Hard (Finished)

[Saint]

Hard
"It was the hardest thing I'd ever done..."

Combat - The soldiers.

Intel - The schloars.

Employ - The workforce.

Living - The rewarded.

After four years in foreign worlds, killing for the good of his home, Darius Ether started his life in Living as a scarred man.  The marks of numerous conflicts burdened his body and his mind, and he'd grown so used to his friends dying that for over two years of his four-year Living period, he didn't try to make any new ones.  All he had was an old schoolmate's address to which he sent letters but got no replies.  But then one day, a kindly maid by the name of Faith stepped into his life.  This is not a story about how they met.

Roughly a year later, with no prior warning, Darius was approached by his old schoolmate, but there were no warm wishes.  Instead he brought a message from his superiors.  "We've seen what you can do, and we want you to come to The City in the Sky to work for us."  He was forced to answer at gunpoint, and it was obvious that there was no choice in the matter.  He was given six days to say his goodbyes.  This is not a story about him leaving Faith behind.

This is not a story about what he finds on The City in the Sky.
This is not a story about the true motives of the governing body in his world.
This is not a story about a plot to murder a god.

This is, at the core, a story about the lengths a man will go to in order to return to the girl he loves.

Contents:

Prologue       Chapter 1    Chapter 2    Chapter 3    Chapter 4    Chapter 5    Chapter 6    Chapter 7    Chapter 8    Chapter 9

Chapter 10       Chapter 11    Chapter 12    Chapter 13    Chapter 14    Chapter 15    Chapter 16    Chapter 17    Chapter 18    Chapter 19       Ending

Chapter 20       Chapter 21    Chapter 22    Chapter 23    Chapter 24    Chapter 25    Chapter 26    Chapter 27    Chapter 28    Chapter 29

Sequel - Shadows

Click here to purchase this in paperback.

[spoiler=Poll/SP archive]
1: A chance to escape?
Run like the wind, Bullseye! (Sorry; Nostalgia'd) 0 (0%)
No, stay; it's obviously a trap! 1 (25%)
Wait and give Aithur chance to explain himself. 3 (75%)
I have a much better idea, and I'll tell you below. 0 (0%)

2: What's the problem?
No vote - Someone dangerous is blocking the path.

3: How does he stop Mike with no weapon?
No vote - Lure him into a position where he can ambush.

4: What question does he ask?
No vote - "What, in full detail, are ultimately the goals of central circle?"

5: What's the job?
No vote - Go catch a rogue who escaped with something we need.

6: O_O Does he, or doesn't he?
Get in there! 2 (66.7%)
Eeeew, no! 1 (33.3%)

7: What scene awaits?
No vote - The observer is a mechanical-esque construct.

8: How does he talk his way out of that one then?
No vote - "Polar bears!"

9: "There was a message left for you..."
"...And there's something amiss in central circle, apparently.  Know anything?" 3 (100%)
"...He says he's run off but left a location.  Let's get going!" 0 (0%)

10: What is 'the refuge'?
No vote - A place where a magic generator faulted, twisting the reality.

11: No SP.

12: ROOOOOOOOAAAAAAR!
Sphinx. 0 (0%)
Huge mutated tentacled monster. 3 (100%)

13: So what do we do with our lost soul?
Kill it. 0 (0%)
Leave it to be. 0 (0%)
Lead it out. 1 (50%)
I have my own brilliant idea, which I'll tell you in a reply! 1 (50%)

14: Eek!
Run like little girls! 1 (100%)
Enlist Mortimer's help and TAKE THEM DOWN!!! 0 (0%)

15: How do they get out of the cell?
No vote. - Storm the door and flirt with Serenity. (Didn't quite turn out as suggested, due to rushing on my part.)

16: What's mission two?
Go into Serese and recover a map! 3 (60%)
Kill off the group who hunted us down in the box full of boxes. 2 (40%)

17: Why is Darius here?
No vote. - He was mistakenly left alive.

18: Does he agree?
No vote. - Yes.

19: What does he tell Aithur?
No vote. - Everything about Faith.

20: What's Aithur gonna do now?
Help, so that he doesn't seem a dick. 0 (0%)
Help, on the condition that he does nothing else for Darius whatsoever. 1 (20%)
Help, because he still loves and empathises with Darius. 3 (60%)
Puts a gun to Darius's head. 0 (0%)
Turns away and leaves Darius to run after them on his own. 1 (20%)

21: How does Darius punish him?
No vote. - Wait and see if Faith is alright first...

22: Serese is...
No vote. - Very white.

23: How do they get around the fighters?
No vote. - Let them duke it out.

24: What now?
No vote. - They encounter a 'keeper of the peace' type race.

25: Seresil?  Tartacians?
Keep the mission in mind!  Go after Seresil. 2 (100%)
Aithur uses the chance to ditch Darius and goes after the Tartacians alone. 0 (0%)
Serenity goes after the Tartacians alone, since she was the one who helped them. 0 (0%)
No, we can't let them die!  Everyone goes back to help. 0 (0%)

26: So who stays?
Serenity. 1 (33.3%)
Aithur. 0 (0%)
None; let's incur Seresil's wrath! 2 (66.7%)

27: What did Aithur see on the next floor?
No vote. - Faith.

28: What does he do on the last stretch before Seresil?
No vote. - Loses his temper, and realises central circle have corrupted him.
[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Non-SP Polls]
End of Part 1: Magic?
Yes, move the day forwards one count so we can use magic in Part 2! 0 (0%)
No, keep it as it is; it helps build character to see what they do without their easy way out. 3 (100%)

End of Part 1: Should I add Serenity to the team?
Yes!  Story needs more wiminz. 4 (100%)
No! Keep it a group of manly manly men!0 (0%)

End of Part 2: "What was my next move?"
"Take the gun, kill our god, and turn to central circle for a lifetime with Faith?" 1 (20%)
"Or go in and find out exactly what Seresil had planned for me?" 4 (80%)[/spoiler]

[Saint]

I like the patrolling species idea, verily.  Similarly so for the trials set by Seresil.  I think I can combine the ideas, but if I do, this may end up stretching past 30 chapters.  Leaving the space open for suggestions, and I'll return later sometime.

[Burningplain]

Nice chapter. VIOLENT SOCIOPATHS ARE US!

[Saint]

I realise this is unorthodox, but what the hey, it's my story and I'll do what I want with it.  We're approaching the endgame now.  At some point in the next four chapters, I need to get rid of Serenity and Aithur.  Darius vs. Seresil will be one-on-one.  And that's where you come in.  I need suggestions of ways to get rid of them, but, and here's the hard part, I'm not going to kill them off.  How do I get rid of them, when, why?  Do I do it at the same time, or separately?  The details are up to you, as long as they're good and convincing.  (Also, you don't have to chose now, you can incorporate it into future suggestions.)

Off-Topic:

Also, does anyone else have a view of Tome-for-the-visually-impaired?

[Burningplain]

Hmm, I say that in order to get into Seresil's Throne room they have to navigate some kid of maze.

[Saint]

Hmm, I say that in order to get into Seresil's Throne room they have to navigate some kid of maze.

I like the idea, but it's a little too similar to to the box maze of other boxes for me.

[Burningplain]

Fine. In order to enter Seresil's Throne Room they must pass through a portal. However, only one may enter.

[Saint]

Fine. In order to enter Seresil's Throne Room they must pass through a portal. However, only one may enter.

Now that one could be used if I do it right.  I shall throw it into the pot of many considerations!  *starts stirring pot*

[Chinaren]

You could go with the classic: 

The group's under attack by (whatever) in force.  They're near the main lair though and perhaps one could make it through whilst the others hold off the (whatever).

Off-Topic:

How the hell can you get a Googletag of 'can'? 

[Saint]

25

We were all anxious to get away from that murderous-looking leader, but we tried not to show this as we stepped into the road.  Turns out the bear was right about the path; it snaked around the city back and forth.  Just one road, no crossroads, no diversions.  As soon as we passed the first turning and put the Tartacians out of our sight, Aithur finally spoke up.

“Okay, what the hell?”

“We had a Tartacian in the prison for a while,” Serenity explained, “I personally interrogated him to find out about his culture.”

“Wait,” I jumped in, “You interrogated one of them?”

“I'm more than I look, you know.  I served in Combat for three terms, and Intel for one.”

“There is no way you're that old,” Aithur flirted.  You read that right; flirted.

“Holy Mother of Serese,” I gawped as we turned the corner.  Part of me was glad of the distraction, the other part was wide-eyed and terrified.  The street looked as if it had been trampled through by a platoon of giants.  Whatever the buildings used to be, there was no way of telling, as the walls were caved in and signs were floored.  The pavement was cracked, craters lined the road, and corpses of all races were scattered, but that wasn't what scared me.  What scared me was the cloaked figure still standing amongst all the carnage.

There were bodies of Tartacians and much larger creatures, and there were endless numbers of small bug-like creatures.  Tranieans were plastered along the walls, their water-based bodies sticking to the brick.  A rainbow of blood mingled the streets, blue, red, yellow, green, and purple all blending in different thicknesses and quantities.  The figure wasn't moving; just standing still and solemn, but everything about it brought my heart to my throat.  I couldn't see much but the cloak, but it appeared to be human in shape.  I could see no weapon, which only made it more terrifying.  Beside me, Aithur and Serenity had a similar reaction, as rooted to the spot as the figure was.

It was as if we were all willing the others to make the first move.  Maybe if we were lucky, the figure wouldn't come near us.  Maybe we wouldn't be added to the chop suey before us.  Serenity stepped first.  Aithur stepped a few microseconds after and pushed into the lead.  Well that was fine with me; if he got killed for being chivalrous just in a petty attempt to make me jealous then it was his problem.  Except Serenity wasn't the type of girl to be courted, so her response to his apparent burst of good manners was slapping the back of his head and retaking her spot in front.

On this, the figure finally moved.  The head turned, dark cloak revealing an almost glowing face.  The arm raised, and he looked somewhat inquisitive as his eyes scanned us.  I couldn't quite make its expression, but I didn't want to.  For a few seconds, the hand remained, but lowered as Serenity kept walking.  She hardly seemed to notice the action, but I'd stopped in my tracks again.

“Darius, come on,” she snapped, turning aggressively.  And then the figure was standing beside us.  It was that quick.  Serenity gasped and Aithur jumped, but I did nothing; the terror had me rooted down.  I'd killed worlds, and survived torture, but a simple cloaked figure had me literally petrified.

“You will not fight in this world.”  The voice echoed, seducing the walls it bounced from.  Female.  There were no curves under the material though.

“We're not fighting,” Serenity carefully protested.

“And you will not.  This is a world of seconds chances.  Fighters will be eliminated.”  The voice was sultry, but still embodied my world of fear. “You.  You are hostile.  You will cease being hostile.”  Fuck.

“I'm not,” I lied.

“You are conflicted.  There is much strife in your mind.  You will not act on this, or you will be removed.”

I just nodded.

“You are in fear.  Fear is the base of conflict.  You should not fear me.  You will only face our wrath if you disturb the peace.”

“Our?”  There were more of these abominations?!

“The streets are patrolled by the Humian race.  The peace is kept by us.”

Now there was a coincidence I just couldn't ignore.  Human form, and such a similar name.  I couldn't bring myself to ask, but Aithur could.

“Humian?  You mean Human?”

“No.  The Human race proceeded the Humian.  Now the peace here is our job.  It is punishment.”

“For what?”

“Greed.  It is forbidden even that we become a sentence's subject.”  That explained the freaky manner of speaking...

For a moment, she looked as if she were going to say something else, but she didn't. Instead, she turned with such speed that I didn't realise until I was looking at the back of her cloak.  Wood clattered at our feet, and I reached for my gun before Aithur grabbed my hand.  It was a good thing too, because the next moment was filled with a pained squeal as a creature fell down from the rooftop opposite us, a large gash drawn across its chest.  On its arm was a bow, and it took me a few seconds to realise we'd been shot at and the sum of all my fears had protected us.  Even still, she made my blood turn.  There was just something unnatural about her, as if we should never be meeting.

“Why did you protect us?” Serenity asked.  I didn't particularly care; all I wanted was to keep going onwards, and get away from this 'Humian' as soon as I could.

“The Kartian was hostile.”  I presumed she meant the thing that shot us.  “The Tartacians are also.”  And to my immense relief, she turned down the way we'd come and started slowly walking, a contrast to her previous seemingly teleport-like speed.

“Wait,” Aithur cried.  I felt like shooting him there and then; I wanted her gone and I wanted her gone quickly.  “They're recovering. They're peaceful and not fighting.”

“They partook in the battle here.  They were gone before justice was delivered.  They are still within city walls and still within punishment range.”

“Then give them a chance to leave!” Serenity pleaded.  “Give them a chance to get outside your walls.”

“The Tartacians are a hostile race.  Too proud to back down.  They will be eliminated.”

She continued on her way.  Good.  I stepped forwards, but neither of my comrades moved, instead looking back in the direction she'd just gone.

So it's a simple one, do they go onwards or help the Tartacians?  Also, I'll quote this after each chapter, just to remind y'all:

I realise this is unorthodox, but what the hey, it's my story and I'll do what I want with it.  We're approaching the endgame now.  At some point in the next four chapters, I need to get rid of Serenity and Aithur.  Darius vs. Seresil will be one-on-one.  And that's where you come in.  I need suggestions of ways to get rid of them, but, and here's the hard part, I'm not going to kill them off.  How do I get rid of them, when, why?  Do I do it at the same time, or separately?  The details are up to you, as long as they're good and convincing.

[moopah]

how about the people you want gone help the tartacians, and the one you dont want gone goes the other way... (simple and slightly obvious )
or a big hole in the ground one of them falls into

[NicTei]

I couldn't see much but the cloak, but it appeared to be human in shape.

RepititionFAIL.  Might want to turn the first 'but' into 'beyond,' so it'll read:

I couldn't see much beyond the cloak, but it appeared to be human in shape.

Otherwise, I think you've pretty much solved your dilemma now.  Art and Serenity head after creepy cloak lady to help the Tartacians (somehow), and Darius goes to face Seresil alone.

[Chinaren]

Yay, I like this chapter.  Especially liked the water based creatures thrown in there too.  Nice touch.

So, for the SP.  No freaking way.  Keep out of the way and carry on with your mission!  I gave a suggestion for the getting rid of party members in the last chapter.

[Saint]

And swiftly a poll is erected.  I don't want to get rid of them both just yet, because that'd be far too easy, so the split-up options are for either Serenity or Aithur going back.

Slaughter the warring street of voting.

[Chinaren]

Dun gone voted and winning.

[Saint]

Last call for votes; I hope to work on this later on.

[Saint]

A little later than planned, but work beginning now. Watch this space.

[Saint]

26

“We have to help them,” Serenity decided.  Aithur nodded in agreement, though I wasn't sure if that was due to concern for the Tartacians or because he could see I planned to continue onwards.

“We can't let them turn into this,” Aithur echoed, signalling the bloodbath.

“No.  We have a mission, and it's this way.”

“But they need our help!” Aithur begged.

“Aithur, we're here to murder.  What makes you think we should help?”

“They helped us!”

“Reluctantly.  And because they owed us.  I'm in charge here, and we're going forwards.”  On this I turned with a sense of finality and kept walking.  There were no footsteps following me.

“Actually, Darius, I outrank you,” Serenity noted.  “I'm a central circle official, and you're a lackey.  I can change your mission orders if I wish, and I say we go and help.”

I really hoped I'd not have to play this card, but I wanted Seresil's head on a platter, and I wanted it while I was still angry enough to have a chance at pulling the trigger.

“If we turn around now, we're dead.”

“You can't kn-”

“If we turn around, we're dead,” I reiterated.  “We can't fight her, and if we do, there will be others on our ass.  Do you see the street?  These people didn't stand a chance.  What do we have?”

“A gun that can kill Seresil.”

“It's not happening.  We just can't go back; I've made that mistake once before.”

That silenced them effectively.  Aithur looked curiously concerned, while Serenity looked rather un-serene.

“About a week before my unit was due to come home to Living from Ralia, we received a distress call through our communicators.  'I'm being held prisoner,' the woman begged, 'please help.'  There were a few calls to continue onwards, but our commander said nay.  He said that it was our duty to assist our fellow Human, and so we altered course.  As someone who'd been held hostage myself, I was all for it.  Time to play the other end of the field and save someone.

“It took us two days to get to where the signal was coming from.  On the way there, all the men were hyped up for the one last rescue before we get to go home.  It was an easy job, go in, catch them unaware, bring back the hostages.”

“But it was a trap?”  Serenity guessed.

“Worse.  We were too late.  We thought we were coming to save one girl.  We got there and there were seventeen corpses.  Every Combat we'd lost in the two years I'd been serving in Ralia was there.  The Ralites knew about the transmission and slaughtered them, moving on to a new base elsewhere.  But that's not all, either.  If we'd have kept going instead of turning back, we'd have made it to the extraction.  Turns out there was a group tracking us.  A big group.  On our way to the extraction, they caught up with us.  That was one of the hardest battles we'd fought, but we just made it out alive.  Four of us did, anyway.  Commander Patterson survived the battle but took heavy wounds and never made it to the extraction, so that made three.  Three people in an entire squad that was all set to come home and receive well-earned rest.”  As if my story had rung out into Serese, as soon as it finished the roars from behind us began.  I could hear names being called, but I tried not to listen.  I'd denied them their last chance of survival.  I heard the girl cry out for Koff.  Of course, as the most vulnerable, he'd die first.  After that I couldn't hear her any longer.  One by one I could hear the voices and roars silenced.  “We can't help them now.  We're moving forward,” I repeated, wiping the wet shame from my eyes.

This time when I stepped, Aithur followed.  But not Serenity.  I could see the pain dripping from her expression as I looked back and saw her standing.  By now, my patience was at an end, and I kept walking anyway.

“You knew Clark Patterson?”

“That doesn't matter, we need to go before she comes back this way.”  On that, Serenity burst into life, running up to me and putting her hand on my arm.

“You knew Clark?”

“He was my commander for the entire Ralia mission,” I said as we walked, carefully avoiding the pools of blood and bodies.

“They never told me how he died.”

He died very gruesomely.  The Ralites were tripeds with bladed feet, and they knew how to use them.  He'd taken a lot of cuts, but the main one was across his shoulder, completely shutting off signals to his right arm.  It bled profusely but our medic was killed in the battle, and Patterson  collapsed from blood loss on the way back and just didn't get up.

“Bravely,” I comforted her.  There was no point in giving her the details; from the look on her face she was ready to break down.  This was the legendary Black Silence we'd all been trained to wish we were.  Maybe once upon a time she'd been that, but now she was nothing more than a name.

As the next bend in the road came up, we put the carnage behind us, and I crossed my fingers in the hope that we didn't bump into another Humian.  We didn't.  Instead, right at the end of the road was a light blue structure: Seresil's domain.  Much like the central circle offices in The City in the Sky, this building wasn't much different than those it was surrounded with, except it wasn't white, obviously.  The street was unoccupied, but these buildings weren't destroyed like those earlier.  The signs on these places were showcasing buisnesses; mainly shops.  There were a few restaurants, a printers, and even a hotel, but none of them were open.  This was certainly the last thing I would have expected when I came here.

The road was long, since it ran the length of the city, but when we finally hit the end and approached Seresil's domain, there was a sense of satisfaction brewing.  Justice was soon to be delivered.  If I failed, then I'd finally be free.  I didn't see much of my future past this point; I might even turn the gun on myself anyway if I succeed.  I had nothing to return for.  When I got back, I could either remain a central circle puppet or live a lonely life on Surface.  I could ask for my Combat position back.  Yes, that might be a solution.  Go back to war and die out there.  Or I could even ask for a better position and change the way our Combats were sent out.  Give them more numbers, more medics, more chance of survival.

Whatever it was that I did with my future, one thing was certain, and that was my showdown with he-who-took-my-Faith.  As I walked in through the glass doors, a chime played, like I walking into any normal convenience store.

“Race scanning.  Human,” droned a robotic voice from a speaker above me.  “Checking building elsewhere.  No other Humans present.”  As Aithur and Serenity followed me in, however, the voice grew more agitated.

“Three Humans detected.  You are in violation of Law Eighteen.  Only two individuals of each race permitted.  You have twenty seconds to leave before Lord Seresil is notified.”

So who stays behind?  Of course, all three of them entering and the machine alerting Seresil is an option, but I won't get many more chances to get rid of someone.  I can drop this straight into a poll, I think.

Off-Topic:

I realise this is unorthodox, but what the hey, it's my story and I'll do what I want with it.  We're approaching the endgame now.  At some point in the next four chapters, I need to get rid of Serenity and Aithur.  Darius vs. Seresil will be one-on-one.  And that's where you come in.  I need suggestions of ways to get rid of them, but, and here's the hard part, I'm not going to kill them off.  How do I get rid of them, when, why?  Do I do it at the same time, or separately?  The details are up to you, as long as they're good and convincing.  (Also, you don't have to chose now, you can incorporate it into future suggestions.)

[Padfoot]

Read and polled my vote 
Looking forward to the next chapter, Saint.

[Saint]

Looking forward to the next chapter, Saint.

As am I.  The good thing about interactives is that often, what happens next is as much of a surprise to me as it is to you readers. 

[Chinaren]

 

[Saint]

Please elaborate...

[Chinaren]

Sorry, not sure what happened there! 

[Saint]

27

So who stayed?  Well by this point I just didn't give a fuck any more, as long as it wasn't me.  Without much of a care for the two behind me, I did what I should have done when Aithur first called me to tell me where to meet him.  I ran.  Straight through the glass door of the entrance lobby and into the main building.  My hand cradled the gun in my pocket ready to rip it out and put a hole in whatever tried to stop me.  All I had to do was find Seresil and I was all set.  The room held an elevator and a stairwell; no other doors just yet.  Figuring they could simply shut off the elevator, I opted for the stairs.  Three steps in, and the lights dimmed to about half as bright.

“Lord Seresil has been notified,” droned the voice.  I looked behind me as I ran to find Aithur and Serenity hot on my tail.  Idiots!  Why couldn't one of them wait outside?!  Ah well, I thought, no turning back now; either we die or Seresil does.  The stairs led into a corridor, as if this was a regular office block and not the home of the creator of all life.  It seemed a strange choice, but I wasn't one to question it.  I was here to kill, nothing more.

I opened the first door I came to; empty room.  Second was a storage cupboard.  Serenity opened the next one, and Aithur the next, both with no results.  At the other end of the corridor was another staircase, and I dreaded the monotony of searching every room in the place.  I thought too soon, however, as the stairwell produced the one thing I'd sincerely hoped against.

“You are in violation of Law Eighteen,” declared a male voice masked by the same cloak as his earlier counterpart.  “This is a disruption of the peace in Serese.  You have one chance to leave or die.”  Neither was going to happen on my watch.  I raised the gun and fired.  As Serenity pointed out, these bullets could kill Seresil.  The blast caught him in what I guessed was a face, if I could see it.  It knocked him back into the stairs, and I ran for them, hoping that Law Eighteen applied to the Humians too, and I wasn't walking into a fleet of them.

But something wasn't right.  I realised just in time, before stepping over the body as a cloaked hand grabbed for my ankle.  No blood.  Were these Humians stronger than Seresil?  Was that why Seresil punished them so badly?  I raised the gun, trying again at close range, and this time the bullet hit with a sickening crack.  The head jerked and the hood fell away to reveal a featureless face.  Nothing but ivory skin with a green tint, and a crack running across it with a bullet protruding.

“Prepare for death,” echoed from somewhere inside the face.

“Wrong bullets!” Serenity called as I was lifted off my feet.  Before I realised what had happened, I crashed into the supply closet, landing hard against what felt like a garden hoe.  I tapped my top pocket, where I'd put the god-destroyer bullets, and sure enough, the magazine was still in there.  In the heat of vengeance, I'd forgotten to actually put them in.  Before he could stand, I flicked the magazine out and switched it with the right one with Combat-induced speed, climbing out of the cupboard with the right magazine in this time.

This Humian was slower than the one we'd seen outside, it seemed, but he was still insanely quicker than me.  On his feet again, he ran for me with his arm poised to punch me.  I couldn't fire in time, and his punch connected with my shoulder, immediately opening the fist holding the gun and branding pain onto me.  As the floor scraped against my back, I heard a volley of bullets come from along the corridor as Aithur opened fire, and the Humian stumbled backwards, but kept his footing this time.

Now confused as to who he should attack, the Humian hesitated momentarily to weigh up his options, and that was enough for me to dive on my gun.  This made his mind up for him, as a sharp kick struck out, aimed for the gun arm, but blocked by the other.  The shin felt as hard as stone, and I didn't look to the almost certainly broken arm as I fired the gun twice.  This time the bullets pierced, as required, and the Humian was thrown back into the wall, murky white blood splattering it before he hit.  I waited for a few seconds to make sure he wasn't getting up, then rose, still averting my gaze from my arm.  It hurt like hell, but if I stayed here and whined, we'd lose valuable time and risk running into another Humian.

“Darius, stop, you might be hurt,” Serenity urged, but I ignored the obvious statement and began up the steps.

“We have to keep going,” I mumbled audibly.  “It's only my stump arm.”  The top of the stairs held no more Humians, but another corridor ending in a staircase.  As I moved to the closest door, a hand gripped my arm, but as I turned and pointed my gun, I saw Aithur there, staring me down.

“Stop and let Serenity heal you,” he demanded.  Did this mean he didn't hate me as much as he let on, or did he just figure he had a better chance at surviving if I was at full health.

“No time for Helidost, and I can't risk my aim being thrown by the after-effects.”

“Did you really think I'd come out with just that?” Serenity asked as she lifted my sleeve to reveal the break in the bone.  “No, I gave that because it's incredibly rare in Tartacia.  They think it's just as rare elsewhere.”

“Then what else do you have?” I sighed, submitting.  The break was worse than I thought, and now I'd seen it, I couldn't help but feel it.  The pain was less than it should have been, though; possibly due to a combination of adrenaline and the arm not being useful anyway.

In response, she ran her hands over the broken area, gently, and mumbled something to herself.  It sounded like an incantation, but since I doubted magic would even work out here, it could have been a memo.  She reached into another of her many pockets and extracted a white powder that looked similar to Helidost, but with thinner grains.  Instead of placing this onto my skin, she rubbed it between her hands and held them over the break.  Her eyes closed and her concentration focused, and then, for a second, the pain magnified tenfold and I barely managed to suppress a scream.  And then it was done.  All pain vanished, and the reddening area grew back to it's regular pinky-peach, or whatever colour skin was supposed to be.

“How did you...” Aithur began, but she cut him off.

“I'm a Combat medic.”

“But what about Black Silence?” I mused.

“A lie.  We're in a rush, so I'll condense the story, but basically I fell in love with Clark Patterson, and eventually he used to bark motivation at his Combats.  'My girlfriend could do that in her sleep,' and the likes.  Eventually, the legend of the Black Silence grew out of that, and neither of us had the heart to tell the troops that it was all sarcasm.”

In any other situation, the realisation that my hero was nothing but words would have hung over me like a roof over a house, but since we were racing against time, I just went back to checking doors and accepted that it explained why she had the presence of a Combat veteran, but none of the qualities of a Combat hero.

The rest of the doors on this floor lead into dull, uninhabited rooms, as with the floor below, and I began to wonder if anyone was actually in this building.  Aithur made it to the stairs as I was checking the last room, and finally some progress was made.  He came back down to meet us at the bottom as we prepared to ascend.  His expression was completely unreadable, but his eyes were wide.

“You're not going to believe this...”

So what's waiting for them on the next floor?  All I know is that it's not Seresil, so the choices are wide.

Off-Topic:

I realise this is unorthodox, but what the hey, it's my story and I'll do what I want with it.  We're approaching the endgame now.  At some point in the next four chapters, I need to get rid of Serenity and Aithur.  Darius vs. Seresil will be one-on-one.  And that's where you come in.  I need suggestions of ways to get rid of them, but, and here's the hard part, I'm not going to kill them off.  How do I get rid of them, when, why?  Do I do it at the same time, or separately?  The details are up to you, as long as they're good and convincing.

[Burningplain]

Revelations. That's not helpful is it?
The simple answer, in actuality our dear lead's girlfriend (forgotten her name) is there.

[Padfoot]

Yeah! Faith, Faith, Faith! *chants name over and over again*

 

[Saint]

I'm a little wary of bringing characters back from the dead unplanned.  If you can give me a good reason she's there, I'll consider it though.  And none of that 'True love brought me back to life' bullshit.

[Burningplain]

She's here because it was a deception. She never died, Seresil knew Central Circle were going to kill her and he wants Darius to take out Central so he's attempting to win him over by saving his girlfriend. You can come up with something suitably gruesome that happens to her.

[Padfoot]

Yeah, what BP said.

[Saint]

She's here because it was a deception. She never died, Seresil knew Central Circle were going to kill her and he wants Darius to take out Central so he's attempting to win him over by saving his girlfriend. You can come up with something suitably gruesome that happens to her.

There are a few holes in this, but I can patch them, I think.  It's quite close to one of the three endings anyway, so I can adapt that slightly if I have to.  As promised, it shall be thrown onto the boiling pot of many ideas.  Still open for other suggestions, though I'm really starting to get into this as we're on the home stretch, so get them in fast if you want them heard.

EDIT:

Yeah! Faith, Faith, Faith! *chants name over and over again*

 

Yeah, what BP said.

Also, it appears that you have an echo, Beep. 

[Saint]

28

It took us a second to get the response out of him, but he looked like he'd seen a ghost.  Even creepier, he didn't take his eyes off of me.

“Spit it out man,” I implored.

“Faith.  Faith is alive,”  He finally settled on a facial expression.  A cheesy grin.  I didn't bother punching him this time, I just drove my knee straight into the crown jewels.

“You sick bastard!” I cried as he hit the floor.  “That's not even funny!  What, did you expect me to go running up and watch my face drop?  I'm still coping with the first time she died, you fuck!”

“Aithur,” Serenity started in a much less aggressive tone.  “If this is a joke, it's not a very funny one.”  She was showing some concern but a whole lot more worry in her expression.  I wasn't too bothered with that, though; I was focusing as much hatred as I could on my once-best friend.

“If you really want to see me hurt that badly, then I've got some good news for you, asshole!” I shouted, letting my emotion pour into the words.  “No matter what happens up there, I'm not leaving alive.  I have no Faith, no family, no friends.  You might have had a chance if you weren't such a dick about this, but now I've made up my mind.  If Seresil doesn't kill me, I will.”

I stormed past his prone body to check the next floor of rooms, now fully aware of my plans.  Kill my god and kill myself.  And then I smelt something familiar.  A very faint mix of lavender and cut grass.  I don't even remember the next few seconds, but suddenly, there was a girl in my arms and a tear running over a smile.  Inhaling made my senses come alive.  She'd showered recently, and was wearing my favourite perfume.  My eyesight was covered by her hair, masking everything in red.  Her dress was silken under my fingertips, and her body behind it pressed into mine with such intensity that we could have fused.

“Faith,” I struggled to say.  She just gripped tighter in response.  I don't know how long I stood there with her, but when I finally let go, it was only for fear that she may not be able to breathe.  I shouldn't have to question why she was alive, but one thing was certain.  Serenity had lied.  I turned to the stairs and saw her already standing there with Aithur.  My mother had always taught me that I should never hit a woman.  Instead, I let the anger manifest in my pistol.

“How is she here, and why did you lie?” I growled.  She raised one arm in surrender – the other was supporting Aithur; I must have hit him harder than I thought.

“She wasn't at your house, and Boon was never ordered to kill her.  I was.”  She paused, as if to give me a chance to respond, but I didn't take it.  “My mission was to keep you motivated so you wouldn't back down.  When I went in and she wasn't there, I told you she'd died so that you'd have no doubts about going in after Seresil.  I don't know why she's here.”

Faith, still at my side, put her hand on my arm and lowered the gun.  That was the only reason Serenity didn't hit the floor with a god-destroyer bullet in her skull.  I'd had enough of people fucking around with me, but if Faith wanted something, then Faith got it, especially when she'd just come back from the dead.

“So what the hell do I do now?”  I turned to Faith, not interested in my comrades' opinions.  She shook her head.

“Oh, come on, now's not the time for the silent treatment,” I said quietly, kissing her head, “I had no choice.”

She returned a confused look, and that's when I realised I'd only been gone for a few hours.  A night had gone by, that was it.  When she woke and found that I wasn't there, she probably suspected I'd gone out for a run and not wanted to wake her.  She had no idea what I'd gone through.  And for some reason she still wasn't talking.  Her finger tapped her lips, faintly lined with pink lipstick.  A kiss?  I leaned in and pressed my lips to hers, grateful for the femininity after Aithur.  Her eyes closed, happy for the affection, but when she pulled away, she shook her head and tapped her lips again.

“You... can't talk?”  She nodded solemnly.  I didn't question it due to the pure relief of finding her here; a mute Faith was better than a dead Faith.

“Well then I'd better do all the talking.  Last night, I was called up to the City in the Sky.  The ruling body up there, central circle, told me they had some jobs for me to carry out.  I finished one and told them I wanted to go back home, and they agreed to send me back if I did one more.  They've sent me here to kill Seresil.”  And then, for the first time since I'd met her, Faith stepped away from me in fear. I moved toward her, but yet again she shook her head, this time meaning 'don't do it'.  “I have to, Faith.  If I do, central circle will let me come back to you give us both unrestricted time in Living.  We can be together forever.  If not, they'll keep me working for them.  I need to do this for us.”

Once more, her head shook.  'No.  Don't do it.'  She relied on the comfort of thinking Seresil watched over her and her friends and family.  That wasn't an option anymore.  Either I killed him or we couldn't go back home.  But then she put her hand on the barrel of my gun.  My natural reaction was to pull away, but Faith negated any Combat in me.  I relaxed my grip, and she carefully took the gun from my hand.  She clipped the safety on and dropped it into the satchel she always wore with her dresses.  Faith had never been a handbag type of girl.

“What do you propose we do?” I gave in.  Faith smiled and kissed my cheek, then nodded her head down and placed her hands together in the prayer position.

“We talk to Seresil?”  She nodded her agreement, then took my hand and led me towards the next set of stairs.  “Wait, you know where he is?”  Another nod.  And so my mind was made up.  I still hadn't completely put the idea of shooting Seresil out of my mind, but it seemed that he'd intervened not to kill Faith, but to save her.  I wasn't jumping to any conclusions yet; I'd made that mistake far too many times over the past few hours, but there was no harm that could come from talking to him.  If he could help, as Faith had always told me, then no-one else had to die here.  If he couldn't, then I could still catch him unaware and claim my reward from central circle.

And yet, there was still the little voice at the back of my mind telling me that it wasn't that easy.  It was never that easy, and there was so much about this whole thing that just didn't add up.  For now, though, I chose to ignore that voice and, just for once, hope that the easy path was going to stay easy.

Well then, that was as much of a shock to me as it was to you, but I suppose that's the joy of interactives.  In one decision, you've changed the entire course of a book, and now you have one last chance to do that.  I've deliberately left this SP as open as possible, since the final one will go straight to poll.  So what happens between now and when they reach Seresil?  What do Aithur and Serenity do?  And what are Darius's final plans on entering Seresil's room?  (I no longer need Aithur and Serenity getting rid of, btw, since the ends I'd originally planned are pretty much void on Faith's return.)