MEMORIES OF AN OVERLORD by Victar (vctr113062 [at] aol [dot] com) https://www.vicfanfic.com "Hope doesn't come easily to me. It's like a complicated problem, that I have to concentrate to understand. "That's a real obstacle, isn't it? If I have trouble with 'hope' myself, then how am I going to help anyone else? "I guess I'll have to work on my problem-solving skills..." Chapter Thirty-two Memories of an Overlord: Awakening a Savior %Laminah? You're early. The armistice is not scheduled to end yet. Is there a problem?% "No, there is not. We will not be late, Yusis." %I can guess why you're here.% "I must know. Have you found a way to save my king?" %I've thought of... something. It is not enough by itself. It may be that nothing is enough. I won't give you false hope for a miracle.% "You have thought of something. That alone validates my hope." %It shouldn't.% "It does." %I won't tell you what it is.% "So be it." %It may not work, and even if it does, it may be for nothing. It won't do anything to save him, Laminah. The most it can do is buy more time. No matter how much time it buys, there will come a point when time runs out.% "I believe in you, Yusis. I have faith in you." %No matter how much faith you have, a way to save him may not exist.% "If a miracle exists to save my king's life, then you will find it." %Even that is not guaranteed. After I'm erased, I won't be the Overlord anymore. I won't be able to see everything with Final Form: Vision. I may not be able to see anything at all.% "You do not need the power of the Overlord to find what you seek." %I've failed to see things before. I failed to see that my two closest friends were asking me for help, and I did nothing to save them.% "You have spoken of this. It was something that happened on your home world." %It was.% "Perhaps the desire to atone caused you to answer Cynthia's summon spell." %It's possible. It could be the same for all of Kreisia's Saviors. I know it's the same for Savior Cedric. He has outlived too many people that he loved, and failed to save.% "His life must not end today. It is too soon." %Even a Time Mage does not have unlimited authority over what is too soon, or what is too late.% "Neither does a warrior. That did not preclude me from striking a bargain with you." %Go back to the others and get ready, Laminah. Our bargain demands that you keep Cynthia, Anemos, and yourself alive in this final battle, even if I fail again, even if you are left broken, with nothing but the ashes of false hope.% ___________________________________________________________________________ At noon, the Holy Brand Aldea ceased sending music to Overlord Yusis' throne room. The Overlord stopped pacing and removed his necromantic-magic glasses. Cynthia, Anemos, Laminah, and Cedric entered; the four of them showed no reaction to the Overlord's undead form. Aldea hovered in midair. %We have said what we needed to say,% the Overlord told them. %There is only one thing to ask now. Are all of you ready to end the armistice?% "I'm getting you out of what I got you into, Yusis," Cynthia declared. "Let there be no regrets," Anemos affirmed. "I shall uphold our bargain," Laminah stated. "Today, we will work a miracle," Cedric asserted, in a calm yet intense tone. "Kreisia will transcend the curse of the miasma, at long last." The Overlord's cat-eyed gaze momentarily rested upon each of the four. %You will save Kreisia without fail. I don't need Vision to know that.% Lights flickered up and down the length of the hovering Holy Brand. %Our armistice ends when what's left of 'Yusis' is erased. That will happen immediately after what's left of 'Yusis' changes the shape of the Greater Seal, 'locks' the change, and dismisses the time magic seal on the miasma reservoir holding the Mind of Orzand.% Aldea's flickering lights momentarily froze in a checkered pattern. (*All of you, remember our plan. First, we must withstand the Overlord's dismissal of his seal. Fall back. Priestess, summon your barrier. Warrior, use healing beads on the priestess as needed. Bard, strengthen the priestess' barrier for now, and prepare to magnify our Chronomancy. Avatar, stand ready.*) The four of them did as the Holy Brand instructed. %Now, Aldea. Reactivate the Greater Seal's function to attract miasma, while leaving the function to concentrate miasma into a vortex disabled. From the front, this time.% The Holy Brand Aldea flew toward Overlord Yusis, pierced his chest, and flared brilliantly. The Overlord remained unmoving and expressionless as it carved a wide hole, then swiftly withdrew to Cynthia's barrier. Cedric clasped the Holy Brand's gem-studded hilt in his hand. In a flash of radiance, he became Aldea's avatar, with eyes of white-gold fire. %Shapechange into Greater Dragon.% Overlord Yusis dissolved into miasma-smoke, and reformed as a tremendous, wingless, jet-black dragon with blazing yellow eyes. A vast puncture remained visible in the titanic monster's body, from back to belly. Aldea's avatar called upon Chronomancy to empower himself and his three allies. %SHAPECHANGE - LOCKED. TIME STOP - DISMISSED,% the colossal dragon boomed. Hovering debris began to hurtle through the air once more. Thick miasma smoke and roiling waves of liquid miasma poured from the open pocket dimension, into the shapeshifted Greater Seal. ___________________________________________________________________________ (Have I been like this for ten years?) Yusis could see nothing, hear nothing, and feel nothing. (Was I really 'Overlord Yusis' all this time, or do I just have his memories?) Yusis wondered. (I don't know. I can't tell the difference. Either way, the memories of an Overlord end with being erased. The mind of 'Overlord Yusis' is gone. I'm just a soul in what Savior Clize called a 'void' of 'drifting nightmare'. Now what? My friends must be fighting to save Kreisia, but I'm stuck here. Can I do anything to help them? Anything at all? Wait - I remember. In the Overlord's final hours, he had an idea. He figured that... ...that my soul would remember who I am. Like how Clize's soul remembered who he was. The Overlord anticipated that my soul could still think. Magic is a matter of the mind. Since my soul can think like a mind does, then maybe, just maybe-!) Yusis concentrated. (I remember what using time magic feels like. Time magic can't speed up thinking in the physical realm, but there's nothing physical in this place. 'Time' may have no true meaning here. If I can remember using time magic - remember it strongly enough, commit everything I have to it - then maybe I can affect my own soul.) Yusis focused everything he could into the memory of what it was like, to affect time itself. "Give - me - some - time - please!" (Did I just say 'please'? The Overlord can't say and mean things like 'please' or 'thank you'. The Overlord makes obeisance to no one. I'm really not the Overlord. I really am only the soul of Yusis.) "Can I... speak?" Yusis still saw and felt nothing, and his "spoken" words had the ring of a sham. "No, I'm not really speaking," he evaluated. "It's a trick of memory. Like how monster voices are a trick of the mind, that seem like sound and aren't sound. "Did the Overlord's idea work?" Yusis saw nothing but darkness, and felt nothing at all. "I remember what it was like to automatically know time-related stuff..." Yusis concentrated. Information about time itself manifested in his thoughts, as readily as looking at a clock. "It really did work. "The limits on time magic can stretch a lot further in this place. Time is barely passing in Kreisia, relative to my soul. Time really does have almost zero meaning here, beyond what I make of it. I've bought myself time to keep thinking. "I know my friends will save Kreisia, but I also know that Cedric's odds of survival are extremely low. And I know Laminah can hardly bear the thought of losing him, let alone the reality. "I have to think of a way to save Cedric. But... where do I even start?" Yusis tried to organize his thoughts. Growing unease about his inability to see or feel anything undercut his attempt. (I should keep 'speaking', even if I'm just spilling out a scrambled mess of words about whatever. A hollow memory of 'sound' is better than nothing at all.) "I feel like it's easier for me to think clearly than it was for the Overlord, especially in his final days," Yusis reflected. "My memories aren't tattered and fading. My thoughts aren't split between me and my own 'hatred of life', and my self-hatred isn't on the brink of breaking loose. I guess the fractures in the Overlord's mind didn't extend to my soul. "Was the Overlord really me? Cynthia thought he was, and I remember the past ten years as if I were him. My soul must have been trapped inside the Greater Seal all along, but I don't remember anything about that... "...do I?" Yusis mentally reviewed the past ten years. There were hazy emotions that overlapped with the Overlord's memories, and a distant sense of exhaustion from enduring wave after wave of corrosive pressure. Yusis couldn't determine whether the intangible moments and the Overlord's memories had truly been separate experiences, or just two sides of the same coin. "It's possible that the Overlord really was me. I can't be certain he wasn't, but... "...his memories have shown me something about miasma that I didn't fully understand, when I was the Savior. Miasma craves souls. Desperately. Miasma is 'hatred of life', but it doesn't hate life for no reason at all. It hates life for a jealous and greedy reason. "Miasma resents the living because they have the souls it wants so badly. "Miasma compulsively traps souls in a useless attempt to fill its own void. Even 'Overlord Yusis' desperately needed my soul; he knew that without a soul inside, he'd be a mindless, formless mess of dark magic. "'Overlord Yusis' could have been a self-aware piece of the Greater Seal. He could have been a copied personality that made a small amount of miasma realize how evil its core drives are. "Is that realization why he accepted his own 'ending' without fear? 'Overlord Yusis' was content to know that his friends would purify the miasma that used to be him. While 'Savior Yusis' was terrified of dying, and could barely hold off a total breakdown. "I'm still a little scared. I don't know what's waiting for me, after all this is over. Cynthia will send my soul back to my world, and then what? I guess I'll find out. "I'm a lot more scared for Cedric, though. And for Laminah. She's right; it's too soon for his life to end. "It's also too soon for Laminah's life to end. I know what losing Cedric would do to her. There are more ways to die than just literally. "That's not a 'good ending'. Not for either of them. "'Overlord Yusis' tried to come up with a better 'ending', but his only idea isn't enough by itself. Now, it's my turn. I have to save Cedric, if I can think of a way. If a way exists at all. "Whatever 'Overlord Yusis' was, he took responsibility for everything I did in my life, and he thought of my memories as his own. I should do the same for him. I'll take responsibility for everything 'Overlord Yusis' has done, good and bad, and I'll think of his memories as mine. "The responsibility for his actions belongs to me anyway. I know that my soul influenced everything he felt inside, and everything he did, whether I really was him or not. "And, I need his memories. I need all of his knowledge. I need to _think_, as hard as I can. I need any advantage that will help me _think_. "Music would help. Can I get some to play, without sacrificing any concentration?" The memory of Anemos' lute and Cynthia's singing permeated the darkness. Cynthia's lilting voice harmoniously intertwined with the hauntingly beautiful instrumentation. "Nice. I'm not even putting any focus into this, like I had to for my illusions. I'm just letting the memory of what Aldea broadcasted replay itself. Maybe I can do the same with other memories. "I think better when I'm moving..." Yusis recalled a memory of himself. "This is working better than I hoped," he remarked, raising the memory of his hands in front of the memory of his eyes. "I can 'see' myself, and I still don't have to use any focus. "Is Aldea's rule to prepare still written on my soul?" Yusis realized that being unable to feel anything was a change from the past ten years. The sensation of an unbreakable law shining deep within was gone. "I can't feel the holy power of Aldea's rule anymore. Aldea's rule to prepare persisted through the first two phases of the destined battle, and through the armistice, but now the final phase of the destined battle has begun. There won't be another pause in the fighting until one side wins. I think the rule has expired because the time to prepare is over." Yusis looked down on how he pictured his own body. He saw no sign of a rule engraved with holy power. Instead, he saw something that unnerved him. "Wait, what? Is this really how I remember myself?" Yusis had expected to appear as the memory of Kreisia's most unlikely Savior, dressed in white and earthy brown casual clothing, ready to travel the roads, to improve himself, and to share good times with his best friends. He had not expected to have a gaping, empty hole disfiguring his chest. "Maybe... maybe this is just how it is, for the souls of Saviors. Savior Clize's soul had a hole in his chest, too." Yusis noticed that his glasses were missing. "Figures. My glasses fell off when Aldea made this hole, so of course this memory of myself doesn't have them." Yusis glanced about, but saw no trace of his glasses anywhere. It was as if they had disappeared into bottomless darkness, after Aldea's holy fire consumed their cord. "I guess I don't need a memory of my glasses. I'm not the Overlord anymore; wearing them wouldn't give me Vision or help me think. "At least I don't feel any pain. That would only make thinking harder." Yusis' soul folded the memory of his arms behind his back, and started walking. ___________________________________________________________________________ Yusis' soul walked through the drifting void. (I think I know what this place is... Can I use time magic to affect my surroundings?) Yusis halted. He unfolded the memory of his arms, closed the memory of his eyes, concentrated as hard as he could, and intoned an invocation. "Time Stop." Yusis focused his thoughts, attuning himself to time-related information. "Okay, that did literally nothing. I should try again, just to be sure." Yusis put everything he could muster into several more attempts. "Nothing but failure," he concluded, opening his eyes and resuming his walk. "Figures. My copy of a mind has been erased. "Magic is a matter of the mind. My soul can think like a mind does, but a soul isn't a mind. Without a mind, I can't use magic to do much. I have no way to reach the physical realm; my only connection to the physical realm was through my copy of a mind. "Even if I could escape this place, I'd still be just a soul, without a mind or a body. Maybe I could say a few words before I faded away from living people's perception, like Clize's soul did, but I couldn't do much of anything else. Without a mind, I wouldn't be able to use any magic that affects the physical realm, just like I wouldn't be able to physically touch anything without a body. I can't even use any magic that affects this place, outside of replaying memories. I can only affect my own soul." Yusis continued to speak his thoughts aloud as they came, carefully pondering each concept for any useful insights. "'This place' must be inside the Overlord's body. I know that because Aldea once told me that the soul of the Savior is 'immersed within the Greater Seal', and because destroying the Overlord's body frees the Savior's soul. "The Overlord's body isn't physical. It's a dark magic shell animated by miasma inside, same as other undead monsters. Right now, that body is saturated with all the miasma from Orzand's reservoir. "I know I'm walking through miasma. "I don't feel any sickness, or hatred. Is that because I'm only a soul, now? Miasma messed up what I had for a mind, but maybe the soul resists it more. Is that why the soul of Savior Clize didn't show any signs of sickness or hatred, when I spoke to him?" Savior Clize appeared within the darkness and said, "Yes." Startled, Yusis stopped moving. Savior Clize looked just as Yusis remembered - a tall, steel-eyed warrior, clad in the shadowy memory of black battle armor and a flowing red cape, with platinum-blond hair and two long antenna-trails drifting from either side of his face. A gaping, empty hole disfigured the center of his chest. "Clize, didn't we set your soul free?" "Yes." The platinum-blond Savior simply stood, staring straight ahead, paying no heed to the soul of Kreisia's most unlikely Savior aside from the one-word response. "I don't think you're really Clize at all. You're a memory of Clize, an echo left behind. Am I right?" Savior Clize said, "Yes." "Asking a question about Clize must have caused the miasma to make you appear, like how asking questions of a living person can cause them to recall memories. You can describe or replay Clize's memories for me, can't you?" Savior Clize said, "Yes." "As the Overlord, I could see the memories of destroyed monsters, preserved in the miasma. I'm not sure why I could do that. My best guess is that it was another safety feature Yumarac put in Orzand. Maybe the Mind of Orzand's subconscious automatically directs miasma to record monster memories. "I could only look at memories of undeath. I couldn't see any memories of the monsters' former lives as people or animals. "And... I also couldn't see any memories from after the monsters' souls were set free. When I looked at Overlord Clize's memories, I never saw Savior Clize's soul talking to me, and here Clize's memory is confirming that he didn't feel sickness or hatred at that time. "Did the miasma-smoke surrounding us continue to record you while we talked, Clize?" Savior Clize said, "Yes." "Was the 'can only see memories of undeath' restriction because I was an undead monster? Because I was the Overlord?" Savior Clize said, "Yes." "I'm not the Overlord anymore," Yusis reasoned. "Can you tell me memories of your life now, Clize? Not just your undeath?" Savior Clize said, "Yes." "I'm not sure what to ask..." (How can I save Cedric? Trying to use time magic on the miasma in this place failed. I've saved people as 'Savior Yusis', and I've saved people as 'Overlord Yusis', but I'm only the soul of Yusis now. I've never saved anyone as just myself. I didn't even try, because I failed to see that my two closest friends were asking me for help.) "Clize... before you came to Kreisia, did you fail to save anyone?" "I failed to save my wife and child," answered the platinum-blond warrior. "I'm sorry." Savior Clize said nothing. "I need to save Cedric. Is there any way to help him?" Savior Clize said, "Unknown." "I didn't think it would be that easy," Yusis' soul replied, with the memory of a sigh. ___________________________________________________________________________ Yusis' soul walked through the formless void. Images of Saviors, Lesser Seals, and others who had once been miasma-filled monsters appeared and disappeared, all around him. (How messed up is this? I'm not asking them 'out loud' anymore, but they're picking up on how all I can think of is failure.) Circe Welkin absently rambled, "I failed to save our parents. Cedric was too young to remember seeing them die. I was not." Fortina forlornly trilled, "I failed to save the village. We were too late; there were only a handful of survivors." Zea bitterly screeched, "I failed to save myself! I failed to save Vatoren!" A purple-clad Savior rigidly hummed, "I failed to save my hive. I failed to save my Queen." A Savior cloaked in shadows whispered, "I failed to save my nation. My tactics could only stall the enemy, and give refugees time to flee across the border." A scaly Savior armed with daggers and garrottes hissed, "I failed to save my brethren. They betrayed and destroyed one another. Then, I failed to anticipate that one of my companions would abandon his duty." A husky, contemptuous, domineering voice announced, "I failed to save half of Kreisia, a world that is _not worth saving_." "What?" With the memory of a gasp, Yusis turned toward the threatening image of a towering Altean. "I wouldn't wish this miserable world on anyone not born to it," the imposing figure angrily rejoined. "Begiad," Yusis darkly acknowledged. "Of course. Your memory is here, too." Revulsion dripped from each word spoken by the memory of Begiad Laatsch. "Cedric represents a _messed up world_, and it deserves to _die in a fire_. Or drown in a miasma flood, whatever works!" "Begiad never said that," Yusis realized, in horror. "That's what I was going to say, when Cedric interrupted me." "Don't even want to hear it, huh?" Begiad's memory seethed. "You're using my words, but you're still the echo of Begiad. My words are exactly how Begiad used to think." Yusis' horror deepened into a ghastly inner chill. "What gives Cedric the right to lecture me about consequences?" "The most disgusting things I ever said may as well have come out of Begiad's mouth." Yusis' inner chill spread to grip his entire being. "Cedric has no case to present for Kreisia's defense. He has nothing," scoffed the rancorous Altean. "This is literally making me sick to my soul." "Send me back. I'm done with Kreisia." "Enough, Begiad! I get why you ran away from becoming a Lesser Seal. I almost ran away like you did," Yusis admitted. "Why did you kidnap and murder so many people, afterward?" "I tired of using concealment chants to hide from the government, the Holy Brand Aldea, and the Overlord. I resolved to end the depredations of the cycle and bring lasting peace, my way. I planned to enslave Kreisia's Savior with a domination chant, and keep him enslaved after his transformation into the Overlord." "What does that have to do with mass-murder?" "I needed to practice controlling living people before and after their transformation into undead monsters. My experiments were very successful. Most of my test subjects were rebels who defied my authority." "You targeted Zea. Why?" "I was preparing to enslave the strongest of all monsters. I needed to practice controlling test subjects strong in body and strong in mind. The high priestess Zea disrupted my experiments on the strongest Vargs in Vatoren; she proved to be an even better test subject than they were." "Didn't Aldea tell you that your plan to control the Overlord with a domination chant could never work?" "When the Holy Brand confronted me, it declared that my plan was doomed to fail. At first, I refused to believe." "Did Aldea tell you anything else?" "It claimed that I would serve one final purpose to protect Kreisia. I would strengthen the Savior's soul." "What did you do after that?" "I tried to escape. The Holy Brand kept me confined and prevented communication, but I knew that its power to barricade teleportation could not affect the undead. Before I resorted to my final escape plan, I wanted to spite the Holy Brand by destroying the Savior." "Did you really think you could do that, all by yourself?" "I could easily have crushed that weak, cowardly, ignorant wretch, but he brought _too many allies_ with him! Keeping the majority of my attackers paralyzed or preoccupied strained my talent for chants to its limit! Rather than endure the ignominy of defeat, I chose to join the winning side - Orzand." "Did you _want_ the Voice of Orzand in your head, telling you what to do?" "Better that than a Savior or the Holy Brand telling me what to do! Even so, I feared that Orzand would compel me to battle the Holy Brand, and I did not want to be destroyed. I wanted to see the destiny I had so foolishly struggled against - I wanted to see miasma drown the world! I recalled my agents in the field, rewarded the living agents' loyalty with the gift of undeath, and used a concealment chant to hide all of us while I awaited Kreisia's demise." "You didn't think the cycle would continue?" "I was certain that the most worthless Savior in history would abandon his duty and condemn the world, as I once did. I was shocked when the cycle turned, and the miasma's low ebb weakened me." "What did you do after the cycle turned?" "I modified my concealment chant so that the Voice of Orzand could communicate with me. Knowing that Orzand had to be Sealed within what was once a weakling Savior, I offered myself as a superior vessel. Orzand replied that the Greater Seal had tapped into power over time itself, and held far more potential than I could ever hope to garner." "How much did you coordinate with Orzand?" "Very little. The Voice of Orzand rarely spoke to me. It told me only three things of significance." "What was the first thing?" "Orzand warned me to keep myself and my minions concealed from the new Overlord." "Figures. Second thing?" "Orzand gloated that the Overlord had drowned the Holy Brand's shrine, and broken the cycle in our favor." "Uh-huh. Third thing?" "Orzand said that the Overlord's Primary Servants were defective." "Huh. I wonder if that backfired and made you underestimate them." ___________________________________________________________________________ Yusis' soul walked through the shapeless void. "I really do have some of Begiad's 'corruption' inside," he reflected, "but that's how I knew exactly what that disgusting murderer was. That's how I knew he had to be _shut down full force_. I knew that I had to bring as many allies as I could, no holding back and no time to waste. "Because I had something in common with Begiad, because I understood him when almost no one else in Kreisia could, I was able to lead a team effort and take him down. I didn't let fear of failure stop me. "Like it's stopping me now. "I promised Laminah I would put all I have, all I can think of, and all of my soul into searching for a way to save Cedric. I can't keep my promise if I'm obsessing about failure. "Laminah has told me honor is so important that sacrificing it can save no one. She's right. She's absolutely right. I have to honor my promise, and that means I have to get my fear of failure under control. "Anemos has told me regrets are a terrible burden to carry. He's right. He's absolutely right. I have to let go of the regrets I'm holding over my failures. My regrets are so heavy that I can't keep my promise while I hold them close. "Cynthia has told me doubting too much is destructive, just like overconfidence is destructive. She's right. She's absolutely right. I have to stop doubting myself to the very end, because it's making my thoughts revolve around failure. "If I confront my worst failures in Kreisia head-on, can I control my fear? Can I let go of my regrets? Can I stop doubting myself to the very end? If I can do all that, then maybe I'll be able to concentrate on saving Cedric. "As 'Savior Yusis', I almost failed like Begiad failed. I almost ran away and condemned all of Kreisia to a fate worse than death, but I didn't. I chose to stay. I've got the hole in my chest to prove it. I need to give myself credit for that. "Would I still have stayed, if Cedric hadn't forced me to wait one night? Cynthia believes I would have stayed, but I don't really know. Either way, I owe Cedric for pushing me to think about my decision, and commit myself to it, instead of making a hasty choice out of sheer emotion. Just like I owe him for being the next Savior. "As 'Overlord Yusis', I almost failed to hold out. I drowned Aldea's shrine, when Aldea and my friends were inside. I nearly erased myself out of horror, but I decided that I had to know if I'd turned anyone into a monster. "Aldea had escaped; I knew that much automatically. That hawk-monster who volunteered to warn everyone helped me do a quick scan for newly created monsters. The scan came up empty. "The hawk-monster managed to communicate one word. 'Summon.' He had the idea to try summoning my friends, like any other undead monster. "I forced myself to try summoning each of them. It didn't work. I couldn't teleport any of them across the smallest bit of space. They were all alive. "When I sent them one last message, Aldea reminded me of how I could keep holding out. That's when I resolved to hang on, even though I'd broken the cycle in Orzand's favor. Even though I was borderline scrambled with guilt, fear, and self-hatred. "I knew the only chance my friends had, that all of Kreisia had, was if I could continue to hold out. If I could trust my friends and the next Savior to think of something, anything. Aldea, too. I couldn't stop hating Aldea, but I could at least trust it. "I need to give myself credit for what I've accomplished, in spite of my failures." An unanswered question nagged at Yusis' thoughts. "How did my friends survive my biggest failure?" Yusis stopped walking. He remembered what it was like to furrow his brow in confusion. "Did Aldea teleport them out? Aldea needs thirty seconds to teleport, just like a teleportation bead. It can't speed that up without destroying itself, and the hawk-monster did _not_ deliver my warning with thirty seconds to spare. "Wait - I avoided looking at the hawk-monster's memories before, because I didn't want to learn anything about Aldea's wielder." A memory of the hawk-monster hovered before Yusis, flapping its wings without moving forward. "Show me." Yusis saw and heard the past, as the hawk-monster had seen and heard it. The vision began with a high-speed flight into Aldea's shrine, while the memory of Cedric's voice echoed off the stone walls. (Cast your barrier, Cynthia! I will help you strengthen it! We are all teleporting!) Yusis glimpsed his friends huddled inside of a holy magic barrier, with the dumbfounded Holy Brand Aldea hovering outside. (Aldea! For the sake of protecting Kreisia, come into our barrier at once!) called the memory of Cedric's voice. "Aldea didn't teleport them out," Yusis realized, astounded. "Cedric was smart enough to predict how badly I'd screw up. He entered Aldea's shrine with a plan to get everyone out alive, no matter what. "Cedric stopped me from destroying Aldea, the only being with the power to save Kreisia from the miasma. "Cedric stopped me from turning my friends into undead _things_, and he never breathed a word to me about it. When he approached me yesterday to ask for stuff, he said... "...he said, 'You do not owe me this. You owe me nothing.' "Cedric has told me I owe him nothing. He really thinks... he truly believes... that I owe him nothing. "He's wrong. He's absolutely wrong. I owe him _everything_. "I... I have to save him. "There _has_ to be a way. "I will find it, if I have to walk through miasma until the end of time." ___________________________________________________________________________ Yusis' soul walked without destination, through the amorphous void. "Show me the Saviors," he requested. Images of off-world Saviors appeared, in every direction. Most were bipedal, although a few unusual ones had more exotic forms. Each Savior had a gaping hole in their body. "Okay, Saviors. Tell me if any of you influenced anything in Kreisia, in any way, after your minds were erased and before your souls were set free." None of the Saviors made any reply. "Saviors, I'm going to question you one at a time. Walk with me while I do." Yusis interrogated memory after memory of the Saviors, followed by memories of Lesser Seals and other monsters. He asked any inquiry that sprang to mind, any guess, any idea, any inkling, anything he could imagine. He walked, and thought, and walked some more, and thought some more. He walked, and walked, and walked. (I keep getting this feeling like there's something to find, just beyond my grasp... but I don't know what it is, or how to reach for it.) ___________________________________________________________________________ Yusis' soul walked without the memory of fatigue, through the empty void. "Saviors, come back," he decided. "You know the most about saving." The vast crowd of off-world Saviors reappeared. "I'm pretty sure I've spoken to each of you by now. Is there any Savior I haven't questioned yet?" "Yes," affirmed the Saviors, in unison. "Wait, didn't I question you? And you, and you, and-" The three Saviors that Yusis' soul pointed to responded, "Yes," "Yes," and "Yes." "Must be something in my wording. What exactly did I just ask all of you?" "'Is there any Savior I haven't questioned yet?'" quoted the Saviors, in unison. "Okay Saviors, here's the deal. If I've questioned you, then vanish for now." The entire crowd of Saviors disappeared. "Wait, what? Come back." The crowd came back. "How many Saviors haven't I questioned yet?" Yusis asked. "One," the crowd replied, in unison. "Is the Savior I haven't questioned yet me?" "No," the crowd denied, in unison. "Why not?" "You have questioned yourself in this place," the crowd explained, in unison. "Huh. I guess I have. Wait, is Cedric the Savior I haven't questioned yet?" "No," the crowd refuted, in unison. "Why not?" "Cedric is not a Savior," the crowd clarified, in unison. "Then why did Aldea's rule on my soul recognize Cedric as the next Savior?" "Aldea's rule recognizes Aldea's wielder as the next Savior," the crowd interpreted, in unison. "So, why are you saying Cedric isn't a Savior?" "Cedric cannot become a stable seal capable of holding back the preponderance of Kreisia's miasma," the crowd defined, in unison. "Uh-huh. Okay. So if it's not me, and it's not Cedric, then which Savior haven't I questioned yet?" "The First Savior," the crowd answered, in unison. Yusis' soul remembered what it was like to widen his eyes in shock. ___________________________________________________________________________ "Show me the First Savior," Yusis' soul repeated, as he walked through the barren void. Nothing happened, just as nothing had happened the last three times he had made the request. A thought occurred to him. "Show me Savior Yusis." Again, nothing happened. "Miasma only shows the memories of those who have been turned into monsters and then destroyed," he considered. "My undead body isn't destroyed yet. It won't be destroyed for a very long 'time', relative to how my soul perceives 'time'. My thoughts and actions here are nearly timeless. "The First Savior's 'body' isn't destroyed yet, either. "My soul is stuck here until my undead body is destroyed. "Does the First Savior have a soul? "Is it here? Can I find it?" ___________________________________________________________________________ "This void is contained inside of the Greater Seal, so I don't think it's really infinite," Yusis' soul reasoned, as he walked and walked in the darkness. "It just feels infinite, or close enough. I'm not going to find the First Savior's soul by randomly wandering around. "Time and space aren't all that different from one another, though. Time is the fourth dimension of space. "If time means next to nothing here, relative to my soul... then space also means next to nothing, relative to my soul. "The First Savior's soul might as well be right here, all this time." Yusis' soul stopped walking through the drifting nightmare. "First Savior, are you hiding from me?" No response came from the formless dark. "Why are you hiding? Are you frightened? Are you hurt?" The empty blackness remained silent. "Wait, there's no pain in this place. No physical pain, anyway. "There's nothing to be afraid of, either. The only fear comes from knowing what's out there, knowing that a good person could die if I fail to save him. "As bad as that is, it's only a shadow of the fear I felt, as the Overlord. "For ten years, imprisoned in that castle, I felt sick and lonely, but I wasn't miserable over that. If I could have kept slacking off there without hurting anyone else, then I would have, for as long as I had to. "No, the fear I felt - the terror, the torture, what made those ten years so horrible - was knowing that when my time was up, I'd be used to slaughter the people and the world I wanted to protect. It was so hard to hang on, wrapped in that fear day in and day out. The hope that my friends could stop me from committing mass-murder, that the next Savior could stop me, was what kept me going. "You didn't have that hope, First Savior. "You've never had any hope. All you've seen in here are more and more sacrifices to bring ten years of peace. "It must be so hard for you. Is that why you're hiding?" (There it is again. That feeling like there's something to find, just beyond my grasp.) "First Savior, my friends are going to break the cycle. They're going to destroy Kreisia's miasma, forever. You won't have to suffer knowing something that used to be you is out there, killing people." (I know what it is now.) "First Savior, come to me. Please. I want to save Cedric, and I also want to save you." (I think I know how to reach for it.) Yusis' soul resumed walking through the darkness. (I can't use time magic to affect this place directly, but I can use time magic to affect my own soul.) As Yusis moved, he recalled memories of traversing locations at time-twisting speed. (I remember what it felt like, to bend time around myself and take away meaning from space - a gulf of distance traveled in an instant.) "Come to me, First Savior. There's no need to hide." ('Space' already has virtually no meaning here, beyond what I make of it. When I affect my own soul to strip away even more meaning...) "You've been trapped here for too long. You deserve to be saved, too. You sacrificed everything to become the First Savior." (...I can search all of this 'space' in next to no 'time'.) Yusis concentrated on memories of bending time and space to his will. %i saved no one.% Yusis' soul gazed upon a tiny black panther cub, with glowing yellow eyes. %i failed my function. i saved no one.% The cub's scratchy, high-pitched, mewling voice was not a harrowing impression of darkness. It was a cadence that naturally coexisted with darkness. It was the hallmark of a presence designed to resist erosion from the corrosive pressure of miasma. "Orzand," Yusis whispered, in sympathy. The panther cub trembled, and hunkered down. "It hurts, I know. I understand how much it hurts, knowing that you failed, and people died." %i wanted to save them. i was made to save them.% "I'm sorry. It must have hurt you so much." Yusis' soul bent down on the memory of one knee. %i was made to be their savior. i saved no one.% "Come to me, Orzand. Let me help you bear the pain." Yusis' soul extended the memory of his arms, and gently drew the shivering panther cub closer to the memory of his body. %i failed to save them. can you save them?% "My friends are working on that right now. They're fighting as hard as they can to save Kreisia from the miasma, forever. Let's both help them, okay?" The panther cub hopped into the hole in Yusis' chest. Yusis clasped his arms over the cub, and felt it shuddering within him as he stood up. (My copy of a mind has been erased, but the Mind of Orzand is only sleeping. My soul used to influence 'Overlord Yusis'. Miasma's corrupted rules limited what 'Overlord Yusis' could do, because he was vulnerable to being erased. Orzand's soul can influence its mind, just like I used to influence my copy of a mind. The influence of Orzand's soul will be incredibly magnified, because Orzand's mind is sleeping and defenseless. Orzand's mind is extremely resistant to being erased; miasma's corrupted rules don't truly restrain it. I know exactly how to use the influence of Orzand's soul. Right now, the Mind of Orzand is locked in a shapechanged form that can't use magic in the physical realm, but this place isn't physical. This place is within the Greater Seal, and the limits on time magic stretch a lot further here. Together with the sleeping Mind of Orzand, we can cast a spell that affects 'here' - a spell that affects the miasma animating the Greater Seal.) "Orzand," Yusis whispered. "Please lend me your power, one more time." ___________________________________________________________________________ Cedric, Anemos, Laminah, and Cynthia battled the mad, mindless greater dragon that had once been Overlord Yusis, and was now simply the miasma-saturated Greater Seal. As the avatar of the Holy Brand Aldea, Cedric used Chronomancy to aid his companions by bending the very reality about them. This was their only counter to the Chronomancy that the colossal dragon innately possessed. Anemos employed bardic magic to magnify the Chronomancy of Aldea's avatar. Laminah nimbly dodged the front claws of the malevolent dragon, and swung her halberd at the joint of its foreleg. Cynthia conjured a holy barrier to block a snapping strike from the dragon's jaws, as Cedric charged. The battle had scarcely begun, yet the Holy Brand Aldea could already detect the toll that extended Chronomancy was taking upon its avatar. Aldea's Chronomancy had only been used for brief surprise attacks before, but now, it had to be maintained at all costs... ...until the miracle happened. %time stop.% The scratchy, high-pitched, mewling invocation seemed to manifest from within the dragon's body. The gigantic monster froze in mid-movement, rendered completely helpless. %this lasts for twenty seconds. we don't have enough strength to cast it again.% Aldea's avatar commanded, *We must attack at full force!* With the freedom to strike unhindered, Laminah repeatedly chopped at the dragon's neck until her halberd severed its head. With the freedom to cease magnifying Aldea's Chronomancy, Anemos unleashed his most potent bardic enhancement to heighten the holy power of Cynthia and Aldea's avatar. With the freedom to remain stationary and focus all, Cynthia summoned a massive, continual cascade of holy power from one side of the dragon. With the freedom to devote everything to one strike, Aldea's avatar shapeshifted into a hovering phoenix that exhaled a relentless, all-consuming stream holy fire on the dragon's other side. The fire spread to engulf the entire dragon, including its severed head, in a blazing, pyrotechnic display that shed no heat. The holy fire, the Greater Seal, and all of the miasma saturated within disappeared in a flash of white. Aldea's avian form reverted to a blue-eyed, golden-haired Lunarl clutching the Holy Brand. He gasped and fell to the ground, landing on his side. Laminah sprinted to him, followed by Anemos. In place of the colossal dragon, there stood only the swaying soul of Kresia's most unlikely Savior. A large hole disfigured his chest; a shadow fluttered within the hole, past his folded arms. His head drooped, and his arms went limp. He started to pitch forward. Heedless of her burns from holy power, Cynthia willed a layer of minor magic to coat her body, and let her hold what would otherwise be intangible. She dashed toward Yusis' soul, caught him in mid-collapse, and hugged him tightly. His head fell over her shoulder. Cynthia called, "I have him, Aldea!" Yusis' soul put his transparent arms around Cynthia and distantly said, "...always wanted to hug you back..." The Holy Brand became golden fire that ran through Cedric's fingers, and reformed into a brilliant phoenix of light overhead. (*You will not wield me for this, avatar. It would stress your physical form past its limit.*) A roaring, rumbling sound signaled the forthcoming implosion of Overlord Yusis' sorcerous castle, now that the Greater Seal it had been created to imprison was destroyed and neither a new Greater Seal nor any miasma remained within. The phoenix's radiance shined brighter, beautiful and luminous, as intensely as a small sun. Its holy power surrounded everyone present, healing their injuries, and protecting them from the crushing force of collapsing magic. (*To safety, all of you. I have at last fulfilled my function.*) Cynthia held on to Yusis' soul, and concentrated on a destination. ___________________________________________________________________________ Four people and a fading soul arrived in the grassy clearing of the summoning station where Cynthia had once called Kreisia's greatest hope, and later fled to escape Kreisia's greatest threat. Now the soul she held close was neither a Savior nor an Overlord, only the last remnant of Yusis. Cynthia willed the summon spell she had cast ten years ago to reverse itself. A column of light encircled the soul embracing her. "...everyone okay...?" Yusis' soul murmured, without raising his head. "The four of us are well, but Aldea did not escape with us," Cedric solemnly answered. "We will honor its memory." "You have worked a miracle to save my Cedric," Laminah stated, with heavy emotion in her voice. "I shall uphold more than our bargain. I will also search for any miracle that we may bring to others." "Journey with no regrets, Yusis," Anemos gently offered. He played his hauntingly beautiful nocturne on his lute, as Cynthia's reversed summon spell grew brighter. Cynthia released her hug and helped Yusis' increasingly faint soul settle on his knees. His head remained bowed. She stepped back from the column of light and whispered, "I want you to be happy, when you go home." "...we got the 'good ending'... forgiveness all around." The soul's words were so soft they were almost lost to a mild breeze. A wistful note affected Cynthia's lilting voice as she trilled, "I also want you to know why my summon spell chose you. "On the day I summoned you, all of Kreisia mourned the city of Vatoren. I cried so much I could hardly see, on the way to this station. "My spell didn't look for someone prepared to accept death and worse, because I'd fogged my mind to believe that the Savior didn't have to die. I didn't call for a Savior who was strong, or magically talented, or a great leader, because I didn't care about any of those things. "I called for a Savior who could end Kreisia's awful cycle, and bring us true peace for all time." The column of the reversed summon spell shined so brightly that all present had to avert their eyes. When the blinding luminosity faded, nothing remained except drifting sparkles of light.