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[From here on, very disturbing content follows. Who cannot handle gore, please skip this part.]
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"Fancy meeting you again, Mystyval Ru-ná." The Lord of the Underworld said, while cutting out organs of a new corpse sitting in the chair I cleaned countless times. But instead of doing anything wicked befitting of his reputation, he placed the heart in a box, closed the lid and softly murmured a spell. If I was right the spell had elements of ice and wind, making the box airtight from any dust and dirt and cool to keep the heart fresh. Then he continued to dissect the human by stripping it from anything valuable that could be used to transplant.
"You left so fast last time I asked you to clean. It makes me wonder, why did you try to escape? And which foolish line of thought made you believe you could succeed?" He wore the overall he used every time I saw him, blood sliding down the fabric like raindrops from a window. As I didn't say anything, just stared at the corpse in front of me, he looked in my direction. Under the glass his gaze seemed especially freezing today.
He stopped stripping the body of his last innards and honor and came my way. I tried to seem strong or at least not flinch at his appearance, but the blood dripping from the scalpel he was still holding was too loud and the beady eyes of the dead man too persistent.
"Why does your excellency care? You fancy imprisoning and killing people more than talking to them." I spat. Since I had nothing to lose anymore, no way to escape, I could only throw my cards on the table. If I was imprisoned by him, I would have to erase my account and start anew. I would have to give up on revenging Coven and start to play stupid quests again, without ever returning home. A home I never had in any world regardless if real or fiction. Only he was home to me and he was gone. Taken from me and I thought I could claw my way to succeed at least once. Only this one time when it meant the world to me.
But fate and my limits proved to me that there was no karma and no higher bidding, no justice and no chance for those who were weak. I was doomed to fail and still struggled to the end. Because even if I had to give up, I gave my all.
"I only spend my time on worthwhile things." The answer surprised me.
"Which value do you place on me?" I inquired, intrigued. What could I possess or offer someone in his position?
"You needn't know."
"Why did you give me the chance to redeem myself when we first met?"
"You wouldn't stop asking until I quell your hunger for enlightenment, won't you."
"No. Since I cannot escape my punishment and cell this time, at least tell me why. Tell me why you gave me the chance and who was the contractor of the mission you were speaking of."
"Fine, first, I pitied you measly little girl. You were hopeless like I was, discarded by society, like me. So I thought you would make a fine enlargement of my troops. But I was wrong." The scalpel hovering mere inches away from me, he closed in on me and whispered: "And second; t'is I." One second I had to register and process what he said, the next moment, I grabbed his wrist with the scalpel and jumped at him. He didn't budge at all, my attack was like a fly hitting a column.
"Why?!" I screamed, both furious and desperate. Was he Coven's murderer all along?
"You will laugh if I told you the truth."
"Elaborate!" I roared and his eyes shifted slightly. His bloodied glove freed his wrist from his, my whole wrist and hand already smeared with a stranger's blood. Then he went to place down the scalpel and took off his overalls and mask. As he turned to me, his scarred face was somber and his words soft, almost gentle.
"No one should suffer a fate that the Lord of the Underworld once suffered." His hands reached for his face, tracing the scars all over his skin. "As I said, you evoked pity in me. How could I let you run into your doom when you have the chance to rise up higher than any of the fools in this world?" And I paused. It was hard to believe but after seeing what I saw and hearing what he said, it was like a puzzle finally falling all together. Him showing me cruelty and trying to make me fear him so much that I wouldn't dare to escape. This place, that enabled any escape. My room, which didn't contain any weapons or items which could be used as one. The surveillance I was placed under and his words meant to discourage me, directing my anger at him.
"You...Who are you?" These acts of kindness and protection from a stranger I only met days ago were the most foul thing in his argument. If he truly pitied me, why did he go as far as this.
He stepped back from me.
"It doesn't matter who I am. This is the only grace I will extend on you. Be ready tonight and I will let you go. As I should've let you go after I met you. This is our goodbye." His eyes glowed dimly, then lit up in a piercing red before he disappeared. not leaving any trace behind, only the almost fully dissected corpse and a white overall, a mask and gloves were proof that I didn't imagine this talk.
A window lit up.
[Main Quest of Daystreak: The Lord of the Underworld
Requirements: Player resides in Daystreak and has met the Lord of the Underworld.
Aim: Either stop or assist the Lord of the Underworld in overthrowing the city lord of Daystreak. Your contribution value has an effect on the mission rating.
Failure conditions: The side you assist dies.
Remark: Congrats. You can choose between lesser and greater chaos and dance on the ruins of this doomed city.]
Fuck. What is happening right now?! My thoughts ran wild inside my head. If my guesses were right, I had to follow the Lord of the Underworld asap! I needed to clear my suspicions. Because if, and there was only a tiny little chance, but if he truly was related to Coven somehow, I needed to talk to him! Fast!
I ran out of the room, yelling at the guards: "Our lord has disappeared! We need to find him!" But to my surprise, they didn't move or seemed shocked at all.
"Why aren't you moving?"
"We have our orders. And everybody in this castle, - except you, - knew of his departure already. Please follow us now." And I had no choice but to do what they said. I was imprisoned without staying in a cell and held captive in a place I didn't want to be. At times like this I wished I was strong enough to escape situations like this. For a moment I thought about logging out and restarting my account, so that I could just get to him. But I wouldn't be in time. The beginner tutorial lasted ages and I would be spawned in a smaller town. Daystreak was no beginner town. No matter what I did, I couldn't think of a single way to escape and talk with the Lord of the Underworld.
Suddenly, a tremor ran through the air, not a usual one, but a magical quake. The quake didn't affect the buildings but it made my teeth chatter because of the high pressure exuded from it. I never truly saw the Lord of the Underworld. The last time he fought the city lord's troops was ages ago. The magic quake repeated and then, following in intervals that grew shorter and shorter, A magical Aura more comparable to gods than mere humans exuded from the surface.
"Please, survive." I prayed and closed my eyes. And even if he wasn't Coven, he was someone showing kindness in their own twisted way. He helped me without ever asking me to repay that kindness and I owed him my life for all the accusations I did without proof and remained breathing. So, the least I could do was fright with and along with him.
What a mess! I only wanted a murderer and have to support a rebellion now. That is, if the soldiers would let me go.