Worlds Apart: The Chosen of the Prognosticus

by GMBlackjack

Behind the Red Mage

“Stop,” Twilight ordered, frowning. “Something’s wrong up ahead.”

“...I don’t sense anything,” Toph said.

“You wouldn’t.” Twilight lit her horn, scanning the hall in front of them. “Throw a cube ahead of us.”

Toph stomped into the ground and bent a cube into the hallway. The moment it crossed an invisible barrier, the cube was incinerated by a dozen simultaneous bolts of lightning from the walls.

“Magic traps,” Twilight confirmed. “And there’s a lot of them.”

“Can you disable them?” Data asked.

“Normally? Maybe. With the Element of Magic? Definitely.” She took a step forward and lit both her horn and the Element, sending a beam of magic forward to disable the lightning trap. It worked like a charm—the trap was far from sophisticated, just hard to see. “Stay behind me, step where I step if you can. I’m clearing all I can for my safety but there might be other layers off the beaten path.”

Single-file, they marched deeper into the Castle, Twilight cautiously burning away all the trapping spells. Cosmo put away the Light Prognosticus so she could watch where she was stepping. An unusual silence fell over their usually conversation-filled journey. The sense of unease wafted through the group because they knew which of Count Bleck’s servants was skilled at the most magical spells. They also knew what Caspian had found out earlier.

But no one ever ambushed them. They made it all the way through the hall of traps, finding only an empty hall on the other side. Still on edge, they kept moving forward… until they saw a girl in a red cloak before them, sitting on a chair in the middle of the hall. Her robes were disheveled, her hair messy, and her eyes wild. Numerous shimmering auras surrounded her, indicative of several layers of magical protection.

“Good afternoon!” Lulu greeted, not able to sell a cheerful mood in the slightest.

Twilight flared her wings defensively. “...Hello.”

“This is a rather interesting situation, isn’t it?” Lulu tilted her head. “You’ve gotten past my traps and now have to face me. One minion in a long, long line to the Count. I’m just a stepping stone to you.”

“And what are you to yourself?” Caspian asked.

“Bloody nobody.” Lulu stood up, letting out an ancient incantation that summoned a bunch of bees to her hand.

“That’s not true. You’re Lucy. Lucy Penvensie.”

Lulu frowned. She recited another incantation that didn’t seem to have a visible effect. “Say that again.”

“You are Lucy Penvensie, youngest of four siblings, legendary Queen of Narnia, and servant of Aslan.”

Lulu gasped, putting a hand to her mouth. “You… you’re telling the truth. You… know who I am!” She broke out into a large, legitimate smile. “I knew it! I knew I was just one of those hypnotized mooks, I’m supposed to be elsewhere! I’m no—”

All emotion drained from her face as if something had snapped inside of her. Her breathing slowed to a neutral level and her gaze became distant, almost mindless.

“The hypnosis just took over,” Tippi said. “Talking isn’t an op—”

“Fira,” Lulu said, monotone. The swirl of fire erupted from her hands, blocked quickly by Twilight’s magic barrier. Lulu didn’t stop the onslaught of spells. “Blizzara.” The ice impacted Twilight’s shield. “Thundara.” The bolt of lightning was enough to burst the shield, but the instant this happened Vivian cast Fiery Jynx, Data fired his phaser, and Toph threw a cube of rock at Lulu.

All of it bounced off her magic shielding, doing her absolutely no harm.

“Dispel those shields, Twilight!” Toph shouted, throwing more rocks at Lulu that didn’t do anything.

“Working…” Twilight said, focusing on the Element of Magic and removing the barriers around Lulu one at a time. There were dozens—far too many for her dispelling efforts to take care of quickly.

“Silence,” Lulu said. The spell formed a ring around Twilight, forcing her horn to stop channeling magic. She still had a connection to the Element itself, which was immune to silencing spells, but it cut her speed of removing Lulu’s shields in half. The bees Lulu sent at her distracted her even further since Twilight had to cast a magic burst through the Element of Magic to take them out.

“I’m not sure I can do this!” Twilight called.

“Book!” Cosmo shouted, slapping Lulu with the Light Prognosticus. It knocked her back but did nothing else. “Maybe we can keep her from moving?”

Toph encased Lulu in a cube of rock. Unfortunately, this did not stop Lulu from casting spells. A whirlwind formed around the rock, throwing sleet and hail at the heroes while another spell reduced the cube to rubble. “Bio,” Lulu said, casting a truly horrific spell that started to rot the flesh on Caspian’s shield hand. Twilight, once again, had to stop removing Lulu’s shields to keep Caspian from losing his hand.

“Quick,” Lulu cocked her head, loading two spells at once into that single spell. “Confuse; Meteor.” Twilight and Toph were hit by the first, so when the flaming rocks appeared they couldn’t dodge properly, getting tossed to the side.

“We need a new plan!” Tippi shouted. “If we lose too much energy here, we won’t stand a chance against Bleck!”

“I’ve got it,” Caspian said. With the hand Lulu had blackened using the Bio spell, he removed the healing cordial from his armor. While Lulu cast a fireball, Caspian jumped her and smashed the cordial over her head. At first, the glass tore at his hand, but the released healing juices within restored it back to full health immediately. Lulu’s shields prevented the glass from cutting across her face—but it had never intended to prevent healing magic from passing through. The perfect restorative potion soaked right through her shields and into her hair.

The life came back to her eyes and she fell to her knees. “Wh… wh…”

“...Lulu?” Caspian asked.

“I… no.” She shook her head, shakily standing up. “It’s…” She jumped into Caspian, throwing her arms around him. “It’s Lucy. I’m Lucy…” She let out wave upon wave of tears into his neck, hugging him tighter and tighter. “Thank you.”

“Thank Aslan that worked,” Caspian said with a laugh, pulling her up and swinging her around. “The nightmare is over now.”

“Y-yes… quite.” Lucy released Caspian and wiped her face. The first thing she did was tear her hat off her head and stamp it into the ground, glaring angrily at it. “I never wanted this… magic. I never…”

“How did you get it?” Caspian asked with a careful, smooth voice.

“I… There was a warrior with four arms, I’m using his magic.” Lucy frowned. “I was walking home from school and… he was just there, on the street, looking so out of place. So I asked him if he was from Narnia. Then… he grabbed me and took me away. He looked like he wanted something, but then there was this earthquake, and we were taken to this castle.” She gestured at the walls. “I was alone until Nastasia found me, and, well…” With a sigh, she looked at the ground. “And then I was Lulu.”

“...Gilgamesh?” Twilight frowned. “Starlight said he was an ally, if a bit confusing.”

“He… might be, now,” Lucy said. “I think he doesn’t like the Void—who does—but he’s not a nice person.” Lucy looked at her hands. “I’m not supposed to remember being Lulu, that’s not how the hypnosis works. But… I do. I remember… everything…” Tears started rolling down her face. “I-I’m so sorry. I tried to hurt you. I hated you. I… I returned to Narnia when Aslan said I couldn’t…”

“That was not you,” Caspian said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “It was the evil within you. It is not you, and it never was.”

Lucy sniffed. “R-right.”

“Now… we’ve got to keep moving, Lucy. But back a ways there’s a friend of ours, Rarity. She can protect you.”

“H-how will she know I’m not Lulu? I… I tried to do terrible things to her.”

“Tell her I sent you,” Twilight said. “Also, tell her that I told you about that one time she dressed up as a farm pony and faked a country accent to try to impress a stallion.”

Lucy blinked. “Is that… something you should have told me?”

Twilight smirked. “Yes. She was spouting my secrets a few minutes ago. If she asks, tell her it’s fair play.” She chuckled.

Lucy nodded, turning to walk back down the hall, but something stopped her. “A-after all this is over, I’m using the spell to forget things on myself to remove all this magic from me. I’m not supposed to remember the wizard’s book or the spells of Gaia. But, right now, we might need it.” She took a deep breath. “Cura. Cura. Cura.” Slowly, she cast the healing spell on all the heroes who weren’t Caspian. “And Caspian… I’m sorry for making you break the cordial.”

“It was your gift, Lucy,” Caspian said. “It is only fitting that its last act be to save you.”

Lucy smiled. “Thank you.” With a curtsy, she took off in a run down the hall.

“Do you think the others are hypnotized?” Tippi asked.

“Dark Oak isn’t,” Cosmo said matter-of-factly. “But Dimentio… Does anyone know anything about Dimentio?”

Twilight furrowed her brow in thought. “Hmm… no. No, I don’t, he seems… different from all the others, though.”

“I wonder if we’ll run into Mr. L,” Caspian said. “I do feel the need to duel that man again.”

“We’ll only know if we keep moving,” Toph said, taking point. “So move it!”

~~~

Rarity walked toward the entrance of Castle Bleck, Mimi on her back. At first, Mimi had been an unrelenting whiner, but after ten minutes of that, she quieted down and just started sulking. Rarity wasn’t complaining, it was a lot better than childish babbling.

As she passed through a hole blasted in the Castle wall, she heard a deep groan come to her left. It was O’Chunks, barely conscious, leaning against a wall with a meaty hand to his head. “Grah… googly…”

“It appears they chunked you rather well, hmm?” Rarity observed with a smirk.

“Sh… shut it…” O’Chunks managed through his delirium.

“I don’t think I will. You claim to be strong, O’Chunks, but you’re really the weakest of all the minions. Easy to outmaneuver, outwit, and goad into a fight.” She gave O’Chunks a patronizing pat on the head. “There are other attributes besides raw strength, you know.”

“I… gah, not enough brain to think right now…”

“Of course,” Mimi muttered. “Never had a brain to begin with…”

“Geh…” O’Chunks wasn’t in the mood to banter with her.

“Pathetic,” Mimi grumbled.

“You’re one to talk,” Rarity said. “I suppose we’ll leave him. There’s not much he can do for u—”

“Waugh!”

Lulu, with one of her Haste spells on, had run so quickly she’d tripped over an uneven part of the hole in the wall. She landed face-first in front of Rarity, groaning.

Rarity summoned her blade and pointed it at the back of Lulu’s head. “Lulu, of course. It seems I’m on minion babysitting duty.”

“W-wait!” Lulu stammered. “I’m not Lulu! Caspian cured me of the hypnosis—I’m Lucy Pevensie, servant of Aslan! Twilight told me to come to you and to tell you about that time you dressed as a farm pony to impress a stalli—”

“And that’s all I need to hear.” Rarity dissipated the blade. “Fair play, I suppose.”

With a relaxed sigh, Lucy sat up. “Th-thank you. And for what I did as Lulu, I’m sorry, I didn’t know what I was doing.”

“You can say that again,” Rarity said, checking to make sure Mimi was still secure.

Mimi craned her head to look at Lucy. “You… really were someone else?”

“Yes. I’m… sorry for how I treated you, too. You were just worried for me. And you, O’Chunks.”

“Yeh…” O’Chunks grunted.

Rarity cocked her head. “Wait… you remember everything you did as Lulu?”

“Oh, uh, quite right.”

Rarity sat down, tossing Mimi to the side. “You could be a very useful source of information. Tell me… what do you know?”

“Well, I think it all started with Gilgamesh…”

Author's Note:

As of now, the entire story's drafts are available for anyone who wants them on the discord server! ( https://discord.com/invite/eTuseTh ).

Which means we're getting real close to the ending here, folks! I hope you enjoyed the journey thus far and I hope you'll enjoy where we're going...

-GM, master of ENDINGS.

Comments

[Shilic]

“Magic traps,” Twilight confirmed. “And there’s a lot of them.”

“Can you disable them?” Data asked.

“Normally? Maybe. With the Element of Magic? Definitely.” She took a step forward and lit both her horn and the Element, sending a beam of magic forward to disable the lightning trap. It worked like a charm—the trap was far from sophisticated, just hard to see. “Stay behind me, step where I step if you can. I’m clearing all I can for my safety but there might be other layers off the beaten path.”

Well, that was easy. Element of Magic OP, plz nerf.

But no one ever ambushed them. They made it all the way through the hall of traps, finding only an empty hall on the other side. Still on edge, they kept moving forward… until they saw a girl in a red cloak before them, sitting on a chair in the middle of the hall. Her robes were disheveled, her hair messy, and her eyes wild. Numerous shimmering auras surrounded her, indicative of several layers of magical protection.

“Good afternoon!” Lulu greeted, not able to sell a cheerful mood in the slightest.

You know, if she doesn't have a sword, is she really a Red Mage?

“That’s not true. You’re Lucy. Lucy Penvensie.”

Lulu frowned. She recited another incantation that didn’t seem to have a visible effect. “Say that again.”

“You are Lucy Penvensie, youngest of four siblings, legendary Queen of Narnia, and servant of Aslan.”

Lulu gasped, putting a hand to her mouth. “You… you’re telling the truth. You… know who I am!” She broke out into a large, legitimate smile. “I knew it! I knew I was just one of those hypnotized mooks, I’m supposed to be elsewhere! I’m no—”

All emotion drained from her face as if something had snapped inside of her. Her breathing slowed to a neutral level and her gaze became distant, almost mindless.

“The hypnosis just took over,” Tippi said. “Talking isn’t an op—”

Wait, so... how does that work? She was hypnotized, but she was hypnotized to... think she wasn't hypnotized? I know Nastasia's powers are ill defined, but this feels... off, somehow. It works in context of the story, but... I dunno.

“Fira,” Lulu said, monotone. The swirl of fire erupted from her hands, blocked quickly by Twilight’s magic barrier. Lulu didn’t stop the onslaught of spells. “Blizzara.” The ice impacted Twilight’s shield. “Thundara.” The bolt of lightning was enough to burst the shield, but the instant this happened Vivian cast Fiery Jynx, Data fired his phaser, and Toph threw a cube of rock at Lulu.

What? Only -ra level spells? This is the final fight against Lulu, we should be seeing -ga spells at least!

“Silence,” Lulu said. The spell formed a ring around Twilight, forcing her horn to stop channeling magic. She still had a connection to the Element itself, which was immune to silencing spells, but it cut her speed of removing Lulu’s shields in half. The bees Lulu sent at her distracted her even further since Twilight had to cast a magic burst through the Element of Magic to take them out.

Okay, I legit want to know how this works. The Element is immune to Silence, but it doesn't make Twilight immune when she wears it, but the Element itself is still able to cast spells? Weird.

“Book!” Cosmo shouted, slapping Lulu with the Light Prognosticus. It knocked her back but did nothing else. “Maybe we can keep her from moving?”

Book is my new favorite spell. (As a Summoner in FFXIV, this is not a joke. Hitting people with your tome is my auto attack, and yes, it's as effective as it sounds.)

“I’ve got it,” Caspian said. With the hand Lulu had blackened using the Bio spell, he removed the healing cordial from his armor. While Lulu cast a fireball, Caspian jumped her and smashed the cordial over her head. At first, the glass tore at his hand, but the released healing juices within restored it back to full health immediately. Lulu’s shields prevented the glass from cutting across her face—but it had never intended to prevent healing magic from passing through. The perfect restorative potion soaked right through her shields and into her hair.

Caspian, no! You're suppose to save that elixir for when you need it more!

“I… There was a warrior with four arms, I’m using his magic.” Lucy frowned. “I was walking home from school and… he was just there, on the street, looking so out of place. So I asked him if he was from Narnia. Then… he grabbed me and took me away. He looked like he wanted something, but then there was this earthquake, and we were taken to this castle.” She gestured at the walls. “I was alone until Nastasia found me, and, well…” With a sigh, she looked at the ground. “And then I was Lulu.”

Wow Greg, what the hell? I'm sure you had a reason, but...

“I’m not supposed to remember being Lulu, that’s not how the hypnosis works. But… I do. I remember… everything…” Tears started rolling down her face. “I-I’m so sorry. I tried to hurt you. I hated you. I… I returned to Narnia when Aslan said I couldn’t…”

Lucy, nothing about this situation is how the hypnosis works. Just roll with it.

“That was not you,” Caspian said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “It was the evil within you. It is not you, and it never was.”

This just sounds blatantly incorrect, but considering the circumstances, I'm sure Aslan will let it slide.

“Tell her I sent you,” Twilight said. “Also, tell her that I told you about that one time she dressed up as a farm pony and faked a country accent to try to impress a stallion.”

Oh right, that was an episode. That's one of the ones I always forget.

Lucy nodded, turning to walk back down the hall, but something stopped her. “A-after all this is over, I’m using the spell to forget things on myself to remove all this magic from me. I’m not supposed to remember the wizard’s book or the spells of Gaia. But, right now, we might need it.” She took a deep breath. “Cura. Cura. Cura.” Slowly, she cast the healing spell on all the heroes who weren’t Caspian. “And Caspian… I’m sorry for making you break the cordial.”

I guess she only knows -ra level spells. Checks out, for being a Red Mage, though she didn't get any sword powers to make up for it. And, while I would typically say she should keep the magical powers, but considering where and when she's going back to... giving them up is probably safest for everyone.

“I wonder if we’ll run into Mr. L,” Caspian said. “I do feel the need to duel that man again.”

Oh right, Caspian doesn't know that Mr. L is dead. I, in fact, briefly forgot that Dimentio straight up killed him. Although... that same kind of attack sent the Heroes to the Ninth World, so maybe Mr. L went there too... Perhaps we will see him again.

“I don’t think I will. You claim to be strong, O’Chunks, but you’re really the weakest of all the minions. Easy to outmaneuver, outwit, and goad into a fight.” She gave O’Chunks a patronizing pat on the head. “There are other attributes besides raw strength, you know.”

Yes, but he's the most lovable. That counts for something.

“Well, I think it all started with Gilgamesh…”

I wonder what Greg's up to right now...

And that's three of five minions down! Lucy has been healed, but at a cost. The party are down their healing potion, which may have been really helpful later on, but in return, Rarity may receive some crucial information. Also Lucy is safe, that's probably also important. Only Dark Oak and Dimentio remain before the final confrontation with Count Bleck... And also Nastasia I guess, but she doesn't seem like a fighter. And maybe Mr. L if he's not dead, so... who knows? You'll have to wait and see, or read the drafts but that's cheating.

[Efadd]

11195745
You think Bleck's the final boss?
AHAHAHAHAHHAHASHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHA!

[hamster wizard]

“I wonder if we’ll run into Mr. L,” Caspian said. “I do feel the need to duel that man again.”

Yeah wonder what happened to that guy. Guess we'll never know.

[MariusIoannesP]

Never thought I'd see day where Lucy Pevensie would be doing Final Fantasy spells.