In a world of magic there are skeptics. In a world logic there are mystics. In a world of both there is balance. But in a world of balance lies the chaos laced into every redundant absence. But chaos isn’t a dark, evil, thing and order isn’t always good. It lies solely in the context of the moment. And who’s there to interact with it.
long ago, Innovation was born in twins, Logic and Magic. When the primordial races of the world were brought about they held within them the same aptitude of progress. When fire was discovered, it was found by scraping rocks together the same time it was found in the souls of those who would harness it. When civilization began it was grounded both in intelligence and wisdom. For every development in one side there was a counterpart in the other. They were often used to augment or support each other rather than opposition. But of course there were purists about the world. And with the glitz and glamour of the impossibilities being brought about there is darkness and danger to be seen all the same.
this is where you come in. Come into what? You’re not sure. But as you find yourself in the technomagical city of Neo-Disk, you imagine something is about to happen. Something that you will undoubtedly be a piece of.
You flop into bed and lay there, staring at the ceiling. The next day you awake to a very lavish breakfast in your room, none of the staff or familiar members really knew Kharonis enough to know you’re not him, only his siblings can tell. Alia takes you to meet them explaining that you are not an enemy despite being an imposter of their close brother. They show you the plans and ways they’ve brainstormed on how to safely escape their cult of a family, many of them are extremely well thought out for people of this age.
Later that night you are lounging about in Kharonis’ room, having done everything you need to do today, and you get a phone call from an anonymous number. You answer and hear a familiar voice. “My friend, it has been about a day since we spoke, has it not? As I promised, Lilac doesn’t know where you are. She is… very disappointed, in both herself and you. She feels she failed to gain your trust that whatever it is you’re doing isn’t going to get her killed. Lily had to talk down Tessa from going and hunting you down, Ezekiel seems rather entertained, and Dante… seems kinda happy. He says he knows you’ll do good and that he just hopes he can share a drink with you again sometime, Then he went to go spar with Tessa to make her feel better. In any case, I wish you luck in your endeavors and I will probably update you again at some point.” With that, he hangs up before sending a text as an afterthought saying that he was the one who sent that masked man who helped you at the Hengest Estate.
“If Kharonis trusts you then I trust you, just try not to get in my way and I won’t get in yours.” She says, she must think you’re here because Kharonis asked you to stand in for him. She also explains how mission reports work and luckily it doesn’t involve a lot of face to face contact with anyone. You were right in thinking the family would rejoice at the news, everyone around seems a bit more in high spirits now that the silver haired child is “dead”.You find yourself in his old room, Alia sitting with you. “That’s who you are, isn’t it? Did he make a deal with you or something?” She asks, seeing that her brother is now absent and Cyriel Hengest is apparently dead she begins to connect the dots.
“Yeah, possessions, that’s all we are to them. And you would know how much I detest that if you were my brother.” She says, becoming annoyed that you are still keeping up the farce. “Or better yet, you’d know how much he detests it. He’s been working on a way to get us out before he has to take over the family. He knows he’s the lynchpin that’ll be pulled the second he leaves so he’s been trying to make it so we don’t get hurt when he’s gone. The ongoing plan is for us not to be here either.” She explains, by us she probably means the other half-siblings you found in the documents.
“Because it’s not you I’m everything to.” She retorts. “It wouldn’t be worth the drama to have something like you happen to this family so I’ll let it go on. But if you are to replace my brother you will replace his plans too.” She continues, her voice rather calculated for someone her age. “I couldn’t give less of a damn why you’re pretending to be my brother just as long as you at the very least stay out of the way. We’ll meet back up with him after we escape.” She explains, saying the last part more to herself than you.
“Come, Kharonis.” She says softly “I’ll take you to the infirmary, you’re hurt.” As she leads you through the mansion you notice a distinct lack of people paying any attention to you. It’s such a big family with so many moving parts they hardly even see you or each other as colleagues. To them, the only significance you hold is heir to the family. Finally, Alia leads you into a room you assume is the infirmary, it isn’t. “Who are you and where is my brother?” She asks, scowling as she locks the door behind the both of you.
“What?…” the driver replies, staring at you. “You want us to… take you to the now smoldering building… of the people you just attacked… cosplaying as the dead dude you stuffed into our car… and just… huck your “dead” body out?” When it is apparent that yes, that is what you want, he begins driving. “You coulda at least said please.” You begin nearing the building, seeing a firefight on the street between The Baron’s men and Bluegale security. “What the f#ck did you get us into?” Groans John.
Kharonis, still unable to speak, weakly gives you case file containing locations of archives that could hold information. With that, he passes. Knowing what you’ll go on to do and that he is among the resting place of his real people, he looks at peace. When you return to the main building you see the man in armor and the tattooed man fighting. The armored man fights expertly and professionally as he blocks an swings to no avail. Eventually he disperses his blade before weaving a punch and hopping onto the tattooed man’s back. He puts the hilt to the large man’s shoulder before turning it on. The particles try to come together despite the man’s magic armor. Unrelenting until he crushed by his own barrier. As silent as ever, the masked walks into the enormous blood splatter and picks up his sword. He turns it off again, letting the rest of the blood trapped inside fall to the ground before clipping the hilt back to his belt.
“Yes, home safe and sound, just like the rest your wretched blood.” Says a voice behind you. You whirl around to see Kharonis’ “father” and the man you fought during the convoy assault, He’s covered in glimmering tattoos that are probably his new impenetrable armor. “What a fitting place for me to finally end you.” You prepare to fight before a man in a high-tech looking mask and suit of armor appears. He takes out a small piece of metal before clicking a button on it. At one end of the bar it looks like particles from the air gather to form a blade just a bit longer than the blades of one of your swords. He doesn’t say a word, simply stands at the ready to defend you.
He can’t speak through the blood, only gurgling and rasping sounds make it through as he weakly writhes. You approach the mansion, it’s mostly just a charcoal ruin now. The parts that were supported by stone still stand, pieces of the roofs, the floors, and some whole rooms are still mostly intact. You feel a stab at your heart as reminisce on this place’s last moments, as we as those of the people who lived in it.
He starts driving like hell. Meanwhile Tommy, still having said nothing begins applying what healing magic he knows to Kharonis. He’s doing the best he can but it’s obvious he only learned it to the extent of a nonmagical first aid kit. “Are really sure you don’t need a hospital this time?” Asks John “that guy is NOT in good shape.”
Before anything more can be said you hear several explosions from upstairs. Rubble begins falling all around and you manage to get you and Kharonis into the elevator. It opens to complete pandemonium, fire, explosion, gunshots. Standing in the middle of it is The Baron. “Kid, you should probably get outta here!” He calls over the chaos. You make it outside where the boys from earlier whip the truck around. “Get in dude!” John yells through the rolled down window.
“We share a?…” he trails off as he looks at you closer, seeing your eyes and silver hair. “You…” He repeats, recognizing you again but this time entirely differently. “That’s why you’re here, The Hengest Massacre.” He circles you as he speaks, his scythe propped on his shoulder with the blade to the air as though it weighs nothing. “Why haven’t you gone after Kingless? Why have you returned” he seems less defensive now that he’s detached himself from the family. “You will ruin everything for us!” He hisses as though hoping not to disrupt the delicate operation you’re apparently jeopardizing. “With this mess there’s no way I could get us out in time! I’ll be doomed to be another godhead for this cult and then… how would I save them?”
He holds a golden light to his arm. Now this is something you’d expect from a Bluegale, top notch restoration. He looks disdainfully at the spell he’s been forced to cast. “I suppose since one of us is dying here I might as well vent to you a touch.” He says as his arm snapping and crunching into place. “I’ve always been called to darkness, for the longest time I didn’t know why. Until I got older and saw what my family was. My family revels in the idea that they walk in the light, that they’re the good guys. But they lie and they kill and they torture. And what’s worse, they try to justify it with weak excuses of “the greater good.”” He says, staring into the shadows. “But darkness doesn’t lie. It obscures and freezes and corrupts and consumes but it never promises not to do so, Perhaps that’s why my family detests it. Well I’m done lying.” The blade of his scythe shatters and all of the shadows around gather to form a black, wispy, blade of pure darkness. “I am Kharonis Hengest, dark betrayer of deceit.”
He paused and stared into your eyes, identical to his. “I am Kharonis Bluegale, dissenting heir of the Bluegale family. And your unfortunate end.” As he swings at you you notice the way he moves with the unwieldy weapon, How he follows its weight in an unending swing as it shifts its axis to attack from a different point. his fighting style is a lot like yours would be had you received a scythe as your heirloom. Most of your defense is dodging as there’s far too much weight behind those swings to effectively block. You can sense the darkness in his power, his movements, and his disposition. How is someone like him a Bluegale?
He turns over and kicks at you, that’s when he gets a look at you. “You!…” he hisses as he gets to his feet. “You started all of this! Now I have to fix something I know nothing about!” He raves angrily before stopping. “I do know one thing, once you’re gone things will go back to how they were and I can get back to what I was actually doing.” He summons a black scythe to his hand, the blade ignited with a purple fire-like aura. This weapon is far from what you’d expect from a Bluegale, but then again so is he. He clearly detests his life s a Bluegale, he believes taking your head could give him a shot to escape.
He looks over at you. “Some mercenary my father sent to guard me? Pft like they care.” He’s used to the heavy hitters that are appointed as bodyguards just keeping to themselves so he doesn’t expect you to say anything to or about him. “How I envy you, to you this is just a job. Me? A goddamned prison.” He steps out into the underground warehouse and begins looking through something. “I should have left with Ezekiel, he may be mad but at least he’s free to be. Just as the dark is free to surround the light.” He stares into the shadows that are given right to exist by the poor lighting. Gazing as though hoping they will take his hand and lead him out of the light he’s stood in for so so long.
“Everything YOU’VE built! Father, what YOU couldn’t be! Not once have you ever asked me if I wanted this!” The outburst awarded him with another slap, far harder this time. But for the first time, the young man doesn’t back down. “What am I to do anyway? Wasn’t our god supposed to appear after you fried poor Ezeki-“ he’s silenced by force when the old woman raises a hand, his throat is surrounded by a gold light as he appears to be being choked. “You will not ruin this for us boy! And you will not speak of HIM.” she demands before entering a coughing fit and dropping him. “Now” she continues shakily but with all the same venom and command. “Go clean up your mess.” The young man storms out of the room and begins heading the same direction as you, narrowly missing you in his field of vision.
John was the only one who left with you. He hangs back and climbs up a fire escape in a backstreet. He drops some guards, blowing you a hole to dash through. You make it inside surprisingly undetected and begin searching the ruin Dante left behind. What few floors left intact are heavily patrolled, you are only able to get through undetected. That is until you hear an alarm start blaring. You quickly get behind cover but all the guards go right past you. You enter a now unoccupied room to find… The Baron. He whirls around, ready to strike until he sees you. “Oh hey, it’s you.” He says, dropping the hostility. “Outta respect for what ya did for me back at my office I won’t consider you a witness. But I’d get do what ya came to do quick, this place won’t exist here in a second.” It’s clear he’s planning something nefarious for this place, but he’s not getting your way if you don’t get in his.
The truck rolls to a stop a few blocks down from the building. “They’ll see us coming on wheels. We doin’ this we’re doin quietly less we wanna cosplay Swiss cheese (Switzerland doesn’t exist in this world).” The driver says as he gets out with you. One of the guys passes him a rifle. “I’m John by the way.” He says before turning back to the truck. “Aiden, take the truck for a few laps in the area. With that you and him begin approaching through the alleyways and backstreets. “I can cover you while you move in with those swords.” He says before turning to actually looking at them. “Those aren’t fake, right?”