//------------------------------// // Karl and Jenny // Story: Worlds Apart: The Chosen of the Prognosticus // by GMBlackjack //------------------------------// “We were seeking your audience,” Vivian said, bowing to the Emperor. “We need your help to save all worlds from destruction.” “Strange words, for a daemon,” the Emperor said, tapping his gilded hammer. “I am not a daemon… I think. I am Vivian, and I come from a distant world. This is Luigi. He comes from a different world.” Some part of Vivian wondered why she was being so… forthright. Yes, this was the plan, after all, to talk to the Emperor. But she felt like she needed to tell him her entire life story. The Emperor glanced at his young aide. She shrugged, giving him no input. Returning to Vivian, the Emperor folded his hands together. “Are there any others with you?” “Yes! King Caspian is at the gates, providing the distraction. He’s probably been taken into custody by now…” Vivian put a hand to her mouth. “I do hope he’s okay.” The Emperor turned to the wizard who was standing awkwardly in the entrance of the throne room. “Go, bring this Caspian to me.” The wizard ran off without even bowing in respect. Returning to his untimely visitors, the Emperor took a few moments to drum his fingers on the top of his magic hammer. “I am… curious. Explain what it is you believe I can do for you.” Vivian pulled off her hat and took out the stone heart. “This is the Pure Heart of a world that was recently drained by the Void that seeks to consume all worlds. It was in the world when it fell, draining it of all its power. We have been seeking a way to restore it, and all the people have such faith in you, a belief that you can do anything. Can you…?” “I do not know,” the Emperor admitted. “Why should I try?” “Because we need all eight Pure Hearts in unison to break the curse of the Void on all worlds! Without it, we have no hope. No way to save all that we care for!” “Hmm…” the Emperor frowned. “I need to test to see if you’re telling the truth. Tell me—both of you—what is the worst thing you’ve ever done?” Vivian responded immediately. “I burned an entire village of koopas to death because my sister told me to!” Why am I saying that? Her smile didn’t falter. Everything was fine. “I…” Luigi’s nose twitched. “I… I once dropped a Yoshi off a cliff. But…” Luigi frowned. “I feel like I’ve done something worse that I can’t remember.” “Strange words…” the Emperor said, scratching his chin. “But that is to be expected if you really are from another world.” He walked down from his throne down to Vivian. “Give me the Heart.” Vivian handed it over to him without a second thought, a dumb smile plastered on her face. “It has power.” He turned it over in his hands, tracing it with the tips of his fingers. “And it most definitely is not Chaos. Either they are telling the truth, or the Ruinous Powers have somehow made them think they are while also creating an artifact with no Chaos in it whatsoever.” The advisor nodded. “It seems legitimate. Some of the madder cultists have claimed to see other Realms entirely through the Warp. It’s not impossible.” “Hmm…” the Emperor twisted the stone heart on top of his fingers. While he was pondering, Caspian was dragged into the throne room and thrown to the ground behind Vivian and Luigi. “I demand better treatment!” Caspian spat, bloodying the carpet. “This is no way t—” “Who are you?” the Emperor asked. Immediately Caspian’s anger was gone, replaced with a serene expression. “I am Caspian the Tenth, King of Narnia, servant of Aslan, my Lord.” He bowed respectfully to the Emperor. “I apologize for my appearance and my attitude, it is unbecoming of my position.” “But understandable,” the Emperor said. “All three of you are from different worlds?” “Yes,” Vivian answered. “Luigi and I are from Lumash, Caspian is from Narnia.” “How many worlds are there?” “Eight, plus in-between places.” “Name them.” Vivian rattled off the names like she was reading out of a textbook. “Earth, Diqiu, Mobius, Hume, Narnia, Lemash, Equis, and we haven’t visited the eighth one yet, as far as I know.” “Oddly specific names,” the advisor admitted. “Detail-oriented as well...” “Is our world the eighth one?” the Emperor asked. Vivian cocked her head. “I do not know. It could be, or it could be a distant part of one of the others.” The Emperor sat back in his throne, still holding the stone Heart. He turned to his advisor, smirking slightly. “I believe I’m going to try it.” The advisor nodded. “I’m… curious,” she admitted. The Emperor lifted the stone Heart into the air… and dropped it. Vivian, Luigi, and Caspian didn’t have the capacity to feel worried, so this didn’t mean anything to them—and they didn’t react when the Emperor picked up the bejeweled magic warhammer either. As the stone heart fell to the ground, the Emperor swung the hammer with impossible speed for any normal man. The head of the Warhammer flashed with a brilliant white light as it made contact with the stone heart. Reality skipped. For a moment, Vivian could think clearly, and the world was all wrong. Cubic segments of it had moved to the side, leaving holes of darkness where distant blinking lights shone through. Sound skipped, jumping back to the same buzzing noise over and over again. The Emperor’s hammer was in two places at once, and everything seemed to flicker. And then it was over. Vivian’s strange sense of peace returned, only heightened by a beautiful sight in front of her. A bright purple Pure Heart, fully restored, floating just above the ground. The Emperor reached out to touch it—but it pushed him back. “What?” “It will only accept the chosen, now,” Vivian said, walking up to it and taking it in her hands. “I can touch it, and so can Caspian. I… thank you, Emperor.” The Emperor nodded—clearly weakened by the whole ordeal. “That artifact needed more power than I had given in my entire life…” He slumped into his throne, breathing heavily. “But, seeing it… I can tell how pure this essence is. What does it represent?” “Love and creation,” Vivian said. “This one… I think it represents a love of a people for their culture. The crystal ponies of the Crystal Empire and… well, Twilight didn’t really tell me enough about them to know for sure.” “Crystal ponies…” The Emperor shook his head. “Just like old times, hmm?” The advisor nodded, but didn’t smile. “Welcome, otherworlders,” the Emperor said, raising one of his hands. “I am Emperor Karl the Second, rumored Sigmar Reborn and retriever of Ghal Maraz. This is my aid and childhood friend, Genevieve ‘Jenny’ Hahn. She may not look it, but she is significantly older than I am. I apologize in advance for the identity crisis you will suffer once you leave my presence and realize you could never have disobeyed anything I asked of you. I was born with the ability to influence people, and as you can see, it has served me quite well—and it has served the Empire.” “It cut away a lot of the bureaucracy,” Jenny admitted. “It was a little strange when he was still a kid, though.” “But the Thousand Thrones are behind us!” the Emperor clapped his hands. “Please, distant adventurers, tell us what else we may do to aid your quest to save all worlds.” “We need to return to the other worlds,” Vivian said. “Or… find the door to this world. It’s confusing…” “Do you not have the capacity to return yourself?” “No. We were sent here against our wills by Dimentio, one of our enemies. We were separated from the other heroes of the Light Prognosticus and have no idea where we are.” Jenny lifted a hand. “I have a suggestion. It is unbelievably dangerous, but it may work.” “Hmm?” the Emperor raised an eyebrow. “The Chaos Portal at the North Pole. It is a stable connection to another realm.” “That would be suicide!” “Not with that,” Jenny said, pointing at the Pure Heart. “It… it would shield them, wouldn’t it?” The Emperor let out a chuckle. “Very well! Heroes! Do you wish to sail to the Warp Portal at the top of the world in hopes that it can take you home?” “Yes!” all three said in unison. “Even knowing that it is the source of all daemonic influence in this world and has brought much of the world to absolute ruin? Even knowing that massive city-destroying beasts stalk those wastes?” “Yes!” Caspian and Vivian said. Luigi shook his head rapidly. The Emperor smirked. “Well, I’m sure they can convince you later. Jenny, see to it that they get a ship. And give Vivian the robes of a red wizard so she will be accepted as one of ours and not a daemon.” “Mo’cookies?” Jenny asked. “What other ship would I give them?” the Emperor nodded. “It has always been missing one thing that the original had: a quest to save the world.” “...You named your boat Mo’cookies?” Caspian asked. “I had an elf friend,” the Emperor explained. “He was… not quite right in the head, but somehow managed to become a wizard of the forest. Unlike most of his kind, he had quite the sense of humor. Life wouldn't be the same without his contribution to the Empire.” “...What about that elf at the receptionist desk?” “Oh, her? I hired her because she makes people uncomfortable. I get less meetings that way.” “Ah.” “Right this way,” Jenny gestured for the three of them to follow her. “I will suit you up for your ship. And please, try not to punch me when you get out of the range of Karl’s aura. That gets… annoying.” “Okay, okay,” Vivian said. “Oh! There’s something I’ve got to do first.” “What?” Vivian lifted the Pure Heart into the air and grinned. “We got a Pure Heart! For real this time!”