Aiden was drinking his coffee in silence, trying his best not to seem worried. Until suddenly, one of the figures lunged out of the crowd. She ran up to Aiden, trying to tug him out of the chair he was sat in. Suddenly, Cassius approached, his face painted with an immeasurable anger. He pulled back the hood of the cultist, revealing the woman Aiden had met when he first arrived here.
"Please! Don't do this! Don't waste this poor mans life on something you know will fail, I beg of you!" the woman was screaming in agony, almost beginning to cry even. Aiden wanted to escape, but fear froze him in place. Cassius smirked a little, before extending his arm, and gently placing his hand on the woman's head. Aiden expected this to be a forgiving gesture of some sort, until he noticed the woman's hair getting gray, almost as if years of her life went by in mere seconds.
"Wh- what's going on?!" urged Aiden, as he pushed himself backwards in his chair. With his other hand, Cassius gestured at Aiden, prompting multiple figures to emerge and restrain him to his chair. "Cassius! What is the meaning of this, answer me!"
"Watch and learn, Aiden. This is what happens… to those who don't obey." the woman began rapidly aging, hair getting gray, her skin began to contort and sag, her teeth were falling out… until suddenly, she collapsed. Without a noise heard from her mouth, without a twitch of her body, the woman was dead.
"This, this is the gift my Lord has provided me with! Entropy! I am but the forefront of his majesty's greatest army, the leading general. Aiden, let me introduce myself properly once more. Cassius Maelthar, Lord Feyr's servant, and the man who will bring my lord his greatest wish!" without a second thought, Cassius punched the now tied down Aiden, knocking him out cold instantly. He now awoke in Cassius' basement, however, he was looking up at the ceiling.
He was lying down in the middle of what appeared to be a large X shape drawn in a red liquid. "Blood?!" Aiden screamed, looking down at his wrist, which was clearly slit. In a circle around him stood an uncountable number of those hooded figures.
"That's correct, Aiden." Cassius emerged from the shadows just like he did when he first met Aiden almost two months ago, but something about the old sulky man he once knew had now changed so much. It's almost as if he wasn't even him. "It is blood, and it's yours. Remember how I said you need to give your own Essence for the ritual to succeed? Not only that, but you need to give your whole body, your everything." Cassius leaned over Aiden, before crouching down and approaching his face.
"Thank you, Aiden. Thank you for being so foolish. Because of you, I will succeed in my ultimate goal!" Cassius began laughing, and that laugh turned into a cough, before he collapsed down on the floor next to Aiden. "I will bring Lord Feyr onto our world! He will descend from Caelum! And you, you will be his Vessel." He gently touched Aiden's hand, and Aiden began screaming.
"Don't worry, I won't use my power on you." Cassius grinned "You're far too valuable…"
One of the many cultists surrounding Aiden stepped forward, removing his hood, and bringing forth a large wooden staff that was leaned against the wall, one embellished with at least a dozen gemstones. Emeralds, sapphires, amethyst, and at the top, a large ruby. He hit the bottom of the cane against the floor, and began chanting.
"Oh, Lord Feyr!
We are but your humble servants.
You are greater, oh divine creator,
You who shaped the earth and heavens.
Descend to us, our Lord rises anew.
He, whose will rules it all,
We call upon your power true.
On our enemies, we befall.
By blood and Essence, we are bound,
Your spirit now shall bridge the veil.
In darkness, we fall to the ground,
To hear your call, to heed your tale.
Oh, Lord Feyr!
We are those who heed your decree!
Come to us, oh divine creator,
Your power shall be our key!"
Aiden was struggling, trying his best to free himself and escape, but to no avail. The blood-drawn X began to slowly illuminate from Aiden outwards, and he suddenly felt a sharp burning sensation, beginning at his wrist, and spreading throughout his entire body. The gemstones on the mage's staff began periodically glowing, almost as if they matched the beat of Aiden's heart. The chanting kept repeating, more and more cultists joining with each repetition. Soon enough, Cassius too began chanting.
Suddenly, the bloodied X on the floor began shaking, until it arose from the ground, wrapping around Aiden almost like a rope. With a rise of his cane, the mage raised Aiden into the air. The huge ruby at the tip of his staff began finally began glowing as well, and it seemed to be dragging out all of the Essence from Aiden's necklace. Until, from atop the ruby shot out a large and round vermilion orb. It placed itself above Aiden, and began to contort into an almost arrow like shape. Aiden's back arched involuntarily, as he began rising towards the object, until, it suddenly penetrated through his chest, his heart. But, Aiden felt no pain. He wasn't even sure if the arrow had hit him properly.
He then fell back down, and landed on the ground once more. His restraints were loosened and the bloodied X disappeared completely, but Aiden was completely unable to move. The chanting in the background began to lose its volume, the words no longer understandable, and Aiden promptly passed out.
While the chanting continued, Cassius spread out his arms in a sense of victory, screaming at the top of his lungs. "Yes! Yes! Come forth, my Lord, take what is rightfully yours!", everything went according to Cassius' plan. Aiden was too foolish to see through his lies, he wasn't educated enough to know the danger of the the Cults, he didn't even know about Feyr's existence until Cassius told him. And as he was reveling in the moment, the chanting was interrupted, as one of the hooded figures stepped forward, going against Cassius' orders.
"What a pompous celebratory moment you're having, oh Cassius Maelthar… However, your success will be short lived." Cassius turned towards the person, as they were removing their hood. He wasn't even listening to the words they were saying, and he was blinded by the rage of someone going against his orders. From the hood emerged a woman of darker skin with short, curly black hair. Her bright yellow eyes refracted the light off of the lonely light bulb in the middle of the room. As Cassius was set on punishing what he thought was nothing more than a disobeying subordinate, the woman drew out from under her robe a short wakizashi sword, quickly striking Cassius and jumping back. "Do not let your arrogance fool you, I am no subordinate of yours." Cassius' eyes widened as his eyes locked with an adversary, his rage growing more and more.
"And what do you expect to gain here. No matter how strong you are, you are alone!" Cassius placed his hand on his hip, readying his sword as well.
"Oh, don't worry, I would never dare to come here alone." the woman pointed at the door to the basement, which was promptly blown up, as dozens of people rushed in. Cassius quickly looked away. "First rule of combat, Cassius… don't take your eyes off of the opponent." the woman quickly lunged back at Cassius, whose focus was now shifted towards the broken door.
She slashed his arm, before backing off slightly. "Imbue, 7 units!" Her wakizashi began violently glowing, but not in a blue light, like Aiden's Essence did, but instead a distinct yellow light was emitted from the blade. The straight blade suddenly took on a serrated shape, with many teeth along the edge. She began rapidly slicing at Cassius, as his focus returned to the battle and he drew out his own sword. They began clashing blades, the sound of steel colliding reverberating through the large basement. Despite this altercation, the cultists never stopped their chanting. The woman's backup had rushed their way down the stairs, and they were now coming into contact with the armed guards Cassius had placed near the entrance.
Their clashing continued, and as she hit his sword near the very top, the woman smirked slightly. "Discharge!" she screamed, and all the pulsing yellow Essence from the sword focused at the sword's tip, in an orb like manner. The orb soon exploded, and although it didn't wound Cassius a lot, it left him with his guard down. Quickly dashing around him, she attacked, slicing Cassius across the shoulder. But, Cassius wasn't paying it any mind. His focus was back to the top of the stairs, where a young blonde woman stood.
"Clara… I'm so glad." Cassius collapsed on the floor, but he was smiling. "I can't believe… that I need to be saved."