Colin's posts

"Mmhmm." he responded.

"Oh, when you wake up, there's gonna be a massive pulse of mana that'll shake the pyramid." he told her.

"When you're asked about it, say that the lock reacted badly with the runes, and a massive backfire happened." he told her further.

"And all the mana traps in the pyramid will be disabled from the pulse as well." he added.

"Now, when you open your eyes, you'll be in your body again." he finished.

Then, before she could say anything, he whacked the back of her head with his crook, and her world was black once more.

Ryker just sighed again.

"All right, if you say so." he said.

"..." he was then silent, before looking skyward again.

"I wish I were as confident as I sounded." he muttered.

"But I don't even know what all we need to do." he admitted.

"Destroy Eke's father? Kill the wizard dude? Smash that crystal Eke found?" he continued.

"I wish I knew what would legit just... end this crap."

She had no idea how long she was in such pain, before it suddenly just... faded.

"And we're done with THAT." he said.

"Cool." he went on.

When she opened her eyes, she felt like... herself, again. Though she was still out of her body.

"Now to return you to your little container." he continued.

"By the way, you received a MASSIVE boost, as I'm sure you can tell." he then said.

"Careful not to overuse it too soon. Let your body and soul acclimate to it."

"It is." he replied.

"It is a fraction of a portion of a..." he started to say, before pausing.

"It is some of my mana. A minuscule amount." he confirmed.

"And I AM sure." he told her.

"Trust me when I say that you are not minimal. You play a VERY important role in the future, and while that lock may be something that your deities are forbidden from interfering with... I am not one of them." he continued.

"So breaking it is fair game." he said further, and she could hear the smirk in his tone.

"Teach that meddling dark elf a thing or two." he muttered.

"Regardless, this is going to be uncomfortable, and it's going to hurt." he warned her.

"I'd brae myself, if I were you."

"........" Ryker was silent as he witnessed her stumble.

"This is taking its toll on you." he commented.

"Tell me." he said.

"If you are to keep this up for three more days, what kind of state will you be in?" he asked.

"How bad?" he asked further.

"I doubt Eke would want you endangering yourself for us. I certainly don't want that."

"...that's because it would." he replied.

He then looked at the orb, and she saw it get reduced by half.

And again. And again. And again. So many times it was unreal.

Eventually, he stopped when all that remained was a mere sliver of what had been there previously. She could barely even see it, but she knew it was there.

She could feel it.

"All right." he said.

"This should be enough." he told her.

"You'll be able to integrate this into your mana, and then it'll be strong enough to break that lock." he explained, looking back at the young lady.

"......." he was silent for a moment, before laughing out loud.

It was a legitimate laugh, and it seemed to be genuine amusement... but it was laced with an ominous undertone... which was probably just because of who he was.

"IF I can remove it?" he asked.

"This lock is mere child's play for me!" he declared.

He then looked over towards her, and pointed the curved end of his crook at her... and as he did so, she saw a literal lock form on her chest, with several chains extending from it, and wrapping around her torso... though her arms were still free to move about.

"Now. Let's get rid of that nuisance." he commented.

He then lifted his other hand up slightly, palm up, and she saw a dense black orb form above it. She could tell it was necromantic mana... but it was so so powerful and dense, it felt like it could crush her just by being in the mere vicinity of it.

"........" he was silent for a moment, after hearing what she asked for at the end.

"A request?" he asked.

"I make no guarantees." he told her.

"But I'll humour you by listening to it." he said further, before looking at her body.

"....hmmmm." he murmured.

"A lock." he said.

"Troublesome." he commented further.

"Yep, going to need to deal with that." he added with a small nod.

"That is what I said." he responded.

"You died here." he told her.

"You were not the one meant to die here." he went on.

"The one you were with was meant to." he continued.

"People die. Sometimes unexpectedly. This is fate, this is life, this is death, it happens." he went on.

"But when someone dies in place of another... especially when it is unforeseen... that becomes a problem." he told her further.

"So I am here to correct that."

"....." he was silent, before sighing.

"Firstly, I appreciate being called Inpu." he told her. "Been a while since THAT'S happened." he admitted, his tone FAR more casual now... almost jarringly so.

"Secondly, did you not hear me before?" he asked.

"Something has happened here that shouldn't have happened." he told her.

"What happened here? You died." he went on.

"I'm here to correct this little error of fate." he added.

The one that was there was... oddly shadowed, despite the glowing of the runes. It was as though their presence was draining the area of light... or the runes of their power, at least.

But she saw two glowing eyes in the darkness as well.

The figure seemed to ignore Madison at first, before moving Gregory's scythe back towards him.

"....leave." they said in a commanding tone. "I will deal with this matter personally." they went on.

"Y-y-yes. R-right away." Gregory stammered.

"Bye, Madison." he said to Madison, before disappearing.

And then the one that remained sighed, before the darkness started to disappear, revealing the body of a toned, tanned man in what looked like traditional Ancient Egyptian garb... but with a black head of a jackal.

"...most people think that." he told her, addressing her first statement.

"And something has happened that shouldn't have happened." he then added.

Gregory just sighed heavily.

"I'm sorry as well." he told her.

"But... yes." he said.

"If you wish to just go... we'll go." he told her, raising his scythe.

"I'll make it quick, so it'll be instant." he then assured her.

With that, Madison closed her eyes tightly, and could almost feel the blade cutting through the air... seconds before she heard a loud 'clanging' sound.

She opened her eyes to reveal that she was still there... there was something that looked like a yellow and blue shepherd's crook coming from out of nowhere blocking Gregory's blade...

...and Gregory looked VERY nervous, suddenly.

A few seconds later... she felt fine.

Absolutely fine. Relieved, actually.

And the runes were glowing more brightly than ever... illuminating the entire room more than adequately now.

However, she also knew what had happened... and she saw her body on the floor.

"...hello, again." a voice greeted her.

"Though I wish it could have been under better circumstances." they added with a heavy sigh.

Just as she finished the last thought, she felt the lock inside her.

It hurt. A lot.

It felt like something was tugging at it, trying to break it open... and then she felt like her mana was literally trying to burst out of her... trying to forcibly break the lock from the inside.

And then it happened.

She felt her mana start to immediately leave her... quickly.

It felt just like the time she'd been kidnapped for her mana to be syphoned off, but she could tell that her mana wasn't strong enough to fight THIS off. It was leaving her. Rapidly.