//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: The Darksiders: Prologue - Eight // by Darksoma //------------------------------// A voice echoed through the nameless pony's head as he felt himself drifting through an endless void, one that felt noticeably different from the one before. The voice whispered relentless questions into his ear, without any hint of emotion— 'who are you?', 'Why are you here?', 'what will you do now?'. Through each question, he remained silent, a feeling familiarity filling his mind, until another voice suddenly cut through the darkness, calling out a familiar word— a name. "Eight." - - - He shot awake, the dark dream that surrounded him dissolving away. Now, he found himself laying on the dusty floor of the shop, panting heavily and looking around. His body felt heavy and he could still feel the pain from that fight he had with that creature— that Shadow Dog. Gradually, he rolled over, using all his strength to push himself up off the floor. If this town was filled with more creatures like that, he knew he couldn't lay around like this. His hind hoof, however, protested, a powerful wave of pain shooting up his body. Looking to it, he recalled that creature had bitten into him. He was surprised, however. There was no blood anywhere. Slowly, he lifted the coat from his leg, trying to find the mark, only to find... Nothing. Not even a scratch, but even than, he could still feel the pain. Stumbling a little, he braced himself against the wall, breathing heavily. Nothing was making sense. His thoughts were cut short, however, as the front door flew open, wind shooting in soon after, kicking more dust up into the air, until a small blue filly with brown hair, stepped inside, slammed the door closed soon after, before adjusting the blue bow atop her head, and looking directly at him. "Geez, that was messy." The filly spoke, a noticeably sassy tone in her voice. "Hello there, Eight." He found himself completely caught off guard by how nonchalant she was, unable to find his words, only managing to take a single step back. "Whoa, I'd watch where you're stepping, Eight. You did just destroy a Shadow." Lifting a hoof, she stepped a little closer, eyeing the floor. "Wha—" He tried to speak up again, only to find himself cut off. "Shadows drop corrupted Void Crystals." Slowly, the filly pointed down to his hooves, where a darkened crystal sat, a large crack in its side. "Anyway," Quickly, he turned to the crystal, then back to the filly. "My name is Teia. It's nice to meet you, Eight." She continued, almost dismissively. "I gotta say... You are really lucky to have survived all of that." "Will you stop talking!" Eight yelled, holding himself against the wall. Teia paused and stared, her mouth agape, blindsided by his suddenly outburst. "What on earth are you going on about?! You aren't explaining anything! Where am I? What are you talking about? Who the hell is Eight!" He couldn't help but raise his voice in frustration, slamming his hoof against the wall with each question. Teia kept her eyes locked on him for a long moment, trying to collect herself again, before she quickly shook her head, letting out a sigh. "Right... Sorry... I was getting off track." He quickly pushed himself off the wall, forcing himself to stand up, trying to ignore his pained leg as he glared her. "Unfortunately, I can't explain much to you... But here's what I can..." Taking a deep breath, Teia continued. "Your name is Eight, you're a Darksider— a very... Complicated thing to try and explain, so instead, I'm going to let you work it out on your own... However, you should know that Darksiders and corrupted Void Crystals don't do well together, so avoid them." Eight just stared, totally at a lost for words. "Again, I can't say much, so here." Suddenly, Teia turned her head, grabbing something from under bow before holding it out, revealing large folded up peice of paper. "This will give you all the information you need." Staring at the paper a moment, he hesitantly approached, limping, before reaching out and taking it. A moment later, Teia took a step back, staring up at him. "Grr, why can't you just tell me what's going on!" Eight yelled with a stomp. Teia's expression quickly shifted from concern to dull annoyance. "I literally can't. I'm not allowed." "Why not!" His frustration grew by the second. There had to be more than this. "It'll break the flow of time, you half-eaten potato." She said sharply before sighing. "Look, I'm sorry, I need to go before I say any more." With a quick motion, Teia turned and headed for the door. "Wait!" Eight shouted, trying to move after her, only for her to quickly open the door and step out, followed by a bright flash of light that burst through it, accompanyed with an echoing, pop, that soon faded away. By the time Eight had reached the door, she was completely gone, having vanished into thin air. For a moment, he would silently stare out before looking down at the paper. "Eight, huh?" Softly, he'd unfold, opening it up to a map, with a few words scribbled on it, a circle draw around one of the building with the caption 'you are here' written near it. "Not a fan of that name." He looked across the map, quick to find another circle with the words 'go here' written over another building— a small library. "Great. Hopefully, I can get some answers there." Just then, Eight felt a surge of curiosity as he thought back to the dark crystal. Slowly, he turned back towards it, and raised an eyebrow. Feeling defiant, he'd approach it, staring down at it, before he reached down and tried scooping it up into his hoof. In an instant, wave after large wave of pain shot through his whole body, single handedly making him collapse to the floor, onto his knees. He almost let out a scream of pain, as the feeling didn't relent, almost completely locking his body in place. Through the pain, he just bearly managed to shift his hoof to the side, letting the crystal fall to the floor with a soft clatter. "Wha... What was..." He paused, panting heavily, his annoyance growing. "Ugh... Never mind..." Slowly, he stood back up before limping for the door, notching as the wind began dying down outside. "Fine, Teia... I'll play your little game." With a sigh, Eight reached into his pocket, pulling out the white crystal, before slowly attaching it to his necklace. With it now dangling around his neck, he could feel something odd emanating out if it— Something resembling power, making him stop a moment, before he was forced to shake his head, and limped his way outside. - - - Eight trotted down the street, studying the map closely, bearly paying attention to what was ahead of himself. On occasion, the wind would pick back up, sending other papers and small bits of debris rolling around, but luckily would calm back down moments later. Reading the title of the map, he'd finally know the name of the town he'd ended up in... The Town of Silence. Now, he was headed towards a Library at the other end of town, though it wasn't going to be as easy as he thought. "Well, that's unusual." Eight found himself whispering, staring out over a large hole that had cut through the entire road, blocking his path. "Ugh, now what?" Slowly, he brought his map back up, looking over this town's maze-like layout, before the sudden sound of running caught his attention. Turning quickly to the right, he found himself looking down an alleyway. "Who's there!" His voice echoed through the entire town as he spoke, before trotting into the alley. More running echoed in response. "Wait!" Within an instant, Eight began sprinting down the alley, both his and the stranger's stepping echoing. It was only a moment when he finally saw the stranger, only for them to disappear down another path. He could keep up but couldn't close the distance, and soon, Eight found himself slowing, out of breath. "I'm not... Gonna hurt... You..." The stranger's steps continued to echo as they grew further and further before they were completely gone. "Ugh, where... Am I now?" Exhausted, Eight reluctantly pulled out his map, looking over it, but through all the twisting and confusing alleys, he couldn't find his location. "Dammit..." Still trying to catch his breath, he could feel himself freeze as a familiar cry rings out through the town, not too far off. "I... I need to get out of here." With what energy he could muster, he began jogged away from the sound, turning through the many paths, as soft rain began gradually coming down over the whole town. "Not now, please, not now." As the rain grew stronger and stronger, he finally saw a building connecting to the alley, a small wooden door leading into the tall, multilevel building. As he approached the door he began trying the nob, the door rattling in response. It was locked from inside. "Come on!" Looking around, Eight spotted a fire escape to the left of the door, the ladder on it almost down, seemingly jammed in place. "Hmm." Trotting under it, Eight tried jumping up to it, barely getting it in his hoof before trying to yank it down. It took a few tries before it finally popped and came down to the ground, knocking Eight to the ground. "Ugh... What on earth... Were you thinking, Teia?" Moving to his side, he took a few breaths, only for the sound of that familiar cry to echo out across the town. "Crap!" Quickly, Eight got to his hooves before running to the ladder before climbing onto it, the ladder wobbling a little. Realizing it wasn't going to stay on, he began quickly climbing up, one step at a time. Suddenly, however, the ladder had given way, and in an instant, Eight had to jump up, barely catching the ledge of the fire escape, as the ladder clattered to the ground, the sound echoing out. Anything close would've heard it, and so, panicking, Eight clawed his way up onto the fire escape, just as two of those shadow dogs rounded the corner of the alley, their red eyes piercing through the rain. Eight's panic didn't subside, as the creatures quickly leaped up, barely catching the side of the fire escape, only to lose its grip, falling back to the alley. The two creatures began clawing at the building at random, trying to get up to Eight, meanwhile, he climbed to his hooves, beginning to ascend the ladder to the next floor, towards an open window into the building, before jumping inside, crashing loudly into a bookshelf, and knocking a few books to the floor. After a moment of heavy breathing, Eight jumped to the window before slamming it closed, finally giving him a moment to breathe. "Finally arrived?" The familiar voice of Teia echoing through the room, before Eight turned, seeing himself now standing in a library, surrounded by bookshelves and tables, with candles sitting on it. Only one, however, was lit. Teia stared at the book floating in front of her, lit up perfectly by her candle. "I'm glad to see you're safe." "Yeah, barely, thanks to your garbage map!" Eight yelled, stomping his way to Teia. "Please don't yell... I really wish I could've given you better instructions, but I wasn't allowed to." Teia sighed, the book floating down and laying on the table, a look of regret on her face. This was enough to make Eight stop in his tracks, seeing how sincere she was. "You weren't... Allowed to?" With another sigh, Teia finally looked up at Eight. "Regrettably, yeah." Slowly, she slid down, off her chair, the book she had levitating to her side, closing. "I have to follow a specific set of rules for me to even be here to help you..." Eight just stood and watched, puzzled by the levitating book. "What rules?" Teia let out a soft chuckle as the book slide into a nearby bookshelf. "Unfortunately, I can't tell you them either. That's one of the rules." Eight just stared a moment before chuckling a little too. "Then you just broke the rule, huh?" "Yeah, yeah, I know it's contradictory, dork." For the first time, Teia gave Eight a genuine smile. "But you should know." Both stood quiet for a few moments before Eight's slight smile faded before he trotted up to Teia. "Look, if this is you helping, it's not helpful." Teia just watched and frowned. "I need you to tell me something if you want me to trust you, otherwise... I'm sorry, but you'll just be another obstacle." Teia just stared as he spoke before looking at her hooves. "Something..." "If you've been given rules," Eight paused before taking a deep breath. "Then I'm sure there are ways you can bend them." Teia contemplated his words before she reached her hooves up, tightening her blue bow. "Okay." Eight was a little caught off guard by how quickly she agreed but let her continue. "That Crystal you have... It's called a Void Crystal. It has properties that will be useful to you.." Looking at the Crystal around his neck, Eight examined it as she spoke. "Properties?" "Magic." Teia blurted out. "It has the unique ability that allows you to channel your inner power to use magic." Eight looked at her again, but Teia didn't look up. "For example, that book I had... I was levitating it using the Void Crystal I have hidden in my bow." Slowly, Eight looked to her blue bow, seeing it tightly tied into the back of her hair. Teia continued. "I can't show you how to do so, but it isn't hard to work out... Using that power, I bet you can do so much more, like... Grab books off of shelves, lift up heavy objects, or..." Teia found herself pausing, thinking through her words. "Grabbing and protecting yourself and a friend just like you." Eight stopped, starting at Teia. "A friend... Just like me?" Quickly, Teia turned in place before moving for a nearby doorway. "That's all I can say..." Just as she reached the doorway, she turned and smiled softly at Eight. "A knight isn't a knight without a sword, a castle, and someone to protect." With those final words, Teia quickly trotted out, the same popping sound from before echoing through the halls. Eight just stood there, thinking about her words, before he trotted back to the window. "A castle and a friend?" Staring out over the alleyway a building, Eight spotted a large, towering castle-like building in the distance, surrounded by trees. "Well... Now I know my destination."