Witchers of Nifelheim - Part 2

Radiance expands the orb of light into both his and Echo's face. As he does this he dodges to the side, drops his weapon, and strikes Echo in the side with a rapid series of two knuckle punches. The strikes are aimed in such a way as to impose a feeling of numbness in the area being struck. 

"At this point in time, Yurria is a grown woman. Whether she remembered what her mother and I taught her the first four years of her life, or if she grew up to hate me for letter her get taken, I cannot change who she has become. I can only react in the moment.

The fear of losing my daughter is what is driving me. Whatever the outcome is, I will save who I can and live with my actions!"

(Rogue Fire)


"N-no.. " The pony uneasily shuffled his feet: "I was never given one. Being born only 2 days ago, much of me is still a blank slate.."

He looked up at you: "...what do you think I should be called? What would you call me?" The sea pony is looking at you with his big silver eyes.

(Silent Mist)


Laylah became a bit sad and looked at the ocean as well: "..there's only one I can think of.

Ursula already explained about the Health and Mana bars. One, measuring how many injuries we can regenerate, before we die. The other, measuring how many magic spells we can use, before we'll grow exhausted.

But she hasn't explained the Sanity bar yet.."



Laylah looked down: "Most monsters you'll meet, utilize physical or magical attacks, reducing your Health. A little regeneration and you're back to normal.

However... there are some parasites... that utilize a very twisted kind of magic... magic that does no physical harm... yet attacks your mind directly.

There will be no wound or physical pain, but your mind will be shaken, it will suffer. And the more your mind suffers, the more your Sanity bar will go down. And if it reaches 'Zero'..."



Laylah looked away: "...the Witcher who's Sanity has been reduced to zero, will fall unconscious, right in the middle of battle.
And he will be forcefully sent back into the depths of his soul. Where his own parasite will confront him again, trying to take control of his body.
Should the Witcher win, he will wake up again, in the real world. But he would be vulnerable during battle, while he was unconscious.


And should the Witcher loose to his own parasite... the Witcher's soul will die.. and the parasite will take over his body..


This whole process is very similar to the ritual the Witchers are performing right now..."


Laylah shook her head: "...anyways... I have no intention of fighting you... even if something like that happens to you..


That's.. about all the drawbacks I can think of" Laylah quietly said, before looking at you:
"...it was brave.. you know? Coming to Nifelheim, looking for your daughter, without knowing about the Glystaria, without knowing about the dangers of this world...

It was brave.." Laylah released a small smile and looked at the ocean again.

(Radiance)


Echo slightly doubled over, as the punches connected. He immediately moved his hands, sending the back end of the naginata in the direction of your jaw:

"I'm sensing a growing determination in your voice, but also fear. Fear, of finally facing her in battle"
Echo slowly smirked:

".....want practice with that?"


Before your very eyes, Echo began to shape shift. The color of his fur, his hair, his glowing eyes. Even his clothes began changing. You only had time to blink, before you saw Yurria, standing before you.


She looked exactly as you imagined her in your mind, to the last detail. Naginata still in hand, she made a sharp battle cry and made a long swiping motion, aiming to cut you in half.

Kaylee Brown wrote:(Rogue Fire)


"N-no.. " The pony uneasily shuffled his feet: "I was never given one. Being born only 2 days ago, much of me is still a blank slate.."

He looked up at you: "...what do you think I should be called? What would you call me?" The sea pony is looking at you with his big silver eyes.

"A name?" Rogue says to himself in thought "I have to confess, i'm terrible when it comes to choosing names. You just have to look back at some of the ones i've gone by myself over the years; Primus Unas, Ded Moroz, Red Omega, Wyvern Lord, Jake Kellforce. They're usually either bad language puns, or obscure references to cult tv shows.

Bearing that in mind, and feel free to reject this, but how about... Rolo?"

Radiances raises his own weapon blocking in such a way that causes the two blades to become locked. Then snakes out with his other hand grabbing Echo by the throat. The grip just tight enough to assert control but not so tight as to become fatally wounding. There is an expression of calm fury written in Radiance's face.

“You think hiding behind the mask of my daughter will grant you an advantage? You should have started with that Echo! You’re desperate! Doubting if you picked the wrong body to steal! Doubting what your purpose will be if you win! Let me teach you to be more than an echo in the dark!

At this point neither of us are going to back down so let's end this and focus our efforts to bettering each other! What say you?”

"I had no choice. She's my little girl. Even if she's grown up now in this world, I still want to find her. Having a family isn't something I ever thought would happen to me. I wasn't about to let her slip away. Much as though I get along with Moon's adopted daughter, I can't live without Melody." Mist wrapped her arms around her chest, as if hugging herself tightly, or trying to keep warm.

"How do I sign this contract then?"

With the blade flying towards her, Twilight's instinct kicks in and she catches it with telekinesis. With that, she diverts it from her, making it fly away into the desert.

"Definitely not. But if you want to best me, you got to beat my best."

She dives back down, landing forcefully. With it, she sends a small shockwave to blow up the sand around her and at Alyx.

"So what are the rules to this battle? Do enough damage in a certain time? Make you admit defeat? Either way, I won't lose. I've been far too pent up to not give it my all."

Rain leads him along to a small town, the leafs continuing to fall. The town moved with its folk, two instantly recognizable people come into view. A young Firewing in her teens, and just across the path a young Rain in her teens.

Fire was sitting over a forge and an anvil, an older woman resting her hand on fires shoulder. A smile was spread wide across the older womans face as she seems to be talking to fire over something,

"Im home..." rain quitely says she points to Fire and the older woman, "Thats my sister and my mother." The older woman looked about Rains age if not a little older, around her mid 30s, she has a bright orange coat with yellow eyes, her bright red hair which looks like it would fall down to the middle of her back has been tied up multiple times into a bun. Rain looks to Squiggles, "My mother was a blacksmith, though not a quick one she did make very high quality products. Sometimes army shipmets would come through and the officers would buy one of her sabers or rapiers, solders spending bits on hard steel and sharp blades". Next door was a medium sized cabin. Rain working her way through the front garden, cutting off pumpkin and other squash stems, next to her was a tall man, a rather comforting blue pegasus, gray eyes, and strange colored short hair that went from blue to gray down to its tips, he wasn't as muscular as Rains mother. He worked beside little rain cutting stems and working their way around the house.

"My father was a gardener and a farmer. We had a small vegitable garden in the back. My parents first met when one day he needed new gardening tools. He met my mother and he says 'She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.' She looks to her mothers forge, "Frankly I dont see it but hay we all have diffrent prefrances." She smiles her eyes returning to her father, "I would always help him in the gardens, pumpkins, tomatos, grapes climbing the side of our house. Hell we even grew a cherry tree."

"My mother would go on to train me. Letting me pick my weapon of choice before sparing with me. She taught my sister and me, my sister didn't really agree with our mothers stance on combat, "Use everything unfair to your advantage because your opponent wont let up" is what she would say. "Throw rocks, blind them with sand, trip them, do whatever you can to win." She sighs, "Each day i take that more and more to heart." Rain looks around the town longingly, "I would love to see home again at some point ya know." A tear rolls down her cheek, "Not be stuck here in this snowy wasteland."

(Rogue Fire)


"Rolo.." the pony repeated, spacing out for a moment, then looking at you and nodding:
"Yes. My name is Rolo"

He smiled: "Its nice to meet you"

The world began slowly turning to fog and fading away. Everything stopped seeming real and you began waking up, as if pulled away from a dream.






(Radiance)


Echo scowled at you, gritting his teeth and applying force on his weapon. After a moment, a smirk began to appear on his lips:

"...not too shabby"

The world began slowly turning to fog and fading away. Everything stopped seeming real and you began waking up, as if pulled away from a dream. A distant echo faintly rang in your ears:

"..should your Sanity ever fail.. Radiance... I'll be seeing you here again.... hahahahahahaaaaa-" Echo's laugh grew quieter and eventually faded away.







(Silent Mist)


"No need to sign anything. You just think about it really hard and it happens" Laylah happily said, brightly smiling: "I'll see you up ahead"

The world began slowly turning to fog and fading away. Everything stopped seeming real and you began waking up, as if pulled away from a dream.







(Twilight Sparkle)


First, the fire and lightning sphere hit Alyx's position, making him scream out in surprise, as he was enveloped by the explosions and smoke. Then, the shockwave hit, blowing the sand in his direction and sending him flying backwards.

He landed on his back, a few meters away and remained laying there, staring up at the sky:

"Jeez.." Alyx released a small smirk: "Getting kicked around in my own backyard.
You're good, Twilight.... you're good"

He closed his eyes and smiled. The world began slowly turning to fog and fading away. Everything stopped seeming real and you began waking up, as if pulled away from a dream.








(Rain Runner)


"...I... want to leave Nifelheim too.." the boy quietly said: "..I want to escape this prison world"

He looked up at you and released a small smile: "..Hey.. come on. I'm sure you'll see home again. Maybe you can even show it to me, in the real world"
The boy sighed and looked at the memory again: "...thank you for showing it to me..." he looked up:
"Ready to head back?" he smiled.

The world began slowly turning to fog and fading away. Everything stopped seeming real and you began waking up, as if pulled away from a dream.

(Everyone)


You wake up with a violent jerk and inhale, as if you were holding your breath for too long. Your head turns upward, your whole body straightening up. And as you watched the ceiling, you felt your eyes suddenly flash, and beginning to glow.

A phantom energy washed over your body, bringing with it fresh strength and stamina. All the fatigue and physical pain you felt, faded, almost immediately.

You felt stronger, faster, more energetic than you ever did in your life.


Slowing down your breathing and looking around, you found yourself still sitting in the wooden mess hall of the Witcher stronghold. Twilights, Rogues, Mists, Rains and Radiances eyes were all glowing, just like the eyes of the Witchers around you.


One of the Witchers released a big grin and gave you a thumbs up:


"Nice, Job" he said in broken Soren.



Briefly inspecting your surroundings, you notice that Johan had woken up too. He was sitting nearby, looking at you and slightly smiling. His eyes faintly glowing as well.

Ursula tightly hugged Rain, resting her head on Rains shoulder:
"I knew you'd make it. You're my mom after all" she brightly smiled. Judging from her shaky voice, she was clearly nervous the whole time.



Kaylee was still sitting in the middle of the pentagram, hunched over, eyes closed. She didn't move or speak.
Judging by the vigilant gaze of the Witcher behind her, Kaylee was still in the middle of her ritual.

Mist leant forward to get her bearings, and she looked over herself quickly, as if checking that none of her body had turned into a horrific decomposing mess or something. It took a few more moments to catch her breath, and she instinctually tried to stretch her wings out, the small stumps beneath her jacket shifting before she caught herself.

“Well, That wasn’t what I was expecting. Didn’t even have to fight. I’m assuming not everyone else had a friendly chat with their parasite and then shook hands?”

Rain smiles warmly, "Im probably the least threatened out of everyone honey..." she chuckles running her fingers through her daughters hair, "Squiggles is such a sweetheart, I wish you could meet him." She chuckles. Rain takes a quick look around trying to see what she couldn't see before, "If I go insane I know im in good hands... or flippers. Its hard to tell." She takes a deep breath looking around to the other witchers, "Did any of you see anything?"

"How do I summon my crazy ass fireweapon?" She asks her eyes suddenly lighting up.

(Inside)

"Hey wait, I'm not done ye-" As the world fades away and she wakes up.

(Outside)

"Gah!" She gets up, ready to move. But as she looks around, she notices the unhostile situation. Her battle stance fades, her face going solemn.

"Great..."

She goes to count the heads of awake people. She then asks the guy looking over her.
"How much time does a ritual usually take?"

Rogue takes a moment to get air back into his lungs. "I don't know, I thought my trial went quite well, and get this bonus, you all remember that conference call dream we had, well my co-pilot knows how to get to the actual film set, though he has some reservations about the person that sent us there" he says, before turning to Diana "That's a point, would you happen to be familiar with someone called Lucretia, because I get the feeling the Glystaria aren't too fond of her for some reason?"

Radiance stands up. Stretching as he does.

"I feel like mine more ended in a stalemate. I'm still not comfortable with another entity living in my body" He turns to Ursula "Has anyone ever killed or completely kicked out their Glysteria during the ritual and could it theoretically be done?"

"I can answer that question." Twilight says with a small hint of annoyance in her voice.
"You can't. I had mine on the ropes, but before I could get serious, he threw in the towel and brought me back out."

She let out a sigh. "I hope that wasn't an indication of something..."

"Well at least I know now it could be way worse" she looks to twilight and radiance, "Mabye you two should try to reason with em, Treat them well, like you would a friend." She shrugs, "They might just bring you right back out after you go insane."

Inside Twilight's head, Alyx began laughing:
"What, the ritual didn't have enough bloodshed for you? You monster."


As you examine your body, you don't find any traces of decomposition. If anything, you seem to be in good health. The polished floor was slightly reflecting the glow in your eyes.


"I went through a bit of a sparring match with my parasite" Johan said, looking at Mist: "It involved baseball bats... anyways-" he looked away:
"He showed me moments of my past.. events that defined me or.. changed me.. bad things. He scanned my memories real good"

Johan released a small smirk: "...my parasite insists that I refer to him as Drasko... cheeky bastard"



As you begin to examine the room, you suddenly notice daylight. Bright, golden rays of the sun were slightly peeking through the curtains, of the dozen windows built into the walls. You're convinced it was the dead of night, just a moment ago, but the sun was clearly shining outside.


Looking at everyone else in the room, you also began to notice something else. At first everything seemed fine, but when you looked at someone for too long, concentrating on them, its as if a special filter would activate in your eyes, and you could suddenly see through the person.

You could physically see their soul, you were convinced of this. A small ball of golden light, shining inside the persons chest.
And tied to it, as if on a rope, was another ball of light, this one bright red. The soul of the parasite.


You're not sure how you knew this, you just felt it in your bones.

The golden soul of the person was clearly in control of the body, sending small shining pulses to each body part.
The red soul of the parasite was floating in the body, next to the persons soul, seemingly supporting it, often sending small pulses of energy in its direction.



The picture looked completely different, when you looked at Kaylee. She was still hunched over, eyes closed. The two shining balls of energy in her body were on equal footing, sending conflicting pulses to her body, seemingly vying for control.
They were still locked it battle and it seemed to be only getting worse and more bitter.



"The rituals are usually short" Ursula began: "About 5 to 10 minutes long. It may seem like a lot of time passed while you were performing the ritual, but its only because a lot of things happened there, very quickly"

She looked at Rain: "I'm afraid you can't summon your soul weapon yet. We have to gather the metal first, then find a blacksmith to forge it.
This will be our first order of business, after you rested"



Ursula looked at Rogue: "Lucretia?..." she thought for a moment then shook her head: "No, I'm not familiar with that name. Who was she, what did she look like?



She then looked at Radiance and Twilight, becoming a bit sad:
"I'm sorry, but you cannot remove your parasite. Once its attached to your soul, it will stay there forever.
Your souls are linked. This connection cannot be broken, thus, you cannot harm one another, without harming yourselves in the process.

If you stab your parasite, for example, you will also be stabbing yourself. That's how the connection works.



The only way to 'break' the connection, is to let the parasite win. He will then devour your soul and thus, remain the only one in your body.

The parasites are soul eaters, its something unique to their species.


For better or worse, you're stuck together like this, until you die. I'm sorry" Ursula quietly said:
"I went through the same thing. Felt the same feelings. You get used to it."

"Just saying, it would be fun to spar in there." She says as she looks up. "And I doubt all of the Glysteria are the same, some will never give up on the war of dominance, biding their time to strike."

She looks at Kaylee. "Just like that one, in our last teammate. We can only hope, that she can overcome it herself."

"Twilight as much as I hate to be a downer... Kaylee as much as I believe in her is the one most likely to lose." She frowns, looking forward, "She has so much emotional bagage and yea we do to but... we're older, we know how to cope with it. Our kaylee shes a sensitive girl and shes going to get the worst of it." Rain looks down and shakes her head, "In the meantime." She looks to ursula, "Can you teach me any spells?"

"Yes, I was just about to mention" Ursula nodded: "I planned to teach everyone the basic spell list, right after the ritual, something every Witcher should kn-"


A piercing shriek suddenly cut through the room. Kaylee was arcing her back, her body eerily twisting upward. Her eyes suddenly opened wide, gripped by horror and beginning to glow. But unlike the others, her eyes began glowing a bright, sickly red.
She continued to scream in pain, twisting in place until she ran out of breath. The pentagram under her suddenly lit up with a bright purple light.


"Shit!" Ursula swore, getting onto her feet.


The Witcher sitting behind Kaylee muttered something through gritted teeth and summoned a burning sword to his hand. Raising it over his shoulder, he prepared to cut Kaylee in half.
Kaylee slowly turned her head, looking at him and an extremely unhinged smile spread through her face.


"NO! WAIT!" Johan shrieked at the Witcher, rushing towards him and grabbing his elbow. The Witcher tried to angrily throw Johan off and turned back, just in time to hear the faint sound of a grenade pin, bouncing off of the floor.


"Bye-bye" Kaylee said with a smirk, before something detonated on her belt, instantly engulfing the room in thick smoke.


The Witcher began swearing, violently swinging his sword and cutting through the smoke, over and over, where Kaylee was located a moment ago. His sword found no obstacle and sliced through empty air.


"SHE'S GETTING AWAY!" Ursula screamed, pointing upward, where a short silhouette ran up the wall, then began running right on the ceiling, making a beeline toward the exit door.

Everything was engulfed in smoke, visibility being almost zero, you lost sight of the silhouette almost immediately.

Rain stays seated for a long moment, "I knew it'd be her..." she sighs getting up she uses her newfound senses. She moves to the exit door and kicks it open drawing her revolver.

entering overwarch. She makes sure she checks the roof of the stronghold, Any sight of kaylee on the roof or nearby three shots would be fired.

Going through the exit door, you end up on a stone circular staircase. It was leading up, to the upper floors, and down to the ground floor.

You heard faint footsteps from below and for a split second, you saw Kaylee's shadow literally running on a wall and heading to the ground floor. She vanished from view shortly after, obscured by the circular staircase. You can't seem to sense her through the walls.


Every seasoned Witcher in the room stampeded after her. Ursula was the only one who didn't run toward the stairs, she calmly turned and walked toward the window, opening it wide and looked down.
The sight of the snowy field and the strongholds main entrance, came into view down below.


"What the hell happened!" Johan nervously yelled, running closer to Ursula.

"Kaylee failed her ritual.." Ursula grimly said: "The parasite took over her body and will try to escape us, by any means available to it."

"Her parasites' in control? Then what about Kaylee?" Johan asked, looking down from the window as well: "What's happening to her now?"

"She's dying" Ursula quietly said: "The parasite is now consuming her soul. She will be dead in minutes"

"Then we have little time to waste. After her! Give her one last chance!"

She shouted as she went along with the veterans.

"Don't you dare die on me after telling me off like that, Kaylee!"