Chapter 23 - Origin Story Part Three

𝐼'𝑉𝐸 𝐺𝑅𝑂𝑊𝑁 𝑁𝑈𝑀𝐵 𝑡𝑜 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙. 𝐵𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑛. 𝑆𝑘𝑖𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑, 𝑠𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑝 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑡, 𝑝𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑, 𝑏𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑, 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑧𝑒𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒. 𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑡 𝑠𝑜 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑢𝑡. 𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑠 𝐼𝑧𝑧𝑖𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑘𝑖𝑑𝑠. 𝑀𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑦'𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑎𝑔𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑟𝑙𝑠. 𝐼 𝑒𝑛𝑣𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑂ℎ ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝐼 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑛𝑑. 𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛.

 Cariot sits beside Annabelle wondering if he'll ever see his family again.

****

 "Hey Ares."

 "Mmm."

 "Ares." "Leave me be boy."

 "HEY ARES!!!"

 The sudden shout of his name jolts Ares awake.

 "Oh it's you Sophia, What are you doing here? Wait, did something happen to Sally!? The baby!?"

 "No, they are fine. She's over with Mary and the newborns. We finally found them." "...THE KIDS!!" "Yes, we know where they are." Sophia informs him. "Splash some water on your face, and gear up. I'll explain everything en route." "Niklaus, did anyone tell him yet?" "Yes. Otama is there now." "Good." "You ready for this?" "It's taken four months to track them down. I'm more than ready. Let's save these kids."

 (Character Bio) 

 Name: Sophia The Siren. Age: Ask and Die, Species: Human, Gender: Female. Job: Paladin of the Holy Order. Class: Healer. Subclass: Disenchanter, Rank: S. Description: H 158 cm, W 50 kg, Statuesque. Appearance: Long Curly Black Hair, Light Petrol Green Eyes, Light Skin Tone. Gear: A Matching Light-Green Chemise And Skirt, A Dark Green Overskirt, Dark Green Belt, Olive Colored Shoes. Weapon: Her Voice.

****

 "Ca…ri…ot?"

 "Annabelle, You're finally talking to me." Cariot moves closer to her, happy she's talking to him.

 "Cariot…I-I want…."

 "Food, do you want food? How about some water?"

 "I want you to…"

 "Anything, I'll do anything for you."

 "Kill me."

 "WHAT!!! No, no, no, I-I can't do that!!"

 "Please kill me. I just want this pain to stop."

 Cariot begins to cry. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry I can't do that, I just can't."

 "Please Cariot, kill me."

****

 "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!!!" Bellows Niklaus. "They've been at the school this whole time."

 "Niklaus, please lower your voice." Ares asked of him. "Where exactly at the school are they?"

 "Michael and his apprentice Adonis discovered that a couple of the rooms in the faculty building have been converted into what's known as a dimensional zone in order to hide the kids in plain sight."

 "𝐻𝑜𝑤 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠?" Signed Otama.

 "Speak up Otama. I can't hear you."

 Otama answers Niklaus with an elbow to his jaw.

 "Keep hitting on me and the wife might get jealous. Heh, heh, heh." Niklaus lets out a hearty laugh.

 Otama flips him the bird.

 "Oh, now you want to fuck me is that it?"

 "𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛'𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑙𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑛. 𝐼'𝑑 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢."

 "Challenge accepted little lady." Niklaus starts moving towards her. His hands reaching out.

 Otama grabs one of her boot daggers and attempts to plunge it into Niklaus thigh only to have the steel blade snap upon impact.

 "Did you really think that puny little knife could get through my defenses? I'm the best dam tanker around."

 Niklaus moves his hands closer, and of all things starts tickling her like a parent playing with their child.

 "Alright you two, that's enough horsing around. Now Sophia, if you would please answer Otamas question?" Ares asked, giving her his full attention.

 "The reason they were able to get away with this for so long is that almost all of the faculty members are involved in this whole ordeal. They probably believed no one would notice."

 "What else do you know?" Niklaus asked, his arms folded, waiting for a response.

 "The ones behind this are…"

 When Sophia is done speaking Otama clenches her fists. Her face awash with anger, her body is shaking with rage. Niklaus puts his arm around her.

 "Take a breath kid. You'll have your revenge soon enough."

 She takes a deep breath in, holds it for a spell, and then slowly lets it out. She repeats this process, until her body stops shaking.

 Ares can still see Otama's rage burning in her eyes. He knows Dead Shot Otama is gonna fuck shit up.

 (Character Bio and Update.)

 Name: Dead Shot Otama. Age: 25. Job: Paladin of the Holy Order. Class: Hunter. Subclasses: Unknown Rank: S. Description: H 170 cm, W 63 kg, Athletic Body Build. Appearance: Short Green Hair, Silver Eyes, Light Brown Skin. Gear: Green Leather Armor Cuirass, Bracers, and Tassets. Brown Leather Armor: Spaulders, Greaves, Gorget, Belt Green Pants, Black Leather Boots, And A Black Buckle Bag. Weapon: Slingshot, Three Steel Boot Daggers (Broke The Fourth One.)

 Name: Ares.

 Gear: Black Short-Sleeve Shirt, Black Canvas Pants. Blood Red Leather Armor: Hood, Cuirass, Sleeves, Spiked Pauldrons, Bracers, Gauntlets, Broad Belt, Tassets, Greaves, Black Banded Combat Boots.

 Name: Nicklaus.

 Gear: Black Short-Sleeved Shirt, Black Canvas Pants. Ashen Leather Armor: Torso, Pauldrons, Bracers, Belt, Tassets, Greaves. Black Banded Combat Boots.

****

 "Alright Annabelle. I'll do it." Cariot kneels down beside her.

 "C-cariot…"

 His name is all she can say before Cariot picks her head up and slams it back down onto the floor. He does this over and over, until he's covered in Annabelle's blood, brain matter, and skull fragments.

 "Holy shit kid!! I was just fucking with you."

 Cariot turns his head to see Jefferson and Izzie standing there.

 "You better show him Jefferson, he looks befuddled."

 Jefferson raises his hand and snaps his fingers. "Cariot I want you to kill me." Cariot looks down at Annabelle well what is left of her that is.

 "Do you get it now kid? I used magic to manipulate you into thinking she wanted to die. I'm actually surprised you went through with it."

 Cariot looks back up at Jefferson.

 "Can I tell you something, kid?"

 "..."

 "So, when your little friend there called your name just before you decided to wear her, that was all her, not me." Jefferson proclaims. "That's some ironic fucking shit right there. This girl says your name on her own for the first time and you just fucking kill her."

 Cariot continues staring at the pair when a figure in black appears. Neither Jefferson nor Izzie react as it moves to Cariot's side. When it leans down it's breath feels like a winter wind is blowing across his skin. In a gravelly voice it asks.

 "Do you seek vengeance boy? If so, I'll help you, but it will cost you." It whispers something into the boy's ear then disappears.

****

 "Alright get ready to disembark once the carriage stops." Sophia tells them.

 "For what?" Niklaus inquiries. "We are nowhere near the school." 

 "Michael had his other apprentices Daphne and Penelope set up two teleportation circles. Daphne's circle will take us right to Michael and Adonis, and Penelope's circle will take us to Calypso."

 "Listen up." All eyes turn to Ares. "Niklaus, Sophia, you're with me. We'll head to Michael. Otama, regroup with Calypso and Damien. Once you do make sure you guys kill every last mother fucker involved in this. The Cardinals will be evacuating the kids. Aid them as needed."

 As soon as the carriage stops Ares, Niklaus, and Sophia head towards Daphne on the right. Otama heads towards Penelope on the left.

 (Character Bio)

 Name: Daphne. Job: Apprentice. Class: Mage. Description: Unknown. Appearance: Unknown. Gear: White Canvas Robe, Black Duster Coat, Black Belt, Brown Low Boots. Weapon: Red Tome.

Name: Penelope. Job: Apprentice. Class: Mage. Description: Unknown. Appearance: Unknown. Gear: Gray Canvas Robe, Red Duster Coat, Brown Belt, Black Low Boots. Weapon: Blue Tome.

"It's about damn time you got here!!" Yells Michael.

 Upon their arrival they see Michael has his grimoire open in his left hand while his right hand is on a wall. Adonis has both hands on the wall and is chanting something too fast to comprehend what is being said.

 "What's going on Michael? You were supposed to wait for us." Asked Ares. 

 "Niklaus…I'm…sorry." Michael's voice cracks.

 "ANNABELLE!!!" Bellows Niklaus.

 "What the fuck happened?!" Demands Ares.

 "I noticed Annabelle's life force had disappeared, I'm currently using a dimensional binding spell I made up on the fly on everyone in the room, and Adonis is working on breaking through the barrier to reach them."

 "I'M NOT FUCKING WAITING!!!" Niklaus begins punching the wall while the mythril bangles on his wrists begin to move as if they were symbiotic. They proceed to cover his already bloodied fists and then morph into mythril gauntlets.

 "♪𝓗𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓶𝓮 𝓸𝓱 𝓛𝓸𝓻𝓭 𝓪𝓫𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝓘 𝓫𝓮𝓼𝓮𝓮𝓬𝓱 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓮. 𝓖𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓽 𝓶𝓮 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝔂 𝓹𝓸𝔀𝓮𝓻 𝓼𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓘 𝓶𝓪𝔂 𝓪𝓲𝓭 𝓶𝔂 𝓪𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓮𝓼 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓲𝓻 𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓷𝓮𝓮𝓭. ♫" Sophia intoned. "♪ 𝓢𝓽𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓱 𝓑𝓸𝓸𝓼𝓽, 𝓢𝓹𝓮𝓮𝓭 𝓑𝓸𝓸𝓼𝓽, 𝓢𝓽𝓪𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓪 𝓑𝓸𝓸𝓼𝓽, 𝓔𝓷𝓭𝓾𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓑𝓸𝓸𝓼𝓽, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓒𝓸𝓶𝓹𝓵𝓮𝓽𝓮 𝓗𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰. ♫"

****

 Boom! Boom! Boom!

 "Sounds like we have company Izzie."

 Boom! Boom! Boom!

 "I think you're right Jefferson. How long do you think it'll take them to break in?"

 Boom! Boom! Boom!

 "Not long. Say Izzie, can you move right now?"

 "Nope."

 "Oh well, looks like we'll just have to wait then."

 They don't wait too long before the wall comes down and Niklaus steps through. He does a quick sweep of the area and then he sees her. Annabelle's lifeless body lying there with Cariot kneeling beside her, covered in his daughter's blood. In a blink of an eye he has Cariot by his throat lifting him up off the ground.

 "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO ANNABELLE YOU LITTLE BASTARD!!!" Niklaus yells right in Cariots face. Cariot just stares vacantly at him.

 "That's enough Niklaus." Said Ares, his blade drawn.

 "Seriously Ares, you would turn your blade on me?"

 "Put. My. Son. Down. Niklaus. I won't ask again." His voice is calm, but firm.

 "♪ 𝓓𝓲𝓼𝓹𝓮𝓵𝓵. ♫" Intones Sophia.

 Both men blink several times. Finally realizing they were under a spell.

 "Cariot, Ares, I-I." Niklaus stammers as he puts Cariot down.

 "You and Ares were being manipulated by him." Sophia said, pointing to Jefferson. "If I had to guess, he used an aggression enchantment on you the second you broke through the wall."

 "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Niklaus begins weeping over his daughter's body.

 "Do you hear that Izzie? He sounds just like his daughter when she cried for me to stop."

 Niklaus wipes away his tears, and turns around to face Jefferson.

 "Sorry Jefferson. I was too busy torturing the boy. His screams sounded so wonderful. Even now I can still hear them echoing in my head. It gets me wet every time I think about it."

 Ares turns to face Izzie, his grip tightens on the hilt of his crimson long sword.

 "Well they sound the same to me, after all she was a fun little fuck toy."

 A crackling sound begins emanating from Niklaus.

 "I mean come on there were some nights I couldn't walk when I was done with her.

 The crackling sound intensifies, as Niklaus shifts into a boxer's stance.

 "Hey I just thought of something, maybe she was a tanker like her daddy."

 Little bits of lightning begin arcing and dancing across Niklaus's body.

 "Because she could take a pounding."

 CRACK!!! The sound of a whip snapping echoes inside the room. "Thunderclap Punch." Niklaus is now standing next to Izzie after blasting Jefferson in the face with such force he broke the sound barrier doing it.

 Ares is now in front of Izzie, the tip of his blade pressing into her throat causing a slight trickle of blood to run down her throat and blade.

 "What did you do to my son? You fucking bitch!!"

 "Hey now was that love tap supposed to hurt?" Jefferson asks as he pulls himself from the wall. "It was a cute attempt. Too bad I have a resistance to all magic." 

 "How are you still alive? That punch should have ended you?

 "I guess it's time to show them Izzie."

 Jefferson begins walking towards Izzie like nothing happened. Both men instinctively jump backwards realizing something was amiss.

 "Michael what the hell are you doing out there?!" Niklaus yells out to him.

 "Can't you tell? Or perhaps not. This whole room smells of blood after all. Hey you out there, show them." Jefferson shouts.

 Two round objects are thrown into the room and land at the feet of the three paladins. It's the heads of Adonis and Michael. Standing in the opening Niklaus made are two hooded figures.

 "I've grown bored of this. Let's show 'em, Izzie."

 Jefferson and Izzie begin transforming. 

 "So our intel was correct after all." Said Sophia. "You guys are Drows."

 (Character Bio)

 Name: Jefferson and Izzie, Age: ?, Species: Drow, Gender: One Male, One Female. Job: ?, Class: Mage, Healer, Subclass: ?, Rank: ? Description: Height: ?, Weight: ?, Wiry And Athletic Build. Appearance: Dark Grey Skin With Shades Of Blue, Bright Red Eyes, Stark White Hair. Gear: ? Weapon: ?

 "Crimson Blade Ares, Heavy First Niklaus, Sophia The Siren." One by one Jefferson's deep voice calls each of them by title and name. "Michael The Sage, Dead Shot Otama, Calypso The Unseen, and Damian The One Who Converses. You all are guilty of slaughtering our people; raping our women, and torturing innocent children."

 "My daughter was innocent!!" Bellows Niklaus.

 "So were my daughters!! So were Izzie's younger sisters!!" Counters Jefferson. "But that didn't stop you worthless fucking humans from coming into our homes pushing your ideology on us. And when we resisted you began raping and killing our families."

 "We waited and waited until at last we got our revenge on all those involved, and their families. All forty-five of you lower life forms got slaughtered the same way you slaughtered our people." Said Izzie.

 "The blood moon massacre of the forty-four. That was the worst assessment I ever got. Even now I still have nightmares. The smell of burning flesh; decapitated bodies, and mutilation of others." Niklaus shakes his head trying to forget that night.

 "What do you mean forty-four?" Izzie asks in confusion. "We killed all forty-five of you humans that night. Men, women, and children. No one survived."

 "You're wrong about that, Izzie. There was a survivor." States Niklaus. "I would know I brought her out of that hell. It was rough in the beginning considering she had her tongue cut out, nearly every bone broken. But with hard work and a drive to hunt you fuckers down she became the youngest member to join our ranks."

 "You lie."

 "Oh, it's no lie. In fact Dead Shot Otama is here and probably laying waste to your allies as we speak. Ares, Sophia, let's end this shit once and for all."

 "For thy honor of our fallen brothers and sisters we shall end you all. So they may finally rest in peace at last." Replies Sophia.

 "Sophia, Michael, Adonis go help the others. Niklaus and I will be the ones to end them." 

 "Have you lost your mind?" Izzie asked. "Michael and Adonis are dead."

 "Oh, are you sure? Cause I don't feel dead."

 Jefferson and Izzie turn towards the opening to see both Michael and Adonis standing there alive and well.

 "I am called The Sage for a reason you know. A simple illusion spell is mere child's play for me." Boasts Michael.

 "Michael, you have your orders now, go." 

 "Come along Adonis, Sophia let's leave these two be." With a snap of his fingers all three vanish.

 "Finally, let's end this once and for all. You ready Niklaus?"

 "Jefferson is mine."

 "Then I'll take Izzie."

 All four charge at once.

 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝐼 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠. 𝑊𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠, 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠, ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡.

 "I call upon the ancient god Ah Puch. It's time to awaken and come forth to this mortal realm."

 "What is it you command of me?"

 "By my command, destroy the souls of those that look like that thing!!!" Cariot shouts pointing at Jefferson.

 "As you command. For every enemy I kill, I'll kill someone you love and care about. For that is the price you pay for summoning me."

 𝑇ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝐼 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑢𝑡.

****

 "There you have it. Now you know the full truth of Annabelle's death. Ajax I'm the one who killed your sister." Archbishop Judas sits there in silence waiting for what comes next.

 "Fifty-six fucking years you kept this from me!!!" Ajax's voice rises as he does. "Why tell me now after all these years? And keep in mind if I don't like the answer I will fucking end you!!"

 "It's faster to show you than to tell you. That box there contains Memory Pearls. I was also granted permission from His Holiness to include the ones our parents, and everyone involved with that incident. You'll find your answer in one of them."

 Ajax grabs the box and storms out. Leaving the archbishop sitting there.