Rocks from the cavern ceiling stopped falling down, along with the tremors, but the spread of vegetation and new enemies of plant-like monsters kept producing all across the ruined city. “An’t this some bullshit…” Barry mumbled, as he checked out the quest that was given to everyone of Haglethorn.
“Barry, what you see?” Puck asked, curious of what the reason was for giant roots to be sprouting down below Haglethorn. Kat had similar thoughts as well.
He looked back at the light show of purple beams that was being shot out from where the gateway portal was. “This whole city is getting covered with plants from the roots, and something is going on where the gateway is. Everyone’s asking me where I am. We need to get back, ASAP!”
He then hopped back down to where Kat and Puck were, Barry was still irritated by the fact that Puck followed him, especially since he had told Kat not to allow him to do so. “Don’t think that I’m over why you’re here, Puck.” He scolded, which only made Puck look the other way with an angry look of his own.
“And you, Kat...” The sound of Barry’s voice, being directed at her, made Kat look down at her feet as she felt extremely nervous of what Barry was going to say to her, her hair covering her terrified expression.
Barry wanted to yell at her for not only allowing Puck to track him down, but also for joining him. Yet, seeing her demeanor of guilt made him decide not to rant at her anymore, especially given the situation at the moment. “Forget it, let’s just go.” He then began moving in the direction the two came from.
She felt a flush of relief after being let off the hook by him. Still, Kat knew that he would have wanted to badger her for coming there with Puck and still admitted to herself for being in the wrong. Quickly, her and Puck joined him on their way back.
The area that the trio was in, hadn’t yet been affected by the proliferation of vegetation, but soon it would be after about 10 minutes of traversing through the ruins. Buildings, streets, and everything around, would become decorated with moss, vines, and lovely flowers.
“Everything looks pretty.” Puck commented, wondering why Barry would think of this as a bad thing.
Barry shook his head as they went, “Sure, this damned city may look nice with all this new life. But I promise you, this is entirely bad.” He wondered what the true threat was behind this beautiful scenery.
Suddenly, the roots from above would branch out ahead of the street that they were running on and block off their only path back to the gateway. “Dammit.” Barry began looking around to try and find another route, but they were all blocked off as well, it seemed like the roots were caging them inside.
They would find themselves blocked off from the rest of the city, caged by the giant roots that befallen upon them. But not only that, as the roots settled into the ground, the three witnessed the wall of roots that were in front of them down the road shapeshifting into something. Barry approached it, as well did the other two, for a closer inspection.
The mangled wall of roots warped around, exotic plants grew from it at the final stages of its transformation as decor, resembling a large door with a skull figurehead embedded in the center. Red glowing lights emitted from the eye sockets of the skull, giving it a sinister appearance. “What could this be?” Kat asked, never having seen such a thing before.
Suddenly, a holographic timer would appear above the skull. ‘20:00’ was what was read above it, the clock ticking down afterwards.
Based on how the roots had formed a door and a timer suddenly appeared in front of it, Barry only had one assumption that seemed plausible. “It seems like the door will open for us once the time runs out, but somehow I don’t think that’s all it has in store for us…”
Puck looked behind and spotted a couple of things that he hadn’t seen before. “Look! Big flower buds, there’s lots of them here, Puck think they look very pretty.”
As Puck pointed out, Barry and Kat looked back and, to their surprise, were astonished to see that he wasn’t kidding. All sorts of exotic flower bulbs, ranging between 4-6 ft in size, had grown around the area they were in. “This can’t be good. Something's up, be ready.” Barry warned with caution to the group, drawing his greatsword.
“What?” Puck was confused as to why he would think the pretty flowers were something to worry about. “Barry, why are you scared of flowers? Flowers smell nice and do no harm.”
Kat equipped her mace in hand, sharing the same thought that Barry had. “Puck, I don’t these flowers are a good thing, is what Barry’s trying to tell you.”
Again, the little Kobold was flabbergasted. “What! Puck can’t believe you two are scared of flowers.” The Kobold then began walking up to one of the flower bulbs. “Here, Puck will show you two that flowers are nice.”
“Puck, wait! Don’t-” Kat was about to warn Puck again, but had stopped once something unusual began to happen that caused Puck to stop in place.
Suddenly, the flower bulb that Puck was walking up to, began to bloom. This flower bulb in particular was a lively green color with hot pink streaks that ran down to its sides. As its petals parted in a twirl, a claw of roots and vines stretched out. “W-What!?” Puck gasped, backing away from the blooming flower.
Barry stood in front of the two with his weapon ready, as they continued to watch what appeared to be a plant-like monster emerge from the bulb. A monstrous hunched like jockey with barbed claws and feet, with a large gaping mouth of toothpick teeth, leaped out. It had no eyes, but appeared to sniff the air until it seemed to lock its sight’s on Barry.
“Does that look nice to you, Puck?” Barry asked, in a sarcastic tone.
Puck had to admit that this time, these flowers may not be friendly this time around. “No, Puck admit these flowers are scary.”
The creature lunged at Barry, and the fight to outlast the timer began. Barry responded to his foe’s aggressive assault with a heavy swing of his weapon, connecting with the dense fibers of the being’s body, knocking and slashing it to the side. He would then follow after it, to finish the job.
Puck and Kat would then witness one of the other flower bulbs blooming, and out from it came a bunch of venus-flytrap like creatures with adhesive vine appendages. They scurried towards the two in a haste to latch on to them for their first meal.
Kat was ready to start swinging at the little pests, but was not expecting for Puck to exterminate them all with his first action. She watched as the Kobold unleashed a mighty flamethrower upon the mob of enemies, incinerating them all to ashes. “W-Wow, that was amazing, Puck.” She complimented.
A smile formed on Puck’s face as he jumped with excitement, “Puck is nature’s natural enemy. Puck will burn everything with fire!”
Puck began running all over the place, spewing scorching hot flames everywhere that had vegetation, but mainly targeting the flower bulbs that had yet to bloom. Kat would watch as the beautiful environment would soon become a blazing hell of chaos due to the little devil that was having the time of his life.
Barry would return, having cut down the jockey like creature with a couple of hacks from his greatsword. “It might not have been a bad thing to have Puck here right now, given the unexpected event.” Barry admitted. “Surviving till the clock runs out just might be a breeze.”
It was then, after opening his big mouth, that the rest of the flower bulbs that were set on fire, began to bloom all at once. Barry let out a bothersome sigh, believing that he shouldn’t have said anything and readied himself, as well did Kat.
Emerging out of their cocoons were a variety of different plant monsters. Ranging from beast-like, humanoids, gremlins, etc. However, thanks to the ongoing conflagration that Puck had caused, most of the new enemies were inflicted with intense burns and were ignited by his raging flames. It was a complete field of hazard all around for them.
Barry then got the bright idea of taking this opportunity to finally help Kat reach level 10, so that she could unlock her Class. The fight was in their favor thanks to Puck’s affinity with fire, and if she could get some easy kills, then reaching her milestone shouldn’t be an issue. “Hey, Kat. Same thing as before, me and Puck will soften the enemies just enough for you to finish them off, and you’ll achieve what you always wanted. Your Class.”
The plan sounded good to her, feeling encouraged, she gave a firm nodded with determination in her eyes. “Understood!”
Still, despite the disadvantage that their enemies had, a few of the larger monsters immediately went to target Puck. They could not allow this monstrosity to spread his mayhem elsewhere that their vegetation laid claim to. Puck would evade the best he could against the whiplashes of vines from one creature that was like a walking rose pottery plant, while another was in the shape of a nightshade wolf pouncing at Puck with its poisonous claws. The Kobold would scurry away, firing back at his attackers with his flamethrower attacks.
Barry would activate, “King’s Commanding Presence”, boosting now only his physical stats, but also Puck and Kat’s temporarily. They felt themselves invigorated with newfound strength, becoming more confident to overcome the trial they were in.
Lunging forward into the heated battlefield, Barry aided Puck against the wolf with a horizontal swing of his weapon, cutting off both of its front limbs. The beast toppled to the burning ground and tried to retaliate with a bite, but was countered with a kick to the chin and was grabbed by the nose. “Kat!”
He then chucked the injured wolf’s body with one arm against the wall of roots for her to finish off, seeing as how its HP was at around 20%.
The scorched two legged wolf tried standing back up but was immediately struck by Kat’s mace. It would try to fight back against Kat, only to continue being bonked on the head multiple times, until finally its head was caved in with one final pummel.
Together with Puck, the two shuffled between every single enemy on this field of hell. Barry lopped the vines of the rose pottery plant that also served as its legs, before lifting it up and chucking it at Kat for her to kill.
He would join up with Puck who was finished incineration a couple more small fry critters, shoulder tackling a flammable humanoid shrub that seemed to be a brute. “Don’t be careless, Puck. Remember to watch your back.” He advised.
“Sorry, Puck having too much fun playing with fire.” The Kobold was indeed blinding his awareness with the amount of problems he was causing for the plant life around.
Barry dashed towards the brute to hack away at its limbs while it was briefly stunned, managing to cleave only a singular arm before being shot at by something acidic from the above. He retreated, flinching at the burning pain on his shoulder, and looked up at the rooftops to find a group of pitcher plant like creatures on legs, with acid spitting tendrils. “Acidic plants? Mother nature sure is weird. Puck! Come here!”
Puck finished burning another monster down before heeding to Barry’s call, arriving just after seeing Barry cleave the torso of the brute plant and hurling it over towards Kat. The rain of acid was being brought down on them. “Puck here, what is-”
Quickly, Barry lifted Puck and took aim at the pitcher plants above, that were taking pot shots at them. “See those plants? Burn them to cinders, Puck!” He informed, then hurled Puck through the air directly at them.
“Okaaaaaay!” The Kobold shouted, feeling the rush of wind in his face as he soared over the building that the acid spitters were on, initiating with his signature flamethrower attack.
The fight would continue on the streets below. Two more wolf-like plant monsters, with vibrant green and purple petals, double-teamed Barry simultaneously. Their fur of flowers catching fire from the surroundings, yet unfazed by it. He managed to block the attack of one claw swipe, but was unable to avoid the second, which inflicted a minor wound to his side.
As he adjusted himself to retaliate back, Barry felt an uneasiness inside himself. At first, it was a bit of light headedness, but soon after it was a tingle of continuous pain. The two wolves circled back around and lunging at him as they both curled up into spinning saw blades.
Standing his ground, shielding himself with the flat side of his greatsword, he eventually gathered up the strength to knock them away, despite his strength being weakened by what he could only assume was the poison within his system. Thinking back on the potions that were crafted by Sherry, he would consume one that was an antidote with haste. The potion’s effect would eliminate the illness, it’s effects still lingering afterwards for some time.
Kat, having killed the enemies that were given to her by Barry so far, had not yet reached level 10 like she wanted to. But could see that slaying one more monster would help her achieve her goal. Feeling inspired, she decided to join Barry in his fight against the wolves. Besides, it didn’t sit right with her that she was doing nothing while letting Barry do most of the work.
“I didn’t think you would actually step up to fight.” Barry said, noticing Kat by his side with her mace in hand.
“I-I can’t let you do everything for me, I’m close to leveling up. A-And so I have to earn it by actually putting in some real effort.” She replied.
The two wolves came charging at them again. Barry acknowledged her response, he too believed that she should be the one to slay at least one of these enemies on her own. However, fighting one of them on her own would prove to be too difficult on her own. “As committed and motivated as you are to slay one of these, I’ll still have to offer some assistance…but, I like your answer.” His response made her feel encouraged.
Their enemies once again morphed into saw blades, this time one taking aim at the duo’s upper body section, while the other tried striking them at their ankles. “Duck!” Barry called out, Kat would immediately do as was ordered with her hands above her head.
Barry stabbed his weapon into the ground to block the wolf that was aiming at your ankles, as he also ducked to avoid the one targeting their upper body, watching it fly over their heads. He could feel the vibrations of his greatsword getting sawed on by the wolf from below.
Taking out his war hammer from his inventory, Barry would then slam it downwards on his enemy, not only putting a stop to its ongoing attack, but also leaving a bit of depression into the ground. The other wolf swiftly came running at them, this time flinging its self into the air and began spinning, sending a wave of razor sharp petals their way.
Those petals would then be deflected by his hammer with each swing he made. “Pummel the other while it’s down!” Barry ordered, as he protected them.
Kat rushed to the wolf that was down and began clobbering it, she would get a couple of good hits in before the wolf tried taking snapping at her. This startled her, but Barry would intervene with a precise kick to the chin to shut it up, while continuing to deflect the petals. “Keep going!” He encouraged.
Quickly, she resumed striking against the wolf with more effort. The wolf that was hailing them with petals stopped, landing back on solid ground in an attempt to tackle him.
As Barry was winding up his hammer to bat the wolf, he felt his arms being wrapped around by something from behind. It was a big-headed plant monster that had a split mouth with jagged teeth and no eyes, its body was a thick stem that rose from the ground. The monster had sicked its vines upon Barry while he was distracted.
“Barry!” Kat noticed this and saw that Barry was about to be hit by another saw blade attack if she didn’t do something. Mustering up the courage that she had, Kat would do the unthinkable for Barry. Halting her assault on the foe she was beating down and intervening to take the hit for Barry.
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With a look of surprise, Barry witnessed Kat stepping in front of him as he struggled to break free from his restraints. Seeing the wolf morph back into a saw blade, before being struck by her mace. Although Kat had managed to block and divert the wolf away from Barry, she had also suffered a portion of the deadly blow, while also destroying her weapon in the process. Both of her arms had been cut up by the wolf, streaks of blood sprayed across the air, as she fell to the ground.
‘I could have taken the hit, sure it would have hurt like hell, but I would have managed to endure. Yet she still…’ Barry thought. A feeling of respect and honor for Kat rose within, believing that she must have known that he could have tanked the hit.
‘I respect your act of bravery, and I’ll return the favor…’ The restraints on his arms were weakening, as the burning desire to help achieve the goal that they promised rose. ‘By getting you, your Class.’
And with that aspiration in mind, Barry ripped free from his shackles that binded him, whamming the same wolf that was deflected from pouncing on Kat. He could see her struggling to get back up in her weakened and injured state. “That was very brave of you, I appreciate your act of kindness. Now chug a healing potion, because we’re getting you a kill.”
He would then drop one of his Uncommon weapons, “Cold Steel Sword +2” by her feet, the one that he found and used to kill a Platybear from the beginning of his adventure in this world. She would need it after having her mace destroyed in the aftermath of blocking the wolf.
“R-Right!” She spoke, enduring through the pain she was feeling as she did what was told. The wounds on her arms would slowly recover as the healing potion she drank took its effect. Grasping the sword, feeling the weight being heavier than her mace, she would realize the rarity of it being Uncommon but would not question of how he got one.
It was a 2v3 at the moment, the one that Kat was pummeling from before was almost wasted and just needed a couple more hits to be finished. Then suddenly, from up above, fire poured down on the healthiest looking wolf. Which then caused it to run out of range in a spinning motion to shake off the flames. “Puck back to help!”
The firecracker that was Puck, had returned from his mission of eliminating the acidic spitting plants, landing from behind the enemies. “Puck burned all evil plants on building, so no more worries.”
“Great work, buddy. Leave the weak wolf for Kat to slay and focus on the others.” Barry advised, Puck would confirm with a nod.
The plant monster that was rooted within the ground, burrowed underneath once it felt the intense temperature of Puck’s flames approaching its way. Multiple vines would erupt from the earth, whipping out at Puck, keeping him on his toes as he dodged, burning the vines that tried to hit him.
The weakened wolf duo’d with its other pal, launching more dagger-like petals at them from where it was positioned, while its partner circled around to attack from behind. Barry waved away each of the petals with his hammer. “We push up towards the weakened bastard, be ready to engage it.”
Kat would warn the oncoming charge from the rear wolf that was ready to slice and dice them to bits, “Barry, behind us. I’ll try and-”
With a quick glance at the wolf behind them, taking the momentum of his hammer that was being used to deflect the petals, Barry carried it around in a twirl and connected it with the side of the wolf. “Go hug your buddy!” He shouted, catapulting its body at the other wolf.
Collision of the two enemies happened, putting a stop to the projectiles and providing them the opening that was needed. Kat saw this as her chance, and without Barry having to say anything, she rushed forward with her sword at the weakened wolf. ‘I can do this!’ She motivated herself.
The other wolf recovered from the knockback and tried to prevent Kat from defeating its fallen friend. Barry stowed away his hammer, picking up his greatsword from the ground he stabbed it in and lunged forward with a horizontal swing. Putting every bit of effort into his attack, Barry’s blade cut clean through his foe’s plant body, ending it at once.
Kat plunged her sword into the body of her target, and upon pulling it out for a second time, the wolf made an attempt to bite back at her. Instinctively, she slashed at the side of its jaws, causing it to narrowly miss chomping down on her neck. Her heart was racing, but remained focused, driving her weapon deep within its chest with one final thrust.
She pressed her sword deep within its chest as it struggled to get back up, Kat would watch it squirm for a bit before seeing the color of its eyes dim down into nothingness. A notification window appeared in within her view. “Level Up! Now creating Character Class! Downloading Contestants information.”
Tears of joy would begin to rise from her eyes, Kat tried her best to contain them as she watched a loading bar appear and progress till it reached a 100%. ‘Finally, I can hopefully become more useful for everyone else…’
Barry glanced back at Kat and saw that she had slain her foe, her expression told him that she must be in the process of obtaining her Class and looked away. ‘Wonder sort of unique Class she’ll obtain…unlike me, who doesn’t have one.’
His attention turned to Puck who was still avoiding the vine whips that kept erupting from the ground. “Aaah, Puck have no idea how to beat weird plant monster!”
Rushing to his aid, Barry kept cutting down the many vines that tried ensnaring Puck. He wasn’t sure himself at first of how to get their foe out from hiding, then thought of an idea that just might work. “Puck!” He called out. “Smoke it out with your fire! Use the tunnels it made!”
Taking his advice, the Kobold scurried to one of the tunnels and began using up his remaining Mana reserves for one mighty flamethrower.
And pretty soon, after he did that, the monster revealed itself by resurfacing above ground. Only this time, the very ground underneath Puck exploded. The mouth of the monster split open with its rows of sharp teeth ready to chomp at Puck who was falling back down.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a magic circle appeared centered around the monster. Mystical chains of dark purple essence wrapped around the mouth sections of the plant, binding it down before it could even bite down on the Kobold. Puck would then roll off one section of its mouth safely. “K-Kill it, Barry!” It was Kat that said it.
Looking back at her, Barry could see her eyes emitting an aura of dark purple essence. It appeared to him that she must have obtained some sort of magic similar to the witches. Regardless, it seemed like she was struggling to maintain her concentration on the spell she cast. “B-Barry, I-I can’t hold it for l-long!”
Understanding the situation, he bolted at the monster and hacked at its thick stem. He would swiftly rebound a few more times until eventually he was able to cleave right through. The big-head of the plant monster was released from Kat’s chains, toppling off its stem and onto the field of burnt vegetation. The surrounding flames had finally died down.
The sealed door that was their exit from the cage they were in was unlocked. The sinister skull along with the timer above it had disappeared, automatically opening the door for them to leave.
Kat was on her knees, mentally exhausted from exerting all of her mana to hold down the plant monster with her newfound powers. She was happy to have been some assistance during the fight.
“That was neat.” She looked up, seeing that it was Barry that spoke to her. “Reminds me of the sort of magic that the witches use. In which case, will prove to be pretty useful in this game we’re in. So keep at it and don’t lose grit, you did great.” He had a serious, yet proud expression on his face as he commended her.
She would wipe away her tears, his acknowledgement made her feel good about herself. “Thank you, Barry. I’ll do better every day from now on.” Kat rose up, although Barry could only see one side of her face because of her hair in the way, he could see the confidence in her eye when she said. “And that’s a promise!”
Barry nodded with a slight grin and motioned on towards their exit. “Let’s hurry back, I’m sure the others are wondering where we’re at. I’m sure nothing good is happening back at the gateway, since we last saw the light show that was going on from our way there.”
Puck would return by their side once again, and the three would make haste back on their way over to the gateway.
As they were leaving, Kat had a strange feeling that she could only describe as someone watching her. She looked around her surroundings but saw no one. ‘There’s no one else here…am I just imagining things?’ She would shrug it off and continue leaving with the other two.
Upon exiting the cage, they would continue to see the purple beams of light shooting out in the air. The vegetation had continued to spread outside the cage they were in, even the roots extended further across the city and planting itself into the city grounds.
Inspecting his map, Barry had pin marked the gateway previously before leaving and guided them back by taking the fastest route possible. They were not far from their destination, given the distance that they had already travelled before being trapped.
But after about 10 minutes of rushing back, they would hear the sound of fighting as they got closer up some steps. The three would be shocked to find the situation that they had just hurried back to.
Bodies of Chakarie and the city’s enforcers were scattered on the park field. And not only that, more plant monsters of different kinds were actively fighting against the Nightwalkers and the rest of Barry’s group as they tried desperately to defend the witches and apparently Sherry, who was on top of the gateway.
The amethyst stone, that was absorbing the magic that was being channeled to it, was nearly on the brink of shattering apart and Sherry was doing all that she could to keep it together. This was why they were seeing beams of purple lights shooting in the air. A dark purple swirling portal had been manifested within the gateway.
“You three!” It was Edward that was calling out to them, as he was now manipulating what could be blood, utilizing it as a weapon against the exotic new enemies they were fighting. “Where in the world were you all!” He shouted with anger.
“I was handling some business elsewhere, it was my fault for causing you all to worry.” Barry admitted, as him and the other two joined in to help defend their only exit out. “What’s the situation at the moment?”
Anna would appear out of a crimson red mist, which was an odd sight to see because usually her teleportation ability would have her appear out of a black puffed cloud. “Sure took your sweet ass time to get here. But as you can see, we’re getting overrun by these freaky looking plants. All while the witches and Sherry are trying to maintain the portal long enough for you three to get back. So far, only Calista and my sister made it through.”
“But now that you’re all back, we can finally leave this place at once before things get-” Edward was interrupted by the sudden rumble of the ground. The whole cavern was shaking just then, rocks from above began falling down.
More roots were descending downwards through the ceiling, most of which were headed directly towards the park they were in. There was a large chunk of rock that came crashing down, landing on one section of the gateway. The blunt force of impact was able to crack and break off a piece of the black marble, this caused the amethyst gem to start becoming more unstable. The beams of purple light that was the magic essence that was gathered, now became beams of destruction that started laying waste to anything that was struck.
“H-Hurry!” Sherry cried out to everyone. “Leave now! I-I can’t hold it much longer!”
And with no time to waste, the whole group began rushing to and through the portal. Edward helped paved the way as hard as he could with his powers against the plant monsters, as well did Sylvia and Buford, until everyone else made it through.
The rest of the Nightwalkers crossed through the portal, including the witches. But when it came to Barry and his group being the last ones to leave, everyone but Barry and Ron were the last ones to walk through the portal. Barry had stopped when he saw that Ron had halted himself. “Ron? What are you waiting for?” Barry asked.
The illusionist looked up at Sherry with a worried look. “Sherry! Are you…even capable of leaving with us!? You can’t, can you?” He glanced at the amethyst that was acting sporadically.
Sherry, with a tiresome expression, looked back at Ron. “Oh man, how did you figure that out. Y-Yeah…the moment I stop mending, is the moment the portal closes…unfortunately.”
The sudden news did not sit well with neither Ron nor Barry, they were now in a sudden predicament. Ron then looked at Barry with a serious expression. “Barry, I can’t leave her behind. You go on ahead without me.”
Barry would feel a sense of hesitation within himself, he wanted to just agree and make it out through the other side where it was safe. But for some reason, he also didn’t want to leave them behind. He would feel the same way he would always feel whenever he was in a dire situation that went against what he wanted to do, instead influencing him to do what was considered right. “Ron…I…”
As the roots from above continued to rapidly descend on them, everyone that was still there, witnessed something shocking. A multitude of pillars with blades on them shot straight into them, chopping the roots down while also forming a protective roof over them all from the falling rocks and roots.
No one knew what was the cause of this phenomenon, but their questions would soon be answered when they strange phenomenon. It was then that a large plant monstrosity, about the size of a 3-story building, had arrived on the scene. It had a wide gaping mouth with fangs, beast-like limbs and different appendages that all served a purpose in terms of offensive capabilities. Furthermore, it had sage colored petals around it’s body that acted as hardened scales. There were six eyes on the creature that emitted a yellow glow with creepy black pupils in the center, gazing at each one of them.
And as they prepared to face this juggernaut, something extraordinary happened. Bursting through the chest of the monster was a concentrated ray of scorching flames, the ray would then sweep all over the monster, slicing and igniting the monster. In no time at all, the behemoth would topple over into different pieces of charred and shriveled up vegetation.
“That’s a beauty to see every time I get to use this baby!” A familiar voice sound off from behind the concealment of the smoke that was being produced by the burnt monster parts.
Who was behind the smoke barrier, was someone that Edward and the others would not believe to see in forever. Turmoil stirred inside of Edward once he saw who it was, he wasn’t sure if he should punch the person or not. “Oswald…”
From the fog, emerged Oswald in his alchemist war outfit. He was shouldering a large, complex looking gun with tubes and flasks of chemicals attached around it that gave it a steampunk appearance in Barry’s eyes. Oswald had goggles on and took them off to have a better look at the people in front of them. And as he familiarized himself with the Nightwalkers in front of him, a great deal of guilt rose within.
Sylvia and Buford, despite seeing the man that destroyed their home in the past by accident, smiled at the sight of him. “Oswald!” They called out, rushing to his side with quickness.
Oswald was expecting the two to kill him there on the spot, accepting his fate, as that was his expected outcome for finding them. But was surprised when he felt the warm embrace of his friends from the past hugging him tight. “Wh-What? Why aren’t you trying to kill me?” He was confused.
Buford, still in his werewolf form, let go and gave him a big pat on the back that nearly pushed him over. “Oswald, so you are still guilt ridden of what you have done in the past, I see. We know that you never truly meant to destroy our city here.”
“Yeah, Oswald.” Sylvia chimed in, giving him a light punch on the shoulder. “We’ve been watching you for some time after what had happened. I’ll admit, we were skeptical of your actions and thought you truly meant to destroy us. But after spying on you afterwards, and realizing that we were truly kind-hearted people, your fall into your guilt of what you had done was proof to us that you never really intended to harm us. And we forgive you.”
The elf could not believe the happiness he was feeling inside from being forgiven. His eyes would shift over to Edward, their eyes locking on to each. Edward was still unsure of what to do in response to Oswald’s unexpected arrival.
They both hesitated to speak to each other, until a sudden occurrence happened at the amethyst, which was at the verge of shattering. Oswald would then notice his granddaughter up on the gateway, doing all that she could to keep the amethyst intact. “Sherry! I’m coming!” Oswald called out, stowing away his weapon into his inventory and rushing to her aid.
Edward, Sylvia and Buford rushed over as well to where Barry, Ron and Sherry were.
As glad as Barry was to see Oswald again, he skipped the hellos and told him the important bits. “Oswald, this is our way out. The moment Sherry stops mending the gem, our way out is closed. But we can’t leave without her, that’s the situation we’re in…”
The Nightwalkers did not like the sound of the news that was being said. It dawned on everyone that they knew what had to be done, and Oswald was all the more ready to make the decision he needed to make sure that everyone made it out alive, including his precious granddaughter.
“G-Grandpa…” Sherry weakly said with a sad expression. “I know what you’re thinking…I don’t want to lose you like mom…” Tears began to fall from her cheeks.
With a heavy sigh of emotion, Oswald climbed on top of the gateway to Sherry’s side and placed his hands on the amethyst. He then began channeling his own transmutation magic within the gem, taking over Sherry’s job.
“Edward!” He shouted to the vampire, who couldn’t believe the choice he was making. “I can sense the hatred you have for me, and that’s completely understandable. You can hate me for your whole life and I will accept it wholeheartedly. I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I have a tall favor for you if you would please accept…and that is to take care of my granddaughter!”
His words resonated within Edward, the rage that was within him began to die down into mere embers, he no longer felt as much hatred as he did before all his years towards Oswald. A slight smile formed on the vampire's face as he gave a firm nod. “That is not a favor at all…old friend. It should be a given that I will keep her safe from harm, but you have to promise to stay alive to see her again.”
Oswald grinned as he kept mending the amethyst. “I an’t going down like this, this won’t be the last chapter of my life! Now get on out of here, all of you!” He demanded, he was happy to hear being called friend again by Edward.
Edward would then pull Sherry off of the gateway with his telekinesis, forcibly moving her towards the portal. “Grandpa…I hate that you are doing this for me…so please message me when you are safe…I love you…” She cried out to her dearest grandpa.
The old elf continued to grin as he looked back at Sherry, reassuring her that he would be fine. “I love you too, sweet pea. Don’t worry, your old man’s a tough nut to crack. I’m too cool to die from the likes of this.” His response caused everyone to lighten-up.
And one by one, everyone went in until Barry was the only one left to enter. Barry would give one last look at Oswald, saying something before he walked through the swirling portal. “Oswald…I have no doubt you’ll make it out of here. I’ll be sure to inform Ned of your actions. I’m sure he would be as happy as you are to know that there were some Nightwalker survivors and that you helped escape.”
Oswald nodded. “I appreciate it, Barry. The same goes to you, I have no doubt you’ll unravel the mysteries of this supposed calamity. And when you do, you tell me more about it so I can get started on doing my part. Thank you, for finding the Nightwalkers and helping them out. Now get out of here!” He gave a bright smile despite the situation.
With all that said and done, Barry stepped through the portal. He wondered what would sort of place would await him on the other side. ‘Out of the ruins…and into the unknown. Wonder what kind of place the Nightwalkers picked for their new home.’
