Game: Great minds think alike (Part II)

Regidar's eyes turn angry as he grows larger and larger... or is it Blackthornes who grows smaller?
"The Abyss? We are not in the Abyss, son. Only in the abyss of your mind. And a deep abyss it is, monster. You could have been my pride, and my son. But you were too afraid to fight. But I always told you, giving in to fear is the same as taking everything from those who depend on you. And that is what you did."

The man laughs out loud. "You haven't decided yet? It seems you're still suppressing emotions."

He comes a step closer. "Do you want to see what's deep in there?"

Behind him, Ian hears Toby spit out. "Don't. If you do, I'll kill you. I'll kill US. I'll kill everything and everyone to survive."

Naruk gives the Masked Gnoll a sceptical look, then stands up and gets closer. "Let's hope there's not a quarter of Sigil growing on you. Where's the itch?"

Toby stands up, and gets closer to Ian. "You have no idea what I am. And you will not kill me. You will not kill me. You will not kill me."

The corpse-man watches Toby with curiosity, then turns to Ian again. "You need to understand your weapons to use them effectively against your enemies. But are you not the greatest weapon you have?"

He smiles, then adds, "I do not know who your enemy is, but my powers of guidance will give you an answer from your own heart."
He lifts his hands, and a golden shimmer surrounds it.

A moment later, Ian watches a wonderful temple room, full of flowers, their sweet smell almost feelable. Down on the ground, maybe five yards below, a man in silver armour kneels before a bipedal, saurian creature that wears silver ornaments all over its body.

The saurian speaks with a low, dark voice. "So you seek to fight Xanarox and destroy him for all time. While I understand your plea, I tell you now - and this one time only - you will not defeat him, not yet. You may come to this point, in years maybe, but if you face him now, you will die. So, do you still want to know the answer to your question?"

The man looks up, his face hardened and angry. "Yes," he says with a voice soaked with hatred. "And I will kill him."

The saurian stares at the man for a long moment, then continues. "So it shall be. You have heard about Xanarox' time travelling powers, and that is what you fear. But his secret is that, while this ability is powerful indeed, it is not his greatest strength. He does not even like using it, most of the time. Too many unforeseen complications."

The saurian walks through the room, giving Ian the impression of a teacher instructing his students. "Xanarox' greatest power is to see your heart, that part which you don't want to see yourself. Every hidden fear, every hate of yourself, everything you don't want to see and everything you don't allow yourself. He can see it, smell it, feel it. And he can manipulate you in ways you won't even notice. The moment you encounter him, you are doomed, unless you know your heart for true."

Ian stands in front of the man he killed again. The man looks at him with curious eyes. "So? What is your decision?"

Behind the two, Toby stands, holding a large, blood-spotted dagger in his right hand. He stares at Ian.

"I am no monster!" Redigar shouts angry. "I am the great leader of my tribe! I am the strongest, and..." Blackthornes notices how Redigar's facial features change, "I will solve any problem, and get out of any situation, no matter how difficult!"
It is Ian who speaks to Blackthornes. "And you are just one poor clueless boy who hasn't grown up yet, who just doesn't get it's not your feelings that let you survive, it's tactics and strategies, and intelligent planning. If I'd follow your plans, I'd be dead in less than a day! I'm the one who knows how to survive, and that's why I'll get us through this mission!"

"Magic doesn't help you here," Toby says with an evil smile. Slowly, little black horns grow from his forehead, and his eyes turn black.

"Die!!!"

He jumps at Ian, dagger ready for an attack, as...

Mommy. Tobias sits on her lap, while she sits on the edge of the single bed they own. She embraces him, and finishes singing a beautiful song about Arborea. Arborea and Elysium always were her favourite planes.

"Toby? Will you promise me something?"
Toby smiles, then replies, "Only if you promise me something, too."
"Okay. Who goes first?"
"You, mommy."
Her embrace gets stronger, and she presses him closer to her. "Promise me that you will become happy, my boy. Sigil is... I know the Hive is a horrible place, but I am sure that one day, we will get out of here. Maybe we'll live in one of the better parts of Sigil, or even somewhere entirely else. But where we live is not so important. The important thing is... I want you to be happy. So many people here only survive, you know? They live, but they're not happy with their lives. Promise me that you'll be happy."
Toby looks at her for a few long seconds. "I promise, mommy."
She looks at him, proud. "Now, your wish."
He smiles. "Promise me that you won't let me alone. Not like daddy did."
She smiles, but Toby sees the pain in her eyes. "I promise."

A change of scenery. Toby is under the bed. He's hidden himself with a blanket, curious how long it'd take before his mommy would realize he was down there, and find him.
She's there since a couple of minutes already, cleaning up the room, when the door opens. There was no knocking, the door simply swings open. It's the man that mommy always called 'Landlord'. Toby doesn't understand what that means, but he knows the house they live in belongs to him.
"The good lady Trent," the man states in an oily voice. He is not ugly; for the Hive, he wears good clothing, and his body is trained. But those dark blue eyes... Toby never liked them. "Cleaning up... my house?"
Mommy retreats a step, she seems to be afraid. "I... I know I'm late with the fee, Landlord. But I'll get the money. Only five more days, or six. Please..."
The man laughs. "You must believe I'm one of those sodding faeries you love so much. I don't fulfill wishes. I'm a tradesman. If you want something from me, you have to give me something back in return."
Her eyes now show fear. Toby wants to jump up and stop the man; he's afraid he'll hurt mommy. But he's too afraid himself. Hidden under his blanket, he's got trouble to keep breathing.
"Please, Landlord... if not for me, think of my son. You always said you liked Tobias. And we need a place to live, and..."
"Shut your bonebox, woman." The man looks around the room, as if searching for something. "Hm. No, there is nothing of worth in this place. Nothing, except of..."
He turns to mommy, and smiles.
Tobias doesn't understand what he means, but obviously, mommy gets afraid. She retreats further, pressing herself against the wall.
"Don't worry. I'm not going to force you. But I'll await you at my place tonight, when your son is asleep. If you come, your rent is paid for the last month. Afterwards we'll discuss the month to come. If you don't appear tonight, you'll be out of this place by tomorrow noon."
"I... I can't do that. I'm still married. My husband, I believe he's still alive, he..."
The landlord laughs out loud. "And belief is power, right? Well, then obviously you don't believe strong enough. Think about my offer." He ponders for a moment. "If not for me, think of your son," he mimics her, then turns around and leaves the room.
Mommy cowers down on the floor, and begins to cry hard. Toby doesn't come out of his hiding place. He stays there for a long, long time, until Mommy leaves the room.
When she returns, he knows, she'll just take him into her arms. But she won't say a thing about what happened. Tobias doesn't fully understand what has happened, but he knows they stayed in the house, and he knows he didn't like that. But he made his promise, so he pushed away those thoughts.

"I am not better than you? Hah! Of course I am. I am because..."
Left of Ian, a shadowy figure appears, quickly taking on the shape of - Blackthornes. "Because I am worthless. That's why Redigar..."
Another Blackthornes appears, at Ian's right side. "... Redigar didn't want me. He wanted me as his son, but I wasn't worth to be. I..."
One more Blackthornes appears, left of Blackthornes himself. "... was left alone in the wilderness, I was left alone, because noone wanted me. And even those who adopted me didn't want me. Noone wants me. I'm worthless."
More and more Blackthornes appear around the original Blackthornes, circling him.
"I deserve to be left alone. I deserve it, for I'm weak."
"I'm weak, and I'm bad. I'm a bad boy."
"I'm evil. I feel it deep within my heart. I'm evil. And I hate this evil. I hate..."
"...me. I despise me. I'm worthless."
"Worthless."
"Evil."
"Hate me..."
"Worthless..."
"Evil..."

The cacophony of words gives Blackthornes a nausea. The entire world seems to circle him...

Toby looks up to Ian's mother, and his face turns full of hate.

"You left me. You promised you won't leave me alone, but you left me. You broke your promise, and so I broke mine. Do you hear that? I won't fulfill my promise. But I gave two new promises to myself. I will survive, and I won't be breaking any promises ever again."

He speaks his words in a hateful whisper, his dagger slowly turning towards Ian's mom.

"First of all, stay calm, yes?"

Naruk takes a deep breath before speaking again. "There's a lot of explanations. Faathi said you are of Faeraan heritage. Maybe Faeraans simply grow wings some day. Or life on the planes has changed you. From all I've seen of you so far, you could easily be... wait a moment. Not only dragonflies have dragonfly wings. I've seen them often on Faeries, too. Faeries... Faeraan... it could only be a coincidence, but..."

Toby's hateful eyes turn towards Ian. "But giving me a promise she couldn't keep was. She left me alone, just like you did. You grew up, but you left me to die inside. But now all you are is a mask of mine."

The other Blackthornes smiles, a wicked, hungry smile. "A construct, and yet a real fiend."

The horns on his head grow, as do the black wings that protrude from his back. "You did have two parents. Your father was a half-fiend, and your mother was a human. But you were no child of love. Not even of rape. Your parents were no more than the resources to build you. Your real father, your father-in-soul, is a mighty fiend, and he is waiting for you. He is waiting for the fiend in your heart to break out and slay the mortal inside. He is waiting for you to become pure. Strong. Evil."

Another Blackthornes appears left of the fiendish Blackthornes. He looks all like Blackthornes himself, except for... the eyes. His eyes are so soft.
"I am not evil," he whispers. "I have always fought this feeling, but it is so strong..."

The fiendish Blackthornes looks at the new arrival, and laughs. Slowly, the soft-hearted Blackthornes fades out, disappearing...

At the edge of his sight, a new face appears. Ian doesn't recognize it at first, then he realizes it is the Masked Gnoll whispering into his - no, into Toby's - ear.

"Innocence comes from the heart," he says, followed by a giggle, before the gnoll's huge figure disappears again.

"Our strength?" Toby says, not reacting to the Masked Gnoll's appearance. "Yours. But I, I am broken already. Still all you can see are yourself."

Toby's vision focusses on the image of Ian, standing before him. Through Toby's eyes, Ian sees himself, a hollow shell, floating alone through the multiverse. "Weak," Toby says, and Ian sees how the image of himself slowly dissolves into white ether.

Slowly, he feels how he himself dissolves. A mask without a meaning. Finally, everything will turn calm.

Finally, no defenses will be needed anymore.

Finally, no broken promises to forget, and the billion screams inside will fade.

"I will survive," Toby says. "I promised myself. I will survive. I will survive."

In the distance, Ian sees the figure of the Masked Gnoll again, watching him with sad eyes. Silent, waiting.

The darkness slowly consumes everything.

The landscape fades away, the Masked Gnoll disappears, and so does Ian.

"No longer necessary. There you say it. You left me to die inside yourself, just like mommy left me to die. I thought I could survive through you, but I didn't. Look at me. I am a monster, a fiend. Something you turn into after death. So let me go home now, to the afterlife where I belong. Let me finally go to hell."

Everything has gone. Darkness surrounds Ian. All that is left is he, and Toby.

And that tiny green spark flying before his face.

A spark which grows slightly, until it has the size of a human thumb. A gnoll with a mask, and beautiful green dragonfly wings on his back. A fairy gnoll.

"Hey! You're not going to ruin everything and run away from your friends, right?"

"Discussions," Toby says spiteful. "Arguments. Logic and plans. That's all you're capable of. And that's why you are weak."

Ian feels how Toby grabs the mask that he is, ready to pull it away from his face.

A sudden pull rips Ian away from Toby, upwards, upwards, until everything is soaked in light. Down below, Ian sees the young boy that he has been a long time in the past. He throws away a mask, then falls on the ground. His body clenches and cringes, like in a death fight.

At the edge of Ian's sight, a tiny green spark appears.

"It's all so easy," the Masked Gnoll-faery says. "Why do you always make things so complicated? Oh! I think I know the answer. You are perfect with complicated things, but you fail utterly when things are easy. It's like a key and a lock, you know? The complicated key only fits in the complicated lock."

The Masked Gnoll smiles happily, as if he had just found the answer to all the questions of the multiverse.

[OOC: @Finwe: Good to hear. I don't want to scare away any motivated players by not including them into the game!

@all: If anyone, at any point of the game, ever gets the feeling he doesn't get enough attention, just shout out and I'll find a way to change it :)]

The fairy-gnoll gives Ian an irritated stare. "You do realize you are him and he is you? If he doesn't listen to you, then you don't listen to you. I thought you would've got that by now. Oh, and, blindly agreeing is not a good thing. Orcs do that with their chieftains, and orcs are bad. But there's a voice in you that you rarely listen to, and you know it."

The Masked Gnoll flies in front of Ian's face, and smiles brightly. He nods heavily, then pulls out a tiny sparkling wand. "Say your wish!"