After Alex popped Markov’s skull like an angsty teenager with a zit, a mirror, and a grudge, the hyper focus he felt during the fight faded away as his fight or flight instincts yielded control of his brain and the capacity for second-order thinking came crashing down on him. He stared blankly at the gore, not even noticing that his ability was still active.
His hands were resting limply on what was left of Markov’s jaw, as he continued to dumbly feed stamina into his ability. The void energy still surrounding his hands started to slowly disintegrate what was left of Markov’s face. The skin blackened briefly before turning white and brittle, pieces of flesh and bone flaking off in little clumps of ash that was immediately sucked into the void around him. Markov’s head was almost completely gone before Matt called out to him and he finally deactivated the power. Alex looked away from the corpse at he was still straddling, his legs shaking from this own weight as he attempted to stand.
“Whoa! Easy now, I got you.” Matt said, catching Alex as his legs gave out.
“It’s fine, I’m fine.” He repeated aloud this time and stubbornly wrenched his arm free of Matt’s stabilizing grip. The sudden motion made his bare foot slip on a puddle of blood, and his leg shot out from underneath him. Alex immediately collapsed, and Matt watched his head rebound off the ground.
He stood passively over Alex, his arms folded, and his wry expression said; Fine, you don't want my help?
With a grunt of effort and frustration, Alex rolled onto his back, his head coming to rest on Markov’s stomach. Markov was not a fat man by any means, but his muscles were loose and yielding in death’s embrace, and Alex was so exhausted that he noticed how nicer it was compared to the stone floor. Alex sat up with a jolt, his saliva turning sour at the thought of finding a corpse comfortable to rest on.
Alex told Vi.
Alex shook his head, his eyes staring blankly at the ruined head that once belonged to a living person. To distract himself, he activated the alert he received from the Network when he killed Markov.
The body, however, did not dissolve into rainbow smoke like it had with the Caerbunnies he had looted earlier. Like Katjav, the robes he was wearing vanished, revealing a modest suit underneath, threadbare and repeatedly mended. The obvious sign of poverty seemed at odds with the sophistication of the laboratory and the amount of money it would cost to build this place. The tattered suit must have held significant sentimental value. Instead of just buying something new, he had mended this suit repeatedly with what looked like his own hands. The loss of a life, and the fact that Alex was once again the one responsible, hit him again like a tsunami, threatening to drown him in guilt.
Alex choked back a sob.
Alex’s eyebrow twitched in surprise at the amount of stuff Markov had on him. He looked over at Matt, half expecting, half hoping to be yelled at for looting a corpse, but he was currently riffling through Markov’s other dimensional bag that Alex threw to him earlier. The bag was small enough to fit in the palm of his hand, but Matt practically had his entire arm shoved into the thing, impatiently searching for something before finally giving up. He turned the bag upside and began to unceremoniously shake it, a steady stream on items pouring out of the bag and on to the floor.
Alex debated on going over to help him sift through the mound of items for the key but decided to leave him to it for the moment. Matt wasn’t much of a conversationalist – preferring to listen to Alex ramble instead of talking himself, but Alex didn’t have the energy to deal with anyone right now.
Ignoring the feeling of disgust, he leaned over and plucked the suppression collar off what was left of Markov’s neck.
He said, briefly holding up the collar before trying to play it off by pretending to examine it.
Vi said quickly.
There were less than five keys on the ring, but at a glance, Alex already knew that none of them would work. Different kinds of magic emanated from each one, but none of them were even close to the kind of magic coming from the collar. He couldn’t say for sure what kind of magic each key was infused with, but that lack of knowledge was enough for him to check regardless, just in case he was wrong. Alex separated a key at random but instead of poking it as Vi jested, he ran the tip of the key along the outer surface of the collar like Matt had done with Katjav’s keys back in the cell.
Alex licked his lips and then blanched as the taste of copper filled his mouth. His stomach lurched, and he convulsively rubbed at his face, spitting on the ground to try and clear his mouth of someone else’s blood. Belatedly, he realized that he had just spit on the corpse at his feet. He staggered away drunkenly, his stomach roiling in a promised rebellion. Matt was still digging through the pile of items, but Alex rushed past, ignoring Matt who called after him in alarm.
The door leading to the control was designed to secure itself atomically after a few seconds, and it had closed by itself after Matt had rushed in. The basic lock had reengaged, and Alex took Markov’s keys from his storage, fitting the keys one by one into the lock as a claustrophobic panic started to settle in.
The door unlocked with a small click and Alex rested his head against the door, taking deep breaths as he gathered his will together. He flung the door open with a bang, and Sylus whirled around from his place at the controls, his eyes darting from the open door to Alex, taking in the gory monstrosity that just barged through the door.
Alex knew from the beginning that something would inevitably go wrong with their escape plan. The outcome largely resting on his shoulders, and his ability to successfully distract Markov until Matt arrived to help. Alex had been so concerned about playing his part perfectly, that he hadn’t even considered the complications coming from Sylus’s end. He had one simple task: to open the damn door. Instead, he threw Markov into a panic, locking Alex in the room with him. Alone.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
A sudden, unjustifiable rage filled Alex at the consequences he’ll be forced to endure because of someone else’s failure. Sylus’s mouth worked as he tried to speak, but Alex was on him before he could even react, grabbing Sylus by the throat and sweeping his legs out from under him. They crashed heavily to the ground, the man’s odd head covering flew off and fluttered to the ground. Alex landed on top of him, pinning his arms down with his knees, and leaned forward, putting most of his weight on the hand that was still around Sylus’s throat.
The image of Markov choking him only a few moments ago came unbidden to his mind, but he pushed it away.
“You are going to listen to me very carefully and do exactly as I say.” Alex said in a deadly whisper. Sylus didn’t even struggle. For some reason, Sylus’s passivity blew on the coals of his rage, making it hotter.
How dare you just give up after what I just did to survive because of you.
“I don’t know what you’re trying to pull, but I am going to assume that the fact that you couldn’t do something as simple as open a door instead of antagonizing Markov was accidental, and not because you were trying to get Markov to kill me.”
Sylus tried to speak, but Alex cut him off by tightening his grip.
“I am going to let you up, and you are going to unlock all the doors between here and the nearest exit. Then, you are going to make sure that we reach that exit without any more complications. You make one wrong move, and I will kill you just like I did Markov.” Alex ran his free hand over his face and chest, gathering as much gore as he could, and roughly wiped it on Sylus. “One wrong move, and you’ll end up like this. Are we clear?”
The man’s eyes were wide with fear and disgust as he took in the sight of the gore splattered demon with glowing prismatic eyes perched on top of him. He had become a monster. Ruthless and powerful. Alex loathed the look of fear in the man’s eyes, even as a part of him relished it. Despite wiping the blood from his face, he was still so thick with gore that it was still spreading down his body, leaving bloody trails in its wake as it traveled down his naked torso. Some of it even dripping off, landing with tiny plops on the guard’s face and clean white clothes.
Sylus nodded his head wildly and tried to speak, but nothing came out except an incomprehensible stammer.
I can’t tell you if you keep choking me...
His own words echoed in his head as Alex got up, lifting Sylus by his throat and shoving him towards the control panel. With shaking hands, the man fiddled with some of the switches, finally placing a hand on a glowing white orb and the door leading to the prison cells swung open. Alex grabbed the man by the scruff of the neck and moved him away from the controls to make sure he couldn’t do anything else.
“Your shirt.” Alex demanded, holding out his hand as the ritual chamber door swung open once more. Matt, finally free of all his restraints, walked through the doorway. Confusion flashed across Sylus’s face, but he immediately pulled off his shirt when Alex narrowed his eyes impatiently. He handed the shirt to Alex, who started wiping all the excess blood from his face and chest with it.
“Gods it feels so good to-” Matt cut off, his smile faltering as he took in the scene. “Did I miss something?”
Alex ignored the question, focusing his attention on trying to pick out the bone fragments that were stuck in his hair. Sylus knew better to respond, only briefly glancing at Alex with a terrified expression before everting his eyes to the ground.
“Alex?” Matt asked, clearly not willing to let it go. “What happened to Sylus? Why is he shirtless and covered in blood?”
The sudden rage that made Alex impulsively attack Sylus was gone, replaced with shame and guilt at unjustly blaming Sylus for something that was clearly outside of his control. As planned, Sylus created an impending threat to induce panic – it just worked a little too well. Causing Markov to simply cut and run, instead of going out to assess the situation as they had anticipated he would.
The corner of Alex’s eyes started burned when Matt put a hand on his shoulder, forcing Alex to look at him. Surprisingly, Matt gave him a quick, rough hug, heedless of the blood.
“I know.” He whispered, uncharacteristically sympathetic. “Let it go for now. Deal with it when we are safe.” Matt stepped away and roughly slapped Alex’s back in an awkward gesture. Alex cleared his throat and gave a quick nod, indicating he was good to go.
“How are you holding up there Sylus?” Matt asked, turning his attention to the other man.
Sylus looked from Alex to Matt and only babbled in response.
“Gods, what did you do to him? I think he’s broken.”
“He’s not hurt. I just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page. I, uh... may have gone a little overboard. We’re good though, right Sylus?”
Sylus nodded his head, still stuttering out half formed words. Alex’s attempt at an encouraging, friendly smile spoiled when a piece of Markov’s brain came free of Alex’s hair, slid down the side of his face and plopped on the floor.
Matt chortled at the look on Sylus’s face, and clapped Sylus on the back companionably.
“Relax my friend. If you get us out of here, no harm will come to you. I know you were forced into this, and you did your part in helping us escape admirably. You’ll still have to turn yourself in, but at least you’ll have your life.”
Sylus guided them back towards the exit. Alex barely paying attention to the different rooms they entered until they found themselves back in the library. They were pulling the door open to leave by the time Alex was able to form conscious thoughts.
“Wait, hold on a sec!” He called out suddenly, turning around and heading to the spiral staircase. “There’s something I want to check out before we leave. It’ll only be a minute.”
Alex took the stairs two at a time and soon found himself standing in front of the locked door on the third floor he had found previously.
Alex took out the key ring and studied the keys. There were traps set into the door so Alex assumed that one or all of them would activate if the wrong key was placed into the lock. Tiny remnants of magic surrounded the keys, and he shuffled through the keys until he finally found the correct one. The same blue magic streaked with black veins emanated from a specific key and Alex separated it, hesitated, then carefully put the key into the hole, preparing to spring backwards if something went wrong. Alex turned the key slowly, but nothing happened.
“What you got there?” A voice called from behind, making him jump.
Matt caught up to him and leaned against the wall, looking at the door with curiosity.
“When I was exploring this place earlier, I found this locked door. I‘m curious what’s kept behind this heavily guarded door, especially since it’s the only other locked door we’ve come across.”
Matt studied the door for a moment. “Allow me?” He reached out his hand, muttering something under his breath, and touched the door before Alex could stop him.
“I wouldn’t-”
The magic imbued in the door burst apart like smoke hit with a sudden gust of wind, before being sucked into Matt’s outstretched arm.
Matt dropped a wink and gestured to the key, still sitting in the lock.
“After you, it should be safe to open now.”
Alex bit back his questions. “No one likes a show-off.” He said, turning the key once more. He nudged the door open, revealing a storage room.
Multiple Crates filled with different types of gems and crystals glowed dimly like glittering jewels in a treasure trove. Dozens of books lined some of the shelves, the magic coming off some of them marked them all as different kinds of skill books.
A mischievous smile lit up Alex’s face.
Together they ransacked the room and Matt cried out in joy when he saw that some of his belongings were also being stored here in a dimensional pack.
“I’m still missing some gear, but that’s probably being stored at the storage room by the holding cells. We can check there on the way out.” Matt said.
Alex stripped the room bare, while Matt double checked everything in the dimensional sack he clutched protectively to his side. As they continued to explore the different crates, Alex offered to split all the treasure they found in here with him, but Matt waived it away.
“I’m much more interested in what kind of powerset you have. You appear to have a much wider variety of abilities than someone with only one essence ability would suggest. I’m curious about what kind of racial powers you have. I know that we just met under – let's say – less than ideal circumstances, but you must have dozens of questions. I can help you understand what happened to you. Help you understand this new world you have been drawn into, and how to move forward.”
Alex hesitated before shaking his head with a small rueful smile, “I’m still having trouble wrapping my head around the fact that I am in a completely different world.”
“You’ll find that the cosmos is a very, very big place. There are many different worlds, different gods, different realities, even. What was your home called?”
“My planet was – is – called Earth. I can’t believe that gods are real...”
Matt laughed. “Trust me, you’ll get used to it. In bigger cities, you will see them all the time if you go to the temple district.”
“I think I’ll avoid that for now.” Alex said.
“In my world, we have hundreds, thousands, of legends about different gods. Although, a lot of them can be summed up as arrogant dicks that shapeshift into animals to impregnate women as a means to use humans as a proxy to wage war with other gods they are feuding with.”
Matt was stunned for a second and then let out a howl of laughter.
“Pretty much, but if you ever talk to a priest, I advise that you keep that particular comparison to yourself.” Matt wiped his eyes with a dirty hand. “They don’t impregnate women though; as far as I know true demi-gods don’t exist. But otherwise, yes.”
“So what? Do these gods all have different... jobs or something? Like the god of death, love, war, hope, and so on?” Alex asked, thinking of the Greek mythology.
“It’s complicated and theology was never a passion of mine. When we get into the city, we can visit the temple district there and you can see for yourself. If anything, we should go to visit the goddess of Knowledge anyway. If you have any questions about this world and your world that I can’t answer, she should know. She might not tell you, but you can always ask. She is well known for always telling the truth, even if she does not tell all that she knows.”
“In my world, people who are known for telling only the truth are the best liars. They perfected the art of saying one thing but mean something else.”
“Like what?”
Alex continued to search the room as he thought, randomly stuffing things that looked valuable in his storage space as he went.
“Say I had an uncle, right? His village was attacked, and the entire village was wiped out. The only problem is that all the bodies were brought and dumped in the town square. All of them, except for his uncle. So, I organized a search party. We search the area, but no one could find him. After weeks of searching, I found nothing, so I went to your goddess for help – this goddess of Knowledge. I ask her ‘Did my uncle die in the attack?’, to which she replies, ‘He is not among the dead. Your uncle has escaped the village, go and find him.’ so I leave and continue my search.”
Alex looked at Matt who was nodding, a small smile on his face. “So, tell me: What would any normal person think she meant?”
“That their uncle managed to escape during the attack and is probably hiding out at a nearby village.”
“Yep. Except that he isn’t. Eventually, I find his body in the woods, ten miles away. He was shot with an arrow while escaping and eventually died from it. Furious, I return to the goddess and demand why she lied to me, and she says ‘I never told you that he was alive. I only told you that he was not among the dead.’”
“‘But you said that he had escaped the village!’ I scream at her. ‘And so he did. He died alone, lost in the woods. It was my knowledge that allowed you to find his body and lay him to rest. You should be grateful mortal’”.
Alex finished his rant, suddenly out of breath, surprised by his own vehemence.
“It sounds like you have already dealt with gods.” Matt said quietly, his words somewhat sad.
“No.” Alex spat. “I’ve dealt with people. People who act like gods. Gods that tell you beautiful truths bloated with poison.”