• Published 30th Jul 2012
  • 1,989 Views, 169 Comments

Afraid Of My Shadow - Deyeaz



Sometimes, our most irrational fears can become our worst nightmares.... (Sequel to Horns, Hooves, and Fur)

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XXV- The Deal (Jace)

~Afraid Of My Shadow~

Written by CraimerX and ShadowWeaver

Proofreaded by the onlyoneofmeisyou

XXV - The Deal (Jace)

Well. This day just keeps getting better and better. First, my wife is brutally taken advantage of by some jacked up and horned out guards... Then I get captured and thrown into a fucking factory, and now I'm watching the fucker explode as I fall from the cloud that it sat on.

I was weakened from the fighting with the claw, but I came out victorious with a fireball stuck firmly to the arm portion of the claw, and a fireball thrown into the grinder. The result: the grinder was destroyed, and left a hole in the ground and it exposed the clouds underneath. When I fell after the arm exploded, I fell through the hole, and threw a few more fireballs up into the hole to finish off the factory for good.

Everything was going to plan. The only problem...

I can't fly. I forgot how to in my four years of no magic usage, and it hasn't crossed my mind until the last second that I was on a cloud.

Welp... This is going to hurt... Like a bitch.

No, not like a bitch... This is going to hurt like falling 100 miles per hour and slamming straight into the hard ground below with no way of slowing down... Yeah, it's gonna hurt like that.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

I was trapped in a free-fall that, if I hit the ground, would make my form as is right now, obsolete. If I couldn't land safely, that means another week of Markarth time inside of the Calling Card's essence, that will change me into an immortal form of bone and magic. The magic keeps you alive, and the bone is mostly a way of showing that immortals don't require mortal organs and such to live. The body is stripped of all the weak organs and flesh that a human or pony possesses. They are then hit with a large amount of magic that allows them to live through the process, and the soul is bound to the bones by way of ritual. It is painful, and time consuming for the one inside of the Card. A week in Markarth translates to roughly two days in Equis time.

But back to the matter at hand... Falling. To the rough and hard ground below of the world that I called home.

How would the others think of a new form? Would they think me a monster, like in my Chaos form? Or will I be treated the same?

How would my family think of me..? My friends? How would my son take it..? What do you tell a child? That I'm dead? That his father was killed in action trying to save the world he has come to love and live in?

No... That won't happen. Not today.

I straightened myself out falling, and was now in a free-fall style position. I pushed all the magic in my body to my legs and my hands and concentrated hard, closing my eyes to see that pulse of red magic inside me get brighter, and brighter. I pushed out the sounds of rushing air past my ears, and concentrated on the aura of magic. It pulsated, and grew brighter and brighter, until I could see the sigil of the Gatekeeper glow black inside the round aura.

I opened my eyes, and I could feel the burning of the glow in them. I had the power. I wouldn't let this be the end of me.

“Spread your wings... And soar like a Gryphon...” I said with a smirk as I released the magic in my legs and hands, and, like Tony Stark, I blasted off and barrel rolled, looking at the path in front of me.

“Vinyl...” I said softly, and thought the best place to go first was the hospital. I changed my course and set off at high speeds towards where they held my wife, hopefully alive and well.

Maybe I should tap in and see if Praxis got out alive...

'Praxis... Praxis are you there?!' I asked through telepathy, grabbing onto his wavelengths like it was my life.

'Jace?! Where the hell are you?! What's going on?!'

'Well, long story short, I blew the everlasting shit out of the factory. I'm going to the hospital, get those prisoners back to Ponyville as fast as you can... You remember the shelter we had when we were fighting Insanity?'

'Of course...'

'Get everypony in Ponyville there, quickly. When you hear me in your thoughts, let me in. It's time we start a revolution.'

'I'll get on it right away... And Jace?'

'Yeah?'

'Don't forget to bring your guns.'

'Heh... Don't forget your blade.'

I smirked and saw the hospital in the distance. I slowed my magical thrusters and landed roughly on the roof of the hospital. After the years in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. initiative, my agility took a large increase.

I hopped down off the roof and entered, getting many gasps and shocked looks at my beaten and bruised body. I ran for the desk and slammed my hands on the table. “Vinyl Scratch... What room?!”

“W-Well... She's in...” The nurse checked a clipboard. “Room 9.”

I took off for the room, running passed nurses and doctors alike until I burst through the door. I saw Vinyl, sitting up in her bed, and startled as she saw me enter the room. I stared into her eyes and she stared at mine...

“...Vinyl.” I got up to the bed and fell to my knees as I stared at her. Her hoof touched my cheek and I grabbed a hold of it with my hand, and stroked it softly with my thumb. “I'm so sorry...” I said softly, feeling my eyes water and well with tears. The very rare occurrence where a Reaper cried real tears. Remorse. Sadness. All these things still could bring out the human inside of me.

“Jason..” She said softly. I could see the tears in her red eyes start and I pulled her into a tight hug. I cried silent tears into her neck and mane, and held her close as she sobbed.

“I'm so sorry, honey... This is all my fault... I knew the consequences of all this, but I blew it off like an idiot! Now Umbra has the world in his hands... But I promise you, I'll make this right. For you. For everyone in Equis! I swear!”

“You do the best you can...” She sniffed and wiped her eyes, looking into mine. She smiled softly, “I don't blame you for this, honey... You've always done the best you can in this world, and I'm happy to be your wife... I have no regrets...” She leaned in and our lips met in a kiss. I melted into it, and was putty in her hooves.

The kiss lasted a while and we hugged tight. “I'm going to take you somewhere safe so you can recover...”

“What about Wubsy and Riku?” I stopped and looked at her.

“...Where are they...?”

“In the room next to me.”

I looked over and pulled out the IV in her foreleg, and picked her up. I got a good look at her now. Her body was bandaged in spots where she had been abused. I sighed at the sight and carried her out of the room and went to the next one over, and gasped softly at a soot covered Riku wearing a respirator and Wubsy sitting in a chair next to him, tears rolling down his face.

I slowly walked into the room, and Wubsy looked up. “DADDY!” He ran over and clung to my leg. “Riku's not waking up Daddy... I'm scared...” He buried his face in my leg and bawled.

I looked over at the bed, and I could see the weak rising and falling of Riku's chest. I took a few steps up to the bed and again the tears started to pour out of my eyes. Quick as can be, I stride over to the foot of the bed and read the diagnostics that were scrawled onto the clipboard.

"Unstable condition. Excess of ash lining the throat and lungs. Breathing difficulties occurred already. Possibility of cancer and asphyxiation due to too much ash in system."

I looked up. I could see his vitals with my own eyes...

He wasn't going to make it...


“Can I get a doctor in here?!” I yelled, setting Vinyl down on the ground. She sat on her haunches and a doctor stepped inside. “Take this mare and foal out of here. Go to the shelter from the Insanity crisis... MOVE!” The doctor nodded and was flustered, as he ran out of the room and started to get paramedics to grab a stretcher.

I knelt down and looked at Wubsy, and pulled his close. “Son... Daddy has to work his magic... It's hard but... I don't think Riku's going to make it...” His eyes water and tears streamed down his face. I pulled him close and kissed the top of his head. “I know bud... He's going to get the best place in Heaven... I promise you that, son...” I cradled him in my arms and held him as the paramedics got Vinyl onto a stretcher. “Go with your mother, son... I'll be right behind you guys..” The doctors came by and lead Wubsy out of the hospital with Vinyl.

I looked over at Riku and slowly moved over to him. I sat down in a chair and reached up to slowly caress his head. I saw the shaky breaths he took, and it hurt me on the inside. A child would die just to get rid of us... And there was nothing that I could do...

“It's a shame, really...” I heard a voice behind me. A familiar voice. I turned and saw the cloak clad Zeke standing in the doorway, hand on his scythe and his hood drawn over his skull. Blackness shrouded his looks and two red eyes were gleaming at me from the blackness of the hood. “I wish there was something we could do, that didn't mean giving your soul to Satan...” Zeke walked up to the bed and sighed. “Riku... Why is it that the most innocent have to die young?”

“He doesn't have to die, Zeke...”

“Says you. The Reaper code is a hard one to uphold, I know. But there is nothing that we could do... Unless you wish to have your soul be forever thrown into the fires of damnation...” I turned to him, and looked him straight in his eyes.

“That's a risk I'm willing to take...” I said, my eyes shining their Reaper red.

“...Very well.” Zeke reached into his cloak and pulled out a large scroll, and unrolled it. “This is the infamous, Deal with the Devil. You may have anything you want, for your soul...” He held it out in front of me, and a black fireball flashed, leaving a black quill and inkwell. “All you have to do, is sign what you want, and then your name...”

I took the quill and dipped it into the ink, and I stared at the dotted line. I started to slowly write my wish.

The life of Riku Moradov to be spared.

Now for my name... I started writing, slow.

'Jason'

My hands were trembling. After this, my soul will be given to the devil. No eternal life. No do overs.

'Eclissi'

Sweat poured from my brow as I wrote, my breathing became erratic. One more word... Once I die, it's game over, good game, no extra lives, no resets. Just one life...

'Romero.'

And then...

Darkness.

Comments ( 6 )

running passed nurses and doctors
His eyes waters and tears streamed down his face
I pulled his close and kissed the top of his head

1. Past.
2. Water.
3. Him.

Hoon Jeffrey:
Hmm... I think I may be noticing a pattern here... Lyra... Trixie... and now Vinyl... does he have a thing for Unicorns specifically? Or does he just love their pointy appendages? >.>

Uhh... what is this doing in the story?:trixieshiftright::trixieshiftleft::pinkiecrazy:

3143131

Hoon Jeffrey:
Hmm... I think I may be noticing a pattern here... Lyra... Trixie... and now Vinyl... does he have a thing for Unicorns specifically? Or does he just love their pointy appendages? >.>

That was a comment from our dear editor, and it refuses to be eradicated. Unforunately, I dunno HOW to get rid of it in the Doc since it's only visible after I import it onto the text.

As for the spelling errors, I shall go and fix them immediately. :D

3143135 Did you try clicking the resolve button? I have no idea if that works as well or how else GDoc's supposed to work. I ain't a wizard but man do we need one

Now that I have read HHaF, I can finally start on this fic :) I just hope it is as good as the first story.

Dayum!
That ending :fluttercry:
It'll probably work out in the end though.

More please?

~Crystalline Electrostatic~

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