Chapter 11: Harmony, Chaos, and Balance
Lucien, of course, spent the whole entire day in the forge. As if he would do anything else when badass weapons were his to craft.
He toiled over the red glow of the embers. A single drop of sweat slid off his nose and fell into the flames with a hiss. He worked the bellows on the side to add air to the fire, thus extending its life. He continued his work on the items of destruction.
It was a painstaking, meticulous process. The way the metals needed to be combined was . . . complicated, to say the least. It required to have the base weapon crafted first, then the other two weapons needed to be about halfway done, each in the shaping phase. He then had to place the runes on the sword quickly, before the other two cooled. Then, a short binding ritual needed to be performed, that would bind the essences of the metals together. That way, he could finish shaping and detailing the weapons when they were already bound to the sword.
Follow that?
Lucien was just adding the final touches on the gray sword. The runes he put on swirled around the blade, and down to the base of the hilt. The handguard was undeniably the hardest part for him to accomplish. It was basically an incredibly detailed wing-type-thing that curved up on the left side attached to fangs/spikes that jutted down on the left. Really just hard to describe.
He finished the sword and moved on to the harmonic weapons, the chakrams. The best way to get an idea for what these look like is to just imagine a bladed frisbee with most of the center cut out. There were three blades jutting out the sides, each one shaped like a wave. Albeit a very dangerous wave. Unlike the sword, these weapons were tinged a light blue, and Lucien could sense that there was more to them than met the eye.
Those were finished relatively fast, considering the simplistic shape he took into account. The hammer was next. While Lucien wasn't a fan of heavy weaponry, he knew that everyone always will eventually have a use for a giant-ass hammer. He modeled it after the Gravity Hammer in Halo, and having that familiarity gave him a speed boost in detailing it. He was done with this one very quickly.
He finished the hammer just as the chakrams were cooling down. He looked over the three weapons, then the Arcadium crystal. He knew what had to be done.
When he began on this task, he knew that there would be some kind of catch. One does not simply forge badass weaponry with fantastic abilities without paying some sort of price. He examined the collection before him, then looked through his notebook for a ritual that he could tweak to his advantage.
He flipped through the pages in silence, waiting in silence for the inevitable bad news to come on one of the papers. One such paper caught his eye. It depicted a ritual for binding, just what he needed.
The instructions for it warned that the spell should only be used to bind objects to other objects, or objects to people's souls. Lucien, however, knew that he could make it work for him. That was his special talent in magic, after all.
He traced the lines on the ground with a piece of chalk he grabbed out of his bag rapidly. The runes were traced in right after. This ritual required candles to be lit and then placed in the cardinal directions. He pulled out a bag of tea-lights that he always had in his bag, specifically for these occasions, and a compass. He practically threw them down on the ground in his hurry.
Finally, all was prepared. He grabbed the three weapons, and the Arcadium, and put them in the center of the runed circle he had drawn on the ground. Then he used a bit of fire magic to light all the candles quickly. Instantly, the light from the forge dimmed, as if the ritual had sucked the energy right out of it.
He got down on his knees with the chalk again, and wrote out specific instructions on the ground for the spell to follow. They, of course, were not written in English, but the language of the Elders; magic users that had came before mankind inhabited the Earth. Now, everyone held a piece of the Elders within them. The only way they could learn how to utilize it though was to go through a process called an "Awakening," where another learned mage "awoke" the powers within that person. He had been Awakened by Draco when he was just a boy.
"Focus."
The chalk instructions were completed, and they began to glow a distinct purple color. The purple representing the alignment of the spell; the School of Conjuration. It also happened to be the school that Lucien was most proficient with.
There was a great flash, and Lucien was blinded (obviously). The light held for a few moments, then died out abruptly, signaling the end of the spell. He waited for a moment for his eyes to readjust to the level of brightness within the dark room.
When his vision returned, the candles were out, and the lines of chalk were smudged by a force that originated from the center of the circle. His eyes looked toward the center, and beheld a single, gleaming weapon sitting in the center of a scorch mark on the ground.
He stepped forward and picked it up. He fixed his hand firmly on the grip; it was exactly the same as his sacrificed athame. Then he ran his hand up and down the blade, inspecting it for any damages or mistakes on the runes etched into its surface. Finding none, he flipped it over, then gave it a few practice swings. It felt good. Balanced was the word that came into his mind as it sang through the air. He had a sense of familiarity with it that was no doubt given by the heart of his dagger that resided within it.
But there was something else behind this beautiful blade. A sort of otherworldly balance that went beyond the physical world. He dipped his consciousness down into the swirling mana that existed on another plane. He gasped at what he saw.
The blade was only gray in the dead center. The left side was tinged a bright cyan color, while the right was a deep crimson. The two were base opposites, clearly, but Lucien could sense that both conceded to each other to form the middle sword. It was what held them together and created a sense of balance. For without one, the other would cease to exist.
Balance. That's what he would call the sword. It fearlessly stood as the mediator between the two other forces, keeping them both intact.
The left side, the blue, however, was different. It gave off a cool feeling, and when he felt the side with his hand, it chilled him to the bone. It was harmonious, that much was clear, but this took it to a whole new level. It was harmony without bounds, or morals, or individuality. It wanted to destroy everything only so that nothing would be at war with itself. The thought of conformity that overrode all other needs swept through Lucien's mind.
Harmony is what he would call this weapon. He named it for what it stood for, despite that fact that it wouldn't be a very harmonious harmony at all. And, to his surprise, the sword disappeared, and in its place were the two chakrams that he had crafted. One had appeared in each hand, and he held them with authority. He knew how to use these weapons, and he knew that he would eventually have to.
He turned his attention away from Harmony and back towards Balance. The chakrams instantly disappeared from his hands and the sword materialized in them in its place. He looked to the right, the crimson side of the weapon, and his mind was flooded with a thousand images of destruction and confusion. It was a war just for the sake of a war. He imagined himself laying waste to towns, walking away from the conflagration that consumed each of them. Families broken, trusts and alliances turned against one another. The only way he could describe it was pure chaos.
And Chaos it shall be. Balance vanished from his grip, and the hammer appeared. It felt heavy in his hands, causing him to tilt forward just a bit. It almost seemed like it wanted to be released. It craved for movement, for swift and decisive action. It wanted to cause trouble and then to sit back and watch the consequences. It certainly was no benevolent spirit at all. Lucien knew that he would someday face an enemy that would give him no other choice but to turn to his chaotic side and use it with resolve. Something told him that day would be soon.
He allowed Chaos to disappear and transform back into Balance. The blade hung low in his grip, perpendicular to the floor beneath him. At the expense of a bit of mana, Lucien threw on an enchantment that allowed him to fix the blade on his person anywhere, without the need of a holster. He just did this because he was too lazy to make a scabbard. He rose his consciousness back out of the swirling world of arcane energies.
With a new sense of purpose, he swung the blade over his shoulder and attached it to his back. There, it was ready to go at a moments notice, and he would always be ready to use it when necessary.
There was still many things about them he had yet to learn. The metals were blessed with many gifts, and he had probably multiplied the possibilities when he created weapons out of them. Combine that with his natural creativity and there was hardly any limit to the amount of things he could do with them.
But for now, he had all the time in the world. He used a bit of mana to kill the flames in the forge, then it was all replenished when he took the energy out of the light crystals adorning the walls. He quitted the room and trudged back upstairs.
Only to be stopped short in his entryroom when a letter materialized in front of him from a gout of flame. It hung there, suspended, for a moment until Lucien reached out and grabbed it. He undid the wax seal and unrolled it. It was addressed to him, from who he supposed to be Twilight.
It called for his presence at the library, and to gather up the girls once again. It seemed that she wanted to take a trip to Canterlot to visit with the Princess, and they were all invited to go with. He exited his house with the letter in his grip, setting out for the Library.
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And now he goes Dante on some guys and combos the fuck out of them
.
Also Chakrams are cool and i suppose they work like the ones in Kingdoms of Amalur wit him throwing them in rapid combos and then they magically return?
And a Gravity Hammer is also pretty badass, i suppose it can do the push/pull stuff like the real thing because of magic?
And when he die, some nameless hero will take on the quest, to find one of the three weapons of ultimate badassery.
2294792
Heh. Heh heh. That gave me a nice mental image.
2294848
Meh.
2294884
I need to rewrite the first few chapters. They don't reflect the story progression accurately, and I tried to explain that event as best as I could later on. I'm sorry that you didn't like how it opened, but there seems to be quite a lot more people that were satisfied with it. My personal explanation: Dramatic Convenience. I know it sounds weak, but, hey, what do you expect from someone on the internet?
canterlot sounds like fun.
2300302
Fixed.
Btw, why did you comment four separate times?
I got a bit lost, so, The Red Hammer is "Chaos" The tricolor sword is "Balance" and the Blue Chakrams are "Harmony"
Please correct me if I am wrong...
2300489
Idiot Ball
Conflict Ball
"A character introduces or provokes conflict for reasons which are weak or which contradict previous characterization."
"So we often get conflict out of nowhere or conflict based on trite or contrived reasons, as if the characters had simply picked up a ball (hence the trope name)."
See those two quotes and the two links? No, there was not a concrete reason for a fight to happen. Oh sure, a reason was forced in, but the real reason was to show the character off (which could have been done a thousand different ways which wouldn't involve complete them being OOC), and that's not a concrete reason. Those quotes apply in this example. A conflict comes out of nowhere based on incredibly contrived reasons, brought about by several characters provoking conflict for weak reasons which contradict previous characterization. The characters (especially Rainbow) were handed a conflict ball (and possibly an idiot ball), which forced them to be OOC in order to have a fight scene.
I always review stories by chapter. Sure, I could wait until chapter five and have a review covering all five chapters, but that would be ridiculously long, tedious, and I would likely forget some of the things I wanted to point out while reading.
I'm sorry if doing it that way bothers you, but that's just what I do to focus.
2302946
You're good.
2302947
Rewritten now.
2303143
Not really. To be fair, it's a good story. The part I mentioned is the only thing I had issue with.
The only other thing I can think of is that the antagonist (whoever it was that didn't get the money she wanted. Don't remember her name) is pretty flat, and honestly the excuse for her becoming a villain is pretty poor. I mean, really? She decides to overthrow the rulers because they didn't want to blindly fund what she was doing?
Then again, it seems weird that for all the issues she had making the thing, that she was able to complete (in a villain montage) it in about a day. Why couldn't she have done that from the start? In fact, I think she brought in a prototype to Celestia and Luna, and they didn't fund her because it didn't look nice? To be honest, that seems a bit OOC of them. It seems like it'd be common sense that the prototype is meant to place more importance on actually working, and less on looking nice.
That said, I can't really think of anything else to mention.
2310109
Have you read the full story by now?
If you have, then your comment means that I failed in my efforts to subtly allude to Bronze's true reason why she hates the Princesses and Twilight.
2316392 Actually, it probably means that you were too subtle.
2409348
Ok that's reassured me somewhat. I'll read on then.
2409457
Oh, and congratulations on comment #201! Unfortunately, comment #200 was taken by me, responding to your first post. So, you will get the achievement for it.
2409476
The "Go out and get a life" achievement
2415727
Ah, yeah, my bad. I struck down the "first" chapter for major editing. I'm basically rewriting the whole thing and I was hoping nobody would try to read it while it was halfway done. It should be finished and republished later tonight.
2294884
Take a second look at that chapter. You'll find that it's a bit different now.
2300260
Look back at the chapter, and be amazed!
Someone draw these weapons, PLEASE!
Did he just snub all his customers to make weapons?
One does not simply forge badass weaponry with fantastic abilities without paying some sort of price
I c wut u did there