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From the mist ceiling, to hanged rats, and to giant thorns, the versatility in what Isaac sees every time he wakes up makes him think now is maybe a dream—
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“GET UP! G-GET UP!” Ipos heaves Isaac on his back with Mira still around Isaac’s vine belt. “Wyrda stanum geweorðan!”
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Isaak wakes to the wild shaking of the Earth, him swaying and seeing a gigantic mud marsh golem trying to stop a ball of thorny vines with tendrils that have a mind of their own as they extend pass the golem and heading straight for Isaac. Fortunately, the crazy shake had shook his entire body and Isaac pulls Ipos to the side and into a pool, dodging the pointed tendrils that cut through the air but falling into the wraiths.
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Once again in these cursed pools that even Ipos struggles to breathe. Fear shudders Isaac’s chest, brewing before becoming an unnerving source of power, blackening his view of an already murky and ghoulish sight. All the wraiths trying to drag them down instead push them up. Before their pool exploded in dark streak gore.
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There is no moment for coughing or rubbing eyes, even when closed, Ipos bends and rose a mud wall with a kick, whistled to blow fire an harden into cement which stops the deadly tendrils. Extending his arms for the marsh waters to devour the giant ball of vine before hardening his limbs, veins bulging as the waters freezes to ice by tempests speeding faster than sound.
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“Amazing…” truly amazing that Isaac has never seen a master in bending nature’s will. Not even the magister can muster three elements at once. But Ipos is doing all five: Earth, fire, water, air, and gravity.
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“No time to gawk open y-your mouth…” Ipos urges his friends with glowing brown eyes with markings on his body appearing. “R-run, l-l-leave me be. I will stop sis. Handle yourselves and find Elder Real or Haures. Hehe, pro t-tip. Haures is maybe who you should look for. He may look like a simpleton but BROTHER IS NOT DUMB!” Screaming at the frozen mass and causing the vines inside the cut or break. “So go, I’m sure the immortal amaranth will bring us all once again.”
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‘Immortal amaranth’ once again words that trigger Isaac to think about Ober and he pays no further effort to think more about who these children of the marsh truly are! He sprints, leaving behind ipos to the rampaging Zephyr. But where do they go? Where is Haures?
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Mindlessly running in one direction again for five minutes. With Mira finally speaking too Isaac, “Hey, hey,”
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“You finally speak!”
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“Well Mira can just that it was not the right time for Mira to speak with you.”
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“What? Do you have an idea?”
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“Kind off.” Mira trails their thoughts to one, “The tower…Mira is not dumb to fight against that thing nor you. Mira and you would be dead. But Mira felt that it has many eyes.”
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Just the thought of a humanoid monster with dozens of eyes run chills up Isaac’s spine. “No”
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“Yeah, Nevermind what Mira said!”
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“Then why would you suggest that?”
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“I just think…it was possible…every life has a chance and everything pays equal. Maybe they can or maybe they cannot. Mira and you do not know.”
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Isaac looks around the fog got only denser than yesterday. “Then where do we go?”
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Mira wiggles out of the vine belt and grabs a stick from the nearby brushes, sticking them on the ground. “For Mira not to get lost”
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They continue on in one direction. Seeing how some parts of the marsh have turned to ash or how water droplets are floating on one area. That which they head and that which the wraiths are fleeing from, actually hovering above their pools with some wandering around and scratching their heads. “Are wraiths bad?” whispers Isaac to Mira
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“Some, but all are terrible when in pools but if out like these ones, there might be something troubling them. But we have to find the children first.”
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One of the wandering wraiths overhears about ‘children’ and approaches them, walking instead of hovering like how Isaac expect ghosts would. “You two, would you be looking for the children? And can you see me?”
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“Very” Isaac says awkwardly, “Is that a problem”
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“Mira thinks that wraiths are harder to notice when not in pools.”
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“Oh no…oh no…oh no….” The wraiths gather around them, their skeletal and flesh hanging faces not anymore scaring the boy who fell into their pools far too many times, “They can see us! People, they can see us! They’re the only ones, right?”
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“Only ones…not unless we include her…”
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“No! No no… we shan’t disturb our dear lady…” the wraiths bicker and argue among themselves whether to talk to the boy and bunny or not but seeing that the two are literally in the middle of their crowd Isaac and Mira look at each other wondering what to do in this situation... “ARGHHH, it is all because of her! Her! / Which is why I am asking these two if they know about the children / and what they say?”
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“Uhm…” Isaac starts, “We are looking for them…”
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“They went in a rampage, one of them I’ve seen but everyone in the marsh thinks that all the children have started rampaging. Gaaaaaaaa! Because of them, our homes are ruined…Who is it!?” the wraith turns to his other wraiths, “Who is that troublemaker that always take their journals!”
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And by that, Isaac listens intently, slightly leaning himself forward and offering his ears.
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The wraiths all muddy their responses, most saying no but some are just framing others to the point that these framed got beaten up for no proper reason at all. Then one started accusing Mira and Isaac. Of course, Isaac simply states that he got lost in the mist along with Mira. The wraiths who have dragged him attest the boy’s claims. Who knew that his dementors suddenly became his witnesses in saving him from this crowd’s attention. Then one points out about the house which Isaac tells them the state of it—ash.
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“The children are fighting amongst each other?” Another guesses
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But Isaac tells in frustration, “No, that’s not it since they all like each other. Let’s just find them instead of staying here and just guessing.”
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“…” They all hover silently, wondering how they can resolve this issue of the marsh being a mess as well as help the children. “Has anyone seen the lochnesss? / Oi oi oi, you’re thinking of the worst possible outcome / Are these two performers? / I was wondering why the lochness is still not acting up / maybe it likes to watch / it only attacks performers”
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“Performers?” Isaac asks,
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And the wraiths nod, “most of us here were labeled as performers at a fort—I can’t remember the name, but a performer or a group of them are sent into here maybe to feed the lochness. But we don’t know why they call us performers instead of feed.”
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“I think I know who did it…” One of the wraiths speak up, her long-wet hair covering her face and flowing down to her ankles, “Haures is known for his destructive tendencies and he is always seen to destroy one thing every day and they always turn to ash. I saw him reduce an entire giant spider camp to ash near my pool one day, and I cannot believe that these were what the children of the marsh were capable of.”
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“You’re one of the newer wraiths, right?” An old wraith asks,
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And the girl nods,
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“What do you think…of your situation”
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Then the rest of the old wraiths erupt in loud chatter, saying that there is no use talking to newer wraiths anymore because they do not want to know why or how this is happening. They all try to keep the new ones out with this girl being only able to speak up by hiding her face.
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“Well, I don’t remember anything when I died. Of course it must have been scary, but I’ve been given a new life and that much, I can appreciate.”
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The old wraith nod, “We are very much undead with a debt to pay at Necroxia, but that does not mean we have to fear them and do nothing with our lives now.” He turns to his other old wraiths. “We all know who did this to us. The screams of the performers end with the call to Ober Vanderhawk. He is our target. We want revenge and this is the perfect moment to push ourselves.”
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“Where are you going with this oldie Go?” the oldies ask, “Shouldn’t we get going? / We have not much time / Right, right, the longer we stand around the more this marsh will go into chaos / Worst if the children fight against the lochness, it will be great trouble for us but it can mean big trouble outside too / An Absternicous will happen again, ahh…please let’s just stop this”
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Oldie Go preaches, “We are wraiths brought about by him and the Lochness. If we want revenge, we should not be thinking about going back to our pools. Now that we are out. We should start by helping the children so that they can help us get out of this mist and kill that wretched magister who fed us all to the lochness!”
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The older wraiths think that Oldie Go is inciting a rebellion and the other wraiths does not seem to mind joining his cause especially the younger ones. Horror in the hollow eyes of some oldies, “An Absternicous…Absternicous….”
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Mira chirps around Isaac’s head, happy that she can smile as wide as she can without even showing that she is smiling—that with a benefit of being a bunny.
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“What happens then?” Isaac asks knowing now the reason why these wraiths exist, “What will you get if you have your revenge?”
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Oldie Go hovers in front of Isaac and threatens the boy with his ghostly glare, “I’ve noticed at first, but was not sure. You are his carriage boy…”
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“Revenge does not pay your debt to Necroxia, I heard that it might just add more to it.”
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“I don’t trust the words of the living anymore. No living helped us from the lochness. But with you around, all we have to do is help the children because you won’t be able to get out without them, right?
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Spot on, and Isaac clench his fist, alert in his shrinking irises. “We know, and we have to look for them than asking us to prepare for your revenge.”
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“Yes, yes, no need to repeat ourselves, but aren’t you, tired of him?”
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Isaac glares back, “The lord magister does everything even if it is an evil good. He tolerates everything and does not go back in his words. Because of that, I always get to learn a lot from him so No.
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“Uhm…” Another young wraith speaks up, “I found a weird rock glowing with a thousand colors around my pool”
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And the wraiths once again murmur what it is. “About time we have a proper lead” Oldie Go says, “lead on”
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They all follow the young wraith to her pool and see the boulder that is glowing in all colors. Isaac and Mira check what is inside but see no one other than there is a bloody mess all around it. An old woman wraith tells that this is a work of Real every time she would be asleep. “But strange” she says, “she isn’t here…yet it is still glowing.”
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“Sleepwalking” Mira says as if she completely relates to it.
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The blood around it is wet, a bit warm and the carcass of a wolf is beside a tree.
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Everyone asks whether they have seen Real or not with a collective task to look around and see if there is anything to take note of. It did not take them long to find footprints. They follow it and eventually find Real standing in the middle of a mini-island surrounded by a lake. Her back facing the crowd.
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“This does not look like a lake…” Isaac notices seeing how the water extends far right and left before being hidden by the mist
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“It’s the lifeblood river Micelea that passes.” Oldie Go tells, “We know because we also have river sailors wandering in and of course, get eaten by the lochness.”
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Most of the wraiths with an angered expression, slowly and cautiously hover for Real. Hovering closer and closer before one of them had enough of staying sneaky and just yells out a battle cry. Their claws ready to tear her flesh apart but then their ghostly bodies turn white and red dots glow on their eyes. The space around Real seemingly waving and distorting before turning the wraiths’ agonizing undead screams into moans of pleasure.
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Oldie Go sees this, shock in his eyes as he asks the rest of the wraiths to ready their blades. “They’ve turned to Bryals!”
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Isaac has heard of them before and waste no time running back with Mira pulling on his sideburns.
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The bryals shrieks and attack the green wraiths. Shackles rises up from the ground to the wraiths whose necks or heads have been bitten off and Oldie Go gasps in surprise, “Necroxia’s chains?”
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“Mira and you cannot hit them” Mira says, “But they can hit Mira and you. So, let’s hurry out of here. Real is too much for Mira as well.”
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They run far enough for Isaac to take deep breaths. But then the earth rumbles and shakes in steps. Before suddenly, a giant green ogre appears behind them, hand reaching for Isaac as it screams “Food
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“Gah!!” Isaac and Mira both scream, running for their lives. The green wraiths fighting against the Bryals while the two run for wherever like headless chickens because of this sudden ogre.
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“A ride!” Mira points at a sleeping giant rat.
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“Seriously?”
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“Just go! You cannot run forever.”
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Sprinting so fast that they manage to leap and grab hold of the sleeping giant rat. “Wake up! Wake up!” It wakes up, immediately terrified by the sight of the green ogre. Quickly, it dashes for wherever Isaac pulls its hair on.
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Following large patches of ashen pools before seeing a familiar figure kneeling before the strange tower up ahead. “That’s…Haures!” Isaac yells out and see that the veins around the boy’s eyes is glowing red and when he sees the rat they ride on and the ogre chasing after them. He pounces towards it them lightning speed and before Mira was able to process what happened, their giant rat and the ogre crumble down into ashes. Then the boy turns to Mira and Isaac who are kind off happy to see him.
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“I’m glad you’re all right! We found Real and Ipos and Zephyr is still out there.”
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“I know” A voice that does not resonate unlike Ipos’s.
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And Isaac notices the book he is holding in one of his hands, “Haures, what is that?”
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Haures sighs, “You…servant of House Vanderhawk.” a glint of madness with a mix of anger in his bitten lips and scarlet eyes, “Did you alter our journals into this book?”
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