Void in the Fog (DCSTUCK)

[gantzgun74]

It took Alex relatively little time to locate the crevice near the top of mt. Bonsai, and even less time making his way inside... The fog within was incredibly thick as he noted, just as he had always heard from the Fog Temple itself... It was odd really... The more he thought about this whole thing the more ridiculous it sounded. The Fog Temple had been intended to be used as a worshipping ground for Luhaloka, the Goddess of the wind...

HEhehe~. Yeah, this had to be a trick. Even the continuity of the island was starting to disagree with this insanity. There was no way-

The thief ran smack into a flag-pole. Ouch.

"Ooooow...." ... He looked up....

The banner bearing the sigil of a hope player, mostly ruined but still in good enough condition flew proudly.

.................

"I...." ... That was... That was impossible... "I don't understand-... What's-?"

[ParamountKeymaster]

The deeper he traveled into the temple, the more the fog seemed to have a glare to it. A white light that harshly reflected off the vapor that filled the air. And though it was hard to make out, the glow seemed to take on a shape... the shape of that same angel wing emblem.

And the deeper he traveled, the louder the echoes grew. A low, soothing yet chilling voice that filled the temple with its sweet serenade. In the thick yet spacious atmosphere, the exact direction and inflections of the voice were equally difficult to discern, but if one listened closely enough, they might have been able to detect a familiar tune...

"And now the end is near
And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I'll say it clear
I'll state my case of which I'm certain

"I've lived a life that's full
I've traveled each and every highway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way"

[gantzgun74]

.... THIS WASN'T POSSIBLE... NONE OF THIS WAS....

There was no sign of Luhaloka anywhere in the heiroglyphics. There was no sign of the other elemental guardians... The heiroglyphs only continued showing the other gods. HIM. HIS FRIENDS. ALL OF THEM.

Alex's breathing was becoming more and more shallow with each step. All of this was starting to become harder and harder to take in... He didn't want to believe that this meant what he thought it meant... But yet, he knew that it did... And yet... There was something else he needed to find here...

Wait...

This hallway... He could barely make out that he was in a hallway in the fog....

This hallway felt familiar....


"Regrets... I've had a few...
But then again
Too few to mention...

I diiiid what I had to dooo,
I saw it throuugh
Without exemption...

I planned each charted course
each careful step
along the bi-way
and more.... much more then this
I did it... Myyyyyy waaaaay.... Yes!"

[ParamountKeymaster]

The light drew closer. The song grew louder. Along the walls, images carved into stone depicted Skaian gods, consorts, brief glimpses into legends that had been or were to be. The hallway led into a wide open room teeming with the white glow of the angel wing aura, where the floor glistened with a mosaic arrangement of a familiar phrase...

They wait for he who unlocks the gates of salvation and ventures forth to bring home the lost.

And then... there it was...

Resting dead center in the middle of the room was a rectangular structure made of pale yellow stone. Four spires stood tall at each corner, topped with dim crystalline spheres. And upon that bed of stone, mirroring the glow looming above it, was the white emblem of the island's hope player.

"There were times, I'm sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out
I faced it all and I stood tall
And did it my way"

[gantzgun74]

NNNNG-!! Briiiiight... With an annoyed groan, Alex pulled out a pair of sunglasses and put them on before continuing on...

...................

There it was....

There it was in all of it's glowing splendor...

The Quest Bed...

....................

EVAN'S Quest Bed...

..............

Alex slowly approached.... Then as he stood next to it... He placed a hand on it... His vision behind the sunglasses blurred...

Then, silently... Tears fell.

"I loved, I laughed and cried
I had my fill
my share of losing
and now, as tears subside
I find it all
so amusing...

To THINK, I did all that
and may I say,
not in a shy way
Oh noooo.....
Oh no not me
I did it myyyyyyyyy way...."

[ParamountKeymaster]

As if sympathetic to Alex's eyes, the light seemed to fade ever so slightly, just enough reduce the glare. The air was warm. Calming. Comforting. The fog condensed and dripped from the ceiling like rain, almost as though the temple itself was crying with him.

The song reached its zenith, filling the room with the powerful voice that projected from all angles, as if its owner was circling the bed...

"For what is a man, what has he got
If not himself, then he has naught
To say the things he truly feels
And not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows..."

The voice... was right... behind him...

"And did it... MYYYYYYYYYY WAAAAAAAAAAY!"

[gantzgun74]

................. Alex heard the music, listened to the singing. The more he listened, the more... Familiar it felt. He didn't need to listen too long to realize who he was dealing with... And when the realization struck it struck hard.

If the Quest Bed... EVAN'S quest bed, being here hadn't been the final nail in the coffin... Then his presence would have been. And that nail just increased the cause for distress...

".........." he sunk to his knees, hand still on the quest bed...... "H-h-.... Hi Brendon.... It's.... It's good to see you..."

[ParamountKeymaster]

Hovering behind the thief was a sprite. A sprite that bore a striking resemblance to Brendon Urie. Despite the somber atmosphere, Brendonsprite wore a playful smirk as he floated down to Alex's level, resting his head on his fist and his elbow on the quest bed.

"Well, well. It's been a while since I've seen a familiar face around here. 'Bout time! Do you have any f***ing idea how LONG I've been waiting for one of you guys to show up?!" He snickered a little before continuing, "No, but seriously, it's good to see you again too, Aaron."

[gantzgun74]

Alex could only pathetically wheeze out a chuckle at Brendon's sense of humor. The tears only continued falling though. He wanted to be happy that he found another friend... But how could he be happy now? Ever since this nonsense started, he took comfort in the fact that they would never need to look any further into the game because it was dead. There was nothing else they could do about it...

But now it was starting to look like there WAS something they could do. There WAS more to be done. They would have to start the game again to finish what their friends started...

And the thought just depressed him more then anything else has the past few weeks....

[ParamountKeymaster]

"Seriously?" Based on his deadpan smile, Brendon seemed to be straddling sarcastic humor and legitimate frustration, though he kept the latter somewhat concealed. "S***, man, I get stuck here for CENTURIES just waiting for a familiar face, and yours shows up covered in tears. Come on, lighten up! Everything's finally coming full circle!" He would've wiped Alex's crybaby eyes if not for the fact that he was only a tier one sprite.

[gantzgun74]

Alex continued crying before finally deciding to turn to Brendon!Sprite... His expression was utterly miserable as he stood up. ".... I had... Hoped that the last time we screwed up a game that would be that." That likely got some curious looks out of the sprite. "I mean... What more could we do if we kept playing a game that, by design is near IMPOSSIBLE TO WIN? Why would we continue playing it?

He looked down... "When I climbed this mountain Brendon... I was... Kind of hoping I wouldn't find... Well... ALL OF THIS HERE. It's good to see you but... I just...."

..... He sits down on the Quest bed.

"Is it... Really so wrong that I don't want to keep playing this insane game-? Is it really wrong that I just want to lose ONE iteration of it... HORRIFICALLY. Cry about it. Move on, and just... Let THAT BE THAT?"

[ParamountKeymaster]

Brendon looked down at Alex without the slightest bit of emotion. For the longest time, even after the outburst was over, he just hovered there and stared blankly, his mental process impossible to outwardly deduce. Eventually, though, as Alex's tirade sunk in, Brendon responded with what could only be described as a facepalm x2 combo.

"Oh. My. F***ing. God. Are you hearing yourself?!"

Well crap. Beebo was angry now.

He then began a floating pace in front of the bed, delving into a rant of his own. "I didn't go through this hell and sit on my a** all these years waiting for something to happen just to watch you guys fail! And you know what?! NEITHER DID YOU! I already went through this self-pity bulls*** with Evan; I'm sure as hell NOT going through it with you! What happened to the guy who was all gung-ho about the adventure and the RPG crap?! What happened to the guy who was all like, 'Hey Evan, cheer the f*** up so we can win this game and you can get your girlfriend back'?! So you messed up once! BIG F***ING DEAL! You've been given a second chance! An opportunity to redeem yourself and finish what you started! Don't you think you owe THAT to everyone you lost?! DON'T YOU THINK THERE'S A REASON ALL OF THIS IS HAPPENING?!"

[gantzgun74]

"HE BECAME THE REASON WHY HIS DAMNED SESSION IS A SMOLDERING HUSK!!!!"

....................

Alex had stood up to shout this, cleanly, clearly...

..... Then he sat back down.

He let out a breath and looked away. "Brendon, I'm sorry okay...?? But... You weren't THERE. You didn't see what I saw... Then you weren't there to see all of the Dream Bubbles me and Lizzie went through..." .... He looked up and GLARED at Brendon, something akin to a vicious snarl appearing on his face. "I ask you.... HOW. HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO CONTINUE BEING HOPEFUL ABOUT THIS DAMN GAME AFTER SEEING THAT. Seeing all of the times we've failed. Seeing just how horrifically we failed each time...? This game isn't fair... And frankly, it's an exercise in futility."

He gets up, growling as he walked up to Brendon-

His skin briefly flashes black then back to normal.

"AND DO THIS FOR THE OTHERS-? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? YOU COULD USE THAT BS TO SUPPORT ANYTHING!!!! LIKE USING THEM TO JUSTIFY LIVING. LIVING WHERE THEY COULDN'T. LIVING TO DO WHAT THEY COULDN'T. BUT USING THEM TO SUPPORT THIS? IT'S BECAUSE OF THIS GAME THAT THEIR ALL DEAD!!!!" His skin briefly flashes black again but turns back. "YOU'RE A SPRITE FOR GODS SAKES!!!! YOU KNOW HOW FUCKING IMPOSSIBLE THIS GAME IS!!! SO DON'T YOU GET ON THAT HIGHHORSE WITH ME. I'VE SEEN-...." ...... He takes a moment to catch his breath... The flashes of black vanish.... "I've... SEEN where that logic leads. So don't you DARE get started on me about what's right and what's wrong..."

[ParamountKeymaster]

All throughout Alex's rant, Brendon was shaking with fury, finally letting it all out when given the chance to speak his mind again...

"*** DAMN IT, DON'T YOU DARE PIN ALL OF THIS ON HIM! OR ANYONE FOR THAT MATTER!!"

With the reunion quickly spiraling into a mutual tantrum, Brendon grabbed Alex by the shirt –apparently his anger was enough to prevent him from bonding with he object of his fury– and started violently shaking him as he screamed right back at the thief.

"AND DON'T TALK LIKE I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU WENT THROUGH! I F***ING KNOW!! I'VE SEEN ALL OF IT, AND I MEAN ALL OF IT! THE DAMN ANGEL SHOWED ME ALL OF IT! I'VE SEEN CATASTROPHIES YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT AND ARE FORTUNATE TO NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT! THE TRIALS YOU WENT THROUGH?! CHILD'S PLAY COMPARED TO WHAT HAPPENED IN THE TIMELINES HE AND I PERSONALLY HAD TO PREVENT!! AND IF I CAN KEEP MY HEAD ON STRAIGHT AND KEEP MARCHING THROUGH THIS S***HOUSE FROM HELL, WHY THE F*** CAN'T YOU?! AFTER EVERYTHING YOU ENDURED, YOU'RE JUST GONNA LEAVE IT ALL BEHIND AND LET ALL THOSE DEATHS BE FOR NAUGHT?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW F***ING SELFISH THAT IS?!!"

By this point, Brendon was repeatedly slapping Alex in the face. HARD.

"THIS IS YOUR GAME! YOUR DUTY!! YOU CAN, WILL, AND ALREADY HAVE WON THIS MOTHERF***ER!! SO MAN THE HELL UP AND FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED, YOU BLUBBERING *** DAMN PANSY!!!"

[gantzgun74]

BAM......... CRASH!!!!!!!

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The massive hole in the Quest Bed room spoke volumes.

..... It gave Alex no pleasure doing that. Brendon had always been a good friend. A good source of laughter for him and his friends...

But no.

No amount of comedy. No amount of LIES was going to fix this.

He pulled his fist back... The blackness covering it dissipating...

...........

_{You know what you have to do.}

Shut up...

_{Their never going to stop this foolish crusade. Their NEVER going to realize that all of the hope in the world isn't going to fix this.}

I SAID SHUT UP.

_{They don't even realize their not giving the REST OF THE ISLAND ANY SAY IN THE MATTER. Their willing to endanger hundreds, if not THOUSANDS OF LIVES for this foolish... This SELFISH CRUSADE to finish a game they can't win. One they can't win and yet one they'll try anyway.}

YOU ARE NO BETTER. YOU WOULD HAVE ME DESTROY THE ENTIRE ISLAND ALONG WITH EVERYTHING ELSE.

NOW GET OUT OF MY HEAD.

I WANT NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU. NONE OF YOU.

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_{"... If only your little blonde pet could see you now..."}

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Alex broke down right there on the quest bed...