When Gene’s life came to an end, he was thankfully spared the terror of staring death in the eye. Looking into the crimson eyes of the Dark Lord, in the shattered mind of a Forsaken, felt as close he could conceive of to the missed encounter. An alien sensation shot up his spine and he instinctively reacted, grabbing Amara and trying to flee the Forsaken’s mind before a voice cut through his scattered thoughts.
Hero System Notification: Awareness Save failed. You have been afflicted with Grasp of Essence. You have been soul bound and may not deactivate Possession 8.
Gene’s eyes went wide when the hero system spoke and the Dark Lord’s wicked smile curled upwards into a cheshire grin, catching his momentary panic. His predatory gaze sent shivers down Gene’s spine. Within the mind space, all thought and feeling was made manifest, and with just a simple look, the Dark Lord made it clear that he was agony incarnate.
“Oh? Were you trying to sneak out after worming your way into one of my playthings?”
The Dark Lord’s eyes narrowed and blood red light crashed down on Gene. He scrambled to cover Amara from the assault as malefic energy rippled through him. He cried out as pin pricks of pain riddled astral form and the hero system spoke.
Hero System Notification: Awareness save failed. You have received 1 wound.
He fell to his knees in front of Amara, trying his best to shield her from the Dark Lord’s fury. She whimpered in fear, crawling to Gene for protection, to the amusement of Demetrios.
“Poor little poppet. You were supposed to be buried so deep that you could never discover the false life you lead before you received my grace,” said Demetrios in a quiet tone.
The eyes above the world closed and shadows coalesced into his form before Gene and Amara. He wore robes of shadows that billowed at his feet. His skin was a sickly pale color that matched that of his generals and his eyes radiated with a menacing red light. He smiled, revealing a mouth full of too many teeth, each pointed like a shark’s tooth.
“I couldn’t wait to meet you after what you did to the twins and Tir. Color me intrigued,” said Demetrios, his grin stretching to unnatural proportions.
Gene got a sense that even though he was in his astral form, those teeth would have no problem tearing out his throat. Demetrios walked slowly to them and Gene pressed his back into Amara, pushing them against a shelf of her memories and knocking the books to the ground.
“Stay back!” growled Gene as his eyes lit up. He pushed his mind, trying to leave the confines of the mental space. He felt a pulsing in his core and heard the hero system speak again.
Hero System Notification: Awareness Save failed. You have been afflicted with Grasp of Essence. You have been soul bound and may not deactivate Possession 8.
He grew antsy after the failed attempt. It was hard to tell how much time was passing outside of the mind space and his panic made him push harder. Psionic energy coursed out of him and the mind space around them shook. Demetrios stopped his approach, threw his hands up defensively and frowned.
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“Easy, easy,” said Demetrios, mockingly. “I fear our battlefield is a touch too fragile for a confrontation between the two of us but if you wish to carry out the promises you made to Verdant and Verity, I’ll happily sacrifice a minion.”
He pointed to Amara and Gene looked back to see the little girl staring at a fallen book whose pages depicted a memory of her in the arms of her parents. He felt her shuddering and his chest tightened as he thought of the implications of Demetrios’s words. He grit his teeth and cursed at himself. Why hadn’t he leveled up before this? He was foolish to not ascend to level 9 after all of the hard work it took to get there. He thought his current power level was enough and now he thought his hubris would be his downfall. Demetrios smiled and his lips stretched to his temples.
“That’s a good little hero,” said Demetrios in a dismissive tone. “Follow the story and protect the innocents.”
Gene’s stomach twisted in knots despite his astral form being incorporeal and his neck flushed hot with rage. He strained his mind again, trying to push against the Grasp of Essence effect and the system spoke once more.
Hero System Notification: Awareness Save failed. You have been afflicted with Grasp of Essence. You have been soul bound and may not deactivate Possession 8.
He panicked and Demetrios cackled.
“You think this is funny? Toying with people’s lives like this?!” exclaimed Gene.
Demetrios made a puzzled face and scratched the side of his head before saying, “Toying with lives? Aren’t you doing the same thing now? By my accounting, you don’t even belong here.”
Gene froze and Demetrios continued, saying, “You crash land here, kill my poor defenseless Forsaken, and now you’re invading the mind of one of my wretched creatures while leading an army to an inevitable slaughter. Tsk tsk tsk.”
Gene grit his teeth. He couldn’t let Demetrios’s words get to him but there was a part of him, deep down inside that was being swayed. Demetrios knew it.
He grinned, sinisterly.
“It seems I’ve touched a nerve!”
Demetrios crouched down to touch the ground as he spoke and glowing red veins erupted from the ground. They shot through the air like mad vines, arcing towards Gene and Amara.
Gene threw his hands up and out, forming a protective dome around the two of them. The vines ensnared the dome and Demetrios laughed. Gene felt an immense pressure on his mind as the veins squeezed tighter with every second. He was running out of time. He considered stepping into the margins but without any points to spend all he would find is consoling from the Hero System. He needed to figure this out on his own.
He pushed his mind, trying to expand his thoughts beyond the cage without shattering the structure. He didn’t need to escape. He just needed to see beyond. Amara’s cries tempered his resolve.
“Don’t worry, Amara,” he said to her, letting psionic energy course out of himself. “I’m here to save you all.”
His consciousness dispersed, flowing out of his psionic shield like water through a sieve. He rose, higher and higher, through the mind of the Forsaken and out into New Venturis. He felt himself drifting further still, almost expanding too fast until he focused on the members of Silvayn to draw him back.
Above the battlefield, he zeroed in on the conflict, sensing the minds of the adventurers and the last of the Forsaken. The transformed creatures fell to the cheers of the adventurers and Gene’s chest tightened. They had been lost but he wouldn’t let any others fall in this conflict. Within the Spire, he felt the presence of Melias and Tir stepping through the veil to join the frey and he knew it was time.
