//------------------------------// // Kave Diluvii // Story: Binding of Isaac: Beyond // by IAmNotSmartest //------------------------------// *Shining Armor was awoken by a nudge to his side, and a vaguely irritated, low voice talking to him. He could feel cold water swirling around him, and rough stone beneath him. The stallion was drenched on his entire left side. “Hey, get up.” Shining felt a harder shove, then a kick. “Move it, dammit, before I leave you here.” The unicorn groaned, and rose to his haunches, unsteady, head swimming. Water dripped off his mane and stained his attire. The darkness made it difficult to see, but he looked over at his reluctant alarm, and was befuddled by what he saw. “Isaac…?” “Look again.” the child replied, stepping forward with a small splash. Before him stood a human child, yes, but far different than the one he knew. He was taller, leaner, with one eye covered by a black patch. After a moment, he noticed these distinctions- along with a single, black-metal wire hanger impaled through his entire head. By Celestia, what had happened to him? Shining rose up, quickly checking Isaac’s head for further trauma. The boy shoved him off, looking more annoyed than afraid. But Shining did confirm one thing. That wasn’t Isaac. And that hanger really did go right through his head. “Are you-” “Fine,” the child replied tersely. He jammed a thumb towards the door behind him. “Head back two rooms and to the left, go wait with the others.” Shining, affronted by his standoffish attitude, shook his head. “Where are we? And who-” “Flooded Caves, and I’m Cain. Not Isaac.” the child replied, already shoving past Shining to the door at the far end. “Go wait with the others.” “Listen-” the unicorn protested, growing frustrated with ‘Cain’. “I’d rather not.” That’s it. Shining threw up a magic barrier in front of Cain, blocking the door. “You’re going to do some explaining right now-” “Or you won’t let me continue, I get it.” Cain rolled his one eye. “Stop-” “Interrupting you?” he raised a brow. Shining stepped up close. “Yes. That. You’ll be quiet while I ask the questions, okay?” Cain, smirking, zipped his lips mockingly, and nodded. Splashes sounded off in a room not too far, one set in a rhythmic duo, and the other in a skittish quartet. A child led a pony through the shadowy drenched cavern, by the light of an azure candle. “H-how do you even know where we’re going?” The colt asked him nervously. The child thought about giving him a smile, but it seemed like the wrong response. “A friend told me.” He replied in what he thought was a reassuring tone. If… if I can really call him that. Isaac turned looked over his shoulder at the foal. The shivering, soaking pony was glancing around anxiously, as if he were afraid the walls themselves would hurt him. Isaac knew how he felt. The looming darkness gave way to paranoia as time passed, shadows moving in the corner of his eyes. Briefly, he had the fleeting thought that the colt could be like him. But… it’s the place. What’s happening now is why he’s… He’s just afraid. But at least he understood that. And at the very least he could at least get him to relative safety. He thought back to what he felt was ages ago, though it had only been perhaps an hour. Rare was the occasion where two children’s paths crossed. And rarer was the times where they helped each other so. And Isaac honestly had never thought he’d see them again. “Isaac?” he heard a voice call him among a heavy rain. The child had jolted awake, coughing up a fair amount of filthy water. “Damn. It really is you.” If Cain had been surprised to see Isaac, it was nothing to how Isaac felt about seeing Cain. Between wet gasps for air, he managed, “Cain? Y-you’re here?” Cain had picked Isaac up by the shoulders, and embraced him quickly. Just enough to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. Not long enough for Isaac to register it. He released him and stepped back, giving him a cursory look over with his working eye. “I should be asking you the same. Where have you been?” Isaac nervously replied, “I got out.” Cain rolled his eye. “Yeah, I got that much. But where did you go?” He didn’t know where to begin. “Uh… outside. It’s not the same as before. There’s no people. It’s all… colorful. Really magic.” Cain scoffed, and pointed up with one hand. “Up there, then?” Isaac looked up. He could see the clouds roiling above, and had to wipe the rain from his face. A massive hole had swallowed up the school, and much of the area around it. Isaac couldn’t see any rubble, or any sign of it’s existence. Just the gaping void open to the storm above. More importantly, he didn’t see any of the ponies that fell with him. “C-Cain!” Isaac turned to him rapidly, in a panic. “W-we have to find them!” “Find who?” Cain inquired, one brow raised. Isaac gave an exasperated breath. “Th-the ponies that fell down! The school collapsed!” Cain gave Isaac a skeptical glance, crossing his arms. “And you want to go back in the caves and find them, instead of getting yourself out.” Isaac paused. I… no. The smaller child nodded vigorously. I can’t leave them here. Cain threw his hands up, but smiled. “Good on you then. I’ve cleared out the rooms behind me, you check those again. Then take the left, I’ll head to the right.” He stepped up to Isaac, and pushed a glowing blue light into his dripping hands. It dried him from the chest outward. “You’ll need the candle. Darker than usual this time around.” Isaac, stunned by the sudden generosity, nodded silently. “Bring them back here, seems like the best extraction point,” Cain paused, looking over his shoulder at Isaac. His gaze softened, quickly darting away from Isaac’s own, then back to him with legitimate concern. “Isaac… be safe, okay? We need to talk soon.” Cain ran past Isaac to the next room. Isaac had just enough time to say “Thank you” before the door shut behind the older child. Isaac shielded his eyes as a door gave way to the dull light of the rainstorm outside. Before the child could say anything to the colt, he found himself shoved aside as the foal ran past him, almost wailing with relief. Isaac did not blame the colt, but he was more than a little upset over the push. “Run!” He heard someone call from ahead. The student he’d just escorted was waving frantically for him to follow. Isaac paused, in spite of himself.  Perhaps the colt had not run to the room, but from this one. He turned around slowly, prepared for the worst. It was simply a nerve ending. A single tendril, poking up through the ground. Harmless. “It’s okay,” Isaac called back, unused to utilizing a tone so loud. He’s safe. I’m safe. The tendril stopped dead. It eerily bent over, towards Isaac, who’d already moved to be between the colt and the enemy. It… it never moves. It never does this. “Move away,” Isaac said lowly to the student, on guard. Before the pony took a single step, the nerve ending shot forward, at Isaac- and over his shoulder. The human could just turn quickly enough to catch a glimpse of the colt being whipped past him and pulled into the water, and down with the nerve ending. Isaac was thrashed down into the water, the candle thrown aside. He quickly staggered up, searching the area for any sign of the colt. The child fell to his knees at the place he’d been pulled under. No no no no no no. He heard hoofsteps at the door. “Was that Quartz Watch?” someone said. “What happened?” Asked another. “Where’d he go?” “I… I don’t…” Isaac could feel his heart sinking, as if it too had been pulled under. His eyes were wide, and tearing without his consent, staring at the disturbed soil beneath the murky water. The colt was gone. And Isaac hadn’t been able to do anything. I... failed him. This is my fault, and I can’t even rescue them from my own mistake. I don’t even know where he is. If he’s alive. He was crying in silence. They’d think he killed him. They’d rather blame him, an alien to them, over his death. And I… I deserve- “Are you okay?” someone asked. The child looked around, hiding his eyes with the cloak’s hood. One of the fillies had walked over, about to touch him on the back to find for herself. Isaac scrambled to his feet, discretely wiping away his tears and flipping back the hood. He was just a bit shorter than most of the schoolchildren. “I-I’m fine. I can’t find… Quartz.” He swallowed the lump in his throat, hoping it hadn’t shown in his voice. Isaac recognized the teacher, who asked, worried, “Did he go back in?” Isaac shook his head. Then he cursed himself. What could I tell them? I don’t know what happened. But if I tell them… they could panic. I would. The thought of being dragged into the ground without a warning… “I… he…” At the back of the room, something stirred in the shadows. “Get out!” The few ponies outside the doorway scrambled away. The shadow lashed at them with an air-cracking whip, missing narrowly, and returning to its upright position. Isaac slaughtered it with a flurry of his tears, the viscera that composed it splattering the wall of the cave. They all stared at either the stain of gore, or him as he stood panting, tears freely flowing down his face. Until he noticed, his face was set rigid, fierce, protective…  but when he saw their shock, it quickly faded. Everyone was silent for a moment. Hesitantly, the teacher stepped forward. “Are you really alright?” Isaac was silent. He looked over where Quartz had been taken. If they could see that… I have to tell them. The human spoke quietly so his voice would not break. “He got taken. I saw it.” “What?” She asked. The other students started to whisper to each other. He refused to look at them. They didn’t need to see him cry more. “Quartz. One of those... one of the monsters pulled him under. I don’t know where.” The teacher started to move toward him. He moved away. Please… just don’t. If there’s anything I don’t want, it’s condolences that he deserved. The floor between them erupted with an ear-piercing roar, showering them all in debris and rainwater. The doorway was destroyed, opening the entire wall to the light outside. Isaac was first to recover. The students and teacher were behind the monstrosity that had divided them. It was the posthumous facsimile of a child long abandoned. The malformed beast of many heads. The bleeding bones of a flesh-borne failure. The Stain had arrived, water and blood running down the tissue of it’s body, the conjoined skulls shining with both. He could almost feel the unsettling sensation of it’s blood pulsing under the thin layer of gore. Isaac could see several tendrils had been severed, and bled severely. There were still two remaining. One was holding the still form Quartz Watch in it’s grip. The other held Cain’s limp body.