I was never one for wargames back on Earth. I knew next to nothing about tactics or the best way to search for opponents. All I had was a magical signature and a vague direction guiding me.
What I also had was unending pessimism and fear, which actually helped me quite a bit. Fear helps keep you alive. If you aren't capable of feeling fear, then you're way too cocky for your own damn good. If you can't name off the top of your head something that scares you, along with your counterplan to deal with it when it comes up, then chances are, someone is planning to get the drop on you right now.
...I mean, granted, I had functional immortality, but I was still getting used to that. Fear responses would be the norm for some time.
After two days of trudging through the damn forest (Why is it always the forest?), I reached the border between Equestria and the Badlands again. Only this time, where I was had something that was definitely artificial.
A small hill had a pair of wooden doors set into it, with the ground in front devoid of grass and looking much more firmly packed. It clearly saw a great deal of use. I went to pull the door open, thinking this was where I wanted to be, when I felt that sensation again. Three this time, closing in from all sides. Their power was less than that of a Star, but it felt...oh no.
I looked up and locked eyes with one of my attackers, feeling his power. A good bit of Mercury with a small bit of Jupiter to serve as a foundation. Otherwise known as a Wizard, he who heals and hits with the fury of a winter storm. A pulse from my right revealed a good bit of Mars with a Venus foundation. A Chaos Lord, he who hits hard and takes hits and thrives on combat. A pulse to the left told me of a Mars beginning with a good bit of Jupiter layered on, also known as a War Adept. Fast and full of deadly magic, capable of using both damage and status effects, War Adepts trained for battle.
Whoever this Omega was, he was starting to mix and match elements. If these three knew what they could do, I would be in deep shit. I drew my blade slowly, and I could feel their power react to the sound of my blade unsheathing.
"Now then, colts. We can do this one of two ways. The easy way, or the hard way."
The Chaos Lord snorted. "We'll take the easy way."
I paused for a moment. "Really?"
The Wizard nodded. "Yup. We'll just kill you and be done with it."
At that, I looked at each of them in turn. "Did...did he not believe me when I said I was immortal? Cause, believe me, I've done the whole song and dance before. It sucked."
The War Adept let out a noise indicating he didn't believe me. "Puh-lease. Anything that dies stays dead. Like those elemental spirits."
My eyes narrowed. My clothes changed color. A familiar feeling burned within me as my sword lit up with my power. But it wasn't golden anymore, the flames had turned a familiar cobalt blue. It was then I identified the sensation in my gut.
It wasn't indigestion or an ulcer, it was something I had reserved all my life that was now burning freely.
Hatred. Wrath.
My anger was spiraling out of control.
And I liked it.
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(3rd POV - Dullahan - Penumbra Sanctum)
No, see, the spirits these tablets call on aren't beings that are currently alive. More like, they're incredibly powerful manifestations of power. In the right combination and with the right foreknowledge, you can unleash some cra-
The armor trailed off as he felt a tug on his being. Aboyami looked at the armor with a measured glance. "Is something wrong?"
The boy. He...is drawing on those powers unique to me. I know not why...or how...
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(POV - Auric)
I raised my blade to eye level and pointed at each of the stallions surrounding me in turn. "You shouldn't have said that."
The Wizard backed up a step, likely thinking that this was no longer a good idea. "Guys, maybe we should just cut our losses and report back..."
"There will be no mercy, no justice, not for you. You have awoken the heat, the flames, the Storm of my anger."
The sword flashed once, and a small sheen of light coated it. I wasn't done, though. "To you who have sealed a Dark Contract with the one known as Omega, I tell ye now that the time has come to pay for what you have done."
The blade flashed again, and a layer of darkness obscured the previous sheen. At this, the Chaos Lord backed up a step. "I'm not so sure this is a good idea anymore..."
"To ye who have captured and drained the Djinn, then tossed them aside when they are of no more use to you, I Condemn you!"
The sword was basically throbbing with power now, and even the War Adept backed up a step. He quickly rallied, though. "I am NOT afraid of you! I will NOT be bested by you!"
I glared at him, deciding that yes, they would fear me and be bested by me. "Oh, you will. And when you arrive on the shores of the Styx and meet the ferryman Charon, you will finally Understand your victim's pain!"
I hefted the sword and felt the power I'd stored in it gather at the tip, making for a shining cobalt spark on the end of my sword. Acting on instinct, I brought my blade down and stabbed the very earth.
And that was when everything exploded for a moment.
-----
When I came to, I first saw that the sky was still a lovely shade of blue, and that my power was coming along nicely back to the level it had been before my little encounter.
Then I recalled some details of the encounter and made to sit up, wincing a bit as my body complained. I could see scattered around me the trio that had accosted me. All of them still breathing, barely, and all of them facing away from me, as though they had attempted to run before being caught in an explosion. I checked myself over to see that my clothes were in their usual Day coloration and still intact.
I then noted that the doors which had been set into the hill had been blasted open, and I made my way over to them. Looking in revealed naught but darkness, while looking back at the ones who had tried to stop me told me that their powers were gone. Severed, somehow, probably by whatever caused the explosion. My memory wasn't behaving; something about my clothes shifting again, and me spouting off some vague speech about morals or some such was all I could grab.
Sheathing Eureka, I went into the cave that had been uncovered and lit my hands up with my power, casting eerie shadows across every surface. The first room was empty enough. It was the second that caused me the first bit of distress.
In huge glass tanks were collections of Djinn, floating in some semi-see-through green fluid. Sitting near the middle of this cave was a smaller version of the extractor machine I had seen before. Going from tank to tank revealed the Djinn were still alive. Barely. I focused and removed the lids by turning them back into sand, then I pulled each elemental spirit out and gathered them in a pile before me. A Jupiter Djinn focused a bleary eye on me. Who...what...why...
I placed a hand on its head. "I am Auric Fulcrum, formerly a part of Dullahan. I wield the Flames of Alchemy and have come seeking he that did this to you. Can you move?"
A collective groan arose from the pile. No...we are...we are drained...many of us will not last...
I called up what I could of my strength and focused on the Djinn before me. "Not if I have anything to say about it."
The wave of golden light impacted the spirits, restoring vitality and energy to those it touched. I panted a bit as the power left me, and momentarily, it was harder to breathe. It was also worth it, as the spirits seemed to perk up with renewed vitality. The Jupiter one that had spoken to me before looked me in the eyes as it started to hover a bit. Why? Why would you save us by sacrificing a portion of your own power?
I smiled at him. "Because if I can save any and choose not to, that is a greater wrong than placing you in this position in the first place."
The Jupiter Djinn was momentarily stunned, so I looked to the rest. "Can you move? Are you alright now?"
A few muttered that they were alright at my question, so I continued. "Do any of you know where Newvale is?"
The Jupiter Djinn had recovered. I do, I was headed there before this happened.
I looked at him. "Can you lead the others there? Dullahan and a community of Adepts are there, they've fended off attacks from this one before. They'll be capable of aiding you and shielding you until you are back to your full power."
The Djinn nodded and made a motion with one of its wings. Come along, it's a ways away, this town. The sooner we start, the sooner we finish.
The Djinn filed out of the cave, not quite as fast as they could be, but better than being on the verge of death like they had been. I turned to the next room and mentally prepared myself.
No amount of preparation would have ever been enough.
I actually lost what my stomach had in it as I viewed the scene before me. Playing games, seeing things like this, thinking about it, nothing compared. I think it was the smell. The smell reached into my mind and made me realize that this was real, that someone had done this to other sapient beings.
The fact that strapped down to four tables that had extractor equipment above them were the still-animate bodies of the NAT...that only made it worse.
I...eventually got my stomach under control and approached. Talos turned his head and looked at me with his good eye. "Who..." He coughed, and a bit of phlegm as red as blood hit the table. "Who're you?" he croaked out.
I looked the others over then, noting that the injuries inflicted on them were too numerous, especially considering my latest endeavor. "Someone who should have been here a while ago," I replied. "I...I cannot save you all. I doubt I can save one of you. I just finished saving the Djinn, and by the time my power recovers enough to save you..."
Moonfire spoke up next then. "If you cannot save us...kill us instead. Release us."
I walked over to him and put a hand to his face. "Is that what you want?"
"Yes," Frostfall pitched in. "A quick death would be preferable to a slow wasting."
I nodded slowly at their logic. "Still, there is every chance I could do something. That anyone could help. I should at least think of something to try while I wait."
"No," Flare interjected, "You shouldn't. We have suffered so much that an end to this pain seems like a treasure. They injured each of us to see how we would react, how our Psynergy would react. When they realized that some of it instinctively seeks to keep us whole at all costs, they kept us injured at all costs. When they found our emotions and memories could make for more powerful bursts, they tormented us by researching our lives and dangling the promise of escape in front of us with names from our past. Grant us that peace, please."
I looked at all of them, briefly catching their eyes staring into mine. "If that...is what you want. Truly want. Then I will oblige."
I held my blade to Talos' throat and looked at him. "Know you this. You will be remembered. You will be avenged."
He nodded, and with a quick slice and a spurt of blood, he sighed his last.
The process was repeated three more times.
"Frostfall, Flare, Moonfire, Talos. I add your names to those that I carry with me, until such a time as the one who did this to you is found and brought to justice for his crimes."
...I may have broken down weeping at the 'mercy' I gave to them for a little while.
Eventually I composed myself again and walked to the next and final room.
It resembled an office crossed with a lab, was the first thing that ran through my mind. Papers and diagrams scattered everywhere, with a desk near the back.
The second thing that crossed through my mind was: Found you!
Sticking out of the ceiling was a huge blue crystal, softly glowing. It seemed I found the other end of the control crystals. I looked up to the thing and noticed the gap between me and it, frowning at the thought.
I pulled the desk over to underneath it and reached up with one hand, barely contacting the crystal at its lowest point. I sent a tendril of my power into it, and got a rush of information out.
Yes, this was the control crystal. No, there were no others. No, there were no small control crystals currently in use. But there had been an order sent out to one, one that had been embedded into a member of the Guard in secret. The order would remain hidden until activated, and once it was, the one that activated it would not need this crystal to control the subject.
I took note of all that information, then drained the crystal dry, making sure to take a sample of the magic that had created and controlled this vile thing. I kept it separate from myself and slowly, sedately walked out of the bunker and back into the forest.
There I crafted another compass and imbued it with the magic I had taken, shaping the magic to function like the last one I had made.
I would find the stallion that had done this.
And afterwards, I would come back and burn this place, burn even the very stones if I had to, to make sure every last trace of what he had done was gone.
But for now, the compass was pointing me towards a mountain I could barely see. One that I had visited several times, that had needed saving.
If you really are there, Omega, I will end this now.