• Published 8th Jul 2015
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A Displaced Machine - Prince_Zodiac



Gale was always fascinated by the stories that were told of people disappearing at conventions and of them supposedly going to new worlds. However, he never thought he would join the massive number of people that had disappeared.

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Chapter Ten: The Soul Cairn


Chapter Ten: The Soul Cairn


{Twilight’s POV}

Alduin was dead.

There was no way around it. The Dovahkiin had ripped his soul out, leaving nothing but the corpse. It had been a day since it had happened. Gale had shut himself in the basement, doing Celestia knows what. The twins hadn’t stopped crying, and Epidemic hadn’t shown himself since. My friends were sad, saying that he was a good teacher. As for me? I couldn’t take it. I too, had not been able to stop crying. We hadn’t buried Alduin yet, we were still deciding where. How was I supposed to tell everypony back home about this? Currently I was sitting by Alduin’s bed, where we had laid his body.

“Why?” I asked to myself. “Why did this have to happen? Why did you have to leave me? To leave us?” I broke down crying again. I just couldn’t understand. Why had this happened? Why would the Dovahkiin do this? I cried, and cried, till I cried myself to sleep.

{Gale’s POV}

“DAMNIT!!!” I slammed fists on the table. “I JUST FUCKING GOT HIM BACK! WHY THE HELL DID HE HAVE TO FUCKING DIE?!” I had tears in my eyes. I hadn’t seen my brother in a thousand years. Finally, I manage to find him, only for him to die a few days later. It was the fucking Dovahkiin’s fault! I was going to find that asshole, and once I did I would rip out his heart and crush it before his very eyes! This wasn’t fair!

“I’m sorry.” I turned, and saw Marx.

“Marx?”

“I had no idea the Dovahkiin would go to such lengths to get his revenge. If only Alduin had the time to remember what that shout did, he may still be alive. At least he died trying to protect those he loved.”

“Why are you here?”

“To tell you that there is hope.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I may be able to bring Alduin back.”

“R-Really?” I couldn’t believe my ears. “Well then do it!”

“It’s not that simple.”

“What do you mean?”

“If I want to bring Alduin back, I need his soul, his entire soul, and 90% of it is inside of the Dovahkiin.”

“Huh?”

“Look, Alduin’s Soul isn’t a 100% dragon soul. 10% of it is human, and for that reason I may be able to bring him back. You see, if Alduin’s soul was 100% dragon, then it would have been used to teach the Dovahkiin a new shout. However, nothing new has entered the Dovahkiin’s arsenal. That can only mean that the 90% of Alduin’s soul that the Dovahkiin has is still there. The other 10%, is still with Alduin.”

“It is?”

“Yes. Little sucker refuses to leave its body. Because of this, I can revive Alduin, but I need that missing 90%.”

“How do we get it?”

“You, as well as the Dovahkiin, need to go to the soul Cairn.”

“Why?”

“So I can grab the rest of Alduin’s soul.”

“Can’t you just take it now?”

“No, I can’t.”

“Why?”

“Simple: souls aren’t my specialty. You see, a displacer is not only someone that creates displaced, we also have the power to nearly do anything. However, that power is limited, which is the reason why there are different displacers. For example, while I can do a lot of things, many of the things I can do are limited. I specialize in portals and magic itself. Now, while I can mess with time to a certain extent, for example sending you two back in time by two days, I can’t control it. I can only send you two back to that extent, and I can’t send you forward. My control over time is limited. For a displacer like Lee’s, whose name is Time Spinner, control over time is easy because that is what they specialize in.”

“Oh, I think I get it. So, you can’t grab Alduin’s soul because that’s not what you specialize in.”

“Exactly.”

“But then, how would going to the Soul Cairn help?”

“Well, the Soul Cairn is a place that provides a loophole to that specialization thing. You see, in the Soul Cairn, souls work differently. Their anatomy, their physical behaviour becomes different, more accessible, allowing someone like me to freely grab a soul and move it from one body to another. If both the Dovahkiin and Alduin’s body is present in the Soul Cairn, I can get the two pieces of Alduin’s soul together and revive him.”

“Alright, how do I get there?”

“Whoa whoa whoa, hold on. You’re going to need some help.” Suddenly, a black diamond that was a little smaller than a baseball appeared in Marx’s hand. He tossed it me, and I got it. I then heard a message.

I am the protector of the innocent, warrior of the weak, call upon me for assistance and I shall come. Call for the Gravity Shifter and I will make those who harm others beg for mercy as they are crushed at my feet. Hold this gem close to thine heart and I shall be at your side as a fellow warrior!

“Another displaced?” Marx nodded.

“She can help you. Besides, I think the twins would enjoy meeting another member of the family.”

“What?”

Marx chuckled and snapped his fingers. A portal opened, and a woman, who I could assume was the displaced of this gem, landed on the ground. Her long, golden-blonde hair hung on her shoulders and extended down her back. Her sleek black jacket and simple grey t-shirt gave her a darker appearance, while the khakis defined a more light hearted side as well. But the black, short-cropped combat boots absolutely screamed that she was a fighter. She looked at me with fierce red eyes, yet a warm smile.

“Hello there, you called?” she asked with a beautiful voice.

{Third POV}

“Marx, I don’t see how she’s related to the twins.” The displaced turned around and saw Marx. He nodded to her, then proceeded to answer Gale’s question.

“Well, she’s not, but Cancer is.”

A strange sound uttered from the girl’s jacket, the red bands on her arms shivering a bit. “You know about my symbiote?” she asked before smiling again. “Heh, look at that. Maybe I am getting a bit famous.” Marx shrugged.

“I wouldn’t know. It’s just my business to know who Alduin’s family is related to. He is my displaced after all.”

She groaned a bit. “A Displacer? Really? I don’t have time to deal with you people again. Look, it’s not my fault the Merchant got away, so stop bothering me with all these questions about him.”

“What? No no no. I completely understand that. I just summoned you here so you could help Gale. Besides, I could care less about what I know about him. The less I know, the easier it is to hate him.”

She sighed. “Good, now what’s going on? I’ll need a full briefing if I’m gonna be able to help at all.”

“Well, Gale kind of has a huge problem here. You see, his brother, Alduin, got his soul stolen by the Dovahkiin, and now he’s dead. I never meant for this to happen, so I’m offering to revive him. But, there is a slight problem with that. I can only steal Alduin’s soul back if both his body and the Dovahkiin are in the Soul Cairn, a place where souls become easy to access. I can’t grab it right away though. The Dovahkiin needs to be weakened first. Now, normally I would just send Gale along with the twins, who are Alduin’s kids by the way and are also Cancer’s cousin, but I’m afraid Infestation, a changeling queen the Dovahkiin has teamed up with, will follow him in. She’s pretty powerful, so I decided that Gale and the twins would need some help.”

The woman chuckled, almost evilly. “Powerful, you say? We’ll see about that. I’ve yet to find someone worth fighting, discounting Beerus of course.”

“Yes, she’s incredibly powerful. For one, she opened a portal from Equestria to here, the human world. That alone takes a lot of magical energy. She also has the power to give the Dovahkiin a four worded shout, something that should be impossible. Not even a displacer like the Merchant or any other that I know of can do that.”

“Doesn’t sound like too big of a problem. I’ve taken down foes much stronger and without my powers.” The woman suddenly giggled. “Oops, I forgot to introduce myself. The name’s Kat. Kat Shifter, the Gravity Queen.”

“Mine’s Gale.” Gale put out his hand and Kat shook it. “Back in Equestria, I’m supposed to be Mecha Sonic. By the way, who’s this ‘Cancer’ Marx was talking about?”

“Her,” Kat pointed to her shoulder as a glob of red good slithered into view. It made a few garbled noises, reminiscent of a certain Adam’s Family member. “She doesn’t really speak much, but I always know what she’s saying.” Suddenly, everyone in the basement could hear the rush of foot-steps. The basement door flew open, and the twins Plague and Amnesia came running down the stairs.

I sensed another us!

But where is she? And who’s that?

“Oh, more symbiotes. Lovely.” The way she said it definitely didn’t sound like she thought it was lovely. “My name is Kat, and you’re probably sensing Cancer here.” The goop gurgled again, shuddering a ‘hello’, presumably.

Aw, she’s so cute.

How come she’s so small?

“Well, she’s more of an ‘Assist’ symbiote, I guess you could say.” Cancer engulfed Kat’s entire right arm, morphing it into a massive blade. “Like that! She’s also got some great healing powers, too.”

Well that makes no sense.

“I also don’t fight as much as I used to,” Kat admitted with a blush. “I’ve been trying to settle down a lot lately, so I’ve been more of a housewife, without actually being a wife.”

Wait, was Cancer made as one symbiote, or did she used to be part of another symbiote?

“Lee was nice enough to make Cancer for me, using that sacrificial magic of his and personalized her to me so we could fit well together.” The symbiote shuddered happily, giving Kat a warm smile. “Love you too, little one.”

Wait, Uncle Lee made her? COOL! That makes us cousins!

Uncle Lee made us too. But I guess it makes sense that she’s small if she’s personalized to be small. What I don’t understand is that, if she’s just one symbiote, and she’s that small, how’d we come to be? I mean, we were just one symboite when Uncle Lee made us, but then we split into two and became, well us.

“Don’t look at me, kid. I’m still learning physics and I’ve never been the best at biology.”

“My best guess is Alduin’s aura made that happen. But we can discuss this more later, for now I need to get you all to the Soul Cairn.” The twins nodded, before becoming all black, and fusing together to make Epidemic.

I’m ready.

“Woah… well, that happened.” Kat blinked, erasing the questions from her mind. “Anyway, let’s get the show on the road. Allons-y!”

“WAIT!” Everyone turned to Gale. “I need to grab Alduin’s body first.”

I should probably fuse with someone real quick before we go so I don’t have to fuse mid-battle. Mind if I fuse with you for a second?

“Sorry, only one symbiote per shifter.” Cancer even hissed at her cousins… or at least it sounded like a hiss. Epidemic just raised an eyebrow.

Don’t even go there Cancer. On my own I’m able to kill an entire army of changelings, with a dragon on their side. I was barely tapping into my power then.

“Epidemic, don’t piss off the nice displace that offered to help us.” Gale was coming back down the stairs, carrying Alduin on his back. “We need to work together, not claw at eachothers throats.” Epidemic rolled his eyes, then turned all black and forcefully fused with Kat. Kat panicked, and Cancer tried to get him out. A bunch of words started to flash through Kat’s mind, but three stood out.

‘Fus. Ro. Dah.’

After those words burned into her memory, Epidemic left her body, breathing heavily.

Damn, that hurt.

“Oh mon Dieu,” Kat groaned, feeling an ache in her head. “Fos nunon koros?” She blinked, tapping her throat. “Woah, don’t spout off draconian very often. What did you do to my mind?”

I know from Dad’s memory that the Soul Cairn can be a dangerous place. I fused with you and taught you the shout Unrelenting Force so you can better defend yourself. And, now that I’ve done that, once we get Dad’s soul back, he can teach you other shouts.

“Shouts? But it’s just draconian. How is the ancient dragon language going to help?”

Well, by shouts I meant I added power to certain words of the ancient dragon language. Now, if you focus, you can say Fus, Fus Ro, or Fus Ro Dah, and the shout will be used. I basically just unlocked your potential to be able to use shouts, and then taught you how to focus that power on those three words. It’ll only work on those three words though, if you want to learn more Dad will have to teach you.

“Wow, it’s been years since that language has been any use.” Kat smiled, shaking her head. “The strange things out there, I swear. With that out of the way, again: Allons-y!”

“ALLONS-Y!” Everyone else, except for Epidemic, shouted. Marx snapped his fingers, and a portal opened up beneath them. They all fell through and then another portal opened up.

“I’ll be in my own realm so I can move the souls! I’ll send you all back to the house once this is done!” Everyone nodded, and then they fell through the portal. After a short fall, Gale, Kat, and Epidemic landed. They stood, and looked around. It was a dark wasteland, with the ruins of buildings in random areas.

“Wow, I didn’t expect the Soul Cairn to look like this.”

This is where you end up if your soul is used in a soul gem.

“Certainly fitting for a prison,” Kat said, looking around. “Plenty of people come to mind I wouldn’t mind shoving in here.”

Yeah well, we better hope Durnehviir isn’t here.

“Who?”

He’s a dragon that was imprisoned here. He works for the Dovahkiin, and knows a shout that can rip your soul out and turn you into a zombie instantly. But, I’ll be fine due to the fact that I’m part symbiote. Being part symbiote makes me resistant to certain shouts, which includes that one. Gale, you’ll be fine because you’re a machine.

“Oh yeah huh?” Gale focused, and turned into his battle form. “Well, looks like I can return to normal here.” Epidemic nodded.

I do worry about Kat though, she doesn’t have a defence against that shout.

“No worries. My soul is stronger than most, and I have my own surprises for anything that comes our way.”

Yeah, and I suppose that if that shout does affect you, Marx will probably just grab your soul and put it back.

‘You know I will!’ they all heard Marx shout in their heads. ‘Okay, here they come!’ They all looked up, and saw two figures falling from the giant opening to the void in the sky above them. The figures didn’t land too far off. Gale, Kat, and Epidemic quietly ran to a nearby structure. Horns grew out of Epidemic’s hair. His teeth and nails became sharper. He grew dragon wings from his back, as well as a dragon tail. He grabbed Gale and Kat, and flew them to the top of the structure so they could get a better view.

“Thanks for the lift, but it wasn’t necessary,” Kat said. “I’m able to fly on my own, so you know.” Epidemic nodded, then looked at the new arrivals.

“That them?” Epidemic nodded.

Yeah, I would recognize that asshat anywhere. You two take Infestation, the Dovahkiins all mine.” He took to the skies and flew around the Dovahkiin without getting noticed.

“How do you wanna do this?” Kat asked. “Sneak attack or go in guns blazing?”

“Well personally,” Gale stood up, and started to charge energy in his hand. He then fired it right at Infestation, and it blew up, sending Infestation flying. “I prefer to go in the fun way.” They both charged Infestation as she started to fire spells at them. The Dovahkiin would have joined in, had he not heard a familiar roar. He looked behind him, and saw Epidemic flying at him in his rage mode. Epidemic slammed him with his tail, and sent the Dovahkiin flying. The Dovahkiin quickly got up and charged. He tried to stab, but Epidemic got the blade in his right claw.

Trying to fight me now are you? Well, I’m sure you remember how well that worked out last time.” Epidemic snapped the Dovahkiin’s dragonbone sword in half like it was a twig. He then grabbed the Dovahkiin by the neck, and lifted him into the air.

Remember what I said about how I was going to kill you? Well, this time, I’m going to follow through on my threat.” The Dovahkiin gulped in fear.

Back to Gale and Kat’s fight, they had both dodged all of Infestations magic blasts. Gale had made it to her first and had nailed her in the stomach. She was sent flying. Gale jumped after her, grabbed her, and threw her towards Kat. Kat shifted the gravity around Infestation so she came at Kat faster, and then Kat shifted gravity around her fist, making her fist fly forward fast. The punch connected with Infestations face, and she was sent flying. When she landed, she quickly got up and started to use her magic. First, she summoned some of her drones from her hive. As the drones charged, she cast a spell on the drones that made them stronger. She then made two fire snakes that rushed forward. Kat and Gale beat the drones easily enough, but the fire snakes were the real trouble. Kat tried to fire Ki blasts at them, but they kept dogging. Gale also fired some lasers, which were also dodge. Gale even went as far as to pull out his I’MA FIRIN MA LAZAR! laser cannon, and well, fired it. It completely engulfed the first fire snake, but when the laser stopped firing, the fire snake reformed. Gale grunted in annoyance. He then got and idea.

“Kat!”

“What?”

“I need you to focus gravity in one spot!”

“Why?”

“Just do it!” Kat shrugged, but did it anyways. She focused gravity into one spot, and Gale proceeded to fire a slow beam into the gravity center. After a second or two, he stopped firing, and there was a ball of highly condensed energy.

“Alright, stop the gravity center… NOW!” Kat nodded, and let gravity return to normal. Upon doing so, the condensed energy exploded into waves of power. The waves hit the fire snakes, and they started to slow down.

“Now! Use your Ki blasts!” Kat nodded and started to fire them off. The snakes could no longer dodge them, and they were destroyed once they were hit by the Ki blasts.

“What was that?”

“Wave of frozen energy. It slowed them down and made it so they couldn’t reform.”

“Nice.” They both turned to Infestation. She was charging up a huge amount of magic. She opened up her eyes, which now glowed purple, and shouted off her spell.

VOID BLAST!” A huge purple beam fired out of her hands.

“Don’t let that beam hit you! If it does You’ll get trapped in the void!” Kat ran left and Gale ran right. They circled around till they got close to Infestation. Kat had Cancer become her blade arm, and Gale had a laser that acted like a sword come out of his fist. Once they reached her, they slashed at her, together. She was sent flying back. She stood up and prepared another attack.

“AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!” Everyone looked to the source of the noise. It, was the Dovahkiin. He was on his knees, in front of Epidemic, who was still in his rage form, with both of his arms missing. Blood was around Epidemics mouth. Epidemic smirked.

Hmph, I’ve had my fun with you, ready to die?

“N-No, please. Have mercy.”

“Epidemic!” Kat shouted. “That’s enough. You’ve already won.” At first, Epidemic frowned. That frown turned into a grin when he saw Infestation.

Alright fine, I won’t kill him.” Dovahkiin sighed in relief. “I’ll do what he did to me. I’LL KILL SOMEONE CLOSE TO HIM!” He flew at Infestation, grabbed her, and Flew on top of a nearby structure. He lifted her into the air, and opened his mouth.

“KAT DON’T LOOK!” Gale tackled her and kept her from watching the horror that was Epidemic in this form. All Kat could hear was Infestation’s screams, and the crunching of flesh and bone. It went on for a few moments, then, all was silent. Kat got out of Gale’s grip, and looked to see what had been done.

The Gravity Queen was completely silent, staring at the scene of gore. Half of Infestation’s body was gone. She looked to be breathing, just in a coma. Epidemic had devoured her lower body while she was still alive. She clenched her hand, the ground beneath cracking. “Gale, remind me to strike Epidemic when he’s not enraged anymore. Because what he has done is unforgivable.” Gale grabbed her shoulder.

“Just watch.” Kat didn’t know what he meant, till Epidemic started to return to normal. Epidemic looked at the sight before him, and gasped.

W-What the hell?” He looked to Kat and Gale, then he understood. He looked at the barely alive changeling queen. His body became completely black, and attached to the queen. He started to form her missing body parts, and once he was done, he left her body. He stood, and picked her up. Kat was amazed. Infestations entire lower body had returned. It was red, instead of turquoise, but it was all back. Epidemic walked up to the Dovahkiin, set Infestation down, and did the same to him. Once he was done, he started to walk back to Kat and Gale, but he collapsed before he could finish the journey. Gale rushed to him, and let them fuse together.

“Is he alright?” Kat asked.

“I don’t know, he lost a lot of physical matter repairing those two.”

“I’d say it’s a fitting punishment,” she said, looking over the result.

“He’d probably say he deserves worse.”

“I would as well. This was pointless gore and death, not something I support as well as being something I usually beat the snot out of people for doing.”

“Well, you’ve got to understand why he did that. He’s very overprotective of his family, especially the twins. The Dovahkiin hurt the twins pretty badly and had also killed his father. Being a being that was created from the twins combined rage doesn’t help that fact. I mean, wouldn't you be mad if that happened to those you loved?”

Kat was silent, arms crossed and looking away. “...I’ve already been there, and I regret it for the rest of my life. More than once have I wished I could kick my cul for doing it.”

“You regret something for the rest of your life. Considering that Epidemic is part symbiote and part dragon, he’s practically immortal. He’ll be regretting this day for the rest of eternity.”

“I’m ageless, I’ll be around for quite a while to ‘enjoy’ my regrets as well. That doesn’t make it right, nor does it excuse it.”

“Never said it did.” They both heard a groan coming from behind them. They turned, and Alduin walking up to them.

“Okay, ow. Getting my soul ripped in two definitely hurt.”

“ALDUIN!” Gale rushed up gave him a hug. “Damnit dude I thought I would never see you again!” Alduin hugged him back.

“Well, I’m back now aren’t I?” Gale stopped and gestured to Kat.

“Alduin, this is-”

“I already know who she is.” Alduin interrupted.”I saw her in Lee’s memories.”

Kat bowed her head lightly. “Dren yo lok Alduin, valokein zek wah himdah do nahl.” Alduin smiled.

[Greetings Alduin. Welcome back to the land of the living.]

“Nox hi Kat. Nii los grind hifah diist tiid.” Alduin said smiling as he walked up to her. When he got close enough, he sensed a familiar energy.

[Thank you, Kat. It is good to finally meet you.]

“Eh, Zu’u koraav tol Urikras lost ofan vosmaar wah mindos. Zu’u vis mindov his zos zaan wraan hi fund med.”

[Ah, I see that Epidemic has given you the ability to shout. I can teach you some more shouts if you would like.]

Kat shrugged. “Pruzah, Zu'u lorfonaar nii fund ni ahraan wah mindok muldeytorax do gesaak draconian.” Alduin nodded.

[Sure, it wouldn’t hurt to finally have a use for my Dovahzul.]

“Hey, would you two mind speaking normally? I don’t speak dragon.” They both turned to Gale. Alduin laughed.

“Alright then Kat, if you wish to learn more, then I’ll teach you. But first, I need to get back home and see my children again.”

“Um, they’re here with us.” A green blob and a purple blob leaped off of Gale and onto Alduin.

“Hey are you two alright?” Alduin asked his children.

We’re okay Dad.

We’re just so glad to have you back!” The twins sounded like they were on the verge of tears. They un-fused with Alduin and hugged him. He hugged them back as they began to cry. Alduin smiled, and lifted his children up into his arms. Another portal opened beneath them, and they started to head home.

Author's Note:

And there is the happy ending! Alduin, is no longer dead! Of course, it was probably pretty obvious that he would live again due to the fact that he's going into the shadow war. Hope you all enjoy! By the way, next chapter I promise I won't mess with everyone's heart strings. I know I did last chapter with the surprise death but next chapter I promise will be different. Also, it is shown in this chapter that Epidemic, has two sides. His rage form makes him a sadistic demon. But out of his rage form, Epidemic has standers for what he will and will not do. The damage done to the Dovahkiin and Infestation was going too far for him. He even sacrificed some of his own body to repair them. For that reason we may not see Epidemic for a little while. Anyways, hope you all enjoy!