The Unbinding

by awesomesauce4

Chapter 8: Destruction

Isaac woke up with a panicked gasp, flinching from a punch that would never come. He looked around, confused for a moment by the bright sunlight streaming in through the window of his room in Princess Cadance’s castle. Of course, he didn’t have long to reflect on the oddity of his dreams, as right at that moment a Royal Guard decided to run by, screaming at the top of his lungs. Alarmed, Isaac stepped outside to get a look at what was going on.

He had just made it out the door when a massive explosion rocked the castle, and more panicked screaming was heard to his left. Naturally, Isaac decided to head that way, only stopping when something clinked against his foot. Isaac looked down to find the item Samson had given him in his dream. The Mind was there, the white-and-yellow triquetra gently pulsing and flickering as he picked it up. Once he had woken up enough to realize what it was, Isaac was floored. This was one of the four most important items in the Basement – with this, he could know everything. Why had Samson given it to him? Gulping, Isaac decided to put the artifact to use, and raised it above his head.

Immediately, he knew what was going on, and sighed with discomfort as his brain expanded far past the capacity of his skull. Isaac knew what he had to do next, and charged down the corridor.

He arrived upon Princess Cadance’s throne room to find Cadance and Shining duking it out with a formless black mist, exactly as he expected. Clearly, King Sombra had returned, and was currently being possessed and aided by none other than Wrath – that would be the logical explanation for the explosions currently taking place all around him. Without so much as a grimace, Isaac neatly stepped out of the blast range of the nearest one, hopping onto a chunk of rock that propelled him into the air and across the room. With a grunt of pain, he landed – he might know everything, but he couldn’t quite do everything. That done, he held out a hand, and the Bible materialized in it. Isaac gave it a small smile, glad it was still following him around, though he didn’t quite know how. Flipping it open, he selected Proverbs 29:11, and turned to face the hybrid of Wrath and Sombra, clearing his throat loudly.

Everyone in the room turned to face him, somewhat surprised by his appearance amidst the dust and explosions. “A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control,” Isaac announced, and leaped forward. King Sombra was too stunned to react, and this was all Isaac needed. He reached up and grabbed Sombra’s horn, snapping it off with a precisely calculated flick of his wrist. Sombra screamed in agony, and Isaac leaped backward, landing among Princess Cadance and Shining Armor. Sombra had since recovered, and was now conjuring bombs in every which direction, which Isaac deftly avoided – calculating their trajectory was child’s play. Speaking of which… Isaac grabbed hold of a nearby decoration – some sort of bowl or something. The Mind whispered in his ear that it was in fact an oddly shaped trophy awarded to Shining Armor in his teenage years for magical dueling, and Isaac vaguely paid attention with a fraction of his mental capacity.

A bomb came towards him, just as he had guessed, and he held up the trophy at a very precise angle. The bomb slid along the rim, and went on its merry way – right back towards Sombra, who promptly screamed as the explosive detonated right in his face. The shadow king stumbled backward, and Isaac promptly pirouetted forward, slamming the trophy down on Sombra’s face with an impressive gong sound. Dazed, the king stumbled around in a circle before falling down, trophy still comically stuck on his face. Now, for the coup de grace, Isaac thought as he stepped in front of the battered ex-king. Without hesitation, he delivered a barrage of holy tears, the screams of Sombra and Wrath slowly fading away as the fusion finally expired. It vanished in a small explosion of its own, leaving behind a familiar large bomb with a smiling face on it as Isaac’s prize. Curiously, Isaac picked up Mr. Boom, the Bible vanishing as he did so. Inspecting it, he found that it was much the same as he remembered, and promptly stowed it in the dimensional void he used to house Active Items.

Isaac walked back to Shining Armor and Princess Cadance, who were gazing at him in openmouthed shock.

“Wha-“ Shining Armor began, but Isaac silenced him with a look.

“Felt angry that you didn’t get revenge on the changelings?” he asked, and Shining hesitantly nodded. “Went to check on Sombra’s horn, knowing full well that it responded to thoughts of wrath and anger, not to mention that Wrath had not appeared yet?” he asked, and Shining nodded again, head bowed in shame. “Not to worry,” Isaac declared, surprising Shining Armor. “You were possessed by Wrath around the same time Chrysalis was attacked by Lust – it was, in fact, a joint effort. You were not entirely at fault.” Still too shocked to speak, Shining merely nodded. “Now,” Isaac continued, “I will not be utilizing this magical artifact for much longer. Knowing everything, after all, is a bore. What I will do is erase all memory of having known everything from myself once I stop using it, just as I have done before. I will not, in fact, be aware that I have used the Mind at all, and I would appreciate it if you didn’t contradict my future self on the matter, as it will only lead to general confusion.”

Now that he had finished lecturing, Isaac concentrated, his head glowing yellow with power. A moment later, it shrunk and deformed back to its normal shape, and Isaac looked around in confusion, the white-and-yellow triquetra appearing once more in his hands. For a moment, all was silent. Then, Shining pitched over, fainting as Princess Cadance caught him in her hooves.

“Is he okay?” Isaac asked, looking around. How had he gotten here? He remembered waking up, and not much afterward. It looked like the throne room had been turned into a miniature warzone – scorch marks and broken decorations were everywhere.

“He… he’ll be fine…” Cadance answered slowly, before seeming to come to. “Guards! Escort Prince-Consort Shining Armor to the infirmary at once,” she ordered, before turning to Isaac with a shaky smile. “So… do you remember anything about this?” she asked. Isaac slowly shook his head, alarmed.

“No, should I?” he answered. A thought occurred to him, and he stiffened as he looked up at the bubblegum alicorn. “Princess Cadance… did I do this?” he quietly asked, and Cadance looked at him in surprise.

“N-No, of course not! You didn’t do any of this – in fact…” she trailed off. Isaac stared at her curiously, but she didn’t elaborate. He decided to let it go: If he hadn’t done anything, and nobody was permanently hurt, he didn’t think he should get too concerned about it.

Meanwhile, Princess Cadance was staring down at the object in his hand, still flickering with yellow light – though, more feebly than it had a few minutes ago. “What is that?” she asked, and Isaac looked down in surprise. Giving a squeak of shock, he clutched it close to his chest.

“T-that’s the Mind, it’s… it’s a really powerful magical artifact!” he answered. He’d quite forgotten he’d had it, along with how he had gotten into the throne room in the first place. To his surprise, Princess Cadance merely nodded, and cantered off after her husband.

---

A few hours later, she returned to find Isaac in his room, once again drawing with the pencil and paper he had been given at the onset of the trip.

“Time to go, Isaac,” she gently reminded him.

Isaac glanced up at the clock, did a double take, and quickly rushed to pack all his things in time. Princess Cadance giggled as she used her magic to help him along, and after a moment, he was ready to go. The two of them walked down to the train station, Isaac enjoying the small breeze the pegasi had conjured up. “So, apart from this morning, how was your visit?” Cadance asked.

Isaac chuckled. “It was absolutely wonderful, I can’t wait to return,” he answered.

For some reason, Cadance seemed displeased by this answer, but her smile only flinched for a millisecond before returning, albeit looking somewhat forced. “Well, I can’t keep you from your mother for too long – give her my regards!” Princess Cadance replied, practically shooing him into the train along with a guard.

---

Almost as soon as Isaac stepped off the train, Princess Luna was there to greet him, her expression one of half concern and half relief. “Isaac! It is good to see you – how was the Crystal Kingdom?” Luna asked, as they started walking back to her castle.

Isaac smiled up at her. “Well, I had to deal with two more Sins, but apart from that it was great,” he joyfully answered.

Luna frowned a bit at the mention of the Sins, but made no comment. “So, Princess Cadance sent word that you have acquired a few new items,” she informed Isaac, who nodded.

“I got Mr. Boom from Wrath - it's like a really strong bomb. Not too useful of an item, though," Isaac trailed off.

Luna nodded. "Anything else?" she asked, and Isaac nodded, pulling out The Mind. "This," he answered.

Luna's mouth fell open. "Is that... The Mind?" she asked, examining the triquetra. Isaac hesitantly nodded.

"How do you know about it?" he asked, and Luna shifted nervously.

"That is... a very powerful item, Isaac, known to us only by ancient lore. It is said that those who possess it... know everything," Luna whispered. She'd dreamed of finding The Mind, of owning one of the most powerful magical items in existence, but now that it was actually here... "Perhaps I should take it... for safekeeping," Luna asked, and Isaac hesitantly handed over the artifact. Luna lit up her horn, and a second later it was teleported away, though Isaac knew not where. "Now that that is done, we have a surprise for thee as well," Luna announced, and Isaac curiously raised an eyebrow.

Inside the throne room was none other than Samson, looking as irritated as ever. Princess Celestia was watching him from her throne, frowning as he angrily bent a recently cleaned trophy in half over and over. “It’s about goddamn time you showed up!” he shouted as he noticed Isaac, tossing the now-broken trophy aside. Isaac cringed, and Samson grinned. “Yeah, yeah. So, how’d the Mind work out?” Samson asked, and Isaac looked at him in confusion.

“I haven’t used it yet,” he answered.

Samson narrowed his eyes at him, muttering something that sounded like “Bullshit” under his breath.

A guard trotted over and whispered something into Princess Celestia’s ear, and her expression cleared. “Samson, I have just been informed that the guards are ready to commence dueling for the day. Would you like to watch?” she asked, and Samson’s expression brightened.

“Hell yes! Where’s the fighting at?” he gleefully asked, and Celestia motioned to the guard next to her, who paled.

“He shall escort you,” Princess Celestia answered, and Samson followed the guard out of the throne room, a dark smile on his face.

Breathing a sigh of relief once he was out of earshot, Princess Celestia walked over to Isaac. “Who is that?” she asked him.

“That’s Samson, one of my… alternate personalities, I guess. He’s a Biblical hero who got his power from his hair, and was really aggressive – he was known to beat up entire armies,” Isaac explained.

Princess Celestia nodded. “He’s certainly rather… destructive,” she commented, opening a nearby door to reveal a variety of broken crowns, trinkets and jewelry – clearly Samson had been here for a while.

“Um…” Isaac weakly replied, feeling as though he should say sorry - technically, Samson was a part of him. Or had been.

“No need for apologies,” Celestia cut across, picking up on his expression. “I daresay I have far too much treasure already.” Luna gave a short chuckle at that.

A few minutes later, Isaac was back in his room, writing. He was making a checklist of every Sin he had faced so far – Pride, Envy, Lust, and Wrath. Greed was still at large, and Sloth and Gluttony had not yet shown up. Items he had obtained were the Bible, the Mind, and Anarchist’s Cookbook – two of which were not with him at present. Isaac wasn’t sure what was up with the Bible – it seemed to follow him around, appearing only when he needed it. He occasionally heard Samson shouting something outside, but paid no attention after the first few times – Samson was probably just mildly irritated about something.

---

“Sister?” Luna called, trotting into the gardens. She had woken up early to escort Isaac home, and she was now feeling a bit out of sorts – but she had more pressing matters on her mind.

“Over here, Luna,” Celestia called, somewhere within the maze of grass hedges. Extending her wings, Luna flew up over the maze, spotting her sister sitting in front of a statue. “Is something wrong? You look tired, Lulu,” Celestia queried, with a concerned look at her sister.

“Nay, sister. This is just from coming to get Isaac. But we have a question – no, a concern,” she began. Celestia looked at her expectantly, and Luna took a breath before continuing. “This ‘Mind’ artifact… this is far beyond what any unicorn should be able to handle in terms of magic, let alone a human. Humans, after all, cannot wield magic whatsoever, yes?”

Celestia nodded. “So you’re suggesting Isaac is not human,” Celestia concluded, and Luna worriedly nodded, taking a seat by her sister.

“But then, what is he? He acts just like a human would… though a fair bit older than his biology would suggest,” Luna pondered aloud.

Celestia snorted. “We have discussed this before, as I’m sure you remember, Lulu. No new evidence has come to light to make me doubt my conclusion.”

Luna frowned at her sister. “And yet, I still object! How could such a sweet, kind child possibly be-“ she was cut off by a hoof to her lips.

“Hush, sister,” Celestia stated, looking at the far exit to the hedged ‘room’ they were in. Two Canterlot nobles had just trotted in, laughing and talking about something animatedly. They stopped and bowed when they saw the Princesses, who merely smiled and nodded back. As they left, Celestia looked back at Luna. “Perhaps now is not a good time. Could we talk later?” she asked, and Luna reluctantly nodded.

“I will prove thee wrong, sister,” she called after Celestia as the latter departed.

“Whatever it takes,” the lunar princess added under her breath.

---

“GOD FUCKING DAMMIT I’M GOING TO SNAP YOUR SPINE IN HALF!” Samson screamed, somewhere off in the distance. Isaac was jolted out of his reverie, and cautiously looked out the window. Seeing Samson merely continuing to duel with the Day Guards, who were by now exhausted and brutally beaten, he sighed and closed the window. Having a brother would clearly take some getting used to… even if that brother had technically been a part of him once.

A distinctly equine scream of pain was heard a few seconds later, and Isaac winced. He really hoped that whatever Samson was doing, it wasn’t too horrendous. None of the guards looked critically injured, at any rate, only beaten and bloody. Isaac returned to his drawings, determined to finish what he had started. Princess Celestia had asked him to draw up all the other versions of himself he knew of, as Samson had stated that ‘more would be arriving shortly’. In addition, he had apparently shown up with none other than the Chest that they had escaped from, carrying the wood-and-metal contraption as though it weighed no more than a matchstick.

Isaac had also decided to include what he could remember of their personalities, which he had mostly based on their various Biblical counterparts. “Let’s see,” he muttered under his breath. “Cain, Judas, Samson, Eve, Maggy, Azazel, Lazarus, Eden and the Lost…” he stopped, rechecking the list silently. Isaac had the oddest feeling that he was missing someone, but couldn’t think for the life of him who it could be. He knew he had intentionally left one out, but according to Samson that one was not even to be mentioned, let alone written about. Isaac grumbled under his breath, unnerved by this feeling of forgetting something. In order to distract himself, he crossed the room to his bed, and opened a study book Luna had given him. And for the next few hours, Isaac was lost in formulas and notes.

Comments

[Lord Shaxx]

Knowledge is power, kids!

img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140125111233/dont-starve-game/images/archive/d/d9/20140125111459!Science_Machine.gif

Never stop learning!

[Lord Shaxx]

Rated Teen, because somebody can't keep it polite.

Did you just add this? It's because of Samson, isn't it. XD

[Gyvon]

Wait a tic...

Wrath doesnt drop the cookbook. That's Pride

[Bryce98]

Hey, are you gonna add anything from Afterbirth that's been announced so far?

Like Lilith or the Wrapman?

Continuum + Brimstone combination is likely to crash one's game if they synergize, what with Brimstone's infinite range and Continuum's screen-loop effect.

[awesomesauce4]

Updated this chapter to include some things. Nothing large, mind you.

[Race9000]

6083656 Two things, 1. He had the Flaming Basement from Afterbirth, and 2. Edmund probably made an exception with Continuum and Beam weapons like Tech and Brimstone so that it doesn't screen wrap and crash the game.

[Mega Maniac]

I feel like I should know who this last character is but I don't.

[verypeeved]

7055231 no shit, Sherlock.

[Brianna484]

Yiss, dis was guud, samson my god calm the f down take a chill pill

??? O
/|\. Potential danger?
/\
WARNING
Keep in box at
!!!ALL TIMES!!!

[Lithl]

6877170
"???"/Blue Baby would be most likely. There's also Lilith and Keeper from Afterbirth, but Blue Baby is the only Rebirth character not listed.

[Alchemo Arrow]

6104164 How does Isaac have the Anarchist's Cookbook? Wrath dropped Mr. Boom not the Cookbook.