Ch6-6: Illusionary Death
Every internal sense in Ben’s body screamed out a warning.
The shadows along the trembling dungeon walls began to swell, rising up into a solid form. And though he could recognize the magic for what it was – a mind illusion – there was something about the feel of the energy that was terribly wrong. The fact that anyone on the Blue Planet knew of such magic was more frightening to Ben than what the magic was currently summoning.
Forbidden! This sort of mind magic has not been taught to the Lunars… much less the humans! What sort of creature could possibly know something like this?
“Cecil! What the hell is that?” Edge stumbled as the ground gave another heave. Propping one shoulder against the bars of the cell, he managed to keep his balance long enough to draw his blades.
“I… don’t know?” The Paladin’s gaze turned slowly, taking in the looming formation with a glassy expression.
“We can’t stay here,” Ben grasped his brother’s shoulder with one hand, as he attempted to steer Chase, Porom and Opal into the hopeful safety of one of the sturdier-standing jail cells.
“Ben… it’s..!” Chase’s voice rang in alarm.
“I know… I feel it too,” the Wizard grimaced. Then he placed a hand on the two children’s heads. “I want you to stay hidden here. Just for now, until I figure out what we’re fighting.”
“But, Master… I can–!” Porom objected.
“I’m sure you can,” he nodded, stopping her in mid-sentence. “But what all the Troians fighting outside the castle are really going to need is someone who can heal once the battle is done. You need to stay safe until then.”
Porom took in a deep breath. The frown on her face spoke of unhappiness, but her brown eyes lowered in resignation, “Yes, Master…”
“What about me?” Opal stared up at the Half Lunar. There was a sense that she had already seen more than her share. But there was also the spark of determination that said she would hold fast until the end.
“I don’t understand?” Ben peered at her.
“Do you order me to remain here too?”
“Cleric of Troia… this is your kingdom. Your war. I can’t order you to do anything,” he told her, tottering as a random tremble shook the castle. “It’s totally up to you.”
Her knuckles were white where they griped her battle staff. Her violet eyes reflected in fear with each jolt of the stone. But when Ben went to retrieve Cecil, the young Cleric followed closely behind.
“Cecil, are you going to be okay?” the Wizard gave his brother a long, concerned look. He could tell by the expression on the Paladin’s face that Cecil was already thinking about his kingdom.
“Don’t sweat it man — we’ll take them out before they can hit Baron,” Edge appeared at Cecil’s other side, a flicker of anger still in his eyes.
“We’ve got to make it through this first,” Ben warned them both.
Slowly the Paladin lifted his eyes, hand reaching around the grip of his blade. “Yes… you’re right.”
“Damn right, I’m right!” Edge barked, crossing his two katanas in front of him. “Now let’s go take this nasty-ass down! Whatever it is.”
The liquid shadow had begun to condense within the center of the dungeon, vaguely taking on the shape of a fully armored knight. One that stood twice and again Ben’s own height.
“He..eey!” Opal’s violet eyes widened. “That thing is making a mockery of the old Knight statue that used to stand in the Main Square!”
“Don’t tell me… he was a powerful legendary knight of Troia?” Edge hissed, locking his heel against the rolling of the floor.
“Yes. She was,” the Cleric grumbled.
“Well, let’s just hope an illusionary recreation of the statue lacks her legendary battle prowess,” Ben muttered.
“Illusion? This thing is just an illusion?” Cecil blinked over, both hands now gripping the haft of his blade.
“Yeah, but it’s more complicated than that,” the Wizard informed them. “Treat it like it’s real. I have a feeling it’s going to be just as dangerous as actuality.”
“How can that be?” the Paladin’s voice bordered on hoarse.
“I have a few ideas… and none of them are good,” Ben’s eyes glittered, fixing on the shadowy Knight as it turned its new-formed awareness upon them. “All I do know is that it must be destroyed.”
“Alright! Let’s do this!” Edge leapt forward, both blades held straight down by his sides.
“Wait… we don’t even know if that can hurt it!” Cecil called after him.
“Trial and error, Cecil,” Ben frowned deeply, moving forward towards the battle area, though more carefully than the Ninja had.
“I hate trial and error,” the Paladin grumbled. But he, too, was moving forward.
“Just make sure you keep Edge out the way of my spells,” Ben replied, staking the blade of Onyx into a crack between the stones. Both hands lifted as concentration summoned crackling green power around him.
Or there will be Ninja Crispies.
Just as the Master Wizard made to release the pulsing flow of power, a streak of white flew past his head, slinging his hair over his vision. There was no doubt it had been holy magic – it was the way his skin prickled and heated, leaving an uncomfortable flush on one side of his face. Ben stumbled back, his own spell forgotten, to stare at Opal where she stood just off to one side and behind him. Already, the young Cleric was winding up to send another holy comet.
“Opal!” Ben choked, “Don’t cast that so close to m—Ahhhh!”
A rush of white magic flew from the young girl’s hands, once again far too close for comfort. Ben dodged back on instinct, stumbling amongst the toppled stones from one of the walls. Only to find his foot stuck in one of the twisted grates of a jail cell door.
“Odin’s Blade!” he swore, yanking at his entrapped leg. The bars grated a high-pitched screech, reluctantly giving up their new-found captive.
The whole structure shuddered as stone exploded, sending Opal dodging for cover behind the wall next to the Master Wizard. Her mouth was wide open, breath panting in panic – the very same panic that had probably led her to casting about magic so wildly to begin with.
“Are you okay!?” Ben called to Opal, half catching her as she stumbled.
“It’s a monster!!” she informed him in a terrified voice, as if realizing for the first time exactly what they were up against.
“Yeah… monsters happen sometimes…” he replied. All he could do was attempt to keep her steady under one gentle hand, until the girl could pull her wits about her.
Twisting his head in an awkward angle, Ben managed to catch sight of the battle raging in the small enclosure. The Knight’s weighted mace buried itself deep within one of the dungeon walls, sending a volcano of debris shooting across the chamber. The whole structure quivered as the roof caved above the wicked-horned helm.
Where is Cecil!?
Dwarfed by the creature’s immense stature, Edge and Cecil flitted around the Knight’s massive legs. The two of them worked flawlessly, moving in a pattern of battle-motion that only they seemed to know. There was little doubt that though the Ninja and the Paladin did not always share the same views on broader issues in life, they worked together exceedingly well when it came to matters of battle.
As the Knight dislodged the massive weapon, the Ninja sprang up and caught one of the dull metal spikes. A quick dance placed Edge up on the arm of the now-befuddled creature, leaving a long trail of sparks as his dual blades sought for a weakness between the armor’s plates.
I swear – they look like they’re having far too much fun…
Cecil was already making his way up a pile of rubble, setting the Knight up for an attack from behind. As big and lumbering as the Knight was, there seemed little it could do but swat heftily at the two swiftly darting warriors.
Still. Cecil’s Crystal Sword… Edge’s Masamune and Murasame… they don’t seem to be cutting through that armor. I doubt this illusion can be harmed.
A deep frown broke over Ben’s face as his eyes began to scan the chamber, attempting making out the dim shapes along the leaning stone structures.
The Knight-illusion must be a distraction. It’s too magically inefficient to be a serious attack.
Gripping the haft of Onyx tighter, the Half Lunar began to send tendrils of awareness throughout the room. Searching.
Someone knew they could keep Cecil and Edge busy with something like this. Someone is playing our group.
Searching…. and not finding.
But where is he—
Ben heard Opal’s choked gasp only a second before he felt the sharp stabbing jolt in his back. A moment of tense numbness rushed over his body, deflecting the pain that a normal person would feel from such a blow.
I didn’t even sense—
The Wizard felt a sudden backwards jerk — something sharp being drawn out of his body from behind. He saw a splatter of red spray across the floor around his boots. A warm, wet spot began to spread from his shoulder. It was a thick, liquid feeling that dribbled down his back and made his undershirt stick to his skin.
“Wha…?” Slowly, Ben turned around. The first thing he noticed was the pale shock that covered Opal’s face. The young Cleric she stood shaking and plastered with her back to the wall.
Ben only realized that he had been stabbed when his eyes fell upon the blood-stained blade on the end of the staff. His gaze traveled up the haft to see the stranger’s demented smile. The face was hidden by metal plates and a large black eye patch, which accented the mad flicker of a single burning green eye.
Do I know you from somewhere…?
Something tugging at the back of his mind. But he couldn’t tell what. Or why.
This man… he is…
“Hello, Benjamin,” a sleek, clear voice rose up to greet him, as if in answer to his thoughts. “It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”
“Ah..?” Ben’s mouth was open, breathing heavily as the warm wetness began to spread further down his back.
“Or should I call you Master Golbez, now?” the stranger’s smile widened. “Would you find that more… appropriate?”
“No…” the Half Lunar’s voice was weak. His mind rolled back and forth under the gripping feeling that he should know this person. And a distant curiosity about the dull pain spreading over his back.
“It’s a shame, isn’t it? We should meet here again, at the end of all things. In this way…” the tips of the bladed spear shimmered in a dull violet light. As the stranger slowly let his mental shielding slip away, Ben found his senses picking things up. Frightening things.
This guy… he’s some sort of mind mage? It’s hard to tell, but I don’t think he’s human. There’s no way a human can do things like this. Yet… he doesn’t feel Lunar either?
“You… you were the one that created the mind illusion?” Ben struggled, trying to piece things together.
The smile slipped off the mind mage’s face, replaced by a searching squint. “What do you mean? You don’t know who I am?”
“No…?”
“That’s impossible,” his expression darkened into a scowl which made him even more fearsome. “After all that time in Zot?”
“Zot?” Ben blinked, then shook his head. “I don’t remember much of what happened to me in Zot? You were there?”
The man paused, gripping the staff between his hands viciously, “You’re not jerking me around… are you? You really don’t remember me?”
The Half Lunar winced and shook his head again.
“Golbez dying in ignorance of his victor? This simply will not do!” the mind mage looked put out.
“Die? Who said I’m gonna die?” Ben lowered his brows. He knew he should be fighting the stranger, but he couldn’t help but harbor more curiosity for this odd mage who claimed to know him from times past. Curiosity for what secrets he might know.
“Well, considering my staff is tipped with an incredibly deadly poison… I don’t know that you have much of a choice here,” the light glittered dimly from the metal of his face plates as he turned his head.
Opal gave a sharp, horrified gasp. Her eyes glanced toward the battlefield where Cecil and Edge still worked unsuccessfully to whittle down the illusionary Knight.
“Don’t even think about it, sweetie,” the stranger waved a finger at her. “You really don’t want to involve yourself in this. So just sit back, keep your mouth shut and you won’t get hurt.”
She gave a quiet, sobbing hiccup, pale face fixing on Ben in overwhelming concern.
Poisoned blade, hun? Well then, if that’s the case…
Ben let himself stumble back, propping his shoulder against the leaning stone wall. His voice fell weak and wavery, “Why… are you doing this?”
“Why? Simple. Because I am O.M.E.G.A.,” the man told him.
O.M.E.G.A.?
As if in response to Ben’s thought, he continued, “Oh, yes. You don’t know, do you? I was another of Zeromus’ little pet projects in the Tower of Zot. That’s where I got these.”
O.M.E.G.A. tapped at the embedded metal on his cheek. It rang with a dull, solid sound.
“Zeromus..? So is that why you feel…”
“Screwed up beyond recognition?” he quipped a laugh. “Yep. That bastard turned me inside out and back again. I just happened to live through it. Unfortunately. And that would be the short of things.”
“Cecil was one of Zeromus’ greatest foes! Why would you attack him?” Ben coughed, letting out a trembling breath.
“Oh, I’m not attacking him. He’s simply in my way. You’re the one I want to kill, Benjamin,” a slow, sickly smile drew up over O.M.E.G.A.’s face. As he talked he strode nearer, lowering his weapon as he observed the effects of the poison working through Ben’s drooping form.
“But… I’m not controlled by Zeromus anymore. Zeromus is dead,” Ben grit his teeth, peering up into the flame of green eye.
“That may be true. Zeromus is dead. But that doesn’t shut down my internal programming.”
“I don’t understand?” the Half Lunar wrinkled his brow.
“You see, I started out as a prototype for the experimentation that was done to you in Zot. So most of the alterations they did to you were tested on me first. Consider me… Lugae’s little Lunarian guinea pig…”
“You’re a Lunarian?” he couldn’t help but keep the surprise out of his voice.
“Was a Lunar. I’m not sure what you’d call me now. Ooglay, would be a good word, I suppose,” he smirked. O.M.E.G.A. leaned back casually as he continued, “The idea behind creating me was to design a creature that could defeat Zeromus’ pet Dark Lord… should Golbez ever happen to break his mind control. I suppose he always knew that was a strong possibility with you. And he wanted to be ready for that day.”
“I see… so… then you were designed to…”
“Destroy you. Yes. It’s pretty much programmed in my head to hunt you down until you’re dead. Sorry… nothing personal, Benjamin,” O.M.E.G.A. gave a slow, somber laugh.
Crouched against the stone wall, Ben shook his head again heavily. It was hard to decide if he felt sorrow or disgust for the creature that stood before him – a Lunar who had been twisted and altered by the same hand that he had. Who knew what history of pain this O.M.E.G.A. carried with him.
“Tell me one thing…” Ben peered up, meeting the single-eyed gaze.
“Sure?” the mind mage answered in a friendly tone.
“If you really know so much about destroying me…” the Master Wizard’s face grew grim, “How come you didn’t know that I was immune to poisons?”
“What?!”
Not allowing O.M.E.G.A. a moment’s worth of time to recover from the shock of revelation, Ben straightened again to his full height, both hands lashing out with streaming whips of green energy. The magic leapt from his palms, racing to bind the mind mage’s arms and legs, thrusting him back against the far wall. A circle of light outlined around his feet, a shield of nullifying power rising up in an iridescent pillar around the O.M.E.G.A.
All it takes is one disruption in the flow of energy and the Knight will be destroyed. No illusion can hold itself firm without connection to its caster.
“Aarrrrrrrrrrg!” O.M.E.G.A. seemed to realize all too late that he had been played. And he was obviously not happy about it. Both body and mind fought with fiercesome, unholy strength against the bindings that pinned his back to the stone structure. His face had contorted into a livid snarl, accented by the pulsing flame of the single eye.
Woah! He’s… already breaking through my…?
Fissures of sizzling green energy began spreading like with a roadmap design over the boundaries of Ben’s nullifying shield. The mind mage was powerful. And he was obviously more than aware of what Ben was trying to do with the shield – even if it only held him for a minute.
Just a little longer…
Shouts of victory began to ring through off the dungeon walls. The huge Knight gave a guttural sound, as close to a human moan as an unliving thing could make. The ground shook one last massive time under Ben’s feet, causing him to stumble. The sounds of the two warriors were enough to tell that that the illusionary Knight had fallen.
Still, the O.M.E.G.A. fought against his bindings, the shield wavering and flickering as their minds began to connect. Bringing down the full force of his focus, Ben found his attempts to invade and overpower the mind mage deflected time and time again.
I’ve never seen someone with so much lasting mind strength! Not even one of the Lunars! Whatever Zeromus has done to him… he is certainly a serious threat…
A threat that he knew he could not let escape from this battle.
Who knows what he might do next time. And if he gets away, there will be a next time… he has said so.
The shield gave a final hiss before it shattered into a spray of green and violet light.
He won’t stop until he’s killed me.
The energy binds on the O.M.E.G.A.’s arms and legs also looked to be weakening. Ben grit his teeth, commanding for more focus, yet finding his mind strangely swimming. A dull throbbing had begun to spread from the wet spot in his back. Something that remotely felt like pain and left him puzzling the consequences, if only momentarily.
-You… will… DIE!-
The voice of O.M.E.G.A. suddenly rang in his head. The force pounding through his skull as the mind mage turned his energies from struggle to attack.
Get out of my head!
Ben snarled, fighting off the invading awareness that had so suddenly descended upon him. He felt something inside begin to panic furiously. The idea that another entity could enter his thought patterns… like Zeromus had once done… was too terrible for him to accept.
–Give it up, Golbez! You are the same sort of monster than I am — nothing more than one of Zeromus’ damned creations! You would do the world a service to eliminate your existence. That is what I have come for… to wipe the world clean of Zeromus’ lingering taint!-
The Half Lunar stumbled back, feeling a spot of weakness suddenly spreading through his limbs. Something within him didn’t want to believe what this creature said could be true. But how could it be denied?
No… I’m here… to get my Crystal. The people here are in danger from it!
O.M.E.G.A.’s face twisted in dark pleasure.
–Since when did the Destroyer of Nations ever care about the people that he destroys? The only real dangers to this world are you… and me. Don’t you see?-
Ben’s breathing had become heavy and labored, and he couldn’t understand why. The poison had no effect on him, this he was sure of. Yet… it felt as if something was sapping the strength out of him.
I… …
The single hell-fire eye burned into his gaze, an image fixed within his mind.
-You can never be free! You are bound to your dark deeds forever.-
A sound, like a choked sob rose to Ben’s ears. He couldn’t tell if it was his own or someone else’s. Vision and magic and sound and light were blurring in a spiral around him. Crushing him. Ripping the breath from his lungs.
Suddenly, a sliver of sound sliced through the deepening mists of his mind. A distant voice. “Ben!! Ben what happened!?”
Chase?
Then another. Porom’s voice, frightened and choked, “He’s bleeding all over! Cecil!! Master Golbez is hurt badly!!”
“Shit! He’s gonna topple! Someone grab him on that side!” Edge swore.
Hands reached for him, trying to lower him to the stone floor. Ben struggled at first, mind still fighting against the enemy that he knew still lay within the shadows somewhere.
“O.M.E.G.A…” the Half Lunar moaned to the person nearest him, though he couldn’t tell who it was. “Where is O.M.E.G.A.?”
Cecil’s voice responded, “O.M.E.G.A.? What are you talking about?”
“The one… who created the illusion. He was here… he did… this… where did he go?” Ben tried desperately to explain in one long sentence between the bursts of pain that suddenly began to rip apart his body. “Ah….. aaaah.. wha…!”
“Stay still! We’ve gotta get some pressure on this before you bleed yourself out,” Edge demanded. That’s when Ben realized the pain he was feeling was the application of cloth being wound around his upper body.
“Ugh… don’t let him… get away!” the Half Lunar protested.
“Golbez. When we got here, there was no one here but you,” Cecil told him quietly.
“No one?” Ben choked.
“No one,” the Paladin repeated.
The Half Lunar took in a sharp breath, “Not even Opal?”
There was a moment of silence before Cecil spoke again. This time, his echo brought a chill rushing over Ben’s body. “Opal? She was with you?”