Tales of magic: grimoire of transmorfigration
Chapter 9
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Opening Arc- "Crow and Quill"
Chapter 9- "Migration II"
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The cold winter breeze was chilling for the bird who was left behind. Even when cuddling up in his warm nest, he could not find warmth. He was restless, and angry. He was the one who refused to fly away.
When asked about it, the bird responded.
"I'm okay. See, just as I said, the warmth of spring has come to me."
And he sounded like a mad bird indeed.
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Quill.
29th April, 1886.
Somewhere that might have been Pridon Castle, at some point in time.
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The young man lay on the cold hard floor, which was now warm with his blood.
'I won'
He was barely conscious. His body was broken, but was being repaired by Beings greater than his understanding. He believed that, in a short time, he will be capable of getting up.
In such a state, he could not move. He was effectively paralysed.
'But I won.'
The young man was also unable to hear. The force of getting repeatedly slammed around by a thing more than twice his size and weight was enough to burst his eardrums. His internal organs were crushed, many bones broken, and he couldn't breathe.
He was weak, and tired. But he couldn't sleep.
He wondered how he was still alive.
'Ah. The spirits. That's why.'
His broken body continued repair itself, slowly and painlessly. He wondered if he could feel pain after what just happened- whatever it was.
'I can't fudging understand- for the life of me- what they're doing to me. I mean Body replacement spells are quick and painful. This is slow and numbing..'
'Journal, my good friend. Please tell me what their doing.
You don't know either? Come on journal!'
An inconsequential amount of Power was required to Write on Journal. As it turned out, Quill wasn't completely dry.
'Well, If you really don't know then I think we can put our heads together, and think about it. I remember going all 'Jordan isn't my name anymore!' and 'I'm not going to die' or something like that. Then I thrashed that tin can like it was nothing. And then instead of going all 'I'm Quill, mwahaha.', I just stood there for a second saying nothing, before falling down. Now I'm lying in a pool of my own blood, weak, tired and useless for some reason.'
'But I won, right?'
The biting pain, all over his body came back. He had no choice but to endure the agony, and think happy thoughts.
'Journal, I kicked butt out there, didn't I? I know I wasn't weak. What's the matter? Why the long face? We won..'
He thought back to the fight, in shock.
'We didn't win. The b*tch is still breathing. I didn't even touch her. I only broke one of her toys.. Yes, I'm making it sound wierd. The pain might be messing up with my brain.'
As he thought about his brain, a pounding headache afflicted him.
'Damn you stupid spirits! Can't you just heal me faster? Why am I lying here doing nothing! Why can't I just get up and end this fight! Why am I still so weak, after everything! Why?'
Quill shifted on the ground. He had finally regained some muscle power.
He tried to get up, he failed and the pain came in full force.
'shit.'
'Journal, Am I really this pathetic? What did you say? I'm not? But I am. After getting through those soldiers, and going head to head with whatever the queen bitch of Pridon sent to me, I'm left with nothing. I don't have any strength left to even back up my words- all my big talk about defeating the Crown. About how she's weak..'
Quill tried again. It was as though his body was screaming at him. He stopped trying, wondering why he even tried in the first place.
He could hear the noise of his heart beating. Apparently, his ears were fixed.
'Journal, Am I going mad? Yes, I've asked you this question before, but It was only a joke back then. Now I'm asking for real. Tell me. Did I make an stupid decisions? Was I reckless? What was I trying to accomplish, Journal? Why am I here, now?'
'You don't know. Same goes for me. But I do know that I'm here now because I underestimated The Crown. I shouldn't have even picked a fight with her. But then, what was the alternative, rolling over and dying? If I went back home, would it stop her from sending people to kill me, just like she did with Lisa? Or maybe I should've bowed down to her, and hoped she won't kill me?
'No. There wasn't an alternative, do there's no use blaming myself. No point. It happened, because it happened.'
'What about the fight with the thing. Could I have run away, that time I trapped it with my earth spell? Could I have run to... No. I'm thinking in circles like a fool. Again, there's no point in recollecting all that. I've failed. That's all there is to it.'
The pain was ever present, but by now it had reduced to a managable degree.
'I have to think in terms of what I need to do NOW. Right now, Journal, I'm getting up, and going to confront the Queen. There is no other path, no other direction for me to go. I have to win. If I'm not enough, I'll just sacrifice more.'
He got up from the pool of blood. He had to force his body to move. His appendages felt foreign. Like he was making a puppet move, rather than his own body. He still felt the pain though. It sucked.
'Would I always have to do this? No. I'll get used to getting up like this soon enough. What, Journal? You're saying I shouldn't get used to this? But I'm pathetic and useless and I'll probably find myself in the same position again. No, you're talking crap there Journal.'
He attempted to open his mouth. It felt as though his lips were sewed together. His jaw was stiff. He succeeded though.
"Damn you! Crown!"
"Watch your mouth, peasant! You are in the presence of the sovereign of Pridon. Bow your head and show your respect."
The queen and her lapdog were sitting on some undamaged chairs in the room, facing Quill as he was getting up.
"We waited patiently for your recovery. I have other matters to attend to, so I will make this quick. You will kill a Mage. Inexchange for doing so, you will get one month of non-agression between us. I will not attempt to kill you in any way, neither will I send someone to. As long as you do not do the same. Agreed?"
'What?'
'Journal, what is this snake talking about? I'm here to kill *you ! Alright. I guess I'm going overboard again. I need to get a grip...'
'Maybe this is a good move to make. Maybe I could be the snake, coiling around her, waiting for the right time to strike. I'll play along first, but then I'll show my fangs later. One month, is enough time for me to immerse my self in Magic, and obtain enough power to really be a part of this war. Big problem is that I have to kill a Mage first. How am I going to do that.'
"Also, you have seven days to make that happen. You have a period of seven days to kill another Mage, if you don't, then our deal is off and I can and will continue our fight. Also, you are forbidden from attempting to kill Seer, that is impossible for you to do anyways."
She paused for a second and then continued.
"For every extra Mage you kill, you will be awarded another month of peace between us. Do you agree?"
'Only seven days huh. That complicates things. Seven days, is way too small for me to kill Mage. If I'm guessing all of them are as strong as her... But they're not. It could be, that I might have a chance of doing this. Yes, I might just do it, and if I do, I'll be helping myself, more than her...'
"Yes."
"Let's shake hands, as a proof of our agreement to the spirits of fairness and judgement."
"Okay."
Quill touched the queen's hand. It was soft and...
'What kind of thoughts are popping up in my head, Journal? She's twice my age and my enemy. I must be mad.'
"It is done. Now get out of my sight."
'See,what the hell did you expect, brain? She's heartless.'
He managed to stumble his way away from her- his muscles were still strange- and he eventually reached the Door.
"Quill! Use this!"
A small metal object flew across the room, towards Quill. He panicked, thinking it must be a weapon. He couldn't dodge- the sudden movement spiked up the pain and he stood, stuck.
The small object bonced off his back, falling to the ground.
'It's a key. It's just a small key, Journal. I'm that crazy already.'
He had to bend down, and turn around completely to pick it up. Slowly and carefully, that was exactly what he did.
Picking up the keys, he inserted it into the keyhole in the door. It was difficult to open, but he did it eventually.
He continued the brutal labour of just moving out of the room and closing the door. When he was sure he was far from the Door , and away from earshot, he screamed.
"Why am I so damn pathetic!"
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Bird.
29th April, 1886.
Outskirts of Screaming Woods, Weidson.
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Lancaster closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing.
He had done this before- during his training several years back. He didn't think he would need this useless bullshit again.
"Bird."
'All I need to do in order to enter the spirit realm is transfer my consciousness across worlds by connecting to an anchor in the spirit realm. That anchor is my Title. I have to focus on it, with all my being and I'll crossover.'
'But it's easier because I'm bird. Flying around is my specialty.'
Just as he had expected, magic was getting even more interesting. It was getting more dangerous too, but that couldn't be helped.
'Danger has it's own charm.'
He connected his mind to his Title, and let go of his body.
While looking through his Knowledge in the process of this ritual, he stumbled upon two words he was unfamiliar with.
'What the hell is a soul?'
'It is the person. It is the being. It is all that makes you, you. It is all that you are.'
'Then what's a spirit?'
'It's the essence of who you are, minus your body. It's more than just your consciousness, but it is your memories, and your habits and your hopes and dreams. All that makes you who you are, minus your body.'
'Then what am I doing now, demon?'
'You are sending your consciousness across from your soul, to a portion of it- your spirit.'
'This makes sense to you, right?'
There was no response.
'You imp!'
'Do you even know what an imp is?'
'I guess not, but it must be an insult to you.'
Bird felt it, when he had arrived. For one, there wasn't any grass poking his feet, the smell of animal dung was gone, and so was all the sounds that came with the forest.
He opened his eyes. Taking in the new sight.
Nothing. There was nothing.
'You are two hasty, Mage. The journey to the spirit world is a long one. You must completely resonate with your spirit...Where you are right now, can only be called the Abyss.'
'And what is that?'
'It is the endless chasm that stands between the human world and the spirit world. It stretches far and wide, but in terms of height it has no beginning or end. If you decided to fly upwards, you will never reach the top, and if you fly downwards, you will never reach the bottom.'
'I'm guessing all I need to do is move forward, using my spirit again?'
'Yes. It is your spirit here, not your soul. Your spirit has created an imaginary body for your Self(or consciousness) so that you would not feel lost, and lose your connection, returning back to your real body. But this fake body is made out of Power, hence if you run out, you will return to your body instantly.'
"Bird"
He focused once more, anchoring his spirit to his Title.
He didn't feel as though he was moving at all.
'You have arrived at your Sanctuary, Bird.'
'And you helped ne every step of the way.'
'Do not even try that. You know that I am reducing your Power for every second I'm with you.'
'Yes, I do.'
Lancaster looked around. He saw a small living room. It was his house. It was just his house. His family's house.
"Where you expecting something else, Mage?"
'Yes. This isn't as fantastical as I expected.'
He looked towards the door, and thought of going outside and looking around.
'Go outside and you die. Malignant spirits will eat you.'
"What do I do then?"
'Go outside.'
Lancaster smiled. Danger is fun, until it gets real.
'No thanks. I'll stay here and look through my Knowledge, see what kind of spells I can get.'
'You must confront it, though. It's there, waiting for you at Crow's location.'
'What is it'
'The darkness, Bird. The darkness that lurks within you. It has attached itself to your ideal Title, and gained Power from it. Unless you defeat it, this trip would have been a waste of time and Power '
'Who have I not defeated?'
'hmm, let me think- the other Mages; Hunter, The Crown..'
'Please stop, I get the point.'
Lancaster reasoned about it for awhile.
'What kind of darkness are you talking about. I don't have anything like that inside me. You must be mistaken.'
'It is the thing you fear, Lancaster. It is what eats you inside..'
'Enough! I'm not feeding you Power for you talk rubbish.'
'Power that I gave to you, Power that I continue to give to you as per our contract?'
Lancaster stopped talking to the demon.
"All I need to do is become Crow, and I'll have all the time I need to have fun with this.."
And then he spent about two hours immersed in his Knowledge.
It was easier to connect to it in the spirit world, so he learnt more spells in less time. The spells he learnt were the ones he thought were most useful for his current situation and of course the ones that were the most fun.
"I could still have more fun, but my Power is at about half left, right?"
'Yes, that is true.'
"It's time to go outside, then"
Lancaster walked towards his door and pushed it open. What he saw on the other side left him speechless.
There were thousands of 'Things'- that could barely be called 'people'. These things came in different sizes and shapes, some humanoid and some not. They were floating around, some flickering like an old light bulb, and others just teleporting from one location to another.
It was magnificent and fascinating. It was also mystifying to watch.
Most of all, it was fun.
'Welcome to the spirit world, Bird. It's time to face the darkness.'
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