Going Our Separate Ways

Scia woke up today. Finally. She was worrying me.

“What happened?” she asked. “Where are we?”

“We're hiding out in a warehouse right now,” I told her. “It was the best place I could think of.”

“Zack's... dead, isn't he?” she asked.

“Yep,” I told her.

“The Crow did it?” she asked.

“Apparently it's the 'Black' Crow now,” said. “Yeah, it was him.”

“I see,” she said.

“Oh, yeah, I got you this,” I said, tossing her a spiked collar I got from a Hot Topic.

“What the hell is this for?” she asked me.

“To cover up the scarring and the stitches on your throat,” I said. “It would be weird to walk around like that in public.”

“Why a spiked collar though?” she asked. “Why not get me a turtle neck sweater?”

“Because turtle necks are fucking ugly,” I said.

“Whatever,” she said. “I'll wear it til I can find something better.”

She then noticed the rapier lying on the ground.

“That's one of Zack's swords, isn't it?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “It's identical to the one ParaDan uses.”

“Who?” she asked.

“My future self,” I said. “It's complicated.”

“So, if he's from the future, then this might be the present version of his sword, right?” she asked.

“Possibly,” I said.

“Can I have it?” she asked.

“What?” I asked.

“You've already got, like, three swords, don't you?”

“Two swords, a knife, some brass knux, and a handgun,” I said.

“See!?” she said. “You've got like, twelve weapons already!”

“That is a huge exaggeration,” I pointed out.

“It would only be fair for you to give the sword to me,” she said.

“Fine,” I said. “But I should warn you. That's no normal sword. When I held it, I could feel my emotions starting to slip away.”

She picked it up off the ground.

“Yeah, you're right,” she said. “This sword is definitely affecting me somehow. Not much, but I can still feel it.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I should probably get going.”

“What?” she asked. “You're not gonna stick around?”

“I've been gone too long,” I said. “I have to get back to the others.”

“I see,” she said. “See you later, I guess.”

I prepared to leave, but before I made it out she stopped me.

“Can I ask you something before you go?” she asked.

“Sure,” I said.

“What was... what was my dad like?” she asked.

I had to stop and think for a minute. That was a tough question. Actually describing Malkator like that wasn't easy.

“Well, you remind me a lot of him,” I said.

“Really?” she asked. “How so?”

“He was violent and reckless, and he had an inner darkness that he couldn't always control,” I said. “But despite that, he was a good person. He fought against the Fears for the sake of the humans, and in the end, he died for them.”

“I see,” she said.

“I'd better get out of here,” I said. “Bye.”

I left after that. Not sure when 'll be seeing her again, but I'm sure I will.

Malkator's not the only one with darkness in his heart. I felt it for a while now. I have my own inner darkness. And I'm not sure how long I can resist it.

Zack Waters

Scia and I were attacked earlier. A man, about 30-ish, who was missing his right arm. He had two swords with him. A rapier, that was slung across his back in a sheath, and a scimitar, which he held in his remaining hand. He was pretty muscular, and had this crazy look in his eyes as he approached us.

“Zack!?” Scia said when she saw him. “What are you doing here!?”

“You know this guy?” I asked.

“His name is Zack Waters,” Scia said. “He was my friend once.”

“I see,” I said. “What are you doing here?”

“I'm here to kill you!” he shouted, charging at me.

I stopped his attack with my wakizashi and kicked him away from me. Scia moved toward us but I raised a hand to stop her.

“Stay back,” I said, switching my grip on my sword. “I've can handle this.”

Zack charged at me again, and I blocked his attack with all my strength. That guy may have only had one arm, but he was really strong. But he was still human. He attack me again, but I parried all of his attacks. I managed to kick him again, knocking him away.

“I don't wanna hurt you,” I told him.

“Too bad!” he shouted, swinging his sword.

I tried blocking again, but this time he knocked the sword from my hand. He then kicked me in the face, knocking me over. I didn't see what happened after that, but I heard Scia screaming. When I got up, he was standing over her body. His blade was covered in blood, and she had a wound on her chest, and her head was lying a few feet away.

“You killed her!” I exclaimed, angrily.

“That's right,” he said, turning to me. “And you're next!”

I lost control. I'm not completely sure what happened. I could feel something moving beneath my skin, and then it burst out of my shoulder blade. A long black tentacle, dripping with black blood extended toward Zack and broke his sword in half. He panicked and drew his rapier, charging at me with it. Three more tentacles sprouted from my back, and entangled him. I grabbed my sword from the ground and rushed at him, ready to impale him on the end of it. But just before I did, I stopped. The image of Red Daniel's death had played in my head again. All of what I had felt back then... I couldn't do it. I couldn't kill him.

The tentacles released their hold on him, and went back beneath my skin. I could feel the wounds they had sprouted from closing up. I returned my sword to its sheath.

“W-Why!?” he asked. “Why won't you kill me!?”

“Go,” I told him.

“What?” he asked.

“Get the hell out of here!” I demanded. “Before I change my mind!”

He got up and started running, terrified. He didn't get very far before a bolt of lightning struck him, frying him. He dropped to the ground, dead.

“What the hell?” I said.

“That was pathetic,” said a voice from on top of a rooftop.

I looked up and saw a familiar face. Almost familiar. He had changed a lot. He had eagle-like eyes and black wings sprouting from his back. His right arm was extremely muscular and coated in feathers, ending in a viscous talon. More patches of feathers covered random parts of his exposed skin, and a pair of sickly curved swords were tucked into his belt. Despite all of the changes, there was no doubt about who he was. It was Andrew Miles. The Crow.

“Andrew!” I said. “Why the hell did you do that!?”

“My name is no longer Andrew,” he said. “I am the Black Crow. And to answer your other question, I did it because you wouldn't do it yourself. That was pretty damn disappointing just now.”

He glided down from the building and landed next to Zack's corpse.

“You could have saved e some trouble by killing him yourself,” he said.

“I couldn't,” I said. “I can't bring myself to kill anyone else.”

“And that's why you're weak,” he said. “You're too hesitant. You can barely beat a human as you are. How do you expect to defeat the Fears if you cling to light?”

“What was that?” I asked.

“You cling to your foolish morals,” he said. “They won't help you win. Darkness is the only path that can lead to victory.”

“That's not what Malkator- Our friend- Believed!” I said.

“And look what happened to him,” he said. “He's dead now, because he insisted on sacrificing himself for a bunch of worthless humans.”

“How dare you!” I snapped.

I drew my sword and charged at him angrily. He raised his talon and caught my blade in his hand. Fire burst from my sword and sparks flew from his hand.

“You know, the Convocation wants you dead,” he said. “The only reason you're still alive right now is because I still need you.”

“What's that supposed to mean!?” I demanded. “Need me for what!?”

“That's for me to know and you to find out,” he said.

I heard movement from behind me and turned my head. Scia was sitting up again, and was sewing her head back on with steel thread. I backed off from Andrew.

“What the fuck?” I said.

“Well, that's unique,” Andrew said.

“Scia, are you okay?” I asked, running over to her.

“I think so,” she said.

“How did you survive that?” I asked.

“Not sure,” she said. “What happened to Zack?”

“This guy killed him,” I said, glaring at Andrew.”

“You... did what?” she asked, before collapsing.

“Scia!?” I exclaimed. “What's wrong!?”

The answer was obvious. She had reattached her head... somehow... but she had still lost a lot of blood. I tore off my vest and tried to plug her wound with it. I normally wouldn't use my vest for that, but it had been all but destroyed from those tentacles.

“She won't last long,” Andrew said, picking up Zack's corpse. “I killed some proxies earlier. Their corpses are hidden nearby.”

“Why are you telling me that?” I asked.

“Figure it out,” he said, spreading his wings and taking off.

I stayed by Scia, trying to stop the bleeding and figure out how to help her. While I was doing that, I couldn't stop wondering how she was able to reattach her severed head. Malkator couldn't do that. Or, at least, I do think he could. I don't think has ever decapitated. Maybe it was something the Archive did to her while they were creating her. But I don't think Malkator was capable of that.

That's when it hit me. Malkator had the power to regenerate his wounds using the energy he's absorbed. If Scia could absorb more energy through the mouth on her hand, she might be able to recover. And then there were those proxies Andrew mentioned. Malkator said before that all proxies carry a small amount of eldritch energy due to their extended exposure to the Fears. Those dead proxies should still have some energy left.

I left Scia alone for a little while, so I could find them. Wasn't too hard. I went back and carried her through the Godsway to them. I placed her hand on their bodied, and she instinctively bit them. At least, I think it was instinct. She was unconscious, so I'm not sure why it came so naturally to her. She drained the energy from all of them, and then I waited. Eventually, the wounds on her chest and neck faded into scars. She hasn't woken up yet, though.

I teleported her somewhere safe to recover. I can only hope she'll be okay.

And one more thing. I went back to where I had fought Zack earlier. His Rapier was still there, and it was completely unharmed. It should have taken some damage from Andrew's lightning, but it didn't. It was perfectly fine. And also, it's completely identical to the one ParaDan carries. When I picked it up, I noticed something. My emotions... they became weaker. It's hard to explain. I got back to where Scia was and set it down. I don't think holding onto it for too long is a good idea. I don't wanna risk damaging my emotions any further.