//------------------------------// // Breaking Out: Part 2 // Story: World of Ponies: The Rise of Change. // by ShadowWalking18 //------------------------------// Castus stood once more within the enclosure that held the troop of humans. As he expected, his arrival had received some more...attention from the scientists about. Though a glare from Cadence, and at times a rough word in princess manner was enough to make them leave off their questions about what had occurred the other day. What he did not expect though, was for Cadence and two guards to enter into the enclosure as well, and stand and sit by the door. "Just to be sure that nothing like yesterday happens again." Cadence said, as she sat upon a rock, opening a book she had carried in. Castus frowned, but nodded, and walked onward further into the enclosure. His 'escort' did not follow, and as he reached the rocky outcropping he had sat on the previous day, he came upon the full troop of humans; and all of them now stared at him with wide eyes. All...but one. Castus looked, and then saw the human from before, gazing at himself within the water. Castus looked once more at the gathered humans, who continued to stare at him and ignore whatever tasks they had been doing, and then looked back at the human male; who was busy rubbing a hand upon his face in what Castus was sure was a form of admiring his reflection. Castus walked over to the human male, and leaned down beside him. The human jumped slightly in surprise, turning to look at him. Though where there was some fear, the human looked at him more with awe. Castus looked at the human with a serious eye. Was something truly different now? Without the Wind, he could not feel the essence of the humans mind; not knowing if that great shadowed rage still lurked within the mind. But he had to know, something deep at his core....it gnawed it him. He NEEDED to know. Castus glanced down at the dirt, and taking a leap of faith, drew a rough picture in the dirt with his finger. The simple line drawing of a bird. Castus then waited, as the human before him now focused on the drawing; occasionally looking up at him. The human furrowed his brow, looking at the picture before looking up and pointed toward something. Castus looked up, and saw a flight of birds flying over head. The human pat the picture with a hand, a smile upon his face, as he drew a rougher version of Castus' own and pointed up back towards the flying birds. The human breathed a laugh, clapping his hands in a child like joy. Castus leaned back, his heart nearly stopping at the sight of that smile. That replication of the picture, and the quick connection between an image and a living creature. The human continued to make bird pictures, until Castus took his hand. The human jumped and looked at him with fear for a moment. Castus merely smiled, and began drawing another picture. Perhaps an hour or so had passed, and Castus was in a pure amazement at how sudden the human before him had changed. How...the necklace changed him? Castus fingered the amulet under his shirt, feeling a cool calming feeling wash over his mind as he did. He watched the human trace pictures in dirt. The majority had been animals, and a tree or two. But now the human was drawing little stick figures of men among the animals. Each picture seeming to make him smile more and more, and he would tap Castus shoulder and point at his work with glee. Castus smiled, “very good." He said, patting the human's shoulder gently. The human no long shied away from such a gesture, and even returned it. If maybe a bit harder then Castus. But Castus merely grunted and smiled. For some reason, seeing that look of curiosity and joy over the beastly unknowing made him feel relieved and even....happy. As if a great burden was slowly coming off his shoulders. Castus looked around, noting a few humans were staring at them curiously, though all seemed to lower their heads and shy away when he looked at them. Castus shrugged and ignored it. At least he didn't need to worry about getting into more fights. But what did he do now? He could try to figure out how to work the necklace to free the rest of the humans in the enclosure; but what then? 'I've got to get free first.' He thought, though how was still a mystery for him. Something in the back of his head nagged at him, telling him he was running out of time. "Where is he?" Castus heard a voice. A voice that made a chill run down his spine. Celestia. It seems he was right....he was all out of time. Castus shot to his feet, taking his human companion by surprise and he looked up at him confused. Castus stared at the approaching figures of Celestia, Cadence, and a number of guards. "Castus...it's time." Cadence said, a slight frown on her face. Castus shook his head, and tried to figure a way out. An unknowing fear and terror gripping his heart. Away, he had to get away. "Cadence, bring him here." Celestia said, as her horn began to glow. Cadence nodded and her horn glowed brighter as Casts felt a tug on his body. He felt stiff and unable to move. "No!" He screamed, and tried to struggle. "Castus, please understand." Cadence said, trying to calm him. Castus didn't listen, and he struggled now. Though his body couldn't move much, he still tried, "No! No, don't do this. Jack-boot bastards!" The humans around began screaming and yelling in surprise and agitation, though none approached. "Help! Help someone help!" Castus screamed, going into a hysteria now. He couldn't explain this fear, but he knew that he didn't want this to happen. He'd rather they kill him, then do what Celestia was about to do. "Please God no! Please God! Anything but this!" Castus screamed as he was brought to Celestia, and forced to his knees. "Celestia...is this the only way?" Cadence asked, looking to Celestia. Castus looked up at the monarch of the sun with fear filled eyes. "It is the only way. I promise it won't hurt." Celestia said, as she gently placed a hoof upon Castus' head. Castus tried to get away, but the captain's magic held him firm. Castus closed his eyes, and began to weep. Someone! Anyone! Help him! "Agh!" Celestia screamed as a rock struck her across the head. She staggered back, her horn fading as the magic left. "Princess!" The guards screamed and quickly one pulled her down as the others surrounded her to protect her. "There, that one!" One of the guards called, and two moved to tackle down a human. Castus managed to turn his head, with some effort, and saw that the guards were struggling to keep down the human male from before. The human struggled and growled, fighting against the guards. "Hold still you filthy beast!" One guard called, striking the human across the head. The human sagged for a moment, but lifted his head once more and yelled. "Noooooo!" The human yelled. It was garbled, and rough. But the word....was very clear. All around was a silence, gasps of shock and for Castus he felt the magic holding him go away all together. Cadence, he saw, stared no longer at him but at the human. "No! Nooooo! No!" The human roared, managing to get away from the stunned guards and began throwing rocks at the guards and the princesses. Castus also had to look at the human now in shock as well. But it was quickly forgotten as he heard Celestia speak. "Cadence! The barrier!" Celestia shouted. That's when Castus realized. The barrier was also gone. The barrier was gone! "Free!" Castus yelled, drawing deep into the Wind, reveling in the delicate crescendo. He jumped to his feet, weaving a strand of wind to push back everyone around him, and then again in a way he had never known of till now. Then right infront of him, seemed a shimmering hole in the world, on the other side a garden of some sort, with high hedges. Castus gasped as he felt the weight to keep open this portal, and he didn't waste time and rushed to the portal. Te strain of keeping it open finally being too much and he felt the power of the Wind leave his body as he leapt forward and passed through the portal just as it snapped closed. Castus landed with a thump and a groan as he felt himself laying upon fresh grass. He groaned and slowly got up on shakey legs. He staggered slightly, and his head felt like it was going to split open. But as he looked around, he knew that where he was...was where he needed to be. The hedges about created a wall of sort, but at the center of the little area sat a bench and a tree to offer shade. At the far corner was a pond, and at the center of the pond stood a statue. A statue of a man, his arm outstretched and hand open, as if to grab something. A statue....that looked a lot like Castus. Oh certainly a few features were off. The chin was more prominent and the cheeks more sharp and rugged. But....despite those few differences, Castus could see himself in the statue. Yet it was not fully him. 'I....so...what now?' Castus thought, breathing deep as he looked at the statue. He found it....but what did he do now? He felt sure he didn't have long before Celestia started a massive manhunt for him. He was sure that if he was caught now, exhausted and weak, barely able to stand, he would be captured and finally severed from the wind. 'Gah, what do the video game and book characters do in this situation?' He thought as he approached the statue; standing near the edge of the water. Discord Discord silently slithered up from the ground, positioning himself behind Castus as he contemplated the statue. Discord places a claw to his lips in a be silent gesture. Without a regret, Discord then shoved Castus forward before slithering to the ground and vanishing completely. Like in a book, a hero just needs a push in the right direction. Castus Castus didn't know what pushed him, but his arms swung wildly as he tried to catch himself from falling into the water. He wasn't a fan of getting wet needlessly. His hands shot out to grab the only solid object near him, the statue. Or...had the statue moved its hand to catch him? Castus couldn't really be sure as he looked up at the stone face, staring down at him, hand in his. In fact, he didn't have any time to think at all before his entire head was literally in such pain he thought it was going to explode. And then, his whole world went black. Castus groaned, placing a hand to his head. It felt like someone had taken a mallet to his skull. He slowly opened his eyes, and gasped at what he saw. It was him, or...no, it wasn't him. It was the man from the statue, but now instead of stone he wore flesh and blood. His robes were pristine and seemed to shimmer with every color imaginable, and yet always seemed to settle on the right color that best suited him. His bald head wore an array of tattoos, and he wore a number of rings and bracelets. In his hand he held a simple staff and he gazed down at Castus with a smile of relief. "At last. You have arrived. I worried, that I would not linger for much longer before you arrived." The man said. "I...where....who...." Castus said, looking around now. He was no longer in the garden, but....no where. Just an empty blackness that surrounded a simple stone platform. "You have questions, but we lack time." The man said, "But know I am a friend. Will you listen to what must be said?" The man said the last in a question, and a question that desired an answer. Castus blinked, slowly getting up. He nodded once, and the man smiled with a sigh of relief. "Good. Then listen well." The man said before beginning. "My name.....my name that I held in life is Karsus. Karsus the Great. High Magus of the Second Triumvirate. Lord of Underntide, Mago'rac and all of the Eastern Section of the Great Valhruan Empire. Bearer of the Staff of Argus, and hold of three of the Nine Great Monoliths of Power." The man said, as if Castus should know what that all meant. "Karsus?" The name felt....familiar to him. "Yes...and you....are Castus." Karsus said with a smile. Castus blinked, wondering how he knew, “Why....why am I here? Are you the voice I kept hearing?" Karsus smiled, and nodded, “Yes....and no." Castus blinked, "Uh...which one." "Yes....it was my voice you heard. But at the same time it was your voice." Karsus said. Castus blinked, confused, and Karsus laughed at his expression. "I will explain. Listen well, for this must be told." Karsus said. His tone serious now. Castus merely nodded, and listened. Karsus nodded, "Long ago....I was once a mighty and powerful magus of the Valhruan empire. The strongest mage ever to live since Malak the seventh. The last emperor of the empire in its founding years. During this time, the empire was at a tipping point. Civil war and internal strife had taken its toll upon the empire, and though I and my fellows had worked together to bring the empire under a stronger leadership, however, within our hearts, every one of us thought they alone were the best for the empire. And so we plotted, and often times fought with each other in our desires to hold complete power. It was in this desire, that I began to seek knowledge in the portents of the future." Karsus paused, but then continued, "In my studies, I wielded the Wind to reveal to me the future. Hoping I could use it to my advantage. And while I knew that what is seen, is not always what will be, I felt that any knowledge of possible outcomes would give me a great power to use. And...in a sense I was right. For.....in my workings, I foresaw the death of my people and the death of our great empire." "I foresaw a great cataclysm. The worlds were conflicting, as they do, and I saw that mine and several others in which the empire had colonized and grew great empires to further our grip of the cosmos, would collide, and in that would suffer terrible catastrophes that would spell our doom. And so....to avoid this terrible fate, and perhaps...in the desire to be herald a hero, I began working on a spell to prevent the cataclysm." "Long were the days I worked, knowing that each day passed brought us closer to the date of the catastrophe. I poured all my knowledge into my work, ignoring all politics and friends. Until, at last, on the eve of the cataclysm, I had at last accomplished my goal and devised a ritual I felt sure....so sure did I feel that it would prevent the cataclysm and also propel me to greater heights of power I could not have thought possible. How arrogant I was." Karsus spat the last words as if they were poison. Castus took a step back, feeling as if a great power was ready to burst forth in rage. But the feeling soon passed as Karsus looked at him with sad eyes, and continued. "On the eve of the cataclysm, a great comet flew over head, across all the empire. Before that, cattle had begun to die in the thousands and minor natural disaster had occurred in greater number. All portents leading up to the final death stroke of a great and powerful nation. And so, I began the ritual, using every prepared detail. I stood within the center of the circle, and began to weave the Wind into the desired effect....and I was successful." Karsus' eyes seem to glaze over, as if he was in excstacy remembering the ordeal now, "My ritual allowed me to breach the boundries between the worlds, as it had grown thin as the worlds doomed to suffer drew closer. With three of the most powerful Amplifiers and my rituals own workings, I became a living embodiment of the Wind itself, able to sense and feel the very world around me and all that occurred, and used the sheer power to place a barrier between the worlds so that they would remain where they were until the wild forces that pushed and pulled worlds returned to its normal course." "For a time, my spell was a success, and for a time I thought I had succeeded in my plans....so I thought. But, as time wore on, my heightened senses soon realized my folly. The force....the force that pulls and moves the worlds was to great. They were not merely wild energies, but forces of creation and destruction. Order and chaos. Light and dark. Life and death. It was all this and more, more then my mind could comprehend, and I was but a gnat in comparison to its power; and so it was that my barrier was crushed by the sheer built up force and the worlds forced upon each other in a greater strength then they would have otherwise. Worse yet because of the tear I had made in the boundary of my world, some of that destructive force...poured into the world and wrought its terrible destruction even further upon an already injured world." Karsus seemed to shiver, "I...It was....horrible. All across the world, matter and creation were warped and changed, or simply obliterated. The force of energy that had leaked into this world was both chaos and order. Destruction and Creation. The very essence that all worlds are born in and die, and I had allowed that chaotic energy to leak into our world where if I had not acted, would have passed over. In my hopes to be a hero, I had allowed my world to face an even greater disaster....and perhaps even its own death. Even the Wind, suffered for my arrogance, as the energies now became wild and nearly impossible to hold, and due to this instability all the magical wards across the empire began to fail....the worse were the workings meant to keep our floating cities in the sky. Now....now they began to plummet toward the earth below." "Despite the wild nature now of the Wind, I managed to keep my hold upon its power. A being who felt more alive, even as everything around him died. I had to do something, and so, using the last reserves of will and strength, I sealed shut the tear I had made in the fabric of the world, severing the wild energies that tore across my world from their source. It seemed to weaken them, yet I knew I could not stop the force that still moved across the world, changing and destroying all it crossed. But it was all I could do, as the burden of channeling the wild energies of the Wind now tore my body from within. I was dying, just as all I loved was dying. I had failed." Karsus seemed to sag, hands shaking as his staff fell from his hands and he covered his face with his hands and sobbed, "But worse.....worse was the last portent I was given. A portent given by the Wind itself I feel. The world...the world would live, and this brought me some peace...but....but my people....the Valhrua....our descendents...would be forever cursed. Cursed to be animals! Cursed to be beasts! And it was by my own foolishness I could see, for allowing that chaotic energies to come into our world! I had cursed my own people to a fate worse then death!" Karsus wailed, and the great blackness around them seemed to echo this wail. A wail of a millinum of pain and anguish. Of torture unimaginable within ones heart. Karsus sobbed, but sighed at once and looked to Castus with tear stained eyes. "I...I knew that there was nothing I could do in those moments, as my life faded from me. Yet, I could not allow myself to die knowing this awful fate, and so.....I attempted one final weaving. My only hope I felt at redemption. I wove a spell, that turned by body into unbreakable stone. And within that stone I placed a memory. This memory....a memory to wait....to wait should any of Valhruan descent emerge, untouched by the great darkness that would cloud my peoples mind. And should that being arrive, to give it all my knowledge in the hopes that they could fix the mistakes I had done. Fix the sin I had committed." Castus gasped, as he took everything in. "So..." Castus began, "So...the voice....the memories.....they were you." Karsus nodded, "Yes.....though your skill and power with the Wind are your own.....my final spell sent you memories and my voice. Hoping to bring you here....hoping that you would come and gain the full offering. And now...." Karsus extended a hand, palm open, "And now....you are here." Castus stood transfixed on that offered hand, "But..I...I still don't." "I know....it is not much. There is much confusion. But this was all I could do in my final moments. Now....young man....will you accept this offering?" Karsus said, and waited for Castus to take his hand. Castus blinked, looking at the hand. He stood there, silent, trying to think. This...this was all so much to hear, and he was still so confused. But....but the dreams. The memories.....was this not what he had come for....this...this Karsus' memories? 'Well....I did want answers.' Castus thought. And so, he extended his hand forward, taking Karsus hand in his own. And in that one moment, all the memories and knowledge of the spirit before he came flooding to his mind. At last....he finally understood. Everything. "Thank you." Karsus said with a smile, as his form faded away, and Castus was now surrounded by blackness.