Wild Wastes 6 -ch 2-

(Reloaded with Audio)

“Okay, sorry, right. Edmund! Edmund,” muttered Runner. Vince got the impression he was being moved somewhere again. “Originally you were going to act the part of the body-guard. To stick to him and make sure he’s fine.

“Realistically, that really isn’t needed anymore. Edmund is able to protect himself and has a few people around him to make sure he’s safe.

“For now, you’ll just need to act as a vanguard. Be the front of the pack. Tip of the spear. Edge of the… whatever.”

“Edmund as in Edmund Felix’s protege, right? That’s the only Edmund I know,” Vince asked.

“Yeah, that’s him.”

“Okay. Well… sounds like it’s a good thing I don’t have to play babysitter. Any reason you needed me to do that to begin with?”

“Ah… Edmund has a job only he can do. You and Felix also had jobs only you could do,” explained Runner with a long sigh. “Ryker spent way too long trying to find you all and bring you all together. Just so we could take care of a problem I should have handled better to begin with.

“Well, anyways, how’re you Vince? Last I looked over you had a body-count in the triple digits.”

Snorting at that, Vince felt the corner of his mouth curl into a smirk.

“Yeah,” he started, wondering what to say. “Fighting a giant frog god thing… probably going to die.

“Other than that… took over Spain, part of Francia. Was looking at Prussany. Picked up a new goddess named Johanna.”

“Oh. So you did!” Runner said with a laugh. “As to this frog god… oh, the demon of Britain. Yeah, that’s an ugly one.

“I see my son has already reached out to you though and offered you help. Right after he freed his mother.

“Seems Ryker is sending you to a graveyard where I disposed of all the gods who broke my covenant, despite me telling him that it needed to be gated off.”

Uh… wait… he knows?

“Of course I know. Ryker is the Architect and blah blah blah,” mocked Runner. “Who do you think -made- the architect? Hm?

“He didn’t just spring out of nothing, you know. Someone had to make him. It sure as hell wasn’t him.

“It was me.

“I’m the architect of the Architect. I’m not the intellectual he is, but I’m enough of a smart man to know I needed him.

“You think I wouldn’t be trying to keep an eye on everything that’s going on? I just have to play dumb. To act like I’m not aware. Even as everyone plays their part around me.”

“Er… really?” Vince asked, suddenly feeling as if everything wasn’t what he thought it was.

So Alaric really is his son, his mother that he freed was Runner’s wife, and he’s aware of it all? That he has to pretend that he doesn’t know?

“For the most part. I do get surprised sometimes. Your little Royal Elf has surprised me at every turn. She was supposed to die a long time ago.

“At some point she jumped the track she was on and has been on a run-away train ever since. Inadvertently, her continued existence has pushed things into better places then I expected them to be.

“Especially Berenga. I didn’t think for even a moment that Yaris would be the balance your Fes needed.

“Anyways… yeah, I see what you mean. I’m not going to get involved only because it’d make it all the harder for my son to act.

“If I’m being honest… my biggest difficulty right now is not rushing off to see my wife. I know where she’s hiding.

“Pretending she isn’t free.

“I even caught her peeking on me once. In fact, she’s likely peeking right now, aren’t you dear? But you’re going to play it as you promised you would for our dear boy.”

There was no response.

This sucks.

Whatever.

I’m just going to knock it down.

Stupid.

“Uhm… oh, hey, Runner… I was totally not supposed to tell you, but gee golly, I just can’t seem to keep my mouth shut,” Vince yelled loudly and in a fake way. “Your son freed your wife. Ha ha… oopsie, shouldn’t have said that. Sorry, broke my promise, my bad. Now you know your wife is free and around somewhere.

“Hopefully you’ll still help me out anyways.

“Sorry Runner, I’m sure you need to rush off and go find your wife and all that or whatever. Right?”

There was a startled presence in the darkness that was around Vince, followed by a chuckle.

“Thanks,” whispered what sounded like Runner a second before Vince was suddenly standing somewhere else. It looked a lot a locker room with weapons laid out everywhere. “Get ready. I’m… hi… Srit… dear.”

“Hello, Runner,” said the female voice from earlier.

Then the presence, or presences, he felt was gone.

Shrugging, Vince began wandering around. He didn’t see a reason not to take anything he wanted while he was here, though he didn’t think there’d be anything of interest.

***

Vince stood amongst a group of what he could only loosely define in his head as “Heroes”.

They all felt like people that were special in one way or another. People who would be the focus of stories, tall tales, or books.

He wasn’t really interested in them or the situation, if Vince was being honest.

Despite the fact that he could hear gunfire and explosions distantly, none of that really captured his attention. It wasn’t new or different to him in any way.

He stared off at nothing and didn’t speak to anyone.

“—Campbells. You’re always so fascinating,” said an overly handsome man that was nearby. Vince was fairly certain the man had named himself Sam. “Your sister Melody is a handful.”

“Sister?” asked Felix from not far away. Vince hadn’t even realized that his elder brother had arrived.

Edmund was also not far off though he looked as bored as Vince felt.

Staring at Sam and feeling like his eyes might fall out of his head, he wanted to know more. More about this “sister” he didn’t know about.

“Excuse—”

“Okay, so, yeah, foolish and stupid to chase Zeus into a cave. Rene’s going to check it out and get back to us,” Runner stated loudly, talking over Felix when he began to talk. Runner had just closed the portal behind himself as well. “Sure as hell ain’t splitting up either. This isn’t the time for stupidity, and none of you are hot enough, or female for that matter, for me to want to attempt a Scooby Doo three-way with.”

Ryker, who had been lurking nearby, stepped forward and looked to Runner.

“Man… I’ve got a thing for Velma. You can keep Daphne. She looks like a mega-Karen in the making,” Ryker grumbled.

“She’s the nerdy one that’s got some weight to her, yes?” Sam asked and then smiled when he got nods. “Yes, I do like her myself. They’re always so earnest and eager to please.”

“You sure that’s not just cause you’re an Incubus?” asked the younger man who’d been lingering near Sam. He was apparently named Alex and was his son. “And… you’re not talking about, mom, are you?”

Sam didn’t say anything, he just stared at his son.

“Oh god, you’re talking about mom,” groaned Alex.

“She’s always so willing, my boy. It’s—”

“No! No, no, no. Not talking about mom. Stop, father. Stop right now,” Alex hissed and jabbed a finger into Sam’s chest.

“Uh, I’d like to talk about your mom. She seems fun,” Ryker offered. “She got any sisters?”

Vince noticed Felix grin at the conversation but he didn’t find any of this amusing. Or even relevant.

He wanted to talk about his sister.

Right now.

Felix apparently felt the same at some level. He reached out and put a hand to Sam’s shoulder.

He drew him off to the side and Vince followed.

“Sister?” Felix prompted as Vince closed in.

“Yes, please explain,” Vince asked.

“If you boys are done antagonizing Alex, Rene’s back,” stated the woman who’d been beside Edmund in a flat tone. Apparently, she didn’t really approve of the teasing that was ongoing.

Tearing his eyes from Sam, Vince looked to this “Rene” and found he looked like he knew how to carry himself.

“Indeed, indeed, I’ve gone and come back. I’m afraid though that I’ve found nothing to attack,” quipped the man a the mask named Rene in a sing-song tone. Then he sighed. “Ain’t shit there and no one’s home. Place is a damn tomb and really weird as well.

“That’s an understatement by the way. Weird barely begins to describe this. I don’t actually have words for it.”

Weird fucker.

“Yeah… yeah, that’s not surprising. Yeah,” Runner hissed with a small shake of his head. “Before we go in there, just know that we’re not where you think we are. Not anywhere near, in fact.

“We’re in a place that is outside of my powers, in a way. Outside of everyone’s powers. Everything here is as raw as it could be. If you die here, you die. I can’t fix or change that. No one can.”

Edmund snorted quietly and rubbed at his nose with the back of his wrist.

“Whole lot of things are just going to look strange. Things won’t match, physics will be damned, and time is a suggestion, more than a law,” Ryker warned.

“Sounds like a really bad fever dream,” Rene mumbled.

“Uh… yeah? Yeah,” Runner agreed and then nodded his head toward the cavern entrance. “In we go, then. Tempus fucked-off or whatever it is.”

Clicking his tongue, Vince got the hint.

He wanted to ask more about this sister but he needed to be in the front.

A slow left-hand turn that curved around as they marched down.

Vince could faintly hear chatter behind him but he focused ahead. He was responsible to make sure things went right.

“Fun, fun, in the dark we march,” whispered Rene. “Trodding through dust and dark where shadows arch.”

“If you want fun I got a battlefield for ya,” hissed Vince.

“Oh? Oh. Well. I suppose I’m between jobs right now. A battle could be fun,” Rene replied quietly.

Suddenly the world changed around Vince.

They’d gone from a dark and dingy-looking cave to the interior of a hotel lobby. A very expensive hotel lobby it looked like.

There was no furniture at all, but you could tell what it should’ve been, even at a glance.

Everyone kept walking along, though Vince felt the hair on the back of his neck standing on end. This was unnerving already.

“It’s a rom-com,” Alex laughingly blurted out from behind, though Vince stared ahead.

“But they’re cute together,” Sam interjected. “They remind me of you and your girls. How in the world did you convince them you needed to come alone, by the way?”

“Didn’t. I ran. Just like you did from my mothers and aunts,” Alex declared.

“Ah… fair. Yes,” Sam confessed.

“Hahahah… ahhh… I remember when it was like that,” Runner murmured, sounding as if he were directly behind . “All flirty cutesy.”

“Shirley and I had a lot of dates killing people in dungeons,” replied Reyker. “A lot of really deep conversations.”

“You two… you two are the worst. You make Hannah and I look normal,” Runner accused.

I mean… does that really matter?

I’ve spent time eating hearts with Red, killing things with Berenga.

“Yeah, that’s fair,” answered Ryker as they moved to the back of the hotel lobby.

“I interviewed prostitutes with Rose and Pinky,” Rene offered from beside Vince.

“I bribed, blackmailed, and bought my wives,” countered Alex.

What?

Ha.

“Huh. Now I suddenly don’t feel as bad,” Vince stated. “You’re all awful people.”

“I mean, we kinda fit in though. We just do awful things to other people rather than our partners,” Felix countered.

That got a laugh out of nearly everyone around him.

Exiting the lobby, they entered a hall.

Then just as quickly exited into a forest. A forest without a sky above, in its place was an inverted mirror of the forest they were in.

Vince kept his gaze forward, feeling ill at ease now.

A forest was a wonderful place to ambush someone.

“Wrong place, back we go,” Ryker instructed.

“This is so fucked,” Rene said with a laugh as he turned around at the same time Vince did. “Kinda fun in a way. This’d be a lot of fun to practice skills in.”

I guess that’s true.

Not a terrible place to host mock battles Change the battlefield every other go of it.

Everyone began filing back through the doorway. Each person vanished as soon as they crossed the threshold.

In going back the same way they’d come from, they’d gone into what could only be described as a hospital. A hospital room, to be exact.

“This is… yeah, we’re okay here,” Ryker stated, exiting the hospital room. “We’re not far off from where we need to be. Just a couple more transfers.”

They quickly left the hospital room, though Edmund was in the lead for some reason.

He moved into the next area and then turned left. Moving out of view swiftly.

“Runner? Ryker?” asked a voice.

A voice Vince knew very well and felt his skin grow cold at the sound of it.

His mind snapping out of the wary paranoia it’d been cultivating while walking in the front of the group.

Vince rushed ahead at the same time as Felix did.

They caught up to Edmund quickly and Vince felt his breath catch in his lungs.

The voice matched his darkened memories.

A man sitting in a pool of blood was laid out. There was a dagger in his chest, and he was slumped against the wall.

A man that Vince hadn’t ever expected to see again and had genuinely given up hope for. Given up the idea that he was out there somewhere.

Many of the man’s features were those Vince saw in the morning nearly every day.

It was his father.

“Dad?” Vince asked aloud.

“Uncle Miles?” Felix said at the exact same time.

“Ah… no,” whimpered Miles from where he sat against the wall. His eyes fell away from those in front of him as if he’d seen something he didn’t wish to. “No, no, no. This… no.”

“Front door,” whispered Ryker while looking at the others.

Everyone left quickly.

Except for Edmund, Felix, Vince, and Runner.

Runner was staring at Edmund in a strange way. Then he looked down to Miles. He stared at him for several seconds even as Felix and Vince knelt down next to the man.

With a shake of his head, Runner made a small gesture with his hand at Miles, and then left.

“Runner?” Felix asked as the God left.

“It’s out of my hands,” Runner apologized and kept moving. “There’s nothing that can save him. That’s a cursed blade from a world that isn’t of my control.

“I’m sorry. If there was anything I could do, I would.”

No… no.

Not-no, this isn’t happening.

“It’s okay. This is my end. I deserved this,” Miles whispered, waving a hand at Runner. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry… my lord. I’m sorry, Runner.”

“It’s fine… Miles. I’m sorry, too. I wish things were different. If I could save you I would, even if only for the man you once were,” mumbled Runner before he moved away.

Edmund watched Runner leave, then frowned, his pale-green eyes moving back to Miles. His pale-blond hair was pulled back and tucked away under his combat helmet.

Turning, Edmund left as well. Leaving Vince, Felix, and Miles alone.

There was a strange tearing noise that Vince heard.

It sounded a lot like leather being ripped apart under a heavy blow.

At the same time, the world became hazy.

Hazy, blurry, and shifting to one side. As if Vince were falling over.

Then with a thump the world was upright against.

Melody, Vince’s sister, was standing there, staring down at her family.

An odd part of his mind quivered and shuddered about. As if he’d been struck in the head. That this situation wasn’t correct.

Then he remembered. He remembered Melody and how they met. As if he’d momentarily forgotten it for some reason.

Ryker had introduced her as his sister, Melody. Or more accurately, half-sister.

She’d been with them since the gymnasium.

That she, Felix, and he had spent a great deal of time talking about who and what they were after realizing they were related.

She was pretty, had long black hair, dark eyes, and in an unmistakable way, shared some resemblance to himself, Felix, and his father.

“Mel?” whispered Miles, looking up at the young woman. “No! This is… no… this is the absolute… no. Heavens no.”

“I… ah… dad?” Melody whispered, then got down on one knee next to Vince.

Felix wheezed loudly as if he couldn’t breathe.

“Hold… hold still, dad. I’ll take care of the curse,” whispered Melody. She held up a hand above the dagger and markings began to glow all along her face. Strange markings that looked symbolic and lit up in different colors.

Miles blinked slowly, then his head slowly tipped back and rested against the wall. He’d gone unconscious and was no longer responsive.

“I’ll apply pressure,” Vince muttered and held his hands up. Getting ready to do exactly what he said. “I’ll also try to flash heal it with my magic but… I don’t know if it’ll be enough. This isn’t my world after all.”

There was a sickeningly sounding glug noise, and the dagger came out of Miles’s chest. A flash of purple light slashed through the air around them and then vanished.

It being broken apart by a chop of Melody’s hand with the same dagger she’d pulled free.

Vince moved forward and put his hands over the hole.

He called upon everything that he was, his grove, and the faith of everyone who believed in him. There was a strange shuddering feeling from the grove and then it woke up.

It’d been dormant since he’d been ripped from his home plane, but they were now awake. Awake and the powers of the Dragons was fluttering around in a curious and confused stated.

The backs of Vince’s hands up to his elbows began to glow a bright green, and sweat instantly poured down the man’s face.

Felix was digging around into his pack.

He quickly yanked out a hemostatic bandage, hemostatic gauze, and a saline bag along with an IV-kit.

Damn, he came prepared.

Then again, that’s about right for Felix.

Felix laughed and then began moving forward with the gauze.

Vince pulled his hand away to make room for Felix who began to pack the wound.

He covered the whole thing with the bandage.

Felix let out a strange hiccuping noise even as he worked. The bandage was quickly stuck in place and then Felix unbelievably hooked up the saline bag.

The saline bag morphed in Felix’s hands to become much larger, and its contents turned bright red.

He’d clearly converted the saline to blood.

“Ha… hahaha, we did it,” Melody said with a laugh, looking to them. “Yeah! Go freakin’ Campbells, am I right?”

Vince laughed, looked at Melody, nodded his head, then looked back to Felix. Even as he did so he could feel tears running down his face.

The world was suddenly very strange to him.

He’d gone from no one, to a brother, to a sister, and then his father coming back. Now all he needed to do was see if he could go dig up his mother’s bones and try to bring her back.

If I found her body, I could have Zathira call her back. I could… I could bury her and infuse the ground. I could try to call her back, couldn’t I?

Felix looked unnerved, though he smiled and nodded his head back at Vince.

“Campbells,” Felix agreed, feeling strange about it all.

“Oooh, I always wanted brothers. Brothers I can rely on,” Melody said while laughing, then she shuffled over to hug the two of them. “You two… I’m going to be such a demanding little sister. You two are going to help me out so much.

“That and I can’t wait to see all my nieces and nephews. You’re lucky I’m not a man, Felix, or you’d look like the crappy uncle in comparison to me. You get a free pass since I’m an aunt.”

Vince hugged them both, holding them to himself. Even as he gazed at his father who was breathing much more easily.

Though he was still unconscious.

“Oh, by the way,” Melody said with a laugh. “I think I’m banging your sister-in-law, Vince. Her name is Trish. Or you called her Patricia. She was going through a Legion portal and got launched onto my world. She’s a nice Elfy-Dryad.”

Patricia?

I don’t… I… I’ll ask Meliae.

“Ryker and Runner won’t let that one die,” Felix muttered. “He already teases us for the cousin-brother-sister thing. Now he’s going to call us cousin fuckers or something.”

“I don’t care,” Melody said with another laugh. Then tried to crush Felix and Vince with all her might. “Brothers!”