’s going on?! Why is this darkness coming out of my body?!” Just as he was getting close to her, Agnes suddenly clutched her body and let out a scream, and Alastor was blown away as a surge of dark energy erupted from the field around her and struck the ground before him. Bouncing across the street, Alastor finally rolled to a stop and slowly started to get to his hands and knees as he thought to himself, “She’s not just using darkness, but her energy seems to also burn EDE away entirely? It’s been shown in some studies that EDE may be a necessity for life. If that field has such a property as well, her life could be in danger…” Suddenly hearing the sound of footsteps, Alastor looked up to see more of the soldiers in blue arriving, forming up a defensive line a safe distance away from Agnes. Walking slowly into his view, an older looking soldier who Alastor assumed was their commanding officer appeared. Sporting a head of gray hair that was slicked back and had curls on the side, he glanced at Alastor momentarily with his beady brown eyes. Smiling cheerily, the soldier said, “Worry not citizen. I, Brigadier General Stigan of the Guild Special Forces, will not allow further harm to this town or its residents.”

            With that, he turned away from Alastor and walked over to stand behind his soldiers, a stern look on his face as he stared at Agnes. Waving a hand at her, as his soldiers raised EDE weapons at Agnes, Brigadier General Stigan called out, “Rogue energist pending designation, Agnes Eremit! To think I was here for little more than a dull meeting about the town’s conversion and the routine inspection to calm the populace’s worries about you! You may have deceived our detection technology until now, but there’s no hiding what you are any longer! Cease this foolish tirade of yours and surrender!” Clutching her head in pain, Agnes seemed unable to hear him, and Alastor sensed the energy field around her growing unstable again. Her eyes going wide, Agnes uttered, “My body’s… burning…!” Narrowing his eyes in irritation, Brigadier General Stigan muttered, “I don’t have time for this…” Waving his hand at Agnes again, he shouted, “Fire!” Unleashing rounds of Raw EDE from their EDE weapons, the soldiers opened fire.

            Volatile EDE raining out at Agnes, Alastor could do nothing but watch. Yet striking upon the field of energy around her, the EDE was negated instantly. His mouth hanging open in shock, Brigadier General Stigan exclaimed, “W-what?!” Suddenly tilting her head back and letting out a scream, Agnes unleashed another surge of dark energy that shot out at the soldiers before her. Sailing through the air like rag dolls, Stigan’s soldiers were blown away before his eyes, and backing away as he raised his hand at her threateningly, the Brigadier General exclaimed, “Stop, I command you!” It was an empty threat, Agnes’ last surge having drained the EDE in the area to where it was too thin for most energists to do anything anymore. Agnes on the other hand hardly required any EDE at all to power her abilities. Wondering what had sent her so out of control, Alastor struggled to think of how to stop her.

            Suddenly, a familiar voice said, “She’s exponentially more powerful than her predecessors…” Turning his head to see Barinus standing next to him, Alastor realized instantly what was going on here, and he said, “You did this…” Bowing his head, Barinus said, “All is for my Lord. That girl, Agnes, holds importance in your destiny. I thought that I should see whether her powers will be of use to you. She has long been undetected by the Special Forces due to her unique negation ability. Unfortunately, the fact is that she has always kept it active without knowing, and it would seem she’s not able to control any of her newly awakened power either. All matter is held together by a special kind of EDE which is constantly flowing through all dimensions of time and space. The field she created seems unable to negate that particular kind of EDE instantly, but if she remains in it for much longer, I’m afraid the pain is the least of her worries. Her particles will separate and she will die.” Struggling up as Stigan fled the scene in terror, Alastor staggered as he began to make his way towards Agnes, unsure what he intended to do even if he reached her. Raising his arms to protect himself as Agnes unleashed another surge of dark energy and destroyed a nearby building, Alastor waded through the smoke and debris, shouting, “Agnes! You must regain control!” Unable to hear him, Agnes was becoming more and more panicked, and unleashing more and more energy surges. Explosions erupting all around him, Alastor could not avoid as another surge came shooting directly at him.

            Flying between Alastor and the dark energy surge, a very large raven came out of nowhere and let out a piercing cry, creating a sonic screech that struck the energy surge and caused it to explode in the air. Knocked away by the force of the blast, Alastor crashed into the side of a piece of stone debris. Slumped against the large chunk of stone, as he came to his senses, he took a look around for his rescuer. Catching sight of the bird as it landed on her outstretched arm, Alastor laid eyes on Mrs. Drowe coming up the street behind Agnes, and she called out to him, “Are you unharmed young man?!” Surprised to have her come to the rescue like that, Alastor merely replied, “I am, but Agnes…” Collapsing to her knees as she panted heavily, Agnes’ energy field seemed to be stabilizing now that she had used up some of her EDE, but it was clear from the pain she seemed to be in that she was still in danger as long as the field remained around her. Gritting her teeth as she saw the state Agnes was in, Mrs. Drowe thought, “I must get close enough to touch her, but she’s negated almost all the EDE nearby! That field appears to be energy, but the way it’s protected her from falling debris makes it clear it mostly behaves as a solid wall. I have to keep enough of the EDE I gathered before getting close to calm her with a command, and use everything else to break through with Berfalst’s shriek! The field will negate EDE, but the sound waves are merely amplified, not generated. I’ve already proven that they should persist!”

            Raising the arm on which her raven, Berfalst, was perched upon up in front of her, Mrs. Drowe shouted, “Now Berfalst! Fly!” Taking off as Mrs. Drowe channeled her EDE into him, Berfalst flew up high and dove at the dark energy field around Agnes, unleashing the EDE Mrs. Drowe gave him as another sonic screech. The screech struck the field dead on, and diving directly at the place where it impacted, Berfalst slammed headfirst into the field with his beak. The field quivered against the might of the combined attack, sparks of power crackling in the air, but in the end it was not enough to break through. The sonic screech and Berfalst bounced off, and watching him fall to the ground, Mrs. Drowe hurried over to him. Cradling the bird in her arms, she smiled sadly and said, “You did your best, my friend…”

            Looking over at Alastor as she held Berfalst in her arms, Mrs. Drowe called out, “I’m sorry, but we can’t go on. Unless you can break through the energy field around her, the only thing left to do is hope the situation changes.” Still slumped against the piece of stone debris, Alastor watched Agnes struggling with the pain consuming her body, and soon closed his eyes in defeat as he said, “Barinus.” Walking up to stand next to him, a smile on his face, Barinus said, “You called, Lord Alastor?” Turning his head to look up at him, Alastor said, “I don’t know what your goal is, but I will do anything. Whatever it is you want from me you shall have it, so please… Stop this…” Staring at Agnes a moment, Barinus replied, “Until the time limit runs out, the ability I used on her cannot be cancelled. As I said before, I was only interested in seeing her power. If helping this girl is your desire, then I shall aid you.” Forming a mass of EDE, Barinus brought forth his strange energy orb as he said, “Her attacks have negated any available EDE nearby, and there is a separate, low density layer of the field surrounding a large area around us, whose purpose is to prevent EDE from flowing in from other areas. However, with my Grand Anima Weapon, Auram Cavea, the Aura Cage, I shall not only lend you some stored EDE, but awaken your sleeping power as well!”

            The same light as before beginning to radiate from Auram Cavea, as it washed over Alastor, he felt unimaginable strength surge forth from within him. Watching Alastor get to his feet, Barinus smirked and thought to himself, “To be honest though, I also wanted to see your power. I wonder, just what will the ‘chosen one’ show me?” Raising a hand before him and staring at it, Alastor clenched it into a fist as he thought, “So this is the power we obtained? It’s monstrous, and dark…” Looking over at Mrs. Drowe, Alastor thought, “Until I learn more about it, I dare not rely upon it too much.” Waiting for him to make his move, Barinus was in for a surprise as Alastor turned to him and asked, “Is that ability something you can use on anyone?” Catching on instantly, Barinus looked over at Mrs. Drowe and said, “Yes, Auram Cavea can be used to transfer EDE as well as temporarily boost abilities and awaken hidden powers in anyone. However, I cannot predict what the results of the boost will be…”

            Once Barinus had empowered Mrs. Drowe using Auram Cavea, Alastor relayed his plan to her. Their strength restored by Barinus’ EDE transfer, as she poured her EDE into Berfalst once more, the bird formed a mass of EDE around himself that crystallized into bird sized armor, and the newly armored raven took flight once more at Mrs. Drowe’s command. Circling above Agnes’ negation field, as Berfalst was almost in position, Alastor rose into the air on the wind itself and channeled EDE. Taking aim with his hand, he fired precisely aimed spheres of Corrupted EDE at an area of the field, and watched them close in on it as he thought, “The field is sturdy enough to deflect physical attacks, and can negate normal EDE upon contact. This EDE I’m using however is far from normal. I’m betting everything on the idea that it will be able to resist the negation and weaken the field…” Striking the field, the spheres of Corrupted EDE exploded powerfully as Agnes let out a cry of fear, and as the entire field quivered from the force of the attack, Alastor shouted, “Now Berfalst!”

            Diving at supersonic speed as his armor glowed, radiating wind energy that created a slipstream around him, Berfalst rammed his armored beak into the field, striking upon it far more powerfully than before. At first it seemed another failure as Berfalst bounced off the field once again, but spreading from the point where he’d impacted it, cracks raced through the quivering barrier. Dropping down out of the sky with a falling kick for the final strike, Alastor broke open a hole in the field and touched down inside. Coating himself in Corrupted EDE in order to resist the powerful negation effect still radiating all throughout the interior of the field, Alastor rushed to Agnes’ side just as she fell over on her side upon the ground. Kneeling down next to her, he said, “Hold on Agnes!” Agnes could not respond, but a voice from outside the field rang out as Mrs. Drowe urgently called out, “Hurry, the hole is closing!” Alastor turned his gaze to the hole in the field, and seeing she was right, he thought, “This ability won’t pass through a field of energy that rejects physical matter… It’s the end if that closes!” He quickly channeled his Corrupted EDE and opened a dark vortex next to Agnes.

            Reaching through the other side of the vortex and placing a hand upon her forehead, Mrs. Drowe said, “It’s alright now Agnes, be still and rest.” As the command activated, Agnes seemed to calm down. The field faded away, and for a moment Alastor thought everything would be alright. Yet after hurrying over and examining Agnes briefly, Mrs. Drowe looked up at Alastor grimly and said, “Young man, calmly listen to me. It pains me to say this, but we were already too late…” Hoping he had misheard her foreboding words somehow, Alastor looked at her and simply said, “What?” Turning her gaze downward mournfully, her haggard face pale, Mrs. Drowe replied, “I can sense that the effects of her power has already taken too much of a toll on her body. Agnes, she… she’s going to die…” Alastor simply stared at her for a moment, struggling to process these words, and then looking down at Agnes, he thought to himself, “She’s going to die? Die?! That… that can’t… How can this be real? If it were… Why don’t I feel sadness?! Why don’t I despair?! I know that I should, but that’s only logic! Why can’t I feel it as well?! Why is it that I’ve felt so little ever since I woke up in that place, why is anger and fear so much easier to experience?!”

            Watching them in complete indifference, Barinus thought to himself, “It wasn’t much of a show, but he wields the Nameless One’s power effortlessly. I had worried Malum Vanitis might awake if I unsealed that much of his strength so suddenly, but it appears he’s not the chosen one for nothing.” Fixing his gaze on Agnes, Barinus thought, “Still, I suppose I overdid it a bit. We still need the Sage of Negations…” Suddenly, speaking from within his mind, Barinus heard a voice say, “Lord Barinus, forgive my interruption, but I bring urgent word from Lady Ziva.” Answering with his thoughts, Barinus quickly replied, “Very good. What does our Executive have for my ears? Could this be an admonishment for my reckless methods?” The voice responded dutifully, “Lady Ziva has made a revelation my Lord. It would seem there is more to Fortuna’s prophecy than we had believed…”

            As Mrs. Drowe and Alastor sat at Agnes’ side in complete loss as to what to do, suddenly the sound of many footsteps could be heard approaching rapidly, and turning to look down the ravaged street, Alastor caught sight of even more of the blue uniformed soldiers quickly approaching. Returning with his reinforcements, as his forces reached and surrounded them all, Brigadier General Stigan called out, “Rogue energist pending designation, Agnes Eremit! Unknown rogue energists! You are all hereby under arrest by the authority of The Guild Special Forces!” Watching all the soldiers level their EDE weapons, Alastor and Mrs. Drowe raised their hands in surrender. Looking to Brigadier General Stigan in desperation, Alastor said, “Please, Agnes is gravely injured! She needs a doctor immediately!” His mouth curling into a cruel smile, Stigan replied, “Of course, of course. I’m sure once we’ve thrown her into a cell at Castrum, the doctors there will take good care of her for the rest of her miserable life…” Alastor glared at him, his voice full of anger now as he said, “I don’t know anything about this place called Castrum, but I can hardly believe from your attitude that you’re doing the best you can for her! A child is dying in front of you! Do something now!”

            Unmoved, Stigan motioned to some of his troops to move in and restrain them as he replied, “I have no need to heed the self-righteous ramblings of an unknown rogue energist, nor do I see any reason to waste The Guild’s money on doctors for a juvenile delinquent who just finished destroying half a town.” Watching his troops move in while ignoring Alastor’s further admonishments, Stigan thought to himself, “It’s better she dies anyway. If she were to join the Special Forces with that power, she’d surely outrank me…” Suddenly shooting down from above, laser beams downed the troops moving in to restrain Alastor and the others. All the Special Forces members looking up in surprise, they laid eyes on Auram Cavea floating in the air above Alastor and the rest. Eyeing it warily, Stigan exclaimed, “What is that?!” Emitting a beam of energy that traced a line at the edge of the ranks of troops surrounding everyone, Auram Cavea marked the ground in a large circle around itself and then went dormant again. After a moment the line it had traced began to glow, and the troops standing there barely managed to back away as the ground that had been touched by the beam erupted in a fiery explosion. Having been completely undetected the entire time thanks to another of Auram Cavea’s powers, Barinus rushed over to Alastor and the others as the Special Forces fell into disarray and said, “Quickly my Lord, let us escape from here!”

            Glaring at Barinus in utter rage, not having forgotten whose fault this all was, Alastor quickly grabbed him by the collar and readied his fist as he growled, “Barinus, you…!” Holding his hands up to motion for him to wait, Barinus exclaimed, “My Lord, please calm yourself! I’m truly sorry that my methods have brought you trouble, but I swear to you I have only my Lord’s best interests in mind!” His fist shaking angrily, Alastor said, “You’ve caused me trouble?! What about Agnes and Mrs. Drowe?! Agnes going to die because of you, and now both of them have been branded as criminals as well! Not even the most sincere of apologies could atone for this!” Putting on a cheerful expression despite the situation, Barinus said, “Surely you speak true my Lord, but all is not lost! If you’ll only listen to me, we can yet save the Sage of Negations!”

            Hearing this, Alastor still looked as though he wanted to slug Barinus, but Mrs. Drowe called out to him, “Let’s hear him out Alastor. We have no other hopes…” Shoving Barinus away, Alastor continued to glare at him as he reluctantly asked, “How can we save Agnes?” Staggering back a bit after being shoved, as Barinus regained his balance, he quickly answered, “We must hurry and take her to the seal located within the depths of the Citadel of Noctivagus.” Looking at him in surprise, Mrs. Drowe said, “Noctivagus?! Ever since the Cataclysm, none who’ve dared to set foot in that accursed place have ever returned!” Quickly turning back to Agnes, Alastor moved to her side and knelt down to pick her up as he said, “Agnes and I have…” Now Mrs. Drowe looked at him in surprise, and Alastor met her gaze as he held Agnes in his arms and said, “Agnes didn’t actually find me in the wastes. I didn’t tell you the truth because of a promise I made to her.” Breaking up the conversation, Barinus motioned for them to follow as he said, “There will be time to explain this later. We must hurry before the Special Forces regroup again, this way!” Following after him while carrying Agnes, Mrs. Drowe right behind him, Alastor thought to himself, “I don’t know about this business of my brother sealing me, but if there is something in Noctivagus, please… let it save Agnes!”