ToL » The Chronicles of Anything » Chapter 23 - Saga 4, Conundrum

Chapter 23 - Saga 4, Conundrum

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”Please, don’t tell me you are so blind as not to see this was all destined? Siegeopolis? The battles? The deaths and disappearances? These were all ordained, known to Todd, yet seemed random and chaotic to us.” – DarkGuardian

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”I have too much work to do now, but beware and make sure to tell all who dwell here in Anything: do not test me. My wrath will come down like fire from heaven and I will smite any who oppose me.” – Siege911

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YOYOY stumbled forward, vision growing blurry, soon overcome by a red haze. He soon fell, body collapsing into a large puddle marking the middle of the alleyway. He groaned, weary, looking up and detecting of what he couldn’t tell between darkness and light. His body went numb, head pounding, his very mind tingling.

At this, he had a vision.

He saw shadows, innumerable shadows, faces hidden and cloaked as empty bodies clashed on a massive battlefield. He heard the cries of thousands in rage, then soon hundreds dying at once. He could smell the very blood of innocents, the stench of every rose trampled beneath fury’s feat. He felt the ground rumbling beneath him, and could already taste the stench of death. Something within him enjoyed it, something growled, something laughed.

Someone gently kicked him in the ribs.

“Hey, YOYOY! Get up!”

The scribe snorted, blinking rapidly, finding it troublesome to discover his balance once more. Above him with a person, someone he knew, an archer, yewbow. Yes, it was yewbow.

“What’s wrong? You were moaning like the very dead. You’re not yourself, chronicler.”

The writer chuckled.

“You ain’t kidding.”

Yewbow frowned.

“What’s up?” “I’m not even sure…”

He winced, gripping his head and leaning back against whatever anonymous wall lay behind him. Yewbow meekly extended a hand, as if to steady him, eyes widened in some sort of concerned fear.

“Well, uh, tell me what you do know, at least. What you’re still sure of.”

YOYOY sighed, squinting into the sky. He wasn’t sure if the moon was out or the sun was up. This can’t be good.

“Alright, here’s what I know. I died. You remember that fair bit, eh? So I descended into Hades, where I met its cruel master, graveghoul. The very lord of the dead, you know. So he’s all excited, apparently I’m quite a prize, and he’s gloating and telling me he’ll keep me forever, I’m doomed, blah blah blah. So I’m all like, whatever.”

Yewbow politely nodded along as YOYOY coughed, then tried to continue only to continue coughing. He shook it off, shivering, and kept on with the story.

“So we’re all there in Hades, land of nothingness and death, when, apparently, graveghoul’s been surveying the surface world. You know, Anything. I’m not sure what he saw, or, whatever, but he was real excited about this, too, and said he needed a messenger, someone of flesh, he needed. To go up to the surface, and deliver a Message, and then return. Nobody would do it, so I volunteered, figuring, hey, this is my ticket out. I mean, long as I stall, delay, don’t go delivering any messages, I’m alive again.”

Yewbow raised an eyebrow. “But, there was a catch?”

YOYOY managed a grin and nodded.

“Yeah, in my eagerness I’d forgotten who I was dealing with, and why nobody else took him up on the offer. He never even told me what the Message is. That’s the thing. He just said I’d know when the time came, and then I’d deliver it. So I don’t know who I’m giving it to, or why, or what it’s all about. It’s all screwed up. I’m an undead wanderer, animated by the graveghoul. See…”

The questioner suddenly gasped, taking in a large gaping breath as if he’d forgotten to breathe for the past three minutes. He began choking on the air, wheezing, struggling to get it down. Yewbow wasn’t sure whether to take a step closer or farther away. In a moment YOYOY regained his relative composure, leaning over, hands on his knees, taking careful breaths. Silent.

“… So there’s more?” “Oh, yeah, well… you see, I can’t be up here without graveghoul’s power. As long as I’m up here, there’s a part of him up here with me, and a part of me down there with him. And I think it’s messin’ me up pretty bad.” “I can tell…” “But this is just the half of it, the physical stuff. My mind’s all in a fix, too. I’ve been getting these weird feelings and visions lately. I don’t even understand them, but I know it has something to do with graveghoul’s deal, like I’m possessed, and I was with Siege earlier and I don’t even remember what I was doing, wasn’t myself, and I just had this bad ugly dream, and now I’m here… I don’t know. It all doesn’t make any sense.” “Maybe it will.” “Let’s hope so.”

YOYOY cracked his neck, standing up straight, crossing his arms and nodding confidently. Then his eyes widened, alight with remembrance.

“Oh! And there’s this, this thing, this object, this weird artifact I saw earlier…” “… What?” “I think it has something to do with my message, or, everything, or… it’s something, at least. I know that. I have to see it again.” “YOYOY?”

The former member of the Fellowship began running away through the narrow streets of Anything, yewbow struggling to keep up.

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© Eric Bailey

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