Dark Body, Light Soul (Or the Tale of the Stalfos)

by Garino

40: The Price You Must Pay, Part 1

Chapter 40: The Price You Must Pay, Part 1

Pain.

That was all I could comprehend currently. My body was aching badly. My head was throbbing as if I was staring at a difficult math problem (which is saying something because I loved crunching numbers). My legs were locked, as if I had a charley horse from doing who knows what.

I moaned in pain as I tried to get myself in a sitting position. Ugh...the longer I stayed one, the more I believed being a champion sucks. No vacation time, the pay is shit, and you don't even get medical insurance. Plus, if you died, would they replace you, or simply pull you out of the abyss, shout a few expletives, and toss you back INTO the abyss? I really didn't want to find out.

Then again, lying on the ground not wanting to face reality isn't really a champion-worthy idea. So, despite my mind's protesting, I tried to get on my feet. After a while of trying to find my balance, I managed to focus and see exactly where I was. Which was...nowhere. Mustering even more strength, I walked around, trying to find something. Anything.

After a while, I finally found something. A large, blue door. This had to lead somewhere. I placed a hand on the doorknob and twisted it. There was a rattle, indicating it was locked. I tried again. No change. Maybe I should knock? I made a fist and tapped the door a few times.

And then I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And I waited some more.

Soon, I got tired. "Guess no one's home," I muttered. I was about to walk off when I heard a small *click!* Turning around, I noticed the door was now open a bit. I approached it again and tapped lightly. It opened slightly more.

"Come in," a feminine voice called.

I gulped as I opened the door. The room was quite weird: it looked as though the whole room was bathed in a black light, making everything a shade of blue or dark blue. There were windows that revealed a purple fog, passing by quickly as if we were moving in a car. From the muffled sound of tires spinning, I guessed we WERE in a car. A table sat a few feet away, with a young lady sitting down, a huge book resting in her lap.

When I entered the room, the door slammed shut behind me. I turned at the sound, only to find the door disappeared. I could feel sweat starting to form now. Was this where judgment was to be passed?

"Don't feel alarmed," the lady spoke. "You are here to meet with the master, aren't you, Daniel?"

I couldn't find any words to say. Who was the master? How did this woman know my name? Where was I?

The young woman spoke again, as if she knew my answers. "I apologize that my master did not meet you here during your first encounter. It was his first time in the real world, and he was searching for something." Her head raised as her yellow eyes met mine. "But you seem confused, Daniel. Please, take a seat. The master will be here shortly."

I gulped as I took the seat across from her. As I made my way there, I noticed there were multiple bottles of alcohol, along with wine glasses to drink them from. I sat down, looking over myself. My form had changed: I was human again.

I looked up after a moment and met the woman's gaze again. "Excuse me for being rude, but how do you know my, uh...alias?" I asked.

A smile appeared on her face. "I watch the master from here." Just as suddenly as it appeared, it disappeared behind a neutral expression. "I apologize, I never introduced myself. I am Margaret."

I held out my hand. "Daniel. Pleasure to meet you." Margaret gazed at my hand curiously, unsure of what to do. I retracted my hand after a moment, noting that there was now an awkward silence.

Margaret's voice sounded again. "I am quite curious: how did you manage to meet up with the master while he was out on business?"

I closed my eyes, going back to that day. "It was by chance. He...caught me after I was finishing a game. He actually bought me dinner and we started talking. I never got his name, though, so I just call him Olman."

"I'm sure he had his reasons for not revealing his real name," Margaret nodded. She opened her book, scenes from the meeting between me and Olman playing in a photo. "I hear you signed a contract with him, though. A new world, a new body, an adventure of unknowns."

I looked up again. "I...don't remember pen and paper in our meeting," I pointed out.

The woman's expression returned to neutral. "A contract isn't always pen and paper. Some contracts are by word of mouth, or through actions of acknowledgement. You chose to use the item the master gave you, thereby signing the contract he made."

"Right. The...yeah, I remember using it," I admitted. It's hard to forget the item that started all of this. The room was silent as a tune started playing. "So, uh...where am I? Dead?"

"You now reside in what we call the Velvet Room." Velvet Room? Like in the Persona games? "It is a room that exists between mind and matter, separates dream from reality. Only those who have formed a contract are allowed to visit."

Her smile returned. "I'll admit, I was a bit saddened when you didn't immediately enter the Velvet Room. But now that you're here, we may begin your journey proper."

Now it was my turn to change expressions: one into a frown. "I'm afraid that's going to be complicated," I sighed. "I...don't think I survived the attack."

"You'd be surprised at how tenacious the human soul can be," a third, familiar voice called out. I turned to the source, just to the left, to see Olman sitting in the seat. He still wore the tweed jacket, the top hat, and had the cane, but his posture...

"Ah, master! You've returned," Margaret said. She turned to me. "I'm afraid it's time for the business portion of why you're here."

"Business portion?" I asked. "You mean my death, right?"

Olman answered my question. "I'll be honest: your body is badly destroyed. When you took the hit, every bone that could possibly be broken WAS broken. Your friends managed to pick up the pieces and put you together, so that you could possibly be fixed. But the healing process hasn't started. Not since you were put back together. It clings to the material world on a strand. One...that you hold.

"When you took the hit and blacked out, I saw your mind. You began to doubt your power, began to doubt you were 'The One.' Maybe you aren't. Maybe I chose wrong. But I chose you, and you accepted. I gave you a choice, Daniel, and you chose the path previous would-be champions refused to take. But now, you must make a difficult decision, as you did before."

Margaret took over from there. "We've learned through reading some books that your body can be restored. But it's something we have never done. According to the texts, it requires a lot of power to do. Power, sadly, that we don't have." She opened the huge tome in her lap, showing the battle with the Skaven. "But you do. If your body, your human body, has as much power as your will and tenacity, there is just enough energy to allow us to restore your given form. The process will be long, but we can give it back."

"There's a catch, though," I guessed.

"Always," Olman confirmed. "In order for this to work, I must use life energy from one body to restore another. Because of how close to destruction your Stalfos body is, your human body will be on that same verge of death. I doubt it will survive the process. Thus, my choice. I can fix your Stalfos body, at the cost of destroying your human body, forever closing your portal home. Or, I can send you home. Should I do this, your Stalfos form's thread will be severed, and it will be taken by the blue flames."

I gulped. There was no way such a decision would be easy. If anything, it was probably up to me to make that choice. I asked the question anyway. "What...what is your decision?"

He sighed, removing his hat and scratching his head. "That's the problem; I can't make that decision. They are YOUR bodies, and therefore, the choice falls onto you. You have the choices. You have the cost. All that's left...is what your decision is."

So...the choice was mine...I looked over to the alcohol. Even though I don't think I can get drunk here, I'm probably gonna need one very soon. "There isn't...a third option?" I asked helplessly.

"I'm afraid not," Margaret answered. "That is the price you must pay. For this one, there is no middle; only left or right."

Comments

[RealityDowngrade]

Bah , I'll show them a third path. Just need a shovel to make me a dirt road... sorry, those sorts of decisions when they come from someone who refuses to give all the information they have for you to make a truly informed choice rather grind my gears.

[Doctor D]

So Olman is Igor? Well that is neat.

[Garino]

2876128 Surprise.

[Lucien Chance]

He's actually just dreaming.

He'll do what's right.

[Mother3Forever]

I wanna know WHAT the blue flames are.

[Garino]

2895493 Let me think...oh, when Stalfos died, they were incinerated in GREEN flames...but yeah, that's what I meant.

[doctor_n]

I just want to say this.

Light does not mean good, and Dark does not mean evil.

This is very true. Some of the greatest heroes I have thought up are things such as half demons, necromancers, and vampire lords.

[JarOfHearts]

2935884

I agree, I remember a story that directly dealt with that. (Don't ask me what the title was.) It was the battle between the conception of night and the persona of night so to speak.

Night is often closely associate with evil and evil acts. You want to break into an abandoned house? do it at night. When do the most dangerous predators come out? During the night. Want to bury a body? Night.

This gives night itself a sinister character. However, it was countered that Nights defining characteristic is actually acceptance. Night does not judge or blame anyone, and protects them equally. It helps hide the prey as much as it helps hide the predator stalking it.

[MoldyShishkabob]

Finally got to reading this chapter.

A grin just tore my face in half when you mentioned cars.

[Black--Soul]

Normaly i say 'easy Choice but that Body he was given isnt worth mutch...